Sunday – the 17th. While Flynn didn’t exactly rise at the crack of dawn, he did get up, loaded Angry Bird, checked out and hit the road – ultimate destination the Bellagio by the start of the 10 am football games. He managed to get a ff breakfast and a cold-brew on the way and still arrived on time. He was seated immediately at a 2/5 game and there he stayed put until almost 9 pm.
It is odd how easily the transition to 2/5 was for Flynn. The first time he gave it a go last trip, he was so nervous he didn’t play anything but ultra-premium hands, watched like a hawk, and kept silent. Now he just watches like a hawk. He is careful about game selection, and while he is not opposed to playing elsewhere, he prefers the $500 max at the Bellagio. It is difficult to sit down at a table and throw one’s entire bankroll on the felt and still be shortstacked, which is what happens at rooms with no max or high max. The 1/3 at the Wynn often plays like a 2/5, so why play 2/5 at this point in his poker-playing career? Sitting down at a table where the majority of the payers have in the ‘hood of $500-1.2k is okay. Where 6 of 8 have $3k or more is not. Another note about the move: seat selection. It seems as if being to the left of the big stack is not as important in 2/5. Stacks come and go so, so at least initially, it is more prudent to position the player-type where you want them. I would love to hear more about this from other players who are in process of moving up in stakes, but frankly, I am not sure how many of them actually read this blog.
Flynn stayed at the same table at the Bellagio for his entire 11 hour session. He had lunch and dinner (lunch leftovers) from Noodles on comps. He watched every single football game. The day prior he had made several small wagers at the South Point sports book, but in all honesty he can’t even remember what he bet on. He is just gonna hand the stack to the cashier-people and see if any money comes back. Crazy Seahawks game, eh? And, yay Raiders!!! The poker was good, lost, won, lost, won.. and in the end a loss with several very aggressive bets by Flynn with the nut straight on the turn to the villan who had flopped a boat. Grrrrr. Pfft. Sigh. That’s poker folks. He got Flynn good.
Two characters of note. #1 Home-game specialist who called or raised every single hand pre-flop, generally called post-flop to the turn, got lucky some, short rebought twice, and 4 hours later left felted. It was a strange experience at at a 2/5 table where players don’t chase as much. #2 Abrasive man from LA – came in half-way through Flynn’s session. 40s yo white guy, alll-over the place. Up and down out of chair, making numerous phone calls to the spa and salon (for his wife??) eating leftovers he had brought from Sadell’s, then ordering two bowls of chicken noodle soup from room service (for a cost of $35 or so). He went on a tear hot-streak from the minute he sat down, at least doubling or tripling his buy-in. He was bouncing around and it was annoying. He tried to talk to Flynn, but Flynn was done with him and put his headphones on for the universal message of ‘don’t talk to me’. (Mind you, Flynn is normally a sociable bird, but this guy was seriously annoying and full of himself). This lasted about 2 hours, then his stack started to slowly shrink. He lost back at least half of it before suddenly picking up and went who-knows-where. Hope we don’t see him again this trip, but poker is a small world.
Football over, loss of a buy-in (just one-ish), and it was time to go check into the next abode and hit the sack. Let’s do it all over again tomorrow! Living the dream.
Fin
Flynn