Las Vegas Trip Reports - July 5
After busting out of the WSOP with AA the day before, Canada Day was an unforgetable day. Then I thought the Fourth of July would be the highlight of my trip. And then came July 5 ...
To make a long tournament short, I made it to the final table at the Binion's Second Annual Poker Classic. The ten finalists were moved to an elevated table, which was probably used in previous televised events, and we were each given a "Legendary Final Table" collectible card protector. I had early talked to the elderly "Lake Tahoe" after I recognized him from the Ultimate Poker Challenge final tables.
A manager in the casino was playing and after a dozen beer bottles and several huge suck-outs, has been the big chip leader for awhile. The tournament director announced that TDA rules were in effect, including absolutely no table talk during a hand and no exposing of cards even when heads-up (which Daniel Negreanu strongly thinks takes away the skill from the game and I agree with him).
I eliminated a player with QQ vs AT and moved into the chip lead. Soon after, I was in the big blind with (not sure about the suits)
:js :9c
I believe there were three players in the unraised pot. The flop was
:qd:10h:8s
I flopped the nuts! Before I could act, the inebriated manager bet out of turn yet again. I knew that the house rules was that an out-of-turn action would be binding, so I checked in turn. Her bet was put back in, the next player folded and it was now my turn. I announced "raise" but before I could put a small raise in, she acted early again and said call whatever I put in. After a lot of confusion between her and the other players and dealer, with her telling her dealer to stay out of it, the tournament director eventually took over. He ruled that her out-of-turn call is binding and that no matter what I raise, her only possible option was to call and could neither fold nor re-raise. Since I had the nuts with an unscary board, I figured the best $EV-maximization play would be to raise all-in.
She had to call and turned up only
:ad :4d
She had been bluffing yet again. I had previously folded a 7-high board with TPTK after she went all-in on the turn when a second 3 appeared; like many players, she mistakenly believes in deck-trending and since 3s and Jacks seemed to be winning a lot, she was much more likely to play a 3 or J. The turn was a diamond.
:5d
She now had 9 outs for a flush. Was the casino manager going to get yet another runner-runner suck-out? She only had a 7% chance with her AT against one of her dealers with AA, but she got a straight. She only had a 5% chance on the river with her JJ against KK, but she got her two-outer on the river. She was also a huge underdog against another one of her dealers who was the previous chip leader, and he also got very unlucky. I kiddingly complained that "this website is rigged!" and everybody laughed. The river was a
:2c
I was now the massive chip leader with almost half of the chips in play. We were soon treated to a buffet upstairs along with a guest. Since my roommate was at the Caesars Palace Mega Stack Series, I gave my extra buffet ticket to another player who requested one after he got eliminated in the second last table.
I was doing my usual strategy computations and was the last to sit back down at the final table. The other players were discussing a chop. We were allowed to discuss deals only between hands until everybody was in the money. A few players mentioned about giving me first place and most of the money while splitting the remaining prize pool. Sensing the eagerness of the players not to become bubble boys (or girl), I whipped out my PDA and started doing calculations and ICM approximations. Another player was eliminated, and I made an offer where I would gain equity. I would officially get first place along with the trophy, and most of the first place money; the bottom four stacks would get the same amount and the next two stacks would get slightly more. They all gladly accepted the money.
As always, I would have preferred to play it out to the end even with the chop, but play was stopped. Photos were taken with my trophy. To my very pleasant surprise, my prize money was given to me in casino chips with no 30% withholding. I wanted to leave a generous tip, but in all the excitement, I miscalculated and gave too much of my money away and asked the TD that I made a mistake and he understood and gave me back what I requested. Even though $10 from every buy-in was for the dealers bonus along with 3% of the prize pool, I still left over 10% tip.
A friend requested $1 souvenir chips from casinos, so I have gotten a dozen so far and got the $1 chips from Binion's, Golden Nugget and Mirage going back to my hotel. The ride back on the double-decker bus was hilarious, with the bus driver announcing instructions to clueless tourists not to stay in the stairs or not to drink the hidden Corona, and a lady on tilt getting mad at him. The passengers kept laughing on the hour-long bus ride, and I should have left a tip for the driver for the entertainment.
Now that my -EV vacation turned out to have paid for itself and exceeding my goal of hopefully making it to the money in one tournament and unbelievably winning a championship trophy at one of the Series, I decided to switch gears from poker degenerate to full-time tourist. I highly recommended the Binion's super satellite and nightly 8 PM tournament to my roommate, but I may not play any more poker games and instead enjoy the attractions in my final few days.
At the Gaming Life Expo, I bought four different Copag sets (Jumbo index) for whoever wants them. I also bough the brand new book Poker Tournament Formula 2 for a discounted tax-free $15. So far, I have gotten autographs from HOH authors Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie, along with Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro. I am waiting for the scheduled signings of Negreanu, Bloch, Lederer, Hachem and Jamie Gold.
Star Trek: The Experience is closing by September, so I plan to take the monorail there tomorrow. The last time I saw my roommate was when I was playing a cash game at Imperial Palace more than 24 hours ago, so he still has not seen my crystal championship trophy and is probably putting a marathon cash game session at Caesars Palace. Last year's Binion's Poker Classic champions are still on its Wall of Fame along with the old final table signed by Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese et al, so it looks like I will get to be on that Wall too.
To make a long tournament short, I made it to the final table at the Binion's Second Annual Poker Classic. The ten finalists were moved to an elevated table, which was probably used in previous televised events, and we were each given a "Legendary Final Table" collectible card protector. I had early talked to the elderly "Lake Tahoe" after I recognized him from the Ultimate Poker Challenge final tables.
A manager in the casino was playing and after a dozen beer bottles and several huge suck-outs, has been the big chip leader for awhile. The tournament director announced that TDA rules were in effect, including absolutely no table talk during a hand and no exposing of cards even when heads-up (which Daniel Negreanu strongly thinks takes away the skill from the game and I agree with him).
I eliminated a player with QQ vs AT and moved into the chip lead. Soon after, I was in the big blind with (not sure about the suits)
:js :9c
I believe there were three players in the unraised pot. The flop was
:qd:10h:8s
I flopped the nuts! Before I could act, the inebriated manager bet out of turn yet again. I knew that the house rules was that an out-of-turn action would be binding, so I checked in turn. Her bet was put back in, the next player folded and it was now my turn. I announced "raise" but before I could put a small raise in, she acted early again and said call whatever I put in. After a lot of confusion between her and the other players and dealer, with her telling her dealer to stay out of it, the tournament director eventually took over. He ruled that her out-of-turn call is binding and that no matter what I raise, her only possible option was to call and could neither fold nor re-raise. Since I had the nuts with an unscary board, I figured the best $EV-maximization play would be to raise all-in.
She had to call and turned up only
:ad :4d
She had been bluffing yet again. I had previously folded a 7-high board with TPTK after she went all-in on the turn when a second 3 appeared; like many players, she mistakenly believes in deck-trending and since 3s and Jacks seemed to be winning a lot, she was much more likely to play a 3 or J. The turn was a diamond.
:5d
She now had 9 outs for a flush. Was the casino manager going to get yet another runner-runner suck-out? She only had a 7% chance with her AT against one of her dealers with AA, but she got a straight. She only had a 5% chance on the river with her JJ against KK, but she got her two-outer on the river. She was also a huge underdog against another one of her dealers who was the previous chip leader, and he also got very unlucky. I kiddingly complained that "this website is rigged!" and everybody laughed. The river was a
:2c
I was now the massive chip leader with almost half of the chips in play. We were soon treated to a buffet upstairs along with a guest. Since my roommate was at the Caesars Palace Mega Stack Series, I gave my extra buffet ticket to another player who requested one after he got eliminated in the second last table.
I was doing my usual strategy computations and was the last to sit back down at the final table. The other players were discussing a chop. We were allowed to discuss deals only between hands until everybody was in the money. A few players mentioned about giving me first place and most of the money while splitting the remaining prize pool. Sensing the eagerness of the players not to become bubble boys (or girl), I whipped out my PDA and started doing calculations and ICM approximations. Another player was eliminated, and I made an offer where I would gain equity. I would officially get first place along with the trophy, and most of the first place money; the bottom four stacks would get the same amount and the next two stacks would get slightly more. They all gladly accepted the money.
As always, I would have preferred to play it out to the end even with the chop, but play was stopped. Photos were taken with my trophy. To my very pleasant surprise, my prize money was given to me in casino chips with no 30% withholding. I wanted to leave a generous tip, but in all the excitement, I miscalculated and gave too much of my money away and asked the TD that I made a mistake and he understood and gave me back what I requested. Even though $10 from every buy-in was for the dealers bonus along with 3% of the prize pool, I still left over 10% tip.
A friend requested $1 souvenir chips from casinos, so I have gotten a dozen so far and got the $1 chips from Binion's, Golden Nugget and Mirage going back to my hotel. The ride back on the double-decker bus was hilarious, with the bus driver announcing instructions to clueless tourists not to stay in the stairs or not to drink the hidden Corona, and a lady on tilt getting mad at him. The passengers kept laughing on the hour-long bus ride, and I should have left a tip for the driver for the entertainment.
Now that my -EV vacation turned out to have paid for itself and exceeding my goal of hopefully making it to the money in one tournament and unbelievably winning a championship trophy at one of the Series, I decided to switch gears from poker degenerate to full-time tourist. I highly recommended the Binion's super satellite and nightly 8 PM tournament to my roommate, but I may not play any more poker games and instead enjoy the attractions in my final few days.
At the Gaming Life Expo, I bought four different Copag sets (Jumbo index) for whoever wants them. I also bough the brand new book Poker Tournament Formula 2 for a discounted tax-free $15. So far, I have gotten autographs from HOH authors Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie, along with Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro. I am waiting for the scheduled signings of Negreanu, Bloch, Lederer, Hachem and Jamie Gold.
Star Trek: The Experience is closing by September, so I plan to take the monorail there tomorrow. The last time I saw my roommate was when I was playing a cash game at Imperial Palace more than 24 hours ago, so he still has not seen my crystal championship trophy and is probably putting a marathon cash game session at Caesars Palace. Last year's Binion's Poker Classic champions are still on its Wall of Fame along with the old final table signed by Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese et al, so it looks like I will get to be on that Wall too.
Comments
According to his Facebook status, he did.
Can't wait to read the report!
Back to the Gaming Expo to stalk the poker celebrities for autographs....
Oh, and if you keep have these kinds of successes they'll be stalking you..
Quoted from the "Blondefish takes Vegas" thread.
So was this you Buddy? Or your twin...
What was the payout for this employee event win?
(from Wes)
The one I won last year (which is the daily event I believe, $120. buyin) also played on that same raised platform table payed us in chips as well. Great for us Canucks....
Actually I just found it, it's the $90. + $10. Casino employees event #41 which ran yesterday.
(not wes anymore)
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel: 1st Annual Binion's Poker Classic
and here is a link to the results for all events, up to #36 at the moment...
AllVegasPoker.com :: View topic - Binion's Classic Results