Day/Night 2: Thursday 18th August (Poker)
SESSION #1
Bill's Gamblin' Hall
$0.50/$1
Bought In For: $60
5:45PM - 9:45PM
4 Hours
The schedule today was to visit the four poker rooms at the south end of the main strip (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and Tropicana) but I felt that a warm-up at the cheapest cash game in town was necessary first. With just two tables in operation I was placed at a seat straight away and settled down. True to its wild west theme, the felt resembled planks of wood to give it that rustic character and the chairs and carpets were well-worn to give it that rough feel as well. The atmosphere started off light as a drunken guy regaled the table with his story of getting searched by the cops, when getting off the coach, and them finding a small amount of dope on him. He claimed he was in Vegas to make money but his wild play indicated otherwise. When he left, the table became a much quieter affair. Generally speaking, ABC poker did the trick and I was surprised at how easy it was to read the players. My main source of income came from a questionable player in Seat 7:
Key Hand #1
I'm in late position and I look down at K 10. I can't recall the preflop action (I think I may have made a small raise) but the flop came K 10 x with two hearts. With a total of four players still in, it's checked round to me and I throw in a $12 bet which is called by the SB in Seat 7. The rest fold. The turn comes a harmless looking card and the villain checks, as do I for deception. Ok, maybe not the best move with two hearts on the board, but there it is. The river then comes 6h and the villain throws in a $25 bet. Now if I was actually on the ball and fully in tune with the action I may have read him for hitting his flush BUT, unlucky for him, as I was concentrating more on the way the villain was handling his chips and sensed weakness, I insta-called - for him to show K J for top pair/ok kicker. It was only after the hand, when the guy next to me noted that the heart brought a possible flush, that I fully realised what the villain was trying to do!! I dunno, those fancy plays are just wasted on bad players eh?
Key Hand #2
My second big pot occurred about 3 hours into the session while up against the same villain (Mr Represent Flush). UTG in Seat 9 is all-in for his final $4. UTG+1 then decides to call the $4 as does Mr Loose in Seat 2. I then look down at QQ, ponder my move, count out some chips, and throw in a $25 raise in order to prevent anymore cheap calls and to try to get more players out of the hand. Mr Represent Flush then decides to go all-in for the rest of his $40 stack! Mr $4 Shortstack keeps his cards, of course, and it's folded round to me for the no-brainer call for an extra $15 or so. The dealer lays out all five cards and I spot the queen for a set but there is also a possible straight out there. The bad news is that a player makes that straight but the good news is that it's NOT Mr Represent Flush - who was possibly on revenge tilt as he shows the A 10.
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Overall, I was quite surprised at how easy it was to read the players. Many were super-tight rocks and so it was fairly easy to boss the table a little bit. I did have to watch out for Mr Loose a bit, the one of two half-decent players at the table, but he did make obvious and fairly predictable moves; while the other seemed to lose out a lot by not value-betting his strong hands enough on the river. One last thing I noticed was that my takings seemed low for the poker I was playing and I only realised later that this would be due to the 10% rake and the large amount of chips I seemed to be duty-bound to donate to the dealer.
Waitress service was good but my only complaint would be that it did get VERY cold later on in the session. I endured this for about an hour or so and although I went there for the warm-up, I actually had to leave in order to do so!
Profit/Loss For Session: +$77
Profit/Loss For Day: +$77
Profit/Loss For Trip: +$77
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SESSION #2
Mandalay Bay
$1/$2
Bought In For: $250
11:30PM-1AM
90 Minutes
After picking up a reward card from MGM it was on through the walkways via Excalibur and Luxor to Mandalay Bay. This venue was certainly the most comfortable and refined of the three poker rooms visited today with its soft lighting and more expensive furniture and fittings. With about 7 cash games running I was seated straight away and bought in for $250 but immediately sensed that things would be tougher here than my last session. The table was fairly quiet but friendly on the the few occasions there was communication. For the first hour it was a case of folding with the occasional limp thus generating a fairly weak/tight image and this kind of got me "stuck" during the session. There was only one key hand to speak of, which occurred after about an hour, but this was not particularly exciting:
Key Hand #1
I look down at 7 2s in the Big Blind and it's checked all round - I elect to check. The flop comes 7 7 x and mid-position, a fairly decent player, throws in $6. It's folded all round to me and I just call, electing to continue going with my passive image. The turn is a blank which I check, continuing with the passive image but hoping for a raise (which doesn't come). The river looks harmless and the only way I'm going to get paid now is to throw something in myself so I make it $10. I'm surprised to see the call, which means he must have had something half-decent, and I scoop in a small pot which gets me back to break-even point on the session.
After picking up a reward card from MGM it was on through the walkways via Excalibur and Luxor to Mandalay Bay. This venue was certainly the most comfortable and refined of the three poker rooms visited today with its soft lighting and more expensive furniture and fittings. With about 7 cash games running I was seated straight away and bought in for $250 but immediately sensed that things would be tougher here than my last session. The table was fairly quiet but friendly on the the few occasions there was communication. For the first hour it was a case of folding with the occasional limp thus generating a fairly weak/tight image and this kind of got me "stuck" during the session. There was only one key hand to speak of, which occurred after about an hour, but this was not particularly exciting:
Key Hand #1
I look down at 7 2s in the Big Blind and it's checked all round - I elect to check. The flop comes 7 7 x and mid-position, a fairly decent player, throws in $6. It's folded all round to me and I just call, electing to continue going with my passive image. The turn is a blank which I check, continuing with the passive image but hoping for a raise (which doesn't come). The river looks harmless and the only way I'm going to get paid now is to throw something in myself so I make it $10. I'm surprised to see the call, which means he must have had something half-decent, and I scoop in a small pot which gets me back to break-even point on the session.
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After this, it was just a case of folding hands until 1AM when I leave about $20 down on the session. The players here were definitely the strongest out of the three rooms which may account for why I played so passively and why I never really felt comfortable about making any moves. In saying that though, there were enough soft-spots to make me feel unthreatened overall and in retrospect I, perhaps, could have made a few moves to take down a few of the uncontested pots.
Profit/Loss For Session: -$20
Profit/Loss For Day: +$57
Profit/Loss For Trip: +$57
Like the Luxor I'd not previously read many positive things about the Excalibur and, as such, entered the room in a prejudicial frame of mind and with low expectations. With the time at 1:30AM, feeling a little tired and just needing to tick one more poker room off the list, I bought in with a scared looking $100 and waited to see how fortune would smile (or frown) on me. It turned out to be the most fun table of the evening so far with a great variety of friendly players from all walks of life. Due to this there was no tension or awkwardness and, as it proved to be my most profitable session of the evening as well, it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Oh, and it's always nice to hear the ladies say that I have a beautiful accent as well :-)
With just two tables on the go, I was able to dive straight in and soon discovered that the table was super-super loose. The players just weren't as clued in as the Mandalay Bay lot and there seemed to be all-ins every other hand. Wild.
Key Hand #1
The first key hand was really a confidence boost more than anything else. It's early doors and I look down at A J. I raise it to $10 in mid-position yet still get two callers from the SB and BB. The flop comes K x x and it's checked to me. I read them as holding junk and fire out a $20 c-bet and they both insta-fold, kind of telling me that they're probably on some sort of really bad fit-or-fold strategy that thinks nothing of playing out of the small or big blind with marginals.
Key Hand #2
We're half-way through the session and I'm chugging along nicely. I'm in mid-position and look down at 2 2. The $4 straddle is on and it's a limp followed by another limp. It's a no-brainer limp from me but then Mr Annoying, on the button, chucks in $15! There are a couple of callers so, priced in, I reluctantly call for value by putting in the extra $9 into the $60 pot.
Bosh - the flop comes A 4 2 for the flopped set. It's checked all round to Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore who falls unwittingly into my trap by throwing in a doomed $25. It's folded all round to me and with Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore holding about $30 or $40 behind, and knowing it's a crazy table, I decide to put him all-in for the rest of his chips. He calls while uttering, "You haven't got the set have you?" A 10 hits the turn and a 10 hits the river to give me the full house - and so I give him the bad news and take down a healthy pot and a cheerful $110 profit.
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SESSION #3
Excalibur
$1/$2
Bought In For: $100
1:30AM-3AM
90 MinutesLike the Luxor I'd not previously read many positive things about the Excalibur and, as such, entered the room in a prejudicial frame of mind and with low expectations. With the time at 1:30AM, feeling a little tired and just needing to tick one more poker room off the list, I bought in with a scared looking $100 and waited to see how fortune would smile (or frown) on me. It turned out to be the most fun table of the evening so far with a great variety of friendly players from all walks of life. Due to this there was no tension or awkwardness and, as it proved to be my most profitable session of the evening as well, it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Oh, and it's always nice to hear the ladies say that I have a beautiful accent as well :-)
With just two tables on the go, I was able to dive straight in and soon discovered that the table was super-super loose. The players just weren't as clued in as the Mandalay Bay lot and there seemed to be all-ins every other hand. Wild.
Key Hand #1
The first key hand was really a confidence boost more than anything else. It's early doors and I look down at A J. I raise it to $10 in mid-position yet still get two callers from the SB and BB. The flop comes K x x and it's checked to me. I read them as holding junk and fire out a $20 c-bet and they both insta-fold, kind of telling me that they're probably on some sort of really bad fit-or-fold strategy that thinks nothing of playing out of the small or big blind with marginals.
Key Hand #2
We're half-way through the session and I'm chugging along nicely. I'm in mid-position and look down at 2 2. The $4 straddle is on and it's a limp followed by another limp. It's a no-brainer limp from me but then Mr Annoying, on the button, chucks in $15! There are a couple of callers so, priced in, I reluctantly call for value by putting in the extra $9 into the $60 pot.
Bosh - the flop comes A 4 2 for the flopped set. It's checked all round to Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore who falls unwittingly into my trap by throwing in a doomed $25. It's folded all round to me and with Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore holding about $30 or $40 behind, and knowing it's a crazy table, I decide to put him all-in for the rest of his chips. He calls while uttering, "You haven't got the set have you?" A 10 hits the turn and a 10 hits the river to give me the full house - and so I give him the bad news and take down a healthy pot and a cheerful $110 profit.
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I play a little bit longer but with the time at 3AM, I call it a night and cash in $220 for a $120 profit on the session. I then walk back to Harrah's a happy man.Profit/Loss For Session: +£120
Profit/Loss For Day: +$177
Profit/Loss For Trip: +$177
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