I’ve decided against a chronological order of events for the trip report. Instead I’ll be writing 3 to 4 random events during the weekend as they pop into my head each morning.
Aside: Number of times I’ve said “This fuckin’ place” since I’ve been back to work: 8
****
The defining poker hand for the trip happened after the WPBT event at the Imperial Palace. I was way down and decided to mix it up by raising UTG to $12 with 4,5 of spades. I got 4 callers which was no surprise. How about this for a flop though: A44. I immediately think I’ll be doubling up against any A out there, so I lead out for $20 and get 1 caller. The turn brings another A. Check, bet, fold. Thoughts of Hatebreed come to mind. Cast down…..defeated….never to rise.
****
The WPBT tourney gave me the opportunity to meet some of the fine ladies in the blogger universe: Jaxia, Joanne, Jen Leo, and Tanya. It’s quite nice to put a face to the name and I look forward to seeing you all again. Bonus points to Jaxia for asking to feel the gunz. Bonus points to Tanya for showing us her tattoo.
****
In the category of Bang for the Buck (no, not strippers or hookers), I played in the Aladdin noon tourney on Friday for $110 smackers. I played two hands. AQ ran into a set of Kings and then I lost a race with AT to 88 – Ace on the flop, 8 on the river.
****
Friday’s dinner at the Nine was a true highlight. You have to admire a girl who knows a good steak when she sees one. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since April hails from Texas. Pretty much after every bite, we each looked at each other with a knowing stare that this was some damn fine steak. I could seriously eat that stuff every night of the week. Can’t afford it, but I could eat it.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Best for Last
It was difficult for me to choose where to start my trip report. A majority of my weekend was spent losing money. As much as I know and understand that losing is a part of the game, I still hate it. I still let it affect my demeanor, and the last thing that a bunch of my friends want to see is a broody Blood. I try to pack away the disappointment into a small container and throw it out with the other garbage that accumulates in my head, but I’ll admit that at times it’s very difficult to do.
I didn’t tilt, but I didn’t play particularly well either.
Timing is everything in life. And in poker. For this trip, the timing was perfectly bad. I’d been running well the last few months; in fact, I was at all-time bankroll highs prior to my trip. I knew a bad stretch was coming, but was hoping I could extend my run of good play and good cards for just a few more days. To quote Anthrax’s I’m the Man: “Not!”
****
But rather than lament the bad, I’ll focus on the good. For there was good, and for my last remaining hours in Vegas playing poker, it was great.
If you ever go back and read my very first post on this blog, you’ll see that I discovered poker blogging through two outstanding people and their own respectively outstanding blogs. Iggy had placed some text ads on Wil Wheaton’s site and through that one simple action, my poker playing career was forever altered.
****
On Friday night, I stopped by the MGM poker room prior to dinner and saw two familiar faces at a $1/$2 NL table. Wil was playing poker with Paul Phillips. I’m not sure the rest of the table knew with whom they were playing, but I sure did.
Wil was out of a hand at the time I arrived, so I tapped him on the shoulder and introduced myself. He seemed genuinely interested to meet me and we spoke for a bit – his personality pretty much just like I imagined it would be. I waited for Paul to finish the hand he was in and did the same. Paul gave a sly look towards me, most likely wondering who this jackhole was bothering him at the tables. When I mentioned my online moniker, a spark of recognition lit his face and we exchanged a few pleasantries. Not one to linger and be a bother, I thanked each of them for their time and made my way to dinner.
I thought that would be all the interaction I’d have with the more famous bloggers for the weekend and was more than happy to have been given the opportunity to say hello.
****
The highlight of my weekend was a $2/$6 spread limit table at the Excalibur. They opened the table just for us and it had a lineup of players that made the game the most enjoyable time I’ve ever had in Vegas.
Here are some of the players that sat down for a night of Vegas Hold’em, wheel spin prop betting, and dealer tokes that had every dealer eyeing our table with envy. (Except for that pregnant dealer who I mistakenly clocked in the eye. Apparently she never heard of the Maudie/steel chair incident.)
Gamecock
Chilly
Otis
G-Rob
Wil Wheaton
BadBlood
Marty
Hank
Biggestron
Absinthe
PokerGeek
April
Heather
Michael Craig – author of The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King
****
I’ll write more in depth about that game and most everything else; but for now, I’ll just say thanks to everyone I saw again or met for the first time on this latest trip. I’m worn, my bankroll’s torn, but yet again, it was another great experience.
Coming up: Hi/lo split Excalibur prop betting, getting on “Wheaton’s list,” working out with Joaquin, WPBT tourney recap, lowest of the low, STEAK!, pre-tourney speeches, and mmmmmmm…..Jaxia ;)
I didn’t tilt, but I didn’t play particularly well either.
Timing is everything in life. And in poker. For this trip, the timing was perfectly bad. I’d been running well the last few months; in fact, I was at all-time bankroll highs prior to my trip. I knew a bad stretch was coming, but was hoping I could extend my run of good play and good cards for just a few more days. To quote Anthrax’s I’m the Man: “Not!”
****
But rather than lament the bad, I’ll focus on the good. For there was good, and for my last remaining hours in Vegas playing poker, it was great.
If you ever go back and read my very first post on this blog, you’ll see that I discovered poker blogging through two outstanding people and their own respectively outstanding blogs. Iggy had placed some text ads on Wil Wheaton’s site and through that one simple action, my poker playing career was forever altered.
****
On Friday night, I stopped by the MGM poker room prior to dinner and saw two familiar faces at a $1/$2 NL table. Wil was playing poker with Paul Phillips. I’m not sure the rest of the table knew with whom they were playing, but I sure did.
Wil was out of a hand at the time I arrived, so I tapped him on the shoulder and introduced myself. He seemed genuinely interested to meet me and we spoke for a bit – his personality pretty much just like I imagined it would be. I waited for Paul to finish the hand he was in and did the same. Paul gave a sly look towards me, most likely wondering who this jackhole was bothering him at the tables. When I mentioned my online moniker, a spark of recognition lit his face and we exchanged a few pleasantries. Not one to linger and be a bother, I thanked each of them for their time and made my way to dinner.
I thought that would be all the interaction I’d have with the more famous bloggers for the weekend and was more than happy to have been given the opportunity to say hello.
****
The highlight of my weekend was a $2/$6 spread limit table at the Excalibur. They opened the table just for us and it had a lineup of players that made the game the most enjoyable time I’ve ever had in Vegas.
Here are some of the players that sat down for a night of Vegas Hold’em, wheel spin prop betting, and dealer tokes that had every dealer eyeing our table with envy. (Except for that pregnant dealer who I mistakenly clocked in the eye. Apparently she never heard of the Maudie/steel chair incident.)
Gamecock
Chilly
Otis
G-Rob
Wil Wheaton
BadBlood
Marty
Hank
Biggestron
Absinthe
PokerGeek
April
Heather
Michael Craig – author of The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King
****
I’ll write more in depth about that game and most everything else; but for now, I’ll just say thanks to everyone I saw again or met for the first time on this latest trip. I’m worn, my bankroll’s torn, but yet again, it was another great experience.
Coming up: Hi/lo split Excalibur prop betting, getting on “Wheaton’s list,” working out with Joaquin, WPBT tourney recap, lowest of the low, STEAK!, pre-tourney speeches, and mmmmmmm…..Jaxia ;)
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
One
There is the life you lead. And there is the life you think you want to lead.
A trip to Vegas allows you to live the life you think you want to lead. A glimpse into the non-stop, a toe into the pool of excess, a taste of forbidden treats – it’s all there. Of course you can’t stay there for long. Running your own personal engine to its redline can be hazardous. But for short bursts, a pedal to the metal attitude works in the City of Sin.
The alternate reality of the coming weekend draws near. For those of us living the lives of family man, breadwinner, and responsible adult, this weekend affords us the opportunity to disregard the chains for a few days. We can stretch our inner selves that have been caged by the mundane, exposing the suppressed sides of our personalities with few repercussions.
And it will be healthy.
For when it is all over, it will be all over. The pressure that had built will be gone – released into the desert air in a festival of friends and good times. We will return to the routine, but with an appreciation for it rather than a distaste.
****
See you all soon.
A trip to Vegas allows you to live the life you think you want to lead. A glimpse into the non-stop, a toe into the pool of excess, a taste of forbidden treats – it’s all there. Of course you can’t stay there for long. Running your own personal engine to its redline can be hazardous. But for short bursts, a pedal to the metal attitude works in the City of Sin.
The alternate reality of the coming weekend draws near. For those of us living the lives of family man, breadwinner, and responsible adult, this weekend affords us the opportunity to disregard the chains for a few days. We can stretch our inner selves that have been caged by the mundane, exposing the suppressed sides of our personalities with few repercussions.
And it will be healthy.
For when it is all over, it will be all over. The pressure that had built will be gone – released into the desert air in a festival of friends and good times. We will return to the routine, but with an appreciation for it rather than a distaste.
****
See you all soon.
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Two
I’ve played the last live poker until Vegas in two days. I did go to the G-Vegas Big Game last night, but didn’t see much in the way of cards. I toiled for a bit and finished down less than a buy-in. There was mega-cash flowing at the table, I believe one guy was up over $1k. Based on what I saw, I’m not too displeased with the way I played, but the results were disappointing.
Here is an interesting hand where I feel I made good reads and that I played it correctly.
I’m in the SB and the blinds are $2/$5. UTG raises to $15 and gets 2 callers. Based on the table, I’m confident the BB will most likely call as well, perhaps fold, but certainly not re-raise. So I call. Indeed, the BB calls too and we’ve got a $75 pre-flop pot.
I’m holding 5d7d, by the way. Sorry I forgot to say so.
The flop is 4d, 8d, Qh – giving me the flush draw and gutshot straight draw. By all accounts, that’s 12 outs or so I think. I check, the BB checks and the UTG raiser bets $30. The two previous pre-flop callers also call.
Now my spidey-sense is going off. I muck. I have to believe here that at least one other person is on the flush draw and my baby draw will come up short. The BB also mucks and we’ve got a $165 pot.
The turn is the 6h, which would have given me the nuts. But it also produced a second flush draw, so getting outdrawn was a distinct possibility. Were I still in the hand, I’d have had to go all-in. But the problem was that I don’t think I could have made the flush draws fold. I was first to act and UTG was most certainly calling me. At this stage of the evening, UTG had a bigger stack and calling my all-in wouldn’t have been difficult. Then once he called, he’s making the pot size more attractive for the other two callers who are obviously on draws.
The river was a third diamond and G-Rob won the pot with AdTd and the nut flush. UTG showed pocket K’s.
In retrospect, I really like the laydown based on the number of players in the pot, my inability to create fold equity and the fact that the number of my actual outs was quite less than I originally anticipated.
I also liked that fact that I only saw 1 flop in Pinizzle. I am a tight box in that game.
Here is an interesting hand where I feel I made good reads and that I played it correctly.
I’m in the SB and the blinds are $2/$5. UTG raises to $15 and gets 2 callers. Based on the table, I’m confident the BB will most likely call as well, perhaps fold, but certainly not re-raise. So I call. Indeed, the BB calls too and we’ve got a $75 pre-flop pot.
I’m holding 5d7d, by the way. Sorry I forgot to say so.
The flop is 4d, 8d, Qh – giving me the flush draw and gutshot straight draw. By all accounts, that’s 12 outs or so I think. I check, the BB checks and the UTG raiser bets $30. The two previous pre-flop callers also call.
Now my spidey-sense is going off. I muck. I have to believe here that at least one other person is on the flush draw and my baby draw will come up short. The BB also mucks and we’ve got a $165 pot.
The turn is the 6h, which would have given me the nuts. But it also produced a second flush draw, so getting outdrawn was a distinct possibility. Were I still in the hand, I’d have had to go all-in. But the problem was that I don’t think I could have made the flush draws fold. I was first to act and UTG was most certainly calling me. At this stage of the evening, UTG had a bigger stack and calling my all-in wouldn’t have been difficult. Then once he called, he’s making the pot size more attractive for the other two callers who are obviously on draws.
The river was a third diamond and G-Rob won the pot with AdTd and the nut flush. UTG showed pocket K’s.
In retrospect, I really like the laydown based on the number of players in the pot, my inability to create fold equity and the fact that the number of my actual outs was quite less than I originally anticipated.
I also liked that fact that I only saw 1 flop in Pinizzle. I am a tight box in that game.
Monday, December 5, 2005
Five, Four, Three
I’m having some problems.
Containing myself that is. That’s ‘cause I’m huge. But not that huge, because I was still owned at arm-wrestling this weekend. Granted, TheMark and TheRick both outweigh me by 40 or so pounds, but that’s no excuse.
The real problem is that I’m getting excited and that means I’ll be playing less-than-optimal poker. I was excited Friday night. CJ and The Big Pirate Wes were in town, and when you add in G-Rob, TheMark, TheRick, TeamScottSmith, Shep Tiltstein, and The Wolverine, you get G-Vegas at its best. Personally I was at my worst. I should know better than to play poker when the hostess is serving shots of SoCo on a tray for me to consume. This has now happened twice. First time – Mrs. Otis was the guilty party. Second time, it was Mrs_All_In, aka Pokerbtch, aka popsicle girl, aka the One Who Tilts Otis. And both times I’ve suffered my worst cash losses of the year.
The cash bankroll suffered a bit, but it was a blast. –EV all the way.
****
Let me add fire to the brewing blogger controversy. No, not that one. The one between me and PokerGeek. On his blog, he simply states, and I quote:
Me > You.
Let me delineate instances where that is correct, for it is not a global truism.
And last, but not least, I give him props for his Schwarzenegger impressions. But that is all. Any other situation, the equation above should be re-written thusly:
e^(PI * i) * tan(PI)== PokerGeek
Containing myself that is. That’s ‘cause I’m huge. But not that huge, because I was still owned at arm-wrestling this weekend. Granted, TheMark and TheRick both outweigh me by 40 or so pounds, but that’s no excuse.
The real problem is that I’m getting excited and that means I’ll be playing less-than-optimal poker. I was excited Friday night. CJ and The Big Pirate Wes were in town, and when you add in G-Rob, TheMark, TheRick, TeamScottSmith, Shep Tiltstein, and The Wolverine, you get G-Vegas at its best. Personally I was at my worst. I should know better than to play poker when the hostess is serving shots of SoCo on a tray for me to consume. This has now happened twice. First time – Mrs. Otis was the guilty party. Second time, it was Mrs_All_In, aka Pokerbtch, aka popsicle girl, aka the One Who Tilts Otis. And both times I’ve suffered my worst cash losses of the year.
The cash bankroll suffered a bit, but it was a blast. –EV all the way.
****
Let me add fire to the brewing blogger controversy. No, not that one. The one between me and PokerGeek. On his blog, he simply states, and I quote:
Me > You.
Let me delineate instances where that is correct, for it is not a global truism.
- Wielding a lightsaber.
- Ability to be knocked down by a small gust of wind.
- Using the “Clone/Stamp” Tool.
- Convincing others to back him in low-limit blogger tourneys.
- Passing out after 3 fluid ounces of alcohol.
And last, but not least, I give him props for his Schwarzenegger impressions. But that is all. Any other situation, the equation above should be re-written thusly:
e^(PI * i) * tan(PI)== PokerGeek
Friday, December 2, 2005
Six
With less than a week to go, I’m noticing a few things. And I like ‘em.
The smack talk is beginning. Any time we can bring an element of professional wrestling to the world of poker is fine by me. Here’s what I’m seeing:
Pokergeek – Soooooooooooo jealous of the G-Vegas home game. Quite frankly, who isn’t? Granted, his superior photoshop skills are unequaled but big deal, I can bench geek with one hand. I put him on a buck-twenty-five.
Chilly – He’s going out of his way to dis G-Vegas’ king of the coiffure. Sadly, I’m sure I cannot bench Chilly with one hand. Maybe two, but I’d need handles. He too is quite jealous of the G-Vegas homegame. Go ask Marty about the pre-Bradoween game, then hide your bankroll.
Shep Tiltstein – Yeah, I know he doesn’t like the name Tiltstein, but he’s gone and dissed me anyway in the UpForPoker comments section. Then he goes and decides to recruit other G-Vegas-ites for the CJ challenge. Shep’s way too solid for me to confront physically, so it will be psychological warfare.
CJ – A G-Vegas vet by the grandfather clause, CJ’s issued his 3-way challenge. Go see UpForPoker for details. I’ve managed quite a coup by snagging St. Ignatious and Squint from Pokerstage. I’ll take my chances. Ig, ya better show up.
Whatcha gonna do, when the power of Blood-a-mania runs WILD on you!!!!
The smack talk is beginning. Any time we can bring an element of professional wrestling to the world of poker is fine by me. Here’s what I’m seeing:
Pokergeek – Soooooooooooo jealous of the G-Vegas home game. Quite frankly, who isn’t? Granted, his superior photoshop skills are unequaled but big deal, I can bench geek with one hand. I put him on a buck-twenty-five.
Chilly – He’s going out of his way to dis G-Vegas’ king of the coiffure. Sadly, I’m sure I cannot bench Chilly with one hand. Maybe two, but I’d need handles. He too is quite jealous of the G-Vegas homegame. Go ask Marty about the pre-Bradoween game, then hide your bankroll.
Shep Tiltstein – Yeah, I know he doesn’t like the name Tiltstein, but he’s gone and dissed me anyway in the UpForPoker comments section. Then he goes and decides to recruit other G-Vegas-ites for the CJ challenge. Shep’s way too solid for me to confront physically, so it will be psychological warfare.
CJ – A G-Vegas vet by the grandfather clause, CJ’s issued his 3-way challenge. Go see UpForPoker for details. I’ve managed quite a coup by snagging St. Ignatious and Squint from Pokerstage. I’ll take my chances. Ig, ya better show up.
Whatcha gonna do, when the power of Blood-a-mania runs WILD on you!!!!
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Seven
So I won this tournament, which frankly surprised the hell out of me. It all started out when I signed up for a freeroll based out of the TalkingPoker forum. What was funny is that prior to the freeroll, I was playing a $100NL table and on two different occasions, I got pestered for the password to the tourney. The prize pool was for $100 and top prize was $30. I didn’t give out the password as I was instructed not to, but it was funny to hear the excuses people gave as to why they came to me to get the password rather than the official channel. Peeps be desperate.
All was going well in the freeroll. I doubled up and was second in chips at my table by just a bit. Disaster came in the form of AA when I re-raised an EP raiser who simply flat called. The flop was 8-high and the EP raiser pushed. I called and he flipped up KK. Rather than getting my money in as a 4:1 favorite, it was now 9:1. No matter, a K came on the turn and I was gone. Damn tournaments. The previous night, I got eliminated with KK vs AK, so I was none too happy about how volatile tourney play could get.
At about 10:00pm G-Rob convinced me to play in a $20 180 person MTT on Stars. Since Tilt was down again, I said WTF and signed up.
These lower buy-in tournaments certainly play like freerolls early on. There are your maniacs and push-monkeys who will either quadruple up by the first level or get eliminated. It makes it tough to try to accumulate chips by actually playing poker in the early levels.
As was common, I found myself below average with 2/3rds of the field gone. With an average stack of around 5000, I was at 2100. One maniac at my table was a luck box that only CJ could aspire to. He called every bet and hit for the first two hours. However, in the span of 3 hands, I doubled up against him with QQ and did it again with AA. From short-stacked to 8th, I now had a chance to play poker.
When the tourney was nearing the money, I made a few laydowns of trouble hands that turned out to be key. I folded AJo in the SB to an UTG raiser. He showed KK. I’d have gone broke there on a J-high flop, which was equally as likely as doubling up on an A-high flop. Still, I was out of position and way behind to most raising hands from his position. On another occasion, I layed down KQ from the button to a raise and a call. The hand was never shown and even though the board was a favorable TJQx, I could have easily been way behind to AQ or AK.
Throughout the later stages, I remained pretty tight. In fact, with 8 players left, my stats still read at only 10% flops seen from outside the blinds. I picked up a few pots here and there and won a few races.
Part of the reason for my success was the following favorable results. I was in 3-races and won all of them. I did not suckout on anybody, nor did anyone suck out on me. Two of the three races, I had my opponent out chipped so my tournament life was not at stake. In the other race, I pushed with an OESFD against pocket K’s and with two chances to hit my 15-outs connected on the turn.
With four players left, it seemed it would only be a battle for second. One player had about 150k and the 3 others had about 40k. I asked for a 4 way chop, but was turned down. What a mistake on the chipleader’s part….
My move of the night came with 4 players left. I was on SB with 99 and the chipleader on the button made a nice raise. As we all know, that raise could have meant anything. More than likely it was a steal. It was at that time that I decided this time investment was either paying 1st or 4th. So I pushed. He paused, hit the time bank, and then folded. I vaulted to 2nd in chips.
One of the other players seemed very content to finish 4th. In fact, he did. He was all-in or fold, but didn’t take any chances on the button ever. After he was gone and there were three players left, the stack sizes were all very near the 90k mark.
I thought about propsing a chop. Then I said to myself, forget about it. I was there to win, and with G-Rob and Otis sweating me, I had a little bit to prove given their online tourney successes.
I became chip leader by a very slight margin and found pocket 9’s on the button. I raised a standard amount and the former chip leader called from the BB. The flop was Q73. The BB pushed.
At this point, I felt he was bluffing. Why? I’m not 100% sure. I think our brains are wired to notice differences in our surroundings rather than the details of our surroundings. Ever been driving down a long highway for what seems like ages, almost hypnotized by the unchanging scenery? It only takes a small change, perhaps in our peripheral vision, to shake us out of the trance. All during the final table, the chip leader never put so many of his chips at risk. Something was up and my subconscious caught it.
I called and he flipped over ATo. Like I mentioned before, I didn’t get sucked out on and all of a sudden I have a 2:1 chip lead for the headsup battle.
My opponent lost several pots early to me and then basically folded his way into an un-winnable situation. It was 2:15 am and I was wired, psyched, and ecstatic at my win.
This was my biggest tourney win to date, surpassing my $800 cash in February. I’m still not super excited about my tournament game, but this was certainly a positive indicator. I may try to play some more of these in the time before Vegas, but I’ll have to start them sooner in the evening. This morning at work was hellish.
All was going well in the freeroll. I doubled up and was second in chips at my table by just a bit. Disaster came in the form of AA when I re-raised an EP raiser who simply flat called. The flop was 8-high and the EP raiser pushed. I called and he flipped up KK. Rather than getting my money in as a 4:1 favorite, it was now 9:1. No matter, a K came on the turn and I was gone. Damn tournaments. The previous night, I got eliminated with KK vs AK, so I was none too happy about how volatile tourney play could get.
At about 10:00pm G-Rob convinced me to play in a $20 180 person MTT on Stars. Since Tilt was down again, I said WTF and signed up.
These lower buy-in tournaments certainly play like freerolls early on. There are your maniacs and push-monkeys who will either quadruple up by the first level or get eliminated. It makes it tough to try to accumulate chips by actually playing poker in the early levels.
As was common, I found myself below average with 2/3rds of the field gone. With an average stack of around 5000, I was at 2100. One maniac at my table was a luck box that only CJ could aspire to. He called every bet and hit for the first two hours. However, in the span of 3 hands, I doubled up against him with QQ and did it again with AA. From short-stacked to 8th, I now had a chance to play poker.
When the tourney was nearing the money, I made a few laydowns of trouble hands that turned out to be key. I folded AJo in the SB to an UTG raiser. He showed KK. I’d have gone broke there on a J-high flop, which was equally as likely as doubling up on an A-high flop. Still, I was out of position and way behind to most raising hands from his position. On another occasion, I layed down KQ from the button to a raise and a call. The hand was never shown and even though the board was a favorable TJQx, I could have easily been way behind to AQ or AK.
Throughout the later stages, I remained pretty tight. In fact, with 8 players left, my stats still read at only 10% flops seen from outside the blinds. I picked up a few pots here and there and won a few races.
Part of the reason for my success was the following favorable results. I was in 3-races and won all of them. I did not suckout on anybody, nor did anyone suck out on me. Two of the three races, I had my opponent out chipped so my tournament life was not at stake. In the other race, I pushed with an OESFD against pocket K’s and with two chances to hit my 15-outs connected on the turn.
With four players left, it seemed it would only be a battle for second. One player had about 150k and the 3 others had about 40k. I asked for a 4 way chop, but was turned down. What a mistake on the chipleader’s part….
My move of the night came with 4 players left. I was on SB with 99 and the chipleader on the button made a nice raise. As we all know, that raise could have meant anything. More than likely it was a steal. It was at that time that I decided this time investment was either paying 1st or 4th. So I pushed. He paused, hit the time bank, and then folded. I vaulted to 2nd in chips.
One of the other players seemed very content to finish 4th. In fact, he did. He was all-in or fold, but didn’t take any chances on the button ever. After he was gone and there were three players left, the stack sizes were all very near the 90k mark.
I thought about propsing a chop. Then I said to myself, forget about it. I was there to win, and with G-Rob and Otis sweating me, I had a little bit to prove given their online tourney successes.
I became chip leader by a very slight margin and found pocket 9’s on the button. I raised a standard amount and the former chip leader called from the BB. The flop was Q73. The BB pushed.
At this point, I felt he was bluffing. Why? I’m not 100% sure. I think our brains are wired to notice differences in our surroundings rather than the details of our surroundings. Ever been driving down a long highway for what seems like ages, almost hypnotized by the unchanging scenery? It only takes a small change, perhaps in our peripheral vision, to shake us out of the trance. All during the final table, the chip leader never put so many of his chips at risk. Something was up and my subconscious caught it.
I called and he flipped over ATo. Like I mentioned before, I didn’t get sucked out on and all of a sudden I have a 2:1 chip lead for the headsup battle.
My opponent lost several pots early to me and then basically folded his way into an un-winnable situation. It was 2:15 am and I was wired, psyched, and ecstatic at my win.
This was my biggest tourney win to date, surpassing my $800 cash in February. I’m still not super excited about my tournament game, but this was certainly a positive indicator. I may try to play some more of these in the time before Vegas, but I’ll have to start them sooner in the evening. This morning at work was hellish.
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