It is really hard sleeping in the morning, because there is a lot of noise in the hallway, mostly shutting doors. Plus I am just thrilled to be there. I wake up around 11:15 AM, get dressed, and grab a hot dog at the Gold Coast (75 cents for a Vienna beef hot dog, you can't beat that) and go over to the Rio.
On my way in, I spot Men "The Master" Nguyen, Sam Farha, John Juanda, Eskimo Clark, Daniel Alaei, Devilfish Ulliott, TJ Cloutier, and Carlos Mortensen. Later in the evening, I see Erik Seidel and John Myung.
I should go directly to the satellites, but I see Antonio Esfandiari's father, Bijan, in a ring game. We had played together for a few hours the previous night. He waves me over and I sit down with him in the 4-8 limit hold'em cash game. He is really fun to hang out with and we have a great time.
A guy who can't be labelled anything other than a "shmo" sits down in the game. He is wearing this very colorful shirt button-down with "Hold'em" and poker hands all over it. He is wearing a Cincinnati Reds hat and a tweed jacket with big pointy lapels, circa 1980. He is very loose and doesn't know what he is doing, which is always welcome. He rebuys into the game several times. Despite there being several loose players in the game, I can't seem to win anything.
A player with a press pass sits down. It says "Michael Kaplan, Cigar Aficionado". I am currently reading his book, "Aces and Kings: Inside Stories and Million-Dollar Strategies from Poker's Greatest Players". I tell him that I'm really enjoying the book, and he is very appreciative. We chat for awhile about the book and about Stu Ungar. We also talked about the Nolan Dalla's new book about Stu Ungar (good) and the Stu Ungar movie (bad). Michael was with Ungar on the day that he refused to come downstairs and play in the 1998 WSOP. He is very pleasant and friendly and I enjoy our conversation. He has the dream job of writing gambling articles for the Cigar Aficionado.
Another players sits down in the game and he's kind of a jerk. He is also from Illinois, from one of those suburbs that I don't know. He loud and aggressive, and like to bet and raise a lot. This is working for him, and he wins a lot of pots. But finally someone gets him - it's the shmo. He tries to bluff the shmo which is impossible because the guy is a calling station, and he loses a big pot.
There is a nice older man on my right, and his son is playing in today's tournament. Eventually the son comes by and we hear about his bad beat. A funny thing about the WSOP is that everywhere you walk, you can hear people telling their bad beat stories. A guy will walk by on his cell phone, "I was in the cutoff and I raise four times the big blind and the button goes over the top. So I push all-in..." Then an interesting hand occurs involving the old man. The jerk and the old man bet and call to the river, and they both have a king to match the king on the board. But the jerk has a jack kicker and the old man has a 5. I'm chatting with the old man and the dealer pushes the pot to the jerk. Then I realize that there is something wrong. I say "Wait, it's a split pot". There was also a pair of sixes and an ace on board, so the kickers don't play. The board is K-A-6-6-X. So both players have two pair, kings and sixes, with an ace kicker. The the dealer doesn't get it, and the jerk insists that the pot is his, and I think he really believes it...he doesn't understand that the ace is his kicker, not the jack. Everyone at the table also doesn't get it, so I insist that the floorperson is called over. The old man's cards had been mucked, but everyone knew that he had a king (and by now the board is gone too). We explain to the floorperson, and she says that it's not a split pot. I realize that she hasn't understood what took place, so I explain more carefully, and she finally agrees that the pot is split. I tell the jerk "Sorry, I don't like to get involved in other people's hands." He says "No big deal", so I guess he's not a complete jerk. And I really don't like getting involved in other people's hands, but the fact is that this guy was a jerk, and the old man was a very nice pleasant guy, and I didn't want him to get screwed. I hate it when people are rude at the table. Fortunately, it was not a very big pot, so no one really cared. But the old man was very appreciative that I had stuck up for him.
The next hand, the jerk and another guy bet and raise all the way to the river. The jerk has K9 and there is a K on board, but the opponent has KK for a set of kings. The jerk gets up and says "I'm leaving, I'm tired of all these bad beats". I guess any beat is bad if it happens to you.
Bijan's son, Paul Esfandiari, is still playing in the Main Event. With 5 players left on the bubble, it is very slow going as no one wants to bust out. But as soon as they bust out, players start to bust out right and left, and the line at the payout window gets very long (right behind our table). Bijan kept running over to the main event to check on Paul, and update us on his progress. After awhile, Paul busts out and wins about $18,000. After getting his money, he comes over and hands a $5000 stack of hundreds to his father (you don't often see a $5000 pile of money in a 4-8 game). We joke about it and congratulate Paul. Paul tells his dad that they are going out to dinner at 9:00, and I start plotting how to beg my way to that dinner.
Another guy has joined the table. He's about 40, with a shaved head and sunglasses. He's trying to look a little tough. He starts torturing this kid across the table who also has a shaved head. On three or four showdowns, usually with this kid, he says "Don't call, I have kings" or "Don't call, queens are no good" but the players always call anyway, and sure enough, he has exactly what he said. After about four times, he says "I always tell the truth". I know this is an awesome scam and can't wait until I have some cards against this guy. For awhile, no one has the nerve to call him on the river when he announces that he's got aces or whatever. Then I get into a hand with him. I've got AQ and raise, and he cold-calls. The flop comes queen high, making me very happy. I bet, he raises, and I call. The turn is a rag, I bet and he calls. The river is a rag. I bet, he announces "ace-queen is no good...ace-king is even worse", and he raises. I'm worried that he has a set but must call. He shows AK - he has nothing, and I drag a nice pot. Now I'm everyone's hero for calling him down. It feels great and now I'm even for the day.
Then Paul and his friend Mike Hardy sit down in the game. They clearly have no tolerance for poor players, so this is definitely not the place to be. They try to bully the table a bit with a lot of bets and raises, claiming "I'm getting no respect" when players call with junk. But it's a limit game and that's just how it goes, especially a loose table like this. Bijan is losing a little, so Paul raises to get heads up with him. The board is Q-T-2-5-8 and there is some betting and raising all the way. We assume Paul has nothing and is just trying to give the pot to his father. Paul shows T2 for two pair on the flop and says "Sorry Dad", but then Bijan slow rolls 88 for a set on the river. The table goes wild.
Bijan ask if I want to share a sandwich, and I say sure. It's probably around 7:00 PM. Mike Hardy takes over his chips, and I chat with him for a bit. He's a really nice kid from Winnipeg, just there to support Paul and Antonio. He's starting fire/paramedic school in the fall. It is fun playing with Paul and Mike. Paul leaves to play in a no-limit game. Bijan comes back with our sandwich and we share it. Around 9:00, Paul returns and says they are leaving for dinner. I really want to ask to go with, but it sounds like a family thing (their last night together) and I don't want to be rude. Bijan is a very friendly, fatherly man and we all enjoyed his company.
After the Esfandiaris leave, I go have a great ribeye steak at the All American Bar and Grille at the Rio. Another guy is eating alone, and I keep thinking that I should ask if he wants company, since I'm tired of eating alone, but I don't. Then I head back around 10:30 to play in some more satellites for tomorrow's event, and it turns out that the other solitary diner is in the first satellite in which I play.
In the first $125 satellite, I finish fourth and win nothing. The guy who busts me wins it. The only interesting hand I play is when I have 55 UTG, I raise to 4XBB, and the BB, who is a big stack, calls. the flop is AJX. He checks and I bet 200, and he calls. I think he has a J. The turn is a 9, he checks, and I check. The river is an A. He looks like he's going to bet, so I pretend I'm going to bet. I tried this play many times when I wanted a free showdown, but it never worked, until now. He checks and I check. He has J9 for two pair. I would never have called a bet on the river, so I was lucky to show down for free. Overall, in five satellites and the tournament, I never had a chance to make a deceptive play or a successful bluff. The structure of the satellites is tough, so you need to be somewhat aggressive, get some cards, and get lucky to win one.
In the next satellite, on the first hand, two players go all-in. The board is like J74, and they turn up their hands. The bettor flopped a set of 7s, and the caller had 58 of diamonds for a flush draw and a gutshot straight (flush) draw. The turn is the K of diamonds, so the guy that flopped a set of 7s busts out on the first hand. I'm getting short-stacked a bit, so when there are a couple of limpers, I go all-in with 66. The two players call, one has AT and one has A9. They get no help and I triple up. Currently I'm sitting between the two big stacks which sucks. A few hands later, two players get involved, and on the showdown the board is 345X2, and they have AK and AT - split pot. The two big stacks get into a hand. The flop is TXX, turn 9, river K, and one of them had QJc for a river-river straight against 66. The next hand, A7 eliminates A4. Soon thereafter I get AKo in the SB, two limpers, and I go all-in. One player, who has me covered, calls with K9o. I've got him so dominated. I flop an ace and double up. The blinds are up to 100/200, and I raise to 1000 with A8o in late position. A player calls all-in with TT, I get no help, and lose. Soon I have to go all-in with J3s, two players fold, and the BB says "I can't call with this". But then he realizes that I only raised one big blind, so he's obligated to call, getting 3-1 odds. He says "This is a donation"
and shows 62 offsuit. A deuce flops and I bust out fourth.
I immediately enter another satellite at 12:15 AM. On the second hand, two players go all-in with AA and KK. The flop is QQX, the turn is a rag, and the river is an unnecessary ace. KK busts out. The player with AA is this big scary dude, wearing a gold watch and bracelet, and an Atlanta Falcons shirt. He's pretty big and I wonder if he actually plays for the Falcons.
Later I steal the blinds with 66. I strike lightning quite a few times...I flop a flush draw and the other player (unknown to me) flops the nut straight, but he slow-plays it all the way to the river, where I receive the wonderful gift of another club. Then he goes all-in while I hold the nuts!
Shortly after, the big dude is messing around with his cell phone quite a bit, and tosses in a raise. It's considered a hard and fast rule that when someone is distracted, they won't bluff, and this has been demonstrated quite a few times in the last two days. The older player to his left reraises, the big scary guy goes all-in. I'm thinking the older guy should not call, because clearly the big guy is not bluffing, plus I hate to see him get an even bigger stack. The older guy calls. Big scary guy has AQ and the older guy has TT. An ace flops and the older guy is gone. After this, the big guy barely ever plays a hand. Soon, I limp with Q3 on my small blind. The BB raise 125 and I call. The flop is AQx, he checks, I bet 200, and he goes all-in. I call, and he has an ace, but I spike a queen on the turn to bust him. He is disgusted, but turns out to be really nice kid that I talk with several times for the rest of the trip.
Later I called another all-in player who was a small stack, and he had something like Jx and I had QTo. The flop came Q-Q-rag, giving me trip queens, and then the turn was a T, making a full house for me. He's gone.
Three handed, I bust out the small stack when he goes all-in with KK and I called with AQ. I wasn't happy to see his pocket kings, but I flop an ace and knock him out! Now it is heads up and I have a 2 to 1 chip lead, but my opponent is...the big scary dude. He's acting all intimidating. OK, he actually is pretty intimidating. I suggest a deal, and he says "I don't need the money and I don't deal after this", meaning that if he turns down my deal, I can't propose another after a few hands. I don't want to risk anything and want the two $500 chips for entry into tomorrow's tournament. So I start calculating a proper split (since I have two-thirds of the chips), then offer him a better deal than that. He hems and haws, then a friend of his comes over, and he asks his friend if he should take it. I say "I have 2/3 of the chips" and his friends says "Hell yeah!" and it's done. I win, sign the papers, give him his cash, and I'm going to be in the $1000 event tomorrow. As we shake hands, he says (I swear to god), "Nice game. They call me 'The Cowboy'".
I talk to Rick, the older player who had been busted by The Cowboy, for about an hour. He is a very interesting character from Toronto and is good friends with Daniel Negreanu. He says The Cowboy's name is Kelly (no wonder he wants to be called "The Cowboy") and that he thinks he's great but he's not. He's been involved with the poker scene since the 70's and has some interesting stories.
I go back to the 4-8 table, and sure enough, Bijan is back. He says they had a fantastic dinner at the new Wynn hotel, at the Bartolotta Ristorante de Mare. They had great food and wine and I wish I had asked to go. Cindy Violette's daughter is sitting on Bijan's left. There is no seat in the game, plus I really need to get some sleep.
All told, I played poker from 2:00 to 9:00 and then from 10:30 to 2:30. What a life! Las Vegas is such a great place. It's filled with fun things that you want to do, and you can do them 24 hours a day. There are no clocks and it's so bright that it always seems like daytime inside the casinos, and dusk outside. Time has no meaning here. At least today I managed to make time to have an actual meal!
So I'm in! And the tournament starts at 12:00 NOON and it's now 4:00, so I need to go to bed.
- schneid
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