Oh oh that’s gonna be an interesting conversation.

Day 17, The day we all play the same tournament

Apparently Ouwkes and Roald pulled an all-nighter, because they send some pictures of them having breakfast at the Cheesecake-factory.





Today is the CL final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. I’m a neutral fan when it comes to this game, but if I must choose it has to be Liverpool because they have 2 Dutch players.
I decide to watch the match in Caesars. The sportsbook is packed, but luckily a seat opens up in the poker room with a perfect view of all the screens. Real wins the final and I win a bit over $300.



Ropski is playing a tournament in Bally’s and Fedor is also there, cash-gaming, so I walk over to Bally’s to join them.
Ropski is doing what he does best and that’s winning his afternoon tourney again. This guy is an animal when it comes to tournaments like this.
The others have also joined because we all want to play the 8pm tournament, $140 buy-in, 2k guaranteed.

We have 1 hour to spare, and while Ropski and I decide to go for a quick bite, Fedor and Roald want to go to Musashi. Ouwkes decides to stay in his cash-game.
We end up in the belly of Bally’s, the food court all the way in the back. We are in the mood for a pizza. We have learned from Maggiano’s that the size of the average pizza is way bigger than we are used to, so we order just 1. The girl at the counter asks if we want to have it cut in 8 or 12 slices. She is really dumbfounded when Ropski replies that we want to have it cut in 8, because we probably can’t finish 12 slices.



Meanwhile, back at Mushashi, the waiter is also surprised when he recognizes Fedor. “Aaahhh… you bring new friend!?”

Ouwkes busts out first in the tournament. “Can you believe it!! I flopped the nuts. Flop is 367 and I have 45. He makes runner runner flush!!!” Bad beat stories, we can never get tired of those.
After the break Roald and myself are also out. Even Ropski finishes outside the money in 17th place, but we can always count on Fedor in situations like these. He chops 7-way for 800 each. And since the old rule applies, the one I like more and more each day, we all collect 20%, $160.

Roald is already back at the apartment, I want to gamble with my hard-earned free-loading money and the rest wants to have a drink at the Beer Park. The force of Ropski is strong, because even though he is miles away I manage to lose at craps. It’s close to 4am when I am back home. At 7am I hear Ouwkes and Fedor coming in. Ropski completes this day by walking in at 10am after a lot of Corona’s. “and no f***king lime!!!!!”, he adds, in a slurred speech.

You’re making me want to head back to Vegas

What's keeping you?

Lol ouwkes busted before I even entered. Busting his balls for that was the best thing about that entire tournament.

Seems like that is -EV for you.

No he re-entered. Not that I would care about that anyway.

wife, kids, business...pick any! I normally make it there for a week or more during wsop but I didn't get my fix this year. very jealous that you guys can make such a long trip

Better luck next year! Planning way ahead is key to make it work. We’ve already started to make the first preparations for next year.

"And since the old rule applies, the one I like more and more each day, we all collect 20%, $160.

Roald is already back at the apartment, I want to gamble with my hard-earned free-loading money and the rest wants to have a drink at the Beer Park."


Since it cost you $140 to enter, how long did it take you to gamble the $20?

You've got your math all wrong. Remco writes off his entire buy in the moment he enters. Any payout is pure profit.

Should have won that tournament without a chop btw for 2k+. Got a beat 7 handed and made a stupid call and ended up with half avg so had to accept the even chop.

Day 18, the day we see a perfect 10

This morning we are all doing different things. Ropski is sleeping in bed, Ouwkes is sleeping on the couch, Roald is, I dunno, walking the Strip or something, Fedor is playing the freeroll tournament in Bally’s because he qualified after 30 hours of play and I want to relax in the sun.



It’s Memorial Day weekend and the pool is super crowded. Lots of families and this also automatically means a lot of kids. So not used to that the last 2 weeks…

It’s late in the afternoon, Ropski and Ouwkes are still sleeping, so Roald and I decide to join Fedor at Bally’s. Unfortunately, he didn’t ship a ticket for the Main Event during this year’s WSOP, so the next thing on the agenda is to figure out what to eat. We all have comps on our Total Reward cards, so it’s time to make use of those. We make a reservation at P.F. Changs in the Planet and while we wait, we sit down at the bar and see Cleveland win from Boston in game 7.


some people have bad eyesight

The tempura vegetables and Calamari starters are decent and the main course is also ok. No Ping Pang Pong, but when your meal is almost free you can’t complain.



Time for some cocktails (come to think of it, we went to a lot of places where they served these nectars of the Gods). We grab a cab to the Delano and go up to the Skyfall Lounge. Too bad the balcony is closed because of the wind, but we still manage to get a good seat at the window.





A view of Vegas at night, I will never get bored with that. A couple of people next to us are discussing game 7 and it’s clear they are Lebron fans. They ask us who we favor and of course we also root for Cleveland!! The girl walks over and hugs us all after this correct response. Roald strikes up a conversation with one of them, but I see him struggling a bit. After 10 minutes he comes back and explains the guy was from Australia, but he was so drunk he could barely understand a word that was coming out of his mouth.

I need to take a piss and I enter the coolest restroom I have even been at.
A view of Vegas at night, but now while I am taking a piss. My life is complete. I tell Fedor and Roald to check it out. They also checked the toilet stalls:







After the Delano it’s only a short walk to the Mandalay. Fedor is seated at one of the tables, but Roald and I are on the waiting list. Soon enough a new table opens up.
The action is the same as it was last week. A lot of bad players with a lot of action. I get all my money in with KK vs JJ, but the J on the turn is not helping me. Villain scrapes in the pot like it’s business as usual. 10 minutes later he gets stacked when his KK lose against 22 with a 2 on the river. Suddenly, life is unfair in his opinion. I want to say something, but I keep my mouth shut.
I can’t get any traction and while the action is really good, I decide to stop. I notice I get too restless sometimes when the table is this good, but I can’t participate. I am forcing too much.

I win back my money at the HighCardFlush game, but I also feel that I am not done with poker today. Fedor is in a great game which involves a drunken Ruski with deep pockets and Roald also wants to stay, so I leave them and go over to the Bellagio.

What can I tell you, I am in the zone at this table. I call with a small pair against a bluff. Not once, but at least 3 times. I fold when I know I am beat, I bluff when I feel weakness and it all works out.

One guy (Jeff) is a huge Knights fan and has a countdown app on his phone to game 1 in the Finals. Every 10 minutes he announces how many hours are left. He asks if I am also a Knight fan. I tell him I am from Holland so I don’t know anything about basketball.
He knows I am joking and we start to banter a bit. Sometimes I randomly ask if anyone knows at what time the Knights game is and every time he is happy to tell me. He talks about Memorial Day, being a gay old day... well, not gay gay, but, you know… I reply: “so not really gay, let’s call it Curious then”.

The more he drinks, the more he reveals what his hand is. E.g. he asks for a TTJ flop. Flop is completely wrong for him but he shows his hand anyway, TJ.
A few hands later he asks for an A23 flop. Flop is K49. I say to him: “hey, at least you hit a pair”. I bet and he smirks and folds the obvious 45.

I am in the middle of a conversation with him about the legalization of weed and I am telling my made-up story again that we now have to switch to selling cocaine when Ropski shows up on the rail.
I tell Jeff: “if you don’t believe me, ask him.”. Jeff turns around and asks what the deal is. Ropski immediately knows what is going on and without skipping a beat he confirms my story and asks if he is interested in buying. Oh, and not a few grams, we are here for bigger fish!

And now for the most interesting hand of the night.
I have A8 and call a $15 raise from the most active player. Flop is ‘favorable’, A85. He bets $45 and I announce a raise and toss in a $100-chip. It turns out I saw it wrong, because his bet was $55. Since I announced the raise I put in the extra $10 for the min-raise. He now starts to talk a bit and arguing if this according to the rules (so he is obvious not too happy with my raise). Because of this, the dealer is not really paying attention and she makes the big mistake by showing the turn card, which is another A…….

Now, we have a very interesting situation going on because he hasn’t called my raise yet. You can imagine I am not happy with this situation but all I can do is stay silent.
The Floor comes over. The ruling is that we can continue, but that the turn card must be ignored. So basically, what would have been the River will now be the Turn. If we are still in the hand and a River is needed, then the turned Ace will be placed back in the deck, there will be a shuffle and a new River card will be dealt.
Villain starts talking to me and asks if I was happy with that A. I tell him to just fold and get this over with so we can play the next hand. He calls anyway.
Turn is a K and I am really disgusted by this card. He checks and I check. So, we need a new River card, the A is placed back in the deck and after the shuffle the River is a 4. He thinks for a while and shoves for a bit more than $400.
I sigh and make the call. He shows AJ, so I scoop this pot.


unfortunately not a picture of a pyramid, but still over 1k

And what happened to Jeff? Ropski stacks him in a brutal way. Jeff has already announced that he has the best starting hand in poker, but Ropski doesn’t know that he doesn’t lie. When the flop is 456 Jeff goes AI for his last 50 bucks. Ropski calls and when the turn and river are J and a 7 he thinks he is good, but Ropski had a feel of the deck and tables 89 for the straight.

In the meantime, our WhatsApp group chat pours over with updates from Fedor and his encounters with the Russian guy. Ouwkes also shows a sign of life when he posts a picture of him and Roald at the Peppermill for a 4AM "snack".


meanwhile, at the Mandalay...



The table is dead and I win over $1000 again. We are still not done with poker, so we head over to Caesars. When we exit the Bellagio, we realize it’s quicker via the shops, so we head back in.
And then we see her. The perfect 10. Right in front of us. Both Ropski and I are in awe. Words cannot describe her and I am not even going to try.

We float to Caesars and are pulled back into reality when we are seated at a table with a woman who is angry at the staff for not bringing her her chips in time.
I quickly lose $200 with KQ where I go AI against a loose player on a K53 flop. Turn is Q, river is 4 and brings the 4th spade. He shows KT with the T of spades.

Now I am done with poker for today. It’s 5.30AM and I am tired. Time for some well-deserved sleep.

Awesome update

Real fun session that was in the Mandalay. Cliffnotes:
- Get seated at 1AM with crazy Russian guy at 1/2 who's slamming down corona's even faster than Ropski during this entire session
- chip some up than double ag him with KK>AQ for 1k pot pfai
- he has to go to the cashier. Some regs want to change the table to 1/3 so he can buy in for 1k. He was only buying in for 200 att but i didn't object.
- while he's away i loose my profit with top two ag middle set in straddled pot 4-handed)
- loose some more
- guy is suddenly tired and quits. Game breaks down
- get seated in other 1/2 that's terrible
- cashout but than the russian comes back and i get a seat at his table
- keeps buying for 200 att and looses it for like 8 times.
- Russian starts running super hot and runs his stack to 2k+
- I loose crazy hand ag crazy Guy from India. Pre flop 6x 15. I Jd9d. Flop 9s8d7s. Russian leads 30. Indian 60. I call. Russian c. Rest folds. Turn 9c. Ch/ch. I 165. Rus fold. Indian calls. Riv 6h. Indian starts counting on his fingers to five for the straight and checks. I ch. he wins with 85. No flushdraw obv.
-loose another big pot from Russian down 600 now.
- indian wins big pot from russian after callin with q-high
- Russian has straightflush and slowrolls guy with fh
- 7 am now, game is really slow with all kinds of banter and stuff
- Indian looses everything ( not against me) and leaves
- I complain in the chat but Ropski says only 3-time doubling needed
- double once with jj on t987 ag a 6. Russian couldn't believe he lost
- i make top two and call all in overshove on riv for 1k pot on 3-flush board ag Russian
- Russian starts loosing more
- trap him a couple of times before he busts and leaves at 10 AM
-end up 650
- young guy high fives me at the end for enduring the all nighter and all the beats and we both quit directly there after
- Remco texts me to get breakfast

Fun times.

Day 19, the day Ouwkes tricks some fellow countrymen

At 8.30AM I hear Ropski enter the apartment. I manage to fall asleep again, but only until 10. Both Fedor and Ouwkes are not in. Fedor is still at the Mandalay, battling it out with the Russian guy and Ouwkes went to the Bellagio after his snack at the Peppermill.


Still at Mandalay

I text if someone is up for a free buffet at the Paris and Fedor replies that he is hungry, so he’s in. Ouwkes is in a game with 3 other Dutch guys, but they don’t know that he can understand what they are saying to each other. He is now making a sport out of it to not say anything, not even when he wants to raise or something. Sometimes they comment on his game, like “I can’t believe he called that raise”, so it’s quite a funny situation.



After the buffet, Fedor and I walk over to the Bellagio, just to see how they will react when he tells them. When he sees us, he stands up from the table to talk to us. He wants to play for a few more hours, but he also tells that the table isn’t that juicy. We convince him to leave, that the town is riddled with better games and that he shouldn’t stay if the table is not that good.
He goes back to the table, collects his chips and says to the guys (in Dutch) “Nice playing with you!”.
The look on their faces, priceless!!! And while he leaves, I just keep watching to see how they react. They start talking to each other, trying to figure out what they all said during the last couple of hours.

We take a Lyft back to the apartment and when we are almost there, we see Roald walking towards the Strip. He sees us and quickly walks back to the Wyndham. Ropski is also up and we decide to do some shopping in the South Premium Outlets. I suddenly realize this is the first time in a few days that we are actually doing something with the 5 of us (besides playing in the Bally’s tournament, but we were all at different tables, so that didn’t feel like a group activity).
I buy 3 pairs of shoes, some polo-shirts and a watch. Ouwkes is looking for a watch for his girlfriend, but he mostly buys stuff for his little girl.

On the way back, we make a quick stop at Wholefoods to restock.

It’s 4.30PM and for some reason some of us are tired and they are trying to get some sleep. I’m not sleepy yet, so I am off to the Mirage again. I experience that one day isn’t the other. I lose $300, not because of bad luck, but because I play like a noob. This is a tell-tale sign that I am also starting to get tired. It’s not even midnight yet, but enough is enough. Time to leave.


While I am about to leave, the others also arrive at the Mirage. Ropski met another Dutchy during one of his many tournaments and had a burger with him and Fedor.


They were doing much better

After a few hours, Ouwkes is feeling hungry, so they walk over to the Linq Promenade, and while the others only have a drink, Ouwkes orders a burger. The perfect late-night snack (again).

This is one of the most enjoyable threads I have read on this forum. I need to make more Dutch friends; your sense of humor is incredible.

Were do you live? You can always come to the Netherlands. There are over 17 mln dutchies over here! Not all have the same vacation mentality unfortunately. (@Mykonos with my mother atm lol)

Manhattan, NYC! I'm only interested in the ones with an excellent vacation mentality!

Ah nice. There’s been some talk of stopping over in NY next year on our way to vegas so you might not have to travel at all!

Been following this thread since the beginning and as an nyc resident myself would love to see you guys here

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

By the time next year rolls around the gang is going to be doing a tour of the US where they can fill in 2+2 fans on how to actually pronounce Ouwkes.

It would be great to meet up with some locals who can show us some hidden gems besides all the tourist traps.
Don't know if we are actually going to visit NY coming year, but who knows.


We will leave that up to your own imagination. S'all good.

I like the idea of a road trip through the states! (Did it once before but wasn’t into poker back then).

Day 20, the day we are going on a road trip

After a good night sleep, it’s time for another bread-run. This time Roald joins.



When we return, Ouwkes asks if we know any good repair shops, because apparently, he sat on his sunglasses.



We are going to Laughlin today and since he wants to drive he wants to have them fixed today because these are prescription glasses.
We drive to the Miracle Mile and try our luck at the Sunglass Hut. A nice girl is trying to help, but we immediately see she is not really capable of fixing this. Some things are bent, but she doesn’t want to use a pair of plyers or something. She finally gives up and sends us to another shop.


This sign is placed in the window of the Sunglass Hut. The fact that those are even needed makes me so sad.

This guy looks more capable, but as soon as Ouwkes mentions that these are prescription glasses he treats them as if they were infected with the plague and doesn’t want to touch them with a 10-foot-pole.
He tells us we must see a licensed optometrist and that we should go to Lenscrafters at the Fashionshow Mall.
We don’t have time for this, so he borrows a spare pair of mine.

Prior to this vacation, Ouwkes sent some mails to a boat-rental at Lake Mohave because he thought it would be a nice idea to spend some time on the water for a change. Since he only received 1 reply and not really a confirmation, we decide not to take the chance and go straight to Laughlin, maybe we can rent a boat there.


2 American symbols



We have no idea where we can rent stuff, but according to Waze, Laughlin has a Marina. Sounds like the perfect spot to go boating. Wrong. The place is deserted. And not only the Marina is a desolate place, the entire town feels like it’s abandoned.
During the drive from the Marina to the city-center, we don’t see a single soul. Probably because of the scorching heat today, but it’s still a bit creepy. Or maybe there are only vampires here who can’t be exposed to direct sunlight.

We enter Harrah’s and we finally see some people, but somehow the lyrics from Hotel California pop up. “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”.

There is a glitch in the Matrix, because all we see are old folks. Grey hair as far as the eye can see. The bartender is happy to see some new faces and gives us our drinks for free, we don’t have to spend some dollars on the VP machines. That doesn’t stop Roald and Ouwked though and they slide some bills into the machine.

We check out the poker room, but there is only 1 Limit game going on, with all locals. So, no poker here today.



2nd best thing then, Craps. I’m on a good run, and all the bases are loaded (3 come bets with max odds) when Ropski approaches. I tell the dealers: “Oh no, here comes the cooler!”. They ask if I want to take down the odds, but I decline and decide to gamble. Big mistake, because the first dice shows a 3, the second one a 4. The dealers have a good laugh about this and they immediately offer him a job at the casino.



Ouwkes and Roald are on the Walking Dead slot machine, which is pretty fitting when you look at this town.

It’s time to visit another casino, so we take the ferry to the Colorado Belle. First thing we notice are the vast number of bugs. In Vegas there are virtually none, here we continuously must swat them away.









The casino itself looks like an old Mississippi Riverboat. It opened in 1980, and they probably haven’t renovated since. They do have a Pints Brewery and sports bar which has its own microbrewery and looks inviting. Ouwkes wants to drink a Bodacious Blueberry pint, but misreads and asks for a Bootylicious pint. So close!!
We order hamburgers, a Philly Cheesesteak and Ouwkes goes for the Bucket of Shrimp.





All in all, not too bad.

We take the ferry back to Harrah’s and now it’s my turn to drive. They all know they are in capable hands, because within 10 minutes I see 3 guys sleeping in the backseat.





I have never been to Green Valley Ranch, so before we head back to the Strip, we make a small detour.
We spend a couple of hours (and a lot of money) there and then it’s time to head back. Ropski is driving and Roald and I ask if he can drop us off near the Bellagio. We both celebrate our birthday this month and we want to take the others out for dinner tomorrow. We haven’t told them yet where we want to eat, and we want to keep it a surprise until the very last minute. I only dropped a few hints, like it’s a secret, as if we are going to the Secret Pizza in the Cosmo. I did this because the restaurant we want to go to is close to the Secret Pizza, so when we are getting closer and closer, they hopefully start to think we are really going there.

We make our reservation for 8pm tomorrow and since we are close to Secret Pizza anyway we both order a slice. We top it off with some funny deserts from the milkbar. Roald has a soft serve ice-cream with cereal flavor and I have the Birthday cake shake.
It’s nice outside, so we decide to walk back home instead of taking a cab.

Fedor and Ouwkes decide to check out the strip view from the top floor of the Hardrock parking Garage, which was okay.




After this they suddenly develop an appetite for sushi.
Well how convenient, Musashi is only 1.2 mile away! Again, the waiter recognizes Fedor and is really surprised that he brought over another new face.
They sit at the bar and just let the chef make some of his own favorites, but of course there are some mandatory Godfathers included as well.
After that Fedor has to check poker at the Orleans of his to do list and Ouwkes joins him.
I forgot to ask what the end-result was, but I’m sure Fedor can give us an update on that.