Casino poker

[K1-DK]

Im going to play a tournament in a casino for the first time tomorrow

Anyone who have some good advise about what to do and not to do and things to look for.

Im pretty much just doing this for the "have fun"-experience, with money i got for my birthday.

its a DKK 1000+100 tourney (about $200) so its not something that will make me go broke, but its a lot more than i normally play for.

[barbarella41]

Nice, best of luck to you then. And please give us a detailed record on your experience there.:)

[Slinky]

Good Luck K1...I cannot offer any advice sorry as i've never played live either :(

Hope it all goes well for you ;)

[Wonderjet]

Love playing in Casino's. So, if you are capable of reading opponents, it is very easy. They are not always as serious as when watching, WPT or WSOP as an example. picking up tells is overrated, but you will get a sense of their ways of betting; if studying while playing.
Best of luck

[K1-DK]

Report from my first ever Casino live tournament. Hope you will enjoy reading it:

Man!!

:D

What an experience. Loved it from the moment i started to i went out over 5 hours later.

Starting chips 7500. 40 players (300K chips total) payout to top 5.

level 1, 2 and 3.
sb/bb 50/100, 100/200 and 150/300. 30min each.

I fold the first 10 hands or so and following the saying, "if you cant spot the fish, its probably because its you" i very quickly decide to play tight.
So i dont play a hand the first 30 minuts. The blinds goes up to 100/200 and i look down into KK from UTG. I decide to raise it up high, since the the 2 people in SB and BB have not been very reluctant to give up their blinds. So i raise it to 900, which perhaps also has a lot to do with nerveusness. But i get one caller. Not one of the blinds as i expected, but from the button.
flop comes KcQc5d
I really belive that the caller have a big hand, but how big im not certain, but im sure he would not call with a mediocre hand. So i check to him and he bets 1000. I decide, that with 3100 in the pot and a startstack of 7500 thats is fine with me, so i "show him" what i have by reraising to 3000. I actually expected him to fold here, but instead he thinks for a short while and goes all-in. I quickly call. He shows up QQ and my set up Kings hold up.

That gives me the second largest stack at the table, so i start push it a bit around, and gets some pots without opposition. And when i do get callers i can push the off on the flop most of the time. One time i had to bet again on the turn with only 2. pair and A kicker, but he folded to that bet.

break. about 33-34 players left(avg about 9K). 19K chips.

levels 4,5,6 and 7
ante/sb/bb 0/200/400, 50/300/600, 50/400/800, 100/600/1200 all 20 min each

This was where i had decided before the tournament, that i would start to make some moves. But in the heat "of battle" i had attracted quite some attention just before the break, so i decided to go back to playing tight. As it turned out, i ran into a complete draught of cards, and didnt play a single hand in level 4,5 and 6 without i even noticed until afterwards.

In level 7 i pick up 33 in the cutoff and raise to 3xBB (3600). The player in BB is one of the best at the table and not one of the players i would prefer to play against, but he calls and stares me down... man my hearthrate went up to 180 just by him doing that. Flop come QhJh8h. A very scary flop for a 33. He checks and i bet another 3600. He looks at me a long time and much while he says. "I know you have nothing, but it could be more than my nothing". After i throw my hand away he says "pair of 5's?". I smile at him and says "You dont give me much credit for not playing a hand that long if you put me on that small a hand". That seemed to puzzle him a bit. I later lied to him in the next break by claiming i had ThTx.

break. 20 players left (avg 15K) 21K chips.

level 8,9,10 and 11
ante/sb/bb 100/800/1600, 200/1000/2000, 200/1200/2400, 200/1500/3000
20 min each

Now things start to fly around and people push with any A. I get to take down a few blinds and antes, but dont really get many hands to play with. I take a single shortstack out with AQ vs QT, but thats the only flop i see in level 8,9 and 10.
In level 11 im in sb and its folded around to me. BB is the table bigstack but he looks as if he doesnt like his hand. I decide to take a shoot at the pot and raises to 3xbb with nothing. He quickly calls and i know im beat unless i hit really well. I miss completely and check-folds the hand.

Just before the break we are 10 left and are at the final table. I was jumping up and down inside. This was much more than i could have hoped for. Avg is 30K and that is just about what i have. I pad myself on the shoulder for getting to FT in my first live tournament with about avg. We loose another player just before the break.

break.
9 players left avg is 33K and i have 31K
level 12, 13, 14 and 15
ante/sb/bb 300/2000/4000, 300/2500/5000, 400/3000/6000 and 400/4000/8000
20 min each

Now things really heat up. with 8700 in ante and blinds and avg at 33K not many players can sit around and wait for cards. I have a few reasonable hands that i push with, and take the blinds and ante. Later a guy looses a huge pot and has 1200 left. he goes all-in the next hand for his last 900 (300 ante) and i raise all-in with AK and BB folds, He has nothing and doesnt get lucky. I now get a no cards at all and when i have some mediocre hand i could have raised with someone is allready all-in.
I now just pretty much wait for the bubble for 2 reasons. 1, everyone seems to just push, and 2, i dont get any cards at all. with 6 players left im starting to be concerned (payout to top5). Im second to last in chips, but if the shortstack gets a single double up, we will be just about equal in chips. luckily for me she looses the hand where she decides to go all-in, and im in the money. We are now moving up to level 14 and i decide to just start taking shots a more pots. Being the shortstack with nothing more than about 25K there is not much i can do.
I am sitting in BB (5K). button raises to 10K. I joke and ask him if it is neccesary to look at my cards or if i should just push wihtout looking. He says its ok with him if i look. I look at the first card, and its As and i push without even looking at the other card. He calls. A2 vs Q5 and an A on the flop pretty much seals it.
with 50K in chips in suddenly not the shortstack anymore. The new short-stack (søren jensen who got 2nd place in EPT copenhagen last year) pushed in and lost.
The bigstack at the table raised to 4cBB (24K) and i had KcQc in the BB. I counted my chips and had 48K left. With the blinds and ante now at 10600 and very soon going up to 13600 i decided to push for several reasons. 1st, it was out of him normal raise range. he had been raising with 2,5-3xbb with good hands, so it look as if he could be just stealing. I would be a perfect time to do so, because i hadnt defended my blinds very hard. 2nd it could be a small to medium pair against which i had a flip for it, or it could be a weak A, in which case i would be about 45-55. He quickly called and showed Ad7d. I got both a K and a Q but unfortunitly he got a flush.

Out in 4th place and my hearthrate could return to something more normal. The most fantastic experience, and to anyone who havent played a live tourney at a casino i can only recommend to try it.

[Slinky]

Great story :D

Sounds like you had a great time K1 and very well done on the placing!!! Its great for your 1st game..im soooo jealous!! I want to play live so bad :(

[mustardeggs]

tl; dr, cliffnotes? how much did you loose?

[K1-DK]

tl; dr, cliffnotes? how much did you loose?

tl?
dr?
cliffnotes?

how much did i loose: nothing. I won 4100 DKK minus the 1100 buy-in

[mustardeggs]

too long didnt read, cliffnotes = notes of most important facts

[K1-DK]

doubled with the first hand i played. Sat tight and waited for hands and spots.

Didnt loose many hands i was into and had a bit of luck at the right spots. had about 5 times the blinds and antes when i decided to push with KQs and ran into A7s that got his flush where i hit K and Q.

Finished 4th out of 40

Had a fantastic evening

[mustardeggs]

well played

[beaver808]

Oi Mustardeggs it was a great write-up, how dare you say it was too long? Do you think you own the place or something ;) (chortle)

Well done K1!!

Slinky - get y'ass up to Leeds one weekend for a full weekend of action...

Every Friday night
Second Chance Freeze Out
£10

Every Saturday Lunch
No Limit Freeze Out
£20 Chips 10,000

Every Saturday Night
Second Chance Freeze Out
£10 Chips 7,000.

Every Sunday night
Triple Chance Freeze Out
£10

That's a total of only £90 in buy-ins if you take advantage of all re-buys and add-ons...

[Slinky]

Slinky - get y'ass up to Leeds one weekend for a full weekend of action...



Is that a promise ;)

[Slinky]

too long didnt read, cliffnotes = notes of most important facts

Great words from admin to encourage members to post ;)

WD slap him about ;)

[beaver808]

Is that a promise ;)

Ooooo matron!! I believe that's known as a "slip of the tongue"... Perhaps I should think carefully about my words next time! :)

[barbarella41]

Great report K1 and congrats!! :)

[K1-DK]

Thx all.

@Slinky: do try out that live tourney, its a great experience.......





Nomatter if you get any "action" or not ;)

[Frydenholm1]

Congrats' K1

I think that was a great job - I especially like the part of you getting ahead of Søren "de hviiieee" Jensen.

Was it at the Royal Casino? And if - how often do they have tours like that?

[K1-DK]

Yes its at the Royal Casino.

They have a Tuesday- and a Thursday-tour both with buy-in of DKK 1100, but sometimes the thursday tour is a DKK 2200. I dont know when that is.

If you consider going, please let me know. Perhaps we can meet.

Here is a link (sry all you non-danish... for some reason its only in danish)
http://royalcasino.dk/index.asp?PageID=Tournaments

[Frydenholm1]

Interesting - though I think $ 200 is a bit high for the first time. On the other hand, you've proven it possible to get in the money from the start. :)
I'll think it over and send you a message if I decide for joining.

The "Hall of fame" of the casino was also interesting. Not only do I now know your name K1; I also found an old friend and one of my employees. Apparantly both regular players and winners.:cool:

[K1-DK]

well... about the $200 just wish for them for your birthday, like i did.... :)
Perhaps you could make your friend stake you for the tourney. You could go there together then

And about my name... its hard to be "incoqnito" when you register at a Casino. They dont really like when you try to register under an alias ;)

[beaver808]

Nomatter if you get any "action" or not ;)

There's a joke here somewhere about getting it "all in on the table" but I just can't think of one... ;)