I'm surprised to read that Whale's real name is Red. Would not have put him on that.

Yes, you are right, standard typo on my part. The river was another diamond, most likely the 8d. Thanks.

Hehe, that would probably have been a cooler name than what I was given. I have an extremely traditional/common name for a Norwegian however.

Today I woke up at 5am, and although I would have liked to sleep longer it's still better than yesterday.

I just got back from a good start to the day; the Horseshoe gym. I really love these early mornings in the beginning of the trip, when you are still jet-lagged but super excited about all that lies ahead. Towards the end of the trip it's easy to feel a bit stressed with the days counting down - at least for me.

Nothing else exciting to report yet, but I think this guy seems excited for the day as well:

Great start!!

Really enjoying the poker HH’s.

OMG, imagine being high or drunk, not knowing about the Sphere, and seeing this. I would freak! It'd be like some really bad sci-fi movie.

New day, new challenges:

I had some stuff that I wanted to do on the south end of The Strip, so I took this one over to MGM Grand:



After swinging by a store (no, not the M&M store for a minibank withrawal ), and getting a 20 minute massage at NYNY, I went back to MGM Grand as I saw they had no list.



Bravo was not updated, as they did have a short list. However, within 5 minutes they had enough to player to start a new game, and I bought in for $300. Although there is no max, I wanted to feel out the game before potentially putting more money at risk.

The first hand I played was a very interesting one, and I might have made a mistake here. I raise KQo to $10 pre from hijack (didn't see a limp for $2 in front of me), get one caller on the button, but the limper fold. Flop comes Q-6-5 two spades, and I bet out $14. Opponent raises to $39, which already is a bit scary, but I have top pair, good kicker, and no spade in my hand. Obviously lots of draws available here, although at first glace I didn't think the guy looked like one that would fastplay too many draws. But you never know. I call.

Turn is another 6, which I think is great as it greatly reduces set-combos + two pair like 56. I check, he bets $30 and I call. This sizing felt pretty weak to me, although most players that I encounter in Vegas in general bets way too small and don't get enough value from their hands.

River is a 5, which feels like an extremely favorable runout for me. I guess he could have quad fives or quad sixes, but what are the chances? And how many hands would he really call pre with that contains a 5 or a 6? As of such I decided to lead $50 for value here, and hopefully get called by hands like QJ and QT. That said, I think this is way too optimistic given he check-raised the flop. But the weak turn-sizing + the composition of the board really made me feel like I could be best here.

Yeah, about that.. he moves all-in, and it's only for around $70 more. I groan, as that is not what I wanted to see. I know I need to fold, but it feels physically painful to do so given how few combos of really strong hands there are. But after a minute I came to my senses, and fold my hand. He flips up 55 for quads, which is pretty crazy (and he won $450 from a high hand promotion for that hand). In a way leading river saves me a bit, because if I just check and he moves all-in I might talk myself into a call. Strange one for sure.

I reload another $100 and get involved just 2 hands later. There is a limp for $2, a gigantic raise to $20, and I have 77 in BB. I decided to call, although it might even be borderline for that sizing. Limper folds, and we go heads-up to 8-7-4 rainbow. First set of the trip. I check, and he bets $35. Fairly big sizing, so I see no reason to slow play - especially since he saw I had a difficult decision with the above hand and might think I am tilting. I make it $102, but sadly he just thinks for 15 seconds and fold.

Down around $80 or so then, and I hang around that result for a bit after a few small pots goes both ways. Then I find QJdd from UTG and raise to $10. Player in MP calls, and BB (who seemed like a good grinder type) calls. Flop comes A-9-3 with 9d, and I am thinking this is a good board to bet. BB does however lead out for $15, and I decided to call. Borderline, but I didn't think he was too strong necessarily, and there are many good turns for me. Third player does however also call, which is probably a reason to just fold the flop and not get stuck in the middle.

Turn is a random low card that does not give me a flush draw (4), and BB bets out again. I quickly fold, and third player does the same.

I got to 3-bet that player only two hands later however, when there are two limps and he makes it $12 from button. I have AQdd in SB and raise to $40. Everyone folds.

Then we have a limp for $2, and I once again find QJs, this time in hearts. I make it $12, the player right behind me calls, and BB calls. Limper folds, and we go 3-ways to K-7-7 two hearts. BB checks, and I bet $15. The field-caller folds, while BB (who has been very sticky so far) calls.

Turn comes with a black 5, and after he checks I bet $35. In hindsight I am not loving my bet here, obviously won't get him off a King or a Seven, and if he has a flush draw as well he's gonna stick around. In game I thought I could fold out some weaker stuff he might have called with, but in reality I should probably just take my equity here and check back.

Opponent does call the bet, and we see 7h on river. I make my flush, and after he checks I settled on a sizing of $75. I wanted to target a King to call, and also (as crazy as it sounds) have room to possibly fold if he jammed over the top. A bigger flushdraw is obviously parts of his range, and I think he will only call with lower flushes than mine. Either way, opponent snaps so quickly that I regret not betting $125 or something, and he obviously mucks when he sees my hand.



Up a little bit then, but didn't really have any more interesting spots after this. I raised up some hands (KQo and A5s comes to mind), but lost both pots without getting even close to flopping anything good. As I was getting hungry and a bit tired, I just cashed out after a short session of 1 hour and 45 minutes. The result was a real bankroll booster, as I profited.. $3 USD.

Now I am back at the location below, and debating what to do. Getting a bit tired, so question is whether I should fight through it or take a nap. Time will show.



Cash Games:

Hours played: 6h 15 min
Won/lost: +520 USD
Hourly rate: +$83.2 USD

Nice comeback. A win is a win!

Good morning! Here is the rest of the 'adventures' from last night:

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I ended up taking a nap yesterday, but only for around 90 minutes before getting out of bed. Once I started feeling more awake, I took a look at Bravo and saw there were a ton of games all over town. Really impressive stuff for a Monday evening, and seems like poker is well alive in Vegas.

I ended up just playing here at the Horseshoe as they had no list, and there were a lot of spots during the hours and 45 minutes that I played. The first one of note is when we are 5-handed, and I raise 86hh to $12 from UTG. Bit too wide as per proper charts, but ok. Big Blinds is the only caller, and we go heads-up to K-Q-7 flop with two hearts. Pretty good, so when he checks I bet $12 again. He calls.

Turn is a 4, so we add a gutshot as well. I considered overbetting on turn, but settled on $30 as I didn't think he was super strong. He does however check-call. River is an offsuit T, so I am left with 8 high. Opponent checks again, and I decided to empty the clip. Board favors me a lot, and although he will run into something like KT on occasion, I think even a random King will have problems calling here. I make it $95, and he hems and haws a bit, says that it feels like AK, but that he will pay me off. Ouch. I instantly table, and he shows AQo for second pair.

In hindsight I am not sure if bluffing this combo is the best, since I have the hearts - thus more likely he has a made hand instead of a draw. But I am still quite surprised that he called, although with AQ it makes more sense - it blocks AK and AJ which I could have. So if I could have it back I would have overbet turn + shut down on river. Something like $55 on turn and check back river is probably best.

Very next hand there are two limps, and I announce tilt-raise from BB to $15 (bit small) with AQo. Both ends up calling, and the flop comes 6-2-5 rainbow. SB checks, and I bet $20 as this board shouldn't hit them insanely hard. They both end up calling however, so what do I know.

Turn is a 4, and checks around. River is a J, and although an overcard, I think it's the worst one to bluff and I won't have much credibility after the bluff the hand before. So I just give up, it checks down, and SB wins with Q6o (great limp-call from SB).



In for $400 then, and already down a bunch (I added on $100 in between the two above hands). And I continue to lose hands for the most part. In one I raise KQo to $12, an OMC calls right behind me, and we go heads-up to A-T-3. I bet $11 and he calls. Turn is a King, and goes check check.

River comes a 6, and I decided to bet $17 here. He instantly checked back turn, so I am targeting a Ten - although I know I will value own myself a lot here. And that's what happened, as he calls and shows A2o. Maybe this OMC was the wrong guy to target with a thin value bet, as he is likely the type of guy who will only call river when he has an Ace. And he probably just check back his weak TP on river as well.

Then EP1 raises to $10, and I defend BB with 52hh (we are only 6-handed for this hand). I did however look up this spot afterwards and found that the defend is too wide and not correct.So I will learn from that, although it cost me in this instance. Flop comes Q-3-4 two spades and checks around.

Turn is a 5 and I lead for $12 with what I assume is the best hand. He makes the call, and another 4 comes on the river. I check, trying to get to showdown, but he bets out $25. Story doesn't quite make sense to me, and I don't see this player as one who would go for two streets with something like TT here. So I end up making the curious call, only to get shown QQ for a full house. Maybe it should have been obvious to me the whole way, but at least he gave me the chance to draw out on him.

For the next hour I did manage to win 1-2 small pots, but the ones I lost were always bigger and put a bigger dent into my stack. One example is a 3 way limped pot where I check 75dd in BB. The dealer puts out 3-4-5 with two hearts, and Small Blind leads out for $5. I call and the limper also calls.

Turn comes a black T, and SB continues to bet, this time for $15. Maybe I should cut my losses here as I have a player behind me (multi-way responsibility), but I called, and third player folded. River is a Q, and he checks. I have plenty of showdown value, so I check it back, but he shows 88. Extremely passive to just limp 88 in that spot, but it worked out for him I guess.

Then there is a limp for $3, and I make it $15 with KQcc, a beautiful hand. OMC to my right calls, and the limper calls. We go 3-ways to 2-4-6 all red cards, and I decided to check it. Maybe too passive, but I don't even have a backdoor and likely a pretty terrible losing image at this point. It checks all the way down (9 turn, 4 river), and the limper wins with AJo. In hindsight I would win this pot if I bet, and maybe there are arguments for a small stab to get out some Ace highs that currently are beating me.

Lost another small pot, before I actually win one. I raise 78ss to $12 from EP1, a calling station who was running super hot calls in MP, and BB calls as well. Flop comes 4-9-5 with no spades, so I only have a gutshot. I do however bet $16, the station calls and BB folds.

I did however see a second of uncertainty from him before he called, so when the turn comes another 4 I muster up a bet of $45. That does the trick, as opponent folds. Assume he was calling fairly wide on the flop, and that my observation was real hesitancy.

Here is a random Vegas-picture to break up the text:



I then lose a pot with AKo (terrible flop versus same calling station and some others), before it folds to the Small Blind a while later. They do not allow chopping at Horseshoe, so this OMC-looking guy makes it $15. I am in BB and look down at no less than AA. Great spot, although he is fairly short stacked. He is however covering his stack with his elbow, and I didn't want to ask as to maybe give off the strength of my hand. So I just make it $45, and he calls.

I now see that he has only $30 behind, so obviously I should have just jammed pre. But oh well, flop comes A-J-5 rainbow, and after he checks I actually check it back. Probably stupid though, should just put him in - doubt he will fold. Anyway, the turn is a 7, he checks, I go all-in and he snapcalls. No idea what he had, river was a random card (no board pairing for a possible high hand) and my hand is obviously good.

Right back to losing however; there is a limp from the station, I complete SB with J9o and BB checks. Flop is 7-8-3 and I decided to lead for $5 with a gutshot and two overs. BB folds, and the limper calls. Turn is a J, so now we have a clear value bet on our hands, especially since I hold a 9 and it reduces the chances for him having a straight. I bet $10, and he calls again.

River is a harmless 4, and I bet $20 to target a 7 or an 8. Instead he does what he has been doing all night long on rivers when he has had huge hands - he puts in the min-raise ($40). Even getting ridicolous odds ($20 to win $99 I believe), I am just never good here. I fold, and he claimed a set of sevens (which I believe).

A new player then joins the table to my direct right, and goes guns blazing in his first few hands, including 4-bet jamming on a semi-short stacked OMC with A4cc after getting 3-bet (and beating the OMCs KK all-in pre). He is in a lot of hands, straddleing and being generally very active. I put in a 3-bet against him once with 54s after he raised to $10 (I went to $31 from the button), and he folded.

After winning 2 small/medium pots with KTo and 55, I am feeling a little bit better about the situation. Then a tight German player raises to $15 from EP1 over the fishy guy's UTG-limp, the aggro calls in CO, and I call on the button with black 99. I could certainly squeeze here, but with how tight the German had been I didn't really want to reopen the betting.

The fishy limper also calls, and we go 4-ways to 2-3-7 two clubs. Limper checks, German checks, and the aggro guy bets $30. When the raiser has checked to him, I think his barrelling range here will be much wider than most, and there is a good chance I have the best hand. So I raise it up to $80, mostly for value but also to drive out any potential draws behind me. Both fold, although the German seemed really pained with his decision.

Aggro does however come along, and we see the Ts on turn. When he calls I know he has something, and stack to pot ratio is very akward now. I have around $220 left maybe and the pot is already that size. So although I am still beating 7x, 88, and flushdraws, I chose to check back and hopefully get to showdown cheaper.

River is a 5 that does not fill the flush, and he leads for $30. Very tiny bet into $220 or so, and although a bit concerning that he is betting I am certainly not folding for that price. I call, and he turns over T7 of diamonds for turned two pair. Sigh. Still think I played it ok though, it's just frustrating that this was the biggest pot of the night and he managed to turn a miracle card.

That guy immediately left for the $2/$3 table after the hand, while I added on another $100 and was now in for $700. Not fun, but I did win a few pots towards the end and managed to recover a little bit.

Biggest one was when there are two limps to me, and I make it $16 from BB with KK. Both the UTG-limper and SB actually end up calling. We see T-8-5 two hearts on the flop (I have Kh), and I bet $25. They both actually call, which was a bit surprising.

Turn is Jh, so a flush comes in. SB checks, and although one of them could have a flush the SB only has like $40 behind, and I will hear from the UTG-limper (a real OMC) if he indeed has a flush. So I bet $50, only to see both fold. The OMC-limper claimed he had 77, which I assume is true.



After all was said and done I ended up with a $333 loss, which does not feel great. That said, I don't think I played horrible. There is a few spots I would have liked to have back (especially the riverbluff early), but apart from that I think I was just running into it a lot - often having enough to bet and/or continue, but opponents rarely ever bluffed or had anything weaker. That said, there are some clear pre-flop mistakes in here which I need to clean up, as they ended up costing me a bit.

One more quick post from me below as well, but here are the mediocre results so far:


Cash Games:

Hours played: 10h 00 min
Won/lost: +$187 USD
Hourly rate: +$18.7 USD

Maybe think of it as clawing back $367 from your buy-in amount?

Thanks again for the detailed hands and your thought process while playing them. Always appreciate getting insights from players better than me.

This is a good post to quote. Regarding the first part, I have been running absolutely crap on VP so far, hardly not a single winning session, although I generally play games with lower variance (No TDB and hardly any DDB). The losses sneaks up on you as well, $150 here and $100 there, and suddenly you are looking at your bankroll wondering why it's not any bigger. So I will need to keep an eye on that, unless I start winning more in poker. Not good.

---

It's also not good that after not being sick for over 1.5 years now, I woke up this morning with what is clearly a sore throat. Very frustrating, as getting sick has the potential to ruin the entire rest of the vacation.

That said, I don't feel too terrible right now. And if I have the energy for it, I will continue to play poker. So if anyone thinks that is a terrible decision, and that I should self-isolate in my room until I feel better, it's probably best to stop reading now.

For now I will take a shower and head out to find some medicine, and take it from there. Today is the last day at the Horseshoe, as I am moving over to New York New York tomorrow for the remainder of the trip.

Monday was a U.S. holiday, which might explain why there were so many games running. Good luck the rest of the way.

Three 7's on that K7757 board, you have nut flush and bet targeting a K? And won at showdown? Something ain't right in Denmark.

Truly appreciate all the HH details! Not a dig on you or the report.

Went here yesterday in Henderson:



Then crashed hard and actually slept until 5:30 and for the first time since arriving I feel fine.

Now at game at Aria for one more hour then finally checking in to Vdara suite.

Just looked up the Ventano menu online. Looks solid. What did you have and was it worth the trip to Henderson? May have to put it on my list.

It’s a really good local Italian place with great food but wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to get there if you are not in Henderson. I had a business meeting and they were all staying in Henderson so it seemed like the most convenient solution.

Food was good, we had a bunch of meat and seafood and pasta dishes for share.

Forgot you were on a work trip and may already be in Henderson. Putting it on the list anyway.

Leon if you are reading this, I am drinking a whisky in your name today. Holy ****, my heart!





Btw bit below average to hit 2 kickers only?

I'm reading, obv. Nice hit! Avg is 2.something, so any time I get 2 or more I'm ok with it. Having been skunked on 10 play with dealt quads many times in my life (including quad aces, TWICE), I am acutely aware of how good it is sometimes to just "run average".

I STILL think about the time my buddy and I got dealt quad aces on UX, 3x multiplier everywhere, and only hit one kicker. Makes me so angry every time I think about it. I literally have hit several 80k, 30-40k and 200k, been dealt 4 aces w/kicker three times and a royal once since then. Still get angry lol

I have only played a very small sample size of VP of course but have never been dealt anything before except for the straight flush I shared which was like the only time ever I bet 5c instead of my usual 25c. Was obviously very tilting. UX is a high intensity/variance game and I just need to steer clear of it..

Sorry, was two sevens on the board, certainly not three. Even though I proofread after posting, I am clearly missing some mistakes.

Thanks for noticing!

While MuckPls hits $7k jackpots, I am taking a crack at the $100 10am Caesars-tournament now.

First buy-in went great, first got rivered with AK in a big pot against K3 on K-4-6-8-3. I valued river for 6100 and he just called.

Very next hand there is a raise to 700, and I just Jam my remaining 6k or so with TT. BB rejams and raiser calls:



Best hand in, 3rd place after. Seems standard.

Now on my second bullet, hopefully can spin up something.

Nope. JJ vs AA for around 20bb each. $200 gone in an hour.