Ace-in-Space
02-17-2006, 11:52 AM
Rest of the trip (Tue. two sessions, Wed. one session)
Tuesday morning I got up feeling pretty good since I was up $700 in poker and $600 in BJ. For the next day and a half I played at the Bellagio at the$2-$5 NLHE game.
Session 1: Up $500 after 6 hours.
Session 2: Up $380 after 5.5 hours.
Session 3: Down $110 after 6 hours.
So my final trip tally is over $2,000 including BJ win.
Here are my top 10 highlights and insights:
10. The $2-$5 games are beatible since there are tourists in the game and not too many hard-cored locals. There seems to be quite a few players from England and Ireland sitting at my table. At this limit people are willing to lay down hands that might be beaten so you could make some plays.
9. The preflop aggressor usually takes down the pot on the flop with a bet if the flop is not too coordinated.
8. I ran a better hand off the pot with good sized bet on the turn two times following a good sized flop bet. However, I was the preflop reraiser. Specifically:
Hand 1: I had 99 in the BB and reraised to $50 after an aggressive player from MP raised to $20. Heads up. Flop comes: 10 7 3 rainbow. I bet $100. He hesitated and called. Turn comes an unpairing undercard and I bet $250. He said, "it's 50/50." (meaning he might have the best hand.) But ended up laying down J 10.
Hand 2: (Different table) I had AQo and reraised to $40 when a MP raised to $15. On a 10-high flop I bet $50 and he calls. Turn: an unpairing undercard I bet $100 and he laid down 99.
7. Bellagio buffet is still the best. You could get a $15 voucher from the shift manager so you don't wait in line for the buffet during busy times (it is also good for any other dining areas but just for that day). Just ask to go see the manager when you get to the room. The vouchers are issued at certain times 3 times a day. Techically you should only get 1 per day and a max. of 3 per week but I was able to get 2 on the same day going to 2 different managers so I treated some colleague to dinner. MGM, Caesar's, and others will give you $1 per hour credit for playing if you have a player's card.
6. Sometimes you gotta lay down a good hand facing a big bet when the situation indicates that the opponent isn't bluffing. E.g. after all folds before me I raised in LP to $20 with A4s against a reasonable player in BB. Heads up: Axx flop. Check, check (i try to slow play my Ace). Turns: A I bet $25 and was c/r to $75. I call. River: face card (no flush or straight possibilities on the board in this case). The guy goes all in for something like $100. In this situation my trip aces with a weak kicker. I reluctantly called and he has a 9 kicker which plays. In hindsight if I would've bet the flop I would have better information on what he has since by checking he thinks I might be stealing on the turn with the 2nd Ace so I have to call him.
5. So, it is better to bet the flop with most hands, especially when you think you have a good hand (but vulnerable) or you think you can steal the pot. RULE NO. 1: YOU CANNOT GET PEOPLE TO FOLD WHEN YOU DON'T BET. I am not saying you should do it every time but do it more frequently than what you are doing it now.
4. Sometimes make a minimum raise to steal the flop when you think the opponent is trying to buy the pot (or you read him for a weak hand that is hard to improve.) I made this play holding something like 87o in LP. Unraised 6-handed pot with 1 player behind me. Flop: QQ4r. Check around. Turn: 4. After 2 checks the 3rd guy bets $30. 4th guy folds. I raise to $60. Button folds. Better folds. I am representing a monster and he has to give up (maybe even an ace in his hand he couldn't call.) I tried this play on other time at a different table but it didn't work, but overall I think this play has a high positive expected value.
3. Try to sit to the right of timid player (preferrably to the right of 2 consecutive timid players.) The main purpose is not try to steal their blinds when you are on the button when no one comes in the pot, but the idea is that you could call and play more hand before the flop. As far as dealing with aggresive players I want them either directly across from me or to the right of me.
2. (In certain situations) If you think you could get a reasonable preflop reraiser to lay down JJ, 10 10 or similar hands when you have AK and raised originally, re-reraise all in when you have more chips than the raiser (especially you play tight preflop and seldom raise yourself unless you have a big pair). E.g. I had AKo UTG and raised to $20. Next player re-raised to $50. All folded back to me I put him all in (I had about $300 and he had over $200). He asked me if I can beat pocket Jacks and I replied, "maybe, maybe not." He thought it about it a little more and decided to muck. In this case he is in a tough spot since either he is dominated or its a coin flip and to call $200+ more isn't something he wants since there are no more plays after the flop.
1. Finally, sometimes when you have a monster draw and heads up you might want to reraise all in on the flop. E.g. I had 54 of spades in the cutoff and decided to steal the blinds with a $20 raise. Button and SB folded and BB (same player described in the previous hand, this is before I moved next to him) called. Flop: Qs8s4c. He checked. I bet $25 and he c/r me to $60. I have about $250 left and he had close to $140 left after his c/r. I figured him for TP w/good kicker. At this point I had 13 outs against that hand so it is almost 50/50 (actually I run the hand later and I was a 52/48 fav.) I should've just put him all in at this point and see if he is willing to back his TP but instead I made a mistake and just called his raise and his all-in bet on the turn with a blank came. No help on the river and I lost over $200 on that pot. Another benefit in by re-raising him all in would have been I have a chance to offer to split to pot with him IF he had the courage to call me re-raise for all his money. After we revealed our hands I could simply say that it is 50/50 and let's just split the pot instead of letting the cards decide since there are over $400 in the pot. Even if he declines I would've still been a slight favorite.
All and all, I had an enjoyable and not to mention profitable trip to Vegas (24 hours of poker). I am interested to find out from other BYOCer's who will be going to Reno to see what the level of competition compared to Vegas since I won't be going back for a while but might try to make a run to Reno in the next few months for some cash games.
Tuesday morning I got up feeling pretty good since I was up $700 in poker and $600 in BJ. For the next day and a half I played at the Bellagio at the$2-$5 NLHE game.
Session 1: Up $500 after 6 hours.
Session 2: Up $380 after 5.5 hours.
Session 3: Down $110 after 6 hours.
So my final trip tally is over $2,000 including BJ win.
Here are my top 10 highlights and insights:
10. The $2-$5 games are beatible since there are tourists in the game and not too many hard-cored locals. There seems to be quite a few players from England and Ireland sitting at my table. At this limit people are willing to lay down hands that might be beaten so you could make some plays.
9. The preflop aggressor usually takes down the pot on the flop with a bet if the flop is not too coordinated.
8. I ran a better hand off the pot with good sized bet on the turn two times following a good sized flop bet. However, I was the preflop reraiser. Specifically:
Hand 1: I had 99 in the BB and reraised to $50 after an aggressive player from MP raised to $20. Heads up. Flop comes: 10 7 3 rainbow. I bet $100. He hesitated and called. Turn comes an unpairing undercard and I bet $250. He said, "it's 50/50." (meaning he might have the best hand.) But ended up laying down J 10.
Hand 2: (Different table) I had AQo and reraised to $40 when a MP raised to $15. On a 10-high flop I bet $50 and he calls. Turn: an unpairing undercard I bet $100 and he laid down 99.
7. Bellagio buffet is still the best. You could get a $15 voucher from the shift manager so you don't wait in line for the buffet during busy times (it is also good for any other dining areas but just for that day). Just ask to go see the manager when you get to the room. The vouchers are issued at certain times 3 times a day. Techically you should only get 1 per day and a max. of 3 per week but I was able to get 2 on the same day going to 2 different managers so I treated some colleague to dinner. MGM, Caesar's, and others will give you $1 per hour credit for playing if you have a player's card.
6. Sometimes you gotta lay down a good hand facing a big bet when the situation indicates that the opponent isn't bluffing. E.g. after all folds before me I raised in LP to $20 with A4s against a reasonable player in BB. Heads up: Axx flop. Check, check (i try to slow play my Ace). Turns: A I bet $25 and was c/r to $75. I call. River: face card (no flush or straight possibilities on the board in this case). The guy goes all in for something like $100. In this situation my trip aces with a weak kicker. I reluctantly called and he has a 9 kicker which plays. In hindsight if I would've bet the flop I would have better information on what he has since by checking he thinks I might be stealing on the turn with the 2nd Ace so I have to call him.
5. So, it is better to bet the flop with most hands, especially when you think you have a good hand (but vulnerable) or you think you can steal the pot. RULE NO. 1: YOU CANNOT GET PEOPLE TO FOLD WHEN YOU DON'T BET. I am not saying you should do it every time but do it more frequently than what you are doing it now.
4. Sometimes make a minimum raise to steal the flop when you think the opponent is trying to buy the pot (or you read him for a weak hand that is hard to improve.) I made this play holding something like 87o in LP. Unraised 6-handed pot with 1 player behind me. Flop: QQ4r. Check around. Turn: 4. After 2 checks the 3rd guy bets $30. 4th guy folds. I raise to $60. Button folds. Better folds. I am representing a monster and he has to give up (maybe even an ace in his hand he couldn't call.) I tried this play on other time at a different table but it didn't work, but overall I think this play has a high positive expected value.
3. Try to sit to the right of timid player (preferrably to the right of 2 consecutive timid players.) The main purpose is not try to steal their blinds when you are on the button when no one comes in the pot, but the idea is that you could call and play more hand before the flop. As far as dealing with aggresive players I want them either directly across from me or to the right of me.
2. (In certain situations) If you think you could get a reasonable preflop reraiser to lay down JJ, 10 10 or similar hands when you have AK and raised originally, re-reraise all in when you have more chips than the raiser (especially you play tight preflop and seldom raise yourself unless you have a big pair). E.g. I had AKo UTG and raised to $20. Next player re-raised to $50. All folded back to me I put him all in (I had about $300 and he had over $200). He asked me if I can beat pocket Jacks and I replied, "maybe, maybe not." He thought it about it a little more and decided to muck. In this case he is in a tough spot since either he is dominated or its a coin flip and to call $200+ more isn't something he wants since there are no more plays after the flop.
1. Finally, sometimes when you have a monster draw and heads up you might want to reraise all in on the flop. E.g. I had 54 of spades in the cutoff and decided to steal the blinds with a $20 raise. Button and SB folded and BB (same player described in the previous hand, this is before I moved next to him) called. Flop: Qs8s4c. He checked. I bet $25 and he c/r me to $60. I have about $250 left and he had close to $140 left after his c/r. I figured him for TP w/good kicker. At this point I had 13 outs against that hand so it is almost 50/50 (actually I run the hand later and I was a 52/48 fav.) I should've just put him all in at this point and see if he is willing to back his TP but instead I made a mistake and just called his raise and his all-in bet on the turn with a blank came. No help on the river and I lost over $200 on that pot. Another benefit in by re-raising him all in would have been I have a chance to offer to split to pot with him IF he had the courage to call me re-raise for all his money. After we revealed our hands I could simply say that it is 50/50 and let's just split the pot instead of letting the cards decide since there are over $400 in the pot. Even if he declines I would've still been a slight favorite.
All and all, I had an enjoyable and not to mention profitable trip to Vegas (24 hours of poker). I am interested to find out from other BYOCer's who will be going to Reno to see what the level of competition compared to Vegas since I won't be going back for a while but might try to make a run to Reno in the next few months for some cash games.