VEGAS: 23rd August (Poker) - Part 1

Day/Night 7: Tuesday 23rd August (Poker)- Part 1

SESSION #21

Harrah's

$1/$2

Bought In For: $200

12:30PM-3:15PM

2 Hours 45 Minutes

There were no harrahs at Harrah's unfortunately; only in the fact that I finally got to sit down at the one cash game table that was going on. (All other times I attempted to play at Harrah's, there was only one table on the go and it was always full.) There should have been joy and happiness, though, with the cards I was dealt in one particular hand - but I messed up. Going into this session I was actually feeling quite confident about bossing tables around with more preflop raises and continuation bets and as I settled in I did start to feel comfortable as the players seemed to be all about playing their hand strength. As it turned out, I left the table $90 down, but it proved to be one of those losing sessions where you actually learn a great lesson and feel like a much stronger player afterwards.

Key Hand #1

I believe I have the image of a strong, aggressive player and I'm chatting away merrily with the English guy on my left as we then both start competing for a pot. The flop has come two diamonds and I hold a further two small diamonds in my hand. As the UTG player, I check which is probably not the best move as I have an aggressive image and should bet to build the pot. Mr English bets $10 and I make the call with my draw. The turn brings the diamond giving me the flush but I choose to check again for deception. He bets $10 again which, I felt at the time, either indicates that he is slow-paying his better flush or is maybe now on the flush draw himself. As he keeps betting (albeit small amounts) I just have a feeling that he may have made a higher flush on the turn. Anyway, I go ahead with the check/call manoeuvre.

Now comes the bit where I out-level myself. The villain's body language indicates to me that he doesn't seem too well at ease at the poker table and through our conversation I determine that he's most certainly not a seasoned poker player. The river comes a harmless card and a non-diamond so I suddenly turn to him and ask if he has the flush which just seems to throw him off-balance a little bit. Of course I should have gone with my read right there as, from his reaction, I now believed I had him beat. I throw in $10 myself but am surprised to see him almost immediately respond by throwing $50 into the pot himself.

As it happened, I was the one with a wishy-washy plan on the river and it was now me who was thrown off balance as I now suspected him to have the hand I originally put him on. (If my plan was more solid, my $10 river bet should have been made precisely to induce a raise - and that is kind of half-heartedly why I made it in the first place.)  For the sake of $40 I throw my cards into the muck as he shows me a pair of 4s which actually made him a straight. Yes, he a good hand that most beginners would believe is the best hand and, yes, he was just playing his hand strength. BUT, as a weak player, he completely ignored the fact that I just may have made the flush on the turn.

As I perceived he was a weak player, and armed with all this information, naturally I should have gone ahead and punished him by making the call - but it was just one of those hands where the out-level demon was out to get me. After telling him "Nice hand - you had me", outwardly I merrily play on but inwardly I'm seething at my own stupidity.

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As I said at the beginning, I felt myself "level up" as it were after this session. As I reflected on the reasons for my actions and pondered the motives behind my moves, the idea that I lost chips began to fade and the knowledge that I gained about myself from how I played became a much sharper and more important consequence. 

Profit/Loss For Session: -$90

Profit/Loss For Day: -$90

Profit/Loss For Trip: +$557

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SESSION #22

Caesars Palace

$1/$3

Bought In For: $400

3:30PM-5:10PM

100 Minutes

Ironically, after my badly played hand from the above session but more aware of my weakness and leaks, I wander across the road to Caesars Palace with plenty of confidence. I'm feeling a bit tipsy and play up to the fact that I forgot that I had already paid the floor manager $400 for chips - and make an attempt to pay another $400 a second time!! I then just turn to the table and jokingly announce that I really should lay off the beer. I don't know whether my cheesy drunken act works or not but as I'm involved in plenty of pots I end up being the table captain.  

Key Hand #1

I have a drunk guy image and also the image of a player who doesn't value money that much. I've been playing aggressively with both good hands and bad and have been involved in a lot of hands. I'm in the SB and look down at the AQ of spades. It's limped all around to a chubby chap in late position who has about $120 in front of him. He throws $10 into the pot and then it's on me.

With about 5 or 6 players in the hand, I reckon it'll be called all the way around if I just call the $10 myself which will mean my useful preflop premium hand will likely turn to mush after the flop. Of course a raise is the standard move but, from his facial expression and body language, Mr Chubby looks like he wouldn't mind going all-in and I really don't want to get involved in a coinflip situation against a weaker player. Interestingly only Mr Old Man in mid-position decides to come along for the ride and makes the $10 call while the rest give up their $3.

It's a dream flop; all spades giving me the nut flush! I Hollywood a little bit and check. Disappointingly it's checked all round. The turn is harmless but I feel I need to put something into the pot to get paid off at all so I put in $25 in an arrogant way. Mr Old Man folds but Mr Chubby calls. On the river, I throw in another $40 and am happy to see Mr Chubby make the call as I take a fair pot.

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Pleased with my performance, I leave the table with $467 and a $67 profit. This doesn't seem like a huge reward for my aggression and the amount of pots I scooped but, once again, this'll be due to the large number of hands I played and the resulting 10% rake that would have been withdrawn from the hands I won. 

Profit/Loss For Session: +$67

Profit/Loss For Day: -$23

Profit/Loss For Trip: +$624

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