Mini-Vegas Tourney Trip

 I wasn't even sure if I was going to have time to play cards when I hopped on a plane last Friday night to catch up with my wife and daughter in Vegas and visit with the in-laws.   But the family only had minimal plans, most of which involved swimming in the pool at the house and eating - so I was easily able to grab an afternoon for teh pokerz.

I'd had my eye on the Orleans Summer Series for a couple of months - and it turned out I would be able to play in one of the events after all.   An 11am $300 entry with a 50K guarantee.  It turns out they would be able to double that guarantee on the day I played.  Noice!

If you're a regular reader of this blog you know that I've hardly ever cashed at the Orleans.  In fact, I think there's a good chance that I've NEVER made the money here.

This time around I'd hoped it would be different.

I sat down at one of the outer tables that wrapped around the bar area outside the actual poker room itself.  Looks like there would be plenty of runners.  455 entries, it turned out.  A big field and a long way to go.

I relaxed a bit - there was no reason to stress.  This was a big tournament with a ton of people who play poker all the time.  No pressure!  Besides, I was just too gosh darn happy to be playing live poker in a casino for the first time in well over a year.   

Yes, I had a big grin on my face for the first hour of play or so.

90 minutes went by with little to report - then this hand unfolded...

I opened in middle position with A10 soooted.  The button, a regular from my moose lodge in Burbank I think (but wasn't 100% sure with his mask and shades on) flat called.  He had been calling on almost every pot I opened, so I wasn't surprised or that concerned.   The big blind also called.

Flop was 754 with two clubs.  Yes, I had the A10 of clubs.   I c-bet, down-bet, small and the button clicked it back.  The big blind shoved his whole stack, I had him covered with about twice as many chips as he had.

I thought for a moment, I knew my moose lodge buddy was likely on a draw or had possibly flopped a wonky pair.  His calling range at the lodge and in this tournament no doubt was VERY wide.

I ripped my entire stack to get him to go away - I barely had him covered - he beat me into the pot.  (Gulp!)  He showed 67 off suit, no flush draw.  So I was right, wonky pair, open ended.   The big blind turned over AJ off suit, just overs.

So my aces were gone.   The turn was a 10 and I was in the lead.  The river was a queen of CLUBS.

Ship it!!!

Felt great to have more breathing room and, if I'm being honest, it felt great to bust my Moose friend.  If he was who I think he was, he plays entirely by his emotions and tries to make things personal at the poker table.  Frequently going out of his way to get into pots with me.  Glad to see he got bit playing with trash.  Sorry, not sorry.

Time went by and before I knew it we were at the first break.  I had chipped up a bit more here and there with small ball and aggression.  No premiums in sight.

Back from a quick bite, this legend sat down across the table from me.

You may or not remember him - "Miami" John Cernuto is

an old school tournament grinder who has been around forever and he was prominently featured in various old ESPN WSOP shows. He has 5 million in tournament earnings and 3 bracelets I believe.

I was excited to see him, and he was friendly and affable as he confidently splashed around and accumulated.

I mentioned that he was at my table later when I was at a different table - and the dealer there rolled her eyes and said something to the effect of.  "Yeah, John's ok.  He can be pretty rude if he's losing though..."

Well, for his time with me (2 hours or so) he was a perfect gentleman and pillaged his neighbors stacks with a smile.  Thankfully I didn't get involved with him in a hand.

The second break came and went, and shortly thereafter our table broke and I was put in the poker room proper - at the very last table that was to break if the floor plan was to be followed.   I knew I was likely at this table for the remainder of the tournament.

Just before my first table had broke, I got it in three ways - all in pre-flop.  I had AK.  A short stack had KK and another player who had me covered had KQ and attempted to get rid of me with a shove, but of course I wasn't going anywhere.  An ace spiked on the flop and we held - a lovely almost triple up!

Clearly cleaned for Covid lol

Oh and I almost forgot - I busted another player right before the table break with quads!  I didn't get to see his hand because he flung his cards deep into he muck with disgust before walking off.  Always nice to get paid with 4 of a kind ha ha.

And then at my new table - I continued to chip up nicely, even though one of the opponents on my left was a very capable poker player, my old friend Carlos from my home game!   #SmallWorld and so on...

I was way above chip average for several more hours.  During that time I did get tangled up with Carlos in one interesting hand.

I had been playing fairly aggressively and opening a lot - so I know Carlos and others at the table were getting pretty fed up.   I 3-bet a MP opener from the HJ with AhQh, Carlos defended his button and the opener on my right also defended.

Flop was 1054 with 2 hearts.  A great flop to c-bet which I did.  I sized up a bit bigger than half pot, which is what I do on wet boards, and Carlos and the 3-better carved out chips to call.

The pot was now pretty bloated and I had just a bit more than a pot-sized bet behind.  The flop peeled off a beautiful queen and I jammed.  Carlos looked disgusted and tanked and folded, the player on my right folded as well.  Later I told Carlos what I had.  He said he'd had 77.

Up until my arrival at the second table I had been tweeting quite a bit - but the second table was in a dead zone so I pretty much stopped recording hands.  However I do remember a couple, as they were critical.

After the 45 minute dinner break (at 630 or 7 I think) I came back to a slightly above average stack.  The table had gotten tougher as weaker players had busted and stronger ones replaced them.

One particularly tough player on my immediate left had effectively shut me down as he was big on the 3 betting and also being sticky to my opens and c-bets.

I had tried to open from the SB and steal from him a couple of times with no success.  

Then shortly after he lost  a big pot and had about a third of my stack behind, I limped in the SB with 7c2c.  He checked.

Flop was 647 with two clubs.  Bingo bango bongo.  I checked, he bet small, I jammed.  He grimaced but still called quickly.  He had 68, no flush draw.

Naturally he DRILLED the turn with a red 5.  The river was a brick.  It was a fairly big chunk of my chips and I was certainly tilted.  

"Well I guess that's how it's done.  Just drill your gunshot and profit..."   I couldn't help myself.

He said something nice back but I didn't care.  This game can still be infuriating ha ha!

I managed to bite my tongue for the rest of the night over this hand, though I did commiserate a little bit with Carlos on the next break, expressing my frustration.    It's not that my opponent was bad - it was just a lousy call for his tournament life.  Oh well.

As the money approached, my stack was now just below average.  I rocked the short stack fairly well, picking great spots to 3 bet jam which thankfully all got through, many times with lighter holdings.

Then finally after an active player in MP opened I was on the button and looked down at AQ.  A real hand for once - I shipped it!   The opener snapped with AK.

I had him covered, but not by a lot.  I was crippled.

And of course the money was tantalizingly close.   

Visions of bubbling at the Orleans, missing the money AGAIN, couldn't help but occupy my brain.

The money wasn't close enough that I could just fold forever, but I did let the blinds pass through me more than once as I was whittled down to less than 4 big blinds.

It was not looking good for our hero.  I jammed at one point in MP with 109 sooted, and somehow it got through with no one looking me up.  The big stack on the big blind across the table said she was likely going to call with any two, but then folded 82 off face up.

And then, we went hand for hand, for one hand - and then the bubble burst!

I managed to double up after that with a jam of JJ that held against AK.

Then I had to jam again awhile later (after making a pay jump) - with Kd2d on the button.  My old sticky Mr. Gut-Shot snapped with 77.  I flopped all the outs, a gut-shot and a flush draw, but still lost.   

GG Orleans!  I was sad of course not to go deeper, but I was ELATED to have cashed at the Orleans, FINALLY!!!    

I finished 55 out of 450 for $549.  It was 9 hours of grueling tournament poker, but I was pretty darn happy.  Especially satisfying to let the in-laws know that yes, I made some money.  (They are always astounded when I don't cash - they figure if you don't cash in a tournament you must not know what you're doing lol)

********

So I figured that was all for poker on 4th of July weekend.  We had a lovely 4th by the pool and enjoyed fireworks shot off by neighbors in every direction.  They don't do the safe and sane thing in Vegas.  These were major rockets in the suburbs!

Then it was Monday and there wasn't a lot going on.  So I figured why not head on down to the loverly South-Point casino?   

They had several dailies every day - the one I had my eye on worked out for the timing and also the price point.  A $60 with unlimited re-entries and a $2000 guaranteed prize pool.   Sweeeeet.

Before ponying up and sitting down, I took time to grab some selfies with Benny Binion.

Not sure why there was a statue of the old gangster (yes, he killed people) here miles away from the actual Binion's casino (which by the way has CLOSED it's poker room) but there it was.

They also had a hot dog cart with delicious dogs for only $1.25!  Score!  I grabbed one and scarfed it down before sitting down to gamble it up.

I was definitely digging the non-traditional colors.  We only started with 10K in chips, but I was fine with that.  It looked like we were going to get at least 80 runners.  I didn't want to do the 9 hour thing again at all.

Turns out there would be 115 entries total.  I myself almost had to re-enter because I punted away half my chips in the first half hour with this astoundingly stupid hand.

The nicest man in the world was sitting directly to my left.  He was from Chicago and he was just lovely.

He opened under the gun and it folded to me on the big blind with AQ.  Normally this is an immediate 3-bet, but I knew my fine friend was opening with a SUPER TIGHT range.  I very likely was well behind.

Flop was all low cards rainbow.  I pondered check-raising if he c-bet, but he didn't!  Check check.

Turn was a 10 bringing a second heart.  Check check.

River was another low card, but a third heart.   Somewhere in the dark recesses of my lizard brain I thought that AQ might be good, and also that if he finally bet maybe I could use the river as a scare card and turn my hand into a bluff.

Bad idea.   Makes very little sense.  The hot dog must've scrambled my neurons.

I checked, he finally bet a small amount.  I check-raised a stupidly large amount (nearly half of my chips).

He groaned and moaned about letting me get there, and for a moment there was a glimmer of hope.

"Oh well I can always re-enter" he said before splashing in his chips.  I fast rolled him and he looked ready to muck, before he realized that his pocket queens were WAY GOOD.

My bluff made very little sense, but he did indeed actually think about mucking ha ha.

So I had half my chips, but still had 15 or so big blinds.  And the good news was, I didn't let it get me down.  I eagerly looked for spots to get my chips in, where I was likely to be ahead - and I did good.  I 3-bet jammed a few times expertly, including one time where I let it rip after 5 limpers.  I had a garbage hand, but it didn't matter - the table was SOFT and I had enough chips still to do some damage.

Coming back after the break, I was at about 25 big blinds, and one of the few semi-professionals in the entire room sat down on my immediate left.  Boo.

This tournament no doubt was heavily raked - I wouldn't be shocked if the house was taking over 30%, but there were still a few pros who no doubt accurately saw the super soft field as enough of a positive factor to partake.  This dude on my left was one of them.

He put the kibosh on my blatant thievery for awhile, but I still hung in there and chipped up slowly with a tighter opening range and good post flop aggression.

Then our table broke.  After the 2nd break (breaks every hour and 20 minutes I think) I ran into this hand against the semi-pro who had come over with me and now sat 2 seats to my left.

Opened 2.5x from the CO with 99.  Semi-Pro defended his small blind.  I was just hoping for a low flop, but was delighted to see 962 rainbow.

I knew he would be aggressive and sticky, so I happily c-bet (1/3 pot).  He check-raised all in!  An absurd overbet that made very little sense.   I have to chalk it up to him classifying me as an aggressive liar or something.  The shove felt very emotional and personal.  I of course snapped him off and he was fairly aggrieved.  He'd had J9, and flopped top pair.  Don't have any clue why he would dump all of his chips in against someone who's only calling with a hand that beats him and folding everything else.

I had him barely covered, so it was a great and true double up.

Now I was in fantastic shape, with nary a strong opponent in sight.  I immediately cranked up the aggression and steadily accumulated chips for the next hour and a half.

Before I knew it, the bubble approached...

We re-drew for the final two tables, there was 18 of us and only 15 were getting paid.

After a player dropped a motion was made to pay the bubble and I politely smiled and said "absolutely not."

My table mates were a bit aghast,  and disgruntled, but they didn't press it.  I wasn't going to give up the chance to pillage with impunity.   The one remaining "pro" in the entire tournament couldn't help but smile slightly after I had told the TD that the answer was no.  He was a shorter stack, but he understood.

Anyways, my 'shocking' denial didn't matter much for long because two players busted out almost immediately afterwards in a double knock-out. at the other table  I briefly got moved to fill in the seat at that table.

We played maybe one orbit before we had to redraw for the final table.  Once the money bubble burst it became a chaotic shove-fest, that I pretty much stayed out of.

Once we were at the final table I was actually 3rd in chips with just under 200K, but I felt great as I knew deep down that the best player left was none other than yours truly.  It's a strange feeling to have - both satisfying and yet humbling.  I knew if I didn't finish top 3 it was going to be either bad luck or a brain aneurysm on my part.

I tangled a few times with the one big stack at the table who seemed rather fearless and eager to mix it up with other big stacks.  

The first time she opened from the CO and I 3-bet her rather large from the SB with KsJs, she looked rather shocked when I raised her.  She tanked for a good 30 seconds (I could tell it was a bit of the ol' Hollywood) before folding.

I hadn't played with her hardly at all in the tournament, so she didn't know what to expect from me.  But I had a good idea after watching her for an orbit or two what to expect from her.

She was opening WAY too often, considering she had two other big stacks on her immediate left. She was also c-betting boards with a sizing that was WAY too large, even on boards that didn't hit her range.

So I was ready to tangle.  After my shocking 3-bet, it was an orbit later that I 3 bet again from the button after she opened.  I had JJ.   This time she defended.    Flop was Q83 rainbow.  

She led out half pot.  I flat called.

She checked the Q turn.  Feeling a lot better, I checked back.

The river was a 6.  She led out small.   I pondered what to do.   I knew she hated to fold, and I knew she could very likely pay me with Ace high (not to mention 10s, 9s, 7s, etc)

I cut out 3x her lead and pushed it forward.  She tanked for a bit, then called.

I fast rolled the jacks, she shook her head and showed AK before mucking.  Good times.

In the meantime through all of this, we had 4 short stacks go out fast, and then there was five of us left.  Including a lovely older woman who didn't speak a word of english.

I finally busted her after she called off my river jam with AJ and no pair.  I had trip 8s after a very nice turn.

With only four of us left, the two gentleman at the table had been pushing since we sat down for a chop.  The woman was indifferent.  I had run the numbers in my head and was fairly confident, being the chip leader, that I would get at least 1K if we ran the numbers.

I agreed and asked the TD if he could do an ICM calculation, he was very agreeable to this.

The older of the two gentleman said something like "It's 800-something apiece"  I smiled and said, "Well I would love to see an ICM calculation"  He didn't know what that was and I explained it to him.  ICM stands for Independent Chip Model, and it's a formula that tournament directors run to mathematically determine what the value of the chips are in cash.  He understood and shrugged his shoulders ok.

This had been a dream table in a lot of ways, and my opponents lack of experience as well as their lovely personalities were a big part of that dream.

They ran the numbers and came back - I would indeed be getting $1000, $1072 to be exact - with the others getting roughly $860, $780 and $740 each.  Sold!

Normally these days I am typically opposed to almost all chops - but here with the blinds on the rise and my sizable chip lead being only 35 blinds, as well as my earlier stated desire to NOT do the 9 hour thing, I was happy to take the deal, and thankfully so were my fellow poker players.

Before they brought out the cash (in casino chips of course) they handed me this lovely card protector / spinner.  Wow!  It's metal, it's spinny, it's dope!  I was just as happy to receive this as I was the cash!

The second largest stack was a bit sad that he had missed out on this - "Hey, I didn't know we were playing for that!"

I smiled and told him truthfully "If I had known this was a prize I would've said something."

But the ship had sailed, we were awarded the monies.  I toked a green chip and took the rest to the cage!

I can't tell you how satisfying it was to be the wrecking ball in this tournament!  It was truly a great time!

I played very well, using selective aggression and looking for the right moments to accumulate.

I didn't have very many premiums - no Aces, Kings or Queens that I can recall.  Flopping a set  of 9s against a tough opponent who spazzed out and over bet the pot was for sure the crucial hand.  It gave me all the energy and momentum to lay waste to the field on my way to the final chip lead.  

As an added bonus - this tournament also went to the Hendon Mob website, so I got some GPI points and also added my very first official first place result to the data base!  (I've taken down more than a handful of casino tournaments over the years, but most don't end up on the Hendon Mob.) This makes me very happy, probably more happy than I should be but oh well!

I am SUPER excited about my upcoming trips to Reno in a month and to the WSOP in the fall.  Cannot WAIT to play more live casino poker and flex my tournament skillz.  Hopefully I will also play and run good in cash.

Until then, thanks for reading if you made it this far!  I look forward to writing up those trips as well - hopefully the results are as good!