Now this is getting fun! And for sure, a new ritual has been born. There is a big, cascading waterfall outside the doors of the Wynn...and twice now I have made a wish, then tossed a quarter into that pool at the base of the waterfall....then returned from dinner break to watch as magical things started happening to my chipstack.
Wednesday, after I day off of lounging...I returned for the 4pm $400 Survivor tourney. And as I've been doing all week, had my way with my table...immediately growing a stack. But then, in a seemingly carbon copy from the tournament of its nature three days prior...I would go totally card dead...then have a couple of those hands where you have to fold after raising light only to have someone jam on you. So with 9 players getting paid $3400 each...and 17 players left (from a starting total of 89) I pushed my stack with A10...meeting a call from KJ...and watching a king hit the turn that would hold, and eliminate me. Yes, it was annoying. 7 hours of hard work for zilch. I went straight back to my hotel.
Thursday (yesterday) went much better. I arrived near the end of Level 1. Relatively early I limped with 4-7...flopped 5-6-8...and got a guy with a 3 in his hand to pay me handsomely when a 4 hit the board on the turn. That was interrupted when my KK...where I raised the UTG raiser and another caller (who had made it 1750) to 4850...only to get called by both and have an ace flop (of course). But after that it was just one big pinata filled with chips for the rest of the day.
There was on orbit in specific where I was just sitting there and chips were piling up around me...first it was the old man...who after losing a big hand decided to start pushing all in every hand...where it made no sense...pushing 60,000 into 1k/2k blinds. Well, I raised in early position with AJh...only to have him shove. I folded. Then I raised with KQd...only to have him shove. Again. And again I folded. Then, literally, on the next hand...these hands all came consecutively, I get AA. Wow...well, I figured if I didn't raise again...which I really don't like to do with AA in early position...not doing so might raise a red flag to the old geezer....maybe not, he may have just been so blinded by his steam rant he was on that it wouldn't have mattered, but now that he knew he could make me fold by shoving, I thought it would be a good idea to raise. I got called by another player....and then....BOOM! He shoves all in. I obviously call. The other guy folds. He turns over AK.
I know...sounds easy, huh? Well he flopped three spades...oh god! Turn was black...CLUB! River...brick. Whewwwww! Bye bye old man. Two hands later, in the SB...I pick up KK. I raise the BB, after it folded around to us. He calls. The flop comes K-J-3...two hearts. I check. He bets 10k. Hmmm..smooth call? Raise? Sometimes I get cute here and let myself get sucked out on...better not screw around. So I make it 23k. He shoves all in. Wow. Okay. I call. He turns over J8. Huh? Well, the turn is a jack, the river an eight...and he thinks he won....letting out a burst of excitement. Um, sir...Kings full of jacks beats jacks full of eights...sorry. 80k chips comes to my stack.
A few hands later....I get JJ at cutoff. I raise. Yet another OMRG calls. The flop comes J-2-10. I check. He checks. The turn is a 2....full house. Nice. I check again. No bet. Dammit. River is a harmless five. I prepare to bet...and he starts grabbing his chips...and we play a little game of cat and mouse...where I guess he is trying to psyche me into either betting or not betting...not sure. All I was thinking about was "Hey old man, how much are you willing to call here?" So when I thumbed three yellow chips...he also picked up three....well, okay, lets try a few more...so I picked up another yellow (1,000) and a pink (500) and made the 3500 bet...which he called. He saw my hand and groaned.
On another hand...another old guy min raised my big blind....at 400/800...to 1600. I rarely fold to ANY min raise. And I didn't fold this time, holding 6-8. The flop came 6-6-7. Nice. I check to him. He bets 3500. I decide not to screw around and get drawn out on...so I make it another 5200 more...raising it to 8700. He just blasts his whole stack in there...somewhere around 42k more. Well...I couldn't see folding there...and by then I was up to almost 200k. So I call. He has....ya ready for this? QJ. Offsuit. Huh? I was, well...pretty surprised. He did turn a jack for an inevitable sweat...but bricked the river. See ya later sir.
It was like this all day. On the last hand before dinner break...I decided to raise with Q10d. I get called by the big blind, holding A10. The flop comes Q-10-4...all hearts. Good but scary. He checks...I bet out 6500. He calls. Just calls. Hmm...better tread lightly here. Never mind...the turn is another ten...boat. Sweet. And the guy just shoves all in...for over 50K!!! I call...and show him the bad news...then fade an ace on the river that would have given him the better full house....and again I was stacking chips. At dinner break I had around 375k...with the average at like 90k.
After dinner, and after my table broke and I got moved to another one...I nearly ran into disaster...but that damn quarter in the wishing pool...or maybe Cheryl's dad Sonny..who I am 100% convinced has been watching over me the past two weeks...and making some pretty amazing things happen...saved my but. After having already raised with AQh...getting re-raised by a guy on my left, the poker gear, glasses wearing, headphones...making love to his chips before finally...FINALLY making a bet...calling him...then missing the flop...only to sit and watch him move his chips around, stack then restack them....line them all up....HOLY SHIT!!! I finally snapped...."Dude! Are you going to make a bet or have sex with your chips? Do something! The TV cameras are not ON for this tourney...that is over there across the freeway!" So when he finally announced a bet I fired my cards into the much...annoyed.
On the very next hand...I would pick up 99. Great. I raise again. To 12k. It folds around to the button...where seated with his collection of what I could tell were very hairy railbirds, most of them women. I think they were french or something. But you know when you can just tell by looking at someone that there is a LOT of body hair going on under their garments? They were those people. And the guy looked a bit like Hevad Khan. But it wasn't him. He raised me to 25,500. Playing back at me? Being a bully? Thinks I'm tilt raising after the last hand? Fuck him. I call. The flop comes K-8-6...all diamonds. I look down and see that I have the nine of diamonds. Lets see what he does. I check. He c-bets 25k. Hmm...seems like someone doesn't like that flop very much. Starting this hand...I had about 280k...and he had about 255k. And a rooting section.
I decide to make a bold move. Mainly because I do NOT think he has a diamond, and also because I think I might be good. So I raise him to 82k. He grimaces..asking if I already have a flush. Ah! Confirmation that he has no diamonds. So when he pushed all in, I didn't feel like I could fold. I called. He turned over two black aces. Whoa. Yikes. Better hit a diamond or a nine here. Turn....ace of diamonds. Boom!!!! But now I just need to fade the board pairing on the river...which I did. And this guy's face turned white like a ghost...and there was a collective groan from the rest of the table, realizing I had just gone to over half a million chips.
The bubble came and went without any stress, which is always nice. 303 started...and 34 got paid. By the end of the night we managed to get down to 19 players...which, only pays $1101. I think at 18 it jumps up just a little to $1300 or so...and doesn't go up again until 10-12th. No, the money isn't even attractive unless you get top 3...which is what my obvious goal will be today as I head back for Day 2, sitting 2nd in chips with $568k. First place is $31k. That would go quite nicely in my hotel safe next to the $20k that is sitting in there now. And all those 28 investors who I managed to 'hustle' into buying my poker shares for $150 per share...gosh, I know they are just filled with anger and regret right about now.
Some people ask, while I'm playing..."Don't you hate that you are only playing for 38% of what you win?" My answer? "No. Not really. Because if I lose, it costs me nothing...and if I win, I make a lot of people, including myself...very happy. People who thought enough of my ability to take a chance on me? How many people can you say you have like that in your life? Not many, I'm sure. So for me to get 28 people willing to take a shot on me? That means a lot. And to reward their faith in me...with a big win? Or two? Or even more? It's awesome!" So no...I'm perfectly fine with the 38% that I am playing for.
I could write more, but I told myself I was going to go to the pool this morning before heading back...and now I've left myself with just 30 minutes to do that...so I'm going to take advantage of it while I still can. Hopefully, my next blog post brings great news!
CONGRATULATIONS to a friend of mine...and a really good player...Matt Waxman...who won a shit ton of money and a bracelet over there at Rio a couple days ago!!! Just keep adding to the list of friends that have won bracelets. Love to see it. Hope to see more great results in those events that I'm not permitted to play due to...well, no need to open up that festering wound. Not today. Too much to feel good about today.
MONK
Wednesday, after I day off of lounging...I returned for the 4pm $400 Survivor tourney. And as I've been doing all week, had my way with my table...immediately growing a stack. But then, in a seemingly carbon copy from the tournament of its nature three days prior...I would go totally card dead...then have a couple of those hands where you have to fold after raising light only to have someone jam on you. So with 9 players getting paid $3400 each...and 17 players left (from a starting total of 89) I pushed my stack with A10...meeting a call from KJ...and watching a king hit the turn that would hold, and eliminate me. Yes, it was annoying. 7 hours of hard work for zilch. I went straight back to my hotel.
Thursday (yesterday) went much better. I arrived near the end of Level 1. Relatively early I limped with 4-7...flopped 5-6-8...and got a guy with a 3 in his hand to pay me handsomely when a 4 hit the board on the turn. That was interrupted when my KK...where I raised the UTG raiser and another caller (who had made it 1750) to 4850...only to get called by both and have an ace flop (of course). But after that it was just one big pinata filled with chips for the rest of the day.
There was on orbit in specific where I was just sitting there and chips were piling up around me...first it was the old man...who after losing a big hand decided to start pushing all in every hand...where it made no sense...pushing 60,000 into 1k/2k blinds. Well, I raised in early position with AJh...only to have him shove. I folded. Then I raised with KQd...only to have him shove. Again. And again I folded. Then, literally, on the next hand...these hands all came consecutively, I get AA. Wow...well, I figured if I didn't raise again...which I really don't like to do with AA in early position...not doing so might raise a red flag to the old geezer....maybe not, he may have just been so blinded by his steam rant he was on that it wouldn't have mattered, but now that he knew he could make me fold by shoving, I thought it would be a good idea to raise. I got called by another player....and then....BOOM! He shoves all in. I obviously call. The other guy folds. He turns over AK.
I know...sounds easy, huh? Well he flopped three spades...oh god! Turn was black...CLUB! River...brick. Whewwwww! Bye bye old man. Two hands later, in the SB...I pick up KK. I raise the BB, after it folded around to us. He calls. The flop comes K-J-3...two hearts. I check. He bets 10k. Hmmm..smooth call? Raise? Sometimes I get cute here and let myself get sucked out on...better not screw around. So I make it 23k. He shoves all in. Wow. Okay. I call. He turns over J8. Huh? Well, the turn is a jack, the river an eight...and he thinks he won....letting out a burst of excitement. Um, sir...Kings full of jacks beats jacks full of eights...sorry. 80k chips comes to my stack.
A few hands later....I get JJ at cutoff. I raise. Yet another OMRG calls. The flop comes J-2-10. I check. He checks. The turn is a 2....full house. Nice. I check again. No bet. Dammit. River is a harmless five. I prepare to bet...and he starts grabbing his chips...and we play a little game of cat and mouse...where I guess he is trying to psyche me into either betting or not betting...not sure. All I was thinking about was "Hey old man, how much are you willing to call here?" So when I thumbed three yellow chips...he also picked up three....well, okay, lets try a few more...so I picked up another yellow (1,000) and a pink (500) and made the 3500 bet...which he called. He saw my hand and groaned.
On another hand...another old guy min raised my big blind....at 400/800...to 1600. I rarely fold to ANY min raise. And I didn't fold this time, holding 6-8. The flop came 6-6-7. Nice. I check to him. He bets 3500. I decide not to screw around and get drawn out on...so I make it another 5200 more...raising it to 8700. He just blasts his whole stack in there...somewhere around 42k more. Well...I couldn't see folding there...and by then I was up to almost 200k. So I call. He has....ya ready for this? QJ. Offsuit. Huh? I was, well...pretty surprised. He did turn a jack for an inevitable sweat...but bricked the river. See ya later sir.
It was like this all day. On the last hand before dinner break...I decided to raise with Q10d. I get called by the big blind, holding A10. The flop comes Q-10-4...all hearts. Good but scary. He checks...I bet out 6500. He calls. Just calls. Hmm...better tread lightly here. Never mind...the turn is another ten...boat. Sweet. And the guy just shoves all in...for over 50K!!! I call...and show him the bad news...then fade an ace on the river that would have given him the better full house....and again I was stacking chips. At dinner break I had around 375k...with the average at like 90k.
After dinner, and after my table broke and I got moved to another one...I nearly ran into disaster...but that damn quarter in the wishing pool...or maybe Cheryl's dad Sonny..who I am 100% convinced has been watching over me the past two weeks...and making some pretty amazing things happen...saved my but. After having already raised with AQh...getting re-raised by a guy on my left, the poker gear, glasses wearing, headphones...making love to his chips before finally...FINALLY making a bet...calling him...then missing the flop...only to sit and watch him move his chips around, stack then restack them....line them all up....HOLY SHIT!!! I finally snapped...."Dude! Are you going to make a bet or have sex with your chips? Do something! The TV cameras are not ON for this tourney...that is over there across the freeway!" So when he finally announced a bet I fired my cards into the much...annoyed.
On the very next hand...I would pick up 99. Great. I raise again. To 12k. It folds around to the button...where seated with his collection of what I could tell were very hairy railbirds, most of them women. I think they were french or something. But you know when you can just tell by looking at someone that there is a LOT of body hair going on under their garments? They were those people. And the guy looked a bit like Hevad Khan. But it wasn't him. He raised me to 25,500. Playing back at me? Being a bully? Thinks I'm tilt raising after the last hand? Fuck him. I call. The flop comes K-8-6...all diamonds. I look down and see that I have the nine of diamonds. Lets see what he does. I check. He c-bets 25k. Hmm...seems like someone doesn't like that flop very much. Starting this hand...I had about 280k...and he had about 255k. And a rooting section.
I decide to make a bold move. Mainly because I do NOT think he has a diamond, and also because I think I might be good. So I raise him to 82k. He grimaces..asking if I already have a flush. Ah! Confirmation that he has no diamonds. So when he pushed all in, I didn't feel like I could fold. I called. He turned over two black aces. Whoa. Yikes. Better hit a diamond or a nine here. Turn....ace of diamonds. Boom!!!! But now I just need to fade the board pairing on the river...which I did. And this guy's face turned white like a ghost...and there was a collective groan from the rest of the table, realizing I had just gone to over half a million chips.
The bubble came and went without any stress, which is always nice. 303 started...and 34 got paid. By the end of the night we managed to get down to 19 players...which, only pays $1101. I think at 18 it jumps up just a little to $1300 or so...and doesn't go up again until 10-12th. No, the money isn't even attractive unless you get top 3...which is what my obvious goal will be today as I head back for Day 2, sitting 2nd in chips with $568k. First place is $31k. That would go quite nicely in my hotel safe next to the $20k that is sitting in there now. And all those 28 investors who I managed to 'hustle' into buying my poker shares for $150 per share...gosh, I know they are just filled with anger and regret right about now.
Some people ask, while I'm playing..."Don't you hate that you are only playing for 38% of what you win?" My answer? "No. Not really. Because if I lose, it costs me nothing...and if I win, I make a lot of people, including myself...very happy. People who thought enough of my ability to take a chance on me? How many people can you say you have like that in your life? Not many, I'm sure. So for me to get 28 people willing to take a shot on me? That means a lot. And to reward their faith in me...with a big win? Or two? Or even more? It's awesome!" So no...I'm perfectly fine with the 38% that I am playing for.
I could write more, but I told myself I was going to go to the pool this morning before heading back...and now I've left myself with just 30 minutes to do that...so I'm going to take advantage of it while I still can. Hopefully, my next blog post brings great news!
CONGRATULATIONS to a friend of mine...and a really good player...Matt Waxman...who won a shit ton of money and a bracelet over there at Rio a couple days ago!!! Just keep adding to the list of friends that have won bracelets. Love to see it. Hope to see more great results in those events that I'm not permitted to play due to...well, no need to open up that festering wound. Not today. Too much to feel good about today.
MONK
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2 comments:
Good luck from Deloflatsjim
Congrats! Keep it up and rack some chips, Monkey. A lot of people, most of whom you don't know, are rooting for you.
s.i.
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