The Joker in Vegas

[Joker161]

The next three levels to the dinner break go well too. Lots of hands, but the highlights are (i) when I get aces UTG and a short stack pushes into my raise and I snap, obviously. He has JJ and my aces hold; (ii) a hand where I call a raise from a loose player with KJ from the SB. Flop is KT4, check/check. Turn is another king. I bet he calls. River pairs the four. I bet he calls. Nice. To be honest, I"m struggling to remember any others. Lots of stealing with mixed results, but on the whole more seems to get through than not given I am now on about 770k and the average is about 550k. Only 45 left and I have $2k locked up. Getting exciting with over $100k at the top!

Running up to the dinner break there"s lots of talk about when it will finish and whether they will force us to play through. Some reckon a 4am finish in not out of the question, which is harsh given the 12 noon start. We shall see...

[Joker161]

Lots more ducking and diving after the break. Again, no big hands. Just losing a bit, winning a bit. I three bet some bloke and he folded but pointed out that I keep doing that from the SB. So I must have been doing it quite a lot. In terms of hands, I think I had AK once but missed the flop. I had AQ a couple of times and only won once.

We get down to 27 and they re-draw the seats. And then the big exit hand. I"m in early position and pick up KK. I have about 950k at this point and the blinds are 5k/15k/30k. I raise to 70k. The raises have been bigger at this level, but I didn"t want to scare anyone away. The bloke next to me, who is on about 500k, goes all-in. Handy! Then the BB, with over two million in chips,  goes all-in too! ****! He"s quite a loose player, so obviously I should snap call, but I do have a ponder. Something didn"t feel right. Not very scientific, but there you go. I then shook myself out of my daydream and called. The bloke to my left has AJ (a bit rash, as he admitted afterwards) and the BB has AA, obviously. To rub it in, there"s the fourth ace on the river! I ended up 23rd for $4,428. Can"t complain, although as is always the case in these situations, the most gutting thing is not being part of the action anymore - I do love these tournaments! I did seriously consider folding. Not sensible, but I would have had 900k and would have almost certainly laddered to at least $7k, but then you don"t go folding kings in spots like that if you are trying to win the $118k, as Adam pointed out afterwards.

Might have a day off tomorrow (Does this mean "end up playing cash"?) and then play the $400 event at the Venetian on Sunday.

[mylesfdo]

wow unlucky Joe so sick to run Kings into Aces so close to a monster score and u prob right u don"t go folding them when u looking to win the lot.....know I couldn"t!!

Wp and onto the next!!

[ian.ski309]

VWP Joe, a very enjoyable read and another nice deep run. It"s very tough to find a fold with KK and 30 bigs there, upwards and onwards  

[Scousebill]

Another good read and unlucky Joe....
Let"s hope we get many interesting updates from the Venetian....

[Joker161]

 Day 6 - Saturday 4th July

Decided to play the $250 bounty tournament at Planet Hollywood. I was sat next to a nice guy called Tom and we had a good chat. No big hands to report. I dribble a few chips here and there, then lost more when raising with a flush draw and overs. He re-raised and I had to let my KQs go. After the first break I get KK on the button. The bloke to my right raises, I re-raise and he thinks for quite a while then goes all-in. This time I do snap call and he has aces! Twice in two days! So a very early exit for me.

I go to the cash tables and play a bit of $1/$2. There"s a REALLY pissed up English bloke next to me who keep telling me that a hooker stole all his money. I asked how and he couldn"t really explain it. Very odd. I win a decent pot with KK and then lose quite a bit on a hand were I get in cheap on the SB with 8c7c and see a flop of 662 with two clubs. It gets checked round (there are about five in the pot, as often happens on these cash tables). The turn is the five of clubs, giving me the flush and a straight flush draw! I bet $20, there are two callers, then a raise to $60! I call, irrationally, because the straight flush draw is too temping! There"s an ace on the river and the raiser bets another $60. I fold and he shows 22 for the house. So I lose $50 in total. Not much more to report. Lack of sleep catching up with me, so I go and have a burger in the Gordon Ramsey place (long wait, quite nice but the actual meat wasn"t special) and then back for an early night, ready Sunday"s papers on Saturday night on the iPad (always a treat!)

I hope all is well up in Edinburgh!

[Joker161]

Day 7 - Sunday 5th July

Still struggling to sleep properly, even after a week. I"m dead by 10.30pm, but then wake up at 12.30am and then 3.30am, and then it"s dosing after that. Hmm.

My last biggish tournament today - one of those Venetian Deepstack efforts. $400 buy-in and $100 of that is your bounty, much like yesterday. We start with 12k in chips and the blinds start at 50/100, but they have shuffling machines which really speeds things up. I reckon it"s the equivalent of having 40 minute blinds. So in the first hour I only get two hands, KK and AQ. In both cases I raise and get four callers. WTF! In both cases I but in a hefty bet and it gets through. What are they calling with? The next hour (we are at the first break at the moment) is marginally more lively. I get KK again, UTG calls, I"m next to him and raise and he re-raises. I decide to call in case he"s doing one of those "aces UTG" calls. Flop is ten high. He bets and I call. All very cagey. Turn is an ace. Hmm. He checks and so do I. Does he have aces? A check would make sense here if he did. The river I forget, but we check/check again. Should I bet here? Anyway, he has QQ. I also get AQ again, a few callers and they fold the flop. A fun hand where I have 44 in a limped pot (five or six players!), it gets checked round twice and then the button puts in a small bet on the river. I decide to call and he has nothing. Nice! My final nice hand was AKs and I get just two callers. Flop is A87 and the 8 and the 7 are my suit. Blimey! I check hoping for a bet and it doesn"t come! Turn is a nine. Not sure I like that. There"s a bet, a call and I raise it up to see where I am, and a really tight bloke calls. Hmm. River gives me the nut flush. First one of the holiday! He checks, I put in a small bet and he folds. Thinking about it, he was a bit short, so perhaps I should have gone all in to look more desperate. Anyway, I need to get back now and I"m on just over 30k which is pretty healthy.

[Joker161]

Next four levels were pretty massive and I only have seven minutes to write it up. I"ve won four bounties, so this is now a free tournament, and am up to 60k (average about 25k), although I was on about 75k but lost a hand when I moved tables. I raised with 55 (a bit lairy) and get a few callers. The flop is 468. I C-bet and get one caller. The turn is another six. I keep betting and he goes all-in. I fold and he shows the six. I can"t remember all the bounties, but one was QQ .v. AK and he missed. Another I had aces and bet the flop and turn as he clearly wanted to go and play cash and so called with a flush draw, which he missed. One hand worth mentioning. There are a bunch of calls and I raise with AQ and the button, who has been playing all sorts, re-raises. The standard play here is to call, but looking back I should have just gone all-in given the way he had played. Anyway, the flop is Q75 and I bet, he calls. The turn is an eight. Check/check. The river is a nine. It"s looking dodgy now. I check, and he bets. I really should fold, but given who it is I call and he shows Q7! His re-raise pre was very lairy! Anyway, I have a minute left so will go back now. Report back soon.

[Joker161]

Next four levels. Still chipping up, but only one more bounty (I forget how now). I got moved to a new table with a very loose bloke from London who plays at the Vic. I vaguely recognised him. Anyway, he"s playing nearly every hand, so one has to change one"s range when he"s in the pot. A classic example was one where he had called and I was on the button with some rubbish like K3, but I called anyway because it was him. Flop was AK3. Nice. I didn"t win so much there, but the big hand against him was when I got AK, and I C-bet the flop which was all low cards. He calls. Turn an ace. I bet again, he calls. River a brick, I bet quite a lot and he folds. Just before the break I got moved to a new table and have won a couple of small pots, so I think I"m on about 130k, the average is 60k. There were 280 runners and there are 54 left. 27 get paid and there"s $16k up top.

[Joker161]

Next four levels. No life changing hands, just the standard chipping up. I"m knackered and it"s hard to remember hands, but there was one where I called a raise with A9 (a bit loose, but so was he), and there was another caller. Flop 998 but with two spades. I decide to bet and they both fold, but the shorter stack said afterwards that if I had checked he would have gone all-in. I got moved towards the end and have been a little card dead, so decided to raise EP with anything that I got, which happened to be J9. Two callers. Hmm. I miss the flop but bet anyway and they both fold. Hands like that are crucial at this stage. It"s amazing how many chips you end up winning. I"m struggling to remember any others because they all ended quite quickly, either with me winning a bit or losing a bit. That last hand I mentioned has got me up to about 170k with an average of 120k. Right at the end of the last level, just before the break, the bubble burst, so there are 27 left, and I have $559 locked up, plus the $500 in bounties (no new ones in the last four levels). I"m going for the 16 bags.

[Joker161]

And another four levels! I had a good chipping up spell and got as high as 260k. In one hand it got folded to me in the SB and I won an all-in with the BB (I"ve totally forgotten the hand!). But then I lost quite a few chips when I got it all-in against a short stack with JJ and he had AK. Flop was T98, which was handy, not that I needed a straight draw. Turn a king. Boo! Since then I"ve been ducking and diving and am now on about 155k but the average is 250k with 13 left. I have $980 locked (plus $600 in bounties). It"s now approaching midnight. Only 15 minute breaks with no dinner break. Pretty brutal. It will probably be another three hours.

[Joker161]

Since I last wrote we are now at the final table and on a break with five left. I"ve now locked up $3,900 plus $800 in bounties. This is now a bigger cash that the Golden Nugget Main event! Highlights of the last two hours was having kings and getting a call from AJ and knocking two out on the final table and so getting another two bounties. One of them was the bloke from the Q7 hand MUCH earlier. He"s a good player but a bit mad. He somehow managed to get very short but rather than shove his stack in with anything he decided to call my raise, which was a bit odd. I had AT and he had A5, ten on the flop. I also knocked out a woman who was short and went all-in but she only had 70k left and I was in the BB which is now 24k. What with all the antes I have to call with any two really. I have K9, she has A2 and I hit a king. So I was up to half a million for the first time but then the last hand before the break the massive stack to my immediate right raises to 55k from the SB, I have 88 and make it 150k. He calls. Flop is Q43. He bets another 150k. I"m close to pushing, but he seems pretty confident so let it go. He tells me afterwards that he had QT. Would he have folded an all-in pre? He says he"s not sure. Hmm. So almost there. It"s 2.10am here and we"re been going since 12 noon. Battered.

[Joker161]

Final instalment, and it"s a good one. Pretty soon after the re-start, I decide to go all in on the button with KQ. The bloke to my left, who had been the massive chip leader but was now one of the short stacks, goes all in too (although I cover him), then the French bloke in the BB calls (he has me covered). Oh dear. Small stack has AJ and the French bloke has AK. Massive oops! I don"t remember the exact cards, but the flop misses us all,  then the turn is paint! But a king, but then I notice that it"s a club, as are two of the flop cards. and that my queen is a club and the other don"t have any. "Club" I shout, rather pointlessly, and then BOOM, there it is (no idea which one!). So I knock out the short stack (another bounty!) and double up through the French bloke! I"m now on nearly a million chips! Pretty soon after that the big stack to my right takes out the medium stack to his right and there"s only three of us left! I said to the big stack, "you"ve just made me two grand!" The French bloke is obviously a bit pissed off at that had and starts going all in a lot. It"s quite effective and he gets back up to about 700k and my chips have dwindled to something similar. Then I play a very lairy hand with the chip leader. French bloke folds, big stack in the SB just calls and we take a flop. I have 94. Flop is Q32. He bets and I call, hoping to float. Turn is an ace. He bets again, about 70k, I think. I make to 250k. He eventually folds and I show the bluff. That was a useful hand because not long after that the three of us decide to do a deal and it was based on chip count. After that hand I was up to 935k, the French bloke on something similar and the big stack on about 1.7mn. So the chip leader takes 13k and the French bloke and I take 10k each. Plus we get to keep our own bounty, so that"s another grand (I"m up to ten bounties now). Then, when I go to the cashier, she seems to think that it should add up to $11,300. I just smile and let her get on with it. I think the Venetian can afford it! So I"m back in the hotel room now at 4am trying to work out what the hell happened today! I"ve now got over $16k in cash on me - is that a problem at Customs?

[Big Club]

Awesome results for the trip Joe... Congrats!

[Scousebill]

I think over 10K is the starting point for having to declare cash....

Well played Joe.... A very long session well rewarded.....

Found this.....

FinCEN105 form, http://www.fincen.gov/fin105_cmir.pdf

It says in the bumpf that not declaring amouts over $10,000 may result in it"s confiscation....