Great Expectations

A friend of mine has convinced his wife to make their summer vacation destination a place that many of us know and love: Las Vegas. While his wife is spending her time reading reviews of the Cirque du Soliel shows and finding out about the best restaurants, my buddy has been trying to narrow down which poker rooms he will be playing. He's combing internet gambling forums, studying the daily tournament advertisements in major poker magazines, and asking every poker player that he knows for recommendations. To say that he is excited about the poker prospects is a distinct understatement. He calls me on a regular basis to ask a litany of questions about which rooms I've played, the games that each regularly spread, and more. To be honest, his overflowing excitement is bordering on the level of annoying for the rest of us!

I have forewarned my pal time and again, though, that his high expectations may lead him to experience a certain level of disappointment when he finally hits the felt in Sin City. His mind seems to be dancing with dreams of poker greatness. He thinks that the poker that is played in Vegas is super-special. There is in innate aura that the Las Vegas card rooms hold. It is as if he expects to settle into a table and stare down Johnny Chan, much like Matt Damon's character did in the poker movie Rounders!

So, for those of you who've not yet hit the bright lights of the Strip, let's work to get your mind straight on Vegas-style poker. Don't expect to be sandwiched in between Jesus Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth at your $4/8 Hold 'Em game. Likewise, you aren't going to see a bunch of famous faces converge on a $250 buy-in daily No Limit tournament. Along those same lines, you shouldn't get fooled into thinking that everyone playing in Las Vegas will be talented, skilled, or even remotely knowledgeable. In fact, many poker insiders will tell you that Las Vegas regularly hosts some of the softest, loosest games on the planet! You see, a huge majority of players along the Las Vegas strip are tourists. The composition of any random poker table is much more likely to resemble your Thursday night home game with your co-workers more than a WPT final table! I spent eight straight hours at a table on the south end of the strip on my last trip. Over those hours, a flow of players came in and out of the game. The only Las Vegas local that ever sat the table over that long time was the dealer! Instead, a series of bumbling and inexperienced players took their shot at live poker at my table. Most had played online before, but a few had only watched the game on TV but decided to give the game a try.

With so many tourists at the tables, play is usually less-than-stellar. With only a short amount of time until their vacation is over, they look to play hands that might otherwise end up in the muck. Players look to play cute card combinations and take extra risks in order to feel the "rush" that they came to Vegas to experience, and to have some interesting stories to tell the friends back home. If you have time and patience, you should be able to grind out some nice profits.

Las Vegas is a wonderful, exciting place. The shows, the night clubs, the shops, and the restaurants make it a place that will bring visitors back. In truth, though, the poker along the Strip is not everything that many crack it up to be. Even at higher-limit games, there are still inexperienced players who chase down draws all the way to the River. At medium-limit games, you'll still find players fumbling through posting their blinds and acting out of turn. At the lower-limit games, you are likely to find some players who are literally unclear if a flush beats a straight! While finding such poor players can be beneficial for your poker bankroll, it won't match your high expectations of cutthroat games of extremely tough, challenging poker!

Note: In addition to being a columnist for many of the top poker magazines in the U.S. and Canada, John is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) in America. He has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from West Virginia University, and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Lock Haven University. You can arrange for interviews, speaking engagements, or find out more about the psychology of poker by emailing carlisle14@hotmail.com.

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