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Trip Report
by Nat Arem
Okay, so here's my (late) ATLARGE trip report. I spent the week in AC
because I was traveling for work and I didn't go over to the Taj until
Thursday night. Gamble and NotACmputr were playing in the $100
tourney. Apparently, Cmputr busted pretty fast and I never got the
whole story, but Gamble was still alive when I got there. There were
about 40 people left with 18 places paying (18th was like $160).
Gamble had about 7.5K with the blinds at 500/1K, so it was pretty much
all-in or fold mode at that point. I look around the room for a bit,
talk to Cmputr (playing 5/10) and when I come back I see that Gamble
has pushed. He turns up the only hand he could possibly have (presto)
and the caller turns over AJ. The 5s hold up and Gamble has about 10K.
A few hands later, a big stack raises in EP, Gamble comes over top for
his whole stack from MP and the original raiser goes into the tank.
Eventually, he folds showing A8s. Gamble shows 66. Next hand Gamble
gets into a big pot with JJ (didn't see how it happened) and he
outraced AQ to bust another player. He gets involved in a few pots and
his stack is at about 18K when they break to 3 tables. Soon after, the
key hand comes up. I really didn't see how it developed, but Gamble
got his chips in with KTs against A-junk. No help and he was down to
about 10K. Next hand he busts with ATo going up against KK and AJ -
the KK took down the pot.
We decide to head over to the buffet, then we realize it might be
closed (it was about 10 PM at this point). Our suspicions were
confirmed by a casino employee at the Bombay Cafe. Instead, we went to
the Hard Rock as it was the only place open (for some reason, Gamble
insisted upon calling it the Home Run Cafe). You'll have to ask him
why). We had a nice dinner and headed over to the pit to lose some
money to the casino. Gamble and Cmputr did just that at the craps
table - DEDUCTION! - and that pretty much concluded the evening for me
as I had to get up to work the next day.
Friday's tournament was HOE and I didn't hear all that much about it
(I couldn't play in it because of work). I did hear that Cmputr's 8s
full got busted by a Royal during Stud H/L. I think he was eventually
busted by Harkness's two pair during hold em. I made it over to the
Taj at around 5:30 and I decided to play a couple of hours of 3/6 LHE
until the PokerStars dinner. I get a seat immediately (didn't even go
to the desk. Literally just went right to the floor) and I sit down at
a table full of 60+ year olds with HUGE stacks. One lady must have had
1.5K+. At a 3/6 table, lol. Anyway, they're giving their money away
left and right, just as I had hoped. One guy can't even read the board
because his eyes aren't good enough. He's asking me every other hand
what the suits are, whether that's an 8 or a 9, etc. Most of the
conversations went something like this:
"What's that?"
"Uh, that's a 9 of hearts sir"
"Is there another heart?"
"Yes, the 3 of hearts is also on the board"
[Looks at his cards] "Okay, good. I bet"
The funny part was that he NEVER deceived people. If he said "great"
or stopped asking, he had something good. If he kept asking what the
next card was, he hadn't hit yet. This actually saved me some money
later on when I flopped middle set with 88 and he turned a J high
straight. Once he stopped asking and there was a rainbow board, I knew
he'd hit. Not that I'm bragging about picking up a 3/6 tell from an 80
year old. Anyway, I hit a few hands, lose two big pots with two pair
vs. a set (one rivered - granted, it was an overpair to the board, but
still frustrating) and I'm up $45 after an hour and a half. Not that
great, but it's limit with calling stations... not much you can do
without the cards.
I head up to the PokerStars dinner and find a table with Gamble, his
girl, Cmputr, his girl, Harkness and another ARGer. The dinner was
really good... PokerStars really went all out for the ARGers. Harkness
turned out to be a great guy. We talk about everything from his day
job (film critic) to his days as an alpha tester for Stars. His
payment for that? An ownership stake in Stars. BEST. DEAL. EVER. He's
also a poker consultant for Tilt. Not quite as good, but it's kinda
cool. We go up to the ATLARGE hospitality suite and hang out a bit
with the old-time ARGers and some of the newer ones, including former
WPT 25K final tabler Matt Matros. Matros and a bunch of other break
off into another room and play a SnG. I talked with Jeff, the head of
PokerStars support, and ADB Fich, an old-time ARGer and supposedly a
very good player. He finished 3rd in the HOE tournament. Gamble,
Cmputr and the crew left long before I did and I didn't know where
they went, so I went back to the poker room. I thought about getting
into the infamous pink chip game, but I quickly decide I don't want
THAT much action from the rest of the table. Just too high variance
for my liking.
Instead, I sit down for 5/10 (the line was a little longer this time)
and the table is donkified like I'd never seen. The guys had NO CLUE
how to play limit and they would do just about everything wrong. They
would fold when they should call, they'd raise when they should fold,
etc, etc. I managed to get a pot HU with this guy with my KK, flop is
AKx, I just call the flop, we cap the turn, he CAPS the river with QQ.
Really unbelievable. He later 3-bets a flop when he flops the nuts
with AQ of diamonds. Surprisingly enough, everyone check-folded on the
turn and he missed out on at least $40 in bets from bottom set and two
black aces (that's what they said they had, but only after he showed).
What an idiot. Anyway, I take down a monster when I flop a concealed
straight in an unraised BB with 75. A few other people made TPTK-type
hands and one made two pair on the river. Turned out to be a good 2.5
hour session and I go away up another $115. I went back to the hotel
and went to sleep excited to play in the ATLARGE NLHE main event.
I woke up Saturday morning, drove over to the Taj, got my seat
assignment and tried to get myself mentally ready for NL tournament
play. I've been playing so much limit ring online and in the casino -
it's a complete different mindset. I actually think it hurt me because
I reminded myself to tighten up and I think I did that a bit too much.
Here's the structure of the tournament: 3K in chips, 30 minute levels,
blinds go -> 5/10, 10/20, 15/25, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200, etc.
A VERY good and slow structure. I was seated at table 2, seat 9. Seat
8 was Amanda, aka widowmaker jr, aka junior, aka niece of aunt joan,
etc. Seat 10 was Peter Segal. Other than Peter, it was a bunch of ARG
newbies. Here are a couple of hands that I was involved in - none are
really that interesting except my bustout hand.
- I pick up AA 3rd to act with blinds at 10/20. Unfortunately, I
hadn't opened any pots yet and I was unlikely to get any action.
Surprisingly, I get some action on my std raise, flop is K high, all
fold to my flop bet of about 2/3 of the pot. I told people that I had
QQ so they would think I'd bet out regardless of overcards.
- I pick up 44 in the CO, make std raise, BB calls, flop is 4Ax, he
checks, I bet (knowing he would be suspicious if I didn't bet with my
raise and an A on board, I basically figured my action was killed by
the A and I wanted him to pay for any draws if he wanted to stay with
them) and he folds.
- I chip up with a few hands here and there and I'm at about 3400
after a few levels. Considering the structure, there's no rush. Then
Amanda makes a minimum raise directly to my right UTG. I look down and
see 99 and I immediately feel pain. This is a terrible hand to pick up
when the tightest player at the table (this was her first hand in
hours) raises UTG and you're second to act before the flop. I decide
to muck. She gets couple of callers late. Flop is T9x. ARRGGGHHHHH.
Sure enough, she had AA and she takes down the pot on the flop.
Obviously, I probably could have busted her with that hand, but it's
my fault for being a bit of a tight pussy there. On the one hand, I
made a good fold by getting rid of a dominated hand, but I should have
realized that her raise just didn't threaten my stack and I needed to
try to hit a set. After all, I KNEW she had AA or KK and I would have
been able to get away from the hand on a rags board.
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Llew interjects:
OR, you could have flopped your set, checked to the AA who bets big, jammed, and been called, only to see an A on the turn. Talk about AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!
Ok, I owe you a dollar.
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- I make a couple of preflop raises, take the hand down on the flop
and I'm at about 4500 when my bustout hand comes up. First, I should
say that there's a monster stack at the table. He has 20K plus and
he's been running over the table with it. I see a free flop in the BB
with Q9o (not the best hand to bust with, lol) and the flop comes 789
with two spades. At this point, the pot has about 1000 in it and I
check it to see what I can get in terms of a read on other players.
All check to the button (big stack) and he bets 600. I immediately put
him on a draw and realize that I may have the best hand with TP. I
think and decide I need to go after the pot. The big stack has laid
down some hands to big bets and I don't believe he wants to chunk off
4K on some silly draw missing. I know the other players behind me
won't be in the hand, so I'm just worried about the big stack. I
realize that, with the blinds and antes, I don't have much longer
before I'll be in all-in or fold mode (this, of course, isn't correct,
but I believed it at the time). That's not my style. I USUALLY play
better after the flop and I don't like the push and pray type game.
Anyway, with what I thought was the best hand and TP, I didn't want to
go away. I then decide whether I should push, make another size raise
or just call. I immediately rule out calling because I don't want the
other players in the hand and I want a fold from the big stack. The
problem with pushing is two fold: first, it looks like I'm on a draw
and somewhat desperate, and two, I want to be able to bet on the turn
and give him another chance to fold - even if he will have odds.
Anyway, I decide to raise to 2K (about half of my stack). This lets
him know I'm committed so he won't try to bully me with nothing and it
lets me bet another 2K on the turn. My strategy backfired, BIG TIME.
He says all-in almost as soon as I say raise and I realize I'm in
trouble. I've just put in half my stack with a crappy hand and I'm
going to be screwed if I fold. I know I'm at best 50/50, but I decide
I have to go with my gut and call against the draw. I don't mind
trying to dodge outs in one big hand to give me the stack to play my
game. Bad call. He turns over T4 of spades, to give him an up and
down, the four flush and an over. CRAP. He's like 3 to 2 to win and
pretty much the whole deck is an out for him. I put him on a draw...
just not three draws. He hits the flush on the turn and I'm bounced in
133 out of 200. I'd be interested in comments, but don't tell me to
check fold on the flop. I know I probably should have done that and I
don't need to hear it again.
Anyway, that was my NLHE tourney and I decide to head home and get
some sleep. I didn't play in the Stud tournament on Sunday as I had a
lot of stuff to get done at home and I SUCK at Stud. All in all, it
was a funny weekend and I can't wait for FARGO (don't think I'll be
able to make it to BARGE).
Later,
-------------------------
Nat Arem
aka N 82 50 24
www.PSCrew.com
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