Fool Me Once....

For the second time in a row I failed today to secure a seat in the "whale" 1/2 game.  I had advanced scouting;  at 7pm last night I was aware that he was coming in at around 9am (which means between 8:50 and 10).  So I woke up at 6:30 in the morning (yes, SIX THIRTY), took care of the dogs (because Danielle is on an overnight work trip where they will kayak and ride dune buggies...fucking dune buggies!) and left for the casino at 7:10.  I arrived at 8:30.  I am not kidding, 8:30.  And when I got there there was a 1/2 HT game going, one which I believe I would have been happy to play in, my rudimentary deuce skills non-withstanding.  There were white pros, asian pros, and at least 3 players I marked as marks, and so I listed for the game.  But what happened?  As soon as the players saw myself and one other young pro they converted the game to straight hold 'em, since it was obvious the whale was coming.  And guess what...a fish quit.  And I got a seat.  So I took it....heck, the game was still pretty good.  Except there was a problem.  As soon as I filled the empty seat (which by the way cleared a 20 name board) a board developed, and it was obvious there were 5 or 6 people waiting around for the whale to come in.  There plan was to start a must move with him, and the thing was he'd be close to last to move...so what did I do?  I quit, right at 9.  I took my shot....and I missed.  They all rolled, even some who should have been clueless, and again there was no board.  If that state continued the minute the whale walked in he'd just sit in the main game and we'd all lose....so I sat again, since after all the game was pretty good and SOMEBODY had to fill the seat.  But there was a problem...the fishes wanted to play triple draw, and since that game was gone they were all not long for the world.   So as the whale walked in and the must move formed, they were all quitting my game.  First one, then two, then the final (there were actually four to start) and all of a sudden I was in the worst LHE game I have seen since the 2p2 meetup where Pete received a hand drawn "missed straddle" button from the dealer.  So I waited for someone else to quit so I wasn't fucking Medium Bob (I really like that guy...I hope he doesn't think I'm a gigantic douche), then snap quit and drove...to the bike.

I learned a few things, finally, from this experience.  My problem is that I've been trying to walk both lines, as it were, attempting to angle the system with class and dignity.  And the thing is you just can't do that.  You can't try to squirm your way into the good game AND pretend like you're following all the rules and doing nothing wrong.  You either have to sink as low as possible, OR you have to stand on your principles and just sit in the main game.  Otherwise you'll look like a douche AND get shut out, which is exactly what I've done the last two times I've tried to navigate this cluster fuck.  So I'm done with it....I'm not messing around with any of that mess any more.  It's just not worth the effort and stress and 80 minute mid traffic commutes and $10K losses...it's not worth any of it, especially when the games, honestly, aren't even that good.  They are filled with REAL professionals, people who kicked ass and took names online, people who are decidedly better at limit hold 'em than I am, and a small smattering of fish.  And at this level even the fish have teeth, they really do.  Sure some of them are "whales" or whatever, but honestly I play with guys worse than even the worst of them day in and day out in the 40 and 60 games.  And that's the thing...those games aren't THAT much smaller than 1/2.  If we were talking about playing white chip, 2/4 or even 3/6, where a "small" win rate of .4 bets per hour would map out to $400k/year, that'd be different.  But we're not...we're just talking about 1/2, and we're usually talking about sitting in a game with 4 experts, 2 tagfish, 1 whale, and 1 beta fish.  On top of that even getting into that state is a stone cold nightmare....I have failed to even achieve it twice in a row because I just don't have the stomach for the level of douchebaggery that is truly required.

So I'm done with all that shit, unless a bird nest just falls into my lap.  I'm going to play 40 and 60 for a while, the way I did the rest of the year and just absolutely killed it.  This career isn't about seeing whose cock is the longest;  it's about winning money and playing a game for a living.  Since the multiple 1/2 games have been wrecking the 60 at Commerce, this probably means I'm going back to the Bike for a while...I already have 13 hours for the month, which means I basically have to finish the 40 out as I'm effectively getting like $23/hour the rest of the way.  And you know what...I LIKE playing there.  I LIKE that there is only one game and that EVERYONE knows my name and that the game is good and that I don't have to have my head on a swivel or basically ever call for chips.  I actually enjoy playing there...nobody throws his cards at the dealer, nobody calls me a piece of shit (happened yesterday at commerce) and there is no reason whatsoever I can't make $10k/month playing there day in and day out.  On top of that I can sleep in, work out, miss traffic, and generally maybe, just maybe, go back to feeling like a human being with some shred of dignity.  So that's the plan...wish me luck.  I'll still consider the Commerce 60 as an option, but I'm not working my days around a white whale.