Shortstacking Vegas Pt. II

It was 6:00 A.M. and Casey, the birthday boy, was dead tired. After his first full night of legal drinking in Vegas, he looked like he was about to pass out. Mitch and I went to put our stuff in the room and tried to rally the falling troops, as we had just arrived two hours earlier and wanted to get our money in play.

It looked like we were gonna be on our own, but we ended up getting Decker and Jason to come downstairs with us. Casey said he was gonna take a shower and meet us down on the floor. Yeah, whatever.

Although both 21 (recently), neither Decker nor J had yet to play in Vegas. Luckily we were in $5, and, being one of the more upkept downtown casinos, the Nugget had its fair share of cheap tables open. Among the three other L.V. newbies on this trip, Mitch and I were seen as the consummate Vegas "professionals", although we haven't really experienced anything above a lowroller time in Vegas to date. But as such, we were determined to at least teach the guys how to play blackjack as close to basic strategy as possible.

Coming into this weekend, Mitch brought only brought $100 (I picked him up last second, aware that he had no money) and I only had $300. Every time previous to this trip, the main focus was poker. I brought enough to grind and when it went bad I was able to grab a stake.

This time I was sick of poker. I hadn't been winning for months, and when I left Santa Barbara I knew that the small amount I brought was going straight to the house games. I wanted to have fun and forget about life for the weekend. I had yet to play any house games in Vegas besides blackjack, and was for sure gonna splash around as much as my little bankroll would allow for the weekend.

We headed to the bar for some drinks and quickly found one of many open $5 blackjack tables. Operating on a nonexistent bankroll put us in a must-win situation right off the bat, and Casey sweated us as he tried to learn the ropes. We played through one break-even shoe before our happy-go-lucky dealer got rudely exited by some asshole dealer who ended up being the least fun person I have ever met at a casino, anywhere.

He busted us quickly, made fun of us when we lost a hand, and basically made short work of our small cash. Decker had sat out, but Jason bought in and played with us. Of course, as we tried to teach him the game we made him do basic moves (doubling 11 against a 5, splitting 7's against a 6), and as it goes when you're trying to teach someone a gambling game, he lost most of his hands and convinced himself that he wasn't going to listen to us anymore.

Mitch was already done for the weekend, but we weren't concerned. Mitch wouldn't be able to go for more than five hours in Vegas without cash, he'd find a way to get some. The L.V.A. (Las Vegas Amateurs) ended up going upstairs to pass out while Mitch and I wondered around, soaking in the lights from the previous night that we missed.

I ended up at a roulette wheel with $20 that I had promised to play for someone back home. I played minimum bet on red five times straight and hit it every single time. I switched to playing a full min-bet on a single spot, hoping for the big hit and cashout. I played 23 every time while Mitch was talking in my ear.

"Play 10."

"No."

13

"Play 10."

"No."

25

"Play 10."

"...No."

7

"Play 10."

"No."

10

"...See I told you idiot."

I ran through the rest of the redbirds I ran up at the table and as we were walking away Decker appeared out of nowhere, apparently too enthralled to sleep. He wanted to take a shot at blackjack and I was willing to go dump another hundo to get this kid in the game.

It turned out that he, being recently unemployed, was actually playing on free money by a member of the birthday party just so he could go on the trip. It would make for fun times later in the trip.

I ended up busting my second buyin and he picked up after playing the dealer heads up for a bit. We headed back to the room, and I realized that it was still only 7:30 A.M. We had only been in Vegas for four hours, and despite having not slept for 24 hours at that point, I was sure as hell not wanting to sleep. Adding on to the fact that five of us were sharing a free two-bed standard room, I made up my mind that I was headin down to the Strip.

John was workin his first down of the morning at 10A.M. at Planet Hollywood, so I figured I'd jump in a $1-2NL game and wait it out. I parked at Caesar's and headed inside to see if there was any action going on, since there's usually quite a lot of $1-2 goin on. The room was dead aside from a $2-5NL and a $10-20NL, both of which I obviously couldn't jump in.

I took a look across across the street, and decided to just walk across to PH. I thought it would be an alright stroll at 7:30 A.M., but it was Hades outside and my heel was killing me from a drunken night the weekend before. The sidewalk was already packed with people who think waking up before 5:00 P.M. in Vegas is a good idea, and after weaving my way through the masses I finally made it.

There was only one game going, and coincidentally it was a $1-2NL game. I sat it and played dead for a couple hours till John showed up. As it turned out, PH's morning $60 tournament was starting the same time, and John was dealing it. I bought in and ended up playing for a couple hours before bubbling my KK to an A4.

I booked it back to the Nugget, eager to see what everyone else was doing. They were supposed to have gotten up to go to a planned breakfast at 10, but I knew that wasn't gonna happen. I walked in and found the other guys passed out on the beds and floor exactly where they were when I left. Everyone but Broke Mitch woke up and cleaned up and we were off to the buffet.

We took the escalator upstairs and quickly found that our "waitress" was planning to kill someone before the day's end. We had some fun, ate some cheap food, and started drinking. The company I was in the presence of this trip out had me crackin up the whole time. I've known these guys for a long time now and, due to my living situation, I don't get to hang out with them much anymore. Needless to say, the time spent gambling and drinking with these guys was awesomely hilarious.

After the buffet Decker and I headed to the bar for video poker and free booze. We made quick friends with the bartender. I threw a $20 in and played quarters while Decker did the same with his free money. As I was recounting the story of my royal flush on the previous trip at Caesar's sportsbook bar, I found myself watching as Decker pulled quad Aces for $500.

All of a sudden he'd turned his free money into even more free money, and it was about to turn the whole night around. He quickly threw me money to keep pluggin away, as well as givin the bartender $20. The $4 Red Bulls turned into free Red Bull and vodkas, and our drinks were instantly ten times stronger than they were for the past half an hour.

We called down the other three amigos and Decker tossed them all cash to play as well. Our two quiet seats turned into a five-machine row of drinking and hollerin and hootin. We all played for a bit before cashin out to go meet up with another group at the Mirage. It was about to be the funnest night I'd had in Vegas yet.

Interlude

I have been neglecting this blog as of late, and even after repeated promises and attempts to hammer away at this thing, I still haven't caught up. I've been getting more hits by the day from referrals and links. Hell, I even made it on to Dr. Pauly's link list (I still don't know how this got pulled off), yet I can't even come close to just keeping this thing alive for more than a week at a time.

Part of the reason that it hasn't been awoken recently is that right when I was gearing up to start writing again I took a vacation to New York. After that I was lazy for a week and then I was off to Vegas, where I spent another three days wide awake and rushing on the sounds of slots and chips and the buzz of alcohol, gambling, and all-you-can-eat tit-glistening.

Since I've been back to reality I've been mindlessly plugging away at the office, dreaming of the leisure time I had in N.Y. and the dazed days I spent in Sin City. Writing hasn't really been on my mind...but then again nothing really has.

I'm coming out of my mindfuck right now, though, and thanks to the number of experiences I've had over the past few weeks I have a lot of material worth writing about. I'll try to keep it entertaining, just stick around and leave a comment from time to time to let me know what you guys think.

GG CNN

"Remember folks, the market moves both ways." -CNN financial consultant, referring to the stock market on 07/30/07.

Thanks, Tim.


And I will update before the day is done. I've been getting a lot of hits and referrals, so I feel bad that I haven't been writing. Shortstacking Vegas Pt.II will be up by tonight. No more fuckin around.

Shortstacking Vegas Pt. I

This weekend was the funnest time I've had in Vegas since I've been legal to go, and coincidentally it was with the smallest amount of cash I've yet to go with. I wasn't even planning on going on this trip because, despite not paying for food or alcohol on the entire trip to New York, I still managed to spend over $1,000 on the entire 10 days.

Originally when the idea of this Vegas trip had been introduced six months ago, Casey had called and told me that he was having his birthday in Vegas and that there were going to be a bunch of people and that I needed to go to celebrate his 21st. I was obviously instantly in for another trip to the city that never sleeps, and that was that. Fast forward to recent days, where that same city has taken me for thousands while I sit here getting fat and grinding out a meager living from behind a desk, and all of a sudden spending more money in Vegas seems like a nightmare.

Of course that thought never lingers long in my mind no matter what amount of money I have, so on Friday night I took off to Vegas with $400 in my pocket. Previously I've lost too much and spent too much in a day to think anything other than that going to Vegas for a weekend with $400 was stupid.

On my previous visits, I had it in my mind that I would just player poker and nothing else. Just win at poker, build a roll, live like a legend, and come home with grandiose stories of $1,000 dinners and amazing suites, sharing the extremities given only to the highrollers and superstars.

Yeah right.

For the past trips this year I've lost and won and poker, I've defected to the blackjack table after every session, and I've gotten smoked for every dime I've had every time I've gone. Grinding the tables and living the high life is what I've come to love and respect, yet I don't know why since I haven't been able to experience anything close to it yet. This weekend was about more than that, though.

After returning from New York, I was almost positive that I wouldn't make it out for this vacation a week later. I had spent too much too recently and was extremely sour at gambling for the dirty ride it's given me since my own birthday in December. Adding in the fact that I'm on such a strict financial plan right now, it was looking like a definite no-go.

But on Friday morning I found out that pretty much everyone bailed at the last second. Casey's been my best friend since I was three years old, and I knew I couldn't let him go with no friends by his side. I rallied Mitch (the ultimate Vegas friend), and although he couldn't get any cash together at the last second, we took off to Vegas Friday night.

Our good friend Decker was there when we showed up, and another friend had flown in last second as well. With five guys and a horribly small amount of gambling money, it was gonna be difficult to survive the weekend, but we were determined to make it happen.

We arrived at about 2PM and immediately hit up Buffalo Wild Wings. For some reason, despite all the amazing places to eat in Vegas, I've made it a personal mission to eat at BWW every time I'm there. I've given up on the Rainforest Cafe thing, so I guess this will forever take it's place. I love nothing more than a great meal, whether I'm paying $100 or cooking it myself, but for no reason at all I just have to eat crappy and/or junky food on a semi-regular basis. If anyone knows why I do this, let me know cuz I'd like to stop being retarded.

Anyways...after BWW we got back to the hotel room at the Nugget and decided that if we had any chance at staying alive for the rest of the weekend, we'd need to grind our pennies into dollars at the $5 tables downtown. What was about to take place in the next two days was the funnest time I've had yet in Vegas. Stay tuned tomorrow for a more exciting Pt. II.

Until next time.

Please to Be a Placeholder

Photo courtesy of Declan McCullagh Photography

Writing Vegas TR, it will be up later today so make sure to check back. I'm back baby!

The Good, The Bad, and the Lazy Blogger

The bad news is I haven't updated my blog all week, even though I promised I would and I have about a year's worth of writing material locked away in this noggin of mine.

The good news is I'm headin out to Vegas for a SMMMALLLL trip for a friend's birthday.

The bad news is I'll be missing Paul's game and a chance to overtake Darsky on the points leaderboard.

The good news is I might turn $100 into $100million this weekend (or at least $1,000...I've done it before).

The bad news is I don't feel like driving.

Hopefully when I get home I'll be able to update this thing. There should be some decent reading coming from my way when I get back on my writing feet.

Until next time.

PS - The lazy blogger is me.

Back to the Daily Grind

After a 10-day vacation from the office and a trip to New York, I'm back to the daily grind. Unfortunately this grind is of the office variety, not the poker table. Good news was I had money waiting for me when I came back, which is needed and welcomed, and I have much to tell coming up in this little blog of mine.

For right now I'm getting back into the daily doldrums of living the 9-5 life, but that's not always a bad thing. The more and more I work, the more and more I appreciate it. That'll change in the future I'm sure of it, but for right now I'll take comfort in security.

I won't get a chance to write today, but stay tuned tomorrow and for a while to come. I have stories and pictures and fun times ahead, so make sure to keep an eye on Sitting the Apple. There may even be some poker involved.......weird, I know.......

Until tomorrow.

A Sunday Post?

I was going to try to write last Sunday but this is as far as I got:
"Since I woke up early today (noon) and since I haven't posted since Monday, I figured today would be a good day to post. We'll see how well my Sunday writing fingers work."


Being as how I neglect this blog enough, it's time I put forth some effort and update! I neglected to follow through last Sunday, so today will be a day of redemption.

Rejecting my desire to hit up the Warped Tour while it was in town yesterday, I found myself driving out to Simi to hit up Paullywood Park, our regular tournament held every three weeks. Our usual night at Paullywood Park consists of two $30 tournaments, each with anywhere from 22-28 players. Every third meetup we switch to one $20 rebuy+addon tournament, which is usually filled with the same amount of players but which turns out almost three times the prize pool.

This year we started with a point leaderboard for our gang, with points being awarded for a designated amount of top finishers determined by the number of entrants per tourney. Our 18 tournament series culminates with a $50 buy-in finale' extravaganza, where every point will be worth an extra amount of chips added to the person's respective starting stack. The final tournament will also be juiced by an additional fund that we pay towards for every tournament.

Overall it's a fun atmosphere with friends and family that we all know, and who all try to play the game. They're bad, but they try (for the most part). The only thing that I don't enjoy all the way about Paullywood Park is that I have to deal full time while I'm playing. I love dealing as much as I do playing, but doing both is a great pain in the ass and not something that I look forward to. With that being said, it's still a fun game.

Going into last night Darsky was atop the leaderboard and ahead of me (tied for second place) by six points. He wasn't going to be attending this weekend, which meant it was my chance to catch up to him. However, this weekend was the $20R+A, which meant there was only one tournament and only five points available to capture, which was first place. If I could get that first place prize, I'd get one of the more juiced up prize pools and I could close to within one point of Darsky.

I was fully expecting the regular 22-28 player turnout for this tournament, but when I showed up I got news that there would only be about 16 players. I wasn't too sure of why there was such a small attendance this time around, but whatever the case was it only meant one thing to me: fewer people to get in my way to chase Darsky's points!

I started off playing my usual aggressive game, and was quickly ahead of the field. I picked up all the dead pots from the weak players, and by the end of the rebuy period I was chipleader having only used my original buyin. I opted to buy the add-on to keep my advantage as big as possible, considering that I had to deal full time while playing, which tends to keep me off my %100 game.

I ended up playing chip leader for most of the tournament, although the structure starts to get pretty fast after the 300-600 level since Paul wrote his structure to skip the 400-800 and jump straight to 500-1000, 1000-2000, 1500-3000, etc. Some casino tournies skip these levels, but with only a 2000 starting stack it can start to hurt your stack in a hurry.

I was able to keep afloat as a bare chipleader with around 16,000, while my friend Mitch was second in chips with 13,000 when this hand came up.

Blinds: 300-600
Mitch has 13,000 in chips
Hero has 16,000 in chips
Hero is on the Button

Hero is dealt [6s 7s]
This is one of my favorite hands to play, and I fully intend to play it from the Button as the chipleader if there's no crazy action before it gets to me.
Mitch calls 600
MP2 calls 600
MP3 calls 600
Hero calls 600
I opted to limp the Button here, as one of the limpers and both blinds had around 5,000 in chips. I was completely okay with seeing a flop against five players with this kind of hand, but I really didn't want to have to pump another 4,400+ into this pot heads up preflop because of the escalating blind levels.
SB folds
BB checks

FLOP: [2d 6h 7h]
BB checks
Mitch checks
MP2 checks
MP3 checks
Hero bets 2,200
BB folds
Mitch raises 2,800 to 5,000
MP2 folds
MP3 folds
Sometimes this smells like a set, but Mitch is pretty new to the game and tends to underplay his hands preflop and overplay his hand postflop. I really don't think he's on a flush or straight draw because knowing Mitch he'd usually just call. If I push here he'll probably stack off with an overpair.
Hero raises 10,400 to 16,000 and is all-in
Mitch calls 7,400 and is all-in
3000 is returned to Hero

Mitch shows [Qc Qd]
Hero shows [6s 7s]

TURN: [2d 6h 7h][9s]

RIVER: [2d 6h 7h][9s][Ad]

Mitch has a pair of Queens
Hero has two pair, sixes and sevens and wins the pot (28,100)



That put me out to the largest chiplead of the tournament as I watched the shortstacks battle it out. I ended up taking out two more and I ended up HU after the now second place in chips took out two more. We started heads up with me having about a 2:1 chiplead. We tangled in a few pots until I doubled him up with TP+OESD against his flopped straight.

Five minutes later I doubled him up again on an A-10-3 flop with me holding 10-3 against his A-10. I ended up getting the chiplead back three times before he ended up hitting quads against my straight. As I tried to battle back against his increasing chiplead I ended up getting all the money in with an A-high FD+OESD against his flopped straight once again. I blank blanked and took a disappointing second.

I was really semi-tilted from taking second place after having such a big chiplead and dominating pretty much the whole tournament. I picked at his stack and won quite a few pots thanks to aggression. Unfortunately I kept getting good HU hands against his monsters, and just couldn't come back after losing the chiplead twice.

I took $225 for second, but more importantly I closed the gap on Darsky's point lead. After taking second, I have now cashed/pointed five times in five tourney weekends, so I guess I can always count on being able to at least beat the game at Paullywood Park. As for beating the games that count, well, that'll be something I have to start working on again.

Until next time.