vegas: the day at the venetian

So we decide to try the Venetian out since we haven't played there yet. Finally we get called into the must move game and it's 5 nits, myself and Garrett(ya, I dunno why they took so long to call us either) So we've been playing for 10 minutes or so, nothing too exciting has happened. Older man who has raised pre-flop before and folded to a 3 bet, decides to try raising pf this time. I have A2 on the button, and I 3 bet him. The sb cold calls $120, and everyone else including the older guy folds. Heads up to the flop:

Flop: K-T-3

He checks. I check behind.

Turn: J

He checks. I bet $150. He calls.

River is a blank. He checks and I fire $300 into his ridiculously obvious QQ. He thinks for a while and finally folds. I flip up my cards and show my bluff, trying to get some action going at this very nitty table. He says, "bet you can't guess what I had." "QQ," I said. He is impressed, strokes my ego and lets me know that I am correct.

Then, instead of pushing me the full pot, the dealer attempts to take $42 out of my pot for a time pot. When I tell her that I just sat down, and that no time pot was announced she called the floor.(Normally when players sit down they either, A. pay the time($6), B. pay half time($3), C. don't have to pay time since they just sat down, and are often allowed to play until the next time) None of these options include paying everyone else's time in an unannounced time pot that we definitely wouldn't have agreed to playing with 5 nits.(self-explanitory, but I'll explain this in a second) So this floor guy comes over(younger guy) He asks what happened and the dealer said everyone was doing a time pot. I tell him that I just sat down and never heard of any time pot/and wouldn't have agreed to a time pot anyways.(when time pots are being done, players either agree to them, or they pay the time- since we had just sat down we did not know any time pot existed- so obviously we wouldn't be a part of a time pot that we weren't there for) He says in a condescending manner, "sir here's how a time pot works- what happens is instead of paying time, the person who wins a certain sized pot will pay the time for everyone. see thats how it works. does that make sense to you?" If I dislike anything, people talking to me like that is definitely up there. I politely explained I knew how a time pot worked, but we were new players to the table, so IF we had to pay any time, it wasn't a time pot for everyone that we knew nothing about. He was still talking to me like I was an idiot, but finally realized that he was actually the idiot and agreed that Garrett and I could pay time.

Quick tip for when/when not to be involved in time pots: the table we were at was full of nits.(nits for those reading who don't know the poker lingo are very, tight players. meaning they don't play a lot of hands, and don't put a lot of money in.) Garrett and I would attempt to run over a table like this, and so this would mean that we would be paying most of the time pots just between us. So instead of paying $6/ 30 minutes to play poker there, one of us would probably end up paying $42-$60(depending on # of players)/ 30 minutes to play there, because we'd be getting involved in most of the pots, and winning the majority of them over the course of a session. So we could easily end up paying $500 in rake instead of like $50. If it's a full table and everyone's doing a time pot it's usually the friendly thing for everyone to do the time pot to keep the game moving, etc... If it's a shorthanded table with guys who are never going to have to pay a time pot because they are waiting for aces it's a horrible decision to be in a time pot. If I were a very tight player, I would love to be in time pots, because it would mean I could play poker for free without having to pay time until I woke up with a huge hand.

I probably explained it way more than I had to.......so anyways..............

Finally we get called from the must move game. I rack up my chips, grab my phone, water, etc... and head over to the other table. I put everything down at my new seat and the player who just left there says he wants to stay there now. Floor says, "okay, you can stay." I have to go back to the must move game. wtf. So I'm repacking up my stuff, and another seat luckily opens up that I can take. So instead of having to go back to the must move the floor person tells me I can take that seat. Sweet. Now some other guy comes over and says, "no this is my seat." Floor guy had told him he could have it first. WOW. They send me back to the must move game. WTF. I had heard good things about the Venetian Poker Room, but seriously these guys are idiots. They probably are good, let's just say it was variance, but wow. Left a bad memory about that room to me.

I'm as close to life tilt as I can get right now. I finally sit down and get my first hand: AA. That's one cure for potential life tilt. Some younger guy raises it up to $50. I make it $200. Folds back around to him and he calls. Flop is: 9-Q-3, 2 spades. He checks. I bet $250. He shoves. arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhg. Live players can have anything, so I really don't have a range for him since it's my 1st hand at the table. He could have a set, KK, AQ, KQ, flush draw, straight draw, etc... I call. he flips over 99. He scoops the $4,000 pot. Life tilt. I get up and go for a walk. You can't walk off life tilt. I decide to drink it off. I find a bar upstairs and ask the lady to make me her strongest drink. She does. I text Garrett and tell him I'm done playing for the day. I come back down to the poker room............