Vegas 2010 Day 4

Vegas 2010 Day 4 - Tuesday Dec 14th

Blech. I didn't play or run well today.

Back home, I love Mondays. That's Omaha HiLo night at my house. Pot Limit Omaha HiLo. That's Pot Limit as in: you can bet a substantial number of chips on later streets to either force folds of mediocre hands that might beat you or maybe just get more chips in the pot when you have a big 'scoopy' type hand. In Vegas, they don't run PotLimit HiLo. At least not for lower stakes at the Orleans. It's all Omaha HiLo Limit poker, and I just couldn't make the adjustment.

Session 5: The Orleans $4/$8 FL Hold 'Em
In: $200 Out: $226 Time: 30 minutes

This was just a time killer. I came to The Orleans to play Omaha HiLo, but as usual, they table was full. Even the must-move table was full. Rather than just sit there, waiting, I decided to sit at a $4/$8 limit hold 'em table. As I said before, I don't play a bunch of fixed limit poker, Omaha or otherwise, so I literally was just passing the time. I found a seat and sat down next to what turned out to be a very talkative old man. (Now, I have to be descriptive about which old man I'm talking about at The Orleans because 75% of the player base is comprised of players over 55. I shit you not. Some much older than that. Like *much* older. It sort of smelled like death in there.)

The talkative old man was cheerful, and a bit odd. He started up a conversation with me, I'm sure he was just looking for any excuse, about my iPhone as I was struggling to send out a tweet (the connection is shit in that room.) He asked me playfully, "That thing make phone calls?" I couldn't tell if he was joking. I replied that it was mostly a portable computer that happens to also make phone calls from time to time. He seemed surprised. I still couldn't tell if he was being serious. He started to tell me that he'd never used a cell phone in his life, or a computer for that matter. I *still* couldn't tell if he was being serious, but I figured by now, I'd just play along just in case. He goes on and on about he just travels from place to place in his non-airconditioned camper, and that he's been doing so since 1962. He claimed he had no friends, no family, and no wife so he had no need for a cell phone. Who would he call? I asked him where he got money to live, and he said "here and there." I started to smell bullshit, but he was funny enough, so I kept playing along.

After a while, I picked up pocket tens and raised in early position because I don't know any better. The flop is QJ6 rainbow. I check. It's checked around to this Asian lady (lots of Asian ladies at The Orleans too, and not young hot ones, like old, wrinkly, bony ones.) The Asian lady bets $4. I fold. Another Asian lady who had previously checked angrily and quickly calls. It's an old Asian lady cat-fight! Seriously, these senior limit poker players (not just the old Asian ladies) are a crotchety old bunch, and they frequently and angrily throw in bets before their opponent has even finished their betting motion. The turn is an 8. Now the lady that had once checked, leads out for $8. The original betting lady insta-raises to $16, and the first lady insta-insta-calls. The river is a 2. No flush. The first lady angrily checks. The second lady angrily bets. The first lady angrily calls. The second lady turns of 4s 5s. 5 fucking high. The first lady flips over AK offsuit. Ace fucking high. Well, sonofabitch, my pocket tens would have been good. Either I suck or these ladies are terrible. Maybe both. After the hand, it is revealed that these ladies were adversaries, and that they knew each other quite well. Well, shit.

I fold a bunch of other crap and win one or two small pots. Then my name is called for Omaha HiLo. I'm UTG, so I decide to take a free hand even though I'm already racking up my chips. Ts Tc. Shit. Again? I look at my stacks. I'm down $2 for the session. Fuck it. I raise to $8. Call. Call. Call. I even got called by the talkative old man who was a pretty tight player. Flop comes 8s 9c 2h. Seems good to me. I get checked to so I lead out for $4. Fold. Fold. Call. Mr. Talkie is still with me. Turn comes a 4c. Talkie checks. I lead out for $8. He calls. River is a King. River is a 6. He checks. I bet. He folds. Since I'm leaving the table, I show my pocket tens. He says, "I missed my straight draw," and shows me JT. Good, old man. Good. I take my stack over to the HiLo table, and I find that I'm up $26.

Session 6: The Orleans $4/$8 FL Omaha HiLo
In: $426 Out: $220 Time: 6 hours 15 minutes

At first, I did OK. That is to say, I didn't lose a lot. I played very tight. Waited for hands with scoop potential and rarely raised. I kept missing. The bleeding was steady and slow, but I was playing pretty solid poker.

Then I had a big hand. I had Ah Kh 2s 5c. I didn't raise because I didn't have a pair, but it was definitely playable. I called the $4 in late position, and the small blind raised to $8. The calling train started going around the table and of course I called. The flop was Th 8h 7h. Pretty good flop! I have two nut draws. The small blind leads out for $4. Call. Call. Call. Choo-Choo! The calling train was in full effect. I felt like I needed to build up this pot. I knew one (or both!) of draws was coming. It had to! I hadn't hit a big hand all fucking night. I raise to $8. Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chuga! Choo-Choo! The calling train kept on keeping on. I'm getting pretty excited now. Come on low heart card! Turn is a Jc. That's OK. That's OK. Now I have the nut straight draw, the nut flush draw, and the nut low draw. Small blind now checks. Everyone checks behind. I bet $8. It's coming! I know it. Small blind calls, and everyone else folds. C'mon river! 7s. Darn. No flush. No straight. Well, at least I made my low right? A 7 is below an 8. Small blind checks, and I lead out for $8 on the slim, slim hope that he was on a flush draw or something and can fold for $8. I've seen it happen. It's possible. Nope, he calls. I don't even look at what he flips over. I just flip over my hand and say, "Just a low." The dealer looks at my hand and pulls out the Ah Kh from my 2s 5c. Why is he pulling out the AK? I don't have a flush. Then I hear the guy next to me say, "There is no low." What do you mean there's no low? A 7 hit on the river… If you were paying attention, reader, you already realized my mistake. Yes, a low card hit the river: a 7, which paired the 7 from the flop. No low. Wow. How could I make such a stupid mistake? I mean, honestly, it only cost me another $8 and my pride in knowing that I misread an Omaha hand like a newb, but still… I don't mis-read boards. Other people do that. Shit.

From there it was all downhill. I didn't even go on tilt after that hand, but I never recovered from that blow. I continued to play tight, but I'd win very small pots, or split big ones. It was a tough, tough grind. I never could scoop a large enough pot that made me enough money. It was limit poker *and* you tended to split more often that not. If I'd make a huge high, the river would make a low possible and I'd lose half the pot to like a 7 low. I basically needed one of those hands that that other guy won when I fucked up and missed all my draws, just to get even. After I while, I loosened up. I started playing any A2 without regard for making a high. I lost a lot of those hands. A lot. Then I started playing any pair trying to flop a set. That's not smart. Lost more there. Before I knew it, I was down to under $100.

Now I *was* playing badly and losing a lot. And when I did win, the pots were so small that I couldn't gain ground. I got All-In a couple of times. That's never good in limit. I always swore I'd never let myself get down to All-In if I have money to put in from my wallet. But I did. Just another mistake. I guess I was just looking to get lucky and throw what I had in there. And I did a couple of times actually. I was down to $20 once and tripled up with Q2TK. Still, I was playing so horribly and my wins were so small that I was doomed. I busted.

Determined to make some money back, I re-bought for $200. I tightened up again, and did OK at first. I scooped a pot and got up to about $260, but again, the pots were just so small when I'd scoop, or I'd just split a large pot. My money kept dwindling. I started to believe that I couldn't beat this game. It was much too grindy for me. I got down to $220, and then just said fuck it. I was done with that shit. I couldn't take it anymore. I cashed out after 6+ hours. Down -$206. My first down session.

Session 7: The Orleans $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $320 Out: $216 Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

I took my $220 back to NL HE determined to make back my losses. And I sat down to a crazy, crazy, crazy table. There was a crotchety old Indian guy named "Patel" that was just angry as all fuck. I saw him make some really terrible moves and get really lucky over and over. He amassed a ton of chips. This could be good, right?

Two younger guys started to tease him and challenge him. This just pissed Patel off more. Ideally, you'd want a pissed off guy with lots of chips at your table, but this guy was just winning everything. I saw him call a $200 all-in on a flop of 6T6 with 22, and win. The other guy had AK. Then I saw the two young guys go at it against each other where one guy raised and re-raised and ended up calling, yes calling, an All-In with 45 offsuit versus the other young crazy guy's A9 suited. The small stack (A9s) had started the hand with like $300. A 5 hit the board and that was that. That was one young crazy guy gone.

Then Mr. 45 got in a huge hand with Patel. They had each bet and raised a stupid amount pre-flop. I think it was heads up and there was like $100 in the pot pre-flop. The board came all hearts. They both checked. The turn came a harmless looking card, and Patel bet $60, and Mr. 45 raised to $200. Patel thought about it for a while and angrily (the only way he did anything was angrily) went All-In for like $900. Mr 45 had about $700. Eventually, he calls. The river pairs the board. Patel angrily (haha) flips over the nut flush. Ace-Rag hearts. Mr. 45 is stunned. He flips over K-rag of hearts. Wow.

Having destroyed the two boisterous young guys with all the money, Patel starts racking up his chips…. Noooooo! :-( The table breaks shortly thereafter without me having taken much of anything from any of the crazy players.

I get moved to a new table and there is a guy drunk as fuck creating a lot of action. Yes! Unfortuntely, *he* cashes out 15 minutes later after destroying AA with 99 on a flop of 974 for a $600 pot. Now my new table is dead quiet. $12 pre-flop starts to take down pots without a flop. Great.

I sit around forever before I make the worst play of my trip. Even worse than the Omaha HiLo fiasco.

I pick up AK offsuit on the button. It's raised to $15 pre-flop by the guy two to my right. The guy between us calls. I smooth call. There is one other caller. The flop comes AQ7 rainbow. It's checked to the initial raiser. He bets $7. The guy to my right calls. I raise it to $22. The first caller folds. The raiser calls. The guy to my right calls. The turn is a 9. Pretty harmless. It's check-check to me. I lead out for $50. The initial raiser makes it $150. The guy to my right insta-folds. I think about it forever. Normally, I fold here. I can't beat anything but a bluff here. There is no flush or straight. Did he flop a set? Does he have AQ? I start to think he has AQ. I want to fold. I could out my stack. I have $130 behind the $50 I put in already. I start to fold. Then I say "All-In". Ugh. Why? The guy calls. He flips over AQ. Jesus. River is a blank.

I re-buy for another $100. I still don't go on tilt. I fold the next few hands and then pick up AQ myself. There are a lot of limpets, then I pop it to $15. I get two callers. The flop is AQ3. This looks familiar. This time it's in my favor. It's checked to me. I bet $10. The small blind calls. The other guy folds. The turn is another Ace. Yes! The small blind checks, and I check like I'm afraid of the 2nd Ace. The river is a harmless 8. The guy checks, and I think about it for a while and decide to just shove to make it look like a steal. It works. The guy calls for $75 more. He had A5.

Soon after my double up, the table starts to dwindle. We get down to 6, then 5, then 3 players. The game breaks. Boo. I didn't get to make up all the money. What a shitty session.

I still have more than a week to make it all back, plus some, right? Until next time...