Apr 27
The World Series of Poker circuit has returned to Las Vegas, this time at Caesar’s Palace. Tournaments start tomorrow and though I had no intention of playing Matt has been talking me into it. I decided on a compromise – the same one I made for the Paris event. I am going to play cards tonight and if I win more than $200 then I will play in tomorrow’s event. If not, so be it.
Alright, I’m off to GVR. Peace.
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Well, it’s over. The results are in. Before I get to that, though, I want to take a moment to respond to my mom’s comment in this thread. I don’t see the point in writing my own comment when I am updating the post anyway.
Why should how you do tonight determine what you do tomorrow?
There are two good reasons that I can immediately think of. First, my bankroll. I’m not hurting for money at the moment, but neither am I rolling in cash. I owe the government about $1000 for this past April and still have to pay for things like rent, food, and the $200 it’s going to cost the next time I fill up on gas. Playing the tournament I don’t want to feel as if I am gambling with my rent money. I would rather that the tournament is a freeroll where the outcome can only be positive.
Second, it’s a question of destiny. If I can’t get through a 3-hour session at GVR how can I expect to get through a 300-500 person field? If I am meant to win tomorrow I should feel it today. If I am running card dead and am playing like crap today, I don’t expect tomorrow to be significantly different. Maybe it’s a question of confidence more than destiny, but either way it’s important to have it. I need to hit the ground running and believe that I have a shot, otherwise there’s no point even sitting down.
Regardless, both bankroll and Fate are on my side. I played for just over 3 hours tonight and won exactly $350. I would have kept playing but I had set a mental stopping point of 3 hours, one to which I was somehow able to stick.
It’s actually pretty amazing how many times you can sit down at a Vegas no-limit table and still find a completely new game. I dub tonight’s style of game “Crazy Ridiculous”. When I first sit into a game I almost always fold the first orbit of blinds while I watch the table and adjust to the playing style. Almost always. I figured out tonight’s game pretty quickly and had my first big clash on only my third hand of play. I’ll get into the playing style in a second, but let’s look at my first hand.
In the small blind I am dealt 10-Jack offsuit. The pot is limped to me so I complete the blind and the BB checks. The flop comes Ks – Qc – 4s. Of course I check, and so then does everyone else. The turn brings a red Ace, making my hand. I feel out the pot by betting $10. Two people call me. The river brings the 3c. I bet for value, hoping to get a call, and toss out $15. A player after me then RAISES me another $40. I recheck the board; yeah, I can’t possibly lose. “Okay, I’ll go all-in.” He instantly calls me. I expect to chop the pot as I turn over my hand. “If you have two pair it’s good,” he tells me. “What?” I ask in genuine confusion. He then looks at my cards, stares at the board, and mucks his hand. Nice, I start the game up $130 from the very beginning.
I realized pretty quickly that this game was very, very loose. Not only was it loose, but it was highly aggressive. That makes tonight’s session almost the complete opposite of every other game I have ever played at GVR. One guy in particular, unfortunately sitting immediately to my left, straddled every blind and raised preflop in the dark whenever he had the chance to open. If it was raised in front of him he would call as often as not. For the first two hours of the game it was almost impossible to find a limped pot. Every hand was raised at least once, and almost as often as not it was re-raised preflop. If a player connected with the board at all, even with as little as third pair, you could expect more betting and raising. I watched one hand where after a raise preflop and a bet on the flop the maniac to my left led into the board with $75 on the turn and was called. He then bet $150 on the river and was again called. The maniac showed 8-high, the caller showed a winning Ace-high. That’s just not something that happens in these games.
I immediately adjusted my style based on the situation. I would fold any marginal hand (except a pocket pair) and limp with anything good. I could then count on the maniac or one of the other maniac-wannabes to raise for me. Then I would call and be able to disguise my hand. It was really just a matter of waiting to flop a big hand. Eventually I did.
I limped in middle position with pocket 8′s expecting to also have to call an additional $15-$20. I don’t mind doing that with pocket pairs, in fact I prefer to play them that way. The goal with small/middle pocket pairs in these games is to a) see a flop cheaply, b) flop a set, c) have an opponent flop a big hand, too. I don’t mind calling moderate raises preflop because I know that when I hit my hand I will usually win a large pot. In Lindgren’s book he tells you to, “always hope your opponent has aces.” I try to keep that in mind. You WANT them to have aces so that they will pay you off on your monster hands with almost no chance to win. So anyway… I call with pocket 8′s.
As expected the pot is then raised to $15 and a few people call, including myself. The flop falls: 7s – 8c – 10c. Bingo. The action is checked to me and I check as well, expecting and hoping for a bet behind me. My opponents oblige. The maniac opens for a bet of $35. Gold. A player behind him then raises, making the minimum possible raise, to $70. Action is folded to me and the time for being cute is over. I go all-in for about $200 total. The maniac folds and the raiser then agonizes over the call. He hems and haws for about a minute, at which point I really don’t know if I want a call or not. If he has a draw I’d rather he folded. If he has a made hand, PLEASE call. A made hand is likely drawing all but dead against me, a draw has a reasonable shot to break me. My opponent finally calls all-in. The turn brings a red Ace and the river a 5 of clubs (not cool). I sheepishly turn over my set, not at all sure whether it’s good. My opponent does the classic stare-at-my-hand stare-at-the-board before mucking his cards. Booyah. I tip the dealer $10 (see, I do tip dealers) and begin to stack the $600 pot.
I stayed sbout even for the rest of the session, but there were two other hands that I find a bit interesting.
I call a small raise in late position with 10-J offsuit and go to a flop of 8-9-J rainbow. Someone bets $10 and two people call in front of me. I also call, deciding to wait one card before going nuts. After another player behind me calls one of the blinds then goes all-in for $130. Everyone folds back to me and I have the dealer count out the exact amount. I look at my own chips, all $600 of them. I can afford this call, and I am either winning or have a decent redraw. I announce call, to the great shock of everyone else at the table, and push out a stack of red chips. The player behind me then says to me, “Man, I’m getting such crazy odds here. I think I have to call.” He does, though he only has about $50 left and so he can only win a portion of the pot. At this point I have no idea where I’m at in the hand. I’m really hoping for a 7 or Q. The turn pairs the board with another 8. The river gives me a better two pair when it brings a 10. The first all-in player turns over J-9: flopped top two pair. I turn over my hand: a rivered better two pair. The mystery player behind me then turns over Q-3 for the straight. He was drawing only to the 10, but of course got there. He rambled about his odds and I could only smile and nod while knowing that he wasn’t actually getting anywhere near the right odds for that call, knowing he could only (maybe) win with a 10. The Queen gave him the main pot but my two pair earned me the side pot. After stacking up the pot I counted my chips and announced to my amazement that I actually broke even on the hand. What I lost to the main pot I won from the side pot. No harm, no foul, but it was a weird hand.
The last hand I want to tell was even more bizarre. The maniac took a break to go play video Keno and so the game returned to ‘normal’ for a little bit. Action was limped to me in the big blind where I checked my option with 5-8 offsuit. I checked in the dark and the flop fell A-8-6 rainbow. A player in middle position opened for a bet of $10 and everyone folded to me. I had a weird feeling about the hand and the bet so I decided to call and see what developed. The turn came perfect with the card I had mentally called for: the 7. I checked once again and my opponent quickly bet $15. I counted what he had left, another $60. “I raise.” I tossed in the $15 call and then stacked out and pushed another $30. My opponent counted his remaining chips and started talking to himself. At several points he lifted up both his cards and stared at them while mumbling incomprehensibly. After more than a minute of thinking (I considered calling the clock on him) he reluctantly made the call. The river was a bit heart-breaking, pairing the board with another 6. First to act I decided to put the pressure on him again and tossed in another $30, forcing him all-in. My heart dropped a bit as he almost beat me into the pot. “Umm… eights?” I turn over my hand. My opponent then smiles in triumph and slaps his cards down face up. “Chop it up!”. He shows me the 2-8 of hearts. What the hell?! I stare at him for a minute before reaching across the table and tapping the felt. “Nice… call… ?” It was so weird. Once again, a little bit of fireworks before I am given my money back.
So tomorrow is the day I guess. The tournament doesn’t start until evening so don’t expect a recap until Saturday. Have a good one.