Trip Report from Vegas - Long Overdue
Hi everyone,
Although I was in Vegas for this year's WSOP for a week, I haven't been able to find the time, or have been too lazy to sit down and write up a trip report. I know a lot of people followed me on twitter so I won't recount that information (or you can read it on the twitter page) (Ted Safranko (Tedinvegas) on Twitter), but here is a recount of my live game antics as well as a WSOP satellite and Caesars Megastack cash where I scanned the final day details paper they give everyone (I like souvenirs from tournaments I am in...makes me feel special....lol)
***************************
I will put the cliff notes version right here so if you don't want to scroll through it you don't have to:
1. Played cash games at Caesars - easy games...very soft. Met a guy from Sweeden who I still maintain contact with.
2. Played WSOP satellite - very soft but couldn't really get anything going
3. Men the Master busted me out of the WSOP 1500 event, got to play with Jonathan Little and Kevin Saul.
4. Played Caesars Megastack chopped final table for 8K (see sheet payouts, I think I scored well there)
**************************
Friday
Flew in and slept...preparation for WSOP and other tournaments begins. I can’t decide whether or not I want to play Saturday or Monday (51 or 54), turns out 51 sold out earlier that day, so 54 it is. I like easy decisions.
Saturday Morning
I decide that I am going to go over to Caesars Palace and see if I can enter in their 340.00 Mega Stack Event. Figure it’s a good warm up to WSOP and get me into the tournament mind set. I arrive at Caesars Palace at 10am figuring I will sit in a cash game and see if I can make my tourney entry in 2 hours.
Seat open in the 2-5NL no cap (biggest game they are spreading that morning) so I sit in. To my surprise there are 2 drunk kids including a Swedish kid named Eric who from what it seemed knew everyone in the casino. He told me he had been playing all night and is staying in Caesars for 2 months. He starts calling me a crazy canuck and well lets get started.
The table itself was a mix of nitty old men and young kids who weren’t internet players (you can usually spot them by their bet sizing) but just your avg 1/2 or 2/5 player. In other words I am not going to worry about losing my stack here.
I buy in for 500 which is half of the biggest stack at the table who is not too active and we begin.
I sit for a few orbits and get used to play and figuring out what each bet means by who and it looks early on my Swedish friend just opens every hand for 15 or 20 bucks and splashes the pot when it is checked to him. The rest of the table are just limp calling his bets so this is great. I let Eric know that if I get a hand I will be re-raising his little bets so be prepared. He lets me know that he will enjoy the Canuck getting into the game and tells me not to play so tight. LMAO...he made me laugh the entire time I was in Caesars. (he even added me to facebook cause we met up so many times during my trip at Caesars)
Seat 1 – Older gentleman from NV
Seat 2 – Kid
Seat 3 – Kid
Seat 4 – Mid-30s gentleman who had the big stack at the table
Seat 5 – Eric the Swede
Seat 6 – Me
Seat 7 – Old man
Seat 8 – Old man
Seat 9 – Old Man
Seat 10 Kid from Louisana who the Swede got upset at numerous times for leaving the table because supposedly they were going to be starting a mixed table together. Poor kid just usually went to the washroom or to speak to his friend.
First real playable hand:
I pick up 89s in the SB and it is folded around to the big stack who makes it 20.00, Eric the Swede makes his standard call and comment about how people should bet more, I give the original raiser a range of AK-A10 and figure if I hit any one of my cards, I will get maximum value against both of them because they will not fold.
Flop – A89 bingo, I check and the original better bets 40, Eric the Swede calls, and I call. The turn is a J which is pretty ugly because it fits the range of the original better so I decide to lead out 75 here to see if he has a J. If he does he will most likely try to build the pot, as that was what everyone was doing when they hit two pair (well except me cause I think if I check raise that flop they both fold). Original raiser just calls, and Eric folds. River is a 4, I bet 125 and get called, AQ is mucked and I take down my first pot. Not a bad start to vegas
I end up picking up several hands after that including KK, where I win a decent sized pot against Eric again. I end up +600 for this session and miss the tournament because I figured it was easier to sit in the cash game instead of trying to fight through a tournment and possibly min cash.
Sunday
I head straight over to the RIO and run into Blondefish and Stevekerr, we exchange pleasantries, I get to hear about some bad beat stories from previous satellites and I head off to play my first one. Its the 175 single table tournament.
My table has 3 women in it along with the rest being middle aged men. Bonus for me I figure if I can grab a couple of hands I should be able to walk through this satellite.
Hands of note:
1. Pick up KJ early on, limp along with everyone else. Flop AQ10 rainbow, now all I have to do is figure out how to double up in this hand. The fact that there was no raise preflop means that everyone has either missed this board completely or possibly there could be A-rag or maybe Q-rag out there to steal the pot. It is checked around, turn is a 5, one person bets, I just smooth call, everyone else folds. River is a 7, this time I lead out, original better calls, I show the nuts and take down the pot.
I got for several orbits not really picking up any hands and watching people overplay their pairs, really no people are bluffing and we have knocked out 3 people before the second level begins. Its crazy. I am sitting at about 2200 chips at this point which is ok as a few have doubled up at 3000 and one person is at 4000.
The blinds at this point get to 100 200 and people are still limping into pots, which I find odd but one of the locals who is the tournament says this is always how they play? Great....so I turn up the aggression. 3 people limp and I pick up 10s, I open shove hoping to get someone to call, no one calls...
Next hand I pick up is AJ I raise this time and get 1 caller, flop comes A87, I lead out, and it is folded to me.
Here is the pivital hand that basically cripples me. I pick up JJ at this point the blinds are 200 400, and someone open shoves for 2000 chips, I have at this point 3400 chips, so I snap call and he flips over A6....right away out the door A....I am crippled.
I sit and wait for any A or any K to open shove. Finally I pick up A6 and shove and get called by the BB who has AQ.....
Damn A6....lol...I end up finishing 4th in the tournament. I head over to the cage, plump 1500 down and buy into the WSOP event 54
Monday
I start my day with my usual breakfast of champions, Lucky Charms. The background to this is that I was there with my gf, her bro, and another couple. We had rented a condo just off the strip (Platinum Condo/Hotel is the name) so every morning I woke up, got to watch the local tv in our living room as well as eat a normal breakfast away from the hussle and bussle of the casinos. Great place to stay as it was within walking distance of the strip (right behind bally's actually)
At about 11 I head over to the RIO (which is 1 bus ride up the street from the condo (same rd) and go find my seat. I end up meeting up with therookieqq9 (very good local online player..checkout P5 stats), he is sitting a few tables over from me, as well as I see Steve Kerr.
To follow my action for this tournament just check out my twitter page (Ted Safranko (Tedinvegas) on Twitter). I enjoyed the tournament and had a great experience again. Had to make some tough folds and really got lucky only 1 time.
I end up seeing Deadmoney there as well, we chat for a bit, and we both decide that we will be playing the Caesars megastack the next day if we make it through the tournament.
Tuesday
So I wake up again and head over to Caesars today after partying the night before with the gf and her bro (every night we spent the evening drinking at the tables playing blackjack which suprisingly I made about 1500 bucks doing just playing 25.00 bets)
Also if you have the chance to eat at N9NE steakhouse @ the palms I suggest you do so. You won't be disappointed
Anyways back to my story.....
I register for the Caesars megastack late and get put into the game as the blinds hit me. Here are some notable hands before I decided to start twittering this seriously.
Here is how I got my stack from 15K to 40K before the first break:) (blinds are 25/50)
Hand 1
I pick up A5 from mp and raise to 250 (blinds 25/50) get 1 caller. Flop 252. I bet out 300 and get called. Turn is a 5 (whoops did I just turn the nuts)....I check the turn making out like I have just Ace high, the original caller checks, river is a 10, I proceed to bet out 2500 (overbetting my hand) and get called by JJ. Ewww...I didn't realize he flat called my raise preflop with JJ. Oh well got lucky and that built my stack up a bit right away.
Hand 2
Pick up Q10 and make it 350 to go preflop and the BB calls me. Flop comes 2/10/2, BB checks and I c-bet 350. At this point I am thinking he may be trying to trap me as he saw my first hand (A5) and may realize I am an aggro donk. Turn is a 7, this time BB leads into me 350, well I don't appreciate that and re-raise him to 1500 to see if he actually has a hand. He calls.....EWWWW....river is a 5, he checks and to prevent myself from getting checkraised I check.....he flips over 99 and I win another big pot.
Hand 3
MP opens the betting to 150 and I re-raise to 500 with JJ. It is folded around and MP just calls. Flop comes 10 4 7. He leads out to 150 and I re-raise 1100. He calls. The turn is a 5 and we both check. At this point I know he isn't playing 68 but I am trying to figure out if he has a bigger PP or just A10.....the river brings 8 and he checks to me again, so I fire out 1100 and get called. He tables A10 and I pick up another massive pot.
As this is going on the table is starting to get a little annoyed with the fact that I am never just limping like they are, but raising every time I enter into the game. But I mean its a deep stack tournament and I really want to make sure I get maximum value of my hands. Not too mention the table is filled with older live players (just one younger guy such as myself) and for the most part we are playing ABC poker.
I sit for a bit and fold a couple of orbits (blinds are 45 minutes long so it can be tiring just sitting around mucking cards, but I end up picking valuable information such as who are the habitual calling stations, what are they calling/raising with and how can I exploit each player)
Finally the blinds are up now to 50/100
Hand 4
I pick up KQ in early position and raise up to 500 and get 2 callers. Flop comes 23Q. I check and so do the two villians. Turn is a 6. I bet out 1400 and they both fold. Life is good
After that for the rest of the level I really just sit around and play position. I don't get any other playable hands but I have a good time stealing the blinds from the cut off or button. Pretty much just maintain my stack.
Blinds 100/200
Hand 5
Here is the hand that really gets me my chips
I pick up AdQs in early position and I raise it up to 700 and I get re-raised to 2000 by the BB, having a deep stack and realizing that I can get away from my hand I decide to flat and hopefully hit a flush draw or some sort of two pair. Well it must be my lucky day.....
Flop: Js10sKs - The nuts.....yikes
Now at this point I am thinking if he has As this will be a collision for sure but I can also airball two cards as well and take down this pot as I have a made hand. Either way I am not folding so now I think to myself how can I get him to commit his entire stack.
The flop BB checks to me??? I lead out pot sized bet cause I want to see how strong he is. He just flat calls me. At this point I decide he must have either a pair/set or As. The turn is a 3d. Right away the BB goes all in?? I snap call and he flips over KK for a set. The whole table is in shock that we have such a collison hand, the river bricks and I take down a 30K pot (he had just come to the table with 15K)
So after that I am sitting with a monster stack and well the rest is on twitter
I do get to meet up with Ottawaplayer and we have dinner together along with Deadmoney during the tournament. And as you know I end up chopping the tournament found in this post:
http://www.pokerforum.ca/f7/sweat-your-blackmagicz-19827/
All in all had a great trip, and look forward to next year.
Things I will do differently next year:
Play more tournaments (Venetian and Caesars) and stay longer
Although I was in Vegas for this year's WSOP for a week, I haven't been able to find the time, or have been too lazy to sit down and write up a trip report. I know a lot of people followed me on twitter so I won't recount that information (or you can read it on the twitter page) (Ted Safranko (Tedinvegas) on Twitter), but here is a recount of my live game antics as well as a WSOP satellite and Caesars Megastack cash where I scanned the final day details paper they give everyone (I like souvenirs from tournaments I am in...makes me feel special....lol)
***************************
I will put the cliff notes version right here so if you don't want to scroll through it you don't have to:
1. Played cash games at Caesars - easy games...very soft. Met a guy from Sweeden who I still maintain contact with.
2. Played WSOP satellite - very soft but couldn't really get anything going
3. Men the Master busted me out of the WSOP 1500 event, got to play with Jonathan Little and Kevin Saul.
4. Played Caesars Megastack chopped final table for 8K (see sheet payouts, I think I scored well there)
**************************
Friday
Flew in and slept...preparation for WSOP and other tournaments begins. I can’t decide whether or not I want to play Saturday or Monday (51 or 54), turns out 51 sold out earlier that day, so 54 it is. I like easy decisions.
Saturday Morning
I decide that I am going to go over to Caesars Palace and see if I can enter in their 340.00 Mega Stack Event. Figure it’s a good warm up to WSOP and get me into the tournament mind set. I arrive at Caesars Palace at 10am figuring I will sit in a cash game and see if I can make my tourney entry in 2 hours.
Seat open in the 2-5NL no cap (biggest game they are spreading that morning) so I sit in. To my surprise there are 2 drunk kids including a Swedish kid named Eric who from what it seemed knew everyone in the casino. He told me he had been playing all night and is staying in Caesars for 2 months. He starts calling me a crazy canuck and well lets get started.
The table itself was a mix of nitty old men and young kids who weren’t internet players (you can usually spot them by their bet sizing) but just your avg 1/2 or 2/5 player. In other words I am not going to worry about losing my stack here.
I buy in for 500 which is half of the biggest stack at the table who is not too active and we begin.
I sit for a few orbits and get used to play and figuring out what each bet means by who and it looks early on my Swedish friend just opens every hand for 15 or 20 bucks and splashes the pot when it is checked to him. The rest of the table are just limp calling his bets so this is great. I let Eric know that if I get a hand I will be re-raising his little bets so be prepared. He lets me know that he will enjoy the Canuck getting into the game and tells me not to play so tight. LMAO...he made me laugh the entire time I was in Caesars. (he even added me to facebook cause we met up so many times during my trip at Caesars)
Seat 1 – Older gentleman from NV
Seat 2 – Kid
Seat 3 – Kid
Seat 4 – Mid-30s gentleman who had the big stack at the table
Seat 5 – Eric the Swede
Seat 6 – Me
Seat 7 – Old man
Seat 8 – Old man
Seat 9 – Old Man
Seat 10 Kid from Louisana who the Swede got upset at numerous times for leaving the table because supposedly they were going to be starting a mixed table together. Poor kid just usually went to the washroom or to speak to his friend.
First real playable hand:
I pick up 89s in the SB and it is folded around to the big stack who makes it 20.00, Eric the Swede makes his standard call and comment about how people should bet more, I give the original raiser a range of AK-A10 and figure if I hit any one of my cards, I will get maximum value against both of them because they will not fold.
Flop – A89 bingo, I check and the original better bets 40, Eric the Swede calls, and I call. The turn is a J which is pretty ugly because it fits the range of the original better so I decide to lead out 75 here to see if he has a J. If he does he will most likely try to build the pot, as that was what everyone was doing when they hit two pair (well except me cause I think if I check raise that flop they both fold). Original raiser just calls, and Eric folds. River is a 4, I bet 125 and get called, AQ is mucked and I take down my first pot. Not a bad start to vegas
I end up picking up several hands after that including KK, where I win a decent sized pot against Eric again. I end up +600 for this session and miss the tournament because I figured it was easier to sit in the cash game instead of trying to fight through a tournment and possibly min cash.
Sunday
I head straight over to the RIO and run into Blondefish and Stevekerr, we exchange pleasantries, I get to hear about some bad beat stories from previous satellites and I head off to play my first one. Its the 175 single table tournament.
My table has 3 women in it along with the rest being middle aged men. Bonus for me
I figure if I can grab a couple of hands I should be able to walk through this satellite.Hands of note:
1. Pick up KJ early on, limp along with everyone else. Flop AQ10 rainbow, now all I have to do is figure out how to double up in this hand. The fact that there was no raise preflop means that everyone has either missed this board completely or possibly there could be A-rag or maybe Q-rag out there to steal the pot. It is checked around, turn is a 5, one person bets, I just smooth call, everyone else folds. River is a 7, this time I lead out, original better calls, I show the nuts and take down the pot.
I got for several orbits not really picking up any hands and watching people overplay their pairs, really no people are bluffing and we have knocked out 3 people before the second level begins. Its crazy. I am sitting at about 2200 chips at this point which is ok as a few have doubled up at 3000 and one person is at 4000.
The blinds at this point get to 100 200 and people are still limping into pots, which I find odd but one of the locals who is the tournament says this is always how they play? Great....so I turn up the aggression. 3 people limp and I pick up 10s, I open shove hoping to get someone to call, no one calls...
Next hand I pick up is AJ I raise this time and get 1 caller, flop comes A87, I lead out, and it is folded to me.
Here is the pivital hand that basically cripples me. I pick up JJ at this point the blinds are 200 400, and someone open shoves for 2000 chips, I have at this point 3400 chips, so I snap call and he flips over A6....right away out the door A....I am crippled.
I sit and wait for any A or any K to open shove. Finally I pick up A6 and shove and get called by the BB who has AQ.....
Damn A6....lol...I end up finishing 4th in the tournament. I head over to the cage, plump 1500 down and buy into the WSOP event 54
Monday
I start my day with my usual breakfast of champions, Lucky Charms. The background to this is that I was there with my gf, her bro, and another couple. We had rented a condo just off the strip (Platinum Condo/Hotel is the name) so every morning I woke up, got to watch the local tv in our living room as well as eat a normal breakfast away from the hussle and bussle of the casinos. Great place to stay as it was within walking distance of the strip (right behind bally's actually)
At about 11 I head over to the RIO (which is 1 bus ride up the street from the condo (same rd) and go find my seat. I end up meeting up with therookieqq9 (very good local online player..checkout P5 stats), he is sitting a few tables over from me, as well as I see Steve Kerr.
To follow my action for this tournament just check out my twitter page (Ted Safranko (Tedinvegas) on Twitter). I enjoyed the tournament and had a great experience again. Had to make some tough folds and really got lucky only 1 time.
I end up seeing Deadmoney there as well, we chat for a bit, and we both decide that we will be playing the Caesars megastack the next day if we make it through the tournament.
Tuesday
So I wake up again and head over to Caesars today after partying the night before with the gf and her bro (every night we spent the evening drinking at the tables playing blackjack which suprisingly I made about 1500 bucks doing just playing 25.00 bets)
Also if you have the chance to eat at N9NE steakhouse @ the palms I suggest you do so. You won't be disappointed
Anyways back to my story.....
I register for the Caesars megastack late and get put into the game as the blinds hit me. Here are some notable hands before I decided to start twittering this seriously.
Here is how I got my stack from 15K to 40K before the first break:) (blinds are 25/50)
Hand 1
I pick up A5 from mp and raise to 250 (blinds 25/50) get 1 caller. Flop 252. I bet out 300 and get called. Turn is a 5 (whoops did I just turn the nuts)....I check the turn making out like I have just Ace high, the original caller checks, river is a 10, I proceed to bet out 2500 (overbetting my hand) and get called by JJ. Ewww...I didn't realize he flat called my raise preflop with JJ. Oh well got lucky and that built my stack up a bit right away.
Hand 2
Pick up Q10 and make it 350 to go preflop and the BB calls me. Flop comes 2/10/2, BB checks and I c-bet 350. At this point I am thinking he may be trying to trap me as he saw my first hand (A5) and may realize I am an aggro donk. Turn is a 7, this time BB leads into me 350, well I don't appreciate that and re-raise him to 1500 to see if he actually has a hand. He calls.....EWWWW....river is a 5, he checks and to prevent myself from getting checkraised I check.....he flips over 99 and I win another big pot.
Hand 3
MP opens the betting to 150 and I re-raise to 500 with JJ. It is folded around and MP just calls. Flop comes 10 4 7. He leads out to 150 and I re-raise 1100. He calls. The turn is a 5 and we both check. At this point I know he isn't playing 68 but I am trying to figure out if he has a bigger PP or just A10.....the river brings 8 and he checks to me again, so I fire out 1100 and get called. He tables A10 and I pick up another massive pot.
As this is going on the table is starting to get a little annoyed with the fact that I am never just limping like they are, but raising every time I enter into the game. But I mean its a deep stack tournament and I really want to make sure I get maximum value of my hands. Not too mention the table is filled with older live players (just one younger guy such as myself) and for the most part we are playing ABC poker.
I sit for a bit and fold a couple of orbits (blinds are 45 minutes long so it can be tiring just sitting around mucking cards, but I end up picking valuable information such as who are the habitual calling stations, what are they calling/raising with and how can I exploit each player)
Finally the blinds are up now to 50/100
Hand 4
I pick up KQ in early position and raise up to 500 and get 2 callers. Flop comes 23Q. I check and so do the two villians. Turn is a 6. I bet out 1400 and they both fold. Life is good
After that for the rest of the level I really just sit around and play position. I don't get any other playable hands but I have a good time stealing the blinds from the cut off or button. Pretty much just maintain my stack.
Blinds 100/200
Hand 5
Here is the hand that really gets me my chips
I pick up AdQs in early position and I raise it up to 700 and I get re-raised to 2000 by the BB, having a deep stack and realizing that I can get away from my hand I decide to flat and hopefully hit a flush draw or some sort of two pair. Well it must be my lucky day.....
Flop: Js10sKs - The nuts.....yikes
Now at this point I am thinking if he has As this will be a collision for sure but I can also airball two cards as well and take down this pot as I have a made hand. Either way I am not folding so now I think to myself how can I get him to commit his entire stack.
The flop BB checks to me??? I lead out pot sized bet cause I want to see how strong he is. He just flat calls me. At this point I decide he must have either a pair/set or As. The turn is a 3d. Right away the BB goes all in?? I snap call and he flips over KK for a set. The whole table is in shock that we have such a collison hand, the river bricks and I take down a 30K pot (he had just come to the table with 15K)
So after that I am sitting with a monster stack and well the rest is on twitter
I do get to meet up with Ottawaplayer and we have dinner together along with Deadmoney during the tournament. And as you know I end up chopping the tournament found in this post:
http://www.pokerforum.ca/f7/sweat-your-blackmagicz-19827/
All in all had a great trip, and look forward to next year.
Things I will do differently next year:
Play more tournaments (Venetian and Caesars) and stay longer
Comments
Could you send me the info on your condo? Sounds like a great place to stay with a family.
Vacation Rentals in Florida, California, Oregon, Hawaii & More - CyberRentals
Basically you can rent places all around the world to stay at. You deal directly with the owner of the property. Most times when I am in vegas I rent a house outside the strip and drive into the strip, but this time because we had a few people that had never been to vegas I decided to get a place near to the strip.
Cheers
hmmm, are you always card dependent..or just when you're facing down women?
Good overall TR though! Glad you had a good time.
LOL women are always the toughest opponents at the table. However most play a straightforward game along with middle aged men. Being able to adjust right away was what I meant by that comment (in otherwords I have played with those type of players before so I shouldn't see anything I can't handle)
It was nice to meet you & Deadmoney at that event and thanks for inviting me to have dinner with the two of you... That is probably the only bad thing about Caesars Palace - their Marketplace food court is one of the slowest and worst (nothing compared to the Venetian food court...).
I had typed up a lengthy trip report as well from my WSOP experience but I lost it... not sure if my post timed out or it was a computer user glitch... next time I will type it in Word and paste it into a thread.
I am already looking at the calendar for next year - Hope to see you there.
- May 28 (U$500 Event #1)
- May 29, Saturday (U$1000)
- and/or July 5, Monday (Main Event).
I could not find the schedule. can you please post link
2010 WSOP Schedule Leaked, Features Eight $1,000 Events