Playing Poker with the Pros (Beat Brag Variance) (1 Viewer)

jbutler

Royal Flush
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
10,669
Reaction score
10,756
So this past Friday as usual I left the office and headed to Borgata to grind out my hourly. I've been taking shots at $5/5 PLO lately and did the same. I've run super hot recently but Friday I took the other side of it finally and lost a bunch. Nevertheless, I stuck around and ended up getting a little back.

In the midst of a topsy turvy session, the floor came over to lock up a seat for a player and put down a piece of paper that said "TF" and a couple minutes later, Ted Forrest walked over to the table, scoped out the relevant stacks and players, watched a hand or two play out, and then picked up the paper and didn't sit. I bemoaned my bad luck in an ongoing text thread with some PCFers, saying how cool it would have been to play with Ted Forrest.

Truth be told, I have no idea why he even thought about playing in the game. He's been more or less living at the Borgata for more than a few months now. His default game has been the $80/160 yellow chip game which is most often OOE (two rounds of Omaha, one round of Stud 8) and sometimes a mix centering on draw games (Badugi, Badacey, 2-7 Triple Draw, but also with Omaha and Stud 8). He also plays the middle-high games ($100/200; $200/400). But I've literally never seen him play any big bet game. There are $10/25 and $25/50 NL and PLO games running most weekends and he's never sat in them that I've seen. So I was bummed he didn't sit, but hardly surprised because even though $5/5 can play huge with the right people (and the right people were in the game), it was a big bet game.

Anyway, the PLO game broke and, not wanting to go to bed quite yet, I jumped over to the $10/20 Omaha 8 game. For years this was my regular game so it's not hard for me to fall back into limit mode, so I did and played for a couple hours until the morning shift started to come in. It was probably about 7am when out of nowhere Ted sat in my $10/20 game. At first I thought, "This is insane. WTF is he doing in a game this size?" Then I realized that he was probably there early before the $80/160 game started and was just killing time.

But he was playing super solid. You'd think someone playing barely more than 10% of their regular stake might donk it up a bit, but Ted was playing real poker. He was also really talkative. He joined into the table discussion about Donald Trump (he was anti-Trump fwiw), weight loss bets (natch), the benefits and detriments of rake vs. time games (he said he'd actually rather pay rake in the $80/160 mix because the draw games take far too long to deal). He noted that for every 30 pounds a man loses, his penis gains 1" exposure. All in all a very interesting morning and afternoon and since Ted has long been one of if not my single favorite true grinding pro, I was really psyched to have the experience.

BEAT: Ted may have been prompted by my physique to note that men can grow more dick by losing weight.
BRAG: I squeezed Ted out of a 3-way pot with a raise on the river and he said (I think sincerely), "Good raise - you stole my half."
VARIANCE: Ted Forrest is one of the best players of all time and was playing $10/20 Omaha at 7am on a Saturday morning in Atlantic City, so the shine comes off the apple of playing professionally pretty quick.
 
Last edited:
I think reading Limon's thread about being a pro over on 2+2 paints a better approach to being a poker pro. Seems like Ted could use some pointers from that thread.

Isn't Ted Forrest the guy who sat 3-handed with Andy Beal and some other pro, with his own bankroll, to play LHE for 10k/20k?

I can't even imagine being able to sit in that game, and then find myself playing 10/20 at 7am.
 
I think reading Limon's thread about being a pro over on 2+2 paints a better approach to being a poker pro. Seems like Ted could use some pointers from that thread.

Isn't Ted Forrest the guy who sat 3-handed with Andy Beal and some other pro, with his own bankroll, to play LHE for 10k/20k?

I can't even imagine being able to sit in that game, and then find myself playing 10/20 at 7am.

Yeah, it's the opening chapter in The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King. Ted sat 3-handed with Chip Reese and Andy Beal on his own bankroll not knowing that Chip was playing on the combined rolls of like 6 other players. Awesome story.

I actually thought it spoke well of Ted that he was playing in the game. Better to make $20/hr than zero, I would think, if you want to play. And as I said, he definitely wasn't playing poorly or recklessly.
 
Plus, he might be making $30-$40/hour. I'm told an excellent limit Omaha player can make 1.5-2BB/hr in a good game.
 
Plus, he might be making $30-$40/hour. I'm told an excellent limit Omaha player can make 1.5-2BB/hr in a good game.

Makes sense. I don't claim to be an excellent player and my hourly when it was my main game was $23 and change IIRC, so I'm sure Ted rates to make more than that.
 
Btw - I'd love access to a 10/20 or 15/30 limit Omaha game of any flavor (hi, hi/lo, bigO, bigO hi). Never played limit Omaha except at BBotB, would love a higher stakes public game with a player pool that could support it.

I still can't imagine being a guy able to play 10k/20k 3 handed, with chip Reese in the game, and then playing 10/20. Literally 1/1000 the stakes. Is he bad at managing money? Did he blow it all? Or does he just have a solid work ethic and game selects without ego?
 
Btw - I'd love access to a 10/20 or 15/30 limit Omaha game of any flavor (hi, hi/lo, bigO, bigO hi). Never played limit Omaha except at BBotB, would love a higher stakes public game with a player pool that could support it.

I still can't imagine being a guy able to play 10k/20k 3 handed, with chip Reese in the game, and then playing 10/20. Literally 1/1000 the stakes. Is he bad at managing money? Did he blow it all? Or does he just have a solid work ethic and game selects without ego?

First, once you're 100% again, you have to book a week down here at the Borg and we can grind whatever stake, whatever game you want. Great variety available here. Come down Thursday, go home Tues or Wednesday. You can use my comped rooms for whatever days I can get them.

As to Ted, I think the poker economy has changed so insanely since the Andy Beal games that it's hard to compare. There really are not regular big games going anywhere in the US anymore. Yeah, the games go at Bobby's Room and Ivey's Room on occasion, but you either have to play at the Commerce or at the Borgata to reliably get a $400/800+ game every weekend. So the $80/160 is probably the best daily game in the country. I guess Ted has come to the same conclusion.
 
Great story, except for one thing.

Its an inch for every 20 pounds. I would know, it's my business to know. And that will be the only thing I'll ever have on the Suicide King.

(My wife travelled to NJ today - I used to head down to AC to play at TajM or Borgata back when I lived on east coast. I liked the games in AC, miss 'em.
 
From my peak high to my recent low, I lost 140 pounds. Did not gain the number of inches predicted by either of your numbers. Also, I regained 20 pounds in my first month eating again. Did not lose the amount predicted. I suspect the amount of change varies based on a lot of factors.
 
I'm gaining weight too. From almost competing in an Ironman last June to over 200 pounds. Sheesh.
 
Also, love the idea of a long weekend at the borgata.

I doubt very much you'll be up for it, but Bergman is coming down the weekend of April 1 with his wife. I'd bet he'd be ready for a return trip for pure grinding in another six months. Maybe we could even drag @guinness @iBetOnEverything and @GrumpyCatMalaka down. Last time Berg and HDK came we split time between Parx and Borgata. We could do that again if folks wanted to see Parx as well. Nowhere else really worth bothering with in AC now that Taj is dead.
 
I doubt very much you'll be up for it, but Bergman is coming down the weekend of April 1 with his wife. I'd bet he'd be ready for a return trip for pure grinding in another six months. Maybe we could even drag @guinness @iBetOnEverything and @GrumpyCatMalaka down. Last time Berg and HDK came we split time between Parx and Borgata. We could do that again if folks wanted to see Parx as well. Nowhere else really worth bothering with in AC now that Taj is dead.

Fuck Parx with Steve Wynn's nose.
 
Fuck Parx with Steve Wynn's nose.

April 1st will be a little soon, but the big group trip in 6 months sounds good.

I liked parx just fine, not sure what berg is all bent out of shape about.

How is it the borgata can run so many games, and Foxwoods struggles to get any non-Holdem game going.
 
April 1st will be a little soon, but the big group trip in 6 months sounds good.

I liked parx just fine, not sure what berg is all bent out of shape about.

How is it the borgata can run so many games, and Foxwoods struggles to get any non-Holdem game going.

Berg is just made because he has to pay for his Yuengling at Parx. Also because he got fucked in the ass at the blackjack table. But primarily the Yuengling.

Borgata's game selection benefited tremendously from the Taj shutting down. All the low and mid-limit stud players now keep the lower stud games running. You can get a $10/20 and $20/40 game much of the time and the higher games ($75/150 stud; $80/160 OOE/mix) are always going. The only non-hold em game that goes every single day without fail is the $10/20 O8. Lately PLO has been more reliable even during the week, but I wouldn't put money on it going 7 days a week for any reasonable amount of time.
 
I run like warmed over dogshit at NLHE at Parx. The 6/12 OE on the other hand is an entirely different story.
 
Some pros do play lower just because they love the game. My examples

I have played a bunch of $200 side events with Eric Baldwin
I have played a $75 horse tournament and a $40 NLHE and with Sam Stein just weeks after he won over 400K and a bracelet and having won over a million that year already
I have played a $100 Horse tournament with Todd Brunson
15-30 Mixed games with Huck Seed.
2-5 NLHE with Dwight Pilgrim
30-60 O8 with dozens of bracelet winners that aren't so famous.

Im sure there are many others, it just seems like poker players are degens and just like to play. I realize that these guys arent Ted Forrest, but they are all winners millions of $$
 
Some pros do play lower just because they love the game. My examples

I have played a bunch of $200 side events with Eric Baldwin
I have played a $75 horse tournament and a $40 NLHE and with Sam Stein just weeks after he won over 400K and a bracelet and having won over a million that year already
I have played a $100 Horse tournament with Todd Brunson
15-30 Mixed games with Huck Seed.
2-5 NLHE with Dwight Pilgrim
30-60 O8 with dozens of bracelet winners that aren't so famous.

Im sure there are many others, it just seems like poker players are degens and just like to play. I realize that these guys arent Ted Forrest, but they are all winners millions of $$

Pretty sure Dwight Pilgrim is still chopping rooms at Bally's here on Saturdays.

Tournaments are a different story imo because the potential upside even in a $100 tournament can be huge. $15/30 with Huck Seed would be amazing, though. The thing about Huck and Ted is I'd bet a lot neither are backed. Those other guys are almost certainly in makeup a ton of the time and need every score to get nearer to the black. Consider Newhouse - he said he was basically broke after he came in 9th both years because (1) he was playing for so little of himself and (2) he was so deep in makeup with several different backers.
 
Pretty sure Dwight Pilgrim is still chopping rooms at Bally's here on Saturdays.

Tournaments are a different story imo because the potential upside even in a $100 tournament can be huge. $15/30 with Huck Seed would be amazing, though. The thing about Huck and Ted is I'd bet a lot neither are backed. Those other guys are almost certainly in makeup a ton of the time and need every score to get nearer to the black. Consider Newhouse - he said he was basically broke after he came in 9th both years because (1) he was playing for so little of himself and (2) he was so deep in makeup with several different backers.

Of all the tourneys there was never more than about 75 runners, so there was no real payoff if they won. Just a lot of degen playing. Stein is a local Henderson guy having lived there since he was younger, he would often come to the smaller tourneys and play since his not so good at poker friends were too.

Seed is very methodical and Zen. He didn't play many hands but didn't make any mistakes either. He talked, but not much. At the time he just had picked up a huge jackpot playing video poker (http://www.pokerlistings.com/blog/huck-seed-hits-670k-video-poker-royal-flush) and we were chatting about that. He originally had backers to play the high limit games but they backed out. He then played on his own dime and hit the thing. The actual best part was JRB sitting in the next table over looking like someone shot his dog while playing 5-10 with about $400 in front of him just moaning his bad luck the whole time.
 
I've always liked Ted.

Got this from @H|Q. I'm such a fish.
20160317_160710.jpg
 
I've always heard that too, why does it "grow"? Does it have something to do with the fat "pad" that is above your junk, and as you lose weight that gets smaller? I've always wondered.


Also, for some reason Ted Forrest looks like a guy that would say peepee or weewee instead of "dick", now I know he works blue. ;)
 
I've always heard that too, why does it "grow"? Does it have something to do with the fat "pad" that is above your junk, and as you lose weight that gets smaller? I've always wondered.


Also, for some reason Ted Forrest looks like a guy that would say peepee or weewee instead of "dick", now I know he works blue. ;)

I work blue but I can't say about Ted. At least in this instance he said "penis".
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom