Back to Vegas

Well, my Bay 101 event was somewhat shorter than I had hoped. Before I get to that, yesterday's 2k event was going along well and I had worked my 10k starting chips up to 15k with the average being about 13k. with the blinds at 150-300 and the ante's 50 I encountered a very ominous sign. Now I'm not really superstitious or religious, but there are times when you feel a card coming or that something's about to happen and there it is. Getting back to the bad sign, I'm in the big blind and the action is folded around to me. My initial reaction is I'm happy to scoop the antes and small blind without a fight, until I look down at two black Aces. Next time around I'm in the big blind again and the button, who has been raising and re-raising all day long, in fact the previous lap was the first unopened pot he mucked from the button all day, makes his standard 3BB raise. I look down at two black queens and min raise him back. He re-raises me a pot sized bet. I have seen him do this twice already today, once with A Q, and the other time with 10 10. I felt like I was ahead and moved in on him. When he insta-called I knew it was bad, and when he turned over 2 Aces I felt sick. I hoped I might get lucky, but it wasn't to be, and unlike what another blog on this website said, that it doesn't make any difference whether you put your money in good or suck out, I strongly disagree. If you keep putting your money in good, you will win more and suck out less because you are starting out ahead.

The first level went along well, and then I have two Kings in the big blind and get a walk. All of a sudden it's like Déjà vu all over again (to borrow a line from Yogi Berra). A few hands later I pick up K K in mid-position with one limper in front of me, and raise 5BB. The button who is the chip leader at the table and has been playing a lot of pots aggressively calls, and so does the limper. The flop comes 3 5 10, the original limper (what a good nickname) checks and I open with a pot sized bet. The button calls quickly and the OL folds. The turn brings a J, which gives me the 2^nd nuts. I make a pot sized bet which brings a slow call from the button. My read was that I was ahead and that he had flopped a set or turned two pair. I suppose he might have had Ace noodle and the #1 nuts as well. Of course the river is cruel and the 5 falls. I felt my best move was a blocker bet of 40% of the pot, which he goes into the tank over, for at least two minutes. He then raises me for most of my remaining chips. I lay it down, which I'm not sure was the right move. About 12 hands later, and down to 9k in chips I call a 5 way pot on the button with 8 9 for 3 BB. Layne Flack in the BB raises to 9BB and of course everyone calls. The flop comes J J 8, and is checked around. The turn comes a 5 and its check to the cut-off who bets 1800 into a 4,500 pot. I felt like it was a cheap steal, and my reads were weak so I moved in for my last 8,100. This was perhaps my worst play ever in a main event. The good news is at least I wasn't the first Shooting Star out, Jerry Yang and David Williams went out before me, and David was on his way to the airport and I was able to get on the same flight. At least he went out with a good hand in a cooler situation. As I write this I'm sitting in a Southwest Jet on my way back to Vegas. I'm not sure what I was thinking; perhaps I was tilting from the hand with the Kings. Anyway, the stewardess, or I guess the politically correct term now is flight attendant is yelling at me to turn off my computer because it might cause us to crash. As a commercial pilot myself I never really understood this. Don't you think terrorists would have already starting using laptops, cell phones and Nintendo's to bring down our commercial aircraft if it really did anything?

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Roy-Winston/36778

The Oracle