POKER?

[Godin]

I remember always getting excited to put money on the internet, buying 2-3 monster energy drinks (the green ones). I remember once I scared my brother when I got a bad beat and I threw the mouse against the wall and yelled an expletive. Good times lol.

My dad use to get mad at my brother and me "IS THAT ALL YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT IS THAT DAM POKER?" .... now all we talk about is hockey. When I started making those fantasy hockey projections it consumed my time and lost interest in poker.

The worst story I remember hearing is on my reserve, there was a poker game then one guy donked another guy ... there were drinks involved and the one guy got mad and pulled out a rifle and said a few things to the other guy. Not sure if the story is 100% true but that's why I don't play in those games. Too much drinking.

At least he didn't flip the table over.

[newfcollins]

I play in a monthly tournament with some friends and online poker, but just for play money. I see too many suckouts to believe it's totally legit, but that could be because more people chase straights and flushes in online poker than they would in real life.

I love poker, but not enough where I would want to lose a lot of money. So I keep it small. The monthly tournament is a $20 buy-in with one rebuy/add-on if you want. There's usually about 20 of us. Been running bad lately though. The last two tournaments, I've been eliminated holding AQ suited. Two tourneys ago, I was up against pocket kings, hit an ace on the flop, and then the guy with kings hit runner runner. Last tournament, I was up against A9 offsuit when I went all-in preflop, and my opponent hit a nine on the flop.

My biggest win would have been about $300 at one of these monthly tournaments.

I have a reputation for being a very tight player, but I play a lot of hands and bluff quite often and get paid because people think I mostly play premium hands. It's a weird combination. Once, a guy raised four or five times the blinds preflop, and there were a few callers. I had J3 suited, and decided to call. Flop came something like J73 rainbow. The preflop raiser went all-in, it came to me. I put him on QQ, so I called. I was right, and won. After the hand, a few people were saying things like "I never would have put you on J3."

One thing I think never gets mentioned enough is how much luck is involved in poker. Yes, being a great player can mitigate some of that luck. But even watching the WSOP main event, the final winner usually had a hand or two where his tournament was on the line and he sucked out to stay in the tourney. There was one of my own tournaments where we were three-handed and I was getting a lot of horrible hands and was being blinded out. One guy was a massive chip leader. He put the other guy all-in when the chip leader flopped a set. The other guy called and hit a straight on the river. The very next hand, I had T3 of diamonds while in small blind, and I moved all-in to try to steal a pot and change my luck. The guy who just lost the previous hand called with KK. I hit a 10 on the flop and another 10 on the turn to crack kings. The chip leader went from $500 to $6 in two hands. I won that tournament.

[donions]

I miss playin Poker.
Too many games were ruined tho by 1 of 2 things;
the drunk guy,
the slow guy.
Both lead to games that last til 3am.

[ericdaoust]

I miss playin Poker.
Too many games were ruined tho by 1 of 2 things;
the drunk guy,
the slow guy.
Both lead to games that last til 3am.

Too many hockey pools were ruined tho by 1 of 2 things:
the drunk guy,
the slow guy.
Both lead to drafts that last til 3am.

Statement applies to fantasy hockey as well

[newfcollins]

the slow guy.

In one of my monthly leagues, there was a guy who would be like this. There would be a bet and a re-raise before it got to him. And then he would think. And think. And then think some more. And then he would look at his cards for the first time. It's almost like he was trying to figure out strategy before knowing his cards. But it was extremely frustrating when he would fold right away after looking at his cards because it was a horrible starting hand.

We also had a guy who liked to talk a lot and tell stories. He was entertaining, but he wouldn't make a move while telling a story. Get those two at the same table, and played slowed right down.

[StuntMan12]

In one of my monthly leagues, there was a guy who would be like this. There would be a bet and a re-raise before it got to him. And then he would think. And think. And then think some more. And then he would look at his cards for the first time. It's almost like he was trying to figure out strategy before knowing his cards. But it was extremely frustrating when he would fold right away after looking at his cards because it was a horrible starting hand.

We also had a guy who liked to talk a lot and tell stories. He was entertaining, but he wouldn't make a move while telling a story. Get those two at the same table, and played slowed right down.

There is one guy in our circle who LOVES to talk. Once he was dealing and someone asked him a question, he held onto the deal and they carried on with their conversation for almost a minute until one guy said "DEAL THE CARDS, C'MON MIKE ... YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO TALK TO KENNY WHILE HE'S DEALING A HAND" .... lol thought that was hilarous.

BUT the most annoying thing is when people aren't paying attention to the hand and there are bets being made then they have to be filled in on what the action is. I remember this one grumpy lady wasn't paying attention, someone made a bet, she scowls at him and said "I didn't hear raise" ... then the young man said "holy ...". Lol. So many stories throughout the years ... should write a book

[kgray]

I've played lots of poker over the years but similarly to a few on here much less these days. I used to run a small bi-weekly home game league an we had lots of fun doing that - mostly an excuse to socialize but it was a nice bonus winning some money at the same time. Nowadays it is mostly Full Tilt online - I love the huge 1000+ people tourneys for the risk-reward ratio but it is tough to devote the time with kids. I still play 1 or 2 a week usually after they are in bed and on a weekend when I can sleep in at least a bit.
I definitely miss the social aspect of live games and have been playing with the idea of getting a regular game started again though.
Back about 9-10 years ago there was a small bar where they had 30-40 person tourneys and they sold 'Super-jugs' of beer on sale on Wednesdays. Those were he college days and so much fun. They were not allowed to have a buy-in (illegal gambling) but would give out points that accumulated and there would be a 'finals' where they'd give out a $100 gift card to the winner. I ended up winning and fulfilling a promise to a buddy to get a Texas micky of rye and we had a hell of a weekend. I've won more significant prizes but that one is one of my favorite memories.

[PenguinHunter]

Poker Face -


I usually play just with Friends every few months. I am a horrible liar and therefore make out to be horrible at bluffing. So if I was to even try playing for big money i would read like a book and lose big.

[2014olympicgold]

Poker? I barely even know her....

I played in Vegas like 5yrs ago last for like a serious game and i turned 20 into 200 on the video poker games, then turned 200 into 300 on the table, then turned 300 into 0 when i bet it on black at the roulette table...

[bondon]

I feel like a lot of people (myself included) were playing a lot of poker from ~2005-2012 when the poker craze was huge. Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP that one year and all of the marketing material that provided was huge for the industry.

I used to play a lot on Pokerstars but funny enough before I was even old enough to legally gamble. I didn't have the time to play in big tournaments since I was still in high school/university and had silly stuff like homework and sports so I would multi-table grind sit n goes. Only problem was I tilt too easily and when you're tilted grinding sit n goes that's an easy way to lose a lot of money fast.

I played a small game at a work event a few months back and it's funny how fast it all comes back to you though.

[lucafen4]

I feel like a lot of people (myself included) were playing a lot of poker from ~2005-2012 when the poker craze was huge. Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP that one year and all of the marketing material that provided was huge for the industry.

I used to play a lot on Pokerstars but funny enough before I was even old enough to legally gamble. I didn't have the time to play in big tournaments since I was still in high school/university and had silly stuff like homework and sports so I would multi-table grind sit n goes. Only problem was I tilt too easily and when you're tilted grinding sit n goes that's an easy way to lose a lot of money fast.

I played a small game at a work event a few months back and it's funny how fast it all comes back to you though.

Ahh Moneymaker... no better name to win the grand daddy of all poker tournaments. I remember two things about him outside of the tourney... he never really played that good live again - like not close, bubble maybe? and he was something like 5'2" really short