Meh

Out around 30th out of 92 runners. Not much I can do when the BB decides to call my EP All-in with AJo against my Queens. I got my money in good which is all I can hope for. With blinds at 500-1000 and a 50 blind and me with around T6,000, I think all in was my only move. Even if I bet half my stack I have a feeling he would call and then call me when the flop comes T-K-blank. I mean, if you're the kind of guy who calls T5,000 with AJo I'm sure you're going to call with a gutshot.

Luckily the table games were kinder to me and I was able to win my buy-in and then some. A little extra gambling money for Vegas.

My buddy LPC worked his ass off only to get 15th, which won exactly as much as I did. Especially unfortunate because we had swapped a quarter ourselves. Oh well.

Going to the show

I tried to start this long, literary post about my upcoming trip to LV; I even had a little snippet of movie dialog to start off with, but sadly I am no Pauly. The title of the post comes from Bull Durham, where Crash (Kevin Costner) is talking about his 21 days in "the show" (the major leagues). I remember how people around him in the bus stop to listen, hanging on his every word.

For poker players, the WSOP is "the show." Of course, the main event is the show of shows, but to play in any event-- even a $1,500 buy-in event-- is enough of a dream (or at least the first step) for many. To be able to say that you played in the WSOP, even if it's just for a few hours, is something you will have for the rest of your life.

But do I want to spend a majority of my bankroll on one event? I think it's pretty safe to say that the answer is "no." Especially when Caesars and the Venetian will be running their Mega Stacks and Deep Stacks tournaments respectively and I can play in 2 fairly big, deep-stack events for about two-thirds the price. I might take a stab or two at winning a satellite to the $1,500 but I just can't see buying in directly. Of course, if I go deep in my first tourney I would consider buying into the WSOP event, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Until then, the dream of going to the show may just have to wait a little longer.

Tips for the WSOP newbie

Pauly has a great primer for food options at the WSOP. Although I've never played myself, I thought I'd throw in a few of my own general Las Vegas/Poker Tourney tips.

Much as I am maligned for doing so, I have a man purse that I use almost exclusively when in Las Vegas. It's a sleek little black Diesel bag that's a throwback from my metro days. If you are insecure about a man purse a backpack would do just as well. Here is a list of things of obvious and not so obvious things I carry in it.

1. a light jacket. for some reason I always get cold in casinos and poker rooms, but not when I'm walking around or outside, so I keep this folded up for when I need it.
2. drugs. another thing that often happens to me is getting headaches. I don't know if it's the dry air or the copious amounts of alcohol often consumed, but I get bad headaches in Vegas. Sure, I could go to the gift shop and buy some, but I'd no doubt pay way too much and I'd also need to leave the table, so instead I just carry some Tylenol at all times. I also have some claritin if my allergies act up.
   
3. candy. We've all been there. You've been up all night and haven't brushed your teeth. Your breath stinks and you know it and the others at the table know it. That's why I carry an assortment of mints and hard candies. Those melting strips are also nice. And if you like gum bring your own. Good luck finding that in the gift shop. I think someone once told me that the casinos don't sell gum because the don't like having to pull it out of the carpet and from the bottom of tables. Also, offering candy to others at the table makes friends, which might be especially nice if you're playing next to Liz Lieu or Jennifer Leigh.
4. water. I know it's "free" in most places, but sometimes you are stuck at the table from hell with the cocktail waitress who comes around every hour if you're lucky. Also, I actually like to walk around the Strip when I'm in Las Vegas so it's always nice to have some with you when you're not at a table. Usually I'll just take a bottle with me from the table and fill it with water fountain water or a big bottle in my room.*
5. Snacks. Pauly touched on this in his blog, but I think this is especially true if you're in an all-day tourney. I personally don't function well when I'm hungry so a couple of energy bars in the bag are good emergency food.
   
6. Misc. Stuff. iPod, note pad, pen, card protector, tournament structure sheets, stripper flyers, whatever (Liz Lieu's phone number after you give her candy...). I guess you could just stuff your pockets, but I'm not a big fan of the bulging pockets look.**
   

On thing about a man purse or back pack is that after sitting at a table for hours on end, it is very easy to forget it's there and walk away without it (especially if your last hand was a brutal, soul-crushing, two-outer suckout on the river). Although it's always been there when I've gone back, it's still a pain to have to go all the way back to the poker room to get your bag. For this reason, also, I wouldn't keep any money or my wallet in the bag.

* thoughts on water. I'm not a miser, but I just can't bring myself to pay $5 for those bottles of water they have in the hotel room. As I said earlier, I like to walk around in Las Vegas, so one of my first jaunts is down to the Walgreens (?) on the strip. I go down and pick up a couple of liters of water and the above mentioned candy and snacks. I usually do this in the evening when it's a little cooler and the walkways aren't as crowded.

** If it's my bankroll that's making my pockets bulge, so be it, but unfortunately I've never had that problem.

Poker tip #1

I am, if anything, a break-even poker player. I realize that I have much to learn when it comes to poker. My game is nowhere near the level of bloggers like Focault, and so I do not even attempt to dole out poker advice. But this one time I will deign to give a little words of wisdom: Don't talk smack if you don't have game to back it up.

Today I jumped on FTP to play a little poker. Due to the amount of free time, I decided to play a heads up sit-n-go. Things didn't start out so well when on the third hand I made a bad call

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (SB) (t1560)
Hero (Button) (t1440)

Hero's M: 48.00

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, K
Hero bets t60, The Russian calls t40

Flop: (t120) 6, 2, K (2 players)
The Russian checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t120) 7 (2 players)
The Russian bets t100, Hero calls t100

River: (t320) 9 (2 players)
The Russian bets t333, Hero calls t333

Total pot: t986

Results:
Hero had 3, K (one pair, Kings).
The Russian had 4, Q (flush, King high).
Outcome: The Russian won t986

Tried to get a little tricky with my top pair and paid the price when I didn't thing about the possible crubs (this guy must read the BWoP).

After that, the guy starts calling me every variation on donkey (donkey, super donk, donk etc.) whenever I made a laydown to a big bet. Maybe he was bluffing, but I never had a hand to look him up. Twice I battled back from a short stack to take the chip lead only to be whittled down again. All the while, suffering his little jabs.

Never giving up, I just continued to pick my spots until this hand came up.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (Button) (t1807)
Hero (SB) (t1193)

Hero's M: 19.88

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, K
The Russian bets t120, Hero calls t80

Flop: (t240) 2, J, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t160, Hero calls t160

Turn: (t560) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t333, Hero raises to t666, The Russian raises to t1527 (All-In), Hero calls t247 (All-In)

River: (t2386) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t2386

Results:
The Russian had Q, 10 (one pair, Queens).
Hero had 10, K (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won t2386

And then suddenly all the needling stopped. Not a peep out of him for the rest of the match. I couldn't help myself and had to throw one little jab in there and wrote "how to you say "donkey" in Russian?"

After realizing that this guy was weak sauce I just decided to sit back and wait for him to make a misstep, which didn't take long:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (Button) (t774)
Hero (SB) (t2226)

Hero's M: 29.68

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 9
The Russian bets t150, Hero calls t100

Flop: (t300) 9, 6, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t624 (All-In), Hero calls t624

Turn: (t1548) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t1548) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t1548

Results:
The Russian had K, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had 8, 9 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: Hero won t1548