Venetian UltimateStack and WSOP Online

Will the change of scenery change my luck?

This post will cover the last two days, because your boy’s been busy!

On Thursday, I made my way to the Venetian. There, they have the newest poker room in Las Vegas. It’s huge and it’s beautiful, but the tables are a bit small and crowded for my taste. At 6’1” tall, I care deeply about legroom. But overall, a very fine poker room in contention for best in the city.

I entered the $1600 UltimateStack and quickly ran my 40,000 starting chips up to 74,000 by making some good hands like 66 on 6-4-2 and AQ on A-Q-5. I also tried a few bluffs that worked. Things were cooking.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

With the blinds at 500/1000/1000, a Russian guy opened to 2200 and got two callers. The callers were (1) a large, very aggressive player in a dress with a chip on the shoulder. The sex of this person was unclear, but this person sat in Seat One, next to the dealer. And (2) a young and extremely cautious, thoughtful Asian man with over 100,000 in chips in Seat Two. I was in Seat Five with the AsKd and I raised it to 15,000 from the big blind. The Russian folded, but both callers called! There was 50k in the middle at that point and only 59k remaining in my stack. The flop came Qs-Jh-4s and I fired 8000, which is the bet I would make with AA, KK, QQ or JJ. Seat One called and Seat Two raised all-in. At that point, I simply have to fold. It’s less likely that my opponent was bluffing with a flush draw because I held the As. He could have KT, but I block that too, with my Kd. He probably held 44 or QJ. That hand cost me about 30% of my stack.

A while later, the blinds went up to 600/1200/1200 and a small, friendly European player opened to 2500. Another player at the table recognized him from a prior tournament and joked with him about Q9, but it was an inside joke that I didn’t get. Anyway, they all folded to me in the big blind with the Kc4d and I called 1300 more. Heads-up, we saw the flop of Qh-9h-4c and I checked, he bet 3500. Immediately I felt he was bluffing. Something in my body told me this was a bluff and I called with confidence. The turn was the 6s and I checked again. This time, he fired 10,500 and I felt he was bluffing again, but I was admittedly less certain this time. Still, I called and the river came the 8s, completing so many straights. I checked again and my opponent bet enough to put me all in. I still sensed something, but I couldn’t really call a huge bet with bottom pair on this board, could I? The hand I was concerned about the most was JT. I took over a minute to make my decision, which is something I almost never do. I really wanted to call but couldn’t pull the trigger, and I mucked my pair of fours. The familiar opponent said “Queen-nine, right? Show the queen-nine!!!” referencing once again whatever other tournament they’d played together. With a smirk, villain showed the KsTc, a pure bluff. Something had told me to call…

Photo by Ali Hajian on Unsplash

On the very next hand, I was in the small blind and the Russian raised to 2500. Seat One and Seat Two called, and the button, an older gentleman who seemed more interested in the baseball game on the overhead television, called. I looked at Kc4c, suited this time, and called. A bit loose but defensible versus these opponents getting this price. The big blind called and we all saw the flop of Jc-6c-4h. I checked, big blind checked, and the Russian bet 3000. Seat One raised to 6000. Fold to me and I moved all-in for 39,000. Everyone folded to Seat One, who called with QdJd. Not bad, actually. I would win the pot and suddenly have a well-above average stack with any club, king, or four. The turn and river were no help and my tournament ended right then and there.

When I tell you I felt no frustration, I mean it. It’s been a tough two weeks for the bankroll, but I know I am playing well. The fact that I even considered calling with just a four versus the little Euro lets me know that I am dialed in.

That night, I played a bit of low stakes PLO online and won $240. Still a negative day, but not terrible.

Yesterday, I was planning to enter that Venetian tournament again when I got a call from one of my best friends, Joe Stapleton. He was looking for a commentary partner for the WSOP $50,000 Buy-in Players Championship, and I love doing commentary, so I agreed to take the gig. I would need to be at work by midnight (poker hours are wild), so I decided to skip the Venetian.

Instead, I entered some online tournaments that I was sure would end before midnight. There was a $215 Main Event Satellite, a $215 weekly with $50,000 guaranteed, a $100 daily with $30,000 guaranteed, and a $50 Mystery Bounty with $20,000 guaranteed. After a few hours, I fired up the live stream to share with my friends and followers.

I was in fifth place in the satellite with ten players left. Top two would win seats to the Main Event with three others winning prizes ranging from $1900 to $4950. I got it all-in preflop with my AA versus a smaller stack’s 77 and lost. I still had chips but couldn’t really recover and went out in tenth, out of the money.

angry baby

The $50 Mystery Bounty was a different story. In fact, I am happy to finally say that yesterday was the first profitable day I’ve had in the last two weeks. The thing took forever, and I was actually playing heads-up for the win in the Uber on my way to the PokerStars studio! I got it in good with my Q9 versus 87 on 9-7-6 but my opponent caught an eight and I went out in second place, collecting a prize of $3110 plus eight $9.90 bounties, so let’s call it $3190. Not bad for a $50 buy-in.

The commentary gig lasted for over three hours, so I didn’t get to bed until about 4am. You can enjoy our late-night shenanigans here. I’m actually going back tonight starting at 11PM PST, so I will not be playing today at all. I don’t think it would have been wise to do so anyway; I can’t remember the last time I saw 4am! I’m going to get some rest.

The bankroll stands at 37,025.