Cashing at the Venetian

After taking a day off following my run in the Caesars Palace Main Event, I decided to head back to the Venetian to see if I could get a score at the place I’ve literally played all my poker at this trip.

It was another $350 NLH event with a 12,000-chip starting bank, and on my table was a guy that has a first and second so far this series. I was up to 16,250 by the start of the next level after rivering a straight holding pocket sevens before Eric ‘basebaldy’ Baldwin sat down on my left. I then chipped up even further after winning three pots in a row; including one against Baldwin when I called him down with ace-queen as well as flopping top pair and a flush draw and getting two streets of value.

I then played a hand against Thomas Braband where I opened aces under the gun and he three-bet from two seats over. I know he is super aggressive from seeing him play at Caesars, and decided to put in a small four-bet that represented around a quarter of his stack. He shipped holding threes, and although he flopped a gutshot, I held to move to 33,400 in chips.

I moved tables and had someone with a big stack on my direct left, and of course decided to play a somewhat retarded pot against him. With blinds at 150/300, an early position player opened to 675 and I flatted next to act with 4♥4♦ before the big stack made it 1,375. Everyone folded – including the original raiser – but I made the call to see a A♥A♦8♠ flop fall and he bet out 1,500. I really didn’t think he would bet an ace here, and if he had a pair better than mine, there was a good chance I could take the pot on the river. I called, and when the 9♥ landed on the turn he fired out 2,500. I really smelt that something was up and that I was in front and proceeded to call again as the 6♥ landed on the river. I checked, and he bet 3,500 as I went into the tank for around five minutes before eventually making the call to move to 44,000 after he tabled his J♦3♦.

Nothing happened over the next few levels before I moved tables and eliminated a short stack when he shoved king-ten from under the gun and I called from the small blind with king-jack and held. As the blinds kicked up to 500/1,000 and roughly 100 players remained, I was sitting on 43,600 before heading on dinner with a few thousand more and half the field needing to be eliminated before we made the money. As we approached the money, I couldn’t accumulate any chips at all, and eventually snuck into the money as a short stack before finding an immediate double holding ace-queen against king-queen to move to 95,500. In the last level of the night, I was short and eventually shipped with pocket fours and was called by ace-queen. Then the small blind pushed with ace-king, and although he was totally priced in, the old guy mucked his ace-queen to let me triple to 144,500 on a queen-high board. Eventually I would bag 167,000 in chips with 20 players left and blinds at 4,000/8,000 and $23,000 up top for first when we could back the following day.

On the resumption of play I immediately lost some chips after losing two small pots holding pocket pairs. Eventually with 13 players remaining, I shoved ace-queen and picked up the blinds before shoving T♠T♣ the next hand. The small blind made the call holding pocket sevens, and when a seven flopped, I was out the door in 13th/334 for a $1,383 payday.

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I ventured back to the Venetian to tackle another tournament, and this time it was the $560 NLH event which featured a 15,000-chip starting bank and 40-minute levels.

Needing over 200 players to be worth it in my eyes, I was happy to see 267 players take part with $30,000 for first on offer and my starting table was a terrible one. Players were limping, opening for 6x or more and one player was all in five times during the first few levels for full stacks. My first major hand was when I opened A♦6♦ to 450 from the hijack with blinds at 100/200 and was met with a call from the cutoff and the big blind. The flop landed Q♠ 9♦2♦ and I decided to check to mis-represent my hand strength as the cutoff bet 850 and the big blind called. I toyed with raising, but instead chose to flat in an effort to win a big pot potentially against two players. The turn saw the J♦ land, and after the big blind checked I decided to lead for 1,175 to try and inflate the pot on a turn card that should hit a lot of the ranges of both players. The cutoff folded before the big blind called and checked the T♣ on the river. With around 6,500 in the pot, I wasn’t exactly sure on the best play here, but decided to move all in (had my opponent covered) for around 10,000. I felt that if he had a flush he would have to call, along with any random king, and my shove kind of looks weak instead of a normal sized value bet which may make him call with two-pair combinations. He tanked for a minute or two and folded as I climbed above my starting stack before our table broke.

After folding a few orbits I opened fairly weak with J♠T♣ and was flatted by three players before leading out on the K♦J♥6♦ flop with only the annoying retard calling. Why was he an annoying retard? Well he kept tossing in big denomination chips so he could get change to build his stack. Even when he had twenty 25-denomination chips he would still ask for change for a black 100-denomination chip and it was driving everyone crazy as he refused to give change even though he was the only one that could really do it. The turn landed the 4♦ and I decided to bet once again with “Mr Annoying” calling as the J♣ completed the river. The pot was around 10,000 and I didn’t want to bet for value and be shoved on, so instead decided to check and assess what he chose to do. He instantly checked behind and showed K♠4♠ and then started moaning...maybe don’t play the king-four suited to a raise next time!

I then got to eliminate Mr Annoying after opening to 1,000 from the cutoff at 200/400 with ace-queen only to have him shove for around 14-big blinds with aces from the big blind. I snapped called, and after the board rolled out A♦J♦8♣T♠K♥, I happily scooped the pot to move to 26,000 before going to break with just under 34,000.

As I was in great position to make a run at my third back-to-back cash I played a pot that – although I’m upset at the outcome – I am not disappointed with the way I played the hand. With blinds at 300/600 an awful old guy opened to 2,200 and I flatted the cutoff holding 5♥5♦ as the flop fell Q♠6♦&7♣ and he tossed in 2,000. I thought this was a weakish bet and planned to flat here and fire the turn as he’ll check all his range that isn’t top pair or better in my opinion. The turn however landed the 4♦ which now gave me a straight draw and he bombed out 5,000 to put me in a tough spot. He had around 16,000 behind, and with this bomb, I had now changed my thoughts to his hand strength being relatively strong so a shove wouldn’t likely produce a fold. A fold was probably technically the right play, but I decided to make the call believing I was drawing to any eight, five or three. The river landed the 8♦ and he instantly shoved – I tried putting him on a flush or a better straight but couldn’t – so I made the call and he tabled his Q♦9♦ to leave me down on around 9,300.

The blinds kicked up to 400/800 and I shoved 9,000 from under the gun with sixes and a player made the call holding aces. I flopped a straight draw but bricked out and busted in 125th out of the 267 players. Although the 5♥5♦ hand will haunt me for a few days, I don’t mind the way I played it, because I did feel that I could take the pot from him on the turn if I didn’t improve to that draw, and although I could easily justify a fold, I wanted to win a big pot and make a run at that 30k first prize.

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Not to be deterred by yesterday’s tournament, I returned to the Venetian to take part in the $350 NLH event.
One of the biggest this series fetching 424 runners, my tournament was nothing but a shamble from the start to the end as nothing really went my way. In the first level I opened 9♣8&clubs and continued on a Q♣J♦9♥flop with only one player making the call before I check-called when the 2♣ landed on the turn. The river was the T♠ and I decided to bet small and fold to any heat as he could only really do it with the king-high straight, and it also meant that he couldn’t blow me out of the pot with a big bet with something that I beat – like a set or two-pair. Unfortunately my 975-chip bet into around 3,000 was quickly met with a 2,500-chip raise and I folded down to around 9,000 in chips.

The final level before break was a terrible one as my stack was halved. There weren’t any beats or anything, I just got owned in pots – one lady called me down with 77 against my 55 on a jack-nine-two-jack-ace board and I was met with some aggression in other spots too. After break I chipped up with some shoves and three-bets and eventually got my stack back up to nearly 10,000 before pushing the button with A♠Q♣ and getting called by the big blind with K♦Q♠. The board rolled out J♦9♦2♠8♣T♠ to see me bust in 168th/424 players.

I was pretty pissed off that I grinded the short stack for so long, only to bust with a bad beat. Oh well, going to take a day off to clean the house, do some washing before returning with a fresh mind and body next week. Good luck to those grinding the majors tomorrow!

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