Quiet day, then hit by the deck!

Had a relatively quiet day today, watching some videos in my room after I woke up. The Pokerstars Big Game is looking like an interesting show, with the 'Loose Cannon' concept working fairly well with the first two Loose Cannons doing well for themselves.
I decided to head to Planet Hollywood for dinner, getting my usual order from Earl of Sandwich before what was intended to be a quick stop in the Poker Room before heading to O'Sheas for the Deuces Cracked drinks night. After a slow start I was down roughly $120 playing $1/2 No limit when I started to think about leaving. Of course as soon as this happened, I looked down at QQ after two limpers. I raised to $12 & was called by the button & one of the limpers. The flop came down J65 & the limper lead at the pot for $20. Having only $65 behind I decided that I needed to gamble to try and win a big pot, so just called the $20. The button also called the $20. The action happened on the turn, which was a repeat 6. The limper moved all-in for $80. I took a little bit of time before moving my remaining $45 into the middle as well. The button then went into deep thought & eventually called the $80. Quite a pot up for grabs! The river was another 6 & my QQ took the main pot, with the limper's JT chopping with the button's AJ for the side pot. Excellent ... now I am back in the black & ahead enough to cover my dinner! Time to head to O'Sheas obviously ... but not wanting to be *THAT GUY*, I decided to play another round at the table before leaving. Of course just as I was about to leave (I was UTG & planning to leave after the hand) I look down at AA! Guess I'm playing this hand ... so I raise to $8 & get called by the player to my left (who had been playing fairly tight) & the big blind. The flop came down 873 with a club draw (I had the Ac) & I lead at the pot for $17 & was called by the player to my left. The turn brought the Js & I bet $25, only to be raised to $50 by the player to my left. I thought it was unlikely that my opponent had two pair (like 87) as he had been playing fairly standard. I was a little worried about T9, but was more concerned about a set (33, 77 or 88). I also thought he could be doing this with a hand like AJ or a pair above 88, so decided to call, with the intention of check-calling on a safe river & throwing up before check-calling on a not-so-safe river. Part 1 of the plan went fine ... offsuit 2 on the river & I checked. My opponent then put out a $100 bet! Of course a smaller bet would have been an easy call & an all-in would have also been relatively easy (double-up or go home & it was part of the plan on the turn), but $100 was an awkward amount. It was about half of my opponent's remaining stack & if I lost the hand I would be left with about $50. Ultimately I decided that the river didn't change anything, so I had to go with my turn read. If my opponent had a set, so be it ... if not, my hand should be good. I eventually called, to be me with a 'good call, you've got it' & I turned over my aces & my opponent showed 55 for a bluff. Over $400! So now the plan from before came into effect ... play another round, then head to O'Sheas ... but plans rarely go as planned! On the next round there was a limp & a raise in front of me to $12 when I looked down to see AcKc. I decided that I didn't want to play a big pot pre-flop, so just called. Another player called & we saw a flop of 6c5c2d. Not a bad flop! The pre-flop raiser lead out for $25. I considered raising, but decided to just call & the other player got out of the way. The turn was a great card for me, 4c meaning I had the nut flush (though not the absolute nuts with the straight flush possibilities). My opponent bet again, this time $45 & I did a bit of fake thinking before calling. The river was another excellent card for my hand, an offsuit 3, putting a 6-high straight on the board. My opponent checked & after a short while I put out a $90 bet. Of course there are a number of hands that I would play in a similar manner that make the river bet logical - a hand that is big, like the flush that I have, or possibly a hand like 77 that rivered a straight after being an overpair on previous streets ... or a hand like an overpair that was now counterfeited by the straight on board, or a complete bluff. My opponent thought for quite a while before finally calling ... and I showed the nut flush to take a sizable pot! Ultimately what was intended to be a brief stop became a longer session, though definitely a profitable one.
I decided to drop into O'Sheas briefly (I was a few hour late for the intended 10pm start) & saw a few DC shirts around the place, including Chris 'DeathDonkey' Vitch at the Craps table, but ultimately decided to head back to the hotel.
Next on the agenda: possibly a tournament at the Venetian (if I wake up in time), otherwise I might go for the bookstore or Titanic options ... or maybe just some cash games somewhere.

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.