The Game of My Life in Vegas Part 1

I have separated this blog in 2 parts. It is incredibly long. I left it this long because I really want to remember this tourney and all its details. My thoughts on everything especially. Part 1 is about getting to the final table.

As I head into the end of my third year playing poker, I feel like I have finally had my biggest win ever. The payout was not my largest. The field was not the biggest I have beaten but what made this game so great was that I beat a game I have never been able to beat. The game was a $150 buy-in of 100 players at The Venetian in Las Vegas. I have never been able to finish ahead of a bunch of random players that I did not know in a live game before.

For the last 2 months we have planned this Vegas trip and I have been saying that I was playing the noon tourney at the Venetian on Thursday. After getting a solid 3 hours sleep Jinny and I made the trip to the Venetian. Jinny had never been to Vegas before and I gave him the tour on our way. We had some great chats and Jinny has been a huge help to me as I try to get rid of my biggest leak which is an over aggression in big tourneys where I pick a spot to shove that I shouldn't.

This tourney has a great structure. 7500 in chips with 30 minute blinds. The best part of this tourney though is the addition of antes in the 4th level. It makes blind stealing the most important part of the game. I honestly felt that if I could build a stack in this tourney I could go very deep.

The other important thing about this tourney that made me so happy was I was card dead from the beginning of the tourney right until the end. I kept thinking to myself that I was going to go on a run of cards and I never did. Even at the final table, I battled for every pot.

Here are some interesting stats over a 9 hour tournament:

Pocket pairs - 4 (JJ, 66, 33 and 44)

Sets hit on flop with pp - 2

Full houses: 1

Flushes: 2

Straights: 2

River showdowns I lost when I bet the river: 0

River showdowns I lost when I called a river bet: 0

Times dealt AK: 4

Times a flop was seen with AK: 2

I also had another major problem in this tourney. Obviously I was raising a lot with garbage. I was never going to win a hand otherwise but I virtually never hit a flop. Never hit a weird draw with a well concealed hand. So how did I chop this thing? I'm still kind of shocked myself but here is my recount of my big hands:

Early on I was very card dead. My table was full of weak players but the guy to my right was a serious agro-maniac who said he won this tourney the day before. I couldn't figure out how this was possible. He was shoving into every raise with any ace. Funny enough he and another player had just moved to Vegas to play fulltime. I decided early on that I was going try to use the guys to build my stack and my plan came together very well.

I went pretty much the entire first level without playing a hand when "Vegas Pro 1" raised to 225 pre-flop and I called on the button with J9o. I thought he only raised to 150 because I thought a black chip was a green chip.

The flop came 568 with 2 hearts and we were heads up and he checked to me. Obviously an odd play as everyone c-bets on almost any flop, I took the free card and checked. The turn was a 7c and he came out firing 350. Again this is odd and I start wondering if he turned it with 9T. I wanted him to fire the river though and I didn't want to lose him so I just flatted. The river was Ts giving me the nuts. He quickly came out firing 1200. I really didn't think he had a 9. He genuinely looked worried. His look of discomfort got worse when I made it 3900 to go. He eventually mucked thinking I had A9. I showed him the nuts which was intentional to make everyone think when I bet I had it.

I stayed very quiet again playing almost no hands. In the meantime "Vegas Pro 2" went from 25k back to 10k, back to 20k and then back to 14k. This guy played 7 hours less poker than me but probably played more hands than me in the same tournament.

With the only PP I got in the first 6 hours I hit a set with 66 on a ThJh6x board. There was a large raise pre-flop. The original raiser checked and Vegas pro 1 bet 1200 (into 1200). I made it 3900 to go and the original raiser mucked and Vegas Pro 1 showed 88 and said he forgot I was in the hand. I showed him one 6.

My next big hand came in the 4th level. I had around 11k when the hand started. The blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante. We were playing 8 handed. The BB had only 800 behind her. I was dealt Ah9h UTG +1. I wanted the chips in the BB so I raised to 600 figuring since I had played 2 hands in 90 minutes everyone would fold. I got 4 callers and then the BB shoved for 400 more without looking. After telling the story to Bruno I realize the dealer made a mistake as I asked if I could re-raise (very loudly of course) the dealer said no. I preferred to see the pot 5 ways as I was paying 400 for a 6k pot. Everyone called of course and the flop came: JcJh3h. It checked to me and I knew I still had to beat the all-in player but she was blind and I was likely ahead so I fired 2500 into the pot. Everyone folded and the SB (Vegas Pro 1) shoved for 4900 more. This was not what I had expected. It was 4900 into over 16k and as I counted out my chips all I was thinking is he has a J and I'm not in good shape but I'm getting the right odds to call. If I lost I am not out, if I win I have a huge stack and I can probably run my table over. The last thing that goes through my head is I am playing this tourney for one spot and I have to call here to try to win. I call and he says "good call" and turns over the worst played pair of 2s I have ever seen. I am so excited when I see his hand. So I need a heart, A,9, 3 or the turn to pair to win. The turn is a blank and Jinny said he could hear me yelling "one time, one time". The river was 4h to give me the nut flush. The all-in player had Td2d and I get up over 21k and I'm really feeling good except something bad happens.

Vegas Pro 2 goes on life tilt after he shoves 15k into a raise of 600 with A8 and runs into AK. The other guy only has 10k so he has 4k now. He then plays every hand. If he was in early position he would just shove. If he was in late position, he would limp, if anyone raised he would shove. What this meant was I couldn't use my stack to do anything because I couldn't get into a pot. I was ready to call his all-in with any ace as he was shoving and showing J5, Q2 every time. Finally he doubles up and is around 9k and he shoves. I look down at AK and shove overtop. He is so happy because he finally trapped someone to call him when he is huge. He whipped down AJ when I called and I showed him AK and I'm sure he is still steaming over this. I held and got over 30k. Blinds were 200/400 with 25 ante and I was playing with the weakest players I have ever seen.

I raised to 1075 in that blind level probably about 18 out of 25 hands. I think I lost about 2 of the hands. Some of them of the hands I won even more because they would put money in on the flop and then let me push them off on the turn. Also if anyone limped in front of me, I would raise with anything and they folded almost 90% of the time. I built my stack up over 45k without every really seeing a flop and never seeing a showdown. In the meantime, I was so card dead. I made someone fold AJ after re-raising him on the button, I told the guy I had TT (I really had QTo). I kept telling people I was so card dead but this guy kept saying: "you just got TT".

At the 400/800 level Bruno got moved directly to my right. I had 3 players limp to my button and Bruno limps in the cutoff (the significance of this is that it is impossible for Bruno to have anything remotely playable). I had AcTc so I raised to 3600. Everyone folded back to hijack spot who decided to shove all in for 4900 more. Obviously I call and he shows QT. This got me well over 60k but I told Bruno I wanted to get to 100k and I would slow down at 100k. Robbie got to our table and again I was raising nearly every hand at this point but I was still very card dead.

There was a very good player in the bb when I was on the button and I think he was determined to slow me down. I had so many weak players to my left it made it very difficult to steal blinds. On one hand though I raised on the button when blinds were 600/1200 with 100 ante to 3200 with 5s6s. Both blinds called and the flop came Jd9d9h. It checked all the way around and the turn was a 2s. It checked to the good player in the bb. The way he played with his chips I was certain he was trying to think of how he can steal the pot. He settled on 6k and I instantly raised to 14k. The SB folded and the BB insta-mucked. That hand gave me so much confidence that my reads were really on. By the time my table busted we were down to 18 players and I had 93k. I got moved directly to Jinny's left and I realized how much tougher his table was then mine.

Blinds were 1000/2000 with a 200 ante and I really tried to play the same game still not getting any cards and I was amazed I only had 1 pp all day. In the BB I called a raise to 6k after 3 players already called with 4d5d. It was 4k into over 20k to call and I felt I was really due to hit a flop. The flop came 9c4s2c. The SB checked and I figured I could win this pot if I fired at it so I bet 20k, everyone folded to the SB who pushed for 5k more. Obviously I call but I am disgusted. He turns over 98o and I double him up.

4 hands later I raise to 5500 in the cutoff with Ah7h the BB flat calls me. (This guy was a terrible player with 1450 tells who sucked out on Robbie earlier with J7…lol). The flop came Qh9x5h and he bets 10k and leaves himself around 35k. I insta-shove without thought and he snap calls with A5o. Turn Jc, River Jh and just like that I am back over 100k. I really wanted to hold onto these chips.

There was then a long debate about paying out top 11 instead of top 9. They wanted to take money out of 1st and 2nd to pay everyone left. I was the only one out of the 11 to refuse which made a few people upset. I really wanted the bubble to stick around for a long-time so I would never make the deal.

I had about 120k and I decided to playback against the other big stack when he raised my button from the BB. This cost me about 50k and I was back to 70k. Blinds were 2000/4000/300 so there was so much in the pot pre-flop. I shoved into a button raise and a SB call with AQ and the both folded. This got me back over 100k. When the final table started I had 103k. I am not sure what it is about final tables, but I always feel like I am winning whenever I sit down. This was no exception.