Vegas 2010 Day 3

Vegas 2010 Day 3 - Monday Dec 13th

This was a rather disappointing day. Not because I didn't play well, but because I played a pretty long up and down session and only made a very, very modest amount. Yes, I know you can't win every time, and I know that I should be grateful that I wasn't down, but what made things worse is that I pussied out for the day way too early. I almost feel like I wasted a day much like Sunday.

The day started out alright. I lounged in a my room all morning then checked-out at the last minute. Took a cab over to Planet Hollywood, checked-in there. Went up to my room. It was pretty nice actually: http://twitpic.com/3fnwzy Then headed out to find a place to eat.

Did you know that there is no Planet Hollywood restaurant *in* the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino? How fucking dumb is that? That's like the Hooters Hotel and Casino not having a fucking Hooters restaurant. Anyway, I walked around for a bit and searched my iPhone for pizza on the strip… hmm… a California Pizza Kitchen at the Mirage? I can do that. As I started walking that way, I stopped at the corner to wait for the the crosswalk signal to turn white. I glanced over to the right and saw the Cabo Wabo Cantina. Mexican? That could be good. Ah, but it's Las Vegas Mexican food in a restaurant owned by Sammy Hagar. How good could that be? I mean, I come from the South Texas border, right? Surely the food would suck here. Then again, it's so close… and the Mirage is way over on the other side of the street and down like 2 blocks. Plus this crosswalk signal is taking foreeeeveeeer.

Fuck it! Laziness wins out. Cabo Wabo it is.

I walked up to the entrance and they had the full menu up on a big poster. Hmmm. Pricey as all fuck, but that's to be expected. A fajita burrito? Custom nachos? I could find something here to eat. Another poster advertised their lunch special: A free frozen drink with any lunch entree purchase during the hours of 12:00p and 2pm. A quick check of my iPhone said 1:06pm. OK, SOLD!

It was kind of hot outside, so I asked to be seated inside. The place wasn't so bad. Friendly wait staff. The waitress asked for my order, and I inquired about the free drink. Choices were: Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, or a Margarita. Normally I'd choose the Margarita because it's the least gay, but I went for the Pina Colada because I fucking felt like it. Good choice.

As I perused the menu, I was surprised to see that most things were on the "Rob can eat list." This is a rarity indeed. The fajita burrito still seemed the most enticing: a large tortilla stuffed with beef fajita meat, refried beans, cheese, and rice... topped with meat sauce and queso. $15. No mention of any sides. I guess the beans and rice being inside of the burrito would suffice. I kinda wanted to start with Chips and Salsa, but $7 for two salsas and some chips sounded like a bit much. Especially since I knew I wasn't going to even eat all of my burrito. They're always too big.

I pulled out my MBA as I always do because I'm fucking bored, and to my surprise the waitress showed up with a basket of chips and salsa. Free chips and salsa? Then what the fuck was that $7 thing on the menu? I'd get two kinds of salsa instead of one? Whatever. Never look a gift horse in the mouth right? The chips were nice and sturdy, and the salsa looked kinda weird but tasted pretty good. So far so good.

The burrito showed up, and I got another surprise. It does come with a side of beans and rice. Cool. Hey, hold on. Black beans? Gross. Dammit, I should have known. They're trying to be all 'authentic' and shit here, and black beans are what 'real' Mexicans eat. I hate black beans. They look like mud. The it hits me. Fuck. The refried beans in my burrito are going to be black beans aren't they? Goddammit. Why didn't they specify black beans on the menu? Then again, why didn't they mention the burrito came with sides? Or that we got complimentary chips and salsa? This place just loves surprises don't they?

I decided to just fucking try them. They didn't make me gag, but I wasn't convinced. I dug into the burrito carefully. First bite wasn't offensive, and I didn't see any black beans. Then again, the whole thing was covered in beef sauce and queso. After a few more bites, I did notice the black beans, but there was so much shit in there anyway that I didn't taste them. Either that or maybe black beans don't taste much different from pinto beans.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that I enjoyed my meal.

I went back into Planet Hollywood to start my first session of the day. On my way through the casino I was reminded of how much I love the sound of slot machines. I mean, I hate playing slot machines, but the sound. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! It just reminds me of where I am. Love it! I made an AudioBoo of my walk through the casino to share the sounds with my followers. You can listen to it here: http://boo.fm/b236798

Session 4: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $500 Out: $517 Time: 7 hours

First thing I did was ask if the max buy-in was $200 or $300. It used to be that most places were $1/$2 and the max was $200 or $1/$3 and the max was $300. But the current trend seems to be $1/$2 max of $300. (I know that Caesar's is $1/$2 max of $500 too.) And sure enough, the max was $300. I decided to go with the full buy-in.

I sat down between a couple of older dudes. I hate playing with older dudes. They always seem to play tight and be as cranky as fuck. The dealer asks if I want to come in as Big Blind. Sure. I always think it's douchey to wait 2 hands just to avoid paying the blinds when you first sit down, even if it is the smarter thing to do. I look down and see Qs Jc. There are a few callers and then what appears to be a very accidental raise to $10 from an spritely old lady in late position. She meant to put in two white chips, but threw in two red ones. She immediately tried to take them back, then realized she couldn't and left them in. The whole table notices this of course. The button calls, and the Small Blind calls (old guy.) I comment out loud that perhaps I should just go All-In and steal the $30+ dollars out there. A get a few nervous laughs and the Small Blind eggs me on to do so. Of course I decide against it and just call even though I hate playing hands early because I don't have any idea how the players play yet. Flop comes As Qd 6s. The Small Blind leads out for $6. Hmmm. I decide to call and see another card. Everyone else folds, including the old lady that accidentally raised. She starts half-jokingly demanding that the winner of the hand give her her $10 back since she built up the pot. The turn is a 2s. Well, I've got the 2nd nut flush draw and second pair with a decent kicker. Small Blind leads out for $56. Whoa! Where did that come from? Did he lead out on a flush draw and hit it? If so, it's probably a baby flush. Do I call? I just sat down for $300. Old guy started out with about $160. I don't want to hit anything but a spade on this river. Preferably the King of spades of course. I decide to gamble and call. River is a red 4. Fuck. Old guy pushes all-in for just over $100. I knew I wasn't calling, but I make him sweat it a bit just because I'm mad. Of course I have to fold. I lie and say that my Ace didn't improve and that I didn't hit my flush. Old guy seems very pleased with himself. Fucker.

The old lady starts up again with the wanting her $10 back. The old man will have none of that. He doesn't even acknowledge her. I lie and say that I would have given her her $10 back if I would have won to make the old guy seem like more of a douche.

Later on, in a conversation with his neighbor to the right, the old guy admitted he hit a flush on the turn. His neighbor complimented him on his 'blocking bet' on the flop that kept me from betting my Ace out and possibly making his flush draw more expensive. Haha. Little did they know that the old man could have probably seen that turn for free as I had no intention of betting out second pair. After the old guy eventually busts (of course) and leaves, his neighbor asked me why I didn't raise the old guy when I hit my Ace on that first hand. I said, "Because I didn't have an Ace," and smiled.

So now I'm in the Small Blind. I look down at Qs Td. A few calls, and another baby raise to $6. I call. I miss then flop. Some guy in early position leads out for $10, then the old lady that fucked up and accidentally raised that previous hand says "raise" and drops down $15. The whole table, in unison says: "You have to bet $20!" The old lady puts in another $5 nonchalantly and eggs the people behind her to call. We all fold of course. The she looks at my side of the table and calls us all "Pussies!" The table erupts in laughter. WTF is up with this old lady? Haha. The guy that raised to $10 calls, but then folds to her turn bet. She admits that she flopped two pair. Really? No shit?! Man, this lady is horrible. Then she goes on to explain that "Pussies" is what they used to call "little girls" when she was younger. Well, I don't know what it was like growing up in the 1800's, but "Pussies" is pretty offensive these days, and it sounds awesome coming from an old geezer woman at the poker table. :) Here's the old lady: http://twitpic.com/3foycv

Next hand. King Jack offsuit. Ugh. C'mon. Give me a break. I call the $2 and hit a Jack on an Ace high flop. I call a $10 flop bet and a $10 turn. The guy checks the river and shows a weak Ace. Jeez. What am I doing? I've played the first three hands in a row and lost them all. I'm down to like $200 already. I mercifully can fold the next hand, but the next hand after that is Ace Ten offsuit. What the hell is with these mediocre playable hands? Should I start raising? At this point it seems like I play everything. So maybe if I hit big, no body will believe me. I raise to $12. Nobody calls. Well, at least I won one. I ask the dealer to stop giving me playable hands so I can watch the table for a bit! You know what the say, be careful what you wish for…

For about an hour, I get nothing. I just sit and watch. The old man to my right has since busted, and I've already identified the donks. Unfortunately, there are only 2 real donkeys, 2 solid players and the rest just small stack average players. I hover around $220 to $250 for a long time.

Then I pick up QQ in the Big Blind. The current guy to my right is a younger fat guy. I'm not sure why I just mentioned that he was fat. It doesn't really matter does it? Anyway, he hadn't sat for very long. The previous hand, he had made it $15 to go preflop from the button and everyone folded. Now from the Small Blind, he made it $15 again. I'm sitting on QQ here, and I'm loving it so far. I pop it to $50, everyone else folds and Small Blind calls. Now, Small Blind only has about $80 left. If he had KK or AA, I would have expected a shove. Especially since it had gotten back to him with nothing but folds. It was just him and me heads up. So I have this guy on AK, maybe AQs or maybe JJ or TT. If he's really crazy he'll have a lower pocket pair or suited connectors. But honestly, for as much of his stack as he put in, I'm thinking it's more like AK, AQs or TT or JJ. The board comes 9 high rainbow. Small Blind leads out for $30. I raise to $100, but he only has $80 total. I take my change back and flip over QQ. Fucker flips over AA. Lame. The same neighbor guy compliments him on a well played hand? Really? That hand played itself. He didn't do shit differently than anyone else would have except maybe not go All-In pre-flop. But honestly, who's gonna raise a short stacked player to $50, and then fold to another $80 pre-flop? If I could have folded it pre-flop, I could have folded it on the flop. If I had AK and made the raise to $50, and he shoves for $80. I probably still call. However, if I had AK and he shoves on the flop, I'm folding. So it's actually *bad* that he didn't shove preflop. I didn't bother to correct him. Why would I? Lucky fucker.

So now I'm down to about $150. Very next hand. I pick up 99. There are a couple of calls, and then a very loose guy raises to $12. Two people call (including the old lady.) The all-knowing neighbor guy then makes it $50 to go. Now what I haven't told you about neighbor guy is that he was losing before I sat at the table, then he added on some money and went from $200 to about $1000 really quickly on some huge hands. On one hand he had, he turned the nut flush with a huge pot at stake and had a guy push all in for another $147, and another guy call that $147. Neighbor of course pushed, and won like a $650 pot. He was a solid player for sure, but he had dwindled back down to about $650 because he kept making solid aggressive plays that people (more often than not, stupidly) called him down on for a win. So I started to think that maybe this guy was just trying to steal. I had a pair. The chances that he had a bigger pair were of course there, but they couldn't be that great. I started to think, or hope anyway, that he had just two big unpaired cards and that he might fold to an all-in on my part. I decided to go for it. I went all-in for $147. It folds around to him, and he starts with the the talk "Man, if you have Aces that would be so sick." He has Kings? Why not insta-call? He thinks for a bit. I start to feel confident. Then he calls. OK. I have a pair, I'm probably ahead. Fucker flips over QQ. Really? I lose the pot and immediately re-buy for $200.

Next hand I watch as another guy holding 99 flops a set and beats someone else's QQ. Great. So I get caught with QQ vs. AA, and then lose to QQ with 99, and then watch another person's 99 flop as set against QQ. Fucking. Lame.

To be honest, I don't remember how I got up to $493, but I did. At that point I swore that if I got even that I'd cash out and go to the Orleans to go play Omaha HiLo for the rest of the night. I went through my blinds and nothing. Fell further behind. Then I picked up JJ in the Big Blind on the next round. Again, why the fuck do I only pick up big hands in the blinds? C'mon! Anyway, this new Mexican older lady had joined the table and replaced the white one. Because of course, she inevitably busted her short stack. This new old lady might have been even worse than the old one. She refused to fucking fold anything, but by the river she tended to make the better hand a lot of the times. It was sort of annoying. The whole table would make comments about her right in front of her, but she didn't seem to care. They'd lose to her and say "Well, at least the money is in the right place…" and grumble. I started thinking she was unbeatable. Well, I didn't actually think it, but I'd say it jokingly. Anyway, this Mexican old lady made it $15 to go. I made it $45. She calls. Why she didn't push when she only had $22 or so left? I don't know. Probably for the same reason she played all her hands the way she did… because she was a shitty player. Also, she was on tilt for losing a miracle gut shot straight on the turn to another miracle, but better, gut shot straight on the river. Anyway, the flop was pretty good for me. All unders. I pushed and she angrily called with her last $22. Turn is an Ace and river was a 4th spade. She angrily flips over As Jd for the nut flush. She flopped nothing. God. I hate this lady. Now I'm way down from being even.

A few rounds later I find myself with As Qs in, surprisingly enough, late position. A pretty aggressive skinny white nerdy looking guy (you can tell I'm going to lose this hand, can't you?) makes it $15 to go. I figure that's a fair price for As Qs in late position, so I call. It's heads up. This guy was fairly tight and very aggressive. So I knew I had to be careful. The flop comes Ac 9s 7d. Not bad. Nerd makes it $25, and I immediately pop it to $75. I knew that I couldn't call. I wanted to know where I was. I probably could have made it $60, but I made it $75. He pushes all-in for like $115 on top. Gah. I think for a while. I count out the $115 like I'm going to call, but fold. I show As Qs and neighbor teases me. He knows I was right. This guy had AK at minimum, if not a set. I'd wait for a better spot.

I dropped down to about $375 after that hand and build it back up to $465 again. Then I run into some bad hands and dwindle back down to $290. By this time, I'm kicking myself for not leaving when I was only $7 down, but I figured that I have all the time in the world to make that back, and more. I just have to keep playing my best.

I pick up Js Ts in the more usual position of big blind. Under The Gun, a guy I've actually been making friendly conversation with for a while, and another solid player who was down on chips, makes it $15 to go. He gets one caller, then the Mexican old lady calls (when doesn't she?), and then it gets around to me. I think about it. Js Ts. Asian Aces. Out of position to 3 players. Fuck it. I call. Flop comes Tc 8s 3h. I think about betting, but inexplicably check. I immediately regret it. UTG makes it $30 to go. One guy folds, and of course Mexican old lady calls. For some reason that I can't explain, "All-In" comes running out of my mouth. Who said that? Me? Shit. 1) UTG only has about $60 left. and 2) Mexican old lady never folds and seems to win more than her fair share by the fucking river…. *and* she's got me covered! UTG starts agonizing, "You really have a 10?" I'm surprised. I ask, "You can't even beat a 10? Why are you even thinking about this. Just fold, man." Normally, I don't try to talk people out of folding, especially when I really do think I have the best hand. But I'm 1/2 thinking I don't want to get sucked out, and 1/2 thinking this guy and I have been buddies for like the passed 4 hours. I know you shouldn't think that way, but fuck, I just wanted to win this one too, you know? While UTG is thinking, the Mexican old lady had had enough and folds out of turn. Finally, my buddy UTG folds. He says he had pocket 9's. I show the Ten of clubs. I'm back over $400 now, again, for like the 10th time.

After a few more rounds of nothing, I pick up Jc 8c in, guess where?, the small blind of course. This time it's checked around and I call $1 to see a flop. 8s 8d 2h. Hmmm. I like it. I decide to trap. I check. Some dude leads out for $10. I call. Turn is 7s. I check. Dude bets out $35. I call. River is a 6h. I check. Dude checks. He has Ace high. He turned the nut flush draw. Whew! I checked my stack, and there it was: profit! A very pretty looking stack of 12 white chips and 1 red chip sitting off to the side of my $500 buy-in!: http://twitpic.com/3frzey

I've been on this table for 7 hours, but it feels like 12. My knees are killing me and my legs feel like jelly. I nursed a single cranberry juice for about 5 hours, but boy did I have to piss! I hadn't gotten up once in that time. After relieving my bladder, I headed over to the Earl of Sandwich: a place that accepts comp money that I accrued while playing poker, and also a place that at least 1/2 the table recommended that I try. I had a Holiday sandwich which consisted of roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce inside of a toasted bun. It was like Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich. Pretty good. But even better than that was the tomato soup with croutons. Yummy.

Anyway, I intended to go up to the room for a bit and grab my jacket before heading out to the Orleans, but I never made it back out. It was already passed midnight, and I just got lazy. I plopped down on the bed and the next thing I knew all the lights went out. No, I didn't pass out. The lights literally went out. The hotel was performing a power outage test at 2am. I had forgotten about it even though there were signs posted everywhere. Now I *really* didn't feel like going out. I got under the covers, and now it's morning. And now I am writing Day's 3 blog post. :-)

Until Day 4!