MuckPls & Whale - a March Madness TR part III

Good morning from Las Vegas! Today is Monday, and time flies way too fast here but I still have 5 full days left. I woke up just before 9am this morning, feeling very rested. Now, let's turn back the time to yesterday.

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Yesterday I had decided to enter the $120 USD 10am tourament at South Point, and I got there only around 10-15 minutes after it had started. The field was already gigantic, and as I wrote in a previous post we ended with 223 entries.

I was actually in for two bullets. On the first one I fell down to 15-16k (we start with 20k) before an OMC limps in from mid pos. SB completes, and I check my J9o in BB. J-9-9 is an above average flop, and we check it over to the OMC. He insta-jams (!) for around 18k into 3600, SB folds and I obviously snap-call to beat KQo. Creative, I guess.

Then I lose a hand with QQ against an OWC (old woman) when my QQ gets outflopped and I eventually find the fold on an A high board. After that we fold for a long time, being very card-dead.

Finally we look down at 77 in hijack and make it 2200 (500-1000-1000). SB, who is a black guy with headphones and a serious look 3-bets to 5500 and after checking out his stack I decided to move all-in for his remaining 17k. It's borderline but he was the only one at the table who looked like he knew what a light 3-bet was, and I expected to have a lot of flips if called. But he had QQ, and I was left with 10 bb.

After that I folded for a bit before finding ATo on button with 7 bb left. We jam it in there, and the old woman has AK from the Small Blind to eliminate us. Rebuy!

Second bullet fared much better though. I had a fun hand when there are one limper (600-1200-1200) and I complete 600 more with 23cc from SB. BB checks and we see J-5-3 one club. It checks around, and 4c comes on turn. I have a straightdraw and a flush draw and lead for 2500, only to see both opponents call.

No worries though. Ac on river, and we make a flush. I bet out for 10100 hoping that someone has a straight (althougn unlikely) or that the limper maybe ran into an Ace or maybe two pair. BB folds, and the limper tank-calls and shows 92hh for the straight. Great limp pre, I guess?

I did lose a bit back though and went to break after 8 levels (end of re-entry) with 32k. Blinds would be 1000-2000-2000 however, so I knew I had some work to do.

After the break I pass through the blinds once or twice, and they also go up to 1500-3000. I am in the BB this hand, and it folds all the way to SB who looks at my stack and limps in. I have A6o in BB and 21k behind, which seems like an easy jam. Opponent does however snap-call even before I can get the words out, but we get a flip versus 55. And the board runs out A-4-7-9-J, which means that I double up.

A while later the old woman from my starting table jams 24k (blinds are now 2k-4k-4k), and I find KK a couple of spots behind her. I rejam for 43k and we are up against A6cc. Once again we manage to hold up on the (J-J-4-6-7) runout. Sweet.

Then the guy to my right goes all-in for 4000, and I find QQ right behind him. I raise to 11000, although in hindsight should maybe go a bit bigger. But the hands is great and I do want value from it. An OMC in BB calls with not a ton behind (30k or so), and we see a harmless T-8-2 flop. He checks, and I bet 10k only to hear him announce all-in. I obviously snap-call, but get the bad news of him having flopped a set with 22.

He is however not the only one who can make a set, as the turn is a Q (!). River comes a 6, and I eliminate two players (shortie had A5) to climb over 100k in stack. Now we have a chance at a deep run.

The last hand before our table breaks, an older Chinese player at our table goes completely insane after being told to do something by the dealer (to stack his chips). He starts berating the dealer in terrible English, basically telling him to shut up and deal cards, and when the dealer calls floor he gets even more angry and bangs the table, causing his water bottle to spill over on the felt etc.

All while this is happening a short stack goes all-in for 45k and I find AQo behind him. I rejam, and we end up beating AThh on the 8-2-2-5-7 runout. Floor then comes over and very sternly tells the Chinese OMC that he gets one round penalty and that his behavior is completely unacceptable and that he is lucky to not be thrown out of the tournament. He tries to argue a bit, but eventually backs down and I assume he was allowed to continue playing. But it was funny, and a bit sad, that someone can be so socially inept.

At my new table I knocked out a short stack with KK on A-6-5 after he defended from BB. He had 86o, and open jammed in front on the flop. He would have jammed most Aces pre IMO, so I wasn't super concerned about an Ace. I also stole some blinds, and was generally able to increase my stack steadily despite blinds increasing rapidly.

We also win a flip with 99 against another shortstack (who had KJo), before losing a pot where there are two limps for 16k and I make it 65k on the button with QQ. The first limper folds but the second one, a huge OMC, calls. He also leads right out on A-6-4 for 50k, and although I was tempted to call it would take too much of my stack to do so. I chose to believe him on the Ace, even though it feels a bit silly to just fold QQ to a single lead from a limper.

Eventually we are In The Money and from there eliminations came steadily. We were down to 2 tables when the next interesting spot comes. A young Asian player opens 60k at 10k-20k-20k, and I am in BB with A7ss. I chose to make the call for 40k more as I still have around 260k behind and I think folding a suited Ace here would be way too weak.

6-8-9 two spades is rather favorable, and after I check it to him he immediately announces all-in. I snap-call, and he only has AQcc for two overs and a backdoor flush draw. He is ahead for now, but I strongly assume I am the favorite here equity-wise. And I don't have to wait long to take the lead, as Js comes on the turn (and Qs on river). We get a huge double up and are now really in contention to go deep.

I lose an annoying spot shortly after though when I raise AKo to 40k, and a fishy old OMC calls before SB (young guy) does the same. The flop comes Q-9-3 two diamonds, and I have none. It checks around, and the same goes for the 7 turn.

River is however an Ace, so we make top pair. BB does however lead out for 65k, and although I considered raising I was suspicious to why he would lead on a card that so heavily favors me. So I ended up making a nitty just-call, and the OMC folds out. SB flips over A3o for two pair, and although I am happy that I read the situation correctly it's just LOL-bad from him to defend there with A3o from SB. Especially at this stage of the tournament where every chip matters.

We do win those chips back shortly after though when the same OMC goes all-in UTG for 40k (2 bb), the same guy from above calls, and then SB jams for around 180k or so. I look down at Aces in BB, which is an amazing sight and I rejam after 'thinking' for a bit. We are up against Q9o (OMC) and ATo (third player).

The board runs out 8-9-T-J-J, which means that the OMC actually makes a straight and take the main pot, but at least I eliminate the AT guy and win a good sidepot.

After that hand I blind down a little but eliminations are coming fast and furious. We are down to 10-handed when the young Asian (who I crippled with A7ss) jams all-in for around 160k. He has been going all-in a lot, so when I look down at A9o in BB I think this is an easy call (now 30k BB). He has J8o, but we get a less than ideal runout with T-7-4-8-2 and have to double him up. Very frustrating hand to lose, as I am now down under 300k.

Shortly after there is an elimination at the other table, so we do make the 9-handed Final Table at least. I do however have to start UTG with my 240k stack, and blinds have now increased to 20k-40k-40k. My very first hand is 98cc, and instead of losing 100k the next two hands I think this is just about good enough to go with. I put out around half my stack (there are strategic reasons for this), and get folds all around. The female player in BB even shows me KJo before folding, which is funny. Any compentent tournament player would realize I have a lot of reasons to be very light there, even from UTG.

A few hands later the OMC limps in for 40k, and I have AQo on the button. I jam it in there and get a fold. I also steal blinds the next two rounds with A8s and AJo, and I am feeling much better about the situation (8 players left now).

Blinds increase to 30k-60k-60k, and the female player goes all-in from EP1 for only 120k (2 bb). I have 88 right behind her, and situation actually felt slightly close. I should be ahead of her range but I don't think she is jamming any two, and I have many players behind me. But I can't just call as that might bring in BB as well. In lack of better options I went all-in, although I guess making it 250k might be better.

Another OMC to my left immediately says 'call' and I am feeling dejected as I hear that. I realize that it's maximum a flip, and when the cards are turned over the woman has AJo, I have 88 and the OMC have TT. I am contemplating a 7th place exit, but by some miracle the flop comes Q-8-3. I flop a set, it holds up, and I can just accept being a luckbox and now having a huge stack.

After that it's all a bit of a blur, but eliminations kept on coming. I did knock out the 5th place player with AA (obviously) versus his QTo, and shortly after the fishy OMC also busted after having had 9 lives and leaving himself super short plenty of times.

We are then down to 3-handed and it's me with a healthy stack, a mid-30s guy who played ok with an even bigger stack, and a guy probably in his late 50s who was getting very short. I thought it was almost a given that I would get Heads-Up, but as they say - faith had other plans.

It folds to me in SB and BB have around 4 big blind left. With 56hh I decided to jam on him, only to get snap-called by KTo. The latter holds up, and I am left wondering if maybe it was more value in keeping him super short, rather than jamming with 6 high? Some ICM experts can probably chime in on this one. I did think I have a little bit of fold equity, but it might be a mistake since every time he calls we need to hit.

This guy wins a few more small-ish pots and soon he is up to around 7-800k while I have 1.2 million or so. The chipleader have over 2 million.

Then the older guy (well, oldest of the 3 of us) puts out 125k (five chips of 25) and it folds to me in BB. I am bit confused about this number and points this out to the dealer, and she explains that it must be 160 minimum. Opponent sounds a bit confused as well, but quickly put out the 160k. Did he even mean to raise here, or was he trying to limp in?

He has not opened many pots, but I look down at A8o. It should be the best hand, and with me not being entirely sure if he wanted to raise it seeems like an easy jam. I move it in there, and he pretty much snap-calls and shows QT off-suit. We are ahead, although not massively.

After the Q-6-Q flop we are not ahead, although we do get some life with the 5h turn (I have a heart). But no dice on the river which is a black 7, and we are decimated. That one hurt, especially as he snap-called all-in with such a weak hand and I would have had him dominated with so many holdings.

An orbit later the chipleader folds his button and I have Q2cc in SB with 4 bb left (if that). A suited high card is probably not something I can pass up on, so I go all-in. Opponent once again snap-calls, this time with K9o.

Q-7-K-8-4

Sigh. I feel immensley frustrated and disappointed, because when we started 3-handed play it seemed a given that me and the bigstack would get heads-up. Instead we (me?) let the third guy build up his stack, and then I got unlucky in the big hand against him.

I do quickly get over the disappointment though as I could have been out in 7th (88-hand), and holding $1841 USD in my hand obviously made me feel better. It's still a sh*t ton of money, and although I picked up a lot of good cards and had many 'easy' decision this tourney I am very happy with how I played it for the most part. But I have some very big leaks short-handed, and this is something I have observed from myself in other tournaments as well.

It was almost 6pm by the time we were finished, and I was exhausted, hungry and had a slight headache. So I just headed back 'home' to rest up a bit.

Cash Games:

Hours played: 23h 30min
Won/Lost: +$519 USD
Hourly rate: +$22.1 USD

Tournaments:

Won/Lost: +$1401 USD (2 played)

Nice hits Muck. The fact that I've been playing far "lower" variance (for me anyways, multiline straight TDB) yet been getting abused for a long time is part of what is tilting me. I might as well be playing UX or spin poker at this point. Who knows how my rare hits that I've gotten when playing straight would have worked out with multipliers etc.

And I agree, once you play an increased variance version of VP I don't understand how people go back. I'd never play DDB over TDB now bc I'd feel like I lost money if I hit 2000 or 800 vs 4000 or 2000. Imagine being DEALT 2000 or 800 instead of 4000 or 2000. That seems maddening. JOB? I might as well just stab myself in the nuts and pay for the privilege. I have managed to reduce UX/carnival game play (to no avail) but even that is hard. UX really is like crack.

After resting up a bit and getting rid of the headache I went down to the casino floor do play some Video Poker and Buffalo. Unlike 'MuckPls' I can't hit anything this trip, and although I didn't lose much I haven't had much luck with these types of gambling so far.

I then checked Bravo and randomly saw that Aria had no list for $1/$3. Let's play some effin' card then. I walked over, and got immediate seating at a table that didn't look great. There were some local grinders for sure + the old guy 'Canada Bill' who used to be in The Trooper's vlogs. There was also a young-ish guy who was drinking and sounded a bit annoying, but he was splashing around a bit and was not easy to play against.

My very first hand is KK and I raise to $12, but with everything going on (giving the dealer my card, getting money, and having the 'Money Behind' plack thrown to me) I failed to notice the $6 straddle. So that invites in BB (drunk guy) + the straddle. We see 9-7-6 two hearts, and both these guys looks like serious players. With that in mind I decided to check it back simply to avoid getting check-raised here. Although there are merits for betting as well obviously, and I would 100% do it against someone that looked like weaker players.

Turn is another 7 and after BB checks the straddle puts out a small bet of $10. I call and the Big Blind also call. River is a harmless 2h, although it brings in a backdoor flush so maybe not as harmless after all. BB actually just mucks his cards face-down, and the straddle bets $35. I hesitated between calling and raising here as I am severely underrepped, and the sizing felt a bit like 9x going for value. But if I raise I have to be prepared to raise-fold, and I also didn't have a heart blocker in my hand. So I announced a nitty call, and lose the hand to 97ss for a full house.

Later I learned that this oppponent was very fishy and not a good player at all, but all the information I had at the time was that he looked and sounded a bit Euro + he was early 30s. If I had known how fishy he was I would have bet the flop for sure.

I lose more pots, once when I defend BB with 33 but are unable to flop a set. Then there is a straddle from the drunk guy and I try to open QTo to $20, only to get called by a local reg to my left before 'Canada Bill' makes it $95. Easy fold then as he is a huge nit, and indeed he shows KK after everyone folds.

Then we have a spot where a very active guy to the right of the drunk guy makes it $10, the drunk guy calls, and I have 98ss in BB. Should have been a 3-bet but once again I chickened out and just called. The flop comes 8-7-2 two clubs and it checks over to the drunk guy in position who bets $11. I considered raising (attacking the 'field bettor') and this is probably a spot where I should have done so although at the time I still had this guy pegged as a bit of a grinder (despite the drink). So I just called, and the raiser also calls.

Turn comes a T so we are open-ended now. I check, the raiser checks and drunk guy bets $35. I don't think I can fold although it's a bit icky being stuck in the middle, but it shows a fair bit of strength that he is betting again. I make the call, and to my surprise the raiser calls once more. River comes Kc so the flush comes in, and everyone checks. The original raiser immediately says 'damn' and announces a flush with 92cc. Sigh, I knew these guys could be in there light, and I still missed great chances to raise both pre and on the flop.

The very next hand the same guy opens to $10 and I have TT in Small Blind. Obvious 3-bet now that I know what kind of ranges he has pre, and he snap-folds to my 3-bet sizing of $40.

This guy then puts out the straddle and the guy to my right calls the $6 (not a serious player). I have KJdd and raise to $25 from cutoff, only to see the local reg on the button make it $75. It folds back to me, and it's an annoying spot. I am a huge fish who is scared of playing deep, thus I only bought in for $300 (now in for $400) and I am knocked down to around $250 now. Thus I am not deep enough to call, and although this guy seems compentent he has not been very active so far. I make the nitty fold although it sucks to fold such playable cards to someone who possibly could find a light-ish 3-bet.

I do win a little bit back here and there though, and then I find AQcc from EP1. I make it $12 and get calls from the active guy with 92s from earlier plus the Euro in BB who I now had realized was rather fishy. The flop comes T-7-3 one club, and it seems just about good enough to start a bet on as I have two backdoors. I throw out $15, but they both end up calling.

Turn is however an A and after BB checks I somehow decided to check as well. Not sure why to be honest, because if I keep my sizing in check I can still get called here I think. Instead it checks around, and the river is a harmless 5. BB checks, and I decided to go for my 10% sizing and bet $8. Both because I didn't think these guys had much at all, and also because I wanted the active guy to make take the bait and raise (unless he has 55 I am never behind here). But this is probably just Fancy Play Syndrome, coupled with the fact that I was very tired and not thinking clearly.

On the plus side, both actually end up calling and my hand is obviously good.

Then the drunk guy opens to $15, the guy to my right calls $15 and I have 88 on the button. Another squeeze-spot, but being in position I didn't think that I had so. So I just call, and Small Blind also comes along. We go 4-ways to K-9-2 two diamonds, and they all check to me. Once again I make a silly play and check behind, instead of betting my hand who needs a lot of protection but is likely best now.

Turn is another K and once again it checks to me. I throw out $15 which is too small (that's what she said), but it also doesn't seem like anyone has much. The drunk guy is the only caller, and we see a 2 on the river filling the flush. I was hoping it would go check-check then, but it went even better - he just open-mucks his cards again and I collect the pot.

I win one more hand with AQo after making it $35 pre over a straddle and two callers, but basically I am just sitting there closing my eyes in between hand and not being able to consentrate very well. The table is also not great although there are some spots, but I just don't have the mental energy for it and I can tell I am not on my best thought process. So I just book it after 90 minutes of play, down $47 USD. With being down $180 at one point, it almost feels like a win.

Cash Games:

Hours played: 25h 00min
Won/Lost: +$472 USD
Hourly rate: +$18.9 USD

Tournaments:

Won/Lost: +$1401 USD (2 played)

FWIW, I'm pretty sure that DDB has about a 1% higher return to player than TDB. TDB has larger payouts for the big hands, but the overall odds are slightly worse.

I once has that happen by mistake at Caesars palace a few years ago. I was tired and didn’t pay attention and sat down at a random VP and started playing. 5 minutes in BOOM quad aces with a kicker. Machine locks up and wtf… $2000… I sat down at the wrong game! [emoji2357]

Vegas can be a cruel bitch sometimes and on other days things just happen and work out. I went to the new mall across the street to shop at H&M and then headed over to Caesars through Cosmo and Bellagio and as I was walking past my favourite and probably only European / single zero table my number lands. Oh **** here we go again!

Anyway change $200, I’ll limit myself to one single spin. Play zero section and bomb 15 and neighbours. Dealer spins, says that 19 is her favourite number and boom lands 19 for $1200 and change. Snap leave the table and do some damage over at Caesars:

Always want to hear your vp rants, considering you're becoming the Master.

Back at my home turf for the first time in ages:

No more OMCs limping and promo hunting

Vey nice run in a big field. Far be it for me to offer poker advice to you, but I'm going to do it anyway. I used to be TURRIBLE (Charles Barkely reference) in short handed games. But now my shorthanded game is all out of proportion better than the rest of my game. I don't know if I'm actually good or just lucky, but I've beaten self-professed short-handed killers, and even a published poker book author. What I think helped me a ton is that I used to play WSOP single-table tournaments (sit-n-go's) like crazy, until the rat bastids quit holding them. I would imagine you have access to those in some form, either live or online. I'm sure my skill has declined substantially, since I haven't played one in years.

Grats to Whale, Muck and pig for all cashing a tourney on the same day!

Completely fine with the 65s shove for 4bb effective.

If he’s folding 60, 70, or even 80+% of his range, you’re printing money.

And even when you do get called, you’re rarely much worse than 60/40 behind. As happened here.

I’d rather have 65s there than something like JT or K9, where lots of his calling range could have you pipped.

Nice run in the tourney. Clearly the poker gods want you to become a tourney grinder.

Interesting one. On the one hand, short stacks may play scared and overvalue their tournament life. On the other hand, they are getting laid the best price to gamble by the dead money in the pot. In a situation like this, they also have the least ICM pressure since it is not considered an ICM punt if the smallest stack is the first eliminated. It is actually the medium stacks who are most incentivized to avoid confrontations. Short stacks should be willing to gamble wide when they are in the money with nobody behind them on the cusp of busting. That is an argument for tightening up our opening ranges when a very short stack is in the big blind, which may seem counterintuitive. If they are playing correctly, they should not be folding much here. Therefore 65 may not be the hand we want to go with. We may want something like Jx+.

The wrinkle is that he was SO short that we are also getting laid a good price by the dead money to gamble, needing <40% to justify taking the spot from a pure chips perspective. Since a hand as strong as AKo is just 58% against our 6h5h with no heart interaction, you can see that we are often going to be getting the right price. We are 33% against a dominating hand like A5. We're 20% against overpairs with a heart, which is the worst hand for us. That's a very thin slice of the random two card range. Add in the reality that low stakes players may fold way too wide here, and the shove is probably fine from a pure chipEV standpoint.

I don't have the ICM answer. There's probably at least some merit in not giving the player an easy path to a double, though we often win. A walk is also somewhat bad for us, as it gives a free 2.5 BB anyway. Shoving is probably fine, though we don't love it.

I'd just caution that when the BB is getting such an amazing price to gamble, we may actually want to adjust in a tighter direction since he has no ability to hero fold if he has a clue what he's doing. I think a lot of players default to believing they can steamroll the shorties, but these are actually the players who have the most incentive to give us action wide. If it's a scared/novice/nitty player, we can probably get very far out of line though, as they aren't going to understand how wide they can gamble profitably.

Fun session at Aria tonight, for my opponents especially.

Hand 1: $800 stack we open QcJc and get two callers. Flop is JJ3r and first to act now leads out $40 which I 3bet to $125 to which the player next to me jams for $800 and the other player jams too. Obviously snap call and we see a close to $2000 pot go x turn and T river and the player next to me slams down JTo. Nice!

Hand 2: open 22 utg, couple of callers. Flop 28Tr cbet and two callers to a turn of 5x. I jam, both players call. $1500 pot again and 9x river and one of them has QJo for the rivered gutshot.

Hand 3: open KsQs, one caller. Flop Q high rainbow. Guy donks $25 I 3-bet $80 he calls. Turn A check check river 2 check check and lose to AJo and snap leave.

Rough.

You’ll get em next time

Thanks!

It seems like all my runbad from the last year and a half is trying to reverse itself in a few days. In the freeroll yesterday I folded a bunch of offsuit aces. I folded far more aces than I usually even see in "normal" times. I also played cash today at the Horseshoe, where I've been unable to get any meaningful traction in the past. When I tried the 15 hour freerolls, I usually ran out of money before I made the hours. Today, in 5 hours I was in for 200, out for 1284. I felted at least 4 stacks, and most weren't even that big, usually between 75 and 150, or else my win would've been even bigger.

Example: I raise with A9 clubs, he calls. Flop is 7 A 5 rainbow. I'm out of position, so I lead 15 into the 30 pot. He quickly calls, so I figure him for an ace. Probably with a bigger kicker than 9. Turn is, you guessed it, a 9. I lead 45 into the 90 pot, and he check-raises for about a hundred, I can't remember exactly. I just call, because who knows, he might have a set.

River is, because this is my night, another 9. I shove, almost hoping he folds, because I'm starting to feel guilty. But he doesn't. It goes on and on like that for the next few hours. I'm playing super tight, probably top 6% or 7%. But my vpip is closer to 15% to 20% because I'm getting so many great hands.

Boy, it's going to be murder when this crazy streak ends.

To inject just a tad of strategy and give you something to think about w/r/t your game: if when villain calls a bet (that is not a bluff) you immediately assume they have a hand that is better than yours, you should reconsider your bet. I'm not saying your bet is good or bad here, this is more about thought process and applies in lots of different spots.

I don't understand. He had position. I already made the bet, I can't reconsider it.

I made the bet because I had an okay ace -A9 and it was also a continuation bet. I had made the initial pre-flop raise. All advice is welcome, I'm not a very good player.

I’m saying you should not make a bet that only better hands are going to call (unless you are bluffing). Villain called your bet and you decided that means you were probably beat. If you’re right about that (and I’m not saying you are), that suggests you probably should have checked or bet a smaller amount.

In this case, I think it’s a mistake to assume that only a strong ace is calling your bet. I’m not saying your bet is bad. I’m just giving you a tip about thought process.

Back at it again.

On fumes again…

On Monday morning I updated this trip report and then went to the gym for a workout. That felt amazing, especially as I hadn't been the day before.

I then strolled over to MGM Grand to play a quick session, only to regret my choice around 10 minutes in. This despite me being up a bit already - I got immediate seating and quickly won a hand where there are two limps and I make it $20 from SB with AQo. Both call, and we see the T-9-6 two diamonds flop. Not quite what I was looking for, although I have Qd in my hand if nothing else. Maybe that is enough to start a bet (two backdoors) but being out of position against both I decided to check. It checks around.

The same procedure also happens for the turn (7) and river (6). It checks down and my hand somehow holds up. I also win a Bomb Pot on the flop shortly after, when I flopp middle set + top set blocker on one board, and an overpair on the other board. Everyone folded to my $25 bet.

But then I started losing. First I raise A5hh to $17 over two limps, and get called by the Small Blind only (some kind of local reg). 7-6-2 all clubs is not quite what I had in mind, and after opponent check I just check it back. Don't think I can get much fold here versus a typical SB calling range.

Turn comes an 8, and he checks again. I pick up equity, and maybe I should bet here to get called by.. KT with T of clubs or something. Instead I checked, and the river comes a Q. He checks again and although I was tempted to bluff, I still beat passively played hands like KJ and JT. So I just checked it back, but lose to J8ss.

Very next hand the same thing happens; two limps and I make it $17 with AQo. Same guy as last time calls and the second limper also calls. 2-3-5 two spades comes on the flop, and I do have Qs in my hand. Limper checks and I bet $20 only to seem both call. Turn comes a red 6 and the limper now leads for $35. Not much to do then but fold, and he shows 44 for the straight.

Then we look down at 77 from EP1 and raise it up to $12. Button is the only caller, and we go heads-up to A-Q-5. I think this is a good spot to go bet-bet-bet unless I am told otherwise, as opponent should very rarely have AQ. I start with a small bet of $10 and he calls. Turn comes an 8, and I bet $25 this time. He calls once more.

I was going to make it $125 on the river but then it comes another Ace. Sigh. It's impossible to bluff now as he might have improved to trips, and I can't take that chance. I check, and when he quickly checks behind I know he has a Queen. Q9 suited wins the pot - a hand that I would clearly have gotten to fold on most rivers.

A bit later the same guy limps in, and the active Asian to my immediate right makes it $17 from Small Blind. I have QQ in BB and raise it up to $60. He thinks for a bit (limper folded) and then calls. The flop comes 8-5-2 all spades, and I don't have Qs in my hand. The pot is already around $125 and I have $160 or so behind. Seems best to just jam it in there to give him a bad price with his high spades, but accepting that a hand containing As will likely call. He does however fold quickly.

Next interesting spot is when we have the beauty of AKdd. I make it $12 as always, and the guy with Q9s call as well as BB. 3-ways then to K-Q-Q two clubs, and BB check it to me. Instead of betting and get value from worse Kx, flush draws and JT, I make a terribly passive play and check. It checks around.

I get bailed out by the K turn, and after BB checks I throw out $10. The player in position calls while the limper fold. River is an inconsequental 5, and I decided to bet $51 into $57. Any Queen is going to call, and I would not even be surprised to see Ace high flick it in. But instead he just quickly folds, so I have no idea what he could have had.

An action player had joined the table a while ago, a white guy around 40 with a huge beard who was very friendly but clearly there to splash around a bit and did not seem compentent at all. Sadly I couldn't get anything going with him, such as when I raise A4ss from EP1 to $12 and get called by the local guy (the one with J8s from early) before the action player makes it $28 from BB. Obviously laughable sizing and with a suited Ace I am calling in position. The third player also calls.

We do however only get K-J-4 with no spades on the flop, and it checks around to the T turn. Action player then jams (!) for $200 into $87, and after I fold the third player agonizes for 15 seconds before calling. It turns out the action played had KK for top set (!) and the other guy turned a set with TT. Extremely weird/bad way to play KK from the action player though, and he is extremely lucky that his jam on the turn got called by something that was not AQ.

Then a German guy raises to $10 from UTG, a tight player who I remember playing against last year at MGM Grand (and he also remembered me). Another player calls in the filed, the Asian calls in SB and I have AQo in BB. This should be a squeeze with all the dead money, but in game I chickened out again and just called. My thinking was that UTG likely had a tight range, but that is silly thinking - I will find that out quickly enough anyway, and AQo is a fine hand to 3-bet/fold if it comes to it.

Q-J-6 on the flop, and the raiser bets $15 when checked to. I thought it showed a lot of strength when he bets into 3 other players, but the other two opponents still calls the bet. I also called, although I realize I have to tread a bit carefully here based on what is happening on the turn. However, it just checks around on the 4 turn.

River comes a 7, and the Asian in SB now leads for $45. This seems like an easy call for me, as he should be good enough to value KQ and unless he slow played QJ I should be good here. I call, the other two fold out and he shows 76 for two pair. Lol wtf. I don't know how he is in there pre, and I don't know what he is doing on the flop. Over-calling with two pair after the raiser has shown that much strength is just terrible, but he gets rewarded. And I get what I deserve for being such a passive fish and not 3-betting pre.

No stack picture, so here is a random Vegas picture:

The action player sadly eventually left the game after having dusted off $800 or someting, but sadly I couldn't get anything of it.

After he had left, we get a raise to $15 from a tight Asian who normally limps, and I call from SB with 33. We go heads-up to K-7-4 no clubs, and I am prepared to just check-fold. But instead he checks behind, and we get a 3 on the turn. Maybe I should lead small here, but in game I checked again and he follows suit once again. River comes a 6 and I lead for $31 (likely too big, that's what she said). He folds immediately.

A bit later a huge OMC (who had limp-jammed KK earlier to suck out on AA) makes it $10 from early pos, and it folds to me in SB. I have two Jacks and this felt like a very close spot given how few times he had raised pre. But ultimately I decided to just 3-bet to $45 and take it from there. He actually folded instantly, which is once again a good reminder to 3-bet a bit more.

One last beautiful hand in the form of AKcc and I make it $15 after a new female player had limped for $3. BB calls and the woman also calls. 7-2-6 all red cards is not quite what I had hoped for, and I don't think I get a single better hand than mine to fold. So I just check, and it checks around. Turn comes another 7 and after the woman leads out for $15 I just fold. Maybe I should be a bit more sticky with AK high in these spots, but I also don't mind just giving it up without any further damage when I flop no equity.

But although the game was good for an hour or so when the action player was seated, it was generally a sluggish game. Not tough, but just a bit tight and sticky. I couldn't get much going, and I probably had a poor image and a bad mindset. So I just took my loss of $156 USD and moved on to pastures new.

That update will have to wait until later today though, as I have plans and need to get out there. It looks like a grey day in Vegas, and the temperature has fallen quite a bit. But we will have a couple of days left before we need to fly back home, so let's do the most of it!

Cash Games:

Hours played: 27h 15min
Won/Lost: +$316 USD
Hourly rate: +$11.6 USD

Tournaments:

Won/Lost: +$1401 USD (2 played)

I'm not playing Phil Ivey here, it's the Horseshoe 1/3. LOTS of people are calling a flopped ace, even ones that don't have an ace because they think I'm FOS. Besides, if I check, and they think they don't have to worry because I don't have an ace, they might bomb the pot and then I've lost the initiative and have no idea where I stand.

Alright back to the TR.

Absolute ****ing rot again, we pile in AdQd in a 3-way 5-bet pot only to run straight into AA.

Then find a double to put us back into even:

This guy sitting next to me at the Horseshoe poker tells me there's a 5x tier credit promo. He says he saw something that said you had to play for an hour and the opt-in to the 5x promo. This dovetails a little bit with what Old Man Coffee said about if you play vp first, that ordinary poker room tier credits might get multiplied 5x. Since I'm playing long hours to qualify for the Horseshoe freeroll anyway, it would be good to multiply those. Not that I need an excuse to play vp, but the boys tearing up Ultimate X has me intrigued. I've never had much luck with it, but it won't matter as much because I'll stall a lot and try to play for an hour. My plan is to play 2 bullets of $200 each, play as low as possible to make my money last, and hopefully make the hour.

I go over to PHo to my favorite bank of machines and start out with DDB. I don't even know the strategy for it, but how hard could it be? It's actually going pretty well, looks like my live poker luck followed me over to vp. In fact I'm getting a bit annoyed I'm playing quarters instead of my usual $1. I started with 3 spots, then moved up to 5 spots, and even 10 spots for a little while. I've hit quads a couple times, and even a straight flush, but no multipliers. I'm playing 5 spots when this hand happens - I'm dealt trip aces and every spot has a multiplier. Out of 5 spots, 2 of them hit quads! One spot paid 1600 units and the other paid 2400 units. The other 3 spots added up to around 1000. The 2 quad hands add up to a Royal payout. If I had been playing dollars instead of quarters, I would've run like a thief in the night with my 5 grand, tier credits be damned.

I do have a strat question similar to Muck's earlier. Dealt a full house with 3 suited Broadway cards, do I break the boat, and try for the two missing cards? I wouldn't think so but I'm ignorant.

In the end I make to a full hour, in for $200, out for $955. I was over $1400 at the peak.

You don’t break any boat in UX unless it’s premium trips (AAA,222,333,444) or you have a really high multiplier. For example at 8x I’d probably break non-premium full house