Vegas June 2021

Day 7 - Hold'Em at Orleans

Last Updated: 2021-06-17 11:43:56

Starbucks, pool, panini for me and Joann decided to try a turkey wrap today on the way out the door from Aria to head over to the Orleans for some Hold'Em. If you read my Day 3-5 BLOG where I went whisky hunting and came up empty, I did have a brief moment of excitement on the way to the Orleans.

There was this one little shop we've been driving past but haven't gone into. Apparently "XO Liquor" is a chain. I had stopped into one on the way to the hotel on hunting day and imagine a small convenience store with two shelves filled with liquor plus a glass case with the "special liquor". That's XO Liquor. And that first one from the hunting trip had E.H. Taylor Small Batch just sitting on a shelf for anyone to grab and buy. Usually these are hidden for frequent customers, in glass, in Colorado maybe being raffled, etc.

One bottle I crave is Weller Full Proof. Without looking up the MSRP should be like $50. I saw a bottle for $600 on my hunting trip and a bottle for $700. They're hard to find.

So I walk into this XO Liquor that's on Tropicana about half way from the strip to Orleans. No E.H. Taylor but I look in the glass case and there sitting on the bottom shelf is a bottle of Weller Full Proof.

Can't see a price. I'm about to ask, look again, and if I put my head up against the glass and peer down I can barely see a tag that has $399.99 on it. UGH! Still too much.

The guy sees me looking at it and says (grrrr...) if I'd been here two months ago it would have been $200, but now it's $400 and I should buy it now because if it's still there in a month it'll be $600. If I was going to be here in a month I'd probably stop in and see if he's a liar, but I won't be...

And if you think that defies economics, because why would you increase the price for something that isn't selling (???), it's because they only release it periodically. They just had what for them is a "big" release a month or two ago, there probably won't be another for at least a year, and as time goes on until the next release is announced they become more valuable, not less. Supply and demand.

Oh well. On to Orleans.

Card dead. Just one of those days...at least at the start.

I went almost a full hour and a half with nothing playable. No pairs, any time I even had two broadway cards they were offsuit and there was a raise and a call at least into me. No ace bigger than A-8 off (and, again, with raise/call into me). I literally could not get into a pot.

The one pot I remember winning in that stretch (I probably raised out once or twice and got no callers, but maybe not ... it was bad!) was when I had J-3 off in the big blind and called a min-raise of 600 around an hour into me playing (hour and a half into the tournament) and took a flop 5 or 6 handed.

Flop J-T-4, rainbow I think, I check/call a 1k bet.

Turn another jack, I check/call a 3k bet.

River a blank, I don't expect to get called if I bet and I'm best so I try and check again but he checks behind and quickly rolls over 5-5. He wasn't calling any bet from me anyway. A big blind special to at least get my stack back up close to a starting stack.

Finally after that hour and a half I look down at cowboys in middle position! Blinds at 200/400/400 when a guy a couple of positions before me makes it 2000 to go, which is a little high so maybe there was a limper or two? I pop it to 6k.

Folds around to original raiser who calls. Flop comes A-J-X all spades, I do not have the king of spades. He checks, I decide not to c-bet with the ace on the board and no spades and check behind. He leads out big on a blank turn and I have to fold my kings.

Seriously??? After all that time I get kings and I get THAT flop??? UGH! He later told me he had pocket Jacks after...

Next hand same guy limps in and I look down at pocket tens. I make it 1600 to go, I think I get one other caller and he calls. Flop comes K-T-8. Much better!

I bet every street, only "that guy" sticks around, I size my bets to keep him around for my river shove and he calls me down every street for a full double up when he has only K-J. Says something about it being my turn to flop a set because he had JJ on the last hand.

NEXT HAND I look down at pocket Jacks. I make it 1000 because I was now earlier to act and nobody had limped, and a short stack (under 10k from our 20k start) quickly sticks it all in when it folds to him. He only has 6-2 suited and was hoping to steal my raise. Board runs out only one of his suit and not even a pair for him, I take him out.

Just like that I am more than two and a half times starting stack at 53200.

52200 at the first break after losing blinds.

Then another full hour of being card dead. Finally pick up A-J, get no help, dust off about 7K in that hand and with all the blinds I've paid in the meantime I'm back down around 35k.

Oh and I'm also on my 3rd table break. I started out at one of the first couple of tables to get broken up to consolidate, on my first move I got moved to what would be the next table to break up! And I can see I'm going to be the 3rd table to get broken up again as I'm sitting down.

By my count I go an hour and 50 minutes from the break with only that A-J above as a playable hand. I finally pick up K-Q of diamonds and call a raise to 3600 at 600/1200/1200 blinds. One other caller, flop king high, I take down the pot when it checks to me.

Two hands later miss the flop with A-Q, board is 7-8-9, she shows Jacks after I fold. On to break. I win the race with one 100 chip, I'm at 32k at the second break.

First hand after break I am in the big blind but get a walk with pocket 6s. I was going over the top of any raise, but I'll take just getting to keep my blinds and ante.

Move for a 4th time.

All in over the top of a min-raise with 88, take it down.

81 players left, 216 buyins, paying 27 places. 54 from the money. I'm sitting somewhere around 15 big blinds. Average stack is barely 20 big blinds so this tournament is now officially an all-in fest, my options are "all-in" or "fold" with my stack.

Then we're 45 from the money.

I go all-in over the top of another raise with JJ and take it down. 36 from the money.

Over the top of a raise with KQ off, take it down.

Stack was a little bigger relative to blinds, I actually make a standard raise with JJ, no callers, win blinds. I guess since I've been doing nothing but all-in it looks stronger when I raise "not all-in".

Someone raises to 7k in my big blind at 1500/3000/3000, I look down at A-10 and just call. Flop 8-9-10. I go all in, he calls, he rolls over A-7 for an open ended straight draw and he probably thought a live over. He gets no help, I double up to 87500. I'm actually over 20 bigs for a change! And above average! I've scratched and clawed my way to a shot at a cash!

Just get blinds for KK. 18 from money.

Raise out with KQ offsuit, just get blinds again. Sitting around 80k but blinds now up to 2000/4000/4000. So much for above average stack, so much for having 20BB.

Get blinds again with 22, maintain my 80k stack for another round.

Dinner break at 79,000, Joann and I get a snack and a drink at a pub in the Orleans. Same one we ate at for dinner break Monday, one of these times we're going to have an actual dinner there.

Oh and they have Weller 12 year at the bar (one I seriously crave) for $40 a glass if I want some. I can get it under $30 at a whisky bar at home, and probably a little bigger pour, so I pass.

Back from break we're at 3000/6000/6000, average stack is 15 big blinds and obviously I don't even have that. Push and pray...

Small blind limps, I have aces, I raise, no call.

11 from money.

Again folds to small blind who limps again, I have King-Jack suited, I shove, he folds.

7 from money.

4 from the money I look down at A-10 offsuit, I'm going to be in the now 8000 big blind next hand when I'm already under 10 big blinds. Someone min-raises, I have some fold equity with everyone being short stacked, I go all in, she snap calls with A-Q. No help, out in 31st paying 27. I almost made it...

I guess I could have gotten away from the A-10, but the way things tend to slow down that close to the money I just don't see trying to hold on with what would have been a 60k stack assuming I lost blinds in the next hand. And I'll also say this - one thing about the big blind ante is that you want to get in before you pay the blinds and antes. Before the big blind ante came along you could wait until the blind was on you and still double up. Now when you're in the big blind you don't get a full double up because you pay the ante first, you only get to double what you have left after paying the ante.

So if I shove that hand I win a full 80k plus other people's blinds/antes, but if I wait one more hand I'm only getting my ante back plus 72K (what I have left after paying the ante) plus the small blind. And that's assuming I even have a hand I can shove with. Taking my chances with A-10 was the right play, just didn't work out.

Strategically you want an excuse to go all-in before the blinds gets to you, and you are getting more for your all-in this way.

Almost made it...

Joann has been craving a chinese food alternative at an MGM resort to Noodle Asia, which is in Venetian, and was very happy to see "LaLa Noodle" at Park MGM reopened for this trip. But only on weekends.

We plan to just go get pizza and sandwiches at New York, New York but on the way there we pass LaLa Noodle and they're open! They open on weekends AND for Golden Knights games!

Alas it was disappointing. We weren't super hungry after our appetizers at Orleans and the food was a little bland. I don't know if we'd go back.

And that closes the book on "week 1".

Week 2 starts out with 3-Stud Mix at Orleans, what should be my last Orleans tournament of the trip. They are doing a full weekend 8-day-one tournament at Orleans with everyone who survives all the day ones coming back Monday to finish and we have plans for Monday.

For me it will be stud on Thursday, hopefully I make day 2 on Friday but otherwise it will be all Aria daily tournaments from here on out.