'Poker is... a fascinating, wonderful, intricate adventure on the high seas of human nature.' - David A. Daniel 

Tell me about it, David. 

Being an adventure seeker I got completely fascinated by this game. 

It's an exciting ride, trying to dominate both games: the one on the table and the one at the table.

Brain and balls - that's probably all that you need. Oh you mean being a girl I don't have balls? Haha!

Winning face | About last night

The Lucky Strike

As I mentioned in my last article my very first poker game here in Vegas ended up being quite expensive.

When analyzing the decisions I made at the table, it was clear to me that at least 80% of my mistakes were the result of insecurity.

It was the very first time I played after 5 years. I had hardly prepared myself for the come back, being convinced that my memory would be easily refreshed when sitting at the table.

That was wrong. I was too nervous and lost $400 bucks in 2 hours for not being able to concentrate myself properly.

@surfermarly and the boyzzz 😎

Last night I did much better!

First of all my seat was probably the very best one in the whole poker room.

I don't believe much in Feng Shui but yesterday I did. While my seat during the first game was located directly at a corridor and people were constantly passing behind me (which really stressed me, even it happened unconsciously), now I was positioned at the corner in the back, having a full view over the whole poker room and all players in it.

I sat down and felt good. Excellent start!

The first thing I did was checking my direct neighbors and their stacks.

A tall strong guy to my left had a relatively nice stack but not one that could have scared me.

The player to my right was the typical flirty guy that started to chat with me right away.

The fact that he had a cigar in his mouth that didn't even burn wasn't helping him much to impress me 😆

As always I tried to be kind, but not too much...

I really loved my table and got paid back with some nice hands.

My second one was a pair of Kings which I played totally tight, kicking one of the players out since he went All-In but couldn't beat my hand.

That hand helped me to gain the respect of the whole table right from the start.

Actually it's not important if the other players consider you being a relevant competitor. But if you see them being impressed because of your actions is excellent for your ego, haha!

Ego doesn't pay you but it makes you more confident, thus stronger.

I had one player to my left who obviously was unable to deal with failure. Any time he lost a hand he started talking to the one who beated him trying to communicate him between the lines that he wasn't "hurt" at all.

Then after losing a hand he usually played very aggressive, revealing that he wanted to get his money back whatever happened.

Too funny!

Sometimes the side actions that are taking place between players are even more entertaining than the game itself.

When I'm not in a hand I just enjoy sitting there and watching how the others go crazy losing their money, haha!

The moment right after winning $300 bucks. Yes behind my hand that's a huge smile 😄

Man I was so lucky with that one hand!!

Actually a huge mistake made me rich, not kidding!

I had King Queen and it came to a nice showdown between myself and one more player.

He wasn't the best player at the table but this time he did everything right - and I did actually wrong.

It turned out that he had an As Queen, so was totally dominating me which I didn't know when another Queen showed up on the Turn.

He went All-In which (for a more experienced player than I am) would have been the no.1 sign that he had As Queen.

However I totally ignored that, called him holding happily the King Queen in my hands and waited for the River.

The whole table was holding their breaths.

Guess which card showed up on the River! Yes, it was the King: the only card that could have saved my ass, haha!

I won because I was lucky - and not because I played well.

Lesson learned! However, the fact that I was able to win made me even more confident (see "ego" above 😉).

I was given another winning chance. This time I played much better.

I raised in a healthy manner not revealing too fast that I got a monster hand.

I had King Queen which turned out to become a two pair on the River. When the only remaining competitor checked (demonstrating that he didn't have such a monster like me) I went All-In.

He folded to stay in the game but went All-In with me some hands later - and lost.

I said "I'm really sorry" (which was totally the truth) and he laughed.

It's weird when players leave the table because you knocked them out.

I guess to them it was even weirder since I was just this blonde girl 😆✌️

What a night!

In the end I finished being $150 bucks up, so adding my yesterday's loss of $400 dollars I'm on my way to get back the initial investment.

It's my last day in Vegas so I will definitely play once more.

Cross your fingers steemians! ♣️

Let's pray for a Feng Shui seat and some nice hands though to make my last hours at this crazy place perfect.

Marly -