January, Vegas and Music

So January was quite a month poker-wise. I had easily one of my best $$ results online and live. The home games were juicy, and the triple draw games on 'Stars, while always up and down, were for the most part extremely lucrative. Thanks to the good ole' DOJ, I cashed out a nut or two, but that hasn't really stopped me from playing.

Then comes February and the trip to Vegas. Every year we have a convention in Las Vegas for the flooring industry. It is a long trip out and a very hectic week. Basically up at 7am'ish every morning, walking miles and miles all day, then back to your hotel around 5:30pm and straight to sales dinners. I usually got back to my room around 9:30 or so. Obviously this doesn't leave that much time for the tables. But of course anyone can make time right? My first night playing at Caesars Palace was interesting to say the least. I had originally had a plan of playing their 11pm nightly tourney, a $70 buy-in. So I get to the room about an hour and a half early and decide to bring $200 into a 1/2NL game. I had every intention at this point to get up in exactly one hour and register for the tournament. Well, an hour later my stack was monstrous (for my standards anyway) at around $750. I saw the tournament getting ready, looked at my pathetic table, and figured this was a table that just doesn't come around that often. So I decided to not play in the tourney and stick to this cash game. BAD IDEA. Immediately following that decision I got sucked out on, on the river for about a $250 pot. I pushed the turn ahead, obviously. That pot had me down about $100-150. Then I constantly would bet into smallish stacks that would either double up through me because they hit their 3 outers on the turn/river, or would force me to call because of pot-odds. Thirty minutes later i'm up maybe $150, and I find KK in the sb. 6 limp for $2, and I pop it to $20 (maybe too small a bet...but it was the standard raise even with limpers). I get the one guy that I don't mind calling, although he was the guy who sucked out on me for the $250 pot, and we see a flop of A Q T with two spades. I HATE this flop, but I do have the K of spades, and a inside straight draw. I bet out $40 and the guy immediately raises all-in for about $160 more. I fold...he tells me KTo...whatever...good read on his part I guess. Then we get a seat filled by a VERY good local young player who says that he normally plays the 2/5 game, but there isn't one going. He proceeds to run over the table (much like I had done early in the game). But, this guy was pretty damn good. He was calling out peoples cards...a regular Negreanu. He pegged my AK at one time, and even though I knew that he knew, I knew that he was going to call me because I didn't have enough...I know that doesn't make that much sense, but this is stream of conciousness here people. So about 1/2 hour later I get felted, pushing in with a K high flush draw that doesn't get there.

The next night I decide to play the same game, at the same casino. Except, this time, it's a brand new table, and it hardly ever stays full. I play terribly, and get felted for another $200 by 2:00am.

Fun time, regardless of the results. I am still up for the year, and I wouldn't even bring $400 bucks to Vegas if I couldn't stand to lose it. I am VERY proud of myself for not playing any table games though...first time ever!

I have about $60 I am going to spend on new music this week. I have my eye on a few 2006 releases that I never got around to buying last year. The Hold Steady is one of them. This band is intriguing. Maybe a little to "E-Street" sounding, but only in all of the good ways. I am still waiting for someone to put out an upcoming music releases website. Maybe thats something I could've done about 10 years ago. I would probably pay $5 a month for something like that.