Adventures in Vegas (from the non-poker side)

As I haven't had much of a chance to post recently (mostly because getting any kind of reasonable price on internet is difficult), I thought I'd give you a heads up on the recent happenings. Cory, Tomiko, and I took a trip up the Stratosphere tower. Although they opted out, I chose to take a cruise on the three extreme rides at the top for a measly $14 more. Anyhow, the view was at the same time vertigo-causing and awe-inspiring. The rides, dubbed Insanity, X-Scream, and Big Shot, are very cool to the ride enthusiast. Rather than attempt to describe the rides, take a search on youtube for them... There are many examples. Very, very high. Thank goodness for engineers. My brother, Zach, also took a trip out to Vegas this week. Our first order of business was yet another park: The Circus Circus Adventuredome, a complete amusement park indoors (similar to the Mall of America). There was a roller coaster with a couple of hoops, several "4-D" movies complete with water squirts and pokes in the back, tons of arcade and carnival games, and a water ride that will soon be torn down to make way for yet another roller coaster. All in all, visits from family and friends have been a very good time.

The Poker is Outstanding!

Game selection. That is what winning in poker is all about. If you don't choose a good game, you are bound to lose. If you have a choice between playing poker in Kansas City and playing in Las Vegas, you should choose Las Vegas. Tourists are bad, and there are so many of them! In Kansas City, there are definitely some bad players who play in typical cash and tournament games, and generally I pick on those people, as the good players are always trying to outplay me. In Vegas, I am one of the better players at nearly every tournament I play in here, and I rarely feel like the fish. As the famous quote from Rounders goes:

"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker."

Well, I've started to have an epiphany. I am a really good quick tournament player, but only a mediocre slow tournament player, as the fields are so much better in the slow ones. For those who don't understand the parlance, a quick tournament is generally over between 3 and 6 hours, but a slow tournament can last between 8 hours and multiple days. My results speak for themselves. So far on this trip, I've played in the following tournaments and these results:

• Binion's 11pm, quick tournament, 1st place outright
• Venetian 12pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Caesar's Palace 3pm, quick tournament, no cash
• Venetian 8pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Venetian 12pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Caesar's 3pm, quick tournament, chop 1st place
• Binion's 11pm, quick tournament, no cash
• Caesar's 12pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Caesar's 3pm, quick tournament, no cash
• Binion's 11pm, quick tournament, break even bubble deal
• Planet Hollywood 2pm, quick tournament, chop 1st place
• Treasure Island 11am, quick tournament, no cash
• Caesar's 3pm, quick tournament, no cash
• Binion's 8pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Venetian 12pm, slow tournament, no cash
• Venetian, sit-n-go lightning fast tournament, no cash
• Orleans 7pm, fast tournament, chop 1st place

One of the dealers at Planet Hollywood saw me recording my winnings and table information, and he told me that I was a pretty good fast tournament player (and I agree), but that I should avoid trying to play in the bigger tournaments (the slow ones, which generally have a LOT better players) until I've mastered the smaller ones and gotten better. That sounds pretty reasonable, and so I'm definitely going to be playing more of the faster tournaments where I have quite a bit of success, and save the slower ones until later. Tournaments already have so much volatility in them as-is, and the results of one don't really mean much. But the cumulative winnings are key. I tried to play in the slower tournaments too early, and I got slapped by better players. Patience, and building a bank roll one game at a time is the key to poker success.

Worm: You know what always cheers me up?
Mike McDermott: No, what's that?
Worm: Rolled up aces over kings. Check-raising stupid tourists and taking huge pots off of them. Playing all-night high-limit Hold'em at the Taj, "where the sand turns to gold." Stacks and towers of checks I can't even see over.
Mike McDermott: F*ck it, let's go.
Worm: Don't tease me.
Mike McDermott: Let's play some cards.
Worm: Yes!

The Sleeping Facilities

So, the night before I headed out for my cruise with Michaela, I got a phone call at about 10pm from the guy from whom I was supposed to be leasing my condo. He said that his homeowner's association wouldn't let me into the gated community, as no renters were allowed. This was evidently the result of the association finding the advertisement that I found. Very, very unfortunate. I spent that entire night Hotwiring, Kayaking and Pricelining (thanks to Bryan Cox for teaching me about these wonderful services). After a bunch of work (and no sleep prior to the cruise), I found the following locations that would total about the same amount as the condo:

• Fitzgerald's (first week or so)
• Four Queens (four days)
• Plaza (the rest of the time)

I had stayed at the Plaza before, and it was fine, but the other two were unknowns, and all I had to go on were reviews from various travel sites. When I arrived at my room at Fitzgerald's, I found the wallpaper to be peeling and the carpet to be a little faded, but it seemed fine. The casino isn't much, but it is directly on Fremont Street, which is actually a preferable area than the strip if you ask me. Everything is much more accessible. Except for the parking garage. Back in the days of the dinosaurs, insects like dragonflies got to be about 3 feet wide, but there was a practical limit to their size, as ultimately their exoskeleton would weigh more than their wings would support. Well, this parking garage is the same. It is a very large and tall structure, crammed into a very small amount of land surface area, but is all support and driving surface, and only about 10 cars can park on a level. And it twists up and up and up until finally I can eek into some very small and crowded place. It is laughable, really. At least it is free. Inside the casino, there is a McDonald's and a Krispy Kreme. Ah, fat accessibility for all of the Fitzgerald's customers. But nothing compares to the In-N-Out Burger that is just up the street. I finally got to eat at one, and let's just say McDonald's doesn't even come close...

The long, long drive to Vegas

Well friends, sorry for the late postings, but I'm just finally getting settled in Vegas after an entertaining drive (to say the least). My plans were to drive to my cousin Geoff's house in Avon, Colorado, Tuesday, stay the night, and then continue to Vegas the next day. With my Garmin GPS to help me navigate, I started the long trek from Kansas City. It would be nine hours to Geoff's. Since I hate stopping for gas, and I'm very smart, I decided to coordinate the timing of my "distance to empty" gage on my car and the nearest gas stations on I-70 so that I could stop as few times as possible. I picked a small town. It would coincide with *about* 10 miles left on the tank. I picked the wrong small town. BP station closed. Oops. I kept driving. 9 miles to Oakley. Oops. Sputter, sputter. Put, put. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I used to pride myself on never having run out of gas. Those days are long gone. As I started the long three mile walk to Oakley, a car with a bunch of stuff in it and a small Mexican lady pulled up to ask if I needed help. I figured that if she was violent I could overpower her, but she seemed like a nice person, so I went ahead and violated my no hitchhiking rule. After climbing in the car, she explained that her name was Elana, and that she had just broken up with her cheating girlfriend. I explained my situation, told her where the next gas station was, and we drove off. Then, as we're going 70 miles per hour, she explains to me that she had been drinking, and an open bottle of vodka sitting in the cupholder was there as evidence. Good times. We made it to the station, and after paying $9 for a small gas can (they love to rip off dumb people) and filling 'er up, I hopped back in the car. We got back to my car safely. She asked if she could use my phone. I agreed, gave her some cash as a thank you, and I was off to Geoff's, albeit 40 minutes later than usual. I hung out with my cousin Geoff and his wife Jen, and we chatted for a while. In the morning we had breakfast, and then it was off to Las Vegas, baby! The canyons west of the skiing areas in Colorado are quite beautiful. I had never ventured this far west in an automobile, but I'm glad I did. But then Utah happened. Drab desert with strange mountainous formations. Desolate but pretty all at once. The "no service stations for 106 miles" sign said it all. After another eight hours that day, I whipped around a corner on I-15, and there she was. A beautiful sight indeed. The all-too-familiar Las Vegas strip could be seen from quite a distance. Every time I see it, it seems more developed. That's because it is. After carrying in a lot of stuff to my room at Fitzgerald's, I settled in. I then started scouting out tournaments on Fremont Street, where I have spent a lot of time in the past. I settled on an 11pm tournament at Binion's, and I ended up winning. Outright. Some old guy wanted no part of a deal, so I just took his money. And two other guys. But I got lucky at the final four people. I won all of these races (my hand listed first):

K-C, Q-C vs 6-C, 6-S
K-H, J-D vs A-D, 4-D
K-D, Q-C vs A-H, 6-D

And victory! Yeah! Each one of those hands took out one player. The last one was against another math whiz computer programmer type, so I was glad to have survived it in one piece. So, a great start to the Vegas trip!

The Ball Cap Kids

Yep. I'm plagiarizing The Poker Tournament Formula. Someday I'll write a review on this book, but it has taken my game to a new level. In that book, Arnold Snyder discusses a bunch of personality types that will be at your typical poker table. The stereotypes are often very useful, at least until you have a better book on the player, but I've found one to be particularly helpful: The Ball Cap Kid. You know the type. They are young. They are pretty. And they wear their ball cap, normally backward, with a KC or NY logo (around here, at least). And they love to be aggressive. They love to force action. I love to eat their lunch when I can. Last night, after getting knocked out of my favorite Ameristar tournament, I played in the $1-$2 no-limit hold 'em cash game. It is an odd game, as it really costs $5 to even limp, and the big blind still must complete his bet as well. But I digress... I don't play in cash games much at Ameristar, although I should. But last night, sitting in chair nine, I was up about $450 before my favorite kind of player came into the game. Another ball cap kid. I'm the very opposite of discreet. In fact, I'm usually the loudest one at the table. My jabber usually prevents me from calculating odds as quickly as I should, but I'm positive that it gets my opponents off their game more. These ball cap kids love to pick on my personality type, and I love it. For the rest of this post, let's call this particular guy KC. He was sitting to my right, which was exactly where I wanted him. I'd never played with KC before. He was probably about 23, muscular, and generally filled with testosterone. He was one of the backward hat types, so I knew this guy was going to be a big source of my chips for the night. This particular hand was especially noteworthy. KC was under the gun, or the first position after the blinds. He had about $250 in front of him, and I had about $550. He limped for $5. I figure he has approximately squat. I look down at an:

A-H, 9-D

Not a particularly delicious hand, but at this table, I thought it would be a good idea to raise and limit the action. $15 to go. I got one limper behind me, a straightforward tight-passive player, and KC to follow. Effective pot after the rake was $45. KC would be first to act for the rest of the hand. Flop:

9-H, 6-C, 2-S

Not a particularly threatening board. I had top pair, top kicker, but I still wasn't committed to the hand. KC bet out $15 into the $45 pot, so he probably had a piece, but I popped it to $60, figuring that he'd go over the top if he actually had something special, and I could simply fold. The other guy folded, and KC called. Pot: $165. Turn:

K-C

Not a terrific card for my hand. If he was limping with a K-J or K-10 and just betting with overcards on the flop, then I might have been toast. But I still had second pair, top kicker - a hand that I'll go into check-call mode against a loose aggressive, like KC. He bet $45. I honestly didn't know where he was at, but I called anyway, hoping to have a no-betting showdown on the river. Pot: $255. River:

K-S

I liked this card. The chances of KC having a King are much lower now, and since he didn't bet much on the flop, I figure I'm good to go. KC reaches for chips, but he makes a mistake while doing so. He reaches for $45 again, and sets them in front of his stack, but immediately after laying them down, he starts quickly going through the rest of his stack, popping off 2 or 3 additional chips. He throws $60 into the pot. A weak bet at best. I might have laid it down, but grabbing for those additional chips made it look like he was going to be bluffing or semi-bluffing, but he felt like I would call or even raise a $45 bet. I called. He flipped over:

J-D, 9-C

And I won. Ah, let the celebration on my end begin, and the cursing begin with him. I think a lot of players would not have noticed this peculiar chip stacking behavior, but it cost him the pot. Thanks, KC. Next time, don't wear a cap, and don't play top-pair, jack kicker so aggressively (like putting in over half your stack with such a weak holding). There is no reason to force the action so much in a cash game, unless you hate money. After a hand like that, I usually consider every other player at the table, and I ask myself, "How would I have responded to the same series of bets from this player?" Well, it turns out, only one other player at the table would have caused the same series of events post flop, but that player wouldn't have limped with such a mediocre holding under the gun and called a raise. In other words, I would have made no money with my hand from any other player. So here's to you, KC!

Trip to Las Vegas during the month of April

I am planning a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 2 to May 2, 2008. I have a nice vacation condo rental that I'll be using during that month. I plan on playing as much poker as possible in as many different rooms as I can. It'll be mostly business, but I definitely plan on having fun as well. If you are interested in joining me, please shoot me an email or a call, and we can talk about room arrangements. Currently, these people are visiting:

• Ryan, April 4-10 Cory, April 6-14
• Tomiko, April 11-14 Zach, April 18-21
• Kyle and Melissa, April 19-21
• Traci, April 19-22
• I also have a wedding to go to on April 26 in the Pheonix area.

My condo's features include:

• Free wireless internet
• Free laundry facilities
• Two full sized beds
• 52" television with DVD and VCR
• Full kitchen

Email me for the address. I'm not going to make that information public.

To slow play or not to slow play

How often does this situation come up? A paired board with an undercard, such as this:

9-C, 9-S, 2-C

In the above situation, when I have a nine, I used to think it would be profitable to check and slow play a bit. What I've found, though, is that someone with a two will often call, and an opponent with any two cards above the two might also call on a draw, so betting is usually better. And since flushes or straights almost always seem to be a possibility, whether immediately on the turn or in the backdoor, I like to make people pay to play. But what about the situation where you have the following:

2-H, 2-D

with the above board? I think then you need to really, really determine if your opponent has three of a kind, as you can probably get them to stick all their chips in most of the time. Well, such a situation happened to me the other night in a $1-$2, $60-$200 game at Harrah's in Kansas City. I was on the button, and I raised it up with a pair of deuces after the action had folded around to me. Both blinds called. One was a female who played fairly aggressively, but seemed to bet big postflop, because she either wanted to protect a big hand or because she overvalued a hand. The other guy loved to try to overbet in order to make tighter players fold, and since we had no history, he felt that I fell into that category. Well, the board came a pair of nines and a deuce. Plus, I was last to act. Currently, there was $18 in the pot. The aggressive girl bet out $8. The big blind called. I felt like the girl *might* have a nine, and so I raised it up to $35, which is a fairly large raise, but I knew we could get my $280 into the pot quicker if she did. She called. I figured there was little possibility that she had a J-2, so I was ready to push. There weren't any scare cards for me, but I wouldn't have minded if the flush card came, as I was already boated. In fact, if she was on a draw, it could do nothing but good things for me. The big blind folded. On the turn, with $88 in the pot, she bet out $45. I was certain she had a nine, and I just hoped she wouldn't hit her kicker for a better full house. I definitely wasn't going anywhere, so I went all in there. She immediately called. Huge pot. Sure enough, she had a:

J-H, 9-D

and neither a nine nor a jack came, so I doubled up. If I get the sense that my opponent doesn't have a big hand when I flop something like this, I might be included to bet small or even check. Poker is such a game of feel.