About this Thread: The idea for this thread came from family members and friends that have no idea what I mean when I say I’m moving to Vegas to play poker. Some think I’m counting cards at blackjack, some think I’m gonna be a TV tournament pro, and others just have no idea. This thread will document what I do on a daily/weekly basis to give them and any others an idea of what its like to be a professional poker player.

What this thread is not/disclaimers: This will not be another train wreck “I’m moving to Vegas with 500 bucks and I’m gonna be rich by Christmas” thread. There won’t be any specific discussion of finances; you’ll just have to trust me when I say I have enough. Also, don’t expect a ton of in depth strategy. This thread is first and foremost to give some of my friends and family who have expressed interest in what I am doing a glimpse into my every day life. That being said, having gotten so much out of these forums over the last few years, I hope everyone in the 2+2 community will get something out of it as well, I just wanted to be up front about what the thread will be about.

About Me: I’m 21, and just graduated from UW-Madison with a finance degree. I play up to 2/5 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) and any Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) game that plays roughly the same size as a 2/5NLHE game. I will also play PLO8 when the game is good.

I leave tomorrow morning around 5am. Since I will need my car out there, my dad is driving out with me and flying back. We should be getting in to Vegas some time Thursday afternoon. I will need a few days to get major furniture for my apartment but after that I will pretty much go right to the tables.

My poker plan is to play 3-5 of the mega satellites per week to try to win a main event seat. Other than that I will basically be rotating between the Rio, Aria, and Venetian tracking down the best PLO games.

I’m sure I left something out and some of this will still probably be confusing to some of my family/friends. As I give my updates I will explain things like what a satellite is and some basics on each of the games and places I go to. In an attempt to make this thread interesting to those that play, but also make it not confusing for those that don’t, I think what I will try to do is whenever I explain something really basic, I will put it in a different color font. That way more experienced people can just skip it while everyone else will be able to follow the thread.

I think that’s plenty to start. There will be much more to come, but probably not until the weekend once I get settled in. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or PM me.

Good luck at the felt! Don't degen all your $ away

Goodluck! Hopefully you run goot out the gate

I strongly suggest reading Dynasty's survey threads.

http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/i...pring-2012.php

Not a lot of PLO being spread in LV. And to be blunt, if you can afford 5 weeks of playing 3-5 mega sats per week to the main event, you can just save the trouble and buy in directly. Given the structure, it is mainly going to be a luckfest if you win a seat. If you can't, then finances are going to be an issue.

Plo everyday at the rio

Thanks! I hate pit games/slots and the like so I think I should be ok. Not that those are the only things in LV to degen money away on but they seem to be the most popular haha

Thanks! I hope so too.

I've been keeping up with those for the last couple years. I should have clarified that that is my summer plan. After the WSOP I will be playing much more hold'em, but since there is plenty PLO to go around during the series I am going to be focusing on PLO since I enjoy it more and feel my edge is bigger. As far as live goes, I'm more experienced with hold'em than PLO so not having much PLO during non-series times should not be a problem.

As for the satellite thing, ya you're probably right. I've gone from thinking I'm not gonna play any satellites and just buy in straight up to thinking I'm not gonna play at all and everything in between. What I wrote is just what I had settled on recently, though it might change if I don't like the structures of the satellites. I can see myself playing a handful of the satellites and then deciding later whether or not to buy in straight up if I don't win a seat. Still thinking about this though so we'll see.

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

Good luck, I look forward to reading about it.

Good luck dude!! Look forward to following you!

Did you arrive safely?

Yep, got in Thursday but haven't had internet to update until now.

Everything went pretty smoothly with the move. Spent my first night in my apartment last night. I have everything put away that I brought and I have some furniture coming today. All thats really left is getting a TV and then it will just be odds and ends type stuff to do.

I played my first Vegas poker session Thursday night at the Rio. Played about 2 hours of 1-2 PLO. It went pretty well but I was tired so ended the session after only 2 hours, which won't be typical going forward but if I'm tired its better not to play and possibly make mistakes.

PLO stands for Pot Limit Omaha and is a game where everyone gets 4 cards and the community cards are exactly like Texas Hold'em. You must use two of your cards and 3 of the board cards to make the best 5 card poker hand you can. Also, bets and raises are limited to the size of the pot.

Today's plan is to arrange the furniture once it gets here, find a TV, and probably take a trip to Wal-Mart to get some random things I still need. Hopefully by the time the weekend is over I'll be settled in so I can start focusing on poker.

Thanks for reading and again, if you have any questions let me know!

Hey guys, time for another update.

Yesterday we got all the furniture situated and got the few things I needed for the apartment, so that is pretty much all set up. The only thing I'm still missing is a TV but I have one coming Thursday.

Starting tomorrow I'm going to try to get into a routine. The plan is basically going to be wake up, eat breakfast, work out, and try to be to the casino sometime in the midafternoon. I plan to play a short session until dinner time, take a dinner break, and play another short session.

I did play another session last night at the Rio. Played 1-2 PLO again for about 3 hours. I left earlier than planned basically because the dealer was so bad that when they went to collect time me and about 3 other players stood up and left and the game broke.

"Time" is a form of rake used in some casino poker games. Instead of taking a percentage of each pot (typically 10% up to $4 or $5), the casino takes some amount of money from each player each half hour. In this particular game it was $6.

This dealer barely spoke english other than being able to say numbers and didn't seem to know the basic rules of the game. I've heard of some bad dealers at the WSOP cash games but this was absolutely terrible.

Today I plan to go to either the Venetian or Aria to play some more PLO without having to deal with the cluster**** at the Rio.

They have a timed rake?

subscribed. Run good, OP. Any chance you played PLO at Potawatomi?

yea at the wsop cash games everything is time in the PLO section, not sure about holdem.

Thanks, yea a few times