Harrah's Properties = Very Bad Small Buy-in Tournaments

Michaela, Cory (a close friend), and I just came back from Vegas. After reading The Poker Tournament Formula, where I really learned to analyze smaller buy-in hold 'em tournaments, I've always honed in on tournaments in Las Vegas that give the best bang for my tournament dollar.

There are more poker rooms in Vegas than there are flies on a horse. Every casino has one. Many you'd like to see go away. But a former staple tournament, that had a very good starting stack, was the one at Planet Hollywood. I believe the price fluctuated between $60-$80 in the years I've been there, but the number of starting chips was around 5500, which was gigantic in comparison to the typical 3000-4000 chip tourneys. Better structures bring in better players, but there are still plenty of fish in the sea. Someone watches a television tournament, and is staying at the Planet Hollywood, and figures, "Blackjack isn't going so well; let's try a bit of poker."

I've found similar desirable structures at Binion's and the Sahara. Luckily Binion's is no longer owned by Harrah's, as they would have demolished the structure. You see, now that Planet Hollywood is part of the behemoth that is Harrah's, they've reduced the price of the tournament (a good thing), but slashed the chips down to 3000 with 20-minute levels. Since there are 30 players, and 90,000 chips are needed to win, you'll have to double up a bunch in order to have a shot. This means that luck will drive the winner in these tournaments more than the one at the Wynn, for example.

This is to be expected. They aren't trying to cater to me. The Venetian and Wynn are masters of the deep stacked tournaments. I bet even Harrah's would say the same. They are catering to people who just want to gamble in a different way, and hope that the tremendous amount of ESPN footage of the Rio and WSOP will bring in players who want to take their shot, put on some sunglasses, and play against something other than the house for once.

All of the tournaments in Las Vegas at Harrah's properties suffer from the same syndrome. It's a shame, as it wasn't always this way. Harrah's used to be my favorite place to play in Kansas City, and the publicity from the WSOP has brought me to the Rio in Las Vegas many times.

So, poker players beware: look at the structure before playing at any Harrah's property. Maybe one of their marketing people will read this, and decide that a slightly longer tournament is good for everyone, and might draw more players like me.

Fear

Last week I was in Vegas. I played some tournaments here and there. My favorite tournament in Vegas has always been the noon Venetian, and so I played again on Friday.

Usually, when I'm playing in a deeper-stacked tournament at my buy-in level (7500 chips and 30-minute levels, $150), I find a few fish, but I rarely find people who I think are incredibly better than me. Incrementally yes, but monumentally, never.

Until Friday. My first table, I play a few hands, get lucky a few times, etc. But then a new guy gets transferred to my table. On first glance, he looks like a thug who likes to brawl in back allies. I'm positive this image really enhanced his actions at the table as well.

This guy wasn't your typical hyper-aggressive. Those guys are incredibly easy to trap. No, this guy was willing to build huge pots, sometimes with nothing, and sometimes with huge hands, and bet amounts that either got people to call or fold at his bidding. It was really sick. It was the first time in my history in Las Vegas that I was hoping to be moved to another table. I believe at the time my table broke, around level 7, I had about 11,000 (well below average), and he had about 85,000. Pure domination.

Which leads me to the point of my post. A loose-aggressive image in a deep-stacked tournament might be as close to optimal as No Limit Hold 'Em can get. Your opponents rarely have gigantic hands with which they are willing to go broke. A bit of maneuvering and a lot of angry scowl can go a long way, especially if your reading ability and intuition are tuned properly. It is definitely a style that I am more comfortable with when playing online, for some reason, but wow is it effective live.

This guy was a hold 'em master. I bet I'll be seeing him in the future when I play there, as I'm guessing he's killing that tournament. I wished I would have taken his picture, but I'll never forget his face as long as I live.

P.S. 17th place out of 119 for me in this particular tourney. Quite unfortunate. No cash (top 13). It is the deepest I've gone there. $4000-ish for first. I'll get it someday.