Ok today was the rebuy event, $1k a rebuy, and if you wanted
to do all necessary rebuys and addons (double), it would cost
4k. Due to losing a few races AK v QQ and another one, I ended
up spending 6k and ended up on 12k in chips which was ahead
of average after the break.
Daniel Negrenu missed being moved to my table by one, which
was a big disapointment. As most people know, in rebuy tournaments
he spends a lot of money, last year he spent 47k ! This year he
seemed more subdued.
After a good start everything that went wrong post flop seemed
to. Id raise with KQ the blind would call with 8-4, and flop came
Q-8-4. Then id raise with Qs and it would come K high, and
theyd re-raise me all in. Then perhaps i made a mistake when
I pushed with 7s against a guy on 8-4-2 flop, not putting on
an overpair, but he had 2s. Somehow i survived a few races,
and held around 10k, till there were 160 out of 850 ppl left.
Money started at 81, but I needed chips ! With blinds 400-800
my AQ ran into AK and the youngest bracelet winner ended
up knocking me out near 11pm. I guess I was pretty happy
how i played pre-flop, just post-flop wasnt the best :( Anyway
no money, but more encouraging. Tho encouraging pays
shit.
At least Benjo, the French frog came along. We had a few
beers after , got IDd at the paigow table at ballys. Where
they dont accept foreign drivers licences. Had another
beer went and at least managed to pkay some pai gow,
which is similar to chinese poker, but of course the casino
always wins ...
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Don't cry for me Argentina !
A quick note: the general vibe sometimes of this blog may seem
negative, after all Im the recipient of so many bad beats !
But like the news theres no news like bad news, so why
not focus on the negatives , unless there are big positives !
Which there are really none, but doesnt mean there arent
any good things going on (like.. tumbleweed blows across the
screen....) Anyway just in case people were feeling sympathetic
to my "plight" after a few bad tournaments, Id like to reassure
everyone thats is all ok ! Tho if you were rushing over to vegas
don't let me stop you !! Lets face it Im in Vegas, and I can pretty
much do what i want when i want. And I can go for swims in
hot(35+) weather [ahead of europe and australia] and in
a non crocodile infested body of water [ahead of south america
and africa !]
So to allay your fears , im ok , drink some beers :)
I walked past shannon elizabeth again today, she still hasnt forgiven me
for the Melbourne incident, that or she doesnt remember me, take
your pick !
negative, after all Im the recipient of so many bad beats !
But like the news theres no news like bad news, so why
not focus on the negatives , unless there are big positives !
Which there are really none, but doesnt mean there arent
any good things going on (like.. tumbleweed blows across the
screen....) Anyway just in case people were feeling sympathetic
to my "plight" after a few bad tournaments, Id like to reassure
everyone thats is all ok ! Tho if you were rushing over to vegas
don't let me stop you !! Lets face it Im in Vegas, and I can pretty
much do what i want when i want. And I can go for swims in
hot(35+) weather [ahead of europe and australia] and in
a non crocodile infested body of water [ahead of south america
and africa !]
So to allay your fears , im ok , drink some beers :)
I walked past shannon elizabeth again today, she still hasnt forgiven me
for the Melbourne incident, that or she doesnt remember me, take
your pick !
Limiting the damage , event 6 !
So in a bid to limit my early bad run in tournaments, I thought
Id be able to minimise the damage by playing event 6, the $1500
limit tournament. After all in limit you cant really lose all your
chips in the first hand ! Id have to be able to get a few hours of
good tournament play in.
I get off to a steady start, tho after making a couple of marginal
calls, and having someone turn a gutshot straight against my top
pair my chips start to slip below par. Then a key pot develops
against a shorter stack. I have q10 suited in the small blind,
against the aggressive short stack's raise. I call and the big
blind calls. The flop comes k-10-3, i bet , the bb fold and the
preflop raiser raises. The turn comes a Q. Im confident that
he didnt have a King on the flop, or much of it all , I bet and
he goes all in for his last few chips. He flips over j-9 and im in
trouble ! No river house, and im in big trouble. I manage
to push someone out of a pot with Js on an Ace high board,
to steal a couple of chips. Then 2 hands later I have Ks,
I 3 bet it and the guy to my left 4 bets it. I know he doesnt
have aces so im feeling good. Tho the flop comes Q high all
spades, i check call down worried that he has QQ, and
sure enuff he has 3 Qs :( Great read but not much you can do, with
Kings there. Few hands later its all over, and my 2nd wsop event is in the bin.
I play the FT 1K tourney and stars tourneys, more bad beats,
and by 8pm there is no more poker to play. Luckily i managed
to fit a swim in the middle of the day, so it wasnt a total loss !
Tomorrow $1k rebuy event ?! After a week , I hope something
turns around soon. 6 weeks of this could be testing.
Alternative ways to make money, play chinese poker, blackjack,
keno or golf course hustling !
Tomorrow my Frenchy friend comes over to stay, he should at
least provide some comedy.
Daniel Negreanu is laying the odds of 5 to 1 that he will win a
WSOP event this year. He is playing quite a few events, but those
are very juicy odds.
Id be able to minimise the damage by playing event 6, the $1500
limit tournament. After all in limit you cant really lose all your
chips in the first hand ! Id have to be able to get a few hours of
good tournament play in.
I get off to a steady start, tho after making a couple of marginal
calls, and having someone turn a gutshot straight against my top
pair my chips start to slip below par. Then a key pot develops
against a shorter stack. I have q10 suited in the small blind,
against the aggressive short stack's raise. I call and the big
blind calls. The flop comes k-10-3, i bet , the bb fold and the
preflop raiser raises. The turn comes a Q. Im confident that
he didnt have a King on the flop, or much of it all , I bet and
he goes all in for his last few chips. He flips over j-9 and im in
trouble ! No river house, and im in big trouble. I manage
to push someone out of a pot with Js on an Ace high board,
to steal a couple of chips. Then 2 hands later I have Ks,
I 3 bet it and the guy to my left 4 bets it. I know he doesnt
have aces so im feeling good. Tho the flop comes Q high all
spades, i check call down worried that he has QQ, and
sure enuff he has 3 Qs :( Great read but not much you can do, with
Kings there. Few hands later its all over, and my 2nd wsop event is in the bin.
I play the FT 1K tourney and stars tourneys, more bad beats,
and by 8pm there is no more poker to play. Luckily i managed
to fit a swim in the middle of the day, so it wasnt a total loss !
Tomorrow $1k rebuy event ?! After a week , I hope something
turns around soon. 6 weeks of this could be testing.
Alternative ways to make money, play chinese poker, blackjack,
keno or golf course hustling !
Tomorrow my Frenchy friend comes over to stay, he should at
least provide some comedy.
Daniel Negreanu is laying the odds of 5 to 1 that he will win a
WSOP event this year. He is playing quite a few events, but those
are very juicy odds.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Paris
Yep you can walk a 100m in vegas and end up in a new
city, or at least a new hotel. Due to not being organised I
have to spend one night in Paris (the hotel), which comes
along with a mini-eiffel tower (50% replica) and fake sky.
Think about getting a crepe, its an hour long line to get
a frigging crepe. Americans can be annoying sometimes but
ill give them the fact their perseverant. Funny that a french
style casino would be popular in the US tho, didnt they rename
french fries to freedom fries due to their contempt for the french.
I guess vegas is truly a level playing field , if your hotel has bright
lights , slot machines, we the people wont discrimate, that or the
US are hyporictical, noooo that couldnt be.
So i play the big sunday online tourneys, come out slighlty down,
but feel an onset of poker form. The final hand of the full tilt
tourney was goofy. I raise with a9s (to 3600 leaving 33k left),
guy calls on the button. Flop comes 3-6-9 (rainbow) I check
feeling he would come over the top with a lot of hands here,
if i led out and bet and willing to let a free card come and play the pot small.
So he just pushes all in 38k , im worried about 10s here but i figure
hes got a 9 or a str8t draw or something??? I call, he has KK,
hmm that was a bit stoopid.
Tomorrow is the limit tourney, im pretty keen to start playing
some wsop events, i think i have this poker thing a bit more
sussed. 2 rules to "THINK" about whilst playing
1 - put your opponent on a hand or range of hands
2 - give your opponent a decision ?!
(ala rounders -" the key to NL holdem is to put your opponent
to a decision for all their chips, give or take a few" )
Sometimes I should think more, anyway, ive decided im smarter
than these ppl therefore i should be winning !
(work in progress, being smarter and the winning)
I may step outside for a swim, ring up the concierge
doh its 8pm and the pool closes, cmon
its 35 degrees outside perfect for an evening swim, ah well fk it
ill fill up the tub with water and go for a swim in there. Safer for
a black person anyway ..
aurevoir
city, or at least a new hotel. Due to not being organised I
have to spend one night in Paris (the hotel), which comes
along with a mini-eiffel tower (50% replica) and fake sky.
Think about getting a crepe, its an hour long line to get
a frigging crepe. Americans can be annoying sometimes but
ill give them the fact their perseverant. Funny that a french
style casino would be popular in the US tho, didnt they rename
french fries to freedom fries due to their contempt for the french.
I guess vegas is truly a level playing field , if your hotel has bright
lights , slot machines, we the people wont discrimate, that or the
US are hyporictical, noooo that couldnt be.
So i play the big sunday online tourneys, come out slighlty down,
but feel an onset of poker form. The final hand of the full tilt
tourney was goofy. I raise with a9s (to 3600 leaving 33k left),
guy calls on the button. Flop comes 3-6-9 (rainbow) I check
feeling he would come over the top with a lot of hands here,
if i led out and bet and willing to let a free card come and play the pot small.
So he just pushes all in 38k , im worried about 10s here but i figure
hes got a 9 or a str8t draw or something??? I call, he has KK,
hmm that was a bit stoopid.
Tomorrow is the limit tourney, im pretty keen to start playing
some wsop events, i think i have this poker thing a bit more
sussed. 2 rules to "THINK" about whilst playing
1 - put your opponent on a hand or range of hands
2 - give your opponent a decision ?!
(ala rounders -" the key to NL holdem is to put your opponent
to a decision for all their chips, give or take a few" )
Sometimes I should think more, anyway, ive decided im smarter
than these ppl therefore i should be winning !
(work in progress, being smarter and the winning)
I may step outside for a swim, ring up the concierge
doh its 8pm and the pool closes, cmon
its 35 degrees outside perfect for an evening swim, ah well fk it
ill fill up the tub with water and go for a swim in there. Safer for
a black person anyway ..
aurevoir
WSOP downtime Hotel uptime
So i travel half-way around the world and decide that I cant
be bothered lining up with these crazy americans and
conclude I am better off playing poker in my room than
play at the Rio. Then i remember the bellagio are
running tournaments, so I ring them up and ask when and
what time their tournaments are on ? The lady on the phone
kindly tells me they wont be starting for a week or so. Grayte,
so i head down there anyway to get lunch, and guess what,
theres a $1000 tournament on now ! Incompetence is a growing
disease, at least say "you" are not sure instead of giving a definitive
answer that is 100% incorrect. Luckily I can still register for
the $1,000 tournament. The bellagio poker staff are all top
notch, and the food as usual is fantastic. What is great is that
in my 15 minutes break i can get BBQ duck and poker rice, go
to the toilet and still have time to spare.
So far my strategy of eating and playing hasnt quite worked out
as planned. Recommendation , dont order buffalo wings and pizza
while playing a WSOP event, you just dont have enuff sourviettes
to not make a mess. But the main reason why I did this the day
before , was because Gus Hansen was in the line ahead of me, and
he ordered the same thing. So if its good enuff for gus its good enuff
for moi. Anyway the bellagio food is neat and easy to eat.
So im doing pretty decent, even after AA gets cracked by the village
idiots A6. Then i decide to raise to 600. with j-10. I had about
6k b4 the start of the hand. But wait the dealer who was on speed,
yelled all in b4 so loudly i blocked it out. Turns out under the gun
went all in for 2100. woops, now im getting 2 to 1 to call . So
I decide to call. Everyone folds to the small blind who pushes
all in. I figure he has a monster and fold , so stupid my me to get
myself in the spot. He has AA, phew, but the flop is 10-4-10, woops.
Then my chips yo-yo around till i get busted out.
I go back to the hotel watch a few more movies, so far have watched,
ghost rider (yawn), stomp the yard (some amazing dancing) and blades
of glory ( will ferrell makes me laugh , so stupid but funny)
be bothered lining up with these crazy americans and
conclude I am better off playing poker in my room than
play at the Rio. Then i remember the bellagio are
running tournaments, so I ring them up and ask when and
what time their tournaments are on ? The lady on the phone
kindly tells me they wont be starting for a week or so. Grayte,
so i head down there anyway to get lunch, and guess what,
theres a $1000 tournament on now ! Incompetence is a growing
disease, at least say "you" are not sure instead of giving a definitive
answer that is 100% incorrect. Luckily I can still register for
the $1,000 tournament. The bellagio poker staff are all top
notch, and the food as usual is fantastic. What is great is that
in my 15 minutes break i can get BBQ duck and poker rice, go
to the toilet and still have time to spare.
So far my strategy of eating and playing hasnt quite worked out
as planned. Recommendation , dont order buffalo wings and pizza
while playing a WSOP event, you just dont have enuff sourviettes
to not make a mess. But the main reason why I did this the day
before , was because Gus Hansen was in the line ahead of me, and
he ordered the same thing. So if its good enuff for gus its good enuff
for moi. Anyway the bellagio food is neat and easy to eat.
So im doing pretty decent, even after AA gets cracked by the village
idiots A6. Then i decide to raise to 600. with j-10. I had about
6k b4 the start of the hand. But wait the dealer who was on speed,
yelled all in b4 so loudly i blocked it out. Turns out under the gun
went all in for 2100. woops, now im getting 2 to 1 to call . So
I decide to call. Everyone folds to the small blind who pushes
all in. I figure he has a monster and fold , so stupid my me to get
myself in the spot. He has AA, phew, but the flop is 10-4-10, woops.
Then my chips yo-yo around till i get busted out.
I go back to the hotel watch a few more movies, so far have watched,
ghost rider (yawn), stomp the yard (some amazing dancing) and blades
of glory ( will ferrell makes me laugh , so stupid but funny)
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Event 1
The mixed $5K NL / Limit event. Harrahs organistion was
once again complete shambles, what were they doing in their
year off preparing this event ? Who knows ? Apart from
all the lines to register, they brought in new playing cards,
that were impossible to read. Especially 6s and 9s.
All around me people were misreading the board, luckily
I didnt make that mistake. Mainly coz my cards were so
crap and i couldnt really get anything going. During the limit
levels the one where i was worried most about, I didnt
lose many chips to the very last hand where i had Qs against
AK and lost most of my remaining chips. Rest of the NL
section consisted of me raising missing flops betting sometimes
and getting raised out of it post flop. With the best hand
being 99 followed by 55 no ak or aq in 5 hours of poker.
One interesting hand was where i limped on the button with
56 clubs. The pot was 5 handed. Lee Markholt on my right
bet 350 into 750 pot, i made it a 1000 on 10c 7c 6d. The
turn came a blank. At this point i wasnt a 100% sure whether
he had 8-9 or just some other draw. I checked and the river
came an Ace which i perhaps could have bluffed. He turned
over 10-8 and perhaps I shoulda bet one of the streets.
Tho i had 14 outs against his hand which i would have bet
if i improved.
Anyway Barry greenstein rocked up 4 hours late, then
proceeded to finish the day in a strong position, perhaps
I should adopt that strategy as well.
once again complete shambles, what were they doing in their
year off preparing this event ? Who knows ? Apart from
all the lines to register, they brought in new playing cards,
that were impossible to read. Especially 6s and 9s.
All around me people were misreading the board, luckily
I didnt make that mistake. Mainly coz my cards were so
crap and i couldnt really get anything going. During the limit
levels the one where i was worried most about, I didnt
lose many chips to the very last hand where i had Qs against
AK and lost most of my remaining chips. Rest of the NL
section consisted of me raising missing flops betting sometimes
and getting raised out of it post flop. With the best hand
being 99 followed by 55 no ak or aq in 5 hours of poker.
One interesting hand was where i limped on the button with
56 clubs. The pot was 5 handed. Lee Markholt on my right
bet 350 into 750 pot, i made it a 1000 on 10c 7c 6d. The
turn came a blank. At this point i wasnt a 100% sure whether
he had 8-9 or just some other draw. I checked and the river
came an Ace which i perhaps could have bluffed. He turned
over 10-8 and perhaps I shoulda bet one of the streets.
Tho i had 14 outs against his hand which i would have bet
if i improved.
Anyway Barry greenstein rocked up 4 hours late, then
proceeded to finish the day in a strong position, perhaps
I should adopt that strategy as well.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Queues
Like any good theme park, and lets face it vegas is just another
theme park, but aimed primarily at the pudgy 40 year old american
white male, there will be queues.
First queue for the day, "the bank". Not really that exciting but
when u have to take out 20k to pay for upcoming tournaments,
some strange feeling always hits you. 20k is a lot of money!
So its important not to flick through the bills and get too attached
with it and re-enact the scene from indecent proposal lying on the
bed rolling around in money, coz the money comes in and goes
straight out. At least the taxi driver waited for me at the bank,
and didtn even keep the meter running, i gave him a good tip at least.
I am actually in favour of the tipping system , customer service seems
pretty good in Vegas, and may be they are friendly people, but people
try.
2nd queue "WSOP registration" - Unfortunately incompetence is
never that far away when Harrahs are in charge. The room for the
tournament is not ready despite being 1 day to go, which also means
that the usual registration desk is not ready. To their credit the room
actually looks pretty good this year. However the line up to register
although not that long, took some 2 hours. The guy ahead of me lined
up for 2.5 hours only to find that they wouldnt give him the seat unless
he was paying for it, he actually had already paid but that was bad luck.
Some guy discovered a new "bubble" the printer bubble. That is
when its you turn to pick up the ticket, the printer conveniently dies.
Unfortunately it is the only printer that can print these special tickets,
and it requires 2 tech guys. The good news is that we are told that
it is a "priority 1" problem. Tho no one can be too sure if priority one
is the highest or lowest rating. Finally get my ticket, table 72 seat 6 !
I saw Allen Cunningham join the queue as i was at the front, for someone
who had about 4-5 million in winnings last year, you thing Full Tilt the
sponsors would sort out this sh*t for him, but hey he seems like a nice
guy, not wanting superstar attention.
Queue 3 - Hotel accomodation - I was suppose to get the players rates
for the hotel anyway after an hour of being sent from one desk to another
I finally managed to get this one sorted out.
Queue 4 - Yep there was a line up for "noodles" - my regular eating
spot at the Bellagio, but the upside of eating for one is you jump the
queue pretty quickly !
Queue 5 - Luckily this was a quick one, took me a few minutes to
get onto an online game, where i could lose my money on limit holdem.
Tho i feel i have a strategy for the limit section of tomorrows tourney,
dont play it. I did play some no limit, which at least i won a nice pot
b4 bed.
NL hand - question is did i bet too small on the end ? prolly coulda
pushed all in. In my favour there was a hand before where i bet
the flop and turn against this guy , and I had nothing
rkruok [$2,825]
VodooWizar [$10,105]
theme park, but aimed primarily at the pudgy 40 year old american
white male, there will be queues.
First queue for the day, "the bank". Not really that exciting but
when u have to take out 20k to pay for upcoming tournaments,
some strange feeling always hits you. 20k is a lot of money!
So its important not to flick through the bills and get too attached
with it and re-enact the scene from indecent proposal lying on the
bed rolling around in money, coz the money comes in and goes
straight out. At least the taxi driver waited for me at the bank,
and didtn even keep the meter running, i gave him a good tip at least.
I am actually in favour of the tipping system , customer service seems
pretty good in Vegas, and may be they are friendly people, but people
try.
2nd queue "WSOP registration" - Unfortunately incompetence is
never that far away when Harrahs are in charge. The room for the
tournament is not ready despite being 1 day to go, which also means
that the usual registration desk is not ready. To their credit the room
actually looks pretty good this year. However the line up to register
although not that long, took some 2 hours. The guy ahead of me lined
up for 2.5 hours only to find that they wouldnt give him the seat unless
he was paying for it, he actually had already paid but that was bad luck.
Some guy discovered a new "bubble" the printer bubble. That is
when its you turn to pick up the ticket, the printer conveniently dies.
Unfortunately it is the only printer that can print these special tickets,
and it requires 2 tech guys. The good news is that we are told that
it is a "priority 1" problem. Tho no one can be too sure if priority one
is the highest or lowest rating. Finally get my ticket, table 72 seat 6 !
I saw Allen Cunningham join the queue as i was at the front, for someone
who had about 4-5 million in winnings last year, you thing Full Tilt the
sponsors would sort out this sh*t for him, but hey he seems like a nice
guy, not wanting superstar attention.
Queue 3 - Hotel accomodation - I was suppose to get the players rates
for the hotel anyway after an hour of being sent from one desk to another
I finally managed to get this one sorted out.
Queue 4 - Yep there was a line up for "noodles" - my regular eating
spot at the Bellagio, but the upside of eating for one is you jump the
queue pretty quickly !
Queue 5 - Luckily this was a quick one, took me a few minutes to
get onto an online game, where i could lose my money on limit holdem.
Tho i feel i have a strategy for the limit section of tomorrows tourney,
dont play it. I did play some no limit, which at least i won a nice pot
b4 bed.
NL hand - question is did i bet too small on the end ? prolly coulda
pushed all in. In my favour there was a hand before where i bet
the flop and turn against this guy , and I had nothing
rkruok [$2,825]
VodooWizar [$10,105]
Dealt to rkruok [9d Td]
bluepitcole: folds
rkruok: raises $100 to $150
VoodooWizard: calls $150
Grimstarr: folds
IfIHadItAll: folds
*** FLOP *** [7c Tc Th]
rkruok: bets $250
VoodooWizard: calls $250
*** TURN *** [7c Tc Th] [Qs]
rkruok: bets $500
VoodooWizard: calls $500
*** RIVER *** [7c Tc Th Qs] [4d]
rkruok: bets $1100
VoodooWizard: calls $1100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rkruok: shows [9d Td] (three of a kind)
VoodooWizard: folds [KcQd]
good end to a rather strange day !
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