A good night's work

At the last minute, I decided to play in the 7:00 p.m. tournament at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica last night. Thirty-seven runners paid the $110 to enter. When there were three of us left, a chop was suggested. I had been the big stack for most of the final table, but at this point I was actually in third place, so we all agreed to take $833, not a bad night's work.

When there were six players left (five to get paid), the blinds got all in against each other. When one showed ♥A ♣6 and the other ♦A ♠6, hilarity ensued (to use one of crAAKKer/Grange's favorite expressions). One of the players wasn't laughing when the board was dealt and showed four hearts, giving the other an ace-high flush and eliminating him. Poker is mean sometimes.

Last Saturday, there was a $500 buy-in tournament that paid $13,000 for first and $7,400 for second. The guy who was second played last night and every time a new dealer came to the table, I had to listen to him tell how he came in second along with all the gory details -- enough already. (You are allowed to brag on your blog, just not so much in person, lol.)

Poker pearl #58

Poker Pro magazine has a section called Pro's Corner. A different expert answers questions each month. In the June issue (see scan of cover above), Mike McDonald fielded a question by a reader who says he saved his whole life to play in the WSOP Main Event. On the first hand another player pushes all-in and he has pocket aces. He asks what should he do.

"This probably isn't what you want to hear, but I would recommend you save your money for something else if this is even a question. Play a few $1K events. Anyone who would consider folding A-A has zero chance of making it through giant fields.

"Good players make money by pushing small edges rather than passing them up."

They should get me to answer these questions. This one, I could handle.

What the heck is a hoodoo?

Spires, arches and hoodoos -- oh my! We aren't in Kansas anymore. Bryce Canyon National Park has all of these and more at an elevation reaching higher than 9000 feet above sea level.

The climate is ideal for forming hoodoos -- tall, skinny rock formations that are also called tent rocks or earth pyramids. There are freezing temperatures more than 200 days a year. The relentless cycle of freezing and thawing widens cracks in the cliffs. Eventually pinnacles are formed and subject to even more weathering.

Hoodoo: A pinnacle or odd-shaped rock left standing by the forces of erosion. From voodoo: something which causes bad luck.

Bryce Canyon has shuttle buses that you can take to various lookouts. You can hike to the next jumping off point or wait for the next shuttle bus. They run every 12 minutes during the day.

The Park also offers escorted bus tours (free with admission) that are 3.5 hours long that run once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I took the morning trip from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and highly recommend it. You have to sign up ahead of time. On the bus trip, we saw deer, antelope and prairie dogs. The guide said they often see bears, too.

The park also has many trails to hike that are spectacular. I took the combination Navaho Loop and Queens Garden Loop. This was about a four mile hike and I figured I'd knock it out in maybe an hour and one-half. Um, not so fast. The trails go down (about 800 feet) then back up and are at altitude - think thin air. It was a great hike, but not as easy as I expected. See here and here for descriptions.

The shuttle bus picked up the hard-core hikers. We met a group that spent three days hiking (about 20 miles, I think). You could also take horse or mule trips down into the canyon.

I spent most of two days at the park and wish I'd planned for a third. There was lots to do and majestic scenery.


Above: Hikers take a close-up look at some hoodoos.


Above: At the end of the Navaho Loop Trail, the path has switch-backs. If you click to enlarge, you can see hikers. This will give you perspective as to how large the rocks are.


Above: Hikers go through a tunnel on the Navajo Loop Trail.


Above was taken at Red Canyon, just outside Bryce Canyon National Park.

Images by MJOJ. Nos, 2 and 3 with my P&S.

WSOP happenings - part 3

Above: The Rio at night.

Nine states, 11 days, 3800 miles and one road trip. I had fun, but it's nice to be home.

I've been to Las Vegas five times and flew the other four. This time, I decided to drive. I saw rice farms in Arkansas. I saw wind farms in Oklahoma. Our country is diverse and huge.

Besides playing poker, I took a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. There are photos, natch, and I'll post when I've had a chance to catch my breath and look them over.

Lessons learned
One more deal from the first day of WSOP Event No. 30. It folded to me in the cutoff seat and I raised to 600. An older lady on the button, an ABC player, called. The flop was low cards and I made a continuation bet of 700 and she moved all in. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but it would cost me another ~700 to call a ~3200 pot.

This is an automatic call from a pot-odds perspective. Even though you know you're behind, you might get lucky. The problem was I had raised with crap (I don't even remember what my two cards were). My image was good and I didn't want to show my hand and ruin future chances to steal. Do you see the dilemma?

To stall for time to think, I asked the dealer to count her stack.

"Oh, it's not that much more," she blurted out.

That settled it. "I believe you," I said and folded.

Lesson for lady: Be careful how you act, how you handle your chips and, particularly, what you say. Better yet, don't say anything.

Lesson for me: It's a cardinal rule of tournament poker to pay attention to the stack size of your opponent. Also, I didn't have to make a CB. I could check and she would tell me if she had anything or not. I could always take the pot away on a later street.


Above: Workers giving massages were everywhere. Playing poker makes one tense -- getting a massage is relaxing.


Above: An old guy stacks his chips in the WSOP Event No. 30.

The last image courtesy of Wolynski, the premier photographer of all things Las Vegas. The others were taken by me with my Canon.

WSOP happenings - part 2

Above: The back of the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign looks like this.

The poker on Friday was poor. Players limped, players called when they knew they shouldn't and players were too ABC (not mixing up their play).

Saturday was the exact opposite. Anyone who limped was punished and players were aggressive and tricky. A big-stack player raised from under the gun. A short stack moved all in and he had to call because it didn't cost him much more (I don't remember the exact figures now). The raiser turned over ♦7 ♦5. The same thing happened to the other big stack. He raised and then called because of pot odds and showed: ♣K ♣3. That's how these guys built up their stacks -- they weren't afraid to put their chips in the middle.

The only really terrible play I saw was this: An old man who obviously had no clue, but did have a stack of ~32,000 made a min-raise to 6000. It folded to me in the big blind and I moved all in for ~20,000. The old man had ♣A ♠Q and called.

What hand can he beat? If I had A-A, K-K or Q-Q he's crushed. The most likely hand in my range is A-K which also crushes him. The only hands I could hold that he could play against are J-J or possible 10-10 and even then he's an underdog.

He got lucky, I had ♠J ♣J. He got unlucky because my hand held up.

This guy thinks on Level I: I don't know what you have, but I have a good hand so I don't care. He had plenty of chips if he had folded, but that concept whizzed right over his head.

One more common mistake I saw (more on Friday than on Saturday) is the 100% continuation bet. That doesn't work against seniors -- if they have something they'll call and if thy don't, they fold.

When I went to a table, who made CBs and who didn't was one of the things I looked for. I was able to exploit this three times. I would check to the raiser, then check-raise his CB (twice on air, once I actually had something). Folks, mix up your play -- I'm just sayin'.

Best story: A guy came running over to our table on Saturday to tell his friend about a pot he just saw. Two players were all in pre-flop for a pot of T90,000 and it was A-A versus K-K, obviously. A king came on the flop! And they say online poker is rigged.


Above: The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is so popular, it has its own parking lot so tourists (and poker players!) can stop and take photos.

Images by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

WSOP happenings - part 1

Above: MOJO prepares to move chips into the pot on Saturday of WSOP Event No. 30. You can see all the results here.

Tournament poker is a strange combination of taking chances to build your chip stack and staying out of trouble. Here are three deals I played in the WSOP.

Extract the max
I don't remember the level, but I had T2700 chips (starting stacks were 3000) and a player UTG limped in for 200. It folded to me and I raised to 750. The blinds folded and the limper called. So far so good: I had driven out the blinds and was playing a bloated pot in position.

The flop was A-10-4 and the limper checked and I checked. The turn was the ♣Q making the board A-Q-10-4, rainbow. The limper now bet 1000 and I moved in. The pot was 4650 plus whatever the antes were (I don't remember now) and it would cost the limper 950 more to call.

"I know you have the ace," he said, but called anyway. He showed ♥K ♦Q. I turned over ♣A ♣J. There are two queens and three jacks to save him, but the river was a blank, and the dealer pushed to pot to me. Notice that a king would give him two pair, but give me a Broadway straight.

Normally, it's better to just bet when you have something (on the flop). When you get cute, bad things happen. But this was at a point where I needed those chips.

What mistakes did the limper make? He could have raised pre-flop or folded to my raise, so that's a minor mistake. The real mistake he made was betting on the turn. About the only hand that will call him has him beat, so there's no point betting.

Know your customers
The third table I was moved to on Friday had a man with a huge chip stack. I played for several hours and noticed that he would take a swing at orphan pots. I also noticed that he would always call from the button if the pot was unraised.

I limped from middle position with ♠K ♠J when he was on the button and the blinds were 200/400 with an ante. My stack was around 17,000 and the villain had about 27,000. Sure enough he called, the small blind completed and the big blind checked.

The flop was K-X-X. The blinds checked as did I and the villain fired out a 2000 bet. The blinds folded and I pretended to think about it before calling. The dealer dealt a low card on fourth street, and I checked again. The villain bet 5000 this time. Again I thought about it and called. On the river, I checked again and the villain thought for a long time before checking. I had to show first and he folded.

If I had bet on the flop, he would have folded. If I had check-raised the flop he would have folded. If I had done anything but what I did, I wouldn't have gotten as much out of him. Check-call, check-call -- normally that's horrible poker, but was the right move this time.

Lesson for the villain: It's okay to be aggressive, but you have to mix up your play against observant opponents.

MOJO makes a rookie move
On Saturday, I made my only truly bad play that I'm aware of. When the blinds were 1000/2000/300, the guy to my right raised to 6000 and I held ♠9 ♣9. My stack was around 50,000 and his was more than 120,000.

What would you do?

I can see a case for raising to about 17,000 and hoping for the best. I can also see a case for folding and living to fight another day. I called!

The flop was K-Q-5 and the villain bet 12,000 and I had to fold. I had just given away more than 10% of my stack for no reason. Calling? I know better than that.

Tomorrow, I'll post some more thoughts and reflections of my experiences from last weekend.

Image courtesy of Wolynski.

Some things in Vegas are free

The downtown casinos struggle to complete with the newer and fancier ones on the strip. The Fremont Street Experience is their way to draw tourists and players to their area of the world and it works.


The Fremont Street Experience always has one band. This one looked better than they sounded. They weren't bad, just not great.


Carl "Safe Sax" Ferris has performed on Fremont Street for 11 years. Other than the light shows, he's my next favorite thing/person to watch and listen to.


The light show begins on the hour at nights.


There are plenty of performers in costume. You can have your photo taken with them, if you wish -- they work for tips. Notice I managed to keep my eyes looking straight towards the camera.

Photos by MOJO and one passerby. I used my point-and-shoot on the second and third ones and my Canon on the others.

76 trombones

Above: The Rio Casino is the home of the WSOP.

Several people asked my how does the payout system work when you cash. Well, first I had to bust out -- oops. Then the dealer announced it: "Payout on Table 369 seat eight."

A staffer came to escort me to a stage nearby where a clerk asked me for my Total Rewards player's card. She gave me a sheet of paper and directed me to the Player Services area, just down the hall. There, a facilitator directed me to another clerk who wanted to see a photo ID.

"How would you like this, cash or check?"
"I'll take a check."
"We can give you part check and part cash. We'll do it however you wish."
"Just a check, please."
"You're just below the limit. We won't have to take out any taxes."

I wonder what would happen if I just won the Main Event. "I'll take that $8 million in cash, please. Benjamins will be fine." Haha.

The facilitator directed me to another clerk (there were several) who also asked for a photo ID. She confirmed my address and passed paperwork to a different worker.

I had my check and was out of there quickly. The whole process took less than five minutes -- very efficient.


Above: The WSOP is the mother of all poker tournaments.


Above: The dealers waited while the players were on break.

The glass slipper didn't fit

Above: The Rio is the venue for the WSOP.

Saying I finished 76th in the WSOP Event No. 30 doesn't sound as impressive as saying I outlasted 3676 other players. On my last hand I shoved with K-J offsuit and was called by A-Q -- being short-stacked makes you do things you aren't proud of.

I want to thank the bloggers who supported me. Lightning36 called on Saturday and gave me a pep talk. BWoP came by and gave me a hug. NumbBono mentioned me in an article he wrote and many of you left tweets to encourage me. I didn't get to talk to her, but I might have seen Wolynski there taking photos.

One cute hand was in respect to the PokerGrump. The table dynamics were that usually somebody raised three times the big blind and won the pot preflop. Because the blinds and antes were getting high, the pot to be won was substantial. I was in the cutoff seat with the mighty 2-4 off-suit and raised to T6000, expecting to win it right there. Unfortunately, both blinds called, ouch. The flop was 7-7-8, an excellent one for my purposes. They both checked and I bet T12,000. The small blind folded and the big blind gave me a dirty look and said, "I don't believe you for a minute," but he also folded!



Above: A photo of the shot clock a round or two before I was eliminated.

Photos by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

One of our own

When bloggers used to get together to play tournaments online, there was lots of talking junk. The money wasn't that important, but the fellowship and bragging rights were. Now it's one blogger, me, against 529 non-bloggers who are left in the Senior's Event No. 30 (out of a starting field of 3752). I hope you're happy that I'm well-placed to cash. Who knows? Maybe I'll get some luck and go deep.

I'm tweeting, so you can catch some highlights there when play resumes Saturday at 3:00 p.m. I'm memphismojo on twitter.

The disappointment of the day was when Poker Grump had three bad beats in a row and was eliminated. He plays way better than most of the geezers and I was sorry for his bad luck.


Above: Table after table of poker players -- that's what you see here. This shot was taken Thursday.


Above: Wonder what 24,800 in chips looks like? Here's my bag for Saturday's play.


Above: I took this shot of the Rio when I returned from dinner break Friday.

Images by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

Poker is in the air

I'm signed up for the WSOP Event No. 30. I'm glad I did it today. It took more than an hour of waiting in line. I've heard the crowds are larger than they thought they would be and I'm guessing it will be a madhouse for those who buy their entry Friday morning.

If the Poker Grump reads this and ends up playing, please drop me an e-mail letting me know your seat assignment. I'd like to come shake your hand for the pleasure your blog has given me. dave dot memphismojo at gmail dot com.


The playing areas are full, the lines to the bathroom are long and the 2011 WSOP is under way. I did some recon today and checked out the playing site, the eating arrangements, etc. Then I got a five minute massage which was wonderful. I'm ready coach, put me in.


Here's one of the bracelets that go to the winners. Some say they care about the bracelet more than the money. I don't think I'd go that far, but winning one would be pretty cool for a blogger.


Even the shuttle buses have ads for the WSOP.

It's "dam" awesome

Hoover Dam is pretty amazing. When it was built, there was nothing that had been done on such a large scale, so the engineers erred on the side of caution - they over-engineered it. Besides being a water source, it provides electricity for many homes and businesses. The lake is also used for recreation.

I didn't take the tour of the dam this time as I got there late in the day (you can see the shadow that shows that), but I recommend it if you haven't taken it.


The last time I went to Hoover Dam was two years ago. They were in early stages of building the new bypass bridge and I was anxious to see it now. Amazing how they can construct things like that.

Along the edge is a pedestrian pathway that I took. It was very windy and some tourists were having trouble. I heard one mother tell her two children that she didn't like heights and didn't want to go any farther.


Lake Mead provides water for Las Vegas as well as farmers in California and homes in Arizona. The white area is where the lake is when it is "full."

Go west old man, go west

I arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday night. My plans are to do mostly tourist stuff, but I do plan to play in the WSOP on Friday. That's Event No. 30, the Senior Tournament for players age 50 or older.

On Sunday I plan to travel to Utah to see Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Um, well unless I'm at the final table of the WSOP event I'm playing in. Uh, yeah, right.