Thursday, June 01, 2006

Vegas Highs and Hi/Lo's


Vegas was everything I needed to get past my poker malaise. The city was jammed for the holiday weekend. People were drunk by 10:00 am. The tables were brimming with tourists. Even my brother was able to find a low-limit stud game whenever he wanted. Granted, his tables were brimming with retirees.

We invested our cash game dollars at the Mirage. While I wanted to get in a little Omaha hi/lo, I didn't love the one table that was in play. The 5/10 with a full kill looked like it was populated with people that actually knew what to do with four cards. If I was looking for fun and ignorance, I figured my best chance was the 3/6 hold'em game.

There are times when I just can't resist a low-limit hold'em game. The amusement factor is just too good to pass up. The first night I played I found an entertaining table with a mix of about 50% regulars and 50% tourists. I had a rounders moment when I realized that the regulars and I were parked for the night as we took turns relieving the tourists of their money. The regulars told me that the week before, a woman had passed out drunk on her chips. They literally played around her until the EMS got there. They actually called the floor over to ask if they could blind her off. I put in less than three hours at the table and made $68 dollars and three screwdrivers. The only real surprise of the evening was when my pocket aces held up.

I played a few more sessions in the 3/6 game, all with good financial and entertainment payback. I think my favorite moment came at a table with two locals to my left - the rest were totally clueless. At one point two buddies sat down at the table. Our brash new companions figured themselves as the sharks. In the first hand they played, one of them raised UTG. Raising does little in these games. Preceded by three callers, I called from the small blind with 8-5 soooted. The flop brought two of my suit. I called the flop and turn bets from the kid. By the river, it was just us. The river brought a perfect card, the ace of my suit. I figured the kid for an ace. When I bet out, he called saying, "I think you have me outkicked." Before I even turned over my cards, the two locals said in unison, "She has the flush, you idiot." The kid showed the A-9o. And so it went.

As fun as this was, I still needed my Omaha hi/lo fix. I decided my best bet was the Orleans rebuy tourney. It had a pretty decent showing for Omaha hi/lo with 77 players, with payouts starting at 10th. It was the typical Orleans crowd; mostly locals. I bought in for $40 with another $5 for the dealer pool 25% chip adder. I rebought for $20 as soon as I sat down. At the end of the rebuy period I bought the double add on for another $20.

I played pretty tight during the rebuy period, but still added to my stack. The guy to my left was ubber aggressive and had to rebuy twice. In the rebuy period, he also did four shots of Jager, accompanied by four bud lites. The tables played down pretty fast, and unfortunately so did my stack. When the TD announced there were 12 players, I had less than the blinds. I thought it was going to be another bubble finish. As I'm deciding my strategy, the TD announced that there were two all-ins at the other table. They both busted, and I was in the money.

When final table play started, I was the short stack with 1800; the blinds were 700/1500. I suggested a ten-way chop to a chorus of nine laughers. Mr. Jager was on his 9th shot. The guy to my right had a decent stack and joked, "I bet I'm the one to go out tenth." Before the blinds got to me, two people busted, one of them my prophetic friend. I joked that I was going to fold my way to victory. When the blinds got to me, Mr. Jager raised the button. I announced I was calling in the dark. My 4-6-6-T looked pretty ugly next to his A-2-6-Q double suited, but the case 6 fell and we chopped the pot. I folded my sb and waited. This is primarily how it went, me folding the round and hitting on my bb. At no time did I have chips to make it through the blind. By the time it got down to five, the table was totally pissed at me - except Mr Jager, who was happily on his 12th shot. My luck ran out in third place with a payout of $550. Mr Jager went on to win.

With poker content out of the way, my next post will be the "other" side of Vegas.

(and for some reason I'm having picture upload issues, so I'll try to add more later in the day)

11 Comments:

Blogger CC said...

I did see a table play around a guy getting CPR and defibrillated at the Golden Nugget a couple years ago. They eventually made them change tables.

9:03 AM  
Blogger Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

Mmmm, the other side of Vegas....can't wait for that one, Amy.

Nice recap of your poker weekend. I too have had that "Rounders moment" as you called it, where you realize that you're one of the sharks who is there to separate the fish from their chips.

9:55 AM  
Blogger KrazyBangs said...

I ,ove reading your stories, but as a barback for 7 years.... Have you ever seen a "Yager" bottle? For the record its Jagermeister.

Also we in the FullTilt forums wondered... If someone has a heartattack during a tourny, do they just blind him off, remove the chips, or divide his chips equally....

11:23 AM  
Blogger amy said...

Uh...can you tell I'm a vodka, rum and wine gal? Spelling to be corrected shortly:)

Durig the final event at the WSOP Circuit Event at the Grand this January, a player did indeed have a heart attack. Two EMS workers playing the event left their stacks to attend. The TD stopped the tournament and evacuated the room to allow EMS full access. The two EMS players never left the victim's side until he was safely loaded into the ambulence. From what I recall, his stack was blinded off for the remainder.

11:29 AM  
Blogger BJ Nemeth said...

Blinding off someone who passes out during a tourney seems like the only fair option. The same thing that would happen if he had to leave the table for an emergency.

Amy -- I know the Vegas couple is your photo, but did you take the photo of the Mirage as well? We never got to do our joint Vegas Photo Safari (damn!), but I got some shots on my own, including a similar one of the Mirage. (I'll be posting it on my site soon, I think.)

I want more photos! :)

11:40 AM  
Blogger amy said...

Hey BJ,
Yeah. The picture of the Mirage is mine. I got a couple of others, but I liked that best. Blogger is currently having photo upload problems, but more pics are coming. I wish I had taken more.

Look forward to seeing more of yours.

12:05 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I played in a similar O8 Orleans tourney but no rebuy and watched a guy go from a single chip with two tables left to the big stack when they formed the final table.

I wasn't as lucky as went out in 18th.

Fun tourney, except I was surrounded by people wearing Orleans swag.

12:40 PM  
Blogger The Shrink said...

Yes Amy the heart attack victim was blinded off at the Grand but the cool story was that one of the EMS guys was in the final three tables from the previous day's event. He moved all-in then heard the commotion and went to help. When he got back to his table, he found a tripled up stack scattered in front of him, he had won the previous hand, and the restart of that event was held up until he got back to the table. Credit tournament director Johnny Grooms with that decision. Harrah's are you listening?

3:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats, Amy!

8:54 AM  
Blogger amy said...

lol Steve. I guess the seven edits were well worth it. I will rest easier this weekend:)

8:12 AM  
Blogger FirstNations said...

unrelated to the subject of your blog...but heres another picture upload solution, although you already seem to have found one...
1hplovecraft.blogspot.com

8:32 AM  

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