Excited...

[GeoffM]

I am playing in my first ever live holdem event tonight that will actually feature more than 10 players. It will be held at a stag I am going to (mixing work with pleasure this evening).

I know I'll be able to school these guys, they aren't the greatest players I don't believe.

Now, as far as keeping my eyes off of the strippers that are there, any advise ?

[BlibbityBlabbity]

First, get yourself some fake plastic buck teeth and a pair of thick coke-bottle prescription sunglasses. slick you hair down and part it in the middle.

The glasses will be so strong that you probably won't be able to see those strippers (that you don't want to look at ????) or your cards so you will have to take a peak under the rims every so often to see what you have (unless you want to play your cards blind that is).

Now, even if you are able to see the strippers through the glasses, you are goin g to look so freaky with the hair, glasses and teeth, that if you so much as glance at a stripper the bouncers are going to beat your ass! Assuming your friends haven't done that already for coming to a stag dressed as such a tool....

Can't imagine that helped much, but good luck

[GeoffM]

OK, thanks, now on to reads.

How to read a player when he is drunk and staring at strippers. I'd imagine if he is looking at her breasts, he has pocket rockets, or would he also do this with 27o ?

OK, actually this is no joke. I don't know standard reads, especially when people are wasted and/or stones (other than off buddies). What types of things do I look for from weaker players?

[BlibbityBlabbity]

Try that. The list down the right side has links to articles. "common Poker Tells" has the most common ones. Other articles look good too, though.

That reading should make the work day go by a little faster, right?

[GeoffM]

I said fuck working past 12 today. My work day is over. I'm going to pre-drink and then hit the open bar in serenity .

Thanks for the link man, good reading material on the train to my buddies house.

Have a good weekend all, be back on Sunday if anyone wants to set up a late night tourney on Stars.

[Talking Poker]

Against new/weak players, don't worry too much about tells. Just play solid poker. The problem is you might correctly spot a tell, but it has no meaning, because the guy giving off the tell doesn't even realize how good or bad his own hand is.

For example, say the board is KKQJ2 with a flush on the board. The guy could very easily have a hand like Q8o and be playing it strongly because he has "two pair - Kings and Queens."

Just have fun and don't try anything fancy.

[GeoffM]

Ya, ended up just being a sitngo. There was 1 solid online 3/6 player, so when it came down to us we just chopped and basically that paid for my stag.

Fun night, I'm going to refer him to this site and we'll see.

[Reel Deal]

In the live monthly game I play in it's amazing how easy some of the guys are to read... they love to see flops and love to chase stuff so you almost always know when you have them beat or when you have to lay down your hand.

I came late to our game on Friday night (we basically play an 8 person SnG), I won the first tournament, got short stacked and when I was getting under blind pressure I went all-in with KQs and got one of the loose players to call with J-8o... J hits on the flop but K hits on the turn then, you guessed it, 8 hits on the river. I then took 2nd in the 3rd game. It's funny how you can watch these guys when the flop, turn and river are dealt (I watch them and not the board) and they just can't mask their disappointment or excitement when the cards come off... like stealing candy from a baby!

[GeoffM]

I hear ya.

The game I was playing was cake too. I was chip leader after 3 hands when a rag flop came out and I had KQs, huge raise to put a guy all-in and he had rags. I was like "WTF would you call for?". My K held up and I was comfortably in front.

The key hand though was 3 guys, 2 all-in, with JJ, 77 and 22. I got up and said "One of you guys is hitting your trips." Sure enough, on the river a deuce hit and my buddy took down the pot.

I then knocked him out to make it heads up, did a couple of blind steals (the other guy left was a good player and I had played solid). He had me about 4:1 until I doubled up on him and then the stripper came out so we chopped.

Was very fun. The dealer hated me and this guy because we would be dealing with the pot ourselves, he was so damn slow.