Vegas, baby!

[MadMojoMonkey]

I'm leaving for Las Vegas in a few hours to visit for the rest of the week. Of course, I'll be playing some poker while I'm there.

Any last minute advice on poker or anything else Vegas related?

Bear in mind that I'm pretty much a total beginner to casino play. I played in a casino only once before.

[bikes]

Play at the Venetian or Aria.

Best table service. Comfiest chairs. This shit matters. You can find a weak 1/2 game everywhere in vegas but the above things really fucking matter.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I met Barry Greenstein while he was walking to a WSOP event. I shook Barry's hand! I was lucky in that I had read his book "Ace on the River" on the flight. I got to talk with him about it for about a minute or so. It was great. After he shook my hand, he turned to walk away. I just continued along behind him. Then he turned around over his shoulder and kept the conversation going. He could have just walked away.

Eventually he walked into one of the ballrooms full of WSOP and I kept walking down the hall to see how much WSOP there was. Turns out there wasn't any more, so I turned around and walked into that room. Barry was just setting up his chips at a table and was one of the first players there. It wasn't clear at what stage the event was, but it was a mixed event.

On the other side of the room there was a NLHE event with ~30 tables playing.

Further into the room there was a NLHE final table going on. I'm not aware what the buy-in was. I stood and watched for a minute when I noticed that the player with his back to me had his shoes off. I got to thinking, "Antonio Esfandiari does that.... that's the right hair color and build." So I walked up into the grandstand surrounding the table and sure enough, it was "the Magician". I sat and watched for about 20 hands or so. Antonio was pretty short stacked, but it went from 10 handed to 8 handed in that time. He took down a couple of pots and I got to join the smattering of applause from his fans.

Brian Rast showed up and had a brief conversation with Antonio from the rail. Then Brian went into the announcer's booth and that was that.

It was about then that I realized that I was watching the beginning few hands of a final table and that those go on for hours... I couldn't wait that long... too much stuff to see and do in Vegas.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I only got to play 2 sessions, since the focus of this trip was visiting family. My starting BR was only $300. I decided to take it as 3 bullets @ 50 BB.
1st session lessons:
1) I need to practice playing 50 BB deep online if that's what I'm going to do live.
2) I need to announce my actions and avoid accidental string bets.
3) I need to keep constant track of the pot.
4) I need to keep constant track of who's in the hand.
5) I need to have a more internalized sense of my positional ranges.
6) I need to plant myself down and stay when I'm winning.

2nd session lessons:
1) A bad spot to bluff online is a bad spot to bluff live.
2) I need to know who to look at, when to look, and what I'm looking for.
3) I need to count the pot, and who's in it before I look at my cards.
4) I need to establish my range based on 3) before I look at my cards.
5) I need to take note of ESS and SPR before the flop.

At odds with number 6 from the first session, I think there's a benefit to playing short 2 hour sessions, given how many mistakes I'm making. After each session, I feel like I did a million things wrong. All the little nuances that are different from online play to casino play are tripping me up. Taking time to reflect and internalize those lessons away from the table really helped.

[helan007]

Hello Friends,
I play poker a lot of casinos but like most Vegas's casino, Because in Vegas my luck with me.

[ThePokerLife]

I think you forgot the most important lesson for your limit - Play tighter (even if you think you're playing tight enough) lol.

I only got to play 2 sessions, since the focus of this trip was visiting family. My starting BR was only $300. I decided to take it as 3 bullets @ 50 BB.
1st session lessons:
1) I need to practice playing 50 BB deep online if that's what I'm going to do live.
2) I need to announce my actions and avoid accidental string bets.
3) I need to keep constant track of the pot.
4) I need to keep constant track of who's in the hand.
5) I need to have a more internalized sense of my positional ranges.
6) I need to plant myself down and stay when I'm winning.

2nd session lessons:
1) A bad spot to bluff online is a bad spot to bluff live.
2) I need to know who to look at, when to look, and what I'm looking for.
3) I need to count the pot, and who's in it before I look at my cards.
4) I need to establish my range based on 3) before I look at my cards.
5) I need to take note of ESS and SPR before the flop.

At odds with number 6 from the first session, I think there's a benefit to playing short 2 hour sessions, given how many mistakes I'm making. After each session, I feel like I did a million things wrong. All the little nuances that are different from online play to casino play are tripping me up. Taking time to reflect and internalize those lessons away from the table really helped.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I agree.

I opened 4% UTG... up to 10% in HJ, pretty linear progression.
I was playing ~20% from CO and ~40% from BTN.
I was defending blinds about 20%.

In short, I was playing like I was 100bb deep, but sitting on a 50bb stack.
Notice first lesson, number one.

[Credsfan03]

Wow sounds like you had a very good trip. It would be awesome to meet a poker pro as good as Barry Greenstein.

[Fnord]

Given the rake structure at 100NL live (even in Vegas), you can't be missing out on much playing much looser than that