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ThinkerJE takes a trip to Vegas
ThinkerJE:
Ok latest news from LV.
As I was up early I headed of to Binion"s early to play in their 10am tournament. $50 NLHE freezeout, pretty fast structure so not ideal but an introduction to poker in the states. Very first hand I get pocket rockets in middle position, raise to 3x BB and get no callers. No sure if I wanted action or not. I show to create my rock like image and no one bats an eyelid. Only other hand I play is J2 in BB (no raise). Jack high flop, I bet to find out where I am, get 2 callers and so shutdown. Have to fold to a bet on the river. Only about 8 BB"s now, commit halve my stack with AK and get called and re raised!!! Have to call, up against JJ & KJ off, no king and I am out in 69th out of 81 runners. No complaints, the structure dictated the play and move on to check out he poker history of Binion"s.
Binon"s poker room is quite simply magnificant. It has an old school feel and I felt shivers down my spine when I walked into the place. The hall of fame & the wall of champions are in pride of place in the poker room. The poker classic events have gone down well, lots of runners and big prize pools.
Downtown Vegas & Fremont street is very much the poor relation of the glitz of the strip. It looks run down and in need of repair, has a very seedy vibe to it.
Now to the 2pm $10k guaranteed NLHE (1 rebuy) tournament at Binion"s. 143 runners turned up meaning the total prize pool was nearer to $12k. Buy in $70 plus $40 rebuy (any time during the first hour). 2,000 starting chips with 1,500 rebuy chips, I took the rebuy straight away to get full value for all my chips.
Up to 4,475 at first break, got AK & QQ with no action, found K2 hearts in BB (no raise), flop 4 flush, call small bet & turn another heart. Manage to extract value bet on the end. Just keeping out of trouble at the moment.
Chip leader at second break. Big hand was when in middle position and 2 limpers, find AK and put in big raise to take it down. Call from passive lady limper leaving her only 1,250 left (pot 4,500). Jack high rainbow board, she leads out for 400?!?! I know she has hit but with so much in the pot and I must have outs so I move all in and she turns over the worst hand AJ. River King to knock her out and win big pot for me. Nearly donked it all off during a ThinkerJE blow up moment last hand before break, but they folded.
25,000 chips at third break, well above average with 29 left, top 14 get paid. This is mostly due to another suck out. Raise 40% of my stack with AK spades, matey with more chips goes all in. I have to call, he flips over QQ and we are off to the races. Flop Q J 8 (oh no), turn 10 (yeah), river 9 (double yeah). This was a crazy table, with stuff like this happening all the time.
So far I have played well and I am happy with my play UNTIL MY EXIT HAND, which was quite honestly dreadful. I finished 24th, after over 4 hours of good play, with this shameful play. Matey UTG min raises, all fold, SB calls, me in BB find KJ off, getting great odds, I call. Flop J 10 8 (2 diamonds), I think for a longer than normal period when it is checked to me and decide te check-raise is the play to make (MUPPET!!!). Anyway matey bets big, SB folds, I push and get insta called by AA (cilla black or what!!!). The min raise is so fishy I should have got away from this big time. I am so mad at myself , I hit the bar for some beer and then headed back for some kip.
I played ok, got lucky alot, but made a stupid error when it mattered most. Will learn from this and not do it again...
Lots more to tell you about including today"s poker classic event. However need to get ready a off to late night tournament at Ceasars so will update when get back.
No bad beats, just bad play.
ThinkerJE:
--- Quote from: APAT on June 16, 2007, 18:06:46 PM ---
--- Quote from: Bodddders on June 16, 2007, 14:18:42 PM ---
Great stuff James keep um coming. GL at the tables.
Apat -- any chance of putting a face to the name (if James dosent mind)
--- End quote ---
APAT mod James, pictured in Dublin two weeks ago.
--- End quote ---
Cheers Des.
Not my greatest photo, although Lord Lichfield would struggle to take a good one.
frosty:
James,
Excellent read, keeping me entertained in rain drenched India. Unlucky on your first few tables, i"m sure fortunes will change.
All the best
Frosty
MAIR:
Excellent report - thoroughly enjoying reading.
Best of luck to you James.
Mary
ThinkerJE:
Okay, it is 5.18am local time and I have just got back to my room. More on that later, but first to update from where I left off.
After my bad play at Binion"s I headed back to the hotel, furious with myself, the plan being to grab a pizza, quick change and off out to get drunk. Well I managed to get the pizza, but then made the mistake of resting my head for 5 mins at about 9pm. Next thing I know I wake up at 4am, having been asleep for 7 hours (must be this time zone thingy).
Some general observations at poker at Binion"s. The standard of play was very varied. Some good players, some not good players, some professional players, some very amateur players (not APAT standard). The tournaments are run very very well. Play starts on time, breaks are as advertised and level changes are announced to all by the TD. The dealers are top notch aswell. A couple that stood out were Norris (the most experienced dealer in Vegas - still showing the youngsters how to do it), Mike (former addict turned fastest dealer in Vegas) & Keith (Chris Moneymaker"s biggest fan - won"t hear a bad word said against him). Great characters and add to the special place Binion"s is.
I was not the only person to benefit from sick suck outs on our "crazy" table. There were at least 5 or 6 that occurred. 2 examples are below.
Last hand before break, short stack all in UTG. All in from Hijack with slighter more chips, button flat calls and does BB. 2 all ins & side pot that gets checked down. Board 7 9 10 6 8 !!! Chop chop 4 way...
All in from late position, folded to BB who calls with K 7 (made alot of dodgy calls and then proceeded to tell the table how he only called cause they were suited, I had to bite my lip!!!). All in matey shows A 8, flop 10 3 7 (standard), turn 8 (the best hand pre flop re gains the lead), river 7 (sick sick sick...).
I have never seen a table with as many crazy suck outs as that.
Other random thoughts about Vegas.
People think that I am Austrailian (it is starting to annoy me).
All you can eat breakfasts rule. Fuel up for the day for $10.
All the sports books only cover US sports, so I am knackered for Royal Ascot this week.
Tipping - everybody in Vegas gets tipped, it is expected. The service is good and all the people are smiley smiley, but to be expected is wrong surely???
Slots - still don"t get them but to give them a go I put $1 on a machine hit the button and won $10, cashed out job done. My first (and only to date) cash is on the slots, hope this is not the case at the end of the 2 weeks.
Test match special on BBC online is even better than the text updates we have to put up with at work.
Toilets flush differently in Vegas - far too much suction for my liking.
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