OOf. Vegas, May 8th

Yep the title says it all.  I left Vegas today down a whopping $495.

What is funny is that today, on my way out, I sat down at The Flamingo.  I had decded to only play at places I had never been to before - I've now played at every LV Vegas property - and of all the rooms, I liked the vibe of Flamingo the best - best of all, they had little USB charger stations under the table.  Nice luxury.

And I was playing well today - I sat down with $100 and ran it up to $345 at one point.  I was down to about $205 when THIS happened.  I'll be thinking about this hand.

I'm on the button with Ac7c.  3 limpers, and Villian in cutoff raises to 10.  I call, as does everyone else (typical chasing like this happens a lot at this table.) Pot is 53.

Flop comes 4cQc5d.  The villain pushes out 35.  This guy had been very active.  I didnt like this bet.  It reeked of protecting something else besides the queen, or if he had it, he definitely did not want to see another club come.  I call the 35.  Pot is 103

The turn brings an interesting card, the 8h.  I now have a flush draw and a gut shot straight.  He now puts out 65.  Now I do some math.

Presuming 9 clubs in the deck, one is the 6, so three more 6's and I have 12 outs to beat anything I think he might have, save a river that quads up a set he might be carrying, but I feel a straight or the nut flush will be the best hand here.  So my odds are 3.8-1.  Pot is 168 to call 65, so my pot odds are about 2.6-1. My implied odds if I hit are through the roof.  Of course, I am supposed to fold, right?  Not only do I call, I decide to go for broke.

Based on what I knew about this guy, he was a trapper.  He had checked a flopped straight earlier and let someone catch a flush on him.  He also checked down a set and feebly threw out a small bet to get a little action on the river when no one bit.  So, my read was that he had some kind of big pair, or had possibly hit the Q hard with something like AQ.  He wouldnt play a set the way he had been playing it.  I didnt want the only way I won this hand was by hitting a club or a 6...I wanted to see if I could conceivably push him off of whatever he has as well.  So, I shove.

To my surprise he calls.

The river comes with no club, no 6, and he tables - sure enough, AQ.  Busto.

So, my main error was going for the flush in the first place, considering my odds.  But I was down for the trip, and there was a lot of money in the middle.  Not shoving over him and simply calling would have been a better play too, though it would have only left me with about $85.  Looking back that would have been the better move, as I might still be playing there now instead of back on my couch in LA.

But - I was happy about adjusting my play today.  I was having more fun and was awake enough to pay attention.  I had strong reads on everyone for the most part and felt like myself at the tables more than I had earlier in the week.  In other words, I regained confidence in the abilities I knew I had.  But, still made the aforementioned error.