ES
Ventured into NL water again at MGM tonight!
I swore off No Limit (NL) cash games a long time ago; I can't emotionally handle the suck outs. NL cash games are a much different beast than NL tournaments. I can't handle losing my whole buy-in in a single hand when I get it all in as a big favorite. For the record, I love NL tournaments.
So tonight one of my old fraternity brothers was in town. That's an excuse to party. Myself, and a couple of our mutual friends met up for dinner and drinks at the new El Diablo's restaurant in front of Monte Carlo. FYI it's actually a pretty solid mexican restaurant. The food is good and the prices are reasonable, particularly for a trendy-ish strip restaurant. In fact, the chips and salsa there are among the best I've ever had.
Anyway, after dinner, once I'm about five margaritas deep, my buddies talk me into walking across the street to play some NL poker at the MGM Grand. The MGM used to be my stomping ground when I was grinding it out at the $1/2 NL games ever weekend a few years ago, but I haven't visited recently. We were all feel'n the poker itch after dinner and I had an extra $200 burn'n a hole in my pocket, so I figured what the hell.
The first three hours of my five-ish hour session started off like usual; with me losing. In fact, I dwindled my $200 buy-in all the way down to $26 before I doubled up. I then ran that $26 all the way back up to approx $350 (+$150), which for me, is quite an accomplishment.
The most memorable hand was on my upswing when I had about $175ish back in front of me. Let me set the scene.
A guy in his mid 20s had been play'n with us all night. He was a cool kid, chat'n it up with us, etc. At one point, this guy even went and bought my buddy smokes earlier in the night from the gift shop when he took a bathroom break from the table. The whole night this guy's blonde girlfriend has been sitting behind him quietly.
Finally a seat opens up at our table next to the kid, and the girl takes the seat next to her boyfriend. When she sits down she buys in for $200 and announces she's only sitting down for free cocktails and doesn't plan to play any hands. You know where this is going.
So after about 45 minutes this girl hasn't done a thing except order a couple free drinks and post blinds, and then this hand comes up. Girl is in BB. I'm on the button with 5c,8c. 3 limpers. I limp. SB limps. Girl in BB makes it $6. Everyone calls.
Flop is A,2,4 with two clubs. Nice flop for me. Girl bets out $10. Two callers. I call.
Turn is a red 3, giving me the second nuts (five high straight). Girl bets $20. One caller. I smooth call.
Before the river I semi-bluff and call out loud for a club. River is red.
Girl bets $30. MP player folds (he was probably on a club draw). I raise all-in. Girl tanks, looks at her boyfriend, and says "ugg.. I have to call...."
She calls. Flips over A,A for flopped set of Aces. My friends congratulate me on my suck out. Ship it. Those sure were expensive drinks. I hope she enjoyed them, and I'm sorry it had to be her.
I ended the night +75. I'll take it.
And my old college buddy? Down $300 of course; His last hand he got 'em all in pre-flop with KK and ran into AA. Uh-oh. Sounds like my usual luck.
Nice job. Congrats on a successful return to NL and your earlier Sahara win.
Wow did she play that hand terribly. I can't decide which of her wimpy bets was the worst, probably calling the all-in for another $120 when she had to be beaten -- I think everyone at the table knew she had a set of aces.
Perhaps she's learned that there are no "free drinks" at the poker table. The only way for her to play that hand is to push all-in pre-flop.
Woof! You gotta love running into people at the table like her. Sure, you feel bad taking their money, but hey, it's not like you were wearing a mask and holding a gun to her head!
She made 2 monumental mistakes. First, once the set hit the board on the flop with a straight draw, she should have gone all in. With pot odds, at that point you may have folded, even with the outs you had left. Then, on the river, she calls. When someone comes over the top like that, most of the time they have it.
On the subject of Mexican food, try Mi Casa at the Silverton. I ate there last weekend and it was pretty good. Nice decor & huge selection of premium Tequilas.
I will have to try Diablos.
@allvegaspoker
According to this in the RJ, Diablo's is closed until reinspection.
Diablo's Cantina restaurant, Monte Carlo, 3770 Las Vegas Blvd. South, received 51 demerits Oct. 1. Violations included pinto beans, burrito sauce and roasts being improperly cooled. GRADE: Closed
http://www.lvrj.com/living/10597007.html
What do you mean you feel bad taking their money? Thats what you sit down to do in a cash game. I've heard that BS so many times I now call people down on it when they say it.
If you take my chips just be quiet and stack them up, I don't need to hear you rub it in by saying your sorry. Be a man and sit back and enjoy your victory. If you really were going to feel bad about it if you won, you would have folded or for that matter not even sat down to begin with. I would much rather you say "thank for giving me your chips" than "sorry" because at least then you are being truthful
Welcome back to the beautiful world of No Limit.
I say that place it looked good- thanks for the report. Always looking for good Mexican.
I likethe 1/2 NL game at MGM- fairly easy to beat- easiest from the games at those level. Only issue is with the low buy-in (I know I'm beating a dead horse).
Congrats on getting away from the limit dark side and playing no limit in the cash games.