David Gross: Vegas Diary Part 1

It’s Tuesday 19th June, 7pm Vegas time and I have been in this town precisely nine days and five hours.

Today has been pretty brutal. I busted out of my final WSOP event for 2007 – an event I’ve been looking forward to for several months – having played like a chump. The truth is I’m feeling pretty jaded and played out. But this is just one low in a period that has witnessed some great highs. I’ve played a total of eight tournaments - three World Series events at The Rio and five tournaments at the Bellagio. I’ll be coming home with a trophy, my first WSOP cash and a wild ride that took me very close to a televised final table. I’ve also met some great people and experienced and learned a lot.

So although less than two days remain before I jet back to London life, rather than staying at the Rio and gifting more money to more focused opponents, I have decided to take some time out to chronicle the amazing adventure that has been my Vegas 2007 trip. I hope you enjoy.

All the best,

David Gross, aka "thekid08"

My table breaks, I play like a donkey for an hour and I’m gone. Highlights include: a) Doubling up Jason "strassa2" Strasser when I play AQ as badly as humanly possible b) throwing a 1,000 chip in pre-flop with Kings intending to raise (blinds 150-300) but failing to say raise. My action is thus deemed as a call and I lose 5,000 of my 7,000 chips as a consequence.

I can take the bad luck better than the average player but I hate playing bad. Down on myself, I walk out and start recounting the story to my crew. A chirpy Dave ("Devil Fish") Ulliott walks past, hears the British accents and chimes in with his verdict. Five minutes later, we are all sat at a bar drinking with the Devil Fish as he entertains us with his latest gags. He seems a genuine guy, is very friendly and a natural story-teller come entertainer. We have a great couple of hours together and my WSOP sorrows start to dissipate.

Back at the Wynn, I get introduced to Teddy Sheringham and the actress who plays Larry David’s wife in Curb Your Enthusiasm. I also get stuck into a beefy cash game that perks up after Roland de Wolfe joins us and starts making the action. I have got a lot of time for Roland and he made it a great game – which we will both remember for a particular pot where I managed to flop set over set over set (QQ for me, 99 for RDW and 33 for random stranger on a Q-9-3 flop) and turn a bad session into a big win in one hand.

Unfortunately I meet my crew on the way back to the room. We start drinking and end up playing the tables like the drunken jet-lagged idiots we were!!

Tournaments: -$2,500
Cash Poker: $3,550
Blackjack: -$750
Roulette: -$2,200
Daily P/L: -$1,800
Total P/L: -$2,400


Day 3: Tuesday June 12th 2007

I opt to play the $2,500 event at the Bellagio Cup instead of the $1,500 Shootout at the WSOP – a bad choice as it turns out. The news of the softest WSOP field is just reaching me when I get busted out at the Bellagio with my first bad beat of the trip (QQ all-in preflop against 10s).

I hang around at the Bellagio spraying around money that I can’t afford to lose until the Daily $1K event starts at 8pm. I have ‘previous’ in this event, having played it three times on previous trips and made two final tables. I enter it in confident mood.

Fifty-five runners, five places and a bunch of friendly English faces are involved including UKPT winners Jerome Bradpiece and Praz Banzi, neither of whom I know beyond a nod of recognition, but both of whom prove to be very chatty and likeable (not to mention tough to beat). I knock out five players (sadly four of whom are English!) and am left in a decent position when we get down to four.

Greedily I refuse to discuss a chop because of the presence of a short-stack and promptly get knocked out three hands later with nut flush draw vs top pair when 65% of all the chips in the tournament are in the middle. I am busted by eventual winner John Murphy who is well known in poker circles because of the great skills he showed when coming 15th in the WSOP main event in 2005. He still plays great and is a really nice guy. He took $23K whilst I took just over $5K rather than the $12k-$14k I would have got had we chopped (or the likely $20K had my flush draw hit).

Tournaments: $1,620
Cash Poker: $300
Blackjack: -$1,050
Roulette: -$350
Daily P/L: $520
Total P L: -$1,880


Day 4: Wednesday June 13th 2007

I return to the Bellagio for another $2,500 event at the Bellagio Cup. I get a very tough table including Jared Hamby (the latest online phenom turned offline tournament superstar) who is friendly and plays creatively and with great presence. Two hours in I am out after laying down QQ on the turn (correctly to AA if Jared is to be believed!) and then running AK into KK when short-stacked.

I spend the rest of the day splashing around losing money before heading to the Venetian to watch my oldest poker buddy Jeff Israel play a blinder in their daily $500 deep-stack tourney. With around 600 runners and a $75K first prize, Jeff made a brave move on the very last hand of the day only to get busted in 13th place. I was gutted for him but really proud of his performance.

Tournaments: -$2,620
Cash Poker: $1,300
Blackjack: -$600
Roulette: -$1,100
Daily P/L: -$5,620
Total P/L: -$7,500


Day 5: Thursday June 14th 2007

I get a good night’s sleep and wake up and realise that I have acted like a chump tourist gambler for four days. I resolve to not let it continue. No more table games and no more cash games (these don’t sit well with me and I know I have a smaller edge than in tournaments). I resolve to reduce stakes, work up some confidence, relax, adjust to Vegas time and surroundings and start really enjoying myself.

I chat to my girlfriend Marilia who gives me some good advice and some soothing words and I meet up with close friends Ben and Liz who are passing through Vegas for a day.

Suddenly with my mood lifted I can do no wrong. I play a $225 Single table Tournament at the Rio and take it down with ease. I play another and chop it heads up with the friendly Frenchman Pascal Perrault.

I go out for a great dinner with Ben, Liz and the crew at the Bellagio Noodle Bar and buy in as an alternate to the $1k 8pm tournament. 90 minutes in, I am seated. 65 runners this time and I play a great game. I get off to a flyer and catch a decent break when we are down to 20 players, winning a coin flip for my tournament life. I win a monster pot five-handed when I call an all-in push from a guy who I later discovered to be "Rainkhan" – a top tourney player on PokerStars. I have AK and he is caught red-handed holding Q10 offsuit. Flop A-K-A – boom!! Four-handed, we do a chop on chips and I get the lion’s share, winning $22k and a really nice glass trophy as the chip leader and thus first-place finisher.

What a difference a day makes!

Tournaments: $21,000
STTs: $2,450
Daily P/L: $23,450
Total P/L: $15,950


Day 6: Friday June 15th 2007

Day five rolls into day six. The paperwork at the end of the Bellagio tournament takes an absolute age to complete and I get back to the Wynn just before 7am. I wake up Jeff and Tony (accidentally on purpose) to show them the trophy and chew the fat. We decide it will be a great idea to take a chopper ride to the Grand Canyon. Some coffee, red bull and 90 minutes later we are on our way.

The trip is absolutely sensational (albeit I dozed off somewhere between flying past the top floor of the Mandalay Bay and arriving at the Canyon) and it puts me in an even better mood. A whole bunch of us take a lazy long lunch at the Wynn buffet. We add a quick trip to the pool, see off Ben and Liz and I spend the afternoon having a 'long and philosophical' with Jeff. We have been mates and poker comrades for a long time, we know each other well and it does us both the world of good to spend some time chatting through life, love, Vegas, poker and more. I know it was a chat that will stay with us both for some time. We grab some more food and I crash out early.

Daily P/L: 0
Total P/L: $15,950


Day 7: Saturday June 16th 2007

Being a semi-observant Jew, I like to have Friday night / Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath) as my day of rest. I catch up on sleep, eat and chill at the Wynn Spa. When the Sabbath goes out, I scoot on down to The Bellagio for a third stab at the nightly $1k tournament.

This being a Saturday night, the field has increased substantially to 125 runners. As previously, I buy in as an alternate and get seated 90 minutes after the tournament starts. I quickly build up my stack from 5k to 15k. I clash repeatedly with Mats Iremark (prolific young tournament winner from Sweden) and we enjoy some good banter. I then lose a monster pot against a young guy called Eric who it turns out won the Dealers event at this year’s WSOP ($100K and a bracelet).

I am back down to 6k but I fight my way back and play a really great game, gradually building my stack whilst rarely showing my cards. I catch a decent break with 20 left when I attempt a steal with 3-5 and am pot committed against a short stack with AQ (I river a straight). From there on in, I am never really in danger and I make some good strong moves on the final table. Having lost Mats in seventh place despite a remarkable comeback that saw him go from one chip (all in next hand as an ante) to over 70K, we do a chop six-handed. Despite being second in chips I accept just $1,000 more as no-one is short stacked and the blinds are huge. Eric is declared the winner and receives the trophy as he has 10,000 chips more than me, but I am more than happy with the $18K in prize money.

Tournaments: $16,960
Daily P/L: $16,960
Total P/L: $32,910


Day 8: Sunday June 17th 2007

I go to bed at 7.15am and get up at 9.45am to meet an old work colleague (Roy) for breakfast at the Wynn. At 11.45am I scoot over to the Rio to see if I can continue my amazing run of form at the WSOP.

Two hours' sleep is hardly the ideal preparation for a $3,000 No Limit Holdem event with 830 runners including some of the toughest players on the planet. However, once again, I get off to a flyer, busting Tony G when my overpair holds up against his flush draw. With the exception of Keith Hawkins and a tough young American called John, I am fortunate to stay on a pretty soft table for the first eight hours. I run riot, following my instincts, playing multiple pots and bulldozing my way up to 45,000 (from 6,000) without ever showing my cards. Just before the table breaks I take a really bad beat in blind-on-blind action. I pick off a semi-bluff when a guy over-raises all-in on the turn with just a flush draw (dominated by my second pair). Sadly he gets there on the river and I’m back down to 30,000.

I get moved to a much tougher table and fail to adjust straight away, blowing off a few chips in the process. I fight my way back whilst having the pleasure of playing against Evelyn Ng. She is an extremely tough opponent with an excellent understanding of tournament strategy and short-stacked play. On top of this, she left a mark on me due to her personality. Courteous and refined, she is personable and friendly to all with no hint of an ego despite her poker-star status.

With 33,000 behind I get lucky in a key pot. With blinds 400-800 I make it 2,500 to go from the button with 6c5c and a tough deep stacked Austrian player (Johannis) raises it up to 9,500 from the small blind. Sensing I had fold-equity, and willing to gamble, I quickly re-pushed all-in, trying to exude strength. He thought for a minute or two before making a great call with AJ – however it ultimately cost him when a third club came down on the river.

Over the next hour, my playing standard worsened (due mainly to exhaustion I suspect) and I was card dead too. As the bubble approached I was down to 33,000 and potentially in some trouble. However, I got moved again and on my first hand at the new table the short stack pushed for 11,000 and a big stack called from the button. I sensed the big stack had called with a weak ace so when I woke up with AQ I re-pushed. Sure enough the big stack mucked A9 face up and my AQ held up against the short stack's A10. I officially broke the bubble, made a lot of chips and cashed for the first time at the WSOP in my fifth event (I played three events last year).

Exhausted but delighted I caught a cab ride back with top internet player Noah Schwartz ("fouruhaters") and we swapped stories about winning the PokerStars Million whilst daydreaming of making the final table together the next day.

Daily P/L: 0
Total P/L: $32,910


Day 9: Monday June 18th 2007

I get a good sleep and wake up raring to go. Back at the Rio I bump into Noah and we stroll together to our seats to resume the fight with just 81 players remaining. With Ed Moncada (bracelet winner in 2005) to my right, England's JP Kelly three to my left and various other tough players at the table I know I have a fight on my hands. But I play great and gradually work my starting stack of 70,000 up to 110,000 before winning a monster pot with KK that rockets me up to 240,000.

I donk off a few chips, my table breaks and I get moved to a table full of deep stacks. I immediately clash with top internet player Taylor Caby (another really nice guy) and am forced to fold a strong hand in blind-on-blind action. For the next two hours, I am pretty card dead but the numbers are still dropping and I’m not desperate yet. When we reach the second break there are only 23 players left and the final table is within touching distance.

The reality of how close I am to a final table is brought home more clearly when we return to our seats to be greeted by an ESPN questionnaire as it's a televised final table. Phil Hellmuth is seated on the next table along and I try to keep my dreams of a heads-up bracelet battle with the "Poker Brat" in check and focus on the here and now.

When play resumes, the average stack is 200k and I have 130k. I fight my way up to 160k when the turning point arrives. The loosest player at the table (sat to my immediate right) opens to 23k. Having initially decided to re-pop him with Ah9h I get caught in two minds and I just smooth call (mistake number one). The flop comes AxKx7c. He bets 26k and I quickly call behind him exuding strength. The turn comes 5c and he thinks for a minute then checks. At this point, I am 95% sure that I have him beat. The pot is already substantial and a push in this spot is highly likely to win me the pot. But again I get caught in two minds. With visions of his bluffing off a bunch of chips to me on the river, I hastily check my option without fully thinking things through (big mistake number two). The river comes 10c which looks dangerous and he quickly checks. I sense danger and fortunately I decide against the value bet, checking my option again. Unfortunately he flips over Qc8c. Obviously I got unlucky to lose to runner-runner but it was a bizarre pot and I played it horribly.

Instead of pushing the turn and getting up to 254k I was now in trouble with 110k. Two rounds later I am down to 88k when the same player opens to 23K. I pick up 33 and decide its time to make a stand. I push, he dwells up for at least a minute, announces that he is priced in and calls with jh9h. The flop comes q-8-2-q-8. My 3s are counterfeited and I am out in 21st.

The $14,000 pay day and the experiences of the previous day and a half were scant consolation. It was a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling to leave that tournament area just 11 spots from an ESPN televised final table (featuring Phil Hellmuth), a probable sponsorship deal, a shot at a WSOP bracelet and a $500K pay-day. The mistake I made in the A9 hand will probably haunt me for a long time. At the same time, I was able to rationalise the idea that "it wasn't meant to be" and after playing one SNG at the Rio I head back to the Wynn and succeed in falling into a deep sleep.

Tournaments: $11,450
STTs: -$725
Blackjack: -$200
Roulette: -$100
Daily P/L: $10,425
Total P/L: $43,335


Day 10: Tuesday June 19th 2007

I wake up and head down to the Rio all set to play in my final WSOP event – the $5,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold’em. Having rushed down my breakfast to get there by 12, the shambolic organisation and announcement of the draw mean that we don’t kick off until 2pm. I catch up with various opponents from the $3,000 event and get introduced to various top European players in the process including George Danzer, John Shipley and 'ElkY'. Sadly (unlike 120 others) I miss out on a first round bye but am happy to find myself drawn against an American guy called Joe I have never seen or heard of before.

He plays a tight but solid game. He is nobody’s fool but he is also a long way from the best player in the field and I sense that if I play well, I should be able to beat him without too much fuss.

For the first 20 minutes I play loose aggressive and run all over him, building my 10k starting stack up to 13k. Then I make a mistake by not betting the river in a big pot that he takes down with Ace high. Before I know it I am down to 6K and scrapping to regain the upper hand. I hold my own for the next hour despite getting the worse of the cards and hover around 7k. Finally, however, as the blinds start to escalate and my stack dwindles he takes control. The final hand is a bit of a cooler as my 9h6h looked tasty after an Ah-6s-3h flop – that is until we got it all in and he flipped over A6. Game over.

I exit the arena feeling disappointed and down. I go over to watch some of the $3,000 final table and that only makes it worse. I get a text from my girlfriend telling me she has had a fall. Thankfully it’s nothing too serious but it shakes me up and darkens my mood further. I play a couple of Single Table tournaments and immediately donk off my chips in both which does little to lighten the gloom. It gets to 6pm and in a moment of clarity I realise that my play and my whole mindset are still stuck in the $3,000 event and that until I forgive myself for the mistake I made before busting, it was a waste of time and money to play poker.

I head back to the Wynn, write this article and book up a round of golf with Tony for the next morning. Amazing as it has been, for the first time ever, when about to leave Vegas, I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to getting home.

Tournaments: -$5,000
STTs: -$900
Daily P/L: -$5,900
Total P L: $37,535

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