Orleans
Open Trip Report
For
the fourth straight year, I headed to
the Orleans Open, where the fields are
very large, the dead money is large, and
the cards are, well....
Thursday
(4th of July) I play at the Bellagio (during
the lunch hour) in 8/16 HE. It was a tourist
dominated game (good for me), and I have
my only positive result in live games
on this trip. I put myself down on the
20/40 O8 list -- but both games were quite
rockish.
I
moved over to the Mirage during the afternoon.
I played in another tourist dominated
game (10/20 HE) but my good cards didn't
hold up. I had a small loss (~$60) --
but it was a good game. But because of
the crowd (at 4:40pm all of the tables
were in action) they decided not to have
a NLHE tourney that night. So I left and
decided to play in the Orleans' low buy-in
O8 tourney. I double up on the first two
hands and don't win another pot (even
a 1/4 of one!). Just one of the hazards
of playing O8 tourneys....
Friday
was the RGP WPPC brunch. I sit down playing
blackjack for an hour (breaking exactly
even) when Timmer walks up with the Barge
2002 chips. They look great. [Self serving
advertisement: go to if you'd like to
own your own.] I used the purple chip
as my card protector for the rest of my
trip (with decidedly mixed results).
The
brunch was excellent (although we ate
at the Coffee Shop, as the Orleans' buffet
is closed from 10am-11am). My thanks to
attendees Timmer, John Selix, Christopher
Smith, Steven Evans and Herb Rabinowitz.
We had a good time discussing everything
from poker to Las Vegas real estate.
The
WPPC was well worth the money (again).
I haven't re-read my notes, but I think
I found a good hold'em tip that ought
to be worth something (vis-a-vis +EV).
Last year one Omaha tip saved me somewhere
between $500 and $1,000. I was quite happy
that I didn't recognize any SoCal players
at the WPPC...
I
played the Friday night NLHE tourney ($100+$25
with 1 $100 rebuy). I finished about 40th
(out of ~240). I don't remember any hands
-- except that I was knocked out by quads
(77 vs. J5s -- I had the J5s). That J5s
was the best hand I had seen in quite
some time -- you can only steal for so
long. The night (2nd chance) tourneys
feature a modified Tex's Tears structure
-- slow increases in blinds early. However,
after about 3-4 hours, the limits start
doubling. With the levels lasting 20 minutes,
crapshoot time came and I went....
The
most fun I had was the 940 person LHE
on Saturday. I finished 47th, and I don't
think I made any mistakes. With a field
like this (large and generally weak) you
**must** get lucky and you must hit cards
at critical points.
About
4 levels in, with a decent (but not huge)
stack, I pick up 44 one off the button.
Three or four players call in front of
me; naturally I also call (I think that
44 is a hand that wants a large group
of players to increase your odds). Both
blinds call. The flop is great for my
hand -- 843 rainbow. It is bet and raised
in front of me (I don't remember by whom).
I call, and four of us see a turn of the
last 4. It is bet and raised in front
of me again (both players going all-in).
I scoop a huge pot -- this hand propelled
me for quite some time. (On the previous
hand, the player to my right had gone
all-in with A8s and made quads. I don't
know what the odds are of these hands
happening back-to-back.)
I
steal for a while, and soon we're down
to 6 tables. And I go card dead. I don't
see a pair for two hours (and only one
ace). I steal, usually picking up the
blinds once each round. Then, on the first
hand after a break, I pick up AA -- and
lose to 44 (what goes around comes around,
I guess). I continue to steal, once a
round (I would have liked to do it more
but I didn't hold hands that could re-steal),
so that I am down to $2500. This is not
so good as I'm going to have the BB on
the next hand (the blinds are 500/1000
playing 1k/2k), and I pick up QJo. Not
a good hand, but I raise (it's likely
to be better than the random BB hand).
It's re-raised twice (TT & QQ) and called
all-in (KTs). Soon the TT is all-in and
I see the mess I'm in. I actually had
outs on the river (a 9) but it doesn't
come and I'm done. Spencer Sun and I talked
about this hand (among others) at the
dinner break (I'm eliminated about 20
minutes before it) and he agreed with
my raise.
I
played the Sunday day tourney (Omaha 8)
and did not win any portion of a hand
-- no highs, lows, quarters, etc. Mark
Gregorich was at my table and was equally
lucky. The tournament was filled with
bad Omaha players -- but the fish ate
the bait!
I
did play some live (cash) 10/20 Omaha
8. The games were good, but I continued
to be unable to hit a hand. If I had good
low cards, the hand went high, and vice
versa. But some of the players were truly
awful. The player to my right, a very
nice woman (sporting very expensive jewelry),
went through a lot of money. She was showing
me her starting hands -- wonders such
as 8776 double-suited -- and questioning
how she could be losing. She said that
she was a consistent winner in her home
state. So the fish were available -- I
just couldn't catch any.
One
big negative was the smoking. As you enter
the Grand Ballroom (where the tournament
is held), the left side is live (cash)
games and the right side is where most
of the tournament tables are. Smoking
is allowed in the cash games but not the
tournament area. Unfortunately, the laws
of chemistry apply even in Las Vegas and
the smoke from one side of the room went
to the other side. I urge everyone who
attends to let Mike Vento and the Orleans'
staff know of the smoking problem.
I
debated whether to play in the Sunday
night Omaha 8 second chance tourney. I
decided to do it right after a woman at
the next table lit up her cigarette and
blew smoke right at my O8 table (besides
having lots of fish in the game, it was
a completely non-smoking table). I cashed
out, bought my entry, and caught a few
hands (but I didn't catch anything until
after the first break). I even scooped
a pot early (making the nut flush/nut
low). With only 150 entrants, the tourney
moved quickly, and soon I was in the money.
I kept my stack at a decent level, but
with the limits increasing every 20 minutes
only 1 player at my table had a comfortable
stack. At the other table two players
were eliminated and I had made the final
table.
On
the very first hand of the final table,
in middle position, I picked up A289 rainbow.
Not a great hand, but certainly worth
a steal effort. The blinds/limits were
1k-2k/2k-4k, and I was about to raise
when the player to my right raised. I
read steal/nothing, and had a tough decision.
I should re-raise or fold, and I elected
to re-raise. Another player started to
think and think and called all-in. The
original raiser called all-in (I had only
2k left, too). All the hands went up and
they were: BB - KQT5; OR - 7763; AP -
AAQT (the OR & AP were double suited but
I can't remember the suits). I didn't
like the flop one bit - 2QT. But I sure
loved the turn (8) and river (2) to scoop.
But this was the last hand I won and I
went out in 5th place. The win caused
me to almost break even this year.
I
also want to thank the rgpers who encouraged
me -- Johnny D, Linda Johnson, and Spencer.
Will I come again next year? Hopefully,
it will be completely non-smoking but
even if it isn't I'll be there. I just
have to find different bait to hook the
fishes.
Russ Fox
|
