A Tale of 2 Aces

Ok... where were we... after being so bad at posting whilst I was actually in Vegas, I am going to post over the next few days as if I were there.

After my relatively successful start at the Mirage, I took a walk over to Caesar's Palace the next morning. Originally I had planned to stay at Caesar's but there were no rooms available, apparently. I opted for the Mirage because it is next door.

Being next door, it took only about 30 minutes (that's what it felt like) to walk there ! There isn't much space between the two properties but each one is so big (especially Caesar's) that it really does take ages to get where you're going.

I had good memories of the cardroom at Caesar's - it's a really nice room and they are renowned for their good quality daily tournaments. Also, I was a winner in the cash games there last year.

When I arrived, I discovered they were hosting a "WSOP Circuit event". What does that mean ? Actually, someone asked me that whilst I was there - I must have looked like I would know the answer. There are actually a great many WSOP circuit events throughout the year at various Harrah's properties. At the end of the day, it's just a way to get more mileage out of the WSOP brand.

Still, they seemed to be worth a go and I signed up for the $550 event. It's fair to say that I had not really established a plan as to the mix of cash and tournament play for this trip.

Whilst waiting for the event to start, I played a little $2/5 cash - most of the others playing were doing the same thing. Handily, I won $550 !! I was up a little as I prepared to cash out in time for the start of the tournament, but played one more hand ... got KK and got it all in pre-flop vs JJ (and chased away another player with 88 who would have made a set). Then, one more hand ... 77 .. flopped a set, and improved to a full house.

Maybe the sense that I was freerolling contributed to my play. In any case, I played appallingly badly in the tournament and was out after a couple of hours. The less said about my play, the better.

After a slightly less successful 2nd attempt at the cash (fairly steady for a number of hours but got all in PF with AK vs KQ and the KQ improved to a winning straight), I decided to try the regular $200 tournament.

91 runners, 4K chips, 30min clock - a very good structure. I played badly again at first, but got a 2nd chance (after throwing away chips to stand on just 1,000 I had to gamble and doubled up twice to get me back where I started). From that point, I played very solidly I felt.

On and on it went and as we got down to 2 tables, I was feeling good - I was above average in chips and certainly did not feel out of my depth. I felt I had a good chance. My peak was 34k chips with 14left (91 started so average chips = 26k). Binds 1k/2k with a 300ante so by now the tournament was getting towards the all-in poker stage.

Then, with 11 left and my stack slightly reduced to 27.5k, two hands ended the whole thing:

In the first, I was on the cut-off with 6s7s. Folded to me. The three players behind me were tight and I had them all well covered. I pushed, very much expecting three folds. To my surprise, the button player dwelled up eventually declaring "I have to call". Two folds behind him.

The reason for his theatrics became clear as he tabled AA. I picked up a flush draw on the flop, but that didn't come in and I lost 11,000 on the hand. Down to 16,500 and in need of a re-double.

Just a couple of hands later, it seemed I had my chance. Under-the-gun, I find pocket Aces myself. I choose to limp, and then "Ted" in middle position makes a raise to 6k. Back to me, and I re-raise all in.

Ted calls and shows pocket 6s. If I win this (as I am 80%+ to do) then I will be on around 38k and surely almost guaranteed to make the final table.

Alas, a six is the first card on the flop and no Ace comes. Out in 11th - 9 places pay - after nearly 7 hours playing !

With hindsight, should I have done better at the end ? Obviously I did not need to play the 67s hand but even with average chips I had an M of only 8 at a 6-handed table. I do not regret that move. The Aces ? If I had pushed from UTG, most likely everyone would have folded and the sixes would not have beaten me. However, I managed to get my whole stack in against one other player pre-flop - this is the ideal scenario.

I don't regret my play but I was still replaying those 2 hands the next morning when I woke up !