 Vegas November 2008 |
| Day Three |
| Last Updated: 2008-11-19 07:17:18 |
| Today was a good day for Pete. It could have been a great day...
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| Tommy and I grabbed a quick breakfast, did some shopping, then headed over to Caesar's for the $235 buyin "Mega Stack" tournament. Tommy and I started out at the same table, we actually were there for a few rounds and along the way Tommy hurt me a little when he hit a nut flush while I hit a flush draw and a straight draw on the turn. Up until that point I had been playing good poker but was a little up and down. And I was catching some cards, in fact throughout this tournament it was as though the poker gods wanted to make up for having me be totally card dead for two straight days.
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| So I'm short stacked, around 7K from my starting stack of 10K and I get pocket jacks, push into a raise in front of me, called by 7s and double up. I then win another big pot, I think with Jacks again but maybe queens, and just like that I'm chip leader at my table. I then make what I consider my only mistake of the night, a very tight player raised out, I go over the top with Jacks expecting her to fold like a cheap tent again and she goes back over the top of me. I know she has aces, I make the crying call and sure enough she turns them over. But eventually I get the chips back and then some, take a couple of people out and then get moved. That was a bummer because I felt like I had a dead read on everyone at my table.
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| But I survive my first move, win enough pots to stay around where I was and get moved to another table. Again I have to figure things out...but on the second hand I get pocket kings. Someone doesn't believe me and I take out another victim.
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| Time for a little commentary. When I sit in online tournaments, at least playing 8/b, 100% of the time I truly believe that nobody else at the table can outplay me (UPDATE: Which is not to say I believe I can outplay everyone else ... there are some very good players...). For some reason, I don't know why but when I play poker at Caesar's I get filled with the same kind of confidence and have yet to encounter the player that can outplay me. Not only that, but I pick out certain players and have plans for how to take their chips. I can't help if someone gets lucky, but I never have any fear of being outplayed.
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| And here I was in the zone again.
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| One such plan came together beautifully. I had a guy on my right who tried to limp in when he was small blind and I was big blind a bunch of times. A few of those times I had hands and raised him, 100% of the time he made the preflop call and 100% of the time I made a continuation bet he folded. Plan hatched - one of these times I'm going to slow play a hand when I catch the flop and get him trying to steal back. There is no doubt in my mind he's either trying to outsmart me by setting up a steal or he's getting frustrated and will do something stupid.
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| So he calls the blind when I'm big and he's small one time and lo and behold, pocket rockets. I raise, he actually says "You know I'm going to call you, right..." and makes the call. Flop 10-A-2. You can't make this up. Check, check. Turn is a 5, he checks, I bet 4000, he calls. Oh have I ever set up the trap. River is a blank, he immediately pushes, I call and flip over the bullets. His cousin was sitting a few seats around the table and told him how beautifully I had played the hand. I took the cousin out 5-10 hands later. I win a few mere coin flips, keep building my stack and by the time we get to the dinner break I'm definitely top three in chips if not the chip leader.
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| Oh, one other story from before dinner break. Guy who is a fairly short stack raises about 1/3 of his stack. I have pocket 6s, I have plenty of chips and getting this guy all in can't hurt me. So I was going to push and hope for a coin flip but then I decide to see what comes on the flop and see if I can outplay him. Plus I don't want to give away chips, so if an ace comes and he bets I can get away. Flop comes A-K-9. He checks, immediately I know he doesn't have an ace so I push out 8K to put him all in and he folds. He shows his pocket 10s so I figure it's only fair that I show him my hand...he didn't take it well...couple of hands later he pushed all in w/ 6-4 and someone else put him out of his misery.
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| I continue to build my stack for a while, couple more takeouts, sniff out a couple of bluffs and I'm in good shape.
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| The dinner break has been the kiss of death for the Clark family. It was after the dinner break that I blew up in the WSOP HORSE tournament and it was also the beginning of the end for Joann in the Mega Stack tournament in June.
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| Going into the dinner break I was top three in chips for sure, maybe tournament chip leader. I was around 90-100K and we're three tables. But sure enough, not long after the dinner break I blow some chips on a good play that didn't work out.
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| A fairly tight player was in the pot, I don't remember if there was a preflop raise but I was playing Q-10 and the flop came J-K-rag. Tight player makes a very weak bet at the pot and I decide that he's got a weak K and I can push him off it. I raise enough to put him all in and he thinks about it and makes the call with K-6. Dammit, read was right, but I'm sure that he's sure I'm a loose player (probably based on the 10s vs 6s, he thinks I'm a thief!).
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| That hurt me, I was now down around 60K due to losing some blinds and antes and some preflop limps. Blinds are 1000-2000 with an ante. I'm above average, however, and I maintain that stack for a while. I get big slick and I raise out for 8K, fold around to Mr K-6 and he makes it 30 to go with little hesitation. I decide I'm committed to my hand, I go over the top and he immediately folded. Dude is getting better than 3-1 on his money and just gives up. So I'm healthy again and then the hand of the night happens...
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| We broke down to two tables, guy who was a very big chip stack comes to our table and proceeds to give almost all of it away. He's down to about 20-25K and I'm in a blind. I look at my cards and it's aces.
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| First or second to act makes it about 8000 to go, former chip leader goes over the top all in and a plan quickly formulates. I want a side pot in case former chip leader sucks out on me, so how best to get the rest of the other guys chips in? I decide to call and hope that one of two things happen - the other guy decides he can put on a squeeze play and goes over the top, or he catches a pair or something on the flop and I can get him to bet then.
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| Well much to my joy the plan works to perfection. Original raiser goes over the top all-in and I call. I tell Tommy of how I hooked him like a fish. "I wanted a side pot, that's why I just called! I wanted that guys chips in a side pot!" I say. Original raiser turns over Jacks, former chips leader has 9s. I have them both killed.
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| Dealer burns, takes off three cards and turns them over ... jack in the door. I turn around, swear and kick a chair. I'm pissed. I'm about to be severely crippled after my brilliant plan worked to perfection! The flop was actually J-4-4. Blank on the turn, ACE ON THE RIVER.
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| Wow!
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| Now I'm back among the chip leaders. I maintain my stack and we get down to final table. I'm definitely top 4 in chips, but one guy is very big stack, probably close to 300K to my 150-ish K. We bust out one and we're in the money.
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| I get pocket queens and raise out for 16K. I get one caller. Flop is all small diamonds. I do not have a diamond. I push, I'm not going to let this guy see a free card. And he immediately goes into the tank. He essentially lets me know he has the ace of diamonds. He doesn't know what to do. Call or fold ... call or fold ... he asks for a count. He has about 7,000 more than me. His tournament life is on the line. "OK, I'm going to gamble" and calls. Diamond on the turn, I'm out in 9th place bottom money.
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| If I knew what he had, I make the same bet. I can't believe he put his tournament life on a coin flip, I don't know if I could have made the call, but he did. And even if I knew he was going to call...a coin flip with a chance to be massive chip leader in the tournament? I just might have taken the same gamble of things were reversed.
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| So that was it, I want to come out here every weekend now and play poker at Caesar's.
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| Tried a little more craps, about broke even and decided to call it a night. Now my only decision is, with a little over three hours until I have to get up to go to the airport do I bother trying to sleep or just pull the all-nighter and sleep on the plane?
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| Well thanks for reading, I may do a prolog Tuesday night so check back just in case! |
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