1/10/09 -- Ikaruga goes gambling for the first time ever

[Jacob]

Hey guys! I've been busy with some real life stuff, so I haven't been able to post or contribute to the forums as much this week. I turned 21 last Tuesday, and I'll be hitting up the #1 casino in California (Cache Creek) to try my skills out at Texas Hold'Em.

I don't have any real poker experience, and I've only dabbled in online poker a bit...so I don't really expect to win much and will probably be the worst guy at any given table, lol. I'm only bringing $100 with me and will be playing the lowest stakes tables so that my hard earned money doesn't get flushed down the drain.

I'll let you guys know how I do tomorrow, and if I win any big pots. Wish me luck!

[Grengoddess]

best of luck yo you dude! and happiest birthday too i am doing something rather exciting on tuesday. cant wait ^__^

[Renaldo Moon]

Hey guys! I've been busy with some real life stuff, so I haven't been able to post or contribute to the forums as much this week. I turned 21 last Tuesday, and I'll be hitting up the #1 casino in California (Cache Creek) to try my skills out at Texas Hold'Em.

I don't have any real poker experience, and I've only dabbled in online poker a bit...so I don't really expect to win much and will probably be the worst guy at any given table, lol. I'm only bringing $100 with me and will be playing the lowest stakes tables so that my hard earned money doesn't get flushed down the drain.

I'll let you guys know how I do tomorrow, and if I win any big pots. Wish me luck!

I have a lot of experience with real-life hold'em, I've played for cash with my uncles since I was a kid. Sure, they supplied me with the $5 of chips to play since they weren't gonna' take money from their 8 year old nephew, but it's gotten to be a pretty big event during thanksgiving/reunions and all, now that I'm older and I have actual cash to play with.

It's not much, but we usually host a $5 or $10 buy-in between 8 different people (Cousins, Uncles), most of whom are very skilled and two of whom play professionally. I've learned a lot from them about playing, and I even scrape a few bucks out of it.

I thought you weren't going to the casino for your birthday, you should've told me. If you're still up, I'll help you out with what I can.

[houseofpwncakes]

OMG this was another mind-blower. I had no idea that Ikaruga was only freshly 21 until I saw this post then checked facebook. I thought he was at least 25. This is as disturbing as finding out that you are only 19. wowowow you people hide your age well.

Anyway, happy belated bday, J-Rot! :P

[rahnnyboy]

heh heh, i used to sneak into casinos to play poker when i was 16 (I lived near AC)...and that was before poker was televised!

You want a tip for playing at a casino...FOLD....just keep folding until you have great hands, and then overbet them...this is especially true if you are playing at low stakes tables (1-2 NL for instance). Whenever I get back to NJ, I usually go to AC to make a few hundred bucks...

the 1-2 NL game is easy (mostly cause people like you play it, lol), I've only lost money twice while playing this game at casinos...if you want a challenge, move to the 5-10 NL! That one you will actually need to know how to play, and have some cojones...cause you will have to bluff at some point, and the bluff will be something like "I bet $50", "Raise it to $250", "I'm all in, $1300". If you've ever bluffed with $1300, it can really turn your stomach!

But if you play the 1-2 NL game, you should really bring $350 with you, buy in for $175, and if you bust, buy in for the second $175...if you lose that, go home!

If you sit for 10 hours, you should make 300 to 1000 profit....

Here's another tip, if you want the most for your money, don't play tournaments until you know how to play tournaments!

I actually considered being a professional poker player, I was making about 3K a month playing 4 days a week at the low stakes, so I upped the stakes and found that while playing at the low tables, chips were chips, when I went to the higher tables chips were money...and I had a difficult time being aggressive....imagine when you someone sucks out on you with a 8% draw and you just lost a mortgage payment, it makes u feel really sick...

[bmy1]

I consider myself a pretty good NL holdem player. Not as good at limit holdem or omaha, but passable.

I still play online poker a bit for fun and relaxation with money I got for free from a site that gave me free money to come back and play after the US ban a couple years ago killed the online poker industry. I played pretty seriously online in 2005-2006 but mostly multitabling at low limits ($10 buy-in to $100 buy-in tables) NL as well as multitable tourneys and sit-and-gos. All in all, I made somewhere between $20 and $30k after dropping my first $500 or so.

[Jacob]

Just got back from cache creek. I played 8 hours of limit hold em' literally nonstop, and i have a huge headache.

I'll give a more in-depth report tomorrow, but it was $3/$6 and I bought in with $100. I was up to around $200, but I eventually faltered to fatigue and bad beats and lost it all.

I was winning until 2 good players showed up...

Again, huge headache, I haven't eaten, I need sleep, I'M OUT