So I got back from vacation refreshed and was ready to get back to the game. Unfortunately, I forgot how to run good. I'm going through one of those stretches where I'm getting beat in every way possible. Despite this, I have decided to get some money on FTP (where I never play) to play some of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series events. You can check out the tournament schedule here:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/full-tilt-online-poker-series/schedule.php
I'm hoping to satty into all the NHE events, as I don't have the bankroll on tilt to buy into all of them. Hopefully I start to run a little better when that time rolls around.
I've also decided that I need to do a better job limiting my spending. The other day I was just thinking to myself, and realized that I spend my money on useless shit all the time. I'm gonna try to draw up a budget sometime this weekend for use in the 2009-2010 school year.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Vacation!!
On Thursday night I continued my run in the $30 rebuy tournaments by taking 3rd in the AP 15k. The final table was very strong. Some of the players included rock3656 (49th ranked player mtt player on p5's) Dark_Hawk2000, Bzimzim, DaMortician, and some others. Bzim lost 2 huge flips to rock to bust out in 6th. I made a HUGE mistake by playing a hand really poorly and was down to 20k. Luckily rock was trying to abuse a bubble, so he gave me a few walks and I was able to chip up in some other pots. I eventually doubled with 99 vs rock's K4. 3 handed I lost 2 huge pots, going into each as the favorite. The first I raised from sb with j8 suited to 28k. BB called. The flop was J 7 4 with 2 clubs. I bet 35k villain shoved 200k. I didn't think such an overbet meant he had a jack, so I called and he showed a flush draw. His draw hit on the river. Then I lost after 4 bet shoving rock3656 with A10d. He turned over KJ. He hit a jack on the river to send me out in 3rd for $1890. One thing about rock was that he NEVER seemed to miss. Within the last 2 tables, he won j7 vs AK, Q10 vs JJ, AQ vs 1010, 55 vs AK, KJ vs A10 and a couple others. He never got them in too far behind, but he NEVER lost the flips either. MBN
Tonight I will be leaving for vacation in Iron River, WI. Some people might be thinking "didn't you just get back from vacation, I thought you went to Vegas?" My answer is that Vegas wasn't vacation. Iron River is VACATION. There is nothing more relaxing for me then spending a week on the lake. I have been attending vacation up north with some family friends for the last 5 years. They are an awesome group of people (there are about 25 of us). We go fishing, boating,and swimming. We lay on the beach, play sand volleyball, grill out, and watch a baseball game. My day can be packed with activities, or I can sit around and do nothing. Thats the beauty of it-I'm on nobody's schedule but my own. Another thing I love about Iron River is that it is almost completely isolated. The biggest nearby town is Duluth, MN which is over an hour's drive away. There is no internet service and the cell phone signal is really weak. That means I can leave the world behind for awhile. This also means no poker for almost 10 days!! The timing for my break is really bad, as I've been playing solid and running pretty well lately. I was up almost 10k this week, one of my best weeks this year. Hopefully I can continue my run when I get back.
Tonight I will be leaving for vacation in Iron River, WI. Some people might be thinking "didn't you just get back from vacation, I thought you went to Vegas?" My answer is that Vegas wasn't vacation. Iron River is VACATION. There is nothing more relaxing for me then spending a week on the lake. I have been attending vacation up north with some family friends for the last 5 years. They are an awesome group of people (there are about 25 of us). We go fishing, boating,and swimming. We lay on the beach, play sand volleyball, grill out, and watch a baseball game. My day can be packed with activities, or I can sit around and do nothing. Thats the beauty of it-I'm on nobody's schedule but my own. Another thing I love about Iron River is that it is almost completely isolated. The biggest nearby town is Duluth, MN which is over an hour's drive away. There is no internet service and the cell phone signal is really weak. That means I can leave the world behind for awhile. This also means no poker for almost 10 days!! The timing for my break is really bad, as I've been playing solid and running pretty well lately. I was up almost 10k this week, one of my best weeks this year. Hopefully I can continue my run when I get back.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
If you're not first, you're last
Any fan of Will Ferrell knows these famous words from Ricky Bobby- "If you're not first, you're last." Though I don't believe this to be entirely true, I do understand where Mr. Bobby is coming from. In tournament poker, so much of the thrill of playing comes from actually WINNING the occasional tournament. For me, these wins drive me to continue playing even moreso than the money. There's something about that 1 next to your name that really seals the deal on a well played tournament.
Yesterday was a really good poker day for me. I played insanely well, made some sick reads, and seemed to be making all the right 3bets. Simply put, I was in the zone. I started the day by placing 2nd in the cake $30 rebuy for around $1700. The player I went against HU was very aggressive, and I tried to counter by jacking up my aggression. This cost me dearly as I tried to play too many big pots. Still, the tournament ended when I 3 bet shoved with 66's and villain called with KQo blinds 6000/12000 when we were both 500k deep. I'm not sure that I really like that call, but what can you do.
During the night session, I once again crushed the rebuys on both Cake and AP. Lately I have been playing crazy during the rebuy period shoving any two cards and showing them to advertise that I am a donkey, then capitalizing when I actually wake up with a hand later in the tournament. It worked for me, as last night I went into both final tables (20k on cake and 15k on AP) as the chip leader. The cake table was really weak and the blinds were high relative to everyone's stack. I busted out in 7th after losing a small coinflip to drop from 200k to 150k, but the ugly hand took place when a donkey who had sucked out about 14 times at the final table just to stay alive min raised 16000 UTG blinds 4000/8000, I shoved AK for 150k, he SNAP called A3 offsuit. The flop was 2 4 J turn 7, river of course was the 5 to give the donkey the straight and 2x as many chips as the 2nd place player. I bowed out in 7th for $700
At the final table of the AP 15k, the players were a bit better. I lost a huge pot within the first 2 hands when I raised AQ from the button to 10k blinds 2/4. The BB (DAMORTICIAN) reshoved all in for 75k. I called and lost the flip to JJ for 150k, leaving me with 150k behind. After that, players basically just traded blinds until the blinds got too big to standard raise, then it became a shove fest. I won a few flips to stay alive as a short stack but lost AK vs A8 3 handed to drop me down. The next hand I shoved j10 and was called by a4. Luckily I made a straight and knocked out the guy who had just beaten my AK. I came into the HU match with 225k in chips compared to the 650k for my opponent. I battled back to about 350k when I picked up KK on the button. With blinds at 8k/16k, I raised to 40k. Villain reraised to 120k. I jammed it in and he snap called, turning over A10. The flop came QJ blank, turn blank, river... you guessed it... ace. 2nd place for $2700
So when the dust settled, I cleared almost $5k on the day, but it was still SUPER frustrating. I lost at the very least 6 crucial 70/30 hands on the final tables of these 3 tournaments (plus losing a huge pot AK vs KJ all in pre in the 80k deep to bust money bubble). Without those ugly hands, I feel like I would have won each tournament, and that is no exaggeration. My opponents didn't impress me at all. I guess thats what I get for winning coinflips early. However, I am consistently getting my chips in ahead, and thats all I can hope for.
Yesterday was a really good poker day for me. I played insanely well, made some sick reads, and seemed to be making all the right 3bets. Simply put, I was in the zone. I started the day by placing 2nd in the cake $30 rebuy for around $1700. The player I went against HU was very aggressive, and I tried to counter by jacking up my aggression. This cost me dearly as I tried to play too many big pots. Still, the tournament ended when I 3 bet shoved with 66's and villain called with KQo blinds 6000/12000 when we were both 500k deep. I'm not sure that I really like that call, but what can you do.
During the night session, I once again crushed the rebuys on both Cake and AP. Lately I have been playing crazy during the rebuy period shoving any two cards and showing them to advertise that I am a donkey, then capitalizing when I actually wake up with a hand later in the tournament. It worked for me, as last night I went into both final tables (20k on cake and 15k on AP) as the chip leader. The cake table was really weak and the blinds were high relative to everyone's stack. I busted out in 7th after losing a small coinflip to drop from 200k to 150k, but the ugly hand took place when a donkey who had sucked out about 14 times at the final table just to stay alive min raised 16000 UTG blinds 4000/8000, I shoved AK for 150k, he SNAP called A3 offsuit. The flop was 2 4 J turn 7, river of course was the 5 to give the donkey the straight and 2x as many chips as the 2nd place player. I bowed out in 7th for $700
At the final table of the AP 15k, the players were a bit better. I lost a huge pot within the first 2 hands when I raised AQ from the button to 10k blinds 2/4. The BB (DAMORTICIAN) reshoved all in for 75k. I called and lost the flip to JJ for 150k, leaving me with 150k behind. After that, players basically just traded blinds until the blinds got too big to standard raise, then it became a shove fest. I won a few flips to stay alive as a short stack but lost AK vs A8 3 handed to drop me down. The next hand I shoved j10 and was called by a4. Luckily I made a straight and knocked out the guy who had just beaten my AK. I came into the HU match with 225k in chips compared to the 650k for my opponent. I battled back to about 350k when I picked up KK on the button. With blinds at 8k/16k, I raised to 40k. Villain reraised to 120k. I jammed it in and he snap called, turning over A10. The flop came QJ blank, turn blank, river... you guessed it... ace. 2nd place for $2700
So when the dust settled, I cleared almost $5k on the day, but it was still SUPER frustrating. I lost at the very least 6 crucial 70/30 hands on the final tables of these 3 tournaments (plus losing a huge pot AK vs KJ all in pre in the 80k deep to bust money bubble). Without those ugly hands, I feel like I would have won each tournament, and that is no exaggeration. My opponents didn't impress me at all. I guess thats what I get for winning coinflips early. However, I am consistently getting my chips in ahead, and thats all I can hope for.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Another Decent Sunday
Today my uncle from Green Bay wanted to play golf with my brother and I, so we skipped the morning session to play 18 holes. I had a miserable front nine (cursed shanks) but played really well on the back 9 and scored a +3 39. The course is a tough one and I'm not a good golfer, so that is awesome for me.
We got done playing a little after one and I was back in time to play most of the afternoon session. I started off really cold and blanked my first 3 tournaments. Then I made a deep run in the 50 1r 1a, finishing 3rd for $1300. Of course, the tournament only had 98 players, so it doesn't count for my p5's PLB score. I also final tabled the Bodog 100k, finishing 7th for $3500. That was a really disappointing finish for me. I was 2nd in chips going to the final 9 and there was only one proven player at the table (WU_WIZARD). The only real mistake I made in the tourney was when I raised QJs blinds 4000/8000 to 22,225 (I had about 350k at this point) in late position. The bb made pretty much a mini raise to 55k (with about 160k). I called hoping to hit a good flop in position. The flop was Q 9 5. He checked, I jammed, he insta called and tabled AA. :( I should have known, but the mini raise was popular at that table and it was Bodonk afterall. Still kind of a stupid mistake to play such a big hand at a weak table.
On a happier note, I finally made the AP yearly MTT leaderboard top 10. I am pretty proud of that, considering the lack of volume I have played. The pokerdb says I've played 700 mtts this year, and I'm guessing about 200 of them are satellite tournaments, which do not count towards the score. By comparison, the first place player has played over 1700 tournaments and has a 3rd place finish in the 200k, whereas my biggest AP cash is a win in the 30k. I feel like if I put in some volume during the 2nd half of the year, I can probably finish top 3. Volume seems a problem though, as I am becoming more and more lazy. I had every intention of grinding all summer, but there are just so many other things to do that are way more fun. I feel bad for the online players that put in 10 hours a day every day when the weather is so damn beautiful.
We got done playing a little after one and I was back in time to play most of the afternoon session. I started off really cold and blanked my first 3 tournaments. Then I made a deep run in the 50 1r 1a, finishing 3rd for $1300. Of course, the tournament only had 98 players, so it doesn't count for my p5's PLB score. I also final tabled the Bodog 100k, finishing 7th for $3500. That was a really disappointing finish for me. I was 2nd in chips going to the final 9 and there was only one proven player at the table (WU_WIZARD). The only real mistake I made in the tourney was when I raised QJs blinds 4000/8000 to 22,225 (I had about 350k at this point) in late position. The bb made pretty much a mini raise to 55k (with about 160k). I called hoping to hit a good flop in position. The flop was Q 9 5. He checked, I jammed, he insta called and tabled AA. :( I should have known, but the mini raise was popular at that table and it was Bodonk afterall. Still kind of a stupid mistake to play such a big hand at a weak table.
On a happier note, I finally made the AP yearly MTT leaderboard top 10. I am pretty proud of that, considering the lack of volume I have played. The pokerdb says I've played 700 mtts this year, and I'm guessing about 200 of them are satellite tournaments, which do not count towards the score. By comparison, the first place player has played over 1700 tournaments and has a 3rd place finish in the 200k, whereas my biggest AP cash is a win in the 30k. I feel like if I put in some volume during the 2nd half of the year, I can probably finish top 3. Volume seems a problem though, as I am becoming more and more lazy. I had every intention of grinding all summer, but there are just so many other things to do that are way more fun. I feel bad for the online players that put in 10 hours a day every day when the weather is so damn beautiful.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Last night in Vegas/My First cash of the trip!
Today was my last day in Vegas. Myself, Welcomeme, Chipmystak, and Yaboystu went to Ceasar's to play the $235 turbo. The tournament was actually a really good one. It got to be a shove fest at the end though. I ended up placing 9th out of 95 players for ~$700. It was a small payday but it was fun to go out on a cash. Stu and I both made the final table, but Stu took an awful beat 99 vs A8 for a huge pot to bubble. I lost a 40k pot with 55 against an old dude's 93o, which sort of crippled me and eventually I called with K10 and ran into AK and AJ in a multi-way pot. I could not see myself folding with that many chips in the pot and considering my stack would be next to nothing if I folded. To conclude this entry, I'm going to share a few thoughts from my trip.
1. I really do hate live poker, but it is a nice change of pace. These people are so bad that it would just be a shame not to sprinkle in the occasional live tournament. I see people calling 1/2 their stack to see a flop, making 10x raises preflop, and folding getting 10:1 on their money. I definately plan to sprinkle in a few live events in the future, HPT and Canterbury Fall Classic in particular.
2. I like the idea of Vegas more than I like Vegas itself. In anticipation of this trip, I was so excited. I kept dreaming of the big scores in the huge tournaments. In reality, I played only 4 tournaments, cashing in only one for a small amount. I know I am better than a vast majority of the players in these tournaments, but to take full advantage, I need to play enoguh tournaments to reduce the variance of those large fields. Aside from that, this city is expensive. Every cab ride to our place cost $35. Food in a casino typically runs from $10-$30. Everyone expects a tip on top of it all. The city is also so busy. There is always something to do. That means little sleep and inevitable fatigue. I enjoyed my experience at the clubs, but its not something I would want to do every night. Drinks cost too much, music is too loud, and the place is too damn crowded. I would much rather chill in a bar/lounge and have a few cheap drinks.
3. Sometimes it pays to take a chance. This reference has nothing to do with poker or gambling. Rather, it describes my decision to come to Vegas for two weeks and share a house with seven complete strangers. I had never met any of these guys in person and knew nothing about them aside from my notes on the virtual felt. Before leaving, the thought crossed my mind that the people I would be staying with could be a bunch of wierdos with absolutely no social skills that shared only poker as a common interest. That was definately not the case. The people I stayed with were all very cool. They are a collection of people from all walks of life, hailing from different areas of the country and all having different backgrounds. Each person offered a unique contribution to the atmosphere of the house. I hope to join up with these guys again in Aruba later this year. After this trip, I consider all of these people to be friends of mine (off the felt, that is).
4. The game has gotten a lot more difficult. In the live tournaments I played last summer, the players were all your typical "limp and try to hit" live players. Now, though most players are admittadly bad, far more players are willing to 3bet light and play LAG solid poker. With the rise in popularity of online training sites and poker books, there is quickly becoming less and less margin for error in the game. I am definately going to have to work hard to improve my game and stay ahead of the curve.
So there you have it, a brief summary of a long trip to Vegas. I didn't have nearly as much success as I had hoped for, but I gained valuable experience. I know that I can compete in live tournaments, I just have to get out and play them. This trip has, at the very least, set a foundation for my live tournament career. Hopefully it is something I can build off of.
1. I really do hate live poker, but it is a nice change of pace. These people are so bad that it would just be a shame not to sprinkle in the occasional live tournament. I see people calling 1/2 their stack to see a flop, making 10x raises preflop, and folding getting 10:1 on their money. I definately plan to sprinkle in a few live events in the future, HPT and Canterbury Fall Classic in particular.
2. I like the idea of Vegas more than I like Vegas itself. In anticipation of this trip, I was so excited. I kept dreaming of the big scores in the huge tournaments. In reality, I played only 4 tournaments, cashing in only one for a small amount. I know I am better than a vast majority of the players in these tournaments, but to take full advantage, I need to play enoguh tournaments to reduce the variance of those large fields. Aside from that, this city is expensive. Every cab ride to our place cost $35. Food in a casino typically runs from $10-$30. Everyone expects a tip on top of it all. The city is also so busy. There is always something to do. That means little sleep and inevitable fatigue. I enjoyed my experience at the clubs, but its not something I would want to do every night. Drinks cost too much, music is too loud, and the place is too damn crowded. I would much rather chill in a bar/lounge and have a few cheap drinks.
3. Sometimes it pays to take a chance. This reference has nothing to do with poker or gambling. Rather, it describes my decision to come to Vegas for two weeks and share a house with seven complete strangers. I had never met any of these guys in person and knew nothing about them aside from my notes on the virtual felt. Before leaving, the thought crossed my mind that the people I would be staying with could be a bunch of wierdos with absolutely no social skills that shared only poker as a common interest. That was definately not the case. The people I stayed with were all very cool. They are a collection of people from all walks of life, hailing from different areas of the country and all having different backgrounds. Each person offered a unique contribution to the atmosphere of the house. I hope to join up with these guys again in Aruba later this year. After this trip, I consider all of these people to be friends of mine (off the felt, that is).
4. The game has gotten a lot more difficult. In the live tournaments I played last summer, the players were all your typical "limp and try to hit" live players. Now, though most players are admittadly bad, far more players are willing to 3bet light and play LAG solid poker. With the rise in popularity of online training sites and poker books, there is quickly becoming less and less margin for error in the game. I am definately going to have to work hard to improve my game and stay ahead of the curve.
So there you have it, a brief summary of a long trip to Vegas. I didn't have nearly as much success as I had hoped for, but I gained valuable experience. I know that I can compete in live tournaments, I just have to get out and play them. This trip has, at the very least, set a foundation for my live tournament career. Hopefully it is something I can build off of.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
So Close Sundays, 4th of July
The 4th of July was uneventful, but I didn't mind. We spent all day sitting around the pool drinkin mudslides (I don't care if you do think they are girly, these drinks rock) and beers and grilling. Thats a perfect 4th of July for me. Clover and Foolish are both gone, but we picked up Spin and a few of his friends and a few of his friends' friends for the day. The girls that came over were very cute. I guess they've got this new swimsuit trend where the tops are like tiny strands about 3 inches thick. These girls were sporting this particular design and it was working for em. One of the girls was from South Dakota and was going into Elementary Education, which I thought was interesting.
At night, we had every intention of going to the strip and getting a table to watch the fireworks, but the sun musta drained everybody. The sun + drinking all day at a pool is a deadly combination. Instead, I watched people from miles around shooting fireworks off into the sky from the patio in a lounge chair by the pool. It was strangely peaceful in such a big city.
I hate playing on Sundays. You wake up in the morning with so much anticipation. Everyone thinks that today is their day. I felt that way this morning. I started the day by placing 6th in the $30 rebuy for a little over $800. I lost QQ vs A5 for a 120,000 chip pot. Next I placed 13/770 in the cake $100k guaranteed for $1200. This was a crushing loss. I was 2nd in chips with 15 players to go and lost a big coinflip with 99 vs AK. That woulda put me at 600k. Instead I had 280k. I ended up getting all in with Q10 on a Q J J board in a blind vs blind battle and the player woke up with aces. It sucked cuz he was a maniac who was playing super loose aggressive, so it was really unlucky to run into his aces there. My final bustout of the night occurred in the $200k where I took 30/980 for $880. I lost a big hand with AA vs QJ after getting all in on a Q 8 8 board. I would have had 100k. But to be fair, I did run pretty well most of the day aside from a couple of those hands. I won flips and 60/40's when I needed to and played well enough to beat some huge fields.
Oh well, some other time I suppose. I have 2 days left in vegas. I have no clue what we're going to do. Tonight we might run to a casino and play some roulette (I am so due for a big roulette night). Tomorrow we are considering hitting up Lake Mead for some boating or jetskiing.
At night, we had every intention of going to the strip and getting a table to watch the fireworks, but the sun musta drained everybody. The sun + drinking all day at a pool is a deadly combination. Instead, I watched people from miles around shooting fireworks off into the sky from the patio in a lounge chair by the pool. It was strangely peaceful in such a big city.
I hate playing on Sundays. You wake up in the morning with so much anticipation. Everyone thinks that today is their day. I felt that way this morning. I started the day by placing 6th in the $30 rebuy for a little over $800. I lost QQ vs A5 for a 120,000 chip pot. Next I placed 13/770 in the cake $100k guaranteed for $1200. This was a crushing loss. I was 2nd in chips with 15 players to go and lost a big coinflip with 99 vs AK. That woulda put me at 600k. Instead I had 280k. I ended up getting all in with Q10 on a Q J J board in a blind vs blind battle and the player woke up with aces. It sucked cuz he was a maniac who was playing super loose aggressive, so it was really unlucky to run into his aces there. My final bustout of the night occurred in the $200k where I took 30/980 for $880. I lost a big hand with AA vs QJ after getting all in on a Q 8 8 board. I would have had 100k. But to be fair, I did run pretty well most of the day aside from a couple of those hands. I won flips and 60/40's when I needed to and played well enough to beat some huge fields.
Oh well, some other time I suppose. I have 2 days left in vegas. I have no clue what we're going to do. Tonight we might run to a casino and play some roulette (I am so due for a big roulette night). Tomorrow we are considering hitting up Lake Mead for some boating or jetskiing.
Friday, July 3, 2009
I suck at live poker
So as of today I am 0/3 in tournaments. Yesterday I lost the Binion's tournament after getting down to the final 3 tables. I never really had a giant chip stack and ended up losing a flip late for a big pot to bust around 23rd. The most notable aspect of that particular tournament was the 2007 main event champion Jerry Yang was playing in it. I wasn't at his table and he busted before I did, but it was still cool to play in the same tournament as a former WSOP main event champ. Today I lost the $560 venetian tournament before the first break. The hand was kind of a tough one, but I think I played it right. Here's how it played out, let me know what you think:
Blinds at 100/200 I have ~10k in chips.
UTG raises to 500 its folded around to my small blind and I see 1010. I make the call, big blind also calls.
Flop is Q Q 4. I check, BB checks, UTG makes it 750. I flat call and the BB folds.
Turn is another Q giving me Q's full of 10's. I check, UTG bets 800, I raise to 3000. He thinks for a while and calls.
River is a K. At this point I have a little over 5k left and the pot is around 10k. I decide to shove, he calls and shows KJ for a full house.
I like what I did preflop and on the flop. The turn gets a little sketchy. Maybe I should have led out turn and check/called river or perhaps even folded. As played, I thought that I had to jam because there was twice as much in the pot as I had in my stack.
After playing the tournament, me and chipmystack played some roulette. I bet $400 on black the first spin and the number came up zero for the 2nd time this trip. So on the day I lost about $1100. On the trip, I'm down about 2k. Hopefully I hit a cash in one of the remaining tournaments. I probably won't play tomorrow, seeing as it is the 4th of July. Sunday is a possibility, but not very likely. Monday might be the last day that I can play.
On the bright side, the trip has been really awesome. Its great to get away from the online scene from time to time.
Blinds at 100/200 I have ~10k in chips.
UTG raises to 500 its folded around to my small blind and I see 1010. I make the call, big blind also calls.
Flop is Q Q 4. I check, BB checks, UTG makes it 750. I flat call and the BB folds.
Turn is another Q giving me Q's full of 10's. I check, UTG bets 800, I raise to 3000. He thinks for a while and calls.
River is a K. At this point I have a little over 5k left and the pot is around 10k. I decide to shove, he calls and shows KJ for a full house.
I like what I did preflop and on the flop. The turn gets a little sketchy. Maybe I should have led out turn and check/called river or perhaps even folded. As played, I thought that I had to jam because there was twice as much in the pot as I had in my stack.
After playing the tournament, me and chipmystack played some roulette. I bet $400 on black the first spin and the number came up zero for the 2nd time this trip. So on the day I lost about $1100. On the trip, I'm down about 2k. Hopefully I hit a cash in one of the remaining tournaments. I probably won't play tomorrow, seeing as it is the 4th of July. Sunday is a possibility, but not very likely. Monday might be the last day that I can play.
On the bright side, the trip has been really awesome. Its great to get away from the online scene from time to time.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
VIP Dinner, Ghost/Moon, First Tournament
(A group of us at FIX in The Bellagio)
On Tuesday night we hit up a VIP dinner hosted by Absolute Poker. The event was held at a fancy restaurant called FIX in The Bellagio. They brought us a variety of appetizers and small entrees as well as free drinks. The price for each plate was around $60 and god knows how much the drinks would have been. AP covered it all. At the dinner, we met Belooga, Airkid, and Hollywood Dave.
After dinner, we went to the Palms to Ghost Bar. Ghost is a club on the 55th story of the Palms Hotel and Casino. It was a sick nice place, but the drinks are expensive as fuck. Since Foolishgolf shipped a $13k WSOP package, he bought a round of shots for 11 people. The total was $110. Back in Iowa/Minnesota, shots are like $3-$4!!
After Ghost, a few of us went to the sister club Moon. This place was much more clubby than Ghost. It was packed. Right when we got there some dude bumped 2lip and made him spill his drink on his shirt. 2lip got pissed and threw the rest of his drink onto the other guy. Clover did the exact same thing at the VIP party on Monday night. The dude got pissed and started yellin at 2lip. They probably woulda duked it out if security wouldn't have come over and broken it up.
On Wednesday, I played my first poker event of the trip. I played in the $330 Venetian Deepstack tournament. My play was really solid. I took a LAG approach that worked for the most part. I bluffed a few small pots and built my stack up. Three hands eventually killed me. The first was me getting all in with 2 pair on a 4 card straight board, some lady called with KK and hit a straight card to chop the pot. That woulda put me at 40k, instead I stayed at 20k. Next, I had 67 suited in the bb blinds 300/600. Some donkey raises from the cutoff to 1500 (his stack was about 15k). I 3bet to 5k. He thought forever and called. The flop was J 6 3. I jammed since there was more in the pot than he had in his stack. He called and turned over 66. The donkey set mined for 33% of his stack! And on top of that, he hit the ONE card in the deck that I don't win the pot on. About 20 hands later, with only 13k, I raised K10suited from late position and was called by the blinds. The flop came 10 high. The blind checked to me, so I jammed and he called. He tabled 88. I bet you will only need one guess as to which card hit the turn.
So my first tourney kinda sucked. But hopefully I wasted my bad luck. Jdawg went deep in the 100k and 80k last night. He took 4th and 3rd respectively. Today myself, chipmystack, welcomeme, and clover are going to play the $500 tournament at Binion's. Should be a smaller field with a bunch of bad players
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