The Very Odd Three-Bet

Last night's session was "saved" by one hand where I thought I got lucky and my opponent's play had me scratching my head.

I was playing at MGM with my friend Don, who I first mentioned in the post here.  Don and I go back many years, back to when the AVP forums were very active.  We had played together the night before—not sure if I'll ever blog about the two sessions from that night as I was obscenely card dead the entire evening.

But Don—a recovering low limit player, just like me—had a profitable evening and was ready to give it a go again.  First we ate at the sports bar located adjacent to the poker room.  On the way there, we saw something unusual, even for Vegas. 

Nipples.

There was an African-American lady walking passed us wearing a low cut dress, and in fact, it was so low-cut it was cut under her bare nipples. Note: I normally never notice such things, but she had rather smallish breasts. Now, it appeared to me, in the brief time I saw her, that this was actually intentional.  I suppose it could have been accidental, that the dress slipped down below where it was supposed to be, but really.....a double nip-slip?  Seems unlikely.  This was right on the casino floor, outside of the sports bar.

Oh well, it is Vegas, right?

After dinner, it took us awhile but we managed to play at the same table.  There were some big stacks, but it became obvious that the two bigger stacks, seats 5 & 7, were by far the best players at the table.  They did not get those huge stacks just by luck.

I suppose a table change might have been in order, but for me, it didn't really matter as I continued to be just as card dead as I had been the night before.  I think I might have been even a little bit deader than the night before, truth be told.

I hadn't had a decent hand for the half hour I was at the first table I'd been assigned to, and then when I joined Don, it didn't much change.  There was one shining moment early.  There was a straddle ($5) and I made it $20 with pocket Jacks.  One player called.  The flop was King-high and I c-bet $30.  Fold.  End of my rush.

Seriously, it was well over two hours before I wrote down another hand.  Don had already called it a night by this time.  I did win a couple of small pots somehow.  Once in the big blind I had 9-8 suited, the flop gave me middle pair and an open-ender, and I led out and was not called.  Another time, I called the world's worst bluff.  Small blind with Ace-10, a bunch of us saw the flop, which was all kind of medium.  No one bet it or the turn, another mediumish card.  An Ace on the river and I bet $5.  A guy raised to $10.  I called.  He showed 2-3 off for total air.  I showed my Ace.  He said, "I really thought you'd fold.  You're too wily for me, sir."  Like I said, worst bluff ever.

Finally, I was about to call it a night myself.  Amazingly, because I had played so few hands, I was nearly even ($200 buy-in).  And I got pocket Jacks again.  Needless to say, to this point I hadn't been dealt a big Ace, a bigger pair, or even a pair bigger than 7's.  The time I got the 7's it was three -bet to $45 before it got to me (Aces vs 99, I believe), so I didn't even get to play that (I would have lost).

Anyway, with the Jacks, I was in late position.  The two big stacks had folded.  There was a limper.  I made it $10.  And then this lady at the table tried to re-raise.  She was the big blind and put out some $1 chips and some $5 chips.  But the total was only $17.  The dealer correctly told her that the min-raise was $18 and told her to put out one more $1.

Since my bet had been two red chips, and she had two $1 chips in front of her, there was no way in my mind that she had notintended to raise.  I was sure she had meant to raise and had just put out the wrong amount.

Now, I had been playing at the table with this lady since I joined Don, at least three hours earlier.  I had never seen her three-bet before.  I could only remember her raising at all maybe once or twice.  But she was a calling station.  Or more precisely, a limping-station.  She limped into hands about 90% of the time.  She called raises if they weren't out of line.  But this three-bet was the first that I saw, and it got my attention.

And remember, I had been totally card dead, the least active player at the table by far.  Anyone paying attention would have to believe that, in order for me to actually raise preflop, I must have a pretty big hand.  She wasn't a great player as far as I could tell, but I felt confident she knew I wasn't playing anything.  If nothing else, she probably overheard me telling Don how card dead I was.

So I really believed she had Aces or Kings, and pretty much nothing else.  I just called, and it was the two of us seeing a flop of 9-3-3.  She led out for $15.  Well, I had the overpair, and, as sure as I was that she had my Jacks beat, I couldn't really see folding.  I called and the next card was a 7, I think.  I still had the overpair.  This time she checked, and, thinking she was likely just keeping the pot smallish with a bigger overpair, I checked behind her.  A beautiful Jack hit the river and I assumed I had sucked out on her.

She bet $25 and I was only too happy to raise.  I made it $60.  She tanked long and hard.  I was hoping she was considering raising, not folding.  If she had quad 3's there, she had taken an even weirder line than the one she actually took.  She finally just called....and then she flipped over....Ace-Jack suited.  Huh?  Her first three-bet of the night was with Ace-Jack suited, from the blinds, against a player whose image was King of the Nits?  Wow.  And also, thank you very much.

Suddenly I was in the black for the session, after basically snoozing through it.  I won a small pot from the big blind rivering a straight, and also lucked into a four-card flush from the big blind with King-4 off.  The four of clubs in my hand was good for the flush, and I had stayed in on the flop because there was a King on the flop.  Small pot again—didn't get a call on my river bet.

Finally, it was just a few minutes before the midnight drawing (I had the two tickets) and I was happy that I was going to leave a winner.  And then I looked down at the dreaded pocket Kings. One of the two big stacks had straddled to $5.  I made it $20.  He called, and it was heads up.  Ace-high flop, of course.  But did I mention there was also a King?  He checked and I put out $30.  He folded.

A few hands later I got pocket Queens.  Finally starting to see some cards, just as I'm practically out the door.  I raised to $8, two callers.  But the flop had an Ace and no Queen.  It was a bet and a re-raise to me, so I just mucked the damn Queens, clearly they were no good.

And after not getting called for the drawing (I'm about zero for my last 9,000 or so), I called it a night, happy with a $135 profit from a session where I went hours without a hand to play.  And grateful for the lady who took such an odd line with Ace-Jack.

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The Well-Timed Seat Change

Tuesday night's session at MGM featured a couple of nice hands and an extremely well-timed--and lucky--seat change. 
 

Now the night before I had made two crucial mistakes.  The first was not getting away from a terrible game and a terrible table.  The second involved promo chasing.  And I paid for both of those mistakes (although I was somewhat bailed out a bit by--of all hands--the dreaded pocket Kings).  But that's a tale for another day. (Edited to add: That tale has now been told, you can find it here).

So on Tuesday I was assigned another terrible table.  It was full of nits and no one was really putting chips in play.  It was similar to the one I had the night before.  The reason I didn't ask for a different table the night before was mostly due to comfort.  I mentioned before that MGM received new chairs at the beginning of the year.  The chairs are great, but they kind of shrunk the room.  Because the chairs are bigger than the older chairs they replaced, there is no longer as much room between the tables (the chairs really) than there used to be.  And my assumption is that the reason they can't spread out the tables a bit more is due to either Fire Dept restrictions or Gaming rules regarding the placement of the security cameras.  I know the Binion's tournament area has tables way too close together in some parts and they can't move them even an inch without running afoul of gaming.

So sometimes one gets stuck in seat where there isn't a lot of room behind you, and then people just love to bump into when they walk thru the room.  This is very annoying.  Some tables and seats are worse than others. If I get trapped in a seat where I'm getting bumped into a lot, I won't hesitate to try to change seats and/or tables to be more comfortable.  OTOH, if I'm in seat that has plenty of room, I almost never want to get ask for a new seat or a new table for fear of getting bumped into all night.

The seat I was in Monday was quite comfy and had plenty of room behind me.  So even though I was at a nitty table without any really big stacks in play, I just couldn't bring myself to get up and get into a different game, where I might be cramped.

Tuesday was also a comfy seat, at least from that aspect.  But again, the table was very tight and the stacks were medium to small.  But this time there were other issues with the table.  The guy on my immediate right was kind of crowding me. To be fair, that was mostly the fault of the guy on his right, a big, big guy (both tall and overweight) who, by necessity really, was talking more space than allowed for his area).  Worse,, he was extremely annoying.  He was at the table the night before I heard him talking with a very annoying, low voice--and I believe he was mostly talking to himself.  He was making other annoying noises (might have been grunts or words to himself).  But the worst thing was that he was sniffing every two seconds.  I dunno whether he had a cold or it was something else, but it was annoying as hell.  I'm not a germophobe, but this does really bug me.  I start thinking I'm gonna catch the plague.  But mostly it's just distracting.

I remembered the night before, regretting not moving, and after the 8PM cash drawing was held, I got up and asked for a different table.  I had earlier asked the gentleman behind the podium, my buddy Stan, if there was another $1K envelope for the cash drawing left.  They recently tweaked the drawings, there are now two 2 $1K envelopes a day, and four $200 envelopes a day.  The smaller prizes pick two $100 winners.  The bigger prize is either one $400 prize and six $100 prizes, or five $200 prizes. The drawing at 8PM (which I didn't have a entry for), was the $1K one with five $200 prizes.  So if there was $1K envelope left, they would be giving out $400 to the first person and $600 to six more winners.  Anyway, Stan told me the other $1K envelope was picked earlier in the day.  In other words, only two $200 envelopes were available.

With that knowledge, I knew I wasn't going to worry about the promo, like I did the night before where the midnite drawing had a 50/50 shot of being the $1K envelope with the $400 first prize.

I managed to drop down to $112 from my $200 at the first table.  I think I won a small pot from the blinds, and won another hand with pocket Queens, a preflop bet, and an uncalled c-bet.  The lost money came in small doses, nothing memorable.  When I got to the new table, I planned to observe for an orbit or two and then add on to my stack if I didn't pick up any chips early.

The new table had some interesting characters.  I was sitting between two Euros.  The guy on my right seemed to be the typical aggro Euro, and a big, big stack, over $500.  The Euro on my left had a very short stack. At the other end of the table was a young guy with really long hair and a baseball cap (worn properly) from Australia who had just stepped foot in Vegas for the first time earlier that day. He also had a huge stack, maybe $700 or more.  Another big stack belonged to a middle-aged Asian guy who looked familiar to me, I assumed I'd played with him before.  Clearly this was going to be a much more active table than the one I had left.

As I was settling in, I had to sit out a hand waiting for the button to pass.  I was busy stacking my chips and didn't really have a chance to observe much of anything.  So I was dealt my first hand from the cut-off position.  it was Ace-Jack of hearts.  A few people limped, and the Euro on my right made it $10.  I called.  Short-stacked Euro on my left went all in from the button for $37.  The Asian fellow, who was the big blind, called.  So did the Euro on my right.

OK, so this was definitely a different table than the one I had come from.  I don't think I saw a total pot of $37 at that table! With my stack size, I was certainly willing to gamble here with a pot that was now more than my remaining stack.  In fact, I probably should have just put all the chips in right then and there, but I didn't. I figured I'd be buying more chips after this hand, but why not keep a few extra if I totally whiffed on the flop?  My call would close the action, so I called.

I guess it was a pretty good flop for me.  Only one heart, but the other two cards were an Ace & Jack.  They were both diamonds, however.  The Asian gentleman bet $75.  The Euro to my right folded.  I didn't even count my chips, I knew I was all-in and thus shoved all my chips forward.  In fact, I had exactly $75 left.  No one showed.  The turn looked harmless but I wasn't thrilled to see a diamond on the river.  No paired board though.  The Asian gent quickly flipped over Ace-King for TPTK.  I showed my hand and then the short-stacked Euro looked and looked and looked at the board, and his hand. You've heard of the slow roll?  This is the slow fold.  A guy stares at a board that missed him and takes forever to make sure he can't beat the best hand exposed so far.  Finally he folded face down and left the table.

Sure was nice to get almost a triple-up first hand at the new table.  If only all table-changes worked out so well.

I bit later I limped in with Jack-10 of hearts, UTG, expecting a raise and I wasn't disappointed.  Three of us called $10 and saw a flop of Queen-Ten-X, one heart.  I called $20.  Then I checked a 10 on the turn but no one bet behind me.  I bet $30 on a blank river and there was no call.

Now I've mentioned previously that  I'm doing my notes now on the phone, not by pen and paper.  This leads to issues with auto-correct.  Sometimes I don't catch the incorrect corrections and then the next morning, when I go over my notes, I can't figure out what the eff I meant.  So here's my next note:  "Raise to $8 SEc. 2 call, c-bet wins."

I really don't give a shit about the SEC, so I dunno what that really was.  Apparently I typed a suited hand (probably a suited connector) and damn auto correct thot I meant the letters "S" and "E".

I couldn't win any more big pots for a while, got some small ones and also lost chips lowering my calling standards to try to make hands the maniacs would pay off.  Lost some chips not recognizing a bluff from the Euro who made a big bet on the river when I had middle pair--he had a busted straight draw and showed it.  Oh well.

Finally, after the Asian and the Euro left, the table calmed down.  The Aussie was still there.  He liked to limp into pots or call small preflop raises, but he was pretty aggressive after the flop, betting draws, middle or low pairs, or even air.  He saw about 80% of the flops.

With around $300 in front of me ($100 profit) I had Queen-4 offsuit in the big blind.  Five of us saw a flop of 4-4-2.  I led out for $10 and the Aussie made it $30.  I called. We were heads up.   I checked a King turn and called $40.  The river card was low and I checked and watched the Aussie bet $75.  I didn't think he was bluffing.  I just wondered if he had boated up or had a better kicker than my Queen.  I called and he showed 10-4.  Nice.

Not long after, the Aussie left, the last aggro standing.  There were only smallish stacks at the table and no one really putting chips in play.  I thought about trying to get a table-change but I was tired, it was getting late (a bit after 11PM) and I decided it was a much better idea to just take my over $250 profit and call it a night.  I only had the one drawing ticket for the midnight drawing (I won a smallish pot with a rivered flush), and without a $1K envelope in play, it didn't seem worth it to hang around for a slim shot at a $100 cash prize. Besides, I had cost myself money the night before chasing the promo, as I mentioned earlier (story to come).  So I racked up.

Stan was the one cashing me out.  He said, "You're not waiting for the drawing?"  "Nah, I don't want to risk this chasing it, and since there's no $400 prize available..."  But Stan interrupted me. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was wrong.  I found out that the other $1K wasn't picked.  You still have a chance at the $400.  I meant to tell you but I got real busy."

Hmm....did I really want to go back to the table and keep playing for that long shot at the $400?  Stan held off calling a new player to my seat, giving me time to decide.

I thought a moment and shrugged and said no, I was mentally committed to calling it a night.  I didn't think it was worth risking that profit for such a long shot.  I cashed out as planned.

Stan said ok, but made sure it was clear he had given me a chance to change my mind with the correct information.  Still, he added, "But If your ticket is called, you can still blame me."  I said, "Are you kidding, that will be a helluva blog post!"  He laughed and said he would be sure to tweet out a picture of the ticket with my name on it if it was picked.

Well, the next morning I saw a tweet, no picture, telling me that I don't have to worry about missing the $400 but on the other hand, the $100....he drifted off without explaining.  So he was implying I missed out on a $100 prize.  However, before going to press here, I messaged him and he told me he was just kidding.  I missed out on a $200 drawing and neither ticket drawn was mine.

Actually, I'm kind of disappointed, I think this would have been a better post if I could give crap to Stan for costing me a hundred bucks (even though there's no way that would have been legitimate).   

So I guess I'll just settle for this being a post about a great table-change.

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"How Are You Guys Friends?"

As I mentioned last time, I'm in Vegas now.  Got in Thursday, and thus far, every day has given me blogging material.  If only I had time to write up the blogs.  Oh wait, I have some time right now, so,, since it's fresh in my mind and will thus be the easiest to write up, let's try talking about what happened yesterday.  And by yesterday, I mean Sunday even though this will be Tuesday the earliest by the time you read this.  But I'm drafting this on Monday so it was yesterday to me.

There almost wasn't anything to write about.  I woke feeling poorly and never really felt a-ok.  I had a headache and a rather queasy stomach.  Mostly it was a severe lack of appetite with the occasional feeling of nausea.  If I had been home, I would have probably just vegged out in front of the TV for the day, but I wasn't quite feeling poorly enough to waste a precious day in Vegas, so I braved going out and tried to play some poker.

I wanted to play in the "Stratstack" over at the Stratosphere.  That's a $110 deepstack tournament they run semi-regularly (once a month?) and they were having an extra one for Labor Day weekend.  This is was the first time I can remember there being one when I was able to play, and since Mark, the new manager of the room, is a good guy I wanted to check it out for myself.  Those of you remember (or played in) the initial TBC Invitational at the Riviera will remember Mark from that (see here).

It had been a long time since I'd been over to the Strat.  It's actually a pretty nice room, and I know that Mark is trying hard to make it even better.  One thing I really like is that the tables aren't all jammed together like so many poker rooms; there's actually adequate space between the tables.  The chairs are another matter, there are some good ones and some really bad ones, but I was assured that new chairs have been ordered.  When I got stuck with one of the bad chairs, I commented to Mark and he swapped it for one of the good ones.  But he wasn't giving me any preferential treatment.  I saw a woman complain earlier and she too got an improved chair. 

Anyway, the tournament had a great structure--$20K starting stack, 30-minute levels and was well run.  The dealers were all top notch and the floor staff was quick to respond any issues. I just wish Mark had used his pull to get me some decent cards.   But between not gettng much to play and probably not being able to play my best due to not feeling so great, it was a pretty early exit for me.  One nice touch for the tournament: They serve pizza during the first break.  It was funny though, the pizza was running late so we had an extended first break until the pizza arrived and everyone had a chance to get some.  They actually serve pizza the first break of all their tournaments.  

And I didn't last much beyond the first break.  By then, with the blinds at 25/300/600 I was pretty short stacked and looking for a place to shove.  It folded to me in the small blind and I thought about shoving with Ace-4 off.  But instead I figured I'd raise to see if I could get some value for my Ace.  Unfortunately, I didn't raise enough...I meant to make it $1,600 and only added a $1K chip, so it was pretty easy for the big bind--an older, very tight player--to call what was basically a min raise.  He did just that and the flop was all hearts.  I had the Ace of hearts so I went all-in.  He snap called with something like Queen-5 of hearts.  I still had the draw to the nuts but I missed and I was done.

I went back to my room to get some rest and even managed to nap a bit.  When I awoke, I wasn't feeling too good.  Maybe I was just groggy from the snooze?  Anyway, I was texting back and forth with Pete Peters who was in town, seeing if we were going to get together for some poker.  Now previously, PPP had blogged about being too lazy to walk to his own mailbox to get his mail, so for sure he was way too lazy to make his way down to MGM for some poker this evening.  So I agreed to meet him at Bally's.

After consuming some soup for dinner and feeling a bit better, I headed over to Bally's.  I was barely on the list for a minute when PPP showed up and got on the list behind me.  We managed to get into the same game and I was in seat 5 and he was in seat 3.  Ironically, we were at the very same table where, end of last year, Lightning, Nick and I all played together.  PPP, like Nick on that night, was two to my right, and in position to button straddle my big blind.  And unlike Nick, he never did it, not even once.  But then, Nick has already explained how he purposely tries to piss off his friends whenever he plays poker with them (see here).  Unlike Nick, PPP is a man of class. 

Of course, PPP has not only already blogged about this session, he's actually blogged about his entire Labor Day weekend Vegas trip.  In one post!  Clearly he doesn't understand how to write properly.  Writing legal briefs all day has gotten him addicted to the word "brief."  Blog posts are supposed to be long, drawn-out and anything but brief, sir.  Anyway, you can find his write-up of this session summed up in a few sentences here.

Early in the session, there was a situation that had Pete and I giving each other quizzical looks.  An older guy button straddled.  Under-the-gun called the $5 (because, yes folks, here and at I believe all CET properties, they do the frightful button straddle the wrong way, with UTG having first action--see here).  It folded to the button who popped it to $15.  UTG called.  The flop was Queen high, two spades.  UTG checked, and the button shoved for $59.  And UTG tanked.

I don't mean he tanked, I mean he tanked.  He stared at the board.  He counted the pot about a zillion times.  Yes it was a bit of an over bet.  $59 into a $30 pot.  He counted it 87 more times. You could see the wheels spinning in his brain as to what the bet could mean.  He kept muttering to himself.  PPP and I kept looking at each other amused.  Or annoyed.  Or both.  I mean, it wasn't like this was a tournament and the call was for his tournament life.  It wasn't like the call would have even been half his stack, or for what even 1/5 of what his mortgage payment was.  It was a lousy sixty bucks.  Come on, fella, make a freaking decision.  You would have thought it was the last hand of the WSOP main event.

He was taking so long, I worried that PPP might miss his flight--which wasn't til the next afternoon.  Now, I have never ever called clock on someone, but this was getting ridiculous.  I don't do it because, honestly, I don't want to make an enemy of anyone at the table.  Also, I think calling the clock might affect the action, and I don't want to do that either.  But this was absurd.  I was about to call it when, instead, the button called it on the guy.  Rarely do you see the player who made the bet call the clock on his opponent, as you never know if that will cause the guy to change his action, which may be good or bad.

But the guy who was all in did indeed call clock and after using most of it, the guy facing the bet finally folded.  Then he said he had pocket Jacks and thought he made a bad lay down. I have no idea.  The old guy left the game not long after.  There was a debate at the table.  "He wouldn't have made that big bet if he had something."  "He was protecting a big hand against the flush draw."  Who knows.  But it was just $60!  Save the 10-minute tanks for the $600 pots.

While PPP was turning quad 7's, I was barely participating.  It was one of those sessions where I hovered around break even pretty much the entire time.  I'd win a few small pots, then bleed chips away very slowly.  For most of the session I was never more than up $25 or down $10. 

When I was catching cards, I was only winning small pots.  Within a very short period of time, I caught a straight on the river with pocket 9's and another with 5-4 of hearts from the big blind.  But it was mere pennies.

Then with PPP away from the table, I got a bit luckier.  I limped in with pocket 5's.  It was 4 ways and the flop was 7-5-4.  I just called a bet for $11, it was heads up.  He checked a 7 on the turn and I bet $30.  He called.  The I bet $55, which was about his remaining stack, on a 3 on the river.  I was hoping it gave him a straight, but after tanking, he folded.  Still the biggest pot I'd dragged in thus far.

Just a few minutes later I had 8-2 off in the big blind, no raise.  The flop was 4-2-2 and I checked.  A new guy at the table bet $11 and I just called.  I checked a blank turn and called his $30 bet.  The river was another 4, now I wasn't so happy about my hand.  I couldn't dismiss the possibility he had a damn 4 and had me boat over boat.  So when he put out $40, I just called.  He showed two paint cards that in no way had connected with the low board.  He fired three barrels into me with total air.  Sweet.

Getting those two boats in such a short period of time finally got me well into the black.

PPP returned to the table and then soon cashed out.  His luck had changed for the worse, and if you read the blog post I linked to, you will see he somehow blames me for his bad luck!  There was a lady dealer when he picked up and as soon as he was gone, the lady dealer said to me, "How are you two guys friends?"

Well that was an odd question.  Are we such an odd couple that no one could believe we'd be pals?  Really?  Weird.

I said something about being internet pals.  She said, "OK.  I've never seen him before.  I know I've seen you in here before."  Odd because PPP has probably put more hours in at Bally's than I have.

Then she started talking to some other guy at the table and said, "I'll try flirting with you.  I tried flirting with Robert and he wasn't interested."  Huh?  That was flirting?

Whatever.  The table started to break up and I was fine with calling it a relatively early night, since I'd been under the weather all day.  I managed to turn a break-even session into a $150 profit at the last moment.  Not bad.

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Vegas Poker Scene (September Ante Up Column)

Here's my newest column for Ante Up.  The link for it on the Ante Up website is here.   Remember, my contribution is embedded in the entire West Coast report.  So below is just my Vegas report.  The magazine should be in your local poker room sooner, rather than later. 

Just a note, I'm in Vegas right now, as those of you have seen my Twitter or Facebook updates are aware.  Will be here for another week.  Already got quite a bit of blogging material in just a few days.  A couple of things to look forward to: A session with the Trooper--as a dealer, not a player. And the return of Prudence, at her most Prudencey.  Talk about your "woman saids!" 


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RED ROCK CASINO: It’s a bit of a drive from the Las Vegas Strip, but one locals casino well worth the visit is the Red Rock in Summerlin. A good variety of cash games always run in the 20-table room, starting with $1-$2 no-limit ($100-$300 buy-in). During busier times, $2-$5 is spread ($300-$1K). Limit players can choose between $2-$4 and $4-8 with a half-kill. The minimum buy-ins are $20 and $40, respectively. Omaha players can find PLO and limit Omaha/8 with similar stakes.
Afternoon tournaments run daily at noon. Tuesdays host a $60 Omaha/8 event with an 8K starting stack, 20-minute levels and a $1K guarantee. The Sunday tournament is $125 with a $2,500 guarantee. The starting stack is 10K and the levels are 30 minutes. As for the rest of the week, look for $60 tournaments with $1K guarantees. Players start with 6K chips and levels are 20 minutes.

Evening tournaments start at 6:30 and are all NLHE. Mondays and Thursdays feature the $100 buy-in bounty tournament. Players start with 10K. The bounty is $25 and the guarantee is $3,500. Tuesdays and Wednesdays offer $60 buy-ins, $15 bounties and 6K stacks. The guarantee is $1K. The Sunday evening tournament is $60, 7K starting stack, $1,500 guarantee.

All Red Rock tournaments offer a $10 staff bonus for an additional 2K chips. There also are high-hand bonuses for all tournaments, quads or better. Players can win vouchers for future tournaments in addition to cash.

Red Rock has a large offering of promos. As part of the Stations chain, it participates in the Stations-wide bad-beat jackpot and progressive royal flush promotion. In addition, the room offers “quad floppers” Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Players get $500 for flopping quads. Graveyard players who book eight hours between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m. qualify for cash drawings every Saturday. Names are selected every 10 minutes and $500 is awarded hourly. There’s a $10K monthly Omaha freeroll for 20 hours to qualify. Call the poker room for details.

GOLDEN NUGGET: The downtown room revised its daily schedule with four tournaments a day. At 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., $65 gets players a 10K stack. The tournaments at 3 and 10 p.m. are $45 and start with 5K chips. The popular Sunday morning $125 tournament replaces the $65 affair that day. It offers a $5K guarantee. All tournaments have 20-minute levels.

The main cash game is $1-$2 NLHE with a $100 minimum buy-in and no cap. The Nugget also is a popular choice for $2-$4 limit, which has a $20 minimum buy-in. High-hand bonuses are offered.

The room recently began offering $2/hour in comps, good at all the restaurants on the property. There’s free Wi-Fi, as well as USB ports at every table for charging electronic devices.

BALLY’S: The popular 14-table room in the center of the Strip just added a $6K weekly freeroll. Players need only play
12 hours of live poker in a week to qualify. The freeroll is Wednesdays at 6 p.m. The top 20 finishers get $300 each. Bally’s also has high-hand bonuses ($500 max).

Bally’s also added a fifth daily tournament. At 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., it offers $55 tournaments with a 5K stack. Each of these tournaments has a $500 guarantee. The $75 tournaments at noon and 8 p.m. start with 8K chips and have a $1K guarantee. All tournaments have 20-minute levels.

MGM: The room will host the annual celebrity charity tournament Sept. 19 at noon. The tournament benefits the Maximum Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides practical assistance to families caring for a child with a life-limiting illness. The tournament is hosted by comedian Brad Garrett, who is the foundation’s president and founder. Garrett has a comedy club at the MGM.

ALIANTE: The Aliante Casino, in the northern outskirts of the Vegas valley, is back in the poker business. The casino closed its poker room a few years ago when the resort separated from the Stations chain. Now it has reopened a three-table room using electronic tables. There will be one $30 daily tournament at 1 p.m. Players get 5K chips and 20-minute levels.

The cash games are 50 cents-$1 NLHE ($20 to $200 buy-in) and $2-$4 limit ($20 min). The room is prepared to spread Omaha and stud as demand warrants. There’s a $3 max rake on all cash games.

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The Suite Life at the Aria

OK, before your regularly scheduled blog post begins, I just want to mention that the good folks over at PokerVIP.com have just published a list of their favorite poker blogs, and guess which blog was listed first?  Yes, Rob's Vegas & Poker Blog, the very blog you're reading right now, made the list.  Really appreciate that, guys!  Thanks for the nice shout out.  You can see the full list right here.  And now back to the blog post, already in progress...

Now this one takes place the night after the story I told in my previous post (here)occurred, It’s actually important that you keep that in mind.  The other thing you should know is that I already did a post from this session a couple of months back.  This was the session from the Aria that involved the bad floor ruling, preventing the guy on my right from check-raising (see here).

What I didn’t mention at the time was that the guy on my right—the guy who was not allowed to check-raise—looked awfully familiar when I sat down.  The more I sat next to him, the more I started thinking that I had played with him before, even recently.

But while I was still trying to figure it out, I had pocket 5’s and limped in.  Four of us saw a flop of 7-5-4, two diamonds.  I bet $10 and only the familiar looking guy on my right called.  I bet $20 on a blank turn and he called.  I bet $30 on a blank river and he folded, muttering something about a missed straight flush draw.

A bit later I had Ace-10 of clubs and the familiar looking guy raised to $15 (remember, the game at the Aria is 1/3, not 1/2).  I called as did one other.  The flop was King-high, one club, and not much else for me.  But when familiar looking guy bet out $22, I decided to call.  That’s an Ed Miller play.  We were heads up.  The turn was a Queen, non-club, giving me a gutshot.  We both checked.  When the river was a blank, he checked again.  OK, I thought, my Ace-high might not be so good, so let’s try to steal this sucker.  So I bet $40.  He tanked for a long time.  I’m guessing he had a pocket pair, 10’s or less.  He finally folded and I had indeed stolen the pot. 

Meanwhile, it was driving me crazy how familiar this guy looked.  Wait a minute, wait a minute….was this the guy from the night before at the MGM?  The guy who had felted me when he boated up on the turn after we both flopped trips (and I had the better kicker)?  No, no, it couldn’t be.  He would have said something.  Unless he had the same bad memory as I did.

But then he made a comment to the dealer that he was waiting for his player’s card.  He explained that he had given someone his driver’s license when he sat down in order to get a player’s card and he had not gotten one yet.  Then he mentioned that they had returned his license and promised the card was on its way.  The floor was called and he said that what the player said was virtually impossible.  There was no way they would return the license without bringing him a player’s card.  If he has his license, he must have the card.

He insisted that was not the case, and took out his wallet.  After confirming that he had his license, he said, “The only player’s card I have is this one here, that I got at the MGM last night.”  It was the familiar MGM “M Life” card that’s good at all MGM Resort properties (MGM, Aria, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, etc).  The floor person explained that that was the right card for the Aria too.  Not sure if he got a second card or what, but at least that issue was straightened out.

But when the guy said he had playing at the MGM the night before, I knew this had to be the guy who was on my left all last night—the guy who felted me with his turned boat.  You know, the guy I named “Zelig.” 

So I said to him, “Excuse me, but were we playing together last night at MGM?”  “Oh yeah, that was me.”  “I thought it might be you, but wasn’t sure until you told the guy you were there last night.”  “Oh yeah, I recognized you right away.”

Well that’s weird.  If he recognized me right away, why didn’t he say hi? This guy was obviously from out-of-town, and usually, visitors are pretty friendly at the poker table. 

But I didn’t ask him that.  Maybe he was a little uncomfortable because he had won such a big pot off of me—and because of the way he had won it.

Anyway, we rehashed that hand—and he gave me the typical poker player’s insincere apology—and then I expressed sympathy for that huge $900 pot he lost.  He again reiterated, as he had the night before, “I’m never folding there.”  Is that poker player speak for, “I screwed up, but I’m not going to admit it”?

Now it’s not that unusual for me to run into folks I’ve played with at more than one room in Vegas.  But less so with a tourist.  And back-to-back nights in two different rooms?  And sitting next to him both nights?  That would be like flopping trips and losing to a three-outer twice within a few orbits.  Oh wait.

As it turns out, my session was cut short because my friends LM and Woody had arrived in town earlier that day and were staying at the Aria.  They came by to say hello and we decided to sit and talk somewhere.  So I cashed out a whole $10 ahead. 

We decided to that the best place for us to chat was in their room, which they were raving about.  I’d never seen a hotel room at the Aria and until they had checked in earlier that day, neither had they.

LM & Woody like to go mid-week and can usually get pretty good deals at places like the Venetian and Bellagio. But if those places are too expensive, they’re fine staying at The Orleans too.

For this trip, they got a great offer from the Aria and they asked me what I thought about the Aria.  Not only had they never stayed there, they’d never set foot inside the Aria.  I told them I’d never been inside the rooms but based on what the casino looks like, and the clientele they’re obviously going for (and the price of the food), I was sure that it would be really nice—at least comparable to Bellagio and Venetian.

They were a little hesitant, but I convinced them that it would meet their needs.  After making the reservation, they got an offer to upgrade to a corner suite for just a few bucks more, and they did the upgrade.

They were sold on the place the minute they saw their room, and when I saw it, I could see why.  Wow.  I mean, just wow.  Now I had once been in a room at the Venetian that was reserved for their whales (I was visiting a whale, not staying there myself).  It was really nice but it looked like a room at Circus Circus compared to this room at the Aria.

Seriously….wow  First off, the Aria is really, really big.  I had no idea just how big it was until we walked from the elevator to their corner suite.  I think it took us almost as long as it does to drive to L.A. from Vegas.  I know that when I left the room to head back to the elevator, I wanted to call a cab rather than do that walk.

The suite was freaking gorgeous.  It was huge and both exterior walls were replaced with floor to ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of Vegas.  You could see the Strip and the Rio from their room. Pretty much all of Vegas, really. Stunning view.

There was a living room and a huge bedroom.  And two bathrooms.  At least one of them had a hot tub and at least one of them had a bidet.  I believe they both had heated toilet seats.  OK, that’s not a big deal in June but it might be nice in December.  There was a huge walk-in shower.  The drapers were electriconically-controlled.  TV’s everywhere, including the bathroom. You could control the A/C, the drapes and the lights from the TV. There was a refrigerator with an ice-maker. Robes and slippers were provided.  And yes, they had turn down service with chocolates.  All the furnishings were top-notch.  It was definitely the most incredible hotel room I’ve ever been in.  I said to my friends, “Why would you ever want to leave this place?”  They agreed.  If not for the fact that they had to return home for their dogs, I think they’d still be there.

The only issue was the A/C. It wasn’t working quite well enough, and they complained a few times. Well I guess oneof the A/C units wasn’t up to snuff, there were a total of three units in the room.  The A/C was improved, but it never was totally satisfactory. As a result, they got a huge discount off the bill, which made the room cost an incredible deal.

I didn’t think to take any pictures of their room or of their view.  Wish I had.  So instead, here’s some Aria waitresses.  They’re pretty impressive too.

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Flopping Trips Can Be Bad For Your Bankroll

Ugh. 

This was a session where virtually the same thing happened to me twice in a very short period of time.  It wasn’t a good thing.  I mean, it wasn’t like flopping quads, which you’d love to happen repeatedly in a session.

It wasn’t like having Charlotte McKinney (pictured below) come up to me and tell me that she absolutely loves my blog, and she has her heart set on thanking me for all the entertainment I’ve provided her by catering to my every fantasy for the night.  Hell, I’d settle for that happening to me even once.  Damn right.

No, this is something that’s happened to all poker players and it’s not good.  Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?  After about 90 minutes of an up and down session—nothing especially noteworthy—I found myself looking at King-8 of hearts in the small blind.  I had a few bucks over my $200 buy-in at this point.  I completed and four of us saw a flop of 8-8-6, rainbow, one heart.  I led out for $6, the guy to my left called, the table’s designated aggro made it $21, the last guy folded.  I called and then the guy on my left surprised me by raising to $70.

We need to give this guy a name since this won’t be the last we hear from him.  Let’s call him Zelig.  Zelig had not especially impressed me with his play to this point, but he had been running good and had a much bigger stack than I had.  The guy who raised to $21 took a long time to fold, but he did.  I decided to just call.  I figured Zelig was going to do the betting for me.

The turn card was a Queen and I checked.  Zelig shoved and I snap-called. I certainly felt I was willing to get my stack in when I called the $70.  He flipped over Queen-8.  Ouch.  The river blanked and I had to re-buy another $200.

Not all that long later, maybe two orbits, I was in the big blind with King-9 offsuit.  No one raised.  Four of us saw a flop of 9-9-3.  I bet $5 and someone made it $15.  I just called.  I suppose one of the lessons I should have learned from the earlier hand was to play my trips more aggressively.  But I was shell-shocked from it and just called.  We both checked a Queen turn.  I checked a 10 on the river and he bet $40.  I called and he showed me 10-9 for a rivered boat.

So twice I had had trips, had the best hand, and lost to a boat, once on the turn, once on the river.  At least this one didn’t cost me my entire stack.  Zelig, who was not in the hand, noticed the similarity to the hand where he had stacked me and kindly pointed it out to me, as if I needed the reminder.

Those were the only two hands from this session involving me worth mentioning.  They kind of obliterated everything else.

But there was an interesting hand involving Zelig that was quite noteworthy.

This took place after he had felted me and had a nice big stack of chips.  Probably over $600.  And I don’t remember all the details, I wasn’t really paying attention until the turn.  I’m pretty sure I was tapping one of the hands I was involved in into my phone, so I was late to the party.

The board by the turn was Queen-Jack-9-9.  The paint cards were both diamonds and the 9 on the turn was also a diamond.  So there was potential for all kinds of big hands, including a straight flush.  There was money in the pot—it had been raised pre by someone other than Zelig and there were four players alive.  There was a smaller bet on the turn and then a player went all in for $100, and all three players called.  The river was a fourth diamond.  Zelig led out for $200 (he still had plenty of chips behind him). I don’t believe he had led out on any other street until then.  The next guy was already all in, and then the next guy—the preflop raiser, I’m pretty sure, put all of his chips—it was about $220.  The last guy had a bigger stack than that, similar to Zelig’s.  But after tanking a bit, he folded saying, “I hate to fold this but there’s no way I’m good here.”  Of course Zelig threw in another $20 bucks to call what was now about a $900 pot.

Zelig flipped over Ace-Queen offsuit, but the Ace was a diamond for the nut flush.  The other guy showed pocket Queens for a boat.  The other big stack said he had the King of diamonds but knew his flush couldn’t be good there.  The short stack who shoved the turn had flopped a straight.

Zelig explained his logic to the guy who was stacking chips that once belonged to Zelig (and had once belonged to me, for that matter).  “I couldn’t put you on Queens cuz I had a Queen.  I thought you had pocket Kings.”

Um, really?  How about Jacks?  Couldn’t the guy have had pocket Jacks?  I was pissed that I hadn’t followed the action from the beginning.  My gut told me that Zelig played it poorly but I wasn’t sure.  Was there any point in him leading out on the turn?  I guess considering the size of the pot, the guy with the Queens would have likely shoved anyway, and Zelig, with his logic, would have called.  But maybe The Queens guy doesn’t bet it all.  I know the pot was like $500 so how could he bet less?  But from the way the guy took his time shoving in the face of Zelig’s $200 bet, I think he was worried about either a straight flush or quad 9’s.  My gut told me that he wouldn’t have shoved if he didn’t have to.  The other logic he might have used there is that he couldn’t get a call with a shove, so maybe bet less and get calls from both the other players with chips.

And then there is the question of Zelig should have called if he had checked instead of bet.  I know it’s pretty hard to fold the nut flush, but with all those high cards out there and the paired board, it’s kind of likely that someone has a boat at least. Plus there were two other players in the hand with chips, plus the short stack.  Against three other players, on that board, and can he really believe his hand is good?

But Zelig said, “I’m never folding there.”  Not sure I agree with that.  Hmm.

Anyway, I never got anything the rest of the night to attempt to make a comeback with.  It was a lost night where my trips twice lost to three-outers.  Again, it happens to all of us, but twice in just a few orbits? 

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