I played a hand a few months ago during my first trip to Vegas in a 5/10 cash game at the Venetian that I think is interesting, or at the very least eye-opening for me as I have spent 10+ hours thinking about this one. Would love your input.

I went to Vegas with, in retrospect, a somewhat gambly, nonprofessional state of mind. I had received my check for 19K from the “Chipgate” resolution and immediately booked a 10 day trip for the WSOP for which I budgeted $10,000. I am a tournament guy but consciously wanted to play some 5/10 this trip to challenge myself in a tough game and see if I could approach poker in terms of a good hourly wage. I read Ed Miller’s 1% the week before my trip and thought I was well prepared for the sort of villains I would be facing (ones approaching the game from a betting frequency perspective).

I showed a profit for the first half of my trip, having a few good cash sessions and cashing in 2 of 5 tourneys including the Millionaire Maker. After busting the millionaire maker I went to the Venetian to play cash, it was a Sunday night. I believe I can usually tell how people play just by looking at their faces and when I sat down I immediately felt this might be the toughest game I ever played in. The players all seem to know one another, all pros in my estimation. I bought in for $600 at 5/10 and doubled up with KK right away. Over the next 3 hours I had my stack up to $8400. I was getting great cards but also making some moves and showing myself to be competent. A guy bet $800 on the river into a pot of $500 on a board of AK552 and I called with 77 and won. I also called down a guy with Q high and won a small pot. I was doing well with my playing style which is to try to look like a conventionally exploitable nit who rarely 3 bets and flats 3 bets OOP but then just stick around in a hand and make big bets on turns or rivers (where often most TAG players have abandoned ship).  I know, about an hour into this session, there was a hand that had all the pros at the table watching me very closely where I floated a flop with a junk hand and then check raised my opponent’s turn barrel and made the guy tank fold…I think they were all highly suspicious of this bet and at this point I think they all had me pegged as someone who is willing to put a lot of $ in the middle to take down a pot. The players were adjusting to my play by increasing their bet sizing. They saw I was calling every 3bet and most c bets. I opened a pot for $40 and a guy three bet me to $200 and I mucked AJoff. One guy c bet 1.5x of pot and I folded. I contemplated leaving but decided I would stay but play tighter and try not to give too much away.

Difficult of course to know precisely how I was viewed by the table but they would be certainly be crushed if I had left the game at this point. I think they saw me not necessarily as a fish on a heater but as a recreational player who is capable of making big mistakes and giving it all back. On my left is a portly 60 year old Mediterranean guy who is giving me hell and complaining about how lucky I am and mocking me and the rest of the table wants him to pipe down. One pro begins asking me about hands from the millionaire maker and being very social and I get the sense he is the liason to make sure I am having a good time at the table. There is one older guy who is an obvious recreational player who only has played 10% of hands but the rest are pros and frankly it occurs to me at this point that there was a 7 versus 1 feel to the table…I’m the one they are here to win money off. When I build my big stack several of them reach into their cash bags and add a few more thousand to their stacks. The Villain of the hand I want to share was this young Asian kid sitting to my direct right. I have not seen him play any big pots but he is playing what I consider to be the essential pro style…3betting in position and then barreling away until his opponent folds.  After it became obvious that I was tightening up the Asian kid tells me “you know you haven’t played a hand in an hour” and the rest of the players watch this and are obviously frustrated I stopped giving action. Naturally, I oblige them and decide to play a big pot a few minutes later…

Sorry, probably way too much information so here’s the hand…I start this hand with just under 8K and the villain has over 5K. The passive amateur player raises from early position to $30 and the villain in the cutoff makes it $120, I have 9h10h on the button and I four bet to $275. I have not been 3 or 4betting much and I thought this was a good time to steal a pot. I thought my bet sizing might be a little smallish and look like I had a monster hand and was trying to induce a reraise. The amateur sighs and folds and the Villain quickly throws in a call. There is $595 in the pot and the flop is Jh7h3c. I have a flush draw and a gut shot. The villain checks and I bet $275. My plan is to reraise him if he check raises me here. Villain quickly throws in a call. Quite honestly I don’t really pause here to put him on a range, but I certainly know he is capable of floating with air and I am certain that I am not done fighting for this pot.

The pot is now $1145 and the turn is the 6d. Villain quickly checks and I think for a few seconds before checking behind. I decide I don’t care what the river is, if he leads out I will be raising him(well, I would just call if 10 or 9 hits).The river is the As. The final board is J736A with no flush, 45 is the nuts. I have ten high. All the action on the river takes a total of about 4 seconds: the villain bets $600, I say “$1400” and begin counting out my chips, the villain says “$2700” and throws two fistfuls of black chips in the middle while providing a falling bomb sound effect, I hurl my cards in the muck and the villain show 2-8off and pulls in the pot. WTF! Absolutely owned.