Quite honestly I was a bit worn out after the 1st two days, so I didn't really do anything until the $235 Deepstack at the Rio at 3pm. IT turns out ckbwop(Carol) was playing in it as well, so it was nice to finally meet her! 15K chips, 30 minute levels, 1240 runners. I really cannot complain about my play, even though I lasted only 5 hours, finshing around 400th. I hovered around 15K in chips through the first break until a set of 9s filled out to a boat that jumped me up to 35K about 3 hours in. After some considerable up and down I was at 22K with the blinds at 800/1600/100 when I get QQ UTG. I ship it and get called by a splashy girl, who had 10K behind. No biggie, happy to play against her - but then sunglass wearing mullet guy ships it in for 15K! I have them covered, and sure enough I am ahead preflop. Girl - AdKs, Mullet - AxJx.
By the river I had come in 3rd place behind the girls flush and the guy's straight, and I suddenly find myself with 3BB left. Two more hands and I was out. I don't fault the ship here with about 15BB on a weak table. Nevertheless, it was a tad demoralizing.
This bust freed me out to attend the TPedge event at PT's Pub, which was a lot of fun. Played some Golden Tee and pool with the guys, had a few beers, and talked poker with everyone. I definitely hope to make this kind of trip every year. Even though my birthday was approaching, I was sooo tired, and was in bed by 1am.
the next day was checkout day, with no clear plan on what I would do. I decided to do one of those single table $125 satellites, and even though I busted it early(X99 flop and my K9 ended up behind a9), I probably should have added more of them to the mix. 10 pays 2 your buyin back plus $550 Tchips(called lammers) that are pretty easy to sell, or use. Two wins and you're in a WSOP $1K. One read of malmuth's SNG book and you have a pretty solid advantage, as it seemed like they were filling up quickly with a lot of fishy people. I decided that bad beat was enough, and I packed my bags and headed home.
But then I realized - I'd hit bad Saturday traffic in LA if I left now - so - curiousity got the best of me, and I stopped at Southpoint. I'm glad I did! First, I got a great sushi meal for free because it was my birthday AND I found an incredibly soft table that I sat down at with $150, and left with $410. The biggest hand there was getting a 9 on the turn for a 10 high straight against another guy's lower straight.
So, the tally for the trip:
Rio 1/3 -270
WSOP $135 BUST -135
Caesar's $125 Mega BUST -125
Wynn $140 Bounty BUST -140 +$50 Bounty -90
Bally's 1/2 +220
WSOP $235 BUST - -235
WSOP Satty $125 BUST -125
Southpoint 1/2 +260
With the rooms comped, I ended up down $496. Obviously my cash advantage in Vegas has been pretty constant, as I am up almost $1K over 7 sessions since September. I think a more optimal strategy is to play cash in the morning or late evening, and let my results dictate my tournament play instead of the other way around. While I played an ok cash game this week, I pressed for thin value in some hands and ended up beating variance, and I think I did it because I felt the need to play catch-up. I don't really have the bankroll to beat variance in the tournaments, so if i plan on making this a yearly thing, I need to let my cash game advantage dictate my temp tourney bankroll.
All in all a fun trip, albeit a bit tiring - I'm still playing catch-up sleepwise, but if you've never been, treat yourself and do the WSOP for even just a few days.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
WSOP, June 5-6
For years and years I dreamed about coming here, and now that I'm here, seeing it all - I wouldn't say it is a let down or anything like that - The Pavilion and Amazon rooms are huge, like you'd expect - the final table sets look just like they do on tv. You say hi to Jason Mercier in the hallway. Gavin Smith takes a picture with you. But in reality, to those of us with small bankrolls, it is almost too much to ingest. The isea of even a $1000 buyin is daunting to me, so us little critters scurry around the big boys, buyin into Daily Deepstacks, satellites and smaller buy-ins off campus at Caesar's, Venetian, etc. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed that chase (although aside from $75 in bounties, I've busted everything I've played, and only cash games have softened my losses), but I feel somewhat like the bastard child at the Thanksgiving table. Anyway, a shrt summary -
1. While I decided what to do when I got to the Rio, I sat down and lost $200 on one of the worst bad beats I've ever experienced. AA v. 88. I go to 10 with a call. Flop is x8x, I bet out 35, he calls. Turn, an A. He shoves, and I ship it all in. The river? You bet. An 8. Quads to my full house.
2. I elect to play the $135 WSOP 10pm Daily Deepstack. I stay about even throught first break, and then a hat trick of hands - aq v a2, jj v 99 and 77 v JQ --- I lose all of these???and the final one sends me to the rail. At 3am, no less.
3. Tired in the am, but manage to get to the Caesars 10K guarantee. $120 well spent, I think. It was a lot of fun and though I only lasted through half the field of 300, I was having a ball with it.
4 I was, however, bleeding away, and needed some cash to even the ship. Right as rain, I take $150 to a 1/2 table and turn it into $350 in about 40 minutes, mostly with an AQ that made a straight on the turn.
5. I then went to the Wynn, and the lack of runner for this bounty was disappointing. Only 30 people, 3 paying. I ran like a god for most of it, but then made a stupid all-in call, really stupid, two pair against what I should have totally seen as a straight. Out in 9th, but $75 in bounties made it less painful, plus I made a flier bet on the Spurs that put me in the plus territory overall for the day.
Right now I am exhausted and am not sure what my next step is. I still have $460 of WSOP bankroll left out of the $600 I alotted myself. One certainty, the $75 Turbo Sat at 9am tomorrow. The other definite, if I have enough, is the $200 Limit O8 tournament on my way out of town on the 8th at Golden Nugget. I'm also seriously contemplating a massage - hey, it is my birthday, after all.
1. While I decided what to do when I got to the Rio, I sat down and lost $200 on one of the worst bad beats I've ever experienced. AA v. 88. I go to 10 with a call. Flop is x8x, I bet out 35, he calls. Turn, an A. He shoves, and I ship it all in. The river? You bet. An 8. Quads to my full house.
2. I elect to play the $135 WSOP 10pm Daily Deepstack. I stay about even throught first break, and then a hat trick of hands - aq v a2, jj v 99 and 77 v JQ --- I lose all of these???and the final one sends me to the rail. At 3am, no less.
3. Tired in the am, but manage to get to the Caesars 10K guarantee. $120 well spent, I think. It was a lot of fun and though I only lasted through half the field of 300, I was having a ball with it.
4 I was, however, bleeding away, and needed some cash to even the ship. Right as rain, I take $150 to a 1/2 table and turn it into $350 in about 40 minutes, mostly with an AQ that made a straight on the turn.
5. I then went to the Wynn, and the lack of runner for this bounty was disappointing. Only 30 people, 3 paying. I ran like a god for most of it, but then made a stupid all-in call, really stupid, two pair against what I should have totally seen as a straight. Out in 9th, but $75 in bounties made it less painful, plus I made a flier bet on the Spurs that put me in the plus territory overall for the day.
Right now I am exhausted and am not sure what my next step is. I still have $460 of WSOP bankroll left out of the $600 I alotted myself. One certainty, the $75 Turbo Sat at 9am tomorrow. The other definite, if I have enough, is the $200 Limit O8 tournament on my way out of town on the 8th at Golden Nugget. I'm also seriously contemplating a massage - hey, it is my birthday, after all.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
WSOP Trip Booked!
Yep, my first trip to the WSOP ever, signed, sealed and delivered.
The catch? I'm probably not going to play any WSOP events. I AM staying at the Rio, and I DO plan on playing in some single table satellites, and maybe their daily tournaments. Instead, I am going to hit the lower buy-in events at the other series around town, hope I get a big score, and maybe parlay that into something bigger. Either way, it will be fun to see it all in the flesh. I never have and I'm totally looking forward to it!
My schedule:
Arrive Wed June 5. Pick between Binions $200 HORSE or Golden Nugget's $125 NLH.
Thurs June 6. Caesars $130 NLHE
Fri June 7. Venetian's $300 NLHE Bounty
Sat June 8, my bday, and I'll head out of town with Binion's $200 LO-8 event.
Bsnkroll dependent, I'll play in some Rio satellites and their daily tournaments, and possibly a little bit of cash if I am up. My hotel is a total freeroll as I had $200 worth of RC's So, I'll be at the hotel and will be able to soak it all in, but my bankroll can't handle the buyins without some help. Wish me luck everyone, and by all means, if any of my readers are in town, let me know.
The catch? I'm probably not going to play any WSOP events. I AM staying at the Rio, and I DO plan on playing in some single table satellites, and maybe their daily tournaments. Instead, I am going to hit the lower buy-in events at the other series around town, hope I get a big score, and maybe parlay that into something bigger. Either way, it will be fun to see it all in the flesh. I never have and I'm totally looking forward to it!
My schedule:
Arrive Wed June 5. Pick between Binions $200 HORSE or Golden Nugget's $125 NLH.
Thurs June 6. Caesars $130 NLHE
Fri June 7. Venetian's $300 NLHE Bounty
Sat June 8, my bday, and I'll head out of town with Binion's $200 LO-8 event.
Bsnkroll dependent, I'll play in some Rio satellites and their daily tournaments, and possibly a little bit of cash if I am up. My hotel is a total freeroll as I had $200 worth of RC's So, I'll be at the hotel and will be able to soak it all in, but my bankroll can't handle the buyins without some help. Wish me luck everyone, and by all means, if any of my readers are in town, let me know.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Pechanga and the 'free' tournament
Hello, readers! I know my posts have been scant, but that doesn't mean I haven't been playing. For 2013 I'm up roughly $1K, but my record hasn't been so great at the non-destination casinos (Commerce, Bike). In Vegas I've done well, but Pechanga, well - it has been very, very good to me.
Pechanga is about an Atlantic City-NYC drive, so it isn't ideal, but it seems I head down to the SD area a lot, so it is a natural fit to stop there on the return trip. So, yesterday I headed down for an evening audition, and using my trusty Bravo Poker Mobile App, I spied an interesting promotion Pechanga was running - log ONE hour of play between midnight an 10:30 am and you will be entered into a FREE tournament with a 2K guarantee! Who can beat that? So, after my audition I stayed with a friend in SD and then headed to Pechanga to log my hour. When I got there there was only a 2/4 limit game going so I took a seat at about 8am. Shortly thereafter came a LOT of people and games started firing up all over the room - so despite the juicy 1/3 NL action I've experienced there, I exercised discipline and stayed at limit for about 90 minutes, losing $20 of the $60 I put down. I went dowanstairs, had a nice little breakfast, and then settled in for the action.
Now, let me just say now that I final tabled out of 68 runners and we chopped it 9 ways for third place money($200). I thought that because this tournament was free, people would be splashy, and in the beginning, they were. My first double up occurred when my QQ bested a Q9 (??) He had a nine on the board, he thought that was good? Then this annoying Asian dude who is a regular, and liked to say checkcheckcheck over and over to confuse the table,raised my 200 bet with another QQ, with some sort of odd hand like 48, I put him all in and took his stack - so I'm up from 4500 to about 12K two levels in. Then it seemed apparent that the splashies were disappearing and the nit-work began.
Aside from the beginning I was never really at risk for all my chips, but at 400/800 I did run a little good. I bet out 1600 with 10s. Smaller stack, a meek Asian lady, shoved for about 2300. I go all in on top to isolate, but then this loose dude goes all in too, with a stack of about 5500? I'm at 17K and have them all covered. Meek asian lady shows KK, and loose dude JJ. 10 on the turn, and I send two to the rail. I didn't fault that isolate - I didnt expect to run into that kind of trouble, but the structure was fast and you pretty much either have to go big or go home.
I then took a hard beat with aj against ak that dwindled me down to 10K at 500/1000, so it was shove time. A really short stack shoved and I went all in over him with Aq. He had 44 and hit a set, but another guy with lots of chips shoved too, and though 44 guy took the side pot, the other dude shoved with Q9(again?) and I took his chips. So this landed me at around 19K, and to be honest I dont think I got involved with a single pot again after that. the drop from 18 down to 9 came pretty quickly, and when I heard the tournament folks really pushing the chop as we bubbled, I knew I didn't really need to worry about my stack size entering the final table. So, I drove home about $180 richer.
If this promo continues, I think I'm going to make another trip!
Pechanga is about an Atlantic City-NYC drive, so it isn't ideal, but it seems I head down to the SD area a lot, so it is a natural fit to stop there on the return trip. So, yesterday I headed down for an evening audition, and using my trusty Bravo Poker Mobile App, I spied an interesting promotion Pechanga was running - log ONE hour of play between midnight an 10:30 am and you will be entered into a FREE tournament with a 2K guarantee! Who can beat that? So, after my audition I stayed with a friend in SD and then headed to Pechanga to log my hour. When I got there there was only a 2/4 limit game going so I took a seat at about 8am. Shortly thereafter came a LOT of people and games started firing up all over the room - so despite the juicy 1/3 NL action I've experienced there, I exercised discipline and stayed at limit for about 90 minutes, losing $20 of the $60 I put down. I went dowanstairs, had a nice little breakfast, and then settled in for the action.
Now, let me just say now that I final tabled out of 68 runners and we chopped it 9 ways for third place money($200). I thought that because this tournament was free, people would be splashy, and in the beginning, they were. My first double up occurred when my QQ bested a Q9 (??) He had a nine on the board, he thought that was good? Then this annoying Asian dude who is a regular, and liked to say checkcheckcheck over and over to confuse the table,raised my 200 bet with another QQ, with some sort of odd hand like 48, I put him all in and took his stack - so I'm up from 4500 to about 12K two levels in. Then it seemed apparent that the splashies were disappearing and the nit-work began.
Aside from the beginning I was never really at risk for all my chips, but at 400/800 I did run a little good. I bet out 1600 with 10s. Smaller stack, a meek Asian lady, shoved for about 2300. I go all in on top to isolate, but then this loose dude goes all in too, with a stack of about 5500? I'm at 17K and have them all covered. Meek asian lady shows KK, and loose dude JJ. 10 on the turn, and I send two to the rail. I didn't fault that isolate - I didnt expect to run into that kind of trouble, but the structure was fast and you pretty much either have to go big or go home.
I then took a hard beat with aj against ak that dwindled me down to 10K at 500/1000, so it was shove time. A really short stack shoved and I went all in over him with Aq. He had 44 and hit a set, but another guy with lots of chips shoved too, and though 44 guy took the side pot, the other dude shoved with Q9(again?) and I took his chips. So this landed me at around 19K, and to be honest I dont think I got involved with a single pot again after that. the drop from 18 down to 9 came pretty quickly, and when I heard the tournament folks really pushing the chop as we bubbled, I knew I didn't really need to worry about my stack size entering the final table. So, I drove home about $180 richer.
If this promo continues, I think I'm going to make another trip!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Poker in Ventura
So, I am out here in Ventura doing a job, and via the internet I saw they had a casino out here, so I decided to check it out. It's called Players Casino
As I get closer to the place, I come across one of those long strips of auto dealerships that you see in most cities - an odd place for a casino, but I kept driving. Sure enough, I come across an auto dealership with the word CASINO on it in bright letters, and boy did it look shady from the outside! It was at night, and from the outside it looked, well, odd. I paused on the street for a bit before I decided to walk in.
When I walked in, it was much brighter than it looked like from the outside. People looked normal for the most part it was bright. It had a bar and restaurant in the back, and I would say it held about 30-35 tables that were running 1/2 $100 max, 2/3 $300 max, and your various limit games and a couple O8 games. These are pretty good limits for a CA casino, so I decided to buy in for $200 at a 2/3 table.
To summarize, I maybe was up to $260 and everntually busted out on a missed nut flush draw after about two hours. The play here was solid. Probably one of the better tables I have sat at in a casino.Granted, I didn't hit the deck especially hard, either - I think a pair of 10s that flopped a set was the best hand I had the whole session. Again, it is the non-destination poker thing - I am going to go back, possibly tonight, and downgrade to the 1/2 tables and see if I can get anything going.
As I get closer to the place, I come across one of those long strips of auto dealerships that you see in most cities - an odd place for a casino, but I kept driving. Sure enough, I come across an auto dealership with the word CASINO on it in bright letters, and boy did it look shady from the outside! It was at night, and from the outside it looked, well, odd. I paused on the street for a bit before I decided to walk in.
When I walked in, it was much brighter than it looked like from the outside. People looked normal for the most part it was bright. It had a bar and restaurant in the back, and I would say it held about 30-35 tables that were running 1/2 $100 max, 2/3 $300 max, and your various limit games and a couple O8 games. These are pretty good limits for a CA casino, so I decided to buy in for $200 at a 2/3 table.
To summarize, I maybe was up to $260 and everntually busted out on a missed nut flush draw after about two hours. The play here was solid. Probably one of the better tables I have sat at in a casino.Granted, I didn't hit the deck especially hard, either - I think a pair of 10s that flopped a set was the best hand I had the whole session. Again, it is the non-destination poker thing - I am going to go back, possibly tonight, and downgrade to the 1/2 tables and see if I can get anything going.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Been a while...
....yes readers, if there are any left. It has been a while but poker has certainly taken a back seat as I get further acclimated into life in Los Angeles. According to my trusty phone app, I have only logged 27 hours of cash play since Labor Day, but am averaging about $40/hr when I do play. I've made around 1K since then.
The poker excursions have been to Vegas and Pechanga, both twice. Why do that, you ask, when I have 5 casinos minutes away? Well, none of those establishments are DESTINATIONS. People go there to play poker, period. At the very least they are enthusiasts, and while there is money to be made, the soft spots are far fewer at Commerce, the Bike, or any of the other rooms. Vegas and Pechanga ( a resort casino in Temecula) are real destinations where money seems to just fall from trees. Let me give you an example from a hand I played at Pechanga the other night.
So to my left is a guy that, when I sat down, had just won the hourly high hand with quad 9's or something. That netted him $100, which he added to his stack. We were at a 1/3 table with a $200 max, so he is full up. I came in with $100 because $120 was about the average stack, and I didnt plan on staying long, as I was only passing through from an audition in SD. Anyway, I get AQ of spade in LP. Some limps and I make it yo 11. Two calls. The flop comes 10 K X, two spades. A check, then the bonus guy throws out 10. I re-raise it to 30, seeing a nut flush draw and four outs for a sraight. He announces all-in. I think for a minute, figure I came in short anyway and push my remaining 80 in. Turn, a brick, And I river an off-suit Q. I am figuring for sure he is holding two pair, or at least a K...and he shows some raggy 10 high hand and mucks! I missed and still won. This is the kind of play we find at Pechanga. I left with a little over a double up after 2 hours.
You don't see this as much at Commerce or the Bike. I see a lot more free time coming in January, and I may just have to commit the extra miles on my car and hit Pechanga more often.
The poker excursions have been to Vegas and Pechanga, both twice. Why do that, you ask, when I have 5 casinos minutes away? Well, none of those establishments are DESTINATIONS. People go there to play poker, period. At the very least they are enthusiasts, and while there is money to be made, the soft spots are far fewer at Commerce, the Bike, or any of the other rooms. Vegas and Pechanga ( a resort casino in Temecula) are real destinations where money seems to just fall from trees. Let me give you an example from a hand I played at Pechanga the other night.
So to my left is a guy that, when I sat down, had just won the hourly high hand with quad 9's or something. That netted him $100, which he added to his stack. We were at a 1/3 table with a $200 max, so he is full up. I came in with $100 because $120 was about the average stack, and I didnt plan on staying long, as I was only passing through from an audition in SD. Anyway, I get AQ of spade in LP. Some limps and I make it yo 11. Two calls. The flop comes 10 K X, two spades. A check, then the bonus guy throws out 10. I re-raise it to 30, seeing a nut flush draw and four outs for a sraight. He announces all-in. I think for a minute, figure I came in short anyway and push my remaining 80 in. Turn, a brick, And I river an off-suit Q. I am figuring for sure he is holding two pair, or at least a K...and he shows some raggy 10 high hand and mucks! I missed and still won. This is the kind of play we find at Pechanga. I left with a little over a double up after 2 hours.
You don't see this as much at Commerce or the Bike. I see a lot more free time coming in January, and I may just have to commit the extra miles on my car and hit Pechanga more often.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Vegas baby!
Nothing like an impromptu trip to Vegas to get the poker juices humming.
And hum they did. I need to come here more often!
If that isn't a portent of my good fortune, I don't know what is, but I digress. So, Erin and I were about to visit the LaBrea tarpits when we started talking about Steve, who decided to have a birthday party in Vegas - it was unbearably hot out, and we figured getting so close to bubbling tar was not a good way to spend the day, so, we decided to just jump in the car and go. Considering I wanted to be somewhere I could just pop downstairs and play, we bid on a room at MGM and off we went.
We get settled in and as I went to the poker room, I discovered it was not there! The area is under construction, so the usual juicy post-nightclub location was gone, and now was temporarily located in a rather drab enclave a few hundred feet away. Hmph. Well,I havent been to Vegas since the Aria opened, so I went over there to check it out.
Beautiful room. And they are running 1/3, which I always enjoy. I bought in for $300 and down I sat. No sooner did I sit down when I get A10 and flop two pair. An older gentlemen looked me up all the way to the turn and went away when I re-raised him when no flush draw made it to the river.
Erin was cool enough to join me at the table to watch, which is an interesting dynamic. When I see that happening, I always assume the guy to be a little splashy, trying to impress the girl he is with. I decided I would use that to my advantage and get really talkative, order a Jameson's, and act like I'm not really caring about what happens at this table. I open raise everything for a bit, and fold when I whiff the flop. Meanwhile, I'm canvassing the table. I can identify one good player, wearing a Cincinnati Bearcats t-shirt. Everybody else is, well - not very good. They are also literally DISCUSSING how they play a given hand. I would normally not listen to such drivel and assume it to be deception but that was not the case here. So, I settled in and was convinced tonight would be profitable.
I flat call a gentleman's raise to 7 with 5d7h. OK, ok, but it was 7 bucks! A VERY splashy fellow opposite me calls. The flop? 5-5-3 rainbow. He makes it 30? Since he isn't Grump, I did not put him on 2-4, although 33 could be a possibility - but why try to take it down there? I'm a bit confused, but I decide to stick with my image despite my fear of being outkicked, so I 3bet to 100. He looked at my one stack of reds and said, 'How much? Never mind, OK, let's go, and he shoves all-in?? Outkicked, I think, but....I call for a few bucks more.
He tables A10?? I'm shocked. nothing shows for him - and I'm up to $500.
Then a classic hand ensued of AA vs. JJ against a nice enough fellow who - ironically, had a girl sitting with him too, and he refused to let those Jacks go. I'm up to $700.
I figure that's a good profit for one night, but right as I am racking up, I get QQ. I raise to 11 with two callers. Flop comes QA3 ranbow and I make it 25. JJ guy shoves all in, I call, he tables AJ and I take his last $50 with trip Queens. Bingo!
The next day I decide to give the MGM room a whirl. I sat down at a 1-2 table with a blonde girl to my left who was on vacation, and was already not knowing when her turn was...cue happy dance for me! I swear I am not there two minutes when I flop trip 7's. A guy's AA gets cracked and I double up to $400. I immediately assume table captain status, and considering the tightness I was witnessing, no one wanted to mess with me. Any raise I put in over $25, people were folding. I was in heaven. I don't really recall the hand I won next but it knocked me up to $575 and I stayed there for a while and got up after about two hours.
I realize heading home - I've never left Vegas down. The tourist population is so, well, horrible at poker that I find that I only really suffer when the board betrays me. Granted, I always seem to hit the deck hard when I visit, but I'm leaving out a lot of solid profitable play where I used those moments to my advantage in later hands. Vegas poker is a different animal in that ir is a destination for so many other things - your player pool is going to be more seasoned in LA because their casinos are not destinations.
This basically means I'm coming to Vegas a bit more often.
And hum they did. I need to come here more often!
If that isn't a portent of my good fortune, I don't know what is, but I digress. So, Erin and I were about to visit the LaBrea tarpits when we started talking about Steve, who decided to have a birthday party in Vegas - it was unbearably hot out, and we figured getting so close to bubbling tar was not a good way to spend the day, so, we decided to just jump in the car and go. Considering I wanted to be somewhere I could just pop downstairs and play, we bid on a room at MGM and off we went.
We get settled in and as I went to the poker room, I discovered it was not there! The area is under construction, so the usual juicy post-nightclub location was gone, and now was temporarily located in a rather drab enclave a few hundred feet away. Hmph. Well,I havent been to Vegas since the Aria opened, so I went over there to check it out.
Beautiful room. And they are running 1/3, which I always enjoy. I bought in for $300 and down I sat. No sooner did I sit down when I get A10 and flop two pair. An older gentlemen looked me up all the way to the turn and went away when I re-raised him when no flush draw made it to the river.
Erin was cool enough to join me at the table to watch, which is an interesting dynamic. When I see that happening, I always assume the guy to be a little splashy, trying to impress the girl he is with. I decided I would use that to my advantage and get really talkative, order a Jameson's, and act like I'm not really caring about what happens at this table. I open raise everything for a bit, and fold when I whiff the flop. Meanwhile, I'm canvassing the table. I can identify one good player, wearing a Cincinnati Bearcats t-shirt. Everybody else is, well - not very good. They are also literally DISCUSSING how they play a given hand. I would normally not listen to such drivel and assume it to be deception but that was not the case here. So, I settled in and was convinced tonight would be profitable.
I flat call a gentleman's raise to 7 with 5d7h. OK, ok, but it was 7 bucks! A VERY splashy fellow opposite me calls. The flop? 5-5-3 rainbow. He makes it 30? Since he isn't Grump, I did not put him on 2-4, although 33 could be a possibility - but why try to take it down there? I'm a bit confused, but I decide to stick with my image despite my fear of being outkicked, so I 3bet to 100. He looked at my one stack of reds and said, 'How much? Never mind, OK, let's go, and he shoves all-in?? Outkicked, I think, but....I call for a few bucks more.
He tables A10?? I'm shocked. nothing shows for him - and I'm up to $500.
Then a classic hand ensued of AA vs. JJ against a nice enough fellow who - ironically, had a girl sitting with him too, and he refused to let those Jacks go. I'm up to $700.
I figure that's a good profit for one night, but right as I am racking up, I get QQ. I raise to 11 with two callers. Flop comes QA3 ranbow and I make it 25. JJ guy shoves all in, I call, he tables AJ and I take his last $50 with trip Queens. Bingo!
The next day I decide to give the MGM room a whirl. I sat down at a 1-2 table with a blonde girl to my left who was on vacation, and was already not knowing when her turn was...cue happy dance for me! I swear I am not there two minutes when I flop trip 7's. A guy's AA gets cracked and I double up to $400. I immediately assume table captain status, and considering the tightness I was witnessing, no one wanted to mess with me. Any raise I put in over $25, people were folding. I was in heaven. I don't really recall the hand I won next but it knocked me up to $575 and I stayed there for a while and got up after about two hours.
I realize heading home - I've never left Vegas down. The tourist population is so, well, horrible at poker that I find that I only really suffer when the board betrays me. Granted, I always seem to hit the deck hard when I visit, but I'm leaving out a lot of solid profitable play where I used those moments to my advantage in later hands. Vegas poker is a different animal in that ir is a destination for so many other things - your player pool is going to be more seasoned in LA because their casinos are not destinations.
This basically means I'm coming to Vegas a bit more often.
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