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wsc $1100 day 1a $1M guaranteed

26/6/2018

Scheduling stuff and cashing in the WSOP means I re-jigged my tournament plans slightly, and opted to swing at day 1A of the Wynn Classic today instead of the PH event. There's money in the budget, and with a million guaranteed as opposed to $500K at PH, it seems a better bet for your money, so off we go.

20K starting stack becomes 24K quickly, when I turn a straight against a guy who wants to keep firing. I let him until he gives up the ghost when he realises he's toast. Good start.

Some creative betting and a nicely flopped top set and my 20K starting stack now looks good and more like 32K. The table is a little snug, and one older French guy has already had an argument with another player because he wanted to see the player's hand, when he actually wasn't obligated to show it. Poker players really can be such children sometimes. Anyhoo, I'm in the zone, and as we approach the first break I'm doing well and am well above average chips.

I just got my first vomit inducing moment of the trip. Now my stack is back down to 15K when it would have been more like 50K had I won the pot..

I have QQ in a 3 way pot, and I river top set on a 2 10 6 3 Q board. It's a big pot, and I bet 7700 on the river into two players who have both check called so far. One folds and the other now ships for about 4K more. Ugh. I call, and he tables 54 for a dirty straight. He wants to have a gloat and a little needle, but I let him get on with it, and am over it the second it's happened. Never mind, suck it up and press onwards and try to rebuild when we return for level 4..

234/268 remain at present in today's flight. The guy who made the straight versus my set just gave 15K or so away by calling a guy down with K8 suited, and losing to the all-in shove, when the other guy table K9 with a King on the board. Surreal stuff.

I've gone into my shell a little bit for now, not wanting to be in the spot that others now find themselves... calling off hand after hand and suddenly being short stacked. I'm still on 15K which is fine, so for now I'll bide my time.

243/314 now as we near level 6. A tad frustratingly, I've gone utterly card dead, and the guy on my right who had the 54 has had a combination of hitting everything he's played, and also having people who have nothing bluffing into him a fair bit. As a result, I'm on 12K now, and he looks more like 55K. At times like this I guess you just have to rock up, and remember it's just one long game, and wait for the moment to come when it turns.

I steal a couple of pots and win one at showdown whilst in level 6. I'm playing pretty tight and aggressive, not bleeding off chips. A couple of Greek guys join the table, and a lot of pots are being played 3 and 4 way preflop now. I'm feeling comfortable, though the mood of the table is darker than at the start of the day. Poker often ebbs and flows. I find it best not to let anything really get to you, and to just play your game and be consistent.

I just spiralled out... I think unluckily, but I'll let you be the judge. I'm in the big blind with AQ offsuit, and it's raised under the gun to 2800 by the English older guy on my left. I'm not a lover of AQ as a rule, unless you can flop cheap, and hit the world. However, in this spot two other players flat call the 2800, and I decide to take a flop. I think folding here is bad (though not always terrible-see my earlier comment about needing to flop a miracle), and I also think that at this stage that raising is definitely an error.

We see a flop 4 way, and it comes Q 10 Q. Hallelujah...

I decide to lead out for 4500. I like betting flops like this, as people rarely do so, and as a result it's unlikely anyone puts you 100% on a Queen. The English guy now raises me to 11K. The other two players fold.

I's a hard spot for me, but with about with over 28K in the pot, I think I don't really have a choice. I ship for another 7K or so more and he calls me. Let's see what he has.

He tables 10 10, for a flopped house, Tens full of Queens. Bugger it.

I'm not drawing dead, and as I say I'd think am maybe quite unfortunate to find this guy with this exact hand (I'm only losing to 10 10 or Q 10), but there it is.

The board runs out and I can't pair up to make a bigger house, and I bust. Little to do but wish the table luck and leave.

It's a disappointing day. I got a great start, and lost an ugly pot where I would have been in amazing shape had I won. The exit hand was equally harsh. Not making excuses. I could throw it round in circles, but I think they both kind of played themselves, and I was just the guy who got the raw deal today. I will most likely take another go at this tomorrow, as I was scheduled to play 1B before I decided on playing today. The Venetian has a $3500 with what looks like a big overlay, but it's too much money to pony up, so I think that one will have to be missed out on.

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WSOP $1500 MONSTER STACK DAY 2

25/6/2018

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First orbit of my start table and already I'm liking my day 2 line up. I stole the first two pots uncontested, and though stack wise I'm in the middle of the pack, they seem a pretty passive bunch. Of course, we have over 2,000 players still in the field, and I believe 900+ get paid, so there's no real need to start bashing the hell out of things this early on.

Saying that...when the hand comes up you kind of have to play it.

My 36K just became 24K when I raised blind on blind with QQ. The shorter stacked big blid called and I fired the flop for 3K when an Ace a 5 and a 7 hit. He quickly called. Another Ace on the turn, and I bet another 3K. He dwells, and then raises me back for another 5K more, leaving about 9K behind. In my mind he's absolutely never ever bluffing here, so painful as it is, I just have to release it, and get ready to rebuild a bit.

We're almost at the start of level 12, and no update on players remaining yet. I'm not overly fussed. Just keep playing my game.

Won a small pot with AQ on an Ace high flop, but then lost a bigger one with 77 on a 944 flop when I had to fold to a bet of over half my stack. I'd like to grind this for a while, but at 200/600/1200 with a sub-20K stack I may need to get busy and try for the double up whilst I have enough chips to make it meaningful. With a 40 or 50K stack then playing lots of small pots is very attractive, with what I'm looking at now, not so much when you keep missing flops. Never mind. Grit. Teeth.

The Aussie lady on my table started today with a healthy stack. When the board in one hand ran out four cards to a Royal Flush, and also paired in a big pot, she looked pained and lost around half her stack. She rebuilt a bit, and then bluffed off a huge chunk with Ace high to the guy on her right, so she's now on fumes. Stuff like this is worth being aware of, as sometimes short stacked people get desperate, and do something in a hand that ruins your own plans, so I'm keeping one eye on her.

Screen now says about 1,780 players remain, so still a good 900 or so off the money, not that I'm thinking about that right now.

Well, my hand just came up, and I grabbed it by the balls and shook it. Whatever the hell that means.

I am in the big blind in a 3 way limped pot with 87 offsuit. It comes 6 8 9 rainbow,and second to speak I check as it looks like the cutoff may bet. He does, for 3500, and the small blind calls. If someone's flopped a straight then I'm unlucky, but with my chips, tossing a pair and a straight draw here I think is definitely an error. I ship it, and the cutoff calls, tabling 86 for a flopped two pair after the small blind has folded. Not ideal but I'm live.

The immediate 5 on the turn is a welcome sight to give me a straight, and no disasters on the river mean I have a second wind and am now back to 31K again. Right. Let's start over!

Just found Kings and got zero action, and then found 10 7 offsuit and also got no action, but raised with it anyway and picked up the pot. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Approaching the first break and I'm basically back where I started on 39K or so. Still liking this table a lot. Only one guy looks remotely dangerous, and the rest are either passive or recreational, though I don't have enough chips to start going crazy just yet. Off outside for some sun.

Back from the break, and the grind continues with 1300 players remaining as we go to 200/800/1600. I'm a little up and a little down, but currently am sitting on about 33K, which is still OK.No hands of note appearing, but I'm managing my chips quite well and robbing occasionally when possible. A 50K + stack would be much better to work with on this table, but I'm nipping along slowly, never winning or losing too much at a time.

We just hit 1,100 players, and also the start of level 14 at 300/1K/2K. Blinds and antes are now starting to bite, and with around 200 players left until the first money level, people are getting jittery and punting with all sorts of hands preflop. Time to play smart.

That sucks. Just lost a scabby one when I raised with 33 and a bigger stack called off with KQ offsuit and hit a King, bumping me down to nearer 20K. I'm not in my comfort zone now stack-wise, and having played (I think) pretty well for a day and a half almost), it feels a bit rough to have come off worst in a few borderline hands in the last few levels. Still, it is what it is, we just have to do our best and keep on going.

I decided from the get-go that playing like a pussy probably wasn't going to get me very far in terms of results, and I'm certainly not shy about moving chips around. I go down to 16K which at 300/1K/2K is a pretty bad spot, so when it's folded to me and I see As 7s, I decide to not get fancy and just let them have it.

I'm not in love with it when one player dwells up, and then finally calls for probably 25% of his stack. On our backs, and...

Me: As 7s
Him Ad Js

OK, I can wax lyrical about hand selection, but I really don't like his call, irrespective of him having me locked up to three outs or a flush. He has about 4 people to act behind him, and I'm not folding, since I'm all in. But of course, as said, we all play differently. I's not what I'd have done with his stack anyway. Off we go.

The universe appears to agree with me, and I get some love by flopping a Seven. He picks up a straight draw but bricks it, and we hit the next break with me on a better but still not amazing 34K.

Back from break, and tantalisingly close to the min-cash, which of course isn't what I'm about, but is worth keeping in mind as it affects the table dynamic quite often. The nice old Hawaiian guy on my left is crippled on around 5K, and when all are folded to us in the blinds, though I don't like it, I feel I have to move him in no-look. He duly calls, and we both flip over K7, albeit me having the Kd 7d.

I flop a flush draw, and turn a seven, and river a King, so we chop with much mirth from everyone but the kid who missed his flush. On we go. He busts shortly after, but was fun to play with.

25K and the screw is tightening. I've seen an A9 shove get called by J 10 for 45K, and A3 vs A7 for 60k or so. Some of these guys are truly frightening... even if it's for all the wrong reasons.

Well kids... it looks like we are on the actual bubble here with 940 players, and 939 getting some monies. I've dropped back to 19K or so, but know what to do in situations like these. Hopefully someone else can be the sacrificial lamb at this point in the game anyway. If you see that I've busted on the stone money bubble, then I'll give you three guesses what the exit hand was.

A good 20 minutes or so passes. A lot of it I think with assorted poker players tanking and dwelling up unnecessarily, not actually realising that they've stopped the tournament clock, thus rendering any stalling utterly pointless. I never said these guys were too bright.

Anyway, now we're $2,300 to the good. Next stage is at least two double ups.

It's getting tight, as I'm totally card dead, and now we're at 500/1500/3000, it's super expensive to play. A couple of guys at the table have big stacks, and where I am right now, it means I just have to get busy and hope for the best, as we've got to the money stage, and now we just need to get the rub of the green when it matters most.

It's been dire since the bubble, and I've stolen two pots with oxygen, but it doesn't cover the cost of living. I need a double up. I'm down to 11K which basic maths tells us all is not enough. I squeeze out a queen under the gun, and decide that with 4 big blinds, that will have to do. I jam.

I get one dwell-call, and then the Aussie woman I played with yesterday decides to shove for around 75K. I consider this good news based on what she's turned over so far as it may isolate us. It does, and she flips over JJ which to me is superb.

I turn over both cards. I have Qd 6d. Not ideal but it's the race I need and I was in first.

It runs out blanks, and I bust. Some will say that Q6 suited wasn't the exit hand to go on. However, I could have been in the big blind for 1/3 of my stack would be a pretty awful spot unless you find a miracle hand. I've no complaints about the strategy. Played 2 events, cashed in one. Onto the next, and no regrets.

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filler/prep/etc

24/6/2018

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No poker was played today.

Nope, I haven't taken leave of my senses. The window in which for me to play here isn't huge, however in the upcoming days/weeks, trust me, there are no shortage of things to play. I made day two of the Monster Stack, which resumes tomorrow, and my scheduled event today started at 5 pm. I therefore decided that rather than punt in that and also be up for 11 am tomorrow, I'd use it as a rest day to start fresh for the WSOP in the morning. Nothing crocks your chances of playing well and being focused like having three hours sleep, so I decided that buying in for the Venetian event today would be an error on my part, since I'd like to go deep (read late) and if I didn't then there would be no point buying in to begin with. Like I say, plenty of things still to come, and if I bust out, it's simply another shell in the arsenal for something else.

It's quite funny that people at work were talking to me about my long "holiday", and I was quite emphatic that I'd get very little time to actually holiday or rest up. Here I am on day 4 by the pool with a screwdriver chilling right out. I've said before that a lot of players feel the time constraint whilst here. Like, they HAVE to fill every waking hour with poker, or they are somehow losing out. A lot of these guys aren't winning players anyway, so it makes limited sense to me to be running yourself into the ground just to rack up the hours. What do I know? I've only been playing since the Dark Ages.

For me, today was a few errands, some pool time, and a hot yoga class in the evening (if you ever come out here and are into doing more than just eating fried chicken and having a heart attack, then try TruFusion-it's great and I'm a confirmed devotee of the place). In the evening I did a bit of shopping, cooked up some chicken with butter & balsamic vinegar (an old Nigel Slater recipe, but something the yanks have neither heard of nor tasted before), and took it easy. We resume battle tomorrow at the Rio, and whatever it brings, I'm better prepared for it one way or the other.

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wsop $1500 monster stack

23/6/2018

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Plotted up nice and early for the 10 am start for my WSOP Monster Stack event. I've heard the numbers are down this year at the Rio, however the early start could just mean a lot of the regulars are still in bed, since getting up prior to midday is often a feat in itself for a lot of these guys.

I recognise one guy at my starting table, a hoodie in large mirrored shades who always says very little, and always reminds me of a giant bluebottle. Past experience has shown that late in a tournament he's happy to treat hands such as A 10 like four of a kind, but he always seems to be in the mix, so I guess it's working out for him.

Lots of small ball stuff understandably during the early rounds. We begin with 15K which is plenty with a one hour clock starting at 25/50 blinds. The guy on my right has already had his KK shredded by a set, and his straight destroyed by a flush, so he's now looking more like 8K, and is playing more pots this early than he probably should be.

The first hour is uneventful for me, and I don't win a single pot, despite having quite a few AK's AQ's suited Aces etc. It's all minimal, and my 15K looks more like 13,500 now.

First break after the second hour, and I'm on 12K without winning a single hand in 2 levels. Not overly concerned, the structure is great, and I've got plenty of patience and time to get going. The secret in my mind is just to not bleed off too many chips too early. The guy I said who was ready to pop earlier is now long gone. He kept playing hand after hand and trying to fight his way out of the downward spiral, and it never happened, despite him having some decent holdings.

I've come down to my usual spot out by the benches in front of the Rio for the 20 minute break, in order to defrost from the absolutely freezing atmosphere inside, and also to get away from the incessant poker chat from the hoodied millennial neckbeards. Today isn't my lucky day. Some loudmouth and his buddy sit down right by me, and he wants to playbook every bloody hand for the last 2 hours. I stick on my headphones and listen to a bit of Hans Zimmer to blot out the droning. The smell of weed outside on the breaks is far harder to mask, but you can't have everything. Caesars in their wisdom have also decided that an outdoor portaloo (branded of course) right at the entrance is a masterstroke of customer convenience and marketing. An outdoor crapper in the middle of the desert in 115 degree heat...what could possibly go wrong? I think I'll pass.

Patience being a virtue and all that. I return from the break, and now my 12K looks more like 22K, after I flop a set of 10's and the man with a set of 3's can't see any other choice than to go broke with them. Sets are always a tough spot, but he could have lost less chips or even got away from it by the time the dust cleared. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Anyway, I'll take the win and the chips, and we're well and truly back in the zone after a dead first two levels.

20 minutes until the end of level 3, and I lose a smallish one to an aggressive Aussie kid who has joined us. I know I always say it, bit a lot of guys seem to want to go crazy early with marginal hands... the viewpoint I guess being that they either get a playable stack early on, or they go and do something else. This might not be a bad thing, but it needs to be tempered with a bit of common sense. A lot of guys who like to bully can amass a big stack early, but don't have the gears to reign it in a bit once they have the chips. Whatever you do, if you're playing this thing, it's supposed to be a long, hard day.

Flopping the nuts in the WSOP and then losing always sucks. It just happened to one guy, but luckily it wasn't me.

On a flop of 6 7 10, a betting war breaks out between the guy with 98, and an older guy who has 66 but decides hes not going anywhere, even for 15K plus. It all goes in, and an immediate 7 on the turn pairs up to give the old guy a boat. It's not pretty, but in these things you'll see far worse as the day unfolds.

We just hit level 4 and the 25 antes have kicked in. At this stage it doesn't change too much for me, and I'm still sitting pretty on 23K or so.

Break at the end of level 4, and nothing to report...won a few, lost a few. Still on 21K, which is just fine. Off out for some sun.

Midway through level 5, and the Aussie kid to my right just dusted off a bunch of chips to a guy with AA when the flop came Jack high, and he'd been in there raising with KJ. I did say he had trouble slowing down...

I've gone from 21K back down to 15K, by virtue of having AK three times and losing all of them. The final one I released it on a K 2 3 Q board in a three way pot. They both got it in, and one turned over KQ whilst the other showed 22 for a flopped set, so I guess even though I'm getting beaten up, I'm still tuned in quite well.

Level 6 now at 50/150/300, on the run up to the 75 minute dinner break, and I'm not catching anything. I'm still on around 15K whilst people are committing suicide all around me.

Down to 12K when I raise with AJ offsuit, and the housefly makes it 2500 to go. I'd likely need a miracle flop so I let it go, just as our table breaks. My new table is going to be the NEXT one to break also, so I won't get too comfortable.

My table breaks literally about 3 hands later and off I go again. At my new table, I sit down and immediately look down at KK. It's raised before it gets to me, so I bang it to 4800 out of a 12500 or so stack. He moves in and tables 99 when I call, and there are no horror stories, and I find myself back up on 26K or so as we approach the dinner break and a 75 minute rest. Watch this space.

Back from dinner, and my table has again broken. I move to a new line up, play a couple of small pots and quelle surprise, once again I break. This time I move from the main pavilion into the Brasilia room, so hopefully I'll now be in one place for a while.

I win a decent size pot with AK against a guy with Queens when I flop a King and he doesn't slow down. I'm now up to around 35K as we hit level 8. The screen shows we have 3,191 players in the field today.

Made it to the next break and have bobbed and weaved (woven?) and am sitting on 34K or so as we get ready for the last two levels of the day. I have been a bit lax with the updates, but to be quite honest this table has been the most enjoyable and good humoured one I've been at for a long time, and we've all been joking and bullshitting non stop for the last 90 minutes or so, taking the piss out of one another, doing movie trivia, pushing chips around, you know... proper poker. Great fun.

We return with 1,110/3,369 remaining, and at 100/300/600.

Now starting the last level of the day and I've won and lost a couple, but am holding steady on 39K. It's been a very good table, in more ways than one. I've been able to steal quite a bit. The guys are largely a nice bunch, and it's been a good atmosphere. Hopefully we don't break.

Of course... we break.

A new table is always a tough one to size up, especially if you don't know anyone. You can be a robot like all the millennials, and sit and say nothing, but then if that's the case why did you bother leaving the house to begin with when you could just sit indoors and keep clicking buttons all day instead? I decide the direct approach is the best way to handle it, since I don't recognise anyone, and it looks like even though my chips are healthy, I might still be the lowest stack here.

"Christ, they're even uglier on this table!'

A pause, and it gets a laugh. Mission accomplished. No one likes a table of po-faced robots. Off we go again.

Though not on a level with the previous table, this one isn't too bad either. I win and lose a couple, nothing earth shattering, and they call last 6 hands of the day. The time when no-one really wants to go broke, but sometimes the odd opportunity presents itself.

No cigar today however. It passes without incident, and I bag up a healthy 38,600 and a well earned night's sleep after today's fun and games. My first event I played for 10 hours or something silly for nothing, today slightly over that. However, I'm still in the hunt, and in 2 days I return, for a crack at bigger and better things once the day one's combine. Happy with my game today. I was hardly ever all-in, and I sized up the opposition just fine despite playing I think six or seven different tables. I'll look at the calendar to see what tomorrow brings now that I know I'm playing on Monday.

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Venetian $400 Monster stack $200K gtd

22/6/2018

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Straight out of the traps in my first event with a few scabby steals. A 30k starting stack means there's no need to go mental early on, but obviously on a 3 week trip, I'm not planning to bleed to death every event, so there's no harm in working out the lie of the land nice and early.

This year, the Venetian events are being held in the Sands Expo centre, as opposed to in the main casino. Despite it being nice and airy, and playing 9 handed, with no slots, smoke, or loud music pervading the atmosphere,a few of the players have already moaned that they have a bit of a walk from the casino to the tournament area. Personally I'd say judging by appearances, a walk won't do too many of them that much harm, and they could probably use a bit of cardio anyway. Personally I like the new set-up. Last time I saw it was when it was used to test the Batmobile in the Dark Knight trilogy, but it has a nice feel to it if you're there to actually play poker.

Nearing the end of the first two levels, and my 30K looks more like 33K. Field is currently 700/725 players.

Argh. The times I should listen to my inner voice and I don't... I would now be on 50K had I just stayed with a crappy suited hand but I let it go and rivered a flush. The other two in the pot just bet and called 8K each on the river and a straight won the hand. Early in these things is really the time to get paid. Never mind. Still on the 30K starting stack.

Back up to 35K when a guy telegraphs a big pair with a preflop reraise so I decide to take him on with 73 suited. I flop a pair and river a straight, and he looks like he wants to throw up. I flash him a winning smile and a wink, and we're all friends again.

First break and I'm around 33K. I take a walk outside, where your choices are to either listen to neckbeards going on about poker, to stand with the smokers and get lung cancer, or to walk further down and stand out in the Nevada sun, where you an get skin cancer instead. Fun!

Luckily I like the heat, so I've gone for option 3.

Level 5, and whilst I've stayed in the mix, I've dropped to 26K due to kicker trouble in a couple of hands, and one river bluff I probably shouldn't have tried, as I knew the guy was steaming a little and was likely to call. No big deal right now. Getting involved in a few pots when I've rarely played any decent starting hands is always good, as long as being aware of when to back off is always around somewhere in the mind.

Screen shows 735/985 with the alternates still lining up. In theory 16 levels get played today, and so far we've only lost one guy, who comprehensively blew his brains out when he realised he need to be somewhere other than in a poker tournament. Of course this was after he'd bought in of course. Some other guy at the table was the lucky beneficiary once he realised he should not be playing today and had to dust off his stack to anyone else.

Back to starting stack of 30K again. Everyone here can play, it's it's mostly a position or hand showing exercise right now. No one is getting too out of line.

Next break...on 27K again.

Dropped down to 17K in 2 hands where I had combo draws and barrelled the river, only to get called down by ace high which was good. This bore out two things: the first was as per my earlier post when I've been playing a little onlne before the trip, people are far more inclined to call off light. Secondly, which might sound contrary to the first, I should be making the river bets bigger. That is to say even when I do have the hands, as people are far more inclined to just stack off now with even one pair. C'est la vie.

A tad unfortunate slightly later, when my 99 loses to a set of two's when he calls the flop with nothing and turns a deuce. 900/1230 players currently remain.

I catapult back up to 27K when one of the newer players at the table, an aggressive English guy, decides to 3-bet me when I raise with QQ, the first really decent starting hand I've seen in a while. I decide that facing a 5K bet with about 8K more behind won't do it, so I stuff it in. He snap calls, and tables...A 5 ofsuit. OK...

The flop comes 468 giving him another 4 outs for a straight, then on the turn it comes a 3, to give him another 4 outs and a double gutshot and an overcard!!!

Luckily the river bricks everything, and our boy does good. Back in business.

Shortly after and I flop gin with A10 on a JQK flop, and AK decides he wants to barrel every street with one pair. I bust him and jump to 50K + and suddenly life is looking better.

The funniest hand just came up. Funny because it's unlikely most people would play it the way I did, or would have ended up the same way...

I get Aces (this is the hand immediately following the A 10 flopped straight remember), and I put in a preflop raise. I get two callers and the flop comes 7 8 10 with two diamonds. I fire out a bet, not loving it too much, but one folds and one calls.

The turn is the Ace of clubs, putting two clubs and two diamonds on board. Suddenly I'm liking things a bit more again. I bet 6500, and he dwells and calls.

The river... is the 6c. A dreadful card, making both a straight and a flush. I fire a smallish bet of 4500 considering the size of the pot, and he quickly raises to 18K. A set of Aces is a pretty hand, but in this spot it's likely toast, and I let it go. He says he had 10 9 of diamonds and rivered the straight, and though I'm wary of speeches I'm inclined to believe him. I think he's pretty much never bluffing there. On we go.

Dinner break, and I'm on 52K or so, which is plenty healthy. Back in an hour or so.

The hour following the dinner break has been fairly uneventful for me, and I've gone from 52K down to 48K without doing much.

Screen is showing 693/1426 remaining,

Some fancy footwork just got me up to 74K or so versus a young beard in a hoodie who was a serial raiser. We see a raised pot and I lead out with 5c 4c on a 10g 5d 3c flopHe raises me, but experience has told me he's often (excuse the technical terminology) full of shit, so I call the 10K raise. The turn is the Qc giving be nearly lowest pair, and a flush draw, however, against this guy I'm quite happy to play some poker. I open ship and watch as he squirms and finally folds. I show the 54 just to twist the knife slightly and send a message, which I'm sure was well received.

Just had a minor disaster with set over set when I had 66 vs 10 10 on a Q 6 10 flop. I lost a chunk but didn't stack off, largely because it running out Q 6 10 K A slowed us both down a bit. Back to 43K again as we hit the 15 minute break at the end of level 12.

476/1426 now remain, and we have a max of 4 levels left to play today, as we hit 300/1K/2K.

Another nasty one as my 55 loses out on a 7 7 8 9 10 board, and I go down to 29K. Not a great feeling, but I'm playing well and have thus far cheated death a few times by being astute. I don't mind getting it in of course, but as you all know I'd rather be doing the shoving than the calling.

I steal one and get back to 24K after a few orbits with nothing happening. It's getting a bit tight at the moment, but I'm not doing anything wrong. I'll possibly have to have a gamble if the hand comes up in order to stay in the hunt. I'm OK with that.

Looks like our table will be the next to break. We've lost a few more of the regulars, and blinds are now at 300/1K/2K. I put in a raise with 5d 6d, and get one caller out of the big blind.

Flop 4 5 7. Here we go then.

I'm first to speak, and I lead out for 6k out of the 20K or so I have. The big blid thinks, then shoves. I don't put him on a set, or anything meaningful, maybe some fluke, but likely not a straight. Whatever it is I doubt I'm drawing dead. Time to make a stand. I call. We have around the same chips.

He turns over 5 7 offsuit for a flopped two pair. Ugh.

The turn gives me a flush draw too, but the river bricks out and I bust around 450th of 1426. No complaints on the exit hand. Of course, winning it would have been better, but I played fine, took my shots, and held my own with no problems.

I popped over to the Rio after, and bought into tomorrow's $1500 Monster Stack, since it starts at 10am and I don't want to be standing in line with the great unwashed for 2 hours in the morning to buy in because I couldn't be bothered to do it the day before. A good night's sleep, and back on the horse tomorrow.

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voyage of the damned

21/6/2018

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Don't worry, we're not kicking off with a big bag of negativity...I just decided I liked the title, and it's my blog... so you can all live with it. I'm sure cheerier ones are only just over the horizon.

The initial few days of the trip were less than stellar, this being before we've even turned a playing card. The journey out from the UK was a tad horriffic. Firstly the delays aforementioned in the earlier post pushed the arrival time in America right back. To compound this, once on the plane there was an extremely loud and crass bunch of lads on board, on a stag party to Las Vega. Fine, stuff like this goes on, and boys will be boys, etc. However, a few of this lot were less than considerate of anyone else around them. They had sneaked on their own booze, f*** and c*** was flying out every other word, much to the dismay of a couple of people sitting nearby with very young kids. I tuned it all out for the most part, assuming that Darwinism will take care of most of them eventually. The upshot was the police were called, and a few of them were removed from the flight before we left the runway at Gatwick. Ironically what started out as a few of them being big and brave and loud ("bruv"), ended up in one of them crying his eyes out as he finally had to leave the plane. I make no judgement, but there you have it. Anyway, more importantly, this now made our departure form London even later still, and when I arrived in Nevada, I was now well over three hours later than I normally would have been, meaning....

I arrive at my rental car office at 5.03 pm, after a driving scene in a taxi cab that would have made the director of the French Connection proud. Sadly, the office closed at 5 pm, and no-one was there, meaning no rental car for me for the day, and no way to go and collect all my stuff which was in storage with a pal, and also no way for me to get to my new accommodation. The domino effect. Great.

I don't think my attitude in these spots necessarily puts me in a higher place than anyone else, but realistically I always feel that you can stamp and get upset and wring your hands about how the whole universe is against you, or you can just accept what's happening and sodding well get past it. The latter is the way to go. I rescheduled my pick up of all my things (which I always leave here stored in boxes so that my travelling luggage is minimal) for the next day, a good then pal gave me a ride to my bed for the night, and I took a shower and just got some rest. It would all be there again tomorrow for me, and getting pissed off would not help.

Tomorrow came, and threw another slice of muck at me when it transpired that since my rental car wasn't picked up on my arrival the previous day, rather than simply letting me collect the next day, the brain trust at RentalCars.com had decided that cancelling my entire booking was in fact a far better idea, meaning I now had to rebook the entire rental car allocation for my trip. Of course booking it now would be about the same price or maybe cheaper, right?

Yeah, sure. Err, no,that'll be more money please Mr O'Leary.

As before, no point stressing. Fork it over, have the conversation with Virgin Atlantic later on about the delay on the flight, extra money needed for cabs etc. It's ostensibly their fault and I'll take it up with them as and when. No point letting any of that clog things up right now.

Finally I collect my rental early the next day. If I was going to be critical, I'd say for the amount of stuff that I needed to collect and transport, it's not entirely practical...however they always look after me at the office, so I'm going to find it in my heart to forgive them since so many people are creaking around Nevada driving a Chevy Aveo or a Kia Rio....

My first full day in Las Vegas was supposedly going to be acclimatising, and dipping my toe into event number one, which was a $250 buy-in at PH. I decided with all the running round to collect the car, getting my stuff (thank you Gary for being a good friend and storage facility), and carting it all over to my new digs and unloading, that trying to squeeze poker in as well was just going to be a bad idea that day, especially with plenty on the agenda still to play upcoming. I got some stuff done, no small part of this was also to pop over to the Rio, and give them ten grand in exchange for this scrap of paper...

Plenty early of course, but the fact is, though I've never had a truly "bad" Las Vegas experience with losing money (not like that anyway...) it's just bad business to leave $10k laying around anywhere but inside a bank, when you can simply get the buy in sorted out, and then just forget about it until you actually play. Handing that over was as natural as anything for me, and now it's done, the money's safe and my day one in the main is good to go, and I can concentrate on winning other things in the run up. The rest of the day, I unpacked, saw a few friends, had an agreeable meal, and took it easy. The work starts in earnest tomorrow.

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Running good or running bad?

20/6/2018

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Bags are packed, jars of harissa and packets of digestive biscuits are safely stowed away in my luggage, and I'm at Gatwick ready to step on VS043 and attack Las Vegas for the next 3 weeks.

Only problem is, it's now 11.00 a.m, and we're still sitting in the lobby whilst the flight was supposed to depart at 10.35 this morning. Technical problem, innit. Therefore we're delayed by at least an hour whilst we wait for an aircraft part to arrive. I'm hoping it's not a wing or something.

I suppose realistically I'd consider this to be running good as opposed to running bad. The "Brits" here, easily distinguishable by their football shirts and terrible jewellery, have for the large part already had a good old moan about airports, Virgin Atlantic, and the general unfairness of life due to the delay. Personally I'd rather we didn't drop out of the sky like a stone at 37,000 feet as we're over the Atlantic... so I'd rather they fixed the bloody thing whilst we're still on the ground. So that's my viewpoint I guess. I don't generally have a fear of flying, but I guess if I'm honest I do have an aversion to hitting the ground at high speed instead.

The trip has taken a bit of leg work to get organised. A max of $20k of events, with the $10k main included in this package. I've had a few new investors, a few who decided not to go with it this time. It's all good. My last trip was pretty horrific in the poker sense, as nothing went right, and even the stuff that went badly felt like it wanted to go worse than it did. I saw one guy I know recently post on Facebook bout how much coaching he's had, and how much the game is now clearer to him. A few weeks into the trip he's sounding a bit punch drunk, as he's played a chunk of events and not cashed in anything at all, and sound like he's struggling to come to terms with it. I guess luckily I don't have this problem. I know I can play, and I know I can win. I just have to be in the building when the planets line up and this happens again in a significant way. It sounds trite maybe, but although things like the last trip are a disappointment, I really don't let them get to me, I just reset, and start over again next time. I suppose i consider it a strength, however it could be that I've been doing this for so long that I'm simply dead inside. Who knows?

Anyway... I'm full of my trademark familiar mirth and optimism for the weeks ahead for which you all know and love me, for now at least. I chatted with one of the few people with whom I ever discuss poker recently, and a few weeks back I put a few quid online on one of the sites, not to try to win a fortune, but more just to see how the kids are playing now, and if anything has changed much. My experiment showed me it generally hasn't, save for people calling off even lighter that before, and also badly overrating their own sub standard hands and being willing to play for their tournament life with them. This is all good. As I've said, people pay their money, they can play how they want. You get the same amount of money for busting 788th with K7 suited as you do for busting 20 off the money nine hours later with Queens, so it's a puzzle everyone's trying to solve in their own way. I think I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, so let's get there and make it happen.

Luckily work were happy enough to honour my prior Las Vegas commitment when I started the new job. We've had to do some fancy footwork with wages and holiday entitlement (I've only been there 3 months!) but since the new gig has (I think) generally been going well, albeit tiring, though this is for me not a "holiday", 3 weeks of looking at cards and sitting for hours is kind of relaxing by comparison to sales and dealing with customers who don't know what they want, want it yesterday, and don't want to pay for it... Funny, most non-poker people would imagine it to be the other way around.

I'll be there in a few hours. OK, more like half a day. Watch this space once I get my car and settle into my new abode. First event will follow once I've got myself sorted.

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nothing's set in stone

27/4/2018

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True words indeed. I wish I'd thought of them first.

Jump back a bit in time to just after my last outing to Las Vegas in the Spring. It was a dire trip from a poker perspective. That in itself isn't anything really of note - fruitless trips in a small sample size are commonplace even for people who consider themselves (or just are) proficient at the game. It's just sometimes what happens, and I was fine with it. Just pack up your crap, come home, regroup, and start over again. Not the first or the last time I'll live by that mantra I'm sure.

Anyhoo.

Home I came. Resumed normal life and that was kind of that. Suddenly, through a weird twist of fate, a new job came up. I say a new job, it was more or less my old job, in the stone industry, for around the same money, but for a different outfit, and a LOT easier to get to and from each day due to the distance from home. I stumbled upon an ad one night, and gave them a quick call. The ad actually turned out to have been placed by the guy who was leaving the position to go abroad. We had a chat, and he quickly got back to me saying his boss was very keen to meet with me once he heard that I knew the game. I have good sales experience, industry knowledge, and most importantly I think, people skills and confidence. I went down to meet the guys at the new place, and it immediately seemed a pretty good fit and I was offered a job virtually on the spot. Readers of old will know I'm not shy about a bit of hard work, so we worked out terms and off I went. They were very good about honouring my prior Summer WSOP commitments as my holiday time, and so far the job largely seems to be going well. Who'd have thought boring old stone could be sexy?

Much busier than it was at my old gig, but this is a good thing as the day never drags. It's also far less frustrating than the old job, since whereas formerly I was just basically sales, then hand it over to someone else, and had to basically fight tooth and nail just for information and get things done on projects, here I'm a lot more hands on with all aspects of the job from initially pricing up, right the way through to completion, which for me and for the business is MUCH better. My old bosses were just fine and the job was OK, but previously it was super frustrating and often felt a lot like two steps forward and five steps back trying to get anything done. Combining that with a horrible commute, it was getting me down, hence my departure. On a personal level with clients, I'm given plenty of leeway to basically just be myself, and whilst I sometimes think my new director might inwardly cringe as he hears me call a 60 year old customer "young man" or I say "how can I help you my love?" to a pretty girl who walks in, luckily he "gets" it and understands that largely, people will buy from people, and can see that my approach works well and puts customers at ease. You just have to know your audience, but I'm already getting on great guns with the walk ins and have some repeat business. Happy days. The guys and girls working at the new place seem generally a good bunch, and whilst the day is a long one, I'm pretty happy doing what I'm doing, and the numbers for my sales are already quite promising, so I must be doing some stuff right. Time will tell but I'm enjoying it - in so much as one enjoys properly working for a living. My first site visit last week was to Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant in London, so it looks like I'm already making the right moves as I think I've likely got the sale for that one already in the bag.

I'm prepping my WSOP schedule to go up on site this weekend. It will be only over 3 weeks at the end of June to mid July, however it will include the $10K main event, and a decent selection of sides in the Rio or Planet Hollywood, Venetian, Encore, etc for around the same amount. Watch this space, and we'll see how we go.

Update: WSOP schedule is now live, and can be found HERE

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the man from u.n.c.l.e

9/3/2018

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As in: the guy who cried Uncle, and said "sod this".

A few days back, that was me. Despite my constantly being positive (not easy when you're actually as negative, full of demons and self loathing as I am), poker on this trip has well and truly blown, and not in a good way. Following the Wynn main, and the 4 bet shove exit to 77, I decided to throw in the towel for this outing and just call it a day. I've had the odd off table chat with a couple of the (pretty small) number of people whose opinion on poker I respect, and whilst in general they concur that event wise I haven't really done a lot wrong (aside from not win of course), it is interesting to see their perspective on the game in general as opposed to my own.

It's no secret that in recent years poker has changed. Back in the day if there was a preflop reraise, it was Aces, as simple as that. Nowadays, the scabby min-raise game I'm so not a fan of is very much the norm. Everyone's doing it, and I missed the meeting where it was decided that this is more skilful than it's predecessor. There's no point me getting up on the mic and telling the masses that playing live like it's online click back poker is really horrible. No-one's going to listen or care, so you live with it and adapt, or you have a hissy fit and stop playing. I do think that my more aggressive stance early on in events was a better shout than just trying to get it in good 100% of the time. I might still not be in the 5 bet A 10 offsuit shove in level one brigade just yet, but that's likely not a bad thing. It was a bad trip, and I took my medicine, have gone off to lick my wounds, and will regroup for the next assault, hopefully the WSOP. Little more to say on it. Everyone with shares will get an email breaking down the numbers as per usual.

The remainder of my time here has mainly been just sorting out my own head a bit. I went on a cooking spree for friends, new and old, and delivered something in the region of 15 meals to people, mostly in the quest to get them to find out what a decent curry actually tastes like. I love America, but the Indian food here is awful, so I cook it myself or go without. Generally the feedback was good, and with spicy/non/spicy/extra hot/veggie/chicken options all on the go, it was a bit of a balancing act to keep everyone happy, but we did our best. In a world where I am often jaded about, well, everything really, sometimes it's just nice to do something nice for people for no reason than to just be nice. More people should try it.

Whether it's for therapy, physical and/or mental, I have found myself going slightly crazy at the gym, often doing up to 2.5 hours of hot yoga every day. I'm not going to get into tree hugger territory here, I'll just say a few things. I have a bit of trouble getting into the spiritual side of it, mainly because I'm a huge ball of issues, and whilst the wonderful instructors in their own ways will tell you to love yourself, as many of you will know, for someone who normally exemplifies the polar opposite of this ideal, it's a tricky concept to embrace for me. Still, I do my best. I've met some new, fun, and interesting people. Some of the instructors I think are sadists, but they do it with such a nice smile it's almost forgiveable. Anyone reading this thinking yoga is something only dumpy overweight middle aged mums do in a church hall in Beckenham, has likely never been to a class like these. Years ago I did the Yoga X section of the P90X workout, and thought I had never ached and sweated so much on one single spot on the floor in my entire life. The classes at the gym I visit here are even harder. This trip, I actually thought in the time I was stretching, sweating, and hurting in my half pigeon that I was doing pretty good at this Yoga lark for a guy in his late 40's. Years ago (a lot of years) I used to do Tae Kwon Do and a few other martial arts, so I was always reasonably flexible and able to stretch out a bit. A few days back I did a class that gave me a complete reality check, as I think virtually everyone else in it must have been either a dancer, an athlete, or a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. Full splits? No problem. Perfect poses held for 3-5 minutes. Easy. Meanwhile, our hero was in the middle of all this, sweating like David Beckham at a MENSA exam, and trying not to fall arse over tit over in dancer's pose. It showed me just how good I actually am not, compared to some of these people. After doing roughly 20+ hours a yoga week, I feel a bit like I've been rolled up in a mattress and then had the shit kicked out of me. A part of me I think likes putting myself through all the pain and suffering. Maybe it's some kind of penance. I do know that 75% of the poker world (it used to be in the high 90's) do precious little to ever look after themselves, so I feel that for me this has to be a good thing regardless, even if the tournament wins haven't come thick and fast. There is a good vibe at the gym, people in general are friendly, positive, keen to help, and have a good air about them, pretty much the polar opposite of what you mostly see in poker rooms. Joining a gym this time was a good move. I would say for me the physical side and the positivity of the staff and other students this trip has been pretty addictive, and I will certainly try to explore doing more of the same in the UK, though I don't think it will quite compare.

The final week here for me is mainly tying up loose ends. Hopefully I get to see friends I have missed out on seeing much of thus far on the trip. I have a few errands to run whilst still here, and then basically just pack up my crap and get ready for the journey back to the UK, where I will have a bit of thinking to do about the road that lies ahead.

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wsc $1600 main event $1m gtd day 1c

3/3/2018

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Quote from Kenny Wells in the movie "Gold":

"The only card that matters is the last one you turn over". Let's go with that.

30K chips and 45 min levels. 153 initial starters. Let's do it.

Immediate chip leader in the room as I win the first hand of the event with 10 10 on a 5 J 5 8 board. I think Kenny said the last card you turn over not the first. Still, it's a start.

A nice early flurry of level one hands sees me up to 30K. Flopped a pair and straight flush draw, turned a flush, and had a pair of 10's bluff at the river. Good to know, and no complaints for small early wins.

I recognise the guy to my immediate left from previous events. I'd class him as a bit of a spazz merchant. He thinks betting all the way is how you win, which will make him tricky to play against out of position. He just fired all the way into a guy who rivered Quad Aces, and gave him 7500 or so.

My theory is confirmed when I raise with 9h 7h and he comes along. The flop of 6h 8s 3h is a good one for me and I fire out 700. He makes it 2000, but I'm not going away. I river a flush and win a small pot to hit 35K.

He looks a lot like he either wants to try to win this before level 3, or more likely, that he's going to blow his brains out. Happy to make it 3K preflop at 100/100. Wait him out.

Level 2 and down to 32K again. No big fuss, just playing small ball pots. Screen showing 232/235 so obviously a few people aren't planning on hanging around today. Big blind ante in effect now so 100/100/100.

Seat 1 just lost a pile, then won a huge pot when he chased down with 43 offsuit to river an ugly straight vs 2 pair with a flush also on board. The 2 pair raised him 15K on the river and he called anyway.

Some poker players really are just retards. I know I've said it before, but it still holds true today. One bets 1700 on the turn. The other raises to 4000, and throws out four 1K chips.

"How much is it?" says the first player? Seriously. I despair sometimes. Really I do.

I just get what I consider to be a bad beat. I get moved to a new table. This one contains 4 unsmiling Asians, and my neighbour on the left who looks to be going for the whole sensory deprivation thing with huge headphones and dark glasses. Wonderful.

I drop to 31K as we hit the first break.

One kid is wearing a "Run it Up" hoodie with a complimenting "Run it up" T Shirt. I'm sure they vastly improve his game.

I guess not. He just bluffed off 12K or so with A7 offsuit to the robot on my left.

I drop to 26K when 3 decent starting hands miss everything. 268/279 remain.

Up to level 4, and 100/200/200. As tables go, this is pretty tough, and this is largely the kind of horrible picking away/min bet/don't fold any possible draw kind of poker that the kids love, and I hate. It isn't actual poker to me. It's just constant min betting and just seeing a future in every single flop. I could fill pages on why I don't consider it to be real poker, but let's save that for another time and just keep going.

Still on 25K. The statue on my left just tried 3-barrelling with J7 vs A 10 on a 10 2 5 2 7 board. The 8K river bet was quickly called. This is poker Jim, but really not as we know it.

315/337 remaining as we approach level 5.

I drop down to 22K when I lose Ah Qh to the Run it Up Kid who actually wakes up with a hand...AA. Earlier he called 1500 preflop with 52 and flopped bottom 2 and ironed out QQ. It really is a skill game.

Second break and still on 22K. My first table was far better for me than this one, which is just a min-bet war of attrition with grinders who aren't folding 90% of the time. For now I'm just keeping it tight. No need to get too flairy just yet.

Back from break and first hand AK misses everything. 19K.

I just raised with Qs Js and the robot called me. It came 9s 10s 4h and I led out. I get called.

Turn is the Ad. I fire again and she calls.

River is the Ac. She bets 1200 and I fold. She shows an Ace. Wonderful.

Level 6, and I'm on 19K. The robot imploded and called off 15K on the river to Run it Up boy who had the nuts. She went down to 7K or so, then shipped it in with A5 offsuit (no clubs) on an Ace high 3 club flop, She gets called by second pair with no clubs and wins.

I'm out. I can't really find a way to pick apart what just happened without coming to the conclusion that I just did everything right, and the other guy just decided he doesn't like money that much, but hey, here goes.

I look down under the gun at AK offsuit. I'm not a fan of raising with this most of the time. I'd rather reraise with it, but of course the dynamic of the table is always a big factor. By now I have about 4 players at the table pegged as guys who like to throw out a raise if it looks like it might take down the pot, so I'm sandbagging with the intent to play a big pot and possibly just win uncontested.

Blinds are 200/400/400. I limp for 400, and the guy two to my left also calls. I know he can be tricky too, and as the action is folded round we get one more caller, and now a fourth player makes it 1600 to play.

I'm pretty sure the guy on my left wants to reraise now, so I flat call the 1600. As predicted, this player now makes it 3600. The next player folds leaving 400 behind, and the guy who initially raised now scratches his head, and also calls the 3600. Back to me.

In my mind, this has just about worked out perfectly for me. There is around 8200 in the pot, and no-one is really showing great strength. It's just jostling around. Now I pull the trigger, and rather than flat the 3600 and hope to flop perfect, I move all-in for 19K in total.

The guy who made it 3600 squirms about, but I've seen this show plenty of times before, he's folding 100%, he just wants his squeeze play to look like it was actually a real hand. He mucks, and it's back to the first player who made it 1600, then also called the 3600. He has about 27K in total. He gets the count, and then calls, for over 70% of his stack preflop.

He turns over 77. Wait. What?

Yep. 77. Worth 19K of anyone's money to call a 4 bet shove into two people.

The board runs out 3293Q. That's the end of my main event.

This feels familiar and quite honestly, I'm surprised, but I don't even flinch. I congratulate him, and leave the table. It was only a $1600 main with $1M guaranteed, no big deal.

I'm not going to bitch about it. As I've often said here, people can do what they like with their money and their chips. To me it's a horrible call, but I'm out so what so I know, maybe it's a horrible shove on my part. When he calls, he's flipping at best, and calling an all-in to flip for stacks is just bad poker. I'm sure an expert out there somewhere will critique the play for me. Poker has plenty of them.

For this trip, I'm done. I am about as upbeat and positive about playing poker and with the natural (and unnatural) ups and downs of the game as a person possibly could be I think. However, I can only play well and still get bounced out so many times before I have to say enough is enough. There is an Encore $600 in 3 or 4 days, but honestly, I think for this trip I'm just finished, rather than be in the spot of hoping for a big cash in a final tournament to save the trip. I think I'll just call it a day, regroup, and plan the next assault. I'm sorry for the guys and girls who are sweating the action. I've tried, and I hope you can see that, but it's been pain and more pain over and over. Sometimes the right thing to do with a bad trip is just end it, so that's what I'm going to do.

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wsc $1100 day 1a $1M guaranteed

WSOP $1500 MONSTER STACK DAY 2

filler/prep/etc

wsop $1500 monster stack

Venetian $400 Monster stack $200K gtd

voyage of the damned

Running good or running bad?

nothing's set in stone

the man from u.n.c.l.e

wsc $1600 main event $1m gtd day 1c

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