As promised, my report from Mandalay Bay. First off, this was my first visit to the Bay - no poker before = no point coming here! The tournaments were held in the middle of the casino which went down well with the smokers (not far to go for a smoke). Did not see one European or Brit - felt lonely as I love it when some of the guys are over. Where is Brian Wilson, he said he was playing? How many hands did you last Brian?
We started with 339 runners. Within two hours, we were down to less than 200. This was proving faster than online! By that time, I had played roughly six hands. Well…I had promised to play tight in order to have some material for the post! I think that some of the players must had read my initial post on the forum as one by one they kept trying to bluff me. The good thing was, I had easy calls every time. I then move tables and wait for the seventh hand to play…and wait… and wait. Finally, it arrives along with another costumer who is hell-bent on bluffing me. Again, I had another easy call to make and increase my starting stack of 2000 to 8000.
Just recently, I had watched a TV interview from one of the Americans who suggested that it may be wiser to play a little more solid nowadays, as there are many players out there who simply want to give their chips away. You know what? He may just be right! But you know something else? I don’t know if playing tight is much fun. Even though I must admit that most of my wins came by playing fairly tight, I do prefer the mix it and party style.
Anyway, back to the Bay. After four hours, we have lost over 220 players. I move tables again and on the table behind me, Amir Vehidi is trying to turn this into a one day event instead of the scheduled two by busting players left and right. My new table sucks as it’s pass, pass, pass every hand. Close to the end of the sixth hour and we are down to the last 50 players. I hover between 5K and 8K and then down to 3K. Jesus, the guy to my left seems to be getting all the good cards. Just as desperation moves are called for, I pick up the blinds and antes three hands in a row with genuine hands. I even go on to win a hand to get back to 11K, but then the crucial hand develops as I limp with
-Qs. The limp sets up a chain reaction as four others limp. The king high flop is good for me as I check-raise to set a lower stack all-in. He also has K-Q and we both have a runner runner flush draws. He gets there as two clubs hit and the comeback is wasted. I finally push all-in on the SB with K-9 after all have mucked before me. Did I mention that the guy to my left is getting some big hands? Well, he had Q-Q and I departed.
Strange thing is, this was only my seventh event in the US this year, and to be honest; I only worked out why last night at the Bay. It seems that poker doesn’t drive me any more. I still focus when I get out and play - its’ just the getting out that’s the problem! Perhaps I miss England sometimes. Perhaps I need to give Europe a shot. Who knows, maybe after being stuck in the Chippie for so long, I am actually enjoying life for a change. I know, I blame my new wife for introducing me to life away from poker. While on the subject, I have a friend over here who was once the manager of a casino in Leicester. He is now manager of the Monte Carlo here in Vegas. Anyway, he became my golf teacher many years ago when I first started the game. We also teamed up for football back in the days when we could both skip across the pitch like rabbits. Funny thing is, we now play golf on Wednesdays and football on Thursdays over here - who’d a thought it eh?
Sorry to blabber on but I am writing this while playing online - helps to keeps me playing tight!
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