(no subject)
I woke up at 5am and the first thing I did was write a fun trip report to the BARGE list about an awful tournament I played in the middle of nowhere the day before. Then I showered and got dressed and left the house around 6:30am. I left so early because of all the record crowds. I wanted to make sure I got a seat in the Noon $365 NLHE tournament. I got up there with plenty of time to spare. Got a Harrah's Players card and registered for the tournament. No line at all around 10:30am. Just then, my buddy Andi showed up. He took a separate car but we were splitting a room. I walked him through getting a players club and registering for the tournament. When the tournament started, he was seated next to Bad Blood if anyone remembers him from poker blogging days. Otis was a few tables over also. I doubled up early when I turned a flush on a guy that clearly had AK in the SB and I took him out of the tournament. Bad Blood busted. Andi gets short stacked.
After about 6 hours, I run into a hand that I previously detailed on the BARGE list. It cripples me and I bust out a few hands later. Otis busts. Andi is still short stack. He goes on to min-cash after another 6-7 hours of play.
Meanwhile, I opt to try my hand at a $70 turbo winner take all SnG. I also particpate in the $20 last longer with the table. These turbos are t1500 to start, 25/25 blinds, and 12 minute levels. Within an orbit, we are already down 2 players. I have like t1400. I get AA from early. I raise and a player 4 spots down shoves on me. I call and she has AQ. She makes a straight on the turn. My blog, my bad beats.
I'm done with poker for awhile. Thankfully, its dinner time and Nolan is willing to join me. We decide upon the fancy Italian place in the casino. I don't usually spend much on food when I travel solo, but when you are with a friend who enjoys good food as much as you do...Why not? Besides, dinner can't cost as much as the Turbo I just blew and I'll enjoy if for much longer. Nolan and I have a delightful meal and conversation. The food was good. The company was better. The waiter was brand new on the job, but endearing in his willingness to provide good customer service. Nolan picked up the bill, I got the tip. Thanks Nolan!
I found a 3/6 cash game in the poker room. It's being played on Poker Pro tables. These are competitors to Poker Tek tables. We are short handed and I end up losing about $125 before the table breaks. I don't feel bad about the loss. I know that my limit play is high variance and I'm confident that I played well enough. I've had enough poker for one night. It's only about 10:30pm, but I was up early and more importantly, there is no free alcohol at this casino! I tell Andi I'm going to go to the hotel and check it. I get lost along the way because I want to stop for beer and snacks. It takes 30 minutes and I stop in 3 different places. Finally I discover a store of the reservation that sells alcohol. Apparently the casino is the only place on the reservation authorized to sell it. No wonder they don't give it away for free.
The next morning, Andi and I do a leisurely almost 4 mile run up and down some mountain roads. It's a good sweat. Then we clean up and get a buffet lunch at the steak place across from the casino. The food was standard buffet fare. Tasty but way to salty. Andi offered to pay and the cashier is taken aback when he tips her.
We go straight from the restaurant to the poker room. I buy into the Limit tournament and Andi buys into the 7pm Hold 'em. We play a turbo satellite. Andi gets AA on the first hand. He busts before I do. Also at he table is a guy who busted Andi from the two day event. I stack a couple of players and have a big lead. Andi's nemesis accumulates some chips. We are 5 handed and the other players are very short. It's folded to me on the button and I have 24s. Thinking I would make a blind steal, I raise 3x (t600). SB folds, but nemesis is the BB and he raises to t1200. I think about folding here, but figure if the flop comes right, I can use position and take the pot. See? I learned something from the day before. The flop comes Q84 rainbow. BB shoves all in. I think for a minute, but no line makes sense here for him to shove. So I call. My instinct is correct. He has 33. Then he spikes a 3 on the river and I'm short. I bust soon after. My blog, my bad beat.
Soon after, the limit tournament starts. I like my table. On the first hand, UTG realizes it is limit and quits and gets a refund. I'm the best player at my table. We play on and I double up after about an hour. Another player sits down. Doesn't realize it is limit. He plays a little, then leaves to go play craps for an hour or two. After about 3 hours, I start getting a run of bad cards and fold a lot. Can't make a hand. Blinds inch upwards. A new player shows up on my right. He seems both good and lucky. He shows down AA, KK, JJ, QQ, 88, and TT all in two orbits. Needless to say, he doubles up and I've gone down a bit. I'm down to about t4000 and the blinds are 100/200. I run 77 into quad 3's. UGH. Then I'm down to about 10bb. I get QJo UTG. I raise, folded to the BB. He re-raises. We go 4 bets. Flop comes KJT rainbow. I bet, he raises, I reraise, he calls. The turn brings a 9. He bets, I raise, we get it all in after a couple of raises. I look back at the board as I flip over my hand. CRAP! My eyes played tricks on me. The turn wasn't a 9 but a 10, pairing the board. My opponent has AT. The river is an 8 and IGHN. That SUCKS.
After that, I find that 3/6 game about to start again. This time 6 handed. There is another guy at the table who was 2nd to bust from the limit tournament and he was at my table. They guy is definitely an action player. Between him and I, we manage to tilt and break the table, but we're having so much fun, we just keep playing on. A third dude joins us and seems content to let us duke it out every hand and just comes in when he thinks he has the goods. After two hours of play, I've wagered over $2000 in bets and have seen 83+% of the flops. Oh, also I was up about $150. I bust the action player and that is that. Third guy tells me he doesn't want to play me HU because he thinks I'll take his money. Best hand between me and the action player? I get AA. We raise it to somewhere around $60-$70 preflop. Flop comes all hearts. I have the Ace of hearts. We dump an additional $50 into the pot. Turn and river are check bet call. Check bet call. (No, I didn't make the flush and my opponent's flopped two pair held up)
I laze about and sign up for a $50 turbo satellite. It takes nearly an hour to get management to call the table and seat us. I play about 4 hands and bust. I decide to sit in on a session of $1/2 NL cash and I play for a few hours and make $360 or so. The table is aggressive and I play tight, letting them straddle and steal my blinds and what not. I pick careful spots. Best hand is when I'm SB. UTG Straddles. Folded to me and I have AJs. I raise. BB Folds. UTG calls. Flop comes AJ8 rainbow. 8 is clubs. I have clubs. I check, he bets, I call. Turn brings 3 of clubs. I check, he over bets the pot. I shove in. He tanks and calls with AJ also. I can't make the flush on the river and we chop the SB and lose money on the hand to the rake. Second best hand...I have Kh5h on the button. Folded to me and I min-raise. SB and BB call. Flop comes 346 rainbow SB bets, BB calls, I call. Turn is 7. SB bets, BB calls, I shove. SB tanks and calls, BB folds. They go ballistic when I table my hand. BB has KQ (and for some reason thinks he is good). SB has a set of fours. No love on the river for him.
It gets to be about 4am and I call it a night. According to the table, I've bet just under $900. I go back to the room, eat a snack and go to sleep. Wake up the next morning, Andi and I have breakfast, clean up, and I go our separate ways.
Over all, I'm down $600 for the trip from tournament buy-ins. I had fun. I learned a little bit. I trusted my instincts and they are proving that I'm getting better. I have a deepstack tournament tomorrow and then no major poker for a while. I have no plans on returning to that particular casino unless there is a compelling tournament series. I have no love for the automated tables, the in house dealers are new and inexperienced, and the poker room staff are overworked to the point of rudeness. They really didn't have their act together. As was evidenced by one floor person calling security and a manager on another floor person when she lost her temper my final night there. Also, I don't like paying for alcohol when I'm paying rake.
-R