Bond18 - Around the World in 90 Days: Days 36-37

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

Yesterday was a very brief day at the Rio. It was the $2000 NL Hold ’em event and I was seated at a table full of unknowns (outside Neil Channing, who quickly ran QQ into AA pre flop and lost). Only one hand of slight interest came up in my half hour or so at the table, which I played awful and have posted in the high stakes multi table tournament section of 2+2 here.

I picked up Celina from the airport that night with Tom (aka ‘LearnedfromTV’) and we went over to my favorite Korean BBQ joint on the strip. I tried to get to bed early again but still couldn’t manage to drift off until after 4am.

I wake up to the sound of the phone ringing at 10am. I pick it up and listen to the lady on the other end for about 10 seconds before I realize it’s a telemarketer. I slam the phone down and go back to sleep. A few minutes later I wake up again to the sound of the phone ringing and again it’s a telemarketer. I walk into the kitchen and rip the phone cable out of the wall, then go back to bed.

I wake up to the sound of my alarm at 10:48am. Oh God, this has not been enough sleep. I stumble my way into the shower and let the hot water do the waking up for me.

We make our way to the Rio and get registered for today’s $1500 no limit six handed tournament. I find my way to the table where we start with 3000 chips at 25/50 blinds with hour long levels. It’s only a round or so in before I’m involved:

Effective stacks: ~3000. Blinds 25/50. I hold AdQc in the BB.

Preflop: UTG raises to 150, 1 fold, CO calls, folds to me in the BB, I call.

Flop: 8s Ah Kc

I check, UTG bets 250, CO folds, I call.

Turn: 5s

I check, UTG bets 550, I call.

River: 7s

I check, he checks behind and shows Ad2d.

Two hands later I’m involved again:

My stack: ~3800 BB: ~3000. Blinds 25/50. I hold AhAc on the button.

Preflop: Folds to me on the button, I raise to 150, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: 4c Qh 6d

SB checks, BB checks, I bet 300, SB folds, BB raises to 850, I call.

Turn: 9h

BB bets 850, I call.

River: 7h

BB thinks it over and checks. He has 1100 left and I fire out 1500. He thinks for quite a while then folds.

The player on my left is a fairly aggressive young guy. I’ve been running quite well so far and been fairly active when the following comes up:

My stack: ~5600 BB: ~2600. Blinds 25/50, I hold Ac5d in the SB.

Preflop: Folds to me in the SB, I raise to 150, BB calls.

Flop: Ah Kd Qd

I bet 200, BB calls.

Turn: 2d

I check. BB bets 400. I feel like he should have a very small value betting range here and there’s not a lot of reason to float this flop. I elect to fold and he turns 9h5h face up. So owned.

I get moved tables and immediately win a small pot off the player on my right. He seems to be playing a bit weak and straight forward with odd betting sizes. With that history the following hand comes up:

My stack: ~6000, SB: ~4000 blinds 25/50. I hold 7h6h in the BB

Preflop: Folds to the SB, SB completes, I raise to 150, SB thinks it over then reraises to 350, I call.

Flop: 5d 4s Qd

SB bets 300, I call.

Turn: 2h

SB checks, I check behind.

River: 7c

SB checks, I check. SB tables A4o.

Then for a very, very long time nothing interesting happens. For the levels of 50/100, 100/200, and 100/200 25 I have a few hands where I raise pre flop and get 3 bet and fold or simply take down the blinds, but all that really happens is stack maintenance with no increase. I’m moved tables into the main room and witness a hand where the young player in seat 1 plays a big pot where he shoves the river then gives a little speech with his monster hand. It’s with that little history that the following hand comes up, with my having a pretty tight image:

My stack: ~6600, BB: ~20000, blinds 150/300 with 25 ante. I hold Ts9h on the button 5 handed.

Preflop: Folds to me, I raise to 800, SB folds, BB thinks it over then calls.

Flop: Tc 5c 2c

BB checks, I bet 1300, BB calls.

Turn: 8h

BB checks, I check behind.

River: 9c

BB thinks it over then bets 2000. The ‘CTS theorem’ goes that people bluff way too often on four flush boards, so I throw out the 2000 and make the call. He tables Kc3c and takes down the pot. It doesn’t take much thought to realize this call is horrible. Even though people bluff too often on these boards, if I had just slowed down and thought things over I would have realized there is nothing in his range that can check call the flop that bets the river that isn’t a flush. Even though I expect him to check shove big clubs with an over card, he’s never going to turn a top pair hand into a bluff on the river and he can’t be calling with much else that beats me by the river. That’s my second terrible, non thinking call down in two days, and I’m pissing myself off with that kind of shit.

The very next hand I find AQ and shove my short stack of 2425 when it’s shoved to me. The BB thinks it over for a while then calls AdTd. The board blanks out and I double up.

I stay tight for a little when then a few orbits later re-steal on the big stack players late position open with JTo. He folds and a few hands later I find AQo and jam over an LP raise, which again gets no call.

After that I stay quite tight for some time. A new player is moved to our table, a young guy two on my right. For his first orbit at the table I do nothing. The blinds go up to 200/400 with a 50 ante and I spend the rest of the next orbit folding, outside the walk I get in the BB.

With no history against the new player the following hand comes up:

My stack: 8000, button: ~11000, Blinds 200/400 with 50 ante. I hold Qs5s in the BB.

Preflop: Folds to the button, button goes to raise to 1000 then does what I call the “wrist pump” tell. That is, as he goes to throw out his chips, his wrist subconsciously does a sort of double take, as if his arm isn’t as sure of the bet as his brain is. The SB folds and I declare all in. The button tanks for quite a while then says something like “man this would be such a sick call.” He counts down his stack, looks me over then reluctantly calls and tables KJo. Dayum.

Flop: 7s 7h As

Turn: 7c

River: Kd

I tap the table, tell him nice call, and walk away.

I’m becoming increasingly agitated with my failing to think through the hands correctly. I need to slow the hell down and think every street of the hand over before I try and make any hero calls in live poker; otherwise I’m going to keep bombing out of these things early and pissing myself off, not to mention my backers.

When I get home I’m so exhausted I can barely think straight and barely write. I decide to call it a very early night and hope to be in considerably better shape for tomorrow’s $2000 Bellagio tournament.

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