My Vegas Trip Report.....Day 4 August 7th
On Monday we decided to go downtown to Freemont and check out the old casinos. While there I continued my streak of getting beat at the table games. While there we checked out Binions and The Golden Nugget.
The Golden Nugget had a really nice poker room and we decided that we wanted to play there. There were only a few games going 2-4 Limit and 1-2 NL. We put our names on both and waited. After a few minutes the wife got called for the NL, then about 5 minutes later I did. We both bought in for $100. This game was crazy. Pre-flop raises of 15-35 almost every hand and this was mostly done by one player who the wife called Hollywood.( Becuase he had slicked back hair, a button down shirt, dress pants and he thought he was a star.)
I watched this player closely and saw he was doing this with crapper holdings, K-7 suited, Q-9 unsuited. After a few minutes he was on the BB, several people limped and I was in later position with 5-7 hearts, so I decide to limp, the rest fold to the SB who limps. Hollywood then raises $20. At this point I was pissed and wanted to see a flop. I like to see flops and don’t generally like to make any moves until I see a flop. I decided to call, thinking that if high cards came I would fold; if low cards came I would be good.
The flop comes 4 of hearts, 5 of clubs, and 8 of hearts. Giving me a pair of fives plus, a gut straight draw, a flush draw and a gut shot straight flush draw. Hollywood bets 50. I only have about 70 in front of me so I go all-in. He calls. He turns over a pair of 6’s (no hearts) I show my 5-7 of hearts and think “Shit he actually has a handâ€. I’m not too worried though as I figure with my draws it is about 50/50. The turn is a 5, river is another 4 giving me a full house.
Hollywood goes ape and starts saying how I’m shit and I have no idea what I’m doing, I hear him and then turn to him and say “How much was the bet pre-flop?â€
He says “20 dollarsâ€
I say “And what did you have pre-flop?â€
He goes “Pocket 6’s.â€
I replay in the most smart ass way “Yeah, ok, thanks†and then start piling up my chips.
Everyone at the table laughs at Hollywood and he is steaming. Next hand the wife limps in, most people fold. Hollywood makes it 35. Every one folds back around to the wife, where she grabs a stack of reds, says “100†and slides them across the table. Hollywood then quickly folds.
A few other hands go by and Hollywood quick shuts up. I limp in with pocket 7’s. A few others limp and the blinds check. Flop comes A-K-6 unsuited. Blinds check, I check every one else checks. Turn is a deuce. The Big Blind bets 10, I call every one else folds. River is a three, he bets 15, and I call. He shows A-K. I’m slightly pissed as I thought he was a donk like the rest but realize he can play.
Shortly after Hollywood comes out of his spanked shell and decides to play. Player UTG raises it to $6. There are a few callers behind her. Hollywood makes it $30 from the button. SB folds but the BB re-raises and goes all-in for 50, the UTG player then goes all-in for 90, and Hollywood calls. The hands flip out and the BB has pocket 9’s, UTG has A-K suited, Hollywood has k-7 unsuited, no hands improved and 9’s triple, A-K wins a side pot (basically they get their money back and Hollywood takes another large hit. At this point A-K gets up and leaves.
Next hand the good player is the BB. A few limpers, but most people fold. Hollywood makes it 35, folds around to the BB who raises it an extra $100 for a total of $135. Hollywood calls. Flop come 7-8-2. The good player goes all-in for $100. Hollywood calls. The good player has pocket Aces, Hollywood has j-10 unsuited. No 9 falls and the good player takes down a monster. Hollywood re-buys once again.
I wait until the BB comes and leave up $45. The wife cashed up about $40 also, she was down to about $30 after getting her pocket Queens beat by Kings but made it all back after she re-bought for another $100 and doubled up with an all-in. I didn’t want to mix it up with a player who thinking calling a 100 raise and then another 100 all-in with a gut shot is a good idea. I like to try and use the skill aspect of my game and not rely on the luck.
We go for dinner, hang around downtown for a bit and head back to the Luxor.
At the Luxor we decide to play the 2-4 Limit game just for fun. I buy-in for 100. I get seated right away but the table is short, only 7 players. They were running one of their crazy SnG and most of the players at my table wanted to play so the table broke once it started and I moved at another table that have several open seats.
When I sat down there were a few players I pegged right away. One guy was wearing a WSOP poker t-shirt and was talking about the WSOP. I figured he would be an easy player as he would think he knew everything, another had buggy eyes and his eyes would pop out when he had a strong hand. There was an older Asian woman who was nice but played way too many suited/connected or Ace-rags.
We get seated and I get nothing for the first ½ an hour. After that I start picking up hands such A-Q, A-K, pocket 10’s and so on. I always raise with this hands and would get several callers, I would then either connect with the flop with my A-High or the flop would be all under my pockets. The table would then check to me where I would bet the flop and get most of them to call, then they would all fold to my bet on the turn.
On one hand every one folds to me in the cut off, I look down and see Q-J spades. With no action in front of me I raise. I get called by the SB (WSOP guy) and the BB (Bug Eyes). Flop comes A-10-rag. WSOP bets out right away, Bug eyes folds; I double check my hand (knowing that WSOP has hit the Ace), think about it for a second and fold. WSOP turns to me and says “that’s the problem when you play medium pockets†and shows me an ace.Â
At this point I think to myself “I’m totally going to kill you WSOP†because if you think I’m playing that then you have no idea what I’m playing.
I say to him “yeah I know†and the game goes on.
Shortly after I’m dealt pocket 7’s, there are a few limpers before me so I limp. WSOP in the cut off calls. As do the blinds.
Eleanor then comes over and sits in an open seat beside the Nice Lady.
Flop comes 7-k-2, every one checks. So I check figuring WSOP is going to bet and try to take it down. He does and a few people call in between and I call.
Turn is a brick, every one checks again so I check as well. WSOP bets again. This time every one folds to me where I think about it for a second and then raise. WSOP calls. River is another brick, I bet and WSOP quickly calls. He flips out a K-J off and I show him my trips 7.
A few hands later I was in on the button. Every one limps, I look down and see A-4 unsuited> I figure with this much action I might as well see the flop too, so I limp and the blinds call, family pot. Flop come 4-6-7. Every one checks around to me, so with bottom pair I bet. Every one folds except for Eleanor who calls. Turn is a 10. Eleanor checks, I bet and she calls. River is a 2. Eleanor checks, so with bottom pair I check. Eleanor say missed straight, I turn over my A-4 and say pair of fours. Almost the entire table gives me a weird look.
The blinds go around the table and I’m on the button. Again most of the table limps in (every one except Eleanor) so I think to myself that if I have anything that is connected I’m going to call, I look down and see 3-5 unsuited so I call.
Flop comes A-2-4 with two spades. Bug Eyes bet, Nice lady call, every one else folds to me, I think for a second and wonder about the possibility that one of the two of them could be drawing to the flush draw so I raise. Both of them call.
Turn is the 6 of spades. I think shit if they are drawing to the flush they’ve hit it. While watching the players I see both Bug Eyes and Nice Lady check their cards, and then they both check. I pick this up right away as they are checking to see if they have a spade. I bet, bug eyes folds, nice lady calls. Turn is a 10 non-spade. Nice lady checks, I bet, she calls. I say 6 high straight and turn over my cards. She then mucks.
A few hands later I player who is short stack limps (only has about $6) every one folds and to me in late position and I look down and see 5-6 suited. I limp and the SB/BB limp and check. Flop comes 5-5-3. The BB bets, the short stack raises, I re-raise, the BB calls and the short stack call/all-in for his last 2 dollars. Turn is a 9, the BB checks, I bet, and the BB folds. The all-in turns over his cards and shows an A-K, I turn over my 5-6, river is nothing and I take another down.
A little while later I’m dealt pock Jacks in late position. Eleanor limps, the player to her left limps, so I raise. The blinds call as does Eleanor and the player to her left.
Flop comes Q-J-rag, with two spades. The Blinds check. Eleanor bets, the left guy, calls. I think for a second and then raise. The blinds fold both Eleanor and the left guy call. Turn is a Jack. Eleanor checks, left guy checks, so I check. Honestly I can’t believe at this point that I’m sitting on Quads and I’m wishing at this point that either Eleanor or the left guy hit a straight or flush. River is a blank. Eleanor checks, the left guy bets. I look at my cards think for a second and then raise. Eleanor quickly folds, and the left guy calls.
I say quad jacks and flip them out. He mucks his hand. At the Luxor if you get Quads of higher you get a bonus. For Quads it is an extra $20. After a while I realize that there are all new faces at the table, and I have no reads on any of them, it is also late (Midnight) and I’m beginning to feel tired so at this point I decide to leave.
When the BB comes to be I get up and cash out, up $150. I wait for a little bit and then Eleanor cashes out too.
The Golden Nugget had a really nice poker room and we decided that we wanted to play there. There were only a few games going 2-4 Limit and 1-2 NL. We put our names on both and waited. After a few minutes the wife got called for the NL, then about 5 minutes later I did. We both bought in for $100. This game was crazy. Pre-flop raises of 15-35 almost every hand and this was mostly done by one player who the wife called Hollywood.( Becuase he had slicked back hair, a button down shirt, dress pants and he thought he was a star.)
I watched this player closely and saw he was doing this with crapper holdings, K-7 suited, Q-9 unsuited. After a few minutes he was on the BB, several people limped and I was in later position with 5-7 hearts, so I decide to limp, the rest fold to the SB who limps. Hollywood then raises $20. At this point I was pissed and wanted to see a flop. I like to see flops and don’t generally like to make any moves until I see a flop. I decided to call, thinking that if high cards came I would fold; if low cards came I would be good.
The flop comes 4 of hearts, 5 of clubs, and 8 of hearts. Giving me a pair of fives plus, a gut straight draw, a flush draw and a gut shot straight flush draw. Hollywood bets 50. I only have about 70 in front of me so I go all-in. He calls. He turns over a pair of 6’s (no hearts) I show my 5-7 of hearts and think “Shit he actually has a handâ€. I’m not too worried though as I figure with my draws it is about 50/50. The turn is a 5, river is another 4 giving me a full house.
Hollywood goes ape and starts saying how I’m shit and I have no idea what I’m doing, I hear him and then turn to him and say “How much was the bet pre-flop?â€
He says “20 dollarsâ€
I say “And what did you have pre-flop?â€
He goes “Pocket 6’s.â€
I replay in the most smart ass way “Yeah, ok, thanks†and then start piling up my chips.
Everyone at the table laughs at Hollywood and he is steaming. Next hand the wife limps in, most people fold. Hollywood makes it 35. Every one folds back around to the wife, where she grabs a stack of reds, says “100†and slides them across the table. Hollywood then quickly folds.
A few other hands go by and Hollywood quick shuts up. I limp in with pocket 7’s. A few others limp and the blinds check. Flop comes A-K-6 unsuited. Blinds check, I check every one else checks. Turn is a deuce. The Big Blind bets 10, I call every one else folds. River is a three, he bets 15, and I call. He shows A-K. I’m slightly pissed as I thought he was a donk like the rest but realize he can play.
Shortly after Hollywood comes out of his spanked shell and decides to play. Player UTG raises it to $6. There are a few callers behind her. Hollywood makes it $30 from the button. SB folds but the BB re-raises and goes all-in for 50, the UTG player then goes all-in for 90, and Hollywood calls. The hands flip out and the BB has pocket 9’s, UTG has A-K suited, Hollywood has k-7 unsuited, no hands improved and 9’s triple, A-K wins a side pot (basically they get their money back and Hollywood takes another large hit. At this point A-K gets up and leaves.
Next hand the good player is the BB. A few limpers, but most people fold. Hollywood makes it 35, folds around to the BB who raises it an extra $100 for a total of $135. Hollywood calls. Flop come 7-8-2. The good player goes all-in for $100. Hollywood calls. The good player has pocket Aces, Hollywood has j-10 unsuited. No 9 falls and the good player takes down a monster. Hollywood re-buys once again.
I wait until the BB comes and leave up $45. The wife cashed up about $40 also, she was down to about $30 after getting her pocket Queens beat by Kings but made it all back after she re-bought for another $100 and doubled up with an all-in. I didn’t want to mix it up with a player who thinking calling a 100 raise and then another 100 all-in with a gut shot is a good idea. I like to try and use the skill aspect of my game and not rely on the luck.
We go for dinner, hang around downtown for a bit and head back to the Luxor.
At the Luxor we decide to play the 2-4 Limit game just for fun. I buy-in for 100. I get seated right away but the table is short, only 7 players. They were running one of their crazy SnG and most of the players at my table wanted to play so the table broke once it started and I moved at another table that have several open seats.
When I sat down there were a few players I pegged right away. One guy was wearing a WSOP poker t-shirt and was talking about the WSOP. I figured he would be an easy player as he would think he knew everything, another had buggy eyes and his eyes would pop out when he had a strong hand. There was an older Asian woman who was nice but played way too many suited/connected or Ace-rags.
We get seated and I get nothing for the first ½ an hour. After that I start picking up hands such A-Q, A-K, pocket 10’s and so on. I always raise with this hands and would get several callers, I would then either connect with the flop with my A-High or the flop would be all under my pockets. The table would then check to me where I would bet the flop and get most of them to call, then they would all fold to my bet on the turn.
On one hand every one folds to me in the cut off, I look down and see Q-J spades. With no action in front of me I raise. I get called by the SB (WSOP guy) and the BB (Bug Eyes). Flop comes A-10-rag. WSOP bets out right away, Bug eyes folds; I double check my hand (knowing that WSOP has hit the Ace), think about it for a second and fold. WSOP turns to me and says “that’s the problem when you play medium pockets†and shows me an ace.Â
At this point I think to myself “I’m totally going to kill you WSOP†because if you think I’m playing that then you have no idea what I’m playing.
I say to him “yeah I know†and the game goes on.
Shortly after I’m dealt pocket 7’s, there are a few limpers before me so I limp. WSOP in the cut off calls. As do the blinds.
Eleanor then comes over and sits in an open seat beside the Nice Lady.
Flop comes 7-k-2, every one checks. So I check figuring WSOP is going to bet and try to take it down. He does and a few people call in between and I call.
Turn is a brick, every one checks again so I check as well. WSOP bets again. This time every one folds to me where I think about it for a second and then raise. WSOP calls. River is another brick, I bet and WSOP quickly calls. He flips out a K-J off and I show him my trips 7.
A few hands later I was in on the button. Every one limps, I look down and see A-4 unsuited> I figure with this much action I might as well see the flop too, so I limp and the blinds call, family pot. Flop come 4-6-7. Every one checks around to me, so with bottom pair I bet. Every one folds except for Eleanor who calls. Turn is a 10. Eleanor checks, I bet and she calls. River is a 2. Eleanor checks, so with bottom pair I check. Eleanor say missed straight, I turn over my A-4 and say pair of fours. Almost the entire table gives me a weird look.
The blinds go around the table and I’m on the button. Again most of the table limps in (every one except Eleanor) so I think to myself that if I have anything that is connected I’m going to call, I look down and see 3-5 unsuited so I call.
Flop comes A-2-4 with two spades. Bug Eyes bet, Nice lady call, every one else folds to me, I think for a second and wonder about the possibility that one of the two of them could be drawing to the flush draw so I raise. Both of them call.
Turn is the 6 of spades. I think shit if they are drawing to the flush they’ve hit it. While watching the players I see both Bug Eyes and Nice Lady check their cards, and then they both check. I pick this up right away as they are checking to see if they have a spade. I bet, bug eyes folds, nice lady calls. Turn is a 10 non-spade. Nice lady checks, I bet, she calls. I say 6 high straight and turn over my cards. She then mucks.
A few hands later I player who is short stack limps (only has about $6) every one folds and to me in late position and I look down and see 5-6 suited. I limp and the SB/BB limp and check. Flop comes 5-5-3. The BB bets, the short stack raises, I re-raise, the BB calls and the short stack call/all-in for his last 2 dollars. Turn is a 9, the BB checks, I bet, and the BB folds. The all-in turns over his cards and shows an A-K, I turn over my 5-6, river is nothing and I take another down.
A little while later I’m dealt pock Jacks in late position. Eleanor limps, the player to her left limps, so I raise. The blinds call as does Eleanor and the player to her left.
Flop comes Q-J-rag, with two spades. The Blinds check. Eleanor bets, the left guy, calls. I think for a second and then raise. The blinds fold both Eleanor and the left guy call. Turn is a Jack. Eleanor checks, left guy checks, so I check. Honestly I can’t believe at this point that I’m sitting on Quads and I’m wishing at this point that either Eleanor or the left guy hit a straight or flush. River is a blank. Eleanor checks, the left guy bets. I look at my cards think for a second and then raise. Eleanor quickly folds, and the left guy calls.
I say quad jacks and flip them out. He mucks his hand. At the Luxor if you get Quads of higher you get a bonus. For Quads it is an extra $20. After a while I realize that there are all new faces at the table, and I have no reads on any of them, it is also late (Midnight) and I’m beginning to feel tired so at this point I decide to leave.
When the BB comes to be I get up and cash out, up $150. I wait for a little bit and then Eleanor cashes out too.
Comments
Wouldn't you still be using your skill against his luck? Seems like an ideal situation to me.
LOL - this was my favorite part when I went to the casino. I was seated with someone I play with regularly who some would consider a bit loose, but at the casino he was one of the tightest players. Did you and El prefer to be at the same table, or was it just because that's what was available?
I personally like to see flops and then go from there, I don't like getting my all my money in, pre-flop which was basically the situation with this guy. Also I want to play to have some fun playing this dude was some work.
We didn't ask to be seated at the same or different tables it just happened that way.
When Eleanor or any of my friends are at the same table we do not soft play each other at all.
However because I know how they play and they know how I play it is pretty rare that we get involved in a pot with each and if we do it hardly goes to show down.
When I play I usually like to see one friendly face at the table, I find it makes the game much more interesting because you tend to pay attention a lot more when they are in the hand just to see how it plays out. Plus after the session you have some one to talk to about how you played or how they played certain hands.
I was actually pretty torn about leaving....I knew we could make money at this table, but at the same time there was a very negative vibe around "Hollywood" and I just wasn't having a good time. For me, the main reason I play is for fun....so we left there and then dropped $100 on Pai Gow Mania. Not +EV, but +FUN.
I prefer to sit at the same table as Chris....as long as we aren't right next to each other. That way we can talk about hands afterwards. Like when he bets me out of a pot and I get the find out later what he had
Chris, was I hallucinating last night - BOTH TIMES - or am I hallucinating right now?
Tell me you took Bill anf Jr. Mint down though...
P.S. Sounds like the trip was awesome you guys. I went to the Pink Taco for my stag dinner. Then I went to see the other tacos later...
LOL.....no Jr. Mint took 1st, Bill was 2nd and I was 3rd. Jr. kept pushing all-in pre-flop and I was totally card dead.
It's a lot easier to push all-in with Rags when you are in with your money first, but impossible to call some ones all-in.
I ended up picking up A-3 on the button, I pushed and got called by Bill with A-K and being the suck out bank was empty I was done.
I only tend to push pre-flop in tournaments in cash games I always want to try and get a flop and then go from there.