Player's Stories

The Education of a Poker Player:
Part VI -- Day 1 & 2
6 Days, 15 tournaments

By Randy Glover

Day 1: VIVA LAS VEGAS

Sam's Town NLHE 7 pm:

I can take only one suitcase this trip, a carry on, and discover barely enough room for four poker books to accompany my clothes and myself out to Las Vegas. I finally select Cloutier's Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold 'Em book, Caro's Book of Tells, Zen and the Art of Poker, and a new tournament book I haven't read by Ken Buntjer.

Payshints (Jerry) from PokerSchool meets me at the airport. We head to Sam's Town for the only No Limit Hold Em (NLHE) tournament held in Las Vegas on saturday night. This is the reason for having to pack light. If I have to wait for a checked bag, we may miss the 7 pm tournament.

If this had been a big money tournament (over $100 to me), I would have skipped it, being jet-lagged and travel weary. But it is $37 for $800 in tournament chips, with one rebuy of $20 for $1,000 TCs.

Sam's Town is way off the strip. Jerry and I catch up on each other's lives during the 15-20 minute ride out there. We also agree to take 10% of each other's action. We think nothing of it at the time but this will end up being a nice little side pot for one of us.

Jerry skips valet parking because my suitcase is in the back of his SUV, and we make the short walk from the parking deck to the poker room.

There are 40 players tonight. They pay 5 and top prize is around $800.

Jerry is seated to my immediate left. The players at our table are either good solid players or wild ones. I find KK early on, get a big raise in front, and get all my chips in. But an ace hits, the player turns over AK, and I pull out $20 for my one-time rebuy.

The very next hand I find QQ. I put another player all in, leaving myself $300. An ace hits and I figure it may be an early exit for me. The other player has only JJ. Whew.

Jerry about puts me out of the tournament when I raise 3X the BB with AK from the Small Blind (SB). He thinks for sometime and then finally calls. He knows my play and figured I had a big pair, or AK. The flop brings a Queen. I check. He raises all my chips and I fold. He had QQ, and later admits he should have reraised me all my chips, which I would have had to call given my short stack.

Shortly after the break I put in $200 for the SB, leaving me with only $100. I have A7; I have to call. My ace high hand nets me a small pot. Two more all-ins also hold up.

My fatigue shows on one hand. I have 86 suited in the BB. I get to see the flop for free. It is 2,5,7, with one of my suit. I am short stacked and call a small bet from an aggressive player in the number 2 seat who bets out at every flop. The turn is a 3. He checks. The river makes my straight and I fail get my last $200 in. My mind is just not working at this point. One of the other players at the table says, "Miss a Bet?" Jerry is nice enough to tell them I just flew in from Florida.

I have around $1200 in chips. I more than double through with A9s when the aggressive player who has been playing junk all night puts me all in. He flips over 97os.

I get KK twice and make a big enough bet ($2,000) to rake in $900 in blinds twice. I play these hands fast, trying to drive out the Ax players.

We are now down to 2 tables, with 7 players at our table. Jerry takes an awful beat when he is in the SB and puts the BB all in. Jerry has AQ and the other player calls with 43. The player had too many chips to call with that. If you only have enough left for your small blind coming up, ok then, you call. But he had enough left for another 9 hands. They both flip over their hands. The board is 10,8,2,5,6. Jerry is down to $700. He survives one all in, and is then out.

I get rag after rag after my last KK. At a 6-person table the blinds eat heavily into my stack.

I carry my $2,900 over to the final table. A very loose player steals 2 out of the first 3 hands. On the fifth hand, I get my chips in (from the SB) on a $2400 raise from the button. I have AJos and only $2,000 left after 2 blinds. Not a great hand, but I want to get into the money, not sit there and be blinded out. I correctly put him on a medium pair: 88. This leaves me a 11.5 to 10 underdog. He catches a full house and I am out 10th of 40. I question my call. I would have gotten to see about 20 more hands if I had not gone all in. Sometimes when all you've seen is rags, an AJ looks pretty darn good. But AJ is one of the worst calling hands out there. Other likely raising hands of AK and AQ leaves your hand dominated.

The worst bad beat of the night has occurred in the parking lot. We return to find Jerry's Mercedes SUV with its bumper hanging loose and several deep scratches in it.

Day 2: TWO NLHE TOURNAMENTS

Jerry picks me up at 10:30 in front of the Monte Carlo. He has had a busy morning reattaching his bumper. Surprisingly, the scratches in the black plastic look less severe in the bright morning light.

Orleans NLHE 12 pm:

I see several players from the night before. A middle aged guy who wore head phones throughout the Sam's Town tournament is here. This morning I get to see his music selection: Gregorian Chants.

To each his own. If this helps his play...well, more power to him. Mr. Gregorian Chants will come back to haunt me later in the day.

The Sunday noon tournament is $37 for $300 TCs and one rebuy of $20 for $500 TCs. I decide to wear my sunglasses during play this afternoon. My wife says I have a pleasant face and kind eyes, and that the sunglasses give me a serious look. But the sunglasses keep slipping off and I take them off shortly before the first break

I play at least one hand too many today. I have AJ in mid position and one limper ahead. I call. What am I going to do with this hand if an Ace flops? Lots of people limp with AQ. A few limp with AK. My only hope is to flop a Jack. Or a 10 to 1 shot of flopping 2 pair. When an ex-cop to my immediate right raises on a flop of A56. I fold. I don't put him on AK or AQ. He is a limit tournament player who I have played before, and would have raised big preflop with either of those hands. He tells me after the hand he had A6. It is the kind of hand I expect him to play. Good fold post flop, bad decision pre flop.

I play AJ again a few hands later. But this time I play it from perfect position. I am in the SB with two limpers in front. The flop is almost a dream flop. AJQ. However, could someone have limped with K10? Absolutely. I put a pot size bet in, hoping to get no callers. It is an expensive bet, but I will know quickly if I am beaten. I also make it expensive for an A10 to stay in the pot. The BB folds as does the first limper. The second limper, an older player who has been in too many pots, cold calls. Uh oh. I plan to put on the brakes on the turn and maybe even fold if I get a big raise.

The turn is a beautiful Ace. I don't have to worry about the straight anymore. I rarely slowplay. But this is the time. There are no straight flush possibilities. I can't be beaten on this hand (unless he has AQ and then I was beaten on the flop anyway). I bet out a third of the pot, hoping he has the fourth Ace, or a straight. From his betting, I put him on the Ace with a weak kicker. Second guess is K10. Either way, I'm good.

The river is a Jack. The other player flips over his hand; all I can see is a 10. Then I see the Ace. At first I can't figure out why we split the pot. Then, duh, it hits me. He has Aces full of Jacks also.

Disaster at the Orleans:

My lack of live action experience will hurt me twice during this trip. It kills me here.

A new player comes to the table. He immediately raises 3X the BB from mid position. This could mean a lot of things. For whatever reason, I put him on AK. I have JJ. I have $900 left. This is the time. Odds are he does not have an overpair (QQ or higher). So I have the edge preflop. I think for a good minute before pushing all my chips to the center. Then the mucked hands start flying. The dealer, a woman with incredibly short arms, somehow reaches around my all in bet and mucks my Jacks.

I ask for a ruling. The tournament director comes over. He asks the other player involved in the hand what he wants to do. Somehow it is decided that my call will stand and I get my raise back. I still don't understand this.

I take a walk and think about how to play my last $600 in chips. Blinds are at $50/$100 so I don't have much time. When I get back they have changed dealers.

Lesson learned here (and not very well as you will later see): Protect Your Hand.

Mr. Gregorian Chants has been moved to the table. From his play last night I noticed he plays a lot of junk: J8s, 78os, 96s. These are not calling hands from the SB for him, these are big raising hands from UTG. So when Mr. Gregorian Chant raises 3X the BB from UTG, I go all in with AJ. I couldn't have been more correct. He flips over J9os.

I start adding up the chips I'll rake in. The $1,500 pot will put me right back in this tournament. The flop and turn are no help to either of us. The river does help - him. He spikes a 9 and I am gone. Well, that's poker I think as I walk away.

I am out 22nd of 68; Jerry goes out 18th.

The Sahara NLHE:

Sunday night at the Sahara. Sounds glamorous. Anything but. The Sahara is showing its age: 50 years and counting. An ageing dowager comes to mind.

But you have to give it to the management. They are on the wrong end of the strip with an old property and still they pack the people in. They have Nascar, they have their weekly slot promotions, they have their bargain vacation packages. They do well.

The poker tournament is well run. They are efficient, the dealers are nice, and they give out a good amount of chips. All of this gives you a lot of action for less than $100. My only complaint about the poker room is that it has too many tables crammed into it for its size.

Buy in is $40 with one rebuy for $20. This gets you $1,500 and $3,000 in TCs, respectively (I didn't write this down at the time, so sorry if this is wrong.) Blinds are $50/100 and antes start after the first break.

I have never been at a weaker table for a tournament.

A young kid in seat 10 looks like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. It turns out this is his first live casino experience. Another player has never played hold em before. A guy I'll call Mr. Houston drinks Coronas like they were bottled water. Mr. Houston could have been named Mr. Bluffer. He'll play 34 from early position and call all the way to the river and then run a huge bluff.

Jerry, myself, and another player (a big guy, who I recognize from one of the last two tables at the Orleans this afternoon) are the only decent players. And the big guy is either tired or drinking too much; whatever the case he is not playing well. I know you shouldn't underestimate your competition, but this is a very weak table.

There is only one problem: I do not get a playable hand at this table. I catch a small flush out of the big blind, bet out $300 and capture it. I leave for the break at about an even stack position. Not too bad for only winning one small pot.

Five minutes after the break I am moved to a different table. There are two huge stacks at this table and I am sandwiched in between them.

I capture the blinds with a semi-steal from mid position with AQ. When the antes reach $50 and the blinds $200/$300 I am in bad shape. I fold 7,7, from the BB when a big stack raises from the SB. This was a mistake. He was on an obvious steal. I probably had the best hand going in. I should have just shoved all my chips in and taken my chances.

A few hands later there are two limpers in front. One is Mr. Deer-in-the-Headlights. He does not have a huge stack. Neither does the other player. I have A10os. Not a good hand, but I am desperate and figure they will fold to an over the top raise. I push all in. There is only one problem. The small blind is eyeing my stack. He asks for a chip count. I have only $1950. He calls and shows pocket queens. A rough calculation puts me at 3:1 dog on this hand. I am out 18th out of 27.

Jerry makes 5th and collects $50. I collect my 10%...