Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life II (The Sequel)

I'm typing this from my new apartment in Las Vegas. I drove the U-Haul down from Reno on Monday. This post would have been up sooner, but I've had big issues with my internet company's wonderful customer service, and I'm posting it from a McDonald's.

I know you're wondering if I transferred down here like I did from Ohio to Reno. Well, the answer is "No." I quit my job, although I prefer the term “Retired Early”.

So the next logical question for you to ask is, “Why would you walk away from a job that pays $65k a year with good benefits?” Well, that answer is a rather complicated, and will require a few paragraphs.

First, I've been with the USPS for 10 years, and I've known for most of that time that I was not gonna be there for the full 25 – 35 years like most of them. The plan for me was to save as much money as possible, and move on to other things when the time was right.

The post office has big problems, and has been deteriorating every year I've been there. First, it's one of the worst run organizations in the county. Although, in their defense, I think it's just too humongous of a company to be run with any efficiency. Second, they need to downsize drastically, but can't because of postal regulations and numerous union contracts. Any major changes, like elimination of Saturday delivery, can only happen with an Act Of Congress. But as everyone knows, Congress is not capable of doing any action these days.

Interesting Spots In Las Vegas

Since the world didn't end last week, I better get back to blogging.

I documented my entire Las Vegas trip through my Twitter account. But sometimes 140 characters just doesn't do a situation justice. So here's an extended version of some interesting spots.

- Stratosphere 7pm $65 12/07/12

74 runners for this one. We started with 9k chips. This tourney has a decent structure for a donkament, but any donkament with 74 players will become a shovefest long before the Final Table. I did a decent job of building a big stack before the Push-N-Pray started with a few tables left.

When we got down to the last two tables, I was at Table #3, so I was moved to a new table. I had 42500 in the 2k/4k level, which was a little over average.  The player on my right was a 50's gentleman whom we will call Larry, and is on the rather large size (over 350 lbs). He also had a near average stack somewhere around 35k.

Larry was mumbling to me and himself about the great poker that he's been playing. Evidently this happened right before I got to the table, but Larry was quite proud of how he skillfully folded AK from UTG. He said there was too many players to act after him, and it would have been reckless to raise with all those players to still act.

Venetian $150 NLHE

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - This is the 12n $150 daily at the Venetian. We get 12k chips with 30 min levels. The Bravo timer says 54 players. My table has six players with no dead stacks. I'm the youngest at this table by at least five years.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - Timer says 73 players. My table has seven players, and another already busted out. Good table so far, as I'm still the youngest. Table has been on the weak passive side.

The one who knocked out a player is on my Left+2. He seems to be on the looser side, but he could just be catching cards.

I have 12500 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - Timer shows 90 players. My table has nine players. A Krasian Kid sat down, and was gone ten minutes later. Another Kid sat down on my direct Left, and has been very calm so far.

Las Vegas News & Notes

I arrived home Monday night after spending 6 days in Las Vegas. The official Trip Total was -$67 before expenses. That may seem like it wasn't too bad, but it was a very frustrating and disappointing trip. But more on that in a different post.

I documented my trip via Twitter this time. If you're interested in the details, check out my Twitter page. The whole trip was almost 100 tweets, so you'll need to scroll down a ways before you start reading.

I plan on doing 4 or 5 blog posts surrounding my trip. This one will be News & Notes concerning the poker scene around Las Vegas.

- Starting Monday, December 17, all Caesars' properties will be merging their promotions into one Mega Bad Beat Jackpot, similar to what they do in Atlantic City. It will start at $200,000. The qualifying hand is Quad Aces beaten. As the jackpot grows, the qualifying hand will slowly drop. The jackpot award 10% to the Winner, 20% to the Loser, and 70% to Share across all rooms playing that game. (Not 100% sure on all detail, so don't quote this as fact.)

And when I say all Caesars' properties, that also includes Harrah's Laughlin and Harvey's Lake Tahoe. Also, I assume all other promos (High Hands, Aces Cracked, Free Rolls, etc.) will be reduced or eliminated to fund the Mega Bad Beat. I wouldn't be surprised if Caesars eventually raises the Jackpot to $2 instead of the current $1.

So look for the Mega Bad Beat Jackpot to be near $500,000 during the WSOP.

Hand Of The Day #100

(Not only is this Hand Of The Day #100, it is also Blog Post #400)

Golden Nugget $240 HORSE ~ 06.11.12 ~ Level 13 (4k/8k) Razz

Bring-In is 1500. Next player completes (4k) with A showing. Lady calls with 2 showing. I have (53)A, and raise (8k). Original raiser 3-bets (12k) and has 5k behind. Lady thinks for a bit and calls. I just call, because I want to see the next card before I completely commit to this hand.

4th Street
Shorty: (XX) A A
Lady: (XX) 2 2
Me: (53) A K

Well, I'm ahead with K-Low, so I bet (4k). Both players call.

Coin Flipping Contest

Yesterday was the $340 Heads-Up tourney at Caesars' Palace at 4pm.

Match #1 - I walked up to my table, and my opponent was already sitting there. It was a 50's gentleman from France. He barely spoke English, and was trying to ask the Dealer about this tournament. Evidently, he didn't know this was a Heads-Up tourney, or just didn't understand the concept. This seemed like a good draw for me.

Another point of confusion was the structure. Heads-Up can be a little confusing at first, with the Button acting first preflop, but last afterwards. But the first level was 100/100, and that made it even more confusing since we both have the same blind. The French gentleman was very confused, and even the Dealer called the Floor over to verify what I was saying. I kept saying that things would make more sense when we get to Level 2 (100/200), and having two different blinds did help.

Anyways, I was the Button for the first hand, and checked with T5s. He also checked, and the Flop was A-high. We both checked, and the Turn was a 2nd Spade. He bet 300, and I called with a Flush Draw. River was not a Spade. He bet 1600 (that's not a typo). I chuckled a bit, and mucked. He showed AA, for a Set.

Hand Of The Day #96

$8/$16 Omaha-8 ~ Venetian ~ 06.17.12

One player limps in. Hyjack raises ($16). He is Data from the CPMG, my former home poker group from Cleveland, and a bunch of them are in Las Vegas for this weekend. I'm next to act in the Cutoff, and I 3-Bet ($24) with As 7c 7h 4h. I know that doesn't seem like a hand to 3-Bet, and that is correct. So why did I do it?

Many people say they don't like going to casinos with their friends, because they don't want to take their money when they could just do it in their home game. I don't have this issue, as I have no problem separating business from friendship. I actually was looking to get a couple of hands for the blog on this trip. Plus, I want to get my hands on some Cleveland money, as it smells just a little sweeter to me.

Back to the action... It folds to the BB, who calls the two bets. This isn't surprising, as he has been a world-class calling station so far. The Limper also calls. Flop is 8c 6d 5s. The BB bets ($8). Limper folds. Hyjack calls. I raise ($8) with the 2nd Nut Straight and an A4 Low. I doubt my Low is any good, but my Straight should be good, as it's doubtful that someone has 97 in their hand. The BB calls, but Data in the Hyjack 3-Bets ($24).

Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body

After my flame out in the $1500 HORSE, I grinded Daily Donkament for a couple of days. Here are the results.

Wed 06.13 -
8:30p Luxor $65 6/14

Thur 06.14 -
9a Rio $70 7/11
11a MGM $80 11/61
3p Harrah's $60 30/89
6p Flamingo $70 16/30
8p Mandalay Bay $80 (Ante Only) 2/10 $215

Fri 06.15 -
9a Caesars $70 25/35
11a Stratosphere $65 8/33
4p Planet Hollywood $65 4/41 $185
8p Hard Rock $60 14/23

Satellite Man '12

I arrived at Rio at 2pm on Tuesday 6/12. The plan was to grind single table satellites, as I will be playing in the $1500 HORSE event on the following day.

Last Longer are very common at the Rio. Players voluntary put up $20, $40, $100, or more, and do sort of a side tournament. This is to add some money to the prizepool, but doesn't add any juice to the WSOP to take. Sometimes, the Last Longers are between two players, or they could be for the all ten players. I was a little leery of handing someone else a $100 bill. But this is such a common practice at the WSOP, I would be stunned if someone ran off with the money.

#1 $125 - 1k chips. 15 min levels starting at 25/25. A couple of the players were buddies, and they were rather social. It was a fun table. However, the cards were quiet for me. In the 50/100 level, I raised UTG to 225 with AA, and all folded. Towards end of level, I raised from Mid with JTo. Button called, and BB shoved for 500. I reluctantly called, leaving 450 behind. Button called, and Flop was 8-high. I checked,  and Button shipped. I folded, and he showed A3c, no pair. BB had AJ. Boards ran out Q 9, which would have given me the Straight. Naturally, the Blinds went up to 100/200 right after this hand. I folded my BB to a raise, and shoved my SB for 250 with A7. The BB had 74c, and I doubled up.

Golden Nugget $240 HORSE

I didn't plan on doing a Running Log for this tournament on Monday. However, I ended up typing up some notes on each break about what happened.

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - We start with 12k chips, and levels are 40 minutes long with Level 1 being 50/100. Therefore,  we start with 120 Big Bets, which means the first few hours of this tourney are meaningless. There is no danger of going broke, or getting a big stack. I'm gonna play ABC tight, in order to set up a table image for when the levels and pots are more meaningful. It would be like sitting at a $3/$6 table with $720. You can't win or lose enough compared to what we started with.

Rather large crowd, according to the locals, with 15 - 18 tables set-up. That is a lot more than the $135 NLHE tourney that just started on the other side of the room. I assume it's due to the $1500 HORSE on Wednesday.

Some pros that I spotted in the field include Tom McEvoy, Ylon Schwartz, and Chip & Karina Jett.

Break #1 - 13275 chips heading into 200/400. First hand I won was in Razz, and I hit the Steel Wheel. In Stud-8, I hit Quad Aces, and scooped when the Low missed.

Joke told at the table. "What's the difference between a poker pro and a large pepperoni pizza?"

$3/$6 Mixed At The Imperial Palace

I got to play in the legendary $3/$6 Mixed game on Sunday night, which is the longest running low limit mixed game in Las Vegas. They ended up with three tables, with a bunch of local dealers showing up for the 3rd table. There is a set list of games, although some tables altered their list. Here is the list of games that we played at our table, followed by some thoughts on the more bizzaro games, and I'll finish with a summary of my session.

The Flop and Draw games have blinds of $1/$3. The Stud games have a $1 ante, and a $1 bring-in. We played eight hands of each game. In the Draw games, only six players were dealt in, as UTG & UTG+1 were dealt out when the table was full of eight players.

1: Omaha-8
2: Razz
3: 2-7 Triple Draw
4: Double Flop Omaha
5: Stud-8
6: Badugi
7: 4-Card Crazy Pineapple with Ocean
8: A-5 Triple Draw H/L (8 or better)
9: 3-2-1 Omaha
10: Baduci
11: Razz-dugi

LOL Donkaments #4

Harrah's 8pm $80 - 06.17.11

This tournament has a much better structure than the other Harrah's tourney I played. They gave us 8000 chips, added a couple of levels, and started the antes later. They also had a $20 Bounty for this one.

Being a Friday night in Las Vegas during the WSOP, this one had 102 players, which is kinda silly for a daily tournament. All the tables were in use, and that included a couple of $1/$2 NL games.

Things went well in the beginning, and my table draw was good. I was able to slowly build my stack, although I didn't get the monster stack that I had gotten in other tourneys. It took them awhile to break our table, which was good for me. I even got two Bounties before the table finally broke.

I got a really good seat at the new table, as the Big Stack was on my direct Right. Things were going along OK, but the structure started to become a problem. Even though it's a better structure than before, any daily tournament structure will be a problem with 102 players. With only three tables left, all of us were getting shortstack. That's when this hand happened in the 1500/3000/300 level:

It folded around to a Mid player, who min-raised to 6000. Only the SB called, and he was the Big Stack at the table. I'm the BB with 55, and I go All-In for 26500.

I played with the Mid player at the previous table, and he's a passive Super-Nit. He could easily have a bigger pair than me, but I have him covered. I don't think he'll risk his tournament with out a premium hand. However, I haven't been at the new table that long, and I don't know much about the Big Stack. He's got a lot of chips, but my stack would take a serious chunk out of his stack.

Ultimately, I do have a pocket pair, and I'm under 10 Big Blinds. If the Big Stack folds, then picking up the 12k plus antes will be good for my stack. If he calls, then hopefully we are in a coin flip, which wouldn't be a bad thing at this stage of the tournament.

The Mid player thinks for a bit, and folds. The Big Stack thinks for a much longer time. Meanwhile, his Buddy had already busted from the tournament and is watching the action. He comments about how big the pot is. The Dealer quickly chewed out the Buddy for opening his mouth when he's not involved in the hand.

I think the Big Stack listened to his Buddy, because he called right after the comment with KJo. He hit a J on the Flop, but I picked up a Gutshot on the Turn. The River didn't help me, and I was out in 26th place.

Even thought the Buddy should have kept his mouth shut, I really didn't mind the call. With three tables left, winning this coin flip would have given me the monster double-up, and that would have hopefully propelled me to the Final Table. In the Bally's tourney I played just before this one, I got that monster double-up (AQd vs 55) with about 15 players left. That gave me the Big Stack, and I rode it to victory. This time it didn't work out.

Oh, well. That's (tournament) Poker. At least I got two bounties to cover half of my buy-in.

All-In Or Fold

Last week in Las Vegas, I found out about a unusual tournament at the Aria. On Monday night, they had a $160 "All-In Or Fold" Tournament with a $25 Bounty.

Why is it called "All-In Or Fold"?

Because those are your only options preflop, All-In or Fold. No limping, no min-raising, and no just calling a shorter stack's All-In. It's only All-In or Fold. If everyone chooses Fold, then the BB gets a walk and we move on to the next hand. Seems simple, right?

Well, I get bored with just regular "TV Poker" tournaments. So I will happily jump at any opportunity to play something different, as long as it doesn't cost me too much money. The $160 is well within my buy-in range.

This was put on by LIPS, although I don't know why since guys were allowed to play. There was 97 players for this tournament, which was a bit surprising to me. Although there were a few players that signed up for the evening tournament, and immediately un-registered after they realized what was happening.

The other surprising thing about this night was the play. We got 6000 chips, and the Blinds started at 100/100. To me, it seemed the "proper" strategy was to play tight, because why risk 6000 chips to win 200? However, it appeared that I was one of the few players who had this thought. On the very first hand at my table, UTG went All-In for the 6000, and he had AKo. A Mid player called the All-In with ATo, and was out of the tournament.

Other players were treating this like a rebuy tournament, even though they couldn't rebuy. There was a Kid at my table who still had a chip stack in a Cash game. He declared that he was here to gamble in order to get a monster stack, or he would go just back to his $2/$5 table. Overall, I was very surprised on how few walks were given to the Big Blind.

As for my tournament, I got a decent seat at the table. The two players on my Left were playing tight, and waiting for premium hands. This meant I was able to steal the occasional Blinds. However, right after those two players was the Kid who wanted to gamble.

I was able to double up in Level 1 with my AQ vs TT. In a later hand, the UTG shoved. I was UTG+1 with 33, and had to fold. Two other players shoved All-In. I would have flopped a Set and collected two bounties and got a monster stack. Oh well, right fold - wrong time.

In the next level, I lost my double up with my AJ vs JJ. After that, I went very card dead. With so many players willing to gamble, I had to pop the clutch, and drop into Super Nit gear for a while. Eventually, a very active Lady shoved. I had 7h 7d, and was the only caller. She had KQc. The Flop was 7c 5c 4c, giving her the Flush and me Top Set. I missed my Full House Draw, and was out in 45th place.

Now I'm gonna take off my Player hat, and put on my Tournament Director hat. This was their first attempt at this type of tournament, and nobody was happy with the structure. It had 6000 chips and 20 min levels: 100/100, 100/200, 200/300, 200/400, 300/600, 300/600/100 (I'm not sure what the rest of the levels were, since I left.)

Some of the players though the structure was way too slow. It should have 10 min levels, start with less chips, have the levels go up much steeper, and have antes much sooner. Not surprisingly, these were the players who were here to get their gamble on.

As a former TD, I do agree that the structure needs some work. If I were to run this for one of my home games, I would start with less chips. I think something in the 30BB - 40BB range would be good, but I would have the Blinds go up slowly. I would have antes starting in Level 1 or 2. There needs to be something in the pot that's worth risking your whole stack. I would also probably have 15 minute levels.

While this seems like a turbo, it's not necessarily the case. What happened in this tournament was tables started breaking rather quickly after the late buy-ins ended. But once we went from nine tables down to five or six, things started slowing down. Stacks got bigger, and players were less willing to risk all their chips against another big stack. So once the initial stacks doubled up, and maybe doubled up again, there was some fold equity against other players, and the bust-outs went much slower.

Of course, building a tourney structure is always a bit of theory before it's actually tested. Once it's played a couple of times, then more adjustments can be made. Maybe some of my CPMGers will give this one a try.

LOL Donkaments #3

Bally's 4pm $75 - 06.17.11

I played in this tourney because it was the only one on my list for 4pm. Although if I knew how bad the structure was, I probably wouldn't have played it. They give us 5000 chips, which is ok. But the Blinds start at 100/200, and double double double after that (100/200, 200/400, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000, 2000/4000, 4000/8000).

Since this was such a terrible structure starting out with 25 Big Blinds, I decided to go with an all Preflop strategy. No limping or calling, just raise or 3-Bet. Overall, I did a decent job of sticking to it, and it worked beautifully. I won the first few pots I played, and I was steadily building my stack, while I rarely had to show my cards. By the time we got to the break, I had around 13k - 15k. The field of 47 players was down to three tables.

Things kept going well as I stuck to the plan. When we got down around 15 players, I made a standard raise from UTG with AQd. The SB moved All-In, and had me covered as we were the two Big Stacks at the table. He was at my first table, and he didn't mind getting his chips in the middle. That means his range of hand for 3-Betting is rather wide, so I quickly called. He had 55, and I won the race. This left him very shortstack, and I knocked him out on the next hand.

When we got to the Final Table, I had the dominate stack of 58k, which was 25% of the chips. I stuck to the plan, and was able to avoid any bad luck. The weirdest thing about the Final Table was there was no mention of a chop, bubble save, or any other type of deal. I would have had no problem discussing some sort of deal due to the retarded blind structure, just as long as I got the big chunk of money.

Even when the Bubble popped with five players getting paid, there was not a word uttered. This was bizarre to me because there is almost always something mentioned in Reno tournaments. I guess I got lucky in getting a Final Table full of tourists.

When it got to three handed, I had the Tower of Power with over 160k chips, and the other two players were close together around 35k each. Even with the  Big Stack, I brought up making a deal. I wanted to protect my equity because the blinds were 4k/8k, and my chip dominance could be in trouble with a bad River card followed by a lost coin flip.

At first, I suggested that I get 1st place, and they chop 2nd and 3rd for $517. One of them said he would rather just play it out, as he doesn't get to play short handed very often. I was certainly not afraid to play it out with these two, but I kinda wanted to get some dinner. I made one more offer. I suggested they both get $550, and I'll take the rest. They looked at each other, and agreed to it.

So by giving up $70, I walked out of the poker room with $955 after the Dealer Tip.

WSOP '11: Putting A Bow On It

I walked through the front door of my apartment about 6:15pm last night. Once again, it was a very uneventful trip through the mountains and deserts of Nevada. Here are my final thoughts.

~ If you have never been to Las Vegas during the WSOP, you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. It is Poker-Palozza in Sin City, and not just at the Rio. With all the extra tournament series around town, all the Poker Room are busier than normal. Some Dealers were complaining that they had to work 8-10 hours straight without breaks.

With so many poker players at the Rio, it's amazing how many Bad Beat Stories are floating through the air. In the elevator, in the bathroom, or in line for a restaurant, it's common to overhear little sound bites of conversation. "I had AK on the Button." "That stupid Spade on the River." "I can't win a Race." "I hate Jacks."

~ As for my "goals" for this trip, one of my most successful was my morning Strip Walk. I did it on most days, only missing my early morning Cash session, and yesterday. I started at Bill's Gambling Hall because the parking garage is right by Las Vegas Blvd. I headed South to Tropicana, across the pedestrian bridge to Excalibur, all the way North to the Fashion Show Mall, across the pedestrian bridge to Wynn, and back to Bill's. Some times I would walk the opposite way. It was about five miles round trip. Some days, I only did half or three quarters, depending on how I felt or if I was in a hurry. I would definitely recommend this if it is something that you would be in to.

~ I said I wanted to play $2/$5 in all the Big Rooms. Well, I only played two session of $2/$5, one at the Rio and one at Aria. I did play $1/$3 at Caesars after the Heads-Up tournament, but I never set foot in any of the other Big Rooms. I also played some more $1/$2 and $1/$3, and a $1/$2 HA session at the Palms. Overall, I played seven Cash sessions, and was down $195.

~ I did a good job of staying away from the Pit. I did do a little social gambling with my poker buddies from Cleveland. On Saturday night, we headed to Downtown to hang out, and I ended up dropping $100 on Roulette.

When I was at the Palms, they had a new table game called 7-14-21. It's sort of a hybrid of Blackjack and Pia Gow. I tried it out for about an hour, and left up $35.

~ As far as tournaments, I played in five larger tournaments, and I went 0-5. Some of it was do to bad luck, and some of it was due to questionable play. It was really disappointing that I couldn't even make to a dinner break in any of these tournaments.

~ The only thing that kept this trip from being a disaster was the smaller daily tournaments. I played in eight daily tournaments under $100, and had three cashes: a 2-way chop, a 3-way chop, and another 3-way chop where I got a big chunk of the prizepool.

It does seem that I have become a specialist in these little tournaments. That's good for maintaining my bankroll, and it's also good for my ego. But it doesn't seem to translate into the bigger buy-in, larger field tournaments that has better players.

~ Overall, I would rate the trip as Meh! (not great, didn't suck). The Grand Total was -$672, but it's +$828 if I take out the $1500 Event. Like I said, not great, didn't suck.

The other problem with this trip was it was just too damn long. I "hit the wall" on Saturday, and spent half the day in my hotel room. I was looking forward to heading home for the last three days.

Maybe spending nine nights in Las Vegas would have been more enjoyable if I was still living in Cleveland. However, I now live five minutes away from the top two poker rooms in Reno. I can play poker any day I want to, but I can also not play any day I don't want to. I doubt I will play any poker until at least Friday, or maybe even Sunday.

Don't get me wrong, the Poker in Las Vegas is waaaayyyy better then the Poker in Reno. I will certainly go back, but just for a few days at a time. I have no clue when that will be, or if I will be back for WSOP '12.

LOL Donkaments #2

Harrah's 3pm $60 - 06.15.11

They give you 6000 chips for this one and 20 minute levels, but the structure is not even close to the Caesars' structure. 48 players signed up for this one.

I was extremely card dead for this start. I guess it was making up the the Caesars' tourney. I basically blinded off down to 2600 at the break.

The next level was 300/600/75. The player in front of me raised to 1500. I looked down at QJo, and shipped in my 2525. I'm in the mode of "Get Me Chips Or Get Me Out Of Here", as I will just run to the next tournament on my list. But then the SB goes All-In. He seemed like he was a goofball who was catching cards. The original raiser thought for a bit, and folded. SB had AK, but I flopped a Queen to almost triple up.

Right after this hand, they broke our table. In one of my first hands at the new table, I get 88, and win a decent pot to knock out a player. Shortly after that, I 3-Bet with AK in the SB, and win a good pot from the chip leader of the table. By the end of the 300/600/75 level, I have over 18k chips. Sometimes this is a funny game.

After that, I really didn't get many hands to play. But I was able to maintain my chipstack in the 15k - 25k range through naked aggression. Nobody at my table was doing anything but playing their own cards, so I took advantage of it when I could. But the structure was on the fast side, so there wasn't much room to maneuver.

When we got to the Final Table, I had 24k and was one of the shortstacks. The blinds were 1500/3000/400, so I was in Push-N-Pray mode. It went ok, as I was able to maintain my stack. But I never got the big double up you need at a Final Table. Also, the structure got retarded. It went from 1500/3k/400 to 3k/6k/800 to 5k/10k/1k.

I did have a chance to get some chips when I shoved with A5o, and a shorter stacked called with A4d. But a 4 on the Flop took a nice chunk of my stack that I had manage to build through stealing.

Shortly after that hand, the level went up to 5k/10k/1k, and I was the BB. I only had 25k, which meant I was almost pot committed. But I just couldn't commit the last of my stack with 93s. It was a good thing I folded, because I got A8h in the SB. However, the BB woke up with AA. I did pick up a Flush Draw on the Turn, but it wasn't meant to be. I finished in 7th, which was the Bubble. Officially, five players got paid, but the Bubble Save talk started before the next hand was even dealt. I don't blame them, as they are just flipping coins at this point.

I did manage to place a $50 moneyline bet (+115) on the Boston Bruins to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I won $57.50, so that basically covered this buy-in.

LOL Donkaments #1

Caesars Palace 9am $70 - 06/15/11

You get 4000 chips, and 20 minute levels with a decent structure for a daily tournament. They got 44 players on three tables. They have Re-Entry, and a lot of players used it.

Very first hand, I limped in Mid with J9d. Four players saw the Flop of Js 9c 8c. UTG+1 bet 150. I raised to 400 to either isolate, or just win the pot. It folded to him, and he called. Turn was [Js 9c 8c] 7s. Yuck! We both checked. River was [Js 9c 8c 7s] Jh. He led out for 600. It's rather obvious that he had a J, so I raised to 1500. He called with KJ.

Things kept going well for me. I knocked out a few more players, including my AKs vs an AKo when I hit a Flush. I had 11200 at the first break.

The carnage continued at our table, which became the Table Of Death. I wish this was a Bounty tournament, as I was the main head hunter. When we got to the Final Table, I had 48100, almost triple the average of 17600. Nobody else even had 20000. I had only one thought going through my head... Don't screw this up!

Well, the good news is that I didn't screw it up, but Lady Luck definitely put up a fight. I had numerous situations and suckouts to deal with. It started in the first orbit when I raised to 2000 with QQ. Next player went All-In for 9800. I made the call, and he had AA. I also had other hands that I raised with, but had to fold after another player went All-In, including AJ when the other guy had KK.

There was an old guy who was to my Left+1, which meant he's the BB when I'm the Button. He was a terrible calling station. This would be wonderful if it was a Cash game, but it can be very annoying at a Final Table. He also had the toughness of a cockroach, as he just would not die. I raise with KK on the Button. He went All-In with A6c, and flopped an Ace. He kept calling bets, almost never raised, and just would not die.

By the time we got to the next break, we had just popped the Bubble, and had five players left. The stacks had evened up considerably, and I was no longer chip leader. The leader had around 28k, I had 25k, and the short stack was around 12k - 15k. Since I couldn't raise to steal blinds because of the old geezer, I shifted gears down in to Small Pot Poker. I limped on the Button three consecutive times. The SB and BB (old geezer) called. I would make a small bet on the Flop or Turn with Middle Pair, the Geezer would call with Bottom Pair, and I would be good at showdown. With the Blinds at 1000/2000 and 1500/3000, these were good sized pots, and I was successful at rebuilding my chip lead through stealthy aggression.

After I got my stack over 40k, I started to raise a little more. I had bled the Old Geezer down to the point that he was hanging on for dear life, and he actually started to fold. By the time he finally got knocked out in 5th place, I had almost 70k.

During three handed play, I raised the Button with AQo. The SB moved All-In with a decent stack, and I called. He had AJh, and flopped the Flush. That took over half of my stack, and I had to go into survival mode. I carefully maneuvered with small pots, some All-Ins, and a few good folds. Once again, I was able to slowly get my chips lead back thanks to a rather good blind structure.

Eventually, the AJh guy knocked out the 3rd place player. We did a quick chip count, and I was ahead by only 4000 or 5000 chips. We decided to do an even chop. I left the Poker Room at 1:40pm with $705 after the Dealer's Tip.

Golden Nugget's $235 Tournament

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - This is being held in a ballroom that has about 60 tables set up. There is also the daily 11am tourney being run, as well as a $235 HORSE tourney that starts at noon. It looks like there are 10-12 tables for this one, and they are 10-handed. We start with 12000 chips, and the levels are 40 minutes. We start with five players, and five dead stacks. I'm sitting between two Vegas Old Timers who know each other, and are on a first name basis. They already swapping stories.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - We are 9 handed with a dead stack. Play has been relatively normal for a first level. Hand of the Level: UTG+1 raised to 250. I call in Mid with Td 9c. Old Timer next to me also calls. The three of us see a Flop of Jd 8d 7c. Yahtzee! UTG+1 said, "Raise 500" and tossed in a 500 chip. To me, the word Raise meant he had an Overpair. No reason to slowplay here, so I raised to 1200. Old Timer folded, and UTG called. Turn [Jd 8d 7c] 5s. He checked, I bet 2000, and he called. River [Jd 8d 7c 5s] 9d. That's worst card in the deck for me. It's essentially a Joker as it completed the Flush and put a four card Straight out there. He checked. I decided to just bet 3000, and hope he calls. He went in to deep thought, mumbled about hating that card, but made the crying call. He didn't show his hand. I have 19825 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - Still nine handed with a dead stack. It was a good level for me. I got AA, raised preflop, and got three streets of value. At the end of the level. I raised to 325 on the Button with 87s. UTG was the only caller. The Flop was Jh 5s 4s. He checked, I bet 525 with my Gutshot Straight Flush Draw, and he called. Turn [Jh 5s 4s] 9c. He checked, I bet 800, and he check-raised to 1600. I picked up another Gutshot, and I considered 3-Betting with the Big Draw. But we are too deep to risk getting my whole stack in with just one card to come, so I called. River [Jh 5s 4s 9c] 3s. He checked, and I put out a small value bet of 2100. He made the call with J9o for Top Two Pair. I have 24875 chips.

Level 3 (75/150) - Still 9 handed with a dead stack. No big hands this level. I raised a few times, won some & lost some. This has been an enjoyable table, as the table talk has been good. Live poker can be really boring when the table is dead silent. I have 26650 chips.

BREAK - Not sure how many total players yet. It looks like there are nine tables, but most have a dead stack or two. I really love the 40 minute levels, as I'm used to the 15 or 20 min levels that we see in the Reno dailies. It's also much easier to do the Running Log, as I have time to pay attention to the Poker.

Level 4 (100/200/25) - A dead level for me. I did raise preflop a couple of times, but not much came out of it. We finally started to lose players, and tables started breaking. It looks like there are 7 tables left. I heard there are 81 entrants, but that's not official. I have 24200 chips

Level 5 (150/300/25) - Basically blinded off. I did an occasional preflop raise, or called one. I really need to stay patient. This is a great structure, and I've still got 20650 chips.

Level 6 (200/400/25) - The Downward Spiral has begun. I lost chips in a couple of hands, including a 2500 River Bluff when I missed my Backdoor Flush, but the other Flush hit. He made the crying call with a small Two Pair.

Finally, I got TT UTG and raised to 1000. The Button, a Kid who knows what he's doing, raised to 3500. I considered going All-In with my extra 9500, but I think he's calling. I decide to just call and do a Stop-N-Go by shoving on any Flop. It's a play that I never use, but this seems like a good spot for it. The Flop was Tc 9c 4d. OK, change of plan. I check my Top Set, and he goes All-In with JJ. He picks up a Flush Draw on the Turn, but missed it. I have 25350 chips.

BREAK - We had 84 entrants, and we're down to 5 tables. If the pattern of breaking tables stays like it is, then our table will be part of the last two, which is sweet. They're paying 9 spots. I didn't look at the amounts, as I will worry about that when I have to.

Level 7 (300/600/50) - Down to four tables. I tried to step on the gas, but I didn't get many opportunities. I did lose 4400 chips when I called an All-In. Another caller had JJ and won. I have 21600 chips.

Level 8 (400/800/100) - Still very card dead. I want to steal some blinds, but I had very few chances. One of the few hand I did pick up was 77 on the Button. UTG raised  to 2200, and one players called. I decided to squeeze, and went All-In for 15800. Before the Blinds even folded, UTG asked if he could go All-In yet. At that point, I knew I was a dead man. Naturally, he had AA. I did flop a Gutshot, but it didn't get there. I'm out in 35th place.

I guess it was a mistake to squeeze a UTG raise, but I really had nothing to work with since the first Break. I know patience is important in these longer tournaments, and I guess that's something I need to work on.

Caesars Palace's $240 Heads-Up Tournament

Caesers was a bit of a madhouse today, as they got 573 players for their 12pm $120 tournament. They were short on tables and dealers, so they didn't start all the matches at once. Fortunately, my table was good to go. They're doing two matches per table. 

We start with 20k chips, and blinds start at 50/100. The payouts for this are extremely top-heavy. Only 8 get paid: 5-8 $559, 3-4 get $1490, 2nd $2731, and 1st 4469. In order to get in the money, we need three wins, which is half of the matches. 

#1 - Not surprisingly, my first opponent was a Kid, as most of the field seems to be. At first, he seemed to play ABC poker. When he raised preflop, it was usually for the minimum. There was a big pot that was 4-Bet preflop, and I had JJ. The Flop was A-high, and he had AK. He checked Flop and Turn, and I called his River bet. 

After that, he never seemed to bluff, mostly because he kept getting better hands than me. Since we were both playing Small Pot Poker, I was able to keep the damage under control. But as the levels went up, the pots got bigger. I won most of the small pots, and he won most of the big ones. This was because my bluff timing was terrible, as he always seemed to have the hand I was trying to represent, including Trips at least five times. 

When we got to the 300/600 level, it was time for me to start shipping it in. I managed to double up twice, including my 22 against his 66. But I always lost chips after I doubled up. Finally, I limped in the SB with KJ with the plan of calling any All-In. He was kind enough to raise All-In with AA. I missed everything, and was put out of my misery. 

"Experts" say that some players have an advantage over other players in a Heads-Up match. That is probably true if they played ten matches against each other. But in a single match, wether it's at the end of a tournament or a Heads-Up match like this one, whoever gets the best cards is usually gonna win. 

And that's what happened in this one. 

WSOP '11: First Impressions

First, some good news...

I played at the Atlantis on Friday night. They spread their first ever $2/$3 NLHE / PLO game. I won $491 in 3.25 hours. The deck was very kind to me, and I could have won more except players started to avoid me. My only bad hand was his Straight vs my Flush Draw & Open-Ender to a better Straight. The Atlantis won't let us run it twice, and I missed my big Combo Draw. I only lost about $120 on the hand, so it was just a flesh wound. It feels good to leave Reno on a winning note.

The ride to Las Vegas was rather uneventful, which was a good thing. The most interesting part was I went over two hours without seeing a gas station, or much of any civilization. It's a good thing I drive a Prius. I also went through various dead zones for my cell phone reception. The longest was over 45 minutes.

I pulled on to the Strip, and headed straight to Caesars to sign up for tomorrow's $240 4pm Heads-Up tournament. It's a good thing that I went there first because I got the last spot in the 64 player tourney. Although, my receipt says I'm Entry Number 75. I'm not sure what that's about.

After checking in at the Rio and grabbing a quick bit to eat, I headed down the WSOP to check things out. Through listening to various poker podcasts over the last few years, I already had an idea of just how big this place was. But in reality, it's even bigger than you can imagine. The main room is the Pavilion. It's divided into four sections, with around 275 tables. This is used for Cash games, single table satellites, and WSOP events. Today, it was used for this weekend's $1000 event.

The other main room is the Amazon room, which has over 100 table in it. It is used for the three daily deepstacks, the Main TV stage, and other WSOP events. Today's events included a $1500 6-max, and a $1500 HORSE which was down to ten players, including Victor Ramdin, David 'ODB' Baker, and a couple of other players that looked familiar. I have also seen at least a dozen of other pros either walking around or sitting at a table.

Since the Caesars Corporation is so cheap, they are charging $13.95/day for Internet. I will get it for a day or two while I'm here, but most of the posts will be from my iPhone. That means no pictures, links, or other fancy stuff. I'll fill that stuff when I splurge for the Internet.

Anyways, enough typing. It's time to play some poker.