Hi Outlaw and JWN,
A while back when I was a Witness on the way out, without fully knowing it, I would go over to my ex best friends house and play poker with fake chips. I learned the basics of the game in that environment and quickly realized I had a passion for it. We eventually all put money on Full Tilt Poker and played that to get a better feel for the math of the game. A local casino in my area was having this promotion at the time. They were redoing their entire parking lot so all the asphalt had been torn out leaving the dusty dirt underneath. The casino then created a promotion called the Dusty Bucks where everyone who caught a golf cart like shuttle in the dusty lot would be given a $10 voucher for free to play how they liked in the casino. I thought it was a clever scheme, and it also peeked my interest. I drove to the casino every day for many months, while the parking lot was being redone, caught a shuttle, which means you have to talk to the driver for some reason, and played the $10 for free. If I lost I would just leave and if I won I would buy in the 35 + 5 tournament they had every weeknight. I hate casinos so I played a slot that could do $5.00 per pull and I would just play that twice. I couldn't get out of there without smelling like cigarettes for a bit after. I never liked to stay long if I didn't have to.
The poker tournaments there were obviously just a ploy to get people drunk so they would blow all their money on cash games and slots (they like when you play slots more). The blinds went up every 15 minutes and they were 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, 200/400, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000, 2000/4000, 4000/8000, 5000/10000. It's basically a superturbo designed to get them good and riled up then hit the cash game/slots. I much enjoyed socializing with all the people while I played in many tournaments. The way the tournament was designed I knew I needed to be aggressive. I tried to play position and bluff huge pots. In about 20 tournament nights with 77 people (10 tables of 11...shudder) I took down two first places, one third place, one fourth and a humble sixth for the bubble. It was some of the most fun I have ever had in my life. I used to play cash at a local poker club for a living, but playing the same people every day ends up with a dry well. The best part of poker, to me, is taking someone's money when I knew they didn't have to give it to me.
My question for you is, how do you get over the hump of playing newbies? I am a steadfast believer that you can't bluff a newbie, but doesn't that mean newbies ruin the game? Without bluffing the game is just math and position. That seems to have been my experience playing the last few years.
-Sab
...OUTLAW
... OUTLAW