After getting eliminated on the bubble at South Point, I went back to NYNY and updated this TR. I then headed out for some more play, and although I had a hard time deciding on where to play I ended up at
Wynn/Encore. As soon as you enter the poker room, you are greeted by a big pair:
Maybe a random selection on a Monday evening, but I wanted to give Wynn another try as the game plays quite big and maybe I could run well. After a few minutes we started a new game 4-handed, with one pro, one random Asian (maybe a pro) and one fishy guy who only sat with $200. After around 10-15 minutes the table did however start to fill up, and before you knew it we were 8 players. I was break even at this point, winning 1-2 small pots that's not even worth mentioning.
Then the fun starts as soon as the 8th player joins the table. He looks like a pro, is recognized by someone else at the table, and immediately starts to raise his hands pre-flop. In maybe his second or third hand, there is a limp for $3, this new pro makes it $15 and I find
QQ in SB. I 3-bet to $55 (should have made it $60), and he calls quickly.
Flop comes the dreaded
A-7-5 two diamonds. Not perfect, but I continue for a small sizing ($40). He calls. Turn is a black
T. I have no idea what the best line is here, but I obviously thought he would float wide in position to the small sizing. So I ended up betting again, reasoning that it would be easier to get to showown that way than to just let him take control of the pot. I make it $90, but he calls somewhat quickly again.
River is another
7, but at least no flush came in. I have to give up now, so I check and pray he will just check behind. He does just that, and after I show my hand he mucks. Very unsure about this turn-spot, it's one of those where I both hate betting and getting called, but where I hate giving up even more. If I have to guess he had JJ, or missed a flushdraw of some kind.
I am hardly done stacking my chips before there is a limp from a fishy guy, the Asian (fairly tight) makes it $12, the new grinder guy makes it $40, and I have
KK in cutoff. I 4-bet to $110, don't think I need to make it any bigger than that in position. First two players fold, and grinder guy makes the call.
J-6-4 two hearts. He checks it, and with the Kh in my hand I actually decided to make a sneaky check back. Having a heart means I don't have to worry too much about another one coming out + I think this guy will pounce on weakness as soon as he sees it. Turn comes a
9, and he leads for $85. I debated just jamming for his remaining $200-something, but settled on a call.
River is a
5 of hearts, but he checks so he for sure doesn't have the flush. Value time then. I chose to bet $190, which in hindsight was a bit silly as he only had around $250 left. Should have just gone for it all - especially since I knew his stack size and didn't just bet blindly.
He thinks for a long time, says he doesn't have much but that he probably have to pay it off. So I do think my flop-check really confused him, as I would for sure have bet a flush draw on flop for example. He ends up calling, which is obviously great news. In hindsight I need to jam that river though, as I think he will call with the same hands that he calls for $190 with.
Huge stack then, after buying in for $400. The sad thing is I went very card-dead afterwards, although I can hardly complain about distribution (see above). This grinder-guy was compeltely relentless, bought in again for the max and kept hammering. He was in there in at least 50% of the pots, and although he sometimes was caught bluffing he won a ton of hands and soon built up a stack similar to mine. So it's fair to say I didn't really want to tangle against him in a big pot. Although he was probably overdoing it a bit, he was easily the most tricky/tough player I have seen in Vegas this trip.
One more interesting hand though; there was a Croatian guy at the table who was clearly a huge fish. He didn't seem all that accustomed to playing in a casino, and was limp-calling a lot and generally chasing in hands. That said, he seemed a bit scared to put in huge amounts without a good hand.
Funny story btw, he said he had been in Vegas for 20 days now, and twice having gotten robbed (!). Once he picked up a 'card' (with women on it) from someone on the street, called the number on the card to set up an appointment at his room, and the girl did not show up alone, but rather with two large guys who then proceeded to take all the money he had visible in his room. At least that's how I understood the story, although his English wasn't perfect, and he seemed to just laugh it off as 'gotta try it in Vegas, man'
Anyway, this guy limps for $3, I make it $15 with
AQo, and get three callers. Flop is rather favorable, with
A-Q-2 two diamonds. It checks to me, I bet $25 and only the Croatian calls. Turn is another diamond, the
6. He checks, and I am still going to bet unless he tells me otherwise though. I did however miscalculate this pot in my head, which is why I ended up betting only $42 on the turn. He calls very quickly.
River is the
4d, so there are now four diamonds out there and I have none. And to make matters worse, the Croatian moves all-in for his remaining $200. Sigh. I know I have to fold, but it's just so annoying having to do so. Plus, I had realized by now that I had made a mistake on the turn regarding pot size.
I fold face-up, hoping he would show, but he does not. However, I am 99.9% certain this was not a bluff. Most likely he just flopped top pair with some random Ad combo, and no amount that I bet would have gotten him to fold. It's just too bad the river was not a diamond, otherwise I could have taken his Ace to valuetown.
That guy eventually left, and another short stacked fish had also left the table a bit earlier. Another pro trickled in, and the game became unplayable. So I just took my $492 USD profit and left after 2 hours and 30 minutes.
I ordered an Uber, as it was raining outside, and went over to
MGM Grand instead. Mostly because I saw they had 7 tables running and no list, but also because it was just across the street from NYNY and I would have a short way 'home' when I got tired.
Game looked very boring when I sat down, but I did discover that there were two fish at the table who was drinking quite heavily and being a bit splashy with what hands they were playing pre-flop. They didn't know each other from before, but had bonded from sitting next to each other and was encouraging each other to order more drinks etc.
Not going to run through many hands here, as there were really only one interesting one. I tried to open it up with some raises to $10 pre when I had decent hands, but I was connecting very poorly with the flop. So even though I also won the odd small pot here and there, I was probably down around $40 or so when this spot comes up.
There is a straddle on the button from a new guy, before a grinder-looking guy makes it $17. A new OMC to the table calls, a new black guy calls, and an Indian OMC calls on the button. I am in SB with
AKo and a ton of dead money out there. I make it $100 straight (seems like a fine sizing), expecting to just pick it up most of the time.
Raiser folds quickly, but then the first OMC-caller asks how much it is and puts in the call. He only has $60 behind or so, which is just insane. The rest folds, and I just slide out enough to cover him before the flop even comes out.
Q-J-9 was not on my Christmas wish list, and he snap-calls as soon as he sees it.
I assume that means I am toast, and shows him I only have Ace King. He does however show up with
ATdd, so by some miracle I am still ahead. Turn is a
6 and river is a
4, and I can only accept the donation. I would have been happy to just take it down pre, but getting to stack a player and win even after that flop is definitely not something I expected.
Although I played a couple of rounds more, nothing really exciting happened. One of the drunk guys busted, and the second one talked about leaving soon. And I was getting tired, so I just racked up after 2 hours and 15 minutes with a profit of $173 USD.
Cash Games:
Hours played: 42h 45 min
Won/lost: -$82 USD
Hourly rate: -$1.9 USD
Tournaments:
Won/lost: -$320 USD (2 played)