Back to Vegas II...
I decided to get a good night's rest and get geared up for the bigger events this weekend and next week. I woke up at 5am local time, can you tell I have little ones at home, and tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep. Planned out today, play this $75 turbo mega satellite and then play another $235 and we'll go from there.
Turbo was gross... I won't play another turbo mega. These guys had no clue and would tank for two minutes every decision. Levels are ten minutes short. We literally went through two levels with the blinds increasing, without the button even making one round around the table. It was frustrating. I also didn't get any cards. Just watching guys tank folding and asking for counts and then folding, and tanking before acting preflop was just ridiculous. Half the table got it, the other half acted like they were at the final table of the Main Event and making Million Dollar decisions.
An Asian kid, who had little clue was getting run over by the deck. I noticed how when people run good the rest of the table hates them, like it's their fault luck shined on them that day. Also, if they are aggro people don't like them, too. I remember telling this to Caufman Tally, who's a little aggro, and he seemed surprised by that. Yeah, when you constantly beat people, they don't like you. It's a side effect of being good. Everybody was bitching about this Asian kid, not because he was good but because he was lucky.
Me, I was fine with him getting chips because I knew he'd likely lose them. To start his heater, with a little under 2k in chips he limped under the gun at 50 100. He got raised to 500. He called. Flop came 7710. He bet, his opponent shoved. He called, his opponent had Queens he had... J7 suited. Yeah, limping J7 never going to win you a tournament. Calling a raise for more than 1/4 of your stack with J7, again, never going to win you a tournament.
The next hand he cracked Queens again when he had Kings. One of the grumblers complained about him slowrolling the guy... even though he was the one who shoved. Yes, he hollywooded (which sucks in a turbo) when his bet was raised, he stewed like he had a decision and then he shoved, but not a slowroll. I started to explain the difference but stopped. If this guy thinks disguising the strength of your hand by taking a while to act is slowrolling I'm not going to tell him different. Hopefully, he'll move confidently and quickly every time he has a big hand against me.
Later I got 10s on the button, the Asian Kid limped, the grumbler shoved over the top. I thought this was a good spot to flip, as I didn't think the grumbler would shove his stack size with any super-premium hands. He's also seen the Asian Kid limp terrible hands, so, most likely his shove isn't a big hand. I probably had at worse to fade Jacks in his range, but I had most of his other likely holdings either crushed or 50/50. The Asian Kid shoved when it got back to him. So much for flipping.
The grumbler had Ace Jack o/s. The Asian Kid just Kings again. Flop put a jack out there but the rest of the board was uneventful. So two players had me beat.
Anyway, nothing really out of the ordinary so far. I'm kind of glad I'm not just running over people in these small buy-in events. Let's get all run good in the Milly Maker and the other 1k ish events.
What's been useful for me is getting comfortable with the west coast style. Seems most of these players are from LA and the Commerce casino. I barely recognize or see many players from the Gulf Coast so all my reads are new. They play a little more aggro, rarely does the hand get folded to late position, but they are also foolhardy in what percentage of their chips they are willing to risk with subpar hands.
There are a few types I'm noticing from world series to world series. In the $185 buy-in three guys were talking about playing the $10-$25 games at the Aria, and Bellagio. Talking about winning 20k in a good night. Why aren't you there? They also were targets. Either the cash games have some big fish in them, or cash players just have no clue how to play tournaments. I can't tell you how many people I was happy to see at my tournament tables yesterday who I later saw sitting with big stacks in the cash games. Maybe I'm chasing a windmill when I should be fishing in the cash games.
Back to the types, I keep seeing.... There are old guys who play a style that the game has passed up. Yet, they struggle onward wondering why it's not working for them anymore. You can see it on their face when they get attacked, by threebets and are constantly being isolated. There are kids, who are all gamble and just pounding the accelerator, who can't quite grasp that 100 mph the entire tournament doesn't always work. There are guys just there to look cool and tell their friends they played at the WSOP. There are the grinders trying to survive the minefields like me.
There are the folks who like me years ago, are trying to hide their inexperience, but whenever they talk they reveal too much. Or if they don't talk when their bet sizing is off, you know. You can see it on their face, their hands are practically face up. I remember Mimi Tran eviscerating me at a WSOP mega satellite years ago, seeing I was the fish and just attacking every chance she had. Now I know what she saw, that indecision, that inexperience, that weakness.
There are the bookies and the drug dealers playing like there is no tomorrow. They confront the dealers and imply they are a tough guy away from the table, but try at the same time to be gregarious and friendly at the table. Their veneer of false charm is as empty as their skills. There are thugs and douches who are all testosterone and no brains, and wives of players that are just killing time. Blend that all together and spit it out on a random table and that's what you have to deal with it. In some ways it's harder than playing good players, and it makes me realize just how good the weekly regs in New Orleans are. Yeah, they are exploitable in their own way, but fundamentally most are far better than the average fish here.
I think this is great practice as many of the Millionaire Maker's participants will be the same players here to take their shot in that event. Every locale has a personality and a style, I think. Tunica will call you down with top pair and Ace high, so value betting is vital and bluffing ill advised. These West Coasters, that mostly populate this event, I'm starting to figure out.
Turbo was gross... I won't play another turbo mega. These guys had no clue and would tank for two minutes every decision. Levels are ten minutes short. We literally went through two levels with the blinds increasing, without the button even making one round around the table. It was frustrating. I also didn't get any cards. Just watching guys tank folding and asking for counts and then folding, and tanking before acting preflop was just ridiculous. Half the table got it, the other half acted like they were at the final table of the Main Event and making Million Dollar decisions.
An Asian kid, who had little clue was getting run over by the deck. I noticed how when people run good the rest of the table hates them, like it's their fault luck shined on them that day. Also, if they are aggro people don't like them, too. I remember telling this to Caufman Tally, who's a little aggro, and he seemed surprised by that. Yeah, when you constantly beat people, they don't like you. It's a side effect of being good. Everybody was bitching about this Asian kid, not because he was good but because he was lucky.
Me, I was fine with him getting chips because I knew he'd likely lose them. To start his heater, with a little under 2k in chips he limped under the gun at 50 100. He got raised to 500. He called. Flop came 7710. He bet, his opponent shoved. He called, his opponent had Queens he had... J7 suited. Yeah, limping J7 never going to win you a tournament. Calling a raise for more than 1/4 of your stack with J7, again, never going to win you a tournament.
The next hand he cracked Queens again when he had Kings. One of the grumblers complained about him slowrolling the guy... even though he was the one who shoved. Yes, he hollywooded (which sucks in a turbo) when his bet was raised, he stewed like he had a decision and then he shoved, but not a slowroll. I started to explain the difference but stopped. If this guy thinks disguising the strength of your hand by taking a while to act is slowrolling I'm not going to tell him different. Hopefully, he'll move confidently and quickly every time he has a big hand against me.
Later I got 10s on the button, the Asian Kid limped, the grumbler shoved over the top. I thought this was a good spot to flip, as I didn't think the grumbler would shove his stack size with any super-premium hands. He's also seen the Asian Kid limp terrible hands, so, most likely his shove isn't a big hand. I probably had at worse to fade Jacks in his range, but I had most of his other likely holdings either crushed or 50/50. The Asian Kid shoved when it got back to him. So much for flipping.
The grumbler had Ace Jack o/s. The Asian Kid just Kings again. Flop put a jack out there but the rest of the board was uneventful. So two players had me beat.
Anyway, nothing really out of the ordinary so far. I'm kind of glad I'm not just running over people in these small buy-in events. Let's get all run good in the Milly Maker and the other 1k ish events.
What's been useful for me is getting comfortable with the west coast style. Seems most of these players are from LA and the Commerce casino. I barely recognize or see many players from the Gulf Coast so all my reads are new. They play a little more aggro, rarely does the hand get folded to late position, but they are also foolhardy in what percentage of their chips they are willing to risk with subpar hands.
There are a few types I'm noticing from world series to world series. In the $185 buy-in three guys were talking about playing the $10-$25 games at the Aria, and Bellagio. Talking about winning 20k in a good night. Why aren't you there? They also were targets. Either the cash games have some big fish in them, or cash players just have no clue how to play tournaments. I can't tell you how many people I was happy to see at my tournament tables yesterday who I later saw sitting with big stacks in the cash games. Maybe I'm chasing a windmill when I should be fishing in the cash games.
Back to the types, I keep seeing.... There are old guys who play a style that the game has passed up. Yet, they struggle onward wondering why it's not working for them anymore. You can see it on their face when they get attacked, by threebets and are constantly being isolated. There are kids, who are all gamble and just pounding the accelerator, who can't quite grasp that 100 mph the entire tournament doesn't always work. There are guys just there to look cool and tell their friends they played at the WSOP. There are the grinders trying to survive the minefields like me.
There are the folks who like me years ago, are trying to hide their inexperience, but whenever they talk they reveal too much. Or if they don't talk when their bet sizing is off, you know. You can see it on their face, their hands are practically face up. I remember Mimi Tran eviscerating me at a WSOP mega satellite years ago, seeing I was the fish and just attacking every chance she had. Now I know what she saw, that indecision, that inexperience, that weakness.
There are the bookies and the drug dealers playing like there is no tomorrow. They confront the dealers and imply they are a tough guy away from the table, but try at the same time to be gregarious and friendly at the table. Their veneer of false charm is as empty as their skills. There are thugs and douches who are all testosterone and no brains, and wives of players that are just killing time. Blend that all together and spit it out on a random table and that's what you have to deal with it. In some ways it's harder than playing good players, and it makes me realize just how good the weekly regs in New Orleans are. Yeah, they are exploitable in their own way, but fundamentally most are far better than the average fish here.
I think this is great practice as many of the Millionaire Maker's participants will be the same players here to take their shot in that event. Every locale has a personality and a style, I think. Tunica will call you down with top pair and Ace high, so value betting is vital and bluffing ill advised. These West Coasters, that mostly populate this event, I'm starting to figure out.
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