Back to the Tables

Sorry for the lack of updates. Perhaps Travis is right and I am lazy. I have averaged not more than 4 hours of poker a day over the course of my week’s stay in Vegas as Kathy came into town last Monday and left Sunday night. We adjusted our daily schedules to include an itinerary beyond cards. We had a lot of fun, and with the exception of me getting exceptionally drunk and stupid last Thursday, it was mostly really good times.

The limited hours spent on the tables were mostly cash games. Kathy and I only played two tournaments, both at the Venician. The first was a nightly $200 that we both bowed out early on and the second was a $550 deep stack extravaganza event that recruited almost 500 players. Kathy lasted until about 200 remained then lost a race. I lasted until about 125 remained losing a huge pot to put me in the top ten chips. In typical fashion, I was rivered after putting my chips in as a 5:1 favourite on the turn.

We predominately played cash games at the Wynn. This week was a little slow in Vegas and 10-20nl was hard to find. I would say I played half 5-10 and half 10-20. The games will pick up this week however with the LA classic done and the Wynn classic starting tomorrow. The games here in Vegas are very different from LA. Vegas players are made up of crusty old men that like to see the flop before committing chips. Their conservative approach creates a limp orientated game with pot control checking. The best way to win is to small pot them to death with good starting cards, positional raising and continuation bets. If they miss they fold. LA players on the other hand raise first and ask questions later. And, during the LA classic, there were many tricky players making the game aggressive and tough at times. Overall, the pots were generally bigger in LA and so was the variance.

My run in Vegas has been disappointing to date as has the trip overall. I continue to run really bad, probably the worst of my life. I guess I can sleep well knowing that if I run as bad as possible I should still post a small profit. It is difficult for me to remember all of the hands over the last week and a half but a few stick out in my mind.

Hand #1:

Finally had big pair over big pair. During my last day in LA I was running poorly and leading up to this hand it looked like I was on tilt. About ten hands previous I was overflushed (again, running about 40% of flushes made I am overflushed) and after that I began raising a few hands including coming over the top with 1010 heavy preflop and continueing through on a K42. So, it looked like I was pushing and I don't blame my opponents play on the this hand.

Finally I look down at AA. A strong opponent to my left raises to $120 after a few limpers so I reraise to $420. He is about $6,000 deep and I have him covered. He decides to call. The flop was 632 rainbow he checks I bet $600, he calls. The turn pairs the 3 he checks and I bet $1,500 knowing he has a pair 9s or higher for sure. He thinks for awhile and decides to check raise me all in. I snap call, he asks do you have aces I say yes, he shugs an 8 hits the river and I win. He didn't show his hand, but I can only assume he had KK. Finally, a setup my way on a board I know I don't have to sweat. That $12,000 took me out of the red for the day as I was stuck good to that point.

Hand #2:

Early on that same night I got involved with the toughest player at my table. I have played 10-20 against him many times in Vegas and he is solid. Generally, we don’t play many pots together, but he was near the end of his session and I think he wanted to gamble a bit to get even. I have QQ in early position and raise to $70. He is the only one who calls me and the flop is 1097 rainbow. I decide to play this hand a little different than normal to try and extract value without building too big a pot as we are both close to 10k deep. I find you have to mix it up against tough players so they stay out of your way for one, and for two, if you don’t you’ll never extract money from them in the long-run. So I check the flop and he bets $130, I call. The turn is a 2 and I lead out for $350, he raises to $900. At this point, I feel he has something like a touch draw like 78 or 89 suited. I just don’t see him having a set (except maybe 7s) or a bigger pair because he is the kind of player that would reraise with position with those hands preflop most of the time. At the same time I don’t want to play a huge pot against a tough player who is capable of taking the semi bluff to the next level by reraising allin if I played back at him. So, I just call with intentions of calling any river bet he makes as long as the river is not a 7 to J. The river brings a J, which I feel is the absolute worst card. I check he bets $2000 and I fold. He chuckles and shows me KQ. He also told me he would have barrelled any river for about $2,000 and I told him what I was thinking, that I would have called any bet outside the 7 to J range. He replied, good thing the J came then. Ya, good thing.

Hand #3:

That same night, late in the evening I get moved to Travis's table and in the first rotation I pick up KK and open for $70. Unfortunately, about 5 people call and the flop comes down Q103 two spades. It’s checked to me and with another 3 players to act after me I decide to check first to see how much action there is to the hand, and unless there is serious action I plan to check raise. Similar to the hand before, I like to mix things up like that sometimes. It gives me information, but I find that I get a lot of free turn cards when I need them because I opponents know I check alot of big hands on the flop. Also, when I fire out on the turn my opponents will fold more often instead of making a play or float to the river. So many players check medium hands on flops then stab on the turn when there is no action on the flop and good players pick up on that, and consequently, feed off of the bet to take down the pot knowing that the delayed continuation bet cannot withstand a raise. Anyway, in this hand it gets checked through and the turn is a 4 bringing in a heart draw. Action is checked to me and I bet out something like $300 and all fold to the small blind who check raises me another $500. I haven’t played with this kid before so I didn’t really know what to think or what to do, damn I should have bet the flop to get the information I need :) By checking the flop he could have read me for a weak hand like JJ or 99 that he could shake me off of especially if he had a draw like hearts or touch straight draw. Anyway, I stubbornly call and the river pairs the 4. He leads out $1000 and after much deliberation I call. He shows 33 for a set. Stupid call or not? I haven’t made up my mind on this one. The one problem with playing the flop the way I did is I don’t find out as much information about other player’s hands. After playing with this kid for another hour I realized he didn’t really run big bluffs and usually had the goods upon showdown. Surely, if I had this information ahead of time I would have layed down given the risk I was losing vs how much I had invested.

Hand #4:

At the bellagio 10-20 game. I crazy European sits down puts $10,000 on the table and starts bullying a rather tight agressive table. I have had bad luck to date and am down about $1,500. I am in late position and open the pot to $70 with AJ off, a chain reaction takes place and everyone behind me and in the blinds call so 5 go to the flop. The flop comes AJ8 two hearts and the European leads out $140 into the field. I immediately make it $400 and everyone folds leaving us heads up. He calls and the turn brings an 8. He checks and I bet $700 and he check raises to $2000. I think for a bit and call. I can't put him on an 8 as he would not be into the field with bottom pair dry on that board. As well, if he had flopped two pair like A8 or J8 he would have reraised me again on the flop. It is possible he was check raising on a draw as it is in the range of the maniac but thats about it, note the J is the non-heart so he could not have had the 8 plus heart draw on the flop. Anway, I determine calling is the bets because with another $3,000 behind me I don't want to lose him with the bluff as it's likely he'll follow through on the river. Sure enough the river is an offsuit K and he puts me allin. I don't really like it but I am obviously calling if I don't laydown on the turn, please don't show Q10. In the end he tables QJ off and I win a monster.

Hand #5:

In the same game at the bellagio I get my favorite hand AA. Two limp and I make it $130 everyone folds to the initial limper who is the only caller. The flop comes down 1087 two hearts. He checks and I decide to check. This is a tight player and I feel the most likely limp call would be with a middle pair or medium/high suited connector. The turn pairs the 10 and he checks so I put out a bet of $240 and he calls. The river pairs the 8 now and he checks. At this point, I put him on 99 or JJ or a missed flush draw and I feel I must value the river so I bet $400. He calls and shows me 77 for a fullhouse...LOL. Does he think I have a 10? Anway, its not a big pot but it is interesting how it was played out. My opponent seemed like a solid player otherwise, but I think we was a littel too cute and passive on this hand, at least river raise me bro.

Hand #6:

At the Wynn in a rare 1020 game. A wild rich hedge fund manager raises to $70, which was standard for him. I look down at KK and reraise to $290 knowing he'll give me action. We get heads up and the flop was KJ4 rainbow. He checks I bet $425 and he calls. Turn is the A of diamonds bringing in a flush draw. He checks and I bet $900. He delibrates and calls. The river is a 7 of diamonds and he laughs and tells me I don't think you should bet. I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I believe he is telling the truth so I check behind. He shows me J6 for a flush. Man, can't win with those damn kings, especially when I flop top set. Thank goodness he is a rich guy who is just there to have fun and give his money away, to everyone else that is. Obviously, I am supposed to lose another couple thousand on the hand if he wasn't being nice. I got him later that evening and cut him a break so it evened out.

Hand #7:

Playing 5-10 at the Wynn late and short-handed. There is this old rich guy with a hole in his throat. Apparently, he owns about 25 nightclubs and strip joints in San Fran. He was loose and would call through very thin. Of course, he had my number most of the night including this hand. He raises to $70 and I look down at AA. I reraise to $270 and he calls. The flop is 822 two hearts one spade. He checks I bet $350 he calls. The turn is the 10 of spades and he leads out for $600. At this point, I feel he has one of three hands, an 8 with spades, a 10 with hearts, or a bluff. Not sure which as he did not check call then lead out so I have to assume the turn helped in some way. I decide to call with intentions of raising the river if a dud came. The river brought the K of hearts and he bet $1,200. I didn't like the card, but this guy had run a few big bluffs so I felt I had no choice but to call and he showed me J10 of hearts.

Hand #8:

Same game same guy same result. I had J10 of clubs after a small raise preflop. The flop came down Q94 two clubs. Some woman comes out firing for $150 and the strip club maniac reraises to $350. I am on the button and decide to reraise to $1000. The lady folds and the maniac reluctantly calls. The turn is another 4 and he checks. I feel he is really weak here and so I decide to try again this time firing for $1800. He thinks for a minute and calls. The river bricks an offsuit 7 and he checks. He has about $4,000 left and I have him covered. I decide to check and give up because I feel if he could call the turn would call the river unless he had a flush draw as well. As it turns out he has A9. Such a savage call down and of course with 21 cards to hit twice I miss. This guy was so bad, easily one of the three worst I came across, but I could not get him. He was cleaned out though and someone at our table made over $10,000 off him. Must be nice....

Hand #9:

I had 109 of diamonds in the big blind in a 5-10 game at the Wynn. It was a fun table and there was a lot of sillyness going on. Everyone limped and I made it $20 to go for a joke. Someone made it $30 and about 8 of us went to the flop. The flop was 10102 two spades. I led out for $90 and was reraised to $290 by a tight player who undoubtedly had the case 10. Another person called, obviously on a flush draw and I just called as I was not sure if I was outkicked and if I hit the 9 on the turn, especially the 9 of spades, I could make a real big pot givin I would check, the tight player would bet and the flush draw would call/raise etc... Anway, the turn was a 6 of hearts and I check. The same aggressor bets $480 and the flush draw folds. I decide to simply call here as I'm not sure who's winning. The river is a 4 and I check. This time he fires $1000 and I tell him I don't think he knows how big my hand is. He tells me the same and I reluctantly fold. He shows me 104 good buddy. Great river.

Hand #10:

Playing 5-10 last night and made the worst play I have made since the 9s during my first session at Commerce. In a limped pot the board came down 1074 and I have 44. I am new to the table and a young kid bets $60. I raise to $180 and he raises to $380 and I call ready to pounce later in the hand. The turn is a Q and he checks. I thought this was kind of strange but I bet $450. He check raises me to $950. At this point I'm very confused. The kid had another $1800 behind him after the check raise. I hadn't seen anything less than text book from him so I have to be concerned he turned QQ. Preflop he was the first limper. With 77 or 1010 I think he would open for a raise, but with QQ I could see limping to generate action. I dunno? Anyway, I call. The river is a dud 5 (although it brings backdoor diamonds brining in 1 hand that he could play this way - 86 of diamonds, looking for a free turn, but then check raising with a double gutter / flush draw). On the river he fired allin. I don't know what went through my mind, I think I was tired or something. I ended up folding after 2 minutes in the tank. If I'm going to take the reraise on the turn I have to call the river, no questions asked. I think the way I played it I would maximize value as I'm either beat or I'm not and that won't change no matter what river. If he was on a move then I would get him, if he oversetted me then I'm done either way. The kid never showed but my gut tells me it was a move. So stupid of me, I guess when you run bad sometimes you convince yourself of the worst case scenario in the heat of the moment. If is was a move though I will say that it seems silly to push a dry pot.

Hand #11:

The deep stack tournament hand. I had just under 20k in chips with blinds 600/1200. I am in the big blind with Q10 off and we have a rare limp fest. 5 people limped and I checked my option. The flop came down KKJ rainbow and it was checked around. The turn is an A it is checked around to the original limper who makes it 5k to go. All fold around to the small blind who raises to 15k. I look over at the first limper and I see he is upset by the raise so I'm not concerned with aces full. The small blind has a K for sure. With AK he would have raised preflop and with KJ I think he would have smooth called and bet the river. So, my straight is gold and I push. The small blind calls and shows K2 and the river is an A. Lovely, the pot was 50k and I would have been well situated to make a run at the $60,000 first place prize.

There are a lot of other hands but I am tired of the memories. The Wynn classic tourneys start tomorrow and I'm going to play the first event as it gets the best turnout. Travis is coming down tonight and Todd is MIA. I'll likely be here for another couple weeks and hopefully I'll start making some serious money. This bad run is really starting to piss me off. The timing is bad.

I miss the peg a bit and all those important to me, but I'll be home shortly, just in time for the end of winter.

I'll report back shortly....