Vegas Trip - Wynn

{Continued from Vegas Trip - Bellagio by elipsesjeff}

Day 2 :

Played at the Wynn casino, and they have a VERY nice card room. They spread more limits than the Bellagio and if I had my choice of the two I play at the Wynn every time. Another nice thing about the Wynn is that they gave rake-breaks for 30/60 and above, so you pay ½ the rake you pay at the Bellagio. It makes it very profitable and saves about $0.12 per hand (which when compared to the 30/60 level isn’t that huge, but still it saves $6 an hour. I sat down and got right in the action. I noticed real quickly the guy that was ruling the table. He seemed to me to be playing damn near every hand and raised to steal and defend every blind. He was a good post flop player and he had 3-4 racks of $1k in front of him so it was obvious he was on an upswing. Then we played musical chairs for a bit, the Lag decided to get on my left which was totally not cool. But, when that happened, 2 seats opened up and me and another guy (the only two that really understood table and seat selection probably) got to sit on his right. Funny, after he moved he wasn’t clearly as aggressive.

During the 2 hours I was there I got a good deal of cards, which made up for yesterday’s card deadness. First hand I played I had trip jacks against a guy who rivered an OESD, but I was still cool. I was feeling really comfortable. Again, just like yesterday, these guys understand the importance of blind play so learning to defend them is really key. I made most of my money on blind defenses whereas all my blind steals failed badly. My first real defense was with 78o against the Tag one to my right and I was really tired of him and others raising and attempting my blind. And, I figured at worst I was a 40/60 and its not SO bad a blind defense. Well, I fired my barrel on the flop and another on the turn and he gave it up. I don’t know how big (if at all) a mistake it was to show my 78o but it sure gave me action. I had Aces a couple times and won them both, although I could have raised the turn or river on both but my live reads on those type of hands really up to par with my online reads. Also flopped a set of Kings and won a couple pots with AKo. Open Raised 66 (it was a relatively tight table, and this was before my 78o hand I believe) in MP1 and flopped a set against the Lag. He bet into me on the flop and I tried to get some callers but no one bit. He checked to me on the turn (like I said he could play post flop) and I value bet but when the Ace paired on the river he bet into me so I got my raise off with my boat. Next hand I had 66 again but this time had 4 Cold Callers .

My very last hand I had 33 in the SB and the Lag goes to steal my blind again and I 3bet him, something I normally wouldn’t do in an online game. I was playing pretty much hit or miss and hoped he missed. He actually capped me pre-flop, which isn’t too bad for me as it helps define his range a bit more. At this point I thought he had an Ace and a broad-way card but in 6 max I cap with any ace with stealing anyway because you have an edge and position and initiative. The board comes 9 high and I check/call him hoping for a good turn card. I’m prepared to check/call him down the entire way because I know he’ll bet when checked to if he senses weakness. But, unfortunately the turn brought a King and I really couldn’t see myself calling a bet now. I’ve added something to my live game that really works if you want them to check behind if they don’t have a hand but will bet only if they have a hand. The play itself is a slight hesitation before you check. It is only about 3-4 seconds as you see the card and then go into ‘thought’ (an act) and then reach for your chips like you’re going to bet. But, instead of betting you quickly check and see what your opponent does. This time it actually worked!!! And he checked behind. I actually do this play online but its not as effective. A slight ‘thinking’ pause will occasionally convince your opponent to check behind but adding the whole chip thing only adds value. The river brought a Queen, another deadly card. Fortunately, it also brought a 3rd diamond and I was able to do the whole act again and the Lag checked behind and my 33 was good. Needless to say, I had no problem getting action with any hand; but that is a double-edged sword as I like to take a lot of pots down on the turn unimproved.

The Wynn actually had a must-move going on, meaning there was a main table and I was at the feeder table. The feeder started to break down and when it got 6 way I decided to leave. I was up 13 BB ($760, ½ buy in) at the table and the swings are so high shorthanded I really didn’t feel like playing there with those players. My ability to run over a table through aggression diminished as I was unable to take down pots unimproved (but was still able to isolate pretty well with 3 betting mid pairs). I did see one player at the Wynn today that I saw and remembered from the Bellagio yesterday. Actually, it was the same guy that I beat with Kings full against a flopped flush. I left and started to do more “casino whoring” and got some dinner at the Bottolota (or something), a real high-class Italian restaurant. I treated Boondock to (what he said) the nicest restaurant he’s been to but to tell the truth, it really wasn’t worth it. The food was well over priced and the service just blew ass. They never ONCE asked how our food was and I had an empty drink for like 10 minutes. The food tasted good but I wasn’t impressed. Anyway, I left a shitty as tip (hardly covered the tax) and the bill totaled $91, taking my net for the day to $630, although it seems like more because of the cash LOL. Anyway, my net so far this week in 6 hours of play in two days is $1000. I’ll take it.

Day 3:

Since it was Friday I was really hoping that the tables wouldn’t be anywhere near as tight as they were on the previous days. Well, they were a little better but not too much. In this hour I really didn’t get too many hands, I was down about 8 BB after I raise with A9s and get a cold caller on my left. I flopped my ace but she flopped an OESD and flush draw and turned a pair. Needless to say, she had 15 outs on the flop but only 10 on the turn (I turned a backdoor flush draw and gutshot) and she was a 67% favorite to win the hand on the flop anyway. She rivered her straight and I paid her off as I really couldn’t put her on the straight draw, but the flush draw. She cold-called with 65s and the board (I believe) was A7854 and I actually thought she hit her kicker than the straight.

Then I stole the blind with A7o, with the BB defending by 3-betting so I auto-capped. This is pretty standard for me when stealing if he is defending (and I assumed he was) and my equity with the Ace is pretty large. Well, I flopped trip sevens and he called down drawing, and probably dead. I showed a 7 but not the other card, although it didn’t really matter. Then I get AK, raise it up, flop TPTK and just value bet down with the guy to my right willing to pay me off the entire way. This fellow to my right was foreign, an accent similar to Swedish I’d say and was wearing a hoodie, sunglasses, and headphones. He wasn’t as good as his image, however.

I only got to play a little over an hour for poker as it was either the Pizza or the beer but I had stomach problems that 3 Imodium’s couldn’t control. I finished the day down $30, or like ½ a BB. Needless to say, I was disappointed in myself and was really looking forward to playing friday night poker.

Summary:

Overall Vegas was OK, not too exciting for me but maybe it was my surroundings. I had tons of fun with Boondock and was more than glad to hang with him all day and the FTR guys on Saturday night were a blast as well.

My goals for this trip was to 1) pay for it by playing poker, 2) decide if I could beat the normal 30/60 players live, and 3) decide if I could ever live in Vegas. Thankfully, I completed all three goals. I paid for my trip by playing poker; overall I made around 20 BB in 10 hours of play, above average and the lack of play Friday and Saturday definitely killed any money-making potential. I paid for my airfare, hotel, and transportation but the food I don’t believe will be covered. But, I still consider it paying for my trip. Secondly, I definitely could beat the 30/60 players live as they weren’t giving me too much credit after defending my blinds with some marginal hands then outplaying them post flop. So, I never ran into trouble not getting any action, unlike other players. Finally, I could never live in Vegas; way too much glitz for me. I could probably live near a Casino or two, like Southern Indiana before I would live in Vegas. So, for the time being that’s my number one plan.

My only regret is not playing enough to feel comfortable sitting in the 60/120 game. If I had played another 10 hours over the 4 days and had won some money, I probably would have sat in the game. The Wynn also spread a very good 15/30 full game and a 10/20 Omaha Hi/Lo half-kill game both of which were my second choices after 30/60 Hold'em.

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