The day started off early. I got stood up by that business meeting, but that's okay- I'd already committed myself to being a professional poker player. Don't worry, I'll be writing songs, stories, and other arty things along the way, but I think I've finally turned the corner on programming for hire. :)I celebrated my decision (and last night's win) with ... you guessed it ... fish tacos, black beans and rice with chips and mango salsa. MMmm!
On the recommendation of Jim, the fella on my left at the Mandalay game, I checked out a site which rates all of the poker rooms in Vegas. Although not yet complete, what was there was pretty comprehensive. The site ranked all of the rooms along several axes (did you know the plural of axis is axes and the plural of ax is axes? Of course you did!) One of the axes was the level of competition to be found in the card room, so rather than risk moving too quickly, I looked at all the casinos which were rated the same in that dimension as was Mandalay. Mandalay was ranked 3 on a scale from 1 (all sharks) to 5 (all fish).
I figured, changing rooms is enough of a change, why not keep the level of competition the same for now and check out the other perks?
It also dawned on me that I could probably narrow the list of rooms down to say, 14, and just rotate one day at each room, thus helping to keep a low profile. I mean, it can't hurt that when I sit down at a table, all the boys lick their chops, thinking they're gonna get my money! ;)
The MGM Grand stood out as a good choice for it was highly rated, so that's where office was today. Their poker room stands out. Whereas the others are usually in a quiet corner of the casino, this one is smack in the middle of the action, closest to the strip entrance, across from the lions (yes, they have live lions), next to a bar featuring go-go dancers on the tables, and adjacent to a sports book.
There is a lot of energy in this poker room!
Before I get there, I look at my casino comp cards and notice that MGM isn't on the three I already have, so I get a fourth. Four. I think nearly all the casinos everyone has heard about- over twenty in all- are owned by just four companies.
Back to the office. Toby McGuire's brother was to my left. I never got his name, and he was not interested in idle conversation with me or anyone else for that matter. My first hand there, we get into a little scuffle chip-wise, before I finally reluctantly conclude that he's not just not trying to bully me into folding, he's got a solid hand. It was the $100 bet on the river that tipped me. I had a strong hand too, but refusing to let ego get in the way, I surrendered my hand to what was probably a better hand. First hand in, down $55.
The very next hand, I get Ace-Queen suited and I raise it to $10. Toby re-raises me to $50. Okay, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, uh-uh. Now everyone else had folded to his re-raise and AQ is a pretty powerful hand heads-up. I figure there's a 30% chance he's bluffing, a 60% chance he has a pair lower than Queens, and a 10% chance he's got Aces or Kings.
In the first case I'll win 70% of the time. In the second case, it's nearly a coin flip, and in the last case, he'll win 70% of the time.
In other words, according to the math, heads-up against this guy, my Ace-Queen is a coin flip. Armed with the knowledge that- over the long run- I'm getting even money, I try to push the odds in my favor psychologically. I tell him, "Okay buddy, let's dance!" and I put all my chips in the middle.
It was a bold move, and I was telling this guy in no quiet way that he was not going to push me around at that table. I fully expected him to fold, but he surprised me by calling! Later, I would realize that the average pots before I got there were around $20, and here in the two hands I sat down, already we had a $120 pot and now a $345 pot! Tee hee!
He flips over Kings. I'm excited- I have an overcard, and seeing how everyone else folded pre-flop, odds were there were three live Aces in the deck. That means I had 5 chances to get 3 of 43 cards, or roughly 25%. I wasn't getting even money like I had hoped, but I wasn't dominated.
The flop comes an Ace and I collect a nice pot and cultivate a great table image. You see, even if I had lost, the entire table watched me go all-in with Ace-Queen. That means when I have AA and raise in a similar manner, they are much more likely to call me, so the long term expected value of this very aggressive tactic is generally worth the risk, but I still was counting on Toby to fold. He didn't stay much longer after that hand.
Later, I made a couple of really good folds, letting go of big hands when it became clear I wasn't going to win. It's hard kissing $60 good-bye when you expect to win $150, but it's a lot better than kissing $260 good-bye!
After the entire table dropped jaws on one monster I folded (again, to a bigger hand) the fella to my right, a nice chap from Manchester leans over and says, "It's not about how much money you win, but how much you don't lose." How true indeed. That's the secret, really, isn't it? Right smart guy he was!
So we chatted and he drank a LOT (hey, he's from the UK) and had a pleasant time. He told me about a few up-and-coming indie bands, we shared culture stories and generally took a lot of money off the table.
I bought in for $200; at my height I was up to $465, fell below $400 only to climb back over twice, then decided, after a random comment that some people don't know when to quit, that $200/day is a great wage for just playing poker, especially if it was just for 4 hours of work!
I said my good-byes, picked up a $5 comp and headed home early and tossed a salad. (No, not like THAT!)
As I was leaving the MGM, Stephen, the guy from Manchester, asked me what else I had to do. I told him that all I have to do is eat, sleep, exercise and play poker. He replied, "you just described my fantasy!"
Life is good!
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