Back in New York

Hi guys. I arrived home on Wednesday after a fabulous week and a half in Vegas. It was wonderful. I had a great time with my sister and her friends at the bachelorette party. We went to fancy, delicious restaurants every night for dinner- including Nine at Psalms, Table 10 at Palazzo, Koi at Planet Hollywood, and a few others. We had dessert at Cut, Wolfgang's restaurant and that was great also- the desserts were fabulous.

Unfortunately, I returned with a terrible cold and cough. I have been sick for four days now and I cannot wait to get better! My legal business is becoming very very busy, I have court everyday next week and I just want to feel better. Last night, I broke my online dry spell with a 3rd place finish in the 10$ straight on ub. Unfortunately, I did not finish first, but I played well and I was happy with the result. 3rd out of 580 is no small feat, even for a weak buy in.

Back to Las Vegas. I played my cash games in a sick (sick = good, not sneezing, lol) and professional manner. I told you guys about the KJ dd hand in my last post. Very proud of that hand. I earned approximately $2500 in 7 out of 9 earning sessions at 2/5 NL, which is probably way above average, but I will take it. Below are some hands that I thought I played well, and a few that while I did not play well, luck allowed me to win the pot.

Bellagio 2-5 NL

I was preparing to pick up with about a $150 profit, because I had to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner with the girls. 20 minutes before I pick up, these three novice players sat down and bought in for 200 each. Sometimes I think it is an act when players are like, "what do I do? how much can I bet?" but these three clearly did not know a check from a bet. So the following hand arose. I limped q4 sp in late pos. Two other players limped. The bb, novice player, raised to 30. So I gave him Aq, ak etc. I decided to call and see what develops. To be honest, I should've folded- a lot of novice players, even if they miss, will put all their money in with hi cards based upon what they see on tv. So I thought playing post flop wouldnot be easy, but by the same token, he was mr. novice, so lets see what develops. We took flop heads up. Flop is 2 3 5 with one spade. Of course. So he bet 55. I called because I figure if I hit straight with Ace he is paying me off and if spade comes on turn, i can determine where I am at. Pot is now close to 200$. Turn is 7 sp. Great. He bets 60$ with 110 behind. I decide that I can't push him off here, so I call, annoyed at myself for playing this hand. River is nine of diam and he checks really quick. I didnt even think, I just said "all in" and he folded so fast. My original read was correct and I am glad I followed my read on river. I really think if I pushed turn he may have called with Ace hi. I do not think I played that hand particularly well until the end. Once I call preflop though, I am kind of strung along by this dude and then he gives me opportunity to be aggressor on river. I thought I followed my read great on river. I showed the guy next to me my hand before I mucked, and I picked up 5 minutes later. He's like where are you going, there is free money here! LOL.

Venetian 2-5 NL

Another hand that arose right before I had to meet the girls for dinner was at 2-5 NL Venetian game. I decided to play a 1.5 hr short session before dinner. I was up about 100 15 min before I was going to pick up. A tight guy utg + 1 raises to 30$. I call with AJ dd. My instinct was to fold, he has a big hand, but I thought maybe a few other players would call and if I hit a big flop, I would win a nice pot before I left. We coincidentally take flop HU. Flop is A 2d Qc. Tight guy leads out for 60$. Bells went off in my head. Fold, he has AQ or QQ. But I ignore my instincts and Call. Admittedly a bad call. Turn is 5 diam. I am like, here we go in my head. LOL. Now tighty bets 140. I was goin to shove right there but I remembered my inclination on the flop and now I call. River is 6 diam. HE checks and I lead out for 250$. He insta folds top set of AA face up. Nice read sir, nice read. If I know he folding that hand, I be bluffing river a lot more in different hands. LOL

And yes, this is another example of hand I won, but did not play optimally. You all know, I play cash a bit looser than tournies.

Playing the Player Venetian 2-5 NL

I had a sick read on most of the players at my table. It was early morning around 1am and I was up 200$. But, while I am always playing for profit, I really enjoyed this game and my profit/loss didnt matter so much as I was using this session for practice. I decided that since I was doing well for the week in NL, this session was negligible and I should really abandon any fear or intimidation i may have. So these two hands signify,I think, the improvement in my NL game over last year.

QQ utg + 1. I raise to 35, one player calls, and tricky player who is having a good time, and obv a regular at Venetian, is on button, looks at his hand and gives me a great tell. He says, I dont know whether to reraise or call. I will just call. he says. Immediately I put him on 10s-qqs, or ak suited. bb calls, we take flop 4 way. I am second to act. Flop is 10 j 2 w/ two sp. I have two red queens. I decided that i need to find out where I am at against button. Pot is 140$. I lead out for 80$, which is small but forces a raiser to make a decent size raise. Guy in between folds. Now tricky guy on button makes it 250 on top. Whoa, huge bet. It folds to me, I think forever and there are only two hands I can put him on, 1os or jjs. So i Have two outs. He would raise AK sp but not that big. Secondly, he is not type to raise on draw. So i think for a minute, knowing I am going to fold. Then I said to him, will you show? And he said no. I insta mucked face up. Then he showed me pocket jj for top set. Thank you for virtually not letting me go broke on that hand. Felt like I won.

Second hand against same guy:

10 minutes later. I have K7 sp in bb. That guy is on button and he is big on the button raise. He makes it 30$ to go sb folds I call, and one limper calls. Flop comes out 3 5 6 with two sp. I decide I will check raise here. So I check, limp/caller checks and dude on button bets $50. I make it 110$ on top. It folds to him. He thinks forever and mucks. Begs me to show, so I show and he said, great play. I said thank u.

I think these two hands are pivotal in describing how I had been playing all week and where my reads were at.

Thats it for now dudes, take care and I will post again soon.

Good money and peace,
Lucky C and Ace.

My Sincerest Apologies....And...In Las Vegas!

Guys- I suck. It has been three weeks since I blogged. I have a million excuses, but the reality is my blog is part of my poker life, and my poker life has taken a place on the back burner the last couple of weeks- I really hate when that happens. But now, I am back on track. My sister's bridal shower was this past Sunday, and it was awesome, everyone loved it, the candy theme was a smashing success, and I am so happy. All I wanted was to make this an original, untypical-unboring shower, and it was.

Ok, enough girly talk. I do have more hand histories from Borgata that I will post but not until next week when I get home. I am in Vegas right now for 8 days- mix of business/pleasure. Jon and I are staying with our friend Dragon (who found a great apartment, its beautiful and makes me jealous I am not living out here, but I digress), but on Wed, I am stayin at Planet Hollywood for 5 days with my sister and her friends for the ultimate bachelorette party. Should be so much fun! I am trying to get as much poker in as I can during the day b/c the evenings are goin to be filled with going out!

I also want to say Congrats to Bumbklaat (aka Chris from Fl), a friend of mine who went very deep in Sun 2 million guar, chopped a few tourneys on stars, and overall is having a phenomenal three weeks! Good job Bumb. Also, congrats to Dragon (aka our friend Pete in LV), who final tabled the Orleans tourney yesterday for a Cardplayer cash, and also did well in a few tournaments in June, very nice Dragon!!

So, on a difference note, Jon and I arrived yesterday, relaxed for a bit, had some dinner and then went over to Venetian to play (we both really like their poker room). I was a bit anxious about playing cash because I have not played cash regularly since last year. My focus this year has been online tourneys and some live tournament series. I decided, after speaking with Jon about strategy, and that I was not going to play scared, to use my reads to make my decisions. Not chicken out and follow thru on my reads 100%. So based on that, the following hand came up.

I had been playing very tight, and I looked like the 'typeical tight chic' at the table. I had a great table, excellent mix of weak tight, 1 loose aggro, and a bunch of very readable players (with continuation bets, etc). So, I have KJ dd in middle pos, I raise to $30 (playing 2/5 NL by the way) and the sb and bb, both pretty tight, call. Flop is Q 7 8 with two clubs. Both blinds check to me, and I normally would not cont bet here, but being as it is a harmless flop with exception of q, and I was tight, so my bet should signify AQ ++ (aa, kk), I led out for $60. The sb mucked, and bb called. Now I had observed this kid check raise with monsters (so I can eliminate set possibilities) and bet into raiser with top pair (he probably does not have Q). So I narrow his range to open ended 6-9, 5-6, flush draw, J - 10 cl for gut/shot fl draw, etc. So I decide to see how he acts on turn. Turn is 4d, making board Q 7 8 4, which completes one of his draws, he checks very fast as if he is not interested in the turn. So I check behind. River is 4 sp. He now leads into me for $100.

My first instinct was, he missed his draw. Then I thought, maybe he has a full house. And then I re-played hand, and decided he did not check/call and then check turn with set. Almost impossible. 44 is out bc he mucks on flop. So the hands he has that beat me are A hi fl draw missed, or A4 cc, and he hit running fours. Those are only hands that I can legitimately give him with that bet on river. So based on the fact that I beat so much more of his range, I called pretty quick and he said nine hi and mucked. I tabled K hi for 300$ pot. My other option on river, was that if he could have Ace hi, I could raise the river and he has to muck, but bc of off chance he has a 4, I decided to just call. But that is a great example of how raising the river with nothing to get your opposnent to fold their nothing that might beat your nothing is a great play. In any case, it felt quite good and gave me great confidence, that I hope lasts throughout the trip.

Lastly, we told Jon's family pretty much, in total, that he is full time poker player. His immediate family is as understanding and supportive as they can be, which is great, but his extended family, not so much. Whatever. Jon an I were then joking how it is probably easier to tell your family that one is gay than one is a poker player. I think it really depends if your family is more worried about your social status (straight/gay) or economic status (poker players notoriously having a gambler-degenerative, financial failure stereotype). It was pretty funny though.

Ok guys, good luck at the tables and I post during the trip if I can!

Good money and peace,
Lucky C, and Ace.