Amateur Poker Association & Tour
Poker Forum => General Discussion => Member Blogs => Topic started by: Joker161 on June 22, 2013, 15:00:47 PM
-
As some of you know, I"m off to Vegas on the Wednesday 3rd July and then playing in the Main Event. I thought I ought to start up a blog to keep everyone posted. I"ll probably try and do the Twitter thing too, so long as the WiFi works in the poker rooms. The plan is to play Day 2 of the $1,111 charity event on the Thursday and then Day 1B of the Main Event on Sunday. If things go well (touch a massive bit of wood!), then Day 2A is Tuesday and Day 3 is Thursday, giving me a day off between each of the Days (is that a good idea?).
If you"re wondering why I"m Joker161, the Joker bit is the nickname coined for me by my brother (the reason escapes me) and the 161 is where I used to teach before Brighton College started to build new buildings (it was 161 Eastern Road). That was quite dull. Back to the poker...
I have sold 20% of the action via the "Staker Exchange" and it is sold out, but there might be a spare 2% available for those who fancy a stake. Gup9y hasn"t paid up yet and has until tomorrow night, then I"ll offer it out.
Anyway, I"ll see lots of you at Coventry next week, but I thought I"d get this blog thing going as I had a spare moment.
-
Hope to see you in Coventry, Joe
Good luck.
PS. Twitter Name?
-
@JokinJoe161
-
Best of luck with this Joe, hope you win the lot.
-
Best of luck with this Joe, hope you win the lot.
+1
Enjoy Joe have a blast
-
Have a great time joe
-
Will be rooting for you mate ;D
-
GL Joe. Might take another 0.5% if its going spare. Most of all enjoy the trip and the experience. Hope you have a ball x
-
Smash it!
One time for the teachers
-
Good luck & hope you bink big, above all have a great time & a safe trip. See you in Coventry. :)
-
Day 1 - Wednesday 3rd July
Standard flight. Watched three films and read half a book. Food was OK. Definitely worth going Premium. I owned up to Customs about my $14,044 that I was carrying. They took me to a back office and made we wait while two of them were in earnest discussion pointing at a computer screen. A worrying 5 minutes, but it was all fine in the end!
Stepped out to the taxi rank in 110F heat, but was in a taxi within five minutes who somehow managed to make the trip last for ever and cost $30. I think Las Vegas has a new terminal, so the trip is a bit longer, but I"m still now convinced.
The room at the Rio is massive ("all-suite") and the air conditioning is reasonably quiet, which is the key thing. I managed to sleep OK last night. So the first thing I do is go down to the WSOP area to buy-in for the two tournaments so that I can off load all the cash before I get mugged. The queue is the longest I"ve seen at the WSOP, and it takes me 30 minutes to get to the front. When I leave the queue it"s longer than when I arrived!
Back to the room to unpack, and then something to eat (quite a good burger from somewhere in the Rio) and then off to play cash for as long as I can stay awake! I play in the official poker room it the main casino rather than in the WSOP area. They have $1/$3 tables rather than the $1/$2 that I prefer, but it is quite a passive table (raises to $8) so that"s OK. First hand I get 62 in the BB and get to see the A62 flop! A nice small pot to start, and then in my second hand, in the SB, I get 77. There is a raise and three callers, so I call. Flop has a seven on it! I win quite a big pot (although I think I could have bet more on the end) and am $100 up in 5 minutes! After that its up and down, but then I lose $100 when I make a big call (and a poor one). I raise with AQ and get a caller. The flop is JJ5. I c-bet and he calls. Hmm. The turn is a queen, so I reckon I"m ahead here (he"s shown poor hands in the past), so I bet again and he calls. The river is a blank, and I decide to check call, but then he bets $100. I decide to call, think there is a chance he has the jack, but he has 55! Poor call.
I am nodding off towards the end and finally hand myself in at about 10pm (6am UK time). Actually manage to get some sleep, but wake up at 2.30am, read a bit, then manage to sleep from 4am to about 7am. That"s a record for me on the first night in Vegas! The quieter/more efficient air conditioning certainly helped.
-
Very best of luck mate. Don"t forget, if you win more than $5,000,000 we are free-rolling the one drop next year!!!!! ;D ;D
-
Best of luck Joe!!
Hoping you get chance to keep your blog updated - looking forward to following your progress.
-
$30 (assuming it"s inc. tip ) to the Rio is a little above the odds but nothing to get too excited about.
If you win more than $5m....I want mine...in cash.
Looking forward to more...
-
Didn"t try the $50 in the passport trick then Joe?
-
I love Vegas blogs, looking forward to following this. Best of luck Joe.
-
Good luck Joe, smash it up :)
-
If you win it all, I"ve currently got a stake thread going that you might be interested in.
-
All the best Joe
Bring back the bacon
-
TID Joe....glgl mate and enjoy
-
-
It"s 11.45am now. Almost time to get going. I"ll get back to you later today.
Okay.
-
Very best of luck mate. Don"t forget, if you win more than $5,000,000 we are free-rolling the one drop next year!!!!! ;D ;D
Big smile at this. It was great to finally meet you at the weekend Joe & I wish you much luck & run good Sir.
Good luck us!!! ;D
-
First two levels. I manage to lose a few hundred with 88 on the first hand. Called a re-raise, which was a bit loose. Later, I raise with AQ and get two callers. Flop is AQ6. SB checks, I check, the button bets, call, I raise and only the SB calls. Turn is a king and the SB checks very quickly. Realised once he called my turn bet that he probably had AK. Ten on the river, so check, check, and he does have AK.
I then lose a few more chips to the same bloke with AQ again when the flop comes ace high but with three spades. There"s a spade on the river too and I have to fold. He shows the jack of spades. He wins quite a big pot off someone else with the same fourth spade on the river s**t later on. My first winning hand (it took a while!) was when the cutoff raises, the button re-raises, and I push my 2k in the middle with AK. They both fold, but from what the button said I think he may have had QQ.
I then win some of my chips back from the lucky bloke when I raise with 77 and he calls along with one other. Flop is AT9 and I c-bet to rep the ace, lucky bloke calls and the other bloke folds. The turn is an 8 giving me ropey straight draw. I almost check, but decide I have to show strength. I bet, he folds. A pretty dead half hour before the break. I raise once with AK and everyone folds. So I"ve had AK twice and AQ twice, but not much else. I think we are playing eight levels today with no dinner break, so we will be done by 10pm. Unusual.
A sad lack of banter at the table. What"s wrong with everyone? Anyone would think it was some really big important tournament. ;)
-
Next two levels. I finally get a hand: KK UTG. I raise, and luckily the button re-raises. I go all in and he calls with TT. Flop 666 and the turn a king. Nice. Up to about 4600.
Then nothing for ages. I decide to raise UTG with T9s, which was obviously very dodgy, and despite not having played a hand for over half an hour, I get three callers! Flop is QQ9. I probably should have bet, but didn"t fancy the chances of getting through three players, especially as one of them is "lucky twat" (LT from now on). It gets checked round. The turn is a ten, and we have three diamonds. I bet 1100 and LT calls. The river is a king and I bottle out and check and he puts me all in. I fold and so go down to about 2300. Very annoying, especially as the very next hand I get AK. Button raises, I push and he folds.
I raise late with AJ and the BB pushes, and I fold (nearly called). Then the very last hand before the second break, I"m in the SB and there"s a weird thing where everyone"s folding and I"m thinking about stealing with my QcJc, when suddenly UTG has raised to 350. Everyone had folded without allowing him to act. So I decide to make a loose call, and the BB calls too. Flop is 887 with two clubs. F**k it. I go all in with my last 1975 chips. The BB folds and the UTG raiser looks annoyed, but calls anyway with TT. Club on turn. Get in! Back up to 5k.
-
Go Joe go! GL mate :-)
(lol"d hard at LT)
-
Levels 5 and 6. Absolutely card dead. Got away with a couple of steals, so after two hours of pain I still have about 4400, but it"s double up or leave time! I think the average is about 9k.
By the way, if you were wondering what happened to LT, he got very unlucky, for once. He called a raise out of position, they checked a flop of A94, the turn is a 2 and he check-raises the turn bet, and then the river is an ace, all the chips go in and LT has 53 for the straight, but the other bloke has A9 for the nuts!
-
Levels 7 and 8. I finally got a hand in the first 20 minutes. QQ in the BB. There was a raise, then a call, so I push in my 5k and the caller calls me. He has 99, and about an hour earlier he had 99 against QQ and hit a nine, so there was some banter about that, but the queens held up. With the other blokes chips I was up to about 12k, and then I won a smaller pot against the loose bloke, and so reached my peak of 14k. I was again card dead for the last 90 minutes and lost chips a few times when calling min-raises in the BB. The annoying hand was towards the end when a new player min-raised and I called in the SB with JT (I know, I know!). The BB called too, and we saw a flop of A95, all clubs. I had the jack of clubs. I check called the flop, and then led out for 3200 on the turn of Qh. She pushed all in. I folded, even though I only had 6k behind. I should have pushed the turn, although I sense she might have been miles ahead. All very poor. Anyway, I made it to the end of level 8, and so will be playing Day 2 tomorrow. On our return, blinds will be 300/600/75, so basically I"m in push mode with my 6775 chips. There is some Brit on the Final Table tomorrow, so if I go out quickly I might have to rail him. Sounds like it will be messy!
-
Loving the detail and playing every hand with you. Best of luck for day two.
-
Well done Joe, hers hoping for some run good tomorrow.
-
Good Luck Joe, Run Good!
-
Enjoying the updates.. Keep going run well :)
-
Day 3 - Friday 5th July
Did breakfast then spent most of the morning watching the tennis. Mental Djokovic game! Missed the end of the Murray game because I had to get over for Day 2 of the $1,111 event.
We start at 1pm and we have one of the worst dealers ever. He makes a mistake on nearly every hand! I am short, and so push a couple of times and they get through. I raise small one time, the button calls and then I push the flop and get that through. So I get up to about 8k.
I am on one of the tables that breaks first (and they are breaking quickly) and get moved right over to the other side of the room. First hand I get AcTc in mid-position. I go all in (perhaps should have min-raised?) and the bloke to my left thinks for a bit, asks for a count, and goes all in. He has KK. Oops! The flop is not a disaster even though it has a king on it; it is KQ9, the turn an eight and the river a five. Perhaps a bit rash with the all in, but running into kings was a bit of a shame.
I think I ended up about 800th out of about 4700. Roll on Sunday!
-
UL Joe....playing well it looks like to me.
GL on Sunday.
-
Loving the blog Joe, best of luck !
-
Day 4 - Saturday 6th July
After busting yesterday I started to feel a bit rough. Not sure why. Went for a lie down in my room and before I knew it, it was 7pm! Blimey! Felt better though. Went to get something to eat and then the plan was to watch the end of the Final Table with Matt Perrin. I got to the Amazon Room by about 8.30pm, but it had a already finished! Luckily he won, but unluckily for me I missed out on what (according to Twitter) was one of the best rails ever! Plus I might have been able to tag along to whatever they did next, although I"m not sure I was up to it.
It"s now about 9am but it feels later given that I"ve been up since 6am (what is it with me and Vegas and sleep?). I"ve had breakfast and watched a very poor Wimbledon Ladies Final. It"s odd, but with the Main Event coming up tomorrow, I don"t feel like playing poker today. I"m going to take it easy, perhaps even go to the pool (that will be a first for me) and watch a show tonight (also a first). So for the first time ever, a day in Vegas not playing poker. Odd. But it feels right. I"m trying to focus on tomorrow, so if I played a $200 tournie, or some $1/$3 cash, my mind wouldn"t really be on it.
I"m sure none of you are that bothered by the delights of the pool, or the trickery of Penn & Teller, so I"ll leave you alone now until tomorrow. As with the $1,111 event, I"ll try and post after each two-hour session.
-
Loving the thread Joe, I"m sure you aren"t the first main eventer to have the day off before the ME, time to chill take stock or whatever and save your strength as I"m assuming the ME is a strength sapper.
You know what to do I"m sure so rest up & then go and do what you do best & enjoy
Shaz
p.s. run good too x
-
Penn & Teller show is meant to be REALLY good.
Best of luck with Poker!
-
Good luck today Joe, will be following the updates and hope you run good. WSOP main event, every poker players dream! glglgl
-
Good luck Joe - one time and all that
-
Good luck today Joe.....enjoy it!!
-
Day 5 - Sunday 7th July
Difficult sleeping last night. Nerves? Or just generally not feeling great? Feeling better now, but decided to play safe for breakfast and went for a yoghurt and fruit combo. Watched the Murray Final. What a match! I think Djokovic was slightly off his game (knackered from the semi, I reckon), but Murray did play well. I was particularly impressed that he was a break down in the second and third sets and still came back. That last game was a nightmare. I reckon that if he had lost that game he might have lost in five.
Anyway, I"m 30 minutes away from kick-off. All very exciting. I will update after each two-hour level. They don"t have 25/50 or 75/150, which is a bit harsh, but then they are two-hour levels and it"s the same for everyone. I"ll cope!
-
Good luck Joe, rooting for you!
-
I told you Murray would win.
I also said you should win it all at the WSOP so I hope you do otherwise I will be gutted that my powers have been sapped.
-
(http://blondepoker.com/forum/Smileys/default/popcorn.gif)
-
Best of luck us....................I can smell 5,000,000 :o :o :o :o :o
-
Level 1 - (50/100) - 29,150 chips left.
I played no hands for 20 minutes. My first hand is a speculative call with KQs in the SB after a raise and a call. The flop is AJ5. I check and so do the other two. Turn a ten. Nice. But there are two diamonds and two clubs. So I bet 500 (nearly the size of the pot) and they both call. River the queen of clubs. Annoying. I check, next bloke bets, the other bloke raises! I fold and the other bloke calls. The re-raiser has the nut flush.
Hand 2: about 40 minutes in I get JJ in the SB. There"s a raise and a call (from the loose bloke who looks like Chan the dual Main Event winner) and I re-raise. They both call. Hmm. The flop is T66, so I bet and they both fold. That was my only decent hand.
Hand 3: I have ATs and raise from mid-position. SB and BB both call (Chan is the BB). Flop is Q87. Check, check, and I bet. The SB raises. Oops! Should have taken the free card.
I raise a couple of times to steal and they get through, so I"ve lost less that a thousand, but Chan is out already. He played every other hand! Apparently he is a pro and does very well. Not in two-hour level tournaments. One bloke is already on about 50k. The bloke to my right is nice, and he is hitting all sorts of cards. He"s had two boats already! He"s on about 45k. There"s a very nervous Italian opposite me in seat one (I"m in seat 4) and in seat 7 is a bloke who looks like Ross Boatman. Nice table. I"ll get back to you in two hours. Still a bit annoyed they took two of the smaller levels out. The pot already get quite big at times.
-
Good Luck Joe, keep calm and smash it to pieces!
-
Keep it up Joe....marathon not a sprint!
-
Level 2 - 100/200 - 31,325 chips left.
Lots more going on in this level. First hand back I get QQ. I raise and get one caller. Flop is J43, two clubs. I bet and he calls. We both check the eight of clubs and then both check the two of clubs. Nasty. I show and he mucks. Then Beppe from Eastenders turns up in seat 9 to replace Chan. Nice. Then there was an annoying one where I almost call with QT in the SB (probably shouldn"t anyway) and the flop is J98. Cheers then! Then I get AQs in the BB. UTG just calls, there are three other callers, so I raise it up to 900. Only UTG calls (dodgy!). I bet the Q77 flop and he calls. I bet the turn and he folds. Phew! I thought he might be doing one of those UTG calls with AA. I then get AA, finally! I raise. Everyone folds. Hmm. I"m now up to about 38k, but I then have a bad 45 minutes. The same UTG just calls, Beppe raises to 800, SB calls and I call, then UTG makes it 3300. Annoying. I had to fold 99. Then the same UTG raises when I have JT in the BB. The Italian bloke in seat 1 calls as well, so if he had made it 500 I would definitely call, but I decide to fold. Flop is KQ9 rainbow. Grrrr! I then decide to steal from the button with 75 and a tricky player (Boatman lookalike) calls. The flop is 998. He checks, I bet an he calls. We check the turn, and I fold to his bet on the river. More chips gone. Finally, I get AK and raise, and the big stack calls in the BB. Flop is QT5. I bet and he calls. Turn is a 9 and we both check. The river is a king, which is great, except there are three hearts and only a jack is required for a straight. He bets 2k and I know I should fold but can"t help myself. He has J9. So back to square one. The bloke to my right is still hitting all sorts. He hit two sets in two hands, and showed them both. I sense he will lose a very big pot soon. Hopefully to me! Beppe is on 20k, if your interested!
-
All good mate. You"re obv. reading things well, apart from the pre-flop folds ;).
Grind away my boy, grind away.
-
Great updates BOL Joe
-
Level 3 - 150/300 - 34,050 chips left at the end of the level.
Another busy level. I"ll try and use paragraphs this time!
Hand 1: I raise UTG with 99 (is that too loose in the ME?), one caller. Flop J74, I bet 1,100 and he calls. Turn the Qh giving three hearts. I bet 2,500 and he calls. I don"t like this! The river is a two and I check fold. Annoying. Down to 26k.
Hand 2: Mr UTG does one of his UTG calls and Beppe makes it 1500. I make it 4k from the BB with TT. Beppe gives me a right old stare before folding. Up to 29k.
Hand 3: seat 8 raises (the big stack) to 900, the loose bloke to my right calls, so I go for a squeeze on the button with 22. I make it 3,200. The big stack makes it 8k. Oops.
Hand 4: the very next hand I get AK and raise, no callers. On 25k.
Hand 5: I raise the button with As9s and the BB calls. The flop is jack high with two spades. He bets 1300 and I call (I think I should have raised). The turn is the Qc and he bets 2,300. I fold, painfully.
Hand 6: I get QQ against the same bloke and he calls my raise. Flop is JT5. I bet and he calls. Turn is an eight. I check call. River is another ten. I check and so does he. My queens are good. He says he was thinking of pushing. I was planning to call a smaller bet, but calling a push? Not sure I would have.
Hand 7: the Italian raises in late position and I call from the SB with KJ. A bit loose, but he has show some dodgy hands and folded to bets/raises. The flop is A42. I bet to rep the ace and he calls. Hmm. Jack on the turn, although I"m not sure that helps. I check, he makes it 1,300 and I raise to 4k. He folds. So a nice last 20 minutes that puts me up to 34k.
This is a tough grind! Also, although the levels are two hours, we are up to 150/300 already, and the pots can get out of hand very quickly. I still have over 100 BBs, though, so nothing to worry about. I should go and get something to eat...
-
Forgot to mention - the Beppe banter has got quite amusing. I"m clearly the only one who knows he was on Eastenders. Actually, I"m the only one who knows what Eastenders is! Beppe is pretending that he plays football in Japan or some s**t like that. All very amusing. Plus, Liz Hurley has turned up to watch Warne. Reasonably attractive...
-
Head down feed the winger. Keep going matey
-
Level 4 - 150/300/25 - 28,975 chips left at the end of the level.
In the first 15 minutes I have AK, two callers and they fold the flop bet, then I have QQ and they all fold to my raise. Then I get QQ again and Beppe calls the button. Flop K66, I bet and he calls. This turn is a jack, I bet and he folds.
After an hour there is a hand where the Italian raises, loose bloke next to me calls and I make it 2300 from the BB. They both call, then the flop has a king and a queen so that"s the end for me in that hand. They tell me afterwards (and they are believable) that they had JJ and KJ. The Italian said he almost folded the JJ and the loose bloke said he would have folded if the Italian had folded. Hmm.
Next, the big stack (I can"t win anything from him!) raises and the loose bloke calls on the button so I call in the SB with AdJd. Flop is 983 with two diamonds. So I check raise and the big stack calls. There is an eight on the turn and I bottle it and check, he bets and I fold. He shows QT for the gutshot, so I was ahead regardless on the flush draw. Very annoying. I need to grow a pair.
Not much after that. With 15 minutes of the level left we all get moved, which is a shame. I play no hands on the new table. One level to go before Day 2! I"d love to chip up a bit, but making Day 2 would be great too, so we shall see. I"m quite tired so I must avoid any "fancy play syndrome". Back in two hours...
-
Keep Calm and Make Day 2
-
Level 5 - 200/400/50 - 36,675 chips left at the end of the level.
So I"m at a new table, and it"s one of those tables where everyone is young enough to be my son, all deadly serious and raises are ALWAYS 800, or some s**t like 825, like it makes a difference. I try and buck the trend with raises of 900; I daren"t go into 1100/1200 zone because they would think I was mad. And anyway, they actually fold when someone makes these small raises.
So I have nothing for 45 minutes. I steal once to keep my stack at about 27k. Then I get JJ in the SB. There"s a raise, a call, so obviously I re-raise and I get one caller. The flop is all low, so I bet and he folds. Easy game! The very next hand I have A8s on the button (clearly). This bloke to my immediate right is raising nearly every hand, so I re-raise, only to see the short stack in the BB go all in for about 8k. Just a little too much. I fold. Two steps forward; one step back.
Into the last hour, and I raise with KQ and get one caller. It"s a low flop, he checks, I bet, he folds. Nice. For the first time in ages I am over 30k. I then decide to get all tight and fold AJ when UTG+1 and see two blokes get busy on a flop that is jack high rainbow, and another jack on the turn. Annoying. I re-raise a stealer from the SB with 87 and it gets through. I raise with KQ and some old bloke to my immediate left calls. Flop is 862, I bet and he calls. Turn is a 2. I bet and he calls. Oops! River is a queen (result!) and I check hoping to check/call, but he checks too and has 87. Still a result! It"s the first river I"ve hit all day! Right at the end I get a nice little AQ with one caller, a queen high flop and he folds to my bet. So a very productive last half hour. Day 2 is on Tuesday. Bring it on!
-
Thanks for the great write ups Joe. Good luck on Tuesday............!!
-
Very nice result for the day.
Rest up and just play your game on Day 2.
-
Keep the reports coming, the very best of luck for Day 2 !!
-
A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.....nice quote from John Juanda imo!!
Wp mate 1st leg of journey complete....got plenty of chips to play with as prob just below av which is fine.
Wp again and glgl for Tuesday....have a nice day off!!
-
Well done that man. Already excited about Tomorrow. Glm8
-
Well done Joe, great updates as well, keep it all going. Enjoy.
-
Gogogogo Joe!
-
Great stuff Joe - live the dream mate!
All the best for Tuesday - and beyond!
-
Day 6 - Monday 8th July
I actually managed to sleep continuously for a whole five hours last night! That is a real result given my history with sleep and Vegas. Feel fine. Plan today is to take it easy and, again, not to play poker, although having said that I am meeting up with some friends tonight at the MGM to eat at Robuchon, so I might go up there for about 3pm and play a few hours of cash. Before that I might venture out to the pool again after the unexpectedly successful foray the other day. I"ll get some reading done too.
Just checked the official chip counts on the WSOP website. Apparently I am on a table with Annette Oberstad tomorrow. She is the big stack in seat nine, and I"m in seat three, so she"ll be stealing my blinds every other round. It will be interesting to see her in action.
P.S. thanks for all your words of encouragement!
-
Day 6 - Monday 8th July
I actually managed to sleep continuously for a whole five hours last night! That is a real result given my history with sleep and Vegas. Feel fine. Plan today is to take it easy and, again, not to play poker, although having said that I am meeting up with some friends tonight at the MGM to eat at Robuchon, so I might go up there for about 3pm and play a few hours of cash. Before that I might venture out to the pool again after the unexpectedly successful foray the other day. I"ll get some reading done too.
Just checked the official chip counts on the WSOP website. Apparently I am on a table with Annette Oberstad tomorrow. She is the big stack in seat nine, and I"m in seat three, so she"ll be stealing my blinds every other round. It will be interesting to see her in action.
P.S. thanks for all your words of encouragement!
enjoy and GL Joe
-
According to the chip counts on the main site there is one bloke called Channing just below you!
You"re in good company!
-
Enjoy & enjoy your day, should be interesting!!!
-
By the way, I forgot to tell you yesterday about this mad hand between the loose player to my immediate right and this old bloke to my immediate left. I"m in the SB with rubbish, loose bloke raises to something like 800 (I think we were at 150/300) and the old bloke goes all in for 16k! Although this is a depleted stack, it"s still over half the starting stack and, more importantly, he has over 50 big blinds. Anyway, the loose bloke starts thinking, and eventually decides to call with AQ! To be fair, he was on about 50k already given all the luck he had had, but still! The old bloke had AK, and there was a queen on the turn. Both of them had a shocker! Also, check out Neil Channing"s tweets from yesterday. Very amusing. He was on a table with some mad bloke who was making plays like this all the time. That"s probably why he struggled to get going stack-wise.
-
Well done for surviving day 1 and good luck for day 2.
I"m really impressed how you are preserving a good stack and not spewing too much on draws. You are still in great shape and playing deep. There are enough players who will donate a stack in day 2
-
Will you put the latest chip count at the end of the post rather than the beginning then we get to read the details before finding out what you ended the level on? Adds to the excitement ;D
Keep it up. BTW Obrestad thinks that anyone who donk bets is generally weak. I"ve heard her say it more than once. Donk into her with your value hands. GL.
-
Shudda pm"d that advice Andy. Now she"ll be aware of what Joe is going to do.
-
Very best of luck
-
It"s Tuesday now, but I"ll fill you in on yesterday"s japes. I spent some time at the pool and reading, had the yoghurt and fruit combo from Starbucks for lunch, and then went over to the MGM for about 3pm. The MGM seems to have changed. I do remember that they were doing work on it last year, but I struggled to find my bearings. I eventually find the poker room and it"s in a bit of a soulless corner of the casino, but they have free WiFi, so that"s OK!
I sit down at a $1/$2 table with $300 and its the usual affair - all raises are about $10 (sometimes $7, sometimes $12) and get three callers. Mad. I decide to be tight, but obviously it doesn"t work out that way. I get into some pots with a very loose player, win some and lose some. I didn"t make notes so don"t remember all the hands, but a couple stand out. UTG raise to $7 (an unusually small raise; only 3.5 x BB!) and there are two callers by the time it gets to me and I look down at AA. Obviously I don"t want too may callers, so I make it $25. The loose bloke calls from the SB and so do the other three. WTF! Flop is something like KT7. UTG bets $25, fold, fold, then I make it $80, loose bloke folds and the bettor looks at me like I"m made and folds. That was the bright spot. Given that I ended up $230 down there were more grim stories, most of which I have conveniently forgotten. I do remember one hand where I raise with AsKs, get one caller (unusual) and the flop is king high, but all diamonds. I bet, he calls. The turn is another diamond. Nasty. So I check, he bets about $35, and I decide to see where I am and so raise to $100. He calls, although there"s some controversy because he says "call" but then says "can I go all in" to the dealer. It is decided that he has to wait until the river. So I fold on the fiver and show my AK, and he has AdQs. Annoying. I"ve just remembered another hand where I had QQ, there"s a raise, I re-raise and some old bloke just calls in the SB. The flop is jack high, and he goes all in for his last $100. I think for a bit, and am close to folding. I reckon that he ought to have re-raised with AA or KK. So I call, and he has KK. All very annoying.
Anyway, my friend, Clare, who is a teacher at Brighton College, arrives at about 5pm. We have monthly poker games with some teachers at Brighton College. £10 buy-in, 20 minute levels, one optional re-buy. Clare has played a few so knows the game but is inexperienced. She is no mug, but has never played in a casino. She sits down at the table with $200. She said to me afterwards that she wanted to put up only $100 but didn"t want to look too short stacked as she lost money! So she is UTG for her first hand and raises. Hmm. She gets about four callers, obviously. I can"t remember the cards, except that she kept betting too little, so everyone kept calling. At showdown, she has AA and takes down $100! All very amusing!
She then proceeds to run like a god. I can"t remember all the hands, but one that sticks in the memory is where there is an ace high flop and the other two cards are spades. She calls bets all the way as two more spades come down. At showdown she has As6h and the other bloke has KsQs! So she ends up with a bit over $600 having been at $700 at one point. All very amusing!
We go up to the room before dinner so that I can get a look at the room. The rooms are nicer than at the Rio, but smaller. I think they must have re-furnished the whole hotel. Then to dinner at Robuchon. Even though Clare rung up to confirm, the booking is in the three Michelin star restaurant rather than the one star L"Atellier version. I think we all would have rather been in the more informal restaurant, but give a **** - the food was amazing!
Taxi home and then straight to bed. I fall asleep quickly at 11pm (I think) but still manage to wake up at 4am. It seems to be impossible for me to sleep for longer than five hours.
-
Gll mate looking fwd to the updates
-
Thanks for the updates, I"m enjoying the read and good luck today
And just for fun... $100 to see where you were is a bit spewy $80 would have got the same answer ;)
-
Level 6 - 250/500/50
No hands for half an hour. Then Anette (AO from now on) raises to 1k, I make it 2800 from the BB with QQ, she folds. I raise the button with QJ, BB calls. Flop A25, he checks, I bet and he folds. I"m treading water. Then an interesting hand where AO calls very street to the bloke on my left (he bets too small each time) and shows 64 for a pair of fours! He had AQ and had missed. Then there is a raise and two calls and I have Q8 in the BB. I hate hands like this, so fold even though I"m getting massive odds. Flop is Q85. Very annoying!
That"s all that happened until about 15 minutes before the break, and I was so close to getting up early for the break because I had just realised that I had left the safe open in my room with $2000 in cash in it. But I didn"t. I raise to steal with 76 in the cutoff. The BB (a big stack) calls. The flop is king high and all diamonds. I"m nowhere near it. He checks, I bet 2200 and he raises to 6500. I fold. Then I get AK and raise. Two callers: the big stack and the the bloke next to him who is a bit short and has played no hands (literally) for the two hours. Flop is J33. We all check. Turn is a queen. I check again, big stack checks and the small stack bets 1k. I decide to raise to 3200 (a mistake, in hindsight) and he calls. I check the river, which was another queen, and he bets 5k. I fold. He clearly wanted a call. I end the level on 27,125 and if I had left 15 minutes earlier I would have been on about 36k. Very annoying!
-
no probs mate still 40 bigs. "Whose da Grinda????"
-
Level 7 - 300/600/75
First hand, the bloke to my left who is a bit short with 17k decides to go all in (mad - he"s not that short!). AO thinks for a bit then calls. Everyone else folds, obviously. AO has AA, short stack has JJ. Idiot! I then get TT, AO raises, I re-raise and she folds. Then I get 99 UG+1 and raise, everyone folds except the BB, who has me covered and is loose. Flop is 642. He checks, I bet, he calls. Turn is a queen. He checks I bet (perhaps I should have checked, but I wanted to appear strong) and he calls. River is a horrible five, so lots of straights and there are now three diamonds. He bets 11k. ****. I tank fold. He could easily have had nothing, but I couldn"t risk it. Down to 17k. All very depressing!
I call a raise from AO with Q9s. Flop is A95. She bets, I call to float. Turn a king. I bottle it and check. Such an error. Obviously she bets and I fold. I"m really getting quite short now on only 13k. AO raise, loose bloke re-raises and I have AQ on the button. All in! Very scary! The first time for me all tournament. They both fold. Up to 19k. AO raises (again!) and the bloke to my right calls. I make it 3500 with KK (at last, a hand!). She calls and he folds. I am probably pushing any flop with my last 12k. It comes 632 with two hearts. She checks, I push, and she calls rather too quickly. She has KhTh for the flush draw. ONE TIME! Turn a king, but I"m still in danger. River a six for the boat. Massive phew! Back to 36k. I"m folding for half an hour now!
Literally the hand after I wrote that, I decide to raise UTG with 9c8c. Big stack re-raises, and I"m about to fold, when I see that someone else has called him, giving me a decent price. So I call. Flop is K74 with two clubs, so I bet out, the big stack calls and the other bloke folds. The turn is not a club (I really am not hitting anything) but a five. I bet again and he pushes. So annoying. What the **** was I thinking. I even typed "I am folding for the next half an hour". Such an idiot. Back to 17k.
I get AQ in the cutoff. There"s an EP raise and I just call. Flop is all low and all clubs, and I have the queen of clubs. He bets, I call. I miss again on the turn, he bets and I fold. I seriously need some luck! Down to 14k. Raised with 55, button calls and the big stack, who never let"s me get away with it, re-raises and I fold. The other bloke calls and the flop is QT9, so best stay our of that one. He had JJ. A depressing level. Down to 11k.
-
Yeah good luck mate, show the bitch whose ad daddy!!!!!!
-
Level 8 - 400/800/100
All a bit desperate now. I"ve pushed four times in one hour, but no callers. Up to 14k. Card dead, though. So annoyed about the 98 hand. FOLD! Best hands these last two hours: AT and 88. I"ve pushed about eight times and never been called. Lucky, I suppose, but I really could do with a double up. On 14k. On dinner break now.
-
Level 9 - 500/1000/100
I go through a set of blinds, and then get AJ in mid-position. I push, and the BB has AK. It"s all over. I"m sorry everyone. I know a played a couple of hands badly, and got involved when I shouldn"t on the odd occasion (and wasn"t involved when I should have been, although more rarely), but I also had a distinct lack of hands today. I might play a Venetian event tomorrow. See how I feel.
-
Nothing to be sorry about Joe. Was great fun to be apart of this and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Very well done, it was emotional........
-
Seconded....
-
Nothing to apologise for Joe.
Some horrible spots there.
-
Unlucky mate.....tried your best and played pretty well by sounds of it.....nothing to be sorry about!!
Gl in Venetian if u play it
-
Loved being on the rail for this. Chin up Joe, go smash up the Venetian :)
-
Unlucky Joe, a great read, you didn"t do too much wrong at all. Now go and tear it up at the Venetian !
-
Many thanks for the excellent updates Joe.. I can see you played your heart out and as a staker that"s all I can ask for, thanks for the sweat.. Please do it all again next year ;D
-
Many thanks for the excellent updates Joe.. I can see you played your heart out and as a staker that"s all I can ask for, thanks for the sweat.. Please do it all again next year ;D
+1 100% agree with this.
-
Thanks for the updates Joe. wp and there"s always next year.
-
Great updates Joe
I think you played most of the hands spot on.
If I could be critical, there was a little bit too much results orientated thought in the write ups. I"m not going to quote directly but documenting hands where " I fold Q9, flop comes down Q9x" etc. do not help your mental state.
When you make a correct fold (like all of these hands were), just move on. If you were the sort of player that peeled these hands regularly, you would soon be poor from this game. Luckily you are not, just don"t let it eat you up when these hands hit.
I was also impressed how well you played your draws. You commented on "bottling it" in a few spots, but I reckon you were playing smart "small ball". There are a load of players in the ME sat on the rail,scratching there head wondering how they got into a huge pot with Ace high and a load of outs. It was just a shame you hardly hit a turn or river as there were probably players who would happily pay you off.
Enjoy the rest of the trip
-
Enjoyed reading this also, would love to play this as most of us would, would still find it difficult handing over $10k though, well played, enjoy the rest of your stay.
-
Day 8 - Wednesday 10th July
I was knackered last night, and so was asleep by about 10.30pm. I woke up at about 2.30am. The usual four hours, but I managed to fall asleep again and not wake up until about 7.30am. I think that says a lot. Although I never felt nervous playing the Main Event, I think there might have been some subliminal nervousness that stopped me sleeping properly and perhaps caused the odd mistake. Those mistakes were small, but crucial. I can"t believe that I actually typed "I"m folding for half an hour now" and then played 98s the very next hand. That"s just nonsense! Having said that, if I had hit that draw, I would have been on 70k plus and laughing. The other issue of the two days: I never really hit any big hands. My biggest double up was with AO when I had kings, but that wasn"t me hitting a hand; that was AO trying to hit a flush draw and, luckily, she missed.
I was thinking of playing the $1,600 Venetian event today at 12 noon, but after a long think, I reckon that"s just a bit too much given how much I"ve spent already this holiday! Usually the 12 noon event is $400-$600, and that would have been perfect, but the buy-in just so happens to be one of the big ones today. There is a $400 "survivor" event at 4pm at the Venetian, so the plan is to have lunch at Bouchon at the Venetian and then play this 4pm event. Not sure what the "survivor" bit means. All will be revealed soon!
Had a nice lunch at a place called "Pinot" in the Venetian because Bouchon closed at 1pm. I remember this happening a couple of years ago. Why close for lunch when lunch is just beginning? I"ve got a feeling that I also went to Pinot that time because the Lobster Bisque is very familiar. Anyway, the 4pm event is a survivor event, and apparently this means 10% of the field gets paid, but they all get paid the same, which is $3,400. That"s ten times the buy in after they take out the rake and the dealers" fee. The levels are 30 minutes; not perfect, but the dealers use one of those shuffling machines, so that speeds things up so we are effectively playing 35/40 minute levels.
I get more hands in the first two hours than I did for the 14 hours of play in the Main Event! About the third hand I call a raise with ATs and the flop is QTT. (I didn"t hit a flop that hard the whole of the Main Event!) I check, he bets, I raise and he re-raises. I think for a bit. Does he really have QT? He can"t have QQ. So I call and plan to check/call it down. I do exactly that on the turn, and we both check the river. He has T9. Then I call a raise from a loose bloke with KJ. I bet the jack high board and he folds. So I"m on 20k after five minutes (we started with 12k).
Then nothing for 45 minutes, then I get AA on the button. This clueless player (CP) raises, there"s a caller and I re-raise. CP calls, as does the other bloke. The flop is K74 rainbow. CP goes all in for his last 2300 (he"s already played a lot of rubbish hands and lost a lot) and I call. He has 65 for the straight draw and hits the four on the turn. So I"m back to 13k. Then I get KK, raise, and get three callers. Flop is 744. I bet and they all fold. So many hands that I needed more often yesterday! Then I get AK against CP. He is short so I just go all in on the A66 flop. I probably should have checked because he would have probably bet. He folds. I then get KK again (!) and a bloke with only 6k left goes all in. I call and he has AJ. Ace on the turn. Cheers then! Are big hands a curse? I"m back to square one even though I"ve had lots of good hands.
Then I get ATs in early position and decided to just call (mix it up!). There"s another call and the loose bloke raises, so I call and the other bloke also calls. Flop is KT8 and its checked round. Turn is an ace, so I go all in and they both fold. I"m on 10k now. Then I get AK two hands running! The first time I"m in the BB and there"s a raise, I re-raise, he calls. I bet the king-high flop and he folds. Second time exactly the same, but I bet the jack high flop and he folds (a different "he"). Nice. Now on 17k. Finally, before the break (after fours levels and two hours) I get AK again, she raises, I re-raise and she calls. Flop is AA2. She checks, I bet, she calls. Same on the turn. On the river, she checks, I bet and she folds. 21k at the break. Very nice.
After the break, the good hands where much rarer. Nothing for 30 minutes, then I re-raise from the button and he folds. Another 30 minutes later I get AKs. There"s a raise, I re-raise, the SB calls and the raiser folds. The flop is queen high. He checks, I bet, he calls. The turn puts a third heart out there. We both check (perhaps I should bet here? I sensed he had a big). He bets the river and I fold. I"m down to 12k, but the average is now 25k and the blinds 400/800/100, so I"m in trouble. I get TT early position, raise and everyone folds. Then a really stupid hand. It"s folded to the SB and he min-raises my BB. He is the sort of player that will fold to a raise, so I re-raise and he pushed. I should have pushed or folded. Poor. So I"m down to 9k. Not many hands later, it"s folded to me in the cutoff, I go all in with KQ and the button calls with AQ. Ace on the flop to rub salt into the wounds. I"m out in about 65th out of 144. A shame, because it all looked so good after the first break.
A quiet aevening, but I did go back to the Wine Cellar, once I realised that I can get 25% off because I played in the WSOP. All very agreeable.
-
Good effort mate, shame you didn"t see a few more of the in the ME. >:(
-
Day 9 - Thursday 11th July
I played one of the WSOP deep stacks today. Quite good value for $235. There were 427 runners, and so the top prize was $20k. Not bad, although earlier in the series (they ran every day throughout the seven weeks) they were getting 1500 runners with massive top prizes.
Anyway, I could bore you with all the details, and will post if you want them, but I just went out lasting until Level 11 and came about 85th. They were paying 45. I had a hand towards the end where I had JJ against AT and he hit an ace, which was a bit annoying. That would have put me on 90k with 1.5k/3k blinds, and I probably would have cashed. Never mind.
So the first Vegas holiday where I haven"t cashed in a tournament. Never mind! There"s always next year!
-
Very excited about being selected for the England team! A real honour!
Thought I"d better get some PLO practice in, so last night I played a $10 MTT on Stars and came 10th out of 72 (they paid nine), and then tonight (last night really) I played the £75 PLO at the Grosvenor Brighton as part of the GUKPT festival (sadly I can"t play the Main Event - up in London on Sunday).
We started with 7,500 in chips, 30-minute levels (but they didn"t miss any) and there were only 32 runners. A slow start. I made a bad call early on and lost 2k, then clawed my way back, but after three hours I was still only on about 8k. At the time I started hitting the odd hand, suddenly players were dropping like flies, and before I knew it I was on the Final Table. They paid five, and there were three very short stakes, so before long I had cashed! With four left we chopped for £585 each, and then played on for the trophy (!) and the £500 added value (a tournament token, I think). Obviously I went card dead. The final hand summed it up. I get my very small stack in with AAQx and get called. The flop is 664 and he had 64xx (with the xx being s**t s**t). Never mind. It was getting late and it was clear from half an hour earlier that I wasn"t going to win. Came third though.
All set for DTD now!
-
Very excited about being selected for the England team! A real honour!
Thought I"d better get some PLO practice in, so last night I played a $10 MTT on Stars and came 10th out of 72 (they paid nine), and then tonight (last night really) I played the £75 PLO at the Grosvenor Brighton as part of the GUKPT festival (sadly I can"t play the Main Event - up in London on Sunday).
We started with 7,500 in chips, 30-minute levels (but they didn"t miss any) and there were only 32 runners. A slow start. I made a bad call early on and lost 2k, then clawed my way back, but after three hours I was still only on about 8k. At the time I started hitting the odd hand, suddenly players were dropping like flies, and before I knew it I was on the Final Table. They paid five, and there were three very short stakes, so before long I had cashed! With four left we chopped for £585 each, and then played on for the trophy (!) and the £500 added value (a tournament token, I think). Obviously I went card dead. The final hand summed it up. I get my very small stack in with AAQx and get called. The flop is 664 and he had 64xx (with the xx being s**t s**t). Never mind. It was getting late and it was clear from half an hour earlier that I wasn"t going to win. Came third though.
All set for DTD now!
vwd that man and huge congrats on the call up.
-
Great read on the WSOP Main updates.
Such an incredible experience and sure that you have learned so much for next year.
Congrats on the England Seat, bring that trophy back home.
Good luck
-
Just read Paulie"s blog about how we don"t blog enough, so here goes. Sadly, not poker related.
Just coming to the end of nine days in France. Pretty good weather and lovely food, as you"d expect. This is the one time in the year where I try to do nothing and read some books. The one that really got to me this year was "Stoner" by John Williams. Don"t worry if you haven"t heard of it; it was published in 1965 but I read something about it in one of those "what you should read at the beach this summer" pieces in the paper. Apparently it"s a classic and the bloke in the paper said he had re-read it recently and it is a must-read.
So anyway, it"s the fictional account of a bloke called William Stoner, born in about 1890 to farmers in the middle of nowhere somewhere in America. His dad sends him to university when he"s 20 to learn new agricultural stuff, and at a standard English course that he has to take he catches the bug, swaps to English, does a masters and a PhD and ends up teaching English at the same university. The book basically takes you through his life until he dies, about a week after he retires, in 1956.
Anyway, the reason why the book grabbed me so much is that I"ve never read a fictional book where the character got me so annoyed. He"s a nice man, but never stands up for himself. I would give examples but I don"t want to spoil it. It is very well written and you must read it. It"s less than 300 pages, in case you were wondering.
Sounds like I missed out viz Cardiff! Sounds like there were a lot of thirsty people down there (across there?). Well done, Phil, on surviving the stag, and I look forward to seeing you all at DTD. Exciting!
Must go for a dip in the pool.
By the way, WiFi seems to be free in all French hotels. Thought you"d like to know.
-
Happy Birthday Joe buy you a beer at the next APAT I see you at x
-
Cheers Phil!
Can"t believe it"s been over two months since I posted here. Very poor. Term time is mad. 7.30am to 7pm, then work when you get home. Barely played any poker. Half term coming up, though, and hoping to play the £200 at the Rendezvous on Saturday 26th.
I hope all is well at your end!
-
Been a long time. Not much poker in that time, but some other stuff including, err, getting married! All done yesterday. Very exciting!
-
Congrats mate.....wish u both all the best
-
Been a long time. Not much poker in that time, but some other stuff including, err, getting married! All done yesterday. Very exciting!
Congrats Joe
-
Congratulations Joe, all the very best to you both.
-
Many congrats !!
-
Congrats Joe :)
-
Been a long time. Not much poker in that time, but some other stuff including, err, getting married! All done yesterday. Very exciting!
You"re posting about it on your wedding night???
Now that"s commitment to a blog.
Congrats mate
-
Congratulations Joe and Mrs Joe!
-
Been a long time. Not much poker in that time, but some other stuff including, err, getting married! All done yesterday. Very exciting!
You"re posting about it on your wedding night???
Now that"s commitment to a blog.
Congrats mate
Lol, Saturday night would have been his wedding night, Matt. Clue is in the word "yesterday".
Congrats Joe.
-
Congratulations Joe.
-
We"ll you kept that quiet during conversation at Stratford! congratulations Joe and Mrs Joe!!
-
Been far too long. Played far too little this year - I think Stratford was the only major event for me!
No Vegas for the first time in five years due to getting married (all going well!). So obviously I"ve already booked Vegas for next year. It"s either May half term, or straight after the end of term (26th June for me - sorry!). I have a wedding in that May week, so it has to be late June. The big WSOP events were released recently, and I was gutted to see I"ll be missing the Millionaire Maker at the start of June, but was then immediately happy when I found out that they have the Little Drop at the end of June, and this year it has (a) a bigger stack of 5k; and (b) if you pay the extra $111 (which everyone does) you get ANOTHER 5k in chips! I assume it will be one-hour blinds as usual.
So I"m flying out on Sunday 28th June, rest on the 29th (doubtful, with all the poker options around!) and then the 10am start on the 30th June. Already excited!
Anyone else going out at that time? Any advice on hotels? Harrah"s is the cheapest, and probably the most central, but it must be cheap for a reason. I always used to stay at the Imperial Palace, but it"s the LINQ now and more expensive. The Tripadvisor reviews are mixed (is it even finished yet?).
Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone and see you at Stratford!
-
Good to hear from you Joe!!......hope all going well mate and know what you mean about not playing much this year as been very quiet one for me too!!
Not sure what Flamingo price is coming in at but Ive stayed there a couple of times and its not too bad you know.....yeah bit tired but for the price I was getting it at I could handle that!!
Have a great NYE and all the best for 2015....hopefully catch up down Rendezvous sometime.
-
After a two year gap, only one sleep "till Vegas (in the Premier Inn North Terminal, if you"re interested!). The plan is to play the WSOP $1111 event on Tuesday, then the Golden Nugget Main Event ($560) and then the $777 WSOP event. I"ll keep you posted as per previous years (see the rest of this thread) assuming the internet is OK.
Excited!
-
After a two year gap, only one sleep "till Vegas (in the Premier Inn North Terminal, if you"re interested!). The plan is to play the WSOP $1111 event on Tuesday, then the Golden Nugget Main Event ($560) and then the $777 WSOP event. I"ll keep you posted as per previous years (see the rest of this thread) assuming the internet is OK.
Excited!
Best of luck mate. Bring it home please
-
After a two year gap, only one sleep "till Vegas (in the Premier Inn North Terminal, if you"re interested!). The plan is to play the WSOP $1111 event on Tuesday, then the Golden Nugget Main Event ($560) and then the $777 WSOP event. I"ll keep you posted as per previous years (see the rest of this thread) assuming the internet is OK.
Excited!
Best of luck mate. Bring it home please
+1, will be watching with interest ! ;)
-
Good luck out there Joe....hope to see u get the lot!!
-
Day 1 - Sunday 28th June
Flight delayed. A bit boring. Daytime flight, so a chance to catch up on a load of films. Started with Taken 3. Standard. Then Selma. Got me quite angry, actually. WTF was wrong with those people 50 years ago? Time for something more light hearted: Hot Tub Time Machine 2. As you do. The odd giggle, but basically a s**t film.
No queue at immigration. At all. Straight to the officer. Is that a record? Of course it meant we were all waiting 20 minutes for our bags. The taxi driver did the usual round trip. Explaining that you have been here before, etc., seems to have no effect. Next year I will either (i) start the conversation with "I only have $25, so you can go the long way and get no tip or the short way that we both know exists" (apparently there is "construction" going the other way; yeah right); or (ii) bring a map and actually direct him the shortest route. GPS on the phone is no good because it would cost the same as going the long way in data charges!
I"m staying at the Marriott Grand Chateau. It"s just off the strip behind PH and MGM, 200 yards from the strip. It has no casino, so it"s nice and quiet, and the rooms have a small kitchen which might be useful. Haven"t worked out how yet - perhaps cereal in the mornings? Off to buy-in for Tuesday"s event now. Might have to be a taxi given the walk to the Harrah"s shuttle looks a bit long.
-
Day 2 - Monday 29th June, 5am
So, I"ve still got that sleep issue in Vegas then! About three hours last night - not bad for me on the first night!
Back to yesterday...
I get a taxi to the Rio and buy into the $1,111 (Tuesday 10am start) and then have a look at the Big Drop where I see Trickett and Cody in action. Apparently it"s 40 minute blinds and the pros wanted it that way! Get back to the cash quicker! I then go over to see what"s happening in the Final Table area, and there"s Simon Trumper going great guns in the $10k PLO. There"s also quite a big Brit crowd with Barney Boatman and Andy Black. I bump into Adam who is on a break reporting on the Big Drop. We go and get a sandwich and then watch the PLO until the dinner break.
It"s now 9pm (5am UK time) and I"m struggling a bit. Adam suggests I go and play cash and see how I feel after an hour. I don"t want to miss the end of the PLO, but I have to get SOME sleep! So I find a $1/$3 table and sit down with $300. No hands for 30 minutes and I don"t even play marginal ones. Then it gets folded to me in the CO and I have Td8d and raise to $10 (the standard raise on this table). The BB calls and he"s been showing all sorts of rubbish. Flop is AK9 with two of my diamonds. He checks, I bet $20 to rep the ace. I assume he will fold, but he calls. Turn is a seven, and he bets $30. He"s obviously ahead here, but I have flush and straight draws and so call. River is a diamond, but another seven. He bets something quite big like $180. I am so sure I"m ahead that I call quite quickly, and he has 97 for the house. He probably shouldn"t be calling my flop bet. All very annoying, but being half asleep didn"t help. There"s no way I would call that in a tournament. Any 6, 10 or other diamond and I win; any other card and I don"t call on the river. Just the seven of diamonds that stitches me up! I decide to pass the PLO and go home. It"s still bloody hot at 11pm!
I feel a rest day coming on...
-
Still Monday 29th June, 7pm
Had quite a lazy day, although decided to go to Planet Hollywood and play the $80 4pm. Once I got there, it turns out they have a series going on like they have at the Venetian and Ceasar"s. They have a $150 PLO which sounds like fun. I"ve missed the first two levels, but decide to give it a go anyway. I managed to go through the whole two hours without winning a hand! When I got in cheap I missed. The only decent hand I had was AKQQ, the flop had an ace and I had to fold to a raise (he showed AA). Then the exit hand I go all-in with a set of tens and get a caller. He has a massive draw and hits his straight.
I then went to meet some friends who are in Vegas for a day. They got engaged in the Grand Canyon this morning! They were playing blackjack, and I managed to lose $60 there too. I did win the odd hand, though, unlike with the poker. I"m not sure I"ve ever played a tournament and not won at least one hand! Fingers crossed it"s all different tomorrow!
-
Day 3 - Tuesday 30th June
Reasonable amount of sleep last night. Got Wimbledon on the telly whilst getting ready, then a taxi to the Rio for the 10am start.
Only two of us there at the start, sharing everyone else"s blinds. It filled up pretty quickly. Not much to report for the first two levels. No big pairs. I had to fold 99 pre-flop to a raise and a re-raise. Had AQ three times, but I only hit once. I was on about 9500 towards the end of Level 2 when I got a bit Larry with 87. I raise mid-position to steal, the button calls and so does the BB. Flop is TT3; surely they all missed that! BB checks, I bet 550, the button calls and the BB folds. Turn a two. Obviously I should give it up here, but I reckon I have to bet to win, and so decide to bet 1100. He calls. Obviously I check fold the river. Ended the first two hours on 7500. Still loads of time, but it would be nice to get some decent hands!
-
Next two levels. Still card dead. Best hand for me: raising with AQ, two callers, queen on the flop, I bet and they both fold. That is literally my best hand of the four hours. I had QQ once, but UTG so everyone folds. Same thing with KK once. Probably the only hand of note is when I raised on the button with A7, and the BB calls. Flop is T93 and we both check. Turn is an eight, and it"s a third diamond and my ace is a diamond. He bets, I should have pushed, but I think for a bit and the raise would look less convincing, so I call. The river is an ace and he puts me all-in. I had a bad feeling and folded. Hmm. Anyway, I"m down to about 5k. Something needs to happen otherwise I won"t make the dinner break.
-
Levels 5 and 6. Still card dead. The odd steal, but no decent hands. I get as low as 3,500 and get it all-in and everyone folds. Sorel Mizzi is now at our table, as is Chris Moorman. In the middle of level 6 I"m on about 4k and there"s a raise, Mizzi calls, there"s a second caller, so I dump my stack in there with K9, hoping they"ll all fold. The raiser folds, Mizzi calls and the other bloke folds. Mizzi has KK. Oops! Flop is Q87. Possible runner runner straight? Turn a nine. Was hoping for a ten or six really. River a nine. BOOM! A bit embarrassing really. Still, I"m up to 9k. Then, a bit later, it gets folded to me in the SB, and I raise to steal and he calls. Annoying because I have 52. Flop is 557. Nice! Checking is too dull, so I bet and he goes all-in. I have to call. He can 86 for the straight draw, but misses, so I"m on 18k! I then get into a tangle with Moorhead when I raise the turn on a straight draw and miss. I bit lairy but that"s the sort of thing you do when you"ve been on 4k for two hours and suddenly you"re on 18k! On the dinner break now and I"m on 15k.
-
Levels 7 and 8. I continue to get no hands. In an effort not to look like the biggest rock of all time, I am raising the odd hand; some get through, some don"t. By the end of Level 7 I seem to have somehow dribbled down to about 7k. The tightest bloke on the table then raises late, and I push with A3. He has jacks. I hit an ace. Clearly the only way I"m going to survive in this tournament is to get lucky. Same story in Level 8. I have one good hand - QQ. Like last time I"m UTG, and also like last time everyone folds. This is a bloody tough grind! I"m on about 12k now. Not sure what the average is but I"ve got about 20 bigs. Moorman is doing well. Won a few lucky pots.
-
Level 9 was interesting. I only had one hand, but this time I got paid off. Moorman, as you would expect, raises quite a lot, and is not afraid to fold to a re-raise. So that"s what I did with not much and he folded. A few hands later I get QQ again. I raise to 1400 (blinds are 300/600/75), some old bloke calls and Moorman makes it 4800 from the SB. I don"t take long to stick my stack in, which was about 13k. The old man folds and Moorman calls, a bit reluctantly. He has AJ. Flop has a king and a ten on it, so I now need to avoid another queen as well as an ace, but I get away with it. I"m now up to 31k.
Level 10 is much like the others - no hands. I raise with AT and get re-raised, otherwise the odd steal but mainly a slow bleeding of chips. I get some back on the very last hand of the day. Moorman raises and I call with JT in the BB. Flop is 456 and we both check. Turn is a jack (handy), he bets 2k and I call. The river puts a fourth spade out there and it goes check/check. I pick up a nice pot and bag up 30,700. I have no idea how that relates to the average because the 4pm flight is still going. Back at 2pm tomorrow in the Amazon Room (10pm UK time).
-
nice work there Joe after what looks like u could have easily bled to nothing.....glgl tomorrow or today or whenever!!
-
Day 4 - Wednesday 1st July
Easy morning watching tennis and a quick dip in the pool. Got to the Rio a bit early to have lunch at the Hash-A-Go-Go, which has moved from the Imperial Palace.
Level 11 was a good one for me. Still not really getting hands, but after two rounds I thought I ought to raise one so that they don"t think I"m a total rock, so when it comes to me mid-position I raised I raise it up with K8. Two callers. Looks like I"m letting this one go! Flop is K84, but is all spades. Scary, but I have to bet. They both fold. Then the big hand. There"s a raise (CO+1) and a call (button), and I re-raise from the SB with TT. The raiser calls and the other bloke folds. I do the stare at him while the flop comes out thing, but he"s doing the same thing! After a few seconds of staring I go to bet, and see the ten on the board, although the AJT board is a bit scary. I bet 12k, he goes all-in and I think for a bit and also realise that he only has about 10k more, so I have to call. He has AQ, so he has outs but not many. He was a bit annoyed that I didn"t snap call, but it wasn"t that long. I"m up to 60k, average about 50k.
Level 12 is less good. Still no hands, so again decide I need to raise a hand. I go with 53, as you do. Get a call from the bloke next to me (the loudest American ever - he is essentially shouting when he talks. I wonder what his actual shouting is like?). We check the flop, then an ace comes on the river so I bet to represent and he calls. There goes 8k. He has AT. Then the same bloke min-raises when I"m in the BB. The SB calls so I"m getting a big price and call with K9. Flop is JT9 and we all check. Turn is a queen. Check, I bet my straight, and shouty man raises quite big. He obviously has AK. I have to fold. Towards the end of the level I get AK on the button and re-raise a stealer. He folds. The very next hand I get AT and raise to steal, which gets through, so I"m on about 46k, but the average is now over 60k. I think we are down to about 750 players, so the bubble will probably go before the next break. Fingers crossed I"m still there!
-
Joe, FYI, The Linq (formerly the IP) still has the HHAGG inside.
-
Must be branching out! Watch out Denny"s!
-
Levels 13 and 14 were pretty uneventful until the end. I got AJ in the BB, it"s folded round to the SB, he raises, I re-raise and he folds. With the antes, hands like this are getting pretty valuable. I then get JJ in the SB and call a raise. Flop is jack high and I decide to bet out. He folds. Thinking about it, I should have checked, but he was a lively player and I was hoping for a raise. But if I had checked he would probably have bet. Anyway, I get JJ again. There"s a raise, then a call and I really should have re-raised but decided to call. The flop is Q96. We all check. Turn is a three. Bet, call, and I decide to re-raise. A sort of turn squeeze. I knew the first bloke was weak, and the other one was fairly loose. So the first bloke folds and the second goes all-in. I have to fold and he shows 33 for the set on the turn. Really annoying! There were other hands - up a bit, down a bit, but they are difficult to remember after that annoying hand. Played it so badly! The irony is that I was dying for a piss but I didn"t want to miss any hands. After the AJ and the first JJ I thought I"d made a good decision to hold on. I wish I"d gone one hand earlier. After the second JJ hand there were two minutes to the break so I ran out to beat the queue, so I didn"t count the chips, but I was on about 53k before that hand so I must be down to 35k now. Cashing still possible, though. I think we"ve gone under 500 and they pay 468. Still haven"t had aces in two days.
-
Bubble Time! About half way through Level 15 we get to the point where all the dealers have to stand after a hand - quite a sight with 50 tables! It didn"t last long and then everyone was dropping like flies after that. Then at the end of the level, The Hand. The bloke who raised on the JJ hand raises (to 5.5k, blinds now 400/1200/2400), the bloke who called him in the JJ hand calls, and the button calls for good measure. I have AK, and I"m not flatting this time. I make it 15k. The original raiser thinks for a bit and goes all-in, and he covers me by miles. The other two get out of the way and I call. Perhaps I could have folded, but I only have another 30k behind and this was a great chance to get a serious stack. Anyway, the villain has TT (I thought he might be better than that). So the classic race, obviously you need to win some of these. First card on the flop is a ten. Game Over. I would have been on over 100k and just over the average. A shame, but I did get quite lucky twice yesterday, so no complaints. I"m still thinking about that JJ hand! Off to have dinner now and then home. The Golden Nugget Main Event tomorrow!
-
Nice cash Joe and vwp... Finally someone I"ve staked this year winning me some money in Vegas! Hope you"re having fun.
Simon
-
Day 5 - Thursday 2nd July
Woke up at 4.30am. Fairly standard. Perhaps I should just get pissed as a sort of more fun sleeping pill? I decide to go the the Golden Nugget early at about 10am, register and then have breakfast. A good idea because the registration queue is massive at the 11am start. There"s still a queue an hour later.
Half hour levels and 20k in chips. The levels rise to 45 mins after the second break (so after eight levels). It"s the first break, so we"ve had four levels and there"s not much to report. No hands, as usual. I"ve raised to steal occasionally with mixed results. With about 20 minutes to go I get 88 on the SB. There"s a raise and a call so I re-raise and the initial raiser calls. Ace high flop and I check/fold. The very next had I get 77 and just call the raise. Ace high flop and I fold the C-bet. So I"m down to about 17k, but then with five minutes to go there is a limped pot, which is unusual, and I"m in the BB with 86. Flop comes 763. Interesting. We all check. Turn is a 5 for my straight draw. The SB bets and I just call. Everyone else folds. The river is an ace and the SB bets again. I almost folded, but I sensed he was bluffing. He was one of those players capable of doing it. So I called with my pair of sixes and he had Q9. So I"m back up to 19k. Half hour levels fly by after the last two days, so the next two hours could be lively.
-
Next four levels. Not much for half an hour and then, at last, I get aces. I"m in the BB, so I"m obviously hoping for lots of action before it gets to me. UTG calls, then everyone folds to the button, who calls. Hmm. I raise and UTG re-raises. OK, so he"s probably got kings or queens. Button folds. I re-raise and he goes all in. Snap! He has AK, which is a bit odd. Surely he should avoid getting it all in? Anyway, a slight sweat with a king on the turn, but it"s fine. So I"m up to nearly 40k.
Then the very next hand I get AQ in the SB. There"s a raise, then a re-raise and I just call. Then the BB who has 3400 left after the previous hand goes all in. The re-raiser calls. Flop has an ace on it and I check, so does he. I bet the turn and he calls. I bet the river and he folds. So I win another decent pot and am up to about 50k. Nice!
A bit later there"s a hand with the bloke on my left, a new one who"s replaced the AK man. I raise with TT and he calls. Flop has two aces on it. I know nothing about him but I bet and he calls. Does he have the ace? We check the turn and then I put a small bet on the river. He calls. He has JJ. Hmm. I win a few small pots, then I have a bit of a nightmare just before the break. It"s folded to me in the SB (that"s rare on this table!). I call with A9s. The JJ man raises (blinds 75/300/600) to 2,500. I should just call here, but I decide to raise and plan to raise to 7k, but I have the wrong chip in my hand, and so instead of raising to 7k it ends up being 12k. If you"ve ever played at the GN you"ll know that the colours are similar, but there"s still no excuse. Schoolboy. Anyway, he goes all-in with 24k total. I almost have to call here but I fold because I know I only have three outs. He shows JJ (the JJ man obviously!). So I"m now on 35k, which is still pretty good. Nice that my first relationship with AA worked out so nicely! It looks like there are over 700 runners today, and there were at least 200 on the other two days, so we"ll have a prize pool of over half a million.
-
The blinds are now 45 minutes. I"m on dinner break now after levels 9, 10 and 11. Still a bit card dead. The only two hands of note where (i) KK UTG, I get two callers, I bet the flop and they both fold; and (ii) AK, I get one caller - JJ Man - and the flop comes JJ7. I C-bet and he calls. Turn is a seven. It all over for me. I check/fold and he shows a jack. He tells me after that he had KJ, so I was all over him pre-flop! Otherwise, it was a real grind with lots of stealing with mixed success. One costly attempt was when a loose bloke raised and another loose bloke called so I re-raised and the first bloke went all-in. Oops! That cost me 6k. Anyway, I"m down to about 18k now and we will be 300/800/1600 after the break, so it might not last much longer. By the way, we are down to about 300 nearly 800 runners, which surprised me. So the average is around 50k.
-
Levels 12-14 were massive. I try a raise with KQ (getting desperate) and there"s an all-in, so I let it go. I"m down to about 14k and decide to push with 98 UTG. I get called by this idiot that I forgot to mention before. He arrived at the table just before the last break. He was on his phone and tried to get back to hit seat before the first card was dealt but didn"t make it. The dealer said his hand was dead and he started to go a bit mad! The floor is called over and he tells the TD that the dealer is a liar! He gets a one round penalty, which extends past the dinner break. So we are all thinking someone will get his chips (he has quite a lot). So he calls by 98 with TT. Fair enough. I hit the straight on the turn, and the flush on the river for good measure. He"s not happy. Then I get AA in the BB. There"s a raise form a loose bloke, I re-raise and he calls. Flop is J44. I push and he snaps with 66. Suddenly I"m on about 60k! The very next hand I get KK! Mad bloke calls, I raise, he pushes and I snap. He has something like 76. Perhaps he thought he could do the same thing back to me, but the difference then was that I went all-in first, and I was desperate. So now I"m on about 130k!! I"m coasting after that. I call a raise with 44 and hit a set, although don"t get many chips. I re-raise with AK and get a caller. Flop is 345, he checks, I bet and he folds after a think. He tells be he had nines. What was he doing not betting? There were other smaller hands but I can"t remember them all. I"m on something like 160k now. No idea what the average is because the clock is all mucked up because they are trying to put all the finishers from the last two days down too. We are about to play two more levels then back for Day 2 tomorrow. Blimey!
-
We now play Level 15 and half of Level 16 because that"s what they did for the other two Day 1s. I drop about 20k in the first ten minutes, but then really get motoring for the last half hour. I get three or four steals through then get AK and three callers. Ace high flop, I bet and they all fold. Handy! Then there"s a massive hand where the loose bloke raise, the slightly tighter one calls (but I"ve seen him fold to raises) and I decide to get fancy and squeeze with my 75s. Blinds are 500/2k/4k, the initial raise is 9k and I make it 22k. The loose player folds but the tighter one calls. Trouble! The flop is AT7 and he checks. I bet another 22k. He thinks for ages and I"m SURE he"s going to call, but he folds. He says he has JJ and the loose player says he had TT and would have had a set! Then I win a nice pot at the end raising with KJ with one caller (the other loose player). Flop is king high, check/check, I bet the turn and he calls, I bet the river and he folds. So I end the day on 237k with an average of about 140k. I think about 120 survived today, and there will be maybe 80 from the other two days. Not sure how many they will pay; perhaps about 140? All very exciting!
-
Great reading Joe !
Keep it going, win it all. Very best of luck ;)
-
Great reading Joe !
Keep it going, win it all. Very best of luck ;)
QFT
-
Nice going Joe.
I was wondering what your plan was here. Aren"t you going to end up losing this hand in the end more often than not?
With about 20 minutes to go I get 88 on the SB. There"s a raise and a call so I re-raise and the initial raiser calls.
-
True, but the re-raise is about image too. I hope they fold. If they don"t, I hold to hit. If I dont, next case.
-
Nice work Joe.....gl for day 2
-
Enjoyable read Joe.... I know what you mean about the chips in the Nugget... I had a nice result is the daily $150 a few weeks ago.. Good Luck for Day 2
-
Day 5 - Friday 3rd July
Watched the Watson match in the morning. Amazing that she was so close to 4-0 in the third set, and even more amazing the she came back after Williams won four in a row. Anyway. There are 20 tables and I"m on table 17, so I know I will break quite quickly. In fact, at this short break to colour up I"ve just moved, raised with 33 mid-position (MP) and got it through. For the first hour I chipped up a little. The very first hand I get JJ in MP, UTG raises and I call and the SB re-raises. I decide to get out of the way. I should have raised really, but no harm done. My two main hands are with the bloke to my immediate left when I was SB. First one, it"s folded to me and I raise with A4. He calls. Flop is unpleasant (622), I bet and he folds. The next one was the same situation, except this time I just call with AJ and he doesn"t raise. Flop has an ace on it so I check, he bets 6k (blinds are 500/2.5k/5k) and I call. Turn is a jack! I bet 12k and he calls. River is a brick. I should have bet here but bottle it. It goes check/check and he mucks. So I"m up to about 270k and we just need one more table to break to be in the money. It will probably go quite mad after that because the jumps in payout are quite small until the Final Table..There"s $990 for 135th and you need to get to 35th to make $3k. 9th is about $11k and there"s $118k at the top.
-
A good couple of levels. I"ve been moved three times, but I quite like that because I raise a few hands and they don"t know what to make of me. There have been so many hands it"s tough to remember them all, and I only have 15 minutes to get them all down. There were two cases where the board ran out a straight; it helped my one time but not the other. In one of them, I checked the river and the other bloke went all in. I had to think for a bit to check there was no flush! Apparently you have to bet in this situation otherwise it might be collusion. I"d never heard of that before. I"ve won quite a few chips from three-betting and then they fold. A short stack went all in with about 100k and I had AQ. He had K3 and missed. I raised to steal with Jc6c (it"s the hand that knocked me out the first time I cashed in the WSOP) and the BB called. The flop gave me the flush draw, I bet he calls. The turn gives me a jack, check/check. The river is a king and we both check again, but the jack is good. Just before the break I get moved to Table 5, so hopefully I won"t move for a couple of hours now. So now I"m on about 560k and the average is 340k. Only 80 left and I"ve got $1,500 locked up. All very exciting.
-
TID Joe gogogo x
-
The next three levels to the dinner break go well too. Lots of hands, but the highlights are (i) when I get aces UTG and a short stack pushes into my raise and I snap, obviously. He has JJ and my aces hold; (ii) a hand where I call a raise from a loose player with KJ from the SB. Flop is KT4, check/check. Turn is another king. I bet he calls. River pairs the four. I bet he calls. Nice. To be honest, I"m struggling to remember any others. Lots of stealing with mixed results, but on the whole more seems to get through than not given I am now on about 770k and the average is about 550k. Only 45 left and I have $2k locked up. Getting exciting with over $100k at the top!
Running up to the dinner break there"s lots of talk about when it will finish and whether they will force us to play through. Some reckon a 4am finish in not out of the question, which is harsh given the 12 noon start. We shall see...
-
Lots more ducking and diving after the break. Again, no big hands. Just losing a bit, winning a bit. I three bet some bloke and he folded but pointed out that I keep doing that from the SB. So I must have been doing it quite a lot. In terms of hands, I think I had AK once but missed the flop. I had AQ a couple of times and only won once.
We get down to 27 and they re-draw the seats. And then the big exit hand. I"m in early position and pick up KK. I have about 950k at this point and the blinds are 5k/15k/30k. I raise to 70k. The raises have been bigger at this level, but I didn"t want to scare anyone away. The bloke next to me, who is on about 500k, goes all-in. Handy! Then the BB, with over two million in chips, goes all-in too! ****! He"s quite a loose player, so obviously I should snap call, but I do have a ponder. Something didn"t feel right. Not very scientific, but there you go. I then shook myself out of my daydream and called. The bloke to my left has AJ (a bit rash, as he admitted afterwards) and the BB has AA, obviously. To rub it in, there"s the fourth ace on the river! I ended up 23rd for $4,428. Can"t complain, although as is always the case in these situations, the most gutting thing is not being part of the action anymore - I do love these tournaments! I did seriously consider folding. Not sensible, but I would have had 900k and would have almost certainly laddered to at least $7k, but then you don"t go folding kings in spots like that if you are trying to win the $118k, as Adam pointed out afterwards.
Might have a day off tomorrow (Does this mean "end up playing cash"?) and then play the $400 event at the Venetian on Sunday.
-
wow unlucky Joe so sick to run Kings into Aces so close to a monster score and u prob right u don"t go folding them when u looking to win the lot.....know I couldn"t!!
Wp and onto the next!!
-
VWP Joe, a very enjoyable read and another nice deep run. It"s very tough to find a fold with KK and 30 bigs there, upwards and onwards ;)
-
Another good read and unlucky Joe....
Let"s hope we get many interesting updates from the Venetian....
-
Day 6 - Saturday 4th July
Decided to play the $250 bounty tournament at Planet Hollywood. I was sat next to a nice guy called Tom and we had a good chat. No big hands to report. I dribble a few chips here and there, then lost more when raising with a flush draw and overs. He re-raised and I had to let my KQs go. After the first break I get KK on the button. The bloke to my right raises, I re-raise and he thinks for quite a while then goes all-in. This time I do snap call and he has aces! Twice in two days! So a very early exit for me.
I go to the cash tables and play a bit of $1/$2. There"s a REALLY pissed up English bloke next to me who keep telling me that a hooker stole all his money. I asked how and he couldn"t really explain it. Very odd. I win a decent pot with KK and then lose quite a bit on a hand were I get in cheap on the SB with 8c7c and see a flop of 662 with two clubs. It gets checked round (there are about five in the pot, as often happens on these cash tables). The turn is the five of clubs, giving me the flush and a straight flush draw! I bet $20, there are two callers, then a raise to $60! I call, irrationally, because the straight flush draw is too temping! There"s an ace on the river and the raiser bets another $60. I fold and he shows 22 for the house. So I lose $50 in total. Not much more to report. Lack of sleep catching up with me, so I go and have a burger in the Gordon Ramsey place (long wait, quite nice but the actual meat wasn"t special) and then back for an early night, ready Sunday"s papers on Saturday night on the iPad (always a treat!)
I hope all is well up in Edinburgh!
-
Day 7 - Sunday 5th July
Still struggling to sleep properly, even after a week. I"m dead by 10.30pm, but then wake up at 12.30am and then 3.30am, and then it"s dosing after that. Hmm.
My last biggish tournament today - one of those Venetian Deepstack efforts. $400 buy-in and $100 of that is your bounty, much like yesterday. We start with 12k in chips and the blinds start at 50/100, but they have shuffling machines which really speeds things up. I reckon it"s the equivalent of having 40 minute blinds. So in the first hour I only get two hands, KK and AQ. In both cases I raise and get four callers. WTF! In both cases I but in a hefty bet and it gets through. What are they calling with? The next hour (we are at the first break at the moment) is marginally more lively. I get KK again, UTG calls, I"m next to him and raise and he re-raises. I decide to call in case he"s doing one of those "aces UTG" calls. Flop is ten high. He bets and I call. All very cagey. Turn is an ace. Hmm. He checks and so do I. Does he have aces? A check would make sense here if he did. The river I forget, but we check/check again. Should I bet here? Anyway, he has QQ. I also get AQ again, a few callers and they fold the flop. A fun hand where I have 44 in a limped pot (five or six players!), it gets checked round twice and then the button puts in a small bet on the river. I decide to call and he has nothing. Nice! My final nice hand was AKs and I get just two callers. Flop is A87 and the 8 and the 7 are my suit. Blimey! I check hoping for a bet and it doesn"t come! Turn is a nine. Not sure I like that. There"s a bet, a call and I raise it up to see where I am, and a really tight bloke calls. Hmm. River gives me the nut flush. First one of the holiday! He checks, I put in a small bet and he folds. Thinking about it, he was a bit short, so perhaps I should have gone all in to look more desperate. Anyway, I need to get back now and I"m on just over 30k which is pretty healthy.
-
Next four levels were pretty massive and I only have seven minutes to write it up. I"ve won four bounties, so this is now a free tournament, and am up to 60k (average about 25k), although I was on about 75k but lost a hand when I moved tables. I raised with 55 (a bit lairy) and get a few callers. The flop is 468. I C-bet and get one caller. The turn is another six. I keep betting and he goes all-in. I fold and he shows the six. I can"t remember all the bounties, but one was QQ .v. AK and he missed. Another I had aces and bet the flop and turn as he clearly wanted to go and play cash and so called with a flush draw, which he missed. One hand worth mentioning. There are a bunch of calls and I raise with AQ and the button, who has been playing all sorts, re-raises. The standard play here is to call, but looking back I should have just gone all-in given the way he had played. Anyway, the flop is Q75 and I bet, he calls. The turn is an eight. Check/check. The river is a nine. It"s looking dodgy now. I check, and he bets. I really should fold, but given who it is I call and he shows Q7! His re-raise pre was very lairy! Anyway, I have a minute left so will go back now. Report back soon.
-
Next four levels. Still chipping up, but only one more bounty (I forget how now). I got moved to a new table with a very loose bloke from London who plays at the Vic. I vaguely recognised him. Anyway, he"s playing nearly every hand, so one has to change one"s range when he"s in the pot. A classic example was one where he had called and I was on the button with some rubbish like K3, but I called anyway because it was him. Flop was AK3. Nice. I didn"t win so much there, but the big hand against him was when I got AK, and I C-bet the flop which was all low cards. He calls. Turn an ace. I bet again, he calls. River a brick, I bet quite a lot and he folds. Just before the break I got moved to a new table and have won a couple of small pots, so I think I"m on about 130k, the average is 60k. There were 280 runners and there are 54 left. 27 get paid and there"s $16k up top.
-
Next four levels. No life changing hands, just the standard chipping up. I"m knackered and it"s hard to remember hands, but there was one where I called a raise with A9 (a bit loose, but so was he), and there was another caller. Flop 998 but with two spades. I decide to bet and they both fold, but the shorter stack said afterwards that if I had checked he would have gone all-in. I got moved towards the end and have been a little card dead, so decided to raise EP with anything that I got, which happened to be J9. Two callers. Hmm. I miss the flop but bet anyway and they both fold. Hands like that are crucial at this stage. It"s amazing how many chips you end up winning. I"m struggling to remember any others because they all ended quite quickly, either with me winning a bit or losing a bit. That last hand I mentioned has got me up to about 170k with an average of 120k. Right at the end of the last level, just before the break, the bubble burst, so there are 27 left, and I have $559 locked up, plus the $500 in bounties (no new ones in the last four levels). I"m going for the 16 bags.
-
And another four levels! I had a good chipping up spell and got as high as 260k. In one hand it got folded to me in the SB and I won an all-in with the BB (I"ve totally forgotten the hand!). But then I lost quite a few chips when I got it all-in against a short stack with JJ and he had AK. Flop was T98, which was handy, not that I needed a straight draw. Turn a king. Boo! Since then I"ve been ducking and diving and am now on about 155k but the average is 250k with 13 left. I have $980 locked (plus $600 in bounties). It"s now approaching midnight. Only 15 minute breaks with no dinner break. Pretty brutal. It will probably be another three hours.
-
Since I last wrote we are now at the final table and on a break with five left. I"ve now locked up $3,900 plus $800 in bounties. This is now a bigger cash that the Golden Nugget Main event! Highlights of the last two hours was having kings and getting a call from AJ and knocking two out on the final table and so getting another two bounties. One of them was the bloke from the Q7 hand MUCH earlier. He"s a good player but a bit mad. He somehow managed to get very short but rather than shove his stack in with anything he decided to call my raise, which was a bit odd. I had AT and he had A5, ten on the flop. I also knocked out a woman who was short and went all-in but she only had 70k left and I was in the BB which is now 24k. What with all the antes I have to call with any two really. I have K9, she has A2 and I hit a king. So I was up to half a million for the first time but then the last hand before the break the massive stack to my immediate right raises to 55k from the SB, I have 88 and make it 150k. He calls. Flop is Q43. He bets another 150k. I"m close to pushing, but he seems pretty confident so let it go. He tells me afterwards that he had QT. Would he have folded an all-in pre? He says he"s not sure. Hmm. So almost there. It"s 2.10am here and we"re been going since 12 noon. Battered.
-
Final instalment, and it"s a good one. Pretty soon after the re-start, I decide to go all in on the button with KQ. The bloke to my left, who had been the massive chip leader but was now one of the short stacks, goes all in too (although I cover him), then the French bloke in the BB calls (he has me covered). Oh dear. Small stack has AJ and the French bloke has AK. Massive oops! I don"t remember the exact cards, but the flop misses us all, then the turn is paint! But a king, but then I notice that it"s a club, as are two of the flop cards. and that my queen is a club and the other don"t have any. "Club" I shout, rather pointlessly, and then BOOM, there it is (no idea which one!). So I knock out the short stack (another bounty!) and double up through the French bloke! I"m now on nearly a million chips! Pretty soon after that the big stack to my right takes out the medium stack to his right and there"s only three of us left! I said to the big stack, "you"ve just made me two grand!" The French bloke is obviously a bit pissed off at that had and starts going all in a lot. It"s quite effective and he gets back up to about 700k and my chips have dwindled to something similar. Then I play a very lairy hand with the chip leader. French bloke folds, big stack in the SB just calls and we take a flop. I have 94. Flop is Q32. He bets and I call, hoping to float. Turn is an ace. He bets again, about 70k, I think. I make to 250k. He eventually folds and I show the bluff. That was a useful hand because not long after that the three of us decide to do a deal and it was based on chip count. After that hand I was up to 935k, the French bloke on something similar and the big stack on about 1.7mn. So the chip leader takes 13k and the French bloke and I take 10k each. Plus we get to keep our own bounty, so that"s another grand (I"m up to ten bounties now). Then, when I go to the cashier, she seems to think that it should add up to $11,300. I just smile and let her get on with it. I think the Venetian can afford it! So I"m back in the hotel room now at 4am trying to work out what the hell happened today! I"ve now got over $16k in cash on me - is that a problem at Customs?
-
Awesome results for the trip Joe... Congrats!
-
I think over 10K is the starting point for having to declare cash....
Well played Joe.... A very long session well rewarded.....
Found this.....
FinCEN105 form, http://www.fincen.gov/fin105_cmir.pdf
It says in the bumpf that not declaring amouts over $10,000 may result in it"s confiscation....
-
I think over 10K is the starting point for having to declare cash....
Well played Joe.... A very long session well rewarded.....
Found this.....
FinCEN105 form, http://www.fincen.gov/fin105_cmir.pdf
It says in the bumpf that not declaring amouts over $10,000 may result in it"s confiscation....
It"s the not declaring it that bites you in the "arris...if you declared it you should be fine.
Also, don"t forget the same is true entering the UK
:from old 2+2 thread -
Her Majesty"s Revenue & Customs has a similar requirement for amounts over 10,000 Euros. You will also need to use the red channel rather than the green channel upon your return. You will be provided form C9011 at the airport.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/import-and-export-cash-declaration-c9011
Never been that fortunate but it might be worth asking if they can wire it directly to your bank. Not sure you"d have all the necessary details on you but it might be simpler.
That way you just file a report there and then I believe since you aren"t actually carrying it.
-
Nice job Joe....vwp sir!!
As Paulie says as long as u declare it u will be fine.....guess u have the Tax Exempt Form(if they still exist) for over there as they didn"t hold back any of winnings at cage!!
If u do get pulled in at Customs just be honest with them....they can see u just flew in from Vegas so cant expect it is a new thing for them!! Winnings are tax exempt so nothing else to declare if not mistaken!!
Wp again and enjoy rest of trip.
-
I"ve got it all in cash already. Hmm. I have my ITNI number which is the one that"s allows you to not pay tax. Worth opening a US bank account?
-
Another nice deep run, well played that man !
-
I"ve got it all in cash already. Hmm. I have my ITNI number which is the one that"s allows you to not pay tax. Worth opening a US bank account?
Probably not while over there...they"ll make you jump through all sorts of hoops if you"re not a US resident.
On the other hand I hear (although I have no experience personally) that HSBC (http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/overseas-account-opening) (Honkers and Shankers as we used to call them in my banking days) can be very helpful in this regard.
Best to speak to them when you get back though explaining what it is you want.
-
I"ve got it all in cash already. Hmm. I have my ITNI number which is the one that"s allows you to not pay tax. Worth opening a US bank account?
just declare it Joe......maybe try and speak to a friendly pro out there if u see them and see what they suggest....Channing, Cody, Chatta maybe couple nice chatty guys who could give advice.......sure all will be OK.
-
-
A postscript to my trip that I thought you might like. I was in town (London Town, obviously) yesterday and so went to my usual currency change place right by Victoria to change up $9,000 (I"ve kept back a few thousand for a holiday letter in the year). This place has the best spread, and so the best rates, I"ve found anywhere. Also there is no commission, obviously. So the spot rate at the moment is £1 = $1.55, and they sell at 1.535 and buy back at 1.5625. Is the airport spread something like 1.35/1.75? Disgraceful, and yet people still use them!?
Anyway, I hand over the 9k and the women works out that I should get £5,670. She"s about to pay me out when her boss comes back from the break and says I need to fill in a form. On the part that says "source of funds" I put "poker winnings from Vegas". He asks for evidence, which of course I"ve left at home. Hmm. Then I have an idea - I go on the Hendon Mob database on my phone and luckily it"s been updated and has the $10k win on there. He says that"s fine! Thank you Hendon Mob! I go straight over to the HSBC and pay in the money, although they don"t have cashiers on a Saturday, and so I have to use one of those machines. Doesn"t seem right, but it all seemed to work. Then my wife and I hit the shops to spend some of the money!
See you all in Cardiff, I hope!
-
By the way, thanks everyone for the advice on getting the money back to the UK!
-
went to my usual currency change place right by Victoria
I know the one, the name escapes me at the moment but I used to use them regularly.
-
Absolutely fantastic results and thanks for sharing - very entertaining indeed.
-
Well played, enjoyed reading, makes me look forward to my trip in November hopefully.
-
went to my usual currency change place right by Victoria
I know the one, the name escapes me at the moment but I used to use them regularly.
Oohhh...link please?
-
went to my usual currency change place right by Victoria
I know the one, the name escapes me at the moment but I used to use them regularly.
Oohhh...link please?
Assuming it"s the same one Change-Link (http://www.change-link.co.uk/contact/)
Google StreetView (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.496139,-0.142501,3a,50.3y,77.69h,85.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1fkyR5z-aq-PjzeO7svwCg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)
-
That"s the one! Always great rates. Luckily,I"m up in London quite a lot so I don"t have to make a special trip. It would be worth it, though, given the amount you save.
-
It"s that time of year again. Off to Vegas on Sunday. I"ll post the usual on here.
Excited!
-
Sunday 3rd July
Flight fine. Film catch up as usual. Started with Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Decent. Then Anomolisa. Odd, but quite good. Then some trash movie called How to be Single, or something like that. Total toilet film, but vaguely entertaining. No queue at immigration which was impressive. I"m staying at the Mirage this year. Very nice rooms, but then they should be at the price. It said £800 when I booked with bookingdotcom, but with the annoying resort fee apparently I"ll be paying around $1,500 for the nine nights. Hmm. Off to explore now, and perhaps buy in for tomorrow"s Venetian event.
-
Played some $1/$2 cash at the Venetian. Odd session. Very reluctantly put down QQ on a jack high board after a raise on the turn. The villain then proceeded to play awfully, including calling down all streets with T2 twice against me. The QQ was probably good! I then stacked someone with KK on a KT8 board. The poor bloke had a ten and the turn was a ten. He goes all-in and I snap. I then get carried away with quite a big bluff on the river. It almost got through but the villain found a call. Ended up $50 up and then went to Bouchon for some dinner. It"s now 8.20pm, so 4.20am really. I assume I"ll have the usual sleep problems tonight. I met a woman at dinner also dinning on her own. She mentioned the Aria turbo tomorrow that feeds into a $1mn guarantee. Might have to look into that.
-
Monday 4th July
Woke up feeling relatively refreshed with light streaming in through the crack in the curtains. I"ve finally managed to sleep through on my first night in Vegas after all these years! I look at the clock radio on the bedside table and it"s 2.20am. Oh dear. The light was from some spotlights on the roof of the main casino building. I read the Sunday papers on the iPad and it"s not making me feel tired. Finally try and sleep a bit at about 3.30am but it"s not really happening. At 5am I get Wimbledon on the TV and then have breakfast at 7am. Decision made - I"m going to try the WPT event at the Aria. It"s 15k in chips and 20 minute blinds. Not ideal, but I am used to this from the Rendezvous in Brighton, and the $1mn guarantee is too tempting. Also, if you make Day 2 the blinds revert to one hour. Fingers crossed!
-
Very best of luck with your trip Joe. Looking forward to reading of your adventures....
-
Seven levels until the break! Not too much to report. Won a couple, lost a couple. Generally card dead. I got KK on a king high flop against the weakest player. He had called everything all day, so I bet the flop and he folded! He"s already out, by the way. One big hand. Blinds 200/400/50 and I"m in the BB with JJ. UTG calls, +1 raises to 3,200 (a bit large). I have about 12k left and decide to go all-in. A bit of a gamble, but raising anything less is more than half my stack. He calls with a grimace and has AK. I survive. Then nothing until the break. I"m on about 24k now. I think we are playing about 18 levels today. I"ll have to get some more hands, or get very lucky, to survive that long.
-
Thanks Des. By the way, the player in seat one smelt REALLY bad. I was in seat six so didn"t really smell anything, but when he got knocked out the man in seat two told the table how he nearly called the floor it was so bad. Then there was a big discussion about what a TD would do about it. To be fair, his hair was very greasy.
-
Turbos are really hard when you"re card dead. My chips dwindled away to about 13k, blinds now 800/1600/200. One regret - I almost pushed in the SB with K6o after an early call. Not a fan of hands like that, so I waited for a better spot. Flop AKK. Annoying. I finally get ATs (that"s looking massive at the moment). A big stack calls and he has A7. Handy. Flop is QJ3. He shouts "three" and there it is on the turn. So an annoying split. The very next hand I get KQo. I push again and the same big stack calls and he has A9. Ace on the flop. A fun tournament but you really need some luck to get anywhere. Time for some lunch.
-
Tuesday 5th July
Noon start for the Venetian event. No 25/50, but all the other levels are there and it"s 40 minute blinds so should be a good event. Also, they have the card shuffling machines so it"s really something like 50 minute blinds. Pretty quiet to start with. I get QQ and everyone folds. First big hand, I get TT in the BB. A loose player raises, mid-position min-reraises. I just call and so does the loose player. Flop is 874, two spades. I bet and get two calls. Turn is 9 of spades so I now have the straight flush draw. I bet and just the reraiser calls. I miss and we check the river, thankfully. He has AA. Hmm. Down to 10k. Then I get very lucky. I raise in LP with JT and get two callers. Flop is JT2. Check, then I check, then the button bets and I"m the only caller. Turn is an eight. I bet and he raises. I should probably fold here. Set of twos? Does he really have Q9? He"s been quite loose, so I go all-in and he snaps with Q9, obviously. I say "well, I have outs" and the ten hits the river. Phew! Since then it"s been odds and sods and I"m on about 20k. There was one hand with the Q9 man (who obviously plays all the hands I"m in) where I get AA (first time this holiday!) and he calls my raise. Ace high flop, so I check, he bets and I call. The turn pairs the board, so I check again and he checks back. Surely he"ll call a bet on the river. Sadly he doesn"t. I get moved five minutes before the break. Only a ten minute break so I need to get back. Must eat some food.
-
Next three levels. Not much to report. I got moved tables again and was sitting next to a nice English bloke called Darren. Had AK a couple of times and 99 once. And chipped up a little C-betting and floating, etc. one hand of note. I raised In the CO with QT to steal and the button calls. Flop is 222. I bet, he calls. I bet the turn and he calls. I bottle the river, check/check, and he shows AK. He says he would have folded a river bet. A bit annoying, but serves me right. I got moved again before the break and I"m on 25k now which is about average. Over 400 entries so the prizes up top should be decent. Long way to go!
-
Next two hours. Totally card dead. I honestly can"t remember the best hand I had during these levels. Did I have A7 once? I definitely had QJ because I raised to steal with it once. Somehow I"m still on about 25k (occasional steals) but the average is now 35k. Just so there"s something to talk about, can someone explain the mindset of those that keep re-buying into $1,000 events? We"ve had this bloke on our table three times. 15k in chips is not so great now the blinds are 400/800/100, so they get a bit lairy and then they"re out within half an hour. Are they made of money? On the dinner break now so I think that"s the end of the re-buys. We have over 400 entries. Six more levels tonight. Need some hands.
-
Level 10 went mad. I get AK, AK, KK three hands running and they all get paid off. The first one I"m UTG+1 and I get three callers and the flop is AK5. Sod it, I thought, I"ve got to get through three players so I bet it and they all fold. Next I"m UTG and get three callers again, then the bloke on my right in the BB goes all-in for 6k. I was thinking of going all-in to isolate, but decide to call, and all three of the others call too! The flop is K44 and we check it round. The turn is an eight, I bet 11k, the big stack calls and the rest fold. I forget the river, but it makes no difference. The big stack goes all-in, but he plays a lot of hands so I have to call. He has the eight. The all-in bloke is loving it because all of the 6k calls and he has AK too!
Then the KK hand. Now I"m in the BB. One bloke goes all-in, so does another and I obviously do too. They both have about 18k and have AJ and TT. The kings hold. So I"m suddenly on 125k, average 45k. As I was typing this at the table (didn"t want to forget any of it) I got TT and was called by three players. A65 flop, I bet and get raised so have to let it go, and then I get JJ on the button. There"s a raise (a big one; blinds are 600/1.2/200 and he goes 6.5k) and I re-raise to 15k. He calls. The flop is K44 and I bet 22k. He tank/folds. So now I"m on just under 140k. Half way through level 11. I"d better start concentrating again.
-
On a break now after level 12. Not a good level. The only highlight was hitting a set of twos against quite a loose player, so I bet the flop and he folds! The first time he"s done that! Then there was a lot of dribbling of chips. One annoying example: I raise with AT, which is a bit loose, but standard for this table. One of the big stacks calls on the button. Flop is J32. I bet he calls. Turn is a five. I bet he calls. River is a king. I bottle the bet (again), we go check/check and he has Q2 for bottom pair. I was determined to keep it tight until the end of the level, but then the bloke two to my right who raises all the time raises my BB on the last hand of the level. I call with 64s. Flop gives me a flush draw. I check/call, then bet the turn. He raises. I fold. I"m now on 68k, which is much better than at the last break, but still annoying. I think the average is about 75k. There were 460 runners in the end and there are only 95 left. 54 get paid. $97k up top. Three more levels today then back tomorrow, if I can last!
-
Level 13 starts badly. There"s a raise UTG and I have QQ mid position. I re-raise, he calls and then he bets the king high flop and I fold. Do I just call here? Hmm. Then a bit of luck. There"s a raise and two callers, so I call in the BB given that it"s one of those just-a-bit-more-than-a-min-raise raises. I have J9. The flop is something like Q95. I check and so does everyone else. Free card. It"s a third heart and my jack is a heart. Check, check, then the loose bloke to my right bets quite small. I call and the others fold. The river is another heart. He bets something more significant, and given the way he"s been playing I decide to call, even though I"d be crippled if I call and lose. He didn"t even have a flush. My pair of nines were winning!
Next, the new big stack on my right raises and I re-raise him with 55. He calls. The flop has an ace on it, he checks, I bet and he folds. Phew! I try a steal with 64 and get a call. He checks the ace high flop, I bet and he folds. I"m back over 100k now. There are failed steal attempts too. Raising with A9s when the BB calls (another new player). He checks the KQ8 flop, I bet and he"s instantly all-in. Fold. Not much happens after that and I dwindle to 71k at the end. That"s about the same with which I started level 13, but of course the blinds are now higher. We return at 500/2k/4k so I have less than 20 bigs.
With 14 minutes to go they stop the clock and play seven hands "hand-for-hand" given there are only 59 left. Annoying that this happens right at the end of the day. We lose a couple more including a short stack on our table (in the SB) who, on the very last hand, pushes QT into AA. Oops! He wasn"t happy. Back tomorrow at 11am (I hope Murray is done by then) and three of us will not get the $2,033 for 54th place.
-
Great updates Joe and vwd to survive through to day 2. Having done this once myself, I know how draining it is.
Good luck for tomorrow :)
-
Excellent work Joe! Best of luck for day 2!
-
Loving the updates Joe, VWP so far and best of luck for Day 2.
-
Best of luck later today Joe.
-
Great updates Joe, thank you. GL to you and us :)
-
Woke up at 4.15am. Really? How is so hard to sleep? The bed is fine and I was playing poker all day and didn"t get to sleep until 12.30am. Got the tennis on at 5am then breakfast at 7am. Cracking Federer match! Murray was into his third set when I had to leave for Day 2.
My new table has a combination of very large and quite small stacks. A round of blinds go through me then I steal on the button. The bloke to my immediate left says he folded AQ he was so desperate to make the money! The two biggest stacks get involved in a massive pot. Raise, button reraiser, 4-bet and call. Flop 932. Bet, button raises, all-in and call! Something like 400k in there. Raiser has aces, button had J9! Another set of blinds goes through me so I decide I need to steal once a round. I raise MP with A7. The BB puts me all-in and I fold. The very next hand I get 99 and raise. I"ve now only got 45k behind. The bloke who reraised me last hand looks like he"s going to do it again, but calls, the BB, the loose player from yesterday, raises to 25k (I made it 10k; it"s 500/2k/4k). I have a good think. I probably can fold, but I know this bloke could easily be trying it on. So I go all-in, SB folds and BB has AA. Nooooo!
-
While this is going on, it turns out that four players went out at the same time on various tables. Two on the same table, so the shorter stack is 56th, and the other three, including me, share 53rd, 54th and 55th place, so we share two prizes. So I end up with $1,356 for a massive profit of $256! I wish I knew all these exits we"re going on. I could have folded the nines and be on $2,033. Annoying. I seem to have a real problem with the early second days of tournaments. On the rare occasion it happens in APAT events I nearly always get too rash and go out too early. Something to work on. As always, the biggest gutter is not being involved anymore. After the first three levels today the blinds go up to one hour. That would have been fun!
I"m off to watch Wales now.
-
Congrats on the cash! Good start, Joe.
-
After the match I get some lunch then get a taxi to the Rio to buy in for tomorrow. Nothing"s changed there, although I think the viewing area around the final table is not so good. I get the first shuttle back to the Strip that arrives so I end up at Bally"s and sit down at a $1/$2 cash table. It"s quite a fun table with lots of chat. Second hand I get AQ UTG and raise to $7, but of course at these tables that"s barely any more than a call. You need to make it $10 or $12 to get them thinking. So I get three callers. Flop is A62. I check, the loudest bloke bets $20 and I call. Heads up. His wife is sitting beside him looking very unhappy. I sense she funds his losses. Anyway, the turn is a king. He"s going to keep betting, so I check, he bets and I call. The river is queen. Check, bet and I raise. He says "you got trips?". I"m sure he"s going to fold, and then he calls showing some rubbish like K3! Amazing. I"m $100 up already! He tuns to his wife and asks for some money...
The very next hand I get QQ in the BB. Lots of calls, then the old bloke on the button raises to $12, I raise to $32. It gets folded round to the raiser who goes all-in for $130. Hmm. I fold face up and he shows AA. The very next hand in the SB it"s called round so I call another dollar with K3. Flop is KQ8. I check and there"s a $10 bet from loose bloke, another call and I call. Probably an error. Turn is an eight. Check, bet of $20 call and I raise to $50. Clearly a mistake because they both go all-in. I obviously fold. Loose bloke has KQ and the other one an eight. All the profit gone! Lesson - don"t get lairy just because I play for another couple of hours but nothing of note and end up $17 down.
I walk back to the hotel feeling a bit rough. I think I"ve got a cold coming on. I have a lie down and don"t really get out of bed the rest of the day. Now watching the tennis the next day!
-
Thursday 7th July
Reflecting on the 99 hand yesterday, that was such a bad decision. I should have left the A7 alone, raised with the 99 then it would have been easier to fold, but even so, I should have found a fold there, I hate going out when I"m doing the calling rather than doing the forcing. Anyway, it"s the WSOP event today. All very exciting! Breaks every two hours so I"ll keep you posted.
-
Good luck today matey
-
Great updates mate, all the best today!
-
Just before leaving for the Rio, three things. (1) I saw the smelly man again yesterday at the Venetian. His hair seemed less greasy so perhaps he had had a shower. Wasn"t close enough to test the smell factor. (2) for those of you that have been to Vegas and have been in one of those standard hotel rooms with the shower head fixed to the wall, why is it assumed that all human beings are 5" 8" or smaller? Mildly annoying. (3) I was in the "Essentials" store at the Mirage this morning (where everything is at least double the price of Walgreens) and saw that they were selling ex-casino floor decks of cards for 99 cents a pack, plus they were two-for-one! Blimey! These cards are probably £10 a pack new! I run a poker club at school and need decent cards so I bought ten packs. Might get some more. In relative terms, is this the biggest bargain ever to be seen in a Vegas casino?
-
So only five of us at the table for 11am. One bloke raises the first four hands and we all fold. He raises the fifth, gets called down and shows J7 for a pair of sevens. He almost got the bloke to fold, but he still out half his stack. I had 32s and would have hit the flush. There are other hands where I fold rubbish and would have hit big, but I keep folding. Half an hour in I get KK in the SB. The loose bloke raises, as usual, to 150. I make it 425 and he makes it 1325! I call and stare at him and without looking at the flop reach for chips and bet 1100. He tank/folds. I showed the KK and he looked surprised. I wonder what **** he had. Nothing else to report in Level 1. The odd steal, but nothing went wrong. On just over 6k.
-
Level 2. The loose player is now down to less than 1000. A new player raises and he goes all-in. Another player raises to 2100. The new player folds JJ and the loose player has TT vs QQ. Ten on the river. Good that the loose player still has chips! I get KK and everyone folds. Half way into the level I raise UTG with KQs. Loose, but the table is loose so I give it a go. Three callers! Flop is J95. I bet (possible error?) and get one caller. Turn in another nine and gives me the flush draw. Check/check, so a free card. River a brick. He goes all-in and I fold. Back down to 5k. Hmm. Calm down. New bloke to my left raises, the loose bloke goes all-in for 2k, new bloke calls with AJ! Loose bloke has AQ, but there"s a jack on the flop. Shame the loose bloke"s gone, but his first half hour was appalling. Two more small hands. I get KT on the button, there"s a call, I raise and it gets through. Then I raise with AJ in LP, two callers, the flop is 655, I bet and they both fold. I"m on 5,500 at the end of the level. By the way, a ripple of applause when the French score. Need to keep an eye on that too.
-
Level 3. 25/75/150. A bit early for the antes. The bloke next to me reckons we"ll be cashing by the end of today. Ten minutes in I raise UTG with 98s (bit lairy). Nice Australian bloke to my left calls and the rest fold. Queen high flop. I bet, he folds saying he had AK. Handy. By the way, the stack to my immediate right is a dead stack and already down to 3,500. What if he/she doesn"t turn up? Free chips for the rest of us though! Literally as I type this the TD comes over and takes the chips away. Apparently after two levels if the player hasn"t turned up he/she gets a refund and the chips come off the table. Shame. I make a loose steal raise with 86s and get reraised. I fold. So the next hand I obviously don"t raise my KJ and the flop is AQT. Obviously. 30 minutes into the level I get AQs UTG, I raise and get two callers. King high flop, I bet and they both fold. Phew! A normal flop bet in these situations is a fifth of your stack and we are only on level 3! Up to 6,200. 45 minutes in the Calling Station to my right calls again to I raise on the button with A7. BB calls as does the station. Flop is 764. BB bets out 750. The station folds and I have a think. Does he had a set? I decide to get lairy and raise to 2k. He thinks for a bit and folds saying he had an overpair. I said "nines?" And he nods. He says "tens?" Station says "no, he had aces." I said "not aces, but better than nines." We move on and I"m on 8,200. Two hands later the bloke I beat gets it all-in with the Station with AK on a A85 board and the station has 55. He leaves muttering "I should have pushed all-in on the previous hand." Got away with that, then! Towards the end of the level, there"s a rubbish 350 raise, the SB calls and I am in the BB with 32. I was so close to calling because of the price, but was sensible and folded. Flop A32! The other two get to the river and the winning hand is AT. One of those...
-
Level 4. 25/100/200. UTG raises to 525. +2 calls and I"m +3 with JJ. I almost call, but decide to raise to 1,800. They both fold. On 9,300 now. 20 minutes into the level there"s a 600 raise UTG and I have AQ in the CO and call. The button, SB and BB all call! Flop is KJ7. UTG bets and we all fold. On 8,300 now. My immediate right raises, I re-raise with A7, he calls. Flop seven high, just like last time, he checks I bet he folds. Then I make a mistake. Same bloke raises, I re-raise to 1,400 with AK, button raises to 3,200. Raiser folds and I just call. I think it should be all-in or fold here, plus I should have flatted the first raise. She only has 3k back and so obviously pushes the low flop and I fold. So annoying! The very next hand I get KQ and raise (a bit tilty) my Australian friend calls and the BB only has 1,200 and goes all-in. Not concentrating! I fold, Aussie calls with A3. All-in has KQ and hits the king! I"m down to 5,700 now. Handy last hand of the level. I raise in the CO to steal with QJ, and my Aussie friend calls on the button; the blinds fold. Jack high flop. I check, he bets, I raise and he folds. On 7k now.
-
Level 5. 50/150/300. Half hour gone and no hands. I finally get TT and the Aussie reraises me. I decide to fold. He shows AQ. Don"t want to gamble at this stage. Back to 5k starting stack. Nothing until the last 10 minutes. Not even any steal opportunities because there always seems to be someone raising ahead of me. I finally get a chance, first in, and I"m prepared to raise with anything just to stop looking like a rock. I have A7 AGAIN and raise. The Aussie calls. 886 flop. I bet and he folds. Up to 6k. By the end of the level I"m getting close to 5k again. Need to get a hand!
-
Level 6. 50/200/400. People are starting to push a lot. Starting stack is only just over 10BBs. I try a steal with J9. The BB calls. Flop is T85. He checks. I think for a bit and realise that I should just push but by the time I"ve worked that out it"s too late. So I do the worst thing and just bet 1500. He goes all-in. I have 2,500 left. I decide to gamble with my straight draw. He has J8 and I miss. Very annoying. I push pre-flop he folds. I insta-push the flop he probably folds. If I check the flop I get a free card. Could I play it any worse? Very annoying. Still, I had a nice table and it was good fun. I managed to persuade the Aussie to subscribe to the Economist! He did it on his phone there and then! Just before I went out we got this new player who sat down just to the left of the Japanese lady (who was left of the Aussie). She had just cracked the aces of the bloke to my right, so he was annoyed. Then she pushed her stack on to this new bloke and he asked for a count, wondering if he was covered, it was pretty close. Then he said he had to call and he had AA! Proper poor slowroll! She was very polite. Perhaps the concept doesn"t exist in Japan.
-
Got a taxi back to the Mirage and went straight to the cash table. I"m afraid I started drinking so the details are hazy. I remember winning $100 in one hand with AQ, ace on flop and queen on river. He didn"t believe me. I then went back to starting stack but I can"t remember why. Then I won quite a big pot with Q9 on a queen high board where, once again, they didn"t believe me. What I do remember is that I ended up $67 up and then went to dinner for the first time in days.
-
Friday 8th July
I think I might have had a normal amount of sleep last night. I must trying this drinking thing more often. Still awake by 6am, though, and all set for a morning of tennis. Went down for breakfast during the fourth set of the Federer match and then back to the room for the rest. Considering a rest day especially as the cold is still lingering. Perhaps off to the pool after the tennis? And then some cash poker?
Good luck to all of you at Luton this weekend!
-
Changed my mind, especially once Murray had won relatively quickly. Got showered then off to the Wynn for the $400 event. Half hour levels and 12k starting stack. First hand I fold the hand that knocked me out yesterday - J8 - and the board runs out with three jacks. Brilliant! Chipping up OK, then decided to call a raise with QT and then run a massive bluff on a 543 board. I raised his flop bet, then bet the turn which was a six and he kept calling. I checked the ace on the river and he bet. Down to 8k. Well done! Raised late with 98 and an old bloke who had yet to play a hand calls. He checks the queen high flop, I bet he calls. Hmm. Another queen on the turn, check/check. Nine on the river, check/check and I take the pot! Not much happens in Level 2. I raise with 66 get called, bet the T95 flop, get called then check fold the turn. In the SB I call a min raise with five players in the pot with Q9. Flop is Q77. I check/raise and it gets through. On 9k at the end of the level. Totally card dead for Level 3. The good thing is that you don"t lose any chips. Only hand of note was calling late with JT and missing. On 8,500 chips.
-
Good luck mate, really enjoying reading these updates, keep going!!
-
Good luck mate, really enjoying reading these updates, keep going!!
Seconded... logging on several times a day, looking forward to each update !
-
Level 4. I raise UTG with JTs, one caller, I bet the flop and he folds. Towards the end of the level I finally get AA. Three callers! Flop is 874 with two clubs. Am I favourite anymore? Check, check and I bet and the fourth player, the loosest, raises me. I tank and decide to fold face up. What hands am I beating? Only if he"s raising with a draw, but then it"s still a bit of a gamble. Down to 7k. At the break he told me he had 87 for the two pair. Final hand of the level I get AJs which is looking massive at the moment and raise, three callers again! 868 flop, I bet it and the one caller is the loose bloke. King on the turn, check/check. Two on the river, check/check. He shows 99. I"m down to 5,500 at the break. Hmm. Very nice card room, by the way. Restrooms very close to my table, which is nice.
-
Level 5. 25/150/300. Blinds go through me a couple of times so I"m below 5k. I need to make a move. I raise with A9. Two callers, including loose bloke. Flop AK5. First bloke checks, I go all-in with my last 4k, loose bloke thinks for a bit but calls relatively quickly. The other bloke folds. What does he have? K5. Really? Clearly this was never going to be my day. Perhaps I should have gone to the pool after all. Might go and find somewhere for lunch.
-
Found a nice French place in the Wynn and also had a glass of wine. Very good food, but it didn"t make me feel any better; in fact this head cold is getting worse. I walked back via Walgreens and got some "cold and head" pills and then back to the hotel. The pills didn"t seem to make any difference. Spent the rest of the day in the room feeling a bit rubbish. Didn"t eat anything else - not particularly hungry at the moment.
-
Saturday 9th July
Didn"t sleep that well. Up at 5am as usual. Watched the first set of the Serena match and then breakfast as usual at Pantry"s. It was quite a good match. Not much in it. It seemed to me that Serena was making more mistakes but that her serve got her out of trouble. Also, Kerber played the occasion big points badly. Now back in the room with a continual headache. I think this time I really will not play poker today. I"m starting to get worried that playing when feeling like this will almost certainly lead to mistakes and so it"s just a waste of money. I might play a bit of cash later if I"m feeling a bit better. I"ll definitely play the $400 PLO tomorrow and then that"ll be it.
-
Did very little all day, and although I didn"t feel much better I decided to play the 7pm bounty tournament here at the Mirage. $100 buy-in and a $25 bounty on everyone"s head. I didn"t bring my iPad with me and was drinking, so I don"t remember many details. I got chips quite quickly and then I remember not betting the turn when up against a women who then hit a set on the river (someone else was all-in). That was annoying. The other memorable hand was not calling second pair when a big stack put in a hefty river bet and he showed the bluff. I was very close to calling and it meant I went into the final table a bit short. I ended up 7th after pushing the button with 44. I got called by A9 and there was a nine on the flop. So I cashed for $180 and had $125 in bounties, less $10 that we each chucked in for the bubble in 9th. Shame I didn"t get a little further, but I was battered by the end, to be honest. Only five hours until the Murray match. I"m sure I"ll be awake by then, as usual.
-
Odd watching a British man in a Wimbledon Final and it not really being an edge-of-seat game. Playing a man who had served 130-odd aces in his six matches so far, and reducing him to eight; can we say that Murray returns as well as Djokovic? Anyway, had breakfast in the "Pantry" while the first set was going on and then back to the room for the rest. Watched the mixed as well, then the football and then got ready for the 5pm PLO at the Venetian, my last biggish tournament. By the way, how did Portugal win this tournament? As someone on Twitter said, if England had not scored that last minute goal against Wales, we would have had three draws too and would also have been on the **** side of the draw. Hmm.
-
I"m at the break after the first four 30 minute levels. We started with 12k. I won a couple of small hands, then far too much chip dribbling, then a hand where I was up against a player who was playing a lot of hands. I had something like a nine-high flush and he turned over the nut flush! Must remember that this is a game of the nuts. I got down to about 5k, but then won a smallish hand that I"ve totally forgotten (and I"m not drinking) and then I got up to 9k when there were three calls, the button raised and I potted from the BB with AAT7. He tank/folded.
-
Good couple of levels. I struggle to remember Omaha hands. There was one where I had AAQ7 and I hit the nut flush on the river. I got called on the flop and the river so it was quite lucrative. I"m going to have to type as I go because I can"t remember the others. I"m on about 28k. Bits and bobs after that, and then a really big hand. I raised it pre with KK86. I get two callers. Flop is 844. Check, check then I bet the pot. I get one caller. Turn is a two and there are two hearts and two diamonds. He bets big putting me all-in. I have a think. I didn"t think he had a four; he is quite loose and has shown a couple of bluffs already. Pushing with a flush draw? I decide to call and read him right - he had QQ and a flush draw. He said he didn"t want me to call. He hits the flush on the river. Shame, I would have been well chipped up if I had swerved it. Off to dinner now.
-
A friend from work is in Vegas for a couple of days. I had breakfast with him and then persuaded him to play the fun $65 11am tournament here at the Mirage. Twenty runners, he managed 11th and I was out in 9th. I was getting short and kept saying to myself "when you finally push, make sure you are first in". Two hands later a loose player raises and I go all-in with AJs. She has AK. Skills. Off to the pool now for the first time this week and then my one posh dinner this week with said friend. I"ll probably play cash after I check out tomorrow morning, as is tradition. By the way, I hear we have a new Prime Minister. As you do.
-
Have a great time Joe, wish you all the best!!
-
After a year off, I'm off to Vegas tomorrow. Hopefully I'll take in a couple of WSOP $1500 events and some Venetian $600 events. I'll try and keep you all posted via this blog, as usual. My best years were 2012 and 2015, so I'm due a win in 2018! Fingers crossed!
-
Good luck Joe.
-
Monday 2nd July
Flight was fine. Got the key seat - 25C. Right by the door so massive leg room, and first off the plane. Watched three films. Two that I'd been meaning to watch - Molly's Game and Three Billboards. Both very good. Then a standard Neeson film called "The Commuter". Fine. Landed at 1.20pm, customs was OK, perhaps took 20 minutes, so by the time I got out the bags were ready. Taxi driver was an ex-dealer, so a more interesting ride that usual.
-
I'm splashing out this year. The Nobu hotel in Caesars. Bit of a problem at the start. They wouldn't take my credit card. It's the new Virgin credit card. I ring the number on the back and we go through all sorts of security checks. The card still doesn't work. Apparently it's all about the fact that the hotel uses a swipe system, but this credit card is new and so advanced (?) that swiping is a security risk. The fact that I'm on the phone to him as it happens doesn't matter. Computer says no. Luckily I have my debit card with me. Lost air miles, though. Annoying.
-
Went for a wander and eat at the Gordon Ramsey place nearby. Had a starter of Nachos and it was bigger than most main courses. No need for any more food. Played cash for a few hours. Started with $300 at a $1/$2 table. Down to 200, up to 300 and then got a bit lairy with KT. Bet the king high board. Call. Check the turn, he bets, I raise, he makes it another 100! Turns out he hit a set of sixes on the flop. Back to the room by 9pm to try and sleep. I have melatonin this year. Fingers crossed.
-
Tuesday 3rd July
Woke up. Looked at the clock. 2.30am. Same as usual, then. Although I get some more sleep, so perhaps the melatonin is working a bit. Up properly at 5.30am and get a ham and cheese croissant from some posh new place called 'Guy Savoy Brioche'. Very nice. Watch the Sweden match in the hotel room. I think they deserved it, just. Shower, then off to the Venetian.
The plan is to get a new Grazie card (I left all my player cards at home), find a place for brunch to watch the England match, starting at 11am. I find a place with a screen and order food. There's no sound, but the menu looks nice. I get chatting to the barman as we watch the first 20 minutes. I hear a cheer in the background and decide to pay up and find somewhere with volume. I find 'Public House' and settle down to some over-sweet 'mocktail', given that I'm playing a $600 Deepstack after the match. Bit embarrassing when England go to extra time, nursing my one drink. When we get to penalties, it's clear that the place I was in before is about 20 seconds ahead of our TV because there's a massive roar when Colombia save our third penalty. I run over there to watch the end. England winning on penalties when we miss first! Blimey. By the way, Columbia deserved nothing from that match. Justice.
-
The Deepstack events are in the Sands Convention Centre this year. It's a five minute walk along a very long corridor to a massive, uninviting concrete hall. Not the same as the Poker room. Shame. Because of the penalties, I arrive two hours late during the 15 minute break after the first four 30 minute levels. It's one of those big blind ante systems, so I go in at 200/300 with a 300 ante once a round. But I have 20,000 chips, so still plenty of play. Here goes...
-
First hour: Levels 5 and 6.
I call in the SB with 55 after a raise and three calls. Flop KT6. Just missed! Shame. Then the raiser bets, first caller goes all-in, we all fold and the hands are KK and TT! I would have been third on the KT5 flop! Raise with 99. Reraise from a loose player. Button calls, I call. Flop 872. I make it 4K, call, then all in from the button for 13k. I fold, loose bloke calls, he has TT and button has JJ. Hmm. Perhaps wasted 4K there. Perhaps should have folded pre. Raise with AQ UTG+1. Call. Button reraises. SB goes all in. I fold, fold, button folds. SB shows AA. Might not be my day...
Being a good boy I fold AT in mid position. SB raises and BB calls. Flop is AT2, obviously, and they start betting into each other. Annoying. End the hour on 12k.
-
Levels 7 and 8.
Card dead. Get AJ and miss the flop against three callers. Raise with 55, get three callers. Miss the flop. Five on river, of course. The blinds are now 300/600 and the 600 ante, and I'm down to 6k! Pushed with AT and got it through. Finally, I pushed with 76 and was called in the SB by a very tight player. Oops! I was expecting something big, but he only had 55, so it couldn't be much better for me. Missed. Out. That all seemed quite quick. I blame England!
-
Hopefully you've got all of the run bad out of the way now.
Very best of luck Joe, looking forward to reading about the rest of this trip.
-
Best of luck mate. Great updates.
-
Wednesday 4th July
Woke up at 2.30am, but managed to get back to sleep OK. Woke up again at around 7am, but I wasn't feeling that great. Perhaps the lobster bisque from last night? Went out and got a yoghurt/granola type thing, but that didn't help much. I lay around in bed watching Wimbledon and sleeping occasionally. Finally I make the decision not to play the $600 today at the Venetian. Need to relax and feel better for the $1500 tomorrow. I get something simple for lunch, and then decide to play the $150 daily at Caesars (very short walk).
-
It's 20 minute blinds (20k starting stack), so I'll need some luck. It's also the sort of tournament where this sort of thing happens. Call, call, call and then I raise with AK from the SB. Fold, then all in. Hmm. Don't fancy putting over half my stack in on a bit of a gamble. I fold. The first big hand for me is a five-callers hand where I have 44 and hit the set. I get up to 30k. Nothing big after that until the break, and I'm on 21k.
First hand back after the break, it goes all in, all in, all in (third one has me covered) and I have KK in the SB. The other three hands miss everything and so I nearly quadruple. There's a nice bloke on my left and we've been chatting all afternoon. He's here for a stag. Two of them have been here two days and the rest are coming tonight. He said that he needed two extra days 'to get his eye in'. I don't think he was talking about poker! Anyway, he was doing quite well, but then lost quite a lot in a race. Blinds are now 2k/4K and I make it 10k from the button with 97s. He goes all in for 19k. He has A9. Oops! I get lucky and hit a straight. So I'm on about 80k now, average 55k and 30 left from 80 runners.
-
Then the killer blow. A loose player to my immediate right raises my SB. I fold some rubbish. Next hand he raises again, and I push all in with AJ. He snaps with KK. Annoying. The move was fine, but there would have been better spots. Blinds were getting messy, though. I was down to 11k after that and the blinds were up to 4k/8k. I trebled up with T8 with a ten on the river. Then I get my 37k in with 88. Someone dwells a bit and says 'I have to call; it's my favourite hand'. He has KQ. King on the flop. A shame about the AJ hand. By the time I go out there are only 18 left and they pay nine.
-
I'm still not feeling 100%, so decide to eat something really straightforward. There's a "NYC's finest" Italian that looks OK, so I go there and have spaghetti bolognese. It appears to be $32 on the menu and I question it with the waiter. "That's for four. You should have the starter portion." Fine. It arrives and I have to ask him if he's got the wrong one because, as far as I can see, this plate feeds four too. Especially if the 'four' are planning on having a main course. Anyway, I get about half way through it and obviously need nothing more to eat.
-
I then decide to get a taxi to the Rio to buy my entry for the $1500 tomorrow. They have live WSOP action on ESPN in the hotel room, and the story all day has been the massive queues for registration. Apparently, what with it being 4th July and the US economy doing well (you wait a year - I could write an essay on it here, but best not) it has been a record day for Day 1C of the Main Event. Late entry finished just as I get to the Rio, so there is exactly one person ahead of me in the queue. Clearly a good decision because it will not be like this an hour before the event tomorrow. Anyway, I hang around and watch Will Kassouf for a bit. He is quite amusing. I'd love to be on his table giving him some back. Might be unwise, but good fun. I bump into Tom and Lucy from APAT. Had a nice chat. Apparently he's made Day 2 of the ME, and that all happens tomorrow. Looks like I might come over to the Rio early after all so I can rail him a bit before my event. That reminds me - my event doesn't start until 3pm, which is a bit annoying because if all goes well I'll be there until 2am. I go to the back of the Rio to find the usual shuttle bus stop. There doesn't appear to be anyone waiting, and the area is labelled 'Uber'. Hmm. I go and get a taxi, and the driver says they've stopped the shuttle. I suppose it's been two years and I did wonder why they offed a free service. I wasn't too sure what was in it for them. Still, the taxi drivers must be happy.
-
On my return to Caesars, I go back to the Poker Room and decide to play some cash to keep me awake. I last until about 10.30pm and end up $100 up, which was nice. The two key hands happened in the first ten minutes. I get QQ, raise and get a couple of callers. Flop has a king on it and I bet and get one caller. Turn is another king. Check/check. River is a queen. Handy. I bet, he thinks for a bit and calls. Next hand I get KK and make the "Standard Vegas $1\$2 pre-flop raise" of x4 BB. I get FIVE callers. F**k. Queen high flop. I bet. They all fold. So weird. Bed time.
-
Thursday 5th July
Bit of a lie-in today. Wake at 4am. Back to sleep then properly awake at about 6.30am. Get Wimbledon on in time to see Cilic lose in five. How did that happen? He was two sets up the day before. I get a ham/cheese croissant from the usual "Guy Savoy Brioche" (GSB from now on) and, although it's $5, an espresso. Unusually for America, it's make with freshly ground coffee with a proper machine. I suppose THE Guy Savoy wouldn't have it any other way. Shame about the cardboard cup. Back to my room for Wimbledon and Edexcel Economics marking. It's all online these days and the WiFi is pretty good, so it's doable, although I'd rather be doing almost anything else. I'm definitely NEVER doing it again!
-
I'll get back to you with news of the $1500, but for those who have watched enough US TV, here's a quick quiz for you. They tend to play the same four or five adverts AGAIN AND AGAIN until you know them by heart. Does anyone remember: "We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two"? First correct answer gets 1% of my action in today's $1500.
-
Farmer's Insurance ?
-
Ian wins!
-
First two levels. Dribble a bit then get aces UTG. I raise, call, button reraises, BB calls. I put in quite a hefty reraise and they all fold. Up to 8k (7,500 starting stack). There's a call UTG, I raise the button with AJ, he calls. QJ8 flop. He checks, I bet, he calls. Ace on the turn. Handy. He checks, I bet and he calls. River an eight. Check/check. I should probably bet here, but he's lost half his stack and I don't want him pushing on me. Anyway, he doesn't show. Up to 9k. For the rest of the Level 2 I have a few minor tussles with the same player. He lost quite a big pot before our original hand and he's clearly desperate to get chips back. I win marginally more than I lose, and so I'm now on just over 9k. Overall it's quite a tame table and I feel like I should be getting a bit busier. Very early days, though. I love 60 minute levels!
-
Levels 3 and 4. Lose a grand to the bloke to my immediate left. He's from Lithuania (L from now on) and clearly knows what he's doing. I raise he calls. My QJs misses the flop, but I rep the ace on the flop and he calls. Check the turn, and then he bets the river. He probably had nothing but knows I won't call. I call early with 33. L raises. Loose player calls and I call. 853 flop. I check, L checks and loose player bets 1.5k. I raise to 4K and they both fold. On about 11k now. I win a small pot against loose boy (AK on a king high flop) before he loses all his chips to a nice bloke to my immediate right. Inevitable. Folded to me in the SB and I raise with AK. L calls, obviously. Miss the flop. Check, check. Miss the turn. Bet, call. Miss the river. Check, check. He has Q4 for a pair of fours. I get 99 and raise. L calls and the BB puts in a hefty raise. Tough one, but I fold. The very next hand, I get QQ. UTG, quite loose, raises. I reraise and the SB goes all in for about 5k. I'm thinking I probably have to call (I have 1200 in there) when UTG goes all in for 10k! I fold QQ face up, and UTG is amazed. SB has AA, obviously, and UTG has AK. Ace on flop and then the aces makes the flush. I had the queen of the suit for what it's worth (nothing, clearly). So I lose nearly 2k in two hands and did nothing wrong. Then a really annoying hand. Folded to the button, who is quite new to the table. He raises to 400, I make it 1200 from the BB with AQ, then he instantly makes it 3400. I have a think, but I know I have to fold. Should have taken a flop, although that could have been messy if he had something like AK. So at the end of Level 4 I'm down to starting stack. It's 100/200 when we get back, so I have plenty of chips, but still feel a bit annoyed. Interesting fact: my table is REALLY close to the toilet. Handy when the breaks are only 15 minutes long. And there's no dinner break.
-
Levels 5 and 6. I raise to steal, L reraises, obviously. I get QQ in the BB. Result! Folds to the SB. He calls, I raise and he calls. Queen high flop. Check, bet, fold. Very annoying. There's been a raise nearly every hand except that one! I raise with 66 UTG but the BB reraises and I have to let it go. Then the final hand. There's a raise, three calls and I have 66 again in the SB. I call and so does L in the BB. Flop is K75. So close! We all check. Turn is the six. I'm slightly worried about the straight, but this feels like my hand. I bet 1500 and the only caller is the SB next to me (not the nice bloke any more - he went out earlier, so this bloke is new to the table). River is a queen. He checks, I go all in and he calls pretty quickly. In my eagerness to get my chips in, I didn't see that the queen was the third heart, and he has AhJh. Bugger. I wonder if he calls if I push the turn? Not sure I would have done anything different even if I had spotted the three hearts. I was down to 3k and he could have had loads of other hands. Perhaps I could have checked the river and tried to grind up the 3k? Still, all very annoying.
-
Friday 6th July
Didn't wake up until about 4am, but then struggled to sleep well again. Was still snoozing as the football started. Easy win for France. Then Wimbledon, followed by the Brazil match. A cracker! Although Brazil had chances at the end, I still think Belgium deserved it. Loved the fact that the ref was having none of the Brazilian diving. The Belgian keeper had a blinder too. France/Belgium semi should be good.
As soon as the match was over I was in the shower to get ready for the PLO at the Rio. I got there by 1.30pm so I could register with no queues and then go and get some lunch of the eggs/bacon variety. A 3pm start with a late finish again. Fingers crossed I can be there at the end of the day.
-
First two levels. Just like yesterday, we start with 7,500 and he have 60 minute levels. First significant hand. I raise with AQJJs. I get reraised, then there's a 4-bet. Obviously I fold. Lots of raising at the start, but by the end of the first level, lots of limping. I'm in a limped pot with AQ83s. The flop is AJ9 and there's a small bet that I call. I'm the only caller. Then another ace on the turn. He bets small I call. Then a third spade on the river, and I haven't made the boat. He makes it 800. I fold, showing the ace. He shows the jack of spades. Next, big error. Folded to me in the button and I raise with AKJ4, suited ace. The BB calls. Flop is QT5 rainbow. He bets 600, I raise to 2k, he goes all in. Bugger. I can't call, even with all those outs. I'm not here to gamble. Very annoyed that I didn't just take the turn which my straight draw. Down to 4K. That was about 10 minutes into Level 2. Nothing after that, and I'm on 3,500. Looking grim.
-
By the way, we've had two players go out already. One of them pushed with a straight and a flush draw on a paired board. Obviously the other bloke had a boat. The other one called an all in bet. The bettor showed the nut straight and the caller grumbled and walked off. Didn't anyone tell them this is a game of the nuts? The first bloke was on my immediate right and kept saying "is this a re-buy", and "this should be a re-buy". He was clearly here to gamble.
-
Levels 3 and 4. I need something to happen. First hand back I get AsJs4d3d. There's a raise and a call, so I call (bit of a gamble). Two spades on the flop. I check, bet, call and I call. Turn is a second two. We check it round. River is the spade I need. I check, planning to call the bet I was expecting, but it's checked round. One of them shows a queen high flush, so he might have called a bet. Anyway, I'm up to 5k. I win a small pot when I call a raise with AQJT. We check the ace high flop then I bet the turn and he folds. I win another small pot. I raise with kings, one caller, king high flop, I bet and he folds. On 6k. This is a right old grind!
-
I get moved, and then have two handy hands in a row. I get AA34s. A call to my right, I raise to 600 and there are four callers. I bet the king high flop and they all fold. The very next hand I get AQQ5ss. I call a raise as do three others. The flop gives me a 2nd nut flush draw. The same bloke to my immediate right bets, I call and the rest fold. The turn gives me the flush. He bets I call. After the last experience I decide not to raise! River is another heart, and no paired board, thankfully. He checks, I bet and he folds. As I'm typing this, I limp with three others with 9775s. It comes three of my suit. There's a bet, call, I raise and they both fold. Out of nowhere I'm on over 11k. And breathe.
-
A couple of mad hands. I have AAxx double suited. I only call because I'm trying to get the player to my left in a hand. $500 of our $1500 is a bounty (didn't I mention that?) and he's only on about 1200 in chips. Anyway, he doesn't call and the flop has two diamonds, one of my suits. It's checked round. The turn isn't a diamond, but I bet out. There's a call, then a raise. I call the raise (4000) and then the bloke who called my raise goes all in. We both fold. So annoying that the second bloke made it 4k. The very next hand I'm in again for the aforementioned reason. I have the same ace high diamond flush draw. I bet the flop and I get one call. I miss the turn and call the pot bet (2700). The diamond comes on the river (phew!). I'm all in for another 3k and get the call. So I lose a lot, then win a lot and am now on 13k. A few hands later I get into the treasured pot with the short stack. Another short stack makes it 3k all in (two bounties!), but a big stack goes all in to get rid of me, which works. He knocks them both out with a nut flush. $1000 in one hand!
-
Levels 5 and 6.
Big limp fest. I have 9953s. Flop is A23. It gets checked round. Turn is a 4. I bet out and get two callers. River a jack. I bottle it and check (game of the nuts). It gets checked round and I win the pot. I raise with KK98. I get four callers! Flop is 623. Bet, call, I fold. Two players left. Then it gets very messy and the turn and river are 8 and 7. So I would have had a straight, but there were three clubs on the board. One of them puts a massive bet in and the other one folds. After all that, I'm on 16k. Somehow, I'm one of the shorter stacks. I won a small pot, then raised with JJ42. A bit loose. I get two callers. Flop is A76. I bet out and get two callers. The turn is a five with three diamonds now. The other two start betting big and I'm out of there. Bit of a waste of 3000 chips. I'm on about 11k. Another limped pot. I lost 1k punting on the river. He has a better two pair.
-
I finally win a bounty! Call, I call, my immediate left raises. There are two callers, so I make a bit of a loose call with AK22s. Flop comes J32. I decide this is my moment. I pot, the initial raiser goes all in and the rest fold. He has KK and the diamond flush draw. He misses everything and it turns out he has 7100 to my 7700. So I take his bounty! Very exciting - what ever happens now, I've cashed for $500! I'm on 21k. Then a comedy hand. My immediate right seems to have got very low somehow. We have a limped pot, then he goes all in on the flop and it's only 1800 to call. I call and so does someone else. My hand is JJ75ss and the flop gives me an over pair (for what it's worth) and the flush draw. The two of us not all in check it down. Jack on the turn and then I make my flush on the river. The all in has the nut flush. SO close to a second bounty! Big hand. I get AA95ss. There's a min raise, I make it 2500 and get three callers! Flop is A23. Someone goes all in for about 10k. I assume he has the straight, but with lots of outs, and the bounty, I have to call. He has AKJT - very pretty pre-flop, but not great on this flop. The four on the turn gives me the straight that I didn't need. Another bounty! One more and I'm even for this tournament! And I'm on 35k.
-
There is late entry until the end of Level 6. 20 minutes before the end of the level this bloke shows up and I assume I should know who he is because the whole table is congratulating him on a final table, and a second place, etc. Anyway, he's all in within three hands and comes fourth in a massive hand. The bloke who's just joined the table hits the river and wins two bounties! Just before the break, I get KK74s. There's a min raise, and I make it 2500. The min raiser calls. Flop is KJ5. I bet 5k and he calls. The turn is an ace and he pots for 15k. He's quite loose and could just be drawing, but he could have raised with aces. There's the straight too. I decide I'll have a better spot later. I show the kings and he looks surprised. Hmm. I end the Level on about 26k. So far there are 808 entries and only 225 left!
-
Levels 7 and 8.
I'm in the BB and it gets folded all the way to a new bloke on my left in the SB. He calls and we see a flop. I have bottom two pair and an inside straight draw. He bets the minimum, 500, and I raise to 1500. He pots for 5k. Hmm. Should have taken the card for 500. Next, there's a call, then a short stack makes it 2k. I have AKK5 and so pot it for 7200. Sadly, he folds. No bounty for me! He then loses his bounty a few hands later. Then the big hand. Two callers, and I have KK43s on the button. I pot for 3200 and get three callers! The flop has an ace and two clubs, my suit. I bet out 10k and get two callers. The turn is the Jack of spades. First bloke checks, and the second pots. There's about 45k in the pot and I have less than 10k back. I decide to there's just too much in there. I call and miss. He has a straight. All good fun and a shame it's over. At least I might get to bed at a reasonable hour for the 7am England match. And I've got $1000 in bounties!
-
Great blogging Joe
Just unfortunate with timing issues but Omaha is always a ballsy
Positional game where letting go is just as important as
pulling the trigger
Great read interesting lay down with kk would love to have seen that one out
Run better
Ian x
-
Saturday 7th July
I wake up at 4am. Less than four hours sleep? Of course - I forgot the Melatonin. I try to sleep a bit more but it's difficult given the excitement brewing with the footie. And then the match. A combination of being on my own in a hotel room and the ease of victory led to a slightly subdued feeling. Also, I got a video call from all my mates in the Eagle in Clapham. Perhaps this was not the year to be in Vegas! I missed quite a lot of the 1990 World Cup because I had a job as a driver at Wimbledon. Not great timing. Checking quarter final and semi final dates didn't seem that relevant when I booked; at the time, England were considered to be pretty rubbish.
-
Good news #2: the $600 at the Venetian today is back in the main poker room. Much nicer. Good news #3: it's a two-day 40 minute blind affair. I had forgotten this fact and thought it was going to be another one day 30 minute job. The plan is to watch Edmund lose to Djokovic, get to the Venetian and have lunch at the Grand Lux before the 1pm start. I'll get back to you later.
-
Levels 1-3.
In the first level I dribble about 2k. Partly because the Croatia/Russia extra time was going on, and partly because to my immediate right I have a mega loose player who plays two thirds of his hands. I've been tempted a few times. Level 2. I get KK. There's a raise, a call and I reraise. They both fold. Level 3. I get AJs and raise. The second loosest player reraises. Because it's him I call. Flop is low rubbish. He bets I fold. Generally I'm getting rubbish hands as you can tell from the lack of action in this paragraph. I get A8 and raise. Second loosest (SL) calls. Flop is all clubs, K82. He bets small and I call because I have the ace of clubs. Turn is a 2. Check, check. River is an ace. Handy. He bets, I call. He has 32 FFS. I get AJ in the BB and there are five calls before me! I don't raise. Flop comes T95 two clubs. I have the ace of clubs. Check, SL bets small, four calls, including me. Turn is a queen. Handy. I check and so does everyone else. River a king. Nice! I bet and get one caller. I notice after the bet that there are now three hearts on the board, but the caller has KQ, so I finally win a decent pot. I'm on 17k at the break.
-
Levels 3-6.
A raiser, and I call with AQs in the BB. Flop is low with two of my suit. Check, bet, call. I miss the turn, but bet it and he folds. Up to 19k. I raise UTG+1 with AQs. Immediate left reraises. I call. Miss the flop. He shows AKs. Bit of an error. There's a raise and I reraise from the BB with KK. He calls. Flop is ten high. I bet and he calls. Turn is a king, but there are three clubs. I bet and he folds. Back to 20k. End of Level 5. I haven't played a hand for ever, so I raise first in (with 85s) just so they don't think I'm a total rock. Obviously I get three callers. Flop is K76. Interesting. Check, check and I bet my straight draw. SL calls. Turn is a king. Check, check. River an eight. There are three spades, which should have slowed me down. He bets and I call given some of the rubbish he's shown. He has the nut flush. I lose over a third of my stack in a hand in which I shouldn't have been involved. Very annoying. Then I win a hand with SL! He raises EP and very loose (remember him?), calls in the SB and I call with 65s in the big. Flop gives me a flush draw. SL bets, loose folds and I call. I miss the turn but bet out and SL folds! SL loses a big pot when his aces get cracked by queens. He's been playing nearly every hand since. Last hand of Level 6. The queens guy raises, the button calls and I make it 3500 from the BB with QQ. Queens boy folds and the button calls. He's been quite tight. The flop is kind; jack high. I go all in for my last 8k. He thinks for a bit and calls with 87s for middle pair. "I put you on AK." Why? As queens boy leaves for the break he says "I folded AJ". Turn and river were both aces. Phew! Up to 26k.
-
Levels 7 and 8. I knock out SL! He's just lost a big pot where he was basically gambling. I get KK and raise, the button calls and he pushes from the SB with about 4k. I make it 10k and the button folds and SL has 72s, obviously. I'm on 33k. Both loose boys are out, but we have a new one (NLB) and he raises, I call in the SB with 44 and the BB calls too. Flop is TT3. I check, check, bet. I raise and they both fold. I get involved with NLB. I raise UTG with 55 (a bit lairy). He calls and everyone else folds. The flop is AQT. I bet to rep the ace and he calls. I fold his turn bet. There's a call from the tighter bloke from whom I won with QQ before the break. I raise with AK, an he's the only caller. Flop is king high. He checks, I bet, he calls. Same on the turn. I bottle the river and just check. He has KQ. Up to 37k. Same bloke gets very short and goes all in for 3700. I decide to gamble and call with 22. He hits. Not the sort of thing I usually do. All a bit odd. The start of the rot.
-
Level 9. Card dead. Blinds are 100/400/800 and I'm dribbling chips. I raise to steal and there are two all ins ahead of me. One of them has kings. The NLB has gone after losing most of his chips punting on a flush draw. We have a new NLB to my immediate right and he's a nice bloke from Birmingham. I get AJs which looks amazing after the rubbish I've had and three bet one of his many raises. He goes all in, I fold and he shows kings. I'm down to 14k. I raise with 77 and get reraised. I call with the plan to push on most flops. It comes T96 and I push. He snaps with AA. I get a flush draw on the turn but miss on the river. I wasn't getting any luck, but I'm still annoyed with that last hour. Poor play.
-
Loving the blog Joe. Keep it going.
-
Sunday 8th July
Reflecting on yesterday I played very poorly towards the end. 35k chips was not great, but absolutely fine. I'm normally very patient but tried too hard to make things happen. Last go today, a Venetian $600 one-day event, so will try very hard not to do anything stupid. I've also been reflecting on not being in England for the Sweden match. Quite sad really. It's brilliant that England are doing so well, but if you're not there to get a feel for the atmosphere it's simply not the same. I have very vivid memories of the 1996 Euros, with all the Saturday matches. Yesterday sounded amazing wherever you were in England, and that memory is lost forever for me. Flying out to France on Wednesday is a massive error, though. When I was booking, I assume that I didn't consider a WC semi to be an issue, but booking one day later wouldn't have been difficult. I'm considering asking my wife if we can buy new flights for a day later when I get back on Tuesday. Not sure it will go down well.
-
Awake by 5am. Realised that I forgot to take a melatonin again. I also remembered that the Grand Prix was on, starting at 6.10am, and luckily it's on the channel that usually shows Wimbledon (no play today). Hamilton in poll position, but not for long. Not really his fault, except for his slow start, of course. Anyway, the plan is the same as yesterday. Get there 90 minutes early and register, then brunch at the Grand Lux. Yesterday some of alternates were waiting more than an hour. Why not just register early? Mind you, one bloke came to our table quite late and it worked out well. He played pretty normally for a bit and got up to about 30k. He then played a mad hand with NLB (the original). He raised on the button, NLB 3-bet from the SB and he called. Flop has two diamonds. NLB goes all in for quite a chunk, and it certainly covers the new boy. He calls without much thought. NLB has something like Ad8d for the nut flush draw, new boy has Td7d for a worse flush draw and an inside straight draw. He hits the seven and scoops a massive pot. Even Birmingham boy to my right (new NLB) thought it was a bit lively! By the way, the end of the Grand Prix is quite lively (as I type).
-
Loving the blog Joe, looking forward to each new post, hopefully we will be reading about a sizeable cash soon, fingers crossed for you.
-
Levels 1 and 2. We have 20k in chips, but only 30-minute blinds. BB antes too. Only three at my table at the start, but that's allowed so we're off. Second hand I get TT. There's a raise, I reraise and he calls. Flop is T95. I bet, he calls. Turn a six. I bet, he calls. Turn a nine. Nice. I bet but he folds. I'm already on 22k. We now have a full table. Limped round and I call with 75. Flop is 643. Bingo! I bet and get a call. Turn a seven. Boo! Bet, call. River a brick. Bet, raise, call. He has Q5 for a split. I get 55 on there's a raise and the BB calls. Q66. Checked round. Turn is a five. Nice! He bets, I raise, he calls. River a two. He checks, I bet and he folds. 25k already! I don't play a hand for the whole of Level 2, but there's some mad play going on. We lost a player when he bet and accidentally used a 5k chip instead of a 1k. He then goes all in on the river with his reduced stack with nothing. The bloke who called doesn't seem to have played much so didn't see any of the danger on the board. The same inexperienced player then loses all those chips to a German bloke when he calls it all the way down with 55. There are five overcards. Then that German takes out a player takes out when he calls a raise; "a donation!" The flop is T54. He calls the flop bet then it all goes in on the turn (a four) and he has 94.
-
Level 3. I play two hands. The first is one of the only hands that hasn't gone raise/reraise by the time it gets to me. I have 53s on the button and it's a limped pot! I miss the flop. Then I raise late with AT. One caller. I bet the flop and he folds. That's it. Meanwhile, some bloke gets it all in pre with 87. He had about 13k left! Level 4. A tight woman raises and I call with 22. There are four more callers! Flop is 875. Checked round to the bloke to the left of me. He bets, the button calls and the BB raises. Bettor folds and the button goes all in. BB calls. He has 96o. WTF? Just call with anything! The button had 77 for a set. I decide to raise with T8s so that I don't look like a total rock. I get four callers. I'm amazed there wasn't a reraise! Flop is AT5. I bet and the German calls. Could be messy. Turn is a king. Check, check. River is an eight. I must be ahead. I bet and he calls, showing a king (I bet he had some rubbish like K6). Then, just before the break, I finally get a hand! There's a call, then the tight woman raises and I reraise with QQ. The caller folds and she calls. Flop is ace high. She checks, I bet and she folds.
-
Level 5. I don't play hand. Well, except for a limped pot with the German (G). No money goes in and I hit a lucky straight. Level 6. Big hand. I raise UTG with QQ. The G calls as does Mr Inexperienced (MI). Flop is A96 all clubs. I have the queen of clubs. I bet and they both call. Turn is a queen. I bet 5k. The G goes all in for 11k. MI just calls and leaves about 8k behind. I just call. I'm thinking I might have to hit to win. Surely one of them has a rubbish little flush. The G had a weak ace and Mi has AQ for the two pair. I'm now on 57k. Take it easy!
-
Level 6 I play no big hands; small losses, small wins, etc. Then in Level 7 I get QQ again. I raise and get three callers. Flop is AQ9. I bet and only MI calls. There were two diamonds on the board so I thought I ought to force it a little. Anyway, the turn is a nine. Nice! I check, he bets and I call. River is another nine! Can he really have the case nine? I check, he bets and I just call. He only had another 6k, so I should probably have put him all in, but I bottled it. He had AT. I'm now on 69k. For the rest of the level, I win a few small pots and am on 73k.
-
Level 8. Only one big hand. There's a call from MI (he does that a lot) then a call from quite a good player. I haven't tussled with him yet. I raise to 2k from the button with AK. He reraises to 6k. I call. I'm not comfortable here. Flop is KQ9. He checks, I bet 6k and he calls. Turn is a queen. Check, check. River a king. Result! He checks, I bet 10k and he instantly folds AA face up. Big swerve there. Mind you, AK vs AA is a bit harsh. Would I have folded the river if I missed and he bet big? Not sure I'm good enough. I'm on 87k at the break.
-
Level 9, somehow it gets folded to me in the button and I have AKs. I raise and the two nice people to my left call. Both good players too. Flop comes AK7. Check, check, I bet, the SB calls. Turn irrelevant. Check, bet, call. River an eight. He checks, I bet and he calls. He had A8, so not a great river for him. Nice pot. I'm on over 100k now. For the rest of Level 9 and the whole of Level 10 not much happens. I lose with AJs then win with AJs. A loose player raises and I reraise with QQ. He calls and folds to my bet on the flop. Still just over 100k. At the end of Level 11 I'm in the BB with QT and the loose bloke raises. I call. Flop is 876. I bet, he calls. Turn is a five. Nasty board, so I make it 10k and he folds. On about 120k. Level 12. I lose 10k when I raise with T8, get one caller then get pushed on when I bet the flop, but then I get it back when I call a raise in the SB, four in the pot and I bet a nasty flop. They all fold. Dinner break. Could be a long evening. Might help me sleep on the plane tomorrow.
-
Level 13. A big hand that never was. Loose boy raises and there's a call and I decide NOT to call with Ah2h on the button. The blinds call. Flop is 985 all hearts. NOOOO! At the end of the level I get KT late position. There's a call and I raise to 7k. The initial caller calls. Flop is AT7. He checks, I bet 15k, he calls. Hmm. Turn is a king. Handy, although there's a diamond draw and the straight draw out there. He checks and I bet 35k. He tanks folds and tells me later he had AJ. That felt about right. He should have bet out. I called the loose player with 75. The flop was A74. He bets, I call. He checks the turn and I bet out. Sadly he calls. I don't improve and have to fold his river bet. Silly. I shouldn't have been in the hand. I then lose a bit when it's folded to me in the cutoff and I raise with AJ. Both the blinds call. I bet bet the 422 flop and get a call. We check down the turn and river and he has A4. Bit annoying.
-
Level 14. Card dead. During Level 15 we get moved. I'm on a table where my slightly above average stack feels quite small. I get no hands, steal a couple, lose a couple of steals, but mainly fold. By the time I get moved again it's the middle of Level 16 and I'm down to 100k. Average is 110k and the blinds 2k/4k with a 3k BB ante. 126 left out of 694 runners. 72 get paid. $73,000 up top. I'm still card dead. At the end of Level 16 I get J8s in the BB and am all set to fold when the inevitable raise comes, but it gets folded to the SB, and he just calls. Perhaps I should raise here, but I don't. Flop is AT5, two of my suit. He bets the minimum and I call. The turn is a jack. He bets 12k. I make it 35k and he insta-folds. At the break, I have 120k, average is 128k and there are 108 left.
-
Level 17. Second hand I get QQ. FINALLY! I raise and it's folded to the BB. He's a bit short and is having a think. I know he's going to push. I snap and he has 66. A six-free board, and I'm up to 180k. And breathe. Then a very cagey hour. Unless you steal that's 15k gone every round. Sadly still card dead. Only one steal so far. Must do better. 82 left. I raise with 87 and the BB calls. Flop is J82 all diamonds. He checks. I can't remember if I have a diamond in my hand. I have an eight, though. I bet. He folds. Makes a massive difference picking up these small pots, mainly because they aren't small anymore. End of Level 18. Only 76 left. Need a wee.
-
Level 19. We're hand-for-hand. Bloke on my left just got his aces cracked by KQ. Flop was 985, turn a jack. He's on 40k. He won't be playing a hand. Min cash is $1,186. Hand-for-hand was very dull, but there was quite a lot of comedy afterwards. I'm losing 26k every round and still card dead. I'm ready to push with K9, but the bloke to my right gets there before me. The SB calls and has AQ and knocks out the bloke on my right, but if he hadn't gone all in my K9 would have beaten the AQ. Then I finally go all in with 85s. The BB doesn't look and calls. He turns over an ace, then a five! I get a flush draw but miss. I'm down to one BB. So obviously I'm all in next hand, but I don't look and two bigger stacks have both gone all in. One had 22 and the other had AQ. Oh dear. I turn over the first card - a queen. Not good. But then the second card is...a queen! And it holds, so I'm back to 40k. I then get a double up when my JT is against T9 (again, I didn't look). So at the end of Level 20 I'm somehow still in it with 76k. Mind you, after the break blinds are 8k/16k and a 12k BB ante, so I'll be all in pretty soon.
-
So I've got three hands to go all in. When I'm UTG with my third rubbish hand, I decide to take my time and count out 40k of my 76. They all fold and the woman to my right says "that was a scary raise". So that worked then. In the BB next hand, it's folded round to the woman. She goes all in and I have to call, obviously, and have 22. She has J8. Flop is AKT. Turn a nine. One more card to swerve! River a jack. All good fun and I apparently came 48th (they were dropping like flies). I cashed for $1,330. Nice to end the trip on a cash. I've never been to Vegas and not had at least some sort of min cash. Still down overall, though, but it could have been worse. It's 1.10am now and really fancy a drink. Might keep me up, although I'm rubbish at sleeping here anyway. Also, the longer I stay up the more likely I'll sleep on the flight.
-
count out 40k of my 76
ha ha Joe, we talked about this very scenario in Vegas - awesome mate :)
-
Will there be updates?
-
Sadly the Vegas dream is over for another year. Since Vegas, I played the Goliath for the first time and made Level 13 at the end of Day 1. Running KK into AA on Level 10 didn't help. I then played the APAT Main Event and came 13th out of 420. A bit card-dead towards the end. Tonight I taking my virginal (in the casino sense) 18-year old godson to the Rendezvous to play his first £30 affair. Might be a car crash...
-
My annual Vegas trip in two weeks time. Excited! I'll be blogging on here as usual. Fingers crossed!
-
VBOL Joe, looking forward to the blog as always
-
The story starts the night before. I check my bag in on Sunday evening before staying at the Premier Inn overnight. The woman tucks the boarding pass into my passport and off I go. A couple of hours later I have a look at the boarding pass and it says JAMES CARR. The woman had typed in "Carr" and just picked the first one that came up on the computer. She didn't even bother check the first name. I go back, mainly because I'm worried about the bag, and a different woman has to go and see the manager - it's a very big deal, apparently. Security issues, of course. It sounds like the first woman might be in quite a lot of trouble.
-
Flight delayed by two hours. As I board I ask about the James Carr issue. They know nothing about it, obviously. They check their records and apparently the bag is definitely on the flight. We shall see. I'm the last to get on the plane, apart from some bloke whose name is...James Carr! Clearly the cock up affected his check in too. I'm typing this on the plane, so hopefully all will be well when we land. I watched a Beatles documentary and then finished "The Secret Barrister". If you haven't read it you must. Our criminal justice system appears to be f**ked. Next, I had the last three episodes of "Chernobyl" downloaded onto my iPad, so I knocked those off. Best drama of the year. Must-watch. Watched one more film. One final thing. This was the coldest flight I have ever been on. People had blankets over their heads! I managed to get a hot water bottle from one of the stewards.
-
Landed. Security quite quick. And my bag is there. Phew!
-
I was checked into Harrah's by 5pm and met my mate, Matt, for a quick drink before getting myself sorted and getting off to the Rio to buy in for tomorrow. He'd never been there before so we did the tour and registered for Tuesday's $500 event. 25k in chips and 40m levels. Back to Harrah's for the 7pm but it was full!? So we went to the Flamingo which had an 8pm. It was looking very like my usual first night effort - hovering around starting stack as I begin to get very knackered - but then I double up twice and then the big stake shoves on my aces! That certainly wakes you up! With six left and stack sizes of, roughly, three at 150k and three at 100k, and blinds at 10k/20k, we chop up and I get $300 (I was one of the small stacks). Nice start! It's now coming up to midnight, so 8am UK time, so I've basically missed a night's sleep. Oops! Time for a melatonin!
-
Not bad for the first night sleep. Woke at about 5am, and struggled to get back to sleep, but that's better than the usual 2.30am. Got the tennis on the TV, and managed to hold off on breakfast until about 7am. The usual eggs and bacon. They definitely don't have bacon like this in the UK; always a treat. Met up with Matt at 9.30 for the second breakfast and an Uber to the Rio. Let's do this!
-
40m levels, so three levels until each break. Level 1. I get 66 twice and win small pots, then get AK twice and lose small pots. I lose a bit with AQ too. Down to 24k. Level 2. Won a bit off the loose player with KT. AKx flop and a ten on the turn. A second ace on the river. He called me all the way with 44. Won some more with AJ at the end of the level. Ace high board and loose player calls the flop bet but folds on the turn. 28k. Level 3. Not much happens until the end. I'm on the button with KsQs. CO raises, I make it 2k, BB calls and the CO calls. Hmm. Flop is ace high and all clubs. Check, check. I decide to bet 4k on that scary board. They both call. An error, in hindsight, but they both were the types that could fold in that spot. We check the turn and river. BB has QQ and has the flush after the Jc river. Down to 21k.
-
Next three levels. Level 4 is 200/300 with a 300 BB ante. We have no 25s, hence the odd numbers. BB antes are so much quicker! So I get to see a few extra hands, but they are all **** this levels so it makes no difference. Just over 20k at the end. Level 5. Finally I get JJ UTG+1. I raise and get two callers, despite playing no hands for an hour. Flop is queen high, I C-bet and they both fold. Bloke who arrived very late has just gone out. Last to arrive, first to leave. Why play tournaments if you have no patience? I raise LP with A7. Both blinds call. Flop is king high. Check, check and I bet. BB calls (who is the loose guy). I stare at him as the turn is dealt and bet without looking. He calls. He bets the river, and the board is now 4578 with the king. He could easily be pushing me off the river, but I decide not to risk it. Down to 15k. Hmm. Level 6. AK in the SB. Not been good for me today. Loose player calls in EP (hmm) and there's another call then another loose bloke goes all in for about 10k. I obviously push over him and the other two fold. All in says "kings", but is was actually "kings?" He had AJ. I'm on 28k. Phew. 26k by the end of the level, what with 1300 going on each round.
-
Levels 7-9. Late raise, I re-raise with AK from the button, he folds. Card dead. Level 8. I raise LP with 44. Button and BB call. Flop J54, but all clubs. Check, I bet, they both fold. Next, an annoying hand. I raise with QhJh and get two callers. I bet the 776 flop and get a call. I know I'm giving it up. Silly. I get TT MP. I raise to 2k, button calls and the loose SB makes it 8k. I go all in for 20k, button folds (AQs he says afterwards) and obviously the loose bloke calls. He has Q9! I swerve his gutshot, and double up. 42k. Level 9. Not much happening, except losing 2,500 each round. Finally! I get AA. UTG raises and I re-raise. He calls. The flop is **** - check, be, fold. The very next hand I get 44 and raise. Two callers. Flop is 882. I bet and get one caller. Hmm. Turn a king. I bet and he folds saying "I really didn't need that king. 56k.
-
Level 10. Nothing for a while then I get 99 in LP. A loose guy raises, a tighter one calls, then I re-raise. They both call. Flop comes 863. Check, check, I bet 20k, call, fold. Turn a seven. Check, I push, he calls. He has 66. I've got straight outs too, but miss. Hmm. It feels like I was a bit too lively in that hand. If I check the flop, perhaps I get away with some chips? I had too many chips to push pre-flop. Annoying. My mate Matt is still in with about the same as I had a few minutes ago.
-
Wednesday 3rd July
So far, this has been the best sleep Vegas trip ever. I didn't wake up until 6.30am! That's over six hours continuous sleep in a Vegas hotel room. Definitely a first. Watched tennis and the Eng/NZ World Cup match, then down for breakfast with Matt. Uber to the Golden Nugget for the PLO high/low. Pretty rare to get live tournaments in this variant, so I'm very excited.
-
It turns out that this $570 event is virtually the most expensive of the whole GN series. Also, it's limit O8, and it's half O8 and half Stud8. So of course, there are only 30 runners, and, at 50, I'm virtually the youngest player in the tournament. This is going to be interesting. Levels are 30 minutes, so there's a break after every four levels. As with all limit tournaments, it's tough to go out early, and at the first break I'm on about 27k with a couple of stud hand of note and a huge Omaha hand. I get KK52 and call a raise, which is a bit naughty (but it's limit, so...). Flop comes KK9! Two players are betting into me, and it turns out they both have AA and flush draws! Also, quite a few players are drifting in during the first four levels and by the break we have nearly 70 players.
-
Levels 5-8. Lost a bit in a stud hand where I had 3456 after four cards, no 7s or 2s showing, and I call all the way and watch a jack, then a queen, then another five fill up my hand. Thanks for that. Omaha. I have 7653 and the board is 7653. I fold the turn, and of course the river is a seven. Not much happened after that. A bit up, a bit down. Then on the very last hand of the stud I get trip aces and the other bloke is clearly drawing and misses, so I make about 10k on that pot. So at the end of a level 8 I'm on nearly 40k. Very good fun!
-
Levels 9-12. The last break was the end of late registration, and we end up with 92 runners. In a limit tournament. Imagine that in the UK. Lively start and I get up to 52k. But then some missed draws in stud. Seems to be happening a lot now. By the end of Level 10 I'm down to 24k. We have about 50 runners left. Then two hands where I'm all in both times. The first I chop when I hit two pair on 7th Street. I missed my flush, but luckily the other bloke did too. Then I do hit my flush, miss the low, but he only had aces. Suddenly I'm over 60k! Then an Omaha hand where I have A489 and the flop is A67. Interesting. The turn is another ace and I'm heads up with a loose bloke who keeps betting. I have a bad feeling and so it proves. He has A6 for the boat and 82 for the slightly less s**t low. 54k. Quiet Level 12, and I go into the break with just under 60k.
-
Level 13. I unwisely get involved with QJTT, hoping for a high flop. It comes Q65, and I have the flush draw. Then the turn is a Jack. More betting (limit sucks you in!). River a five. Someone is all in and the other bloke has QJ the same as me. We split the tiny side pot and the all in has a five for the trips. Hmm. Down to 29k. Blinds are getting to the point where it's a bit like no-limit. The antes are killing me. I'm down to 20k and get A25T in the Omaha. I raise, get two callers and know this is going to be it. All my chips are in on the flop and the other two keep betting for the side pot. The board comes out KQ824. The four on the river gives me the low. Phew! Back to 30k. We're on Level 14 now and I'm on the comeback. I get A239 and it's time to get raising. We are four handed and I end up with the nut low. Up to 42k.
-
Level 15. I sense this is going to be "chip up or go home" time. We are down to 24 and 12 get paid. One more good hand and I might be in with a chance. Min cash is just under $1000 and the winner gets $14k. First hand. Stud I get 23 in the hole and the six showing. I get an ace on 4th street. This is the hand. I then get king, queen and a jack. Brilliant. Down to 10k. Back to Omaha. Blinds are 3k/5k (don't ask) and I am UTG with 8234. I raise my 10k and get four callers. The flop is 722. Handy. Then the turn is a five, so I get the low and the straight draw. I miss the river, but still win the low, so I'm up to 24k. Grind! I raise and win the blinds. Then I raise with A28J. A nice Englishman calls. Flop is A35. All the chips go in and the turn and river are a ten and another ten. I have a pair of aces for a high and a pretty rubbish low, but he mucks. My American neighbour is discussing with me how that was possible. Did he had two pair and the two 10s counterfeited it? Anyway, I'm up to 60k and there are only 20 left.
-
Level 16. Stud. I get A22. I'm heads up and keep betting as my board has another ace, and a couple of low cards. He folds. 80k. Stud. First four cards are 2358. Then I get TJK. Thanks. Down to 60k. Omaha. I get involved with T923. I have three pairs but miss the boat and the low. 25k. I really shouldn't have been involved in that hand. Annoying. I get all my chips in with 8743. Flop is Q33. Up to 55k. The blinds and antes are so bad I'm down to 40k about five hands later. Another stud hand with the Englishman. I get it all in. I miss my flush but hit the low on 6th street and two pair on 7th. Scoop! 85k! Still below average. Blinds are 8k/16k though. 18 runners left and the average is 100k. I get involved with a short stack. I miss and am down to 50k. So swingy! I win a couple of small battles and am up to 80k. We re-draw for two tables, so we are down to 16 runners.
-
I must have missed the clock because we are on Level 18 now. Omaha. I raise from the button with TT23. The BB calls. Flop is AQT. She bets I call. Turn is a three. I'm worried about the straight and so need the board to pair on the river. She bets and I have to call because most of my chips are in the middle. The river is a queen, but it turns out that's the card I didn't want because she has AQ. Out in 16th. Shame, but very good fun. For the last three hours it's felt like I've been on borrowed time, but then if I swerve that queen I would have been on over 100k and well in it. It's 9pm now so I'll go and find Matt and get an Uber home.
-
Got back to Harrah's and Matt suggested we play the 10pm $70 tournament. OK. I was sort of thinking I need to get as many free drinks as possible to make up for the loss of $70 in this crap shoot. Anyway, it turned out to be quite a laugh. On my right was one of the players with whom I chopped at the Flamingo the other night. The most amusing hand of the night was where he was all in for 800 in the BB (blinds 400/800). He didn't look, obviously, and I had K2 suited and called for a laugh. There were a few other callers. On the turn I had a flush draw and so I showed him my king and was just about to show the two when the dealer said "no, there's another player." Two to my right there's someone with his hands over his cards. No penalty because no one seemed to give a s**t in these tournaments. I expect him to bet but he checks. I hit the flush on the river, bet, and the "cover my hand" guy calls. I show my flush. The Flamingo bloke turns his cards over one by one and he has aces! The very next hand I'm the BB and there are three calls. I raise pretty big with AK. I get a min re-raise from a Finnish bloke (I find out afterwards) who hadn't seemed to know what he was doing all evening. I push and he tanks before finally calling with QQ! I hit a king on the two-spade flop, and then it's runner, runner spades for his flush. Quite an amusing hour and a half. Off to bed now.
-
Very entertaining as always Joe :)
-
Thursday 4th July
I got woken up at 2.30 am (didn't reach the phone in time) then again at 4.30am by an MBNA fraud robot. An automated voice tells me they are a bit worried about a few payments. I have to go through various "press one" etc. Thing is, I tried to warn them I was in Vegas through the online account and there was no way of messaging them. I then rang them up and there was another automated message saying there was no need to inform us of foreign travel; just use your credit card as usual. SO WHY THE F**K ARE THEY WAKING ME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? Of course, it's day time in the UK, but perhaps the robot has the mathematical ability to work out it's the middle of the night in Vegas. FFS. The good news is that I'm sleeping so well this year that I managed to get back to sleep on both occasions. I wonder why? Perhaps it's Harrah's. I might have to stay here every year!
More good news: I'm watching Wimbledon and the Farmers Insurance advert has come on. At last! Vegas trips are not the same without Farmers. Also, Nadal/Kyrgios is about to start on the TV. Good job my Venetian PLO bounty tournament doesn't start until 2pm.
-
Breakfast at 9am, then a trip to Walgreens with Matt to get some supplies. Big breakfast then snacks during poker seems to be the way forward. Back to the room for the Kyrgios match and to get ready for the Venetian. There was an earthquake a couple of hundred miles away and Harrah's swayed a little bit. Tempting to evacuate, but the tennis was good.
-
$400 PLO bounty today. 12k in chips and 30m levels. They use the card shuffler at the Venetian, so perhaps more like 40m levels. Level 1. After two hands I've lost half my stack. First, I get T976. It's 100 to call, so why not? Flop is Q76. Bet, call. Turn is a third club. Hmm. Check, check. River a fourth club (obviously irrelevant) and I don't hit my boat. Check, bet, fold. The very next hand I get QJJT. Pretty. I've already forgotten the exact details, but I have top two and a flush draw. I call the flop bet and the turn, but miss everything. Hmm. Then about four hands later I get some of it back when I hit the nut flush on the river, but he doesn't call my river bet. Perhaps I should have pushed to look desperate (and the tempter of the bounty). Back to 7.5k. I need to fold some hands! And so I do in a much quieter end of Level 1 and for all of Level 2.
-
Level 3 (100/200). I get KQQJ in EP. I just call, another caller then a raise to 1k. Call, I call, third call. Flop is queen high with two clubs. I pot it and everyone folds. Up to 10k. No more action until the very end of the level. I get KQJJ and call EP. Four more callers. Flop is KQ3 two clubs. I bet out 3k, which turned out to be an error given three of the other players all went all in! I obviously fold. The hands were a nut flush draw, third nut flush draw and KK for top set. The turn was a three, so the KK man had it, but the side pot was with the other two and the river hit the flush. So I would have been fourth! Down to 5.5k.
-
Level 4. I raise with A245 and the BB calls. I'm clearly having flashbacks to yesterday! I need a very specific flop! It comes A75, so could be worse, but he pots and I have to fold. Hmm. 4.5k. Getting to the point where I wait for AAxx and get it all in pre. No more action for me in this level, but a hand where three players were all in. All of them had a flush draw, so there weren't many spades left in the pack. The winning hand was a pair of aces, and not a pocket pair. I'm beginning to feel like PLO is not my game! There's a $600 limit Omaha high/low tomorrow. Much harder to lose chips. Given the success (ish) yesterday I'm tempted to play that, and then play Day 2 of the $1,100 on Saturday. We shall see. 15 minute break now.
-
Level 5. First hand the nice old bloke on my right somehow manages to get his whole stack in with AKxx. He's up against AAxx with a flush draw. The flop has an ace and the flush hits too. He loses both ways. He had over 20k in chips and was the first to raise pre. WTF? The very next hand I'm UTG and decide to raise with T976 double suited. There are three all ins behind me. WHAT IS GOING ON AT THIS TABLE??? One of them has AAAJ, another has the other ace with pretty random other cards and the third...I forget, but not special. The bloke to my right says "you've got the best hand here" and he's got a point. They all seem to have each other's cards. And so it proves. The board comes low, doesn't pair and I hit two pair with the 76. QUADRUPLE! I have 15k somehow. Feels like a massive win, but basically all I've done is get back up to average. Someone has come to the table (an alternate) and on his first hand has got it all in with AJT7. Obviously he misses. WTF is going on? There are only five on our table now. They've run out of alternates! I foolishly call a raise with AK76 (feeling good about 76 clearly). I miss the flop. Waste of 1200. Concentrate! Another alternate comes to our table and gets it all in on his very first hand. Loses. Mental tournament.
-
Level 6. I finally get AAxx (one suited) and raise. Two callers. I bet out the K87 board, I get potted and the other bloke goes all in. I have to fold. The all in is out as the raiser gets the flush and the straight! That's five bags down the drain. Down to 7.5k. Hmm. Quite a few showdowns with players having pretty poor hands. Easy when you have loads of chips, I suppose, to play a load of average hands. I'm in the BB and there's a min raise and three callers. Massive odds, so I call with K764 (suited king). Flop comes Q44. I check, bet, call and I go all in. Fingers crossed. Fold, call. He has Q974 rainbow. How s**t is that hand? Might as well call every hand. I don't hit a king and am out. I just don't think I'm aggressive enough for PLO. Hopefully I'll have a bit more luck later in the week.
-
Before I left the Venetian I had a look at the list of tournaments going on, and saw there was a $150 limit O8 starting at the Orleans at 6pm. Half of what I was playing yesterday, which was fun. I got an Uber down there and registered. By the way, I've been using Uber all week, and whether it's a five minute trip or a 15 minute one, it always seems to be $10. Odd. Anyway, it's all good fun, but I slowly dribble chips, essentially missing nearly every time. There's a break at the end of Level 6 and it's the last chance to re-enter, so I decide to hand in my very small stack and start again with 15k for another $150. The buy in is not too steep, and I was having fun, so why not. Perhaps the fact that the blinds will be 800/1600 when we get back after the break, but you only live once.
-
I play for three levels playing very few hands. I dribble down to 5k and the blinds are 1k/2k. I'm UTG and raise to 4k with KQJT. Flop has a ten on it, but also three hearts. I don't have any. It looks pretty grim. I put my last grand in and there are four players in it betting away. Surely I'm out. Turn a jack, river a ten. Boat! I'm up to over 20k. Table change straight after that hand. First hand on the next table I'm in the BB and there's no raise. I have QTxx and it comes KJ9. One bloke keep calling my bets and luckily the turn and rivers are two low cards. No low, and I scoop. 45k. Then I get A233 and hit the wheel on the river. Another scoop. 53k. This is all in under 10 minutes after four hours of pain! One more significant hand before the break. I get AA44 suited and get involved with a flop of Q23. The turn is a jack and gives me the nut flush draw too. The river is a nine so I miss the low and the high. I check, he bets and I tank fold. Surely he at the very least has a ****ty two pair? He shows total air; my aces were good. On reflection, in a limit hand, should I ever fold there? Or just bet regardless on the river? I'm clearly still learning! Down to 37k.
-
We are on Level 13 now. Blinds go through me so I'm below 30k. Then there's this mad hand where I commit with JJ34 and there are three others all in. I win the high with bottom two pair! Up to 40k again. Grind. Level 14. I get involved in a three-way hand with K422 suited. We bet the flop, then on the turn I have a nut flush draw and the second nut low draw. I bet and they both fold. Up to over 70k. Level 15. Folds to me in the SB. I should have given up my 9834, but the old man was spinning a line. I bet the flop, he called, and the turn, and got raised. Error. Down to 45k. Level 16. I get involved in a four-way all in. I have A447 and hit two pair, but one of the all in characters has a slightly better two pair. I miss the low. Down to 30k. Blinds 4k/8k.
-
Last half hour a bit of a blur. Hanging on, and then suddenly the TD says "you're all in the money". How did that happen? 15th prize money is $300, so exactly what I put in. Only $4200 up top; let's see how close I can get. Fingers crossed. End of Level 18. I won a bit in a hand and was up to 50k, but then the blinds ran though me and I was back down to 30k. I'm BB again (12k) and there are two callers. I raise to 24k with A249 suited. The flop gives me the nut flush and the nut low draw. Obviously I put the rest of my chips in. The board runs good and I'm on 85k! Another break. Level 19. I raise (30k now) with 6542. A big stack makes it 45k and I call. That's 45k of my 85k. Flop is J33. How did I have all the low cards except that one? He bets and I fold. Hmm. I'm now in the 15k BB with J654. I get a free look at the flop of KJ8, but that's as far as it goes. SB next. I have A449 suited, so it's definitely all going in. There are two callers and the BB, and all three of them call my 25k total, so there's 100k in there. The flop doesn't help, but the turn gives me the nut flush draw and an OK low draw. I miss the spade on the river but hit the low. Sadly, someone else has A3 for the better low. Out in 13th. I win $300, which is exactly what I put in! All very good fun, though, and three free large gins! It's 1am now so taxi home and bed.
-
Friday 5th July
Didn't really get to sleep until after 2am, and then was up at 7am. I really ought to have tried to get back to sleep, but the tennis was on and I was starving, so an early breakfast. After yesterday's fun I've decided to play the O8 at the Venetian and then play Day 1B of the $1,100 event tomorrow. It starts at 11am and I spend the first three levels winning a bit, losing a bit, but mainly watching the Coco match. So odd. I haven't seen so much slicing in a match since the days of wooden rackets. They were both so scared of losing; they were both just trying to keep the ball in play. Did either of them hit a winner in the third set? Fascinating match, though. By the end of the match I have about 11k from the 12k starting stack.
-
First significant hand at the end of Level 3. I have A367 double suited. I call, there's a raise and three of us call. Flop gives me the smaller flush draw, and it's also a straight flush draw. I have a second nut low draw too. He check it. I turn the flush, and the river misses the low. There's a final bet and I know my flush is not good enough, but it's limit - 400 call to win over 2000. He has the queen high flush. Down to 9k. Level 4. 150/300. I call a raise with KQ42. Miss the flop. Another 600 gone. AKT3 suited. Flop gives me the nut flush draw and a second nut low draw. Turn pairs the board. I'm out of there. By the first break at the end of Level 4, I'm down to 6300. It's a bit like the first bullet at Orleans yesterday. Fingers crossed for the next couple of levels.
-
First significant hand at the end of Level 3. I have A367 double suited. I call, there's a raise and three of us call. Flop gives me the smaller flush draw, and it's also a straight flush draw. I have a second nut low draw too. He check it. I turn the flush, and the river misses the low. There's a final bet and I know my flush is not good enough, but it's limit - 400 call to win over 2000. He has the queen high flush. Down to 9k. Level 4. 150/300. I call a raise with KQ42. Miss the flop. Another 600 gone. AKT3 suited. Flop gives me the nut flush draw and a second nut low draw. Turn pairs the board. I'm out of there. By the first break at the end of Level 4, I'm down to 6300. It's a bit like the first bullet at Orleans yesterday. Fingers crossed for the next couple of levels.
Grind on m8😎
-
Level 5. I lose with A23K, and then go quite big with A2QQ double suited. The flop is J34 with two clubs (not my suit). Turn misses the low and the river makes the club flush and still misses the low. This is not my day! Down to 3k. Call with A36Q. It's just me and the BB. Q56 on the flop. Promising. Then a high card, but it's checked, then a four. I have two pair and the second low. It turns out he has the same low and his seven gives him the straight. He had a queen too so a very similar hand. Quartered. REALLY not my day. I get it all in with KK42. He has A46x and we chop, but I win the high with the 42 for two pair and his A6 is good for the low!
-
Level 6. I am now on 1,000 chips and the blinds are 250/500, so I basically have to hope for a hand before the BB comes to me and hope I hit. I decide on A576 with a suited ace. Amazingly, I only get one caller. He has 358K or similar rubbish. He is double suited but his king suit is the same as my ace. The table agree that I'll definitely finally win a hand now! Flop is T87 rainbow, then he hits his rubbish flush and a better low with running cards. I should have stayed in bed! Or I could have turned up thee hours late and had a bigger stack right now! I'm blaming the table move half way through the first level. They were making new tables and instead of just using new players they were moving those that had arrived early. Someone had commented on it when I arrived at the table ("why penalise early arrivers?"). At the time, I just thought the view of the tennis was not quite so good. But now I'm firmly of the view that it was to blame for my s**tty run. ;)
-
Almost at the exact time that I busted out, Matt texted me. He was going to Treasure Island to play some blackjack. Apparently the odds were good, 2-1 rather than 6-5 for a blackjack, for example, and also it was right opposite the Venetian. We found a fun table, $15 minimum, and I watched for a bit before dipping my toes into the very uncertain water. Actually, it was great fun. I played for (I think) about two hours, had three Negronis (the second was a bit too Campari dominated) and ended up even. Matt then suggested going to an Arts Festival that had been recommended. It was somewhere north of Stratosphere but south of Downtown. Some interesting stalls - I particularly liked the wooden watches - but we ended up, pretty quickly, in a restaurant/bar that had been recommended to Matt. It specialised in Cornish pasties (!) and had two free pool tables that no one was using! We stuck to the Negronis and played loads of pool while eating starters of scotch eggs and one of the 20-odd pastries on offer. Obviously I only got through half of mine, given that it was double the size of any pastie I'd ever seen from Cornwall. Eventually we got an Uber home. I think we were more pissed than we realised. I assume we went straight up to our rooms, although I don't remember the exact details.
-
Saturday 6th July
Woke up at about 4am, but back to sleep reasonable easily and then woke again at 8am, and with no melatonin (that I can remember). Feeling OK all things considered, although Matt chose to forgo breakfast. It's the big $1,100 at the Venetian today. Quite exciting! I forgot to mention. Yesterday while at the bar there was another earthquake (7.1 apparently). We were on the ground floor of a pretty solid building, so no swaying this time, but all the lights started swinging including the ones above the pool tables. No one seemed unduly concerned. The balls weren't moving, so we just got on with the game (and the Negronis).
-
Here goes. We have 25k in chips and 40m levels, but there are no 25 chips. So we start at 100/100, and then 100/200. It already feels like we've missed all those cagey early levels. We've already had a 10k pot! One bloke has raised about seven times. He's only shown once - A5s. Hmm. Before all these raises, I make a raise to steal (why?), he calls. I bet the flop and he raises. I get the chips back from him when I raise with KK, he calls, and calls my flop bet. He finally folds to the turn bet. My first big hand. There's a raise to 300 and I call with KQs. A bloke who has just called a raise with 94s (it went to showdown) re-raises to 700. The raiser calls and I call. Flop is Q88. We check it round. Turn is a second diamond. Bet of 700, I make it 2k and the loose bloke folds and the other one calls. The river is an ace, check, check. The raiser shows K2s for the missed flush draw. Nice. I then get KK again, raise, one caller. Flop is ace high but I bet anyway and he folds. On 29k already. End of Level 1. I call UTG with 88. On reflection, on this table that should always be a raise. The loose bloke raises from the CO and I call. Flop is QT9. I bet and he calls. Turn an ace. I check, he bets, I fold. Also, an even looser bloke has joined the table. He lost a chunk, JJ vs KK and then went on massive tilt, raising the next five or six hands and massively betting the flop. He's settled down now. He has a very angry tattoo, so slightly scary!
-
Level 2. 100/200. Very little action for me, apart from a visit to the toilet. The tattoo man is playing most hands and building a stack. He had a decent AJ for two pair (against A7). Then he's shown K9 and J8, both for two pair too. I'm very scared about playing a hand with him. I can see my aces getting cracked by his 74 s**t. At the end of the level I get AQ UTG and raise. I get three callers including loose bloke (LB) and tattoo man (TM). Flop has three hearts. We all check. Turn a blank. We all check. River a fourth heart. I have the ace of hearts. I bet and obviously they all fold. Perhaps I should have bet the turn.
-
Level 3. Because there are no 25 chips, they kindly give us this 100/300 level before jumping to 200/400. In fact, the clock is telling me the next level will be 200/300 (odd) but with a 300 BB ante. So that's a bigger jump than to 200/400. Anyway, again, not much action on this level. I'm in the BB and it gets folded to the button. He goes all in for 3800 and I have ATs. Feels like a bit of a gamble to me so I fold. The very next hand he does the same thing and the bloke to my right calls him. All in has AJ and caller has AQ. Clearly my decision was tight! I play 76 LP in a limped pot. Miss. Dull level.
-
Level 4. I get AJ in the SB. Another LB raises to 1000, I re-raise to 2600 and he calls. I miss, check and he pushes for 10k. Clearly me not playing a hand for over an hour had no effect on him! My first big "what if" of the Vegas trip. I get AT UTG+1 and decide to be super sensible and fold. TM calls, LB raises and TM calls. Flop is TT3. NO! TM folds to a bet, but I wonder if I would have got anything off LB. I play no more hands this level. Card dead, and I don't want to try and get lairy because I WILL get called. I'm down to 21.5k.
-
Level 5. 200/400/400. TM got involved with LB and said as he called the raise "I think I am 80% to win this hand." Flop comes T87, LB bets, TM puts in a massive raise. And then there's lots of talk. LB eventually folds AA face up and TM shows 87. TM then starts telling stories about his premonitions, and how he was down to the last 11 in a big tournament and senses he was going to win the next hand as the dealer was shuffling. The bloke to his right raises, and he goes all in blind and the bloke calls. TM then hits the straight flush on the river. Jimmy Hill. Sadly LB got moved soon after that hand. TM limps and so does someone else; I'm in the BB and have K5s. Am I going to see a free flop? Of course not. There's a player who lost a big hand and is down to 5k. So he's pushing loads. Including this hand. It's costing 1000 a round at the moment. I need a hand! I get KQ UTG+2 and it looks massive. I raise and everyone folds! I then get 65 in the BB and all in boy has min raised (he has some chips now). I call. Flop comes 843. Interesting. I bet, he calls. Brick on the turn, check, check. Handy free card, but I miss the river too. I can't get a break! I have just over 18k. By the way, we have nearly 600 runners already and there were over 500 yesterday, so it looks like they made their $1mn guarantee. Last hand of Level 5 I get T3 in the BB and I get to see a flop! And it comes 542. Check, bet, call. Turn is a six! Exciting. I bet and he calls. River is another two and it puts three hearts out there. Check, check. I win a pot!! 22k.
-
Level 6 is 300/500/500. I get AK! I'm in the SB. There's one raiser, I re-raise and he calls. Low flop, I bet and he tank folds. 24k. Next hand there's a call and I call with 97s. Amazingly no one raises, so I get to see a flop. It's all high cards, but it only cost me 500. Card dead for the rest of the level. On my second break at the moment.
-
Level 7. I'm going to record every hand in case I get nothing all Level, just for ****s and giggles. Here goes. 74o. A5o. QJo (already raised - AR). K8o. 62o. 93o. 75o in the BB. I get to look at the flop! Total miss. J6o. KQs on the button. There's a call, I raise to 2k and the BB (TM) calls. Flop has none of my suit and all the cards are 8 or less. Checked round. The turn is low too and the original caller bets. We both fold. Next, AJo, but AR (and the hand gets messy. TM re-raises the raiser with AA, and the raiser calls with 86s! And then it all goes in when the raiser hit his straight. Psychic TM didn't see that one!) Next, I get 99 and am first in raising. Two callers. Flop is seven high. I bet and they both fold. Up to 22k. Totally forgotten the next hand, so it must have been bad. Next, 73o. 93o. TM got his aces cracked again. He's not happy. 96o. A2o in the BB and there's no raise! Totally miss the flop. 85o. T9o AR. A7s AR. Last hand of the level. I get 66. Bloke to my right, who plays quite a few hands, makes it 1500. I decide to re-raise to 4200 and the BB then pushes for 10600. The raiser folds. I know I should fold, leaving me with a playable stack, but I'm getting great odds and he could easily be on AK/AQ. So I reluctantly call and he has QQ. Six on the flop. Phew. I now have 34k.
-
Level 8. I'll stop all this "telling you every hand" nonsense. Interesting to note that we had 19 hands that level. So about two circuits each level. Is that slow? Anyway, I do an UTG steal with 87s and it gets though. Then I get to see another flop in the BB with Q6o. Flop is 543. Ooh! Checked round. The turn is a nine and puts two flush draws out there. TM bets 5k and I fold. Two on the river! But then when TM bets some other bloke pushes on him. Did he have 76? I got to see a flop in the BB against TM. It was an AKx board so I decided to take a stab at it. Error. He instantly re-raised. 2k down the drain. Next hand I get 87s in the SB. There's a raise and two calls so I call (bit of a punt). I miss, the raiser bets and we all fold. Lots of excitement - the very next hand I get AJ on the button. A loose player raises, I re-raise and he calls. Flop is T98. He checks. I'm tempted to bet but decide to take the the free card. Turn a seven. Nice. He checks, I bet, he folds. I have 36k.
-
Level 9. We are up to 500/1k/1k. Went for another UTG steal with 22. Only the BB called. The flop was 886. Pretty scary, so I bet and he folds. This UTG thing seems to work, so I try with 75s. Two callers. Flop is T43. Close! I bet but get raised by "a loose player" above. A waste of 6k in chips. Hmm. I raise to steal in LP with K2. The BB calls and we see a king high flop. He checks, I bet and he folds. Then the disaster. A few minutes before the break I go and get my tournament card stamped so I can get $10 off in the Grand Lux. As I come back to the table I see that the dealer is shuffling and I'll get another hand. I get 99 in MP and raise. Someone new to the table re-raises to 6,500. Difficult. Perhaps I should fold here, and I don't like the call, but I decide to make it 13,500. He thinks for a bit and goes all in for 28k. That's 15k more for me and would leave me with about 3k. I properly tank, but decide that I'm more likely to be behind than ahead, and I can just about work with 18k, so I fold. Really annoying. I should have just gone to the Grand Lux.
-
Level 10. The blinds go through me. Then I'm the BB again, the monster stack on my right raises, and I call with K7. The flop is king high. He bets, I push, he insta-folds. 20k. This monster stack seems like a very good player. Just active enough. Although he did get caught out earlier when his raise got through and when he threw his cards in, they hit the dealer's hand and flipped up. A2o. Hmm. Anyway, that's the only hand I played during the whole level. Level 11 is 1k/1.5k/1.5k, so I need to get busy. First hand of the level UTG raises, monster stack (MS) calls and I'm UTG+2 with AJ. I almost fold, but decide to push. UTG folds saying he had KJ and MS calls with 88. Ace on the flop so I double up. 47k. Finally I get AA. Luckily someone else has a hand too. UTG raises to 3500, I make it 8500, he has a think and goes all in and I snap. He has AK. I'm on 100k now! And then it's so much easier. I raise LP with 43s. Both the blinds call and check the QT4 flop. I bet, they fold. 107k.
-
Level 12. 1k/2k/2k. I get TT UTG. I make it 5.5k and the bloke to my immediate left makes it 11k. Very like the 99 hand. This time I just call. Flop is J98. I bet, he calls. Turn is a five. I have to keep betting. I make it 21k. He folds. I'm on 125k. Average just under 100k. I get JJ in the CO. I raise, the BB calls, and he checks the queen high board. I bet and he folds. MS to my right raises, I re-raise from the button, the blinds fold and so does MS (although his stack is smaller than mine now). On a break now, but all looking good. Three more levels until the end of the day. 860 entered to day and there are about 190 left.
-
Level 13. 1.5k/2.5k/2.5k. One very big hand and it didn't end well. MS raises to 5k and I look down at kings. I re-raise to 12.5k, but as soon as I put the chips in I realise that I've only made it 11.5k not a big deal, but MS said afterwards that he would have folded pre if I'd made the raise a bit bigger. Anyway, the flop is J65 all spades. I have the king of spades. He checks, I bet, he calls. Turn is a king! Check, I bet, and he raises. I go all in pretty quickly and he calls. He has AJ spades. So my king of spades is useless and I need a paired board. River in an ace. I have more than him, but I'm left with 30k. Big shame. I think I needed to think a bit more after his re-raise, but the king on the turn made it very difficult. In pushing mode now.
-
Level 14. 1.5k/3k/3k. My first push gets through. On 34k. Next push, UTG with 99. Folded to MS who has a think and folds, showing KJ. Through the blinds so back to 34k. The bloke to the right of MS goes all in for less than my 34k. I'm on the button and push with AJ. He has T8 and we both miss. I'm on 70k. Average is now 140k. A very loose player re-raises to 6k for about the fifth time in eight hands. I re-raise to 14k with A2. The plan is to push the flop, but then when it comes ace high I decided to check for disguise. What was I thinking? I'm short, there's an ace, just push. The flop is A76, the turn is an eight. NOW I decide to push and he has 54. REALLY?! So angry with myself. There are 140 left from 859 according to the screen. One more level until they bag up. Fuming.
-
I text Matt and he's playing blackjack at Treasure Island. I go and join him and have quite an amusing few hours, up a bit, down a bit, and end up $75 down but four Negronis to the good. One player at our table was playing $20 a hand for about an hour, then got bored and put $500 on a hand. He won, and so stuck the $1000 on the next hand. He won that then walked off! Somehow, it is now gone 2am. Back to the hotel and bed.
-
Sunday 7th July
The plan was for a 9am breakfast, but there was a delay for obvious reasons. Sadly, after 9am is when everyone else has breakfast so the whole procedure takes a lot longer. We don't get to Planet Hollywood until nearly 11.30 and miss most of the first level. Not the end of the world. We have 20k in chips and 30m levels. It's a two-day $200k guarantee event, so lots of time. First significant hand: I get AQ UTG and raise. Only the SB calls. Flop is JT5. Check, I bet, he calls. Turn a brick. Check, bet, call. River a brick. I should fire a third bullet but bottle it. Check, check. He shows AK. Already down to 16k.
-
Level 3. I try a raise with 97s. Three callers and I miss the flop. Then a raise UTG with KQs. Probably an error. There's a call then a raise, and I call the raise (also an error). Flop is queen high, I bet he raises. I fold and he shows AA. Great timing! Down to 12k. I need to fold for half an hour! Start of Level 4 it gets folded to the SB to my immediate right. She calls and I check with A2s. Flop is A23. Check, check. Turn is a brick. She bets and I call. River a four. Hmm. She throws in 1000, but I think she says "500", so I turn to her and say "500?" She thinks I said "call" and shows 54. She had it from the start! I was going to fold anyway. She was fine about it given that she has massive headphones on and so didn't hear what I said. A lesson there, methinks. There's a call and I raise with ATo. The BB calls and the caller calls. Flop is 744. No one likes that. Check, check, I bet they both fold. 12,500. At the end of the level it's folded to me in the SB. I raise to steal with J8. Call. I bet the K22 flop. Call. I check the turn, bet, fold. The very next hand I get AQ on the button. There's a raise and I call. I totally miss the flop and fold his flop bet. 8,500 at the first break. Not great.
-
Level 5. The very first hand I get AQ. SB and BB call my raise. Queen high board, I bet, one caller. She folds my turn bet. Up to 13k. Level 6. Card dead and chips are dribbling away. I get AT in the CO and it looks massive. Raise, and the button calls. K43 flop. Check, bet, call. Plan is to bet only half my stack on the turn to look strong. It's worked before. So that's what I do, he goes all in, I fold and he shows the king. Down to 4k. All very poor. I get 99 in the BB. Folded to the SB. She calls, I push, she folds. Next hand in the SB I get AK. Folded to me and I just call (error). He checks. Flop is 642. I push, he snaps with 43. I hit a king on the river. Lucky boy. I get AQ UTG. The bloke to my immediate left calls and everyone else folds. Low flop. He's very active and I know he will call a C-bet. I check, he bets, I fold. He shows 88. 6,700.
-
Level 7. I'm wondering if I should push before I take the BB, but my hands are just too bad. I take the BB, there's a raise, a re-raise and I wake up with AA. I push, the raiser folds and the re-raiser has to call. He has KT! He does keep saying he's new to the game. Up to 14.5k. In the SB with 75. Button raises. Shame - I fancied a look at the flop. BB calls. Flop 864. Thanks for that. Level 8. Nothing for most of it, then I raise with AJ. There's a raise and I fold. 10k. They've just announced that they haven't got enough runners to make the guarantee. Expensive for Planet Hollywood then. A loose raise with QJ. I get re-raised. I fold. 9k at the break.
-
Level 9. We're are now on 500/1k/1k, so I need to get active. I go through the blinds. Down to 6400. Desperate. Lots of raising so no chance for me to push. I finally go with K2. The BB calls with A8. A king and an ace on the flop. All over.
-
We wander back to Harrah's passing through as many casinos as possible to avoid the heat. I realised that I have yet to play cash poker on this trip, so I get my name on the wait list for 1/2 while Matt goes for a swim. There was talk of seeing a show tonight, but there were no tickets for the one we wanted. So instead we might go and eat somewhere half-decent. So I'm sitting in the Harrah's poker room reflecting on yesterday. I think I definitely over-played the KK hand. I probably should have checked the flop, although that board could have been very scary for him too. Once he called my flop bet, I should definitely checked the turn. I got excited about the set and just automatically bet. But seeing a free card and making a decision on the river would have saved me a lot of chips. I just didn't take the flush seriously enough because I had the king of spades. I started the hand with 125k and I should have ended it still with more than 80k if I had been sensible. Frustrating. And the last hand, where I didn't push the flop...that's just embarrassing.
-
On the cash table now. The usual massive raises. Someone just called a raise with 85 and hit a T55 boards. Hmm. I get AA UTG. I make it $8, which is standard (perhaps light on this table?), and get three callers. Flop is 862. One of those three must be ahead. So I check, waiting for the bet with the plan to put in a pretty hefty re-raise to see where I am. First caller bets $15, the second caller calls and the third goes all in for $60. I have to fold. He gets a caller, and the all in has a flush draw and the caller has top pair. The board does not improve either hand and I would have won. I remember in the old days of Imperial Palace where they had a $100 bonus for "aces cracked". I would definitely have bet out if that was still going. Nothing for nearly an hour, then I get A6 in the BB and amazingly no one has raised. Flop is A96. Nice. I bet the pot and get two callers. Turn is a seven. I bet the pot again and get one caller. River is an eight. Nasty board. Check, check. He has 97 for a worse two pair. Back level.
-
I got chatting to the bloke next to me after that and so didn't type anything up. He's made Day 3 of the ME and made Day 5 last year. He was done playing cash and said "I'm not hitting much today." The very next had he hits a straight with T7 on the river, and then a bit later he hits a straight flush! They have bonuses for big hands at Harrah's so he won an extra $250. Earlier someone else hit quads and won $100. In terms of my cards, I got KK and won a bit then got KK again and lost more. I had AQ a few times with mixed results. Just before I cashed in to go and eat, the woman two to my left called EP and there was a raise, then she re-raised. He called. Of course she had aces. So THAT'S how you play aces on a mad 1/2 table!
-
We ate at a nice Italian in the Venetian, and then wandered over to the poker room to see how the $1100 event was going towards the end of Day 2. They were down to nine and the bloke who knocked me out was still in it. Also, a bloke who went out very early on our table was there. He must have re-entered. We watched for ten minutes and saw the bloke who knocked me out get some awful luck. Some other bloke gets it all in with him with K7. Our man has QQ on a jack high board. New man hits a runner runner straight. The very next hand he is in the BB and someone raises from the CO. He pushes with A8. The raiser has K9 and calls. King on the flop. One of the chip leaders to nothing in two hands. The $22k should help, but there was $230k up top. We then went to Treasure Island for some blackjack. Not a good session. $100 down. Home by 1am.
-
Monday 8th July
Woke up at about 5.30am. Struggled to get back to sleep, and got the tennis on the TV by 7am. Last-16 day at Wimbledon so lots to watch. The highlight was probably watching Konta hold on. When she was bouncing the ball before her serve and the ball hit her toes and rolled off, I thought she was going to choke for sure. Breakfast, more tennis, then my final tournament at the Venetian. It's called "monster stack" which means 30k in chips. With 30-minute level and dealer machines, there should be a decent amount of play. Fingers crossed.
-
Level 1. I play no hands apart from the free ones. I call one raise from a loose guy but it gets re-raised. We have one bloke on the table and he's already down to 12k. He's playing nearly every hand and seemed to find it very difficult to fold. Does he not realise he has to last over 10 hours? Level 2. I try a couple of speculative raises so they don't think I'm a total nit. Both get 3-bet. I call with 66 and see a 875 flop. I call a flop bet and fold the turn. We have another nutter at the table. He and another player got involved in a big pot on a very scary board. He shows A9 and had hit the nine on the river and she mucked. Very odd. He also raises 900 or 1000 at 100/200 blinds. He's now raising nearly every hand. He's to my immediate right and as I typed this he put in a big raise, 900, and I have QQ so make it 3000 and he actually folds! At the end on the level, the bloke with 12k raises. The new nutter (NN) re-raises, 12k goes all in and NN snaps. 12k has JT and NN has AQ. JT on the flop, king on the turn. Mad.
-
Level 3. MM has just told me he busted out of Day 3 of the ME an hour ago and so is taking it out on us. He had QJ on a QQ3 flop and someone else ended up having AQ. Ouch. So he might be raising pretty light, methinks. Wait for a good hand and 3-bet seems to be a good idea. We shall see. I need a hand first. A loose bloke raises UTG and I make it 2500 from MP with 99. The SB counts out loads of chips but folds and UTG folds. "Would you call if I jam?" Lively table. They've just moved NN! He's called Scotter, by the way. He showed me his ID to prove it. Next hand loose bloke (LB) raises, there's a call so I make a gambley call from the SB with T7s. The BB calls too. Flop is Q98. I check, check, check, bet. I raise and they all fold. Still only just above starting stack. Level 4. Folded everything bar one UTG raise to steal, which gets through. I get to the break with exactly what I started with.
-
Level 5. I raise in MP with 43s, again so they don't think I'm a total nit. The blinds call. Flop is K88. It's checked round three times and a queen on the river wins it for the BB. LB raises and I call in the BB with A9s. Flop is J95. Check, bet, call. I bet the turn and he folds. There's a raise and two callers and I call in the SB with AJs. I miss the flop and fold to the flop bet. Level 6. More folding, the I get QQ and I'm first in. I raise and the SB, who is new to the table, calls. Flop is J54. Check, bet, call. Turn is an eight. Check, bet, he goes all in and I'm covered. I have to fold. Perhaps I should have checked the turn, but there are two hearts and I don't really want to give him a free card. A couple of hands later I raise T9. Same bloke calls, then the button re-raises. Poor decision. I'm down to 18k.
-
Level 7. I get AK, but this time there's a raise before me and a call. So I re-raise and they both call. I sense trouble. Flop is QJ5. Check, check, I go all in with my last 11k. The initial raiser calls me. He has AJ. Calling my re-raise with AJ when I've played no hands?? Turn a nine, river a ten. Best hand won. ;). The very next hand I get AK again. There's a raise ahead of me again (if only that had happened with the queens). I raise and he folds. I'm up to 43k. LB raises and I call in the BB with 86. Flop is QT7. Check, check. Turn is a five. Interesting. I bet and he raises. Hmm. I fold. Level 8. I think they are missing some levels compared with the $1,100 event. We have gone from 400/800 to 600/1200 and I'm sure there was 500/1000 the other day. Anyway, I get TT and raise. Only the BB calls. Flop has a ten on it, but sadly he checks then folds to by flop bet. I haven't raised for a while so decide to have a go with 33. Two callers. Flop is KJJ. Thanks. I fold to a bet. I call a raise when there are three other callers with KJ. No luck. Then, in the last hand before the break there's a raise and a call and I decide to try a squeeze with A7s. They both call. Hmm. Flop is low and has two of my suit, so I push and they both fold pretty quickly. I'm on 49k.
-
Level 9. We are at 1k/1.5k/1.5k. LB has gone out (quelle surprise) and someone has arrived at the table in his place. He is UTG for his first hand and raises. I re-raise with AA (at last!) and he calls. He's low on chips, so I'm planning on putting him all in on most flops. The flop is Q99. He goes all in anyway and I call. He has KJ. Why is he even in the hand? Sweat is over straight away with an ace on the turn. 83k. Next, a slightly embarrassing hand. It's folded to me on the button and I raise to steal with Q5s. I totally miss that the SB has got so short. I've made it 4k and he's all in for 11,500. So I have to call and he has KK. I hit my flush on the turn. He was a nice guy too. I then win a small pot limping with 55. Two others in the hand. We all stick 2k in on the J43 flop. We check the three on the turn and then there's a five on the river. Nice, although they both fold to my bet. 103k.
-
Level 10. I haven't raised for a while so raise with JT UTG. My immediate left calls the rest fold. Flop is AQ7. I bet and he folds JJ face up. Says he was going to push pre but I was raising UTG. I raise to 5k with AT. On the button is a bloke whose been showing all sorts of rubbish. He raises to 12.5k. I decide to make it 30k. He thinks for a bit and folds. 126k. A very short stack (11k) goes all in. I'm in the SB and decide to give him a spin with A9. The BB only has 22k and goes all in. I have to call for another 11k, but I'm not loving it. But I'm up against JT and KJ. There's an ace on the flop and I swerve a flush draw. Shame it's not a bounty! Over 150k.
-
I get moved half way through Level 11 and then take a bit of a hit. UTG raises, I call with AQ and the BB calls. Flop is J97. We check it round. Turn is an eight. The BB bets, UTG calls and and I decide to raise given that they don't know me and it's a scary board. BB folds but UTG goes all in. It's another 20k and I'm getting 4-1, but I can't do it. Clearly I'm going to have to hit. Down to 105k. At the end of Level 12 I raise with A9s (it's been a while) and only the BB calls. The flop is K98. He checks, I bet and he goes all in. Fold. Down to 70k. Blinds about to go 1k/2k/2k. This table move has not been good for me. I need a hand.
-
Level 13. I get moved tables again and everyone has a massive stack. I go through the blinds, then try a steal with T8. I get re-raised, obviously. It's push time now I'm down to 50k. I'm in the BB and about to push a late raise but the SB gets there before me. The next hand I get AT and another serial raiser raises so I decide to push. He has JJ, of course. I'm out. I keep saying to myself that you must be first-in with these situations but then I always get tempted to go over the top of a loose player's raise. I think there are about 160 left out of 724 runners. They will pay 81. That was a very frustrating last hour. 150k was well above average at the time of the table move, then nothing went right. Annoyed.
-
It's now about 7.30pm and time for some food. Matt is Downtown, so I have some noodles at the place next to the Poker Room and a glass of wine. The plan was to meet up, but I got a sudden wave of extreme tiredness, to the point where I'm nodding off at the table. I go to the bar next door thinking a Negroni will wake me up, but it's no good. I wander back to Harrah's and back to the room. I bet I'll be awake at 3 in the morning.
-
Tuesday 9th July
Up at 5.30am, but manage to drift off to sleep again, sort of. Then curtains open at 8am to watch Konta go 4-1 up playing really well, then her forehand goes to pot and she never recovers. She's never going to do it, is she. Hasn't got the head for it. The other woman had never been in a Grand Slam semi, and yet all she had to do was keep the ball in play. Disappointing. Breakfast at 9am, pack and checked out by 10.30am.
-
As is tradition on the last morning, I go to the cash table to play until I need to get to the airport. Sadly, there's no table running, but the 9am tournament is on a break. 20 runners and they are down to 12. I decide to have a $70 gamble. I get 15k in chips and the 20 minute blinds start at 1k/2k. Here are my hands.
UTG+1: T3o.
UTG: 72o.
BB: J6s. There's a 10k raise and a call. Hands are JJ and KK. SB: A8o. CO goes all in for 12k and the button calls. A4 .v. AJ. Eight on flop would have won it for me. Down to 10 so a final table. I have 12k. I'm now UTG+2, I get T6o. Fold.
UTG+1: QJo. I go all in, everyone folds. Back to 15k.
UTG: K6o. Fold.
BB: Q2o. Button goes all in. I fold. Flop QT2 and the button had TT!
SB: A9s. There's a call UTG, button calls, so I add my 1000 and the BB checks. Flop is KT5. I fold to a bet. Should I have pushed? I think I would have been called.
CO: K2o. Folded to the button. He min raises. All-in feels wrong here. I think he might have a very big hand.
HJ: Q3o. Fold to a raise.
UTG+5: it's going to 2k/4k in five minutes. I have to push in the next three hands. I get 73s. Folded to me. I push and the SB calls. He has 99. I hit a seven on the flop but nothing else. I suppose I could have lost $70 in the same time playing cash.
Not sure what happened with the button hand. Probably rubbish.
-
As I leave the Card Room they are trying to start a new cash table. I sit down and make it three, and within five minutes we have a fourth and get going. Within 20 minutes we are full up. I play for two hours and the best hand I see is AQ. It doesn't win. What with blinds and the odd limp in LP (I never hit), I dribble down from a $300 starting stack to $175. At about 1pm I promise myself one more round of hands. The last hand was 63 UTG so I fold that, but the second and third last hands sum up the session. The first of these I get J9, there's a raise and I don't call. It makes two-pair on the river. The other one, I get AT and UTG raises. I decide to fold (amazing in hindsight - it looked massive). Flop has a king and a queen, turn a jack. Brilliant. Off to the airport now.
Back home. Good flight. It was half full so I got a row of seats and about four hours sleep. Result! Next big event will be the Goliath. Fingers crossed for that.