Vegas November 2018

Day 2 - Tough start

Last Updated: 2018-11-17 11:35:06

Finished up my Day 1 writeup, read my newspaper online, showered and headed over to Aria. I hate the one-seat, and when I bought into the 7pm just a few minutes before start time Thursday three people in a row got one-seats including me. So guess what...I'm either buying in really early or buying in a little late from now on.

Got to the poker room only about 15 minutes after the start and got the 4-seat.

I got a seat I liked better, and got a few more cards than the night before. Early on flopped trips and rivered a full house but didn't get paid much. Then lost a good chunk when I flopped middle pair on a K-7-4 board with 7-5 of spades. Bet and got called, 6 on the turn for an open ender to go with my pair, bet and called again, but no improvement on the river and had to go away on a sizeable bet into me. But I got all that back with top two-pair not long before break.

19,700, just below starting stack, at the first break.

Not much long after cards were back in the air I decided to limp rather than raise under-the-gun with 33. I get the logic of raising with any pair from any position, but it seems to me that when it's likely that someone else will do the raising for me I'm better off limp/calling from early position instead of raising myself risk being re-raised. The only purpose in playing 3-3 is to try and hit a set and stack someone, the goal is to get in as cheaply as possible. Besides...

In this tournament, this early, you're seeing every flop 4-5 handed whether someone raises or not. There is no respect whatsoever for early position raises. And I doubt too many people playing in this particular tournament are observant enough to notice when someone who never open limps suddenly open limps (and how would they interpret it even if they did notice?).

So...the pot size ends up the same whether it's me raising or someone else, blinds small enough that early that I'm never, ever stealing blinds and always playing multi-way anyway...I really think limping is the play here.

Guy immediately to my left raises out, I think three callers, I call too.

As I said...all goes according to plan...

Flop comes 3-8-10 two clubs. I check, original raiser goes all in.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Folds around to me, I can't get my chips in fast enough, he rolls over two black kings.

7 of clubs on the turn.

5 of clubs on the river.

Runner runner flush.

I'm down to 5700 chips.

Not too much later I look down at KK, lose the rest of my chips to A-10.

Long, heavy sigh.

#OnToTheNextOne

Walked up to the still relatively new In-N-Out on the strip both to get a little exercise in (I go out of my way to use as many stairs as I can at pedestrian bridges rather than escalators) and to get something in my stomach, back to the room to kill a little more time and then on to the 7pm.

They actually have two different 7PM formats, a Mon-Thu format (12,000 chips and 30 minute levels) and a Fri-Sun format (20,000 chips, 20 minute rounds, they call it "20/20").

Just at the start of the second level (100/200/0) I'm fairly early to act and raise out to 600 with JJ. Pick up a caller or two, it folds around to the button who makes it 1300 or 1400. He wasn't the loosest guy on the planet but he was playing a lot of hands and obviously I'm not folding JJ here so I call. Everyone already in the pot calls. Flop comes 8-T-2. I check-call his bet of 1700, everyone else goes away.

Turn is a 3, I check and he bets 2500. With no overs on the board I hated to let it go, but at this point I'm buying what he's selling - aces or kings. I fold, he shows me his kings.

Hand or two later I flop top two pair (dead man's hand) and get that all back and then some.

I go through a tough stretch where every flop misses me by a mile and work my way down around 12-13K but get back close to starting stack on one hand. Blinds 200/300/300 (always big blind ante at Aria now), same guy as my JJ vs KK hand raises out to 1300 I believe and I've got A-T suited in a blind and call as do several who had limped.

Flop comes A-rag-rag, I check-call his continuation bet of 1700 as does one other person. Turn is a Q, checks around, river is a J.

The other guy in the hand was a weak-tight player who almost never led out, only ever limped and called raises preflop and folded a lot of hands after calling down on the river. He clearly wasn't going away ever with any piece. I have to admit I was a little worried about him sneaking in with two pair but I still value-bet the river with my top pair decent kicker. Weak-tight folded, original raiser reluctantly called and mucked when I showed my A-10.

But just a hand or two later I gave all those chips I had just won to weak-tight guy when he actually did pick up two pair, his A-9 took out my A-Q on an A-9-T-X-X board.

Long, heavy sigh.

14,200 at the first break, 6 levels played in instead of 4. We come back to the 400/800/800 level so I'm already under 20 big blinds.

I'm stuck around that stack size for the next couple of levels, but finally get a "more than double-up" when A-J wins against 66. I go from around 11,500 to around 27K. But blinds getting big fast now, we get another break for a color-up after only 3 more levels and I go into the break at 21,000 with blinds going to 1000/1500/1500.

One thing I hadn't mentioned was that up until that second break we hadn't taken anyone out at our table, but people were busting at other tables. We finally busted a few, and the tournament started consolidating tables. A couple of massive stacks filled empty seats at our table, and both of those guys clearly liked to play a lot of hands.

So I'm in the big blind, I'm only around 12 big blinds, the second of the two massive stacks is on the button and he barely looks at his cards and throws out a handful of 5K chips to put me and the other blind all-in. The other blind, around the same stack as me, folds. I look at J-3 suited.

This is not exactly the strongest starting hand ever. But, again, I'm around 12 big blinds, since I'm in the big blind I'm actually putting two blinds in the pot with the ante, and he could have literally any two cards.

I decide that there's a very reasonable chance my jack is the high card between our two hands and what are the odds I don't at worst have two live cards in that spot?

So I call.

He has K-2. I'm actually only behind 55-44. Honestly in the situation I'm in, if I'm first in the pot and I go all in and get called I'm more often than not going to be behind 55-44 or even 65-35 anyway, right?

Jack on the river, I double up.

So I'm at 40K and our table breaks up just a few hands later.

I move to a new table, a few hands in I look at 77, I go all-in, a guy with about half my stack calls and rolls over A-Jo. Off to the races.

Flop comes A-4-8. ARGH!

5 on the turn...

6 on the river.

I actually started to count out the chips to pay him off, took me a second to understand why he started to walk away...all of a sudden I'm over 60K and above average stack!!!

But blinds getting huge. We go on another break, I have 58,000. 19 players left out of 72 paying 8 places so 11 from the money. But blinds are going up to 2000/4000 which means AVERAGE stack is only 18 big blinds (72K is average now), I only have 14 big blinds.

Back from break, guy who was very weak and shorter than me limps in under the gun, one fold and I look down at 66. We are only 6-handed, I don't think I can fold any pair in that spot and weak guy could just fold. I go all-in. Unfortunately for me the button then goes over the top, weak-guy shakes his head and dejectedly tosses in the rest of his chips.

Button woke up with JJ, weak guy had 33.

6 handed and three people with pairs. What can you do.

Button had 2000 less than me so I'm down to half a blind. Next hand I no-look put my chips in, actually woke up with K-9 and rivered a 9 for top pair! But that 9 gave someone else a straight.

Oh well. I'm out just 10 from the money.

Couple of slices at Sirocco's and I was done for the night.

Right now I don't plan on playing anywhere but Aria, so that's where I'll be Saturday.