What This Blog Is

When I originally thought of doing a blog on my poker and/or Vegas exploits, I expected it to consist mostly of stories about interesting poker hands, bad beats, loose calls, and busted flush draws.  But as I started spending more and more time at the poker table, I discovered that many of my best anecdotes didn't have much to do with the play of poker.  Some of them didn't even take place in the poker room.  So I decided to expand the reach of this blog into a collection of anecdotes about anything that may have happened to me either at the poker table or in Las Vegas, and very possibly both. And on rare occasion, neither.  Warning:  Some of the stories that aren't directly about poker may be somewhat salacious or provocative. 

As it happens, my frequent visits to Vegas have enabled me to become "pals" with many of the people who figure into these stories.  Therefore, I am reluctant to use real names, even just first names.  So when I started this blog it was my intention to change everyone's names to protect the innocent and guilty alike.  To further protect identities, I changed the name of the poker room I play most of the time--and thus, where a lot of my stories come from--to "BSC."  It just stands for "Big Strip Casino" because it's a poker room in--you guessed it--a big casino right on the Vegas Strip.  You may also see me refer to "LC1" or "LC2".  The "LC" stands for "Locals Casino" and there's two of them that I used to play in a lot; now, not so much.

Note, much to my delight, as this blog progressed, I found that some of the subjects of my posts had no problem being identified by their real names, so you will sometimes find a person I gave a pseudonym to identifying themselves in the comments, or in a subsequent post.  Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing.

You should also be aware that when I started this blog in September, 2011, I was almost exclusively a 2/4 Limit Hold 'Em player.  As the blog has developed, so has my game.  I now am almost exclusively a No Limit player (cash and tournaments) and stories about my progress in making this transition are all over this blog.

You are encouraged to take advantage of the comments section.  I love to get any kind of feedback from my readers.  I almost always answer your comments; that's always been my policy.  You can comment anonymously if you like, or use any internet identity you have.  I do need to approve all comments before they are posted, but I approve almost every comment, unless it is spam, or overly inflammatory, or an attempt to identify someone I've assigned a pseudonym to.

A much, much longer discussion of how this blog came to be, and how it got to its current condition, can be found here, if you are interested.

Click here to return to the home page, and thanks for checking out my blog.

17 comments:

  1. I'm glad I found your interesting blog.

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    1. Wow, Big-O, I can't believe I hadn't commented back until now, I dunno what happened.

      Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it. (And I hope you're still reading! :)

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  2. this one of my favorite poker blogs let along blogs on the Internet.... although I don't read many blogs ;)

    nah... really enjoy the stories and the effort you put into the content, graphics and presentation.

    Cheers...

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    1. (blush) Thanks very much for the kudos, Vook I really appreciate them.

      For those of you who don't know, Vook is a prominent member of All Vegas Poker and a very successful online poker player. Check the link in his name above to read his blog about how he ran up a $200 buy-in to $250K online! Impressive.

      Also impressive, he is married and has TWO sets of twins. How he finds time for poker, I have no idea.

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    2. Rob---Altho his current number is actually 25K, that's still an impressive journey....lol

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    3. Oops, you're right, Cokeboy, put an extra zero in there. I'm sure Vook won't mind, tho his wife will be asking where the rest of it is!

      But someday....he'll get there! :)

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  3. I just came across your blog and can't stop reading. Some good stuff in here. I also live in So Cal and make a few trips out to Vegas. Not so much anymore after getting engaged (uggg) but was there back in September. Turned into a great trip after I won about 1k at the Bellagio. I play $1-$2 and a lot of $1-$3. Maybe next time I am out there I can look you up and take all your money (jk... not really though). Ps. Go Lakers

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Chris, much appreciated. Hope your fiance doesn't see the "(uggg)" up there.

      By all means let me know via comment, twitter, email when you're next in Vegas and let's see if you can indeed take my money! You wouldn't be the first.

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  4. I just read your latest post and saw you drove DOWN to the Bike...I thought this whole time you lived in LV. I'm at Commerce and The Bike from time to time...which LA casino do you prefer and why?

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    1. Thanks Edgie. I live in L.A. but travel to Vegas a lot, lately it's been monthly. I prefer Bike, just alway had more luck there and been treated better there. I've never been able to find anyone to serve me, either a drink or a meal, at Commerce. But that was when I was playing very low limit games. Maybe if I played their 2/3 game, if they have it, I'd get better results with the service.

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  5. Been enjoying your Blog Rob....I am heading to Vegas May 30 for 8 nights...My annual Poker trip during the WSOP. I believed we have played for a bit at an AVP even, I regret not finding your blog sooner. I am also a Y chromosome who appreciated the female form, the game of poker and the Las Vegas Strip! Thanks my friend.

    Cardiac_Poker

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Dwayne. I do recall meeting you last year. In fact....I mentioned you in this post here, in case you haven't seen it:

      http://robvegaspoker.blogspot.com/2012/07/avp-tournament-meet-greet-exit-quickly.html

      I'll be in town during your visit so we should be sure to get together. But it sounds like your gonna miss the AVP event on 6/7?

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  6. Rob, I love your blog.....especially enjoy it when you share the interesting poker hands. Right after the hand, while still at the table, do you try to jot down some card details to use later? Does anyone ever tease you if you do? It seems like that would be a great time to hand out your blog cards to get more readers. Also, please write about the WSOP that is going on now (about playing in any of the cash games, satellites, etc.)

    Bamboo

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    1. Thanks, Bamboo, appreciate your kind words.

      In the "old days" I never took notes at the table, I relied on my memory to jot down notes after the session was over. But these days, my memory is shot, and for blogging reasons (and to improve my play), it's become more and more important for me to get the details of the hands right. So yes, I do frequently jot down the details soon after an interesting hand happens, right at the table. Lately, I also write down the "woman saids" and other crazy comments I hear that I know want to blog about it.

      Yes, I do get comments, probably less often than you would think, but I do. I usually just joke that I'm doing my laundry list or my grocery list. I have mixed emotions about talking about the blog at the table. On the one hand, I'd like new readers. OTOH, I worry about the players reading about themselves later (although that has not ever been a problem when it happens, as I originally feared). However, I give away too much about how I play here, and play with a lot of the same people frequently, so I might be giving away too much information to be playing with people who know my blog.

      But I do have a story coming up about being totally "outed" as a blogger right at a deepstack tournament. I'll get to that one of these days!

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  7. Hi Rob,

    I got another article published in my muckraking campaign against hypocrisy in Arizona's Poker War. Maybe you'd be interested in checking it out and helping spread the word. The headline should have read "Poker Advocate Demands Equal Protection for Poker as Chess Enjoys", but Stern took some liberties and the Arizona Gaming Department is in ass covering mode now that I've filed a complaint of fraud against them. Since the 2012 Weinstein opinion that poker is a game of skill, I've spent the last three years trying to register a poker tournament with the Attorney General as amusement (skill) gambling, and only this year received the explanation that not everyone who buys-in receives the prize pool (product). Well, that's what set me off looking for other intellectual skill gambling events in Arizona and lo and behold, the US Open is the perfect example of the hypocrisy and double standards Arizona's gaming department uses when looking at gambling at games of skill that do not infringe in the tribal poker rooms exclusivity over the international sport of poker in our State. So, take a look, e-mail me jschnaub@ThePokerRevolution, or call me 4806947292. Thanks for reading! John

    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/us-open-chess-championship-is-illegal-in-az-poker-advocate-contends-7414021

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  8. Good to see Poker Blogging is still somewhat alive and well; thanks for being out there! Do you take part in the World Poker Blogger Tour get-together, usually first weekend of December in Vegas? I haven't been in years, making plans to go this year. Hotel rates (esp. "resort fees") trhe big hangup, but need to decide before Southwest withdraws its "cheap package" in next day or two. I gotta move to Sin City ...

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    1. Thanks, shamanalix! Yes, I've attended the WPBT three times but missed last year. Not sure yet if I will be back this year or not.

      Do you (or did you) have your own blog?

      Here's a link to my most recent report and it has links to the earlier ones.

      https://robvegaspoker.blogspot.com/2015/01/kissing-motorboating-and-little-poker.html

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