Ron's Trip Report (very long)

I get on the plane and it leaves on time at 8:30pm EST. We get in the
air, set my MP3 player to random, and settle in. The first song is
Metallica's Fade to Black and the trip is off to a good start!
Eventually I fall asleep and wake up during the descent just in time to
see LV from the air.

I get to the Imperial Palace about 11:00pm. The IP is a dump. I should
have listened to Howard Beale. With such nice hotels around there is
no need to stay in a dump. For $100 more total I could have had both
nights at Caesars. Next time.

I check in quickly, dump my stuff off in my room, grab a bunch of bills
and head to the poker room. "What do you have open?" "We have
2-4 open and a list for 3-6 and 1-2NL" Huh? "What else do you have
a list for?" "That's it sir." Right. I am no high roller,
but I did not fly from Toronto to LV to play 2 fucking 4. Off to
Caesars. They have a variety of limits spread, and a much nicer poker
room as well. They have an open seat in 6-12. The play is decent, but
a bit on the loose side of things. There are 2 donkeys that are in a
lot of pots and are paying off the rest of the table. Most notable
hand: I am in the BB with KhJh. Good player raises from MP, donkey
calls from LP, SB calls, I call. Fop: KJ8, all diamonds. I bet, MP
raises, LP calls, SB folds, I call. Turn is another J. I check. MP
bets, donkey calls, I raise, MP re-raises, donkey folds, I re-raise, he
calls. Turn is a blank. I bet he calls. He shows the nut flush. I
hit a few more flops and win some small pots. I get up around 1:30 and
cash out +$200. It is 4:30 EST and I am tired, but I decide to walk
through the Bellagio before going back to bed. I check out the poker
room and it is packed. For those of you who have not been to
Caesar's yet, it has more than double the floor space than the
Bellagio, more tables, and has a separate tournament room as well.
Bobby's room is empty. Nothing to see here. On the way back to the
hotel I am amazed at some of the people gambling at the table games.
There is one guy who looks like a bum dressed in a dirty track suit,
but he is betting 3K a pop at a blackjack table. Strange.


I get up about 9:30 get ready and head out about 10:00 to grab some
breakfast before registering for the noon $130 tourney at Caesars. The
restaurants in the IP look pretty bad, so I go out. I find a diner
type restaurant off the side of the Flamingo and get the "Gambler's
special" which is basically a greasy spoon bacon and eggs type deal.
Now, I like bacon and eggs, and I don't mind if they are greasy, but
this is disgusting. There is more grease than food and I can't even
finish it. Bleh. The next day I got breakfast at the Café in Caesars
and it was MUCH nicer, the same price range, but more variety, tastier,
bottomless orange juice and coffee, and an all around nicer place.
Highly recommended.

I head over to Caesars and register for the tournament. It gets under
way at noon, right on time. 108 runners and all but 1 take the
mandatory re-buy. $80 gets you T1500 and the $50 re-buy gets you T3000
more. The tournament has a nice 40 minute blind structure to go along
with the fairly deep stacks.

The level of play is mixed. There are some very good players and some
total beginners, most are somewhere in between. Overall the skill
level does not differ that much from a typical $20 Stars tourney. Lots
of loose donkish play early, but the skill level picks up toward the
end and the play gets tighter and much more aggressive.

My table is a nice mix of players. There are only 2 pretty decent
players, the problem is that I am in seat 7 and the good players are in
seats 9 (local 'semi-pro', by his account he is a truck driver who
supplements his income playing poker) and 10 (a guy from Colorado who
is in town for some kind of WSOP qualifier who won 8K playing 2-5NL the
previous night; he is not full of ***, I saw him with a HUGE stack
when I was playing 6-12 LHE the night before), so the seating
arrangement is not the best, but the other end of the table provides
enough chips for us to share. No real hands of note in the first 2
levels, and we go into the break with Colorado as our table chip leader
and me with the 3rd chip stack at our table, about 6500.

After the break we move to 100-200 with a 25 ante. Things take a turn
for the worse. I go a bit card dead and don't play many hands for a
while. I start to steal. I take a couple of small pots, but I learn
to leave Colorado's blinds alone. He comes back over the top a few
times and makes me fold. I try and take Seat 1's BB and Colorado comes
over the top again. He has a big stack (he has taken out 2 players
already) and is using it - I don't like him much right now. I get
TT UTG+1 and raise to 600. Called in 2 spots, flop comes K Q x - I
bet, get raised by the truck driver and muck. The levels move to
200-400 with a 25 ante and mercifully our table breaks, I am happy to
lose Colorado and Truck Driver. However, I am back down to T4500 and
am one of the short stacks at my new table. On the button I get AcJc,
UTG limps, UTG +1 raises and MP calls. I resist the urge to make a
move with my AJ and muck. It is a good thing as the flop comes A high
and UTG check-raises all-in and shows his AA when UTG+1 folds his KK
face up.

Key hand: The very next hand I am in the cut-off and MP moves in. Big
stack 2 to my right contemplates for a long time and calls. I move my
stack in. 3 way pot with 2 all-ins. MP has TT, Big Stack has AQ, and
I have AK. Board comes K high with no tens and I triple up! I chip
away a bit, and when our table breaks I am at about 20K.

There are 4 tables left at this point and I just tread water, winning
enough small pots to keep my stack steady. We get down to 2 tables and
I still have about 20K.

Key hand: I have 99 UTG and raise. Only the SB calls. Flop comes a
fairly innocent J75 with 2 spades and the SB moves in for about 4 times
the pot. Huh? I look at him and he seems pretty relaxed. I really
want to call but resist. The SB is an old man who has not been very
active and I have not seen him make any likely bluffs. I fold,
thinking there is a decent chance I am folding the best hand. He shows
me his set of fives and says "I don't mind putting my money in with
a set!" Thank you sir, for blowing me out of the pot and telling me
what a big bet from you means.

Key hand: I am in the BB again with 99. Folds to the button who also
has about 20K. Just three hands ago he was one of the big stack, but
his AA lost and he moved last hand with KQ and lost. He moves in
again. I call and he shows Q3 (can you say tilt?). He hits a 3 but
thats all and I double up and leave him with about 2K. I get a few
steals picked off and get ground back down to 20K and the blinds at
1K-2K with a 200 ante.

Key hand: In the BB I have KK. MP limps, SB (who is the old man with
the set of fives) completes. I decide to just check. It is a bit
risky at this point in the tourney, but I take a risk and decide to try
and let him catch something, winning a big pot at this point will go a
long way towards getting me to the final table. Flop comes J high with
3 diamonds (I do not have Kd) and SB bets a tiny 3K into the pot. With
his monster hand before he moved in, and now he bets only a little
feeler bet. I move in. SB winces and struggles with his decision for
nearly 5 minutes. A bit of relief as he obviously he does not have the
flush. I suspect he has a J. Eventually he calls and shows J8 no
diamonds. I double up.

We get down to 2 tables of 6. Play lasts forever. I am picking up no
hands and just grinding to stay at about 30K. Eventually the other
table loses a player. Our table proposes that we take $130 from the
first place money and pay the 11th player. One player at the other
table does not go for it and we play on. Everyone is noticeably
annoyed. Mr Disagreement gets what he deserved as he is the eventual
bubble when he tries to run his AK through A4. Donkey.

Good news is that I have made the final table. Bad news is that the
blinds are 5K-10K with a 2K ante and I only have 30K. There are 4 very
big stacks and a couple of stacks that are even shorter than me, as
well as someone who a stack roughly even with me. Given the gap
between me and the big stacks, and the fact that there is no real money
until 3rd spot, I decide my course of action will be to just hang on
and try to move up a bit. The 2 really short stacks bust and I wind up
in the BB with only 2K behind. Its raised, I obviously call - I have
A7 and raiser has AJ. No 7 appears and I go out in 8th for $495.00.

I wanted to play the $200 7:00 event as well, but it is 7:15 by the
time I bust from the noon event. I could register as an alternate, but
I have not eaten dinner yet, so I skip the tourney and go get a
sandwich. I'll play in a cash game before I head downtown to the
Binions 2:00am tourney. I go get my sandwich and walk around outside
for a bit while I eat. I decide to go check out the Bellagio again.
This time there is a group of people in Bobby's room. Jen Harman,
Doyle, Chiau Giang (sp?), David Grey, and a couple of others I don't
recognize are all in there. I walk up to the doorway to watch some of
the action. Unfortunately the only action is Jen ordering dinner and
Giang drinking coffee. It seems that either they are taking a break or
have not started yet. David Grey looks at me for a second with a look
that says "who the hell is this guy looking at us" and Doyle gives
me a nod with a goofy grin. I nod and decide to leave. I would like
to watch some of the action when it starts, but I don't feel like
wasting my night waiting while Jen eats dinner, and I imagine I look
like a bit of goof just standing there in the doorway anyway.

The Bellagio room has a list for everything so I head back over to
Caesars. I sit in a 10-20 game. The play is pretty good. I get lucky
and hit some cards so I am up a bit. Soon after I sit down it folds to
me in the SB where I hold TT. I raise. I am in seat 10, and seat 1,
who looks like his name should be Gino Las Vegas - he has slick hair,
tinted glasses, a silk shirt, chewing on a toothpick, the whole look -
pokes his head around the dealer and says "what is this? don't you
chop?" I say no (which is true, I never chop) and he throws his rags
down face up and mutters under his breath. "Sorry buddy," I say,
"but I don't chop." Turns out this is a mistake as Gino is after
me all night. Normally this a good thing, but Gino is hitting some
cards. Here is an example: UTG I raise with AK, Gino calls. Board
comes AJ6 and I bet, Gino raises, I re-raise, he calls. The turn is a
K. Bet, call. The river is a J - I have a feeling I should be scared
of this card - I peak over and Gino already has $40 in his hand. I
check-call. He slow rolls me - he tosses his 8 down followed a few
seconds later by his J. J fucking 8 and slow roll to boot. Nice play
Gino. He also re-raises another AK I hold with KJ and hits a straight
on a K high board. I don't remember all the action but I put a few
bets in there anyway. The thing is, Gino is a decent player but he is
out to get me because I didn't chop with him, and he is getting
lucky. I hit a few more hands but Gino turns a decent session into a
-$50 loss.

I get up from the table around 1:00 and take a cab down to Binions for
the 2:00am. Despite Tanya's thoughts on this event, I highly
recommend avoiding it. First, if you are on the strip it is about
$35.00 there and back in a cab, which if you are going just to play in
the tourney is like extra juice on top of the buy-in. Second, downtown
is a dump that smells like piss. Third, the tournament only had 28
entrants, the majority of them were mopes that sat there not saying
anything. Several were drunk, but not woo-hoo lets have fun drunk,
more like I can barely stay awake and need to hold my own head up with
my hands drunk. Several of them are quite grubby. Basically unless
you like playing a crappy tourney with a bunch of mopey drunks and
grubs in a place that smells like pee there is no need to head down
there. It might be different if a drunken Tanya is there leading the
party, but I did not enjoy this tourney. I go out early. In the
second level I raise a bunch of limpers from the button with JJ and get
re-raised by a short stack (he did not take the re-buy) and call. His
A8 hits an A and I lose a bunch of chips. I lose a few more small
pots, and am really not enjoying myself so raise all-in with A9 get
called by AJ and am out. The strangest hand of the weekend occurred
just before I busted. I wasn't in the hand but there is action on
every street between an MP player and the button. On the river MP
moves in, the button stares at him for a while and finally calls. He
shows 6d7d - the board was AQT22 one diamond. I grab a cab back to the
IP and go to bed around 4:00am.

I start the second Caesars tourney completely card dead. There is lots
of limping and min raising going on at our table, so I limp along a few
times with hands like J9 and 44 trying to hit a hand, but I don't
connect with anything. I don't win a single hand in the 1st level.
The trend continues into the second level until late into the level a
weak player limps in and it folds to me in the cut-off with AQ. Raise
to 400. Folds to him and he calls. He makes a bet of 200 into the 950
pot. I raise to 800 and take it down. This was the only pot I would
win in the first 2 levels and go into the break with a stack of 4200.

The lack of cards continues through the next level, but with the blinds
up to 100-200 and the antes now in play I steal some pots to stay
afloat and end the level with about 5500. I get a rush of cards in the
200-400 level, but don't get paid off very well. For example, 2
limpers to me with KK on the button, I raise to 1200 and all fold. I
end the level with about 8K, which is below average. The rest of the
tourney is a struggle. I am short the entire way. I need to steal all
day long to stay alive. I am all-in several times, but manage to
survive to the final 2 tables, still short. All-in a few more times
just to survive. 12 players left, 2000-4000, I am in the BB with 83o
and only 8K left after posting. All fold to the SB who folds his 73o
face up. Yay. This was key because 2 hands later UTG, the other short
stack at the table, moves in and I call from the button with AK. He
shows QcTc, and just for good measure the flop comes with an A, the
turn with an A and the river a K. I double up and he is crippled. He
goes out the next hand in the BB. I steal the blinds twice in this
orbit and now I have a bit of a stack for the first time since the
tournament began. The other table busts someone and I make the final
table again.

I raise from MP with AK, BB moves in, I have him covered and call. He
shows AQ and I bust the first player and now have a nice stack. I
don't win a pot for a few orbits, and get blinded down a bit.
Another player busts. The blinds move up to 5K-10K with a 2K ante.
This is when the worst hand of the weekend occurs for me. I am in LP
with just under 30K. Big stack raises to 20K. I hold QQ and push my
stack in. He says "well, you probably got me, but I have to call"
and shows his 66. He says "yup, you got me," and I say "not yet,
there are still 2 sixes in the deck." They both show up on the flop,
the table groans, and I am out. Big stack gets up and apologizes, I
say not to worry and I go collect my $350.00. Very disappointing
because that would have made me one of the larger stacks and the
difference between 8th and 1st was 3K, but that is how life goes when
you play poker. I am quite pleased with my play in this tourney - I
was short literally the entire way but still made it to the final
table, and if not for losing with the QQ had a decent shot at one of
the top spots.

It is about 6:30 now, so I go get some dinner and head over to the
Bellagio to play a cash game since I have not played there yet. 10-20
has a short list, but 4-8 is open now. I jump in the 4-8 game since I
only have about 2 hours until I have to leave for the airport. 4-8 is
the lowest game they have spread and it plays like it. These guys are
donkeys. Every flop is seen by at least ½ the table. Every turn is
seen by anyone who has anything. Over cards are the nuts, and what
other players are holding does not enter into the equation. 1 funny
hand that is typical of the play: 5 limpers to the SB who raises. I
have As6s in the BB so I call knowing they all will call. Flop comes
AA3. SB bets, I raise, get 2 callers, SB calls. Turn is another 3.
SB bets again, I raise again, 1 caller (??) and the SB calls. River is
a K. SB checks. I am suspicious, but bet anyway. Other player folds,
SB check-raises. I say "you just rivered me for ½ the pot didn't
you?" as I throw another $8 into the pot. He seems upset as I say
this and says "If you have an A you win" and flips up his KK!
Surprised, I show my hand and collect the pot. "Why didn't you
raise me?" he says. I explain that he played the hand like he had
AK, and ask why he raised me "I had a full house!" he exclaims "I
have to raise a full house!" Ok, buddy. I pick up a few more pots
over the next hour and am up about $200, and am starting to get bored.
I cash out and walk around the Bellagio for a bit before heading to the
airport.

I don't have anything bad to say about Caesars. The room is nice,
lots of tables, a variety of limits and excellent tournaments, and a
fairly average skill level among most players, from what I could tell.
The poker room is also right next to the sports book which has several
huge screens and lots of comfy chairs, so it is a great spot to take a
break. The room is highly recommended. The only downfall, I guess, is
that the tourneys take so long, which means if you are only there for a
couple of days as I was you will be limited in what other things you
get to do it you go late into the event. I will stay at Caesars next
time I go.

Overall, I finished +$800 in my poker play. By the time I add my
dinners and cab fare and such the trip cost about $600, so I basically
had freeroll through Vegas with a bit of change left over, and I am
happy with that.

Ron

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