My First Time at a Casino

NLHE Cash Games - Day 1

The games here are $2/$3 with a minimum buy-in at $50 and a maximum of $150. I decided to buy-in for $100. I don’t like to play short-stacked but $150 just didn’t look appealing. This could be very wrong not to buy-in for the maximum, but as I took my seat, I didn’t saw big stacks over $150. The night was probably too early or there haven’t been too much action I guess. Anyway I was in seat 8 (out of 10) which probably doesn’t mean anything when you don’t know how the people play. On the other hand, I like to get in seats after 6....don’t ask why, it’s probably just some silly superstition.

I took some time to try to assess what kind of players were at my table and probably gave a super tight image by doing so. I did try some limping with suited connectors but almost always folded to a raise PF. Other than that, I entered every other pot with a raise and made some reraises with premiums like QQ+.

The most disturbing fact I can happen is that I ran into AQo, AQs, AKo or AKs about a dozen times and I never got a piece of the flop afterwards... I did make some bold moves to take the pot like C-betting on the flop and the turn (which both have completely missed me) and I feel that my tight image did serve me well on these occasions.

I did get lucky since I had AA vs KK and AA vs QQ which both held up and in the end, I was +200$ by the end of the night. I went back to my hotel room and found a hard time falling asleep despite the late hour (about 1AM). Well, obviously I was very pleased of the results of the night and was quite impatient to come back the next day.

NLHE Cash Games - Day 2

After reviewing my play I realised how tight I played and despite the good results it produced, I wanted to try to be somewhat more aggressive.

This night as well, I bought in for $100 but got an early seat. Anyway, I got hit by the deck with half a dozen AQo, AQs, AKo and AKs hands but once again, none of it improved on the flop. I found several people who were at my table the previous night so the bold C-betting worked out for the best again.

Even though these hands didn’t hit the flop, it gave me enough chips to start calling raises or limping with a wider range of hands. I started accumalting half a buy-in when the following hand happened :
 I got KdJd in the SB and called a standard raise.
 The flop comes, Qd5d8d and I check my flush, UTG bets and I call.
 The turn is the Qc, I check and UTG goes all-in for $70, which is just under what I have left in my stack. After some deliberation, I made the call and he showed QT for trip queens. Hopefully, he didn’t improve to a full boat on the river, and I get the big pot shipped to me.

I played a few more rounds after that hand, as the night was still early, but nothing too exciting came out and I left with a +100$ profit.

As I walked back, I reviewed my session and didn’t find any major mistake. The more aggressive approach didn’t produce more benefits but it doesn’t mean anything considering the number of hands I played. I might be tempted to try it again in the near future because you can’t just wait for big hands to come. The hard part is to limp in at the right moment, which is terribly difficult on a 10-handed table....

NLHE Cash Games - Day 3

The night started just like the previous ones, I started accumulating chips up to about half my buy-in which is a good sign of consistency. Had I been sitting behind my computer, I would have left immediately lol.

Anyway, after about 1h I get KK in the CO and see UTG raise and 2 callers from MPs. I opted for a reraise. UTG reraised me and the 2 MPs folded. Now, this guy had been raising me a couple of times and has shown a lot of aggression overall. I’m a bit worried about the reraise which clearly states AA.... but I think the guy has been bullying me a little too much and I go all-in. He instant calls with AA (of course).

We don’t improve and I’m down under $50, more like $30-ish. What a big hit. I took it as a challenge to recover. Not long after, I get TT and shove UTG. 2 players call me behind and the board comes with a K and a Q. I feel like I’m so dead but they reveal AJo and 55 ! This sets me back where I started, just under $100.

As the night grew longer, I started to play more aggressively, guessing I have correctly established my tight image again with these new people. To my dismay, it didn’t yield what I expected at all, and I dropped down under $50 again.

Thought it might sounds weird, I think I could picture me chasing nut flush draws again. Anyway, I raised with TT from position and SB called. The low flop (8 high) send me pushing and SB instant called. I was like "OMG I’m so dead", but she revealed 99 and I was back to evenness again.

As the night advanced further ahead, the room manager gave us the time at which they would close. Soon after this announcement, my table broke and I got shifted to a new one. I got a seat on the dealer’s right which I hate because you can’t really see the action. At the moment my stack started to approach the $50-ish zone again since I was behind stubborn with the more aggressive approach...

My last hand was ATo in position. I made a standard raise and one caller to the flop. I hit an Ace for top pair and so-so kicker and decided to push. He deliberated for a few moments then called with the nut flush draw. Hopefully he didn’t catch it and I was dead even for the night.