What did she think of your room at the Linq?

Haha, wasn't to be. A detail i left out was that when the table started to break she picked up to leave and said she was meeting her boyfriend for breakfast. I only know this because i asked her about half hour earlier if she wanted to get out of there.

That part of the vegas experience still illudes me.

So next time you get a room at the Wynn just in case.

Awesome story man! American chicks love that British accent!


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What happened to this TR?

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do

Pele

Day 4 - Back To Business

After the very late end to last nights game, i find myself waking up and leaving the room well after 3pm which is madness, but it doesn't really matter that much in Vegas. After grabbing some funds from the room safe and making sure i had everything i needed i set of on course for Shake Shack and to finalise the trifecta of fast food burgers for the trip. I decide to cross over towards Caesars, down the stairs and take this opportunity to enjoy my first Bellagio fountain show.


forgot how cool this spot was...

After enjoying the sights and sounds of that i continue to slowly walk down to Shake Shack, place my order for the shack burger, with fries and shake and take a seat whilst my food is prepared. Soon enough im tucking in and for the most part its very good. My strongest opinion about the food is that the burger was a little greasy, but tasty none the less. I also liked the fries more than i thought i would. Having tried all three (Five guys, In'N'Out, ShakeShack) to me the order sees Five Guys a clear #1, ShakeShack #2 and In'N'Out #3. From here i decide its time for some Aria poker action and quickly arrive and get myself onto the waiting list.


waiting....

Eventually they announce a new table opening and im one of the 9, quickly plant myself in my favourite seat (seat 9) and wait for the table to fill up. Notice a guy who i played with at the Wynn yesterday take a seat, look around, get up and leave which was interesting. Nevermind though, shuffle up and deal. First hand of note sees UTG raise to $10, BTN calls, i call out of the SB with QQ and the BB is in to. Flop is rather..pause..favourable you could say KQ5. Its checked to UTG and he bets $20, im the only caller and we see a J on the turn. I decide to lead at this card, betting around half pot and he immediately min raises. Seeing no option than to call i do so and see the K come on the river. I check to him and he ships all in and i call. He has J5 and we are up right off the bat. The very next hand an interesting situation develops, its three handed and action is on the turn, board is irrelevant and im not in the hand. Player to my right has his hand over his cards, the woman to my left in the sb bets the turn and the guy in mp folds. Dealer drops the deck, pushes the pot, bettor tosses her hand in and then the guy to my right starts saying he has a hand. The womans cards are not able to be identified, floor is called and after some back and forth the two players agree to chop the pot.

Next hand of note sees a guy in mp raise to $12, i call behind him with AQo, SB calls and then the BB ships all in for around $140 total. The original raiser tank folds, i eventually decide to call based on the guys recent behaviour and play after losing a few pots - he had recently reloaded for $100. So i call, and surprisingly the SB calls as well. Flop Q102 - she checks and i just jam the rest in and she open mucks 99. I flip my hand and somehow the BB has managed to do what Doyle Brunson seemingly cant, and has flopped two pair, blank turn......Queen river and i scoop a big one.


progress...

A couple hands later, there is an UTG limp and i make it $15 with AA. The woman who had the 99 in the previous hand decides to put the rest of her chips in, back to me and i obviously call and hold vs her pocket tens. Then the shuffle machine decided to die, was switched out, then the dealer notices there is a card missing, everything is swapped out - there are two different guys under the table trying to get stuff working. UTG with KK with the , i raise to $12 and a short stack puts the rest of his money in, $42 total. Next 4 players all decide to call and now its back to me, i have all players covered in the hand and i put in a raise, making it $250 total. One of the callers decides to go with it and we are three handed all in. Flop 456 and at this point the bigger stack caller flips pocket 44's for a set. I hit gin on the turn though with the A and manage to hold through the river to scoop a big one. From here my confidence levels really start to hit a good level, there is no better feeling in poker than that feeling where you feel like you can do no wrong. Folded to me on the BTN, i raise 109o to $8 and both players call. Flop is K76r and they both check call my bet. Ace on the turn and after its checked to me again i bet, this card hitting more of my range than theirs, only the BB calls. River is a brick, and now he leads at the pot but for a small amount around $45 or so, i put in raise to $120 - against this player who was one of the more solid at the table, i wanted it to look like a value raise. Thankfully it worked and he folded.

I took a back seat for a while after this, took 10-20 minute break from the table to grab a slice from Five50 and enjoy some decent pizza. Get back into the game and find myself waiting for the BB to come back around, being dealt 22 and seeing a multiway flop of 342. UTG bets out, two callers and i call. A on the turn, UTG bets again and this time im the only caller. A on the river, i check and he goes all in for around $100 or so, slightly more than the pot - i call it off and he flips AJ and MHIG.


the high point..

Last notable hand of the session, after some players have left and new players joined i call a raise with 44 from one of the new players, he is on the BTN and we are 3 handed. Flop is K46 and its checked to him and he bets $20 into the $30 pot, im the only caller and its HU to the turn of A. This is a card im very happy to see, and i check to him again and he bets $65 this time, leaving him $300 or so behind. I make it $190, he tanks a little and then announces all in, i snap and see that its the old set over set situation as my 44 is crushed vs his 66. I dont hit my miracle one outer and after this hand i decide to leave, still booking a solid winning session for the trip.

Walking out of the poker room i take the route through Crystals, wondering to myself how the shops in there can afford the rent because every time i walked through there during my visit there were never any customers in the high end stores.


ghost town...

Eventually i get back to my room and decide to get some sleep. That Aria poker session lasted around ten hours all in all, dont have the details on how much i cashed out but it must of been around 800-900 i would imagine. A very successful and fun day, one where i got to enjoy the wonderful fountains of bellagio, settle the fast food debate for my own sake and book a win in the outstanding Aria poker room. Day 5 however would provide a situation at the poker tables the likes of which i will NEVER witness again and something which made everyone in the Bellagio poker room put their eyes on my table....

Lightning strikes a third time?

wtf orange $10 ARIA chips? i don't play poker but that's the first time i've ever seen a $10 denom chip in play

I think they use them in the 5-10 game? Saw them at the tables last week, but not at 1-3, so idk why he has one in that game.


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There's a 10/20 PLO game that runs there on busy weekends.

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New player came to the table from a plo game i believe with two hand fulls of those orange chips, asked me to change some up for a stack of red.

One other note about that Aria game i was in, well not my table but in the room. There was some young guy who a few tables away from me was going all in blind every hand for $100 i think i heard someone say, there were people standing around the table watching and apparently he is known to do this every time he played. There were constant screams of delight and dispair from every flop, turn and river in that corner of the room.

$10 chips are usually used in 40/80 LHE/mixed games. $20 sb, $40 bb.

And also at 5/10 no limit.

Obviously they were counterfeit

If you don't get caught, you deserve everything you steal

Daniel Nayeri

Day 5 - Drama At The Bellagio

I wake up, check the time and see its 5pm - the combination of late nights and that Vegas lifestyle really has my schedule all messed up. But none the less i continue with my plans for the day and head out to a place i wanted to try, straight into the door of the Cosmo and straight into a table at The Henry. I decide to go for something a little familiar to me.


fish and chips of course...

There was an insane amount of food on that plate, i could not finish it. I thought the fish was excellent and the chips were decent also, they had a griddled texture to them which made them really crispy - overall a good meal. I decided to take some time to check out the desert menu and jumped in.


just lovely...

I really enjoyed my meal there, good prices as well. After taking ten minutes or so to check bravo i decide to head into the Bellagio and offered a seat straight away at the far left corner of the room. Im seated in seat 7 but after one orbit or so the player in seat 9 ups and leaves so i move to my favourite seat and settle in for a session. The first two hours there is absolutely no interesting hands i get involved in, my notes simply stating "2hrs 0 action" so ignoring that start i get my first playable hand UTG with AKo and raise to $12, the CO 3 bets to $40 and its back to me. The player who had 3bet me was quite a talkative dude, i had heard him mention he was waiting for a seat in a 2/5 game and was one to talk strategy at the table to the players besides him. However, there is very little sense to what i did next. "All in" i said, "Your all in?" he curiously questioned..."I call" and flips the nuts. I knew immediately i had made a big big error, i had 4bet shoved for my $350 stack when i was only ever getting called by a hand that had me beat, was on the slightly negative side of a coin flip or as in this case had me crushed. Flop KKJ. "You get there?" he said and i just nodded. Turn and river are blanks and i get a very lucky double up after completely butchering a hand.


better to be lucky than good right?

The next interesting hand of note sees the BTN raise to $8, i call from the SB with QJo and the BB calls as well. The BB was a new player to the table, was German and seemed to spend every moment talking to the guy who i sucked out on with AK. Flop QJ6. I check, German checks and the BTN bets around half. I call and the German raises to $60 i believe it was. BTN tank calls and its back to me. Im not worried at all about the German having a set of jacks or queens because he only called preflop and i have blockers to both, small chance the btn has one of them but i discount that because the board is quite wet with straight and flush draws out there. I make it $200 to go and the German immediately stands up and just starts looking at me. He is thinking for at least two minutes and then asks the dealer if he shows his cards to one player does he have to show everyone and the dealer says he doesn't. He shows his cards to his neighbour and folds. BTN folds and i win. The German then flips his cards....66 for flopped bottom set - i have no idea how he folded that but damn glad he did.

And then a situation develops about 30 min after that was unbelievable. I am not involved in the hand, its the German kid and some woman directly across from me in seat 6. Run out is not meaningful, but by the river there is an all in from the woman and a call from the German. Woman has nuts to Germans second nuts (flush over flush). Woman went all in on river and her chips were pushed in and counted by request of the German - was around $280 ish. German eventually calls by pushing all his chips in, clearly more than the required amount. Dealer once again counts the womans stack, takes the amount from the pile the German put in, pushes pot and everyone moves onto the next hand. Two hands later the woman notices she is short, i can see clearly her stack and she is definetely short around $100. She asks the dealer to call the floor, dealer just sort of ignores her with a smile. I chime in and say the floor needs to be called, eventually it happens. Situation is explained and they say they will check the tapes with security. They eventually remove the shuffle machine and have someone opening it up on the empty chairs and table next to us - to no avail. Im asking the woman who won the pot what they are telling her and she says they are still looking into it. About 20 minutes after the incident i see four or five guys heading towards my table in red jackets/blazers. One of them asks the dealer to finish the hand and then they tell her, this small asian woman, to stand up and to follow them. As all but one of the guys leaves with the dealer the one remaining guy tells us calmly there is a suspicion the dealer took a $100 chip from the Germans call and palmed it when pushing the pot to the woman. Its at this point the woman who won the pot asks "so where is my money" and the guy basically tells her she would have to wait around, fill in paperwork etc and then she loses it. Stands up and starts screaming about it being a scam and con and she wants the dealer fired immediately etc. It was absolute chaos.

Eventually it calms down, we are all sitting there still on a table with no shuffle machine - just a black slate where it should be, and no dealer. Floor informs us they will be breaking the table but i just decide to get up, cash out and leave. I notice Patrik Antonius, Scott Seiver and i think Jason Mercier in the high limit room as i walk by, who knows what they thought about the loudness from my table.


Leaving the drama behind...

I cashed out that session a $485 winner. Its at this moment walking past the fountains back to my room i recall the drama that unfolded the very first time i played at the Bellagio during my first ever visit to Vegas three years ago. It seems whenever i sit down the poker gods decide to create a storm around me. I wish i had got some video or at least some photos of what happened, but it was quite an intimidating situation especially with all the guys around the table asking the dealer to get up and follow them. But a win is a win, and thats all that matters to me.

Tomorrow would turn out to be a very fun, enjoyable and profitable day.

Great TR. Keep them coming.

Aria uses the orange $10 chip in their 5/10 games and higher.

If they find the black on that dealer, it's ridiculous they won't give it to the player. The dealer wasn't stealing from the casino. Whether she's prosecuted or not, the stolen property needs to go back to the owner, which is the player. A call to Gaming Control seems in order.

Good TR keep it coming.

That's a crazy story! Anyone know what happened to the dealer?

FIRED!
Heard about this as I work there but wasn't there the day of the happening.

Hear anything about prosecution or what happened to the black chip?

Did the lady who won the hand end up getting her $100?

I would assume so. She kicked off a bit when the guy was telling us what had potentially happened - a bit without merit in my view but it was not my money missing. But i just up and left before i saw any final resolution.

Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing

Denis Waitley

Day 6 - D-Day - The D is for Degen


Foundation for the day..

After enjoying the above breakfast at the awesome Peppermill i decide to start on the days adventure and put my plan into action. Today would be a day away from the poker tables, it would be a day to a strip crawl of the casinos placing one bet and seeing how i get on. I decide to change it up from the previous trip and change from roulette to blackjack however - just to keep it different. As i sit there counting the casinos and my EV in this sort of situation i estimate i would i would win around 50% the time or slightly under, but there is only one way to find out. I make my way into the Wynn as the first hit on the list and as the self imposed rules of the game i walk up to the first blackjack table i see..


a good start

Blackjack. Perfect start really. I asked the floor staff/supevisor if i could snap a pic of it and he said i couldn't but he would take it for me. The Wynn was the ONLY place that granted this request from the entire list of casinos, so thanks to them for that. Feeling good from this start i soon arrive at the Venetian and see if i can continue the good start. I place my bet and here comes my first card...Ace...9 - so close. I stand and she hits on her Jack and draws an 8 - winner winner.


chubby fingers...

As im cashing my chips i see the cashier lady slide a $50 across the counter to me, no need to explain, but i decide to take it and put it to hopefully good use at the Mirage where im heading next. I should point out at this stage that i missed the TI out unintentionally, but whatever.


arriving at the M

I eventually find a bj table after walking past 3 card poker tables and so on and place down the $50 the V provided me. I get dealt 66 vs dealers Q and have a slight chuckle to myself. I take a card and pull a 7 and that will do for me. Dealer also manages to pull a 7 and amazingly not only does my winning streak continue but i manage to break the curse of the $50.


yay...

I continue down strip, arriving at Caesars with a real confidence that i just cannot lose - feeling slightly like a gladiator in spirit i confidently place my bet and get dealt 108 to which i stand against dealers 4. He gets an 8 and then a K and busts and i take the now routine route to the cahier.


Winning in the REAL Caesars Palace

I make the walk through the shops to the Bellagio, walk until i see a BJ table and approach it. I glance at the minimum bet info on the table and notice its a $100 minimum, but it was the first table i saw which according to the rules is the table i have to play. First card is a 10 and then a 4 vs dealers 10. I take a card and get a 2, sigh. I hit again and the Queen of clubs busts me and ends the streak. It did feel quite bad to end the streak to be honest, but never the less i exit the B and head to my next destination.



The balancing act of variance seems to be starting to swing against me as the Cosmo takes my chips, the dealer just instantly pwning me with BJ. The short walk to Aria provides the first push of this little quest on the first hand, but then the dealer repeats what the Cosmo did and hits an Ace on their J and takes me out. Three losses in a row. Not good. I arrive at the Monte Carlo and im asked for ID for the first and only time of this little adventure, i dont understand how they made this process take 10 minutes but the little time to sit down and rest my feet was welcome. I eventually get dealt J5 vs J which is just terrible, i obviously have to take a card and the beautiful 6 spades lands in front of me. Thats enough to beat the dealers 9 and im back on track with a win.


back in black....

I exit, was planning on just looking at their poker room but forgot, and continue to NYNY. I absolutely love the interior of this place, it has real character and charm to it i feel and i also like it because they provided me another win. Q5 vs 6 i stand and she pulls two kings.







Having continued on route, taking some snaps as i go, i arrive at Excalibur and the memories of hating the coconut like smell they have in there comes rushing back to me. Its a very sweet over powering smell to me and i just did not like it at all. Unbelievably my first two hands at the BJ table here are pushes, both on 18. But then i lose the third hand and make a swift exit. I decide to cheat at this point a little and take the tram to Mandalay Bay, very glad i did also because it was a very quick ride and i got to rest my feet a little. I manage to book another win standing on 17 vs 2, 10, 2, 9 - bust.


going well...

After cashing in my chips i decide im a little lost so i ask some security guy the quickest way to Luxor and after following his directions to go up the escalator and through the shops i somehow manage to book another win standing on dealt 20 and simply watching the dealer bust with Q 5 7.


running hot...


boat in a box.

I exit the Luxor and make the longest walk from casino to casino of the crawl so far, eventually arriving at the Tropicana, walking straight in the door and walking out a loser within 2 minutes - there is a blackjack table right next the entrance which took my money. After leaving there it takes me a few minutes to try and figure out how im going to get to MGM, there is construction about and the bridge over there is closed so i have to go back across the street and then towards MGM from there.


detour to the MGM

I never played the MGM during my roulette crawl last trip because i did not like the terms of their offering. But i put the 6/5 bj and stuff to bed this time with a win. 8A vs 10 7 and cash out some more chips.



Its at this point i made a pitstop in FatBurger, just for a milkshake though and my ability to take photos with milkshake in hand just vanished. The ability to take notes as the details of the wins and losses vanished. All i know from this point on is that i lost in PH, lost in Bally's, Won in Paris and Won in Flamingo. After grabbing a slice from Flamingo and relaxing for a moment in my room i decide to head downstairs in the Linq and sit and enjoy some longer lasting BJ for a while....that was the plan anyway. I very quickly burn through $200 which really annoyed me tbh. I do something i have never done and just stroll over to a physical video poker machine, no more than five hands in i get this..


what is it with me and video poker...

I decide to leave a winner, was not much i only put a $100 in i think cant remember the cashout amount. I then decide to head back to the Flamingo, i had fun playing blackjack there last trip and wanted to see if i could recapture the feeling. I played for about one hour, in for 200. The first 45 minutes were not good, i was down to $80 or so and decided to just go for it. Like a huge gambler i bet my last $80 and won, i let it ride and won again. I then went on a mini rush, winning a lot of hands in a row and the dealer stating i was running hot. Eventually i left that table with a little profit.



From there i retired back to my room. I still have not tallied up the amounts won or lost for that day, because i dont care. If i had to guess i would say i ended up ahead on the day overall - that would be a guess. What isn't a guess is that i had a great day, gambled in most casinos and ended the day with a mini gambling rush that felt great.

I have really enjoyed this trip. Sounds like a good challenge to play one game in each casino. I might do that next trip. Thanks