Caesars 5K

We had a tough staring table as Jason Mercier, 'lilholdem', John Little, and Jamie Rosen were all in a row. The day started off great as I chipped up fairly easily in the first level. My ease continued until I cold called a huge 3 bet with 96cc. The 3 better was extremely nitty and I thought it would be a easy spot to win post flop. The flop came 8c7d3c giving me the world. I check raised healthy and he min raised that. I insta shipped and he tanked forever before making a hero call with QhQs. I had been showing some bluffs, so I am not shocked that he called. Somehow I bricked my 15 outs twice and lost a 45K pot and was down to 12K. I may have been tilted as I tried a multi street bluff against a huge calling station. My read was right atleast as he called off with KK on a ace hi flop. In addition to my early exit I lost 18 units to Mercier in prop betting. The kid runs sooooo hot.
I got to see a horror movie the other day in theatres, Paranormal Activity. It was scary, but has yet to yield a nightmare or irry feeling since. So I would recommend it, but dont expect to pee yourself.

Day 3 Bellagio Main Event

My table consisted of Dutch Boyd, Lee Markholt, Chris Ferguson, Gary Gibbs, Mike Leah, and Alan Smurfit. I was pretty card dead all day, but that was no excuse for how bad I played. There were plenty of good spots to 3 bet, which I opted to just call. I tried making moves post flop twice once against Lee Markholt which of course did not work and this hand against Dutch. A weak player opened in early to 8K (blinds 1500/3000) and Dutch called from the button. I had 75dd in the BB and elected to call. The flop was 10d8c6s. We checked to Dutch who bet 12K I called as did the other player. The turn was a 7h putting a 4 card straight on board. We checked to Dutch and he fired 18K. I didnt think he had it so I made it a total of 41K leaving myself 110K behind. He starts to himmm and haww making me think he is going to fold, then he finds a call. My original plan was to push the river unless the board paired, but after an ace hit the river I chickened out. I gave up and he showed 54o for the bottom straight. Turns out his anguish was legitimate and I shoulda fired the river. I got moved to Corwin Cole and Jcarver's table shortly after. I 3 bet Corwin light and he 4 bet pushed. The next time I 3 bet him with 88 to which I was going to call off, but the tight guy in the BB cold 4 bet and I laid them down. Losing that pot put me around 13BB. After 2 orbits with no good spots I found Q9ss on Dan Shak's BB. He is a very tight player so I pushed. The button found AQdd and made the call sending me to the rail before the money.
I am going to play the 5K Caesars tourny on Tuesday leaving today to run some errands and hopefully watch a bad horror movie.

Justin "robert07" Young

Day 2 Bellgaio Main Event

The day started off really well as I got a terrific starting table. Scott Clements was moved to my left and I still did not want to move. The soft spots were all over the place and Scott wasn't messing with me. Unfortunately we were one of the first ones to break. My new table had Carter King, Billy Kopp, Steve Brecher, David Singer, Ralf Perry, Ted Lawson and a guy named Cary whom has owned me everytime we have played. I started to open a lot to see who was going to be a pain. After the 6th 3-bet from a different person I decided everyone, so I played fairly tight. I limped UTG with 66 (blinds 600/1200 100 ante) and Carter made in 4100 in middle position. Both blinds called as did I. The flop came down Js10c6s giving me bottom set. Also with the texture of the board I knew it would be hard for anyone to give me credit for a real hand with so many draws out. It checked to Carter and he bet 10.2K, both blinds folded and I of course raised so I could ensure us to get all the money in the pot. I made it 33.2K and he pushed rather quickly for about 70K total. I called and he was almost drawing dead with the AcJh. The pot pushed me up to 190K. A guy whom I had played with before took David Singers seat. I remembered him to overplay his hands, but he came to the table with a stack of over 250K. I found A10hh UTG+1 and made it 4200 (blinds 800/1600 200ante). The new guy called from the button. His range was wide open at this point. The flop came down 8c7h5c missing me completely, but I liked a c-bet here so I bet 6500. He called quickly, so I gave him credit for a medium to small pair or some kind of draw. The turn was the Qs. As long as he doesnt have a flush draw with a Queen a bet for me made since. So I bet 13.5K, again he called quickly. Although a draw is now most likely now, I still didnt know if I was ahead. The river was a 2d bricking everything. A lot of the time I would check call here to induce a bluff, but I thought hands like 99, 1010, 98, and 97 were in his range so I fired again to get those hands to fold. I put out 5 5K chips for a bet of 25K. He quickly went for chips and I felt sick. Except he grabbed enough for a raise and made it 75K total. I decided to hollywood for 5 seconds before mucking, but in that 5 seconds I thought the raise made absolutely no sense. I know him to overplay his big hands so there was no way he was slow playing a set or a straight. So the only two hands I was worried about was the 9c6c (flopped straight with flush redraw) or the 22 for a rivered set. I was also a bit scared he was bluffing with AJcc. After a long tank I decided to call and he quickly mucked his cards. Part of me was hoping he did have AJcc at that point so I tabled my A10hh for ace hi to see his reaction. The table went nuts, but appartly he only had king high. The hand gave me confidence and also gaurenteed me not to get bluffed much for the rest of the day. The pot pushed me up to 280K, but the last level saw little action and I dribbled down to 260K to end the day. Day 3 is today and I hope to have more good news tommorrow.

Justin "robert07" Young

The Dumbest Bet Ever and the Bellagio Main Event

I have to tell everyone about the dumbest bet ever made by me and quite possibly the entire human race, because with you help of making fun of me I hope to learn a lesson. During the 3K prelim at the Bellagio, Devilfish was at my table with a half stack talking about how he is still going to win. I told him he was not and gave him a line of 25 to 1. He accepted and 10 minutes later he was out the door and I had 1K in my pocket. The next day he was playing 25/50 NL with me and he was losing. He asked me to set a line for him in the 10K PLO. I imagined that the event was going to get 50-60 people and knowing he is a good omaha player I said 40-1. He jumped all over it before I realized that I committed myself to the bet. To make matters worse he told me he wanted another 1K at 35-1....and I accepted. At this point I am feeling dumb, but not horrible. I start to ask people I thought would play the event if they were and all I heard was a resounding "no". I started to get worried so I of course played the event myself. I was one of 16 people who showed up to play. I am feeling dumb now, but the field is tough and I atleast have some control since I am in the tourny. On the first hand Devilfish doubles up, and then on the 8th hand I lose half my stack with top set vs a wrap. At this point I am freaking out a bit. I go out in 14th place while Devilfish finishes the night with the starting stack. With only six people remaining I can barely sleep. I of course have to come down and sweat the final table. With 4 people left Devilfish is the chip lead or tied for the chiplead. I start to think how hard I worked for 75K and how much it'll hurt. Somehow I get a text that Ted Lawson busted him while I was blowing off steam. I had to confirm it, as many people would find it funny to mess with a desperate man. It was true and I was clean. Not only was the line awful I gave him, but risking that much money just to win 2K might be the dumber end. Even if I gave him 11 to one its a dumb bet because I dont want to risk losing 22K for only 2K. And that is why I am quite possibly the dumbest man ever.
On to poker, I played day one of the Bellagio Main Event. I had Lee Watkinson, Evan McNiff, David Oppenhiem, and Abe Moressi at my table. I was coolered early when I flopped 3 eights and bet all three streets heavy only to see Oppenhiem hit the hidden end of his combo draw on the turn. I managed to chip up from 20K (starting stack was 60K) up to 40K by being very aggresive. Then in the last level of the night (300/600 50ante), Oppenhiem limped from the hijack and McNiff raised to 2400 on the button. I looked down at two wonderful kings and made it 7800. Oppenhien tanked for 3 second and reraised all in. McNiff folded and had to tank for a good 20 seconds before I called off. He showed 99 and the board ran out dry. The pot pushed me over 85K where I ended the night. Day 2 is today so hopefully I will have some great news tommorrow.
On a personal note, yesterday was my 3 year anniversary with Morgan. She was cool enough not to care about me playing in the tourny as long as we celebrated afterwards. She has always been supportive of me no matter what. Thanks Morgan.

Justin "robert07" Young

Aruba III

After busting the main event I played two post-lims, a 1K and a 2K shorthanded. The 1K was a bit of a blur as the structure and the scotches were going fast. I of course had a ton of chips then lost some flips and 30/70s to get about avg when we were approaching the bubble. I stayed aggressive, but kept losing races to keep my stack modest. Just before the bubble I lost KK vs AQ for most my stack, but immediately doubled up with 57cc vs A4o to have avg chips (13bbs) going into the money. I doubled up a 4bb stack to put me a bit short, so I of course pushed the cutoff with Q2hh. The chipleader (22BBs) found a call with A8 and it held. I was out in 9th.
The 2K shorthanded went quicker for me. A tight player raised the cutoff and I called the button with 107ss. The small blind who was playing super aggro 3 bet small. I had just enough behind to shove and get him to fold a marginal hand, so I thought. He called pretty quickly getting 1.6 to 1 with A10o.
The rest of the trip consisted of laying out, walking around, eating, drinking, and wacthing Eric make a deep run in the main event. We never got around to tubing or parasailing, but it was certainly a good last few days. Eric got 4th place which was good enough to put him back in first in the Cardplayer POY race. As nice as it was there I was ready to be home. Living out of a suitcase for longer than a week makes me miss home no matter where I am.
Since being home I played a 3K event at Bellagio that attracted 31 people to which I busted around 6pm and put in a session online that saw me lose close to 15K in cash games. There is a 5K event at the Bellagio today, but I am very doubtful I am going to play. That being said I think I am going to go in a play cash

Justin "robert07" Young

Aruba Part II

Now that we had some fun I was very anxious to get to the main event. As I got to my table I only recognized one player. He was solid with the capability to get creative on one street. But after looking over the table I was sure he wouldn't play that many pots with me. On day one I had a few note worthy hands. The first two were against a woman whom I had thought was decent, but as the day went on she proved to be just very unorthodox. She would limp and call raises out of postion and then lead the flop half the time. I raised here BB with K10o and both blinds called. The flop was K106 rainbow. They checked to me and I bet half pot and she called. The turn was a 2 (completing the rainbow). She checked and I bet half pot again (about 3200). She c'raised to 8K. I had about 20k behind, but I did not like a shove just in case she was bluffing or if she had KQ or even AA. There was a strong chance she had 66 as well so I elected to just call and see how strong she looked on the river. The river was another 6 and she quickly checked. At this point 66 was not possible so her range was AA, KQ, KJ, K10, or QJ. I pushed all in thinking I might get action from AA or KQ and might get K10 to fold. After 10 seconds she mucked K10 face up. On hand two against her, she limped UTG and I found KsKc on the button. I made it 825 (blinds 100/200 ante 25). She of course called. The flop was Ah9s7s. She lead 1K and instead of assuming she had it I decided to raise to 2750. She called fairly quickly. The turn was the 7h and she checked. I bet 3800 thinking she would have to fold an ace worse than AJ. She debated for a while and called. The river was the As double pairing the board and making a flush. She reached for chips quickly and tossed in 6k. I had 21K in front of me, for what should have been an easy fold, but for some reason I didnt think she had an ace. Though she was bad she would have raised with AK, AQ, and maybe AJ from early. The way the action went I felt like she had to fold A10 or worse. So it was AJ or a flush to which she did not notice or care about the double paired board, but since I couldnt beat either I decided to push all in. She quickly picked up her cards and mucked the 10 hi flush. Even though I was right, I dont like my play. My table was too easy to make such risky moves. After I of course showed my bluff I made another lo risk bluff and showed rags again. 2 hands later I picked up AA. I of course raised and the flop came Q52 with two clubs. I bet and the button called. Turn was a 9d, and again I bet and he called. The river was a Jh and with about 8K in the pot I pushed him all in for his last 15K. He beat me in the pot and showed KQ proudly. Even though showing bluffs is sometimes frowned on, it got me paid of here for a nice pot. I ended the day with about 62K good for a top ten stack going into day 2.
The first twenty minutes of day 2 is what you dream about. The deck hit me very hard and I busted 4 short stacks while only doubling up one. I had 95K and was looking to run over the table. But my bluffing got me in trouble and then I lost a massive cooler with KQ vs 109 on a KQJ board against an aggressive player. My stack was down to 32ish when the following happened. I raised to 2K (blinds 400/800) with 97hh. The button called and so did the BB. The flop was 7s5h2s, I bet 4K and the button called and the BB folded. The turn was the Jc. With 14K in the pot and 26K in my stack I decided to go for a check raise. He bet 11K and I was taken back. I was hoping he would bet 8K giving me plenty of fold equity. Though I hate my line I decided to call and check call any river that was not a spade. The river was 8s and I check folded. He showed the AQo for ace hi and a nice float on the flop. This is one of the hands where I should have taken another 20 seconds before I checked the turn so I could have a plan for what happened. I always tell people in order to play at a high level you need to plan out the different scenarios in order to be prepared. I did not and was burned by it. I ended up getting it in pre with AKhh vs 66 for 40BB and lost.
Part III coming tommorrow with the rest of the trip.

Justin "robert07" Young

Aruba part 1

Considering a couple of 4+hr flights and a layover in Philadelphia, the travel went pretty smoothly. Morgan and I took a red eye which put us in Aruba around 2pm on Saturday. It was pretty much what I expected with the beautiful beaches and the carribean resort feel to it. We checked in and went straight to the beach. There were bars and food chains all over the place putting me never to far away from food and alcohol. On Sunday we did the most unAruban thing you can do...we found a sports bar and watched football all day. The beer was small (like 8oz) and expensive. We discovered the local beer called Balashi and proceeded to literally drink them out of it. On a positive note the Broncos went to 4-0 with a great defensive performance against the Cowboys.
We all decided to play on day 1b (Tuesday) in order to do some fun touristy stuff on Monday. Renee made an appointment for us (Morgan & I, Renee & Cody, Eric & Mary, and Titantom & gboro) to take a dunebuggy tour of the island. The dunebuggys are called Tomcars and were originally designed for the Isreali boarder patrol. The looked like fancy ATV's but boy they were powerful. The island is all made from coral that was pushed up due to a underwater volcanic eruption so the terrain was bumpy to say the least. These things could g0 50+mph so taking them up and down hills was a treat. On our tour we saw a scenic church, a lighthouse, and a gold mine not to mention the natural views of a coral coastline being thrashed by the waves. Towards the end of the tour we went snorkling at a small beach. This is always a favorite of mine as I equate it to hiking under water. Morgan and I attempted to take some cool pics with an underwater camera, but its doubful any of them turned out.
I will post part II tommorrow and itll discuss the main event for me.

Justin "robert07" Young