As the editor pens this story on a top floor of a luxury hotel, reveling in the stunning view, she is reminded of how very fortunate Flynn and Ollie are to live the lives they do. They live on a carefully crafted budget, and generally without excess. Yet, they here they sit, with views to kill for, friends we would do anything for, and a gold MGM card to avoid all parking & resort fees in the sunny city of sin.
The poker story picks up again on Wednesday, the 13th, with the Lightening36’s meet-up game at the Sahara. Flynn took a limited amount of $ to spew and managed to eek out about 2.5 hours of play before being decimated by the host, who snookered Flynn into a boat-over-boat beating. Flynn has taken worse, and if you are gonna lose like that, might as well be to friends, right? Did we mention that the 7-2 game was in play? If you lost to 7-2, you had to wear the Candy Cane of shame. Let’s just say it got passed around a bit. Flynn is looking forward to redemption on the next go-round. Fun times.
The following day, (Thursday) Flynn packed his poker suitcase (we need a name for the backpack – taking suggestions) and headed off to the Bellagio to get some of his $ back after the game the night before. Since the WPT is in town and Flynn is no rookie, he got there early and only had a short wait for a 2/5 seat. Get there after 3 pm, you best bring a book, folks. Flynn was there a few hours, got some profit in, and called it a day. Done and done, which is the story of the rest of the week.
Friday, Wynn was the choice for the day. It is imperative to get there very early to get a seat, which he did and still had to wait a bit. Since the Wynn’s 1/3 plays like Bellagio’s 2/5, the baby stakes is what Flynn plays there. This was another sucessful session, a tidy profit was made, the table was great, played with a celeb – Princess Love – and Flynn quit while he was ahead. He is learning not to overstay his welcome.
Saturday, Bellagio – headed out early again for a 2/5 seat. Flynn got seated at a table way in the back corner, not usually his favorite, but his mind has been changed. This was the most chillaxed 2/5 group he has ever played with. The standard raise was a mere 3x, no one got out of line, and every player at the table was tolerable to sit with (if you know, you know).
Short hand of note: Flynn flops nut straight, bets a significant amt (8x maybe, sightly larger than pot). Gets one caller. Turn is one of the straight cards in Flynn’s hand, making a bigger straight possible. Flynn keeps betting – 3/4 pot, the one caller calls, but does not raise. Flynn KNOWS this player does not have a straight, and there are no flushes out there. Period. No question. River pairs the board. Flynn KNOWS the player has hit a boat. Not sure why, just knows via spidey-sense, well-honed observation skills. Nothing blatant. Just knows… Flynn checks. Villain shoves. Flynn tanks for 2 minutes, talks the hand out loud, then folds. The villain SHOWS his cards when raking the pot. Yes, he had hit the boat on the river holding his two pair. Now, why is this of note, you ask? First of all, if you have any poker chops, you never show your hand there, as you would want to put your opponent in ‘question yourself’ mode and drive them batty. Instead, he kindly confirmed for Flynn that his read was good and accurate, and that Flynn played the hand perfectly. Secondly, two other players who witnessed the hand both were awed at the lay-down, admitting they would not have done so, and that it was a great read. So, while yes, Flynn lost the pot, the positive reinforcement he got boosted his discipline and attention skills.
Another small profit this day, and Flynn was outta there. Oh heck, did we forget to mention that Flynn also hit his first ever (15 years of poker) natural royal flush? Here it is folks. (Sadly, only one other person in hand, and the 4th club killed the action).
Sunday, Aria for a bit. Flynn found himself in a holding pattern for the hotel room for his staycation, so he put his name on the long list for 1/3 at the Aria. The time was about noon, and the lists was already 25+ long. Crazy times when there is a Raider’s game, the WPT, and some fight in town. Anyway, he killed time by chilling at Table One and getting some photos for the heck of it. There he met one of the @Table1Vegas folks, who was preparing to start up a game. Heck yeah, Flynn was down for it! Let’s go!! Heads up for rolls, Justin Young, you are on. (btw, not everything you read on the internet is true)
Finally seated at the baby stakes at Aria, Flynn played his best for a couple of hours before getting the text that his room was ready. Huge blow to his ego, he actually took a loss of about $40 bucks. Frankly, this was well worth the ‘donation’ to be able to watch the NFL games, get some good service, and hang out. Off he went, checked in, then moved to:
The Bellagio later in the day to spend time in the same poker room as friend and candy-cane wearer C.A. BTW, with serious poker CA and Flynn would never actually sit at the same table! Flynn walked right into a 2/5 seat that he didn’t like AT ALL. Ever get that feeling at a table? Just the look of the players and their stacks made Flynn cringe. Multiple choice: a) it had the look of all pros b) it had ginormous stacks c) it looked like all recs d) most people had earbuds in and were looking at phones e) it looked like some players had gotten very, very lucky f) everyone was drunk or g) the vibe was off or g) the vibe was off or g) the vibe was off.
Yeah, G. Shaking it off, Flynn proceeds to focus like mad, observing, being patient, stealing a few, picking spots, etc. He is playing is A game against this table despite the bad feeling. He is making epic folds (he thinks, these guys don’t show). Despite losing with AA twice, JJ once, he still chips up to a couple hundo above his buy in. Until the dreaded pocket kings. Player on right limps, Flynn raises, player on right calls. Flop is unremarkable. Player on right bets, Flynn shoves, gets called and loses entire stack to AA. Freakin’ knew it. Knew bad juju here. “Trapping” with AA in early position by limping is usually not a thing at the 2/5 table. That is an amateur move that paid off for the villain. Immediate table change.
Better at the next table. Plunk down another buy-in. Deep breath. Study table, pick spots, don’t call when you shouldn’t. Folding is only a small mistake. Steal a few by re-raising (yep, the Flynnster even 4-bet bluffed once and took it down) when the read seemed right. Yeah, he lost a few, but no matter, one must establish an image. He value bet bluffed one hand, got called (ugh), and won it by some freakish thought process of the villain (yay), again stunning the table. By the end of the session, Flynn had not only recouped his losses from the previous table, but also made a small win. Good enough.
As an aside, at the other table, CA smoked his opponents. Smacked em down. Nice hit, dude.
Wait, it gets better. Ollie came to join as well, of course at yet a 3rd table. The siren call of a tournament starting got his blood racing, so he registered for the Mystery Bounty. At 2 in the morning he finally gets back to the room. Yep, he took 3rd and pulled 4 bounties, including the top 3 $ bounties! Holy bananas batman, he is on fire. 5 for 5 tournaments, breaking even on one and profiting on the rest. Crazy. Hope it doesn’t go to his head.
This is the morning view from the editor’s office:
I think Phil H is on to something with his positivity mantra. At least until Flynn loses his bankroll again.
Naw.
Fin
Flynn
I genuinely felt sorry about thst cooler hand, but I gratefully took every last chip.