Las Vegas: Day 6

Today was the day I thought I was leaving but didn't realize I had time for another big session, yay!

I had to check out by 11am, so I packed my bags and went out for breakfast at caesar's again. My flight leaves at 9:45 so I had nearly a full day to do whatever I wanted (that means poker), and headed over to the MGM where so far I'd seen the softest play. The room's also pretty nice and service is good, so off I went. Surprisingly, I actually run into Debi again randomly in the casino, she says she's going to go get something to eat and then come sit with me for my last session.

Ended up having a pretty good session overall; I think I made almost a buyin without any big pots so I was pretty happy. Table was pretty juicy, lots of limping and calling pf opens.

Some hands from the session:

Early on I iso with AQd, get only one caller and he checks what I thought was a 997 or 998 flop. Turns out it was something much more coordinated like 986 or something. I only realize this after I cbet and he calls, so I check down two bricks and he shows something like A5. I start to get excited.

Shortly after, maybe even next hand, I open JJ and get two $50-80ish stacked callers. Flop comes J85ss, I cbet, both call. Turn comes an offsuit ace, both have less than a pot bet so I shove when checked to. First calls with A9, second folds. Cha-ching.

A while later I make the mistake of not checking stack sizes. UTG fish limps, folds to me in the BB and I bump to $10 with QJs. I didn't notice he only had like $30 or $40 left, and when he jammed I was committed. I end up flipping with 66 and winning, lucky me!

UTG fish limps (same guy I think), UTG+1 lag-ish player who hates to fold opens to $12 slightly deep (effective), and it`s folded to me. I decide to call with 67s, dont really like it but meh. Fish calls too. Flop comes 754ss, no flush draw for me. I check-call the flop, the fish folds. Turn comes an offsuit 7 and I donk big. UTG hates it but eventually calls. River comes an offuit 9 and I decide to donk out again, but I think I prefer c/r or c/c instead. He ended up folding which shifts my decision, a little results oriented but I think if I check river he`ll bluff missed draws and will value bet strong overpairs whereas if I donk he folds a good chunk of that range.

I end up dwindling about $40 in smaller silly pots later on (pair+FD played passively and missed, two AJ hands where I iso`ed but couldn`t continue, etc), but overall I made almost a buyin.

I only realized now that I left the casino WAY too early, and am now stuck for like 3 more hours at the airport. At least I`m on time. Excited to get home and see my lil lady and treat this sunburn!

Had a ton of fun with all the guys and girls on this trip and will %100 be coming out next year if I can afford it then. As long as I`m still with my lady I`ll be dragging her out next time too. I`m definitely disappointed I didn`t end up actually making money in what is easily the softest player pool relative to the stakes, but I had a great time and after not playing for weaks before the trip, I`m motivated to grind my online bankroll out and get myself back on track. It was awesome meeting all of you guys and I guess Ill see you around the forums!

Las Vegas: Day 5

Another interesting day. I woke up late to a call from Sean who wanted to go hit up the pool and meet up with Debi, Fredrik and Lori later. Pool was nice, but looked like a puddle in an alleyway compared to other places. I only just realized I got completely fried; my chest is burnt and will hurt like fuck tomorrow. Will have to pick up something to help out with that...

So we finish up at the pool, then head over to meet up with Debi at the MGM, then over to the Monte Carlo to have lunch with Fredrik and Lori. Had a nice time, couldn't help but gawk at little Ben's cuteness, and the meal filled us all up great.

Next, it's back to the MGM for some poker, with Fredrik for the first time.

He unfortunately had a horrible time in terms of running well, but we had fun nonetheless.

Some hands...let's see if I can remember more than 3 considering all the booze they fed me.

For the first hour or so I can't really recall any big hands, but there were a few iso spots where I either took it down pf or cbet the flop successfully. After that I moved seats to the other side of the table so I could get the bigger fish to my right, and less importantly the tight Debi and Fredrik to my left.

The big difference today was that I actually played tight and stayed away from bluffing, at least for the most part. One instance where I definitely could have slowed down was where I iso'ed with J9d or something, one of the blinds called the limpers folded. Flop came K77ss, and the blind player donked into me. He was unknown at this point, but had a slightly smaller stack and seemed kinda bad (I think he may have limped or something a few times). He donked out for like 1/2 pot and while I tried to raise it up I accidentally string bet (put in amount for call without verbal announcement of a raise, then put in the raise amount after). He got a little scared of that, and checked to me on the turn. I bet small, basically to fold out his bluffs which either had me beat or had some kind of equity against me, and he called. I gave up on a blank riv and he showed KQ which was never folding. Considering his whole range though, he either had a flush draw, Qx, 7x (none of which are folding), or a very rare bluff. So I don't like messing around there at all really.

Tag to my right opened in MP, I call IP on him with 22. Flop comes pretty good: 26Qss, and I just hope he caught a piece. We end up getting it in, not sure what he had but I took down a full stack in what seemed like the first time all trip.

Orbit or two later I limp in EP with 55, get several calls behind and we see a 456ss flop. Fishy player to my right check-raises me, and while it's not a fantastic spot to stack generally, I thought he'd felt any overpair, 67 and other pair+draw hand, some flush draws, any two pair, maybe 6x once in a blue moon. So I got it in, turns out he had 44 and I held. Looks like I'm finally winning!

Our session is winding down, everyone's kinda playing tight, and then Mr. AJ sits down directly to my right. He's about 14 drinks deep, loud as fuck, correct in his ways in every way possible, ignorant as can be, and he's sitting with a full stack. Nom nom.

Early on he raises A8 like utg or something, gets a call from tattooed, 9 1/2-fingered biker guy who busted Fredrik twice, and bets an AQJ flop. Biker calls. Q comes on the turn, AJ starts freaking out about how he must have just drawn out, checks it to the biker who drops a stack in the middle, and AJ check-raises all in. Biker had KQ and called, and AJ loses it, becoming even more of an asshole than he was before. I'd have minded if he wasn't so horrible at poker, directly to my right, and sitting with a full stack - he rebought right after that hand too.

Unfortunately I don't get any piece of him by the time he leaves, but he was definitely entertaining.

Next was the most interesting hand of the trip by far for me. Llater on, I'm sitting comfortably on 300 or 350bbs, and have Debi behind me who has me covered.

I limp-call 22 utg against her, and flop comes 2TJ. As much as I like Debi, I was pretty excited about winning a big pot at this point. I check, she cbets large, and I check-raise. She thinks for a bit and repops to $145 total. Remember we have about $600 behind. At this point I'm completely 'wow'ed, and am seriously considering folding a set. She raises pf with AK, JJ+, maybe TT, and only repops the flop with TT, JJ, AA and maybe KK, and both overpairs are pretty likely to call as well instead of repopping.

I decide to call to induce more from AA/KK, plus I can't fold a set yet because I'm a fish. Turn comes beautiful, an offsuit A. I think this card saved me, actually. I have about a pot bet left, check it to her, and she thinks after a while. She's actually a little off-put by that A. Or at least she's acting like it. She ends up shoving, and I hate life just a lil bit. I really think it saved me though; she's now tripped up with AA, KK is slowing down, and AJ/AT/KQ doesn't reraise the flop and may not even be in her range at all, so it made the turn a much easier lay down than had it come a 5 or something.

I fold, she shows JJ, and I pat myself on the back. Turn fold is actually probably standard, but I think I can even fold the flop.

That was that, I actually feel good about losing nearly a full stack, and we decide to call it a night.

Las Vegas: Day 4

Played at the Mirage earlier in the day with Sean. Had a decent table of nitty players, a few fish on the other side of the table to my right-ish.

While Sean is railing me waiting for a spot to open, I get AA with a raiser in front, bump it up, get folds all around back to him. He asks how much I have, I say a little over 200, he sort of reluctantly calls. Flop comes nice, J42ss, he checks, I cbet 2/3 pot, he calls fairly fast. Turn comes an offsuit 8, he checks, I bet a committing amount, he CRAI, I call, he shows 8s. Fun stuff.

Short while later I've won back nearly my entire stack with iso pots and stuff like that.

Later on one of the fishy players limps along with several others, and I bump up AA again. Villain has been playing really loose, calling a not-so-shortstacked player's shove with T6s for example. Flop comes J89, he checks, I bet nearly pot, he calls. Turn is a brick, same thing: he checks, I bet big, he calls. I'm putting him on a lot of pair+draw hands and even single pair no draw hands here and am pretty excited about a decent pot. River comes an A, I shove my less than pot bet when checked to, he folds. Poo.

Next was a hand I'm not happy about, again. UTG is a loose-passive fish who I've seen call down light and stuff, and doesn't open very wide pf. He opens $8 utg, gets a caller or two, I squeeze to $30 with AK. I think this is a %100 standard squeeze/fold since he's calling all his marginal hands that either have beat or have good fold equity against (AQ,AJ,pairs up to TT,JJ), and shoving all his monsters. He ended up raising all but $25 of his stack and I jammed, losing the flip to QQ. I think his range is pretty much AK, QQ+ there though, so I hate jamming.

And that's it for the Mirage. Sean took off while I was in the crapper, and I decided to take a nice long walk and potentially play some other juicy place. The bigger the room, the more prone it is to attract the WSOP guys who are all pretty much decent, so hunting for the small rooms with drunks and old farts is probably the +est EV. I end up not playing anywhere since all the games look kinda dry, and head back to my hotel for a dip in the pool which I hadn't even done yet (and I bought a pair of swimshorts just for the trip!). Pool ends up being closed, and I when I go back to my room I get a call from Sean who wants to meet up with Jason and Debi over at the Venetian. Jason was playing the $550 deepstack and was doing fairly well in like his 8th or 9th hour. Sean, Debi and I have a nice meal while Jason grinds away, then we decide to hit up the Mandalay Bay which I hadn't been to yet.

Pretty fishy play, and unfortunately I think I end up $100 down or something with some annoying plays. Some hands I can remember off the top of my head:

AK I open, get loose fish to call, nitty tag reraises to basically min. Cold caller behind, one of the limpers I iso'ed calls, and I decide to flat as a weird play instead of reraising. Probably the AK hand from earlier had me a little afraid of stacking it pf, especially with the "please call me" minraise. I end up check-calling a K98ss flop and have to fold after some heavy action, and fish beats the tag with a suckout, KJ vs AK.

Soon a new guy sits down who is awesomely bad. Doesn`t know what the hell he's doing, but is obviously here for fun and looking to 'get lucky', so we chat it up and stuff and I try to keep him seated at the table. He soon busts with some random crap, thinking he has a straight when he's one card short or something, and heads out. About 20 seconds after leaving, he comes back with an "I can't leave on a bad note" attitude which gives the table a little smile and I start licking my chops. Long story short, he ends up actually leaving with a few stacks and I don't get a chance to make anything off him.

Can't remember anything else; I delayed writing the second half of this post until later in the day so I apologize. I do know I dropped a little bit but started to feel a lot better compared to the day I went to the Venetian.