This was also first published on Poker Verdict in September 2005....
My only previous trip to the bright lights of Vegas had been in mid 2001 for my friend Jeff Israel’s five-day stag-do. The trip was a lot of fun and the poker-playing highlight was a NL Holdem tournament at the Mirage where I was seated to the left of Phil Gordon just a couple of months after he had finished 5th in the World Series of Poker main event. But overall I finished over $3,000 down for the trip, much of which I put down to my poor knowledge of limit hold’em as at that stage there were very few no limit or pot limit cash games available.
But when the opportunity finally came for a return visit in September 2005 and a chance to score my first positive Vegas result, I jumped at the chance, albeit that my schedule would only allow me 2 and a half days to make my mark…
Firstly, a quick thumbs up for the new Wynn Resort. The service was unbelievable, the restaurants top class, the poker room jammed with No Limit and Limit games (daily tournaments starting soon too) and the bedroom was like nothing Id ever seen before - awesome view, unbelievable facilities - huge flatscreen TV, fax machine, email point, huge bathroom with large tub facing a TV – Top Class!
Playing my 'A' game
From the first I played my 'A' game but initially I couldn’t catch any kind of break. On the first night, I played a $100 NL Holdem tournament at Binions. I took a horrible beat (A-J against A-8) and got unlucky in two 50-50s in huge pots finishing 8th out of 44.
On Day Two, I played in the $1,000 World Series Tour event at Harrahs. I doubled up early but then went card dead for 3 hours. I was still in good shape when I lost half my stack to a flush on the river and shortly after I managed to get all my chips in before the flop with A-K against Q-10 but inevitably a Queen came on the turn and I was out in 70th position (out of 140).
Later on I entered the evening $100 re-buy tournament at the Mirage still in confident mood that I had an edge over my opponents. Frustratingly, my card run continued and I did not see a decent hand the whole of the evening. However I hung in there and for the last couple of hours I played some great poker and managed to find my way to a decent stack. Down to the last 12, I made an all-in re-raise holding 7-7 and got a dubious call from an opponent holding A-J. It was a 50/50 shot but sadly an Ace popped out on the flop and that was that.
Whilst I was doing OK in the side games, the above losses and a few lost satellites meant that I was a long way behind coming into the last day of my trip. Still I was playing well and having fun and I resolved to stay focussed and do all I could to turn the loss into a profit on my last day.
The Bellagio
I decided to take a shot at the daily Bellagio 2pm $500 NL Holdem Freezeout. With 61 entrants and no recognisable big names, I was confident and calm. 20 minutes in, the following hand came up.
With blinds at 25-50 and a starting stack of 2,000 chips and two other limpers, I limped in on the button with Qs-Js. The blinds both checked their option and the flop came down Ks-7s-3x. Everyone checked to me but I noticed that the big blind had acted rather suspiciously and feared he may have hit a big hand so I just checked. The turn card came out Ax and the big blind thought for a few seconds and then confidently fired a 250 pot-sized bet. Everyone else folded. I now had a straight draw to the 10 as well as my flush draw. Still suspicious from his body language that he may have a big hand, I opted to call and see the river.
At first I was delighted to see the river bring the 4 of spades (completing my flush) but then my opponent, having glanced over at me, quickly announced he was all-in moving his remaining 1,700 chips into a 750 chip pot. I rocked back in my chair and replayed the hand in my mind. After a good dwell up I put him on the A-X of spades – the only possible hand that could beat me and I folded my hand face-up. He did not show his hand, but he went totally white and I am pretty sure I made the correct read.
Buoyed by my play on this hand, over the next 6 hours I played at the absolute top of my game. Even whilst nursing a short stack, I twice correctly laid down pocket 10s to an overpair before the flop. Successfully managing to build my stack over time by the time we were dwn to the last 7 the average stack was 17,000 and I had 24,000.
The top prize was $11,000 with 7th paying $1,300. In my mind I had set myself the target of getting to the top three where the prizes could be split at $7,500 a piece. However with seven players remaining and chip stacks fairly even, a deal was proposed where each player would receive $4,100. I was initially reluctant, feeling I had the measure of the other players, but with all others in favour I caved in and accepted.
Whilst I slightly regret making the deal and will learn from it in the future, the $3,600 profit still turned my fortunes around and I left Vegas showing a tidy $1,700 profit, promising myself it would not be four years again before I returned.
Til next timethekid08
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