Lessons Learned in Commerce, CA

The poker world is in a sad state right now. Half the time I was at Commerce “the poker capital of the world” the biggest no-limit game going was 10-20. Meanwhile, in Vegas, the $25k WPT Championship at Bellagio drew 606 entries in 2006, 639 in 2007, 545 last year, and just 337 this year.

Still, I did manage to sit in the softest $10-20 NLHE game I have ever seen, including PartyPoker.

People don’t reraise as much live, and they often get called when they do.

The biggest mistake I have made throughout my live tournament career is not bluffing enough. I often have the sort of image that provides the opportunity to get thinking players to lay down big hands. Understanding and utilizing my table image has always been a major weakness of mine in live poker.

Adam Friedman is one hell of a poker player.

There are still places in this country where you can get a good haircut for ten bucks.

Playing live cash games thrusts the saddest aspects of poker right in front of your eyes. You see the bad people, the lowlives, the degenerate gamblers. You see the sad old men who keep digging into their pockets for another buy-in. You see the dead money fish who have no chance and will inevitably lose all their money unless they stop. At times it feels like you are just taking money from people. You have to remind yourself they are there of their own free will.

You also see people take gutwrenching bad beats with total class, refusing to betray the slightest emotion. I saw a 9k pot (all-in on the turn) get shipped the other way on a cruel two-outer. I got in with Q4 against A4 and JJ on an 844 flop in a 10k pot. When a queen hit the river, the guy with the A4 hardly batted an eyelash. He just shipped the money and went to the cage.

Due in part to some of these observations, combined with a longstanding desire to do more with life and a couple other recent developments, I believe I am nearing the end of my official professional poker career. More on this later.