Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Thewy took this earlier this morning, after we'd gone for a coffee & a chat.

Click to see full-size image.

[redsimon]

Looking forward to the San Diego etc trip pics, from Thewy's pic looks like the diet was successful

[tikay]

Looking forward to the San Diego etc trip pics, from Thewy's pic looks like the diet was successful

Be careful what you wish for, there are hundreds of them, I've had 4 such wonderful days, but first, a Stakers Update.

The diet? I shed just over a stone, & that's about right. It's going back on much easier though.

[tikay]

Stakers Update - Venetian, Saturday 30th May, $600 PLO

A little late, but it's all go here. Come Wednesday, I'll have more free time & will try & update daily.

Just a reminder, there'll not be acres of hand histories, it'll be more the mental side of things, & a bit of quirky stuff, hopefully it'll not be too boring.

I'd waited so long for this day, like a kid waiting to go on holiday, or on Xmas morning.

The last year at work has been a real challenge again, what with players who have an exaggerated sense of entitlement, or are just plain rude, & it's been quite stressful on the Office side of things, too, but that's another story, for another day.

What it meant was that I could not wait to take a bit of a break, & play some Live poker. Real people, face to face, I love it, people are much nicer to each other in real life compared to the internet. So, quite literally, I'd been counting the sleeps from a long way out.

I've had a bad year in Live Poker, starting in Vegas a year ago, prior to which I had cashed something like 7 from 10 in PLO & PLO8 Live Jobbies in 7 months. Vegas last year, MTT wise, was a disaster, one measly cash, & since then, albeit from a small sample, my form card reads F F PU 0 UR R F F O O, & I might even have gained a Timeform squiggle.

So confidence is all over the shop, & I was as nervous as a kitten. Have I lost my game is the recurring thought? I've doe OK Online, or had done prior to February, but I've not played Online since the February UKPC, as it stressed me to pieces, & I just needed to chill a bit in the evenings, especially as there was so much bad blood about, much of which fell to me to field.

Anyway, I paid in, took my seat, & was trembling with a mixture of excitement & fear. Starting with a $600 jobbie was not ideal, something smaller would have been better, but it is what it is.

More follows.....

[tikay]

I wanted to relish every moment, & with age, the little details seem to count for so much.

Soon it was shuffle up & deal, & yes yes yes, I was feeling real cards in my hands, sat next to real people, talking & everything.

I squeeze every card dealt to me, but in a variety of ways - one at a time, in pairs, or three at once - maybe, say - 9-10-J - & then a slow squeeze, SHOW ME A QUEEN OR 8 PLEASE sorta thing.

In a 10 hour session, that's a whole lot of squeezes & fun.

I passed for a few orbits, so I could settle down mentally, now was not the right time to pre-ejaculate.

Soon I knew who was doing what, & was ready to play, & to my surprise, I won a good few hands & had decent chips. Boom, now we can have some fun.

So I'm sat there, in The Venetian, opposite the Sports Betting Hall, where they have 30 or more plasmas, showing horse racing, Baseball, MMA, NBA, & NHL (Ice Hockey). Think the Ice Hockey was the Stanley Cup, & there was much excitement every tome one or other Team scored, the atmo was just brilliant. I had not realised how popular NJL was.

And whilst all that sport is being shown, right in front of me, I'm playing a lovely PLO affair, with, largely, decent people.

What a life.  

[tikay]

I was seated on a table plum adjacent to the desk used by the "Floor", & there was a right ruck going off, with over 50 alternates awaiting a seat.

Every seat & table in The Venetian was full, there was not a spare seat in the room, must have been close to 1,000 seated across the room as a whole.

The PLO had a $30,000 Guarantee, but made $99,000, so you can imagine the problem.

Some kid was being shocking rude to the Staff, "you sold me a seat under false pretences, bla bla bla", & his bottom lip was quivering. They told him he might get seated, failing that, he'd get his money back, but he was having none of it, he was being more & more obnoxious & rude to the Staff. How do people get it in their mind that shouting & hollering & being rude to people just doing their job is the ideal way to solve a problem? They have a lot to learn if they think that, & I guess life will always be tough for them.

I'm not a big fan of schadenfreude, but it did tickle me when Mr Angry eventually got a seat, & dusted off his entire stack in Orbit One with A-K-3-3 v The Aces, & then got a proper curly lip "I run so bad, this is sick, so so sick"........I nearly offered to buy him a Thesaurus, but thought better of it.

Bleurgh.

I had a really weird Italian guy to my right, & I had him marked down as someone I could get paid off by, big time. He limp called EVERY hand, check called, & at the merest sign of weakness on the river, would pot it. He only got called once, & he had bottom two. Try as I might, however, I could never find a hand to go to war with him. Guess I should have widened my range, but I don't find that easy, I'm super patient & nitty, & I just don't find it easy to play bad hands. I don't wait for Aces, not at all, but I do want cards that work together, or position, or both.

Sadly, he got moved, & so I missed my chance, but I had plenty of chips, & we were soon in sight of the money. Is it possible I could cash, first time out? It looked that way, I was having a ball, & nobody on the Table (with one exception) was bothering me, most of the players seemed to be playing 4 card NLH, or just limping into every pot with poo.

More follows.....

[booder]

I look forward to your trip reports more and more each year.

Excellent penmanship.

[tikay]

The one player on the Table I found a right handful was this chap.......

Click to see full-size image.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=307657

His claim to fame on blonde, arguably, was this Tourney, which was won by Mr J Dempsey.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=40096

Oddly, he had been on my table in my first Vegas event last year, & we'd both finalled (as 1st & 2nd Chippy), & he'd busted me on the bubble in 8th, him with 6-7-8-9 & me with Aces on an x-6-8 flop. That seemed a bad omen last year, as I went on to have a miserable record, so I was not thrilled to see him, but as it happens, we've become good mates, & I like him muchly. Away from the Table, he has given me some help with my game, too.

He has a ton of gamble in him - "don't play PLO if you don't like a gamble" resonated a bit scarily with me, but he was true to his word. Hand of the day was 5 limpers into his Big, he potted it & got THREE callers. So, OOP, 4 way. It came all paint, with a possible flush & a paired board, was checked all round twice, & then he fired out on the river, & they all folded like good little children should. He could not resist showing, his hand was something like 8-6-4-4. Bravo Sir.

Anyway, after swinging & swonging all evening he bust, so things got easier for me, as he was 3 to my left, & acting as a sentry to me, & he knew my game.

One other interesting character on the table, but only the old timers would remember him......

[Marky147]

I look forward to your trip reports more and more each year.

Excellent penmanship.

Most definitely this.

[tikay]

This man was, back in the day, very famous, & not only as a poker player - he is, or was, one of the best Backgammon players & teachers of his day, apparently. I would imagine Camel, Karabiner & other assorted oldies may remember him, but he'll not be on the radar of too many youngsters.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Magriel

Note the date of his first recorded Live Cash......

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=466




He used to be known as "X-22" or "Ducks" as I recall, "ducks" because (groan) he always said "quack quack" when he had 2-2, & "X-22" is some sort of backgammon reference I gather.

Some 10 or 12 years ago, he commissioned Jen Mason to co-author a book with him, but the milk went a bit sour, & it never happened.

Sad to report, he does not seem to be a terribly well man these days, either mentally or physically, but he still has a useful PLO game, & knows the maths side very well indeed.

It was hard to look at him to be honest, as he really is not in good shape right now. He seems to have quite a physical problem, too, which he tries to hide in the weirdest way.

I found it all terribly sad to be honest, & I hope he gets over his problems. It was, apart from me not cashing, the only cloud on an otherwise lovely day, which was itself sandwiched between three fabulous days for me one way & another.

[BigAdz]

Oh dear.

The day I became an assorted oldie. Official.

[redsimon]

Bugger, that makes me an old timer

[Marky147]

X22 Magriel...

Makes me one, too

[tikay]

Anyway, back to the poker.

By late evening, I was loving it, plenty of chips, nobody giving me problems, & I was dancing a bit, such as I can.  Cash? I can't fail.

And then, of course, one hand ruined everything.

The difference here was I had no intention of being pushed off my hand, & I lead into my man every street. The fear of busting just shy of the money never entered my head, even though I SO wanted to get off to a good start, & repair my flaky confidence & self-esteem.

My hand was (something like, I forget the exact details) 6-7-8-9 ccdd, & I flopped 2 pairs, an open ender, & 4 to the flush. (K-7-6, 2 diamonds).

My man had a better flush draw though, & he got there. 

So, a bit of a bummer, but I can't have too many regrets, it was a nice pipe opener, & the whole experience was everything I dreamed of, all though those dark, cold, winter months.

Lovely day, really lovely.

Next up, the Golden Nugget PLO, then the dreaded holiday snaps......

First, though, I need to go mow the lawn.

Am off to Mt Charlston tonight, & the Las Vegas Ski Resort, for dinner at Mt Charlston Lodge, & some wildlife spotting.




http://mtcharlestonlodge.com/


Here's the Menu - looks like Fish & Chips for me. Mmm. Gotta live the dream, right?


http://mtcharlestonlodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Mt-Charleston-Lodge-menu.pdf

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Oh dear.

The day I became an assorted oldie. Official.

Oops, I managed to upset half of blonde in a single sentence. Proper jackpot, that.

He really was quite a name & face back in the day. I'm sure the kids would eat him alive these days, but I still respect these guys - in relative terms, they were decent players at the time.