VEGAS BABY!

[Subby]

QuikSand, Primelord, Malificent and some jackhole named SubbyChris are headed to Vegas today to play in one of the WSoP NL events and hopefully clean up in the side games. Hopefully we hook up with Vegas Vic while we are out there.

The 50K HORSE event, ladies event and SENIORS event (money old school gamblers) will also take place while we are there. Should be a blast.

Wish us luck! Updates as they become available...

And see you on ESPN :)

[Draft Dodger]

http://www.thebudgetfashionista.com/newsletter/images/april/vaseline.gif

[JeeberD]

Awesome...you kids have fun!

[heybrad]

My wife is in Vegas this weekend to see Chris Isaak.

Please stay away from her.

;)

[Vince]

I still temporarily hate you for Wes Hopkins.

But good luck anyways :)

[kcchief19]

Good luck, guys. Kick ass and take names.

[biological warrior]

If you got time check out the NBA summer league games at the T&M and cox pavillion. Tix start at 22$.

[B & B]

http://www.pwclub.com/media/4141030705.GIF

[VPI97]

gay

[VPI97]

dola -

I mean supergay.

[sabotai]

http://www.irregardlessproductions.com/macro-gayer.jpg

[sabotai]

dola,

And good luck guys. Show the world the power of FOFC poker!

[Wasabiak]

Good luck guys. Have fun and be safe.

[kingfc22]

Good luck tomorrow guys.

Next year I am making sure that I will be playing in this event.

[kingfc22]

Any updates???

[kingfc22]

The organizers already anticipate 2,800 or more entrants and a full room for most of the day. There is a full line of alternates who will be accepted into the tournament for the first two levels.

Looks like a good sized field.

[albionmoonlight]

There's no site that keeps running tabs of everyone in the tourney, huh? I can only find lists of "notables."

[gottimd]

Cardplayer dot com?

Shows some winners but they seem to be actual names unless they entered the tournament with their FOFC names. If they did, see post #11.

Unless of course if they entered the tournament as "Ice Pick Killa"

[kcchief19]

Between players stretching and doing jumping jacks in between hands to a guy wearing a ski mask and goggles at the table, the $1,000 event has truly brought out a different group of people then we've seen so far at the WSOP.
Subby!

[kcchief19]

There's no site that keeps running tabs of everyone in the tourney, huh? I can only find lists of "notables."
Yeah, with a field this large they're only going to track the "notables" and anyone with an oddly large stack. CardPlayer may also track FullTilt qualifiers, which I assume there are some.

[kingfc22]

Subby!

:D

[Maple Leafs]

CardPlayer may also track FullTilt qualifiers, which I assume there are some.
Oh, is CardPlayer associated with FullTilt? I hadn't noticed.

[kcchief19]

Oh, is CardPlayer associated with FullTilt? I hadn't noticed.
It's very classy and subtle. You have to admire understated marketing campaigns.

[Vegas Vic]

I spoke to QuikSand last night, and it looks like all of the FOFC contingent is playing in the NL event today. I'll post an update later tonight when I talk to him.

[Barkeep49]

Update. I want an update.

[Butter]

http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result13612.htm

If anyone knows their real names, you can check the attached and see if they're still alive and/or if they made the early stages of the money. I don't, sadly.

[Barkeep49]

I know that Subby is out then. Don't know any of the others.

[Radii]

Quiksand is still alive, somewhat of a short stack though.

[Radii]

I'm pretty sure primelord is out also, but I don't know his last name, so not 100% certain. If Mali played, he's out too.

[KJDelaney]

great.

more tourists. Just what we need.

[VPI97]

I'm pretty sure primelord is out also, but I don't know his last name
He's not on the list, so he may be out.

[Samdari]

He's not on the list, so he may be out.

Worse yet, if he's not on the list, he finished below Shannon Elizabeth.

[RedKingGold]

Go Shannon Elizabeth!

[Radii]

Worse yet, if he's not on the list, he finished below Shannon Elizabeth.


I'm sure there are worse things than finishing under Shannon Elizabeth ;)

[gottimd]

I'm sure there are worse things than finishing under Shannon Elizabeth ;)

Finishing behind her wouldn't be bad either;)

[Samdari]

I'm sure there are worse things than finishing under Shannon Elizabeth ;)

I tried to think of a way to phrase that so it could not be twisted, but behind Shannon Elizabeth sounds just as yummy :)

[digamma]

Nice work, Quik!

[Coffee Warlord]

So the only one still in is Quik?

[Lathum]

The fact there is stillo ne in is pretty amazing. Go Qwik!!

[Radii]

So the only one still in is Quik?

I'm fairly certain that's the case.

Here's the payout structure:


PLACE PRIZE
1 $526,185
2 $289,389
3 $157,322
4 $122,596
5 $105,232
6 $88,132
7 $74,715
8 $61,561
9 $49,722
10 $38,936
11 $35,516
12 $32,622
13 $29,991
14 $27,360
15 $24,730
16 $22,099
17 $19,468
18 $16,837
21 - 19 $14,206
24 - 22 $11,576
27 - 25 $9,471
36 - 28 $7,892
54 - 37 $6,314
81 - 55 $5,262
108 - 82 $4,209
153 - 109 $3,157
198 - 154 $2,368
270 - 199 $1,578



Currently there are 139 left, so Quik is guarenteed $3157. At 108 it jumps to $4200. He's in ~95th out of the 139 left, but it looks like the blinds are catching up quickly to the bottom half of the field. Cardplayer lists the current blinds at 600/1200 with a 200 ante, about 20,000 chips only puts you at an M of 10. There are about 45 people at or below that level, so it'll be crazy in the early going.

Cardplayer posts updates with the names of all the finishers after 6 or 7 new people bust out, so we should be able to see before the end of the night how things are going.

This starts back up at 2pm Vegas time, so 5pm EST.

[Lathum]

Any word on interesting bust outs/ suck outs/ or pro's played with?

[cartman]

There must not be any free wi-fi hotspots in Vegas. Either that, or the after parties are something legendary...

:D

[Bee]

Any word on interesting bust outs/ suck outs/ or pro's played with?

I believe primelord went all in with Shannon Elizabeth and shot his wad.

[QuikSand]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. We're having a great time, collectively we're up pretty comfortabely even before the tournament, and it's all good.

I haev been fairly short stacked most of this event, and have been getting by mostly by the unspectacular method of stealing blinds, keeping out of serious trouble, and staying alive. I'm not desperate going intot day two, but I'm also about one bad hand from being in a desperate situation. Blinds and antes are awfully hungry right now -- if you follow such things, the average chip stack has an M of only about 7, and mine is under 5.

More details later... but I never thought I'd have an opportunity to make a "TV read" and play against someone differently based on what I saw of them on television... but there I was (hint: the foe was Tiffany Williamson). I survived, very luckily, a big hand right at the money bubble (I would not have gotten involved had I known exactly where we were in that regard). And Shannon Elizabeth is really, really, really hawt. Even in person. Yikes.

Thanks for the support... hope the ride continues!

[QuikSand]

Oh, more details to come... but primelord lost out when his QQ got busted by JJ.... and Subby can detail his "chip and a chair" tales better than I can. but he made a hell of a rebound from being basically on the felt.

[CleBrownsfan]

Sounds like a blast Quick - Good luck today!

[John Galt]

Congrats. Good luck today!

[QuikSand]

This is primelord. I am too lazy to log Quik out and sign in as myself.

I'll post some details as well when we get back, but a real quick recap of the hand that doomed me. I had QQ in the BB and somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 chips. A guy I had pushed out a few times makes it 1,200 preflop. Blinds of 150-300 and antes 25. It's folded to me and I shove. He hems and haws a bit and then says I don't think you have my pocket pair beat and calls. He turns over JJ. Turn is a J and I am busto.

What can ya do? I will say I got hit the face by the deck in the first few hours of the tournament. AA twice, KK three times, QQ, JJ, AK a ton. So anyway that is all for now. We are having a great time and I have run into some "interesting" people along the way here. And I am not talking about Subby. :)

[flere-imsaho]

Did Quik win yet?

[dixieflatline]

This better become a FOFC/92o annual tradition. I'm so in next year. GL quik.

[GoldenEagle]

If Subby bangs Shannon Elizabeth, I will buy him into the ME.

[cartman]

If Subby bangs Shannon Elizabeth, I will buy him into the ME.

If he makes a video of it, I'll buy him into the $50K Horse event. :D

[Vegas Vic]

I just spoke to Eric ("Primelord"), and they're grabbing some lunch before heading back over to the Rio. Michael ("QuikSand") is in good shape with about an average stack, and his tournament starts again at 2:00 PM PDT. The other guys plan on playing in a 2nd chance tournament later this evening.

I'm going to meet up with them for lunch tomorrow, unless Michael makes it to the final table (in which case I'll be over at the Rio to cheer him on). He's already in the money, and hopefully he can get deep into the big money.

[digamma]

Cards are in the air!

[John Galt]

Cards are in the air!

Is there any website (besides the one listed earlier) to watch the action live (or close to it)?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good luck to all of ya'll out there.

[digamma]

Is there any website (besides the one listed earlier) to watch the action live (or close to it)?

Cardplayer dot com's blog has somewhat frequent updates, though I think it'll probably be until the first break before they have a ton of good information on updated chip counts and things like that.

[sabotai]

20 people knocked out already. QS is still alive (but dunno chip count) About 10 to go til next pay level.

[sabotai]

108 left, at the next play level and QS is still alive (I think.....)

[digamma]

Down to 98. Still no QS elimination posted.

About ten more spots for another payout bump.

[kcchief19]

They still show him with around $19,000. Hopefully he's still stealing some blinds. The blinds are maddening at this point ... c'mon, Quik!

[kcchief19]

They also show him moving up the standings ... 77th now.

[kcchief19]

73rd of 88 ...

[bulletsponge]

woot this is interesting. is shannon Elizabeth still in it?

[digamma]

They still show him with around $19,000. Hopefully he's still stealing some blinds. The blinds are maddening at this point ... c'mon, Quik!

From what I can tell, they aren't updating chip stacks of unknown players very often, so that may be his count from last night.

It looks like the next pay bump is at 82nd, so I was off a bit before.

Let's go Quik!

[kcchief19]

They just reported Pete Lawson out 83rd ... if Quik didn't go out between 88 and 84, he's one spot away from more money.

[kcchief19]

From what I can tell, they aren't updating chip stacks of unknown players very often, so that may be his count from last night.

It looks like the next pay bump is at 82nd, so I was off a bit before.

Let's go Quik!
You're probably right -- good call.

Looks like he's clear through 83rd place -- they are on the bubble now.

[VPI97]

They just reported Pete Lawson out 83rd ... if Quik didn't go out between 88 and 84, he's one spot away from more money.
The chip count page shows others going out at 85-88. QS is still in.

[kcchief19]

And they're off the bubble -- 80 players left. Go, baby!

[JHandley]

But, they also reported that the guy that eliminated Pete Lawson at 83rd, Gregg Grivas, was eliminated at 90th.

[VPI97]

Out in 80th.

Edit - Take home = $5,262

Good showing, QS!!!

[kcchief19]

They now show Quik busted in 80th.

[kcchief19]

Out in 80th.

Edit - Take home = $5,262

Good showing, QS!!!
Beat me to it. Excellent showing. Incredible job, Quik!

[Maple Leafs]

Very impressive.

[albionmoonlight]

::applause::

[SirFozzie]

Yay Quik!

[cartman]

WOOT! Head on out to the Salt Lick BBQ at the Red Rock Casino and celebrate! The best all you can eat BBQ in the land!

Congrats to all the FOFCers who entered!

[Maple Leafs]

Sanderson Eliminated
Michael Sanderson moves all in on a board of K42 and is called by Anthony Limantzakis, who shows the 45, which is indeed ahead of Sandersons Q8. Sanderson does not improve and is eliminated in 80th place.

Edited to add: Donkey.

[sabotai]

::applause::

Even a blurb of it on Cardplayer's update log, neat.

[TroyF]

congrats QS. Nicely done.

[cartman]

Sanderson Eliminated
Michael Sanderson moves all in on a board of K42 and is called by Anthony Limantzakis, who shows the 45, which is indeed ahead of Sandersons Q8. Sanderson does not improve and is eliminated in 80th place.

Edited to add: Donkey.

Not knowing the chip counts, I'm guessing that QS was shortstacked, and the other guy had him more than covered. It also didn't mention if the 45 was suited or not. If so, that is a hand a some will play pre-flop if they have position.

[kcchief19]

Here it is with suit information:

Michael Sanderson moves all in on a board of Khttp://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gif4http://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/diamond.gif2http://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif and is called by Anthony Limantzakis, who shows the 4http://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif5http://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif, which is indeed ahead of Sandersons Qhttp://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif8http://cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gif. Sanderson does not improve and is eliminated in 80th place.

[GoldenEagle]

Edited to add: Donkey.

Do not talk about QS like that. ;)

[Maple Leafs]

Do not talk about QS like that.
Yeah, see, that was actually the joke, but then everyone read it to mean...

Never mind.

QuikSand, you suck, I challenge to a heads up freezeout!

[cartman]

Anthony Limantzakis dies at dawn.

:D

[albionmoonlight]

Anthony Limantzakis dies at dawn.

:D

QS will come back more powerful that he can ever imagine.

[albionmoonlight]

dola--

Or, perhaps QS should have just informed the table that "I will not accept a bust-out."

[Radii]

Not knowing the chip counts, I'm guessing that QS was shortstacked, and the other guy had him more than covered. It also didn't mention if the 45 was suited or not. If so, that is a hand a some will play pre-flop if they have position.

Knowing what we know about the blind structure and where they started the afternoon, I'm guessing that when they hit that bump at ~82 people left, a ton of people had very low M's and were going to start pushing all in like crazy, the next pay jump wasn't until the 50s somewhere.

[Radii]

Congrats Quik, awesome showing!!

[Dutch]

Congrats to Quik! That's an impressive run. I hope ya'll plan to do this again. You definately have a fan base here. :)

[QuikSand]

Thanks so much everyone... this was a really good experience.

I am a pretty patient player generally, but this was really trying -- through the day yesterday, I lost count of the times that I got dealt ace-king, but it was probably in the vicinity of 12-14 times (over 11 or so hours of play). The downside was that I only hit one flop with it (of the ones which made it that far), and that was a made nut flush which yielded no action. I was dealt AA on the fourth hand of the event (and won $25 + $25 of blinds with it, hoo-friggin-ray) and didn't see another pair over 66 until at least six or seven hours later.

The only way I stayed alive from dinnertime until day two was by tripling the big blind or so with mediocre hands like KT and A8 and the like (along with the occasional AK and one actual monster KK) and usually winning the blinds and antes -- which was enough to keep me from becoming absolutely desperate.

I made a move, and then a big push with AK as we were (by the announcements that we had received) down to about 300 players -- with my fairly short stack, a bit risky. Turns out I was up against KK, but turned a flush draw, and rivered an ace to bust out the guy with KK. Turns out we were much, much closer to the bubble than had been announced -- the KK guy went out, I believe, in about 275th, as they announced the bubble had been passed within a couple minutes after that hand. (I actually showed down only a very few hands in the entire event, but that was the only time I had my money in bad)

Tough to know whether playing more "creatively" might have given me a shot to stay off the ropes today... but as it turns out, I just didn't get much to play. Only had four hands to think about -- I reraised a KQ from my big blind and won the pot after a lengthy staredown (the raiser folded), and I mucked an ATs when we were either just before (or just after) the 81st place bubble, which was worth another increment of $1100 or so. On my last hand, written up above, I was fully prepared to push no matter what -- might have been shaky to do so after seeing a flop, but I thought that might actually give me more leverage -- opponent was an aggresive player who made a rare smooth call on that hand, rather than a typical raise. *shurg*

Once again -- thanks to you all for the support and encouragement. Was a great run... but I'm a bit burned out on (read: bored from) the tournament mentality -- especially the short stack mentality. I'm heading over to the cash games for tonight, which have also been good to me this trip.

w00t!

[NoMyths]

Outstanding job, Quik. Congratulations on a great showing. :)

[Fonzie]

Beers are on QuikSand!

Congrats!

[AnalBumCover]

Great job QS!

[Draft Dodger]

Once again -- thanks to you all for the support and encouragement. Was a great run... but I'm a bit burned out on (read: bored from) the tournament mentality -- especially the short stack mentality. I'm heading over to the cash games for tonight, which have also been good to me this trip.


(read: hookers)

[kingfc22]

Awesome job QS. I hope to join you there next year.

[GoldenEagle]

QS,

Was Tiffany Williamson really the bitch that she was on TV last year? Is she also the donk everyone thought she was?

[timmynausea]

Great job, Quik.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Well done.

[CleBrownsfan]

Awesome job Quick!!

[Butter]

Very, very impressive. Nicely done. Congrats.

[flere-imsaho]

Congrats!!! :D

[MacroGuru]

Awesome! Just plain old awesome!

[Comey]

Congrats Quik! Great job!

[wade moore]

Congrats!

[Neuqua]

That's awesome!

Feel free to share the good kharma for my Vegas trip in mid-August.

[GoldenEagle]

That's awesome!

Feel free to share the good kharma for my Vegas trip in mid-August.

Is Riley going with you?

[gkb]

Congrats Quik! Nice job man.

[ctmason]

I have to tell you Michael, this is pretty trippy reading this, remember that three years ago or so you had advised someone else not to play poker in a casino and I asked you to reconsider and you may want to give it a try yourself.

Here we are, I've long since quit playing poker, right before in exploded in popularity, story of my life.

[Honolulu Blue]

Nice job, QS. Now go back to fleecing the tourists out of their money.

[Bee]

Congrats Quiksand!

[John Galt]

Congrats! Great Job.

Any predictions on how much of QS's Vegas winnings he blows (pun intended) on strippers?

Of course the over/under is set at 2/3 of his winnings.

[Barkeep49]

I don't believe I've added my hearty congradulations to the list here.

[Lathum]

Great job quik! I would love to hear the other guys stories as well. Did anyone play with any well known pro's?

[Vegas Vic]

I just got back from meeting these guys over at The Aladdin for lunch. Chris (“Subby”) graciously picked up my tab, and Michael (“QuikSand”) left the tip for the group. I also got to meet Rick (“Primelord”) and Andy (“Malificent”). We had a great discussion about poker, FOF and numerous other things. I’ll let one of the other guys fill you in on their humorous jailbait buffet encounter.

You all know about Michael’s outstanding performance in the $1K NL tournament. Also, congratulations to Rick (“Primelord”), who cashed last night in a WSOP 2nd chance tourney. I was really impressed with all of these guys’ knowledge of the game. I’m not a tournament player, and I learned a thing or two from listening to them.

They had a couple of hours to kill before heading back, and they decided to fleece the donkeys one last time at the poker room before heading out on their flights. Chris and Michael will be flying out to Washington D.C., Rick to St. Louis, and Andy to Raleigh. I’m sure they’ll have some exciting trip reports to file when they get back.

[Dutch]

I’ll let one of the other guys fill you in on their humorous jailbait buffet encounter.

Does anyone travel with a digital camera anymore???

[cartman]

Does anyone travel with a digital camera anymore???

Umm... why are you interested in pictures of jailbait???

:eek:

[Dutch]

Umm... why are you interested in pictures of jailbait???

:eek:

Good point.

However, I saw a girl the other day at the gym and was floored, then the dude standing next to me says, "Dude, do you know how old she is???" I say 21, he shakes his head, no-no, the girl was 17.

Ouch...

EDIT: So in MY MIND, the chick is 21 and that's final. :)

[sabotai]

Good point.

However, I saw a girl the other day at the gym and was floored, then the dude standing next to me says, "Dude, do you know how old she is???" I say 21, he shakes his head, no-no, the girl was 17.

Ouch...

EDIT: So in MY MIND, the chick is 21 and that's final. :)

There are no statutory rape laws in the realm of imagination. ;)


Quick question, what's a "2nd chance tourney". I can pretty much guess as to what it means, but just thought I'd ask to be sure.

[primelord]

There are no statutory rape laws in the realm of imagination. ;)


Quick question, what's a "2nd chance tourney". I can pretty much guess as to what it means, but just thought I'd ask to be sure.

The second chance tourney is probably waht you are thinking it is. Everyday at 5 p.m. and I believe again at 11:30 p.m. the Rio was running a $540 buy in tournament. The thinking I guess obviously being anyone busted in the main events could get into another somewhat big dollar multi table tournament. It of course isn;t restricted to just WSOP event participants though. Anyone can get in.

I finished in 15th place (out of 138) and cashed in the 5 p.m. 2nd chance on Tuesday. It certainly wasn't as nice as if I had managed to cash in the 1k, but overall the field was fairly tough (especially late) and I was pretty happy with the results overall. I was going to attempt a trip report tonight since I am styill on Vegas time, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.

[CleBrownsfan]

The second chance tourney is probably waht you are thinking it is. Everyday at 5 p.m. and I believe again at 11:30 p.m. the Rio was running a $540 buy in tournament. The thinking I guess obviously being anyone busted in the main events could get into another somewhat big dollar multi table tournament. It of course isn;t restricted to just WSOP event participants though. Anyone can get in.

I finished in 15th place (out of 138) and cashed in the 5 p.m. 2nd chance on Tuesday. It certainly wasn't as nice as if I had managed to cash in the 1k, but overall the field was fairly tough (especially late) and I was pretty happy with the results overall. I was going to attempt a trip report tonight since I am styill on Vegas time, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Congrats Primlord - sounds like you guys had an awesome (and profitable) time.

[dixieflatline]

I was going to attempt a trip report tonight since I am styill on Vegas time, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Excellent work. Please don't forget to add something about the ring games going on there. I'm real curious to hear just how juicy they were.

[sabotai]

The second chance tourney is probably waht you are thinking it is. Everyday at 5 p.m. and I believe again at 11:30 p.m. the Rio was running a $540 buy in tournament. The thinking I guess obviously being anyone busted in the main events could get into another somewhat big dollar multi table tournament. It of course isn;t restricted to just WSOP event participants though. Anyone can get in.

Ah. I was thinking they were only open to those who busted out the day before or something (hence "2nd chance"). I guess with everyone paying a lot of attention to the WSOP events, and playing in ring games, they don't get a lot of action? (138 sounds kind of small. I'd think there'd be more entries.)

[digamma]

Ah. I was thinking they were only open to those who busted out the day before or something (hence "2nd chance"). I guess with everyone paying a lot of attention to the WSOP events, and playing in ring games, they don't get a lot of action? (138 sounds kind of small. I'd think there'd be more entries.)

I think it's due to a couple of factors. First, a lot of the tournament players will find cash games more profitable than grinding through another tournament. Second, a number of tournament players may be playing in the tournament the next day and the second chance tournaments may go well into the night (particularly, of course, the 11 PM'er).

By comparison, I played in an 11PM second chance tournament over 4th of July weekend on a Saturday night that drew just over 200 entrants.

[Subby]

I'll write up a long and detailed trip report once I wake up, but here's a teaser:

Rick is in the food tent at a little stand and eat table and Amir Vahedi wanders over with his food wanting to share the table.

Amir Vahedi: How's it going?

Primelord: Good. How you doing?

Amir Vahedi: Good, thanks.

Silence....

Primelord: So...Shannon Elizabeth. You tap that?

[SirFozzie]

Hey Quik! got your own cardplayer page:

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Michael_Sanderson/42519

Hope you add to it in the future!

[Vegas Vic]

QuikSand is also on the Hendon database now:

Michael Sanderson (http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=68648)

[kingfc22]

I'll write up a long and detailed trip report once I wake up, but here's a teaser:

Rick is in the food tent at a little stand and eat table and Amir Vahedi wanders over with his food wanting to share the table.

Amir Vahedi: How's it going?

Primelord: Good. How you doing?

Amir Vahedi: Good, thanks.

Silence....

Primelord: So...Shannon Elizabeth. You tap that?

LOL. Can't wait to read about your trip.

[Subby]

Trip Report

Saturday Night

So I roll into Reagan National and check in and wait for Quik to show up since we are flying out to Vegas together. Even though he lives relatively near me, we have never met. When he does show up and we meet, I am struck by two things. One...he is a really nice, outgoing, personable guy. Pretty much the opposite of a mainframe computer. Secondly, he is a big guy...tall and broad with big meathooks for hands. Any thoughts I had of randomly attacking him are pretty much a distant memory now.

The trip starts off right as the lady at the counter says something very hot and sexy and unexpected to us.

"Would you like to upgrade your direct flight to Las Vegas to First Class for just $150?"

She obviously recognized us as BALLERZ, YO! and knew that we wouldn't even think twice. $300 and a few airport sportsbar beers later and we are in the second row of the aircraft heading to SIN CITY.

While we initially planned to pay for our upgrade by drinking $300 worth of onboard alcohol, I thought it would be a better idea to play a series of heads up $20 freeze outs instead (okay, so we drank a lot anyway). Things were going as expected when our sexy stewd came up and asked if she could get in on the action. Of course you can, honey! So we dealt her in for like, ten dollars and I took her money in five hands. And then she left.

So we go back to playing heads up freeze outs and end up splitting 4 games and still need to drink about $179 worth of alcohol to pay for our upgrade. I think they might have stepped on the gas a little to keep this from happening though because we get to Las Vegas like thirty minutes early. Hmmm.

So we get to the airport and I swear to GOD the first person I see is international stud and father of the year, STEVE GARVEY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Garvey). I don't know if this is foreshadowing, but it has to be good, right? Anyway, we meet up with Malificent (Andy) - a member of FOFC, but more of a central fixture in the FOBL/FOFL communites. He, too, is a nice guy and I am thinking - wow, unless this Primelord guy is a major A1 douchebag (totally possible - I mean, that guy is ALWAYS starting trouble on here) we are in good shape for the personalites for this trip. So we head over to the car rental place and in the spirit of being BALLERZ, YO! I ask the guy for an upgrade. Unfortunately they don't carry H2s, so we are stuck with an SUV. Still money, yo.

So the three of us get in touch with Primelord (Rick) and he is over at The Mirage, pwning the hell out of locals and tourists in some low limit hold em game. We decide just to head over there (it's around midnight) and after valet parking (hi, did I mention we are ballerz?) we roll into the Mirage cardroom. Now, I have no idea what Primelord looks like - despite borrowing money from him on-line and chatting with him on a fairly regular basis. Then we see some guy in a Tory Holt jersey and St. Louis Cardinlas hat and I am thinking, yeah, there is probably at least a 100% chance that is him.

So we all get in the game and play 3/6 limit for about 4 hours. My street cred takes a serious hit as I start visibly napping at the table. Yeah, hi. I'm old. So we decide to call it a night and head over to our hotel room at Palace Station. Nice place, if you are like an AARP gold member or something. But they had BINGO and lots of motorized scooters and portable oxygen tanks, so I knew we were in the right place.

Unfortunately, while we were going to have two room for the other three nights, we only had one room that night. One room, two beds, four adult males. While that might read like the pitch for a new and exciting supergay latenight drama, we decided to take things slow, and Rick and I grabbed floor while Michael and Andy took the beds.

Yes, we were fucking owning this town.

[John Galt]

Wonderful start to the trip report. I feel like it belongs in the dynasty forum.

[kcchief19]

One room, two beds, four adult males. While that might read like the pitch for a new and exciting supergay latenight drama, we decided to take things slow, and Rick and I grabbed floor while Michael and Andy took the beds.
I've heard of "grabbing the floor," But "taking the beds" is something new. Is that in the Kama Sutra?

[digamma]

You had me at BALLERZ.

[dixieflatline]

Things were going as expected when our sexy stewd came up and asked if she could get in on the action. Of course you can, honey! So we dealt her in for like, ten dollars and I took her money in five hands. And then she left.


Subby pwns a stewardess. Nice start to the trip.

[Barkeep49]

I think you should call this Adventures of a Semi-Retarded Frat Boy... ooh wait that title's already taken.

[kingfc22]

Sick. I want to read more about the FOFC BALLERZ, YO!

[Subby]

Sunday

In the most heterosexual way possible, we take showers and get ready to head out to the Palace Station buffet and then the Rio. Well, except for me of course, as I exit the bathroom SANS PANTS. But that's just how I roll, baby. I decide to go with the fashionable combination of jeans, thermal underwear longsleeve undershirt, brown Timberland polo shirt, and sandals. Rick politely reminds me that we are in Las Vegas and that I look like a fucking tourist idiot. So I take off my pants and put on shorts. The long sleeve undershirt stays of course, because hey - the Rio might be cold and the idiot vibe might work to my advantage in cash games.

We hit the $9 Palace Station brunch buffet and I am fairly disappointed with how NOT MONEY this place is. It's like a cross between Shoney's and a hospital cafeteria. Still, the price is right and we load up on protein and cannolis. Since you can't really go wrong eating sweet cream in a fried dough envelope, we leave the buffet happy and sated and head over to the Rio.

The World Series is being held in the Rio convetion center and I have to be honest - I wasn't at all prepared for how cool it was going to be. If you are a poker junkie by any measure, the Rio during the World Series is absolute poker heaven, filled with hundreds of tables, never-ending cash games, satelites, tournaments, poker celebrities, generous hospitality suites and jaw-droppingly hawt women.

The room where everything takes place has over 200 poker tables, cashier cages, and the ESPN main stage. One half of the room was dedicated to cash games and satelites. Cash games are running at 25 to 30 tables and have everything from 4-8 limit to 20/40 Omaha. By far the most popular game was the 2/5 NL game with $500 max buyin. Satelites were running non-stop at a group of tables in one of the back corners of the room and the line was really long - they had everything from $125 buyin to $1000 buyin games running regularly. The other half of the room was dedicated to tourneys and when we got there, the $1000 rebuy event and the ladies $1000 event were both running. It was all just so overwhelming, we decided to just walk around the toom and take everything in.

We probably saw 25 or more name pros right off that bat - either just wandering around the room or playing in the rebuy event. The neat thing was that you could railbird really close to the tables on the outer edge, and some of those tables were stacked. We saw Hellmuth, Raymer, Lederer, Greenstein, Jen Harman, Doyle Brunson, and a bunch of others. After stargazing for a bit we checked out the satelites, but the line was so ridiculous that we decided instead to get on the cash game lists. Quik and Mali hopped in some limit games while Rick and I were able to get on the same 2/5 NL table.

While I'll try and keep the poker hand descriptiions to a minimum, I will mention that the defining hand of my trip came during this time. I had about $550 in front of me and caught JJ in MP. I raise it up to $20 and get a few callers and see a flop of J55. One of the callers had been a fairly aggressive, very tricky swedish player to my left and I figured he would call a bet here of $25 on this kind of board with the intention of trying to steal later. He did call and we went heads up to the turn, which was the nine of hearts. I bet out $60 and he calls again. Interesting - of course the alarms start going off because I am so awesome and I put him on EXACTLY 55 and figure in his tricky Swedish way he is slowplaying my flopped boat with his quad fives and I am about to get stacked. The river brings a 7 of spades and I suck it up and bet out $100. He thinks for a bit a raises to $200.

Fuck.

My massively impressive hand reading skills must have been correct! He must have 55! I decide to punish myself for going this far by calling ALL IN! This is what they do on television, so I figure it is the expert play here. He starts frowning and playing with his chips and calls. I assume he is slowrolling me and I ask him if he has 55. A collective gasp goes up as I turn over JJ and he turns over 75 for the rivered boat. MY BOAT CRUSHES YOUR BOAT YOU LOWLY SCANDINAVIAN - this is what I roar as I rake in his chips and drive him before me and hear the lamentation of his women.

Actually I really say "tough hand" and add his $500 to my stack. And tip my dealer. After selling chips to a few new players, I now have a stack of 140 red chips and six benjamins tucked into my stack so now in case there was ever a doubt everyone knows...OMFG THAT GUY IS A BALLER! HE HAS CHIPS AND A STACK OF HUNDREDS ON THE TABLE. Of course it is lost on me that pretty much everyone there has a combination of chips and hundreds, but I am pretty sure Rick looks over at me at this point and says "'Sup Baller?"

So after cashing out, we head over to the satelite area and Mali, Rick and me are quickly seated in a $175 one table, winner take all tourney. The structure is ridiculous, as you get 1,000 in chips and 15 minute blind levels and you pretty much down to a bad M really quickly. On the plus side, Steve Danneman (the runner up in last years main event) was playing at a satelite at the table next to us. The tool chipleader at our table thought since he knew Danneman from television that he could start making fun of him and all the kind of stuff that guys who have known each other for a really long time like to do. Fortunately, Danneman was really cool and called us donkeys and that almost made my trip right there. Unfortunately Rick and Mali got knocked out quickly and we got down to three when the massive chipleader started talking about making a deal. I thought that was kind of strange and told him I would rather wait until we were heads up. Well it got heads up and he was still hot for a deal even though he had a 4 to 1 chip lead. If he won, he got three $500 tourney chips and $120 in cash. I suggested he give me one of the chips, keep everything else, and we call it a deal. He agreed to what I thought was a great deal for me and just like that I had made enough in cash games and satelites to pay for my 1K NL tourney entry on Monday.

At one point I went to use the bathroom out in the hall and encountered a completely surreal scene. The Rio bathroom attendant wouldn't let anyone in the bathroom. Doyle, Mike Sextion, Daniel Alaei, and me, all waiting to get in. Jean Robert Bellande screaming at this bathroom attendant to let us in, calling her supervisor, telling her that he said supervisor on phone, and he wants to talk to her. Security shows up. Me and Doyle and Mikey Sexton look at each other and shrug. I offer to give Doyle a piggyback ride to the port-a-johns set up out back.

Okay, I made the last sentence up, but it was all very strange to me. Hard to believe poker celebrites go to the bathroom with regular guys like me. They are supposed to be using the special secret poker celebrity bathrooms.

We took a dinner break and drove to In and Out Burger over on Sahara. We don't have those on the east coast that I know of and it's really too bad because they are freaking awesome. We have a nice casual dinner just shooting the shit and getting to know each other. I am struck by how funny Rick is and how outgoing Michael is. I always have the preconceived notion that folks I know from the Internet are going to be serial anti-social nerds when I meet them in person, but once again, that prejudice was completely eclipsed by reality.

Now one might ask what a couple of Ballerz were doing at an in and out burger and why we weren't eating King Crab legs over at the Bellagio. We aren't above hanging out with the local flavor, Yo. Plus they had vanilla milkshakes.

We head back to the Rio and hop back in some cash games and I make another dollar. Literally. But I do see Jennifer Tilly and her booty and I decide that she might have one of the finest booties I have ever seen. Mike Matusow also accidently plows into Mali and we see Jesus and Phil Gordon and decide to make a new game called Poker Celebrity Bingo. We are going to market and sell it at next year's world series and it is going to be huge. HUGE.

At around 2am we decide to pick up and head back to Palace Station because for the love of god, we are playing in Event #17 tomorrow! And it is completely full!

We get back to Palace Station and get our second room and I drift off to sleep with visions of check-raising Phil Ivey...

[VPI97]

I always have the preconceived notion that folks I know from the Internet are going to be serial anti-social nerds when I meet them in person, but once again, that prejudice was completely eclipsed by reality.
You need to come to the A-T-L for a visit...I'll show you how anti-social us nerds can be.

[biological warrior]

If you guys want to hang out with me Im at UNLV from 9 am - 11 pm TWR. Oh and Im recommending a great bar off the strip called ''The Freakin' Frog on Maryland Parkway across from UNLV, it has over 500 different types of beer. If you guys want more info just ask.

[GoldenEagle]

Awesome so far Subby, keep it up!

[John Galt]

Gold! Absolute, supergay, totally brilliant gold!

[digamma]

I am struck by how funny Rick is and how outgoing Michael is.


So, Mali is a big tool, huh?

;)

[Vince]

Amazing :)

[Malificent]

So, Mali is a big tool, huh?

;)

Well, duh. :)

[Neuqua]

I'm loving it.

[Neuqua]

Btw, were are the pictures?!?!

[Maple Leafs]

Please tell me one of you pwned Phil Gordon at paper-rock-scissors.

[kingfc22]

A collective gasp goes up as I turn over JJ and he turns over 75 for the rivered boat. MY BOAT CRUSHES YOUR BOAT YOU LOWLY SCANDINAVIAN - this is what I roar as I rake in his chips and drive him before me and hear the lamentation of his women.

CLASSIC:D:D:D

[sabotai]

I always have the preconceived notion that folks I know from the Internet are going to be serial anti-social nerds when I meet them in person

Not to worry. If I go next year and we meet, I will not let you down.

[Neuqua]

Is Riley going with you?

Due to some dishonesty involving the other party, Riley never ended up coming home with me.

:(

[Subby]

Steve Garvey sighting added to Saturday trip report...can't believe I forgot that.

[Subby]

Monday

So we agree to meet up at 10am and head to breakfast, but I am up at 7am and can't sleep. I am so excited - the 1K NL event is today and all I want to do is get my chips and my cards and pwn. I turn on my lamp and put on my headphones and futiley read the new Harrington workbook, all the while feeling like I am cramming for a final exam in a class where I rarely made class. The feeling I have in my stomach is a wonderful combination of anxiety and excitement. I finally get up, get showered and dressed and wait. I am wearing cargo shorts, sandals, a t-shirt and a completely cool Italia futbol front-zip sweatshirt that I bought at Filene's a while back. Hopefully some of their World Cup luck rubs off on me. Mali gets ready to go I grab my roll (around a grand) and my lucky card protector (a little Buddha figurine that is a little smaller at its base than a standard poker chip).

Unfortunately Mali was unable to satelite into the event, so he is going to railbird us and check out the Rio's casino. He just bought a completely kickass computer, so he doesn't have the playing roll he would like to have for the whole week and buying into the 1K would pretty much clean him out.

We meet up with Rick and Michael and head back to the Shoney's Memorial Hospital Cafeteria and grab brunch. With the event a few hours away (it starts at noon) we chat a little about strategy and I manage to ask if we are going to have a last-longer bet about 50 different times. I am decidedly nervous and having a hard time really eating. I can usually clean out a buffet, but only put down one plate of eggs and bacon. Quik is decidedly non-chalant about the entire thing. I decide to try out his "not giving a shit" attitude, but it doesn't work so great and I go back to worrying about how I am going to play.

Breakfast finished, we stop by Starbucks on the way out and I grab some real coffee and we head to the Rio.

It is a madhouse when we get there. Apparently on top of the 2200 or so entrants they have 600-800 alternates waiting to get into the event. Every table will be played 11 handed. I wish Rick and Michael good luck, find my table, sit in the 10 seat, hand the dealer my registration card, and get my 1500 chips. I chat up the guys on my end of the table and of course, the one other guy in the fucking place wearing an Italia jersey is sitting directly to my right. We look like a couple of colluding, coordinating dumbasses. Salty Vegas Mullet Man sits to my left and he drops in casual conversation that he won the $225 second chance tourney the night before. Salty Vegas Fat Man in the one seat immediately makes a comment about soccer and how it is a girl's sport. I tell him that I am going to bust him and then skull fuck him right on the table. Ok, actually I just titter like a nervous little girl and silently swear some kind of complicated revenge.

They really say "Shuffle up and Deal" and the cards are in the air! Loud cheers and applause go up and I get major goosebumps. This is the coolest feeling, being a part of this tourney. But I came to cash, not just to experience it...so it was time to play cards.

Second hand in, I am on the button. Folded around to cutoff who raises to 100. I look down at QQ. Holy shit! Queens on the second hand of the tournament! Time to win the hand RIGHT HERE. I raise to 300 because this is the second hand of the tourney and there is no way that my buddy in the Italia futbol shirt is going to...

"IM ALL IN!"

WTF??111!!! All-in? This is the second hand of the goddamn tournament. You cannot go ALL IN. Fuck me. I look back down at my cards. I look at him (like that will do any good). I look at my cards. I muck. Down to 1200 chips. For the next 30 minutes I just wait for good hands and size up our table. There is one guy there that has an iPod and those Bose headphones and is wearing a PokerStars shirt. I immediately tag him as a good player. Everyone else seems unremarkable like me, though so i think I am in good shape.

About 45 minutes in I look down at AA. W000T! Time to double up! In early position, I raise 3xBB to 75 and get one caller (sb). The board comes full of rainbow colored bricks and sb bets out 200. I push. He calls. We flip over and he has KK and I have him fucking dominated and I am about to double up and the dealer brings out the turn card and I can't contain my excitement and it looks like that turn card has a lot of paint and oh my god fuck me in the nostril he turned two outer king!!!!11 GAHHHHHHHHH! I just lost AA to KK. GAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Down to 150 chips. Blinds 25/50. I am not even going to make it to the first effing break. Just about the worst result I could possible hope for, really. I just stare off in to space, completely depressed and get dealt a steady diet of 8-2 and 7-2. I am in such shock that I let the blinds go through without pushing. Finally I wake up in the BB - with 50 in and 25 behind I figure I am pushing on any hand. I am literally down to a chip and a chair. Sucks so bad. I look down at my hand. 83 offsuit. Someone raises to 100, another guy reraises and I push all in. Reraiser shows KK and I jokingly ask the table if I am dominated. Flop comes 836 and I flop two pair and am still alive! Turn and river brick out and my champion suckout puts me back up to $250 chips. I double up with AA to get to $600 and then I get AJs in the blind and just call a 3xBB raise. I push the jack high flop and get called by QQ. Whoops. Fortunately, I get an A on the river and my championship suckout skills continue. I rub my card protector's prodigous belly for more good luck. Now I am up to 1200 chips and the break comes. Woohoo! I make the first break. I talk to Rick and Michael and they seem to be doing well, too. I call a quick update into my wife, take a piss with my boy Howard Lederer, and return to the tournament.

Pretty soon into the second round, I get JJ UTG and make an all-in string bet. I have to pull back half my chips, but fortunately a guy in later position comes back over the top with AK and I bust him to double up again to 2500 chips. Now I am rolling and my chip and a chair comeback is starting to gain some steam. I just play my normal game for a while as they move a bracelet winner to our table two seats from me in the 8th seat. Brandon Cantu was the winner of event #2 and already has his poker sponsor gear on (Absolute) and is getting a ton of attention from folks walking by. Out of nowehere an ESPN boom mike and camera appear and they film us for 5 to 10 minutes as we chat about his series win. He's pretty short stacked, so I am hoping that he pushes at some point becuase I have a feeling he'll have a pretty wide range that I can call.

I actually get all the way up to 3500 chips and then lose a bit down to 3000 chips when the second break is about to start. There are so many entrants in the field that they stagger the bathroom break and its time for my table to go. But of course, the last hand of the round and I get AKs on the button. blinds are 100/200 and MP raises 700 to me. I could just call here and re-evaluate, but I want to accumulate chips. I figure he could be trying to steal on the last hand before the break and pushing folds out a variety of hands, including small pairs, any ace accept for AK and maybe AQ, KQ and maybe mid pairs like 77 or 88. We had pretty similar stacks and he might have had me slightly covered.

He thinks for a really long time - everyone gets up from the table except for the two of us and Salty Vegas Mullett guy who has been really nice to me the whole time and cheering for me to make a comeback.

He finally calls and flips over TT. I don't know if I could have made that call, but he did and now we race. The flop brings two of my suit, so now I have 13 outs to beat this guy on the turn and river. The turn bricks and now I am looking at needing a river card to stay alive. The unsuited T comes, though...giving him a set and knocking me out in roughly 1200th place.

So, I got to play for about four hours and I think I played decently the whole time. You really need a lot of luck to make these things work and this time I just got some luck. Fortunately I busted out during a break, so I didn't have to push back from a full table. I went outside, called my wife and ate some lunch in the food tent and watched Grinder and his posse come in and get food and drinks.

I kept tabs on Rick and Michael and heard from Rick that Mali had managed to hit a $2700 progressive playing slots over at the Rio casino. That was the greatest news I had heard all day and made me feel at least a little better about busting out of the tournament. While I waited for those guys I played another satelite and finished 3rd (just out of deal making territory) so now I was feeling really shitty.

During that time Rick got knocked out, but I was able to catch up with those guys and talk to Michael while they ate dinner. Michael was still in it and while he didn't have a huge stack of chips, he was inching closer and closer to the money.

We spent most of the time oggling the Milwaukee's Best Light Toolbelt girls - they had a hospitality tent right next to the outdoor food tent and they managed to set a record for lowest riding shorts and highest riding tops in existence. In other words, hawt.

After dinner, I went to play cash games while I think Rick was busy getting stacked and unstacked. Mali managed to stack someone as soon as he sat down and was now up on the day for THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I played a decent game of 2/5 and was up for a while, but found myself down to $475 when Rick and Michael wandered over (Mali was playing at the table behind me) and gave me the good news that Michael had made it through the day with about 20K chips. Great news for him, great news for me because right before the tourney we had swapped 10% - so anything he won I got 10% of - which was a great deal for me.

So I say I am going to just play a few more orbits and am looking around for a rack for my chips when I get dealt QQ. Early positon raises to 20, MP raises to 40. I raise to 100. Easy. I am ready for them to fold to me and then I will be back over even for the table. Except the guy fucking re-raises to 200. So now there is roughly 350 in the pot and I have about that much left. I think for a very long time and decide that I have had a shitty day and need to call this and win. Maybe he is pushing so hard because he wants a fold for AK or JJ or even QQ. So I push. And he calls. And flips over KK. A K comes on the flop and I watch in horror as my chips make their way over to him. So - 5 minutes from getting up from the table and I manage to get it all in with the worst hand. Brilliant.

We get back to the room at midnight or a little after and there is no fucking way I can go to sleep after just getting stacked. So I tuck Mali in and head down to the Palace Station poker room and find what seems like bingo night at the spring valley retirement home. I inquire about the games and the room manager says they have two limit games running. A 2/4 game and a 4/8 game with a half kill. I don't even know what that means, but whatever, I'm in.

For the next 5 hours I play some of the best poker of my life against the locals and tourists, including some guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Salonen) who used to play for the Dallas Cowboys (professional athlete sighting number two, thank you very much). I get down $150 and it eventually gets shorthanded with Rudy the Crusty Las Vegas Mulleteer, Rose the Mousey Tourist and Mike the Las Vegas Casino Employee on his day off. This is my sweet spot and I just own these guys pushing them off of two pair and top two pair more often than not. Everyone is really nice and we have a great time laughing and playing and it is a nice way to get rid of what was a pretty shitty day at the Rio. 6:30am rolls around and the game breaks up and I cash out up a whopping $40 - I probably paid that much in dealer tips - but I leave happy, stop by Starbucks, call my wife and head back to my room because for the love of GOD - Michael is still in the tourney and we need to get up at 10am and get breakfast and get to the Rio and I HAVEN'T EVEN SLEPT YET.

I fall asleep dreaming of a final table for QuikSand...

[cartman]

I fall asleep dreaming of a final table for QuikSand...

Fucker. You ruined it for him. Everyone knows your dreams, in particular, never come true.

:D

[QuikSand]

Well, I won't turn this into a heavy-duty poker hand analysis by any stretch, but I promised more detail on my "TV read." Here it is...


My table on day one of the tournament is in the far corner, and we have a typical assortment of players -- a few of the young sunglasses types, and a smattering of regular joes like me, more or less. Oh, and Tiffay Williamson (http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Tiffany_Williamson/17127) -- who many might remember from last year's main event, where she cashed for $400,000. She was pretty prominently featured on the ESPN coverage, and was widely castigated for making terrible plays and being rewarded for doing so.

Anyway after a couple hours of pretty tight play by everyone at the table, we have blinds up to $50/$100... and with stacks that started at $1500, that means there's some pressure on those who haven't made any advances. In the incident hand, there are two limpers for the $100 blind, and then Tiffany raises it to $300, then it's folded to me.

I have AK offsuit. Solid hand. Maybe not a reraising hand.

Well... her chip stack is fairly small at this point - she probably has $600-800 behind the bat she just made. Most players could release a dominated hand here to a reraise... but this is, after all, Tiffany Williamson -- and I recall her taking a long time to make excruciatingly poor calls last year (and often being rewarded for it) -- so for heaven's sake, if there's one player in the building against whom it makes sense to push AK, it's probably Tiffany -- she's bound to call me with AQ, AJ, or something of a simimlar nature. The chance that I might get called and still be well ahead seems too enticing to resist here.

I reraise it to $900. Two folds, and it's back to Tiff. She pauses, she talks me up, and so forth, for probably 3-4 minutes. As this is going on, I can't help but feel great. If she had KK or AA (the two real trouble hands for AK) I'm sure she'd be all in quickly. This must be a tough one. I'm guessing she has a big ace, either AK or AQ, and I think I have a shot to be in great shape if she calls. If she has a medium pair like JJ or TT, then we're basically in a race spot (though the early limpers might have mucked aces, making me a modest dog). In any event -- I don't think I'm in big trouble, and I have over 1K in chops left even if she calls and beats me.

She calls. It's an anticlimactic showdown between her AK and mine, and we chop the pot.

I congratulate her on her brilliant play, though not in as many words, and fairly shortly thereafter, our table is broken up. (I end up playing at four more tables in fairly short succession, ads I keep unluckily getting placed near the breakup point)

[QuikSand]

I fall asleep dreaming of a final table for QuikSand...

Geez, even I fell asleep dreaming of toolbelt girls.

[Buccaneer]

A great read! One of the best ever. If you were at the Rio, I wonder if they had the girls at the Tilted Kilt going, ahem, full tilt? Other than that, I surprised you got Michael eating the buffett at the PS.

[Malificent]

We were just anxious to get to the Rio and start playing poker - the buffet at Palace Station was serviceable and allowed to sleep for the maximum amount of time possible (4 hours?) and still get to the Rio in plenty of time. As Subby's report will detail, we did upgrade our eating habits in the near future...

[RPI-Fan]

My favorite part so far is attempting to drink $300 worth of alcohol on the flight. Too bad you weren't flying with Wade Boggs!

[NoSkillz]

:) This thread gets my 5-star seal of approval!

[Maple Leafs]

I congratulate her on her brilliant play
I've never played a live tournament, so I'm curious. Does "nice hand" = "fuck you" in person too?

[primelord]

I've never played a live tournament, so I'm curious. Does "nice hand" = "fuck you" in person too?

Just like online it can go both ways. :)

[QuikSand]

I've never played a live tournament, so I'm curious. Does "nice hand" = "fuck you" in person too?

Often, yes it does. It's a pretty common "insider" thing among the poker know-it-alls to pat the table and say "nice hand, sir" when some clown cracks a set of kings by drawing to, and hitting, a gutshot straight with one card to go.

There, "nice hand, sir" basically means "I can't wait until I get all your chips, you stupid donkey."

[QuikSand]

It appears I'm the only documentarian of the event, so here's a shot of Subby taking on the cash games, fully decked out in his multi-layered flannel or whatever the hell that was. It was admittedly a fairly crisp 71 degrees indoors, but it was Vegas after all.

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/photo_071006_001.jpg

"Okay, gentlemen... now I have your chips... next I shall take your pants!"

[QuikSand]

Incidentally, the woman in yellow on the far left of that shot was the victim of a very tough hand against me in a cash game later on that day (I'm pretty sure it's the same woman, at least). She flopped set over set against me (recipe for disaster in nearly all cases) but the fourth six came on the turn and we went to the limit there. In a red chip game, five betting rounds can build quite a pot, and this one did. On the river, she realized that her eights full of sixes were no good, and called down cursing me. (Not that I did anything wrong with my hand, I waited until the turn to raise since I was <incorrectly> sure that I was ahead even before I got my fourth six)

[QuikSand]

Here's a shot of Mali, hiding behind a big stack of chips in a limit game at the Rio, busting up some of the snotnose internet brats:

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/photo_071006_003.jpg

"Sure, my dear, you go ahead and call - I'm coming over thee top of yo' ass anyway..."

[Radii]

So I tuck Mali in

That may be the most disturbing thing I've ever read at FOFC.

[primelord]

Subby is doing an absolutely awesome job of detailing the trip. So I likely won't do a full trip report, but rather will fill in some other details.

I wanted to mention first though that I honestly can't think of a better group of guys to go to Vegas with than Subby, Quik and Mali. Just a great group of guys and I can't wait until next year.

Saturday

My plane ride was rather uneventful. I flew Southwest (for the first and likely last time in my life). So there was no first class upgrade for me. Just me being crammed into a miniature seat, in a minature row next to a guy with an ipod who is singing out loud to Mr. Big's "To Be With You". If I didn't know that Vegas was on the other end of this flight I might have found a way to jump out the backdoor mid flight. I did over hear a rather amusing excahnge though. There was a rather attractive blonde woman sitting in the window seat in the row in front of me. A mid 20s to early 30s gentleman sits down in the aisle seat in her row. He immediately leans over and says somethign to the affect of "Hey how's it going? Is this your first trip to Vegas?" To which she replies "I'm married." And goes back to reading her magazine. Good times. :)

So I get to Vegas a few hours ahead of the other guys and I head straight to the Mirage. After scarfing down an over priced and sub par cheeseburger at the Deli I head into the poker room to play some 1/2 NL. There is a list for the NL game, but they have immediate seating at 3/6 limit. So I get on the list for 1/2 NL and take a seat in the 3/6 game. I figure I will just play straight forward conservative poker just to kill time until my NL table was ready.

I get called for the NL game probably 20 minutes later and somehow I am stuck $80 in this insanely soft 3/6 game. Hell no. Give my NL seat to someone else. There is no way I am going to start off down in a soft game like this. So after about two hours of playing I got a call from Michael letting me know they were in town. They asked me for an update on how it was going. I was still down $80. :mad: They had just gotten the car and were on their way.

Most of the time when you meet someone who you've only known online they never quite look like what you were expecting. QuikSand absolutely fit that situation for me. As Subby has already mentioned he is a big man. I also will not be randomly attacking him anytime soon. On the other hand I knew exactly who Subby was the minute I saw him. I don't mean that in a bad way at all, but I just knew when I saw him that it was Subby. I didn't really know Mali well enough yet to have developed much of a picture in my mind of what I was expecting.

So Subby and Mali take two of the open seats at my 3/6 table and Quik grabs a seat that opens up shortly after to my left. The game played like normal for a little while, but I had already been playing for several hours and I am sure just the low limit alone was boring the hell out of Quik so we started to loosen up quite a bit. The live straddled started making it's first appearance for us (although nowhere near the level it was going to get to :)) and we started having discussions about how we could justify playing some really awful hands preflop. At one point I mucked my cards and exposed the 8d. Quik yells at me that I just took away one of his outs which forced him to muck his 83o. :)

All in all we had a very good time playing poker the first night. Quik and I burned through a decent number of BBs with our loose play. I did manage to make a good bit of it back with a late run. Subby and Mali seemed to be actually playing poker and turned a profit for the first night. Who knew playing tight and aggressive was the way to go? Regardless it was money well spent on the first night and we all stumbled into the room about 7 a.m. Just the way it should be.

[primelord]

Sunday

After getting around 4 or 5 hours of sleep we make a stop at the Palace Station brunch buffet. Subby has given a good description of what it was although really for $9 I couldn't really complain. You can have really bad lunch and dinner buffets, but it's pretty hard to really screw up breakfast food. So it did the job.

We headed over to the Rio and the WSOP certainly is the place to be if you want to star gaze at poker celebs. You would be standing around having a conversation and have to move over because Men the Master was trying to squeeze by. At one point we were in the hall talking and Barry Greenstein walks up to pick up an issue of one of the card magazines going around. He looks up at me and we make eye contact. I nod at him and he walks away completely ignoring me. I consider us friends now.

My first NL cash game experience was really rather uneventful. I got down early when I had AK twice that I raised preflop. Missed on the flop both times and had continutation bets called or raised on the missed flops. In the mean time Subby is building a small mountain of chips to my right. He is calling out a raise preflop every other hand and just running over the table. He did look like menacing after selling off a bunch of his chips and having a big stack a chips and a bunch of $100 bills sitting on top. The biggest hand of the session for me came when I raised JJ and got 5 callers (everyone respects my raises). The flop was J 2 2. I got a little action on it after the flop. Nothing big, but it was enough to put me up around $100 for the session. So my first live NL experience was a profitable one.

To be honest the NL games were not that great as far as how many fish were at the table. They were certainly beatable, but they weren't like the tables I am used to playing luve where you have a good 6 or 7 awful players per 10 handed table.

The next stop was the $175 satellite. Despite earlier talk of trying to get into seperate satellites Mali, Subby and I did end up int he first one together. Just ensuring that two of us were garaunteed not to get our entry fee into the 1k. :) I honestly didn't have that much of a problem with the structure of the satellites. It was certainly a very aggressive blind structure, but I really thought the exceptionally soft fields that were in these things made up for it nicely. I played 4 of them during our time there and I really never felt pressured in any of them.

One thing I did want to point out from Subby's report is he said that Mali and I both went out quickly in that first satellite. I guess when you finish in the top 2 like he did you consider someone who goes out 2 spots below you in 4th (me :)) to have gone out rather quickly. ;) Success went to his head so quickly. :D

Our dinner break at the In and Out burger was awesome. It may just be a fast food joint, but I really wish we had them here. It just dawned on me that Subby paid for this meal. I think I was the only one in the group that didn't pick up a meal for everyone along the way. Horse shit. I am the cheap bastard of the group! Anyway after we got back to the Rio I jumped into another satellite. I was determined to not have to pay full price for my entry into the 1k event.

This satellite was the toughest field of the 4 I played in. There were 4 other guys at the table who all played pretty well. The other 5 were awful. And it was by far the toughest of the 4. Like I said the fields in these things is ridiculously soft. Around the 50/100 blind level I only had 900 in chips and I got dealt 99 in late middle position. There is a limper in front of me and I shove in. It's folded to the BB who immediately calls. Fuck. He shows AA and it looks like I am packing up in 7th. The turn brings that sweet 9 for me though and I double up. The guy gives me a look like I just killed his child. That's poker baby. Ironically 3 hands later the guy ends up allin with 99 against KK and rivers a 9. He still lookslike some killed his children. What a baby. :)

We get down to 4 handed and everyone is about even in chip stacks. Quik comes by to tell me that he just bought in to the 1k event and they only have 100 seats left. I figure I probably have time to finish this satellite so I tell him I will rush over and register just as soon as the tournament is over. Not 5 minutes later Subby comes by and says they are down to 26 seats and said they would be sold out in the next 15 minutes. Well shit. Subby being the oustanding friend that he is went and bought me into the tournament. If I won tournament chips in this satellite I was just going to have to sell them.

So we got down to 3 handed and things were going pretty well for me. Subby noticed one of the guys had 'sup bro printed on the back of his seat shirt and let me know he was a 2+2er. Despite that though both of my opponents were actually playing afwul tight passive and I was able to keep stealing blinds without any resistance. Finally my two opponents ended up all in together and the 2+2er was busted out.

So with only two left I asked the guy if he wanted to make a deal. We counted up our chip stacks and he had just about a 2:1 chip lead on me. So the prize pool for these $125 satellites was two $500 tournament chips and $120 in cash. I proposed he take both the tournament chips and give me the $120 in cash plus another $200 out of his pocket. So essentially he would be getting $800 of the prize pool and I would be getting $320. So he is getting 2.5:1 of the prize pool with a 2:1 chip advantage. That is a good deal for him. He was hesitant to take that deal and I didn;t want to have to bother with selling the tournament chips so I sweetened the deal even more to just the $120 in cash and $80 out of his pocket. Even at greater than 4:1 he wouldn't take the deal. So we sat down to finish the match.

Frankly I really had this guy outclassed. He was very weak tight and I was able to quickly get back to almost even in chips when this hand came up. I was dealt JTo in the BB. He completed the SB and I raised to 4x the BB. He called. The flop came T 9 8 giving me top pair and the open ender. I shove allin on him. He hems and haws for awhile and then makes the call and shows 82o. Turn was a 2 and the river was an 8 giving him the boat and I walk out with nothing. Damn him for not taking a super sweet deal when it was offered. :)

So I head back over to the 2/5 NL games and immediately get a seat at what seemed to be a very serious table. Probably 4 hands in I get dealt pocket 7s. There is an early position raise and a call and I just call looking to flop my set. The flop comes J J T. The early position raiser leads out for $30 which was about half the pot and my other opponent folds. NOw I have no reads on this guy as I just got to the table, but I make the decision right there I am going to take this pot away from him. I raise to $60. He looks at me and then back at the pot and then back at me (this goes on for a good minute) and he finally calls. The turn is a 9 (not a great card for me). He checks and I bet $100. Again he looks at me and the board several times. Right as I am certaing he is going to much he says "I'm all-in" Fuck me. So I put on the show stacking and unstacking my chips. Pretending to count pot odds my head. The whole time knowing I wouldn't call this bet in a million years. I finally give a heavy sigh and muck my hand. He shows pocket Ts for the flopped boat. Well that was a fantastic way to get things started.

Needless to say things did get better for me from there. The people at my table were for the most part all solid, but the all played very predictably. The combination of that and the fact I caught some good hands let me build my stack back up to even and then even puch ahead $80 for the night. Michael walks over and says we are looking at packing it inf or the night so I decide to play one more orbit and then rack up. I got nothing but folding hands until I was UTG and got dealt Js Ts.

Now my inner nit was telling me to just fold the hand and be happy with your $80 profit. However the table had loosened upa decent bit by this point and that would just be playing like a pussy so I limp in. 4 other playes call the limp. The flop comes Ks 9s 8h. A great flop for me, but also one that could end up losing me a lot of money if I miss my draws. I bet out $20 and it's folded to a late position player who raises to $50. Everyone else folds and I call. The turn is a brick. I check and he bets $75. I call. The river is the 8s. I momentarily considered check raising, but with the river both pairing the board and completeing the flush draw I thought the chances of him checking it through were high. So I led out for $100. He though about for a long time and mucked. I tabled my flush and racked up, up $230 or so for the night in the cash games. So for the day I was up about $330 in cash games and down $300 from satellites. For a $30 profit. Ballers represent!

[JeeberD]

Awesome thread guys. I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip...

[Bad-example]

Quik...is a big guy...tall and broad with big meathooks for hands.

Between Quik's meathooks and Subby's ham fists, that must have been quite a handshake. :)

[Maple Leafs]

I had about $550 in front of me and caught JJ in MP. I raise it up to $20 and get a few callers and see a flop of J55.

The biggest hand of the session for me came when I raised JJ and got 5 callers (everyone respects my raises). The flop was J 2 2.

Rigged.

[QuikSand]

Well, you already got most of my side of Saturday just fine... the first class upgrade was such a total cinch, it was laughable. BALLERZ YO, fo shizzle.

We landed at the Mirage, I got caught in the moment a bit, and donked away some ungodly number of bets playing against mostly pretty average 3/6 opponents. Fantastically good time, it was. Was a good setting to just let things settle in, get to "know" these guys a little, and so forth. Three-betting with hands like T6o was just the icing on the cake.

When we get to the hotel desk, I volunteer to be Mister Suave, and go charm the clerk. "Checking out, sir?" "No, actually checking in." (It's about seven o'clock in the morning, note) She is remarkably unfazed by this... until I remember this is Las Vegas, and the only surprise is probably that there's no line of people backed up to check in at 7am.

[Maple Leafs]

When we get to the hotel desk, I volunteer to be Mister Suave, and go charm the clerk. "Checking out, sir?" "No, actually checking in." (It's about seven o'clock in the morning, note) She is remarkably unfazed by this... until I remem berthis is Las Vegas, and the only surprise is probably that there's no line of people backed up to check in at 7am.
She was probably intimidated by your giant, meat-hook hands.

[QuikSand]

Sunday

I played in one satellite table, but got into the final three against the red-headed league -- a young guy and an older woman, who I suspect was his mother. I think they might have had something going on, too.

Anyway - my dream dies hard when I slow play JJ (that magic hand again) and get called when I push in on a ragged flop, only to find that the bonnie lad had managed to catch two pair with his brilliant 95o, and he takes me out. I'm sure he and his mom will have some real cackles about that one in bed later on.


Anyway - I decide that the blur-speed satellites just aren't for me (I'm not that much of a tournament player, anyway) and I retire to the red chip tables. The games at Rio aren't terribly soft, but are not bad, overall. Since last year, they have really shifted more and more action to no limit, leaving fewer and fewer NL tournament specialists stranded and lost in solid limit games (which was my experience last year). So, I seem to be up against mostly real limit players here.


Anyway, after an up and down session, I get an intereting hand -- when I call a second bet from the big blind with a mighty T7o. With three players in, I'd call one more bet with virtually anything there. Flop comes T-T-T, and I think I might have a winner.

A voice comes to me: "Fastplaying... it's the new slowplaying"

I bet.

Most won't bet here, and will play stealthily, hoping to get someone to bet the hand for them. That, often enough, gives cover to the player who actually has a big hand and bets right out. It works. I'm raised by a southern dude, then reraised by the asian guy on my right. This is unreal. I go into full calculatron mode, visibly counting the bets and the pot, and eventually cold calling the two more bets. I love this game.

Turn is a king. I look at it kinda as if that was my card, and I bet out again. I am again raised. This is unreal. The original three-bettor finally figures out that he's in trouble (he later says to me he had JJ) and mucks. I decide that the pot is big enough, and open the throttle -- I three bet. Skynyrd wants no part of my phony strength, and he makes it four bets. Outstanding.

I stare him in the eye, and raise it again to the cap. He calls, and there's almost a flicker of light there suggesting that maybe he's beat. He's looking at his cards pretty intently... I'm starting to wonder if maybe he even has KK and is really in trouble (with at least some justification). He calls my bet with a shrug.

River card is a brick, and I call out "I bet my ten." I don't know if that made him mroe or less likely to call (or even raise) but he looked at me like I'm showing him the horseshoe I just retreived from my own ass... he calls, I show the T7o, and he shows AK. Tough life, pal. I drag a pot worth a bit over $700, and end up ahead for the night nearly enough to pay for the $1k entry.

It's good to be the ten and let some other guy be the king.

[QuikSand]

She was probably intimidated by your giant, meat-hook hands.

While it's true that I am a big, broad-shouldered guy, I don't think I've ever been pinned with a label like that before. *shurg*

[Drake]

BALLERZ YO, fo shizzle.


Stop it. I mean it.

[QuikSand]

Here's primelord, putting on his game face against a table of no-limit fish at the Rio:

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/photo_071006_002.jpg

"Go ahead... call my bet, vermin. I have you right where I want you with my T3 offsuit!"

[Honolulu Blue]

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your experiences and pictures. I'm glad everyone had a good time.

[Maple Leafs]

While it's true that I am a big, broad-shouldered guy, I don't think I've ever been pinned with a label like that before. *shurg*
Tou realize you're going to log on tomorrow and find it's your new title, right?

[Toddzilla]

Incredible, just incredible stuff.

Subbby, Quik, Mal, and primelord, this is great - thanks for taking the time to document this stuff.

Maybe next year FOFC gets a real posse - 6-10 guys - to make the trip out and you spin around Vegas "Entourage" Style ;)

[Toddzilla]

This is unreal. I go into full calculatron mode, visibly counting the bets and the pot, and eventually cold calling the two more bets. I love this game.I laughed, then remembered that Quik actually *has* calculatron mode - I've seen pictures of him and you can barely make out the dial on the back of his head behind his left ear.

[kcchief19]

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/photo_071006_002.jpg If a movie is made of this trip to Vegas, clearly your cast would be:

Michael Chiklis as Primelord
Tobey Maguire as Malificent
Ray Romano as Subby
and on the basis of descriptions and no photos at this point, The Rock as QuikSand

[albionmoonlight]

and on the basis of descriptions and no photos at this point, The Rock as QuikSand

Actually, I think that from now on whenever I see a QS post, I am going to picture Lou Ferrigno sitting behind a giant keyboard, pounding upon the keys with his huge meathook hands.

The Rock is probably a bit more flattering.

[QuikSand]

Mrs. Q digs the The Rock imagery. We'll see how that goes... I'll report tomorrow.

[kcchief19]

Mrs. Q digs the The Rock imagery. We'll see how that goes... I'll report tomorrow.
Glad to get you action any way I can.

[kcchief19]

Actually, I think that from now on whenever I see a QS post, I am going to picture Lou Ferrigno sitting behind a giant keyboard, pounding upon the keys with his huge meathook hands.

The Rock is probably a bit more flattering.
I may have missed the boat there. Now whenever I see a Billy Joel reference in a thread I'm going to picture Lou turning all green and pounding on the keyboard with his huge meathook hands.

[Radii]

I may have missed the boat there. Now whenever I see a Billy Joel reference in a thread I'm going to picture Lou turning all green and pounding on the keyboard with his huge meathook hands.

WE DID TOO START THE FIRE, RARRRRR, QUIK SMASH.



its the best I've got... sorry.

[JeeberD]

WE DID TOO START THE FIRE, RARRRRR, QUIK SMASH.



its the best I've got... sorry.

:D

Awesome...

[albionmoonlight]

WE DID TOO START THE FIRE, RARRRRR, QUIK SMASH.



its the best I've got... sorry.

:D

[Subby]

lol radii

[Subby]

Tuesday

Sleep comes easily but as I begin to dream the clock mercilessly strikes 10am and Mali kindly urges me to "get the eff out of bed."

Now, BALLER or not, yo, I don't have a history of drug abuse - but for god's sake I feel like I have just crashed from a week-long liquid cocaine and fried twinkies binge that would put even Sam Kinison in his substance and calorie abusing hey day to shame. I stumble into the bathroom and shave my tongue and brush my ass and take a lukecold shower, throw on my newly christened poker shorts (aka shorts I have now worn for three straight days) and declare myself "ready to roll". Mali reminds me that casinos are not "shirt-optional" so I take care of that small detail and we get ready to go.

My clothes from the night before are so disgustingly tobacco-smoke drenched that I run them down to the front desk to get cleaned and agree to meet the fellas over at Not Money Cafeteria. I drop my clothes off and wander around the casino looking for them and decide to bide my time high rolling the roulette wheel. I get $60 worth of chips, put $5 on number 15 (the day of my anniversary) and I SWEAR TO GOD the wheel stops on 15 the very first spin. The roulette guy just looks at me and I nod at him with the unspoken look that says, "yes, call the floor. I am a professional roulette player."

So I hit and run the shit out of these guys (that's how roulette professionals roll) and look for my posse. I eventually find them back up in their room and they have made the decision that we need a kickass meal to get Michael started off on the right foot on his big day - so we head over to the Aladdin to hit the famed Spice Market Buffet.

We valet park at the Aladdin (standard) and head over to the buffet. Michael pays the bill (the superstar always takes care of his homeboyz, yo!) and we descend into nirvana. The buffet is just out of this world - with multiple stations set up to appeal to most every palate. Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Fat American Dessert. It was all there. I tried to get a little of everything, starting off with some california rolls and pork pot stickers then moved quickly to the Tandoori Chicken and pita bread with baba ghanouj.

Then the jailbait showed up. Perhaps the hottest Latina the crew had ever seen just started floating around the buffet near our table. She was the perfect combination of body and face and when she moved toward the dessert bar, I took it upon myself to force an intervention! She must have known I was a Baller, Yo! because when I got close, she bent over the station, grabbed one of her back belt loops with her index finger, and gently pulled down. Quik got a picture but was shaking so badly that it's hard to appreciate just how much time one would be willing to serve for this particular nymphet. Later on in the meal she was spotted tugging down on the front of her tank top and that's when we realized that God really really loved us.

Pretty much stuffed from brunch, we headed over to the Rio so we could make it for Quik's two pm start time. He had a lower than average stack, but we figured if could catch some cards and double up, he would be right in this thing. After surveying the lay of the land, Mali hit a cash game and Rick and I moved over to the satelites.

I entered another $125 satelite and I was determined to finish strong in this one. Once again it got down to three and once again I was the shortstack. I pushed every other hand and was second in chips at one point, but then the chip leader (who got AA three times in 30 minutes) doubled up shortstack and I was back in third. I pushed K9 from the button and got called by sb with the disastrous A9. Massive elation as the first card out was a K, but the A completed the flop and my 2 outer never hit and I was once again sent packing in third. Suck.

I wandered over to the tourney area to check on Michael's progress and couldn't find him - not a good sign. After about 10 minutes of searching I saw him in the tourney payout line, on the phone, and found out he had busted in 80th, despite not getting a decent hand all day. Still an unbelievable showing - and I got 10% of it, which almost covered all of my travel expenses for the trip. So things were looking up!

At the time though, I was pretty down. Despite the raw pwnage at the Palace Station game the night/morning before, I was having a shit run at the Rio. I wandered around for a while and watched some cash games while Michael stood in line at the cashier's window.

The high lmit games were really cool to watch in person. They were running right on the edge of the cash games tables, so they were easy to railbird. At various times I saw all kind of great action during the week. One table had Gavin Smith, Shawn Sheikhan and Josh Arieh playing what looked like a mixed game. Another table had Sammy playing 20/40 Omaha - and I walked over just as he had busted an opponent and was raking in a massive pile of chips, grinning that Sammy grin that has become so familiar from television. Probably the best cash game moment was watching a high stakes NL game with Esfandiari, Joe Hachem, Daniel Alaei and some other big names. Right as I walk over, it is obvious that Esfandiari has busted Hachem - The Magician has a massive stack in front of him and Hachem is rebuying. 10 minutes later, Shannon Elizabeth saunters over and gets a shoulder massage from Antonio. Yes, life is good for Mr. Esfandiari.

So I find Rick and he is palming two $500 tournament chips that he just won in a satelite and he kindly sells one of them to me for $400 (have I mentioned that this guy is a peach?). We both enter the nightly $540 second chance tourney, with the standard $50 last longer and 10% swap. There are about 120 entrants or so in this one (about 12 or 13 tables) and you get 1500 starting chips with 30 minute blinds. I make it to the first break in decent position, but with the blinds quickly increasing, I find myself with 1750 chips and 100/200 blinds in MP with 88. UTG is a cocky internet player with slightly more chips that I have. He raises 3xBB and I decide that his range here could be ATs-AK, KQ, 44-AA. With my M diminishing I pray for a little luck and push. He calls and I pray for AK. He flips over KK and just like that, I am gone. Solid two day run for me.

Fortunately Rick is still in it with a decent stack, but still a long way from the money.

I decided to get back in a 2/5 NL game and made my biggest donkey play of the week. Which is saying something. I probably had about 475 in front of me when I got dealt KJs and called the preflop bet of 20. QT2 on the flop and I bet out 40. Fancy Headphones Guy - a thinking, deliberate player - makes it 100 to go. I am just thouroughly frustrated at this point and make the horrible call. Turn is the 7h. I check and he makes it 150. FUCK. Would it be that hard for you to let me draw to my straight you pig fucking fancy-headphone-wearing-obviously-better-than-me ASSCLOWN??!! FUCK YOU. I WILL GET YOU BACK BY PUSHING ALL IN.

"Sir, he is already all-in."

Well fuck me. I call. And pass the donkey feed. The guy asks me if I have a set of tens. I laugh as I sheepishly turn over KJ. I am having an out of body experience at this point and my only guess is that he flopped a set of queens - I say guess because this guy never actually turned over his cards and when he saw my KJ he blurted out "YOU'RE ON A DRAW?" with the same kind of disdain one would employ when saying "YOU FUCKED YOUR DAUGHTER??!!"

Yes, I am on an open ended straight draw. Yes I have 8 outs. yes, I know i suck.

The river brings an Ace. SO EFFING MONEY.

I mumble something about coming here to gamble and having a shitty day and I know that was a bad play and whatever elese will make this guy feel better because I have been on the other end of it so many times that for the love of god, its about time I made $300 the donkey way. EEE-AWWW.

As a side note, I really felt bad for this guy - he rebought for $300 and lost all of it when someone called a massive bet chasing his flush and hit...you guessed it...on the river. Later I saw Fancy Headphoes stumbling around the Rio looking like someone who had just suffered minor head trauma and couldn't figure out what continent he was on.

So I play super tight the rest of the way and divide may time waiting for AA/KK and going over to the second chance tourney to railbird Rick.

Rick is doing fine - with the tourney down to 20 and just back from break, he is down to just one black chip (or maybe two, but easily shortstacked) but in the money. He sucks out on the river and wins the blinds and all of a sudden there are just 18 left and he find himself bumped up to the next payout. Then he gets QQ and gets it all in against Ax and of course, my donkey magic sprinkles the board and the Ace hits the river and Rick is out in 18th. Still, $800+ payday and I realize that I would probably do better just buying percentages of guys rather than actually...you know...playing.

It's around 11pm and we decide Rick's finish is a good end to our Rio experience, so we decide to skedaddle and find another room to play for the night. We kick around the WSoP store while Rick grabs a bite. I buy a few trinkets for my kids and when we hook up with Rick, he relates his encounter with Amir Vahedi (yes, THAT Amir Vahedi).

Vahedi brings his food over to the table where Rick is standing. They exchange pleasantries. Rick leaves. After discussing this with us, we inform Rick that he also asked Amir if he a) knew Shannon Elizabeth and b) had sexual relations with her. The story quickly grew into the now infamous..."So...Shannon Elizabeth. You tap that?" line. We repeated it so often over the rest of the trip that I am now not 100% it *didn't* happen.

So we bid farewell to the Rio and its sick array of poker celebs and hot hangers-on and headed over to The Venetian to check out their brand new poker room.

The Venetian is a beautiful casino and resort and I briefly consider hopping in the gondola with my posse, but decide that if I am going to do something supergay on this trip, it has to be better than that. When you enter the casino, you vaguely notice the scented oxygen that is being pumped through the building - something floral and only minorly offensive - but a huge step up from the nicotine-flavored oxygen they pump into Palace Station.

We know life is good, because we all get into a 3/6 limit game with a couple of locals. This is probably the highlight of the trip for me. We straddle and double straddle, laugh our asses off at each other's play, watch Rick fold the best hand on the river for one bet in a huge pot, watch locals ask for table changes because the play is so aggressive and they just want to "get their hours in". We play for a good 5 hours and I probably suck down 4 Red Bulls and grab fistfuls of chips and wave them in the air menacingly at anyone who dares bet the turn. We eventually fill the table out with good sports and even get a few other straddlers in the pot. I know my table image was good because at one point, some woman at the other end of the table not only called me down with, but showed, ten high. It was great.

At around 6am we packed it in and headed back home to The Station. As I waited for the the light to turn into the hotel to change to green, I fell asleep behind the wheel for a brief second. That's the closest we came to dying the whole trip, but when you're a BALLER, YO you just have to deal with living life on the edge.

At least that's what I told myself as I drifted off to sleep in my flannel jammies, dreaming of jailbait.

[MIJB#19]

You need to come to the A-T-L for a visit...I'll show you how anti-social us nerds can be.
Yep, definately true.


;)

[kcchief19]

Yeah, we're making the movie. And in the movie, everyone is going in the gondola.

We'll see if we can get Shannon Elizabeth in it too. I can see Michael Chiklis walking over to Doyle Brunson in a cameo role and saying, "So ... Shannon Elizabeth. You tap that?"

[primelord]

...watch Rick fold the best hand on the river for one bet in a huge pot...

While that alone is bad enough, I folded the best hand in a huge pot for one bet to Subby!!!! He taunted me into it by proclaiming I couldn't possibly fold that river for one more bet. Oh yeah? Watch this!!!! I'm a donkey. :)

[dixieflatline]

This thread is gold.

[kcchief19]

While that alone is bad enough, I folded the best hand in a huge pot for one bet to Subby!!!! He taunted me into it by proclaiming I couldn't possibly fold that river for one more bet. Oh yeah? Watch this!!!! I'm a donkey. :)
At least you didn't call an all-in on a draw. :)

[PackerFanatic]

No kidding..sounds like you guys are having a blast :)

[Subby]

At least you didn't call an all-in on a draw. :)
I WAS HAVING A BAD DAY!!!11

[QuikSand]

When this phrase comes up in a poker story...

"So I say... ' you know what?' and I call..."

...you know it's good stuff on the way.

[dixieflatline]

Still, $800+ payday and I realize that I would probably do better just buying percentages of guys rather than actually...you know...playing.


So you want to buy 10% of me ;)

[kingfc22]

BEST.THREAD.EVER

[QuikSand]

Then the jailbait showed up. Perhaps the hottest Latina the crew had ever seen just started floating around the buffet near our table. She was the perfect combination of body and face and when she moved toward the dessert bar, I took it upon myself to force an intervention! She must have known I was a Baller, Yo! because when I got close, she bent over the station, grabbed one of her back belt loops with her index finger, and gently pulled down. Quik got a picture but was shaking so badly that it's hard to appreciate just how much time one would be willing to serve for this particular nymphet. Later on in the meal she was spotted tugging down on the front of her tank top and that's when we realized that God really really loved us.

Against my better judgment...

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/subby_moves_in_for_a_closer_look.jpg

The blurriness is just a side effect of the utter hotness of the jailbait, I can assure you. All men in range were quivering like blind puppies. Note that we did capture the idle hand tugging down the back-center belt loop. Brilliant.

On site, we declared her to be the Todd Marinovich of hotties -- believing that she was bred for this, she's been trained for this her whole life, and every pout, every brushback of the hair, every tug on the belt loop is both instinctive and by design.

[Toddzilla]

fap fap fap fap

[Vegas Vic]

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/subby_moves_in_for_a_closer_look.jpg



The only thing that could top this shot would be another one two or three seconds later, showing Subby crashing into another buffet patron.

[Vince]

I heart this thread.

[Draft Dodger]

nice capris, Subby.

[Samdari]

I vote we just open an entire "Jailbait Pics" forum.

[Subby]

CARGO SHORTS

[Subby]

Wednesday

BALLERZ always get a late checkout, Yo - and we're no different. We tell the front desk we'll be leaving around 1pm. Yeah, I said tell...not ask. Retirees who are getting the bingo rate ask. I briefy consider killing the maid who knocks on our door at 10:30, waking us up, but am too tired to load my glock and fall back asleep. Some time around 12:30, Mali and I get up and pack. One last time, I fold my roll of 11 Benjamins and loose twenties into my money clip, stuff it into my poker shorts and we head out.

Rick has an early evening flight, Mali leaves a few hours after that and Ferrigno and I are busting out around midnight. So we have a bit of time to pwn local cash games one more time before bidding farewell to what might be the greatest place on earth for adult males aged 21-197.

Lucky for us, special guest and ORIGINAL BALLER Vegas Vic has decided to leave his estate and meet us at the Alladin Jailbait Memorial Buffet for a quick bite to eat. Admittedly, I am a little nervous about meeting VV. The guy is the OG (original gambler) of FOFC and has been living the BALLER lifestyle for years. I mean, he used to count cards! How much more old school can you get?

When we get to the Aladdin and meet him, once again, my preconceived notions are blown away. VV is just a down-to-earth, smart, former worker bee that saw a nice opportunity in the burgeoning poker boom. In other words, my idol. We enjoyed another tremendous meal and talked about everything from his life as a professional gambler to the intricacies of FOF MP, to the disappointing lack of jailbait at the Memorial Jailbait Buffet.

Note to self: hanging out at the mexican section of the buffet in hopes of seeing some random lolita hottie is both desperate and sad.

After a solid lunch, we made our way upstairs to the Aladdin card room. They had just opened up a new 1/2 NL table and it was the perfect opportunity for all of us to sit down and play cards one last time together. Unfortunately Vic had to get back to the OG lifestyle to which he had become accustomed and didn't really have time to hang out and take milk money away from a bunch of snotnosed wannabes. So we said our farewells and started sizing up the competition.

On my right was a guy who was probably drunk already - and to my left was a friendly, mellow Canadian guy who was also there for the WSoP. Hmmm. EvilSubby made a quick decision about which player to try and stack. The friendly sober Canadian, obviously.

We each buy in for $200 and first hand in I get AA. Awesome. Going to be a great end to the trip. I raise to 15 preflp and get 3 callers. All brick flop and I start feeling jumpy and overbet the pot and chase everyone away. Then I show my hand so that everyone knows JUST WHAT THEY ARE DEALING WITH. Oh hell yes I ended that sentence with a preposition. That's just how I roll...

For the most part, the session is pretty uneventful - I bluff raise the one woman at the table with a big turn bet, but when my flush misses on the river, I weakly check and lose the pot to her trips. At one point I get KK and raise to 20 and the clever Canadian pushes all in and I figure this is where I bust him. $100 more for me to call and he turns over AJ!

Of course an Ace comes on the flop and I ship half my stack over. yeah, I hate it when people suck out.

My one other memorable hand was getting 43s UTG and raising to 15 pf and getting 4 callers. I bet out 25 on a Q high flop and everyone folds and I rake the pot and show my cards and say something stupid and ego-driven. I was slowly beginning to realize that I am more attention-whore than card player - something that has probably been, ummm...evident to others for a really REALLY long time.

Rick eventually busts out and I rebuy for him because I know that he will win big and I can take half. And right before he has to leave, he wins a big pot and I get my money back plus $40. Rick rules.

I walk with him down to valet parking, retireve his suitcase, push him in a cab and bid farewell. I can easily say he is one of the coolest guys I have ever met and I am not just saying that because he didn't donk off my two hundred dollars.

So I head back to the Aladdin card room and our game is breaking up. I rack out and we hem and haw about what to do - deciding finally to head over to the Bellagio to sneak a peak at their cardroom, the fountains, etc..

Once we got there I was struck immediately, by two things - the place is really huge and really nice. And the women are hot. Okay, that's three things - but I have to make exceptions for these women. On the east coast you rarely get this.

We head over to the packed cardroom and it is definitely nice - maybe a small step down from the Venetian room, but only because it has about 5 times as many games running and it feels cramped walking around. It is well appointed though, with high ceilings and a well-run floor. I was disappointed to see that Bobby's Room was empty, but not suprised as I knew the games had probably moved over to the Rio for the month. Sadly, we were running out of time so we didn't sit down and play. Which was fine with me - the games looked tough and I was pretty happy with how much I had gotten to play cards up to that point.

So instead, we decided to seek out some positive expected value casino games. We settled on roulette. Ballers don't buy in short to a roulette table baby, so I laid down 2 benjamins and the croupier shoved 10 stacks of 20 chips back in my direction. Quik bought in for a bit too and Mali acted as Consigliere, making sure I played the right numbers (of course the two times he forgot to remind me to play 14, it hit - so I'll probably have him whacked at some point).

This probably isn't suprising, since I am a professional roulette player, but I hit 6 different numbers during my short time at that table, including 00 twice. It was beyond money, baby. Quik even made a little extra money when the croupier incorrectly paid him for a black bet when a red number had popped up. After tips I walked away with $180 profit, bringing my roulette winnings to $300 for the trip. I am probably giving my notice at work because I will be a millionaire in just two months at this rate.

Sadly, all good stories must come to an end. We checked out the Bellagio fountains on the way out, headed to the airport, got some dinner and then lost Mali at security. I am assuing he either got home safely or his wife has assumed his on-line identity and is spending his inheritance. Either way, I had a really great time with him and found him to be one of the nicest, most considerate guys I have ever met. Even if he has been abducted or something.

With a few hours to kill and the nickel slots not looking all that money, Quik bought me a bunch of beer in hopes of me going all Subby on the flight attendants and pulling out my dong as part of an elaborate safari joke. I foiled him though and held my beer and we subsequently shutdown the airport bar and stumbled to our flight. Along the way I saw Moises Alou at a random gate with his family and happilly catalogued Professional Athlete Sighting Number Three.

We boarded the airplane and I was out and snoring before we were in the air. In coach. Like a commoner. Because the dirty little secret is this: when Ballerz leave Vegas, they turn into pumpkins, no matter how money they were during their trip.

We arrive into DC at around 6:45 am and Quik and I say our farewells at the baggage claim. I consider myself lucky to have become friends with him over this trip - he is a funny, magnanimous guy - all in spite of the whole quick temper and turning big and green and freakishly strong affliction.

I get into a cab, and before I know it, I am home. I pay my cabbie with a hundred dollar bill and he gives me that look.

You know the one.

[albionmoonlight]

Bravo, gentlemen. Bravo.

[VPI97]

We enjoyed another tremendous meal and talked about everything from his life as a professional gambler to the intricacies of FOF MP, to the disappointing lack of jailbait at the Memorial Jailbait Buffet.
http://www.fof-ihof.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_thinking.gif

[Fonzie]

Wonderful read. I'm both surprised and disappointed at how much I enjoyed living vicariously through your experiences as catalogued here.

[GoldenEagle]

This thread has me saying "I am a balla, yo..." all day long.

[gkb]

Ballerz also write incredibly good threads apparently, yo. Nice job guys, hurry up and go back so we can get another trip report as entertaining as this one.

[Lathum]

When can I sign up for next years trip?

[kcchief19]

With a few hours to kill and the nickel slots not looking all that money, Quik bought me a bunch of beer in hopes of me going all Subby on the flight attendants and pulling out my dong as part of an elaborate safari joke.
I think we need Quik's version of The Full Subby story.

[John Galt]

I think we need Quik's version of The Full Subby story.

Agreed.

But great job Subby. I think everyone at FOFC enjoyed your retelling.

[MIJB#19]

This thread has me convinced, I gotto get into playing poker...

[NoMyths]

[I]The guy is the OG (original gambler) of FOFC and has been living the BALLER lifestyle for years. I mean, he used to count cards! How much more old school can you get?
Hell, I used to count cards too, and I'm still waiting for some of your New School respeck. ;)

[QuikSand]

Anatomy of a Cash, Part I

Without slipping too terribly deeply into poker jargon, I thought I’d document my play in the $1K tournament a bit – and describe just how NOT thrilling it was to make it into the money. As most anyone knows, surviving a large field like this (nearly 2,900 players) requires patience, some skill, and a good deal of luck. While my luck shoed up in big helpings a couple of times, I really attribute the good finish to some good fortune in much more subtle ways, and I can describe where I got quietly lucky.

First – it’s a field of 2,200 players to start – 200 tables with 11 players each. Just gigantic. Plus, they quickly announce that they have over 600 alternates already paid, so as they clear seats they are quickly opening new tables full of alternates. It’s bedlam, really. The event starts pretty close to the announced opening time of noon, and we are underway.

My opening table is pretty typical – the usual assortment of young and old males, plus one outlier in the TV-noteworthy Tiffany Williamson (who cashed in the main event last year for $400K and got tremendous TV time on ESPN in doing so, presumably because (a) her demographic profile was such an outlier and (b) her proclivity to take a very long time to make very stupid calls was noteworthy). So, I had a pseudo-celeb at my table… I can’t be the only one who recognized her, but nobody said anything about it, and I was fine with that.

At 12:08, the fourth hand of the event, I am dealt pocket aces. I already have a flash image of me walking away after some joked with T9o rivers his straight against me, and sends me packing in nearly-last place. But that’s not to be – I make a modest raise, and win the 25 and 25 blinds with my power hand. I’m sure I’ll be seeing lots of big pairs today, so it’s nothing to worry about. Heh.

At 12:13, we have our first “all in” as a young dude (looking the part, with a slick poker emblem jacket and some stupid looking sunglasses) makes a big move to scare away another player from a completely trifling pot. He sends a two-part message: I purchased all my poker gear so I look like a poker dude, and I’m willing to push in all my chips any time, so back off. It works, he takes down the T$150 or somesuch.

At 12:14, we have our first donkey move from Tiffany, as she acts out of turn.

The table is pretty tight, and after a couple times around, I decide it will be good for my psyche if I make a low-risk total bullshit move to steal the blinds… and I do so with Q8o. If I’m going to be here a long time, I might as well have the blood flowing a little bit. I make a pretty standard raise from 25 to 100, and the blinds both fold to me. Success, without reward, is still success.

Shortly afterward, Phil Hellmuth walks in, and sits down two tables over from me. He shakes hands and makes a spectacle of himself. Standard.

After one hour, we end the 25/25 level, and my stack has grown from 1500 to … 1775. Fine.

At 1:10, a new player joins our table (I guess we busted someone, I don’t recall who or why) and sits on my immediate right. My notes say “bad breath” so the guy must have been a beauty – I stayed focused and didn’t let it bother me.

At 1:31, I have my big hand with Tiffany (detailed earlier where I’m begging her to call my reraise with AQ or KJ or something of that sort… she gives me a long staredown and question session, and calls with the same AK as I have, and we split the pot. I never thought I’d actually make a “TV read” but there it was.

We end level two, and my stack has bumped up a bit more to 2175. Shortly after that, our table is broken up and I am re-assigned seats.

As I walk toward my new station, I get a look at Rick/primelord’s table… and note to myself “damn, primelord has a lot of chips.” I believe at one update, he was among the chip leaders with 7K or so. So, he is doing well, and I don’t fell as great about my grinding up to 2500 or so.

My new table features a variety of players, and one young woman who passes (with a slight squint) for a bloated, breathy version of Anna Nicole Smith. She is prominently displaying her two best features, and it is a slight challenge for me to remain focused on the cards. I manage.

But it doesn’t last – I have been placed at a table that is nearly ready to fold, and in about 30 minutes, we’re sent packing. I might have played one hand there – but nothing too noteworthy. In about 15 minutes, I am moves yet again, this is insane.

By the way – I have accumulated some chips at this point, though nothing drastic, but I have done so almost exclusively without having a made hand at any point. I have had, I’m guessing, ace-king about five or six times already, and have made a pretty standard raise with it each time. When I have gotten callers, I have managed to win the pot with a pretty standard continuation bet on the flop (which missed me). One time I raised with AdKd and got two callers… the flop came all diamonds, and I made my best effort to “sneak a peek” at my hand to get a quick diamond check (a move that often confuses observant foes into thinking that I have at most one diamond) but I decide rather than slowplaying it, I’ll make a small bet on the flop – and both opponents folded there, too. In any event – my initial pair of aces has been joined by a pair of deuces (which I folded to a raise ahead of me) as the only two times in the first few hours that I have been dealt a wired pair.

At 3:30 I am moved to a new table, and have only one interesting hand there – a player open raises under the gun, and I look at AK in second position, and decide to reraise. Folded back to him, he thinks a while, sizes up my stack (I have him covered) and he shows TT when he mucks. This day is rapidly turning into an exercise in “how to play AK in various potentially tricky situations” as so far nearly all my interesting hands have found me with exactly that start.

At 4:00 or so, just as we are amidst a split-room bathroom break, my table breaks again, and I an re-located once again. This is getting absurd, I do work to build a table image, and have had no chance to do so at all since 2:00. At least I’m still alive, though…I have around 4,100 chips which isn’t bad, and now it looks like this table will be my home for a while, as it’s not in danger of being broken up soon. I can relax.

So, I look around my new table – and things are wrong. There are FAR too many chips here – five players have pretty big stacks, making my 4k just shrivel up. Must have just been weirdness (like a big stack or two being moved to this table after a few players gobbled up the weaklings initially) but it’s disproportionate. So, I will need to be pretty careful – half the table can stack me without risk of losing even half of their chips. Tough spot.


At 5:01, I have a huge hand, which is worth detailing, I think. I do not have a ton of chips, and the UTG player triples the blind to make it 1200 to go. The second player calls this, and after one fold it’s to me. I look down at AsQs, a pretty good hand, and one that does play pretty well against multiple hands. Calling 1200 is about a third of my chip stack, but we’re somewhere around 800-100 players left, and I am not in a situation of enough power to really sit back here. I decide to call, and hope to see some spades on this flop. We are three handed to the flop, which brings:

Kc – Tc – 4d

The action is check-check to me. I have a gutshot draw to the top straight, with only three of those jacks giving me the nuts. I have maybe 2500 chips in front of me, with nearly 4000 in the pot already – so I don’t think I have enough leverage to try to push these guys out, and with that flop, it doesn’t look like a good situation to do it. Maybe they both have underpairs, but a sneaky play seems possible too. I check.

Turn card is Jc.

Well, I made my straight, but it’s not the top hand, as the flush hits also. Action is check, then player #2 quickly goes all in. I have to think this through… would he make this move (with 2400 chips) with a made hand? He calls the opening raise for a third of his chips, and then pushes here… wouldn’t he want action if he had, say, Ac9c or even AcQc? Is my straight good here?

I call. We parse out the chips, and we are dead even with 2450 in for this round. UTG player stands up and bemoans “I have too many outs, I’m priced in here!” He ends up calling with KK, player #2 shows AdQd, and he and I have essentially the same hand. We need to dodge a boat to avoid having the slowplayed top set take us both out… and the brick on the river does so. KK is crippled, and the two AQs hands get slightly off the ropes here. Slightly tough call, but I think that was the proper read.


Anyway… after that big hand, I’m not longer in as dire straits, and I watch as Ted Forrest gets relocated into Subby’s former table. (Subby had just busted out maybe 10-15 minutes before, I think).At 5:40, we end the level and I have a stack of 4625… with blinds rising up to 300/600, this is still not a terrible comfortable position, and at my table, I am still way behind at least four other stacks.

At 6:05, primelord busts out – I don’t get the full details here, but I think he has already related the story. I will take the “last longer” prize at this point, as I feel my tournament life is in jeopardy. We make it to a 6:45 dinner break, and I have a chance to release focus for once. This event has been unusually taxing – I have played in a fair number of day-long events around home before, and have certainly played for six or seven hours straight before… but working a fairly short chip stack requires a good deal of focus, and that has been my mentality for the last couple of hours. There have been quite a lot of players I have seen in similar positions who just decide to “gamble” and make troublesome calls – with hands like ATo against an all-in reraise, and so forth. I understand the general mentality of “you need chips to win” but I am trying to stay away from obviously-dominated situations.

Dinner break is fine – I talk with primelord and Subby a bit, and I think the field is maybe down to about 600 players at this point, with money starting at #270. I’m sure I am below average in chips here, so I know that I need some good fortune to limp into the money spots. I am not thinking about the $500K+ top prize at all, which I suspect is good for the psyche. My chip stack at this point is 5425, and with the blinds about to go up to 400/800 (and with antes just getting started), I calculate my “M” to be around 3 or 4. In an ordinary situation, this places me into a desperate situation, but I do have one thing on my side.

The WSOP runs a smooth ship, generally, but they have made some mistakes here. They got more players than expected for this event, and they made a last-minute decision to give chips stacks of 1500 instead of 100 to each player. As a result of this or other things, the information available to the players on the “tournament board” (a computer screen detailing the status of the event) is simply incorrect. I don’t know what exactly happened there, but if you’re really interested in precisely where you stand, depending on the official board was unwise. Calculating this in my head wasn’t that tough – we started with about 3000 players, we’re down to around 600, so the average chip stack ought to be roughly 5X what we started with, or maybe 7500. My stack of 5425 is short, but not desperate, by comparison. If a book like Harrington on Holdem says you are in dire straits when your M gets below 5 (and it does), then that is telling fully half the people in this field that they are practically done for. I decide that I am not so desperate as to be looking to push with anything, and that I can afford to play with a little patience, at least for a while.

Mind you, this was not the result of a deep, introspective session at the dinner table. This more or less came to me as I was walking back to my table after spending most of the break ogling tool belt girls with primelord. But regardless, I decided that what was at least as important as my status relative to the blinds and antes was my status relative to other players, and that I wasn’t in as bad shape as I had initially sensed.


I’m back at the table, and probably watch an orbit or so without action, looking at runt cards the whole time. Patience is pretty easy when you’re fed a steady diet of T4o and 83s and the like.

I’m in middle position, it’s folded to me, and I look down at a KJ. This is not a premium hand. But this might be a big decision for me. I could push here, and hope to get into a showdown to double up. Or, I can try to just make a standard raise and play normally. The table, despite a few big stacks, has been tight since dinner, and I decide to open raise for roughly triple the blind – putting up maybe 1600 of my 5000 chips. If I am reraise, I might be pot committed, but perhaps not. This is a risky play with a stack this short, but if it works, the blinds and antes are enough for me to feed on for a while.

It works – the big blind stares me down a while, and mucks. I drag the pot full of green 25 chips, and get myself healthy again. And in my mind, I decide that this is the way to go from here. We’re still a ways away from the money, but I have decided that the game has tightened up enough to make this viable. Maybe the dinner break got people thinking about the money too much, or has many players feeling like they have to push or fold… but I just have the feeling this can work.

Over the next hour or two, I open raise about ten times – along the way, I see two more hands of AK, one actual monster with KK, and the rest are pretty marginal hands like QJ and KT. And most of the time, I get no action, I get to steal the blinds and antes. I win one pot after getting called when I’m holding my QJs, I miss the flop, but I win it with a continuation bet – I’m guessing the caller had a small pair and missed the flop as well, but he almost certainly mucked a better hand that I had. In any event, by the time they break up my table at 9:30 or so, I have a chip stack of 7400 chips – I haven’t made up much ground from before, but I am still alive in this thing by the good fortune of not running into any real monsters when I was open-raising some speculative hands.

There’s my subtle version of luck – I think the play was fine, but it was just dumb luck that in taking ten or twelve stabs at stealing the blinds and antes, I never one ran into anyone with a truly big hand. I only lost one of those pots in that whole time (when my caller bet out at me on the flop, and I had nothing), and was never reraised – if I stumble into someone with a bit pair or even a bit ace on any one of those hands, I could have easily been priced into putting all my chips in with a QJs or a KT…and being a serious longshot.

In any event – I have made it to the new section for this tournament, and we are getting fairly close to the money, I’m guessing we have around 450 players left at this point. At 10:10, we get a short break, and I have 9100 chips as I have again stolen the blinds and antes a couple of times with marginal hands.

I also have one more thing going for me now – since I have been living off the blinds and especially the antes, I have a pretty sizable stack of chips in front of me. Mind you, most are the fairly worthless green 25 chips, but I have maybe 5 or 6 column of them in front of me. I don’t look desperate. The fact that I have only one or two of the pink 500 chips, while others at the table have 10 or 20, is deceiving and not as easy to notice. I think I got some psychological benefit by having a pile in front of me. Who knows?

It’s break time, and we’re getting pretty close to the money, and I’m still in – and not even desperate now.

[NoSkillz]

This thread should get nominated for a Golden Scribe.

Great stuff guys!

[Vegas Vic]

Lucky for us, special guest and ORIGINAL BALLER Vegas Vic has decided to leave his estate and meet us at the Alladin Jailbait Memorial Buffet for a quick bite to eat. Admittedly, I am a little nervous about meeting VV. The guy is the OG (original gambler) of FOFC and has been living the BALLER lifestyle for years.

VV's lifestyle is probably closer to the "Joey Knish" character in Rounders than it is to Subby's flattering decription.

They had just opened up a new 1/2 NL table and it was the perfect opportunity for all of us to sit down and play cards one last time together. Unfortunately Vic had to get back to the OG lifestyle to which he had become accustomed and didn't really have time to hang out and take milk money away from a bunch of snotnosed wannabes.

Actually, VV has no experience playing NL, and he didn't want to go busto while donking off his money to these FOFC sharks.

[QuikSand]

Anatomy of a Cash, Part II

Okay, we’re back from our short break, and the money is within sniffing distance. How close are we? Well, there’s the rub. As I mentioned earlier, information has been a little inconsistent, and with the understandably heightened interest in “where are we?” at this point, the level of concern is higher than ever.

After we resume play a short while, word eventually gets to our table that we are at 305 players – and we all know that 270 get paid. I am feeling some pressure – but likely have enough chips to just coast to a cash position here, so I’m exactly the guy who needs to be folding my way there. At 305 players left, though, things are understandably tightening up… and after another orbit or two around the table, I may need to make a steal just to stay afloat. I suspect it may come to that, before long.

I’m under the gun, perhaps two minutes after the “305” level is announced, and I look down at my hand of the day, ace-king. Borderline hands, I think, would merit a fold here… but with presumably an hour or so before we make the money, I figure a blind/ante steal here might be enough to set me up for a coast into the cash, and I make my usual raise – at this point, I think the blinds were 400/800, and I bump it up to 2400 from first position.

A player across from me – in a similar chip situation as mine, looks me over. I’m convinced he is going to play this hand – and I am not surprised when he reraises another 4000 chips. It is back to me, and I have to decide whether this is “the hand.” The situation I had been dreading for the last three or four hours has just struck – only this time, instead of holding a marginal hand like KT or QJ, I actually have a hand with a lot of showdown value in AK. He could certainly be making this move with a hand like AQ or AJ (which I dominate) and plenty of pairs with which I am more or less even money. Since we’re not exactly right up against the money yet, I don’t think I can pinpoint him as being on a monster hand… so I consider the full range of potential hands here to be in play (though I doubt he’s make this move with AJ, I still consider AQ a possibility).

I basically have to push my chips in, or get out of the hand. I push it in. If I go out in 305th place or so, I’ll live and I’ll still have a pretty solid experience for doing so.

He calls while basically biting his lower lip, and shows KK. I am in big trouble. He, of course, was pretty sure that there was indeed a monster under this particular bed and that he was going to bust out with KK under AA, and so he shows visible relief when he realizes he is a solid favorite in the hand (since I have the ace over his king of spades, the odds of him winning this hand are about 70%, with no information about what was folded elsewhere).

The flop misses us both, but brings two spades. The turn brings a third spade now, giving me a number of outs – 8 remaining spades, plus the three remaining aces – my chances of wining are back up to nearly 30% at this point.

The river brings… an ace. I win, double up, and bust the player with KK, whom I had barely covered.

So, if you were inclined to believe that this game is all skill, that my money finish was a pure product of calculating ability and prowess, and that all this is easily repeatable – look no further. I got in **all** my money bad for the first time, and make a gigantic suckout to double my chip stack and convert a still-interesting tale of what might have been into “holy shit, I’m in the money!”

The cruel twist here is that within about a minute or two after this hand concludes, word goes out for dealers to stand up after dealing each hand. This must be the orderly way of assigning finishing positions – and I don’t mind at all, since I have enough chips to fold for a half hour and limp my way in no matter what now. But after only one round of standing dealers the announcement is suddenly made: “Congratulations, remaining players, you have all made the money!”

The table is dumbfounded. We were at 305 just a few minutes ago… how can we have lost 35 players like that? The only answer we get is that the 305 announcement was errant, and had not considered the people who had busted since the break – or something of the sort. Regardless… rewind the tape a bit, and go back to my AK under the gun. If it turns out they announce that we are literally bubbling right now at 275 players instead of 305, and I look down at this hand, I can’t fold it fast enough. If I knew we were two or three hands away from reaching the money, I’d get out immediately and take my cash. Instead, incorrectly thinking that I might need to win a hand just to survive another hour or so until we cleared 270, I figured AK was as good a hand as I was going to see to do it with. It’s a cruel twist of fate – in this specific case, cruel to Mr. 275 (or so) with KK, but things certainly could have played out very differently.


So, I doubled up and have some chips, and we’re in the money. The table goes through the obligatory congratulations, and we get on with playing. I correctly suspect that there will be a collective exhale in the game at this point, and that we’ll see things liven up. No surprise – there are probably two dozen bust-outs in the next ten minutes, I’d estimate… players who had just limped in to make the cash, and then pushed any old hand now that they needed to make it another 70 spots or so for a money upgrade. Ted Forrest is one of these players, I believe… I know he cashed, and walked past us shortly after the announcement was made.

It’s about 11pm, we have been playing (including breaks) for 11 hours, and word goes out that they are going to do about two more levels and quit for the night. We’re all in the money, and we’ll probably get down below 200 in this phase. The announced payouts (also shifty information, but I think what we gathered turned out to be correct) was that we were all guaranteed some $1500+ now, and that the next jump was around 200 players, and it went up to $2300+. In my mind, I felt like I had enough chips to keep playing reasonably, and with the pace of the bust-outs around us, I might be able to make it up another level or two by keeping my head. I am keeping thoughts of the final table and big money at bay – I realize that I can probably only get there if lightning strikes, and there’s no particular reason to think it will. So, I remain focused on a stack of eight $100 bills – the next money increment.


I don’t have any more notes from the remainder of the evening, but I know that I played basically “my game” from here – I stole the blinds and antes a few times with decent hands, kept my relative chip level about constant, and stayed in the game pretty well. We did indeed make it to the next money level, and I advanced there pretty comfortably. I had a tough moment, when I raised with ATs and watched another player with a slightly larger chip stack deliberate a long time… then fold. (He later asked me what I had been holding, and I very graciously told him I had pocket tens, and hearing this he seemed fairly relieved… I’m guessing he had a middle pair there and considered pushing it in)


One hand worth mentioning was at my table but did not involve me personally… we had a three-way all-in at around midnight, which involved a player that I had already mentioned to primelord as my “you have got to see this guy” note for the evening. The player on my immediate right had a very thick southern accent (overhearing his conversations with a friend, I divined that he hails from Tennessee) – and I don’t know if anyone else was close enough to see that he had a hearing aid. In any event, he would regularly ask the table to repeat what had been said over the loudspeakers, and I got the impression that most people had concluded that this drunken hillbilly’s version of backwoods pidgin English was such a poor match for the regular speech used locally that he was basically a fish out of water and needed special help. I assure you, he looked the part, too – a little rough shaven, and a chin that juts out just a bit more than one might expect. I wouldn’t want to use a spoken-for phrase like “slack-jawed yokel” here… but a slightly less considerate observer might do so.

In any event… Cletus raises in early position, and a later player (with a big stack) goes all-in… then a small stack calls the all-in bet, and Cletus calls as well. The revelation of the hands shows us:

Cletus: QQ
Big Stack: AQ
Small Stack: KK

As one might imagine, the case queen does indeed find its way to the table, and Cletus triples up, and busts the short-stacked player. He mutters to me “da’s the biggest suckout of mah life right there” and I suspect he’s right. I now have two considerable stacks to my immediate right, and my position has deteriorated a bit from that play.

Incidentally, part of the reason I mention this story is that you’ll likely get to see Cletus on the tee-vee come October, as he made the final table of this event. Here is his information page from Card Player, including a very true-to-life pic:

hxxp://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Michael_Halford/3505

Honestly, I kid Cletus (or Michael, I suppose) a bit here… despite the outward appearances, he was by all rights a pretty solid player, and the string of cashes on his player page suggest that he has done this a time or two before. He definitely got very lucky on the hand I detailed, but he played well for the time I was beside him, and despite a few odd mannerisms, seemed to be a pretty nice guy. I actually rather regret describing him to my fellow ballerz as a “potential serial killer.”


And with that… there’s not much more story for the evening. I got dealt AK a couple more times – bringing the count for that particular hand to something like 12 or 14 for the day – and stole blinds and antes to keep myself in decent shape. We manage to bump up into the next payout level – that’s one more stack of eight benjamins coming my way, and I’m still feeling okay with my status. At a bit past 1 am, we conclude a round, and call it a night. It’s a fairly exciting little ordeal, to bag up your chips and so forth – and the realization starts to settle in what’s going on. The field is now down to around 150 tables, as best as we can tell, but we’ll have to survive the winnowing to 108 players to make it to the next payout level.

As I prepare to wrap up for the evening, it occurs to me to capture a tiny moment on camera. It’s not all that exciting (especially after we have chipped up all the little green chips that have long been my little fortress) but here’s my chip “stack” at the end of day one:

http://www.fof-ihof.com/upload/QuikSand/chips.jpg

The public information at this point isn’t very good, but here’s what I know. I have $19,100 in chips, and the blinds are going up to $1200/2400 + A$200 when we start off tomorrow. That makes my “M” at about 3.5… I am in the danger zone, according to Harrington on Holdem, but this isn’t really anything new. The average chip stack at this point is 31,000 or so… making the average M only about 5 or 6… so there are a **lot** of players who are really feeling the pressure of the forced betting.

Later, I learn that I am standing in 90th out of 138 players (as best I recall) at this point – so I certainly do have a shot to make it up the ladder one more rung. And there are now eleven benjamins waiting for me if I can do so.

[Butter]

I wouldn’t want to use a spoken-for phrase like “slack-jawed yokel” here… but a slightly less considerate observer might do so.

In any event… Cletus raises in early position...

Gold.

[Subby]

You are also listed in the 2+2 cashes thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=WSOP&Number=6607291&Searchpage=1&Main=6423186&Words=+entertainme&topic=&Search=true#Post6607291).

[QuikSand]

Thanks for that, pally.

[kcchief19]

I'll post a $25 bounty for anyone who can get PokerPages or CardPlayer to post a picture of Lou Ferrigno on Quik's player page.

[QuikSand]

Anatomy of a Cash, addendum

Alas, my dependence on my impromptu notes from the event, and the inconsistency of same, caused me to leave out a pretty big hand in my telling of the tournament above.

At some point on day one (I think it was a while before the dinner break, but I'm honestly not certain now) I had to push all-in as my stack was in jeopardy of just getting blinded off. I was in early position, maybe even under the gun, with AsJs... a hand good enough to be okay in a showdown, but really not great -- quite a lot of the hands that would call a meaningful bet here are ehad of me there. I did get called, and the big stack flipped over ... TT. About as good as I could hope for, a race.

I hit an ace on the board (I don't remember the order of cards, I just recall my effort to remain my usual stoic self at the table and to not get up and jump about as many player are prone to doing) and doubled up to get off the felt. Once again, a triumph of good fortune for me, that clearly aided my eventual money result. I lose that race, and my story ends in maybe 500th place... still nice, but not quite the same story.

[QuikSand]

Anatomy of a Cash Part III

So, I have made the money, and made it to day two. I found my copy of Harrington II to curl up with, but managed to sleep pretty easily (actually my best night of sleep of the trip) after re-reading a few pages. I retain my game face, and after a solid visit to the Aladdin buffet for lunch (already scrupulously detailed earlier in this thread) we head over to the Rio for day two.

At this point, there are a number of people following my progress…both here and at various computers around the net, as Mrs. Q sent out an email missive to a circle of family and friends noting my success so far. I hadn’t really expected her to be on top of this, but she had checked cardplayer.com before we talked in the morning, so she was already more enthused than I was.

So – back to the tables. We have been relocated to the “finishing corner” for today, but my table is still intact. Cletus remains on my immediate right, and I am familiar with the players here – that’s a relief. We stand at 139 players, I believe, and the next bubble is at 108. My immediate goal is just to inch forward in the money, and if lightning strikes (probably a few times) then I can worry about what to do with my big stack of chips when I get there.

My list of hands to discuss is very short for day two – I have immediate folds with all but four hands on the entire day. It keeps me out of trouble, for the most part, but also makes it painfully obvious that this is not going to be my day to make a big move and accumulate serious capital for a push toward the final table. So it goes.


My first playable hand starts with a raise from across the table, against my big blind. He’s a pretty big stack, and a fairly aggressive player, and it’s to me for $4,000 on my big blind – I already have $1600 in the pot at this point. I look at my hand – KsQs. This hand has reasonable showdown value, but is not a favorite against all that many legitimate raising hands. Fold here? I have about $12,000 more chips beyond the $4k bet… and I decide my best play is to push them all in. I have a pretty tight table image, we’re still a while away from the 108 bubble, and either taking this hand right now or winning a showdown would almost lock up another $1100. I’m all in, for only the second time in the tournament (oddly enough).

The raiser gives a long look at me, at his cards, and eventually he mucks. Great result for me – I don’t know what he might have had, but once again I have to believe that I was at best in a race situation. (Though it is possible that this player might have raised with a hand like JTs or other similarly playable hands… I don’t think he had actual trash)

Anyway – that gives me a decent infusion of chips, and my first very serious palm sweats. I don’t know how much stake these players put in table reads – but I am certain that I had bulging veins and so forth (no Hulk jokes needed here) as I really, really did not want that call.


It doesn’t take as long as I had expected for us to approach, and pass, the next bump in money. I thought that players, following the overnight break, might tighten up a bit – but the fairly steady move toward the cash-out line continued, and we get to 108 and beyond cleanly. I’m not overlooking a series of interesting hands here as I skip through this section – I’m just not telling you about my tough decisions to lay down the various nine-high types that I was seeing all day. I am fairly certain that through 90 minutes of play, I did not see any ace, and I’m certain I didn’t see any pair. There might have been some weak kings of queens in the mix, but that’s the high end of things.

Anyway… this pretty boring situation goes on a while, and shortly before we approach the next money bubble (player #81 is the first to make the next increment) we are up to blinds of $1600/$3200. My stack is somewhere around $12,000 at this point… so I am feeling substantial pressure from the forced betting. I am in grave jeopardy of not making the next bubble at all… and right now, that additional $1100 is all that’s really on my mind.

The floor announces the “approaching bubble” procedure again, where dealers are to alert the tournament director of any all-ins, and to stand when they are done dealing each hand. Determining exactly who is #82 and who is #82 is big business at this point. The managers announce that we are to 83 players… meaning two more suckers will bust out at this level, before we go up.

Just at this moment, I am under the gun, and see the best hand I have been dealt all day: AhTh.

This is not a monster hand I understand. But I am getting short stacked – I’m probably among the handful of the very shortest stacks remaining in the entire event, I’m guessing, and I have been waiting for a hand anywhere near this good to shove in, even if just to steal the blinds and antes, which now total more than half my stack.

A few dealers are standing, an all-in is called behind me, and I am in Mike Hargrove mode – the human rain delay. I am stacking chips, I am re-looking at my cards, I am counting carefully. I really want to push this in, but I also really do not want to go out just before a bubble. I’m not 100% certain of the rules in play here – if three people go out on the “same hand” at different tables, I believe they split the prize money for #81, #82, and #83 here… so there’s a possible split decision here. But the way things are going, I can probably inch up past this bubble just by sitting out this hand and maybe my blind hands.

I fold.

Literally seconds later, the tournament director makes the announcement. “You’ve all made it to the next level.” Followed by some statement that they are double checking, but there are clearly two or three guys at the check-out station, suggesting that we’re past the bubble indeed.


So, it’s my big blind. I need real help to advance any further than this – I think the money stays level for another 30 players or so, or nearly half the field. I am surely among the shortest stacks. I am in trouble, and might have to push in with any two cards here.

Table action is unusual – no raise at all, and the small blind Cletus even folds. It’s to me, and I get a free flop if I want it. With only one person to face, I have two options here… I have basically decided that all my chips are going into this pot, period. My choices are to push them in now, and see if he’s willing to call with whatever hand caused him to limp (for the first time all day, I’m pretty sure). Or, I can see my free flop, and push my chips in – making essentially a pot-sized bet and hoping that he missed the flop and doesn’t already have a made hand (him limping with a big pocket pair is a distinct possibility here, I’m aware). I choose Plan B, and have every intention of pushing it all in no matter what boards. Incidentally, though it’s not really important, I have Q3 offsuit. Monster.

Flop misses me completely, but it isn’t bad – K42, I believe. (It was documented on Cardplayer’s coverage… I forgot the exact sequence but I think that is correct) Actually a good flop for me – I can represent a king with this bet… and I shove in my stack.

The rival debates, stares me down, announces to the table (after maybe 2 minutes) that he’s making a bold call, and calls my bet with 54s – middle pair. I do not contest this call at all – sensing the situation, he should be well aware that I’m desperate to win the pot, and very open to the “bet with nothing possibility” here. His pair of fours is good, and I now basically have three outs. None come, and I’m congratulated by the table and escorted to the management for my cash out.


And that, friends, is how I made the money in my first WSOP event, and did so basically without getting very many cards the whole time. I am pretty sure that my entire count of wired pairs was six – aces early, kings in the middle, and a handful of runt pairs (nothing better than eights) scattered, mostly in unplayable spots. (I did muck pocket sixes shortly after the first money bubble when there was a raise and an all-in ahead of me… I would have flopped my set and tripled up had I stayed in… oh, well) I got a sizable number of ace-kings sent my way, and mostly got lucky with them either pre-flop or betting after I missed the flop. There was subtle luck strewn throughout the event for me… and that, more than anything else, got me there.

I know that this hasn’t been as entertaining reading as the meal and hotel reports… but I did want to jot some of this down more systematically, in part for my own benefit. It was a great, and very tiring, experience. Nursing a small stack kept me pretty sane – I really never had to think very much about the ESPN final table or the big money, since I was always far more focused on not going out on the next hand… that probably made it a little bit more tense, but also kept me entirely positive about the finish as well.

[Barkeep49]

Well Qwik I enjoyed it and found it entertaining. Thanks for doing it.

[digamma]

Quik,

Regarding your notes, did you take them as you were sitting at the table or on breaks and in the evening, or some combination of both?

[albionmoonlight]

Thanks for the report, Quik. I enjoyed it.

[QuikSand]

Quik,

Regarding your notes, did you take them as you were sitting at the table or on breaks and in the evening, or some combination of both?

At the table and on breaks... subtly using my PDA/phone, despite a prohibition against use of comm devices. Mostly just shorthand notes to myself, assuming I'd remember the details later. Wasn't sure what I'd do with the notes, really, just wanted to be able to spark my own memory.

[Radii]

excellent read Quik, I'm sure the poker players here enjoyed your writeup just as much as Subby's, I know I did. Both have me craving getting in on the action next year

[Lathum]

I really enjoyed it Qwik, thanks and congrats again

[Subby]

This really was the story of the trip - not my stupid capri pants and money roulette skills.

Thanks for taking the time to document it - score one for the good guys!

[kcchief19]

My choices are to push them in now, and see if he’s willing to call with whatever hand caused him to limp (for the first time all day, I’m pretty sure). Or, I can see my free flop, and push my chips in – making essentially a pot-sized bet and hoping that he missed the flop and doesn’t already have a made hand (him limping with a big pocket pair is a distinct possibility here, I’m aware).
Man, I can't believe you forgot option 3: push all-in in the dark and act like nutjob. I think that was a clearly overlooked option.

I also was thinking of you over the weekend when I caught a little of Tiffany Williamson going up against Sean Sheikhan during ESPN Classic's poker marathon. It's too bad you didn't get a chance to call clock on her.

[albionmoonlight]

Question for all of you: Having done this once and, seemingly, had a great time and made some scratch, do you see yourself going to the World Series every year now, or was it a "Glad that I did it once, but don't think I want to go again" kind of thing?

[QuikSand]

Question for all of you: Having done this once and, seemingly, had a great time and made some scratch, do you see yourself going to the World Series every year now, or was it a "Glad that I did it once, but don't think I want to go again" kind of thing?

Ride the rush. No brainer.

[Subby]

Yeah I cannot wait to go back. I get mildly depressed thinking about how I am going to have to wait a year.

[dixieflatline]

Wow that ATs hand was a tough situation. If you hadn't heard any all-ins called would you have pushed this hand? You certainly could be in trouble here but you could also be called by Ax or some other broadway cards. Still, moving from a M less than 5 to a M less than 10 probably isn't worth the potential money jump, though that was still uncertain when you made this decision.

As for the next hand with the Q3 I think you played that perfectly. In hindsight he might have folded to a preflop push but that is some seriously nice odds that he would be getting. That said I love the stop and go here because you will get A high and maybe some baby pocket pairs to incorrectly fold. There was a really good thread on 2+2 about the stop and go a while ago and it certainly seems like a very +EV play in tourneys like this.

[QuikSand]

Wow that ATs hand was a tough situation. If you hadn't heard any all-ins called would you have pushed this hand?

I think the delay tactics was just to give myself a chance to be talked out of folding, which was my first instinct with just about any two cards at that point, given the situation.

It's tough to know what it right there -- if I double up on that hand, then I obviously can coast easily into the $5200 bubble, and with something like 30K in chips, I probably buy myself another two times around the table without any real pressure -- that's maybe 20 more hands I get to *hope* to hit a big hand and perhaps make another move to accumulate chips. I admittedly was really focused on just getting past the bubble... and $1100 isn't completely worthless... but I honestly don't know if the timid play is correct there. Perhaps the chance to double up and give myself a meaningful shot at really moving on would have been worth it.

[John Galt]

I enjoyed the recounts of the Vegas trip a lot, but it just occurred to me what was missing: mechanical horse racing. Surely, in between all the card playing, ballin', and shot-callin', there must have been time to bet on, and scream like a maniac at, little artificial jockeys.

[QuikSand]

No, sir... a shame, really.

[cartman]

No, sir... a shame, really.

Well, you always have to forget to do something, so you have a reason to come back.

[Vegas Vic]

More details later... but I never thought I'd have an opportunity to make a "TV read" and play against someone differently based on what I saw of them on television... but there I was (hint: the foe was Tiffany Williamson).

Quik,

It looks like she's at it again. Just in from the main event at the WSOP:

Tiffany Williamson Eliminated

Mark Shoichet raises preflop to $600 and Tiffany Williamson makes the call. The flop comes 9-4-3 and Shoichet bets $600. Williamson raises to $3,000 and Shoichet goes all-in. Williamson then asks Shoichet, "Do you have trips?" After 5 minutes, Shoichet calls the clock on Williamson. She calls and turns over 10-10. Shoichet has K-K and the board bricks out for Williamson, who is eliminated early on in the championship event.

[QuikSand]

Geez, even I fell asleep dreaming of toolbelt girls.

Oh, speaking of which... stumbled across this sidelight:

http://www.gutshot.com/images/tournamentcoverage/milwaukee.jpg

[SirFozzie]

Hamina Hamina Hamina!!!!!

[dixieflatline]

WSoP Main Event Trip: Day 1
Things are settling down here so I am finally getting around to writing up a trip report on the vegas trip. I am adding this here because I really wanted to bump the great work done by subby and the gang in case anyone hadn't read their stuff. I am not nearly as entertaining as they are but hopefully this will be at least slightly interesting.

My wife and I get to the airport (O'Hare) on thursday, july 27 for our flight out to vegas. We step up to the booth and are immediately asked a familiar question. "Would you like to upgrade to economy plus for only $39"? Hell yeah! We are ballerz... in economy plus. I am pretty excited and I comment to my wife that other people playing in the main even probably are on the plane as well. Sure enough, just two rows in front of us is a middle aged man with a horrible hair piece telling everyone around him that he won a seat into the main event via full tilt only spending $200. Definitely not a baller.

We get in mid afternoon gather our luggage and are off to the Rio. We checked in at the airport (only in vegas I tell you) and hopped on a shuttle. There we met another WSoP player from arkansas. He is telling everyone how is his putting up $10K of his own money to play. And where might you ask is he staying? The motel 6. That is right putting up $10K to enter a poker tourney and staying at the motel 6. He had to take a shuttle to the airport to catch a shuttle to the rio so he could buy in today. Also, not baller-esqe.

Entering the Rio we are greeted by a waitress working at the bar located just inside, called iBar. She is wearing a skimpy top and a thong. Only in vegas. Anyway, we get our luggage up to the room and I head down to find out what day I am playing on. I get in line and the line is basically not moving and I am not even in the room where registration is taking place. My stomach couldn't take the wait so got some food first and went back to the room. A knock on the door and the words "room service" get me up. I ask my wife if we ordered anything and she said no. I opened the door and a waiter with a bottle of champagne. Compliments of Interpoker. Sweet. They definitely knew we were ballerz.

I headed back down to wait in line but this time they had split the registation into the people waiting to put up the $10K and the people who had pre-registered or won their seats online. This was a godsend as the line took about 10 minutes to get my starting day, day 1c, and a Harrah's gold card.

The last event of the night was the crypto (the network Interpoker is on) welcome party. All the sites pros were there so not only did I get to rub elbows with Varkonyi, Liebert, and Juha Hellpi but Kenna James as well. James had a Kill Phill shirt on that said Kill Phill on the front and on the back a list of the Phills , Ivey, Laak, Hellmuth, and Gordon with a check mark next to each of them. I asked him where he got it and he said it was homemade but he should had printed more to sell here.

Crypto put on a great buffet topped with a chocolate fountain. None of the sites CEOs were there but the crypto poker room manager attended. I asked him if the others were missing due to the recent arrest and he said yes. He added that all of them had planned to attend the conference that Bodog was going to be running there but had cancelled. So if the government had really wanted to make a splash with arrests they could have waited for that event and nabbed some really big names.

Festivities concluded and off to sleep I went dreaming of the $12 million first prize and what I would do with the money.

[gkb]

I had to search for this thread after trying to get my feeble mind around the latest puzzle postings. This is probably my favorite thread ever here. The fun really starts on page 3 when they started posting their trip reports. This thread has it all, including jailbait pics posted by Quik and his "meathook hands".

This was almost 2 years ago now, is there another trip planned for the future?

[Pumpy Tudors]

I had to search for this thread after trying to get my feeble mind around the latest puzzle postings. This is probably my favorite thread ever here. The fun really starts on page 3 when they started posting their trip reports. This thread has it all, including jailbait pics posted by Quik and his "meathook hands".

This was almost 2 years ago now, is there another trip planned for the future?
Well, I'm going to Vegas in July, but there won't be any pictures.