Remember Your First Casino Cash Game?

I recall learning what I thought to be winning poker at the time..

I started getting into poker in late 2007. I figured out how to shred people in our home games. Wanting to learn more..I started buying books and reading them over and over again until I thought I had a good idea of what it all meant.

About two years ago I felt confident enough to go to a local casino and play some live cash games. I was busted within an hour...

My thoughts were "Wtffff, I've been playing online for like 6 months! and I've gobbled up every bit of game theory that I could get my hands on, how am I losing"..

For over a year I lost money playing big boy poker.

Then one day I had an epiphany. It seemed like every hand I've ever played, every table, opponents, like all of my acquired knowledge suddenly subconsciuosly-manifested into this feeling of really knowing what poker is all about. I FINALLY GOT IT! My Ace-Kings were no longer invincible! I learned how to lay down AA when I knew I was beat. Folding my tiny pocket pairs in multiway raised pots.

I thought for the longest time that since I could wreck shop at my home games and because I had read a few books that I was a winning player. Wellll I thought wrong.

The past 3 years and finally becoming a winning player have made me realize more than ever how the game of poker is undoubtably
90% SKILL and 10% LUCK.

I remember my first NL game much more...I played 2-4, 3-6, and 4-8 limit for a year before I touched the 1-2 or 2-5NL tables...I found it easier to put people on hands in those low low stakes limt games, especilly 4-8 (2-4 is basically a good drunk man's have fun game) and I was also terrified of possibly losing a whole stack in a hand. My first ever hand in 1-2 I was dealt A-J suited....raised to 8$ and got 5 callers...flop was A-J-9....I think my hands nearly fell off as I bet 15$ and the entire table folded their cards instantly.

I played 10/20 stud hi at Foxwoods at 3:00PM. It had like 5 regs, and 2 old nit-fish. I made queens full QQ_2434_Q, and lost a 4-bet pot on the river to aces full that didn't have a paired board. Went to get Chinese food after that hand.

I remember my first cash game. I learned online...and was losing play chips like crazy. I was your typical donk...see a face card, it must be a good hand! Suited cards? Let's draw to the flush!

I lost money my first day at a live table, but I could see the frusteration on my opponent's faces every time I hit my hand...I didn't quite understand it! I was asking myself why they were so upset when they saw a winning hand; I obviously had them beat!

I get it now though; I was playing WAY too many hands, and when you suck out, people don't like the fish being rewarded. That was back in 2002...Niagara Falls Casino, NY. I've learned so much since then.

I went into a casino after a xmas night out so I was quite drunk. I had started playing poker 4 months (playing mostly freerolls and 2NL etc) so I wasnt overly confident playing 200NL £ game lol. I only had £40 and that happened to be the min buy in so I nitted it up and played from like 2am - 5am. I won a hand with KQs and the very next got dealt AA and doubled up to take me into profit - I left shortly after.

It was a fun experience and something iv never repeated :/ But when I do ill buy in for £200 and hope not to run bad.

hahaa thats good stuff

My first live game was last week. 1/2 NLHE. Lost a 50 dollar pot to runner runner straight and then a 140 dollar pot QQ vs A8 hits a straight on river. Went to a different casino and won about $50 in an hour. I actually played well but just unlucky

First casino game was at Lake Tahoe about 6 years ago. I was horrible at the game at this point (only previous experience was drunken home games). Bought in to a $1/2 NL game for $200, the largest amount of cash I'd ever had in front of me at the table up to this point. I was insta nervous and intimidated because, 1. I really couldn't afford to lose $200 at that time. and 2. I really didn't understand the table etiquette. First hand I was in I ended up making a flush on the river and did even notice, the dealer had to call it for me. Ended up winning over $100 in a couple hours. Decided at this point I was going to learn how to really play and have been hooked since.

No cash games yet, only tournaments. Much softer than online ones.

I've yet to play a live cash game other than 10nl home games. Played a couple SNGs at a live charity function last year before I got into cash games.

I really do have the itch to go for it though.

This is just making me more excited for my 21st.

Two months until Foxwoods...

My first time was in Biloxi right after I turned 21 (2004). Bought in to a $75 daily tourney early . Then I spent 2hrs playing Stud Hi and winning $200. Then the Daily tourney started. I was a little nervous but the crown and cokes helped. 3 hrs later I walked out of the poker room with $800. $200 from Stud and $600 from hold'em. I spent the rest of the day hitting on ****tail waitresses. Good Memories!!

Yes i remember and got dealt KK first hand lol and like playing the casino cash games easy money sometimes its not easy lol so cant wait to go back.
So best of luck at the tables.

played online for over 4 years and never stepped a foot inside a casino.....feel like its kinda waste of time...HOW MANY HANDS PER HOUR!!!??? lol - rather play 2k hands a night. but will eventually go and play a tournament but as for cash games. that sounds like -EV and variance would be a real bitch.
why have one or two fish when i can have 9?
*brag incommin* dont have a deck of cards in the house, but play proffessional online (well it beat my weekend job cash wise lol)
anyways hope to play a tourny in future, a bit daunting actually lookin at real people across the table lol

I am only 18 but cant wait to play casino cash games. Playing 200nl live is like 2nl online. That's why it's profitable and a good play.

I hope live players dont mind if I put colour code stickers on them.....

Im sorry you feel that way sir. That leads me to believe that you've never really experienced a good game of poker.

Thats true the cash games in the casinos are 200NL but super soft compared to those stakes online. The only thing thats stopping me is the possible varience.

I actually really enjoy online poker , and feel like i've exprienced more hands than a live reg. just for the amount of hands and situations I get myself in to, the hand anaylsis forum can probably verify that
although I can see live games being very soft, I'm gunna make it a point to somtime next month play one see how it pans out, sounds more social I guess.

18 is old enough here

I was just perusing the forums till I saw this thread. has to register and post.

8 weeks after my 21st birthday.
I roll into my local casino ready to take on the world. I'd just watched "Rounders" so I knew what to do...
I tried to get a seat in the 1-2nl game, but it was full. The floorman said "we have a 2-5nl game just starting, would you like to try it instead?"
Sure. what's the worst that could happen?
I bought in for the max ($500) and sat down with my full rack of glossy red chips. I won the privilege of being the big blind the first hand.
"Sir, you have to post. Post. It means to put $5 out as the big blind."
Then the cards were in the air. I eagerly looked down at my cards, careful to keep all emotion off my face.
Fold, fold, fold. Wow, no one actually plays when they come to a casino. Fold, fold, fold. at this rate, they'll be no one in the hand. The guy who had stuck in $2 looks at me. I smile. I'm having fun!
He tosses in a $5 chip and pulls back his change.
I look down at my cards again. The red 7 and black 2 mock me.
The dealer has burned a card. She deals off three more and flips them over. I do an amazing job of keeping my composure.
There on the blue felt, were three of the prettiest 7's I had ever seen.
My small blind friend bet the size of the pot. I looked at the dealer. "I can raise right?" She nodded with a knowing smile at my opponent.
I raised. My opponent reraised me. I called.
To this day I do not remember what the turn and river cards were. All I do remember is we were all-in on the turn, and he turned his hand over first: AA. I turned over the 72, and his face got a bit red.
As the dealer pushed me the $996 pot, the man on the other side leaned in and whispered, "You know who that is? that's Chicago Dave. back in the day, he might've shot you after a beat like that."
I got up, cashed out and left. (I didn't know about tipping dealers)
I've learned a little since then. (I tip dealers now)
I hope to learn more at this forum, and never get drawn out on like that. ever.

Oh it was mazooma game. I felt so excited that day.

Yeah first time I ever played 1/2 live I was shaking. Heart was beating so fast in big pots. Didn't have a clue what I was doing and was definitely shark fodder. But hey that's how we learn.


R

Terrible to remember that. I was little drunk and lost about 5k. do not want to remember that day I pretty much went all in for all the hands. very funny. but it was fun night though.

My first live cash game was a disaster. It was $1/2 NLH and I had $100 to start. On my 3rd or 4th hand one of the opponents bet $15. I had, what I thought was an OK hand, but not a good one, so I was going to bluff. I tried bluffing $20, not raising by $20, but I put $20 into the pot. I was then informed I had to raise at least $30 and suddenly realized there was no way he was going to fall fro my bluff and had to put in the $30. Needless to say I lost half my stack that first hand and busted out about 5 hands later.

The thing I most remember about my first trip, ( this was before online poker, before No Limit took over ), was the raw aggression : 3 bets, 4 bets, 5 bets almost every street. I was used to playing in home games where a re-raise was a very rare thing. I nitted up hard and managed to leave with a $16 profit, after playing $8-16 7Stud for 5 hours, but it really wasn't that much fun.

My first money game for PokerStars was spin-n-go at 25 cents. And I won the first time $ 6.25. My joy was boundless.

Fondly. It was right after my 18th. Me and two friends of mine took a day trip to a reservation. We each lost the $25 that was our limit pretty quickly, playing blackjack and Hold'em for as low of stakes as the tables would offer. To our credit, we kept each other honest and left early, rather than trying to 'win it all back'.
Over time, I've found that I do much better in on-line play than face-to-face. Being a bit on the engineering spectrum, I probably give a LOT of tells that I don't realize IRL. I'll still try a real table very infrequently, but I still go in with cash and expect to lose all of it.

BB. GG. That should be a bad beat jackpot for stud.

I remember my first live game was in Vegas. I was with a few friends and we didn't really know anything so the first casino we show up at only has 2/5 as the lowest game. I buy in for $200 min, second orbit I get AA in late position. I am a nervous wreck. A reg raises in front of me and I 3 bet, flop KQx rainbow, I shove and he snap calls. I am terrified. He shows J9s. The game was a lot easier back then.

I don't remember my first cash game but I remember my first tournament. Did decently at first made a few good plays and had a decent stack size. Then got a big head thinking I was reading a few people at the table and knew their tells. That backfired as I lost my stack to those people over the course of about ten hands.

I remember my first game I misread the board and got felted. Thought I had a straight with q9 hole cards. I guess I didnt have the straight.

I remember my first time playing at a casino decently -- I was used to usually playing games with about $5-10/person on the table at a time, so switching straight to $100 or so was a pretty significant change and I played tighter and probably not quite as well as usual. I also played limit instead of the no limit I was more used to. Overall it went decently and other than one hand involving about a $200 pot where the only opponent in the pot got all in with a hand with two outs on the river that I lost, it went quite well. Even losing a lot in that hand I think I went about even for the night. On the other hand, the people I went to the casino with all made a fair bit that night, but they were better players. Twas a fun night, though I definitely preferred the play in good home games.

I haven't been in the casino before but played some home games with my friends. Playing live is really different from playing online and there are many other things to pay attention to while playing live

Without agro-monkey u had to bet on that board.

I think about it every time going to the casino, trying to remember how one or another player played during previous games.