Show First to Last
on
Thursday July 19, 2007
Watching the final table yesterday I discovered that the Lord had taken an interest in poker and being a being of particular taste it was the World Series of Poker Main Event he decided to monitor. Jerry Yang unbeknownst to us all had become his intrument in this mighty event and is now our new World Champion. I don't want to mock too much because he seems like a nice guy who has had some tough times and his faith has helped in through it. He also wants to help others with his new found wealth. The thing that irks me though is this belief that God would pay particular attention to him. I'm not just picking on faith in God here. Overtly religious people tend to worry me sometimes. John Travolta crediting Scientology for getting his career back on track when I thought Quentin Tarantino had more to do with it is a non-christian example. I don't want to harp on about it too much but lets just say Jerry Yang was probably not the only player out of 6500 who prayed to God over the last 2 weeks.
In the last few days I've been watching old WSOP coverage on pokertube.com and I find myself regretting not being around and playing in those days. I would have been old enough to play from 1992 onwards had I known this game existed. I could have played in Binions in the days when players were important and market share was not a priority. TV coverage would not consist of "moments" brough to you by Milwaukee Light or Degree for Men. I watched some PR guy from Milwaukee Light being interviewed on the live webcast of this years final table talking about how it was great exposure for his company. Like we give a shit. There was surely a time when as much as exposure matered for a sponsor these marketing whores didn't openly degrade sporting events by discussing how much of it they had received. We can thank ESPN for thinking this makes good viewing not to mention interviewing someone from the ESPN team. I'm sure these guys work hard but when you've just interviewed Phil Helmuth, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Mike the Mouth and so on why would anyone want to hear about how hard the ESPN team has worked. Are they paid for their work? Surely. Have they any insight into the play at the table? No. Then bugger off.
In keeping with this wistful look at the past I've also been reading All-In which is a new book covering the all the main events from the beginning to 2005. It talks about the players, the final tables, the hands and so on and is a great read. I'm only up to 1983 but already the great Terry Rogers gets several mentions. One that I particularly liked was he was the only bookmaker at the World Series in 1980 who cut his price on Stu Ungar from 100-1 to 20-1 because he fancied his chances so much and then proceeded to back Stuey at the 100-1 other bookies were offering. Also I didn't know for example that in the early seventies when it was down to 3 players Doyle Brunson cashed out because he wanted the cash but not the target he might end up with if he went on to win the main event. The other 2 guys were only to happy to oblige. Things have certainly changed. Really some great reading in this book and I highly recommend it to anyone.
So my bags are packed and I'm about to turn in before starting the journey home tomorrow. 3 weeks is plenty in Vegas and yet I feel a little sad to be leaving. Mainly because I messed up so much in the cash games and threw away so much at the satelites. I started really well at the poker table but I think in the end I lost patience with the games here. I have never used an mp3 player at a table before but I think it would help. To win in these cash games I firmly believe you have to sit there and be an absolute rock with the mp3 player keeping you amused while you wait. Nut peddling is the way to go because they will pay you off when you hit that set. Other than that raising with AQ or AJ for example is often a losing proposition because even raising to say $15 is still likely to get 4 callers and when you miss forget about it. I'm not sure. I need to think about the games here because they are deffinately soft but in the end I was frustrated most of the time losing patience and making loose calls of pre-flop raises and so on. One to ponder. So thats it for another year. Eveyrone goes home except for the winners who go on to be interviewed, sponsored, worshipped or hated. It's the same old tune except this time maybe the US will be a winner. With a man of faith as the new Ambassador for the game maybe christians will think differently about this game, maybe laws will change . Who knows.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
0 comments
on
Sunday July 15, 2007
Well things are getting quieter around here now. All of the Irish are out of the Main Event and many of them have returned home. I'm here until the 19th and I'm happy to make the most of the rest of my week left. I haven't had a winning session at the poker tables in ages but I'm determined to correct that. I've been careful not to lose too much. Having a new appartment and paying a mortgage makes you a bit more careful.
The Orleans have begun a festival and I plan to play a $320 tourney there on Tuesday. If I don't progress there I'll try the Wynn $300 on Wednesday and in between I'll play some cash games but I won't be breaking the bank.
Not much else to report really. I'll probably end up watching the WSOP final table online just like those at home as going to the RIO is pointless. It has not been spectator friendly this year at all.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
3 comments
on
Thursday July 12, 2007
Go to an Outlet
There are two major outlets in Vegas. The Premier and the Las Vegas Outlet Centers (US spelling). Both are similar. Well know brand names at excellent prices. Timberland, Hilfiger, Nautica, Nike, Levi and so on. On average less than half the price than in on of Ireland's Celtic Tiger driven shops.
Go to the Movies
We are not too far away from the UA Showcase cinema which is near the MGM Grand. I've seen Die Hard 4 and Transformers. Die Hard is great entertainment even if they unfortunately go a little too far at times. John McClain is becoming Superhuman which lessens the appeal. Still well worth a look. The special effects in Transformers is some of the best I've seen. I thoroughly enjoyed it even if I was reminded why I never was a fan of the cartoon. One of the most ridiculous concepts ever and probably invented purely to sell toys.
Go to a Show
I have no interest in your average show in Vegas but there is plenty of comedy here. We went to see Lewis Black last night in the MGM and it was great fun. A very funny guy. Not quite Bill Hicks but a good railer against US politics all the same.
As you can tell I've been taking a break from poker every now and then. A couple of losing sessions can get to your head and a break is almost mandatory.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
0 comments
on
Monday July 9, 2007
Well attempt number 3 is over and is another failure. Determination, desire, confidence is all pretty much a load of bullshit now. It might sound like I'm mad or upset but I'm not really. I've done this before. Walked around the RIO and watched all these players. The famous, the infamous, the anonymous. While playing the satelite in the tent out back with the air conditioning down my eyes drifted to the TV in between atrocious play that was rewarded all too often. They were showing last years final table on ESPN. I don't know what kind of a person Jamie Gold is. Maybe hes the nicest guy you might ever meet at a card table. Regardless of that I couldn't help but smile at how he seemed to hit everything. Absolutely everything. Surely a monkey (no offence Jamie) could have won the WSOP with that kind of magical effect around you. Maybe not. Maybe ESPN are guilty of crazy editing. Who knows.
Before I played this third satelite I promised to myself that this was it. The last try. Failure and I move on. Cash games, tournaments with decent structures were there to be played. As my Jc9c was justifiably beaten by QQ and I walked back to the exit I was thinking maybe there are some sit and gos later tonight. Maybe I can try again. Now as I write I've put that to rest. Hard to let go but it's time to move on.
Time to cheer on the other Irish involved in the main event. Good Irish players whose names won't be known by ESPN. Because they don't throw tantrums when they have a bad beat. They don't berate players for bad play. They don't wave crappy shark card protectors in front of cameras. They can't afford to play all 50 or so events at the WSOP. One of them might end up being remembered. For the right reason. We can but hope. Thats a biased view of course but I'm just a little fed up of some of these so called big name players. If it is a pro that wins it let it be a pro we can respect. A pro who doesn't think the sun shines out of his arse because he won some tournament a few years back and has been milking it ever since when in reality they just got sponsored because obnoxious sells.
I'll just enjoy the rest of my time here. Some poker of some form with some fellow anonymous players worried about a $50 pot and where the cocktail waitress has dissappeared to. Get drunk a few nights after some good food with good company. Get completely wasted other nights and forget who I was talking to. And finally I'll go home to Dublin after God willing I've had a good holiday and take a trip to Kilarney and the Cue Club to play poker in a tournament with a structure that will probably be superior to anything I could ever find here.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
2 comments
on
Sunday July 8, 2007
I'm about to play one last sat for the main event this evening. I have failed in 2 and have decided that I will give it one more go. Wish me luck
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
0 comments
on
Thursday July 5, 2007
Yesterday (Tuesday) I finally played a $550 mega-sat for the big one. At the very least I can say I played in the WSOP and carefully leave out the detail that it wasn't anything significant. You start with a stack of 3k in chips and the levels are 30 minutes which seems fine until after the 4th level of 100/200 and 25 ante you are suddenly playing 200/400 and a 50 ante which is just ridiculous. In any case I started well ending level 3 and going into the break with 6k in chips after some guy thought his 9T was good enough to go all the way with my KK. Once we reached the painful 5th level I was down to 3.5k mainly because of the blinds and one hand I raised pre-flop with AJ but had to fold to a strong bet on the flop. I was then moved to another table and had barely taken in the scene when on my BB the UTG raises to 1200, a MP player pushes for 3.5k and it comes to me and I see AK. I'm certain the guy that has pushed is on tilt after losing half his stack on the previous hand and it's an easy push. The UTG calls after some thought and turns over QQ, the MP AT. Not a disaster really for the opportunity to triple up which is basically vital at this point. Out come the cards. A K on the turn gives me hope but a Q on the river sends me packing. I don't mind going out so much here only for the way it played out. The poker Gods just had to toy with me.
Anyway today (Wed) I sat into another cash game. This went quite well and at one point I was up to $700 from my initial buyin of $200. I was even about to leave but foolishly stayed and eventually left only $200 up. A bit frustrating but at least it was a winning session. This prompted me to sign up for another $550 sat for tomorrow morning, which is satellite day in the RIO. If this doesn't go well I might try and play a few sit and gos as a last resort. As much as I would like to play in the main event I am not prepared to throw cash all over the place to get there. I'm perfectly happy to spend the next 2 weeks winning cash (if all goes well) in the cash games and cheering on whoever is playing.
After registering with Dom we walked around. First we saw Ram Vaswani in the Limit Holdem Shootout final table and looking good as chip leader. Then we wandered over to the Duece to 7 lowball which was down to 21 players and 3 tables. We were pleasantly surprised to see Andy Black was still in along with Greenstein, Tony G, Freddy Deeb, Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, Todd Brunson, Jesus, Eric Seidel, Jamie Gold (just kidding) and so on. All the big names were there and the pros obviously see this as a good opportunity for a bracelet.
So time to get some shut eye now. I have decided to stop showing a tally of my profit/loss in poker as it is getting skewed and is not helping me relax and enjoy the games. I have no problem telling people how much I win or lose while I'm here if they ask me I just don't want to have any red or black amounts hanging over me while I am supposedly on holidays allbeit to win some cash if possible.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
1 comment
on
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Today I was changing rooms. I'm sharing with Dom from boards for the next 2 weeks but I had to leave my room and wait several hours before he arrived so the only option was...you guessed it. Sit at a poker table for the day.
Yesterday I played the tourney again as planned and will not be trying my luck at a Ballys tourney again. just an appalling structure and a waste of cash (translation - I didn't make the money). I moved onto a cash table later in the day and after another long session finished up $200.
Today I felt I needed a break but really to pass the time it was the easiest option and almost inevitably I had my first losing session down $250. So thats down $170 over the last 2 days. I plan to avoid poker until I play a $550 sat in the RIO.
We are off to the RIO now to check the Tilted Kilt for any fellow Irishman.
Poker Status: +$525
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
5 comments
on
Sunday July 1, 2007
I'm starting to feel a bit like a hermit. I'm going from my room to the Ballys poker room and back again every day with only stops for food here and there. I haven't met up with anyone else here yet but theres plenty of time for that I suppose.
I skipped the RIO again yesterday. It seems they only run $1k mega sats at the weekend so I'm biding my time to see how much cash I can make here. I think heading into the last few days before the main event will see higher numbers playing the sats anyway. Or maybe I'm just trying to justify this limited existence.
I played 8 hours straight at the tables for a profit of $235. I plan to try the tourney here again this morning and then probably more cash games. So my posts are probably getting pretty boring at this stage.
Poker: +$695
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
1 comment
on
Saturday June 30, 2007
Yesterday after hitting the Las Vegas Outlet Center for some good value clothes (check it out) I sat into a 1/2 NL game in Ballys again. The play is so bad it's impossible to resist. I turned my original $200 into $635 in a 6 hour session. I have to admit some luck was involved but in general a good solid game will win here almost every time. No jackpot hands this time just jackpot opponents. One hand sticks out because I'm still not sure if I played it right. I raised to $12 on the button with TT and got 4 callers which is typical really (I'm wondering what I should be raising to if any). Flop came 678o and they all checked to me. I bet $50, the SB pushes for $100, the next guy calls and the last guy folds after some agonising. I'm not to worried about the guy who pushed because hes the worst player at the table and my guess from his play so far is he has a 9. The second caller is a calling station who is likely to check it down which is what I want at this stage. So I call and we check it down and I turn over my TT. The all-in guy has A9 and has missed and the other guy has the other TT. So we split a nice pot. The player who had agonised threw away 2 pair on the flop so I was pretty lucky there.
One crazy hand I wasn't involved in developed some time later which flat out amazed me. On a flop of KTJ 4 players ended up all-in for almost $300 a piece. I expected to see AQ and I did as well as Q9 and KT. But the turn and river were both clubs giving donk of the year with Qc8c a flush. With this fantastic play he had turned his $250 into $1k. He left shortly afterwards which was probably the only good play from him.
My plan to move on to the RIO after the cash game was put aside then as it seems far more sensible to play the cash games to fund the $550 or $1k sats to the main event. Better than playing the winner take all sit and gos in the RIO.
I played an $80 tourney with a $40 rebuy this morning with no success but overall things are going nicely and I plan to play at least a $550 sat in the next few days. Maybe even this evening as it being a Saturday the field might be donk heavy. I've hardly experienced the world series at all this year but there isn't much to experience really unless you are taking part. The plan now is to sit down at the cash tables after lunch until 7ish and then head to the RIO for the mega-sat.
So up in poker: +$460
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
0 comments
on
Friday June 29, 2007
I was awake at 6 yesterday. 8 today. Both because I was so tired the previous night I just couldn't stay awake but things should be back to normal today hopefully.
Yesterday I went down to the RIO to have a wander around. It hasn't changed much. Still some great looking cocktail waitresses, still the long walk to the amazon room. The ESPN setup is a bit more extravagant this year. I don't have a press pass so I felt a bit more like an average joe. Well I was a bit of an imposter last year as a member of the press anyway so this year I will just be a player. There was a long line for sit and gos so I decided not to bother. The amazon room can be a bit of a shallow experience especially if you aren't playing.
I was itching to play some poker so decided to head back to Ballys and just play some 1/2 no limit to get the ball rolling. When I got there it was busy but was seated straight away. At a very loose table indeed. I sat down with $200. The max is now $300 but I stuck with $200. I think it's enough in this game but I may amend that after a while. Anyway I was down about $50 when I limped with 77. 4 of us saw the flop of 77x!!! Nice. A guy bets out $10 and I call as does one other player. I'm hoping somebody else has hit something but they check on the turn and my $20 bet causes them both to fold. I turn over my hand and the dealer calls for the poker of 7s jackpot. It's $145. Nice.
Ballys take an extra dollar from the pot to build these jackpot prizes for pokers and straight flushes. I'm not certain if it's worth it. Maybe some mathematical genius can work it out for me. Anyway I ended up $145 when I left the table so but for that I would have been even on the days play.
One amusing hand occurred where a guy raises and gets one caller. He doesn't see that he has a caller and turns his hand face up 9T. The dealer tells him he has one caller so he turns them back over and seems resigned to give up the hand. Out comes the flop - 9TT. Gave us all a laugh.
After about 4 hours play I started to feel very tired so it was time to call it a day. I had planned to head for the RIO again but that will have to wait until later today.
Poker: +$145
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
2 comments
on
Thursday June 28, 2007
Flying makes me nervous. I don't lose control or anything I just feel uneasy with turbulence, the thoughts of something going wrong etc. Regardless of this it will never stop me getting on a plane to go where I want to go. At the same time anything that makes things easier helps so this year I got the overnight boat and train to London where Virgin Atlantic fly direct to Vegas. One of the first trips I went on was to London on the boat and train with my Mother and Sister and I have loved it ever since. This worked quite well because when we took off on our 10 hour flight I was pretty tired and so was able to sleep and in a way shorten the trip and the time spent feeling nervous. Yes flying makes me nervous but when that plane landed and I saw the strip on the skyline you should have seen the smile on my face.
And so I have arrived. Las Vegas again. The WSOP again. Not qualified for the main event again. Determined to qualify yet again. I have just woken from a lovely first nights sleep in my room in Ballys (fabulous room) so no stories of poker to report just yet. I can tell you briefly about the one qualifier I played in Dublin and how difficult it can be chasing a dream to play in this famous event.
The Fitzwilliam Card Club in Dublin had a few packages from Ladbrokes to give away. These were fantastic. Entry into a $3k event, 10 nights in the Rio, entry into the Main event plus $2k spending money. All adding up to about $16k. To play for this prize it only cost €250 so I decided to try my luck a couple of weeks ago for the last package on offer. 52 players entered. This meant a package and a small bit of cash for 2nd to 6th as a poor consolation. To cut a long story short at about 3 a.m. I made the final table as one of the chip leaders. At about 5 a.m we were down to the final 3 but I was short. I needed one double-up to have a chance so I began pushing every second hand. Immediately after one such push I actually got a decent hand, pocket 6s, so duly pushed again only for the BB to wake up with 77 and that was all she wrote. I had spent all night playing to finish 3rd for about €460. Never have I been so frustrated playing this game.
Anyway that was a few weeks ago. Time to look ahead. I'm going to get some breakfast and later this morning head out to the Rio to sample the atmosphere for another year. They have $550 sats every night at 9 there so I intend to pass some time trying to win the $550 before 9. After that if there are no festivities going in the Tilted Kilt I'll head back here to Ballys for some cash games as the fish were of a good quality here last year.
Posted in
Vegas 2007,
3 comments
on
Friday December 1, 2006
After such a great weekend last time I couldn't resist a return to Kilarney for their Winter Festival on the 11th of this month. I decided to travel down on the 10th and play the €50 satelite. 4 of us came from Dublin to take part and we all played this rebuy qualifier. The mood was relaxed and the drink flowed nicely. I rarely drink when playing poker but knowing I would be playing stone cold on the Saturday I was happy to take it easy in the satelite and see how things went. In the end only one of us managed to win a ticket. I came close but just near the bubble overplayed AQ and ran into KK. That was all she wrote and I now had to put up the €400 buy-in myself.
So the main event started at about 5 p.m. with the last longest and swapped percentages agreed we sat down to play. I had Connie (club owner) on my immediate left and the first significant hand for me was the elimination of the man himself. I limped on the button with KJo and the blinds played too. Flop came KJ3 and both blinds checked. I bet approx. 2/3 the pot and only Connie called. The turn was another K!! and Connie immediately pushed. Well it was an auto-call for me and unluckily for Connie he had a smaller house with pocket 3s. I don't think I'm barred from the club yet.
From there things were pretty unremarkable. I was up and down and as the numbers dwindled as usual I found myself nursing a short stack. I eventually pushed with pocket 66 and got called by AK. Out comes the flop AAx. As the dealer prepared to deal the turn I shouted out "6!" and lo and behold a beautiful 6 appeared. So down to 8 lives but still in the tournament. Soon we were down to 2 tables and not long after down to 11 and this is when the biggest grind I have ever played started.
It seemed to take ages and ages for anyone to go out. Our table had 5 players including the chip leader and it was incredibly difficult to get moves through. Somehow I managed to keep my stack alive with the odd raise or push and survived to the final table. I felt as if I could finally exhale after the draining experience of the short handed slog fest. Some experience and I think I learned alot from it.
So down to 9 players, 11 hours of poker played and money for everyone once we agreed to take some cash off the top and give €600 to 9th. I was the obvious short stack and while I was happy to make the money I fancied at least 1k for my trouble which meant I had to survive 1 player at least. I didn't rate my chances much because most stacks at the table were more than double mine but luck was on my side still when 2 players, one with AK and the other with TT clashed and the TT stood up to eliminate big slick and boost my winnings. I managed to outlast one more player until finally we agreed to play the last hand of the night and come back the next day. I was UTG with KJo and considered a few things. First it was 2 more places before the winnings increased and second I wasn't keen on coming back the next day unless I had a decent stack that would make it worthwhile because it would likely mean missing the train home. So to make the story short I pushed, got 2 callers (fine by me), hit a gutshot straight on the flop, didn't hit it by the river and a flush took the pot.
I was out but pleased. A decent profit for the weekend and good fun too. Once again much praise must go to Connie and his staff for a great weekend yet again and I have no doubt I will be back again.
Posted in
Reports,
0 comments
on
Friday October 20, 2006
Last weekend we (large bunch of disreputable Dublins dwellers) travelled down to Kilarney for the Cue Club's Team Event. This was a NLH tournament with teams of 3 and a €150+€20 buy-in and was a great excuse to get out of the big smoke for a day or two.
The train journey was the real beginning of the fun as 9 of us decided to have a €20 Sit and Go to pass the time. We had plenty of room having upgraded to first class. You gotta love small fry poker players paying a few quid extra to feel like high rollers on an Irish train. Anyway this game was crazy to say the least. As we finally pulled into Kilarney station there was €780 in the pot and 4 of us left. We made straight to the Cue Club, to hell with the Hotel we had a game to finish, and with 3 of us left and me on the shortstack I gratefully accepted €120 to let the remaining 2, Dave Masters and Tom Murphy, split the rest. Believe me it was a good deal as when I say shortstacked I mean a stack that is barely visible to the naked eye so it was a good deal for me.
So after checking in and getting some food I duly met up with "The Chopper", our third member of the team along with myself and Niall O'Callaghan. I hadn't met Ricky (his real name) before so it was nice to put a face to a name and I'm sure it was equally important for him to put my face to my name because I still owe him a tenner (I'm good for it). So the tournament began.
A word about the Cue Club before I go on. This is a snooker club that has had room made for poker tables. There is plenty of room for 90 players and perhaps more. The setup is great with anything from a cuppa, a snack or a beer available. The atmosphere is relaxed and the locals seem like a great bunch. The tournaments are run to a very high standard and with a great attitude by Connie the Club's main man. The structure for the team event was excellent with plenty of play and it kicked off at a reasonable time which meant you were less likely to be facing the morning sun if you went deep in the event. I can't say I have been to every card club/casino in the country but the Cue Club takes a lot of beating.
As to the event itself I played decent poker which pleased me (my tournament game has been a mixed bag of late) and God knows I need some boosting in the confidence department when it comes to poker. I made some reasonable moves and didn't just stick to basic tight strategy. Unfortunately for me I ran some big hands into even bigger ones. I ran JJ into AA, QQ into AA and later JJ into QQ. Each time I made a call on the end to a big re-raise when I knew I was beaten. It reminds me of that theory that we often put an opponent on the hand we hope they have so as to justify a call when your poker experience and your brain know you're beaten. Oh well live and learn. Despite this I hung on until we had less than 30 left and finally pushed shortstacked with 33 only to be called by 77 which held up. As it turned out someone else at the table had folded 33 too so I was doomed right from the start.
From there the only option was to wish those remaining good luck, exchange some words with the other guys who had moved on to the cash games and make full speed for the bar where eventually we all ended up, losing money at pool and taking full advantage of the residents bar. I finally headed into the night leaving some dodgy looking lads in the lobby playing what began as a sit and go and had ended up a "chase the gutshot" rally. All in all good fun.
When the dust settled the next morning only myself and Tom remained. Everyone else had scarpered back to the Capital. I had decided to the play the €150 freezout and hang around for another day. Things went a bit better for me in this one. Early on I made some chips when my 22 improved to a set on the flop. My turn push though forced my opponent with AA to let it go. A great fold from him and another reminder of the standard here. As usual for me I was playing hang on for dear life as we approached the final table and sadly with only 5 paid I went out in 7th happy with my play in general but dissappointed to lose out in the end.
If you ever have an opportunity to travel to Kilarney for a game of poker then I highly recommend it. Thanks again to Connie and the folks at the Cue Club for a great weekend.
Posted in
Reports,
0 comments
on
Tuesday September 5, 2006
A few months before I was due to head for Vegas I signed up to play in the IPC event. I am from Kildare but was reliably informed it was a closed shop so I offered to play for Laois, the home County of my Mother. I was duly accepted and added it to my sparse poker calendar. It was only afterwards that I learned it would cost me the princely sum of €560 to play the event. I've never paid anything like this to play in an event because I am basically still small fry when it comes to poker but I decided what the hell and 2 weeks after Vegas I went along to Citywest to take part.
This event was very much a whos who of poker with every county represented by 10 players. Each team would get 500 points and as players were eliminated they would have points deducted from this score. Obviously the amount deducted would be larger the earlier you were eliminated. The Laois team was pretty strong with some good Fitz regulars including Rob Taylor fresh from his WSOP cash. When the event was about to start we had a hurdle to overcome before a card was dealt. We were 2 players short and some other teams were also short. The total amount of players missing from the event was 10 so the decision was taken to eliminate a team and disperse those players onto other teams. As a team who was short we went into the hat for elimination. Thankfully we survived and Offaly were the unlucky bunch chosen to be dispersed. Even more luckily the Offaly captain, Rory Liffey, chose to join our team and we felt very confident of a result.
Shortly after we took our seats. My table featured Nicky Power of Waterford and Padraig Parkinson playing for Dublin. Padraig in particular was a raising machine early on and built up a large stack very quickly which just encouraged even more raising, almost every hand. I was playing possibly the tighest game I have ever played (which is saying something) with the team foremost on my mind. Before the dinner break I managed to win 1 single hand and was 1k above the starting stack of 10k. With such large stacks I wanted to limp from time to time but it was nigh on impossible with Padraig raising every pot so I needed to find a hand and the search yielded nothing after the break so my stack just started to pathetically dwindle and eventually I made a stand with A10 on the button (miraculous that nobody else had raised before the button) and was called by none other than a Kildare man on my left with AQ. Was my home county going to be responsible for my elimination? Thankfully not. I hit a 10 on the flop and another on the turn and took the pot from a rather annoyed lilywhite.
This gave me a short reprieve and with about 30 minutes left of play I was forced to make another stand, this time with AJo under the gun. I was at the "any 2 cards" stage so this was pure gold to me. Unfortunately the big blind who was also short had an easy call with AK. So much for gold. No help for me and I am out. I had really hoped to make the second day but it wasn't to be. To console myself I decided to play a €100 sit and go and almost like a release I played a loose game and miraculously won it with ease. This was a nice win of €600. More or less even for the day and I no longer had to mope about the large buy-in I had payed to play the main event. Everything after this would be a bonus. I had a room booked in the hotel and headed for bed. Tomorrow I would support the team's remaining players for a while and then head home.
The next day I checked out and went up to the event to begin supporting our remaining players. I planned to leave at 6 p.m. at the latest and be home in time to relax and watch the Premiership. I had no idea that this was the beginning of a very long day and I had no chance of getting out of citywest as early as 6 p.m. As the day went on it looked more and more like we might make some money. The event payed the top 3 teams as well as individual prize money and we had agreed that if anyone won individual prize money they would give the team 5% of it. As time went by it looked like Rory Liffey had a very good chance of making the final table. Our captain Andy Dunne, Brian Murphy and Rob Taylor had fared very well and our points total had not suffered too badly. We hovered around between 3rd/4th/5th and some of the lads were recalculating our chances every minute wheras I was just hitting the bar for a pint on a regular basis.
With 2 tables left Rory was our only remaining player. Our best chance was for him to get to the final table and then a hand that I will remember for some time. Rory raised to 40k approx. and Eoin Ollin re-raised all-in for another 40k. Rory thought for a while and eventually called with 67o. In my opinion it was a call he had to make regardless of his hand. In any case he was up against Eoin's AQ. The flop was impossible to see from where I was standing but there were loud cheers and apparently the AQ had hit a KJT flop so it looked done and dusted. However as the rest of the cards were dealt out I saw Rory pointing to his 6c and there was another huge roar. He had hit a miracle flush on the river. It was the last of a long line of bad beats for Eoin and while I sympathised with him I couldn't feel anything but delighted that Rory had just increased his chances of a final table place and sure enough he got there shortly afterwards.
Once the final table began our Stattos were on overtime. Rory was knocked out in 8th if memory serves after making a move with rags and we pocketed €65 for our troubles. Now everything depended on the performances of players from other teams. We had a chance of 3rd and an outside chance of 2nd if things went our way. When it was down to 4 we needed the only remaining Kildare man to go out next. Here was Kildare back to haunt me yet again but as if to order he went out next. Now with 3 left we were guaranteed 3rd at least. We needed the Leitrim man of the remaining 3 to win it outright and we would share 2nd with Tyrone. It was unlikely with Dave O'Callaghan a massive chip leader and when it was down to 2, Dave and the Leitrim man, it looked over and done with. I popped out for a cigarette and when I came back the lads informed me that we were about to make joint 2nd. Amazingly Dave had suffered some bad beats and only had a few chips left. It seemed the poker Gods had decided to smile on us and on the next hand Dave was beaten and we had made a nice €2300 each. Not bad for a day of playing and a day of watching.
Congrats to Leitrim on their win of the team event and I look forward to taking part again next year hopefully faring better for my team the next time. As you can tell this post has nothing to do with Vegas so as soon as I get a chance I'll be renaming the blog and will make it my permanent poker blog from now on.
Posted in
Reports,
0 comments
on
Wednesday August 9, 2006
I have 2 full days left before leaving Vegas and things are already feeling quieter. All of the Irish are gone from the main event now so we have nobody to shout for. We had a good night out to celebrate the various successes as well as Ken Powells birthday and now the journey home becomes foremost in minds. I'm still playing poker though.
I lost $300 in the mgm game the other night. Frankly it was a terrible table but I went tilty when I hit 2 pair on the turn in a hand but didn't have the gonads to call some guys all-in. He showed AA which I had beat and I was berating myself about for ages after. In any case I finally pushed all-in on the turn of a hand with top pair. My caller was reluctant and he said he needed help. The river was the help he needed giving him a straight. So that may well be my last game in the mgm.
Last night I tried the Ballys game and managed to turn my $200 in $300. It wasn't a great game either but my big hand was when I raised with AK, 2 callers, bet out the AQx flop, both callers called and then pushed the turn. Again both called and I was sure I was sunk but when I turned over my AK after the river both mucked. Happy days and tripled up. Overall though I think late night poker here is not as good as afternoon early evening because the tourists are gone to bed.
So with only 2 days left to get some more play in my profit/loss is well in the negative:-
Poker: -$285
Pool: -$60
WSOP table game: -$315
So down $660.
I'll use the rest of my budget over the next couple of days and either ease the pain on that loss or just end up losing more. I've had a great time here so either way it was fun.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
2 comments
on
Sunday August 6, 2006
On friday I watched Rob Taylor make the money in the WSOP. It was a great moment for Rob and the other Irish that made it. I got some nice pics too. I found out afterwards that Joe O'Neill had suffered a brutal beat at the end, losing with a set of Aces to quads but still made the money. After the buzz from cashing in the main event died down I played a sit and go for Saturdays WSOP event for a $175 buy-in. The standard was pretty poor but it quickly became a crapshoot when pushing and getting called by the fish at the table who had routinely called almost all the all-ins from anyone and hit every time. This time he had a hand though, TT, and I had zip.
After that the only thing to do was have a few drinks with the Irish and after that why not lose even more money on the World Series table game. Yes indeed they have come up with a table game where you play holdem against the dealer. I managed to lose $275 before I realised this was a bad idea and called it a night.
Yesterday (saturday) was a quiet day of rest so this is a short report.
Poker: -$85
Pool: -$60
WSOP table game: -$275
So down $420.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
0 comments
on
Thursday August 3, 2006
You've heard that one about not knowing what time it is in Vegas. It's true and especially apparent at 8.30 a.m. as the desert sun burns your bleary eyes. I spent Tuesday in bed after a couple of nights drinking and yesterday (wednesday) finally felt human again.
On Sunday we went to the Voodoo Lounge which is on the roof of the Rio. You get a great view of Vegas from on high while all around the beautiful people are dancing to the latest crappy dance music. Well worth a visit though.
On monday I checked in on the last first day of the wsop to see how the irish were faring. Then more drinking long into the night and that brush with the morning sun. The one that prompts those "never again" claims.
Tuesday was just a day in bed recovering. I managed to miss the first of the wsop second days but the good news after wednesday was that we still have alot of our best players fighting to go all the way as tomorrow (friday) approaches. Last night after watching Ollie Boyce cruising I headed back to the Trop for some much needed poker. I think I need to play more poker and drink less.
Anyway a few hours of play before bed and I managed to turn $200 into $325. Some very drunk players helped and if it wasn't so late I might have stayed and tried to win more but once the worst and momst drunk player left I decided to call it a night.
So we have a break in play today (thursday) at the wsop and I am taking it easy. I'll probably hit the tables again later and try and get down to the Rio early tomorrow to cheer the lads into the money. At some point tomorrow once 300 or so players are eliminated they will be in the money and the lads can expect some return on their hard work. There is a strong feeling here that someone if not more than one can go deep here so fingers crossed.
I'm finally in the black for poker: +$95
but in the red for pool: -$50
Next week there will be one more WSOP event, a $1500 tourney if memory serves. I plan to try to qualify to play it. It would be nice to take part in a wsop event before returning home.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
3 comments
on
Saturday July 29, 2006
On friday I moved down to the Trop. It's a better hotel then the Imperial Palace with on glaring weakness. No wirelesss in my room. I arrived early and had to wait 3 hours to get my room. To fill the time you guessed it I sat into a 1-2 NLH game in their card room. By the time I went to collect my room key had more then doubled my money to $440.
Later that evening myself and Conor headed out to the Rio to see what we could. It was day one and even with so many players there seemed to be more spectators. I ran into Tom and got the lowdown on current Irish chip counts. Then we went wandering to see who we could spot. While looking at Andy Black we spotted RobinLacey right in front of us and decided to give him some support. He was over his original chip count and doing well. When we left him he was on about 23k and I later found out he finished the day on 63k so it went very well for him.
We also spectated Joe O'Neill for a while, a dangerous proposition if ever there was one. He was singing and chatting to all the players at his table including Kirsty Gazes. He even shouted at us more than once. Nothing like the Joe Show.
Yesterday (saturday) I sat at the Trop game again and finished only $75 up but so far so good in the poker. Alot of it was down to a hand very badly played by me. I limped with AT in mid position. A player in late position raised it up to 12 and I called (first bad play). The flop had an Ace on it and I checked. He bet out. I was pretty sure he an Ace with a better kicker but I decided to check call him down on the offchance he has a smaller pair (second bad decision). He bet the turn and the river brought a T. Even though my bad play had been rewarded I then foolishly checked to him again and he smartly checked. He was less than pleased to see my hand. While at the table another Irish guy sat down. He was on his honeymoon so he had to be the first Irishman I have met here who was not in Vegas for the World Series bar my mate Conor.
Later that evening we decided to get a bus downtown to see the freemount st. and the experience not to mention Binions. Getting the bus was a bad idea. We didn't get down there until after midnight and the experience show was well over. We had a beer in Binions after looking at the wall of champions and headed home for the night.
Profit/Loss Update: $-30 (improving)
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
2 comments
on
Thursday July 27, 2006
Grand Canyon on Wednesday was amazing. Really something to behold but this being a poker blog I won't bore you with any more details. Just pay it a visit if you ever get here. Thursday I headed straight to the Rio to register for the Media/Celeb charity tourney and then sought out a satelite. I ended up sitting at $175 sit and go. Winning it would be enough to pay into the $1000 mega sat. A fairly uneventful game saw me out in 4th and off to get my seat for the Media event. I joined Mike and Tom for the Press Conference which we were obliged to sit through before getting our seat assignments. A bit of corporate guff and then TJ Cloutier and Billy Baxter were indcuted into the Hall of Fame. Then Joe Hachem came up and all 3 players did a short Q & A. Doyle Brunson came to watch as did Jennifer Harman so my star spotting continued.
Then it was on to the Media event after a quick beer in the Tiled Kilt with the Irish bunch that were already there. The media event had some interesting Celebs. Ron Jeremy (who Mike knocked out), James Garner (of the Rockford files) who was sat on Tom's right and Cindy Margolis (porn star apparently) who knocked out Mike. Also there were Penn (of Penn and Teller), The bird from Prison Break whose name escapes me (not the prison doctor), Neil Patrick Harris (remember the Breakfast Club?) and of course Phil Laaks bit of stuff. The Announcer kept introducing these celebs and I got a laugh when he announced Brian McFadden (an Irish Singer). Everyone at my table asked aloud who he was. I think they are better off not knowing.
Anyway I sat at a table with no celebs which was dissapointing until, oh yes, the lovely Shanon Elizabeth was moved to our table. My Harrington M was about 5 but I stalled on the push while I took in the wonderful view. I finally pushed with xx because I had too and survived. Unfortunately the table was broken up and on my new table I had to push shortly afterwards with AJ which was convincingly beaten by 92 (2 on the turn) and that was that. I went in search of a cheap satelite while the others sat down for the $1000 mega sat. There were no affordable sats. on offer so I left and made for the Paris which now comes highly recommended by the Irish contingent. 4 and a half hours later I am 10 dollars up and heading for bed. So good night all.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
1 comment
on
Tuesday July 25, 2006
Not much to report for today. I went down to the Rio to play a satelite only to discover that the $225 tourney was a rebuy so I decided to skip it and head to the MGM for some more cash gaming. Before I left I did a little star spotting yet again. I watched Phil Helmuth strutting around as the final table of the $1000 rebuy began, spotted Steve Danenman (or however you spell it), Willie Tann, Tony Bloom amongst others playing in the $1500 NLH. Then on the way out the best of all, the lovely Shannon Elizabeth.
I got to the MGM and grabbed a players card. I like this card room so I thought I might as well get some points or whatever bonus might accrue. Anyway I sat down at a 1-2 NL game again and the table was pretty good. I went up and down for a while but the table just seemed to get better as time went by and the donkey quotient increased. I ended up cashing for $350, $150 up. Modest in comparrison to some of my fellow Irish high rollers but I'm happy.
Couple of hands come to mind, one where I busted 2 players when I hit 2 pair on the flop and called both their all-ins. I was ahead but back-doored a flush for good measure. The other was a good fold. I raised with pocket Js, another player re-raised and the very next pushed!! I threw my jacks away and the other guy called the all-in. It was KK v QQ. I told some of the plyers near me I had thrown away Jacks and one guy jokingly said there would be a J on the flop and sure enough the flop came 44J but a K on the turn was good to see. It was a good fold either way.
Well tomorrow it's the Grand Canyon just so I can go home with tales of some sight-seeing besides poker hands to the family.
Profit/Loss to date: $-180
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
4 comments
on
Monday July 24, 2006
It's Tuesday morning and I thought I'd report on yesterdays activities. I headed over to Ceasers at noon to try their tourney which is one of the most recommended in Vegas. It's got a great structure with 1500 chips for your $80 buy-in and another 3000 chips for a $50 rebuy. Needless to say everyone rebuys immediately and it plays like a freezout with 4500 chips. With 40 minute blinds it's got plenty of room for some play.
I played my usual boring tight game and took a few pots. I took a pot with AK at one stage when I flat called a guys raise pre-flop. I had seen him raise with some average hands so I probably could/should have re-raised him pre-flop. In any case a K on the flop was a good result. He bet out and I min-raised him which he called. He check-folded to my bet and I had myy fist half decent pot.
At the break I ran to the food court to get some food in because I had missed breakfast. I got back a bit late for the restart but I think it was worth it. My stack was more or less the same as the starting stack so I had to make some moves.
First up I raised with Ad6d in the cutoff and the button pushed. This was ok because he was a shortstack. I was happy enough to take him on but his pocket 9s stood up. I was now in the danger zone so a couple of hands later the player utg raised and when it came around to me I pushed. I can't even remember what I had. I knew that his raise was nothing serious utg or not and sure enough he passed. I was still pretty low though.
A few hands later a couple of players limped including the guy on my right who was very short stacked. I looked down to see KQ and pushed. Everyone folded but the shorty which was fine with me. He had A9 and when a Q came on the flop things were looking good. That is until the A on the turn. Oh well. I was now down to 500 in chips with the blinds at 200-400 and a 50 ante.
So the very next hand I see KJ. Didn't matter really because I had to throw the 500 in. 2 players called it and I was optimistic when a J hit the flop but the other 2 players kept betting and in the end one of them knocked both of us out with a str8. So no joy there but a good tournament and one I will play again.
Later that evening it was time to pay a visit to the Rio. I planned to play one of their sats for the main event but some food and a beer in the Tilted Kilt bar with Tom soon put paid to that. So we just went player spotting for a while. I saw John Juanda and Ted Forest playing the 7-card stud, Chris Jesus Ferguson posing for a pic and then decided to return to the bar. On the way back we ran into HectorJelly, RobinLacey and their friend John. Both Robin and John are playing the $1500 NLH today so I plan to head down there now and give them some support before trying my luck at that sat I missed out on last night.
Profit/Loss so far: $-330
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
0 comments
on
Sunday July 23, 2006
My second full day here is coming to an end and I've managed to pack in alot. On the night I arrived myself and Conor headed over to the RIO to check out the World Series Arena. On the way in we ran into Tom (Devore) who led us the rest of the way. All I can say is wow. 100 tables in an absolutely huge room. Amazing. We headed out back to the Miller tent, had a few beers and called it a night.
The next morning I decided to go for a stroll and check out the Venetian. A word that becomes all too common around here is appropriate yet again. Wow. A recreation of Venice complete with false sky, canals with Gondolas and so on. What a place.
After lunch I walked down to the Monte Carlo where Conor was staying. As I passed the Belagio the fountain show began. It's that word again. Every step is another incredible sight. This really is a different world. From the Monte Carlo we headed over to the MGM, had a look at the Lions basking in their enclosure with people milling around staring at them. Then it was on to the Monorail to take us back up the strip to do a bit of shopping for clothes seeing as I had cleverly not bother to bring any shorts or sandals. After the shopping it was rest time again.
Later that evening we ate in Ceasers Food Court while staring open-mouthed at the place just like every other. The patented false sky is here too as you wander through Rome winking at Cleopatra and the Centurions. From there we decided to settle for normality and a few Margueritas in Margueritaville of the Flamingo.
This morning with my head finally recovering from jetlag it was time to finally play some cards. I checked in the card room downstairs but there was a waiting list of 5 for the 1-2 Nl so I decided to keep going and check out the famous Belagio card room. This room was big but full so yet again I had to keep going and decided to try the MGM. Situated between the Lions area and a loud bar it's an interesting setting and here is where I eventually sat down for a game with luckily no wait at all.
I bought in for the max. of $200 and the plan was a tight game until I knew where I was. On my second hand I got the bullets and a small pay off which helped my confidence but it didn't last long. That old cliche of having a bad run of cards. I got AK twice and took the blinds, pockets 10s once and limped only to have to pass to a bet with 2 overcards and so on. Gradually the game went from pretty tight to pretty loose with 3 or 4 agressive players raising constantly. I wasn't enjoying it much by then and was planning on finishing soon. I had about $100 left when I got KK, raised to $10, 2 callers. I had position and when both players check the raggy flop I thre out a bet of $25. The first guy folds and the next pauses for a second and says all-in. Heres where 9 times out of 10 I would be good enough to fold with a little thought but I was restless, not enjoying the game and knew I was meeting Conor for some food shortly so I called.
Sure enough he had pockets 4s to match the 4 on the board and my first $200 spent on poker was gone. So not the best of beginnings but it's early days yet. Tomorrow I think I might try a tournament. Either the Ceasers noon tourney which seems to be consided the best structure for a relatively low buy-in ($125) or maybe even the $50+$5 here in the Imperial Palace just to take it easy. I'm deffinately out of practice in live play and it might be wise to play something for low stakes until I'm confident in my game. Anyway thats that for another post. I'll copy Oscars blog and keep a running tally of my profit/losses.
Poker - $-200
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
0 comments
on
Friday July 21, 2006
I'm sitting in my room in the Imperial Palace finally after a days travelling. I met Tom briefly this morning before we went our seperate ways and flights. Once I got passed the security (which seems worse every time) and the inevitable delays I was in the air. I went via Chicago with American Airlines and all I will say is I recommend AA but not the staff of Chicago O'Hare.
Anyway I'm half asleep as I type but I want to summon the strength to have a wander before I turn in. I may hit the Rio just to see what we're all here for or I may leave it until tomorrow. The heat is like an infernal blast the minute go outside so I have my balcony door closed and the air conditioning on full.
It's amazing to be here and see the strip. The taxi driver gave a running commentary as he drove me here and I obliged with the tip he was obviously after. I'm using the wirless here in the hotel to get netted and the best option just seemed to be $50 for a week seeing as I could be online often enough.
Anyway I won't bore you with anymore ordinary goings on. The next report should have some kind of poker/monetary details to it as by tomorrow at the latest I intend sitting at some kind of poker table.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
4 comments
on
Thursday July 20, 2006
As I write Padraig Parkinson is in the last 4 of the $1500 NLH event at the wsop. If he can win it he will be the first Irishman in years to win a bracelet. Whatever happens less than 24 hours later I will be there myself to play, drink, cheer and whatever else is on the menu. I can't wait.
My budget is modest but over the next 3 weeks I'll give you some impressions of the place, the experience, the faces and my fortunes. I hope to see the Grand Canyon somewhere in between all of this and when I do actually return to my hotel room I'll post here.
A huge Irish contingent will be there to partake and party and many of them will be playing in the big one. Whether I play it remains to be seen but either way I'll be cheering the lads on from rails. So if you are going see you there. If you are staying it's simply wish you were here.
Posted in
Vegas Trip 2006,
4 comments