I was pretty nervous when I went in to start my first shift. There weren't many games going though, and the Dealer Coordinator told us that today would probably be a lot of sitting around and waiting. However, right after our meeting ended, Amy (the day shift supervisor) came in and asked for nine volunteers. I wanted to get a day of work under my belt before the series began (tournaments start the 31st), so I jumped forward to volunteer. As it turned out, we were sent to deal heads-up matches in a satellite tournament for Event #2, the $25,000 buy-in Heads-up tournament.
I was sitting, waiting for players, and Joseph Cheong sat down at my table! If you forgot or didn't know who he is, he finished in 3rd in the Main Event last year. He was a slight chipleader and 5 or 6 bet all-in preflop w/ A-7 against Jonathan Duhamel when Duhamel had Q-Q, called, and propelled himself to the title. Unfortuately, the tournament had a problem with the draw and all the players left their seats for a redraw. I ended up dealing to Alex Kim and a young Russian player who both seemed to play really well. They should play well if they're entering a $1500 satellite tournament! Kim won the pivotal hand when he moved all-in and the Russian called on a board of Q♦ 2♠ 4♦ 9♥ K♦. The Russian had J♣ 10♠ for a straight, but Kim had 10♦ 5♦ for a winning flush.
After dealing that match I was moved to the cash game tables. I was pretty overwhelmed for a bit, especially when my second table was a $5/$10 Pot Limit Big-O H/L 8-or better Split game. Big-O is just like Omaha except the players receive five downcards instead of four. To make matters worse, I tapped the outgoing dealer just as he was finishing a hand, so I had no time to count the table bank. Each table has $500 in $5, $2, and $1 chips. The incoming dealer has to verify that it is $500 at the beginning of their down (a down is a 30 minute shift dealing at a table). Rather than do what I should do and count the bank before dealing a hand, I tried to count it as the hand played out. Big mistake, especially in pot limit, where I have to keep track of the pot at all times. So my first hand was a bit of a fiasco. After that, I got better, but I never did end up counting the bank. As it turned out, the bank was $5 short, and I had to make it up out of my tips. Lesson learned I guess.
Counting the bank turned out to be the most difficult problem I had all night. I struggled on every table to get the bank counted, but I think I ended up with the rest all being right. Hope so anyway. On the bright side, I was all over the rake. I don't think I missed a single one!
Pros that I saw today included Sam Grizzle (from Day 2 of the 2003 WSOP and Phil Hellmuth's big rival), Joseph Cheong, Vanessa Rousso, Jeff Lisandro, Scott Clements, and Humberto Brenes. Scott Clements is smaller than he looks on TV, which surprised me. So is Lisandro. Grizzle was just hanging out talking to people, I walked past Brenes in the walkway, and the other four were playing the heads-up satellite.
I'm working tomorrow at 4PM again. Then I have Wednesday and Thursday off, and maybe Friday and Saturday off too. We'll see. Hopefully I'm dealing the $25K Heads-up tournament tomorrow. If not, then hopefully I'm dealing single table satellites. Cash games are rough!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Day 7 - Prepping for the Series
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous. I start dealing today (Monday) at 4PM, which I admit crept up on me. At least I finally received and read the WSOP Dealer Guide, which helped me feel more prepared. I'm planning to reread it after waking up to make sure I'm as ready as I can be. My roommate Matt, his wife Michelle, their friend Mike, and I played poker for a while last night as well. Matt thinks I won't have any problems, but I know I'm going to make some mistakes. Quite honestly, I have no idea how I am going to respond after the players get pissed at me for it. Hopefully, I respond well.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 6 - Moving in and a rollercoaster at the Orleans
Today was pretty eventful. I have now moved into the place I will be living for the next seven weeks. I love having my own room again! The guys I was crashing with are cool and all, but when you're sleeping on a thin mattress pad on the floor it always sucks. After getting moved in, I decided to play another of the $75 daily tournaments at the Orleans casino. Again, this tournament starts with 7,500 chips and blinds at 50/100. 85 players signed up and the tournament would pay the top 9.
At the 50/100 blind level, I was dealt Q♣ Q♦ in late position. The older gentleman to my right had limped in for 100 and I raised to 400. He called and the flop came 10♥ 6♥ 4♣. He checked, I bet 800, and he called. The 2♥ hit the turn and he bet 2,100 to put me in a tight spot. It might cost me all of my chips to find out whether I had the best hand or not. I stared him down for 20 seconds or so and folded. I think he probably flopped a set, tried to slowplay, and decided he had to protect his hand when a third heart hit the board. The only hand I could legitimately beat here is A♥ 10x, which even has 14 outs to win on the river.
Still at the 50/100 blind level, I was dealt 6♠ 6♥ in middle position. I decided to limp, hoping to start a bunch of limpers that might pay me off if I flopped a set. The player to my left had been uber-aggressive and raised to 350. I called hoping to trap him if a 6 came on the flop. The flop came 10♦ 7♥ 3♦ and I check folded to his 700 bet.
At 75/150, I received A♥ Q♦ UTG+1 (UTG stands for Under the Gun and is the name given to the person acting first preflop. UTG+1 acts immediately after UTG). UTG limped and I raised to 600. The limper was the only caller and the flop came K♦ 4♣ 3♠. He checked, I bet 1000, and he folded. Yay, my first pot.
At 100/200, I was in the SB (small blind) and four players limped in. I looked down at K♠ K♣ and tried to look calm as I attempted to decide how best to play my monster. I decided to raise to 1500, hoping to get only one caller. To my surprise, the player who limped UTG, now re-raised all-in! I have seen this move before and it often means pocket aces. But I'm just never getting away from kings preflop, so I called his all-in for slightly less than I had (about 5,500). He turned over Q♠ Q♣ and I just needed to dodge a two outer. The board came 9♦ 8♥ 6♥ A♥ 4♦ and I knocked him out to raise my stack to around 12,000!
I then went on a painfully dry run of cards where I was only dealt a couple of playable hands, but I received those on hands where the pot had been raised and even re-raised. By the time we reached the 300/600/50 (50 ante) level, I was around 7,500 chips. I was dealt Q♥ Q♣ in early position and raised to 1,500. The girl to my left moved all-in with no hesitation. I thought I might be behind, but neither one of us had enough chips for me to seriously consider folding. I called, she showed A♠ 8♠ and I just needed to dodge an ace. The board ran A-8-2-K-J and she doubled up, leaving me with about 3,000 chips.
A few hands later, the blinds had moved to 400/800/75 and a player on the button raised my BB to 2,000. I looked down at Q♦ 4♦, which is garbage. But I was too short to fold and shoved for 2,675 total. He had a painfully easy call and flipped over A♠ 7♥. The board ran 7♦ 7♣ 6♦ K♠ 9♦ and I doubled up when my flush beat his three sevens.
I managed to tread water for a while and the blinds went up twice more to 600/1200/200 where my rollercoaster ride began. I had about 6,000 chips and I was the BB when the aggressive button (who had recently lost a giant pot) raised to 3,500. I had folded to this move a couple of times already and I was waiting for an opportunity to take a stand. I looked down at A♠ 4♠ and shoved all-in. He was pot committed and called with K♣ 7♠. The board ran J-5-2-5-4 and I doubled up to over 13,000 chips!
The very next hand the same player shoved all-in preflop for about 2,500. I was in the SB with A♥ J♣ and had an easy call. He had Q♦ 5♦, but the board came 7-4-7-5-7 and his full house doubled him up. Again on the very next hand, a player in middle position raised to 3,600 and the maniac from the last two hands pushed all-in again. I had A♣ A♦ and re-shoved all-in over the top of him. The original raiser thought for quite a while, and for a while I was sure he was going to call too, but he finally folded. The maniac flipped over K♠ J♣ and the flop came 8♥ 5♥ 3♦. The player in the ten seat said, "It's over", to which I quickly replied, "Not yet". The dealer then put the K♣ on the turn and the J♠ on the river for an ugly suckout to cripple my stack.
I called myself all-in for 2,500 chips two hands later with A♠ 8♠ after the maniac raised and an old lady to my right called. The flop came A♥ A♦ 4♥ and the lady moved all-in after the maniac checked. He folded and she flipped over 10♣ 10♦. The turn was the 8♣, which gave me boat and ended matters, but I think I was the only one who noticed because the table let out a roar when the 10♠ hit the river. The dealer even marked the board for her full house. I got it corrected, of course, and dragged a nice pot to more than triple up!
Two hands later I was at it again, shoving all-in from early position with A♦ 10♦. We were still at the 600/1200/200 level! The girl to my left called with A♣ J♣ and I was in trouble. The girl commented that diamonds were good to me earlier and the board came Q♦ 7♦ 4♥ 9♦ 6♦. Diamonds were good to me again as I doubled up to over 18,000 in chips!
Around this time a monster stack was moved into our table; he must have had 60,000-70,000 chips! Right away he called a raise in the BB and lead out for an oversized bet on the flop to take the pot. He was playing hyper-aggressive and raised to 3,500 from late position on my BB, which I was anticipating. I looked down at A♦ 6♦ and decided to send a message to him to stay away from my BB. I shoved all-in. He asked the dealer for a count which made me feel a lot better. It was 15,000 more to him and to my shock and chagrin, he called! I was even more shocked and a lot more happy to see his hand. K♠ 7♣. Yes, really. For once, the idiot was not rewarded as the board came J-9-5-2-10 to double me up over 37,000 in chips! And by the way, it had only been about 10 minutes since I was at only 2,500!
Right before the break I was moved to the other table. Only 18 players remained and my stack was right around the average. After the break the blinds were 1000/2000/500 which made my 40,000 chip stack shrink considerably. I was dealt A♥ K♥ UTG and raised to 6,000. The BB called and we were off to the flop which came Q♠ 5♦ 4♠. My opponent bet 7,000 and here is where I think I made a mistake. I should have pushed all-in, but I couldn't shake the thought that he had called with A-Q or K-Q and I was drawing thin. I folded and he showed J♠ J♣. So I folded two overcards to a 7,000 chip bet with 24,500 in the pot. I would have been an underdog to win, but I was getting good odds from the pot, plus he very well may have folded the best hand to an all-in raise.
I was down to 26,500 chips a few hands later and I raised to 6,000 with K♣ J♠ UTG. A late position player moved all-in on me for 18,000 more and I was getting 31,500 to call the 18,000 more. I couldn't find a fold and called. He turned over A♠ A♦ and the board came 8-5-3-2-7 to knock me down to 2,500 chips. Next hand I was eliminated in 16th place when I was all-in in the BB and took my mighty 5♦ 3♥ into 9♥ 9♣ and the board came Q-8-5-6-9. Tough finish, but a wild tournament that was a lot of fun!
At the 50/100 blind level, I was dealt Q♣ Q♦ in late position. The older gentleman to my right had limped in for 100 and I raised to 400. He called and the flop came 10♥ 6♥ 4♣. He checked, I bet 800, and he called. The 2♥ hit the turn and he bet 2,100 to put me in a tight spot. It might cost me all of my chips to find out whether I had the best hand or not. I stared him down for 20 seconds or so and folded. I think he probably flopped a set, tried to slowplay, and decided he had to protect his hand when a third heart hit the board. The only hand I could legitimately beat here is A♥ 10x, which even has 14 outs to win on the river.
Still at the 50/100 blind level, I was dealt 6♠ 6♥ in middle position. I decided to limp, hoping to start a bunch of limpers that might pay me off if I flopped a set. The player to my left had been uber-aggressive and raised to 350. I called hoping to trap him if a 6 came on the flop. The flop came 10♦ 7♥ 3♦ and I check folded to his 700 bet.
At 75/150, I received A♥ Q♦ UTG+1 (UTG stands for Under the Gun and is the name given to the person acting first preflop. UTG+1 acts immediately after UTG). UTG limped and I raised to 600. The limper was the only caller and the flop came K♦ 4♣ 3♠. He checked, I bet 1000, and he folded. Yay, my first pot.
At 100/200, I was in the SB (small blind) and four players limped in. I looked down at K♠ K♣ and tried to look calm as I attempted to decide how best to play my monster. I decided to raise to 1500, hoping to get only one caller. To my surprise, the player who limped UTG, now re-raised all-in! I have seen this move before and it often means pocket aces. But I'm just never getting away from kings preflop, so I called his all-in for slightly less than I had (about 5,500). He turned over Q♠ Q♣ and I just needed to dodge a two outer. The board came 9♦ 8♥ 6♥ A♥ 4♦ and I knocked him out to raise my stack to around 12,000!
I then went on a painfully dry run of cards where I was only dealt a couple of playable hands, but I received those on hands where the pot had been raised and even re-raised. By the time we reached the 300/600/50 (50 ante) level, I was around 7,500 chips. I was dealt Q♥ Q♣ in early position and raised to 1,500. The girl to my left moved all-in with no hesitation. I thought I might be behind, but neither one of us had enough chips for me to seriously consider folding. I called, she showed A♠ 8♠ and I just needed to dodge an ace. The board ran A-8-2-K-J and she doubled up, leaving me with about 3,000 chips.
A few hands later, the blinds had moved to 400/800/75 and a player on the button raised my BB to 2,000. I looked down at Q♦ 4♦, which is garbage. But I was too short to fold and shoved for 2,675 total. He had a painfully easy call and flipped over A♠ 7♥. The board ran 7♦ 7♣ 6♦ K♠ 9♦ and I doubled up when my flush beat his three sevens.
I managed to tread water for a while and the blinds went up twice more to 600/1200/200 where my rollercoaster ride began. I had about 6,000 chips and I was the BB when the aggressive button (who had recently lost a giant pot) raised to 3,500. I had folded to this move a couple of times already and I was waiting for an opportunity to take a stand. I looked down at A♠ 4♠ and shoved all-in. He was pot committed and called with K♣ 7♠. The board ran J-5-2-5-4 and I doubled up to over 13,000 chips!
The very next hand the same player shoved all-in preflop for about 2,500. I was in the SB with A♥ J♣ and had an easy call. He had Q♦ 5♦, but the board came 7-4-7-5-7 and his full house doubled him up. Again on the very next hand, a player in middle position raised to 3,600 and the maniac from the last two hands pushed all-in again. I had A♣ A♦ and re-shoved all-in over the top of him. The original raiser thought for quite a while, and for a while I was sure he was going to call too, but he finally folded. The maniac flipped over K♠ J♣ and the flop came 8♥ 5♥ 3♦. The player in the ten seat said, "It's over", to which I quickly replied, "Not yet". The dealer then put the K♣ on the turn and the J♠ on the river for an ugly suckout to cripple my stack.
I called myself all-in for 2,500 chips two hands later with A♠ 8♠ after the maniac raised and an old lady to my right called. The flop came A♥ A♦ 4♥ and the lady moved all-in after the maniac checked. He folded and she flipped over 10♣ 10♦. The turn was the 8♣, which gave me boat and ended matters, but I think I was the only one who noticed because the table let out a roar when the 10♠ hit the river. The dealer even marked the board for her full house. I got it corrected, of course, and dragged a nice pot to more than triple up!
Two hands later I was at it again, shoving all-in from early position with A♦ 10♦. We were still at the 600/1200/200 level! The girl to my left called with A♣ J♣ and I was in trouble. The girl commented that diamonds were good to me earlier and the board came Q♦ 7♦ 4♥ 9♦ 6♦. Diamonds were good to me again as I doubled up to over 18,000 in chips!
Around this time a monster stack was moved into our table; he must have had 60,000-70,000 chips! Right away he called a raise in the BB and lead out for an oversized bet on the flop to take the pot. He was playing hyper-aggressive and raised to 3,500 from late position on my BB, which I was anticipating. I looked down at A♦ 6♦ and decided to send a message to him to stay away from my BB. I shoved all-in. He asked the dealer for a count which made me feel a lot better. It was 15,000 more to him and to my shock and chagrin, he called! I was even more shocked and a lot more happy to see his hand. K♠ 7♣. Yes, really. For once, the idiot was not rewarded as the board came J-9-5-2-10 to double me up over 37,000 in chips! And by the way, it had only been about 10 minutes since I was at only 2,500!
Right before the break I was moved to the other table. Only 18 players remained and my stack was right around the average. After the break the blinds were 1000/2000/500 which made my 40,000 chip stack shrink considerably. I was dealt A♥ K♥ UTG and raised to 6,000. The BB called and we were off to the flop which came Q♠ 5♦ 4♠. My opponent bet 7,000 and here is where I think I made a mistake. I should have pushed all-in, but I couldn't shake the thought that he had called with A-Q or K-Q and I was drawing thin. I folded and he showed J♠ J♣. So I folded two overcards to a 7,000 chip bet with 24,500 in the pot. I would have been an underdog to win, but I was getting good odds from the pot, plus he very well may have folded the best hand to an all-in raise.
I was down to 26,500 chips a few hands later and I raised to 6,000 with K♣ J♠ UTG. A late position player moved all-in on me for 18,000 more and I was getting 31,500 to call the 18,000 more. I couldn't find a fold and called. He turned over A♠ A♦ and the board came 8-5-3-2-7 to knock me down to 2,500 chips. Next hand I was eliminated in 16th place when I was all-in in the BB and took my mighty 5♦ 3♥ into 9♥ 9♣ and the board came Q-8-5-6-9. Tough finish, but a wild tournament that was a lot of fun!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Day 5 - Drinking our asses off (Oh yeah, I'm on swing shift)
Day 4 was pretty uneventful because I was exhausted. I got 4 hours of sleep on Weds night, so last night I went to bed at 6PM. I slept until 10:30PM, went back to bed at 1:00AM and slept until 7:00. It was AWESOME!
I then went to my orientation at the Rio. Jack Effel (the tournament coordinator of the WSOP) and Kim Smith (the dealer coordinator) talked to us. Jack Effel seems really cool; the guy is a showman! It wasn't anything he did in particular, more the way he talks and carries himself. I found out that I'm working 4PM to midnight next Monday and Tuesday and 6PM to 2AM next Saturday through Thursday. So I got swing shift, which isn't as good as days, but a heck of a lot better than nights or early mornings! I need next Saturday off, so I need to go talk to Kim on Sunday to arrange it.
I'm writing this while Joel (the only one not drinking) is off on a beer run. Joel, Vincent, Anthony, Erik, and I are drinking beers and playing a $0.05/$0.10 mixed game to get some dealing practice before the series starts. We're having a blast ragging on everyone for their mistakes. What else are friends for?
I then went to my orientation at the Rio. Jack Effel (the tournament coordinator of the WSOP) and Kim Smith (the dealer coordinator) talked to us. Jack Effel seems really cool; the guy is a showman! It wasn't anything he did in particular, more the way he talks and carries himself. I found out that I'm working 4PM to midnight next Monday and Tuesday and 6PM to 2AM next Saturday through Thursday. So I got swing shift, which isn't as good as days, but a heck of a lot better than nights or early mornings! I need next Saturday off, so I need to go talk to Kim on Sunday to arrange it.
I'm writing this while Joel (the only one not drinking) is off on a beer run. Joel, Vincent, Anthony, Erik, and I are drinking beers and playing a $0.05/$0.10 mixed game to get some dealing practice before the series starts. We're having a blast ragging on everyone for their mistakes. What else are friends for?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
First cash! - Day 3
Yesterday Erik and I went downtown to Binion's, which is where the WSOP was run from 1970-2005. We also walked around Fremont Street which is cleaned up a bit, but still pretty lame compared to the Vegas strip. All in all, it was a slow day until nighttime.
At 7PM the Green Valley Ranch has a $45 HORSE tournament on Wednesday nights. The tournament had 29 players and we started with 3,000 chips. I lost a big Razz pot early that dropped my stack to 1,800 or so and then blinded down to 1,000ish during Stud.
In Stud-8 (A high-low split pot game where the worst hand wins half of the pot, as long as it is 8-high or lower) I won a giant pot to get myself back into the tournament. I was dealt [5♠ 3♥] 2♦ (5-3 in the hole and the 2 showing) with three other 2s showing and two 3s showing. I raised the bring-in bet b/c I loved my chances to make the best low hand (tons of 2s and 3s dead and I have one of each already). I only needed two more cards 8 or lower and my opponents were going to have a tougher time catching low cards that help them for low b/c of all the 3s and 2s already out. Anyway half of the table called and I caught the 4♦ on 4th street. Now I had an awesome 4 card low and a double ended straight draw (any A or 6 makes me a straight). I bet again and got three callers. On 5th street I was dealt the 7♠ to make my low. Nobody had a low board showing, so I was positive I had the low wrapped up. Anyway, I bet 5th and 6th streets, 4♣, to put me all-in. My last card was the A♣ to make a wheel! My A-5 straight took the high and low for a monster pot to put me over 5,000 chips before the break!
I got lucky to split an Omaha pot when I saw the flop for free w/ J♦ 7♥ 4♣ 3♥ in the BB. A♦ 10♠ 8♠ was the flop and I check/called a bet with my low draw. The turn was the Q♥ and I check/called again b/c three other players in the pot gave me good odds to draw. The river was a fantastic 2♥ and I checked, planning to check-raise and trap bets in the middle since the player to my left had been the bettor. He bet, one player called, and I raised. Both players called and I sucked out to win the low since one of the players had 2-3 for a better low draw that was counterfeited by the river.
I knocked that same guy in Razz a few hands later when I made a 7-5-4-2-A to beat his 7-5-4-3-2. We made the final table a little later. I had 7400 chips for a slightly less than average stack. I didn't get involved in very many pots, but I stole enough blinds and antes to survive. In Omaha, I was dealt A♥ J♦ 6♥ 2♦ and I raised from the button. The BB called, the flop came J♦ 9♥ 3♣, and we both checked. The turn was the 3♦ and the BB checked again. I bet confidently with my trip threes and the BB folded. I looked back at my hand before mucking and realized w/ a jolt that I had forgotten my hand. I thought I had a three! Lucky he folded!
The final table was pretty slow and knockouts were anything but plentiful. Finally we knocked out fifth place to put the remaining four of us into the money. We had comparable chip stacks and I offered to chop, but one of the players told me that he never chops, so that idea was out. My confidence was raised considerably by the dealer and another player a few minutes later. The Green Valley Ranch prides itself on serving local residents. There are really no tourists there and all the players seemed to know each other and the dealers. One of the players looked up while the dealer was shuffling and commented with a smile that we were the three other players that he was least happy to be facing four handed. The dealer agreed and said that she thought the best four players in the tournament made the final four. She might have been just being nice, but it helped my confidence all the same!
Later, in Razz, I was dealt [A♣ 6♥] 8♣ and completed the bring-in bet. The player behind me had the A♠ showing and re-raised. We raised back and forth a couple times to put him all-in. Unfortunately, he flipped over 4♠ 2♦ and I was a bit behind. I caught some awful cards down the stretch and my opponent doubled up, leaving me w/ 2,500 chips. The other players all had around 25,000 and the betting levels were 1,000/2,000 with an ante and bring-in of 500. I then caught a few hands in a row to bring my stack back over 10,000.
I was blinded back down to 4,500 or so before being eliminated in Stud when I brought in w/ [A♦ Q♥] 3♠ and was raised by a player with the 10♥. I re-raised and he put me all-in and flipped over K♦ 7♥. I was ahead! Unfortunately he caught two running 10s to knock me out in 4th place. I made $94 for a min-cash, which was a bummer, but at least I cashed!
After leaving Green Valley Ranch, Erik and Vincent talked me into going to Bill's Gambling Hall for their $30 11:30PM tournament. I finished 6th out of 22 (it paid 3), but at least I won a last longer bet for $25, so it only ended up costing me $5. Along the way, I caught some sick suckouts, so I was damn lucky to win the bet! I shoved A♣ K♣ into A-A, only to catch a flush on the turn. I shoved A♠ 6♠ on the final table, was called by Q-Q and the board ran A-A-4-9-7. Eventually my luck ran out when I shoved Q-J into K-K and lost.
At 7PM the Green Valley Ranch has a $45 HORSE tournament on Wednesday nights. The tournament had 29 players and we started with 3,000 chips. I lost a big Razz pot early that dropped my stack to 1,800 or so and then blinded down to 1,000ish during Stud.
In Stud-8 (A high-low split pot game where the worst hand wins half of the pot, as long as it is 8-high or lower) I won a giant pot to get myself back into the tournament. I was dealt [5♠ 3♥] 2♦ (5-3 in the hole and the 2 showing) with three other 2s showing and two 3s showing. I raised the bring-in bet b/c I loved my chances to make the best low hand (tons of 2s and 3s dead and I have one of each already). I only needed two more cards 8 or lower and my opponents were going to have a tougher time catching low cards that help them for low b/c of all the 3s and 2s already out. Anyway half of the table called and I caught the 4♦ on 4th street. Now I had an awesome 4 card low and a double ended straight draw (any A or 6 makes me a straight). I bet again and got three callers. On 5th street I was dealt the 7♠ to make my low. Nobody had a low board showing, so I was positive I had the low wrapped up. Anyway, I bet 5th and 6th streets, 4♣, to put me all-in. My last card was the A♣ to make a wheel! My A-5 straight took the high and low for a monster pot to put me over 5,000 chips before the break!
I got lucky to split an Omaha pot when I saw the flop for free w/ J♦ 7♥ 4♣ 3♥ in the BB. A♦ 10♠ 8♠ was the flop and I check/called a bet with my low draw. The turn was the Q♥ and I check/called again b/c three other players in the pot gave me good odds to draw. The river was a fantastic 2♥ and I checked, planning to check-raise and trap bets in the middle since the player to my left had been the bettor. He bet, one player called, and I raised. Both players called and I sucked out to win the low since one of the players had 2-3 for a better low draw that was counterfeited by the river.
I knocked that same guy in Razz a few hands later when I made a 7-5-4-2-A to beat his 7-5-4-3-2. We made the final table a little later. I had 7400 chips for a slightly less than average stack. I didn't get involved in very many pots, but I stole enough blinds and antes to survive. In Omaha, I was dealt A♥ J♦ 6♥ 2♦ and I raised from the button. The BB called, the flop came J♦ 9♥ 3♣, and we both checked. The turn was the 3♦ and the BB checked again. I bet confidently with my trip threes and the BB folded. I looked back at my hand before mucking and realized w/ a jolt that I had forgotten my hand. I thought I had a three! Lucky he folded!
The final table was pretty slow and knockouts were anything but plentiful. Finally we knocked out fifth place to put the remaining four of us into the money. We had comparable chip stacks and I offered to chop, but one of the players told me that he never chops, so that idea was out. My confidence was raised considerably by the dealer and another player a few minutes later. The Green Valley Ranch prides itself on serving local residents. There are really no tourists there and all the players seemed to know each other and the dealers. One of the players looked up while the dealer was shuffling and commented with a smile that we were the three other players that he was least happy to be facing four handed. The dealer agreed and said that she thought the best four players in the tournament made the final four. She might have been just being nice, but it helped my confidence all the same!
Later, in Razz, I was dealt [A♣ 6♥] 8♣ and completed the bring-in bet. The player behind me had the A♠ showing and re-raised. We raised back and forth a couple times to put him all-in. Unfortunately, he flipped over 4♠ 2♦ and I was a bit behind. I caught some awful cards down the stretch and my opponent doubled up, leaving me w/ 2,500 chips. The other players all had around 25,000 and the betting levels were 1,000/2,000 with an ante and bring-in of 500. I then caught a few hands in a row to bring my stack back over 10,000.
I was blinded back down to 4,500 or so before being eliminated in Stud when I brought in w/ [A♦ Q♥] 3♠ and was raised by a player with the 10♥. I re-raised and he put me all-in and flipped over K♦ 7♥. I was ahead! Unfortunately he caught two running 10s to knock me out in 4th place. I made $94 for a min-cash, which was a bummer, but at least I cashed!
After leaving Green Valley Ranch, Erik and Vincent talked me into going to Bill's Gambling Hall for their $30 11:30PM tournament. I finished 6th out of 22 (it paid 3), but at least I won a last longer bet for $25, so it only ended up costing me $5. Along the way, I caught some sick suckouts, so I was damn lucky to win the bet! I shoved A♣ K♣ into A-A, only to catch a flush on the turn. I shoved A♠ 6♠ on the final table, was called by Q-Q and the board ran A-A-4-9-7. Eventually my luck ran out when I shoved Q-J into K-K and lost.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Day 2
I completed my dealing paperwork today at the Rio, so I'm all set up! There isn't much else to report; I played a $30 20-player tournament at Bill's Gambling Hall and finished 9th (paid 3 spots). So far in casinos I've been intimidated by some dealers (they are damn good) and relieved to watch others (some of them are pretty awful). One lady at the Orleans had me feeling pretty confidant last night; she was lost half of the time. At least I shouldn't be that bad!
I'm hoping to get some more sleep tonight and play the $45 HORSE at Green Valley Ranch tomorrow evening at 7PM.
I'm hoping to get some more sleep tonight and play the $45 HORSE at Green Valley Ranch tomorrow evening at 7PM.
Arrived in Vegas and 1st Tournament
I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday! I got up at 4:30AM, left at 6:00AM, and arrived here around 3:30PM. I decided to just jump right in and play the $75 Orleans Hold 'em tournament at 7PM last night.
The tournament starts with stacks of 7,500 and blinds at 50/100. Blinds go up every 20 minutes for the first hour and every 30 minutes thereafter. I got off to a slow start, playing some small pots early and losing most of them. The players at the Orleans are locals that play very well on average, so it was a tough tournament!
I had J♠ J♥ in the small blind at the 50/100 level when an early position player min-raised to 200. Three players called, leaving me in a tough spot. Do I re-raise with my excellent but vulnerable starting hand? I decided to only call for several reasons. First, the stacks were very large on average for the size of the blinds, so I stand to win a large pot for a small investment if I flop a set. I also don't want to build a large pot preflop with such a vulnerable hand out of position. The flop came K♣ T♣ 4♠ and I had an easy check-fold.
At the 100/200 blind level my stack had been whittled down to 5,800 or so. I raised to 600 from the cutoff with 4♠ 4♦ and the big blind called. The flop came 8♣ 5♥ 4♣. He checked. I didn't think he caught any of the board and I was willing to gamble to give him a free card to let him catch up a bit, so I checked. The turn was the K♥ and he checked again. I decided to bet 1,000 b/c I needed to start building a pot. He called. The river was the K♣ and he checked a third time. I bet 2,000, hoping he had a king or a flush and would pay me off. He did call and then mucked when he saw my full house.
A while later the blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante and I looked down at 6♣ 6♦ in the small blind. Four players limped, so did I and the BB checked. The flop came 4♥ 4♠ 3♦. I decided to put out a feeler bet of 1200. Only the button called. The turn was the 10♣ and I checked. He checked behind and the river was the 3♥. We both checked and he showed 7-5 for a missed straight draw that I wished he'd hit b/c it would have given me a full house! Regardless, I dragged a nice little pot.
At the 200/400/50 level, I saw a free hand from the BB with 6♠ 5♥ after only the button called. The flop came 6♥ 4♥ 3♥ to give me an open ended straight flush draw. I bet 1200 and the button called. The turn was an offsuit Q, I bet 1500 and he called again. The river was an offsuit 3 to miss my draws. We both checked and he showed 8-6 for a split pot (We both had two pair sixes and threes w/ a queen kicker).
After those hands the table got off of my back and stopped playing back at me as much as they were earlier. Either that or the blinds were getting high enough that people decided to stop playing as many speculative hands. But I just sat back stealing the occasional pot and mostly folding. I raised a limper w/ A-Q and caught a Q-4-3 flop to win a small pot. I folded 10-10 when a player moved all-in for a little over half of my stack. He had been pretty tight and I felt like I was either flipping a coin or I was crushed. He told me later that he had A-K.
Before long, we were down to two tables from the starting field of 57. With blinds of 600/1200/200, I limped A♦ 5♦ from the SB after four limpers and the flop came A♠ 7♥ 2♦. I checked and the first limper bet 4000. I had only 12,000 left in my stack and I didn't want to fold. Calling seemed too weak out of position, so if I wanted to raise, all-in was the only move. He thought for a minute and folded A-3 faceup! A few hands later, I was in the BB and the button raised to 3600. Exactly 3X the BB. He had one hand on his cards until it folded to him and it looked to me like he changed his mind about something when it folded to him. So I decided to reshove on him before I even looked at my hand. The K♥ Q♦ that I saw made my decision much, much easier. He thought for a long time (which was a show I think) before folding and I dragged another nice pot.
The blinds went up to 800/1600/300 a few hands later and the tight player in the cutoff raised to 4000. I looked down at A♣ K♥ on the button and reshoved all-in for about 28K. The SB, with 15K in his stack, snap called w/ J-J and the cutoff folded. The board came Q-J-8-Q-9 and I dropped to around 13K.
Right before break I went through the blinds, the other table lost a player to combine us to the final table of 10, and I drew the BB seat. I was pretty pissed off at having to go through the blinds twice in a row, but it happens I guess.
Upon returning from the break, the blinds were 1000/2000 with a 500 ante. I had K♣ 10♣ in the BB and would happily have gotten my paltry 12K in the middle, but we had two limpers and a big raise in front of me, and in live tourneys that raise means a big hand. So I folded. Looking back, I think I should have gambled. The next hand it folded to my SB and I shoved 10♥ 9♦. The BB was priced in w/ 6-2 since the pot was 17K and it cost him only 8K to call. Unfortunately, he flopped a 2 and knocked me out of the tournament in 10th place. The tournament only paid 5, but overall I feel good about my showing.
I need to go to HR in the Rio today to get my paperwork squared away. I'll blog again tonight or tomorrow morning (I hope).
The tournament starts with stacks of 7,500 and blinds at 50/100. Blinds go up every 20 minutes for the first hour and every 30 minutes thereafter. I got off to a slow start, playing some small pots early and losing most of them. The players at the Orleans are locals that play very well on average, so it was a tough tournament!
I had J♠ J♥ in the small blind at the 50/100 level when an early position player min-raised to 200. Three players called, leaving me in a tough spot. Do I re-raise with my excellent but vulnerable starting hand? I decided to only call for several reasons. First, the stacks were very large on average for the size of the blinds, so I stand to win a large pot for a small investment if I flop a set. I also don't want to build a large pot preflop with such a vulnerable hand out of position. The flop came K♣ T♣ 4♠ and I had an easy check-fold.
At the 100/200 blind level my stack had been whittled down to 5,800 or so. I raised to 600 from the cutoff with 4♠ 4♦ and the big blind called. The flop came 8♣ 5♥ 4♣. He checked. I didn't think he caught any of the board and I was willing to gamble to give him a free card to let him catch up a bit, so I checked. The turn was the K♥ and he checked again. I decided to bet 1,000 b/c I needed to start building a pot. He called. The river was the K♣ and he checked a third time. I bet 2,000, hoping he had a king or a flush and would pay me off. He did call and then mucked when he saw my full house.
A while later the blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante and I looked down at 6♣ 6♦ in the small blind. Four players limped, so did I and the BB checked. The flop came 4♥ 4♠ 3♦. I decided to put out a feeler bet of 1200. Only the button called. The turn was the 10♣ and I checked. He checked behind and the river was the 3♥. We both checked and he showed 7-5 for a missed straight draw that I wished he'd hit b/c it would have given me a full house! Regardless, I dragged a nice little pot.
At the 200/400/50 level, I saw a free hand from the BB with 6♠ 5♥ after only the button called. The flop came 6♥ 4♥ 3♥ to give me an open ended straight flush draw. I bet 1200 and the button called. The turn was an offsuit Q, I bet 1500 and he called again. The river was an offsuit 3 to miss my draws. We both checked and he showed 8-6 for a split pot (We both had two pair sixes and threes w/ a queen kicker).
After those hands the table got off of my back and stopped playing back at me as much as they were earlier. Either that or the blinds were getting high enough that people decided to stop playing as many speculative hands. But I just sat back stealing the occasional pot and mostly folding. I raised a limper w/ A-Q and caught a Q-4-3 flop to win a small pot. I folded 10-10 when a player moved all-in for a little over half of my stack. He had been pretty tight and I felt like I was either flipping a coin or I was crushed. He told me later that he had A-K.
Before long, we were down to two tables from the starting field of 57. With blinds of 600/1200/200, I limped A♦ 5♦ from the SB after four limpers and the flop came A♠ 7♥ 2♦. I checked and the first limper bet 4000. I had only 12,000 left in my stack and I didn't want to fold. Calling seemed too weak out of position, so if I wanted to raise, all-in was the only move. He thought for a minute and folded A-3 faceup! A few hands later, I was in the BB and the button raised to 3600. Exactly 3X the BB. He had one hand on his cards until it folded to him and it looked to me like he changed his mind about something when it folded to him. So I decided to reshove on him before I even looked at my hand. The K♥ Q♦ that I saw made my decision much, much easier. He thought for a long time (which was a show I think) before folding and I dragged another nice pot.
The blinds went up to 800/1600/300 a few hands later and the tight player in the cutoff raised to 4000. I looked down at A♣ K♥ on the button and reshoved all-in for about 28K. The SB, with 15K in his stack, snap called w/ J-J and the cutoff folded. The board came Q-J-8-Q-9 and I dropped to around 13K.
Right before break I went through the blinds, the other table lost a player to combine us to the final table of 10, and I drew the BB seat. I was pretty pissed off at having to go through the blinds twice in a row, but it happens I guess.
Upon returning from the break, the blinds were 1000/2000 with a 500 ante. I had K♣ 10♣ in the BB and would happily have gotten my paltry 12K in the middle, but we had two limpers and a big raise in front of me, and in live tourneys that raise means a big hand. So I folded. Looking back, I think I should have gambled. The next hand it folded to my SB and I shoved 10♥ 9♦. The BB was priced in w/ 6-2 since the pot was 17K and it cost him only 8K to call. Unfortunately, he flopped a 2 and knocked me out of the tournament in 10th place. The tournament only paid 5, but overall I feel good about my showing.
I need to go to HR in the Rio today to get my paperwork squared away. I'll blog again tonight or tomorrow morning (I hope).
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
4 days
Less than one week remains until I leave for Las Vegas! Four days to be precise. I am about halfway packed, but I am so busy over the next few days that it's going to be hard to get everything done. Tomorrow after work I'm meeting some friends to deal all the variations of poker to them so that I stay sharp before the series starts. Friday is the party for Bamboo's and Polly's first birthday. I know it's weird to hold doggy b-day parties, but we're celebrating anyway. Saturday morning is our last dealing class at the Casino College. Then Jessica and I are driving to Brentwood to my nephew Jimmy's b-day party. After that, we're driving back to Sacramento to Jess' mom's place to celebrate her youngest brother's b-day. Saturday is going to be busy! Then Sunday I'm finally picking up the grill my parents gave me and we're having a BBQ. All in all, a ton of stuff going on, and I still need to do laundry and pack! I probably won't post again until Monday night or Tuesday when I'm actually in Vegas and the journal officially begins!
Monday, May 9, 2011
T-14 days...and counting
I leave for the WSOP in two weeks! It seems really close and yet still so far away...if that makes any sense. Once I'm in Vegas the WSOP won't start for another week, and I'm not sure whether the week will go in a blur or take forever. I'm guessing it will be a long week, but since I'm planning to play some poker, it might go faster. Who knows?
There are a few tournaments and one cash game that I can't wait to try out. The first tournament is the $80 Hold 'em tournament at the Orleans. The players start w/ 7500 chips and the blinds go up every 20 minutes for the first hour and every 30 minutes thereafter. My kind of tournament! Bummer that the blinds start at 50/100, but the structure is great afterwards.
Another Orleans tournament that I want to try out is the $80 HORSE, which is offered at noon on Fridays and 7:00PM on Sundays. The blinds / limits go up every 20 minutes of this tournament, which also starts with 7500 chips. Another deep stack with a nice slow structure!
Binion's has a $60 daily tournament at 10:00AM and PM with 5000 chips and a pretty good structure, though the blinds are only 15 minutes. I have to play here at least once; it's Binion's! Bill's Gamblin' Hall has a $30 tournament that runs four times a day (five on weekends). The structure is not nearly as good, but the price actually makes sense for my bankroll.
The cash game that I'm excited about is at the Imperial Palace. The IP has a $3/$6 Mixed game on Sunday nights at 7:00PM. The game contains Omaha-8, Razz, Stud-8, Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, Baduci (Badugi and 2-7 combined, each winning half the pot), 4 card Ocean Crazy Pineapple (Players muck one card after the flop and turn, and a sixth board card, called the Ocean, is dealt), and 3-2-1 Omaha (three flops, two turns, and one river). I've never played Baduci, Ocean Pineapple, or 3-2-1 Omaha, but the game sounds fun.
There are a few tournaments and one cash game that I can't wait to try out. The first tournament is the $80 Hold 'em tournament at the Orleans. The players start w/ 7500 chips and the blinds go up every 20 minutes for the first hour and every 30 minutes thereafter. My kind of tournament! Bummer that the blinds start at 50/100, but the structure is great afterwards.
Another Orleans tournament that I want to try out is the $80 HORSE, which is offered at noon on Fridays and 7:00PM on Sundays. The blinds / limits go up every 20 minutes of this tournament, which also starts with 7500 chips. Another deep stack with a nice slow structure!
Binion's has a $60 daily tournament at 10:00AM and PM with 5000 chips and a pretty good structure, though the blinds are only 15 minutes. I have to play here at least once; it's Binion's! Bill's Gamblin' Hall has a $30 tournament that runs four times a day (five on weekends). The structure is not nearly as good, but the price actually makes sense for my bankroll.
The cash game that I'm excited about is at the Imperial Palace. The IP has a $3/$6 Mixed game on Sunday nights at 7:00PM. The game contains Omaha-8, Razz, Stud-8, Badugi, 2-7 Triple Draw, Baduci (Badugi and 2-7 combined, each winning half the pot), 4 card Ocean Crazy Pineapple (Players muck one card after the flop and turn, and a sixth board card, called the Ocean, is dealt), and 3-2-1 Omaha (three flops, two turns, and one river). I've never played Baduci, Ocean Pineapple, or 3-2-1 Omaha, but the game sounds fun.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I'm an Idiot
Jessica and I drove to Vegas a couple of weekends ago to turn in my paperwork for dealing at the WSOP. We spent Saturday in San Francisco before dropping the dog off at my parents' in Lincoln that night. Then we drove to Vegas on Sunday and back on Monday. That's a LOT of driving! So I was pretty exhausted all last week.
Anyway, we arrived in Vegas at the Luxor hotel around 4:00 on Sunday afternoon. I really liked the hotel, except that we were on the 21st floor and I'm scared of heights! The side of the hallway facing the center of the hotel is open with only a mid-torso high railing to keep you from falling to oblivion. Not so good with the vertigo! Needless to say, I hugged the opposite wall as we walked to our room. We decided to walk the strip afterwards and just check out all the hotels and casinos.
Though we had fun looking at everything, nothing really stood out to me as awesome. Except dinner. Dinner was awesome! We went to Ocean One in Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile Shops. We had the fried calamari appetizer and I got the cioppino, both of which were outstanding. Afterwards, we walked all the way down to Treasure Island before walking back to the Luxor. It was a ton of walking and we were both exhausted when we got back to our room.
The next day, we went to the HR department at the Rio only to discover that I had forgotten to bring my social security card! Without that, they wouldn't let me do any of the necessary paperwork. So that sucked!
After returning home on Monday, I tore the house apart looking for my social security card, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was freaking out, thinking that I had screwed up my chance to deal at the WSOP! However, I applied for a replacement card, which fortunately has already arrived! So since the WSOP has delayed the last day of registration to May 24th (a Tuesday), I will be driving out to Vegas on Monday the 23rd for the WSOP and taking care of my paperwork on the 24th. Whew!
Anyway, we arrived in Vegas at the Luxor hotel around 4:00 on Sunday afternoon. I really liked the hotel, except that we were on the 21st floor and I'm scared of heights! The side of the hallway facing the center of the hotel is open with only a mid-torso high railing to keep you from falling to oblivion. Not so good with the vertigo! Needless to say, I hugged the opposite wall as we walked to our room. We decided to walk the strip afterwards and just check out all the hotels and casinos.
Though we had fun looking at everything, nothing really stood out to me as awesome. Except dinner. Dinner was awesome! We went to Ocean One in Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile Shops. We had the fried calamari appetizer and I got the cioppino, both of which were outstanding. Afterwards, we walked all the way down to Treasure Island before walking back to the Luxor. It was a ton of walking and we were both exhausted when we got back to our room.
The next day, we went to the HR department at the Rio only to discover that I had forgotten to bring my social security card! Without that, they wouldn't let me do any of the necessary paperwork. So that sucked!
After returning home on Monday, I tore the house apart looking for my social security card, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was freaking out, thinking that I had screwed up my chance to deal at the WSOP! However, I applied for a replacement card, which fortunately has already arrived! So since the WSOP has delayed the last day of registration to May 24th (a Tuesday), I will be driving out to Vegas on Monday the 23rd for the WSOP and taking care of my paperwork on the 24th. Whew!
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