JockBay's Journey Through Live Poker
09-24-2014
, 03:51 PM
Return of the Gangster
Well, its been a crazy past 4 weeks consisting of many visitors, good food, and just a little bit of poker. My parents came in towards the end of August followed by my brother and his fiancée. It was all capped off over the last two weeks as two of my best friends from back home joined me in Sin City.
We didn’t get into too much trouble but definitely did our fair share of drinking, min bet table games, and sports betting. Somehow I think we all managed to come fairly close to breaking even in these endeavors. Most of our time performing these acts was spent across the street at the Rio since we are able to just walk there and no DD is needed. When we weren’t doing this it was a barrage of movies and over all hard maxin and relaxin just as was done back at home. Good times to say the least.
Since they are both into eating at good restaurants, I also got to try out some more of the endless Las Vegas dining establishments. I’ll just list a few. Chada Thai and Wine (http://chadavegas.com/) was by far the best place we ate. This is recommended by many in LVL and once I saw Gobbo cosigned it as being better and cheaper than Lotus of Siam, it was a no brainer. I was riding a nice win streak in the pits and sports so I parlayed it into the famous “Pankang Duck.” It was absolutely incredible. I washed it down with a couple Sapporos and that was that.
I also was finally introduced to beautiful world of Japanese soups/broths. We ate twice down the street at a great Pho sport called Da Lat (http://dalatrestaurantlv.com). I got this recommendation while chatting up this nice Vietnamese chick that has been at my table a couple different times out here. It was spot on and is supposed to be some of the best hangover food around so future visits are definitely in line. My first Ramen experience was also a home run and took place at Jinya Ramen Bar (http://www.jinya-ramenbar.com/locati...nya-las-vegas/). I got one of the spicier dishes with thick noodles and the flavor was intense. The atmosphere was also really cool. One thing I have noticed at these establishments is that I cannot eat in a cleanly manner for ****. I always try to slurp the noodles like I have seen my friends Anthony Bourdain and David Chang do so many times before on the tube but for some reason cannot get the hang of it. My shirt is usually covered in little specks when I leave where the broth splashed up on me. In my best Jameis Winston voice, “I haftaaa to beee betterrrr.” Durrrrrrr
The last spot we tried was a new hip place at Paradise and Twain. It was a tapas spot called Firefly (http://www.fireflylv.com/). I knew this place was going to be awesome right when we pulled into the lot. There were tons of people lingering outside and the atmosphere inside was nuts. Everyone was eating some good food and getting ready for a nice Friday night on the strip. It was on point as per usual and the standout was the Sangria. Apparently they use some weird process to make theirs that involves some type of aging. I have no idea. We ordered a pitcher of it that came out on Ice. We also got several small dishes as is consistent with tapas and they were all very good.
Poker
As mentioned previously, I was able to get some pokering in. Thankfully I ran really hot over my limited hours. This was very welcome as I was on an 85 hr breakeven two weeks ago when my friends arrived. However, here is one hand I butchered pretty badly.
Hand 1
V1: Asian gentleman who is hear for an electronics convention. Seems to be rather aggro. I’ve only played about 15 hands with him and he has already mentioned that I’m playing tight for having such a big stack. I’ve seen him raise to 20 in EP with Ako and also call a raise 3 ways in the sb with 64o and chase down his open ender when facing a couple bets.
~470 Effective
Hero is dealt A
Q
in utg+1
V1 limps
Hero raises to 17
V1 says I don’t want to call but I have a big hand and calls
Flop (34): A
67
V1: checks
Dealer almost burns and turns but I have to stop her and say I didn’t check. This basically gives away my hand which sucks.
Hero: bet 22
V1: snap RR to 122
Hero thinks for a bit and ****s up RR to 222
V1 snap shoves
Hero continues to butcher the hand and calls….
V1 flips 66
turn and river brick
So yeah…like I said butchered. From everyone I have asked about the hand, it should be an easy fold to the flop c/r.
I then played this gem. It worked out perfectly, but I still don’t think it was correct. I rarely ever do things like this at ½ but for some reason I just felt comfortable in my read. One of those things you can’t really explain I guess. I was calm throughout the hand, which is inconsistent with how I usually feel in these big spots so I went with my gut and it was right. Thankfully I didn’t get sucked out on when the river came.
Hand 2
15-20 hands into the table
V1: old man who I’ve seen get involved in one bigger pot. He doesn’t seem like a typical OMC. Probably plays his hands a bit more aggressively and semi-bluffs at least a little bit.
300 Effective
Hero is in utg+1 with JJ
V1 is in HJ
Hero: raises to 15
V1: calls 15
Flop (30): A
62
Hero: bet 22
V1: call 22
Turn (70): J
Hero: bet 45
V1: thinks for a bit counting out calling chips…then shoves all in for ~218 more
Hero: tanks and calls
V1: flips over KK
River (595): Q
Hero scoops the pot…then releases a nice exhale. Two grinders snap grab their stacks and seat change to my left. I get a good laugh out of this.
The Key Shonnzzzz
My fantasy football team the “Key Shonzzzz” had one of the best drafts the world has ever seen. I won my league last year but started out a nice 0-2 this season. AP then promptly beat his child, which cost me my first pick for the second straight year. We overcame this last year so I know in my heart of hearts that this year will be no different. We picked up out first win last week to bring us to 1-2.
I have Welker, Fitzgerald, and AJ Green all on byes this week so this is another obstacle to overcome. I’ll try and remember to post my lineup prior to Sunday.
Getting Back on the Horse and the Pursuit of 2/5
With everyone coming into town, my routine was no doubt thrown off. It was nice to see everyone, however, I am ready to return to the ring. Healthy eating and daily workouts and stretching will become the norm again. My bankroll is realistically ready for a shot at 2/5, but I’d like to book 3-4 high volume/winning weeks before I take my first shot. Especially since I will be trying to ease my way back into the game. This should put me in line for a shot in mid-late October, which would be great. In my opening post I set my goals rather low with hoping to be a 2/5 reg by the end of the year. This is still the plan and hopefully everything goes smoothly.
I will be back assaulting the Vegas ½ tonight. Now...
As always…
Thanks for reading.
Well, its been a crazy past 4 weeks consisting of many visitors, good food, and just a little bit of poker. My parents came in towards the end of August followed by my brother and his fiancée. It was all capped off over the last two weeks as two of my best friends from back home joined me in Sin City.
We didn’t get into too much trouble but definitely did our fair share of drinking, min bet table games, and sports betting. Somehow I think we all managed to come fairly close to breaking even in these endeavors. Most of our time performing these acts was spent across the street at the Rio since we are able to just walk there and no DD is needed. When we weren’t doing this it was a barrage of movies and over all hard maxin and relaxin just as was done back at home. Good times to say the least.
Since they are both into eating at good restaurants, I also got to try out some more of the endless Las Vegas dining establishments. I’ll just list a few. Chada Thai and Wine (http://chadavegas.com/) was by far the best place we ate. This is recommended by many in LVL and once I saw Gobbo cosigned it as being better and cheaper than Lotus of Siam, it was a no brainer. I was riding a nice win streak in the pits and sports so I parlayed it into the famous “Pankang Duck.” It was absolutely incredible. I washed it down with a couple Sapporos and that was that.
I also was finally introduced to beautiful world of Japanese soups/broths. We ate twice down the street at a great Pho sport called Da Lat (http://dalatrestaurantlv.com). I got this recommendation while chatting up this nice Vietnamese chick that has been at my table a couple different times out here. It was spot on and is supposed to be some of the best hangover food around so future visits are definitely in line. My first Ramen experience was also a home run and took place at Jinya Ramen Bar (http://www.jinya-ramenbar.com/locati...nya-las-vegas/). I got one of the spicier dishes with thick noodles and the flavor was intense. The atmosphere was also really cool. One thing I have noticed at these establishments is that I cannot eat in a cleanly manner for ****. I always try to slurp the noodles like I have seen my friends Anthony Bourdain and David Chang do so many times before on the tube but for some reason cannot get the hang of it. My shirt is usually covered in little specks when I leave where the broth splashed up on me. In my best Jameis Winston voice, “I haftaaa to beee betterrrr.” Durrrrrrr
The last spot we tried was a new hip place at Paradise and Twain. It was a tapas spot called Firefly (http://www.fireflylv.com/). I knew this place was going to be awesome right when we pulled into the lot. There were tons of people lingering outside and the atmosphere inside was nuts. Everyone was eating some good food and getting ready for a nice Friday night on the strip. It was on point as per usual and the standout was the Sangria. Apparently they use some weird process to make theirs that involves some type of aging. I have no idea. We ordered a pitcher of it that came out on Ice. We also got several small dishes as is consistent with tapas and they were all very good.
Poker
As mentioned previously, I was able to get some pokering in. Thankfully I ran really hot over my limited hours. This was very welcome as I was on an 85 hr breakeven two weeks ago when my friends arrived. However, here is one hand I butchered pretty badly.
Hand 1
V1: Asian gentleman who is hear for an electronics convention. Seems to be rather aggro. I’ve only played about 15 hands with him and he has already mentioned that I’m playing tight for having such a big stack. I’ve seen him raise to 20 in EP with Ako and also call a raise 3 ways in the sb with 64o and chase down his open ender when facing a couple bets.
~470 Effective
Hero is dealt A
Q in utg+1V1 limps
Hero raises to 17
V1 says I don’t want to call but I have a big hand and calls
Flop (34): A
67V1: checks
Dealer almost burns and turns but I have to stop her and say I didn’t check. This basically gives away my hand which sucks.
Hero: bet 22
V1: snap RR to 122
Hero thinks for a bit and ****s up RR to 222
V1 snap shoves
Hero continues to butcher the hand and calls….
V1 flips 66
turn and river brick
So yeah…like I said butchered. From everyone I have asked about the hand, it should be an easy fold to the flop c/r.
I then played this gem. It worked out perfectly, but I still don’t think it was correct. I rarely ever do things like this at ½ but for some reason I just felt comfortable in my read. One of those things you can’t really explain I guess. I was calm throughout the hand, which is inconsistent with how I usually feel in these big spots so I went with my gut and it was right. Thankfully I didn’t get sucked out on when the river came.
Hand 2
15-20 hands into the table
V1: old man who I’ve seen get involved in one bigger pot. He doesn’t seem like a typical OMC. Probably plays his hands a bit more aggressively and semi-bluffs at least a little bit.
300 Effective
Hero is in utg+1 with J
JV1 is in HJ
Hero: raises to 15
V1: calls 15
Flop (30): A
62Hero: bet 22
V1: call 22
Turn (70): J
Hero: bet 45
V1: thinks for a bit counting out calling chips…then shoves all in for ~218 more
Hero: tanks and calls
V1: flips over K
KRiver (595): Q
Hero scoops the pot…then releases a nice exhale. Two grinders snap grab their stacks and seat change to my left. I get a good laugh out of this.
The Key Shonnzzzz
My fantasy football team the “Key Shonzzzz” had one of the best drafts the world has ever seen. I won my league last year but started out a nice 0-2 this season. AP then promptly beat his child, which cost me my first pick for the second straight year. We overcame this last year so I know in my heart of hearts that this year will be no different. We picked up out first win last week to bring us to 1-2.
I have Welker, Fitzgerald, and AJ Green all on byes this week so this is another obstacle to overcome. I’ll try and remember to post my lineup prior to Sunday.
Getting Back on the Horse and the Pursuit of 2/5
With everyone coming into town, my routine was no doubt thrown off. It was nice to see everyone, however, I am ready to return to the ring. Healthy eating and daily workouts and stretching will become the norm again. My bankroll is realistically ready for a shot at 2/5, but I’d like to book 3-4 high volume/winning weeks before I take my first shot. Especially since I will be trying to ease my way back into the game. This should put me in line for a shot in mid-late October, which would be great. In my opening post I set my goals rather low with hoping to be a 2/5 reg by the end of the year. This is still the plan and hopefully everything goes smoothly.
I will be back assaulting the Vegas ½ tonight. Now...
As always…
Thanks for reading.
10-12-2014
, 07:17 PM
Biggest hand from the weekend. Not very much going on to say the least.
9 handed
V1(500+): UTG, mid 20's Asian kid. I believe I have seen him before. Has been playing solid and not getting out of control. I imagine he is at least a decent sized winner in the game.
Hero (325): MP. Mid 20's white kid. TAG. I haven't played a pot yet.
V2 (225): Mid 50's white guy. Has been playing tight. Hasn't been at the table long and I haven't seen him play any hands.
V1 limp
utg+2 limp
Hero Raises QQ in mp to 19
V2 call
V1 call
Flop (~57): 965
V1 check
Hero bets 41
V2 calls
V1 calls
Turn (~180): 2
V1 check
Hero bets 122
V2 goes all in for 166
V1 folds
Hero calls 44
River bricks out and V2 flips AA
Pretty sure this is rather standard but obviously welcome thoughts anyways.
Back on the grind Tuesday.
9 handed
V1(500+): UTG, mid 20's Asian kid. I believe I have seen him before. Has been playing solid and not getting out of control. I imagine he is at least a decent sized winner in the game.
Hero (325): MP. Mid 20's white kid. TAG. I haven't played a pot yet.
V2 (225): Mid 50's white guy. Has been playing tight. Hasn't been at the table long and I haven't seen him play any hands.
V1 limp
utg+2 limp
Hero Raises Q
Q in mp to 19V2 call
V1 call
Flop (~57): 9
65V1 check
Hero bets 41
V2 calls
V1 calls
Turn (~180): 2
V1 check
Hero bets 122
V2 goes all in for 166
V1 folds
Hero calls 44
River bricks out and V2 flips A
APretty sure this is rather standard but obviously welcome thoughts anyways.
Back on the grind Tuesday.
10-12-2014
, 07:24 PM
10-24-2014
, 07:45 PM
10-24-2014
, 11:40 PM
11-04-2014
, 01:48 AM
TL;DR I tried to put some good effort into this one as I've been slacking with my writing lately.
The past week has been truly awesome. This was a welcome feeling following a lazy and rough start to October. It all began last Saturday as I decided to attend the Outkast concert and ended with a bang when I scored my biggest profit day since arriving in Vegas. Today will be spent relaxing and watching football. Although my fantasy team has taken a crap and looks awful, it’s still hard to not lie on the couch all day and watch the hard-hitting action. The sport will probably be gone forever in 20 years or so anyways so I have to get the dose while I still can.
An Ode to Outkast
As mentioned previously, these cats are easily my favorite duo of all time. However, I was a bit unsure about attending the concert because I had been bleeding money all month. My roll was never in danger or even close to it, but with how I had been playing and running there was a bit of guilt setting in. “You should be putting in quality hours on a Saturday evening.” “This is your job now and you haven’t been playing enough as is,” were thoughts running through my mind Friday night and Saturday morning. Nonetheless, I decided to put my best effort forward to acquire a ticket for cheap. They aren’t working on a new album and have not announced any future plans so this is realistically probably their last tour ever. This simply means that only classics are getting played and when you couple this with the fact that they are scheduled for an hour and 55 minutes it just becomes a no-brainer. This all lead to a quick browsing of Craigslist. After scouring the prices I went with a guy that had a 3-day wristband for $115. An hour later I was picking it up off him in the Southpoint parking lot for $90. Indeed, some nice haggling by me. My father would be proud that all the Cincinnati Reds games we attended on scalped tickets were now paying dividends. For years I watched him talk people down and score us tickets for prices that seemed utterly unreasonable.
I eventually made my way downtown just in time to see The Roots perform. I’ve heard from numerous people how good their live act is, and I absolutely love organic hip-hop. They did not disappoint and are the closest thing to a hip-hop jam band. It was like seeing Dave Mathews with a rapper as the front man. It seemed like they were literally playing for their entire set. There were very few small breaks if any. No BS talking to the crowd by Black Thought. Simply put, just some good ass music in a rapid-fire fashion. They definitely lived up to the hype.
Following this, I roamed around the festival while catching a bit of DJ Mustard’s “set” and the start of G-Eazy. Both were underwhelming so I made sure to get a good spot in front of the main stage about 30 minutes before Outkast was scheduled to come on. I got situated next to a couple cool dudes and a chica that seemed just as pumped as me. This was perfect as it allowed me to go into my own little world and trance out for the songs why singing along and letting loose. They opened with “Bombs over Baghdad” and it was on. The next ~2 hours were absolutely incredible. They ripped through song after song hitting the classics off of all their old albums. I got a bunch of videos but the bass was booming louder than I have ever heard at any concert. Overall, the acoustics were really good so I’ll take that over a lot of quality videos. This is probably the most audible one of the collection.
The crowd was very respectable and knew a lot of the songs. They missed a couple spots where they should have stepped up, but all in all it was good for being on the West Coast. It can’t be expected of everyone to jam properly to them country rap tunes! The only song they didn’t perform that I was really hoping for was Jazzy Belle. There were a couple times during the concert that consisted of 2-3 smooth cuts in a row so they could have definitely fit it in. They did make up for it, however, by doing ATLiens, Player’s Ball, and Crumlin’ Erb. All in all, it was incredible as aforementioned. It’s up there as one of my favorite concert experiences along with Blink 182 (VIP section) and Tom Petty. I then did my best to maximize EV and sold the wristband the next day for $75
.
Poker
The week of poker that would follow turned out to be utterly amazing. It would consist of my biggest winning day since my arrival here in Vegas while also setting the mark for most profit earned in a week. The first couple days were virtually break even, but it all took off from there. On Thursday, I told one of my buddies back home I was feeling a 1k day. Well, I was wrong. It happened on Friday instead!
Here are a few hands that made it happen:
Hand 1:
This first hand is pretty cool. Although it is standard, it was against a guy who would later introduce himself as Razor Shines upon hearing that I was from Indianapolis. Anthony Raymond Shines is an Indianapolis legend. He played a lot of years with the Indianapolis Indians before finally getting brought up to the majors. He is mainly known for his success in Triple A. When he told me his name I quickly said, “No you’re not,” while laughing. He then threw his Texas driver’s license across the table at me. “No way,” I uttered. “I actually met you when Victory Field (Home field of the Indians in downtown Indianapolis) opened years ago.” He said he remembered the cool night when the ballpark opened and we shared a good laugh. As mentioned previously, I was heavily immersed in baseball growing up so this was pretty cool. Anyways…onto the hand.
Reads didn’t really matter in this one as it played itself out. The game is 1/3 at the Aria and there was money flying all over. Mainly due to Razor’s nutty style.
300 effective
Hero is dealt 55 in the CO
EP raises to 11
MP1 calls 11
MP2 calls 11
Hero calls 11
Razor calls 11 in the BB
Flop (55): 88T
Checks through
Turn (55): 5 (“This is my money card,” in my best Mike McD voice)
Razor leads 25
3 folds
I raise to 75
Razor calls 50
River (155): 3
Razor shoves
I call and MHIG against J4. I faired a bit better than ole’ Mike thankfully.
I would later hit quads on the turn with QQ killing my flopped boat action. This was the end result:
Razor would then leave to go eat with his son that is playing in the Dodgers organization. With how crazy he was playing I am assuming that he is hedging his bets on his son’s MLB career. I sat at the table for another hour until I saw him return. I quickly requested a table change, but when I finally got moved to his new table I was directed towards his seat. “Where did the guy sitting here go,” I asked. “He only lasted about 5 hands after buying in for 300,” the guy to my right informed me. With him absent this new table was deep but tight and reg-filled so I picked up to change venues. The baseball theme would continue as Orel Hershiser walked in right as I was leaving. I made to sure to ask the hall of famer for a handshake.
These next couple hands occurred within my first 2 hours at my new table. Glad I opted for the casino change, and it safe to say the Orel Hershiser handshake was parlayed into increased profits.
Hand 2:
I think this is pretty thin and after talking to some guys in my chat group it is a questionable 3-bet with UTG being the original raiser.
V1: Nice tourist kid. He is there to have fun and isn’t getting it all in without the nuts.
V2: Young grinder. Good player. He will put pressure on in position with flush/straight draws etc.
Hero: Mid 20s grinder. TAG
Hero is dealt AQ in the SB
V1 (450) raises to 12 UTG
V2 (273) calls 12 on button
Hero (300) re-raises to 40
Both call
Flop (120): A42
Hero leads 80
V1 folds
V2 shoves all in
I thought for a while on this one and came really close to folding. However, I was getting I have to call 153 into 433 so the price was just too sick. Being priced in like this is probably more reason to not be 3-betting here but I’m still not sure. My final reasoning was that I just couldn’t see this particular grinder villain calling the original 12 preflop here. He is almost always 3 betting IMO so I made the call.
The turn and river ran out blank and MHIG. After playing with Villain more I am pretty sure he had a hand like KJ or KQ.
Hand 3:
This is just a simple 3 streets of value. Given how fast Villain was calling (he was beating me into the pot) I would assume he had KQ but it is 1/2 after all so who knows.
V1: Reg 30’s white guy who is decked out in a Halloween costume. I didn’t recognize him but all the dealers did so I assume he plays there at least fairly regularly. I would later find out his name is Todd Phillips. A National Taekwondo champion. He was a really cool guy. http://www.vegastaekwondo.com/teamne...tphillips.html
Hero: Mid 20’s grinder. TAG
Hero is dealt KK in MP
EP limp
V1 (300) limps in EP
Hero (620) raises to 19
V1 calls
Flop (38): QJ5
V1 checks
Hero bets 30
V1 calls
Turn (98): 2
V1 checks
Hero bets 72
V1 calls
River (242): J
V1 checks
Hero shoves for ~180
V1 snap calls and MHIG
This catapulted my stack to ~900. I knew I was now up over 1k on the day and it started to affect my concentration. I decided to finally pick up with 872 in my stack giving me exactly $1,001 profit for the day. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture. This is currently my new high number that I will be shooting for. I felt like a bit of a bitch for leaving, but poker will always be there. After all, it is better to play when my emotions are more in check.
Miscellaneous
Throughout the past week I’ve continued my Netflix grind despite the poker volume being upped. I’ve always been into movies, but a couple buddies back at home helped me get to a new level in my viewing over the past couple years. They have introduced me to different bulletproof directors while also teaching me a bit about the art of production. I still razz one of them all the time about the camera work in certain movies because he nuts over this aspect. I might have already mentioned all of this. Regardless, one of these directors is Paul Thomas Anderson. His newest movie “The Master” is on Netflix and I finally watched it. I knew it was going to be awesome so I wanted to make sure the time was right. It definitely lived up to the hype. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) and Joaquin Phoenix were both awesome and provided some epic scenes that resulted in a great movie and some hilarious moments.
I also finished Boardwalk Empire and Twin Peaks. I had been marathoning both of these and they were both really solid. My interest in organized crime had me heavily interested in Boardwalk and it did not disappoint. Buschemi is obviously a legend and really carried the series. I had my doubts that he could do so, but he definitely proved me wrong. Twin Peaks is a TV-Series centered on a murder mystery in the Northwest US that was done by all-star director David Lynch back in 1990. It consists of some sci-fi elements that take it over the top. Although a bit dated, it was amazing and I loved the ending. I won’t spoil it for those that plan on watching. Like Boardwalk, I highly recommend.
The last movie I watched was Django Unchained. I saw this in theatres when it came out. The second viewing was easily just as good. Although a controversial movie, it’s one of Tarantino’s best IMO. Like many other 20-somethings, he my favorite director. I don’t really care to comment on the underlying issues of the movie, as I’m sure we all have our different opinions. The one thing I will say is that it is a must see for any film enthusiast. In a midst of great scenes, this is easily my favorite of the entire film. Only Quentin could fit a Rick Ross cut in at the perfect time...
In other news, the weather in Las Vegas has been excellent. The highs have been in the upper 70’s/low 80’s, which has been nice for my wallet. The pool in the complex is now closed so there are no more honeys to stalk
, but I can now keep the windows open all day and night which is a very welcome occurrence. What a great finish to October. Now let’s carry the momentum into November and get back on the track to 2/5!
As always…Good luck to all the grinders out there this week and thanks for reading.
The past week has been truly awesome. This was a welcome feeling following a lazy and rough start to October. It all began last Saturday as I decided to attend the Outkast concert and ended with a bang when I scored my biggest profit day since arriving in Vegas. Today will be spent relaxing and watching football. Although my fantasy team has taken a crap and looks awful, it’s still hard to not lie on the couch all day and watch the hard-hitting action. The sport will probably be gone forever in 20 years or so anyways so I have to get the dose while I still can.
An Ode to Outkast
As mentioned previously, these cats are easily my favorite duo of all time. However, I was a bit unsure about attending the concert because I had been bleeding money all month. My roll was never in danger or even close to it, but with how I had been playing and running there was a bit of guilt setting in. “You should be putting in quality hours on a Saturday evening.” “This is your job now and you haven’t been playing enough as is,” were thoughts running through my mind Friday night and Saturday morning. Nonetheless, I decided to put my best effort forward to acquire a ticket for cheap. They aren’t working on a new album and have not announced any future plans so this is realistically probably their last tour ever. This simply means that only classics are getting played and when you couple this with the fact that they are scheduled for an hour and 55 minutes it just becomes a no-brainer. This all lead to a quick browsing of Craigslist. After scouring the prices I went with a guy that had a 3-day wristband for $115. An hour later I was picking it up off him in the Southpoint parking lot for $90. Indeed, some nice haggling by me. My father would be proud that all the Cincinnati Reds games we attended on scalped tickets were now paying dividends. For years I watched him talk people down and score us tickets for prices that seemed utterly unreasonable.
I eventually made my way downtown just in time to see The Roots perform. I’ve heard from numerous people how good their live act is, and I absolutely love organic hip-hop. They did not disappoint and are the closest thing to a hip-hop jam band. It was like seeing Dave Mathews with a rapper as the front man. It seemed like they were literally playing for their entire set. There were very few small breaks if any. No BS talking to the crowd by Black Thought. Simply put, just some good ass music in a rapid-fire fashion. They definitely lived up to the hype.
Following this, I roamed around the festival while catching a bit of DJ Mustard’s “set” and the start of G-Eazy. Both were underwhelming so I made sure to get a good spot in front of the main stage about 30 minutes before Outkast was scheduled to come on. I got situated next to a couple cool dudes and a chica that seemed just as pumped as me. This was perfect as it allowed me to go into my own little world and trance out for the songs why singing along and letting loose. They opened with “Bombs over Baghdad” and it was on. The next ~2 hours were absolutely incredible. They ripped through song after song hitting the classics off of all their old albums. I got a bunch of videos but the bass was booming louder than I have ever heard at any concert. Overall, the acoustics were really good so I’ll take that over a lot of quality videos. This is probably the most audible one of the collection.
The crowd was very respectable and knew a lot of the songs. They missed a couple spots where they should have stepped up, but all in all it was good for being on the West Coast. It can’t be expected of everyone to jam properly to them country rap tunes! The only song they didn’t perform that I was really hoping for was Jazzy Belle. There were a couple times during the concert that consisted of 2-3 smooth cuts in a row so they could have definitely fit it in. They did make up for it, however, by doing ATLiens, Player’s Ball, and Crumlin’ Erb. All in all, it was incredible as aforementioned. It’s up there as one of my favorite concert experiences along with Blink 182 (VIP section) and Tom Petty. I then did my best to maximize EV and sold the wristband the next day for $75
.Poker
The week of poker that would follow turned out to be utterly amazing. It would consist of my biggest winning day since my arrival here in Vegas while also setting the mark for most profit earned in a week. The first couple days were virtually break even, but it all took off from there. On Thursday, I told one of my buddies back home I was feeling a 1k day. Well, I was wrong. It happened on Friday instead!
Here are a few hands that made it happen:
Hand 1:
This first hand is pretty cool. Although it is standard, it was against a guy who would later introduce himself as Razor Shines upon hearing that I was from Indianapolis. Anthony Raymond Shines is an Indianapolis legend. He played a lot of years with the Indianapolis Indians before finally getting brought up to the majors. He is mainly known for his success in Triple A. When he told me his name I quickly said, “No you’re not,” while laughing. He then threw his Texas driver’s license across the table at me. “No way,” I uttered. “I actually met you when Victory Field (Home field of the Indians in downtown Indianapolis) opened years ago.” He said he remembered the cool night when the ballpark opened and we shared a good laugh. As mentioned previously, I was heavily immersed in baseball growing up so this was pretty cool. Anyways…onto the hand.
Reads didn’t really matter in this one as it played itself out. The game is 1/3 at the Aria and there was money flying all over. Mainly due to Razor’s nutty style.
300 effective
Hero is dealt 5
5 in the COEP raises to 11
MP1 calls 11
MP2 calls 11
Hero calls 11
Razor calls 11 in the BB
Flop (55): 8
8TChecks through
Turn (55): 5
(“This is my money card,” in my best Mike McD voice)Razor leads 25
3 folds
I raise to 75
Razor calls 50
River (155): 3
Razor shoves
I call and MHIG against J
4. I faired a bit better than ole’ Mike thankfully.I would later hit quads on the turn with QQ killing my flopped boat action. This was the end result:
Razor would then leave to go eat with his son that is playing in the Dodgers organization. With how crazy he was playing I am assuming that he is hedging his bets on his son’s MLB career. I sat at the table for another hour until I saw him return. I quickly requested a table change, but when I finally got moved to his new table I was directed towards his seat. “Where did the guy sitting here go,” I asked. “He only lasted about 5 hands after buying in for 300,” the guy to my right informed me. With him absent this new table was deep but tight and reg-filled so I picked up to change venues. The baseball theme would continue as Orel Hershiser walked in right as I was leaving. I made to sure to ask the hall of famer for a handshake.
These next couple hands occurred within my first 2 hours at my new table. Glad I opted for the casino change, and it safe to say the Orel Hershiser handshake was parlayed into increased profits.
Hand 2:
I think this is pretty thin and after talking to some guys in my chat group it is a questionable 3-bet with UTG being the original raiser.
V1: Nice tourist kid. He is there to have fun and isn’t getting it all in without the nuts.
V2: Young grinder. Good player. He will put pressure on in position with flush/straight draws etc.
Hero: Mid 20s grinder. TAG
Hero is dealt A
Q in the SBV1 (450) raises to 12 UTG
V2 (273) calls 12 on button
Hero (300) re-raises to 40
Both call
Flop (120): A
42Hero leads 80
V1 folds
V2 shoves all in
I thought for a while on this one and came really close to folding. However, I was getting I have to call 153 into 433 so the price was just too sick. Being priced in like this is probably more reason to not be 3-betting here but I’m still not sure. My final reasoning was that I just couldn’t see this particular grinder villain calling the original 12 preflop here. He is almost always 3 betting IMO so I made the call.
The turn and river ran out blank and MHIG. After playing with Villain more I am pretty sure he had a hand like K
J or KQ.Hand 3:
This is just a simple 3 streets of value. Given how fast Villain was calling (he was beating me into the pot) I would assume he had KQ but it is 1/2 after all so who knows.
V1: Reg 30’s white guy who is decked out in a Halloween costume. I didn’t recognize him but all the dealers did so I assume he plays there at least fairly regularly. I would later find out his name is Todd Phillips. A National Taekwondo champion. He was a really cool guy. http://www.vegastaekwondo.com/teamne...tphillips.html
Hero: Mid 20’s grinder. TAG
Hero is dealt K
K in MPEP limp
V1 (300) limps in EP
Hero (620) raises to 19
V1 calls
Flop (38): Q
J5V1 checks
Hero bets 30
V1 calls
Turn (98): 2
V1 checks
Hero bets 72
V1 calls
River (242): J
V1 checks
Hero shoves for ~180
V1 snap calls and MHIG
This catapulted my stack to ~900. I knew I was now up over 1k on the day and it started to affect my concentration. I decided to finally pick up with 872 in my stack giving me exactly $1,001 profit for the day. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture. This is currently my new high number that I will be shooting for. I felt like a bit of a bitch for leaving, but poker will always be there. After all, it is better to play when my emotions are more in check.
Miscellaneous
Throughout the past week I’ve continued my Netflix grind despite the poker volume being upped. I’ve always been into movies, but a couple buddies back at home helped me get to a new level in my viewing over the past couple years. They have introduced me to different bulletproof directors while also teaching me a bit about the art of production. I still razz one of them all the time about the camera work in certain movies because he nuts over this aspect. I might have already mentioned all of this. Regardless, one of these directors is Paul Thomas Anderson. His newest movie “The Master” is on Netflix and I finally watched it. I knew it was going to be awesome so I wanted to make sure the time was right. It definitely lived up to the hype. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) and Joaquin Phoenix were both awesome and provided some epic scenes that resulted in a great movie and some hilarious moments.
I also finished Boardwalk Empire and Twin Peaks. I had been marathoning both of these and they were both really solid. My interest in organized crime had me heavily interested in Boardwalk and it did not disappoint. Buschemi is obviously a legend and really carried the series. I had my doubts that he could do so, but he definitely proved me wrong. Twin Peaks is a TV-Series centered on a murder mystery in the Northwest US that was done by all-star director David Lynch back in 1990. It consists of some sci-fi elements that take it over the top. Although a bit dated, it was amazing and I loved the ending. I won’t spoil it for those that plan on watching. Like Boardwalk, I highly recommend.
The last movie I watched was Django Unchained. I saw this in theatres when it came out. The second viewing was easily just as good. Although a controversial movie, it’s one of Tarantino’s best IMO. Like many other 20-somethings, he my favorite director. I don’t really care to comment on the underlying issues of the movie, as I’m sure we all have our different opinions. The one thing I will say is that it is a must see for any film enthusiast. In a midst of great scenes, this is easily my favorite of the entire film. Only Quentin could fit a Rick Ross cut in at the perfect time...
In other news, the weather in Las Vegas has been excellent. The highs have been in the upper 70’s/low 80’s, which has been nice for my wallet. The pool in the complex is now closed so there are no more honeys to stalk
, but I can now keep the windows open all day and night which is a very welcome occurrence. What a great finish to October. Now let’s carry the momentum into November and get back on the track to 2/5!As always…Good luck to all the grinders out there this week and thanks for reading.
Last edited by JockBay; 11-04-2014 at 02:11 AM.
11-04-2014
, 03:09 AM
11-10-2014
, 09:14 PM
Another week is in the books. My time over the last 7 or so days has been filled with the usual poker, movies, and video games. I seem to rarely deviate from these three and the only reason for this must be because it’s rather enjoyable. I finished up the week of cards on Saturday night and watched football all day yesterday. Today and tonight will be filled with some household chores and, of course, more football. I got a little money on the Panthers to cover 7 tonight in Philly so hopefully Dirty Sanchez does what he does best (Sorry Duke
).The last two weeks of poker have been very solid for me. Although my results at the beginning of this week were lackluster, the cards started falling correctly on Friday and Saturday resulting in some good profit. I was able to clear 250 BBs on both nights in a total of 14.5 hrs of play. I’ve upped my volume over the last two weeks and plan to do so again this week. This is clearly my biggest leak so this is very encouraging. Even with the increase in hours I didn’t really play too many interesting hands. There was one that I scratched my head over for quite a while and have thought deeply about. Unfortunately, it seems I may have leveled myself, but when playing good players there is really no way to know what he would have done. If it works then I feel like a genius.
Hero: Mid 20’s white kid. TAG
Villian: Mid 20’s white kid. TAG. He is a professional and knows me as one. We had been playing with each other for roughly 5 hours and chatting the whole time about college football and MMA. He had been running over the table but mainly due to hitting all his hands. He wasn’t getting out of line and always had the goods at showdown.
Hero is dealt A
K is the SBVillain (1300): Raise to 15 in the CO
Hero (600): Re-raise to 55
Villain: calls
Flop (110): A
T3Hero bets 74
Villain calls
Turn (258): 2
Hero checks
Villain bets 105
Hero tank calls
River (468): T
Hero leads 225
Villain tanks and folds
So the usual line here is just pound for three streets of value. However, against this opponent I’m almost never getting all 3 streets with a hand I beat here IMO. I had his hand pegged and was trying to extract more from specifically AQ or AJ although I’m pretty sure he is not calling a 3-bet from with the latter. I still don’t know if I like it or not. I try not to get tricky from OOP but I also don’t play many hands this deep with other good grinders. One thing I am happy about was the amount of thought I put in during the hand. I tend to get flustered in big pots sometimes still so being calm was a good sign. Whether or not it was the right play I take a bit of comfort in the fact that I had a plan when the flop hit and executed it. After thinking about it for a while and posting it in the chat group it seems that betting all 3 streets on the smaller side would have been the best play and netted me more money in the long run. If the flop is wetter, then I am definitely leading good turn cards.
Thoughts?
Spoiler:
The UFC event ended shortly after this hand and given the fact that I couldn’t quit thinking about it and was already ~7.5 hrs into my session I decided to pick up.
This pic is after a respectable Friday night. Saturday’s racked looked roughly the same. In for 330.
The poker run-good has translated into some enjoyable, relaxing nights off the felt as it usually does. I don’t get down on myself too much really while losing, however, life outside is obviously better when making money as opposed to getting it taken away. I watched a pretty cool movie out of Hong Kong last night entitled “Infernal Affairs.” It was very similar to Scorcese’s “The Departed” and was done well. I particularly enjoy foreign cinema and don’t mind the subtitles at all. This is especially true wrt to Asian film. They tend to take a lot of chances with their story lines that you would never see coming out of Hollywood. You have to be careful though as this can lead to some disgusting occurrences. I’ve had to turn a couple off due to scenes that lead to an, “Awww, hell nah. They didn’t just go there.” Another good movie I watched was “Sunshine” by Danny Boyle. It was a Sci-fi thriller set in space and who doesn’t enjoy those. Speaking of Sci-fi, I plan on seeing Christopher Nolan's new movie "Interstellar" sometime this week. The Palms has it in 70mm IMAX. It's nice to live right across the street from the only true IMAX in the city
.Despite things going well in these areas, I obviously still have some things that I want to work on starting this week. The main one of these being working out and stretching in the morning. I had been doing good with this over small intervals, but it has yet to stick. I’d also like to start running in the morning as I’m going snowboarding in Colorado with the family in mid December. They go every year and I have missed the last few years due to being a fat arse. I finally have got the weight down a bit and want to continue to get in better shape before hitting the slopes. Eating healthy has been a great help with this and is something that I’ve been doing well.
I should mention the dieting is given up on Sunday for football when strictly beer and pizza are consumed. Metro Pizza has some pretty damn good stuffed pizzas and garlic bread. I highly recommend. http://www.metropizza.com/ "The pita pocket keeps it from dripping [George]!"
On top of these things I want to get in more and more volume so I can be monetarily ready for the Holiday season, which will be spent in Indy. The plan is to stay through Christmas and New Years after the Colorado trip. Full steam ahead!
I have said it before, but this means a lot to me. I really appreciate you tuning in and am glad you have enjoyed it! I really like writing and am trying to get better at it as I go. It's been a while since writing papers in high school and college so there are still some things I am struggling with. The main of these being proper comma usage.
Regardless, good luck to all the grinders out there this week. Thanks for reading.
Last edited by JockBay; 11-10-2014 at 09:44 PM.