Got back yesterday morning and feeling relatively normal again after the big change in time zones. I was going to do a proper trip report but can't really be bothered right now. Overall it was a lot of fun, though I came back somewhat poorer than when I went out. Some of this loss was out of my control and some wasn't but live-n-learn and all that. The PKR week was really good and very well organised, and everyone I met through that was cool. Particularly the crew of Scotty Starburst, Zomgchipriffle and others were very sound, very non-pokerplayeree which I like. Also the Cosmopolitan where PKR put us up was great,certainly the best hotel I have ever stayed at, Vegas or otherwise. I feel like I should have planned out my trip out there a bit more and made better use of my time. I didn't see a show this time (Saw the 'O' Cirque du Soleil last time which was awesome) and definitely should have arranged that during the ten days out there.
As I half expected, I didn't enjoy the live poker too much out there. There's certainly some result orientated emotions involved in this as I completely whiffed two WSOP events and went 0/5 in cash game sessions so it's never going to be a whale of a time. But I found when I sat down I was just thinking about when I'm going to finish playing, constantly checking tournament clocks for the next break or checking the time on my iphone thinking about what I will do later on. I'm not the most sociable person at the table which doesn't help because talking to people can make the live experience much more fun. Need to work on that.
There's just a lot of things that annoy me about live poker. A new irritation I discovered in my play out there is revealing cards at showdown. In live poker the rules about who should reveal their cards are a bit of a grey area because they can vary from room to room, and involve some etiquette considerations (eg. when you call a bluff on the river and the villain says "you got it", it's bad etiquette to ask him to show what he bluffed with). I had a hand in a $2/5nl game in Vegas where I called 3 streets with a middle pair bluff catcher and announced "call" on the river. The villain nodded, prompting me to reveal my hand. He then shows his A7s for turned top pair for the win. This seemed like a bit of an angle shoot to me as he nods like I have made a 'good call' and its very unlikely I'm ever tank calling the river with a better hand. I didn't want to show my hand either, as it effects my image.
Another example is where I was down to $150 in a $2/5nl cash game and shoved my 30bbs in with KJs after a 4x raise and two callers. Two people called (lol, how can I not beat these games) and the board ran out QQxx when first villain bet turn and the other folded. River bricked and I had king high. He looks at me expecting me reveal my hand. I'm pretty sure he had a Q but tell him I have king high and finally after this he turns his hand over...low and behold, he has a queen! You have trips queens sir, it's a very good hand and very likely winning, just fucking show it. Mong. I think the rules for revealing cards at showdown need to be cleared up and standardised because at the moment it's something that slows the game down and is open to angle shooting. Don't get me started on when people say "two pair" at showdown and the board is like 6683K. Which two fucking pair!?
Anyway, after this bad experience of live poker I am doing the sensible thing, playing the UKIPT in Brighton next week! But in all seriousness, it's a small buyin and a lot of other people I know are doing it so it will be fun. Also going deep in this would be great with it being on tv and everything.
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