5/10 @ the Wynn
I have put in a woefully small number of hands this month. I like to think it's all due to moving, setting up the new house and just getting settled in, so we're gonna go with that.
With that being said, I'm up a good bit from when I have found time to get hands in. This move has cost more than we origanlly budgeted/expected, but we're still in good shape and we have some really nice furniture, esp. our bedroom set. It's pretty nice to come home and feel comfortable and be able to truly relax after a long session 'at work'.
Speaking of which, I have found 2 poker rooms that I really like. I started out playing the 3/5NL ($1,000 max) game at Green Valley Ranch. It's almost exclusively regs in that game, but it's still not what I'd term a "tough" game. I've managed to run AA and 66 into quad 10's twice, both on TT6 flops, both in the same session. Outside of that, I've done pretty well there. Granted it's a whopping 3 sessions, but nonetheless, I like it there. The dealers and floors are all professional and nice to the players, which seems to be a novel concept thus far (obviously I'm referencing the Bellagio...God I loathe that room). And while there's usually only 1 or 2 3/5 games going, they seem to be good games. Time will tell.
I also played the HORSE tournament they had this past Wednesday. 48 entries and Top 7 paid, w/ the final 8 making the final table. I bubbled the final table and took 9 for a whopping $0. The blind structure, as you might expect for a small buy in tourney was pretty steep, but it was fun and really, that's what I was wanting from it. First paid a little over $500, so while the money would have been cool, I just wanted to play HORSE, live and have fun. Check and check!
Earlier that day, while both Assani and I were putting in a session, online, he (Assani) brought up the prospect of staking me in the 5/10NL game at the Wynn. We had previously talked about him staking me for the big Sunday tournaments online, but, to be honest, the idea of him staking me for cash games never occured to me. He just brought it up, outta the blue. So it got me thinking...I could continue to play in the 3/5NL $1k game at GVR and take all the risk or I could 'freeroll' the 5/10NL game at the Wynn. Hmmmmm.
A little background on the Wynn game seems in order as well here. Every NL game, be it 1/3, 2/5, 5/10, or the occassional 10/20, are all uncapped, meaning that you can buy in for any amount you want. I heard that a year or so back, Daniel Negreanu bought in for $250,000 in a 2/5NL game. *snicker* Assani has told me that in the 5/10, it's normal for most to buy-in for $5,000 to $10,000. Now that's some deep stack poker! Obviously, most of that is usually for show and would almost never come into play, but nonetheless, that is a shitton of money for a 5/10 game. He also told me that on the weekends, the game(s) can be pretty soft, for the most part.
So the offer was pretty standard and after thinking it over for a short while, I agreed to it. There's something appealing about playing risk-free. I don't think that my ego or my whatever takes a hit here either since I'm playing for money, not "style points" and this allows me to play higher than my current bankroll would comfortably allow me to play.
So fast forward to tonight and I got my first taste of the 5/10 at the Wynn. We got there around 7pm or so and the room looked to be pretty rocking. The 5/10 is on the raised platform in the back of the room so while the room seemed pretty busy, the "high limit" area had two tables going, a 5/10NL game it's must move table as well.
Without hardly any wait, they had two seats open, me in the 6 and Assani in the 9. He had given me $4,000 (a rack of blue $10 chips and 2-$1,000 chips) so I had two buy-ins to get started with. I was a bit nervous at first, to be perfectly honest, for a few reasons. First, I wasn't playing my money for the first time ever and had my backer playing across from me, so that was the first thing. Secondly, it was a new room and I'm usually nervous the first time I play in a new room...gimme about 30-45 mins and I get a feel for things and I'm good from there out. That was the case tonight.
There were a handful of interesting hands that I was involved in and I'll just run thru them:
Hand of the Day #1:
This is about 2 orbits into my session and an unknown opens from UTG+1 to $50 and I am in MP and see QsQd. I still have @ $2k and I cover him ($1000-ish).I decide to just flat and see what happens since I'm still pretty new to the table.
(Pot: $115)
We take the flop heads up Kh Th 5s. He checks and I check it behind him.
(Pot: $115)
Turn is 3c. He now bets out $130. I call.
(Pot: $375)
River is Ks. He checks again, my move...
What I did:
I value bet the river $130 and he thinks for a bit and calls. I table my QQ and he triumphantly flips over his AA to scoop the pot.
What I think I should've done:
I think I played the hand well and with his check on the flop, my value bet on the river wasn't too thin, as I think I get called by worse (AT, any pocket pair), having played it a lot like a flush draw. I'm open to discussion though.
Hand of the Day #2:
I have @ $1600 or so and villain has me covered. Villain is a youngish 30-something LAG who seems to like to bully when in position. I'm UTG and raise to $40 w/ AKo. I get 3 callers, UTG+2 (LAG), 1 in LP, and the SB.
(Pot: $170)
Flop comes KJ4 all hearts. I have no hearts. SB checks, I bet $120, LAG nearly instantly raises to $400 and it folds to me. My move...
What I did:
I thought for a little bit and folded
What I think I should've done:
I think this is a pretty standard fold w/o any solid reads at this point. Yes, he's been very aggressive, but if I do anything BUT fold here, I'm playing for stacks and I'm not sure that I want to do that being OOP to him. I think I can find a better spot to get my money in.
Hand of the Day #3:
It's now been about an 75 mins since my session has started and I'm down about $1200. I pulled out another yellow $1,000 chip out of my pocket and added it to my stack, so at the beginning of this hand, I had @ $1800. Just prior to this hand as well, the one seat was called to the main game and a new player was about to sit and he asked if anyone wanted that seat. I told him that I'd take it (so that I had position on the LAG who had been abusing me pretty good up to this point). Assani points out that since I'll have to post, I might as well play one more hand in my current seat, since he was the button. It made sense, so I told the dealer to deal me one more there, in the 6 seat. I was standing when he dealt and then had one knee on my seat, assuming that I'd just muck it and move.
There are two limpers to me and I look down to see Kd, then I look at the other card and it's the Ks. Alrighty then, I'll play it...I toss out 6- $10 chips and LAG instantly calls me and everyone else folds.
(Pot: $145)
Flop comes 6h 6s 5s. I bet a little larger than normal here and put out $120. He calls.
(Pot: $385)
Turn 3c. I peel off 3-$100 bills and 2- $10 chips. He calls quickly.
(Pot: $1025)
River Ac. I check and he says "I'm all in". My move...
What I did:
I snap call and he says, "What you got?" I tell him, "I called you, you show". He tables KJs and my KK is good and I get shipped a $3600 pot. The biggest of my life thus far.
What I think I should've done:
Exactly what I did. Assani and I talked this one over a little while afterward and my thinking was like this. Obviously preflop and flop are pretty standard. When he just calls the flop, I put him on a range of flush draw, a pocket pair over the 6's or just a float. I've been c-betting a good bit and not 2-barrel bluffing, so I expect him to float a decent amount here and to continue trying to bully me. The turn was a good card for me as it's tough to see that improving him much unless he's playing 74 or 42, so I'm not too worried about it. Now, like I said, I'd been giving up often on the turn, so I thought that if I bet here, he'd think that I'm trying to not be bullied and maybe trying to feign strength. Also, I didn't want to allow him to check behind w/ a flush draw and give him a free card. I did consider check raising all-in (crai), assuming he'd bet, but I didn't want to risk it. When he just calls again on the turn, I don't put him on the nut flush draw as I think that if he has Axs, he's likely to raise at some point, but I'm willing to discuss that part. When he called the turn, I had made the decision to c/c any non-spade river, regardless of what it was. I think either crai turn or playing it as is was ideal. Thoughts?
Shortly after the above hand, LAG stacked off his last $600 or so to the 5-seat and storms off. At this point, we're down to 4-handed and it's fairly uneventful, as we all wait to be moved to the main game. I did 3-bet Assani from the BB w/ AA vs his UTG raise and he folded his AQs face up and I show him my AA and we chuckle a bit.
After about 3 or 4 orbits of 4-handed play, both Assani and I get moved over to the main game. Now, Assani had given me his reads on some of the players so that I knew who were the more solid players and the ones to not go out of my way to play pots with.
I later told Assani that you know that I'm really on my "A" game when I'm chatting it up, usually putting most, if not the whole, table at ease, laughing and having a good ole time. This was the case during the session. Once I got over my "new place" jitters, I settled into my game.
I made a couple of really good call-downs vs one of the better players in the game, Bari. He's a Persian 20-something from Germany who apparently plays pretty high online (like $25/$50NL). He made a comment to me after I took a pot from him that "I just want to win one pot from you tonight." I looked at him and told him, "But you have bro." He was like, huh? No I haven't...you've won every one. "No sir...one hand you raised from EP and I called and you c-bet and I folded. See, you won one." "But that's not what I meant, that's piddly." I chuckled and said, "well, you didn't say you wanted to win a significant pot from me. That usually won't happen if it goes to showdown." :) We all were having a pretty good time, talking about playing online and such, even some of the older fellas at the game.
The final significant hand of the night went down like this...
Hand of the Day #4:
Villain is Nills, a regular that Assani had told me was pretty solid. He had been fairly active, but not overly so. Nothing too outta line. He has @$1800 and I cover. He raised from UTG to $40. I'm UTG+2 and call w/ 22. Everyone else folds.
(Pot: $95)
Flop comes J52 rainbow. He bets out $50 and I call.
(Pot: $195)
Turn: Qc (completed the rainbow). He bets $120 and I call again.
(Pot: $435)
River As (no flush out there). He thinks for a bit and bets $320. I mull it over for a bit and count out 7 bills and bet them ($700). He then tanks for what, to me, feels like an eternity, but in actuality was probably 45 seconds and re-raises to $1300 straight, leaving himself $200 or $300 behind. My move...
What I did:
I called and he said, "You're good" and mucked his hand. I never had to table my hand. A few of the guys asked if I'd show it and my response was, "Sorry fellas, we'll be playing a bit together, so I best not." and mucked it, raking in a $3,000 pot.
What I think I should've done:
This is the most interesting hand of the night, in my opinion which I hope generates some discussion. My thinking thru the hand went pretty much like this...
Preflop is standard as 3bets were extremely rare, so I didn't fear getting squeezed behind. I flop bottom set on a truly bone-dry board. He continuation bets and I see no reason to scare him off if he has a hand like AK or AQ here, so I just call. I understand the argument for building myself a pot, but we have more streets to do that on, so not necessary here.
The turn is the big spot here and I think where I made a mistake. He decides to keep firing at the pot and I think that I could/should maybe have raised here, but I talked myself out of it because I didn't want to spook him because the only hands I'm calling the flop w/ and raising the turn are maybe QJ and sets and I suppose maybe the occassional float, but still, that's a pretty thin range. So I talked myself out of raising here and, in hindsight, I'm not sure I played it correctly.
The river is interesting because I could have just been drawn out by AA, but otherwise, it didn't change anything. Either I had him crushed and still do or he was ahead w/ a set already. So when he bets out, I'm hating myself for not having raised the turn. So now I tank for a bit and try to put him on a range of hands that will call a smallish river raise...2 pr and sets. I waffle for a little bit, not wanting to be a pussy for having never raised w/ a flopped set, so I decide on a smallish raise, planning on throwing up if he shoves, but the pots too big to fold, so I'd have to call. All-in-all, I don't think I butchered the hand, but it plays MUCH easier if I raise prior to the river. I'm all for input on this one though.
After that, Assani left shortly thereafter to meet up with some friends and I stayed for another hour or so until I got hit with a HUGE headache and cashed out $7200. I also was paid a pretty big compliment by one of the solid players in the game, Jack. As Assani was cashing out, Jack was doing the same and I was standing talking to Assani when I saw Jack there and I shook his hand saying that it was a pleasure playing w/ him and he responded with, "The same here. You guys are good for the game. You keep the mood light, are respectful, and play well. Good for you guys!" I told him thank you very much and that if you can't enjoy your time on the felt, go do something else, right? He said, "That's a great outlook both in poker and life. Good to meet you, Eddie, and we'll see ya soon!"
So, all-in-all, a great first session in what I see as my new "home" casino. The dealers and floors, esp. A.J., were great and they really act like they want your business. Just a quality setup and very well run room. I'm really looking forward to going back to become a regular at the Wynn 5/10.
With that being said, I'm up a good bit from when I have found time to get hands in. This move has cost more than we origanlly budgeted/expected, but we're still in good shape and we have some really nice furniture, esp. our bedroom set. It's pretty nice to come home and feel comfortable and be able to truly relax after a long session 'at work'.
Speaking of which, I have found 2 poker rooms that I really like. I started out playing the 3/5NL ($1,000 max) game at Green Valley Ranch. It's almost exclusively regs in that game, but it's still not what I'd term a "tough" game. I've managed to run AA and 66 into quad 10's twice, both on TT6 flops, both in the same session. Outside of that, I've done pretty well there. Granted it's a whopping 3 sessions, but nonetheless, I like it there. The dealers and floors are all professional and nice to the players, which seems to be a novel concept thus far (obviously I'm referencing the Bellagio...God I loathe that room). And while there's usually only 1 or 2 3/5 games going, they seem to be good games. Time will tell.
I also played the HORSE tournament they had this past Wednesday. 48 entries and Top 7 paid, w/ the final 8 making the final table. I bubbled the final table and took 9 for a whopping $0. The blind structure, as you might expect for a small buy in tourney was pretty steep, but it was fun and really, that's what I was wanting from it. First paid a little over $500, so while the money would have been cool, I just wanted to play HORSE, live and have fun. Check and check!
Earlier that day, while both Assani and I were putting in a session, online, he (Assani) brought up the prospect of staking me in the 5/10NL game at the Wynn. We had previously talked about him staking me for the big Sunday tournaments online, but, to be honest, the idea of him staking me for cash games never occured to me. He just brought it up, outta the blue. So it got me thinking...I could continue to play in the 3/5NL $1k game at GVR and take all the risk or I could 'freeroll' the 5/10NL game at the Wynn. Hmmmmm.
A little background on the Wynn game seems in order as well here. Every NL game, be it 1/3, 2/5, 5/10, or the occassional 10/20, are all uncapped, meaning that you can buy in for any amount you want. I heard that a year or so back, Daniel Negreanu bought in for $250,000 in a 2/5NL game. *snicker* Assani has told me that in the 5/10, it's normal for most to buy-in for $5,000 to $10,000. Now that's some deep stack poker! Obviously, most of that is usually for show and would almost never come into play, but nonetheless, that is a shitton of money for a 5/10 game. He also told me that on the weekends, the game(s) can be pretty soft, for the most part.
So the offer was pretty standard and after thinking it over for a short while, I agreed to it. There's something appealing about playing risk-free. I don't think that my ego or my whatever takes a hit here either since I'm playing for money, not "style points" and this allows me to play higher than my current bankroll would comfortably allow me to play.
So fast forward to tonight and I got my first taste of the 5/10 at the Wynn. We got there around 7pm or so and the room looked to be pretty rocking. The 5/10 is on the raised platform in the back of the room so while the room seemed pretty busy, the "high limit" area had two tables going, a 5/10NL game it's must move table as well.
Without hardly any wait, they had two seats open, me in the 6 and Assani in the 9. He had given me $4,000 (a rack of blue $10 chips and 2-$1,000 chips) so I had two buy-ins to get started with. I was a bit nervous at first, to be perfectly honest, for a few reasons. First, I wasn't playing my money for the first time ever and had my backer playing across from me, so that was the first thing. Secondly, it was a new room and I'm usually nervous the first time I play in a new room...gimme about 30-45 mins and I get a feel for things and I'm good from there out. That was the case tonight.
There were a handful of interesting hands that I was involved in and I'll just run thru them:
Hand of the Day #1:
This is about 2 orbits into my session and an unknown opens from UTG+1 to $50 and I am in MP and see QsQd. I still have @ $2k and I cover him ($1000-ish).I decide to just flat and see what happens since I'm still pretty new to the table.
(Pot: $115)
We take the flop heads up Kh Th 5s. He checks and I check it behind him.
(Pot: $115)
Turn is 3c. He now bets out $130. I call.
(Pot: $375)
River is Ks. He checks again, my move...
What I did:
I value bet the river $130 and he thinks for a bit and calls. I table my QQ and he triumphantly flips over his AA to scoop the pot.
What I think I should've done:
I think I played the hand well and with his check on the flop, my value bet on the river wasn't too thin, as I think I get called by worse (AT, any pocket pair), having played it a lot like a flush draw. I'm open to discussion though.
Hand of the Day #2:
I have @ $1600 or so and villain has me covered. Villain is a youngish 30-something LAG who seems to like to bully when in position. I'm UTG and raise to $40 w/ AKo. I get 3 callers, UTG+2 (LAG), 1 in LP, and the SB.
(Pot: $170)
Flop comes KJ4 all hearts. I have no hearts. SB checks, I bet $120, LAG nearly instantly raises to $400 and it folds to me. My move...
What I did:
I thought for a little bit and folded
What I think I should've done:
I think this is a pretty standard fold w/o any solid reads at this point. Yes, he's been very aggressive, but if I do anything BUT fold here, I'm playing for stacks and I'm not sure that I want to do that being OOP to him. I think I can find a better spot to get my money in.
Hand of the Day #3:
It's now been about an 75 mins since my session has started and I'm down about $1200. I pulled out another yellow $1,000 chip out of my pocket and added it to my stack, so at the beginning of this hand, I had @ $1800. Just prior to this hand as well, the one seat was called to the main game and a new player was about to sit and he asked if anyone wanted that seat. I told him that I'd take it (so that I had position on the LAG who had been abusing me pretty good up to this point). Assani points out that since I'll have to post, I might as well play one more hand in my current seat, since he was the button. It made sense, so I told the dealer to deal me one more there, in the 6 seat. I was standing when he dealt and then had one knee on my seat, assuming that I'd just muck it and move.
There are two limpers to me and I look down to see Kd, then I look at the other card and it's the Ks. Alrighty then, I'll play it...I toss out 6- $10 chips and LAG instantly calls me and everyone else folds.
(Pot: $145)
Flop comes 6h 6s 5s. I bet a little larger than normal here and put out $120. He calls.
(Pot: $385)
Turn 3c. I peel off 3-$100 bills and 2- $10 chips. He calls quickly.
(Pot: $1025)
River Ac. I check and he says "I'm all in". My move...
What I did:
I snap call and he says, "What you got?" I tell him, "I called you, you show". He tables KJs and my KK is good and I get shipped a $3600 pot. The biggest of my life thus far.
What I think I should've done:
Exactly what I did. Assani and I talked this one over a little while afterward and my thinking was like this. Obviously preflop and flop are pretty standard. When he just calls the flop, I put him on a range of flush draw, a pocket pair over the 6's or just a float. I've been c-betting a good bit and not 2-barrel bluffing, so I expect him to float a decent amount here and to continue trying to bully me. The turn was a good card for me as it's tough to see that improving him much unless he's playing 74 or 42, so I'm not too worried about it. Now, like I said, I'd been giving up often on the turn, so I thought that if I bet here, he'd think that I'm trying to not be bullied and maybe trying to feign strength. Also, I didn't want to allow him to check behind w/ a flush draw and give him a free card. I did consider check raising all-in (crai), assuming he'd bet, but I didn't want to risk it. When he just calls again on the turn, I don't put him on the nut flush draw as I think that if he has Axs, he's likely to raise at some point, but I'm willing to discuss that part. When he called the turn, I had made the decision to c/c any non-spade river, regardless of what it was. I think either crai turn or playing it as is was ideal. Thoughts?
Shortly after the above hand, LAG stacked off his last $600 or so to the 5-seat and storms off. At this point, we're down to 4-handed and it's fairly uneventful, as we all wait to be moved to the main game. I did 3-bet Assani from the BB w/ AA vs his UTG raise and he folded his AQs face up and I show him my AA and we chuckle a bit.
After about 3 or 4 orbits of 4-handed play, both Assani and I get moved over to the main game. Now, Assani had given me his reads on some of the players so that I knew who were the more solid players and the ones to not go out of my way to play pots with.
I later told Assani that you know that I'm really on my "A" game when I'm chatting it up, usually putting most, if not the whole, table at ease, laughing and having a good ole time. This was the case during the session. Once I got over my "new place" jitters, I settled into my game.
I made a couple of really good call-downs vs one of the better players in the game, Bari. He's a Persian 20-something from Germany who apparently plays pretty high online (like $25/$50NL). He made a comment to me after I took a pot from him that "I just want to win one pot from you tonight." I looked at him and told him, "But you have bro." He was like, huh? No I haven't...you've won every one. "No sir...one hand you raised from EP and I called and you c-bet and I folded. See, you won one." "But that's not what I meant, that's piddly." I chuckled and said, "well, you didn't say you wanted to win a significant pot from me. That usually won't happen if it goes to showdown." :) We all were having a pretty good time, talking about playing online and such, even some of the older fellas at the game.
The final significant hand of the night went down like this...
Hand of the Day #4:
Villain is Nills, a regular that Assani had told me was pretty solid. He had been fairly active, but not overly so. Nothing too outta line. He has @$1800 and I cover. He raised from UTG to $40. I'm UTG+2 and call w/ 22. Everyone else folds.
(Pot: $95)
Flop comes J52 rainbow. He bets out $50 and I call.
(Pot: $195)
Turn: Qc (completed the rainbow). He bets $120 and I call again.
(Pot: $435)
River As (no flush out there). He thinks for a bit and bets $320. I mull it over for a bit and count out 7 bills and bet them ($700). He then tanks for what, to me, feels like an eternity, but in actuality was probably 45 seconds and re-raises to $1300 straight, leaving himself $200 or $300 behind. My move...
What I did:
I called and he said, "You're good" and mucked his hand. I never had to table my hand. A few of the guys asked if I'd show it and my response was, "Sorry fellas, we'll be playing a bit together, so I best not." and mucked it, raking in a $3,000 pot.
What I think I should've done:
This is the most interesting hand of the night, in my opinion which I hope generates some discussion. My thinking thru the hand went pretty much like this...
Preflop is standard as 3bets were extremely rare, so I didn't fear getting squeezed behind. I flop bottom set on a truly bone-dry board. He continuation bets and I see no reason to scare him off if he has a hand like AK or AQ here, so I just call. I understand the argument for building myself a pot, but we have more streets to do that on, so not necessary here.
The turn is the big spot here and I think where I made a mistake. He decides to keep firing at the pot and I think that I could/should maybe have raised here, but I talked myself out of it because I didn't want to spook him because the only hands I'm calling the flop w/ and raising the turn are maybe QJ and sets and I suppose maybe the occassional float, but still, that's a pretty thin range. So I talked myself out of raising here and, in hindsight, I'm not sure I played it correctly.
The river is interesting because I could have just been drawn out by AA, but otherwise, it didn't change anything. Either I had him crushed and still do or he was ahead w/ a set already. So when he bets out, I'm hating myself for not having raised the turn. So now I tank for a bit and try to put him on a range of hands that will call a smallish river raise...2 pr and sets. I waffle for a little bit, not wanting to be a pussy for having never raised w/ a flopped set, so I decide on a smallish raise, planning on throwing up if he shoves, but the pots too big to fold, so I'd have to call. All-in-all, I don't think I butchered the hand, but it plays MUCH easier if I raise prior to the river. I'm all for input on this one though.
After that, Assani left shortly thereafter to meet up with some friends and I stayed for another hour or so until I got hit with a HUGE headache and cashed out $7200. I also was paid a pretty big compliment by one of the solid players in the game, Jack. As Assani was cashing out, Jack was doing the same and I was standing talking to Assani when I saw Jack there and I shook his hand saying that it was a pleasure playing w/ him and he responded with, "The same here. You guys are good for the game. You keep the mood light, are respectful, and play well. Good for you guys!" I told him thank you very much and that if you can't enjoy your time on the felt, go do something else, right? He said, "That's a great outlook both in poker and life. Good to meet you, Eddie, and we'll see ya soon!"
So, all-in-all, a great first session in what I see as my new "home" casino. The dealers and floors, esp. A.J., were great and they really act like they want your business. Just a quality setup and very well run room. I'm really looking forward to going back to become a regular at the Wynn 5/10.
posted by SirFelixCat at 4:39 AM
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