Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Chufty, weaving his magic in the $10k Limit O8 a few minutes ago.

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Amazingly, as I went to take trelski's (?) photo, he offered a handshake & said "Hi Tony".

I was a bit non-plussed, as I was not aware we had ever met, & I said as much.

He said "yes, of course we know each other, you are from Sky Poker & blondepoker, & we have played together @ Golden Nugget & Wynn".

Who'd have thought?

Seems a decent chap, so I'm rooting for him now. 

I never knew Doobs 'Stars alias (or forgot it) or I would have mentioned you to him, but we got a bit confused & he thought you may have been "Turkish Dave". 

[Marky_Crash]

Jeff Kimber bragging on twitter about getting 1k over ICM in some tourney or other.  Would hate to be on the other side of that deal!




PS from what you said, I think our share was probably about right.  

Well I was happy to play on, but "Chicago" (red shirt, baseball cap) was desperate to deal.

The stacks were very lopsided. Think there were 2.7 milly chips in play, Jeff had 2.1 milly, Chicago around 300k, & the remaining three of us had 300k between us, with blinds at 10,000-20,000.

I had a good a chance as any of laddering into 3rd place, equally, I could go busto next hand.

Part of the reasoning for Jeff doing Business (it was not his idea), was that he wanted to watch the England v Wales game I believe. This sounds a bit odd, but I think he was keen to see me get a nice score, too. That's not to say we took it easy against each other though, we clashed plenty of times, & he wrested a pot or 2 from me along the way.

It was interesting to see a really experienced Pro take control of a final table the way Jeff did, especially as, as far as I know, he had never played Big O in his life previously. Think he really enjoyed it, too. I certainly did, was one of the most enjoyable days poker I can remember in many a year.

I never explained my busto yesterday at Golden Nugget, but it was a horrible cooler, when Mr Loose got there despite being utterly dominated. There were 30 or so left, & that coup would have put me in a great position to Final, but maybe I used up too much run good the day before.

Today, I'm on work catch up after 2 days AWOL.

Wednesday was such an odd day, it was really sad to take Gill to the Airport & see her off, then I went & played poker for 16 hours & had a ball. Real bitter sweet stuff.

No more Tourneys now until Sunday, when I'm scheduled to play the $600 PLO @ Venetian, so Friday night & Saturday night I'll be playing Big O cash @ Rio. Only played 2 cash sessions so far, which was before Gill arrived, as I did not want to be playing cash all night when she was here, but I'm a few bob ahead at Cash, & really enjoy those sessions.

Meanwhile, I have 3 Blogs to write, all for different things - the Sky Sports page, the Vegas blog, & another non-Vegas one for Sky Poker. Best push on. It's 0130 here, & it'll be 4am at best before I get done.

All good. Vegas is just great.

It cannot compare to the £3.30 OH8 DYM's surely!

Couple of questions if you have the time...

Do you know if the 'Big O' at the Venetian have all the same straddle and $10 on the dealer button stuff @ $1-2 like the Rio does?

When hiring a car these days in Vegas do you need anything apart from drivers license, passport and $$? I remember the DVLA bringing in some crazy new rules since I last hired a car in Vegas but im not sure how much the USA car companies bother with it.

Good luck in the cash sessions, hopefully you can play even more freely and kick some serious **** now you have a nice cash in the bag and have one on the board

The Rio Big O games - of which there are always 5 or 6 running - are now labelled "$1-$2-$5", meaning it is $1 $2 Blinds, but with a MANDATORY $5 Button straddle. In effect, the $1 & $2 chips don't play, except for posting blinds.

The $5 $5 Big O Game does not have the mandatory straddle, as far as I am aware.

I've not played Big O @ Venetian so far this trip, so don't know what the deal is there, but the last time I did, they had no mandatory straddle. Be warned though, there is a trio of local reprobates who "play together" in the Venetian game, & do so quite openly. I refuse to sit with them, & have done for some years.    


Also, I note you exchanged posts with Rod Paradise - if I'm not mistaken, you might be near neighbours, think both of you live in Argyll, or somewhere equally dreadful.

Is Dad looking forward to his Vegas trip?

Cheers Tikay, was just slightly concerned about the game playing effectively as $5 PL as although I could plop in a buy in or 2, it would be ideal to feel I had more 'buy ins' in my pocket so the stakes in no way affect the way I would approach the game. I will see how flush I am and maybe have a bash at it or try and chip up in other cash games first so I feel I am semi freerolling with any buy ins at the $1-$2-$5.

If I try the Venetian I will keep my eye out for any players in cahoots!

Lol @ 'Argyll or somewhere equally dreadful' I guess you mean Ayrshire... The part I am in 'Saltcoats' isn't anything to write home about and has more than it's fair share of deprivation but Ayrshire as a whole is pretty stunning on it's day! Maybe need to try and persuade you up here one day with the offer of free sticky buns or something so you can see for yourself.

My dad surprisingly seems very excited about the trip. He took a bit of convincing as he doesn't like the heat and has rarely been abroad apart from a school trip to Belgium 50 years ago and when I dragged him to Spain 20 years ago. He has most of his stuff packed and is telling me about stuff going on at the Venetian Not sure what I am looking forward to the most, going to Vegas myself or seeing my dad over there, it will be an eye opener for him!

Brilliant to see you kicking some %^&% both in the MTT's and the Cash games! Hope you are having a great time, good luck in the upcoming games and looking forward to the next blog installments (I am guessing the LVPD incident will be sidestepped in the blogs ).

Thanks Marky.

The $1 $2 $5 Big O @ The Rio has a min pull up of $100 & a max pull up of $500, but it plays very passive on most tables. Generally 4 or 5 limpers, sometimes an open to $15/$20/$25, which will attract 2 or 3 callers. Very rare indeed to see a 3 bet pre, so $500 is fine.

Apologies for "Argyll", I genuinely mixed it up with Ayrshire. It's all much the same, anyway.

Be great for your Dad. When Gill is here, the kick I get is seeing her so excited about everything, & it will be the same for you, with your Dad. Heat warning though - it is 44c today, (111f), expected to rise to 46c (115f).

 

Ah cool, I will have a 'reasonable amount' set aside for cash games, just was a bit wary of every pot being a $1k 4bet preflop shovefest and the possibility of running awful and blowing the cash game fund in an hour lol. I will get a feel for it quickly and make whatever adjustments need to be made.

Have been testing my NLHE cash game out too (always favoured MTT's & SNG's) and am very consistently profiting on the sites I have tested this out on and over a reasonable sample size so am hoping to mix some NLHE into the mix too. Whatever I play I am chomping at the bit to get out there and mix it up! Last year seems like a lifetime ago...

I noticed the temperatures, next week looks like low-mid 40's too, my dad was asking if he should take warmer clothing incase it gets 'really cold' at night lol... I remember one night when I was there last year it was close to 110 degrees at 11pm. So if you see someone wandering around with a scarf and gloves on in the evening there is a fair chance it is my dad

[tikay]

Played Big O Cash again last night.

The tables were less fun last night, very chuntery, & the PA systems were very loud, to the point of annoyance. They have 3 PA systems in that room, & it's constant "open seating at $50 $100 NLH", or "seat for so & so at $75 $150 PLO", just back to back, for hours on end.  With 80 or 90 cash tables on the go, its inevitable I suppose, but it was a tad tiresome at high volume. 

My $500 pull up swung between $300 & $700 for hours, then I did the lot in a bad spot, probably not my best play, but I got a bit pot stuck with 2nd 2nd, & hoped by the end I might salvage at last half, maybe three quarters. Then my man announced "nut nut", lol.

I pulled up another $500, & again, it swung & swong until I eventually hit a whopper, with the flopped wheel & rivered quad deuces. I was playing it slow, as we were 3 handed, & I wanted to keep them all in until the river with my redraw possibility. First to act, I potted the river, one guy folded, the other guy stood up, stared at the board, back at his cards, then at the board again. "CALL" he says eventually, with the nut boat. I showed my wheel & quads,. & the poor chap looked utterly crestfallen, maybe it was his case money, but he disappeared sharpish, tail between legs, & I felt a tinge of conscience.

Could not find a "good" table all night, nor one where the bants were good, so I upped sticks early (2am) & booked a small profit of $125. Pleno can sleep easy, he wins 5 BI's, & I win 0.25 BI's after a 6 hour session. Marv.

[Marky_Crash]

Amazingly, as I went to take trelski's (?) photo, he offered a handshake & said "Hi Tony".

I was a bit non-plussed, as I was not aware we had ever met, & I said as much.

He said "yes, of course we know each other, you are from Sky Poker & blondepoker, & we have played together @ Golden Nugget & Wynn".

Who'd have thought?

Seems a decent chap, so I'm rooting for him now.  

I never knew Doobs 'Stars alias (or forgot it) or I would have mentioned you to him, but we got a bit confused & he thought you may have been "Turkish Dave".  

Had no idea what he looked like, think his avatar on stars was his daughter or a dark haired girl. Hope he takes it down! Used to play the $109 daily oh8 with him every other day on stars from around 2008-2009 (no idea if he would remember or not), he was always a pleasant chap at the tables. He used to have a nice aggressive edge back then but I never had him pegged as a 'spanner merchant' or anything, always showed up with a relatively solid hand but would put you to some tough decisions and also wasn't scared to play a pot.

[tikay]

Jeff Kimber bragging on twitter about getting 1k over ICM in some tourney or other.  Would hate to be on the other side of that deal!




PS from what you said, I think our share was probably about right.  

Well I was happy to play on, but "Chicago" (red shirt, baseball cap) was desperate to deal.

The stacks were very lopsided. Think there were 2.7 milly chips in play, Jeff had 2.1 milly, Chicago around 300k, & the remaining three of us had 300k between us, with blinds at 10,000-20,000.

I had a good a chance as any of laddering into 3rd place, equally, I could go busto next hand.

Part of the reasoning for Jeff doing Business (it was not his idea), was that he wanted to watch the England v Wales game I believe. This sounds a bit odd, but I think he was keen to see me get a nice score, too. That's not to say we took it easy against each other though, we clashed plenty of times, & he wrested a pot or 2 from me along the way.

It was interesting to see a really experienced Pro take control of a final table the way Jeff did, especially as, as far as I know, he had never played Big O in his life previously. Think he really enjoyed it, too. I certainly did, was one of the most enjoyable days poker I can remember in many a year.

I never explained my busto yesterday at Golden Nugget, but it was a horrible cooler, when Mr Loose got there despite being utterly dominated. There were 30 or so left, & that coup would have put me in a great position to Final, but maybe I used up too much run good the day before.

Today, I'm on work catch up after 2 days AWOL.

Wednesday was such an odd day, it was really sad to take Gill to the Airport & see her off, then I went & played poker for 16 hours & had a ball. Real bitter sweet stuff.

No more Tourneys now until Sunday, when I'm scheduled to play the $600 PLO @ Venetian, so Friday night & Saturday night I'll be playing Big O cash @ Rio. Only played 2 cash sessions so far, which was before Gill arrived, as I did not want to be playing cash all night when she was here, but I'm a few bob ahead at Cash, & really enjoy those sessions.

Meanwhile, I have 3 Blogs to write, all for different things - the Sky Sports page, the Vegas blog, & another non-Vegas one for Sky Poker. Best push on. It's 0130 here, & it'll be 4am at best before I get done.

All good. Vegas is just great.

It cannot compare to the £3.30 OH8 DYM's surely!

Couple of questions if you have the time...

Do you know if the 'Big O' at the Venetian have all the same straddle and $10 on the dealer button stuff @ $1-2 like the Rio does?

When hiring a car these days in Vegas do you need anything apart from drivers license, passport and $$? I remember the DVLA bringing in some crazy new rules since I last hired a car in Vegas but im not sure how much the USA car companies bother with it.

Good luck in the cash sessions, hopefully you can play even more freely and kick some serious **** now you have a nice cash in the bag and have one on the board

The Rio Big O games - of which there are always 5 or 6 running - are now labelled "$1-$2-$5", meaning it is $1 $2 Blinds, but with a MANDATORY $5 Button straddle. In effect, the $1 & $2 chips don't play, except for posting blinds.

The $5 $5 Big O Game does not have the mandatory straddle, as far as I am aware.

I've not played Big O @ Venetian so far this trip, so don't know what the deal is there, but the last time I did, they had no mandatory straddle. Be warned though, there is a trio of local reprobates who "play together" in the Venetian game, & do so quite openly. I refuse to sit with them, & have done for some years.    


Also, I note you exchanged posts with Rod Paradise - if I'm not mistaken, you might be near neighbours, think both of you live in Argyll, or somewhere equally dreadful.

Is Dad looking forward to his Vegas trip?

Cheers Tikay, was just slightly concerned about the game playing effectively as $5 PL as although I could plop in a buy in or 2, it would be ideal to feel I had more 'buy ins' in my pocket so the stakes in no way affect the way I would approach the game. I will see how flush I am and maybe have a bash at it or try and chip up in other cash games first so I feel I am semi freerolling with any buy ins at the $1-$2-$5.

If I try the Venetian I will keep my eye out for any players in cahoots!

Lol @ 'Argyll or somewhere equally dreadful' I guess you mean Ayrshire... The part I am in 'Saltcoats' isn't anything to write home about and has more than it's fair share of deprivation but Ayrshire as a whole is pretty stunning on it's day! Maybe need to try and persuade you up here one day with the offer of free sticky buns or something so you can see for yourself.

My dad surprisingly seems very excited about the trip. He took a bit of convincing as he doesn't like the heat and has rarely been abroad apart from a school trip to Belgium 50 years ago and when I dragged him to Spain 20 years ago. He has most of his stuff packed and is telling me about stuff going on at the Venetian Not sure what I am looking forward to the most, going to Vegas myself or seeing my dad over there, it will be an eye opener for him!

Brilliant to see you kicking some %^&% both in the MTT's and the Cash games! Hope you are having a great time, good luck in the upcoming games and looking forward to the next blog installments (I am guessing the LVPD incident will be sidestepped in the blogs ).

Thanks Marky.

The $1 $2 $5 Big O @ The Rio has a min pull up of $100 & a max pull up of $500, but it plays very passive on most tables. Generally 4 or 5 limpers, sometimes an open to $15/$20/$25, which will attract 2 or 3 callers. Very rare indeed to see a 3 bet pre, so $500 is fine.

Apologies for "Argyll", I genuinely mixed it up with Ayrshire. It's all much the same, anyway.

Be great for your Dad. When Gill is here, the kick I get is seeing her so excited about everything, & it will be the same for you, with your Dad. Heat warning though - it is 44c today, (111f), expected to rise to 46c (115f).

 

Ah cool, I will have a 'reasonable amount' set aside for cash games, just was a bit wary of every pot being a $1k 4bet preflop shovefest and the possibility of running awful and blowing the cash game fund in an hour lol. I will get a feel for it quickly and make whatever adjustments need to be made.

Have been testing my NLHE cash game out too (always favoured MTT's & SNG's) and am very consistently profiting on the sites I have tested this out on and over a reasonable sample size so am hoping to mix some NLHE into the mix too. Whatever I play I am chomping at the bit to get out there and mix it up! Last year seems like a lifetime ago...

I noticed the temperatures, next week looks like low-mid 40's too, my dad was asking if he should take warmer clothing incase it gets 'really cold' at night lol... I remember one night when I was there last year it was close to 110 degrees at 11pm. So if you see someone wandering around with a scarf and gloves on in the evening there is a fair chance it is my dad

I feared the same, but it is super passive, & $500 is plenty. Very rare to see a 3 bet pre, it's mostly amateurs.

There is the odd tough table, but there are generally 5 tables running, so you can table select. 

[RED-DOG]

Mexican? What Mexican? I've obviously missed something somewhere.

[tikay]

Amazingly, as I went to take trelski's (?) photo, he offered a handshake & said "Hi Tony".

I was a bit non-plussed, as I was not aware we had ever met, & I said as much.

He said "yes, of course we know each other, you are from Sky Poker & blondepoker, & we have played together @ Golden Nugget & Wynn".

Who'd have thought?

Seems a decent chap, so I'm rooting for him now. 

I never knew Doobs 'Stars alias (or forgot it) or I would have mentioned you to him, but we got a bit confused & he thought you may have been "Turkish Dave". 

Had no idea what he looked like, think his avatar on stars was his daughter or a dark haired girl. Hope he takes it down! Used to play the $109 daily oh8 with him every other day on stars from around 2008-2009 (no idea if he would remember or not), he was always a pleasant chap at the tables. He used to have a nice aggressive edge back then but I never had him pegged as a 'spanner merchant' or anything, always showed up with a relatively solid hand but would put you to some tough decisions and wasn't scared to play a pot.

I only saw him play 1 hand whilst I was watching, & it was normal stuff, A-Q-3-x.

[MANTIS01]

My advice to the silver rogue as we embark on the next chapter of the staking adventure is this. Take a long hard look at that photo after winning the other night. See how you looked all mean, moody and surly? That's how you should look from the very first hand! I would also casually leave that arrest report lying on the table next to your chips. Do both these things and nobody will fuck with you. At least they will be forewarned about the destination of their asshole if they tangle with you.

Look, I was NOT ARRESTED. It was just a misunderstanding, & the Mexican guy got a bit paranoid because my car has no registration plates, & I never had my driving licence or insurance with me.

Actually, I DID have my driving licence with me, but claimed I did not, as I was a bit worried about a spot of bother I had in Vegas a few years ago, did not want that small matter being bought to the surface.

Mr Mexico was asked to stay behind by the cops after I was sent on my way, so I think he may haver been in a spot of bother.  

It was all such a pain. I'd been playing poker for 16 hours, & just wanted to get to bed. Mexico insisted on calling the cops, & we waited 30 minutes for them to show up in a cop car.  The cop car cop then says he will call the motorbike cops, as car cops don't handle RTA's in Clark County.

So we waited another hour for the motorbike guy to arrive. Like buses, they arrived two at once, lights & sirens a-blazing & a whining.

Have to say, the motorbike cops are super cool - black leather boots, khaki uniform, shades, & when they took their helmets off, both were wearing bandanas. How cool is that?

They had identical police issue Harley Davidson's, which were absolutely immaculate, all shiny chrome. I'm not sure how it is that in the old days, chrome exhausts on motorbikes always discoloured, sort of blue ish, with heat, but they don't seem to these days.

Second thoughts, better not flash those arrest papers at the table if you're already laying low from the law

[tikay]

Mexican? What Mexican? I've obviously missed something somewhere.

Well his name was Juan Manuel Campos Rodriguez, & he spoke & looked like a Mexican. His wife came along after about an hour with his documents, & she was deffo Mexican, plump with a proper dark moustache & everything.

[RED-DOG]

Mexican? What Mexican? I've obviously missed something somewhere.

Well his name was Juan Manuel Campos Rodriguez, & he spoke & looked like a Mexican. His wife came along after about an hour with his documents, & she was deffo Mexican, plump with a proper dark moustache & everything.

So you crashed into a Mexican and he got the hump because your car had no registration plates?

Link to that post plz.

[tikay]

I was seated next to a guy who was almost blind last night. It was awkward, as he had to lift his cards right up to his eyes to see them, & it's kinda awkward when I can see them out of the corner of my eye. He had a really nasty, mean attitude, too, perhaps because of his eyesight probs, & maybe understandably. Think he called the floor over 50 times in 2 hours, no exaggeration.

Anyway, I end up being elected to be the player who "voiced" the board cards for him every hand, which added to the situation.

So he folds pre, & I say nothing.

"Hey, why are you not reading the board cards to me?"

"Well you are not in the hand mate". 

"No, but I'm paying the rake". (It's timed rake, $7 per half hour).
 

I mean, what are we supposed to do in that spot?

So I left it to the Dealers to look after him.

He really did have a nasty attitude to everyone. Stinking rich, mind.

[tikay]

Mexican? What Mexican? I've obviously missed something somewhere.

Well his name was Juan Manuel Campos Rodriguez, & he spoke & looked like a Mexican. His wife came along after about an hour with his documents, & she was deffo Mexican, plump with a proper dark moustache & everything.

So you crashed into a Mexican and he got the hump because your car had no registration plates?

Link to that post plz.

I never crashed into him, he crashed into me.

No reg plates, no driving licence, no insurance certificate, & Mexico bloke kicks off. Outrageous, really, I'm English, I'm not gonna be out of line am I?

[tikay]

My advice to the silver rogue as we embark on the next chapter of the staking adventure is this. Take a long hard look at that photo after winning the other night. See how you looked all mean, moody and surly? That's how you should look from the very first hand! I would also casually leave that arrest report lying on the table next to your chips. Do both these things and nobody will fuck with you. At least they will be forewarned about the destination of their asshole if they tangle with you.

Look, I was NOT ARRESTED. It was just a misunderstanding, & the Mexican guy got a bit paranoid because my car has no registration plates, & I never had my driving licence or insurance with me.

Actually, I DID have my driving licence with me, but claimed I did not, as I was a bit worried about a spot of bother I had in Vegas a few years ago, did not want that small matter being bought to the surface.

Mr Mexico was asked to stay behind by the cops after I was sent on my way, so I think he may haver been in a spot of bother.  

It was all such a pain. I'd been playing poker for 16 hours, & just wanted to get to bed. Mexico insisted on calling the cops, & we waited 30 minutes for them to show up in a cop car.  The cop car cop then says he will call the motorbike cops, as car cops don't handle RTA's in Clark County.

So we waited another hour for the motorbike guy to arrive. Like buses, they arrived two at once, lights & sirens a-blazing & a whining.

Have to say, the motorbike cops are super cool - black leather boots, khaki uniform, shades, & when they took their helmets off, both were wearing bandanas. How cool is that?

They had identical police issue Harley Davidson's, which were absolutely immaculate, all shiny chrome. I'm not sure how it is that in the old days, chrome exhausts on motorbikes always discoloured, sort of blue ish, with heat, but they don't seem to these days.

Bumped for folks who are not paying attention.

[tikay]

.