The Happiest I Have Been With A Loosing Hand

This Sunday I had a strange hand at Winstar. It was at the end of my day and I was up to about $800. Sitting at my table was a kid who said it was only his second time playing casino poker. He wasn't a complete novice, but he did have a tendancy to call till the end with only 2nd pair. His cousin, who was a little more experienced, was also playing at the table. After some hands he would ask his cousin for some advice. He was really friendly and I was talking with him quite a bit.

After a few hours he had built up a stack to about $400. This hand came when I was in the big blind. He opened for a raise to $10 and I called with K-10. There were also 2 more callers behind me. The flop came K-10-10. I checked, the other two players checked, and the kid bet something like $20. I smoothed called and hoped the other two players would stay in too, but they folded. The turn was a 7 and I checked. The kid bet about $40. I figured the kid was going to call anything if he had A-K so I raised $80 more. Sure enough he called. The river was another 7. Now I'm thinking if the kid has a 10 he will be sunk for sure. But I didn't want to bet too much and scare him off. I settled on $100. He thought for a few seconds and then called. I turned over my K-10 and said full house. He turned over poket Kings.

Several people started talking at once asking him why he didn't raise me. He said he was afraid that I had Quad Tens. I looked at his cousin and he had his hands covering his face shaking his head. One person was pretty brutal berating the kid over and over. He kept saying that I would have called any amount he raised (which was true). I told everyone to leave him alone but of course the table kept talking about it for the new few hands.

The strangest things is that I was excited at the end of the hand. Even though I lost about $200 I felt like I was ahead because I didn't loose $400.

It sort of reminded me of this hand with Jennifer Tilly on Poker After Dark. Except in my situation the table was not nearly as silent when the cards were shown.

My Second Royal Flush

I got my second Royal Flush last Saturday at Winstar. I was playing at a very friendly 1-2 NL table and had built my stack up to around $700. I was in the small blind and there were about 4 or 5 limpers before it got to me. I looked down to find Q-10 of clubs. I called for a dollar and the big blind checked. I was hoping for some clubs on the flop.

I got three, the Ace, King, and Jack. I immediately saw that I had flopped a Royal Flush. I was first to act and I checked. There was only about 14 dollars in the pot. I was worried that I wasn't going to get any more with a scary flop like that. Sure enough, everyone else checked. The turn was a Jack. Now I hoped someone had a Jack. I checked and the guy two seats to the left of me bet $10. Then three people called. I was thinking that surely one of them had a Jack and would call a bet on the river. I don't even remember what the river card was. I lead out with a $20 bet. The original better started counting out a raise. Yipee! He raised to $60 and the other players folded. I figured with this re-raise that he would call anything. Maybe he had a full house. Or, even better, maybe he had pocket Jacks for 4 of a kind. Winstar has a bad beat jackpot. If he had quads, that would net me another $4k from the jackpot.

I looked at his chips and he had about $180 more so I said all-in. He immediately called and I could tell he was sure he was going to win. I said "do you have pocket Jacks" but sadly he said no. I turned over my hand and said "I got a Royal Flush". He turned over A-J for a full house. He was pretty light hearted even though he had just lost $250 on one hand. He got up, shook my hand, and walked off.

There was a lot of talking at the table and we all had to explain to one player why I was hoping he had pocket Jacks. That would have been some nice icing on the cake, but I was still extremely happy with the pot. Plus I got a nice jacket for free.

I didn't get a picture of the cards, but here is a picture of my chips after the hand.

2007 WSOP

This year I decided to play in a WSOP event. I have never played in a live tournament with more than 100 players, so I was mainly going for the experience. I didn't expect to make the money. I entered event #49, a $1500 No-Limit Holdem event. My friend Philip entered the same event.

The tournament started at noon on Saturday. Our flight landed late Friday night and Philip and I headed straight to the Rio to register. I think we got there around midnight. While Philip waited in line at a cash cage, I walked around the craps tables. The cheapest table they had was $25. I asked a dealer and he said that was pretty much the norm during the WSOP. I normally look for $5 craps tables. Since I had just arrived in Vegas, I was anxious to do something so I made one pass line bet. It lost immediately.

I went back to the cash cage to wait for Philip. As I was standing there I saw a man who was obviously drunk. He was staggering and acting really wierd. Twice I saw him take a drag on a cigarette and walk up to someone and blow the smoke right in their face. I was expecting a fight to break out. Then I saw another man run up to him and grab him and start walking him away from the area. It looked like a friend trying to get him under control.

Philip finished his business at the cage and we started walking towards the convention center to register for the WSOP event. We ended up a few paces behind the drunk guy and his friend. The friend was having a really hard time keeping the drunk walking and the drunk's pants kept falling down.

As we were walking down the long hallway to the convention center we started to see the poker celebrities. The first one we passed was Chad Brown. He was walking and talking with about 4 other people. Then we saw Allen Cunningham walking towards us. When other people recognized him they would point him out to their friends (just like Philip and I did). I wonder what it is like to walk down a crowded hallway knowing that everyone is looking at you.

Philip and I got in the event registration line. While standing there Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot stopped about 5 feet away and was talking to someone he passed. Then Greg Raymer passed by.

The registration line took about 30 minutes and then it was official. I was going to play in the WSOP. After that we went to our hotel, the Golden Nugget.

We returned the next morning at about 10:30 to walk around. In the Amazon room all the poker tables were empty except one. Phil Helmutt was playing Chinese Poker with two other people I didn't recognize. Phil was at one end of the table and his opponents were at the other end. There was a deep crowd around the table so I didn't get cloose enough to see any of the hands. We walked over to the ESPN stage and looked at the final table. It was sort of like a small portable arena inside of a huge convention room.

I needed to find an outlet to charge my phone, so we went out into the hallway and found a table near an outlet. While we were standing there Dan Shak came by talking to a tournament official. Then TJ Cloutier walked by.

That was the extent of my "celebrity" sightings. In the tournament I never saw anyone I recognized.

At about 11:45 Philip and I split up as we went to our seperate tables. They announced that there were over 3000 players and they were still accepting registrations. There was a long alternate list. I was glad that we registered the night before. When the tournament finally started I was pretty excited. I kept trying to force myself to calm down because I wanted to concentrate and last a long time. The rounds were one hour and we started with $3000 in chips. The other players at my table were quiet so I stayed quiet. The play was extremely tight. There was never a limped pot. The first several hands were won by the first person to raise. I kept track on my watch and it was 26 minutes before we saw a flop. Then it was another 10 minutes before we saw a turn and a showdown. I would guess that in the first round 80% of the hands were won before the flop and 15% were won on the flop. I played two hands in the first round. I raised with A-Q offsuit in early position. I was reraised so I folded. The other hand I had pocket 8s in late positions. I raised and was called by one of the blinds. There was an A and a K on the flop. The other player bet so I folded. I didn't loose much money in either hand, but I was starting to get worried that it was going to be a short frustrating tournament. At the end of the first round I only had about $1200 left in chips. I had only played two hands and the rest hand been lost in blinds. At the end of the first round they had seated 50 alternates so that means at least 50 people had been eliminated.

The second round started to get more interesting. I raised a hand in late position with pocket 6s and picked up the blinds. That was my first pot. I then started to get decent starting hands in late position. I raised a couple more times and won the blinds. Then on one hand I got a caller two seats to the right of me. I don't know his name, but lets call him Bob. On the flop Bob bet and I folded. He showed a 8-2 for a bluff. This hand was interesting in two ways. First, he called my initial raise with an 8-2 and two that he bet and showed a bluff. This was the first time someone showed or got caught in a bluff. This also started to loosen up the table. For over 90 minutes the table had been really quiet, but now people started chatting a little. A player two seats to the left of me was short stacked and he started to go all-in before the flop. I made sure that I only raised with hands I was prepared to call his all-in with. But it never came to that.

There were two more hands where Bob and I were involved and he showed bluffs after I bet. Then at the end of round 2 came my first critical hand. I had built my chips up to about $8000. I was feeling much more comfortable in the second round. I was on the big blind. It folded to Bob on the button and he raised a standard raise. I had A-2 of hearts. I decided to defend my blind. I paired my 2 on the flop. There was only one heart. I don't remember what the other two cards were but the were simething like a 5 and a 8. It wasn't a good flop for me so I checked. Bob immediately bet a small bet and I started thinking about the 3 bluffs he had shown me. The flop didn't look like something he would have paired either. I called hoping I would get lucky and win a big pot from Bob. The next card was also a miss, but was also not a big card. I checked and this time Bob checked. The river also didn't help in any way. I checked. Bob bet out a really small amount. I think it was something like $300 into a $4000 pot. It was such a small bet that I felt like I had to call. I also figured my pair of 2s was not a likely winner. So I called. Bob looked a little frustrated and he turned over a 2. I laughed and said "I bet I got you out kicked" and I turned over my A-2. He mucked his other card and I won the the pot. Then Bob in an angry tone started saying things like I should have never called the flop or the river bet. I reminded him that the last three pots he won against me he showed bluffs. He didn't say anything else. Another guy at the table called me "The Sherriff" because I wasn't going to let Bob steal any more.

I finished round 2 and went to the break with $13,000 in chips. I was feeling comfortable and having a great time. I had a lot more chips than when I started, but there were people at my table with even more.

After the break I got my first knockout. I had pocket 10s and raised from early position. One of the blinds called me. The flop was 6-6-5. The other player went all-in for about $2000 more. I figured she didn't have a bigger pocket pair or she would have re-raised me pre-flop. I didn't figure she had a 6 unless it was like an A-6 suited. And even if she had a 6 or pocket 5s she would have probably checked to get me to bet into her. It seemed like an easy call so I did. She turned over pocket 7s. The turn and the river didn't help her and I knocked her out. I was up to about $16,000 in chips, but that was the last pot I won.

Over the next hour and a half I was completely card dead. I think I tried to steal blinds twice and got re-raised and had to fold. Then came my last hand of my WSOP experience. I was in the big blind and Bob was on the button. He raised to $800. The small blind folded and I looked down to find pocket Qs. I decided to re-raise. I counted out the $800. I wanted to raise $2400 but I only had $2600 more so I went all-in. Bob immediately called and turned over pocket As. The better hand won and I was out of the WSOP before the 2nd break.

Philip outlasted me. He made it past the second break and I think he got bounced in the 8th round.

It was a really cool experience. I may never do it again, but at least now I can say that I did it once.

July 2007 Vegas Trip Report

Intro

The first weekend in July I went to Vegas to play in the WSOP. But I spent more time playing in cash games. Below are the notable hands that I played. Some I won, some I lost, but these are the ones that stick in my mind the most. I played at Caesar's Palace, Binions, and the Golden Nugget.

The Royal Flush With A Controversy

I was playing at Caesars when I got my first royal flush ever. They pay a bonus for 4 of a kind or better. The amount of the bonus depends on the hand. I was in middle position. A few people limped in front of me and I looked down to find Kd Jd. I limped too. The flop was Qd, 10d, and I think a 4 (not a diamond). I flopped an open ended straight draw. A lady in the big blind bet $10. Another person called and I called. The turn was a low non-diamond. The lady bet $20, the other person folded and I considered it. I figured I would win the hand with any diamond, or a 10 or a A for a straight, or maybe even with a K for a bigger pair. Plus there is the potential for the bonus if I made a straight flush. I called the bet. The river was the Ad giving me the royal flush. This time the lady checked. I was deciding how much to bet when the dealer said "check, check, turn them over". The lady started to turn her cards over and I said "wait!". I told the dealer I hadn't checked. He said ok and I bet $25. The lady protested saying I saw her cards and that's why I want to bet. I told her I hadn't seen her cards and that I had a strong hand and was going to bet anyway. The dealer was very wishy-washy so we asked for a floor decision. When the dealer explained it to the floor he said I definately checked. I knew I was going to loose the argument so I told everyone I had the winning hand (I still don't know what she has, but obviously I am going to win) and I take back the $25. I turn over my royal flush. I then ask the dealer and the floor if they really think I checked last with a royal flush. The dealer doesn't say anything and the floor guy says "probably not" and gives the dealer a look. I won the pot and $165 for the bonus.

The First Time I Pissed Off A Local

This was the first hand I played at the Golden Nugget. I sat down at the table with $200 in the big blind. A few people limped including a very attractive young lady across the table. I looked down at Ah6h and checked. The flop was 7h 8h Jc. The small blind checked and I bet $10 on my flush draw. The young lady made a minimum raise to $20. Everyone else folded. I made the call. The next card was a Kh giving me the flush. I lead out with a $20 bet. She quickly raised to $60. I looked at her chips and she had about $110 left. I went all-in and she immediately called. She said "do you have a straight". I said "no I have a flush". She turned over 7 8 for two pair and needed to make a full house on the river. It didn't happen. She said "I don't know why I play in this f***ing tourist game". Then she told her end of the table I made a stupid call on the flop. I guess she thought a minimum raise meant an automatic fold. But when she made the raise she really wanted a call. Anyway I was quickly up to about $380.

Caught In The Middle

I was playing late at night at the Golden Nugget. GN and Binions both have an uncapped buy-in. You can sit down at a no-limit table with any amount of money. Initially I didn't know this. I am used to a $200 cap on the buy-in. I was playing at this table when Person A bluffed Person B out of a $400 pot on the river. Person A showed the bluff and rubbed it in a little. Person B got ticked off and pulled out a wad a cash and put it on the table. He said the next hand the two played, he was going to put the whole wad in. After a couple of hands I asked how much it was and he said $4000. I asked the dealer if this was allowed and thats when I found out about the no-cap rule. Person B kept talking every hand about how he was going to put the money in the pot. Person A eventually pulled out his own $2000 in cash. I was right between the two and they kept poking each other with verbal sticks. They weren't in a pot together, but each was showing big bluffs to other people. I decided to wait for a monster hand before I played with either of them. But then I got sucked in. I was in the big blind with 6-7 offsuit and it was checked to me. I checked. the flop was 6-7-10 rainbow. Person B in the small blind checked. I bet $15. When Person A was about to act, Person B (who had already checked) told Person A if he went all-in he would get called. Normally I would have objected to this talking out of turn, but I thought I would be happy with them slugging it out in my pot. So Person A raised it to $100 (he had about $2000). Everyone folded around to Person B who promptly went all-in for $4000. I immediately called with my $200 and then Person A immediately called. When Person A called I started to get worried. I thought Person B had nothing, or at most a straight draw, but when Person A called his $2000 in I figured he must have at least something. Both of them turned over 8-9 for flopped straights. My two pair needed to turn into a full house and it didn't. So Person A and Person B just split my money. I couldn't believe my luck that I got what I wanted (a big flop) and they both had flopped the nuts.

The Golden Nugget 1 A.M. Tournament

Philip, Linda, and I decided to play in the 1 A.M. tournament at GN. They had over 40 people sign up, but they only allocated 1 table since there others were full with cash games. We had hoped to start at different tables but that didn't happen. We started with 11 people. They let in one alternate, but then no more so there was only a total of 12 people in the tournament. After a while it was easy to tell that about 6 of the people were very novice. In one of the first few hands I made a call on the turn with an 8 outer for a straight. I hit the straight and check-raised the other player. He called and was not happy to see what I did. I decided to play the novice act myself. I told him that "Phil Gordon calls that a double-belly-buster straight draw on tv". I then started talking about watching poker on TV a lot and so forth. I kept saying Phil Gordon says this and Phil Gordon says that. It was fun. the best part was I kept getting really good cards. Early on I was playing every hand and probably looked really loose but I wasn't. I was re-raising people before the flop and I was never bluffing. I think I flopped 2 sets and 2 straights in the first 2 rounds. I had a chip lead and was talking about Phil Gordon and was having fun. Then bam, bam, bam, Philip knocks 3 people out. Now he had the chip lead. After the break more people started to fall. I knocked a few out, Philip knocked a few out, and Linda knocked a few out. Eventually it was down to 4 people, myself, Philip, Linda, and the only other really strong player in the tournament. They announced that they were going to pay three places. The other guy knew he was cornered. When he was in the big blind, I was on the button. I tried to raise every time I had a marginal hand. I was able to take his big blind several times (and Philip's small blind in the process). Eventually he made a stand and got knocked out (I think Linda did it). Now it was just Philip, Linda, and I. Between the three of us we had knocked out every other player. We decided on a three-way chop and played the rest of the tournament really quickly. Philip went all-in with a 6-7 and I had a pocket par and won. Heads up, there were 5 hands in a row in which I had an A which is pretty unbelievable. I raised each time. Linda eventually went all-in pocket 3s when I had A-K. We both made full houses but mine was bigger. I had just one chip more than she did so she was out.

I have never had such a great run of cards in a tournament. I never bluffed. I got chips early and was able to play big stack poker and even then I still had good cards.

The Biggest Pot I Lost

It was about 2 in the morning at the GN. I was up about $150 to $350. I was in middle position with pocket 10s. I raised to $12 and got about 3 callers including the small blind. The flop was Kd 10D, 4c. I flopped a set of 10s and there is about $60 in the pot. Small blind checked and I bet $20. Everyone folded but the small blind. He raised to $40 (minimum raise). I figured be didn't have pocket Ks because he would have re-raised before the flop. I hoped he had A-K. I re-raised to $120 and he quickly went all-in for like $400. I only had $350 and called. I turned over my set of 10s, but he didn't show his cards. The turn didn't matter, but the river was a Q. The guy stood up and slammed his cards down on the table. He had a A-J offsuit and had made a straight on the river. He had gone all-in with an inside straight draw. Several people were suprised. He said he only did it because his A was a diamond so he also had runner-runner flush draw. Ouch.

The Laydown I Shouldn't Have Made

I was playing in the afternoon at Binions. The person to my immediate left had over $2500. I don't know how much he won or how much he bought in with. I was up $250 to about $450. I had Q-10 offsuit in the small blind. Several people limped and I did too. The big blind checked. The flop came 10-J-Q rainbow. I immediately decided no one had A-K or pocket 10s, Js, or Qs because they would have raised pre-flop. But anyone could have a straight draw with a 9 or a K. I led out with a $15 bet. Big blind called me and everyone else folded. The turn was a low card that didn't matter. I bet $30 and the big blind with all the money called. The river was an A. So now, any K had a straight. I bet $50 and the big blind immediately went all-in. It would cost me my remaining $350 to call, but it would be a big score if I won. The problem was the possible straight. I took a long time thinking. I was worried that the guy with all the money was calling with some plan to re-raise big on the river. I really had a hard time deciding and he was sitting like a rock. Someone else at the table called time on me. I took about 45 more seconds and then decided to fold. I just didn't want to loose that much money when a spare K could beat me. A few hands later I decided to go play at GN. I told the guy I was leaving and asked what he had on that hand. He said he had a pair and a straight draw which missed. I figure he had 9-10. He seemed like he was telling the truth.

The Best Non-Raise

I was playing at GN and Philip was at my table. I had 7-8 offsuit. I think I was on one of the blinds. It wasn't raised pre-flop. The flop came 5 6 K rainbow. I had an open ended straight draw. I checked and everyone else checked. The turn was a 9 giving me the nuts with a straight. I bet $10. One older gentleman at the other end of the table called me. The last card was another K. I bet $20. The other player raised to $60. I counted out the $40 and put a black $100 chip on top (but didn't push it out). I was contemplating making the raise. I counted my chips and I had another $125 more. I thought the guy might have a K, but maybe he had a full house. I realized that if I raised $100 and he went all in I would be forced to make a decision for my remaining $125. I said out loud that I was afraid to put all the money in so I just called. He turned over pocket 9s. Another player at the table said "he has a set of 9s". I said he has better than that and the dealer pointed out the full house. I mucked my hand face up showing the straight. I felt really good that I didn't re-raise.

My Big Suckout

I was playing at GN. I was up about $75 to $275. It was a friendly table, especially the guy to my left. We had been talking for several hours and we sort of had this us against the table thing going because we hadn't faced off in a big pot ourselves. He was doing good, he was up to about $700. His friends were waiting for him to leave so they could catch their plane. He said it was his last hand. I was on the small blind and he was on the big blind. Several people limped and I looked down to find K-Q offsuit. I raised to $12 and he called. Another player at the other end of the table also called. This other player had been making very questionable calls for the last hour. The flop comes Q Q 4 with two clubs. I have 3 of a kind, but there are 2 clubs. I bet $20. The big blind raises to $60. I didn't know what to think of this. The other guy then quickly goes all-in for about $225. It looked to me like he had a Q. I figured I must have him out-kicked. I called his all-in which only left me with about $30. The I was suprised that the guy to my left went all-in. I had expected him to fold. Now I was worried he had pocket 4s. I only had $30 so I couldn't fold now. I called. It turned out all my reads were wrong. The guy to my left had A-Q and the guy at the end of the table had a club flush draw. I was completely domindated by the A-Q on my left. The turn was nothing, but I hit a K on the river for a full house. The guy with the flush draw was the most pissed even though he was the least likely to win. He stormed off. I scooped a pot worth over $700. The guy to my left lost $275 on his last hand of his trip.