Over a month ago, I said I would post some final thoughts on the trip I took to Vegas in July. I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll be short. I’ve written a lot about the Bellagio’s $15-$30 Limit Hold’em games. If I moved to Vegas and played professionally, this game would be my bread and butter. The game is mostly weak-tight, so it’s easy to run over the table if you’re reasonably aggressive in the right spots. Occasionally, the game is loose-passive or loose-aggressive, and there are always one or two pros playing. There are also many other regulars, but I wasn’t particularly impressed by their play. If for some reason the game became tough on a particular day, I would move down to the $8-$16 game. Game selection is crucial for success. I might also play $4-$8 on occasion. I doubt anyone could consistently make a reasonable living at that level, but low-limit games are fun and fairly profitable at times. There are profitable lower-middle limit games at other casinos–e.g., the $6-$12 and $10-$20 games at the Mirage.
The problem is that No-Limit Hold’em is becoming more and more popular. I’m sure you can find many fish at the NL tables; you’ll also find a lot of sharks, though. It’s important to become proficient at more than one game. I’ll probably have to learn NL sooner or later. There’s a new 2+2 NL book by Matt Flynn, Sunny Mehta, and Ed Miller. It’s called Professional No-Limit Hold’em: Volume One. It’s supposed to be very good. Volume Two should be available sometime next year. Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie are also working on two NL Hold’em cash game books. I look forward to reading these.
Returning to my original point, I think Vegas is still a goldmine for good players. Nevertheless, even if I could make it as a professional poker player, I’m not sure I’d want to. The middle-limit games aren’t particularly pleasant. A lot of regulars play those games. For the most part, they’re not particularly skilled. I don’t like being around them because they’re a bunch of miserable shits. So many of them get pissed at other players and, more often, at the dealers. Dealer abuse has always bothered me. It’s so irrational to get mad at the dealer when you lose a hand. Of course, they do make mistakes at times, but they’re only human. Besides, their mistakes can often work in your favor. A dealer might accidentally turn up a card that would’ve helped you, but they can also flip up a card that would’ve helped an opponent. The luck factor is so huge that, in the long run, dealer mistakes won’t make much difference. Anyway, seeing other players’ bad behavior made me think to myself, “Do I really want to become one of these assholes?” If I ever moved out to Vegas, I would get a regular job and play part-time. I would love to teach at UNLV and play poker a few days a week. That would be better for my mental health–possibly my wallet as well.
In the meantime, I’m not playing much poker. I’ve started playing $.50-$1 6-max LHE for fun and have had good results. At the moment, my main priority is graduate school. I just finished up a forty-page paper and have begun working on my thesis. Poker is now a profitable hobby. I intend to keep helping with the website, so look out for more blogs and hand quizzes in the forum.
-Matt
Categories: Trip Reports
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