Aside from the WSOP Dan and I have been going to various poker rooms on the strip. On Monday we visited the Wynn's poker room and Caesar's poker room. On Wednesday after Dan finally got busted in the tournament we were at the Wynn again. The Wynn's poker room is the nicest poker room I've seen. Very plush. It also seemed to be run very well as far as seating players and managing the room. The cocktail waitresses were coming around very regularly and we didn't have to wait long to get your drinks. Caesar's poker room is very large, but man does it lack any character. Very spacious, but the monitors are all too far away from the tables and there is just something about it that just says blah. They do have a separate tournament section partitioned off from the cash games, and that is pretty nice.
On Thursday, Dan and I visited the Venetian's poker room. That one was pretty nice, too. Definitely better than Caesar's, but not as nice as the Wynn. I think it would be very hard to find a nicer poker room than the Wynn personally. Dan had a 5:30 flight so after he left for the airport I headed over to the Bellagio's poker room. They are reputed to have the best poker room on the strip. The place was packed when I got there, and I had to wait about an hour to get a seat at a game, which is unusual at the Vegas poker rooms. I asked some of the players who appeared to be regulars about that when I sat down, and they said that it had to be because of the WSOP. The room itself was nice and was being managed very well. The cocktail service was pretty decent, too.
On Monday I got killed in the cash games. I lost $400 at the Wynn. Most of that occurred in one hand where I flopped a straight and somebody else flopped two pair. I was holding Jd 9d when the board came:
7x 8x Tx
After I check-called my opponent on the flop, a King peeled off on the turn. My opponent checked so I decided to bet and he raised me $1oo. I knew I still had the nuts so I moved in for my remaining $225 and he called me with 8T. An 8 hit on the river, filling my opponent's boat and wiping me out. Dan also took a little hit, and that was when we decided to head to Caesar's. I dropped another $200 there and decided to call it a night. It also had my confidence heading in to Tuesday rather shaken.
Things started to get better after Monday's massacre. In fact, I haven't lost at a cash game that I sat down at since Monday. On Wednesday at the Rio while Dan was finishing the tournament I played at the cash games the Rio was running and made about $100. I picked up a little over $500 at the Wynn on Wednesday in a 4 1/2 hour session, although I do have to admit that I got lucky in a couple of hands. Ironically, I did to someone else what I had done to me on Monday. I was holding 8h 9h when the board flopped:
9-8-3
giving me top two pair. I slow played them (bad Jason!) and check called. The turn brought a Jack, and when my opponent bet again I moved all in for about $250. My opponent called and showed me the nuts (7-T) for straight, but the river came 8 of all things and I was able to escape with a nice pot.
On Thursday when Dan and I were at the Venetian I made just under $100 on a session. It was nice because early in the session I was down my initial buy-in of $300 when my QQ was blown away by KJ. I worked my way back, and on one of my last hands I got back in to the black on what I thought was a pretty sweet hand. I was holding 7d 9d when the flop came:
7c 6d Td
giving me middle pair, a gutshot straight draw, a flush draw, and a straight flush draw. Three of us had gone to the flop and I was in the middle. The first opponent checked. I bet $50 into the $60 pot and the player behind me called. The initial checker raised all in, which amounted to another $153. I had another $300+ in chips, and my opponent behind me had me covered so I decided to move all in to shut the other player out. If I just called I didn't want to give him the correct pot odds to call if he was on a bigger draw, and I also wanted to represent a real big hand in case he was holding something marginal yet better than me so he could chuck it. As it turned out he had Kd Jd and did lay it down. After the all in was determined the turn came a blank, but the river came 8c giving me the nuts. My opponent was shocked at my play since he had As Ts (top pair, top kicker), but if you count all the outs I had (2 sevens, 3 nines, 4 eights, any diamond) I was actually the favorite when the money went in.
After Dan left and I went to the Bellagio, I had a nice session where I made $739 in 2 1/2 hours. I've got one day left here, and I think I'll go to the Wynn and play some more there. My flight leaves at midnight Vegas time and is scheduled to get in to Milwaukee around 5:30am so it's going to be a long day today.
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