2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Eight

Las Vegas - Bellagio
Originally uploaded by GlobeTrotter 2000

I got up at 2:30 PM, and was slow to get started. I am beginning to feel the effects of my non-schedule schedule. It took me many hours to get my daily writing and blogging done, and it was a long slow process, made slower by my seeming lack of energy. I didn't get yesterday's blog post put to bed until after 9 PM, and I didn't get out to play cards until after 11.

Once again I headed out to the Strip. This time I went to Bellagio. I got seated right away in a 15-30 hold'em game, and was called after only a few minutes to a 30-60. Surprise! Two seats to my right was MitchL, a regular in the Oaks' 30-60 game and a poster to the 2+2 Mid-Limit Hold'em forum. Later on Muriel, another 30-60 regular sat down to my left.

It was a decent game, with some good soft spots. Aside from Mitch, there were a couple of other young aggressive players, but there was also a LAG in seat one whose number I had, and I took shameless advantage of him.

I took a few beats early on, losing half my stack, but I was able to work it back up above water in short order. Eventually the game got short (Mitch left before this) and broke, and we were moved to empty seats at another table — where yet another Oaks regular (a man whose name I should know but don't) was playing. "The gang's all here," I told him. "All we need now is Ms. Davis!" He laughed.

Eventually I got tired of limit hold'em, so I picked up at about 4:00 AM, more than a rack ahead. I wasn't quite ready to retire for the morning, so I headed over to the Rio to see what was going on in the Amazon Room. Not all that much was, as it turned out. The only decent game in my price range was the 75-150 Omaha/8 game, and I'm just not a good enough Omaha player to take that game on. But on the lower-limit side there was a 20-40 mix game: BOTERS (Badugi, Omaha/8, Triple-Draw 2-7, Eight-or-Better Stud, Razz, and Stud High). There was a seat open, and I couldn't resist. I've been tempted by the higher-limit mixed games, but have been feeling not quite up to speed, particularly in badugi. I have a clue or two, but only a clue or two, plus basic card sense. In the other games I range from adequate (Omaha/8) to expert (stud/8). I told the player to my left that it this particular mix could be better called "STROBE."

It turned out to be an action game with one serious live one throwing a party (for example, in one hand of razz, after a king brought it in the live one raised the bring-in with a ten in the door, with baby cards acting after him. He got hammered that hand, and many others, and he was complaining bitterly to the dealer about it. But he wasn't the only bad player at the table, just the worst. I had a major overlay in all the games except perhaps badugi, as it turned out. I quickly got ahead, and while the swings were like a couple of hundred dollars either way in a round, the trend was upwards.

I haven't been writing very much about celebrity-spotting: poker pros with name recognition are thick on the ground here, and were especially so during the stud/8 tournament. (I never mentioned, for example, spotting Jennifer Tilly walking back and forth while Sabyl Landrum, Bob Laurie, and I were hanging out during a break on the first day of the stud/8 tournament.) But after daybreak the player to my right said something about Mike Caro that I didn't quite hear. I asked him what he meant, and he said, "Over there. In the blue jacket." Sure enough, it was Mike, sitting down to play in the 75-150 Omaha/8 game. He is something of a poker hero of mine, and he was a regular on rec.gambling.poker back in the day that I was one too. So at a good point in my game (during an Omaha round) I went over to say hello.

By the time I left the game just before 10:00 AM, I was up $700. I wouldn't have stayed anywhere near so long except that I was getting hungry as I played, and the only food available anywhere near the Amazon Room was room service delivery of breakfast. So I ordered some French toast at a ridiculous markup, and waited more than an hour for it to be delivered, playing (and winning) as I waited. It took time to eat while I played as well. Finally I was finished, and I waited out the stud/8 round before picking up, cashing out, and heading back to bed.

2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Zero
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day One
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Two
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Three
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Four
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Five
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Six
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Seven
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Nine and Ten
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Eleven and Twelve

Tags: poker wsop world series of poker las vegas trip report travelogue eight-or-better stud holdem omaha triple-draw razz badugi bellagio rio mike caro