Well it finally happened. Like, it was bound to sooner or later to be honest. I wasn't going to blog about it, but doing so and closing out my books on the issue really helps me put the whole experience behind me, so here we go. I got obliterated in the white chip game yesterday. The actual loss only ended up being 43 bets, but halfway through the 13 hour marathon session I was up almost that much, so in truth I think the trip down was around 75 bets (what would normally be a 6 racker in a 4 chip 8 chip game). All the typically bad stuff had to happen, and eventually at just before 2am I had to quit the game because I decided my play had deteriorated to the point that I was at best a small winner in the game, even though there was still an absolute whale and another fish that I've seen entire 40/80 games built around in the game. My ability to focus was shot (I'd been at the casino for almost 18 hours at that point), and regardless of stakes any time you go on a trip down the ladder like that you really do just need to quit. My table image was completely shot, and I wasn't taking time to make the best possible decisions in hands, and my ability to make my pet "lol live pro" soul read folds had been almost completely neutralized. As usual with some or even most of the hands you just end up in the most retarded spots you possibly can range-wise (I made three crying calls with river full houses and guess what lost all three...stuff like 99 vs TT on a 444 flop, you know the drill), and with others you just get sucked out on violently (4 way 3 bet pot, I have AA, board reads K22 and I get to put in 3 bets against 44, river 4 she just donks right out...JJ vs Q9 on QQJ-A-A). I mean, it's a combination of anything. You get 3-bet by J7s and get to cap with with AQo 3 ways and can't win, same guy flops a nut flush against your over pair, blah blah blah.
Lots of weird stuff happened throughout the 8 hours I lost the 75 bets. This guy who never ever sits above 1/2 sat, and everyone was shocked, and his aces got cracked on like the 3rd hand and he lobbied for 45 minutes like he always does and bitched and moaned and tapped the glass and eventually booked a $4k win playing like a complete tool shed (slow playing full houses, missing tons of value). This long time high stakes pro went on stone cold monologue tilt after I 3-bet her with K8s saying stuff like "I have plenty of chips to burn, you want to burn chips, we'll burn chips together" and then proceeded to play every hand for 30 minutes straight. To quote a wise man "the wheels were off the bus" but it didn't matter, when I stopped out at 2am she had $60k in front of her, our fortunes after her rant differing by some preposterous fraction of my entire net worth. To be clear, I 3-bet the K8s because I had seen her iso 3-bet the whale, from the SB no less, with 98o. Nine. Eight. Off. OOP. So I mean really, at that point all bets are void (a quick poker cruncher run shows K8s has 48.5% equity vs a 43% 3-betting range, which is the point at which it auto-includes the 98o...and that would be for cold-capping the freaking hand...in this cause I just 3-bet her which had to be correct). I've realized something about these high stakes regulars; there is no joking with them, no busting their chops, no trying to be one of the guys. They believe they are the cool kids and anybody who hasn't paid his dues is going to get no respect what so ever. In short, they do everything they can to make sure you know they feel superior to you. It's pretty tough to adjust to at first, and my natural inclination to make small talk and be friendly really gets me into trouble once in a while. Like, I can't really describe it accurately, but there are just a few of them who will never ever ever give you credit for saying anything funny or interesting whatsoever, and always treat you like a social outcast. Honestly the lengths to which they go to make you look like a little kid or whatever are pretty laughable and transparent. Whatever, it's fine, that's the way they want to do business that's fine with me.
So yeah, that about sums it up. I played 27 hours in two days and am not sure how I feel about the result. Like of course if I'd stayed til 2am and booked even a $5k win, or played all night or whatever, I'd be happier about it. It was actually pretty sad that I had to stop out, but it is what it is. Honestly if you quit every time you went on a 75 bet down tick for the rest of your life you probably wouldn't really be costing yourself much if any money. So that's what I did. I'm taking today off for mental health purposes, which is a shame since I'm supposed to leave for Vegas tomorrow for ANOTHER bachelor party (with basically the same group of guys from last weekend), but it's fine really. I'm pooped and just won't play well if I go in today, so a day with the dogs it is. The whole thing is weird, in exactly the same way as the original massive win was. It doesn't really matter. Objectively, it just doesn't change the way I'm supposed to do business. Now subjectively it certainly changes the way I feel, and could have an effect on my confidence and therefore game selection decisions in the future, but honestly it just doesn't actually matter. It's hard to believe I can say that, but it's true, which is why the longer I go past the event the closer to normal I'm feeling. Which I guess speaks volumes about how far I've come.
6 comments:
Re: Cool Kids - Why do you think they act that way? Insecurity? Psychological warfare?
I bet they don't consciously know they're doing this. Think about it... we probably do the same thing to pros who are take shots in our games. And when the motivation for the behavior is coming from a subconscious level, calling them out on their behavior has the potential to rattle them. Instead of trying to be one of the cool kids, maybe take the dominant adult role? "Do you realize you haven''t looked at me once since I sat down?" "What's with the bullshit cold shoulder games?" "Are you afraid to get attached to me in case I get broke and have to move back down?"
If nothing else it would probably bolster your own psyche in those games.
I am pretty sure it's psychological warfare and that they are doing 100% on purpose. But you could be right.
I've realized something about these high stakes regulars; there is no joking with them, no busting their chops, no trying to be one of the guys. They believe they are the cool kids and anybody who hasn't paid his dues is going to get no respect what so ever. In short, they do everything they can to make sure you know they feel superior to you. It's pretty tough to adjust to at first, and my natural inclination to make small talk and be friendly really gets me into trouble once in a while. Like, I can't really describe it accurately, but there are just a few of them who will never ever ever give you credit for saying anything funny or interesting whatsoever, and always treat you like a social outcast. Honestly the lengths to which they go to make you look like a little kid or whatever are pretty laughable and transparent. Whatever, it's fine, that's the way they want to do business that's fine with me.
That's a terrible attitude for someone in the entertainment business to take towards their paying audience. And I say this as someone who is myself guilty too often feeling and acting superior to the customers.
Are they like this with everyone new, or just the people they identify as possible competition for the whales' action? The latter makes a certain sort of sense, but is still counterproductive: pros moving up are still part of the higher-limit pros' food chain.
They definitely have me marked as a pro moving up, and are probably doing everything they can to send me back down. They definitely don't treat the fish like this.
FWIW, I'd rather 3bet with 98o than K8o (note the last "o" in the K8 hand). You are dominated less often, the hand plays quite easy postflop HU (as in almost - "you hit it or you don't").
Now, of course you had K8s :P
Also, I think it's really dumb to be treating ANYBODY at the table badly, be it a winner or not. Poker health is more important than that last fraction of a BB.
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