I will be in Vegas from the last week in June until the middle of July. I will be posting a trip report , for those who are interested. I will be bringing the usual $2,700.00 & staying in my usual room for $149 per week. I generally grind the $1-$2 poker tables & sprinkle a little in the sports book everyday. This tactic hasn't been all that bad for me in the past but it also hasn't proven itself very lucrative.

So, this time I am adding a few new twists to the trip. I will be playing in at least two premium tournaments & will be laying large unit sports bets.

I intend to play in the Phamous Poker Series at Planet Hollywood. If I am up $500 by July 5th I will enter the feature presentation for $560 (for a quarter million guaranteed). If I am not up $500 I will register in the $100 series event ($25,000.00 guaranteed). I will be saving $600, regardless of my progress, to play in the Aria Classic. If I happen to have any money left I want to run in the Wynn Summer Classic.

A little background: I work two jobs. I work for a small subsidiary of West Corp. & I clean medical & dental offices for a friend who owns a professional cleaning company, "Bin There Dust That".
I have been gambling for 36 years, I've been playing Holdem consistently for 18 years & I have been wagering with offshore books since 1989.
I am not a winning gambler.
I like to mark my fiscal gambling year on March 30th, or as close the NCAA Championship as possible. I've seen years where I have profited $1,000 or $2,000 but generally I find myself down $3,000 or $4,000 after March Madness is over. I have lost as much as $25,000.00 in a year & I once wagered more than $6,000 in one weekend. It's relatively easy for me to keep track of my overall wins and losses. I can explain this further in the " Why I'm doing this" section below. I am an unproven poker player & this will be my 1st time playing against players of this caliber. I feel that after nearly 20 years my game is about where I want it to be. I am playing a lot less online poker and focusing on Honing my skills at live games. I try to focus more on line movements and beating the closing line when I bet sports. I don't have a favorite team. My favorite team is whoever won me the most money last week.

Why am I doing this? Some people who know me well might try to tell you that I continue to do this because I have a terrible work ethic. Some of these people might be right. But, what I do when I'm on these trips I consider work. Hard work in fact. My wife works two jobs as well, her jobs however demand a much higher skill set then I could ever hope to have. Consequently my wife makes a substantial amount more than me. I am only able to make these trips because I found a beautiful woman who loves me and trusts me. My daughter also works at a fast food chain. We have 5 incomes & still barely find a way to make ends meet every month. Every dime of income I receive from my 2 jobs goes to my wife to pay for mortgage, insurance, heat, hydro, utilities, property taxes, car payment, car insurance, car plates, car sticker, car fuel, cellular bills, cable bills, phone bills, student loan bilss & we still haven't eaten yet.
I continue to travel to Vegas, looking for the big score so that my family won't have to work anymore.

What can you expect to see in this trip report? You can expect to see short videos & pics of the trip. I will try to post shots of my chip stacks (chip porn) & some hand histories. I'll have sports book ticket shots & race book tickets.
Don't expect to see lavish culinary dishes, expect to see fry boxes & burger wrappers.
Ill try to get footage from the Aria Classic & Phamous Poker series.
I won't have the time or the money to post pictures of golf courses or rollercoasters & I won't be showing you The Hoover Dam. Don't expect shout outs or site specific references . I will posting trip updates across 4 different forms & I don't want any sites claiming I am trying to dedirect traffic from one site to another.
I do Vegas as cheap as I can & try to give myself the best shot at maximizing profits. I barely sleep & I'm up at the crack of dawn most days ready to drink & play the best poker I know how to play. I dont waste money on expensive meals, clothes or alcohol. I dont take cabs or busses, I walk eveywhere I go. I even walk to & from McCarran. Being from Canada, I love the Vegas heat.
I try to dedicate 90% of my bankroll to gambling. I know my limits when I'm drinking & I don't use drugs when I'm in the States. I don't break any laws when I'm in Vegas. Too many guns, too many metro & Clark County looks like the las t place I want to spend the night!

Hope you enjoy

GLLLLLLL sir, looking forward to it!

Gl Jay - run good and have a ball.

Do it up good sir.

GL jAY !!!!

GL. run gooood!

Go get em!

I'm digging the gritty, no-frills approach.

Quite honest. Good luck.

Definitely subbed. I wish I had the willpower to avoid the pits and stick to poker & sports. Motivate me OP!

Ready to get his trip started, get that money!

Flying out of Toronto so, I've decided to make a quick stop with my biddy Miller at The Blue Heron Casino in Port Perry Ontario.

I am going to stick to BJ 3/2 $10 min.
Buying in for $50.

Blue heron: http://youtu.be/B06_e4TBdHU



Sorry for the poor li kage etiquette.

Good luck at the Wynn Summer Classic. I had a great time there last week!

Good luck man! Look forward to the updates

This may go down as the worst trip report in 2+2 history!
After my last post, my phone stopped taking charges. So I had no phone at all, then on the way to the airport I plugged my phone in to Millers car and wouldn't you know it, it began to charge. Got off the plane at McCarran, and my us roaming wasn't working. So I managed to convince the sports book manager here at Monte Carlo to give me the password for wifi and I'm trying to look in to why T Mobile isn't working for me. Once I get all these minor details worked out I'll post some of the videos I took at Casino Niagara and some of the new videos I took here today in Vegas.


Stay tuned. We are experiencing technical difficulties.

After the Blue Heron Miller & I decided we'd go to the Falls view Casino in Niagara Falls.
Fallsview: http://youtu.be/hR66ilyev50
We stayed at a hotel called The Universal for $65. The pool was a quarter full with brown water & we received 5 channels on a Zenith from the 90's but, the room didn't smell & there were no bugs. I've stayed in worse. Overall I'd give it a 4.5 out of 10.
I played blackjack & roulette the 1st night & was up as much as $450 but, found my self down $410 with about 4 hours until my flight to Vegas. This was due to a bad beat at $2-$5 NL...
I was the puck & dealt KdKh, the chip lead at the table bet 120 preflop, which was $60 shy of my entire stack so, obviously I shoved. There was one other caller who had about $170 behind her. The flop came 763 (rainbow) & the chiplead put her all in as well. She rolled over queens & chip lead rolled 77. His set held up. After regrouping I decided that if I am going to get back to even I'd have to up the stakes so, I took $50 to a $25 blackjack table & my dealer's favourote number was 24 because she busted 7 out of 16 hands & in less than 15 minutes I had $300. Plus an extra $100 I stashed away, just in case. So, the profits basically covered the room, food, a full tank in Miller's car & a great night at The Sundowner! Phone was busted so no pics, sorry!
Miller found himself down quite a bit more than me but, he was also able to make a last minute run to get back to very close to even. I think if miller has any advice for our fellow gamblers it would be. "Stay away from the Star Wars slot machine!"

Star wars: http://youtu.be/k1xIc_u6Jgk

I left Pearson Airport at 8:30 am & had a 3 hour lay over at LAX. I saw a celebrity but I can't remember her name. She's Ray Donovan's assistant who looks like Katy Perry or Zoey Deschanel. I would have asked her for a quick pic but, when I saw her, TSA was searching my body & luggage. This frequently happens to me. Not the "star sighting" but, the "random" TSA searches. I was starving by this point & the least expensive place I could find to eat was this place called The Counter.
$17 Burger: http://youtu.be/bVjPzXt3gMg

I arrived at McCarran shortly after 2 pm. This is my favorite escalator ride.

McCarran arrival: http://youtu.be/2qwYetjVO3s

I checked into The Harbor Island Apartments at 4:00 & the girl who checked me in was the same girl from last year. Her name is Esha & she always treats me well. She informed me that the prices had risen since my last visit but, gave me the old price. $149, no tax, no deposit. I love that woman!
The Appartment: http://youtu.be/zCHfgd0IiFg

Gotta head out today & try to gather info about the Aria Classic & Phamous Poker Series, to make sure I don't run into a time conflict.

The walk from my apartment to the strip is always an interesting one. This time wasn't too crazy but I saw Elvis ridding a scooter.

Scooter Elvis: http://youtu.be/YOuZ8so4Wpg

Here's my typical walk to the strip.

Walk to strip: http://youtu.be/zLP52cd6Ar4

I walked from the Monte Carlo to the City Square Mall to resolve my phone issues because the concierge told me there was a T-Mobile outlet there. Well, there wasn't so i walked the 3.5 miles again, back to the Monte Carlo & Taylor, the concierge, took pitty on me & allowed me to use the casino phone to call back to Canada. Long story short, my wife was able to contact my Dad & he somehow resolved the issue! Don't ask me how but, either way.....I'm back online.

After returning from the mall I was seated next to one of my favourite poker players & admired author ....Al Shoonmaker. It was really neat to read his article in this month's Card Player Magazine while sitting next to him in seat #2! I didn't win a lot but, more importantly, I didn't lose & earned over 6 hours towards the $13,000.00 free roll next week. Al said (I can call him "Al" because we're kinda tight now lol) that they now pay the top 38 players and there's usually less than 100 runners. Waitress in the poker room was incredible. When the waitresses works that hard it's difficult to stay under 15 drinks in a 6 hour session !
1st session results: http://youtu.be/XSY6E4KgumA

I'll be back later with some more updates.

Has anyone else ever seen this bar?
Rediculous.
5 degree ice bar: http://youtu.be/gurvXc2TVeM

Harbor Island? I'll pray for you (seriously).

?

just curious.

Jimmy Beam, I hear ya. Its not all that bad but its pretty rough.

Schuey, are you asking if that is me? That guy's got about 150 pounds on me & looks like he could kill me with a sandwich!

BTW Schuey I really like your trip reports.

Not all that bad? I couldn't think of anywhere more bad. But to each his own. Keep your head on a swivel

I've stayed at hotel suites of america & a few other places NE of Paradise & Sands. Harbour Island is a step above those places. I keep my head down and walk fast to my room!

Made it to 2nd break in the 11:00 Phamous series event.
2nd break: http://youtu.be/Tx1O72NGxzU

206 entrants. 124 left

That series has the best structures...make sure you play the Saturday 300 too...just got back and cashed in 5/7 events with two final tables...GL

Is that $100,000.00 guaranteed doobJ?