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TR: Sweaty Feet, NLHE cherry pop, and why you need a phone in the bathroom. 7/1-7/4

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by abner2xday, Jul 11, 2007.

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  1. abner2xday

    abner2xday High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2004
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Seattle

    My Trip Report

    7/1
    Up at 5:00 AM, out the door at 5:45, drop off car at off site parking 6:20, at SEA at 6:30. J and I were on the 8:00 AM Alaska flight. This is a good flight to take since it’s the plane’s first flight of the day. No cleanup or passengers to kick out. Get the passengers on and get going, usually a few minutes early. They did ask for one volunteer to give up a seat which made me think we would have an air marshal on the flight.

    Leaving early, arrive early but Ay Caramba! What did Alaska Airlines do or fail to do to be banished to the D concourse? Two long walks plus a tram ride in the middle equals twenty minutes from the gate to baggage claim. I tell J to collect our bags while I check in at the Harrah’s counter. The line was a little longer that I thought it would be especially since the airport itself didn’t seem that crowded. I took the opportunity to see if anyone in front of me put the $20 trick into action. Out of about 10 parties in front of me only one guy did and he was right in front of me as he launched his attempt (by this time I was at the front of the line). He gave the desk clerk the $20 but she immediately returned it saying “Oh, I can only accept this if I give you great service.” I also heard other bits of the conversation “I can’t get you into the Augustus Tower. You’ll be happy with the Palace tower.” “I’m not sure I can get you a pool view” I am immediately praying that I don’t get this clerk. Luckily, an older couple who have reservations for the Imperial Palace get told they are in the wrong place. I drew Priscilla who I think checked me in the last trip, which I tell her and she welcomes me back. We had a Classic room $120 night with a free upgrade to the Palace Tower reserved at Caesars. Slip the $20 with the CC and boom Augustus Tower room, very high floor, North side (non fountain) but a great view looking up the strip, plus its ready to go at 10:50 AM. I did hear other people being told 3PM-4PM until their room would be ready. So with tip and before tax we are paying $123.33/night for a room that was going for $260.00/night.

    We take a shuttle (I forgot the name) $6 each one way as we plan on a cab when we leave. We are off right away as we fill the last two seats. Stops at MGM and PH were made before we made it to CP. Good thing we took a shuttle as the designated drop odd area is at the Augustus Tower not at the main entrance. Just a quick trip from there to the room (which looked just like the pictures on the Harrah’s website) to drop off the bags, then a quick lunch at the food court over by the Forum Shops. We split a salad and an order of wings. Not bad but nothing to write home about either. It was also evident then and throughout the time we were there that this was a popular meeting point for groups and couples before or after heading out to do different things.

    After lunch, J and I split up as I planned to play the $100 NLHE with re-buy event at the Binions Poker Classic. I walked through the Forum shops and saw that Pete Rose was signing stuff at the sports memorabilia shop they have in there. There was not one person in line. Only a few looky loos like me. I finally got outside, walked a little ways more and caught the Deuce from in front of the Venetian which was driven by one very loud driver.

    When I get downtown, Fremont street looked absolutely deserted. The heat may have been a factor but the casinos didn’t look that crowded either. I find the poker room at Binion’s and was immediately not impressed, but later realized that they are in the process of stripping the area down and remodeling it. Every wall was bear and it looked like the ceiling was being redone. I buy in for the event and with about 90 minutes to kill, I put my name in for 2/4 LHE (I didn’t feel up to 1/2NL just yet). I get seated in about 10 minutes and am UTG. I elect to wait until the button is passed. I size up the table and see that there is a rock on my left (maybe a local), one other person who looks like they know what they are doing and the rest are tourists ripe for the picking.

    First hand I look down to see AKos one off the button. There are six callers in front and I make it two bets. Everyone calls, including the BB and I start to salivate. The flop comes K high and it is checked around to me, I bet and get three callers, on the turn I get one guy to check call me to the end as I get blanks all the way and TPTK holds up for a nice pot. Truth be told, I was worried about him hitting two pair with a K rag. I play for about an hour and then cash in up around $40 bucks or so.

    For the tournament, I draw what I thought was a good table, on the edge so a lot of room to stand and stretch. I posted my results in another post. Short recap here: wild table with the most rebuys in the tournament, I only rebought once at the start to double my stack (7K) right away, was at 21K at the first break (tripled up), made a stupid move against the chip leader and was busted. At the break I went to check out Benny’s Bullpen, the door was closed but not locked. I peeked in and this area too was stripped down and emptied out. Still, a quick look at a room with so much history.

    I had left a message at the break telling J I was doing well. Now I am calling her and letting her know I busted. She asks if she should come Downtown, I tell her I’ll meet her back at CP. I was just not in the mood to be Downtown anymore. I catch a cab in front of the Plaza and meet J in the registration area at CP. We decide to find a place to have a late dinner. We end up at the burger place between Paris and Bally’, Le Burger Brasserie. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this place. You can order pretty much whatever you want on a beef, turkey, chicken or lamb (I think this was an option) burger. My mojito needed more soda but other than that a pleasant meal. The place reminded me of an ESPN zone (lots of TVs with sports and a comparable menu) except the female servers wore white hot pants, thigh high boots and berets.

    After dinner we stay at Ballys. J plays some blackjack and I put my name in for my first ever NLHE session ever. I get seated at a ½ NL table right away and buy in for $200. In about 20 minutes I am down $80 and a few things have become apparent to me:

    1. There are four players at the table who are pretty much jerks and are ruining the experience for me. They don’t tip the dealer, they are trash talking each other, they won’t lay down anything and they just want to bluff at everything (limp re-raise is a standard move).
    2. Not hitting the flop in NL can get expensive and given my description of the table, I am very reluctant to come over the top with even a semi-bluff.
    3. I am the best player at the table, but I am going to get felted if I try to prove it.

    So I asked for a table change. One guy says “What you don’t want to play with us anymore?” My silence answers his question for him. I get moved and add another $100 so I have some bullets to fire. This next table is much better: some friendly talk and they are actually playing poker. Bad news is that no one was calling my raises and I was only getting the blinds and a couple of limpers. I call a few raises but fold on the flop when I miss and get down to about $140 when this hand happens:

    Villain #1 who has shown he can play (shown winners and a few bluffs) has about $375 behind is in early position.
    Villain #2 is in the BB and has about $200 behind. At the time, I really didn’t have a feel for his play.
    Your hero has $140 behind as I said and is on the button in position.

    V1 raises to $15. I call in position with 5 5 and with two callers in front. I am looking for a set or I am folding to any bet. V2 calls as well.

    Flop comes 8 5 3 with two spades. V1 makes it $100 to go. It’s the biggest bet the table has seen on the flop and the reactions at the table show it. The two callers in front fold. I am almost certain he has an over pair to the board, but he could have top set and is trying to get any draws to fold. I take a deep breath and push. More reactions.

    V2 then announces he is all in. More wows and ahhs. I am now flattened. I like my chances heads up but I think I have to be behind now. V1 calls the all in. The table is now in a frenzy. V1 turns over pocket aces and doesn’t have the spade. V2 turns over 6 7 spades and I am absolutely stunned. He re-raised all in with a flush draw and an OESD. I can’t believe I am ahead. Because my head is spinning, it looks like I slow roll when I turn my cards. V1 just hangs his head.

    The guy next to me says “Dude, you have a lot of bullets to dodge.” As he is taking extra time to make sure he gets it right, it takes the dealer a couple of minutes to get the main and side pots stacked out. Finally we are ready to go, turn brings a non spade 10 and the river brings a non spade 6. V1 takes the side pot and the dealer pushes about $475 to me. YESSSSS! I get handshakes from the players on either side of me then I say “Wow that was fun!” I stay a little longer and cash out a little over $100 ahead and hit the hay after a very long day.

    More to come….(and will be posted below in this thread)
     
  2. aggie182

    aggie182 Off Key and Out of Tune

    Joined:
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    good start to the TR. it seems like your 1st table had too many callers and 2nd had not enough. how many callers do you feel there should be in 1/2? i'd rather have more than less, and pick my spots.
     
  3. gmoney590

    gmoney590 VIP Whale

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    Very nice score on the room. It hard to play decent poker when you're surrounded by assholes.
     
  4. bigalbr

    bigalbr VIP Whale

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    From PokerStove:

    Text results appended to pokerstove.txt

    903 games 0.005 secs 180,600 games/sec

    Board: 5s 3h 8s
    Dead:

    equity win tie pots won pots tied
    Hand 0: 52.602% 52.60% 00.00% 475 0.00 { 5d5h }
    Hand 1: 04.097% 04.10% 00.00% 37 0.00 { AcAd }
    Hand 2: 43.300% 43.30% 00.00% 391 0.00 { 7s6s }

    No way 67 spades lays this down. If he does he's the biggest donk in the history of poker. If you aren't on a set, he's crushing the field. He still has plenty of equity here.

    Still, great win and well played!
     
  5. abner2xday

    abner2xday High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2004
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Seattle
    Continued

    Before we continue:

    Big Al: I am more of a feel player when it comes to poker (my reads are pretty good) and math is one of the skills I need to work on. I can figure out odds based on heads up play but more than two just makes my head spin. I had an idea that it was probably right for V2 to play with his 67 suited math wise but didn’t have a full handle on the numbers. That being said (and I realize this is part of what I need to work on as a poker player), I find it awfully hard to call or come over the top of a $140 bet on a draw when you are most likely behind two players (and have the correct odds to call) because more often than not you won’t hit the draw and I don’t play enough at NL to have it be EV+ over time. I just don’t like putting my money in when I KNOW I am a dog.

    Anyway back to the show…

    7/2

    Let me start by saying the beds in the Augustus Tower are to die for. A six pack of Red Bull probably couldn’t keep most people awake more than a few minutes after laying down on one of these babies. If you are not careful, the couch will put you out too. One thing in the room that doesn’t make much sense to me is the flat screen TV but offering no HD channels.

    We are up and out by 9:30 AM. I should also mention here that I make it a point of tipping at least $5 each day for housekeeping. I do it while I am there not waiting until the morning I check out. I want good housekeeping service during my stay. I could care less about how clean the room is after I leave. In my experience (and this trip was no exception) $5 a day gets your room cleaned as soon as you leave it in the morning (starting on morning #2), extra towels and extra give aways (candy, toiletries etc.), and a little extra TLC for your stuff in the room (shoes straightened, clothes folded, newspapers folded and arranged etc.) I don’t think it was a mistake that the morning we were due to check out, the housekeeping “envelope†usually placed on the desk in the room was not there. Of course I still tipped anyway.

    We pick up some coffee at the food court and then hoof it over to Bills (formally the Barbary Coast) and the Victorian Room for some breakfast. The name of the casino has changed but thankfully the song remains the same at their coffee shop. J got knocked around pretty good on day 1 so she would like to low roll it during the day. This equates into stops at Bills, O’Shea’s and Casino Royale. We both play BJ at all three places all of which have very crappy rules, but since we are making short stops, I figured it wouldn’t hurt that much. At O’Shea’s we sit at a double deck pitch table and I am immediately instructed not to bend the cards and only use one hand. I guess that’s a sign I play too much poker. I also wander over to the craps table and make a little money. They had great dealers here. I wasn’t going too crazy, just placing the 6 and 8 and taking some money in before pressing or moving to the other inside numbers. I had been at the table only a short while and had some good money inside. The shooter threw and yo then an ace deuce. I said “I’m off next roll†and the shooter rolled a red. Amazingly no one gave me the evil eye for putting the jinx on the shooter. A short while later, one hit the floor. The stick barely finished “Die down, no roll,†and the dealer in front of me had the OFF button on my bets. Gotta like that! You know what came next.

    I also noticed they keep two poker tables by the entrance. I go and check it out. They are spreading ½ NL and the table looks soft. Most players are limping and the standard raise is $5. I see a few flops and take one pot down with a C bet which surprised me, considering the big card trash kickers that were taking pots down. There are two ladies to my left with about $250 behind each that seem to know what they are doing. What they are doing at O’Shea’s playing poker is what I can’t figure out. One time I made a C bet on the flop making it $15 to go with KQs on a low card rainbow flop. The woman immediately to my left makes it $40. I feel that I am being picked on but lay it down. J signals she is ready to move on and I cash out down about $30 for about 30 minutes work. In retrospect, I decide O’Shea’s has the worst poker tables on the strip for two reasons.

    1. It’s right inside the front entrance. Yes you get railbirds and fish because of this but you also get AC on half your body and heat on the other half depending on where you sit.
    2. The small person (dressed like a leprechaun) with the microphone yelling for folks to come in for the O’Shea’s 24 hour happy hour is very annoying.

    We make our way down to Casino Royale in what is now every oppressive heat (107). It was so hot (HOW HOT WAS IT?) that the water from overhead misters would evaporate about three inches away from the nozzle openings. Couldn’t feel them at all.

    At CR, I play some craps and make a few bucks. 100x odds for a flat bet of more than $5 and 20x odds for less than $5 are great. I like put the min on the line with $10 odds (which is usually $3 here) place two or three numbers and then add some to the odds as my other numbers hit. I also join J at a bad rules but very fun BJ table. You play two spots. Once the cards are dealt you can switch the cards that are nearest the dealer from one hand to another if you want. For example, you are dealt

    6 A
    J 5
    You can then switch the 6 and A giving you a hand of AJ and 65. The bad news? BJ pays even money, dealer 22 is a push, and they use a CSM. But for a few minutes and a few laughs, why not. Both J and I make some money at the table.

    We head over to the Mirage to pick up our tickets for LOVE, 10PM show. I try to tip the rep at the ticket counter but she tells me that the show is sold out and she expects a big crowd in the standby line as well. The Beatlefest is going on at the hotel and there are Beatle fans crawling all over the place. (My words not hers). Lunch at Margaritaville is next. We split a salad, chips and salsa and a rack of the ribs. All pretty good. J’s margarita was good and I had a strawberry colada which was good as well.

    After lunch we split up with a plan to leave from the room at 8:30 PM for some drinks before LOVE at 10PM. I head over to the CP poker room which was very nice and very large. After sweating some of the 1/3 NL tables, it was clear to me that some of these tables looked pretty tough (and stacked) and since I only had a few hours to play I wanted to have some fun and not stress my bankroll. So I put my name up for 3/6 LHE.

    Alright here is a confession. I was wearing leather Sketcher sandals. They are pretty stylish if I say so myself, but walking around in them in 107 degree weather made my feet sweaty. I realize this as I sit down at the table and kick them off to relax. I am not entirely certain that my feet and/or my sandals are NOT bothering other people at the table. Do I smell them or is it in my head? Does anybody else? Not something you want to worry about while playing poker. The guy on my left goes on a dinner break never to return and they finally pick up his chips. I wonder later if he is spying me from the door and opted not to return. Anyway I put back on the sandals as I think they smell less that way.

    Overall the CP, poker room runs a smooth operation. You put your name in at the counter which then goes on a plasma display board listing all the games, which tables are spreading those games, and the wait list if any. The board also listed games for which there was an interest. There were a few brushes working the floor and they filled seats in a very organized manner. The dealer would yell “Seat open on 17.†One of the brushes on the floor would then let the desk know the same info. The desk would announce “Joe your 1/3 NLHE seat is now available.†When Joe got to the desk, he would be told go see John and he will get you seated. Once Joe looked up, he would see John (the brush) across the room with his hand up motioning him to the appropriate table. John would then seat Joe and ask him how many chips he wanted, take his money and card if he had one. The brush would then tell the dealer, “This is Joe and he has $xxx behind. The dealer would say “Welcome to the table Joe†and the brush would return with his chips and player’s card. (Then Joe would have his ass handed to him by the sharks at the table)

    What caused the room not to run smoothly are all the people who had questions and requests. In between seating a player and getting chips, it was not unusual to see the brush be stopped three or four times with requests and/or questions from players and people waiting, which caused a delay for the now five people the brush was trying to help.

    A few other things bothered me about the room. Not big things but both boil down to making sure that all employees know the rules of the room. When I first sat down, I told the dealer I would wait for the button to pass which she let me do. Later when another player sat down and requested the same thing, a different dealer said that he had to be dealt in right away. I mentioned this to a floor later telling him it doesn’t really matter to me what the policy is just as long as all the dealers as following the same one.

    After about 20 minutes or so, I asked the dealer if I could request a kill. Based on postings on other boards, I didn’t think this had a snowballs chance in happening because new players in Vegas get confused about the limits and how it works and then they usually drop the kill. Anyway the dealer says “We have a kill request.†He explains to the table what a kill is. To help sell it I tell them I would be happy with a half kill and amazingly everyone agrees. One of the other players who “knew how to play†tells the table don’t worry, it doesn’t happen very often. Of course right after he said that we had a kill pot. The dealer then asks for a ½ kill button. The floor brings over the biggest kill button I have ever seen. Usually the same size as the dealer button, this one was like an extra large coaster. Not ten minutes later, there is a request to go to a full kill, which everyone agrees to. The dealer asks for a full kill button and I say “Is he going to bring over a hubcap?†which gets a few laughs. In reality, it’s a half kill button with white tape over the ½. At this point, we now have an action table, with someone getting felted (not me) on a regular basis. There are some great hands and everyone (who is winning money including me) is having a good time.

    It was during this stretch that I dealt out my only bad beat of the trip. I was the killer and in the BB, the small blind (who “knew what he was doingâ€) raised it making it $12 total. With K10 spades, I re-raised thinking he was on a steal, he made it 4 bets and I knew he had a hand but called. The flop came K high with one spade and he checked, I bet it out and he checked raised me. At that point I was ready to fold, but he said I only have $2 left just go ahead and raise me all in. I figured sure why not. He shows big slick for TPTK. I yell for a ten, but the dealer does me better than that and deals runner runner spades for a K high flush and I take it down. I tell him sorry. Anyway, I won about $100 before I rushed back to the room to get ready. Enough time to wash my feet, brush my teeth and put on some presentable clothes.

    Still more to come….
     
  6. gmoney590

    gmoney590 VIP Whale

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    Very nice. I'm new at the poker parlance what does "reqesting a kill" mean?
     
  7. bigalbr

    bigalbr VIP Whale

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    Nice report! I was there the same time as you and have to admit that Caesar's had a tendency to be harder than a lot of rooms.

    My goto place for 1/2 NL is Bally's. 1/2 $300 max. Sometimes I don't win, but I've never felt outclassed there or that other players weren't going to put their money in.

    Excalibur treated me pretty well last trip also. They've got a 1/3 $200 game.

    Surprisingly, I found the 2/5 games to be a lot softer than the 1/3 $500 games. I hit some great games at Venetian, CP, and Bellagio. Don't be put off by the brush at the Bellagio. I think his actual philosophy is that if he can't seat you immediately, you can just wait. I always got mad about this and left. Once I finally sat in a B game, I found out that he's very on top of customer service.

    MGM did not treat me very well at 1/2 or 2/5. The 1/2 games were full of either shortstackers or setmining internet multitablers. A few soft spots, but not really what I expect from 1/2 NL. The 2/5 was the toughest I encountered. Pretty good players who put a lot of pressure on you, but had a tendency to fold at the right times.

    How do you play a 1/2 kill in a 3/6 game? Is the kill blind 5?
     
  8. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    when i was there in april pete rose was signing stuff then too. hmm maybe i will check it out this time.
     
  9. DESooner1

    DESooner1 Tourist

    Joined:
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    To kill a pot means to post an overblind that increases the betting limit. A full kill is double the amount of the big blind, and doubles the betting limits. A half kill is one-and-a-half times the big blind, and increases the betting limits by that amount. A kill may be optional in a game, and is often used at lowball when a player wants to be dealt in right away instead of waiting to take the big blind. A kill may be required in a game for any time a specified event takes place. In high-low split games using a required kill, a player who scoops a pot bigger than a set size must kill the next pot. In other games using a required kill, a player who wins two consecutive pots must kill the next pot. In this type of kill game, a marker called a 'kill button' indicates which player has won the pot, and the winner keeps this marker until the next hand is completed. If the player who has the kill button wins a second consecutive pot and it qualifies monetarily, that player must kill the next pot.
     
  10. abner2xday

    abner2xday High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Before we move forward:

    The explanation of the kill left above is on target. I like kill games because it brings out more action. Players feel they have to defend if they have just won a pot or “have a leg up†as the term goes, thus they call with hands that they normally wouldn’t play. That one extra call usually gives me enough odds to play lower connectors and one-gapped cards at a 3/6 or 4/8 table. I make a lot of money this way if the flop hits me hard. On an actual kill pot, I find the hands play like a sports playoff game. Just a little more at stake, a little more exciting, and a LOT more action.

    I forgot to mention in the last installment one my other complaints about the CP poker room. Once we established the kill, I asked the dealer what we would need for the pot to qualify for a kill. As stated in another post, there is usually an amount of money that needs to be in the pot in order for it to qualify as a kill pot. If you need $10 in the pot and there is only $9, the winner of the pot gets the kill button but he/she would still need to win two more pots over $10 (or one more if the first pot he/she won was over $10) to establish a kill. The dealer told me that we only need to see a flop. The next dealer at the table then wouldn’t move us to a kill because the pot had less than $10. I then called the floor over to complain. Like the button policy, I told him I didn’t really care WHAT the policy was, just as long as each dealer used the same one and the players were informed. We then settled on “seeing a flop.â€

    During this session there were two other 3/6 tables running and as far as I could tell, neither of them were playing with a kill. After one guy got seated at our table and got felted pretty quickly, I told the floor if we have an open seat why don’t you ask the other 3/6 tables if someone would like to move to the kill game. It was clear that we were getting some first timers and at this point the table was really playing like it was 6/12. Some of the other players agreed, but the floor supervisor looked at me like I asked him to do some very difficult task. OK whatever, just trying to make a suggestion…

    Also during this time, I make what I consider the “read of the trip, sort of.â€In the SB with KK, I make it three bets to go. I get three callers and some folded money in the pot. I get pretty much the worst flop you can think of with pocket kings. AAx with two diamonds and I am not holding Kd. I figure I am dead but I bet it out to check where I am at. The BB calls and the two other fold. I figure the BB on a weak A or a diamond flush draw (and my two pair in serious jeopardy). The dealer turns Ks. I now have a boat but I think he will check behind if I don’t bet and I don’t want the board to pair for free. I bet, he calls. Black 10 on the river. I bet and he raises. I go deep into the tank. Did he slow play AK? Did he put me on AQ, AJ and fill up with A10? To the rest of the table, it looks like I am considering whether to call or fold. Once, he raised, the question I was asking myself was did I have the best hand? I was going to call no matter what. If he has a bigger boat so be it. I decided that he didn’t have an A. He just didn’t play the hand like he did, but he is betting on the river like he can beat a set. I decided he had pocket 10’s and I re-raise him, which surprised most of the table. He reluctantly calls and I knew my read was correct. I show my boat and to my surprise he shows me QJd before mucking his cards. He had four to the flush on the flop and hit runner runner for Broadway. I was right reading that my hand was good but I was way off on the hand that he held.

    Still even more to come…..
     
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