This entry is from my blog which can be read at

www.livenolimit.blogspot.com

17 hours in Las Vegas

You read that right...this totally non spontaneous fella decided to make a last minute trip to Las Vegas. Purchased a ticket on Southwest out of Burbank for $200 (ugh) and decided to take my first shot at a Las Vegas $200 buy-in No Limit Ring game. I decided to set a goal for myself to play at least 8 hours straight. I've got to get over this desire to leave a game after 3-4 hours and figured this small blind structure would be perfect for me to play a long session but still maintain my tight but aggressive game plan. I also decided to set my celluar phone alarm to go off every hour so I would remember to get up from the table and rest my eyes for 5 minutes. This really helped alot and I think will be a key to me playing longer sessions in the future. I got on a plane Saturday 3PM and had a return ticket for Sunday 8AM...a crazy 17 hour trip but it allowed me to play through the night and then get back in time to teach my Sunday morning yoga class. Thank god it was raining Sunday morning (my class is outdoors) because I was way too tired to teach when I got back to LA.


After searching the internet I found that Ballys had the best structure and best reputation for loose games. The structure of the game was $1/2 blinds with a $100-200 buy in. This is exactly like the game I play on PokerStars so I knew I would be comfortable at this level. I got a good feeling when I got to Ballys because I noticed this was definitely a young, hip hotel, filled with young people running around partying their asses off. And were there are drunk partiers, there are usually good poker games. The games were fantastic! Super-loose with people making all of the common mistakes that newbies make, under/overbetting their hands, playing too many hands, buying in short, checking when they should bet and betting when they should check. The Ballys poker room is not seperated to well from the main casino so you have to listen to guys yelling, "Give me a hard 8" or "Yo Leven baby" all night long. It didnt bother me much, I just put on my IPod when the sounds of degenerate gamblers got to be too much for me.

Similiar to internet play, new players would sit in the game for short period of times, loose their buy in (usually a short buy-in) and then get up from the table. There is nothing like playing with people who are treating this game like blackjack or roulette, they seem to be trying to get lucky in a short period of time and then move onto another game. There is no better player to be up against than this type and these folks rarely hold onto their money. Sometimes they would make a score but once they doubled up they had no idea what to do after they raised pre-flop and would usually walk away broke. This trip to Las Vegas was unlike my previous trips because this time there was hardly anybody at the table playing good. When I play these games I spend most of my energy trying to pick out the tight/good players but on this night I played for 10 hours, gambled against probably 50 different people, and only one of them played what I would consider good! She was a nice Asian lady who folded almost every hand. I was forced to throw away AJ suited against her when she raised pre-flop in middle position. She showed AK.

My first hour of play was real sweet as I picked pocket Aces and Queens and they both held up. I was one off the button and raised 4 limpers to $20 with 2 black Aces. Now, before you ask me why I raised 10X the big blind you need to know that the table conditions dictate how much to open the pot for, not the size of the blinds. If these were "normal" players we would open the pot for a $6-8 raise but these guys would call with any 2 cards for that price so most players were bringing it in for $15-$25. This makes the game a little more luck oriented since the pots get big quick and you may be pot commited after making a pot sized bet on the flop but I still liked the action. Anyhow, I raise with AA and get called only in one spot, another young fella who I can tell is trying to play good but is playing too many hands and raising too frequently before the flop. I put him on a medium sized pocket pair. The flop comes down Q 7 3, he checks and I bet $60 into this $45 pot. He thinks for a bit and shows 2 8's. I muck my hand without a show and stick with my game plan of never showing a hand unless I get called. Later this same player raises to $15 in EP and since we both have $200 in front of us I make a sort of loose call with 55 and we are heads up. The flop comes down 9 6 6 and he bets out $15. I am tempted to make a play at this pot as there is a good chance he only has overcards but I look at him and he has a big grin on his face, definitely strong. I say, " I may have you beat buddy, but I'm gonna give it up, nice hand." He graciously shows 2 Kings.

About an hour into play I get 2 red Queens on the button and raise 5 limpers to $20 . Only one player calls, a loose playing tourist who has limped every pot and called all pre-flop raises. The flop comes down 2 3 5 and he throws a green $25 chip into the pot. There is no way I am worried that this donkey has me beat so I immediately make it $100 to go. He calls off the last $75 of his chips, the turn and river are blanks and he shows K8 offsuit for no pair no draw! Holy cow...that was the easiest $100 I ever made in my life.

With 3 limpers in front of me I limp on the button with J10 offsuit. The flop comes 8 9 2, no flush draw. I like my hand but dont want to put too much money in the pot on just a draw. An EP player bets out $15, gets called by the player in front of me and I call too. The turn is a blank and it goes check-check to me. Both of these guys are total calling stations so I decide to check as well and get a free card. Before I checked I remember telling myself, if a Jack or 10 comes off I will check it down, if I hit the straight I will bet the pot, but if I miss totally and the river is not a King or Ace I will bluff at the pot. The river pairs the 9. Check, check to me again and I bet out $40. First player shakes his head and mumbles something like "I'd be crazy to call you" and after hemming and hawwing a little bit the next player folds as well. There are so few bluffing opportunities in these loose games I felt really good about picking up a pot without a hand.

A loose aggressive player makes it $11 to go on the button and I re-raise to $50 out of the SB with Queens. I raised this amount because he only had $80 in front of him and I wanted to pot-commit myself against him regardless of the flop. The flop comes A 10 3 and I bet his last $30 instead of checking since I am worried about the Ace. He calls quick and I am pretty sure I am beat. He shows A10 of clubs and takes the pot. I'm getting really good at smiling when I loose an I say, "Nice hand, excellent flop for Ace 10!". The tight playing Asian lady on my right says, "You played that hand good because he made a mistake calling $50 with a bad hand like Ace10". I tell her that I know this but lets keep it between you and me. She laughs.


I wish I could report that things went well after this but my last 5 hours of play I was getting hands like 10 5, 9 2, 2 7, 3 8, over and over again. I actually got 10 5 suited 5 different times! Luckily this blind structure makes it very cheap to run badly. At the end of the night I was up only $60 but after 10 solid hours of play I could tell I was getting very tired. During hours 9 and 10 I bumped into 2 very exciting hands.

A loose action player with $600 in front of him, who is raising more than half the pots he plays, makes it $20 to go under the gun. A young man who has swung from up $500 down to his last $80 bucks goes all in. I look down at AK offsuit. If I had just sat down at the table I would of folded this hand but since I was confident the best hand this kid had was a small pair and there was a really good chance he had AQ or AJ. I figure the guy on my left has his usually crappy hand so I decide I want to improve my chances to pick up the $100 on the pot and move all in for a total of $250. The loose player on my left thinks for a bit but then says, "Aw, fuck it, I call". Oh my god...did I just make a huge mistake? I ask, "Any of you guys got a big pair?". They both say no and I am relieved to bet getting almost 1.3 -1 on my money and figure if I get lucky this could be a good pot. Unfortunately the player on my left shows AK of diamonds and the young guy shows pocket 7's. The 7's are in real good shape since both AK's share the cards we need to make a hand. Luckily the flop comes A 3 3 , one diamond. The turn is another diamond. Holy shit, please, not runner-runner. I remember clearly that the river was the Jack of clubs...bullett ducked and the AK's split up the kids $80. That was an exciting pot! I wonder if the loose player would of called with AQ and fantasize a little about a $600 pot but I quickly let go of this non-realistic thinking.

My last exciting hand of the night comes during my last hour of play. The flops are starting to get blurry and I not analyzing new players play very well so I know I am at my limit. I have 67 offsuit in the BB and check with 5 limpers. Flop comes down J 7 7, 2 spades. I bet out $10. I get raised to $30 by a player I watched frequently push very hard with top pair hands. I re-raise to $80 and he pushes all in for another $135 or so. Shit! What did I get myself into. Against a stronger player I would fold since my kicker is so weak but against this guy I figure he may have either a Jack or a hand like 910 of spades for a straight flush draw. I hem and haw a bit but finally call. He shows the same hand, 67! He has a freeroll with spades for a runner runner flush but missed on the turn and we split the pot. Wow, 2 split pots over $400 within an hour, an amazing occurence.

I cashed out of the game up a measly $60 but I felt really good about my play. I dont feel like I made a mistake all night and played as good as possible given the cards I was getting. I know I have said this before but I am handcuffed when I dont get good starting hands. I see no reason to risk setting up plays against players who are not even noticing that I am playing tight. I loved this game, the structure, and the players and cant wait to get back. This time I booked my ticket in advance so I only had to shell out $88 to Southwest. I'll be back on June 8th and am planning on staying at Ballys for 2 nights. Say hello to me if you happen to be in Vegas...I am the bald surly guy trying to smile when I get outdrawn. Life is good!