Rough day at the tables & some history

After yesterday's good run at Planet Hollywood I decided to play a Venetian tournament. A big field (think it ended up being 649) filled the tables surrounding the poker room that have been set up for the Deepstack Series. I got off to a great start, with a dubioud play working out and putting a player on tilt at the same time! Blinds were 50/100 & it folded to the cutoff who raised to 300. I had A3dd on the button & made the call, as did the big blind. The flop came down T42 with one diamond & the cutoff bet 600. I called, deciding to peel with the gutshot while I had chips (starting stack was 12k) & could make such plays & the BB called as well. All fairly standard so far. The turn brought the Kd, giving me a flush draw as well. The cutoff bet 1100 this time & I called again, only to see the big blind raise to 4100. The cutoff quickly folded & I thought about the bet. I knew my ace-high was behind, but with at least 10 clean outs (any 5 or a diamond that doesn't pair the board) & as many as 15 (diamonds that pair the board or an ace might win me the pot, but I thought it was unlikely), combined with the 8450 already in the pot (with 3000 more to call), I decided to gamble a bit & make the call. The river was a magic card for me, the 5d & the big blind almost instantly moved all-in! I called instantly & showed my Ad3d & this sent the big blind into a spin as he dejectedly showed his TT for flopped top set. This began something of a tirade from the player 'you called with a gutshot!'; 'were you hoping to hit an ace?'; 'you know a diamond that paired the board was no good!'; 'you really called 3000 more on the turn!' ... which I ignored, though there was another player at the table who decided to give the simple explanation for me ... he flopped a gutshot, turned a flush draw & got there. Conveniently for me a level or so later the same player gave me the rest of his chips when I raised with QQ & he moved all-in almost immediately. I called & my hand held up against his A3o. An excellent start to be over 25k at the first break. Of course shortly after the break (where I picked up my 'free' souvenir card protector - it was either that, a t-shirt [only small sizes left], a cap or a $10 food voucher) I was moved to a new table where there were a few stacks bigger than mine. Of course I lost some chips early at this new table, but reovered them when I picked up AK in back-to-back hands. I stayed around the 20-25k mark until I found a way to get rid of them all in one hand. 200/400/50 & I raised to 2200 in the cutoff, after two limpers, with 87 of clubs. The small blind called & we saw a flop of KcQs6c so I have a flush draw & the betting lead against an opponent who has me covered (he recently doubled up against a tight old lady who had been moved to the table when his 96 flopped 2 pair against her QQ & held up). I lead on the flop for 3300 & my opponent called. The turn brought the blank 2d & I bet 5000 after it checked to me again. My opponent quickly put the rest of his 5k chips in the middle, effectively putting me all-in. I thought about it for a while & eventually decided to put my remaining 10k at risk in an attempt to win the 33k+ that was in the middle. The river paired the king (meaning it wasn't a club) & my opponent's AQo won the pot & I left the Venetian.
I decided to head to the Luxor to see the Titanic exhibition that is on there. Of course there are ways to get more money from tourists, so they price a single exhibit at $27 & offer a 3-exhibit pass for $54, so I picked up tickets to Bodies (also at Luxor) & CSI (at MGM) while I was there. The exhibit itself was very interesting, with a number of artefacts & recreated areas of the ship on display. The big draw of the Luxor exhibit (which is a 10-year exhibit, unlike many of the shorter temporary displays like the one on in Melbourne at the moment) was the creatively titled 'Big Piece', which is a section of the side of the boat which is roughly 5mx2m in size. Also of interest was one of the passengers on board, a journalist named William Thomas Stead. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, primarily the W.T. Stead resource site, I discovered that Mr Stead introduced the interview to journalism in the mid 1880 & was also credited with creating the Titanic mummy curse myth. Sounds like an interesting character!
After the exhibition I decided to head to the Rio, looking to either play some satellites for the $2500 8-game tournament, or play some cash mixed games. The satellites were somewhat disorganised (as they often seem to be) & although I put my name on the list for an 8-game satellite, I took a seat at a $20/40 mixed game before the satellite was called. The mix was 2-7 triple draw, razz, Stud hi-lo, Baduci (2-7/bagudi split) & Badaci (A-5/badugi split) ... interestingly without badugi, as it apparently 'played too slowly' (which makes no sense at all ... but the mix was set before I arrived). Anyway, I proceeded to run horrendously, with the exception of one baduci hand where I was dealt 76432 with a 64 badugi on the initial deal & was called down to the last draw by two players after I made it four bets pre-draw, with one player calling on the end to see the bad (for him) news. Of course I managed to have the unique honour of the night of being quartered in badaci, with my 7642A with 642A badugi being up against 6542A with a 642A badugi, in what was the only quartering while I was at the table. The run good (of my opponents) saw me leave with a lighter wallet & crushed my hopes of playing the 8-game event at the WSOP.
Next on the agenda: being a tourist in Las Vegas & finding some run good in cash games ... and a break from tournaments for a few days.