Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

I played the $150 8 or Better at Orleans yesterday. Bloody loved it, had a great time, I really miss playing Live Poker, & these days only get to play in Vegas or at the SPT's. I guess I could toddle across to DTD which is 15 minutes away from home, but I doubt they do much by way of low buy-in PLO8 MTT's or cash stuff.

I never troubled the judges, but with 63 entries it paid 8 places & I finished 11th, which considering the finer nuances of Limit Poker are lost on me, was quite reasonable I thought.

In the late stages & with a fast structure, (the pots get surprisingly big very quickly in Limit) it becomes very easy to play at the sharp end, you just have to find a hand & go with it. Forget getting anyone off a hand pre, it ain't ever gonna happen. I found a few hands when needed & survived until there were 11 left, at which point I met my demise when Billy Big Stack called my open & I flopped 4 to the nut low & 4 to the nut flush in spades, can't hope for much better really. Whatever the flop was I had to go with anyway. My man flopped the straight, the low missed & the crucial spade was elusive. There's always that 10 minutes of "if only" but no complaints at all. Might just play it again next week.

Outside of my efforts, there were a couple of interesting things though.

More follows...

[tikay]

The Curious Case of the Starting Stacks

The website stated (& still does) 20,000 starting chips;



$10,000 Guaranteed
$150 Buy In
20,000 Chips
20 Minute Levels


https://static.boydgaming.net/orleanscasino10/media/downloads/TO_Tournament_Structures_2023.pdf


...whereas the printed structure sheet at the Venue said 30,000.

Click to see full-size image.

We were issued with 30,000. That'll do nicely, off we go.

We only had 4 tables to start with, & at the first break they opened two new tables to get late regs in, & to balance the tables the BB from each existing table was moved to one of the new tables. I was the BB so I was amongst those that got moved to a new table.

So my new table had a mixture of new entries, & BB's that had been moved.

Fella next to me - gruff sort of chap, who had been a moved BB - spots the stacks issued to the new players are 30,000 & complains that he was only issued with 20,000 at his table.  

Dealer was a bit dismissive, player goes from pop to bang in a flash, "are you calling me a liar?" sorta thing, Dealer does not want to know, fella tells Dealer to GFY, floor is called, nobody is backing down & he eventually gets told he's disqualified for being abusive. (He was very abusive, it must be said). He continues to harangue the Floor & now another fella claims he was only issued with 20,000 too.

The clock was still ticking & 8 of the 20 minutes of the Level had already gone before it was paused. (The other tables continued playing).

Now Mr Floor realises Gruff Bloke was telling the truth - two of the 4 starting tables HAD been issued with 20,000, the other two got 30,000.  

Oh dear, how do they get out of that one?

Course, by now the chancers have spotted an opening & all sorts of players are claiming to have been issued with just 20,000.

Eventually, the short-changed players were all given an extra 10,000 & the fella who got DQ'd gets reinstated.

It gets even messier now, as 2 players who began with 20,000 had bust.... I don't actually know how they resolved the bustees, and to be fair, that was quite the dilemma.

The curious thing is how could it have happened? The "sets" of starting stacks were all in the Dealer's trays. Guess two or more staff distributed the chips & were on different wavelengths.

Most odd, & something I've never seen before.


More follows...

[tikay]

The great thing about Vegas poker is you get to share tables with all sorts.

To my immediate right for a while was a fella I'm sure Doobs has shared many a table with - "Miami John" Cernuto.

John has 3 WSOP Bracelets, though they were back in the day. He's 79 years old & I imagine the game has passed him by somewhat by now, but he still knows the score.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cernuto

In some ways, a surprise to see him playing bowl tourneys round town, but fair play to him for still being competitive at his age. And I do enjoy the vagaries of variance which enables regular guys like me to sit next to these fellas.

He's exceptionally argumentative though, always has been, & we saw a perfect example of it.

The clock ticks over into the next level during a hand, & John is BB next hand. The new hand is dealt, John puts in 800, Dealer says "blinds went up, it's 1,000".

John refuses on the grounds "it's not been announced". Huh? It kicks off, Floor come over & put him straight, it's 1,000, get on with it.

And here's the thing. John's been pokering for at least 36 years, his earliest stated cash was in 1987;



https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=43


I mean, how did he go 36 years without understanding that most basic of things? The plasma clearly showed the new levels, & I don't see why it has to be announced. Even if not announced, what's the problem, it's only 200 chips from a starting 30,000? And even if he's right, is it really worth having a ruck for 200 chips?

Considering his experience, it struck me as most odd.




 

[tikay]

Whenever I have seen Miami John play, he's always close up & personal with one particular young lady, & by their demeanour I assume they are either partners or married.

And if you think John is salty, you should see this lady in action, she is seriously disputatious.

I used to share Big O Cash Tables at The Rio with her, & she'd summon the floor 8 or 10 times per session. Very abrasive too, so some might say easy to dislike.

But my oh my, she is some stunning looking lady for her (assumed) age. Lovely posture & figure, perfect teeth, high cheekbones, fine nose, always shows a tantalising hint of cleavage, blonde hair in a bun, & unlike so many these days has not had her very fine lips hydraulically enhanced. She must surely have been a model in her time. It's her hands & arms that give the game away though, she's not far behind John but could easily pass for early fifties, maybe mid-forties in poor light. She utterly fascinates me & I have to be careful she does not catch me staring, as I can't help myself.

True to form, she kicked off twice last night, shouting & screaming big time. I mean, there's no correlation between looks & temperament, but to look at her, butter would not melt.

LOVE meeting all these characters & I just sit there quietly & absorb it all. It's very much part of the pleasure of Live poker.

[tikay]

OK, can't sit here nattering all day, I have work to do. Sort of work.

[Kid Grimsby]

You can natter all day, everyday Tony, Sue & I are loving the verbiage

[Karabiner]

Did you not get a chance/dare to take a picture of the "young" lady?

Thoroughly enjoying your nattering Tony, it's just like old times..

[redsimon]

dont know if they stopped it but back in 2018/19 orleans gave mtt players extra chips if they played at least 2 hours cash before mtt started.

[tikay]

You can natter all day, everyday Tony, Sue & I are loving the verbiage

Thanks Dave, & xx to Sue.

Vegas is heaving right now, but the traffic chaos caused by the F1 preparation work is spoiling it for many, the whole place is gridlocked 24 hours per day. Just took me 90 minutes to drive from  the Airport to Palazzo.  

Here's the F1 track, as you can see it goes right through the very busiest areas, & every inch of road has to be re-configured (kerbs, bollards etc) & re-paved. No idea what they will do with the palm trees on the Median strip on the Strip.






Here's the view (today) from my room.

For those not familiar with Vegas, that's Sands Avenue right below. (Note the single lane traffic queued up for miles).

It'll make a fabulous viewing vantage for the Grand Prix, though the rates for this very room that week will by a 5 figure sum for the weekend.

You can also see the Sphere - obv - which will soon have U2 doing a 29 night residency. Dread to think what U2 are being paid.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Did you not get a chance/dare to take a picture of the "young" lady?

Thoroughly enjoying your nattering Tony, it's just like old times..

Hi Ralph,

I wanted to, but I was too scared, in case she beat the shit out of me. I expect we'll cross paths later in the trip as they play all the 4 card split pot stuff & I'll be playing them too, so I'll be braver next time.

I can't deny, I  do miss the Diary & I enjoy waffling away when time permits, but the trouble is I never use 1 word when I can use 5. Generally, I'm kept busy Next Door, & as that's partly why they pay me, it has to take preference. But with the laptop probs & Geo-Blocking, I've had the perfect excuse the last few days to do a bit of writerage.  In effect, I'm on my hollibobs, so that eases my conscience.

Change of topic, but how is your wrist now? Able to golf OK yet? And will you be fit for your golf day on, IIRC, Monday week??

[tikay]

dont know if they stopped it but back in 2018/19 orleans gave mtt players extra chips if they played at least 2 hours cash before mtt started.

Not that I'm aware Simon, though all the Rooms are doing August Promos. They are running a standard "High Hand" Promo though.

[tikay]

Can anyone beat this?

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Which brings us neatly back to addictions, Costa Coffee this time, or "Motorway Coffee" as I call it.

Dave Colclough (RIP) got me into that in about 2004, & I was soon up to a minimum of one per day. First job every morning, go to the nearest Costa Coffee machine. And it's not that I particularly enjoyed it THAT much, except for that first sip that makes you make a weird "aaahhhh" noise. The rest of it was just habit.

Imagine how much I've spent on Costa Coffee addiction since 2004. I cured myself in about 2021, so that's 365 x 17 years @ say an average of £2.50. Must be the thick end of £15 ,000.

Now I get "fake" Latte at Tescos, it costs £0.20 per sachet  & I make it with boiling water. Not quite as good as the real thing but I still get that ahhhh moment for the first sip. Then I treat myself every Saturday to the real thing, & consider it an indulgence.

Addictions, eh?  I have/had plenty more too, but maybe they are best left for another day. Or not at all.

blonde, & this Diary was yet another addiction, eventually cured, though I'm having a temporary relapse it seems. Rehab is near at hand hopefully.








 

[tikay]

Here's another chunter...

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Gill arrives tonight, so we'll be off to Walmart tomorrow, where we can buy a case (one dozen bottles) of Sprite for less than the cost of a bottle of Fiji Water.

Walmart is amazeballs.