Snattys unfeasibly long and banal Vegas posts

[Snatiramas]

Oh what it is to be young and playing poker in Vegas. Today I sat next to a young man called Jeff who when I passed my hand post flop told me why I had to call for my tournament regardless of if I was winning or losing. It was the optimal play he told me. One hour in and down to 5000 chips from a starting stack 15000. Oh happy days. What is worse I have got young Jeff telling me everything he knows about poker.

He has turned down a request to be on high stakes poker. He doesn’t care about money. He doesn’t mind losing as long as he makes the optimal play. He is full of something but for the life of me I can’t think what. I watch him slowly get blinded away as I start to accumulate chips. Like ships that pass in the night our relative stack positions reverse and I start to really enjoy myself. Jeff goes out with 6/7 suited  reraising an under the gun raise from a true rock. I mean dust fell off the chips from the utg raise. I say good game as Jeff’s hand fails to beat kings. I think nice optimal play you fool. Reraise one of the two loonies at the table, not the table rock.
 
I am very relaxed as I play today. Just out to have fun and play well. Dinner break comes up after seven hours play. Average stack and I like my table. The next hour I go card dead. I steal a couple of blinds, one with a Nordic button raise from under the gun with the Chompy hand, just to see if I can do it. Oh and I can, but at this stage the Antes cripple you and you have to keep busy.

Unfortunately I get down to around thirty thousand chips, blinds are 1200/2400 with a 300 ante. I wake up with a pair of fives. Not ideal but the other Englishman at the table has raised it to 6000 and I know he is good enough to fold to the shove. I shove. He dwells. He dwells some more. Then he calls with ace queen of spades. Okay a race. Well it was a bloody short race when two queens come on the flop. No five and out 75th of 420.

Strangely I feel very calm. My game is good. I have proved this to myself. My doubts about my image and ability at any level now have really been dispelled on this trip. The guy who took my chips early on is out. It was a good bet by him. Well done sir. I got those chips back and more when I made the exact same series of bets and he came over the top and I called with the nut straight. He used an expletive and kicked himself. He badly misjudged me because I folded the first time. Bless.

Today after a really good nights sleep, my first in a week, I am going out shopping and visiting Caesars and maybe going to the I poker thingy but I am not much of a party person……..didn’t I say that I was going shopping yesterday. Welcome to Groundhog Day Vegas style.

[Dewi_cool]

Phil,

 I'm one that said you should have kept the money and stayed at home, I'm so glad you took no notice, great read.

Enjoy the rest of your stay

[Snatiramas]

Phil,

 I'm one that said you should have kept the money and stayed at home, I'm so glad you took no notice, great read.

Enjoy the rest of your stay

the money sweeter.

Thx mate. Yous of course was the sensible option.

Well ladies and gentlemen the only thing the trip was missing was an mtt win. Tonight in the 11 pm tourney at Caesars there was a five way chop at 5am. $1400. Niot alot but never was money sweeter.

I will write it all up when I get home including a picture of my 1st place in Vegas. Right now sleep. pack . Get ready to come home. Can't wait to see Amma and the kids. Thank you all for reading andcommenting.....loads of posts next week.

[Karabiner]

Nice one Phil, shall I pencil you in for November then ?

[Geo the Sarge]

Great thread Snats and well done.

Safe home

Geo

[Laxie]

Great thread Snats and well done.

Safe home

+1  xx

[Claw75]

Thanks Snat, great read.  Could only have been improved by you telling us what you ate in Binions!!! (oh and winning the ME obv )

[boldie]

Great thread Snats and well done.

Safe home

+1  xx

+2...and you can even have a kiss if you want.

[tikay]

Snatty featured heavilly in a Blog I wrote elsewhere last night.

He is nothing but trouble.

Cough.

Cough

[Snatiramas]

So my final day in Vegas and the shopping is still not done and on top of that I still haven’t played at the legendary Caesars Palace. Shopping first. I have to get an array of Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hollister attire for my poor hard done by kids and something nice for my long suffering poker widow of a wife.

Off to the fashion show mall. Five minute walk. Two pounds lost in body fluid. The heat is fierce but dry and I find it easier to deal with than in the UK. The last time I came here the place was heaving. This time it was not so busy and having chatted to lots of people that is a fairly common trend. No surprise really. I do what I normally do when shopping in a new place. Walk the whole place to see which shops I want to go in. This is done at pace. Okay the good news is there are only two stores I need to visit and they have already been named.

Exactly twenty five minutes after arriving I am leaving with four carrier bags full of goodies. Guilt pressies I know, but without Anne Marie and the kids I wouldn’t be nearly as happy a bloke as I am. After all here I am in Vegas playing poker and they are all grafting at home, I would suggest that makes me a little bit of a spoilt bunny. Talking of bunnies one of my favourite moments of the whole trip was turning round to a young man in seat one and saying in a massively over pronounced English accent  after he had raised for third hand running, “busy bunny aren’t you”. Table banter really took off after that moment of genius. Needless to say busy bunny knocked himself out early.
I have seen this a lot on this trip. People want to chip up or ship out. Maybe they think it is optimal play. Maybe it is. The key is spotting those that play like this and deciding whether you are going to dance or not.

Anyway quick as flash I have the bags stowed in my hotel room and I am off to Caesars. Caesars is great. Busy. Crazy. I mean where else can you have massive moving statues depicting old time Rome with a bright red Neon sign above. The shops at Caesars go on forever. There are fountains everywhere. If the Venetian smells of vanilla talcum powder, Caesar’s smells of chlorine. Honestly I kid you not, all the fountain areas smell of chlorine. Classy.

So my first visit to the Caesars card room and I instantly get grimmed for the massive amount of $15. I am putting the money back into my wallet when a hand reaches out from behind me and just nicks it. I turn round to have a fight, and there opposite is a nice little old man and to be honest I just did not have the heart to hit him. Needless to say Tikay on his day off had also come to play Caesars. With my $15 restored we sat down at adjacent tables. At this moment my favourite incident took place.
On Tikays table was an Oriental lady who I can only assume was of a slightly nervous disposition. I say this because somebody sneezed at this table and she instantly whipped out a surgical mask. I kid you not. Well cue outrageous coughing for the next fifteen minutes. He kept telling her that I was a butcher intimating that I might very well be a carrier for swine flu. It was a picture taking moment but unfortunately I missed it.

The tournament went badly. Knocked out. I decide to play the cheapy at the Venetian as my last event. Forty five minutes. What a bloody disaster. I am now going home without multi table cash. I know I caned the stt satellites but I really wanted an MTT cash. Just one. I head to the bar. It is at this point that a person I had not seen for so long I did not recognise him, approached me at the bar. Richard Pipe and I used to play at Luton but he plays less now and somehow our paths hadn’t crossed for a few years.

Anyway we go for dinner and have a good bitching session about poker and card rooms and faces. It was great fun. He is staying at Caesars. He tells me there is a $120 tourney at 11pm. I really should go and pack............

[AndrewT]

On Tikays table was an Oriental lady who I can only assume was of a slightly nervous disposition. I say this because somebody sneezed at this table and she instantly whipped out a surgical mask. I kid you not. Well cue outrageous coughing for the next fifteen minutes. He kept telling her that I was a butcher intimating that I might very well be a carrier for swine flu. It was a picture taking moment but unfortunately I missed it.

Seen this a lot lately, both at Heathrow and in South Africa - Japanese tourists (nearly all women) walking around with the masks on.

[cia260895]

HE WHO DARES SNATTY,HE WHO DARES.........

[Snatiramas]

On Tikays table was an Oriental lady who I can only assume was of a slightly nervous disposition. I say this because somebody sneezed at this table and she instantly whipped out a surgical mask. I kid you not. Well cue outrageous coughing for the next fifteen minutes. He kept telling her that I was a butcher intimating that I might very well be a carrier for swine flu. It was a picture taking moment but unfortunately I missed it.

Seen this a lot lately, both at Heathrow and in South Africa - Japanese tourists (nearly all women) walking around with the masks on.

I reckon it is the new hoody

[Snatiramas]

Well Carpe Diem as they say. Packing can wait. Richard and I battle the 10pm crowds on the strip. Get to Caesars and he goes off to change his glasses and I don’t see him again. Must be my light and witty repartee. Anyway not to worry. I buy in. Over 90 runners. 5000 chips. 30 minute clock. I played no better or worse than the rest of my visit. The maths held good. I got lucky when I was short chipped at the final table my Jacks sucked out on queens when all the chips went flying in on an 8 high flop. I also had a moment of class timing with Aces against Ace King and Queens. There were three Brits and an Irishman at the final table. The atmosphere throughout was good fun. At 4.50 am we sorted out a deal. Tired but immensely happy with my winnings, I strolled down the strip and got propositioned by three different prostitutes. Business must be bad.

So to bed and sleep, packing, and flight. I have my room booked until 1pm so no problem. Well that’s what I thought...............

[cia260895]

Well Carpe Diem as they say. Packing can wait. Richard and I battle the 10pm crowds on the strip. Get to Caesars and he goes off to change his glasses and I don’t see him again. Must be my light and witty repartee. Anyway not to worry. I buy in. Over 90 runners. 5000 chips. 30 minute clock. I played no better or worse than the rest of my visit. The maths held good. I got lucky when I was short chipped at the final table my Jacks sucked out on queens when all the chips went flying in on an 8 high flop. I also had a moment of class timing with Aces against Ace King and Queens. There were three Brits and an Irishman at the final table. The atmosphere throughout was good fun. At 4.50 am we sorted out a deal. Tired but immensely happy with my winnings, I strolled down the strip and got propositioned by three different prostitutes. Business must be bad.

So to bed and sleep, packing, and flight. I have my room booked until 1pm so no problem. Well that’s what I thought...............