Day 4: not a good one... · 2:50pm Jun 16th, 2016
Bad day at the tables yesterday. I tried no cash games, but played two single-table satellites, and the daily deepstack over at the Rio. All failed, and all told cost me half my current profit.
I entered a $175 and a $275 single-table satellite tournament to try to win entry to the $2000 no-limit hold'em bracelet event that was being held that day. Satellites are single-table 'sit-n-go' tournaments where they play as soon as ten people have signed up and paid their entry. I was the first person out in the $175 one, where they give you just a 1000 in tournament chips and the winner takes $1500 in tournament credit. I went out on two hands.
How do you know it's not your day? When you get knocked out holding a straight against a full house. How do you know it's REALLY not your day? When it happens two hands in a row. Literally, I hit a straight both times, but lost both time to 10-9 offsuit which hit a full house--the odds of that happening are pretty astronomical. So I tried again with a $275 entry, where you start with 1500 in chips and the prize would be $2500 in tournament credit. They offer that in the form of 'lammers'--these special tokens that are each worth $500 in tourney credit but have no other cash value.
This time, I was the second person out. I was trying to be patient and wait for cards that just weren't coming, knowing I've had success of these tables in the past. Unfortunately, my patience slipped when I was in the small blind and it was folded around to the button (player sitting in the dealer position), who raised from 100 to 300. I was certain he was trying to 'steal the blinds', in other words making a bluff raise to try to make the small and big blind fold. So I went all-in for my remaining 1000 without even looking at my cards. He sighs and calls, showing... J-9. Not a strong hand, meaning it was indeed a steal attempt. But me? I had 4-7 offsuit, and I apparently didn't have enough chips remaining to make a bet big enough to force him off the hand. So he called anyway, and beat me. And that was that. What's particularly infuriating there is that I read his action correctly, but not the situation. I should have realized my chip stack wasn't big enough there to try that, looked at my cards and then folded them.
And so it went. I walked away for a couple hours, getting lunch over at In-N-Out burger chain--a Vegas tradition for me; best burger chain out west but one we don't have back east--then returning to play the $235 daily deepstack. I've had some success there in the past, but not for the last couple visits.
My run of bad luck continued. Few hands came, and when they did, they didn't hit. I got no big pairs like aces or kings, and it seemed like every move I tried turned out badly as I kept getting reraised all-in. I was getting gun-shy at that point and I'm sure the other players noticed that I was willing lay down to big reraises. The worst was about three hours in when I flopped a lucky two pair out of the small blind with J-6. Flop came J-6-3, with two clubs. I checked, down a quarter of my stack at that point and needing a solid win, holding someone else would bet for me and get more chips into the pot. Guy in middle position obliges me, betting out for 1500. I 'check-raise' him to 5000, betting he would think I was doing so on the basis of a flush draw. Though surprised, he calls the bet. Turn comes an 8, no club. I decide that's enough cards, and go all-in to deny any further draws. To my surprise and initial delight, he calls and shows...
Pocket 8s, giving him a three of a kind and the win. He got very lucky and hit it on the turn. He was short-stacked, so I only lost half my chips, but that was just another example of how the day went. Still, I persevered. I did get one lucky hand myself when I doubled back up holding 2-3 suited of all things, hitting a lucky straight on the turn while the other guy had trip aces. But it was all downhill after that. I got tired of being reraised and called an all-in holding A-J suited and finding I was indeed ahead of the other guy's Q-J, but he hit the straight, apologizing for it. I clawed back again, and found myself holding A-K facing two all-ins. Action at the table has been wild, and I figure this is my chance to nearly triple up and finally become a contender, so I call. I'm facing pocket Queens and pocket 5s, but all I need is an A or K to hit the board in five cards.
They don't, and I'm out. I don't regret the move there; it was my play to gain a big stack and be able to go deep. But luck was simply not with me that day, and you need both skill and luck to move forward.
I played no more after that, instead gorging myself at a seafood buffet (and overpaying for it), then heading back to take a walk and call it a night. Poker means you have to take the good with the bad; you will have bad days. The key is to not throw good money after bad; "know when to walk away" as the song goes. So I did.
And for today? Well, I'm going to play some morning cash games since I didn't try those yesterday, then have lunch with a friend who happens to be in town. I will attempt one and only one tournament later on. If that fails, then my final full day in Vegas tomorrow will see me risk my remaining profit but no more. I'll come home having broken even, but disappointed that my first day win didn't turn into more. But, you just never know out here. We'll see what happens.
Mother of Celestia! You must be made of ill-fortune. What poker I did play when I was younger, I was never even able to get a straight. I suppose you actually have to know the math behind the game and know what you're doing when you draw to get one. Breaking even is still quite an achievement, if indeed your luck doesn't turn around.