"What Part of Boston Are You From?"

This was from a poker session in Vegas last year during football season.  The poker was pretty dull but I met a couple of guys at the table who had somewhat interesting stories to tell.

These two guys had just met at the table, they were sitting one seat apart, one of them was directly across from me.  They bonded talking about sports.  One guy was from Boston.  He was a huge Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan.  So of course, you would expect him to be a huge Patriots fan as well.  But the other guy and I were shocked when he said he doesn't like the Patriots.  Who does he like?  Well, the Denver Broncos, of course.

That demanded an explanation so we insisted on hearing it.  Well, it seems that back when this guy was in grade school, the 1990 Super Bowl was approaching and there was a kid who was a few years older than this guy going around telling everyone that the 49'ers were going to kill the Broncos.  He was saying that Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback in the league and that Denver didn't have a chance against him (sounds like a smart kid).  Well, this guy at our table hated this older kid.  Apparently he was a bad kid and a bit of a bully. So for no other reason than this jerk older kid just had to be wrong, the guy at our table started saying that the Broncos would beat the 49'ers easily.  And of course they had to make a bet on it.  He didn't say how much the bet was, but it was more money than he could get his hands on, naturally.

Of course, we know that San Francisco kicked the crap out of Denver that year, 55 – 10.  And Joe Montana, as he was wont to do, had a great game was the game's MVP.  So this kid from Boston told us that he spent the rest of the school year hiding from this older kid and didn't pay off the bet, until somehow his mother got involved and paid the bet for him.  His mother was not pleased.

Anyway, he said his feelings for the Broncos stuck with him and he's been a Broncos fan ever since.

I wasn't quite getting that.  I said to him, "If anything, that should have made you hate the Broncos, not root for them!  They cost you money, they got you in trouble with your mom, and you're lucky the older kid didn't beat you up for welching on the bet." Note:  He didn't tell us that the guy beat him up, so I just assumed he hadn't.  He replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Now his story sounded fishy to me but I do have to say that of all the sports, I think pro football is the one where I see the most fans having favorite teams that are not their home teams.  I think maybe it's because it's such a national sport, and you can see pretty much every team almost as much as your own home team.  I have to confess that over the years my favorite team has changed many times—usually because of who my favorite QB was at any given time.  So I guess it's not that shocking that a guy from Boston would root for a different team.  But I still say he should hate the Broncos for costing him that bet.  I guess at that age his football crush was strong.

Anyway, as they kept talking, moving on to other topics, the other guy I mentioned asked him, "What part of Boston are you from?"  And I immediately interjected, "The Broncos part."  They both thought that was quite funny, and who was I to argue?

Well we couldn't talk about the Broncos of that era without mentioning John Elway now could we?.  And the other guy (the one not from Boston) mentioned that he actually remembers seeing Elway when he was in High School.  I happened to know that Elway is from Southern California and went to Granada Hills High.  Granada Hills is a well known community to Southern Californians.  So when he said that he'd seen Elway play in High School I said, "Granada Hills, right?"  And the guy was impressed.  That got us talking about where he was from.  He mentioned the community and it is the same community I live in.  So I asked him to be more specific and he gave an intersection.  He mentioned the major intersection that is closest to my house.  Now it turned out that he no longer lives here, he moved to El Paso a few years ago.  But he and I were neighbors for quite some time.

Just one of those small world stories.  Now it's certainly not surprising to run into someone from Southern California in Vegas, more visitors to Vegas are from my neck of the woods than anywhere else. But to find someone who lived so close to me that we shared the same common major intersection?  Well that's a bit of a coincidence.

As for poker, I managed to survive the dreaded pocket Kings twice without disaster.  The first time I opened to $10 and had two callers.  The flop was Jack-Jack-x and I c-bet $20, both called.  The turn was a blank and it checked around.  The river was another Jack and again it checked around.  I know that it was almost certain I had the best hand and I should have bet there, but it was Kings and so I was a bit gun-shy.  I showed my boat and the other two mucked.

The other time was much later.  The guy from my neighborhood limped, the guy from Boston made it $10, the guy on my right called.  I made it $40.  Only the Broncos fan from Boston called.  The flop was Jack-Jack-X.  WTF?  Kings are supposed to be Ace magnets.  This night they were paired Jacks magnets.  So strange to see almost the identical flop the two times I had Kings.  After the Boston guy checked, I bet $50.  He tanked for a long time.  He said, "I think you got one better than me." Finally he folded. He was in some agony over it and he said, "You don't have to tell me now, but before you leave, please tell me what you had."  I agreed.

When I left. I told him I had Kings.  He was happy to hear that.  He had Queens.

I booked a small win thanks to guy from Boston who likes the Broncos because they cost him a bet when he was in grade school.

The Most Annoying Woman in the World

OK, that's a bit hyperbolic, I know.  This woman I ran into at the Venetian last October probably wasn't the most annoying woman in the world.  But I bet if they held a contest for that, she'd be a very strong contender.

When I got to my seat, which happened to be on her immediate right, she was talking.  And by the time she stopped to take a breath, at least an hour had passed by.  Well, it seemed like an hour.

Worse, when I arrived, she was talking about politics.  You all know how I feel about discussing politics at the poker table (in case you don't, check out the post here). When I heard her start talking about the "hard right" and the "hard left" I winced….but it turned out she wasn't talking about American politics at all.  No, she had an accent and was actually talking about Spanish politics.  Fortunately I realized I didn't really know what she was talking about and had no opinions either way on the political positions she was espousing. This was a lot less annoying than if she was talking about American politics which of course I would have strong feelings about .And fortunately no one who was listening to her tried to compare the situation in Spain she was discussing to our political situation in America.  Actually, I'm not sure anyone was really listening, and the fact is, if anyone wanted to respond to her in a way that would have gotten the conversation back to U.S. politics, I don't think they would have been able to—she didn't stop talking long enough for anyone else to get a word in.

Eventually she stopped talking Spanish politics and discussed… everything.  I can't be sure, because I totally tuned her out as best I could, but certainly enough words escaped her mouth for her to have completely covered every known topic in the universe during the time I was sitting next to her.  If you told me that she recited pi to 100,000 places I would believe you.

Ostensibly she was talking to the guy across from us, a guy in his mid-30's who looked awfully familiar to me.  I was sure I'd played with him before but it turned out he was visiting from the U.K. so maybe not.  When a reasonably attractive woman near his age came to the table, he took the opportunity to change seats so he could be on the same side of the table as the young woman.  At least that's what it looked like to the untrained eye.  I think he might have made that seat change regardless just to escape the Spanish woman's verbal diarrhea  

The young woman and the young man started talking, a conversation that for me was mostly drowned out by the non-stop noise coming out of the annoying woman.  But somehow she mentioned to the younger girl that she was old and at that age where she was no longer looking for a man or for "anything to happen."  I managed to hear the girl say, "Well, I'm at the age where I want something to happen and I'm looking for a man."  In fact, she was actually trying to change tables to sit with some guy, and I wasn't sure if it was a guy she knew or just someone who she had her eye on.  But she table changed out of there in a relatively short amount of time, leaving the annoying woman to talk to either no one or everyone, I'm not really sure which.

At one point, a bald-headed guy took the seat immediately to my right, and I'm initially wasn't sure if he was the worst poker player I've ever played with or the best.  He kind of acted like he didn't know what he was doing, but the more I watched him, the more I thought he not only knew what he was doing but he had the perfect strategy for this particular game.  You see, during this month, the Venetian had a High Hand promo going on, and every half hour (or perhaps every 20 minutes) the highest hand reported would win $300 or $400, something like that.  I can't remember the exact details.  But generally I've noticed during this type of promo, the games are limp fests and there's not much action.  Players want to see a flop cheap, and are really eager to let it go if they don't flop a hand with high hand potential.  So this guy was opening pots for $20-$25 and stealing a lot of blinds—no one had a hand worth that price.  He'd also over bet post flop and take them down that way too.  Initially he would play every single hand, and almost always raise and raise big.  If there was a raise in front of him, he'd usually just call.

I contrast this guy with the guy I told you about here who obviously didn't know what he was doing.  This guy hardly said a word the entire time (the guy from my previous post was very chatty) and it soon became clear to me that this guy was actually playing quite well for the table conditions.  I doubt it was an accident.  He was playing smart, but it was a high risk strategy.  Sure he was taking down a bunch of blinds and some limps, but he was risking a lot to steal that and of course eventually people got tired of not playing and started playing back at him.  Sure enough, the stack in front of him, which had gotten a little inflated by his early tactics, started deflating.

There's only one hand that is worth reporting on.  It was late in my session and by this time the lady to my left had quieted down a little.  She was still jabbering away, but I noticed she was actually pausing between the paragraphs she was launching from her mouth. And the guy on my right had learned that it was possible to limp into a pot or make a reasonable raise instead of bombing away.  So I was in the small blind with 10-8.  A bunch of people limped in, including the reformed maniac on my right, who was the button.  I put in a buck and the annoying woman checked.  Seven of us saw a flop of 10-10-3. 

I bet $5.  Almost everyone called, and then the guy on my right made it $10. That was an odd thing for him to do, I'd never seen him min-raise before.  I decided to just call, and most everyone else did, and six of us saw the turn, which was a blank.  I checked and it checked around to the button.  He bet $20.  I had started the hand with about $100.  At that point I decided I wasn't going to fold no matter what, so I just put all my chips in.  The lady tanked forever before finally folding.

Somehow, when the dealer tried to muck her cards, her hand flipped over, revealing 10-4.  Wow.  I was surprised she folded a 10 there.  At least I knew no one was going to beat me with trips and a bigger kicker.  It folded to the button who tanked for quite a bit before saying, "OK, I'll let it go."

As I collected the pot, I said to the lady, "Wow, you folded a 10 there, huh?"  She said, "Yes…I knew I had him beat but I was worried about you."  I didn't respond.

However, when I was ready to leave, I did whisper to her that I had 10-8, knowing I was unlikely to play with her ever again (because if I found myself at her table again, I'd ask immediately for a table change).  She said, "Really?" and was clearly totally shocked.  It was clear to me she put me on a boat.  When the shock wore off, she said, "Well, I knew it was a good fold."  It was indeed.  But still, I know she thought she was  a lot more behind than she was.

Vegas Summer Series Preview Part 1 (April Ante Up)

Here's my newest column for Ante Up The link for it on the Ante Up website is here.   Remember, my contribution is embedded in the entire West Coast report.  So below is just my Vegas report. 

This is the first part of my preview of the summer Vegas series, featuring Venetian, Aria and Golden Nugget.  So even if you normally skip my columns, this one might be of interest to you.  I particularly recommend you check out the first part, on the Venetian, because what the Venetian is doing this summer is pretty damn impressive.  If you haven't heard about it, you'll want to check it out!

This week I'm writing the May column, which will preview Planet Hollywood, Wynn, Binion's and Orleans.

The magazine should be in your local poker room by now. 

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The Deep Stack Extravaganza at the Venetian in Las Vegas runs May 14-July 29 and is the biggest DSE ever. It’s so big, the May 26-July 6 events will be in the Sands Convention Center. The tournaments before and after will be in the Venetian poker room. The series consists of no fewer than 150 tournaments, offering more than $31M in guarantees.

The series starts with a bang, offering a $340 DoubleStack with two starting flights and a $100K guarantee May 14. The same event repeats May 21.

New this year is the $400 NightStack, which features a $1M guarantee. It has eight starting flights spread out over the series, all starting at 6 p.m. The first Day 1 is May 31 and the last one is June 29. The top 10 percent of each starting field will be in the money and the top 5 percent advance to Day 2 at 5 p.m. on July 1.

The biggest tourneys are Mid-States Poker Tour events with huge guarantees. The $1,100 event with a $3.5M guarantee has the first of its four starting flights June 3. A $3,500 buy-in with three starting flights begins June 25 and has a $3.5M guarantee. In between, a $1,600, three-starting-flight tourney with a $3M guarantee begins June 18.

A $600 SuperStack with two starting flights starts May 31. It guarantees $500K. A three-day version with the same guarantee is June 23. A $600 MonsterStack (35K chips) with a $750K guarantee has five starting flights beginning June 30.

HORSE players can find a $600 tournament with a $50K guarantee June 3. An $800 PLO bounty event runs June 5 and guarantees $88,888. Omaha/8 has its day June 18 for $600 with a $100K guarantee.

The $500 LIPS event runs June 26 with a $40K guarantee. A $600 seniors event, with two starting flights, begins June 12 and features a $600K guarantee.

Right before the summer series, the Venetian hosts and Extravaganza, May 1-6, highlighted by a two-starting flight $340 DoubleStack event with a $100K guarantee beginning May 4.

ARIA: The Aria Poker Classic runs May 26-July 8. The centerpiece is the WPT500, which runs June 25-July 3. There are nine starting flights, three of which are turbos. The buy-in is $570 and the guarantee is $1M.

Like last year, the series heavily features $400 NLHE events in the day and $240 NLHE events at night. But this year, there’s a greater selection of disciplines other than hold’em. The buy-in for these events is $470 and they include eight-game mix (May 30), Omaha/8 (June 2), triple-draw mix (June 3), deuce-to-seven (June 4), PLO (June 7 and 9), HORSE (June 10) Omaha-stud/8 (June 19), triple stud (June 23) and PLO/8 (June 24).

There’s a $300 women’s event July 3 and $470 seniors June 13 and 17. Three two-day, $1,100 NLHE events are June 6, June 20 and July 6.
Aria also hosts the WPT Tournament of Champions, which will kick off with a new event: the $10K WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic, a four-day tournament with one re-entry that starts May 20.

GOLDEN NUGGET: The Grand Poker Series runs May 29-July 3. A staple of the event will be a $150 NLHE tournament with a $20K guarantee taking place most days throughout the series at 1 p.m.

The daily 11 a.m. event features a nice variety of $250 non-hold’em events. For example, there’s HORSE on May 30, no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball draw on May 31, Big O on June 5, eight-game mix on June 15 and triple stud on June 26. Toward the end of June, the buy-in on these specialty events bumps to $360. A one-day $570 PLO championship event is June 20.

The $250 seniors event with a $100K guarantee runs June 16. Later that day, a $1K seniors high roller takes place and $250 super seniors (60-plus) goes June 18.

The $150 women’s event is June 25.

Three weekends are devoted to big multi-flight events. The first starts May 31 and has a $150 buy-in and a $150K guarantee. June 7 is the next one, a $200 event with a $250K guarantee. That tournament repeats June 21. All of these events have three starting flights a day beginning on Thursdays with Day 2 on Sunday. The $200 events play down each flight to 10 percent of the field and all players advancing to Day 2 are in the money.

Most evenings feature a $110 NLHE tourney with a $5K guarantee.
The $570 championship has three starting flights beginning June 28 and offers a $500K guarantee.

BELLAGIO: The room hosts WPT’s Elite Poker Championship, April 26-May 6. The $10,400 main event is May 1-6. There are plenty of satellites. A $1,100 seniors event is April 26 and a $1,100 NLHE tourney runs April 27. A $5,200 event goes April 30 and $25,500 high roller event starts May 4.

RED ROCK: The next event in the room’s periodic Climb the Rock series will be April 29. It’s a $300 tournament with a $25K guarantee.

RIO: Kevin Iacofono won the WSOP Circuit main event in February, earning $259K. Nikhil Gera ($160K) took second and Boris Kasabov was third ($118K). The $1,675 event had 887 entrants for a $1.3M prize pool.