*Posted this on the boards but decided to paste it in here too. Why not? :]*

Okay all - I've just returned from a 4-5 hour session at the casino. This was my first poker experience at a casino.

Short story: Scroll to bottom.
Long story: Read on, and don't be a lazy beeatch.

The game had a min buy in of $100, and a max buy in of $500; with blinds of 5 and 5. I decided to sit down with $300 after waiting a nail biting 45 minutes.

I was seated at a table which was filled with some very scary looking people, and a guy with a MONSTER stack. He was sitting on around 2k. I decided right there not to mess with that guy too much.

For the first 20minutes I didn't even see a flop. I was a tad scared (couldn't stop shaking) and wanted to a get a feel for the table and just understand the mechanics. I didn't mind this really, I built a strong table image of a tight player.

Ok... now it's on. Dealt big slick. The action is on me. "Check or bet, sir?". I almost crap my pants. Not in excitement, but in a "Holy f*ck what do I do now" type feeling. I raised 25 and got a lot of callers. Maybe 25 wasn't big enough? Oh well. The flop comes rainbow with a King. Bingo. I bet out 50 and get two or three callers. Turn card, another blank. I bet out 100 and get one caller. On the river I check thinking it might be best to slow down. He raises me all in and I think for a moment. He seemed pretty timid and something just wasn't right. He didn't seem like the type of player that would call a raised pot pre-flop with anything that would hit the board. If we had cowboys or rockets he'd reraise me pre-flop, so I think I’m safe at this point. I call, he mucks. I rake a HUGE pot.

I stole a lot of pots over the next hour or so with high pocket pairs and strong continuation bets.

The biggest pot I lost was when a guy sucked out on me for a flush. I flopped a straight and fired off a bet, getting a few callers. Turn card brings me a higher straight and I fire off an even bigger bet. I think to myself, there are NO way any flush draws will still be in here. River card completes the possible flush, so I recollect my thoughts and decide that I can't back down now. I fire off a third round and I get called. He shows a flush but genuinely apologizes. He said he was ready to fold but forgot he had two hearts in the pocket. I mean, WTF? That pot was HUGE and I wanted it so bad. That almost broke my spirit but I persevered.

I lost one key hand when I folded the best hand. I was wrecked but the guy was really nice and gave me some advice. He was a strong player and very intimidating.

At this point I’m down to a little under my original buy in. Ok Warren, deep breath...

Dealt bitches. Fark yeah. I fire off bet of $50 and get 2 calls. The flop is VERY good for me. Rags. I fire off another bet and show em who's boss. One caller this time. He claims that he can win this pot with a high card, I don't answer. The river is a blank and I bet again. He ponders for some time and eventually decides that his tell on me is correct and proceeds to put me all in. Now the funny thing is, this guy happened to go to my high school. I say to him - "Dylan, you never were that great at drama in school. You do know that?" The table laughs and I push all my chips in. He sighs and shows Jack high and I spend the next 5 minutes neatly stacking a fark load of chips.

Dry run of cards for a while but I manage to steal a few small pots and keep my chip counting ticking over.

I get dealt Queens again but only win a smaller pot this time with Villain folding on the turn after some strong bets. Probably holding AK or something.

It's getting a little late and my buddies are getting tired, so I cash out and say farwell. I get some compliments about my play and it puts a smile on my face. "Cheers guys, seeya's next time" I say.

Ended up with a profit of +$350.

Anyway - I learnt a few things after tonight.

1/ I think I play small pocket pairs wrong. I mean, this game was 10 handed so not a lot of flops are going to look good for me. I figure that I need to throw them away if there is a raise pre-flop. I called a few of these raises with no sets on the flop. Sometimes I took small PP’s to the turn, this is too far if I miss and just need to lay them down. This didn’t cost me much, though It’s something that will save me money.

2/ I really learnt the power of position pre-flop. I mean, after sitting in EP and trying to limp countless times only to be raised was a bit of nightmare. When I play online with these micro stakes I tend to over look this.

3/ I learnt how to finally lay down some hands when I know I’m beat.

4/ I'm sure there’s a lot more in my subconscious...

Take it easy everyone, and thank you very much for all of the advice you have offered on these boards. Keep it up; you have helped my game a lot and I hope you continue to share your wealth of experience.

- Waza