As our faithful readers will recall, Ollie had consumed a tad excess of spirits the night – and early am – prior, therefore he was useless when Flynn awoke in the morning. Rookie mistake, Ollie! Flynn got the morning routine out of the way quickly, and hit the pavement for a walk-about, as he is making an effort to not spend 16 hours a day in a poker room. (Good for the comps, not good for anything else.) It was an absolutely stunning morning, the temps were cool enough, the sun was out, and Vegas was full of $spending tourists who had not yet gotten cranky. Flynn walked into a few casinos, but mostly stayed out-of-doors on the strip, and had lunch with his cousins.
Squirrel! Tourist pattern outside on the strip ~ Mornings: Humans walking about with their kids, holding hands, with coffee or mimosas in hand, looking and pointing with pep in their steps and smiles on their faces. Afternoons: Humans dragging their cranky kids while studiously not looking at the panhandlers, holding 3 foot long plastic long cups with near empty 1/2 melted ‘daiquiries’ in them, and couples bickering, Early evenings: Happy couples and groups of friends posing in front of neon signs, discussisng where to go next, where to eat, where to club, and holding clear solo cups or beer cans. Late night: Couples, singles, or small groups with scowls on their faces, walking with dejection and purpose. Middle of night: Staggering groups of friends, one or two solos walkers, and hookers & dopers, none with smiles.
Done with the stroll, Flynn headed over to the Bellagio and waited a whole 5 minutes for a 2/5 seat to come open. He had only been there 15 minutes before Ollie showed up, and was seated at a different 2/5 table. Flynn made it a whopping 20 minutes before he had lost his initial buy in and had to reload. Having learned his lesson the entire week, he knew this was going to happen and had bought in short. He remained at the table, which was very uneventful for another hour or two, lost almost his entire 2nd buy-in before table changing to Ollie’s table.
Ollie’s table was more interesting with better characters, including 2 OMC, 2 WBP, and a legit pro/solid. Flynn immediately lost his the remainder of his 2nd buy-in when his QQ lost to all unders on the board except for a sole K. He reloaded for a 3rd time. Ouch. If this doesn’t get run up at least 1 buy in, he’s going to have to stop playing until Drunk Poker on Sunday afternoon. He played tight and drained chips slowly for another 45 minutes, before flopping top pair with suited cards in the ho’ (a compromise for Stapes and Chad) flush draw. Villian shoves. Flynn tanks for a few, re-playing the villian’s behavior (hefty raise pre-flop) and counting outs,etc. What the heck, that is why they call it gambling, right? Anyway, he calls, and V shows AA which is exactly what Flynn had put him on. Board runs out X Q. Flynn wins a 10 outter and doubles up. This is, no exaggeration, the first time all week that Flynn has won a sizeable pot on a good draw. The villian, one of the WBPs, is clearly pissed. Tough luck, dude. The rest of the table is congratulating Flynn, and asking him what took him so long to call. History, guys, history.
After that, Flynn went on a good run. He doubled again against AA (solid player) when he flopped two pair and it held. He caught a reasonable amount of cards, the cold deck had taken a break. The WBP he had beaten the first time had been raising pre-flop all afternoon, consistently. As in, every single time. Now getting some actual playable hands, in position, Flynn began 3 or 4 betting him and really irritating the beejeebers outta him. Flynn felt redeemed and solid.
There is nothing more crushing to one’s confidence as a player than losing repeatedly, at least if one considers themselves to be adequate at the game. Not only does one self-sabotage, it places a target squarely in the middle of one’s chest. Table-mates think one of two things: 1. This person is a bad player 2. This person can’t win. To the opponents who think #2, then good on you. You are right, and should target accordingly. To the immature playes who think #1, then Flynn says go jump in a frozen lake. Getting cold-decked and coolered is downswing-variance, not a representation of a player’s skill. Flynn highly recommends taking special note of losing players, what hand they are playing if/when they show, their loose-tightness, and their behavior before making any judgement.
The ending to this session is a happy one. Not only did Flynn make back the three buy-ins, he made a significant profit. It was not enough to cover a week of loss, but that is okay. It was a boost to his mental state, renwed his confidence in player-reading abilities, and he was able to stick around long enough to have dinner – on comps, of course. Add to that, another player told Flynn he was clearly a pro, and that no one was fooled otherwise when Flynn denied it. Dayam!
F&O cashed out, and headed out. The conservatory at the Bellagio was almost complete. It’s gonna be beautiful.
Fin
Flynn