I spent last week in Vegas so that I could play a boatload of poker. While I was there I got a chance to play with Vegas Mike and some of the locals in their regular Wednesday HORSE game. Those who were at the table will remember me as the guy who ran incredibly bad with Kings.
As promised, here is a report from my trip. I copied it over from my blog at http://poker-ate-my-day-job.blogspot.com/2009/08/vegas-trip-report.html (shameless plug ;)

Wednesday
I started out at the Venetian playing cash games. I played a little 1/2 Hold'em while I waited for a seat on the 4/8 Omaha H/L game. Hold'em ended up pretty much break even but unfortunately Omaha didn't go as well. I played too loose and too passive for most of the session and just bled off chips. I ended on a really terrible hand that I got into with a really aggressive player. He had been raising and re-raising almost every hand, getting away with buying half of the pot a good amount of the time. I picked up a hand to go to battle with and got into a raising war with him and a 3rd player, only to realize on the river that I had completely misread my cards. It was a really awful inexcusable play and I had to get up and walk away.

Later that Night I played in the 4/8 HORSE game at Harrah's. I'm still working improving on all of the different games in HORSE and was hoping to get up some live experience. While building a bankroll is my main goal right now I felt I could afford to risk a short buy-in in exchange for some valuable lessons.

The session went mostly as I expected, winning money in my strong games and then giving it back in the weak ones. I got a chance to play with a group of good players and I think I learned a lot. In the end I realized I should have left earlier, as I started to lose chips without realizing why. It's important to stay constantly aware of how you are playing, what your image is, and mistakes you are making. When I noticed my stack was dropping from showing a slight profit to a growing loss without knowing why I knew it meant that I was losing focus.

Key hand: In Stud H/L I picked up a good 3 card low with straight possibilities and a 2 flush. By 5th street I had a 4 flush, a straight draw, and a decent low draw. As good as that sounds, I was drawing to second best in both directions. In a 4 way hand I had one opponent showing a possible Queen high flush, one with great low cards, and the last with a pair up, presumably drawing to full with 2 pair or trips. And the action represented that all of these possible hands were really probable hands. I should have folded to the expensive bets and raises on the later streets rather than draw, but I didn't. I got lucky and rivered the Ace of diamonds, one of the 2 cards in the deck that could win me half the pot. It turns out I was drawing dead for the low. Although it was a large win I played the hand badly. It's easy to be results oriented and think that because you're raking in a good size pot you're playing well, but to really improve you're game you have realize when you've actually played badly.

Thursday
On Thursday I strayed off the strip to play in The Orleans. I sat down at an 8/16 Omaha H/L game and got off to a good start. Because it was the must move table we were playing short handed, and I realized quickly that I had the advantage. I was able to open up my range and step up the action to take advantage of the players who were attempting to play in the same way they would at a full table. But things changed when I moved to the main game though; or more accurately, things didn't change. I was unable to make the necessary adjustments and spewed off a lot chips. I was never able to regain momentum and finished the day with another loss.

I think the key lesson was that when no I need to make an adjustment but I am unable to change gears I should get up and take a break. There's no pressure to keep up with blinds in cash games, and many casinos will allow you to leave your seat for a few rounds of play.
Later than night I was feeling pretty bummed about how the trip was going. I was really letting it get to me before my wife reminded me that losing session are just part of a poker players life. Taking a trip to Vegas doesn't make me immune to the normal swings I've grown accustomed to playing anywhere else. We both agreed that the best thing to do was to get a good night's sleep and concentrate on preparing for the next day.

Friday
On Friday I decided to play in the Venetian's daily deepstack tournament. We woke up early to get a good breakfast and try to start the day off right so that I could play at my best. It paid off, as I was very focused and was able to stay at my best for a full 7 hours. I was aggressive, read the table well and picked good spots to make moves. I built a large stack within a few hours and managed to maintain double the average chips until we reached the final 2 tables. I tightened up a bit as the final players started knocking each other out and lost a bit of the advantage I had but still had an average stack when chopped the money at the final table. The win really made the trip worthwhile.

A few key hands from the early stages:
I picked up AQ suited from the small blind when a player raised from late position. I had seen him raising on weak hands and felt that he was doing so because he didn't really have a good knowledge of hand values. I made a good size re-reaise to to push out the limpers and was able to read the distress on his face as he called. The flop came J 10 x, giving me a gutshot plus overs. When I c-bet I could tell he didn't like calling, and was liking his hand less and less. His stack was now smaller than the pot, and I knew there was only one move to make on the turn. I put in all of my chips and he hit the tank before folding. It was a good read which I think won me a big pot.

Later on a seat to my right was filled by a short stack who was making a lot of moves for pots. I could tell he knew that he had to shove a wide range of hands to stay alive. I knew in advance that he was going to have the button on my big blind, and that if it was folded to him he would probably raise or shove any 2 to pick up the blinds. He did exactly that, and when I looked down at J9 I was more than happy with the hand to re-raise him all in. He called showing pocket sixes, but I hit a 9. That move was crucial in building an image for me to exploit.
Maybe a round later I raised A10 from the button. The small blind, a person I considered to be one of the better players at the table, re-raised all in. I knew he was paying attention to how I was playing, and I knew that he was capable of making a move, so I made the call. I was right, and he regretfully tabled J3. The cards decided that it wasn't his time yet as a 3 hit the flop, but we weren't finished battling it out.

He doubled up again a few hands later and was starting to approach a stack size close to mine when I picked up AA in the big blind. He raised from early position, the button shoved a short stack, and I re-raised all in. He hit the tank for a few minutes before making the call with KK. Maybe he was always going to make the call, as any player should with that hand, but I think that the image I had built made a difference. If I had been a rock sitting and waiting for cards he might have been able to convince himself it was a good laydown rather than put his tournament life on the line.

Saturday
Saturday started off with my best cash game of the week. I sat down at a 1/2 hold'em table at Harrah's and really took control. My opponents were passive and easy to read. I built a very nice profit in a short amount of time so we decided to take a dinner break.
Later that night I had the choice between going to sleep or going back to play. I was tired, but I was itching to see if the same players were still in that game. I was happy to see that a few were when I sat back down. My results, however; were far from the same. I played poorly and lost most of my profits before giving up for the night.

It started when I raised AK. One of blinds, who I had observed playing a straight forward short stack strategy made a re-raise. I knew how his strategy worked and I knew where the hand was going so I decided to make it happen then and put him to the test by raising all in. When he called I realized I had made the wrong move. His aces won, as expected, and it turned out that he had slightly more chips than I thought. The hand put me on tilt and I proceeded to donk off the rest of my buy-in before leaving.

The play was really bad, and I shouldn't have done it. Knowing that he was playing a proper short stack strategy I knew what his hand range should have been there. And at best I was in a coin toss against that range. Cash games are not tournaments, and coin tosses just aren't necessary. I had sat down to play because I knew that I had an advantage against my opponents post flop, which I completely given away by doing shoving.

Sunday
On our last day we headed to Caesar's so that I could get a few hours in before leaving. I made a small profit at the 1/3 table, with no spectacular hands involved, but I think the situation was interesting.

I was having a difficult time because of a player sitting across from me. He was raising a wide range of hands, and I didn't think it was because he was a good loose aggressive player. I think it was because he was the type that didn't really understand hand ranges well. For example, he min re-raised me once with A10 off suit. But, because of the way I was playing, it was actually correct against my Q10 off. I was making a lot of moves against limpers and he actually had a better hand.

My position at the table stuck me in between limpers who were prime for raising and stealing from and a player who was liable to re-raise me with any 2 face cards. It led to some large swings before I started to get a handle on things. For one, I realized that I just needed to tighten up and start playing more "ABC" poker. His play, and the others' for that matter, were fundamentally flawed enough that basic solid poker was profitable on its own. Another thing I noticed was that although it wasn't consistent, he was telagraphing his raises. He would gather the chips in his left hand before it was his turn, and I could sometimes muck my hand before even putting any money in.
It was a great trip, which my bankroll really appreciated. I plan to continue to learn from experiences like these as I build toward becoming a full time professional player.