1/3 Bellagio (early last week)

Stacks are mostly shallow.

H1

2 limps to me. I iso SB 10 9 to $18. Player to my direct right BTN calls. Bald MAWG. No reads.

$300 eff.

($40) J 8 2. I c-bet $20 V calls.

($80) 10 I x. V bets $30. Hero?

H2

I cold call Q 9 facing $12 UTG open. Had raised before, no showdown. MAAG. YBG calls BB . Would have 3-bet if it wasn’t an UTG open. Folding Q8s.

($35) Flop K 10 4 UTG Bets $15. I call. YBG calls. Board hits this guys likely range well and we’re multi-way so decide to take a passive line.

($80) Turn Q BB donks $30. We both call.

Blank river. Checks Around.

BB has AKo. MAAG has KJo.

H3

We open A Q $15 MP. BTN cold calls. SB calls. BB calls.

Flop K 10 6. Checks around. Would’ve bet this 3 ways.

Turn blank. checks around.

River blank. Everyone folds to BB river probe.

H4

I open K 10 UTG $15. MAWG 3-bets me $40 CO. I call. Fairly straightforward for this price I think but let me know. $300 effective.

Flop A 5 4. I x/f to $50. V shows AA.

H5

UTG straddles $6. I raise $20 MP with 9 8. Only BB calls. New player. Probably rec.

($45) Flop A 10 5. Check. I cbet $25. V calls

($95) Turn 6 Check. Check. This is one of those spots I usually fire but everyone telling me to tone down the aggression vs recs has me doubting myself . Obviously, we’re in position here which makes a huge difference from some our previous HHs.

($95) River 9 Check. I hesitate check. I think V has 10x here a lot but I guess a little to strong to bluff. V has the 77s so we win.

H6

UTG straddle $6. Next to act calls.

I make it $25 OTB with K J. Very recreational new player just calls. Didn’t know that the board had a boat on it a couple hands prior. Only $100 back. EP limper calls.

Flop 8 7 6. Rec player leads $60 leaving not much back. We both fold. What are you doing with black jacks here?

——-

Lots of low EV spots unfortunately. Just how it goes sometimes I think, even if this is not our primary way to make money at LLSNL....

Thanks for reading!

Thoughts/Discussion Always Welcome.

H1 fold turn
H2 fold pre (idk what pos you are but cc Q9s in a 100bb cap game is not great)
H3 wp
H4 fold pre vs the 3b, monker ranges have this a low freq call, low freq 4b but mainly just a fold. Given how imbalanced some random 1/3 MAWG 3b range will be I think we can just pure fold.
H5 cbet smaller, if we bet turn go like 75%. River I think we can xb and expect to lose a fair amount but Tx will never ever fold to a bet here.
H6 wp - with JJcs just rip it in, he can show up with a tonne of worse hands and for like 1.3 SPR going into the flop we are never folding an overpair here, especially one that unblocks his pair+draw etc gii's

How are you finding LV compared to Texas/LA? I played a bit at Bellagio/Wynn last summer and found the Bellagio games pretty nitty and the hard 100bb cap very frustrating too, whereas the Wynn was better action and just better overall vibe at the table. They also have the best chips I've ever played with.

HH1: I'd probably just limp along pre, we've got a good hand to play multiway and you're saying stacks are shallow so I don't love making the pot too big. Probably fairly close though. Calling turn given the small bet sizing.

HH2: Fold pre. Q9s vs an UTG open? Just ditch it, you don't need to play this hand, you're burning money. Postflop is fine.

HH3: Fine.

HH4: Opening KTs from UTG is marginal at best, calling a 3bet OOP is just awful.

HH5: Fine.

HH6: Fine. JJ I'm jamming vs that player type.

Bellagio is 6max right? Post doesn't say.

Hey, what’s up man. Hope you’re doing well.

Thanks for the feedback!

Otb H2. I tend to over-value that pos, especially live when you don’t see it that often .

Well, only a five session sample size for Vegas (over 5 days of play though) and even less in LA because I just started two weeks ago—- so hard to comment on almost everything wrt that just yet unfortunately. The “vibe” in Texas (statewide from my understanding) is so much better than LA/Vegas and that’s important (gross vibes suck) to me though.

Very friendly atmosphere in Texas. Do not enjoy the dog eat dog cutthroat atmosphere in casinos for the most part. This would be even more so for people who engage in lots of conversation at the tables (I don’t).

Wynn seems great but I highly doubt it’s anything like it is Pre-pandemic rn. It’s near all the slots atm and not in a separate room.

Thanks for the feedback!

otb H2, got reeled in H4. Mistakes were made. Both hands are spew pre.

8-handed at Wynn, Bellagio, Caesars at least

My 2 worthless cents on the 1/3 NL hands (disclaimer: I've pretty much zero experience playing NL in Vegas which I've heard is a different animal than most places). (disclaimer#2: I play in 10 handed games so probably have to lean to more nitty than if in an 8 handed game)

What's the rake in these games? My game is a typical $8 max + $1 BBJ + $1 tip. If these games are anything close to that, and non-deep stacks, I think overall we should be playing extremely nitty. I'm sure you are shocked that I think that.

H1:

I just see a flop. We have no idea if an iso is going to work after 2 limpers plus we'll mostly be going readless to the flop OOP in a bloated pot (meh, imo). I'm fine with our smallish cbet. I might just check/giveup on the turn with our IO <<< RIO.

H2:

If we're on the Button then whatever, but otherwise I probably lean to a fold. I'm fine with postflop. Could perhaps raise flop but I'm also cool just flatting an EP cbetter into 2 opponents. Think river is likely too thin a value bet an we just value town ourselves too often against this action.

H3:

I limp preflop but that's my obvious passive style that everyone hates. Kinda hate the result but again that's mostly just cuz it ain't in my comfortable wheelhouse (OOP, 4ways, can be trivially committed by anyone postflop thanks to SPR of < 5, and yet we gave everyone really good 23+:1 IO preflop, yuck, but that's just me, ldo). I'm fine with postflop.

H4:

I open fold the first time around cuz I play nitty in EP and I insta-muck when facing a 3bet. We had a similar thread in LLSNL a few weeks back. Everyone thinks we have an insta-call here due to immediate odds. I don't think immediate odds mean jack **** OOP with this hand against a typical 3betting range and much more important is our IO vs RIO for the remaining stacks (which suck, especially OOP). I was mainly outvoted in that thread, FWIW (ETA: in fairness the LLSNL HH was different due to Hero opening in HJ, I believe CO calling, and then Button 3betting, so more dynamics going on in that hand, but overall main point is lol @ immediate odds, imo).

H5:

I open fold preflop again (did I mention I was a nit?). In most games that I play in this is a very optimistic iso play (especially with this sizing, although it is very possible Vegas games play differently regarding this) from this position, although you somehow got it HU in position which is obviously a great (but expected?) result (albeit with an SPR of 6 which is meh). I'm fine with postflop.

H6:

With very shortish stacks in play I think preflop is a little more dicey; I might just overlimp this but I could easily get flamed for that. With JJ I'm happily raising and shoving the flop at this SPR. With KJo we often correct our opponents passive play with dominating hands (where they now correctly get to commitment) and meanwhile often fold out dominated hands we're fine seeing a flop with. I mean this is also counterbalanced with times we steal pots from weak pairs / A high so its not all bad, but its probably getting closer to meh as stacks get smaller.

Gmy2cluelessnittycentsG

Fold KTs pre, then fold it again when 3bet.

Seems more like self-isolation.

This is 100% true. When I went from midwest poker rooms to the main poker hubs, there was a dramatic shift in the atmosphere. Personally, I found it significantly less enjoyable to play in, and while its not directly tied to EV this shouldn't be ignored. I found myself playing way less hours because I wasn't having fun, and put my time towards other things instead. If you can grind through it either way good for you, but I wanted to enjoy my time at the table.

I have to imagine that masks and plexiglass only makes the atmosphere less friendly. It can be more difficult to joke around and converse with a mask covering your face.

That being said, if you don't engage in much conversation at the table then you are likely contributing to the unwelcoming atmosphere at the tables.

H1: fold pre from some positions. Fold turn.

H2: what position is this? Regardless it's bad.

H3: I play same.

H4: I fold pre. I fold pre again to the 3bet these stacks. His range crushes you, you are
OOP, putting in 10% of your stack...trivial fold.

H5: Fold pre. Hand seems OK post.

H6: Trivial flop fold, I rip JJ. I cry fold JJ if limper calls I guess? Not even sure.

H1: Preflop is debatable between raise and flat, but I see the merits to raising. Flop bet is fine, I'd probably peel the turn just because for his less than half pot sizing, I don't think we see a lot of flushes.

H2: I see the result, but I think I'm still raising flop as a default, with the intention of checking back brick turns. Wield position to get a free card when you miss. Others like folding preflop, that's probably best.

H3: nh

H4: Fold preflop the first time, fold preflop to the 3bet. KTs, QJs, and AJo are completely standard folds from UTG or UTG+1 at a 7+ handed table, every time.

H5: I think this is fine

H6: Easy fold, easy rip with JJ

Yeah I'm glad most people seem to agree this is an open fold and then a fold to the 3bet too. That's what I was thinking.

wtf KTs is not a fold 9 handed from UTG lol

Should it be if we're planning on calling a 3bet OOP with it for 13% of our stack?

GaskingforafriendG

People in cities are less sociable and more concerned with success, whereas in rural areas there is more of a community feel and people talk to each other more. People know their gto 3bet-calling ranges button vs big blind but they don't know how to talk to another human being!

In livepoker yes it is. Exception if you have a rare supersoft table out of the ordinary.

Sent fra min SM-G981B via Tapatalk

dude if people play looser range it makes it more of an open, not the other way around, and anyway the maths for your opening range doesn't change because it's live instead of online, unless it's a rake thing

wp

GG, this is ossum! I disagree with most of it, but not because I’m a better player (I’m not). We just have different styles.

you probably won’t see you suggestions incorporated into my play, but I learn a lot from them and they’re not worthless. Not even close!

hope to see around these parts more often. I always take the time to read and reflect on your poasts because they’re well thought out and articulated.

—————
Rake is supremely low afaik in Vegas (relative to LA area)

It’s 10% up to $5 at Bellagio, but no promo/BBJ and no flop no drop.

At Gardens, I believe it’s $5 regardless of pot size +$1 if river is dealt. $2 no flop Rake.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes out to a fair bit (five digits+ annually for sure) more than the Vegas rake because of the drop structure, which I think I’ll find will negate the softer quality in games and will force me to play 5/5, almost exclusively, even to start out.

This will force me to be fairly nitty pre sure, although maybe not by your standards.
—————-

Thanks again and hope you are doing well.

Thanks for dropping in. Hope you and your family are doing well.

Yeah, for sure. Completely agree.

Yes, they do.

It’s hard to be unwelcoming when you usually have a smile on your face? Although, people can’t see that rn LOL.

The mask actually seems to be super +EV for me because I’m a **** tellbox.

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the feedback and for dropping in!

Hope you’re doing well man. How’s work?

Yeah, I’m confused? Obv the sentiment is a function of us being OOP and the large open size.

Also, we’re 8 handed which is good.

Absolutely. Heyyyy I feel attacked bro.
This is along the lines of what I’m thinking, but I value everyone’s feedback and will reflect a little bit.

THat's pretty loose to play KTs utg. Just because a few people are playing weaker Ks does not make up for the time your hand will need to improve but you are OOP.

The only reason I can see KTs, QJs and AJo being fold pre from UTG in a 9 handed game is the rake.

Otherwise, it's a raise for me, though an obvious fold to that 3bet.

AJo is a clear fold at a full ring table UTG. The other two suited ones are still folds as a default range, but could change and become opening hands at some frequenzy depending on different factors.

Opening too wide from early pos is (still) a very common leak in todays games, so i am not surprised to hear these are standard opens for you.

Just found this thread, RtP.

What a ride!

My 2c: balance.

A rested mind and healthy body only compliments and strengthens your play at the table.

Hey man, nice thread. It seems that most people forget to remember that good feeling when you read that a young guy like you feels that he is improving at something that he's really put his mind to as nobody has asked the obvious question(s):

How do you know that you're improving all around, and especially as a player? What has changed compared to a couple of weeks or months ago? And if you wanna go there: What's surprising about it? Most people love a nice surprise, and improving would be half as good without one or two or even three of them.
What's your secret? I can't quite grasp it from reading the thread, but it looks like you're getting good feedback and you're improving rapidly. How are you doing it?
I am curious!

gl!