Hi everybody, my name is Scott and this is my poker blog.
I've been here in Las Vegas for a few years now and play poker professionally. I have been able to make a living off of a combination of live cash games, live and online tournaments, and online Heads up sit-n-go's. I started this blog up in June of 2010 while I was playing mostly live tournaments. My biggest accomplishment to date is when I won a package to play in LAPT - Florianopolis in August 2010, where I made it all the way to day 3 and a 21st place finish out of 363 entrants.
Since I got back from Florianopolis, I have spent some time playing online MTT's, but have now transitioned back to live cash games. I am currently living in City Center on the Las Vegas strip, and can usually be found playing the live cash games at Aria. I'm usually wearing a Mets hat and mirrored sunglasses at the table, and if you happen to see me, please stop by and say hello, as I enjoy meeting people from AVP in real life. I plan to continue this blog for the foreseeable future, and hope that as I build my bankroll back up through the cash games that I can begin taking some more shots at more major live tournaments.
Today I decided to take the day off just to recharge my batteries a bit since I've made a few deep runs the past couple of days that have left me a bit tired. Plus I was dissatisfied with the turnout of the GN $235 event on Sunday which only got 103 runners. Hopefully the tournament rebounds, as I think it is a beautiful room to play in. I'm a bit concerned that running 2 events side by side will lead to both tournaments getting sub par turnouts. A few players were complaining about the juice on Sunday, which is a bit high at GN, but I could live with it if the tournament can get a turnout of 175-200+ since a higher ROI is attainable in a larger field to overcome the juice. But with a field of just 103, I'm afraid that my projected ROI minus the vig will not leave enough room for profit to justify the time commitment required of those events. So I decided to sit this event out and see what kind of turnout the events at GN and Binions get today. I was planning to stick to Mtt's below $250 this summer to stay within my bankroll, but I've decided that since I've been running pretty hot so far, combined with the low turnout of the GN sunday event, that I will probably take 4-6 shots at the Venetian DSE events.
Tonight I'm considering playing some cash games tonight, maybe some 2/5NL at the RIO or 1/2PLO at the V. Tomorrow my plan is to play the $235 NLH at Caesars. I think this event is going to get a very big turnout so I'm pretty excited about it. Last week it got over 500 runners. The WSOP is running a $5k, and Venetian is running a $550, so that leaves a nice void for Caesars $235 event. I'm expecting a huge field! Hopefully I have some good news to report back from this event!
Welcome to the site and nice job on the cashes! Any plans for any wsop events?
Thank you!
I'd like to play a WSOP event, but they are just a bit outside of my current bankroll right now. I'm planning to play a few single table satty's down at the rio to see if I can get into a $1k cheap. I'm also planning to play the big 200 seat guarantee on pokerstars on June 20th for the main event and I'll prob take a shot or 2 at the super satty's at the Rio in the days leading up to the Main event.
I decided to play some PLO cash last night at the Rio. I played the 5/5 PLO until late last night and found the game to be very juicy. It was being straddled 7/9 times an orbit, with 3 players abstaining from the straddle(1 of whom was this nit right here ), but luckily I was taken off the hook since the UTG decided to straddle on my button which was just fine by me. The game played really deep, really loose, and really agro. I just played tight and patient, booking a $185 win before retiring for bed, almost enough to pay my CP mega stack entry for today. The game was played on a time charge of $7/down, and the table had an agreement that the first pot over $300 paid the rake for everyone. This meant that the first pot over $300 would have to pay $63 in rake! Everyone else at the table didn't seem to mind winning this first pot, but I found it difficult to want to get involved until that rake got paid because I just don't see how it can be +EV to pay $63 in rake from one pot. Effectively this meant that the first $300 of that first pot is raked at 21%!
What does everyone else think of this arrangement? Should I even be playing a pot knowing it will potentially get raked for $63? I felt as though I should fold without even looking. Luckily the pots all hit $300 within 1-5 hands as the players were there to gamboool, so I just had to fold a couple hands and then got to play rake free all night.
This morning I went over to Caesars for the noon $235 mega stack. I hit the Rio buffet with my friend Mike, then we both went down to CP to register for the event around 12:15. We ended up getting seated at the same table, with Mike in the 8 seat, and me in the 9 seat. I don't think he was thrilled about having me directly to his left, but I thought it was funny. Overall my first table draw was not too great, as it was a pretty laggy table with mostly younger players. I ended up getting rivered in a close to 30k pot that crippled me, then went out when I pushed over the top of a raise with an M of 4 w KK and losing the allin to 77. That hand was pretty standard as the preflop raiser was getting more than 2.5-1 to call just a bit unlucky for me.
The key hand from todays MTT: blinds at 200/400 no ante. UTG +2 raises to 1100, 2 MP callers, and I call on the button w KsJs. Pot is 5000. Flop is Jd 6h 7d. UTG +2 checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets 4500 leaving 7800 more behind. I have MP2 covered but just barely(by 2800). The other 2 players in the hand have me covered. What would you do in this spot? Villain was very agro, and had already busted and re-entered once. I decided to flat call with the PFR still behind me, as I thought villain likely had a flush draw, but I didn't want to raise into the other 2 players. I figure at this point I may still be able to get away from the hand if the other 2 players show strength, and if we end up HU on a non diamond turn I'd have to put the rest in. I just felt that Villain's big bet was screaming please fold...it just did not feel like a value bet. The other 2 players fold leaving me in position HU on the turn.
Turn brings the 8h making the board Jd 6h 7d 8h, pot is 14,000. Villain ships 7800. I call and villain shows Ad 9d for the nut flush draw + oesd + overcard. River brought the 10d and I was left crippled with just 2800 chips. I went out a few hands later in the 300/600 level with 3700 chips all in preflop w KK v 77. GG me. I wasn't really upset though as I think I played well just caught the bad end of variance today....can't win 'em all.
After the tournament I was able to make it back home in time to watch the Nationals game. Stephen Strasburg is sick! 14k's in 7 innings! I never thought he'd be able to live up to the hype in his first start, but he actually went out there and exceeded expectations! And to top things off Ike Davis hit a walk off home run to win for my NY Mets!
I'm heading back down to the Rio now to play some of the PLO cash games and maybe a STT or two, then planning to try out the 1PM $200 WSOP deepstack event tomorrow.
Stayed up late last night to play the 5/5 PLO at the rio. Game was pretty good but I wasn't running particularly well and finished my session down just a tad over $400. I rebounded a bit in the PLO tonight after playing the 1PM WSOP daily deepstack though and got almost $100 of it back in a short session. I played the PLO for about 2 hrs. tonight but was starting to get sleepy as I also played the 1PM tourney for 7.5 hours beforehand.
The 1PM $200 daily deepstack at the WSOP is an excellent tournament. I decided to get a little extra rest this morning so I didn't get downstairs to register until about 1:30, which was fine since it was still just the beginning of the 50/100 level. With 15k starting chips I was still starting out with 150BB's which is more than enough. The tournament got 267 runners and was paying 27 spots, with first place taking home a cool $10,800. Not bad for a $200 MTT. I think this tournament is going to pickup steam and draw more players as the series continues.
Key hand of the day:
I found myelf in a pretty tough spot early in the tournament during level 3 with the blinds at 75/150. I had chipped down a little bit at this point and started the hand with 12,700 when I picked up JdJs UTG. I decided to bring it in for a standard 3x raise to 450. A pretty loose and aggressive player in MP re-raised to 1050, the SB cold called the 1050 and the BB folded. Both villains have me covered. I decided this early in the tournament that I would just call the 600 extra and re-evaluate the hand on the flop, but was thinking I may end up just playing the hand for set value. So we go 3 ways to the flop with 3,300 in the pot and I have 11,650 behind.
Flop comes 3c 4s 7c. SB checks. I consider leading out, but decide to check and see what the 3bettor does, plus if he bets I can gain some information about the strength of the SB's hand before putting more chips into the pot. The MP player then takes the 5k chip that he was using as his card protector and casually tosses it into the pot. SB mucks and now its back to me. I went into the tank for about 2 or 3 minutes just trying to make sense of this overbet. The smallish size of the 3bet preflop had me thinking that villain was desperate to get action preflop, but now this overbet on the flop of 5k into 3,300 had me thinking that villain was trying to shut the hand down on the flop. The more I thought about it, I just felt as though villain was trying to protect a vulnerable overpair like 99 or 1010. Then villain called the clock on me. At this point I was pretty sure of my read and felt pretty confident that villain was more likely to hold 99 or 1010 given the action than QQ-AA, so I decided to move in. Villain snap called the additional 6,650 and tabled 99! Whew! My JJ held and I doubled up.
From that point I continued to build my stack up and got to the dinner break with 46k chips. After the dinner break the blinds were at 1,500-3,000 with a 400 ante, making the CPR(cost per round) 8,500, so even though my stack was just slightly below average, my M was just 5.4! The 1st hand back from dinner break I picked up AKo in MP. It folded to me and I decided to open shove. Everyone folds and I pickup 8,500 chips. 3 hands later I pickup AcKc UTG with 52,900 behind and an M of 6.2. I consider opening to 2.5-3x but I really dislike my postflop position if someone calls to take a flop in position against me. There were a few players calling raises at this table when they really should be reshipping or folding. I think the worst thing that could happen here is that I raise to 7500, miss the flop(which I will 2/3 of the time), cbet another 12k(half pot) on the flop, and then lose the hand. That potential scenario would leave me with just 33,400 chips going into the BB next hand. After factoring in the BB + ante, I would have just 30k chips and an M of 3.5 in the BB the next hand, which would eliminate the possibility of a resteal shove since I would not have enough chips to have fold equity. I also hate the line of just check folding 2/3 of the time when I miss the flop. Additionally, open shoving in this spot with such a strong hand adds a small amount of deception to my hand strength and may induce a call from a hand like AQ or AJ. Finally, shoving puts maximum pressure on my opponents to fold pocket pairs that I am flipping against, thus increasing my chances of picking up some chips without putting my tournament life at risk. I really prefer to keep my M above 7 in the late stages of tourneys because resteal shoves are a very big part of my game. Considering all these factors, I decided to open shove. Everyone folds around to the SB, who then goes into the tank. He has me covered but just barely, maybe by about 6,000(2BB's). Finally he decides to make the call and the BB gets out of the way. SB tables 1010 and we are off to the races!
Before the dealer spreads the flop we make a side bet that the winner of the hand will pay the loser $40. Flop comes 4c 5c 6s bringing me the nut flush draw + two overcards. Unfortunately, I bricked the turn and the river and hit the rail in 76th place out of 267. At least I got $40 from our side bet but of course I would have preferred the 100k+ pot.
Tomorrow I plan on playing in the 1PM daily deepstack at the WSOP again. I had originally planned on playing the Venetian DSE tomorrow, but I'm staying at the Rio right now so the convenience factor of just going downstairs and the chance to catch an extra hour of sleep makes it a pretty easy decision. Hopefully I can make a deep run tomorrow!
Hey Scott, good to see you posting here. That first PLO game at the Rio sounds insane... every pot straddled and you essentially don't have to pay any rake.
Hey Scott, good to see you posting here. That first PLO game at the Rio sounds insane... every pot straddled and you essentially don't have to pay any rake.
I went down and played the daily deepstack at the WSOP again today. The tournament got a pretty solid turnout, with 259 runners. I did not get the greatest table draw, with the 4 most active and aggressive players directly to my left, and all of the tight passive players to my right. But, in tournament poker you need to just try and make the best of a bad situation, as you can not just get a seat or table change like in a cash game. The one advantage to the table though was that my blind was almost never under attack, with players routinely open limping from late position into my big blind. I was able to steal a few of these with some well timed 5-7x raises out of the blinds. I also picked up a nice little pot when the 70+ year old lady 2 to my right opened to 3x and the other old lady next to her called. I picked up a beautiful 4h10h on the button and just felt like a big 3bet would get way more respect than it deserved so I put in a re-raise to 3.5 times the original raise. They both mucked pretty fast. After the hand they asked me what I had and told them I had 10 4 of hearts and they laughed...then I said just kidding I had QQ and they told me nice hand lol
My day ended a little earlier than I would have liked though on a pretty standard cooler. I picked up AKo UTG with an M of 10.5. I opened to 2.5x and an aggressive player in MP re-raised to exactly triple my bet. It folds back around to me and I contemplate what to do. I hate flat calling out of position, then check folding the flop 2/3 of the time and just giving away 30% of my stack. I also hate folding here, especially to a young aggressive player that likely has a wider range than the average live player. I feel that I don't have a ton of fold equity, but a 4 bet shove in this spot from UTG looks very strong and will likely fold out the bottom of villains range. I figure his range to be about 1010+ and AQ+ with maybe a 5-10% chance its just a random move. I think he is probably folding 1010 and AQ to a shove, tanking with JJ, and calling with QQ+ and AK based on our few hours together at the table. I decide that I just can not fold in this spot, and flat calling seems like a pretty bad option as well, so I decide to ship it. Villain goes into the tank for about a minute and a half and keeps asking me if I have KK or AA. I put my headphones on and ignore him. Finally he calls and tables QQ. I brick all 5 cards and hit the rail in 157/259. We had been pretty friendly and he got up to shake my hand, so I asked him if he calls there with JJ and he said no, in fact he said that he was very close to laying down QQ. I feel good about my play of the hand, as I think in the end it was just a pretty standard cooler. Its just one of those situations in poker where both players make the correct decision and the hand essentially plays itself.
After the tournament I went for a short workout and spent about an hour at the Rio spa getting some much needed rest and relaxation. Now i'm heading back to the WSOP to check out the 5/5 PLO. When I left they already had 5 games running so hopefully it will be busy. Today was the $1500 PLO event so I expect the action to be wild and crazy!
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), but luckily I was taken off the hook since the UTG decided to straddle on my button which was just fine by me. The game played really deep, really loose, and really agro. I just played tight and patient, booking a $185 win before retiring for bed, almost enough to pay my CP mega stack entry for today. The game was played on a time charge of $7/down, and the table had an agreement that the first pot over $300 paid the rake for everyone. This meant that the first pot over $300 would have to pay $63 in rake! Everyone else at the table didn't seem to mind winning this first pot, but I found it difficult to want to get involved until that rake got paid because I just don't see how it can be +EV to pay $63 in rake from one pot. Effectively this meant that the first $300 of that first pot is raked at 21%! 
