Sole Survivor

My trip to Las Vegas with my parents was an amazing one, though not financially unfortunately. It was nice to have company this trip to share the experience as most of my poker expeditions have been solo. If you are interested in going to Vegas there are ways to make the trip very affordable if you are careful with your money. I stayed at the Luxor hotel which was only $35 a night, but was very clean with friendly staff and a nice big room. What more do you need? It is a 25 minute walk to Caesars Palace or Bellagio but I quite enjoy the light exercise to get the blood going before the tourneys. The range of food available in Vegas is very wide. You can eat as luxuriously as you like or as affordably as you like. French restaurant Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel gave us one of the best meals of our lives. The bill came to $130 for a seafood feast and a bottle of merlot. Not only that but it has a spectacular view of the Bellagio fountains while you eat. Very nice indeed.

I have played a number of tournaments here for the Five Diamond World Poker Classic but it has not been the most successful trip. Between a few mistakes of my own and a few coolers I didn’t turn a profit. I did have some joy in a couple of satellites, one of which was $200+$40 10-man sit ‘n’ go that awarded two prizes of $1,120. Read that last part again. Do the math. Smile.

Unless the hostess I asked was wrong about the +$40 part then they were paying out $240 too much to the winners. The SNG’s often had $100 last longer bet which usually attracted between 6 and 8 of the players to join in with. In one such game me, Tom McEvoy (1983 World Series of Poker champ) and a random player who didn’t take the side action were playing three-way with two prizes to be given out. If the random player busted me and Tom would split the last longer bet. If Tom busted I scooped the pot. Tom asked if I just wanted to split the $800 there and then but I declined since I had a chip lead. He raised with A-10, the random player called and I moved all in with A-J. He made the call and didn’t improve allowing me to take a $1,920 prize.

American poker players are an interesting breed, as are Americans in general. If you play a European Poker Tour main event the table chatter can be absolutely minimal, but at the World Poker Tour here in Las Vegas the players were far more chatty which made for an incredibly friendly and pleasant atmosphere. A chatty table is also far more likely to reveal weaknesses, which always makes life easier.

Speaking of American poker players; me and my parents started chatting with a waitress who told us that her uncle and other older players just couldn’t keep up with the young players anymore because they just couldn’t gain the experience as fast as online players. I had heard this before when the online poker boom started and if my Vegas experience is anything to go on I’ve identified a very similar phenomenon. The standard of the average American player for this trip has definitely been worse than that of the average European player. I don’t mean that to be insulting at all. I think the very reason for this is because of the Americans being unable to test their skills online anymore. They simply don’t get the practice that the rest of the world does. I wonder how many hands the average player has played online since the ban; that’s how much more experience has been gained. Also trends in poker tend to disseminate themselves quickly in the online poker world. A classic example is standard raise sizes pre flop in tournaments. It used to be 3x the big blind. Nowadays it has decreased to 2.5x or 2.25x or even just 2x the big blind. On this trip I couldn’t quote a standard. I saw everything from 2x to 6x for individuals standard opening raise sizes. Two players in conversation even stated they were going on vacation to play online poker!

I also ran into a number of players who seemed surprised that I brought a poker book to the table: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand At A Time: Volume 3. There are still a lot of players out there who simply do not read poker books. The guys who wrote this book have made millions and are willing to tell you how if you buy their book. Why wouldn’t you read it? These two factors made the fields rather soft at times. But despite that I couldn’t seem to find the right situations to get my money in.

Oh by the way, Aerosmith at the MGM Grand Arena were amazing. They actually opened with the cheeky quote I had sneaked into last month’s article which helped me forgive Vegas for so mercilessly taking my money away from me. Their second to last encore was the track “Dream on” which is exactly what I will continue to do leading up to the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure in early January. I may not have that trophy yet, but I’m having a fantastic experience and seeing some of the most amazing places the world has to offer. This will be a three-part article and in the next two sections I will give you some specifics about the tourneys I played in and give you the details about the three cheaters I caught. Stay tuned. ♠

Science teacher Ian Simpson came fourth in the Irish Open 2012 for €107,500 and, as the last paddypowerpoker.com online qualifier standing in the main event, won the Sole Survivor contest netting himself another €100,000 =- €50,000 in cash, €50,000 in tournament buy ins.