First off let me apologize for the delay in getting this posted. Work has just swamped me over the last couple of days. I guess thats what happens when you are out of town for two weeks straight. Also, I will post up the links to everyones blogs later today.
After lasting three hands in the tournament I went up to the sign-up desk and was able to be put at the top of the list. Telling bad beat tales does work! I got an immediate seat at the 2/5 NL game (300 max buy-in). In the first lap around the table I got involved in one hand where I raised the flop with air to a c-bet from someone to my immediate right. I can't remember the board texture but it did not look like it hit him. I raised his $20 c-bet to $50 on the flop. He check-called a $50 bet on the turn and folded to my $100 bet on the river. Sometimes you follow your reads and it works although I'm not sure this was a great spot since I was only at the table around 5 minutes. Whatever, it worked I guess. After the hand I have $450.
The next couple of hours I didn't get much and hovered around the $400 mark making it down to as low as $290 before I made my run. The player to the right of me was playing fairly tight and kept asking me if I was a pro. Hahahahhaha. I'm not going to tell him otherwise. I swear wearing the Full Tilt hat gets me respect when I'm bluffing and action when I have the goods. This guy took a seat on the opposite side of the table a bit later and became a maniac. Before I knew it he went from $300 to over $1600 in a matter of 2 hours. This guy played top top like it was the nuts. One particular hand he straddled and made it 40 when it got back to him. Flop comes A,x,x and he leads out for $50 and gets one caller. Turn is a blank and he bets out $125 and gets called. River is another blank and he shoves for $300 or so and gets called. He shows A,K and the other guy shows A,Q. That's how you make money huh?
OK back to my hands. There were not a lot of dramatic hands but I chipped up fairly steadily. After getting nothing for 2 hours straight I pick up A,A in late position. A mid-position short stack makes it $30 to go leaving $50 behind and I call. All else fold and he shoves his last $50 dark and I call dark. He has K,K and my hand holds up. About 1/2 hour later I pick-up AhAd in late position again. Another short stacker makes it $25 to go from middle position and I call. Heads-up the flop comes KhJh10h. The short stack shoves for $85 and I call. He flopped a set of Jacks but I hit a heart on the turn and fade a boat on the river for another decent sized pot.
There were two hands where I was fortunate to win. The first hand I have 9,7 in one of the blinds and check my option. The flop comes 9 high and I check. The UTG player makes it $20 to go and I check raise to $60 and he calls. The turn is a 10 and it goes check check. The river is a quessn and it goes check check again. I roll over my hand and he mucks. The next hand I have Q,J in late position and limp. The flop comes 8 high and one of the blinds bets out $25 and I raise to $75 and he calls. OK I'm done with this hand when he calls but a Q comes on the turn. He checks to me and I bet out $100 and he calls. The river is a 9 and it goes check check and my queen is good.
I had K,K twice and was fortunate enough to get away losing the minimum. The first time I raise to $30 and get one caller. The flop comes A,J.x. Its checked to me and I bet out $50 and get raised to $150. I fold and he shows a set of jacks. The next time i get KK in late position and raise to $25 and get 2 callers, one of them being the guy who overvalues top pair. The flop comes A,x,x. Overvalue guy bets out $30 and the next player raises to $75. I fold. Both got all of their money in with A,Q for a chop. Easy folds in both cases.When I folded and showed the KK the first time I think people thought they could steal from me.
The next biggish pot I played I had 8d7d on the BB. Only one player limped and we went heads-up to the flop. The flop came 9,8,6 rainbow. I check called a $20 bet. Turn was an ace and I check called a $25 bet. River was another ace. I checked and the other guy shoves for $250. Wow. This was a tough one. He was a solid player who played some marginal hands but didn't seem to get too out of line for a lot of money. I thought about it for a minute but decided to fold. Later he told me he had the boat with A,9. He thought the over shove on the end may get me to call. It almost did but it was just too much money in that spot.
The last big hand of the night I limped on the button with Kd9d. There were 4-5 to the flop of Ad7d4c. The UTG player who seemed to be playing fairly tight (we had only seen one hand in 2 hours which was two pair which lost) made it $25 to go. All others folded and I called. The turn was the gin card for me, a baby diamond. He bets out $50 and I min raise to $100 and he calls. The river was a brick 2c. He leads out $100 with around $250 behind. The question I was wondering was how to get the rest of his stack or as much of it as possible. I decided to shove. After a few seconds he folded. I wonder if another min-raise or a bet to $225-250 would have worked. Oh well, I was happy with the pot.
After I had built up a decent stack to around $1000 I was able to make $25-$30 rasies with A,K and A,Q, hit top pair, bet out $40 and the 1-2 callers would fold. I had A,A one other time and raised to $30 with no callers.
The guy wondering if I was a pro or not took his $1600 stack and pissed it down to $200 and left. Imagine that.
One other hand I forgot to mention earlier was I had a 7d6d in early position and limped. I flopped the absolute nuts with a 5d4d3d board for the straight flush. It was checked around, damn it. The turn brought a 4th diamond. It gets checked around again. Damn!!! The river is a blank and I bet out $30 and get 1 caller. Why can't anyone have the Ad there?
After playing from 7:15pm till 3:15am and the table getting tougher with the fish now gone I got up with $1258 sitting in front of me for a $958 profit. Thank god I busted from the tourney early.
Next week I will be in Baton Rouge and will be able to get to Harrah's in New Orleans one night before I leave. Its been a long time since I have been there and I'm looking forward to it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
New Look To The Blog
Let me know what you think. Thanks for the link to the pic Zerb.
Also, post you blog link in the comments and I will add it to my links on the side.
Also, post you blog link in the comments and I will add it to my links on the side.
Greektown Part Deux
I got done with work early and tried to catch an early flight. The change fee was $730 since the only available seats were in First Class. Damn you Northwest. I changes hotels to near the airport. Near the airport to say the least. I swear to god I was about 50 feet from the runway.
I made it down to Greektown around 4:15pm. I signed-up for a multitude of games including 3/6 limit, 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL. I got a seat right away in the 1/2 NL game. The buy-in was $100 max. I really wanted to play limit today so I thought I would play till a seat opened. I posted the first hand and during the first hand my name was called for the 3/6 game. I moved over and the table looked like a rock garden. If you didn't know you would have swore that it was going to be a stud game based on the average age, which was around 65 or so.
I played for around two hours or so. The old lady in the 9 seat was constantly complaining about other playing shitty cards and winning while she plays Q,9 off suit from early position and "getting rivered" by someone in the blind hitting two pair. I played one hand good hand with her. She 2 bets UTG and I am in the SB with 4,5 off. I called and said "this is gonna be a nice suckout". The flop comes 9,5,4 rainbow. Bingo. She leads out and I 2 bet and she calls. Ther turn is a 2, I bet and she calls. The river pairs the 9 and she leads out. Well I just got counterfitted. I fold and she shows A,A. After two hours I made a grand total of ....... $5. Yipeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The tournament started at 7pm. It had a $100+25 buy-in and you started with 3000 in chips. I think the levels were 20 minutes. On the first hand it was folded to the button who limped along with the SB and the BB made it 450 (25/50 blinds to start). The button and SB fold and and he shows 4,4. What a tool. The only time he is getting a call is if he is crushed. On the third hand I am UTG with 4,4 and limp. Its folded to the tool on the button who calls and the blinds call and check. The flop comes 9,9,4. Its checked to me and I bet 250. The button calls and the blinds fold. The turn is an 8. I bet out 550 and the button calls again. The river is a 6 and I bet out 1000. The button min-raises. OK I am probably beat here but I push for a total of $2350 and he call and flips over 9,6. Nice river buddy. Three hands and I am done.
This turned out to be a good thing as my fortuned in the cash games were about to turn around in a big way. After my session Tuesday and the tournament I still ended up quite a bit after the session. I will post it up tomorrow or by Monday at the latest.
One thing about the casino. They do not track your live play but if you go to the podium they will give you a voucher for the snack bar. They have sandwiches and other stuff served with chips and a soda. Not a bad deal at all. Much better than tracking play.
I made it down to Greektown around 4:15pm. I signed-up for a multitude of games including 3/6 limit, 1/2 NL and 2/5 NL. I got a seat right away in the 1/2 NL game. The buy-in was $100 max. I really wanted to play limit today so I thought I would play till a seat opened. I posted the first hand and during the first hand my name was called for the 3/6 game. I moved over and the table looked like a rock garden. If you didn't know you would have swore that it was going to be a stud game based on the average age, which was around 65 or so.
I played for around two hours or so. The old lady in the 9 seat was constantly complaining about other playing shitty cards and winning while she plays Q,9 off suit from early position and "getting rivered" by someone in the blind hitting two pair. I played one hand good hand with her. She 2 bets UTG and I am in the SB with 4,5 off. I called and said "this is gonna be a nice suckout". The flop comes 9,5,4 rainbow. Bingo. She leads out and I 2 bet and she calls. Ther turn is a 2, I bet and she calls. The river pairs the 9 and she leads out. Well I just got counterfitted. I fold and she shows A,A. After two hours I made a grand total of ....... $5. Yipeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The tournament started at 7pm. It had a $100+25 buy-in and you started with 3000 in chips. I think the levels were 20 minutes. On the first hand it was folded to the button who limped along with the SB and the BB made it 450 (25/50 blinds to start). The button and SB fold and and he shows 4,4. What a tool. The only time he is getting a call is if he is crushed. On the third hand I am UTG with 4,4 and limp. Its folded to the tool on the button who calls and the blinds call and check. The flop comes 9,9,4. Its checked to me and I bet 250. The button calls and the blinds fold. The turn is an 8. I bet out 550 and the button calls again. The river is a 6 and I bet out 1000. The button min-raises. OK I am probably beat here but I push for a total of $2350 and he call and flips over 9,6. Nice river buddy. Three hands and I am done.
This turned out to be a good thing as my fortuned in the cash games were about to turn around in a big way. After my session Tuesday and the tournament I still ended up quite a bit after the session. I will post it up tomorrow or by Monday at the latest.
One thing about the casino. They do not track your live play but if you go to the podium they will give you a voucher for the snack bar. They have sandwiches and other stuff served with chips and a soda. Not a bad deal at all. Much better than tracking play.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Interesting Hand
OK I promised one of the hands from the wind 2/5 game, here it is.
There are a few limpers and a late position player raises to $30 and one of the limpers called. The flop comes 8,6,4 rainbow. The caller checks and the other player shoves for around $200. The caller calls off all of his chips with 6,5, Middle pair and a gutter ball. The raiser shows 8,8. The turn, you guessed it, is a 7. The river brought a 5 for a chopped pot.
Yep, it was that bad.
I played an 11 hour session last night including a $125 tournament where I lasted 3 hands. This will be a good one, I promise. I will post it up after my son goes to bed tonight.
There are a few limpers and a late position player raises to $30 and one of the limpers called. The flop comes 8,6,4 rainbow. The caller checks and the other player shoves for around $200. The caller calls off all of his chips with 6,5, Middle pair and a gutter ball. The raiser shows 8,8. The turn, you guessed it, is a 7. The river brought a 5 for a chopped pot.
Yep, it was that bad.
I played an 11 hour session last night including a $125 tournament where I lasted 3 hands. This will be a good one, I promise. I will post it up after my son goes to bed tonight.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Greektown
I played in the 2/5 game last night. The min and max buy-in was 100/300 for the game. Thats just way too low of a buy-in in my opinion.
I was seated in a new game. About 7 people bought in for the max and a few were short stacking. This was the absolute wildest 2/5 game I have ever played in my life. There were about 6 all-ins in the first lap around the table. This game played like a big 5/10 game. Opening raises were between 30-50 with all of it going in by the turn. I just had to wait and pick my spots.
One hand I had the nut flush draw that missed which knocked me town to 200. I added another 100 to my stack to get back up to 300. PLaying off of my tight image I was able to pick up a couple small pots on bluffs. One hand I had A,J and raised pre-flop to $30 with one caller. The Flop came 9 high, I checked and the other player checked. The turn was a second 9. I check raised a $15 bet to $60 and got the other player to fold. I was at around $350 when by last hand happened.
It was a straddle pot and I pick-up A,Q in middle position. Its folded to me and I make it $50 to go. I get one late position caller and the bib blind. The flop comes Q high rainbow. BB checks, I bet out $75 and get the late position player to call. He has shown down some questionable hands so far. The turn is a blank. I bet out $125 and he goes all-in. I called and he had A,A. Motherfucker. I quit losing $400.
I guess its time to take a break from playing cash games for a while. I just can't seem to string anything together. I always lose the first pot of the night and its downhill from there. Limit hold-em might be a good option for me in the near future just to do something different. I might go down and play Thursday night and give it another shot. I will post one of the more interesting hands I saw later today just to give you an idea of what kind of game this is. Off to work now.
I was seated in a new game. About 7 people bought in for the max and a few were short stacking. This was the absolute wildest 2/5 game I have ever played in my life. There were about 6 all-ins in the first lap around the table. This game played like a big 5/10 game. Opening raises were between 30-50 with all of it going in by the turn. I just had to wait and pick my spots.
One hand I had the nut flush draw that missed which knocked me town to 200. I added another 100 to my stack to get back up to 300. PLaying off of my tight image I was able to pick up a couple small pots on bluffs. One hand I had A,J and raised pre-flop to $30 with one caller. The Flop came 9 high, I checked and the other player checked. The turn was a second 9. I check raised a $15 bet to $60 and got the other player to fold. I was at around $350 when by last hand happened.
It was a straddle pot and I pick-up A,Q in middle position. Its folded to me and I make it $50 to go. I get one late position caller and the bib blind. The flop comes Q high rainbow. BB checks, I bet out $75 and get the late position player to call. He has shown down some questionable hands so far. The turn is a blank. I bet out $125 and he goes all-in. I called and he had A,A. Motherfucker. I quit losing $400.
I guess its time to take a break from playing cash games for a while. I just can't seem to string anything together. I always lose the first pot of the night and its downhill from there. Limit hold-em might be a good option for me in the near future just to do something different. I might go down and play Thursday night and give it another shot. I will post one of the more interesting hands I saw later today just to give you an idea of what kind of game this is. Off to work now.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Greektown Tonight
Headed out to Greektown Casino tonight. I'll probably play some 2/5 NL. I have about $600 on me so 2/5 sounds like a good game. I'll post results when I get back tonight or tomorrow morning.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Recent Happenings, All Not Good
Its been close to two weeks since I have posted something so I thought I would write what I have played the last two weeks before my flight to Detroit leave in 1/2 hour....and yes I will be playing at Greektown Casino this trip.
I played the O8B Slut Tour event on the 15th. I read the Futt Tilt Tournament Strategy guide before the event since i royally suck at the game. I played very tight early, got no hands, and when I had to play I was down to 1000 with the blinds at around 80/160. Two hands and I was done in 20th/24. I didn't play the razz event last night. My favorite game but I just didn't feel like staying up late.
Last week I was in Niagara Falls on business and played three sessions. The first night I played at Casino Niagara. Thes stakes they offer there are just like Florida with a 1/2 game with a $100 capped buy-in. I had about 3 hours before I had to leave for dinner hwen I got there. Unfortunately I was on the waiting list for about 2 hours of that before I got a seat. Seems pretty standard there. I have always waited a long time there, every time. For my 1 hour of fun I played very few hands and ended up down $40 with nothing interesting to share.
On Wednesday night I played the 5/5 NL with a $500 cap at the Fallsview Casino. There is a really good mix of players there but overall it just seems to be the toughest game that I ever play in. I bought in for $500 and topped off $200 a pop twice so I was in for $900. I ran it all the way down to $50 and then was able to shove in a couple spots and get it up to $165 before my last hand of the night.
I was dealt AsKs UTG. I made it $20 which is not enought for this game but I was short stacked and felt I had no choice. I got 5 callers to the flop of A,3,5 rainbow. The SB bet out $20, I raised to $60 and two players behind me in middle position made it $160. The SB folded, I had $75 left and called. He showed me the lovely 2,4 for the wheel. WHAT THE FUCK? I have no clue how someone can call with that hand two people to my left with the rest of the table to act. I left.
The next day we got done with work early but I got massively sick. Against my better judgement we walked over to the US side and played at Seneca. I put my name of the 1/2 2/5 and 5/10 lists and was ready to play small or big. The 1/2 opened up and I took it (playing small it is). They 1/2 game had a $100 cap as well. After about 2 laps around the table I felt like absolute garbage. I played for about 20 minutes more and then decided that it would be one more lap around the table before I left.
I pick-up 10,10 in early position and raise it up to $11 (standard raise in this game) and got 2 callers. The flop comes 8,7,3 rainbow. I lead out for $15 and get raised to $60. If he flops a set here more power to him cause I am gonna call in this particular game. I have $78 behind and shove. He hums and haws and finally calls. OK I know I have him crushed now. Turn 9 (very nice), river 5. He proudly flips over 5,5 and takes the $184 pot. Wow! How do these fuckers get rewarded for that shit? Needless to say I left and slept for the next 12 hours straight.
The ante-up home game was played on Saturday. We had 7 people this time with one new player. The game is played 2/4 limit and it NL is called its played 1/2 with or without a cap. It was the standard start for me. Omaha and O8B were called first. I played very tight and lost little in these games. After a bit I loosened up and was forn around $45 when NL was called and the following hand occurred. I was dealt Jc9c in late position. There was one limper (Chris), I limped and the BB made a min raise to $4. Chris called and I called. The flop came 7s8cJs. The min bettor bet out $6, Chris raised to $16 and I pushed. The BB thought and finally folded which I correctly guessed as A,A. Chris called with Js9s. Uh oh. Freerollin me. The turn came a club. I wasn't thinking otherwise I would have suggested we chop the pot up right there. I didn't and the spade rolled off on the river and it was re-buy time.
After that hand I started playing really well when Stud 8 and razz were called. I played well in limit hold-em and double flop and ended grinding a profit of $12 from the game. Every time I play this game I seem to lose my first $100 and come back to make a small profit. I tried to tighten up early this time and it worked if not for the cooler hand. Not much I can do there I guess.
This week I think we are hitting Greektown Wednesday night for a $65 tournament and maybe some cash games on Thursday as well. I haven't been there in around 3 years. They have added-on to there room since I was there. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have done.
Bankroll update: I am around $2000 in my $5k challenge after having it up to $3500 when I left Vegas. Some personal expenses were paid out of it but most of it was due to the losses in the Falls.
I played the O8B Slut Tour event on the 15th. I read the Futt Tilt Tournament Strategy guide before the event since i royally suck at the game. I played very tight early, got no hands, and when I had to play I was down to 1000 with the blinds at around 80/160. Two hands and I was done in 20th/24. I didn't play the razz event last night. My favorite game but I just didn't feel like staying up late.
Last week I was in Niagara Falls on business and played three sessions. The first night I played at Casino Niagara. Thes stakes they offer there are just like Florida with a 1/2 game with a $100 capped buy-in. I had about 3 hours before I had to leave for dinner hwen I got there. Unfortunately I was on the waiting list for about 2 hours of that before I got a seat. Seems pretty standard there. I have always waited a long time there, every time. For my 1 hour of fun I played very few hands and ended up down $40 with nothing interesting to share.
On Wednesday night I played the 5/5 NL with a $500 cap at the Fallsview Casino. There is a really good mix of players there but overall it just seems to be the toughest game that I ever play in. I bought in for $500 and topped off $200 a pop twice so I was in for $900. I ran it all the way down to $50 and then was able to shove in a couple spots and get it up to $165 before my last hand of the night.
I was dealt AsKs UTG. I made it $20 which is not enought for this game but I was short stacked and felt I had no choice. I got 5 callers to the flop of A,3,5 rainbow. The SB bet out $20, I raised to $60 and two players behind me in middle position made it $160. The SB folded, I had $75 left and called. He showed me the lovely 2,4 for the wheel. WHAT THE FUCK? I have no clue how someone can call with that hand two people to my left with the rest of the table to act. I left.
The next day we got done with work early but I got massively sick. Against my better judgement we walked over to the US side and played at Seneca. I put my name of the 1/2 2/5 and 5/10 lists and was ready to play small or big. The 1/2 opened up and I took it (playing small it is). They 1/2 game had a $100 cap as well. After about 2 laps around the table I felt like absolute garbage. I played for about 20 minutes more and then decided that it would be one more lap around the table before I left.
I pick-up 10,10 in early position and raise it up to $11 (standard raise in this game) and got 2 callers. The flop comes 8,7,3 rainbow. I lead out for $15 and get raised to $60. If he flops a set here more power to him cause I am gonna call in this particular game. I have $78 behind and shove. He hums and haws and finally calls. OK I know I have him crushed now. Turn 9 (very nice), river 5. He proudly flips over 5,5 and takes the $184 pot. Wow! How do these fuckers get rewarded for that shit? Needless to say I left and slept for the next 12 hours straight.
The ante-up home game was played on Saturday. We had 7 people this time with one new player. The game is played 2/4 limit and it NL is called its played 1/2 with or without a cap. It was the standard start for me. Omaha and O8B were called first. I played very tight and lost little in these games. After a bit I loosened up and was forn around $45 when NL was called and the following hand occurred. I was dealt Jc9c in late position. There was one limper (Chris), I limped and the BB made a min raise to $4. Chris called and I called. The flop came 7s8cJs. The min bettor bet out $6, Chris raised to $16 and I pushed. The BB thought and finally folded which I correctly guessed as A,A. Chris called with Js9s. Uh oh. Freerollin me. The turn came a club. I wasn't thinking otherwise I would have suggested we chop the pot up right there. I didn't and the spade rolled off on the river and it was re-buy time.
After that hand I started playing really well when Stud 8 and razz were called. I played well in limit hold-em and double flop and ended grinding a profit of $12 from the game. Every time I play this game I seem to lose my first $100 and come back to make a small profit. I tried to tighten up early this time and it worked if not for the cooler hand. Not much I can do there I guess.
This week I think we are hitting Greektown Wednesday night for a $65 tournament and maybe some cash games on Thursday as well. I haven't been there in around 3 years. They have added-on to there room since I was there. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have done.
Bankroll update: I am around $2000 in my $5k challenge after having it up to $3500 when I left Vegas. Some personal expenses were paid out of it but most of it was due to the losses in the Falls.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tampa Bay Down
I got a chance to check out the new Tampa Bay Downs room Monday night. I signed-up for 1/2 NL and was #2 on the list. I was in a game within 5 minutes. The first 1/2 hour I am thinking there is no way to beat the $5 per 1/2 hour time charge and the $1 BBJ drop.
After about an hour the table was filled with the worst players in the *beep* world. I got a little aggressive in a hand with A,J pre-flop and dropped down to $65. I called one other raise to $15 pre-flop and before I know it I am down to $25. I pick-up 4,4 in late position and there is one raiser to $10 and I ship the rest of my stack in and the raiser has A,Q. My hand holds up and I am back to $55 or so.
There is one player at the table who is raising to $15 about 3 out of every 4 hands (showing Q,8 Q,10, etc). OK time to find a hand vs this guy. I get J,J UTG and limp. There are four other limpers and the $15 guy doesn't dissapoint and makes it $20. I ship it in for my $70 or so, all else fold and he actually has a hand this time with A,K. My hand holds up and I get the double-up.
I stick around for about an hour more and end up leaving with $113. Overall I think the game can be beat based on the table. This game has quite a high variance. I'm not going to go out of my way to come back but if I am bored one day I will stop by.
Comments:
- The $5 per 1/2 hour time rake sucks ass. I would recommend they go to a rake per hand. Let the winners pay the rake. If that doesn't happen I would do one of the following:
a) Get automatic shufflers.
b) Have the dealers carry their own tray around. This speeds up the time of them counting the tray every time they sit. Plus they count the cards when they sit down. Complete waste of time.
c) More chip runners. The dealers are constantly asking for a fill.
One other thing that absolutely killed me was the players that won a $50 pot ad were tipping the dealers $5. WTF!!!!! I even think $1 is too high in these games. They do have a $0.50 chip but I guess I might look cheap if I tip that much.
After about an hour the table was filled with the worst players in the *beep* world. I got a little aggressive in a hand with A,J pre-flop and dropped down to $65. I called one other raise to $15 pre-flop and before I know it I am down to $25. I pick-up 4,4 in late position and there is one raiser to $10 and I ship the rest of my stack in and the raiser has A,Q. My hand holds up and I am back to $55 or so.
There is one player at the table who is raising to $15 about 3 out of every 4 hands (showing Q,8 Q,10, etc). OK time to find a hand vs this guy. I get J,J UTG and limp. There are four other limpers and the $15 guy doesn't dissapoint and makes it $20. I ship it in for my $70 or so, all else fold and he actually has a hand this time with A,K. My hand holds up and I get the double-up.
I stick around for about an hour more and end up leaving with $113. Overall I think the game can be beat based on the table. This game has quite a high variance. I'm not going to go out of my way to come back but if I am bored one day I will stop by.
Comments:
- The $5 per 1/2 hour time rake sucks ass. I would recommend they go to a rake per hand. Let the winners pay the rake. If that doesn't happen I would do one of the following:
a) Get automatic shufflers.
b) Have the dealers carry their own tray around. This speeds up the time of them counting the tray every time they sit. Plus they count the cards when they sit down. Complete waste of time.
c) More chip runners. The dealers are constantly asking for a fill.
One other thing that absolutely killed me was the players that won a $50 pot ad were tipping the dealers $5. WTF!!!!! I even think $1 is too high in these games. They do have a $0.50 chip but I guess I might look cheap if I tip that much.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Pokerslut Tour V
On Sunday night I played in the first tournament of the PokerSlut Tour V. It was a $5+$1 double stack tournament on Full Tilt. The series is put on by the PokerSluts (Gadzooks and Khan). They had 27 people for the first event. I was knocked down to 2200 in the first 15 minutes or so when I picked up the following hand:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2891105343: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:25:22 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (2,202)
Seat 2: schoon157 (793)
Seat 3: DeSaxMan13 (2,438)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (2,535)
Seat 5: columbo (5,819)
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (4,142)
Seat 7: Squib (3,770)
Seat 8: Zerbet (2,510)
Seat 9: predator06 (2,791)
predator06 posts the small blind of 25
scottc25 posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [9s Ts]
schoon157 calls 50
DeSaxMan13 folds
Pil Sung calls 50
columbo has 15 seconds left to act
columbo calls 50
Aquaman H20 folds
Squib folds
Zerbet folds
predator06 folds
scottc25 checks
*** FLOP *** [6d Jc Qc]
scottc25 checks
schoon157 checks
Pil Sung checks
columbo bets 150
scottc25 calls 150
schoon157 folds
Pil Sung folds
*** TURN *** [6d Jc Qc] [Kd]
scottc25 checks
columbo bets 500
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 raises to 1,400
columbo calls 900
*** RIVER *** [6d Jc Qc Kd] [6s]
scottc25 bets 602, and is all in
columbo calls 602
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scottc25 shows [9s Ts] a straight, King high
columbo mucks
scottc25 wins the pot (4,529) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,529 | Rake 0
Board: [6d Jc Qc Kd 6s]
Seat 1: scottc25 (big blind) showed [9s Ts] and won (4,529) with a straight, King high
Seat 2: schoon157 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: DeSaxMan13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Pil Sung folded on the Flop
Seat 5: columbo mucked [Kh Qh] - two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Squib didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Zerbet (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: predator06 (small blind) folded before the Flop
I got the double-up and had some chips to work with. This next key hand I almost folded for the extra $1k but I was just too committed to fold and my hand was good.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2891193532: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:33:39 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (4,452)
Seat 2: schoon157 (883)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (2,290)
Seat 5: columbo (3,444)
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (3,882)
Seat 7: Squib (3,695)
Seat 8: Zerbet (2,505)
Seat 9: predator06 (3,461)
columbo posts the small blind of 30
Aquaman H20 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Ad Qh]
Squib folds
Zerbet folds
predator06 raises to 166
scottc25 calls 166
schoon157 folds
Pil Sung has 15 seconds left to act
Pil Sung is sitting out
Pil Sung has timed out
Pil Sung folds
columbo folds
Aquaman H20 raises to 540
predator06 calls 374
scottc25 calls 374
*** FLOP *** [Qd 9c 5s]
Aquaman H20 bets 900
predator06 folds
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 raises to 2,250
Aquaman H20 has 15 seconds left to act
Aquaman H20 raises to 3,342, and is all in
scottc25: crap
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 has requested TIME
scottc25 calls 1,092
Aquaman H20 shows [Jd Jc]
scottc25 shows [Ad Qh]
*** TURN *** [Qd 9c 5s] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 9c 5s Kd] [Ks]
Aquaman H20 shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
scottc25 shows two pair, Kings and Queens
scottc25 wins the pot (8,334) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Aquaman H20 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,334 | Rake 0
Board: [Qd 9c 5s Kd Ks]
Seat 1: scottc25 showed [Ad Qh] and won (8,334) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 2: schoon157 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: columbo (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (big blind) showed [Jd Jc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 7: Squib didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Zerbet didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: predator06 folded on the Flop
A couple hands later I get A,J vs A,K on a A,x,x,k board. I just knew he had A,K and yet I called anyway and let him double through me which knocked me down to 5k.
I have about 4k left and am in the BB with A,K. Predator06 was in the SB and it folded all the way to him and he shoves. HE had been playing uber-aggressive (whick I have since found out that is his MO) and instacalled. He had A,8 and I got the double-up. With two tables left I picked-up AA once and was able to win a meduum sized pot.
Once we reached the final table the stacks were as follows:
Seat 1: scottc25 (8,950)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (10,320)
Seat 3: Pokerlusky (11,326)
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (17,397)
Seat 5: columbo (1,900)
Seat 6: Sharkey420 (6,335)
Seat 7: Squib (8,236)
Seat 8: Zerbet (10,690)
Seat 9: predator06 (5,846)
I picked up A,A early in the FT and won a pot to get up to around 12k. Down to 5-handed (pays top 3 ) I get the key double-up:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2892266383: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:14:26 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (15,845)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (38,276)
Seat 3: Pokerlusky (8,264)
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (11,020)
Seat 8: Zerbet (7,595)
scottc25 antes 50
Mr2jt antes 50
Pokerlusky antes 50
PostModernBoy antes 50
Zerbet antes 50
Zerbet posts the small blind of 250
scottc25 posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Jh Qh]
Mr2jt raises to 1,750
Pokerlusky folds
PostModernBoy folds
Zerbet folds
scottc25 calls 1,250
*** FLOP *** [4s Jd 5c]
scottc25 checks
Mr2jt bets 3,000
scottc25 raises to 14,045, and is all in
Mr2jt has 15 seconds left to act
Mr2jt: might be bad call
Mr2jt has requested TIME
Mr2jt: i think i have you
Mr2jt calls 11,045
scottc25 shows [Jh Qh]
Mr2jt shows [Tc Th]
*** TURN *** [4s Jd 5c] [2h]
Mr2jt: then again..
*** RIVER *** [4s Jd 5c 2h] [Js]
scottc25 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Mr2jt shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
scottc25 wins the pot (32,090) with three of a kind, Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 32,090 | Rake 0
Board: [4s Jd 5c 2h Js]
Seat 1: scottc25 (big blind) showed [Jh Qh] and won (32,090) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 2: Mr2jt showed [Tc Th] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 3: Pokerlusky folded before the Flop
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Zerbet (small blind) folded before the Flop
The very next ahnd I get KdQd and let the short stack double-up taking 25% of my chips.
When we reach the money here are the stacks:
Seat 1: scottc25 (14,551)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (26,539)
Seat 8: Zerbet (39,910)
The hand where double Zerbet is the only time the whole tournament I get my money in bad and suckout:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2892449690: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:32:16 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (20,701)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (27,464)
Seat 8: Zerbet (32,835)
scottc25 antes 100
Mr2jt antes 100
Zerbet antes 100
Mr2jt posts the small blind of 400
Zerbet posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [As 7c]
scottc25 raises to 2,500
Zerbet: except for the video
Mr2jt: wut are u talking about zooks?
Mr2jt has 15 seconds left to act
Mr2jt calls 2,100
Zerbet calls 1,700
*** FLOP *** [5s 7d 6h]
gadzooks64 (Observer): lol
Mr2jt checks
Mr2jt: this could get interesting
Zerbet bets 5,000
gadzooks64 (Observer): I'm sure it'll be on youporn in no time
scottc25 raises to 18,101, and is all in
Mr2jt folds
Zerbet has 15 seconds left to act
Zerbet: odds I guess
Zerbet calls 13,101
scottc25 shows [As 7c]
Zerbet shows [9h 9s]
*** TURN *** [5s 7d 6h] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [5s 7d 6h 7h] [5h]
scottc25 shows a full house, Sevens full of Fives
Zerbet shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
scottc25 wins the pot (44,002) with a full house, Sevens full of Fives
gadzooks64 (Observer): ewwww
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 44,002 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 7d 6h 7h 5h]
Seat 1: scottc25 (button) showed [As 7c] and won (44,002) with a full house, Sevens full of Fives
Seat 2: Mr2jt (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Zerbet (big blind) showed [9h 9s] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Heads-up I have a 6:1 chip lead and it lasted all of two hands before I won the tournament good for arouns $67. All in all I think I played prettygood. Only got my money in bad and sucked out once. I could have spewed less chips after my double-ups but what are you gonna do?
Guess I know what I'm doing for the next 7 weeks.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2891105343: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:25:22 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (2,202)
Seat 2: schoon157 (793)
Seat 3: DeSaxMan13 (2,438)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (2,535)
Seat 5: columbo (5,819)
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (4,142)
Seat 7: Squib (3,770)
Seat 8: Zerbet (2,510)
Seat 9: predator06 (2,791)
predator06 posts the small blind of 25
scottc25 posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [9s Ts]
schoon157 calls 50
DeSaxMan13 folds
Pil Sung calls 50
columbo has 15 seconds left to act
columbo calls 50
Aquaman H20 folds
Squib folds
Zerbet folds
predator06 folds
scottc25 checks
*** FLOP *** [6d Jc Qc]
scottc25 checks
schoon157 checks
Pil Sung checks
columbo bets 150
scottc25 calls 150
schoon157 folds
Pil Sung folds
*** TURN *** [6d Jc Qc] [Kd]
scottc25 checks
columbo bets 500
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 raises to 1,400
columbo calls 900
*** RIVER *** [6d Jc Qc Kd] [6s]
scottc25 bets 602, and is all in
columbo calls 602
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scottc25 shows [9s Ts] a straight, King high
columbo mucks
scottc25 wins the pot (4,529) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,529 | Rake 0
Board: [6d Jc Qc Kd 6s]
Seat 1: scottc25 (big blind) showed [9s Ts] and won (4,529) with a straight, King high
Seat 2: schoon157 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: DeSaxMan13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Pil Sung folded on the Flop
Seat 5: columbo mucked [Kh Qh] - two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Squib didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Zerbet (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: predator06 (small blind) folded before the Flop
I got the double-up and had some chips to work with. This next key hand I almost folded for the extra $1k but I was just too committed to fold and my hand was good.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2891193532: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:33:39 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (4,452)
Seat 2: schoon157 (883)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (2,290)
Seat 5: columbo (3,444)
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (3,882)
Seat 7: Squib (3,695)
Seat 8: Zerbet (2,505)
Seat 9: predator06 (3,461)
columbo posts the small blind of 30
Aquaman H20 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Ad Qh]
Squib folds
Zerbet folds
predator06 raises to 166
scottc25 calls 166
schoon157 folds
Pil Sung has 15 seconds left to act
Pil Sung is sitting out
Pil Sung has timed out
Pil Sung folds
columbo folds
Aquaman H20 raises to 540
predator06 calls 374
scottc25 calls 374
*** FLOP *** [Qd 9c 5s]
Aquaman H20 bets 900
predator06 folds
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 raises to 2,250
Aquaman H20 has 15 seconds left to act
Aquaman H20 raises to 3,342, and is all in
scottc25: crap
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 has requested TIME
scottc25 calls 1,092
Aquaman H20 shows [Jd Jc]
scottc25 shows [Ad Qh]
*** TURN *** [Qd 9c 5s] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 9c 5s Kd] [Ks]
Aquaman H20 shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
scottc25 shows two pair, Kings and Queens
scottc25 wins the pot (8,334) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Aquaman H20 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,334 | Rake 0
Board: [Qd 9c 5s Kd Ks]
Seat 1: scottc25 showed [Ad Qh] and won (8,334) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 2: schoon157 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Pil Sung (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: columbo (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Aquaman H20 (big blind) showed [Jd Jc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 7: Squib didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Zerbet didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: predator06 folded on the Flop
A couple hands later I get A,J vs A,K on a A,x,x,k board. I just knew he had A,K and yet I called anyway and let him double through me which knocked me down to 5k.
I have about 4k left and am in the BB with A,K. Predator06 was in the SB and it folded all the way to him and he shoves. HE had been playing uber-aggressive (whick I have since found out that is his MO) and instacalled. He had A,8 and I got the double-up. With two tables left I picked-up AA once and was able to win a meduum sized pot.
Once we reached the final table the stacks were as follows:
Seat 1: scottc25 (8,950)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (10,320)
Seat 3: Pokerlusky (11,326)
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (17,397)
Seat 5: columbo (1,900)
Seat 6: Sharkey420 (6,335)
Seat 7: Squib (8,236)
Seat 8: Zerbet (10,690)
Seat 9: predator06 (5,846)
I picked up A,A early in the FT and won a pot to get up to around 12k. Down to 5-handed (pays top 3 ) I get the key double-up:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2892266383: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:14:26 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (15,845)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (38,276)
Seat 3: Pokerlusky (8,264)
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (11,020)
Seat 8: Zerbet (7,595)
scottc25 antes 50
Mr2jt antes 50
Pokerlusky antes 50
PostModernBoy antes 50
Zerbet antes 50
Zerbet posts the small blind of 250
scottc25 posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Jh Qh]
Mr2jt raises to 1,750
Pokerlusky folds
PostModernBoy folds
Zerbet folds
scottc25 calls 1,250
*** FLOP *** [4s Jd 5c]
scottc25 checks
Mr2jt bets 3,000
scottc25 raises to 14,045, and is all in
Mr2jt has 15 seconds left to act
Mr2jt: might be bad call
Mr2jt has requested TIME
Mr2jt: i think i have you
Mr2jt calls 11,045
scottc25 shows [Jh Qh]
Mr2jt shows [Tc Th]
*** TURN *** [4s Jd 5c] [2h]
Mr2jt: then again..
*** RIVER *** [4s Jd 5c 2h] [Js]
scottc25 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Mr2jt shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
scottc25 wins the pot (32,090) with three of a kind, Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 32,090 | Rake 0
Board: [4s Jd 5c 2h Js]
Seat 1: scottc25 (big blind) showed [Jh Qh] and won (32,090) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 2: Mr2jt showed [Tc Th] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 3: Pokerlusky folded before the Flop
Seat 4: PostModernBoy (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Zerbet (small blind) folded before the Flop
The very next ahnd I get KdQd and let the short stack double-up taking 25% of my chips.
When we reach the money here are the stacks:
Seat 1: scottc25 (14,551)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (26,539)
Seat 8: Zerbet (39,910)
The hand where double Zerbet is the only time the whole tournament I get my money in bad and suckout:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2892449690: Pokerslut Tour V (19289917), Table 1 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:32:16 ET - 2007/07/08
Seat 1: scottc25 (20,701)
Seat 2: Mr2jt (27,464)
Seat 8: Zerbet (32,835)
scottc25 antes 100
Mr2jt antes 100
Zerbet antes 100
Mr2jt posts the small blind of 400
Zerbet posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [As 7c]
scottc25 raises to 2,500
Zerbet: except for the video
Mr2jt: wut are u talking about zooks?
Mr2jt has 15 seconds left to act
Mr2jt calls 2,100
Zerbet calls 1,700
*** FLOP *** [5s 7d 6h]
gadzooks64 (Observer): lol
Mr2jt checks
Mr2jt: this could get interesting
Zerbet bets 5,000
gadzooks64 (Observer): I'm sure it'll be on youporn in no time
scottc25 raises to 18,101, and is all in
Mr2jt folds
Zerbet has 15 seconds left to act
Zerbet: odds I guess
Zerbet calls 13,101
scottc25 shows [As 7c]
Zerbet shows [9h 9s]
*** TURN *** [5s 7d 6h] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [5s 7d 6h 7h] [5h]
scottc25 shows a full house, Sevens full of Fives
Zerbet shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
scottc25 wins the pot (44,002) with a full house, Sevens full of Fives
gadzooks64 (Observer): ewwww
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 44,002 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 7d 6h 7h 5h]
Seat 1: scottc25 (button) showed [As 7c] and won (44,002) with a full house, Sevens full of Fives
Seat 2: Mr2jt (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Zerbet (big blind) showed [9h 9s] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Heads-up I have a 6:1 chip lead and it lasted all of two hands before I won the tournament good for arouns $67. All in all I think I played prettygood. Only got my money in bad and sucked out once. I could have spewed less chips after my double-ups but what are you gonna do?
Guess I know what I'm doing for the next 7 weeks.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Another Snuffy Vegas Trip Report
Saturday (6/30)
So I am sitting around reading the blog for updates on how Chris is doing. Hey he is up to 11,000. I tell my wife someone I know is doing well in an event. Her quote is “I don’t care. Why don’t you just go out there and watch.” I told her that she had 2 minutes to take those words back or I am booking the flight. She said go ahead so I booked my flight for Sunday afternoon.
Sunday
All of this planning doesn’t mean shit since Chris doubled-up everyone through his stack and was out Saturday night. I got into town around 2:30pm or so and headed over to the Rio. I jumped in the satellite line and was seated in a $125 in quick order. After I pay I head for the bathroom before it starts and saw Scott and Chris heading for the media room. I stop by before the table starts and say hello.
In the satellite I got absolutely no cards and busted out fairly early. It was almost time for Scott’s SHOE event to start and I was going to play another satellite. Chris says “put me in too and you can have whatever I win. Fine. We played a $175 satellite and we both had a good stack with 4 people left. For sure one if not both of us will get a chop right? Wrong. I went out 4th and Chris busted shortly after.
After dinner we watched Scott win absolutely zero pots. I jumped into a 2/5 NL game which right now I can’t remember how it did. Wait, now I do. I flopped top 2 and lost to bottom set and flopped top and bottom and lost to middle set. I cashed out down around $300 or so. I’m dead tired and call it a night at 10pm.
Monday
I get up bright and early hand head over to the Bellagio to play a satellite to get into the $1500 Bellagio Cup III event. It was a $350 two winner satellite. I think I was the second one out. I lost most of my chips check-raising into the chip leader on a scary looking board with air. Well he must have had it as he pushed and I folded half of my chips away.
I walk over to Planet Ho and was seated into the $60 tourney 1 minute before the first break. Coming back from break I have $4000 and the blinds are at 200/400. Well I didn’t last long in that one. I then sat in a 1 / 2 NL game and dropped another $100. WTF!!! This trip is really starting to be a bad idea.
I give a call to Chris and they are heading over to Monte Carlo to find a game. I walk down and they are already seated in the 1 / 2 NL game. There is an open seat and I sit in to the right of the both of them. I gave them position on me so they can’t have any complaints, lol!
It didn’t take long to find the fish at the table. There was an older guy from Mexico who called almost every single flop and called all bets to the river sometimes showing no pair. I bought in for the table max of $200. I twice dropped to $100 and bought in for another $100 so I am now in the game for $400. I won my first pot 1 ½ hours into the game and won a total of 2 pots in the first 2 hours. I was able to get my stack up to around $350 or so when the hand of the night happens.
Chris and Scott left from the game. One of the people entering the game to replace them was a middle-aged guy who thought he was playing on the WPT. The very first hand I was out of the pot and he was holding his cards for me and the guy on the other side of him to see. He had complete air on the first flop and raises. He bets the turn and river hard and gets the other in the pot to fold. Alright this is the guy I want to target. I told him and so did the dealer to protect his hand from anyone else seeing the cards. I only give a person one warning. IF they do it any more than that I am going to use the information as I see fit.
About ½ hour later I get QcJs and limp including the guy to my right. There is a raise to $10 and I think we take the flop 5-6 handed. The flop comes down 10c9c8c. I bet out $30 to see if there are any flushes out. When I do this the guy to my right is holing his cards up and I see a face card that is a spade. OK I know I have him beat. Its folded to him and he calls. The turn is an off-suit baby and he bets out $75. I raise to $250 and he calls fairly quickly. The river is another off-suit baby and he checks. Just in case I saw his hand wrong I decided to check behind. Why I am not sure. He turns over Qs (like I thought he had) 8h. WTF is this guy thinking betting into me on the turn (OK I guess I can see that) but then insta-calling my raise with bottom pair, a gutter and no club???? I was able to take a few more pots off of the guy and some off of the Mexican guy. When the guy to my right decided to quit I got up shortly after with $850 in front of me for a nice $450 profit. Is this where the trip turns around???? I called Chris and they were over at the Orleans so I headed over there. I got in about 45 minutes of Stud 8 before the game broke and won $30.
Tuesday
I was up by around 8:30 and headed over to Bellagio to see what they were spreading. They had 2/5 going but I didn’t feel like playing it. I walked over to Caesars and they were just opening a 1/3 game. Everyone was buying in for 100-300 so I bought in for the table max of 500. It worked well and the competition wasn’t that strong. I can’t remember any unusual hands at all. I chipped up throughout the session and cashed out with $850 good for a $350 profit.
After Caesars I drove over to the Rio and signed up for the first satellite they were offering which was a $125. There was one guy at the table who I recognized. I knew he played very aggressively and I was actually surprised to see him playing in one that low. He usually plays $500’s and $1,000’s. I was glad to pull the seal directly to his left. I was dealt one pocket pair early (6,6) and called a raise from the aggressive dude. I missed and folded to his $250 c-bet. He had built up a decent stack early until he ran his hand into a monster (can’t remember the details) and he was down to around $700. The key hand of the satellite was when I picked up A,A and called a $150 raise from the aggressive guy waiting to trap him for all of his chips. The current chip leader announces all-in and the aggressive guy goes all-in and I insta-call. The CL had AsKs and the aggressive guy had K,J. I faded a flush draw on the end from the CL and took a nice lead. I played pretty tight after that and when we got to heads up I was behind 56/44 and we chopped it.
After that it was time to head to the Ante-Up! meet-up down at Binions. We played 7-handed and started out playing 2/4 razz. We played it without an ante and a $1 bring-in. I play a lot tighter when its played without the ante. I was down a little when we switched the game to 2-7 triple draw. I did fairly well in this. I think we ended up playing it for around 2 hours or so. We then played Stud-8 and I ran really well. I seemed to never catch a brick (according for Fasso at least). I won a good bit of money. We switched to limit h/e. I played pretty tight and had two big hands which I was paid-off. I got Q,Q and raised pre-flop and was bet and called all the way down on an paired board hitting my boat on the river. The next hand I got J,J and hit a set on the flop. I bet the whole way and my hand was good.
Now its time for an interesting game called Juarez. The dealer explained it to us so we decided to play it. You are dealt 5 cards. There are two flops and turns and one river. The game is played like Omaha as you use two cards from your hand and three from the board. It is a split pot game. The highest and lowest hand regardless of what board it comes from gets half the pot. There was one interesting hand that I scooped. I was dealt A,K,Q,J,9. The boards came out something like this:
Q,Q,J,4,9
K,K,A,8,9
I made like a gazillion high hands and won a sizeable pot. The dealers said that this game is usually played pot limit. I couldn’t imagine that. Just sick. We ended up ending the night with some more Stud 8. Near the end there was a good war of words between Fasso and Chris. I won’t get into the particulars as it will be in their blog or on the podcast soon I imagine. I ended up with a $101 profit good for the big winner of the night.
Wednesday
My first stop of the day was at the Rio. I played a $125 satellite and missed. After the satellite I bought into a newly opened 2/5 NL game. I bought in for the max of $500. I had cards early but missed the flop and I was down to $350 fairly quick. I then started to pick up some hands and within 2 hours or so I had it up to $700 when the hand of the trip comes up.
I am in mid-late position with AQ off. There is a straddle to $10 on the button. There are 3 limpers before me and I pop it to $70. The straddle calls and all else folds. The most beautiful looking Kc,Jh,10c flop comes. I lead into the pot for $75 and he rather quickly says all-in. He has about $690 ($10 less than me). I immediately call and he says he has the nuts. I said you have A,Q too? He turns over Q,9. Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I show him broadway and now he needs and ace to chop. It doesn’t show and I just won a $1400 pot. I played about another 2-3 hours after that. One guy I called Mr. Flush kept hitting them, one against my lower flush but he didn’t raise me with his K high flush. I like that. I won a few more pots and ended up cashing out for $1425 ($925 profit).
After being on a heater the last couple of days and my flight scheduled for 5:15 I called the wife and asked if she would mind me staying another day. She agreed (I might pay for this later) and I ran around and booked another flight and hotel room.
Once I was done I went back over to the Rio and signed up for another $175 satellite. I was hit in the face by the deck repeatedly in this one. In a matter of 5-6 hands I had J,10 and raised to 75. There were six callers. The flop comes A,K,Q. I lead out for 200 and EVERYBODY FOLDS!!!! How can nobody hit that flop? A few hands later I bust someone when my A,A beats his A,K. A few hands later I raised with K,K, flop a set and bust somebody. We are now down to 7 people and I have 4100 of the 10,000 chips in play. We get down to about 5 handed and I am still around 4-handed. The player second in chips has 2200. We are playing 100/200 and he raises from the SB to 500. I look down at 4,4. I decided to put him all-in. There is no chance I think he calls in this spot without a monster, but he decided to call with K,Q. At the turn he is open ended and a flush draw but the river bricks and I now have around 7000 going to 200/400. The other two have 1800 and 1200. The 1200 guy asks if there is a deal to be made. I said that I would give them both their money back. The 1800 guy passes. This would have been a good deal for me as if the 1800 guy busts the 1200 guy I am going to chop it 2/1 “losing” 500 instead of 350 if I give their money back. Two hands later I bust the 1200 guy when I have A,5 and he has a middle pair and I flop an ace. I then up the offer to $200 for the other guy and he passes. I put him in the next hand and he folds and is down to 1200. The next hand he goes all in and I call with Q,8. He has A,J. I hit a Q on the river and its over. Good for $1560 after tip.
I was talking to the dealer and he was from Tampa and dealt at Tampa Bay Downs. The floor person was from Bradenton and dealt at the Downs a few months as well. The dealer was really cool and he said that he was wrote a screenplay called “That Time of Months.” It’s a comedy that is supposed to be shot in Tampa near the end of the year or the beginning of next year. He said that he is trying to get Ryan Reynolds or Eric Bana for the lead. Should be interesting to hear more about this. I will see him again dealing at the Downs after the series is over.
After this I am really feeling good. I played one more $175 and busted 9th. I decided to leave the Rio and went over to Planet Hollywood for their 7pm $60 tournament. I doubled up early when I rivered a flush. After that I ran into K,K vs my J,J. I called a raise pre-flop from another guy who doubled up early. The flop was 8 high, he checked, I bet $425, he raised to $1500, I reraised to $3000 and he shoves. I guess I got the information I was looking for, albeit expensive, and fold leaving me around $3500. I proceed to run into kings two more times in the next 10 minutes and still manage to survive with around $1600. I then made a couple semi-bluffs in multi-way pots with flush draws and get it up to $4000 again without a showdown. There were 84 people in the tourney. We made it down to the final 12 people (pays top 9) when I make the absolute worst play of the trip. We are playing 3000/6000 and I have around 40,000. I am on the button 5 handed with J,K. There is a short stack in the big blind with 6000 of his 8500 posted. I call, the SB calls (who has 50,000) and the BB shoves. I call and the SB shoves. The flop comes j,7,2. The SB checks and I shove. The SB calls and has J,7 and I am busted. There was a bust at the other table at the same time and I am out on the bubble.
What the f*** was I thinking. If I shove or raise to 15,000 before the flop I get the SB to fold and I knock out the BB and we are at the final table 10 handed and I would have about the 3rd best stack. Just an absolutely horrible play by me.
After that debacle I went to Harrah’s where I stayed and got in a new 1 / 2 game. I played for about 2 hours practically falling asleep at the table. I cashed out up $70 and headed to bet.
Thursday
I took it easy on my last day. I walked through the Bellagio again around 9am to see what they were spreading. I just dodn’t feel like playing a 2/5 game so I walked over to Caesars and signed-up for a 1/3 game. It was a new table and I decided to short buy for $300. I think there was only one person who bought-in for the full $500 as everyone else had 200-300.
The first two hands I think took around 10 minutes to play with both pots going to showdown with around $400 in the middle. The first couple of playable hands I lead the betting with top pair only to be raised on the turn or river huge and I had to dump my hand. I just refuse to lose a lot of money with top pair unless I have a good read on my opponents.
I was down to $130 when I picked up A,A. I bet the whole way and it was all-in on the river and my hand was good for the double-up. I then picked-up numerous hands including A,K , A,Q , A,J , A,K , 10,10 and miss every single flop. I am down to $130 again and get J,J , flop a set and get another double-up. I pick-up aces again and win another $50ish pot. After about four hours I ended up cashing out up $80. This was the last gambling done on the trip.
Summary
In cash on me I am up around $1500. If you include all of the food and soda I paid for I was probably up around $1700 for the trip. After being down to $200 in my pocket and $200 on the table Monday afternoon I walked into my house early this morning with $3600 in my pocket. All in all I would call this trip a victory. I’m not sure what my next trip will be. I’ll probably wait till January and make a trip to Tunica.
So I am sitting around reading the blog for updates on how Chris is doing. Hey he is up to 11,000. I tell my wife someone I know is doing well in an event. Her quote is “I don’t care. Why don’t you just go out there and watch.” I told her that she had 2 minutes to take those words back or I am booking the flight. She said go ahead so I booked my flight for Sunday afternoon.
Sunday
All of this planning doesn’t mean shit since Chris doubled-up everyone through his stack and was out Saturday night. I got into town around 2:30pm or so and headed over to the Rio. I jumped in the satellite line and was seated in a $125 in quick order. After I pay I head for the bathroom before it starts and saw Scott and Chris heading for the media room. I stop by before the table starts and say hello.
In the satellite I got absolutely no cards and busted out fairly early. It was almost time for Scott’s SHOE event to start and I was going to play another satellite. Chris says “put me in too and you can have whatever I win. Fine. We played a $175 satellite and we both had a good stack with 4 people left. For sure one if not both of us will get a chop right? Wrong. I went out 4th and Chris busted shortly after.
After dinner we watched Scott win absolutely zero pots. I jumped into a 2/5 NL game which right now I can’t remember how it did. Wait, now I do. I flopped top 2 and lost to bottom set and flopped top and bottom and lost to middle set. I cashed out down around $300 or so. I’m dead tired and call it a night at 10pm.
Monday
I get up bright and early hand head over to the Bellagio to play a satellite to get into the $1500 Bellagio Cup III event. It was a $350 two winner satellite. I think I was the second one out. I lost most of my chips check-raising into the chip leader on a scary looking board with air. Well he must have had it as he pushed and I folded half of my chips away.
I walk over to Planet Ho and was seated into the $60 tourney 1 minute before the first break. Coming back from break I have $4000 and the blinds are at 200/400. Well I didn’t last long in that one. I then sat in a 1 / 2 NL game and dropped another $100. WTF!!! This trip is really starting to be a bad idea.
I give a call to Chris and they are heading over to Monte Carlo to find a game. I walk down and they are already seated in the 1 / 2 NL game. There is an open seat and I sit in to the right of the both of them. I gave them position on me so they can’t have any complaints, lol!
It didn’t take long to find the fish at the table. There was an older guy from Mexico who called almost every single flop and called all bets to the river sometimes showing no pair. I bought in for the table max of $200. I twice dropped to $100 and bought in for another $100 so I am now in the game for $400. I won my first pot 1 ½ hours into the game and won a total of 2 pots in the first 2 hours. I was able to get my stack up to around $350 or so when the hand of the night happens.
Chris and Scott left from the game. One of the people entering the game to replace them was a middle-aged guy who thought he was playing on the WPT. The very first hand I was out of the pot and he was holding his cards for me and the guy on the other side of him to see. He had complete air on the first flop and raises. He bets the turn and river hard and gets the other in the pot to fold. Alright this is the guy I want to target. I told him and so did the dealer to protect his hand from anyone else seeing the cards. I only give a person one warning. IF they do it any more than that I am going to use the information as I see fit.
About ½ hour later I get QcJs and limp including the guy to my right. There is a raise to $10 and I think we take the flop 5-6 handed. The flop comes down 10c9c8c. I bet out $30 to see if there are any flushes out. When I do this the guy to my right is holing his cards up and I see a face card that is a spade. OK I know I have him beat. Its folded to him and he calls. The turn is an off-suit baby and he bets out $75. I raise to $250 and he calls fairly quickly. The river is another off-suit baby and he checks. Just in case I saw his hand wrong I decided to check behind. Why I am not sure. He turns over Qs (like I thought he had) 8h. WTF is this guy thinking betting into me on the turn (OK I guess I can see that) but then insta-calling my raise with bottom pair, a gutter and no club???? I was able to take a few more pots off of the guy and some off of the Mexican guy. When the guy to my right decided to quit I got up shortly after with $850 in front of me for a nice $450 profit. Is this where the trip turns around???? I called Chris and they were over at the Orleans so I headed over there. I got in about 45 minutes of Stud 8 before the game broke and won $30.
Tuesday
I was up by around 8:30 and headed over to Bellagio to see what they were spreading. They had 2/5 going but I didn’t feel like playing it. I walked over to Caesars and they were just opening a 1/3 game. Everyone was buying in for 100-300 so I bought in for the table max of 500. It worked well and the competition wasn’t that strong. I can’t remember any unusual hands at all. I chipped up throughout the session and cashed out with $850 good for a $350 profit.
After Caesars I drove over to the Rio and signed up for the first satellite they were offering which was a $125. There was one guy at the table who I recognized. I knew he played very aggressively and I was actually surprised to see him playing in one that low. He usually plays $500’s and $1,000’s. I was glad to pull the seal directly to his left. I was dealt one pocket pair early (6,6) and called a raise from the aggressive dude. I missed and folded to his $250 c-bet. He had built up a decent stack early until he ran his hand into a monster (can’t remember the details) and he was down to around $700. The key hand of the satellite was when I picked up A,A and called a $150 raise from the aggressive guy waiting to trap him for all of his chips. The current chip leader announces all-in and the aggressive guy goes all-in and I insta-call. The CL had AsKs and the aggressive guy had K,J. I faded a flush draw on the end from the CL and took a nice lead. I played pretty tight after that and when we got to heads up I was behind 56/44 and we chopped it.
After that it was time to head to the Ante-Up! meet-up down at Binions. We played 7-handed and started out playing 2/4 razz. We played it without an ante and a $1 bring-in. I play a lot tighter when its played without the ante. I was down a little when we switched the game to 2-7 triple draw. I did fairly well in this. I think we ended up playing it for around 2 hours or so. We then played Stud-8 and I ran really well. I seemed to never catch a brick (according for Fasso at least). I won a good bit of money. We switched to limit h/e. I played pretty tight and had two big hands which I was paid-off. I got Q,Q and raised pre-flop and was bet and called all the way down on an paired board hitting my boat on the river. The next hand I got J,J and hit a set on the flop. I bet the whole way and my hand was good.
Now its time for an interesting game called Juarez. The dealer explained it to us so we decided to play it. You are dealt 5 cards. There are two flops and turns and one river. The game is played like Omaha as you use two cards from your hand and three from the board. It is a split pot game. The highest and lowest hand regardless of what board it comes from gets half the pot. There was one interesting hand that I scooped. I was dealt A,K,Q,J,9. The boards came out something like this:
Q,Q,J,4,9
K,K,A,8,9
I made like a gazillion high hands and won a sizeable pot. The dealers said that this game is usually played pot limit. I couldn’t imagine that. Just sick. We ended up ending the night with some more Stud 8. Near the end there was a good war of words between Fasso and Chris. I won’t get into the particulars as it will be in their blog or on the podcast soon I imagine. I ended up with a $101 profit good for the big winner of the night.
Wednesday
My first stop of the day was at the Rio. I played a $125 satellite and missed. After the satellite I bought into a newly opened 2/5 NL game. I bought in for the max of $500. I had cards early but missed the flop and I was down to $350 fairly quick. I then started to pick up some hands and within 2 hours or so I had it up to $700 when the hand of the trip comes up.
I am in mid-late position with AQ off. There is a straddle to $10 on the button. There are 3 limpers before me and I pop it to $70. The straddle calls and all else folds. The most beautiful looking Kc,Jh,10c flop comes. I lead into the pot for $75 and he rather quickly says all-in. He has about $690 ($10 less than me). I immediately call and he says he has the nuts. I said you have A,Q too? He turns over Q,9. Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I show him broadway and now he needs and ace to chop. It doesn’t show and I just won a $1400 pot. I played about another 2-3 hours after that. One guy I called Mr. Flush kept hitting them, one against my lower flush but he didn’t raise me with his K high flush. I like that. I won a few more pots and ended up cashing out for $1425 ($925 profit).
After being on a heater the last couple of days and my flight scheduled for 5:15 I called the wife and asked if she would mind me staying another day. She agreed (I might pay for this later) and I ran around and booked another flight and hotel room.
Once I was done I went back over to the Rio and signed up for another $175 satellite. I was hit in the face by the deck repeatedly in this one. In a matter of 5-6 hands I had J,10 and raised to 75. There were six callers. The flop comes A,K,Q. I lead out for 200 and EVERYBODY FOLDS!!!! How can nobody hit that flop? A few hands later I bust someone when my A,A beats his A,K. A few hands later I raised with K,K, flop a set and bust somebody. We are now down to 7 people and I have 4100 of the 10,000 chips in play. We get down to about 5 handed and I am still around 4-handed. The player second in chips has 2200. We are playing 100/200 and he raises from the SB to 500. I look down at 4,4. I decided to put him all-in. There is no chance I think he calls in this spot without a monster, but he decided to call with K,Q. At the turn he is open ended and a flush draw but the river bricks and I now have around 7000 going to 200/400. The other two have 1800 and 1200. The 1200 guy asks if there is a deal to be made. I said that I would give them both their money back. The 1800 guy passes. This would have been a good deal for me as if the 1800 guy busts the 1200 guy I am going to chop it 2/1 “losing” 500 instead of 350 if I give their money back. Two hands later I bust the 1200 guy when I have A,5 and he has a middle pair and I flop an ace. I then up the offer to $200 for the other guy and he passes. I put him in the next hand and he folds and is down to 1200. The next hand he goes all in and I call with Q,8. He has A,J. I hit a Q on the river and its over. Good for $1560 after tip.
I was talking to the dealer and he was from Tampa and dealt at Tampa Bay Downs. The floor person was from Bradenton and dealt at the Downs a few months as well. The dealer was really cool and he said that he was wrote a screenplay called “That Time of Months.” It’s a comedy that is supposed to be shot in Tampa near the end of the year or the beginning of next year. He said that he is trying to get Ryan Reynolds or Eric Bana for the lead. Should be interesting to hear more about this. I will see him again dealing at the Downs after the series is over.
After this I am really feeling good. I played one more $175 and busted 9th. I decided to leave the Rio and went over to Planet Hollywood for their 7pm $60 tournament. I doubled up early when I rivered a flush. After that I ran into K,K vs my J,J. I called a raise pre-flop from another guy who doubled up early. The flop was 8 high, he checked, I bet $425, he raised to $1500, I reraised to $3000 and he shoves. I guess I got the information I was looking for, albeit expensive, and fold leaving me around $3500. I proceed to run into kings two more times in the next 10 minutes and still manage to survive with around $1600. I then made a couple semi-bluffs in multi-way pots with flush draws and get it up to $4000 again without a showdown. There were 84 people in the tourney. We made it down to the final 12 people (pays top 9) when I make the absolute worst play of the trip. We are playing 3000/6000 and I have around 40,000. I am on the button 5 handed with J,K. There is a short stack in the big blind with 6000 of his 8500 posted. I call, the SB calls (who has 50,000) and the BB shoves. I call and the SB shoves. The flop comes j,7,2. The SB checks and I shove. The SB calls and has J,7 and I am busted. There was a bust at the other table at the same time and I am out on the bubble.
What the f*** was I thinking. If I shove or raise to 15,000 before the flop I get the SB to fold and I knock out the BB and we are at the final table 10 handed and I would have about the 3rd best stack. Just an absolutely horrible play by me.
After that debacle I went to Harrah’s where I stayed and got in a new 1 / 2 game. I played for about 2 hours practically falling asleep at the table. I cashed out up $70 and headed to bet.
Thursday
I took it easy on my last day. I walked through the Bellagio again around 9am to see what they were spreading. I just dodn’t feel like playing a 2/5 game so I walked over to Caesars and signed-up for a 1/3 game. It was a new table and I decided to short buy for $300. I think there was only one person who bought-in for the full $500 as everyone else had 200-300.
The first two hands I think took around 10 minutes to play with both pots going to showdown with around $400 in the middle. The first couple of playable hands I lead the betting with top pair only to be raised on the turn or river huge and I had to dump my hand. I just refuse to lose a lot of money with top pair unless I have a good read on my opponents.
I was down to $130 when I picked up A,A. I bet the whole way and it was all-in on the river and my hand was good for the double-up. I then picked-up numerous hands including A,K , A,Q , A,J , A,K , 10,10 and miss every single flop. I am down to $130 again and get J,J , flop a set and get another double-up. I pick-up aces again and win another $50ish pot. After about four hours I ended up cashing out up $80. This was the last gambling done on the trip.
Summary
In cash on me I am up around $1500. If you include all of the food and soda I paid for I was probably up around $1700 for the trip. After being down to $200 in my pocket and $200 on the table Monday afternoon I walked into my house early this morning with $3600 in my pocket. All in all I would call this trip a victory. I’m not sure what my next trip will be. I’ll probably wait till January and make a trip to Tunica.
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