LVJackal's Blog

I may as well friggin blog! So may as well bare all, write the good, the bad, the shameful and seedy. Not for really anyone else, but rather, if I am going to do this... take it as far as it can go, treat it like therapy.

The bum-rushed (likely to be expounded on later) formative years: My father is a workaholic, a result of repressed early adolescent molestation I would not become aware of (nor would he recall) until my mid twenties. Life was simple, work, raise a family (tho we seldom saw my father), retire. At 14 began working 40 hours, 16 I got my license, 18 moved out and by 21 I had a wife and one child. Not that I didn't screw around, between 14 and 17 if it moved and said yes, I slept with it. Drank like a teenager and developed a liking for weed and lsd with a couple x adventures thrown in. I drank coffee like a nervous alcoholic at an AA convention and took up smoking.

My mother on the other hand, was a reformed wanna be hippy, metaphysical person. Her reason for putting away the bhong was because I asked what it was at 3 and she didnt feel like explaining. She wanted us (me and my younger brother) to enjoy life, screw up, then analyze it all later on. I could call her by midnight for a ride from anywhere no questions asked. Or call by midnight with the location of where I would be safe for the evening, and a phone number- she NEVER verified the number. She would rather we be honest with her than hide anything behind her back. Tho I did not admit to the LSD/Pot/X and ONE line of crank until later on in life.

My mother was also fascinated with technology. We grew up with computers. My brother and I got an hour at a time to play our games, chat on Q-link or what not. We liked the same D&D, Bard's Tale and Might and Magic type fantasy/adventure games. My brother would hack em and became quite the self taught savant in this regard. Whereas, I would either find the flaws in programming or kill low level critters for hours on end awaiting the highest levels to unleash almighty fury upon the land. I skipped a grade by doing one semester of third followed by a semester of fourth, thus was younger than my contemporaries from then on out.

In High School, i was twice expelled and went to Adult Education in southern California where one would be given the complete packet of requirements to complete say 11th grade English. These packets took less than two weeks to complete and I returned to public school for my senior year at 16 with only electives to complete. Here my personality was cemented pretty good, a driver's ed teacher in a class right after lunch booted me out for arriving late while allowing the super mega attractive (who I wish I had slept with but didn't) girl who I lunched with into the class. As an aside, ever notice we remember the gorgeous women we didn't have intimate times with moreso than the ones we did? Or is this just me? Anyway, the dude was a perv, he placed the young girls to the front of the class and the guys to the back- like no one ever had a teacher like this!!!

Pissed, i exclaimed, you know what mr xxxx if i had two tits and a skirt you'd sit me at the front and let ME into the class. The class went alphabetical after this, tho ... again.. i was expelled. I like to think I saved a few young women, which can henceforth pm me for methods of expressing thankfulness!! (j-k, well kinda-). Later on I would learn to tactfully slam someone. Finally from age 7 onward the family played poker.

Think I'm gonna end this here, as am exhausted. And it really is a breaking point for my personal evolution. Here by 16 I was a carefree grinder with no qualms about shoving if I felt someone was full of sh*t. Again, if someone likes this, I am flattered, yet honestly, its for me to administer self therapy and even this early in the experiment I am starting to see some light- to come later.....

The wife's birthday was may 5th. To celebrate we took on a night at the Venetian. The rooms were nice, yet you could see the age in them. Not like my first visit many years ago when the place was newly established. Previously have mentioned how "bankroll anal" I am. Well, I won't play if I cant play (poker) right. That is, if you need to shove based on a read, I don't want to be worried that, hell, should I lose, my roll is seriously hurt.

We ordered a few shots while the wife played video poker and slots. Double the normal price, but wtf, it was her 30th! I got permission to break away and scan the pit. No low roller games, no weak dealers, but... they dealt Blackjack Switch from a shoe!! Now, counting probably wouldnt work, but I wanted to remember this for later, as all information, any information yields reductions in house edge, and possibly advantages! Other than this, the place was crap, nevermind the flesh meandering about, that was at least decent.

A few more moments and the wife is good and humming. Again, I request a break and head to check out the poker room. There are a couple different games running. A 1-2 blind NL game (what I can afford), a 2-5 NL (where I eventually want to be) and a 12-24 (I think) mixed limit game... the final .. dear lord, I'd love to be able to play in as NLHE is close to burnt out.

Anyhow, I have from 2-300 available to play with, I likely won't go beyond a $200 loss as that's just horrible. My only choice is a 1-2nl game that I am seriously underrolled for, but I need action!!

As, I am underrolled and more than likely to play simply too tight, I do something I normally don't do live, and slam a double sauza so I can relax. It's been three years since I played a live NL game. I grab the first table with a seat, immediately, I notice seat 9 (or 10) has about 1.2k in front of him The average for the table is about $300. Mental note to self, avoid seat nine until further information is acquired. All others.. nothing significant.

The following hands held significance for the evening.

Hand 1: I raise mid position with ppJ to $10, a tight middle eastern lady who's newer to the table and I have no real play read immediately to my left repops to $20. Fook me, everything about her appearance says I'm beat. All fold around to me, and I simply call. Flop comes A, rag, rag . She visably sighs in disappointment as I check. She checks behind. Turn comes rag, and I am thinking.... set of Aces, no doubt, based on preliminary reads. On the turn she bets $10. I'm beat, I KNOW I'm beat, but it's been so long and I think how I'll be reamed mucking here to THIS bet online...I call. River she takes me to value town after a fourth rag for $10 more and like a mo-ron I call to see, yep knew this, a set of Aces.

Fook me, encounter #1 cost me $40 and I'm down to around $60. I pick up a couple blinds before hand #2

Hand 2: Mid position pops to $10 about 4 calls to me in Big Blind with 67c, I'm getting over 5:1 so I defend the big blind. after the call I have $60 left. Flop comes down 533 (two clubs), I have a gutshot and a four flush. Check to raiser who bets $10, button calls and there is $60 in the pot. I have $60 left and believe both players with call an all in shove. Getting 4:1 on a shove with incredible outs, I'm more than happy to put it all in here. Mid mucks as does the button... i flip up my 20th nut nothing and gain some ground.


This table goes short, and I am outta practice (dont wish to face the variance shorthanded)... so I pack up my shit and log a small win.

The wife now gets a security wheelchair escort back to our room. I do the husbandly thing and make sure she's safe and then head back to poker. Shortbuy again and here comes hand #3.


Early position I pick up QQ. I raise to $10 and get called by one player in mid position. Flop comes rag, rag Jack. I bet $20 and get raised another $20 by my lone caller. Easy insta raise all in and AJ flips vs. my QQ, river is an Ace and I ship my buy in to seat 7.

Prior to hand #4 there is a set-up hand where I flat call. On a board of 3x spades a preflop raiser bets $10 with AQ, i have AQ as well with the Qs. A med, late player minimum raises to $20 and I flat call him. I was legitimately confused by the raise, why only 10 on this board? From a non tricky (that I know of) player. Turn came offsuit rag and he bet $50 to which I mucked and he showed a set of J's and claimed his raise was a mistake. He meant originally to pop to $50 and not $10 more.

Hand #4.... early position I pick up 9-10s ( a favorite hand to play from here) and limp... multiple limpers and the flop comes 6-8-x... as this is likely to miss most people, i ship a $10 bet out... mid position pops $10 and my immediate read is that this is a play based on a previous hand. I convince myself to show no fear and repop to $60 total. My image so far and hands I have shown will scream "monster" and if called I have a gutshot and two overcards The raiser mucks and this time I show nothing.

Hand #5, the QQ vs. AJ revenge Early position, I pick up ppJ and raise to $10. I get two calls and my earlier nemesis pops all in to $47. I am paying $37 for a pot of over $80, this is an insta call. I suspect here that I am likely to be beat, and am definately going to call, but I dont want any stragglers, so I three bet to $100 straight. All others fold and I take JJ vs. AQ. My JJ holds up and I take down the pot.

In this session I took pp10 vs an unknown hand from SB vs. a Button raise and a drunk player. Overall, I made $270 for this session and was SOOO proud of myself for having the nads to play it right short stacked. And more importantly, to realise that I was two sheets to the wind and that it was time to get to bed...

I got to level three thinking vs. the opponents and never backed down from a solid all in play. I walked away when shorthanded vs. 2 plus solid experienced players as I didnt want to face the variance. I'd been three years outta live play and did well.. theoretically. And now, I must sleep...

A coworker of mine put more than he could afford on an entry into a WSOP event. I haven't gone into how bankroll anal I am, but that's for another post.... He ended up bubbling the event with AQ vs. 10/10 saying, hell, it was a coinflip. Now, I have no idea what the stack sizes were, nor how desperate he may have been. Nor anything other like his shove position, did he reraise? open shove? etc as all this makes a difference.

Yet the coinflip comment bugged me. A true coinflip in poker is 11:10, or the pair holds a .90 advantage.... to put this in perspective.. this is 4.5x the advantage on our Blackjack games!!! The same Blackjack games that built vegas!!!!Now yes!, I will not argue that the overlay provided by the pot may make the traditional (poker) coinflip profitable... just think beyond what they show on TV!!!

Ask yourself... am I facing a true 49.1 vs 50.9 disadvantage for my entire poker bankroll? Would you place your entire roll on one hand of Double Deck blackjack? Perhaps I am jealous that he pinched his pennies and actually rolled the dice in WSOP event. Hell he had the nads to put it all on a 500:1 shot to say fuck you all, i made it!!!

Me... (feeling superior) i'd wait for a better opportunity to run the numbers with my bankroll, and yet perhaps I am wrong. Honestly with $20k and blinds at 2/4k id be happy to find AQ to open shove with and just curse my luck to not outflop/run 10/10! Yet still, i'd never be happy running my hard earned roll even on a true 50/50 shot!

/end rant...

So, I broke into Surveillance in Lake Tahoe. We were taught a lot of theory, yet no real actual practice. We were forbidden from playing a single hand of Blackjack anywhere in town, and at the time, I had no real knowledge of anything other than card counting.

Finally, we landed in Las Vegas... whew mecca! Additionally, my new boss informed me, that should I get barred/ banned/ back roomed or the pinnacle of achievement, I end up in the Griffin Book... I'd then be up for employee of the month!! Our new library was vast and I consumed it all.

I ventured out to test my skills, at last. The game I chose was horrible, not that I truly understood this then. A six deck shoe at The Orleans with horrible penetration. I bet the minimum to practice counting down the shoe live. Never before had I seen so many fives get burned, the count rocketed and I began doubling up wins. It was here I truly learned the value of the 5. I'd seen many huge plus counts wipe out many would be counters, thankfully though this time, I was on the upside of variance! I turned my $100 buy in into over $700 in the space of one shoe.... packed up.. and paid my rent.

Now years of poker had taught me well, I wouldn't expect this result every single time. My wife was still unemployed, and I had real life bills... I took the win and promptly spent it on responsible things. Now, Tahoe was inhospitable 6-9 months out of the year, yet Vegas was different. Soon, friends I forgot I had were coming out to "visit".

Soon thereafter began my next (for me at this moment in time) memorable play. While awaiting my mothers' arrival downstairs at the Trop, I watched the shoe game. Damned if the last round didn't contain SEVEN aces!!!! The slug was buried dead center and I watched the shuffle intently. They weren't too diluted, I guestimated I had a quarter to third deck with five of the aces in it. I pulled out all I had on me ($200) and blatantly begged for the cut card. Two hands of $50 each. I tell myself I cut true.... first hand crap, 15 vs. 7 which I promptly busted out... second hand two aces.. vs. a seven up card.. split em and got a deuce and a four. For JOY!

Dealer flipped a pat 17 and bye bye $150 bones.. chunked out my last $50 to get an 18 vs an Ace up card for the house. Declined insurance and sure as sheeet... dealer snapper.. Bye bye $200... FML.

Finally (for tonight) once again at the Trop, playing with the Step Father, flat betting $5 a hand on Blackjack. Chatting away, scamming on underdressed women of the night with the running count clicking in the back of my mind. Suddenly I realize, holy hell, we're plus THIRTY running!!!! Peek at the discard rack, maybe one to two rounds left in the shoe! Whip out my last $100 and promptly wager two hands at $60... first hand 3/3 vs. dealer 5 up.. I split and whip out the ATM card, praying there's a 6, 7 or 8 left in the deck.... alas, it's not to be as I hold two thirteens vs. a dealer 5 and one 19. $180 riding on the outcome.

Now the Step Father holds and A/5 and *gasp* STANDS!!! WTF??? Of course, the dealer flips an Ace and hits with a 5!!! Sianara married man's stripper fund!!! I learned then, it costs $2.17 at the Trop for a Basic Strategy card, which I then bought and gave to the estranged and hated Step Father...

To those of you who may read this....

I work Surveillance on the Las Vegas strip. I really enjoy my job and the people I work with. It's a fascinating industry! Prior to this, I spent 18 months earning my income from live poker tables. Specifically the 15/30 Holdem game at Hollywood Park in Southern California. Those I know and work with should have been able to positively identify me by now, so I will preface: anything I post, is available online with a little bit of research. I am a true believer in the freedom of information, back and forth. Be it from me to those I seek out on a nightly basis and those players who seek to avoid me. However, as my job demands of me a magnitude of secrecy, I will not betray their secrets.

Having grown up in the poker world, I discovered, you only get better by playing a few players above and beyond your skill level. I want to be better. Thus I am open to an exchange of ideas. I only wish I knew then what I know now. Currently I am working on a weakness in Blackjack Switch (if it exists).

In closing, as am quite tired, will ask a question that stumped me... would it ever be correct to Double Down on a Blackjack?