Beautiful Lake

The iconic fountains at the Bellagio

After the bad beats at Caesar's, I decided to take a short stroll, before deciding what to do next. The Bellagio is one of the most beautfiul buildings in Vegas, and (by local standards) oozes class. In fairness, there are some aspects that are really amazing - the Venetian stained glass ceiling, the marble and gold decor, and the iconic fountains with their synchronized music display. As I was just next door and heard a couple in front of me talking about going to watch them, I decided that wasn't the worst idea and spent 10 minutes enjoying the show.

I've always liked the Bellagio poker room too, and with time to have caught my breath, I decided to go to their poker room for a few hours rather than heading home for a 9 o'clock bedtime. The room was actually pretty quiest and I got seated immediately. I was interested to see that they (Bellagio) in common with Caesar's have brought in the double-board bomp pot Omaha on every dealer change. I first encountered this in the Venetian last year, and I like it - it is an action game that gets people involved, and a good edge to it if you're patient and understand the importance of the nuts and having action on both boards.

The table had a lot of big stacks, and no sign of people having drinks, so not a great sign. Still, I sat down and starting paying close attention to my opponents. Early impressions were that there weren't too many things to be concerned about, with lots of limping and calling raises and people overpaying for draws.

There were some pretty big pots, but unfortunately I wasn't winning (or even involved in) them! I bided my time, taking a few small and medium pots. Then my chance came. UTG straddled and I was next to act. As the cards were being dealt I idly thought "Wouldn't it be nice to have a big hand". AA fit the bill nicely and given that there were quite a few potential raisers on a full table I called the $6. Sadly it folded around to the big blind who called the $6. Thankfully the straddle raised to $15 and I took my chance to raise $40. To my delight (and surprise) the BB called the $40 and then joy-of-joys the straddle re-popped to $120. I couldn't get my chips in fast enough! The BB folded and the straddle grinned and says "I gotta" and called. Rather than being dramatic I flipped my AA and he nodded and flashed his kings. The aces held and I had a very nice pot.

Sadly he came calling about 10 hands later. There were two limpers, including our friend from above. I called on the button with QJs and we went 5 ways to a flop. It was checked to our friend on a T92 flop and he led for $15. With two overs, an open-ender and a back-door flush draw, I raised to $40. All folded and our friend called. The turn came another T and when he checked, I decided to be careful and checked behind, hoping to perhaps induce a bluff. The river was a dream King, and when he checked again I made it $40. He raised to $110. I wasn't thrilled, but there weren't many hands that I was too worried about - T9 and 22 principally, figuring he'd have raised anything else. I thought it through and called, and it turned out he had limped KK. Oh well!

We had a bit of drama on a bomb-pot when 3 people got it all in, and the top board went one way and the bottom board was split. That made the pot fairly complicated for the dealer so there was lots of counting and allocating chips. It turned out later (during one of the regular 'rack counts') that there was $100 missing. It appears she made change of a $100 chip, but forgot to put the $100 chip in her rack.

I had one more hand of note, when I raised UTG with KQs. It was folded to the button who cold called and we went to the flop 2 handed. The flop came AK5 with a flush draw giving me second pair and the nut draw. I checked to the button who made it $25, which I raised to $130. He tanked and then put in his remaining chips for another $30 for me to call. I was delighted to do so, hoping he didn't have 55 although even then I'd be almost 50/50 and I was a favourite against most other hands. He showed AQo and his hand held up.

Finally, in the Grand Theft Auto theme, I had this visit's first encounter with a practitioner of the worlds oldest profession. She seemed quite offended by my polite declination.....

Wanted Rating: 0/5 stars
Cars Stolen: 0
Prostitute Encounters: 1
Poker winnings: -$4