I've always liked Las Vegas in the fall. The WSOP in summer is a slog, though I love the searing heat. The drawback is you have to contend with hordes of hoodies with headphones and a flop story to tell lurking around every corner, and whilst some of them are certainly nice enough, the constant barrage of Christmas-cracker expertise grates on you after a while. Well is does on me. Maybe I'm just getting old.
Autumn is different. Outside of the hubbub of the WSOP it's busy, but at the same time far more sedate. Fewer online qualifiers or tax evaders are in town chasing a payday, and whilst there's still plenty in the calendar to keep both pros and recreational players alike happy, it doesn't have the normal feel of people trying their hardest to stuff 28 hours of poker into every single day, playing in rooms which are crammed to bursting.
I arrived yesterday, got to the house and unpacked, and caught up with a few old friends then slept. My advertised schedule doesn't start proper for a few days, but today I returned to my old stomping ground of The Venetian to splash around in the evening tournament and acclimatise a bit. A gentle start if you will.
Autumn is different. Outside of the hubbub of the WSOP it's busy, but at the same time far more sedate. Fewer online qualifiers or tax evaders are in town chasing a payday, and whilst there's still plenty in the calendar to keep both pros and recreational players alike happy, it doesn't have the normal feel of people trying their hardest to stuff 28 hours of poker into every single day, playing in rooms which are crammed to bursting.
I arrived yesterday, got to the house and unpacked, and caught up with a few old friends then slept. My advertised schedule doesn't start proper for a few days, but today I returned to my old stomping ground of The Venetian to splash around in the evening tournament and acclimatise a bit. A gentle start if you will.
Only a 44 player event which means if I won I would t be retiring on the profits, but also it probably won't play out for 3 or 4 exhausting days either.
Well after plenty of swash and a small measure of buckle, I made the final. Normally that would equate to good news, especially as we just went 8 handed, however:
A) I have a bowl of rice, and
B) they're only paying 5 spots.
Watch this space for tales of woe or dazzling victory.
And woe it was. With bells on.
Almost like I've never been away since the summer. I ran my bowl of rice (9k) back up to a very respectable 40k, then flop a set of aces heads up on an AK10 flop and it all goes in. My opponent has QJ. Brick brick and it's a smile and a well played everyone and goodnight from me on the bubble...Kevin has left the building.
It's character building. A fairly ugly exit after 6 hours, and it's pretty rare to find yourself flopping a set of aces and not having the best hand at that point, but it is what it is. I'm not bleating, more hoping "let's get the gut-wrenching exits out of the way early to clear a path for greater things". I'll console myself with having played well and having some spot on reads during the course of the night. The exit hand I didn't give him QJ but I wasn't going anywhere regardless. Late night food and off to bed.
Most likely playing the Venetian daily with a $10k guarantee tomorrow.
Night night.
A) I have a bowl of rice, and
B) they're only paying 5 spots.
Watch this space for tales of woe or dazzling victory.
And woe it was. With bells on.
Almost like I've never been away since the summer. I ran my bowl of rice (9k) back up to a very respectable 40k, then flop a set of aces heads up on an AK10 flop and it all goes in. My opponent has QJ. Brick brick and it's a smile and a well played everyone and goodnight from me on the bubble...Kevin has left the building.
It's character building. A fairly ugly exit after 6 hours, and it's pretty rare to find yourself flopping a set of aces and not having the best hand at that point, but it is what it is. I'm not bleating, more hoping "let's get the gut-wrenching exits out of the way early to clear a path for greater things". I'll console myself with having played well and having some spot on reads during the course of the night. The exit hand I didn't give him QJ but I wasn't going anywhere regardless. Late night food and off to bed.
Most likely playing the Venetian daily with a $10k guarantee tomorrow.
Night night.
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