Wow......so it's not okay to bad mouth an entire race if a few bad eggs are jerks?

So covid came out of asia. That was pretty horrible. You're in the camp to hate asians or at least look down on them?

Hell no that would be wrong. I guess it's ok to pick and choose when to be racist now.

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We don't know what his ethnicity is. For all we know, thedude could be a female.
Just because he said old white guys are a holes towards other people doesn't mean he can't be white. thisgameweplay is just buthurt because someone dared say something bad about his people.
Don't worry chum, Trump will be the prez August and you can be happy again.

What does gender have to do with anything? So a female cant be racist?

He never mentions old in his rant. Re read it. You're obviously a huge bigot and enjoy that type of trash.

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Guy without permanent home comes to Vegas with 7k and a tennis racket bag of clothes, says will be there weeks but seemingly has a nervous breakdown on night one - seems about right.

"There are eight million stories in the naked city..."

Over the past few days of my ban I thought about all of what happened that night and how to talk about it on here (or even if I was going to or how much of it I was going to talk about), but I'm sure I still will not be expressing myself adequately but here goes anyway.

First off, let me apologize for that post. Obviously I know one person does not represent an entire race or a geographic location in the country. That was just dumb on my part for saying what I did in that post. It's also really embarrassing that I would even say something as stupid as I did.

Now as for the WHY I made that post, that is a little bit more difficult to answer. I met both of the people referenced in that post while playing poker and at the time they made their specific comments, I was like meh whatever I've heard that kind of stuff before. Didnt say a word about it to them nor did I show any type of reaction. Sure it bothers me to some degree, but I mostly just brush off that kind of thing because I know you have to deal with a lot of different personalities at the poker table. I almost ALWAYS bite my tongue and hold back unless the person just keeps going on and on, which did not happen here. It was just a couple of comments, not an hourlong diatribe. However I think a bunch of factors played into that post. These arent supposed to be excuses but possible factors into why that post was made.

First off I've been dealing with some personal family issues the last few days that are above and beyond my own set of things I am having to worry about ie where to live, how to pay for it, etc. On top of that I had to deal with hearing a racial slur uttered from a relative as the last thing I heard before i went to an airport a week ago, so that is probably fresh on my mind and bothering me.

Secondarily, I had an unexpectedly bad poker session, dropping about $550 at 1/2 on top of not cashing in the $200 tourny I played. Not exactly how I wanted to start out my trip. Not a lot of money I know and it's not so much about the amount but how I lost it, which I guess I'll discuss further if I continue this trip report. So add that to the anger level.

Thirdly I guess in general I am totally sick of American society in general and more specifically how America time and time again is prevented from progressing into the future by a large portion of its population and instead, wants to dwell in some of the darkest and hideous places that American history has known. I wont go into this at all because I'm sure that would open up a huge can of worms which doesnt need to be opened. So refrain from asking any questions on who or what I am referring to because I wont answer. As an addition to all that, I did not ever expect to see myself in the position I am now with my life. The thought would have never crossed my mind. It's pretty pathetic actually. I take some blame but at the same time certain circumstances have dictated where my path has lead. Don't want to turn this into a therapy session so I'll stop right there with all that.

Lastly, I got really bombed. I mean I easily set a record for myself, and I've done A LOT of heavy binge drinking over the years. This set the bar to an entirely new level. I mean I've pulled some 10 hour shifts in bars in the past and yeah I have blacked out or what I call borderline blacked out where I can still remember bits and pieces of what happened. I wont say how long I was drinking for on the morning I posted my comment, but it far exceeded 10 hours. I tend to have self destructive behaviors which probably need to be addressed.

So what I'm thinking my thought process was at the time I wrote that was "hey, if I even things out by mentioning a black person along with the white person (where most of the anger was generated), hey I cant be banned". Weird logic but one isnt really thinking logically when that intoxicated. I'm not sure this is entirely correct, but it's simply a guess. I am just glad at this point something really crazy did not happen ie robbed by hookers or gambling off all my money at VP while blacked out, etc etc.

So instead of looking inward to try to fix what is wrong in my life, I lashed out at others because hey that is the easy way out, right? In any case not sure if I covered everything but I just want the overall theme of this post to be that I am truly sorry for saying what I said and hopefully I'll learn from this and improve as a person.

As an aside, I did send a message to 2+2 asking them to completely delete this thread because after reading what a wrote, I figured it would devolve into a big argument. But I guess at this point they arent deleting it, which I guess I'm ok with. Not that I have any say in the matter. The issue I have to deal with now is whether to continue on with this thread or not. I'm not really sure how much value it had to begin with due to the lack of proper hand histories.

Not sure if I should even address this, but someone or a few people were questioning my race. I am white.

Thanks for coming back, OP. We've all done (and said) stupid **** while ****ed up. I ask you to move on from the one crazy post, and continue the TR. and start winning, damnit

Because you are a racist. You made one of the most racist comments I’ve see on this forum and doubled down on it. And you said it about someone who seems to be a genuinely good person, who sometimes participates in that thread. You very much are a piece of ****. You’re just lucky the mod there is really clueless about the matter.

Dude - its obv a rough time and worse things have been said. With all due respect though it just seems like Las Vegas is the last place you need to be right now.

Glad to hear you're doing good op.
Enjoy the rest of your vaca.
Just remember, don't drink and drive.

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Day 2-----Continued

So after finishing up at Planet Hollywood I head back over to Cosmo. Well, first I walk all the way down to Harrahs, thinking that Hash House was in Harrah's. Of course I remember it is in the Linq so head over there. Of course it is slammed. By this point I've been up for 24 hours (it's around 8am) and just want something to eat. But I decide to head back down to Cosmo.

Once at Cosmo I go over to Egg Slut, as far as I know the only true breakfast place in Cosmo. The line put Hash Houses line to shame. It was wrapped all the way down a service hall and back, then out into the main area where another line formed. LOL why would you stand that long in line for an overpriced Egg McMuffin? Beats me but I head a few restaurants down to The Juice Standard, a juice bar. I'm not a big juice bar guy but I got the Protein Power drink for $13. Not a fan of bananas but you could hardly taste the banana...it had stuff in it like flax, hemp, cashews, dates, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds. It was delicious...it kinda tasted like oatmeal except a lot more flavorful. Not like anything I've ever tasted.

I went back down to the sportsbook and sat around for a bit. Then I got to thinking what the rest of the day was going to look like and it was pretty much crashing in the room for the rest of the day. So before I got checked in I did about 5 minutes of "research" on the Nets/Bucks I think it was game 5. One site said to take the under. Another said to take the Bucks +2. Of course being the dummy I am I dont listen to either site and take the Nets ML -135 for $135 even with the game being in MIL. I figure the previous game the Nets played absolutely horrific and were still in the game so that was probably going to be their worst showing of the series.

I head over to the check in desk where the lines were about 20 deep to check in early. By this time it's around 11AM so I figure I should be able to check in early no problem. As I get to the line I am standing there and ask some 20 something if he is in line. He makes it a point to sound like it was an affront to even DARE ask him if he stands in lines. Soon after he's on the phone on hold with I guess Cosmo and he's talking to his buddy about how he shouldnt have to stand in line and they wont have to once Cosmo realizes who he is. Whatever lol.

I head up to the room and I get a pretty high floor. Unfortunately the view I have faces south and the pool. Again, unfortunately, I did not bring my binoculars.

So I turn the TV on to the game. It was going pretty good the Nets were actually up early. At this point I'm hungry again and not feeling like spending a bunch of money, I head across the bridge to the other side of The Strip to Walgreens. What a complete disappointment their food section was. I got a couple bags of chips and 2 premade sandwiches for around $20, most of which I scarf down when I get back to the room. Pretty much as soon as I start eating though, Kyrie goes down. Well that was fun while it lasted. Soon after I turn off the TV and head for bed to surf the web. At some point I doze off but I fall asleep for good around 6pm.

Cash Poker:+90
Tournament Poker: $0
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: $0
Table games: $0

Agreed. Not much I can do though since I'm paid up through mid July.

Comparing eggslut to a mcmuffin, calling a $9 sandwich overpriced, and then spending $13 on a juice/smoothie and $20 on a walgreen's meal is certainly interesting take. The line is long, though.

If you want a Hash House meal and you're at Cosmo, then try The Henry.

In before tunnels..

Day 3,4,5-----I guess I have to relive this one more time

I wake up super early around 5AM. I slept around 11 hours straight after being up for 24 hours straight. I feel pretty good though. After writing up my first trip report entry I head down to Eggslut about 20 minutes before it opens. Foiled again! The line this time is only down to the end of the service corridor, which looks to be a wait of probably around 45 minutes just to get your order in.....lol no thanks. So I head back up to the room and get ready to make my way over to Orleans for the 11am $200 tourny.

My expectations are pretty low for my first live poker tournament in 1 1/2 years. I am mainly using this as a warmup for the Thursday $400 day 1A of the Venetain $200k guarantee and the $300 $222k guarantee at Orleans. If I play absolutely horribly today, I'll also play in another $200 11am at Orleans on Wednesday.

Knowing your way around Vegas a little bit does have its advantages. I make it all the way from Cosmo to Eataly at Park MGM having only to step outside once briefly. I found a place serving $15 breakfast sandwiches and it was pretty filling. Normally I'm not a breakfast guy but in the past I usually have 2 completely preventable issues at tournaments.....eating and tiredness. So now I'm all about eliminating those two issues.

After breakfast I head over to the bus stop on Tropicana. Boy does this bring back memories as this is the bus stop I frequented quite often while I lived in Vegas. Yes, I lived at the Budget Suites for 1 1/2 years. It really wast so bad. I mean besides the fact I got my car stolen from the parking lot. They keep it up pretty nice on the outside for what it is and I only had one minor repair issue they had to deal with while there and they were there the same day. So besides the car issue, I really have no complaints about the place.

Anyway, I get over to Orleans early per usual and sit around in the sportsbook, avoiding any type of VP or slots. Nothing worse than starting a poker tournament after you just lost X amount of dollars at a VP machine.

So we get started with the tourny. It's a $200 buy in $25k guarantee and we easily blow past the guarantee with, if memory serves correct, 226 runners. I do remember 1st place being around $8500 so I think that sounds about right. Starting stack is 20k chips

At first break ie four, 30 minute levels I have chipped up slow and steady to 47k in chips. After the break though it is a slow bleed. While I was going in reverse, two guys at the table were collecting all the chips. Someone new would sit down, bam one of them would get their chips. One of the guys was sitting two seats to my right he was a pretty straightforward player. The other guy was sitting 3 seats to my left and he would pretty much raise with any two cards, bluff people off their hands and pretty much run all over the table. He almost got knocked out but he came back from like around 5k in chips to build up a huge stack.

Since this was a few days ago, there is really only one pivotal hand that I really remember and my decision was definitely a turning point for me. If I recall correctly I was sitting with around $25.5k after first break on level 8 blinds were 500/1000/1000. I was sitting to the right of two villains. First villain was an older lady the type that plays her hand face up. Second villain was straightforward guy I described above. Pretty sure I had older lady covered but straightforward guy had me well covered. I had some history with straightforward guy as he raised me a couple of hands and I subsequently folded.

Anyway older lady bets $1k, straightforward guy calls I look down at AQs. I raise to 2500 (should have sized up a bit more probably. Both call so we are looking at a pot of 10k.

The flop comes K10x, x is a spade. Checks to me I lead out for 3k. Older lady folds, straightforward guy calls. Pot 16k.

Now here is where I screwed up IMO. Spade comes on the turn. Checks to me I um checked back. On hindsight I think another bet would have been better to build up the pot in case I hit.

River comes a Queen so I'm sitting with one pair. Checks to me. I check back. He shows one pair Kx (i think the x was inconsequential). I have a feeling I should have shoved my remaining stack 20k on the river. I dunno though. He could have been going for a straight as well. I dont think he would have folded to another bet of say 10k, I would of had to shove to show strength. In other words I would have had to calculate the % of time he is folding a K in that spot to a shove. So I chose the weakest way out possible because I looked at it as hey I've still got 20BB's left not really an issue. Sigh.

Eventually I got ground down less than 10 BB's and went out in level 9. 33 vs 88....8 on flop game over.

Oh I forgot to mention every time I get down to shoving in a tourny I order my Tournament entry +1 tip beer. So in this case I got my $201 Newcastle before bowing out of the tournament.

In the past when I first moved to Vegas I would avoid the pits and VP. However, when things just werent working out about a year later, I'd usually do some binge drinking and lose a bunch of money at VP or BJ after busting from a poker tournament. So for my stay out here this time, one of my goals was to avoid all that.

After finishing my beer I head over to Bailiwick inside Orleans, avoiding the Buffalo slots on the way there. Also avoiding going to McMullans Irish Pub across the street from Orleans as I got trapped in there numerous times while previously living in Vegas with some pretty steep VP losses. Nice place though friendly bartenders...and if you like live Irish music. The side that has the live music is void of slots and smoking while the slots side you can smoke.

I think Bailiwicks used to have a better beer selection so I just got a couple of 16oz Guinesses and some Jambalaya. It was decent, although I was expecting a larger portion. STill not a bad deal for I think $14. Sometimes this place has live music I've seen some acoustic guitar in here before from a local it was pretty good.

So after dinner my bad luck continues as I step out of Orleans I see in the distance the bus I need to catch. Now with 3 beers in me I literally stop and think well I could go back into the air conditioning and play some slots or head over and wait 20+ minutes for the bus. I know you'll be disappointed I chose to wait at the bus stop.

After getting back to the Cosmo I head to the Chandelier Bar and was looking forward to trying one of their cocktails. Their drink menu was on one of those QR codes. Let me just say I CANNOT STAND having to do that in order to see a menu at this point. I completely understand having these when restaurants were shut down ie maybe the QR code was on the window of a restaurant and then someone would bring your food to you outside etc. But at this point, are we really concerned about getting covid from a menu when I am touching so many things within a restaurant or bar where nobody is wearing a mask? I guess it is just a pet peeve of mine and I'm sure bartenders/hostesses can see the disappointment on my face when asked to scan for a menu. It's just too many steps. Hand me a menu.

Instead I order a Sazerac, my favorite cocktail and put it on my room tab. Now what is weird is that originally this drink never appeared on my room bill. Whatever I guess I win this round. Head back up to the room and pump out another blog.

Now here is where the night starts to get stupid. I wanted to just walk across the street to Planet Hollywood and play some 1/2 for a few hours, get something to eat, and go to bed. Oh if only things turned out that way. I forgot PH is closed on Mondays, so I head over to Flamingo.

Flamingo's AC was broke and it was hot as hell in there. Flamingo eventually started a table for us and there were 3 guys at the far end who I'm pretty sure got most of their poker education from watching poker on TV. It was bad, as in it was good. The only problem was I was card dead for most of the 1 hour and 7 minutes I was there. In the first 27 minutes I picked up 72 four times. Not even suited. I know this because I track my results on my phone so I know exactly how long it took to get 72 four times. I eventually did flop a set against this really old lady to my left though. Didnt feel bad about it at all. Well maybe just a little. She could barely walk and I could tell her mental capacity was diminished. I had actually struck up a conversation with her just prior to that hand when some tool bag at the other end of the table had just recently pulled a Bikeking impression after he spiked a Q on the river to take down a 3 way all in. Dude yelled, clapped his hands, and did a little jig. It was bad. I'm guessing it too was the biggest pot he had ever taken down live. Isnt that how we all celebrate that moment?

Eventually the fire alarm started going off. In the midst of all this a meth head came in and did a little dance or maybe it was a mini aerobic workout and made his exit as quickly as he had made an entrance. By this point I had enough and decided to move on with my $17 loss for the 1 hour plus a few beers.

By this point I had a nice little buzz going so I headed straight for Ballys and of course kept drinking. The table consisted of a father/daughter from the midwest, a seat where the player was constantly changing, a good player, some nits, and this guy trying to tell everybody how to play poker along with instructing us we were playing too tight as he reloaded his $100 stack at least 6 times when I was sitting there.

Of course mostly I came up on the wrong end of things most of time. I got the poker instructor to go all in with his $100 when I had AJ vs his J4 suited and lost to a flush. I layed down a set when the good player put me all in when a third club comes out on the turn. After the hand he said he had AK clubs and he said he didnt think I could lay it down with only 160 behind because you know I raised him on the flop like I put in a hundo and he called it. So just stuff like that adds up as I keep topping off my stack. It is 1/3 so I initially always buy in for $300. It is what it is and I lost $540 over 3 hours and 20 minutes.

What kinda set me off now that I remember probably more than the other stuff was the daughter who was I dunno I'll say early 50's was playing hands like K4 suited and winning with them. Then her dad with the big stack chimes in how he's won a couple hands that day with 102. That just really grinded me. I should have figured they were playing anything because of a few things......1. She said it was probably their last time in Vegas because their trip was so bad ie hotel wasnt up to standards and 2.It was their last day and 3. The daughter kept asking the father if it was time to go....and it wasnt. Now if I was sober I might have put this all together to mean she and to a lesser extent her dad is playing any two cards but of course by this point I wasnt sober. I had started with the hard liquor. Jack and coke. The brown liquor.

So after that debacle I head back to Cosmo with full intention of only getting a night cap at the Chandelier Bar. Of course that didnt happen. I arrive at 2am and proceed to down 3 more jack and cokes, each one seemingly stronger than the last. I remember commenting on that fact and the bartender did say he could put more Coke in the drink but of course I declined.

In the meantime some guy comes up to the bar and says some weirdo is bothering their group of people so the bartender gets on the horn to security. But somehow the dude eludes security for a good bit. Finally security does the old follow the guy around and try to convince him to leave routine. Eventually they had to bring out the big guns. You know that guy who looks like he could still play linebacker for a pro football team? Yeah they brought him out and I guess the guy eventually left.

So now there is a shift change at the bar and one by one the hookers start coming up and talking to me. No clue at this point what was discussed. Even ran into some people on vacation from Atlanta so I buy her and her daughter a shot. I remember the bartender telling me he got one of the shots. The other daughter didnt drink and I vaguely remember telling her she was smart for not starting to drink because it's the devil or some such speech. Oh almost forgot I did see a guy tackled near the bar he had like 4 security guards on him plus some dude in a white helmet I'm assuming that was LV PD. No idea what the guy did but it did cause a commotion I do remember that.

I have no recollection of leaving the bar or how in the hell I found my way back to the room or what my bar tab looked like, which is always a concern in these situations. I'm not worried so much about the drink tab itself, but the tipping part because that always takes a few days to hit my account.

So later in the day I wake up I dunno maybe around 6 or 7pm feeling not so great. That is an understatement. Incapable of leaving the room, I HAVE to eat something so bite the bullet and do room service. Prices arent too bad actually I get a salad, some pasta with meat sauce, and an iced tea for like $35. Then of course they add on the auto gratuity, service fees, yadda yadda and now it's up to $73. LOL whatever I know the drill.

When the guy gets to the room he brings in the cart I felt bad all I had on was a robe after taking a shower and I was trying my best to not flash him. Thankfully I succeeded. I look down at the bill and I see ANOTHER spot to leave ANOTHER gratuity. I ask him what this is for since I already was autocharged a gratuity and he went into some long speech they split up this gratuity yadda yadda. Not in the mood to think and wanting to eat, I hand him $3 cash and add on another $15 on the tab....lol.

The food was pretty good and portions were larger than expected. Now for the weird part about how my room tab worked out. Initially when you check in of course they have the $150 fee per day that they'll charge back if not used. Well after I check out I see where I wasnt charged for the Sazerac, but was charged for the room service and a bar tab from the previous night. Now on my bankcard I see another charge for a bar tab that is pending a tip amount. I just figured I opened up two tabs at the bar the previous evening.....one as a room tab and another on my bankcard. I look a few days later and poof the room tab was gone and only the bar tab I guess I put straight on my bankcard was there. So I'm not sure what went on there why they cleared my room service meal and bar tab and the Sazerac. So my first real win in Vegas of the trip.

That pretty much sums up that day...wake up, eat, go back to sleep. The next day I check out still a little hung over definitely not 100% and head out to the next hotel destination...Harrah's. Boy what a downward move that is. I even had to pay $20 just to check in 4 hours early.

I ate lunch at Yardhouse in that area between Linq and Flamingo I have to clue what it's called. Chicken sandwich was meh nothing to write home about. The rest of the day I spend in the hotel room eventually get some takeout from the Noodle place downstairs it was ok again nothing to write home about. Got some Kung Pao chicken and an order of sushi just devoured all that.

Finished watching the latest Adam Curtis documentary entitled "Cant Get You Out of My Head" on Youtube. If you are not familiar with Adam Curtis, you should be IMO. This documentary was 6 parts I think it was about 8 hours in total so it is an investment. To be honest though, of the 11 docs of his I've seen, this was the worst. It seemed disjointed and really never tied things together. If you want to get into Adam Curtis, I'd probably recommend starting with the doc entitled "Century of the Self" which talks about manipulation and psychological control of societies.

So that is about it caught up through day 5. Day 6 will have some poker although I will admit nothing too exciting.

Totals:

Cash Poker:-467
Tournament Poker: $-200
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: $0
Table games: $0

I am not waiting 2 hours in line for any meal, let alone a breakfast meal. I had no choice but to put something in my stomach in the morning. It was either the juice place or Starbucks because at this point I had my bag with me and I'm not going to a buffet and getting up multiple times and leaving my bag at the table unattended. Cosmo choices for AM dining are very limited. Hence the long line at Eggslut.

As far as spending $20 at Walgreen's on a bunch of garbage food wasnt my intention. Again, I was really hungry and did not feel like doing a sit down meal (and again, wait in a long line) at Cosmo and I had no idea what to expect for food at a Walgreens. I now know not to go food shopping at Walgreens. At that point, I just wanted something in my stomach while watching the NBA game in my room.

I'll keep The Henry in mind for next time...thanks for the suggestion!

LOL I just lost my day 6 after typing 1 1/2 hours. I had copied it in case that happened but instead I had copied something else in the meantime. haha wow! Guess that doesnt put me in a very good mindset to play more online poker today. Wow.

FWIW I always draft my longer posts in a Google Doc just so the above doesn't happen!

Immediately after that occured i thought that. Meanwhile as i type this i am in a video poker trap house. Stay tuned because i cant help myself! This place literally has the front door locked u can only get in via security cam i love it!

Glad you are back, OP. Sorry you had a bad day, but glad that's basically why you ranted. Run good!

Day 6-----Sabotaging myself again

Today I was supposed to play in the Venetian $400 2 day $200k guarantee and I had it worked out where I could play both this tournament and The Orleans $222k guaranteed, but just not feeling 100% yet so I decided to head down to Planet Hollywood to use my free entry into their $80 tournament by having played 6 hours of cash.

I only started with 15k in chips and did not add on to 25k because I had no money on me and plus I figured starting at a disadvantage would get me to be more aggressive and see more hands early. Early on there was one older guy at the table basically piling up chips as he played almost every single hand he was dealt. Even I got in on donating chips to him and saw my stack dwindle down to around 6k.

However before the first break my fortunes would change and I would get my stack up over 20k as I knocked out a player. There were only I think 23 players entered so only 3 tables. Soon we were at 2 tables.. My stack basically stayed in the 15k-30k range but with 20 minute blinds it basically became a shove fest and I had no problem shoving several times, picking up the blinds.

Now down to one table I remained aggressive and got a nice double up to 70k with the blinds at 2500/5000. The very next hand in the small blind I look down at 99. Now obviously with the blinds where they were this should be a shove here but I made the conscious decision just to raise to 15k as I wanted to make sure I got something more than the blinds out of this hand and I figured I could outplay him post flop or just fold if the flop was terrible. An older gentleman who was lets just say with declining mental abilities called. The flop comes 10xx and I shove in the rest of my stack. He calls and shows up with K10. Sigh. Yeah that was dumb I should have just shoved pre and he probably would have folded. I guess I enjoy sabotaging myself. Now down to 6k in chips I fold until in the UTG where I look down at 107 and thats what hand I go out of the tournament in 6th place. Top 3 paid 1st was around $800 and I saw the final 3 chop it. Oh well off to the 1-2 table.

So I sit down to a brand new cash table. Folding one orbit I look down at AA on the button. Awesome! There was one caller I raise it to $15 and the small blind calls. The SB had literally played every single hand at that point. Flop comes 4xx all diamonds. Checks to me I bet $20 and I get a call. Turn is inconsequential and I bet $40. I get a call. River comes the 4. Checked to me and for whatever reason I checked back. I had been working online in betting out on more rivers, so I’m actually surprised I checked. SB turns over 104. Here we go again.

I add on another $100, but my stack slowly dwindles down to $130. A hand of note was me making a hero call with Q6 (I was in the blind) with 3 to a flush. Lose to opponents 32s. But eventually I almost get back to $300. A hand of note was when a UTG+1 player raises to $8 and I 3 bet to $25 and get called when I had A10. Flop comes 1010X two diamonds. He leads out for $45, I raise to $105 and he folds. In hindsight he was probably betting out to protect against the flush coming so maybe I should have just called there and played it as if I were looking for the flush. As played, I basically played with my cards face up.

Just as I’m approaching break even, I get raised on the flop OOP 3 straight hands in a row. It was embarrassing as I folded each time. I was getting tired and not thinking. My stack dwindles down to $170 and I leave. I was hoping to go over to Gordon Ramsey’s Burger to use my free $20 food item ticket I got for my hours at PH, but of course there was a long line. My plan was to eat dinner and return to PH to play a couple more hours, but instead I returned to Harrah’s and ate dinner in my room.

Totals:

Cash Poker:-$597
Tournament Poker: -$200
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: $0
Table games: $0

Day 7----Moving Day

After checking out of Harrah’s I head for the bus stop and I am off to Chinatown. After arriving in Chinatown, it was a short walk from the bus stop to the room I rented on Airbnb. The place is ok nothing fancy but I dont have to share a bathroom like a lot of rooms on Airbnb. A month cost me $970, which isnt too bad…..cheaper than a Budget Suites. I’m close to The Strip, close to The Orleans, and I’m located in the middle of all these ethnic restaurants.

After unpacking I head over to Big Wong’s to get some lunch. I had read about this place online for how inexpensive it is. It was nothing fancy but the most expensive thing on the menu is $15 and that was a steak. I ordered the curry chicken and an iced tea. For $10 you get a lot of food. I was really hungry and it was almost too much for one sitting but I managed to finish it all. Maybe not a good choice to take a date or whatever, but I will definitely be returning.

After lunch I head over to an Asian grocery store to pick up a weeks worth of food. Supposedly this is the smaller version of the 2 stores, but wow what a selection. One side of an entire aisle was nothing but soy sauces and the other side was pastes and sauces. An entire aisle of noodles. Their meat and fish section was large as well. The only downside is that some of the vegetables were slightly overpriced, but nothing egregious. I pick up some tiny eggplant, broccoli, cucumbers, lettuce, and some bok choy as well as some frozen dumplings. While browsing for some tofu I run across what looks like chili sauce but I turn over the package and turns out it is cow urine in chili sauce. I did not realize it was legal to sell something like that. The chicken breasts I got were the largest chicken breasts I’ve ever seen. Not sure what chemicals they pumped into the chickens, but so far I have had no ill effects.

After returning to my Airbnb I just chill out the rest of the afternoon as tomorrow I am playing in the $300 Orleans $222k guarantee.


Totals:

Cash Poker:-$597
Tournament Poker: -$200
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: $0
Table games: $0

should be water in the chicken. and urine in chili sauce? snap a pic next time. that sounds, odd.

Day 8---Tournament Time

I head over to The Orleans around 9AM to sign up and hand over $300 for the $222k guarantee 2 day tournament. There are 5 different day 1’s over 3 days and then they play it until completion on day 2. Starting chip stack is $22k

My first hand that I played was K4s in the small blind. It folds around to me and I raise and get a call. Flop comes KK9….the dream. I lead out and ahem get raised. I just call. Then the magic happens when another K comes on the turn. Happy Days are here again! I Hollywood it for an extended time and lead out and just get a call this time. Damn! River comes a Queen and I bet something like 8k pretty much putting him all in but he folds, turning over 99. Ugh! I’m guessing the Queen killed the action, but per usual I do not show my hand. About an hour later he makes a comment about hey how is Mr. 4 Kings doing and I admit I did in fact have 4 Kings. The guy was losing every hand he played and was literally down to like 2k in chips right off the bat but he somehow hung in there and built his stack back up to over 30k before getting knocked out so I gotta hand it to the guy for hanging in there.

Oh almost forgot to mention this tournament the theme was deuces so anyone that got four of a kind deuces would pick up $222 and it would increase each break by $222 when nobody hit it. Before the tournament started there was talk around the table how many times it would hit and pretty much everyone agreed it would probably only hit once. Well, it didnt take very long as before the first break the guy who lost to me with the 99 hand gets quad deuces and again it was just us two in the hand and he checks it down to the river when he bets 300 and I call with just king high as it was all really low cards so why not for 300. So at least he got most of his tourney entry fee back. Someone a few hours later at another table also got quad deuces but that was it.

Our table had a run of quads in fact. Some other guy got quad jacks and another guy got quad queens. It was pretty crazy. After that hand of quad Kings nothing much happened for me for a good while. So yeah my stack dwindled all the way down to around 6k after the first break at the 2 hour mark. So at level 6 it was already shove time.

Somehow I managed to get my stack built back to up over 30k, but then a new player sat down 2 seats to my left who would shove on me (he had a pretty big stack) every single time I would initiate any action against him post flop. That happened I think about 3 or 4 times. By the 3rd time I was like ok I’m gonna keep folding to his all in bets until I wake up with a big hand then I wont look so stupid. And another annoying thing I could always see him out of the corner of my eye motion to lift up my arm to see my chip stack….hey buddy it was the same as it was two hands ago when you did the exact same thing.

I managed to hand in there to second break level 8 and third break level 12 but I could never get my stack over 50k as I hit 49k once but then I’d manage to donk some off. At third break I was sitting with around 23k and level 13 the blinds were at 1500/3000/3000 and I started off sitting UTG+1 and look down at A10. Shoved and it got through. Very next hand UTG I look down at 44. I shove again….this was probably unnecessary I really hate shoving these low pocket pairs from early position. I should have perused a positional/stack size shove chart before playing the tournament on Day 3 of my trip for these inevitable situations as it has been a few years since I looked at one. Yep I sure did come prepared to play in these tournaments lol. I really hate shoving these low pocket pairs especially from early position. Probably doesnt seem like it since I shoved 33 in the prior tournament although I think my stack was lower in that tournament. I did look at one chart right now and it said with 10 BB’s UTG, you should shove 44+, but I guess it would be right on the borderline.

Anyway it got through all the way to the BB who hesitates (?????) and shoves with 1010 and he has me covered. Flop comes all low cards and by the turn, I was looking at an open ended straight flush lol. Not sure if he had a club as well but it didnt matter because a brick came on the river GG me. I finished somewhere around 52nd position out of 234 entrants. Turns out 35 advanced so I wasnt too far off. But going into this tournament I had looked at the first days results and I was thinking while of course wanting to make it through to day 2 was the main goal, I’d prefer to make it through with 200k+ in chips to have something to work with on the second day. So I guess after all I did make the correct shove with 44 because I wasnt gonna be that guy who makes it to day 2 sitting on a 40k stack with like 8 bb’s.

All in all I think I played better than my first tournament of the trip $200 entry a few days prior (not counting the $80 PH daily), but I think I made some really weak folds again mainly out of position.


Totals:

Cash Poker:-$597
Tournament Poker: -$500
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: $0
Table games: $0

Day 9 and 10----Back to the old ways again

Saturday I went to bed thinking I’d just hang out at the Airbnb and play some online tournaments on Sunday. I’d been trying to get my WSOP account reactivated (no idea why it was deactivated) and had to send them my bank statement, photo ID and a signed handwritten note authorizing them to reactivate my account. Sunday rolled around and still nothing with WSOP.

However waking up Sunday I was feeling ok I guess despite a dull headache from I guess not getting enough sleep or needing food. Definitely wasnt 100% though. Still I was thinking I feel ok to go give the $300 $222k guarantee at Orleans another shot. But then I remembered it was Father’s Day thankfully I remembered that before playing in any tournament. So I gave my dad a call.

Forty-five minutes later and off the phone. I was just zapped of any energy I had before the call. It can be exhausting and frustrating talking to an elderly parent. So I make the correct call and fire up ACR to look for some tournaments. They have a series running on there perfect for microdonks like myself with some really low buy in’s.

So I fire up a $2.20 entry $7500 guarantee that is almost done with the reentry. So blinds are at 350/700/100 and I start with 25k in chips. I last for a whopping 9 hands.

Nothing happened really until the 6th hand when I look down at 33. Now the blinds have moved up to 400/800/120. I am in the cutoff. UTG raises to 1600, I call, button calls, BB calls. Pot is 8960. Flop comes 349 all clubs. Checks to me bet 6244, button folds, BB shoves 31264. I call. BB has 96 no club. Runout is 2 more clubs making a flush on the board. Ugh.

Three hands later I get QQ UTG+1...blinds still at 400/800/120. I raise to 2400. UTG 3bets to 6400. I get it all in there 20k total and get call by AK. Runout is 10755A GG me. That wasnt much fun.

So now I enter another $2.20 tournament this time a new tournament with a $4k guarantee. Get knocked out of this one as well.

Then I sit down to write up another entry for this trip report and it gets erased and I had copy and pasted something else over the report so that was 1 ½ hour down the drain. So what else to do but go to a local watering hole and watch the end of the US Open. I had been interested to see the end because last time I had checked the leaderboard, there were quite a few big names near the top….although that was a while ago. Not bothering to check the leaderboard, I head off to a bar that is locked on the outside and you need to get buzzed in. I found that odd but whatever.

I was disappointed to find out only Louie had a chance to catch Rahm, so this was a waste of time. But of course there were VP machines here. After my first beer I put in $40. First hand I was dealt was one card from a royal I kid you not. Welcome back to VP. Of course the royal doesnt hit and I lose my $40 fairly quickly play $.25 maxed out so only $1.25 a hand. Instead of stopping there and going home of course I get up to switch seats to watch the hockey game. Not really being a fan of hockey, I put $15 in another VP machine playing the minimum which is dumb I know but I want it to last while I sit there and drink my beer. Fortunately for me I soon wise up and max bet again $1.25 per deal and it was literally no more than 5 hands later I got quads. Now sitting with about a $60 profit, I know what to do. And that is to get up and leave. But of course I dont do that. I continue to grind it down back to zero even after hitting quads a 2nd time.

By this point I’m pretty buzzed as I havent eaten and I pull out $200 from the atm. Went through that. Pull another $200 out of the ATM. I remember at some point I got a ticket for around $130, but I must have put it back in the machine and went through that. Then my bank records show I pulled out $400 but fortunately I never put it in the machine and just used some of the money to tip my free drinks. So I ended up down $455 at VP. Like I said previously I wanted to try to avoid this exact situation but 1 week into the trip, here I sit at the bar wasted and down $455 at VP.

I head over to another bar to drink some more. Fortunately met some interesting characters at the bar which kept me off the VP machines. One guy got really distraught after losing a bunch of money in one of the machines but someone eventually got the poor guy a cab. Another guy was there celebrating Fathers Day by putting songs in the jukebox that reminded him of his dad. He eventually left and by now the sun had already risen and I was getting pretty obnoxious as I’m not as drunk as at Cosmo but still pretty bad. I had the where with all to get out of there. Woke up sometime in the last afternoon feeling like crap obviously didnt do anything the rest of the day.

Hopefully I can get something going this week because all those negative numbers have a really bad look to them. Also looks like it will be cooler in the mornings this week hoping to get out and get some exercise, maybe that will help improve things.

Totals:

Cash Poker:-$597
Tournament Poker: -$200
Online Tournament Poker: -$4.40
Sports Betting: -$135
Slots: $0
VP: -$455
Table games: $0