Winter Break! Trip report 1/27-2/3
Sitting here in sub zero weather I am really looking forward to getting out of here next week for the much more desirabl
That's a big minpay for a $500 entry.
Congrats.
Thats day 2 min cash, day one min cash was 1012
Was there any way that you could have folded QQ's? Obviously I don't know the way the hand played but I find sometimes, you level yourself into calling after accumulating chips and the times that I have gone deep, I have had to make tough folds in the mid-part of tournaments.
Was there any way that you could have folded QQ's? Obviously I don't know the way the hand played but I find sometimes, you level yourself into calling after accumulating chips and the times that I have gone deep, I have had to make tough folds in the mid-part of tournaments.
Never ever ever folding QQ there. I was basically calling a desperation shove. He had KK but it easily could have been 72 off. Usually its more than 72 and way less than KK. But any A or pair or KJ or JT suited shoves there and I like my chances with QQ.
Unlucky but congrats on the cash and thanks for the descriptions of Hammond. I think I’ll remove it from my list of possible trips for the future.
Hope to see you in Vegas in June.
How small is the poker community? Weird coincidence yesterday. I am at the cashier line to get paid and another guy next to me also has cashout paper in hand. He looks sorta familiar but can't place him? And then he says "Hey, we just played together in Vegas last month at the Venetian final table". Then it hit me. He was the guy I doubled up right before the last break when his Ace had a better kicker than mine.
Well, it's not winter anymore and I am still not back to LV yet but figured I would chronicle tomorrows activities here.
Tomorrow morning gonna head out to the Grand Victoria in Elgin Illinois to play the opening event of the WSOP circuit being held there. The opener is a $400 double stack which is a one day 40K starting atack, 25 minute levels. I would prefer 30 minute levels but I guess 25 with 40K is better than 30 with 25 or 30K? Bright side it will end earlier. But that is only a perk if I make it to the end 😀
Not really looking foward to the hour+ commute during rush hour. Depending on how much I hate the drive will determine whether I play any of the other events. Never been out there before so this is sort of a scouting mission. There is no real convienient tournament poker here so when WSOP circuit roll through it's worth a sniff. I already know I hate going to Hammond.
Well, it's not winter anymore and I am still not back to LV yet but figured I would chronicle tomorrows activities here.Tomorrow morning gonna head out to the Grand Victoria in Elgin Illinois to play the opening event of the WSOP circuit being held there. The opener is a $400 double stack which is a one day 40K starting atack, 25 minute levels. I would prefer 30 minute levels
Grand Victoria in Elgin is not great, but it's still way better than the Horseshoe in Hammond. I would say that the Grand Victoria ballroom I've played in a tournament in the past was somewhere between adequate and approaching solid, but it's hardly memorable.
On a scale of 0-10 (0 being a back room in a nasty, sleazy, broken-down pool hall and 10 being the final table at the WSOP in Las Vegas), I think Grand Victoria in Elgin is a 5 or 6, while I'd say Horseshoe Hammond is a 2.
Good luck in your tourney.
Made it out to Elgin and had some time to kill. I immediately want $35 in bubble crabs and then lost it all back and video poker. I'm hoping for a pretty good turnout today the same event in Hammond last month at over 370 entrance and had 23k up top so I'm hoping for at least that I'll let you know about ready to go sit down
First break 50.9 k average is about 43k. Table seems very soft with a lot of limping and not very aggressive play except for one donk who likes to try to push people around but he's not very good at it.
Uhg! I'm out :( Really felt like I was playing my A game and was accumulating chips nicely. Until ... until I ran into the dreaded set over set situation with the biggest stack at the table. Replaying it in my head I just can't get away from that.
Grand Victoria is a lot nicer and smaller than Hammond but I don't ever want to go back to either one of them. "Local" poker for me is just too damn inconvient. I would rather take a trip to a WSOP circuit than try to play the one around here. The commutes are something I really despise. I will be holding out for real WSOP this June now.
The play in this tournament was the absolute weakest I have ever seen. People playing way to many hands and playing way too passively. I was getting into a really good position when it all crumbled away but that is tournament poker. Can't win 'em all but I am very happy with the way I played today. The past few weeks I have been studying a lot using a solver trying to plug some of my own leaks. Now I am just gonna study every day until WSOP and hope I don't run into many set over sets unless I am on the right side 😀
I’ve just accepted that if I get set over set, at any stage in the tournament, without any consideration to stack sizes, ICM, or whatever, it’s all going in, and to be at peace with that.
Sounds like you were identifying weaker players and accumulating at a good pace in the early stages of the tournament. Thats the repeatable skill that will serve you well in future tournaments.
I’ve just accepted that if I get set over set, at any stage in the tournament, without any consideration to stack sizes, ICM, or whatever, it’s all going in, and to be at peace with that.Sounds like you were identifying weaker players and accumulating at a good pace in the early stages of the tournament. Thats the repeatable skill that will serve you well in future tournaments
Yeah set over set? If I lose I lose but I don't have the ability to lay it down and I'm good with that.
Nothing you can do about that one. Take comfort in knowing when the cards are reversed, you'll get it all back.
Sometimes it's just our turn to get wrecked.
There used to be a poster in the live low stakes forum whose screen name was icantfoldsets and I’m with her all the way
Grand Victoria is a lot nicer and smaller than Hammond but I don't ever want to go back to either one of them. "Local" poker for me is just too damn inconvient. I would rather take a trip to a WSOP circuit than try to play the one around here. The commutes are something I really despise. I will be holding out for real WSOP this June now.
I concur with your less than enthusiastic assessment of "local" poker for the Chicagoland area/surroundings.
Grand Victoria in Elgin is mediocre (5.5 out of 10). Hammond is horrible (2 out of 10). Hollywood in Aurora (5.5 out of 10) is ordinary at best when it holds a tournament (way, way too turbo-ey) and is really aging. I haven't played at Rivers in Des Plaines because they only have one tourney a week and it's on Monday mornings, which is my busiest day of the week at work. Potawatomi in Milwaukee is decent when tournaments come to town (7.0 out of 10). The drive through Chicago to the casino in East Chicago, Indiana is brutal. Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek is not bad as a poker room and has some charm (7.0 out of 10), but that's a really, really, really long drive, and really stretches the notion of "local."
And it's not like I am an unreasonable grader. I absolutely love playing at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona (10 out of 10). I thought Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida was fantastic (9 out of 10). I'm a fan of the Venetian in Las Vegas (8.5 out of 10). Obviously I love everything about the WSOP in Las Vegas (10 out of 10, except for the 4.0 out of 10 Daily Deepstacks and their sauna-like conditions and tables that are jammed together far too closely).
But the Midwest options leave a lot to be desired. New casinos are either being built or soon to break ground in Aurora (possibly completed this summer), downtown Chicago (target date to open in the Fall or possibly early 2027) and Waukegan (still haven't broken ground, optimistic target date for completion is August 2027). I'm hoping one or more of these options improves the outlook for quality "local" tournament options.
I concur with your less than enthusiastic assessment of "local" poker for the Chicagoland area/surroundings.Grand Victoria in Elgin is mediocre (5.5 out of 10). Hammond is horrible (2 out of 10). Hollywood in Aurora (5.5 out of 10) is ordinary at best when it holds a tournament (way, way too turbo-ey) and is really aging. I haven't played at Rivers in Des Plaines because they o
Yeah. I make 2 to 3 Vegas trips per year and that is my poker fix. Tournament poker is my jam and unless WSOP or MSPT come to town I am uninterested. And now that I have seen "local" WSOP I am still uninterserted. The closest poker room to me is the relatively new "Wind Creek" which is very convient. But they are cash only and no tournies. I will likely try out some cash there sometime soon but cash isn't my passion although it is better than nothing 😀 There is an MSPT coming to Ameristar East Chicago (Indiana) this month? It seems easier to get to than Hammond but I don't know? I am pretty soured on on local poker even though I cashed in Hammond last month. I'm thinking I should just make more LV trips 😀
Grand Victoria does run a "real" tournament the first Saturday of every month. $600 entry and 30 minute levels. I have considered it in the past. Part of the reason I played this circuit was to see if I wanted to make that drive in the future. Now I know. I don't 😀
