JJ BANKS’ Blog

                                                                                                                     Caesars Palace

     Aggression is a very powerful tool when it comes to No Limit Hold’em, but sometimes you can be too aggressive believe it or not. Maybe I was too over confident after my session last night at The Bellagio but I sat down at a 2 - 5 No Limit Hold’em table at Caesars Palace and in one hour I was down $500. It started when I had AQ and flopped top pair, but was up against a guy with A3 who had flopped two pair. That hand hurt and I lost over $200 on that hand alone. I don’t want to get into all the details of the betting, but long story short, I should have picked up that he had my AQ beat when he re-raised me on the turn. I played a few hands that couldn’t connect with the flop and then suddenly my stack was only around $120, which isn’t that much in a 2- 5 game. At this point I’m looking to double up my stack so I have some chips to play with, and my opportunity came when I had Jc10c and hit top pair with a flop of 10s 6s 7c. I got the rest of my $120 in the middle but unfortunately I was up against pocket Aces and didn’t improve.

                                                                                                                       Age of Moneyology

     I didn’t like how things were going or how I was playing so I got up from the table and left Caesars. Wow, I just blew $500 in one hour. Looking back I would have played some hands differently, but after walking around on the Vegas Strip for awhile to collect myself I was ready to get into another game, and not worry about winning money but just focus on playing my normal game. Maybe at Caesars I was playing too aggressive because I was so concerned about winning back my money to end my trip to Vegas either even or ahead. When actually I shouldn’t even be worried about that stuff when I’m at the table. I should just focus on the game one hand at a time and let the chips fall where they may. I entered the Planet Hollywood poker room in this state of mind.

                                                                                                                Planet Hollywood

      Planet Hollywood has a nice little poker room but here’s something interesting about it, some genius decided it would be great idea to put a karaoke bar right next to it. Wow, what a distraction. There’s nothing like trying to play poker and listen to a bunch of tourists sing “Sweet Caroline”. The best was when someone decided to sing “The Adams Family” song, my douche chills didn’t go away for at least 20 minutes. But back to poker, I took an empty seat at a 1 - 2 No Limit Hold’em table and was determined not to let the fact that was already down $500 bother me. I was just going to play my game and take it one hand at a time. Nothing really exciting happened for me in the first two hours, however the guy sitting to my left flopped a royal flush and won a high hand jackpot for $1200. Damn I was one seat off. $1200 would have been nice, that would have taken care of my session at Caesars and cleared me for the trip all in one swoop, but again I wasn’t going to let that bother me, I was going to just play my normal game. And with that said, over the 4 hours I was at the table I won $232. I didn’t win any huge pots, just a few pots here and there and one decent size pot when I made two pair with AJ. It was 4:30am and my flight home was at 7:00am so my poker playing days in Las Vegas were over for now.

     Summing up my poker vacation to Las Vegas all I have to say is that I’m glad I gave this a shot. Sure, I probably donked off $1500 by entering that WSOP event, but what if my cards had hit and if now I had a bankroll of $631,000 like David Woo now has. There are a lot of good players out here in Vegas and I learned a lot about my own game while playing out here, and I think that’s really important, because like you saw tonight you need to play the game that suits your own style. I was too aggressive at Caesars and it cost me $500, I simmered down at Planet Hollywood and worked my way to winning $232. So I finished my last night down $268, leaving me $764 in the hole while I boarded my plane back to Philly. $764 is a lot of money but considering I was down $1500 after playing for 3 hours in the WSOP tournament, you could look at it like I won $736 while I was out here.

     So that’s it, Las Vegas I love you and I’m looking forward to seeing you again next year. I’m back at home in New Jersey now and have today off to readjust myself from my trip. Wait, The Borgata is only an hour away……

                                                                                                                    The Mirage

     ***News Flash: WSOP Event #39 No-Limit Hold’em was won by David Woo, earning him $631,656 - you lousy bum!***

     But since I wasn’t anywhere near the final table of the event above I decided to head over to The Mirage poker room. I was looking to play some 1-2 No Limit Hold’em but there was quite a waiting list for that game so when I saw an open seat at a 5-10 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo game I took a seat there. Now, I’ll admit my Omaha Hi-Lo skills aren’t as polished as my Hold’em abilities, and I didn’t exactly play my best poker, but man did I receive some bad beats. It seemed like I missed all my draws when going for the nuts, while my opponents where filling up on me when I did have a good hand. You know, I flop the nut straight but my opponents either hit a flush or a full house on the river, which isn’t uncommon in Omaha, but when I was on draw like my opponents were I never seemed to hit and before I knew it I was down $303.

     Now The Mirage poker room is a very nice room and a decent size with a variety of different games, but on the downside the players there, at least at my table, were old riff raffs from the old days of Vegas. Maybe it was because I was playing Omaha, which hasn’t taken off with the young generation of poker players like Hold’em has, because I’d say the average age of the players at my table was probably around 50, with a few guys nearing their 70’s. One guy kept falling asleep at the table and actually looked like he was ready to drop dead at any second. I was kind of annoyed that the poker floorperson allowed a guy to sleep at our table. You really can’t get much action from a guy who’s passed out. Also, ironically these guys where talking about the “old glory days” of Las Vegas and most of their information was wrong. I’ve read a lot about the history of Las Vegas and it was funny to listen to these ”locals” try and impress us “tourists” with their folklore that sounded to me like complete BS. So I didn’t exactly have a great time at The Mirage, but the night was young and The Bellagio was close by.

                                                                                                                    The Bellagio - the center of the poker universe.

     The safe play when being down $303 is to seek out an easy game where you can win you’re money back, and since the last time I played at The Bellagio I ran into the hardest poker table I had ever faced, my move to go back to The Bellagio wouldn’t exactly be considered a high percentage play. But how often am I in Vegas? If I’m matching myself against Atlantic City’s best at The Borgata every weekend why not take on Las Vegas’ best at The Bellagio while I’m here? I waited for about 30 minutes before I was seated at a 2 - 5 No Limit Hold’em table, but to my surprise this was the exact opposite of the table I faced here the other night. My table this time was a poker player’s dream! Of the ten players at the table I’d say only 3 or 4 had a strong handle on the game, the other players were timid “newbies” to live poker, drunk Austrailian businessmen, and even one really hot chick who was looking to dump $200 to pass the time while her boyfriend played his high-limit game. Needless to say I was very happy I decided to come back to The Bellagio.

     I played from 12:30am until 5:30am and won $767. My big hand of the night came when I was holding Ac7c and made the nut club flush on the turn and basically tripled up my stack. I was tired as shit at 5:30am and was shocked when I looked in on ”The Big Game” and saw that players like Johnny Chan, Kenny Tran, and Sam Farha were wide awake, playing super high level limits, and apparently had been playing for close to 18 hours straight. How do these guys do it? They are so sick! I my not be anywhere near their level but I was very happy with how my night had turned around and I headed home to “The Ghetto Coast” having once again cut into my deficit.

     With one night left in Las Vegas I’m currently down $496 for my trip. Not bad considering I lost $1500 with my short-lived tournament experience. Can I leave Vegas back at even or ahead? I’m heading to Caesar’s Palace tonight to find out.   

                                                                                                                       The Venetian

     Human innovation is the key to our species’ survival. And Las Vegas may be the greatest accomplishment in mankind’s history. The city not only shows why America is the best country in the world, but also why capitalism is the only way to go. Where money talks and bullshit…well if you don’t have the cash…then get the fuck out of the way.

     I came back with a vengence today and won $500 while playing 1-2 No Limit Hold’em at The Venetian. To make a long story short, I won a few small pots and was doing pretty good until I was dealt pocket Jacks, I flopped a set of Jacks, my opponent turned a straight and I rivered a full house, basically taking him for everything he had by winning a $800 pot. I played from 6:30pm until 4:30am, then I headed over to The Palms where I saw two girls making at the bar, one even showed her tits while the other kissed them, made some friends playing Blackjack and headed back to “The Ghetto Coast” around 6am.

                                                                                                                       This hallway is a testament to the greatness of mankind.

     But besides having a good night of poker, I was also amazed by how awesome The Venetian is. This is definitely the nicest casino I’ve ever been in. So much style and class, a good mixture of gamblers from young to old, and not an “Mtv” casino like The Palms or The Hard Rock. The Venetian is actually designed better than The Bellagio, and this has nothing to do with the fact that I just won $500 playing there. The place really is amazing.

                                                                                                                   Look at this ceiling! Da Vinci eat your heart out.

     So after tonight I’ve put a nice dent in my deficit. I’m only $960 in the hole. Can I win the rest back by Wednesday morning? Let’s hope and see.

                                                                                                                     The Rio - Home of the 2008 World Series of Poker

     My shot at poker glory ended after 3 hours on Saturday as I was knocked out in 2060th place in a field of 2720 for the 2008 World Series of Poker Event #39 $1500 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament. In tournament poker you have to find a way to quickly collect chips as the blinds and antes will constantly rise. I however couldn’t get anything going or find any favorable situations and that’s a recipe for disaster.

                                                                                                                    Hey, I only had to outlast 2719 other players, no problem.

     Each player started with 3000 in chips and the beginning blinds were 25-50 with 1 hour levels. I heard a lot of players complaining that this structure was too fast but given that this is just a preliminary event I think starting with 60 big blinds and 1 hour levels is more then generous. I didn’t win any big pots or lose any big pots so by the time the blinds were 100 - 200 I was left with about 1300 in chips and I was one of the smallest stacks at the table. I’d guess that the average stack size at the table was probably around 4000 chips. At this level the opening raise was about 600 chips, so when I looked down and saw that I had pocket 10’s I had a good feeling that this was an opportunity to at least double-up. I was in late position and a player in middle position made the standard raise to 600, the action was folded to me and I decided to go all-in, with his bet of 600 and with 300 in blinds the pot was at 900, and since I only had 1300 in chips I see this as the correct decision. The initial raiser calls:

Jeff Larsen: 10s 10h

Guy in shades: Ah Js

The Board:    Flop: Ks 6d Qs    Turn: 7c     River: Ad

     An Ace on the River and I’m out the door. I played the best I could and I got my money in there with the best of it. Actually, if you want to hear something sick, I should have been knocked out of the tournament 2 hours earlier when I had pockets 6’s and limped into a seven way pot which featured a flop of Ah 6h 4h. A player in early position bet, a player in middle position raised and I threw my set of 6’s into the muck. That’s right I threw away a set! With a bet and a raise in a seven way pot I knew someone had to have flop the flush. And sure enough after the initial bettor folded, the raiser showed his hand of 9h7h. Now, how many players are disciplined enough to fold my hand in that situation? Sure maybe the board would have paired and I would have won with a full house, but the percentages are against it.   

     Eventhough I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, playing in a World Series of Poker Event has a level of excitement that is truly one of a kind. Just like the city of Las Vegas. I fucking love this town! I’m even staying in a shitty ass hotel and still having a ball. Let me tell you about The Gold Coast Casino or the ”Ghetto Coast” as I have been calling it.

                                                                                                                   “The Ghetto Coast Casino”

     Now to spend 5 nights in Las Vegas for under $500 is a bargain but you do get what you pay for. The Gold Coast slogan is “Serving the locals since they were tourists” and it truly feels that way. From the median age of 55 for most guests, to the toothless wonders roaming the hotel lobby, this hotel isn’t going to be making any “Best of Vegas” lists anytime soon. I wanted to write a blog on Saturday but it took the hotel’s technicans all day to fix my room’s internet connection. I have a feeling that not many guests at this hotel either have or can afford a laptop computer so the internet connections aren’t used much or maintained at all. And oh, you have to pay $11.99 a day to use the internet, that’s so weak, but it’s actually the norm for Vegas hotels. And do you think the ice machine would work? No, sorry! It’s only 111 degrees outside and you expect your hotel to have a working ice machine! How foolish of me.

                                                                                                                       The Gold Coast attracts all the high rollers with their penny slots.

     But who has time to complain about missing amenities when you’re in Las Vegas? Me I guess. But on the brightside “The Ghetto Coast” does have a liquor store in the lobby, which carries Icehouse Beer, my favorite beer of all-time, and the Asian escorts are friendly when you decline their offers. Also, the hotel is located right in between The Rio and The Palms, so it’s location is key.

                                                                                                                 The Palms - the hottest place on Earth

     I have often boasted about the Babes seen at The Borgata in Atlantic City. Well, last night I made my first trip to The Palms casino and without a doubt this place has the most amazing and hottest girls per squre foot than anywhere else in the world! Their poker room only has 4 tables but the view is overwhelming. Every 20 seconds you hear the “click-clak” of high heels on marble floors attached to the most ridiculous female bodies you have ever seen. We’re talking models, we’re talking pornstars, we’re talking just the hottest women from all over the country hanging out in one place, wearing the most outrageous outfits you can imagine. I could only sit at the poker table for 4 hours because I just couldn’t concentrate. It was so ridiculous! Fortunately, in those four hours I won $236 so its fair to say I have nothing but praise for The Palms.

     To escape the sensory overload of The Palms I headed to the Bellagio where I played poker until 6am. I sat down at a 2/5 No-Limit table, (that’s the lowest game The Bellagio offers) and it was the hardest table I’ve ever been at. Every hand I played I was challenged and put to the test. A sharp contrast to how I was steamrolling the poker table at The Palms. Every player in The Bellagio is dead serious about poker, from the guys at my table to the world’s best players, just to name a few: Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Gus Hansen, Kenny Tran and David Benyamine who were all playing a $2,000/$4,000 Mixed game last night. I left The Bellagio -$196 finishing the night with a $40 profit, woo who! So now I’m only down -$1460 for my trip.

     Today’s gameplan: Check out The Venetian and win back more money.  

     Big Gay Al and all his gayness joins the group. “Oh my carrot cake!”

                                                                                                           The Borgata - Atlantic City, NJ

     Today I took a so-called “Personal Day” from work and headed down to Atlantic City to play in The Borgata Summer Poker Open Event #2. The event was a $340 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament that had, I think 547 entries. I saw this as a good opportunity to tune up before I head out to Vegas for the World Serie of Poker. We started with 6000 in chips, 40 minute levels and beginning blinds at 25 - 50. Shuffle up and Deal!

     I played pretty tight early and didn’t get involved in many hands. It didn’t help that I was getting “good” blackjack hands like 7 4 off suit or 9 2 offsuit. When I did play a hand I’d usually have something like A 9 suited or J 10 suited, only to see my cards totally miss the flop, and when I did take a stab at the pot with nothing I had the pleasure of being reraised by the oldest and tighest player at the table, so I’d have to left the hand go. This all lead up to my defining moment.

     With the blinds at 50 - 100 and a chip stack of 4100 in front of me, I was in the big blind and looked down to see Ks Kh. Pocket Kings Baby! One guy in early position called 100, everyone else folded, the small blind limped in for another 50 and I raised with my big blind option another 400. The guy in early postion calls and the small blind folds.

     The Flop: Qd Qc 5d

     I bet out 700 and my opponent thinks for maybe a second and decides to put me “all-in”. OK, now I have a decision. Of course the question is: does he have a queen? Now, if I had a queen in this situation why would he reraise so much? I had bet 700 and he came over the top for 3000 more into a pot that’s only 1800, does that make sense for someone with three of a kind? Maybe this is a semi-bluff and he’s on a diamond flush draw? Before the hand I had characterized this player as a loose aggressive type of player. A level earlier he had hit a 4 outer for a straight against another guy’s two pair. Thinking that he’s either on a flush draw or maybe he’s trying to make a move on me because I had been laying a lot of hands down to reraises, or honestly I just didn’t think someone would play three of a kind that way, I decided to put my tournament life on the line and call.

     He flips over Qs10d and I’m facing a 2 outer to save my life. One of the last remaining Kings doesn’t come and I’m pulling out of The Borgata parking garage after only playing for about an hour and a half. I really didn’t think he had a queen and went with my decision. Looking back maybe I should have just tossed my Kings into the muck. I still would of had 3000 in chips, plenty to still make an impact with. I’ve folded hands a lot stonger than that before in the past. Maybe I’ve been reading too many poker books and overanalyzed the hand. The books would never tell you to bet trips like that, and I guess that’s probably one of the reasons why I didn’t give him credit for three of a kind. When maybe, since my tournament life was on the line I should have just looked at his huge overbet and given him the benefit of the doubt that he had a queen and moved onto the next hand.

     Maybe I would still be playing if I had?     

            
     I recently turned 31 and I started wondering not only what am I doing with my life but also what the fuck is the purpose of my website WellHungOver.net? Originally, I started the website so I could showcase my wonderful short film by the same name, but the more I think about it I think there’s more potential for that so-called waste of cyber-space. So I started thinking “What does it mean to be WellHungOver?” And the following is what I came up with:

1. You don’t fear death, and won’t give into torture.

2. You have Olympic Beer Pong Skills.

3. You have knowledge that would surprise a scholar, and a sense of humor that would make even a bad girl grin.

4. You have the sociability of a lamb, but remain a lone wolf.

5. You have the highest level of experience with alcohol, gambling, video games, screwball comedies, music, pornography and fast food. 

6. You can fall in love but you can never love.

7. You realize you may have, at times, squandered your abilities and opportunities, but will always remain positive about the future.

     So there you have it, are you “WellHungOver”? If you are and even if you’re not, feel free to stop by sometime at WellHungOver.net

                                                                                                                        Here I am playing the board “Isolation” in Halo 3.

     Great news guys! I got my X-Box back after experiencing the Red Ring of Death and I’ve been playing Halo 3 nonstop!!! Fuck Yeah! Stay Alpha!!!!

     And since I got my X-Box back in working order I thought this would be a good time to show off my kickass set-up that peasants in third world countries could only dream of obtaining. We’re talking a 56″ Samsung DLP HDTV along with an X-Box 360 Elite that includes the HD DVD add-on. Yeah I know, you don’t have to tell me it rocks.

     Now I’m Audi 5000 because I’ve got to go back to pwning noobs!