Whenever I think I’ve seen a twisted hand—BAM!—another more twisted one shows up. On my recent trip to Caesars, I saw two of the sickest hands I've seen in a while. The first took place in the WSOP Circuit Event and was an amazing (maybe crazy) call; the second took place in a 5/10 cash game and, as you'll see, was a somewhat easier one.

Hand 1

With the blinds at 100/200 in the WSOP circuit event, a young man named Brandon raised to 700 from middle position; he was sitting with 20,000 behind. Chris McCormack called from the BB; figure he had 13,000 or so in his stack.

The flop came 10 5 3. Chris checked. Brandon bet 1,200 and Chris called. Turn was the J, and Chris checked again. Brandon bet 2,400. Chris thought for about 20 seconds and called. River card was the 2. Chris checked again and Brando fired another 4,500 at the pot. At this point, Chris tanked for about 2 minutes, emerged, counted out 4,500 in chips and called with an A3…4th pair! Brandon tabled 96—9 high, no good!

I was sitting next to Brandon and he commented to me that he shouldn’t have bet the river. He said that after he made the turn bet, Chris made eye contact with him and he felt Chris knew he didn’t have anything. Later, I asked Chris what he was thinking when he made the call on the river. He shrugged and said that if Brandon flips up QQ, he looks like an idiot. Good point—in poker, the line between genius and idiot is very fine. This willingness to make a tough call for a big chunk of chips when your gut says you are ahead is a common characteristic of great tournament players. And I can confirm that NO ONE at our table tried to bluff Chris out of a pot the rest of the day.


Hand 2

The other stunner I witnessed was in the Caesar's 5/10 NL cash game. I'd been sitting in the game for several hours when Kenna James showed up and took a seat to my right. He'd been sitting for 15 minutes when the following hand came up.

An Asian kid who'd been playing or raising every pot like Bruce Lee on meth limped UTG for $10. There was another limper and then Kenna popped it to $60. Kenna had watched this kid playing pot after pot and I’m guessing he decided it was time to play sheriff. In any event, I folded, and it was folded back to Bruce Lee who rejected Kenna’s aspirations and repopped to $230. The other limper folded and Kenna called. Ok, we’ve got action.

Flop came QQ6 and Asian kid checks to Kenna, who bet $260 into the $470-ish pot. Asian kid called.

Turn was a blank 3. Check. Check. Come on, fellas. This is boooooring.

The river card was a deuce and the chips started flying. Asian kid bet out $300 into the $1000 pot and Kenna SHOVED for his last $1400 or so. Asian kid insta-calls and Kenna flipped over 45s for the rivered straight. Ha! But then Asian kid turns over a frigging HAREM—QUAD queens—and scooped the $4,000 pot. Whoa! Everyone at the table was stunned but none more so than Kenna.

You really can’t fault Kenna for his push on the river. But calling a big re-raise before the flop with 45s can obviously get you in big trouble. At the same time, this willingness to gamble helps get Kenna action when he makes a big hand. Apparently, it's not so good for the appetite, though. He immediately stood up and bolted from the table leaving a bag of food he’d just purchased from the food court. Anybody want some buffalo wings?

God help me, I love this game!

PianoMan

You can read more about Caesars poker room including my recent trip report and review here...

Caesars Palace listing

I spent five days at Caesars Palace for the WSOP Circuit Event and thoroughly enjoyed my time in their poker room. The room is very well appointed, and the staff is professional and accommodating.

It is a good idea to get a Harrah’s Reward Card before beginning play. You swipe in when you enter the room and get points for time played. This can be exchanged for food and other perks. The points are good at any Harrah’s property. Don’t forget to swipe out when you leave. At 5 am the computer resets and you lose your time.

I played in the 2/5 and 5/10 no limit games. There are small minimum buy-ins and no cap. The liveliest games start around 10:00 – 11:00 pm and go throughout the night. The 2/5 game was the juiciest because every so often a couple of tourists would sit down with $300-$400 to test their mettle. This usually lasted about an hour until their money ran out. The regulars are a pretty fair bunch of players although as the night wore on, some drank a little too much and got sloppy. The 5/10 game was tougher (as it always is), but definitely beatable with solid, tight aggressive play. I’d recommend having at least $1000 on the table in the 2/5 game with another $1000 behind, and double that for the 5/10. This way you won’t get pushed around by the regulars. There are a wide variety of other games available.

There are many tournaments throughout the week, but all of them were cancelled because the Circuit Event was scheduled. Locals tell me all the tournaments are well attended.

There is a poker room hotel rate of $139. You receive this rate by putting in 8 hours of playing time each day. The rooms are very nice, and at this rate, a real bargain. For an $80 up-charge, you can stay in the Augustus Tower with rooms the size of a small condo. I would be sure you get your room rate in advance from the poker room. At check out, I had trouble dealing with the front desk to get my rate adjusted. After about 25 minutes of arguing, they finally gave me the correct rate.

One excellent place to eat is the Augustus Café near the Augustus Tower. Their breakfasts are to die for. The fresh fruit is superb, and if you ask nicely, the chef will add some blueberries to your pancakes – a real treat. On the negative side, I’d avoid the food court. It takes 20 minutes to get anything, and the food is not particularly good. The ordering process is very disorganized.

Caesars Palace is right next door to Bellagio. So if you can’t find what you want here, you can take a short walk to Las Vegas poker paradise. I’d recommend Caesars Palace as an excellent place to stay and play.