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Women & poker, a thread. I've added Laura Eilsen so she can ask questions but RN my normal threading won't work so will try this.
I went to my 1 st poker game at age 50, invited to a friend's house with 7 other women. It was a $10 tournament.
I went to my 1 st poker game at age 50, invited to a friend's house with 7 other women. It was a $10 tournament.
12:35 PM - May 15, 2023
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Yes, I've learned to do this chip trick, among others.
Tournament poker is ideal for women learning poker for several reasons.
1. You only pay the entry price, so you don't dip back into your pocket. If it costs $10, that's all you are in for. Once you are knocked out, you're done.
Tournament poker is ideal for women learning poker for several reasons.
1. You only pay the entry price, so you don't dip back into your pocket. If it costs $10, that's all you are in for. Once you are knocked out, you're done.
12:38 PM - May 15, 2023
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2. Tournaments are more strategic. They have a beginning, middle, & end & your tactics & playing style must vary as you move through the levels. No Limit Texas Hold'Em (NLHE) is puzzle-like, where you are "solving", based on limited info, for what your opponents have & how your hand compares.
12:43 PM - May 15, 2023
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3. Tournaments are time-limited. You know more or less how long they will last based on the "structure" so you know when you're likely to be done, helpful for women with multiple responsibilities.
12:45 PM - May 15, 2023
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I didn't make any money at my gf's poker party but I really enjoyed myself. Bob & I were going on a casino junket to Laughlin in a few weeks - I was a recreational slots player - so I got a video featuring Annie Duke & watched it on my treadmill.
12:47 PM - May 15, 2023
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Annie Duke explained some casino table etiquette that I wouldn't have known - you must act in turn, can't flip over cards til requested by the dealer, etc. She also recommended an active vs passive style - raise or fold, don't just call. I watched it several times then went on vacation.
12:50 PM - May 15, 2023
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There was a $30 poker tournament scheduled at Harrah's the morning after we got there. Seemed affordable, as you can easily lose $30 in under a half hour at slots, even betting low. So I signed up.
12:52 PM - May 15, 2023
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I didn't play a lot of hands. Went all in a few times, and either people folded (mostly) or I doubled up. But mainly I sat there and watched others battle & knock each other out, while I still had my chips.
12:54 PM - May 15, 2023
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I got to the final table! Again, I doubled up on a big hand, but others were more active. Until suddenly it was just me and this guy, and I doubled up once, then... Gulp. I won. I won the first casino tournament I ever entered. Lucky, surely, but also because I paid attention.
12:56 PM - May 15, 2023
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A secret that surely isn't a secret to women reading this.
Older women are constantly underestimated. Young men especially think they can run over you. But it is also an awesome disguise. When you fight back & reraise them they assume you have pocket AA & not 67 of diamonds & they back
Older women are constantly underestimated. Young men especially think they can run over you. But it is also an awesome disguise. When you fight back & reraise them they assume you have pocket AA & not 67 of diamonds & they back
12:59 PM - May 15, 2023
(Edited)
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I have played 100s of tournaments since Laughlin. I've studied books, learned the craft in home games with other dedicated hobbyists, & eventually ran the Cleveland Poker Meet-up Group before our casino opened when our leader moved. Women players are among my fiercest friends.
01:02 PM - May 15, 2023
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I know I have a very strong combo of skills that help me:
- good inductive logic, figuring things out based on limited info
- high intuition
- good at reading people so you understand their style, when they're bluffing, etc.
- decent at performance
- basic math to figure out odds, pot odds, etc.
- good inductive logic, figuring things out based on limited info
- high intuition
- good at reading people so you understand their style, when they're bluffing, etc.
- decent at performance
- basic math to figure out odds, pot odds, etc.
01:05 PM - May 15, 2023
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Perhaps the most important:
- Self-knowledge. Being able to understand my tendencies, how I present myself, & LEARNING FROM MISTAKES. Without this you simply cannot improve no matter how much you study theory.
- Self-knowledge. Being able to understand my tendencies, how I present myself, & LEARNING FROM MISTAKES. Without this you simply cannot improve no matter how much you study theory.
01:07 PM - May 15, 2023
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When I started poker, I always assumed I was a big risk-taker.
Haha! Poker disabused me of that. I was a perfectionist who was way more risk-averse than I ever imagined. When I busted out, I wasn't only disappointed. I felt ASHAMED of my FAILURE. Horrors! I FAILED!!!!
Haha! Poker disabused me of that. I was a perfectionist who was way more risk-averse than I ever imagined. When I busted out, I wasn't only disappointed. I felt ASHAMED of my FAILURE. Horrors! I FAILED!!!!
01:10 PM - May 15, 2023
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It was mind-blowing to see the difference that men displayed. They didn't slink away in shame. Many swanned around complaining about their "bad beats", boasting about their bad luck, rarely taking responsibility for the myriad decisions that put them on the rail. Male privilege is a helluva drug.
01:14 PM - May 15, 2023
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I decided I need some of this armor against my self-criticism. Finding that middle ground between learning from mistakes while not beating yourself up is essential. Not just for a poker player but for any woman in a public role. It is invaluable training.
01:16 PM - May 15, 2023
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OK. That's my preamble. Laura, if you have questions, take it away.
01:17 PM - May 15, 2023
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in my very depressed 20s i used to watch a lot of WPT on spike. obviously they edit for time so it seems more action-packed than it might be. roughly how often does a player play out a hand vs. folding early in real life? and does that change if there are fewer players at the table?
02:59 PM - May 15, 2023
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It depends on the player. In poker we use the acronym VPIP: Voluntarily Put in Pot. You can categorize players as loose or tight. The looser the player, the higher their VPIP %. The tighter, the lower. Some guys love to "splash around" in pots with crap hands, hoping to flop huge vs a big hand.
03:09 PM - May 15, 2023
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One guy I know always calls a raise with his "football number", 65. If you have pocket KK & Rick shoves all his chips in on a 764 board, he's probably got that - a pair & a straight draw. Your KK is good now, but not necessarily with 2 cards to come.
03:12 PM - May 15, 2023
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In a tournament VPIP also depends on the stage of play, the player's position, & the chip stack she has. A big stack will attempt to bully the table by lots of raises, trying to take down uncontested pots. A small stack has to pick spots more carefully.
03:14 PM - May 15, 2023
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So, like most things, the answer is "it depends". But late in a tournament you'll rarely see more than 3 out of 9 in a pot, & in early stages you might see 6 or 7 splashing around. I have taught myself to play tight aggressive, so I fold more than many but try to get max value on hands I'm in.
03:16 PM - May 15, 2023
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The "shorter" the table - i.e. fewer players - the more likely people are to call because odds say you can value medium rank hands higher than in a full ring of 9 or 10. Yes, they do edit out all the boring hands with lots of folds. Some days your hands are so bad you are "folding laundry".
03:19 PM - May 15, 2023
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in movies/pop culture tells are always a big deal, they lose (or win) a hand for a player at pivotal moments. are tells really important to the game or is that the stuff of Hollywood?
03:45 PM - May 15, 2023
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"Tells" still exist at the recreational levels but with very experienced pros it is Fantasyland. One of the reasons televised & streamed poker has become so boring is that guys have clamped down on their tells by sitting like rocks & tanking for 1-2 minutes before they make a single move.
04:15 PM - May 15, 2023
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There's even been discussion of using a poker clock, like in chess, to keep this at bay. One of the biggest recent controversies is the "J4" hand, where a recreational woman player called down a poker pro in a huge streamed cash game with J high, causing him to explode & accuse her of cheating.
04:18 PM - May 15, 2023
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Was it a tell? Was it, as I sometimes think, a woman's gut check that some asswipe was trying to bully her off the best hand because he missed his draw & she made a "fuck it" call for 6 figures? Who knows, but peeps have been arguing about it online for months & months. /end/ /next ?/
04:21 PM - May 15, 2023
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PS Much poker in film & TV is pure fantasy because for the spectator, like Bob said about pistol shooting, it can be like "watching paint dry". A friend who writes for a sitcom called me this year to run plot points by me that the writer's room was planning. 85% was impossible or just wack.
04:25 PM - May 15, 2023
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I told her so, & she laughed & said, "well it's a sitcom" & I knew she'd have to ignore most of what I told her. I can't watch most movies that have theater as a plot point or I go crazy. I can give you a full 45 minute rant about LA LA LAND that would blister your ears.
04:28 PM - May 15, 2023
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oh, I have so many questions and much to learn! so let's make ten questions one--okay, two questions: is there a style of poker that's good for beginners or is it more try different games and find what you like? & what should a newbie expect poker culture to be like (boy's club? fisherman's tales?)?
04:31 PM - May 15, 2023
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As I said at the beginning I think tournament poker is an easy way in if you can find a reasonably priced game. RN 92% of poker is NLHE, what you see on TV now, which the late Texas Dolly called "the Cadillac of Poker". It swept the country & it is hard to find other games.
04:45 PM - May 15, 2023
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Once you know the value of poker hands it is easy to play because everyone is trying to match their 2 cards with 5 community cards on the board. Based on what you have & how the betting goes, you can make inferences about what others' holdings are. You can practice online or on your phone free.
04:48 PM - May 15, 2023
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As for the culture? Kinda boy's club but not always in a creepy way. You can learn to navigate it & use it to your advantage. Most casinos will have a "Ladies Tournament" now & then & these are fun events to start with. I recommend having home tournaments for a while after you've played online.
04:52 PM - May 15, 2023
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Hard Rock Cincinnati has tournament buy-ins for $100. You might have poker clubs or meetup groups with cheaper buy-ins. Our home games here eventually dried up because playing downtown was so easy. But it's worth looking around.
05:16 PM - May 15, 2023
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thanks, Linda. your insight and perspective made poker seem approachable and maybe even winnable! i'm gonna get to practicing for when the Spoutible Poker Classic gets off the ground.
05:18 PM - May 15, 2023
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Personally I adore PLO - Pot Limit Omaha, played w 4 cards, not 2, but the stakes here are too rich with the same guys throwing around $1000s daily. I like Omaha Hi-lo even more but that is impossible to find now. I think COVID took down many of our ancient regulars, it's an old man's game. /end/
05:20 PM - May 15, 2023
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Laura, if you watched it, you can learn it & enjoy it! Sad to reveal that I have made more $ in a single poker tournament than in any given YEAR as a playwright, & as someone my peers considered moderately successful! But that is the state of the art.
05:23 PM - May 15, 2023
