... The standard of play is also a lot higher in Vegas in general. There are always not so good (but very lucky) players everywhere, but in Vegas there are so many very good players in every poker room. That said, I felt I was able to play to their level and that I have the skills to compete with them...
... I was handed a lesson in cash game poker. I think by winning $200 in my first session I was lured into a false sense of security. In subsequent sessions I proceeded to play too passively and make some bad calls. It is wierd because I would never play like this in a tournament. I must improve my cash game play online and put in the hours before venturing into a live cash game again. This is an area of my game that definitely needs to improve...
James,
Glad to hear that the overall eperience was a positive one and that you"re chomping at the bit to return... I must get around to writing a summary of my trip also!
It has been interesting reading your reports and comparing them to my experiences of my first trip last year. A similar sense of wonderment is apparent!!
Re: Cash games... I"m suprised that you felt the standard was high in Vegas, my impression, after two visits now, is that it partcularly low at the $1/$2 NL tables. Yes, there will be one or two at the table who know what they"re doing, but I"ve always found they are outnumbered by people who really have no idea.
My strategy is to sit tight for the first orbit or two and try to identify the fish and the mood of the table. If it"s pretty passive then try to see as many cheap flops as possible with any two "pretty" cards, you will throw most of them away on the flop but when you do hit a flop hard you
will get paid. When you do get AA raise big, no 3xBB raises here, make it $20... it might be the only hand you"ve raised for two hours but you will still get one or two callers, maybe even a re-raise!
If I find I have a hyper-aggressive serial raiser at the table then I take one of two options... either sit tight and play proper ABC poker with premium hands (boring), or (more likely) move to another table / room - there is always another game somewhere.
Oh, and when you have the nuts the "value bet" is
always all-in... I am totally mystified by some of the weak hands you will get called with. And even if you only get called one in three or four times it is still value.
I really don"t think that playing online cash will be that good as preparation for the live cash in Vegas. I think that even $0.25/$0.50 NL online is a much higher standard and played totally differently to the $1/$2 live games.
I"m certainly no cash game expert, but I find this works for me.
Good luck with future trips over there.
Cheers,
Alan
