Change Casinos?

[BDub1]

Okay, I have been playing 5/10, 10/20. 25/50 etc, NLHE for a few years and up to recently, was doing pretty well. However, the last 8 months (give or take) I have been having my a$$ kicked at the Bike in LA. Sometimes it is before L@TB, other times while the internet feed is going, and then continues afterwards.

Here's my question, should I take a break and try Commerce (or somewhere else) as maybe I am too predictable to the same set of players, or should I admit, finally, I suck and live with it?

How many of you have had long downward swings in higher limit live games and then switched casinos and changed your play, image or???

Interested in your opinions.

graph in $ please

[gakn29]

Grim what does that have to do with his question at all except to poke fun at his situation?

[soah]

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a dick, but when I watched you on L@TB I felt like you were probably not a winner in those games. I have not watched the show for a while so I can't remember too many specific things but I remember getting the impression that you played too loose and at times you spewed very badly. I seem to recall one hand where you lost a huge pot by calling all-in on the river with a pair of threes, for example (I will admit that it is possible that I am thinking of someone else, though). You posted a hand here once for analysis... I think you had AQ, although I don't remember the board or the action... and you were saying that you wanted to call on the end, while everyone who replied was saying that you were clearly beaten.

If you are thinking of changing casinos, it should be for psychological reasons, for example that a new environment will help you focus better or that you can think of it as a fresh start as opposed to chasing losses from the previous session(s). Ultimately, however, your results are going to depend on how well you play, and it sounds like you are hoping for a "quick fix" to your problems. I would advise you to look back at all the major pots you have been involved with and see if you are getting your money in with the best of it, and whether there was anything you should have done differently. Sometimes you will simply get cold decked, but you may find times when you try to pick off a bluff where your opponent is unlikely to be bluffing, or you try to bluff when your opponent isn't going to believe you, or that you are making bets for value that probably will chase away the hands that you beat, etc. And keep in mind that small mistakes on early streets can lead to big problems on later streets. If you call a raise with QJo, flop a pair, and lose to AA, it is not being cold decked... it's just a case of a preflop mistake getting you stuck in a spot where you will lose more money. It's possible that you are genuinely running bad, but running bad can also lead to tilt and poor play. Looking at your play objectively will help you determine what is really happening, and it will make you a better player.

I wish you the best.

[Triumph36]

Barry,

I've watched you play on Live at the Bike, like soah, and feel your game has some leaks that if left uncorrected, will probably leave you a losing or break-even player regardless of your casino. You have a tendency to make 'hero calls' - calling when all you can beat is a bluff. I'm still not sure whether you play for fun, or to beat the game - calling is certainly more fun, and I enjoy it too, especially when it's a hero call and I'm right, but calling down people's bluffs isn't going to win me money in the long run because most of the time, people aren't bluffing.

I don't think your running feud with Corporation Mike helps your game any, either - you sometimes seem more occupied with beating/outplaying Mike than with beating the game. I'm sure it's fun taking chips off that whining d-bag, and I enjoy seeing you do it (as well as your [censored]-talk back and forth) - but this can't be helping your game, and I feel a change of casinos might be a good thing to help you get re-focused.

I don't know what your goal is with poker - to win money and to have fun the way you do might be mutually exclusive. Still, I feel like two things can change your game (but not necessarily your luck) - calling less from up front with possibly dominated hands (i.e. king-ten offsuit in early position), and calling less often on the flop/turn/river when it's hard to see a hand you beat.

I still hope to see you on Live at the Bike.

[WutRUTryin2Hit]

Hi Barry, I'm a fan, just saw you on the LA Poker Scene the other day and was thinking back to when I used to watch L@TB every night, good times. I think this is a special case because your opponents are more than likely watching each episode the next day, and there is an archive where you have played hundreds of hours with all your hole cards and bets exposed. People may be adjusting to your play to a much deeper extent than you think. If you have any small tells related to bet sizes for instance, you may be completely unaware of it but if even a couple of the regulars have picked something up, it will make a big difference in your results. There could just be a couple of players there who have a good handle on when to not pay off river value bets against you or something. If something like this is the case, you would have to do major work on changing up your game, moreso than just "I bluffed a lot last episode, this episode I will not bluff much" sort of adjustments.

I should add, I haven't watched L@TB in ages, it stopped working for me a while ago, so none of this is based on certainty, I just think that having so much footage of you playing is very exploitable, and some of those players have to be sharp enough to have considered doing a very deep analysis of everyone's game from the archives. Just a thought unrelated to your actual playing fundamentals or whatever, which I'm sure everyone else will discuss.

[BDub1]

Thanks for the positive comments. It is sometimes hard for me (and most people) to admit and own up to actually playing poorly...instead blaming the cards, dealer, luck or the poker god. I do realize some of my mistakes and am working to correct them, albeit slowly. I grant you my starting hand requirements are not Sklansky-based, and I do bluff too often (or attempt to). With your comments as the further substantiation of some questionable play at times, I will work on those leaks mentioned. I sincerely thank you for your comments and constructive criticism.

[Percula]

I agree with what a lot of the others have already said, but wanted to add...

There are times your game is very good, then it seems to just go to hell in a hand basket. I don't know if your form of tilt is a result of the players around you like Corp Mike messing with you or seeing someone like Jonas ripping a huge pot and you are sitting there not raking big pots. But IMO you primary problem is tilt, if you can figure out the things that set you off (even if you are not feeling strongly) and work on that.

[flytrap]

I don't think you're alone in thinking this. I've had the same thoughts. There are two casinos in Detroit that have poker rooms, and I've been running and playing really badly in one of them, but in the other I'm still doing really well. It's gotten to the point where I'm almost afraid to go into one of them, and I'm embarrased at my play, while at the other I feel like Phil Ivey. The craziest part is that from what everyone says, the room where I've been playing poorly has easier games. I think a change of scenerary can give you a fresh outlook and could definately give a boost to your game.

[thebeebster]

bwoods, it's your game, not the bike.