| The Chronicles | Vegas, Baby, Vegas | ||||||
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 I'm so out of practice with writing these that it's hard knowing where to begin. Fourthly When I last left off, I'd just gotten back to Auburn from Chattanooga for the 4th of July, but I'd failed to recount that trip. Will and I headed up for the weekend of food and colored gunpowder. Kevin also came up for a night, and I got to catch up with Patrick, Jeremy, and Evan a bit. I was a little disappointed that most of the Auburn folks flaked this year. It's a shame, cause the pool and the property in general are looking great these days.  The fireworks show went off without too much of a hitch. Of course, it rained. It always rains a little bit on Independence Day. Fortunately, we were able to cover up the the display with a tarp and the drizzle stopped just around sunset. I still wasn't thrilled with the timing of the explosions, and I wish I'd had a bit more help, but I think it went more smoothly than other recent years. Afterwards, we moved the firework bonfire down to the point overlooking the city. Always fun to sit around a campfire and chat with folks.Vegas, Baby, Vegas As Will had to work, we headed back to Auburn. Soon after I got back, I had a decent tournament score and booked my trip to Vegas. It was strange finally going on the trip that I'd been looking forward to for over a year. Before I left, I took my car in to get repaired, so my dad drove me to the airport early on the morning of my departure. Unfortunately, my flight from Atlanta to Vegas was one of the worst that I'd ever experienced. The passengers didn't really bother me, but we suffered a great deal of turbulence throughout the beginning and end of the trip...enough that I got pretty motion-sick and had to use the puke bag for the first time ever. I really really hate the fact that as I've gotten older I've gotten more prone to motion-sickness. When I was little, reading in cars never went well, but things like rollercoasters and motion simulators never bothered me. That certainly doesn't stop me from going on them, but it's a good idea to bring dramamine with me. I arrived that afternoon to a great deal of heat and headed over to the Flamingo where I'd be staying for 11 days. On the shuttle, I met a guy that happened to be playing in the same event the next day, so I was happy to make an early friend. That evening, I got in touch with JC and found out that an FCPer was at the final table for one of the WSOP events, so I quickly caught a cab over to the Rio. As I walked down the hallway to the convention room, I passed by a plethora of p-game celebrities. I've watched these guys on tv and read about them so much that I feel like I know them. p-game fame is a strange breed of fame...cause the game's so much more about personality than other types of athletics/celebrity. I couldn't help being a little awestruck. The room where the WSOP was being held was absolutely huge. I think it had something like 200 tables. I went ahead and bought my ticket for the $1k buy-in event the next day. Pretty crazy to plunk down that much cash, but playing in New Orleans helped me get a little accustomed. Afterwards, I went over to find the guys at the final table, but I was a little too late - the guy had gotten knocked out in 3rd (and won around $200k in the process) - but I ran into the group in the hallway. I was fortunate to join in the celebration dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in the resort. After that, I played a couple hours of NLHE in the Flamingo's rinky-dink p-game room before going to bed relatively early in preparation for the next day.  World Series of p-gameThe Rio was abuzz the next morning. They ended up having 2,800 people play in the event that day. I found my seat without trouble and seemed to recognize one of the guys to my left. I recognized him as a professional from a WSOP broadcast, but I couldn't recall his name. I played a fairly straight-forward game to begin and was fortunate to pick up some good cards in good situations. The guy to my direct left got knocked out at some point, and the seat was vacant for a while. Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion around the table. I look up and find that one Phil Hellmuth has just been moved that seat. He says hello to everyone and shakes hands all around. I was fortunate that his chipstack had been crippled before being moved. We had a friendly chat while he seemed resigned to busting out. I wanted to be the one to knock him out, but unfortunately the situation didn't present itself. He did get knocked out within about 15 minutes though. Several hours in, I'd quadrupled my starting stack when our table broke and I got moved. My new table sucked. I lost all of the momentum that I had at the other table and lamented a bit as I lost several hands. Finally, a hand came up where it had folded to me in late position, so I raised my QJs. The big blind called, and the flop came JT2 with two hearts. He checked to me, I bet, and he check-raised me all-in. Now, I'm not one to overvalue top pair. I'm fine laying it down when I know that I'm beat. The problem was that I didn't think I was beat. I felt like he had a ten or some sort of draw, so I made the call. He turned up KQo for the straight draw, and I was feeling good about my read. Unfortunately, the A peeled off on the turn, and the river blanked, and I was sent packing. I played it right...I just got unlucky...but that's p-game. I wasn't too distressed. The Ringer I left the Rio and decided to walk over to the Bellagio. On my way there, I happened to run into a p-game pro named D'Agostino and talked with him briefly about where the best cash games were. When I arrived at Bellagio's p-game room, I put my name on the list for a 15/30 Limit Hold 'Em game and went next door to the sportsbook to watch the home run derby. After a while, they called my name. I bought $1k chips and took my seat. I then proceeded to run really really badly for the next few hours. When I found time, I posted all of the key hands that I played on FCP Strategy forums. The general consensus was that I played them all correctly - I just kept having my big hands run down. Nothing I could do about it. I felt somewhat beat up after that day, and I pondered whether I should even play the next. As the next afternoon arrived, I decided to give the p-game room at Caesar's Palace a chance. I ended up spending most of my trip there playing tournaments and cash games. I'd like to say that I ran better, but I ran fairly mediocrely. I was playing quite well though and making lots of correct decisions. I'm amazed by how many times I had to correctly fold QQ pre-flop. Being A Tourist While playing there, I was fortunate to get to know some other good players. I met a couple of guys from LA and had dinner and a really good discussion with them. I've got a standing invite to play if I ever get out to the west coast. Later in the trip, I met some French-Canadians and had a chance to practice my humble French-speaking ability. We went to dinner at Neros in Caesar's. They said it was a little pricey, but I'd already become aware that food in Vegas wasn't as cheap as I expected. That said, the cheapest entree at this place was $45. I ended up getting some lobster bisque and escargot, while they treated drinks. We had plans to go to the night club called Pure, but the guys in the group were wearing sandals/sneakers, so we couldn't get in. They wanted to go to a strip club instead, but I wasn't too keen on that idea, so I decided to call it a night. Before I left though, one of the guys had an idea, which had occurred to me also. Being the nice guy that I am, I switched shoes with him, so that he could go to the club with his sister. They seemed pretty grateful. I got the shoes back the next day, so no biggie.  Several days into the trip, the $50k buy-in HORSE (Hold 'Em, Omaha/8, Razz, Stud, Stud Eight-or-better) event started, so I went back over to the Rio to watch. While I was there, I ran into my p-game hero, Daniel Negreanu, and was lucky to talk with him and get a picture. That's been another thing that I'd looked forward to for a while - meeting him. I watched him play from the rail for quite a while and pulled out the rally cap when he was struggling. Kept trying to cheer him up and encourage him as he was getting pretty unlucky in the event. The event itself was mind-blowing. There were over a dozen tables of the very best p-game players. It was difficult to find anyone that I didn't recognize. Unfortunately, Daniel busted on the second day, and I didn't really go back over to the Rio after that. I'd have liked to play in another event, but my bankroll wouldn't really allow it.As for other highlights of the trip, I met up with my uncle and my cousin Jeff who were roadtripping out west. Jeff and I toured the city a bit (something that I'd neglected to do without anyone else around) and caught Lance Burton's magic show. I have to say that magic shows frustrate me. I mean, I enjoy being entertained, but I hate not knowing how things work. We also rode the rollercoaster at New York, New York. I was somewhat impressed by the track layout and Vegas' night skyline, but it had to be one of the bumpier steel coasters I've been on. | |||||||
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