Great seat!

pics of the Wyndham?

sorry, i was too rude - great trip report so far and excited for the rest

no problem. Just a poolpicture to start. Apartment follows later in the report. Atm where bbq-ing with the crew cause it’s decent weather in the Netherlands for once!

And here are a few more:

- it is just a hotel or are there residents living in apartments there too?

It’s a timeshare but you can also just book a room there like we do.

Day 4, the day where a burger underwhelms us.

At around 8 in the morning Fedor stumbles in, puts on his swimming trunks and is off to the pool.
I manage to sleep until 10 and then also make my way to the pool. It’s hot today and I only stay in the shade.

Fedor has had a good session at the Bellagio yesterday where his semibluff got called on the turn, but he got there on the river.



When we go back up around 1 PM, Ropski has just woken up and after a shower we are ready to hit the Strip.

We’ve heard a lot about the In n Out Burger. We have had 5 Guys, Shakeshack and Johnny Rockets in the past, but never an In n Out. Ropski is not hungry, so Fedor and I both order a Cheeseburger (I order it animal style) and 1 portion of fries, animal style. Fedor takes one bite and immediately claims that he is not impressed. I find it hard to believe that he can come to this conclusion after one bite, but I have to agree with him. This does not live up to the hype at all. The fries are an abomination too. In my opinion, Shakeshack takes the crown, followed by Johnny Rockets and Five Guys. For Fedor, it’s 5 Guys that has the best burgers.



Ropski and Fedor are off to Bally’s. Reason is twofold. They are going to play 3 hours to get a ticket for a free buffet in the Paris and Fedor wants to make at least 30 hours to play the freeroll for a WSOP main event ticket. Fedor is known for his lack of navigation skills, so instead of turning left, he goes right. They are almost at the Venetian when he realizes that Bally’s is the other way.

I opt for the Flamingo. The table is decent, mainly because there is a woman who turned 60 today and is wearing a tiara and a sash with ‘birthday girl’ written on it. Clearly, she is having too much to drink and she is really playing aggressively. She already lost a bundle and keeps rebuying. When I finally get a hand against her (AK) I re-raise her PF. She calls and the flop is AK7. She donkbets, I go AI, she calls and her pocket 7’s hold.



3 hours later I join the others in Bally’s. They collect the ticket for the buffet and we are ready for some pizza. In front of the Bally’s is Giordiano’s. Even though Ropski orders a medium pizza we are all served a small. Turns out this is more than enough and we even get a doggy bag because neither of us could finish the pizza. During dinner Ropski and Fedor have a nice discussion about how they both approach (small stakes) tournament poker. They both have a different point of view, especially at the final table and short-handed. Where Ropski plays over-aggressively, Fedor just waits for the others to make mistakes. Btw, this vacation will prove both methods work.



Listening to this conversation makes me wanna play a tournament, so we head over to the Flamingo where I buy in for a $70 tournament. Ropski and Fedor are playing cashgames, but the tables mainly consist of grinders who are more interested in their phones, iPads and even a laptop.
After 30 minutes they head over to the Venetian. My tournament life is over when TT < AJ and A7<KQ.

I take a lyft back home and the driver is a full-blown conspiracy theory guy. I just let him ramble the entire ride.
The others are still at the Venetian and I fall asleep immediately.

You know you’re at a bad table when all the conversation is about getting the max out of their diamond status lol. This year we definitely did better table selection. Games at venetian were great during their high hand promo. Good pizza at giordano’s btw.

incredible that those pizzas are 'small' - American sizes are huge.

back on the Wyndham...is it a walk or a cab/uber to the Strip?

In America, most pizzas are for sharing, even smalls. If only one person's worth is envisioned, it is called a "personal" or "mini" pizza.

Both. It’s like a 10 min walk to Planet Hollywood but when it’s hot we usually take a lyft of uber. Call them when you’re ready to leave your room and they’ll be in front of the lobby before you are.

Aha! Next time we’ll share one yeah. The’re not expensive though so no problem to have some leftovers.

Day 5, the day my mental strength is put to the test

Slowly but surely, we are getting into a ‘normal’ rhythm. In the morning at the pool, in the afternoon to the Strip.

Around 2 PM we head to Bally’s to grind for at least 3 hours. Ropski and Fedor head to the buffet in the Paris first.





I will not join them today. For the last 6 months I had a weight challenge with Fedor. Goal was to lose 25kg (55lbs) in 29 weeks. I lost 27kg (59.5 lbs), mostly thanks to Intermittent Fasting. Since I am still overweight I intend to continue with the weight loss after the vacation, but for now all bets are off. Still, in the last few months my eating habit has changed and since I had a burger and pizza yesterday I don’t feel that well, so I decide to fast the entire day.

After we clocked the 3 hours we walk over to the Park to watch game 2 in the Beerhaus.
Because it’s game day they only serve drinks from plactic cups. Ropski outright refuses to drink alcohol from this rubbish, so he settles for a can of corona (no lime).


no bottles today



The knights play way better than game 1 and they win this easily.

The boys are not hungry after the late buffet, so we don’t make any dinner plans. Instead we head over to the Excalibur. There is only one spot at the 1-2 table and Fedor sits down. Ropski is in a crazy mood and sits down at the 2-6 spread limit game between all locals. I am on the waiting list and while I wait I watch the spread limit table. Suddenly, a girl walks up to Ropski and hugs him like they have been friends forever. Turns out she was also at Bally’s this afternoon and she recognizes him.
Small world.

When I finally sit down at the 1-2 the seat to my right is empty, but there is about $900 in front of the empty chair. I figure I got the good seat, big stack on the right of me.
After about 15 minutes my neighbor turns up with a big plastic bag full of baby back ribs and other delicious food. Un-fukkin-believable… Right on the day I decide to not eat anything. It smells really good but I persevere. Oh, and that big stack? He keeps eating, plays only one hand, wins with KK and leaves.


must... stay....strong...

Fedor is in an aggressive mood and is trying to be the table captain. I play for an hour or so, but I am not feeling it today. Around midnight I say my goodbyes and head back home.

Why do so many Euros from big, hearty beer drinking countries come to Vegas and drink the pisswater known as Corona?

Played with several Germans and Belgians at the Golden Nugget Grand tournament series last week, and nearly all of them were drinking Coronas..

most european beer is pissy watery lager too though

yeah there's the good stuff, but most Belgians aren't sitting down to a bottle of Chimay Blue after a long day's work, they're hitting the Jupiler

and that's not meant to be a slight, I love me some pissy watery lager in the right time and place

Germans:Corona
Englishmen:Budweiser

Like Clockwork.

Haha, nice observation. I have no idea. As you may have guessed from the previous days I'm more of a cocktail guy, but I also like a Corona every now and then. Not as much as Ropski though. I like it better than Coors and Budweiser. Also had some Stella's this vacation.

We found a new favorite mexican beer this vacation: Modelo.

wow...ribs are not GTO as food to eat while handling playing cards

i love in n out as much as anyone, and i agree about the fries - they're borderline horrible. but the burgers? maybe you just had a bad batch but they're so much better than 5 guys.

Haha, nice post. I was thinking the exact same thing about that Corona piss. That's when I discovered "Modelo". That's much better. Much more flavor.

This. In N Out fries normally are edible. Animal style are disgusting. Burgers however have me shocked at your disdain.

Enjoying the report otherwise. Continue please.

Shake Shack are my favourite Vegas burgers that we can't get in Straya - imo, In n Out and 5 guys are fine/ok but overrated whenever anybody starts with the OMGs