 Vegas November 2022 |
| Day 5 - Orleans NLH, Orleans 8/b mix |
| Last Updated: 2022-11-17 12:56:05 |
| Had a very short morning this morning, I slept in much later than usual for some reason and only had a few hours before gametime.
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| Got my Starbucks, typed up the BLOG, got out of the room later than I wanted to and just grabbed Chik-Fil-A on the way to Orleans. Actually Joann ordered it for me on her lunch break at work because she has an app and a login and we get points (and we've gotten some free food). There is something a little wrong with me having Joann buy the lunch she'd really rather have herself than whatever she brought to work that day while I'm living it up in Vegas ... but free food is free food!
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| Another card dead morning tournament for me. Sat down at the start of level 3 (same is day before), barely played a hand.
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| Only pot I won into the first break was taking down blinds with 88.
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| I did have one hand where someone min-raised who usually wasn't min-raising (all previous times he raised more than 3 times BB) which was a little odd so I decided to defend my big blind with 6-3 of spades.
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| Flop came 2-J-5 with two spades, so straight and flush draws. I call his continuation bet, then make a pair on the turn so have to call that bet ... but I don't improve beyond a pair of sixes and he made a sizeable river bet I couldn't call.
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| That cost me a chunk tho and my stack never again got above 20k after starting with 25k. I was 19,100 at the first break.
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| Eventually I bust out two-pair to a set. I was at exactly 10 big blinds at 600/1200/1200 in the small blind. Folds around to the button who limps and he had limp/folded a few times to that point. I look down at K-8 suited in clubs and decide that's good enough with 10 BB when there's a reasonable chance I can take it down without a fight.
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| The big blind folds, button asks for a count thinks about it and calls off with 44. A flip!
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| If I had limped preflop I was busting out anyway. King in the window ... 4 right behind it. I was going all in on that flop anyway. 8 on the river for my 2 pair.
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| Out to Sam's club to gas up, then quick stop at the Lee's that happens to be on the way back to the hotel where I picked up a Smoke Wagon Malted Rye I've been trying to find. I have their Bottled in Bond Rye and I have a couple of their experimental ryes, one of which being possibly the best rye I've ever tasted, so I've been wanting to pick up one of these.
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| Back to the room where I typed up this much of this BLOG after fixing a few typo's on this mornings because I knew I was rushed and couldn't help re-proofreading.
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| On to Orleans for the 8/b mix!
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| Played "8-max". Low hand for both games is 5 unpaired cards 8 or lower, lowest hand wins, ace is low, A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible low and also counts as a straight for the high hand. High hand wins half the pot when there is a qualifying low, wins the whole pot when there isn't one. Alternate between playing it 7-card stud and Omaha every 8 hands even if there are less than 8 players at the table.
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| In the past I've tended to get a little into the weeds with these games, I'm trying not to do that any more.
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| Fact of the matter is there weren't any particularly notable hands for quite a while. Because these are "limit" games instead of "no limit" the majority of the action is pretty straightforward.
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| For the most part everybody knows what everyone else is doing, played well they're both pretty much all a math game. Bluffing opportunities tend to require very specific circumstances, especially in stud because you see so many of each other's cards.
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| I got there just after the tournament started, and for the first level and a half I may have won as many as ⅔ of the pots, and more scoops than split pots. I had almost all the 25 and 100 denomination chips at the table at one point. Nothing special about the hands, just played what I was dealt.
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| First two hands out of the gate started it all. Omaha 8/b, I made a nut straight and a second nut low for a scoop with A-5-6-9 (suits didn't matter for this one) and the board ran out 2-3-8-7-5. Very next hand I flop a nut low, I think I had A-3-something-something and flopped 2-4-8, rivered the 5 and scooped that one too. Good start!
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| Rest of round two and most of round 3 didn't go nearly as well, but late round 3 and early round 4 I picked up a couple decent pots and went into the break at 18,600 from a 15k starting stack.
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| 54 players, great turnout, paying 7 places. Better than HORSE on Monday!
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| In Omaha games there are good aces and bad aces. A-A-T-6 are not good aces. But I had one suit, played them for a raise, saw an ugly board for my not great aces but ugly for everyone apparently as it got checked all the way down and someone had caught a small flush.
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| Finally, tho, about three hours in a big hand!
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| Playing Stud 8/b I wake up with rolled up trip tens. The odds of getting dealt a 3-of-a-kind in stud is over 1 in 400, double the odds of picking up aces in Hold'Em. It REALLY doesn't happen very often.
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| In Omaha 8/b you really want to be wary of playing "high only" hands because of the split pot nature of the game. But in stud-8 high only hands are much more valuable. And when you're rolled up you can't wait to get more and more chips in the pot...
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| Naturally I raise with my 10s. We end up playing 4 handed, but two of the 4 were very short stacked. I think we had all the chips for them in by 4th street. The one guy who wasn't all in called my 5th street bet when I picked up another ten(!!!!). But when he paired his queen on 6th street he gave up.
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| So I won the side pot with that guy, the rest of the cards were dealt and I also won the second side pot over the bigger of the two short stacks. The shortest stack of all was the only one to make his low and take down half the main pot.
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| Still, tho, quite a pickup for me!
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| After being under starting stack for quite some time I was very happy to be up at 20,500 at the second break!
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| That said, stakes are rocketing up!
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| 45 minutes or so after that hand I get another monster hand. I haven't been noting the blinds/antes/limits to this point but we're 3:45 into the tournament and for stud we're at 500 ante, 500 bring-in, 2000/4000 limits.
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| I have split aces with a 2 (so ace showing, A-2 down). I raise out, a guy showing a 10 of clubs re-raises, we have one other player along for the ride.
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| I have the ace of spades showing and catch a 5 of spades, he catches a 7 of clubs. I bet, he raises, other guy folds, I call.
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| I catch a 3rd ace, he catches what looks like a blank. I bet, he calls. I pick up a 6, he pairs his 7, I'm all in.
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| He only had a flush draw, no low draw, while I have AAA-2-5-6 for a set and a good low draw.
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| We both catch blanks on the river, AAA good, ship it!!!
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| That gets me over 40k and then I have a good run of cards.
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| I chop a 3-way pot when my KK88 is good enough for high in a stud 8/b hand but someone else made a low. Then turn a full house in Omaha 8/b playing a really crappy 6-6-8-Q because I was in a blind (board was T-5-T-6-4 and he folded A-A-4 face up to my river bet - what a suckout for me!).
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| And next time I'm in the small blind I catch trip 10s for another scoop!
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| Suddenly I'm up at 71k!
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| Get up to 80k in another blind hand, I play a hand I'd normally just fold (7-7-8-T) but I flop a full wrap when it comes 5-9-J and end up rivering a 6! And we're down to two tables of 16 so we're just 9 from the money!
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| Give a little back, 8 from the money, 79k into the next break. Make that 80k, I win the chip race!
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| I look around and at this point I believe I'm roughly tied for second in chips. But the limits are so high any bad hand can quickly hammer your stack.
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| We lose 2 more. 5 from money.
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| I lose about half my stack when I have Q-Q-J-2 in Omaha in the big blind and by the turn the board is A-T-X-K giving me the nuts at the time, a broadway straight, so naturally I lead out and get called in two places. But a 10 comes on the river and both of them end the hand with full houses (one a short stack who was all in and had the better one).
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| Crushing.
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| That left me at 40k, I pay blinds and call in the small so I'm down to 30k when neither hand goes well.
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| We lose two more, 3 from money but I'm struggling at 25k.
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| Then I lose another 6k trying to buy a pot.
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| But ... I get lucky! I win antes in a hand to get back around 25k and in stud 8 I have an ace showing with 9-3 underneath. Folds to me so I try and steal antes again with the ace. I get called from I think a 5 showing.
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| She catches a 4, I catch a queen. We check.
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| I she catches a 6, I get a 5. So I have A-3-5-Q-9 with three diamonds. I have 17k left behind and she makes it 16k to go. I decide I've got too much in the pot, I can't fold. I stick the rest in and she calls the extra 1000.
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| She has a flush draw and needs running low cards. No pair for either of us, I believe I'm actually a little ahead.
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| I catch the 4d to give me a steel wheel draw (A-3-4-5 all diamonds, the 2d would give me both a straight flush and the nut low). The 7th card is dealt face down, I flip over the 2h for a straight and the nut low and she missed. Scoop!
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| Back up to 60k, we lose another player and they redraw for final table of 9 paying seven places.
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| Lose one quickly and we're on the bubble!
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| But I'm still one of the shortest stacks at the table.
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| Give up a big blind I can't afford, then in the small blind early to act makes it 20k to go (blinds 5000/10000) and I look down at K-K-4-2 with two suits. I almost reraise but I decide to just call for 40% of my stack and the big blind calls as well.
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| Flop 4-7-8, about the worst flop I could ask for. I fold as does the big blind to a bet from the original raiser who flips over A-2-7-8.
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| Back down to 30k I'm in trouble.
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| A couple hands later I get dealt K-K-A-5. About as good a hand as I could ask for.
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| I raise to 20k, button makes it 30k (the rest of my stack), everyone else folds and naturally I call. He's got A-3-7-8.
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| Flop comes 9-J-7, turn another jack, river an ace. His two pair aces and sevens good, I'm out on the bubble.
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| ARGH!
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| Very frustrating. I'm having a little whisky as I type this up at 2am. I'll proofread in the morning since I expect I'll be sleeping in again and won't have a lot of time so I decided to get this written up before I hit the sack. And I'm steaming a hair so I wasn't quite ready to sleep yet anyway.
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| Thursday it'll be NLH at Orleans twice again. |
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