Vegas Trip Report

Rdsknman · 12-30-2007 12:54 PM

Where is our daily updates that we SHOULD be getting from your Vegas trip!

**hitman247x** · 12-30-2007 01:42 PM

Just do it.

**Chipless Wonder** · 12-30-2007 06:14 PM

Laid over in Chicago for an hour now so here goes...

We got in pretty late Thursday night, checked in at MGM, had dinner and just went to bed.

On Friday we walked all around and saw lots of stuff – from Freemont Street to the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace to the Studio Walk at MGM. The big highlight for Tracy was the exotic cars for sale at the place we can’t remember the name of. I think I like the fact that it’s always sunny in Las Vegas.

The main purpose of our trip was to see Van Halen. They’ve been Tracy’s favorite band since 1978, so for our ten year anniversary I thought it would be nice to do the whole VIP treatment. This included a private pre-concert party, backstage passes, and question and answer sessions with Chris – their head guitar and amplifier tech who started with them in July. It was pretty cool seeing all Eddie’s guitars and hearing some of the inside stories. The only disappointment we had was missing Valerie who apparently came by while we were in the bathroom.

Our special package included sixth row, center stage tickets – without question the best seats in the house. Tracy was very excited to be within about twelve feet of Eddie all night. I’m not a huge Van Halen fan, but these guys definitely ROCK and put on a great two hour long show.

Sunday was poker day. I decided to only play one tournament on this trip, so I picked the best one around. The Venetian’s deep stack event starts at noon on Sunday and you get 10,000 chips for $550. Blind levels are 40 minutes, so anyone who doesn’t make the final table in this structure should just quit playing poker. As always, thanks to Dana for checking up on me at every break.

We started with 86 players, and I (of course) kept notes about every hand I played. This really helps me later when I go back and realize how clear some of my mistakes are. As silly as it seems, I’m totally convinced that this is a major factor in developing and improving my game over time.
In the first blind level I played ten hands, which is way more than I had planned to play. I’ll list all ten here, and I hope to get some good feedback from everyone.

Very early in the first level, there were two limpers and I called from the button with 10-9 offsuit. We took the flop five-handed, everyone checked, so I bet 200 into a 250 pot and everyone folded.

From the cutoff, I limped with pocket twos, then folded to a bet of when the flop came 10-J-Q.

From second position, I limped with pocket fours. Four players saw the flop and there was 200 in the pot. Everyone checked on a king high flop with two clubs. The turn was another king, and also completed the flush draw. I bet the pot and everyone folded.

I raised to 250 from the button with A-J offsuit. The big blind called, and the flop came ace high with three diamonds. He checked, I bet 600 and he called. The turn brought another ace, he checked, I bet 1,250 and he folded.

I limped from the cutoff with 5-4 suited, then folded on the flop.

I raised to 250 from late position with A-Q of hearts. The button raised to 500 and I called. The flop came with two hearts and I bet 400 into a 1,075 pot. He raised to 1,000 and I called. The turn gave me top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw and I checked. He bet 2,000 into a 3,075 pot and I folded. I sensed he was very strong on this hand, with something like A-A, K-K or maybe even Q-Q.

I checked my option with 9-5 suited in the big blind. I flopped bottom pair and a flush draw, so I check-called a 150 bet. The turn completed my flush so I check-raised his 250 bet to 750 and he folded.

I completed from the small blind with 4-2 suited, then folded on the flop.

Check this hand out. I don’t think I maximized here, so input would sure be appreciated. I called a pre-flop raise from the cutoff with pocket eights. I flopped a set, but there were some draws on the board, so I tripled his bet and he called. The turn gave my another eight for quads and we both checked. I was really hoping he would catch up and/or bet the river. He checked to me on the river, but for some reason I got the impression that he wanted me to bet. I was pretty sure he wanted to check-raise me. So I thought the most correct play would be a small bet so he could stick to his plan. But the more I looked at him, the stronger he convinced me he was. So I decided to go out on a limb and overbet the pot. Maybe he would check-raise me all in. He sat there for at least five minutes and finally folded. I was surprised no one called the clock on him. I really don’t know what he had, but I just know that he thought I had nothing at all.

The next hand I played was timed perfectly, since it was immediately after the quad eights hand (which I did not show). I limped from the highjack position with A-10 suited, just hoping to see a cheap flop. The button seemed extremely suspicious of my last hand, so I wasn’t at all surprised when he raised to 150. I don’t normally like to play weak aces out of position, but I thought I had enough chips to see a flop. The flop gave me top two pair and I was first to act. I figured my opponent had a better hand than me pre-flop, and as I said he seemed convinced that I was full of shit on the last hand, when I had overbet the pot on the river. So I decided to lead right out and overbet the pot again. This way if he had A-K or A-Q I could get all his chips. The pot had 400 in it, so I bet 800, trying to play the role of a bully without a hand. Just as I had hoped, he raised to 2,500 and looked very confident about his hand. So I went into the tank for a while and tried to make it look like I had gotten caught bluffing. Finally I asked for a chip count and put him all in. He called instantly with A-J. Too bad he only had 7,000 chips!

By the end of the first blind level I was in third place with 21,000 chips and 84 players remaining. It would take a real donkey to blow a chip lead like this. Some of you might not even think it’s possible, but stay tuned and be prepared to be amazed…

In the second level, I played seven hands, and lost some chips on two big laydowns I made. Not sure either one was correct, but I was making an attempt to not give up all the chips I had accumulated during the first level. In one hand, I folded to a large raise when an ace flopped. And in the other one, I folded A-Q on a queen high board to a check-raise from a new uber-aggressive opponent. Finished level two with 18,000 chips.

In the third level, it was more of the same. I played eight hands and I finished with 19,000 chips.

In the fourth level, I really tightened up. I had decided to play fewer hands, and play them more aggressively. I only played three hands, and finished with 21,000 chips.

This seemed to help, so I stuck to the same plan for level five. I played three hands, but had to fold my pocket jacks to an all-in pre-flop re-raise. This was done by the guy who I had pegged as the best player at our table (definitely a pro), who was on the button. I had raised from early position to 1,600, gotten one caller, and then the pro pushed all in for ~9,000 more. I couldn’t decide if he had A-K or was simply doing a squeeze play, so I eventually folded. In retrospect, I really think he had A-K there, and I made a bad fold. There were 4,000 dead chips in the pot, plus his 9,000 chip all-in bet. That was only half my stack and I really think I screwed up by not re-raising all-in after the pro had pushed. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me that I had made this fold. Think of the table image I would have had if I had made this call and he had A-K. Input please…

I finished level five with 21,000 chips, which was slightly above the average chip stack since half the field was gone by now. But I was now one third of the way to being tilted. In level six, I made my second big mistake of the tournament. After being forced to fold top pair, top kicker, then pocket queens, then pocket jacks, I had decided I was tired of being pushed around. I wanted my chip lead back and I was going after it. Did I mention that ego isn’t helpful in poker?

I hadn’t played many hands at all for the last two hours, so I decided to raise to 2,200 from first position with pocket nines. It folded all the way around to the big blind, who looked at his cards like he was expecting to fold. I had only seen him play two hands all day, and they were both pocket pairs, so I knew he was going to fold just about anything. As soon as he looked at his cards, he immediately removed his earplugs and pushed all his chips in the center. Everyone else at the table knew he had pocket aces. I even knew it, and I have no idea why I called here and gave away half my chips. What a dumbass I can be! So now I was two thirds of the way tilted.

**Chipless Wonder** · 12-30-2007 06:14 PM

The last hand I played in level six was the one that put me completely over the edge. I limped with pocket fours, the flop came 8-6-6 and I figured I had a good chance of having the best hand here. The big blind check-called me and I decided he had two overcards that missed the board. The turn brought a flush, and the big blind check-called me again. I’m not sure why, but I was fairly convinced the board wasn’t helpful to him at all. I thought about betting the river, but I had a bad feeling that he was going to do the ‘I missed my draw so I’m all in’ move on the river, and I didn’t want to lose more chips. Maybe we can check it down and his ace high will be good enough. I checked and he overbet the pot. This convinced me even more that I was ahead, but I just couldn’t bring myself to call with five overcards and a flush out there. Seemed like a good fold Scott, except for how it effected me when he showed me his A-J bluff. That was the last straw for Scott the Donkey. I finished level six with only 8,000 chips and I was now officially on tilt.

This was the turning point for me, because mentally I felt like I had been outplayed three times now. As often seems to happen, I get really mad at myself when I make a big mistake. Small mistakes are OK, but I seem to really struggle to keep playing well once I feel I make a big mistake. I can recover from bad beats, and I can recover from being short-stacked, but I just don’t seem to be able to recover from hands like this. Certainly not three this close together. At least not yet. But I’m going to make this my major focus for 2008.

Anyway, Tracy brought me ice cream on the break and that helped to clear my mind a little bit. I entered level seven in ultra-aggressive mode, and had worked my way back up to 12,500 chips then I went down swinging in 27th place. I can’t say enough about this tournament location, structure, etc. It’s the best one I’ve played in Vegas to date, and if I can win enough money online, I plan to make several more runs at this one during 2008…

After poker, we checked out the shark reef and then the UFC fights at Mandalay Bay. Chuck Liddell looked awesome. We were both very impressed at the way he dominated Silva. I’ve watched Silva fight in Pride many times, and I really didn’t think Liddell had much of a chance against him. Same thing for the Matt Hughes fight. I expected Georges St. Pierre to win, but I didn’t expect him to completely own Matt Hughes. I just didn’t think anyone was that good. Great fights for sure!

After the fights, we walked back to MGM. I’m not real good at waiting in lines, and the taxi lines after the fights were about a half mile long! Once we got back to MGM, we decided to give blackjack a try. I’d tried it a couple of times for a few dollars before, but never really had any idea how to play. Greg Brown was nice enough to email a few tips. We followed those with hardly any deviation, and Tracy and I both made money. We played for four hours, drank lots of beer, and ended up ~ $170 to $180 ahead less tips. Thanks Greg!

Then we went to a real late dinner and got back to our room at 4:00 (7:00 a.m. Ohio time). Haven't eaten yet today either! I’m feeling very tired and mildly hung over as I write this…

p.s. – if you took the time to read this, you’ve proven that you’re a patient person. Now, how about proving you’re a helpful person and giving me some feedback on the three big poker mistakes I made.

**charlton49** · 12-30-2007 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by Chipless Wonder

The last hand I played in level six was the one that put me completely over the edge. I limped with pocket fours, the flop came 8-6-6 and I figured I had a good chance of having the best hand here. The big blind check-called me and I decided he had two overcards that missed the board. The turn brought a flush, and the big blind check-called me again. I’m not sure why, but I was fairly convinced the board wasn’t helpful to him at all. I thought about betting the river, but I had a bad feeling that he was going to do the ‘I missed my draw so I’m all in’ move on the river, and I didn’t want to lose more chips. Maybe we can check it down and his ace high will be good enough. I checked and he overbet the pot. This convinced me even more that I was ahead, but I just couldn’t bring myself to call with five overcards and a flush out there. Seemed like a good fold Scott, except for how it effected me when he showed me his A-J bluff. That was the last straw for Scott the Donkey. I finished level six with only 8,000 chips and I was now officially on tilt.

I'm not sure how exactly you put him on two overcards after check-calling a limped flop in the BB -- what was the bet? There's not much that can be broken down here without knowing what exactly was on the turn and river, or what the bets were. However, dwelling on hands is a pretty easy way to go broke. For me, if I start to get it in my head that I'm being outplayed, I do one of two things: 1) Hit the gas pedal and overplay myself out of the game or 2) Tuck my tail and start to wait for cards. Neither situation is beneficial to my play. Yes, being overly-confident can cost chips in the long run, but so can lacking confidence. If you're getting to the point where it feels like you can't do anything right, walk away from the table for a minute. Get away from the neagative environment you've created, give yourself a peptalk, do SOMETHING that will correct your mindset.

Didn't know you were an MMA fan -- glad to hear the fight was exciting. I was checking Sherdog and their descriptions just aren't nearly as exciting as the real thing.

**Chipless Wonder** · 12-30-2007 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by h1tman247x

Spearmint Rhino

Huh?

**Chipless Wonder** · 01-01-2008 04:46 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Chipless Wonder
In one hand, I folded to a large raise when an ace flopped.

What did you have here? Why the fold?

I raised with pocket queens and got one caller. The flop came with an ace, I bet out and folded to a large raise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chipless Wonder
And in the other one, I folded A-Q on a queen high board to a check-raise from a new uber-aggressive opponent.

How did this hand play out?

I raised with A-Q offsuit from late position. One of the blinds called me, then check-raised me for five times my bet when I bet out. He was most likely full of shit and just thought I had missed the flop. But he was a new player to our table and he was playing very aggressively. So I decided to just let go of top pair, top kicker, instead of losing half my chips to a possible set.