MuckPls vs BigWhale - a WSOP June TR
Hey everyone! Figured since everything is booked on my part I will go ahead and fire a thread. After a disastrous last t
With the 52 hand, if I'm going to play it this way, I'm calling the raise -- kind of the point of playing it this way 😉 Especially vs. someone who can be splashy.
Had to do a double take - rogue rig, dumbbells, 3 C2 rowers, open floor space and likely barbell. Hotel gym gets solid A from me.
We have now left Downtown Las Vegas, and headed over here instead:
New York New York is now our home for the remainder of the trip, and after waiting for about 45 minutes (which I used to get a 20 minute massage, much needed) I got a notification in the app that my room was ready. Looks very bright and inviting, and I think I will enjoy it much more here than in the dark room at Plaza.
I liked Plaza as a property. Great gym (as some have commented), decent pool for Downtown, some decent video poker paytables, and overall a very small and easy property to navigate. Being slightly tucked away from Fremont Street also makes it much quieter; I couldn't hear any noise at all coming from there.
But although they apparently had legit reasons for it, I was disapppointed to not get to try out a Luxe Room. Also, during my 2.5 day stay I didn't get any visit from housekeeping at all. It was especially annoying yesterday, as I even approached a maid earlier in the day and told her the room would be ready for cleaning shortly. But when I got back 6-7 hours later, nothing had been done with the room.
Today I will not play any tournament, simply because I slept pretty bad last night and don't feel like theoretically playing super late into the evening. I will rather just relax a bit, maybe visit the pool shortly, and then find a cash game for this evening. Time & place to be decided, as it obviously depends on how the waiting lists are looking.
Tomorrow we play the 2-day $300 tournament at MGM Grand, and I will be hopping into flight 1A that starts at 10am. Assume I will see 'mrbaseball' in the field as well!
Hope you're not too close to the roller coaster, or every few minutes you get to hear screaming people pass by your window.
Guess how I know.
Vegas baby! This is literally insane.
Check into Nomad room:
Then 5 minutes into the trip, from free play:
It’s gonna be a sick sick sick summer!
Wow, comped?
Yup, fully comped. 5 nights now and then coming back for another 4 nights after our Excalibur stay.
Good morning Vegas! AA on A656J vs AJ for stacks and a couple of other ones.
Also had this hilarious hand, AK on AAK turn K river A:
I’m not proud of it but decided to book the win after 2 hours. Insanely tired and it’s very cold inside.
Is this win rate sustainable? [emoji23]
Sick 'Welcome to Las Vegas' rungood for MuckPls there! Unfortunately my day was the opposite last night, summary below:
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After checking into the room at NYNY yesterday, I could feel myself getting tired. So I actually went to bed and took a 2 hour nap. It was a bit rough to wake myself up, but I eventually managed to drag myself out of bed and out here instead:
Pretty chill pool actually, much bigger than I expected, lots of seating, and also some decent eye candy to look at. Will definitely hit up the pool most of the days unless I have some insanely deep tournament runs and can't find the time.
Speaking of poker, I checked the wait lists and eventually headed to Ceasars. I wanted to check out their new room (read: dungeon), which was easier said than done. I had a vague idea of it's location, but it still took me a couple of minutes to find it. There are basically no signage for it, but despite that the room was busy with tournaments & couple of cash games.
After waiting for around 5 minutes I got a seat, and bought in for $400 (they now have $500 max in the $1/$3 games). It became a very frustrating session, and although I don't think I played horribly there are certainly some debatable hands.
First one of note is when there are 3 limps to me and I have red 77 in BB. I raise it up to $18, and only the second limper calls (an OMC). The flop comes Q-8-T, which I think is pretty bad both for my hand and in regards to getting too many folds from his range. I ended up check-folding to a bet of $20, as although it feels a bit weak I will have very few clean outs here.
Very next round we have the same scenario. 3 limps to me, and I have A9ss in BB. Could sometimes check, but I also think the hand is good enough to raise in this spot. So I make it $20, and only UTG (weird Asian player) calls. The flop is great as it comes K-8-T two spades, and I start with another bet of $20. He calls, and we see a red 7 on turn.
I have 4-flush and an open ender, so it's obviously time to bet big. He's likely not going to fold a K, but folding out everything else in his range that beats me would be a good result. I make it $75 (into $89), but he once again calls. River is another K, and I think this would be a suicidal card to attempt any bluff on. So I check and give up, he jams for around $130 and I fold. Bit of an annoying runout where I think I do everything right.
I add on another $100 and then find AKo after a limp for $3 from an OMC. I make it $15 in cutoff, only to see BTN, SB, BB and the limper calls. So we go 5-ways to 3-7-5 two clubs. I have none, and just decided to give up this one. It checks around, and we see 4c on turn. Once again it checks around, and river comes a 9. The OMC in SB leads for $15, and although this is a small bet into $75 I don't think I can rep much with a raise here (although it might not matter). But as it was, I just folded without too much thought.
A new player then joins the game, buys-in for $400 and raises his first hand to $18 outright. Everyone folds. The very next hand he is EP1, and raise to $17. I have 99 right behind him, and given the limited info so far it looks like this guy has come to play. So I 3-bet to $45 (misclick, meant $50) in order to isolate in position with a hand that might be best. That said, I would certainly not hate just calling here either before I know more about the opponent.
That is perhaps what I should have done, because he comes over the top and 4-bets to $135. Sigh. I have to fold then as we are not deep enough to continue, and I could be crushed here by better pairs. And it has to be noted that the guy was not some kind of maniac after more observation, so likely he was just getting hit by the deck in the beginning.
Then I find AKo from UTG and raise to $12. EP1 (the Asian) calls, and a white late 50s guy call in MP. We go 3-ways to T-3-2 two diamonds. I have none, but decided that this board is harmless enough that I can start a bet. Might be a mistake not holding any diamond though, but I make it $20. EP1 folds, but MP calls.
Turn comes Qd, and after I check he quickly checks it back. Maybe I got too passive here, because I just checked river (7) and lost to 43cc (lol). When he checks back turn he does have very few strong hands in range, but in game I didn't think I had the best image for a bluff on the river here. And the Qd on the turn shows why I should rather start a bet with my AK hands that have a diamond in them.
Then I actually win my first hand when an OMC raises to $17 from EP1, an active sixpence guy calls behind him, and I have QQ in BB. I raise to $80, and they both fold.
I then go card-dead for a little bit before finding A3dd on the button after everyone have folded to me. I make it $12, and get customers from both the blinds. We see no less than Q-8-4 all diamonds on the flop, and they both check to me. I could mabe slow play here, but nah - if you are thinking of slow playing, bet small. I throw out $10 but they both sadly fold. That said, I would have bet most of my value hands for this sizing on that board texture, so doing it also with the nuts seems balanced enough.
A bit later we see a raise to $12 from the OMC who raised when I had QQ. Active sixpence calls, button calls, and I decided to just call in SB with 99. It's a great squeeze spot for sure, but I have a losing image in the game and likely won't get it through. The flop comes A-K-Q, which is not what I wanted to see. I check and fold to a big bet of $50 from PFR (who shows AK when everyone folds).
Then we play a weird one. The same OMC from above limps in, sixpence-guy raises to $15 (as he did a lot over limps), and I find QQ on the button. I 3-bet to $50, the OMC agonizes and folds and the original raiser calls quickly. Note how he didn't think about 4-betting.
A-9-7 two diamonds on the flop, which is not amazing but I still chose to bet $35 after he checks (I have no diamond). I can get value from naked flush draws like KQs or KJs (the Ace was a diamond), and maybe even one street from TT or JJ.
He check-raises to $85, which felt very strange for me. He shouldn't have much AK here, he shouldn't raise AQ since I have a lot of AK in my range, and even if he was a bit splashy I am not sure if he calls OOP with A9 or A7 suited. Maybe, but probably not all the time. So he is repping very thin here to something like 99 or 77 and occasional AK. But again - the way he quickly called the 3-bet indicates to me that he shouldn't have a ton of AK. I do think he would have take a few more seconds to at least consider it then.
In other words, I end up making the call in position although it's very speculative. Turn comes an 8, and he jams for his remaining $167. I though the had a little bit more behind, but ok. I think this is a bad card, as it fills a hand like JTdd if he decided to play that one fast. I still gave it a long think though, simply because my gut was telling me that something is off here. But at the same time, how many people bluff an Ace high board, and especially jam turn when I have called the check-raise on the flop? Probably not many. After thinking for a minute or two I eventually fold, as although this guy was active pre I had seen him do one or two rather nitty things post.
I reload yet another $100 and I am now in the game for $700. I continued to lose a bit more as well, such as when the late 50s guy described in another hand (who had 34cc against me) makes it $10 pre. SB calls, and I come along from BB with A6cc. The flop comes J-4-4 one club, and it checks around.
Turn is an Ace, and after we check the PFR now bets $20 (into $30). SB folds, and although there is a good chance he has a better Ace I guess I can't just fold. So I call once to see what happens on the river. It comes a 2, and after I check he thinks for a bit and checks back. I show my hand, and then he flips up AKo. Lol wtf. That is such a clear value bet on the river, but it's obviously interesting to know that he will see monsters under the bed and not bet enough for value.
Which brings us to the last big hand. It folds to me in 4th pos and I raise K9ss to $12 (seems fine, especiallly as we were only 7-handed now). A gigantic OMC to my left, who just doubled up in a huge pot, 3-bets to $25. The guy from above (late 50s guy) cold-calls from BB, and it's back on me. Which such great odds I am not going anywhere, although I obviously have to thread very carefully if I were to flop top pair or something. The OMC likely has a monster here, as he will not be looking to play a big pot without it immediately after winning a $600 pot.
I do not flop top pair, but it comes A-2-9 with two spades. Pair and flush draw, although it's not a hand I can play super fast given the presence of the Ace out there. BB checks, I check, and the OMC who 3-bet checks it back. They way he did it felt a bit weak to me, and I did not think he was slow playing AA.
7 on the turn, and BB now leads $50. Quite big into $76, but I cannot go anywhere with my hand. I call, and the OMC folds out. River is another 7, but the 7s. So we make our flush, although the board pairs. Opponent bets out $100 and although I am happy about making my flush I hate this bet. This guy was super afraid to value bet in a much smaller pot, so the fact that he is still betting with a flush coming in is very alarming to me.
That said, what can he have? I am basically only losing to 22 and 99, and with a 9 in my hand there is only 1 combo (right?) left of that hand. The problem though is that he doesn't really have any worse flushes, as I just don't see him starting a bet with a naked flush draw on the turn. In game the decision felt close and I only had around $150 back over his $100 bet. So I chose to jam all-in after thinking for a bit, hoping that by some miracle he had like AK or similar (he would for sure just flat the 3-bet pre with it), and couldn't get away due to the pot odds.
He called immediately and I turn over my hand without releasing it from my hand as I am ready to muck it. That's a clear sign of having done something wrong, when you move all-in and are thinking 'oh ****' when you get snap-called. And he obviously had what I suspected as the most likely holding; pocket deuces for a full house. I frustratingly turn my hand back over and send it into the muck, and leave the game without a word.
As I started the long walk (suitable punishment for myself) from Caesars back to NYNY I think about the hand and realize it was a massive mistake. All the signs were there for me to know that this guy does never in a million years bet thinly, so why was I making such an optimistic jam on the river? I knew already in game that it was a close decision, and a bit of a gamble for a big pot. But it's pointless to do so, especially since he would never -call- a jam with anything worse.
Even if it was the type of session where I couldn't get much going and got very annoying spots and runouts, I still should have been able to save the remaining $150 on the river there. That is a big, big mistake, simply because it does not exists hand in his range that are worse and that will call the jam. It would have been a bad losing session regardless, but I still have to make the right plays. Which I have messed up on now twice (once in both cash game sessions).
Today is the $300 MGM 2-day tourney at 10am, and although I was hoping to squeeze in a gym session before it I might not have time. That said, I can obviously late register although I don't want to get stuck in some kind of alternate line. I have no idea how many entries this one is going to get, so it feels like a bit of a guessing game. But hopefully I can play better today when I am well rested (slept 9 hours last night), and put together a deep run again.
Let's end this post on a high note with some Bellagio Conservatory pictures from last night:
Cash Games:
Hours played: 5h 45min
Won/lost: -$833 USD
Hourly rate: -$144.87 USD
Tournaments:
Won/lost: +$148 USD (2 played)
GL today! You played well -- the cards sucked :( Don't beat yourself up over that one hand -- we all do it.
Rough session. Sounds like most of your procedures were sensible. Just tough luck on situations and runouts.
In the QQ hand where the guy check-raised you on the Axx board and continued on the turn, I'm inclined to think you made the right fold. It feels like a set that could be too afraid of the flush draws coming in. I also think it can be a weirdly played AK or even AQ/AJ.
We know the typical villain at these stakes is not showing up with a lot of big bluffs, which means they are probably going for value here while also being overly frightened of an uncomfortable runout that forces them to make a decision.
A Zimbabwean sculptor?
I woke up this morning around 8:15am after a good 9 hours of sleep. After updating the TR etc. I managed to squeeze in a quick trip here as well:
The NYNY gym is small but not as bad as I had expected, and I am looking forward to use it more in the coming days. I then made my way over to today's destination:
As expected, there was not that many people who had gotten out of bed for a 10am start, and when I regged the $300 2-day tournament there was 31 entries (although it obviously filled up eventually). We started with 25,000 chips and 30 minute levels.
I was down a little bit in the beginning, and probably had a pretty active image to the rest of the table. The first really big pot for me came at 200-300-300, when a grinder-looking guy makes it 700 from 3rd position. I have QQ right behind him and make it 2500. This is btw the second time that I have 3-bet him, first time was with KJo that go no less than 2 flatcallers, and I missed the flop 4-ways.
Either way, back to the hand. He clicks it back to 6100 for a 4-bet, and I had pretty much made up my mind on what I wanted to do if that happened. I have 21k or so, and jam all-in as a 5-bet. Not super comfortable to do so with QQ this deep, but against this player type I just thought I would get a ton of folds here. And my hand is slightly too vunerable to just call in position and see a flop, I think. He folded immediately to the jam, as I somewhat expected.
Then a mid-50s woman raises to 800, and I have QJdd in SB. I had seem her limp in at times as well, so against her raising range I didn't want to 3-bet. I call, and BB folds out. The flop comes K-T-8 two spades, and after I check she makes it 1100. I call, and we see the 7s on turn. I check, and she continues betting but only 1300. Seems a bit weak, and I am getting a decent price to call even if I, just like Teddy KGB, don't have spades.
I make the call and we see a J on the river. I pair up, and pray that it goes check-check. She does however bet again, but only 1500. My first impression is that she is just milking me, but I am also wondering if she maybe just have something like AK or similar. My hand is likely not good if I call, so the next best thing is then to turn it into a bluff! These are the best candidates to turn into a bluff after all, when you have some showdown value if it goes check-check, but where you are not good if opponent bets.
All that said, I make it 7500 which in hindsight is too small. Not that it matters though, because she makes it 21k or something and it's suddenly plainly obvious why she was betting that small. It's because she has the nut flush and doesn't want me to fold. So that was a bit of a costly pot (I obviously folded), but I like the idea of turning my hand into a bluff there. The only question is however whether a player profile like this would even bet 3 streets with a 1-pair hand. If not, then it might be a bad bluff because I will never get the folds I want.
I went to the first break with only 12800 chips, however the structure was very slow and there was no time to panic. I also briefly said hello to 'mrbaseball' here on 2+2, nice meeting you!
First interesting spot after break is when it folds to me on the button and I minraise K7hh to 1000. An OMC in SB calls, and a Portuguese grinder-type calls in BB. The flop comes above average with K-K-6, and it checks to me. I bet small for 1200, and after SB folds the Portuguese (or Brazilian) makes it 5100. My first thought was to just call, as I think he is just bluffing here. However, there is no way he will continue bluffing if I call here, as I have then put in half my stack. So I decided to just jam, hoping he was protection-raising a 6 and cannot get away now. He sadly instafolded.
Another pot against him, where he makes it 1200 UTG (300-500-500), and after SB calls I do the same with ATo. Not a hand I love defending multi-way, but I assumed the Portuguese-speaking guy could have a wide enough range even from UTG. The flop comes 8-9-2 with two clubs, and I have Ac. SB checks, I check, and the raiser bets 1700. SB calls, and I decided to peel here. It felt a bit borderline, but there are many good turn cards for me and I can also consider repping the flush if it comes in. No such luck though, turn was a red 5 and I have to check-fold to a bet of 5100.
The Portuguese busts shortly after, and is replaced by a random US player who wasn't very good. He makes it 1600 pre in one hand (400-800-800), and after SB calls I also come along from BB with Q7dd. The flop comes A-K-T one diamond, and it checks around. Turn is the 8d and I should maybe lead here. I can obviously have monsters like QJ here or hands like AT. But in game I checked, and it checked around again.
9d comes on the river, so I make my flush. SB checks, and I bet 2200 (into 5k-something). Not a huge bet, but no-one seems very strong here. The raiser calls, SB folds, and I win against what I think was K6 of hearts? Very loose open from UTG for sure.
Even though I don't have a huge stack, I am hanging around just fine and don't feel too bad about the situation I am in. At the very first hand of 500-1000-1000 we see an open to 2000 from UTG. I have gone through the blinds and have like 18k behind, and I find TT from EP1. This one feels close, as UTG hadn't been very active. At the same time he hadn't been a super-nit either, and I think my hand will be very difficult to play if I just call pre and others come in behind etc. So we just jam it in there for 18 blinds, only to get snap-called by AA. ****.
I don't improve and I am OUT of the MGM Grand $300 2-day tournament. Could obviously have re-entered or alternatively played the 2pm flight, but that did not happen.
Bit frustrating to go out that early, but I don't think I played it horribly in any way. Ultimately it's just a bit of a cooler to get eliminated like that, and obviously I realize that I cannot expect to go deep in every tournament I play.
Honestly I have no idea what to do now, but I will think about it and come up with something smart (?) soon. Will update stats later.
It was nice to say hi! Im in your photo too 😀 the hunched over fat bastard with the white hat on the left hand side is me.
Good way to forget about meh poker results so far:
Especially since I also got to watch two young girls around 20 take photos of each other in various bikini poses nearby. But since I am not a creep, I have no pictures of this occurence.
