A Couple Big Hands Is All It Takes

Over the past day I have played in a few different poker games, almost all of them being profitable.

The most memorable one was at the Fitz downtown. It was a 1-2 NL game where nobody took it too seriously. I was doing fine when an inebriated gentleman sat down. He had seen the game on "TV" and he thought he'd give it a shot. All of us looked at each other and the it was pretty clear that we all had a target. He was happy to be involved in pretty much every hand that was being dealt, and if you had even marginal cards, his cash was yours. He did get lucky one but I was one of the fortunate three that were able to win big pots off him before he left. It took him less than an hour to drop $300 into that game.

I had another session at the Cortez when things were turned around by a monster hand. I was down in the session, getting ready to leave when I was dealt two Aces, in late position. A whole bunch of people called and I raised the maximum. This wasn't a No Limit table so your bets and raises are limited. Almost everybody called and we saw the flop. The flop was 9 6 K with two spades. The first player to act bets the max and after a couple callers I raise. She re-raises me and one other person calls. At this point I'm not 100% confident in this hand because she could have two pair or three of a kind. The turn, an Ace! Now I have the best possible hand and I just need to hope that she doesn't get lucky. She bets, and I raise. She re-raises and now I have a tough decision. I know I have the best hand but if I raise again I may not be able to get any more chips from her. I decide to call and hope that another spade doesn't come. The river, a spade. What's worse, she bets out the maximum straight away. My decision is simple now, call or raise. I can't fold this hand. After thinking about it for about 15 seconds I decide to raise. She slowly makes the call and I flip over my three of a kind. She shows JK, for second pair, middle kicker. I didn't like the way she played this hand since she should have known that a simple pair, even top pair would probably not be the best hand. She said she read me as having Queens, but if that were true, I would never raise when the Ace comes on the turn since my hand would then be dead.

Anyways, that final hand let me leave with a healthy profit and the whole table stirring over the play. I'm just glad I had enough guts to force through the final raise.

So that's about it for now. Things are good and I'm leaving shortly for the Strip.

A Rough Start On My Second Day

I headed to the RIO early in the day yesterday but the long line-ups kept me from entering into any of their tournaments. To kill some time I headed over to the Gold Coast next door to play some low limit. I ended up having a very bad session with a combination of bad cards and weak, passive play on my part. I don't think playing more aggressively would have won me any pots but it would have.

I came back downtown and played in a low-limit Sit & Go tournament. This didn't go very well either as I was knocked out in 7th place, out of 10th.

My last stop was the poker room in the hotel that I'm staying at. I played in a 1-3-6 limit game that was very interesting. Even though I hate playing in a 2-4 limit game, this game played a lot better then most low limit games. I also like the ability to vary my bet sizes without over-committing to a hand like so often happens in No-Limit games.

This was also the game where I won back almost everything that I had lost throughout the day. I was amazed at how often I was getting called even though I only showed down winning hands. I was also lucky not to get caught up into too many draws, as that was the main reason I lost in my earlier session at the Gold Coast.

Well, tomorrow I'm off to the MGM and PH before going to the Rio at night.

My Poker Hiatus is Over!

I hadn't played a hand of poker in nearly 7 weeks, but that changed as of yesterday.

As far as why I didn't play it was a combination of factors, mostly revolving around my compulsion to track all the details of my on-line play. With the last 7 weekends being filled with different tasks or activities, I just didn't seem to have the time to properly setup my computer to track my poker stats.

Now that I'm in Vegas, things have changed. Yesterday I played at the Hooter Casino for a couple hours and walked away with a modest profit after being down most of the game. My key losing hand was a bluff that I just could get away from. By the end I had invested over half my stack into the hand and my oppenent called me with a Ace high, the same hand I had. Problem was, he had a better kicker so I lost the pot. Considering he called two good sized bets with no pair, no draw I was worried that he could tell I was bluffing. Within an hour it was clear, this player just fell in love with any Ace in his hand and would call all the way down. He didn't last long and was gone from the table, busted, within an hours time. My only mistake in the hand was not going all-in on the turn. It may have been enough to push him off the hand. AA bet on the river wouldn't have been any good because he didn't have much left and I'm sure he would have called.

My trip to Vegas was the best ever. No lineups, no annoying travelers, smooth flights, and I even pulled my luggage off the carousel 60 seconds after arriving to it! My hotel is small but adequate, and it gives me almost everything I need for the trip.

Now I'm off to the RIO, the home of the WSOP to star gaze a bit, play some poker and try to have some fun.