JJ's Blog

Just got back from Vegas. Brother in-law played in a few qualifiers at the Rio but was unsucessful. Each time he was outdrawn on the river by a 3 outer. Needless to say, he was pretty pissed.

It was pretty kick ass walking around the Rio during the Main Event. Also went to the Gaming Life expo. Got a ton of free poker related stuff...hats, shirts, chips, cards, magazines, etc.

Saw all of the big names. You name it....he or she was there. Talked with Paul Wolfe and Brad Booth for a long time. Talked about their play on Fulltilt, etc. Both were really cool guys. I think the most personnable out of all of them was Humberto Brenes and Scotty Nguyen. The biggest ass during the trip was Doyle Brunson. Who knows....maybe he just got busted out and didn't want to talk to anyone.

Clay
 

So did you play any of the tournies (RIO, Bellagio, Venetian)?

If you have any extra swag that you want to donate to the Husker House Casino for use as giveways, I'm accepting donations.

Thanks.
 

I played in a few tournies, but never placed in the money. I'm more of a cash game fan.

Planet Hollywood - Played in their $65 tourney. I really like the format!! You get $4000 in chips with blinds starting off at $25/$50 that increase every 20 minutes. Only part that I don't like is that for the first hour there are re-buys and people can join the game late. Other than that.....can't complain about the set up. I got busted out with pocket Kings vs. AJ. Donkey/Calling Machine called every time I fired and then he caught his "Ace on the River!"

Harrahs - Played in their $40 tourney. Terrible structure! I'd call it the 2 hour crap shot. You get $1500 in chips. Blinds start at $25/$50 and increase every 15 minutes. 1 wrong step and you're done! That's kind of what happened to me. UTG I get AQ. I raise about 3 times the BB. I think I raised about $450 at the $75/$150 mark. Only left with $800ish after the raise. Long story short...was called by the chip leader ($5000+ in chips) with 5 7 off suit. He caught a 7 (middle pair) on the flop. I pushed and he called. : (

Caesars - Played in the $200 tourney. Again, a very nice set-up! However, it's pretty pricy and the field is a little more difficult. Placed around 40ish out of 250 players. That boils down to 5 hours of play and no money to show forth!! URG!! What a waste!!

Played a ton of cash games. Was up and down all week. Most I was down consisted of approx $1300. I was pretty pissed. Lost playing Pai-Gow Poker, blackjack, Texas Holdem Table game, and poker!! Walked back to the hotel just furious with myself. Ended up passing a very juicy cash game at the Hotel. These guys were anting $100 per person. Blinds were $1/$2. I jumped in and told the guys that I didn't have that kind of money, so they let me skip the ante. I bought in for $300 and cashed out 30 minutes later with $1500ish!!! I got pocket Jacks 4 times in a row!! Won a $1200 pot with them once, another big pot the second time, and then lost the second 2. Didn't want to press my luck anymore, so I left the game. These players all had easily $5000 - $10,000 in front of them. $5 chips at that!!! It was absoltely insane!! Most of the guys had their chips in racks on the table, which looked hiliarious.

Omaha - Found a pot limit Omaha game at Paris. It was a $1/$2 blind with a max $10 bring in. For the most part, people capped it at $10 pre-flop and then the action was juicy afterwards. I sucked out hardcore on 1 hand. Bad part is that it was against my buddy. I had pocket aces and 2 rags. Flop comes A K Q. Crazy action after the flop, which led me All-in for $200. He flopped a straight. Anyrate, I get runner runner (4s) for a full house!! He about flipped his lid. I told him...."Hey remember I said that if I raise you, stay out of my way." He smiled and said yup, you're right.

Next hand, same thing happened. Had pocket 9s and 2 rags. Flop comes K 9 2. I win another big pot!!

Overall - Ended up coming home with a few hundred profit after paying for hotel, flight, food, and entertainment. Goal was to hit $1000. However, I feel short. : ( It's alright though, I still came back with money. I can't say the same for my 2 buddies that went. They lost their ass!

Freebies - Let me see what I can do. I've already given away a ton of stuff to family and friends. I have a few things floating around that I might be able to part with.

Later,
Clay
 

thanks for the nice little summary dude.
that harrah's tourney isn't that bad, i bubbled in one last year. the players were brutal.
the worst is the morning tourney at the luxor. to steal a line from skaloni, "i'd rather have a monkey shit on my face," then play that again.
jesus dude, what hotel did you stay at? what the hell kind of game has $1/$2 blinds with a $100 ante?!?!
 

We stayed at the Imperial Palace. The game is typically just the normal $1/$2 NL with a min and max of $50 - $200.

Apparently a bunch of guys got together at the Imperial Palace and made up their own rules. It was about 3 or 4 am and they had the Poker Room Mgr and other dealers watching. They all had to have bought in for $2000 to $3000.

I figured I'd lose my ass by only buyng in for $300. I also told the guys that I wasn't going to do a $100 ante. They didn't seem to care. Shiet, whatmore can you ask for! You pay the $1 or $2 blind, peek down and seek JJ, go all-in for $300, and win!! Granted the $300 bet is pretty weak since there is already approx $700 - $800 in the pot, but hey I'm not complaining.

Problem was these guys were playing everything and were really looking to gamble. Funny how friends like to take money off each other. Kind of like a home game multipled by 100!!

I played the next morning at the same place (Imperial Palace) and everyone was still talking about that crazy ass game.

Later,
Clay
 

Crazy thing was that they guys would bust out for $2000 and buy back in for another $2000 - $3000. If you saw the hands that they would get busted with....it would make you sick to think that they would call all of their money with it!! I saw a dude with 10 4 on a flop that was A K 4 and then 2 blanks on the turn & river. He kept firing and the other guy kept calling with a King and small kicker. INSANE!!
 

i was at the IP a couple years ago. their poker tables were like the size of my house.
 

Totally agree with you!! The tables were very very big. After a few beers....it's hard to see the flop.

I asked the dealer why the tables were so large and they said they were built to hold 12 guys. WTF? What kind of card game would have 12 guys? Tag team poker where you play 6 vs. 6 or maybe a group of 3 or 4 guys on a team? LOL

Plus the tables had so much padding. You slightly bump the table and the dude that has his chips in $100 stacks is going to be all over the floor and table. That's exactly why I stacked my chips in piles of $50s.