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Minor steps back.
Jul. 4th, 2015 03:57 amOn Thursday I decided to drive to the Outlet Mall to buy a few things, mainly because I couldn't be bothered to wash the clothes that I had.
I picked up two polo necks, a pair of Wranglers jeans, three pairs of socks and two pairs of boxers for just $61. The value at that Outlet Mall never ceases to amaze me.
Unfortunately in this heat you can't even hang around in the mall, because the car is out in the open and is overheating.
When you initially get here, anything over 100f is just "unbearably hot", but, as the weeks go buy, you begin to differentiate between, say, 99f and 109f. Las Vegas has had highs of at least 42c (107f?) for three weeks, reaching 46c (115f?) at least a few times. And this is in the shade. Come 5pm, in the sun, you are at least 10 degrees f hotter than that.
That's hot, even for Las Vegas, and I see that the day after I fly back the top temperature is dropping to a more manageable 37c or 38c.
Although I spend most of my time in air-conditioned places, the insistently searing heat does tend to restrict and discourage activity. That's a pity, but I can list it as a learning experience.
Thursday evening in Bally's was a resoundingly depressing four hours. I was quite stunningly card dead. I drifted down to $70 until I found TT in the big blind with a button straddle. You can see how card dead I had been in the sense that this felt like a monster. I limped. I think there was one other limper. Button predictably raised (to $12) and small blind (a not very good player) called. I shoved my remaining $66 and the middle position limper and button folded. Unfortunately small blind decided that hs JJ was good enough to call. N 18% shots for me, and I am a stack down.
I rebought, continued to drift down, and quit when in arrears to the tune of $137.
There was one slightly amusing/uncomfortable incident, although I fear it was unfair of me to take pleasure in someone else's discomfort. However, it exemplified the status of some relationships to such a degree that I can't resist recounting it.
A youngish chap (from Dallas, an Asian Indian) who had been drinking a bit, said "deal me in" to the dealer. The chap's wife, who clearly could play a bit but was no expert, was sitting behind him. The dealer dealt the cards, but the player had not yet returned. The dealer said to the wife "you can play the hand", which, while correct, is not the whole story. Although the wife could play the hand, once she started playing the hand, she had to finish playing the hand. The "one player to a hand" rule applies.
You can guess what happened. A $12 raise went in and she called. Husband then reappears, wife moves to get out of the way to let her husband "take over" and dealer tells them the bad news, that the wife has to conclude the playing of the hand.
Flop comes down and and another player puts in a $25 bet. Wife now has to make a decision. But, she can't. I mean, literally, she can't. She instinctively turns to her husband. Clearly this is a couple who consult each other on all financial matters and, in poker matters, it's the husband who knows best, but now she has to make a financial decision, a poker financial decision, with her husband there, but without consulting the husband.
The psychological strain this put her under was horrifying to see. Naturally, her instinctive reaction was to freeze, to postpone the fateful moment. She did nothing. Eventually the dealer told her that she could either fold, call, or raise. Once again she instinctively turns to her husband. He stares at her hopelessly, knowing that, if he tells her what to do, her hand is dead. She returns to inaction. As I say, one has to feel sorry her and the dilemma in which she found herself, but on the other hand it was in a way a problem that the couple had brought upon themselves.
After an eternity, with the dealer once again telling her that she has to fold, call, or raise, she decides to give up the $12 that she has already put into the pot, and to fold. Much to the relief of all concerned, and we moved on to the next hand. Tension over.
Friday morning saw the final freeroll. It progressed as usual. I managed to win one "ordinary" pot with a raise and a continuation bet. Then I got AA in mid and mini-raised to 400 (we start with 3000 chips, blinds are 50-100 to start and double every 15 minutes), but got no customers. That put me on about 4000 chips at the first colour up.
With blinds at 600-1200 I got it all in with AQ, but T3 suited in the Big Blind decided that, with just under half his stack in the pot as the blind, he couldn't fold. Needless to say I was never in the race. He flopped a pair and hit a flush on the turn.
That reduced me to a single 100 chip. Miraculously I quadrupled through the next hand and then went on a tear (although never being in bad shape in any of the all-ins) up to 4000 chips. That brought the blinds to 1000-2000, with 35 players left and 20 spots being paid. Or, more accurately, there was about 20 minutes to the money, equal to a round and a half.
That meant that I MIGHT, be able to pass my way to the money. However, when I picked up AQ of diamonds in mid, there's no doubt that I have to shove.
Unfortunately I was called by the big stack and by the big blind. That sounded worrying until I saw TT and J5 of spades. I'm not in bad shape for a triple through to 12000 chips, which would make me favourite to reach the top 10 and the $350 group (spots 11 to 20 pay $150). Unfortunately the flop came T22 and that was that. Once again I fell at the final hurdle.
That made me 0 for 4 in tournaments on this trip. Eliminations were TT v JJ, JJ v QQ and (effectively) AA v KQ, all in positions with less than 10 big blinds. So, just the bad rub of the green – which is so often the way with me and tournaments. Even online (where I have the statistics to back me up) I have run badly over the past 12 months – well below expected value in all-in situations.
The cash game afterwards continued the misery of the previous night – card dead for three hours.
I put in a raise with AK off on the button and got a call from the big blind. Flop came QQ5 and I initially misread it as QJ5 (I still had my glasses on and I need to take them off to be able to see the board clearly!) I continuationed for $12 and Big blind flat-called. That really smells.
Unfortunately the turn was an Ace. BB checks and I check behind (which kind of commits me to call the river). River is a 5, making a board of QQA55, and I have Aces and Queens with a King kicker.
BB now bets $25 into a $40 pot and I make a crying call. He has Q9.
Can I get away from this for less? Well, the flat call on the flop is a bit of a tell. With a pair in the hole he is likely to lead out. But I have made the mistake in the past of overrating opponents.
My check behind when the Ace comes on the turn is made with the specific purpose of eliciting either a bluff on the river, or a low blocking bet if opponent does have something like, say, 77, or a value bet of he has something like AJ. I beat all of these and lose only to a Queen or a (very unlikely) five.
Anyhoo, I was completely card-dead after that, even though I managed to get into see a few flops cheaply when I had suited connectors or a low pair. When I got down to $20 I reloaded to $120 (as per my own rigid rules) and started afresh, three hours in.
Within 15 minutes I had built that $120 up to $190 by virtue of a couple of lumpy three-bets on the button. The first one (three-bet to $30 a raise to $10 and a caller) took it down – unsurprising given I had hardly played a hand for two hours. The second, a three-bet to $35 of a $12 raise by the same player and the same caller, came a round later. The initial raiser, clearly somewhat peeved at the fact that I have suddenly sprung to life, flat called this one. The initial caller now sees value and also calls. That makes it a $105 pot already. (I have $140 behind).
Flop is 865 two hearts. Two checks to me and I shove. Two folds and I take down the pot.
I left the table about 20 minutes later, with a $31 deficit feeling like a win.
I'm typing this early Friday evening. I am not sure what I will be doing. It's Friday night and the games should be good. But I've been doing so badly in these "lively" games of late that I am thinking of reassessing my playing style (and starting stack) when I am in them. On the other hand, the last three days of the holiday is perhaps not the best time to start restructuring your game.
For trip, minus $72 in cash. Total Rewards benefits, $132.
I picked up two polo necks, a pair of Wranglers jeans, three pairs of socks and two pairs of boxers for just $61. The value at that Outlet Mall never ceases to amaze me.
Unfortunately in this heat you can't even hang around in the mall, because the car is out in the open and is overheating.
When you initially get here, anything over 100f is just "unbearably hot", but, as the weeks go buy, you begin to differentiate between, say, 99f and 109f. Las Vegas has had highs of at least 42c (107f?) for three weeks, reaching 46c (115f?) at least a few times. And this is in the shade. Come 5pm, in the sun, you are at least 10 degrees f hotter than that.
That's hot, even for Las Vegas, and I see that the day after I fly back the top temperature is dropping to a more manageable 37c or 38c.
Although I spend most of my time in air-conditioned places, the insistently searing heat does tend to restrict and discourage activity. That's a pity, but I can list it as a learning experience.
Thursday evening in Bally's was a resoundingly depressing four hours. I was quite stunningly card dead. I drifted down to $70 until I found TT in the big blind with a button straddle. You can see how card dead I had been in the sense that this felt like a monster. I limped. I think there was one other limper. Button predictably raised (to $12) and small blind (a not very good player) called. I shoved my remaining $66 and the middle position limper and button folded. Unfortunately small blind decided that hs JJ was good enough to call. N 18% shots for me, and I am a stack down.
I rebought, continued to drift down, and quit when in arrears to the tune of $137.
There was one slightly amusing/uncomfortable incident, although I fear it was unfair of me to take pleasure in someone else's discomfort. However, it exemplified the status of some relationships to such a degree that I can't resist recounting it.
A youngish chap (from Dallas, an Asian Indian) who had been drinking a bit, said "deal me in" to the dealer. The chap's wife, who clearly could play a bit but was no expert, was sitting behind him. The dealer dealt the cards, but the player had not yet returned. The dealer said to the wife "you can play the hand", which, while correct, is not the whole story. Although the wife could play the hand, once she started playing the hand, she had to finish playing the hand. The "one player to a hand" rule applies.
You can guess what happened. A $12 raise went in and she called. Husband then reappears, wife moves to get out of the way to let her husband "take over" and dealer tells them the bad news, that the wife has to conclude the playing of the hand.
Flop comes down and and another player puts in a $25 bet. Wife now has to make a decision. But, she can't. I mean, literally, she can't. She instinctively turns to her husband. Clearly this is a couple who consult each other on all financial matters and, in poker matters, it's the husband who knows best, but now she has to make a financial decision, a poker financial decision, with her husband there, but without consulting the husband.
The psychological strain this put her under was horrifying to see. Naturally, her instinctive reaction was to freeze, to postpone the fateful moment. She did nothing. Eventually the dealer told her that she could either fold, call, or raise. Once again she instinctively turns to her husband. He stares at her hopelessly, knowing that, if he tells her what to do, her hand is dead. She returns to inaction. As I say, one has to feel sorry her and the dilemma in which she found herself, but on the other hand it was in a way a problem that the couple had brought upon themselves.
After an eternity, with the dealer once again telling her that she has to fold, call, or raise, she decides to give up the $12 that she has already put into the pot, and to fold. Much to the relief of all concerned, and we moved on to the next hand. Tension over.
Friday morning saw the final freeroll. It progressed as usual. I managed to win one "ordinary" pot with a raise and a continuation bet. Then I got AA in mid and mini-raised to 400 (we start with 3000 chips, blinds are 50-100 to start and double every 15 minutes), but got no customers. That put me on about 4000 chips at the first colour up.
With blinds at 600-1200 I got it all in with AQ, but T3 suited in the Big Blind decided that, with just under half his stack in the pot as the blind, he couldn't fold. Needless to say I was never in the race. He flopped a pair and hit a flush on the turn.
That reduced me to a single 100 chip. Miraculously I quadrupled through the next hand and then went on a tear (although never being in bad shape in any of the all-ins) up to 4000 chips. That brought the blinds to 1000-2000, with 35 players left and 20 spots being paid. Or, more accurately, there was about 20 minutes to the money, equal to a round and a half.
That meant that I MIGHT, be able to pass my way to the money. However, when I picked up AQ of diamonds in mid, there's no doubt that I have to shove.
Unfortunately I was called by the big stack and by the big blind. That sounded worrying until I saw TT and J5 of spades. I'm not in bad shape for a triple through to 12000 chips, which would make me favourite to reach the top 10 and the $350 group (spots 11 to 20 pay $150). Unfortunately the flop came T22 and that was that. Once again I fell at the final hurdle.
That made me 0 for 4 in tournaments on this trip. Eliminations were TT v JJ, JJ v QQ and (effectively) AA v KQ, all in positions with less than 10 big blinds. So, just the bad rub of the green – which is so often the way with me and tournaments. Even online (where I have the statistics to back me up) I have run badly over the past 12 months – well below expected value in all-in situations.
The cash game afterwards continued the misery of the previous night – card dead for three hours.
I put in a raise with AK off on the button and got a call from the big blind. Flop came QQ5 and I initially misread it as QJ5 (I still had my glasses on and I need to take them off to be able to see the board clearly!) I continuationed for $12 and Big blind flat-called. That really smells.
Unfortunately the turn was an Ace. BB checks and I check behind (which kind of commits me to call the river). River is a 5, making a board of QQA55, and I have Aces and Queens with a King kicker.
BB now bets $25 into a $40 pot and I make a crying call. He has Q9.
Can I get away from this for less? Well, the flat call on the flop is a bit of a tell. With a pair in the hole he is likely to lead out. But I have made the mistake in the past of overrating opponents.
My check behind when the Ace comes on the turn is made with the specific purpose of eliciting either a bluff on the river, or a low blocking bet if opponent does have something like, say, 77, or a value bet of he has something like AJ. I beat all of these and lose only to a Queen or a (very unlikely) five.
Anyhoo, I was completely card-dead after that, even though I managed to get into see a few flops cheaply when I had suited connectors or a low pair. When I got down to $20 I reloaded to $120 (as per my own rigid rules) and started afresh, three hours in.
Within 15 minutes I had built that $120 up to $190 by virtue of a couple of lumpy three-bets on the button. The first one (three-bet to $30 a raise to $10 and a caller) took it down – unsurprising given I had hardly played a hand for two hours. The second, a three-bet to $35 of a $12 raise by the same player and the same caller, came a round later. The initial raiser, clearly somewhat peeved at the fact that I have suddenly sprung to life, flat called this one. The initial caller now sees value and also calls. That makes it a $105 pot already. (I have $140 behind).
Flop is 865 two hearts. Two checks to me and I shove. Two folds and I take down the pot.
I left the table about 20 minutes later, with a $31 deficit feeling like a win.
I'm typing this early Friday evening. I am not sure what I will be doing. It's Friday night and the games should be good. But I've been doing so badly in these "lively" games of late that I am thinking of reassessing my playing style (and starting stack) when I am in them. On the other hand, the last three days of the holiday is perhaps not the best time to start restructuring your game.
For trip, minus $72 in cash. Total Rewards benefits, $132.
