veeRob’s Blog

I have written in the past that I’ve had less than wonderful feelings for the poker room at Caesars. The Cliff Notes are that I just think it’s not as well run as the Venetian when they do a tournament series. I’m happy to say that this blog is a positive nod to a few things at Caesars.

I played their $1k heads up tournament yesterday, and was pleased to find out that they now give out a $10 food comp when you sign up. Previously, you had to make the dinner break in a tournament to get any sort of food comp, which I found a little bit greedy. They’ve fixed this and now properly feed you once you’ve paid the rake.

Just the fact that they HAD a live heads up tournament is pretty rad. Other than the WSOP and a heads up tournament in Canada, I can’t think of any other live heads up tournaments than at Caesars. Further, the structure was decent, with all of us getting 12.5k in chips and the blinds starting at 50/100. After playing their NBC Heads Up freeroll earlier this year, it was nice to know that for a bigger buyin, they were willing to give the players a fair bit of play.

In all, 62 players signed up and they modified the payout structure to pay 8 spots, which I thought was better than their original 4. They also were cognizant of tax laws, and modified the payouts so that only 1st and 2nd place would receive tax forms. This was definitely smart thinking on their part.

I ended up finishing just inside the money, getting knocked out by eventual winner Chad Brown in 7th place. My first two matches were pretty easy, but my 3rd opponent was a tough online opponent named Jason Koon. He continually 4-bet me, and I ended up having to call all in with AQ when he 5-bet bluff me with J7. Luckily, my AQ held up, and I was able to eliminate him shortly thereafter. Jason and I chatted for about 20 minutes after the match, and he gave me some advice about poker in general and a few leaks in my heads up game. That’s a pretty rare thing in the poker world, and I have to say Jason is a super nice guy. I hope to run into him more in the future.

My match with Chad Brown obviously didn’t go so well. Not only that, but it ended so quickly. He played very passively and just hit the deck head on. In the first pot I lost chips in, he limped in and I checked with J3o. The flop came AJ3, all spades, and we both checked. The turn was a blank and I bet and Chad raised. It’s too likely that he can have a combo draw like Ax with a spade, so I called. The river brought another blank, and I check called. Chad had limped in with 6s2s and had flopped a flush.

The hand that really tilted me was another pot where Chad limped on the button. I checked with 9h7s, and the flop came Th9d7h. I bet out, trying to protect against the draw-heavy board and Chad called pretty quickly. The turn brought the 3h, putting three hearts on board. I bet again with my two pair and flush draw, and Chad called me again. At this point, his most likely holding was a pair or a straight draw on the flop, and then he picked up a flush draw on the turn… something like K8 or K9 with the Kh. With any hand that beat mine on the flop, he would have raised the flop or the turn. When the river came a non-heart queen, I check-called a decent sized bet from Chad as it is too likely that he missed his flush and my hand was good. Chad showed down an awful KJo, no heart, for a rivered straight.

In my opinion, he played every street other than the river awful. Heads up, KJ on the button is a raising hand, almost 100% of the time. Chad limped. On the flop, Chad had a double gutshot with two overs, and I would strongly lead towards raising on the flop in position. Chad just called. On the turn, three hearts were on board, so KJ could be drawing to 2 less outs (8h and Qh wouldn’t help him in this spot), or possibly drawing dead if I had made my flush already. I would have folded, but Chad called. The river is just a luckbox card for Chad after he played the hand poorly.

My demise came when I raised with AQ from the button and Chad called (again passively, as it turned out he had a pocket pair). The flop came A65, and Chad check called. The Turn was an 8, and I feigned weakness and underbet the pot. Chad thought and then check raised me, putting in a largish raise for him. I then moved all in, and Chad instacalled with his set of 6’s. As passively as Chad had been playing, perhaps I could have folded the turn as it’s likely he has me beat with at least two pair. Unfortunately, I had underbet my hand hoping Chad would make a move, which made my all-in automatic.

Overall, I’m very happy with how I played all of my matches. I made the money, and the day renewed my confidence in my playing abilities. I forgot to mention it, but the field was heavy with pro’s such as Jason Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Devilfish, Scott Clements, and BodogAri.

So… does anyone know of any other live heads up tournaments coming up?