Playing a big hand live when you just sit down

This Friday (Saturday morning), I decided to go to play some 2-5 @ The Venetian, I got there around 2AM (nice starting working hour heh), and ask for 2-5 NL, there was a table with 2 seats open, so they sent me there and looking the stacks at the table I decided to buy $600, at the Venetian you don't need to post your first hand, so you get to play it for free and since I was on late position I decided to start playing. I got Kd3d, I was still busy with my wallet when the action came to me, nobody has called, so, I decided to just play the hand and call the $5, nobody called, just the blinds and we got to see the flop.

Flop: Qd7d4d

Wow, really nice for a first hand, but since almost no people in the pot and no preflop action, usually you don't win much, they checked to me and I of course checked. Turn was the 4s, LB bet $15, BB called the $15, nice, somebody had to have something, so I decided to raise to $65, why $65, since I was new to the table, they have no image of myself and I wanted them (or the one of the two with the better hand) to think I was buying the pot and called me if they have a Q, well, little blind didn't disappoint, but instead of calling me, he reraised to $115, BB folded; interesting, what does he have?, I saw no point on raising, so I decided to just call the $115 and see what happens with the river, river card was Kh, so we have a board:

Qd7d4d4sKh

He then decided to bet $250, mmmmmm, wait, a Q does not make much sense, so maybe he had a 4, a flush or a boat; or maybe he was full of air, continuing a failed resteal on the turn, betting that much with a 4 didn't make much sense either for me, if I was weak, that was way too much if he wanted me to call, so, flush, boat, air, I didn't see much value by reraising, so I decided to just call. He had 10d3d and I won the almost $800 pot.

Probably I would have played differently if this wasn't my first hand at the table, but I was pretty content with the way I played it, some may say I should have gone all in after the $250, but I don't really think it's the best play in the long run, since most of the hands that call my all in with that board (boat, A high flush) had me beat.

It was a good thing to start winning that night (morning?), since for the next 3-4 hours, I was not winning anything, not flopping any pair, lost the minimum with AA and KK, lost a turn all in, when I was a big favorite, all that crippled my stack, but I didn't lose my temper, just wait and wait, and eventually things came my way and after playing some 9-10 hours I scored a pretty good session.

Mis Lugares Preferidos para jugar No Limit Holdem en Las Vegas

Hasta ahora he jugado live NL cash games en Bellagio, Ceasars, MGM, Venetian, Planet Hollywood, Winn, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, Mirage y quizás algún otro por ahí que no recuerdo al momento.

Solo he jugado 1-3 (1-2) NL, 2-5 NL y una que otra vez limit holdem, aunque muy rara vez, inclusive el 1-3 NL también rara vez lo juego y me he concentrado mas en jugar 2-5 NL, regularmente me siento con $500 y dependiendo de los stacks que haya en la mesa a veces me siento con mas (si es permitido por el casino).

Definitivamente mis 2 lugares favoritos para jugar son el Winn y el Venetian, a toda hora (de las que yo he ido) hay juegos, y el ambiente de estos 2 casinos para mi es mucho mejor que el de los demás. El parking lot en el Winn es super conveniente, aunque igual y no tengo problema en caminar lo que sea necesario para llegar al poker room de un casino, pero quizás el que el poker room del Winn este ubicado en un corredor rumbo al parking lot lo convierte en una distracción, imagínense nada mas la pasarela interminable de mujeres guapísimas en altas horas de la madrugada !!; el Venetian seguramente se convertirá en EL lugar para jugar poker en Las Vegas si no es que ya lo es, quizás ahorita vayan demasiados pros ahí para mi gusto, pero hasta ahora me han tocado suficientes mesas buenas, inclusive alguna vez que estaba en una mesa no muy buena por que parecía que todos eran regulares/pros, me pude aprovechar un poco de la situación puesto que ellos me veían a mi como el "turista" al que había que ganarle las fichas, y pues como no me conocían, eso hacia que no jugaran optimamente contra mi estilo de juego.

Trato de variar y jugar en la mayor cantidad de lugares posibles para tener un bajo perfil, pero sin lugar a dudas mis preferencias son por el momento el Winn y el Venetian.

Mas live poker que Internet poker por ahora

Ya esta llegando el tiempo de que empiece a jugar en serio, o es eso o a pedir welfare, jajaja, pero si es una realidad que mi bankroll se ha ido extinguiendo, me he dado cuenta que es muy dificil ganar dinero cuando no juegas :)

Por lo pronto creo que jugare mas live games que Internet, principalmente 2-5 NL en los casinos de Las Vegas, he jugado un poco en los meses anteriores y me ha ido muy bien, esperemos que esto siga así y pues ya relatare mis andanzas en Sin City.