The Big Show

by Gamekill, 08.02.2008

How the Bellagio $30/60 limit holdem game is different from my local game.

It's funny you come from some small game in a small town in Canada (referring to my regular $20/40 holdem game in Port Perry Ontario) to one of the poker action capitals of the world, and you play in one of the biggest games going in the city, the Bellagio $30-60 holdem game, and barely anyone at the table can even play a lick. Ok ok I'm exagerating, I've seen a few great players so far, but I have to say that overall the level of play has been pretty weak. But it's tougher than the game back home because the players are less predictable. Back home, I know how people play and eveybody tends to play a similar style, I guess you could call it the Toronto style, where people like to gamble more on the early streets and barely make any moves on the bigger bet rounds. This is largely a function of the pots usually being so damn big they are protected and bluffs/semi-bluffs don't really have much value. I don't make too many moves on the later streets back home because there's always some donkey who has to look you up even if he feels he's beat for sure. Here at the Bellagio things are a little different than back home.

I guess I'll go ahead and list some of the differences I've encountered in the games so far. The main differences betweeen my local $20/40 game and the Bellagio $30/60 are :

1- The players came to Vegas to gamble and they want to make moves. This is the "big show" as far as most people are concearned and whether they have a clue about how to win or not they want to make the advanced play. Whether it's a reraise or a surprise laydown you can see some pretty fancy stuff coming from donkeys who have no shot turning a profit in the long run.

2- Extreme desperation is more common. This must have to do with the extreme sums people are losing in Vegas and the dejection one can feel when he/she is stuck much more than they should be. I was having so much fun with this guy from Philly two nights back, but last night, when he was stuck deep and is likely losing more than an acceptable amount on the trip, he was playing bad and being a real jackass to me. Maybe he was mad because I kept three betting him with better hands and taking the pots away? That's probably it.

3- There are so many pretenders here and some of them likely even win money. I call them iPod guys. Back home people are more honest with themselves, I think here a lot of the regulars think because they win a little in the long run in the $30/60 game that they are super-champs at poker, they have the haircuts and the iPod but most of them don't really know the game and can't handle swings the way real pros can. You have to be pretty jovial to be a good pro I think, think Farha, Brunson, Elezra, Benyamine, can you imagine them berating someone's bad play at the table or trying to dissuade a man from gambling and playing loose hands. Personally, I get a warm feeling inside when someone cracks me in a sick way with a garbage hand, a warm feeling that reminds how much I'm gonna win over the course of the next couple weeks, and I'm already up over $5000 ($159/hr) in the game so wish me luck, I'll let you know next time if I've taken any shots at higher limits.

Stay Solid

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