Got in a couple of hours ago and I am beat. Gonna turn in early and hit it hard tomorrow. First things first



The trip started off on bad footing when the zipper on my suitcase exploded upon arriving to the airport. Luckily TSA was helpful and let me use their tape.



So I'm gonna have to buy a new suitcase before I go home. Or a roll of Duct Tape Then my kindle battery dies about 2 hours before landing. The battery has not been holding a charge very long but I thought it would make the whole flight. I guess I need a new kindle too.

Anyway finally got to LV and checked in the Cosmopolitan. I never really spent any time at the Cosmo except for grabbing a burger at Holsteins which I will definitely repeat this trip. The place always struck me as a douchatorium but I wanted to get a balcony room just once. No poker here but it is surrounded with Aria, Planet Hollywood and Bellagio all around it.

I specifically did not want a fountain view. Nothing wrong with the fountains but I believe the other side gets the morning sun exposure and I want that more than fountain so I can sit on the terrace, read and get some sun. But not really sure how much sun it will get from past photos I have taken in the morning it looks okay. I also got an upgrade from a terrace studio to a terrace one bedroom. Difference is (I think?) it's a little bigger and has a big hot tub right next to the window. In any event it is a very nice room.



The view



I'm way past my bedtime and my bodyclock is screaming at me right now. I wanna get a good night sleep and adjust a little better to Vegas time. Tomorrow I will be back with some food porn for sure and hopefully some chip porn.

fyp

Search for the battery it uses. You might be surprised. I've had devices that used a battery I thought was proprietary, but pretty much no battery is proprietary. They're all made in China. I found ones that were exact replacement for dirt cheap, like a couple bucks, including shipping from China! And they worked as well, or better, than the originals.

Cosmo is a nice property - but yes - lots of douchery going on.

Slept like crap last night. Always seems to happen first day of any vacation as I am both hyped up a bit and not used to the bed. Anyway I forced myself to stay in bed as long as I could. Then I went out for my morning hike of about 5 miles. I thoroughly explored the entire Cosmopolitan. Then I took a swing through the Aria. Not much poker action at 6am. Was getting hungry so I went over the Planet Dalies at Planet Hollywood for my tradition first Vegas breakfast of Eggs Benedict. It is the only time I ever eat them, first morning in.



Then I took a stroll through the miracle mile shops scouting out where I may be able to get a new suitcase and even though everything was closed I saw a few contenders. Then back to Cosmo for some pool action.
I'm up there 9 floors from the top 2 from the right.



The boulevard pool is great. No crowd at all which is what I like, a nice quiet sunny place to read and relax.





My room is about directly above it.



And my terrace does have the sun exposure which I was hoping for. After the pool I chilled up there for a little while although I don't want to overdo sun exposure since I haven't seen sun in months. The weather is perfect in the low 70's and sunny but a bit windy.



Then I walked over to Planet Hollywood to try and get in a game but there was only one going and 3 on the list so I went to see if I could get a suitcase without getting totally soaked. Early results looked bad as the first few places I checked out were in the $130 to $150 range but then I found this one for 60 bucks and was happy enough with that.



Will head out soon to try and find a game and expect to be out all day/night.

I will use this in my daily conversations now! priceless!!

Nice looking classy when checking into the hotel with tape all over the bag. GL out there.

Missing out not having the Short Rib Benedict at the Henry

Exhausted after a day of Vegasing, no real sleep last night and still not accustomed to the time zone. Went to Caesars to play a little and it was uneventful and I quit after an hour up $5. Nothing interesting happened. But I was hungry and my other LV food tradition is the first dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I am a comfort food guy rather than a fine dining guy and CF is the nuts for comfort food. I had the spicy cashew chicken with a piece of Red Velvet cheesecake. I didn't finish either. They put calorie counts on their menu now which is scary The spicy chicken weighed in at 2060 calories and the cheesecake at 1560. I ate just over half of the chicken I figure about 1200 calories worth and about 3/4s of the cheesecake. I have had the red velvet cheesecake maybe 5 or 6 times in my life and I have never finished it all. But this is probably my all-time favorite meal, my death row meal Of course if that were the case I would finish it all.





According to my fitbit after walking 11.9 miles today I burned more calories than I ate but I'm guessing I won't lose any weight

After dinner it was back to Caesars poker room. The game really sucked. I bought in for 300 and then looked at the stacks and one guy had about 350 and everyone else was 100 or less. Very passive and lots of limps. Lots of player turnover too and constantly on the verge of breaking and it seemed like every new player bought in for 100. Only hand of note was when I had pocket jacks in the cutoff. I raised 2 or 3 limpers to 12 and then the big blind went all in for about 90. I called and he had Ace rag suited and the jacks were good. The game was just brutal though and I left after a while up $44.

I went to Ballys and they had 2 games going that looked exactly like the games at Caesars with a bunch of short stacks. So I kept moving to Planet Hollywood. I played a couple of hours and this game was much better but I was totally card dead. Only real hand of note after folding rags for about 45 minutes I limped in the cutoff with K4 spades along with 4 or 5 other limpers. Big blind raised it to 10 and got 3 callers so I took a look too. Flop came AQQ two spades. BB bet 20 and one caller to me and I called. Turn 9 spades so I hit top flush on a paired board. Big checked and other guy goes all-in for 105 which I call. The river is another 9 and I cringe thinking this guy might have a Q but he had an ace so I win a good one. My peak was up about 200 but I started getting tired and making mistakes so I quit +$104

So the poker was successful at +$153 for the day. It was a good day all around but the poker action seems worse than normal but I just have a small sample of today. I'll be back at it tomorrow hopefully after a good night sleep. I may play the Aria 11am $240 tournament tomorrow but haven't decided yet. If I don't play it tomorrow I will definitely play it on Sunday.

I was having problems finding good 1/2 games when I was there last. It seemed the MGM was the place with the best games.

My body clock still making me wake up too early but at least I slept really well last night. I went out still in the dark for my daily 5 mile hike around the strip and casinos. First stop was the Bellagio atrium.



Then I wandered through Caesars and the forum shops and eventually into the Mirage.



The Mirage used to be my goto spot back in the limit days. It was my mecca when I first started taking poker trips in 1999. I stayed there many times. But I haven't played there since they downsized the poker room. Then I crossed the strip and went through Harrahs, Link and Flamingo with a side trip down to the high roller.



TRhen I made my way to Planet Hollywood for breakfast. Being it is Good Friday and I am a good catholic boy I will be going meatless today. For some reason I still observe lent even though I haven't been to church in decades Anyway they have an all you can eat pancake breakfast for 6.99 which is cheap and meets my goals. I only ate about half of it and was stuffed. I can't imagine the fat bastard that scarfs all of this down and asks for more.



Then I hit the pool to read and relax for about an hour and a half and the weather is perfect. Gonna get cleaned up now and then go play the $240 11am Aria tournament. That should kill an hour After that who knows but probably cash if I make an early exit but I like tourneys better than cash.

Sounds fun. Try Flamingo, sometimes the 1-2 games there can be fun. Not that far from Cosmo.

Wrapping up another long and enjoyable vacation day in Vegas. I think I played well in the Aria tourney but screwed up at the end. I lasted 5 hours and went out in 28th place with 95 runners (11 paid). I was card dead most of the time but did make a few hands and stole whatever whenever I could. I only showed down 2 hands the entire tournament and lost them both. First was in the early rounds when I flopped 2 pair and expensively got flushed on the river. That knocked my 20K starting stack down to about 13K but by the first break I ground it back up to about 23K.

After the first break I just got ground down and at the second break I had about 16K. But right after the break I started getting my only cards of the tourney and played them very aggressively. I got up to about 45 K and then started bleeding chips again. It was 1600/800 200 ante when I raised to 4500 in middle position with AQ suited. Only caller was a big stack on the button. I knew nothing about him because we had just gone to 3 tables and he was new at my table. Flop was K high with 2 rags nothing of my suit. I lead out 7K and he called. Flop was a J giving me a gutshot. I was really trying to represent AA or AK. I shoved (about 35K) the turn and he thought for a very long time and called with KQ off. I hit no Ace or Ten and was out. Maybe I should have gotten out of the way after I missed the flop but I thought I had fold equity.

Anyway by that point it had been hours since those pancakes which had long worn off and I was starving. Sticking with my meatless Friday meal plan I went to the Henry at Cosmo and got the fish and chips. This was absolutely delicious! And it was a **** ton of food. I ate all of the fish but only about half of the fries. There had to be 2 large potatoes worth of fries there.



After dinner I cleaned up and relaxed a bit and then headed over to Planet Hollywood for some cash. The table was pretty good and active and I got nothing to play and folded almost everything for the first hour. Then I hit a mini rush and started getting some cards and hitting some flops. I played for about 3 hours when I was just to tired to keep playing plus the action players had left. Plus I started quaffing some beers and started feeling them a bit and didn't want to play stupid. My meager chip porn which is very lame by LVL standards. I end up winning $202.



The cherry on top of the day was my baseball parlay coming in It isn't big or calculated but simply a fan bet. I bleed White Sox blood and hate, loathe and despise the Cubs. So I always bet a $10 Sox win Cubs lose parlay. These can be lucrative because the Cubs are always way overbet and everyone knows the White Sox should suck this year. Yesterday it missed because they both won but today it worked. The $10 pays $62.88 so it is a long shot hence the wimpy $10.



So today I lose $240 in the tourney and win back $202 in cash and score a little on the parlay. As long as I don't get killed I am happy as I only play once or twice a year. I think I will stick with cash tomorrow and maybe take another shot at the tourney on Sunday.

great report, keep it up.

Nice report - I get out there on East Coast time and take a lot of long walks through the various casinos as well - it's a good healthy way to start the day.

Exclent trip report. Keep up the good work and good luck at the tables. I had success at the Bellagio on my last trip and recommend you try that room.

Up early again and went out for my morning walk. I had a definite destination and goal in mind. The destination was The Venetian, specifically The Grand Lux. This is my favorite breakfast spot in Vegas and I had to get an absolute must have every trip dish. Huevos Rancheros! I love this meal and Grand Lux does them perfectly and today it seemed tastier than ever.



I really like the Venetian/Palazzo property. It is my favorite place to stay in Vegas. But I wanted to try the terrace at the Cosmo. It is a great room but something seems just a littler off with the rest of the property. But I am more old school than cutting edge. Besides love is in the air at the Venetian.



Instead of hitting the pool early I decided to play the 9am $60 tourney at Ballys. The structure is horrendous and by round 3 I was already in shove or fold mode. 5K starting stacks and very rapidly rising blinds. I always play at least one of these cheesy lowball tourneys where no one has a clue about the basics of position, fold equity or inflection points. I never had much in the way of cards but shoved a lot. 29 players. When we got to the final table (500/1000) I have 8K and I got the button and shoved with 2 cards after folded to me and I got the blinds. Next hand in cutoff one caller to me and I got my best hand of the tourney AQoff. I shoved and Big Blind called with A9 and a 9 flopped and I was out.

I have just been chilling on the terrace reading and contemplating the evening. After dinner I will play cash but not sure where yet? I may try Bellagio even though I hate that place and haven't played there since the limit days. I used to hate being totally ignored by the brush there when trying to get on a list and bypassed by regs. Probably better now with the electronic boards. I also don't care for Aria for cash but they do run a good tournament. Planet Hollywood was rocking though yesterday so I might just go back there. When I got there at 6pm they had 5 1/2s and 7 by the time I left. I'll figure it out

Spent mid day relaxing and reading on the terrace. After chilling I wa starving as it had been a long time since breakfast. I did have a corn cookie from Milk the cookie milkshake place at the Cosmo (it was really good) as a snack but I only eat 2 meals a day in Vegas. Breakfast and dinner. So I went to one more of my must have Vegas eating experiences. Holsteins in the Cosmo.



I consider the burgers outstanding but probably no better than any other high end Vegas burger joint. But the onion rings are what keep bringing me back. I consider them the best rings I have ever had. I had the steakhouse burger with onion rings and it really hit the spot.



Yeah it was good and after 9 hours since breakfast nothing was being left behind.



Then it was back to Planet Hollywood for some poker. Since this is vacation and not serious poker grinding there was lots of beer involved. About 5 hours and 10 to 12 beers later here is my chip porn. Not too impressive but hey its all I got



It was pretty boring poker for the most part. Lots and lots of folding and missing flops. Only 2 real hands of note were turning the nut straight with the nut flush draw and being beat by a very low end turned flush. The other was all in pre flop against a short stack when I had my only pocket aces of the trip so far. He had kings and I flopped top set and rivered a boat. But other than that it was boring as hell but the beer was good. I win $81. There were some of the worst poker players I have ever seen in this game and the chips kept flowing their way. Guys who had no clue and guys who had never played before. I was too card dead to take advantage and some obviously good players were getting coolered and bad beat relentlessly. There was lots of tilt happening but I mostly kept folding rags and drinking beer.

So with the $60 dollar tourney loss this morning poker winnings are not brag worthy. Plus I lost my Sox win Cubs lose parlay. But at least the Cubs lost Then again so did my BlackHawks Down 2 games to Nashville is unacceptable! At least they were favored so strongly I didn't bet on them.

loving the TR, and Holsteins is an excellent choice! which beer did you get?

Dos Equis Ambar which is probably my favorite. I am not a microbrew or craft beer guy at all. I grew up on Schlitz, Old Style and Pabst Blue Ribbon. My beer tastes gravitate to cheap ass domestic.

Happy Easter! Just took my morning walk and it looks like is gonna be another perfect day in Vegas as far as the weather goes. Today I walked the other way down toward Excaliber then across to Tropicana and back up the Cosmo. I peaked in the MGM poker room and there was only one game going. I haven't played there since the poker room was up in front by the club. I used to like it then. It's current location looks kind of cheesy.

When I got back to Cosmo I decided to have breakfast at the Henry. This place has really good food. I had the Cinnamon Swirl French Toast and dayyaaaam was it good.



Both meals I had there (the French toast and the fish and chips) were both outstanding. This place is a classy version of the 24 café/coffee shop but really no more expensive and like I said the food is top notch. It's only real shortcoming is that there are very few menu options but maybe that is why its so good because they can get what they do have exactly right.

I would also like to offer a R.I.P to the Harley Davidson Café. I ate there a few times over the years and always found it to be pretty good. But I guess it has seen tons of competition in recent years and a zillion other options have sprung up all around it. I am also guessing that is a very prime piece of strip real estate.



Definitely gonna tourney again today. Will take one more stab at the Aria 11am $240. I prefer to play tournaments than cash during the day. I considered hiking down the Wynn instead for the noon $200 instead but Wynn only has 10K starting chips to Arias 20K and I have always thought Aria ran their tournaments very well. Plus I am right next door to the Aria. As much as I love walking the strip in the morning when it is empty I hate walking it when it is swarming with tourists. And I really mean HATE! Just gonna chill out until tourney time and get some more steps in to offset my astronomical calorie intake this trip. I need to find something on the lighter side tonight for dinner

Haha at least they put it in a nice glass for you

It's been a very long day and I am exhausted! I played the Aria 11am 240 for 7 hours and 45 minutes and busted out 10th. 66 entries and 7 paid so I get dick. I thought I played about as well as I could. I was card dead moist of the time and folded almost exclusively in the early rounds until just at the end of round 3 when I stacked a guy with my KK vs. his JJ. Then it was lots more folding until I was able to get another big pot with AQ which turned into a full house. So I got myself a pretty comfortable stack but couldn't really do much with it do to a combination of bad cards and table aggressiveness.

I still had a pretty good stack when we got to 2000/4000 and I called a shortish stack allin with TT against his 66. He flopped a 6 and I was sort of crippled. I still had a 10 to 12 big blind stack. I went into shove mode and was able to maintain that 10 to 12 blind stack as the blinds increased. But I never got called. Sometimes I wanted to and sometimes I didn't but I could never score that double up. When we got to the final table it 4000/8000 with a 500 ante. I had about 75K. Big stack on my right raises to 18K and I shove with 88. He thinks and calls with AJ and of course flops both an Ace and a Jack and I was out.

I still think my game is best suited for tournaments despite the results. I have had only winning sessions in cash so far and dumped 540 on tournies but always feel more comfortable in a tourney.

I was absolutely starving since I hadn't eaten since breakfast 12 hours before. I had a hankering for Chinese food so I went to the Monte Carlo for the Dragon Noodle Company. I ate there once before a few years back and remembered it being fairly good. I got the Mongolian Beef and it was really tasty. But I was so hungry anything woulda been good



On a positive note my Sox win/Cubs lose parlay came in again today. This one only paid $56.24. So far I have spent $40 on the 4 parlays and received $119.12 in return. I'll try one more tomorrow before I leave Tuesday morning.



Leather assing that tournament for over 7 hours has my back aching. No way do I go out and play any more tonight. Plus last night involved a lot of alcohol and I am feeling the effect. I'm gonna chill and relax and get to bed early to be refreshed for tomorrow and one last dash for cash LV style. I may finally try out that fancy Japanese soaking tub in my room.



Anyway it has been a great trip so far and I have one more day of Vegas fun to look forward to.

Thanks for the TR. Keep putting in those Sox W Cubs L parlays. F*** the Cubs. I a large some of money last year with the Cubs fans giving me the field before season started to win the World Series. Looking fwd to the rest of the trip.

Really enjoying this trip report..thanks..

+1 to really enjoying this. GL with the tournies!