ryodejaneiro
Rock Star
Silver Level
Hey all – My friends and I were recently in Vegas and I thought I’d post my observations/thoughts about two poker rooms that I played at: Treasure Island and Planet Hollywood. I should note that I did not play in cash games or satellites but in buy-in tourneys. I realize that there are some people who would argue against entering these types of tournies and I fully respect their opinion. The purpose of this thread is mainly to inform those who are considering entering these (types of) tournies, so I hope some of you might find this information useful for future purposes.
Instead of cramming everything into one post, I'll divide things into two posts.
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Location: Treasure Island (TI)
Time: 7pm on a Wednesday
Type of Game: NLHE Tourney
Buy-in: $65
Rebuys: Yes - within first hour, but only after the alternates
Add-on: No
Estimated Payout Structure: top 15%
Blind Levels: 20 minutes
Starting Chipstack: 3500
Antes: No
Starting Blinds: 25-50
Breaks: Every hour for 10 minutes
Number of Players per Table: 10
Comments: My friend and I walked into the poker room about 30 minutes before the start of the tourney. The person at the desk said they typically get about 30 entrants or so. Obviously this guy was wrong as the field consisted of 20 players total after rebuys. Based on the payout structure, the top 3 out of 20 make ITM, so it appears that TI pays out the top 15% or so. Also, the TI poker room is an actual room, so the place is relatively shielded from other casino distractions like the slots, tables, and bars. There is a flat screen display that shows you how many minutes are left in the level as well as some other relevant info (e.g., next break, next blind level).
Overall, the play was quite weak IMO. I saw a decent number of players open limping into the pot and if there were preflop raises, they were min raises. I’d say there were a lot more people calling as opposed to raising. Aggressive plays usually won the pots. For instance, I observed that continuation bets often allowed people to win the pot, even c-bets that were as small as 1x or 2x the BB. Most people playing looked like they were visiting Vegas; no locals from what I saw. Additionally, no one sitting at the tables struck me as being a particularly strong player.
Unfortunately, I didn’t finish in the top 3. I built up to a decent stack (6500+) during the first two levels but before the first break, I misplayed AJ from the button. No one had entered the pot and I raised 3x the BB and the SB called. SB checked on the flop (a 9 high rainbow flop) and instead of a c-bet, I checked. On the turn, the SB bet out about 2x the BB and not giving him credit for calling a raise out of position, I raised him enough to move him all in, which he did. He flips over AK and a blank on the river left me with about 3000 chips. I couldn’t quite recover from that hit and never made it back up more than 4500+ chips. Another memorable hand was when we were down to 10 players, I was UTG and got 9-9. With the high blinds (don’t recall how high though), all I could do was move all in and hope to double up. I got called by the BB who flips over 7-2 of diamonds (sweet!). He didn’t hit and I doubled up. The last hand of this tourney, my friend was on the button and raised; I was the BB and had A10off. I moved all in (my stack was about 2.5x or 3x the BB at that point) but no pair for me and I walked away in 8th.
Instead of cramming everything into one post, I'll divide things into two posts.
-----------------------------
Location: Treasure Island (TI)
Time: 7pm on a Wednesday
Type of Game: NLHE Tourney
Buy-in: $65
Rebuys: Yes - within first hour, but only after the alternates
Add-on: No
Estimated Payout Structure: top 15%
Blind Levels: 20 minutes
Starting Chipstack: 3500
Antes: No
Starting Blinds: 25-50
Breaks: Every hour for 10 minutes
Number of Players per Table: 10
Comments: My friend and I walked into the poker room about 30 minutes before the start of the tourney. The person at the desk said they typically get about 30 entrants or so. Obviously this guy was wrong as the field consisted of 20 players total after rebuys. Based on the payout structure, the top 3 out of 20 make ITM, so it appears that TI pays out the top 15% or so. Also, the TI poker room is an actual room, so the place is relatively shielded from other casino distractions like the slots, tables, and bars. There is a flat screen display that shows you how many minutes are left in the level as well as some other relevant info (e.g., next break, next blind level).
Overall, the play was quite weak IMO. I saw a decent number of players open limping into the pot and if there were preflop raises, they were min raises. I’d say there were a lot more people calling as opposed to raising. Aggressive plays usually won the pots. For instance, I observed that continuation bets often allowed people to win the pot, even c-bets that were as small as 1x or 2x the BB. Most people playing looked like they were visiting Vegas; no locals from what I saw. Additionally, no one sitting at the tables struck me as being a particularly strong player.
Unfortunately, I didn’t finish in the top 3. I built up to a decent stack (6500+) during the first two levels but before the first break, I misplayed AJ from the button. No one had entered the pot and I raised 3x the BB and the SB called. SB checked on the flop (a 9 high rainbow flop) and instead of a c-bet, I checked. On the turn, the SB bet out about 2x the BB and not giving him credit for calling a raise out of position, I raised him enough to move him all in, which he did. He flips over AK and a blank on the river left me with about 3000 chips. I couldn’t quite recover from that hit and never made it back up more than 4500+ chips. Another memorable hand was when we were down to 10 players, I was UTG and got 9-9. With the high blinds (don’t recall how high though), all I could do was move all in and hope to double up. I got called by the BB who flips over 7-2 of diamonds (sweet!). He didn’t hit and I doubled up. The last hand of this tourney, my friend was on the button and raised; I was the BB and had A10off. I moved all in (my stack was about 2.5x or 3x the BB at that point) but no pair for me and I walked away in 8th.