Poker Open Thread: Seeking Advice

onMarch 5, 2010 at 10:14 AM

I previously mentioned that I would be participating in a poker tournament hosted by Caesars Palace Atlantic City and Stockings and Bonds. Breaking Media will stake one lucky reader in the tournament as well.
But enough about you. Top prize is $30,000 and I want to win — I at least want to make it to the final table. Now, I’ve got some skill. I’ve got a good feel for the game, especially live, when you can see the people you are playing against. And, as we all know, legal training offers an advantage in the game of poker.
But I’ll be playing against i-bankers and other true experts in risk management. So I’ll need to raise my game. For that, I want to get a sense of the best poker practices developed by all of you lawyers out there.
Let’s start with the most essential question: What should I wear?

Most lawyers play very tight. I tend to play very aggressively, so I like to mess with people’s expectations. I’m thinking of going with a standard “khakis and blue blazer” ensemble. Something conservative and almost frumpy-looking. I can sit at the table looking like I basically can’t afford to keep up with all the big bad business types, play extremely tight the first couple of times around the table, and then open it up once everybody thinks they have a bead on me.
Does that make sense to you guys?
Okay, on to a more technical question: I suck heads-up when I’m the big stack. I don’t know why, but it kills me in tournament play. What can I do to improve on this immediately?
As far as playing the table, two types of players really annoy me: dumb frat boys and old women. I always feel like older women can smell my BS a mile away. They just wait in the tall grass and jump up and bite me. Luckily, at an event like this, there shouldn’t be too many old ladies around; this isn’t 2 a.m. at Foxwoods. So I should generally be able to avoid this pitfall.
But the frat boys, ye gods, I think they’ll be everywhere. In a cash game, I’ll rock them. They’ll just keep putting money on the table and chasing straights. But in a tourney, their sheer stupidity sometimes gets the best of me. Especially when they start talking. I get distracted by their boring war stories and become annoyed when their drool gets all over the waitresses. The blood starts flowing from my eyes, and the next thing I know I’m playing Q, 9 off suit and find myself sitting in mid-pair hell convincing myself that I can bully the frat boy out on the turn.
Anybody have any frat boy kryptonite that I don’t know about?
Any help will be appreciated. I really want to stick it to the bankers.
Stockings And Bonds Poker Tournament Giveaway [Dealbreaker]