Subject: Reno Hilton World Poker Challenge - Day 15 From: greatbrit Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker Date: Sun, Jan 20, 2002 1:54 AM Message-ID: <3C4A93B8.A1C4EC13@pacbell.net> Today was the 1K Limit Holdem, I didn't play as they only had 33 players (I'd decided 50 minimum before I'd consider it), and it turned out lucky I didn't play because my nemesis, Kheim Nguyen was there, he is employed by casinos throughout California and Nevada solely for the purpose of busting me out of tournaments, I think he won the event (after they'd made what I think was a 5 way deal to chop up the three places paid). Instead I played the $225 Omaha hi/lo. I was chip leader at the dinner break with enough chips for the final table with three and then two tables left, then came back from dinner, played three hands, and I was out. Must have been something I ate. Actually the problem was the blinds were increasing too fast, there were 85 players, so 85,000 chips, I had 10K at my highest, blinded down to 8K, but the blinds were already 400-800, so even as chip leader I couldn't just sit around. Getting involved in a hand meant you were risking most of your chips, and not playing meant you were getting blinded off. So people were willing to gamble it up, and I lost two of those gambles, and missed a huge draw on the other. Still, I think I could have played better, maybe got away from the draw and maybe called more and raised less with my good hands until I saw the flop. The day had already started off badly with my anti-luck continuing in my first satellite with my JJ losing to A9 with the obligatory A river, but I can't complain because tonight I played 3 satellites, won one outright with my own major piece of luck with my heads up K9 against A8, with a 9 on the river, and then I chopped first in the other two for a nice profit for the day, finally. They have had a free slot tournament running all month, I only recently found out about it (you just show your slot card once a day for a free play), prizes up to about $350 and winners go on to a bigger tournament. People don't realize the skill involved in a slot tournament, first you have to pick the lucky machine, then you have to tap the button at just the right moment, plus there is a strange ritual where you must tap the button rapidly and continuously even when it is running up credits so each tap doesn't do anything. My friend was on another machine, I had finished my tapping so went over to watch him tapping, he lacked my slot tournament skills so asked me to tap a few for him. Within seconds security (or it could have just been the guy running the tournament, but he had a tie on) had rushed over to inform us that I could not tap the button for another player. They obviously had marked me as a professional and were invoking the 'one player to a machine' rule. Not wanting to be thrown out of the casino I complied and never did get to ask him how the machine would know it was me doing the tapping. Tomorrow is the 1K no limit holdem, I won't be playing that, but I will be playing the 2pm $225 limit holdem, that's my game... Paul