Sometimes, when the day doesn’t go the
way you planned it out, it works out just fine.
Everything went wrong on this day until I finally got into a game at the
Planet Hollywood poker room.
This took place on the day before this
year’s Super Bowl, otherwise known as Pete Carroll’s brain fart. My plan was to play in the 1PM Aria
tournament. Now, I knew I had to get
there early for sure. It was Super Bowl
weekend and additionally, the Aria was having one of their High Roller
Tournaments, with something like a $25K buy-in, in addition to the regular
tournament. I was even personally warned by the TD that I should arrive early
to insure getting in when the tournament started.
And that was definitely the plan. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons I
won’t go into, I was delayed leaving my luxurious accommodations and didn’t get
to the Aria until just a few minutes before 1PM. Damn.
I knew I could come in as an alternate but that didn’t appeal to me
unless I was one of the first alternates.
Coming into to the tournament during the 3rd or 4th
level was a non-starter for me (why start the tournament already in
fold-or-shove mode?).
There was a crowd lined up, but it
wasn’t too long so I figured I’d at least ask if the tournament was filled up
and if so, how many alternates they already had. I heard the cashier tell the person in front
of me they were only taking alternates. When I got to the cashier I asked how
many alternates they already had.
“Sixty-eight,” he said. Sixty-eight?
Did I want to be alternate #69? All
obvious jokes aside….no.
Well so much for that plan. I had a backup plan. Play cash all day and really (try to) take
advantage of all those tourists who poured into town for the big game. After all, that’s why I picked this weekend
to hit town, right? There was just one
little problem. For the previous two
days, the tables weren’t treating me kindly and I didn’t have enough money on
me to play cash. I had a little more
than the $125 tournament buy-in on me.
Of course, there’s only about a
gazillion ATM’s on the Vegas strip. But
I hate using casino ATM’s because they charge exorbitant fees, and then my own
bank adds on some fees of their own. Some years ago, I opened up an account
with Citibank just to avoid the fees.
They conveniently have branches in both California and Nevada and at
least 75% of the 7-11’s in Vegas have Citibank ATM’s. If I use one of them to
get my money, no fee whatsoever. And
there are more 7-11’s in Vegas than there are bad boob jobs there (well, maybe
not quite).
But not on the Strip. But I have a car and I stay off the Strip so
it’s never inconvenient to stop by on my way to some poker. Well, almost never. Because I was rushing to try to make the
Aria, I didn’t have time to stop before getting there. Besides, I didn’t need
to—I had enough money to buy-in into the tournament and then the plan was to
win enough money playing the tournament so that I wouldn’t need to hit an ATM at
all (except to deposit).
So…..I could have gotten back in my
car, driven to a nearby 7-11, gotten the cash, and found a cash game. But…..I thought I had a better idea. About six months ago, I discovered there
actually is a 7-11 on the Strip, and it sure enough does have a Citibank
ATM. Even better, it is located between
the MGM and Planet Hollywood (on that side of Strip). And if you know your Vegas geography, you
know that Aria, where I was, is more-or-less between MGM and Planet Hollywood
(on the other side of the Strip). How
convenient! I could walk across the
street, hit that ATM and then head over to Planet Hollywood.
I had been meaning to get over to
Planet Hollywood and play in their new room for awhile. In case you haven’t heard, they moved the
poker room a month or two ago. I had
been over there to see the new location but didn’t get a chance to play that
day (I think it might have been Christmas day) but now I would get a
chance. Not that I especially liked the
new location. I’m fairly certain that
the decision to move the PH poker room was made by casino management and not
necessarily endorsed by the poker folks over there. Just another example of how casinos treat
poker like a nuisance, not a revenue source.
But considering that PH is now the home of the WSOP circuit events, plus
all those big tournament series that Caesars Palace used to host but no longer
has room for, you’d think they’d show the poker room a little more respect. And
you’d be wrong.
The new, somewhat smaller room is
between the sports book and the popular Earl of Sandwich eatery. Which means it’s right next to the Planet
Hollywood Miracle Mile Shops, so it’s almost on the outskirts of the
casino. Not really a good location. The old room was right in the heart of the
casino, and although it did tend to get noisy at night, the room almost always
had some nice moving scenery in the vicinity, in addition to the sexily
costumed cocktail waitresses.
Alright, that seemed like a good
alternative plan. I left the Aria and
headed toward the Strip and hoped to see that 7-11 I’d been to last year. Since I’d actually used the ATM, I knew it
existed. But from across the street,
although I saw a bunch of shops that looked familiar, that looked like where I
sorta remembered the 7-11 being, I couldn’t see it. I didn’t want to cross the street until I
knew which direction it was from where I was.
Finally I remembered that I have a smart-phone on me and that there’s
this thing called Google Maps. And guess
what? That 7-11 that had been there six
months ago no longer exists. Which means
the Citibank ATM is gone as well. One
more bad beat.
I had a decision to make….walk back to
the car, drive to an off-strip 7-11, or walk to PH and just hold my nose and
use a casino ATM. If I went back to my
car, I was unlikely to head back to PH because I think their parking is the
absolute worst, which means I’d likely play somewhere else. And I really wanted to give PH a shot, since
I was so close (at least I thought it was).
So I walked towards PH. I swear I made that walk in December and it
wasn’t bad. This time it was bad. Because I was already on the Strip, I didn’t
take the shortcut thru the Crystals shopping venue. And there is a lot of construction going on
in that area, which not only made the walk longer but took away some escalators
and I had to walk up some stairs. The
weather had started to warm up and I was still wearing my ready-for-winter ski
jacket, so I actually worked up sweat.
Then my back started acting up. It
had been fine until then. By the time I
finally got inside PH, I was in bad shape.
I found an ATM and got my money. They only added on $4.99 in fees. But I knew my own bank would add to it. When I first checked, I thought it was
$2. But just yesterday I noticed there
were two $2 fees. I thought it was a
mistake, so I called the bank. Seemed
like an easy mistake to correct. But no,
it wasn’t a mistake. In addition to
charging me two bucks for the withdrawal from an out of network ATM, they charged
me two more bucks for checking my balance at an out of network ATM. Can you say goniffs?
I had one more stop to make before
landing in the poker room. I had to
swing by the “Pleasure Pit” and see if a certain young lady was dealing. I’ve seen this girl most times I’ve gone to
PH during the afternoon. She is an
absolutely drop-dead gorgeous blonde. Stunning. Face, figure, she has it all. And she deals blackjack in lingerie. The first time I saw her was the last time I
played 3-card poker. I’m lucky I won
because I think I would have emptied my wallet just to keep gazing at her. If you ever want to get me a present, she
would be my first choice.
And I eventually saw her, just as she
was going on break. She was working the
$50 minimum BJ table. No, no, not gonna
play $50 a hand BJ, no way. For fifty
bucks a hand, that hand would have to go in a very specific place.
Anyway, I somehow made it to the poker
room (after getting a bit lost, I admit, because I’d only been to the new
location once and only briefly). I got
on the list and had a nice chat with Chris, the poker room manager (who I had
interviewed for Ante Up recently). The
room was packed, about five tournament tables and all the rest of the tables
filled with cash games. So I went over
to a nearby slot machine and waited for them to go thru the list.
I was trying to cool off and relax a
bit and hoping that back wasn’t going to get any worse. I was sitting just a few feet away from one
of the tournament tables. Suddenly, I
noticed a guy at that table reacting happily to having just won a pot. As it he was enjoying the thrill of victory
his head turned and he saw me. And he
shouted over to me, “Look at this, I just won a hand with pocket Kings!” Huh? I
realized it was Vegas724, a reader of the blog who I met and introduced
you to in the post here. I got up to say hello as he stacked his
chips. “I just won with the dreaded
pocket Kings.” Always love to hear other
folks use that term back at me. We had a
nice chat and he explained to me that he had also intended to play at the Aria
but he too was running late and realized he had no chance of getting in, so he
wound up at PH.
It was a good half hour before I got
called into a game. Up until that point,
pretty much everything had gone wrong on this day (other than the pleasant
surprise of running into one of my readers), but my luck changed when I took my
seat. Sitting to my immediate right was
a cute girl who was wearing a rather revealing tank top. Also, her friend, also cute and also wearing
a low-cut top, was sitting behind her, railing her. The friend was basically sitting between us,
very close to me. I didn’t complain
about not having enough space. Finally,
I caught a break this day.
It didn’t take me long to figure out
that this was a wild game. The very
first hand I saw, a guy open raised to $15 UTG, another player shoved for $52
and the big blind cold called the $52, as did the original raiser. Nobody bet the flop. On the turn, which was a Queen, the original
raiser bet and got the big blind to fold.
At showdown the original raiser (and turn bettor) showed pocket 3’s,
unimproved. The guy who was all in had
King-Queen and won the pot. I can only imagine what the other guy had.
People were open raising to $15, $20
even $25. Yes, this was a 1/2 game! I knew this was going to be wild ride, and
that if I could hit a hand I could do well.
Of course, variance being variance, I might have to hit that ATM another
couple of times before I was done.
So when I got the dreaded pocket Kings on a hand where someone straddled to $5 UTG (they
allow the button straddle but oddly enough, no one ever did) and two people had
already called the $5, I went ahead and made it $40. Only two players called,
I was surprised it wasn’t more. The flop
was 9-7-6, two spades (my Kings were both red).
I put out $80 and was glad to take it down.
The very next hand I had pocket
Jacks. There was a limper and I made it
$15—probably not enough at this game. Again,
two callers, again a low flop, again my c-bet ($35) took it down.
Strange hand…I raised to $15 with
King-Queen offsuit, three players called, including a guy who put in his last
$7. I don’t recall the flop, but I c-bet
$20 and everyone but the guy who was all in for $7 folded. By the river, there was a full house on the
board and my King-Queen was worthless.
He had Jack-8 offsuit, also worthless, we chopped. Note:
Even though he wasn’t the blind and didn’t have to do it, he put his
last $7 in with Jack-8 off. It was that
kind of game.
From the small blind I completed with
King-10 offsuit. By this time the
preflop action had calmed down a bit and there were occasionally limped pots,
this was one of them. The flop was Jack-9-8,
rainbow. It was checked around. A queen on the river gave me the nut
straight, so I bet $7 and a guy made it $20.
I bumped it to $50 and he tanked.
There was just the two of us left.
He finally called. A 5 on the
river didn’t change anything and I put out $100, hoping he had a 10. Otherwise, I couldn’t imagine him
calling. He tanked for a long time, but
eventually he called. I showed my hand
and he just mucked. My impression of the way he looked at my hand and then
tanked….he didn’t have a 10. I think he
may have had a pair, maybe two, but I doubt it was better than that. I had already gotten the impression he was a
weak player and nothing that happened the rest of the way changed my
impression.
The very next hand I had pocket
Aces. First in, I made it $15. You think I would have learned by then. I only had 6 callers.
Yeah, that’s right, 6! Six players called an early position raise of
$15. I’m thinking that’s a few more than
I wanted. The flop was Ace-high, two
diamonds. I did actually have the Ace of
diamonds. Now seriously, anybody have an
idea how to proceed there? I would love
some feedback.
A set of Aces is sure nice, but I
figured with 6 opponents the likelihood of someone having two diamonds was
pretty damn good. In fact, I kind of
figured that there might very well be players with two suited cards of every
damn suit! I really had no idea what to
do, other than that there was no chance in hell I was going to slow play it.
I put out $100. I was wondering how many would call. To my amazement, every single one of them
folded. No one had two diamonds (or
anything else to call with)? Or did I
make it too expensive to chase? As I was
collecting my chips I wondered if my bet-sizing was right. But you know, claiming a $100 pot on a wet
board like that wasn’t such a bad result.
One bad hand, another limped pot. I had King-8 of clubs in the big blind. I think it was 5 to see the flop. It was
8-5-3, one club. I bet $8 and was raised
to $20, I called. Now it was heads
up. A second club on the turn, I checked
and called $20. I missed the flush and
checked the river. He only put out
another $20. I don’t believe the 8 was
still top pair, but the way the game was going I couldn’t be sure I didn’t have
the best hand, and a $20 bet into that pot seemed small, I couldn’t fold for
that price. But he had flopped a set of
3’s.
Next hand, Aces again. I raised to $14 from the small blind. Only one player called (one by one, the crazy
players had left, some with chips, some after felting). The flop was Queen-high and I bet $20 and
took it down.
I had been there for two hours and the
big stacks had left or gotten felted and failed to re-buy. I had been in town two days and this my first
winning session. So I left with a $310
profit. I liked that hourly rate, to be
sure. My back no longer hurt as much and
I took a slow walk back to Aria, taking all shortcuts possible. I noticed that the tournament only had 120
players total. They started with 70 when
I was there so that means only 50 alternates got in. I’m sure plenty gave up even after buying
entry. That would still have made for a
nice prize pool, but the odds of me getting a better score there than the one I
made at Planet Hollywood were rather slim.
The odds of me getting a better score in the same amount of time were
non-existent.
Guess it all worked out after all. There was more poker played this day, but
that story will have to wait for another time.
Rob, is this your blonde lingerie BJ-- oops, I mean blackjack-- dealer? ;-)
ReplyDeletehttp://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/04/22/confessions-of-a-las-vegas-blackjack-dealer/
- qdpsteve
Wow, that's a great link, thanks for that.
DeleteAttractive as she is,that is not the lady I was talking about from PH.
B+++++++
ReplyDeleteWell, then the actual girl I was playing with would probably rate a B or a B-. But you know, there's an advantage to live over a still pic. Movement is nice.
Delete#thingsthatbounce also, i dont mind the big cbet with Aces with that wet board. surprised 1) U flopped an ace 2) that with 6 ppl in the hand that flop didnt hit any1(u said 2diamonds but i am guessing it was like Ace ,8,10. so no1 flop open ended or whatever) and u won the hand. .inother news, i guess my future wifey has lost some weight and sheeeeeeit. i didnt think she was fat .just PHAT LOL
DeleteWho is your future wife?
DeleteKate Upton DUHHHHHHHHHH
DeleteKate lost some weight? Really? Not in the boobies I hope!
Deletehell no!!!!!! those BOOBIES still juicy and full
DeleteI knew I could come in as an alternate but that didn’t appeal to me
ReplyDeleteI hate that, too. In fact, I basically don't do it. No fun and not worth it.
AMEN!!!!!!!!! hey stop by the Florida State Fair and get some WHite Castle from the food truck
DeleteWhat, they don't sell fried twinkies there? Slackers.
DeleteYeah, MOJO, coming in late is a bitch. I've occasionally shown up a few hands into the first level, no big deal...especially if the levels are 30 mins or more. But look at the Aria tournament......blinds at level 1 are 25/50, level 2 are 50/100. So if you just miss the first level, you're basically having your starting stack reduced by 1/2! Ouch.
DeleteThat said, I know there are people who not only don't mind it but even prefer it. A friend of mine told me she likes to come into the big Wynn tournament on Saturdays close to the end of registration, it works for her. And that fellow Jerry, the amusing guy I met at my big Aria score, he likes to come in on the last level before reg closes. He said that sort of guarantees he won't be in a position to bust-out and re-enter!
i know right. i bet there is fried okra and frog legs 4 days thou.
DeleteI still can't believe my wife and I ate at Earl of Sandwich that day while you were playing, I looked around the poker room from the rail, and had no idea you were there! Had I known I would have said hi and wished you luck. At least I was able to see you later that night. Glad you had some success there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stepping on the punch line, Nick! That little factoid will be mentioned in my next post, when we played together at the MGM.
DeleteNo big deal, very few people read the comments anyway.
And very few people make it all the way thru the blog entries... Ba dump, ching! :D It's nice when you make $100.00 bets with the nuts and get called (I've heard). On the set of aces, there's only one more ace (somewhere) and no one had the nut flush draw, so they probably didn't have any reason to call 100 there...
DeleteWell trust me, at this table, if someone had even a baby flush draw, they would have called.
DeleteI didn't clarify before - your bet might be great if someone has the case ace or the flush draw (set, two-pair, whatever), but you just happened to have everything that time. It's very hard to check there and let your opponents draw for free at the flush, especially with so many opponents...
DeleteThanks, Coach. With 6 opponents, there's no way I'm checking....even something like A-9-2 rainbow, I'm betting. The question is did I bet too much? Could I have gotten more value if I bet less? I dunno.
DeleteIt's tough to bet less, because you're right around the size of the pot. Even if there was a live flush draw, (which you think is unlikely), with you having raised, they could have very well put you on the suited ace. That's puts them behind your pair, and gives them a dead flush draw.
DeleteStay tuned for the next post---which is going to go up momentarily--and see how people played non Ace high flush draws!
DeleteNot sure I messed anything up. Just mentioned that we played together Saturday night, and said glad you had success at PH.
ReplyDeleteYes...that was the big surprise in my next post. Now there's no point in anyone reading my next post (as if there was anyway).
DeleteHi Rob. I will be in Vegas the last two weeks of March (17-30) - any chance you'll be around?
ReplyDeletePoker & March Madness. Hooray!!
Yes! I am scheduled to be back for March Madness. We should definitely get together when you're in town Looking forward to it.
DeleteOn the AA hand did you consider a c-bet of 60 Or did u feel that too risky?
ReplyDeleteYeah...I considered a few options, was really kind of lost. In hindsight, it probably didn't matter too much...I think if anyone had a decent piece of the flop or a decent draw, they would have called almost anything (at that table, that is). My concern was that if one player called, more might call because of the odds. Of course, I had a big hand, but that flushh draw scared me.
DeleteLove the spelling lol. Yes we flushh draws arescary. Be afraid be very afraid buwahahahaha. :-)
ReplyDelete