March Madness! 3/19-3/24 TR
With the way the WSOP and my personal schedules are shaping up, it looks like I will not be able to make it to Vegas fo
Regarding the 99 spot, I had a similar spot in a NAPT satellite where a reg limped in EP and I had 66 in LP with about 7BB in my stack. I jammed, he had AA, and I went out. While limping a monster is a tactic that some players employ, I still think we have to play our hand in the way that makes the most sense in the situation. A limp shouldn't always be a monster and I'd say limping AA is generally more of an amateur tactic than something the best players do frequently. I don't like the play with AA because it invites so much trouble from the BB. If you have a decent image, your opens should get action and even AA doesn't really want to go multi-way.
Sometimes a limp can be a low-medium pocket pair trying to hit a set cheap. 99 is doing well against those hands, so whatever. I'd consider the hand a cooler on your stack size, and not something to regret.
I think in the K75 spot we always lead small here after being the pre-flop aggressor. It's always hard to play the big broadway hands when we whiff the board, but I'm thinking on a dry board like this we really don't want to surrender the pot on the first street. It makes us too easy to play against. Also, the K is supposed to hit our range pretty hard. We want to leverage that. You can simply lead small. Small continues seem to be the trend at deeper stages of the tournament these days. If we get flatted or raised, we reevaluate.
The straight hand in Venetian cash is unlucky. I really can't say what I'd do in the situation. Those flopped flushes are hard to dodge because it's so hard to assume someone binked it right away, though it happens. I guess we can say these are possible call-off spots against aggro players who will put you on a decision with just the naked Ad, but possible folds against nits who are never betting when they miss.
GL in the Monster!
Lo and behold, somehow we are currently awake even later than last night...
After the tournament, we put our name down for 1/3 at the Venetian and go to a Sushi roll place we noticed earlier:
It was satisfying but probably not overall worth the expense for $65 for four rolls and a Sapporo beer to go with it plus tip. Then I head to the poker room to play cash. We have a great table where everyone is mostly drinking and having fun. Go down early with 99 after raising a local woman who limps UTG and double barrelling a king high board, ace turn and lose to KJ.
We are now in for 500, but get it back (and then some) in a situation where we call an open with 32s in position. This is obviously not a good play by any means but we do so in the off chance we happen to score a straight flush, as 3s are the card of the month for a high hand promotion. Last night I played with someone who not only got the half hour high hand for $200, but also received $250 for turning quad 3s! We manage to flop bottom pair on 972, and think we are probably good when checked to three ways and fire out a bet. Get called and the turn is gin, another 2! We bet again and then shove the river queen. My opponent is not happy, thinking it hit me, and tanks for a while but folds pocket jacks face up. Probably should have sized down a little bit there.
He gets me back though a little later for $175 when we get queens all in preflop. He does not show right away and says "I'm behind". The flop contains a Jack, which he then says "Now I'm not". Sadly that makes it apparent we're cracked by Jacks and he turns it over after the river. That one hurt, would have been up about a buy in if held.
It is getting late and the four fun guys (including the one from the previous two hands) leave. I am having a nice conversation with a fellow Wisconsinite to my right but the table is short and getting bad. I manage to get 100 back after turning a wheel against a local OMC. I forget exactly what he had but he grumbled like he lost with AA/AK/KK. In addition to him we have an El Diesel level nit on my left, who was there to take up a seat and content to just watch movies/TV on his phone. I did not see him play a single unlimped hand in an hour.
We further anger the old guy in a quite comical situation: I would like to continue playing but the table is bad. The fun guy from last night is over on an almost full table and there is an open seat. I go over to the front desk guy to ask for a change and that I'll make it worth their while. He coyly agrees but says to be discreet as he can't normally take away a person from an already short table. We are a bit drunk at this point so I sell it horribly and it is obvious what I have done. I sit down at the new table, and within a minute the guy comes to put me back (and returns the tip) as the older guy is furious about me moving. In order to placate him, he gets moved to my new spot! I'm fine with the overall result though, and don't play for much longer anyway as I realize it's pushing 5am.
We leave around 5:15-5:30, but the night is not yet over - it's a bit of a hike but I am quite hungry and feel like Tacos El Gordo is calling my name. I know in my intoxicated state it's kind of a bad idea, and foolishly didn't realize it is not open 24 hours. However, I know of a place nearby that is!
Honestly, the food at Peppermill never really impresses me but it hits the spot, especially tonight. We order the French dip, which is just all right.
We get to see the sun rise as we walk the Strip back to the Flamingo, which is a cool experience. I get stopped by someone on the street, and realize we were just playing together at the Venetian! Again we do not have a chance to sleep much and are running on fumes in the morning for the Monster Stack.
Sounds like a proper Vegas night!
...I really think they should have named the hockey team the Black Knights instead of the Golden Knights.
Great write up and glad to see you’re doing Vegas properly!
I agree re Peppermill. The food has never been above a 7 but it’s such a nice vibe and room to be in
We are out in the Monster Stack - with 10 bigs left we shove KJo and run into aces. In an earlier hand, there was a AA vs AK all in where the king paired on the flop and then came on the river to dole out a bad beat! Unfortunately we cannot replicate the same luck, though we also paired our king and also almost backdoored a straight.
Not many interesting hands of note, doubled up not long before in a nice spot with several limps, a smallish shove and we reshove kings to win against 33.
Then in another we complete 64o in the SB in like a 5 way limped pot. The checked flop is 962 and a 6 comes on the turn! We lead out small, and the guy to my left raises. He was the type of player who always has a 6 (or 22 boat) and my kicker is crap so I fold the 6 face up. He said he had A6 and I assume it is the truth.
Anyway, I think I'm probably done with the big tournaments for this trip. Could do tomorrow's Monster Stack flight, but making Day 2 would interfere with my departure plans with less notice than it would today. If I'm feeling the itch, I may decide to play one of the daily donkaments for fun, but don't think they have much value overall.
Actually, we are already calling an audible. I realized there is a Wynn Millions 10k guaranteed starting in 30 minutes, with a $200 buyin. It's a turbo, but seems like it could be fun. There a lot of other tournaments going on to occupy the more serious players. Would be a good chance to work on my short stack game as well. We will then play the Venetian $200 bounty tomorrow night as well to cap an overall tournament buy in loss of an even 2k worst case.
We leave around 5:15-5:30, but the night is not yet over - it's a bit of a hike but I am quite hungry and feel like Tacos El Gordo is calling my name. I know in my intoxicated state it's kind of a bad idea, and foolishly didn't realize it is not open 24 hours. However, I know of a place nearby that is! Honestly, the food at Peppermill never really impresses me but it hits th
I was so sad when they closed the one in Santa Clara.
We are out in the Monster Stack - with 10 bigs left we shove KJo and run into aces. In an earlier hand, there was a AA vs AK all in where the king paired on the flop and then came on the river to dole out a bad beat! Unfortunately we cannot replicate the same luck, though we also paired our king and also almost backdoored a straight.Not many interesting hands of note, doubled u
How long are the Monster levels? They didn't post the structure online.
We are 13 away from the final table (and money) at the Wynn, but only have 11BB. Hopefully we can double up and make some sort of a run.
On another topic, we had some basketball picks to sweat today:
St John's screws us from hitting the parlay, as they almost collapse and give up a double digit lead towards the end of the game. The game is tied with a few seconds left and we are hoping for them to get the 4+ point win overtime. Instead, Kansas lets them layup right at the buzzer. I was originally planning on doing 100 for the Iowa State ticket as well but only had 60 in my wallet at the time. Forgot to come back and make a new ticket for the rest.
We are out, just 4 spots from the money. We are probably the 2nd shortest stack so we shove on the button for 7BB and run into kings.
The tournament starts out a bit rough, but we hit the good side of variance too, and go into end of late reg with 25BB.
We run into a really gross spot early, where I pick up KK, get min 3 bet (not even 2x), a call, I 4 bet 4x, 3 bettor gets out of the way, and flatted by the other guy. The flop comes out QJxhh, which is horrible for our hand. We are only beating AK (and maybe like tens) and AK hearts has a lot of equity. I bet out 1/3, get jammed on, and just fold. He was nice enough to show at least, and it's QJ of diamonds!! We were still beat but did not expect that.
That leaves us down to 10BB, and get in AKs vs tens. We are looking good with an A22 flop, but the turn and river are also deuces to chop! It holds up much better the next time, and we are able to get all in three ways with eights and tens to triple up after a king turn! Then we manage to get value in two hands with sets and we are one of the big stacks! From there on it is a lot of folding though and the blinds go up quickly. We win a flip with 22 against KQo for 10BB to double up.
Then we are back down to 10BB after my previous post. There is a situation where SB jams on me when I have KJo, and we have to call. Thankfully he only has 57s so we are ahead. There is a 5 on the flop, but survive with a king turn! Then down to 8 blinds, we shove in the SB with A8o vs a 4BB short stack. Unfortunately he wakes up AQo to critically cripple us. We get K9s the next hand, and shove over two big stack limps and win a 4 way pot to triple up, knocking out a tiny stack in the process!
That brings us down to 5 eliminations from the money. We have an interesting spot right before the elimination hand. A rather eccentric player to our right with just 5BB left minraises the button. We have A2o in the SB with 7BB. This is just always a fold right? I do and he shows an Ace, so unless we have the same hand I am dominated or am getting killed by aces.
Anyway, disappointing to go out so close to getting another cash, but relatively happy about how it all went. We haven't eaten all day and are being carried from the early morning French dip. After a late dinner we are getting a well deserved sleep. Tomorrow will be a rest day before playing the bounty tournament in the evening.
Looks like I can't edit the previous post anymore but the hand I shoved and got eliminated with was JTo.
Anyway, since we missed it last night, we head up to Tacos El Gordo for food after the tournament. It is just after midnight and there are a lot of people inside. I didn't really have the patience to wait in line (even though it went relatively fast last time I went) so decide to go to nearby Tacos El Pastor instead. My friend had recommended it previously. Usually it is a bad sign when one place is busy and the other near empty, but I thought it was pretty good.
Enjoying the TR, even if it seems you are getting a bit unlucky in tournaments! :(
Seems you are leaving tomorrow so we will just about miss each other (I am arriving tomorrow evening). Best of luck with your remaining play.
We do Tacos El Pastor all the time to avoid the lines at El Gordo -- totally worth it.
Enjoying the TR, even if it seems you are getting a bit unlucky in tournaments! :(
Seems you are leaving tomorrow so we will just about miss each other (I am arriving tomorrow evening). Best of luck with your remaining play.
I'd certainly like to think I'm getting a bit unlucky (particularly losing the 75/25 to cost me a bag), but a lot of spots are fairly standard and I'm probably a flip or two above expectation this series. On the other hand, I'm definitely running bad in cash, but fairly limited sample size there.
Also, it's too bad our days don't line up! Maybe next year. Best of luck with your play as well, I'll certainly be following your updates.
We are enjoying a restful start to the day and use the small amount of Caesar's comps I have on lunch. Had the crunch burger from Bobby Flay's, which was solid. Currently lounging around the Go Pool.
We do get an interesting message from the poker gods though, trying to beckon us back to the Monster Stack. On my way back to change for the pool after lunch I get a WSOP+ notification that a Monster Stack voucher has been purchased. I generally do my buyins via card for points, but had some trouble yesterday as it was appearing to be declined, and then trying through PayPal hung when attempting to complete the transaction. It seems like it finally processed 24+ hours later.
I would really rather not play and can get the ticket refunded to my tournament balance, but would like to have it be fully refunded instead of leaving the balance around to potentially next year. I go to the Shoe and thankfully after talking to the cage and a manager they are able to get it fully refunded. I am happy with my decision but wonder what would have happened if I decided to play.
Also looking to do a nice dinner at the Venetian early before the tournament and use some of my comp money there. Trying to decide on Bouchon vs Wakuda.
We are out in the $200 Venetian Bounty tournament, 9 away from the final 10 paid. There were 74 entries total. This was a much softer field than the rest of the tournaments I've played this trip but unfortunately we are unable to take advantage of it. Spent a lot of time folding with little meaningful postflop play. It is about midnight and our flight leaves at 9am tomorrow, so that is it for the trip. Am somewhat nervous about long TSA lines, not to mention something like the terrible accident after the ATC mistake at LaGuardia.
After a few hours we get down to just 8BB but have some more life after a few players limp, then one of the Frenchman playing cash a few days ago minraises SB, and we jam AQo in the BB. We are up against KQo, get up once a king hits the flop, but quickly sit back down once an Ace comes on the turn!
Somewhat shortly after, a player jams all in for 21BB (6-7 handed) first to act, and we have AQo in the big blind while covered by a few BB. I have a fairly strong hand, but the laughably large jam seems too much like something better. Perhaps he miscounted his stack size but we fold to fight another day.
Then we get a nice spot where we raise JJ in EP, and there are three callers. The flop comes AJ4 rainbow! We are first to act and lead out, and then there is a jam. The table big stack (who has been running real hot), thinks about it for a while and then folds. We obviously call and have A7o pretty much dead. It appears it may have him covered, but I actually do not by like 2BB. I'll take the double up but am sad to miss the bounty. We get great value overall but is it actually better to check the flop and invite further action?
Also, to illustrate how good the other guy is running, a stack who has just barely above a minraise goes all in. There are two calls and we make a marginal call with 95s. The BB is the type of player who isn't going to squeeze light, and also makes the call. We go 5 ways to a flop of A88 and the big stack ends up spiking the bounty with 83o. Too bad everyone else only had marginal hands to not iso.
The final interesting spot is where we decide to make a raise with K6dd in the HJ somewhere between 17-20BB. The open is definitely bottom of range and definitely not a play I would have made even a month ago, but there is some marginal EV from a solver perspective. Not to mention the fact that the table plays pretty straightforward and will not reraise it much. It works out well for us when the flop comes Ad4d2x, and we bet our NFD when checked to. The big stack comes along and we check a 6 turn to pair us up and try and get the flush for cheap in case he has an ace. The river is not a diamond but probably even better, another 6! The other guy leads out big, and we jam for not that much more. He hems and haws for a while, laments that it was a dumb bet for him to make, and folds.
After that we are card dead for a good while, folding all the way down to 8BB. We get a spot to double up when the button raises, we shove AQo and get called by the BB, but can't win the flip vs 22 as a deuce comes on the flop.
As I leave I get a voucher for my Venetian poker comps and it is a higher than expected $32 as we have some leftover from summer. We opted to skip dinner and go straight to the tournament post pool so are hungry. Unfortunately the comps must be printed off to be used at a specific place ahead of time. There is not much open late on a Monday so just get it for Grand Lux, and have some truffle pizza from their very limited dinner menu. Even with the voucher I have to pay like $14 out of pocket after tip, which seems kind of outrageous for a flatbread and beer, but that's Vegas.
Those HHs seem solid. The Venetian nightly bounty is a fun tournament and one that I've played many times, but like any other tournament you need to catch some key hands eventually or the blinds will chew you up. To answer your question, I think it's good to lead with JJ on the AJx board because Ax is never folding to a single barrel and we'd often be repping the Ax even when we miss as the original aggressor. We can consider getting trappy with a turn check if we get called, as Ax will feel confident in their hand after we shut down on the turn. As there's no possible open-ender on this particular broadway runout, the risk of a straight counterfeit is minimal. Sometimes a turn check will induce a river bet from an opponent or allow us to overbet the river and make it look like a steal. It's also fine to just fire the second barrel right away. In this case somebody jammed right away over your flop bet, so that's all moot. I like the flop lead though.
Got out of Vegas relatively smoothly, TSA Precheck line not too long, though moved slowly since there was only ID checkpoint and bag scanner open. I am a bit sad to have left as we are back to cold temperatures only half of what Vegas has right now.
As for the overall trip recap, wish it would have been a winner, but we accomplish our main goal: get a first cash! There were several close opportunities to get a few more too. At any rate $2500 for 5 days is a reasonable amount for entertainment. We played an absolute ton of poker compared to past trips, including two straight days of almost 11-5am without breaks. Each time I come here I am able to notice how much my game has improved from the last time, will continue to study and put in the reps online.
I wasn't originally planning on coming back for the summer WSOP at all, but perhaps I'll maybe make a short weekend trip after all. Thanks to everyone who commented along and I look forward to continue reading your future TR updates.
Sounds like a nice trip thanks for sharing!
And a question? TSA precheck is going? I heard or read somewhere that precheck was off during this shutdown. Might have been a specific airport though?
Sounds like a nice trip thanks for sharing!
And a question? TSA precheck is going? I heard or read somewhere that precheck was off during this shutdown. Might have been a specific airport though?
Yes, precheck is still going. I think at the beginning of the shutdown the government threatened to pause it but didn't after massive backlash. Unfortunately I don't believe TSA employees are getting paid so they are being hit with a lot of people quitting or calling out sick. It's not quite as quick as it was before but is still operating.
Here's an article I read detailing how it's affecting Las Vegas for those interested:
