This report rocks and your wife is mad Katie Perry...Hot and Cold..it's all good when you're waking up in Vegas

I have douche chills.

They gave us two days off. There has to be continuity to the story. Sorry.

Yeah, I was getting coolered all day. But she comes around in the end. She's a good girl and she puts up with me so I'm always at least drawing to the nuts.

Let me know if it works.

awesome, keep it going and good luck

I'm not sure what this means, but ...thanks.

I don't want to know what this means.

10K+ hands of data on me? That's a lot. You probably have 10K of my money too. My wife wants to know if we can have it back please.

need the next installment, done grinding today and need a good wind down read.

OP is leaving to much time b/w posts imo.............

We want more

I apologize ahead of time for the non-poker content. I would skip the off days, but for the sake of continuity, I feel the story needs to be told. Feel free to skip this episode, if you want, but please come back for day 3 of the Main Event.

Sunday July 11 - The World Cup Final - My Vegas Rant –Craptastic - and a Show.

Today is the World Cup Final -- the most watched sporting event in the world. Spain vs Holland -- the two best teams to have never won the big one. I’m excited.

We get over to Caesar’s early, and settle in at Shadow (the lounge nearest the sports book). I decided to put a wager on the game because I’m a gambler. I have not bet on a sporting event since my run-ins with the campus bookie in college (that didn’t go well). Throughout the tournament, my 9-year-old son had an uncanny knack for predicting the winners. He’d studied the players and knew the key match-ups. So I called him and asked him who would win and what the score would be.

Being that my son’s soccer coach is a young Dutchman, he had been sufficiently brainwashed. He picked Holland to win 2-1. I felt Spain was the better team, but the kid’s a savant, right? I went to the window at the sports book and made my first ever legal sports bet. I put a whopping $20 on Holland and another $10 on the score 2-1.

The guy at the ticket counter said, “Are you really picking against the octopus? You know the octopus has caused the line to move?”

“That makes this a better bet for me right? Besides, I have a monkey at home that said Holland will win.”

He looked confused, “You have a monkey?”

I place my bet and say bye-bye to $30, the best team won.

While we were watching the game, my former student, Gordon, saw a friend/co-worker. He introduced me, by saying, “This is my high school coach and teacher. Besides my father, this man has taught me more about life than anyone else.” I was surprised and flattered. I knew we had a good relationship built over the years as teacher, coach, and mentor, but in that instant I was reminded why I teach. I love that kid. *

*(editorial note: I didn’t include this as a brag. It really made me think --Here I was, in this world of make-believe – playing poker with people who make a living at it and of course I let myself imagine what it would be like. And, if you are reading on this forum, you have thought about it too – the glamorous life of a profession poker player, right? But I don’t think there are many poker players who get to affect as many people as I do in my job. And if Leo Doc gave up his job to play poker, he would miss out the chance to save lives. I believe this is why so many poker players are so generous with their time and money to help charitable causes. As human beings we need to feel connected with other people and making a difference in some small way.)

After the game Gordon headed out and my parents were headed off to the next part of their adventure in the wilds of Colorado. My wife and I had the rest of Sunday to hang out. We decided we would see another show (translation: my wife decided we would see another show). She suggesteda show called “Defending the Caveman” at the Excalibur. My parents dropped us off before heading east.

I instantly hate the Excalibur. From the outside it looks like it is built from Legos, and the inside is worse. It is designed to elicit, “Daddy can I get ……, or Daddy I want……” at every turn. The popcorn place, next to the candy store, next to the toy store, next the pizza place. It was gluttonous. The Excalibur is a cheesy-over-the-top-themed-money-sucking example of American excess and consumerism. It bothered me that it was designed to appeal to the young -- an indoctrination to consumerism. Now that I think about it, it does to kids what the rest of Vegas does to adults – appeals to our weakness for instant gratification. This is an excerpt from a blog I wrote for a non-poker audience:

Too many people bring their kids to Vegas. The big corporations want to market Las Vegas as family friendly, but I don’t think it is. Vegas is hedonistic, capitalistic, salacious, hot, not pedestrian friendly, and caters to man’s every vice. Vegas is a place where adults, can go spend their money. Period. It exists for no other reason than to entertain. The shows are great, they tell me the food is good (I not much of a fine food connoisseur), the gambling is fun, the sights are interesting, but it is not quality family time. Building sand castles at the beach is quality family fun. Covering your kids’ eyes from the trucks on the strip advertizing “Girls in 15 minutes” and “all nude” is not family fun. Yet everywhere I turned I saw people with their kids (at all hours of the day). Don’t get me wrong. I like Las Vegas. I can’t wait to go back, but family friendly…I don’t think so.

As friend of my sister who is from south Georgia, so elegantly put it: (insert southern drawl) “Keep ya babies out the casino!”

(sorry for the rant – I hope I didn’t offend anyone who likes to take the family to LV.)

After purchasing our tickets, we had to decide what to do for four hours until the show. I knew I had to get out of the Excalibur, I didn’t want to go back to the Rio just to turn around a short time later, my wife’s ankle was still hurting so we didn’t want to walk too much -- we settled on going next door to the Luxor.

We hit the craps table and bingo! We quickly won enough money to cover dinner and the show tickets. I can’t believe I am freerolling show #2!!! We look for a place to eat and decide on the buffet at the Luxor. (What is wrong with me?!) Warning—don’t do this! It is not good. But we were hungry and all-you-can-eat sounded like a good idea.

After eating I wanted to play more craps, but my wife was convinced we shouldn’t. According to her we had used up our good luck for the day. I laughed and explained that the dice have no memory or agenda. Or do they? Right away we start to lose and lose quickly. My wife shows a mixture of displeasure and satisfaction. She’s convinced she was right as we run through the first $200. To her dismay, I pull out another $100. I decided to put a stop loss at $300. When we were down to the last $40, I put it all out on the table and my wife turned away. We won and I started pressing bets. Twenty minutes later we walked away with a profit of $150. I gloat for a moment, before my wife takes the $150 and heads off to shop. I go look for a poker game.

The Luxor poker room (if you can call it that) only had one table running ($1/2) and no seats open. I put my name on the list and watched. The game was horrible. Seven super-tight grandpas who only played AA or KK, one older woman who folded every hand and stepped away to smoke every three hands, and two young internet tools who talked about +EV, pot equity, and hand ranges and then ended up only playing hands against each other because everyone else folded. I took my name off the list and walked around to do some people watching. I observe that no one playing slot machines ever looks anything but miserable.

The show (Defending the Caveman) was fantastic – very funny. I recommend taking your wife if you get the chance. It will help her understand you. My wife now knows why at the end of the day I don’t really want to talk. It’s because I am all out of words for the day. I hit my quota around 3:45. Anyway, good show and not too expensive (I’m cheap even when I’m freerolling).

We taxi back to the Rio (craps winnings) for some quality time and sleep. I need to be in top form for Day 3 of the WSOP Main Event. I will leave out the details, but if you had been standing at the pool of the Rio that night and looking up at a window on the 10th floor you would have gotten a show. We decided to be crazy and leave the curtains open and the lights on (for a while at least).

Sorry for so much non-poker content. Things heat up on the felt in the next installment. No more off days until it’s over.

How anti-climatic would it be if the next post was simply "Day 3, busted 10 spots out of the money"

He said "Please come back for Day 3." That's a tell.

Tried that. Three things were explained to me:
1) I should probably talk to one of the OTHER wives and girlfriends to see if they would do me too
2) It would not be to my advantage, to put it gently, if they did
3) It would not be to my advantage if I even asked

Thanks for a great report so far.
Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Great story. Funny and well written. Love the stories about the wife

Great Job, keep them coming.

thissssssssssssss

You are a nit...lol..next time leave the wife at home....lol

This has been my favorite thread on 2+2. Thanks!

And miss the kid free sex.....BLASPHEMY!!!!

Undoubtedly the best TR I have ever read.
Love that you included your qualifying run too.
Makes me wish I had done the same when I made it in '06

I'll give you a push on this one: Thumbs down for avoiding your instinct, thumbs up for the Monkey line.


See? Instincts serve you well.


Another push.

2-for-2 here. Winning and "sharing".

wp.


+2 to round you out at 8-for-10.

*Edit* 8-for-11. -1 for no pics.

Nice rally.

looks like another subscription

DAY 3 of WSOP Main Event - I think I’m becoming a Poker Player

Once again I’m up early, so I try to develop a game day routine that includes working out and some time in the spa to relax to get my mindset right. Today I feel things are going to get serious. Everyone left in the tournament is finally playing on the same day. The blinds will start to affect the play of some people and chips will be flying. I know there is still a long way to go, but I can start to see something on the horizon. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something there. Over the first two days of play I feel I have improved greatly. I am nervous, but confident. I feel like two days of playing live on the biggest stage has propelled my game forward light years. I’m thinking the game better than ever.

I start the day with 86,700 chips and one hour to go with the blinds at 500/1000/100a. With 86BB’s I am in no hurry. I can wait for good spots. Day 3 gets underway and I try to size up my table. It takes only a short while to confirm 4 pros and 2 amateurs with 3 unknowns. One of the unknowns is to my immediate right. He is well over 400 lbs and his breath is horrible. I thought about offering him a Tic Tac, but I was afraid he might eat me.

During the first hour, I continue my conservative play and pick up a few small pots, but nothing major. I have my stack up to 89K. The blinds are going up to 600/1200/200a -- I still have over 70 BB’s.

Two hours down and we reach the first 20 min break of the day. I am down to 83.3k chips but not worried. There is room to be creative or patient. I have played only one notable hand:

I’m in the BB facing a raise from a late position player. I defend with10 8 suited. The flop was J 3 6 (only one of my suit), I checked, he bet, I re-raised and he folded. Rationale – he looked weak, the board sucks and I’m in the blind and have a tight image. All other hands have been routine.

In seat 8 we may have the slowest poker player on the planet (it's not the 400lb guy). This guy is driving me nuts. He is so f’ing slow. I don’t know what the hell he is thinking about. Every decision he makes takes a lifetime. I think people are folding to him just to end the torture. We are probably playing 1/3 less hands per hour than other tables --maybe less. The weird thing is -- he is basically loose aggressive -- playing a wide variety of hands (he is playing “fast” but he is physically and I guess mentally, slow).

This morning my wife gave me a rubber band to wear on my right wrist. Every time I have a negative thought I am to snap it. So far, no snaps. I’m in my happy place.

During the break I made a conscious decision to change gears and exploit the image I had worked the past two hours developing. I wanted to mix it up a bit more and try to pick up some chips. For example:

An aggressive but smart player raised to 3000 from one off the cutoff. I re-raised from small blind to 8600. He flats. The flop was 858. I led at the pot, he called, turn came with a 5. I fired again with no hesitation and he thought for a long time, started to raise, then thought about calling, then finally folded saying, " jacks". My hand...... A6.

I was really surprised when he said “jacks.” I was also relieved. He had raised from the cutoff so many times when he had the chance to open, that I gave him no credit. I was determined to exploit my tight image. My re-raise out of the blinds screamed big pair. But with a low board it took two more bets to get JJ to fold. My opponent gave me a lot of credit to fold an over pair to the board. For an instant I thought about showing the bluff. But I didn’t feel I had enough experience or comfort to know how that would affect how people would play me. So I gave a slight nod, tried to look a bit disappointed and said, “good fold.” I figured I would try to keep the image going. I had just triple barrel bluffed a guy off of a pair of jacks and I had dodged a bullet.

The blinds headed up again to 800/1600/200a and the amount of chips in the middle seems to making everyone at the table more active. I am in there mixing it up. As a result, I have lost some of my tight image and now I actually have to make some hands. My chips stack is also seeing more fluctuation. My low point was 75K, then I was up to 100K, then back to 90K. By the time we reach the next break I am at my high point for the day so far with 102.9K Rubber band snap count up to 5.

I am feeling great, winning hands without having good cards, winning hands with good cards, losing some small pots, but not over committing. My image has changed from a super tight nit, to that of a creative tactical player. I am relaxed and focused and that is earning me credibility. I think the table thinks I am a better player than I really am. I think I’ve matured into a poker player over the last two and a half days.

I explain to my wife that I am completely dialed in. I try to recount hands to her and she politely smiles and nods having no idea what I am talking about. She does ask me for some cash. She had a mishap at the craps table and confesses that she probably shouldn’t play without me there. I tell her not to worry, that for the trip we were still way ahead on the craps tables, but yeah she should probably lay off until she better understands the game.

After the break we get to the “Hand …of… the… Day!” As the hand is being dealt a new player is being seated in the empty seat on my left. The blinds were at 800/1600/200a and the action folds to me in the small blind. I raise to 4500 and the big blind (the loose aggressive but painfully slow guy) calls. I feel he will defend almost any two cards. The flop comes 5 J A. I lead out for 11,000 -- a week later he calls. I don’t like this. (pot = 32,000) The turn is the 6. I check --he thinks and thinks and thinks, then checks. I like this. The river is another 5. I check, he bets 22,000. I hate this.

I go into the tank for a long time! I think about calling, I think about folding. Something didn't feel right -- something didn't make sense. I try to get a read on him. Was I really going to call with this hand and potentially drop to 60K in chips? Another few minutes of agonizing pass before I lean forward and ask him if he missed his flush draw. I think he flinched, or was that me?

Time to analyze: I felt he would have re-raised an Ace preflop unless it was real weak. I don’t think he would have checked an Ace or a Jack on the turn. If he had a 5 then why bet so much on the end when I have obviously slowed down and seemed hesitant to put any more chips in – wouldn’t he want to be paid off? The only thing that made sense was a missed draw. This analysis might have been different for a different player, but I think I have it right.

All of my analysis said call. However I was having a hard time making myself do it. I almost folded, but I then had this internal dialogue, “If you can do all of this analysis, if everything you’ve seen says call and then you still can’t do it, then you should not have played in this tournament! If you don’t have the balls to make this call, then you should not have risked 10K!! Call you girly bastard!!!” I had to bully myself into calling.

I closed my eyes and said call. He said "good call" and the table waited for me to turn over an Ace, but they exploded in exclamations when I tabled 88. "Great call." “Sick call bro." "I'm going have to watch out for you," said my tablemates. My favorite comment was "You read his soul, mate." Now, when I look back, it doesn’t seem that amazing, but in the moment it was very very cool. My confidence was sky high and my chip stack was up to 140K.

By dinner the blinds were up to 1000/2000/300a and I had folded back down to 133K. There have been some huge hands played at my table with some of the players amassing over 400K. I feel I still have a lot of work to do. 7313 people started the tournament, 2557 made it to day 3, and as of the dinner break there are 1456 left. I have already accomplished a lot and I have a growing number of people back home following along on via Facebook.

After the dinner break we only played two more hours. I didn’t play particularly well. I just seemed lethargic. I think the adrenaline rush of the hands before the break combined with eating just exhausted me. I made a few mistakes and missed a few opportunities. At the end of the night I was sitting on 135,900 chips. I actually was feeling disappointed. And then it hit me – I didn’t have the elation I had had the two previous day endings because now I was expecting more from myself. I snapped my rubber band three times really hard and shook it off.

I’m going into day 4 of the WSOP Main Event with an around average chip stack!!!! It might be that I am becoming a poker player. I post a Facebook update thanking everyone for the positive vibes. I stop off at the bar for my nightcap (though I don’t think I’ll have any problem sleeping tonight - I'm exhausted) and I head upstairs to my very proud (and beautiful wife).

Next stop: Day 4 – Pros galore -- the bubble –and a scheduled flight home.

Sweet! an update.. Thanks OP!

great time to subscribe!

great read so far. and yeah i 2nd that mt charleston area is cool. i climbed to the top of the mountain next to mt charleston and you can clearly see vegas (assuming its not a bad smog day).

Implies it has to be canceled? Spoiler: Makes it passed the bubble IMO.