UNNATURAL

The title of this blog entry seemed to be the word Todd and I used to describe our bad luck since my last post 5 days into the trip. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself at this moment 'oh ya, here goes Joe with his skewed perspective on poker, offering up another host of reasons why he isn't killin it down south'. Well, all I can do is provide a detailed description of the critical hands and how they went down and I'll leave it to you to decide.

The trip started out well as indicated in my previous post. At my peak I was up close to 17k in cash games after about 1 week of play. The games were pretty good and I was running pretty good, not great, but good. Included in that glorious week of good times I kicked Todd's ass on the golf course for a few benjies and 2009 pre-season bragging rights. The course we played called Industy Hills (the Ike course) was the hardest course I ever played. I shot a 93 and felt good about it. The course was over 7200 yards from the tips (which we played), it was tight, and had tough greens. In fact, the PGA is having a tour event qualifier there in a couple weeks. In summary, it was a treat to be paid to go play (thank you Todd!).

The day after the golf game its like somebody turned on the doomsday switch. Personally, I booked 4 consecutive losses in LA (as did Todd I think). From there, we booked it to Vegas for a change of venue and to change the luck. Unfortunately, not much changed there. Todd left for home 3 days after reaching Vegas frustrated that he could not win a single pot of significance. Kathy came down the night Todd left and we stayed in Vegas for 4 more days before flying home late last night.

The reasons I came home for a break are threefold. First, I am running bad and a break can't hurt. For me, when I run bad it is very difficult to play my A game. I become a little more tentative meaning I scale back my aggression level and willingness to play big pots without lock hands. This is definately negative EV. I prefer when I play tough and I am the guy the table is most scared of. I find if you show your willingness to push light, and if you are always playing back at your opponents (granted you have to flop reasonable to do so), I find they stop playing back at you unless they have the hand, which then makes for easier decisions. The second reason is I am not feeling very well. I have caught a cold. As well, I need to see a doctor because I have bee experiencing frequent numbing of the hand/arms/legs. It freaks me out as it is one of the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. I have been on a nutritional plan for a month now and have dropped 15 pounds. Its time to change my lifestyle regardless of what test results may show, but with a little luck I am overreacting and it turns out to be nothing. The third reason I've come back is to spend time with family and friends. Kathy's little guy misses me lots, which is cool, so I'll hang with the both of them a fair amount until I go back down (which I suspect will be somewhere around the time Trav goes down).

There were some highlights to the trip I'd like to share before going over key hand history.

1. I almost got into my first fight since I was in grade 2. There was this young, arrogant, pear shaped kid named Chris who was at my table during a stud tournament. I have played with him at the same table or same poker room many times in the past and on each occasion he manages to be the loudest, most obnoxious player in the room. This time was no different. There was a nice old man at the table who clearly did not understand the rules of the game and bet out of turn several times. The first time he did against Chris, Chris lectured him for about a minutes. I said nothing. Then it happened again about a half hour later. This time Chris is going off for at least 2 minutes. Finally, I pipe up and say 'it was an honest mistake, the guy meant no offense by his actions, can we just move on and play some cards'. Chris the pear immediately turned to me and said 'why don't you shut up and mind your own business'. I says 'pardon me?'. He says 'why don't you shut the fuck up and mind your own business'. I couldn't believe this guy. I know he's big but come on, if you act like this eventually you're going to piss the wrong guy off and be beaten to a pulp. Usually, I just blow this kind of stuff off but something about this guy and the way he talked to me, I turned red and was raging inside. I turned to him and said 'you ignorant puke, don't tell me to shut the fuck up, instead why don't you do everyone a favor and you shut the fuck up'. He immediately replies 'fuck you'. I then slam my chips against the table and say 'ok tough guy, why don't we go outside so I can ram your fucking head against the concrete'. He then quickly tries to shift focus away from fighting by challenging me to a 30k heads up freeze out. I replied by saying 'i'll play you as long as we go outside first so I can smash your fucking head in'. Then at about this point security came over and threatened both of us to stop or we'd get kicked out of the casino. Needless to say, I burned my chips off in the tourney because I didn't want to be there anymore. Unfortunately, he's a good player and I would have limited if any edge in a heads up confrontation. Anway, my record stretch of almost 30 years without a fight is still intact and as for the pear, he will get whats coming soon enough I'm sure.

2. The trip had my longest and largest losing streak ever in live poker. I lost 4 straight losing sessions in LA then 3 out of 4 in Vegas where I went from 17k up to about 9k down (plus expeneses and tournament costs). The only positives I can take from the streak is I maintained my composure and confidence throughout knowing it would turn around and I in fact I finished with 2k and 6k wins respectively in my last two sessions before flying home. So overall, I basically breakeven for the trip (before expenses) after running as bad as one can run. There is no doubt in mind that there is huge money to be made both in LA and in Vegas (maybe I have to be a better person so I can get average luck??? I'm looking for answers).

3. Kathy came down for 4 days and did well. She played 2 Venitian deepstack extraveganza tournies bubbling both in setup type situations, but overall played very well. Then on the side she carved up the 2/5 nl game at the bellagio winning several thousand over a two day period. I guess my teachings payoff, perhaps I should charge 25%?

4. I have always talked poorly about the bellagio feeling that the room is too busy and the people are too rude, which leads to an uncomfortable setting. In the past I have avoided the Bellagio like the plague, but this week decided to try it out a few times for a change of pace and to change my luck. There is no question, it has the best games for higher limits. I think from now on I will play the majority of my poker there instead of the Wynn. When Kathy came down we found rooms at the Trump Towers for $109/night. This is cheaper than the Wynn poker rate and is equally as nice. So, if these deals continue to surface I will stay there allowing me flexibility to play wherever I want without having to log 6 hours of play/day at the Wynn.

It seems i've grown a little tired while writing this post. I will save the hand descriptions for my next post, probably tomorrow when i get some time.

Peace out