I woke up at 7:30 today, feeling a little under the weather. Not a fun feeling when you are in Vegas and have decided to put grind-mode on. However, after recommendation from K and J, I went to a barbershop at Venetian ('The Art of Shaving') to get some hair etc. removed (not that I have much on my head anymore!).
The process itself took around 50 minutes, and was just overall very relaxing. I am also really happy with the result, so even though it was expensive AF ($160 USD) it was well worth it. I have also taken some cold medicine + just came from a very refreshing trip to the Harrah's pool, and feel much better now.
Before the barbershop at Venetian opened, I went over there for some early morning cashgames. Only played for 1 hour and 15 minutes, but there were a lot of interesting hands. I'll run trough some of them.
After folding for 7-8 hands I pick up
AA from EP1 and raise to $7. I get three callers, and we see the flop
Ks-Js-5c. BB leads out for $25, and I think I made a big mistake here by just flatting. He only has 90 behind, and given there are a number of draws or 1-pair hands he can have here (KQ, KT, QJ, plus flushdraw combos, perhaps with one pair as well), I think this is a stack type I should just raise and get it in against. I also don't have the Ace of spades, thus meaning he could also be on a simple nut flush draw.
Instead I just call, and a tight older guy behind me calls as well. Turn is a
Q, and BB now pushes all in for $92. With a guy behind me and a board that is looking a bit bleak I eventually make a tight fold. I think it's a bit too likely that he could have improved to two pair. The third player also folds.
A bit later I get
AQo and make it $20 to go from early position after a button-straddle and a limp in front of me. I get 2 callers, and we go the nice looking flop of
Q-7-2 with two diamonds. I bet $32 and get a call from a very serious looking Asian woman, buried in her hoodie and sunglasses. Turn is a complete blank (
5s), and I checked to her. Something about the way she was playing made me believe she would take a stab if I did so. She does, and bets $63. I call, and we see a
Ts on the river. No flush possible, and even though QT got there I am more than happy to call down here. I check to her, but she checks quickly back. Maybe I could have gone for a small bet on the river to target some medium Qs or pocket pairs, as my line probably looks semi-strong to her and she might be afraid to bet a lot of things on the river. Our hand was obviously good.
The very next hand I am in the BB and get
QQ after someone has raised to $8 from middle position and gotten two callers. I make it $28 to go, and they all call. We see the flop 4-ways and it comes fairly safe
8-2-8. SB checks, and I bet $50. I don't think my bet needs to be much bigger here, although there are a heart draw out there. Obviously we want lesser pair to stay in, but not make it too cheap for someone to draw to a flush. Anyway, they all folded.
At this point I had a nice looking stack:
It did however go a bit downhill after that. First I picked up
AKo and raised to $8 over a limper. I get 3 callers, and we see the flop
Ks-Ts-8h. Again I get lead into, this time the BB bets $14. I call, and the rest of the players fold. Turn is a
3d, and he once again bets $14. While the flop perhaps once again should be a raise, I now realize that I should raise this turn-card as his betting seems kinda weak, and I want to charge flushdraws and get value from worse one-pair hands. I make it $45, and he calls. River is a
4s, and he leads for $40 this time. It stinks like a flush, but I don't think I can fold for that prize. I call, and he has Q8ss for pair and flushdraw on flop that got there on the river.
Win some of it back the next hand when I raise
KQo over a limp, flop top pair, turn trips, and river a full house. I get some value from opponent on flop and turn, but he folds river.
Towards the end I also lost two more small pots, one where I had
KT on
T-5-2-5-7. I had bet the flop, check-called the turn, but folded river. The guy who bet the turn was a very tight older gentleman, and after the hand he told me he had A5.
I also raised
99 to $6 pre in one of my last hands, and got 3 callers as always. Flop comes
7-6-7 and I bet $14. I get one caller, and turn is a
T. I check, and my opponent bets $19. I call with second pair and gutshot, and river is an
Ah. My opponent clearly grimaces of that card (and it didn't look like a fake tell), but he still bets $45. It was all a bit confusing with the tell etc. but in the end I chose to believe him on a likely 7 and let it go. Could certainly have tried to raise the river, but might be too risky in case I interpreted him wrong.
In the end I left up $70 USD, which was fine enough for such a short session. Will update the stats-thing later tonight.
Now it's 3pm, and I'm gonna head out and grind cash games until I get tired. This is likely the best day for poker during our stay, so I have to take advantage of that as much as I can. Not 100% sure where I will play yet, thinking of giving Ceasar's a go, but will check Bravo and decide.
Random Bellagio Conservatory picture for feelgood-effect:
Until later
/O
Last edited by BigWhale; 04-21-2018 at 06:01 PM.