The Secret Diary of a Betway Poker Pro
07/01/10
Spotting a Mark
Joy and pain, rushes and tilts, profit and loss…
Such is the life of a poker player.
If the first day in Vegas was about making friends, the second was about making enemies and – more importantly – cash.
The prison yard of poker was the $4/$8 game at The Wynn… and I’d been sitting at the table for about an hour – biding me time and playing it slow.
Our table was a mix of serious players here for the World Series… and affable drunks after free drinks and entertainment.
We were joined by a player who had obviously taken advantage of the resort’s “Master Service” $150 haircut. He eased into his seat and carefully placed his full buy in on the table.
Here fishy, fishy…
My read was that his vanity could be a weakness. How can that be exploited at the table?
It would have to be set up.
Another hour passed. Big slick hair had played plenty of pots and was moderately ahead. I was still coasting and noting… waiting to make my move.
Get on the Hook
He was playing aggressively, but not foolishly. I decided to call one his preflop raises from late position. The flop was forgettable, but he maintained his 100% record of C-betting: $28 in to a pot of $56.
I raised it to $100. I had nothing but I was fairly sure he wouldn’t call.
He didn’t.
I showed him 65h… much to the delight of a cackling drunk who’d lost the last of his stack to the haircut.
Slick looked at me and, after a slight pause, said: “Nice play.” Credit to him, I wouldn’t have done that… but then I can be a bit of bastard.
Neither of us had played a hand since the bluff. Slick was big blind and everyone had folded to me at the cut-off. I had 10-10. I raised to $22 and watched everyone fold to Slick. He pulled his first three-bet. $62.
Reeling him In
I called.
Why?
Because it was odds on that he’d try to bluff me… and that’s just what I wanted. A four bet would cause him to put a bluff down.
The pre-rake pot is now $128. The flop is 2-5-T. The haircut looked resolute.
He bet $70.
I raised to $220.
Normally, with such a monster, that would be suicide. Welcome to the Thunderdome. He had to raise.
He started to think… and think… and think…
Was he thinking of folding?
I tilted my bottle of water in the direction of the drunken cackler who’d just returned with fresh chips. Predictably… he cackled. The haircut pushed his stack in.
Sweet music…
Great haircut…
Nice stack…
Vegas was starting to open up.
PS
Don’t forget to read all my Vegas Tweets to keep up with the latest giveaways, deals and free stuff.
“The Boss”
http://twitter.com/betway
06/29/10
Hitting the Tables in Vegas
The Betway Las Vegas poker experience finally started yesterday, when I discovered that the company baseball cap could be a great conversation starter. It made the German guy mentioned in Twitter very keen to relate his bad beat story… it was refreshing to speak to a fellow European who’d been sponsored to play poker.
I invited him to play in the tournament at Harrah’s, an inexpensive, fun game in a no-thrills casino. The term “no thrills” is very relative in Vegas. The casino still has people wandering around offering massages and free drinks; but it doesn’t have in-game trimming of nasal hair or post bust-out eyebrow grooming.
It is surprisingly how quickly those things can seem essential.
Anyway, my friend declined, claiming it was vital that he spend thirty minutes in a sensory deprivation tank. I was off on my own; he was off to Omaha.
Easing in to the Action
I was the only European in the tournament and I should have been the first sent home. The buy in, at $60, was a mere 0.6% of the WSOP, although it also offered one $40 rebuy/add-on before the first break… and paid a whopping $10 bounty on all players.
Thirty minutes had gone and so had my rebuy chip. The standard had been low; most hands had gone to a showdown. I reached for my money clip after going all in on the turn card, holding two pair Ksp, Tc, on a board of Kc-8c-2c-Td. The silent guy to my left had been slow playing Ac, 3c. Ten minutes later I was all in again, this time on the river – and guilty of too much aggression.
Three players saw the flop. I had limped from late position with Qc9c. The board cards were a rainbow of 9-8-7. Seat four bet half the pot. I went all in. The guy behind me snap called, as did the bettor.
I stood up. I had to. It was clear that I was beaten.
The guy behind me flipped over 5h-6h and the bettor had JTos.
Whoops.
The turn card was a ten.
The river was a J.
Somehow I had won.
It was shamefaced.
Nice Guys Finish Last Right?
The guy to my left had been knocked out and I had trebled up. The bettor couldn’t believe it; nor could I. The dealer passed me two $5 chips so I decided to shout out, “Seat four – I’ll split my bounty with you.” I tossed him a chip. It felt like the right thing to do, especially in the city that produced CSI.
It received a good reaction from the table and at the break, seat four shook my hand.
After that piece of probability defying poker, it was relatively easy to use my stack and bully my way to the final table, not least as there had only been 28 entrants. I was in 6th position . The money would go to the top four.
Ten minutes after the formation of the final table, I was 6th of 6, with 5 big blinds. The first two had folded so I went all in with Kd9d. The big blind deliberated and eventually decided to call with AA.
Out
I should have waited: the players were not attacking the blinds. The game was so friendly that it took me five minutes to leave the table due to an extended period of hand-shaking.
I wasn’t the only player to notice that the table was generous.
Ten minutes later, a sharp eyed guy from Chicago, who was 4th of four, suggested a deal: 2nd, 3rd and 4th would take $250; the guy in 1st, who had a massive chip lead, should take $500.
Everyone agreed.
The big stack didn’t want to destroy the table’s vibe by fighting for the first prize of $730.
Split bounties and equitable deals?
Who said Vegas was ruthless?
PS
Don’t forget to read all my Vegas tweets to keep up with the latest giveaways, deals and free stuff.
“The Boss”
