Miscellaneous memories

As other hands come back to me, I will list them here so this entry will update periodically for the next couple days.

Brad (Brandon Ditto clone) confirmed that indeed Shawn Marion was playing at the other table. 1/3 NL table for those curious.

On Monday, a player came back from the table and was telling everyone that he was walking through the sports book and couldn't believe Pete Rose was sitting in there hanging out and signing autographs. I say "Did you just say you were surprised to see Pete Rose in a sports book?" Dealer laughed, everyone else missed it.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Sunday night I when I was in donk mode I really wanted top play a nice junk hand, 3s5s. But Mother India makes it 20 to go pre-flop and that was about 1/4 of my stack at the time. I fold, easily, but begrudgingly...just in case. Flop is As4s5d. Turn is a 2 that would have filled my straight. River is the magical 2s that would have won me the hand (duh) and a $250 high hand payout. But the other 99.9% of the time that hand hits the muck as soon as there is a raise to me so the EV on a $20 call to triple up to $240 and win a $250 payout doesn't quite add up to a call. Would have limped with it at that point though. Hee haw.

Sunday Night Poker. Three handed between New York Tony, Brad Stone, and Frankie Avalon. Flop is 6s8s9s. Lot of thinking and betting on the flop. Nothing out of control though. Maybe 15 or 20 from each person, no raises. Turn is the 7s. Interesting. 50 from Tony. 100 from Brad. Frankie calls. Tony moves all in for a shade less than 150. Now Brad asks if that re-opens betting for him to re-raise. Dealer says no. Brad calls. Frankie calls. River is the mother of all blanks. Brad bets something (75?) and Frankie calls. Frankie has 89 for top two pair. Brad show 4s5? for "a straight AND a flush". Tony shows the greatest hand in the world, As5s(!!!) for a flopped nut flush and a turned sucker end of the straight flush. He was worried that Brad had the Ts and or TsJs when he wanted to re-open betting but Brad Stone is just a donk.

Later on in SNP, Brad Stone pushes all in on an Ax3 flop as first to act. Kid to his left insta-calls. Guy really liking his hand makes a crying fold. Brad shows AJos(huh?). Kid has bottom set. Crying guy folded AK. I was talking to cryer and we both agreed that calling Brad was no problem based on previous play but you can't call after a follow up insta-call. Ahhhh...the power of position. Turns out Brad would have rivered a Jack anyway so it ended up saving him money. Brad Stone ends up handing over 5 bills to Kid over top pair third kicker in maybe a $50 pot pre-flop. Yikes.

Check-out at the Flamingo was mercifully quick even around check out time.

I was in a different wing this time and I think it must be newer because the air conditioning was much much better than last time. Getting downright cold in the room despite the temps being probably 20 degrees warmer outside.

The lines for getting into the Pure nightclub were even worse this time I think. I ran into a couple of guys at the airport who were also there for a bachelor party and they sent a couple of their group ahead to wait in line starting at 8pm. They met up with them at 10pm just before they got in the door.

I have been carding in to log hours. Each hour is worth a whole dollar in comps (that's sarcasm by the way). Still, it beats nothing. Guy ahead of me in line at the fried rice place ran his rewards card through the register to redeem a free meal. He bets the horses and churns a lot more money through the casino than I do. Poker rooms are actually one of the worst returns on investment that casinos have but they all have to offer them because the patrons want to play poker and they can't afford to not have one if the casino down the street has one.

For those curious, Brandon Ditto used to work at my old job. He is not a celebrity or anything despite what he may think.

Right after a shuffle machine mishap, there was everyone's stories about how the shuffle machines don't work. One gal said "One time, I had the exact same hand three times in a row!" Some pointed out that that would mean there were two different decks involved. I declined to ask her whether or not she would find it more peculiar if she *never* got two identical hands in a row.

Floor had to be called over one hand when the winning hand was flashed to one end of the table including the other player at showdown but was laid face down on the table. Everyone agreed that the face down flush whose cards had already been put into the muck was the winning hand but the dealer could not award the pot. Flush eventually got his pot since showing the other players constituted tabling his hand. He was warned to make sure the dealer sees the cards too though.

Revisionist History

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be going back through and editing the blog to correct spelling, grammar, and memory errors. I will not however be substantially changing content...like where I correctly predicted the winners in all those sporting events.

It's the black piece of luggage...with wheels

Landed at Sea-Tac after another successful nap. Picked up luggage from the carousel. Waiting for the shuttle to take me to the car. They announced that some luggage arrived early and to check the holding area by the wall. I didn't see anyone pick any luggage up. I think it is a diversion they tell to give passengers something to do while waiting.

Final tally: Up 576

Not exactly getting back everything from last trip but I'll say that it is a lot easier to flush a buy-in than to make one. Was up in the 800 range for a while before donking set in. I know the holes I need to patch. I am still continually learning more about the game and what I need to do to improve. Had some fun. Took measures to plug some leaks before donking. But overall, poker was cash flow positive and that was definitely where I wanted it to be for this trip. The benchmark I wanted to hit was at least 500 bucks or 100/day. I had hoped to do better but as long as I cleared the minimum I'm OK with that. I would prefer that poker would have paid for all trip expenses so going to Las Vegas is free and I was there for a while but fell back. Just need to work on the game more for NEXT time!

Getting to airport not as bad as advertised

Cab line was only a few people deep and was moving quickly. I asked an asian couple with luggage if they were going to the airport and if they wanted to split a cab. The husband said "I don't think so." Ouch! Dude, where's the asian love? I think his wife must have spoken with him because after a little while they had reconsidered and agreed to share a ride.

Traffic flowed freely and the lines through the airport were running very efficiently. Hats off to McCarron Intl. And for the first time in recorded history, I did NOT have my bag hand searched while packing boxes of chips.

Quick stop for the regular smoothie (they were out of my regular, the Stratosphere, so I had the creamsicle one instead) and Burger King meal with a Cinnabon dessert and I have plenty of time to eat a relaxed meal while waiting for boarding.

A big blind's worth of sugar

After a while of being in "the zone" (not the Donk Zone) the cards started cooling off. A haze had started to settle in and the pokerness wasn't flowing as much so I tightened up to guard against donkage. Back when I was zoning, the cards were both more suited and connected. Flops were clearer. And chips were more flowing toward me. But those days are gone now. I saw a few flops that didn't hit.

Then I got into a seven way flop holding ATos on the button. Flop came out JQx and early position led out a weakish 10 which got called by three others and I could cap the betting with a gutshot to the nuts and a possibly good over card. Seat 5 was doing all the table talk for me saying that there is a gut shot and a KT open ender out against him. Turn comes an Ace and it checks around to me. I throw out a 60 (3/4-ish pot sized) bet. No one fought back and I take down a sizable pot.

One other hand of note was where I had pocket Nines and rivered a 9 which also completed a possible single card straight. Occasional maniac from the 8 seat puts a nice and tidy little 100 bet on the end. Options would be to fold, call, or raise which would essentially be a push for me though I think a pure min-raise would show more strength. I stand up to inspect the board and make sure I am reading it correctly and the occasional maniac had recently shown down a similar single card straight hand and collected a bill for his troubles. I fold.

I ask the table about how when I should leave to catch a 10:45 flight. 7 seat who was playing with the deaf guy and me last night said he is a cabbie and that lines are going to be hellish. Be in the cab line by 8:20 he said. I played a few more rounds and as my stack started to dwindle. I decided I'd play one more orbit until I was UTG again and that would leave me with one BB worth of sugar. As I got up from the table I wished everyone well. The cabbie said "come back soon". I turned around and said "I'll be back in two weeks..."

Better table

Came back from lunch to a much better table. Maybe Shannon Elizabeth was right. My reads are sharper. The cards are better. The fish are bigger. Some chips went to seeing some flops. Took down some pots.

Bumped into jumbo fish. Flop was 855 two diamonds. I had As8s and led 15. Two callers. Turn was another low card. I go 50, fold, then miss fishy hems and haws then pushes the rest of her stack which is about 50 anyway. She thinks I am jamming the pot with a diamond draw. She turns over pocket 4s...i.e. underpair to the board.

She also called off all her chips in another disaster. King high two spade flop and her AK is in the lead. 25 into the pot, called. Turn brings a Spade and now she gears down to a 5 bet. Gets re-raised to 35. She doesn't like it but she calls. Fourth Spade on the River. And she is so short stacked and feels pot committed enough to meet the other's chips in the pot. She has no Spade. Other guy has AsTs turn the Nut Flush and have a spare Spade to boot. Did I mention she normally plays limit?

Cards are drying up so I am taking a break to clear the brain and come back refreshed. Keeping an eye on the clock to make sure I catch my flight.

Fortune cookie

I didn't notice this before but on the back of the fortune cookie that said "Drink to your health", they print daily numbers (3 4 2) and Lotto numbers (33 39 32 26 28 18). So helpful!

Bad table

Sat down for about 90 minutes and at a hyper-aggressive table. The atmosphere along with being card dead was a bad combination. There was a bunch of guys in pissing matches every other hand. I completed a straddle bet for 6 with Ah7h and missed. I also saw a flop with AQos and missed. Only other playable hand was a KQos when I was in the big blind and we chopped.

So after 25 dollars of pre-flop money I decided to take a break and get some lunch. I am trying to figure out how I manage to see so many flops back home and how I could possibly be so card dead down here.

One last Special Fried Rice and Gatorade dining in for ol' times sake.

Sunday Night Poker recap (cont.)

After getting felted by overvaluing my Kings, I rebought and got sucked into a friendly game. There was very little raising so I saw more speculative flops. I saw a flop with 9hTh and flopped a Ten high flop with two hearts. I led and was called by Frankie Avalon a couple seats to my left. Heads up. Turn is a heart and I check my flush and let him bet. I think a little then call. River is a Black Ace, perfect since he may have been calling all the way with an Ace. I throw out a steal looking value bet of 50. He thinks for a while and min-raises me back. Normally I would be sure I was beat except that I saw him call off over 150 in a huge three way hand where he showed down two pair on a board with four spades! So I have to look him up and he shows KhQh. Grrrr. I already threw down a weaker flush earlier this weekend and could have done it again if I hadn't seen his play earlier.

Now I am in short stack mode and looking to double up. Not good. In retrospect I think I would keep my play level higher if I would top off instead of go into short stack mode. Called off the last of my short stack when I got priced in to a Spade draw and a backdoor straight. That blanked.

Added one one more stack and I reverted into donk mode. Limped with 4h6h in the SB then the BB raised it up to 10, and with two other callers I capped betting for the extra 6. Flop comes 46A two clubs. I check, the fish who raised puts in 30 or so. One caller then back to me. I push. BB thinks hard then calls off his stack. Other player thinks then folds. BB shows KK (with an Ace high board?) and my hand holds up. My stack is healthier now.

I call a straddled pot with KsJs. Guy to my left pushes for about 60. I have him on a total steal attempt and with the dead money in the pot and no one else behind me I call. He shows random Queen. We both flop our high card then I trip up on the turn and he's drawing dead on the river.

Then the table becomes short handed and that is bad news. They reduce the rake but the blinds are torture. Floor promises us more players soon and a stream of tourists come and go. One couple stops by and they ask what the minimum buy in is and the Floor says 100. They politely decline to play.

They finally have to break the table and move two of us to another one. There is a hilarious astute deaf guy at the other end. Great fun to play with and definitely knew his stuff. He called down a guy pressing hard on all streets with the Jean Enersen on a King high board. Afterwards he signed to his friend that he knew he had nothing. Then he pigeon signed an A frame shape and a big circle...whatever that means...I don't think it's flattering.

I enter a pot with AK, two callers, then short stack pushes for about 50. I instantly make it clear that I call and am trying to isolate for what feels like a race but to no avail as both other callers come in also. Flop is all low. I check and there is a 50 bet and a 100 raise behind that. I fold. 50 better thinks about it then pushes for another 100 on top of that and is insta-called. Bettor shows JQ for two overs and a gutshot. Raiser shows top set of Nines. All in shows bottom set of Sixes. Bettor gets lucky and catches his gut shot. Raiser (deaf guy) is beside himself and makes his opinion of the play known.

I see a flop with AT os and the flop comes T high two diamonds. Short stack tosses out 25. Guy to my right calls. I take my stand and ship in my full stack. Lucky gut shot to my left actually folds this time. Short stack shrug-calls. Caller in between us folds. Shorty shows KdJd for two overs, gut shot straight and four to the flush though I have a runner runner nut flush redraw. The turn and river miraculously dodges shorty's 18 outs and I get back to two stacks. The table is disintegrating and I see a couple more free hands then call it a night. And head to Subway for a breakfast sandwich.

Sunday Night Poker has always been donkish for me albeit at lower stakes. At least I am seeing the warning signs and recognize when I am flirting with the Donk Zone. Next step is to step in and do something about it. At the risk of sounding too Shannon Elizabeth about the situation, there has been a correlation between my results and my attitude at the time. I broke from game plan, didn't take my breaks. Changed my starting hand requirements. Didn't lay any made hands down. More stuff to work on...

Deviation from plan = not good

The news is not good from the Sunday night session. Down 298 in the donkish-most fashion.

Opportunity lost? About an hour in, the guy under the gun who has been playing short stacked goes all-in. I look up from the table to see his 75 or so chips in front of him. I even make a "zoiks" movement to accent the fact that I don't know what the guy is doing. He has literally been sitting there for as long as I could remember and has not entered any pots that I could think of. Here he is, hasn't played a hand all night, first to act and he puts in 75 to pick up 4 dollars in blinds. Folds around to me and I am cursed with Queens. I had either Aces or a crappy hand and now I am in the tank. I've seen moves like this before in tournaments where someone pushes with Aces and tries to make it look like a blind steal when in fact they are really trying to solicit someone they have badly dominated. I've done that before even. So my range of hands that I would put someone on in that situation are AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK or so. I'm only really a big favorite against JJ and the odds of QQ are very remote. That leaves the majority of the hands as coin flips or crushing me. I ask the table for time to figure out what I want to do. Maybe he is making a move with nothing or a small pair but it just doesn't make sense to me. He could do the same thing with a raise to 20. I have no money invested in the pot and I just know I would be kicking myself for calling off 75 and running into Aces. If he wanted to just steal some blinds with a small pair or random hand then why wouldn't he do so from last position after there are more callers in the pot? Then again one could argue that if he really did have KK or AA in first position then he might have limp/pushed instead though that would require someone along the way raising. The arguments and counter-arguments raced around in circles in my head. I ended up folding. He first said he had Aces then changed his story later to saying he had a small pair. Whatever. Weird weird hand.

How many times to I need to tell myself to not go broke with one pair? I have sat a while and posted blinds, taking down some pots here or there when along strolls in the Cowboys. I raise it up to isolate and get one caller. Good. Then I get another caller...bad. Flop comes out TT5 with two spades and I am the first to act. I throw out 50 to try to price out draws. Fold. Then Seat 9 sizes up my stack, mulls it over then raises me all in for about another 75 or so. In the back of my head I hear echoes saying "...don't go broke with one pair..." but instead I manufacture a story about what hand I'd LIKE him to be having. In a previous hand I heard him saying that he will call with enough other callers to a big raise with suited connectors. I also saw him catch a set against an overpair and his actions were more deliberate, less calculating so told myself he had an Ace/face suited in spades and he was priced in plus pushing on me would have some fold equity on a scary looking paired board. I call of the rest of my stack and he shows a KhTh so he even has one of my outs. Domination ain't what it used to be. I don't catch the case King and I'm felted.

Tired now. I'll finish more of this later.

Sunday Night Poker

As mentioned in the weekly email Sunday Night Poker is at Caesars Palace tonight. Sorry I slept in and am running behind. No one RSVP'd so I don't think anyone is waiting but if anyone is I will be there shortly. To make up for it I will let SNP run long this week.

Up $871

Tally so far is $871 to the good.

Five way chop

Oh yeah, one other hand of note. Five way hand that is checked all the way through. Board is K44 A K which is checked all the way through all streets. Everyone gets their three bucks back...well almost everyone. I, as last to act and the guy in Seat 8 get shorted one chip due to the rake. Yes I lost money on a chopped pot.

Pitch count is up

Around 2pm I decide that it's about time to head back to the room for a break. I resist the temptation to try to play until I've exactly doubled up. Though I'm close I conclude that that would lead to poor decision making so I cash out for 394 or six bucks shy of doubling up.

I run into Short Stack Stan again from last night when he sits down at the table. He is another "one bill wonder" who buys a stack, gets whittled down, goes all in, doubles up, and whose stack seems to have nine lives. He says "hey, it's Suit Guy" and he explains that that was what they ended up calling me at the table after I left. I jokingly asked him why as I sat there again in the blue pin stripe suit with lilac purple shirt and silver/purple tie.

No real big hands to report. Sweetened pots with a min raise+ bet to 7 and had good luck connecting on the flop to take down some more small pots without a struggle.

Short Stack Stan has had terrible luck with KQ. One hand had him all in versus Aces after a KQx flop which end up pairing Eights on the river to counterfeit his two pair. The guy with Aces was slow to reveal his hand and Stan chastised him about the slow roll but everyone at the table including Stan himself later realized that he just didn't know any better and probably didn't even realize that he had won. He picked up the hand about 9 times in an hour and a half and lost 8 of those times. I told him the EV on KQ is better than what he is experiencing.

I'm still feeling fresh but am taking myself out of the game to stay in form. A stop by the food court for another Special Fried Rice and Gatorade...to go. Quick walk back across the street and I'm eating/blogging before nap time.

Staying even

Playing small pots and taking down chips with top pair. Chased a couple hands but nothing out of control. Just maintaining the stack and waiting for good hands.

My trap hand gets a reprieve

I would normally fold QTos but in a limped pot with me on the button in a multiway pot I call the three chips to see the flop...just in case it comes a glorious 89J...which it did. Now I just have to try to get money in the pot without letting in the club flush draw. First to act makes it 25, Nice! Guy to his left doubles it to 50. Even nicer! Then I pull the rookie move and act out of turn to raise to 100. Ooops. The table has a distinct tell on me. Everyone folds and I proceed with my re-raise. Fold from first to act then a push from the raiser and I'm crestfallen to figure we are probably chopping. As soon as I beat him to the pot though he says "Whooops Queen Ten?" as he sheepishly turns over the second nuts 7T. I double up plus some and am just shy of 400.

Feels like Sunday morning

Up at the crack of dawn.....or 8am, whichever is closer.

Another breakfast sandwich from Subway and it's back to Caesars for some no limit texas hold'em.

One thing that has been working is getting up from the table and stretching the legs/blogging so I am going to try putting myself on a pitch count and take more regular breaks, maybe every 90 minutes or after a big hand.

A quick tip of the hat to my trusty new phone which has handled 100% of the blogging workload this weekend.

Rollercoaster

What goes up must come down, to every yin there is a yang, etc. etc. etc. After adding on a quick stack and half, I spent the few hours posting blinds limping in with hands that didn't connect and running card dead. In retrospect I should have taken a break but chose not to. I was on auto-pilot though so I didn't make any poor decisions. I was mainly just playing by the book. I may have come in with an os one gapper to try to cap betting in the SB but by and large I played blackjack hands, and tried to limp in with small pocket pairs and suited connectors. Not that there were a lot of those hands mind you. I could not believe that there was as many 47os, 83os, J2os, K3os etc. hands in the deck.

I called some raised pots with good starting hands and missed and I lost some chips when I folded what turned out to be hands that were ahead. That and blinds eroded my stack down past the 300 mark, down past the 250 mark, down past the 200 mark, and I eventually ended up fluctuating within the 100 to 200 range for hours.

Then I was dealt 4h5h in the BB and got to see a flop for free. Flop came 236 two diamonds. I lead out for about 10 to start building the pot. Then the turn brings a 4 and Seat 8 makes a big bet. Great, I thought, now I'm going to chop with someone with a random 5. I push all in for not much more than his raise and he turns over 67 for top pair and a gutshot to a higher straight. A merciful blank falls on the river and my stack is healthier.

Next key hand has me up against one of the Mercer Island kids (yes, as in from Mercer Island WA). I have trained them to recognize that when I check I don't have anything and when I bet I have top pair. So the flop comes out K high two clubs. MI kid 1 leads 20, MI kid 2 calls as do I. Turn pairs the 3 on the board and MI kid 1 leads out 30. MI kid 2 folds but as he does he exposes the King of clubs. Hmmm. One King on the board, one in my hand, and one now exposed. I know it happens but all Kings are now accounted for if MI 1 indeed has a King and not something else. I pause before calling wondering if MI 2 knows something I don't know. I call the turn bet. River is a blank and MI1 fires the third shell. I figure that there is no way he would have limped in with AK so as long as he has a King, I am at worst chopping since a boat was unlikely based on other cards on the board. I am also wondering why he isn't slowing down since my calling means I have a King and I have only shown reasonable hands down. Turns out he had KJ and I bring my stack above 200 for the first time in a while.

Then some new players come in and the table turns into 2/5 style. Seat 9 likes to raise in the dark and will defend his big blind or his straddle without looking at his cards. One hand he raised to 25 in the dark and gets three callers. Flop is 245. He bets out 100, call, call, call. Turn is an 8. And he goes all in for the remaining 90 or so in his stack, call, call, fold. River is a blank and the other two check it down. One has Kings, the other has Queens, and the original blind raiser had A3 and flopped perfect. Rakes a huge pot. Such is life in 2/5-land. I've seen crazy stuff happen like this all the time.

Since the table has changed character and especially since I am two seats away from the crazy guy who likes to button raise in the dark on general principle. I figure it's a good time to take off.

Grand total today 206. Some times you make $100 an hour, other times it's more like 50 cents an hour. But at least it was in the black.

Going to hit the hay now and try to sleep a little more at night in preperation for Monday when I won't have the room for afternoon napage.

Lost a showdown

Took a while since the Ace versus trip sevens incident but I lost a show down. It occurred to me earlier that I have been winning almost all of them. I had AJos. Flop came King high, checked around. Ace on the turn and I go 20 for a potish sized bet. Check/call from Seat 9. River is an os 9 and I think I'm home free. I'm ready to value it and instead he throws out another 20. I feel I am beat but pay off his gutshot straight that hit. Yuck. At least I priced him out on the turn. Maybe should have laid down.

Aces again. Raise to 15 with one caller. Flop comes Queen high and I lead 25. No struggle.

Guy at our table hit an 8 high Spade Straight Flush and the table got to watch the payout ceremony. 300 and change.

Up 150 quick

Second hand that I play I take down a pot when big slick connects on the turn.

A few hands later I pick up Aces UTG. I limp and hope that one of the aggressives on the backstretch of the table pops it like they have been doing about half the hands so far. Guy in Seat 8 makes it 10 to go. I raise to 30 and I'd be happy with a no stress small pot. He calls. Hmmm. Flop comes a glorious 772. I throw out 50 and he calls. I make a Yikes face to him. Turn is a Trey. More good board. I look to check his stack to gauge my bet and he says "It's all going in anyway" and we put the rest in the middle. I say I don't have a Seven but I call. He asks if I have a pair and I show my Aces. River is a King and I sweat his pair. He mucks and says he has Tens and thought I had AK or something. I am up about 150 now.

Morning routine

Woke up and relaxed in the room again this morning until the noon tourney started to clear out some room at the cash tables. Quick bite to eat at Burger King as a brunch snack. Can't wait to move on from this routine of Burger King and Subway and get back home to a routine of Burger King, Subway, and Taco Del Mar.

Up 671 so far

According to the poker log I am 671 to the good. I am concentrating on not worrying about making up losses from last time, just trying to take it one hand at a time.

An even triple up

Tipped Lita at the front desk for her help and the cashier with my two singles then cashed out a full rack and a single black chip for six bills even. I'll take it.

Head back over to pick up a breakfast sandwich from Subway. Guy behind the counter tells me they are closed for five minutes. Huh? Maybe they are resetting the computer systems. The place is dead, certainly less crowded than a few hours ago.

Ham, cheese, and egg sandwich to go for breakfast. Yum!

On a heater

Since the last update.

Get 2h3h in BB. Flop two pair on all spade board. Check around. Fourth spade on turn. Checks around. River fills my boat with a Trey. 10 value on the end and get called by A high.

Call a raise with Aces flop TTx. I lead 10, called. Turn is a Queen, I check call 20. River is a Jack. Check call 35. He shows KQ and I rake another pot.

Raise to 12 with Aces, no call and I show.

Raise to 12 with Kings, no call and I show.

Raise to 12 with Kings, one caller. Spike top set. Make it 10 to go. Call. Turn makes a flukey straight possible. I go 20, no call and I show.

But the big hand was when steamboat Timmy is in a hand with me. He raises it up to 12 and I call from BB with AhKh. Flop is K high and I make it 20. Timmy raises 35 more. I know he sat down with some black chips so I ask for an accurate count before proceeding. He has about another one and a half bills behind his 35 raise. I consider my options and decide to call. Turn is the Jh which now also gives me the gutshot Royal Flush draw. I check. Timmy is confused and checks behind. River is 8s, the blankest blank there is. I check and Timmy pushes all in. I am momentarily possessed and blurt out Call without over thinking it. He says Ace high and I felt him.

I have tripled my 200 buy in so far this session.

Going clubbin'

I have my table broken a second time and it is a good table for me. Lot of limped pots so I am coming in light with JKos and other sub-premiums. Also catching a run of Ax suiteds that I will see a flop with and since the action is so light I wouldn't mind paying a bet after the flop to draw.

Limp in with Ac7c and flop the nuts. I am first to act and throw out 5 to start building the pot. 4(!) callers. I conspicuously check my hole cards in case anyone knows to look for that tell. Turn is a 5s which pairs the board. I'd prefer a blank or another club but I'll just assume no one boated up or I'd find out quickly. I make it 15 on the turn and still get two callers. River is 3s and I think 40 is callable. Guy to my left calls. Other chaser has to fold. I show nut flush and he folds. I am now up 100 or so.

Kings pay

Min raise by Ditto to 6. Re-raise to 15 from motley in the corner. Folds to me with Kings. I size up Motley's stack and try to pick a number that he will call but also commit his stack after the flop. I choose 45. Call from Ditto...uh oh didn't expect or want that. Motley calls. Flop comes out Jack high and I am first to act. I say I will put Motley all in in order to communicate my hand strength but not get me in trouble in case Ditto flopped lucky. Ditto folds and Motley thinks then folds. Takes me up to about 50 bucks of sugar.

First hand in a walk

I sit down as big blind and am dealt A8os. Two callers flop comes out K high. Checks around, turn checks around, river checks around and I take the pot down with A high for a little starting sugar. Brandon Ditto's clone, Brad, is sitting across from me. I tell him how funny it is how many people you recognize even for a non-regular as myself. I told him I remembered the J7 top two pair versus limped Aces suckout and he even recalled it was at that same table and pointed out the seat positions.

Midnight snack: tuna on honey oat

Got up a while ago but decided to relax in the room a little and wait for the midnight tourneys to clear out some room at the cash tables. Subway doesn't serve breakfast 24/7 so I settle on tuna sandwich instead. Restaurants are way more crowded at 1:30 in the morning than at lunchtime.

A couple hours of origami

Hand selection is in full lockdown mode and I am living up to my table image in full. Blue pinstripe, white shirt with french cuffs, blue pattern tie. All business. I have either shown down or flashed AA, QQ twice, JJ, AK, AQ, or a pocket pair. I've managed my stack after felting the guy I caught top set on. Fold, fold, fold and I have no complaints. Sure I would have flopped trips twice in a row but I'm not playing junk hands right now.

I tinker with the idea of playing in the Noon tourney but decide against it. It is 80 to get in and 50 for rebuy/add-on. That's 130 and I want to make sure I cash for 599 or less to avoid having to fill out a tax form and have the IRS hold money back. But investing 130 up front and a few hours in an attempt to bust out or hope everyone agrees to a tax-friendly chop is just a little too much of a precision maneuver for my tastes.

Not much on the action front. Smooth call with QQ after a raise to 10 isolates. Flop comes K high and it is checked to me by frat boy. I know he is smart enough to not get out of line against me especially after our first run in. I check behind. Turn comes a Jack and he leads out. I call. River blank and he checks. I put him on catching the Jack and know my Queens are good. I check behind and he sees that he is beat and mucks.

Pocket Fours with a 722 flop. Checked around. Turn comes another 7 and Ivan is being a Stabby McStaberson and throws 10 more in. I call and I know that he will check the river now as is his pattern. I put him on A high for two pair top kicker. River comes an 8 and he checks. I show Sevens and Fours and take the pot.

Sidebar here. It's funny how many people you recognize from previous trips. Not too shocking really since poker players only have so many places to go I suppose but still a little bit of a surprise when someone you saw back during Martini-con in January walks in and sit at the next table. I mean really, what are the odds?

Anyway, another hand I call a pot raised to 12 which goes three way. Flop is all low and it checks around to me. I bet about pot sized and take it down. Show Tens to further confirm my tight honest image.

I limp into a pot with JsTs. I flop top pair and Seat 8 leads 15, no problem, I call. Turn is a 6. Seat 8 thows out 100. What? I am tempted to look him up but he has only done that move twice in the time that I've been at the table and I will concede that he may have caught a random two pair but I am also ready to look him up under the right circumstances because that bet was way out of line.

Cards are drying up and I'm at just about 200% of buy-in. I'm on a steady keel and apart from worrying about someone flopping perfect on my second best possible hand, I haven't really had any difficult decisions. I'm playing by the book straight up conservative poker. No chasing, no betting on the come, no bluffs. Just solid grinder Poker 101 and it has been working for me. When I've been ahead, I've stayed ahead. Keeping the game under control. I'm not tired but am going to take a lunch break and nap to stay in good form.

What's for lunch? Well today is something completely different: Special Fried Rice and a Gatorade to stay hydrated...TO GO! Yes, no one can say that I don't mix up my game from time to time.

So I am walking through the Caesar's gaming area and I hear "Excuse me but do you work here?" I turn around and see an elderly Chinese woman and I tell her no I don't but is there anything I can help her with? She says she is looking for the Flamingo. I tell her that I am going there and I can show her exactly how to get there. She thanks me and tells me all about her family re-union. I tell her all about the great bachelor party I am attending. I walk her to the garden area that she wants to check out (she's actually a very fast walker for being what I'd guess as 70 years old) and she thanks me again. I tell her that I'm just building up good karma points for later.

OK. My food is gone and I think that just about covers all the newsworthy items for the past couple hours. Next session I'm thinking of going to the Wynn because they chip you with stacks of 3 dollar chips. And I think the resemblance to my home games would be fun and interesting. Nap time. More later.

Hand selection

Getting a good run of cards. Saw a flop with AhQs, flop came AsKs5d. I lead 15 and get re-raised by frat boy in Seat 6. I consider what I am likely up against and I call. Turn is a spade. I check, he bets again and I call with the nut Spade flush draw. River is a blank. I check and he bets again. I call and he shows a King. Rake a medium pot.

Saw a flop for 15 with AKos. Came Jack high. He led. I felt he didn't hit top pair but folded anyway. He shows 66.

Saw flops with AJos, and AQos. Missed. Paid a min raise with 66, missed.

Limped/popped with JJ to 20. Heads up with bearded in the corner. He calls. Flop comes out all low and I lead 40, he folds.

I am up about 40 or 50 for the day and I pick up Aces in late position. Need to thin the crowd but keep one person. Decide that 12 is the number. One call from bearded guy in the corner again. Flop is good news and bad news. It comes AQJ two clubs. Top set on a draw heavy and a potentially perfectly flopped board. I lead for 15. Bearded makes it 45. Hmmmm. It is possible that he flopped perfect but I think that he might have smooth called a perfect flop despite the two clubs. I put him on two pair instead and he would be drawing dead but for quads. I decide that I'm good and have nut boat outs to fall back on if needed. I re-raise him 100. He puts in the last of his stack for a little bit more and shows QJ for bottom two pair. Two more clubs show up but does not affect the outcome and I have roughly doubled up for the session.

Blog break is over, time to head back to the table.

Waiting list

Still a little early in the morning. They have a few people on the waiting list and are going to form a table in a little while. Forgot to mention that Shawn Marion was playing a couple of tables away last night, at least according to one of the guys at my table. Don't know for sure but he sure fit the general look of a hoops guy.

Up at the crack of dawn

Well I was up at the crack of dawn but that was when I was going to bed, not getting up. Slept in until 9am or so then got cleaned up, ironed the suit and shirt and headed out. Didn't realize it but right next to the Burger King in the casino next door is a Subway. Nice. So I got a breakfast sandwich which down here is on standard sub bread instead of the soft bagel bread like back home. Talking to the sandwich girl and she is all excited because "Today is my Friday and I get the next two days off!" "Isn't today Friday?" "Yes but it's my Friday too." "Ummm...OK"

After sitting down at the past two sessions I realized that I had forgotten my ice cube card protector that I brought down. Remembered it this time so now my cards won't feel so insecure anymore.

Last night around 5am or so, the counter girl walked around and picked up everyone's players card for logging time at the tables. I asked the guy next to me about that because I already had checked in when I came in but he said that they reset the system once a night and you need to get your card scanned again or you won't log your hours. I left shortly after and asked if I need to card out since I was just logged and at the wink-wink nudge-nudge suggestion of the counter girl she said don't log out...and don't log in this morning when I show up either. Just sit down and play then log out so I am currently logging points as I eat my breakfast sandwich. Tasty. Who knew mustard tasted so good with egg and ham? OK, food's a wrap now. Heading back to Caesars.

Flopping perfect, my turn

After returning from break, I bought the button and saw a limped pot for "free". Nibbled around the edges looking to find a place to jump in. Found a couple of small to medium pockets that I was able to see a flop cheaply with. Didn't connect and I let them go. Speculated with As9s and caught a nut flush draw on the flop. It went check through all streets and some guy's random Jack caught on the river to take the pot down.

Have been fairly selective about my hands. Folded AKos to a re-raise once. Turns out the re-raiser had AJ. He out flopped me but he gave a free card and I would have caught him on the turn. But I'm OK with the fold. He min-reraised and I didn't want the headache of knowing if AK is up versus AA or KK since that could be a lot of trouble. Tight fold but I wasn't invested in the pot.

Grandpa in Seat 1 has been raising a lot of pots and buying them after the flop with continuation bets. He opens for 15. I have KhJh and call. Then Seat 9 pushes in for 63 total. Grandpa thinks about it then calls. Now it is back to me and I feel like I am not ahead right now and Grandpa has me well covered. I fold. Grandpa shows Pocket 8s and Seat 9 shows ATos. I would have flopped the best hand and made a boat by the river but I folded when I was still behind. My assessment was correct of a race between pocket pairs and A/Face. Seat 1 actually came in lighter than I had thought and I suspected domination. Good laydown.

Later on Grandpa again opens for 15 and I again call with KhJh. Heads up to the flop and it comes down AdQdTh for glorious Broadway. I'm first to act and there is 30+ in the pot. I purposely open with an underbet of 10. As expected, Grandpa raises it up to 40. I've seen enough and I push all in before a scare card kills the action. I raise it 65 more back to him. He sits and thinks a little while then cuts out chips for a call. I ask him if he has a Diamond draw and he flips over Ace/rag for a super thin draw to a runner runner boat. Turn throws another Queen and the River is a Jack so my straight holds up. Glad I got the money in before the board developed more. I double up.

Brandon Ditto's doppleganger sits in to Seat 6. This is the same guy who was playing on Easter weekend and flopped J7 top two pair against a guy who Limped with Aces. When the guy with rockets got in a raising war, Ditto put him exactly on Aces and called it out before he showed. They got both stacks of I'd guess 400 each into the middle and the limper spiked one of the two remaining Aces on the river to put this guy into over-tilt. He left the table for an hour or so walking that one off. He's a table bully and I was ready to pack it in for the night anyway so I am waiting for the button to come around to cash out.

Same orbit, I limp in with 4d5d. Flop is 44Q two suited. Can't hammer the pot because there is only 9 in there from three limpers. I put out 5. Call, call. Hmmmm. Turn puts out a Ten and I figure I'm still good so I throw out 15. Call, call. And what comes along on the river but good ol' worst card ever, another Queen. Ditto checks, I check, Button checks. I show sucker end of the full house. Brandon shows AK suited. Button caught the turn with his random Ten. Scoop another one.

Last hand I limp in with KQos and flop top two pair. Throw 10 at the pot and take that down before walking to the cashier to cash out.

Bought in twice and cashed out for 245. Still above water overall but wondering how I could have played those Tens differently. That one hand dented me pretty hard and I ignored the "don't go broke with one pair" mantra. But apart from that one hand, I feel I'm doing OK. I am being very conscious about how I am playing. I am choosing hands carefully. Only chased one open ender for 10 bucks after the flop. I'm satisfied with my play so far. Haven't gotten too out of line and am sticking with the game plan.

OK, time to catch some sleep.

Whittled down and doubled up

Waited for hands for a while. Have thrown away a ton of hands. I'm having to adjust to slower pace of a full table and some really slow players. Seat 2 makes the biggest laydowns of his life 8 times an hour. Seat 9, 1, 5, 2 has changed seats three times since I sat down.

Finally can see a flop in middle position for 10 with 9hTh. Flop comes Qh86. Double belly buster, well disguised. It is checked to me and I check hoping for a free card. Turn is Kh. I now have the alluring straight flush draw. Alluring due to Caesars high hand jackpot. Checks around again. I miss the bonus but catch a flush. I put 15 on the end and get a call from A high 4 kicker (?).

See a flop with Ah4h. Flop is A77 and I lead for 10. One caller. Turn brings a 4 which can give me a sucker house if Seat 8 has a 7. I check and he bets 15. He has been betting with nothing all night so I call. River is a K and I don't worry about kicker. I check/call 20 on the end to see his 7Tsuited. Not happy with that one. Very possible I was tied or ahead so I called off chips. Made a bad steam call with Qh9h the next hand. Missed by a mile then folded. Damage limited to a call of 9.

I realize I made a bad steam call and decide to take a break when the blinds come around. Blinds are almost on me and I pick up cowboys UTG and limp. Seat 7 makes it 10. Folds to me and I decide the right price is 40 or just over half my remaining stack. 7 calls. Flop is 3s4s8?. I push for the rest of my stack and he calls with a ton of outs. A flopped OESFD with 5s6s. Two blanks on 4th and 5th streets and I double up to just over 140.

Break is over. Back to the table.

Don't go broke with one pair redux

Went down to the convenience store downstairs to get the most expensive bottle of Nyquil I ever purchased. Finally got to sleep around 6pm. Woke up at 11pm and got prepped. Quick stop for a burger and fries at Burger King and I'm sitting at Caesars with 200 behind. Sit for a while and after about 20 minutes I pick up Tens UTG. I limp to see what is going on. Seat 6 makes it 12, two callers and I cap it. Flop comes out 8 high and I check as first to go. Seat 6 continues for 45. Folds around to me and I raise to 100. He thinks about it then pushes. I put him on A8 and he ends up holding Jacks...notched.

I guess I could have laid down after the re-raise since I am only beating A8 or Nines. But in a way getting felted loosens me up. I still have sugar and I am ready to play more.

Take a small pot with J9 on a J high board beating J2.

Steal blinds and a limp as second to go with AQos.

What's for lunch?

At Marsh's request, no lunch picture this time. I splurge on the Special Fried Rice dish and get a Gatorade to stay hydrated.

I am tempted to stay at the table because Teriyaki Elvis burned through his 500 buy-in in the same time it took me to double up my 200 and we sat down into the same hand. Tasty fish meal but I will have to pass for now.

Almost done with lunch. More after I take my nap.

First hand: Aces cracked!

So I get seated. I am in middle position and there are two limpers ahead of me. I find two Aces in the hole. I bump it to 20 to clear out any speculative hands. Folds around to button who re-raises to 75. Folds to me and I push all-in to show I mean business. Button insta-calls with 6h9h(????). I am horrified. Flop brings a Six and he rivers a Nine. "Sorry dude, it's my lucky hand." he says as he rakes the pot. OK, just kidding!

Here's what really happened. I am in BB with A7 offsuit. Limped around so I play it. Five handed to a flop of 567 rainbow. Ummmm...good and bad flop. I have top pair top kicker but I can already be drawing nearly dead if someone flopped a straight. Not that that would ever happen. I lead out for 10 verbally since I still don't have any chips. Call. Call. Turn brings a 3. Now there are even more possible straights out against me in an unraised pre-flop pot. I get my chips and make it 20 to go now. Fold. Call. River is an Ace and I now have top two pair which may have counterfeited a lower two pair. I check to try to keep the pot smallish. Guy behind me throws out 40. I am behind any straight but have top two pair. I felt I was good and was willing to pay some to see a showdown. I call, he says "good call" and mucks. I show my hand and I'm up almost 100 on my fist hand.

Blinds have not even come around again and I pick up AKos. I make it 10 to go. Two callers. Flop is KQx two hearts. I'm wondering if everyone's favorite dominated hand is out against me. I'm out of position and make it 25 to go. 1 caller. Turn is an Eight. I make it 40 now. Called again. River is a blank and I again try to keep the pot manageable so I check it. Guy throws out $50. Hmmm. I sure wish I'd seen these guys play more. I call it and show top/top and have doubled up my original buy in.

Time to take a break. My head is still a little achey from staying up late so I'm going to take a nap. I'm also playing scared now that I've bumped up my stack and I can't be in that place so I'll take a break and regroup for later. So far so good...

Sheesh...it's been 12 hours since I was last playing poker

Time to rectify that situation. Checked in to the room with no drama. Took the familiar path across the street to Caesars. On the waiting list for a 1/3 table...

My two and a half hour nap is over

Got caught up on some shut eye on the flight after staying up late playing poker and packing last night/this morning.

The carousel warning beeps just went off so it's time to fish my luggage out.

Made it to Sea-Tac

So far so good. Left my place at 7:30 for a 10:10 flight...plenty of time. Wasn't sure where to park and fly. After figuring out how to get off the concourse and onto International Boulevard, I started scoping out parking lots. Right next to the exit they are running 12.95 but the prices drop as you drive further away. Then I saw a shuttle advertising 6.95 rates so I followed that to the lot. Filled out paperwork and parked the car. The attendant there was sure he recognized my plates...hmmmmmm. Took the shuttle and checked in without much hassle. Forgot to take off my belt so I set off the metal detector. Now I await the boarding call.

A little "mo"

So what better way to get ready to go play poker in Las Vegas than playing poker at home? Last night's edition of Wednesday Night Poker treated me well. Despite having two overs and the nut flush draw for 14 outs on the flop against Jason's second pair I didn't catch and got felted. Nonetheless I caught some cards including rivering Quad Fives and built the Matterhorn up to eventually cashing out for just shy of five buy-ins. Good momentum to take with me on the plane.

I'm currently packing while furiously trying to get a Windows virtual machine running on my Mac laptop so I can have it available to me down in Vegas. Gotta make sure I don't forget anything critical. Copied my itinerary information down, have my bankroll, phones, chargers, clothes, toiletries. I think I'm good. And anything I'm missing I'm sure I'll be able to pick up from the convenience store down in the lobby for a nominal fee.

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Memorial Day Weekend Tour!

I will be making my back to the tables of Las Vegas for some more poker. I am going to try to focus on taking each hand, each buy in, each session independently. Though I ended up down last time, I am not going to try to "chase" to recoup money from last trip. If I get unstuck, fantastic. But last trip is in the rear view mirror now and I can only control what is ahead of me.

Thanks to the miracle of technology, I will be able to provide more up to date blogging than ever before so keep an eye out for updates throughout the day and night over the extended Memorial Day weekend.