200th Post / Vegas Trip Report
Google helped me celebrate my 200th post by taking my Page Rank away!! Fun times. I can now officially join the Google bashing. They didn't take my search engine rankings away yet so all is good in my books and my new venture gained a couple PageRank points to even things out.
I just got back from Vegas and I am still recovering. I only got 2.5 sessions of poker in for a total of 8-9 hours of live 1/2 NL play. This was the first time to Vegas with my wife, the last three trips were all boys weekends and boy was Vegas different when you are more sober and asleep early.
My first session started at 9am when my wife went out shopping. I was at the South Point Hotel and jumped into the only game running at the time. There were 5 players when I sat so I knew there would be some action playing 6 max. I found out quickly I was playing against 4 locals and one other tourist like myself. Thirty minutes in the two players on my left almost got into a fight over someone stealing someone elses small blind by mistake and posting it as their big blind, thus making the SB post another $1. The dealer had to give back $1 in tips to the SB and the BB guy berated the SB for having no class. This enraged the SB to the point of having to be restrained and getting asked to leave. He was the other tourist in the game and the game broke shortly after.
Hands of note:
44 in LP I limp call a raise from the SB who has been very active. Flop gives me a gutshot and I raise the $15 CB to $45 and get a call. He checks the blank turn and I check behind thinking I am probably behind to a bigger medium pair. Blank river and he checks and I check behind to see his KTs for overs and a missed FD and rake one of the bigger pots of the morning at that table (it was tight).
Table breaks within an hour and I ask if anyone wants to go tot he strip for a game and catch a ride with the BB from the fight above.
We end up at the MGM and they have 4 full tables going so we are in luck. I played this game for 6 hours and a few tourists cycled in and out but again mainly regulars during the daytime. I ended the session +$3 and made some good plays and some marginal ones as I'll talk about below.
Folded to me in the CO with KK and I open to $10 and get a call and a speech by the old nitty regular who hasn't really done much either but commented on me only playing a few hands, and the BB comes along. Effective stacks are $200.
FLOP: JJ9 rainbow and the BB checks to me and I CB $20 into $30 and the button calls and the BB folds.
TURN: Blank Deuce. I check here hoping to control the pot and call a medium sized bet. He insta-shoves his stack in of around $170 into a $70 pot. I was pissed at myself for not betting $50 on the turn and reconstructing the hand after words I realized I made him do this by acting weak and he would of value bet his Jack if he had one and his most likely holdings were a semi-bluff. I tank and fold my Kings and he throws his bluff with ATc at me. I was 50/50 calling/folding in this spot and I couldn't see the bluff as the table was so quiet and he was quiet. No big pots were being played and I threw away the best hand. He outplayed me and I gave him credit to the guys around me and the one guy who I drove over with even said he never saw that coming with the way he was playing. It was a weird spot.
What do you guys think?
I just got back from Vegas and I am still recovering. I only got 2.5 sessions of poker in for a total of 8-9 hours of live 1/2 NL play. This was the first time to Vegas with my wife, the last three trips were all boys weekends and boy was Vegas different when you are more sober and asleep early.
My first session started at 9am when my wife went out shopping. I was at the South Point Hotel and jumped into the only game running at the time. There were 5 players when I sat so I knew there would be some action playing 6 max. I found out quickly I was playing against 4 locals and one other tourist like myself. Thirty minutes in the two players on my left almost got into a fight over someone stealing someone elses small blind by mistake and posting it as their big blind, thus making the SB post another $1. The dealer had to give back $1 in tips to the SB and the BB guy berated the SB for having no class. This enraged the SB to the point of having to be restrained and getting asked to leave. He was the other tourist in the game and the game broke shortly after.
Hands of note:
44 in LP I limp call a raise from the SB who has been very active. Flop gives me a gutshot and I raise the $15 CB to $45 and get a call. He checks the blank turn and I check behind thinking I am probably behind to a bigger medium pair. Blank river and he checks and I check behind to see his KTs for overs and a missed FD and rake one of the bigger pots of the morning at that table (it was tight).
Table breaks within an hour and I ask if anyone wants to go tot he strip for a game and catch a ride with the BB from the fight above.
We end up at the MGM and they have 4 full tables going so we are in luck. I played this game for 6 hours and a few tourists cycled in and out but again mainly regulars during the daytime. I ended the session +$3 and made some good plays and some marginal ones as I'll talk about below.
Folded to me in the CO with KK and I open to $10 and get a call and a speech by the old nitty regular who hasn't really done much either but commented on me only playing a few hands, and the BB comes along. Effective stacks are $200.
FLOP: JJ9 rainbow and the BB checks to me and I CB $20 into $30 and the button calls and the BB folds.
TURN: Blank Deuce. I check here hoping to control the pot and call a medium sized bet. He insta-shoves his stack in of around $170 into a $70 pot. I was pissed at myself for not betting $50 on the turn and reconstructing the hand after words I realized I made him do this by acting weak and he would of value bet his Jack if he had one and his most likely holdings were a semi-bluff. I tank and fold my Kings and he throws his bluff with ATc at me. I was 50/50 calling/folding in this spot and I couldn't see the bluff as the table was so quiet and he was quiet. No big pots were being played and I threw away the best hand. He outplayed me and I gave him credit to the guys around me and the one guy who I drove over with even said he never saw that coming with the way he was playing. It was a weird spot.
What do you guys think?
posted by Riverrun at 1:30 PM
2 Comments:
Hey, RR. I have to say that from your post alone, there was enough info to justify a call. The action was such that the only cards you should've feared was one of the two remaining Jacks, pocket 9s, or pockets Aces. We know it isn't Aces because of the preflop action (he would've raised with AA). So, that leaves us with one of two monster hand possibilities.
Overbetting for value may seem to be a more popular play nowadays, but in brick and mortar casinos at 1/2 NLHE stakes, you are much more likely to see overbets to push players out of a pot. You are correct in that you gave him this openning and he took it. You should have searched for hints about his demeanor to tell if he was bluffing. In this particular instance, I would have checked the players' demeanor. My guess is that he went into tell lockdown (tightens up, covers up, and tries not to move). When players do that, it is because they fear the call. There are other hints to look for, but I find this to be the best in these situations. I had a similar situation at the MGM years ago, when my overpair of Kings faced an all-in push on a blank turn card after I led out on the flop and only received a call. I was worried he hit his set, but his tell lockdown told me he feared a call. In that case, he only had a weak top pair.
Ryan, I head to Vegas in just over a week with my wife; all my other trips were guys trips.I'm sure this one will be VERY different for me as well. (less gambling/drinking more other stuff)
Would love to hear some of your other Vegas highlights or lowlights.
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