The pre-AAO Vegas Boondoggle and How goot I run vs Devo

I think it is pretty standard that if I have a meeting in Las Vegas that I should bounce from Reno a day or two early to hit the felt.

Fortunately, I'm blessed by a very understanding woman, who gets it that in some strange way, sitting on my ass for hours trying to outplay the range of fools out there is good for me. In moderation of course. So-- thanks Rina. Much appreciated.

So my BIG plan (woot) is to play the $330 Venetian deep stack on election day. I have meetings on Thursday, so I can't really play a two-day tourney that starts on Wednesday, obv. So i get one shot.

Having to warm up, I sit down in a very wild $2-$5 cash game, where everyone has like $2K on the table, and people are maximum lagtards. Good things happen, and I get up several hundo. Then this: I get KK in MP and make it $20. The most laggy, VPiP=99%, (plays every pot) raises everytime guy, then makes it $120 from the button. At this point I have about $2K and he covers. Next to him in the SB is a more nitty player who then shoves for $400. Back to me. Decisions: 1)Shove for value and to isolate. 2) Call to induce a squeeze from the button 3) Do some FPS min raise crapola. I go through these pretty quickly and decide to call. Back to lagbutton. He tanks a little, asks me my stack size, and then makes it $1000 straight. So it is now only $600 to call, and the pot is $1800. OK, well just calling here seems retarded, cause I'm then out of position on the flop and I'm basically shoving everything. Maybe I dump i if an Ace flops. Shoving seems super standard. I mean, I have frickin Kings!!!!

But Kings aren't the nuts, and I've been in this spot at least twice in the last 3 months playing for stacks and both times I stacked off to AA. And the 4th raise means Aces. I tank forever, and feel like my cards must be face-up. His bet size screams for a call. No. Not this time. I muck. He immediately tells me I made a great fold and laments that he screwed up the hand (he is supposed to stack me there 80% of the time) Sick read, ftw.
Then the $330 election day special at the V. I donk off from $12,500 to about 8000. Yuck. Nothing is happening. At 50-100 I call a raise in the SB with 97o and three see a flop of 8-J-Q rainbow. Its only a gutter, but obv I haven't had much. I check, MP checks, and the LP raiser fires out 600. I make it 2000. I'm not sure how, but I am going to convince myself that my cards are T9 and I'm going to convince the LP also. No worries though, as I turn the T for the str8. Sweetness. I lead 2500 and he calls. He's got two pair or a set I guess. River bricks and I shove for another 3200 or so-- and he tanks, calls, mucks, and I DBL UP. Woot.

I'm hovering around 35K when I open raise to 2000 from the CO at 300-600/50. BB is a nitty old guy. (Its funny for me to write that, because I AM that NOG sometimes) He min-raises me to 4000, and he has another 7200 or so behind. Blech. So the battle between the part of me that senses he's got TT+ and crushing me is winning out over the much more logical side who looks at the pot, looks at the odds, and demands a call. Well, that ain't exactly right either since I can't really win enough when I spike the 7 to make it long term worthwhile. Whatever. I guess I should have shipped it right here, cause barring some disaster flop its all going in then. I call. Flop comes 8-high babies, rainbow, and the n.o.g. puts in 5K of his remaining 7200. Blech. I just shove, he snaps with JJ and I lose 1/3 of my stack.

Shortly after that, a young kid who hasn't done much opens in the CO and I decide to defend my SB with pocket 6's I repop to 4500 and then he shoves. Yuck a doodle. Pot is about 18,000 and its 9000 roughly to call so I don't have a choice. He shows me AQ, bricks the flop, but turns the Ace and now I'm down to 9000 chips or so with blinds at 400-800/75. I end up open shoving when it gets folded to me in the SB and the BB has AQ. My 93o doesn't look so promising and its gg me.

More later, as I must sleep now.