The Summer Wind - A WSOP Trip Report …… and beyond!
Don’t ask me why I chose the title of an old Sinatra song to be the title for this year’s trip report, i have no idea, i
I've seen only one live hockey game. It was when I was in college, and although our team dominated as they usually do, it was not bigtime collegiate sports. The rink was outdoors and there were no seats. We all just stood around the rink watching. No tickets or money involved. Although it sounds third rate, it was bigtime enough that they recruited and got Canadian players, eh. I don't remember if they got scholarships.
PGT Mixed Games Series
Days 5 & 6
Thurs 5th & Fri 6th February
We might be done in the PGT studio for the time being, but there’s still plenty of work to be done.
Cash game day and looks like they’ll be plenty of action with two full tables of $80 Mix at the B. In the draw for seats I get the main table which looks a little better than the must move.
I really need to get a nickname lol.
The first six hours is pretty uneventful for us. I stay all the time in the even to +$1,000 range.
Meanwhile Ron is losing and Peter Q is winning almost every pot. Now Ron isn’t the best of losers and Peter Q annoys the **** out of him. So Ron is verbally giving it to him big time, most of which is going over Peter’s head as he’s Chinese and doesn’t understand everything, meanwhile the rest of us are in hysterics with laughter. Poor Peter, he’s a super nice guy.
Good to see all 4 tables in the high limit section in action today.
I’m sitting in the 7 seat next to Ron and his bad luck starts rubbing off on me to the extent that in the space of a couple of hours I find myself stuck 2 racks (-$4,000)
I change seats to the 3 seat hoping it will change my fortunes. Not long after it has the desired effect. I scoop a big one with a 6-7 in Badeucy. (Cue hand and arm movements)
I’m unstuck and a little ahead and time has flown by and it’s 2am before I realize it. I’m thinking of quitting and booking the small win when we combine to one table. The players that came over from the must move are gambling it up like you wouldn’t believe.
Even though I’ve been there for 14 hours at this point, you have to try and make the most of a table like this so I have to stay.
The 2 seat on my right is 3 and 4 betting everything. All the pots are huge and multi-way. It’s a great game, or it would be if I could win a pot. I’m stuck again. [emoji30]
A new addition to the mix since I was last here. We play it like the other big bet games in the mix, with a $1,600 cap. I don’t mind it, but didn’t really win any pots in it. We also had Stud High in the mix today at Vassily’s request, making for a 17 game mix!
Vassily meanwhile who was in the 1 seat must have been stuck about $5 or $6k but has been on a heater and is now ahead by the same amount, if not more.
And still chips are flying all around as night turns into morning.
A slight problem here as I have to check out of the Flamingo and change hotels today.
It’s 9:30am now on Friday morning. I decide to go and take a shower, put on some fresh clothes, check out of the Flamingo and bring my luggage back with me to the B.
I leave my chips on the table and it takes me about 45 minutes. Nobody has moved an inch when I get back to the game. On we play.
The 2 seat eventually, and inevitably, goes broke which prompts Vassily (who was at this point the only other player besides me who had been in the game since it started yesterday at 12pm) to call it a day and book his win.
The morning players have began arriving now so there are new players to fill the empty seats. The game (as it often did in the summer) has gone around the clock and will carry on all day and into the night)
Turns out the new players are in a gambling mood as well, and I’m not ready to call it quits just yet. I change seats again into the 1 seat vacated by Vassily. Maybe it’s a lucky seat?
Maybe it was, as I’m finally able to power ahead and take control of the table a little. I dominate a PLO round and our chip stack swells.
We win some more chips to add to this stack during the last round we play, which was Stud 8, and, 26 hours after we started, finally decided to call it quits at 2pm today.
In for $6,000, out for $12,000. The marathon session paid off.
While I don’t recommend playing marathon sessions like this, I did it because the game was super good. It could be a while before we find game conditions as favorable as that again so you have to try and take advantage when you can.
I felt good the whole time and was confident in my ability to beat the game. The shower and change of clothes in the morning also helped me to feel fresh and gave me a 2nd wind.
One of my all-time favorite movies is The Hustler with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. When Fast Eddie and Fats played their first match they played all night, smoking, drinking, and beating each other up mentally. Come morning Fats went into the washroom and freshened up, groomed himself, straightened his cloths and came out fresh as a daisy, as if it was a brand new day and game. Eddie meanwhile was spent. Who said you can’t learn things by watching movies?
After racking up and cashing out I forced myself to walk the strip with my luggage to MGM Grand which will by our home for the next three nights. Need at least a little exercise after sitting on my ass for 26 hours!
On Deck: Sleep [emoji42]
Gordon: I don't think there's a pool player alive who shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames. You got talent.
Eddie: So I got talent? So what beat me?
Gordon: Character.
Eddie: Sure, sure.
Gordon: You're damn right I'm sure. Everybody's got talent. I got talent. You think you can play big-money straight pool or poker for forty straight hours on nothing but talent? You think they call Minnesota Fats the best in the country just 'cause he got talent? Nah, Minnesota Fats's got more character in one finger than you got in your whole skinny body.
Eddie: I got drunk.
Gordon: He drank as much whiskey as you did.
Eddie: Maybe he knows how to drink.
Gordon: You bet he knows how. You think that's a talent too, huh, knowin' how to drink whiskey? You think Minnesota Fats was born knowin' how to drink?
I had a session like that a couple of years ago, at Caesars out of all places. Went down with my friend in the afternoon and it was the sickest game I’ve ever seen in my entire life. 5 friends were playing and just donating stacks after stacks. We played for 25 hours straight and by the time we left there was well over 10k on the table. I remember I was so exhausted I barely made it back to Aria. Slept for 13 hours straight.
Gordon: I don't think there's a pool player alive who shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames. You got talent.Eddie: So I got talent? So what beat me?Gordon: Character.Eddie: Sure, sure.Gordon: You're damn right I'm sure. Everybody's got talent. I got talent.
Such a great movie and this part is a great dialogue, which as you point out rings true for poker as well.
PGT Mixed Games Series
Day Seven - Saturday February 7th
So I went to sleep yesterday around 5pm and slept straight through until just after 3am this morning.
The first thing I did when I woke up was to check Bravo and saw that the $80 Mix was still running. In the summer it’s normal for that game to run round the clock for days on end when there’s lots of players in town, but outside of the series it’s pretty rare. I text the WhatsApp group to enquire if there’s a seat available and I’m in luck, so I immediately shower and get dressed and head down there.
I thought it might be only 5 or 6 handed but there’s only 1 empty seat, and better still, 3 of the players were playing when I left yesterday afternoon and are still there. So another good game and favorable conditions. Can we take advantage?
The short answer is yes. I scoop a Big O pot early for the $1,600 cap with the nut straight when no low comes and later on I scoop a PLO pot for the $1,600 cap as well.
In the PLO hand I open for 6 chips with AT87ds (the blinds are 1 and 2 chips) and get raised to 15 chips which I call.
Flop: J-9-2 with two hearts.
Great flop for us. We have the nut flush draw and a straight draw.
I lead out for 30 chips and the villain caps it to 80 chips total. We insta-call and agree to go twice:
More hearts than on Valentine’s Day. Villain had KKT6 for an overpair, a gutshot and 2nd nut flush draw, which of course is no good and we add his 4 stacks of orange chips to our growing pyramid when the flush comes on both runouts.
The big bet games in the mix can really help to make or break a session. Don’t get me wrong, you can still scoop big pots of $2k+ in the limit games but winning in the big bet games can really give you a lift.
I stay until I play a badeucy hand badly and realize I’m tired. It was a 3-way pot and I had an 8-7 low and a 7 dugi, but the fact that it was 3-ways and by how the betting went I had a feeling I was beat both ways but still called down and sure enough they chopped me up.
I feel like such a part-timer today as I’ve only been here 12 hours but it’s time to rack up.
In for $8,000 and out for $13,000.
My legs feel very heavy as I walk back to the MGM. I’ve hit a wall. The marathon session from the day before still taking a toll, but I pat myself on the back for knowing when it was time to quit.
I’m too tired to have a proper dinner in a restaurant so opt for something quick before heading to bed.
On Deck Tomorrow: Superbowl Sunday
We're trying to get a mix game going locally. What am I missing from the Bellagio Mix?
Stud
Stud 8
Superstud
Razz
Razz 2-7
Omaha 8
Big O
PLO
Double Board Omaha High
2-7 TD
2-7 SD
A-5 TD
Badeucy
Badacey
Badugi
Drawmaha
Drawmaha 2-7
Archie
Ari
We're trying to get a mix game going locally. What am I missing from the Bellagio Mix?
Stud
Stud 8
Superstud
Razz
Razz 2-7
Omaha 8
Big O
PLO
Double Board Omaha High
2-7 TD
2-7 SD
A-5 TD
Badeucy
Badacey
Badugi
Drawmaha
Drawmaha 2-7
Archie
Ari
Good luck. Hope the game takes off. Looks like the only one you’re missing is Best / Best - Five Card Omaha High Low Double Board (Best high and best low from either board, also sometimes called Ultimate)
PGT Mixed Games Series
Day Eight - Sunday February 8th
I woke up in the early am again and was disappointed to find that the $80 Mix game had broken when I checked Bravo. I was unable to get back to sleep so sweated Captain America in the golf from Qatar. I bet him -140 before the final round and he duly obliged. (I did give those winnings back later with Hideki unfortunately in the Phoenix Open)
We re-started the game at the normal time of midday. Poker has a funny way of, just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, bringing you back down to earth with a bump, and so it was today.
I mentioned yesterday how the big bet games in the mix can really make or break a session. Well today they well and truly broke me.
I lost the cap 3 times, got quartered once and ended up with only 1/6 of a 3-way Big O pot. I must have lost at least $8k in the big bet games today so I suppose I should be happy that after 14 hours I was only down -$4,500.
The Bellagio sportsbook was packed for the big game which went as expected, Seattle and Under, although we nearly had a nasty bad beat on the Under. So between my Seahawks futures bets and the Total I managed to recoup about $3k to offset the poker losses.
On deck tomorrow: road trip!
PGT Mixed Games Series
Day Nine - Monday February 9th
Up bright and early for a road trip.
I was going to rent a car and go on my own but my buddy Rex wanted to go as well so we’re going in his car and sharing the driving.
Destination - Los Angeles, for the L.A. Poker Classic to play two tournaments, a $1,100 HORSE and a $1,100 Omaha 8.
There’s still snow on top of the mountains.
The LAPC may not be as prestigious as it once was but they still give out the coolest trophies and we’d love to add a Remington to our collection.
The first bullet misses the mark and we have to fire again.
The 2nd bullet fares better and we have an average stack as we approach the final table. There was only 32 total entries (I had hoped for 40+) so only 4 spots will be paid.
Unfortunately we then start losing hands when it matters most, bricking out every time in the Stud games and we are eliminated in 9th.
On Deck Tomorrow: $1,100 Omaha 8
PGT Mixed Games SeriesDay Nine - Monday February 9thUp bright and early for a road trip.I was going to rent a car and go on my own but my buddy Rex wanted to go as well so we’re going in his car and sharing the driving. Destination - Los Angeles, for the L.A. Poker Classic to play two tournaments, a $1,100 HORSE and a $1,100 Omaha 8.There’s still snow on top of the mountains.Th
Didn't it used to be a WPT event?
Even if you don't win money at the Commerce, it's been said that touching the poker chips there grants lifelong immunity to all communicable diseases.
PGT Mixed Games Series
Day Ten - Tuesday February 10th
Today was the Omaha 8 tournament but I don’t have much to report I’m afraid. We played good but the cards did not co-operate. In fact they thwarted us at every turn, giving our opponents all the miracle cards they needed to scoop us. Lots of unlikely two and three outers made it impossible to have a good run.
On top of that the turnout was poor again. Last year these two tournaments had 59 and 40 entries respectively, which would have been okay, but with 32 yesterday and only 23 today I feel like I made a poor decision to come here and my time could have been better spent playing cash in Vegas.
It’s sad to see what this place has become. What was once a poker mecca, is now more like a dirty back street Chinese gambling den. I won’t be back.
On deck tomorrow: Flooring it to get out of here and back to Vegas!
I also think you have to rip cards in half and throw them in a dealers face in order to have success there.
One of my most vivid poker memories is from Commerce. The guy who never tipped. He just wrote the dealers name down every time he won a pot and told them if he ever won the lotto they would get a cut. I was thinking about him the other day as there's a guy in Dallas who gives out coupons for a free taco at some out of the way hole in the wall in lieu of tipping.
