Friday, May 16, 2008

Locals vs. Tourists

On a tip from Hugh, I checked out Green Valley Ranch today. This place is a long way away, about 20 minutes (all freeway), and I wasn't much impressed. Their poker room is tucked away from all the action of the casino, which I guess makes for a less distracting environment, but I think that makes the game harder for me because I'm bothered less playing around flashy lights and noises than other people. In other words, I want them to be distracted!

The game was pretty lean, lots of locals grinding it out. All locals, save two, as a matter of fact. I got to sit next to one of the tourists, a rather nice man from DC. He helped protect animal rights in experimental settings and was considering becomming a teacher. I thanked him for being such a good guy and encouraged him.

The game was good initially, but then nearly broke up, when a few rocks left and a few loose players left for a larger limit game. The card room then transferred people wanting to play a higher limit game to our table. That's a disadvantage to most lower-limit players, but I just continued to play my game.

I cashed in for $200 and cashed out at $324 two hours later, upset at myself for making a very bad call (cost me $60) and thankful for being able to turn a profit against the rocks in the desert so far from the strip.

I also left because I began to crave the tourists at the MGM, so that's where I went next.

Wouldn't you know it, the first hand I sit down, Simon (from London!) makes it $17 to play. Well, I have 77 and there were three callers, so I decide to see a flop. Flop comes K72 and he bets me all in, so I call and beat his AK and double up on my first hand. Welcome to the table!

Met a nice lady from Nashville, Jennifer, who was a writer for a band doing a performance for the Country Music Awards. She gave me her business card... Joe, I got an in for ya! One sure meets some interesting people at the poker table!

There was a funny guy on my left named Al; he's a wealth manager from Arizona. It was a blast playing with him, we were cracking jokes and he was telling me all about the playing habits of other people at the table. A pretty cool guy he was. Later, he tried to get me to go to the Bellagio and play the 2-5 no-limit game with them. He also tried to convince me the level of play and the cost requirements were the same as the MGM. I declined, played for a bit longer, took a few bad beats, made a very bad fold (would have won $160 more dollars if I called $50) and decided to leave. I cashed in $200 and cashed out $305 in 3 hours.

Playing with the Vegas suburban locals was quite depressing. Playing with the tourists was fun! As I meander through the MGM on a very busy Saturday night, I made a deal with myself: I'll stay in Vegas as long as I love being around all these people. The moment I start dreading the crowds, the drunken laughter and shouting, and the silly behavior is the moment I make plans to leave.

I'm not planning on going anywhere just yet! ;)

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