ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:
But for real... my parents were big-time gamblers (~~I know, I know, shocker~~) and I was playing penny poker by age 7. Real poker. 5/7 card stud, draw poker (jacks or better to open, trips to win) Shit like that...
Fuck, if we're going to get all truthful and shit... I started at a pretty young age. And spent a really huge percentage of my young adulthood cruising for games. Learned a lot by getting my clock cleaned by older, more experienced players.
And one of the few joys of aging... now, it's my turn.
If your resume is as you claim, I'm sure you see teh funnay in the latest craze generated by televised Hold Em(kids' game), and how everybody is now an expert player, who has been "playing forever." I find that odd, since 20+ years ago, it was a chore to find experienced players to sit in with. Although there's definitely some pockets of old schoolers around... a surefire way to get clowned for your cayshe is to underestimate your opponent.
But I really dig this "I saw it on ESPN, I'm an expert. I even know the cool terminology" craze. It's been quite profitable.
I do occasionally play a home game Hold Em tourney, which has really grown huge. These diehards go twice a week. They make it fairly low buy-in($10, although I think they altered the rebuy/addon setup since I last went), so as to attract more people and make it a little lower stress. But these fuckers sometimes get crowds of over 20, which makes for a crazy home game(and a loooong, late game if the good players are serious about winning the cash). There can be $300 bones or more by the time the all-inners get done rebuying... worth winning, for sure. This game offers a unique challenge -- everyone who ever attends is a world-class pothead/grower, and it's their social outlet to show off the chrinic weed they scored/grew. When everyone in attendence has smoked a boatload for hours, it makes it awfully hard to read the pie-eyed faces, and gibberish coming from their mouths. Always a good time in that game. A couple of the regulars are
extremely good players, and a good chunk are tards. The t=donks are usually dispatched pretty quickly, which is no suprise when you get experienced players who make more money at the cardrooms than they do at their jobs playing against bar-league players, or TV-experts. But a few of them seem to be learning from their mistakes, and some of the really badass players take the time to explain why they just got gutted(THAT'S confidence in your game).
I actually played so much for so many years and years, I even took a coupla year hiatus from poker. I've been back for awhile, since the television donks have made it so profitable. Never been a big fan of Hold Em, or any other shared-card game, but I've adapted, since that's where the money is.
But since we're getting all truthful and shit...sitting at a table for 10+ hours multiple times a week used to be my deal... for a long time. I still enjoy it, and as time goes by, I'm getting more and more back in. But it's not one of my great passions like it once was. I don't get all bummed out if I miss a big game, and can take it or leave it most of the time... unless I'm drunk. Then, bring it on...all comers. I think I can actually do better with a little buzz, since I'm more likely to back off the intense focus, and kind of start babbling about something completely irrelevant... which if you've ever noticed, is Doyle's strength -- he keeps the other players focused on his stories and his banter, and the next thing they know, they just got took. I don't need to focus that hard on how to play my hand -- that's second-nature anymore. The truly elite players dominate the mental game, which there's so much to. The math part is easy.
Man, this place needs a poker forum.
