The Joker in Vegas

[Joker161]

It's 20 minute blinds (20k starting stack), so I'll need some luck. It's also the sort of tournament where this sort of thing happens. Call, call, call and then I raise with AK from the SB. Fold, then all in. Hmm. Don't fancy putting over half my stack in on a bit of a gamble. I fold. The first big hand for me is a five-callers hand where I have 44 and hit the set. I get up to 30k. Nothing big after that until the break, and I'm on 21k.

First hand back after the break, it goes all in, all in, all in (third one has me covered) and I have KK in the SB. The other three hands miss everything and so I nearly quadruple. There's a nice bloke on my left and we've been chatting all afternoon. He's here for a stag. Two of them have been here two days and the rest are coming tonight. He said that he needed two extra days 'to get his eye in'. I don't think he was talking about poker! Anyway, he was doing quite well, but then lost quite a lot in a race. Blinds are now 2k/4K and I make it 10k from the button with 97s. He goes all in for 19k. He has A9. Oops! I get lucky and hit a straight. So I'm on about 80k now, average 55k and 30 left from 80 runners.

[Joker161]

Then the killer blow. A loose player to my immediate right raises my SB. I fold some rubbish. Next hand he raises again, and I push all in with AJ. He snaps with KK. Annoying. The move was fine, but there would have been better spots. Blinds were getting messy, though. I was down to 11k after that and the blinds were up to 4k/8k. I trebled up with T8 with a ten on the river. Then I get my 37k in with 88. Someone dwells a bit and says 'I have to call; it's my favourite hand'. He has KQ. King on the flop. A shame about the AJ hand. By the time I go out there are only 18 left and they pay nine.

[Joker161]

I'm still not feeling 100%, so decide to eat something really straightforward. There's a "NYC's finest" Italian that looks OK, so I go there and have spaghetti bolognese. It appears to be $32 on the menu and I question it with the waiter. "That's for four. You should have the starter portion." Fine. It arrives and I have to ask him if he's got the wrong one because, as far as I can see, this plate feeds four too. Especially if the 'four' are planning on having a main course. Anyway, I get about half way through it and obviously need nothing more to eat.

[Joker161]

I then decide to get a taxi to the Rio to buy my entry for the $1500 tomorrow. They have live WSOP action on ESPN in the hotel room, and the story all day has been the massive queues for registration. Apparently, what with it being 4th July and the US economy doing well (you wait a year - I could write an essay on it here, but best not) it has been a record day for Day 1C of the Main Event. Late entry finished just as I get to the Rio, so there is exactly one person ahead of me in the queue. Clearly a good decision because it will not be like this an hour before the event tomorrow. Anyway, I hang around and watch Will Kassouf for a bit. He is quite amusing. I'd love to be on his table giving him some back. Might be unwise, but good fun. I bump into Tom and Lucy from APAT. Had a nice chat. Apparently he's made Day 2 of the ME, and that all happens tomorrow. Looks like I might come over to the Rio early after all so I can rail him a bit before my event. That reminds me - my event doesn't start until 3pm, which is a bit annoying because if all goes well I'll be there until 2am. I go to the back of the Rio to find the usual shuttle bus stop. There doesn't appear to be anyone waiting, and the area is labelled 'Uber'. Hmm. I go and get a taxi, and the driver says they've stopped the shuttle. I suppose it's been two years and I did wonder why they offed a free service. I wasn't too sure what was in it for them. Still, the taxi drivers must be happy.

[Joker161]

On my return to Caesars, I go back to the Poker Room and decide to play some cash to keep me awake. I last until about 10.30pm and end up $100 up, which was nice. The two key hands happened in the first ten minutes. I get QQ, raise and get a couple of callers. Flop has a king on it and I bet and get one caller. Turn is another king. Check/check. River is a queen. Handy. I bet, he thinks for a bit and calls. Next hand I get KK and make the "Standard Vegas $1\$2 pre-flop raise" of x4 BB. I get FIVE callers. F**k. Queen high flop. I bet. They all fold. So weird. Bed time.

[Joker161]

Thursday 5th July

Bit of a lie-in today. Wake at 4am. Back to sleep then properly awake at about 6.30am. Get Wimbledon on in time to see Cilic lose in five. How did that happen? He was two sets up the day before. I get a ham/cheese croissant from the usual "Guy Savoy Brioche" (GSB from now on) and, although it's $5, an espresso. Unusually for America, it's make with freshly ground coffee with a proper machine. I suppose THE Guy Savoy wouldn't have it any other way. Shame about the cardboard cup. Back to my room for Wimbledon and Edexcel Economics marking. It's all online these days and the WiFi is pretty good, so it's doable, although I'd rather be doing almost anything else. I'm definitely NEVER doing it again!

[Joker161]

I'll get back to you with news of the $1500, but for those who have watched enough US TV, here's a quick quiz for you. They tend to play the same four or five adverts AGAIN AND AGAIN until you know them by heart. Does anyone remember: "We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two"? First correct answer gets 1% of my action in today's $1500.

[ian.ski309]

Farmer's Insurance ?

[Joker161]

Ian wins!

[Joker161]

First two levels. Dribble a bit then get aces UTG. I raise, call, button reraises, BB calls. I put in quite a hefty reraise and they all fold. Up to 8k (7,500 starting stack). There's a call UTG, I raise the button with AJ, he calls. QJ8 flop. He checks, I bet, he calls. Ace on the turn. Handy. He checks, I bet and he calls. River an eight. Check/check. I should probably bet here, but he's lost half his stack and I don't want him pushing on me. Anyway, he doesn't show. Up to 9k. For the rest of the Level 2 I have a few minor tussles with the same player. He lost quite a big pot before our original hand and he's clearly desperate to get chips back. I win marginally more than I lose, and so I'm now on just over 9k. Overall it's quite a tame table and I feel like I should be getting a bit busier. Very early days, though. I love 60 minute levels!

[Joker161]

Levels 3 and 4. Lose a grand to the bloke to my immediate left. He's from Lithuania (L from now on) and clearly knows what he's doing. I raise he calls. My QJs misses the flop, but I rep the ace on the flop and he calls. Check the turn, and then he bets the river. He probably had nothing but knows I won't call. I call early with 33. L raises. Loose player calls and I call. 853 flop. I check, L checks and loose player bets 1.5k. I raise to 4K and they both fold. On about 11k now. I win a small pot against loose boy (AK on a king high flop) before he loses all his chips to a nice bloke to my immediate right. Inevitable. Folded to me in the SB and I raise with AK. L calls, obviously. Miss the flop. Check, check. Miss the turn. Bet, call. Miss the river. Check, check. He has Q4 for a pair of fours. I get 99 and raise. L calls and the BB puts in a hefty raise. Tough one, but I fold. The very next hand, I get QQ. UTG, quite loose, raises. I reraise and the SB goes all in for about 5k. I'm thinking I probably have to call (I have 1200 in there) when UTG goes all in for 10k! I fold QQ face up, and UTG is amazed. SB has AA, obviously, and UTG has AK. Ace on flop and then the aces makes the flush. I had the queen of the suit for what it's worth (nothing, clearly). So I lose nearly 2k in two hands and did nothing wrong. Then a really annoying hand. Folded to the button, who is quite new to the table. He raises to 400, I make it 1200 from the BB with AQ, then he instantly makes it 3400. I have a think, but I know I have to fold. Should have taken a flop, although that could have been messy if he had something like AK. So at the end of Level 4 I'm down to starting stack. It's 100/200 when we get back, so I have plenty of chips, but still feel a bit annoyed. Interesting fact: my table is REALLY close to the toilet. Handy when the breaks are only 15 minutes long. And there's no dinner break.

[Joker161]

Levels 5 and 6. I raise to steal, L reraises, obviously. I get QQ in the BB. Result! Folds to the SB. He calls, I raise and he calls. Queen high flop. Check, bet, fold. Very annoying. There's been a raise nearly every hand except that one! I raise with 66 UTG but the BB reraises and I have to let it go. Then the final hand. There's a raise, three calls and I have 66 again in the SB. I call and so does L in the BB. Flop is K75. So close! We all check. Turn is the six. I'm slightly worried about the straight, but this feels like my hand. I bet 1500 and the only caller is the SB next to me (not the nice bloke any more - he went out earlier, so this bloke is new to the table). River is a queen. He checks, I go all in and he calls pretty quickly. In my eagerness to get my chips in, I didn't see that the queen was the third heart, and he has AhJh. Bugger. I wonder if he calls if I push the turn? Not sure I would have done anything different even if I had spotted the three hearts. I was down to 3k and he could have had loads of other hands. Perhaps I could have checked the river and tried to grind up the 3k? Still, all very annoying.

[Joker161]

Friday 6th July

Didn't wake up until about 4am, but then struggled to sleep well again. Was still snoozing as the football started. Easy win for France. Then Wimbledon, followed by the Brazil match. A cracker! Although Brazil had chances at the end, I still think Belgium deserved it. Loved the fact that the ref was having none of the Brazilian diving. The Belgian keeper had a blinder too. France/Belgium semi should be good.

As soon as the match was over I was in the shower to get ready for the PLO at the Rio. I got there by 1.30pm so I could register with no queues and then go and get some lunch of the eggs/bacon variety. A 3pm start with a late finish again. Fingers crossed I can be there at the end of the day.

[Joker161]

First two levels. Just like yesterday, we start with 7,500 and he have 60 minute levels. First significant hand. I raise with AQJJs. I get reraised, then there's a 4-bet. Obviously I fold. Lots of raising at the start, but by the end of the first level, lots of limping. I'm in a limped pot with AQ83s. The flop is AJ9 and there's a small bet that I call. I'm the only caller. Then another ace on the turn. He bets small I call. Then a third spade on the river, and I haven't made the boat. He makes it 800. I fold, showing the ace. He shows the jack of spades. Next, big error. Folded to me in the button and I raise with AKJ4, suited ace. The BB calls. Flop is QT5 rainbow. He bets 600, I raise to 2k, he goes all in. Bugger. I can't call, even with all those outs. I'm not here to gamble. Very annoyed that I didn't just take the turn which my straight draw. Down to 4K. That was about 10 minutes into Level 2. Nothing after that, and I'm on 3,500. Looking grim.

[Joker161]

By the way, we've had two players go out already. One of them pushed with a straight and a flush draw on a paired board. Obviously the other bloke had a boat. The other one called an all in bet. The bettor showed the nut straight and the caller grumbled and walked off. Didn't anyone tell them this is a game of the nuts? The first bloke was on my immediate right and kept saying "is this a re-buy", and "this should be a re-buy". He was clearly here to gamble.