This trip report follows on from my WSOP trip report here
Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Day Eighteen - Saturday January 18th
So today was actually my 47th name day.
Hhmmm 47 eh? Well it’s a good hand to double down on in blackjack, and 4’s and 7’s are good cards to have in your hand for todays $600 2-7 Triple Draw
Brunch I guess in Rise. Grilled cheese with tomato bisque. Looks like a soup to me. What the hell’s the difference anyway? [emoji23]
Watched the end of the Liverpool game before the tournament started. Frightened the life out of some poor waitress when I celebrated Nuñez’s goal in the 91st minute. An important 3 points in the title race and Arsenal drop 2 points later so a good day on that front.
Onto the poker and our first bullet misses the mark in the 2-7. We fire again and end late reg on not much more than starting at 27,800 but have a good session before dinner to go on break with 55,000
Dinner break for Molly the dog too. I’m a dog lover with two at home so I think it’s great they let you bring dogs in here.
Made some HH notes from the session after dinner:
UTG raises. I’m UTG +1 and 3 bet with 2367x
The 3-bet is meant to iso but the button cold calls as does UTG so we’re 3-way.
1st draw is 2-1-1
UTG checks, I missed and check as I know they’re not folding. Button also checks.
2nd draw is pat-1-1
UTG checks. Strange after he pats. Either he’s weak or hit a wheel or something and wants us to catch up. I drew an 8 to make 876 and decide to bet.
Button folds and UTG calls
3rd draw is 1-pat
UTG checks, I bet, he folds. Guessing he had a 9 when he patted?
Next HH I note:
I noted this from the 2nd draw, can’t remember the action before.
2nd draw 1-1-1
It’s checked to me and I decide to snow with 88
(Anyone know why they call it snowing in this game and not bluffing?)
They both called and both take 1. I decide to give up on the snow and take 1 as well so I guess I had a convertible.
3rd draw: 1-1-1
It’s checked to me. I drew a 10 to make 10-8 and opt for caution and check it back. Our 10 is good.
Last two tables of 4 and 4. Final table will be 7 handed.
Last HH I noted from this session:
I get dealt 96432 UTG (can never draw to this hand as a 5 makes a straight so can only improve with a 7 or 8)
I raise. Only the BB calls.
1st draw: 2-pat
He checks, I bet, he calls.
2nd draw: 1-pat
He checks, I bet, he calls.
3rd draw: 1-pat
He now bets out.
If I were in his spot and I missed I would sometimes bet here but I’ve been playing with this guy all day and I’ve never seen him bluff in this spot so I’m pretty sure he has zero bluffs here.
I fold showing the 96. He says good fold and shows 86
We give ourselves a pat on the back. Saving a bet just as important as winning them.
Good news: we make the final table (we start with 176,000 which is slightly above average)
Bad news: it contains a chipped up Ari Engel
Consolation news: we’re on his immediate left so at least we have position on him
Good news: it’s not a prolonged bubble
Bad news: Ari took out both the 7th and 6th place finishers and is getting stronger
There’s also a woman on our left who we don’t know but having played with her most of the day she plays pretty good being aggressive and having some bluffs.
She takes out the 5th place finisher and is now the chip leader.
4 handed I chop away at the blind and get a couple of snows through and make a wheel to eliminate the 4th place finisher who was short.
I’m the short stack as we start 3 handed play
Noted one interesting hand against Ari:
He raised from the SB and I call from the BB
1st draw: 2-3
I kept 72 and drew 3, hitting 459 to make a 97
Ari bets, I raise. He calls
2nd draw: 1-pat
He thought a while before electing to draw 1
He checks. I bet, he calls.
3rd draw: 1-pat
He checks, I bet, he folds.
He later told me he had 97532 and broke it after I raised, putting me on an 8 and opting to draw to the wheel.
He might have been wrong there but I know he made some great folds on the end, at least twice not paying me off when I had 86’s and I’m pretty sure he had 87’s.
So I’m getting the better of Ari and have been chopping away at the woman whose name we learned was Melanie.
We’ve been playing for 2 hours 3 handed and I’ve wrestled the chip lead with 455,000 when we go on break.
Coming back to limits of 25,000 - 50,000 no-one has a lot of chips and we all realize luck is going to play a big part, especially as it’s such a volatile game so we discuss and eventually agree on a ICM chop
I felt confident I could have seen it out but with the limits so high one lucky or unlucky hand could have been the difference so happy to chop, especially as I’m chip leader so am the official winner and we get our hands on the trophy. [emoji471][emoji3]
Some hardware ITT at last!
Melanie took 2nd and Ari 3rd.
It’s actually not the correct trophy for this event which they say hasn’t arrived yet, but they all look the same so we just covered up the name of the event with the cards.
I should get the correct one on Monday.
Not a bad birthday present [emoji320]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Day Fourteen - Monday August 12th
Last day today. On deck we have the $1,100 No Limit Hold’em tournament with a $500,000 guarantee which I won a seat for by finishing 3rd in the mixed game leaderboard.
To be honest I’d rather be playing the $1,100 Big O but I can’t pass up the freeroll.
The tournament starts at 12pm but I take a look at the structure and it’s pretty slow so decide to skip the first few levels and go after the 1st break.
Gives us chance to get a few rays at the pool. Normally it’s all in the shade earlier.
I get myself mentally prepared to play the two card game and in a positive mood but that drains away shortly after I sit down. 3 people with sunglasses at my table, 3 more with earphones in, and at least 5 people more interested in their cell phones. And to top it all off the guy on my right has a routine of looking at his cards, placing a chip on top and then taking 30 seconds to make a decision, any decision, even folding. I’m losing the will to live and I’ve only just sat down. Get me back in a mix game [emoji30]
Unfortunately I still remember how to play and have doubled my 20k starting stack to 40k at the dinner break which is inexplicably 90 minutes long? WTF? I guess they want registration open longer to meet the guarantee.
Salmon and baked ziti today in the food court.
The 90 minute dinner break reminds me of when I used to play at the Aviation Club de France in Paris many years ago. They would always have a two hour dinner break with at least 3 courses including a cheese course and all the wine you could drink, but that was Paris and right on the Champ-Elysees. Not sure the long break is warranted here.
With the extended break I have time for dessert tonight. Really good gelato here at the constant grind coffee place. My favorite is mint chocolate with rainbow sprinkles .
Anyway back at it and there’s some big hands going on at our table - AA loses to QQ when the other two queens come on the flop to make quads.
Every pot is opened and 3 bet with occasional 4 bets. Pretty much everyone knows how to play to a decent standard. There’s no table talk. All too serious for my liking.
My torment is ended when I 4-bet AKs into QQ and don’t get any help from the runout.
I bust just too late to max late-reg the Big O so that’s all she wrote for this trip.
My mate Lee from Manchester ends up winning the Big O after a 3-way chop. I tease him of course that he only won it because I wasn’t in the field, but happy for him and some dollars going back across the pond.
By the Numbers
Tournaments Played: 12
Bullets Fired: 14
Total buy-ins: $9,200
Cashes: 6
Final Tables: 5
Total Prize money: $21,560
Net Winnings: $12,360
(Excluding the NLH freeroll)
We only had the one cash session where we lost $1,000. Sports bets we made around $2000.
Total expenses were around $3,000 including everything: flights, hotel, ubers and food.
So roughly about $10k net profit for two weeks work. We’ll take it.
Had a good time and made some new friends. Really impressed with the facility, good tournaments, good structures, well run, good TD’s, good dealers. Everything first class. Will definitely be back.
Until next time.
Dios lo bendiga [emoji120]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
