A summary...

before it all becomes a distant memory...

This was my first visit to the USA... not somewhere I had ever felt the urge to visit, until I caught the 'poker bug'... but I'm sure it won't be my last!

I left blighty with $3000 in cash... and even after a bit of last minute present/souvenir buying, on the last morning, I returned home with a few cents under $2900. I considered this to be a resounding success, since if I had returned with nothing I would not have been suprised!

Having done the 'World Series of Poker' thing... I don't feel the need to make this event an annual pilgrimage - that's not to say that I won't be trying even harder to win a Main Event seat next year, just that I won't be paying my own buy-in for any of the smaller events. I'm afraid 1 chip per buy-in dollar doesn't give enough time to play until you get to at least $3000 buy-ins.

There's also the heat in July and August - did I mention how hot it was??? Damned hot!!!

Future visits will be either March/April or October/November - or both!! (Who said that?)

Definitely the highlight of the visit was the Venetian... Quite stunning in every respect! The indoor Grand Canal Shoppes, on the first floor, complete with canal and gondola rides and St Marks Square - wow!! The Venetian poker room exuded class, lovely decor, quality tables (all with shuffle masters), helpful and friendly staff and dealers - and the cocktail waitresses weren't too shabby either! :-)

Of the other poker rooms visited...

Bellagio - Very nice, but the tables are a bit close together. No $1/$2 NL, $2/$5 NL minimum.
Ceasars Palace - Nice, but quite a large brightly lit room, seemed a bit lacking in atmosphere and character. $1/$2 NL available.
Aladdin - Not really a 'room', just a roped off area of the main casino floor next to very noisy slot machines, it was OK but not a patch on those above. $1/$2 NL available.
Mirage - Again, in a corner of the casino floor... this time with a 3' high wall around it. Tables very tightly packed and very noisy - slots again. $1/$2 NL available.
Gold Coast - Although this one is at the bottom list it could easily have gone above the Aladdin!! If I hadn't of been staying here then I wouldn't have traveled to play here. Another fenced off area of the casino floor and although adjacent to slots, it is in the far back corner and not overly noisy. The tables are showing signs of age and have the strangest material covering the playing surface. However (The good bits)... It is next to a bar and the cocktail waitresses are round every few minutes and drinks appear within a couple of minutes... The card room manager, Magic (that was his name), was a real nice guy... the dealers were efficient and very friendly... and best of all - I consistently won money in the $1/$2 NL game. :-)

Day 8 - The last day...

The Venetian again for the lunchtime tourney.. I'm there a little early so I play about 45 mins of 1/2 NL while I'm waiting.. buy-in for $150... by the time the tourney starts I have $225.

No good in the tourney though... so back the cash game at about 3.30 pm... play til 7.30and cash-out a $5 profit!!

Then a slow stroll down the strip... I stood for almost an hour watching a street artist painting stunning pictures, with spray cans... at $35 each I would have bought two of them if I'd had a way of getting them home safely... on to the Bellagio to watch the fountain show.

Finally, across to Ceasars Palace... just over an hour in their cardroom yielded another $105 profit.

Well that was yesterday... I am currently sat in Bar One, at McCarran Airport, drinking a pint of gnat's p*** - sorry I mean Bud Light... A Guiness, A Guiness, My kingdom for a Guiness!!!

2 hrs til boarding... then back to reality. :-(

Day 7 - A losing day...

I played the noon tourney at the Venetian again yesterday... finished 15th of 43.

I then waited around for about 30 mins for a 1/2 NL game, but the list didn't seem to moving so I gave up...

I crossed the road to the Mirage and it was the same story there, a long list for 1/2 NL and all tables in use... not too bothered as I didn't really like the look of the room, the tables were very close together and very noisy from the adjacent slots... BTW, did I say how nice the Venetian card room is? :-)

So back across the Strip... walk past Casino Royale, O'Sheas and on past Harrah's to the Imperial Palace...

I had to have a look inside IP, as this is where I had originally intended to stay... I think I made the right choice to change hotels! Whilst the Gold Coast is not the swishest of hotels, it is light, clean and welcoming... whereas the IP is certainly no palace, in line with some reviews I had read, it was quite claustrophobic, dark & dingy, tired looky and indeed had some shady looking charachters hanging around.

Out of IP and in one entrance of the Flamingo and out the entrance at the other end back onto the strip... I didn't look for the Flamingo card room (if they have one)...

That was enough walking for one day in the heat, still well over 100 degs, so back to the Gold Coast on the free shuttle from Barbary Coast...

Showered and fed it's along to the GC card room, but alas no 1/2 N/L game going, only 2/4 and 4/8 limit. :-(

I new it was a mistake but I sat down in a 2/4 game of 'No Fold Em Hold Em'... 3 hours later I'm down $140 and give up and go to bed!!

Probably the Venetian for noon again today... and then have a look at the Forum Shops and Ceasar's Palace... downtown and Binions will have to wait 'til WSOP 2007! :-)

Day 6 - Return to the Venetian...

Yes!!! At last, in the money in a tournament. :-)

Placed 5th of 65 in the noon tourney at the Venetian, drawing $654 for a profit of $474... over $9k in the prize pool - top heavy structure or what!!

Oh... and the bracelet winner that knocked me out yesterday was Isaac Galazan. He won a $2500 Short-Handed tourney at the WSOP in 2005.

I didn't make it downtown in the evening as planned, as I did a bit of shopping in the 'Grand Canal Shoppes' at the Venetian and didn't want to carry things around with me all night...

So back to the Gold Coast and the 1/2 NL game... after a bit of a dodgy start - lost the original buy-in of $150 and rebought for $200 more - I managed to walk away with a profit of $180. :-)

Day 5 - The Venetian...

Made it to the Venetian as planned... now this is the kind of place I should be staying, very nice!!

But, unfortunately it just more of the same as far as the tournaments go... totally card dead for 2hrs in the tournament, tried a couple of moves that didn't work and then in desperation I get my last 400 chips in with TJs from 1st position... the blinds were now 25 ante/100/200...

I know I should have got them in before I got so low, but when the pot keeps getting raised and re-raised in front of you and you keep getting hands like 83o I just felt that there might be a better oppurtunity next hand - unfortunately it never came!...

Anyway, only two callers and on flop of T98 I'm feeling hopeful - top pair and an open end straight draw... but alas it was not to be, the BB* had JQ and another tourney exit follows.

*BTW, At least I was knocked out by a WSOP bracelet winner!! The BB in that last hand, who had only joined the tournament just before the break along with 4 or 5 friends, was wearing what I think was a 2004 WSOP bracelet. He did look vaguely familiar but I couldn't put a name to the face... if it comes to me I'll let you know.

So on to the cash game... After about a 20 min wait they opened up a new 1/2 NL table... I bought in for $200, I spent a very enjoyable 3 hrs with a bunch of pleasant players and then cashed out $457.

I'm now actually about $100 up on the poker playing for the trip... maybe I should give up on the tournaments and stick to the cash???

Not sure about today yet... very tempted to go back to the Venetian for the afternoon... nice card room and a decent tournament structure... and then maybe go downtown this evening, there is a $125 tourney at Binions, I'm sure it will be nowhere near as nice as the Venetian but it just seems like the right thing to do. :-)

Day 4 - A slight change of plan...

My original intention for today was to play the lunchtime $330 tourney at the Wynn... However, as I left the Gold Coast buffet after breakfast I noticed that there was a tournament about to start in the Poker Room and for some reason I decided to enter it.

Not a big affair... just a $22 buy-in, 50 players and 5 places paid.

I'm not sure why I entered? I really didn't expect to go far with just 1000 chips, limit for the first hour (then no-limit), 20 min clock and blinds of 25/50, 50/100, 100/200 during the limit period and then 25(ante)/50/100, 50/100/200 and so on.

As it was I managed to scrape through the first hour remaining on appx 1000 chips and then carried on to the final table, always as the short stack... I eventually went out in 7th (ATs vs QQ).

It was quite an enjoyable 2 hrs, but unfortunately it caused to me miss the Wynn tournament.

So I thought I'd venture to The Strip anyway and have a look around...

First off, a taxi to the Bellagio - what a maze these places are!! - I find the poker room just as Ram Vaswani was walking out... the cheapest NL game there is 2/5 (too rich me), so after a brief look around the room I head off to try and find my way to the footbridges that cross both Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo Rd... I eventually find them (look for signs to Via Bellagio Shops), passing Sammy Farha on a $100 min Blackjack table (oops, there I go, name dropping again!)...

After walking from Bellagio to Aladdin in 110 degs I was just about knackered!!! Played 1/2 NL for about 2 hours and lost $90. :-(

Then walked back up the Strip past Paris and Bally's... quick stop in Barbary Coast for a free beer and then back to Gold Coast on the free shuttle - Who's a cheapskate?? :-)

Showered and refreshed, downstairs for dinner... Monterey Room restaurant - Texas T-Bone Special - $9.95... A bowl of salad as a starter (entree it said on the menu??), followed by a 12oz T-Bone steak with onion rings, roast potatoes and baked beans, with an inclusive beer and all the cofee you can drink... value or what???

Finished the evening off with about 3 hrs in the poker room (1/2 NL) for a profit of $423. :-)

Very close to break even on the poker playing at the moment... the odd thing is I consider myself to be a better tournament player than cash game player, but then I haven't played a tournament with more than 1500 chips yet... so not a lot of time to 'play'.

As for tomorrow... I've considered 3 options for noon tourneys... $220 at Ceasars Palace, $540 at Wynn and what is currently the most likely, a $180 at the Venetian.

The Venetian's $180 comprises $125 buy-in (1500 chips), 1 x $50 re-buy/add-on (1500 chips) and $5 dealers bonus (1000 chips)... so 4k chips and a 30 min clock, seems a decent enough structure.

Day 3 - Back to the Rio...

There's no easy way to say this but... this years WSOP 'dream' is over!

And in a rather lacklustre, limp wristed manner... eliminated from the almost 1200 strong Seniors event in the last hand before the 1st break... almost exactly 3 hrs.

The writing was on the wall when both of the players sitting 2 and 3 seats to my right doubled up very early on... I think I only had one hand with 2 cards over a seven in the whole 3 hrs! :-(

When the end came, I think I played the hand OK considering the blinds were 50/100 and I only had 750 chips... I won't bore you with the details, I've heard enough bad beat stories for 3 life times and I've vowed never to tell another one myself!!

Suffice to say I felt I had the best hand on the flop and on the turn, when the money went in... and if I didn't, I had outs on the river.

As it turned out I was behind on the turn... my outs were all live but, alas, they didn't materialise... and that was that!

I don't know who the guy that knocked me out was, but he was very matey with TJ Cloutier* (who came and had a chat while he was waiting for the $50k HORSE tourney to start) and also some old cowboy called Oklahoma Johnny Hale (who everybody else seemed to have heard of!!)

*Shit, that guy is big!!!

So it's currently 0 for 4 in tournaments (inc STTs) in the WSOP hall at the Rio... not very good! As I left the room I was feeling a bit dispondant and not anticipating an early return.

However - this is where the news gets a bit better - after mooching around the Rio for the afternoon and having dinner there, I went back to the Gold Coast poker room and sat down in the 1/2 N/L game, with $150, at 8.20pm... I cashed out exactly $700 at around 11.20pm... No 'Bad Beat' jackpots this time, just my superior skil and judgemnet! :-)

So, currently the plan for tomorrow is to head for pastures new... 'up the strip' to the Wynn and play in their $300 lunch time tourney... I think it's 3000 chips and a 45 minute clock... much more to my liking. :-)

Day 2 - First taste of the WSOP...

Walked across to the Rio - about 5 mins, through the Gold Coast multi storey car park, across Valley View Rd and part of the Rio car park - then about 10 mins walk through the Rio to the WSOP area.

Wow!!!!

A huge room, wall to wall poker tables... I had seen it on TV and had some idea what to expect but it still impressed the hell out of me.

First stop was the Ultimate Bet lounge and a chat with Annie Duke before she gave a very interesting talk, for about an hour, on PL vs NL Hold 'Em.

Then next door to Doyle's Room for a free coffee, where I bumped in to 'The Man' himself and Men Nguyen.

OK... enough name dropping!! You'll have forgive me but this is my first time here. :-)

Then a walk around the tournament room... a $2k PL Hold 'Em tournament had just started, lots more faces off of the TV on show (I won't bore you the full list!), a few Brits that I recognised where Neil Channing and Tony Bloom (on the same table) and Barny Boatman... the final table of the $10k PL Omaha was just starting, with 9 people I've never heard of.

Now the bad news... I thought I'd better play some poker...

- $125 single table satellite (1000 chips / 15 min clock), I sit through 2 1/2 levels without any thing like a decent hand... then QQ in the big blind (100)... folds to the button who raises to 400... SB folds... I push my 750 chips in... he turns over TT... T on the flop, no Q... out in 6th!

- $125 single table satellite... similar story... 50/100 blinds... I raise from mid position with AcKc... BB calls... flop JcTc6h... BB puts me all-in... I call, he shows QhJh... so I have 17 outs (I think), twice, and miss them all, twice! :-(

- $225 single table satellite... I'll keep this short... I get it all-in AQ vs AK, on an AQx flop... river K... say no more!

So that was yesterday's profit gone! Which, by the way, I won with a High Hand Jackpot - not good play!!!

$573 for a straight flush... and I nearly ballsed that up! I made the hand on the turn, my opponent bet $10, I raised to $20 and immediately realised that if he folded I would lose the jackpot... aaaaaaaghh!!! He thought for ages and eventually called... he checked the river and so did I.

Lucky to get away with that... but I had been up for over 24hrs and was a little bit tired!!

Nothing to report from last night... just a quiet dinner and early night, in preparation for todays WSOP Seniors Event... wish me luck!!

Day 1 - Off to a good start...

Well all went smoothly on the way over... but boy, that 10hrs on the plane really drags.

I got to the hotel about 3.30 pm and, due to a miscalculation, I tried to ring my wife... thinking it was 9.30 pm there... wrong!! It was 11.30 and that may explain why I didn't get an answer.

After a bit of rest and a wash & brush-up I decide to just have a look around the Gold Coast... In actual fact I went straight to their poker 'room'.

After a short wait I sat in on a 1/2 N/L game, with a $40 - $200 buy-in... I bought in for $100.

.............

I've just realised I'm actually too tired to write this now... so to cut a long story short... I bought in for a total of $150 and cashed out $600. :-)

There's a bit more to it than that but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Oh, and all this air conditioning seems to be making my nose run!! Is that normal??

As John Denver once said...

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go".

Next update... from Las Vegas! (unless I get bored waiting at Gatwick in the morning)

WSOP 2007 Update: Raked hands cleared, balance $143.40. :-)

WSOP 2007...

Has the WSOP 2007 adventure begun already?...

I had an email earlier, from Party Poker, telling me how much they've missed me and that they have put $40 in my account - such nice people. :-)

I just have to play 400 raked hands in 10 days to keep the $40, any winnings are mine immediately.

Well with 220 raked hands played the balance is now $73.27.

Limo booked...

That's the ride from the airport to the hotel sorted... a 6 seat Lincoln Navigator SUV, all booked. :-)

That's it now, just 7 more days... and counting!

Today's (and/or tomorrow's) target...

With two more live tournaments before I go - today at WPC and tomorrow at WVCC - I have decided to give myself a little more incentive...

If I get in the money in either of them I am going to book a limo for the trip from the airport to the hotel, to include a ride up and down the strip. :-)

Edit, 8.47 pm: Mission accomplished in our (WPC) £50 freezeout... Another bloody 2nd place though!!! Never mind, I'll book the limo tomorrow. :-))

Monopoly money...

Just 10 days to go... the monopoly money, sorry US dollars, arrived in the post today... it's getting real now!!

Another break...

Following on from several (unsuccessful) attempts to win a Main Event seat over the last couple of weeks, the online portion of my bankroll has taken quite a dip.

So I've cashed out of my online accounts and I'm going to take a break from online poker until returning from Vegas.

I'll probably take this oppurtunity to dust off Harrington on Hold 'Em I & II and do a bit of light reading - in between watching the football.

Bankroll boost...

2nd place in each of the last three live tournaments I've played has seen the bankroll increased by a bit over £1200 (appx $2200).

The dream is realised - well almost...

It's all booked... direct flight from Gatwick to Vegas on 10th July... 8 nights at the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino (next door to the Rio)... and the plan is to play in Event #19 - Seniors NLHE $1000 buy-in.

All paid for with the proceeds of that $20 gift from Absolute Poker last August... the current balance, after booking the flight & hotel, is around $2900.

In the beginning...

Copied from my old blog, originally posted Oct '05...

Summer 2005 - I had been playing poker (Hold 'Em) online for around 18 months... after a bit of dodgy start, as is to be expected from a total beginner, I had got to the stage where I was steadily increasing my bankroll.

I then hit a losing streak like I had never seen... it seemed that I just couldn't win a hand! After 3 or 4 weeks - and losing over half of my bankroll - I decided to have a complete break from online poker while I was still ahead... I withdrew every penny from each poker room that still had some in.

I was still playing in our fortnightly live tournament, but even that had gone the same way... after winning 5 of the first 10 tourneys (and placing in 3 of the other 5)... in the second 10 tourneys I have only made the money (2nd) once!

Then on the 21st Aug I received an e-mail from Absolute Poker... I hadn't played on there for probably 6 months... while I had been playing on AP I had built up around 10,000 Absolute Reward Points (ARPs), which (at that time) you could only use to enter freeroll tournaments at some un-Godly hour in the middle of the night...

AP were offering to exchange 5000 of my ARPs for $20, obviously to entice me back... well, I thought, why not...

Once the $20 was in my Absolute Poker account, I started out playing $5 + 50c STTs. By the end of the first evening I had won 4 straight tourneys and the bankroll was at $88.

I continued playing $5 STTs until the bankroll was upto $200 and then moved up a level to the $10 + $1 STTs... To cut a long story short I continued to win more than I lost and finished September with a little over $1000.

How cool would it be if I could roll that $20 up into enough to cover a trip to Vegas and entry into a WSOP tournament... just a $1000 buy-in event would do - I'm not greedy!

And so the dream began...