An Easy $500 and the ME hasn't started

Dinner Break Update: So far, so good

One more level to go: Staying strong

went to bed at 4:30am and up at 7am. Body thinks its 10am, havent adjusted yet, so time to catch you up on my first day in vegas.

Got in today around 3pm and staying at a friends condo, sweet hookup, no hotel bill! I headed over the the Venetian to play the 8pm $180 deep stack tourny. $5K in starting chips and 30min levels (177 players). Let me just say this was the craziest tourny I have ever played, I was down, then up, then down, then up....

Right off the bat, I am down to $2,000 within the first hour, lovely. But.. the blinds are only 100/200, so not desperate, but not in great shape. I grind that level to about $4k, and when it goes to 100/200 with a 25 ante, I run up from $4K to $20K in 30min. The big hand was..
Got JJ in middle position, raised to $800, and the button goes all in for about $8k, huge overbet and I read him for weak/middle pair, called and he had 99, and im up to about $20K. I lose that hand and i am crippled. phew.

I run up to about $30K when i flop 2pr and bust a player with top/top. Then i lose 3 races in a row:
1 - raise with AT from mid, short stack all in for a little more than my bet so I am priced in, he has AK and i lose.
2- very next hand - I raise with QQ, another short stack goes all in, i call, he has KK....
3- the NEXT hand - I raise with AK, a shorty shoves I call, he has AJ and hits a J.

(you will see a 3 out trend)

I am getting really short and have no choice but to shove in the Hijack seat with K7off for about $4,700. The button calls, the SB folds, and the BB goes all in for about $13K, the Button debates and finally calls. Button has TT and the BB has 88. Flop is blank, turn is blank, river... K! Wooohoo tripled up and sitting on $15K. (I get to hit my 3 outer too!)

two hands later, in BB when a short stack shoves in Hijack goes all in for $8800, I look down at AcJc (blinds are 600/1200) I put him on bad ace (im ahead) or a small pair (coin flip), so I call. I have only 12 BB's so I need to call with this hand and double up. He turns over 33. :-)
Flop is all rags but two clubs. I am actually a favorite at this point 54/46 with my two overs and flush draw. But of course I miss and am right back down to $5k.

grind up a little, blinds are now 800/1600, I am in SB and is folded to me. I squeeze two sweet KK's and min raise the BB to 3200. He goes all in, I insta call and he has QQ. Now up to $27K. There are 27 players left, 18 get paid.

Raise with A9, shortish stack goes all in I call, he has 66 and I hit my A and am up to $57, with 19 left. (my 3 outer)

down to 14 players, getting blinded to death with 24k with blinds at 1500/3000 with 500 ante..

dont remem the hand, but doubled up and at 35K.

blinds are now 2000/4000 with 1000 ante.. each round is 13K, a 1/3 or my stack..

In SB and the Button calls, I call 2k more with Q8 and BB checks. Flop is Q86, Yahtzee!!! i check (sly dog :-)), BB checks, button bets pot, I go all in, he calls, he has Q9, misses his kicker and I am up to 77K. got breathing room.

middle position and big stack makes it $12K, I have AK and make it $30K, he folds, am up to $98.5K with 12 left and 4 pretty short stacked.

Now final table of 10 and 2 short.

down to 9, have $90K and 1 very short, 2 pretty short.

8 left, 2 short.

in BB when hijack goes all in for $21K, 17K for me to call and I know I am ahead with 44. Have to dodge outs. Debataed for a while, but if i lose I am down to 50Kish and not in terrbile shape. if I win, I am up to over $100K and sitting pretty. I know I am ahead!!! shit! I finally call, he has even worse than I expected with A2, so all he has is 3 outs, and of course.. A on turn. MOFO!!!! (another 3 outer)

Try to steal blinds in late position and get re-raised and fold, down to $37K.

7 left, lose a short stack.

blinds are up to 4000/8000 with 2k ante. getting blinded away have about $26K and shove UTG with KcJC, folds around to the BB, who isnt paying attention. She looks around, and goes all in. then "Oh, I thought I was SB, I didnt realize he was all in" so sorta good news.. she turns over Q9 and has me covered by a bit. Flop is T72, phew. Q on the turn, DAMMIT! But gives me open ended, so need a Ace, 9 or K to win, and miss. Out in 7th place. She was so bad, I mean, how are you at the final table, 7 left and your arent paying attention?????

had best hand, so what can ya do, thats poker. Made the final table of my first event, happy about that. Made some $$ too, paid $1076. plus the $300 i was up earlier from 2/5 cash, not a bad first day.

Playing the Venetian standard 12pm Deep stack today $540 buy-in. $15K chips and 40min levels.

had so many and was so tired, this one slipped my mind..

QT is one of my fav hands, so limped in early pos w/ Q T, 5 players to the limped flop. Flop is J 9 8, bingo! I dont like the 2 spades, so I bet out a pot bet of $50 and get one caller (SB). Turn is a red 4. SB checks, I bet out $125 and he calls. 3 on the river and he leads out for $400. UGH.. I fold face up and he shows A 5

so gross. Did I missplay the turn? If I put him on the flush draw (which I did), should I have bet something bigger like $250 into the $150 pot?

I have never, ever, ever been bent over and f’d as hard as I have today. I was up $1K yesterday playing 2/5 here at Borgata and played well. Was really excited for the $2K deep stack.

So.. We started w/ 30k chips and 50min levels. No major hands but chipped up to 36K when this came up. Blinds are 50/100, in the BB with Ad4d, MP makes it $350, 2 callers in front of me, I call. Flop is Kd2d7c. I check, original MP makes it $800, both fold and I call. Turn is 8d giving me the nut flush. I bet out $2200 and he calls. 2h on the river, I bet out 5K, he makes it 10K, and I am sick. Can I fold?? I can’t, I call and he shows KK for a full house. Can you fold here??

Next..
Same AdXd in SB and with 5 limpers, so I limp as does BB. Flop is 8d9d5s, I check (Should I have led out here???) someone bets 400 with 3 callers and I call.. Turn is 5c, and checked around.. Jd on river, I bet out $1500 and get raised to $5K. again the board is paired, so I just call and she shows TdQd for straight flush. At first all I see is the Q high flush and think I have won the pot, anal raped again.

I am down to $12K. Thank god I keep chipping up or I would be toast. I lose a few small pots/hands, blinds antes and I am getting short. I have 6K at 200/400 and 25 (or 50) ante. I raise UTG+1 with JJ to 1600 and get 2 callers. Flop is Qd4c2c, I only have a little over 4K and the pot is over 5K, so I push all in, fist caller tanks for a min and calls other folds. He shows Kc5c! Turn is 9d, phew. River is a J, I hit my set, too bad it’s the Jc and I’m out.

So then I take a break, go eat, go to the room to get my $$ and go down to play 5/10. Anyway… it just continues to get worse. Raise with AK get 2 callers, flop is KT4, he had 44, lost $800. Had KK, raised to $110 after 4 limpers and get 2 callers. Flop is JT2, yep, he called pre-flop with TJ. Down another chunk.

Then the doooosey.. in BB with TT, UTG+1 makes it $60, 3 callers, and I call. Raiser is tight, so I don’t want to re-raise here. Flop is a dream, T72 RAINBOW. I check. UTG checks? WTF? Next player bets $150, next guy calls, and I call, UTG folds. Turn is 7 giving me a boat. I check and checked around. River is 5, I check!! I just knew these guys would bet. Player bets $150, next min raises to $300. I raise to $900, original bettor folds, and then he re-raises back to $1500. I am about to shove and I just know he has 77. Again.. can I fold? Do any of you fold?? I want to shove, but the way my day has been.. So I just call and you guessed it, he shows 77. So.. do I just call the $300min raise like a NIT cause he "might" have 77? Or do you all raise like I did with boat? After his re-min raise, do you fold? can you fold???

Next.. Raise UTG+2 with 2 red queens to $75 and get 2 callers. 2nd caller has been calling me all day and plays back at me almost every hand to test me, and its gone back and forth. Flop is JT3 with 2clubs. This guy leads out for $125 and I put him on AJ, KJ. I raise to $525 and have $600 left. Should I have just shoved? There are 2 clubs.. but anyway, I just raise to $525. He goes all in, WTF? I call and he has 33 for bottom set. Two running clubs, but both my dirty whores are red. Bitches.

The whole time at this 5/10 table, AK, AQ, JJ, over and over, and couldn’t get a flop, I have AK, flop is 854, I have 66, flop is AKT....

Anyway, the $5K I was up for the past month is toast and stuck a bit more on top, guess its time to rebuild that. I hate poker.

$2K buy in, $30,000 chips and 50min levels day 1, 60min levels day 2 and 3.

I have been playing very well and my game has def gone up a notch. I am making reads and making plays I have never made and my results show that its working. If you read LAKONGS blog, I cashed at the Bike $300 w/ 1RB, went out in 14th out of 137 with 19 spots getting paid. I took lots of sick beats and have no idea how I made the money.

I played the Hustler Thursday night deep stack 2 days later (5k chips,25min levels) 103 players, final table gets paid. 6 players left I am in BB with $75K (blinds are 6/12k with 1500 ante). Folds to SB who shoves for a total of $60K. I hate this spot, but know I am ahead so I call. He has 94 and flops a 9. Out on next hand when I have $6k left after posting $6K SB and ante. Paid $1025 for a $255 buy-in, so I am happy that I cashed and played well.

I finally decided to start really tracking my wins/losses, and since 3/31 I am up over $5K (all live). I am winding down my online play, the beats are too crazy and too frequent, too many 1 outers, i give you guys credit for doing it.

I personally love Deep Stack and can't wait for this weekend. If you have any specific DS advice/tips, I would love to hear em. I'll post each day during the tourney to keep you all updated.