Road trip 2012 (?)
Poker Road Trip 2012? (what year is/was it?) Vancouver wsop?
Around the winter of 2012 I decided to meet some of the guys from the skype chat I was in at the Vancouver wsop (K I don't remember the event name). BTP, Shake (not full name), Jules and whom I call poker's Horatio cane (H). It was some time ago so must of it was fuzzy, but their were some interesting parts and I thought it to be the best way to reintroduce. I had my own hotel for a few days before they started arriving (we shared a double attached rooms at another place shortly after), can't remember the name but its attached to the sharks club and I found it out get vertigo now (I think its from watching russian kids' climbing vids in HD)
I was pretty stoked to meet this BTP, as he was already a great influence on my 'possible' poker career. These guys pretty much saved my life (mostly metaphorically and exaggerating) allowing to let me engage in there online chat group, giving me 'poker friends' to the extent I have never had irl (poker is not popular here, not even a poker room in my city). Probably the reason me and H started bombing tequila and doubles rye's, but we still managed to meet him at the airport in a reasonably presentable manner. He was much like I expected although WAY to young to have so much financial success at something like poker. Not sure if it means I'm jealous or wise (no, i'm jealous).
Can't remember the specifics and I'll blame it on time rather than the drinks we were having but shortly thereafter (maybe the next day etc.) Jules and Shake showed up, again much like I expected and way too successful at pokerz for their ages. Jules and I definitely were (are) the upandcomers compared to BTP and Shake however we all had spent some time in a skype group together sharing strategy and advice so we were not unprepared.
Shake however seemed quite unique in that he has never gotten into any of the math of poker, and simply seemed to have grown up in a card playing family. This seems to serve him well, and its quite interesting to me. We headed straight to the Casino where H was promptly refused service for no ID and berating the doorman for it. We kinda shunned him for it, but when I looked and thought back (after some casino experience), it was quite lame since he was obviously a regular for the last few weeks (we're strict in BC for this, and possibly as a country know as well).
Shake and BTP didn't go straight to the poker though but instead started to pound bets out on the blackjack table. I realize there are true 'ballers' there, but I felt like I was in that crowd just watching these two boss blackjack. We all realize its a casino's game, but there was sort of this unsaid feeling that these guys can pwn the game, and its truly tough to argue when you watch them play. Whats more interesting is I watched BTP (and Shake I think), play craps for seemingly the first time. I got to see them get explained the rules and how fast they can pick the game up and find the bets with the best odds. It truly left me awestruck.
I remember going to BP one night (actually also this great place D.Quang took us too with Ram-o-Lam) and we were all super excited about the entire trip and experience. I have to admit I had a bad cold the whole time and was quite upset I couldn't be myself (at that time in my life that probably meant drinking WAAAY too much through), and I remember I lost my patience when the waitress was taking our order and sort of pounded my fist down for everyone's attention since we were being slightly loud and obnoxious ignoring her. It was just kinda a moment cause I realized these guys are quite younger than me and its hard to fathom that knowing how feared they can be online playing poker. We had a wing eating competition that we all won and lost.
I had been discussing some strategy previous to the trip that was not received well by them and others, and I was looking forward to talking about it irl because I was quite certain that 'text' doesn't come across well (actually I think my 'text' part of my brain is flawed, not that I can 'speak' well either but my intent comes across better irl). We did finally get a chance to play some poker together albeit online in our hotel rooms (I almost didn't bring a computer because I thought its lame, but I realize now its just standard and obvious to play online poker while at a live event), and I had a chance to discuss some spots in a dialogue fashion rather than text based turn play. We talked about a concept I had been thinking about we ended up calling '3betting to 0' and 'cib 3betting' , which is something that is kinda high level mixed meta game strategies for reg on reg play. By the time we had come to a mutual understanding and started implementing it we were all laughing like school girls and had a new mass appreciation for the game. Its tough to tell if the strategy lines will hold in the future of the game, but it raised our entertainment lines quite high for the time being. Obviously the BC (OGKush) bud I brought for the boys played some certain parts as well, but I'd like to think there was something significant in the discussions regardless.
I have never had much live experience, and I was truly looking forward to seeing how crushing players approach live poker. I was NOT disappointed. I was at one table trying to get over with Jules, BTP, and Shake, when a really cute girl had just finished telling me I look like Phil Helmouth. She was actually pretty good at poker, so I feel like she thought it was a compliment, yet I wasn't in the mood for such backhandedness
I got called to the boys table and Jules whispered over “Dude stay at THAT table, look at her!” “Fuck that,” I smiled, “girl just called me Hellmouth”
I have never seen this poker experience since or before but it was quite the trip playing with Shake and BTP (we call him B-tip btw). These two are BOSSES. Typically I pull my hat down don't look or talk to anyone etc (well this is before this), but these two had everyone talking and laughing and paying attention (even much of the casino, not sure BTP/Shake noticed). It just reminded me that 'fun' play is really how you get everyone into pots, and I really learned the most about poker from those few hands I saw and played. By the end they played a few hands blind all in with some other 'volunteer' players, and I swear the table thanked them as we left. I ran into someone me and another forumer here knows (can't remember their SN here maybe bcboy?) and he sat with us. I didn't warn him but I mentioned I was with some friends, and since hes smart and good I knew he would catch on anyways. It only took a few hands before he took a table change (doesn't like fun I guess). We did run into bcboy as well whom I probably know the best on this forum irl.
I know there is more significant parts (like Shake falling in the mud that BTP just laughed at him), and maybe the others might share some, but it was a significant trip for me and just super great to talk to some poker player irl that share the same kind of social issues I do (family not understanding the lifestyle etc). Sorry its so broken in thought, I just thought I'd type up a little story as a little introduction of myself. By the time the trip was finished I think we all agreed we were going to have a crushing next few months, and I think we all went on to have some giant scores in our career. I myself did have a crushing few months at that time, however I did also end up over OVER-adjusting my new strategies and had to eventually re-learn them from the other side which ended up to be quite significant and interesting to me as well.
Thx all for that trip. It was quite enlightening, humbling, and un-real. I look forward to the next!
Thx for the read!
edit: bcboy = DennisG! stay tuned for more corrections
Around the winter of 2012 I decided to meet some of the guys from the skype chat I was in at the Vancouver wsop (K I don't remember the event name). BTP, Shake (not full name), Jules and whom I call poker's Horatio cane (H). It was some time ago so must of it was fuzzy, but their were some interesting parts and I thought it to be the best way to reintroduce. I had my own hotel for a few days before they started arriving (we shared a double attached rooms at another place shortly after), can't remember the name but its attached to the sharks club and I found it out get vertigo now (I think its from watching russian kids' climbing vids in HD)
I was pretty stoked to meet this BTP, as he was already a great influence on my 'possible' poker career. These guys pretty much saved my life (mostly metaphorically and exaggerating) allowing to let me engage in there online chat group, giving me 'poker friends' to the extent I have never had irl (poker is not popular here, not even a poker room in my city). Probably the reason me and H started bombing tequila and doubles rye's, but we still managed to meet him at the airport in a reasonably presentable manner. He was much like I expected although WAY to young to have so much financial success at something like poker. Not sure if it means I'm jealous or wise (no, i'm jealous).
Can't remember the specifics and I'll blame it on time rather than the drinks we were having but shortly thereafter (maybe the next day etc.) Jules and Shake showed up, again much like I expected and way too successful at pokerz for their ages. Jules and I definitely were (are) the upandcomers compared to BTP and Shake however we all had spent some time in a skype group together sharing strategy and advice so we were not unprepared.
Shake however seemed quite unique in that he has never gotten into any of the math of poker, and simply seemed to have grown up in a card playing family. This seems to serve him well, and its quite interesting to me. We headed straight to the Casino where H was promptly refused service for no ID and berating the doorman for it. We kinda shunned him for it, but when I looked and thought back (after some casino experience), it was quite lame since he was obviously a regular for the last few weeks (we're strict in BC for this, and possibly as a country know as well).
Shake and BTP didn't go straight to the poker though but instead started to pound bets out on the blackjack table. I realize there are true 'ballers' there, but I felt like I was in that crowd just watching these two boss blackjack. We all realize its a casino's game, but there was sort of this unsaid feeling that these guys can pwn the game, and its truly tough to argue when you watch them play. Whats more interesting is I watched BTP (and Shake I think), play craps for seemingly the first time. I got to see them get explained the rules and how fast they can pick the game up and find the bets with the best odds. It truly left me awestruck.
I remember going to BP one night (actually also this great place D.Quang took us too with Ram-o-Lam) and we were all super excited about the entire trip and experience. I have to admit I had a bad cold the whole time and was quite upset I couldn't be myself (at that time in my life that probably meant drinking WAAAY too much through), and I remember I lost my patience when the waitress was taking our order and sort of pounded my fist down for everyone's attention since we were being slightly loud and obnoxious ignoring her. It was just kinda a moment cause I realized these guys are quite younger than me and its hard to fathom that knowing how feared they can be online playing poker. We had a wing eating competition that we all won and lost.
I had been discussing some strategy previous to the trip that was not received well by them and others, and I was looking forward to talking about it irl because I was quite certain that 'text' doesn't come across well (actually I think my 'text' part of my brain is flawed, not that I can 'speak' well either but my intent comes across better irl). We did finally get a chance to play some poker together albeit online in our hotel rooms (I almost didn't bring a computer because I thought its lame, but I realize now its just standard and obvious to play online poker while at a live event), and I had a chance to discuss some spots in a dialogue fashion rather than text based turn play. We talked about a concept I had been thinking about we ended up calling '3betting to 0' and 'cib 3betting' , which is something that is kinda high level mixed meta game strategies for reg on reg play. By the time we had come to a mutual understanding and started implementing it we were all laughing like school girls and had a new mass appreciation for the game. Its tough to tell if the strategy lines will hold in the future of the game, but it raised our entertainment lines quite high for the time being. Obviously the BC (OGKush) bud I brought for the boys played some certain parts as well, but I'd like to think there was something significant in the discussions regardless.
I have never had much live experience, and I was truly looking forward to seeing how crushing players approach live poker. I was NOT disappointed. I was at one table trying to get over with Jules, BTP, and Shake, when a really cute girl had just finished telling me I look like Phil Helmouth. She was actually pretty good at poker, so I feel like she thought it was a compliment, yet I wasn't in the mood for such backhandedness
I got called to the boys table and Jules whispered over “Dude stay at THAT table, look at her!” “Fuck that,” I smiled, “girl just called me Hellmouth”I have never seen this poker experience since or before but it was quite the trip playing with Shake and BTP (we call him B-tip btw). These two are BOSSES. Typically I pull my hat down don't look or talk to anyone etc (well this is before this), but these two had everyone talking and laughing and paying attention (even much of the casino, not sure BTP/Shake noticed). It just reminded me that 'fun' play is really how you get everyone into pots, and I really learned the most about poker from those few hands I saw and played. By the end they played a few hands blind all in with some other 'volunteer' players, and I swear the table thanked them as we left. I ran into someone me and another forumer here knows (can't remember their SN here maybe bcboy?) and he sat with us. I didn't warn him but I mentioned I was with some friends, and since hes smart and good I knew he would catch on anyways. It only took a few hands before he took a table change (doesn't like fun I guess). We did run into bcboy as well whom I probably know the best on this forum irl.
I know there is more significant parts (like Shake falling in the mud that BTP just laughed at him), and maybe the others might share some, but it was a significant trip for me and just super great to talk to some poker player irl that share the same kind of social issues I do (family not understanding the lifestyle etc). Sorry its so broken in thought, I just thought I'd type up a little story as a little introduction of myself. By the time the trip was finished I think we all agreed we were going to have a crushing next few months, and I think we all went on to have some giant scores in our career. I myself did have a crushing few months at that time, however I did also end up over OVER-adjusting my new strategies and had to eventually re-learn them from the other side which ended up to be quite significant and interesting to me as well.
Thx all for that trip. It was quite enlightening, humbling, and un-real. I look forward to the next!
Thx for the read!
edit: bcboy = DennisG! stay tuned for more corrections