 Vegas June 2019 (WSOP) |
| Day 5 - 8-Game Mix |
| Last Updated: 2019-06-10 14:40:35 |
| The usual morning pattern...
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| Lunch at Sadelle's at Bellagio just off the conservatory. Joann and I have been coming here long enough to know what is now called "Cafe Aria" used to be called "Cafe Vettro" and what is now called "Sadelle's" used to be "The Bellagio Cafe". Someone at MGM Resorts seems to have a problem making up their mind...
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| It's worth noting that the name changes didn't come with much else of a change. Smaller menus (in Aria's case much smaller) than they used to be but otherwise not all that different. If you're going to re-brand don't you make a substantial change or two? Putting my chicken salad on bread instead of a croissant isn't exactly earth shattering. The french onion soup is still really, really good tho. But ... I digress ...
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| On to the Rio for the 8-Game mix!
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| It always seems like there is a game or two that I seem to win all my pots in and a game or two that just cost me chips all night. In this case:
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- Barely played a hand in Texas Hold'Em all day (in spite of that being 2 of the 8 games);
- Bled chips about every time I played a stud 8/b hand;
- Stud high won me a couple of big pots but more often I had terrible runouts so the result was probably neutral;
- Almost couldn't lose at Razz or 2-7; and
- About broke even for most of the night in the two Omaha games ... until ...
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| The first two pots I played of any significance were Razz. Razz is stud lowball, straights and flushes don't count, ace is low. A2345 is the best possible hand.
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| (NOTE: When I show a starting hand in stud the 3rd card I list will be the card other players can see, or the "door card". And the order I put them in is exactly the order they came in at all times.)
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| I pick up 10-2-A and I'm late to act and it folds around to me, and everyone behind me has middle-to-big cards. Really don't like the 10 but this is a raise 100% of the time with an ace in the door. The person who brought in with a J calls the raise.
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| My board runs out 5-5-T while he catches all good, I go away. A few hands later I start with A-4-2 and of course raise out, get called by a 5. I catch a King (here we go again...) while he catches a 4. He bets, I call.
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| I catch a 5, he catches an 8, he bets, I call.
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| I get a 4, him another 8, I lead out with 2-K-5-4 showing and him with 5-4-8-8 and he folds.
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| That was pretty much all the excitement for me in level 1. I didn't have a lot of great starting hands, but I won a few small pots to maintain my stack.
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| Not too far into the next level one of the few stud high hands that went my way.
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| Started out with JQK rainbow and raised out because there was only one bigger card showing behind me. I believe the ace reraised, I called. This was a guy who late to act was going to raise 100% of his aces so I'm never going to believe him, and if he doesn't have another hidden ace I have 3 broadway cards to improve on.
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| I don't remember how his board ran out, but I do remember it ran out trashy. Mine was J-Q K-A-J-5 8. He got no help with his ace, I was right he was just repping a pair of aces and my JJ was good!
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| Back to Razz. 3-4-6, I raise out, called by a 2, reraised by a 5, we both call.
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| I've read that there is an argument in Razz that you should never reraise and I definitely subscribe to that theory.
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| There are two reasons to reraise. For value and to thin the field. The problem is that equities in Razz are so close that you're never far enough ahead to bloat a pot (so there really isn't any such thing as raising for value) and you are going to thin the field something close to 0% of the time.
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| I can absolutely, positively, 100% guarantee that not one single person who voluntarily put a chip in the pot after looking at their first three cards is going to fold to your reraise. Ever. Your reraise isn't even going to work 0.1% of the time if your goal is to get people to fold. Maybe you get the knucklehead with a Jack in the door who shouldn't be in the hand in the first place to fold who wouldn't have...but then that's the guy you probably want in the pot because he really is way behind you.
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| So ... you can't reraise for value and you can't reraise to thin the field, the people who you will get to fold are the people you don't really want to see fold...
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| What reason is left?
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| None.
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| Exactly. :-)
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| But ... the guy with the worst door card reraised. Good for him.
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| I pick up an ace on 4th (so 3-4-6-A now) and see 2-T and 5-9. I bet, everyone calls. Then it gets ugly as we all catch bad: 6-A-K (I bet) 2-T-T (call) 5-9-K (call).
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| On 6th street the boards are 6-A-K-Q, 2-T-T-K, and 5-9-K-9. I probably missed a bet here, I check and we check around. I'm still drawing to a monster.
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| I river a 9 so my hand is A-3-4-6-9-X-X and I'm looking at a hand that can't beat me (T-T-K has to play a ten) and another 9 high at best. It's quite simple - if he has any one card 5 or higher underneath I win (if he has a hidden 5 he has two pair 9955 and has to play the K, if he has a 6 my 9-6-4 beats his 9-6-5). I bet, TTK folds, re-raiser ponders a while and folds.
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| 10950 at the first break, started with 10K.
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| Not long after the break I had won a couple of small pots, guy next two me had gotten severely short stacked and was down to 550. I'm in the big blind in No-Limit Hold'em, he goes all-in, I call with 8-7. He shows 7-6. I have him crushed!
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| Board runs out 4-K-4-2-9. 8 wins, he gets up to leave.
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| Except he had run out a flush and wins the pot! Ugh!
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| Little while later, Omaha 8/b and I have A-2-7-Q with a 2-7 of spades and raise out, get two callers. Same two from the big Razz hand I believe.
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| Flop comes A-8-T all spades. I check, one of them bets, we both call. Turn Kd, check around, river 6c. I decide since everyone checked around my flush is probably good so I lead out to see if I can get folds. They both call.
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| I sheepishly announced "bad flush and a bad low". They both have blank looks on their faces. I turn over my cards and all the chips get pushed my way.
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| Guy I had doubled up says "sometimes bad is good" with a smile.
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| Next game is back to Razz.
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| Raise out with 9-2-3, folds to my buddy who reraises again with a 2 showing. I don't remember his board but I can tell you that my board ran out 9-2 3-4-A-J with a bet and a call on every street and aside from the jack his board wasn't improving as much as mine. I catch a lucky 5 on the river to make the wheel, he actually leads into me, I raise, he mutters under his breath about how lucky I am, reluctantly calls and hates to see my hand.
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| Stud 8/b - I start out with A-4-A and someone raises into me with a Q in the door. I reraise, he calls. Bet call every street, my board runs out A-4 A-4-4-2 J vs his Q-3-J-2. Boat is good and he has no low! I guess I did win a big pot in stud 8/b, forgot about this one!
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| 14,900 at the second break!
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| The next one-hour level I had exactly one good hand and got almost nothing for it. 2-7 triple draw guy raises, I reraise with 2-3-4-5-4, he calls. I draw 1, he draws 2. I catch a 7(the nuts!!!), I bet, he calls. I pat, he draws two, I bet, he folds.
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| Didn't win anything more than antes in stud the rest of the way, after the next hour long level I'm back down to just over a starting stack. Brutal.
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| Next level and around the games to 2-7 TD again I get dealt a "pat 10" (I believe it was T-6-4-3-2), I bet every street as the other guy draws 2, 1 and 1. Check, check the river, pat 10 is good. Hand played itself.
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| Around this time Mr Helmuth joins Ms Harmon at the table next to mine.
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| Into the next break only at 9100.
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| Back to stud high, it folds to the guy who I had caught the full house on and he raises out with a J in the door and I've got K-T-K. I reraise, he calls. I get a Q, he gets a T (bet, call); J for me, 6 for him (bet, call); 6 for me and he pairs his door card with a J. He checks his new pair, I check behind. I catch two pair on the river with a T, he bets, I call, and always beware when the door card pairs - yup, JJJ for him and I give him all those chips right back.
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| Start out with 256 in Razz, but run out 10, 2 and have to go away.
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| Limit hold'em, raise and a reraise into me, I look down at AQ, I call, call. 3-handed. Flop 6KA, I check, bet, call, I call. Turn A, I check, bet, call, I check-raise, everyone folds. Guess I should have called and check-raised the river. 11,100 chips at the end of level 7.
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| Then I take a couple of hits. Three straight solid starting hands in stud high, all three get terrible runouts. Down to around 6K at the final break of the evening.
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| Then down to 5300 after the break.
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| But...steal a few pots. In particular I had three straight Razz hands where I was pairing or actually having a bad hidden card, but my boards looked scary and they caught bad. Work back a little over starting stack!
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| Pot Limit Omaha...
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| Table chip leader who was very aggressive in the big bet games leads out for a raise. Blinds 150/300, he raises to 750. I look down at A-K-K-2 double suited.
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| KK is not nearly as strong in Omaha as they are in Hold'Em. Hell aces aren't nearly as strong. But in a 6 handed game, two suited K's with a A blocker (harder to be up against aces when I have one!) against an aggressive player is a re-pot 100% of the time. I make it 2700 to go. If he just calls my remaining stack is about the size of the pot so I'm committed to this hand...
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| He goes back over the top and puts me all in...and flips over AA83. He definitely had diamonds, I had hearts and spades. I didn't see if he had my hearts covered but I can tell you that I ran both possibilities and with just one suit I was only a 60/40 dog, with my hearts covered he was only a little over 2-1.
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| No help on the board, done in level 9.
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| That guy who was down to 550 and started to walk away thinking he busted? He was second in chips as I walked away...
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| So a disappointing ending, but I got into level 9. Had a good long day, needed to get lucky once and didn't.
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| Monday will be the 11am at Aria, as soon as I can shower and get down there... |
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