Vegas Week

So I’m really behind on my blogging… Yes I know I haven’t devoted blogs to specific topics yet and it’s more been about my poker games suckouts/wins etc… but I promise once I catch up I’m going to take time to blog about topics everyone cares about.   But for now before I forget everything that’s in my head I’m going to try to catch up and I’ll go back and start with Vegas week…

So tournament wise I didn’t do that well.  The first tournament I played in had 186 players and top 20 got paid… I went out 40^th.   Another one I got 30^th out of about 100.  Tag team Brian and I made it down to the final 2 tables but didn’t cash in that either.   So I spent a lot in tournament buy-ins, luckily I made some of it back playing cash poker and slots… yes I said slots… I normally hate slot machines because they take my money but if you watch which ones you play you can actually make money.  Super Jackpot Party pays out the best.  I was playing the penny machine although at 20 lines and 10 times per it was costing me $2.00 a spin but when you got to play the bonus game you could make some good money.   I cashed out for $171 and $89.  I should’ve won more 2 other times because I hit the jackpot party at 10 times per but the very first present I clicked on I hit the pooper then didn’t get a party saver so I walked away with the consolation prize of $2 and $4.  If you get on a run without hitting the “pooper” you can really rack up the credits… so yeah that’s my favorite game to play.  I also hit on the penny deal or no deal game.  I got to play the briefcase game and ever since I got to play it last year and I was offered $220 (on the dollar machine) and I didn’t take the deal I wanted to play it again because I didn’t realize $200 was a good deal.   I saw briefcases going up to $10,000 so I thought it was good to keep going but nope, I only walked away with $27.   So anyways I get on this penny one and I get to play the game and the first deal it offers me is $17 which I thought was good because it went up to $100 and I was like ok this is a penny machine I better take the first deal.  So I took it.. lol I didn’t realize that I couldn’t do math and 17,000 credits was actually $170 not $17… so I made out good.  Although it went up to $1,000.  Brian wanted me to keep playing the game but I said last time I got screwed so I wouldn’t.   Although when Brian got to play the briefcase game his numbers were lower than mine like the highest was $100 so I have no idea how mine got multiplied and maybe it would’ve been better to keep playing the game.  Although my case only contained $25 so I could’ve been walking away with that or less if I took a lower deal so I was happy with the $170.     Price is Right is another one of my favorites although I didn’t really hit anything big on it this time.   But yeah, if I play slots it’s going to be Super Jackpot Party, Deal or No Deal, Price is Right, or once in a while I’ll still play Wheel of Fortune.     Anyways, onto my poker stories…

I didn’t sit down and play cash until the 2^nd night we were there.  I was at Binions on Halloween after the Halloween party so I was in my Queen of Hearts get up.   I played for about 45 minutes or an hour and made about $200.   Unfortunately that was the night that Brian stayed out all night and got super drunk and lost all the money I gave him.  Oh well…  So Binion’s I did ok at.  I played cash later that week though and ended up pushing with pocket Q’s after I got short stacked and J,9 hit a straight on me.  We also played at the Wynn.  They used to do $1/3 blinds with only $3 chips  which was kind of cool but when we went to play they still had 1/3 blinds but they switched to $5 chips.   I think I walked out of there up money.  I can’t really remember now.   We also played at Caesar’s.  Even though it’s easy to get lost in the casino/mall their poker room’s is one of my favorites.   It’s in a back room away from everything else and it’s nice.   I’ve done well every time I’ve played there.  In fact last time I should’ve been up probably $400 but I was showing my hands too often and people stopped calling my bets.  I was getting awesome hands.   Pocket pairs and flopping sets.  It was pretty cool, but I shouldn’t have showed each time because people stopped paying me off since I was going to show anyways… although it did allow me to bluff a little bit later although in the end I was only up about $150… which still isn’t bad for only playing a couple of hours.  The best thing about Caesar’s room is their bad beat jackpot they started up in August I think it was… If you have Quad 3’s (I think it was) or better and you get beat (by higher quads or straight flush) then you get $50,000.  The person that beats you gets $20,000 and everyone in the poker room, yes EVERYONE splits $150,000.  It doesn’t matter if you’re at the table where the bad beat is or if you’re at a table playing limit poker.  As long as you’re playing at one of the tables in their poker room you get part of that split.   It almost happened at Brian’s table.  There were 2 7’s and 2 king’s on the board and one guy had pocket 7’s and Brian’s like please have pocket kings… but nope he had like K,5 or something like that.   Oh well… but yeah if I was in Vegas, why play in any other poker rooms?  Stick to the ones with the bad beat jackpots…

So the hands I remember the most happened at the Bellagio and The Orleans.   The first two years we went to Vegas we stayed away from the Bellagio’s poker room.  That was supposed to be the place that the really serious players played and you wouldn’t dare step foot in there.   The cheapest game they had was $2/$5 so you would have to sit down with at least $200 and be prepared to play for at least $20 pre-flop every hand.  But this year I found out they added a $1/$2 game and that the one night we went to eat at Bellagio’s buffet Andy, Rachel, and Rob were in the room playing.  So if they can play in that room I can play there…. It was also cool because in that back little room you could see Doyle Brunson sitting there playing.  I also saw Eli Elezra and I guess Jennifer Harmon was there when we left but I didn’t see her.  Negraneau was there the day before too playing which I guess Andy and Rachel saw… So that’s cool.   On a side note- Bellagio’s buffet was good.   It was $27 plus 18% gratuity since we had 8 in our party, but it was worth the $35.   They had Kobe beef, prime rib, ostrich, quail, sea bass, crab legs, pasta, Chinese, sushi, etc.     I didn’t eat much there but I tried to try different things that I hadn’t tried before.   I actually liked the Ostrich better than the Kobe Beef…  but ok, back to poker… so I only remember one hand at the Bellagio… 5,6 of diamonds… I limped for $2 and the flop came 3d,4d,6c.  I had flopped the open ended straight flush draw with top pair.  Some lady bet $10 and I didn’t want a bunch of callers so I raised to $25 (or maybe threw $25 on top).   The turn nothing came out but I still have the 6 with the straight and flush draw.   This guy bets $40 and I should’ve pushed all in for $90 I should’ve put both people to a decision right then and there and actually knowing what they had they both should’ve folded if I had done that but instead I just call the 40 and one other guy calls.  I had so many outs, any diamond for my flush, or a 3 or 7 for my straight, but a stupid Queen hits on the river and the guy bets another $40 and I fold and the other guy calls… The guy that was betting the whole time just had a 4.  It was like J,4 or something… I was like come on don’t tell me my 6 would’ve been good… but then the other guy that called flips over Q,5 off suit.   He hit his Queen on the river.   The flop all he had was an open ended straight draw and he was calling those bets all the way down and hits his Queen on the river to take down the pot.  I was like man at least I had top pair with the open ended straight flush draw… I was so mad at myself for not pushing on the turn and getting those guys off their hands although who knows maybe the guy would’ve called with his straight draw and still hit the Queen on the river then I would’ve been more pissed because I would’ve been out my $120.  It was just frustrating when you flop the world and then can hit all of your outs or even if you don’t hit my pair was good until the river.   But oh well… at least I played at the Bellagio.  I lost my money but I had the chance to win a big pot.   Brian walked out ahead there though.

The last place we played at was the Orleans.   We got comped 2 nights there for staying there last year for the Open.   So Wednesday and Thursday night we were there.  Wednesday night I decided to go to bed around 11 or 12 because I wanted to get up early and head to Ceasars or the Venetian to play.  Brian however didn’t come to bed until 4 or 5 am.   He played poker for a while then sat at the Pai Gow table all night…  I guess he took a really bad beating at the poker table.  He said everyone was calling everything.  He had A,K and the donkeys that were raising preflop raised to 8 and one person called so Brian made it 20.  Both called.  The flop comes, 9,K,K with 2 hearts on the board.   The one person bets the other calls so Brian goes over the top all in.   the one guy folds and the other guy thinks for a minute the calls the $100 or so bet with Q,J offsuit.  The guy was on a gut shot straight draw but instead goes runner runner for a flush.   So after hearing that story the next morning I didn’t really want to play there but they had a bad beat jackpot so I figured Thursday night when we got back to the hotel I’d play for a little bit.  I sat down with $100.   I played a few hands and got short stacked so when someone raised to $12 I pushed all in for $38 with pocket Q’s.   The guy called with 10,J and flops a straight on me.  I was like ok, that’s it I’m going to bed.  But the guy on my right that was chatting with me said no, don’t go, buy in again you’ll make your money back.   This guy was young probably my age with a little blonde hair chick sitting behind him in her Bebe shirt with a coach bag.  He said he was a local and was talking about how good he was and that he had to be to afford the nice stuff for his girlfriend.   But anyways, he was like buy-in again (probably because he wanted my money) so I was like ok fine… so I buy in for my last $100.  A few hands later I get A,6 in the big blind and the guy that talked me into staying raises to $5.  I was like ok, I’ll call $3 with my A,6.  Had he made it $10 I would’ve folded but for $5 sure I have to see a flop.   So flop comes A,A,blank.  I have trip Aces with a 6 kicker.  The guy bets $25 and I’m thinking ok normally trip aces is good so I call.  Before the turn even comes out the guy goes all in for his last $70 or so… at that point I’m thinking crap he probably has a better kicker than me but as soon as he pushes the turn comes and it’s a 6 I now have a boat and insta call.   He’s like crap… he was so pissed when he saw my A,6.   He of course had A,Q so he had me out kicked until the turn… but that was his own fault for not raising enough pre-flop.  I was like sorry dude, that’s what you get for talking me into buying back in.   So at this point I’m up to $220.   I won all my money back and I was up $20.  I can’t just take the guys money and run though.  He bought back in and played really aggressive pushing with nothing and ended up going out a few hands later.   So I’m getting ready to go and get dealt A,9… I think I was in the big blind or I may have limped for $2.   Anyways, the flop comes out blank, 8,9.  I have top pair and top kicker so I bet $8 and this guy across from me makes it $18.  He was raising earlier and I never got to see what he had so I’m like hmm, does he have two pair or a weak 9?  I decide to call since it’s only 10 more… that was the biggest mistake ever because the next card comes and it’s another 9.  I now have trip 9’s with the Ace kicker.  I check planning on check raising but then the guy bets $25 so I’m like no I’ll just call and maybe check raise on the river.  The river was nothing.  I check again and the guy says “All in” and he had like $700 in front of him.  I had $175 in front of me… and I’m thinking and thinking… the pot is only like $90 so I’m thinking he’s going all in to win $90?  I was thinking do I really want to risk $175 with only trips?  There was no straight out there or no flush so the only thing he could have that would beat me is a boat.   I’m still thinking why go all in though?   It looks like he’s trying to bully me and steal it.   If I make this call and win I’m going to be at $420 if I lose I’m going to lose $220 in one hand… I must’ve sat there for a good minute and a half.   I even look up at him and say did you catch 2 pair on the flop?   It made sense if he had because he did raise me… but then again was he just trying to bully around a girl.  I just stare at him and he says “there’s no shame in folding” and for some reason I don’t know why I thought I just can’t fold so I put my chips in and call and he flips over pocket 8’s for the boat.  I was disgusted with myself that I talked myself into calling.  I would’ve only lost $45 had I folded.  But instead I risk $175… even if he was bluffing I should’ve folded because I shouldn't have risked that much… it wasn’t worth it.  I flipped over my A,9 and got up from the table and ran to my room… I was so upset because I had bought in for 100 and lost it and rebought and got that up to $220 and I was just about ready to leave when I took that huge hit.  I don’t know what I was thinking calling $175 with only trips… I just thought he was bluffing me or maybe had K,9 and that I had him outkicked….  I went to bed just replaying that hand over and over in my head…

The next morning Brian and I got up and decided to play a little bit of cash even after our bad couple of nights.  We end up at the same table and are playing 6 handed.  Then I get moved to the table I was at the night before.   I look two to my right and the same guy that took my $220 was at the table.  He still had about 800 in front of him and someone told me he was there all night.  I got a few decent hands but the hand that really paid off was my AK spades.   Someone raised pre-flop probably 8 or 10 bucks.  I was going to re-raise but a few hands earlier I lost with AK so I decided to just smooth call.   The flop comes spade, spade, spade... I flop the nuts!  The guy that took me out the night before bets 15 or 20 bucks and a couple people call and I call.  The turn is a King and he bets like 50 or 60 and without even thinking I just grab a big stack in front of me and push it in.  It was probably 100 bucks.   I should've slow played it more but it worked for me.  The guy calls.... The river is nothing and I push all in for $80.   It was just me and the guy that took my money the night before.    He's looking at me and I'm looking back.  The roles are reversed I now have the nuts and I'm thinking what can I do to get him to call.   There's already $340 in the pot and only another 80 for him to call and win a lot more...  I look over at him and say "I'm going to say the same thing to you that you told me last night... there's no shame in folding".  He said oh, well that means you got me then... I just kind of smile and shrug.  But as I thought about it I'm like man that's probably going to make him fold more than call... He's grabbing his cards and playing with them and I saw the bottom of one and it was a 6.  I'm thinking ok he just has trip 6's or two pair...  It looked like he was about to fold so I said here let me show you a card... I flip over my King of spades... There was a King on the turn so it looked like I hit the king and then was on the flush draw and that's why I pushed big on the turn because I wanted him off his hand.  Brian told me afterwards that he was thinking what in the world am I doing just showing the king.  If he has two pair he has me... but it worked out.  He ended up throwing 80 bucks in the pot and I then flip over my Ace of spades showing the nut flush.   I was soooooo happy I got my money back from that guy.  It was a little over $400 so I won pretty much all of my money I lost to him back.  I was ready to go after that, but I can't take a huge pot and then get up so we played a few more hands... I wish I wouldn't have because I lost another $80 or so playing 3,5 diamonds.  I was playing straight flush cards to try to win the bad beat.  I ended up going runner runner 2 pair but still lost to a guys bigger two pair or trips.  Can't remember now.  Shortly after that we cashed out because we had to catch our flight.   But I was still up the money I lost the previous night and the best thing was getting it back from the same guy that got me...

That's about it for the Vegas trip.  We visited the RIO and saw the Amazon room where the WSOP starts out... we couldn't get to the Penn and Teller theatre to see where the final table was going to be played the next day.   We almost thought we would be able to see the final table when we took the bump on our flight but they ended up putting us on a flight later that night.  Although the 2 sets of RT tickets for each of us was a great deal.  We'll probably use both trips to go back to Vegas.   But maybe we'll try a trip to the Bahamas or something since we can go wherever Spirit flies and will just have to pay the taxes.   So we'll see...      

My TOC win at CJ's

So Wednesday night I went into the game knowing I was going to win and that’s exactly what I did. Although my win didn’t come easy, there was a point where I thought I was going to go out between 3rd and 6th again. But thanks to Audie and Bill I was fine. When we first arrived I was given 9,000 chips. I knew I was going to start out with a lot but I had no idea how much. Then Timmy Allard came over and said hey the scores from the 28th weren’t posted… you beat me heads up you should have another chip. Then I was like oh yeah I think I got 2 TOC’s that night. I was pretty sure I got a 1st and 3rd. So they finally found the old sheets and sure enough I was on there with a 1st and 3rd so I got 2 more thousand which put me at 11k. I was a little disappointed the scores didn’t get posted because a 1st and 3rd would’ve moved me up in the Region. I was thinking it may have even moved me to 1st at CJ’s. I’m still going to calculate it because that’s not right if it moves me that much but doesn’t get posted. I still think they can post after the fact so we’ll see… Anyways here’s the summary of last night:


I had bluffed Marcie out of a pot early on and for the most part I stayed around 15k. We get down to the final table and that’s where things started to get crazy. Twice I raised with decent hands- A,Q and A,J and Sarah pushed all in over the top. She had me out chipped so I wasn’t going to call for all of my chips on a race. I knew she only had middle pocket pairs. She got lucky too. Her 7’s hit a set against someone’s 8’s then later her 8’s hit a set against 9’s. She was hitting 2 outers like crazy. I get pocket K’s one hand and raise and she folds. I was like man, where’s your all in bet now? I’ll call this time… lol. I take down the pot without a caller. I wasn’t too short stacked but I wasn’t chip leader either. Audie, Bill, and Sarah all had gigantic stacks. With blinds 1/2. I get dealt J,6 in the big blind. This is the game changing hand… the flop comes J,J,9. I have trip jacks so I bet 6k and Audie raises me and makes it 16k then Bill pushes all in. I’m like what the heck?! I’m thinking to myself man I have trips how am I supposed to fold here? I was sure someone probably had me outkicked and I was hoping for the board to hit some high cards so it would be chopped. I also thought ok this is Audie and Bill do they really have 3 Jacks? So I push all in and Audie calls. Audie just had a 9 and Bill had 10,Q. There was a huge side pot between Audie and me so I didn’t care if Bill hit his straight. Either way the straight didn’t come and I took down the biggest pot of the night. I only had about 18-20k starting out that hand so I tripled up to like 60k. Audie was pretty pissed and short stacked and he kept pushing all in and actually won a pot against Sarah with Ace high vs her King high. Then he tightened back up. A couple hands later I get pocket 4’s I think in the small blind with Sarah on the button and she limps so I raise. She calls and the flop comes Q,Q,9. I decide to take her move and push all in since all she had was 15k left so even if she did call it wouldn’t cripple me. Sure enough she called and had 7,8 hearts and there were 2 hearts on the flop. I’m thinking man I have to survive a heart, 7, 8, and running 10,J. She was hitting 2 outers earlier yet when she had tons of outs against me she didn’t hit and went out just like that.

So then it’s down to Audie, me, and Darci. Darci was super short stacked. She probably only had 3 times the blind. I figured it was going to be Audie and me heads up but Audie went on tilt and pretty much gave me his chips in the end. We’re playing 3 handed and Audie deals. I’m in the big blind with K,Q suited and all of a sudden Audie accidentally flips part of the first card over which would’ve been the burn card. All of a sudden he says “misdeal!” and throws his cards on the bottom of the deck and Tino was standing by and said no the card just gets shuffled back in and Audie was like no it’s a misdeal and he starts shuffle with his cards back in the deck. I was pissed. I was like Audie you can’t call a misdeal just because you saw the burn card. The hand was dealt out and plus you already looked at your hand. Had you had a good hand like pocket Aces I’m sure you wouldn’t have called a misdeal but instead because you had crap cards you wanted a new hand and forced Darci and I to throw in our cards. Technically Brian said Audie’s hand would’ve just been mucked and that Darci and I could’ve played it out. But oh well. Karma came back to bite Audie because in his re-deal I get dealt A,8 in the big blind and he may have min raised I can’t remember. The flop I hit my ace and bet and he calls. I bet the turn and once again he calls. I hit the 8 on the river and even though there were still 3 clubs out there I still bet again and he calls and I flip over Aces and 8’s and he threw in his cards all angry. I was like that’s what you get for calling the misdeal. 3 hands later I’m back in the big blind with K,2 clubs and the flop comes club, club, club I throw out a small bet and Audie goes all in over the top which was only probably 3 or 4 times what I bet and I was like I call. Unless you have the Ace high flush I have the nuts. He flips over like J,9 off suit… no club no nothing. I don’t even know if he had a pair. I was shocked. I said Audie did you just give up? You just gave me all your chips… Darci was happy though. She got the TOC seat since the 1st and 2nd place players get to play in Vegas. Plus I was happy since I thought I was going to have to play Audie heads up but instead he gives me all of his chips and then I’m against Darci who only has 3 times the blind. First hand heads up I push with K,Q spades and she calls with hmm, don’t remember but either way I think I hit a K or I won with a high card. So just as I said Monday night that I was going to win Wednesday night I came through and did it. Although the extra chips from Audie really helped not when he called my flush but the J,6 hand. That was the turning point. I played well although also got lucky and hit the flop every time I raised pre-flop.

TOC Monday at Bullfrogs

Ok, I’m never going to get this updated if I don’t do it now. First I want to talk about this week while it’s fresh in my head and then I’ll go back and write down some of the details I remember from Vegas. So this week was Tournament of Champions. I qualified at all of the bars I play: Bullfrogs, OT, CJ’s, Airway, and Shorty’s. Monday night I started out at a table with Brian, Pat, Liz, and John. Normally I don’t like playing at a table with so many people I know but it worked out. Brian gave me chips the first hand when I raised with K,J and hit the K on the flop. Matt and Kyran came over to the table and a few hands later Brian went out. I doubled up nicely with pocket A’s through Matt and Liz. Blinds were 200/400 and Matt raised to 1200. I thought about re-raising but decided to trap him so I call then Liz raises to 3600 and Matt calls and I said ok, now I’m all in. It was only another 2100 or so over the 3600. I look over at Liz and say hey I was just trying to trap Matt. She knew what I had but still calls with her Kings. I hit an Ace on the flop and boat by the river. So that was a nice pot I took down. Turns out both Liz and Matt had pocket K’s. So I triple up to a healthy stack and then fast forward to the final table. We have Pat, Jim V, Sadot (sp?), George (not Cline), me, and hmmm I can’t think who else. Anyways blinds were 5/10k once we hit the white chips I stop referring to the thousands and start looking at it as chips again so blinds were 1/2 and I’m in for 2 in the big blind. George pushes all in for 4. It folds around to me and of course I’m chip leader so for a min raise I have to call with any two cards. I call with 8,4 and end up doubling George up. A couple hands later Jimmy pushes all in for 4 and I look down at A,6. I’m thinking man it’s only 2 times the blind but if I continue to call I’m going to start losing chips. I think it was going to be about a ¼ of my stack to call. I look over and see Pat in the blind for 2 with 1 chip left so I knew he was pretty much going to be force to call. So I’m thinking ok a chance to take out 2 players yet my Ace was weak so I folded. Jimmy flips over K,Q and Pat flips over 8,4 or something like that and first card out is an Ace. Pat ends up hitting one of his pair but I would’ve taken them both out with my Ace. Very next hand I get K,Q clubs and throw out 5 chips and Pat pushes all in for 3 or 4 more which means I have to call. He then flips over Aces and doubles up once again. After that I was stewing. I was so mad I didn’t call with my A,6 and take Pat out. A few hands later I get pocket 7’s and was going to push with it but Jimmy goes all in for 5 chips and dummy me I just call. I should’ve pushed and it would’ve been like 10 chips to pat but instead it’s only 3 so he calls. He had K,J and hits one of those cards. I asked if I pushed all in if he would’ve called with K,J and he said probably not. So I screwed up that hand too… From then on I was short stacked and we got down to 3 players, Pat, George, and me. I push all in with 7,8 diamonds pre-flop trying to steal the blinds but it wasn’t much more to call so both George and Pat calls. I flop an open ended straight but hit nothing but the 8 on the river which beats George but George had more chips then me, and we both lose to Pat’s Q. So I go out 3rd, with George 2nd, and Pat 1st. It was funny because George Cline wrote down odds on people and he gave me the best odds. 5 to 2. So if someone bet on me they would only get 2.5 to 1 on their money. Pat was 5 to 1. I can’t remember what the others were. I should’ve won that game but those 2 hands cost me. After that I was like ok, that’s fine. I’m glad Pat won and not one of the other guys I didn’t know. I said ok, that’s ok I’ll just win Wednesday now. I knew Tuesday was out, but Wednesday I knew I would win and I did.