Back to the Bellagio; always one of my favourite places to play poker. It was buzzing with a big game going on in Bobby’s Room (Durrr, Ziggy, etc…). I got Seat 10 next to the Poker Pixie herself, Anna Wroblewski (Vietcutie online). She didn’t seem too interested in the tourney and did a combination of the following while losing her chips: singing along to her ipod; getting up to say hi to people she knew, including Viffer; and ordering a long island ice tea and then saying she didn’t really want it and I should drink it (I declined, but I did order a drink – see later).

Apart from Anna, the rest of my opening table looked like tourists, except for a late-arrival in Seat 5, who was a local pro. The tourney eventually got 69 runners, paying 9 places with $22k for first. Nothing much happened for the first level as I watched these guys get millions of chips into every pot with weak hands and bad bluffs, while I missed a few flops. It was Level 2 before I got a hand worth writing about:

My Stack ~9k, Seat 5 ~6k, Blinds 50/100, I hold AA in SB

One limp, Seat 5 makes it 300 from MP and I pop it up to 800. Limper folds and Seat 5 quickly calls. Flop KKQdd. I basically want to puke in my mouth. I think for a while and decide to check to evaluate Seat 5’s reaction. He confidently bets 1200 into 1800 pot.

It is at this point that the waitress is delivering Anna’s Long Island and I say that I definitely need a drink now, so I order some red wine. I’m fine playing poker while drinking a little red wine as long as it’s not too much and in this tourney, I continued with around 1 glass every 2 levels, which keeps me at the same point, as it is about as quick as my body absorbs the alcohol.

Back to the action and I consider his preflop range for raising a limper and snap-calling my 3-bet with only 5k behind. It certainly has a lot of Kings and Queens in it. He looks strong. I ask him where he’s from and he says he lives in Vegas, so it’s obvious he’s a local pro, as he also has that image (Anna later confirmed this). I figured that if I continue with this hand it is going to cost me all of my chips to find out if I am good or not and as I was pretty sure I wasn’t there was no point wasting anymore chips finding out, so I open-folded my Aces. He did not show, but looked disappointed.

You can argue about whether or not I should show my fold in that spot. Maybe it makes me look weak-tight, but actually that’s an image that I want to have at this table, as there’s so much crazy betting and bluffing going-in around me (but not by Seat 5). Anna said afterwards that because he’s a local pro it should make me more inclined to believe he was bluffing. She said “You can’t just check-fold Aces there. At least have a bet or check-call and see if he bets the turn.” I disagreed because I was so sure he had it, so why waste chips finding out – that’s something in live play that you don’t really experience online. Later, after out table broke, he told me he had AK, which was pretty much the hand I put him on as I believed that KQ or QQ would slow-play that flop. Of course he might be lying about it, but I don’t think so.

After that I bleed-off a little then this happens:

My Stack 6650, Seat 7 ~12k, Blinds 100/200/25, I hold AKo in SB

MP limp and Seat 7 pops it up to 600. He seems like a recreational player who is fast and loose with his chips and his stack has been up and down. I look down at AK and think about my options. I feel that any raise pot commits me and that there is so much action at this table that if I just throw my chips in, I might get called with worse. Mt chips land in a heap and the single 5k chip is somewhat at the bottom of the pile, but still in plain view. Folds back to Seat 7 and he puts 1650 into the pot; he hasn’t seen my 5k chip. The dealer points this out to him and he nonchalantly throws-in a 5k chip without a second’s though – so I’m expecting to see a monster. He shows me KJo. Umm…

Flop Jxx
“Jeez…”
Turn A
“Phew!”
River blanks and now I’m finally smiling.

After that I go extremely card dead and can’t find a spot to get these crazy guys to double me up. Anna busts out when her last 5k goes-in on J9x9sss board with A5ss versus J9. I miss a few flops, resteal once at 200/400/25, but soon find myself in short-stack mode.

It folds to my button and I see an Ace with just a little over 8k at 300/600/50. I jam and SB insta-calls me with JJ. Oh hi there Ace on the flop and I double through. Still short, but now with resteal equity I manage to short-stack Ninja all the way up to ~50k without a single showdown, some of it after our table broke and getting moved to a new table, including a 4-bet jam with AKo versus a very loose aggressive guy who often 3-bets light.

The local pro is also at the new table and he’s also short. I know by now that he plays fairly tight, but I find myself in an unavoidable spot with ~15 players remaining:

My Stack ~50k, Local Pro ~42k, Blinds 800/1600/200, I hold TT OTB.

He opens for 5k and I jam. He has folded to one of my 3-bets earlier and correctly decides to take a stand with AQdd. The usual insta-Ace on the flop along with two diamonds and he makes his flush on the turn just so there’s no sweat. I’m pretty-tilted that I outplayed the field to go from 17k to 50k without a showdown and then lose a race for an FT stack. I’m left with ~8k all in ante chips (thanks to my winning many pots in the last couple of orbits).

The old guy in Seat 10 throws me a 500 chip, asking for change, which I count out and give to him, by which point I notice that he has 40 ante chips, doesn’t need it and was just being an ass-hole. Obviously tilted from the lost flip, I lose my temper with him and tell him he wins the Ass-hole of the Day Award.

After shoving my two hands and getting no callers, correctly folding my BB to the SB’s shove, Mr Ass-hole opens the pot and I find 77 in the SB. I tell him that it will be so good if he doubles me up here and slide my chips into the middle. He calls with AJ and we’re off to the races:

Flop AJ5, sigh
Turn 5, getting up to leave
River 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t normally celebrate winning a hand, but versus this guy it was special and I tell him there’s his justice from the pokergods for being an Ass-hole. He tells me to GFY and the dealer warns us, but it’s a storm in a teacup and we soon settle down. I know I wrote the other day about being a Steady Eddy and not letting people bother me, but this guy just set me off.

I shove my way back up to ~50k with 12 left, then blind-off to ~30k as we finally make the FT. We agree on $100 each so that 10th get $1k and I’m 9/10 at 1000/2000/400 level. I shove one hand before the break to get to 35k and then we’re back and I fold a couple of orbits before this happens:

My Stack ~28k, OTB ~20k, SB ~80k, Blinds 1500/3000/500, I hold Ax on the CO

Folds to me and I peek at the Ace of Spades. That’s enough and I shove without seeing my second card. OTB has folded every hand at the FT for 3 orbits and now moves-in. SB asks how much I shoved for and when he sees its so little he decides to call.

OTB turns over 8d8h and SB wants me to show before he does. I turn over my As and say I’ve not seen the other one yet and leave it face down. He shows AdKh and I finally flip-up my hidden card: THE ACE OF CLUBS!!!

So I can win an 85k pot if my Aces can hold one time at the Bellagio (keen readers will note that I’ve lost with AA three times out of the four that I’ve held them at the B, including the one-outer versus 99).

Flop XXXddd
“Oh fuck!”

And without even a sweat to the river the dealer peels off the Kd on the turn and I get 9th for $1340 thanks to having more chips than the other guy. Thanks Bellagio! I still luv ya tho!

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