So here's the thing. I will tell you about my experience at Bay 101 even though I feel like an ass for talking about it. Then I will tell you exactly why I feel that the poker books that Jon and I have read DO NOT TOTALLY apply to the online form of gambling. Obviously I've spent more time online than playing live, but seeing how I've been coming up (yes I had a losing session but I cut it off at 40 when I went with Kevin to Bay) you can take my advice any which way you want.

Here is the story in short form. I started with four lonely stacks of 10 when I sat down at the table. Left with over three racks when I was finished about 5 hours later. Another quick story...I had the big blind special and was looking at a J7o. Not too bad, but far from fucking good. This old FOB lady calls the bet and everyone else folds...which is odd considering that more people would at least see the flop. Anyway the flop came 7 - 9 - J. Holy shit...isn't luck good for me...UNTIL I saw this lady chuckle. I have made it my habit to never look at my cards while I'm in the game and look at what the people are doing to practice my "reading" skills. But this laugh seemed weird. Not the type where you laugh and say, "fuck...I should've known that shit would miss me...". Oh no. This was another type of chuckle...Now let us remind everyone that I was holding two pair. This should have won me the hand in any other situation...but that laugh. Anyway the bet is to her and she bets. Now she is staring at me. I say, "time". I reach for my stacks and her eyes start to get a little bigger. So now I have to reads on this FOB and I figure that even though I have a huge hand...perhaps it wasn' t the best. So I took a chance. (Also note that this lady was sitting at the table for about 2 hours before this took place so I got to see how she bet) I mucked my cards face up and showed my two pair. Everyone was like, "what the fuck are you doing?". I looked at her and told her that I bet she was holding a 8 - 10 which would give her the nut straight. She looked at me and gave me this dirty look. I politely asked if I could see them. She flipped them over and there they were. An 8 - 10 suited hearts. An old man next to me just looked at me and said, "jesus". So while I am no way saying I'm awesome...I'm just saying that following your gut can save you money. *On another note I could have tried to draw out on her...the chances of me hitting a fullhouse is about 16 percent.

Poker books. I have warned Bryant about them. Do they help? Yes. Did they win me money? Yes. But those poker books are designed for card rooms. Card rooms that you play with other people in front of your face. Is there a difference in strategy when I sit down to play cards at Pokerroom or Bay? You bet your ass. Those poker books were written by poker players who have got their experience and sweat at real live card rooms. At Pokerroom especially at 1-2 and even as high as 3-6 you will see hands flip over that you wouldn't believe if I told you. We've all been rivered more than enough times and sometimes premium hands don't win shit. The thing about Pokerroom is that it has to be considered like a video game. These people don't see their stacks in front of their faces. They don't see the stacks getting lower and lower while they bet stupid shit. Even at Bay 101 I have noticed that people are generally more cautious about what they play. Of course you still get the bullshit hands every once in a while, but usually the way I play (which is based on these various books) have paid me off at Bay. You want stats...3/4 times I've gone lately I've been up. So far that is still considered lucky. But the fact of the matter is that I have won roughly 400 dollars for about 12 hours of play.

All I'm trying to say is that don't take the good information in poker books as confidence. If you do it will lose you money. All you new players will be as good as me and Jon...shit I'm still trying to catch up to Jon, but remember that experience is the ultimate learning guide. I'll talk to you laters and the next time I blog it won't be about poker. I promise you that. Peace out...time for shitty class.