Confessions of a Live N00B

[entertainme]

Cliff notes: N00B live player goes to Reno to meet with friends. Messes up at tourney final table.

I went to Reno last weekend to meet up with a couple girlfriends from high school, taking the opportunity to get in some rare live poker. (If I recall correctly, I've played live a total of three times before this. Once in Vegas in 2004 with zero poker experience and a couple times locally for short periods.)

I'd be the first to admit that I'm not good with the whole live thing with real cards and chips.

Online, I generally play low buy in SNG for recreation, which as a regular 2p2 reader makes it hard to not consider yourself average to below average in the poker world, (though I do have a positive ROI.)

I anticipate with this TR that everyone can have a good laugh at my expense. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

The night I arrive, my friend stays home with the kids while her husband and I go out to play in Carson City. I'm thinking it was at Carson Station, but can't be 100%.

A 1-2 NL game is starting. We buy in for $100 each. My first hand is pp 10, with a 10 on the flop. I take all the chips from a player with AK on a K high flop. Nice way to start the trip! At one point I lose my original buy in calling all in with the nut flush draw on the flop. I manage to identify one donkey at the table playing utter crap and bust him. It's a nice friendly game. I don't make any egregious mistakes except to forget the dealer occasionally after winning a pot, remembering, and correcting it when I see the next person tip. I end the night up $150 or so. It's a good confidence builder.

Us ladies are spending the weekend at the Peppermill in Reno, where the Fall Tournament is going on. Of the three of us, I'm the only one that plays poker. (These are my two best friends from high school. We haven't all been together in one place for 18 years.)

I enter the First Chance $200 + $25 Friday night. I think there were about 170 entered. I busted in about 45th.

Saturday I enter the noon $300 + 30 NL, 128 entries, 14 get paid. Key hand at about the 150-300 level. I'm the BB with Ax s, (think it was AJ or A10.) Cut off raises. I call. Flop the nut flush. Check. CO bets into me large. I call. Bets turn, I call. Finally all in on the river with Q high board. He has aces. I double to about 10K.

By the time we get down to three tables, I'm getting short stacked. I survive by pushing all in when I get a hand. (Think I was called once by another shortie when I had AK and won.)

After the bubble breaks, but before the final table, I make some mistake that the floor has to be called for. I don't remember exact details. I didn't bet enough or something.

So, we make the final table, are asked to fill out Bios, and they introduce us on the mike. I didn't expect that.

We have one bust, so we're down to 8. I'm in last MP, the player to my right goes all in. I look down to find 7's and call - then in a moment of idiocy, push my cards to the dealer. She takes them and they go into the muck.

The floor is called. He explains that the bet stands, so I'm all in with no hand. Everyone could not be nicer, but I'm really not upset. How can I be? I'm the one who screwed up. I'm having a great time with my friends. I made the final table in my second live tournament. (Payout was $1000 for 8th.)

The best I can figure, my problem was that 90% of the time your action is to fold and send your cards to the dealer. I obviously need to learn to take more time with both chips and cards, and probably get a card protector.

Folded to the BB who agonizes with the dead money in the pot and not much of a hand. He finally calls. Player next to me gets his Jack on the flop. My 7 comes on the turn. BB makes a flush on the river.

If my hand hadn't been dead, I don't think the BB would have called. I would have won the hand with a set of sevens and knocked out the player on my right. Oh well. Live and learn.

The guy to my right was the nicest guy. He ended up on my right the next day in a cash game that went wrong for me from the start. (For example, I misread the board thinking Qs was Qc and folded what would have been the nut flush. King high flush was next to me so I would have made some nice money.) In one hand he's SB, I'm BB with AJ. I raise. He calls. Flop comes K,8,X. I raise, He reraises. I fold. He shows K 8. He really did me a favor reraising there.

But, I was tired, the game went wrong from the start, etc. I was never rude, but not as pleasant as I expect from myself. I got up and left to have dinner soon after. So, if you're out there reading this, best of luck in the rest of the tourney's! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

In spite of my mistakes, I really did like the live play, which makes me think I need to get better at cash or play more tourneys to prepare for future outings.

Also, here's the Tourney forum link for the Peppermil tourneys. Swede554 is doing well, with a 5th, 1st, and 8th so far.

[swede554]

Very nice read. Sorry to hear about the 77's going into the muck mishap, but it happens to everyone from time to time. Like today I somehow thought I was the BB when I was actually UTG and no one corrected me, so I was somewhat annoyed by the fact that I had to fold whatever junk I had when an LP player raised and then I had to post the BB again the very next hand. Oh well, like you said we live and learn from our mistakes. Too bad that we never got to meet up, next time maybe.

[Ricky_Bobby]

Man, that seems like total crap to me. Can one of the B&M experts comment?

[entertainme]

[ QUOTE ]
Very nice read. Sorry to hear about the 77's going into the muck mishap, but it happens to everyone from time to time. Like today I somehow thought I was the BB when I was actually UTG and no one corrected me, so I was somewhat annoyed by the fact that I had to fold whatever junk I had when an LP player raised and then I had to post the BB again the very next hand. Oh well, like you said we live and learn from our mistakes. Too bad that we never got to meet up, next time maybe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah! That jogs my memory of what happened when we were down to two tables. I was distracted when my friends came to check on me, turned back to the table, thought I was UTG and they were waiting on me. I was actually BB and acted out of turn. (Pretty sure I went all in.) I don't even remember what the floor ruled. Again, my mistake.

OTOH, my non-poker playing friends think I must be good, when in reality my goal is not to suck or embarrass myself too badly, which makes me smile. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[dtf13]

[ QUOTE ]
Man, that seems like total crap to me. Can one of the B&M experts comment?

[/ QUOTE ]
I was actually at this final table, and saw what happened first hand...I do feel for her, but the floor's ruling was correct.

The floor has to go "by the book" and this was the correct decision. It would have been unfair to the rest of the table to let her out of the hand. I really felt for her, but rules are rules. There was really NO OTHER option here.

She was playing well..but I do have to admit, I have never seen anything like it in a tournament before (say "Call" and then muck the hand).

OP- The more experience you have handling chips and playing live the more comfortable you will get, you seem to understand tournament poker strategy... But, please start stacking your chips in stacks of 20 becasue it was impossible to see how much you had the whole tournament and your cluster of different size stacks was driving me crazy [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

ps- I was the one who doubled you up with two tables left, when we got it in pre-flop with my AQ vs your KQ.

[Rottersod]

I'm confused? You called the bet and then sent your cards to the dealer who did what? Any decent dealer would have sat on the cards, and if there was a complaint from another player called the floor over for a ruling. Turbo mucking a called hand is not correct, especially when her call was clearly heard by the rest of the table.

[dtf13]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm confused? You called the bet and then sent your cards to the dealer who did what? Any decent dealer would have sat on the cards, and if there was a complaint from another player called the floor over for a ruling. Turbo mucking a called hand is not correct, especially when her call was clearly heard by the rest of the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

The dealer did have a chance to save her... a better dealer would have saved her. But she said "Call" then mucked, and dealer by reaction swept in her cards.

[entertainme]

[ QUOTE ]
The floor has to go "by the book" and this was the correct decision. It would have been unfair to the rest of the table to let her out of the hand. I really felt for her, but rules are rules. There was really NO OTHER option here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, I had no problem with the floor's ruling. My mistake. I live with the consequences. (It would have upset me OTOH if one of my mistakes had negatively affected another player.)

[ QUOTE ]
OP- The more experience you have handling chips and playing live the more comfortable you will get, you seem to understand tournament poker strategy... But, please start stacking your chips in stacks of 20 becasue it was impossible to see how much you had the whole tournament and your cluster of different size stacks was driving me crazy [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I was going for stacks of 10 and thought I did OK. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Other players did inform me that you need to keep your biggest chips visible up front, which I tried to do from that point forward. Of course, if it tilts you, I'll keep them messy! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] (I find dirty stacks more difficult. Can't get my head around what's there.)

[ QUOTE ]
ps- I was the one who doubled you up with two tables left, when we got it in pre-flop with my AQ vs your KQ.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey! We now have a witness who can attest to the fact that I'm a 2p2 poster who is actually a woman, not a guy pretending to be one! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Seriously though, thanks for posting. I was wondering who might be 2p2 any time I sat at a table, but it would be kind of odd to throw a "Sup Bro'" randomly into the crowd.

How did you end up finishing?

[pig4bill]

[ QUOTE ]
I was going for stacks of 10 and thought I did OK. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Other players did inform me that you need to keep your biggest chips visible up front, which I tried to do from that point forward. Of course, if it tilts you, I'll keep them messy! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] (I find dirty stacks more difficult. Can't get my head around what's there.)

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not your option to keep dirty stacks and big chips hidden in a tournament. The dealer should have told you to straighten them up.

A guy in a WSOP satellite went all-in and the dealer just grabbed his cards and mucked them. Nobody noticed until the flop came out. Oh well, gotta protect your cards.

[entertainme]

[ QUOTE ]

It's not your option to keep dirty stacks and big chips hidden in a tournament. The dealer should have told you to straighten them up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to clarify, I didn't have dirty stacks and I did put my higher denomination chips up front as soon as I was informed, (which was pretty early on.) Maybe my 10 stacks were harder to see along the rail? (I kept rechecking them for my own benefit. Another live challenge to keep track of where you are BB wise with real chips.)