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Poker Video: Limit Hold'Em by PygmyHero (Micro/Small Stakes)

Pretty epic intro, IMO

Time Link to 00:01:46

i pronounce it allstarrrrrt, i dislike your way of saying it. =P

i pronounce it allstarrrrrt, i dislike your way of saying it. =P

100% me too

Good job of covering several important topics.

i read the topic as 'Dude, Where's My House?' haha

Time Link to 00:24:48

appropriate graphic...lol!

Really sweet vid, Pyg. I learned a bunch. I'll never remember getting reamed out by the crusty regs at the Taj for not saying "raise" before my chips hit the felt. Also, I'd like to impart the wisdom to all that it's a bad idea to charter a deep sea fishing boat after drinking and playing until 4:00am. We had 3/7 of our group hurl over the side.

i pronounce it allstarrrrrt, i dislike your way of saying it. =P

Its allstar RT but I dont really care. I was like 8 when I made it so it is not a huge deal. When I introduce myself I do it as allstarrrrt too most of the time.

Also thanks for the shout out, more ideas like this in my book coming how call practical ideas for the live pros: part one taking a shower

Also pyg is probably the best person to be making this series. He is probably the most professional person I have ever seen at the poker table.

Time Link to 00:09:24

I think the best idea for finding out what the game is played with is just to find out the table number and take a stroll over to the game. This is assuming they do not have chip runners which most west coast do but most east coast do not.

Time Link to 00:10:00

At the commerce and some other casinos on the west coast you are going to want to tip the floor people as well. This is a must if you are playing anything where they only have one game going at the high stakes. If you get on the floors good side it can and will show its benefits

Time Link to 00:11:17

Vegas is casino specific. From my experience the Bellagio and Venetian will serve you food at way over price. I got a plate of chicken tenders and a sprite at bellagio for 30 bucks(no joke). Rio they do not have food. It is best to bring your own food to place in vegas I think

Dont know all of socal but commerce food is comped for high stakes no idea what they do for lower stakes area.

Northern California. San Jose pay for your own food, overpriced and not good. Oaks great food great prices.

Time Link to 00:23:15

Vegas=live straddles and also they allow mississippi straddles which are straddles allowed anywhere on the table. The action if someone straddles the btn goes sb first then bb then utg. It is maybe +ev in nl games not sure about limit games. West coast most all of them are blind raises. Oaks is straddle, bay 101 might be but i am not sure.

Best part of straddling is making fun of the nits not doing it with you.

Time Link to 00:27:06

Two casinos I know of take rake for chopping the blinds. The 15/30 at the california grand casino takes 5 dollars which is the third blind taken from the button, this is redic and obv you should never chop. Bay 101 takes 1 dollar from the sb. I think its ok because it goes up to t5 dollars almost immediately on the flop. This is not a time game too

My opinion on chopping is basically chopping when beneficial according to the rake. I will chop when the drop is large when we see a flop. In time game I will never chop except time pot.

Vegas=live straddles and also they allow mississippi straddles which are straddles allowed anywhere on the table. The action if someone straddles the btn goes sb first then bb then utg. It is maybe +ev in nl games not sure about limit games. West coast most all of them are blind raises. Oaks is straddle, bay 101 might be but i am not sure.

Best part of straddling is making fun of the nits not doing it with you.

Most places in Vegas don't allow Mississippi straddles. Rio did last year (technically just allowed button straddles not Mississippi straddles) in both NL and PLO, I wouldn't ever do it in limit unless I was drinking/having fun/desperately trying to juice up a nittish game.

Rob

pyg,

really cool episode. i thought your discussion of time pots and how our position at the table might affect our decision to participate in them was awesome and not anything i'd ever heard discussed before.

Also pyg is probably the best person to be making this series. He is probably the most professional person I have ever seen at the poker table.

Apparently you haven't seen me and BBB at the table before.

Time Link to 00:14:24

I think it's probably worth noting that as long as the casino returns 100% of the BBJ to the players, it can be neutral EV or even +EV depending on how you approach it.

Time Link to 00:30:22

One thing I have seen a few times is a person not chopping "this hand" because they finally got a good hand and they have been getting nothing for a while. Obviously this is horrible etiquette but I have seen it, although it was a low limit game. But you will see people look at their hand before deciding to chop, which is just rude, imo.

Another thing you'll see, and it's a goofy social thing to do, is showing the hand that you ended up chopping. You get to say silly things like, "You had me out kicked", when you show 72 and they show 82.

Time Link to 00:08:26

Wow, how weird to play with a 3$ chip or even a 5$ chip in a 3/6 game. Talk about killing action. There's a reason why a 20/40 game isn't than much tougher than a 10/20 game live ;-)

Time Link to 00:10:04

+1 to whoever said that in California rooms, especially the ones you visit often you should tip the chiprunner and in the high limit section often the floor (this depends on how large the high limit section is where the floor is often also the one running the board). The floor will be on your side on disputes, will give you good games and if you are really high roller will even call you when some whale might come in. At WSOP don't get the chips yourself! Chiprunner all the way.

Time Link to 00:12:09

I would really discourage anybody from getting the poker room rate. If you must get a reduced rate at all, you should get the casino rate and just play some 500$ coin-in Video Poker at a -20$ EV or some EV neutral blackjack. Poker room rates bind you to a certain play (usually way too much for my taste) and the rate sucks as it's the rack rate.

Time Link to 00:23:59

Wait, you can straddle from ANY position in Foxwoods? Even the button? You realize game conditions where that is extremely profitable?

Time Link to 00:26:57

Hahahahahahahaha. you make me laugh. You will see a lot of absurtities in Vegas then! The "no flop, no drop" rule is becoming quite extinct these days.

Time Link to 00:33:11

Brace yourself for incompetent dealers. Please, please pay attention for WSOP time. The quality of the dealers especially in split pot games is often horrendous and you can't trust the dealer to take care of you! Speak out in your interest, don't stay quiet!

Wait, you can straddle from ANY position in Foxwoods? Even the button? You realize game conditions where that is extremely profitable?

only under the gun at foxwoods. however, in a 3handed game utg = btn, so that's pretty fun

Time Link to 00:05:43

It is hard to table select live unless you are willing to wait and scout out the room. I would prefer to sit down find out who the regs and donks are and get a seat change to put you in position to take on the donks

Time Link to 00:09:14

just by your chips at the table and the chip runner will bring you the right kind of chips

just by your chips at the table and the chip runner will bring you the right kind of chips

no chip runners at east coast casinos afaik

Time Link to 00:24:29

I have played at a casino here in cali that if you straddle the straddle it was a blind raise and you do not get an option so watch for that lost some money when my AK flopped trips and got called down by top pair.

Time Link to 00:25:26

watch for kill pot pros. guys how get the kill button and raise with no regard to they get played back at. Key play back on all three streets if your bank roll can handle it.

no chip runners at east coast casinos afaik

did not know that. I only played live in vegas and cali

Here are a few notes I thought of when watching:

Participating or buying out of time pots is just like chopping - you should always do it or never do it. I think you underestimated the effect for a tight player, you should almost NEVER pay time - think about the pot odds preflop

Also I would have noted that time games are like renting your seat, rake games are like paying per pot. A time game benefits a loose player (no rake on lots of small pots you win), a rake game benefits a tight player.

straddles: some casinos allow you to straddle 3 handed or heads up, these are both +EV situations. Good casinos will not allow this but you can find it.

kill games: you should be playing QUITE tight with the leg up button, your pot odds are awful since any pot you win is effectively raked by the size of the kill blind minus your EV for the following hand with a kill blind posted (not that high). Other note is that kill games are great because they make people play larger stakes than they think.

chops: some LA casinos take a $1 drop from the small blind on a chop. Gross I know. I chop in all rake games 40/80 and lower, I do not think I overcome the rake in these spots. I do not chop in time games. I do not chop 5 handed or less. Just figured I'd mention. Oh I chop time pots too.

Time Link to 00:27:00

my local here in cali still takes a dollar for the bad beat jp and if the blinds see a flop they take another dollar. so you could have a $6 pot and rake in $4 for the win

Time Link to 00:44:37

well it is unethical from him to kill his own card he could have called a miss deal or got the extra card

On the allstarrt pronunciation...as he clarifies, I am saying it correctly, so there. For the longest time I thought it was allstart and didn't notice the second 'r' until I tried to add him on Skype. But then I also learned his real name and it all made sense (RT being his initials). Anyway, I guess in the future I'll try to roll the r like VS Ramachandran.

Really sweet vid, Pyg. I learned a bunch. I'll never remember getting reamed out by the crusty regs at the Taj for not saying "raise" before my chips hit the felt. Also, I'd like to impart the wisdom to all that it's a bad idea to charter a deep sea fishing boat after drinking and playing until 4:00am. We had 3/7 of our group hurl over the side.

You know, this brings up one important thing that I probably should have covered - the large chip call rule (probably not the correct technical wording).

If you do NOT say raise and then make more than one trip to your stack that is of course a string raise and is not allowed (you will be forced to just call). But if you first say "raise" - you can nubsauce it up and it doesn't matter how many trips / how long it takes you to get your chips into the middle.

Let's say you're in a 10/20 game and want to raise PF. You could do this by announcing raise and then taking your sweet time selecting the 4 dirtiest red chips in your stack and moving them past the betting line. You could also just smoothly put out 4 chips in one motion and it is still a raise even though you didn't announce it. HOWEVER, if you just put out one green chip (worth $25) and say nothing, that is a CALL.

If you're not comfortable handling your chips I'd probably advise you (not necessarily mikefut - general you here) to announce all your raises verbally (but for calls there's really no need unless you find yourself accidentally putting out too many and then being forced to raise when you don't want to).

At the commerce and some other casinos on the west coast you are going to want to tip the floor people as well. This is a must if you are playing anything where they only have one game going at the high stakes. If you get on the floors good side it can and will show its benefits

Ah see, tipping floor people in AC is strictly disallowed. It would be considered a bribe. Not sure about Foxwoods, but it wouldn't surprise me if the rules were consistent across most/all of the East Coast.

But of course I agree generally - you should curry the favor of the floor in socially acceptable ways.

Also pyg is probably the best person to be making this series. He is probably the most professional person I have ever seen at the poker table.

Thanks!

Apparently you haven't seen me and BBB at the table before.

heh - you mean the time you guys got called over by security after bangaranging the table? Remember, fun is NOT allowed - you just need to sit and pay your time like everyone else.

But on a serious note I think he's talking about my demeanor and table image, which are topics I intend to cover later on in the series.

I think it's probably worth noting that as long as the casino returns 100% of the BBJ to the players, it can be neutral EV or even +EV depending on how you approach it.

Yes, definitely. Good point. Either way though it drives up our variance, so it's a poor trade unless our EV is increased. I mean, I'd rather just have the couple hundred or so dollars in $1 BBJ drops I've paid over the past year.

One thing I have seen a few times is a person not chopping "this hand" because they finally got a good hand and they have been getting nothing for a while. Obviously this is horrible etiquette but I have seen it, although it was a low limit game. But you will see people look at their hand before deciding to chop, which is just rude, imo.

Another thing you'll see, and it's a goofy social thing to do, is showing the hand that you ended up chopping. You get to say silly things like, "You had me out kicked", when you show 72 and they show 82.

Yeah, I've seen that too. I agree it's pretty poor form, though on the bright side (if you're the other blind) they're giving you information about their hand range.

As for the latter part, I have no idea why people choose to focus on so many things that don't matter. Like when there's a misdeal, why does half the table look at their first card? It doesn't matter. I guess ultimately it's just one more thing that I think distracts people from playing well (like the rule mongering), which I am glad for.

I would really discourage anybody from getting the poker room rate. If you must get a reduced rate at all, you should get the casino rate and just play some 500$ coin-in Video Poker at a -20$ EV or some EV neutral blackjack. Poker room rates bind you to a certain play (usually way too much for my taste) and the rate sucks as it's the rack rate.

Huh, I wonder if this is a regional thing. I actually get what I consider pretty reasonable offers from both Borgata and Foxwoods. Also, I know what you're talking about in terms of requirements (e.g., x hours a day minimum), but my offers come without any stipulations.

Wait, you can straddle from ANY position in Foxwoods? Even the button? You realize game conditions where that is extremely profitable?

Looks like I misled you - as far as I know you can only straddle UTG. And yes, DeathDonkey mentioned 3 handed games to me after watching an early version of this video. I believe he added his thoughts later in the thread.

no chip runners at east coast casinos afaik

Borgata has chip runners in the high limit area, though not all the time. I usually just go to the cage since it's not that big a room.

watch for kill pot pros. guys how get the kill button and raise with no regard to they get played back at. Key play back on all three streets if your bank roll can handle it.

Yeah, the Schoonmaker articles I talked about call them killophiles and further discusses the strategic adjustments you're advocating.

Participating or buying out of time pots is just like chopping - you should always do it or never do it. I think you underestimated the effect for a tight player, you should almost NEVER pay time - think about the pot odds preflop

Hey DD, thanks for adding your thoughts. I've been thinking about this more and definitely agree with you - I am underestimating how beneficial it is for me to participate in time pots. Reflecting anecdotally in my last 3 trips to AC I have participated in all the time pots that went and have only paid once that I can remember. Obviously not all half hours I played had time pots, but I definitely paid way less in time than I would have if I had opted out.

Last post for now

Thanks for watching everyone - I appreciate all the comments.

A quick revision to my outline:
Next week I am NOT going to cover PF play. I'm going to do a special episode with Boomer (while he's still in the country) using hands from our recent trip to AC.

Time Link to 00:39:33

Well, if their object of the game interfers with my object of the game, should I speak up? The constant deck changing, seat changing, misdealing, arguing, etc. slows down the game, my hourly goes down. What do you do?

Time Link to 00:43:40

Be very careful playing out of racks in other casinos. It might go against their rules.

Time Link to 00:47:56

Well, what do you do about flashers?
I speak up once and that's it. If they continue to expose their cards I WILL USE THAT INFORMATION. I feel no pity with the other players at the table that they don't have that information.

What do you do if you know two people in the hand are friends, but other people don't?
What do you do if you're 3way with a DC member and some other random Schlub? You have information he doesn't have.

I think it's a very fine line, but you shouldn't beat yourself up about poor MP2.

Well, if their object of the game interfers with my object of the game, should I speak up? The constant deck changing, seat changing, misdealing, arguing, etc. slows down the game, my hourly goes down. What do you do?

I can't possibly answer this without sounding a bit like Tommy. For example, I think these are fine responses:

1) Then it is correct for you to speak up. It is also correct for me to remain silent.

2) I can use that as an opportunity to practice tiltlessness.

Also, I would add a few other things from a more PygmyHero-ish perspective:

3) My object of the game (winning) is already at odds with at least some people's OOTG. If someone else wants to win our OOTG's are in opposition to some extent. I mean, if we're HU we can't both succeed. I guess that's part of the reason we play.

Anyway, for the OOTG's I talked about others having in the video I believe I can often let them win and still win according to my OOTG. Furthermore, I would say that in some cases allowing them to win their OOTG helps me win my OOTG.

4) I mentioned table image (though it'd be better to call it presence) earlier and do intend to talk about it more later in the series. I find that being (relatively) implacable is an important part of my game.

What do you do if you know two people in the hand are friends, but other people don't?
What do you do if you're 3way with a DC member and some other random Schlub? You have information he doesn't have.

Well you're straw manning me here a bit. You're using the word 'information' in a different sense than I am. That exposed card is, according to the rules, a piece of information that everyone is entitled to. The examples you gave are not.

I recognize (as I'm sure you do) that a lot of our edge comes from superior knowledge and processing of the type of information you're talking about. My opponents often can't read hands as well as I can, which puts me at an information advantage in basically every hand. But I am under no obligation to divulge any of that information to them nor to help them read hands in the pots they participate in. Nor do I have to explain the finer points of value checking to them. etc.

Nor do I have to explain the finer points of value checking to them. etc.

Just to make myself sleep well at night I do tell people about the finer points of value checking.

Yes, definitely. Good point. Either way though it drives up our variance, so it's a poor trade unless our EV is increased. I mean, I'd rather just have the couple hundred or so dollars in $1 BBJ drops I've paid over the past year.

I mean... I think there are plays that some people make that are -EV that they wouldn't make if it weren't for the BBJ, especially in the low/midstakes. Also the limit games sometimes draw NL players because of the higher chance that a BBJ will be hit there.

One thing you'll see in live poker is a person will show his neighboring player his hand. The neighbor will not be in the hand but the hand will still be live. AFAIK this is against the rules, at least it has been in most rooms I have played in. In fact I am pretty sure it is against the rules to show privately before the hand is mucked. Of course they can just whisper it to the other person. The other side of this is the rule nit who will demand to know what the player showed. This slows down the game and just creates tension. The worst I've seen was one ass demanding that the floor is called to know what was shown. It got tense with threats of violence.

Any opinion on benefits to internet oriented players making an effort to become more amicable and chatty at the table? The older folks at Canterbury in Minneapolis will sometimes make comments about "young internet kids" and seem to get pissed that everyone isn't having a talkative good time like they are.

Any opinion on benefits to internet oriented players making an effort to become more amicable and chatty at the table? The older folks at Canterbury in Minneapolis will sometimes make comments about "young internet kids" and seem to get pissed that everyone isn't having a talkative good time like they are.

Its hard to pull off being a kid and likable enough for it to benefit you the way being talkative would. I think being an internet kid is enough to get you paid off pretty damn light for the most part. I have seen people been talkative to their benefit but I can't pull it off

One thing you'll see in live poker is a person will show his neighboring player his hand. The neighbor will not be in the hand but the hand will still be live. AFAIK this is against the rules, at least it has been in most rooms I have played in. In fact I am pretty sure it is against the rules to show privately before the hand is mucked. Of course they can just whisper it to the other person. The other side of this is the rule nit who will demand to know what the player showed. This slows down the game and just creates tension. The worst I've seen was one ass demanding that the floor is called to know what was shown. It got tense with threats of violence.

Yeah, I've seen this as well. I don't know if it's within the rules or not (I assume it varies by casino), but generally speaking I think the 'show one, show all' rule is often in effect.

To me this spot is like some of the ones I mentioned and falls under the purview of 'just let them win.' It's not worth the hassle. If I flash my cards and someone wants to see, I show them. If I 3b my friend and they want to see both hands, I show at the end. etc. etc.

Any opinion on benefits to internet oriented players making an effort to become more amicable and chatty at the table? The older folks at Canterbury in Minneapolis will sometimes make comments about "young internet kids" and seem to get pissed that everyone isn't having a talkative good time like they are.

This is something I'm going to cover in a future episode where I hit some miscellaneous topics. For now I'll just say that I think it's much easier to realize what your image is and use it rather than to deliberately craft some other image.

Also, I agree with allstarrt - really, is anyone having trouble getting paid off in live games?

This is something I'm going to cover in a future episode where I hit some miscellaneous topics. For now I'll just say that I think it's much easier to realize what your image is and use it rather than to deliberately craft some other image.

Also, I agree with allstarrt - really, is anyone having trouble getting paid off in live games?

I think its just a personality thing too. I have been playing live poker since I was 19 and I've always been talkative at the table (which is really weird because I am quite shy in most other social settings). I think I just am confident at the poker table because I know I am a good player, and so that lets me relax and say whatever ridiculous stuff comes out of my mouth. I keep it friendly and never try to discuss actual poker stuff, but I can't shut up at the table.

Here are a few notes I thought of when watching:

Participating or buying out of time pots is just like chopping - you should always do it or never do it. I think you underestimated the effect for a tight player, you should almost NEVER pay time - think about the pot odds preflop

Suck my 3 time pots paid in AC DD. $65 in rake...mmmm funny.

Time Link to 00:00:46

Pygmy, love the intro ... I really appreciate that you were willing to share actual video and audio of yourself in them.

i pronounce it allstarrrrrt, i dislike your way of saying it. =P

I never knew his SN even had two r's in it.

Pygmy, love the intro ... I really appreciate that you were willing to share actual video and audio of yourself in them.

You know how we do.

I never knew his SN even had two r's in it.

I didn't either until I added him on Skype and failed due to misspelling.

First of all, really excited to see a live series!

Wow, how weird to play with a 3$ chip or even a 5$ chip in a 3/6 game. Talk about killing action. There's a reason why a 20/40 game isn't than much tougher than a 10/20 game live ;-)

There's also a reason why the LA cardrooms switched from $10/20 to $9/18, although I hear they've since gone to $8/16.

Apparently CT is really stupid that way. I cut my teeth on the $2/4 limit at Foxwoods. Yep, yellow $2 chips. Fortunately, it was $2/4, for crying out loud, so the game still played loose.

I've never played at Mohegan but it sounds like they're adopting FW's bad habits. I would go so far as to say that you should buy in in white yourself for $3/6, except that will attract a lot of even more -EV attention.

I think it's probably worth noting that as long as the casino returns 100% of the BBJ to the players, it can be neutral EV or even +EV depending on how you approach it.

Right -- typically it's more a problem because of variance than because of lost equity. People treat it as rake, but really it isn't because they might win a jackpot. But it would take several lifetimes for variance on the big jackpots to even out, so it's obviously tremendously high-variance.

It's not 100% ROI though, because (1) if you win the BBJ, unless you're a jackass, you're going to tip the dealer. Since you already tipped on all the pots that dropped the money going into the jackpot, in essence some dealer's also getting 3-5% (or whatever you tip) of your jackpot drop.

(2)At least in Tunica, I think they use that drop for a lot of things. It's called the "promotional pool", but even so I think the promotions they have in mind are things like freerolls, money-added tournaments, etc. But if you can't be around for those promotions, then you're subsidizing the people who can be. I suppose that could be a net win or net loss for you, depending on which of those extra events you play.

Time Link to 00:39:16

This point about objects of the game is so so so very important!

I was lucky that the first poker book I read was Gary Carson's Complete Book of Hold'em, and he stresses this point. Some people play bad cards because it's fun to draw out on good hands. Some people play as few hands as possible because they're there as a cheap way to get free coffee or drinks and spend their retirement in a climate-controlled environment.

Motivations differ greatly, and understanding your opponents' motivations the more you can adapt your strategy to achieve your goal.

well it is unethical from him to kill his own card he could have called a miss deal or got the extra card

The dealer botched this hand completely.

The standard procedure is: When one of the first two cards off the deck is exposed, it's a misdeal. The dealer stops pitching cards, brings in the cards, shuffles, and the hand starts again with the same button.

Pygmy is correct: It shouldn't depend on the honesty of BB to declare a misdeal here. The dealer should announce the misdeal as soon as he realizes the card was exposed. Of course, a misdeal could mean one fewer hand in the down, which could mean less in tips, so the dealer may have intentionally kept pitching.

It's hard to blame Pygmy, being new to B&M poker at the time of the anecdote, for not speaking up. He thought a replacement card was coming; by the time he realized it wasn't, action may have started. As it happened the woman shot an angle and got caught, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for her. I do have a little sympathy for MP2 playing at an informational disadvantage; hopefully it didn't change much in this hand.

But the correct reaction IMO is to immediately say, "That card flashed!" hopefully before the dealer even pitches you a single card, certainly before you've looked at your own hand. Now it's not dependent on the honesty of BB or the dealer.

Time Link to 00:10:12

I played at the Peppermill in Reno a few weeks ago, and the dealers kept returning pots to their respective winners with half dollar coins among other chips. I still tipped a full dollar when I won a pot, but I thought this was weird since I've never seen this before, and it looked like a lot of players were just tipping 50 cents.

Re: BBJ
One other point that's probably worth mentioning is that a person could view it as -EV in terms of the reporting requirements. The casino will give you a 1099G and having that show up on your tax return and just generally attracting attention to your gambling income may be undesirable.

The dealer botched this hand completely.

The standard procedure is: When one of the first two cards off the deck is exposed, it's a misdeal. The dealer stops pitching cards, brings in the cards, shuffles, and the hand starts again with the same button.

Pygmy is correct: It shouldn't depend on the honesty of BB to declare a misdeal here. The dealer should announce the misdeal as soon as he realizes the card was exposed. Of course, a misdeal could mean one fewer hand in the down, which could mean less in tips, so the dealer may have intentionally kept pitching.

It's hard to blame Pygmy, being new to B&M poker at the time of the anecdote, for not speaking up. He thought a replacement card was coming; by the time he realized it wasn't, action may have started. As it happened the woman shot an angle and got caught, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for her. I do have a little sympathy for MP2 playing at an informational disadvantage; hopefully it didn't change much in this hand.

But the correct reaction IMO is to immediately say, "That card flashed!" hopefully before the dealer even pitches you a single card, certainly before you've looked at your own hand. Now it's not dependent on the honesty of BB or the dealer.

Absolutely. I agree 100% with everything you said here.

I played at the Peppermill in Reno a few weeks ago, and the dealers kept returning pots to their respective winners with half dollar coins among other chips. I still tipped a full dollar when I won a pot, but I thought this was weird since I've never seen this before, and it looked like a lot of players were just tipping 50 cents.

Weird. Maybe they're just accustomed to a ton of the regulars chucking them a dollar chip and asking it to get chopped, so they do it to save time.

Finally I got to watch this! Good stuff, thanks. Never heard of some of this lol.

I have a question how to deal with friends a the table. Given there are so few tables runnig and so many DC members in town I guess there's a good chance I run into this dilemma. How do u deal with that?

What I don't want is to get into some high variance, fancy play battle that potentially can cost a ton. On the other hand it feels incorrect to "stay out of the way". Should I make clear to the other players at the table that we are friends so that they can take it into account? Try to get seats far from eachother?

What if my friend starts to tilt and spew money. Is it then customary to say somehing to try and "save" him, or should I just mind my own business (personally I would be grateful if someone said: "yo suhi, take a break", but my ego is not that big ).

"Friend" is also a relative term since many players I don't know much about beside their DC SN.

First off, as I mentioned a bit earlier in the thread I don't feel obligated to announce to the table, 'I know the 4 seat - we talk poker regularly,' or anything like that. But of course I don't do anything to hide my relationship with them either. The rest of the table can infer whatever they want.

I really don't think that one is a big deal - a lot of the regs kind of know each other and are casual acuaintances and I've never seen them disclose any information (nor would I expect them to).

As far as playing against anyone you know, it's a normal poker situation. I mean, I'm sure you knowingly play some DC members online. If you alter your play, that's your decision. If you play them harder than normal, that's your decision. Regardless of what you choose to do the other players at the table can try to figure it out (most won't and most won't try) - you don't need to announce your strategy.

As for your last question that's a bit more complicated because your financial interests are not aligned with your friends'. I feel that in most cases I would tell the person - it feels like the right thing to me, I hope someone would do it for me, and realistically because in FR especially I'm not likely to just make oodles of money because my friend is tilting. That said, if you chose not to I wouldn't fault you.

I really don't have the same viewpoint as you do towards playing with friends Sushi. I love trying to soulcrush and tilt my friends at the poker table, we play extremely hard against each other. Afterwards, we talk about the hands, and are otherwise friendly, but at the table, winning their chippies is worth so much more than those from some random person

I really don't have the same viewpoint as you do towards playing with friends Sushi. I love trying to soulcrush and tilt my friends at the poker table, we play extremely hard against each other. Afterwards, we talk about the hands, and are otherwise friendly, but at the table, winning their chippies is worth so much more than those from some random person

See Episode 2

I really don't have the same viewpoint as you do towards playing with friends Sushi. I love trying to soulcrush and tilt my friends at the poker table, we play extremely hard against each other. Afterwards, we talk about the hands, and are otherwise friendly, but at the table, winning their chippies is worth so much more than those from some random person

Prepare for another silly sushi-psychology-post...

I actually think the attitude u describe could be awesome for me to some extent. I feel somewhat stuck in my poker learning. One reason is I think that I run away from all challenges. I think it is one reason I never improve beyond my sloppy default game that I know is enough to four table 3/6 for 2bb/100 (with table selection that is). Basically I dont put my self in situation where real deep thinking is needed (to beat the game at a decent rate).

I wonder how I should take the next step. I've been at this level since Omakase (when I took a big leap in my game IMO). Hopefully I get some inspiration from all of u in Vegas. What I would need is some basic idea for how to beat other players like myself. I mean Obv I have some clues, but u know what I mean.

Perhaps trying to soulcrush ur friends is a good start ?

Prepare for another silly sushi-psychology-post...

I actually think the attitude u describe could be awesome for me to some extent. I feel somewhat stuck in my poker learning. One reason is I think that I run away from all challenges. I think it is one reason I never improve beyond my sloppy default game that I know is enough to four table 3/6 for 2bb/100 (with table selection that is). Basically I dont put my self in situation where real deep thinking is needed (to beat the game at a decent rate).

I wonder how I should take the next step. I've been at this level since Omakase (when I took a big leap in my game IMO). Hopefully I get some inspiration from all of u in Vegas. What I would need is some basic idea for how to beat other players like myself. I mean Obv I have some clues, but u know what I mean.

Perhaps trying to soulcrush ur friends is a good start ?

Yeah, absolutely, I'd say things like playing DC homegames (or scheduling / starting one with some of our LHE guys!) would always be helpful and bring out some of the most fun aspects of poker.

I think we just have a fundamental difference towards how we approach poker - I've always always always just been a guy who experiments with random stuff, and it sort of seems like you are saying you take safe roads, and place a large emphasis on winning (see: "2 bb/100" in your post - I literally never think about my winrate or care about it).

I think we just have a fundamental difference towards how we approach poker - I've always always always just been a guy who experiments with random stuff, and it sort of seems like you are saying you take safe roads, and place a large emphasis on winning (see: "2 bb/100" in your post - I literally never think about my winrate or care about it).

I feel a bit dumb now (meh, I shouldn't have included that winrate statement lol). I think u are correct overall even though the situation is less black and white. I mean I do expereiments some of the time, but I think u are correct about where my emphasis lie. I would say I, in every aspect of life. avoid difficult situation and that comes at a high cost.

Re the exposed card situation at the end of this video I believe that The dealer and the player saw it but they didn't know if anybody else saw it. If noone else saw it then there's no reason to call it out. So if you saw the card - call it out and the dealer will use that card as a burn card. i don't think they did anything wrong.

Nice vid btw ...

no chip runners at east coast casinos afaik

Delaware Park Race Track. Runners are the ones who escort you to your seat at that poker room. Terrible play there...1/2 and 2/5 Very profitable. They throw in a mississippi straddle rule which makes 2/5 LIKE 5/10 considering someone does it everytime.. I find myself having to resteal the straddle in order to not lose position everytime.