No-Limitarded.
Don't play bad like I do.
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Due to a continued lack of limit
poker and my desire to investigate the goodness of the no-limit games, I found myself playing about 15 hours of 5-10NL at the Wynn Sunday and Monday. That session came to a crashing halt when I made a huge mistake and blew off my whole stack. So, let it hereby be known that any poker nicknames I may have held before today are void and shall be replaced with, "Donk."
It went down like this. I open raise A K from the cutoff in a 7 handed 5-10 game that just recently started to $40. I get re-raised to $240 by a player in the SB who literally had $30k in front of him. I read this play as weak and decided that I was going to take the pot down right there and re-raised to $700. So far, so good. He called. Uh-oh. Most likely hand? QQ.
Here comes the flop. Ace. King. Please. Either one. No Queen.
K 5 3 .
Excellent. Top pair, top kicker - no flush draw, but he doesn't have a flush yet. I don't want him to draw to it either.
"All-in." I bet the rest of my stack, right around $2340 into a $1410 pot.
"Call," he said.
Shit.
At this point I'm just hoping that he has AA and not KK so I have a couple of outs, but he rolls over K K . I personally was rooting for the running diamonds, but I wasn't so fortunate.
Anyways, here's how to not be a donk like I was a donk. If you are ever in that situation and don't want him to draw to the flush, make it mathematically incorrect for him to not draw. If he in fact had QQ with the Q , he's still not calling a $1k bet. And if I am in fact beat, I can fold for the additional $1300 rather than putting it all in the pot and hoping I am not beat. So, it was an unfortunate hand that was pretty much guaranteed to cost me $1700, but my own bad play cost me $1300. That's the part that pisses me off the most.
So yesterday I took off. It's crunch time for the Wynn freeroll, but I was pretty disheartened by blowing $3k in ninety seconds. Tiffany and I wandered around the forum shops for a while. We ended up playing air hockey, and she kicked my ass again. It's quite fun being competitive and talking smack with a girl that can dish it out, take it, and play hard all at the same time. It's not fun getting my ass kicked every time though! From there we headed to Little Buddah for some Sushi at the Palms and then headed upstairs to the Ghost bar. I love the view that never gets old from that place. Aparrantly there was some sex/contraceptive convention party something at Rain that night and a bunch of them had wandered upstairs to the Ghost Bar. Two different guys told Tiffany about this great new contraceptive that they or represent or whatever. I was quite amused.
Guy in Vegas: "Hi. May I buy you a drink?"
Cute girl he's hitting on: "Sure."
Guy in Vegas: "You really should check out the new type of contraceptive that I represent. It's great."
Kinda how the conversation went. Anyway, Mike from Florida, who's birthday was yesterday, wins quote of the day with, "I get paid to say vagina all day."
Rest with that as you sleep this evening. LOL.
Peace and don't play bad,
Devo
Poker and the Anticlimatic Heads-Up Death Match
Yay! I didn't get crushed!
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I hit the
poker tables decently in the past couple of days. On Friday I played a good session of 30-60 at the Wynn. I was up for most of the session, lost a bunch at the end, and ended up winning $171. However, I promptly lost $160 online when I got home.
Today, Saturday, was a fabulious day. It was game day! USC at Arizona today. They won 20-3 which is great, but aparrantly Pete Carroll was not aware of the spread and was pretty passive. So I lost my huge $55 bet on that game. After we watched the game we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings (B Dubs) to watch the rest of the Ultimate Fight this evening. Good times. And from there we headed into the Wynn for some more poker.
When I got there there was no 30-60 game, so I was on the list for that game and the 15-30 game. I sat in the 10-20 with a 1/2 kill Omaha8 game and promptly lost $100 playing hardly any hands until I heard a bad player two seats to my right talking about how there was no 30 game on the phone. I asked him if he wanted to play heads up, he said yes, and we started a game.
Long story short. The game lasted somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes. About eight minutes into the game Kenny, another local pro, sat in the game. When I returned from the restroom the guy was gone, Kenny was up $600, and I was up $1200. Wow. I hit some hands, but the guy just played really bad. So, since Kenny and I did not feel like playing heads up we started a $10/point game of Chinese. That turned into a 4 hour endeavor of goofy Chinese poker professional gamblers gambling game. We had a blast, and when all was said and done I ended the night up $891.
As a fun side note, I put my name on the $4000-$8000 list. For some strange reason the game never started because it was a few dealers and floor people who thought it would be fun to have that game up on the list. But, I did officially have my name on a $4k-$8k list!
Lastly, quote of the day. Jared won this one with, "There's a mouse loose in the house!" While preparing to feed the snake, Jared grabbed the mouse by the tail and looked it at. Then Zena, our pet Chihuahua walked up to us and wondered what we were up to. Jared decided to give the mouse to the dog. They looked at eacher for a few moments, then the mouse took off in a flash with the dog behind it, and the mouse vanished under the couch.
We shortly thereafter caught the mouse and fed it to the snake. Happy ending.
Peace and good luck!
Devo
maverickusc@gmail.com
Another Vacation from Poker
I really really really want to get back on the tables.
To be successful at
poker, just like anything in life, you need to be very intentional about getting yourself time off. Burnout is one of the easiest ways for a professional gambler to go broke. You must be 100% to beat the game consistently, and to remain 100% rest and time off are essential keys.
All of the above is true, but it really is simply a justification for the most recent road trip I have been on! Sometimes I enjoy the freedom of my profession a little too much…
My friend Tiffany and I (see previous post - getting kicked out of the Flamingo) decided to partake in some random acts of spontaneity and get out of Dodge. She was off until tonight, and I, well, was off too. We ended up driving 4.5 hours to the sleepy little town of Kernville, CA, nestled on the shores of Lake Isabella in the Southern Sierra Nevadas. Kernville is a very small town, boasting a population somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 and zero traffic lights. On the main street through town are a handful of shops, restaurants, and bars, and like many cute small town downtown districts, the economy relies on the tourism industry. People are drawn to this town for the lake, the Upper Kern river, the boundless camping and outdoors opportunities just up the canyon on the river’s bank, and the Sequoia trees slightly farther up canyon. I have spent at least a few days in Kernville every summer since 2001, and spent most of the summer there last year as a whitewater rafting guide on the Upper and Lower Kern rivers. There however is just something special about this town in particular, something that cannot be expressed unless you breathe in the air, walk the streets, have a beer at the Hut, and watch fish swim in the bubbling river. It is simply a rejuvenating place.
Yesterday after we returned from hanging out with Giant Sequoias we made our way to Whitewater Voyages’ base camp in Kernville where I met my buddy Tracy Vietta. I have known Tracy since guide school in 01 where he was an instructor, and we worked together on the Kern last year. Last summer he had his first kid, a daughter named Coral. Watching him walk through that experience and hearing the love in his voice as he talked about her was one of the sweetest parts of last summer. After a year of being a father that love has only grown, and it truly was a pleasure so listen to him tell stories on his daughter. That love he has for her is so extraordinary, so beautiful, and it just makes me want to be a father even more. Tracy also wins quote of the day in this, “No way man. She’s going to be a professional surfer.” - Tracy on his daughter’s professional career.
From there Tiffany and I wandered over to The Sportsmen Inn, one of three dive bars in town. One of my favorite parts of this trip was the lack of vehicle usage. The only time we drove anywhere was when we went an hour up canyon to hike. Anyways, it was great chatting with the locals, telling river stories, talking about this past season, and just good ol’ gabbin and gossip. From there Tiffany and I launched into a game of darts, and she KICKED MY ASS. Bad. Real bad. Like, I haven’t lost a game in months, and she smoked me. It had to be a fluke, so we played again, and I beat her ass, but couldn’t finish, and she won again. Then she won again. Then I decided we needed to play 501, and she won again. Four times out of four I got smoked at darts, MY GAME, by a hot thirty year-old blonde cocktail waitress at the Venetian. However, for all of you out there that do not read this blog, you are screwed! She is going to be the best hustle ever. “$500 even money she beats you Dutch. Bet!”
So, this was a very good mini vacation. I was isolated from e-mail, cell phones, and poker for three days and two nights, and it was very refreshing. I’m pretty fired up to put in a good session at the Wynn tonight. Hopefully I don’t get crushed and kill all this new enthusiasm. It’s going to get very busy within a couple of weeks with Festa al Lago at the Bellagio followed immediately by the Fall Classic at Canterbury Park in Minnesota for me for the 2nd half of October. Will I be seeing any of y’all there?
Peace and good luck,
Devo
maverickusc@gmail.com
A Great Couple Days of Poker
TV Time, Heads up death match, and I got kicked out of a 2-4 game!
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It has been a phenomenal couple of nights in
poker for several reasons. I've made a bunch of money, I stole the show in a reality poker show, and I busted a guy heads up in 40-80, and I got kicked out of a 2-4 game without breaking a single rule and without being drunk.
We will start with last night. I headed down to the strip around 7pm and made my usual phone calls. I prefer to play at the Venetian and called there first and found out that they had just called down a 40-80 game. Sweet! I got there at 7:30, headed straight to table eleven, and saw a dead spread. :Sigh:. OK, plan B. I walked across the street to the Wynn where there was rumors of a 30-60 game starting up. I sat, ordered food, they called down the list, and NOBODY showed up. I couldn't even try to talk somebody into playing heads up. So, I sat in a 5-10 NL shorthanded game that was very good, and then my phone rang.
It was Rich at the Venetian. He informed me of a "game that I had to be in." 2-5 NL. What? Why? Aparrantly there was a kid trying to make it as a professional poker player and they were filming a reality TV show on it. Sweet! Sounds fun. TV time and the chance to bust some hot shot rookie. I even thought maybe the production company was backing him and would roll him in a big heads up match or something. Crush him at 100-200? Sweet!
So I hustle back to the Venetian and learn that Fox is filming the production and "the hot shot rookie" is Boston Rob of Survivor fame. Oh. Whoops. Well, at least there will be more publicity and coverage with this one.
I busted him within thirty minutes.
I had the Kd Ts and raised to $20 in middle position after Rob limped UTG. Two players called behind as did the big blind. The flop came Kc Td 5d and Rob bet $50 into me and the field. Now, what instantly went through my mind was that he had a one pair or drawing hand. I also figured that I could goad him into making a mistake, since this was his show and I am sure he was eager to make a big hit quick. I popped it to $170. Everybody folded behind, and he thought for about 30-45 seconds as he shuffled the $120 more in chips. He then said, "I'm all in." I called instantly and turned over my hand. The only thing I was concerned about was 55, but I was pretty confident that he would not have played a set that way. He rolled over the Ad 6d , no funny business happened, and I took down the over $2k pot.
The rest was pretty much history from there. I have been known to be animated and talkitive at a poker table. Between that hand, my earlier antics, and Rich telling the director some of who I was, I had cameras on me more than Rob. LOL. I had another huge hand where we got it all in pre-flop with me holding AA and two other players having JJ and QQ. I played it up perfectly, calling the cameras over to "sweat", and really made it look like I had a hand that wasn't AA but still pretty strong. So, 2.5 hours of 2-5 NL and I made $2141 plus getting plenty of smameless self-promotion TV time.
From there I decided to relax a little bit and played some 4-8 limit with Jared, Danny, and my new friend David. We had a good ol time and I somehow ended up breaking dead nuts even.
David I met the night before. I ended up in a 15-30 game at the Venetian which was very soft and met David through that game. Very cool cat. We played until around 2:30 down to three handed when David finally left. I was pretty stoked to see him go for two reasons: one, he was decent and the other guy was horrible. Two, the other guy wanted to bump up the stakes to 40-80 once we got heads up.
By the time we got all the chips colored up from nickels to dimes, I had ALL the chips. Thanks David! I ended up making $1206 net on that session.
After I ended that heads up death match I wandered down the strip to kill some time and find my drunk friends. Tiffany and I were planning on hanging out when she got off at 5 and it was around 3:30. I found Jared, Danny and Jackie at the Flamingo playing 2-4 and they were trashed. Just as I was about to sit down and donk off some chips, Tiffany called and said she got off an hour early. She said she wanted to hang out with us, so I wandered back to the Venetian. On my way out the door from the Flamingo I realized that I could not take a ten minute walk without a beer. And as I stepped up to the bar, I realized that I could not pay for a beer. I stuck $20 in the video poker machine to get a "free" beer. Two minutes later I hit my first ever royal flush! Woo hoo! So basically Tiffany getting off an hour early made me a thousand bucks. Sweet!
We made our way back to the Flamingo and laughed at our drunk friends. I then took Tiffany to one of my most favorite spots on the strip. It's the courtyard at the Flamingo between the hotel towers. It's an outdoor sanctuary complete with waterfalls and exotic birds, including pink flamingos. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was in fact open late at night. It's such a beautiful paradox on the center strip. Tiffany and I were immediately surrounded by pink flamingos, japanese koi, palm trees, and waterfalls. But a stones throw in any direction found slot machines and the timeless gamble of Las Vegas. It is such a neat place that is not advertised, nor are there any signs within the Flamingo pointing out this place. We spent some peaceful time there and headed back inside.
I finally sat in this 2-4 game. Now, the only reason for me to ever play a low limit game is to have a good time with my buddies. I don't take the game very seriously because the money is insignificant to me. Now, if you play 2-4, imagine if you were playing ten cent-twenty cent. That's kinda what it's like. It's a great way for me to blow off some poker steam and do everything I've ever wanted to do. It also helps me remember that I am playing a game for my living.
So, here are some of my antics. Laughing, lots. Telling people what my hand is, still getting paid off, and then laughing when I do. Raising blind. Three betting blind. Four betting blind. Straddling every opportunity. Looking at one card on the turn, then one card on the river. Playing with one card exposed. Playing with one card on my forehead. Requesting cards, getting there, tipping the dealer, and then betting - and then laughing when I get called. Usually I make the game a ton of fun. But sometimes the people in the game take it waaaaay too seriously and cannot realize that I am making the game very profitable and they go on insta-tilt. In this specific case, three people went on tilt, left the game, and complained to the floorperson. He came over and asked me to settle down in a very not get my attention way. About five minutes later I got dealt a card face-up by accident. I asked if I could keep the K in a joking manner, knowing what the answer would be. The dealer gave me a new card and I immediately turned it face up and giggled. At that point the floorperson kicked me out. I got booted! My three friends were drunk, and I got booted. I think that the floorperson handled it very poorly. I understand his reasoning in the sense that I was pissing off his regulars, but they all simply moved to the other table - and when I got booted it pissed off everybody in the game and it broke. He simply could have pulled me off to the side, let me know what was going on, and I would have settled down and probably left shortly. Now he gets bad press for the Flamingo poker room.
So, good couple of days, and it's nice to be winning again.
Peace and good luck!
Devo
maverickusc@gmail.com
PS - some of you might have noticed the grammatical errors in my blogs and some sloppy writing. I have made an intentional effort to never edit my blogs for the simple fact that I want to keep them as close to journal entries as I possibly can. I am hoping to give you all a glimpse into the mind and heart of a young professional poker player living in Las Vegas. I also want to start a dialogue within these blogs. I am going to start adding a link to my blogspot blog where I cross post all these blogs where commenting is available. The link is here, Campfire Stories.
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