LAS VEGAS–So after starting off my trip pretty well, I hit the skids big-time. I also finally tried my hand at blackjack. (Not good.) So to prevent myself from spending six weeks out at the WSOP working for \”free,\” I did what a handful of down-on-their-luck pros have to do … dropped my stakes and reverted to straight-forward poker.
Even at the MGM\’s $1/$2 NL it wasn\’t looking good. Lost a chunk of my first stack when double scare cards came on the turn and river. I\’m pretty sure the dude had nothing, but I couldn\’t call. (I had flopped top pair with QJs, and two aces came. My opponent was Asian.) Then a couple hands later, I went bust with pocket queens … I was way ahead when the money went in, but way behind on the turn, and even more behind by the river.
But it was interesting … because playing \”lower\” stakes made that sort of happenstance far less bothersome. I simply rebought, and played my game. Or I should say Gonz\’s game, because I actually folded trouble hands pre-flop. My second (and pre-decided last) buy-in got down to like $55 … but at $1/$2, I was able to wait and wait until I found pocket kings. From there, the poker was easy.
Buy-in(s): $360 (2)
Cash out: $655
Net: +$295
Highlight: realizing that I was clearly better than half the table, at least two of whom had no clue how much dead money they really were. \”We\’re just trading chips back and forth really … hey, you got a lot of them now … hey, where you going?\”