BigBaitsim (milo)
09-11-2004, 02:36 AM
Played at Imperial Palace, Monte Carlo, Binions Horseshoe, Excalibur, Luxor, Circus Circus and Mandalay Bay. Games ranged from soft to insanely good, with the best games at Mandalay, Luxor and Excalibur. The 2/4 at Imperial Palace was filled with total newbies, which made it a bit annoying as the dealer kept having to stop to explain blinds and betting structure. Imperial Palace ran a midnight tourney on Wednesday night for $45, plus unlimited $20 rebuys for the first hour. I rebought twice and added on at the end of the rebuy period, but chopped first place with Jim the Dealer from Mandalay and some Asian kid who had no idea what he was doing, but kept hitting when he went all-in with his last few chips. At 4:00 am we all had about 30K in chips and the blinds were 3k/6K, making it more of a crapshoot than a tournament.
Overall, the best game by far was the 4/8 with half-kill at Mandalay. I played in this game for about 16 hours total over two nights and never saw a chopped blind. The last night the game was insanely good with Some Old Guy reloading every 90 minutes or so, Foolish Idiot Guy calling everything and a host of wealthy vacationers with no real knowledge beyond what they see on that World Poker Tour thing. The highlight for me (other than the partially exposed asses of the cocktail waitresses) had to be Foolish Idiot Guy. At this point I’ve been card-dead for three hours, and take my BB special with K7s. When the flush hits on the river, the board is unpaired and contains the A. I bet, Foolish Guy calls, I miss the Asian lady protecting her cards with her hand and throw out my flush, announcing I have the nuts. Asian lady tells the dealer she has not had a chance to act, then folds. Foolish Idiot Guy tells the dealer he had meant to raise. The dealer tells him he has to say raise and I flip my cards over fast. A few people try to discourage him, but he insists he said “raise” and the dealer allows it. I think for a nano-second and reraise. He four-bets and I make it five. The table is all standing up because they’ve all seen me show the nuts. Finally he just calls, I flip over the nut hand again, and he shrugs, nods and mucks. Sadly, this only brings me even for the night. Twenty minutes later I fold my rags and all call a raise by EP (and by all, I mean all other 8 players). The flop comes AJ7r, and EP bets out when it is checked to him. Same guy from earlier raises, everyone gets out of their way, and EP makes it three. Foolish Idiot Guy goes four, EP makes it five and Fool asks the dealer if the can just put in the rest. Dealer says no and finds a way to stop the $4 madness by dealing out the turn card (not sure if he waited for a call or not). It was not memorable, and did not put a straight or flush out. EP and moron go to the felt and turn up their cards. [Please take a moment here to speculate on each’s hand. Go ahead… I’ll wait]. So EP flips up AA for the nut hand to that point and Fool flips up 77, looking astonishingly calm. The river is utterly meaningless. We all say a silent prayer to the Poker Gods for the Fool to reload, and he does so immediately. I never tangle with him again, and left the table at 5:30 am down precisely $3, and feeling like I’d lost, as the game essentially went to an ante structure over the last 2 hours, with everyone but me and one other player putting up the $2 blind every hand, and rarely folding to even an UTG raise.
The Wednesday Poker Discussion Group at Binions is not to be missed, and thanks to Dr. Al for sharing this group with 2+2. It was a blast to spend a couple hours at the Horseshoe talking poker at a 2+2 level. I brought up a hand from my night before at the Mirage 6/12, where I got stuck for 30BB. I was dealt AhTh UTG and limped. MP (Magoo) limps, LP (solid, uninspired ABC player) raises, I call, as does Magoo. Flop is TT9. I check, Magoo checks, ABC bets, I check-raise, Magoo check-re-raises (WTF?) and ABC player makes it four bets. I call, as does Magoo. At this point I go into check-call mode, as does Magoo. When I call a meaningless river, Magoo shows T7o, and I ask ABC to show me his pocket nines. He obliges and rakes the pot. The group was in almost universal agreement that I missed a few bets and failed to lose as much as I should have, suggesting that I should have capped the flop and bet out the turn.
Other rooms: The Monte Carlo was nice, but nothing special. Luxor was less nice, but with better games and great deals for players. They take a jackpot drop, but where most rooms put up high hand bonuses and bad beats that hand out $$$$, Luxor puts very little into these promotions, and puts most into freerolls and other incentives for players who put in a certain number of hours. One dealer told the table that playing 20 hours a week guarantees players $240. Nice to see the jackpot drop actually benefit the player in some way. Imperial Palace gives $3/hour in food and room comps, and Excalibur will give a $5 food comp for 5 hours of play. Beware, the coffee is instant and the juice they brought was watered down. The players were also watered down, with some regulars mixed in, but mostly games filled with varieties of Magoo. Played a 3/6 at Circus Circus with one $3 blind, and the play was atrocious. The players were as bad as Mandalay, but not as wealthy, and so they folded a bit more often. Plus, most were staying at a $31/night hotel rather than a $200/night hotel, and had a smaller mean number of teeth. The poker room is now non-smoking, but it is old and smoky nonetheless. The juice there set a record for wateriness, but just a bit of cranberry coloring.
Next Vegas trip I will likely stay at Luxor, as I can’t afford Mandalay and can’t stomach Excalibur. The tram and moving walkways between the three will service me well and I probably will play little elsewhere. Oh, and did I mention the cocktail waitresses at Mandalay?
Overall, the best game by far was the 4/8 with half-kill at Mandalay. I played in this game for about 16 hours total over two nights and never saw a chopped blind. The last night the game was insanely good with Some Old Guy reloading every 90 minutes or so, Foolish Idiot Guy calling everything and a host of wealthy vacationers with no real knowledge beyond what they see on that World Poker Tour thing. The highlight for me (other than the partially exposed asses of the cocktail waitresses) had to be Foolish Idiot Guy. At this point I’ve been card-dead for three hours, and take my BB special with K7s. When the flush hits on the river, the board is unpaired and contains the A. I bet, Foolish Guy calls, I miss the Asian lady protecting her cards with her hand and throw out my flush, announcing I have the nuts. Asian lady tells the dealer she has not had a chance to act, then folds. Foolish Idiot Guy tells the dealer he had meant to raise. The dealer tells him he has to say raise and I flip my cards over fast. A few people try to discourage him, but he insists he said “raise” and the dealer allows it. I think for a nano-second and reraise. He four-bets and I make it five. The table is all standing up because they’ve all seen me show the nuts. Finally he just calls, I flip over the nut hand again, and he shrugs, nods and mucks. Sadly, this only brings me even for the night. Twenty minutes later I fold my rags and all call a raise by EP (and by all, I mean all other 8 players). The flop comes AJ7r, and EP bets out when it is checked to him. Same guy from earlier raises, everyone gets out of their way, and EP makes it three. Foolish Idiot Guy goes four, EP makes it five and Fool asks the dealer if the can just put in the rest. Dealer says no and finds a way to stop the $4 madness by dealing out the turn card (not sure if he waited for a call or not). It was not memorable, and did not put a straight or flush out. EP and moron go to the felt and turn up their cards. [Please take a moment here to speculate on each’s hand. Go ahead… I’ll wait]. So EP flips up AA for the nut hand to that point and Fool flips up 77, looking astonishingly calm. The river is utterly meaningless. We all say a silent prayer to the Poker Gods for the Fool to reload, and he does so immediately. I never tangle with him again, and left the table at 5:30 am down precisely $3, and feeling like I’d lost, as the game essentially went to an ante structure over the last 2 hours, with everyone but me and one other player putting up the $2 blind every hand, and rarely folding to even an UTG raise.
The Wednesday Poker Discussion Group at Binions is not to be missed, and thanks to Dr. Al for sharing this group with 2+2. It was a blast to spend a couple hours at the Horseshoe talking poker at a 2+2 level. I brought up a hand from my night before at the Mirage 6/12, where I got stuck for 30BB. I was dealt AhTh UTG and limped. MP (Magoo) limps, LP (solid, uninspired ABC player) raises, I call, as does Magoo. Flop is TT9. I check, Magoo checks, ABC bets, I check-raise, Magoo check-re-raises (WTF?) and ABC player makes it four bets. I call, as does Magoo. At this point I go into check-call mode, as does Magoo. When I call a meaningless river, Magoo shows T7o, and I ask ABC to show me his pocket nines. He obliges and rakes the pot. The group was in almost universal agreement that I missed a few bets and failed to lose as much as I should have, suggesting that I should have capped the flop and bet out the turn.
Other rooms: The Monte Carlo was nice, but nothing special. Luxor was less nice, but with better games and great deals for players. They take a jackpot drop, but where most rooms put up high hand bonuses and bad beats that hand out $$$$, Luxor puts very little into these promotions, and puts most into freerolls and other incentives for players who put in a certain number of hours. One dealer told the table that playing 20 hours a week guarantees players $240. Nice to see the jackpot drop actually benefit the player in some way. Imperial Palace gives $3/hour in food and room comps, and Excalibur will give a $5 food comp for 5 hours of play. Beware, the coffee is instant and the juice they brought was watered down. The players were also watered down, with some regulars mixed in, but mostly games filled with varieties of Magoo. Played a 3/6 at Circus Circus with one $3 blind, and the play was atrocious. The players were as bad as Mandalay, but not as wealthy, and so they folded a bit more often. Plus, most were staying at a $31/night hotel rather than a $200/night hotel, and had a smaller mean number of teeth. The poker room is now non-smoking, but it is old and smoky nonetheless. The juice there set a record for wateriness, but just a bit of cranberry coloring.
Next Vegas trip I will likely stay at Luxor, as I can’t afford Mandalay and can’t stomach Excalibur. The tram and moving walkways between the three will service me well and I probably will play little elsewhere. Oh, and did I mention the cocktail waitresses at Mandalay?