Day 5 Rebound! · 3:42pm Jun 17th, 2016

Well, as it turned out, I only played two hours yesterday, doing cash games at the Venetian. But a hell of a two hours it was.

After losing $50 at a craps table (I walked away from it after just two shooters when they both lost within just a couple dice rolls, recognizing a cold table), I went next door to the Venetian and sat down at a $1/$2 no-limit table (meaning the small blind is $1, the big blind is $2). When I play cash games, I typically buy in for the minimum allowed stake, which at a $1/$2 is $100.

A half-hour later, I was sitting on nearly $200, so I decided to upgrade to a $2/$5 table, where $200 is minimum stake. There were several large stacks of chips sitting in front of other players, some $1000 or more.

I actually like that, because the big stacks will give the small stacks more action, and it's easier to get them to call when you want them to. My strategy at these games is generally fairly simple--sit back and wait; don't be too aggressive until you've got a genuine hand, then pound it. Raises get called much more often at cash games, I've found, so if you want bluffs to work and people to lay down, you have to keep betting. I'll relate one hand that defined my session:

I was sitting on nearly $300 in chips after a couple more minor wins, when there was a raise to $35 ahead of me. The raise came from the one of the big stacks, who was raising quite often, I'd noticed, more than his cards should really allow. One person called, and then I look down at A-K suited, in hearts. A pretty hand. So I raise to $110. The hope is that at least one player folds to my big reraise, and I can get it heads-up, where even if I don't hit the flop, it's much more likely that a continuation bet will get the last guy to fold and win the pot for me.

No such luck there. Both players call, meaning a very large pot is developing, already over $300. Flop comes Q of hearts, J of hearts, 6 of spades. Action on me to start. I didn't hit my Ace or King, but I've picked up a slew of draws--any heart will give me the nut flush, any 10 will give me a straight, and I still have 'overs' to the board, meaning that if an ace or king comes down on the turn or river, I might still win as well. if you count them up, that means there are 18 cards in the deck that can win it for me. With two cards to come, there's a better than 50% chance I'll hit at least one, but I haven't made it yet, and there's no guarantees in poker. So if possible, I'll take it down now. With such a powerful draw, I have no qualms about going all-in with my remaining chips.

I waffled a bit on whether I wanted a call at that point, knowing I didn't have a made hand yet, but odds were at least slightly in favor of getting one. A call did not come, as both players thought for a minute before laying down their hands, giving me a $220 profit. In the end, I walked away from the tables more than $500 richer, making good most of my losses from yesterday. I did want to play more, but it was time to meet a friend who by strange coincidence was in town to stay with her parents for a bit. I drove out into the city to pick her up with my rental car, and as it was her first time in Vegas, I took her out on the strip to show her the sights, treating her to lunch and a visit to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden over at the Mirage, where a lot of exotic big cats are kept along with a dolphin pool. We wandered for a few hours, stopping to see a few things (including a bumfight at one point), doing dinner at the Gordon Ramsey burger joint at Planet Hollywood. After that... treated her to a burlesque show (it was her idea! she wanted to see one!), and drove her back home, returning to my own hotel room at 1am after all that.

Vegas is more fun with friends, and it's good to be able to treat someone and show them around. But today is my last full day here, and I'm currently up $1200, so I'm going to play a $340 deepstack tournament over at the Aria, I think, as my final tourney entry, and hope I can end as well as I started. It looks like I will definitely be leaving with a playing profit at this point, the only question is how much...

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