Vegas Poker Scene—July 2019

Here's my latest column for Ante Up (or the version I submitted).  You can find it in your local poker room.  Enjoy!  Note:  At the bottom be sure to check out the profile I did of Santa Fe Station poker room manager Wally Womer.

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Let's take a look at some of the regular tournaments around Vegas.

MGM: There are four tournaments daily.  At 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., a $100 tournament is offered.  Players get a 25K stack and play 20-minute levels.  The morning version has a $2K guarantee and the evening tournament has a $1K guarantee.

A $65 turbo runs at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m.  Players get 15K in chips and play 15-minute levels. Both of these have $500 guarantees.

STRATOSPHERE: Wednesdays at 7 p.m. there's a $100 bounty tournament.  The starting stack is 10K and the levels are 20-minutes. The bounties are worth $25. The rest of the week a $75 is offered at the same time, also with a 10K stack and 20-minute levels.  The same $75 tournament is offered Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  For all tournaments, players get an extra 1K in chips for registering at least 15 minutes before the start, and free pizza is served at the first break.

EXCALIBUR:  There are four daily tournaments.  The 9 a.m. tournament is a $40 buy-in. At 1 p.m. there's a $50 bounty ($10 bounties).  At 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. the tournament is a $45 buy-in.  All these tournaments have a 5K starting stack and play 15-minute levels.

MANDALAY BAY:  The room offers $65 tournaments three times a day, at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. The starting stack is 10K and the levels are 15-minutes.

ARIA: Monday through Thursday a $140 tournament runs at 1 p.m.  Players start with 12K in chips and play 30 minute levels.  Friday through Sunday the daytime tournament runs at 11 a.m. and has a $240 buy-in. The starting stack is 20K and there are 30-minute levels.

The 7 p.m. tournament that runs Monday through Thursday is identical to the $140 daytime event.  Friday through Sunday at 7 p.m. the buy-in is $140, the starting stack is 20K and the levels are 20-minutes.

GOLDEN NUGGET:   A $70 tournament runs Monday through Saturday at 11 a.m. and daily at 3 p.m.  The starting stack is 10K and the levels are 20-minutes.  Sunday at 11 a.m. a $125 tournament is offered.  This one has a $5K guarantee.  Players start with 15K chips and play 20-minute levels for the first eight levels and 30-minute levels thereafter.

A $50 tournament runs daily at 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. The starting stack is 5K and the levels are 20-minutes.

SANTA FE STATION:  The $45 NLH tournament runs twice a day.  It runs daily at 12 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday at 7 p.m.  On Friday and Saturday the start time is 6 p.m.  Players start with a 4K stack, with an optional $5 dealer add-on for 2K extra chips.  There is a single $20 rebuy for 4K chips available any time during the first three levels.  For the last Friday of the month, the regular evening tournament is replaced by $200 buy-in with a 15K starting stack and 30-minute levels.  All of these tournaments offer a 500 chip bonus for registering at least an hour before the starting time.  A tournament bad beat jackpot is offered.

Every Thursday at 10 a.m. an Omaha 8 tournament runs.  Players start with 6K chips and a $20 rebuy for 4K chips is available for the first four levels, which are all 20-minutes.

BELLAGIO:  A $130 NLH tournament runs daily at 2 p.m.  The starting stack is 15K and the levels are 30-minutes.

WYNN:  Monday through Thursday it's a $140 buy-in with 15K chips and 30-minute levels.  The guarantee is $5K.  Fridays and Sundays the buy-in is $200 for 15K chips and 30-minute levels. This one has a $10K guarantee.  The very popular Saturday tournament has a $230 buy-in for the 15K stack but it has 40-minute levels.  Through the first six levels, players may take unlimited $200 rebuys for 15K chips.  There is also a single $100 add-on for 7,500 chips available any time for the first six levels. This tournament plays long so there is a 45-minute dinner break after the 9th level. All of the Wynn tournaments start at Noon.

RED ROCK:    Tournaments run daily at Noon and Sunday through Friday at 6:30 p.m.  Monday through Friday the Noon tournament has a $60 buy-in, a 6K starting stack and 20-minute levels. The guarantee is $1K. Saturday a $200 bounty tournament runs with 10K chips, 20-minute levels and a $2K guarantee. The bounty is $25. Sunday the $125 tournament has 30-minute levels and a 13K starting stack. The guaranteed prize pool is $2,500.

Monday and Thursday evenings a $125 bounty runs, with $25 bounties, a $10K starting stack and  20-minute levels. The guarantee is $3,500. Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's a $60 tournament with 6K chips, 20-minute levels and a $1K guarantee. Fridays a $150 bounty is offered, with $50 bounties, a 13K starting stack, 20-minute levels, a $4,500 guarantee. Sunday the tournament is $60, 7K chips, 20-minute levels and a $1,500 guarantee.

All these tournaments have a $10 dealer-add-on for 2K chips and offer high hand bonuses.

VENETIAN: Eric Baldwin of Las Vegas won the $400 MonsterStack at the May Deepstack Showdown on May 5, earning $31K for his efforts.  Asa Goldstein of Seattle earned $27K for second and Minh Nguyen of Vegas claimed $26K for third.  The event attracted 666 players resulting in a prize pool of $223K.

The next Deepstack Showdown runs August 5 – 8, offering over $600K in guaranteed prize pools. The biggest event is a five-starting flight $400 DoubleStack event that begins on August 13. It has a $250K guarantee. Players start with 25K chips and play 30-minute levels on day 1, increasing to 40-minutes on day 2.

A two-starting flight $340 DoubleStack starts on August 6 and has a $100K guarantee.  Players start with a 25K stack and play 40-minute levels.

CAESARS PALACE:  John Martin has been named the new poker room manager.  He's worked in the poker room for four years..

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Meet Wally Womer:

Wally Womer has managed the poker room at Santa Fe Station for the past five years.

How did you get started in poker? My grandmother taught me how to play poker when I was just a kid. She made sure I understood when you lost, you lose, you do not get the money back until you win. It took me a few years to finally beat her. But I was hooked. I played professionally for about 10 years. 

Why should people play at Santa Fe Station? Santa Fe has a wide range of poker. We usually have four different games ($1-$2 no-limit, $2-$4 limit, $4-$8 limit and $3-$6 Omaha/8) going most of the time. We also run two tournaments daily (noon and 7 p.m., but 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday). We also have an Omaha/8 tournament every Thursday at 10 a.m. We have a progressive high hand that runs almost every day, starts at $50 and increases by $50 every hour that it does not hit. 

What do you do in your free time? I like to go to the park with my granddaughter, who just likes to go outside and have fun in the fresh air. 

Did I Stop an Angle Shoot or Walk Right Into One?

This session dates back to my ill-fated Christmas trip to Vegas.  It was the night before I headed home.  Well, it was the night before I made my first attempt to head home. As you might recall, that particular attempt ended with me spending the night at Buffalo Bill's in glamorous  Primm, NV. If you've forgotten, you refresh your memory with the post here.

It was a Friday night, and I figured for all the car troubles I was having, I deserved something nice in return.  You know, watching the parade de Sluts  seemed to fit the bill. Since my plan at the time was to be back home the next evening (Ha!), I figured this was my last chance to enjoy the unique eye candy offered as a free bonus to the increasingly put upon poker player in Vegas.  So, MGM it was.

The first table I was sent to was awful.  First of all, it was in the spot in the room that is always the coldest.  And the table was incredibly nitty.  I got a few hands to raise with and never got a call, including once with Aces.  But the table got short-handed almost immediately and I couldn't get a table change.

Finally I got pocket Aces for a second time.  I opened to $10 and kind of assumed that the way the table was running, I'd just pick up the blinds again.  But instead, a guy re-raised to $30.  Cool.  I made it $80, which was more than he had left, but not by a lot.  He tanked a bit and then shoved. Of course I called.

We didn't show.  I didn't like the King on the flop.  The rest of the board was fairly non-descript.  He showed Queens, and I took down a nice pot.

Soon after, another few players left the game and the table broke.  That was fine with me, I got a seat in a table in the front of the room, which was much more comfortable, temperature-wise, and also closer to the walkway where the club-goers would be passing by.  Unfortunately, my seat was facing away from the parade, but I figured I'd be able to get a seat change at some point.

I was card dead at the new table and there was only slightly better action there anyway.  There were couple of regs there talking about getting their final hours in for the "Play for Pay" promo they had going (and still do). If you play enough hours during the month, they just give you cash (instead of having a freeroll).  This guy next to me, an older Asian man, just needed a few more hours to make his next tier for the month.  Since he was a reg, it was surprising I didn't recognize him, though I suppose he might usually play different hours and was just there this time to finish up his hours.

Anyway, I got Jack-9 off in the big blind and of course no one rasied, so I saw the flop for free.  There were a bunch of limpers, maybe 7 or 8.  The flop was Jack-6-2.  I checked and someone bet $17.  I called and it was heads up.  The turn was a 9.  I checked again, thinking about a check-raise.  But when he bet $40, I wondered if he had a set, so I just called.  The river was another Jack.  I glanced over at him and he seemed eager to bet, so I checked.  He did bet, but only $45.  So I made it $100 and he shoved.  I had him covered but not by much.  Of course I called and he turned over Jack-6.  Ouch.  Sucks to be him.

Well that was a nice pot.  I was still stacking my chips as the next hand was dealt.  I was now the small blind. And I looked down at pocket Kings.  I went back to stacking chips as the action went around the table.  After a limp or two, it got to my neighbor, the Asian man, who said to me, "It's ok, I know you're gonna raise, I'll raise first."  Huh?  How did he know I was going to raise?  I looked at him quizzically, He continued, "I saw you grabbing red chips."  Well, I was grabbing red chips to stack them, I hadn't finished that yet.  Did he see that or had I somehow actually given off a sign that I planned to raise?

The comment threw me off.  Of course, I do normally three-bet with the dreaded hand, fool that I am.  But I was now thinking he was pulling some kind of angle.  I mean, if he knew I was gonna raise, why would he raise anyway unless he had a really premium hand, you know, like Aces?  More importantly, why would he tell me?  It seemed to me he was basically begging me to re-raise him and so I decided to ruin his angle-shooting by just calling.  When I just called, he said, "I thought you were going to raise."  I just shrugged.  After the hand was over, I told him I just was grabbing chips to stack them and I have no idea if he believed me.

Anyway, it turned out to be four of us seeing a low flop. I checked and it checked around.  Hmm….he didn't bet with his Aces?  The turn looked harmless enough so I bet $35 and no one called.

That was just weird.  If I take him at his word, why would he raise if he thought I was going to re-raise behind him?  Obviously he might do that with Aces and then four-bet me.  But if he had Ace-King or Queens or Jacks, why would he want raise in front of me thinking I was going to re-raise?

Then I started thinking maybe I didn't stop him from playing an angle, maybe I played right into it.  But saying what he did, he got me to not re-raise.  Was that his intention all along?  Maybe I was the sucker.  I could have gotten more money out of him with a three-bet.  He'd probably call my three bet with whatever he had and at least see if he improved on the flop.  So did he figure out a way to see the flop cheaper than he would have otherwise?  Did I play right into his hand?

Well, I'll never know.  I guess he had Ace-King, Ace-Queen something like that and whiffed the flop.  What is scary to think about is that maybe he had Queens or Jacks and somehow read me as having Kings or Aces.  If he had a big pair he had no reason to fold on the turn—or check the flop, for that matter.  It was weird.  Did I give off tell or just get angled?

Anyway, I was mostly card-dead and was able to book a nice $175 win for the session.  I never got the seat change so I wandered around the club area and saw some provocatively dressed young ladies.  It was a good night but you already know the next day turned out to be a total disaster.

The Five Dollar Bad Beat

My recent session in Ventura started with a bad beat.  But not the usual kind.  I was out $5 before I even got into the game.  Or should I say, the right game.

I arrived in the room around the usual time and went over to the podium to get my name on the list for the 2/3 game.  By this time the gentleman who mans the podium knows me on sight.  Although it was right after he made the effort to memorize my name that I confused him by switching over to the 2/3 game from the 1/2 game.

There were a few names ahead of me so I took a seat at an empty table to wait.  After awhile, he called me to a game, sold me some chips and pointed me to the empty seat.  It was a table I'd played at before.  Generally speaking, they use one side of the room for the 2/3 games and the other side of the room for the 1/2 games.  The 3/5 game (or bigger, if spread) are on the same side as the 2/3 games and the non-hold'em games (sometimes PLO, sometimes Big O) usually are on the side with the 1/2 games, but it varies.

I was three spots from the big blind so I took a hand right away, I took a couple of more and then I was the big blind.  I had only three stacks of yellow, so I put out a single yellow chip for my $3 big blind.  Oh yes, for some reason in the L.A. area the $5 chips are yellow not red.  I haven't heard anybody refer to them as yellowbirds but I suppose you could.  Now in the few hands I'd been dealt, I folded every time.  I had noticed some fairly large raises, $20, $25. I was beginning to think that this was going to be an expensive game to see a flop. Although one time, I folded junk and everyone else folded and they chopped the blinds.  This time, in the blind, I got another junk hand and after someone made it $25 and there were a couple of calls, I again folded.  The dealer collected the bets, including my $5 chip,  I waited for my $2 change but the dealer went ahead and put out the flop.  So I said to him, "I didn't get my change."

The dealer said, "It's five dollars."  I dunno why, but the way he said it, or the way I heard it, it sounded like he was saying that the first blind a player posts was $5, which would have been a new rule I've never heard of.  He could see by the look on my face I was confused.  So he said, "The blinds are 3/5, sir."  I still wasn't getting it.  For a nano-second I was thinking the blinds in the 2/3 game were now 3/5, which also made no sense.  But then the dealer said, "Did you want to the 2/3 game? We can get you a table change."  So I said, "I asked for the 2/3 game."  The dealer immediately called the podium guy over and told him I was looking for 2/3.

He apologized. "I'm sorry, Rob I forgot that this game was 3/5.  That's usually a 2/3 table."  By this time I was already re-racking my chips and standing up.  As luck would have it, at that moment a seat opened up at the table right next to that one, which was an actual 2/3 game.  I grabbed that seat—but what about my $5 blind that I thought was a $3 blind?

I'd been sent to the wrong game, a game that I no intention of playing or staying at.  It wasn't my fault.  I swear there was no obvious evidence of the game being a 3/5 game until I didn't get change back for my blind. But my $5 was now in the pot of the game I was leaving.  Couldn't they just take it out of the pot and return it to me?  The pot was well over $75, they wouldn’t miss it.

Of course, they couldn't do that and I would never ask.  If they returned my $5, it would mean there was no hand for the big blind, and thus a misdeal, and with all that betting action it was too late for a misdeal.  Besides, what if I had been dealt pocket Aces that hand?  I would have raised (or three-bet) before I even knew it was a 3/5 game and by then, it wouldn't have much mattered.  You can't get your money back only if you don't like your hand.

I did consider what would have happened if that particular hand resulted in the bad beat jackpot being hit. Well, for sure I would be eligible for a table share, since my blind was in the pot and I did get a hand.  Of course, that didn't happen.

I didn't say anything to the guy who sent me to the wrong seat and I don't think he even knew I had found out I was at the wrong table by losing a blind.  He probably would have apologized even more profusely.  Maybe he would have offered me a $5 refund?  Either at the house's expense (doubtful) or out of his own pocket?  I wouldn't object to having the house reimburse me, but I sure wouldn't want the podium guy to pay me out of his pocket.  That wouldn't be right.  So of course I said nothing and just ate the $5.  It's not a big deal and the story is worth at least five bucks, isn't it?

Well, if my day in Ventura got off to a bad start, it ended well.  Very well. 

The first pot I won was a small one.  I had Ace-10 in the small blind, no raise so I added a buck and saw a flop of 10-9-7.  It was four-ways, and I checked and then called a $10 bet.  It was now heads up.  The turn was an 8 and we both checked.  The river was a deuce and again we both checked.  He had a weaker 10.

I limped in with pocket 4's and only 8 of us saw the flop.  It was Jack-5-4.  I bet $15 and just four players called.  The turn was a Jack, filling me up.  This time I bet $70 and didn't get any takers.

In the small blind with Jack-8, there were four limpers in front of me so I added a buck to complete.  The big blind checked behind and six of us saw a flop of Jack-9-3.  I checked and called $11, only one player dropped out.  The turn was an 8 and I checked again hoping to check-raise, but it checked around.  The river was a 10 making me think my two pair was no good. Especially since a back-door flush was possible in addition to the straight. I checked and the flop bettor checked, but an older Asian fellow bet $35.  I shrugged and made the hero call, hoping no one would raise behind me. I was just suspiciousness enough of the bettor to think I might be good. Everyone else folded and then the Asian man just mucked!  I didn't have to show my hand to claim the pot, so I didn't.

Well one of the guys who had folded asked the dealer—not me—what I had.  I think he may have missed that the other guy mucked and I didn't have to show.  So the dealer said he didn't know, but that he could ask me.  For some reason, the player was reluctant to ask me.  So instead, the dealer asked me, "Did you have a straight?"   Well that was a surprise.  Not sure it is the dealer's place to do that.  Is it?  I just shrugged. He tried again. "What did you have?"  I just said, "I didn't have to show, so I didn't." 

Somebody guessed that I had two pair.  And the player who was so curious said something about a 7.  But I couldn't tell if he was guessing that's what I had or if he was saying he had a 7 and folded (thinking I either had the top end of the straight or perhaps the flush).

I opened to $15 with Ace-King suited, only one caller.  The flop was Ace-Queen-x.  As soon as I grabbed some chips to bet, he sent his cards into the muck.

I was getting ready to call it a day.  I was up approximately $100.  Just another orbit or two and I'd be done.  So under-the-gun, I found myself holding the dreaded pocket Kings.  Gulp, I thought. There goes my day's profits.  I opened to $15.  Now having played very tight and opening UTG, you would think it might be difficult getting callers.  It was. I only got six of them!  As it went around and everyone called, the guy on my left (who had called), said something like, "I guess you figured you'd get a lot of callers, huh?"  When it got to the big blind, a guy I've played with many times before, he said, "Well you know I'm calling, how could I not?"

Pocket Kings in a 7-way pot.  What could go wrong?  The flop was Jack-Jack-8.  With so many callers, I sort of assumed someone had a Jack.  I checked, but it checked around. The turn was a low card.  Now I figured I might just have the best hand so I bet $30.  Only three players called that time.  The river was a third club.  I couldn't remember the board but it didn't look too scary except for the three clubs and the two Jacks.  I checked.  The youngest player at the table bet $60, and everyone folded back to me.

Now this guy hadn't been particularly active to this point.  And if he had made any moves, I hadn't picked up on them.  But I did kind of suspect that he was trying to steal it.  I think maybe the fact that he was relatively young played into that, I had nothing else to go on. So after tanking a bit, I made the call.  He said, "I just have 7's," and flipped over pocket 7's, unimproved.  I showed my Kings and took down a nice pot—over $300.  When I finished stacking my chips, I was sitting behind over $630.  (see below).  Well that was a nice finish to the session.  Not only did I win a big pot with the dreaded hand, I won a 7-way pot with unimproved Kings.  What are the odds of that?

I played a few more orbits, got nothing to play, and booked a $335 win.  And had a very nice drive home.