8/31 - 9/4/2016 Vegas Semi-live TR
06-06-2017
, 09:23 PM
Sunday - Day 3
Sunday morning I woke up at 5a (darn Pacific time), but wanted to stay focused on the upcoming golf round, so instead of heading out and gambling, I listened to some Mike and Mike and played some chess on the phone until 7. At 7, we got ready then caught an Uber to Arroyo Country Club at Red Rock.
A quick word on Uber, I love it for many reasons (price, better drivers, nicer cars), but you can tell the taxi organization has deep connections, because finding the Uber pick-up zone is like getting out of one of those big corn field mazes. For the Venetian, it's on the 2nd or 3rd floor of some offset parking garage, and the signs directing people there are either straight up wrong or half of them are missing, because we hiked around the whole dam casino with our golf clubs on trying to find this place.
But I digress. We arrived at Arroyo at around 8 with an hour to spare before tee-off, giving us time to warm up on the driving range and to order some breakfast. I wish I had taken a picture of these breakfast burritos because they are in the running for best meal of the trip. Maybe because we were starving and in the desert, but either way they were delicious.
For Memorial Day weekend it was not crowded at all, in fact we weren't even paired up with another 2-some, so we set off without distraction in search of the white pony.
We had decided to keep the drinking a bit on the lighter side, I think throughout the course of the day we each had a six pack (me choosing Miller Lite tall boys, Mike choosing some craft ale I forgot which).
Our first challenge to remain bogey-free came on hole 4 where 2 errant drives had us pitching out of a fairway bunker and leaving us 85 yards for an up-and-down, which turned into a ~12 foot putt breaking right to left at the hole. I missed it high, and when Mike struck his putt I thought he missed it high too, but at the very end it died into the hole - a huge putt!
The second challenge came at hole 12, where errant drives required a punch-out and another 90 yard up-and-down to save par. By this point I was dialed in and stuck the wedge to about 10 feet, then stepped up and drained the uphill left to right breaker in the front right door.
The final challenge was on 18 where we had a 2-putt from ~25 feet for par. We put the first one to ~2 feet, then, I stepped up to finish the round and achieve the goal but missed the putt by a wide margin - somehow the putt broke very hard left to right even at ~2 feet! At this point I'm devastated, imagining Mike making the same mistake and us playing 17.99 perfect holes without finishing the job. Mike, however, having been in this exact same situation before, stepped up and banged the putt home, taking any break out of it. I still have shivers when I replay that putt over in my head, because I'm convinced if he hits that putt 1 ounce stronger, it pops out.
Nevertheless, we have completed the bogey-free round and caught the white pony!! In Vegas, to boot!
Feeling on top of the world, we decide to celebrate by heading down to Lagasse Stadium for the trifecta of food, booze, and sportsbetting. After dropping off the clubs and some quick showers, we make our way to Lagasse Stadium.
Well... not what we had in mind. The sportsbook was closed, the main TV had some soccer match, and the side TV's were just too small to watch from our seats. Having to scratch that sports betting itch, we decided to bounce and head back to the main sportsbook in the V, make our bets, then grab some grub at B&B Burgers and Beer (also in the V).
Screening the afternoon baseball games over Washington Apple shots (don't knock it til you try it) and beers, we try to weed through the red herrings and find the locks.
Finally, we decided to focus in on the Pirates/Mets game, since we are both from Pittsburgh (not originally, but we spent some years there). Feeling the liquid courage (but without approval from the bro), we bet it pretty hard.
Then we headed on over to B&B Burgers and Beer (also in the V) and got some food. The surprise hit was the side of coleslaw. Not too creamy, great flavor, and a surprising portion size.
After eating we headed on over to the poker room for some 1/3 action. The 1st inning no runs had hit which was huge, but otherwise the Pirates were getting spanked and we wrote off the rest of the tickets.
I don't have too many notes from this point on, I think the booze from the day had started to kick in, but I do have that I lost -390 at the poker tables, then lost -900 at blackjack, then ate a huge bacon cheeseburger from the Venetian cafeteria, and finally placed a 1,240 bet on the Astros to beat the Twins on Monday (tomorrow).
Not sure what time we got to bed, but I think I crashed at around 10p (I know, I know, very early) and Mike hit the poker tables again.
On deck for Monday - more golf, sports betting maxes out, I try my hand at 5/10 NL at the Wynn, and Vegas collects its fee.
Thanks for reading!
Day 3 totals:
+250 sports bets (with a big Astros ticket for Monday)
-390 poker
-900 blackjack
-1,040 Total
Sunday morning I woke up at 5a (darn Pacific time), but wanted to stay focused on the upcoming golf round, so instead of heading out and gambling, I listened to some Mike and Mike and played some chess on the phone until 7. At 7, we got ready then caught an Uber to Arroyo Country Club at Red Rock.
A quick word on Uber, I love it for many reasons (price, better drivers, nicer cars), but you can tell the taxi organization has deep connections, because finding the Uber pick-up zone is like getting out of one of those big corn field mazes. For the Venetian, it's on the 2nd or 3rd floor of some offset parking garage, and the signs directing people there are either straight up wrong or half of them are missing, because we hiked around the whole dam casino with our golf clubs on trying to find this place.
But I digress. We arrived at Arroyo at around 8 with an hour to spare before tee-off, giving us time to warm up on the driving range and to order some breakfast. I wish I had taken a picture of these breakfast burritos because they are in the running for best meal of the trip. Maybe because we were starving and in the desert, but either way they were delicious.
For Memorial Day weekend it was not crowded at all, in fact we weren't even paired up with another 2-some, so we set off without distraction in search of the white pony.
We had decided to keep the drinking a bit on the lighter side, I think throughout the course of the day we each had a six pack (me choosing Miller Lite tall boys, Mike choosing some craft ale I forgot which).
Our first challenge to remain bogey-free came on hole 4 where 2 errant drives had us pitching out of a fairway bunker and leaving us 85 yards for an up-and-down, which turned into a ~12 foot putt breaking right to left at the hole. I missed it high, and when Mike struck his putt I thought he missed it high too, but at the very end it died into the hole - a huge putt!
The second challenge came at hole 12, where errant drives required a punch-out and another 90 yard up-and-down to save par. By this point I was dialed in and stuck the wedge to about 10 feet, then stepped up and drained the uphill left to right breaker in the front right door.
The final challenge was on 18 where we had a 2-putt from ~25 feet for par. We put the first one to ~2 feet, then, I stepped up to finish the round and achieve the goal but missed the putt by a wide margin - somehow the putt broke very hard left to right even at ~2 feet! At this point I'm devastated, imagining Mike making the same mistake and us playing 17.99 perfect holes without finishing the job. Mike, however, having been in this exact same situation before, stepped up and banged the putt home, taking any break out of it. I still have shivers when I replay that putt over in my head, because I'm convinced if he hits that putt 1 ounce stronger, it pops out.
Nevertheless, we have completed the bogey-free round and caught the white pony!! In Vegas, to boot!
Feeling on top of the world, we decide to celebrate by heading down to Lagasse Stadium for the trifecta of food, booze, and sportsbetting. After dropping off the clubs and some quick showers, we make our way to Lagasse Stadium.
Well... not what we had in mind. The sportsbook was closed, the main TV had some soccer match, and the side TV's were just too small to watch from our seats. Having to scratch that sports betting itch, we decided to bounce and head back to the main sportsbook in the V, make our bets, then grab some grub at B&B Burgers and Beer (also in the V).
Screening the afternoon baseball games over Washington Apple shots (don't knock it til you try it) and beers, we try to weed through the red herrings and find the locks.
Finally, we decided to focus in on the Pirates/Mets game, since we are both from Pittsburgh (not originally, but we spent some years there). Feeling the liquid courage (but without approval from the bro), we bet it pretty hard.
Then we headed on over to B&B Burgers and Beer (also in the V) and got some food. The surprise hit was the side of coleslaw. Not too creamy, great flavor, and a surprising portion size.
After eating we headed on over to the poker room for some 1/3 action. The 1st inning no runs had hit which was huge, but otherwise the Pirates were getting spanked and we wrote off the rest of the tickets.
I don't have too many notes from this point on, I think the booze from the day had started to kick in, but I do have that I lost -390 at the poker tables, then lost -900 at blackjack, then ate a huge bacon cheeseburger from the Venetian cafeteria, and finally placed a 1,240 bet on the Astros to beat the Twins on Monday (tomorrow).
Not sure what time we got to bed, but I think I crashed at around 10p (I know, I know, very early) and Mike hit the poker tables again.
On deck for Monday - more golf, sports betting maxes out, I try my hand at 5/10 NL at the Wynn, and Vegas collects its fee.
Thanks for reading!
Day 3 totals:
+250 sports bets (with a big Astros ticket for Monday)
-390 poker
-900 blackjack
-1,040 Total
Last edited by br3nt00; 06-06-2017 at 09:29 PM.
08-22-2017
, 11:45 PM
Sorry for the delay on the final day's write-up - I was posting these at the same time as a bunch of WSOP trip reports so decided to hold off a bit and enjoy those instead.
Now seems like a good time to close this one out as I am heading back to Vegas this coming weekend for the Mayweather MacGregor fight (hoping to scalp some tickets) along with other general Vegas debauchery (poker, pit games, sports betting, food, and drink). I'll be doing a post TR write-up when I return from this one, as I feel the quality is better and it allows me to enjoy Vegas and also re-live it later as I write up the TR.
Monday - Day 4 (Final Day)
Having went to bed no later than 11p the previous night, I woke up at 8a feeling pretty good, except for my throat. The dry air, a clogged nose, and lots of alcohol combine into a terrible recipe that severely dries my throat out. Oh well, I chalk it up to variance and move on, because it's the last day and we have a busy schedule.
Today we are playing golf at TPC Las Vegas, and we maneuver our way through the cornfield maze to the Uber with ease and arrive in time for some breakfast burritos perhaps more delicious than the ones at Arroyo yesterday.
This time we are matched up with another two-some, which slows down the pace of play a good bit. But, we are having a great time just enjoying the course and its views.
The hunt for the white pony was cut short at hole 4 due to a botched tap-in par putt, and when it was all said and done, we shot even par 72 with 3 birdies and 3 bogeys. Not great, but not bad!
After wrapping up, we head back to the strip to clean up, catch the rest of the Astros game (which was already underway), and then grab some sushi. I did manage to find a picture of this bet, and this next part I can remember was maybe the most gut-wrenching part of the trip.
We get back, I jump in the shower then bolt for the sports book to catch the rest of the ball game. I arrive somewhere in the 6th or 7th inning and am devastated: the Astros are getting spanked 7-2! How could my brother lead me astray? Well there is no way in hell I'm getting out of this seat til this horror movie is over, and bad only gets worse as the Twins extend their lead to 8-2 heading into the top of the 8th.
Astros 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Twins 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Then, in the top of the 8th, I believe the Twins had a pitching change, and one by one the Astros are getting some hits. A run scores, then a few more... After a morning of golf in the heat and the gears fully greased, I am making some noise in the V's sports book. Eventually it's all tied up, but the Astros keep laying it on. All said and done, the Astros have an 11 run 8th inning and end up winning 16-8! I am beyond ecstatic at this point: Mike and I pound several Washington apple shots in celebration, place a few more bets to sweat this evening, then head to Sushi Samba (it's around 4p at this time).
Astros 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 3
Twins 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 0 0
https://www.mlb.com/astros/scores/2017-05-29
En route to Sushi Samba we make a quick pit stop at the blackjack tables that nets +1000. Dam life is good at this point!
Sushi Samba was solid but not spectacular. By this point we were famished so if nothing else it got some food in our stomachs at happy hour prices and it allowed us time to formulate a gameplan for the evening. We decided to head over to the Wynn to cash the earlier sports bets then play some poker. It's about 5:30p at this point.
The combination of booze and being flush with cash causes me to hop into the 5/10 game at the Wynn, while Mike jumped into a 1/3 game. I play the 5/10 game until about 7:15p and maneuver my starting stack of $1,000 into about $1,800. I played straightforward, and didn't get put in many tough spots, just betting when I had it and folding when I didn't. The only interesting hand I still remember was:
~8 or 9 handed, all bet sizes estimated, effective stacks around $1,300
Folds to button who raises to $30
I am in SB and look down at JJ and 3 bet to $100
Reggy dude in BB 4 bets to $225
Button folds
I 5 bet to $550 intending to call a shove
From the ~1.5 hours of play up to this point I had seen the BB 3 bet pre-flop quite a bit, and also play pretty aggressively post flop. Additionally, I find that JJ does not play well out of position, I wanted to keep control of the action, and lower the SPR for a relatively easy shove on most good flops.
Luckily the BB folded after not too much thought.
I cash out then head back to the Venetian where Mike is posted up at the sports book. The Rangers and Rays go over (+$500) while the NHL also went over (-280). We take some more Washington apples then hit the pits.
From this point on the memory and notes become hazy, but I remember dropping off most (if not all) of the day's winnings at the blackjack table. I think I was playing $100 min and trying to push my luck with some rather large bets. Anyways, by 11p we are crashing hard both fatigue wise and money wise and hit the hay.
Tuesday morning isn't much, we wake up at 5:15a, check out, then catch an Uber to the airport and its adios Vegas!
Day 4 totals:
I don't have a breakdown of the totals for today, just a short summary which is that I won a **** load of money and dropped it all off at the blackjack tables. Vegas wins again. Dam!
Overall, the trip was a blast and playing golf in Vegas with my own clubs is something I will be sure to do more often. It's a great way to get off the strip for a bit, get outside, and see some spectacular views. Also, I will listen to my bro and place as many baseball bets as he gives me. Can't wait for the next trip. Thanks for reading!
Now seems like a good time to close this one out as I am heading back to Vegas this coming weekend for the Mayweather MacGregor fight (hoping to scalp some tickets) along with other general Vegas debauchery (poker, pit games, sports betting, food, and drink). I'll be doing a post TR write-up when I return from this one, as I feel the quality is better and it allows me to enjoy Vegas and also re-live it later as I write up the TR.
Monday - Day 4 (Final Day)
Having went to bed no later than 11p the previous night, I woke up at 8a feeling pretty good, except for my throat. The dry air, a clogged nose, and lots of alcohol combine into a terrible recipe that severely dries my throat out. Oh well, I chalk it up to variance and move on, because it's the last day and we have a busy schedule.
Today we are playing golf at TPC Las Vegas, and we maneuver our way through the cornfield maze to the Uber with ease and arrive in time for some breakfast burritos perhaps more delicious than the ones at Arroyo yesterday.
This time we are matched up with another two-some, which slows down the pace of play a good bit. But, we are having a great time just enjoying the course and its views.
The hunt for the white pony was cut short at hole 4 due to a botched tap-in par putt, and when it was all said and done, we shot even par 72 with 3 birdies and 3 bogeys. Not great, but not bad!
After wrapping up, we head back to the strip to clean up, catch the rest of the Astros game (which was already underway), and then grab some sushi. I did manage to find a picture of this bet, and this next part I can remember was maybe the most gut-wrenching part of the trip.
We get back, I jump in the shower then bolt for the sports book to catch the rest of the ball game. I arrive somewhere in the 6th or 7th inning and am devastated: the Astros are getting spanked 7-2! How could my brother lead me astray? Well there is no way in hell I'm getting out of this seat til this horror movie is over, and bad only gets worse as the Twins extend their lead to 8-2 heading into the top of the 8th.
Astros 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Twins 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Then, in the top of the 8th, I believe the Twins had a pitching change, and one by one the Astros are getting some hits. A run scores, then a few more... After a morning of golf in the heat and the gears fully greased, I am making some noise in the V's sports book. Eventually it's all tied up, but the Astros keep laying it on. All said and done, the Astros have an 11 run 8th inning and end up winning 16-8! I am beyond ecstatic at this point: Mike and I pound several Washington apple shots in celebration, place a few more bets to sweat this evening, then head to Sushi Samba (it's around 4p at this time).
Astros 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 3
Twins 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 0 0
https://www.mlb.com/astros/scores/2017-05-29
En route to Sushi Samba we make a quick pit stop at the blackjack tables that nets +1000. Dam life is good at this point!
Sushi Samba was solid but not spectacular. By this point we were famished so if nothing else it got some food in our stomachs at happy hour prices and it allowed us time to formulate a gameplan for the evening. We decided to head over to the Wynn to cash the earlier sports bets then play some poker. It's about 5:30p at this point.
The combination of booze and being flush with cash causes me to hop into the 5/10 game at the Wynn, while Mike jumped into a 1/3 game. I play the 5/10 game until about 7:15p and maneuver my starting stack of $1,000 into about $1,800. I played straightforward, and didn't get put in many tough spots, just betting when I had it and folding when I didn't. The only interesting hand I still remember was:
~8 or 9 handed, all bet sizes estimated, effective stacks around $1,300
Folds to button who raises to $30
I am in SB and look down at JJ and 3 bet to $100
Reggy dude in BB 4 bets to $225
Button folds
I 5 bet to $550 intending to call a shove
From the ~1.5 hours of play up to this point I had seen the BB 3 bet pre-flop quite a bit, and also play pretty aggressively post flop. Additionally, I find that JJ does not play well out of position, I wanted to keep control of the action, and lower the SPR for a relatively easy shove on most good flops.
Luckily the BB folded after not too much thought.
I cash out then head back to the Venetian where Mike is posted up at the sports book. The Rangers and Rays go over (+$500) while the NHL also went over (-280). We take some more Washington apples then hit the pits.
From this point on the memory and notes become hazy, but I remember dropping off most (if not all) of the day's winnings at the blackjack table. I think I was playing $100 min and trying to push my luck with some rather large bets. Anyways, by 11p we are crashing hard both fatigue wise and money wise and hit the hay.
Tuesday morning isn't much, we wake up at 5:15a, check out, then catch an Uber to the airport and its adios Vegas!
Day 4 totals:
I don't have a breakdown of the totals for today, just a short summary which is that I won a **** load of money and dropped it all off at the blackjack tables. Vegas wins again. Dam!
Overall, the trip was a blast and playing golf in Vegas with my own clubs is something I will be sure to do more often. It's a great way to get off the strip for a bit, get outside, and see some spectacular views. Also, I will listen to my bro and place as many baseball bets as he gives me. Can't wait for the next trip. Thanks for reading!
Last edited by br3nt00; 08-22-2017 at 11:54 PM.
