Played another HORSE tournament, this time at the Golden Nugget. Had a table that was good in some ways & bad in others. Good because many players were horrible; bad because of the attitude, things done at the table & time taken to play out hands.
Personally, I didn't get much going & busted just before the dinner break, largely due to a big Stud8 hand where one of my opponents couldn't fold & caught up on 6th or 7th street. There is a short stack (showing a 7) at the table who completes after a limper (showing an A). There is a caller (showing an 8) & I raise (showing a J, with AA in the hole). The limper called, the short stack moves all in for half a bet more (1500 total playing 600/1200), the caller asks if I have the option to raise & folds when he is told that I can, so I re-raise & the limp/caller calls again. To make a long story short, my board ends up (AA)JK9T(5), with the short stack eventually making a 7-high straight (which scooped the main pot) & the other player in the hand (who called bets on every street except 7th) finished with a board of A29Q & showed AKT in the hole, to win the side with aces with KQ kickers! Yes, he called me down & caught his magic card on 6th or 7th ... which of course left me crippled.
To make matters worse, he'd taken quite a bit of time to call on each street (yes, even calling the re-raise on 3rd!) ... and then proceeded to call the clock on another player in the very next hand when he took more than 5 seconds to think about a decision on 5th street! And people thought Tiffany Michelle was bad for calling the clock in the Main Event a few years back ...
Of course to complete the day, I managed to get all-in pre-flop in holdem with Q9o & saw a final board of 4QQ9T, with one player betting all the way & being called down to the river ... only to see him turn over Q9 as well (so I only got half of the main pot!) & then finally went out with 56 suited, which flopped a straight & flush draw, but missed everything & I was playing the board by the river!
After that wonderful performance I headed to the Rio to see if they had any mixed games going. I put my name on a few lists, then went to have a look at the tournaments that were running. When I returned to the cash game area it was only a short wait before I got a seat in a $10/20 Omaha8 game & proceeded to run horribly before being called for $10/20 HORSE. I topped up my stack at the HORSE table & when it finally got going (lots of people walked past while there were three of us at the table waiting for players to start ... they checked the mix, looked at the table & walked off, often never to return) I managed to make up for both the earlier Omaha8 session, as well as re-couping my buy-in from the afternoon's tournament at the Golden Nugget. All-in-all, not a bad day.
Next on the agenda: Catching up with Theos Rippis, a mate of mine from my chess days in Sydney who I have not seen for years, who arrived yesterday ... and more poker!
Showing posts with label Golden Nugget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golden Nugget. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Some run good in cash!
Played some cash games yesterday. I started at the Rio, playing $10/20 limit holdem. Of course the easy way to make money at limit holdem is to run good & that's exactly what I did. Top pair, middle set, etc. The best of the lot was when a player raised from early position, there was a call from the cutoff & I called in the big blind with 99. The flop came down T54 & I checked, the pre-flop raiser bet, the cutoff called & I decided to peel one off. My 9s might be in front, but I couldn't really be sure. Of course the turn made it easy for me ... BINK ... 9! I lead into the pot on the turn & the pre-flop raiser made it two bets, the cutoff folded & i made it three bets. The pre-flop raiser called & called my bet on the end & after I showed my 99, turned over AT in disgust. While at the Rio I also had a look at some of the tournaments running at the time ... quite a few pros still in lots of events.
I then decided to go to the Hard Rock to see what was going on there on Sunday night, in particular hoping to play a mixed game, which apparently happen there from time to time. There is also the Pokernews game there on Wednesday nights, which includes the Pokerati $1/2 NLH/PLO game. Of course there was nothing but $1/2 NLH running, so I sat down for a while. The run good continued, with the big double-up plus hand coming in a limped pot. I had AJo in the small blind & saw a flop of JT7. The plan was to check-raise the flop to try & build a pot & get it heads-up, so I checked ... it was checked around to the cutoff, who bet $12. The button then raised to $24. I wasn't so pleased with my top pair, top kicker, thinking there was a chance I was up against two pair or better, however I could also still have the best hand, so I just called. To make matters worse, the drunk guy who was playing any two (and hitting from time to time) then re-raised to $48! The initial bettor folded & the button called, so I also called. The turn was another Jack, which was either a great card for me (because I was now in front) or a horrible card for me (as I was still behind a straight or full house, but now could not fold). I checked again, knowing that I couldn't fold my remaining stack (just under $100) & the crunk guy moved all-in for around $150. This got the button to fold, though he did take some time & show his cards to players nearby at his end of the table, which made me think he had bottom two pair that had now been counterfeited. I called & the dealer put out the river ... another jack! Runner-runner quads! Not a bad hand. I showed my AJ & the $350+ pot came my way. I stayed a little longer & left with a reasonable profit ... not a bad day in the office for a change!
Next on the agenda: Back to tournaments downtown. Probably HORSE at the Golden Nugget, but maybe PLO8 at Binions.
I then decided to go to the Hard Rock to see what was going on there on Sunday night, in particular hoping to play a mixed game, which apparently happen there from time to time. There is also the Pokernews game there on Wednesday nights, which includes the Pokerati $1/2 NLH/PLO game. Of course there was nothing but $1/2 NLH running, so I sat down for a while. The run good continued, with the big double-up plus hand coming in a limped pot. I had AJo in the small blind & saw a flop of JT7. The plan was to check-raise the flop to try & build a pot & get it heads-up, so I checked ... it was checked around to the cutoff, who bet $12. The button then raised to $24. I wasn't so pleased with my top pair, top kicker, thinking there was a chance I was up against two pair or better, however I could also still have the best hand, so I just called. To make matters worse, the drunk guy who was playing any two (and hitting from time to time) then re-raised to $48! The initial bettor folded & the button called, so I also called. The turn was another Jack, which was either a great card for me (because I was now in front) or a horrible card for me (as I was still behind a straight or full house, but now could not fold). I checked again, knowing that I couldn't fold my remaining stack (just under $100) & the crunk guy moved all-in for around $150. This got the button to fold, though he did take some time & show his cards to players nearby at his end of the table, which made me think he had bottom two pair that had now been counterfeited. I called & the dealer put out the river ... another jack! Runner-runner quads! Not a bad hand. I showed my AJ & the $350+ pot came my way. I stayed a little longer & left with a reasonable profit ... not a bad day in the office for a change!
Next on the agenda: Back to tournaments downtown. Probably HORSE at the Golden Nugget, but maybe PLO8 at Binions.
Friday, June 11, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
USA - Golden Nugget Stud8
Another Tournament, another non-cash.
Played the Stud hi-lo at the Golden nugget today. A much better structure than Binions, so I'll probably return for some events later in 'The Grand' series there. Managed to finish in around 60th place out of the 119 starters, though did run rather badly late in the tourney, which didn't help my cause. Did the usual stud8 trick of having huge draws on 4th-6th streets that all missed by 7th street (or even worse, a draw completed & it was second best!), so it wasn't my day.
I'll be back to the Nugget tomorrow for the Omaha hi-lo. Think I'll go for the aggro maniac approach, if only because my usual tight aggressive approach seems to be rather ineffective when I simply don't run well! Will see how it goes, though I suspect I'll either have a huge stack or be playing cash games at the Rio by the time the dinner break rolls around. Hopefully the former, but I'll let you know.
Also trying to get another episode of the Donkcast up in the next few days. As mentioned previously, I'm hoping to have Danzasmack from Deuces Cracked on the Donkcast in an upcoming episode.
Next on the agenda: Omaha hi-lo at the Golden Nugget & cash games at the Rio
Played the Stud hi-lo at the Golden nugget today. A much better structure than Binions, so I'll probably return for some events later in 'The Grand' series there. Managed to finish in around 60th place out of the 119 starters, though did run rather badly late in the tourney, which didn't help my cause. Did the usual stud8 trick of having huge draws on 4th-6th streets that all missed by 7th street (or even worse, a draw completed & it was second best!), so it wasn't my day.
I'll be back to the Nugget tomorrow for the Omaha hi-lo. Think I'll go for the aggro maniac approach, if only because my usual tight aggressive approach seems to be rather ineffective when I simply don't run well! Will see how it goes, though I suspect I'll either have a huge stack or be playing cash games at the Rio by the time the dinner break rolls around. Hopefully the former, but I'll let you know.
Also trying to get another episode of the Donkcast up in the next few days. As mentioned previously, I'm hoping to have Danzasmack from Deuces Cracked on the Donkcast in an upcoming episode.
Next on the agenda: Omaha hi-lo at the Golden Nugget & cash games at the Rio
Saturday, June 5, 2010
USA - Binions
Another tourney, another bustout!
Today I went to Binions, 'the home of poker', to play the HORSE event in the Binions Poker Classic. The tournament had 120 starters & I finished in 72nd place, but that's simply the facts.
The structure of the event was appalling. Although the starting stack was 20,000, starting with levels of 100/200 & increasing every 30 minutes meant that you really needed to build quickly or face elimination. This was compounded in a way by the format of playing one game per level, with the holdem getting many more hands than any of the other games. The brink of elimination started for me in level 6 (just 3 hours into the event) when I was all-in on the turn in holdem against one opponent. Of course by this time we were already playing 800/1600 & my top pair held to double up. I picked up some hands & ran well & amazingly by the end of the level I was back to my original 20,000 starting stack! Talk about a wild ride! Anyway I managed to slowly dwindle down to be 14000 at the dinner break (after 9 levels) & returned to be playing Stud8 at the 3000/6000 level! Of course I was the bring-in & rather than completing the bet, I simply brought it in for the minimum, meaning that my (45)3 was facing 4 opponents for 4th street. After 4th it was heads-up & I was all-in on 5th, with my 34549 being up against my opponents T7656. I picked up a 9 on 6th to take the lead, but his river T killed my hand & send me out of the tournament.
I have since made sure to check the structures before playing in events. I *may* be back for the $500 HORSE Championship later in the month (which has a similar structure but 40 minute levels, with games changing every 20 minutes), but doubt I will play any other events at Binions.
I'm still going to be downtown in the coming days, but across the street, playing at the Golden Nugget, which seems to have a similar structure, but with 40 minute levels I hope it won't be quite as brutal.
In other news, it looks like I have at least one guest lined up for the Donkcast ... Chuck 'Danzasmack' Danielsson who is an instructor at Deuces Cracked will be on sometime in the not-too-distant future. Caught up with him at the Rio the other night & mentioned the podcast & he's keen to be on, so I'll test my abilities an an interviewer!
Next on the agenda: Stud hi-lo at the Golden Nugget
Today I went to Binions, 'the home of poker', to play the HORSE event in the Binions Poker Classic. The tournament had 120 starters & I finished in 72nd place, but that's simply the facts.
The structure of the event was appalling. Although the starting stack was 20,000, starting with levels of 100/200 & increasing every 30 minutes meant that you really needed to build quickly or face elimination. This was compounded in a way by the format of playing one game per level, with the holdem getting many more hands than any of the other games. The brink of elimination started for me in level 6 (just 3 hours into the event) when I was all-in on the turn in holdem against one opponent. Of course by this time we were already playing 800/1600 & my top pair held to double up. I picked up some hands & ran well & amazingly by the end of the level I was back to my original 20,000 starting stack! Talk about a wild ride! Anyway I managed to slowly dwindle down to be 14000 at the dinner break (after 9 levels) & returned to be playing Stud8 at the 3000/6000 level! Of course I was the bring-in & rather than completing the bet, I simply brought it in for the minimum, meaning that my (45)3 was facing 4 opponents for 4th street. After 4th it was heads-up & I was all-in on 5th, with my 34549 being up against my opponents T7656. I picked up a 9 on 6th to take the lead, but his river T killed my hand & send me out of the tournament.
I have since made sure to check the structures before playing in events. I *may* be back for the $500 HORSE Championship later in the month (which has a similar structure but 40 minute levels, with games changing every 20 minutes), but doubt I will play any other events at Binions.
I'm still going to be downtown in the coming days, but across the street, playing at the Golden Nugget, which seems to have a similar structure, but with 40 minute levels I hope it won't be quite as brutal.
In other news, it looks like I have at least one guest lined up for the Donkcast ... Chuck 'Danzasmack' Danielsson who is an instructor at Deuces Cracked will be on sometime in the not-too-distant future. Caught up with him at the Rio the other night & mentioned the podcast & he's keen to be on, so I'll test my abilities an an interviewer!
Next on the agenda: Stud hi-lo at the Golden Nugget
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