$50/$100 NL at the Bellagio

I didn't feel like hanging around the poker room the day that I busted out from the WPT Championship. I ended up going back to my room and ordering room service. I logged onto my laptop and saw that there was a HORSE tournament starting in 5 minutes. I wasn't really in the mood to play poker but I needed to pass some time so I decided to play it. HORSE is probably my 2nd favourite tournament game (tied with PL Omaha) after NL. I ended up finishing the tournament in 2nd place and it really helped me regain my confidence.

I woke up the next day with a clear mind, and headed down to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace to do some shopping with my friend Aboudy, who also came down from Ottawa. We bought some clothes and some souvenirs and then headed back to the Bellagio to play some poker. All of the tables were full, so I put my name on the list for $25/$50 NL and $50/$100 NL. I walked around the room for a bit and then watched the Big Game, where the likes of Phil Ivey, John D'Agostino, Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Gus Hansen, and a few others were playing a $3000/$6000 mixed game. After 15 minutes or so, my name was called for $50/$100 NL and I took my seat. I looked around the table for any familiar faces. Haralabos Voulgaris, Phil Laak, Kenny Tran, John Duthie, and Viffer from Pokerstars were the ones I recognized.

I bought in for $25,000 and I looked to set up my image very quickly. I was playing very aggressive and showing a few bluffs here and there. Then the first big hand came up. I had built my stack up to $30,000 and Haralabos limped for $100 in the cut-off. Viffer also limped on the button, and I looked down at KQ of spades in the small blind. I made it $500 to go, the big blind folded, and Haralabos re-raised to $2500. The button folded, and I thought for a while and called the $2000 raise. The flop came TT9 with two spades, giving me a flush draw, a gut-shot straight draw, and two over-cards. I checked, and Haralabos bet $5000. He had around $18,000 total, and I put him all-in. He quickly called with AA, and I missed my 12 outs.

Even though I lost the hand, my image was now set. I was down to $10,000, so I called the chip runner over and asked him to bring me another $25,000 in chips. I proceeded to win a bunch of small pots, and then I got paid off with AA on a KJ532 board, which brought me up to $50,000 and I was back to even. Then came the next big hand.

Mid-position raises to $400, I call on the button with 33, and John Duthie calls from the small blind, big blind folds. Flop comes JT3 with 2 clubs. They both check, and I bet $1000 into the $1300 pot. John raises it to $2500, the initial raiser folds, and I go into the tank. John also has over $50,000 in chips. I have position on John, and if he has a hand like KQ of clubs, he is going to play it very hard and I don't really want to get into a coin flip here, I would rather wait until the turn and see what he does. If a club comes and he keeps firing hard on the turn and river, then I can get away from the hand with minimal losses. I flat call the $1500 raise. The turn was an off-suit 4. To my surprise, John checked. I quickly took a $5000 chip and threw it into the middle. After some thinking, he calls the $5000, which led me to believe he had a lone Jack in his hand, and is probably thinking that I am on a draw. The river is an off-suit 5. John checks again, and there is $16,300 in the pot. I am now pretty certain he has a Jack, and I try to decide how much to bet to make it look like a bluff. I bet $15,500 and after about 2 minutes of thought, John makes the call. I show my set of 3's and he mucks his hand as I take in the $47,000 pot.

I continued to slowly build up my stack when another interesting hand occurred. Button raises to $400, small blind calls, and I call from the big blind with 45 suited. The flop comes T43 with two hearts, and the small blinds bets out $700, I call, and the button calls. The turn is an off-suit 5, giving me two pair. The small blind checks, and I bet $2000, the button calls, and the small blind folds. The river is another Ten, counterfeiting my two pair. I check, and the button bets $2500 into the $7200 pot. This was a really odd bet, and my thinking is that if he made trip Tens then he would have bet at least $5000. I eventually call, and he shows A6 of hearts and I win the pot. It was a really bad bet by my opponent, if he had bet more I almost definitely would have folded.

My stack was now over $100,000 and my momentum was really giving me a big advantage. I look down at AK of spades in the cut-off, and I raise it up to $500. John Duthie re-raises to $2200 on the button, with around $30,000 behind. I don't want to play a huge pot with AK pre-flop even though I feel I have the best hand, so I just flat call. The flop comes J74, all spades, giving me the nuts! I check, and John checks behind. Then turn is an off-suit 8. I wonder if I should bet, but I realize that the only way I can get all of John's money is if I put in a nice check-raise. I check, and John bets $2500. I raise to $7000, and John quickly calls. The river is an off-suit 3, and I immediately bet $90,000 in a stack of white $5000 chips. John thinks for about a minute, and he forms his hands into a triangle and starts to push his huge stack of chips into the middle of the pot. I am celebrating and doing back-flips in my mind but I try my hardest to hold it in until the chips actually cross the line! Once they do, I quickly show him my nut flush and he tosses his cards into the muck and gets up and leaves. John is a really nice guy and a good player, and I almost felt bad but then I remembered that John owns the European Poker Tour, so I'm sure that was only pocket change to him. ;)

The game broke soon after that and I ended up cashing out around $130,000. I was a little sad that I was leaving Vegas the next day, but I will be back for a month in June and July during the WSOP. I am trying to decide what my best strategy will be, I was initially planning to play 10-15 of the smaller events and the main event, but now I am thinking it might be better focus my energy on only 4 or 5 of the biggest events, instead of getting burnt out by playing as many as I can.