Rants & Raves: Reno Tournament Series

Hi!   I'm still here.

I haven't been writing because playing poker in Reno isn't very interesting to me these days. I'm keeping the blog open for the information in it, and just in case I have something to write about.

Well, something happened last Sunday that got me to sit down and type.

Grand Sierra started their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series on Thursday, and it goes through today. However, it was announced on last Sunday that the series has been cancelled after four days. The reason was due to excessive overlays for the guaranteed events.

The big $100k weekend event, which had five starting heats, had a $30k overlay. The  tournaments that I played included a $10k Omaha-8, a $10k HORSE, and a $15k NLHE. They all missed their guarantees by a decent amount. I would estimate that GSR had to pay around $40k in overlays for all event over the first four days. Due to gaming regulations, management's only choices were to continue the series or cancel the whole thing. And with a $200k Main Event and various other smaller guarantees, it's not that surprising that they pulled the plug.

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Grand Sierra just finished up their Spring Pot Of Gold tournament series last week. I didn't get to play much due to my work schedule. So I thought I would try something different, and play the two Limit Omaha-8 tourneys that started on the two Saturdays at 4pm. I don't get to punch out from work until 4:30, but late registration is for two hours.
For the first one,  I got to the table about 5:30, and there was 39 entrants. Things didn't go well, as I couldn't scoop a pot to save my life. I busted out around 6:45, and finished in 29th place.

For the second one, I got there just after 5pm. The Main Event was running, so I expected a smaller field for this Omaha-8 tourney. But I didn't expect to see just one table going. I registered as the 10th and final player, and got my 8000 chips in the 150/300 level. (Remember, this is a Limit tournament. The 150/300 is the Small Bet/Big Bet. The blinds are 75/150.)

I was extremely card dead for this tournament, and basically blinded off for a while. It took me almost an hour and half to win my first pot. I hit a Full House with QQXX on a Q66 Flop. The SB bet out. I just called, and so did another player. Turn [Q66] J. SB checked, and I bet. Both players folded, and the SB showed a 6. Drat!

Grinding At Grand Sierra

At work, we have rotating off days, so one week it will be Monday, and the following week it will be Tuesday, etc. I'm starting to use up a few vacation days, mostly at strategic times, like having Monday as my off day and I'll take Tuesday as a vacation day to give me a three day weekend. The following week has Tuesday as my off day, so I'll take Monday as a vacation day.

This past weekend was one of those three day weekends for me. Grand Sierra Resort is currently running their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series, so this was a good time to grind away at the tournaments. Here's what happened:

Sunday 09/30

~ 12pm $240 NLHE ($15k Guarantee) - They had no problem with the guarantee, as they got an impressive field of 115 players. However, it wasn't impressive for me. I did hang around for awhile, but I never got a real chip stack.

Grand Sierra's Shiny New Poker Room

Last year, Grand Sierra Resort was bought by a California investment group. This year, they started doing renovations throughout the property. This month, they finally got around to the poker room. They tore the old one down to the studs, and rebuilt it in the same spot. During the few weeks of construction, the poker room was relocated in an open space right next to the room.

This past weekend, the new room opened, and I went last night to check it out.

My first impression was Classy. From an aesthetic standpoint, the new room is a serious upgrade from the old room. As you can see, the walls have more color, the ceiling are wood paneled, and the lights above each table are fancier. The tables have new felt that sort of matches their blue $1 chips.

It Was A Good 24 Hours

Grand Sierra is currently running it's quarterly tournament series, Summer Pot Of Gold. I went up there on Sunday to sign-up for whatever tournament was running at noon. It ended up being a $240 NLHE tourney with a $15k guarantee (that's 75 players) They had no problem with the guarantee, as they had 96 runners with re-entries.

It wasn't planning on doing any blogging for this one, either a Live Blog or a Running Log. I got off to a slow start, and I was down to 5100 at the first break. (10k starting stack). However, I doubled up twice in the first orbit back from break, and got to just over 20k. First one was me raising with ATo, and shoving on the T-high Flop. The other player didn't believe me, and called with Bottom Pair. The next double-up was with a Set of Tens vs Nut Flush Draw on the Flop.

After that, I never looked back. I had good table draws, good cards, and good timing when I made the occasional move. When we got to Dinner Break. there were 20 players left, and I had a Top 3 stack of 96k.

Since I wasn't doing any blogging, I decided to use my Twitter account to document the rest of my tournament. You can check it out for the details, as I'm not gonna repeat them here.

Horsing Around On My Off Day

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - $240 HORSE at Grand Sierra on Tuesday. We have 8k chips, and levels are 30 minutes. We play eight hands of each game.

It looks like just three tables set up for this one. Tables are eight handed, and my table has seven bodies. Naturally, I'm the youngest (41), and I recognize one of the players who's a regular tourney grinder around town.

Level 1 (75/150) - My table is now full, but a couple of empty seats at other tables. This table has been playing normal so far. My basic strategy is to play tight early, as these hand don't mean anything since we started with more than 50 Big Bets. That hasn't been a problem as my cards have sucked, and I've lost the few pots I played. I have 7175 chips, and we ended on Razz #4.

Level 2 (100/200) - Cards got a little better, as I won the last two Stud-8 hands. First one was with a Flush, and he folded to my River bet. Second hand was a scoop with a Pair of Aces and 75-Low against a Pair of Threes and a 76-Low. I have 7675 chips, and we ended on Stud-8 #5.

Lost Weekend? (Part 2)

Fri 18:30 ~ Grand Sierra $80 Bounty tourney - 18 players

Got off to an OK start with this one. Once again, I won some pots, and lost some pots. But then my cards went quiet, so I did a lot of folding. Plus, I was feeling rather blah, so that kept me from doing something stupid aggressive.

In Level 4 (500/1000/200), a couple of players limped. including me in the BB with QJo. Flop was AQQ, SB checked. I bet 2000. Another player called, but the SB check-raised to 7000. He's a regular around town, and is rather far on the tight side. I knew he has a Queen, so I shipped All-In. The other player folded, and the SB called with KQ. You gotta love it. I didn't catch up, and I'm out of the tourney in 16th place, which is odd that only one other player was eliminated in the first 75 minutes of the tourney.

I did bring $500 for the $1/$2 game. But as I already said, I didn't feel good. I'm not sure if it's from something I ate, or I just need a nap. Even though it was only 7:45pm, I decided to head home, and crash on the couch.

(-$80)

Sat 06:30 ~ Peppermill $1/$2

Hand Of The Day #95

Grand Sierra 6:30 $60 Tournament Level 4 (300/600/100) ~ 04.10.12

This was a one table tournament, and there are six players left. UTG+1 limps in for 600, even though he has just 1400 total. I'm on the Button with Ah Kc, and make a standard raise to 1500. The SB folds. The BB called, which he had been doing alot. The UTG+1 calls for his last 1400.

The Flop is As 5c 3d. BB checks. I also check, hoping he'll hit something on the Turn so I can get some value later in the hand.

The Turn is [As 5c 3d] 4s. BB checks again. I bet 2000, hoping he has something. But he doesn't, and quickly folds. The Dealer ships me the huge Side Pot of 200, and I show my hand. But for whatever reason, UTG+1 didn't show his hand, and the Dealer dealt the River card.

LOL Donkaments #9

Grand Sierra 6:30 $80 Bounty ~ 03.17.12

I haven't played a Daily Donkament at GSR in a long time. But since this is now the biggest buy-in donkament in Reno, I will playing this one most Saturday nights. They give us 20k chips, but the levels start at 100/200. At least the levels are 20 minutes long. There is a $20 bounty, and we have 15 players.

Only two Reno Regulars that I recognize in this field. One at my table is an old Super-Nit with a cowboy hat. At the other table is a very loose, active player named Allen. There are a couple of others who seem to have a poker brain, but the rest of the field seems rather clueless. There is also a charity tourney outside the poker room. Not sure what it's for, or why it's on St Patty's Day, but they are very loud.

Things started very slowly for me, as I was in Observer mode. In Level 2 (200/400), I got moved to the other table. I won two sweet pots in consecutive hands. Both pots were limped preflop by a few players. I was the BB and then SB with a baby Ace, and just limped. I flopped Top Pair with the Ace, and then hit my kicker on the Turn for Two Pair.

Practicing Patience

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - It's Sunday, March 4, and this is the $240 tournament from the Grand Sierra's World Poker Challenge. Instead of having the tables on the casino floor, they have taken over the Xtreme Sports Bar across from the poker room. We have 10 tables crammed in the bar. The tables are 10-handed, but we are starting with 8 stacks and 6 players. This tourney has a $15k guarantee, which means they need 75 players. I'm assuming that means there are re-entries. Levels are 30 minutes long, and we start with 10k chips.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - 9 handed now. Table has been rather aggressive so far. There has been a raise almost every hand, mostly by three different players. I have played almost no pots. I would rather not get involved in trying to be the Alpha Male at the table, and it helps establish a good table image I can use later. I have 9400 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) -  Full table now. I finally raised preflop to 225 with KQo from the Cutoff. Three players saw a Flop Kd Qh 9d. It checked to me, so I bet 525. BB check-raised to 1500. I just called, as that was a very wet board. Turn [Kd Qh 9d] Ts. He bet just 1000, and I called. River [Kd Qh 9d Ts] 2h. He bet 1500 again. I can't see him betting anything that my Top Two Pair can beat, so I fold face up. He said I didn't want to hit the Qd, so I assume that he had JTd. I have 7525 chips

I Need To Vent

I mentioned in my previous post that I did good last weekend, and I was hoping that this meant things had finally started to turn around for me. Well, that didn't happen. In fact, I had lost all that I won last weekend, and some more on top of that.

It started on Saturday, when I played in the Peppermill's 6:30pm $120 tournament. It had 21 players, and I made a deep run. The problem was when we got down to six players, the play dragged to a halt as nobody would get knocked out. This caused everyone to become rather shortstacked, so everyone was just waiting for big hands to get their chips in the middle.

When we got down to five players, I decided to "step on the gas", and started shoving my shortstack in whenever it seemed appropriate. After all, nobody was trying to win this, so I might as well. Overall, things went well, as I was able to build my stack steadily. But I did have to make some annoying laydowns, which kept me from getting the big stack.

Eventually, I was knocked out in 4th place when I lost a race with my KTo losing to the BB's 44. He had me covered by a little bit, and I was the Bubble Boy again. Before I even got out of my seat, they started discussing a deal. I'm sure they didn't play another hand.

And when I said "Bubble Boy again", I meant it. In the last six tournaments, I have finished as the Bubble Boy or Bubble+1 in five of them. And those include a $240 tourney, a $230 one, and this $120 tourney.

On Sunday, I went back to the Peppermill to grind some $1/$2 NL. I ended up grinding for 4.25 hours, and lost the $300 buy-in and $200 add-on. It was a lot of terrible cards, and losing annoying small and medium pots. The biggest loss was me making a $120 call with a Set of 8, and ran into a Flush. It was just one of those session that I wasn't gonna win, no matter what I did.

But the cherry on top of the sundae was tonight. Surprisingly, I got off work earlier than I expected, especially for Christmas week. So I decided to go grind some $1/$2 NL, and went to the Grand Sierra. I'm not sure why I went there, because I can't win there. Since I've moved here last year, here are my numbers before tonight (-$1425, 29 sessions, 82 hours), and these are the worst numbers by far for $1/$2 in any of the Reno rooms. I honestly have no clue why I can't win at the Grand Sierra. The only difference between this room and the other room is that it's a rock garden. This room has more Super-Nits per table than any other room in Reno. But it should be easier to play against them, because they usually play their cards face up.

I sat down with the full $300, and things started off like they normally do at Grand Sierra. The biggest loss was when I hit Two Pair on the River, and someone else hit a bigger Two Pair (JT vs KT). There was also various other hands involving annoying situations, and frustrating laydowns.

My stack had bled down to around $120, when I was dealt 9s 9c in the UTG+1. I raised to $5, which is what I've been raising all night. Five players saw a Flop of 9d 6d 4h. The BB lead out for $16. I've played with him before, and he's the only Action Guy at the table. I considered just calling to keep the Action Guy in the pot. But I quickly realized that the Flop was too draw-heavy, and slowplaying would be suicidal. I raised to $40.

It folded around to the SB, who's one of the Super-Nits at the table. He grabbed some chips, put them back in his stack, and then said "All-In" for over $250. The BB couldn't fold fast enough, and I couldn't call fast enough. I knew the SB had either Set with 66 or 44, as he would never go All-In with hands like 96 or even 87d. Even the Dealer quietly said "Set over Set" right after I insta-called.

I turned my hand over, and the SB said, "Crap, you got me," but didn't show his hand. The Dealer dealt the Turn [9d 6d 4h] 6s. "Oh!" said the SB, as he quickly showed his 66 for Quads. I have no idea what the River card was, as I grabbed my bottle of Mountain Dew and stormed away from the table. I guess it could have been the last 9 in the deck.

Yeah, like that would ever happen to me.

#WhenWillItEnd

Sunshine And Rainbows ?

Here's a recap of my poker from last weekend.

On Saturday, Grand Sierra had the Main Event for their Winter Pot of Gold tourney series. So I headed up there after work, and got seated at a new $1/$2 table a little after 7pm.

I got off to a lousy start as I lost a couple of decent sized pots to a tournament Super-Nit. It took me almost an hour to win my first pot. I did manage to double up when I had 98s on the Button. I flopped Two Pair and turned a Boat against the one Action Guy at the table. But I was so low on chips, it didn't even get me back to my buy-in of $300.

Things kept going lousy. A little after 9pm, I was debating whether to add-on an extra $200, or just cut my losses. The Poker Room brought in some food, so I decided to stick around, and bought the extra $200.

As it turned out, I made the right decision. About 11pm, I left the Poker Room up $415. The biggest reason was that I flopped a Straight Flush with 54s for a High Hand Bonus of $267, plus the pot. I won a few other nice pots from either the Action Guy or another player who was running worse than I was.

On Sunday morning, I played in the Atlantis 11am $80 Bounty donkament, which had 18 players. Once again, I got off to a lousy start, which I've already mentioned. It looked like I wasn't even going to make it to the Final Table when I shoved with A9o, and got quickly called by TT. But I flopped an Ace to double up, and survive to the Final Table.

Things weren't going well at the Final Table, as I didn't have many opportunities to get chips or Bounties. With six players left, I finally 3-Bet All-In with ATo, and the initial raiser called with AJc. I hit my Ten on the Turn, and doubled up.

This started a good run for me, as I quickly became one of the chip leaders when we got to the four-handed Bubble. Naturally, all the players wanted to do a Bubble Save, but I quickly said No. I am no longer saying Yes to the Bubble Saves, even though I finished on the Bubble or Bubble+1 in my last three tournaments. This caused the other players to get pissed at me, as they are all local tourney regulars, but I didn't care.

Play continued, and I eventually popped the Bubble by knocking out a player who had almost as many chips as I did. This gave me the Tower Of Power with the dominate chips stack. The other two players started talking about making a deal. While I don't do Bubble Saves, I am willing to make a deal to lock up my equity as the Chip Leader. I got a little less than 1st Place money, the other two chopped the rest, and we kept our Bounties. I walked out of the Atlantis up $300.

I went home to chill for a while, and then headed over to the Peppermill. They had two tables of $1/$2 with an open seat. The first one had a Kid that I've never seen before on the Left of the open seat, and the second one had some older regulars around the open seat. Naturally, I choose the second table.

We don't have to post at the Peppermill, so my first hand was UTG. I got 99, so I limped in. I flopped a Set, and turned Quads for a $75 High Hand Bonus. Things continued to well at this table, but I wasn't at it for long as I got called to another game. I left the table up $102 plus the High Hand Bonus.

The game that I was called to was the $5/$10 Limit Crazy Pineapple H/L game that was starting. (Yes, I know what you're thinking.) I'm not going into to much detail here about the game, as I will make a separate post about it after I've played a few sessions.

This was only the second time I've played the game, and it didn't go well. My first time was the previous week, and I had a good session as there were a few players giving away money. This line-up was less generous, and I just could get any good scooped pots. After 4.25 hours, I walked away from the table down $94.

Overall, I was up $778 for the weekend, which included a $20 football parley that I lost. So is it sunshine and rainbows now? Are happy days here again?

I wouldn't say so yet, but it was certainly a good start. My pile of cash was getting low enough that a trip to the ATM was an option. This weekend certainly gave me some room on that. Now if I can string together some winning weekends, even if they aren't as large as this one, then I can say I'm on the road to recovery.

If It Wasn't For Luck...

6:55 $300 - I walk into GSR on Saturday night and immediately get seated at $1/$2 table. It has just 6 players, with the biggest stack around $400. I recognize a couple of old locals.

7:30 $299 - Table is now full with 9 players. Half are over 50, and the play is as you would expect it to be.

I limped in the Cutoff with A7d. Five players saw the Flop Ac Qh 4d. It checked to me, and I bet $7. Only the SB called, a 50's Lady. Turn [Ac Qh 4d] Ah. We both check. River [Ac Qh 4d Ah] Jc. She bet $20. I called, expecting to chop. She showed KTo for Broadway.

Two hands later, it folded to me, and I raised to $7 with 75c. Hyjack & BB called. Flop Kc 8s 4c. I bet $15 with my Flush and Gutshot Draws, and they both called. Turn [Kc 8s 4c] Th. BB (60's Guy) led out $25. I call, and Hyjack folds. River [Kc 8s 4c Th] 2c. BB checked, so I bet $40. He called, and mucked what I'm assuming was Two Pair.

Later, I limped in Mid with A3c. Button (30's guy) raised to $7. Three of us saw the Flop, Ad Kc 6h, and everyone checked. Turn [Ad Kc 6h] 4c. I bet $15 with Top Pair and Nut Flush Draw. The Button, who was the preflop raiser, min-raised to $30. I call, hoping for a Club. River [Ad Kc 6h 4c] 7h. I checked, and the Button counted out $80, which was more than 60% of his stack. I asked if he had AK or KK before I folded. He showed AKs.

8:00 $389 - I've been very active, so I've fallen behind on my notes. Best hand was me raising to $5 from UTG with T8s. (I only raised to $5 because the table was getting shorthanded when some players stepped away from the table.) Only the BB called. I hit a Backdoor Flush vs what I'm assuming was Trip Ks, and got $40 on the River.

8:30 $397 - Quiet time for me. I really think I got a good table draw. Loose preflop and tight/passive post flop is a great table for me. It doubt there will be many monster pots, but it's a good table to grind out a solid win. I just need to stay a little patient, play position, and stay away from the Bingo hands that can happen at $1/$2.

9:00 $263 - Lost the Hand Of The Day with JJ. So much for not having any monster pots. At least it was mostly profit. Currently, there are 4 $1/$2, 1 $3/$5, and 1 $5/$10 games running.

9:30 $267 - More card dead. I hope this isn't gonna be another night of total card dead after a bad beat.

The Fall Pot Of Gold $1600 Main Event and Deepstacks Live were this weekend. The Main Event had 187 entrants, which is rather good for a Reno Main Event. I did a quick look at the tourney area, and noticed Mike Matusow was still in tourney. (Steve Brecher defeated David 'ODB' Baker for the title on Monday night.)

10:00 $349 - $5 Straddle pot, and I limp with J9h in the BB. Four players see the Flop, 9 3 3. All check. Turn [933] 4. SB bet $15. I call, as does the Straddle. River [933 4] J. SB checked. I bet $20 with my 3-Pair. Straddle folds. SB thinks, talks about paying me off again, but finally folds 77 face up.

Next hand, I have 97o in the SB. Four of us see the Flop of A77. I fire out a Red $5 Chip, and the BB is only caller. She's the 50's lady from earlier, and she's terrible. She buys in short, and calls with any Ace. She's on her third or fourth small buy-in. I bet $10 on Turn, and she called. I bet $15 on River, and she called her last $14 with A9o.

They opened up another $5/$10 table, which is a must-move for the Main Game. Two $5/$10 tables in Reno is impressive, even during tournament time.


10:30 $385 - In a limp pot, I have 9h 9c in the BB. Five of us see the Flop, 7d 3d 2h. I bet $7. Cutoff & Button called, and they are both 60's nits. Turn [7d 3d 2h] 8h. I bet $20 to try to scare them off. Surprisingly, they both called. River [7d 3d 2h 8h] 2d. All players checked, and I'm good.

11:00 $312 - $5 Straddle pot, and I'm the BB with ATo. Four players see the Flop, Td 7h 4d. For whatever reason, I checked. Straddle bet $7. I decided that I'm gonna check raise him. But... the Button raised $20. He's an old Nit I've played with before at the Peppermill. I just called, and Straddle folded. Turn [Td 7h 4d] Ac. I checked my Top Two Pair. He quickly went All-In for $85. I say "I hope we have the same hand," and called. We didn't, as he had TT. I missed my 2-outer.

11:30 $254 - I'm getting a little impatient, and starting to play more Bingo than I should. I limped UTG+2 with JTo, and I was the only caller of a $12 raise. Flop completely missed me. I checked, he bet $15, and I called to Float out of position (who wouldn't). Turn was a King. I lead out $25, and he raised to $75. I'm a moron.

12:00 $245 -  A whole lot of nothing happened. Just a steady flow of Q3 and J5 type hands. I really hate leaving just a little down, but it's time to leave. Its past my bedtime, and I'm tired. Even my big bottle of Mountain Dew isn't helping.

Overall, I'm happy with my play. I said this was a good table for me, and I was right. If it wasn't for three hands (a bad beat, a cooler-ish hand, and a minor donk-off), I would have had a nice win.

Hand Of The Day #85

$1/$2 NL ~ Grand Sierra ~10.15.11

I'm UTG+1 with Js Jc, and I do my standard raise to $7. Five players see a Flop of Qd Qh Jd. It's checks to me, and I bet out $15. I want to bet small enough for the draws to come along. Plus, with this many players calling the preflop raise, I fairly sure that someone has a Q. If it was J 3 3, then it might be a different story.

The player next to me raises to $45, and has a little over $100 behind. It folds around the Button, who thinks for about half a minute before calling.

It's back to me. Well, there's no reason to slowplay here. At least one of them has a Q, if not both of them. I 3-Bet to $145. The first player goes into deep thought, starts whining, and eventually folds K9d for the Gutshot Straight Flush Draw. The Button thinks even longer. Eventually, he calls for his last $88 with QTc

The Turn and River is [Qd Qh Jd] Ad Ah. The Button wins the pot with Queens Full of Aces.

This is example #94 of, "There is no good way to play JJ." Seriously, this isn't a bad beat story. I'm happy with this hand, and I got what I wanted. It just didn't work out. Sometimes the 23% hits.

Nice Hand, Sir.

After the hand, the K9d guy said that I should have slowplayed this, so I could have gotten his money after the Flush hit the Turn. The idea of slowplaying to trap is very overrated. It will usually result in winning a much smaller pot, or letting the other player catch up. In this hand, if I just call the $30 raise, I would have to assume that both players have a Q. The Turn would have been [Qd Qh Jd] Ad. That could have easily scared off the Button with QTc, since their kicker wouldn't even play.

Granted, if the Button folded on the Turn, then I would have won the pot. But that is results-oriented thinking, and shouldn't be part of how you look back at hands.

GSR $400 Bounty - End of Level 6 (200/400/50)

76 players for this one, which right about where I said it would be. That means they missed another guarantee by 24 players, so we have an overlay of $7200

Things were rather quiet for me, due to lack of chips and cards. I never got over 10k chips, but didn't fall below the 5k mark. I played a few hands. I won some small ones, and stabbed at some others at the wrong time.

Towards the start of Lv6 (200/400/50), they broke our table. After about two orbits of folding at my new table, I shoved for 4500 with AJc after one player limped. The Button thought for a moment, and called. He's collect two bounties since I sat down, and says he is playing his rush as he shows KTo. I tell him that I don't mind the call, as I will either get chips or be put out of my misery. Naturally, a Ten hit the Flop. The Turn was a Q, giving me a Broadway draw. But, as you've probably guessed by now, the River was a brick, and I walk out of the GSR somewhere around 40th place.

GSR $400 Bounty - End of Level 3 (100/200)

Lv1 (50/100) 7-handed. UTG+1 raised to 300. A couple of players called. I'm the SB with As Ad, and 3-Bet to 1600. UTG+1 folded, but one of the other players called. Flop Kc 7c 3s. I bet 2600. She thought for a moment, and went All-In for 6300 more. I don't think she has a monster by how long she took, so I call. She has Kd Jh, and missed her 5-outer. Bounty #1.

Two notable players at my table. First is a lady who is a regular in the Reno tournaments. I'm glad she's at my table because she's a world-class calling station.

The second player is an older gentleman named Woody who I thought was at a WPT Final Table. As it turns out, he was at the LAPC with Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth.

Lv2 (75/150) 8-handed. Folded around to the Button, who raised to 400. I'm the SB with As Ah (again). I decided to just call, as the Button seems to be a tight player. The two of us saw a Flop of Js Tc 5c. I checked, he bet 750, and I called. Turn 6d. I check, and he bet 1500. I think he's got a real hand, so I check raise to 4000. He called. I tried to bet 6500, which would put the Button All-In, before the Dealer put out the River card. But the Dealer was too quick, and it was 3d. The Button thought for a good minute, but folded. Almost Bounty #2

A Kid sat down on my direct Left. He a college kid who also a Pro. He's talking about California and Nevada poker stuff with others at the table. I hate that he's on my Left, but I have enough chips to be patient. Unfortunately, he's off to a good start, and has already collected a bounty.

Lv3 (100/200) 8-handed. I raise to 525 in Mid with QQ. The Kid 3-Bet to 1600. It folded around to me. It's close whether to 4-Bet or call, but I decide to 4-Bet to 4000. He asks how much I've got, which is more than he's got. He just calls, and the Flop is Th 7h 3s. I bet 6500. He thinks for a moment, and ships it All-In. I call, and he's got AA. I miss my 2-outer, and send him 21575 chips.

So much for being patient and playing small pot poker. Maybe I didn't need to 4-Bet. But with the 10-high Board, I was still gonna lose a chunk of chips.

I have 7875 chips.

GSR $400 Bounty - "Shuffle Up & Deal"

This tournament has 12k chips, with 40 minute levels. The bounty is $50. There is a break every three levels, and that's when I will make the next post.

For this tournament series, Grand Sierra Resort has been doing guarantees for various tournament. According to the thread on 2+2, they have been badly missing their guarantees, as they are around 1 for 8 up to today. One of them had an overlay over $16k. This one has a $30k guarantee, which means they need 100 player in order to hit it. I would be stunned if that happens, as I expect the total entrants to be in the 60-80 range. I'm not sure if this one has re-entries, but that would help.

Right now, they have 11 tables set up. The tables are 10-handed, but only have eight stacks. My table has five players, and I'm the youngest.

Very first hand, I hit a Straight, and won a decent pot.

Chip Leader!

Hand Of The Day #80

Grand Sierra - 07.31.11 - $180 Tournament Level 1 (25/50)

The table's been playing rather calm so far. I haven't played many hands, so I limp UTG with 9c 8h. A Mid player raises to 250. It's a 60's lady who arrived late at the table. The only hand I've seen her raise was a min-raise in the BB with 66. It folded around to me. Even though I'm out of position, I decide to make the call. We started with 8000 chips, and I'm up a little, so the implied odds are there. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

Flop: Jh Td 8c. A good Flop for with with a Pair and Open-Ender. I check, and she bets 250. The bet smells weak to me, so I check-raise to 600. She thinks for a bit, and calls.

Turn: [Jh Td 8c] 7s. Sweet! I grab a Yellow 1000 chip and bet it. She goes into deep thought. A couple of times, it looked like she was gonna fold. At this point, I put her squarely on AK. She's thinking about calling with her Two Overcards and a Gutshot. I think if she had a Pair, then she would have called by now. If she does call, then I will make a value bet of 1000 again on the River, unless a Queen pops up.

It took over a minute before she finally acted. She didn't fold, and she didn't call. Instead, she raised to 3000. W T F !?! Well, that certainly got my attention, as I sat up in my chair and started going through possible hands. JJ or TT are a possibility, I guess. The only way she could have a 9 in her hand is with 99 or A9s. I ship the rest of my chips All-In. She calls, and shows Q9d for a Flopped Nut Straight. How in the world does a 60's Lady ever show up in this spot with Q9? I could see an Internet Kid raising to 250 with Q9, but a 60's Lady? Really?

Anyways, I missed my three chop outs on the River, and was left with about 1000 chips. After the hand, I said, "That was the the best Hollywooding I've ever seen." I don't think she understood what I was talking about, but it was a sincere compliment. I've been known to do some 1st Class Hollywooding, but that was very convincing.

I had started doing a Running Log of this tournament, but this hand killed that idea. I did manage to double up with my AK vs ATc in Level 2. But before the level ended, there was one limper, and I raised to 300 with Ah Tc on the Button. Only the limper called, and the Flop was Ac Js 8c. He checked, and so did I. That's a very wet Flop, and he's likely to call with a lot. I only have 1650 left, and can't afford to fold to a check-raise. The Turn was [Ac Js 8c] Ts. He bet 800, and I quickly ship it with my Two Pair. He calls and shows As Jd. Once again, I brick the River, and I'm out.

So twice in one hour, I hit my hand on the Turn, got the money into the pot, and was basically drawing dead both times.

Yeah, it's been that kind of a month.

Hand Of The Day #73

Grand Sierra - 05.09.11 - 6:30pm $60 Tournament Level 1 (25/50)

This is the fourth hand of the tournament, and our table has seven players. I haven't played a hand yet, so I still have my starting stack of 4000 chips.

UTG raised to 150. Only the SB called. I'm the BB, and look down at Js Jc. I decided to just call. You could certainly make an argument for raising to 500 or so. I don't know anything about these players, but I'm assuming that if they called or raised the 150, then they'll call the 500. I would then be playing a bloated pot out of position. Since this is the first level of the tournament, I would rather keep the pot small preflop. If more players had called the 150, the I would have 3-Bet to thin the field.

Three players see a Flop of Jd Td 4h. The SB, a 50's Asian gentleman who's been talking to his wife during this hand, grabs a few stacks of different chips and bets around 3000 into the 450 pot. I'm not sure exactly sure how much it was because I had Top Set and I didn't care. I went All-In for 3850. UTG, the original raiser, looks at his cards and flashes them to the other players. Meanwhile, the SB had already put the rest of his chips into the pot before the UTG finally folded his 99.

I show my JJ, and the SB show Kc Qd for an Open-Ended Straight Draw and Two Overcards. I'm sure you can guess how the rest of the hand goes. An Ace on the Turn gives him the Broadway Straight, and I miss my Boat Draw on the River. The SB has me covered, and I'm out of the tournament.

I bring you this hand as a great example of what I've been saying about these small daily tournaments. They are profitable because I get to play against players like him. But they are also high variance because of players like him.

Nice Hand, Sir.

Playing Hookey

Yesterday was my first day off from work since I moved out here seven months ago. In addition to running a few errands, I did the tournament thing today. Here's what happened.

Peppermill 10am $45 - This is a new tournament they just started this week, and it's in addition to their 2pm and 6:30pm tourneys. I arrived at 9:45, and there were tables being rebuilt for the new room, but no games running and nobody there to play in the tournament. There is no signage for the new tournaments, and very few players even know about them yet. With all the focus on the new room, the new tournament schedule has gotten lost in the shuffle.

After waiting until after 10am, only one other player showed up to play, so I started asking some question about the new room. It's opening on Thursday morning (May 5), and the Grand Opening will be on Tuesday, May 10. I asked what the Grand Opening event will be, but nobody had an answer. The room will have 19 tables, and the back room will be a tournament room with six tables.


Grand Sierra 11am $60 - Since the Peppermill one was a bust, it was either the Grand Sierra or Atlantis for the 11am one. I decided on the Grand Sierra, because I won the 6:30pm last night (9 players, no chop, $275 after Dealer Tip). They have a monthly tournament points thing that I don't know much about. But since I got 25 points for winning on May 2, I figured I'd try to get some more points.

This one ended up with 11 players at one table. I really hate that, especially since I ended up in Seat 11. The play was rather passive, and players were knocked out very slowly. Since it was a full table, and my cards sucked, I played rather tight for most of the tournament. I ended up in 3rd place after I made a move that ran into QQ. We had already agreed to do a Bubble Save, so I got my $60 back and five points, whatever that means.

Peppermill 2pm $45 - Unlike this morning, there was 54 players for a Tuesday afternoon tournament, which was quite a surprise. It might be because they add $300 to the prizepool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The tournament for me was one of those that everything went wrong. I should have limped when I raised. I should have bet when I checked. I should have zigged when I zagged. I finished somewhere around 40th.

Since I busted out so early, I decided to play some cash game. I ended up sitting at the only $1/$2 table with $200. The game was short-handed for the entire 1.75 hours that I played, between 3-5 players. I was up $90 when the table finally broke. It's amazing that players don't adjust to shorthanded play. They just play as tight & passive as they do when it's four players or ten players. I always end-up being the Action Guy at these shorthanded games. This time, I played 90% of hands, and raised often to $5. One of the players started to just Check & Call my bets, even when he had a big hand. I figured this out rather quickly, and adjusted to only make Value Bets when I had something. He didn't last long.

Peppermill 6:30pm $55 - Only 18 players for this tournament. This one was quite the rollercoaster for me, with many suckouts that I gave as well as received. AJ vs A5, lost. AJ vs 33, lost. K9 vs QQ, won. AJ v 33 again, won. AQ vs K2h, won. (and many more).

I could make a entire post about this tournament, but I don't feel like it. The AQ vs K2h was the final hand, and I won this tournament for $355 after Dealer Tip. This was the 2nd night in a row that I won a tournament straight-up with no chop, although there was a Bubble Save because four handed play took forever.

It's such a better feeling to actually win the tournament, rather than chopping and walking away with the most money. I've played it out in four or five tournaments since I moved out here, and I've only lost one of them. Even with the Blinds & Antes in the stupid range, I still have the advantage because of all the home game tournaments that I've played.

After the tournament, I went over to check out the new room. Everything is now set-up, and they were letting players walk around the room. I took advantage of this oppertunity, and started snapping photos, including the ones in this post. The rest of the photos are in the Peppermill Review page, along some info about the room.