Hello, its been a while since ive updated my trip so I thought id share a few things. First of all, I wanted to mention that I sadly have decided to stop recording all my hands to share on this blog. Its not because I dont want to...it actually really is fun and interesting to read about them after its all said and done. I just found that it takes a lot of work to do and if I truly want to grind cash and everything after busting out of tournaments I simply do not have the time to record and post all the sessions. I would like to apologize to anyone who was looking forward to all my hands and say that I will miss them equally as much if not more than you. Second of all, I finally had my first major live tournament win this summer. I shipped event May 28th $400 Venetian Deepstack event for $16712. It feels so good to get it off my back and winning really makes it worth all the work leading up to it.
There were many other interesting tournaments and cash games that I would like to tell you about too so I will give you a recap of my trip starting now.
May 22nd: I arrived in Vegas at about 2 AM on May 22nd. Not able to check into my hotel at The Orleans until later on that morning, I settled into a cash game at Mandalay Bay. Low and behold this would be my biggest winning cash session of all time. I finished up $1030 on the 6.75 hour session. I didn’t even really make a lot of big hands or get any coolers to net this amount. I won a lot of decently large pots with top pair type hands and those mounted up over time. It was definitely the way I had envisioned starting my trip. I checked into my hotel, slept for a bit, and went back out to play more cash games later that day. I ended up at the Luxor after finding out about their $3500 weekly freeroll to players who play 15 hours in a week. I played a 3.5 hour session that night that went almost as bad for me as the previous session went good, finishing down $635.
May 23rd: I spent the day looking for a room to rent and after disappointingly not finding anything good, I went back to the Luxor for a long cash session at night. I played for 8.75 hours ending with a $74 loss.
May 24th: I decided I didn’t want to look for rooms anymore so I book the Motel 6 behind the Hooters hotel and casino for 7 days planning on staying there. I checked in and went back to Luxor for cash games again. I played for 6 hours, breaking even for most of it until I lost about $250 on a hand where I raised Q8, flopped a straight, and ended up calling off on the turn after the board paired and he had a full house. I finished down $307 for this session making my total winnings in cash games for the trip $14 despite my huge 1st session…ouch.
May 25th: My first major tournament of the year was today, playing in the Venetian $400 2 starting day event. This was day 1B that I was playing in…I actually didn’t realize that day 1A was the previous day already (I thought that this was day 1A) so I missed out on playing that but I still got into day 1B. It would prove to be a short tournament though as I picked up KK vs AA in an unavoidable blind vs blind pot 2 hours in then got my last ~12 bbs in with AQs vs Q8s and lost. I went and played some cash at the Luxor, turning in my first winning session there finishing up $187 in 4.5 hours. I actually was up significantly more than this but I played an almost $900 pot (the biggest of the summer thus far) with QQ vs KK all in preflop. I flopped a Q but he rivered a straight to beat me. After this, I ended up having some drinks and somehow getting into Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace. It was a blast.
May 26th: I played in the Venetian $600 event on this day. It was another short tournament for me though. Early on I made a sick play were I 4-bet jammed K high vs the table LAG to get some chips. I then lost chips when I checked behind top pair with KQ on the flop and paid off a rivered straight to a hefty river bet (there was a 1 card straight on board but I still called). I ended up jamming 9k with AQo at 300-600 and got called by KK and busted. After this, I went to go put in more time at the cash tables. I played at the MGM Grand tonight and turned in a pretty nice up $505 night after 5.25 hours. As with my winning session at Mandalay Bay, I didn’t really win any big coolers or huge hands. Just a lot of mid-sized pots with top pair type hands.
May 27th: There was a $400 Venetian today but I opted not to play it, instead choosing to use the hours I put in at the Luxor on their freeroll. It only got 28 people so it was very good value for a free $3500. First place was $1000 and I ended up making the final table. Everyone wanted to chop it but I said hell no unless you give me $700 I wont do it. We played a little longer and they finally caved in 7-handed (I gave in a little too I guess) and they gave me $660. I think it was a very good deal for me as I got almost $200 more than anyone else when the average stack was 8 bbs. Additionally, during the freeroll they do several cash drawings for those people who have qualified. I ended up getting my ticket called during one of the drawings and I won $200 so it ended up being a free $860 day. I played a little cash after the freeroll, netting a $141 win in a 2.25 session after I flopped top set, checked to the river, and he caught up with a smaller set and paid off (too bad it was the table nit so I didn’t get nearly as much money as I could vs a more reckless player). I took a little time off to celebrate the win and ended up going back to the Luxor to play a little more cash that night. I had a really rough session as this was (up to this point) the softest cash table I had sat at since I was in Vegas. I probably tried to force the action too much vs an easy table and it ended badly as I didn’t make any hands, lost a decent pot with TPTK vs an overpair, and finished down $376 during the 4.5 hour session.
May 28th: Today was the $400 tournament at the Venetian and it had an uncharacteristically small field, with only 203 players playing in it. I had a very fortunate start, winning a lot of HUGE pots in the 1st level. I picked up AA twice and got 3 large streets of value. I raised 88 and got it all in on the river on a 9879Q board vs a guy who had K9 for about a 40k pot at 50-100. I then played a hilarious pot where I 3-bet all in on the turn with AJss on 8632 2 spade board and the guy snap called with 74o for the feared gutshot straight draw and held. Just like that I was up to 55k (from 12k starting) in the 1st hour of the tournament. I mostly just chilled for a while after this. I did manage to lose 15k at 150-300 with AJo vs 98s all in preflop but that didn’t deter me too much. I played really well and grinded my stack back up. At 300-600 I played probably the biggest pot of the tournament up to that point when the other table chip leader raised the button, I flatted the SB with 77, and the flop came Q75. He 5-bet me all in on the flop and showed a no good Q5 for 2 pair and I won an absolutely massive pot to put me up to around 115k. I grinded up my stack over the next several levels, playing one big pot where a spewtard opened for like 8.5x, I found AA and 3-bet him, he called, and I check raised him all in on a random flop. He still had a big stack behind but he had already put like 35 bbs in so I figured it didn’t matter too much. I was around 190k or so and I played a couple of sick pots vs this kid who I had been sitting with for a while named Andrew Sapiro. First hand I 4-bet him to 26k at 800-1600 with 83s and he folded. About an orbit later, I picked up JJ, opened, he 3-bet the button, I 4-bet, and he flatted. The flop came A high, I checked, he moved all in for his largish stack, and I had to fold. A couple hands later, I opened ATo in mid position, he 3-bet to ~12k from the SB, and I flatted. The flop came a paired board with all low cards (like 744 or something), he lead out for 16k, I made it 41k, and he shoved for about 120k total. I wanted to call him sooooooo bad here but I ended up folding…I still don’t know what he had but I will try to find out next time I see him around. After these hands I was down to ~100k or so. The bubble broke soon after this and I had my first cash of the summer. We were at 1200-2400 and we redrew for seats for the final 27 players. 2nd hand at the new table, a guy open shipped ~50k from UTG, I found AKo UTG +1 and reshipped and everyone else folded. He showed KK and I lost and was down to 50k. I stole a significant amount of pots over the next couple orbits to get my stack back to 100k. I opened the button with A8s at 1500-3000 and the BB called. The flop came A82 and he check called me. The turn came a 7, he checked, I bet, he raised all in and I snapped. He showed A9 and I held and was back at 200k or so. Soon after this we were down to the final 2 tables. One of the 1st hands at 2000-4000, I opened 99 UTG +1, got called by the BB, flopped a set, and got 3 streets of value including a very big greater than pot sized river bet. This put me up to 320k or so. At 2500-5000 I opened the button with KJo and the BB shoved 120k. I called pretty quickly and he turned over K7s and I held (sick call) and I was up to 450k. The last level of the day was 3000-6000 and it was a pretty unsuccessful one as I was raised off of many opens. Former WSOP bubble boy Brandon Steven opened the button to 15k and I jammed for his ~120k effective from the SB with 99 and he called with QQ and I lost. The day ended soon after this with me having 264k in chips, good for 2nd overall with 12 people left (in a very muddled pack though…450k would have been a massive chip lead).
May 29th: I came back today with one goal in mind: to win. Blinds started at 4000-8000 and 2nd hand of the day, I opened the cutoff with A8s. The button shoved over the top for ~140k or so (it was the 2nd hand and the 2nd time he reshoved) and I called. He showed 66 and I was able to win the flip to get back to 400k or so. Soon we were 10 handed at the final table and I was the chip leader. I opened UTG+1 with KK at 5k-10k and the BB called. The flop came A high, I checked behind the flop but called bets on turn and river and was good when he showed a busted straight draw. I opened JJ UTG, a short stack shipped 70k on me, a guy reshipped ~180k on him, and I called them both. They both flipped AK and missed their 4 outs and my stack rocketed up to 800k or so with 8 left. I mostly kept quiet, stealing the occasional pot until we got 6 handed. I was at 1 million or so when I played (and lost) probably the biggest hand of the tournament up to that point. I opened the button with Q9o and a tight guy on my left who was 2nd in chips at the moment called from the SB. The flop came T63 2 diamonds, he checked, I fired a c-bet of 35k, and he called. The turn came a 7, he checked again, I fired a 2nd barrel of 80k, and he called again. The river came the 9 of diamonds, giving me a straight but putting 3 diamonds on board. He checked, I bet 220k, and he moved all in for 380k total (only 160k more). I knew that he would never be bluffing here so after a very long tank, I ended up folding my straight (what he told me later was a great fold). After this hand I was down to 600k or so and had relinquished my chip lead to that guy. We got to 5 handed and I ended up busting Brandon Steven button vs BB my AK vs his A9. This brought me back to 850k. The tight guy on my left lost his chip leadership to a foreign guy on the other side of the table and he took out the another guy in 4th place so he had a lot of chips, with me in 2nd and the tight guy on my left in 3rd when we went to 3 handed. I ran really really really bad for the 1st 30 minutes of 3 handed play losing half my stack but I was able to grind it back up. We were at 10k-20k and the other 2 guys played a large pot for about 1.2 million with the tight guy doubling up through the foreign guy with AJ vs AQ. This put the foreign guy down to 500k or so. A couple hands later I opened the button with KQs and the foreign guy called from the BB. The flop came K63 2 hearts and he check raised me all in with J9 of hearts and failed to make his flush, shipping me a pot and getting me to heads up. Heads up we started about even with him having probably a little lead like 1.3 mill to 1.1 mill. I slowly grinded him down to 500k with one big pot where I flopped a straight flush draw with J9s on T73 and got him to call a big bet on the river when the board ran out J8 (he showed J8). At 12k-24k, I minraised the button with KQ, he jammed, and I decided to call his 500k. He showed AK and held to double to 1 mill or so. After this I caught a super unlucky run of hands where I got coolered super hard over and over again and he grinded me down through the hands and soon, I was the one with 800k at 15k-30k. He opened the button to 90k and I shipped it in with ATo. He called and showed AK and I was in trouble. However, the board ran out QT5T8 and I doubled up to 1.6 mill and he was the one with 800k. Very next hand I found QQ on the button and raised, he shoved and showed 55, and when no 5 came on the board, I was the winner!!!! I got my winners picture and a trophy and everything. It feels so good to actually win a live tournament…I hope that its not the first one that I win! The rest of the night I just basically relaxed, going out and having some fun playing Texas Holdem Bonus (table game) and breaking even after going down $500 in a 7 hour session. It was pretty fun and a nice way to celebrate the win.
May 30th: Back on the grind today with the $600 Venetian. I played really tight for the 1st couple levels eventually getting a double when I got JJ in on a 9 high flop and somehow got called by AK and held. I won big pot when I limped the button with A2s, flopped 2 pair, and got 3 big streets of value including him bluffing into me on the river with what I assume to be a busted flush draw. I was up to 50k or so after this. I then got a gift double when it was limped to me in the BB and I checked K2. The flop came AK2, I got it in vs A8 for about 40k at 400-800, and I held to get to about 100k or so giving myself another massive stack in a tournament. I lost about 20k at 500-1000 when my KK ran into AA but my stack continued to climb. There was a guy with a ton of chips (he had 240k at 300-600) and he gave them all away, many of them to me. I trapped him with JJ and let him bet 3 streets into me. I then raised AKo, flopped a K, and let him put 3 bigger bets into me this time. After these hands I was at 160k or so. I took a massive 180k to dinner and had dreams of going back to back. However, after dinner my play and my stack went severely downhill. Actually this didn’t happen until a little later. I still had 180k or so at 1200-2400 when I made my first mistake. A tighter lady opened to 7k in EP and she only had like 50k behind. I found A8s on the button and decided to 3-bet and get it in if she went with her hand. She did and she showed QQ and I dropped to 130k. I then made a bigger mistake when I opened QJs in EP, she decided to 3-bet to 15k, and I jammed her for her stack of 90k. She called quickly, showing KK…ugh…and I lost most of my stack to get down to 40k. Ooooooops. I guess I don’t totally hate this play…I mean she doesn’t really have to have it all the time but it sucks that I completely blew a massive stack. The blinds went up to 1.5k-3k and the bubble was approaching. There were 55 players or so left with 45 paying. I found KQo and shoved for my last 36k or so and got called by 77. I won the flip and doubled to 75k or so. I tightened up a little and the blinds went up to 2k-4k. With 48 players remaining, I shipped my last 60k in from the hijack with ATo, the same lady called me from the SB with AQ, I lost and busted out on almost the virtual bubble. Ughhhh…of all these plays, the one I hate the most is the AT shove…I really really hate how this tournament ended up. Its too bad that I choked and screwed up because I had a legitimate chance of doing something special again in this tournament. Oh well I guess I have to get over it. Anyways, I busted at about midnight but wasn’t really that tired so I went over to the Rio to try my hand in a satellite to try to make some money. I played a $125 but ended up finishing 5th when my JTo couldn’t beat KQo.
May 31st: My hotel at Motel 6 was done for the week, this being Thursday. I ended up moving just next door into the Americas Best Value Inn after booking it for the week. There weren’t really any good tournaments today so I decided today would be a satty grinding day. I went to the Rio and jumped into a $125. With 4 people left, I lost 99 vs AQ for about half the chips in play. I then jumped into a $175 and lost that when a guy limp called my shove with AQ when I had A9. Probably a bad shove but I just wanted it to get through. After I busted this tournament, they called last registration for the daily tournament at the Rio. I normally would never play in these because I hate this tournament but I decided to give it a shot because no other sattys were filling. I joined the tournament late but played really really well (Im really proud of how I did this tournament) and literally grinded my stack with no hands up to 65k at 1k-2k. A guy opened the button to 5k, I 3-bet with AK from the small blind to 13.5k, he jammed 50k, and I snap called. He showed A2o but outran me when a 2 came on the turn for an absolutely massive pot. I lost the rest of my chips when a guy shoved the cutoff, and I called from the button with A8. Before he flips his cards he says well I guess you have me because I haven’t looked yet and then proceeds to flip over AA…haha! I guess it just wasn’t my tournament. After I busted this I went to play some cash at the MGM Grand. I made a sick play with 2nd pair no kicker and ended up getting it in vs 2 unders and a straight draw and holding. I played for 2.25 hours here profiting $300. I wanted to play more but the game I was in got pretty bad to play in so I left and went to find another game. I ended up at Hooters and found a pretty soft 1-2 game. I was doing well and chipped up to +$150 or so until I flopped an A with AK, bet big on 3 streets, and had to fold the river when I got jammed on. I ended up the session down just $9 for the 2.75 hours I played here.
June 1st: The Venetian had a $600 2 Day 1 tournament today and today was day 1A so I decided to skip it and wait for day 1B. I went to Binions to play in the Binions Poker Classic $210 event. The field was super soft and small with only 60 people playing. Early on my 20k starting stack got cut to 3k when some terrible player called my over sized 3-bet preflop, my pot sized c-bet on the flop, and my river jam over his bet with 87 on a AJ987 board. I had just K high and I really like how I played the hand but he is an idiot so he decided to just call preflop, on the flop, and on the river with that hand so whatever. However, I was able to grind my stack back up. I got up to 7k and doubled to 15k or so when I trapped a guy preflop with AA and got him to bluff me all in drawing dead on the turn. From here, I went on a tear and my stack continued to increase. I won a flip busting Tony Korfman for about 20k at 400-800 to put my stack up to 55k or so. I got my stack up to 140k and at 1.5k-3k blinds and last hand before dinner break, I opened AA UTG, got called by the BB, but ended up losing a significant pot on a KK79J board vs T8. I lost about half my stack to put me down to 75k or so. I hovered around this amount slowly increasing my stack and soon we were at the final table. We got down to 8 and decided to do a bubble saver to take $30 off of each of the 7 spots to pay the bubble $210, exactly getting their money back. I was at 90k or so at 3k-6k and decided to jam from MP with 33. The button reshoved and showed AKo but the board ran out 5226K losing me the flip and busting me out in 8th. A disappointing finish for sure but I guess I cant win them all. After this I went to the MGM Grand to play some $1-$2 just to get a couple of hours in before I went to bed. I found the easiest 1-2 table of the summer so far but I just couldn’t make any hands to make the donks pay. I opened for $25 (yes straight opened to $25) with AKs, got 2 callers, the flop came Q high, and they had AQ and KQ and I put some more money in…If only an A or a K would have come instead of their 2 outer I would have won a significant pot. It really is too bad I couldn’t take advantage of this table because it reeeeeally was sooo easy but these guys just love to call and if I cant make hands vs them I just cant win. I finished down $231 for the session over 2.25 hours.
June 2nd: I played in day 1B of the Venetian $600 today. Nothing just went right today. I lost about half my stack when I called a guy down with 3rd pair but he rivered a flush (I was ahead until the river and I didn’t think he was on the flush draw) and then I lost another significant pot to a 1 outer when I opened AT, flopped an a, but he rivered a T with his TT. I was down to my last 3k at 150-300 and put it in with JJ and ran into QQ. I really wanted to fold JJ because this tight older guy 3-bet an opener and I was in the BB. I had played with him in a previous tournament so I know he has it. I just guess I couldn’t get myself to fold JJ with 10 bbs. After this I went to MGM to play some cash. Fortunately, I got seated at a table with 2 of the same donks from my yesterday table. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t beat them no matter what I did. I kept trying to iso them in pots and it was working but I just couldn’t end up with the best hand. I went down $400 but ended up winning a large pot when I turned a flush vs a turned straight and got him to call a big river bet. This hand brought me closer to even but I left after the 2 donks ran out of money, down $158 over the 3 hour session. I didn’t really want to play anymore poker so I ended up going out and having a few drinks, getting into XS nightclub at the wynn. It was actually a ton of fun and XS is probably the coolest club ive ever been to.
June 3rd: That brings me to today. Today was another $400 at the Venetian. I started well getting my stack up and having possibly the easiest table at a Venetian Deepstack event this summer. Everyone was just awful at my table. However, I lost about half my stack when I flopped top pair with a flush draw with K7s and called 3 streets when he lead out and he had a K with a higher kicker. After this I really really tightened up and am super proud of how I played. I had 6k and stole and restole all the way up to 22k or so, playing tight and just slowly grinding up my stack. I had this stack at 600-1200 when a guy opened the cutoff, I found JJ in the BB and jammed, and he snapped and showed QQ…siiiiiiigh. I even flopped a J but of course he turned a Q and I was out. Its too bad it had to end like that because I worked so hard and played so well to get a stack at that point. Maybe tomorrow will end better.
So that was long but that has been my trip so far. Overall im up $373 in 51.75 hours of cash ($7.21 hourly…yeeesh), up $14127 in tournaments, and down $425 in sattys. Hopefully I can get my cash winnings up…I really do feel like ive ran badly in cash games and hopefully I can find another big score or 2 in these tournaments. Only time will tell and im looking forward to this summer grind!
Great report mate. Please do more.
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