Which Vegas poker tourney to play in?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've done some scouting for a big stack tournament on Friday (can't play the Saturday afternoon tourneys as we have plans starting Saturday at 5:00 PM. I've found a couple of tourneys that seem to fit the bill.

Venetian has a $150 buy in tourney at Noon on Friday. You get 7,500 in chips and blinds are 30 minutes.

Caesar's has a $340 buy in tourney at Noon on Friday. You get 12,500 in chips and blinds are 40 minutes.

My thought is that the Caesar's tourney is the better situation, especially for my relatively patient style of play. But I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows anything more about the blind levels or previous experience with either of these tourneys. Thanks for any info.

[Barkeep49]

What is the blind structure? If the blinds accelerate faster, despite your having more chips and more play each level, you could end up with less play.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

What is the blind structure? If the blinds accelerate faster, despite your having more chips and more play each level, you could end up with less play.

I couldn't find a site that listed the blind structure. That was my main reason for posing the question. Is there a poker site somewhere that lists the blind structures?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I found this site based on the 'Poker Tournament Formula' book. It looks like the Venetian may be the better option based on patience factor and skill level.

Las Vegas Poker Tournaments, Schedule and Ratings

The only word of caution I see is that there is a big jump in blinds early in the Caesar's tournament between level 2 and 3. It jumps from 50/100 to 100/200/25.

[Subby]

Caesar's sounds like the better value to me - not sure if they use automatic shufflers or not, however (The Venetian does).

You should definitely spend some time at the Venetian's room if you get a chance. It is really fantastic.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Subby

Caesar's sounds like the better value to me - not sure if they use automatic shufflers or not, however (The Venetian does).

You should definitely spend some time at the Venetian's room if you get a chance. It is really fantastic.

We're staying at the Palazio (sp?), so I'll likely play cash games at the Venetian either way. Their 1/2 NL game and 3/6 limit game are super juicy, but the higher levels have some pretty good players now from what I hear.

[Lathum]

where did you end up and how did it go?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

where did you end up and how did it go?

Played at the Venetian on Friday. I was really impressed with the tournament structure. Very deep stacks and the blinds didn't seem to go up all that quickly. I still found that a lot of players were being overaggressive far too early. I'm guessing that's an internet mentality. They had around 250 entries. I finished about 10 spots out of the money, but got to play for around 5 hours, so it was great value.

I went and played 1/2 NL afterwards. I got $200 all in when I had 88 and A98 rainbow came on the flop. One guy called me and flipped over AQo. Pot was nearly $500.

Turn was an Ace.

River was a Queen.

Ugh.

[Lathum]

thats brutal

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

thats brutal

The entire table groaned. They felt my pain, but it didn't make it any easier. I will say that I handled it extremely well. I squinted my eyes a bit, but otherwise remained seated and told the guy 'good hand' as I stood up to leave. I'm shocked in hindsight that I managed to remain calm.

[SportsDino]

I've faced many a 'good hand', you just gotta politely take your lumps and prepare for the next one, you don't lose to runner, runner every day.

I'm a master of the 80/20 coin flip (as in I'm very good at ending up in lots of said coin flips for the other guys chips), they have a surprising failure rate, but I never lost over a longer session by playing to trap people in 80/20 situations. Just sometimes that 20 comes and you get short term busted... sucks.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SportsDino

I've faced many a 'good hand', you just gotta politely take your lumps and prepare for the next one, you don't lose to runner, runner every day.

I'm a master of the 80/20 coin flip (as in I'm very good at ending up in lots of said coin flips for the other guys chips), they have a surprising failure rate, but I never lost over a longer session by playing to trap people in 80/20 situations. Just sometimes that 20 comes and you get short term busted... sucks.

This guy's one saving grace was that this happened on Friday. Had this happened after Mizzou lost to OSU, they would have likely had to call in security.

Wife and kid are out of town this weekend, so I'll likely go to the local casino and play this weekend to get the bad taste out of my mouth.