[Kona]

(10-03-2016 12:29 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

"Once you have seen a wife beg and cry for her husband to leave the poker room and come home and feed the children, and the husband tells security to throw her out of the casino because he does not know her, you understand how much more destructive gambling is than any gun. Repeat that scene 5 or 6 times and you realize that gambling needs to be made less legal."

I'll bite. Why am I not allowed to play a fun game for pocket change 'cause some dude is an asshole?

Go to the Casino Queen in East St. Louis at 9 am on the 1st or 15th. It will change your whole perspective. They got a wheelchair section, and its full.

I love casinos. If I couldn't afford it, I wouldn't go. Some people can't control it, some say that's their problem.

The thing is, if you pay taxes, it is your problem. At a place like the Queen, or the ones on the Missouri side, you are handing people social security and disability money, that they are just giving to the gaming company.

Nobody knows this better than the government and the casino.

Aloha!

[Rhyme or Reason]

(10-03-2016 12:20 AM)Truckn Wrote:  

And I agree that online gambling should be banned. I have seen dozens of people's lives ruined by gambling. Being able to do it online just makes it that much easier.

Once you have seen a wife beg and cry for her husband to leave the poker room and come home and feed the children, and the husband tells security to throw her out of the casino because he does not know her, you understand how much more destructive gambling is than any gun. Repeat that scene 5 or 6 times and you realize that gambling needs to be made less legal.

Yeah well, have you seen someone poke at their arm with a needle full of heroin for half an hour because they can't find a vein? I have. The drug war has been going on for decades and it's no harder to find life destroying shit right in a neighborhood near you, if one were so inclined. People choose their own trajectories in life, it's woefully naive, dangerous, and immature to think the government can make those decisions for us. To those people I say get some accountability in your life.

(10-03-2016 01:20 AM)Kona Wrote:  

The thing is, if you pay taxes, it is your problem.

Wrong.

(10-03-2016 01:20 AM)Kona Wrote:  

At a place like the Queen, or the ones on the Missouri side, you are handing people social security and disability money, that they are just giving to the gaming company.

It's their decision to make. The problem isn't that people squander their handout money, (show me one person who doesn't) it's that they get it in the first place.

[Beirut]

I used to play poker for a living a decade ago. Was very successful at it. very decent online and excellent live.

I got an engineering degree after and have never made the amount of money i made playing poker. I still live off my earnings from that period in a way.

But it burned me out, mentally and socially. You chase your losing streaks and never enjoy your wins. It becomes a high score video game that you dont enjoy anymore. You spend hours and hours on a screen or on a poker table.

Your social life is dead, you dont see the sun, you cannot enjoy any activity because your mind is stuck at the table.

Sometimes id be so burned out id make myself lose on purpose just so i can leave.

ANd i enjoyed poker a lot. But when it becomes your life, its not fun anymore. I sometimes regret not sticking with it. Times have moved on now and id be slaughtered online.



That said, swooper is absolutely right in that most of the posters here have posted very misinformed things that show a lack of grasp of the fundamentals of poker thinking. (not that anyone claimed to be an expert so thats perfectly normal)

[chicane]

I know almost nothing about poker, but I have a fairly high IQ, so it would be an interesting task to become competent. It would be cool to get good enough to come out ahead in low stakes games. Any recommendations for books to start with?

[DVY]

poker just moved black-market where the rake is unbeatable. I know some games that run 10% uncapped which is lolstupid.

But they have pornstars walking around, drinks flowing heavy and for free, and basically any waitress is "rentable". That place mints $.

Most now are small operations. They run 5%, max 35 drop, on a 5-5 game which means they rake 1500/night.

All of this basically makes its unbeatable as a player unless you get a big rakeback deal.... this is just USA where most live is undercover.

[Truck'n]

(10-03-2016 11:26 PM)DVY Wrote:  

poker just moved black-market where the rake is unbeatable. I know some games that run 10% uncapped which is lolstupid.

But they have pornstars walking around, drinks flowing heavy and for free, and basically any waitress is "rentable". That place mints $.

Most now are small operations. They run 5%, max 35 drop, on a 5-5 game which means they rake 1500/night.

All of this basically makes its unbeatable as a player unless you get a big rakeback deal.... this is just USA where most live is undercover.

yeah. that is pretty bad. The underground game I sometimes sit in on has a rake capped at 10, with free food and drinks. But that is still 800 - 1000 a night for an 8 hour session.

[Rhyme or Reason]

I've been doing pretty good recently. Went to the casino twice this week, made 200 bucks in under 3 hours total. Also have been playing home games. Going to play in a multi table underground tourney in a warehouse this saturday. I'm hoping if i win I leave with all my fingers.

[R_Niko]

Dan Bilzerian on Joe Rogan podcast right now

[Chowder Head]

This is from the 2016 WSOP Main Event. One guy (villain but a hero in my book) gets under the everyone's skin. I think the guys at the table were overreacting a bit. They all look like a bunch of pussies. They were white knighting a woman the villiain knocked out on day 2. One guy goes all in vs the villain then the table loses its shit -- while everyone argues with the poker officials -- one guy tells the other guy 'I'm sorry you had to go through all this'. What?

[Chowder Head]

I've never heard a man say "check your privilege" to another man at a poker table. He is from Toronto which might explain it.

[HighSpeed_LowDrag]

Went to the local casino's poker room last Saturday, walked in with $150 in hand. Walked out 8 hours later with $1200. Then proceeded to lay the hottest girl I've ever banged later that night.

It was a good day.

[Rhyme or Reason]

(10-24-2016 06:46 PM)HighSpeed_LowDrag Wrote:  

Went to the local casino's poker room last Saturday, walked in with $150 in hand. Walked out 8 hours later with $1200. Then proceeded to lay the hottest girl I've ever banged later that night.

It was a good day.

Nice! That's a good run. What were you playing, 100 no limit 1/2 blinds? I usually hit the 40 nl tables but the rake eats you alive on those.

I had a crazy session saturday, ended up only making 50 bucks after my ups and downs. I felt sick after. I'm trying to take a break from it for now, it gets soul sucking after a certain amount of grinding.

Edit: I found an underground game with no rake in my area. All the other underground clubs charge 10 percent capped at five dollars I believe. The casinos rake 4.50. Both of which are kind of bullshit if you ask me.

[HighSpeed_LowDrag]

(10-24-2016 09:47 PM)Red_Pillage Wrote:  

Nice! That's a good run. What were you playing, 100 no limit 1/2 blinds? I usually hit the 40 nl tables but the rake eats you alive on those.

Correct, except the max buy in was $200, not $100. It was the single best run of poker I've ever had since I've started playing.

To everyone else in the thread - how did your best games ever end up happening?

[debeguiled]

(10-24-2016 05:57 PM)Chowder Head Wrote:  

I've never heard a man say "check your privilege" to another man at a poker table. He is from Toronto which might explain it.

Just watched this. Your boy is a shit disturber, and strategy or not, it is pretty annoying.

I was rooting for his opponent while he was silent, staring blankly as Kassouf tried to beg a reaction, and then he pulled the freaking abuse card and went for the check your privilege, and went around high fiving everyone and saying he didn't care if he lost because he was a better person.

Head smack.

Kassouf then handled losing way better than Toronto Man handled winning.

I have no idea who to root for.

[rungoodinc]

Kassouff is an idiot, good player though. The guy from Toronto totally overreacted but it had been a long time coming. Kassouff's etiquette, while not breaking the rules per se, was HORRIBLE. Some of us who have played poker for a long time like to think of poker as a self-policing game where players hold themselves and the game to a certain level of respect and honor (yeah this sounds silly to a non-gambler, but this is really how we think) and Kassouff basically disregarded this etiquette with a lot of his speech play.

I was a semi-pro for 2 years and go back to the online days of PartyPoker. I averaged $40/hr playing live poker those two years which was pretty good and gave me a good lifestyle for trying to get laid in the rest of my time.

Poker isn't what it used to be, but there will always be action. LA live poker at the local card rooms (Commerce, the Bike, Hollywood Park) is still quite beatable.

Also, there is a California online poker bill in the works although it will probably not lead to passage now. Some people think that poker will become regulated like weed etc which would definitely lead to another boom.

If you like games and have a stomach for gambling, there's no problem getting into poker. You need to be willing to study and reflect on your game, however. There is just too much knowledge out there about poker these days so you have to stay ahead of the curve if you actually want to make any kind of money in the long run. Either way, I've been playing the game for most of my life now and I will play on some level for the rest of my life.

[debeguiled]

@rungoodinc

Thanks for the info from a poker player.

Sounds like you don't know which one to root for either.

[Chowder Head]

This is what made Kassouf popular or hated:

Here's the white knight on TMZ:

What I didn't like about Kassouf was he slow played every hand. That would drive me nuts. But the talking -- I found it funny. I've seen 3 fights in poker rooms -- all 3 because someone was talking too much.

[Malone]

WTF is that white knighting bullshit doing on the floor of a fucking poker tournament?

[RichieP]

(10-03-2016 07:24 PM)chicane Wrote:  

I know almost nothing about poker, but I have a fairly high IQ, so it would be an interesting task to become competent. It would be cool to get good enough to come out ahead in low stakes games. Any recommendations for books to start with?

Better make sure your strengths actually match up to what it takes to succeed in poker.

Emotional intelligence? Ability to tolerate hours of endless grind? Natural penchant for strategic thinking, game theory? (I dont even know if these are what it takes, but point is - you have to find out)

High IQ is deceiving. The genius mathematician James Simons admits he failed as a computer programmer - super high IQ, but his particular strengths didn't match what's required to be a good software engineer.

He failed at that, quit, but went on to do amazingly well as a hedge fund manager. Now he's a billionaire.

[debeguiled]

That Griffin Benger is such a tool.

When he was just sitting there staring ahead saying nothing, he had Kassouf completely beat in the head game department. If he had just calmly played his hand and collected his winnings like it was the most normal thing in the world and Kassouf was just a yappy dog to be ignored, he would have won that match in more ways than one.

The minute he opened his mouth it was over.

[Gambler]

Hi guys!
I've been playing live poker professionally for last five years, and I'd like to share some of my experiences.

As the saying goes, "poker is a hard way to make an easy living". It sounds easy but it's much harder than it seems.

Especially online, it's way harder than live and thing are getting worse. Now even in super small games, for example $10 buy-in cash games, tables are full of pros. There are so many training videos, books, and other good material, that many young guys (especially from countries with lower wages like China and Eastern Europe) try grinding the tables 12/hr a day as a decent alternative.

Live is completely different. As I see it, the level of play in live poker has not improved much since I started playing. Some players run out of money and quit but there is always a constant influx of degenerate gamblers. I actually started online, was grinding small cash games (like the guys I mentioned above). I was doing OK but my winnings were still very small. Then a friend invited me to this underground poker club he knew. I was a bit cautious thinking it's not safe or legal, but I still went. The place was a shithole, but very safe, never saw any violence while playing there. On the first evening I entered a nightly tournament I came second. The following day I won first place. You could say I got lucky, but most players were so bad, and some were completely drunk. I had some money before these wins, so I decided to quit online and focus on live, go to this club 4-5 days of week. It went amazing and I never looked back.

Poker is an easy game to learn but very complex and hard to master. I won't bother you with strategy but I'll just say that every situation is unique. When people ask me what would I done in their place, I always say "It depends". (same thing applies to Brewdogs hand with AQ mentioned earlier)

I'd also like to point that as a poker pro, reputation is super important. Keeping your word and thing you agreed on is very important. Never berate or criticize other players. Always be nice at the tables.

Also regarding Will Kassouf and the 2016 WSOP Main Event: I don't mind the talking, I'm used to opponents trying to trash talk me and try to get information. The worst thing about him is his super slow play. It might have been acceptable in a cash game (especially home cash game), but in a tournament blinds are rising constantly, players have a fixed amount of hands to play before their stack shrinks too low and they get blinded off. So it normal that everyone would get upset at such a time-waster like Kassouf is. Also it especially pisses off amateurs, people who have limited time for poker and want to use it as fun as possible (watching someone think for 5 minutes is the opposite of fun).

[Zanardi]

(12-26-2016 12:10 PM)Gambler Wrote:  

Especially online, it's way harder than live and thing are getting worse. Now even in super small games, for example $10 buy-in cash games, tables are full of pros. There are so many training videos, books, and other good material, that many young guys (especially from countries with lower wages like China and Eastern Europe) try grinding the tables 12/hr a day as a decent alternative.

+1

I played poker from 2007 until this year, when I made my "official" retirement. I never went higher than NL10 (with a brief spurt of NL16). Maybe I wasn't talented to begin with, maybe it's because games are tougher online, who knows? But surely I have had my leaks in the way that I studied.

Now it's too late to come back, even if I played for 9 years. Emotionally, I am not in love with this game anymore. But I learned many things about myself at the poker table.

[RustyShackleford]

(12-26-2016 02:25 PM)Zanardi Wrote:  

(12-26-2016 12:10 PM)Gambler Wrote:  

Especially online, it's way harder than live and thing are getting worse. Now even in super small games, for example $10 buy-in cash games, tables are full of pros. There are so many training videos, books, and other good material, that many young guys (especially from countries with lower wages like China and Eastern Europe) try grinding the tables 12/hr a day as a decent alternative.

+1

I played poker from 2007 until this year, when I made my "official" retirement. I never went higher than NL10 (with a brief spurt of NL16). Maybe I wasn't talented to begin with, maybe it's because games are tougher online, who knows? But surely I have had my leaks in the way that I studied.

Now it's too late to come back, even if I played for 9 years. Emotionally, I am not in love with this game anymore. But I learned many things about myself at the poker table.

I've been a pro for 2.5 years and the lowest stakes at a casino will always be a $20-25/hour job tax free at 1/2 + 1/3. In my first summer I was able to play 5/10 + beat the game after playing 6 months (with a good coach + lots of studying) in the last 2 summers at WSOP I make more grinding 1/3 than I do 2/5. I don't have a stake to play 5/10 anymore.

If you can beat 10NL/PLO 6max online PS then you are likely good enough to make a living off 1/3 in most major cities in the US.

The game has changed vastly in the short time I've been a pro. Action is drying up but if you are good at what you do + put the time in, poker is a great way to make a living. The live pro's aren't that good, and you can have a social life if you choose.

5-10 years ago, it was enough that you could beat your group of friends @ board games, or an above average understanding of high school math, you could make a living, or make a LOT.

Now? You need a coach and a damn good work ethic. I wouldn't suggest anyone coming in "cold" to poker, unless you want to pay for my next trip to SEA.

[LikeABaller]

Online poker died after the black friday of 2011, all the fish dissapeared overnight after online poker was banned in the US. In the good ol days of 2008-2009-2010, I used to make decent bank grinding online. Back then your average player like me who didn't make poker their life could make decent money from poker by using a simple strategy and exploiting the drunkards who started playing after 10-11pm.

[Mr. Accuride]

Online poker is ridiculous today, even with rakeback. In the past I could beat 3/6 NL HE or any stakes o8b, razz, or 2-7 triple draw across various sites, now I can barely break even on 50c/1 PL o8b which is ridiculous. Between the bots, and hand tracking/poker analytics software out there, it is difficult to play online for meaningful money, and even if you could you could probably do better doing something else.

Live can still be hilariously bad, provided you do game and table selection carefully and provided the rake allows it to still be beatable. I think HE is tougher than in the past, but o8b, razz and 2-7 triple draw still draws lots of idiots and drunks looking for action if they are offered, and sometimes when I'm in Vegas and waiting for sports bets to clear, I sit in loose o8b tables to pass the time.

In the past I had considered being a serious poker player, but my belief is that unless you are demonstrably in the top 0.5% of the players out there or you live in some cheap third world hideaway, your time is better spent doing something else.