My weekend at the Rio for the WSOP
Like many people, I've stayed at the Rio for the WSOP for many years. True, it wasn't the finest hotel, but it had the 3 attributes that great real estate has: location, location, and location. So, apparently CET handed over their customer list and records when they sold the hotel. I got an email offer for 4 free nights, $100 in food and beverage, and $250 in "FrioPlay".
My WSOP plans this year included this weekend's Gladiator, next week's Monster, and the Colossus. Plus random Daily Deepstacks, cash games, and whatever. I wanted to take two weeks off work for all this, but it's gotten tight at work wrt time off, so getting more than a week off was a no-go. I noticed that the Gladiator was conveniently scheduled for this weekend, I have a bunch of free miles on one of my credit cards, and a free room. The natural result of all these ingredients, plus not having to take time off work, is a quick flight for the weekend. I can get in two bullets for the Gladiator, and get in some cheap poker practice, since there is no poker within 4 hours of my home.
I haven't been on a plane for over 5 years because I always drive to Vegas. I dislike the tyranny of a schedule, but the flight to Vegas was fine. The Rio is fine too. There's a lot of the ole 'n' busted about it, but they did a nice job on the renovated room. There are some of the old crappy bones remaining that can only be remedied by a severe gutting, or implosion, of the hotel. But new furnishings and appliances are a big improvement. I realized how much I'm dependent on my CET Diamond privileges, that don't work here any more. There's really not much of a draw here for me, I'm not really a big gambler. It does have a Megabucks machine, the same one that gave me a scare a few years ago. I hit 2 of the 3 symbols needed to win $11 million when the machine went dark. The 3rd reel was still spinning, but it was like someone unplugged the machine. No sounds, no lights at all, time was standing still. Then the lights came back on to reveal LOSER.
Speaking of which, Saturday's Gladiator did not go well for me. I can't even whine about bad beats or terrible luck. It started off well on a hand raised by a very aggressive guy to my right. I called the raise with 4's figuring I could win a nice pot if I flopped a set. The flop came all below a 10, including a wonderful 4. He lead, I raised, he jammed, I called. He jammed about 4x the pot with... 2 unpaired overcards? He was already drawing dead. I didn't need the 4 on the turn, but it's always nice to hit quads. There was another character that was always making sizing errors, like raising pre 4x or 5x the bb. To me, he just didn't know what he was doing, which happens in $300 tournaments. But it had the effect of bullying people off of pots. The overbetting eventually caught up with him, and he was gone by the 6th level.
As for me, I made numerous mistakes. Like raising pre into 3 limpers. It takes a huge raise to get folds in that circumstance, normal sizing won't cut it. I had to constantly remind myself to consider what raising will accomplish. I've actually tried to read books and watch videos the last couple of weeks, but I've got a ton of stuff to study, including stock market stuff. Which actually, you know, makes money for me. I even paid to join Little's training site. I figured having money in the game would get me to watch some videos and such. I think I've spent 20 minutes on it in 2 months. I went out in level 9, and am having doubts about playing tomorrow. Maybe I'll feel better about it in the morning, but right now poker seems like a really dumb game. Although, being at the same table all the way, only 1 original player outlasted me. I guess most of the players at the $300 level suck. Most of my mistakes are preventable, and at least I recognize most of them now.
