Poker and Cloverfield

When not watching movies (something that I've cut down on to a ridiculous degree in the last few months due to too many video games), I spend as much time as possible honing my poker game.

You see, I love poker. Now, I don't love it as much as, say, I love Laura but it's a fantastic game that challenges you with patience. You see, I contend that poker isn't so much a game about skill (although it does come in handy, trust me) but a game of patience. If you have the patience to sit in a casino and bide your time for 6 hours you WILL make money. The biggest mistake that people make is playing too many hands and getting caught up in bluffing. While bluffing can sometimes pay off, more often than not, if you grind out on the poker table you will make a profit.

This past Wednesday, I challenged that thinking by heading over to the River Rock on my day off to hang out in the poker room. My goal? To play as little hands as possible but maximize the amount of money that I took home.

In total, I only played 3 substantial hands. I bought in for $100 and on the fourth hand at the table was dealt QQ. Now, I didn't win that hand. In fact, my opponent made a flush on the turn (I folded and I know he had it) but instead of committing to the hand, like many people would do, I simply folded and waited for my next opportunity. Now, I did bang away at winning some small pots over the course of the 5 hours I played, but I never played a major hand.

My biggest hand came when I was dealt 77 and made a full house on the turn card. On that hand, I took somebody for over $200, with the pot being over $300. That gave me $400 of profit in 5 hours so I walked away. The point I'm trying to illustrate is that anybody with even a mediocre knowledge of poker can make money if they play the patience game and wait to trap their opponent.

On a completely unrelated note - Laura and I went to check out Cloverfield the other day. Is is a good movie? I wouldn't know. We never stayed until the end. The jittery camera (which is the WORST FUCKING EFFECT going in hollywood) made Laura sick which meant we had to bail on the movie. Not that that was even a big deal, as the whole movie was sort of lame. The monster wasn't even all that cool. Point? Shaky camera work doesn't make a good movie. It doesn't even add to the effect. It's just annoying. ANNOYING!

Oh, and on the way to Vancouver, I played the Donkey Kong machine on the ferry. Damn, that game still sucks.