Poker

Sitting down in seat four, I decided to wait until the button passed so that gave me time to size up the player. It was a typical crowd for a $3/$6 limit table on a Saturday night and included retirees, blue collar workers and while collar workers and college students. It also included a guy who seemed like he was homeless, what with his smell and the condition of his clothes. But he had chips and I only noticed the odor when I passed him. Now that I was at the other side of the table it wasn't a big deal, but I did feel sorry for the people that were a little closer to him.  There weren't any particularly big or small stacks, so that suggested that there wasn't too much craziness.  Or maybe it was a new table and people hadn't diverged yet.

In my previous posts you've seen me put some thought into the hands and the descriptions, but it isn't always like that. Sometimes I get home and can't be bothered with things like adverbs, adjectives and even complete sentences, but instead just copy my notes over from my phone. This is one of those times.

This night wasn't very much fun for a variety of reason. First of all, the cards weren't great. Even the ones I threw away wouldn't have made for a winning hand after looking at the board. I also had a couple yahoos at my table that felt compelled to talk about everything, including the board and the cards in their hand. Other little things didn't help either: the fellows on both sides of me insisted on having trays of food next to them which crowded the table, people would leave the table for a fairly long time and would have to be called back...but maybe I'm just trying to come up with excuses for why I lost nearly $150, when in fact I lost money because I was off. Of course I should have considered a table change but the part of me was thinking that a good poker player should be able to overcome these obstacles and this was good practice. But since I was playing at a casino with dozens of tables nearby, there was no reason why I shouldn't have tried to find a table that was less irritating to my psyche. After all, I'm here to have fun and bring home a little extra money.

Jason Kastner lives in Pasadena California and has been seriously playing poker at card rooms and casinos, online casinos, and in home games for over a decade. A skilled amateur in Texas Hold'em, he also plays some Omaha and HORSE just to mix it up. He holds a doctorate in applied mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, but thinks that his (usually) rational behavior and his observational abilities are what really keep his bankroll positive.