I played a tournament at the Venetian on Wednesday. We start with 15k chips and I came a bit late, so i had lost 1k or so. The 2nd hand I get dealt KK, get 2 callers, and fold to a huge check raise from one of the blinds on a JT4 flop. He made it sound like he had JT for top two pair. There was a very aggressive player 2 seats over on my left, who kept 3 betting almost every raise, so it made it difficult to play. When I did get AA, he just called, and folded on an AKx flop, oh well.
Later on, a new player came in on my left who i had played with most of the day on Tuesday. He is also fairly aggressive, so I really didn't like my seat anymore. I pick up 99 and open, and call a re-raise from mr aggressive two seats over and check fold a K72 flop. Later on, I open in the cutoff with JTs, and mr aggressive re-raises out of the blind, and I think of pushing in on him, but decide against it. I do pick up some chips when I get in with my AK vs 88 and win when I turn a K. Then I make a call out of the blinds with a medium pair, and check raise a Q97 flop, and then fold to an all in bet. I wasted 6k on the bluff re-raise which put me back to around 10k or so. The very next hand, an utg raise for 2400 with the blinds at 300/600, and for some reason I call with AQ on the button, and mr aggressive reraises, and I feel like with the blinds, antes and dead money that i'm getting the right price to call, even if I am behind, except he has AA and I get a chance to river a straight and miss. I don't think I played it that well, and lost my composure after bluffing the prior hand. Those two players on my left did not cash either, which shows how hard it is to get in the money.
I played some cash games afterwards, at one point was up close to $1,000, but only walked off with $300. There was a really loose player, who doubled me up when I flopped bottom two pair on an K64 flop, and he got all in with AK on the flop. Later, he flops a straight in a 6522T board when I have QQ and for some reason pay him off, ugh. While he was a terrible player, usually he will call with the worst hand, but raise with the best hand, so that was a clear fold when he raised me on the turn and I hadn't invested too much at that point. Later I raised to $15 with 73 clubs, get 5 callers, flop 873, bet 50, all fold to the big blind who raises me to 150, I go all in, and he calls with 85, top pair, the turn is a 6, and I hold up again somehow.
I return to the Rio and sign up for the $1500 no limit wsop event for Thursday. It's 2 AM, on the way to registration, I run into someone I met in 2006, who I used to play with online playing pot limit omaha high-low split 8 or better (PLO8 for short). We were just about the only people in the hallway, one of those coincidences. He just came in from PA, and is going to play the $5,000 PLO8 event on Friday. As I'm walking back with him, he mentioned that he had sold off percentages of his entry, and on a lark, I ask him if I can buy a piece as well. He is one of the better players in that game, so while it is a gamble, it would be interesting to get some of the action. He offered either a 10% or 5% share, so I went for 5%. If there was a less expensive PLO8 event, I might have played it, so this gives me a chance to be a home-gamer.
Thursday was my first time down in the wsop zoo this trip. Every year they keep expanding the number of rooms that they use, and there are many rooms with hundreds of poker tables - I'm thinking that there are at least 400 tables. A good spot for your next home game obv :-D
My table has 3 or 4 ok players, 3 monkeys and a few in between. In the first round I get AJ three times, and either miss the flop, or fold preflop. The 2nd time there is an utg min raiser, a caller and I call in the cutoff for 100. The player on my left makes it 450, utg folds, the first caller comes along, and I fold. The flop AT8, and the caller check raises the flop, the guy on my left, asks if his QQs are good, and folds. The check raiser plays a role in a hand that I am in later. Whether the other guy had QQ or not, I'm not sure, but for some reason, I am certain that he will be the first one out at our table, and I am correct.
I pick up AA, mr check raiser limps again for 50, I raise to 200, the guy on my left mutters 'I was going to raise' and calls, and we get 4 players to see a QT4 flop. I forget how much there is in the pot, and only bet 400, which looks weak, one caller, and mr check raiser makes it 1500, I think about what to do, and for some reason decide to fold. The other guy calls with QJ, and ends up rivering a flush, while mr check raises has KQo. I'm really not sure why I played that so badly, obviously I win the hand if I push in there and probably get called by the raiser. But I also thought of not raising originally, and the hand also plays out much differently. I think that I have just around 3200 chips after that hand.
A while later, mr QJ open for 200 with 3 callers, I have AK from the small blind and raise to 1100, the guy on my left, only has 1800 chips and just calls, with what I assume to be a huge hand, so I need help. Everyone else folds, the flop is K44, not bad at all for me, unless he has KK or AA. I am obligated to bet even if i miss, and put him all in for his remaining 700 or so chips. Just before I bet, I say 'You probably have me, but...' as I toss in my chips. He responds, 'I am behind, but I have to call' and flips over AT, basically drawing dead. My prediction of an early exit is confirmed as I am the player to bust him.
The person on my right always raises my blind when everyone folds around. I defend once and fold to a flop bet, and fold the other times. I finally get AA, everyone folds and he just completes the small blind. I raise to 300, expecting some aggression, but he just calls, and 872 flop, he checks, I bet 400, now he raises to 1100. I have a feeling that he will not bet again if I just call, so I think I raise enough to put him all in and he folds. There is a 2 flush on the flop, I don't have the right color ace, and I'm sure he will call with a pair or a draw, but I guess he threw an airball and gave up. I open raise with A7o in the cutoff, and mr QJ calls, and leads out a J53 flop, I think about bluffing, but I am sure that he will not fold top pair there, so decide to give up. He says that he had QJ, which he is now calling the hand of the night. I would like to tatoo QJ to his forehead obv...
There is a two o'clock tournament, 2-7 lowball for $10,000. This is one of those low turnout, pro-heavy affairs that is played mostly for bragging rights and the bracelet. They are assembling right around our table, and I see Freddy Deeb walk by, Johnny Chan stroll in, followed by everyone else, in no particular order, David Grey, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Michael Binger, Gus Hanson, Nick Shulman, Greg Raymer, etc.
We get a table change, table 88, seat 8, which is considered very lucky if you are asian. This table has the usual suspects, 40% avg, 30% decent. One of the active players is in the middle of the table 3 over to my right. Most of his chips goes to the player on my direct right. The player two over on my left seems ok, and seems to know Greg Raymer, and in one discussion declares the 76s is probably the best hand vs AA, and I counter that I thought it wins around 22% of the time, he decides he must prove that it wins more often and fiddles around with some application on his iTouch and 10 minutes later comes up with the answer, 23 point something %, er, okay...
I am lucky to double up with my KK vs QQ, and that gives me a decent chips stack, thought I can't remember if I hit 13k chips or not. That unfortunately was the high water mark for this tourney. I don't get into any big hands at this table after that.
In one of the crazier hands that I've seen, an aggressive player on my immediate right, who was on a big rush opens up, and is raised by the guy on my directly on my left, but not the decent player. The player on my right reraises and gets calls, a J53 flop and an all in bet by the player on my right. The guy on the left mutters that he has to call and turns over 23 of hearts, and loses to a pair of sevens. I guess it would have been awesome if the guy with 77 had AK instead and missed. Well done... one round later, the player on my right opens, and I look down to see... 23 of diamonds and don't make that same mistake...
A table change where I am surrounded by bigger stacks and smaller stacks, so the smaller ones start pushing all in and there isn't much I can do, except hope that we break up. I was starting to realize that except for one or two aggr players, the bigger stacks were tight and it might have been an okay table, but we break up anyway.
New table, with blinds at 150/300, and I have 10k or so. The player directly on my right has a big stack and opens a lot of pots. The other guys are predictable, There are three short stacks with 4k that seem timid.
A couple of rounds into the new table, and a middle position opening by a 7k stack, and a reraise on my right by the big stack, and i shove QQ from the button, first guy has AA, the second one had 22 and folds. pretty standard, unless someone tells me that i should play that differently. That leaves me with 3k at dinner break. I came back, doubled up, then shoved AT, over the guy on my right when he opens, snap calls with TT, I flop A and get one outed on the turn with the last ten in the deck.
I head over to play some cash games and here that there is one seat open at a 2/5 PLO8 game, so I sit down over there. The game is made up mostly of internet PLO8 specialists and they have played with each other online for years. Also at the game is Lee Jones, former poker room manager of Poker Stars. He is in town doing some webcasts for ESPN from the WSOP. While I play PLO8 tournaments, I haven't played the cash game for a while, so I buy in short for $300, and lose $130 or so, and then double up to $350. A bunch of the guys are going out to a strip club, so the table is about to break up, except that the floor person fills it again. We have some new players. One guy is half drunk, and another is pretty aggressive and always straddles to $10. Lucky for me he is on the other side of the table, so 5 players have to act after the straddle before it comes around to me almost every hand. One of the better players is on my direct left. He later doubles me up when I pick up a one way hand of AJ9x. The flop is T86 with the nut flush draw for me. He is going for low and misses, while I turn a Q for the nut straight and then river a K to improve to the A high straight, that was the perfect high only hand. The quick version is that I walked off with a $600 win.
I added to the win by playing some 2/5 no limit hold em. First hand I min raise with 54s and flop JT9 with a flush draw for me, 2 other players in the hand, it gets checked around. I bet 25 on the turn, and bluff the river ftw. I don't really get into any hands after the flop, except for one big one. there is an early raiser for 30 or 35 and I decide to call from the blind with KQ of clubs, the flop JT clubs and a three. I check and he bets large - $65, I ship all in about $290 and he snap calls. hmmm, does he have AA, KK, QQ, JJ here? the turn pairs the board, rut roh... and the river brings a King. I look at him, he says he has ace jack, and I flip my hand ftw. He had the ace of clubs that I was looking for, but vs his hand, I have so many outs, aside from the usual 15 outs for the straight flush draw, a Q or K will win, but not both together, which gives him the straight, so 19 outs for me, or 18 outs since he has an ace in his hand. Give me that situation anytime.
A break from tournaments today, Friday, and I'll be playing cash games in the next 30 minutes...
