We were staying at the fabulous Flamingo on the strip, and by fabulous I mean shitty.
The room was actually decent, clean and up to date-ish. Not nasty like IP, but not as spic as Harrah's either. What was really crap about the place was the sprawling and smoky casino floor covered in an ocean of drunks which I had to navigate through time and time again during the course of my work day. Not fun because my work day involved lugging around copious amounts of heavy gear. Oh well.
Our first day was half travel and half reconnaissance for the shoot, but we didn't finish until after 9pm. My tournament poker options were severely limited at the late hour, and I had a full day ahead of me. So naturally I picked the 10pm $85 donkament at Caesar's.
I at first had considered the much more fun and silly $50 10pm at T.I., likely to only last three hours or so, but as I had no car and it was a 25 minute walk, Caesar's won the day. I knew this was a more serious event that was likely to end at 3am, but I didn't want to make the trek to T.I. as I would be late in sitting down (which is deadly in a turbo) and then also have to hoof it a long ways back at 1am if I went deep.
I don't remember much from the Tuesday tourney, other than being card dead and at a fairly strong table right from the get go. There were several aggressive recreational/regular players who delighted in 3 betting limpers large and firing multiple barrel bluffs. Not exactly a great location for chip accumulation.
In the handful of other times I've played at Caesar's I've run into similar tables. My good poker buddy Sven has gone deep twice there I think, and has reported that his tables were very soft. Either he really is that much better than me or I just have been very unlucky with table selection.
I was a little late, so I imagine that every night customers wander in whenever they can get there and typically sit down at the last table or two to fill.
Anyways - it is a pretty great room. Good dealers and entirely smoke free, with more different daily tournaments than any other room in Vegas and probably the world. I haven't run that great there, but other than that it's fantastic.
All of the tournament structures are also rather turbo-ish (though not super-turbo) and they don't compare to the Venetian, Aria or Wynn - but Caesar's Multi-Table Tournaments are the 4-5 hour variety, not the 8-9 hour kind. Truly mid-stakes MTT's.
Like I was saying, I don't remember much from Tuesday night. I know I got my money in good a few times and couldn't hold - including a rather gross AIPF with my JJ that was called with TT that of course spiked a ten on the river.
I folded and folded, probably longer than I should have (down to 8 bigs) before I got it all in with TPGK on a dry flop only to get slow rolled with pocket kings in what had been a multi way limped pot.
Good times anyhow, as the table was friendly enough and I was able to get to bed at a reasonable hour for the big day ahead.
The next night, after finishing up a long day of shooting interviews and the Donny & Marie show (pretty good if you're into that sort of thing) I once again couldn't resist my inner degenerate and hit Caesar's. This time I was a bit early, and I realized something that I know I will be using for the rest of my tournament poker career - the fish show up early.
When I think about it, the logic is inescapable.
Who is more likely to sit down 15 minutes ahead of time? An enthusiastic home game player who only gets to play once or twice a month and in Vegas only once or twice a year, or an every day regular who sees the game as a job or at the very least a way to supplement his income?
Easy answer: us fish will always be the early ones.
I realized this about an orbit and a half into play- this table was super passive and limpy. Just like the other tournaments that I've manhandled at T.I., Harrah's and Monte Carlo. There wasn't a single local to be found.
There was one stern bloke down at the end opposite of me, and by bloke I mean British. I thought he might be a regular, as he was the strongest player at the table by far - but his accent gave him away. He was a serious recreational player on vacation from the UK. He was easy to avoid.
I went to work and probably won close to a dozen hands before the break without a showdown. No aces, kings, queens or jacks. One AK that I used to shove from the BB after a multi-way limped pot to which everyone folded.
Otherwise, with nary a hand to speak of, I would c-bet dry flops and they would fold. I would re-raise obvious steals and they would fold. I would re-raise donk bets and they would fold. For the most part I was masterful pre-flop, and the few flops I did take I felt comfortable enough that I could get frisky and still be able to get away if anyone fought back.
It was a lot of work, and I didn't have as much to show for it as I would have liked after the antes kicked in, but I was definitely above average in chips. (Unlike a big event, say like the Main, with mid-stakes turbos you have to chip up early if you want to have room to maneuver at ante time.)
I dwindled a bit before getting lucky and doubling through a big stack. As the second break approached my image was pretty maniacal and I used it to get paid when I four bet shoved into a multi-way pot with my kings into a fellow who had just about had enough of me and called off with A7. The other fellow in the hand (the initial raiser) folded his jacks face up. My money went in way good and my hand held, especially because jack boy folded - the jack on the turn was meaningless. I was then promptly moved to another table.
A different table. A shitty table.
It was quite simply, shark infested.
I tried a move early on and got three bet large by a mouthy maniac. I had to release my hand, though I still wonder if I could have four bet shoved him off of his hand. Probably not. I watched him for awhile and he gave off a lot of information. He clearly knew what he was doing, and I didn't ever see him get a big chunk of his stack in without some kind of strong hand or monster draw.
I was hovering around 15 to 20 bigs for the next two hours, mostly folding - occasionally waking up with a monster and open shoving with no callers.
I accumulated a little bit, but not nearly enough. The table was simply too active and aggressive to get tricky without card equity.
I was sitting on 10 bigs when our table broke. 18 runners left. 5 would get paid.
Unfortunately, two of the biggest sharks at my second table joined me at my third (and what would eventually be the FINAL) table. Mouthy maniac and a nice European fellow who very much knew what he was doing.
Also at this third table, the British bloke. He had a mountain of chips. He and the mouth got into it a bit, though friendly. Mouthy made it very clear he was playing for first place only. It was also obvious to me that at least four and probably five other guys at the table were hell bent on doing the same.
A friendly British fellow, who was a buddy of the Bloke's, was on my left. He seemed capable and had about twice as many chips as me, about 40 bigs.
The Bloke was being super aggressive and raised it up from MP. I was on the button with AhQs. Easy shove with just under 20 bigs.
The friendly British fellow to my left re-shoved. Uh-oh. Yep. AK. But he didn't have any spades and when the fourth spade binked on the river I had doubled up.
Good decision, lucky results. He was lightly steamed, but thankfully not at me.
At this point we had our third break of the evening. I reflected as I walked in vain through Caesar's in a futile search for a store with caffeine products.. After playing seriously in tournaments for going on 7 years now, I have a pretty good sense of what gear I should be in. And my gear of choice for the rest of the tournament was going to be sooooper tight. When I sat back down I was reading the heat off of all these guys - the big stacks were all gunning for each other.
Boom. A big stack (friendly European) fell. Boom. An above average stack fell to the Bloke, who now probably had close to half the chips in play.
7 players left.
It was folded around to me in the small blind - Ac2c. I had maybe 12 bigs. Easy shove to pick up all the dead money, antes and big blind.
Friendly British dude snap called with A7. I'm happy with my decision, I had been sooooper tight for a long while. Even so, I don't think his call was light. The hand played itself.
A two fell in the window and held. Friendly British guy still managed to stay friendly even after I had gotten all my chips in crushed against him and sucked out. I admit it felt weird to stack all his chips, like somehow I wasn't deserving. Even though my decisions were correct, it still sucks to get it in SO bad - twice.
6 players remained. Bubble time.
A short stacked female to my right floated a suggestion to pay the bubble out of our pockets. We all were happy to agree to that. The lady was assuming it would be her, since she had the smallest stack, and we all knew this, but it wasn't a big deal.
Turned out, she didn't bubble - it was mouthy maniac who busted next after a badly timed three bet squeeze with a baby ace that ran into the Bloke's overpair. I didn't hate his move, with all the dead money out there, but it wasn't the best spot for him to pick with a massive chip leader to his left.
Mouth stood and collected $20 from each of us. Two players were short on cash, so the Bloke agreed to pull out twenty dollar bills for them until they got paid at the cage.
The very next hand...
I folded UTG, biggish stack to my left raised it up from the cutoff.
The button, another big stack who talked way too fucking much (though he wasn't nearly as nice as the mouthy maniac) hemmed and hawed (beware the Hollywooding) before click-raise 3 betting.
The small blind was the Bloke who flat called. The blind (short stack lady) folded. The initial raiser also flatted.
Flop came low and ragged 65x.
The Bloke checked, the cut-off led out smallish. Hollywood tanked and tanked and tanked and tried (but failed) to look anguished before sighing loudly, throwing up his hands and declaring all in.
I knew he had aces before he had a chance to turn them up.
The bloke re-shoved his mountain of chips. The cut-off, a bit bewildered, did a genuine long tank before calling off with queens. Absolutely horrible call.
Hollywood had the bullets, Bloke had flopped two pair which held.
Queens guy was gracious. Hollywood was an absolute dick, exploding about the pre-flop call. He was entirely wrong of course, with his stack at around 35 bigs he must shove every single time with aces if there's been action in front. Only then is Bloke making a mistake by calling. Getting 3 to 1 with a chance to stack the two other players closest to him in chips, the pre-flop call was a no-brainer.
Best of all, after this bit of nastiness (accompanied with a very typical Vegas regular type false apology at the end) Hollywood guy up and skedaddled after getting paid at the cage, not paying the Bloke the $20 that he owed! What a douche!
I mean really, all a poker player has at the end of the day is his word. Money comes and goes, but if you're going to be a dick-hole, that will be ever lasting. Dumb ass.
So, I'm happy to say that my soooper tightness paid off, I had made a $200 pay jump and was guaranteed $515 for third at the minimum.
Three handed, the lady on my right was on the nub, probably about 4 bigs. Bloke doubled her up once, twice, and then she and I were pretty close to even.
She had suggested that she and I split 2nd and 3rd earlier - since there was another $200 jump, from $515 to $735, I had declined. But now that we were both close, and Bloke was still WAY out in front, I took her up on her offer. We both had enough chips that we were still technically in it, but it was 3am and I was exhausted. And in all honesty, Bloke was simply a better player than me, especially when I was dead tired and he very well could be on London time and wide awake.
So Bloke was getting $1080 for first and he chimed in that he'd throw us the extra $80 to split, so when the monies settled we each got $660! Nice! (We toked the extra $5 and I chipped in a bit more as well).
Felt great to go deep and to score biggish, but it was also sobering. I had run exceptionally well all night. All of the times I got in ahead my hands held, and even twice when I got it in crushed I managed to suck out.
I'm convinced that good variance is an essential ingredient for any deep run in a poker tournament. Without it, there is simply no way to make a big score. Too many times you have to get your money in, you simply have to win the flips, maintain the best hand and even suck out a couple of times - to have any chance to outlast 50+ players.
Not a lot of poker up ahead, hopefully I'll get invited at some point to Eric's game again - it sucks being an alternate! My home game goes on the 25th, a Friday night which is unusual, but it was either that or nothing this month at PSP.
Wait, that's not true - I had a cash game at the beginning of May. I played dreadfully. Very unlike me to get tilted early and try clumsily to get unstuck. Lost 3 buy-ins. Feels especially good to recoup all of that and more at Caesar's.
Very much looking forward to the WSOP, I've tentatively booked the end of June. I've got three horses as well in events earlier in the month, I feel VERY good about two of them and good enough about the third. Overall summer should be a blast.
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