Vegas trip report - On the plane home

Well, the only thing that went well this week was that I asked my girlfriend to marry me, and she said yes. So I can still consider the trip a success on a personal level, even if my poker playing experience was awful.

Last night, talking to my girlfriend, or I should say my fiance, I told her I was quitting poker. Of course, she didn't believe me. But at the time, I really meant what I was saying. I mean, how much bad luck can one guy take? But now that I've had a few hours to digest the trip, I've come to the realization that while bad luck was a big part of my week, some other factors contributed to my losing over $1500 (I had brought about $2000 - all money that I had won in my previous two trips to Vegas).

First off, the level of competition has increased tremendously. Used to be that if you flopped two pair or a set, someone with top pair would pay you off all the way, even calling your all-in bet. This week, I've seen a lot of players fold good hands to better hands, trusting their reads. When I won pots, they were usually on the small side since getting more money into the pot was difficult when I hit big hands - not that I hit that many of course.

My own play is not as good as I believed it was... And it's also too predictable. I need to start raising more medium strength hands when in position. Since I'm not doing that right now, the good players at the table know that I'm either raising AK, AQ or JJ or better. If I raise, and an Ace flops, they will only play back at me if I'm beaten - so I don't make any money when I've got the best hand, and I lose a big pot when I don't.

One thing I haven't done much so far is putting the opponent on a range of hands... From reading countless articles, I realize that this is a skill I need to develop. Sometimes I can put the opponent on a draw when two of a suit flops, and they just call my post-flop bet. But I need to also do this when the board isn't as obvious. By doing this, and getting better at it, I should be able to pick up more pots by check-raising what I believe are weak hands, and folding when it's obvious I'm beaten.

I came to Vegas with the expectation of playing 4 to 6 hours of poker a day when Annik was here, and then 10 to 12 when she left (FRI-SAT-SUN). But the hours and hours of continuous folding took a toll, and I actually only played about 10 hours of poker in the last 3 days combined. I passed the time by playing black jack, let it ride and carribean stud poker. I broke about even at these games, and actually had some fun - something that was sorely lacking from hold-em poker.

So here's a quick recap of the last 3 days of my trip.

Friday

- Played in a $35 NL tournament at Excalibur, where they give you only $300 chips, blinds start at 5/10, and double every fifteen minutes. There were over 60 entries, and I busted out with two tables left. I basically got blinded out, and had to push all-in a few times before finally getting beat with A6 vs A9.
- Played 6 hours of 1/2 NL at Binion's in downtown Vegas. I bought $150 in chips, never went up over $200, never went down under $100. Just a long, boring session of getting no playable hands. Cashed out $100 and called it a night. The highlight of my day was when this funny looking guy, dressed in a 70's era suit, with a pony tail and a mustache sat at our 1/2 table with about $2000 in chips, and another $10,000 behind in $100 bills. He apparently calls himself the "Duke of Fremont Street". He had this fake laugh, and talked quite loudly. It was a funny sight, and me and the other players all had a good laugh.

Saturday

- Went back down to Binion's to play in their $70 + $40 (one rebuy) tournament. I did the rebuy right away, since 7 of the other 9 players had done it. I played quite conservatively, and made a few nice moves. One hand I had AK, I raised it to $300, a big stack minimum re-raised it to $600, and I went all-in - he folded. Against the same player later, I have 55. I call a small raise. Flop comes 7 4 3 with two clubs. He fires out $400, I raise it to $1000 and he calls. Turn was another 3. He checks, I bet $1500 and take it down. The tables started breaking up, and we were down to about 100 players (163 bought in), when this hand came up. I have about $6000 in chips, blinds are 200/400. A small stack ($800) goes all-in under the gun, 2nd position player calls in front of me. I push all-in in position 5 with AK of diamonds, trying to isolate the small stack and pick up a nice pot. I like this play, because I believe if the player in position two was strong, he would have re-raised himself. But then 2 other players go all-in behind me, and player 2 decides he to has to call as well. I have everyone covered. Their hands are: Position 2 has 77, behind me has QQ, beside him JT and the small stack has A5. Flop came K 2 6, Turn 3, River 4. That gives the small stack the straight, but everyone else loses to my top pair. So I have about $16000 in front of me.

I continued my conservative play, and then we were down to 60 players. Blinds were high, at 400/800 with $75 ante. Several small stacks were left, so I was in good shape. And then I made a big mistake. I was dealt KQ offsuit in 2nd position. That's a hand I had folded earlier in similar position, but this time I decided to come in for a raise. I made it $2400 to go. Everyone folded until it got to the big blind, who flat called the extra $1600. The flop came J 5 6 rainbow, and the BB led out for $2000. I decided he must have a mid pair, or maybe he has the Jack, and I would try to make him believe I had an overpair, so I raised it to $5000. He instantly went all-in. I folded. He showed me KK. The major mistake was playing that hand in the first place. But I still had around $8000 left.

Then came the fatal mistake. A late position player raises my BB to $2000, and I have a suited Q9. I decided to take the flop, and see what happens. Flop came A Q 7. I checked, and he checked. Turn was a blank, and I decided this guy didn't have an Ace, and I went all-in without really thinking. He called with A2, and his hand held up. He trapped me very well with the check on the flop, and I bit. I should have re-raised him pre-flop to put him to the test, since I had him covered and his raise didn't indicate a very strong hand. That's the kind of stuff I need to think about on the spot, and not 2 days later!

I was eventually blinded out when I had to go all-in with 79o, and got a call from A9. The player who knocked me out was very nice (we played about an hour at the same table), and is the editor of Golf Magazine. She apparently also writes for a few other magazines, including some poker mags. She mentionned that she plays a few WSOP events every year.

- Later in the evening, I made my way to the Hooters casino. I just had to go check it out since it was only a 10 minute walk. I played a little bit of let it ride poker, and won $200. The Hooter girl dealers were also a refreshing change from the 60 year olds dealing at Excalibur. So I took my profits to the 1/2 table. The atmosphere was great - it felt like we were playing at someone's cottage with all the wood panneling around us. I had a beer, then another, and another. I made a good pot when my A2 flopped Q22 A J. A very agressive player raised to $6, and I was in the small blind. I almost folded, but then I thought all of the limpers (4 of them) would call the extra $4, so I called. I checked the flop, and everyone checked behind. When the A hit the turn, I led out for $20, and only the pre-flop raiser called. On the river, I bet out $30. He min-raised me to $60. We had been joking around for a while, and drinking beer together. He says he swears he doesn't have a full house. I believed him, so I re-raised him another $55. Now he wasn't laughing - he made the crying call with his KT (straight) hoping I just had the 2... But the good luck didn't last very long - 3 times someone flopped a set on me - each time when I had either top pair, top kicker or an overpair (in pots that I had raised). So I quit after losing another $200 buy-in.

After that, I played some blackjack with some guys from Scotland (Matt and John). And we continued drinking, and had a great time. They closed our table at 3 am, and we made our way back to Excalibur where we played until 7 am! These two guys are behind the Air Rider vacuum - it's apparently something brand new that a friend of theirs invented - the vacuum hovers over the floor, not actually touching it. I have to check their web site later to see the demo. All and all it was a fun night, but I felt the effects of it the next day!

Sunday

I woke up at 1:30 pm, and unfortunately it was too late to go back to Binion's for the 2 pm tournament. I went for a quick greasy lunch at McDonald's hoping that would settle my stomach. It helped a little. I bought in at the Excalibur 1/3 NL game, and lost a buy-in of $200 in 15 minutes when I couldn't hit my open-ended straight draw. That was the end of poker. I played a little bit of blackjack, then went back to my room for a nap. In the evening, I enjoyed dinner at Excalibur's Steakhouse. It was the best meal of my trip - french onion soup, filet mignon and baked potato. Total bill was $51 (I drank water!). I had $40 in comp coupons - so definitely the best $11 meal I've ever had. I played a little bit of blackjack, and went back to my room at 11 pm.

Monday

I left Excalibur at 9 am to go to the airport. Flight was on time, and now I've got about 2 hours to go before I land in Montreal. I won't be playing any poker for some time now. Summer is a busy time for me (lots of golf). Maybe I'll start playing again in the fall, maybe I won't. One things for sure, if I continue playing this game and taking it seriously, I'll expect much more from myself. I need to start thinking on a higher level - not just playing the cards and hoping for the best. That's what seperates the good players from the average ones.

Vegas trip report - Wednesday

I went over to Caesar's to sign up for their $80 + $50 tournament, but decided to see how the cash games went since their events during the WSOP were of a higher buy-in ($200).

I sat at a 1/3 NL table with $200. I played for about 2 hours, and I didn't get any cards. I lost this one:
Dealt AK, there are two limpers so I raise it to $18. I get two callers. Flop comes out Qs Js 5h. I'm first to act so I make a continuation bet of $35. I get one caller. I think he might be on a draw. Turn is the Ac. I check, and he checks. River is a blank. I check again and he bets $50. I called hoping he had a busted flush draw or just a Q, but he had Ks Ts for a straight.
I was down to about $60, so I bought another $200.

I called a $10 raise from a very aggressive player with Kh Qh. Flop came out 9 J Q rainbow. Pre-flop raiser bets out $25, and I raise to $60. He then re-raises me all-in. I raised to gain information, and I got it - he has a hand and I need to fold. But I had about $200 left, and I made a very bad call since I was pretty sure that I was beat. . He showed KK and that was it.
I lost $400 and didn't play the tourney.

I headed over to MGM. I bought in for $200 twice. I hit absolutely nothing, and I was bluffed out of winning pots twice. I played like an idiot, plus I didn't get any cards. Both bluffs against me were because the same guy represented an ace. I couldn't believe he would do it twice, so I made bad laydowns (especially the 2nd one.)

So I'm down $800 today, $953 for the three days. I'm starting to realize that I'm not as good as I once thought I was at this game. As they say, if you can't spot the sucker at the table - you're probably it!

Vegas trip report - Tuesday

Tuesday, I played 1/2 NL at MGM for about 5 hours in the afternoon. I ended the day up $118, so still down $153 for the trip.

I didn't get very many good cards, but I did manage to stack the same guy twice. I really only made one bad play.

I bought in for $200, and early on, I lost about $100 just calling small raises with pocket pairs and hands like JQ suited and not hitting any flops. So I topped up for another $100.

Here are the 3 key hands where I won sizeable pots:

- I was dealt AdQd - and I raise it to $12. I get two callers. Flop comes TcJhKc - flopped the nut straight. First person checks, 2nd guy checks, I bet $20. First player raises to $60, 2nd guy folds, I go all-in. He calls with Qc Jc - open ended royal flush draw. He didn't catch, and I took a sizeable pot.

- I'm dealt KK. Pretty agressive player raises to $12, dealer calls $12, I'm on the SB and I decided to just flat call and hope no Ace flops. Flop comes KhTh3c. Pre-flop raiser bets $30, 2nd guy folds, I raise it another $30 and he calls. Turn 10d. He checks, I bet $60 and he calls.
River is the 4h, putting a potential flush out there. He checks, I bet $75 and he folds.

- I'm dealt 99, the player from the first hand raises to $10, I call as does one other player. Flop 9c6s4h. Pre-flop raiser bets $20, I flat call. Turn Qh. He bets $40, I raise it to $80, he goes all-in for another $50 and I call. He shows AA and doesn't catch either of his two outs on the river and I take it down.


The one hand where I lost about $80 went like this:

I'm on the SB with AcKd. Someone in middle position raises to $5. Dealer calls, and I just decided to call. BB also calls. Flop came Kc6c6h. I bet out $15, BB calls, the other two fold. Turn was a 4c. I checked, BB bets out $25, and I called since I had the Ac. River was a blank, I checked and he bet another $25, and I called hoping to see something like KJ or KT. But he had an offsuit 96.

The mistake I made was in not raising pre-flop to get the junk hands out... In that whole session, I actually only raised preflop twice (AdQd mentionned above, and AA which everyone folded to). I've been gun-shy about raising AK in cash games, but I will do it from now on.

Still a pretty good session considering the few hands I played - only that one mistake to remember.

Vegas trip report - Monday

I arrived about an hour late because of a plane delay, but the flight was very nice. After dinner, I went to MGM Grand (my favorite poker room).

I sat at a 1/2 NL table, and first hand I'm dealt 66. Flop came 964. This player who has about $900 in front (maximum buy-in is $200) bets $10, one person calls and I raise it to $30. Chip leader re-raises to $60. Other player folds. Now, I'm thinking that if I raise all-in, he folds anything but 99 which has me beat, and if he has 99 then I lose all my chips -- and that's ok because I can't fold a set. So I flat call, turn is a king and he bets out $50. Now I go all-in for $120 and he folds. So my call of his re-raise on the flop, instead of re-raising all-in myself netted me an extra $50.

Then I got involved in a hand in the BB with 63 os when there was no pre-flop raise. Flop came 4c 5h 7h. I bet out $10 into the $10 pot. Everyone folds but one person, who raises to $35. I'm pretty sure he has a flush draw, so I just call to see if another heart comes out. The turn is the Jc, and I bet out $60. He thinks and thinks, and calls. I no longer think he has a flush draw, since calling $60 didn't give him the right odds. Maybe he has a set, I thought. River Jh. I have $60 left, I check and he goes all-in. I decided to call anyways even though I knew that river made him either a full house or a flush. And he had the flush with the 4h6h. So he had flopped bottom pair, with an open ended straight flush draw. I couldn't really blame him for calling I guess - that's poker.

So I re-bought for another $200. I called a $10 raise with 7d8d. Flop comes out 7h 8h 4c. The same player who bets out draws from the previous hand bets out $30. I raise it to $80. Then another player acting after me goes all-in for $180. First person thinks long and hard, and calls. I have $100 left. I decided the first guy had to have a straight, and I folded to my 4 outs. Sure enough, the all-in person had 5h6h for the flopped straight - and the other guy had AhTh for a flush draw (I love it when my reads are right).

So I was very happy about my fold, and my play for that evening. It was getting late and I had been up for 18 hours - so I quit having lost $271.

the end

Well, I just played my last bit of online poker... I've removed all software from my computer - this run of bad luck has hit 4 months, and that's a sure sign I need to quit. The worst part is I've got no confidence in my game any more...

Every time I hit a set, someone outdraws me with their flush or straight draws (all-in on the flop of course). Every time I have a draw, I don't hit. When Ihave Kings, someone else has Aces. When I have Aces, the other guy with Kings flops a King. It's unbelievable...

I'm at the point where I've started hating this game. As well as I was doing in the last couple of years, 2007 has shown me that luck plays too much of a role in it. And I've had no luck at all... Most of the time, I don't even need luck. I just need my hand to stand up once in a while when it's a 70% or 80% favorite... If I had the time, I could go through my hand history files and show you that I haven't won with Aces this year... unless everyone folded to my pre-flop raise of course. So it's either win the blinds, or lose my stack... no in-between since most of the time I've managed to get all-in pre-flop with the "best hand".

I'm going to Vegas on June 18th for a week. I have no idea what I'm going to do... I no longer have any confidence in my abilities to play this game.

Wish me luck !!!!!!

Monday poker

In tonight's $40 tourney, I gambled to get some chips early - with the cash game already starting, it was go big or go play cash. Someone raised, another player called, and I called with :4c :5c. Flop came :2c :3d :Jc. So I have a flush draw, and an open-ended straight draw.

I bet out $600, and the original raiser goes all-in. I called. I didn't hit, and that was it for the tourney.

In the cash game, I got some really good cards. I started with $100 playing $1/$2 no limit. I got pockets Kings twice, pocket Jacks twice, and AA once (see below). My stack was up to about $300, but then I lost a lot of money with :Ac :Jc on a :Jd :8c :2h flop. The other player had pockets 8s, and I lost almost all of my stack. I knew he was strong, but when I called his all-in I also knew that he would play KJ the same way... it just turned out that this time he had me drawing dead.

I rebought another $200, got dealt :Jd :Js. A very agressive player raises to $20, I flat call. Another agressive player re-raises another $40. The first player calls, so I decide I have the best hand right now and I go all-in for $169 more. They both call. The re-raiser had :9d :9c, and the other loose player had :5s :6s. My hand held up, and I was up to $600.

A couple of hands later, I was dealt :Ah :Ac. The big stack at the table raises to $12, someone calls, I re-raise to $42, and another player, plus the two original players in the pot call.
Flop comes :Kh :Th :4h. The original raiser bets $200. In my mind, he could have the flush already, but more likely something like KT, TT, KK, AK, QJ, QQ. I decided to gamble and take a chance with my nut flush draw, and overpair. I go all-in for $470 more. He calls with :Jh :5h. Turn :7d, River :Qd. No help, and I'm done for the night.

I'm not sure what I need to do to beat these awful players... if I raise my big hands two much, I won't get any action, but getting 4 callers for $42 pre-flop means I'm not raising enough. If only I hadn't had the :Ah, but any other ace I wouldn't have lost another cent after the flop...

Wednesday

Again today I played 3 $20 S&G tournaments on PokerStars.

In the first one, I was the first player out... I raised KK, got two callers. Flop came 5 6 9. I bet the pot, got one caller. Turn was an Ace, I checked, he bet the pot. I couldn't put him on an Ace, unless he had something like A5, A6, or A9 - and I decided itfthat was the case I was ok with being eliminated early. So I re-raised all-in and he called with A5.

Things went better in the other two tournaments... I won them both.

So today I'm up $114.00 - slowly and steadily climbing up without risking too much.

Monday & Tuesday

Monday evening

I played in the weekly $40 tourney at the local bar. I was eliminated two spots from the money when my QT of hearts didn't improve all-in against AK.

I went to the $1/2$ NL cash table, and bought in for $200 since most players had bigger stacks (they had been playing the cash game for at least 2 1/2 hours). I managed to win a couple of medium pots (including one with AA - wow what a surprise). My stack went up to about $300, then back down to $200.

I kept calling $10 raises with any suited, or connecting cards since there was always at least four players in the pot. The hopes of flopping something big, and the knowledge that I can play pretty well after the flop made this an OK strategy. I'd never play like this anywhere else, but these players are so loose that it's justified.

I won big with J2 of hearts. There was a raise to $12, two callers ahead of me (I'm on the button). I call, and both blinds call. So there's already $72 in the pot.

Flop came Jd 2c 3c... Everyone checks to me, and I bet $30. I get two callers. Turn is another J. They both check, I bet $30 again, they both call. Turn wasn't a very good card to see, another 3. I thought I'd have to chop this pot. The small blind bets out $50, the other guy thinks about it, but folds. I raise with my last $104, making it $54 more, and the donk calls. He shows a pair of Eights. I was relieved to see the river hadn't counterfeited me out of a big pot.

So I made a profit of $325 at the cash table, so $285 for the evening.

Tuesday afternoon

My online poker strategy is basically to play sit and go tournaments, and hope to build some kind of a bankroll without putting in any money. I play S&G on PokerStars. My trusty poker tracker software showed me that I made the money in 4 of 6 $20 single table S&G. It's not big money, but it can accumulate.

So I played three more of these today, one after the other. I finished 1st, 2nd and 4th. Top three places pay, so the last one was a bit disappointing. I had Q9, flop came 9TJ - so I had bottom pair and an open ended straight draw. I played it a bit too strong, and found myself almost all-in against a player who had JJ for top set. I didn't hit the straight, and was left with $850. Next hand I got dealt AJ, went all-in, and was called and beat by AQ.

But my record is still good, now having made the money in this type of tournament in 6 of 9, for a total profit of $180.00.

Here's the breakdown of my sit and go record so far this year.

$22 Single Table - 9 events, 6 money finishes, + $180
$55 Single Table - 3 events, 1 money finish, + $60
$22 Two Table - 1 event, 1 money finish, + $50
$33 Single Table - 3 events, 1 money finish, + $36
$22 180 players - 2 events, 1 money finish, + $17
$33 Three Table - 2 events, No money finishes, - $66
$14 Satellite to Sunday Millions - 1 event, No money finish, - $14

Total
23 events, 10 money finishes - up $263.00

I'll try to keep it going, resisting the urge to move up in levels until I've reached at least $1000.