Although it was after 5AM Saturday morning when we went to bed, I woke up in time to play the $500 Noon tournament feeling not the least bit hungover. It may have been better if I slept through it, though. Early on, I made a classic internet donkey mistake and failed to look at the stack size of my opponent. He had lost a big pot early on after calling a check-re-raise all in with 99 on an 8-high flop and was down to just a few thousand chips at the 100/200 level.
I raised to 600 with Q’s and he called on the SB. The flop was an ugly AJ5r, and without looking at his stack, I bet 900. He instantly moved all in for 1350 more, and I decided I was priced in to call. His A8o held up, much to my annoyance, and just like that, I was short stacked.
At the 200/400 level, I played another interesting pot. A guy with a huge stack who turned out to be an atrocious calling station had moved to the table not long ago and was getting involved in quite a few pots. With about 6500 chips, I raised to 1200 UTG+1 with AJ off-suit. The calling station called, and a guy with even fewer chips than I had called on the button. I obviously wasn’t worried about the station, but the button worried me. He really ought to moving all in with any hand he wants to play, and if he does just call, he needs to have a monster. Him being a terrible live tournament player, however, this isn’t what I put him on. Rather, I figured he would have some kind of medium strength hand. I think he would have shoved AK and maybe AQ in this spot, though I can’t say for sure.
The flop was AT6r, and I really had no idea what to do. I couldn’t afford to bet and fold, but I figured that if I got any action on this board, I would be dominated. Finally, I decided these guys were so obvious with their play that even from out of position I could check and figure it out. So I checked, the big stack checked, and the button bet 1000 into a pot of 4000. Ugh. I think I maybe should have check-raised all in here, but with that bet on this board, he’s likely to have either a hand that crushes me or very little. I called and resolved to figure it out on the turn. The calling station hemmed and hawed, announced that he had a little piece, and called. I don’t think this was an act of any kind and read him for bottom or middle pair.
The turn put an 8 on the board, and I checked again. The big stack also checked, and the button moved all in for 4000. Since I could basically beat only a bluff and didn’t think he would bluff into two callers, including the calling station, I folded. The big stack called instantly with his 86s and eliminated the button, who had AJ. Oh well.
My bustout hand was equally annoying. Still at the 200/400 level, a pretty generic player opened for 1600, and a tight player called. This was waaaaaaaay more action than we usually saw pre-flop, and believe it or not, when I looked down at a pair of Queens, I wasn’t happy. But with 5000 chips, I had no choice but to move all in. My stomach really sunk when the old nit on my left asked the dealer to count it down. He finally moved all in over the top, and the raiser started saying, “I don’t see how I can fold this,” and I knew that one of not both of them had me crushed. The raiser called with KK, and the nit had AK. The case K on the turn put the final nail in my coffin.
Once again, I went upstairs to cool off and unwind a bit. Logan, Darren, and Joe had gone over to play the Mandalay Bay 2/4 NL game, which we’d heard was quite juicy. I called to see what they wanted to do for dinner, but they all had nice stacks at loose tables and didn’t want to leave, so I went over there to join them.
The Mandalay Bay poker room is pretty cramped relative to the Venetian room, and the dealers are a bit slower and more amateurish. They rake the pot even when there’s no flop, and they take additional money to put into a progressive high hand jackpot (Edit: Logan tells me that there is no rake on the jackpot, in which case I see no drawback to it. As he points out, it did seem to draw some fish.) To add insult to injury, the waitresses are not nearly as attractive as those at the Venetian either. However, the games are very good, and the floor is a lot more welcoming than they are some places.
There weren’t any open 1-2 seats so I sat in a 1-2 NL game while I waited. They didn’t make me post, so I came in UTG, though I didn’t play a hand until my button, when I raised to $12 after two limpers with KsQ. Both limpers called, and the flop came As 6s 2s. Check, the guy to my immediate right bet $15, I raised to $60, the first guy folded, and the second guy called. I turned a K and shoved when the action checked to me, but the dude called with A6s to stack me.
He paid me back a few hands later when he completed the SB and I checked 93o on my BB. Flop 9s 6h 3h and he check-calls a pot-sized bet (there were other players in the pot, but they all folded the flop). The turn put up another heart, and we checked through. A river 9 gave me a boat, my opponent bet $30, and I raised him $100 more. He told me he wanted to return some of my money and called with Kh 5h.
As I was leaving, I witnessed a hilarious showdown. I didn’t see the action on every street, but on a KQQ52 board with three clubs, one guy shoved and the dude to my right elbowed me and showed me his hand: 9c3c. He had floated the flop with a backdoor club draw and hit. When the SB called, I said, “I think you’re screwed” but it turns out the pusher had AQ and the SB had overcalled an all in bet with K5 on the river! 93 ships another big pot.
I was still a bit frustrated from the tournament and tired from the night before and certainly not playing my best when I first sat down at the 2-4 table. I made some bad plays early on and got off to a bad start. Eventually my aggression started to pan out and I got together some chips and a good reputation. Having just raised some limpers in the last hand, I raised again to $45 with AdKd. The loose player in the SB called, two of the calling station limpers called, and we saw a flop of 4d6cQd. Gin! The SB bet out $50, one of the calling stations called, and as soon as the action was on me, I leapt of my seat, shoved my chips into the pot, and called out loudly, “All in!”, doing my best to look like a very excited amateur with a big pair. The SB thought and folded, but the other guy called quickly with a pair of 8’s. He managed to dodge all of my 15 outs. “Nice read,” I told the guy as genuinely as I could muster as I left the table, too annoyed now to keep playing.
It was barely midnight and no one else wanted to leave yet, so I walked around by myself for a bit to cool down before going back to my room. Nothing all that remarkable had really happened, I’d just had some bad luck in two tournaments and lost one stack at a cash game. This wouldn’t even faze me online, but when playing live, so much more is invested in a single game, since they run more slowly and you can’t play more than one at once. It’s something I need to work on if I want to start playing more live poker.
Minor point-Mandalay does not rake the high hand jackpot pot, which makes me all for it as a lot of the players were clearly excited by it.