I recently had some business in the Lake Tahoe area and had intended to bring my wife, but she had to bail out at the last minute. Naturally, I had a poker friend tag along to help me figure out a way to fill up the three days I wouldn't be working. We left LA on a Thursday, got into the Reno airport around 7p or so and drove the 30-40 miles to Lake Tahoe. If you've never been to the Reno/Tahoe area, it's a trip worth taking. Reno is a white trash town, but Lake Tahoe is stunning--pine trees, views of the lake, clear air--a big change from LA.

We rolled into the Hyatt Lake Tahoe around 9p. The Hyatt is a beautiful, rustic resort located directly on the shores of Lake Tahoe. The hotel/casino is not known for its poker, but it did have a room and there was a game, so we figured we'd have dinner and check it out.

After a nice steak at the Lone Eagle Grill, the Hyatt's main dining room overlooking the Lake, we wandered over to the poker room. I'm usually a NL player, but all they spread is 4/8 limit with 1/2 blinds and a 10/20 pineapple game with 5/5 blinds. Only the 4/8 was running so I bought a couple of hundred in chips and sat down.

Wow, talk about horrible play. The 1/2 blinds encourage lots of limpers--7 to the flop MINIMUM with me the only one who would even contemplate folding pre-flop. Ever the nit, I managed to blow off $100 or so playing crap like AA, KK and AKs. One guy considered himself a "semi-pro" from Santa Barbara who's "a supervisor for the City of SB but he makes his REAL money playing poker." This guy was classic, about 40 years old, sunglasses (at 4/8 limit...nice), struggling with trivial odds decisions. At one point, he over-called two players with four to a flush and straight on board and tabled two pair. Uh, I don't think that's gonna get it done.

Another woman insisted she put herself through grad school (Berkeley) playing poker in the 70s. She burned off $400 dollars (again, at 4/8 limit) in less than 2 hours. In one hand, she tabled a "straight" which was really four cards to a straight. She was insistent she had a straight (even though it didn't matter; another player had the nut flush) and only backed off when the dealer counted the four card straight for her TWICE. In another hand, she was struggling with a river raise on a KTTJ9 board with two diamonds and two hearts showing. She turned to me (to her right) and said “What do you think?” I’d been friendly and joking with her, so I said facetiously that her opponent probably had the "nut flush" again (even though it wasn't possible). At that point, the other player replied, "Yes. I have the nut flush." She then hemmed and hawed, said she didn't believe him, kept asking me what "nut flush" meant, etc. BTW, she had $6 left in her stack to call in a $60+ pot. She finally called and tabled a pair of pocket fives. Good Lord.

I finished the session down a hundred or so but I managed to pull a little of that back the following night when a drunken lawyer and a couple of his family members decided to give the game a whirl. Typical action, limp, limp, limp, limp, limp, raise, call, call, call, call, etc. Fortunately, I managed to turn a boat with pockets tens in one of these family pots so I ended the session up.

Two things stuck out from the session. First, the lawyer's wife thought he did an amazing Jack Nicholson impression and encouraged him to perform it for us. Love is indeed blind; the only similarity between him and Jack was the sunglasses and an odd fascination with the Lakers. Second, I'm not a limit player, but it struck me there was a ton a value in the game. Not only were people playing crap out of position, but they were repeatedly FOLDING post-flop when checking was an option. Thanks for the EV, guys! I'll give it a good home!

I'm pretty sure the crazy pineapple hi/lo split game was pretty juicy, too. It wasn't running on Thursday night, but Friday and Saturday, there was at least one table going. I'm told it's been a staple of the room for over 15 years and there's a few regulars in the game, but the action looked RIDICULOUS from where I sat. It's probably a game worth learning if you live in or visit this area frequently.

Couple of notes on the staff. Dan, the room manager, was very friendly and had an obvious command of the room. The dealers were efficient and fast, despite the lack of auto-shufflers, and every staff member endeavored to learn players' names. When I first sat down, I thought it was a room full of regular since everyone seemed to know everyone else, but within moments, the staff was addressing me by my name, too. It's a nice touch.

Overall, I had low expectations for the poker but was pleasantly surprised. And the hotel is fantastic! I didn't try the spa (I'll leave that aspect of the trip report to my wife next time) but the rooms, restaurants, service and setting were all really special. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Lake Tahoe area.

Edmond

Last night, a friend and I played in an annual, invitation-only tournament sponsored by a national financial services firm. There were 144 entrants (free entry) competing for a prize pool that included a video iPod (3rd prize), a $500 gift certificate at a local steakhouse (2nd prize) and an entry into the WSOP main event and hotel accommodations (a $12,000+ value) for the first place winner.

I busted out about 60th or so when my AQs refused to stand up to my opponent’s K3o, but my friend actually won the event, taking home twelve grand of value for a few hours of work. The quality of play ranged from laughable to abysmal with few players understanding things like hand value, position and blind stealing. Typical for events like this, the blinds increase rapidly—organizers usually want to complete the event in an evening—so you need a certain amount of luck to find your way to the final table. That said, an intermediate player with a decent understanding of poker and tournament fundamentals would have had a huge advantage over the field.

As I was sweating and coaching my friend, it struck me that it may seem a little down market for an aspiring player to compete in these events, but there can be a lot of value in doing so. I'm a big fan of improving my game by playing better players, but I'm an even bigger fan of money. Admittedly, the event above was an invitation-only event (it's good to be on the list!), but there are other pockets of unskilled money out there in charity/invitational events and home games. The prize pools often include non-cash prizes (TVs, gift certificates and the like) but can include, like this one, entries into major tournaments. Novice and intermediate players should definitely keep an eye out for them.

These events are also low risk opportunities to work on basic people reading skills. Very few players in a charity event will sit with the hat and sunglasses ensemble that you see at even low buy-in casino events; of the 144 players in the event we played, none wore sunglasses or a hat of any kind. Novice and intermediate players can use the opportunity to watch the other players for visual clues—their demeanor, how they handle their bets, how they look when put in awkward spot, etc.—and work on matching hand strength to these clues. In a live casino event, other players will be making a conscious effort to conceal their emotions and read yours. In an invitational or charity event, players tend to be less serious and less self-aware so it’s a great opportunity to train yourself to look for tells and try to predict hand strength.

Similarly, I think home games are another source of dead money and opportunity to work on your game. I deal and play regularly in a home game hosted by a friend of mine, and I often bring a friend who is an improving player. We usually play 1 or 2 single table tournaments over the course of an evening. While my friend has a definite edge in live and online tournaments, he has a huge edge in this home game. The other players have poker knowledge (a sharp contrast to charity events) but still make routine mistakes about hand values, position and bubble play. Add alcohol into the mix and you've got a real value opportunity for a thinking player. Doing the math…

Home games = drinking
Drinking = impaired judgment
Unskilled players + impaired judgment = more mistakes
More mistakes = more money

Further, home games are another good opportunity to work on people and hand reading skills. In our home game, I regularly see strong means weak, weak means strong reads, speeches ("Well, I don't like my hand but I guess I should call…") and other basic tells. While I'm dealing, I'm practicing my reading skills and putting guys on ranges of hands based on those reads. It’s surprising how good you can get at it, if you make an effort.

And don’t forget, the vigorish in a home game is a lot less than in a casino event. In our game, we each chip in for food and drinks—there’s no fee to play or expected dealer tip (although there should be…ugh), like there is in a casino. The payout for the players is a lot more efficient than in a live event.

So off-casino event and home games are good spots for an intermediate player to find value. But what about online events? I think online play is usually better than live play at comparable levels, but there is still plenty of, if not obvious, free money. For example, one overlooked source of dead money online is in tournaments with an overlay.

Several online sites offer tournaments with guaranteed prize pools that undersell—not enough people enter to cover the guaranteed prize pool, so the sponsoring site has to make up the difference. The balance is called the “overlay” and is extra prize money spread across the field. For example, a site offering a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool in a $100 buy-in tournament would have to draw at least 500 entrants to cover the prize pool. If they drew only 400, the overlay would be calculated as follows:

400 entrants…400 x $100 = $40,000 of buy-in money

$50,000 guaranteed prize pool - $40,000 entry fees = $10,000 balance added by the site

Therefore, each player would then receive an overlay of $25 ($10,000/400) on his $100 entry, making his $100 worth $125 in this event.

That extra money gets compounded by your skill advantage. If you're 2x as good as the average player in the field, you've got an expectation of $200 for your $100 buy-in. In other words, if you play this tournament multiple times, you can expect to win an average of $200 each time you play. In a tournament with an overlay, your expectation would be 2x the buy-in PLUS the overlay or, in the case above, $250. If you figure the average tournament runs 5-6 hours, that’s an extra $10/hour of value for a good player.

I’ve been tracking the major weekly online tournaments over the last year to see which ones provide overlays. The major PokerStars, Full Tilt and Party tournaments rarely offer them, but the weekly events of many second tier sites, Absolute, Bodog, Pacific and Ultimate Bet, almost always do. Moreover, on holiday weekends, these overlays can be pretty sick—one recent Bodog tournament offered a 90% overlay! You can see the overlays offered in leading tournaments over the last year or so here…

Overlays in online MTTs

To sum up, I’d say there’s a lot of free money out there, if you’re willing to slum it a little in off-casino events, home games and second tier online sites. I’m all for competing against the best, but if your goal is maximizing your dollars per hour of play, keep an eye open for local charity events, find or start a home game and look at some of the guaranteed tournaments offered by second tier sites on that chart. They can be low-risk ways to build your bankroll (or win WSOP entries!), skills and confidence so you’ll be that much stronger in live casino events.

Still digging,

Edmond

I recently saw a hand from the Aussie Millions Cash game and I thought it was pretty instructive for intermediate players on how NOT to play a hand. With 60-70 hours of poker programming on each week, many players continue to enjoy the game by watching players on TV. Unfortunately, a number of the hands shown on TV reinforce behavior patterns that are real money losers for most players. For example, playing small suited aces out of position is a EV- play for most cash and tournament players, yet you routinely see this in televised play.

In another blog, I recounted a hand where Phil Hellmuth gets eviscerated by Daniel Negreanu playing an A4o, out-of-position. Similarly, in this Aussie Millions video, Phil Ivey, arguably one of the best cash game players ever, dumps over $60,000, playing A3 under the gun. In the context of his playing experience with the other players at the table, the play may have made sense. Furthermore, there may be places where such a play is justified—you're facing blind pressure late in a tournament or you’re seated at a passive table and assured of seeing a cheap multi-way flop—but in your typical online or live cash game, small aces out of position are money pits. Fold them.

Here's how the hand played out.

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The blinds are 300/600 with a 100 ante. There are eight players seated; the starting pot, with antes, is 1700.

Ivey starts the action by limping with A3 for 600. Directly to his left, Erik Lindgren limps as well with AQ. Novice and intermediate players have to recognize that these plays are not optimal in the typical online/live cash game. If there are 4-5 players to a flop, I can see Ivey limping, but Lindgren's limp behind is horrible here, in my opinion. There's $2300 in the pot with Ivey's limp, and AQo is a decent starting hand but one in which you need to narrow the field and figure out where you stand. I think the better play is a raise to around $5000 and would argue that a player in an online/live game is making a big mistake by mirroring Lindgren's action.

In any event, he limps and Chris Ferguson, an amateur in seat 1 and John Juanda fold. At that point, Patrik Antonius, holding 88, raises $3800 to $6700. I like this play. There's been no show of strength (two limpers), his eights are likely good and he wants to narrow the field. If he's called, he can re-evaluate after the flop. He puts in a nice raise to see who's serious about their hand. The blinds, Billy "the Croc" Argyros and Jeff Lisandro, both fold.

With the action back to Ivey, he re-raises $17,000 or so, a very aggressive play and again one that novice to intermediates should avoid. I can see his thinking here—he and Antonius play each other frequently; he may see Antonius making a play from position and decides to represent a monster hand. Unfortunately, Patrik calls.

Online and live, the limp/re-raise from UTG with a monster hand (AA, KK, AK) is a very transparent play and one you should use sparingly. It typically results in the pot ending right there with no further value for your hand, and when action proceeds to the flop, pretty much everyone in the hand knows what you're holding. Acting out of position when others know your hole cards is a problem.

On the 43Q flop, Ivey continues to represent a big hand and fires a 2/3 pot bet of $16,000 at the 24,300 pot. Antonius calls.

The turn is the 5, and Ivey fires another $40,000 at the pot. At this point, Antonius pushes, and Ivey thinks (more accurately, he pretends to think) for a bit and folds.

Note that Argyros comments at several points in the hand and when Ivey's contemplating Antonius’ shove, he makes a joke which falls flat. Not only does he look like a buffoon wearing his ridiculous crocodile hat, his breach of protocol is shameful for a better player. It's surprising even at these levels how many players don't show common courtesy to the other players. If you're not in the hand, respect the others who are and shut up.

To his credit, Ivey says nothing, but he’s clearly aggravated and gets up from the table to steam a little.

Let’s recap. Ivey limps with A3s under the gun, is raised, re-raises and continues his charade on the flop and turn until he’s rebuffed. Of course, if Ivey flops a monster here (two pair or trips), he looks like a hero, but those are both long shots (70+ to 1 and 50 to 1, respectively). It’s far more likely that he’s going to end up dumping off chips with a small ace out-of-position and he’s one of the best in the world. Do your bankroll a favor, fold the small aces out-of-position!

Still digging,

Edmond

Bodog $3/$6 NL. Apologies in advance for the HH format.

9-handed table; 6 seated. I sit, wait for the BB and post.

UTG $222.00 (posts $6 out of turn, one seat from BB)
UTG+1 $288.00
MP $1381.00
DB $203.00
SB $177.50
Edmond (BB) $600.00

UTG, heretofore waiting patiently for his big blind, realizes I'm in the hand and, therefore, opts to post and check. UTG+1, anxious to isolate me, raises $19. MP misclicks and folds. DB sees UTG+1's show of greed and calls. Ha! He's got position on all of us! Any two are good here! SB discounts my positional advantage immediately and calls. He'll outplay me from any seat.

I now make an obvious fish move and raise to $60. UTG misclicks and folds. UTG+1 laughs at the literary irony of my screenname reference to a "humble and poor fisherman" and instacalls the $41 more. DB instacalls. Any two cards are good here. SB, overcome by greed, tries to isolate me with my two rags and moves all-in for $158.50.

Desperate to salvage my play, I shove my last $540. I'm obviously looking for everyone to just go away and let me take my chances vs the SB. UTG+1, giddy with his good fortune I've waddled into his trap and he'll double up here, calls all-in for $228. DB, though, holds an A (a monster here!) and calls $143 all-in with confidence.

Four players all-in to the flop. Pot = $959.

Flop 3 T 8
Turn K
River 2

UTG shows K Q
DB shows A 5
SB shows J 7

I show my A A and take down the $959 pot but sit out in shame, knowing 1) I've all the credibility of a micro-limit player, 2) I've peaked on my first hand of the night and broken a fine table and 3) have to re-create a Bodog hand history without a proper converter.

Edmond

Ok, I’m in town at the Mirage for Super Bowl weekend with a group of real degenerates. One of the guys is a $1k per hand blackjack player so we’re all comped—rooms, limos, meals, the works. We fly out Saturday (private jet, of course) and spend the early part of the afternoon screwing around, covering the casino’s overhead at the craps table. I’ve got a few hours to kill before dinner, so I head by the poker room and put my name on the $2/5 NL list. Unfortunately, there are 7-8 in front of me, and it doesn’t look like they’re inclined to put another table down so I leave and figure I’ll check back later.

A word about the room. The Mirage Poker Room is one of the best run rooms on the Strip. They’ve got 31 tables in a semi-enclosed, non-smoking room (and, yes, they will toss you out if you smoke). There’s an automated list, but most of the time, they manage the list manually. The tables and chairs are in great shape (new tables, nice felt, comfortable swivel chairs). There’s a decent selection of games, although at peak times you can wait 15-30 minutes for the game you want. They also run a daily tournament and ongoing sit n gos throughout the day. Overall, it’s one of my favorite places to play.

For anyone who hasn’t been out to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend, I’ve found that weekend to be highly lucrative. It’s one of the busiest weekends of the year, and there’s lots of players who have an idea how to play but tend to OVERplay hands. I hear people say that the Mirage competition is some of the toughest on the Strip, but I’ve always had nice luck there. Players are aggressive, but if you’re patient, someone will push on you light and you can build a nice stack.

As it turns out, my friends wanted to head over to the Hard Rock where another of our friends was staying, so I banged around over there. Is it just me or are the Hard Rock chips tough to read? Even worse, no poker room. I played craps for a while and then headed back to the Mirage for dinner. It was after midnight when I found my way back into the poker room. This time there was immediate seating in the $2/5 game, so I picked up $500 in chips and sat down.

When I get to my table, I'm seated in the big blind, so I post and start taking my chips from the rack. There’s a couple of limpers and then a raise to $30 by a 25-30 year-old two seats to my right who seems like he knows what he’s doing. Folded to me, I looked down and find A K. Although most people bemoan AK, I like it. You’re about 25 to 1 that no one has AA or KK when you hold it, and it’s easy to jettison if you don’t improve, so I re-raise to $100. The limpers fold, initial raiser calls. Flop comes A A 5. I’m still stacking chips, fumbling around, and I look at him. “A hundred.” I announce pushing a stack of reds toward the middle. Without hesitation, he moves in for an additional $300. I’m thinking “Ugh. Did he flop the boat?” but I call, of course, with the trip aces. Turn is a K. “Ok, that works.” River is a blank. I table my boat and he mucks. “Welcome to the table.” a guy says in disbelief. “You should leave now.” The other players nod in agreement, and I’m now fumbling with and stacking about $900 and change of chips.

Three hands later I’m in the cut off with 7 7. There’s an early raiser with one caller, my victim in hand #1 (henceforth, Vic1) has reloaded about $300 or so. I call for set value and am graced with a most beautiful A J 7 flop because I’m a clean living bastard. The initial raiser bets $50, Vic1 calls, I re-raise to $120. Fold. #1Vic calls. Turn is a blank and he checks to me. I bet $150 which puts him in, and he calls off his stack. River’s a blank and he says, “How’s your kicker?” to which I respond, “I don’t have an ace.” and show my set. He shakes his head in disbelief, mucks and gets up from the table to steam like a riverboat. At this point, I’ve played 4 hands and have about $1300 in front of me at a $500 max buy-in table. The other players at the table are visibly disgusted.

A few hands later, Vic1 has reloaded his coal-fired furnace, and a friend of mine wanders over from the casino and starts to watch from the rail. He’s an ok novice player but a little lit (we demolished some great wine at dinner). He rarely plays live and, I’m pretty sure has never played in a $2/5 NL game. Vic1 says to him, “Sit at the table.” inviting him in, and my friend, emboldened by too much Caymus, accepts the invite and takes the #8 seat.

My friend buys in for $200, posts and plays an uneventful orbit. Then, with a couple of limpers to him, he makes it $25 to go from the BB. Both limpers call. Flop is Q 6 x. My friend leads out for $50 and gets two callers. Uh, oh…flush draw. Turn is a third diamond. Yuck. My friend leads out again for $50 (dude, what do you have and since when did I teach you to min bet?), gets a caller but is then re-raised. Uh, oh...not good. The action’s back to my friend, and he’s only got $50 or so left so he shoves it in. River is a 6, pairing the board at which point I'm thinking/hoping he's got QQ underneath. One caller shows K 7; the other guy shows T 4. My friend turns over QQ to show queens full and take down $560 or so. Nice!

Then, maybe 5 or 6 hands later, he’s in middle position with, it turns out, AA. A guy in early position raises to $25. My friend reaches for chips and says, “I raise.” but only puts out $50 in chips. He reaches for more, but the dealer stops him from making the string bet (rookie mistake!). Action folds to Vic1 who cold calls the min raise and then back to EP raiser who calls. At this point, I’m pretty sure my friend has QQ+, maybe even AA.

The flop comes KQ2 rainbow, and it’s checked to my friend. He bets a hundred. Vic1 calls, and the original raiser folds. The flat call kind of bummed me out; I’m thinking Vic1 has a set of deuces or KQ for two pair. The turn’s a deuce and I celebrate a little knowing that a KQ hand has been counterfeited and trip deuces wouldn’t make sense here. But I’m still a little concerned about a set of Qs. River is a blank and my friend continues to hammer with a $200 bet. Vic1 calls. Now I’m fearing the worst, but my friend shows AA and Vic shows…WTF?...AKo. What was Vic1 thinking? He saw my friend re-raise an EP raiser, and then bet the flop, turn and river hard. If he’d thought about it, he’d realize that AT BEST he was playing for an AK split. As it was, my friend pretty much stacked him again.

So now we’re about 30-40 minutes into the session, and I’ve got $1300 in front of me, up from $500, and my friend has a little over a grand, up from $200. A new guy sits down directly across from me in the 9 seat, one to the left of my friend and buys in for about $300 and posts. It's limped to me in middle position with KK and I make it $30 straight. New guy calls, and the limper folds. Flop is bittersweet--K T x ; too many diamonds for my taste, but I fire out $50, feeling the flop out, and the new guy calls. Turn is the prettiest T I have ever seen. I look at it for a second and then say “One hundred.” and new guy re-raises to $200. I think for a second but realize he’s committed so I push. He calls instantly and when the river blanks, says “Nut flush.” turning over Ax of diamonds. I show my kings full. He looks like he wants to vomit and my stack now stands at $1600 or so.

After a couple more orbits, it’s 2a and they’re calling for two more players for a 10-person $175 sit n go. The Mirage sit n gos can be a crap shoot but the $175s go off with 2000 chips, 25/50 starting blinds and 20 minute levels so you have some time to maneuver. My friend and I decide to rack up and take a cut at it.

The first rounds are uneventful, although, in general, the play is HORRIBLE—no suited cards left behind, calling pushes with A9o, etc. My friend’s stack gets worked a little bit and with the blinds at $75/$150, he re-raises a button raise holding JJ. The button (aka the Big Stack) calls, shows 77, flops a set and my friend is headed back to the room. At this point, I’ve got maybe 1300 so I figure I’m not far behind. Instead, I grind like the nitty TAG I am for an hour until we’re down to three players and I’m the shortie at the table. We then go back and forth for over an hour and a half on the bubble (the Mirage sit n gos only pay 2 spots, 70% and 30% of the prize pool), re-raising each other’s blinds, seeing a flop maybe every 5 hands or so. At one point, the #2 stack gets all in with J T v A 9 but rivers a J. It’s a bad omen.

Anyway, we’re finally playing with blinds at 200/400 with a 50 ante, so it won’t be long now. I’m sitting with about 4000 on the DB, ready to raise with pretty much anything when I find AKo. That’s what I’m talking about, baby! I raise and am then re-raised all-in by #2 stack. Ok, let’s go! He turns over AJo. Perfect! Blank, blank, blank, blank…J. Ugh. I’m out in 3rd place as a 3:1 favorite at 5:30a with no money. Ah, the grossness that is poker. Love it. No, seriously.

The next day, I get up around 11a, eat, get in a quick workout and head over to the Mirage Super Bowl party. If you haven’t been to a Super Bowl party at a Vegas casino, I think it’s better than seeing it live--projection TVs and buffets everywhere, tons of girls handing out drinks. Corona? Thank you. Patron shot? Why not? And typically everyone has a bet on something, so every play generates a lot of very vocal interest. But this year, I’m so pissed the Patriots aren’t in I didn’t even bet.

Anyway, about midway through the 3rd quarter, I’m bored and decided to head back to the poker room. One of the girls who one of the guys had met said she wanted to learn to play and asked me if it was ok if she joined me. 5’7”, blonde, "enhanced"…no problem, happy to help a friend of a friend. When we get there, they’re just calling a new game, so I buy $300 in chips, give her $100 to mess around with.

For the most part, it was pretty uneventful loose, passive poker—nothing very threatening. I only had one real hand to report. I’m in late position with KK. UTG raiser makes it $6. Seat 6 makes it $25. I make it $50. UTG folds and MP calls. Flop comes Kxx (nice!) and it’s checked to me. I bet $40 and MP calls. Turns a blank and I bet $30, trying to keep him on the hook (he’s only got about $60 left). He calls. River is another blank. He checks to me and I bet $30. He calls and shows QQ. Well, yes, that is a fine hand sir, but I believe me set of kings is just a tad better. In any event, after a few more hands, I rack up and leave up about $100 or so (net of the $40 that the girl managed to donk off!).

Later, after the Super Bowl ended, I returned to the poker room and sat down in the #4 seat with the big stack at the table directly to my right. Again, I buy in for $500. This time, though, the deck’s not hitting me quite so hard—I’m still at $500 or so after a couple of orbits. The seat directly to my left opens up and my friend sits in. A couple of hands later, I have AA in early position and raise to $25. Two callers…ok, whatever…and the flop comes K Q x. I lead out for $60. MP calls and it’s back to an older guy to my right who’s been playing everything. He re-raises to $160. Ok, decision-time...raise or fold? Of course, since my ego and judgment can’t handle the thought of mucking AA, I raise $200 more. Call. Call. Ugh. Caller #1 turns over QJd, and oldguyplayingeverything re-raiser turns over KQo. I’m drawing dead to about four non-diamonds and voila!...diamond on the river. Re-buy $300, please.

The last hand of any note that I played was 99 in position. There was an early position $30 raise and the big stack to my right calls. I call in position and the flop comes 972 rainbow. Very, very nice. The EP raiser bets $50, the big stack calls and the action's on me. Some people advocate calling here and saving the re-raise for the river, but I’m thinking that 1) the EP raiser could have something like JJ or QQ and if an A or a K hits, my action is done and 2) the big stack has been calling with straight and flush draws. So I bump it another hundred or so. The EP raiser folds and the big stack calls. WTF? I'm thinking he's on a straight draw for sure. Turn is exactly the card I don’t want to see, a 6 and Big Stack checks to me. I bet a hundred. Big stack calls. Now I’m concerned and not wild about committing more chips to this pot. T on the river and we checked it down. He turns over AA (never saw that coming!). my set of 9s are good and I take down a nice pot. On the one hand, I was a little pissed that I missed a bet on the river. On the other hand, he’d been coming over the top of river bets and the last thing I wanted was to face an all-in betwith four to a straight on board. In any event, healthy again at $750+.

I wouldn’t have minded staying at that table indefinitely, but shortly after that hand, the big stack racked up and left the table. I played a few more hands and headed to dinner.

Note on the restaurants. The first night, we ate at Stack, the Mirage’s steak house, which I thought was mediocre at best. I much prefer Charley Parker’s in the Four Seasons, Del Frisco’s off the Strip or Prime in the Bellagio. The second night, though, we ate at Kokomo’s, the Mirage’s other steak and seafood restaurant and the NY steak was among the best I’ve ever had. Kind of funny story, one of the guys we were with loves expensive wine and had the restaurant roll out several bottles valued at over a grand each. Every one the steward opened was spoiled. Vinegar. The sommelier was mortified after the third bad bottle, but he managed to run off and find a good Opus One and save a little face. I think I’ve only sent back maybe 1 or 2 bottles of wine in my life and most of the time wouldn’t know if a wine had turned or not. That night, I think we waved off 4 or 5 and it was obvious they were bad. Smelled like old shoes and tasted like vinegar. Pretty amazing.

We finish up around 11 or so and my buddy and I headed back to the poker room for one last run at it. There’s a list for $2/5 again so we sign up for another $175 sit n go with a table of “learned from TV” players betting and moving with anything. The guy to my left is re-raising constantly and I know he’s re-raising light, but the hands I’m getting--Ax, QJ, 55--can’t handle the pressure. Finally, I’m down to about 1200 chips with the blinds at 75/150 and I move in with 99. Guy to my left Hollywoods and then calls. Everybody else folds. He shows KK. I don’t improve and I’m out. Not the most glorious end to the weekend, but it was certainly better than grinding it out until 5:30a and coming up empty.

Anyway, I highly recommend hitting the Mirage during any Super Bowl weekend. With a little patience and a few nice hands, you'll pay for your trip!

Edmond