Casino Trip #2: Rainman

Last Friday night was my second trip to the casino. The plan was to (with a little luck) turn around the small loss I had from the last visit. If we can cut now to the end of the night, 5 hours later I found myself driving home down a little over $100 and thinking I'm done with the low stakes cash games at the casino.

You might think am I focused too much on the short term and letting two losses out of the gate affect my decision?

Nope, not at all - rather than post a report straight away I decided to think it through over the weekend with a long term focus. The end result comes down to two main factors, this particular game isn't very profitable or enjoyable.

In regards to profitability, there are many factors which contribute to the 1/2 NL game at my casino being hard to clear.
- the rake is 10% (capped at $8) plus a $5 hourly time charge. When you factor in a fairly low number of hands per hour, quite a bit of the money on the table is going into the box.
- when they min/max the buyins at $80 in a complete donkfest of game where people are over-raising, over-betting, over-calling etc the only real strategy is to wait for cards or set mine. The problem with set mining is many of the stacks (including mine) are short so there's little implied odds.
- Sydney casino openly allows squirreling of chips. It's a common occurrence to see a bad player inflict a brutal suckout then casually stuff the chips into their pocket, dropping back to the $80 buyin level.

As for the enjoyment level, there's nothing more depressing/frustrating than sitting at a table for hour after hour waiting for a spot to try and build your 40BB stack to a useful level. All the meanwhile, continually dipping into your pocket to ensure your chip stack is at the $80 level.

The conclusion I've drawn is that I'll look at other game at the casino. There's a 200NL game but I have heard the rake is higher and possibly includes an ante. Living so close to the casino it would be good to make it a regular trip and work on my B&M cash game.

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So that was the end result, but the journey that ended in a $100 loss over 5 hours? It was basically a slow death by a thousand paper cuts - probably the worst way to lose a buyin or so.

When I first got my seat, I found myself surround by regulars in a tight/aggressive game. I won a small pot with a set of jacks. Interestingly, the low buyin also worked against me in this hand. I limped in the blinds in a multi-way pot with JJ. I flopped a set on a QJ9 board. I checked, a player bet pot, another called, and now my only option was to push. The board was straighty/flushy (as Gus would say) so I can't sandbag, and I can't min raise as I'm not playing deep enough nor are the other players. So I push and pray that they don't have a flopped straight. They quickly fold their pairs.

Soon after, I lost that profit against a new player to the table. First hand I flop top pair against his set. I bet the flop/turn then he value bets the perfect amount on the river that I have to pay it off. Completely outplayed but it convinces me it's time for a new table.

At my new table, I soon realize I've jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Every player has game and they're also bluffing/mixing up their game enough that it's tough get a good read. After an hour or so, I'm completely card dead and haven't won a hand. I figure it's not my night and start counting my chips when a guy known as 'Rainman' sits down. 'Rainman' I am familiar with and quickly reload while he wanders off back down to the carpark to validate his ticket. My night isn't over just yet...

To be continued.