Vegas

It’s been a busy week so I apologize for not posting this earlier.

Kathy and I spent a week down at the Wynn, Las Vegas from the 9th to 16th of December. I love that hotel as the people are generally hospitable and the environment is comfortable. Their poker room is one of the better ones on the strip offering a regular 1-3 up to 5-10nl and including an occasional 10-20nl. People say the games at the Wynn are the toughest as many of the local pros make this room their destination of choice. If I’m running bad there, or if Kathy and I venture off to play tournaments elsewhere, we sometimes find ourselves playing at the Bellagio, Venitian, or Caesars. Each has their pros and cons as far as I’m concerned.

The Bellagio has the best action, but the people are rude, the lists are usually long, and they cap the buy-in at all games lower than10-20nl. Personally, I love no cap buys so I can play deep stack poker without having to build my stack for the first few hours (if I’m lucky enough to be winning).

The Venitian has the best poker room setup. They also hold the best daily tournaments especially on Saturday where for $540 you get 10k chips and 45 minute levels. Kathy and I both played it yesterday. With 144 players I came in about 133 after taking two retarded beats (losing half my stack with the nut straight when the board paired on the river – to a 2 pair 4 out draw, then losing with aces to kj after hitting a set. Kathy on the other hand went deep finishing 20th. Unfortunately, she went card dead down the stretch and even more unfortunately, they only paid 18. I hope the Venician draws bigger games as time goes on because I really like playing there. As of now they only spread a 5-10nl and it is usually silly tight.

Caesars is my least favourite because they can’t even get a 5/10 going, their tournaments suck as the blinds escalate quickly, the room is right next door to Pure so it is loud and smoky, and most importantly, the waitresses are all 60 plus sporting rather revealing uniforms.

Overall this trip was not great financially. I felt like the games were a little tougher than usual because it is a slow time in Vegas and therefore there were a higher percentage of local pros playing vs. tourist fishies. I felt like I played well on most sessions but was not able to convert that into big wins. In typical fashion, I won a lot of small pots, but could not win the big ones, except one which I will explain shortly. Overall, I ran relatively poor and the net result was positive 3k. I will highlight some key hands mostly from cash as I only played a couple tourneys.

#1 Wynn 5-10nl. There was a fish with lots of money so I bought in 3k (I usually buy equal to the largest weak player’s stack). Had qj of clubs in the cutoff with one limper to me. I put in a pot building raise to $50 and two defended including the big blind (fish) and limper. Flop came down 1084 one club. Check check, I bet $110 (I bet because both of these guys were not very aggressive and I noticed that this table generally slow played big hands. So, I figured it was unlikely to be raised and if someone flopped big I could win a big pot with a 9 or running clubs, as I would get two free cards with my position). Anyway, big blind called. Turn q. He checked, I felt I had best and bet $255. He calls. River q. He checks, now I over bet to $650 he snap calls. He shows me q9. Where is the rest of the pot? Nevertheless, I am happy take home a stress free G note. If I knew he had that hand I would have made a small bet like $325 to induce a raise, but I thought the big bet may look like a power bluff and I may get called down thin. I find that fish generally view a big river bet as a bluff after triple barrelling (preflop, the flop, and turn). I think this has to do with the fact that most fish view the hand as finished after the turn bet if you have a made hand. The thinking is I made them pay to draw and to be safe I’ll now just check and see if I win. Value betting rivers are less frequent with mediocre hands and is one of the big separating points between good and bad players (obviously this is not a mediocre hand having running trips).

#2 Tuesday – Tournament at Wynn 58 players, $330 buy-in. We were down to 11 and 9 got paid. I was about 5th in chips with 22k, blinds 300-600 w/ ante so lots of play. Buddy (many people chose to use villain as the name of their opponent, I prefer buddy) raises from the button for the 3rd time out of 3 opportunities to raise when all folded to him. I passed on other two with horrible hands. This time I have kq clubs and decide to call his raise to 1,800 as this is one of the few hands I like seeing flops with because flopping top pair with either is very strong, and given the high aggression level of buddy I felt I could win a big pot by trapping him (and I cannot call if he pushes to a re-raise preflop as I’m a dog to even an ace rag) . So, he raises, I call and flop is 753 one club. Not good, however, when I check and he bet $1,800 I was so sure he had nothing. I was going to raise there (and in hindsight should have) but instead I decided to call with intentions of raising the turn as long as no ace came or my read changed based on turn action. I had watched him double barrel on several occasions already and had once before been caught bluffing. So anyway, I float and the j of clubs comes. No way was I going to let this go now with two overs and a flush draw. I checked and he bet 4.5k. This was a rather large bet for a double barrel bluff, I was expecting a 3k bet. It was risky that he may have a j here, however, even with a j it would be difficult to withstand a check raise I think especially given that I have not shown a bluff all day and for the most part have not floated any pots of significance. And, if he calls I’m still 1/3 to win assuming my kq or club are good. So, I check raise all-in for another 14k approximately, which is standard with a big hand considering 12k in the pot already and a flush draw out there. Buddy thought for about 2.4 seconds and called showing j8 of diamonds. I was surprised he called so fast with no kicker, but such is life. The river bricked and I bubbled instead of becoming chip leader. The funny thing about tournament poker is it is so situational and there are so many correct/incorrect ways to play each situation. Maybe this one was incorrect?

#3 Wynn 10-20nl. I was stuck about 1k from playing a little 2-5nl and 10-20 Omaha H/L fixed while waiting for a seat. The game was great as there were two golfers from Scottsdale playing and they were bad. For the first hour I had won a few smaller pots and had recouped my 1k plus about $2,000 interest. Then the following hand came up. One of the golfers limped and I had the punisher (the punisher is kq, named so by Chris Wolters because you never win with it but always lose to it). I raised to $80 and had two callers including the golfer. Flop came 910J two diamonds. Finally, I had flopped the bomb. He checked, I bet 160, my standard 2/3 pot continuation bet (some like to make pot size bets but my conservative nature fancies a more cautious approach). My good friend the golfer decides to check raise me to $500. I lot of times I fast play here, but considering his erratic play I don’t want to lose him. Already, he has shown two check-raise-fold scenarios on flops when re-raised. Turn 4 clubs. He leads out $700 and with only another $850 behind I put him in. He tells me he’s committed and has lots of outs, showing q4 diamonds. River diamond.

#4 Wynn 5-10nl. The game was pretty good but I was down about 1k when the following hand took place. Buddy, who I called Ferguson because he looked like Chris Ferguson (luckily his play was much worse) came to the table on a short buy of $400. He was very aggressive preflop, which is common of low limit ram, jam and hope for the best players. In fact, he had repopped about 3 pots preflop in 30 minutes on hands where significant cash was already in the middle (ie. Straddle lots of callers, straddle raise and a few callers, etc…). In this case, I raised the straddle to about $70. Ferguson was in the small, and elected to re raise to $410. $410? This guy is an idiot. About 10 minutes earlier I raised the straddle with 88 and folded when he made an insane re-raise. This time I had jj and was not going to let him push me again. I had to be careful though because he had by some miracle amassed about $1700 total. After thinking a bit and realizing he was nervous about his hand and that he would not kill his action with such an over bet if he held qq through aa, I concluded no way he has better than jj, but I didn’t want to shove and race an aq or ak. So I call. Flop was 974 two clubs. Ferguson proceeded to flex his muscles by leading out for $600 leaving him with about $700. I put him in, he calls and shows ak of clubs….bonk k on turn. I love guys that power through ak from the blind out of position, then push through no matter what the flop is (although Ferguson did hit a fairly good flop for his hand and is a slight favourite over my jacks). No matter how I play the hand though I will lose my money unless I fold preflop. Guys like this don’t ever fold ak.

#5 Caesers – 2-5nl. Ceasers 2-5 is a no cap buy and on this day the game was wild. I was killing some time as Kathy was going deep in another tourney, which I was bounced out of early (I shot it in on a draw against top set – I tend to shoot in smaller tournaments early to either stack up or get out). In this game there was a cowboy he was a complete maniac calling and raising every hand. I bought in for $1,500 and had it up to about 2.5k when the following hand took place. For the first time that evening I picked up aa, in the small blind. A European dude who was pretty solid raised to $20 several called and I repopped from the small to $90. I had been pretty active of late, but rarely re-raising out of position. The European called and the cowboy called. Flop came down ak2 rainbow. By far and away the biggest monkey flop you could ask for. I bet out $150 and they both call. Turn 5 clubs bringing in flush draw. I bet $400 looking for the cowboy to pay me off. All of a sudden the European raises all-in to $1300. Then, the cowboy says to his wife ‘we may be going broke this hand honey – lets gamble’ then declares all-in for $1700. Honestly, I thought he was being honest and thought he had a k and picked up a flush draw. I snap call. The European shows 22 and the cowboy produces 34 off for the straight. Yuck, here we go again with the beats. However, this time the board paired the k on the river and for the first time in ages, I came from behind on a big pot. Sorry cowboy, the angling didn’t payoff. He proceeded to call me the luckiest player ever and that he always takes the worst beats.

#6 Wynn – 10-20nl. The game was the toughest I’d played in on this trip with at least 4 guys who knew the game well. However, there was a rich women playing who was stuck in 5th gear trying to bluff every pot. So, I was playing rather tight waiting for an opportunity to grab her. All of a sudden she opens for $60 and I look down at my friend aa. I re-raise to $220 and she calls, we are heads up. Flop is q1010 with two spades. She leads out $200. I like the flop and I likely have the best but decide to call instead of raising for several reasons. First, we are both deep. Second, I have position and with her not being a creative player I will know I have the best if she checks to me on any street. Third, she may be running a drawing dead bluff so I do not necessarily want to lose her. Fourth, she will not fold if on a draw so wait until turn before punishing a flush/straight draw. Five, if she has no straight or flush draw, it is very hard for her to catch up with a made hand (like a q or a pocket pair), unless already beating me with a 10. Turn is 4 of spades and she leads out again, only this time betting a measly $100. I found this very suspicious as her previous double barrel bluffs increased in size on the turn. I was concerned she hit the flush so I just call. River is an off suit 6 and she fires out $500 into the 1k pot. I think for awhile and was unable to get a good read. I felt she either has a flush or nothing at all and for ½ pot I think I was getting good equity to call so I did. She showed me 44 for a full house….sweet. If I raised the flop I would have won, however, if the 4 didn’t hit I think she would have pushed through in the same manner, so what is the right play?

This last hand centers on the dilemma I have been struggling with for sometime now. Do I play too conservatively and cautious? There are successful players that opt for this approach and there are successful players that are way more aggressive. I am trying to change my style a bit to open up my game and be more aggressive because I feel playing defensively puts a lot of pressure on one’s ability to read hands especially on big turn and river bets. As well, it is difficult to engage in big pots because your opponents notice you only play big pots when you have the nuts. Playing an open game is the most difficult style to play. If you are not able to know where your opponents are in the hand and which cards will hurt you, you will go broke quickly. I think very few people play an open style effectively, but ultimately it is required to play at the top level. In the last couple days, I have begun reviewing videos from Cardrunner from guys like CTS, Greenplastic, and Stinger and I do feel that they take control of hands better than I do, especially preflop with significantly more 3 and 4 betting, and they run more bluffs (at the right times when the right situations present themselves and the right scare cards come down). Having said all of that, I think there are enough fish at all limits that don’t pay attention to how their opponents play so you can play tight-aggressive, without big pot bluffing, and still make a handsome living.

Playing in our local 5/10; 10/25 nl game you see both styles work effectively. For example, I play regularly against two winning players in Travis Brown and Chris Wolters. Travis is very aggressive and he pushes many hands. Sometimes he gets caught bluffing, but his image allows him to get paid off so much more because people feel he is always bluffing (which is not the case). Of course it doesn’t hurt that he runs like god, hence the nickname ‘Seabiscuit’. On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, sparked by his rather donkish approach to the Barca game, Wolters has a more tight aggressive style. He is not afraid to put the chips in, but usually he plays big pots with a big hand or big draw only.

Having said all that, I would play that hand the same way against that lady all day long because she is going to push big bluffs. And, as in this case, she is only drawing to a 2-outers so I’ll take my chances.

That’s enough rambling for one post. I’ll try to put something up in the next couple days to cover our local nl game and I’ll report how I did in the stud game today. As for online, I have not played much of anything this week except Wednesday night where I hacked around in some tournaments. I did finish 3rd in a 77 6-max for a couple thousand, but otherwise nothing exciting to report. I doubt I’ll have much time to play online this next week with many family and friend commitments. If I can squeeze it in I may go to Travis’s on Sunday to play some tournaments otherwise my next adventure will be a Boxing Day 40-80 stud game. All for now….