Saturday and I am stoked with dreams of sweet, drunken Mandalay Bay poker players throwing chips at me and Seymour. We start the day with a comped buffet at MGM. Buffet is okay, much better than Mandalay Bay’s at least from my visits this week. The thing that gets me are the lines. Half of the tables seemed to be vacant but I still had to stand around for 20 minutes until I could have a hostess escort me to my place.
Fed and happy, I was now ready to go so I sat at a 1-2NL game at the MGM. This was a bad way to start the day. Very beatable table, including an array of inebriated cash machines still debauching from the night before as well as a couple just doing a hit and go before heading to catch their flights. However the river was a cruel destination for me. Three times I got it in good by the turn with my opponents facing either two or four outs, with the river spiking whatever my opponent needed to ravage my stack. I ended down well over $400.
This didn’t bode well for me, since I have been running either completely good and winning every session during the day, or completely bad and losing every session. About noon I gave up on the MGM and headed to Mandalay Bay, hoping I could turn it around.
The Poker Room at Mandalay Bay was already buzzing when I got there and I was seated immediately. Low and behold, but on the far side of the table was the Villain of the epic pot between himself and Seymour the night before. V recognized Seymour and immediately and started warning the table about “Swan Man.” Great table. No real hands to discuss, but V was still wonderfully readable and I was able to outplay him postflop. Seymour and I steadily built our stack up to about $500 until Villain took his stack and left.
I took a short break and grabbed a Rueben from Cantor’s deli to keep the fire burning. About that time a brush came around looking for interest in a 2-4NLHE game. 2-4NL? Sure, why not. I switched over and boy, what did I get into? It played like a deep 2-5NL (max 600 buy-in) since this was rock-em sock-em holdem. Every pot was raised and often reraised. Players were going AI with 2nd pair and big pots were being taken down by Q high. What can I say? As long as your blood pressure could take it there were chips to be had. I took a big pot when one player went AI with nothing but air after I had flopped top set, then gave a bunch back when another player went runner-runner flush off my KK. I tripled up when I turned a well-concealed straight with my 64. I won another big pot when a player who had been at my 1-2 game joined us to my right, and couldn’t get away from an unimproved AK to my 2pr.
More damage could have been done, but I was getting tired and even more goofy than usual. When I turned over my cards, thinking I’d lost with a poorer kicker, only to realize I had won with a flush I didn’t even know was possible, I knew it was time to cash in. Seymour was more than satisfied, as the crowd had contributed more than $1300 to the bankroll, thank you very much.
Seymour and I walked back to the Excalibur, stopping at Nathan’s in Luxor for a Philly cheese steak.
Showing posts with label Mandalay Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mandalay Bay. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Seymour Goes on the War Path
Got up a bit before 10am and decided for a return engagement at Mandalay Bay. By the time I arrived lunch was being served at the MB buffet and I decided to give it a try. Big mistake. It is attractive and comfortable, but the food just wasn’t there. It was at the start of lunch and all of the food was already cold.
Still, I was full and Seymour the Seagull and I headed to the poker room and were seated immediately. Wow, great table, mostly loose weak with a couple over aggressive types post flops. My number one target was getting hit in the face by the deck, but was slowing down. He had a distinct betting tell and I was waiting to take advantage of it. He also stated to a friend that he was going to be more careful with his cards because he didn’t want to blow his winnings if his luck turns bad.
I can’t remember the exact cards, but the essentials follow: I am sitting at about $250 and he has everyone well covered. He is in early position and raises to $7, which signals he does not have a premium hand, but something like two face cards or maybe AT/A9. I call from MP with KQoff, less for the cards but more for the hope for outplaying him post flop. Five see the Flop of AKx with one heart and two spades. He bets $20, a solid indication he has TP. I call, and everybody else folds. The Turn is a heart, putting two flush draws on the board. He immediately bets out about $80. I am now 100% sure he has only TPMK and is scared of the draws on board. I get into my schtick with “Da Bird”, basically arguing over what should be done, call or raise. After a bit of this I go AI, figuring he’ll fold.
The following was about five minutes of pure theater. My opponent was quizzing me about whether I had gone AI on a draw or with nothing. I said that I wasn’t playing the cards, Seymour was. So he asked if “the duck” was going AI on a pure bluff. I asked but Seymour said no. He asked if “the chicken” would show one card. Seymour said no, and didn’t like being called a chicken since he was a seagull, after all. After humming and hawing for a while, counting out chips and trying to get my reaction, he looked to be about ready to fold, but finally pushed in and I was set to rebuy when a Qh hit the river. He showed AT for top pair and almost had a heart attack when I showed a rivered 2pr.
For the next few hours I dominated the table. Various threats were made to cook and eat Seymour, and every newcomer to the table was warned about “Da Bird.” I worked my stack up to about $900 (+$600). After that the makeup of the table changed radically, including my target leaving. I gave back some chips and decided it was time to go. After seven hours I left up $488.
Still, I was full and Seymour the Seagull and I headed to the poker room and were seated immediately. Wow, great table, mostly loose weak with a couple over aggressive types post flops. My number one target was getting hit in the face by the deck, but was slowing down. He had a distinct betting tell and I was waiting to take advantage of it. He also stated to a friend that he was going to be more careful with his cards because he didn’t want to blow his winnings if his luck turns bad.
I can’t remember the exact cards, but the essentials follow: I am sitting at about $250 and he has everyone well covered. He is in early position and raises to $7, which signals he does not have a premium hand, but something like two face cards or maybe AT/A9. I call from MP with KQoff, less for the cards but more for the hope for outplaying him post flop. Five see the Flop of AKx with one heart and two spades. He bets $20, a solid indication he has TP. I call, and everybody else folds. The Turn is a heart, putting two flush draws on the board. He immediately bets out about $80. I am now 100% sure he has only TPMK and is scared of the draws on board. I get into my schtick with “Da Bird”, basically arguing over what should be done, call or raise. After a bit of this I go AI, figuring he’ll fold.
The following was about five minutes of pure theater. My opponent was quizzing me about whether I had gone AI on a draw or with nothing. I said that I wasn’t playing the cards, Seymour was. So he asked if “the duck” was going AI on a pure bluff. I asked but Seymour said no. He asked if “the chicken” would show one card. Seymour said no, and didn’t like being called a chicken since he was a seagull, after all. After humming and hawing for a while, counting out chips and trying to get my reaction, he looked to be about ready to fold, but finally pushed in and I was set to rebuy when a Qh hit the river. He showed AT for top pair and almost had a heart attack when I showed a rivered 2pr.
For the next few hours I dominated the table. Various threats were made to cook and eat Seymour, and every newcomer to the table was warned about “Da Bird.” I worked my stack up to about $900 (+$600). After that the makeup of the table changed radically, including my target leaving. I gave back some chips and decided it was time to go. After seven hours I left up $488.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Four Rooms - Four Profit
After awhile I went down, originally thinking that I would go to the Mirage and check it out. Before I had gotten half way across the casino I heard an announcement for open seating at 1-2 HE at the Excal Poker Room and thought, “Why not?”
I sat down and the game was better than the night before, with a good mix of a couple of locals and several tourists, including the old man who had snapped off my big bluff the night before. No real hands to tell. I built my stack steadily using position and aggression post flop. After three hours I doubled up again, and again pulled a LVMichael and cashed out (+$208). The games are great but by this time I am really getting to not like the seats at the Excalibur Poker Room. Also, sad to say, I realized I had left Seymore back in my room. I hope he forgives me!
Hoped the tram to Mandalay Bay. This is a first time for this poker room for me. Overall it is a nice place, quasi separated from the casino and sports book, with comfortable chairs. The comp and tracking system is straight from the 1990s, as others have noted on the posts. However, the games were wonderful. I sat next to Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague, a UFC fighter staying at the MB. He is from Edmonton, Canada, and generally trains in the morning and plays poker at local casinos in the afternoons. He was a solid player, and I was happy he was on my right. There was another tricky player the other side of the table, but the rest of the players were loose-weak. Again, I mostly made my money with playing small pot poker and being aggressive after the flop. One hand that was off was when I made a hero call to a $25 river bet when I only held 3rd pair, but I couldn’t put the kid on anything after he had check-called through most of the hand. He showed a missed straight draw and I took down a tidy pot. Otherwise, about 6:45 I realized I was getting hungry, mostly because I did the Las Vegas thing and lost track of time, forgetting to eat lunch. I cashed out mostly doubled again (+$204)
I headed back to my room at the Excalibur to recheck emails and change clothes. Then I was off to Caesar’s Shops to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Since I was alone I sat at the bar, having a couple of dark ales and the Jambalaya Pasta. Whoooo! So good!
Then it was over to the Mirage Poker Room for some more 1-2 NL. To tell you the truth, I probably shouldn’t have played, because I was getting tired and goofy. I can’t even say much about the table or players, since it was all a big blur. I do remember that I had been whittled down from my original buy-in of $300 down to about $150 when I won an awesome 3-way pot when my AA made a set on the turn to beat one lady with 75 2-pair and a man missed his straight and flush draws. I know I cashed out for a $98 profit about 11:30.
I was really pleased for the day. Four poker rooms and four profitable outcomes.
I sat down and the game was better than the night before, with a good mix of a couple of locals and several tourists, including the old man who had snapped off my big bluff the night before. No real hands to tell. I built my stack steadily using position and aggression post flop. After three hours I doubled up again, and again pulled a LVMichael and cashed out (+$208). The games are great but by this time I am really getting to not like the seats at the Excalibur Poker Room. Also, sad to say, I realized I had left Seymore back in my room. I hope he forgives me!
Hoped the tram to Mandalay Bay. This is a first time for this poker room for me. Overall it is a nice place, quasi separated from the casino and sports book, with comfortable chairs. The comp and tracking system is straight from the 1990s, as others have noted on the posts. However, the games were wonderful. I sat next to Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague, a UFC fighter staying at the MB. He is from Edmonton, Canada, and generally trains in the morning and plays poker at local casinos in the afternoons. He was a solid player, and I was happy he was on my right. There was another tricky player the other side of the table, but the rest of the players were loose-weak. Again, I mostly made my money with playing small pot poker and being aggressive after the flop. One hand that was off was when I made a hero call to a $25 river bet when I only held 3rd pair, but I couldn’t put the kid on anything after he had check-called through most of the hand. He showed a missed straight draw and I took down a tidy pot. Otherwise, about 6:45 I realized I was getting hungry, mostly because I did the Las Vegas thing and lost track of time, forgetting to eat lunch. I cashed out mostly doubled again (+$204)
I headed back to my room at the Excalibur to recheck emails and change clothes. Then I was off to Caesar’s Shops to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Since I was alone I sat at the bar, having a couple of dark ales and the Jambalaya Pasta. Whoooo! So good!
Then it was over to the Mirage Poker Room for some more 1-2 NL. To tell you the truth, I probably shouldn’t have played, because I was getting tired and goofy. I can’t even say much about the table or players, since it was all a big blur. I do remember that I had been whittled down from my original buy-in of $300 down to about $150 when I won an awesome 3-way pot when my AA made a set on the turn to beat one lady with 75 2-pair and a man missed his straight and flush draws. I know I cashed out for a $98 profit about 11:30.
I was really pleased for the day. Four poker rooms and four profitable outcomes.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Double up at MGM Grand
I got up about 7:30, still in a bad mood from the results from the day before at the Excal and the MGM. Still I pride myself in not letting bad things get to me so I still plan to get my head right and hit the felt again. First of all, though, there is some business to do, some packages to ship back east. I hit breakfast at the Planet Hollywood Spice Market Buffet and as always it puts me in a better mood. Decent food at a reasonable price. It ended being $17 with taxes and tip.
I walked to the MGM, they had two 1-2 NL tables running, looking like a lot of tired tourists and I was feeling better already. I sat down in about 10 minutes and found a weak table – lots of limping – big bets were either monsters or air bluffs on the river with busted draws. No real good players but one young guy was quickly my target. He liked to raise strong with bigger cards like AQ of AJ. If he misses he gets tied to his Ace and bets strong and will keep betting all the way to the river. I felted him twice when he had A high and I had 2pr or better. After awhile several of the table left, and a couple of Vegas regulars I recognized sat down. I knew the character of the table was going to change so I decided to pull a LV Michael and cash out after having doubled up (+$220).
Went back to my room at the Excal to get caught up on some email and chill for a bit. Part of this is my attempt to balance out two conflicting goals. Number one is I want to keep fresh at the tables so I don’t go cuckoo by next week. The second is I do want to build up my “stamina” so I am ready to play some longer sessions this weekend. I am expecting the action to be pretty special on Friday (it’s a Friday in Vegas) Saturday at Mandalay Bay and Sunday at Mirage.
I walked to the MGM, they had two 1-2 NL tables running, looking like a lot of tired tourists and I was feeling better already. I sat down in about 10 minutes and found a weak table – lots of limping – big bets were either monsters or air bluffs on the river with busted draws. No real good players but one young guy was quickly my target. He liked to raise strong with bigger cards like AQ of AJ. If he misses he gets tied to his Ace and bets strong and will keep betting all the way to the river. I felted him twice when he had A high and I had 2pr or better. After awhile several of the table left, and a couple of Vegas regulars I recognized sat down. I knew the character of the table was going to change so I decided to pull a LV Michael and cash out after having doubled up (+$220).
Went back to my room at the Excal to get caught up on some email and chill for a bit. Part of this is my attempt to balance out two conflicting goals. Number one is I want to keep fresh at the tables so I don’t go cuckoo by next week. The second is I do want to build up my “stamina” so I am ready to play some longer sessions this weekend. I am expecting the action to be pretty special on Friday (it’s a Friday in Vegas) Saturday at Mandalay Bay and Sunday at Mirage.
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