Vegas - Summer poker tournament thread

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Gonna start up a thread to list any Vegas tournaments that SBR guys are playing in.

One side benefit of WSOP is that MANY of the other casinos start tournament series that are similar at the same time.

I'll start. Plan on playing this one:

* 6/7. WSOP 6max tourney. $1500 buy-in.

As of right now, I'm not locked into playing any of the daily tournaments. But that might change.

I can say that the early Rio Daily deep-stack tournament can turn into a marathon. I played til 2AM, and that was down to 4 tables (from 1000 players). Dealers were saying that final table can extend to 5am or later. VERY good $$, tho, if u manage to get top3. I believe top3 grosses $9k+, and winner was scoring $24k.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I have played in some of the Golden Nugget dailies. Feeling is that the competition is a little lighter (I think).

If anyone sees any more 6max tournies on the Vegas docket, please list.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Here is link for the Rio Daily deepstack tournies. Not official WSOP events:

https://www.wsop.com/2018/2018%20WSOP%20Deepstack%20Structures%20Combined.pdf

[ChuckyTheGoat]

So, the four times for the Rio deepstacks are 1pm/4/7/10. Starting Big Blinds = 400/150/500/100.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Golden Nugget series link:

https://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/03/golden-nugget-grand-poker-series-2018-schedule-30209.htm

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Found my answer on 6-max. Nice list of 6max NLHE tournies:

All the 6-Max Events in Las Vegas during the Summer of 2018

Thu 7/Jun	NLH 6-max	$ 1,500	WSOP
Wed 13/Jun	NLH 6-max	$ 3,000	WSOP
Thu 14/Jun	NLH 6-max (2Day)	$ 1,600	Venetian
Sun 24/Jun	NLH 6-max	$ 200	PH
Wed 27/Jun	NLH 6-max (2-day)	$ 400	PH
Thu 28/Jun	NLH 6-max	$ 5,000	WSOP
Wed 11/Jul	NLH 6-max	$ 10,000	WSOP

[BeerDog99]

Good luck Chucky!

[franklee168]

Good luck Goat!

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Thx, Dog + Frank.

[Optional]

What a life!

Good luck Chucky

[ChuckyTheGoat]

What a life!

Good luck Chucky

Thx, Opti.

[Ian]

Good luck!

There's a bunch more 6max. tournies in Vegas this summer.

Go to this link and filter for 6max. and you'll get all of them.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Good luck!

There's a bunch more 6max. tournies in Vegas this summer.

Go to this link and filter for 6max. and you'll get all of them.

Thx, Ian! Nice list.

Almost feel like coming back L10 days of the month.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Busted out of 6max event. I will say that I didn't feel overwhelmed at all. Largest buy-in I've made by far.

Per usual, not too many interesting hands. Didn't even make it to 2nd break, b4 being eliminated.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I just didn't find the players at my table to be that strong. Remember that this was a 6-max game and not full-ring. This ties into where I think I made some errors. Will talk about this later.

In 6-max there is so much action around the button + blinds. I found that these players play weak ranges. Some of their raising/calling ranges were much weaker than I expected.

Will detail a few hands. But I think this is where I erred. Think of it as players making small pin-pricks in attempt to take down the blinds. Blind-steals + Continuation-bets. When a player was forced to expose cards at show-down, often the holdings were under-whelming.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I did get KK 3x and managed to not get them cracked. But I didn't make big hauls, either:

1) I had KK in Big Blind. Mid-pos raiser to 4x, which is pretty unusual for 6-max game. So often, the opens are 2.5x or even smaller. So, I think he's telegraphing a big hand, and I just call. Run-out is double-paired board, QQ77x. I call him down and he mucks.
2) I raise w/ KK and get two callers. I flop middle-set on AKJ board w/ two clubs. I bet 2/3-pot and get two callers. Turn is a dirty Queen. Gets checked-down, nobody has straight. I don't think I missed a bet on River. Feel like I'm going to get Folds or get check-raised.
3) Third time I have KK. Mid-pos raise w/ two callers behind. I do make a hefty raise and get three folds behind.

[Optional]

Busted out of 6max event. I will say that I didn't feel overwhelmed at all. Largest buy-in I've made by far.

Per usual, not too many interesting hands. Didn't even make it to 2nd break, b4 being eliminated.

Ugh. Bad luck mate.

What's the next one going to be?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Will detail one of the key hands that took a chunk out of my stack:

* Mid-pos raise, I call on Button w/ AQ(o). Flop is A63. I have top-pair w/ good kicker. PF-raiser bets, I just call.

Turn pairs the 6, which I view as a brick. He checks, and I bet 500 into 1300. He ponders but calls.

River is a Ten, which is not the best card for me. I'm now losing to AT. He makes a sizable bet. 1500 into 1800. Alarm-bells going off, but I don't see how I can fold a hand this good.

I call...and he show TT! He makes a boat on River. I still don't get his turn-call, unless he thinks I'm trying to buy it. Even w/ the implied odds, he was catching 6/1 odds on a 21/1 longshot.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Ugh. Bad luck mate.

What's the next one going to be?

Opti, I'm only here for a few more days. Honestly, not sure I'm going to enter another one. I say that mainly b/c I have come to hate full-ring.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Playing the short-stack, did encounter a few noteworthy hands:

* Sort of unhappy how I played this hand, but it was an un-comfortable chip-stack. Therefore, I'm not sure what else I could do.

I raise mid-pos w/ TT. Button is player who has shown to play dog-shit. He 3-bets me. I'm not folding, but I feel like I'm a little too deep (25 BB) to shove + play for it all.

Flop is 99A, which is not good for my hand. Any Ax hand is beating me, and any premium pair has me beat. He checks flop, which he MIGHT do w/ any Ax hand on a flop this dry. I check behind, he bets Turn and I fold.

If I was any shorter (like 18BB), I'd have responded to the re-raise w/ an all-in shove. Remember that the way this game is playing, he surely didn't think I was as strong as TT.

[Optional]

Will detail one of the key hands that took a chunk out of my stack:

* Mid-pos raise, I call on Button w/ AQ(o). Flop is A63. I have top-pair w/ good kicker. PF-raiser bets, I just call.

Turn pairs the 6, which I view as a brick. He checks, and I bet 500 into 1300. He ponders but calls.

River is a Ten, which is not the best card for me. I'm now losing to AT. He makes a sizable bet. 1500 into 1800. Alarm-bells going off, but I don't see how I can fold a hand this good.

I call...and he show TT! He makes a boat on River. I still don't get his turn-call, unless he thinks I'm trying to buy it. Even w/ the implied odds, he was catching 6/1 odds on a 21/1 longshot.

I was thinking the 500 bet was bit weak as reading it. Not enough for a call to tell you too much.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Did get two All-ins thru to prolong my tournament. Was pretty happy w/ my play on these:

* I raise mid-Pos w/ JT(clubs), I get two callers. Flop comes AKT, w/ one club. So, I have 3rd-pair w/ a gutshot and a backdoor club draw. I C-bet as a semi-bluff and get called. Turn is a good one, 9(clubs).

So, I now have a pair plus 12 outs to a nutted hand. 9 clubs + 3 queens. I ponder and decide to go all-in w/ a pot-sized bet. Feel like my equity is too good. And I can rep strong hands like AK, AQ, QJ. Even if I get called, feel like I'm drawing very live. But my bet folds out the field. Made a bet where I was SURELY behind.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I was thinking the 500 bet was bit weak as reading it. Not enough for a call to tell you too much.

Not sure what you're saying here. Feel like that bet size is pretty standard value-bet. Of course, he could think I just have a small pocket-pair. In general, I don't bet like a mad-man. If I feel like I have best hand, I want to get paid off AND give opponent inappropriate calling odds.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Did get two All-ins thru to prolong my tournament. Was pretty happy w/ my play on these:

* I raise mid-Pos w/ JT(clubs), I get two callers. Flop comes AKT, w/ one club. So, I have 3rd-pair w/ a gutshot and a backdoor club draw. I C-bet as a semi-bluff and get called. Turn is a good one, 9(clubs).

So, I now have a pair plus 12 outs to a nutted hand. 9 clubs + 3 queens. I ponder and decide to go all-in w/ a pot-sized bet. Feel like my equity is too good. And I can rep strong hands like AK, AQ, QJ, KQ. Even if I get called, feel like I'm drawing very live. But my bet folds out the field. Made a bet where I was SURELY behind.

* 2nd all-in I had, I certainly DID have the best hand, but got it in.

I raise button w/ AT(o). Flop is good, but wet. T86, so I have TPTK. Very strong on Ten-hi board. I bet quarter-stack, 600 into 900, get one caller. Reasonable to put opponent on Pair + gutshot.

Turn is a low-brick, a 2. I go all-in. 1600 into 2100. He folds out.

[Optional]

Not sure what you're saying here. Feel like that bet size is pretty standard value-bet. Of course, he could think I just have a small pocket-pair. In general, I don't bet like a mad-man. If I feel like I have best hand, I want to get paid off AND give opponent inappropriate calling odds.

Yeah I tend to bet to pad the pot when I feel I'm ahead too. I guess have to accept doing that lets them get home sometimes.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Last hand is the one that knocked me out. Not much more I could do, imho.

I'm at 16 BB, in the Big Blind. Small-blind opens for 3x. Feel like I have the right calling odds behind. I call w/ K5(diamonds).

Flop is JT9(diamonds)! Small-blind checks. I can't bet here. I have 2nd-nut flush, w/ draw to STraight-flush! No way can I fold him out, w/ what I view as very few scare cards on Turn. So, I check.

Turn is 9, pairs the board. Small-blind checks again. It's possible he has Trip-9s or either end of Straight, but is afraid to bet. I bet 1/4-stack and he calls.

River is a non-diamond brick. He goes all-in...and of course I call. Am I good? No. He has J9, boated up on Turn.

I really can't believe he didn't bet that flop. Was he going to let a weak Flush or weak Straight get there un-charged? Anyway, he got me. No way did I think he had a boat there.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Yeah I tend to bet to pad the pot when I feel I'm ahead too. I guess have to accept doing that lets them get home sometimes.

Read closely what I wrote above. Even including some implied odds, he was catching 6/1 odds on a 21/1 2-outer. I'll take that bet every day + twice on Sunday.

I see players play Gutshots on the turn similarly. Situations where they aren't getting close to fair odds but call anyway.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Here is what I was trying to say about wide-ranges. Maybe I didn't spell it out too well:

* The stronger your range...the more often u make a nutted hand. More often, your bets represent value and they're bluffs less frequently.

When u play wide ranges, you make nutted hands less often. And a higher % of your hands are bluffs.

In retrospect, this is where I feel my play was not great. I was more than happy to lay down 2nd-pair type hands. Did make one nice bluff-catcher play when I had AQ in small blind. Button bets river after multiple checks on runout of 33. Didn't see where he made a hand. He didn't, he had Q9.

[phinfan27615]

Lot's of valuable insight here chucky I enjoy reading it and it inspired me to make a similar thread of my own with less in depth analysis

[Crusherrr]

Last hand is the one that knocked me out. Not much more I could do, imho.
I'm at 16 BB, in the Big Blind. Small-blind opens for 3x. Feel like I have the right calling odds behind. I call w/ K5(diamonds).
Flop is JT9(diamonds)! Small-blind checks. I can't bet here. I have 2nd-nut flush, w/ draw to STraight-flush! No way can I fold him out, w/ what I view as very few scare cards on Turn. So, I check.

3x is actually a large size for someone to raise BvB in a tournament. Kx is going to play much better as an all in or fold there preflop. 16bb effective you should not be defending your bb to a 3x open. Kx is ahead of his range and if it's close you are still getting him off his hand quite a bit. On the flop you can absolutely bet as played because nearly his whole range should hit that board. Obviously the diamonds would be scary to him but even if you take the pot down with (antes) you chip up pretty well. The fear of missing out on value on later streets prevented you from getting value on the flop. Either way once that flop drops your both getting it in on the flop or turn no matter what.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Lot's of valuable insight here chucky I enjoy reading it and it inspired me to make a similar thread of my own with less in depth analysis

Thx, phin. Everyone has opinions about poker. In Janda's 2017 book, he stresses how poker is an un-solved game.

I'm pretty happy w/ my play, just not the results. As I tried to say above, I maybe should have called down lighter on some hands once I saw how wide opponents were playing.

You have to have some luck in these tournaments. Reality is that guy to my right came up huge. Hit a 2-outer on river (4%) and 4-outer on L2 streets (16%).

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Just wanted to post one more comment in here:

* I only played four tournaments on the trip. The $1500 buy-in + three small ones.

I mentioned that I wasn't over-blown by the $1500 field at all. One self-criticism was playing too tight. I wasn't TIGHT as in nervous, just too tight in hand selections and folding 2nd-pair on turn etc.

Tournament regulars understand that you want to have Fold Equity working for you as much as possible. Who cares what your hand strength was, if you get your opponent to fold?

So, basic strategy is to make small raises and constantly take a shot at the pot. Counter to this is that players call down light...if they KNOW that opponent is playing wide. Can't get LUCKY, if you're not in the hand.

I did make some small bluffs. Really only got two thru:
* The JT(club) hand I referenced above. Was very happy w/ my play there.
* Opened in Cutoff w/ 65(club). Flop comes Q75, w/ two diamonds. I bet > 1/2-pot on bottom pair + backdoor-straight draw. Big blind ponders and folds black 88. So, there I think my tight image took down the pot.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Didn't want to get invested too much in tournaments L2 days of trip. So, played a good bit of 1/3 NLHE cash-game in Wynn poker room. I'm not a cash-game regular at all.

Similar comments on level of play. Wasn't impressed. Couldn't believe how wide the range plays were.

I did clear a Net profit in cash last few days. But I also made some donkey plays. One main tell that I have for those games:

* Beware the opponent's Exploding Bet Ratio. If opponent is limping in for $3 pre-flop and now betting $50 on turn, he made his hand. Don't need to think about it much more than that.

Sometimes that will be combo-draw, but more often a big made hand. Counter is that if you have an idea of making opponent lay-down a hand, that's usually futile. Players don't like to fold.

If u have a huge hand that can take a GOOD hand to value-town, do it. But the idea of getting opponent to lay down a GOOD hand...probably not gonna happen.

[Ballerholic]

wow you're in vegas chucky?!? That's awesome, what's it like?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

wow you're in vegas chucky?!? That's awesome, what's it like?

Baller, I left 36 hours ago. Tried to detail some of it. I had a very fun trip.

Bricked the main $1500 tournament that I played. Like I said, feel like my ranges were off a bit. Realized this by end of tournament, after opponents had to show-down hands. Quite often, they were opening garbage but wound up hitting hands. My adjustment for 6-max wasn't quite right.

I've seen this b4. Think about tournament players opening 2.5x or even smaller. If u go from tournaments to cash-games, we see that cash-game players are much more aggro w/ opens as large as 4x or even bigger!

We could say that the difference is that cash-game players know they can re-buy, but tournament players are on one bullet. Anyway, I feel like the other tournament players adjusted better. Reality is that other players were playing slop more often + hoping to catch.

As an example, Button limps (which is rare). I'm in Small Blind holding A9(o). I raise to 4.5x, to try to end the hand. Big Blind calls holding T8(clubs). Personally, I would fold that to 4.5x. She flopped top-pair and I couldn't get her off hand.

I detailed above how I got beat on two big hands. Opponent was drawing thin + caught. That's the game, ez to say that it could have played out differently.