The Joker in Vegas

[Joker161]

Sunday 8th July

Reflecting on yesterday I played very poorly towards the end. 35k chips was not great, but absolutely fine. I'm normally very patient but tried too hard to make things happen. Last go today, a Venetian $600 one-day event, so will try very hard not to do anything stupid. I've also been reflecting on not being in England for the Sweden match. Quite sad really. It's brilliant that England are doing so well, but if you're not there to get a feel for the atmosphere it's simply not the same. I have very vivid memories of the 1996 Euros, with all the Saturday matches. Yesterday sounded amazing wherever you were in England, and that memory is lost forever for me. Flying out to France on Wednesday is a massive error, though. When I was booking, I assume that I didn't consider a WC semi to be an issue, but booking one day later wouldn't have been difficult. I'm considering asking my wife if we can buy new flights for a day later when I get back on Tuesday. Not sure it will go down well.

[Joker161]

Awake by 5am. Realised that I forgot to take a melatonin again. I also remembered that the Grand Prix was on, starting at 6.10am, and luckily it's on the channel that usually shows Wimbledon (no play today). Hamilton in poll position, but not for long. Not really his fault, except for his slow start, of course. Anyway, the plan is the same as yesterday. Get there 90 minutes early and register, then brunch at the Grand Lux. Yesterday some of alternates were waiting more than an hour. Why not just register early? Mind you, one bloke came to our table quite late and it worked out well. He played pretty normally for a bit and got up to about 30k. He then played a mad hand with NLB (the original). He raised on the button, NLB 3-bet from the SB and he called. Flop has two diamonds. NLB goes all in for quite a chunk, and it certainly covers the new boy. He calls without much thought. NLB has something like Ad8d for the nut flush draw, new boy has Td7d for a worse flush draw and an inside straight draw. He hits the seven and scoops a massive pot. Even Birmingham boy to my right (new NLB) thought it was a bit lively! By the way, the end of the Grand Prix is quite lively (as I type).

[ian.ski309]

Loving the blog Joe, looking forward to each new post, hopefully we will be reading about a sizeable cash soon, fingers crossed for you.

[Joker161]

Levels 1 and 2. We have 20k in chips, but only 30-minute blinds. BB antes too. Only three at my table at the start, but that's allowed so we're off. Second hand I get TT. There's a raise, I reraise and he calls. Flop is T95. I bet, he calls. Turn a six. I bet, he calls. Turn a nine. Nice. I bet but he folds. I'm already on 22k. We now have a full table. Limped round and I call with 75. Flop is 643. Bingo! I bet and get a call. Turn a seven. Boo! Bet, call. River a brick. Bet, raise, call. He has Q5 for a split. I get 55 on there's a raise and the BB calls. Q66. Checked round. Turn is a five. Nice! He bets, I raise, he calls. River a two. He checks, I bet and he folds. 25k already! I don't play a hand for the whole of Level 2, but there's some mad play going on. We lost a player when he bet and accidentally used a 5k chip instead of a 1k. He then goes all in on the river with his reduced stack with nothing. The bloke who called doesn't seem to have played much so didn't see any of the danger on the board. The same inexperienced player then loses all those chips to a German bloke when he calls it all the way down with 55. There are five overcards. Then that German takes out a player takes out when he calls a raise; "a donation!" The flop is T54. He calls the flop bet then it all goes in on the turn (a four) and he has 94.

[Joker161]

Level 3. I play two hands. The first is one of the only hands that hasn't gone raise/reraise by the time it gets to me. I have 53s on the button and it's a limped pot! I miss the flop. Then I raise late with AT. One caller. I bet the flop and he folds. That's it. Meanwhile, some bloke gets it all in pre with 87. He had about 13k left! Level 4. A tight woman raises and I call with 22. There are four more callers! Flop is 875. Checked round to the bloke to the left of me. He bets, the button calls and the BB raises. Bettor folds and the button goes all in. BB calls. He has 96o. WTF? Just call with anything! The button had 77 for a set. I decide to raise with T8s so that I don't look like a total rock. I get four callers. I'm amazed there wasn't a reraise! Flop is AT5. I bet and the German calls. Could be messy. Turn is a king. Check, check. River is an eight. I must be ahead. I bet and he calls, showing a king (I bet he had some rubbish like K6). Then, just before the break, I finally get a hand! There's a call, then the tight woman raises and I reraise with QQ. The caller folds and she calls. Flop is ace high. She checks, I bet and she folds.

[Joker161]

Level 5. I don't play hand. Well, except for a limped pot with the German (G). No money goes in and I hit a lucky straight. Level 6. Big hand. I raise UTG with QQ. The G calls as does Mr Inexperienced (MI). Flop is A96 all clubs. I have the queen of clubs. I bet and they both call. Turn is a queen. I bet 5k. The G goes all in for 11k. MI just calls and leaves about 8k behind. I just call. I'm thinking I might have to hit to win. Surely one of them has a rubbish little flush. The G had a weak ace and Mi has AQ for the two pair. I'm now on 57k. Take it easy!

[Joker161]

Level 6 I play no big hands; small losses, small wins, etc. Then in Level 7 I get QQ again. I raise and get three callers. Flop is AQ9. I bet and only MI calls. There were two diamonds on the board so I thought I ought to force it a little. Anyway, the turn is a nine. Nice! I check, he bets and I call. River is another nine! Can he really have the case nine? I check, he bets and I just call. He only had another 6k, so I should probably have put him all in, but I bottled it. He had AT. I'm now on 69k. For the rest of the level, I win a few small pots and am on 73k.

[Joker161]

Level 8. Only one big hand. There's a call from MI (he does that a lot) then a call from quite a good player. I haven't tussled with him yet. I raise to 2k from the button with AK. He reraises to 6k. I call. I'm not comfortable here. Flop is KQ9. He checks, I bet 6k and he calls. Turn is a queen. Check, check. River a king. Result! He checks, I bet 10k and he instantly folds AA face up. Big swerve there. Mind you, AK vs AA is a bit harsh. Would I have folded the river if I missed and he bet big? Not sure I'm good enough. I'm on 87k at the break.

[Joker161]

Level 9, somehow it gets folded to me in the button and I have AKs. I raise and the two nice people to my left call. Both good players too. Flop comes AK7. Check, check, I bet, the SB calls. Turn irrelevant. Check, bet, call. River an eight. He checks, I bet and he calls. He had A8, so not a great river for him. Nice pot. I'm on over 100k now. For the rest of Level 9 and the whole of Level 10 not much happens. I lose with AJs then win with AJs. A loose player raises and I reraise with QQ. He calls and folds to my bet on the flop. Still just over 100k. At the end of Level 11 I'm in the BB with QT and the loose bloke raises. I call. Flop is 876. I bet, he calls. Turn is a five. Nasty board, so I make it 10k and he folds. On about 120k. Level 12. I lose 10k when I raise with T8, get one caller then get pushed on when I bet the flop, but then I get it back when I call a raise in the SB, four in the pot and I bet a nasty flop. They all fold. Dinner break. Could be a long evening. Might help me sleep on the plane tomorrow.

[Joker161]

Level 13. A big hand that never was. Loose boy raises and there's a call and I decide NOT to call with Ah2h on the button. The blinds call. Flop is 985 all hearts. NOOOO! At the end of the level I get KT late position. There's a call and I raise to 7k. The initial caller calls. Flop is AT7. He checks, I bet 15k, he calls. Hmm. Turn is a king. Handy, although there's a diamond draw and the straight draw out there. He checks and I bet 35k. He tanks folds and tells me later he had AJ. That felt about right. He should have bet out. I called the loose player with 75. The flop was A74. He bets, I call. He checks the turn and I bet out. Sadly he calls. I don't improve and have to fold his river bet. Silly. I shouldn't have been in the hand. I then lose a bit when it's folded to me in the cutoff and I raise with AJ. Both the blinds call. I bet bet the 422 flop and get a call. We check down the turn and river and he has A4. Bit annoying.

[Joker161]

Level 14. Card dead. During Level 15 we get moved. I'm on a table where my slightly above average stack feels quite small. I get no hands, steal a couple, lose a couple of steals, but mainly fold. By the time I get moved again it's the middle of Level 16 and I'm down to 100k. Average is 110k and the blinds 2k/4k with a 3k BB ante. 126 left out of 694 runners. 72 get paid. $73,000 up top. I'm still card dead. At the end of Level 16 I get J8s in the BB and am all set to fold when the inevitable raise comes, but it gets folded to the SB, and he just calls. Perhaps I should raise here, but I don't. Flop is AT5, two of my suit. He bets the minimum and I call. The turn is a jack. He bets 12k. I make it 35k and he insta-folds. At the break, I have 120k, average is 128k and there are 108 left.

[Joker161]

Level 17. Second hand I get QQ. FINALLY! I raise and it's folded to the BB. He's a bit short and is having a think. I know he's going to push. I snap and he has 66. A six-free board, and I'm up to 180k. And breathe. Then a very cagey hour. Unless you steal that's 15k gone every round. Sadly still card dead. Only one steal so far. Must do better. 82 left. I raise with 87 and the BB calls. Flop is J82 all diamonds. He checks. I can't remember if I have a diamond in my hand. I have an eight, though. I bet. He folds. Makes a massive difference picking up these small pots, mainly because they aren't small anymore. End of Level 18. Only 76 left. Need a wee.

[Joker161]

Level 19. We're hand-for-hand. Bloke on my left just got his aces cracked by KQ. Flop was 985, turn a jack. He's on 40k. He won't be playing a hand. Min cash is $1,186. Hand-for-hand was very dull, but there was quite a lot of comedy afterwards. I'm losing 26k every round and still card dead. I'm ready to push with K9, but the bloke to my right gets there before me. The SB calls and has AQ and knocks out the bloke on my right, but if he hadn't gone all in my K9 would have beaten the AQ. Then I finally go all in with 85s. The BB doesn't look and calls. He turns over an ace, then a five! I get a flush draw but miss. I'm down to one BB. So obviously I'm all in next hand, but I don't look and two bigger stacks have both gone all in. One had 22 and the other had AQ. Oh dear. I turn over the first card - a queen. Not good. But then the second card is...a queen! And it holds, so I'm back to 40k. I then get a double up when my JT is against T9 (again, I didn't look). So at the end of Level 20 I'm somehow still in it with 76k. Mind you, after the break blinds are 8k/16k and a 12k BB ante, so I'll be all in pretty soon.

[Joker161]

So I've got three hands to go all in. When I'm UTG with my third rubbish hand, I decide to take my time and count out 40k of my 76. They all fold and the woman to my right says "that was a scary raise". So that worked then. In the BB next hand, it's folded round to the woman. She goes all in and I have to call, obviously, and have 22. She has J8. Flop is AKT. Turn a nine. One more card to swerve! River a jack. All good fun and I apparently came 48th (they were dropping like flies). I cashed for $1,330. Nice to end the trip on a cash. I've never been to Vegas and not had at least some sort of min cash. Still down overall, though, but it could have been worse. It's 1.10am now and really fancy a drink. Might keep me up, although I'm rubbish at sleeping here anyway. Also, the longer I stay up the more likely I'll sleep on the flight.

[IrishTom]

count out 40k of my 76

ha ha Joe, we talked about this very scenario in Vegas - awesome mate