Decided to venture off to Harrah's last Friday and I was not disappointed by everything that happened. First thing is as I'm pulling into the garage to park I see a sign on the parking ticket machine that says "special event parking"...I'm not even sure what exactly was going on but then I see that the fee is $30 and if you lose your ticket it's $100!! It wasn't always that expensive for a lost ticket but I guess Harrah's is falling on tough times or just like to screw ppl whenever they get the chance. There's also something about diamond and seven star free parking and now I'm wondering if they stopped giving free parking for 30 minutes of play...this is Harrah's so nothing would shock me. Well I find a place to park relatively quick and get out my car to head to the elevator and then I stop b/c I can't find my parking ticket to get validated and I momentarily panic. Go back to my jeep and pull everything out of my pockets, check the usual spots where I put the ticket and NOTHING...now I'm trying to figure out a way to not pay $100 for parking. I check one last place and sure enough it was there and I avoided the first shitty beat of the night.
Walk to the poker room and they have two 2/5 games and like 243 1/2 games going. I hang out at the desk of the poker room for 5 minutes before anyone acknowledges me and asks what game I'd like...poker room is nuts and they have two floor ppl. Well I'm on the list and like 12th or so and it's 9pm. To my surprise there isn't a game on every table. I find a spot to chill and sweat the 5/10/20 game and then they start to move around like they are opening a new table and they did...of course it was a 4/8 game. Well Matt and Joe show up so at least I have someone to talk to while waiting. After about an hour and a half on the list I finally get in the game and the game I got sent to didn't appear to be the better of the two mainly b/c the avg. age was around 68 years old. Well that was earlier in the night and when I got there the complexion of the game had somewhat changed. I was undecided on my buy-in before I sat down since they upped it to 1k. Well I wish I would have sat down with the full amount. I get my chips and sit down the dealer asks if I'd like to post but I'm UTG so I'll just wait...well then Harrah's version of "Joe Cool" tells me to straddle, so with my chips still in the rack I throw in $10. "Joe Cool" is actually a guy named LT...if you've ever played there you know who I'm talking about, always has a hat, sunglasses, and button up shirt. Doesn't say a whole lot and NEVER, I mean NEVER takes off his glasses, not sure if the guy even has eyes. Well he encourages my straddle and the douche on my left does the dumbest thing in the world (he's a regular who is pretty sure of himself for some reason) and makes it $20 blind raise...not sure what the point of that is? Well it gets to LT on the button and after a few limp for $20 he pops it to $100 and the guy on my right calls the $100 and of course I look down at QQ without even having my chips straight. I make it $400 total and LT calls w/out thinking and we see the flop heads up. I move in on the flop and he calls and mucks on the river. I more than double my money on the first hand. So much for playing small pots.
The night would slow down but the game didn't. It was wide open and raises ranged from $20 to $60 and action was given on almost all hands dealt. It played well and I think I might have won like 8 pots total on the night and was a pretty nice winner. The game stayed really good till I left. I got to play with Tex who made an appearance but I didn't get a chance to talk with him, he was on the other side of the table and all we got to do was shoot the occasional glance with a WOW expression on our faces from the shit that was being shown down.
Last night I decided I wanted to play something online but had no idea what it was going to be. I pulled up Full Tilt and they had a tourney that was double stack, non-turbo, and was in late registration. It seemed like a winner to me so I signed up and then I realized it was 6-handed which I was glad to see. I've done pretty well in 6-max online tourneys and this was no different. Had about 750 players and I played pretty well. Made quad aces on the third hand and then didn't see a pocket pair above nines for the next 3 hours. I had fun playing and did a lot of three betting and tried to play aggressive throughout. With about 40 players left I got into the top 5 in chips and stayed there till 10 handed. We played 7 handed for quite a while and had a lot swings. I ended up busting 7th and bubbled the final table. It would have been nice to win it but it was still fun to run deep. That was the first tourney I had played live or online since Vegas. I'm getting pretty excited to play some tourneys when the Beau starts up in September. Not sure if I'm gonna head to Harrah's this weekend, guess I'll just see what happens.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
7.23.2009
7.10.2009
Vegas...part 3
I've been back from Vegas for a while but just haven't finished posting about it mainly b/c I haven't really wanted to sit down and type and the fact I haven't played since I've been back might have something to do with that too. I played a late night session at the Bellagio that was somewhat interesting. It took forever to get into a game and when I finally did it was at a very entertaining table....I only wish I would have been winning b/c it would have been even more fun. I sit down at the table and start playing and I'm in the two seat and there is an open seat in the 4 and the floor guy comes and puts a little piece of paper with a name on it and it says Bubbles. I'm not sure what to expect to here, possibly a stripper?!? Well about 20 or so minutes go by and the seat is still empty and someone at the table asks the floor guy about it since we could have had another player. The floor guy tells him that Bubble's walks with a cane and doesn't move to fast. The stripper thought just got a little more interesting. Well it turns out to be about a 6ft tall 300 pound 60+ year old Italian guy that sounds like he just got off the set of a Sopranos filming. He sits down at the table and just starts working the room. He was rude, definitely politically incorrect (referring to the 10 seat as china-men), dropping f'bombs...and most importantly he was fucking hilarious. I couldn't help but like this guy. He asked me where I was from and when I told him I live in New Orleans he said he's got a friend that owns a restaurant there. For whatever reason he wasn't giving me a hard time but the rest of the table I couldn't say the same. He let me off the hook about 4 times when he out drew me and told me to fold when I prolly would have paid him off and he showed me winners every time. It was one of those nights for me. He was also hammered, taking shots of Jack Daniels every time the cocktail waitress came around.
A couple things were really funny. I wasn't sure if this guy was big time or just full of shit but every dealer knew him and every floor guy and few of the guys playing in the big games gave him a hello while walking to the cage. Well it turns out he has some big role with a restaurant in Caesars Palace. Rao's is rated one of the best Italian restaurants in the United States and is pretty tough to get a reservation there. Well now I know this guy isn't full of shit and one of the funnier moments of the night came when Johnny Chan walked near our table and was standing about 10 feet away and Bubble's said "hey Johnny" and Chan replied with a "Hi Bubbles" and then Bubble's asked "how's your son"...Johnny said "he's doing fine Bubbles"...Bubbles then said "that's good news" and then before Johnny Chan can even turn his back Bubbles says...in a not so discrete voice "fucking prick" and I about spit my drink all over the table. Chan didn't acknowledge the comment and the dealer just smirked and said "he's the second biggest one next to Sammy"
I thought that shit was pretty funny. Later a guy tried to cut between the tables to run over and pretend to be friends with Prahlad Friedman who had just won about a 30k pot on the table next to us and while he was passing between the tables he stepped on Bubbles foot and Bubbles didn't hesitate to call the guy out on it and pretty much demanded the guy come back and apologize which the guy did about a dozen times. One last interesting thing about Italian restaurant guy from New York City is that he asked me if I saw The Hangover. I told him I did and then he asked if I remember then end when they showed the picture and the one with Wayne Newton in it....I did remember it and he was actually in the picture, When I got back home I pulled up the movie on project free TV and fast forwarded to the end and sure enough he was not full of shit, he was sitting next to Wayne Newton in the picture...that was pretty cool.
The session didn't go to well and I lost a couple hundred but it was mainly just boring b/c I know I woulda had a blast if I would have been winning, but oh well it happens. The last day there I didn't know where I was going to play and Davey and I decided on the Bellagio once again, mainly b/c he was determined the beat the 5/10 game there. I sat in a 2/5 game and got a pretty nice gift from the poker gods and had AA vs. KK and nearly got a double up but I had the guy covered by a few. It was nice and Davey was up from his game and asked if I wanted to get out of there and go catch the Wayne Brady show at the Venetian. Saw that I was a winner and said sure. That was a good call. The show was funny as hell and worth going see. It's an improv show and in a small theater so that made it cool. Best way to describe it is as a PG-13/R rated version of the tv show "who's line is it anyway?"
The Vegas trip was fun and I wish I was still there or could have stayed longer but it is what it is and I had fun. I did discover a few things that annoy me while I'm playing and most of it is just things that have become poker cliche' stuff. I'll be a sourpuss (whatever that means) another time. I haven't played since I've been back and haven't really had the itch but I heard the jackpot at Harrah's is still growing so I may have to head there and play next weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
A couple things were really funny. I wasn't sure if this guy was big time or just full of shit but every dealer knew him and every floor guy and few of the guys playing in the big games gave him a hello while walking to the cage. Well it turns out he has some big role with a restaurant in Caesars Palace. Rao's is rated one of the best Italian restaurants in the United States and is pretty tough to get a reservation there. Well now I know this guy isn't full of shit and one of the funnier moments of the night came when Johnny Chan walked near our table and was standing about 10 feet away and Bubble's said "hey Johnny" and Chan replied with a "Hi Bubbles" and then Bubble's asked "how's your son"...Johnny said "he's doing fine Bubbles"...Bubbles then said "that's good news" and then before Johnny Chan can even turn his back Bubbles says...in a not so discrete voice "fucking prick" and I about spit my drink all over the table. Chan didn't acknowledge the comment and the dealer just smirked and said "he's the second biggest one next to Sammy"
I thought that shit was pretty funny. Later a guy tried to cut between the tables to run over and pretend to be friends with Prahlad Friedman who had just won about a 30k pot on the table next to us and while he was passing between the tables he stepped on Bubbles foot and Bubbles didn't hesitate to call the guy out on it and pretty much demanded the guy come back and apologize which the guy did about a dozen times. One last interesting thing about Italian restaurant guy from New York City is that he asked me if I saw The Hangover. I told him I did and then he asked if I remember then end when they showed the picture and the one with Wayne Newton in it....I did remember it and he was actually in the picture, When I got back home I pulled up the movie on project free TV and fast forwarded to the end and sure enough he was not full of shit, he was sitting next to Wayne Newton in the picture...that was pretty cool.
The session didn't go to well and I lost a couple hundred but it was mainly just boring b/c I know I woulda had a blast if I would have been winning, but oh well it happens. The last day there I didn't know where I was going to play and Davey and I decided on the Bellagio once again, mainly b/c he was determined the beat the 5/10 game there. I sat in a 2/5 game and got a pretty nice gift from the poker gods and had AA vs. KK and nearly got a double up but I had the guy covered by a few. It was nice and Davey was up from his game and asked if I wanted to get out of there and go catch the Wayne Brady show at the Venetian. Saw that I was a winner and said sure. That was a good call. The show was funny as hell and worth going see. It's an improv show and in a small theater so that made it cool. Best way to describe it is as a PG-13/R rated version of the tv show "who's line is it anyway?"
The Vegas trip was fun and I wish I was still there or could have stayed longer but it is what it is and I had fun. I did discover a few things that annoy me while I'm playing and most of it is just things that have become poker cliche' stuff. I'll be a sourpuss (whatever that means) another time. I haven't played since I've been back and haven't really had the itch but I heard the jackpot at Harrah's is still growing so I may have to head there and play next weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
6.21.2009
continued....(part 2)
Left off busting 46th out of 660 players in the first tourney of the trip at the Venetian. I was pretty exhausted after a long day on the Thursday with the travel and like 13 hours of play. Davey and I played the $550 on Friday and I played terrible. Just pressed to much and never really hit a comfort zone. I did do certain things ok but had one guy at the table who was just getting run over with the deck and he was pissing me off. I folded a hand where later on I thought I may have laid down the best hand. Guy at our table had chipped up to like 60k in first 2 levels. I then saw this guy run two very bad bluffs and make a really loose all in call on the turn with like A,Q high. After I saw that shit I had a mission to abuse this guy and I never do shit like that. I then raised this guys blind every time I had the chance. I reraised him about three times with nothing. He even asked me once if I had something against him and I told he was the best player on the table and I think that comment confused him. Anyway it was my mission for this guy to lose his chips and he did. The shitty part was that I played for about 6 and half hours and finished about 300 out of 630.
I then hung out for a while and took a shower and ate some supper and then tried to find a good 2/5 game at the Venetian. I prefer to play with someone I know at the table and it was either Davey or Joe and the average age of Davey's game was about 72 and Joe's game looked better. Joe was getting run over with the deck and did really well that night. I made some big hands too and played well and lost one really shitty pot. One of the bigger pots came when I had JJ in the cutoff and and someone opened it for $35 in the 10 seat...I was in the two. I just called and the 5 seat and the 9 seat called. The 9 was pretty active and not a very good player but I think he was convinced he was. Flop came 10 high two diamonds and the 9 seat bet out $100 and the PFR folded and I called and the 5 seat called. The turn was the Queen of diamonds and it went checked through. River was a blank and 5 seat checked and the 9 seat bet out $280. Now this is where I had to put things together. I was positive no one had the flush b/c both players were smart enough to bet that out if they did. I wasn't sure if the queen beat me but I knew I had the 9 seat beat and my only concern was the 5. I took a while but when I noticed that the 5 seat was really concerned with the 9 seat and trying to get a read on him when it was my turn to act that kinda triggered that he might have been weak and was contemplating a thin call against that player. If he had a big hand he would have been more concerned with me and hoping I'd put money in the pot but with his focus being on the other player then I knew he couldn't call if I did. I called the $280 and he folded and the 9 seat very sheepishly turned over 66 and my JJ was good for a nice little pot. I managed to win some pots but still had to make some big decisions. The table was active so it was good have a draw b/c a lot of hands were getting paid off.
The shittiest hand I had was at the end of the session. I told myself I was leaving on my big blind or on the hour which ever came first. Well I look down at QQ with about 6 hands to go or 15 minutes. Guy opens for $35 in the 10 seat and I just call. (I'm getting sick just typing this). Well I call and the guy behind me calls. Flop comes Q,9,8 and PFR checks and I bet $90 and the guy behind me folds and the PFR calls. Turn is a 5 and he leads out for $180 and I call. I don't think he flopped the nuts and I can't really put him on 6,7. Maybe I'm just a pussy too by just calling. River is a brick and I don't fill up. He bets out $300 and I just look at him and roll my eyes and think to myself how shitty this is that I am just calling this bet on the river with top set. I call and he shows his 6,7 for the straight. So after losing $600 on one hand I rack up and leave. Pretty gross that I lost that pot. It was gonna be a great end of a shitty day as far as the tourney but instead I still turned a really nice profit but it would have been nice to rack up another $600.
I went to bed kinda sick but still up on the trip and free rolling on tourneys. I woke up early on Saturday and went register for the noon $550. That tourney didn't go so well either. Had about 460 players and finished around 240. That tourney was brutal. Thursday I played well and ran deep, Friday I played bad and didn't fare so well and Saturday I ran monsters into monsters. On three occasions I ran top two pair into a set and still had chips at the end of each hand. Never gave a double up with any of those hands so I was losing the minimum for the most part. The best part of the tourney was sitting by the rail and seeing all the fine ass women walking by. I got to see the ppl going to the pool and the later the same girls going to the club. Not sure which outfits I like better. That was about my only entertainment other than the show the dealers were putting on by the cards they were dealing me. Oh well, I played three tourneys on the trip and cashed in one. I'll take one cash out of every three tourneys.
Busted fairly early and Davey didn't fare too well in the tournaments either...wish I would have made last longer bets with him. We watched some college baseball in the sports book and then my phone rang and it was Jacob and he asked what we were up to and said he'd be there in 15 minutes. He decided last minute to come out to Vegas. We all chilled for a while and then went to Venetian to check things out. I eventually got in a game and it was terrible and I decided to get up even and go back to the Mirage and join Davey in a weak 2/5 game. It was pretty easy going and then the game started to break and it was must move and I lost $100 in that shitty game on the last hand when someone didn't believe me and called my $30 preflop with 10,3 and flopped a full house on a 3,3,10 board and of course I turn an Ace. Oh well it happens.
While I was at the Venetian I sat next to the same guy two nights in a row in a cash game, his name was Mike something. He was a nice guy but VERY MUCH A DOUCHE BAG!...he was about 42 years old and just talked like he knew everything about everything involving poker and the especially every poker room in Vegas. We were talking for a good bit but about stuff other than poker which I MUCH prefer. Talked about cars, he has one that he turned into a drag racing car and I grew up around classics. He was also a college basketball player at Long Beach St. and played with some NBA players. Those were good conversations but then he felt it necessary to tell us about shit we didn't care about and no one at the table was really paying attention. He told us that you can use your player comp money for any restaurant in the casino and massages. That's not bad information but of course he started the story by saying "name drop poker room director' asked me and a couple other players some things that could be better and "I" told him that we would like to use our comp stuff for different things...blah blah blah. So he listened to what I had to say and I was able to get that changed." As soon as I hear people talking about shit like that they automatically go into the douche bag category. I don't know why people want to take credit for stuff like that. He's the same guy that wants to talk to every freaking floor guy that walks by and feels it's his duty to be the one to greet every dealer by first name and let it be known that he IS A LOCAL AND PLAYS HERES A LOT!!!...wtf is the deal with people being "that guy", if you know the dealer...a simple what's up is good and anyone with a half of clue can tell weather this dealer things you're douche or actually wants to talk to you. Oh well, didn't know that rant was coming but just one of the annoying things about poker for me.
I'm done writing and almost done with the Vegas stuff. Sunday and Monday were kinda interesting and I'll get to that later. Also have a rant or two about shit that annoys me at the table that happened in the next two sessions I played.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
I then hung out for a while and took a shower and ate some supper and then tried to find a good 2/5 game at the Venetian. I prefer to play with someone I know at the table and it was either Davey or Joe and the average age of Davey's game was about 72 and Joe's game looked better. Joe was getting run over with the deck and did really well that night. I made some big hands too and played well and lost one really shitty pot. One of the bigger pots came when I had JJ in the cutoff and and someone opened it for $35 in the 10 seat...I was in the two. I just called and the 5 seat and the 9 seat called. The 9 was pretty active and not a very good player but I think he was convinced he was. Flop came 10 high two diamonds and the 9 seat bet out $100 and the PFR folded and I called and the 5 seat called. The turn was the Queen of diamonds and it went checked through. River was a blank and 5 seat checked and the 9 seat bet out $280. Now this is where I had to put things together. I was positive no one had the flush b/c both players were smart enough to bet that out if they did. I wasn't sure if the queen beat me but I knew I had the 9 seat beat and my only concern was the 5. I took a while but when I noticed that the 5 seat was really concerned with the 9 seat and trying to get a read on him when it was my turn to act that kinda triggered that he might have been weak and was contemplating a thin call against that player. If he had a big hand he would have been more concerned with me and hoping I'd put money in the pot but with his focus being on the other player then I knew he couldn't call if I did. I called the $280 and he folded and the 9 seat very sheepishly turned over 66 and my JJ was good for a nice little pot. I managed to win some pots but still had to make some big decisions. The table was active so it was good have a draw b/c a lot of hands were getting paid off.
The shittiest hand I had was at the end of the session. I told myself I was leaving on my big blind or on the hour which ever came first. Well I look down at QQ with about 6 hands to go or 15 minutes. Guy opens for $35 in the 10 seat and I just call. (I'm getting sick just typing this). Well I call and the guy behind me calls. Flop comes Q,9,8 and PFR checks and I bet $90 and the guy behind me folds and the PFR calls. Turn is a 5 and he leads out for $180 and I call. I don't think he flopped the nuts and I can't really put him on 6,7. Maybe I'm just a pussy too by just calling. River is a brick and I don't fill up. He bets out $300 and I just look at him and roll my eyes and think to myself how shitty this is that I am just calling this bet on the river with top set. I call and he shows his 6,7 for the straight. So after losing $600 on one hand I rack up and leave. Pretty gross that I lost that pot. It was gonna be a great end of a shitty day as far as the tourney but instead I still turned a really nice profit but it would have been nice to rack up another $600.
I went to bed kinda sick but still up on the trip and free rolling on tourneys. I woke up early on Saturday and went register for the noon $550. That tourney didn't go so well either. Had about 460 players and finished around 240. That tourney was brutal. Thursday I played well and ran deep, Friday I played bad and didn't fare so well and Saturday I ran monsters into monsters. On three occasions I ran top two pair into a set and still had chips at the end of each hand. Never gave a double up with any of those hands so I was losing the minimum for the most part. The best part of the tourney was sitting by the rail and seeing all the fine ass women walking by. I got to see the ppl going to the pool and the later the same girls going to the club. Not sure which outfits I like better. That was about my only entertainment other than the show the dealers were putting on by the cards they were dealing me. Oh well, I played three tourneys on the trip and cashed in one. I'll take one cash out of every three tourneys.
Busted fairly early and Davey didn't fare too well in the tournaments either...wish I would have made last longer bets with him. We watched some college baseball in the sports book and then my phone rang and it was Jacob and he asked what we were up to and said he'd be there in 15 minutes. He decided last minute to come out to Vegas. We all chilled for a while and then went to Venetian to check things out. I eventually got in a game and it was terrible and I decided to get up even and go back to the Mirage and join Davey in a weak 2/5 game. It was pretty easy going and then the game started to break and it was must move and I lost $100 in that shitty game on the last hand when someone didn't believe me and called my $30 preflop with 10,3 and flopped a full house on a 3,3,10 board and of course I turn an Ace. Oh well it happens.
While I was at the Venetian I sat next to the same guy two nights in a row in a cash game, his name was Mike something. He was a nice guy but VERY MUCH A DOUCHE BAG!...he was about 42 years old and just talked like he knew everything about everything involving poker and the especially every poker room in Vegas. We were talking for a good bit but about stuff other than poker which I MUCH prefer. Talked about cars, he has one that he turned into a drag racing car and I grew up around classics. He was also a college basketball player at Long Beach St. and played with some NBA players. Those were good conversations but then he felt it necessary to tell us about shit we didn't care about and no one at the table was really paying attention. He told us that you can use your player comp money for any restaurant in the casino and massages. That's not bad information but of course he started the story by saying "name drop poker room director' asked me and a couple other players some things that could be better and "I" told him that we would like to use our comp stuff for different things...blah blah blah. So he listened to what I had to say and I was able to get that changed." As soon as I hear people talking about shit like that they automatically go into the douche bag category. I don't know why people want to take credit for stuff like that. He's the same guy that wants to talk to every freaking floor guy that walks by and feels it's his duty to be the one to greet every dealer by first name and let it be known that he IS A LOCAL AND PLAYS HERES A LOT!!!...wtf is the deal with people being "that guy", if you know the dealer...a simple what's up is good and anyone with a half of clue can tell weather this dealer things you're douche or actually wants to talk to you. Oh well, didn't know that rant was coming but just one of the annoying things about poker for me.
I'm done writing and almost done with the Vegas stuff. Sunday and Monday were kinda interesting and I'll get to that later. Also have a rant or two about shit that annoys me at the table that happened in the next two sessions I played.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
6.16.2009
Back From Vegas (part 1)
It's time to re-enter the real world. Got back from Vegas Tuesday afternoon and did a whole lot of nothing. Thought about writing a blog, thought about doing some laundry, thought about hanging by the pool and found myself lounging on the couch watching college baseball instead. The trip was OK at best and I had intentions of posting while I was in Vegas but the Mirage made that a little difficult by not offering free Wi-Fi. It's 2009 and I can get free Wi-Fi at a Best Western but not at the freaking Mirage. They wanted to charge $15 for 24 hours of use and considering all of about 5-6 hours a day are actually spent in the room I opted not to pay for internet and didn't feel like bringing my computer across the street to the Venetian just to type.
I don't really feel like recapping the whole trip right now...mainly due to the fact that I want to continue with the theme of my day and be lazy. I did play everyday for 5 straight days which is something I haven't done in a REALLY REALLY long time. Had some good things and some bad.
After landing we went to the hotel to check in and then walked across the street to play the $330 deep stack event at the Venetian. Those guys really get it over there and it was the place that got most of my time on this trip. The tourney started off OK and I was able to get the table talking and it had a home game feel to it which was nice. I played well and withstood two tough beats. I minded my own business and was winning a lot of the pots that I was playing. Took a big hit when I raised with KhQh and flopped a Q, turned an opened ended straight flush draw and the other player moved in on me and I called with 19k (12k starting stack) and he had AQ and I hit a K on the river to give him the straight and my draw meant nothing. Lost about 7k on the hand was back to where I started. Chipped up again and made a really big bluff on a young Swedish player when I check called a flop with nothing and then it went checked on the turn and then I made a bet that would have crippled him if he was wrong. I normally would never play a hand that way but the board allowed me to make the bluff on the river without getting called when it paired...I also think he messed up when he started talking to me and he basically convinced himself he was beat. Ended up losing a pot that really hurt to him later.
Made another big bluff in a situation where I had to totally trust myself on the way I thought this guy played. He was pretty ABC and he just wanted to make good decisions and not go broke. I used that not going broke thing to my advantage. I had a really good table image and everyone got along which is good. Nothing worse than sitting at a table for 5+ hours with ppl who are mean. Either shut up or be nice. Well we saw a flop like 5 ways (100/200) and I was on the button with two cards that I honestly don't remember. Flop came 9,9,3 and it went checked to me and I bet 625 and get check raised by the bb to 2200. Now this is where I just completely trusted myself that I could get this guy to lay down a 9 in this spot. I took my time like I always do and came back over the top for 5k more and he was beside himself. He had no idea what to do and was squirming in his chair and started talking about how he hates this b/c he's in the blind and he has to be beat and this is just bad luck...he commented on how confident I looked. And he was right, once he told me it was bad luck I was as confident as though I had flopped the nuts. No way he was calling. He folds face up (I hate the face up fold, especially in this spot). He showed his 9,5 like he just made the biggest lay down in the world or as though I was gonna show him he made the right or wrong decision. Fuck that shit, I'm not showing my hand one way or another. Just bad for a player like him to show that he's gonna fold big hands like that, he got abused by like 3 players after he made that lay down...he was getting reraised every time he made a bet it seemed like.
The bad hand with the Swedish player when I had about 46k and he had about 21k. Blinds were 300/600/50 and I was in the BB with 88. Two ppl limped and Swedish guy raised from the button to 1250 which I knew he was going to do b/c he was pretty active with limpers in the pot. The two guys who limped were really weak and I often raised pots when those guys limped b/c they provided almost no resistance. SB folds and then I come over the top of him and raise to 2600 and he calls. Flop comes 9,7,6 rainbow and not a bad flop for 88. I lead out for 2200 to almost induce a raise and he cooperates and makes it 2500 more and then I set him in and he contemplated for a little while and called with Jd,9d. Lucky for him to flop top pair like that considering how the hand played and I was a little shocked he called but I'm pretty sure the bluff had a lot to do with it and he was frustrated. Well I turn the straight with the 10d of diamonds and he makes the flush on the river to win a big pot and take a chunk of my stack. Even though I was reraising him I still played the hand rather weak but if I would have had aces I would have played it the same way and got him to put all his chips in the pot. I just didn't think he had anything but he was going to try to win it with aggression. Oh well, not really sure if there is anything I could have done differently.
That was how my day went. I would chip up and then lose a pot in a crappy way. Didn't get flustered and just maintained. The good thing was that both hands came when we were within 3 minutes of a break. I also went 0-3 with QQ on the day and never saw a river or a turn card with them when the board had under cards. I was involved in a hand where I had QQ and the other two ppl in the pot had AA and KK and they got it all in on the flop and I didn't see the flop. Called a raise from the guy on the my right who was UTG and two other ppl called. Flop came 10 high he lead for a pot size bet and I just didn't think I could be good. I folded and one other guy called. PFR had KK and the other guy had A,K and flopped a flush draw and put it all in and hit an A on the river to take a massive pot late in the tourney. I did get to actually see the pain of the bubble boy (or girl in this situation). Playing hand for hand and she opens with a standard 3 times the big blind raise with an above avg. stack and got reraised all in by one of 2 ppl who had her covered at the table. He had KK she had AA and he made a flush. It was brutal to actually have to see and to make it worse there was 3 other ppl all in at the time on different tables and all of them held up and she busted all alone just outside the money instead of having a really nice stack.
Withstanding all that shit and a field of 660 players in the tourney I managed to pick spots wisely and never really had to gamble. The one thing that I thought I did extremely well was playing from the blind. I even started chants of "defense" when ppl raised my blind. If my blind was raised and it was heads up, I prolly took about 80% of those flops and won well over 50% of them (position heads up can be over rated IMO) I finished 46th in the tourney with an unimpressive cash but nonetheless it was a great way to start off the trip. It was looooooooooong day getting two extra hours when we got to there and playing from noon till 1:15am. I plan on posting more parts of my trip in the next couple days but I guess that depends on how much I feel like writing about poker after all the time I spent playing the last week.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
I don't really feel like recapping the whole trip right now...mainly due to the fact that I want to continue with the theme of my day and be lazy. I did play everyday for 5 straight days which is something I haven't done in a REALLY REALLY long time. Had some good things and some bad.
After landing we went to the hotel to check in and then walked across the street to play the $330 deep stack event at the Venetian. Those guys really get it over there and it was the place that got most of my time on this trip. The tourney started off OK and I was able to get the table talking and it had a home game feel to it which was nice. I played well and withstood two tough beats. I minded my own business and was winning a lot of the pots that I was playing. Took a big hit when I raised with KhQh and flopped a Q, turned an opened ended straight flush draw and the other player moved in on me and I called with 19k (12k starting stack) and he had AQ and I hit a K on the river to give him the straight and my draw meant nothing. Lost about 7k on the hand was back to where I started. Chipped up again and made a really big bluff on a young Swedish player when I check called a flop with nothing and then it went checked on the turn and then I made a bet that would have crippled him if he was wrong. I normally would never play a hand that way but the board allowed me to make the bluff on the river without getting called when it paired...I also think he messed up when he started talking to me and he basically convinced himself he was beat. Ended up losing a pot that really hurt to him later.
Made another big bluff in a situation where I had to totally trust myself on the way I thought this guy played. He was pretty ABC and he just wanted to make good decisions and not go broke. I used that not going broke thing to my advantage. I had a really good table image and everyone got along which is good. Nothing worse than sitting at a table for 5+ hours with ppl who are mean. Either shut up or be nice. Well we saw a flop like 5 ways (100/200) and I was on the button with two cards that I honestly don't remember. Flop came 9,9,3 and it went checked to me and I bet 625 and get check raised by the bb to 2200. Now this is where I just completely trusted myself that I could get this guy to lay down a 9 in this spot. I took my time like I always do and came back over the top for 5k more and he was beside himself. He had no idea what to do and was squirming in his chair and started talking about how he hates this b/c he's in the blind and he has to be beat and this is just bad luck...he commented on how confident I looked. And he was right, once he told me it was bad luck I was as confident as though I had flopped the nuts. No way he was calling. He folds face up (I hate the face up fold, especially in this spot). He showed his 9,5 like he just made the biggest lay down in the world or as though I was gonna show him he made the right or wrong decision. Fuck that shit, I'm not showing my hand one way or another. Just bad for a player like him to show that he's gonna fold big hands like that, he got abused by like 3 players after he made that lay down...he was getting reraised every time he made a bet it seemed like.
The bad hand with the Swedish player when I had about 46k and he had about 21k. Blinds were 300/600/50 and I was in the BB with 88. Two ppl limped and Swedish guy raised from the button to 1250 which I knew he was going to do b/c he was pretty active with limpers in the pot. The two guys who limped were really weak and I often raised pots when those guys limped b/c they provided almost no resistance. SB folds and then I come over the top of him and raise to 2600 and he calls. Flop comes 9,7,6 rainbow and not a bad flop for 88. I lead out for 2200 to almost induce a raise and he cooperates and makes it 2500 more and then I set him in and he contemplated for a little while and called with Jd,9d. Lucky for him to flop top pair like that considering how the hand played and I was a little shocked he called but I'm pretty sure the bluff had a lot to do with it and he was frustrated. Well I turn the straight with the 10d of diamonds and he makes the flush on the river to win a big pot and take a chunk of my stack. Even though I was reraising him I still played the hand rather weak but if I would have had aces I would have played it the same way and got him to put all his chips in the pot. I just didn't think he had anything but he was going to try to win it with aggression. Oh well, not really sure if there is anything I could have done differently.
That was how my day went. I would chip up and then lose a pot in a crappy way. Didn't get flustered and just maintained. The good thing was that both hands came when we were within 3 minutes of a break. I also went 0-3 with QQ on the day and never saw a river or a turn card with them when the board had under cards. I was involved in a hand where I had QQ and the other two ppl in the pot had AA and KK and they got it all in on the flop and I didn't see the flop. Called a raise from the guy on the my right who was UTG and two other ppl called. Flop came 10 high he lead for a pot size bet and I just didn't think I could be good. I folded and one other guy called. PFR had KK and the other guy had A,K and flopped a flush draw and put it all in and hit an A on the river to take a massive pot late in the tourney. I did get to actually see the pain of the bubble boy (or girl in this situation). Playing hand for hand and she opens with a standard 3 times the big blind raise with an above avg. stack and got reraised all in by one of 2 ppl who had her covered at the table. He had KK she had AA and he made a flush. It was brutal to actually have to see and to make it worse there was 3 other ppl all in at the time on different tables and all of them held up and she busted all alone just outside the money instead of having a really nice stack.
Withstanding all that shit and a field of 660 players in the tourney I managed to pick spots wisely and never really had to gamble. The one thing that I thought I did extremely well was playing from the blind. I even started chants of "defense" when ppl raised my blind. If my blind was raised and it was heads up, I prolly took about 80% of those flops and won well over 50% of them (position heads up can be over rated IMO) I finished 46th in the tourney with an unimpressive cash but nonetheless it was a great way to start off the trip. It was looooooooooong day getting two extra hours when we got to there and playing from noon till 1:15am. I plan on posting more parts of my trip in the next couple days but I guess that depends on how much I feel like writing about poker after all the time I spent playing the last week.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
6.04.2009
A Week Away
My heart starts pumping just thinking about it and I'm definitely ready. Just one week before Davey and I head to Vegas. It's hard to not get excited and start thinking about all things that "might be" while on this trip. Already starting to get things planned out and getting off the plane and going straight to the Venetian to play the noon event there. The fields have been really nice and in the first two $300 events first place was over 50k. The game plan is set and now the time is approaching to show up and play. I always have mixed emotions when playing tourneys during an event. Of course I'm confident and I expect to play well but I'm a realist to the extreme and all the positive thinking is put in perspective that there is a lot better chance to not win or go deep in a tourney than there is to take one down. A couple positives is that I played well during the circuit in NOLA and the last time I went to Vegas for CC's birthday I won a daily tourney. Telling myself everyday that I'm gonna play well and good things will happen isn't going to do a whole lot for me if I'm not focused and ready to play. Well I'm both as of today and now the clock won't move fast enough.
I saw yesterday that Jacob cashed in the Stimulus 1k event. I'm sure it was one of those mixed emotions things. He put in a mini-marathon and had a min-cash but if I would have been the guy that bubbled that thing I would have prolly thrown up. Not gonna do a whole lot till Vegas. Serving in a wedding this Saturday and then CC is headed off to Europe on Monday for 3 weeks. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are prolly gonna take forever. Good luck to anyone headed out to Vegas.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
I saw yesterday that Jacob cashed in the Stimulus 1k event. I'm sure it was one of those mixed emotions things. He put in a mini-marathon and had a min-cash but if I would have been the guy that bubbled that thing I would have prolly thrown up. Not gonna do a whole lot till Vegas. Serving in a wedding this Saturday and then CC is headed off to Europe on Monday for 3 weeks. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are prolly gonna take forever. Good luck to anyone headed out to Vegas.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.
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