So I Had Pocket Aces.....

Well, I’m back home, Vegas is just a distant memory.  But I do have plenty left to blog about, once I return to my normal routine (if such a thing even exists).

Now, in a session about a week ago, there was one hand that has been running through my mind since. I don’t think I played it wrong, but since I can’t get it out of my mind, I figured I’d share it with my readers and get some feedback.

I think I was down to about $130-$140 or so (from a $200 buy-in in the normal 1/2 game).  I’d won a couple of hands early (once with Aces on a c-bet and once flopping a set of 4’s that turned into a boat) but had just been dripping down after that.

There was a really, really big stack at the table—over $1K easily.  He had that stack when I got there.  He hadn’t been particularly aggressive since I’d been there, not raising preflop more than average and not being especially aggressive post flop.  I would say that the only evidence that his play was affected was by his big stack was that when he did raise preflop, it was usually more than the average prelop raise ($12 or $15 rather than $7 to $10).

On the hand in question, he opened to $12.  I had two Aces.  I made it $35.  Before reacting, he asked to see my stack and took awhile to finally call.  The flop was Queen-Jack-rag, rainbow.  He checked.

What am I supposed to do there?

Well, I bet.  I put out $50.  I didn’t count for sure, but I think it was a pretty good estimate of half my stack.  He thought for a bit and then announced, “all-in.”

Gulp.

He might have called my three-bet with Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack, or King-Queen.  But would he check raise me with those hands?  Especially when I had already put more than half my stack in the middle and a bluff couldn’t possibly work?

Still, considering what I put in the pot already and what I had left, it didn’t make any sense to fold.  Obviously it would be pretty easy to believe he had flopped a set.  Perhaps he was being aggro with Ace-King and a gut-shot?

Well the board bricked out and he flipped over two Jacks.  Time to re-buy.

But I had to ask myself if I had played that badly, or if, I’m “supposed” to lose my stack there.

My gut tells me I’m supposed to lose my stack, because it just wasn’t very big.  Now, of course, if I have the same $1K stack as the villain, and I lose it all on the flop there like I did, that would be a really, really bad play

But could I have played it better? Preflop, I think is fine. But with two face cards on the flop, am I supposed to check behind him?  He’s going to bet the turn if I do, and I won’t know if he’s got Ace-Queen or the set.  But he probably won’t shove the turn if I check the flop.

But if he bets the turn, and I call, he’ll shove the river and why would I fold then?  He might have Ace-Queen and think I have Ace-King.

Perhaps I could bet smaller on the flop, so I wouldn’t be committed?  But is there a bet size I could make that doesn’t get me all in by the river anyway?

I think the stack-to-pot ratio dynamics indicate I should get my stack in there with an overpair.

Still, is there any way I could have played it better?

Or is it a case of “that’s poker”?

Thoughts?

Anyway, after re-buying the session didn’t get any better.  I ended up breaking almost even on the second buy-in before calling it a night.

Was there a way to play those Aces better?

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A Tale of Two Donkeys

Sunday nite I ran into a couple of donkeys at the poker table.  The first one was very good for me, but the second one cost me some money.  That's the way it is with donkeys.  In the long run, it's good to play with donkeys, but in the short run, they can kick you in the ass (pun intended, I guess).

I was at MGM during the NFL promo.  During the Sunday night game, every time a team scores, they pick a random seat and the person at that seat gets to pick an envelope worth between $100 and $500.  There's only one $500 envelope, a few $300, some $200 and of course mostly $100 envelopes.

I got a couple of big hands early.  With pocket Aces I bet $40 after a raise to $10 and a call.  No one called.  Then I got the dreaded pocketKings  and raised to $8.  Only one person called, and when I c-bet $12 on a low flop, I took it down.

Despite these monster pots, I had managed to drip down to about $130-$140 when the first really good hand happened.  Unfortunately for the blog, but happily for me, the big hands all came within a short amount of time, and by the time I got to making my notes on this first one, I had forgotten some of the details.  I was in the big blind with a Ace-7 of spades and called a raise to $7 or $8. A bunch of us saw the flop  The flop came 9-8-6.  I checked and then called $25 and we were heads up.  A 5 on the turn completed my straight.  I bet $50, which was more or less half my remaining stack--not sure exactly exactly how close.  He tanked for awhile and then called.  I didn't like the 10 on the river, but nonetheless, I put out the rest of my chips, and the guy thought for a bit and folded his cards.

This was late in a dealer's down and I hadn't finished stacking my chips when I saw another dealer ready to push in.  She was a new dealer in the room, and I'd only seen her one previous time, when I was playing with Prudencea week or so earlier.  I couldn't remember her name, so when she pushed in I asked her name and she said, "Janet."  Well, actually, she said her real name, but you know how I am.  Then she added, "Also known as the best dealer in the room."

I laughed and said, "Oh really, you're the best dealer in the room?"  She said, "Yes....of course if you do refer to me that way, no one else will know who you are talking about."

I got to chatting with Janet about her background (since she was new to the room) and didn't get a chance to jot down my notes on the hand that I had won.  I knew that I now had over my $200 buy-in but wasn't sure how much over it was. 

Then on the button I had Queen-10 offsuit.  There were a bunch of limpers and then a raise to just $7 from one of the donkeys.  Since there were two donkeys this session, I will call him "Good Donkey" to differentiate him from the other donkey, who we'll call "Bad Donkey."  Good Donkey had been at the table when I got there and there was nothing specific I can point to that made me think he was a donkey, I had just figured out that he was.  Although frankly, raising to $7 after all those limpers is a pretty bad move.  You're just going to get everyone to call and make the pot huge.  If you have Aces you'll have to play against too many players, and if you have a lesser hand why do you want to play it against so many players?  If you feel you have a raisable hand, make a real raise and thin the field.

But since I was on the button and would have last action, I decided to call for only $7 in what was likely to be a big pot preflop.  I would probably have only have done this from the button.  There were five us seeing a flop of 10-10-8.  Good Donkey bet $20 or $25 and I called.  It was heads up.  Why just call there?  Well, I suspected Good Donkey would keep betting and I could raise later.  The turn was a Jack and I called a similar sized bet, maybe $25, maybe $30.  The river was an 8, filling me up, and this time the Good Donkey checked.

Hmm....I guess the double paired board scared him off.  I assumed that he wasn't going to call almost any bet I made.  So I put out $40 and hoped that was small enough for him to call so I could at least get some value for my boat.  He thought for quite a bit, I assumed he was deciding between calling or folding.  But finally he started pushing chips out in front of him.

He did it in two motions, and then Janet turned to me and said, "all-in."  I was on the other end of the table from him and hadn't heard him say anything, so I had to double check. "Did he say "all-in?"  Janet assured me he had.  Well, I didn't really put him on quad 8's.  I didn't bother to ask for a count, but his stack was fairly close to mine.  I'm not folding my full house there (if I had the 8, not the 10, it's a much different ballgame).  I called and he flipped over....9-8 suited!

I showed the bigger boat and couldn't believe my good fortune.  The dealer counted our stacks and I had more chips than the $154 or so he had put out on the river.

I had him pegged as a bad player but I couldn't figure out that move at all.  Was he actually going for the check-raise?  How would that make sense?  I hadn't been the aggressor one time in the hand, why would he expect me to bet?  And when you have the bottom of the two pairs on a double paired board, does it really make sense to bet big?  I mean, you know there's a good chance you have the lesser boat, you want to get to showdown as cheaply as possible.  I was giving him the opportunity to do just that, and he went ahead and put all his chips in play.  Amazing.

I'm guessing his instinct was to check the river, and then he got another instinct to shove when it came back to him.  I knew he was bad, but not this bad.  Note:  As I'm writing this, the thought occurred to me that he might have assumed I had the same hand as him and that his shove might get me to lay it down, fearing he had the 10.  While that's possible, I have absolutely no reason to believe he was capable of that kind of thought process.

I was still stacking my chips, and still hadn't written notes on either of those last two hands when Janet dealt me two black 7's. I called 7 and it was 5-ways.  The flop was damn nice, Ace-Ace-7.  There was a $20 bet I just called, and it was heads up.  I don't remember the turn card, but this time it was checked to me.  I put out a bet, a small one, maybe $40.  He folded and I showed my cards to get another drawing ticket.  Then I said, "Janet, you are the best dealer in this room.  Two boats within 5 minutes.  Can you stay here?  You know, I have some pull in this room, I can arrange to have you stay at this table until I'm ready to leave."  She laughed and said she was off in an hour, and needed to get some rest.  Damn.

Well now I was still stacking chips.  I had no idea how many I had, and had not been paying attention to the football game for some time.  The game had started slowly, scoring wise, but had picked up a bit and they'd call a few people up to claim prizes.  Well, as I later found it, it was late in the first half, and someone had scored.  I didn't realize that until I heard the announcement, "And it's table 8, seat 1."  Wait, isn't that my seat, I thought?  Well, when Stan called me by my last name, it was clear I was in the fact the lucky winner for this drawing.  I jumped up to pull an envelope out of the box.  To this point, I think it had been mostly $100 prizes picked, with maybe one $200.  Nothing bigger.  I grabbed an envelope, opened it up and it said "300."  Sweet!

I got back to my seat and when they brought me my $300, I immediately took if off the table, I thought I already had enough chips to play with. 

Janet soon left the table, and boy oh boy, was my rush over. I should have followed her to the next table. Back to be card dead for the rest of the game, pretty much.

I finally got to do some notes, and counted my chips.  I had close to $300 profit at one point.  Dripped a little, but really went back to playing very few hands.

Finally, after getting nothing hand after hand, I looked down at Ace-King of hearts in the big blind.  And wouldn't you know, after one limp, Bad Donkey raised to $12. Like Good Donkey, I had pegged as a bad player for reasons I can't really enumerate.  I don't usually three-bet Ace-King, but I suppose against this guy it would have been a good time to do it.  But no, I just called, I didn't want to play a big pot out of position with Ace-King.  The limper folded, a bit of a surprise, and we were heads up.  The flop came K-3-5, two spades.  Bad Donkey put out some chips, maybe $20. I just called.  Again, that's pretty standard with me.  I'm not raising the preflop aggressor with just top pair, though I admit, that is probably a leak in my game that I don't do that more often.  The turn was an Ace, and this time he checked.  So I put out $35. He didn't think about it too long and called.  That Ace was the second club, by the way.  I was just hoping to see almost any red card on the river, but it was actually the deuce of clubs. Did he catch a flush?  But he checked, and I played it safe and checked behind.

Bad Donkey then said, "I have trips."  Huh?  Actually, he had pocket deuces for a rivered set.  Technically, it is trips, but we hold'em players call that a set, Mr. Donkey.  I was shocked.  Before I had a chance to say anything, he said, "I was really just going for the straight."

See, I thought that was an awful play on his part, sticking around hoping to hit his two-outer.  But no, it was pure brilliance, trying to hit his gut-shot.  Genius in fact.  Now if he wants to raise with deuces, fine.  And I get the c-bet on the flop.  But with one card to go, calling my bet with a gut-shot?  Seriously?

Ugh, it cost me around $70 and it pissed me off because I thought I lost money to a bad player, misplaying a hand. I was thinking, I hate it when donkeys cost me money.  Then I thought, well that first donkey paid me off a lot more than I lost to the second donkey.

But because I'm a poker player, I ended up spending the evening thinking—and being pissed— about the donkey that cost me the smaller amount more than the donkey that paid me off a lot more.

I returned to being card dead.  The only other hand I got the rest of the evening worth playing was pocket Kings again.  I raised to $10, got two calls, bet $25 on a Jack high flop, and took it down.

From actual poker I won a bit over $200, so it was a plus $500 night including the football promo.  I ran into one too many donkeys.

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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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