5 Dutch guys with an "excellent vacation-mentality". TR+PIC
07-14-2018
, 03:45 PM
Lol yeah 10 minutes later he only had black chips left so it didn’t bother me at all.
07-15-2018
, 07:09 AM
It took us some time and our story's weren't too coherent but I'm pretty sure we went to Bellagio first and then for sure to the Cosmo. We tried the Verbana there as well
but we weren’t too impressed with the numbing effect so you know what that means. After that we went to the Aria to finish the night at the lounge bar. 2 small scenes that describe the scenery over there. At the table to the left of us there were 4 middle aged women at the rail. Two random gentleman passed by and they started chatting to them. After 5 minutes one started giving mouth to mouth to one of the ladies. After some time the lady that was the least drunk managed to convince the rest to really go call a night so the stumbled of to their room. At the table to the right there was one good looking girl all dressed sitting by herself with two drinks. Strange? Well not in Vegas obviously. After ten minutes a middle aged guy passes by the rail and after a short conversation he joins her at the table. After finishing the drink and after the guy paying for the drinks they went to the nearby elevator together. Ah vegas…… Well shortly after that it was time to go to bed for us as to catch some sleep and get ready for a busy EDC weekend in Vegas.
07-16-2018
, 04:00 AM
Day 9, the day we make it into a vlog
After a few hours cash-gaming in the afternoon at Bally’s, it’s time to play the weekly tournament again in the Stratosphere. We order a lyft and when Fedor sits down in the passenger seat he notices a power cable, so he plugs his phone. The driver sees this and he asks: “did you unplug my phone so you can charge yours?” I don’t know what comes over Fedor, but he is really showing some balls to tell the driver (a big African-American dude) that yes, he just did that because he is a paying customer. The tension is building when he asks again if he really did that and we are about to get thrown out when he tells him of course not. The guy checks his pockets and luckily finds his phone in there.
After this we have a lot of fun with this driver. We tell him that the last couple of years we made some nice profit selling weed here in Vegas that we smuggled in from Holland, but now that it is legalized we had to switch to the cocaine-dealing.
When it comes to music he is surprised we know a lot of rappers, e.g. Ty Dolla Sign. We tell him that you may have Jay-Z, Kanye and others, but in Holland, we have Rapper Sjors. Oh, and FYI, he wants to go into porn and he ****s she-males! (true story)
The driver claims that we have some serious issues. After we say that we are here in Vegas to work on these issues he really thinks we are crazy.
We are all distracted by all the people who are on their way to the EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival). One outfit even more revealing than the other.
In the Stratosphere we meet the Pokerkraut. A very nice guy and after some chit-chat he asks if we want to do the intro for his vlog. Fedor and Ropski are into it, so if you want to see us in action, please check his vlog 151. He didn’t use us for the first intro, but it’s there after 12:30 minutes
Exclusive ‘behind the scene’ material
We all make the final table. Someone asks me if I was here last year during the WSOP and if I played the main event. I answer him that I wasn’t, but that I get that a lot. People often confuse me with Phil Ivey. Fedor tells him that funny enough, Phil Ivey also has that same problem, that they think he is me.
One of the players who is a regular only has 9 fingers. The dealer knows this guy and he makes some remark about this. When the player pretends to be angry with him I tell him to relax and count to 9.
Ropski is out 8th, Fedor 7th and Pokerkraut eliminates me in 5th place where I have Ax and he has KK. A on the flop, K on the turn (also in the vlog). Top 3 is getting paid, so we leave with nothing.
It’s Friday night, we’re close to Fremont, so off we go. Fedor wants to check the new poker situation at Binion’s. His navigation skills are off again when it turns out he is trying to find the Binion’s poker room in the Fremont Casino. When we finally find the place, we see it’s not even a room. There are just some poker tables placed in the back of the casino, next to the rest rooms. Not a great ambiance.
I have had enough poker for today, so I try my luck at the craps, while Ropski and Fedor head to the Golden Nugget to play some 1-2.
This craps game is really growing on me, especially when I leave with +$235. It’s almost 2AM when I ask the rest if they also want to go back. There is one big fish at the table with deep pockets, so they decide to stay. I can’t bring myself to join them, so I leave, wishing them good luck.
After a few hours cash-gaming in the afternoon at Bally’s, it’s time to play the weekly tournament again in the Stratosphere. We order a lyft and when Fedor sits down in the passenger seat he notices a power cable, so he plugs his phone. The driver sees this and he asks: “did you unplug my phone so you can charge yours?” I don’t know what comes over Fedor, but he is really showing some balls to tell the driver (a big African-American dude) that yes, he just did that because he is a paying customer. The tension is building when he asks again if he really did that and we are about to get thrown out when he tells him of course not. The guy checks his pockets and luckily finds his phone in there.
After this we have a lot of fun with this driver. We tell him that the last couple of years we made some nice profit selling weed here in Vegas that we smuggled in from Holland, but now that it is legalized we had to switch to the cocaine-dealing.
When it comes to music he is surprised we know a lot of rappers, e.g. Ty Dolla Sign. We tell him that you may have Jay-Z, Kanye and others, but in Holland, we have Rapper Sjors. Oh, and FYI, he wants to go into porn and he ****s she-males! (true story)
The driver claims that we have some serious issues. After we say that we are here in Vegas to work on these issues he really thinks we are crazy.
We are all distracted by all the people who are on their way to the EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival). One outfit even more revealing than the other.
In the Stratosphere we meet the Pokerkraut. A very nice guy and after some chit-chat he asks if we want to do the intro for his vlog. Fedor and Ropski are into it, so if you want to see us in action, please check his vlog 151. He didn’t use us for the first intro, but it’s there after 12:30 minutes
Exclusive ‘behind the scene’ material
We all make the final table. Someone asks me if I was here last year during the WSOP and if I played the main event. I answer him that I wasn’t, but that I get that a lot. People often confuse me with Phil Ivey. Fedor tells him that funny enough, Phil Ivey also has that same problem, that they think he is me.
One of the players who is a regular only has 9 fingers. The dealer knows this guy and he makes some remark about this. When the player pretends to be angry with him I tell him to relax and count to 9.
Ropski is out 8th, Fedor 7th and Pokerkraut eliminates me in 5th place where I have Ax and he has KK. A on the flop, K on the turn (also in the vlog). Top 3 is getting paid, so we leave with nothing.
It’s Friday night, we’re close to Fremont, so off we go. Fedor wants to check the new poker situation at Binion’s. His navigation skills are off again when it turns out he is trying to find the Binion’s poker room in the Fremont Casino. When we finally find the place, we see it’s not even a room. There are just some poker tables placed in the back of the casino, next to the rest rooms. Not a great ambiance.
I have had enough poker for today, so I try my luck at the craps, while Ropski and Fedor head to the Golden Nugget to play some 1-2.
This craps game is really growing on me, especially when I leave with +$235. It’s almost 2AM when I ask the rest if they also want to go back. There is one big fish at the table with deep pockets, so they decide to stay. I can’t bring myself to join them, so I leave, wishing them good luck.
07-16-2018
, 03:07 PM
07-16-2018
, 06:06 PM
07-16-2018
, 06:09 PM
07-16-2018
, 07:17 PM
07-20-2018
, 04:00 AM
07-20-2018
, 04:12 AM
Day 10, the day we don’t do break-even
Even though it’s much more crowded in the pool during the weekends, the view definitely improves.
We have lunch at the buffet in the Paris with our tickets we got from Bally’s. The buffet itself is so-so, but they have sweet or savory crepes (or ‘Creeps’, as the waitress calls them) made to order.
Even though the vlog from Pokerkraut is not online yet, we notice that almost everybody wants to take a picture of Ropski and Fedor. That’s the downside of being famous. But they always do it in a sneaky way, pretending to take a selfie, take a picture from the casino or even point the camera in a completely different direction, just to trick us. Or maybe, it’s just our imagination.
We have nothing planned for this afternoon so we stroll towards the Park. We pass an Irish pub called Rock & Reilly’s that looks promising so we enter. We sit outside and the first Coronas are ordered. This is nice. Just relax and watch the world go by. A guy dressed like Britney Spears (hit-me-baby-one-more-time-style), several EDC fans, people with the biggest pizza-boxes from pin-up pizza we have ever seen (I googled it, 30 inch pizza’s…), the homeless who all have a system going through the trash, the early drunks, etc etc etc. We like this place and we plan to go back a few times this vacation.
After a couple of hours, we walk back to the apartment. It’s Saturday, so the plan is to play many hours tonight. First, it’s back to Musashi. No need to discuss this. Delicious.
Waiting for a cab to go to EDC
I have never played in the Mandalay before, so it’s about time we play there.
Ok, this is by far the best table I have been at, in like months. At least 3 players have over 1k in front of them and they came to play. There is a lady sitting next to me, who is on a sister-weekend. She has never played poker in a casino before, so everything that she can do wrong, she does. She looks at her cards in a way I can see them, she doesn’t know how to raise properly, you name it. But she is real nice and is over the moon she can actually order a glass of white wine without paying for it. She is just having a good time and that is all that matters. Whenever I can see her cards I try to help her out and tell her what the best way is to look at her cards. The dealer is also assisting her.
When she is in the BB and there is no raise, just limpers she is a bit confused. I say to her: “you can check if you want and if you do that by just tapping on the table you look like a real professional”.
A young guy, who thinks he invented poker and just got seated at the table immediately remarks: “oh, I didn’t know there was a “”professional way”” of checking on a 1-2 table.”
I go full Big Lebowski on him and say that he doesn’t have a frame of reference and that he should just shut the **** up. He is now officially on my ****-list.
The next few orbits he bluffs a few times and proudly shows his cards whenever that works. I stack him when the board is 735J8 and he goes AI for his last $100. I call, he shows 24 for a missed straight and my pocket nines are good. Boy, that feels good.
The next 4 hours I feel like I should be picking up origami as a hobby, because I keep folding. Just my luck, best table by far and I am card dead. I am not a nitty player but this is borderline ridiculous. I see a lot of 3’s and 4’s, combined with 8’s and J’s.
At around the 3AM the big stacks have all left. The promos end at that time and that is noticeable. Last hand is worth mentioning though. I pick up A7ss in EP. I raise, there is 1 call from a LAG guy and the player on the cutoff, who just sat down with $100 goes AI. He had been at my table before and did the same move with 2 napkins so I already anticipated this. I happily call and the LAG also calls. Flop is 567. I bet $250 but the LAG folds unfortunately. New guy jumps up and down and shows 89 of course. I leave with a whopping $92 profit.
Fedor and Ropski are also done but neither of us are tired. Time for some gambling and some serious drinking so we’re off to the Cromwell. Best odds on roulette, craps-tables with a $10 minimum during the weekend instead of $25 and low minimums on the table-game.
I convince the others to join a craps session. We each buy in for $200 and combine this. Ropski wants to throw the dice, so he has to handle the chips too. I explain what and how to bet. 15 minutes later we are down $500. Like I said in the intro, he is very good at losing at these games.
Fedor and Ropski try their luck at the roulette table, while I win back my losses at the Crazy4Poker. When I join them and tell I am break even for the night, Fedor states that we don’t do break even. I figure, why not and try out a new table game, High Card Flush with a negative result of $200.
Ropski has promised about 15 friends back home to place a $5 bet on the roulette table for each one. All they had to do is pick a number. The winning number is 26 and luckily that is one of the numbers that was picked.
It’s 6AM when we finally decide to call it a night and it’s already bright as hell outside. I suggest to stay awake for one more hour and then get some breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi but they are not in the mood. A long day has come to an end.
Even though it’s much more crowded in the pool during the weekends, the view definitely improves.
We have lunch at the buffet in the Paris with our tickets we got from Bally’s. The buffet itself is so-so, but they have sweet or savory crepes (or ‘Creeps’, as the waitress calls them) made to order.
Even though the vlog from Pokerkraut is not online yet, we notice that almost everybody wants to take a picture of Ropski and Fedor. That’s the downside of being famous. But they always do it in a sneaky way, pretending to take a selfie, take a picture from the casino or even point the camera in a completely different direction, just to trick us. Or maybe, it’s just our imagination.
We have nothing planned for this afternoon so we stroll towards the Park. We pass an Irish pub called Rock & Reilly’s that looks promising so we enter. We sit outside and the first Coronas are ordered. This is nice. Just relax and watch the world go by. A guy dressed like Britney Spears (hit-me-baby-one-more-time-style), several EDC fans, people with the biggest pizza-boxes from pin-up pizza we have ever seen (I googled it, 30 inch pizza’s…), the homeless who all have a system going through the trash, the early drunks, etc etc etc. We like this place and we plan to go back a few times this vacation.
After a couple of hours, we walk back to the apartment. It’s Saturday, so the plan is to play many hours tonight. First, it’s back to Musashi. No need to discuss this. Delicious.
Waiting for a cab to go to EDC
I have never played in the Mandalay before, so it’s about time we play there.
Ok, this is by far the best table I have been at, in like months. At least 3 players have over 1k in front of them and they came to play. There is a lady sitting next to me, who is on a sister-weekend. She has never played poker in a casino before, so everything that she can do wrong, she does. She looks at her cards in a way I can see them, she doesn’t know how to raise properly, you name it. But she is real nice and is over the moon she can actually order a glass of white wine without paying for it. She is just having a good time and that is all that matters. Whenever I can see her cards I try to help her out and tell her what the best way is to look at her cards. The dealer is also assisting her.
When she is in the BB and there is no raise, just limpers she is a bit confused. I say to her: “you can check if you want and if you do that by just tapping on the table you look like a real professional”.
A young guy, who thinks he invented poker and just got seated at the table immediately remarks: “oh, I didn’t know there was a “”professional way”” of checking on a 1-2 table.”
I go full Big Lebowski on him and say that he doesn’t have a frame of reference and that he should just shut the **** up. He is now officially on my ****-list.
The next few orbits he bluffs a few times and proudly shows his cards whenever that works. I stack him when the board is 735J8 and he goes AI for his last $100. I call, he shows 24 for a missed straight and my pocket nines are good. Boy, that feels good.
The next 4 hours I feel like I should be picking up origami as a hobby, because I keep folding. Just my luck, best table by far and I am card dead. I am not a nitty player but this is borderline ridiculous. I see a lot of 3’s and 4’s, combined with 8’s and J’s.
At around the 3AM the big stacks have all left. The promos end at that time and that is noticeable. Last hand is worth mentioning though. I pick up A7ss in EP. I raise, there is 1 call from a LAG guy and the player on the cutoff, who just sat down with $100 goes AI. He had been at my table before and did the same move with 2 napkins so I already anticipated this. I happily call and the LAG also calls. Flop is 567. I bet $250 but the LAG folds unfortunately. New guy jumps up and down and shows 89 of course. I leave with a whopping $92 profit.
Fedor and Ropski are also done but neither of us are tired. Time for some gambling and some serious drinking so we’re off to the Cromwell. Best odds on roulette, craps-tables with a $10 minimum during the weekend instead of $25 and low minimums on the table-game.
I convince the others to join a craps session. We each buy in for $200 and combine this. Ropski wants to throw the dice, so he has to handle the chips too. I explain what and how to bet. 15 minutes later we are down $500. Like I said in the intro, he is very good at losing at these games.
Fedor and Ropski try their luck at the roulette table, while I win back my losses at the Crazy4Poker. When I join them and tell I am break even for the night, Fedor states that we don’t do break even. I figure, why not and try out a new table game, High Card Flush with a negative result of $200.
Ropski has promised about 15 friends back home to place a $5 bet on the roulette table for each one. All they had to do is pick a number. The winning number is 26 and luckily that is one of the numbers that was picked.
It’s 6AM when we finally decide to call it a night and it’s already bright as hell outside. I suggest to stay awake for one more hour and then get some breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi but they are not in the mood. A long day has come to an end.
07-24-2018
, 12:20 PM
07-24-2018
, 12:28 PM
Day 11, the day Ropski is winning and jinxing
While Fedor and Ropski are at the pool I have a gambling itch that needs to be scratched. I walk to the Strip, make a quick stop at Shakeshack for a decent burger and a black&white shake and enter the NYNY.
The jinx of Ropski stretches far, not only for himself, but also for the people around him. At the moment he is more than 1.2 miles away, so I figure my craps session will be a winning one. This turns out to be true and after 2 hours I walk back home with an extra $400 in my pocket.
Everybody is in sleeping-mode so I also try to sleep. It’s 10.30PM when I wake up. Fedor is gone but Ropski is still in the apartment. Fedor texted that he went to Harrah’s and we agree to meet up in front of the Bally’s to eat a hot dog from Dirt Dog.
The dogs are pretty tasty and the fried Oreos Fedor also ordered are good too.
We want to play a late-night tournament, so we go over to the Flamingo where the midnight tournament is about to start. The guarantee is $750, but there are only 4 players, including us. The minimum amount of players has to be 5, so the floor is about to cancel the tournament. We lobby at the cash game table and luckily 1 player volunteers so we can start. We debate about a chop straightaway, but we must play for at least 1 hour. There is a late registration so while we play, a few others decide to join. We end up with 9 players and it’s a winner takes all situation.
I go PFAI with QQ, but can’t win from AT. I wish the rest of the table good luck and I head over to the craps table. While I am there Fedor comes over. He was short and had to shove A2, but the other player had AQ. He tells that Ropski just lost a big hand, so he will also be out pretty soon.
Indeed, 15 minutes later Ropski joins us. I think he is out too, but he is holding $700+ in his hand. I think they are pulling my leg, but he is giving me $240. I still think that they are joking but he actually won it. He was heads up and was a 2:1 dog. His opponent offered him a deal that he wasn’t happy with so he declined.
Villain was highly surprised and made a remark that Ropski will end up with nothing. 5 minutes later the tables are turned and Ropski comes out on top. 2nd time I make some money without winning. I can get used to this.
I collect my $200 winnings from the craps and sit down at the Crazy4Poker. Within 10 minutes I am up $150 when Ropski comes over. At that point I should have stopped, but I am a stubborn fool and 10 minutes later I am down $55. He is a real cooler when it comes to table games.
Fedor is tired and is going back to the apartment while Ropski and I are thirsty. Rock & Reilly’s it is. This bar is open 24/7 and with this nice view from the strip it’s really a no-brainer.
We have some in-depth conversations that varies from childhood memories to broken relationships. The type of conversations that you can only have after a few beers and at 3 in the morning.
The sun is about to come up when we also head home.
While Fedor and Ropski are at the pool I have a gambling itch that needs to be scratched. I walk to the Strip, make a quick stop at Shakeshack for a decent burger and a black&white shake and enter the NYNY.
The jinx of Ropski stretches far, not only for himself, but also for the people around him. At the moment he is more than 1.2 miles away, so I figure my craps session will be a winning one. This turns out to be true and after 2 hours I walk back home with an extra $400 in my pocket.
Everybody is in sleeping-mode so I also try to sleep. It’s 10.30PM when I wake up. Fedor is gone but Ropski is still in the apartment. Fedor texted that he went to Harrah’s and we agree to meet up in front of the Bally’s to eat a hot dog from Dirt Dog.
The dogs are pretty tasty and the fried Oreos Fedor also ordered are good too.
We want to play a late-night tournament, so we go over to the Flamingo where the midnight tournament is about to start. The guarantee is $750, but there are only 4 players, including us. The minimum amount of players has to be 5, so the floor is about to cancel the tournament. We lobby at the cash game table and luckily 1 player volunteers so we can start. We debate about a chop straightaway, but we must play for at least 1 hour. There is a late registration so while we play, a few others decide to join. We end up with 9 players and it’s a winner takes all situation.
I go PFAI with QQ, but can’t win from AT. I wish the rest of the table good luck and I head over to the craps table. While I am there Fedor comes over. He was short and had to shove A2, but the other player had AQ. He tells that Ropski just lost a big hand, so he will also be out pretty soon.
Indeed, 15 minutes later Ropski joins us. I think he is out too, but he is holding $700+ in his hand. I think they are pulling my leg, but he is giving me $240. I still think that they are joking but he actually won it. He was heads up and was a 2:1 dog. His opponent offered him a deal that he wasn’t happy with so he declined.
Villain was highly surprised and made a remark that Ropski will end up with nothing. 5 minutes later the tables are turned and Ropski comes out on top. 2nd time I make some money without winning. I can get used to this.
I collect my $200 winnings from the craps and sit down at the Crazy4Poker. Within 10 minutes I am up $150 when Ropski comes over. At that point I should have stopped, but I am a stubborn fool and 10 minutes later I am down $55. He is a real cooler when it comes to table games.
Fedor is tired and is going back to the apartment while Ropski and I are thirsty. Rock & Reilly’s it is. This bar is open 24/7 and with this nice view from the strip it’s really a no-brainer.
We have some in-depth conversations that varies from childhood memories to broken relationships. The type of conversations that you can only have after a few beers and at 3 in the morning.
The sun is about to come up when we also head home.
07-24-2018
, 05:24 PM
