How to Beat LA Limit Hold'em

Limit games in LA have an interesting couple of characteristics...
1) Terrible players
2) Punishing rake

At the Commerce, they drop a dollar for the jackpot when you post, and then $6 at the flop. What this means is that you must be playing a table with large pots in order to overcome the rake. I learned this the hard way. I was actually very lucky to only lose a little last week playing limit hold'em.

So table selection is incredibly important. If the table isn't really loose, with large multiway pots the rule instead of the exception, you have to get up and look for another table.

I think you have to look for hands with good equity in multiway pots, commit to them, worry about relative instead of absolute position (so you can trap people for more bets when appropriate), and then you can overcome the rake.

Of course, this is going to lead to crazy variance, and I experienced that firsthand as well. But otherwise, I don't think you can win.

Gambling Update 3

I gave back all my winnings. I was very patient, but the cards just did not cooperate. At one point, I didn't win a hand of any size for over 4 hours, and all the hands I was in resulted in a suckout. This reminds me why I wasn't in a hurry to go play poker again.

We met with Mike and Silvia for breakfast at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. I had crepes and Orangina. Then we went to dinner with Mike and Silvia Sunday night at Aroma in Silverlake. It was really really good. The best thing was this mushroom appetizer. I can't describe it, but it was amazing.

As we left the restaurant, I realized we were at the corner of Silver Lake and Sunset, right across the street from the Silverlake Lounge. The Silversun Pickups named themselves after the convenience/liquor store that is in the same building as the restaurant we ate at.

We didn't play much poker Sunday... about 90 minutes of 4/8 stud is all I played. I ran a flush into quads. I realized I could still win at stud, but I needed to shake off 15 years of rust. I should have just played stud the whole trip.

All in all, a fun trip. The lack of poker success was offset by getting to see Mike and Silvia.

Gambline Update 2 (West Pico != East Pico)

We tried to go to this Japanese BBQ place called Gyu Kaku for dinner, but Google Maps has a bad address for it. Somebody accidentally typed in 10925 E. Pico instead of 10925 W. Pico on the BlackBerry Mobile version of Google Maps. The regular Google Maps has it right. The West Pico location is very ritzy.

So Barrett and I make our way to E. Pico. Let me tell you, E. Pico is not a place you want to be. We ended up eating at Denny's instead. I really feel that if the rented Dodge Caliber had decided to stop working at the moment we were cruising E. Pico, you would have never heard from Barrett or me again.

Poker went a lot better today. I started off at 3-6 at the Commerce, and lost about $50. I then moved over to a 4-8 Kill game because the rake at 3-6 is ridiculous... I mean, it's ridiculous at 4-8K, too, but there's really no way to beat the 3-6 game. I immediately suffered a terrible beat, so I was down another $50.

Then I flopped a set of Jacks in a kill pot, and probably made $150 on that one pot. I played very well, I thought, pushing others off hands and winning big pots with marginal holdings. I won $270 at this table total, so I was up $220 for the day, and about $100 for the trip at that point.

Then we went to the Bicycle Casino, which is a lot nicer than Commerce, but not as many games going. I played 8-16 half kill and again started off bad. I was stuck about $200 at one point, and then I went nuts. The big hand that turned things around was QQ vs. AA, and a I flopped a Q. Then we had a total LAG at the table. I failed trying to isolate him one time, and then backed into the nut flush. At one point, he pulled an angle shoot on me, and I screwed up and it cost me $16, but I got it back, because in the space of about 15 minutes, he dropped about $600... about $350 to me. At one point, I was up $500 on this table, but I got beat by a 2-outer in a huge pot on my last hand (78 vs. AA, K77 flop, A turn).

I had a really dry session at Commerce 8-16 half kill, lost $180. Still, up $460 for the day, up $350 for the trip so far.

Barrett has had awful luck. He bought a rally cap at the Bike, but it hasn't worked at all.

Gambling Update 1

I played 4-8 with a kill at the Commerce Thursday. I wanted to start really low stakes to shake off the rust. We had an interesting table. Everybody hated me because I tend to raise preflop, and everybody else thinks this hurts your chances of winning the JACKPOT! Plus, I refused to show my hand when folks folded to me. I love to be hated at the poker table.

I had a hand where it was capped preflop and I had QQ in mid position. Flop was Q77, and three bets went in. Button had 76. He just called me on the turn, but he raised me on the river when a 6 came. That was a nice pot.

I had another hand where I had 55 and flopped A55, but I guess the Ace scared everybody, and I got no action.

I had KK cracked by 44, and I lost a really big pot with AK when a dude hit a river gutshot.

The real problem is that the rake is pretty high for that play level, so even though I think I played OK, I came out a little down... -14 bets. I'll give 4-8 another shot today, but I'll abort if the other players aren't really bad, and move up to a level that has a lower rake level.

Benihana was consumed and enjoyed. mmmmmmmmm

Gambling

I am all set to go to LA to gamble this week with my buddy Barrett. I haven't gone on a gambling trip in a year and a half. I'm really excited.

Not that I have great success at hold'em at casinos anyway, but I expect to struggle a bit this trip. I am way out of practice. I'm hoping to stay at the lowest limits until I can shake the rust off, play some lock-down poker, and try not to dig too deep a hole.

We're trying LA instead of LV this time because there is more limit poker played in LA. I'm looking forward to eating some crepes at the LA Farmer's Market.

I've lost over 20 lbs recently, so I am also looking forward to a nice big meal at Fogo de Chao.

Wish me luck... I'll try to update my results here, as well as any entertaining stories that are sure to occur.

How to Fix OT

When NFL games go to overtime, the first team to score wins. I hate this because of the emphasis it puts on the coin toss. Often, the first team to get the ball goes down and scores a field goal. By this late in the game, the defenses are usually out of gas, and the offense has a big advantage. Watching these games end on a FG is very anticlimactic.

I have a solution. Make it so that in order to win before the end of the 15 minute overtime period, a team has to win by 5 or more points.

If a team wins the toss and goes down and scores a TD... game over, and the winning margin is 6.

If the first team to score does it with a FG or safety, play keeps going. That team can now win with just a FG, and we get to see the other team have a chance on offense.

If a team is down by 3 and scores a TD, they would definitely go for a two-point conversion if there was much time left in OT. If they make it, then they win. If not, keep playing.

If by the end of OT one team has a lead of any amount, that team wins. If the teams are still even, then the games ends as a tie.

I think this approach would open all sorts of opportunity for strategic decisions that I think most fans would find entertaining to watch.

I'm glad somebody said it

The coverage of Ted Kennedy's death this last week has disgusted me. Finally, here's someone who wrote what I was thinking.