good read... anyone have a link to his original thread on being Robl's assistant?

good read - will subscribed to your newsletter.

Good TR, enjoyed it.

But you probably would have tripled your roll had you not wasted your time on those stupid donkaments and sat in a juicy 2/5 game.

how many more are on their way? I'm looking forward to it

Good so far, but the " i played perfect" has got to go.

2nd the enjoyment but yeah, I agree. You could have generated weeks worth on DonkNGO buyins with just a few sessions of 2-5 cash.

Haha I know exactly where you were when you ate carls jr and went to that bank. Corner of Maryland and DI near cambridge. I used to live in the hood apartments to the west. Nobody in that bank speaks English.

Great trip report so far, am really enjoying it, looking forward to all the final parts.

Except for the fairy tale Christian stuff, the praying to God for help in a tournament, and all the other BS God stuff that totally sucks and shows you're a complete tool and a brainwashed fool. Leave all that nonsense out next time plz.

Thx.. BB

Re: "Perfect Poker"
I really do think it is possible (and not all that hard) to do this in these fast sit 'n goes. I definitely did not play perfect in my first one, mostly because of heads up mistakes. But for most of the rest of them I believe I made the right decision at every juncture, which to me is equivalent to playing perfectly. I've been using these Pushbot Charts for shortstacked situations in tournaments for a long time - it tells you the M you can profitably push with at any different hand/position combination. Mathematically perfect, to my knowledge, so if I'm following that whenever short, my game for those times should be unexploitable and perfect.

Re: Why not sit at 2-5?
My live cash game sucks. A lot. I'm nowhere near rolled for 2-5 as it is, and can barely handle 1-2. I tried 1-3 at the Wynn once during this trip (not sure if this has already been included yet, I guess not?) and basically got cleaned out right away. I just can't handle it. I think it's a combination of being underrolled, used to 6-max, and inexperienced in a live setting. Tournaments I'm okay with though, especially after this trip.

Re: Socks
It was really cold in the corner of the Satellite Room where I played earlier, so my socks were still rolled up. Also, I cargo shorts.

These are all written already, so there's not going to be much response to requests to change upcoming things (apart from adding more line breaks to ease readability). Thank you once again for the positive responses. Next segment coming up in 3... 2... 1...

I really enjoyed reading so far and I'm looking forward to every new post. I hope you go mega robusto

Friday, 6/20/08
I get up at 10:30 and start my day with some online poker. Just one table this time, as I don’t want a repeat of yesterday’s disaster. Things go well and I catch some cards against my tight table to find myself up early, but then a solid new player comes to the table (one of the ones pounding on me yesterday) and I give some of it back. I finish up about $80 before refusing to play with him anymore, so it’s all good. I make breakfast for Jason and myself, and then we head for the Rio. We miss the shuttle at Paris, so I persuade him to join me in Bill’s Gambling Hall nearby for some craps. I don’t last long and lose $40 very quickly before we walk. We wait at Caesar’s Palace to get the shuttle there, then it’s time to grind some more sats.

GAME #14: I am somewhat distracted by the dealer’s giant nasal deformity, but I get over it. Early on I raise 99 and fold when the SB bumps it to 40% of our stacks (he claims to have QQ) – my stack just never goes up for the rest of the game. After taking the blinds a few times, I have 875 chips and push T5o in the cutoff with blinds at 100/200. The big blind makes a horrendous call with 87s and spikes an 8 on the river to take me out.

GAME #15: This game is nearly a carbon copy of the last – an early raise-fold, this time with ATs, and then card-dead for the rest of the game. I lose with K7o v. JTo for most of my stack, then A2o vs. 38s for the rest of it. An over and under card against middle ones is apparently no good for me today, because that’s three crucial confrontations lost as the favorite.

I’m ready for another game, but the line is absurdly long, so instead I grab a delicious chicken sandwich at the Sao Paulo Café and call my grandma for a chat. Things haven’t been going well overall as far as gambling/poker goes, but I’m doing my best to regroup. I head back to the Satellite room and start again. Please to stop running like excrement?

GAME #16: Out so fast I barely have time to do anything. I get AKo all-in against AQs and the guy makes a diamond flush, taking away more than half my stack. The very next hand I openpush 62o in the small blind and the big blind wakes up with AKo and beats me. My bad luck continues.

GAME #17: This could be my last one. I don’t pick up any big hands down the stretch, but nobody calls any of my pushes to put me at risk (or double me up) so I survive until we’re five-handed. I’m happy to get it in with 99 for my last few big blinds, but of course I am called and beaten by AJo.

What a horribly disappointing day. Against Jason’s better judgment, I go over to the Gold Coast for about the tenth time to play craps and try to feel better about losing by, um, losing more. And naturally, that’s exactly what I do, about $85 worth. Goodbye profits from yesterday, hello deep feelings of failure. I head back to find Jason in the PLO game. I ask about playing another satellite, but he has talked to Robl and apparently we’ll be joining him and Phil Galfond at the Bellagio to celebrate winning his bracelet. He wants to get food first. I call Robl as we head out, and he tells me they actually weren’t able to get a table but he would let me know later what they’re doing. I make Jason listen to my moping, and he agrees that after today’s bout with epic fail, it is probably time to give up the dream. Depressed, I part ways with him and head back to the hotel room rather than watch him eat.

This is the low point, the crash after losing – I experienced it on both of my previous trips to Vegas as well. It comes after huge downswings in poker and after pissing away money at the table games. Why do I gamble when it’s so painful to lose and never satisfying enough to win? I wonder if it really is an addiction, a disease. I’m not responsible, I’m careless. I miss Lauren and I’m worried about money because I don’t have a job back home. Maybe I’m no better than Sam Grizzle, a sick degen who doesn’t care who gets hurt. It’s just like everything else I mess up in my life.

Robl never does contact us, and I advise Jason to get up early enough to register tomorrow before I go to bed. I don’t know what I’ll be doing.

Interesting...funny how you described your interactions with online pros......pretty much what I figured it would be..some cool, most dicks, and vegas is a giant bubble of toolbags...

You really needed to hit up some clubs....If I wasn't playing I'd be partying way hard...but probably not your thing since your a christian....sucks for ya bud though....

and who cares if you got a girl..should of brought her....I don't know how you could ever stay faithful in that town...

and yes i've been to vegas several times, even for my bachelor party wweeeeeeeee

Edit: Didn't mean for it to sound negative, I am enjoying the tr.....Interesting how life is so different depending on who's eyes you see it through

Why don't u post them all instead of teasing us and making us refresh this thread like mad :P

Hm... Are you really sure that your pushbot strategy works against superbad liveplayers as well? It's just that most of these charts include some kind of fold equity, which you clearly don't have as much in the satellites you were playing.

Even if they do work under any circumstances. I do think one has to alter his play if one makes the transaction from online to live. Sometimes you're just giving up a big edge by trying to take advantage of a small edge (pushing any two with an M of 5).

Anyway. Nice TR, keep 'em comin'!

Interesting to read, but you fail epically at Vegas. You're doing it wrong.

OP sounds like a whiney begger

I think it's more interesting this way. If I posted some huge block of text all at once, I'd just get a bunch of "tl;dr"s instead of the great responses I'm getting now.

Yeah, probably so. Maybe it wasn't meant for people like me. I still had a great time on this trip though, despite the "lowest point" note the narrative currently rests at. And I'm happy to be able to share my trip report with the community, so it's all good. Even if they think.....

I know rite? Why can't he just enjoy losing or have lots of money like the rest of us.

So OP wants to have a threesome with Robl and Jason imo

Sounds like projection IMO

lol learn cash games?

I rawk the 6-max 100 NL online sir.

When can we expect next part? It's 2:15AM here and if update is coming in next 15 min or so i might wait for it.

Can you stop blue-balling us and just post the entire god dam thing? K, Thx Bye.

Wow, you guys are, um... enthusiastic. Okay, so when we last left our hero, a bad day of gambling had left him flat. Let's rejoin the action, then.

Saturday, 6/21/08
I wake up at 11:30 feeling refreshed and motivated. I see that Jason is still here and I ask him if he’s still willing to back me if I put up $400 for the last WSOP event we have a chance to play. He says yes, and I say let’s go for it. “There will be more money,” I tell him. “There won’t be any more chances.”

We have to hurry – no time for breakfast (apart from a disgusting bag of turkey) or a shower, and we run to the back of Planet Hollywood to catch a cab. The people in line let us to the front when I ask, and we make it to the Rio in time to register. I ask the lady for a happy face to be written on my ticket, as they do in the satellites, and am satisfied.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER EVENT #39, $1,500 NO-LIMIT HOLD ‘EM
My table is in the Amazon Room Red next to Jason’s. It’s pretty loose and has good players from what I can tell. The guy two seats to my right (“bparis” on Stars according to his shirt) is a medium stakes pro. I chip up early on when I fire two bullets OOP into a Kxxx board with JJ and the guy folds the turn (Jason disagrees with me over this move later but I like it). I’m brought back down when I raise and call a shorty push with 88 in the hijack, but the guy behind me call-pushes his pocket kings and I have to fold after putting 600 chips in.

The blinds hurt for a while and then I make a huge mistake in a blind battle against a solid player: He openlimps the SB against my 56o, which I check. The flop is 4 4 T; he checks, I bet, he calls. The turn is a 7, giving me an open-ender. The correct move here would be to check through, especially since I am short on chips, but instead I bet the pot. He comes over the top and I have to fold, leaving myself with only 1,100 chips from the starting 3,000.


I screwed up early in Event #39 and this was my reward: Only 1100 chips left at my low point.

In the next round, the small blind openlimps and I push KQo. He calls with A7o and I’ll need some help to stay alive. The first four cards are rags, but the queen of diamonds on the river doubles me up and saves my tournament life.

After a while, the table breaks and I am seated at an older table to the right of a Middle Eastern man with a large stack. I have around 3,000 chips at this point and I take down the blinds with AKo right away. On the next hand with blinds at 100/200 I pick up ATo and raise to 500 in mid position. Middle Eastern guy calls and the old guy on the button pushes for 1,375 total. It gets back around to me and I decide to repush. Mistake! M.E. calls and I see that both players have AQo and I’m in danger of busting once again. The board comes 5 6 5 7 6, and I’m saved by the rivered two pair with my ace kicker that ties theirs. They don’t look too happy with me, and I feel bummed that I made such a blunder again, but happy to still be alive.

As time goes on I find out that the guy to my left is in fact Hasan Habib, 4th place finisher in the 2000 Main Event and owner of other assorted deep finishes. We have some fun at the table, as he’s a nice guy despite the beat I put on him early.


Me and Hasan Habib, 4th place finisher in the 2000 WSOP Main Event.

There is one questionable hand where I pick up AKo in the small blind with 200/400 blinds. UTG+1 raises, UTG+2 calls, and CO overpushes for about 15k. I tank and decide to fold, not positive about my decision but thinking that the CO’s range is QQ+ at worst, and that doesn’t even account for the EP guys. The table is very tight; I correctly push about 12 or 13 times while I’m there and I never get a call, going to the dinner break 6 hours in with 6,500 chips.

I meet up with Jason at the dinner break and find that he’s still in as well, but with only about 2,000 chips left. Blinds are going to be 300/600 with a 100 ante after the break, so we’ll both need to catch some cards to survive. We have dinner at Sao Paulo and I call Lauren because I love hearing from her.


Jason and I stepped outside at the dinner break to warm up; here’s a picture I took with a nice Wynn backdrop. That cowboy walking away offered to take the picture with both of us in it, but I didn’t want to get my camera stolen. In retrospect, I probably could have chased him down anyway, since he was wearing boots.

I call Robl and ask him about the AK hand (which he says was a good fold) and if he has any updates about where we’ll be going tomorrow (he doesn’t). Then it’s back to the action.

In one of the first hands back from the break, I push A2o in the hijack and get called by pocket tens. I start calling for an ace (despite the big blind showing that he folded one). The flop brings a deuce so now I have some more outs. “Ace or deuce!” I yell. The turn brings an ace and I cheer. The river bricks; I nearly triple up with the antes and I’m up over 16,000 chips. I get a warning from the floorman over excessively celebrating, which kind of makes me laugh. “I thought I was going to be gone on that hand, so I didn’t care, sorry,” I tell him.


Me eyeing Hasan’s stack. As you can see, I’ve got a decent amount of chips in front of me at this point.

Jason busts very quickly after the break and comes by to tell me he’s moving to the PLO cash tables. In the ensuing rounds I steal the blinds a few times and avoid confrontation until the table breaks down. I wish Hasan well and say goodbye to the table. I’m put at a table that is much quieter and much looser. I sort of recognize the guy across from me, and it’s because he’s Nick Binger, Michael Binger’s brother (who looks a lot like him). The blinds get huge and I’m looking for a hand to push. I pick up AKs on the button against Binger’s UTG push for ~9k. I repush for ~14.5k and the others fold. He has pocket tens and we’re racing. I yell for the ace or king but it’s not coming this time. The board bricks out and I’m crippled.

Soon I pick up AQs and take down the blinds to move me up a bit. The next hand I have A5s and push again, but this time I’m called by pocket queens. The flop brings a five, but I can’t draw out this time and I’m out around 370th (270 pays). It’s a big disappointment, because to have a stack that late had a lot of potential, but I have few regrets. It’s been a hell of an experience and I’m happy to say I took a shot and went deep.

I tell Jason I’m headed back to the hotel room, which we’re supposed to check out of tomorrow morning. I take the shuttle to Harrah’s (the first one available) and call Robl to give him the update. He says he couldn’t get us a room anywhere; he’ll put us up at his place if he has to, but he’s running bad at online poker and he’d rather we find a cheap room somewhere ourselves. I can’t really afford that; I guess everything good has run out at once.

I end up sticking the last $40 I have on me down at the Imperial Palace craps table. Jason calls and is upset I went to a casino instead of heading right back, but I’m allowed to change my mind, especially when I’ve got something to be bummed about. I play the dice for a long time on small bets and leave with $100, heading back to the hotel room. I write my report while watching “Mystery Men” and try not to be too worried about what will happen to us tomorrow.

I’m about ready to head home; I’ve done everything I set out to do to the best of my ability, and I’d like to get back to my lady and see what I can do with my life. Jason and I don’t fly out until Wednesday night, though, so it’s not that easy. Before I go to bed, Jason comes back to the room and tells me there’s no late checkout (so we have to be out of here by 10 A.M., which is bad because it’s 3:00 now) and is still ticked off at me for my change of plans (and that I’m not able to afford a room at the Wynn). No idea what’s coming, but all I can do now is sleep.

OMG THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

i enjoy these OP, thx again for sharing =)