Well, the Vegas trip is over for this time! It was fun, even though you are going home with less than you brought here. I played little poker this year, only 4 WSOP events and not a single hand in a live cash game.
I will try to reproduce some interesting / humorous situations from the tournaments I played:
World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 40)
That was the tournament I was looking forward to the most, since I believe PLO is my best game right now. It was a little annoying that it is played in a full ring since the entire deck is dealt and it is hard to get people heads up in the pots. The tournament was a triple chance; it will say that we got 3x 5k chips that you could get whenever you wanted. I started off with 5k to study the table; I busted one chance with 6897 on the A58 flop, to a gentleman who had called my 3-bet with 2Q88 single suited.
Well, well, not much to do with that, I purchased my last 10k, and played on. I got a lot of good starting hands, played up and got called by the entire table, flopped nothing and had to check and fold, so I could not accumulate lots of chips. I blew most of my chips when I missed with AKQT with two diamonds on the flop J96, with two diamonds. I was up against a naked J9, was crippled and was busted out immediately after. It is slightly irritating to hit nothing, when a good start in such a tournament is a good chance to go deep, since it is many rookies in the field.
The next event was:
No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed (Event 56)
Here I was seated on a tough table with, among others, Jovial Gent and a couple of young Europeans you only know are good. The table took a little fun twist on the first level when all 6 of the table agreed to run a little humorous semi choice variant where the dealer button decided the specific betting limits on each street before the hand is dealt. We played everything from preflop fixed limit, pot limit on the flop / turn, and fixed limit on the river, etc. in lots of rare combinations. This was very funny and we laughed a lot.
The most eager guy almost choked on his laughter however, when he finds himself in the following situation: Button says: Pot limit preflop, limit on the flop, no limit on the turn / river.
It is a raise to 525 from a guy, before the eager guy pots to 1650 or something in that size, he calls on the second (well knowing that he may see the turn card for another 200). The flop comes: 4 4 5, the action is 200 from the 3-better and a call as expected. Turn brings a 3, and it is now pot limit and the 3-better makes a bid for 2500 or something like that, before the caller pushes for 10k. Instacall from the 3-better with his two Aces. Unfortunately, his opponent makes a full house on turn with his 33, and he scoops the pot when the river is blank.
After this we returned to the normal game, I got little cards and was playing at start stack all day.
I have no interesting hands in mind, and I was busted on the 400/800/100 level when I pushed for 14k with QJ suited from sb after the button had made it 2k, and he called and won with AK.
After this the stage was set for the Main Event, and my first RedKings sponsored tournament:
World Championship NL Texas Hold’em (Event 57)
I was drawn on a very beneficial table, with just two skilled players, both from Scandinavia. I had quite a bad run the first day and ended up in some situations where I made obvious value bets, and repeatedly it took people hours before they called with better hands. It was sick frustrating. For example, when the table is 88KQ6 and you bet heavy with AK (with a questionable image and against an incompetent opponent that never ever would fold two pairs on that table). He takes one minute before he makes the crying call with KQ. It just makes you sad…
I went on to day 2 with 34,175 chips, which are not very good, but quite playable with the nice structure and the long levels.
On day 2, I also got a good table, the only one I knew was funny “Miami John” Cernuto. He seems like a guy that takes poker too personal and makes unnecessary steer downs and wants to be table captain without fully knowing how to achieve it.
My frustration was big when I had to sit card dead and see him drunk drive over the table (he did everything he could to bust out, but was unable to do so, but did however make his stack grow).
A fun hand he actually managed to lose:
He plays up to 7xbb utg. , call from the sb, on the flop 257 rainbow he bets 6000 into a 4200 pot, before sb takes time and gives the most serious physical tells I have seen in such a big tournament for a long time, and then he limit raises to 12k (lol). Miami-Donk calls instantly only to see an Ace on the turn, the limit raiser bets 8k, before Miami-Donk puts him all in, and he calls of course with his set of fives. Miami-Donk draws dead with his AK.
I played for some hours, in which the only proper hand I had was KK. I reraised after utg had limit raised and another player had called in between, sb flat calls my 5500 (11bb) bet, the other folded, the flop came sweet A92 and he bricks me all in with 4 times the pot bet. I could only laugh and fold and he proudly showed AK.
It was a very tough table when you are card dead since all raises preflop was so big, ranging from 3.5 xbb to 8xbb was standard and it’s not fun to be semi-short and without cards.
I was finally down to 13k at level 400/800/100 and I pushed from the button into the tight blinds with A8, and after 2 minutes BB called, who sat with 88 and no help, and this year’s Main Event was over for me.
It was a lot of party and much fun on the trip, good dinners, and unfortunately some casino games, it is completely unnecessary and only attracts the tilter in me. It ended as a little too expensive trip, so I have to learn from this till next year, and possibly put a bounty on my head if someone sees me gambling.
It was many Norwegians and people I know down there this year also, which lead to some parties, including the “Norwegian dinner” which was a successful and fun evening.
We also spent a lot of time flying around on XS that is decidedly the best nightclub in Vegas now, previously they had other places every day but now has the XS, so to speak, absorbed everything. The place is partly indoors, partly outdoors and it was at times apparently several thousands of people in there some days.
It is sick in Vegas, it seems almost like they do seeding of the ladies, because there are a lot of good looking girls to look at everywhere, and not only at Spear Mint for those who like that stuff.
The only remaining thing is to wish the remaining players in the Main Event good luck, and especially my good friend Thor Hansen who need and deserve a good result now!
Stephan
