Every poker player dreams of playing at the WSOP, main event or not, just being there is going to be an experience. I have played in Vegas before but not the WSOP. It is like poker's mecca where all the poker nuts from all over the world flock. The buzz must be amazing. When I go, I will make sure to take videos and post them here for you all to see.
There are decent events to make it an affordable trip like the $1500 Millionaire Maker or the $565 Colossus, Little One Drop $1111, all pretty good events. This year they have also raised the starting chips to non-championship events to 500bbs. That is a great starting stack to play proper poker! Payout structure has been flattened to pay top 15%.
Las Vegas itself is a place you have to visit at least once in your life. The city never sleeps, although hot as hell but indoors you feel like you're walking from one palace to another. By the way, walking from one casino to another seems like a mission, because I am sure it is designed in a way that you are discouraged to go "next door".
I still remember my Vegas trip fondly, staying at the Riviera, playing poker and craps there. I went to the Bellagio where they filmed Ocean's Eleven, Golden Nugget - one of the oldest casinos there, and many more. But I think I just visited 5% of all the casinos around.
So are you interested in going? I would if I wasn't working and had a bigger bankroll. Maybe next year.
http://www.wsop.com/2016/2016-WSOP-Schedule.pdf
Wednesday 24 February 2016
Monday 22 February 2016
Inspiring picture!
Thursday 11 February 2016
Venetian Macau Poker Room - REVIEW
Venetian Macau is home to the Poker King Club. Winfred Yu is instrumental in bringing the big names of poker like Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, etc to Macau. It started at the Starworld Casino and now has moved to the Venetian. Poker King can also be credited in helping the poker boom in Macau, with the Poker King movie and early tournaments etc. My friend, fellow Penangnite Sam Nee is also now a Poker King Pro, so there is a tendency for me to support this room as well.
First of all the casino is beautiful, although for me it is weirdly designed, but the interiors are nicely done. I hate that perfume that they blast throughout the casino though. The casino is typical of the Sands group layout. Pretty clumped and tight with some walkways in the middle. So it can get crowded and noisy. Thankfully the poker room is in one corner where there is ample space.
Games range from 25/50 (typically only one table) to 300/600. The staff there are reasonably okay but the dealers can be quite bad. Some of them don't speak English at all, and if you understand Cantonese or Mandarin, they sometimes make comments about foreign players. The buy in is weird too. They only give you 1000 chips and try not to give small denominations so the game is often delayed for changing chips, breaking big chips etc. The game is slower than the other rooms.
There are plenty of passer bys though. You will see many players sneaking by to get a peek of the action. Some of them eventually venture onto the tables. However since there is only one 25/50, it is hard to get many brave souls to play. Free drinks are limited and not good. Service staff are scarce and I have a feeling that all of the staff are paid less compared to other casinos because it seems like they really hate their jobs.
Worst thing of the poker room is the rake. On the 50/100 game, the rake is capped at 500 compared to 200 at other games. (Galaxy is offering a opening special, capped at 100) Some players justify this by saying it drives the grinders away so the game is softer. I still see plenty of grinders, but only when Wynn is full. Yes newbies don't care about the rake, but in my last session alone I think I was raked at least HKD 2000-3000 personally.
The casino is crowded, the room is noisy. You will hear the sounds of the slot machines, lucky wheel, etc. Chips are heavy and nice to hold, the 1000 chips must be at least 17.5g or heavier. I wouldn't go to this room unless I can't get a good game elsewhere.
City Of Dreams Macau Poker Room - REVIEW
City of Dreams Macau is home to the Pokerstars LIVE room. It is the place to be if you love tournaments. They have daily tournaments most days, and a cash game area as well. Located on the 1st floor of the casino, it is next to the SOHO food "court". The casino was previously called the Hard Rock casino. The casino itself is spacious and not as crammed as some of the other ones. It feels more modern than most and since it is owned by Crown, it feels similar to Crown Melbourne.
The poker area is away from most of the table games so it is quieter but also less foot traffic. Not many people walk by so not many spectators and I would assume less newbie players. The chips are light and ugly as hell if you ask me. See for yourself.
The poker area is away from most of the table games so it is quieter but also less foot traffic. Not many people walk by so not many spectators and I would assume less newbie players. The chips are light and ugly as hell if you ask me. See for yourself.
Cash games are not as strong as the other places. Usually you will see 2 tables or so even at busy periods. I don't remember what the rake is, but on Google, some sites say they have a flat cap of HKD 200 for all games. Which is decent by Asian standards. My few times playing there, I felt the game was pretty nitty but not many pros.
Other than water and maybe some basic stuff, I think there aren't much choice in terms of free drinks. I remembered having to pay for orange juice. Service is reasonably okay, staff are generally friendly. But this is the place to go if you are looking for tournament action. Their Saturday tournament has a 100k guarantee for a 3k buy in. Although I was a bit disappointed when they said they might cancel the tournament if they don't hit a minimum number of players. Then why guarantee? Everyone wants an overlay! Haha.
The seats are really comfy, nice posh leather seats. It can be quite a nice place to play. However somehow I don't like playing cash games there. I find more action and selection at other rooms but I do recommend the tournaments. I will be playing in the Baby Dragon next Saturday. If anyone wants to hook up do drop me a message.
Wednesday 10 February 2016
Wynn Macau Poker Room - REVIEW
Wynn to begin with is a beautiful casino. Classy, nicely spaced, nice uniforms, interiors, thick carpets, decent seats, cool chips. The poker room is kinda towards the end of the casino. But there are clear signs directing people to the poker room. There is also a decent flow of passer-by to attract the occasional curious fish.
The table is a good size, and you can sit 10 players with accompanying friends sitting beside comfortably. Free drinks including juice, wine, and I think beer. Good service compared to Macau standards. Rake is 5% capped at HKD 200 no matter the stakes! Don't tell Wynn this but that is such a great deal for grinders!
Games were hot while I was there, granted it was the Chinese New Year season, but decent daily cash games that run 24/7, always at least 1 or 2 tables going no matter what time it is. While I was there the stakes were from HKD 25/50 to 1000/2000. That's USD 150/300 or so.
The dealers were friendly and polite enough, action was fast and smooth, players usually courteous and well mannered. Free wifi provided and a waiting area for games. It is a very enjoyable poker room to play at.
There are some cons as well. Being the best rake of Macau, they attract a lot of grinders, so the game might be considered tougher than others, however you still get decent number of fish to keep most players happy. The other thing was it got so crowded I was twice on the table that was broken to up the stakes. But I guess good on them to run a good game that a lot of people wanted to play in.
The table is a good size, and you can sit 10 players with accompanying friends sitting beside comfortably. Free drinks including juice, wine, and I think beer. Good service compared to Macau standards. Rake is 5% capped at HKD 200 no matter the stakes! Don't tell Wynn this but that is such a great deal for grinders!
Games were hot while I was there, granted it was the Chinese New Year season, but decent daily cash games that run 24/7, always at least 1 or 2 tables going no matter what time it is. While I was there the stakes were from HKD 25/50 to 1000/2000. That's USD 150/300 or so.
The dealers were friendly and polite enough, action was fast and smooth, players usually courteous and well mannered. Free wifi provided and a waiting area for games. It is a very enjoyable poker room to play at.
There are some cons as well. Being the best rake of Macau, they attract a lot of grinders, so the game might be considered tougher than others, however you still get decent number of fish to keep most players happy. The other thing was it got so crowded I was twice on the table that was broken to up the stakes. But I guess good on them to run a good game that a lot of people wanted to play in.
5-day Macau Trip
Historically I have not done well in Macau. All my tournament cashes, I have not cashed once in Macau. This trip I come with a different mindset. 1. I am not playing with scared money 2. I am just there to have fun and play well, profit or loss is secondary. Well, how did it work out?
Right off the bat, first cash game session, I was even all the way. On the button I limped Q4 of clubs. Yes, I shouldn't be playing hands like that. 4 way call and I thought on the button I had a good price. (btw, I played HKD25/50 and 50/100 which is like USD 3/6 and 6/12) Flop three clubs with the King! I flopped second nuts! Cha-ching! Sb leads out, I raised it a bit. He called. Turn he checked I bet and he calls. River he bets, I shove, he tanks. Then calls. I flip over my hand thinking I won the pot. He flipped over the stone cold nuts. WTH. First session already I got slow rolled. HKD 14k pot. (USD 2000+-)
Villain is a TAG from Spain. He and a few friends are playing poker everyday in Macau, if not pro, I take as semi-pro, profitable player. He raises mid-post, I called on button with AT. Flop A5T two diamonds. He bets, I raise, he calls. He is capable of putting me on a flush/combo draw hand. Turn a blank 8. He checks, I bet big. He calls. River non-diamond K. I hate that river. He checks. Do I bet for value? Do I check? I think he will pay me off with AQ, AJ any ace even. QT, KT, JT possible in his range as well. JJ, QQ he might not call, but still within his range. I bet the same bet as the turn, he calls and flips over AK. HKD 15k pot. 6.82% dog...... The curse of Macau continues
Same table, same session, this guy above, his friend, also a solid TAG was the villain. Preflop loose passive player raises, I called on the cut off with QJ, villain calls on the small blind. Flop comes 776. Checked round. Turn 6. Villain checks again, preflop raiser bets almost pot size. Unlikely he did not cbet the flop and suddenly likes the turn. My queen high might be good but I doubt it, so I almost min-raised him to 800. Villain tanks and reraises to 2000, initial raiser folds. For me the hand doesn't make sense. Villain is the most likely to have a 7/6 in his hand, but as a TAG would he call in the sb with that range? I don't think so. Quads seem more believable than a fullhouse, but would he raise there? The board is more likely to hit me than him. So I tanked and min-raised to 4000. He snap folds.
Overall I lost money again on this trip, but I played much better and more solid in the last few sessions. The last 4 sessions I won all of them. I was quite happy with my play in the end. Made 4 or so key mistakes early in the trip, but I cleaned up my play towards the end and it showed in the bottom line. Scored a decent rate at the Sheraton on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, great room with views of Studio City. Decent trip overall. Too bad still down but I learned a lot in this trip too. Will be doing poker room reviews later!
Right off the bat, first cash game session, I was even all the way. On the button I limped Q4 of clubs. Yes, I shouldn't be playing hands like that. 4 way call and I thought on the button I had a good price. (btw, I played HKD25/50 and 50/100 which is like USD 3/6 and 6/12) Flop three clubs with the King! I flopped second nuts! Cha-ching! Sb leads out, I raised it a bit. He called. Turn he checked I bet and he calls. River he bets, I shove, he tanks. Then calls. I flip over my hand thinking I won the pot. He flipped over the stone cold nuts. WTH. First session already I got slow rolled. HKD 14k pot. (USD 2000+-)
Villain is a TAG from Spain. He and a few friends are playing poker everyday in Macau, if not pro, I take as semi-pro, profitable player. He raises mid-post, I called on button with AT. Flop A5T two diamonds. He bets, I raise, he calls. He is capable of putting me on a flush/combo draw hand. Turn a blank 8. He checks, I bet big. He calls. River non-diamond K. I hate that river. He checks. Do I bet for value? Do I check? I think he will pay me off with AQ, AJ any ace even. QT, KT, JT possible in his range as well. JJ, QQ he might not call, but still within his range. I bet the same bet as the turn, he calls and flips over AK. HKD 15k pot. 6.82% dog...... The curse of Macau continues
Same table, same session, this guy above, his friend, also a solid TAG was the villain. Preflop loose passive player raises, I called on the cut off with QJ, villain calls on the small blind. Flop comes 776. Checked round. Turn 6. Villain checks again, preflop raiser bets almost pot size. Unlikely he did not cbet the flop and suddenly likes the turn. My queen high might be good but I doubt it, so I almost min-raised him to 800. Villain tanks and reraises to 2000, initial raiser folds. For me the hand doesn't make sense. Villain is the most likely to have a 7/6 in his hand, but as a TAG would he call in the sb with that range? I don't think so. Quads seem more believable than a fullhouse, but would he raise there? The board is more likely to hit me than him. So I tanked and min-raised to 4000. He snap folds.
Overall I lost money again on this trip, but I played much better and more solid in the last few sessions. The last 4 sessions I won all of them. I was quite happy with my play in the end. Made 4 or so key mistakes early in the trip, but I cleaned up my play towards the end and it showed in the bottom line. Scored a decent rate at the Sheraton on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, great room with views of Studio City. Decent trip overall. Too bad still down but I learned a lot in this trip too. Will be doing poker room reviews later!
Weekend Poker Excursion (part 2)
Let me share a few more key hands. Tight player (whom I have known for at least a year and played probably more than a 100 sessions together) raised in early position, a few callers and I was on the button with 65 off. In my previous articles on hand ranges I mentioned that I don't like to play broadway hands against tight players but love low cards. I folded QK suited to a min raise from the same player and he showed me KK.
Back to the hand, flop was 355 two diamonds. Woohoo, cha-ching. Preflop raiser cbet the flop, everyone folded except villain on my right and me. Preflop raiser might have Ace high flush draw or over pair. Villain just called the flop likely have a similar hand but I don't think an over pair like 8s or 9s can call again knowing the raiser's image. He may have 64 for the open ender but I was holding the blocker 6. He may be trapping with a stronger 5. So I decided to just flat. If he has a stronger 5, we are both pretty deep, I want to pot control. If he has a draw, a raise can still price him in. I put the raiser on a strong hand so he is likely to call any raise. If I am the only one with the 5, I am streets ahead and induce some bluffs at the end.
Turn came a 7, not a diamond. 64 got there, 57 I am in deep trouble. Preflop raiser bets again. Now he is a tight player, unlikely he would be barrelling two streets without anything. Villain raises the turn! I didn't like the raise. What is he repping? 64? 6 or 4 with the flush draw? Protecting his strong 5? But I can't fold a 5 there so I just called. Preflop raiser calls again. River is a 3, completing my full house. I still lose to 57 or 77, but I doubt those hands would raise the turn. Both of them check, so I bet a decent amount. Preflop raiser folds, villain check shoves! My goodness, what can he have? If 57 or 77, credit on him for playing tricky, then I just have to pay him off. So I called pretty quickly. He showed a 3. I think he was raising for value. He didn't think I would just call the turn with the 5 given there are straight and flush draws. Huge pot came my way.
Actually I got lots more hands to share but these are old news already. I just came back from a 5-day trip to Macau. More juicy and bigger pots to share!
Back to the hand, flop was 355 two diamonds. Woohoo, cha-ching. Preflop raiser cbet the flop, everyone folded except villain on my right and me. Preflop raiser might have Ace high flush draw or over pair. Villain just called the flop likely have a similar hand but I don't think an over pair like 8s or 9s can call again knowing the raiser's image. He may have 64 for the open ender but I was holding the blocker 6. He may be trapping with a stronger 5. So I decided to just flat. If he has a stronger 5, we are both pretty deep, I want to pot control. If he has a draw, a raise can still price him in. I put the raiser on a strong hand so he is likely to call any raise. If I am the only one with the 5, I am streets ahead and induce some bluffs at the end.
Turn came a 7, not a diamond. 64 got there, 57 I am in deep trouble. Preflop raiser bets again. Now he is a tight player, unlikely he would be barrelling two streets without anything. Villain raises the turn! I didn't like the raise. What is he repping? 64? 6 or 4 with the flush draw? Protecting his strong 5? But I can't fold a 5 there so I just called. Preflop raiser calls again. River is a 3, completing my full house. I still lose to 57 or 77, but I doubt those hands would raise the turn. Both of them check, so I bet a decent amount. Preflop raiser folds, villain check shoves! My goodness, what can he have? If 57 or 77, credit on him for playing tricky, then I just have to pay him off. So I called pretty quickly. He showed a 3. I think he was raising for value. He didn't think I would just call the turn with the 5 given there are straight and flush draws. Huge pot came my way.
Actually I got lots more hands to share but these are old news already. I just came back from a 5-day trip to Macau. More juicy and bigger pots to share!
Wednesday 3 February 2016
Weekend Poker Excursion (Part 1)
This past weekend I went home and played poker for two nights. First night I won 235bb and it was one of the bigger stakes in my repertoire. Quite a good trip as I got to see some old friends, make some new friends, make some new rivals, meet my old rivals, rejuvenated an old friendship. Yes bro, I missed you. In this two nights there were a few very interesting hands which I will share with you later. But I made a few good moves that I wouldn't have done before mainly because:
1. I manage my bankroll much better than before: I play no fear poker now, so I don't have to think about the money, what if I'm wrong, etc. I just go with my read and play 100%
2. Combinatorics gave me a new perspective on price and odds.
3. Hand range reading helped me a lot as well.
First of all I will share with you one of my bluffs:
One hand I had 79 of hearts. Villain is an aggro player in the Button, I was in late position. I limped but villain raised it to 5x. 2 callers to me so I called. Flop was 622 two hearts. I had two over cards and the flush draw. Pretty good flop for me. I checked, Villain bets strong, everyone else folded, I called.
Turn was another 6. I checked again, villain bets again. In the past I would have folded this spot. But I floated the turn. Actually I tanked a bit and called. The reason being is the villain is unlikely to have a 6 nor a 2 in this spot. If he has an over pair, he won't love my turn call. If the river comes a heart, I can bet for value or check raise but unlikely he would bet the river. If the river is not the two outer of his over pair, I can bet and and take it down. By not raising my flush draw on the flop I can represent a 6 in my hand quite easily. So river came a black Q. I tanked and lead out for about 60% of the pot. He folded.
Another hand I played quite tricky was this:
Mid position preflop I had KK. Foo Foo from early position raised (he said he had QQ - fish). I 3bet and sb min raised me. Foo Foo folded. Min raise seem really strong to me but not knowing what Foo Foo raised with, I thought villain may have QQ or AA. I was once told, when you have Kings and you think your opponent may have Aces, then go all in on the flop instead of preflop. That way you might still get him/her to fold. If he has Queens, he is not going to call my 5bet. So I just called. Flop was rainbow Jack high. He leads out again. Jamming was about min raise ++ so I did. He snap called with Jacks for the top set. Turn came the King and I won.
While I am not proud for sucking out on the turn, in the long run I feel I made the right move. What if the flop came 10 high, 8 high, it would be the same result and I would win most of the time. If I 5bet pre I would not have maximised the value.
Another crazy hand:
Preflop I had 68 of hearts, I raised, villain (same guy as the bluff hand I mentioned above) called from the button again. Yes he had position on me. Flop was AdKd7h. I cbet, he called. Turn was 5h I had open ended straight flush draw. I bet quite strong, he called. River was Qh. I made my runner runner flush. How can I extract max value? I over bet the pot, but I did hollywood it a little, make it look like I didn't want to. I bet 500 and had just 400 behind. He snap shoved. Now, let's discuss why did he do that. Obviously his hand either has me beat badly or he missed his draw as well. I looked like bluffing and still had fold equity with the 400 behind. It seems very unlikely I had the flush so I might be able to fold monsters like two pairs. But one fundamental mistake he made was what could I have. I am over betting the river with either close to nuts or nothing at all. If I had nothing, he could actually call off and might be good. If I had close to nuts I am not folding. Anyway I snap called and he had nothing.
To be continued....
1. I manage my bankroll much better than before: I play no fear poker now, so I don't have to think about the money, what if I'm wrong, etc. I just go with my read and play 100%
2. Combinatorics gave me a new perspective on price and odds.
3. Hand range reading helped me a lot as well.
First of all I will share with you one of my bluffs:
One hand I had 79 of hearts. Villain is an aggro player in the Button, I was in late position. I limped but villain raised it to 5x. 2 callers to me so I called. Flop was 622 two hearts. I had two over cards and the flush draw. Pretty good flop for me. I checked, Villain bets strong, everyone else folded, I called.
Turn was another 6. I checked again, villain bets again. In the past I would have folded this spot. But I floated the turn. Actually I tanked a bit and called. The reason being is the villain is unlikely to have a 6 nor a 2 in this spot. If he has an over pair, he won't love my turn call. If the river comes a heart, I can bet for value or check raise but unlikely he would bet the river. If the river is not the two outer of his over pair, I can bet and and take it down. By not raising my flush draw on the flop I can represent a 6 in my hand quite easily. So river came a black Q. I tanked and lead out for about 60% of the pot. He folded.
Another hand I played quite tricky was this:
Mid position preflop I had KK. Foo Foo from early position raised (he said he had QQ - fish). I 3bet and sb min raised me. Foo Foo folded. Min raise seem really strong to me but not knowing what Foo Foo raised with, I thought villain may have QQ or AA. I was once told, when you have Kings and you think your opponent may have Aces, then go all in on the flop instead of preflop. That way you might still get him/her to fold. If he has Queens, he is not going to call my 5bet. So I just called. Flop was rainbow Jack high. He leads out again. Jamming was about min raise ++ so I did. He snap called with Jacks for the top set. Turn came the King and I won.
While I am not proud for sucking out on the turn, in the long run I feel I made the right move. What if the flop came 10 high, 8 high, it would be the same result and I would win most of the time. If I 5bet pre I would not have maximised the value.
Another crazy hand:
Preflop I had 68 of hearts, I raised, villain (same guy as the bluff hand I mentioned above) called from the button again. Yes he had position on me. Flop was AdKd7h. I cbet, he called. Turn was 5h I had open ended straight flush draw. I bet quite strong, he called. River was Qh. I made my runner runner flush. How can I extract max value? I over bet the pot, but I did hollywood it a little, make it look like I didn't want to. I bet 500 and had just 400 behind. He snap shoved. Now, let's discuss why did he do that. Obviously his hand either has me beat badly or he missed his draw as well. I looked like bluffing and still had fold equity with the 400 behind. It seems very unlikely I had the flush so I might be able to fold monsters like two pairs. But one fundamental mistake he made was what could I have. I am over betting the river with either close to nuts or nothing at all. If I had nothing, he could actually call off and might be good. If I had close to nuts I am not folding. Anyway I snap called and he had nothing.
To be continued....
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