Hey all, thanks for the positive feedback, it's much appreciated.
Heh, I realized that normally our 'down on his luck hero' would have normally taken a good 25% chunk of the BBJ, but that doesn't really fit the story. Too bad for him.
That said, our group went to the casino this Friday night. Overall they did well. A few large winners, a few small losers, so the group was significantly up overall. The trip also gave me a chance to see what important things I had forgot to mention in the original post. A few things come to mind.
<ul type="square">[*]If you're used to online play, live play is going to seem
very slow. If it's your first time in a casino, things will be scary and exciting when you're in a hand, but be prepared for a long wait when you're not in a hand. Live play can run less than half the speed of online. This is where I take advantage of the extra time and try to be talkative. It helps get through those long periods between hands, and it helps your image too!
[*]I find casino play much more passive in general. This is extremely pronounced on the turn and river. It is not uncommon for people to check behind or call behind on the river with very strong hands. Thus, if you get raised by a tighter player on the turn or river, you need to seriously consider folding.
[*]As an online player, you may be used to semi-bluffing and playing your draws aggressively. This is pointless at a casino because you have so little folding equity. You don't need to raise your draws in position unless you think you have positive pot equity. But, because of the before-mentioned passivity on the turn and river, it is very easy to get a free river card, even out of position! You can bet the flop into people and then check the turn when called. Often it will be checked around for you.
[*]Also relating to the passivity issue, check/raising is very rare. Passive players don't check/raise and good players can't check/raise because passive players don't bet.
[*]A little image goes a long way. It's ok to start out a little overaggressive. If you mess around a bit early, a lot of people will start thinking of you as 'that crazy guy' at the other end of the table. Tighten up after your first few orbits and the image will stay.
[*]Don't be disappointed with a -1/2 buyin day. It's possible to sit for several hours and simply not have any opportunities due to the slow nature of the game.
[*]Because you often will only have a handful of opportunities over the course of the night, you have to take advantage of them. Unfortunately, if you suffer a bad beat during one of them, it can pretty much cripple your chances of having a solid night. You have to accept that.
[*]Don't come to the casino with any monetary goal in mind. Some of my friends came hoping they could double up. When you start thinking about the magnitude of your success, your decision making process fixates on the wrong priorities. Come to play, have fun, and make good decisions.
[*]I have two preferred methods for stacking chips. If you're new and find yourself thinking about ups and downs too much, immediately stack your chips in 7 or 9 uneven stacks. This keeps you from knowing exactly how much is in front of you and will let you focus on the game as you won't be able to monitor your financial progress as much. The downside of this method is that sometimes you need to know exactly how much you have, and sometimes it helps to have prestacked piles so you can just move one or two of them in quickly without having to count them out. Keep even piles of 10 or 20 chips only if you're able to ignore your wins and losses over the course of the night.[/list]Ok, a few more. Hope they help again. Feel free to keep adding your own too. Thanks.