Vegas October 2013

Day 4 - Aria...where else?

Last Updated: 2013-10-03 11:34:00

Hard to believe I only have one more day of poker left on the trip. Well...maybe two...we shall see...

Also hard to believe we're this far into the trip and I haven't changed my sleep cycle yet. Usually that's taken care of on day one, two at the latest, but not this time.

Early night Sunday because it was date night and I didn't play poker.

Early night Monday night because I cashed in the 1:00 and couldn't play in the 7:00.

Early night Tuesday because I crashed and burned in both the 1:00 and the 7:00.

Will Wednesday be another early night? Let's see...

Spent a good chunk of the morning just relaxing, reading, doing stuff on the tablets, making phone calls, etc. Then it was on to the Buffet at Bellagio. We got there just after 11, but they were still changing over from breakfast so it was really more brunch than lunch. Very good as always and yes, the soft-serve ice cream is still the best I've ever eaten.

Short walk back to Aria for the 1:00. On the way over I was telling Joann how unlikely it is I would rebuy on this trip. I rarely bust out before the end of the third round and although the starting stack is still quite reasonable compared to the blinds. If it's late 3rd round or into the 4th it's not very long before they start to become unreasonable causing me to feel more pressured to gamble and chip up quickly while they're still low.

Ugly is the only word for how it went. I did not start out in the same seat or even the same table for the third day in a row. But once again, bottom line was no cards in the first hour-plus. Only won a couple of small pots, then totally misread a situation and picked very much the wrong time to represent an ace. Basically a somewhat loose player raised out, I called with Q-10 suited out of one of the blinds.

Flop came Q-5-rag, I checked, he made his usual C-bet and I just called. Turn was an ace.

I decided that between this guy's raising range being a little wide and my calling range being quite narrow, plus I had second pair as a backup plan, I could easily represent an ace in this spot.

Well all the chips went in and he flipped over A-5. Ouch. 20-20 hindsight, I think I should not have just called the flop bet. I probably should have check-raised and ended it right there. But it's easy to say that knowing I had top pair now...still, tho, given his range I should have realized top pair was probably the best there. Oh well.

Naturally I went directly to the cage to rebuy. Wasn't I just saying to Joann something about not rebuying? Dammit.

I get seated at my favorite table, number 12, and pick up some small pots early but that was all for quite a while. And here I am again grinding away trying to hold on until I get some legitimate hands. Eventually I get into "any ace, any pair, any two broadway cards" mode and go all-in several times. I wasn't sure whether to be thankful for the lack of action since I didn't get called and busted, or unhappy that I couldn't get a chance to double up and have a playable stack. When blinds were in the 600/1200 and 800/1600 levels I was able a few times to shove more than once per round and get away with it or shove over the top of a weak limp and get away with it...and before I knew it I actually got myself up to 24,000 chips without ever being called. The capper was this frustrating stretch:

Look at the first card, see an ace, go all-in. No callers, check the second card...it's a King. Darn, wanted action with that!

Few hands later look down at JJ, decide if I don't push it will look fishy so I go all in, no action again. This time I definitely wanted action!

Couple of hands later in BB (800/1600) everyone folds around to the small blind, he just calls...and I look down at pocket kings. Are you kidding me? I min-raise, he calls, flop is all rags, he checks, I bet and he folds. Not a hand went by at this table without some kind of raise and all I get is a limp and a called min-raise? Ugh.

Not long after that, however, blinds were about to go up to 1000/2000 and I thought I was just over 20K when someone raised into me and I looked down at pocket 10s. I decided that this was it, finally had a chance to double-up. Obviously he's not folding bigger pairs, but I also didn't think he would fold smaller pairs or two-over-card hands so I assumed I was equal chances of way ahead, way behind or flipping. I shoved, he called and flipped over A-K. 10s held up (rivered a boat, actually), turned out I was a little over 24K and just like that I jumped up to 25BB for the next round!

Soon after that I took out the guy who had given me some chips when I had kings earlier.

Under the gun with pocket 8s I raised out. Usually I'm a little squeamish about raising out with that hand first to act because if I get called and don't flop a set it's just so hard to play post-flop. But I couldn't get any callers any time I was first into a pot on my earlier shove-fest and my preflop raises continued to be respected so I figured it was a pretty safe move.

Well the guy who had given me a little for my kings was basically a preflop calling station but not really post-flop. So when the flop came Q-10-rag and he checked into me, I figured my 8s were probably the best, and he only had what would have been 1/4-1/3 of my stack anyway so I pushed. Well, he snap called...and only turned over A-K. Wow. 8's hold up!

I'm able to maintain my stack through a couple of table breakdowns and before I know it, I've got an above average stack and we break down to two tables of 10 with 15 spots getting paid.

Then came the hand of the night for me. Blinds at 2000/4000, I'm second to act, the UTG player folds and I look down at KK. I make it the table standard 10,000 to go, it folds around to the big blind and he thinks about it and calls.

Flop comes Qh-Qs-Kh.

The big blind...BETS 30,000!

It's about half my stack. I'm completely caught off guard by this. Calling looks fishy...shoving gets rid of him if he has anything but a Q...wait...can he possibly have quads? If so I'm going broke... I want to get all the chips in but I just call hoping he has a Q and will get the rest in before it's over.

Turn is Js.

The big blind....says "All in"

I can't call fast enough! There's a look of disgust on his face as he rolls over Ah-10h...he flopped a royal draw, and caught the nut straight on the turn! Well the Jh did not come on the river and I scored a massive double-up.

That's really it for the interesting stuff. At that point I was around 120K, well above average. I peaked out at 130K or so, mostly maintained my stack for a little while but when we got down to final table of 10 I was down to 85K. Before we even played a hand, tho, the chip leader said he was willing to do a chip-chop.

First place was about $4400, 10th place was $238. My 85k was one of the shorter stacks, knowing what it would mean for me I was more than happy to do it. Unfortunately there were some folks who didn't know what a chip chop meant, but I had already figured out what i was going to get on my own (the tournament director went to his "office" to run the numbers), started telling folks what my 2nd shortest stack was going to be worth (about $830 was my quick math, I was a hair low...) and folks started asking me what they were going to get. Once I started giving out numbers people quickly got on board, and when the actual numbers came out it was a very quick decision. Chip leader ended up with the equivalent of a little over 3rd place money with no risk, I would guess I was somewhere between 5th-6th place money which I gladly took given my stack at the time.

Four tournaments so far on the trip, two cashes including a win! Not a bad run, and I'm hopefully not done yet!

On to the sports themed restaurant at NYNY for a late dinner (the former ESPNZone, re-branded and still open). We had never eaten there before but the sandwiches we had were very good. Not the most convenient location for where we usually stay in Vegas, but we both agreed we would definitely eat there again if we were going to be in the area.

I believe the plan for Thursday is Spice Buffet at Planet Hollywood followed by more Aria poker.