To start the day I thought I'd make a return to the Gamblers Book Shop, primarily to get John Fox's book 'Play Poker, Quit Work & Sleep till noon' as I'd recently heard some good things about it, along with the fact that it seemed to be a rare book not available in many places. Of course to get there I had to catch two buses - the 202 down Flamingo, then the 110 on Eastern. Sounds fairly straightforward & it should have been. The issue was the transfer between buses - to get from the stop on Flamingo to the stop on Eastern, you need to walk 50 metres to the intersection, cross the road & then walk another 50 metres to the bus stop on Eastern. The first part was easy enough - got off the 202 & as I got to the intersection, I noticed the 110 at the opposite intersection waiting at a red light. Anyway, this means that I, along with the three or four others from the 202 who want to get on the 110, have to wait for the lights to change (and the bus to make it through the intersection to the bus stop) before we can cross the road. All seems to be going to plan - the bus stops & lets people off, the lights change & a group of us walk across the road ... and the bus waits at the stop. Fantastic! The driver has obviously seen that the other bus had just arrived & is waiting for those passengers to get to the 110. Anyway, as I am about 5 metres from the back of the bus (I've gone for the powerwalk option & lead the group fomr the 202) the engine is taken out of neutral ... no problem, I'm almost there. As I get to the middle of the bus it pulls out from the kerb & takes off! Talk about a slowroll! Not only do I get within literally 10 metres of the door, but I now have to wait another 20+ minutes for the next bus! So sick ....
Once I got to the bookshop I found the Fox book I was after & picked up a few other books while I was there, including the Doyle Brunson biography, which should be a good read if I ever get around to it. The return trip was relatively smooth, though I got withing 100 metres of the bus stop before the bus passed me, meaning I again had a 20 minute wait for the 110.
Rather than heading back to the strip, I took the 202 to the Rio, as I had a few mates who had made it through to day three who I wanted to check up on, as well as seeing what day 3 of the main event was like. Of course the two people I was looking for, Theos Rippis & Peter Aristidou, had both busted by the time I arrived, but it was good to see quite a few Aussies still in the hunt. Another disappointment of the day was the fact that the cash game area, which had been buzzing a week or so ago, was now almost dead, with barely 20 tables running ... and those tables were all no-limit holdem. So much for that idea!
After leaving the Rio, I dropped my shopping off in my room & headed to Caesars Palace for some poker (yes, I thought I'd try to fit some in). I found a seat in a $1/3 no-limit holdem game & won a few small pots before (as seems to be a habit) I had my huge pot for the evening. There were two limpers in front of me & I had AhQs on the button & raised to $15. Of course not only did the two limpers come along, but both blinds joined in making it five to the flop. The flop was Qh8h6d & it was checked to the cutoff who bet $40. I wasn't sure quite where I was in the hand, so decided to just call the $40. The blinds folded & the limper who was UTG+1 then made it $140 to go! The cutoff thought for a while before eventually folding. I had $37 left after the $100 raise & the guy who had put in the raise had made some strange plays earlier (including a call down with queen-high that beat his opponent's 8-high missed straight draw). I decided to put the rest of my stack in, hoping he just has a draw or a worse top pair rather than two pair or a set. The fact that he took more than half a second to call made me think I had a decent chance & when the board ran out Kh3s & I showed my hand & he mucked, so I took down a pot worth over $450 with one pair! I stayed for another 30 minutes or so, but was feeling tired, so left with a decent profit for the evening.
Next on the agenda: stuff ... will probably try to get another episode of the podcast done before I leave, though no guarentees. Maybe a tourist stop as well.
Showing posts with label Caesars Palace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caesars Palace. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Some cash games & shopping
The last few days have given me an opportunity to play some cash games, with the main sessions being at Caesars Palace & (finally) a session at the Riviera. Ultimately the Caesars session was profitable, the Riviera not so much. There was a key hand at each venue which became the deciding factor as to whether the evening was profitable or not.
Caesars hand:
Caesars is a $1/3NL game, with quite a few big stacks at the table (largest was around the $900 mark). I sat with $200 and was up to around $250 when the following hand happened.
A lady who has recently sat down at the table with about $150 limps UTG, another lady to my immediate left (who had around $200) also called & I looked down at AsQd & raised to $12. It folded back around & both ladies called my raise. The flop came down AdQs3d & the first lady checked & the lady to my immediate right lead for $25. As I had top two pair, combined with the lady limp-calling pre-flop, I thought it was likely that I had the best hand, though I was not really sure what sort of a hand she could have to be leading into me on the flop. I also had the queen of diamonds, making it impossible for her to have a pair and a flush draw, so I decided to call her bet, hoping she could continue to bet her hand so that I could build a big pot in position with the best hand. Of course the plan changed when the first lady who checked decided to min-check-raise to $50! The lady that bet then called & I decided to have something of a think about the situation. A check-raise normally means one of two things in this type of situation (raising two players who have both already put money in the pot), either she has a big draw or a strong made hand. The logical options for this are 2 pair, a set (most likely 3s because of my hand & card elimination) or a flush/straight combo draw. I'm in decent shape against those hands & even if she has a set of 3s I still have 4 outs to win (though if this is the case I probably have less outs given the other lady in the hand). I decided to re-raise another $75 on top, hoping to get the pot heads-up when I hopefully have the best hand. Of course, the theme continued & the check-raiser called & the other lady moved in for an extra $14, which both I and the other lady in the hand called. She had about $25 left, so I decided to put her all-in on the turn (I was hardly going to fold with the pot so big), even though a less-than-ideal 6d was dealt. She called & the river was an offsuit 8 & I showed my AQ & scooped the $500+ pot! Of course this meant that the session at Caesars was a good one.
Today I went to the Riviera again & actually found a $1/2NL game going, albeit three handed. I decided to sit down anyway & after not too long the game became three handed when the other three players all managed to get their stacks in pre-flop with AKo v AKs v JJ, with the JJ scooping to bust the AKo & take most of the AKs' chips. He rebought, but not long afterwards lost that, so it was just myself & the other guy (who seemed to have an idea of what he was doing & had been the most aggressive at the table). I was about to leave & asked if he wanted to play heads-up (given that 95% or more of games that I have played in break when they get to 4-handed or less). He said yes, so we played heads-up ... which is one of the first times I had played live heads-up cash ... and its something I need to work on! I was getting crushed until I ended up on the right side of a cooler hand, where I had AA v his JJ on a ten high flop, with all the money going in on the turn. My aces held to take down a pot with just over $300 in it. He slowly chipped away at my stack until the following hand came up. I had about $250 to start the hand & he had me covered. He raised pre-flop to $6 (which he had been doing regularly) & I 3-bet to $15 (which I had done occasionally, but it was always to $15) with AKo. He called & we saw a flop of AdTs5d & I lead for $22, which he called. The turn was the Td & I bet $33 & was again called. The river was the Jc & I checked, planning to check-call the river. He then grebbed a stack of red & added a few red & blue ($1) chips to it & slid it forward. What hands could he have in this spot? What could he put me on in this spot? A few things went through my head. he could put me on a hand like QQ & have an ace & think he is value betting. He could have a ten & have me crushed. He could have diamonds & have me crushed. He could have air & be bluffing. He could have an ace that I have crushed. I thought it was pretty close & decided to call. Obviously given the earlier comments he had me crushed & showed 6d9d for a turned flush. In hindsight I guess I could have folded, but its the kind of situation that I have trouble with in no-limit holdem games, which was further made more difficult by my lack of heads-up experience. Anyway, live & learn I suppose.
As for shopping I made a few purchases at Barnes & Noble - a philosophy book 'The Terminator & Philosophy: I'll be back, Therefore I am' which looks at the philosophy in Terminator. I'd done some stuff on this in uni & found it interesting, so if I ever get around to reading it, I might rekindle my interest in philosophy. I also picked up a teaching book & a wrestling magazine because I am such a well-rounded individual that I think on so many levels! :-P
Only a few more days in the USA before I head back to Melbourne ... and the joy of the LV-->LA-->Syd-->Mel return journey ahead of me.
Next on the agenda: More cash games ... and maybe a tourney at the Rio if I can wake up that early!
Caesars hand:
Caesars is a $1/3NL game, with quite a few big stacks at the table (largest was around the $900 mark). I sat with $200 and was up to around $250 when the following hand happened.
A lady who has recently sat down at the table with about $150 limps UTG, another lady to my immediate left (who had around $200) also called & I looked down at AsQd & raised to $12. It folded back around & both ladies called my raise. The flop came down AdQs3d & the first lady checked & the lady to my immediate right lead for $25. As I had top two pair, combined with the lady limp-calling pre-flop, I thought it was likely that I had the best hand, though I was not really sure what sort of a hand she could have to be leading into me on the flop. I also had the queen of diamonds, making it impossible for her to have a pair and a flush draw, so I decided to call her bet, hoping she could continue to bet her hand so that I could build a big pot in position with the best hand. Of course the plan changed when the first lady who checked decided to min-check-raise to $50! The lady that bet then called & I decided to have something of a think about the situation. A check-raise normally means one of two things in this type of situation (raising two players who have both already put money in the pot), either she has a big draw or a strong made hand. The logical options for this are 2 pair, a set (most likely 3s because of my hand & card elimination) or a flush/straight combo draw. I'm in decent shape against those hands & even if she has a set of 3s I still have 4 outs to win (though if this is the case I probably have less outs given the other lady in the hand). I decided to re-raise another $75 on top, hoping to get the pot heads-up when I hopefully have the best hand. Of course, the theme continued & the check-raiser called & the other lady moved in for an extra $14, which both I and the other lady in the hand called. She had about $25 left, so I decided to put her all-in on the turn (I was hardly going to fold with the pot so big), even though a less-than-ideal 6d was dealt. She called & the river was an offsuit 8 & I showed my AQ & scooped the $500+ pot! Of course this meant that the session at Caesars was a good one.
Today I went to the Riviera again & actually found a $1/2NL game going, albeit three handed. I decided to sit down anyway & after not too long the game became three handed when the other three players all managed to get their stacks in pre-flop with AKo v AKs v JJ, with the JJ scooping to bust the AKo & take most of the AKs' chips. He rebought, but not long afterwards lost that, so it was just myself & the other guy (who seemed to have an idea of what he was doing & had been the most aggressive at the table). I was about to leave & asked if he wanted to play heads-up (given that 95% or more of games that I have played in break when they get to 4-handed or less). He said yes, so we played heads-up ... which is one of the first times I had played live heads-up cash ... and its something I need to work on! I was getting crushed until I ended up on the right side of a cooler hand, where I had AA v his JJ on a ten high flop, with all the money going in on the turn. My aces held to take down a pot with just over $300 in it. He slowly chipped away at my stack until the following hand came up. I had about $250 to start the hand & he had me covered. He raised pre-flop to $6 (which he had been doing regularly) & I 3-bet to $15 (which I had done occasionally, but it was always to $15) with AKo. He called & we saw a flop of AdTs5d & I lead for $22, which he called. The turn was the Td & I bet $33 & was again called. The river was the Jc & I checked, planning to check-call the river. He then grebbed a stack of red & added a few red & blue ($1) chips to it & slid it forward. What hands could he have in this spot? What could he put me on in this spot? A few things went through my head. he could put me on a hand like QQ & have an ace & think he is value betting. He could have a ten & have me crushed. He could have diamonds & have me crushed. He could have air & be bluffing. He could have an ace that I have crushed. I thought it was pretty close & decided to call. Obviously given the earlier comments he had me crushed & showed 6d9d for a turned flush. In hindsight I guess I could have folded, but its the kind of situation that I have trouble with in no-limit holdem games, which was further made more difficult by my lack of heads-up experience. Anyway, live & learn I suppose.
As for shopping I made a few purchases at Barnes & Noble - a philosophy book 'The Terminator & Philosophy: I'll be back, Therefore I am' which looks at the philosophy in Terminator. I'd done some stuff on this in uni & found it interesting, so if I ever get around to reading it, I might rekindle my interest in philosophy. I also picked up a teaching book & a wrestling magazine because I am such a well-rounded individual that I think on so many levels! :-P
Only a few more days in the USA before I head back to Melbourne ... and the joy of the LV-->LA-->Syd-->Mel return journey ahead of me.
Next on the agenda: More cash games ... and maybe a tourney at the Rio if I can wake up that early!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
23rd in the H.O.R.S.E. at the World Series!
Yes, I managed to run good in a tournament for once! Not a bad tournament to find the run good in either ... the $1500 HORSE at the WSOP. 827 players entered & I managed to finish in 23rd place, taking home a little over $5200 (after the IRS/US Treasury took their cut) for my three days (well two days & about 20 minutes) at the tables.
I got off to a decent start, building my 4500 starting stack to 5500 by the first break & dropped slightly to 4800 at the dinner break. Post-dinner was horrible for me & I sunk to just 900 at the final break for the day & was pretty much ready to write the tournament off completely. I had a quick chat with Chuck & Joe of http://deucescracked.com who were at a table in the Poker Kitchen & told them of my plight - I almost told them to hold the seat for me because I would be back soon ... but didn't.
The first critical hand for me was the first back from the break. I have only 900 left & we're playing 400/800 Razz. Thankfully I have a 3 as my door card & there is only one other card below a 9 showing (one player has an ace). I look down & see 22 in the hole ... not exactly the A2 or A4 I was hoping for, but with only one other low card I decided that this was the hand ... make or break time! I complete the bet to 400 & the ace calls. Fourth street sees me catch a 6 & the ace catches a 9. I have the lead & bet my last 400 (though I don't make any indication that it is my last chips, nor do I announce that I am all-in) & my opponent insta-folds! Double-up for me! Of course I managed to go on a massive run & built my stack up to a high point of around 13k before losing a few pots just before the end of play to finish at 8900 for the day.
Day two saw me get off to a good start, with my initial table (with Jason Mercier) being the first to break. The second table was good for me, before moving again, where I settled in, stuck between Yuval Bronstein (on my right) & Brandon Cantu (on my left). I managed to keep my stack around the 20k mark for most of the day before winning a big (30k+) pot against Bronstein in Razz, where my 75 improved to a 65 on 7th street to beat out his 75 that he made on 7th street. That got me near the 50k mark, where I stayed for much of the middle part of the day. I picked up a few big pots later in the day which took me over the 100k mark & I was doing great until my table broke.
At the next table (where I remained for the rest of the day) I started well enough, but made a few mistakes (the biggest was thinking I was playing Stud8 when we were still on Stud Hi & I called down an opponent thinking I was drawing to a 6-low, only to make a pair of kings on the river & pay him off in a 15k+ pot) & lost some big hands (the biggest being a 3-way holdem hand where I had top 2 pair & was called down by a player who had flopped a flush draw & made it on the river, with the other player also staying in the hand until the river, for a 50k+ pot) before I found myself at critical hand #2.
By this stage I was getting short on chips (around 30k) & the limits were now 4k/8k. I was BB in the holdem round when it was folded to the button who raised. I called with J9o & saw a flop of AT9, giving me bottom pair. Although it was not an ideal flop, I did have a pair & the button would likely bet the flop trying to represent the ace. As expected, I checked, the button bet & I check-raised (the button was also very short & I only just had him covered), only for the button to respond with a 3-bet. Thinking positively (or perhaps over-optimistically), I surmised that although I was most likely behind now, there were a number of good turn cards that could come for me (I had the Jc to go with the 9c & Tc on the flop to give me a three-card straight flush draw), so I decided to call & see what came on the turn ... BINK! 9 on the turn! I bet both the turn & river (and was called down) & showed my winning J9o, much to the disgust of my opponent, who said he had AJ & I had caught a 2-outer. I guess you just have to run well to make it deep in these things after all!
Anyway, Al Barbieri (who went on to finish 2nd) joined the table late in the day & he managed to run like God (or at least a very fast Kenyan) & collected a large portion of chips on the table, making whatever hand he needed to to win the pot ... including a few from me & I was left with 52,500 at the end of the day.
Day 3 saw a tough table (though with only 3 tables, all were tough). I was seated between Robert Mizrachi (to my right) & defending champ James Van Alstyne (to my left), with overnight chip leader & eventual winner Konstantin Puchkov sitting to his left. The day started with Holdem & I didn't make it out of the round. With levels of 6k/12k I didn't have much room to move & had to find a way to get chips & get chips quickly! First hand of the day sees me pick up A6cc UTG+1 & I decide to raise, only to be 3-bet by Van Alstyne. I decide to call & see the flop before deciding if this is going to be the hand or not & see a not-so-friendly flop of KQ4 & I check-fold to Van Alstyne's bet. When I was BB it folded around to Robert Mizrachi, who raised. I looked down at KQo & 3-bet, knowing I was not folding, regardless of the flop. Thankfully the flop was KJ6 & what was left of my stack found its way into the middle, with Mizrachi tabling J8o for middle pair. He missed & I even managed to hit a queen on the river to make sure of the double-up & I was back to 50k. I then got involved in another hand when in the small blind! A late-position player raised & I looked down at A9ss & made it 3 bets. The raiser called & I bet both the flop & turn before check-calling on the river on a board of 742J3, to be shown 87 for flopped top pair ... and I was back to being the short stack once again! My final hand came when it was folded to me in the cutoff & I looked down at Q8 of diamonds. This would be it ... I raised & the big stack in the small blind asked how much I had behind (which is either a really bad or really good question to hear, depending on the response) & proceeded to re-raise (not the response I was looking for). I re-raised all-in & found out I was in horrible shape against his AQ of clubs. Of course the flop made my predicament worse, falling KQ7 with 2 clubs, meaning I had only 2 outs to survive. I missed my 8 & my opponent found the final nail on the river with a club & I left to get my payout in 23rd place.
Of course the taxman got a decent chunk of my prizemoney (why Australia & America don't have a tax treaty to avoid this situation is beyond me!), but I left with a little over $5200 for my efforts, which was quite a change from the day 1 bustout I was expecting!
Afterwards I went to Aria to play some $1/3NL (in the absence of any mixed or limit games running) & managed to find an awkward spot to lose my stack. I had $107 to start the hand & looked down at AA UTG & raised to $10 ... standard so far. Of course it then proceeded call, fold, call, call, call, etc around the table & there were 8 people to the flop!! Now I have some idea of how Barry Greenstein felt on High Stakes Poker! Anyway, the flop came down 9s8s5c ... not an ideal flop for aces (though I did have the ace of spades) when facing 7 opponents. My dilemma was made worse by the small blind, who lead out for $20, which the big blind called. What to do in this spot? I was really unsure & eventually decided to just call the $20. Everyone else at the table folded & we went to the turn to see the Jc. Again not an ideal card, but it was checked to me, so I put my remaining $77 in the middle ... and the SB went into the tank ... and eventually called. This then got the BB thinking ... but he eventually called as well! Looks like it was either a triple-up or bustout for me ... and then the river 9h appeared. Both players checked, so I was hopeful. The small blind turned over T5ss for bottom pair & a missed straight & flush draws. The BB turned over T9o, for three 9s (flopped top pair & missed straight draw), which was more than enough to beat out my aces up ... oh well ...
Tim Duckworth, from http://pokernews.com & http://www.tiltedbehaviour.com/ had dropped by earlier in the evening & asked about mixed games in Las Vegas & said he was going to try to get a $4/8 HORSE game going (if not already) at the Venetian. After the disappointment of having my aces cracked ... and a meal at Subway ... I headed for the Venetian & joined the HORSE game after a shortish wait & took a seat next to Tim. Also in the game was Heath Chick & some other PokerNews people & after roughly 6 hours at the table, the game broke, with a tick in the small win column for me.
Today I played a tournament at Caesars Palace ... a 'Turbo Double Stack' event, where you started with 30k in chips, with 20 minute levels. I started well, but eventually picked some bad spots to bet & raise before the blinds became enormous. Of course I was crippled when my 76 was run down on a 997 flop where the money got all-in, with my opponents J8o finding an 8 on the turn. I then took my final stand with AJo, only to run into A8 suited, who flopped top pair before I bricked out, to finish in around 100th place out of the 178 or so starters they had for the event. Although it wasn't horrible, I doubt I'll be back there for tournaments while I'm in town.
Next on the agenda: More cash games & some laundry ... oh fun!
I got off to a decent start, building my 4500 starting stack to 5500 by the first break & dropped slightly to 4800 at the dinner break. Post-dinner was horrible for me & I sunk to just 900 at the final break for the day & was pretty much ready to write the tournament off completely. I had a quick chat with Chuck & Joe of http://deucescracked.com who were at a table in the Poker Kitchen & told them of my plight - I almost told them to hold the seat for me because I would be back soon ... but didn't.
The first critical hand for me was the first back from the break. I have only 900 left & we're playing 400/800 Razz. Thankfully I have a 3 as my door card & there is only one other card below a 9 showing (one player has an ace). I look down & see 22 in the hole ... not exactly the A2 or A4 I was hoping for, but with only one other low card I decided that this was the hand ... make or break time! I complete the bet to 400 & the ace calls. Fourth street sees me catch a 6 & the ace catches a 9. I have the lead & bet my last 400 (though I don't make any indication that it is my last chips, nor do I announce that I am all-in) & my opponent insta-folds! Double-up for me! Of course I managed to go on a massive run & built my stack up to a high point of around 13k before losing a few pots just before the end of play to finish at 8900 for the day.
Day two saw me get off to a good start, with my initial table (with Jason Mercier) being the first to break. The second table was good for me, before moving again, where I settled in, stuck between Yuval Bronstein (on my right) & Brandon Cantu (on my left). I managed to keep my stack around the 20k mark for most of the day before winning a big (30k+) pot against Bronstein in Razz, where my 75 improved to a 65 on 7th street to beat out his 75 that he made on 7th street. That got me near the 50k mark, where I stayed for much of the middle part of the day. I picked up a few big pots later in the day which took me over the 100k mark & I was doing great until my table broke.
At the next table (where I remained for the rest of the day) I started well enough, but made a few mistakes (the biggest was thinking I was playing Stud8 when we were still on Stud Hi & I called down an opponent thinking I was drawing to a 6-low, only to make a pair of kings on the river & pay him off in a 15k+ pot) & lost some big hands (the biggest being a 3-way holdem hand where I had top 2 pair & was called down by a player who had flopped a flush draw & made it on the river, with the other player also staying in the hand until the river, for a 50k+ pot) before I found myself at critical hand #2.
By this stage I was getting short on chips (around 30k) & the limits were now 4k/8k. I was BB in the holdem round when it was folded to the button who raised. I called with J9o & saw a flop of AT9, giving me bottom pair. Although it was not an ideal flop, I did have a pair & the button would likely bet the flop trying to represent the ace. As expected, I checked, the button bet & I check-raised (the button was also very short & I only just had him covered), only for the button to respond with a 3-bet. Thinking positively (or perhaps over-optimistically), I surmised that although I was most likely behind now, there were a number of good turn cards that could come for me (I had the Jc to go with the 9c & Tc on the flop to give me a three-card straight flush draw), so I decided to call & see what came on the turn ... BINK! 9 on the turn! I bet both the turn & river (and was called down) & showed my winning J9o, much to the disgust of my opponent, who said he had AJ & I had caught a 2-outer. I guess you just have to run well to make it deep in these things after all!
Anyway, Al Barbieri (who went on to finish 2nd) joined the table late in the day & he managed to run like God (or at least a very fast Kenyan) & collected a large portion of chips on the table, making whatever hand he needed to to win the pot ... including a few from me & I was left with 52,500 at the end of the day.
Day 3 saw a tough table (though with only 3 tables, all were tough). I was seated between Robert Mizrachi (to my right) & defending champ James Van Alstyne (to my left), with overnight chip leader & eventual winner Konstantin Puchkov sitting to his left. The day started with Holdem & I didn't make it out of the round. With levels of 6k/12k I didn't have much room to move & had to find a way to get chips & get chips quickly! First hand of the day sees me pick up A6cc UTG+1 & I decide to raise, only to be 3-bet by Van Alstyne. I decide to call & see the flop before deciding if this is going to be the hand or not & see a not-so-friendly flop of KQ4 & I check-fold to Van Alstyne's bet. When I was BB it folded around to Robert Mizrachi, who raised. I looked down at KQo & 3-bet, knowing I was not folding, regardless of the flop. Thankfully the flop was KJ6 & what was left of my stack found its way into the middle, with Mizrachi tabling J8o for middle pair. He missed & I even managed to hit a queen on the river to make sure of the double-up & I was back to 50k. I then got involved in another hand when in the small blind! A late-position player raised & I looked down at A9ss & made it 3 bets. The raiser called & I bet both the flop & turn before check-calling on the river on a board of 742J3, to be shown 87 for flopped top pair ... and I was back to being the short stack once again! My final hand came when it was folded to me in the cutoff & I looked down at Q8 of diamonds. This would be it ... I raised & the big stack in the small blind asked how much I had behind (which is either a really bad or really good question to hear, depending on the response) & proceeded to re-raise (not the response I was looking for). I re-raised all-in & found out I was in horrible shape against his AQ of clubs. Of course the flop made my predicament worse, falling KQ7 with 2 clubs, meaning I had only 2 outs to survive. I missed my 8 & my opponent found the final nail on the river with a club & I left to get my payout in 23rd place.
Of course the taxman got a decent chunk of my prizemoney (why Australia & America don't have a tax treaty to avoid this situation is beyond me!), but I left with a little over $5200 for my efforts, which was quite a change from the day 1 bustout I was expecting!
Afterwards I went to Aria to play some $1/3NL (in the absence of any mixed or limit games running) & managed to find an awkward spot to lose my stack. I had $107 to start the hand & looked down at AA UTG & raised to $10 ... standard so far. Of course it then proceeded call, fold, call, call, call, etc around the table & there were 8 people to the flop!! Now I have some idea of how Barry Greenstein felt on High Stakes Poker! Anyway, the flop came down 9s8s5c ... not an ideal flop for aces (though I did have the ace of spades) when facing 7 opponents. My dilemma was made worse by the small blind, who lead out for $20, which the big blind called. What to do in this spot? I was really unsure & eventually decided to just call the $20. Everyone else at the table folded & we went to the turn to see the Jc. Again not an ideal card, but it was checked to me, so I put my remaining $77 in the middle ... and the SB went into the tank ... and eventually called. This then got the BB thinking ... but he eventually called as well! Looks like it was either a triple-up or bustout for me ... and then the river 9h appeared. Both players checked, so I was hopeful. The small blind turned over T5ss for bottom pair & a missed straight & flush draws. The BB turned over T9o, for three 9s (flopped top pair & missed straight draw), which was more than enough to beat out my aces up ... oh well ...
Tim Duckworth, from http://pokernews.com & http://www.tiltedbehaviour.com/ had dropped by earlier in the evening & asked about mixed games in Las Vegas & said he was going to try to get a $4/8 HORSE game going (if not already) at the Venetian. After the disappointment of having my aces cracked ... and a meal at Subway ... I headed for the Venetian & joined the HORSE game after a shortish wait & took a seat next to Tim. Also in the game was Heath Chick & some other PokerNews people & after roughly 6 hours at the table, the game broke, with a tick in the small win column for me.
Today I played a tournament at Caesars Palace ... a 'Turbo Double Stack' event, where you started with 30k in chips, with 20 minute levels. I started well, but eventually picked some bad spots to bet & raise before the blinds became enormous. Of course I was crippled when my 76 was run down on a 997 flop where the money got all-in, with my opponents J8o finding an 8 on the turn. I then took my final stand with AJo, only to run into A8 suited, who flopped top pair before I bricked out, to finish in around 100th place out of the 178 or so starters they had for the event. Although it wasn't horrible, I doubt I'll be back there for tournaments while I'm in town.
Next on the agenda: More cash games & some laundry ... oh fun!
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