Reno, to play Some Keno, In a Casino

Actually, I don't play keno. But I am in Reno. I left Las Vegas yesturday, and drove the 7 hours up highway 95. Seven hours of desert driving got me thinking. Las Vegas live poker tables suck a$$. And I'll tell you why.

It finally dawned on me why I can do so well in the tournaments, yet fail miserably on the cash tables. In every tourny, everyone wants to survive. So people play good cards, and don't chase inside gut shots. Odds are, the inside shots don't hit.
But on each and every cash table I played at, 1-2 limit, 2-4, 3-6, 4-8, 5-10, 8-16, 10-20, 30-60, whatever, every hand, at least 8 people are in it. With this ratio, someone will hit thier straight, or flush, if one can be made, nearly every single time. This makes every hand your in, independant of the cards you hold, almost pure 8-1 odds. Roulette, and blackjack have far better odds than this.

People will bet, and call multiple bets on long shots and four outers (where only four cards in the deck can make your hand).
This aggressive style relagates the game to a stupid roll of the dice. And whoever wins the dice more often than not, by pure luck, wins money that night.

It is a game, and anyone can play however they want, but Las Vegas tournament poker (or any tourney poker for that matter) is not even close to cash table, Las Vegas poker.

Case in point: $4-8 limit poker table at the Golden Nugget. I'm on the button with A-J. It is bet, and re-raised once before me, and I re-raise, all preflop. Everyone calls. Flop is A-5-8. It is immediately bet by someone I shall hereforth, call "crazy lady #1," or "CL1" for short. Three other dudes call, I raise. Everyone calls. Turn is a Jack. I now have two pair. CL1 fires off another bet. One dude calls, and I raise. Only CL1 calls. River is a 6.
She bets, I had to call, thinking the only thing she could have is a pocket pair, that tripped (made three of a kind). Instead, CL1 held a 4-7 off-suit, for the straight. Keep in mind it was bet three times before the flop, and multiple bets were made before she had anything at all. But CL1 never flinched, and fired off bets, at will.

And I tell you, every live poker game, in every casino in Las Vegas, was this way. It makes the patient, good card player odds reduced to competing with every Tom, Dick, and Suck Out. I lost a bundle, to say the least. I wish I had seen it.

It took a while to recognize it, mostly because about half the time, the winning hand is not seen, everyone folds to the one who caught thier crazy-outer, because after all, every one was chasing some miracle card as well.

In a tournament though, the pre-flop is usually bet up a few hundred, (in the early stages anyways, it is more as time goes by and as people gain chips) or at least 2-3 times the big blind, thus pushing out most 4-7 off-suit card holders. It then comes down to two or three people, at most four, who have cards that are worth putting up some chips for. After the flop, usually another bet is made, by someone who obviously caught a piece of the flop, or maybe a high pocket pair holder. Then the field is more often than not, reduced to two people who are heads-up (meaning mono a mono), if not folded by all. A showdown will thus ensue. This is how it goes. It's like clockwork.

A smart player will not chase the last two remaining community cards to catch someone who already has a made hand (unless it's a major combination draw: straight and flush draw, or it's an ace high flush draw). It's predictable, and you can control your fate, to the extent that you choose to commit, and to the stength your cards allow.

But not in the live games. Its all aggressive, and all about who catches thier "suck out" cards. It's a crap shoot. Completely contrary to text book (and successful I might add) tournament play.

Speaking of successful tournament play, here are my Las Vegas tournament stats.
Events entered: 10 muli-table tournaments, 5 single table satellites.

2 cash wins, one was a three way chop, meaning the final three of us equally divided the 1st-3rd prize money, equalling $682 apiece. The other cash payout was an 8th place finish for a wimpy $85.

I made two other final tables, one 9th, and one 4th. No cash for each of these however (payouts are always based on cost of entry, and total number of entrants).

Of two others, I made it to the final two tables, from fields of 50 or so.

The rest were either quick-outers (e.g. k-k vs. a-a), or no-card-catchers where I was slowly drained of chips.

This means I had 6 quality showings. Which I figure is pretty good and tells me I know how to make good reads on people, I know how to maximize my wins, and I know what, and when to throw cards away. I can always improve, but overall I feel I did well for just picking up the game 18 months ago, and only seriously, for a year now.

It still just eats me up though, that I didn't realize how the cash games are played. If I would have, I would have stayed away, and never will again partake. It's a fools game. Its funny too, b/c no where else, even in my travels round this great land, did I see games like this. Talking to my brother Billy, we concluded that there must be a lot of bitter locals, mixed with the "gambling" tourists, which makes the cash game an aggressive race to the end. This sucks, and there is no advantage to any one player. It's just who gets more dumb luck than the rest, It's actually a disadvantage to players like me, who don't chase, and play good cards only vs. a whole table of long shots. With 10 aggressive long shot players, I fold a lot, and get out drawn often, if not every time. End result, I basically took a major financial bath.

But there is advantage to the survival game of tournament. Case in point, the top poker players make final tables often, and have several wins per year, in the 30 or so major events throughout the year. This is skill, and experience at work.

It is worthy of mention, that as you get closer to the finish, the more luck you do need. But point is, if you play it safe, and only get involved in hands where you hold a strong starting position, you increase your chances to collect chips. Make good reads, posture yourself to your advantage, and stay aware... all these things are a simple formula to strong poker. Its just that simple.