Thanksgiving in Vegas

My wife and I get to Vegas about twice a year. Because To save vacation time these trips usually coincide with holidays. This usually means fireworks and turkey in Vegas. Turkey was again spent in Vegas this year. We stayed almost a full week at Harrahs. I'm not rich and neither I nor my wife play a lot of slots so room comps are rare. Even though we rent a car we still like to stay on the strip so that i can come and go to the poker rooms as i please and Kim can walk to the shopping malls.

This was our second stay at Harrahs and probably our last. They are one of the cheapest rooms on the strip, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Last trip (May 2011) we upgraded our room for $15/night. It was a decent room, but it was too close to the outside Rumbar which played loud music into the wee hours of the morning. Our sleep was less than sound.

This trip we fell for the same upgrade trick. Be we were smarter and choose a room with a strip view away from the Rumbar. We were even more disappointed. Our strip view was just a room facing the strip. We could see part of the volcano at the Mirage and all of the air conditioners and vents on the roof of Harrahs. Add to that a CRT TV with less resolution than my first PC, an air conditioner that switched on and off every minute,  two queen beds because a king wasn't available, and a toilet made for a hobbit that sat 12" off the floor and it made for a less than stellar stay.

Well, enough bitching about the accommodations, lets talk poker. Seven days of poker and almost nothing to show for it. I played almost exclusively at the Mirage for a couple of reasons. First, I think their poker room is comfortable. The chairs are on wheels and have big, thick cushions which makes long sessions much easier. Second, we like to use the comps from the poker room to eat at the over-priced burger bar at the Mirage. Finally, some of the staff there actually remembers my name from time to time. All these things let me relax and feel comfortable so I can focus on my game.

I started the week on Saturday with a little 1-2 NL live. I lost.

I played 4 tournaments during the week, 3 at Mirage and one at the Orleans. The first tournament was a $65 buy-in NLHE at the Mirage. The structure is a a little fast, 20 minute levels with 6k starting chips. Blinds start at 50-100 so you only start with 60 big blinds. I got lucky early on and nearly tripled my stack. A timely A-10 hit a flop with two aces followed by a suited T-9 to turn the nut straight gave me enough chips to coast into the late part of the tournament. When we started the final table I was below average in chips, but not short stacked. Out of about 30 starting players the tournament only paid 5 so there was still a lot of game left to play. I bided my time until we were down to 3 handed. I was up against a man in his early 30s and a slightly older woman. The woman made no secret that she was new to poker and had called all-ins from other players with marginal hands several times. Each time she would come from behind and eliminate another player. By the time we were 3 handed she had amassed a huge chip stack. Several times we offered a chop and she refused. The other player and I know how quickly chips can move around at the final table and we had been there over 4 hours so we were both pushing her to take the money and run, but no! After probably 30 minutes of trading places as chip leader and pushing large stacks of chips around I finally got it all in against the woman with AQo vs her QT. She busted and right after that the other guy and I chopped the remaining money. I had more chips so I got first place and a bit more money.

The problem here is that I got lucky early and lucky late and it made me think I played well. In fact, I think I played far too tight. I only remember bluffing at one pot. I remember folding good hands to big bets. As a result I played three other tournaments and did not cash in any. I thought my style was well suited for low buy-in, small tournaments but it wasn't.
To be continued...

In the beginning...

Well, I guess I have to start somewhere. We've been going to vegas twice a year for several years. I got the idea from my sister-in-law, Diane. I was never a slot player like Diane, I prefered poker.

On our first trip there I got into a $40(?) 2-4 limit tournament at the Orleans. I think there were about 60 players. I didn't know it at the time, but it was also a bounty tournament. I didn't even know what that meant at the time and when a player busted and someone at the table would yell "BOUNTY on 6!" I had no idea what was going on.

Being as it was my first real tournament I was quite nervious and I guess I played really tight. Eventually I busted my first player and again someone shouted "BOUNTY!". Shortly after that the tournament director tossed me a $5 poker chip. I wound up getting 4 or 5 more before the tournament ended. We finally got down to 3 playes and one of the other remaing players suggested we chop the prize money. After they explained what it meant to chop the TD said we would still have to draw cards to determine an official winner. I drew a jack and that was enough to win the tournament. From then on I was hooked on poker.

After the TD payed us our prize money he turned to me and said they were all out of jackets and he would have to mail one to me. He took my name and address and I felt sure he would lose it five minutes after I walked out of the poker room. To my surprize a few weeks later I did receive my jacket in the mail.

So that's how my poker career began. A chance finish at an off-strip casino, a lucky draw. No strategy, no bluffs, no tricks. I sure wasn't good, but I guess I was lucky.