Vegas Vacation Poker Blog

August 1-5. Check back every night for updates.

It's my birthday on Saturday and as part of my present, Laurie and I are in Las Vegas for a 5 day vacation. We're staying at my timeshare and we're hoping to make it big at the poker tables. I had to promise that Laurie could spend half my winnings. So here's how I did.

My hope is that you'll learn a little bit about the poker scene here in Vegas. One great tool that I have is a website called Vegas Hold'em. It's a comprehensive listing of all poker rooms and tournaments on and off the strip.

Monday • Tuesday • Wednesday • Thursday • Friday

Monday - August 1

The first thing that I wanted to accomplish was to play in a tournament and play in a live game. I wanted to play at the Mandaley Bay, but they were sold out. I'll play on Wednesday. I just need to get there early. I went across the street to the MGM Grand. I was the 54th person out of 60 players to make it in. My strategy was to play solid during the first two rounds.

I started with 1,200 in chips and ended the second session at 2,000 chips. Not bad, but because of the blind structure and low starting chip stack. Even at 2,000 chips, by the time the blinds got to 50/100, I was now short stacked. I played a few good hands, but came up losers and now I'm back to 1,200 in chips. Long story short, I was looking for a hand to go all in. I wanted pocket pair or an ace with a descent kicker. I kept pulling up A-2 and A-3.

When the blinds got to 100/200 I was in real trouble. I was now at 800 chips. I got A-5 suited and went all in against pocket Queens. I acknowledged that I was in trouble at 40% to win. The flop came 2-6-5. Not bad, I have 5 outs. The turn came a 3. Now I'm at 9 outs. And finally a 7 on the river. An almost straight. That was a frustrating tournament.

When tournaments do not give you many chips at the start and raise the blinds quickly every 20 minutes, you have to get lucky. When the blinds hit 50/100, everyone at my table was short-stacked. You need to win many hands right off the bat or double, then triple up. I'm almost thinking that if you have a premium hand, you need to go all-in and gamble.

After this frustrating tournament, I decided to go to my favorite casino to play in, the Excalibur. Descent room with a lot of action.

The key for beginners to win money in Vegas is to play in locations where there are tourists. If you go to a card club, you're going to be up against people to take poker seriously. That's great but the swings are small and when you win, you'll win the minimum. Tourists are not saavy poker players. They want to have fun. They are willing to lose money for the fun of playing poker. Also, the rake is so high at some places, the only way to win money is to win period. You've got to win at least 2 times for every 1 time you in a hand.

So, I go to the Excalibur with $100. I'm hoping to win $40 and call it a day. My goal when approaching a card room is to be aggressive up front. I'll raise and call more in the first 30 minutes. I need a table image that is either a solid player, who commands a table, or a loose aggressive player, who'll play anything. The image is based on how tight or loose the table is AND how good the cards I am getting.

I'm finally seated at a 1-3 spread hold'em table. I size up my table and spot two players that I think are good players. I'm fortunate to be sitting to the left of them. Looking at the betting patterns, this is a loose table. Lots of family pots and lots of calling. When you're at a loose table, but best way to win is to either get nice drawing cards and have a lot of people in the pot or when you have premium or high cards, you have to isolate and get people out of the hand.

After 3 hours of poker, I walked away with $80 dollars. I was actually up to $90 and I thought I could make it to $100 and Laurie and I would split $50. I began to tighten up and look for the right opportunity. Well, when I tightened up and lost. I have to stay aggressive. After going down to $80, I figured the well was dry. I brought my chips to the cashier and they were amazed that someone could win $80 at $1-$3 limit poker.

How did I do it? It was easy, loose tourist tables, no one likes to give up and everyone is calling to the end. When you have the nuts, you'll have at least 3 people going to the end with you. Here's a good example, I had pocket Queens, the guy to my right raised. My first strategy was to isolate, because I want to go head to head with this guy. I don't want a lot of people to get lucky on me, so I reraised. Mission accomplised, everyone folded except the two of us. The flop comes 10-8-Q. I have trip Queens, my opponent checks, I raise and he calls. The turn comes a Jack and my opponent bets. I have now put this guy on A-K for the straight and I proclaim out loud, "I think I just lost this hand." Because the pot is so big, I call. If the board pairs, I now have the nut Full House. The river comes a 5. Great, I just lost this hand. My opponent raises and I hesitate before calling. My opponent flips over A-J. He hits middle pair and decides to bet into me. I win a huge pot. How did I win? No professional would have taken this hand to the river. My bet on the flop should have been an indicator that I have a least a pair of queens.

My play was so solid the entire time, that anytime I came in for a raise, I won the pot. This meant that anytime table checked to me, I could bet and win the pot. Not bad for the first day.

Tuesday - August 2

I decided not to play a tournament today. Instead I got free stuff from the owner's update meeting for my timeshare. Laurie and I have now been banned from ever coming to these meetings ever again. Something tells me though that in a year, I'll get another call to come out and have a chance to buy more points.

Anyways, I'm headed over to the Sahara to see the action. There was only one table of 2-4 limit going. I decide to pass and head back to the Excalibur. I don't like small rooms with 1 table for two reasons, small rooms often attract the serious players and they tend to lose players quickly.

I go to the Excalibur and wait about 15 minutes for a table. I can see that the poker lessions are just about to start (good way to get tourist money). I'm seated at a regular table instead for 1-3 spread hold'em.

Yesterday's table was loose, today's table is tight. The difference in the money making is different at tight tables. Because of tightness, there are fewer players in hands, 3 at most. Also, no one reraises so the pots are small. It wasn't uncommon for one person and the blind to be the only one's involved in the hand. Pre-flop the pot is at $2-3 dollars minus the rake.

My task was to take as many hands as I can without showdowns. Anytime that it was checked to me in middle or late position I raised the maximum and stole initial bets and blinds. Also, I would limp in with a few people in the pot and then raise post-flop to steal the pot. In the first hour, I won 5 pots without every having a hand. The key is great reads. You have to discern that the other players are weak. Look at the texture of the flop. Any pair on the flop or any face card with two rags are great bluffing opportunities. Take advantage of this at tight tables. The only problem was that even though I was winning. I would only win $3 a pot.

My table image was aggressive and loose. After a while people began to play back at me. By the time 2 hours went by, I was down $40. I got involved in two hands that I never should have been involved in and I also lost two big hands when a player's top pair hit on the river. Also, it was clear that I was bluffing a lot.

What do you do when you're caught bluffing too much and anytime you raise, you get challenged? You now change gears. Now that I'm pegged at a loose player, I need to tighten up. I now have to wait for descent cards. I am now only playing pocket pairs, suited connectors and high cards. I'm folding everything else. Also, if I do get a premium hand, I'm betting with them, even though I could slowplay.

For examples, I'm dealt K-J suited. The board hits K-8-3. I immediately raise and everyone folds. I now expose my cards, because I want everyone to know that I actually had the hand they put me on. I am now dealt 6-8 of diamonds. The board hits K-T diamonds and a rag spade. I check, the board is raised and I call. The turn brings 4 of diamonds. The players check, I raise and everyone folds. I stack my chips and I expose my cards again, because I want everyone to know that I had the hand they put me on.

I was exposing my cards, because I needed to regain my solid player image. This came in handy as I began to play loose again in order to steal pots. Also, another player came to the table and his strategy was to raise whenever everyone else showed weakness. He was now stealing pots and this was ticking people off. This guy was two players to my right so I had position on him.

This is why table image and position are so important. One hand I was dealt JT suited. Two players limp in and the pot stealer raises. Now's my time to test this guy. After he raises, it's folded to me and I reraise. Why? To isolate so that it's only me and him in the hand. The board comes Q-7-3 rainbow. I've got nothing. Because of my reraise, the pot stealer checks (because he has no hand) and I bet the maximum amount. The pot stealer folds. I win the pot. Strike one.

A few hands later, I'm dealt Q-7 suited. I'm on the button so I limp in. Six others limp in and we have a family pot. The flop comes Q-6-2. Everyone checks to the pot stealer. He raises. I reraise and he immediately folds. Strike two.

I immediately tell the guys sitting next to me, that this was the second time that I got him. I then tell them that the this is how that guy plays. He raises to steal and is often bluffings.

The very next hand, I muck my 7-2. The pot stealer and the guy next to me are involved in a hand. Long story short, the guy nexts to me challenges the pot stealers bluff and he folds. Strike three. For the rest of the time, I'm at the table, the pot stealer never raised again and even began to fold bad cards in late position.

Final observation. Midway through my session and sweet college girls sits on my left. I observe that she's new to the game. I'm dealt A-8 of diamonds. The flop comes up two diamonds. Me, her and another guy are in the hand. The river brings me my final diamond for the nuts. I raise, the girl reraises and the third guy folds. I tell her, "I'm going to be nice to you and call." She shows the straight that she just made on the river and I show the nut flush. Everyone at the table says I should have raised.

Image and respect are all you really have at the table. I could not afford to be seen as a bully, nor disliked at the table. All-in-all I leave the Excalibur losing $2 for the day. So, I'm up $78.

More to come. I'm going to play the Mandalay Bay tournament in the morning and then play at the Excalibur again in the evening.

Wednesday - August 3

Someone set the alarm in the room and it woke me up at 7:00, ugh. Well, I'm up, I'm going to Mandalay Bay in a few minutes to register.

I'm back and nothing to it. I'm back at my room relaxing and trying to formulate a strategy. This is going to be a tough tournament. I only have 300 in chips and the blinds move up pretty fast. Here's the structure.

The first hour of the tournament is limit hold'em. After that it becomes no limit. You can see that if you don't make moves early on, you're going to get blinded out fast. This happened to me months ago in this tournament. The key to winning is aggression, isolation and luck. Anytime I get big cards, I'm raising three bets. I'll pay a draw hand once or twice in late position, as long as I feel like I won't be raised. My feeling is that in the early rounds I'll either be lucky or out. The reality is that by being aggressive early on, I need to get good cards. I'll need to avoid bluffing in large groups. It's 8:21 right now so I'm heading back at 9:00.

It's now 11:30 and I'm out. Not bad though. Out of a field of 40 players, I finished 10th making it to the final table. I mentioned before in order to survive, you've got to be aggressive and lucky. The problem is that because we start by playing limit hold'em, the price is so cheap in the beginning, it's hard to get your raises respected. Plus more people will play with suited connectors and low pocket pairs.

In the first round, I was dealt J-J and A-Q, losers on both occasions. I at least knew that I was a loser before the turn, so my losses were minimal. I was basically drawing card dead for the next two rounds. It wasn't until the 4 round, when I was severely short-stacked that things changed. At 25-50 and me with only 300 in chips left, I was fortunate to get Q-7 on the big blind and I raised. The flop came J-9-3. I figured I'm pretty much pot committed. I raised, the caller had me covered and raised me all in. I flip over my Q-7 and the caller flips over 9-4 suited. The turn hits my queen and I double up on the river.

The next hand I've got two short stacks up against me and I have A-8 suited. I call and another player calls, so we have 4 players, 2 of which are all-in. The other caller and I decide to check it down the river. I win the hand with Ace high and knock two people out of the game and I take the chip lead.

The entire tournament I'm sitting next to a talking poker expert. He's actually a guy to like to comment on every hand and since he's a loose raiser, he's constantly talking. I hate these guys, but I'm being pretty cordial. I just hate it when he's sitting next to me and worse, sitting on my left.

The next hand, I'm in with A-T. He raises and rags hit the board. He raises and I'm out. He then flips over pocket 5's for a set. I'm no longer the chip leader. I figure at this point, I have a lot of chips, let's sit back and wait for no-limit.

Now we're at no-limit. Everyone is now short stacked. There is not a dominate chip leader and we're all on about 700-1000 in chips at 50/100 blinds. That's 10 big blinds max per players.

My goal is to find a hand to go all in. The key to surviving is to win races. I'm looking for high cards, aces and pocket pairs.

One of the tables are broken up and the chip leader from that table comes and sits on my right. He's a pretty solid player. The talker (new chip leader) is still on my left. The new player limps in. I'm on the small blinds and I have 7-2 so I fold. The talker checks the big blinds. We're down to two players. The board comes 3c-4c-9d. Both players check and the turn comes Jh. Both players check again. The river comes 5c. The talker (chip leader) raises. The player on my right goes all-in and the chip leader calls. The talker flips over 6-2 for the straight. The other player flips over Ac-2c for the straight flush. Next hand the talker is gone.

Now I have the dominant chip leader on my right. Not bad. I'm hoping that he'll come in and I'll have a good hand to double up on. Soon the tables are combined to creat the final table. I'm in a very good position. I have the number 1 and 2 chip leaders sitting directly to my right.

First hand, I'm dealt J-T. I decide to take a stand and go all-in. Everyone folds to me and I pick up the blinds. I'm now in early position and I'm dealt pocket 7. I hesitate and decide to throw caution to the wind and go all-in. I'm called by two players. Board is really ugly for me and I'm out.

I still think about that play. Maybe I overplayed the 7's but then again, I was hoping to be in a coin toss situation unfortuately I was up against jacks and king-jack. I was dominated on both accounts, the board shows a King and I'm dead. I'm out in tenth place.

Laurie and I are going to see a show this afternoon and then I'll hit the tables tonight. Let's see what kind of players are there in the early evening.

I got back to the Excalibur in the early evening about 7:00 pm. I found myself at a table of some pretty good players. I'm in trouble and realizing that I'm going to have a hard time making money. Well, I play and I'm in between two raisers. I basically have only one strategy and that's wait for a hand and be aggressive.

This strategy worked to some degree. By re-raising their raises, I was able to isolate myself and go head to head. It worked until the point that these two guys busted out. Then my strategy flew out the window.

The remainder of the night my strategy was reduced to getting lucky. Because I lost two major pots against people who had no business being in a hand. Here's the typical. Pockets Queens against 8-5 offsuit. 8-5 makes his straight on the river. The problem was that I made it real expensive for this guys to make his straight and he made it. This is the inherent problem with low limit hold'em. You can't beat people who are lucky.

Today's loss came to $40. The lesson I learned today was at what point do I leave a game. Key factor number 1 - leave the game when you have no control over the table. When you can't force a person out for any reason.

Thursday - August 4

I decide to play at the Flamingo today. Today I didn't fair much better than yesterday. Again, you can't beat a player who is lucky. Here's the defining moment.

I am dealt pocket 5's on the button. I flop my set and begin raising the pot. The big blind is playing with J-5 off. The board completes this person straight. I was talking with the person and her philosophy is that she always wins on the big blind, so she defends it at any expense.

Two hands later she gets her flush on the river with her 7-2 suited. Did I mention that she also hit trips with 7-2 offsuit on the big blind.

When is a good time to leave. When you can't control the table anymore with raises. Now you're just playing cards.

I lose another $40 today.

Tommorow is the last day. I'm hoping to make a new run at it tomorrow before flying home.

Friday - August 5

Laurie wanted to see a movie today, so I suggested the Orleans so that I can play some poker. She saw Sky High and I played $2-$4 limit. I figured that this was going to be a hard table. A lot of poker locals were at the table. I had to play good solid poker.

I sit down and I'm right. Many of the players were much older than me. There was one person in his 40's and he was playing the role of the pot stealer. Strategy is to play the right cards pre-flop and be aggressive, especially against the pot stealer.

I came in with $100 as I usually do in $2-$4. I had a very slow start. Sometimes you just don't get cards. I played a marginal hand and then I tried to steal the pot when the high card and two rags flopped. I got a little push back and folded but I can see this is a tight table.

After about 30 minutes, I was dealt ace-ten. The flop hit King-rag-rag. I raised and pulled the pot.

I was then dealt pocket twos. The flop hit 8-8-2 for the full house. I checked on the flop, no bites. I checked on the turn, no bites. I bet on the river and took the pot uncontested. I didn't show my boat, because I didn't want to show that I'd normally play pocket twos in early position.

The next hand I'm dealt is 10-7 in the big blind. The flop comes off J-10-7. I check the pot stealer bets and I call. After the turn, I check, the pot stealer bets and I reraise. Everyone folds, even the pot stealer couldn't complete the bet. I love putting a bluffer in his place.

The very next hand, I'm dealt Ace-8. The flop comes Ace-Ace-Jack. I'm on the small blind. I check the dealer bets and I call. The turn brings an Ace for my quad Aces. I check, the button bets and I rereaise. The button folds. I flip over my Ace. I had to. I mentioned to the bettor that I really didn't want to be any trickier.

At this point I'm up to $120 after winning four hands in a row. I now become card dead for the rest of the game. Laurie finally shows up after 2 hours to save my bankroll and I walk away with $98. If you add back the drink I bought and the tips, I would have been $106 at the end.

The key to not losing was the choices of hands I mucked pre-flop. I honestly never mucked pre-flop the winning hand. I got Q-x suited three hands in a row and never played one of them. I also had connector cards in early position and mucked those as well. Patience and aggression is the key to winning limit hold'em.

That's my vacation. Not bad. I wish I could have finished ahead, but I can't wait to get back.

Cheers. Your Pal, Al

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