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!