From: Zbigniew Subject: TRIP REPORT: Zbigniew in Las Vegas (Part 1 of 3) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 16:46:42 -0800 Introduction The Players: Squib: The Instigator Glenn: Willing Accomplice Captain Stubing: So named by MPN'er Omar for his propensity to show up at the river with a boat. Lucky or tight? We don't know. Zbigniew: Yours Truly. Wannabe Poker Player. Glossary: MPN: Men's Poker Night. The home game. A few weeks ago, Squib sent an entertaining message to the MPN list, subject "Who Wears the Pants?", challenging MPN'ers to meet him for a weekend of poker at the tail end of a business seminar in Las Vegas. Apparently many MPN'ers do not wear the pants, because only three committed. (In fairness, I observe that The Players had it a bit easy, using frequent flyer miles or roundabout returns from business trips to get to Vegas.) I volunteered to investigate hotel room rates and we decided to stay and play at Bellagio, which offered an attractive poker rate, $129 per night on Friday and Saturday, with a minimum of six hours play per room per night's stay. Day 1 Captain Stubing and I flew to Las Vegas together, with no bad beats. Security checks at the airport were efficient. Our flight was uneventful. We arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon. We had a quick lunch. We checked in early. We were pleased that we were able to be in our room around 2:30 PM. Then, down to the poker room! We met one of our poker rate hosts, Michelle, who gave us cards on which our playing hours would be logged, welcomed us to the room, advised us that she could help us with reservations, shows, etc. We thanked her very much. Kudos to Michelle and the other poker rate host, Karen, who do their jobs very well. Captain Stubing, who informed me that he had double-checked his bank account to make sure he had a healthy bankroll for the trip, needed to cash a check. We made our way to the casino cashier's cage. I stood away from the line and watched the Captain dig out his checkbook. I figured out what was up as soon as I saw him turn around, shuffling through the carbon duplicates. Though the Good Captain had the foresight to check his bank balance, he managed to bring an empty checkbook! Being the detail-oriented guys that we are, we went through all the possible workarounds for this problem, including inquiring at the cage about writing a counter check. We wanted to avoid paying large ATM fees. After going through all the scenarios, we came up with a brilliant solution: I lent Stubing a buy-in from my bankroll. At last, we are ready to play. Stubing and I might be described as "advanced novice" poker players. We have taken the game seriously for nearly three years, read the books, discussed the strategies and tactics, played the IRC, etc. We concentrate on hold 'em. But, our time in live games is limited. Our confidence and bankrolls are not huge, so we play lower limits. We get on the lists for 4-8 and 8-16 hold 'em and are seated in a 4-8 game in the middle of the afternoon. I play for 15 minutes and then make it into an 8-16 game. Squib and Glenn arrive. We say our hellos. They sit in a 1-5 stud game, the game they will play for most of the weekend. Back in my hold 'em game, I make it three bets preflop. There are five callers. Flop: Axx. I bet. There's a raise. I reraise. Three people see the turn: Axxx. I bet. Both opponents call. One opponent is a reasonably solid player, the other is a fish. River: Axxxx. I bet. Fish folds. Reasonably Solid calls. I have AA. Reasonably Solid has AK. I win a nice big pot. After I fold the next hand, I get up to inform Stubing and Squib that "Flopping a set of A's is a g00t thing!" Duh. But I'm pleased to win the big pot. (Apologies for the lack of information about the board cards (Axxxx) in this paragraph and elsewhere in this report. My notes are not very detailed.) After our semi-comp dinner at Planet Follywood (A long story; maybe I'll tell it some other time.), I'm back in an 8-16 game. Things start out very slowly. I play over an hour and win zero pots. Eventually, the cards start coming and I'm up around six big bets. Then, things cool off and I'm in negative numbers. Then, this hand: I limp on the button with Ah6h and six opponents. The flop comes with two hearts, so I have a flush draw. Check, a bet, fold, fold, call, fold. I call. Checker check-raises! Call, call. With three opponents, all of whom appear willing to see the turn, I make it three bets. All call. I hit my flush on the turn. Check, a bet, call. I raise. Two players call, one drops. On the river, it's checked to me. I bet. Both opponents call and appear surprised to see the nuts. Thanks to the RGP'ers who emphasize jamming with a draw in loose games. The deception of the flop call-reraise is a wonderful thing. Did I say "loose games?" Yes, the games I played in were pretty loose. Many times, I looked around the table in wonder as I folded preflop and everybody else came in. ("Nine players," said the dealer.) Some opponents would call preflop with any two s00ted cards, ace-rag and worse. On occasion, someone would flash their cards as they folded and I noted that people were chasing runner-runner flushes, gutshot straights in small pots, and worse. Having been awake since early morning, I quit around 12:30 AM, up around 38 big bets, 4.6 big bets per hour. I want a nightcap, so I stop at one of Bellagio's video poker bars, slip a twenty in the slot, order an Irish coffee and very slowly play video poker for one credit per hand. I finish my coffee and my video poker session with a small win; it pays the bartender's and the bellman's tips. From: Zbigniew Subject: TRIP REPORT: Zbigniew in Las Vegas (Part 2 of 3) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 16:47:24 -0800 Day 2 The Players wake up early and take a cab to Luxor for its noon hold 'em tournament. We walk into the empty poker room. There are two people at the desk. We sign up for the tourney. As we leave, we are asked if we would like to play some poker. No, we say to the guys at the table, we're going to eat some breakfast. As we walk to the coffee shop, it dawns on me: the poker room was deserted when we arrived, but, somehow, five guys and a dealer are at a table when we're done signing up for the tourney! It's so strange, I'm not sure that I saw what I think I saw. I mention it to the Players, "Was that room empty when we walked in?" "Ya." "Then where did those guys who asked if we wanted to play come from?" "?!?!?" After some review, we decided we all saw the same thing: empty room, then five players and a dealer, as if by magic. I assume it was some sort of spy-movie-style trap door or revolving stage that got the sharks in the room while the fish's backs were turned. We eat breakfast, then play some blackjack to kill time. (We all lose. D'oh! Stubing: "The next time I sit down at a blackjack table, do me a favor. Kick me in the ass and tell me not to play.") The tourney, which is mentioned in many RGP trip reports, is a small buy-in affair, $20 + $5 vig, with a $2 add-on at the beginning. (I hear the $2 goes to the dealers as a tip, not to the prize pool.) $25 gets you 250 tournament chips, the extra $2 gets you 50 more. Nearly everyone takes the add-on. Blinds are increased every 15 minutes and the bets are structured limit for the first hour; after that, it's no-limit. Today, there are around 21 players. I'm not much of a tourney player and have very little tourney experience, but it seems like a typical assortment of locals and tourists, loose and tight, passive and aggressive, knowledgeable and not. Some players are very loose early, hoping to get lucky and pick up chips, minimizing their risk while the bets are comparatively small. Others are playing it tight. The tourney starts promptly and is dealt quickly and efficiently. I choose to play tight and win pots here and there. I noted my chip count at the end of each blind level and was pleased to see that it increased at nearly every level. (It decreased once.) Squib and I are seated at the same table. Stubing and Glenn are sharing another table. Squib busts out in 15th place, after some bad calls and some bad beats. The final table is eleven players and we make it there in less than an hour. Glenn, Stubing and I are all at the final table! The player to my right sees that I am taking notes and asks, "Writing a trip report?" I reply, "Yes." "Where are you going to post it?" "Probably to my home game buddies." He introduces himself as RGP lurker Slappy B, and I introduce myself. This is one of the few times I have acknowledged a fellow RGP'er in a poker game (I usually keep mum. Play quiet and dumb.) and it was fun. Meeting Slappy convinced me to post this to RGP. Hi, Slappy! Sorry you finished out of the money. I hope you do better in your next tourney. (By the way, I looked up your few RGP messages on Google, and discovered that one of them is a response to my report on the Luxor tourney last June. Small world!) It's no-limit. My stack is getting short. Somebody goes all in. Somebody calls and is all-in. I call with JJ. (I think I had the all-ins covered, but not by much.) On the river, I make a Q-high straight. One opponent shows AA! I look at Stubing and almost shout, "I suxed out on pocket aces! Woohoo!" At the start of WRGPT, I had been bitching about my luck in tourneys, refusing to enter a last-longer bet with MPN'er Brook. We always say, "You can't win a tourney on skill alone. You gotta get lucky, too," and this time I did. Whew! Glenn busts out in sixth place, one out of the money. We're down to five players. I'm in the money! So is Stubing! Ding! Play is fast and furious. We bust out the short stacks. It's down to Local Richard, Stubing and me. Local Richard is good at shoving his stack in with any A and any pair. Stubing busts out in third place; I can't remember how. Local Richard and I trade jabs with one another. I have more chips than Local Richard, then he wins a pot and takes the lead. Blinds are not a huge proportion of our stacks, so we are not desperate. There is no talk of a deal. I, perhaps foolishly, push all in with QdTd. Local Richard calls. We turn the cards over. Richard has Presto (55). Of course, Presto g00t; I get no help from the board. IGHN, with second place money. The Luxor tourney is a ton of fun for a low price. Recommended. Counting my winnings, I found Squib and Glenn playing in a 2-4 hold 'em game, which was surprising since up to that point, they had played only stud. I think, though, that their selection was more a matter of stakes than game and that they did not feel up to the 4-8 hold 'em game at Bellagio. I'm not sure how they did in the Luxor hold 'em game. I collected my last-longer bets from them and Stubing. We stretched our legs by walking back to Bellagio under very pleasant skies and temperatures. We had a late lunch in the coffee shop. We returned to Bellagio's poker room. This is one of those sessions where one can do no right. Hour after hour of preflop mucking offsuit mega-gap cards. Missing every flop. And, oops, making the occasional mistake, like calling people down with dominated hands (AKA "kicker problems"). We all have these sessions, but I manage to remain philosophical about it, never loosening up or going on tilt. (Contrast this to Scary Old Bald Man, who, after he folds seven hands in a row, starts winging his cards with great force toward the muck, muttering and cursing the dealer for his misfortune.) On top of the bad cards, I think I'm at comparatively tough table. I put my name in for a table change that never materializes. (I missed my page or my name somehow falls off the list.) I'm too lazy to ask for another. I rebuy twice. I check on Glenn and Squib in the 1-5 stud game. There's a big pot brewing. It looks to me like Glenn has a full house, but some guy is raising! Glenn re-raises! Glenn shows down a boat. Opponent shows a straight. You gotta love that action. It's a big pot and I understand that there were more. It's very late and my table breaks. There are four seats at other tables for the five remaining players. We draw for the seats. Saddenz, but true to the form of this session, I draw a deuce. I get on the list, take a break, then sit in an uneventful 4-8 game. It is not long before I'm back at another 8-16 table, short-handed. I fancy myself a reasonably good short handed player and win a big pot with A5o on the button when the board comes 55xAx. "When did you like it?" asks an uncreative opponent. It's later still, and we're still short-handed. So is the second 8-16 table. We ask to consolidate. There are two more players than there are vacant seats, so we draw for the seats. Saddenz, I draw a deuce. I'm back at another uneventful 4-8 game but, again, not for long. I am at the single remaining 8-16 table and it's very, very late. I'm very, very tired. I play some very, very questionable hands. I make some very, very questionable plays. I hit a gutshot on the river and a runner-runner flush for two big pots and I call it a night. I'm down around 16 big bets, -1.4 big bets per hour. From: Zbigniew Subject: TRIP REPORT: Zbigniew in Las Vegas (Part 3 of 3) Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 16:48:21 -0800 Day 3 I was refreshed by four hours of sleep. We did all of our check-out stuff, including getting poker host Karen to confirm our hours and tweak our room rate. We picked up a line pass and blow by about 100 people waiting for breakfast at the coffee shop. (Seated immediately. Sweet!) Alas, Glenn and Squib had left for home. Stubing's and my flight leaves in the evening, so we put in another session of 8-16 hold 'em. We had to wait a while, but, eventually, they started a second game. The very first hand, I hit Broadway and drag a big multiway pot. Thinking I'm invincible, I proceed to give back the win. But, I realize what I'm doing, tighten up and end up winning six big bets, 1.3 big bets per hour. During my time in the poker room, I kept my eye on the "top section," the high stakes games that are played on a higher level. (Literally. The section is raised three steps above the main floor. ;) I saw no recognizable poker celebrities. I did see Roy Cooke, the poker writer. (He was not in the top section. ;) I was tempted to tell him that I admired his writing, but felt shy. Speaking of shy, I was tempted to look up Abdul, but never did. We got to the airport and found that our flight was delayed an hour and a half. D'oh! If we had called ahead, we could have played more poker. We chose to stay at the airport, running up a huge bar tab. Captain Stubing called in sick the next day. Stubing finished a winner. (Ya, he paid me back that money I lent him.) Although Glenn and Squib seemed to have very small stacks too often, I think they had a big second night and finished winners, as well. Though I didn't score a big hit, I finished the trip a winner, averaging 0.8 big bets per hour. That and the second place finish in the tourney make me feel pretty good. Ya, I made mistakes. I hope I recognize them all and can avoid them in the future. The next time a friend says, "Hey, let's go to Vegas," just do it. We had a blast.