Viva Las Vegas (Part III)



Vic & Anthony’s

Wednesday, September 3rd was our anniversary. We had planned on going out to a nice dinner, and we were undecided between going to Hugo’s Cellar at the Four Queens, and Vic & Anthony’s at the Golden Nugget. Since we had been treated so well all week at the Nugget, we decided to try Vic & Anthony’s. It was not a mistake. We started with a Martini for me and a Cosmo for Merlotgirl, and they were excellent.

The ambiance was quite nice with rich, dark woods, candlelight, Black & White photos of old Vegas, and Frank Sinatra music playing in the background. It was very much what we had been hoping for. I ordered the Wedge salad, which turned out to be a half head of lettuce, and Merlotgirl had the Pear & Saga Blue Cheese Salad. Both were outstanding. We then opted for a Main Course of Filet Mignon, with a side of Au Gratin Potatoes. The steaks were unbelievable. While they gave us steak knives, you didn’t need them. I proved a point by actually cutting my filet with a fork. It was fantastic. The side order of Au Gratin Potatoes was enough to feed at least four people. It was huge, and also very good. The waiter, (Harold) who knew it was our anniversary then bought out a dessert for us that was incredible as well. It was a no flour chocolate cake. That and a couple of coffees and we had topped off a great anniversary meal.

One older couple stopped by to congratulate us as they were leaving the Restaurant. It seems they had also celebrated their anniversary that night at Vic & Anthony’s. They had a little bit of a head start on us. It was their 54th. It turns out they live only a few miles from us, and have been coming to the Golden Nugget for their anniversary for a very long time. Seems like a good plan to me.

Binion’s Tournament

That night we had planned on playing in the 11:00pm tournament at Binion’s. It was a $75 buy-in freeze out. 20 min. blinds and t5,000 stacks. So we played a bit at the Nugget and wandered over there about 10:45. I’m not sure how many players eventually started the tournament. It seems like we started at four tables, but within a couple 20 minute blind levels were down to 2 tables. Top 3 players got paid.

Merlotgirl was at a different table then me, and she got off to a fast start. She was big stack at her table until her AK flopped top 2 pair, and a young player who had been quite aggressive went all in over the top of her bluff inducing turn bet, to then draw out a flush on the river. He got pretty lucky and he knew it at that point. His game from then on out got quite a bit more passive. While that hit didn’t put Merlotgirl out, it crippled her quite a bit and she lasted a bit longer. I was muddling along at my table, folding everything and stealing blinds when the opportunity presented itself. It seemed like I would always get marginal hands (AJo, ATs, KJs, etc.) in early position, and be glad I mucked them rather than having to call a raise and play them out of position. That made my raises in position seem totally believable, I suppose. The ones I particularly remember were with 87s, 9Ts, and 55.

When we get down to 12 players I’m moved from the table I started at to the other table. I’m somewhere just below average stack at this point from what I can tell. Blinds are now t500 and t1000, and I’ve got about t9,000. For me this is push/fold time. I’ve got enough fold equity that speculative hands shouldn’t be calling my all-ins. Big stacks don’t want to get damaged, and short stacks don’t want to risk their tournament. For the last hour and a half of the tournament my decisions were very easy. Push or Fold.

Each table is 6 handed. My first hand at the new table I am UTG+1 and wake up with AQs. UTG raises to t4,000. He has me covered by about t5,000. I reraise and go all-in for my t9,000. It folds around to him He calls me with KJo. Neither of us improves. I’m now up to t19,500 and in very good position. I’m probably second biggest stack at the table, and third in the tournament now. I gave some back to my caller on the hand when blinds were 1,000 and 2,000 and I was BB. I Called his all in for another 2,000 when I had A9 and his JT hit a J on the Turn.

Shortly we’re down to the Final Table. There are a couple big stacks, a couple short stacks and me and a couple others at around t15,000. I continued to play push/fold and managed to scoop the blinds each time it was folded to me and I pushed. I only got called one time, by the BB who was short stacked. I pushed with 22, he called with K4 and neither of us improved. 22 held up.

We’re down to 6 players and the best hand of the night played out. I wasn’t a part of it, but it was a great hand and I remember it distinctly. The Big Stack is SB and blinds are 1,000 – 2,000. Player to my right, who is UTG. Min raises to 4,000. I fold. Button Folds. SB calls. BB folds. Flop comes up T 4 7 all hearts. SB checks. UTG bets 6,000 (leaving about 8,000 behind). SB snap pushes all in over the top. UTG goes in the tank. Analyzing out loud. “I think I have you beat”, “we might have the same hand”, “did you flop a set?” “or a flush?” “I think I have to call”, What if it’s the same hand?”, “will you show me if I fold?” To which the woman says, “Yes I’ll show you”. He thinks for a while longer….”I can’t believe I played this so bad”. He then folds his hand face up, KT. Top pair, good kicker…no heart. As she rakes the chips, the now huge chip leader tables her cards…a black K and a black T. Same hand.

To make matters worse for the player to my right, we now go on a 10 minute break. He’s steaming the whole time. “I should have called”, “What a terrible mistake”. At the end of the break when we were sitting there I asked him why he was leaving 8,000 behind instead of pushing all in. He said he thought that was a big enough bet to take it down right there. To which I said, but if you push all in for 14,000 you now put all the decisions and doubt on her. “Did you flop a set, or a flush?” The only mistake I see is a) playing that hand in the first place UTG, or b) not pushing and putting the tough decision on her. He busted out shortly after that. I was glad, because while he was a nice guy, I thought he was one of the better players at the table.

We went from 5 handed to 3 handed pretty quickly. One of the key hands for me was when I pushed for t15,000 with AQ and got called by the kid who crippled Merlotgirl earlier. His 66 didn’t improve, and the door card on the flop was an Ace. Now I’m the big stack. When it was final three, and we were all in the money, we moved chips around the table for a bit. A big hand for me was when I was SB and UTG folded, I pushed all in with 74o. Kid thought for a second and folded his hand face up 84o. To which I turned my hand over and showed. This seemed to change his attitude a bit. He seemed to become a little friendlier.

We started talking about chopping, but it seemed more like lets see where we are when we get down to 2 players. I was short stack at this time, but that didn’t last too long. 2 hands later, we were at final 2 players and the kid had me covered by 4,000. Pretty close. In addition to the cash payout Binion’s gives a ticket to a monthly freeroll tournament, and a t-shirt that says “I won a tournament at Binion’s” on it. We had already agreed to give the woman the t-shirt, regardless who won. When I busted her out, me and the kid decided to chop the cash prize, and since he was a local, he could have the seat to the freeroll. So we each got $410, and Merlotgirl and I went back over to the Nugget to play another session of cash.

"Bright light city gonna set my soul Gonna set my soul on fire........