I’m a mid-50s weekend player that lives in the DC metro/Northern VA area. With upcoming holidays on Monday, January 16th for Martin Luther King Day and Friday, January 20th for Inauguration bookending what’s now a three-day work week, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take the whole week off, and what better place to spend it than Vegas! I fly out Sunday the 15th and return Saturday the 21st. I’ve taken a couple trips to Vegas a year on average over the past 10+ years, usually either accompanied by friends here for poker or to visit a friend there. When in Vegas, I always stay center-strip at the most affordable Total Rewards property, and am presently booked at Flamingo, but am hoping to find a better deal/location. This will be my first true solo trip, and it will be focused primarily on poker. While I was recently inspired by Mike from the UK’s recent trip report, I’m not committing to maintaining a “live” trip report, but plan to at least capture some notes each morning from the previous day’s play and activities, and will post upon my return what doesn’t get posted while there.

My poker resume: I’m a somewhat decent $1-$2 NL player (but aren’t we all!) coming off my best year ever (~12BB/Hr over a good sample size) who occasionally dabbles in tournaments. Tournament highlights include a min-cash in a 2010 event at the Borgata Spring Open, a second place (out of 90) in an Aria daily, and a variety of wins, chops, and cashes in other dailies in Vegas, AC, or my local casino. I’ve played the last two WSOP Senior events (2015: out level 3, blinds 75/150, EP raise to 350, LP call, I 3-bet AA to 1050 from big blind with 4200 of orig. 5K, both call, and I jam pot-sized bet on 6-high flop, LP calls with 66 and I’m out. 2016: out level 6, limped AK with stack of about 6K from UTG+2, planning to jam over any raise. Player to my left obliged, making it 1600, folded to me, I jammed, he called with AQ. Q on flop, Q on river and I’m out.) I definitely need more run-good in coming years!

Plans for the trip:
- Plenty of cash play – Venetian, Caesar’s, possibly Bally’s & Flamingo to qualify for free-rolls, and the new room at Encore/Wynn (I’ve heard great things!)
- At least a couple of tournaments. Definitely an Aria daily, and maybe a mid-sized event if someone has a tournament series running.
- 3-4 mile runs on the treadmill at least every other morning.
- Decent breakfast to start each day, no lunch, and no junk food for dinner.
- End each day with a beer away from the tables.
- Possibly catch a show (still haven’t seen Beatles’ Love).
- Minimal low stakes pit play (blackjack, roulette) to pass the time.

Shoe/Bankroll pics to follow closer to departure (if I can figure out how to post them!)

Awesome intro, really hope this TR comes to fruition as most solo ventures dont as of late it seems. I am planning on doing the same kind of solo thing ~ 6/11-6/18 so hoping I can draw some advice from your TR. I will be on a plane to Breck 1/21 so maybe we will cross paths if youre in denver lol. Wishing you Godspeed these next two weeks at work and wishing you plenty of run good in the desert.

2rd

Nice plan OP, try and get some table pics if you can.

[QUOTE=TopGun in VA;51460537- Decent breakfast to start each day, no lunch, and no junk food for dinner.
QUOTE]

Sounds like my routine on solo trips. On couples trips I overeat and feel like crap, but the good breakfast and not much else is perfect.

I try to hit the coffee shop in the Tuscany at least once a trip. The spinach and feta cheese omelet is a great start, and the walk down Flamingo is enough to loosen the legs.

Good Luck...

whoa don't get too crazy

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

I checked with Total Rewards yesterday, and while I had received some offers, no rooms were available at the offer rate (apparently there’s a concrete-focused convention that week?), so it’ll be the Flamingo! Still, it’s reasonably convenient to Caesars and Venetian, as well as the Linq Promenade, so I’ll make it work. Rooms likely aren’t that great, and are probably outdated, but as long as the bathroom is clean and the bed is comfortable, I can deal.

My wild days, if it's even fair to call them that, are well behind me. I'm just looking to relax and unwind at the end of each day while sampling a new beer. Others have mentioned Linq's TAG Bar as a good spot, and there's also a place with a wide variety of beers on the Promenade.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip. Personally I don't see how anyone can do a live TR. I tried it once and crashed and burned. I found doing a post TR last year was the way to go.

Flamingo is just fine, the rooms are clean. They took out the carpet and just have a vinyl wood looking floor for the past few years. Bally's, Harrah's, Linq and Flamingo are pretty much the same. Some days one is more expensive the next a different one. Looking forward to this, I am planning solo for the week of March Madness.

I played my first session of 2017 yesterday at my local casino. They’re running a high hand promotion between 2:00 and 8:00, so I played from 1:00 to 8:00. Other than a couple of one-outer draws to straight flushes, I didn’t sniff any of the high hands. One player at our table had his steel wheel bested with one minute left in the hour by a 9-high straight flush. He subsequently proceeded to get felted a few hands later. A rather unfortunate turn in fortunes for him. As for me, it was a relatively stress-free $1-$2 session, ending up $148 in the seven hours of play. Really only two notable hands…

Hand 1, early in the session. UTG limps $2, I raise to $12 with KK, SB, BB, and UTG call. Flop is Q22r, checks to me and I bet $25, SB and UTG call. Turn Q, checks through. River A, SB checks, UTG bets $50, I fold, SB calls. UTG shows Q2hh (really?) and SB shows the other two Kings!

Hand 2, mid-session. After 1-2 early limps, SB from previous hand raises to $12 from MP. I’ve changed seats (I prefer the 5 or 6 seat at a 10-seat table) and am immediately behind him now. I re-raise to $31 with QQ. Action folds back to him, and he re-pops to $62, with about $70-75 behind. I call, fairly certain I’m behind. He puts the rest of his stack in on a QT8r flop, and I call, stating “I got lucky.” Sure enough, he rolls AA. Turn and river run clean.

I depart a week from today. Temps here are sub-20 this morning, so the ~60-degree highs for Vegas the following week sound great to me.

I get there on Jan 22nd, staying at Flamingo free *except have to pay resort fee, grrr

AVN(adult video) is also happening the week you are there, I think 18 thru 21st(awards night) at HardRock, may want to go check it out for a couple hours, I went last year

Enjoy your trip
B

Posting to follow.

Did you know you don't have to post to follow? Just click thread Tools at the top by OP and hit Subscribe.

Thanks, Watbri. I'll almost certainly pass on AVN, despite what CoolingHeels said earlier about "What happens in Vegas..."

Enjoy your trip as well. If you get the same room as me, I apologize in advance for any messes I leave!

I'll be in town the 15-19th for the SHOT (Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade) Show. It's the industry (not open to the public) show for everything shooting and hunting related. There will be 64,000+ in attendance. I have confirmed it but there is usually also 2 construction shows in town that I believe are big as well. It's a crazy time to try and get rooms and we book 12 months in advance to avoid crazy prices.

Glad you got a room! Good luck at the tables!

One more day…Plan for Saturday is to pack, pay bills, get a good night's sleep, and head to Dulles for an 8:30 AM Sunday departure. Brief layover in Atlanta, then arrive in Vegas at 1:00 local time. With the Pittsburgh - KC game being delayed to an 8:20 Eastern start, I should be able to catch the better part of both games.

Shoes and roll pics to come if I can figure out how to post. First effort failed.

The day has finally arrived! I wake up at 4:45 AM, get a quick shower, and make a light breakfast (cereal, wheat toast, OJ). Just as I’m finishing, I get a text that my taxi has arrived, 15 minutes before the scheduled 6:00 AM pick-up. Smooth ride to the airport, and then a wait at the Southwest counter, as they don’t open until 7:00 AM. (Why do they encourage travelers to arrive two hours before their flight, when the counter doesn’t open until 90 minutes before the first flight? Lol!) Smooth flights to Atlanta and on to Vegas, arriving about 45 minutes early. Quick taxi ride to Flamingo, and the room isn’t yet ready. So I place three $20 Steelers bets for a friend (+2.5 vs. Chiefs; 11/4 to win AFC; 11/2 to win Super Bowl) and head to the poker room. Take an open seat at a $1-$2 table, and win a decent pot from small blind in second hand. An hour in, I’m up ~$115. Tread water for awhile, and then after an open to 6 by the player two to my right and a call, I 3-bet QQ to 20, getting calls from both. Flop is 883 rainbow, both check, and I bet $35. First player min-raises to $70, second player calls, and I hesitantly call. Second player says “Do we all have an 8?” On a King turn, first player leads for $70, second player calls, I fold. River brings a Q, first player shoves about $130, second player tank-folds, showing 86hh. I mention my Queens, and player dragging chips says I got lucky, claiming he had KK. I win a few small pots the rest of the way, and cash out as the Packers – Cowboys game is ending, playing 3.5 hours and booking a small $19 win.

I go to the check-in kiosk, get my room key, and head to the room. First disappointment of the trip…the “Fab” room is anything but. It’s clean, but rather sparse. Fortunately, I don’t plan on spending much time here other than to sleep, shower, and type up these summaries. Once the phone is charged a bit more, I plan to check out the new Gordon Ramsey Fish & Chips on the Linq Promenade, then close out the evening with a little more Flamingo $1-$2. Other than airline snacks, I haven’t eaten anything since the early breakfast, so I’m rather hungry!

GL mate, hope you're crushing it! PICS!!

If you like good beer make sure you check out The Yardhouse has 100 beers on tap it's at the end of the Linq Promenade by the Ferris Wheel

Thanks, Jack. That's the place I was trying to remember. Went there back in June when out for the World Series, and I'll definitely be heading back!

Thanks, OKC.

I've got a few pics, but a simple copy/paste wasn't working to get them in the thread. I recall seeing some links on the "how to" for pasting pics...can anyone provide?

Central Texas

After getting something to eat at GR Fish & Chips, I returned to Flamingo for an evening session of $1/$2. I treaded water for awhile, and then “Central Texas” arrived. Tall, 60s-ish, with mangy hair, and very talkative. A few players thought he was drunk, but I’m pretty sure he was just loud. He quickly became the most active player, and eventually built a stack to about $1,400 or so. Here’s how I launched him…

Two hands earlier, I had raised JJ to 12 (only my second pre-flop raise in an hour and a half) and gotten two callers before a late position player made it 55, inducing folds around and showing KK. I then open TT to 12, getting two callers including Central Texas, and taking a QQ9ddx flop. Both players check to me, I bet 20, Central Texas calls, and the other player folds. He leads 40 on a brick turn, I call, and we see a 6d river. I call his bet of 75, and he shows A4dd for the rivered flush. About two or three hands later, I raise AA to 12, he calls and another player calls. Flop is JTT, first player checks, I check for pot control, and Central Texas bets 15. First player folds, and I call. Turn is a 4 (no flush possibilities), and I check-call 30. River is a 7, and I check-call 75, at least a little worried that he’s been betting with 98, but confident I win unless he has a Ten. Worse...he shows JJ for a flopped boat.

Granted, these were reasonable hands, but still coolers. He proceeds to get even more active, isolation-raising with rags when short stacks go all-in, and winning pots with hands like T3cc. He makes several huge river over-bets, and is running like Jamie Gold at the WSOP, getting called when he has a winner, and getting players to fold when he’s bluffing with air (and then showing it). It was a sight to behold, if it wasn’t so frustrating to play against. I later win a few pots against him, letting him lead the action, and getting some decent pots, but lose a few as well. After the two hands above, I’m down about 275, and end up cashing out -270 after 5.5 hours.

Yesterday’s play qualified me for a 10 AM freeroll today, so hopefully we’ll get some of it back. I already got in a short run this morning, and the plan forward is to get a shower, get some breakfast, play the freeroll, and then head to Venetian for some more $1-2.

Sunday total: 9 hours, -$251.

Good luck OP hopefully you run a little better today and didn't have too much on those Chiefs future bets.

Surprised you're not Diamond with all the trips you've made. Playing too much at non-CET joints?

That's a crazy time. It appears the expo itself is at the Hard Rock. There will be lots and lots of slutty chicks with fake boobs walking around hoping to get noticed. It's like a show in itself. Not only real porn stars milling around but wannabes too.

The strip joints will be awash with them too. They will be "hosted" (whatever that means) by big name porn stars on various nights.