Day 2 (part 2) - The Giant (bust)

I wish Day 2 part 2 was exciting. It really wasn't, sorry for the disappointment. I was on two different tables, both equally amateurish and couldn't spin up a stack.

The Giant tournament was a turbo with 20 minute levels, 20K starting stack. The first table I was on was very friendly, which is always a good sign. I think max I had was 22K and min was 0. I ended up shoving JJ into QQ. Never really works out when that happens.

Onto the rebuy. Second table was the same story except 66 v AK.
I decided it was time to just be done for the day. I was tired of tournament play, having played since about 10AM.

Day 3 - Wynn 100K and Crazy Russian and pleasant LYFT mistake.

Vegas Pro Tip 1:


Anyhow I que up for Lyft and the driver who was super friendly picks me up. I am going to Encore (Wynn). I then realize I hit the wrong button and was using their rideshare v single passenger. I only had like 40 minutes to register and did not want to be an alternate. We had to stop at Caesers first. The Lyft driver was giving me crap (in a nice way) and we were chatting. I am like if this is the worst thing that happens today I am good.

We end up picking up a young couple from Louisiana on their first trip out here. Was great, helping them out on places to go and see. I asked if they were getting married out here. They looked at each other and were like.. no.. that's a few months from now back home. Getting married in Vegas twice is where its at! They looked unbelieving.. but well what can I say. I am a relationship expert you know! Total cost of ride was $5.11! I gave her a nice tip! I love customer service and when people are nice! Hopefully everything works out for those two!

Crazy Russians!
I registered for the Wynn 100K 550 buy in at like 1130. I had a few minutes so I went to the bar next door and was watching my Yankees losing. I ordered a drink... wth this is Vegas.
I was sitting next to two Russian guys. We got to talking and the one guy was like yea I went on a run in blackjack last night and won a couple hundred thousand. Now mind you we are in Vegas, anything is possible, but most people are full of crap. We got to talking some more he was like yea they pay you in bricks of cash...

"Did you want to see?"

"What?"

"He goes did you want to see the money?"

"sure why not?"

He grabs his backpack, opens it up and I am not kidding.. he pulls out a pouch that was like the one from the Hangover. He opens it up and pulls out 100K and lays it on the bar.

"Holy crap!"

"Can I take a picture?"

"Oh yea, no problem"

"Can't they pay you in checks or something?"

"No checks in Russia" He says with a smile in a thick accent. I almost spit up my drink... it was very surreal. Like something out of a movie. I finish my drink.. congratulate him on his win.

I text my friends who text back "Did you get his room number" "Housekeeping"

Vegas Pro Tip 2:





Wynn 100K:

I decided against going for the 1k satellite to WSOP in order to play in the better structured Wynn 100K. I love the tournament and the field. Definitely will book this next year.

I had pretty much the best table in the tournament. I spun up the starting stack of 15K to like 60K with no problem. Winning pots with 53 and 86 because I was not being played back at. I was basically raising any two cards late position. The guy 4 to my left had a 40-50K stack and was a true calling station.

Everyone else, except maybe one player was passive.
Example hand:
Villain 1 BB (CS) 60K
Villain 2 MP (Loose, fit/fold) - 20K
Hero - CO: Extreme LAG - 25K
Blinds 200/400 50 ante
CO raises to 1.2K
Hero reraises QQ to 2.8K
BB calls
CO calls
Flop JT3
BB leads 3K?
CO thinks about shoving, then thinks calling, then thinks shoving and calls. I was literally reading his mind.
I shove my 21K.
BB thinks for like 2 minutes talking how he thinks he is behind etc etc.... I am meanwhile praying for a call.
BB - Calls.... CO calls.
BB - J8
CO - 75
And we hold for triple up. Just terrible plays in general at table.

I ended up with a little over 60K at the 2nd break. Twice the average.




Following break I continued my aggression. No one was playing back so why not? Anyhow - remember when I mentioned that when people don't believe you its great!

Hand 1:
Blinds 400/800 100 ante
Villain 1 MP 28K
Hero CO 60K
Villain 1 raises 1.8K
Hero raises 3.8K with.......AA! Bullets baby! Doesn't get better then that!
folds around to Villain 1... who insta reshoves. I snap call.
Villain 1 -99
Flop: A25
Pretty much don't have to tell you how it ended.
-29K
Ok - No problem. Absorbed ANOTHER race which wasn't a race. Still had tons of chips. I ended up building back to 40K



The following hand comes up which I think is fine as played...
I don't really like it... but like it.. Its a math question where I need to run numbers. The numbers I ran in my head at the table put me pretty much exact what I needed to call.

Hand 2: Interesting spot
400/800 100 Ante
Villain MP - 7.4K
Hero UTG - 40K
Villain had built his stack from 400 back to 7.4K in the last 2 hands. He had lost his stack to missed FD. He really played only a few hands with nothing out of the ordinary that I recall.

Hero raises J9 from UTG to 2K
Villain thinks for a few seconds then shoves his 7.4K

Folds to Hero....
I tank, do some math, think about the pot, all the scenarios etc and ended up calling. Pretty sure its close here. He is shoving pretty much any pair, any Ace, most K+, and probably some random high cards. I had to call 5.4K to win 11.8K. At the time I thought it was like 40-45%% I needed to call.

I lose to AQ.

Doing some calcs given a reasonable range with no tilt range it comes to exactly 60/40. With some tilt factor and knowing I have opened 76s and other connectors from UTG I think this was ok.

I was then moved to another table *Bad Beat IMO. Even worse then losing the hand!

The next table had just knocked out 3 players. The guy had about 200K in chips and was three to my left. I could tell he was super agro and running over this table pretty much. He raised like 4 hands in a row.

The lady on the right was like "I have a big stack (50K) and I don't want to lose it to a big stack" #Solid advice.... yea.

Anyhow Big stack villain opens UTG, I reshove 22K with KJ on the button. Super tight looking guy rejams from the SB. (Unlucky).

I run into AK. What are you going to do. Nothing. I was pretty happy with my play. I can not avoid the varience, just go with it.
I decided to just take a break. It was almost 6PM. I could have registered for the Venetian 1K Turbo but I was all tournamented out. I just made that word up.. thanks spell check!

1-3NL - Wynn
So I took a break to play some cash games. Really just the easiest games in town which require no thought what so ever. The table was standard Tight players with like 2-3 other players of varying skill. Great table and nice people to chat with and play. I ended up 400 over 3 hours, before I realized I was just tired. I went back and got 10 hours of sleep.



Alternate random note: I watched the live stream on PokerGo ($10/month cancel anytime) and ESPN2 WSOP. If you really want to know what happens in these tournaments I highly recommend it. Really gives some insight to different play and players in the main event. Day 1 coverage is fantastic IMO and rarely gets covered.

Next up:
STT
1K satellite - win my Main Event Seat
Profit!








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Next stop, Pawn Stars, for a bagful of krugerrands. Probably more liquid than USD.

in 4 pics of russian cash porn and your inevitable chipstack porn...run good!

Day 3: 1K Satellites, STT, and the most fun I have had playing poker in years!

The day started off on a bad note. I forgot to mention I made a few bets on baseball. I should have posted them on here so you guys could profit! All you had to do is pick the exact opposite of my picks. I literally had 4 different team bets and they all lost. I would think if I put them on the wall and threw darts at a sheet I at least get one right? GRRR dumb. I will not bet sports, I will not bet sports, I will not bet sports! Poof! I am cured!

So after checking out of Cosmo, I end up at the Rio. It is kinda like going from a nice shiny Lexus to well... a 1980s Ford Escort. Enough said.

Off to the 1K STT.

I sit down and pretty much love the table. Most filled with villains trying to get into their first main event. They play way to tight for the rapid structure of this tourn. You start with 6K and generally need about 60K or so to get into the Main. Much much better to have a bigger stack so you can just comfortably steal blinds etc from the tight while watching for the short stacks.

I chip up pretty nicely to 21K, we change tables 3 different times. Blinds were going up pretty quick and soon it was 400/800 100 ante. So yea, by quick I mean quick. Saw some pretty horrific plays by bigger stacks with like 70K giving away 40K when he couldn't get away from QQ on K32 board. Really?

I end up surviving down to like 15K and shove the CO with AQs and was snapped by JJ. Flopped the world with Spade draw and could hit my over pairs safely. I was not meant to be. I played it well. I was ok. 300th with 134 getting a seat. Close but no Monica.

STT:
Played my final 125 STT. I am not boring you with the details. Lost A8 button shove with 2.3K to BB call 4 handed w/KJ. It was a friendly table with the last 3 of 4 players being the best of the bunch. The remaining was just terrabad. Limped the button with J3h at 200/400 with I want to say 2K behind. Can you say.... Fold Equity anyone... then when the BB shoves... he tank calls. I love live poker!

I had a key decision to make. It was about 7PM. The main event was the next day. I could just go back to the room, hang out etc. I could go downtown. I could go get a really nice dinner.... or.....

I saw Aria had their dealers choice tournament for the series. It was $160 buy in 2-7NL!. 2-7 NL??? Who plays that? MEMEMEMEMEMEME! It sounded like fun!


2-7NL:

I register and then sit down and it was surreal. Like something out of the movies. At the table where the Tournament director, assistant tourn director, other Aria employees, and several people drinking! We had a great table. Everyone was laughing, raising, snowing (I think that's the term), bluffing, giving each other crap. There was like 1 person who was a stick in the mud and we knocked them out. It was nice because we were all trying to figure out whether to break a J or stay pat, what to draw, how much to raise etc. We had a great time.

I love tables where you learn where people are from etc. The TD brought out this big trophy thing which was "Industry person of the year" using it as a card protector! They were announcing the action at our table like it was some final table or something... was pretty funny. Pretty much it is moments like this table which is why I love this game. I won't remember the awefull folds I made in the beginning with a Ten, I won't remember accidently throwing away a 2 when I meant one of the 3s. I will remember the good time. Shout out to the Aria team for putting on a great tournament!

I made it down to 19th from 80 peeps, busted when I overshoved a J8652 and BB calls. He is drawing 7542 which is fantastic. I am out of position which sucks because if I know he is drawing I stay pat. I elect to break it and get an 8 which is terrible. He draws a K. In the big scheme of things I lose anyways because he gets the 8. It was one of those hands. I probably should have stayed pat?

Either way I went back to the Rio afterwards and got some ZZZ. Christmas is coming my friends! Christmas is coming!

FYI if you enjoy comedy you have to listen to this skit about the joining the Russian Mafia. Take the 13 minutes. Well worth it imo!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...C0C8&FORM=VIRE

it is a great one.

Day 4: The WSOP Main Event

The day everyone looks forward to every year. It is by far the best tournament in the world, bringing all walks of life to the Rio to play some poker. Walking into the Main Event I looked at my table. My initial gut feel was this was going to be action packed and we were going to get a huge stack or bust. I was right on all accounts.

Tan table 50 seat 1: The place where AA, KK, QQ get hopeful... then the board squashes all your homes and dreams away.

I build up my stack to like 60K then this hand comes up:
250/500 75 ante:
Villain - Spewy random aggro kid
Hero - Tag

Villain raises MP to 1.2K
Hero raises to 4.5K
folds to Villain who thinks about it and calls.

Flop QJ2cc. I do not have the Ac
He checks, I check. The flop smashes his flatting range and keeps in all bluffs.
Turn Jh
He checks quickly, I check behind.
River runs out Qd
He snap bets 5K.

My gut reaction is just fold. The hand isn't worth it a this time. I should have listened. He had QJ. Yea... lost minimum.

Second major hand:
300/600 100 ante

UTG raises to 1.7K(loose, gives up), UTG 1 flats (bluffy), MP flats (spewy), I flat with 67cc, SB and BB call.

Flop:
Q76ddd - It checks around. I am not betting this hand. The table was ridiculously aggro and I am not liking life if I get called. Unsure if this is good, but it seems right.

Turn: 6h. Obv I love this card. SB donk bets 2.1K? UTG 1 raises to 5.5K, MP flats? Ok... this is strange. WTF is going on here? I flat with the monster. SB folds. UTG 1 has bluffed at weird times which were making no sense. I don't know what to make of his raise other then he could be bluffing random Qs with a diamond, could have 77 but I have blockers, maybe QQ, never has Ax flushes, I mean what is he raising there. MP consists of mostly flushes for sure. He knows villain randomly bluffing. I flat. I see minimal value in raising. I flat.

River is a disastrous Q. Spewy villain bets 10.1K. MP thinks about it and folds.

I have 24K behind. Call or fold? So tough. I beat only bluffs. What percent is he really bluffing here and with what hands leading into two players. I go into a tank. Go through the action several times. I find very few hands which he does this with. I ended up folding. He throws over 33? Wow... ok.

I end up playing short stack for a while, getting up to 30K, down to 14K on 2 pair rivered flush for a small pot since villain slowed played himself. I come back for the final break and I have 13K. Blind down to 11K. Pickup AK in the BB and shove over button/sb raise/flat and it gets through.
blind down again with no real spots and pickup 99 otb with 12K. Aggro raiser raised, spewy bluffy guy flats, I shove 99. Aggro gets out of the way, spewy snap calls with AKcc. The dealer did a great job with the presentation of the cards...99 in the corner, AK in his corner. Door card was Ac.... and the rest of the board ran clean, except the other A on the river just in case I missed the first one.

Overall I was happy with my play. I wish I could have found a call with the 67. Thinking about it if he is just bluffing 30% of the time I am good. One of those hands I just don't know.

Anyhow after the Main Event I was surprisingly in good spirits. I played it exactly how I wanted. The cards just weren't cooperating. I decided it was time to have some fun in Vegas. Vegas style!

Up next: A new chapter!

Day 4: A New Hope

So what else to do after busting the Main Event? Go downtown! I hop in Lyft for $11 to downtown. I didn't get any pictures but it was pretty hopping. They had a great band playing, people abound, hookers abound, random characters abound. It was nice. I walk into the D and look for my favorite game. Free Bet BJ. That's right I love it!

FBBJ - Bringing on the HEAT!

I tried playing on the strip but the blackjack 6/5 poison has infested the strip. Downtown everything is 3/2. So I buy in for 2K. I think the entire world stopped. They had a host, they had the floor, second floor, pretty much the entire casino their watching. I guess they don't get a ton of action LOL. In either case they all disappeared when I lost like 8 hands in a row. Down to 700 I rebuy of course. I then go on a streak, using progressive betting up to like 5K, then back to 3K, then up to 4K, then down to 2.8K.

Cousin Eddie:
Then cousin Eddie shows up, splitting 10s v 10, doing random donk moves buying in for 500 a shot. I decided to take a break. Cousin Eddies usually go broke and I needed a break. I get back 5 minutes later and he is leaving the table. I then proceed to get this nice couple who comes in. Hammered but fun! I go on a streak up to 6K. I take 500 and play with that for a while. Decided to leave up 1.6K. It was a great run, lots of drinks and fun. Just what the doctor ordered!.

Side story:
Had one dealer who was super fast and mechanical. She sighed when I took to long... started to try and deal and I am like wait I am still doing my bets. She just gave me that look. I said "Don't give me that look, I am trying to place bets for you." INSTA change in attitude. Probably the FASTEST I have ever seen anyone deal and payout. Crazy.

Super Vegas Pro tip - Downtown Hookers:

Would you:
A: Rather be stuck in the room for 24 hours with Roseanne Barr tied to a chair while listening to her
B: Rather fall into a Volcano, while getting chased by killer bees
C. Pickup a Downtown Hooker

Holy crap... this is a poll for sure! I am going to make one... see what everyone things.. So tough!

Ok, look if you are going to pickup hookers downtown... just don't. I mean they are going to rob you. Was walking out and there was this older guy walking away from the D with two obvious girls of the night.... and yea he was so screwed. Even the Lyft driver was like he helped a guy 2 nights ago when a girl took his wallet and money. He was making a scene. Unsure what happened since he left afterwards.

What is next? Well I was going to snap book my way home today (Tuesday) but decided to stay a few more days. I am going to play in the Venetian 1K today. I have been playing well and I know the variance of this game. Probably 250-300K up top so that would be a nice consolation prize right?

Anyone know how to create a poll?

C all day long. At least you'll be alive after, just broke.

B makes you dead.

A is the last choice by far. You'll still be alive, but your memory of the event will make you wish you were dead all the rest of your life.

This is me, complete with attitude pivot

If a Q doesn't river, you most likely snap his bluff with 67. How unlucky that card comes for the bluff win.

C. Leave the wallet/cash/everything locked up in the car/safe. obviously

Vegas Final Days:

So the final days in Vegas were spent trying to cash in at least one tournament. It was not happening. I never understood real variance in tournaments until this last trip. I ended up in the PH 1M 2x, Venetian bounty 400 2x. Each one I got chips in for a pretty significant pot which would put me well above average and it just didn't work out. KK v. A2, KK v AQ, KJ v 55 (at least fair), and my favorite:

PH 1M
200/400:
Hero: 19K starting stack - 2nd rebuy. folded like 8 hands so far.
Villain: Unknown guy from India with 70K. Obv been active/calling a lot.

I raise the button with T8cc to 1K
Villain defends small blind. BB folds

Flop: 765cc.

Villain checks, I bet 1200, villain raises to 3K, I shove 19K. I have pretty much everything dominated on this board with massive redraws. I will take this all day long.
Villain thinks for less then 10 seconds and calls with A5hh?
Wow.... turn was 5s, river was a blank... and I am out again.

I ended up cutting off tournaments for the trip for obvious reasons.

1/3NL:
The last night I was there I decided to hop into a cash game at the Aria for some entertainment and relaxation. All I can say is... I ran like a poker boss. Ridiculous. If I had a flush draw, it hit, a pair it hit, a pair it hit Quads!, pretty much ridiculous.

Vegas Tip for the Poker Grinder:

Look, if a guy has ZERO clue how to bet, what to play, how to play -

YOU WANT THAT PERSON IN THE GAME. I saw a Vegas guy who obv plays there all the time semi/berating this Chinese guy who it was very obvious he had never played the game. He was calling raises with 8-2cc and hitting. Then just giving it back.. He beat the Vegas villain for a 200 pot with the 82cc and the guy got mad. Really? You want this guy in the game, He is money.

Vegas tip 2 for the poker grinder:Don't insult me a the table with your bad advice of "shoving AK all in pre with $100" or something stupid. I will call you out on it. TBH this person was not a poker grinder, but just random Vegas BJ/poker dealer at a different casino who lost their job by not showing up (because they read the wrong schedule).

Overall it was a great cash game. I made 3x buy in with zero effort and decided it was a night at like 5AM.

Overall Summary:

I would say the cash games were phenomenal, tournaments terrible, and I won in every pit game I played. It was a strange and completely different trip which I had never experienced before. I met some great people, had some good times, got a few stories and memories which can not be replaced.





Anyhow, until next time!

Rolledup222 out!

Random pics:



Only in Vegas:



In case you wanted to know just how well the Jets will do this fall:







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I will be back. On yes. I will be back!






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Is he ever coming back?? Oh boy oh boy?!!!!


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wait the Jets are higher odds then the Niners? this is great since I'm a Niners fan and my brother is a Jets fan

Exactly. Even the Browns!


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Nice TR. Thanks for posting.


PS. My Rams are only 100-1. Terrible price ��