After a week in Vegas, I’m토토사이트추천 back in town to tell about it. The week started off great by arriving to the airport two hours early – and still missing our flight. Not because of security or long lines at the counter, but instead because of an employee who gave us bad information. The flight was supposed to leave at 7:15 – but at that time, the plane wasn’t even there. So the guy at the counter tells us to be back there at 7:40. We go to the bar 50 feet away, get back at 7:40, and…the door was closed and no one was at the counter, and the plane left five minutes later. Ten of us (yes, ten) missed the flight and had to come back the next morning. They knew we were there – they knew they told us to be back at 7:40 – and still, no announcement calling our names, no announcement saying the plane was back earlier than expected. Oh well, I love waking up at 3:30AM for a 6:00AM flight. But we made it there safe.
The official reason we went to Vegas was for a pool tournament, which wasn’t so great. Actually, it was about the worst we’ve played in a long time. The only team we beat didn’t even show up. The best player on the last team we lost to didn’t even remember who I was the next day – of course, he was talking to himself too, so I think he was a tad toasted. Pretty disappointing. Oh well, more time for poker.
My poker sessions were split between the Riviera, the Wynn, and the Bellagio. Some were short, some were all-nighters – all were entertaining. Compared to the other two poker rooms, the Riviera is a dump. The biggest game available was $1/2 NL. There are only about eight tables. It’s in the middle of a bunch of slot machines and a bar, so it’s difficult to hear the action at the table. Many of the dealers are inexperienced. In fact, the players had to teach one of them how to deal a flop (instead of burning one and putting three face up, he tried to burn one, flip one, burn one, flip one, burn one, flip one. I’m not kidding.). Of course, since everyone was there for a pool tournament, there were a lot of bad players as well. Most considered losing $100 in a pot life or death. Most were playing above their means. Most felt like they had something to prove to all their friends. There was a LOT of trash talking, both to the players and dealers. I saw one guy escorted out by three security guards, and on the same day two guys acted like they were going outside for a fight before one of them chickened out and came back to the table. Given all that, it is pretty depressing to report that I actually lost money at the tables there. It wasn’t like I was playing bad – I just couldn’t get anything going. Fortunately, you can’t lose too much money at the $1/2 table.
The other two poker rooms that I visited were absolutely gorgeous – first class all the way. I’ve played at the rooms at the Mirage, Excalibur, Rio, Binion’s Horseshoe, Golden Nugget, Monte Carlo, Bally’s, Tropicana, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, and of course the Riviera, and bar none my favorite two are the Wynn and Bellagio. High and low limits are available. Games range from Holdem to Stud to H.O.R.S.E. Hosts or dealers on break are more than willing to get food for the players. And there’s always a chance you’ll see some big names while you’re there.
At the Bellagio, I played their daily $500 tournament. There were 38 players, and the top five paid out, with over $8000 going to first place. It didn’t look so good for me early. With J-J, I raised in early position, was re-raised by a guy who seemed to be loose (but we hadn’t even played ten hands yet), and then I called. The flop came out 10 high. I checked, and he checked behind. Which almost definitely meant I was ahead, unless he had 10-10 and was slow-playing. If he had A-A, K-K, or Q-Q, he would have followed it up with a bet. The turn brought a J for me, and the board was 10-9-x-J. I bet about 3/4 of the pot and he called. And then the only card I didn’t want to see, Q, came out. Which meant any K or 8 beats me. Being so early in the tournament, I couldn’t bet and get raised. I checked, and this time he bet about 1/2 the pot. I had to lay it down. After watching him play many more hands, I knew it was the right play – he was a player that would call anything but wouldn’t bet unless he had something. So I was down but not out right away. I picked up some pots, then got pretty lucky to double up. One guy raised in late position, and I called with Ah-Jh. The flop was big for me – Kh-J-xh – giving me middle pair, the nut flush draw, and a backdoor straight draw. The original raiser bet out, and I raised. He moved all-in and I called. With all the money in, I couldn’t lay down no matter what he had. Turned out he had me dominated with K-K for top set. So even if I hit my flush, he had redraws for a full house. He was about a 70% favorite to win according to the CardPlayer calculator. But when the Qh came on the turn and a blank on the river, I was fortunate enough to win a huge pot. After that, I was pretty much stuck in neutral, winning some and losing some but never in the top three or four in chips. But I did manage to stick around until the final table. I couldn’t really get anything going there either – no pairs, no high aces, and not too many opportunities to steal pots without getting knocked out. I was able to watch people knock each other out, including a guy with a Dook shirt who managed to put all his money in with K-2 against A-K. And all of a sudden, we were down to six players. But I was getting very very low on chips. One of the remaining players then suggested everyone put in $100 into a pot so that whoever finished in 6th gets their money back. I couldn’t believe everyone agreed to it, especially since I was so low. I did have just enough chips to make a player lay down, but I just wasn’t catching anything. Finally, with Qc-4c, I went all-in in late position, only to have the button call me with Ad-Td. At least I had live cards, but no help would come my way, and I finished on the bubble – at least I got my money back though. It was a good experience, but it sure would have been nice to win the $8000+.
My sessions at the Wynn were long, memorable, and profitable. One was from Thursday at about 2:00PM to Friday at 6:30AM and the other was from Friday 3:00PM to Saturday 10:00AM. Prior to the Wynn sessions, I was down about $600 for the trip. Not awful, but not making any money sucks. Like I mentioned, the Wynn is fantastic – and the players love the action. All of the tables are unlimited buy-in. So if someone wanted to bring $30,000 to a $2/5 game to intimidate and bully the table, he could. And some did. I definitely had never seen a $10,000 pot in a $2/5 game until Saturday morning. The swings were extreme. In fact, I was down about $400 within the first hour of play. I lost a lot of money holding As-Kh with a flop of 9s-5s-4s. I put the pressure on figuring I had folding equity as well as outs – at least 14 with 3 A’s, 3 K’s, and 8 more spades. But my opponent had A-A, giving me only 9 outs and about a 36% chance to win. I managed to win pots here and there, moving closer to even, then up about $200, then back down, then back up again, ending my first session up a whopping $50. The second session was much of the same, but this time many more ups than downs, bringing $900 to the table and leaving with almost $2000. I would have kept playing, but our flight left about 12:30PM, and I didn’t want to miss two flights on one trip. So I’ll be back another day. This trip was good but not great – up $500 for the week isn’t horrible, but it’s not much of a living either. But hey, I was in Vegas for free anyway, so I can’t complain.
Plus I have more stories to tell and hands to talk about. Some hands I played absolutely horrible:
With an early limp and a button raise to $30, I look down at J-J in the small blind. I could have raised, but instead I decided just to call. The limper calls as well. The flop comes out 7-4-3 which looks good for me. I check, the limper checks, and the button raiser comes out firing for $100. I raise $100 more to see where I am. Surprisingly, the limper calls the $200 and the button gets out of the way. I really don’t know where I am now. Maybe he’s slow-playing a set. Maybe he has 5-5 or 6-6. Maybe A7. But I don’t like my position at all, and the pot has about $600 in it. The turn card looks like a blank – I don’t even remember what it was. I tell him, “I’ll let you bet,” but he decides to check behind me as well. So it has to be 5-5 or 6-6, maybe something like 7-6. The river is a 7. I check again, and he bets out $200 which sounds like a lot, but not when it’s into a $600 pot. If he has 7-6 or A-7, he just rivered me. If he has 5-5 or 6-6, I have a higher two pair. I decide to call, and he turns over 7s-3s. That’s right, 7-3, giving him a full house. The bad mistake I made on this hand was letting him play with 7-3 in the first place. Had I re-raised pre-flop, I would have forced him to fold and found out exactly where I was against the original raiser. That mistake cost me a $1000 pot instead of winning most likely a $200 pot.
With As-Qc in the cutoff position, I make a standard raise and get called by the button, an unknown who just came from the Omaha game that broke up. Everyone else gets out of the way, and the flop comes out Q-3-9 with two spades. I bet and he calls. At this point there’s about $70 in the pot. The turn is another spade, which should have looked good for me. I bet $40 and he raised to $140, leaving him only about $180 left. Now for some reason I didn’t raise him all-in. Maybe it was the fear of the unknown, maybe i was tired. Even if he had two spades, I had outs. I decide to call. The river is a non-spade K. I check and he immediately moves all-in. I think about it for awhile and decide he has my one pair beat. I fold, and he flips over 6-3 with one spade. Nice bluff. I should have never let that hand get to the river. Oh well, that mistake stung, but it wasn’t huge.
Some hands I played well and was fortunate enough to win.
With 6-6 on a five-handed, extremely aggressive $2/5 table, I raise and get re-raised to $60. I only had about $600 behind me. I call and one other player calls as well. The flop comes out 7 high with 2 diamonds. I check, the aggressor bets out $150, the other guy folds, and I move all-in. I knew the guy would bet with any two cards, so I needed to represent a made hand and hope he only had high cards. I was also sick of getting pushed around at that table. After deliberating for awhile, he decides to call. “Oh crap” But it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought. I was actually ahead. He had two overs plus a flush draw so he said (he never turned it over). If that’s true, I had about a 46% chance to take the pot. Not bad considering I put the pressure on him. And I was lucky enough to avoid his 15 outs to take the big pot.
With A-A on the same short-handed table, I raise to $25 and get two callers including the same guy I battled with from the hand before (who happened to be a Dookie, one of the few I’ve met who aren’t obnoxious). The flop comes out Q high with 2 hearts. I bet $60 and he asks me how much I have behind me (almost $1000 – and he brought about $10k to the game). He calls, and the other caller gets out of the way. So even though I have A-A, I’m out of position with one pair against a guy who is looking to put me all-in and get even from the previous hand. The turn is a blank. I bet $150, and he raises to $600, essentially putting me all-in. I think about it for awhile before deciding that I’m not going to fold, and he was probably on a heart draw. I raise all-in, and of course he calls – and that’s exactly what he had – K-2 of hearts. The river missed his hand, and I took a pot worth about $2000.
Ok, I’m getting tired of writing right now – more stories to come (along with proofreads) later tonight.