WSOP - Days 4, 5 & 6 - Colossus and Other Events

 Day 4 lay ahead as I sat and pondered my upcoming entry to the one and only Colossus event at the 2021 World Series of Poker!

Best place to ponder in the morning in the Rio!

I took my seat, hopelessly early - again, and the dealer checked my ID and took my receipt and slid me 40K.  A big improvement from the measly 5K we used to get for this event.

Of all the WSOP bracelet events, the Colossus has been the most good to me.  This was my fifth time (including the very first Colossus ever held a number of years ago) and I had cashed twice previously.  They weren't big cashes, but a cash is a cash in a massive event.

Speaking of a massive event - for the first time in this tournaments history, this was not going to have a five figure attendance.  I believe the final tally was just over 9,000 players, which sounds impressive until you realize that previously it was upwards of 15K.  22K when I first played it.

But it still felt big as cards finally flew.   Treaded water for an hour or so, then dusted off about 13K with a pretty credible 8K river bluff.  Villain beat me into the pot with a mere top pair and mediocre kicker.  Meh.  I know I give off a 'rec' vibe, but not enough of this vibe for good players to make an exploitive fold.  And sadly, most players these days in a $400 tournament are good or at least competent.

I chipped back up when this happened - 

That felt a bit better.

Tournament poker is always exciting - a big reason I love it so much.  But the reason it is exciting is that there are always ups and downs, and both are often strenuous. 

The grind continued...

And this was all before the 1st break!  I made it with well over 100 big blinds, and was feeling pretty great.  But I knew blinds were going to crank up and I needed to keep accumulating to keep my stack viable.

The next two hours were fairly uneventful but I had managed to chip up a little bit and was looking to maintain a nice above average stack (though now at just over 50 bigs)  through the 2nd break.  Then this hand happened right as the clock ran out.

I flat called a very active villain who opened UTG. I was on the Button with 10c8c.

My opponent c-bet a 7hQd9h flop for about half pot.  I flat called, open ended - and I binked the 6s turn.  I had a bit more than a pot sized bet behind and when the villain checked I simply jammed, knowing he would call with top pair, two pair or flush draw.

Indeed he snap called - with QhTd.   He was drawing dead to a chop and didn't hit.  He had me well covered so now I would be coming back from break with double the average stack and over a hundred big blinds!

I had observed this guy, and tangled with him a couple of times, over 4 hours.  He was pretty terrible, so I felt so lucky to get into a big hand with him and benefit from his way too loose and fishy play.  Plus he still had quite a few chips left over that hopefully I would be able to wrest away from him...

Unfortunately fate had other plans.  Our table broke when we returned from break and we were moved from the Amazon room into the darker less fun confines of the Brasilia room.

This is where I would be for the rest of the day and into the evening.   Our table would not be breaking either, so this was it.   And it wasn't the greatest.  I had a couple of seasoned regulars to my left.  The one maniac-ish player though was three seats to my right, so that was good.  He also had a massive stack, which got me a little excited... in a good wholesome poker sort of way.

It wasn't too long before we clashed, and clashed again...

Fortunately I was on the better side of these collisions, three times...  this was the third encounter.

I didn't tweet the hand, but I do have notes... basically it all got down to me firing three barrels on a board where every out I had completely missed on the river.  He folded bottom two pair, that he had flopped, face up.

I felt very relieved to be in the only hands I ever saw with him folding to big bets.  He had snapped off another player earlier with just Ace high.  I guess I was giving off a 'recreational' vibe after all.

And with that, it was dinner time.  A 75 minute break to chow down and rest up.  Once again, I went for the $12 hot dog.  Adequate and filling, but the price (along with a $7 drink) really bothered me, which is silly because myself and most other poker players think NOTHING of plunking down a grand or more for a high variance poker tournament, or pushing 1K of chips into the middle with a combo draw that only makes us a tiny favorite with two streets to come.   

Ah poker.  You are a silly beeatch.

Of course when I got back I promptly went stone card dead - but I wasn't going to let it get me down!  I had a couple of fun things happen... my first 25K chip showed up...

And then I had my favorite bluff of my entire WSOP.  It wasn't the biggest, but it was for some reason the most thrilling...

Sometimes, you HAVE to bluff.   You absolutely have to.  You can't check it back, you can't surrender - you MUST fight.   And here in this hand, after several hours of card deadness, I had to.  I know the Villain had turned a pair or some such.  I was going to put him to the test regardless.

It felt great to drag the small-ish but not insignificant pot.  And I immediately cheered up as I realized that I had over 250K, which was above average and just under 40 big blinds.  I had been feeling a bit down because not much had happened for awhile, but now the money was approaching!  We were suddenly less than 100 players from the money!

I had been here before.  The Colossus is strange this way, and one of only a handful of multi-day events in the WSOP that is designed for players to hit the money on day 1.  (The Crazy 888s is the only other one that springs to mind that is built this way).

But I wasn't going to go on Lock Down with the chips.  Yes, it was important to make the money, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I 4 bet shoved with QQ against these capable players and ran into KK.  I would take my lumps if I had to.

Turns out, I had to.  

I took a massive hit for most of my chips when I found myself triple barreling again, jamming the river for a massive amount with air after all the draws got there but I only had a single pair.  I effectively turned my hand into a bluff, even though I had JJ to start the hand.  This time, a different villain, called off for his tournament life with top and bottom pair.  A7 had flopped an ace and rivered the seven. He didn't even take that long to think about it, despite being about 30 players or so from the money.

It didn't help that he had rivered his unlikely two pair, it always seems that it's tougher to let go when you improve, I know that myself from my own light calls on fifth street.  Sometimes it works out.  Usually it's a bad result.  This time it was good - for my opponent.

I was a bit bummed, but not despondent.  Not by a long shot.

Within a half hour I had won a few small pots and things looked a lot brighter, because we were entering hand-for-hand play.

I had been here before, and in the past both of my hand-for-hand experiences were brief.

Not this time.  It was almost 90 minutes, and many hands - agonizingly slow in between the hands - before the money bubble burst and I was guaranteed $640.

Shortly after this relief, I doubled up - winning a flip with my KQ vs 77.  Paint on the river!  Send it!

Yes, you read that right, after the money bubble broke we kept playing!  In all we played seventeen 40 minute levels!  Plus we had started the day late due to a dealer shortage when the Seniors day 2 began at 10am.   We had to push our start to noon.  Boo!

It was coming up on 2am when we finally got to bag and tag.

As I dragged my sorry ass upstairs and into bed, I was rather elated.  Although I had min-cashed twice in this thing before - it still felt great to be up a little bit.

The best news of all though was that my wife had arrived!   She was already asleep when I retired to the room.  Earlier she had come down to say hi to me when I was in the Amazon room.  I didn't realize until that moment that she had never actually been to the WSOP.   I'd just assumed she had - with me playing at the Rio for the past ten years.  Turns out, it was all new to her!  

Hi honey!  Thanks for railing me!

It was great to share it with her, and I was looking forward to just walking around the convention center with her when I wasn't playing.

These days I always wake up early anyways, but I felt pretty good even on only 5 hours of sleep.  The wife and I had breakfast at the pretty balling "Hash House A-Go-Go" downstairs at the Rio.  Thank god for my Diamond rewards card - as otherwise we would've been stuck in a line of about a hundred people!  We sat right down and had a very nice meal!

That day wifey was planning to do the tourist thing with her mom, who lives in Vegas.   I was hoping to just play cards and stay in the groove.  The wife was nice enough to oblige and give me a ride to the brand spankin' new Resorts World Casino, which had a NEW poker room that had just recently started spreading tournaments.

I have to say, it's a great relief that with so many poker rooms closing in Vegas (including 10 rooms because of the pandemic) there are still a couple of new ones opening.  The new Sahara also has a new poker room and it's also doing well.

I won't go into crazy detail about how my $160 Resorts World poker tournament went - I'll just say a couple of things.

First, their chips are gorgeous...

And second, I played for about 5 hours and didn't really get that close to the money.  Busted in 35th place out of 94.  I played exceptionally well, but my AA were cracked by KK all-in pre-flop.  About as standard as it gets.   

I went to the food court after, as I was starving, and found the cheapest menu item which was actually delicious - a massive $13 bowl of Pho.  Yummy!

Before I knew it, I had ubered back to the Rio and was strolling around with the wife.  At one point she was face timing a poker friend back in Burbank, taking her around the poker rooms and showing her the sights and picking out some merchandise for her.  Good times!

The next day was to be my last day playing poker, assuming I didn't make day 3.  After that was the weekend, my birthday weekend, and the wife would have me all to herself!   Truthfully, I was looking forward to it as well.

But I got to bed early, and I was planning to bust out of the gate with my 12 big blinds and spin it up!

Unfortunately it was not to be.  Less than an hour in I happily 3 bet jammed with AK and got snapped off by a stack not a whole lot bigger than mine.   Villain had 55, which held, and I was out.

It was a drag, but it was also about as painless as it possibly could've been.   Completely standard in a tournament, especially one with as many runners left as this one.  Thank goodness they were paying 15%!  I would've missed out if it was still just 10% of the field that got monies.

Alas, the wife had already left for the day to hang with her mom - and it was still early!  Daily deep stack here I come!

I'll cut to the chase - I did not cash.   And therefore I left the WSOP down several hundred dollars.  But much richer spiritually for the whole experience.  Truthfully, I felt great.  Six tournaments, three cashes - I could've easily have been 0 for 6 (probably about as easily as I could've been 6 for 6 including a deep run, but that's the glass half empty part of me yammering).

The last Deepstack tournament had highs and lows (including a miracle 2 outer spiking the river to help me triple up) but overall I'd say I played my best poker of the entire trip.  I was constantly active, constantly putting my chips to work.  Never limping first in, never taking the passive route.

I busted on a hand that I'm pretty proud of.  Proud for how I played and proud for how I carried myself when my bluff got looked up.

It took the villain about 3 actual minutes, an eternity at the poker table, to dig deep and find a call with top pair queen kicker.  But I knew there was a decent chance he would make the right decision, as he was likely the best player at the table.   

When he called my heart sank, but I stood and remained upbeat - because I truly felt ok about it.  I gently slid my chips over to him, wished everyone the best of luck and made my way back to the room. 

The wife showed up later and after a lovely evening, the next day a great full birthday weekend began!

First we splurged a bit at the Hash House, after a couple of days of more sensible breakfasts!

Then we hit the movies, first playing some slots at the fabulous Orleans...

Didn't hit at the slots but still had a blast...

...and then heading upstairs to their theater where you can take your mask off because it's dark and no one gives a shit. 

We saw James Bond in Die Another Day - which was good, but that ending tho!

And then finally we went to the amazing golf range / amusement entertainment center Vegas extravaganza known as Top Golf driving range.

I'm not much of a golfer, but it was a HELL of a lot of fun!

Fatty likes the Driver

All in all a great weekend - and then it kept going when we got back to Burbank.  We went out to dinner at the Castaways restaurant, the same location where we had been married almost 20 years ago!   

I am one lucky dude!

Until next time, thanks for reading this far!

In a week I go back to Vegas to play for the first time at the Golden Nugget in the annual Moose International Poker Tournament.  This event was of course canceled last year, so it will be great to be playing with a lot of my Moose bothers and sisters in an event that I've never been able to make before.

Can't wait!

WSOP 2021 - Days 2 & 3 Seniors and Omaha/8

 Even after I fell asleep late I still didn't wake up late - I woke up at the crack!  

I was super excited to get going and play in my very first World Series of Poker "Seniors" event.  A $1000 entry No-Limit Hold-Em event for folks aged 50 and older!  This was my first year of eligibility.  

Knowing this, and knowing this was also the final year for the WSOP at the Rio, were the two biggest reasons I decided that the Covid thing wasn't going to get in my way of saying yes to an opportunity to experience a once in a a lifetime occurrence.

I sat down right on time and we got underway - there would be two starting days, with a single re-entry available each day.  I had budgeted just two bullets and was planning on firing the second one if I got busted early or busted late.  If it was the latter, I would return on Day 1B.

We were using the classic Rio WSOP Primary chips.  Over the past few years I've become a bit obsessed with poker chips - so I took a moment to savor my stack, understanding that this same chip set (the one I cashed with in the Main Event in 2018) was destined for the chip shredder at the end of November.  Nevada gaming law mandates poker chip destruction if chips are no longer to be used.  They will have to be replaced entirely with Bally's/Paris branded chips, or possibly casino-less WSOP chips, in their new home.

I absolutely did NOT rescue some chips from the shredder.  I did not palm a couple of low denom chips and they did absolutely did not find their way into my suitcase.  You will not see them on the wall in my garage.

Last hurrah for these lovelies.

I was super happy to be at the table I was at.  It was not a table of doom.  No Heimiller or Ramer in sight.  These were all, as far as I could tell, at best, regular amateurs at their local casinos.  This was going to easy!

The very second hand we played, I flat called from the button with AQ and the BB defended after an old guy (yeah, they were all old guys) opened 3x from UTG.  Flop was A32 with two hearts, UTG continued with 6x, I called as did BB.  Turn was a ten of hearts, it checked through.  River was a Jack of spades - UTG led out pot sized,  BB called, I made an easy fold and they both turned over AJ.  Yep.

This kind of hand had me jazzed, it had been the easiest thing in the world to navigate that hand - both players involved were nitty, and bet/called big when they had a hand.  What could possibly go wrong?

If you are concerned at the healthy dollop of foreshadowing here, yes, you are on to something.

Two hours later I defended my button with 77.  The board ran out with me check calling flop and turn with a double belly buster that didn't hit on the river.  My opponents sizing was fairly big so the pot was bloated.   I had about a pot and a half sized bet behind, and when he checked the river I bet what I would've bet had I made my straight.  All of it.

My opponent snap called, as the river had given him a set.  I was out.

I knew that this might happen - his range was narrow and uncapped and included what he had.  But so much of what he had would be unable to continue after a river jam, I just got pretty unlucky that he binked one of two cards that would ensure that he never folded.

I was bummed but ok.  It wasn't until later that night that I really unpacked the hand and concluded at the time that I didn't need to take such a high variance line, and that I should've just given up the ghost on the river.

A few weeks later, long after I had departed the WSOP, I was watching a stream of the Main Event and Stephen Chidwick (high stakes pro and tournament crusher of souls) took a very similar line in a hand that played out exactly the same way.  He flopped the world with outs, and didn't get there on the river so he put his opponent to the test - and the opponent beat him into the pot because he also had rivered three of a kind.

The hand was eerily similar to my Seniors bust out hand - and it made me reassess myself again.  

This was it, this is what Negraneau, and my instructors at LearnWPT and other tournament specialists that I admire and listen to talk about.

Sometimes you have to take the spot, and apply pressure where you know it's going to work almost all of the time.

This isn't really an option for long term big cashing success in tournaments.  Sometimes it's the perfect storm, and the correct play means piling in chips with no show down value.  You are looking for a plausible story to tell, and a cautious opponent with a narrow range of hands that you can easily put him on.

I did all of that.  And in true hindsight now, with all I have worked on my game and after seeing what transpired with Mr. Chidwick - I'm at peace with the hand.

It was also good, that at the time on the day - I was also ok with what had happened.  Even though I had doubts at the time, I was still philosophical and was ready to put my "goldfish memory" of 10 seconds into action... (Thanks Ted Lasso!)

My second table was not the dream boat that my first one was.  This one, in the Amazon Room instead of Brasilia - was not nearly as soft and had more than a couple of capable players and one maniac who was literally playing every hand.

Thankfully I would get tangled up with Mr. Maniac early on and reap the benefits of somewhat of a cooler...

Two hours later, after getting card dead and grinded down a bit, this lovely hand happened.  Same villain.

We had started with 20K and now I was up over 30.

Then I had my most memorable bluff of the series.    Different but equally bad (not as loose, but just as clueless) Villain limped UTG and I raised over him 4x with 88.

Flop 2K9 rainbow.  Villain donk-led out for half pot.  I flat called.  Turn was another king, villain led out a tiny bit bigger.  I jammed, there was lots of money in the pot at this point, and I needed to chip up and I knew it was almost 100% that he didn't have a king.  He FOR SURE would've checked the turn if he'd hit trips.  The math alone makes it much less likely that he had a King in the hole, but his mini-donk just reeked of thin/weak value.   I was actually much more worried about him having AA, QQ, JJ, or TT.  

When he didn't snap call I knew I was likely going to get a fold.  But he was a pretty bad player, so I wasn't as relieved as I could have been.

He tanked for a good minute and a half, which seemed much longer, and finally let it go.  He asked me what I had so I showed him.   "I had you beat" he said.  "I know" I said in my head.  I imagine he had JJ or TT.  Don't know if he would let go of QQ .  I know he would've snapped with AA.

Right after we got back from break our table broke and we were back in the dim, far too dim in my view, Brasilia.

It was there that I found a true table of doom, with no less than half a dozen very experienced and very aggressive either serious amateurs or semi-pros or actual pros.

Plus, this was the night I was to have the most terrible card deadness that went beyond the standard card dead status (which is normal for tournaments) and into a horrible vortex of garbage suck cards that went on for hour after hour after hour.

I got increasingly titled and frustrated as the time passed - and by the time we hit the 75 minute dinner break, which was at 8pm, I was seriously at my wits end, experiencing the worst malaise I'd had in poker in a LONG time.  

Since coming back to live poker after the pandemic, both at home and at the Moose and even at Commerce and Reno and Vegas, I had been a goofy grinning fool.  Super happy to just be playing.

This night was the first night that I entered the realm of genuine misery.  It was not the first time in my poker career, I've been to the land of blahs more than a few times over the years - but I was surprised to be back in the dumps on the biggest stage in the world in an event that I had been looking forward to for literally ten years of my life.

Thankfully, food in my stomach did wonders to make me feel better and more optimistic coming back.  I had 17 big blinds.  Things would be fine.  I couldn't run like HOT GARBAGE forever!

Alas, after nearly 10 full hours of play, and 6 more to go I believe, I woke up with a suited 9T in the small blind and 3 bet jammed with 15 big blinds over a very active button's open.  He snapped with AA (of course he has aces why wouldn't he?) and I failed to crack them.

I was out.

And crazy enough, after about half an hour - walking back to my room, kicking off my shoes and turning on sports - I felt WAY better and started thinking about tomorrow...

My Seniors post-mortem...

*********

I awoke the next morning, after actually sleeping a good 8 hours +, and felt surprisingly good and optimistic, despite having dropped 2K the day prior.

Yesterday I had enjoyed breakfast at Denny's across the street from the Rio with Mr. Jeff G.  He had survived his Seniors event and would be playing day 2 tomorrow with a robust stack of 40+ big blinds I believe.  

Today Jeff was taking a break, as he had played quite a few more hours than I had.  So I was off to the delightful South Point off the strip for some 10am tournament action.

I grabbed a bite (bagel with egg and cheese) when I got there at the little deli tucked away by the sports book.  I sat down in plenty of time for the ultra-low buy-in (ultra-high juice) donk-a-ment.

Played for about 4 hours.  After dropping 2K the day before, I had zero qualms about putting my chips to work and applying pressure.  I emptied the clip more than once, and every time it worked.  I was ending up on rivers with very little showdown value, but my bluffs (even the ones that didn't make the most sense) were working because I was essentially in another Seniors event, this time it was the early bird $80 special, but no one wanted to bust all the same.

At the end of the 4th hour the average stack was around 15 big blinds, typical for these tournaments - I got it in pre with AK against A4, and lost.  I was crippled and in the next orbit I jammed with AK and got snapped by QQ which won the race.

So I went upstairs and watched 3/4 of Dune on the big screen until it was time to come back down and play in the next tournament - which was the magnificent game of Omaha Eight or Better!

I could've played cash, but this was a tournament trip -and I wanted to pace myself as I was really looking forward to breaking the monotony with some groovy Omaha fix limit action.

I haven't played a ton of casino Omaha/8 tournaments over the years, or any tournament that isn't NLHE for that matter.  Not because I don't like to play non Hold-Em games - but because they aren't spread that much and also I know that because I don't play them regularly I am at a disadvantage against more seasoned opponents who show up in the more serious events.

This however, was not a serious event.  It was a weekday $80 Silly-ment where the average age was well into the 70's and the skill gap between me and the rest of the field was not only narrow, I think actually for the first time ever I was better than the vast majority.

I always forget, I've played a ton of O8 cash at home, and in others homes.  Not necessarily the most ideal training grounds, but training all the same.  I have a very good sense for knowing what I need to win at showdown - which is really invaluable in a low buy-in event like this, as most old people are disinclined to fold if they still have chips behind.  And of course, in a fixed limit tournament, most of the time (at least in the first half of the tournament) they will indeed have chips left over even if they call down to the river.

So because I have this great comprehension of what is needed to hold up and win - I was able to put that to dramatic effect in the early but largely meaningless levels.

There was one opponent in particular who was two seats to my left.  He was chatty and fun when he was dragging pots, and sullen and mostly silent when he didn't.   Thankfully for me, his last few hours were mostly quiet - as his propensity to play every single hand finally caught up with him and I was one of the major beneficiaries.

Sorry I don't have any hand break-downs, but as the tweet says - my brain was a bit overloaded with so many cards to keep track of, and having to rely on my understanding of what I needed to play no-fold-em hold-em, er, Omaha/8!

As the tables broke and we were down to 27 players, a mouthy but nice enough fellow sat down to my immediate left.  I was a bit sad because he seemed to not only be chatty and friendly (like the last guy) but he stayed chatty and friendly even when he lost which wasn't nearly as often as the last guy.

Yes, he knew what he was doing and was likely the best player in the tournament.  But thankfully I hung in with him, and even got the better of him once or twice.  Still it wasn't great having him right next to me on the wrong side.

Thankfully, this was rectified when we hit 18 players and they redrew entirely for the final two tables.  This time he sat in the correct seat, immediately to my right.

It was only a few hands, but I managed to cripple the only other big stack at the table (not my mouthy neighbor).

And here's a side story - after listening to Mr. Mouthy chat for awhile, I think I had his accent pegged.

As friendly as I could, I let him know that "I think I know where you're from originally"

He laughed and said "I still live there, you'll never get it"

I paused and said "Newfoundland?"

His jaw dropped and his eyes widened...

Yes, I had nailed it.  I had spent just over 3 weeks there one summer, actually just around the corner filming harp seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and our boat captain was from Newfoundland.

He had a delightful Irish lilt, and then also said "soorry and aboot" in his sentences.   Easy game.  I should've bet money that I could nail the accent.

Anyways, he was impressed and we laughed.

Now's the part in the story where if I was a writer I would say that we got tangled up in a massive hand and one of us outplayed the other and there was much consternation and gnashing of teeth and so on...

Nah, never happened.  I was coasting along and made the money with a good healthy stack.  Guaranteed $180 and it was final table time.

Things were looking great, I still had a favorable seat at the final table redraw - but then I misread my hand.   One live misclick later and I went from good shape to "Oh shit"

Ugh.  I was mad at myself, but I was ok.  It wasn't the end of the world.  Sure it was disappointing, but it wasn't 2K.

I had looked down at my cards and flopped the world, and never looked back at them and got all my chips in on the turn knowing that I had aces and a nut flush draw and the nut low draw.  I turned up my cards and there were two kings and a low draw that had already been counterfeited. 

Fuck.

The other guy, on my right, had the AA nut low draw, and he didn't even need to hit.  I was all but drawing dead and then I was crippled.

It was kind of understandable - in a silly tournament where I was having way too much fun, I had conflated a previous hand with the one I was actually playing.

Oops.

Because I wasn't that tilted, I simply bore down and vowed to make the best decisions I could.  And I did, and before long I had actually crawled back up quite a bit.

So yeah, I was feeling a lot better.

There was just over 1K on top, but everyone had been talking chop for awhile and I wasn't going to discourage them.

There were either five or six players left when we finally all agreed to look at the ICM numbers, a process which South Point is happy to do (once) - and we all agreed.

This was a fantastic return on an $80 tournament, and it could have - really should have - ended much worse for our hero after his disastrous lapse of attention.

I walked out of the South Point fairly elated to lock up a nice win.   Jeff was playing a Daily Deep Stack I believe, and I was pondering late registering and joining him, but when I got back I was just a bit too drowsy - so I packed it in, and dreamt of tomorrow.

It would be the Colossus!  My fifth such event, and I had cashed in two of them.  Would tomorrow be another Hendon Mob WSOP badge on my name?  I sure hoped so!

Stay tuned to find out...

 

WSOP - 2021 - Day 1 - Daily Deep Stack

 2021 has been such an incredibly better year than the SHIT SHOW known as 2020 - not the least of which because I've been able to play live poker this year.   And the absolute cherry on top of the glorious sundae of 2021 (again, compared to 2020) poker wise was the fantabulous World Series of Poker!

This was the very last time in the history of history that the WSOP was going to be at the fabulously shitty Rio All Suite and Crap Hotel and Casino.

Yeah, the Rio is a dump (so bad I even had to ask for a different room one year, when I was staying by myself.  IMAGINE how bad it would have to be for me to ask for a different room when my wife isn't with me ha ha) but the nostalgia is THICK down the halls and throughout the ass-end of the property.

This has been the home of the WSOP for going on 15 years now, and after 2021 it will be somewhere else. - the not quite as crappy Bally's and Paris hotels on the strip.   Yeah, don't forget to tell me not to drive (or rent a car) because parking there SUCKS.

A couple of great things about this WSOP.  First and foremost, I would be joined by my dear friend and longtime poker compatriot Jeff G. Jeff plays in my home game and shares the same sick addiction to poker that I do.  He took the awesome photo above where I sat down 15 minutes early for my first tournament of the trip - the 1pm $250 Daily Deep Stack.  I was pumped!

Also, you'll notice I was sans mask.   Follow along if you can.

• Wearing a mask inside the Rio was mandatory.
• Wearing a mask at the poker table was not.
• Players were required to show proof of vaccination.
• Dealers and spectators were not.

Made ZERO sense.  But I was super happy I didn't have to wear a wet face diaper for 10+ hours of poker play every day.   I'd had my booster 2 weeks prior - and I've long determined that I'm going to live my life free of fear and without a mask as well except for where I am required by law to do so.

My first table of the trip was soft and super friendly - just how I like it.  I was quick to chip up, although the friendliness and chattiness cost me early on when I was speech-played by a little old lady from Pennsylvania.  I dragged about 4K in chips when it seems I could've gotten a lot more, but I tipped my hand and she got away with an overpair that she likely would've stacked off with most of the time were it not for my friendly gabbing.

Meanwhile I saw this tweet from Jeffy -

Yuck.

I was in town to play tournament poker for 6 days, I knew a nasty brutal ridiculous bad beat (or two or three) like this was in my near future.  It was good to be reminded of it ahead of time ha ha.

Then this happened.

That was fun, but it also got me back in line - I have to be careful when the table is soft and I'm card dead and deep.  I can get into trouble real fast!

On the other hand, I had been very active - so I did get paid with KK when I jammed a dry flop and my frustrated opponent called off with just pocket 3s.  That happy payday more than made up for my light 3-bet spew.

Both of those hands were against the same opponent who was a few seats to my right.  So was this hand - 

Less than an hour later we tangled once more, this time it cost me heaps.  I lost 15K and found myself just above ten big blinds.  Once again I had been impatient, and once again paid for it needlessly.

Just before the next break I won a flip - which is always great and absolutely essential in tournaments.  My stack would be just above average when we got back.

Got back and then tweeted this - 

The table which had started out soft and nice, was now no longer soft at all - thought the new people were still nice.  I was grateful when the table broke, I was down to 15 big blinds and eager for a change of scenery and a chance to double.  I had tweeted that we were a long way from the money, but it turned out we were a lot closer than I thought.

Pre-pandemic the 1pm Daily Deep Stack at the Rio, even on a weekday, would typically go far beyond midnight and often have a nice five figure score on top.

Well those days are gone (for now).  I looked around after the dinner break at around 7pm and realized that there were only 6 tables left.  This was shocking, but to be expected in an event that was on the tail end of the Covid scare and required players to be jabbed.  The numbers were WAY down in attendance in this particular tournament.

I was card dead for quite awhile at my new table, didn't play a hand for over an hour at one point.  Then I got a lovely triple up plus more when I spiked a set in a multi-way pot.  Just under 100K (20 big blinds) and we were hand for hand -

Hand for hand lasted about an hour, and featured many hands and many disappointments, but the bubble eventually did burst and I was guaranteed a whopping $404.  Womp womp.   I was for sure looking to ladder up.

That said, I didn't hesitate to jam my short stack with 89o when it was folded to me on the button.  The big blind (who was also a big stack) snapped with AQ, but I spiked an 8 on the flop and we held.  Got my first cranberry chips and was feeling pretty good!

The pay jumps were super flat - it was $505 for the entire third table - then it jumped a little when we hit 18 players, but stayed the same for the next five to bust.  I held on, but wasn't shy about getting it in if I had to.  ICM didn't matter much to me, final tabling and a top 3 finish mattered more, and I was still a long way from that.

Alas, a final table was not to be, my JJ lost to KQ AIPF, but I did take home $887 in 11th place.  A great start to my WSOP!  I had literally just flew in that morning, and now it was almost 10pm at night and I was up!   I should jump back on the plane - quick!

 Well no, I wasn't going to do that!  I got my payout and then went upstairs to bed right away but didn't fall asleep until after midnight - I was super excited, both because I had cashed and also because tomorrow was my very first Seniors Event in my very first year of eligibility!  Yes, AARP had tracked me down in 2020, and in 2021 I could throw down with the old fogies as a 50 year old codger myself!

Could not wait!

(More to come!)

RENO - Biggest Little Cash Game in the World - PART 3

 Just got back from the WSOP, but before I can regale you with tales of triumph and tragedy from that great event (and there were plenty of both) I have to finish what I started with the conclusion Blog regarding my Reno summer Peppermill Poker escapades!

After my biggest losing cash game session in my life (a whopping $400 loss I believe) I retreated to the cozy confines of my room and dined on an angus cheeseburger that was quite excellent and quite a bit better than the previous evening's French dip.

I awoke refreshed and once again hit the cafe counter - this time for an omelette that was way to big and that I sadly had to leave unfinished as I didn't want to have to be rolled into the poker room.

I strolled in just after 11am and Michele was holding court once again, and this time with a much bigger stack of chips than she'd had the previous day.  They likely had been playing for several hours at this point.  I said howdy and chatted just a bit before registering for the noon donk-a-ment.

Once again the field seemed delightfully soft - lots of passive play and of course very loose in the early levels.  I chipped up rapidly after the first break as I cranked up the aggression and my opponents instinctively tightened up.   I had a full double and then some when I flopped the stone cold nuts and the villain had 2 pair...

It was shortly after this hand that THAT GUY showed up at our table.  You know of whom I speak.  You've also seen him at sporting events and at movie theaters.  You usually hear him first, but eventually you come face to face with THAT GUY.  The non-stop talker who won't SHUT THE FUCK UP.  Yeah, he showed up.  Thankfully, I was prepared.

Thank GOD for earbuds.

And so in my cocoon of silence (or rather the not so silent Zac Brown Band) I continued on and had two more hands of interest before my departure just a few spots from the money (spoiler alert!)

Back down to a dozen big blinds or so, after inevitable card-deadness and active big stacks, I checked my option in the big blind with Qh9h after the active and big stack cutoff suspiciously limped.  Flop was 7T3 with 2 hearts, my plan was to check raise jam and I did.  Villain tanked for awhile then found a call with the A7 of diamonds.  Ok.  Thankfully the turn spiked a 9c and the river hit a Qd for good measure.  Nice double up which propelled me to the final table.

It was there that I flopped two pair with K9 and got it in only to run into a set of eights.  I was crippled with half a big blind behind, which thankfully the Peppermill let me put in first before the required ante, so I stood to quintuple up with T3 which turned trips, unfortunately one of the 4 other players in the hand turned broadway and so I was out!

Boo!  Or rather, Yay!  I was eager to get back to cash.  It was around 3pm and I ducked out for a bite, but then came back in and got seated initially away from Michele for a couple of hours.

Again, I was excited because the table was older and seemed to be pretty soft.  But I tempered my excitement remembering the day before, how my overconfidence had gotten the better of me more than once and led to unnecessary spew-age.

I chipped up just a little bit at my first table.  I had requested a table change to have a chance at getting over to Michele, and the change came through and I moved on over...

Once again she was a couple of seats to my right, and I would never go easy on her (she's too good of a player for that) but once again we never really got tangled up in any significant hands together.   The drunk fellow who sat down on my immediate right however, he would be my salvation for the evening and the poker trip at large.

This was a very loose and passive bunch and I found myself checking my option in the single $2 blind with the mighty A2 and 6 limpers behind.  The pot was 12 dollars and the flop was 7T2 rainbow, and believe it or not (though I believed it) it checked through.

Turn was another deuce (happy dance ensued on the inside)  I then did something I rarely do, I led out.  I fired a $10 bet, because the board had two spades and I had none, and I figured any kind of draw was likely to call.

Fortunately, I got better news than that - it folded around to drinky on the button and he check-raised me to $30.  This was either a massive combo draw or a made deuce (or in some horrible alternate universe a boat that he had slow played when it was just a set on the flop) so there was no reason for me to fool around.  I re-raised to $130 to go and he mini-tanked and called, leaving himself about $150 behind.

The river was not a heart and didn't pair the board further, so I led out all-in. Drinky beat me into the pot (gulp!) and proudly rolled over K2 for the second best trips.  I quickly showed my hand and his smile faded and he slumped in disgust.  I was thrilled to drag a $300+ pot.  Best of all, Drinky re-loaded (both with the booze and with chips).

This is more like it!

About an hour later a young buck sat down across the table and decided he was going to take control by putting out a $10 straddle on every hand.  He lost a couple big pots (not to me unfortunately) and re-loaded, but didn't slow down with the straddles.  I bided my time and eventually did wake up with AA in middle position.

I opened to $30 (over a limp by Drinky), definitely playing my hand face up here, and of course the button defended his straddle, but so did my old friend Drinky! 

Flop was Qh3h2s, Drinky checked, I bet just under 2/3 pot ($60) and naturally the button flat called.  He had been doing this in pretty much every hand, so honestly I wasn't that worried about him.  Drinky then surprised us all by jamming his almost $200 stack into the middle and re-opened the action.  I was happy to reship my $600+ in chips and Mr. Macho Button Straddle-Man had to painfully release his hand after the obligatory theatrics.

I knew I was likely way ahead here, so the old tournament player in me quickly turned up my cards when the turn bricked and before the river came...  Drinky saw what I had and quickly flung his cards into the muck!  Before the river was turned up!  So yes, that means that whatever the river was - it didn't matter.  The chips got pushed my way and Drinky sulked.  And Drinky re-loaded.

Unfortunately he only reloaded for a single C-note.  That hundo did eventually find it's way into my stack when I finally flopped a set after three full days of play, and so I finished up the evening in for $300 out for $1045.  

So great to book a nice win (my biggest ever in cash, jeez I really need to play more of these things!) and get unstuck for the past 3 days.  I ended my entire Peppermill poker party with a $435 profit!

I was exhausted, I was elated when I cashed out at around 7pm.  Michele was still playing, but I was burnt toast and I wanted to be able to get some rest for some super fun Tahoe hiking and hanging out with my good friends from grade school the next day.  We were all celebrating our belated 50th birthdays and it really was the reason for the entire trip!  The poker just turned out to be a great bonus!

I would entertain you with exciting tales of our cash game and tournament play up at the cabin, but I fear it would just be too much excitement for one blog!   Besides, the man code forbids it or something.  A private poker game among friends is a sacred thing, blah blah blah...

Anyways, if you are still here that means you read the whole thing!  I really appreciate it!  

Stay tuned for my 2021 WSOP re-cap in another week or two - I was going to video the whole thing ala' Rampage or Andrew Neeme, but then decided it was too much work.  So I pretty much stuck to twitter and I'll be pulling my hands from that source to create another poker blog (and not a Vlog) re my WSOP adventure.  Can't wait to share it with you!