We figured we couldn’t leave Vegas without at least playing a little poker in the Bellagio. This involved bumping our game up to 4/8 limit, where our old high game had been 3/6. It’s only a 33% increase, but it felt like a lot, especially given my luck which was possibly the worst it’s ever been. The players were terrible, playing ridiculous cards overly aggressively, and I just haven’t been lucky enough to win when everyone calls to the river. It didn’t work out for me at Ballys and this was no different.
Bellagio makes me feel bad too. Sitting at their cheapest table and losing is kinda sad when you are constantly listening to them calling peoples names to play 100/200, 10/20NL, 25/50NL, and 50/100NL. I mean, holy sh*t, a wait list for 50/100NL? The minimum buy-in for 1/2 at Excalibur is $100, so maybe the min for 50/100 at Bellagio is $5000? With the very real potential of losing it all in any given hand. Wow. The kid to my left when I sat down, who couldn’t have been any older than me, stood up after only a few minutes to claim his seat at a 30/60 table. Wow, again. Also their dealers were mostly foreign born with less than a mastery of the English language, and their cocktail service was terrible. Besides for having crazy high stake games, the Bellagio poker room did not impress.
Now let me set the stage for the worst hand of my life …
- Early on I’m dealt a A♥5♥ and I check in the BB to see the flop. A♣5♣8♦, sweet. The small blind bets, I raise, old asian guy calls, and small blind folds. The turn is the Q♣, I bet, and asian guy raises. Less sweet. For some reason I call and call again on the river to see his flush. Dumb.
- I have A9 on a 922 flop. The guy to my right, who I will henceforth refer to as Lucky Guy, bets, I raise, and everyone folds to him who calls. The turn is a 5 and eventually he shows 95 for a two pair that he hit on the turn. I can’t remember for sure, but I’m pretty certain he wasn’t in a blind when he played his 95. But hey, it was suited! Drawn out on again.
- I get JJ and raise in late position with lots and lots of callers. The flop has a Q, I fold to a bet, and two people end up with two pairs, holding Q2 and Q8 I think. That’s the type of garbage you lose to when you play against a table of these maniacs.
- I have K♦K♣, and raise in early position. This would be a very strong, clear sign of strength. A sign that you are way behind unless you have something really good and that you shouldn’t call. So 5 or so people call anyway. The flop is good, something like 2♥7♣Q♥. No straight draws, no ace, and just the two hearts to be really concerned about. Lucky Guy bets, I raise, and two more people call. The turn: A♦. Crappy card, especially in this game where people like to call bets just in hopes of hitting an ace. I bet anyway and a couple people call. I feel like I’m still ahead here. The river: 5♥. Wow, how terrible. I get an ace and then a heart – probably the worst two things possible. Yay. Lucky Guy bets, I fold, and Anand actually winds up beating Lucky Guy with a better flush. They draw out on me on the river.
At this point I’m down to $50 or so from my $200 buy-in and still haven’t won a single hand. I get down to $26 and finally win a hand when I flop two pair with an unsuited 37 that I’m dealt in the big blind. It took an hour and fifty minutes and I finally win with one of the worst hands there is. Awesome. I win another big blind hand with T2 and a hand with pocket eights, getting back up to around $90. I thought my luck was turning … and then I took the worst beat possible in hold’em:
- I’m dealt 88 in what I think I was the big blind. I call a raise to see a flop with 6 people in. That’s 6x$8=$48 in the pot already. Shaping up nicely. The flop is KK8. I flopped a full house. I bet and three people call, including Lucky Guy. Someone comments that we can’t all have kings. Even if someone did have a king, I still have them destroyed. There’s $64 in the pot. The turn is a 5. Lucky Guy checks, I bet, two people fold, Lucky Guy raises, I re-raise, and Lucky Guy calls. $112 in the pot. The river is another 5. This is a terrible card for me; now a single king beats me. I didn’t consider the possibility of the board pairing originally and am too caught up to realize now what it means. This would be where I donated an extra $32 out of stupidity. Lucky Guy bets, I raise, he raises, I raise, he raises, and with great horror I realize that it would only take a king to beat me. Playing higher limits definitely threw me off my game. I call. $192 pot (should have been $128). Lucky Guy doesn’t have a king; that would be boring and reasonable. Lucky Guy shows 55, to have hit runner-runner quads to beat me. Runner-runner quads. What the f*ck! With two cards left to come, he had to hit his exact two cards to beat me. You cannot be further behind in the game of Texas Hold’em. It is not possible. Given our two hands and the board, his odds of beating me after the flop were (2/47)*(1/46) = 1/1081. Less than a one in a thousand chance! He called my flop bet with nothing against my full house and won anyway! If the river had been anything in the desk besides the very last 5 I would have been back up to at least $178. As it happened, I was at $10.
- The next hand I re-raise to go all-in with 22 against Anand and Lucky Guy. I’m leading until the river, for a chance to more than triple up. Naturally Lucky Guy hits a straight and I’m broke.
So I took the worst beat of my life after hours of already horrible luck, while playing at the highest limit I’ve ever played at. There is only one reasonable conclusion from all this: God hates me. Oh well.
