Back to Bellagio

So I haven't played much in the way of live tournaments since the disaster that was this year's World Series. Besides showing up at the Bike 10k for a few hours, I haven't played anything except Rodney Butler's home tournament back in Columbia. But I won that one, so I figure I'm ready to put up some scores at this year's Fiesta el Lago at Bellagio. It started this week, and today's $2500 was the first event for me.

The fields are fairly small, and are made up mostly of local pros and tournament degens... with a few rich guys and some foreigners thrown in. I started the table with Gavin Smith and a couple other guys I recognized. About three hours into the tournament, Arnold Spee (a regular on the trail) started really digging into Gavin... I really couldn't believe it, because this guy Arnold is usually really quiet and unassuming at the table... he's always come off pretty nice. But there he went for about two minutes just really going off on Gavin about how he annoys everybody with his table talk and how he only amuses himself. Then he said something about how the only girls Gavin gets are the ones he pays for, which I thought was kind of a lame thing to say. But whatever...

That's about the most interesting thing that happened in the tournament. I made a couple of pretty good calls... one time I limped with Q8o on the button and the BB decided to get crazy with Q4 when the flop came KQ5... he bet a good chunk on the flop, I called... then he went all-in on the turn which was a 7. I was pretty sure I had him beat, but figured he was semi-bluffing with a hand like JT... it was nice to have him drawing to only three outs. Then there was the hand where I raised utg with AQo to 3k with blinds 600/1200. We were down to two tables. The BB calls. He has about 18k behind him. I've got him covered by about 10k. The flop comes 9d4d3c. He checks. I continuation bet for 3k and he goes all-in for 15k more. It just didn't feel right to me. I thought about it for a long time, because I didn't want to look stupid calling him with Ace high... but in the end, I figured he must have been hoping that I had overcards and would release... I put him on a hand like QJs for a flush draw... or maybe even just complete air. He bet so much, I just KNEW he read me for exactly what I had and was trying to get me off of it. So I risked looking pretty stupid and pushed the chips in. He sheepishly turned over A5 for a gutshot straight draw and I had him drawing pretty thin. It came clean and I looked like a hero and that pot got me to about 55k.

That's as high as it would go. I had a lame hand go down where the SB decided to raise my BB... same level 600/1200. He makes it 3600. He didn't look like he was too happy with his hand. I should have just raised him right there, but instead I called with A4. The flop came out 722 with two spades. He checked and I bet 3600 with what I figured was the best. He thought about it for a bit and then reraised to 9000. I was so sure that he was unpaired to start with and I didn't really see how the flop could have helped him... so I decided to call. The turn came a 7, which I figured was a good card for me since I didn't have to worry about him having a better kicker with his Ace if that's what he had. He checked. I decided to bet small, hoping he'd put me on the full house. I bet 6k. He calls and I'm done with the hand. The turn comes a 5. He checks, I check, and he turns over 73. So lame. Whatever. I guess I've given beats with worse.

We go on dinner break and I come back utg. The blinds are up to 800/1600. I look down at 94o and fold. Ralph Perry raises to 4k and everyone folds. The next hand I'm in the BB and everyone folds to the SB (73 dude). He looks over at me and asks how many chips I have. I say I started with 30k. So he announces all-in. Such a lame bet, really... 20x the BB? Obviously he had shit and I was praying to get any sort of hand to call him with. I look down and see Jacks and instacall. He turns over A9o. First card off is an ace and I'm out in 15th.

So it goes. This is the life we chose.

Anyway, I feel like my reads are on and my game is sharp. I just need to avoid lame suckouts and I should be able to win at least three or four of these tourneys. Hopefully, I'll get all the bad beats out of my system in time for the $15k WPT at the end of the series. I would really like to make something happen in that one.