Taz's Trip Report 12/25 - 12/30
I have enjoyed reading members trip reports that give a running account of there trip as each day passes, so I thought I would give it a try. First off Santa gave me a wireless broadband card for my lap top which I am able to use the internet anywhere that Verizon is available. This will also make it nice for me when I get home because I had dial up before, and it took forever to do anything on the internet. This new card is amazing with the speed that the intenet goes now.
Back to my poker trip, I arrived in Las Vegas last night at 8 pm. My wife and I decided to drive this time. For the first night we stayed at South Point. The hotel rooms are very nice with a lot of room and a very nice flat screen TV. After we checked in we went down and played some 2-4 limit. I bought in for $100 and was down to $60 before I won my first hand, I just was not getting cards. Finally I get pocket Queens and my wife and I had a raising war pre flop with three other people in the pot. The flop was 9-6-3 I bet and and there was a raise and I called along with two other players. The turn was another 9 so now I am worried about someone having a 9. I just call the bet along with one other person. There are now three people in the pot with one being wife. The turn is a beutiful Queen giving me a full house and I bet and the other two call me. I rake in this pretty good pot. I hadn't put my wife on a big hand because she likes to play drawing hands, as it turned out she had pocket aces. I did not fell to bad because the last couple of times we have played together she has rivered me when I had the best hand going into the river. No other big hands until the last had of the night and I get K-J suited. The flop is two spades matching the two spades in my hand. There is some betting and I call with my draw. The turn was a blank and, thre was a little more betting and I call hoping to hit my flush on the river. The river does bring the fifth spade and I have the second best hand possible. I bet and someone raises, I just call hoping he has a smaller flush, but he had the A-3 of spades taking down my flush. After this hand I decided to call it a night and went up to my room. I cashed out up $45.
This morning I will be moving over to TI to make that my home base for the rest of the trip. I will be playing the Head Hunters tournament and hopefully will be making a positive review of my outcome in this tournament in my next update.
Day 1: Up $45
Overall: Up $45
Yay a streaming report!!!
I also have the verizion wireless card, it kicks a$$!!!
Good Luck at the tables and keep us posted
Just a quick update while I am taking a break. Played in the Headhunters tournament this morning, this is a great tournament with a great structure. Just could not get anything going, did not get any bounties and was knocked out in the fifth round when my A-K was taken down by pocket aces. It was a little slow at TI today so I played in the first table they opened which was a 2-4 limit table. Played for about 5 hours on this table and ended up losing $100. This was your typical 2-4 table where you finally hit a flop and bet it hard on all streets only to get rivered. I need to go back to the no limit tables which is more suited to my play. I may go back tonight or just get a fresh start in the morning. I will try TI and if it is slow again I will probably head over to the Venitian.
Day 2: Down $225
Overall: Down $180
Just got back after my evening session at TI. I bought into the 1-3 NL game after taking a short nap. Most memorable hand was pocket 9's flopped a nine and turned quads. Took down a nice pot plus the $100 bonus TI gives for quads. Also hit sets on the flop a couple of times to make a nice evening session. Cashed out up $275, will get a few hours of rest then head out again.
Day 2 part 2: Up $275
Overall: Up $95
Just got in from a long day of poker at TI. Played 1-3 NL during 2 different sessions for about 11 hours today. Nothing really memerable to report just grinding out small pots waiting for the big pot to hit but there where no big pots today. In the first session I was up $140 and the second up $85. For the non poker part of my day I took a break mid day and my wife and I took our daughter to the top of the Stratosphere, we tried to have dinner up there but the earliest time slot they had open was at 10 pm. So we just looked around the observation deck. I would recomend making reservations if you are planning to have dinner there. We ended up having dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse, very nice resturant but a little on the expensive side.
Plans for tomorrow include more poker at TI and LVM has posted a planned mixer game at TI in the evening that I am going to try and make.
Day 3: Up $225
Overall: Up $320
Taking a break mid afternoon so thought I would give a brief update. The first no limit game opened at 11 am at TI this morning so I buy in for my typical $200. This session started out really good. Win a few small pots then I am dealt pocket two's, I limp in as well as a few other people. Flop comes out Q-9-2, I make it $25 and everyone folds except one person, who raises it to $80 I only have about $110 left so I go all in and he calls showing a Queen and an Ace kicker I think. The turn and river are blanks so I take down a nice pot. I then build my stack up to around $350, when I make the most bone head move of my poker career. Please give me all feedback good or bad and let me know what I should have done different other then the obvious that I will get to in a little bit.
Here is the hand:
I have ~$350 In the big blind
Villian has ~$400 under the gun
Villian is first to act and limps in as do about 4 other players. Action gets to me in the big blind and I look down to see pocket Queens, so I raise it $25. Villian calls and everyone else folds. I was hoping to take the pot down pre flop but that did not happen. Now I am a little confused because what hand does a UTG player limp in with then call a $25 raise? I am thinking two high suited cards. Flop is 9-6 and I think another small card, but two of them are spades, so I still have an over pair and I do not want him to draw to the flush, and I want to take the pot down right then so I go all in. BIG mistake, he instant calls and shows pocket sixes for a flopped set. No Queen on the turn or river and I am felted. Pre flop when he called my raise (typically raises where in the $10-$15 range on this table) I did not put him on a middle pocket pair. In retrospect I should have made a pot size bet $50 to $60 dollars to see where I was at. If he reraises me I could lay it down, but what do you do if he calls. If the turn was an Ace, King, or spade I could shut down and fold to his bet. In this case no Ace or King came out on the turn and river. So my question is what do you do in the case of if I had only bet $60 on the flop and he flat calls. There is no scare card on the turn what acton do you take, you still have top pair with no flush or straight possible, then the same question on the river. If I check he has position and should bet if I check. Any and all comments are welcomed.
Any way I bought back in for $200 more and played a little more before taking this break. Will be heading back down in a little bit to start my afternoon session.
Day 4 part 1: Down $210
Overall: Up $110
@Taz007
You bet $325 into a $60 pot! That's a bet that will only get called by a hand that beats you. Ouch!
Your pre-flop raise is good. You don't want to play QQ five-handed. I'd immediately put him on a small to medium pocket pair when he calls you. But he might do this with suited connectors in position as well. On the flop I'd bet $45. If he calls, I'd worry about a set and consider 87 which has the implied odds. Maybe he has a pair and a flush draw. It's unlikely you'll pay off on a third spade, but a T or 5 isn't an obvious scare card.
Check the turn for pot control. Sure if he has OESD or the flush draw (with what two cards?), you're letting him draw for free but you can't price him out of a monster draw without pushing and you don't want to bet into a set.
Just finished my evening session, mainly playing in the TI mixer. Will try and write up more later but it is late right now.
Day 4 part 2: Down $35 at 1-3 NL
UP $26 at TI mixer
Overall: Up $101
That TI Mixer was a little more obnoxious then usual, believe it or not.
Thanks for sitting in. The game eventually degenerated into Joe, me, and Sabrinia playing Chinese three handed for about an hour and a half or so. The game broke at 5AM.
Thanks for playing in our TI based home game. Hope ya had a good time, and good luck!
Quick update from today, very long day at the TI tables, started playing at 11 am with 1-3 NL and ended at 2 am at the Mixer game, with just a quick dinner break between the two games. The big hand from the 1-3 NL game was when I had about $125 in front of me when I was dealt pocket 5's and the flop was 5-6-Q. I was all in on the flop and called by one player, turned over our cards and it was a set of fives versus a set of sixes my one outer did not come on the turn or river so I had to rebuy By the time I left I had built my stack up a little so I ended this session down $110. During this session and the two mix games Mrs. Leader was at the same table which was great that we were able to met and play at the same table.
After my short dinner break the TI mix game was starting and I joined this table. This game was a lot calmer then the mix game from the night before but just as fun, unfortunitly the cards were not good to me and I ended down $255 for this session. I think I will need to make a different page for this game because you should play it more for entertainment and socializing and not realy a profitable game to be taken seriously. Both nights of the mixer game I had the pleasure of sitting next to Cindy (not sure of her AVP name) and it was a pleasure meeting you if happen to be reading this. I will go into more details about these sessions after I get home and have caought up on some of my sleep.
I will be leaving Sunday but hopefully I will be able to get in one more poker session before I head home.
Day 5: Down $110 at 1-3 NL
Down $255 at TI Mixer
Overall: Down $264
Got home last night at 10:30 and crashrd as soon as my head hit the pillow. I will post a few notes from my last session and then after some rest I will write up a nice summary of my trip and some tips I would like to pass on.
First thing Sunday morning I checked in at the TI poker room and unfortunatly there was not a game going, so I went over to the Ventian and joined a 1-2 NL game there. My goal was to recoup some of my losses from the TI mix game the night before. Played poker by the book, no big pots but a lot of small pot wins. No real hands that stand out, but after about 3 hours I was up $195 so I cashed out, do to the fact that I had a long drive home. With this last win I ended down overall for the trip only $69, not anywhere near the ~$1,400 that I made on my last trip but not bad for 6 days of poker. I will write up more later after I catch up on some of the sleep I have missed over the last 5 nights.
Day 6: Up $195 at 1-2 NL at Ventian
Overall: Down $69
@Taz007
Actually your problems are preflop, not postflop. Your raise size was too awkward.
You have $350 stacks. The pot size is $50 on the flop and you each have $300 behind. He had to call $25 to potentially flop a set and win 10 times that. It's kind of borderline but of course you have to take a low pocket pair into account because that's what people love to do - bust you if you hold a big pocket pair.
You should have either planned to play a bigger pot or smaller pot. So either raise to $50 preflop - then you are safe to get all-in after the flop - or raise less (or just limp).
Yes, this will have still been a difficult hand to play if you had raised preflop, especially since you're out of position. You can keep checking but since you raised he has to consider you for a big pair and he's probably going to keep betting - uncomfortable amounts - especially as he gains confidence when you call a flop bet and then a turn bet. It would have been even more uncomfortable for you if an ace had come, but at least in that case he might have been concerned that the ace scared you and make smaller bets. But again, if you call his flop bet he'll gain confidence and assume the ace hit you, and he's got you.
The situation sucks, but ultimately you've only got 1 pair which isn't much in NL for your stack. You have to get a lot more money in preflop, or play a smaller pot. Or get paid off by a lot of donkeys in the mean time to make up for hands like these.
@AdRock
Would you be happy to play 66 5-handed?
@AdRock
So you bet $45 on the flop. There is $140 in the pot and you have $280 remaining. You check the turn. He bets $70 now. What do you do? Folding is pretty weak here.
Now there is $280 in the pot and you have $210 left. Explain how to play the river under various river cards and bets by your opponent. It's not pretty
Pushing the flop beats most of these scenarios. The rssult is probably going to be the same against a set, but at least you have no problems playing against hands like JJ, flush draws, straight draws, TPTK that turn into trips or 2 pair, etc.
And it was all set up by the preflop raise of $25.
@jeffnc
Would you be happy to play 66 5-handed?[/quote]
Actually, yes, I prefer to play 66 five-handed, as I'm playing 66 for set value, and additional callers give me better odds for calling what is most likely a "hit it or fold it" on the flop. Plus, if my set flops, more than one of the other callers may like the flop and invest more money, giving a better return on my investment.
By contrast, with QQ, I prefer to play heads up if possible, as QQ may not need to improve to win (e.g., versus AJ on a J-high board). Playing QQ five-handed makes it much tougher to figure out if your unimproved pair is good, while an unimproved 66 is auto-mucked. Just my perspective!
Taz, some interesting hands in your trip report, thanks for posting.
@Grange95
Would you be happy to play 66 5-handed?[/quote]
Actually, yes, I prefer to play 66 five-handed, as I'm playing 66 for set value, and additional callers give me better odds for calling what is most likely a "hit it or fold it" on the flop. Plus, if my set flops, more than one of the other callers may like the flop and invest more money, giving a better return on my investment.
By contrast, with QQ, I prefer to play heads up if possible, as QQ may not need to improve to win [/quote]
Well, if 66 is profitable 5 handed, then QQ certainly is as well.
@jeffnc
Yes, you are correct, but that misses the important difference in the two hands. Because QQ has a much better chance of winning heads up than 66, it is more profitable to play QQ against a small field (1 or 2 opponents). Once you get 3+ opponents against QQ, the hand becomes only slightly better than 66, and you are really getting to the point of needing to play it for set value.
@Grange95
Yes that was my point. 66 is profitable against multiple opponents, and QQ is even more profitable than that. You win less often when you have QQ against multiple opponents, but when you do you win bigger pots so it evens out. AA, for example, plays best against 9 opponents, according to a simulation on Wilson Turbo.
Jeffnc, I agree with your point, except that for most players, 66 is far easier to play than QQ. With 66, hit your set or fold. With QQ, there are a lot more complicated possibilities. Of course, if you have the discipline to play QQ conservatively for set value against 6+ opponents, you will be better off than playing 66. The problem is, for many players, it is just sooooo tough to lay down QQ even when you feel you are behind.