I was pretty nervous going into day 2. I needed to think about strategy and how I was going to keep going. Lucky hands don't hold up forever. Someone sent me stats on other players at my table, but I didn't want to focus on who was a pro and how much they had previously won. I thought it might psych me out, so instead I focused on the fact that 6 other players had fewer chips than me. Three players had significantly more chips than anyone at the table. They were:
Seat 5 Denny L. Robinson, Las Vegas NV 57,100
Seat 9 Frank Rusnak Chicago IL 77,000
Seat 6 Micah Raskin Long Island NY 107,700
Frank in seat 9 would become my toughest competition, but then later I'd end up busting up his massive tower of chips..
One guy who had an amazing run of luck was:
Seat 3 Johannes Keoerber, Dortmund Germany 35,000 (seated to my immediate left, I was seat 2)
who started day 2 by raising all in. Turns out he had pocket QQ which held up against a caller with AK (Seat 5 Denny L. Robinson Las Vegas NV, starting stack: $57,100) Johannes ended up doubling his $35,000 immediately.
Later Johannes had KK which held up and he doubled again, and again later he had AA. He ended up finishing in 28th place with a payout of $19,000
Anyway back to Frank, seat 9... Frank was a super aggressive player who’s M.O. was playing from early position. I couldn't get too good of a read on his hands which was a problem because when we were two people away from being in the money I got pocket 10s. Pre-flop, Frank raised from the big blind, I believe I re-raised or called. The flop came, something like a 5, 7, and a K.. Frank bet big, I re-raised, again I was sure I was ahead, he called. Finally on the turn Frank just grabbed a huge stack of chips and pushed..I was sure I had him beat, but I was two people away from being in the money...I couldn't push over the top all in, plus there was a K on the board. I had to let the chips I had thrown into the pot go and wait for a more sure hand. It killed me to do it, but I got a chance to redeem myself later..
At dinner I needed to come up with strategy. My friend Josh kept telling me that doubling up would really help. I kept thinking, "How am I just going to double up? I've got to have hands", but my friend's advice was good and the opportunity came up, not just to double up, but triple up, and more..
After I made it into the money the same scenario came up with Frank, where he raised under the gun and was super aggressive, but this time I came over the top and pushed all in with top pair, Jacks and a K kicker, two 2s were showing on the board...Frank audibly let out a "Fuck!" when I re-raised all in. He contemplated my all in raise for quite some time and decided that he wasn't willing to risk more chips to find out whether I had trip 2s or not. He folded, losing a significant portion of his stack.
It turns out that most of the hands he played under the gun were AJ, at least from what I could see the times he showed down. He may have had me beat on that last hand, but he let it go because of the 2s on the board. I think when I had pocket 10s previously before dinner he may have had AJ and missed the board. I probably had him beat but wasn’t able to push all in to find out.
I knew that he'd push all in soon as he had about 1/4 of the stack he had previously, so I waited till I had QQ or better to pop him. Sure enough, like it was scripted out of my head, he pushed all in under the gun with AJ and I had QQ. I called and my QQ held up. I was amazed when Frank, tough competition at the table who made me fold earlier losing $10k in chips, was busted and stood up with a dazed look on his face..
I won a few more pots (one from winner Ray Foley 7/1709 Ante-Up podcast. He recounts key hands and mentions one key hand he lost at about 36:30 of the MP3 http://www.anteupmagazine.com/podcast.html ) and was up to $200K in chips!
It was getting to be 9 and then 10pm possibly even later, maybe 10:30pm, one of the larger starting stacks:
Seat 6 Micah Raskin Long Island, NY 107,700
had long been busted out when his bluff was called by the German guy, Johannes Keoerber, seat 3 who kept doubling up, this time with pocket AAs.
Seat 7 had previously busted out and was replaced by another player who was pretty quiet. Nam Le had also come to our table by then and had replaced Frank in seat 9. Nam didn't have a significant stack when he came to our table, but that would change.
Nam kept looking at my chipstack. Even when I wasn't in a hand he'd look over at it as he reached into his stack to make a bet. I thought, "Uh uh, you're not getting my chips...if I don't get into a hand with you there's no way you can take them" lol. He eyed me every time I folded to see if he'd get the opportunity, but he and I never got into a hand together.
So I'm sitting on $200K in chips and I'm looking at the board and seeing what the payouts are and realizing that if I make it to 54th place I'd be into the next prize level at $9K (There were 60 or so people still in the game). I think ok, just fold, fold, fold, and pay blinds till 30 more people bust then I'd be in the final 3 tables. I'm not sure what happened to that logic..
Shortly after I have my plan all figured out, I get AK, Ace of Spades and King of Clubs. Seat 7 raises 3 times the bb to $12,000, Nam Le calls, I re-raise to $36,000, seat 7 re-raises all in, Nam folds. Seat 7 had previously gone all in twice with pocket QQs. I figure that he had Queens again, and that my AK is good. Plus he says he has about $100K. I’ve got double that. I figure that even if I lose the hand I've got another $100k to work with...
Bad, bad news...this time he's got Aces. Not only that but an Ace of Clubs. The hand that eventually wins the pot is an Ace high club flush. Even if I had had aces I couldn't have won the hand. The only thing that would have saved me is if he hadn't had that CLUB! I had the King high club.
Any way that really hurt. I think that as an 8-5er my brain shut down around 11pm. I knew not to just make all in pre-flop calls. I had been careful on day one when I had pocket aces to check on the flop and feel out my opponent, not this time. I think I also got caught up in all in pre-flop calls because I had seen a lot of that kind of action from other players throughout day 2...
It also turns out that Seat 7 who said he had a little over $100K really had $128K which left me with $78K. Even though this was not the hand I busted out on, I feel that it was the one that basically ended my tourney. Shoulda, coulda woulda.. all you can do is learn from fatal mistakes..
Here's an article about those kinds of all in coin flip situations:
http://www.pokernews.com/strategy/tournament-poker-with-jeremiah-smith-to-flip-or-not-to-flip-6818.htm
Seat 7 now has over $250K in chips, I keep painfully eyeing them, my chips, across the table, and looks like he doesn't know what to do with them, he's looking all over the place and blinking like crazy. Think it gets to his head because then he calls an all in raise from Nam Le with pocket 10s. Nam to his immediate left has KKs. Nams' KKs hold up and now suddenly Nam's got all my chips. Guess all that eyeing worked, my chips are now in Nam's stack..
http://www.pokernews.com/wsop/2009/event-39/day2/page4.htm
Played a little longer then I was down to $48K, shortstacked as blinds were now $4K-$8K. A thought popped into my head pretty strongly, "Next pocket pair and I have to push all in".
Sadly, with $8K out in the bb, I got a pocket pair, the worst one possible, pocket 2s, but I had to go for it. I wonder if anyone read it on my face because..
Amazingly the player 2nd to act, Ray Foley, who had come to the table about an hour or so earlier and who would go on to win the tourney, goes all in with A 4 (can’t remember if it was suited, very well could have been). Very risky move considering there are 5 other players to act after him (we were 9 handed). Someone could have come up with a hand. I think he was just trying to steal the blinds.
I've got a bad hand, but I have a pocket pair, I call. Ray's nervous as he announces, "I've got overs"..time to flip that coin..
4 comes on the flop and no more 2s for me and no straight..
Ray and everyone at the table were very nice and so professional and all stand up to shake my hand and tell me that I had played well. Nice compliment coming from those guys!
I was disappointed, but hey, I made it further than I ever thought I would. It was an incredible first run at WSOP 2009! I’m setting my sights on the ladies event next year.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
WSOP 2009 - I feel like Alice in Wonderland
Hey folks,
What can I say, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what is going to come your way..
First of all I was so stoked just to win the freeroll tourney and get a chance to go to WSOP. Thanks to Pfaff for setting up such an amazing set of tourneys. I never would have dreamed that I would be sitting at a table with Nam Le on Day 2, (he's so hot!) and later watching all my chips magically go over to his stack without ever getting into a hand with him. He's THAT good lol. Actually he wasn't at our table for long. He played two tournaments that day. The other, I think, was a HORSE tourney, so he'd leave for a while and come back. Who knew you could do such things..
Ironically I had planned to go to Vegas independently of WSOP. Scott Blashek happened to throw out an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to go to Vegas June 21st-25th. I got a cheaper airline ticket by booking a day early, so there it was, I was going to Vegas to play small tourneys downtown and be a spectator at WSOP. Then came the whirlwind Poker in the Rear freeroll tournament and I picked a WSOP event occurring at the time I had originally planned to go...Event #39.
When the tourney started, my table, #7, was short 6 players, so for the first half an hour or so we were four handed, which allowed me to play heads up with one other player. I was able to build my stack by immediately taking small pot after small pot, slowly chipping away at him. This is probably why he wasn't too friendly later on when I took a good 3/4 of his stack in one hand.
Slowly the rest of the players at our table filtered in and one was particularly late. Before he showed up, the table had speculated that maybe he flew in that day and that was the reason he was so late, but as he was getting settled in and after he announced that he was now going to take us down one by one, I casually asked if he had flown in that day, but he said he had already been in town. Maybe he had had too much of the Girls of Glitter Gultch the night before...? Not sure of the reason for his tardiness, but the early bird gets the worm and this was bad luck for our latecomer...he ordered a cappuccino, and unfortunately wouldn't get a chance to let it cool down to drink it..
My hand was A 7. Two 7s come out on the flop. I think I'm in good shape, so I check to slowplay a little and feel out the table. Mr. Johnny come lately to my immediate left checks as well. This hand gets tricky as I didn't realize I was about to get into trouble from the 6 that comes on the turn. Later I found out that my opponent was sitting on 6, 7. I can't remember what sort of betting happened after that but he didn't come out very strong, guess that was good for me because I caught an A on the river to fill out my boat with 7s over As . My opponent raised but it was too late. After committing all of his chips with his smaller boat of 7s over 6s, I called and he read the sick news and picked up to leave before his cappuccino even came to the table. I felt for him, but had to be tough.
Back to the single player I had been taking small pots from initially. I flopped a straight and bet heavily, but my opponent was stubborn. He called, again I bet out, but couldn't push him off his hand and convince him that he was beat. He was like Cool Hand Luke, just kept getting up for a beating. I was beginning to get a little nervous though as now the board was paired up with 9s. I eased up a bit to feel him out, but still sensed weakness. As a third 9 came on the river I just checked it and so did he. Turns out he was chasing a flush and "never got there" as he put it. Later a player who came to replace a player to my immediate right finished off the rest of my opponent's stack. There had been a few tense words between my opponent and I when I had asked later about his hand, so I didn't congratulate the player to my right who knocked him out out of respect until my opponent left the table ..
Later I knocked out a player who must have been a pro who I have not heard of. Here is the excerpt from Pokernews.com. I am listed as "a player two seats to his left".
4 days 16 hours ago Posted by F-TrainAlexandre Gomes - BustoAlexandre Gomes
Eliminated
'Just as we spotted Alexandre Gomes' new table in the Blue Section of the Amazon Room, he moved all in for his last 6,000 chips. A player two seats to his left called with J J ; Gomes showed A Q and the race was on. There was no help for anyone on a flop of 10 5 9 . The turn 8 took away Gomes' outs to a queen, and it was a good thing for his opponent; the Q hit on the river to give Gomes top pair and to make a queen-high straight for his opponent. With that, Gomes said a few words to a friend at a nearby table and left.'
I called with jacks because earlier I had seen Gomes go all in with Q 4 suited, I figured my jacks were good.
Another memorable hand was when I woke up with pocket aces! I raised pre-flop to $4k, bb was $1K, and got one caller. The flop came with a K high. I checked to see if he had a set of kings and he bet out with another $4k, I figured that since he didn't go all in at that point or bet out stronger that he didn't have it. I re-raised all in and he called with AK, top pair, top kicker. His hand didn't improve and I doubled up.
The day was long, and I guess I was on a high and didn't really feel it. I spent the final two hours just folding to make it to the money, but realized that I needed to keep accumulating pots, so I gambled a bit on the very last hand of the day which could have been the death of me, but I guess I was a little loopy by then and was thinking, "if I bust out now, it's been a great run.."but fate would have other plans for me..(is that corny enough for y'all?) (dramatic music..)
At the end of day one I got incredibly lucky and sucked out with the worst hand in a three way all in. I wasn't planning it that way, but sometimes you get drawn in..
The player to my right, who incidentally after dinner break had his eyeglass lens sitting on his cards as a card protector..come to find out, as I look up and see one lens in his frames and ask laughingly what happened to him, that at dinner he had picked up his daughter and had his glasses in his pocket and smashed them. Luckily his wife had a similar prescription and he called her to bring in her backup pair..
Back to the last hand of day 1: The player to my right announces several times that he doesn't want to come back tomorrow with 4K in chips, so he is basically begging for a caller. I had just counted my stack of $22K not too long ago and I figure he doesn't have much of a hand. For $4k it was worth it to call. After I make the call ( incidentally his short stack of $4K turned out to be $6K so always ask for a chip count I learned) to my surprise the player to my left suddenly announces, "well now I have to go all in". I know now that my A J is probably running against A K, but I already have 6K in the pot and it turns out that I only have 9K left. (I thought I had $22K but my stack had shrunk a little and I actually had about $15K), so I think, “It's time to gamble and see what happens”. I call. Lucky for me and also sorry for me cause now I’ve got two guys pissed off... because...I end up flopping a J and another comes on the turn or river, can't remember. All I know is that I got lucky as hell with trips with the worst hand of the three of us, A Q to my right (the short stack) and A K to my left. I end day one with $37,400 in chips..
What can I say, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what is going to come your way..
First of all I was so stoked just to win the freeroll tourney and get a chance to go to WSOP. Thanks to Pfaff for setting up such an amazing set of tourneys. I never would have dreamed that I would be sitting at a table with Nam Le on Day 2, (he's so hot!) and later watching all my chips magically go over to his stack without ever getting into a hand with him. He's THAT good lol. Actually he wasn't at our table for long. He played two tournaments that day. The other, I think, was a HORSE tourney, so he'd leave for a while and come back. Who knew you could do such things..
Ironically I had planned to go to Vegas independently of WSOP. Scott Blashek happened to throw out an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to go to Vegas June 21st-25th. I got a cheaper airline ticket by booking a day early, so there it was, I was going to Vegas to play small tourneys downtown and be a spectator at WSOP. Then came the whirlwind Poker in the Rear freeroll tournament and I picked a WSOP event occurring at the time I had originally planned to go...Event #39.
When the tourney started, my table, #7, was short 6 players, so for the first half an hour or so we were four handed, which allowed me to play heads up with one other player. I was able to build my stack by immediately taking small pot after small pot, slowly chipping away at him. This is probably why he wasn't too friendly later on when I took a good 3/4 of his stack in one hand.
Slowly the rest of the players at our table filtered in and one was particularly late. Before he showed up, the table had speculated that maybe he flew in that day and that was the reason he was so late, but as he was getting settled in and after he announced that he was now going to take us down one by one, I casually asked if he had flown in that day, but he said he had already been in town. Maybe he had had too much of the Girls of Glitter Gultch the night before...? Not sure of the reason for his tardiness, but the early bird gets the worm and this was bad luck for our latecomer...he ordered a cappuccino, and unfortunately wouldn't get a chance to let it cool down to drink it..
My hand was A 7. Two 7s come out on the flop. I think I'm in good shape, so I check to slowplay a little and feel out the table. Mr. Johnny come lately to my immediate left checks as well. This hand gets tricky as I didn't realize I was about to get into trouble from the 6 that comes on the turn. Later I found out that my opponent was sitting on 6, 7. I can't remember what sort of betting happened after that but he didn't come out very strong, guess that was good for me because I caught an A on the river to fill out my boat with 7s over As . My opponent raised but it was too late. After committing all of his chips with his smaller boat of 7s over 6s, I called and he read the sick news and picked up to leave before his cappuccino even came to the table. I felt for him, but had to be tough.
Back to the single player I had been taking small pots from initially. I flopped a straight and bet heavily, but my opponent was stubborn. He called, again I bet out, but couldn't push him off his hand and convince him that he was beat. He was like Cool Hand Luke, just kept getting up for a beating. I was beginning to get a little nervous though as now the board was paired up with 9s. I eased up a bit to feel him out, but still sensed weakness. As a third 9 came on the river I just checked it and so did he. Turns out he was chasing a flush and "never got there" as he put it. Later a player who came to replace a player to my immediate right finished off the rest of my opponent's stack. There had been a few tense words between my opponent and I when I had asked later about his hand, so I didn't congratulate the player to my right who knocked him out out of respect until my opponent left the table ..
Later I knocked out a player who must have been a pro who I have not heard of. Here is the excerpt from Pokernews.com. I am listed as "a player two seats to his left".
4 days 16 hours ago Posted by F-TrainAlexandre Gomes - BustoAlexandre Gomes
Eliminated
'Just as we spotted Alexandre Gomes' new table in the Blue Section of the Amazon Room, he moved all in for his last 6,000 chips. A player two seats to his left called with J J ; Gomes showed A Q and the race was on. There was no help for anyone on a flop of 10 5 9 . The turn 8 took away Gomes' outs to a queen, and it was a good thing for his opponent; the Q hit on the river to give Gomes top pair and to make a queen-high straight for his opponent. With that, Gomes said a few words to a friend at a nearby table and left.'
I called with jacks because earlier I had seen Gomes go all in with Q 4 suited, I figured my jacks were good.
Another memorable hand was when I woke up with pocket aces! I raised pre-flop to $4k, bb was $1K, and got one caller. The flop came with a K high. I checked to see if he had a set of kings and he bet out with another $4k, I figured that since he didn't go all in at that point or bet out stronger that he didn't have it. I re-raised all in and he called with AK, top pair, top kicker. His hand didn't improve and I doubled up.
The day was long, and I guess I was on a high and didn't really feel it. I spent the final two hours just folding to make it to the money, but realized that I needed to keep accumulating pots, so I gambled a bit on the very last hand of the day which could have been the death of me, but I guess I was a little loopy by then and was thinking, "if I bust out now, it's been a great run.."but fate would have other plans for me..(is that corny enough for y'all?) (dramatic music..)
At the end of day one I got incredibly lucky and sucked out with the worst hand in a three way all in. I wasn't planning it that way, but sometimes you get drawn in..
The player to my right, who incidentally after dinner break had his eyeglass lens sitting on his cards as a card protector..come to find out, as I look up and see one lens in his frames and ask laughingly what happened to him, that at dinner he had picked up his daughter and had his glasses in his pocket and smashed them. Luckily his wife had a similar prescription and he called her to bring in her backup pair..
Back to the last hand of day 1: The player to my right announces several times that he doesn't want to come back tomorrow with 4K in chips, so he is basically begging for a caller. I had just counted my stack of $22K not too long ago and I figure he doesn't have much of a hand. For $4k it was worth it to call. After I make the call ( incidentally his short stack of $4K turned out to be $6K so always ask for a chip count I learned) to my surprise the player to my left suddenly announces, "well now I have to go all in". I know now that my A J is probably running against A K, but I already have 6K in the pot and it turns out that I only have 9K left. (I thought I had $22K but my stack had shrunk a little and I actually had about $15K), so I think, “It's time to gamble and see what happens”. I call. Lucky for me and also sorry for me cause now I’ve got two guys pissed off... because...I end up flopping a J and another comes on the turn or river, can't remember. All I know is that I got lucky as hell with trips with the worst hand of the three of us, A Q to my right (the short stack) and A K to my left. I end day one with $37,400 in chips..
Sunday, January 11, 2009
wherein our hero eats cake
PART THE SECOND
2009.01.11
I've been on a Vegas tournament hot streak, chopping four of the last six I've played, including the Venetian nooner on my previous visit. Let's keep it rolling!
No sooner do I walk out the door of the Tropicana than I see the Deuce pulling up. I run as fast as my gimpy legs will allow, smiling and waving at the bus, which seems to be waiting for me. As I close in, it picks up and pulls away. Mother pus-bucket. I hope everybody watching enjoyed a nice chuckle from it, I have plenty of time.
I arrive at the Venetian and sign up, an old pro by now. I'm even able to avoid the nasty corridor of perfumed stink that causes angry nose and itchy skin. I've an hour before it starts, time to walk the canal and shop the windows. I wonder if the Eternal Dusk lighting scheme is effective in generating that "just about to go out" excited state. I stop in at a hat-seller (hatter? hattier?) and spy a specimen that would look rather fetching on my noggin. Tournament Victory Hat, that's what it'll be. I shall return this evening.
Having exhausted this activity (with no luck finding leftover attendees of the Adult Video conference), I elect for some exercise. Laugh if you must, but I feel getting the blood pumping before a strenuous mental activity is beneficial. The brain needs oxygen, and I'll be sitting on my duff all day. To that end, I find an extra-tall staircase in the casino and run down and up. And again. And again. I do this perhaps a dozen times, people on both escalators giving me the hairy eyeball. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Keep it flowing, body in balance. I'm pumped, I'm primed, I'm ready.
Despite the name, this tournament isn't all that deep-stacked. The 7500 in chips is nice, but after a few rounds it's like any other cheap tourney. Because of this, I'm not getting out of line with trouble hands. Suited connectors maybe on the button, but other than that, only pairs and big Aces. Stab me in the throat if you find me with KJ. I catch AA twice in the first round, both times re-raise the same person preflop, take it down on the flop. Up to 9400. Unfortunately, in the next few rounds I have an AK that doesn't hit and an A8s that gets me in trouble, so I'm down to 5100 at the first break.
Bloodflow! This time the staircases just outside the poker room. Up one, down the other. Up and down. After half a dozen times, the folks in the booth at the top must be wondering who this crazy person is who keeps running past them, but oh well. A few mental exercises and psyche-ups, time for more cards.
Several of the dealers have been excellent, including Eric, Shane, and Rachel. Unfortunately, now we have Kathleen in the box, who seems generally competent until the following: Seat 1 says "Raise" and Seat 3 (same guy I kept 3-betting with my Aces) folds before an amount is clarified. Earlier, Rachel had admonished players for this and explained why. Nothing from Kathleen. I pipe up from Seat 7 with, "Hey, mind waiting until he's done next time?" and the player is all, "WTF, he said raise, piss off." At this point I expect the dealer to pick up the slack, but instead she turns to me and lectures that the player said raise so the fold is not out of turn. I protest that the raise wasn't complete and she asks if I want to call the floor. I want to move on, so I shrug and let it go.
I'm getting hungry and I don't think I can wait until the next break to eat, so I call food service. I see a new dealer before I see a menu, so I call again. I get the floor involved, who apologizes that he's doing what he can. I understand, but my tummy feels differently.
It's not quite fit-or-fold time, but I like to push a little earlier than most tend to think about it. Any reasonable raise makes it more likely someone will be committed, and I don't like calling all-in. Nobody wants to bust out in this phase, so my AK and JJ pushes pull in the blinds and some limps, keeping me alive.
At this point the lack of food service would be comical were not my stomach eating itself. I pass on the offer of a mostly-consumed quesadilla someone had left behind, but then the floor announces that there's an unclaimed cheeseburger sitting around. "I'll have it!" I yell from the back of the room. Then I reconsider: "Do I have to pay for it?" Yes. I'll take a free pile of heart-clogging grease, but I'm not buying it. Considering how vocal my food requests have been, I get some ribbing for this, but I simply don't feel it will keep me alert for the game.
Finally I get it. No, not food. AA on the button. Everybody folds to me. Grr. The BB seems tired of my aggression, so I make a standard raise, my best to make it look like I'm afraid of pushing again. He raises to about half my stack, so I count down my chips with a "well, if I'm gonna call..." shrug and throw them in. He calls with KK. Hollywooding probably made no difference here, but I can at least feel like it played a part. He has me barely covered, and now I'm sitting more comfortably with over 10k.
The floor informs me that the food server is in the room and will be over to me shortly. Score!
I peel up KK with 9500 and see a couple of limps of 400. Push. Take it down. Should I have bet less? I'm so hungry.
I look around the room and see no food servers whatsoever. Boo. Last time I played this tournament, they stole the sandwich a friend had bought for me. Not falling for that one again, I'm trying to order within the room, but they won't have it. The Venetian doesn't want me to eat.
My hand is 77 with 8500 and I face two limps of 600. Push. Take it down. I'm happy with this result.
Wait, who's that? Someone wearing a vest and holding a menu? Standing next to me? It can't be! I have cards and the button, so I tell her that she should stand and wait right there until I order, otherwise she's going to find herself tackled on the floor. I find 64s and nobody in the pot. I have a twinge about it, but feel I'm short enough to make a move yet big enough to scare people off, and I'm distracted by my desire to order food, so I throw the chips in. Called by the BB, same guy who almost went broke with KK. Crap! He has 77, I don't even come close to improving, now I'm a microstack.
I order the Minestrone. More ribbing. After all that whining, I'm only getting soup? Hey, I eat a little throughout the day, it has vegetables, and it's cheap. Besides, how long can it take to prepare? Tummy needs nourishment!
The blinds are 400/800 with antes, I have A4o and 2575, let's get 'em in. Called by the BB who shows 52o. A flop of KK6 and I'm looking good until the turn pairs the 5. A miracle 6 on the river and I yell "Ship it!" while the dealer points out to me that he paired his 5. "That's nice, but I'll take Kings and Sixes, along with the pot." Never release your cards until you have the chips. Ever. Another push with AKs, no callers, and my stack is where it was before my earlier fumble.
Still no food, but at least she brought crackers and a spoon! I ration one saltine to tide me over and our table breaks. The floor assures me he'll let the server know where I am. We'll see.
I'm off to Table 37, Seat 9. This spot is a good candidate for Final Table, which is nice because it means chips come to us and I don't have to move again. I'm a big fan of the 9 seat because I can see everybody while being out of the way, and my view of the action isn't blocked as with Seats 1 or 2. However, it's not long before I discover the fatal flaw: It's afternoon. That big row of glass doors provides the setting sun ample room in which to blind me. Awesome.
People ask me why the hell I'm slowly eating crackers, and I explain my situation. The dealer chuckles and says that while it sometimes takes a while, the food is delicious. It had better be. We go on a break and I worry that they'll show up and leave with my food before I get back. The food I was trying so desperately to order long before the break.
Finally, twenty-five minutes after I've ordered and well over an hour since I first requested service, my soup arrives! It's hardly a soup, it has so much hearty stuff in it. The blinds are high and I'm short-stack again, so I feel A6o is good enough for pushing. A4o feels it's good enough for calling, but unfortunately so does AKo. No improvement for anybody and I'm done in 45th place. No hat for me. I stay in my seat and finish my soup.
It's delicious.
... next up: Who is this young woman tearing up the V's high-stakes cash games? ...
2009.01.11
I've been on a Vegas tournament hot streak, chopping four of the last six I've played, including the Venetian nooner on my previous visit. Let's keep it rolling!
No sooner do I walk out the door of the Tropicana than I see the Deuce pulling up. I run as fast as my gimpy legs will allow, smiling and waving at the bus, which seems to be waiting for me. As I close in, it picks up and pulls away. Mother pus-bucket. I hope everybody watching enjoyed a nice chuckle from it, I have plenty of time.
I arrive at the Venetian and sign up, an old pro by now. I'm even able to avoid the nasty corridor of perfumed stink that causes angry nose and itchy skin. I've an hour before it starts, time to walk the canal and shop the windows. I wonder if the Eternal Dusk lighting scheme is effective in generating that "just about to go out" excited state. I stop in at a hat-seller (hatter? hattier?) and spy a specimen that would look rather fetching on my noggin. Tournament Victory Hat, that's what it'll be. I shall return this evening.
Having exhausted this activity (with no luck finding leftover attendees of the Adult Video conference), I elect for some exercise. Laugh if you must, but I feel getting the blood pumping before a strenuous mental activity is beneficial. The brain needs oxygen, and I'll be sitting on my duff all day. To that end, I find an extra-tall staircase in the casino and run down and up. And again. And again. I do this perhaps a dozen times, people on both escalators giving me the hairy eyeball. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Keep it flowing, body in balance. I'm pumped, I'm primed, I'm ready.
Despite the name, this tournament isn't all that deep-stacked. The 7500 in chips is nice, but after a few rounds it's like any other cheap tourney. Because of this, I'm not getting out of line with trouble hands. Suited connectors maybe on the button, but other than that, only pairs and big Aces. Stab me in the throat if you find me with KJ. I catch AA twice in the first round, both times re-raise the same person preflop, take it down on the flop. Up to 9400. Unfortunately, in the next few rounds I have an AK that doesn't hit and an A8s that gets me in trouble, so I'm down to 5100 at the first break.
Bloodflow! This time the staircases just outside the poker room. Up one, down the other. Up and down. After half a dozen times, the folks in the booth at the top must be wondering who this crazy person is who keeps running past them, but oh well. A few mental exercises and psyche-ups, time for more cards.
Several of the dealers have been excellent, including Eric, Shane, and Rachel. Unfortunately, now we have Kathleen in the box, who seems generally competent until the following: Seat 1 says "Raise" and Seat 3 (same guy I kept 3-betting with my Aces) folds before an amount is clarified. Earlier, Rachel had admonished players for this and explained why. Nothing from Kathleen. I pipe up from Seat 7 with, "Hey, mind waiting until he's done next time?" and the player is all, "WTF, he said raise, piss off." At this point I expect the dealer to pick up the slack, but instead she turns to me and lectures that the player said raise so the fold is not out of turn. I protest that the raise wasn't complete and she asks if I want to call the floor. I want to move on, so I shrug and let it go.
I'm getting hungry and I don't think I can wait until the next break to eat, so I call food service. I see a new dealer before I see a menu, so I call again. I get the floor involved, who apologizes that he's doing what he can. I understand, but my tummy feels differently.
It's not quite fit-or-fold time, but I like to push a little earlier than most tend to think about it. Any reasonable raise makes it more likely someone will be committed, and I don't like calling all-in. Nobody wants to bust out in this phase, so my AK and JJ pushes pull in the blinds and some limps, keeping me alive.
At this point the lack of food service would be comical were not my stomach eating itself. I pass on the offer of a mostly-consumed quesadilla someone had left behind, but then the floor announces that there's an unclaimed cheeseburger sitting around. "I'll have it!" I yell from the back of the room. Then I reconsider: "Do I have to pay for it?" Yes. I'll take a free pile of heart-clogging grease, but I'm not buying it. Considering how vocal my food requests have been, I get some ribbing for this, but I simply don't feel it will keep me alert for the game.
Finally I get it. No, not food. AA on the button. Everybody folds to me. Grr. The BB seems tired of my aggression, so I make a standard raise, my best to make it look like I'm afraid of pushing again. He raises to about half my stack, so I count down my chips with a "well, if I'm gonna call..." shrug and throw them in. He calls with KK. Hollywooding probably made no difference here, but I can at least feel like it played a part. He has me barely covered, and now I'm sitting more comfortably with over 10k.
The floor informs me that the food server is in the room and will be over to me shortly. Score!
I peel up KK with 9500 and see a couple of limps of 400. Push. Take it down. Should I have bet less? I'm so hungry.
I look around the room and see no food servers whatsoever. Boo. Last time I played this tournament, they stole the sandwich a friend had bought for me. Not falling for that one again, I'm trying to order within the room, but they won't have it. The Venetian doesn't want me to eat.
My hand is 77 with 8500 and I face two limps of 600. Push. Take it down. I'm happy with this result.
Wait, who's that? Someone wearing a vest and holding a menu? Standing next to me? It can't be! I have cards and the button, so I tell her that she should stand and wait right there until I order, otherwise she's going to find herself tackled on the floor. I find 64s and nobody in the pot. I have a twinge about it, but feel I'm short enough to make a move yet big enough to scare people off, and I'm distracted by my desire to order food, so I throw the chips in. Called by the BB, same guy who almost went broke with KK. Crap! He has 77, I don't even come close to improving, now I'm a microstack.
I order the Minestrone. More ribbing. After all that whining, I'm only getting soup? Hey, I eat a little throughout the day, it has vegetables, and it's cheap. Besides, how long can it take to prepare? Tummy needs nourishment!
The blinds are 400/800 with antes, I have A4o and 2575, let's get 'em in. Called by the BB who shows 52o. A flop of KK6 and I'm looking good until the turn pairs the 5. A miracle 6 on the river and I yell "Ship it!" while the dealer points out to me that he paired his 5. "That's nice, but I'll take Kings and Sixes, along with the pot." Never release your cards until you have the chips. Ever. Another push with AKs, no callers, and my stack is where it was before my earlier fumble.
Still no food, but at least she brought crackers and a spoon! I ration one saltine to tide me over and our table breaks. The floor assures me he'll let the server know where I am. We'll see.
I'm off to Table 37, Seat 9. This spot is a good candidate for Final Table, which is nice because it means chips come to us and I don't have to move again. I'm a big fan of the 9 seat because I can see everybody while being out of the way, and my view of the action isn't blocked as with Seats 1 or 2. However, it's not long before I discover the fatal flaw: It's afternoon. That big row of glass doors provides the setting sun ample room in which to blind me. Awesome.
People ask me why the hell I'm slowly eating crackers, and I explain my situation. The dealer chuckles and says that while it sometimes takes a while, the food is delicious. It had better be. We go on a break and I worry that they'll show up and leave with my food before I get back. The food I was trying so desperately to order long before the break.
Finally, twenty-five minutes after I've ordered and well over an hour since I first requested service, my soup arrives! It's hardly a soup, it has so much hearty stuff in it. The blinds are high and I'm short-stack again, so I feel A6o is good enough for pushing. A4o feels it's good enough for calling, but unfortunately so does AKo. No improvement for anybody and I'm done in 45th place. No hat for me. I stay in my seat and finish my soup.
It's delicious.
... next up: Who is this young woman tearing up the V's high-stakes cash games? ...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
wherein our hero learns a little about human nature
PART THE FIRST
2009.01.10
It's been a busy few weeks.
Barely home from my previous Vegas trip in time for Chranukwanstice and all the goofiness that entails. After that, New Year's parties. As a stinky hippie, my plans involve music concerts and there were plenty of choices in my home region of San Francisco. Good stuff, if you like that kind of thing, and I do, so it worked out well. Barely time to rest, on New Year's Day I packed and left for Florida, from where I set sail on Jamcruise: a music festival on a cruise ship. This year we went to Belize, dancing and tripping the week away. Returned to port on January 9, then another cross-country flight home.
That brings us to this morning. Time to clean and pack and leave again for Vegas! I've yet to make solid plans for lodging, so I ring up Budget Suites. I had spoken with someone a few weeks ago who suggested I try again in January because rates might go down. No go. I'm only in town for four days, but I still need to pay for a week, which will come to over $300. While the idea of lodging with strippers is appealing, the rate combined with its off-strip location relegates it to backup plan.
I stayed at MGM last time for $40/night, so let's give that a whirl. I talk to a person in reservations who says the current rates are under $70/night, and that I could probably get more of a discount if I talk to the poker room. I do and get told the lowest they can do is $90/night. But the regular rate is less than that, and last time I was in town I got $40/night just from asking. Apparently last month had a tear in time and space because the mere concept of this is completely foreign. Back to reservations, where the rate is now over $100/night. But it was cheaper only five minutes ago! You snooze, you lose.
A friend points me to expedia, with Stratosphere at $30, Flamingo around $50. Now we're talking. I remind myself about hotwire. They give discounted rates, but I don't know the exact location until after I book. The description of a $32 room is a 3-star South Strip location. The map they provide is a little vague about how far off the Strip this includes, but if it's on the Strip it's perfect. I throw caution to the wind, close my eyes, and book it.
Tropicana! Score! Some people have issue with burn marks on the furniture and bloodstains on the shower curtains, but I'm not one of those people. I love the Old Vegas charm. I had spent a chunk of my roll on the aforementioned cruise to Belize, and I'm trying to keep expenses at an absolute minimum, so this works for me. To continue the cheapskate theme, I hit up the grocer for granola, yogurt, bagels, schmear, and fruit. I'm tired of paying $20 for an omelet. Money saved at breakfast spends the same as money won on the table. If I'm going to do this seriously, I need to take this seriously.
Ah, airports. If you need proof regarding the pending collapse of civilization, look no further. People seem determined to focus on immediate selfish needs, even if by doing so they work against themselves. For example, baggage claim. Everybody is clustered against the carousel. This means hardly anybody can see and everybody has to push and shove to get a bag out. If everybody simply steps back ten feet, then everybody has a wider viewing angle and everybody can easily walk up when the appropriate bags come down the line. It's a game that everybody can win, but hardly anybody goes along with me when I suggest this. We're doomed.
At the Trop! Determined to be holla balla, I try the $20 trick and score! I don't think the rooms are any better, but it gets me a spot in the tower. You can spend your $20 on suites in the posh places, I'll use mine to save me four days of walking to the ass end of their compound. I'm doubly pleased when I discover a refrigerator in the room, which means I won't have to keep loading up my cooler with ice. This is more than I had in a "nice" room on my last trip, and I can see from my window that I'm closer to the MGM poker room than I was when I stayed at the MGM.
Time (finally) for some poker! MGM, right? Bzzt, nope, I'm headed to Excalibur! The .5/1 tables are just my speed right now, and I dig the vibe of the clientele. I call up a local friend who meets me down there and it's a casual night of electronic cards.
I'm doing fairly well until my brain seizes up and I make a crying call with 22 on a board of 92888. What the hell? I might as well have 4-high. That's what I get for trying to milk it. Other than that I have some nice hands and build up a stack. I get some value with AQ top pair versus both straight and flush draws that don't come. My buddy, who usually plays bigger games, can't take this one seriously and ultimately busts out due to trying to bully with 5-high. Three times. At least he got some beers.
I take a bit of a hit when I limp/call with 77 in EP. Three-way flop of J62, all diamonds. Checked to me, I figure I'm ahead. Villain stacks are barely larger than the pot, so I push. One fold, but I get a call from middle set. At least I have the 7d, but it wasn't meant to be.
I'm able to build back up and the table has become rather loose and aggressive, so I limp AA in EP. The woman directly to my left makes it $12 to go (on a $1 BB, mind you), which she's been doing with medium pocket pairs. She astonishingly gets four callers, and now it's back to me. The pot is over $60, I have about $120, so I push, muttering under my breath that I should've done that with my 7s. Another player is egging people to look me up. After a couple of times I say, "C'mon, one player to a hand." This does the trick because the guy tanking with JJ calls me and I'm able to add a nice chunk to my stack.
Another fun hand, the big stack to my right limps, I make a questionable raise with AJo. A couple of callers including the big stack and the flop is AJJ. Glorious. Even better is that he's betting into me. I call the flop, raise the turn, bet the river, and take almost all of his chips when he shows AQ. This game is easy!
After a while the table has dried up, I'm up a couple of buyins, and I feel I've had enough. I want to take my profits and play the Venetian nooner tomorrow, so I call it a night, collect my food comps, and head back over the bridge. So far the trip is turning out quite well. We'll see if I can maintain.
... next up: Repeat at Venetian? ...
2009.01.10
It's been a busy few weeks.
Barely home from my previous Vegas trip in time for Chranukwanstice and all the goofiness that entails. After that, New Year's parties. As a stinky hippie, my plans involve music concerts and there were plenty of choices in my home region of San Francisco. Good stuff, if you like that kind of thing, and I do, so it worked out well. Barely time to rest, on New Year's Day I packed and left for Florida, from where I set sail on Jamcruise: a music festival on a cruise ship. This year we went to Belize, dancing and tripping the week away. Returned to port on January 9, then another cross-country flight home.
That brings us to this morning. Time to clean and pack and leave again for Vegas! I've yet to make solid plans for lodging, so I ring up Budget Suites. I had spoken with someone a few weeks ago who suggested I try again in January because rates might go down. No go. I'm only in town for four days, but I still need to pay for a week, which will come to over $300. While the idea of lodging with strippers is appealing, the rate combined with its off-strip location relegates it to backup plan.
I stayed at MGM last time for $40/night, so let's give that a whirl. I talk to a person in reservations who says the current rates are under $70/night, and that I could probably get more of a discount if I talk to the poker room. I do and get told the lowest they can do is $90/night. But the regular rate is less than that, and last time I was in town I got $40/night just from asking. Apparently last month had a tear in time and space because the mere concept of this is completely foreign. Back to reservations, where the rate is now over $100/night. But it was cheaper only five minutes ago! You snooze, you lose.
A friend points me to expedia, with Stratosphere at $30, Flamingo around $50. Now we're talking. I remind myself about hotwire. They give discounted rates, but I don't know the exact location until after I book. The description of a $32 room is a 3-star South Strip location. The map they provide is a little vague about how far off the Strip this includes, but if it's on the Strip it's perfect. I throw caution to the wind, close my eyes, and book it.
Tropicana! Score! Some people have issue with burn marks on the furniture and bloodstains on the shower curtains, but I'm not one of those people. I love the Old Vegas charm. I had spent a chunk of my roll on the aforementioned cruise to Belize, and I'm trying to keep expenses at an absolute minimum, so this works for me. To continue the cheapskate theme, I hit up the grocer for granola, yogurt, bagels, schmear, and fruit. I'm tired of paying $20 for an omelet. Money saved at breakfast spends the same as money won on the table. If I'm going to do this seriously, I need to take this seriously.
Ah, airports. If you need proof regarding the pending collapse of civilization, look no further. People seem determined to focus on immediate selfish needs, even if by doing so they work against themselves. For example, baggage claim. Everybody is clustered against the carousel. This means hardly anybody can see and everybody has to push and shove to get a bag out. If everybody simply steps back ten feet, then everybody has a wider viewing angle and everybody can easily walk up when the appropriate bags come down the line. It's a game that everybody can win, but hardly anybody goes along with me when I suggest this. We're doomed.
At the Trop! Determined to be holla balla, I try the $20 trick and score! I don't think the rooms are any better, but it gets me a spot in the tower. You can spend your $20 on suites in the posh places, I'll use mine to save me four days of walking to the ass end of their compound. I'm doubly pleased when I discover a refrigerator in the room, which means I won't have to keep loading up my cooler with ice. This is more than I had in a "nice" room on my last trip, and I can see from my window that I'm closer to the MGM poker room than I was when I stayed at the MGM.
Time (finally) for some poker! MGM, right? Bzzt, nope, I'm headed to Excalibur! The .5/1 tables are just my speed right now, and I dig the vibe of the clientele. I call up a local friend who meets me down there and it's a casual night of electronic cards.
I'm doing fairly well until my brain seizes up and I make a crying call with 22 on a board of 92888. What the hell? I might as well have 4-high. That's what I get for trying to milk it. Other than that I have some nice hands and build up a stack. I get some value with AQ top pair versus both straight and flush draws that don't come. My buddy, who usually plays bigger games, can't take this one seriously and ultimately busts out due to trying to bully with 5-high. Three times. At least he got some beers.
I take a bit of a hit when I limp/call with 77 in EP. Three-way flop of J62, all diamonds. Checked to me, I figure I'm ahead. Villain stacks are barely larger than the pot, so I push. One fold, but I get a call from middle set. At least I have the 7d, but it wasn't meant to be.
I'm able to build back up and the table has become rather loose and aggressive, so I limp AA in EP. The woman directly to my left makes it $12 to go (on a $1 BB, mind you), which she's been doing with medium pocket pairs. She astonishingly gets four callers, and now it's back to me. The pot is over $60, I have about $120, so I push, muttering under my breath that I should've done that with my 7s. Another player is egging people to look me up. After a couple of times I say, "C'mon, one player to a hand." This does the trick because the guy tanking with JJ calls me and I'm able to add a nice chunk to my stack.
Another fun hand, the big stack to my right limps, I make a questionable raise with AJo. A couple of callers including the big stack and the flop is AJJ. Glorious. Even better is that he's betting into me. I call the flop, raise the turn, bet the river, and take almost all of his chips when he shows AQ. This game is easy!
After a while the table has dried up, I'm up a couple of buyins, and I feel I've had enough. I want to take my profits and play the Venetian nooner tomorrow, so I call it a night, collect my food comps, and head back over the bridge. So far the trip is turning out quite well. We'll see if I can maintain.
... next up: Repeat at Venetian? ...
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