I Have Arrived – And the Natives Are Restless

I finally arrived to Las Vegas late Saturday night and I wound up staying a couple of days at a friends house. From what I have seen coming in, there isn’t a lot that has changed about Vegas since I have left. I know, I have only been away about 5 months, but in Vegas, things change so quickly. For example, the first year I was here, the Stardust was physically still in existence. By the next year, it was gone. Also, a couple of strip casinos just did not exist when I first started coming out here. Things change quickly in Vegas.

I took a trek over to the Rio on Tuesday to check out the WSOP before the true craziness began. I will not be physically at the Rio as much as I have in past years due to the fact I am just playing again. Last year, I was there almost every day. I miss that to a degree to be honest, but at the same time, it is nice to have the time to do something else if I choose to.

Things at the Rio look fairly much the same as they did last year. The main difference is of course there is some new sponsorship and there are more ads posted than I remember. There are a couple of minor changes like a snack counter outside the gift shop. The one big difference I noticed is the expansion of the Brasilia room. Brasilia was used last year, but only about ½ of the room was used. They took down the divider this year and that room is massive now. Also, all satellite action will be held in Brasilia.

I played a couple of satellites over in Brasilia, but did not do so well. Someone looked at me when I told them that like I was crazy because the satellites are so “soft.” He is right. They are soft. However, it is very tough to win when your cards are consistently below 10. The first satellite I survived as long as I did due to some well timed steals from the button and a big double up with pocket nines. Twice I was all-in and dominated. The first time, I got lucky and survived. The second time I didn’t. The other satellite I played, I got one huge hand and the other hands I got wound up being all-in hands against someone that woke up with a bigger hand. Also, for my two satellites, there seemed to be one guy that was on a huge heater. While I know that skillful players will do better in the long haul, I do see where these satellites involve a huge amount of luck.

After busting out of a couple satellites, I headed over to the registration area and registered for the $1,000 Stimulus Event. I will be playing over in the Brasilia room at table 189 and Seat 7. It should be interesting to see how that turns out.

One reason I say it should be interesting is that with the exception of Wednesday night, my live poker has not been running that well. I played in an Omaha tournament Monday where I won 2 hands all tourney. My satellites have run bad and yesterday I played in a NL tournament where I could not get anything going. My H.O.R.S.E. tourney ran well but I took a huge beat late before the final table and barely made the final table. Wound up 9th in that one. At least I did well in cash games that night and my entry was basically covered.

What I am hoping is that things are just running in reverse for me right now and that I run bad early and then do well as things progress. Typically what happens in my trips is that I run well early, then have a lull, and then run well at the end. Hopefully this means that I will run well the rest of the trip.

Anywho, I will be out here in Vegas for the next 4 weeks so I will keep you updated on not only my escapades, but also about the WSOP happenings.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.