My Deuces Cracked Report Card!

Deuces Cracked are currently running a series on mixed games, called Report Card, where member-submitted videos are reviewed by a range of DC experts in the various games. My video is the latest to be reviewed by the DC team!
You can watch the start of the video (DC have 2 minute previews of all their videos for non-members) here, though I do recommend signing up to become a member as there is a heap of great poker content on the site.
If there is enough demand (ie: comments on this post) I'll see if I can arrange alternative means of viewing the video.

As for my overall results from the video, Dan 'DJSensei' Morris graded me as follows:
Triple Draw D
Limit Holdem B-
Limit Omaha hi-lo C+
Razz A-
Seven Card Stud C
Seven Card Stud hi-lo C

No Limit Holdem B+

Pot Limit Omaha C+

Overall GPA 2.41 (yes, they're Americans ... that's how they do things)

So far I've only watched the video through once, so I'm sure I'll pick up a lot more as I re-watch it. However, for the moment the main issues were as follows:

I need to work on my triple draw (which I am)

Don't get involved in limped stud hands when you are the bring-in unless you make a really big hand

Bet bigger in PLO (they seem to be a fan of the 'bet the maximum' approach, which has its advantages, particularly in a mixed game with both limit & big bet games)

Be more aware of position (and related to that, relative hand strength) when playing hands

Of course I submitted the video around two months ago, so I feel as if I have improved in some of the areas mentioned, as well as the fact that a one hour video is a really small sample size to get a full picture of how someone plays (its barely enough time to get through more than one rotation of all the games).

The people reviewing the various games (with links to their DC profile/coaching pages) are:
Joe Tall covering the three stud games (he also has an interesting blog)
Danzasmack covering the limit flop games (yes, the same danzasmack who was my first podcast guest)
Soepgroente covering the big bet games & triple draw
DJSensei doing the hosting & final grading.

Mixed games on Full Tilt!

The latest software update on Full Tilt Poker has introduced a range of draw poker games. The reason that it is of interest is that it is the first time draw poker has been offered at Full Tilt. Previously if you were after draw poker, you had to play at PokerStars (and possibly some other smaller sites). Anyway, given that it is something new, people tend to try it out without knowing much about the various games that are played (the same thing happened in the first few weeks of Rush Poker at Full Tilt) ... and as a result the games are good. Of course it also tends to increase the variance as a result, but if you run good, there's money to be made!
My favourite at the moment is the 10-game mix, which includes the usual games in standard 8-game mixes (limit Holdem, limit Omaha hi-lo, limit Razz, limit Stud, limit Stud hi-lo, limit 2-7 triple draw, no limit Holdem & pot limit Omaha) as well as Badugi & no limit 2-7 single draw. So many players are horrible & will call with almost anything, so you can generally maximise your value for your strong hands ... the dilemma is in saving bets when you don't have the best of it.
I'm sure I'll find out more in the coming days and weeks ... and I have less than 3500 points left for the watch!

Last Imperial Palace mixed game

As I am now into my last week in Las Vegas, last night's $3/6 mixed game at the Imperial Palace would be my last for this trip. This time there were two mixed game tables running & I seemed to be at the much friendlier of the two. It turned out to be a reasonable night financially, though not the marathon session of previous weeks. I finished with a small profit, but the table broke just before 1am (unlike the 9am finish the previous week) & as there were no seats on the other table I decided to call it a night.
Hand of the night for my was in A-5 hi-lo, which is a 5-card triple draw game, with the pot split between the best 5-card poker hand (high half) & best A-5 low (low half, though there is an 8-or-better qualifier for low). As with most split pot games, it seems like the best way to play the game is to aim for the low & hope to back into a high hand. Of course this is all good in theory, until you are dealt some sort of strong-ish high hand, when you hope to win the high hand with no-one making a qualifying low. This often leads to unusual split pots when heads-up, so that two players with decent lows end up chopping (eg: A2467 v A3568 is a chop, with the A7 winning low & A8 winning high).
Anyway, to my favourite hand of the night ... I am dealt 2d2h4d4c8s on the initial deal. I decide to call & draw one, keeping the 2244, looking to hit a 4-outer to fill up (two pair 4s-up is unlikely to win multi-way in this game). Of course I draw the 3d, so now have 22344 with three low diamonds. This gives me something of a dilemma ... the 2d3d4d now looks tempting to play as a potential scoop hand, but then I'm throwing away two pair ... ultimately I decide to go for glory & discard two (of course no-one at the table notices that I have gone from drawing one to drawing two) ... and I manage to draw like a champion! 5d8d! I now have an 8-high flush & an 85 low! Of course this is again an improvement, but not ideal. If someone makes a 7-low I am crushed for the low & an 8-high flush is most definitely beatable for high, so that half is far from locked up. Regardless, I decided to raise & stand pat with my 8-high flush & am pleased to see that the other three players in the hand are all still drawing. Of course it probably helped my cause that a few hands earlier I had stood pat with a weak low & wound up winning the high when the only hand that called on the river was a better low (see the explanation above). I bet after the last draw & was called by two others & showed my 8-high flush .... and scooped! Not a bad finish for the last mixed game session at the Imperial Palace. Definitely a game I would recommend people playing if they are in town & looking for a fun game to play on a Sunday night.
Next on the agenda: More poker, back to the Rio to rail the main event ... and thoughts of packing & how to fit everything into my bags!

A few days away from the blog & so much happening!

A lot can happen in a few days.
I'll start with a list:
UFC 116 at MGM Grand (I'll put up a separate post about this), but the short summary is that it was the best UFC card ever in my opinion!
2+2 party at Aria (yes, another post about this too)
HORSE Tournament at the Bellagio
4th of July in Las Vegas
Cash games at O'Sheas, El Cortez & Aria

I guess poker is a good place to start ... I played a session of $9/18 mixed at Aria following UFC 116. This time the mix was a fairly standard Omaha8, Stud8, Razz & 2-7 Triple Draw. I played OK & finished with a small profit, so was happy with that.
Following the 2+2 party I went to O'Sheas & played some $1/2NL. Things were going reasonably well until I found myself in a huge hand with another player ... and quite a sweat to boot!
There was a player at the table with a pretty big stack ($400+) who had been raising a lot & playing a lot of hands. I had been playing fairly snug & had only shown down premium hands & was sitting with around $250 in front of me. There were also a few players who would play any two cards (this was late night at O'Sheas), so it was an interesting mix of players. Anyway, to the big hand itself. The loose guy with the big stack in in the small blind & I am UTG & have JJ (diamonds & clubs - suits are somewhat important later in the hand). The way the table has been playing I hate raising, getting 4+ callers & being stuck in a multi-way hand out of position with jacks. Obviously folding is not an option, so I decided to limp & see what the rest of the table did before making a real decision about my hand. I was raised to $6 by UTG+2, who seemed to be playing reasonably solid poker (and also seemed to be a regular in the game by his interaction with the dealers), which was called in 4 spots, including the loose guy with chips. With so much out there I thought that this would be a good time for the old limp-raise play, as it is likely to do two things: thin the field & represent a big hand (potentially a bigger hand than I actually have). Anyway, with this in mind I made it $30 to go. Part 1 of the plan succeeded, as the only callers were the initial raiser & the loose guy with the stack. The flop was a reasonable one for my hand - 9d8h3d - though obviously with the draws (both diamonds & straight draws) my hand is definitely vulnerable. I lead at the pot for $55 & was called by the initial raiser & the loose guy folded. So far so good, though the way I played the hand meant that it was difficult to put the caller on a narrow range of hands. He could have a pair (possibly good, possibly bad), a set (bad), a straight draw (possibly good, possibly bad), a flush draw (again bad or good), overcards (good for the moment) ... or complete air! On the flip side, my hand was fairly well defined. I either had a big pair or overcards (with possibly a flush draw), with an outside chance of having a set. In one way it is good that I have the lead in the hand, but it makes it tough given the hand ranges that each of us have. Anyway, the turn was the 7c, meaning the board was now 9873 with a diamond draw. The turn was definitely decision time. After a few seconds I decided to move all-in for my remaining $155.
The scenarios were as follows in my head (from best to worst):
* He folds & I win the pot uncontested
* He calls & I have him crushed & win
* He calls & I am in front, dodge his outs & win
* He calls & I am crushed, but spike a card to win
* He calls & I am in front but he hits ... I go back to hotel to sleep
* He calls & I am crushed & lose ... and go back to the hotel to sleep
He thought for a long time about his decision & said he had a big hand he couldn't fold ... and clarified it as a big draw. Given the way the hand had played out I thought that meant he had ATdd, meaning he had overcards & a flush draw on the flop & picked up a straight draw on the turn. However he did keep in insisting that I had aces or kings, so overcards don't seem so valuable if that is the case. As it turned out, he eventually called & showed 8d6d for a flopped pair & flush draw & picked up a straight draw on the turn. The fact that I had JJ meant I took away some of his outs (a ten was no good as I would make a higher straight) & I also had a diamond in my hand ... however I was relieved to see a black 3 on the river to have scenario number 3 play out & collect a $500 pot. I stayed for a little longer, but nothing much eventful happened & I left about $300 to the good.
I also decided to venture downtown to el Cortez & played in their $1-3-6 game (I still don't know exactly how it is supposed to be structured, but there was a $1 blind - yes, just one blind - and it seemed as though you could raise by anything up to $3 on any street, with the river betting being $6 (although sometimes people bet $3). Perhaps it was a spread limit game? Anyway, I played for a few hours & left with a small profit (yes, old 'nits' are horrible players as well - one of the lessons I learned from the $5/10 game at Crown). Why go to El Cortez I hear you ask? Well it is the hidden (well not any more) agenda of this trip ... to collect $1 chips (and play poker) in as many Las Vegas poker rooms as possible. After my previous trip earlier in the year, as well as the current time I am spending in Las Vegas, I have now played in almost all the poker rooms on the Strip & in the Downtown Las Vegas area. The only one to elude my so far is the Riviera, which seems to have at most 1 cash table running & players who simply rebuy when they bust, making waiting too long to endure! More on the quest as the stay continues ... I have just over a week left!
I also decided (foolishly in hindsight) to play the HORSE tournament at the Bellagio. One of the players at my table was John Joannou, winner of the HORSE event at this year's Aussie Millions. Also in the field were Allen Kessler, Yuval Bronstein, Thor Hansen & others. The reason why it was foolish to play is that I managed to run the worst I have ever run (with the exception of a mixed stud tournament at Crown where I didn't win a hand for the entire tournament) in a mixed event. I rarely picked up hands & when I did, they found a way to get run down. The best example of this was an Omaha hi-lo hand where I had raised in early position with AK62 double suited, only to be called by 4 players (as seems to be standard in split-pot games early in an event like this) to see a flop of J22, which I bet & get 2 callers. I again bet the 8 on the turn, only to be raised & call, then check-call the river 9, only for my opponent to show Q852 rainbow! I was a decent event, but I didn't stick around afterwards, in spite of the view of the Bellagio fountains from the balcony of the Fontana Lounge (where the tournament was held).

Mammoth mixed game session!

After a fairly quiet weekend, particularly for Las Vegas, where I picked up a new external hard drive & had a shortish session of $1/2NL at the Flamingo, I rounded off the weekend with a session in the $3/6 mixed game at the Imperial Palace.
The Flamingo session was fairly uneventful, with the highlight being a hand where a player opened for $10 & I called on the button with 55. The hand was checked to the river (think the final board was something like T9742) & I thought for a few seconds before checking behind on the river ... and my opponent mucked! Ship the pot! Also managed to lose the two big hands of the night to the same guy ... first when I tried (unsuccessfully of course) to get him off top pair with my middle pair (where I was betting every street, including pre-flop), then later I ran my AK into his KT on a KT8K6 board.
The mixed game at the IP was surprisingly tight this time. There were few hands that were 5 or more to the flop (or draw) & few that had 4 or 5 bets in pre-flop. Made for a different dynamic from previous nights in the IP mixed game! I got off to a slow start, but hit some run good around 3am (some 5 hours after I sat down) & this continued until the game broke at around 9am! I'm sure my body clock is going to be somewhat askew for the next day or two as a result, but its always good to book a decent win in a game that is enjoyable to play ... complete with the challenges of trying to figure out if you have the best hand, or should bet or check in a game like double flop Omaha or 3-2-1 Omaha, or 4 card crazy ocean Pineapple! I think this will be a place to find me if you are in Vegas on a Sunday night for the next few weeks.
Next on the agenda: some more tourist stuff, a haircut ... and some poker.

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.

Deuces Cracked Homegame & other goings on

To begin with I must apologise for the lack of updates ... this hotel wireless is frustrating me & I have been prioritising other things when I am able to use the internet.
Anyway, events of the last few days have included: The Deuces Cracked Homegame at Aria, a Stud8 tournament at the Golden Nugget, a HORSE tournament at the Orleans, a mixed game at the Imperial Palace & some brief cash sessions at the Luxor & Hooters.
The Deuces Cracked homegame was great fun. Was good to catch up with Chuck, Rob, Joe & the rest of the DC team I had met in Australia, as well as meeting some other coaches & members & being able to put faces & real names to DC names. As far as the poker was concerned, I sat in a $4/8 mixed game, which began as a mix of Holdem, Omaha hi-lo & Crazy Pineapple ... and soon became somewhat different! Of course being labelled a 'homegame' I started off playing like a homegame ... I have 3 outs for a gutshot ... I call; 2 outs for a bigger 2 pair ... I call. Of course from a purely financial perspective, such decisions are not wise ... and of course it was only after these decisions began to be more noticable (ie: I had far less chips in front of me than when I started) that it occurred to me that I should be doing something a little different with my game. So I changed up my game, and the nit that had been waiting to emerge had a chance to join the table. As a result of this transformation, the results turned around.
Of course as the night went on, the games got more unorthodox. At one point the game turned into what became known as 'Slomaha', which on the surface is run like a standard game of Omaha hi-lo. Of course this changed when some of the players decided to show random cards from their hand during play, and eventually turned into a strange cross between Omaha & Stud. The game was played where players were forced to turn over one card (of their choosing, though occasionally this was done at random by the dealer) from their hand after the completion of the round of betting before the flop, before the turn & before the river. There were some strategy considerations regarding the cards that people turned over - do you turn over a pair, a low card, the random 'dangler', etc. This meant that after the river was dealt, there were 5 community cards & each player had 3 of their 4 hole cards exposed in front of them. This of course changed hand reading, as it now became somewhat like a stud hand where you could see people's boards & determine their possible holdings from that. The third card made a lot of difference regarding low hands - given that it is Omaha, you need to use 2 cards from your hand with 3 cards from the board, so that when 3 hole cards are exposed, it became obvious who could qualify for a low. I did OK at this game, though when the game changed to Baduci I had far more success & managed to recoup most of my earlier losses. All in all a fun night. Definitely looking forward to the Bowling next Thursday.
After the recent tournaments, which turned into luckfests because of the typically horrible structures (5 big bet average stacks ... its a game of skill!), I had sworn off tournaments in Vegas for a while, yet still went to the Golden Nugget to play the Stud8 tournament, which as expected turned into a luckfest. I managed to get crippled by the table fish in two hands where he made monsters against my somewhat mediocre holdings, when it seemed like every other hand he had played he had had relative garbage (and had been playing it like the nuts!). Of course even with a short stack I managed to outlast him, however I was unable to regain my chips from the opponents he had so kindly donated them to.
I also decided to try out the Orleans Sunday night HORSE tournament, but that too turned into a luckfest after the first few levels & I busted relatively early from that one. Maybe I should try some NLHE tourneys to change things up a bit??
I also ventured to a few poker rooms that I had not played at previously - the Bruce Buffer Poker Lounge at the Luxor & Hooters. Not much to say about those rooms - played some $1/2NL at each & made a small profit at both ... and of course left with my 'souveneir' $1 chip.
The $3/6 mixed game at the Imperial Palace seemed almost like a homegame with some of the games on offer. I finally made it through an entire rotation of games (which took over 5 hours to get through all 10 games, playing 8 hands of each game) & discovered quite a few games I had no prior knowledge of!
Highlights from the night included:
Playing hi-lo 5 card draw (called A-5 hi-lo) I started with a pair of 7s, drew 3 on the first draw, did not improve, drew another 3, picked up another 7, so drew 2, picked up the last remaining 7 on the final draw, bet, was raised, so I three-bet, only to be called down by the guy who had three kings (from the initial deal) to scoop a pretty sizable pot ($100+).
Finding a wheel (23457) in 2-7 triple draw on the second draw & getting paid off in 2 spots.
Folding the same hand as the winning hand in 4-card Crazy Ocean Pineapple (89 on a board of KT7J35), when I assumed that my turned straight was no good. Of course the other player in the hand had the nut flush draw that missed (yes, even on the 'ocean')!
All-in-all a crazy game that is fun to play, and can at the right time be good for the bankroll, though it can also be very swingy, obviously. This was helped by one of the players who would almost always post a blind straddle when UTG & was later posting 'sleeper straddles' in various positions (for example a sleeper straddle on the button meant that if folded to him, it would act like a straddle where he has last option after people called his raise, otherwise it would act as a standard bet where he had the option to either call or raise).
Next on the agenda: more poker I guess ...

More tournament bustouts & some mixed games

Two tournaments, two non-cashes ... standard.
In the last few days (yes, the wonderful internet connection I have here is so bad that I can't get online consistently to update this blog!) I've played HORSE tournaments at the Golden Nugget & the Venetian. Finished out of the money in both, roughly 35th out of 108 at the Golden Nugget & 130th out of 172 at the Venetian. As seems to be standard with these events, the structure started great, but eventually turned into a complete crapshoot & that was the time when I ran & played badly, so left before the money. The highlight for me of both these events was a bluff I pulled off during the Razz at the Venetian, betting the river with three kings & winning the pot.
I've also managed to put together another episode of the Donkcast, and talk about the Razz hand in it, as well as news from both the Melbourne Champs & World Series and look at a hand from the $100k challenge at the Aussie Millions ... however it requires a decent internet connection to be uploaded ... hopefully one day ...
I also played some cash games after busting from both events. After the Golden Nugget event I decided to stop in at some casinos at the north end of the strip & play some poker. I played some $1/2 no limit at both the Stratosphere & Sahara, and some early morning $3/6 limit at Circus Circus before the game broke & I headed home. Although not overly profitable, I did make a little bit of money from the evening & added some chips for my collection. After the Venetian event I sat in a $4/8 HORSE game there, which eventually became ORSE after about half the table left during the holdem round, so the table agreed to drop holdem from the mix. Got off to a good start & was up over a full buy-in, managed to play some hands badly (plus the table became a lot tougher as the fish busted or left & players who had some idea began to take seats in the game) & at one point was back to my initial buy-in before rallying to leave with a decent profit, doubling my buy-in. Mixed games definitely look like a good place to make some money here & with some of the tournament structures being horrible, its looking like a much more attractive proposition, at least from a financial perspective.
Next on the agenda: Deuces Cracked home game at Aria & hopefully some interviews for the Donkcast

USA - Mixed games at the Rio

An evening at the Rio ...
Mixed games were the order for the evening at the Rio. Tonight it was a $10/20 mix, which rotated between Badugi, Baduci, Omaha hi-lo, Stud hi-lo & 2-7 Triple Draw. After a poor start I managed to play a bit better & run reasonably well, managing to finish the night with a reasonable profit. Also at the table was Lisa Parsons (one of the last women to be eliminated in the 2008 WSOP Main Event), who was obviously playing some of the draw games for the first time.
While there I said hi to Joe Tall & Rob Cole of Deuces Cracked & saw quite a few pros in the cash game room. Looks like Chinese Poker is popular with some of the bigger players, with Barry Greenstein being one of the players sitting at a Chinese table playing $100/point.
Next on the Agenda: HORSE at the Golden Nugget

USA - Golden nugget Omaha8

Same again ... beginning to become a grind.
Played the Omaha hi-lo at the Golden Nugget & again came away with another mid-field non-cash finish. Things were going great until the dinner break. I'd had a combination of good play & good running to build my stack from the 12k starting stack up to about 32k. Of course after the break it all went downhill. I was moved to a different table & with the blinds continuing to rise (after dinner the average stack was just over 6 big bets) any pot that you lost became significant. Of course I managed to find a few hands where my huge draws missed & others where my nut hand was counterfeited on the river (the good old river A or 2). I eventually finished around 50th out of the 138 starters.
After leaving downtown I went back to the Imperial Palace to find that they had a $3/6 mixed game up & running. I put my name on the list & sat down at a $1/2NLHE table in the meantime. Of course I ran fantastically there, with the highlight being picking up kings in the small blind. The table had been playing fairly loose, but of course when I pick up a hand there was only 1 limper & when I made it $6, even the big blind folded. The limper came along & my c-bet on the J-high flop took the pot without a fuss. Of course most other draws missed, but proved costly, combined with some uber-slowplay in one hand. There were about 5 or 6 limpers & I decided to call on the button with JT suited. The flop was 7-high & it was checked through. The turn was a J & the cutoff bet $6. I called & everyone else folded, so I thought there was a decent chance my hand was good. Another low card fell on the river & I called his $16 bet, only to be shocked to see him turn over KK!! Yes, I run good!
Anyway, I eventually got a seat at the mixed game & was dealt into a baduci hand. No problem, I've played it a bit since I got here ... and following Deathdonkey's tips I'd been making some money. Anyway, I managed to end up with an 87 low with a 7 badugi, only to see my opponent (who had been betting all the way) turn over AJ642. What a great start ... a scoop ... but no! It seems that at the Imperial Palace they play baduci with the ace playing low for the badugi half of the pot! WTF??? This meant that my opponent's 642A badugi took half the pot! At least I didn't get scooped ... of course I mentioned the fact that this was the only place where the ace played low for half the pot & how it was stupid from a strategy perspective because you could never have a nut-nut hand, only to have some of the players respond with comments like 'but the ace is low in badugi'; 'well that's part of the strategy - to keep the ace or not' & other silly comments. Of course this meant that the game would be good, but it also meant that I would need to stay focused to avoid becoming one of the other donkeys at the table. Anyway, the game was fairly uneventful for the most part, with a reasonably standard mix of games being played - Baduci, razz, stud8, Omaha8, badugi and the 'novelty game' double-board Omaha, with my run good continuing to mean I was down a little, until the table I was at broke & I was moved to the other table (yes, there were 2 tables of this game running). Of course they were on a different part of the rotation & I found myself playing 3-2-1 Omaha. Of course this prompted the standard 'how do you play this' question & I went & got myself one of the Mixed Game sheets they had around the room. In 3-2-1 Omaha, there are 3 flops, 2 turns & 1 river card dealt (so all up a total of 12 'board' cards on the table) & being Omaha, you must use 2 of your 4 hole cards, combined with 3 cards from the board to make the best 5-card poker hand. The catch is that you can only use one of the flops, one of the turns & the river to make your hand. Sounds simple, but its a little confusing when trying to play this for the first time. To give you an idea, lets say you have a J in your hand & there is a J on each of the three flops, this means that you have one pair (of jacks), which can not improve to three jacks because all the jacks are out & you can only use one of the flops in your final hand. Of course as I soon realised, this means that the winning hand is almost always a straight or better (often being a flush or full house), which makes high suited cards the most valuable in this game, with high pairs also being good to have.
Of course the game broke before we got to the next odd game in the mix - 4 card ocean crazy pineapple! My first thought was WTF? Turns out you get 4 cards to start the hand & a flop is dealt & there is a round of betting. Sounds normal so far, but after the round of betting, players discard one card from their hand. This leads to the flop & another round of betting and another discard. The river is dealt & there is another round of betting. This isn't the end of the hand however, as there is another board card (the ocean) & another round of betting. At the end of the hand there are 6 cards on the board & 2 cards in the hands of the players' hands, with the best 5-card hand from any combination of the 6 board cards & the 2 hole cards of each player. Sounds interesting, though I didn't get a chance to play it.
Anyway, I finished the night with a small loss ... another case of run good!
Next on the agenda: A day off from tournaments, possibly playing cash games at the Rio or elsewhere, with the possibility of an episode of the Donkcast in the works as well.

USA Day ... later

Its official ... Wireless hotel internet is horrible!
The last few days have been horrible, with the dodgy internet connection I have here continually dropping in & out, creating great frustration.
On the poker front, its been a mixed bag. Tournaments have been frustrating, with a bubble finish in the nightly NLHE tourney at Aria the best of a bad lot. I've also managed to bust from another daily & nightly Aria tournament, as well as a NLHE tourney today at Binions. The personal highlight was when I raised to 300 UTG (50/100 blinds), with a call from UTG+1, then a min-re-raise to 500 from the SB. I called (I held TT), as did the UTG+1. The flop was 555 & when the SB checked, I bet 800, which the SB called. The turn brought a 6 & the SB lead fot 1000, which I called. The turn was the vomit-inducing 5, putting quads on the board. The SB lead for 2000 & I folded ... and he was kind enough to show how skillfully he played the hand with his AQo!
Cash games have been reasonable, with some wins & some losses, but nothing huge either way. Played an interesting game tonight at the Rio - a $10/20 draw mix, rotating between A-5 triple draw, 2-7 triple draw, Badugi & Baduci (or is it badeuci), with Omaha hi-lo being added to the mix towards the end. I picked up a tidy profit of 8 Big Bets. I'm starting to like these lowball draw games, though it could just be that some of the opposition is horrible. I'm almost tempted to try the $1500 2-7 triple draw tourney, but its unlikely unless I make a big score in the next few days.
Public transport is also frustrating here. The 'Deuce', the bus that runs up & down the Strip is typically overcrowded, particularly over the Memorial Day weekend, and is almost as slow as walking. Last time I was in Las Vegas I had a hire car & I'd be tempted to go for the hire car the next time I am in Vegas (assuming of course there IS a next time!) & possibly stay in an apartment off the strip (not needing to be so close 'to the action' if I have a car). Anyway, that's all in the future ... now its just about making some $$$ in either cash games or tournaments.
Next on the agenda: HORSE at Binions

USA Day 20

VEGAS BABY!!!
Yes, I'm now in Las Vegas. Managed to get the perfect seat for the plane to Vegas - a small plane where I had the row being first/business class, where I could actually stretch my legs out straight & only barely touch the seat in front of me. Legroom on a plane ... who'd have thought?
Eventually sorted out my room, after discovering that my booking was cancelled! Always a good start ... but then it was off to do the essentials before hitting the poker tables.
The essentials: a meal at Earl of Sandwich & getting myself a ticket for UFC 116, which is in just over a month.
Poker started with $1/2NLHE at Mandalay Bay, where I managed to find myself on the wrong end of cooler hands on multiple occasions.
Top pair & nut flush draw v small flush = I miss; TT runs into JJ; TT runs into the old UTG limp-re-raise, so I fold & my opponent shows KK; 88 runs into AJo on a board that is 7-high until the river ... jack; and finally manage to run KK into AA for the bustout in style! Of course I knew the lady in the hand had a monster, just wasn't good enough to pick WHICH monster & after flatting pre-flop & on the T-high flop, I reluctantly got it in on the turn before finding out the bad news (yes, I knew from the start that is was QQ+, I just hoped it was the QQ end, not the AA end!).
After leaving Mandalay Bay I found myself ar Aria, which is one of the nicest looking poker rooms on the strip, and sat down in a $4/8 limit holdem game. The play was suitably horrible (plus I found some run-good) & I picked up a tidy profit before the mixed game I had put my name on the list for got started. Of course I was expecting some sort of standard HORSE-like mix (I had played HORSE once before at Aria on my previous visit to Las Vegas), though the floor staff had said it would be up to the players to decide the mix when I registered. By the time I had made it to the table, the mix had been decided & I was up for some learning on the job.
The mix was a five-game mix, rotating ever 8 hands & included Razz, Omaha hi-lo & stud hi-lo, which seems pretty standard. The final two games were 2-7 triple draw (so I would be playing my first live cash session of 2-7, though I had played it in tourneys & a little online previously) & Badeuci (which may or may not be spelt correctly). Badeuci is a split-pot game, with half the pot going to the best 2-7 low hand & the other half going to the best badugi hand (with Aces playing high for both games). Badugi hands are low, unpaired, rainbow cards (with the standard nuts being A234 rainbow). In Badeuci this changes, so the nutss are 23457, with the 2345 being of different suits. This gives you nut-nut, with the 2-7 wheel & the best badugi hand. Of course my knowledge of 2-7 comes almost entirely from the 'Triple the Gold' series on Deuces Cracked, as well as the short playing time in 8-game tourneys, while my badugi knowledge comes from a brief Full Tilt interview with Huck Seed & my badeuci knowledge comes from an interview with Deathdonkey, I think from Deuce Plays, with the key point I remembered being 'aim for a decent badugi & hope to back into a good 2-7 hand' as the way to play to try and scoop. Turned out to be an interesting game, with a number of the players being dealers from Vegas (or dealers in town for the various tourney series over summer), ranging from players who seemed pretty decent TAG-ish ones through to total maniacs. I left the game just after 4am after playing for about 5 hours, and only finished slightly down for the session (though still ahead overall from the Aria visit). Interesting game & one I would definitely go back for. Definitely puts the Aria much higher on my list of best poker rooms in Vegas.
Next: Omaha hi-lo at Orleans.

USA Day 11

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes, today was my birthday. After responding to many messages on Facebook, I made a brief stop at Walmart on the way to the evening's poker. Picked up some groceries & a DVD about Jam Master Jay (Run DMCs DJ who was killed in 2002) which looked interesting - full report to come when I get around to watching it. After the brief shopping trip, I headed off to Hollywood Park for some more of the usual cash game grind. This time I sat briefly in a $2/3 No limit Holden game while waiting for a seat in the mixed game. Here the buy-in is $100, which makes for a pretty short-stacked game. In the brief period I was at the table I didn't pick up anything of note & basically folded most hands, leaving with a slight deficit when I was called to the mixed game.

Of course I started off playing like an idiot & was quickly down a bit. 'Evil brain' was at work, with thoughts of 'of well, its only one more bet to see the flop'; 'I've got a gutshot, so I can take a card off on the flop' and the like. By the time my senses had returned & I started getting back some of these earlier losses, the game broke. Just what I wanted to happen! Of course I could go on the list for the main game (I was at the must move table, which was part of the reason for the game breaking - 2 players moved to the main game), but being third on the list would most likely mean a wait of at least an hour ... so I left.

Seeing as it was still early, I decided to head to Commerce to see if they had any middle-limit mixed games running (being Saturday night & all I figured this might be the most likely time). Of course there was nothing going that interested me as far as mixed games were concerned (the only games going were much bigger than I was comfortable playing), so I headed to the low-limit area to play some Omaha hi-lo. After playing for about half an hour, picking up very few playable hands (think I managed to split one or two pots in the time I was there), the game broke! This was getting ridiculous! I finished out the evening playing some limit holdem & again found a string of unplayable hands, with the occasional playable hand (say a suited ace) which invariably missed the flop by a mile, which saw my stack slowly dwindle. Of course the final insult was my final hand for the evening, when I only had 2 big blinds remaining. Of course I picked up my first premium hand for the night in QQ, so in went my remaining stack. Of course I was called by 4 others & we saw a flop of 246 with two spades. Checked around, so things were looking good. The turn brings the ugly offsuit king & there is a bet, which sees the others in the hand fold. This isn't a good sign & I announce that I might have 2 outs to win. Of course there is no queen on the river & my opponent in the hand turns over KQo for top pair & its time to head home for the night.

Next on the agenda: A visit to Fat Beats in Hollywood is in order & I'll probably stop off at Best Buy (the US equivalent of JB Hi-Fi) while I'm there. I'm thinking the 8 game tourney at Commerce on Monday is looking like a possibility ...

USA Day 9

Crushing Hollywood!

After a relaxing start to the day that included some episodes of Cold Case & a trip to the laundromat, I decided to head to Hollywood Park Casino for the evening to have a crack at the higher-limit mixed game they have there.

The game of choice for the evening was $20/40 limit Omaha hi-lo/Stud hi-lo, with a half kill, with the game changing every 10 hands. In the case of a kill (scooping a pot in Stud8 or Omaha8 over $200) the game became a $30/60 game. Would have been nice to know in advance, but I only discovered this when the dealer pulled a kill button from his tray & the player posted $30 blind after scooping an Omaha hand about 10 minutes after I had sat down. There were actually two tables going, so I started at the must-move second table (and left before I would have been forced to move to the 'main game') & began with Omaha hi-lo. ABC poker seemed to be good enough in this game, with most players (myself included) being fairly passive, though there was one player who seemed to be raising every second or third pot, often with rather junky holdings. I felt that I played well for the most part, though there were probably about 4 or 5 hands that I misplayed (anywhere from missing a value bet or two, through to complete butchery) & this is definitely one area I still need to improve in my game. This is because limit poker (of whatever kind, be it holdem, Omaha, stud, or something else) is as much about saving bets as it is about winning bets. To give you an idea of how this is a problem, I'll run through one Omaha hand I managed to butcher completely. I have just scooped a pot, so have posted the $30 blind (on the button mind you, so I have position!) & there is a limper, a raise from the loose guy & 3 calls before it gets back to me. I have 3479 double-suited, which is pretty much a piece of cheese in Omaha hi-lo. The flush draw is nowhere near the nut flush, the low will rarely be best & if I make a straight, it will either be for half the pot (because there will be a low possible) or will not be the nut straight. In short, I should simply be happy to have scooped a sizable pot on the previous hand & let the $30 go without a fight ... next hand. Sounds simple, right? Yes, but of course my logical brain disappears for that few seconds of thought between the action being on me & folding my hand & 'evil brain' decides to call the raise, obviously because there is so much money out there already ... and of course if the flop is A25 rainbow I'll scoop the pot ... so why not see a flop?? Anyway, rather than flopping me the nuts, the dealer puts out the flop of 764 rainbow, which seems at first glance to be one of the more reasonable flops for my hand. The big blind (a lady who had been playing fairly conservatively) lead out at the flop & everyone called, so why not join the fun & see a turn ... evil brain at work again ... I have 2 pair, a gutshot, a live 3 (yes, it is a low draw, though not a great one!) & a backdoor flush draw ... SOOOOO much potential ... of course the turn further entrenches the thinking of evil brain ... the Ten of diamonds, so I now have a flush draw with my powerhouse 93 of diamonds! The big blind leads again & this time everyone gets out of the way ... except me! I've picked up a flush draw now! I HAVE to call ... and the river makes my downfall complete, with an offsuit 5. I've improved again! I have a 7-high straight, which doubles as a low & the big blind bets again. Of course it is about this moment when logical brain returns & I ponder my river decision. I'm fairly certain that the big blind has one half of the pot locked up, most likely the low with A2 given that she was betting into the entire table on the flop & turn. Of course logical brain considers the possibility that she has a better high hand ... its definitely possible, though she would need an 8 & another card near it to make a straight higher than my monstrous 7-high one, which is a somewhat less likely holding because middle cards are usually bad in Omaha hi-lo (for the reasons mentioned above). Of course logical brain considers other possibilities, that she could be betting a hand like A2 with a flopped set (say A266) into the field, so with so much in the pot already, even logical brain finds a crying call, only to see my opponent turn over A248 for the 8-high straight & the nut low ... so I get scooped & my soul is crushed briefly (until the next hand is dealt) while I try to remove evil brain from my head for future hands.

In spite of these occasional setback, I managed to chalk up a reasonable win (roughly 15 big bets in a 3 hour session), which made for a good night out.

Next on the agenda: I'm thinking in the next few days that I'll play some more cash games, probably go on one of those hop-on-hop-off guided bus tours of the city & maybe play a tournament or two ... but in no particular order.