Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

Hollywood Casino, Aurora, Illinois (Part 10 of 12)
Post tournament: I’m not done playing … paying tribute to leon

I start to head out of the casino. Before I exit, I call Mrs. rppoker. She and her friend are still out and about. I remember something, so I tell her they should take their time, because I have something I can keep myself occupied doing.

I have remembered that I still have $17 worth of free slots play as a result of getting my new Hollywood Casino player’s card. I start walking around, looking for a very specific game. I finally find it. A leon-style video poker machine. It is the minor leagues of video poker, but I figure I should pay tribute to leon for his ever-entertaining VP thread. I ask an attendant to show me how to use my player’s card and how the machine works, and she patiently shows me what to do.

I have to give $17.00 worth of play. I can’t simply cash out. Whatever is left after I give $17.00 of action, I can keep if I choose to cash out.

I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

Any time I have a pair, I keep those cards and toss the rest. I make trips a few times but never four of a kind.

On one hand, however, I am dealt ace high, no pair. I keep the ace and discard everything else and one of the hands (bottom hand in photo below) on the spin improves to an unlikely four aces for a big winner (160 credits).

I do make a full house once, but in this game that is kind of meh.

Once I have given the required $17.00 of free play action, I cash out for $25.00. Thank you leon.

I am ready to leave, when I remember one more thing. I still have $10 in real money chips in my pocket that were earmarked for the 10,000 chip add-on if I had to rebuy. Since I didn’t need to rebuy, I need to cash out.

When all was said and done, I spent $170 for my tournament entry fee and add-on. I just missed the money in the tourney. But I got a free lunch thanks to my new player’s card, and I turned $17.00 of free play into $25.00. Plus, I got to play live tournament poker, which I love, for four hours. That may be -EV in terms of money ROI, but I view it as +EV in terms of life enjoyment. I am not averse to making money playing poker, but it is really more about the enjoyment than the money for me. Today was an enjoyable day.

My video poker action getting posted at the same time as leon's video poker action getting posted makes me feel like an ant staring up at an elephant.

Life EV is an important concept.

Hollywood Casino, Aurora, Illinois (Part 11 of 12)
My assessment of Hollywood Casino

As for my assessment of Hollywood Casino, it is fairly positive. It is definitely an aging facility. The age of the casino was hammered home to me when I was leaving and I saw a young man fishing in the watery area a stone’s throw from the casino entrance. This reminded me of the fact that this casino was built back when it had to be on the water so it would qualify as “a boat” in order to be legal. That goes back a ways. It is undoubtedly why a new facility is in the process of being built. While I recognize that this casino’s shelf life is nearing an end, it is clean, the staff is friendly, there are just enough players to give it a pleasant vibe. It’s not a ghost town, but neither is it crackling with excitement and activity. The players throughout the casino are mature but not ancient. I suspect I will make some return visits before the new casino is ready in a couple of years.

As for the style of play in the poker tournament, it is very different from the WSOP. A ton of limping is done by players. Lots of four and five players to a flop. Not as much aggression as the WSOP. WSOP players battle harder for pots. The Hollywood Casino structure is also a lot faster than at the WSOP (Hollywood Casino has less starting chips, much shorter levels). One of the dealers said that a plan is in the works to slow down the structure a bit at the Hollywood Casino weekly tournaments starting in maybe a month or so, which I think is a very good idea. The blinds get too intrusive too quickly. I would say that the tournament played out similarly to what I saw at Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona earlier this year. For obvious reasons, there is a much, much wider range of player skills at the non-WSOP casinos, so you really have to pay attention to who is playing well and who is not so that you can properly range the hands they are playing.

Hollywood Casino, Aurora, Illinois (Part 12 of 12)
rppoker has left the building … a statement about the status of mainstream poker publishing

When I finally exited Hollywood Casino, I called Mrs. rppoker. She and her friend were still having a good time shopping, so they told me about a Barnes & Noble near where they were, knowing I can entertain myself for hours in a bookstore.

I drove there. I found four books to buy and add to my stack of about 30-40 books I have in a pile in my office at home to read at some future date.

Then I decided to look to see what poker books they had. I looked all over, and I couldn’t find anything. I asked a B&N employee for help, and she seemed puzzled/stumped. She went on a computer and did not seem to find anything. Finally, she seemed to locate something. She took me to an obscure corner of the store, pretty much the least trafficked part of the store and pointed. I looked and there were a grand total of, wait for it, three books. Doyle’s Super System, Molly’s Game, and Texas Hold’em for Dummies. One copy of each. That’s it. That’s all. Located in the low-traffic section you’d expect to find a book titled “How to eliminate belly button lint.” If this is typical of the current state of poker writing, mainstream poker publishing is dead.

It feels like poker as it pertains to pop culture is frozen in the mid 00s. The players who were most famous back then are still the most famous poker players to outsiders (Hellmuth, Negreanu, Ivey, Moneymaker, Dwan, etc). Last time I checked the poker section of my book store, it was the usual suspects such as Super System, Ace on the River, and Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed". It's as if nobody has written a poker book since 2008.

That being said, you might enjoy Maria Konnikova's "The Biggest Bluff", which was apparently a New York Times bestseller (for whatever that's worth). It details her journey from total novice to eventually playing EPT events under the tutelage of Erik Seidel. It's not a strategy book. It's a personal account with a mixture of light strategy and pop social psychology (her educational background). I wouldn't give it a rave review, but it at least kept me interested enough to finish it.

For actual concrete strategy texts, I'm guessing you'd want to order directly online or try a specialty shop such as the Gambler's General Store in LV. It doesn't feel like there's enough demand in 2024 for most book stores to stock anything beyond the tried-and-true classics.

I don't think there has been a breakout poker player for the general public in forever. There are plenty of new/newish players that I know and that you know, but I can't think of a single new player who has attained star power with the mainstream public in the last 10-15 years.

I think the fact that the WSOP no longer appears on ESPN has been disastrous for poker in terms of mainstream attention to the game. Non Main Event WSOP tournaments are now packaged in two one-hour edited packages on the obscure CBS Sports Network (not the same as CBS). Edited Main Event coverage after the fact also suffers from the obscurity of being on CBS Sports Network. I schedule my TV to save them because I absolutely never go to that station in real time. No way mainstream viewers are watching that station and stumbling onto poker content. It's not Black Friday, but I think ESPN no longer carrying the WSOP has been one of the biggest causes of harm to poker's growth. More people may be playing in the WSOP than ever before (mostly due to low buy-in events drawing in people like me), but outside the poker playing ecosystem, I don't think poker is thriving in the mainstream consciousness.

I also don't think PokerGo is doing poker any favors. Even I don't subscribe for live WSOP coverage due to their scheduling being so erratic. I think live coverage being behind a paywall is very -EV in terms of mainstream growth.

I also think the explosion of High Roller tournaments doesn't captivate mainstream viewers. The same 50-100 players competing in tiny entrant events for huge buy-ins doesn't capture "The Dream." Poker boomed when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP off a satellite, which fueled "The Dream." Mainstream players don't dream about winning a high roller because the entry fee is out of their reach. Mainstream players dream about winning the Main Event as a one-time bucket list shot. I can't imagine someone taking a bucket list shot at a high roller.

I read Maria Konnikova's "The Biggest Bluff." I think you described it well when you wrote, "I wouldn't give it a rave review, but it at least kept me interested enough to finish it." My review of it is: It is readable, but it is not memorable.

For real printed books, and sometimes e-books, see https://dandbpoker.com/. He usually sets up in the hallway every WSOP with a bunch of books. One or more of the authors will do a signing, etc.

During this tournament at Hollywood Casino there was a hand that I thought the floor ruling was wrong.

I wasn't involved in the hand. Two other players went to the flop. After the flop, Player A put in a bet. Player B then put a raising amount of chips in his hand, began a significant forward motion with his hand and the chips and then pulled it back without dropping any chips.

The dealer did not say anything and Player A then asked for the floor. The floor listened to what had taken place and ruled that although Player B made a forward motion, he did not drop any chips so Player B had to just call.

I thought that a) this was an angle shoot by Player B, and b) the forward motion should have required him to put his raising chips into the middle. Player B was not given a warning or a penalty.

Player A did not seem pleased with this ruling.

As I think back upon this hand, I may have the dealer's action wrong. It is possible the dealer called the floor to get a ruling. I was stacking chips from the previous hand when this went down, plus this particular dealer was generally very proactive about calling the floor when gray areas took place. While I am not positive about who called the floor, I do feel confident that everything else I described is correct.

I think it was an angle, B trying to get a reaction from A.

Here's the TDA rule which seems to apply:

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40: Methods of Betting: Verbal and Chips

A: Bets are by verbal declaration and/or pushing out chips. If a player does both, whichever is first defines the bet. If simultaneous, a clear and reasonable verbal declaration takes precedence, otherwise the chips play. In unclear situations or where verbal and chips are contradictory, the TD will determine the bet based on the circumstances and Rule 1. See Illustration Addendum. See also Rule 57.

B: Verbal declarations may be general (“call”, “raise”😉, a specific amount only (“one thousand”😉 or both (“raise, one thousand”😉.

C: For all betting rules, declaring a specific amount only is the same as silently pushing out an equal amount. Ex: Declaring “two hundred” is the same as silently pushing out 200 in chips.

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I think it's pretty common for the house rule to be chips have to hit the felt. "Pushing out" is a little ambiguous. The "pushing" part could be interpreted to mean, "in contact with the table." In fact, rule 44 makes this more clear (my emphasis):

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44: Oversized Chip Betting (Overchips)

If facing a bet or blind, pushing out a single oversized chip (including your last chip) is a call if raise isn’t first declared. To raise with an overchip you must declare raise before the chip hits the table surface. If raise is declared but no amount is stated, the raise is the maximum allowable for the chip. If not facing a bet, pushing out an overchip silently (no declaration) is a bet of the maximum for the chip.

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I guess if I were the floor, I'd rule it a no-call, warn B about angling. Interested to hear others' input.

I agree with golddog. Do any rooms still have a betting line?

Some rooms have a "forward motion" rule, irrespective of a betting line on the felt. A room I used to play in called the line "a decoration". Another room I played in had a forward motion rule, but it didn't have a lot of teeth. There was a wiseguy that kept moving a stack in his hand forward and pulling it back. Finally, another guy said "call" as soon as he did it again. Floor ruled it was a bet by the first guy, but he refused to pay. Floor banned him. For the rest of the night.

WSOP does not have a forward motion rule unless they put it in the last year or two, when I didn't do a detailed read of the rules.

Sure is and way too many people don't understand that.

As someone who has spent a lot of time in Barnes and Noble over the years (granted not as much recently) part of it is poker just isn't main stream anymore and the other part is there are way better ways to learn these days.

I'm actually surprised they even had those three and Molly's game is probably because of the movie.

Couple of pieces of (unsolicited) advice re: VP-

1. Don't play 😀

2. If you ignore #1, bet max credits. You'll only ever get full value for a royal/other top hands at a max credit bet bc most of those payouts do not scale incrementally. Classic example is 400 for a 1 coin royal, then 800 for 2, 1200 3, 1600 4 but then if you bet 5 coins the payout jumps to 4000. None of us want to see you make a hand and receive less than full value 😀

"Don't play" is the spot on, nut flush read of my VP abilities. Trust me, leon, I have no intention of ever putting a nickel of real money in a VP machine ... because I have no freakin' idea what I am doing! Plus, I don't have the mental makeup to deal with the wild swings.

I had a pittance of free money play, so I figured a tip of the hat to you was the way to go.

While VP is not for me, I thoroughly enjoy reading about your VP journey. It is a well-written, compelling, edge-of-your-seat account of the wild wild west of gambling. I may not enjoy getting my gamble on when it comes to high end slots, but I find the world you play in to be fascinating.

One of the few royals I've made was on .10 credits. I was at the Orleans, and my vp budget was small on that trip. I was hoping to run it up and eventually be able to play bigger. At least I was playing 5 credits, won 400 bucks, woo hoo.

I had no idea what I was doing. I asked the attendant to get me started. That's what she set me up to play, so that's how I played. It literally is not possible for a person to have less of an idea on how to play as was the case with me in this spot.

All mockery directed my way is well stated.

On the other hand, I did walk away with a $25.00 profit, so I would say I ended up waaaaaaaaay above expectation.

To be clear, I wasn't mocking you. I understand why you needed to wash free play- they actually directed you to a decent game! The "don't play" comment was meant to be "don't give in to the devil". The rest of it was simply advice in the event you ever find yourself playing VP again.

First one's free!

Apt comparison.

I got two royals at the Rio the first weekend I got my CET TR account (a long time ago, now, might have been Harrah's?). I'm pretty sure this was the 'free taste' that keeps me coming back.

Hi Leon, I realize you were not mocking me. Absolutely no offense taken. If anyone was mocking me for my VP play, it was me laughing at myself.

As for the devil, he won't get me as a client. The one area in gambling in which I am elite is my discipline to stay within my bankroll and avoid the temptations of VP/craps/blackjack. I am perfectly happy to keep plugging away at NLHE tournaments and nothing else.

I love being at the tournament poker table for 4-12 hours a day in tourneys. I enjoy everything about it. The strategy, the uncertainty, the decision making, the putting people on ranges, the changing of gears, short-stack play versus deep-stack play, the poker math, etc. My attention does not wonder for even a second. The amount of poker thinking going on in my head is huge, which is what I find to be so excitedly entertaining.

VP/craps/blackjack just does not speak to me. I see that those games excite other people, but those games do not hold my attention. I thoroughly enjoy your reports about VP even though I'm not interested in playing the game myself. I think what makes your reports so interesting is your passion for the play. The big swings you experience are not something I could withstand emotionally, but I love the vicarious thrill I get reading your write ups.