Vegas Day 1

I arrive at McCarran airport. I hear the sound of slot machine reels and smell the pretzels from the stand. Smells like hope.

I scroll through Bravo to see what games are running and see 5 games of 5/10 are going at Bellagio. I call a cab.

I walk to the poker room and it seems like plenty of games are running with the 5 diamond MTT series going on. I say hi to my friend who's playing 20/40 while I wait for my seat, I see him with a mountain of chips. He loses a 4! pot. Crusher.

I get into my 5/10 game and buy in for $1500. Game is fine, but there aren't too many chips flying around. Seems like the Neapolitan flavor of live poker players: nits, regs and nit regs. I win a couple pots by raising/3 betting and taking it down with 1 or 2 barrels. I'm up a couple hundred after two hours.

A girl gets seated at my table and she looks like a Kpop star. Not like the really hot ones you see on soju bottles but she looks like a guy named DaeSung who was in a famous boy band called Big Bang. Don't ask me why I know. Part of me wants to tell her but it would be quite out of line. I'm sure she's heard it before though. Must be cool to have a celebrity look alike.

Within one orbit, DaeSung cold 4! to $420 IP against a $100 3! and GII with KK vs. AK.
I am OTB with AQss and open to $30, DaeSung makes it $120 in the BB, we're $1500 effective and I call.

Flop: AK2xhh, she cbets $80, I call
Turn: 4h, she bets $330, I know that AJ, AT with a heart can check this turn a lot but feel like live players will barrel those a lot, I call.
River: Jh, she bets $100, this tiny block bet sizing is tilting. I know I beat nothing and should consider jamming. But there's some doubt that maybe I'm getting trapped here by Ahx and this is to induce. I say **** it and flick in the call and lose to Q6hh.

I play an hour more but no interesting hands happen. Win $147 to start off the trip. Get to hotel around 1am to sleep and play the Wynnter classic on Friday.

Vegas Day 2: Mistakes were made

I wake up at 9am, it's time to grind. I head over to Bellagio to play a quick 5/10 session. There's some over-nighters with some decent 4k+ stacks. I win a couple small pots and I'm rolling.

I'm sitting on about 2k when this hand happens.

One limp, I open to $40 from CO with 89hh, blinds call, limper calls.

Flop: 953r, BB leads for $160, in a previous hand he 3! squeezed and then bet jammed on QQ99 with AJo earlier and showed, easy call
Turn: 6, BB bets $300, I call
River: 9, he checks, I bet $300 targeting his one pair hands, he jams for $1600

I think about it and decide to call. He flips over a 2 and I'm like ****, really 24? Then he flips over a 9 and we scoop.

I take a cab to the Wynn to fire the $1100 buy in $500k GTD event. I tell the lady at the cashier "one ticket for the tournament" and she asks which one. Apparently, there's an 8 game one going on, since I am under the age of 50, I tell her to put me in the NL.

I head to my table and it's all rec friendly except for one guy who looks like Dobby from Harry Potter. His glassy eyed stare creeps me out.

Play a couple small pots, I'm doing some 3 betting and barreling to pick up chips. Started with 25k and have around 33k when this fun hand happens.

Blinds 200/400/400, one EP open to $1200, MP short stack calls, I 3! SB with AA to $6000, EP call, MP jams for $12k, I rip it in, and EP calls off for 25k.

AA vs AQo (MP) vs 66 (EP)
Board runs out clean and we scoop.

Another fun hand.
Blinds 300/500/500, semi competent player opens UTG to $1250, I call UTG+1 with TT, short stack fish calls MP, SB young white guy 3! to $7k with $30k behind.

Weird spot seems kinda nutted, UTG calls, I'm worried that short stack will jams 15k and opens action but I'm 80k deep with UTG. UTG should be a bit capped here but I ***** out and call, short stack thankfully calls.

Flop: 886ddx, checks to me, I should bet small for protection but I check and it checks around.
Turn: 8o, SB checks, UTG bets $12k, I call, MP folds, and SB rips for $30k, ****. UTG folds.
SB had gotten me to fold in a 3! pot where I was the 3 bettor and took a bxb line on AQ359 and he jammed on me on the river. Ended up calling clock and I folded. This is a ridiculous hand but I can't fold and I'm annoyed as **** by his line if he trapped me.

I flick in the call and he rolls over AJo (???), river is another 6 and we scoop a big one.
My stack gets to $200k which is huge with blinds at 500/1000/1000.

Right before the break Dobby min opens to $2k from HJ with 20k behind, I have A8dd in the BB. I know I should call here a lot but I decide to rip to take it down and get to an early dinner. He calls with ATo and I double him.

After dinner I'm back and blinds are 600/1200/1200.

I open HJ to $2600 with TT, CO calls, BTN calls, Dobby 3! to $8k with $32k behind, I rip it in, folds to him and he calls.
AQo vs TT
Flop: KJ3
Turn: 8
River: T
Annoying, seems like Dobby has some extra lives.

I lose two more flips to some short stacks and I'm down to $150k.
While my stack trends down Dobby gets active and he's been 3 betting, making moves and gets his stack up to $160k. Blinds 1k/2k/2k

I open KQo in HJ to $5k, he 3! CO to $15k, I give him the **** You 4! to $42k he calls.
Flop: AT4ssx, I cbet $30k, he calls
Turn: Jo, omg bink. I think for a bit and rip it in. He snaps with AA. I roll over KQo and he looks shocked. I'm about to end this man's career.
River: Jo. I lose composure and slam the table, get up immediately, toss a water bottle into the trash a la Matt Affleck and storm off.

Have to walk around and take some deep breaths because I'm so tilted. He played his hand perfectly but it seems like the poker gods teased me into giving me hope. ****ing Dobby. He should've never been freed.

I hop into 2/5, win some pots early and stack some stoner QQ vs JJ in a 4! pot. Donate it right back to him by trying to 3! triple on 8848T with KQs, ended up getting heroed by AQ lol. Tilt off some more and lose $1k before calling it quits at 6am. Feels bad.

I remember a live tourney where all my chips went byebye. Had open ender to straight in raised pot. 8 on turn made my straight, and set for the only guy who shoves in, I call. Board pairs on river. Out of tourney. Though I didn't go Affleck.

Yea I was tilted I lost consecutive all ins and then punted. I looked up the winner a couple days ago and thankfully he didn’t ship it .

Vegas Day 3: Groundhog Day

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?"

Didn't get much sleep the night before, still salty about busting out in the tournament. There was 200k up top, could've bought a lot of oreos with that. It's starting to feel like Groundhog Day, wake up, call Belagio for a seat at 5/10, battle with the old men, the nits and my favorite, the gambolers.

I roll into the 5/10 and it's the usual crowd. Two old guys are talking about politics and how Trump might get a third term if we go to war. Yikes.

Headphone reg opens to $30 CO, I 3! KJss in SB $120, he calls.
Flop: 557sxx, this board favors me quite a bit, I decide to go 2/3 here and get him to fold his A high and small pairs. Bet $180, he calls.
Turn: Jo, he called turn so now he's weighted towards pairs, don't think he floats enough Ax to 2/3. Time to get value, I bet $300, he calls.
River: 9o, don't think I can get another value bet in, decide to check and show down vs his pairs like 88, TT, mayb 89s, hard to imagine he has worse Jx. I check he bets $500, it's annoying but I'm not folding to some headphone wearing shmuck. Flick in the call and he has JJ. Just like groundhog day, call on the river and lose.

Down a bit and a middle aged Asian guy comes in. He says "gamble!", usually a good sign. I open AKhh, to $30 HJ, BTN call, he 3! $150 in SB, I decide to just flat here, BTN calls.

Flop: K87ssx, he checks to me, I bet $270 targeting his TT-QQ, maybe he has some worse Kx sometimes. BTN folds, he calls
Turn: 9o, basically a blank, I bet $500, he calls.
River: 6o, he leads for $300, wtf? hard to imagine he has a T unless if he has like QThh, AThh but I feel like he would bet flop with those as preflop aggressor. Well it's ****ing groundhog day so I call and lose to KK. Jesus he could've stacked me here if he didn't take this awful line.
Two limps, I make it $50 CO, with KJdd, MAAG calls in BB limpers call.
Flop: KQ6xdd, I cbet $120, MAAG calls, everyone else folds.
Turn: 2o, I bet $330, he calls.
River: 6o. He puts me all in for $1000. This was a snap jam. Feels weird since he can't have like 6xdd, and KQ would've probably raise flop/turn but he did take that donk line with KK. I'm not feeling the fold, I toss in a pile of chips like I'm Bill ****ing Murray. He says "you're good" with the nod. I flip it over and scoop. He says, "it's your money anyways". Fair enough middle aged asian guy, fair enough.

Couple more hands happen he's getting loose. He turned 78o into a bluff on 4478J on the river, went for a x/r and got called by A4s.

He opens to $30 MP, I 3! to $120 with AA in SB, he calls.
Flop: 974r, I bet $120, he raises to $360, I call.
Turn: Jo, I check he bets $500, I call.
River: 2o, he goes all in for $1100. **** me, he starts giving me the speech. Says, "you know what it is with me, either you double up or I double up". If he's bluffing this is a masterful performance. Some Oscar worthy ****. I start chatting with him to get something and he says, "don't fold your set!". This just looks like a fold, he has all 8T combos, suited or unsuited, random two pairs, sets. only bluffs are like 68, 56. I get the clock called, and my food runner comes. I tip her a bit extra in case I call and lose. I muck and he says I'll show it to you and be nice. Shows the J9o.

No other interesting hands, end the session -$700. One more day left to make something happen...

Subbed. Look forward to following and best of luck at the tables. Bad luck against Dobby. If playing with Harry Potter looking characters is going to put you off your game maybe its +ev to avoid the tourneys.

That guy is a legend, nice fold.

First time here. Excellent read. Good luck

You had me at the title lol. GL!

In for the now 3 figure swings!

glgl OP

Thanks guys, and yea I told myself I would stop playing MTTs at least a dozen times this year. I'm sure my EV is fine in most of the fields I play but the tilt equity after busting out is too high.

Vegas Day 4: The Punting Will Continue Until Morale Improves

It's my last day in Vegas and I have about 8 hours to kill before my flight. I feel a sense of urgency to make something happen. In hindsight, this is just another form of tilt and I should never feel this way if my mental game is tight.

You know the drill. Call in to Bellagio 5/10. I make the walk over and when I'm crossing the bridge into the casino I see someone with a sign asking for change. Soon, I might be right there with ya buddy, God bless.

I walk in and they're starting a must move. The table is chatting about the football games and seems like people have action on Patriots. Great, now I can reverse sweat the Patriots if I get bored.

One of the first hands I see, I see a guy 3! and then rip $1300 into a $300 pot on A74ddx. Gets snapped by 77. Interesting.

Another hand, this guy calls down a triple on K62hhJx3h with KTcc and loses to Q9hh. Hmm.

I finally get a playable hand A8s in EP, open to $30, guy 3! me to $90 with $600 behind, I call.

Flop: JJ3ssx, he bets $180, I jam and he says, "If you have a jack, you have a jack, I call". He calls and rolls over 66. Turn is a spade and we scoop.

I get moved to the main game and it's another nit fest until a 50/100 PLO player comes in (didn't know at the time until my friend told me earlier). He's splashing around in the pots he gets involved in. I see him 3! preflop, overbet flop and then fold to a raise.
I just 3 bet him and he folded. He opens MP $30, cold call, I 3! to $150 with AK in CO, both call.

Flop: J93ccx, I have Kc, checks around
Turn: Ko, he bets $250 with $500 behind. I should mostly call here but I feel like he might be overvaluing some KT, KQ, he can have all suited Acx, and maybe some pair + gutter. I jam. He calls.
He asks how many times, I say it's up to him. He says, "I have the nuts". I say, "Ok I'm dead". Dealer looks at me to see how many times I want to run it. I look at her and say twice. Might as well get my money's worth.

He sheepishly shows QTo. He tells me, "This is just for practice" as if to explain his preflop call. Word.

Now I'm down a little bit. A competent reg joins the table with his competent reg friend. Competent reg plays 2 big hands where he calls flop, calls turn and folds river facing pot sized jam. He even shows a big fold multi-way. This starts to get my gears turning.

There's some discussion on whether we're doing a round of straddles. Competent reg is saying everyone agreed but headphone nit from yesterday makes a point that he never agreed, so he skips but most of us are putting it on.

I'm in straddle with A8o for $20, competent reg $60 from HJ, I complete.
Flop: 443r, he bets $50, I call.
Turn: Jh, bringing bdfd, he bets $150, I decide to raise him since my A combo blocks the third A4s and he shouldn't have K4s, Q4s, I also have the 8h. In retrospect this is pure donk logic to justify me making a move here. I raise to $430, he calls.
River: 9h

Now my flush draws get there and I should have no natural bluffs, right? Well guess it's time to keep telling my story and I rip it in for $1100. He goes deep into the tank like he's in the Battle of El Alamein. He is legit pushing his cards up slightly, capping. Back into tank. Plays with chips like he's going to push them forward. Back into tank. I'm sitting there stoically like Tank man, fighting for my civil right to bluff. He says "If I lose I go to baccarat" and tosses in a chip. I tell him the phrase every poker player wants to hear, "you're good". He shows the J5s and scoops.

This punt really isn't defensible. If anything, the fact that he had made two huge folds makes it less likely he will fold this third time, especially against me, another young guy. The frustration of getting coolered in the previous days, playing bad, sleep deprivation and eating terrible food really got to me. I really don't feel good about this one and I need to completely eliminate these punts from my game.

I seriously consider taking the 2k I have left and going to play Baccarat, inspired by villain's comment before the hero call. I actually win a sizable pot with AJs where I turn aces up against presumably AK. I'm drinking now and I'm a couple beers in.

I open 45cc CO to $30, new player 3! to $120 SB, I call.
Flop: T36xcc, he cbets $120, I raise to $400. Again, this raise size too big and I don't need to have raises here. After discussing with friends, raising actually lets him play quite well since he can just jam his value/good draws and fold his airy hands. I'm tilted tho and I just want to put chips in with my straight flush draws, he jams and I snap. He asks how many times, I say "two?". He nods.

1st runout: JAxx, "Ok that one's you", he seems slightly nervous.
2nd runout: T6xx, "That's also you". He rolls over 99cx for the scoop.

Disappointing but I'm not really upset about this one. I order some more beers. I quit after an hour or so, say goodbye to my friend, pick up my bags from hotel and call a cab to the airport.

As I stand in line for the TSA check, all the doubt starts to creep in on whether or not I'm even a winning player. Maybe all of it was just positive variance early on and I should quit. Poker is not my job so I don't even need the money. I just desperately want to win. Being a winner poker player has become a part of my identity and it's crashing down like a house of cards (pun intended).

I get home and fall into a blissful sleep with no nightmares of hero calls or getting it in drawing dead. I wake up and surprisingly the feelings of doubt are gone. I know that I can be a winning player but I have a lot of work to do. I need to keep playing hands and studying. I need to stop punting. I need to progress through the stakes.

Back to the grind.

That feeling fresh off a "punt" when you start to doubt yourself was such a difficult part of playing that i didn't expect. Maybe because live poker is so slow and the situations to take advantage/exploit our opponents are so infrequent it seems more important to seize the opportunity. Long car rides home after losing big when we make questionable/risky plays are always the worst

Glad to see you had clarity the next day and are charging on! Keep it up

Subbed!

On the flip side, feeling on top of the world during a car ride home w/ music blaring after a HUGE winning session is a feeling that can’t be put into words. I see why poker players chase that feeling

The Prodigal Son Returns

In the story of the Prodigal Son, a son of a wealthy man asks his father for his inheritance then leaves home. He squanders his wealth on women, alcohol and gambling. He returns home in disgrace and begs his father to work as a servant. Instead, his father welcomes him back with open arms and hosts a feast in his honor.

I am the prodigal son of MGM NH.

Some interesting hands I played:

2/5 NL, $1k effective

One open to $15 UTG, call, I 3! MP to $70 with TT, HJ calls, SB calls, UTG calls, one fold.

Flop: T53dxd, SB lead for $125, I raise to $300, he calls.
Turn: Ao, he checks and I jam for $770, he calls.
River: Jo.

I show my set and he says he turned two pair with a FD (A5dd). Nice to hold.

5/10 NL

I open QQ to $30 UTG, UTG+1 calls, MP calls, BTN calls, BB calls. Being the natural comedian I am, I ask the dealer, "Heads up?".

Flop: J23r, I cbet $70, UTG+1 calls, MP calls, BB calls.
Turn: 7d, bringing FD, I bet $225, UTG+1 calls, MP jams $750, BB jams $2500 (WTF), I fold and UTG+1 shows me KK and folds (WTF).
River: 7, BB shows J7hh for the scoop.

5/10 NL, $2.5k effective

Villain in this hand just lost a 4 bet pot where he called with QQ and called flop cbet on KT3r, and folded to turn jam on A.

Two limps, he makes it $50 in CO, I 3! to $225 in SB with QQ, he 4! to $550, I call.

Flop: A63r, he cbets $650 and I fold. He shows TT. Ouch.

5/10/25 NL, $1.5k effective

MP open to $75, I have AA on BTN and make it $225, SB 4! to $350, folds to me and I call.

Flop: A62hhx, he cbet $350, call.
Turn: 8o, he checks, I bet $300, call.
River: 9o, he checks, I go all in for $500, he calls and shows KK.

5/10/25 NL $2.3k eff (Big OOPS hand)

Villain in hand raised pre with 88, called a x/r against BB on 793ccx and jammed over a pot sized bet on 9 turn with 88.

I open HJ to $60 with QTdd, villain 3! $180 from CO, I call.

Flop: QJ6xxh, check, he bets $225, i call.
Turn: 7h brings fd, check, he bets $320 I call
River: Qh, check, he bets $400, I go all in and get snapped by QJo.

My river shove is big spew since he has a bunch of value combos like AKhh, AThh, AQ, KQs, JJ and we only beat KK and AA which x back at high frequency. Read too much into the bet sizing and previous HH.

Some douchebag next to me goes, "You wait all this time and get it in drawing dead". I look at him and channel all my runbad/playbad this year and transfer it to him. Look forward to seeing him at the coinstar with a bag of quarters next week.

Felt quite tilted and left the game after last hand. Felt worse when I broke the hand down and discussed with friends. Such a clear mistake. Thought about it further and came to the conclusion I can't expect to play perfectly every session. Even the best players make mistakes on occasion. Got some food with friends and family and had a great time.

My brother gave me this notepad I had when I was a teen. There was a list of things I wanted in the future. They included things like: money (#1 on list), healthy family, and to get into a certain school. The hilarious part is that I saw at the bottom of the list I wrote, "What a joke!" probably a year after I wrote the original list.

However, after 10 years have passed, most of those things were fulfilled. The ones that were not, turned out to be unimportant anyways. Funny how life works out that way.

My goal in 2020 is to be emotionally resilient and not be phased by the swings in poker or in life. I have a lot of things to be grateful for and those are the things I should focus on. I really believe it's going to be a great year. Good luck to everyone here!

You are a very entertaining writer.

Man those HHs are ridiculous. Bunch of fish just splashing around for huge sums.

Happy and prosperous New Year to you.

Cheers to a sun run 2020

Just got back from a 2 week vacation on the East Coast.

Beats: Got the flu about one week in and it put me out of commission for 3 days. Also wasn't A gaming for the back half of the sessions since I was still tired/sick.

Brag: Won about $3k total, reversing most of the damage from Vegas.

Variance: Played with a huge whale at 5/10/25. He was making it $300 on his straddle. Folded around to me in the BB. He told me, "Hurry up kid, I know you're folding jacks there". I look down at 55 and ship it in for $3900 effective. He shows me an ace and I start sweating. He starts asking me, "You're really that strong huh, jamming in $4k like that". I tell him we can run it twice. He folds A4o faceup and I show him. He also got me with 69o later on in the session.

Overall, I don't think I played my best but did a good job of tilt management/mental game. Going to be firing the MSPT $1M in a couple weeks and back in Vegas for Super Bowl weekend. Should be a fun time. Will be spending more time on the micro grind/lab until then.

yeah, when they're betting that hard into a board like that, they usually have the goods.

I don't think I could ever fold there at micro stakes, even at 100+BB

Back to the online grind, put a good amount of volume in this weekend. Feeling really good about my play but have been slacking a bit on the studying. Trying to get through the RYE tournament stuff but my god is it boring. BenCB is great though.

Graph for the Month (mix of 25z and 50z)



Biggest pot



Biggest hero fold



Most tilting



Biggest punt



Once I put enough volume in 50z (around 100k hands) going to probably get a coach to try and make the jump to 200z.

bump bump bump

I'm Back, Baby

Alright, so I went into hibernation for half of the year. I had my reasons though. Was preparing for job interviews, ended up getting the job before headcount got cut and now I'm stuck in limbo... I got tilted and ended up just ****ing off and playing video games for 2 months.

Since I now have the ability to work remote, I've decided to move to Vegas. I'll be staying there with a good friend of mine and back to the poker grind. I've played a lot in the last 2 weeks to get warmed up. Things have been going well at 200z and shot taking 500z sometimes. Definitely feel like I'm losing in the 500z pool but will need some time to adjust.

Graph for this month:

Glad to see you back!! What US sites have a player pool big enough to support 500z?

Hey welcome back OP. Cool to see you moved up stakes. Very sick graph!!! We'll likely be playing against each other at 200z and 500z so gl.