Well...holy eff it's been too long!
So I'm back from Vegas (obviously)...part of the delay may have been the depression that set in upon returning home to find shitty, cold weather, and the same mutated fucktards still working at WalMart, happy to ruin my day at every opportunity! At least I only have to go there every so often, and if I'm really sneaky, I can usually avoid the Terr-Cat and other such dejected characters...
Anyways...Vegas. Holy F BOMB was it awesome! Out of my five times being there, definitely far and away the best! That being said, I don't think I will ever go with a large-ish group again. It's too difficult to agree on things, some get impatient and ditch, some don't want to do certain things, etc. And of course with several people, someone is bound to drag along some drama...
First day, we arrive. Prop bet on who's luggage comes off the carousel last pays for the cab. Obviously, since Gavin is Asian, this disadvantage guaranteed him losing. After we arrive at tha Palace, I tell him to "Peeeeyaaay dat meeeeyan his mahnnnny!" A hearty chorus of laughter follows from all of us, including the cabbie. All of us except Gavin of course. :)
A relatively uneventful first session took up most of our afternoon. I was down a few hundo...ain't no thang. Played some more that evening. There was a pretty decent player at the table that evening, but I think his ego got to his head enough to the point where it made him vulnerable in certain ways. I took advantage and destroyed him for a very large pot later in the evening. After I drunkenly (and much too loudly) said to Tiff, "That retard flopped trips in my straddle pot! What a fuckbag eh?" I then notice he is sitting directly across from me, about 2 feet away. He obviously heard me. An awkward apology/"just kidding!" took care of that...heh. I ended up draining some cash off some fat kid from LA (as did everyone else at the table) and managed to finish up a few hundred on the day overall.
Second day, we all decided to play the Caesar's Palace Mega Stack event. This was a scheduled tournament, with an event running each day all month. By mega stack, it refers to you starting with a high amount of chips compared to a usual lower buy in tournament. 12500 to start in this case, with blinds beginning at 25/50. The blind increments are also fairly relaxed, and with 50 minute levels, allows a LOT of play. Perfect for a patient player, with a lot of experience in deepstacked poker tournaments - someone like me. :)
I wish I could go into some sweet hand detail, but to be honest, I really can't remember a whole lot. I ended up a bit to start, then slowly got worn down to half the starting stack a few hours in. I was a bit pissed, but kept grinding it out. I get moved to a new table, and suddenly, my luck changes. My first two hands in my blind, I end up doubling up basically, or getting some sweet value anyway. Finally I have a playable stack again. Now I can play poker instead of waiting around. I power my way over my table, chipping up continuously while keeping out of trouble. Soon, Gavin is brought over to the table, directly to my right. I serenade him with the 'Sea Turtle' song, much to his annoyance. Annoying him SOOO much, that in fact, he shoves right into my Kings and I stack his bitch ass. JK Gav...he played well. We had a lot of fun talking like Teddy KGB and Borat at this table. Especially when I said "I beeeeyett...it AHHHHHHHL" and splashed my chips into the middle in a very messy, annoying fashion. We all LOL'd except the chick who I shoved on. She folded. :)
I made a pretty sweet move/read on this old dude who I did not know at the second last table since he just sat down. It was a huge pot that really built my stack. A while later, I raised AK in early position to about 8800 or so if I recall. I believe the blinds were 1500/3000. I had about 75-80,000 in chips at this point if I recall. It folds around to the old dude. After a moment's hesitation, he declares himself all in. For 60 effin' thousand! What in the FACK Ricky?! I was quite confused by this move. I know most people would snap call in this spot. AK is the nutz right? Nah...I had to think it through. I still had a very decent stack if I folded, and if I call and lose, I'm basically crippled...I pondered for several minutes, before coming to the conclusion that
a) He has a small pair. By small, I mean maybe 3's or 4's, but as high as Jacks. It seems like a very scared bet.
b) He has a decent Ace, and thinks I'm just making a move (I had been playing quite aggressively and perhaps he was pissed off) and can push me out. AJ, AQ, maybe even AK like me.
c) He has KK/AA and is a very bad player. But because I hold an Ace and a King, this makes that scenario even less likely.
Eventually, I figured, I'm at worst a coinflip against a pair, and if I'm lucky, I have him dominated. I called. He proudly tables A10 offsuit? WTF I have the Ace of clubs and I much enjoy seeing the flop come down with a K of clubs, along with two other clubs. I have top pair and nut flush draw. He's pretty much fucked at this point. I hold, and stack his ass, building my stack to the biggest at the table. Boo yeah.
Anyways, we play some more, and are eventually down to the final table. 10 of us. Only 8 spots pay. Paul is there along with me. He nursed a shortstack all afternoon and took advantage of a foolish player to triple him up and get back in the tourney. Good job man. :) We had swapped 10% of each other's potential earnings this tournament before we started, and were the only two from our group to make the Final Table. We busted one player, and then agreed to take $50 out of all our pockets to give to 9th so that the bubble is burst. 9th busts, and the final 8 is set. At this point, I had started to dwindle a bit, and made a bit of a blunder, semi-crippling myself. I was sitting in 7th place with just under 60,000 in chips with blinds of 4000/8000. Not too sweet. Luckily 8th only had like 8800 so we knew he was likely done on the first hand or two the next day.
We go have a bite to eat and return the next afternoon. I go in with the mindset that I'm playing for 7th place or 1st. And by 7th, I mean I'm gonna shove with random cards in hopes to double up. I'm not gonna dwindle off into 6th like a little bitch IMO. Second hand, I pick up AK. 8800 shoves in, Xavier calls, I reshove over top. Xavier acts like I'm committing a great travesty by isolating the shortstack instead of cooperating to take him out. Fuck that buddy, I need chips too. I spiked an Ace against shorty's 84 offsuit and take him out. Right after that I pick up JJ in the small blind. Button puts out a big raise, and I ship over top. She calls with AK. I hold and double up! Boo yeah, playable stack again! Xavier busts when he open ships AQ and runs into Aces. Paul battles valiantly, but loses a coinflip when his 10's fall to Gramps' AK in a race. A tidy pay day of about $1300 overtop of the $235 entry fee is pretty decent.
After that, I begin to play poker. And I mean play some fucking poker. I start throwing my weight around a bit and chip up nicely. I forget who went out in 5th, but then we were four handed. The girl to my left was a pretty decent player and had the chip lead most of the time at the table. Gramps was to my right...he was a crazy loose, weird player, but sorta knew what he was doing at times. The other player...we shall call her slutbag. She kept pushing overtop of my raises all day, and calling almost all my raises and trying to bluff me a lot. Not sure why...stupid trick can't fuck wit a mastah mind! Eventually, I pick up Aces on the button. Boo yeah biatch. I raise again, her in the big blind. Girl to left folds, slutbag thinks for a bit, and shoves. I actually say "Snap call!" and shove my chips in. I table my Aces much to her dismay, as she shows AJ. Fuck yeah! 93% is the best shape I've been in all tournament. At this point, I think I have just under 400,000 she has about 350,000, girl to my left has 3-something, and gramps is between 250-300 if I recall. I think I was the chipleader at that point, and about to become huge! Right?
Wrong. I ask for no Jacks on the flop. The dealer obliges, spreading out a Q 10 and random rag. Fuck sakes. Please no. "Deuce!" I yell. A deuce rolls off on the turn, as always when I call for one. I should have asked for another. But I tempt fate, and ask for a four. A fucking butt ugly King of diamonds rolls off to give her the nut straight and make me feel like Christopher Reeves. "Son of a fuck! What a fucking joke!" I exclaim, on the verge of drop kicking the table. I refrain, and slut bag acts like she didn't get that lucky, and it was no big deal. Are you for real bitch? Next hand, I double up against her when I shove K10 of spades into her AQ. She acts like it's a travesty that I win a 60/40. Like fuck off...seriously. I continue to steam, but also steamroll my way back to about 300K. Gramps lays a SICK ASS beat on the young girl, rivering a Royal Flush against her top set of Kings. Sick way to go... :( Three handed, Gramps has a huge lead.
I also had found out by now, that any amount $5000 over your buy in is subject to 30% tax off the top if you are...Canadian. Motherfuckers...so I decide second will be sweet, since only 1st qualifies for tax and I'd get roughly the same amount either way. Unfortunately, I was pretty short and couldn't just outfold slutbag. So I continued to play hypo-aggressive, shoving all in like 3/5 hands. Eventually, Gramps limps. I know he's hoping I shove so he can call. I look down at 77 and shove. What can I do? He calls with A10. He turns a 10, and game over for me. Good for $2800 or so. :) Not a bad way to start the trip.
Part 2 following shortly...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment