This week at the Bellagio

by Phil

1 Comments

This was an amazing week.  For starters, in my entire life, I have not seen as much PLO action at the Bellagio than I saw this week.  It was there everyday this past week (cept last night I think.)

I had some sick wins and losses and had the best time ever.  Len was my new favorite guy this week.  He played plo like the genius he is and always had the nicest disposition.  I was also very impressed with the way that the nlh games.  Instead of small blind big blind and that is it (lame) it was always sml blind, big blind and then the big blind put in a dead ante.  This is about 4.3 times better for the game.  Some dead money in the pot to fight over.  Truly excellent.

Saw Avatar in 3D last night.  This was a mega stellar flick.  Wow.  Just amazing.

Checked out Aria the new mega complex this week too.  Sorta cool.  There is a restaraunt there called Lemon Grass (Thai food) and they have a crab dish that was the best crab dish I have ever had in my entire life.  It was so amazing.  I am going there in 20 mins to check it out again.  Thank you Lemon Grass.

Oh, and had Kings over Jacks for a tidy little pot this week and the board came all babies.  That felt great.

Later

Phil

 

15k Tourney in Vegas - High Stakes PLO in Bobby's rm - and 4LeafOwner

by Phil

2 Comments

Bobby's Room at the Bellagio.

We started with 60k and somehow I managed to build that stack down to 12k.  Hmmmm... That is not good.  Kept my focus though and was very happy to end the day with 55k or so.  Manana will be day 2 (obv) and looking forward.  There were some interesting hands for sure but then there always are. 

There was a monster high stakes plo/nlh game in Bobby's room today and during the tourney I put my name on the list (5th up).  After dinner I went to check on the list.  And I was still 5th.  Yes, that is often how it is when a super juicy high stakes game starts up in Bobby's room.  If you happen to be in the starting line up then life is good, and if not, well then you might just find yourself on a list that just doesn't move.  Ho hum.

Met 4leafowner a few days ago.  That was cool.  He was telling me how HoldemManager (software for poker) is great.  The hand match ups in plo are instantly calculated and put up on the screen as you are playing.  That is exciting.  (Say good bye to the old school twodimes.net hand entering stuff!)

Phil

PLO frenzy in Vegas, and my new favorite perk ( for the video game cod2) - Scavenger!!!

by Phil

3 Comments

This last week was sick..

 

Get to Vegas a day late.... which is lucky for me.

The Hot Water heater in the garage blew and was dropping 850 gallons a day into the garage... Had I left to Vegas on time this would have been a 6 day mess.  The house would have been vacant for all 6 days... or the equicalent of having 5100 gallons of water spread thru the entire house.  There was very minor water damage in the garage from the little we did get, (caught it 12 hrs into spray frenzy) I can only imagine what it would be like had we not caught it.  Phew.... Running good.

Anyway, I finally get here and and it has been PLO all week long.

I run it twice a few times, break even on all of em.  But I couldn't manage to stay level.  First I slipped 5k then 15k more, then I reload for 20k more... Total now is that I am in 40k (in a 25 50 100 plo game at the Bellagio) - When, in one big hand, I decide to run it one time for a huge pot and win it.  Wow.  I went on to close the game up 13k which was amazing considering that at one point I was stuck 20 and had another 20 in a pot as only a slight favorite.

Then a few days later I am (once again) stuck (only 13k this time) when I flot top set on a Kc 8c 4d flop holding top set and no draws.  We ran it 4 times and the nut flush draw with the 5 6 7 inside wrap nvr booked a win.  Wow.  The pot had my whole 27k stack plus lots more and the fella I beat.  I was all of a sudden sitting in front of 66k and I was just amazed.  4 out of 4.  At 53.6% per intance this is an 8.3% longshot.  And I did it.  I won all 4.

Then, Sunday night I went in late night to get tickets for the next days 15k event.  While there, I stopped by the poker room .... and wow.  I got the last seat in a really fun game.  It was half 100 200 plo and half 200 400 no limit holdem game.  20k buy in - And wow, I even was lucky enough to book a solid win.

 

----------------------------

 

In other news Fatality gave me the low down on scavenger (this is a perk or upgrade that you can get on the first person shooter game called "call of duty 2".)  So that was cool, first game back and I won it.  Essentially it is all about resupplying claymores from fallen victims.  Very cool, and very nerdy.  You might think... "what is all this about call of duty??... whats that got to do with a poker blog...."

But I can honestly say that my recent run ins with this game is making me a better poker player.  The strategic 'what is he thinking, and how can i get him sort of thinking' stuff for poker is helped by the video game.  The game has you thinking all the time, and mostly about what patterns people are taking and getting the best out of developing situations.  Anyway.. It is 8 am.. and the event starts in 4 hrs.  Bed time for me, later.

Phil

Ace of Diamonds for 2k please

by Phil

4 Comments

Ya gotta love degens... ya just got to...

Last night I went to the Commerce and was having a grand old time playing some cards when a funny thing happened.  The set up was this.  With 15k and Ah3h I min raised to 40 utg+3 in a 10 20 game.  Got 2 callers when the Button (4,500) made it 540 to go.  It seemed fishy.  At this point I made a bad read (he had kings) and put him on a steal.  He was smart, young, and I don't know... for some reason I just didn't believe him.  I decided to call out of position with my Ah3h and planned on chk raising his inevitable sure c-bet and win the hand by re-stealing his steal.  (By the way, this is exactly how to build one of those dangerous stupid holes I sometimes talk about..... fwiw).  I met him later by the way.  The fella with Kings is Lee.

Anyway, the flop comes Ad 5d 4h.  (And being the genius I am thought for a second that I had Ah5h for two pair.  But luckily I have the habit of always dbl chking my hands.  I notice that I have Ah3h.  Now that I have connected I decide to just chk call.  He bets 1200, I call.  The turn is the Qd, I check, he checks.. the river is a blank.  We both check and I win the hand.  Whatever.  Wow, I played like a donk, made a horrible read, won the pot and got off scott free.

After the hand ended the player to my left (unnamed to protect the innocent) asked me if he thought he should have called the additional 500 with the Ad Jd.  And being the space cadet that I am I forgot to tell him that the Ad was on the flop.  By the time I remembered this, the table banter had moved on and the hand was forgotten.  An hour later this same player pondered out loud - wishing he had called the 500 with his AdJd.  And now at this late juncture I decided I would correct him.  When I did, the story began.  

And here is where the story starts.

He was so confident that the card was the Ac that he offered a bet.  My Ad to his Ac for 500.  Also the loser will pay the floor man a 100 toke (the floor guy will have to go thru the bs to talk to whoever in the video room).  While the floor is off trying to get the suit of the ace Lee (kings) volunteers that he still remembered the flop and agrees with me as well.  Bayes theorem kicks in.  Confidence being stronger now I offer a larger bet.  I endup paying him 500 to have the honor of a 2000 bet.  (or 2500 to 1500) - 60 40 when I think I am hovering at about 90%.  Not a bad bet!  Then the buzz kill.  The floor's reply was that wanting to know the flop - bet or not - is not enough to warrant a tape check.  Arghghg.  I feel like I have had money just slip thru my fingers.  Arghghghg.

So now the Ac guy tells the floor, that we don't really need to know the suit, but were only oddly curious about that.  He continues, that the real issue was about a 1000 dollar chip.  That we can't figure out who it belongs to and that it was during this hand where the confusion came it... "was the chip mine or phil's, he asks".  This is of course all a load of malarky, but he ships it all onto the floor guy as mr ace of clubs is pointedly deteremined.  Well, he can't seem to get this camera thing rolling, when next he calls David Mosikian!!!

David is one of the massive King Pins of the Commerce Poker room, he is at home trying to have some time off, when one of his customers (not me....I think this is all mad and have given up on the bet a while ago)  is calling him AT HOME and trying to get him to make some calls and get them to rewind to about 2 hrs ago and look at this flop.  Next thing I know the phone is being handed to me and I am on the phone with David.  Of course I apologize to David and assure him that we are all fine.

Anyway, I was just astonished at how tenacious this player was found the whole thing hilarious.  Only a fellow degen would go to such extremes to try and resolve a bet.  It would have made for some real entertainment had the video gods somehow loosened up at the last moment.  If he was given the truth about the suit of that ace.  (Assuming it was the Ad as Lee and I suspected it was.) 

He tried so hard working all the way up the power ladder only to be saved by the beuracratic slog that is the video room.

If there is a moral it might be this.  Sometimes beuracracy can save a man from his ownself.

Anyway...

Later

Phil