Best of luck to you in the Deep Stack tournament tomorrow!!!

Woo! A day-by-day report, good luck tomorrow, enjoy your trip!

May I ask what your entree was at N9NE? I've read many many good things about this place, but I'm always happy to hear more opinions

I'm heading out there in a couple weeks with my girlfriend and we're already stalking the menu haha

Stray, good luck today at the V...do AVP proud.

When you get a chance, PM me the name of the Sushi place you went to...I may want to hit that when i'm there in 2 weeks.

Mark,

it was a good dinner last night. I would recomend n9ne for a nice dinner. It was a great filet with mushrooms. In talking with a girl in the cab line when I came back to the Wynn after 1am (Yeah I know I ended up staying in the game for like 5 hours0, I guess we just missed Charles Barkley having dinner at n9ne. The eye candy was great at n9ne. It won't disappoint.

You are right on about the room. I put myself on the 2-5 NL list as well as the 1-3 list and they only had 1 2-5 table and 5 1-3 tables, so I took a seat playing 1-3. Then as time assed other players came into the game and then got called for the 2-5 game. The messed up part was I was sitting right by the desk. WTF!!! The game was a little fishy, and it celarly reminded me why I don't go out of my way to playin theroom. You had verbal fights between players, between players and the floor/staff. All this and no ipod on me made for a longer session.

Good long in the tournaments this week. Hopefully we will met up in the future.

AlakaGal and PiJuice, thanks! I really hope to be making some deep runs!

Bucabear, I couldn't recall it even if my life depended on it but I'll see if I can get it from Photoc. Like I said, if you enjoy eating a lot of various rolls, apps, and desert, it's a great bargain. I'm sure Richard has other favorite places as well. And Clem really likes Nobu, so I may give that a shot if I have the time.

Alan, thanks again for last nite, I had a great time! And OMG, 5 hours of play, you're sick But I know your trip got cut short, so I understand! Too bad about Barkley and it's good to hear my experience at the room wasn't isolated, I tend to be pretty harsh when it comes to customer service! Travel well and good luck with the new job!

@rasty

I had the Kobe Beef Burger. I knew I wouldn't be able to have a "full" meal since I'd just had a big sushi meal with Photoc not 5 hours earlier. Matter fo fact, I ended up taking most of the fries and 1/2 the burger home with me! And I did the same with the menu

Don't get me wrong, the meal was great! You can't go wrong there but when I compare it CraftSteak, they win out in my opinion.

Yay it's the stray day-by-day report!!!

GL and may the card gods smile upon you!!!

Day2, Friday:
I was exhausted from a long first day in Vegas without poker, so a good night’s sleep is what I needed before venturing out to play in the $1070 Venetian Deep-Stack at noon. After waking up and woofing down the remains of my dinner last night at N9NE, I headed out for some cards. As usual, I parked at TI and walked over to the Venetian, an easy jaunt, even in the heat. I bought directly in then headed upstairs to the little Italian Bakery for a pastry and coffee, and of course some people watching. After getting my fill of each, I headed back the tournament area before cards hit the air at noon. 15k in chips and 60 minute levels, just what the doctor ordered! We ended up with 246 runners and 18 would be paid.

My end of the table had 5 of us from Florida, odd coincidence! Allen Kessler was at my table and even though I and other players recognized him, I didn’t know his last name until he showed us the article about him in the current issue of Bluff Paul Magriel was only a table away as well. At the first break, I’d chipped up to about 25k, with 241 runners remaining. I was catching cards like there was no tomorrow. I’d won with AQ, making a nice call on a spade flushing turn. I won with AK when the river made me a bigger boat than my opponent holding QJ. I caught AA twice winning both. I made nice plays in position taking down pots with standard continuation bets. I caught a flush once, again winning a nice pot. I watched a player double up with AA v KK then stack again with AA v 99…it’s like people don’t know how to play this deep!

By the end of level 4, I was at 32k in chips with 165 players left. I took down pots with QQ, 77, and KK on a scary board against 3 others. I lost with AJ when new players on my left called everything and I hadn’t been able to peg them as calling stations quite yet.

During level 5 (200/400/25) I donked off nearly 10k holding 98s. I had thought through the hand, but just not deep enough. If I had, I wouldn’t have made the donklishish call But I nearly got it all back, taking down pots with QQ and AA, and isolating a limper on my left with A4 and AQ followed up with continuation bets, right back to where I started. We were down to 130 players by this point.

Level 6 (300/600/50) saw us down to 110 players and with the table dynamics changing I couldn’t get any traction, spewing chips left and right to players I didn’t adjust against. I ended with 22k. 40 minutes into level 7 (400/800/75) we broke for dinner (7:30pm) and I was up to over 54k. The hand that got me back into the hunt was later praised by Allen, which made me feel VERY good about the line I took! At the end of the level we were down to 85 but I didn’t see anything at all.

Level 8 (600/1200/100) saw me seated at a new table, aggressive as hell and stacked! I watch 2 players bust as I fold, fold, fold. Within minutes, Paul Magriel is seated to my immediate left and the strangeness kicks into high gear. He’s a funny guy but is serious about his poker….was really cool listening to him and joking around during hands we weren’t involved in. We end the level with 77 left.

I start level 9 (800/1600/200) with 44k and literally play 2 hands running into a string of unplayable hands with tremendous action ahead of me at every curve. We end with 55 runners remaining. Level 10 (1k/2k/300) had us down to 47 and me treading water, barely able to breath above the drowning currents that threaten to suck me under. I win pots with KK and AJs.

Level 11 (1500/3000/500) and we were down to 32 players, I was looking for any opportunity to chip up as I didn’t want to come back after 14 hours of play only to un-bag a micro-stack. When we formed up the final 3 tables, new players shuffled in and I found myself sitting in the sb with J9s, the table having folded to me. I pushed and Paul woke up with AQ. I didn’t improve and with 40 minutes left before quitting time, I was ousted into the hot Vegas night after 13+ hours of play .

I headed outside for the lonely walk of shame that solitary poker players the world over make every day. I fired up a cigar on the way back to TI, stopped in the Breeze lounge for a jack-n-coke, to let the cards wash over me and think back on the game. I think I played well, making few mistakes but I didn’t continue the aggression I had started with. I need to adjust to changing tables; it always seems to throw me for a loop! I stopped by and said hello to Chris at the poker room before heading back to the apartment. Still wired, sleep wouldn’t come easy.

I have no idea what I’ll do tomorrow but suffice to say, who cares, I’m in Vegas

Sounds like you played well and you went very deep. Good job. Get some rest, come back and kick-ass in some cash games!

Thanks and cash games really aren't my strong point but who knows where I'll end up today

$1070 Venetian Hand Details:
During level 2, I raised from early position with AKo and was called from the button. We saw a flop of AQJ, rainbow. I really didn't like the board but led out anyway and was flat-called again...can you say alarm-bells?! An ace fell on the turn and I started to feel a little better but I knew I could still be beat already, many times over; it went check-check. Another queen fell on the river, giving me top boat. I led out for 1300 and again, another flat-call. He tabled QJ and I flipped over AK to take it down

During level 3 I caught KK in 2nd position and flat called a raise from utg to 700, there were aggressive players behind me and I hoped to get a raise from someone trying isolate. It didn’t happen and four of us went to the flop, AJx, 2 hearts. It got checked around to the turn where another jack fell. This time after utg checked I led out for 1700 and got a single caller from a player I’d taken 2 nice pots off earlier. A harmless card fell on the river and the best play, I thought was to lead out again, avoiding a tough decision for a lay-down I really wouldn’t want to make. So I bet 3k and he damn near insta-pushed for an additional 1200 or so. There’s no way I could fold, so I made the crying call fully expecting to see some type of naked jack, I discounted the ace since the flop was scary and someone would’ve bet out. When the dust settled, the opponent flipped over pocket 5s and I had to look at the board several times to make sure I was good before tabling my kings and raking in another nice pot

During level 5 I’d caught aces once again and made a standard raise from early position. A player two behind me raised making it 5k total and when it was folded back to me, I simply flat-called. Pre-flop raises weren’t really getting any respect at the table, regardless of where they came from. The flop came down KQx, all spades. Not a very pretty board for what I’ve seen this player play. I led out and he folded like a wet stack of napkins, odd…I really would have liked to known what he held.

Right before this hand, I had limped from utg+1 after utg limped with 98h. The player directly on my left made a small raise and 3 us saw the flop of 456. We both checked to him and he pushed in his remaining stack of just under 10k. UTG folded and it was on me to make a decision. I had a gut feeling that any 9 or 8 would make me good as he had a small pocket pair. I also had the 7s to make my straight and a back-door flush draw. I knew I was a dog, but with about 40% to win and the money in the middle it was a good call, albeit marginal. Had I thought a little deeper, I would have realized that the only pocket pairs that fit my analysis were 2s, 3s and 7s, I knew he didn’t have a set. If he had 7s, half of my straight outs were gone as well as all my 8s, that would make him a straight, taken all that into account and it should’ve been a clear fold. As it was I donked off 10k and he tabled pocket 7s, I didn’t get any help. Just goes to show you have to think through the entire hand!

During level 7 (400/800/75) I made an early position raise after my favorite limper from Brazil with AQs and after a quiet level 6, I figured I’d get some respect. Only the bb called, and although he was “new” to the table, he’d been there long enough to see how many hands I’d played during the previous level, and he was watching. The flop came down J9x, 2 clubs. After he checks, I bet out 3500, to which his response is to mini-pop me back. Now again, chalk it up a gut feeling but I knew he didn’t have a made hand and if that was the case, I still had enough behind that I felt I could get him to find a way to lay it down. I pushed and he tanked! I obviously didn’t want a call but since he had to think so hard and long, I knew my read was right. After an agonizing period of time, he finally talked himself into the call saying that he just couldn’t get away from it. He tables QTo for the open-ended straight draw. He’s incredulous when I flip over AQs, as is the rest of the table. Allen really got wide eyes over the sequence of events and I thought he figured I’d been the one to make the bad play. After the turn and river both blanked, I raked in a pot that put me over the 50k mark. I openly commented to Allen that he could file it away (the “information”) but it wouldn’t be happening again, he’d been really taking me in during the play. Afterwards, I introduced myself and apologized if I came across too harsh during the hand. He’d stated that he didn’t take it that way at all, and I was the one who’d played it correctly, he couldn’t believe how the other guy made the call. It was then that our end of the table had started talking about him, as I and others had recognized from playing with him at various events around the country. That’s when Allen came over and said, “this is who I am” as he handed us the current issue of Bluff with a small article about him .

After I was moved to the new aggro, well stacked table with Paul Magriel sitting on my immediate left I watched several huge pots take place, all the while enjoying Mr “Quack-Quack” perform his quirky magic. I had a great talking joking around, talking and listening to Paul, a lot can be learned from the man, VERY smart! It also amazes me how players complain about getting out draw when those are the exact calls you want! When I’d sat down, I noted several large stacks with one player holding dame near 200k in chips, he’d busted before I did . He got it all in pre-flop with KK against TT and when the tens flopped a set, he went postal! Shortly after that, I watched Paul get involved in a massive 3-way hand. It was limped around with 4 players seeing a flop of 56J, 2 spades. The blinds checked followed by the original limper making a bet which Paul and the sb called. Mr Postal pushed followed by another push before the action was back on Paul. After some theatrics he also pushed, the 4th player folded saying later he held T4s for a flush draw. Mr Postal had KJo for top-pair, good kicker, other player tables AA and Paul flips over 78s for an open-ended straight flush draw. The Turn brings a 7 and the River is, hold your breath, a 6 giving Paul 2-pair and he just goes nuts as he rakes in one of the biggest pots I’d ever seen in my playing days!

As I said in the previous post I went out when we were down to 30 players, I’d pushed with J9s from the sb against Paul in the bb, who’d woken up with AQo. I had 35k and with blinds at 1500/3000/500 I felt the hand was too strong to fold, but necessitated a raise, and I couldn’t just stick in that much of my stack and fold, so I pushed. He thinks for a bit which gave me some false hope but I still think the play was good. I guess I could’ve limped and see where we went from there, taking the next orbit to pick a spot from position but I needed chips and wasn’t in the mood to bag up a micro-stack for the 4pm restart the next day. I wasn’t aiming for making the money at all, and I’m glad I’m not the only player who thinks Venetian needs to rethink the payouts. Allen Kessler also stated his dismay that only 18 were getting paid with a field of 245 entrants. I thought they fixed this, but they are not paying out 10% of the field. Either way, it didn’t really matter as I wasn’t trying to sneak into the money. 67% is locked up between 1, 2 and 3 so we all know where the money’s at. All in all, I feel good about my play and after some much needed rest and a good breakfast at Blueberry Hill, I’m ready to plan another day of Vegas vacation

Day 3, Saturday:
I got to bed this morning around 3am after 13+ hours of play in the Venetian deep-stack on Friday. I’d planned on sacking in until noon but up I popped at 10am, with tournaments, hands, travel plans, etc bursting through the synapses of my mind. I was also hungry as hell as I hadn’t eaten since the break last nite at 7:30 and that was only a small but costly mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich in the food court at Venetian. I’d opted out of the $10 comp in lieu of a ball-cap. They didn’t even tell you about the food comp or using the comp for the “swag” at the time of registration. Maybe they thought I knew the scoop, but either way, I just spent $1070 on your tournament, the least you could do is give me a little information. At any rate, I had to find food and find it fast! Not that I’m on a diet, but I realize I need to change my eating habits. With as much as I travel, you can really get out of shape quickly if you don’t watch. I cut out soda, only having a single coke a day, I also haven’t eaten much bread at all and I haven’t been to a fast food restaurant in weeks. All that went out the window when I went to Blueberry Hill for my exquisite breakfast of biscuits ‘n gravy, coupled with OJ and coffee. The tab came to $12, a little higher than what I was used to but I guess the cost of everything is on the rise! As evidenced by the number of cars blocking an entire lane of traffic on Vegas Dr and Decatur just to get gas priced at $3.51, amazing! And what is up with the drivers in the town, and I’m not talking about the strip. On Thursday afternoon at 2pm, I15 north was PACKED and everyone seemed to want to occupy the same space as I was already in, then getting pissed when they couldn’t! Motorcycles riding the white lines between the lanes, no signaling, riding my arse, etc. made me feel right at home!

After some tasty grub, I headed back to the apartment to try and plan out my day. Since Caesars decided to change their Main Event at the last minute, that meant I had to change up my travel plans, as I was set to depart on Wednesday and since you plan on playing a tournament with intentions on making the final table, my current plans just weren’t going to work. I had to verify that I could burn another vacation day, missing a meeting and a conference call, but that was ok’d. Next was the flight, I had to see if US Air could make the changes, and not gouge the fark out of me in the process. After ponying up another $220, that was done. Next came the car and sleeping arrangements, and BAM, just like that I had another 2 days in Vegas! Either way it’ll be time well spent as I needed the time off, cards or not, there’s always plenty to do here. I finally decided on hitting up the Gaming Expo at the Rio followed by a stop at Caesars to register for the Main and the a stroll through the Forum Shops, stopping at the Fuente store for a smoke and some drink. I’d really wanted to spread my play around on this trip, planning on making stops at Golden Nugget and Binions. Due to the turnout and lack of correspondence by John at GN, that was off the list. And with the departure of Jennifer at Binions and lack of sincere response from sent emails, they lost my $2k. It’s not the exact trip I’d envisioned but when is it ever, right? Like I said, I needed the time off and not playing every day, considering the length of my stay, doesn’t bother me a bit .

By 2pm I’m on the road heading to the Rio and before I know it, I’m parked in the small lot by the pool, making entrance next to the Indian restaurant. Finding everything was pretty easy, I don’t why everyone says it’s such a long walk I meander around a bit before heading into the Expo, my 2007 WSOP hat in hand, looking for more signatures. Warning, if you don’t want to hear about “poker celebrity” encounters, I’d skip this part; I fully played the part of poker fanboy for the couple of hours .

When I first walked in a line was formed up to see Antonio Esfandiari who was hawking some king of water, complete with half-naked pole dances behind him! He was sincerely nice; we quickly talked about his recent trip to Barcelona. He said he only reveals about 30% of what actually takes place and I believe him! Next up was Jamie Gold, who was nice enough, showing off his bracelet and posing for pics. I hadn’t planned on staying there long, just in and out for a few sigs, but every time I turned the corner, there was another announcement about another play doing a signing. I caught David Sklansky walking around on the floor during break and he was nice enough to stop, although he made it clear he was still in the tournament and didn’t have time to dawdle. I then hit up Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie. Again, nice enough guys but Dan seemed forced and tired. It’s odd pairing 3 guys up and most people coming in for the solo money shot. Ray Zee, the last of the 3 was getting no love at all. After getting yet another hat scaring mark by Annie Duke I had my “Grand” encounter with Doyle himself. He was on the floor in his scooter I turned the corner only to find him trying to run me down. If you’ve seen the movie, you know Dennis Farina did the same, it was all I could do not to laugh out loud. I asked him if he could spare a moment for an autograph and “politely” but firmly told me no as he’d be back on the stage at 4pm, and off he scooted. Sometime in there I met Howard Lederer working the PPA booth, another down to earth, genuine guy! About this time, Jerry Yang has started signing so another line it was. By far, the most down to earth player I’d met yet. No airs, no show, nothing but bracelet and humility. He even asked that I call him Jerry when I’d introduced myself and called him Mr. Yang. He seemed genuinely interested in me as a person, talked about the weather among other things and I even got a blessing as an added bonus! I followed that up with Chad Brow, again feeling strangely odd that I didn’t ask the same of Renee. About this time, I took a break and headed back to the entrance, killing time waiting for Doyle, only to find Greg Raymer sitting behind roped off throngs, and of course I lined up as well. They were giving away “I met Greg Raymer” tees, which the girl seemed genuinely dismayed when I didn’t want one . After nearly 30 minutes, I finally met the met, thanking him for his contributions going back to his early posts on 2+2. Again, a super nice guy!

I then saw the field going on break and to my utter surprise I spotted John Strzemp. He was in a mad rush, tiny cigar in hand, heading outdoors. I followed him out to a covered sitting area but when he humped on the phone, I backed off. For those who don’t know he and I played a hand during my last trip that I’ve been trying to contact him about via email and letter, no reply. When his finished with his call, I made my approach and when I said why I was there he replied, “oh, you’re the one that wrote me the letter.” Not only did he recall that but he also recalled the hand. He was nice enough to give me some feedback and we talked briefly about his work at the Wynn and his 2nd place finish in the Main to Stuey, thanks John! I then went back inside for Doyle trip number two. The line was still somewhat short but oh boy were there rules. You could take a picture of Doyle but not with Doyle, don’t linger, etc. They were giving away posters and his on-line book which I really didn’t want but was damn near forced to take. It was nice meeting him but you could tell he didn’t want to be there! After that, I ran into Scotty Nguyen who was handing out his patented, thanks baby” like they were candy Last up was Daniel pumping his new book and on-line training platform. And for the second time today I felt sincerity and genuine interest. He asked how my game was and even though I know he’s promoting his new software, when I replied he pointed back to the screen and said try it for 30 days, then I want an email simply saying, Wow, just wow.” I know it sounds cheesy but it wasn’t in the least, nice guy! Damn near 6pm by this time and I was starving so that did it for my gawking. I headed out to a steaming car contemplating between heading to Caesars to register for the Mega Main or feeding my ever increasing loud rumbling stomach. I was in a mood again for sushi so the hunger won out.

I parked in my usual location at TI and decided to try out the Social House. I was dressed nice enough, fashionable jeans and a dress shirt but that was accompanied by my ever present hat, as the apartment doesn’t have a hair dryer. I didn’t think anything of it, since I was in basically the same outfit when I had dinner at N9NE. When I moseyed up the entrance, I was “greeted” by a bevy of 4 beautiful young women, none of whom seemed to want to have anything to do with seating me. The blue-eyed blond hottie finally stepped up to the plate, offering help. I inquired about the sushi bar and was informed, of course I can seat you but you have to remove your hat.” Needless to say, I was stunned! Would hunger win this battle as well? Yes! I doffed the cap, trying to straighten the mess no one could possible mistake for a coiffed doo, and was sent off to dine. Thankfully the place was pretty empty at that hour and even though I repeatedly assured that my hair looked ok, I was not comfortable in the least! I started out with my standard of a California roll a shrimp tempura roll. All I can say, AWESOME, damn amazing! Attentive staff, great setting and flat-out great food, can’t go wrong here. I followed that up with a spicy tuna roll and some maguro tuna, again just stunning. I capped it all off with a tuna tataki dish that was off the menu, great way to end a meal! I can’t say enough about this place but $91 later, I realized what Photoc meant about the high prices in the strip hotels After paying up and donning my cap (I was a little miffed when I saw a family seated after me, son wearing his cap) I headed off to Caesars.

I have to remember that once parked, stay parked…find a way to get where you’re going without moving your rental. I took the car out and looked to park in the Caesars garage, which was packed and uninviting, so I went back to TI, parked then took the tram, to Mirage and walked the short distance into the cooled Forum Shops. I really had dual purposes here as I’d been wanting a cigar all day so to the Fuente Shop it was so I could light up a Romeo Juliet Churchill accompanied by a couple of Fat Tires . Couple that with the constant eye-candy in and out of the patio area, I couldn’t go wrong. I’d really lost track of time so when I left and passed by a clock showing 10:45pm I was aghast, but the clock wasn’t wrong! I made it down to the poker room, which was PACKED beyond belief. I thought about playing a satellite, but this list was short and staff didn’t seem too interested in promoting getting it filled up. I opted out for buying directly in for the Monday start day and left for the walk back to TI.

I was just planning on heading back home, but I wasn’t too tired yet so I decided to pop by the poker room. Before I knew it I was seated in $2/4 limit game, and having a blast. It’s amazing how after being gone for so long between trips that most dealers still recognized me. I really feel at home playing at TI, Chris and his staff really do an amazing job of making this a comfortable place to play, making you feel at home. I know I’ll be doing my part to earn comps so I can eat at Social House again . I played fairly decently losing “big” pots when my 2 pair lost to rivered straight followed up with pocket queens going down the same way on the very next hand. Even though players came and went, my end of the table was having a good time as I was talking up the players and joking around as usual. Thankfully most were doing the same but I’m amazed at how serious and dour some can take a game that size! Thanks again TI, I’ll be back again soon! And thanks for taking the time to talk tournament structures Chris, that’s really going to help out!

At 2am, I had to call it a night, finally hitting the sack about 3. It was another long but fun filled day! For Sunday, I think I’ll do what I can to make the mixed game at IP and who knows what between then. Thanks for following along!

Day4, Sunday:
Today was pretty light as I was trying to catch up from back-to-back 3am days and prepare for the Caesars Mega Stack on Monday. Once again, I woke up starving and Pop’s was on my mind so made the quick trip down to Decatur for a philly-cheese steak with extra peppers, YUMMY! Back and the apartment, and hunger satisfied, I took a quick nap before heading back down to the Gaming Expo. Traffic was extremely light but I was able to snag signatures from Humberto who was up to his typical “chark” antics as well as Chris Moneymaker. He’d lost his voice but was pointing to phrases written out on a pad of paper, ever the trooper, he was gracious as they come considering his obvious pain. I also got a chance to talk quickly with Dave who’d just gotten knocked down to 16k in chips though at the time of writing, he was up to over 100k! Buy this time, hunger had set back in and I’ve been wanting to try out a pizza place called Villa Pizza, located inside a sports bar called Instant Replay. Decent enough, but a tad greasy; the price was right though and coupled with a Fat Tire, I was once again sated.

I’d placed my name on the mixed-game list at IP fairly early so I would be guaranteed a seat, I knew I wouldn’t be staying long as I needed a good night’s rest before the deep-stack tournament on Monday. I had a blast playing with the normal crew of AVP’rs including LVM, PokerMuffin, Clem, Sledgehammer, Chipwhich, Eric and Dale. I had no business in the game, barely knowing maybe 3 games in the rotation. I’d bought in for $300 and left with $150, not exactly a stellar outing, but about as best as could be expected. I kept getting what I thought were good hands, only to find second best time after time. I scooped maybe 3-4 pots, damn I can’t wait to play some no-limit tomorrow Although I had a great time playing the game, I was less than thrilled with the management and the selective but strict enforcement of the NO PROFANITY rule; it could’ve been handled much better than calling my annoying! I know they’ve gone out of their way to handle the AVP crew, but I doubt I’ll be back any time soon. Overall a good evening playing cards with friends, so it wasn’t all bad .

As mentioned, tomorrow is the Mega Stack and I’m really looking forward to the game, wish me luck as I really need to come back for play on the second day to make changing up my travel plans worth the hassle!

Good luck tomorrow! Can't wait till I get to play in the mixed game, sounds like fun!

You should plan a trip for exactly four months from now (see my signature)... drunken nights in Vegas sounds so much better than drunken nights in Houston....

Mark,

They relaxed a little bit after you left. The only time things got a little over the edge was a little chipping throwing between Cindy, and Mike, a floormanat the WSOP. The game was a blast. I actually netted a $206 profit, which I think is great for a 3-6 Limit Mix game for 7+ hours, of course that number is not that great when you look at Cindy (pokermuffin) as she made $700. Not a bad day when your making $100/hr at a 3/6 Limit game....

Good luck at Caesars.

@Clem2754

Thanks! It must've just been how I was holding my mouth

And nice scores....$700 for Cindy, OMG!!!

Day 5, Monday:
I know these are long and more of a cathartic process for me, but I hope there are some reading and enjoying the vicarious ride .

Today started out like most of the rest, hungry and in search of food. I know it would hopefully be a long day of tournament poker so a good breakfast was in order. Once again, I found myself at Blueberry Hill for their 1-2-3 special. After that was done, it was off to park at TI, then a tram ride/walk over to Caesars. I like walking off the breakfast and this afforded the opportunity, no need to pass up a stroll through the Forum Shops. I got to the room with about 15 minutes to spare and found it absolutely packed, the action was insane!

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, it’s imperative to observe and adapt, but now I want to add, “Listen” to the mix. You never know what you can pick up by listening in on conversations; like picking up that a player seated at your table is a traveling “pro” just because he’s conversing with the dealer before the star of the tournament. No don’t ever take anything said in a vacuum, always back it up with what you observe, but it can provide some real insight! First hand I play during level 1 is AhQh, raising from early position. I’d been observing the “pro” and while it was still early, it was clear he was going to run the table and be involved in a ton of hands. He re-popped me from the bb and I flat-called. The flop was about as good as could be expected, all connected rags but containing 2 hearts. It went check-check; I didn’t want to get bet off my draw. The turn completed my flush draw. Now sitting on the nuts, I flat-called his bet of 1200. The river was inconsequential and he bet out again for the same amount but this time I re-popped it, bumping it up to 3k. He made the call and was disgusted when I tabled the nuts I also spotted David Pham (not sure if he played) and some young Tran/Pham playing in the cash games.

At the start of level 2 I was already up 6k, feeling good about my start and having pegged players fairly well. I played J6 from my bb behind a sole limper and we both took a flop of 368, 2 diamonds. I check call a bet of 150. When a ten fell on the turn, I check folded to his bet. I then raise Q8s from the cutoff and get 2 callers. I make a standard continuation bet and take the pot. Next hand I flat-call a late position raise from Mr. Aggro with pocket queens. On the blank flop I start to reach for chips and before I can even finish my bet, he folds. He’s been more than a tad upset at getting beat but I know he’s giving me too much respect and I need to find away around that. As the level draws to a close, I’m once again feeling good as I’ve chipped up quite nicely. Last hand before the break I catch AA in the sb and once again Mr. Aggro has raised it from late position. Since there was a flat-caller between us I raise it up about 2.5x his bet, so I can isolate him; didn’t want to play multi-way. It’s folded back to him and he re-raises to 5k total. At this point, I know the best way to extract the maximum from him is to make a flat-call. If I put in the 3rd bet, he’ll surely fold and I don’t want that as I feel he’s totally making a play at this point. I make the flat-call and have already decided to check any flop, I know in my heart of hearts he’s going to continue with his aggression. Sure enough, on the flop of Jxx, all spades, he pushes and I know I’ve got him. The spades are somewhat concerning as I don’t hold the As but I can’t put 2 in his hand the way he’s played. I make the easy call and he tables Ah5s as I table my aces. He starts screaming for a spade and to my utter dismay, the Ks falls on the turn and just like that all my work is for naught, and I’m summarily backed down to 7k in chips….FARK ME! I played the hand perfectly considering my read and my opponent but it just goes to show that you can make the right reads, the right play and still not have it work out! I just walked away from the table, as pissed as they come. I do the only thing I can do, which is to walk it off. I take my time, not caring if I get back before the end of break or not. I wander by the breeze bar and decide a drink is in order. I order a double, single-barrel jack ‘n coke and $30, I’m on my way back to my paltry stack. I need to keep in mind that it’s still early and with the deep play ahead of us, it’s no time to panic or get stupid! 624 total runners are entered for today and about that number is expected for tomorrow, nice payday for sure!

Level 3 (100/200) and after a few limpers, I limp behind in late position with JTs. A miracle flop of JJx falls raise a lone bettor, taking down the pot. Most likely misplayed due to not fearing nearly any turn but what the hell, I’ll take the chips. I then raise from early position with pocket tens and the only caller is Mr. Aggro from the bb. The flop is Qxx, rainbow and it goes check-bet-call. The turn is another rag and the same action goes down. The river completes straight draws as well as a back-door flush draw but again he checks, I bet, he calls and I immediately table my tens; he insta-mucks.

Level 4 (200/400) and I’m back up to around 11k or so, keeping my head in the game. I make the dumb mistake of mini-raising with AQo, forgetting the current blinds. I get four callers and now hate my hand. Flop is Axx and my bet is called in two places. A blank turn produces the same action. River is nothing to worry about considering the action but it’s checked around this time and I take down another pot. I’m up to 16k at this point.

Level 5 (300/600) and there are 490 players remaining. I play and take down pots with TT, AK, QJ and stole the blinds once or twice. All by either connecting with the board or making standard continuation bets, I never flop monsters. A few mis-keys though find me treading water and instead of adding to my stack, I merely maintain it, adding a couple of thousand.

Level 6 (400/800) and I raise with A6 from early position but am flat-called by a decent player behind me then pushed on by another player playing solid poker. When it’s back on me, I take my time before mucking as not to show how weak I was; no way I could make the call especially considering the call behind me, I was sure he’d call and more than surprised when he didn’t. I then watch as an ep player (playing odd hand ranges) limps, then Mr. Aggro raises and I wake up with pocket aces again. Again I take my time talking out loud about how I can’t make a “normal” raise without leaving enough behind for a pot-sized bet if both call. After a brief time, I push ‘em all in and hope for the best. The ep limper damn near-insta-pushes and Mr. Aggro tanks. I really want his call too and he nears his decision, I pack up my card protector, throw on my man-purse, hoping to sway his decision. He finally mucks stating that he doesn’t want one of us to have 60k in chips, although it wouldn’t have been near that much. EP tables 7d8d and I flip over my aces, not too happy about what I’m up against. The flop gives him no help and the turn clinches the pot for me. Not where I wanted to be, but I’m back in the game with around 32k or so; not too bad considering where I was

Last hand before dinner break and I find my self heads-up again with the bb from my sb, I’d taken nearly every one of these match ups, but didn’t think it was overly done. I completed with K6o and on a flop of KJx, it goes check-check. When another blank falls on the turn, I fire out 1500 and he flat-calls. The river produces another jack and this time I fire out 2k but this time he raises to 6k and I can’t in good conscience make the call. After mucking, I’m left with 27k as we head off to “dinner” using our $10 comp in the food court. I opt for a chicken wrap then take laps around Caesars to get in some pumping of the blood and much needed circulation to the legs!

Level 7 (600/1200/100) and there are 379 runners left with 4 hours of play left before we call it a night. It’s 8pm, I have 27k in chips and each round costs 2800, with the next hour costing 4400 per orbit. By all writings, I’m in a position that requires me to chip up and not sit back waiting for a hand. I paid my bb, having to fold Jd8d to a sb raise which I respected but could’ve well been a steal; who knows, maybe I could’ve made a re-steal play and taken down a nice pot. I then pay and lose my sb which puts me down 21k. I then raise with 7c8c from the cutoff, making a larger than normal raise by mistake to 4100, not totally out of order but a little more than the 3600 I’d intended. The sb pushed and it was back on me, going into the tank. When I tallied it up, there was 26k in the middle and it would cost me 16k to call. I only had 21k left at this point and the play could go either way, but with the right money in the middle and the right odds, I decided to make the marginal call knowing I was taking the worst of it but for the right price. The player was incredulous when I made the call, saying out loud that he didn’t think I was priced in for the call. Listening to him previously talk and knowing his most likely range, I thought it was an “easy” call. He tables QTs and me my 78c. He flops a queen on a paired board and it’s all but over. I’m left with just over 5k now and am feeling sick. I know or at least think it was the right mathematical play but it was marginal for sure. I figured I needed the chips and getting the right price, I made the call I’ll have to live with. On the very next hand Mr. Aggro raises and is pushed by a new player to the table who is “short-stacked” before I get a chance to spy KhQh, baring a few hands, I’m definitely getting great odds with the money in the middle and figuring I’ll be protected by the push, I make what I think is an easy call. The action goes according to plan, but I find myself heads-up against AK and am totally dominated. All hope goes out the window when an ace falls on the flop, followed by another on the turn, I get no help on river and I walk out of the poker room, stunned, 4 hands after returning from dinner break.

I’ve never felt more dejected in my entire life and I’ve more than my fair share of downfalls throughout my 40 years on earth. I guess that’s an exaggeration but it sure felt like the most solitary and lonely walk of shame I’ve taken in some time . I somehow made it back to Fuente shop, and plop myself down for a cigar and a Fat Tire. I’m amazingly withdrawn and down on myself, knowing that I made the right plays. Even in the cold light of the next (as I write this on Tuesday) I still think they were the right plays. After some people watching and going through the poker motions in my head, I finally, but slowly came out of my poker daze, striking up a conversation with 2 older gentleman who turned out to be locals. I have to thank them for bringing me back to reality. Although I busted out the Venetian deep-stack after 13 hours of play and Caesars after 8, I’ve been doing what I came out to do and having a good time doing it, I just haven’t made the cashes I wanted. I did get another line on a sushi place Kona Grill which I’ll most likely check out this evening, so all is not lost .

After making my way back to the TI to retrieve my car, I’d decided to pop by the poker room to check out the action. Once again, it was MAD busy with all tables filled. I contemplated jumping in their 10pm tourney but with already 2 alternates on the list, I passed, deciding instead to get on the $2/4 limit list. I finally got into the game a little before 11pm and left around 1:30 up $51. I’ve now wiped out my TI losses and am earning true comp dollars that cost me nothing but time. I’m down $2200 between Venetian and Caesars and another $160 in the IP mixed-game, damn you LVM

Tuesday is here and I’m taking it easy. I’ll most likely find some sushi this evening, but can’t decide between Kona Grill, Red Sushi or Nobu; I don’t think I can go wrong at any of these places though. I’m also trying to map out the last 2 days, deciding if I want to try and play at The Orleans series or not, otherwise the Venetian it is . See y’all on the back-side of today.

If you're going to wash clothes, make sure to remove the remainder of your vegas bankroll prior to doing so; it's not so easy to peel off without tearing and drying out some thirty odd bills

It may be just me but what's with poker players and their parents Daddy Moneymaker was in tow everywhere Chris went and Momma Gold was easily spotted anywhere Jamie was. Maybe I need counseling, who knows, maybe it's the key to their success

What's with Daniel pimping PTs?

CardPlayer was damn near totally non-existent at the Rio, and even hard to find a copy of the magazine!

And John, since I know you're reading now, where do you suggest I go for sushi, and if I wait until sundown and the traffic dies down, can we coax you out?

Day 6, Tuesday:
A light day overall that started out with a fast-food breakfast, the first of many weeks, damn it was good Then we stepped next door for some sushi. It was good but not anywhere near the level of quality of Social House. I’m surprised at the overuse of “salad” type fillings instead of actual hunks of meat, but oh well, a good dinner nonetheless and made even better by sharing it with good company.

We decided to check out the action at TI and soon we both found ourselves seated in a $1/3 game. I doubled up early with set over set then took down a pot with pocket kings. After that the cards went dead and although I was having a great time at the table, I’d been pegged as a nit, and rightly so. I REALLY need to work on my cash game skills! Cindy was having trouble getting traction at the other table as it was aggressive as hell! Tomorrow I’ll most likely play in the Orleans NL tournament but may very well end up at Venetian as I love their room. Like I said, a pretty light day but that’s why I like longer stays as I don’t feel the need to play every minute of every day in town .

Mark,

Good seeing you the other day. Sorry to hear about your loss in the Caesars event. Hopefully the cards start cooperating in any future tournaments.

Cheese

Thanks Mike, good to see you as well and sorry I couldn't stick around for a little more debauchery but as it was I needed to get my head right for the tournament that treated me so wrong

I have 2.5 days left, if you like sushi, ring me up!

Day 7, Wednesday:
I was wavering back and forth between the Orleans tournament today and the Venetian and couldn’t make up my mind even tough Cindy and I had been talking about it yesterday. When I got back to the apartment I looked up the details on the Orleans tourney and with the buy-in costing the same but only 5k in starting chips, I opted out for the Venetian (12k in chips) figuring the turnout would be much larger, producing a greater prize pool. I’d thought they’d have similar blinds but found out after I registered, that the Orleans started with 15/30 and went up from there; it was never posted on-line. Even though I like to spread my play around a bit, it was their loss Sorry Cindy!

I’d arrived early, parking at TI as usual, then making the short walk over to the Venetian and going through my normal routine; registering first, then heading up to Tin Toretto for a cappuccino and ham&cheese croissant. Afterward the requisite people-watching and listening in on some wonderfully arcane conversations, I strolled around the shops, knowing I’d be sitting for some time. I even broke down and picked up another Tim Cotterill frog, named “Storm.” For only $95, it was a bargain and made a nice mate to the one I purchased earlier this week, “Pebbles” in my favorite color, green. I’ve never been a “frog” person but I really dig his work, and this little guys makes a great card protector

Let me add, if there's something you want to do while in town, DON'T wait! I've been wanting to visit the Guggenheim for a long time now but have always put it off only to find it's been closed for 2 months now . And thanks to Trey for giving me props on the blog, I appreciate the nod!

I’ll say this about my play this week, I’ve been able to observe, gauge people’s play and determine hand ranges, etc much better. Although the results haven’t reflected it, I feel I’m playing much better and making better decisions; It’s just kind of an in-between flux as I try and marry up the knowledge with the proper course of action. So onto the tournament…by the time they cut off registration we had 605 runners for a total prize-pool of just over 175k. 54 players would be paid with 1-3 locking up 52% of the money. Early on I’d been able to identify the players at the table, seat 1 was a dealer with an ego,2 was smart tight, 3 was the only player I’ve ever seen play tighter than I do , 4 was a solid player, 6 and 7 were both aggro, with 7 being a complete arse, and I was in 9. As we started play and the servers were making their rounds, the arse in seat 7 wanted 2 waters and the server would only let him have one as the others were spoken for but she’d bring him another soon. He opted out for nothing stating that he’d just go buy his own. I then took the last water, thanked the server for her kindness and as I took the first swallow and made the universal “yummy” sound loud enough so he could hear It wasn’t long before he got his wish of being able to buy his own water as he busted during level 2!

During level 1, it was folded around to me in the sb and by this time, seat 10 had been filled with yet another solid player. I can’t stress enough how important it is to chat up players and listen, it’s amazing the information that’s given away! So anyway, I popped it up to 200 with pocket queens and he flat called. He was staring at me as the flop came out so I returned the favor stating that sooner or later one of us would have to take a look. He didn’t break contact, so I did and with a board of Qxx, 2 hearts I led out for 250 and he flat called. As the turn was felted, we did the same staring gig, and this time I checked my set without even looking and he checked behind. The river completed the flush draw but it happened to be the case queen, giving me quads for the first time ever during my live-play life I then gave the chips right back when I raised a limper with JsTs, with the limper flat-calling. I flopped an inside straight and flush draw but was check-raised and decided not to play the hand out.

During level 2, I open-raised from late position with Jd9d and was called by the bb. The flop was J78 and the action went check, bet call, which didn’t set well with me. The turn was a blank but this time he led out. I wanted to try and take control of the action so I raised to 2k total, which he flat-called and now alarm bells were ringing loudly! The river produced a most beautiful ten, not giving me the nuts but no way am I giving me Q9 here, so when he checked I led out for 3500 and having tanking, he finally made the call, none too happy that his 2 pair were no good. I may’ve taken a pot or two here and there but nothing memorable.

Level 3 found me raising again from late position but this time with pocket kings and the only caller was the bb, and very solid player who’d be connecting well but playing very straight up poker, he’s given no reason not to believe he has what his betting stated. The flop was 226 and he check-called my continuation bet. The turn was a 7 and this time he check-raised my bet making it 4k straight. I just didn’t want to believe and after some time, I made the call. Damn near before the river even fell, he pushed all in and I really tanked this time. I walked back through the hand and his previous play and just couldn’t find a bluff here. All I had was a single-pair, albeit kings, but a single-pair nonetheless. After considering all the possibilities, I made the fold, knowing I was beat. I folded ‘em face up, which was stupid, but I didn’t think anyone would use the information to run me over as most of the table knew I was beat before I did. I damn well know there was a time when I would’ve just stuck my chips in there not believing what I was being told, but not this time. Seat 8, 10 and I started joking around at me being weak-tight but we all knew the truth . A few hands later, I raised the same player who had limped in early position with AKo and I took the pot down. As we went to break there were 509 players left and the average stack was 14k; I was sitting about average.

I don’t have a damn thing noted during level 4 which is totally sad, there were 440 players left at this point. During level 5 I used my newfound tighter than a frog’s arse image to raise with Td8d from utg and took down the pot, which at 200/400/25 was becoming a nice scoop. I then took the lone bb from the button after a player had busted. On the last hand before level 6 I found myself with pocket tens and I popped it 1600 after a lone limper. The sb (new to the table) flat-called and the ego-driven dealer pushed from the bb, covering me but not the sb. I’d seen him make this play before with small pocket pairs and figured him making a squeeze play. I decided based on the information I had to make the call, hopefully getting heads-up but after an agonizing period of thought, the sb decided to over-call. We went to the flop with the bb holding KK, the sb tabling 6s7s and me with my lowly tens. Kings flopped a set but a flush draw materialized on the turn, the river was no help and with my incorrect read, I was ousted a little after 4pm . Once again, I’m happy with my play and decisions but I’m just not getting the results, thank goodness I’m having fun! I’m now down nearly $2600 in tournament play but up $200 in the TI cash games

I used my “you’d better ask when you register ‘cause they never inform you at the time” food comp for a couple of slices before meandering through the canal shops and the palazzo exiting onto the strip then reentering the Wynn to see if I could meet up with Assani. It was still early and although I had them make an announcement, I didn’t see any indication he was in the room. I’ll try again tomorrow. On my way back I passed by a small bar with an amazing list of margaritas and with the long walk over and back, it sounded damn good. When I ordered the drink the bartender had to make sure what I ordered it what I wanted, pointing out the same drink in a menu as I saw on the wall and not looking closely, I said of course that’s what I want. And for the 2nd in near as many days, I found myself staring down the barrel of a $30 drink It ended up being a platinum Patron margarita with grand marnier and contrineau It was so good, I just may go back again knowing full well the cost!

I made my way back to TI and copped a squat in the Breeze bar to complete my drink with a fine cigar. I ended up having another margarita there that was nowhere near as good but who really cares at this point, as I was feeling fine and the traffic was awesome! By this time, it’s after 7pm and I’m really not sure what to do with myself. I finally decided to head to Fremont and see if my “buddy” Luis was manning Bad Habits. I valet’d at Binions and walked down to 4th. Luis wasn’t there but the lounge area was empty and cool so I decided to fire up the Romeo Juliet I’d bought the day before and watch a fight on ESPN, having some good conversation with the owner’s son, Isaac. And thankful for my stop, they’d stocked the safe back up. 10 sticks (4 Cohiba Siglo 3s, 2 Monte Cristo Churchills, 2 Punch Churchills and 2 Boliva Churchills) and $200 later I was on my way. I’d decided not to play anymore today but needed a bit more food, so I opted for trying out Red Sushi at Golden Nugget.

It’s not an enclosed restaurant, sitting open on the casino floor. It has a large bar-front with 3 large tables on the right of the establishment, 2 couples-tables in the front and a long table with chairs on both sides off to the left. The 2 chefs looked as old as many of Binions dealers All in all, I have to think there are much better places out there and while I didn’t expect the same level of quality I found at Social House, I did expect a little more. I won’t be returning and I’d be hard pressed to suggest others give it a try.

Tomorrow is my next to last day in town and I need to find a tournament. I’ll most likely end up back at the Venetian for their $550 but it’s a 2-day event and I leave at 4pm on Friday. Who knows, maybe I’ll try out the Wynn .

Day 8, Thursday:
I was conflicted with decision as I awoke on Thursday; play the Venetian and potentially go deep causing me yet another scheduling change or opt out for the Caesars daily tourney. Thanks to come quick thinking on my part, I contacted SouthWest and inquired about booking a one-way ticket on Saturday and what the potential cancellations might be. Turns out that when using a rapid reward ticket, it can be cancelled with no penalty so with my penchant for playing the Venetian tournaments, the decision was easy. After getting semi-packed as I’d most likely be departing on Friday I headed out and went through my normal routine before taking my seat in the noon $550, 15k in chips and 40 minute levels.493 are entered and the prize pool is 237k with 1-3 locking up 54%.

My table to start; seat 1 is a kid from Romania who most assuredly was an internet wiz just licking his chops after he picked up pots early and often, playing nearly 75% of his hands. Seat 2 is a player from Atlantic City who mostly plays cash games and had busted from the WSOP Main Event, turns out he’s also a fan of Tim Coterrill, the Frog Man. I’m in seat 3 and in seat 4 is an ok player but looks at his cards as they come and caps ‘em when he intends to play and leaves ‘em uncovered when intending to muck; thank you Sir! 5 is empty and 6 is occupied by a guy who travels Europe on business playing his cards only. Seat 7 is a smart math guy but also just playing his cards. 9 is a Spanish-speaking player who is aggro early but ends up busting early being replaced from a player from Poland who is reading a Star Wars book and not paying a bit of attention to the game. And last but not least in an older gentleman who redefines the phrase, tighter than a frog’s arse

During level 1I catch TT and flop a set taking a small pot off Mr. Spanish who’d been paying off everyone else up to that point. I catch pocket aces and play them too fast on a blank flop containing a lone king; should’ve waiting a street to see if he’d catch up. I then catch tens again and take down a pot against Mr. Spanish again betting all the way on a scary board.

Level 2 finds me catching kings, raising after the player on my right had mini-raised. We go heads up and I flop a set with an ace appearing as well. When he checks, I lead out hoping he’s got the ace in his hand, but no such luck, damn! I then play A9o due to not playing many hands and get called by a new player in the blinds. He check-calls my continuation bet then check-raised me on the turn; should’ve known better…I have to fold 33 from my blinds due to aggression and would’ve flopped a set. I then don’t play 7s from ep1 and once again would’ve flopped a set, turning a boat and would’ve gotten paid off nicely. I need to find some aggression with my newfound observation skills!

During level 3 I raise the Romanian limper with AdJd and he flat calls. The flop comes down JT9, not exactly the safest board in the world but I make the standard continuation bet after he checks to me; he flat-calls once again. When another ten falls on the turn, he leads our for 1k and I flat-call, looking back I might’ve found a raise to gauge how well he really liked his hand. The river is the ugliest queen I’ve ever seen in the world and this time he leads out for 1k and for some unknown reason to me, God and everything else in the universe, I raise to 3k; I think his aggression was getting the better of me. He flat-calls once again and after I table AJs he turns over KJ for the river nuggets….just damn! He asks me why I raised him and all I say is, nice hand. Due to stupidity on my part, I’m down to just under 11k. as we head off for our first break. There are 389 players left at this point.

Level 4 and the aggression is ramped up yet another notch and I’m only able to sang a pot stealing when the table open-folded to me in the hijack. 389 players are left now.

During level 5 (200/400/25) I find a rare instance when the tables folds to me in the sb and I look down to find pocket 8s. I raise it up and the bb doesn’t believe me, re-raising to 5k straight and I have a decision to make. He’ll most likely have to call if I push, and I can’t just flat-call; the only other option is to fold and I don’t really like that option as it reeks of weak-tight! I finally decide to push and insta-calls me tabling A6. I’m really surprised at his hand and he’s just as equally surprised that not only did I actually have a hand, but also that I made the call. My hand holds up and back in play. By this time, Mr. Spanish has busted and has been replaced by Mr. Poland, nose buried in his Star Wars book only raising his head to look at his cards and folding hand after hand. It’s raised utg to 1200 by Mr. Math (he commented how many hands the dealer had gotten out during her down) and after Mr. Poland peeks at his cards, he raises to 3k straight. It’s folded to me in position and I look down at pocket kings. Even considering his range, I debate for a few seconds and decided to push. When it’s folded back to him, he insta-calls and tables pocket aces. Even considering my reads and looking back at the hand afterwards, I don’t know if I could’ve done anything differently. Had I flat-called, the flop was non-coordinated junk and the money would’ve went in then anyway, so it plays out the same regardless. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten away from kings pre-flop. I’m now down to 5k . I then double up with AK after raising pre-flop and calling a push by Mr. Europe holding jacks. He’s more than a tad upset, but I’m still amazed when I see this kind of behavior! I then push with jacks after Romania raises yet again and take it down without a fight. 340 players are left and I’m back up to 12k.

Level 6 is 300/600/50 and Mr. Math is short but open-raises just under half his stack and is flat called by the Romanian kid. I decide to push to try and isolate heads-up against math-guy holding AdJd and it works perfectly. He pushed, Romania folds and I’m up against pocket queens. The play works out when I flop 2-pair and he gets no help. We end the level with 300 runners remaining and I’m now sitting at 17k. Something inside me just can’t shut off my radar ears and I guess that’s a good thing at a poker table. Hell, I’ve even picked up some slight lip-reading skills so I partially tell what other players are whispering at the other end of the table from time to time But in this case, it’s what I overheard at the table behind me that had me laughing my ass off, funniest thing I think I’ve ever heard while playing the game. Apparently and attractive female player is seated with a table full of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that have never seen a women before and with the action on one of the monkeys, another ape pipes up and states that he should be a gentleman and let he have the pot. He reply was, “just play me like I have a penis.” I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried!

Level 7 (400/800/75) and when the older gentleman raises from early position I find myself with aces again and make a standard re-pop to which he folds . I take the pot down but not with nearly the chips in the middle I’d like. The table has turned over all but 4 of the original starting 10 and without a good handle on the new incoming players, I let go of pocket 8s under-the-gun; I think I really need to find a better way to play these types of hands. Once again, aggression is the key and I need to find me some. I then open-raise QJ on the button and seat 4 who is new to table ( a female lawyer) pops me right back and I decide not to play for stacks. 240 players remain and I’m sitting on a mound of chips, totaling 16k

During level 8 (600/1200/100) I’d played an orbit losing my blinds, followed by posting and losing my bb, knocking me back to 13k. When it’s folded to my sb, I considered the cost of each round (nearly 4k) and since it’s add 33% to my stack, I decided to push with daman near any 2 cards. I peeked down at 78o and did just that. Ms. Lawyer asked for a count, then looked at her cards and made the easy insta-call with AKo. Once again, the bb had woken up with a hand when I was making a move. I didn’t get any help and off into the twilight of a week’s worth of play I meandered.

Twice during this trip, I’d ordered what had turned out to be $30 drinks unbeknownst at the time of placing said order. But this time, I did it on purpose. I went into the Canal Shops and ordered a “Perfecto” margarita made with Patron Platinum, then made my way over to the Wynn to see if I could meet up with Assani. After making an announcement as they did the previous day, I got the same result, nada. So I made my way back though the palazzo, the canal shops and since my cup was dry and I decided, “what the hell” and ordered yet another to take with me on my way over to the Breeze bar at TI for a much needed cigar. About this time, I run into Cindy and John who were headed to Excalibur for some donk-tastic $1/2 and I decided to join in the fun since I hadn’t seen John in so long and I always look forward to talking cards with him!

They arrived before I did but I quickly got into the game and before long we were all having a blast. That is before John stacked off twice, the second time holding bottom-two against 2 sets. To make matters worse, he actually made his boat, obviously still a losing hand . I then continued the trend after chipping slightly up, giving away my $200+ when I made top-two against a set, just damn! Not exactly how I wanted to cap the trip but what is one to do I ask?

We’d planned on some late-night sushi so after that abysmal showing, that’s exactly what we did. We headed out to Sapporo off 215 and Flamingo for Ladies Night. We scarfed down several rolls, an order of spicy wings as well as tuna-tataki and thanks to Cindy being in our party, we were let off the hook for a mere $32

I got back to the apartment about 12:30 and finished up the process of cleaning up the place and packing so I could make a quick exit in the morning. I had a great time this week and still think I played good cards, made correct decisions and made the moves that were needed at the time they were made; I just didn’t get the results I’d hoped for! In the interest of fair-reporting as is often discounted in the recounts of these trips I was over $3k in tournament entry fees alone. And my cash winnings at TI were wiped out by my loss at Excalibur, so there And since I paid cash for both my frogs as well as several drinks and meals, I was tucking my tail between my legs and sticking the remaining $1200 in my wallet as it no longer required a rubber band. I’m tired, and ready to go back home but had a great trip and would do it all over again knowing the outcome! I plan on studying intently and improving my game before coming back out and thankfully due to taking advantage of Daniel’s new site and the discounted fee during the Expo, I expect to execute that plan to the fullest extent. Thanks for reading, I know it’s long but I hope you enjoyed; I know I did!

Awesome report, its really getting me excited for my trip although I won't be partaking in the deepstack events like yourself.

I do however plan to try the margaritas you've talked about...

Nice job on the report.Enjoyed reading it!!

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed!

Day9, Friday:
Torn between squeezing in a for more activities and sleeping in late I finally opted for the former hoping to adjust back to east coast time a little easier. I awoke rather early, cleaned up the apartment, doing laundry, then turned in the keys and I was on my way. As mentioned I’ve been wanting to stop by the Shelby Museum for a while and knowing how quick things change in Vegas, it was now or never. Located at the Speedway just a short ride up north 15, I’d arrived at my destination in no time flat. It’s a small display (12+ cobras/mustangs) but packed with incredibly historic cars! There’s a small gift shop sitting along side the rides and it felt as if any minute Carroll himself would come strolling out; he never did . I decided to bypass the factory tour instead heading over to the café around the corner for a coffee and a quick look around before heading back into town.

Still needed to drop off a Pedro Bello for Luis at Bad Habits so Fremont, here I come! I grabbed a metered space outside Binions and took a leisurely stroll down to 4th. I arrived just after opening, exchanged greetings, fired up an ’06 Padron Limited while we watched a special on the History channel about the Freemasons. By now it was noon and I was in bad need of food, knowing I was going to be stuck on a plane for at least 4 hours and with the time difference back home, I certainly didn’t want to be eating at 1am On my way back I ran into a $3, 10x odds Craps table at Binions and decided to try my luck. I had a blast and now know why people like this game so much. I also know why people (love ya T.J.) go broke playing it as I quickly dropped $100 playing max bets on the pass line with the “boss” eyeballing every step of the way. Maybe I’ll play again, who knows

I’d be remiss if I didn’t make a stop in to TI to say goodbye so after retrieving my car I did just that. I had a nice chat with Danette and thanked them again for the awesome customer service. Safe that my $30 in comps wouldn’t be expiring anytime soon, Ileft them in place and headed to the stop that has to always be made, In ‘N Out! I had bypassed the one close to the apartment, instead making the one off Tropicana my destination of choice and that was a mistake. The place was PACKED beyond belief but orders were flying out quickly and the staff was wonderfully nice. So sack in hand, stuffed with the best double-double I’d ever had, I was on my way to the airport.

I have to remind myself to quit getting there so damn early as I sailed through security and found myself waiting for over 2 hours only to find out that we’d be delayed yet another hour . The saving grace was snagging an exit row seat on the under-filled flight; couple that with no middle passenger and 21 playing as the in-flight movie, I couldn’t go wrong. Five jack ‘n cokes later we’d landed and I was slammed back to reality.

I always get a bit melancholy on my last day in town and it never really fully sets in until I return the rental; this time was no different. I’m back home now and thankfully my dogs didn’t forget me, nor my wife! I’ve resigned to buckle down and study the game more intently before returning to mecca. I hadn’t touched cards between my last trip and this one, and although I don’t think it hurt my game, it had to have some impact. I hate playing locally so I hope to intense study of Poker VT as well as another site (thanks John) I really hope to improve! I hope to talk more hands and become more aggressive. I think once I combine aggression with observation and adaptation, I’ll be able to break over that peak that’s been holding me back.

Thanks again for following along and see ya next time!

It amazes just how many players I recognize when playing in tournaments. Months and sometimes years have passed but yet there they are, and I even recall their names and more times than not, hands we've played as well. They look at me like it's the first time!

Not that I'm any sort of fashion maven but since when did the "flipped collar" look make it back to being cool?

I saw Russell Rosenblum of WPT "fame" playing in the Venetian $550, that is one SHORT dude!

The guy at Villa Pizza had the most unique tattoos I've ever seen, handprints of his wife and kids running up his arms!

In a town full of exotic cars, it's still pretty awesome to see two diffetent Maybachs duing the week!

If you can't afford a real "murse" then simply strap a 7-11 bag to a belt loop. It's functional, inexpensive and best of all, available all over the place

Enjoyed reading your trip report, thanks for posting it in such detail. Sorry to hear the results, but seems you had a blast anyway! Good luck next time.

Great report, I love the play along with me daily format.

Sucks about the tourneys, It always happens to me whenever I get a hand or make a move in the sb, the bb always wakes up with a hand!!!

Great TR!

But I must ask... when are we going to party in Vegas?

@PiJuice15

After Tearing Houston apart, I'm not sure vegas could handle us

Hugo/Minton, I don't know when I'll be back out honestly but with that position open, I still may have a few more trips this year, albeit with a broken bankroll

As for the drinking, I think the Vegas crowd would eat me alive, especially considering I found me some $100/shot tequilla

@Boston

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed and I always have fun, win or lose. I never play what I can't afford to lose, it just may lengthen my time between trips

great reading

the cigar shop downtown, they have cubanos?

PM me the details plz