Reno Trip Report - Long & Boring

[Onaflag]

World Poker Challenge 2005 Trip Report

Caution: Content is very long and boring and the only sex is me getting screwed in a tourney.

Where? Reno Hilton. Events leading up to the WPT main event at the end of the month. (NOT the main event. That's next week and I won't be there.)

When? I arrived Friday March 18th and bolted Monday March 21st.

Friday: After getting some odds and ends done at home, I made the three hour drive to Reno and got there at 2PM with my $1000 bankroll already dented. I decided before the trip that everything would come out of my poker BR. I gassed up the car before I left, so I was already stuck for $40 without ever playing a hand.

I had planned to play all night Friday until I could check into the hotel on Saturday. I waited too long to make reservations and could only get Sat and Sun. Luckily for me, a few buddies had a room and I was welcomed to crash on the floor. Cool. Things are looking good already. I called Rudy's cell phone to tell him I was there and he met me at the poker room. My original plan was to play ring games, make satellite money, lose satellite money, play more ring games to make more satellite money, and on and on....OK...I really had no plan, but I knew I'd play the $200+25 MTT Sunday night with 1st place getting a seat to the main event on top of the normal cash payout.

Rudy talked me into a $65 satellite. They ran back to back. Winner take all. You get $550 in T$ for 1st place. No cash value unless you sell the chips to someone. Down to three of us. I offer a deal. One bite. One refusal. Sheethead. Down to two of us. I offer another deal as the short stack. No dice. Sheethead wins. I'm stuck another $65. Who cares? Off to the ring games looking for a juicy 3/6 table.

The trouble with the 3/6 tables were: there weren't any. What? Crap. Choices were 2/4, 4/8 Kill, 10/20 and 3/5 No Limit (more on THAT table later). I chose 2/4. I murdered the table. I decided to cash out to get all those chips off the table and get something to eat. No one would call me anymore anyway. I needed a break.

Rudy and his gang were headed downtown. They're younger than me and have to put in a LOT less effort picking up anything significant for the night, so I decided my energies were best spent on the tables. Not that I wouldn't mind giving whoring a shot, but I wasn't there for that (this time). My heart was set on the Sunday tourney.

Saturday Morning: I'm still killing the 2/4 table. Rudy said he'd leave the door cracked so I could get in and crash on the floor. At 6:30am, I lightly rapped on the "not left open" door. I didn't expect anyone to wake up. I wasn't really tired anyway. Back to the poker room. I sat and watched the 3/5 NL table waiting for a seat to open on 4/8 when I realized something very important. For all you Party 2/4, 3/6 players, listen carefully: There is a new game in town we know nothing about. They call it "No Limit Texas Holdem."

Holeeeeee Sheeiiittt!!! And I thought I was a poker player. How mistaken I was! It sounds innocent enough. $3/$5 Blind NL Texas Holdem. Pots were easily between $500 and $1000 and a raise of $800 was quite common. These people were the real deal, not the small stakes crap I play at. Herein lies the story I'll never forget. I've seen casino arguments before, but none like this one. My facts may be messed up, but I got the jist of it:

I tuned in when Dude-1 says he puts Dude-2 all-in. I was half looking at the 4/8 table so I can't remember if it was on the turn or river. Whatever. Dude-2 called, pushed in his stack, then pulls a couple black chips from behind and wins with a set of fours, I believe. Dude-1 goes into instant freak mode claiming Dude-2 had the black chips tucked under the rail and they didn't play. Dude-2 says they were not tucked, just sitting behind his stack. Dude-1 calls foul. Table erupts in argument. Floor is called. Floor sides with "hide-my-chips" Dude-2 because a couple players claimed they saw the black chips the whole time. This whole process plays itself out for 15 minutes and Dude-1 storms off (he has a couple grand left on the table). The room goes back to somewhat normal and I take a seat at 4/8. Everyone is folding. Room feels weird. Screw this, the mood is ruined. I wander up to Rudy's room and get no answer to my light raps on the door so I went to my minivan and crashed for a couple hours.

I figured I'd clean up in the lobby bathroom, play more 2/4, and catch another couple hours sleep in Rudy's room later before check-in to my own room. Whaddya know? I started killing 2/4 again. Can't stop now, that'd be nuts. I played until 3pm. You can't friggin believe the play at these tables. I checked into my own room and crashed for a couple hours before the $200+25 NL MTT at 7pm.

I hadn't planned to play this until Sunday, but heck, it's going tonight so WTF? My BR is up even with paying for the hotel room and food out of it. 2/4 rocks! I wake up at 6pm, shower and head back down. I pay my $225, take my seat, and wait for the other 150 idiots to take their seats while I plan my surprised attack to number one! I just hope I'm not banned from poker tournaments forever becasue I'm so damn good. (2/4 experience talking here). Tourney starts, I try to act casual so no one notices I'm really a shark.

10 minutes in: I get AK in late position. I open-raise. Button and blinds fold. Yeah.....you better fold. I rock!

18 minutes in: Bunch of idiot limpers. I limp with JQ in late position. Flop comes JQ Blank, of course. I mean, what else could flop. I am a God! Moron-1 bets, Moron-2 raises, I push all-in. Moron-1 correctly folds. Moron-2 incorrectly calls. Cool by me. I rock! I flip up top 2 pair, he flips up a flush draw. (OK, actually, an inside Royal Flush Straight Draw, but why get technical? (He actually had the odds to call)) Shithead rivers a spade for the flush and I'm down to 150 chips out of 1000. Two friggin hands later, I decide to start my incredible comeback with 55.

22 minutes in: 55 in the hole. I push with my HUGE 150 stack. Some imbecile calls with JQ or something stupid. Flop = Good for me. Turn = Blank. River = (were you really wondering)

23 minutes in: I'm back in my room planning my next brilliant move.

Sunday Morning: After taking out my frustrations on 2/4, my BR is back to even. I need some sleep. Dropped a $20 in a Wheel of Fortune slot machine on the way up to the room. Got up at noon. Ate more crappy food. BTW: the food sucks at the Reno Hilton. Choices are very limited and nothing contains more than a milligram of fiber. I should have brought some psyllium husk along, but, oh well. Also, they have neither Corona nor Heineken. They serve the look-a-likes Sol and "someting-else-in-a-green-bottle". Cheesy if you ask me. When the orange juice highs wore off, it was Jack on the rocks. Well, that's what I told the waitress anyway. It turned out to be brown water on the rocks. After ten of those, I realized the waitress was planning her getaway to the Bahamas off of me alone. Off to the Cigar Shop for my own bottle of Jack. Now all I need from the busty babe is ice. A couple of those and I realized she was bringing me the same thing without the brown water. And to think I can play poker! What a riot! Now the barkeep is planning to join her in the Bahamas!

Okay, I'm getting off track here.

Sunday Afternoon: Let's get warmed up for the tourney at 7pm. Played 2/4. Talked with a few people like me at the table when I realized the 35BB pots had dried up for the moment. Time to stop 3 betting T9 suited. Got up at 6pm to sign up for the tourney. The lady at the ticket booth had to pry the money out of my hands. WTF was I doing? I just got bounced in 23 minutes flat not 24 hours earlier and here I was offering another $225 like I owed it to the casino. I need help. The first thing is admitting you're messed up. I admit. This is so wrong. "Good luck," she says. STFU you stupid money grubbing bottom feeding biatch, I thought. I said, "Thanks."

7pm Arrives: Before I get up from the 2/4 table, I told them to hold my seat. I'll be back in a half hour after the tourney starts. Laughter rumbles the table. I take my seat somewhere in the middle of 270 professionals all conspiring to break me faster than lastnight. It was so funny the night before they called all their friends to join in and the field was even bigger. 270 people! Can I get my money back? Anyone wanna buy my seat for $5? It'll be more than I'll get out of it.

Most of the rest of my table finally arrived. Drunk broad next to me in seat #10 is showing her cards, fumbling bets, giving her chips away. The table broke an hour later and I was still in! Imagine that. I am sporting a nice medium stack. I get to the next table, unrack my chips, start stacking them and am dealt a hand. Sheesh, that was fast. Fumbling with my chips, I look down to see AK. CALL. [censored]. Did I just say Call? What am I doing? Some dude goes all-in and the table folds. I am still messing with my chips when the dealer reminds me that the action has been on me for the last 20 minutes. Oh, me? CALL. How many chips does he have? Who cares? I already called. When I finally get my chips stacked and seated, he pounds the table and says, "Good Hand!" Oh? I won that? Cool. A double up first hand at new table is kinda cool. Confidence coming back. Started stacking his chips when the next hand was dealt. A couple limpers. Action on me again. KK. Cool. All-in. Small stack to my left calls. I win. Cool! More friggin chips to stack.

Table finally breaks. I now need two racks to move my chips to the new table. I'm feeling good, until I sit down and see two guys who needed friggin wheel-barrels to move their chips from the 18 wheeler to the table. Were there rebuys I was unaware of? Nope. They were just goot! No wonder we were down to 4 tables! These guys had all the other player's chips. One guy was a bison-bison avatar look alike and one could have been Chris Moneymaker but wasn't, I think. Long story short, I busted at 22nd place out of a field of 270. I finally cashed!!! Finally? I only played two. Whatever. I'm stoked.

Sunday Night: My confidence decided to give $60 back to those nice 2/4 people. My runner-runners just didn't hit this time. I figured I owed a couple $20 bills to the Wheel of Fortune. I just love when it sings "Wheeeeeel ooooofff Fortuuuuuuune clap clap clap clap tick tick tick tick" Damn! Crashed at 4am.

Drove home Monday morning with BR at roughly even. I spent three days spending no money. I guess that means I did nothing for the past three days. Damn. How will I account for the time coming home with the same amount of money as when I left? Poker? Sure. I believe you. Uh-huh. 22nd place? Uh-huh. Sure. I understand. 270 people? Great. Satellites? 2/4 idiots? Murdered the game? Sure......Uh-huh.

But, but, but......I swear. I'm a God!

REGRETS: I went with the intention of playing more small sit&gos, satellites, and even giving 10/20 a shot. I played 2 $65 sats, 2 $225 tournies, 10 minutes of 4/8, and the rest 2/4. I'm a tight bastard. I vow next time to limit the micro-limit stuff and do what I intend to do. I had a blast, but failed to take many shots like I wanted to at first. I guess guys like me are intended to just break even. I need to change that. I'll try the Pot of Gold in May 2005 at the Reno Hilton. Anyone interested?

Onaflag..............

[mdrudeen]

The sad part is that the best thing the Reno Hilton has going for it is that they have good food

Good report, thanks

[Toro]

Suggestion: Cross post in the NVG forum as suggested by Felicia.

[vegas]

I was playing at that 3/5 NL table and the guy won with a set of 5s and the guy complaining was getting on my nerves anyway. Later he had his straight flush beat by a higher one. He announced I have the nut and then a guy who covered him stated "no you don't I have the nuts". It was pretty funny. The complainer was making comments like no one can beat me at this table. Total dumb ass.

[shadow29]

Towards the end, this started to read like one of BrownThumbs "poems".