It"s Tuesday now, but I"ll fill you in on yesterday"s japes. I spent some time at the pool and reading, had the yoghurt and fruit combo from Starbucks for lunch, and then went over to the MGM for about 3pm. The MGM seems to have changed. I do remember that they were doing work on it last year, but I struggled to find my bearings. I eventually find the poker room and it"s in a bit of a soulless corner of the casino, but they have free WiFi, so that"s OK!
I sit down at a $1/$2 table with $300 and its the usual affair - all raises are about $10 (sometimes $7, sometimes $12) and get three callers. Mad. I decide to be tight, but obviously it doesn"t work out that way. I get into some pots with a very loose player, win some and lose some. I didn"t make notes so don"t remember all the hands, but a couple stand out. UTG raise to $7 (an unusually small raise; only 3.5 x BB!) and there are two callers by the time it gets to me and I look down at AA. Obviously I don"t want too may callers, so I make it $25. The loose bloke calls from the SB and so do the other three. WTF! Flop is something like KT7. UTG bets $25, fold, fold, then I make it $80, loose bloke folds and the bettor looks at me like I"m made and folds. That was the bright spot. Given that I ended up $230 down there were more grim stories, most of which I have conveniently forgotten. I do remember one hand where I raise with AsKs, get one caller (unusual) and the flop is king high, but all diamonds. I bet, he calls. The turn is another diamond. Nasty. So I check, he bets about $35, and I decide to see where I am and so raise to $100. He calls, although there"s some controversy because he says "call" but then says "can I go all in" to the dealer. It is decided that he has to wait until the river. So I fold on the fiver and show my AK, and he has AdQs. Annoying. I"ve just remembered another hand where I had QQ, there"s a raise, I re-raise and some old bloke just calls in the SB. The flop is jack high, and he goes all in for his last $100. I think for a bit, and am close to folding. I reckon that he ought to have re-raised with AA or KK. So I call, and he has KK. All very annoying.
Anyway, my friend, Clare, who is a teacher at Brighton College, arrives at about 5pm. We have monthly poker games with some teachers at Brighton College. £10 buy-in, 20 minute levels, one optional re-buy. Clare has played a few so knows the game but is inexperienced. She is no mug, but has never played in a casino. She sits down at the table with $200. She said to me afterwards that she wanted to put up only $100 but didn"t want to look too short stacked as she lost money! So she is UTG for her first hand and raises. Hmm. She gets about four callers, obviously. I can"t remember the cards, except that she kept betting too little, so everyone kept calling. At showdown, she has AA and takes down $100! All very amusing!
She then proceeds to run like a god. I can"t remember all the hands, but one that sticks in the memory is where there is an ace high flop and the other two cards are spades. She calls bets all the way as two more spades come down. At showdown she has As6h and the other bloke has KsQs! So she ends up with a bit over $600 having been at $700 at one point. All very amusing!
We go up to the room before dinner so that I can get a look at the room. The rooms are nicer than at the Rio, but smaller. I think they must have re-furnished the whole hotel. Then to dinner at Robuchon. Even though Clare rung up to confirm, the booking is in the three Michelin star restaurant rather than the one star L"Atellier version. I think we all would have rather been in the more informal restaurant, but give a **** - the food was amazing!
Taxi home and then straight to bed. I fall asleep quickly at 11pm (I think) but still manage to wake up at 4am. It seems to be impossible for me to sleep for longer than five hours.
