If Flynn had any idea whatsoever of the time, he would tell you that he jumped out of bed bright and early to hit the M&M store. Half is true. Flynn and Ollie hit the store, but not before noon. This time there was no line out the door, although there was one at the Coke store. Random. F&O looky-loo’d around before selecting some custom candies for the JerkofaCat sitters. A distant second to alcohol, Flynn does love chocolate: high quality salted dark chocolate caramels are the best, peanut M&M’s are somewhat down on the list but still acceptable.
This field trip over, they headed back to the skiff for transport to lunch. F&O, both water animals, had a good laugh at the tourists and LV locals alike when a rainstorm blew through, and sent every human running for cover.
Good Pie in the arts district was the destination, and it lived up to it’s name. F&O opted to try a few slices to get a feel for the different options. Conclusion: get the Margherita and the cannoli for dessert. (The white sauce mushroom was also P.D.G). This place takes their ingredients and quality seriously. For sure will hit it again next trip.
Next stop was the Red Rock poker room. F&O had not ventured far off the strip area this trip, and were in the mood for a drive. They called in and got on the 1/2 list, and were both seated almost immediately at different tables. There was one 2/5 table going next to Flynn, so he eyeballed it hard when he went by. Each player had about 2k in front of them. Ugh. 1/2 it was.
For about 45 minutes. Flynn couldn’t bear to sit at 1/2. It was awful. He was bored stiff, getting called off and sucked out on by any two cards, and the players were just plain dull. He stood up, stretched, drank iced coffee, and tried. Really tried, but it was not happening. He put on is big-boy pants and moved to 2/5. He bought in for just under the max, and was still short-stacked at the table (gulp). He watched and waited.. for about 5 hands before check-raise-bluffing an opponent for a win of a hundo. He watched and waited some more. He studied. He called a $20 preflop raise (standard) by a tight player who obviously had A-A (easy read). There were 4 other callers (more than standard) and for the life of him Flynn cannot figure out what all those people had to call with. Flynn did the math, and called the 20 with 3-3. Spiked it on the flop. No threats on the flop. Original raiser bet 50 ish (? what the heck, dude), one caller, Flynn raises to 150, A A shoves, the one caller folds. Snap call by Flynn and he holds for a profit of $500 or so. The read was spot on, the original raiser had A A, just in case you thought Flynn was wrong – as he is known to be.
The following hour or two went by uneventfully. Flynn held his stacks, played tight. Took some smaller pots, and lost a few when he couldn’t catch properly or situation was wrong. He identified the player personalities, and played accordingly in position. By the end of the night, he was still in the black by most of it. Happy bird! Ollie also walked away with a nice profit, so win win.
For our poker playing blog readers, here is the observation and question: Flynn has played in 2/5 three times now, all three were winning sessions. Not being a stupid drunk bird, he knows he will have a losing session, likely soon. However, has anyone else come to the conclusion that humans play differently at lower stakes than they did a few years ago, or that the lower stakes can’t be beat due to variance, player types, or run of cards? Or is it simply that 1/3nl has become the new 3/6 or 4/8 limit? Why does Flynn suddenly feel incredibly bored playing 1/2 1/3 to the point of not wanting to play at all? He would rather watch Hart to Hart in his room.
Late dinner was Lotus of Siam, a place that has been on the F&O bucket list for several years. The food was authentic, the cocktails were great. Probably not something F&O will seek out again though.. not sure why… service was not fabulous, something something. If someone wants to invite F&O out there, then ok, but otherwise nah.
Tomorrow (Friday) is F&O’s last day in LV. They are trying not to cry.
Fin
Flynn
I swear that I could be writing Flynn’s poker thoughts sometimes. I think he is exactly right that $1/2 and $1/3 NL poker has become: the new $3/6 and $4/8 Limit. Moronic play gets rewarded. However, moving up to $2/5 means playing with amounts I am uncomfortable with. Poker has recently become less fun. I am not sure what to do. I am certainly less motivated to play locally or go to Las Vegas.
I think the answer to your question is one that answers all poker questions – it depends. It depends on what you want from the game – to win, just some fun and the thrill of the chase or the mental challenge.
The average player has probably got quite a bit better over the last few years just due to the volume of learning information out there. Just watching the better players on their vlogs should make a player question what he’s doing in any given spot. As players get better they want to move up in stakes – some will do this successfully but others will be hit by the variance stick and run out of cash, necessitating staying at the lower stakes.
But on the flip side there is a seemingly infinite pool of lower stakes players (especially in a gambling Mecca like LV) who don’t care about getting better – they play for the fun of the game or just the thrill of doubling or tripling up every other hand – the loons who jam in preflop holding any 2 cards. Why these people play poker is beyond my comprehension but that’s another story – but low stakes needs these action players to make the game exciting otherwise a game just becomes a nit-fest of people trying to grind.
But it probably comes down to what any player wants from the game – is it adrenaline from seeing a crappy starting hand become a post flop favourite or is it the knowledge that you’ve made the right decision, played the hand well, won the most or lost the least? Essentially do you want to be a small fish in a big pond (a player still learning the game but playing at higher stakes) or a big fish (or shark) in a small pond (the best player at the table but playing at lower stakes).
As with most things in life we generally learn more from failures than through successes – to get better at poker you have to play against better players. I usually feel the same as you when I play (albeit my last session was 18 months ago) – at lower stakes I generally don’t need to think too much just because most of the players aren’t capable of putting an opponent in a tricky spot (could the average low stakes player explain concepts like range advantage for instance) but I find that the booze keeps me interested. Maybe you need to drink more!
So I’ve solved it – as with all of life’s problems the answer is alcohol. Whether alcohol is the cause of, or solution to, those problems is another question entirely!
Anyway – great TR for the last few weeks. Safe travels home and I hope to cross paths with you at some stage when this simulation finally gets rebooted.
One would think the editors would have come to the same conclusion: alcohol! To be honest with self, the 1/3 game became more and more sloppy (calling with weaker starting hands, not raising pre-with strong ones) in response to the type of opponents at the table. Moving to 2/5 forced better play and more concentration on table dynamics – who can be bluffed, who is strictly raising in position, etc. Now that F&O are home, likely no poker until Oct when they hit the cash games during the WSOP. Will be interesting to see if the success at 2/5 holds true (and the bankroll holds true as well).