Playing at the Nugget

Right now, I am attending a set of tournaments in Las Vegas, NV at the Golden Nugget. The Fall Poker Classic is primarily a series of non-holdem events that they are testing out to give a market to the mixed game players willing to come out and put up their cash in mixed games. As soon as I saw the schedule, I booked my trip. For the NL Holdem players, they are holding two daily NL Holdem events with a lot of starting chips and deep stacks.

Normally I don’t play NL, but I decided that I would give one a shot since the levels were decent and a lot of play could be had. I wish I could say that I made some fantastic plays and made the final table of the event, but in all honesty, I busted out just at the first break. With that being said, I should have busted much sooner than that, but my reads on this table were good for the most part. The only downside is that I kept getting cold decked.

I wasn’t getting many good cards and when I played, I either could not hit the board or I got outdraw. One instance was a hand which I came in with a pocket pair. I raised pre-flop enough to make any sensible player fold. There were about 3 decent players at the table. Unfortunately, the players that were the easiest to read were also the ones that kept drawing out on me. In the hand I had the pocket pair, the person that called I put on some over cards or a weak to medium ace. On the flop I bet out enough to make most chasers lay down. Not this guy. He called and a jack fell on the turn. I checked behind him and I could tell by the look on his face that he was surprised. The river card missed both of us and he bet out the size of the pot. I ended up folding and he stated that he got lucky. I know. He had ace-jack or king-jack. No, he didn’t show me his cards. Based on his play and his betting, that is what he had. Other hands where he had strong holdings, he would make similar bets and he had a little hop in both legs that happened when he bet. His tells gave him away. Sadly, my pocket sevens were no good.

Another hand, I raised pre-flop with a pocket pair of fours on the button. The small blind called. The flop came with an Ace. He checked to me and I bet. I don’t know why he didn’t call on the flop to try and induce more betting, but he chose to raise me here. This player had not made any moves the entire game and I figured he had an ace. I figured when he called me pre-flop he had an ace. Of course, he showed me A-J and my pair was no good.

Otherwise I had another pocket pair go to pot when over cards hit the board and solid players bet into them. Other times, I would limp into family pots to have to get out when my cards would not connect. Another hand, I turned a pair and had a gutshot straight draw. The solid female player bet out and one of the better players raised. I had originally called the bet but was forced to let go to the raise. The solid player showed he had flopped the nut straight. There were potential draws on the board, including a flush draw and he didn’t want someone to outdraw him. It was a smart move, but still, I got out of the way.

Beyond my coolers, the cards just did not cooperate. I got a few hands I might play in a limit cash game, but not many in a No-Limit game. My only real mistake was the hand I busted on. I raised and the solid female player at the table re-raised me. The old saying of “go with your gut” applied here. I should have paid attention to what my reads had been saying all day and let the hand go. However at this point I was beginning to dwindle. Folding would leave me with a little over 3,000. While the levels were still such where I could make a comeback, I decided to make a stand here. I wish I could say that I had a good reason to push all-in, but I didn’t. I just was tired of folding my decent to strong hands. I pushed and she tanked. It was only 1,600 more to call. I could tell by her reaction that she did not want to see me push. When I determined it was only 1,600 more for her to call, I knew she had to, but she was clearly not happy with the way things looked. I guess my image was tight enough to make it look like I might have her beat.
Finally she did call and showed pocket queens. I had A-Q. She was in the lead but I had three outs. I had more outs on the flop when the 3-4-5 fell. Any deuce and any ace would win it. The board missed us both and she won the hand.

As you can see, there was no happy ending to my story. No miraculous comeback. What I would like you to take from my story is this. Stick with your reads. If you feel like you are beat, lay your hand down. I should have done so. I would have had a chance to make a comeback. Frustration can lead to doing things you shouldn’t in your game. That and the fact I really don’t like No Limit Holdem probably compounded the issue.

The main positive I can take away from here is that I did a good job reading people. Another positive is that I actually played a No Limit tournament for the first time live in over a year. Tomorrow, I will go back to playing Limit tournaments. Tomorrow is H.O.R.S.E. I look forward to doing well in that one. If you are interested in the tournament or even future tournaments at the Golden Nugget, check them out at www.goldennugget.com. Have fun and good luck at the tables.

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