My first ever live game! (long post inside)

[The Wall]

So here I am stood outside the Grovesnor Walsall waiting for the doors to open so that I can register myself in my first ever live tournament! My game of choice is a 10 PLH rookie event with a maximum of one rebuy (as recommended by those nice folks at blondepoker.com ). The doors finally swing open and Im in! I glance behind me and to see that a queue has formed this looks like is going to be a popular game for a Saturday afternoon (because the football season has finished Im reliably told later) I wonder in and try to get my bearings the casino is a large open space with gaming tables crammed in the middle and card tables laid out around the sides, I register myself and ask the fella behind the counter about the structure and about how I will know where to sit! The man is very helpful and tells me that when everyone is registered he will place a list of seating positions and table numbers so all I need to do now is wait.

How much for a pint of coke?

Its free

Dam I like it here

Its been an hour and were still not seated! I happened to have picked a day when there is an exceptionally high turnout, (84 runners in the end!) I am feeling so nervous, I glance around and there are so many groups of young lads drinking larger I could have been in any pub in the town and what ever happened to smart casual? Ive made an effort just in case and Im looking at a guy wearing sandals?? Come on! SANDALS??

The seating list is up and its all go:

WALL  TABLE 4 SEAT 10

Oh no wheres table 4 and wheres seat 10?? No fear I just ask a friendly looking man and before I know it Im sat at a 10 strong table waiting for the first hand. Even though its self deal someone takes up the dealers seat and sets about shuffling and dealing the first hand (and all the others).

Ok enough waffle heres the poker bits:

Ive gone two rounds with blinds at 25/50 and a starting stack of 1000 points, Im playing a weird mix of pointlessly tight and pointlessly loose and Ive limped in with total rubbish a couple of times and now Im starting to fear that I wont win a hand on my first ever live game! Then it happens.I pear down and theres the pocket cowboys smiling at me! I raise the pot and get too callers. Flop comes rag, king, rag all rainbowed up, what a dream for a nervous guy who just wants to win a hand, I chuck in my last 500 and get a caller! Yeah! Ive only gone and won a hand! This calms me down nicely.
Then nothing again for a while until I limp in with K-2 when Im on the BB and a 2 hits on the flop and turn and I win a small pot.

Then it happens, my poor play, I have A-K in the SB, the fella to my right (a nice old guy who had to rebuy after his first hand!) calls and I limp in (yeah I know, well I know now!) and the BB checks, flop comes 10-6-K, now I get keen and bet, BB folds and the old guy immediately raises, I ask how much is in the pot? for my big re-raise super manoeuvre old guy says bet what you want because Ill call it (this should have been a clue) so I bet my stack and he calls showing me 10-6 CHIPS I shout and Im into my first re-buy! Ha ha what a poor play by the wall! Of course the table that has been pretty quiet for the past 30 mins soon wakes up with the never should of slow played that advice.

Then oddly enough I am delt A-Q the very next hand! I waste no time in raising pre flop this time which makes it totally obvious that Im holding a nice hand to the other players, I still get a call mind and when a Q hits the flop a bet gets every one to pass.

It goes a bit quiet for a while and the interval comes I have 1200 points and the blinds are going to be 100-200 when we get back to the table.

We sit back down and I go through the blinds so Im now down to 900, then it turns into a craps shoot, the blinds are raising so fast it felt like it went 200-400 to 400-800 before id even posted another set of blinds! Anyways when it was at 200-400 I got super tight, I was passing A-9 or below even though I knew that I needed a double up fast.

Along came the hole cards, you dancer! A-A I raise the pot which is practically my whole stack get an all in caller he dosent improve on his Q-rag and I make some chips. The blinds go through me once more though and Im already back in trouble when I get J-J now what to do with pocket jacks?? Only one decision for me with the blinds being so high, I got it all in! and got a call of course! The fella showed K-9 and never improved so I doubled through again! But because the blinds were now at 400-800 I still couldnt survive another round!

Anyway here it comes. I was in desperate need of a double through the blinds had just passed me and I had 1400 left when I was delt A-K on the button, a fella went all in for his last 600 so all I had to do was get rid of the big blind (the SB had been eliminated the previous hand so there was only a BB) I got it all an and the big blind called for the extra 600 with8-5 OS! (he was chip leader) but when a 5 hit the flop and I didnt improve that was it all over for me! I was up saying my thanks, the old dude who had taught me with the 10-6 said that I was unlucky and I thanked him then I was out the door and in the car park.

In summary the whole day was a daze, It wasnt as bad as I was expecting but I did get delt some nice cards! (In fact I probably got the nicest cards at the table with a bit more confidence I could have played them better!) Playing live is one of the best experiences ever and I would recommend everyone to try it at least once! Its so much more fun than playing online, nothing beats the feeling of stacking chips when youve won a hand! (Thats if you win a hand )

On my way out I collected a timetable of forthcoming games and I will definitely be playing live again real soon! In fact Ive earmarked a weekend of poker starting with the rookie game on the sat 18th followed by the super satellite on the 19th! I cant wait!

[Colchester Kev]

Great post, and an enjoyable read.

[Karabiner]

Nice post, The Wall.

Sounds like you did okay to me.

Well done !

[AdamM]

well done, you've started learning now. Most of what you've done in home games and online is going to get re-learned over the next year and beyond. record all your money and make notes on hand that you played well and badly and also hands you saw other players play in unusual or interesting ways. Keep writing aswell. I find it really helps me retain the important information and, if you're good at that too Tikay will happily post your articles.

good luck

[The Wall]

Thanks guys! and I agree Adam writing it down helped me to remember what cards I played and how I played them, I wrote that out on Saturday night when everything was still fresh in my mind.

There were a couple of desisions I made on Sat that I wasnt sure of and I didnt post above, any thoughts would be welcome:

1) Once when I was under the gun with the blinds at 100-200 and the table was 10 handed I folded A-J, I didnt limp in and I didnt raise I just binned them. My reasons I thought, were that I had an under average stack with 9 players still to act and the blinds were about to come through me and If I comitted chips to this pot and lost then when I was BB or SB I would have had to of gone all in. Too tight??

2) I was holding A-Q I raised the pot pre flop and got one caller, the flop came A-K-J, I bet but was immediatly re-raised for all my chips, I had a think......... I had top pair and a chance of a straight................. I folded.......... I felt that I was way behind if not two pair then to a made straight. Now was that too tight??

[Scottish Dave]

Excellent post Mr Wall.

I only Registered for this Forum today and yours is the first post ive read....Im glad i did.

I too played my first live game about 2 months ago, in almost the exact same Environment, except it was in Glasgow, and it was Unlimited Re-Buys for 1hr 45 mins.

Your spot on tho, when you speak of the excitment and buzz of playing Live games as opposed to Online gaming, its far superior. You really do begin to learn a whole new area of expertise, which is imperative in order to compete with the So-called 'Big boys' of this game. (Well the big boys of Glasgow anyway lol)

Right thats my first post out the way, heres to many more interesting discussions and reads.

Nice to meet you all

Regards
Dave

[Colchester Kev]

Welcome to the forum Dave, you will find us a friendly bunch always willing to share info and offer advice, and generally just enjoy all aspects of poker and poker related issues, and we have been known to talk about other things than poker, but dont get Tikay started on steam trains ..lol

[AdamM]

Yes, in both cases I think too tight. I say that because I'm playing far too tight at the minute and I know it's killing my game. I'm still finalling 1 in 3 times at nottingham but always either medium or, more often than not short. I'm in survival mode from hand 1 through to climbing the money ladder in the final. When I have chips I know I have a multi-faceted game but I don't get to show it as I'm too concerned about getting busted.

a) I think you're right to say AJ UTG isn't a great hand and I would almost certainly want to bin it but you'll be in the minority doing that in a 10 / 20 / 30 rebuy. You're raising UTG so you have to consider that a player after you may pass the same hand or a medium/low pair. You might end up against a bigger Ace but you can't assume that's the case. If you're in the rebuy period I think you have to play the hand hard pre and post flop whatever happens. If you're in the freeze out you might have to pass it depending on how aggressive the table is and how tight your image at the table is.

b) If you're opponent had AK you'd have probably been re-raised pre flop. if he has AJ it wouldn't be unfeasable for him to pass putting you on AK as you've pot raised at every opportunity. Now he has raised you can still hit your Queen or your straight or if a King comes your Q plays and his J doesn't. If you're up against K,J ot Q,10 you've been beat by an idiot. You have to suck it up and move on. Don't moan when this happens. It re-inforces their behaviour in their eyes, you won't get your chips back by complaining, infact you'll more likely get them back in the future if they continue to call raises with hands like that. I think this was a bigger mistake than the first one. once you've thought about it and ruled out AK then I think you have to call. Thats the learning process though isn't it

[ifm]

Very good post mate, i actually found i was looking forward to this after your post saying you were going!!
84 runners eh? that's astonishing really, but no real surprise as the "championship" finished the following Wednesday (a points league, players awarded points for attending comps) and there is a bit of a scramble by folks in the lower positions trying to make sure they got a shot at the car. That's the corsa in the casino rather than the saab in the lobby.

So as i had stated before there ain't many rookies in this comp, hehehe probably just you!!
I've never been on a Saturday so it wasn't me with the 85 off.....there is a growing school within walsall being educated by myself and Deano that 85 is actually a very good holdem hand so i may have had a part in your downfall....sorry!
The truth however is more likely that the fella looked down and thought he couldn't get too badly hurt if he called and he assumed he had 2 'live cards', unless it was "mad" Tony then of course well........say no more.

The 25 minute blind clock is a bit steep but the good thing about it is you quickly realise you have to expand your opening criteria, though K2 off is a bit too loose even for walsall!!

Glad you enjoyed it and hope to say hello some time, next time you go it'll seem so much easier and before too long you'll be moaning about the blind structure, prize structure and stamping your feet moaning (Helmuth stylie) about "internet" players and the lack of waitresses like a seasoned pro!!
Good luck
Ian

[The Wall]

Hi and thanks Dave!

Adam, I think your spot on about number 2, in hindsight I think that I should have defiantly gone all in and I forgot to add that the player who re-raised me was the guy who eventually knocked me out with 8-5!

I got delt A-K twice:

First time I limped and lost to 10-6
Second time I went all in and lost to 8-5

The main thing for me was that I left the casino happy, I did enjoy myself!

Cheers Ian! If I keep playing as much as Im hoping to then Im sure you will be knocking me out of a tourney real soon!

[AdamM]

oh, and one other thing I wish I'd done from day 1. as soon as possible play of a designated bankroll and protect it. I was lucky enough to final on my first attempt and made 1670 from 60 but I spent a load of it and wasted the rest. Second time I won 1600 I was in the process of moving house and threw it at the solicitors costs. the consequence was that when I lost my job in February I couldn't even attempt to play my way out of trouble because I didn't even have 100 to have a decent crack at a 20 rebuy. First time you get a result, keep most or all of the money for poker and as you improve your bankroll will grow. It'll also mean you don't have to keep dipping into the bills account to find mney for a game.

[tikay]

What a terific post The Wall, well done & thanks. Do you mind if we put it in our Tournament Reports Section?

I loved it when the guy said "bet however much you want, 'cos I'll call anyway". Think with a bit more experience you may have decided to just check, or if you'd already said "Raise" just the minimum raise - it was a bit of a clue!

And you mention the pleasure in raking in the chips after winning a tidy pot, you cant do that online, & it is one of those little things in life that gives me enormous satisfaction, scooping all the chips together, seperating the colours, counting your new big stack, piling 'em nice & high & neat, lovely.

Strange how some things just strike a chord as being mega pleasurable. I was with a bunch of guys once, ooh, 30 years ago, it was all typically laddish talk about girls & sex, & how good "it" was. This geezer - come to think of it, he reminded me a bit of Red-Dog - comes out with "Well I think sex is over-rated myself - personally I think there is more satisfaction in having a good crap". Err, yeeessss.....

Sounds can be emotive too. I can sit all day on a railway station listening to the lovely "kerklunk" of the doors on slam door trains being slammed shut. You cant beat it.

OK, I'll get my coat......

[RED-DOG]

The problem is, when I have a crap, I get this urge to drag my arse along the grass

[tikay]

That goes straight into the "Post of the Week" comp. My tea splutteed all over the screen.

[The Wall]

Thanks tikay! Yeah I have no problem with you putting it in the reports section! 

Ha Ha yeah "I'll call it anyway" the old guy was super loose though, he was playing any two cards during the rebuy period and when he did rebuy I saw him pull out a monster roll of fifty pound notes! So I just figured that he was there for a day out, a lets get out of the house kind of thing, so i put him on K-rag.............