Tao of Poker

Viva Las Vegas... Day 3 Update

I think you can see the shoe prints on my left buttock... because I got my ass kicked yesterday at the tables. Geez, thank goodness for the Phish shows. In the middle of a horrible run of cards... my bankroll disappearing before my eyes... I desperately needed a break. Phish pulled me away from the tables and outside! A place I had not been since my arrival. Man, I forgot how beautiful this place is during the day. I got some sun and hung out outside the venue for a while and forgot about my problems at the tables. It was a well needed break.

I made the final 3 tables at the Luxor tourney and bounced 26th. I had a great chip lead early after I got AKs on the first hand. I was hot early winning 3 of the first five pots. My brother was at the table next to me and he said he looked over and saw I had all the chips. Alas, by the third level I lost some on a bad beat AQ losing to 34s. Don't ask. I doubled up against the new chip leader when my AJ was better than his J-10. Yep, I was playing tight, but aggressive, and I felt good, like I could win the whole thing.

Then I ran into a kid who had no idea what he was doing. He was calling everything to the river and chasing inside straights. I was heads up with him (I had KQs) and I knew he had nothing. A J and K hit the board and he called my raise. He called my rasie on the turn and when a 3 hit on the turn he bet and I raised. he called and flipped over two pair J and 3s. Ouch. He caught it on the river and instead of stacking up chips I looked down and had $100 left. I got bounced the next hand and could not believe that nimrod's play... calling a preflop raise with J3 (he was the little blind). At least I outlasted my brother. I was irked because I had been getting good cards.

I went to the Excalibur and played with my brother and two other Phisheads. One guy looked like Jesus. I made a bad play when I thought I caught an Asian woman trying to steal a pot. She had been drinking heavily, asking for two drinks at once. She would sneak off to the bathroom every twenty minutes to snort some cocaine. That's one tell that was freakin' obvious. She was scratching her nose with the same frequency Billy Bob Thorton would attack and scratch his crotch after a late night interlude with Angelina Jolie. Anyway, I made a bad call and saw her bets to the river only to find out I misread her hand... AQs. Ouch. I was outkicked A-2. Oh well. It was time to leave after a bad run.

More to come... I will be posting a review of last night's Phish show to the Tao of Pauly. Check it out.