Session No. 36 Bellagio 15/30 (7/25)

15/30: TP = +$425 TSP = 4 Hrs

I woke up Wednesday a bit disappointed with my trip. I was only up $500 or so, which was considerably less than my last trip. Granted I hadn't played very much so far...but that in itself was disappointing.

So I ventured over to the Bellagio and decided it was time to test myself at 15/30. The trip was almost over, my flight was leaving in roughly seven hours, so why not just play for a few hours, just to test the waters? I put my name on the waiting list and then paid close attention watching the table.

Finally my name was called after 20 minutes or so, and I took my place in the number four seat. I only bought in for one rack ($500), but had plenty of sufficient funds to reload a couple times if need be. I was going to go for it in this session: no playing scared, no holding back. If I dropped $1K, so be it, the learning expeience would be worth it.

I remember posting my BB, having it get raised and then three-bet, folding it, and then thinking, "Oh wow...this is poker." My SB was also three-bet so I folded, and already I was down $25 just in blinds lol. I wasn't really thinking of the blinds as $25 though for the record...I remember thinking "if this was 3/6, I'd only be down $5."

I don't remember in what order the following hands were, as I am just now blogging about this session here on Saturday night (7/28), but here it goes.

The first hand I really remember is A9 from the small-blind. An early position player open-limps, somewhat weird for him, as he has been raising quite a bit, but this was probably the third time I saw him open limp...must be a small PP or a couple face cards? It folds to the cutoff, who only calls. I look down at A9 and complete my option (the BB is $15 and the SB is $10 in this game), and the BB checks.

The flop came: AK7 rainbow

I checked, BB checked, EP bet, LP folded, I raised, BB folded, and EP only called. I was almost positive he didn't have an Ace, and if he did, my kicker was probably better (I'm almost positive he'd raise AK-AT here everytime). The turn was a nine. Bet, call. The river was a four. Bet, call. I show and win the hand. I thought before this hand started that EP was a bit of a weak player, and this confirmed my suspicions.

This next hand is probably the most interesting. UTG+1 open raised, he was very aggressive, good player, but probably too aggro. A couple cold callers, I look down at 88 OTB and call. Both blinds also call, so we're 6-way to a flop of 334 with two spades.

Good flop for me I think. UTG+1 bets out, two folds, I raise, two folds (so now we're HU), and he three-bets. Hmm...big PP or a flush draw? At this point I'm a tad confused and almost give him credit for a big PP. I only call.

The turn is an Ace. Eek...I'm about ready to give up on the hand, but then villain checked to me. I check behind and now have the guy on a PP bigger than mine. The river is a ten. Again the villain checked...so I think for a second, decide that if he does indeed have a PP he's going to look me up, so I check. He says "well I think you have me" and I reply with "I have a pair" and he mucks his cards saying it was good. Cool...I wait for the pot to get pushed and then throw my cards face down to the dealer. UTG+1 says "Meh..I got what I wanted with that flop three-bet. I wanted a free river...I had spades" so I guess he had something like KQ of spades. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done had he led out on the turn, but I might have folded.

That's all for now...I had a good run and built my way up to +600 at one point. Unfortunately I went on a bit of a cold streak and hit +350 on one point, and then decided to bounce once I was up over $400 again. I walked away content and ready to fly back to Sacramento with another good showing in Vegas under my belt.