Andrew

Here is a series of events that occurs somewhat frequently:

Me, in a YouTube vlog, scenario A: “We didn’t get the result that we wanted but I’m pretty happy with the way I played. All you can really do is make sure you’re studying and applying correctly. The deck of cards will always even itself out and the results will come.”

or

Me, in a YouTube vlog, scenario B: “I’ve been hitting the books and applying some new tips and tricks. It’s a rewarding feeling when you see things fall into place, boosted by a bit of the rungood.”

or

Me, in a YouTube vlog, scenario C: “There’s a lot of bars on East Fremont, but this one is my favorite. Love the outdoor seating right on the street. And they have Joseph James Citra Rye on draft. Fuck yes.”

then

Vlog Watcher, via DM: “Hey Andrew. Thanks for the content. Really wanna check out that bar on East Fremont next time I’m in Vegas, especially since I don’t really go downtown ever. I had a question though, if you find the time to answer. I’ve seen you mention things like ‘getting in the lab’ or ‘hitting the books’ but my question is: What does poker study actually entail for you? What material or process are you following? Thanks in advance.”

Good question dude. So here’s a list that works well for my personal needs. Keep in mind that there are many ways to study, and different people learn in different ways. Maybe a one-on-one lesson is what you need. Maybe you just want to intake as much as you can. Maybe you need feedback. I think this list is a solid mixture of those things and covers a lot of bases, while not getting TOO nitty-gritty in certain aspects (see the Solvers discussion, for example).

The Hand History Lounge
Shining a spotlight on my dark spots

Nary is the poker session where there isn’t a spot that I’m unsure what the best action is. We can chalk part of that up to the seemingly-infinite situations that present themselves in live poker. Shit like, $5/$10 Bellagio reg in MP1 opens to $40, drunk-ish cowboy hat guy 3b to $420, other solid Bellagio reg min 4b, and we have QQ on the BTN… ??”

But there are also lots of spots that are a bit more routine, that maybe I should be more comfortable with, and that I just haven’t delved into with my studies yet. A hand will come up and I can write it down just afterward, and present it to the Lounge. Benton Blakeman, a long term winner from small stakes through $10/$20NL will get me a digestible thought process within an hour or two. I’m not gonna lie, it’s not easy to tell people that you don’t know what you’re doing in X-spot, especially as a so-called professional poker player. But it’s swallowing that ego that eventually enabled me to get out of grinding the $1/$3 treadmill.

At time of writing there are less than 80 people in the Lounge, and some percentage of those people just prefer to lurk and read others’ hands. That’s perfectly acceptable (and greatly beneficial too). But for me, putting questions out there about MY game and getting a reply–quickly–is huge during a session, after, and before the next one.

(You can try the Lounge and if you decide that it’s not what you’re looking for, you can cancel within 1 week for a 100% refund.)

The Upswing Lab
A 360-degree foundation

Doug has a YouTube channel that I’ve said probably contains some of, if not the most valuable poker study content for free on the platform. The only problem is that very few people are at a spot in their poker study journey to be able to digest everything he’s saying in those videos. The Lab starts at the beginning, and breaks down the process that took Doug to the nosebleeds. I remember a couple years ago, once his channel had really taken off, that people started an attempt to regurgitate his thought process in a lot more everyday poker conversations at the table.

I use the Lab to get a birds-eye view of whatever particular aspect of my game needs work. Then I apply. This, along with the Hand History Lounge, seems to serve me really well as a one-two combo for cash games.

PLO Launch Pad
Getting an edge in the game the gamblers are playing

There’s long been speculation as to whether PLO is “the poker game of the future.” I think we can say that that is half true; It will never be the game for people who fear variance, but is already the game for people who love it. And you know who loves it? The gamblers in the room. The guys who don’t give a fuck about ranges and solvers. Remember when they used to play in your NL games? They’re in the PLO games.

If you’re thinking, Andrew, there’s no edge to be found in Pot Limit Omaha… you’re wrong. This is the course that will put you on the path to navigating the four-card streets and understanding how ridiculous some people are playing in these games. And it’s in a super-digestible video format that won’t overwhelm you. You’ll get the basics, how to frame your thinking about what types of hands to play, and you’ll get to watch Coach Dylan put it into action during Play-and-Explain videos.

Learn Pro Poker
These goddamn tournaments aren’t getting any less popular

It’s early days for me in my tournament success story. Despite living in Vegas for 10+ years as a professional poker player, my Hendon Mob resume still sits (at time of writing) under $100k in winnings, lifetime. [UPDATE: WE DID IT! 6 FIGURES!!] I’ve always been a cash game player because I’ve been told that’s where a professional will grind out a living.

But I listened to a podcast recently with Alex Scott who at the time was the Director of Poker at Microgaming and is now apart of WPTGlobal. In the show, he said the poker industry has only had one year of contraction, which was immediately following Black Friday. Ever since then, the poker industry has actually grown year-over-year, and it’s been thanks to tournaments rather than cash games. Tourneys used to make up 1/3rd of the poker ecology, and cash games 2/3rds. Now, that is reversed, and it’s true for both live and online poker.

So who knows what winrates and ROI’s are attainable in the current poker tournament landscape. But it’s beyond time for me to start trying to find some proper improvement in my game, and this is where I’ll be diving in. I’m a Ryan LaPlante fan, and the guy lives for his poker craft. I’ll cross the $100k mark this year, FINALLY!, and it’ll be with the help of LPP and the 60+ total hours of video available on the site. Not to mention access to Ryan himself.

(Ryan gave me a code that you can use to save $10/mo: ANDREW10)

Choose to be self aware

In my opinion, the most important thing isn’t finding the ONE AHA MOMENT that will define your poker game. It’s having a think about what you excel at, how you personally improve, what you enjoy the most, what needs work, and who can help you. Then act. I think this applies to so many pursuits outside of poker. This is the list that I’m currently into, and I think it’s nicely balanced for what my personal interests, strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to this strategy game.

Andrew

People ask me this question over and over and over and over and over. No not how do you play pocket jacks. Even more frequently than that.

“I’m coming to Vegas for my company conference/21st birthday/brother’s bachelor party and I’m a recreational poker player. Which poker room should I play at?”

Reasonable question considering the number of rooms in small proximity. There were even more before! No longer is PH or Monte Carlo or Mirage or Hooters or the Trop or TI or Fitzgerald’s an option. I’ve heard that in Atlantic City, you basically wanna be at the Borgata and forget everything else. And in LA there’s really only a small handful of prime choices. In Vegas, there’s lots!

Here’s the thing about the Las Vegas poker ecosystem and those who regularly inhabit it: We have a big reputation, but we’re actually a small town. And in small towns, word gets around quick. So imagine there was a poker room where people were blasting away, punting stacks of cash on the reg, the promised land of poker rooms. What do you think the highest concentration of poker professionals and semi professionals in any particular geography would do in that dream scenario? If you guessed they’d probably flock there, I’d say that’s a solid guess. Before long, the promised land becomes a wasteland of minimally profitable poker and a no-man’s land for your lanyarded self.

Instead that’s not really what happens. Games are good in some rooms sometimes, other rooms other times. Generally great at night/graveyard because we’re a party destination, whereas in other cities it can be midweek afternoons that are prime. But you never really know what will happen where and when ahead of time.

There are some general traits based on one or two factors that could results in less regs and locals playing in particular rooms. Sure. I’ll mention that below. But the biggest deciding factor regarding which room to play in will probably come down to personal preferences. Here are my personal favorite poker rooms:

Wynn
The gold standard. Great dealers, even better floor staff who know exactly how to phrase everything they say to sound both professional and personable. Super comfortable room with ample space. Sharply appointed. Food is on the pricey side but still a couple reasonable options. All the games have the biggest max buyins in town, which again is going to come down to personal preference on whether that’s a plus or minus. I think the games are probably slightly tougher than average due to having more money available on the table, but you will also have the Wynn clientele occasionally wandering into the room to balance that. The tournament area just outside the poker room has natural light coming in during the daytime. And, the people watching. (Wynn nightclubs are the best.)

Aria
In my mind it’s a 1B to the Wynn’s 1A. Better food options but a little more crowded and almost always seems to have at least a little longer of waitlists (which are brutal during WSOP). Again, exceptional dealers and staff. Nice and plush. The homebase for PLO in Vegas.

Golden Nugget
The last stalwart to allow $100 bills to play in the games, which are all uncapped. It’s usually standard fare $1/$2NL, but as a result of dismissing the cap you could wind up in the best $1/$2NL on the planet at any given time. It’s a proper gem and the only real place to play in DTLV. (Binions sadly moved their games into the pit to die a slow death.)

Bellagio
Game quality is good. North valet is good. Several of the floorpeople are very good. Some of the dealers are very good, like Crissy and Joe and Trina and a few others. Food is decent. But it’s definitely cramped and a little… not sure. Old? Each time I’ve moved up in stakes, first to 2/5 then to 5/10, I’ve used Bellagio as my stepping stone. The flip side to the Wynn, they have the lowest caps on their games and as a result I think the game quality benefits at least somewhat with less money available on the table. The Bellagio can bank on their location and reputation to just be a little on the meh side, but because of the above it’ll have to remain in the rotation for me, personally.

Honorable Mentions!

Bally’s
I don’t know if this property has an ounce of personality to it, but the poker room will generally be on the softer side due to self parking stuff.

Caesars
Can also be pretty noisy in here, without the go-go dancers. But yeah, could be a contender for biggest party vibe with the Omnia entrance within view of the poker room. If you play 2/5 you feel kinda high-rollerish as they put that game in the back, kinda-sorta cordoned off.

Red Rock
Gets 2/5 every day, nice property… but you’re never gonna go way the fuck out there.

Ok so let’s recap. There are 3 spots where I basically spend all of my poker time: Wynn, Bellagio, and Aria. I think generally games will be a little tougher at the Wynn and Aria due to how nice these rooms are. Think about it: If you’re a pro or semi pro, and you’re spending a ton of your time in the poker rooms, you’re gonna wanna work to get to a spot where you’re actually enjoying your surroundings. That said you just never know because at any one time there could be a ridiculously profitable 2/5 game going at the Wynn. It happens quite frequently, really. It just isn’t nonstop in any one spot, if that makes sense…

A game will be amazing for a bunch of hours, until it isn’t. Then another one somewhere else will be amazing, until it isn’t. Etc. The point is this: Have a think about what it is you want out of a poker room, then decide where to go based on that (or maybe on how many games are running on the Bravo Live app list). If you’re looking to have fun, you can do that in almost any poker room, and 1/2 and 1/3 will generally be good everywhere. Don’t base your Vegas trip success on getting rich quick in some secret location that only I/people in-the-know can direct you to. Base it around having fun.

Andrew

Sitting in seat 19E on Spirit Airlines flight 711 from DTW to LAS, cruising somewhere in the vicinity of 550mph at 39,000 feet, typing this blog in the trusty Notes app on my iPhone5. Spirit is always the cheapest direct flight between my original home and my current home. If it wasn’t, there’s no way I would continue to cram myself into these squashed rows whenever a trip was in order. I think about that, but then I often remember that Louis C.K. bit about how we need to appreciate the miracle of flight and be thankful for the ability to even travel at all. It helps a little.