Player's Stories

The Education of a Poker Player:
Part VI -- Day 3 & 4
6 Days, 15 tournaments

By Randy Glover

Day 3: DAY OF THE BUBBLE

I make my now customary walk from the Monte Carlo. I leave at 8:40 and cut through New York, New York, tromp over the walkway across Tropicana, meander through Excalibur, zip over the enclosed walkway to the Luxor where I arrive at 9 am and pay my $25. Then it's over the enclosed walkway to Mandalay, where I again pay $25 for Mandalay's tournament.

Mandalay Bay 10 am:

$25 gets you $300 TCs. There is a max of 30 players. The 1st hour of the tournament is limit, the second hour is NLHE. This morning we start with 20 players. My AK flopping an Ace meets up with an inside straight on the river. From that point on I nurse my chips. I am about out when I catch pocket Aces 55 minutes into the tournament and build my stack to $375. We get down to 5 players; they pay 4. I have less than enough for the BB. I tell the table it is customary to give the 5th place player his buy in back. I tell them they can do this for less than $9 per person. A red-faced guy in the number one seat roars with laughter.

"Where you from?" he asks.

"Is that a no?" I ask, smiling.

I am out that hand. I wish the remaining players good luck.

Luxor 12 pm:

No hands. One of the regulars, Frank, who remembers me from my previous visits, claims I only play 3 hands: AA, KK, and AK. When I raise with my AQ and all fold, I flash my hand to Frank and tell him I went slumming. Franks grins.

I survive one all in with a lowly 87s by making a straight. We are down to 8 players and they pay 6. I have enough to survive one more round of blinds. I push all in ($350) with A8 from mid position. The BB, who was all in three hands ago, and has won all three hands since, thinks he's on a rush. He calls with 58 diamonds. It is about 1/3 of his chips. It is not a call I would make. Anything but a 5 will win it for me. And….anything but the third diamond on the river.

This is his third flush in four hands. I stand up so quickly I knock my chair over.

I walk back to the Monte Carlo and take the tram to the Bellagio. From there I walk across the street to the Alladin. Great buffet. My luck changes in the buffet line. A guy rushes over to the end of the line where I am waiting behind 30 other people. He hands me a comped buffet ticket, saying he is late for his flight. I thank him. I am now Clinton J. Lundquist during lunch. Thank you to the real Clinton J. Lundquist.

At the extremely expensive sunglasses store at the Monte Carlo, I buy a ten-dollar fix to my sunglass slippage problem. It is a looped strap that can be tightened snug. It is what athletes wear. I go to my room and stare at my reflection in the mirror. Hey, I do look tough. Kind of like a highway patrolman who you know is not going to just give you a warning.

I take a very short nap (too short) before heading to the Orleans NLHE tournament that night.

A Wild Night:

The cab line at the Monte Carlo has about 30 people waiting and during my 5 minutes of watching, I do not see one cab come by. I call Jerry to let him know I may be late meeting him at the Orleans and for him to buy me in. He insists on picking me up.

Jerry and I then meet NewJane from poker school. A nicer poker player you will not meet.

Wild doesn't even come close to describing the Orleans 7 pm Monday Night NLHE tournament. It is $23 for $375 TCs. Each $10 rebuy gets you $300 more in tournament chips.

The $23 buy in attracts a lot of players: 137. The $10 rebuy is roughly equivalent to the cost of two mixed drinks at the bar.

So bring plenty of $10 bills to this one.

At my table is a true Gambler. And, in true Las Vegas tradition, I'll call him Mr. G. He brings the second hand in for a small raise. 5 additional players call. The board is 10,9,7,3,10, with three of one suit. One player turns over a straight, another a flush, but neither stand a chance to Mr. G2's 10,3 os. Mr. G. wins 7 out of the 8 first hands dealt. He plays powerhouses such as 67s, Q8os. He can't miss.

I catch AA on the 8th hand. I raise all in against a limp and a small raise. I want to capture the pot right there. I get 4 callers. I know my AA is probably toast to this many players. The only question is what is going to beat me. The flop is QQA. Wow, perfect. The turn and river bring a 2 and a Q. I figure I skated through that one with top full house. Mr. G proudly flips over his AQos. I pull $20 out of my pocket for a double rebuy. Mr. G now has a stack big enough to sit on and get himself to the final table.

I know he cannot do this.

The very next hand I get KK. I get two other players all in. The board is 8,9,10,6,10 with 3 clubs. Amazingly the KK holds and I rake in a $1,600 pot.

On one hand I fold QQ from the SB. There is a limp, a 3X the BB raise and a massive 9X the BB reraise by another player. To me this signals KK or AA. I rarely fold QQ preflop. Most of the time I shove all in. But would anyone raise this much with JJ or 10,10? The original raiser calls all in. The board is all rags: 6,7,2,3,9. The original raiser flips over AK, not surprisingly. The reraiser flips over 77. Wow.

The 7,7 player turns out to be a huge gambler (not a Mr. G, but close). I'll call him Mr. G2, as he will be at my tables most of the night, and then we'll meet again Thursday night at the Mirage.

Mr. G1 blows through his stack and has to make 5 rebuys.

During the break NewJane comes over to my table and introduces me to Miss Jean from PokerSchool Online who at been sitting across from me the whole time. A very nice lady and a good poker player too.

8:15 pm:

Play tightens up a little after the break. If you bust now, you are out. Which only means no one is bringing in 10 3 off suit for a raise. Even Mr. G1 has tightened up - a little.

I catch JJ in mid position. This is one of my least favorite NLHE hands. You have to play it strong, but it is very vulnerable.

I raise 3X the BB and get two callers, one of whom is Mr. G2. The flop is 235. This cannot have helped anyone. I know I have the best hand right now. I push all in. The first limper folds (he later admits to having 10,10). Mr. G2 calls. I know I am up against 2 overcards or a slightly smaller pair. If Mr. G2 had had QQ or above, he would have made a huge reraise preflop. I doubt that anyone (Even Mr. G2) would have withstood my overraise with a 55 or less. So no set out there. But at this table you never know. So most likely I am up against AK, possibly AQ. A queen hits on the river and I stand and reach for my jacket as I flip my cards over. Mr. G2 flips over AK.

At some point during all of this, Jerry, Miss Jean, and New Jane bust out. I barely remember them coming over and saying goodbye.

I am up to $2,500. Not a bad stack at this stage of the tournament. I can wait for the right situation and not have to risk my entire stack. I get it a few hands later. A kid in his twenties, the winner of Sunday night's Sahara NLHE tourney, gets moved to our table. He is short stacked and soon he pushes his last $750 in chips in. I call with AK from the BB. Another player, a poker player, not a gambler, also calls. I figure him not to bet into a dry pot without a hand. I am correct.

The kid looks across at me and says, "We got the same hand."

He is correct. We both have AK. He knew that from the fact that I did not raise his bet. The board helps neither of us. I originally put the other player on a medium pair. But he does not show his hand, so he was on a draw also.

I now have slightly over $3,000. Just my tournament style. Steadily accumulating chips.

I wait another ½ hour for a favorable position. I find it again against the kid.

He is back down to $750. Again he goes all in, again I have AK. And again, I am in the BB. But this time he has JJ and the board is no help.

I am down to $2,000 - no longer a comfortable stack.

9:45:

Our table is broken up and I am at a new table with Mr. G2. Mr. G1 has busted. I am down to around $1,400. There are maybe 35-40 players left. The antes have kicked in and with the blinds at $100/$200, each round costs $550. I have 20 or so hands left. I can't wait for a favorable situation; I must make a move.

I find 10,10 and go all in. Mr. G2 calls. My 10,10 against Mr. G2's 10,10 results in us splitting the blinds and antes.

I find AQ in the SB a short time later with about $1,500 left. Two limpers are in the hand. The second limper is Mr. G2. He will not fold to my reraise, I know. But the first player will. He is nursing a mountain of chips and is assured of the final table if he doesn't make a mistake.

True to form, Mr. G2 refuses to fold. The board is all spades - low ones. He flips over a 7,7, no spades. I flip over my AQ and find that the Queen is a spade. I rake in a $4,000 + pot.

We are soon down to 3 tables. I carry my $3500 in TCs over to another new table. I am a true mid-stack. I meet up again with a sports bettor who sucked a bunch of chips out of me during my last trip to Las Vegas. He has a mountain of chips tonight and is playing ultra-conservatively.

When we get down to 8-handed, I have around $2,400 in chips. Antes are $50, blinds$200/$400. Each round is $1,000 (with 8 players). Again, I have to make a move.

I find AJ of hearts UTG. Not a great hand. But after the blinds, I will be down to $1,700. If I go all in with that amount (or less) I will likely get 3-4 callers. With $2,400, I will likely get only 1-2 callers (I hope no callers). I figure this one pretty well. Everyone folds to the SB. He thinks for a good 45 seconds. I've got my head down, just waiting and praying he doesn't call. I just want the blinds and antes to buy some additional time. The SB shifts in his seat. Uh, oh. He gives me one last look and says, "All in."

He flips over 7,7. I've got a true coin toss here. 11.5 to 10 against me on the two over cards vs. a pair. But the flush possibility pushes me closer to a 50/50 situation.

The flop has a seven and only one heart, and I am drawing to a runner, runner heart. No such luck and I am out 23rd of 137. I am very disappointed. I stand and manage to get out, "Nice hand," before slumping out of the poker room. It is 10:58 p.m.

All night I dream of cards flopping, flopping, flopping. But never any hearts.

Day 4: THE DAY OF NO CARDS

Mandalay Bay 10 am:

For the first 57 minutes the best hand I get is 33. Then I get a powerhouse: 6,6. With only $75 left and the blinds at $25/$50, this is a hand I got to go with. And I do go. Out the door: 11th of 18.

Luxor 12 pm:

My best hand is JJ. I stand a raise with it, but when the flop has both and Ace and a King I fold. This time I get my last $75 in on 10,10, but a KQ beats me when the board spikes a King. Out 23rd of 29 and not a thing I could do about it.

Killing Time:

After Lunch at the Bellagio Buffet, I have a choice to make. I can nap and play in the big tournament at the Mirage that night, or I can kill some time and make a very early night of it. I decide on the early night. My bankroll is suffering and the Mirage Tuesday night tournament is a $60 buy in with unlimited rebuys at $40 during the first hour. It can get expensive.

I decide to head over to the Mirage and play in a $15 satellite (Note that the buy-in vouchers you win are good for any tournament within the next week).

The $15 gets you $300 in TCs. Blinds start low, but go up every 10 minutes.

We lose a player on the first hand who goes all in with JJ and meets up with a QQ.

I get no cards.

I watch as others are eliminated. We are down to 6 players and I gamble with AK, raising another player's $200 bet with my last $225. I tell him I am gambling. He says he is too. Ah, we have the same hand. We split the blinds. He is closer to the button so he gets the $50, while my gamble nets me a paltry $25.

But no one at our table plays anything close to a tournament strategy. They are playing their cards, not the tournament. We are soon down to 5 players, then 4. I have maybe $200; this is a result of me stealing from the SB with absolutely nothing.

Soon, I am a very, very short stack up against two huge stacks.

Three-handed it is very true that any two cards can win. I test this out immediately. The blinds are now at $150/$300 and after posting my SB I have $75 left. I have 57os.

I can either see two hands, or go all in here. If I win, I get $600. If I wait, the most I can win is $225, and the blinds will likely take the $225 the very next hand. I go all in.

Amazingly, the other player also has 57 os and we split the blinds. Back to my $300 in starting chips.

I catch A7, A8 and KQs 3 of the next 6 hands. I win all three of these hands. I've got enough chips to steal a few. And I do.

I am soon chip leader and soon we are down to two. With blinds at $250/$500 (and only a total of $3,300 in chips in play), a chop seems prudent here. The other player agrees as long as he gets the cash. I'm playing Thursday night so it's fine by me.

The Bus to Nowhere:

My fatigue shows; I make a horrible decision.

I get on the #303 bus (it goes up and down the strip) at 4:45 in the afternoon in front of Caesars Palace. Soon I am trapped. The bus does not move. Each traffic light cycle lets maybe 3 vehicles through. I want to get to Mandalay Bay for the 6 pm Omaha 8 tournament. Claustrophobic panic sets in.

At 5:45 we make it to NY, NY. We have covered a distance of maybe 1.5 miles in an hour. I run to a pay phone and dial the poker room at Mandalay. No, they will not hold a seat for me. I make it to the tram at 5:50 and to the Mandalay Bay poker room at 5:57.

Mandalay Bay Omaha/8 Tournament:

They have only 10 people tonight. So it is satellite strategy again -- almost. They pay 3: $110, $85, and $35. And satellite/tournament strategy is the only strategy I have. My knowledge of O/8 would fill the inside cover of a match book - barely.

One memorable thing about this game is I made the nut high hand once (Jacks full of 5s). I do know how to play this O/8 hand. I raise and raise, trying to extract as much as I can from the low hands. This works and I quarter two low hands and rake in a big pot.

Soon we are down to 4 players. I can smell that $35 now.

The other memorable thing about this game was the woman who won. I am sure she is the nicest person away from a poker room. But someone should teach her a lesson in: "Grace While Winning."

Loudly screaming: "I won another one," and "I going in with nothing because I can't lose," and, the always popular, "I WIN, I WIN," are not graceful things to shout at a poker table.

I have a very good starting hand with A2KJ (particularly with only 4 players left). The King and Jack are both spades. The flop is 3,4,10 with two spades. I have an incredible number of draws. Nut low: 16 cards. The 5 would give me a wheel and the nut high. I have the second nut high draw to 9 remaining spades - very likely the winning hand with only 4 players left and only 2 in the pot. Subtract the 5,6,7,8 of spades to avoid double counting and I have an amazing 21 outs and two cards to come.

Ms. "I WIN, I WIN," raises me $200, (it is No Limit at this point) leaving me with around $250.

None of my 21 outs come on the turn or river.

I am forced in with a BB of $200 a few hands later and exit on the bubble.

NewJane has stopped by and I grumble to her for a while. Thanks for listening NewJane.

I head back to the Monte Carlo. I grab some McDonald's take out and eat it in my room. I am asleep by 9:30...