An Animal Abroad

[animalpoker]

Unlucky Rob.

That seems an interesting play with Q-J-10-10.

It’s not nearly as bad as it might appear and similar to the sort of play I’d make .
The French flat call was really weak and by shutting him out he gets the same odds as me to win by only putting 57k in .

[animalpoker]

So yesterday was another long cash session on 1/2/5 big O .   Many coronas were consumed in the process and I definitely reached double figures but wasn’t counting exactly .  
I started losing at first but only bought in for 200 a time before hitting a nice pot to take me to 600+ stack .
I had an interesting hand soon after where I flopped too and bottom pair , nut low draw and a naked ace of the flop flush draw .
It was 3 way in position and I was the raiser.  Both called my flop cont bet and a king of the suit I had the dry ace on hit the turn .
I bet pot of 170 and just 1 player called , river was Qx and I shoved for his last 300.  He tank called QJ1034 with the 34 of the flush   Meh .

I topped up to 500 after that and hit some nice hands when our last table broke and I moved to a new one .  Both tables were either good or really good at times and I ended up playing until 1am in the morning - nearly 12 hours .   I ended up with a 750 profit and a tired hangover this morning .

I’m currently on big O having left the room at 11am after a long lie in.
I’ve now spent a grand total of 10 minutes outside in the last 2.5 days .
Hoping I’ll take a break later in the afternoon or early evening .  There’s gym , pool ( only been once ) or walk the strip option .  

Obviously chose not to enter tournament today.  There was 2200 plo at wynn and I think it’s day 1 B of the massive field $300 WSOP gladiator , but neither appeal .  
Tomorrow is a 1pm nugget big O tournament .  I’ll see if I’m in the mood or not , there is another one right at the end of the trip to give me a chance to go downtown .  Rake is silly high and add ?$50 taxi fares , I’ve really gotta be in the mood

Sunday is 1500 WSOP BIG O .  May enter late tonight to avoid queues .  Looking for seat 3,4 or 8 ideally .

[animalpoker]

Rinse and repeat yesterday
Went to the card room at 11:30am with good intentions to quit for pool , gym, dinner or a walk around the strip later on .
The addict in me left the card room about 1am again
It was a tough session and one hand in particular cost me a stack of 600+
It was double board bomb pot ultimate high ultimate low
The best high from either board and the best low from either board wins half the pot each
We get 2 flops and all players are in at that point for 20 each ( but the time rake of 72 comes out of the pot )

So the boards read
5x
Ax
And I have 8x 9x xx ( xx = high cards )
But it runs out
5x 4x xx
Ax Ax 4x

Matey shows  Q245x no clubs for the wheel and the full house
No getting away from that one

I’m back on big O again today after a short session on plo
Will try have a dry day so I’m fresh for the 2pm big O WSOP $1500 tomorrow
Didn’t fancy gym or pool , vegas cough is deep in my chest now but I’m fine , just stuck there cos of my asthma.

Yesterday was my biggest cash loss of the trip at - 1,200
I’m going to do totals for the trip  below so far now I’m over half way into the trip

Mtts +700
Cash  +1200

So nothing to get excited about but bear in mind I’ve entered ?7,000$ worth of mtts so I’m fine with that

[animalpoker]

Good morning once again , finally back on the treadmill again today and going to try some jogging as cough feels a lot better.
Yesterday was another long cash big O session with a few beers , but nothing silly ..
Once again got beaten and battered for a similar loss to the day before .
Just on the wrong side on cooler type hands , and when I kept making correct folds 3 way in large pots on the turn I’d inevitably see my perfect river .
Proper frustrating stuff and not exactly the best build up to my biggest Big O tournament of the year but it was a fun table so I stayed there all day , only taking a food break before finishing “early” around 11pm .  I actually think I should have lost more yesterday , people weren’t raising obv hands to have stacked me on a few hands where I lost like 30-60% of stack and if it wasn’t for a couple of well timed bluffs getting through I’d definitely have lost more .

Don’t start until 2pm today and with no dinner break it could be a very long day.  Let’s hope so anyway . If I bust early I will probably re enter this one too if my heads in the right spot .  I doubt I’ll do hand updates as it’s too much effort for big O but may try to post stacks around break times .  

I have seat 6 which is annoying as it’s tough on the eyes in a long day to see the board and the other showdowns and the chip stacks at the opposite end .
Seat 4 and 5 used to be my favourite seats in any big O game , though seat 8 is now my favourite in any 8 handed game .  

Tips for myself today
Play my own game as usual
Watch as much action as possible when not in hands to gain tiny snippets of info that might be useful for larger pots later on .
Just enjoy myself though maybe a bit more music and a bit less chatting , so I don’t miss action
I’ve already had very soft tables this trip but also ridiculously tough tables , fingers crossed today for a decent one as it makes a huge difference to the tournament ,

[doubleup]

good luck in the tourney!

[animalpoker]

good luck in the tourney!

Early indications are tight solid tables .  Only 6 handed for now but will try create a somewhat loose image and hopefully get paid if I hit some hands .

[animalpoker]

Ok , I got my wish of obtaining a middle seat, seat 5.
Unfortunately it cost me 1500$ more though
I’d already called an all in on a river with nut low to get half a pot earlier
Then this pot came up
Early limp from guy playing a wide range like me, but he normally raises pot on anything premium
I make it 700 , blinds are 1/2/200 from next position
Asian guy only playing 7700 repots it to 3000 from the bb and the limper flats it
I’m playing about 23k at the start of the hand and I’ve no intention of flatting here , I have AK347 , only 1 nut suit .
I repot to 12,700 and he tank calls after the bb moves all in

He has me well covered .  The flop is 10,8,2 with my nut hearts draw .  The rest goes in .
This is the funny part
Bb turns over AA88x and other chap turns over A,10,10,2,8 .  
How ridiculous is that , I’d bet my house on getting part of this pot and a scoop would have put me on 54k ( starting stack was 25k ) middle of level 2 .
Unfortunately in this occasion the board runs out 9x Qx and I’m only left with my house because I wasn’t allowed to bet it .

Early indications new table is ok
Just watched a guy hit his 1 out straight flush on turn to stack an ace high flush chap .  
Corona on the way , just hoping I don’t have to re enter a 3rd time , not sure I would with 80xbb and less than 20 mins left of this level .

[animalpoker]

22k 1st break , although technically it’s my 2nd break

Stole a bit on paired boards but had to lay down aces twice , pretty standard in big O . 
Lots of limping going on from this table , time to chip up hopefully .
Corona tasting gooooood as usual , I swear they taste better in vegas .  Do we get the same in the uk or is it brewed in the uk instead of Mexico ?

[animalpoker]

69k joint chip leader at my table at 2nd break .
Ooooh won first hand back A249K vs a2495 allin preflop to add 25k to that stack
400/800/800 blinds now
Do have couple hand histories but not sure I’ll get chance to write up

[animalpoker]

66k next break

Bit gutted as got to 100k before being big favourite to bust a pro - he was looking to gamble but was a tad annoying chop to have gone to 125k if scooped

Then huge pot sick one, hopefully I’ll do the history later or tomorrow.  Scoop would have took me to 140k but I lost it in sick fashion .

Corona number 4 shortly and ….. oh shit
1st hand back
4 limpers my bb and I pot it with AAK25 2 suits
2 x 25k stacks flat the 9000
Flop is 774 .  I lead for 6000 and they both move in
It’s JJ1087 ( like wtf ) and A2J106
Turn 8 river 9 so I even get only 1/4 of the side pot .  

2nd hand back I lose a small amount making a good solid laydown on turn , obv I would have hit my 2 outer for half if I’d called

3rd hand back I raise the button and call a reraise with AK1037 flop is J23 and he checks to me ( he has 36k behind )
I’m itching to jump bomb the flop but restrain and take the free card
Turn is a 3 .  We get it in and he has AK237 , river gives me a quarter .  

36.5k left and really really needing a corona

….. table broke and just missed the waitress again
40k but in my worst seat position of seat 1 , blinds 1/2/2k

1555 entrants , new table isn’t brilliant but I’ve had worse .

Edit . Just doubled up flopping nut flush vs top 2 . 
Then very next hand I call a 5.5k raise utg in the cut off with KQJ109
Flop is K108 and he pots it 16k and calls my all in - I cover his stack .
He shows AaJxx and it runs out 9,x for a scoop

Crazy game - 132k now

[animalpoker]

Prize pool has been announced
1555 entrants , 480 left
Average 80k
Pays 234 places , min cash is $3,002

[animalpoker]

Back to 93k after I think I lost the minimum for AAxxx on a board of 9,8,4,K,8
Opponent is a very competent pro capable of bluffing but he showed A278K .  
I was out of position in the bb and pick up the flush draw on the turn when we checked the flop.  
Had to pay off the 18.5k river bet into 25k ish .

And wow , just now
All in for my life
I was the raiser and cont bet 14k before chip leader repotted it
I can’t fold Ah Jx on a flop even though it’s clear the old chap probably has A3 with diamonds .  He has 456 as his other 2 cards .
Turn is a beautiful but the river gives him the nut low .
Double average if hit / held , but bust if he hit obviously .


About 110k now , average 95k , 400 left .


Coronas arrived around last update , waiter upsold me to get 2 at once

[animalpoker]

85k next break
Average 108k
360 left
2//3/3 blinds .  5 handed until they break a table which is annoying
Huge stacks other than me at this table .

[tikay]

Proper rollercoaster stuff, keep it coming Rob.

[DungBeetle]

Fantastic read.   Good luck!