Trip Report: Marsh

Had a great time down in Vegas, here are the poker details:(this is long)

I didn't get to play as much as last time, as I was down there primarily to relax and have some fun with Rosa and company. I did however squeeze in some sessions.

First day I got there I had a short session where I was mainly card dead, but got some action on a straight and cashed out up $88.00 from the 1-2 tables at MGM. Re: MGM poker, I disagree with Jason wholeheartedly about the game being unbeatable. There were a few decent players around, and most of the good ones were TAGs. Jason mentioned a lot of LAGs running around but I disagree with that. There were very few LAGs, almost all of the players there were loose passive IMO. These are the best ones to play against, as all you need is a strong hand and the ability to bet large amounts. One problem for both Jason and I: We were running very cold. This makes it extremely difficult to play against these types of players. They just call you down and you have to have a hand. My starting hands were horrific for the majority of the trip. Had I played my A-game the whole time (I didn't), I would have sat there and folded for 98% of my poker time. Throughout the course of the trip for example, I saw AA and KK exactly zero times, and AK twice. I did have QQ 3 times I think. Really bad stuff.

Back to the stories; on day 2 I was feeling good and up 88 bucks. I sat for a long session as this was my poker day. After about 2 hours I had doubled my 200.00 buy in winning just a few hands here and there, but was still running pretty much dead. Then these 2 douchebags sat down. DB1 was a good player. But his buddy, douchebag2 was a moron. He sat down, raised his first pot to 15.00 straight, a normal raise for these limits (oddly enough). He gets one caller. Flop comes A K 7, rainbow. DB2 leads for 25.00, and and the other guy calls. Turn is a Q, and DB2 bets 50.00, with another call. River is a J and DB2 ships for his last ~100.00. Other guy tanks, then calls showing A7 for 2 pair. DB2 proudly flips his 10 10 for a runner-runner straight. Yuck but whatever. A few hands later, DB2 calls 15 pre with 34o HU against an old guy. Flop is A Q 3, DB2 checks, and old guy makes it 25.00. DB2 calls and the turn is a 4, he ships and old guy calls off with AJ. This trend happened throughout the session and he had 800.00 in front of him before you could blink. But we hadn't gotten mixed up together until now..

I pick up AdQd, and am thrilled with such a monster holding. I make it 15 to go pre, and DB2 calls along with Goofy Short Stack Guy. Flop comes 3d 2d 8c. Great flop. I am in position and they both check to me. Normally I am just going to hammer right here, but I decided to check, because I felt like even if I hit, I was gonna get paid by at least GSSG, maybe both. Also, I don't want to get check-raised here with A high. Turn is the As. Nice. DB2 checks, and GSSG ships for ~55.00. Strange sized bet here. I am for sure calling, but should I raise? I wouldn't mind isolating here, but at the same time, what am I really behind here? Even if I minraise it's going to be 110.00 cold to DB2, a tough call without a hand. I decide to call, because I want DB2 to come along and put his money in too, and plus, if he doesn't have a hand, he can't call the sizable 55.00 bet. He does indeed come along, and the river comes the 4c. DB2 leads into me for 80.00. Great. I have no clue what he has. Could have an A, which I am probably beating. Could be a bluff as he had bluffed earlier and showed. Could be 2-pair or something like that. I decide I just can't give him credit and call off. He shows 55 for a runner-runner straight, and I lose a pretty big pot. This pisses me off. I am not sure about how I played it, but the bottom line is that I just wanted to win that pot, as I was getting ready to leave. Now I was back down to like 200ish and not happy.

After about an hour of waiting I picked up AdKd. I popped it to 15 and DB2 called. Flop was Qs Js 7h, he checked and I cbet for 20.00. He called. Turn was 5c, and he checked again. I fired the second shell, for 50.00 this time (my image was super tight still), and he thinks for about 1 second and says, "100 on top of that". Fuck. I have to fold, and he whispers that he had a set to his buddy.. So now I am steaming really hard and it's like 3am to boot. NOT happy. I yo-yo my stack for another hour and a half, and cash out for 65.00. Bummer. DB2 had over 1200 in front of him when I left btw.

Next day we go to downtown Vegas with Jason and MB. I play a short session at Binion's. I see 3 of the first 5 flops, calling a raise each time with speculative hands. I whiff all and am at 150.00 right away. Not a problem. I lose another hand that I can't remember, and am at just above 100.00 pretty quickly. I pick up As5s and call a raise I think. Flopped the nut FD, and overship on a LAG's cbet. He has trips on the flop and quads by the river that I missed anyway. I step away from the table feeling sort of dumb, but not angry or anything.

Later that night we go to Mandalay to play some more cards. First hand, while the runner is still getting my chips, I pick up 55 and check my option. Lots'o'limpers and the flop comes Ad 5d 5c. YAHTZEE!!! Checks around. Turn is a second club, I think the 7. N00bish Donkey in Training stabs for 5.00, but gets 3-bet to 15.00 in from of me. I just call as does NBiT. River is a brick, with neither FD getting there, lame. But NBiT doesn't fail me and bets a reasonable 30.00 at the pot. Folds to me, and I grab one whole stack of 5's and slam it in the middle for 100.00 total. He looks at me for a minute then makes the call, revealing his monster: A8o. I am quite pleased to table my quads, and even more pleased when the deals shouts "High hand on 7!" SWEET! I sign a paper and they deliver me my 265.00 extra. I win some more hands but the table breaks and I cash out for just over 600.00. Back in black baby.

On my last day there we had some time to kill before getting to the plane, so I played at MGM one last time. This was awesome, because my table was good again, and because I finally ran normally. I wasn't hitting everything, and my starting hands weren't great, but I did hit SOME flops, and had SOME decent starting hands. Felt good to get back into a normal groove, even though it was a very short session. I build my stack up to 240.00 or so over the course of an hour. Then this fucking weird ass guy sits. He has big frowy hair that looks sort of like Slash's, and he has round, orange, reflective sunglasses on. He is huge too. His first hand he limps, and the flop comes A high. Someone stabs for 10, and he grabs a whole stack with his hand and nervously slams it into the pot. Everyone sorta chuckles as it folds around. After everyone has folded, he takes his hand, and throws it down, right on the board cards, triumphantly showing his A7o, and exclaiming that he "Had the aces". Wow. Hell of a start for this guy. He sees a few flops early and has to fold, after which he immediately asks whomever had bet "WHAT DID YOU HAVE?". Guys at the table give him different responses. A redneck but nice guy directly on my left makes it 15 pre, and gets one caller. Flop is AK5, and the caller bets out. Nice Redneck Guy shakes his head, and folds his QQ face up. Fuckface with the orange glasses promptly exclaims "WHY DID YOU DO THAT??". NRG slowly turns to him, and says "Excuse me?". FFWTOG says, "Why did you fold, you had queens, were you afraid he had an ace or a king?". NRG guys calmly explains "Yes, that was the general idea". Table laughs. I pick up the hand of all hands, the 9c3c, and limp on the button. FFWTOG and I see a flop. Flop comes with 2 clubs. He checks, I check. Turn is a blank. He bets, and tries to stare me down. I call, hoping to peel my club. River is brick. He shakes his head, and mumbles to himself, obviously very displeased with his hand. He checks to me, and I bet 25.00, thinking to myself, "well if he hates his hand so much...". He folds, and (of course) asks what I had. I tell him, "flush draw". He thinks for a second and is like, "why did you do that? why did you bet, was it just a bluff?". I say "yes". 2 hands later I limp with A6o, and am in a pot with him again. Flop comes A high, he checks. I bet again, but this time I tell him "I have it this time". He folds and I show my my Ace, just to be nice. His response: "Fuck you". ...... I said "fuck me? what the hell is that?" He informs me that he doesn't need my charity, and that he is from Brooklyn. I tell him I was just trying to be nice, but forget that. He asks me where I am from. "Seattle". "Oh that explains that". :/ NOT HAPPY. I tell him that yes, we are nice in Seattle and don't tell people fuck you when they do something nice for them. The table laughs and one guy backs me up also calling the guy an asshole. I am VERY unpleased at this point. I make a few open comments to the table about this fuck face, all of which receive chuckles. He then tells us three gripping pieces of information: 1. He is a lawyer. 2. Dumb people are better at poker than smart people. 3. He is pretty sure his IQ is higher than anyone at the table. Now he becomes the target of a lot of side jokes, but he doesn't know it. He asks me in the next hand we get in together what I had, and I look right into his reflective orange glasses and say, "Now you want my charity?? Hell no, I am not telling you a damn thing." I think he realizes that he pissed me off now, because after I win another small pot a few hands later, he proclaims "You are good at this". Thanks. I did clash one other time with him in between, where I had AQ and popped to 12, he made it 24 and said "This is how we play in Brooklyn". LOL. I ALMOST just shoved on him right there for 200 or whatever he had. Just so I could drop an awesome line like, "I am from Seattle bitch, you got the stones to play with me?". But being from Seattle, I am smarter than that and decided to just call him. I didn't want to get involved in a huge hand with this idiot, because if I shipped, he might just call me with K9 thinking its the nuts, and I can get my money in way better than that against this idiot. We both whiff the flop and it checks to the river where he slams 100 into the pot. I have nothing but Ace high and can't call. He shows his A4 for a runner runner straight that got there... lame. At that time I had to leave and didn't get to stack the guy, which was disappointing. I did however cash out up 66.00.

Over all I made almost 150.00 for the trip, which I was fine with after all. Being that card dead, flop dead, and then making some pretty gambly plays wasn't exactly the recipe for a profit.

Our flight was delayed 3 hours and we spent 6 at the airport. I played 2 SNG's on Cake at the airport. Is that bad? lol



cliffsnotes: Was card dead and played not that great, but hit quads for a big pot and a high hand jackpot that got me even. I had 2 other winning sessions and left up about 150.00.