Still emotionally reeling from nearly missing my flight. I had no excuse. I guess I take for granted the ease of flying through Bismarck, where other times it has been 15 minutes from leaving my front door to finding my seat on the plane. I don't know why the damn app and website would not allow me to check in online ahead of time. also didn't realize I could check in at the front gate. but I think I would have had to be cleared by the front desk people anyway for it to work since they are all part of the same team.

what I know is the options for booking a different flight were nearly zero. Allegiant's next flight is Thursday, and any other airline would have probably cost $500 and taken over 24 to arrive in the 702. so yeah as long as I'm here.

despite "holding up the flight" (not really) I landed, walked through the airport and was picked up by my sister 10 minutes before the plane was even scheduled to land.

my sister tells me that as she has 3 babies at home and doesn't go anywhere she gave a standing offer to use her car so I took her up on it. she lives way out in the Northwest (Elkhorn/Centennial) but said she was going to her nephew's baseball game which was much closer. so release into the wild was realized much sooner than expected. after driving away I realized I should have stuck around and watched the game. but it was really hot to be sitting around watching baseball and sister's relatives probably wouldn't have cared anyway. oh well whatever.

due to my airport mishap and already being down a hundred I changed a nicer opening meal for something cheap but no less yummy.


my favorite fast food

So asking nicely didn't work, but $100 did?

Sorry, but I had to. I'm glad you made it and hope you have a great trip.

after getting some quick food, I started my players card quest. first stop Fountainbleu.



this place is beautiful but it is a real pain to get to. parking is way the heck in the back, and then inside it's single file around and around and around. the gaming options are for people with much more dispensable income than me. I saw more lady skin walking through the casino than I did at the Aria pool area later. there was a long long line for the reward desk. That was a little shocking but I guess not unexpected considering their current promo.



next was Wynn. maybe FB parking wasn't that bad. Wynn had literally zero parking available. I drove around the garage for 10 minutes before giving up. the attendant told me to go to Encore, where I did miraculously find a spot. to the rewards desk, short line... had a nice little conversation with a lady in line... got my new card and got out of there. then headed to Aria. that is a long drive down the Strip.

visited the MGM rewards desk and despite the hassle after those two stops my Pearl is now Gold.

Acquire all the betting units

Enjoy !

Sucks that they said you're too late when they were too early. Sounds like something Allegiant would do.

what makes a great Vegas pool?

I guess it's easier to identify a bad pool. Orleans was like a Holiday Inn, not impressive. Luxor is big but has zero shade. other pools can be super crowded (because they are good?)

I don't need a club scene and I don't care about drinks. you can't control the demographics (unless you go to a 21+ pool because you hate kids).

a few key things for me are, first, space. there needs to be enough chairs and I don't want to pay to get a place to lie down. I was able to find a chair no problem. Aria has a big long pool. I was able to swim slow laps unobstructed through the middle. even for a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend the complex is big enough that it is not crowded.

second: while sun is important there must be shade. I'm an Irish/Swedish/English American white guy who can't handle direct sun for hours. Aria has a good blend, in and out of the pool.

third, a pretty complex with good ambiance. Aria qualifies. nothing distracting or irritating.

I guess a fourth factor would be something cool or special. Golden Nugget, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand qualify there. poolside gaming is also a plus. I like playing blackjack with a hottie dealer outside of the smoky casino (Red Rock).

as a boring solo 40M I really like the Aria pool. I'll come back in the morning.


this was at 6pm

I checked in at the Aria poker room which looked like it had a long list but I got immediate seating.



it was a pretty serious table. no one crazy, nobody blasting. quite a bit of limping. guy to my left was a bit talkative and complained or commented every time I bet/raised. a nice fellow but it really got annoying, especially when there were multiple people left to act. I don't know how to respond to someone pointing out every time I raise. however, there were several times when he warned me not to bet or call because he had a winner. so it probably saved me from bigger losses. seemed like the table got shorthanded quite a bit. there were a couple times we were down to 4 people sitting.

here are some hands to share:

- I open $10 in cutoff with A7hh $10 button calls.
JJ5ddx. I check, he bets $15, I call.
Turn Kh, check he bets $20 I call.
River heart 4. I bet $30 he folds.

- in cutoff again I look down at the beautiful AA. I raise to $12, 2 calls.
QT2 rainbow, I bet $35 they fold. lame.

young black lady sits down next to me, buys in for $100. she often asks basic procedural questions "how much is it ($3 to call). How much is it? (you can check or bet). she had to be reminded of her blinds every time. limped nearly every hand, called most raises. seems like she only bet when she had it.

- MP opens $13, two calls, I'm on the button with pocket jacks; raise $40. the two flatters call.
flop comes KT8dd. I bet $35, just button (lady above) calls.
she only has like $25 behind.
Turn brick, checks.
river is the third diamond. Check check, she has KQss to beat my jacks. there is nothing I could do to win that pot.

I didn't get many interesting hands for a while. won a few, lost more. but I did do something for the first time, ordered food at the poker table.


drunken noodles from Lemongrass. not bad.

- in late position I open JJ to $15. guy who's been very tight raises to $70. that's the biggest preflop raise at the table in over 2 hours. I fold.

down below $100 now.

- early position player bets $15, in position I call with KQ.
flop comes QQ8cc. hello! it checks around.
Turn is another club. he checks, I bet $15, he shoves for my $75 and I snap. he says "come on club, come on club," which is what I wanted to hear. no fourth club, I double up.

- just a few hands later. I open to $12 with JJ, a huge stack, pretty new to the table, raises to $35, I call. 9 high flop. he bets 50, I jam, he has aces. the Aria curse hits me again. three times getting JJ at this table and I am 0-for-3. I reload for $200.

- I limp in with 76dd. young aggressive Asian raise to $15, I call.
945hhd. okay, not bad. he bets $20, I call.
Kh turn, don't remember action.
a fourth heart that didn't didn't hit my straight is the river. do I throw out a $5 tease?
no. I check, he checks back and doesn't want to show. my 7 high is no good obviously to his King. I think even a tiny bet gets him to fold. I could not win at showdown. I think I can make a bluff there, even a small bet wins the decent sized pot.

- later on, I'm heads up with the guy that busted me earlier, I have T9h, hit a 9 on the turn, Ah (4th heart) on the river. I have like 3rd pair that improved to a 9-high flush.
I bet $15. he raises, and I call.
he had QQh. I was dead at every point.
it was a bad play, one of the worst I can ever remember making. this time I did have some showdown value, and there was the Kh, Qh, Jh that all beat me. there is no reason to call the river raise. I think I was a little on tilt for not betting the 4-flush board earlier. and I thought, "this guy can't have it every time " yes he can. I was back down under $100.

the lady next to me ran her stack up to over $300. crazy when such a novice is able to triple her stack with almost no aggression and pretty much just checking and calling everything.

- I finally caught a break when with A4 in BB, flop came 532r. she bet $10, and I and another call. Turn was a 7, which hit her set, I jammed for like $70 and held for the mini double.

- was able to win a few more pots in short order without facing a lot of resistance.

after about 4.5 hours I clawed back up to $307 and cashed out for a $188 loss. I suck at poker and will never play at Aria again.

let's hope tomorrow goes better.

Regardless, thanks for the HHs and better luck going forward!

- I open $10 in cutoff with A7hh $10 button calls.
JJ5ddx. I check, he bets $15, I call.
Turn Kh, check he bets $20 I call.
River heart 4. I bet $30 he folds.

Did you river a flush here? Assume so given HH.

I did not, I had ace high. that's why it felt noteworthy.
----
- MP opens $13, two calls, I'm on the button with pocket jacks; raise $40. the two flatters call.
flop comes KT8dd. I bet $35, just button (lady above) calls.
she only has like $25 behind.
Turn brick, checks.
river is the third diamond. Check check, she has KQss to beat my jacks. there is nothing I could do to win that pot.

I think the 3-bet should be way bigger here. A regular 3x + the callers would already be (39 + 13 + 13 = 65). I would probably have made it $60 here, and then you can hopefully get it HU all-in versus the fishy lady.

going heads up to a flop when she pairs her king with a good kicker with not much behind isn't making me anymore money. maybe she folds to a bigger bet with KQ, tough to say.
---
- early position player bets $15, in position I call with KQ.
flop comes QQ8cc. hello! it checks around.
Turn is another club. he checks, I bet $15, he shoves for my $75 and I snap. he says "come on club, come on club," which is what I wanted to hear. no fourth club, I double up.

If you are thinking of slow-playing, bet small. I doubt there is a single hand here that he raises which he will check-fold (unless 76s without a club or something). Betting $10-$15 on the flop seems reasonable.

not sure your point, I got him to jam when I was ahead and I stayed ahead
---
- just a few hands later. I open to $12 with JJ, a huge stack, pretty new to the table, raises to $35, I call. 9 high flop. he bets 50, I jam, he has aces. the Aria curse hits me again. three times getting JJ at this table and I am 0-for-3. I reload for $200.

How much did you start the hand with? Seems a bit of an overplay, but if you only had around $200 to start I can obviously understand it.

I had like $160 to start. shortstacked with JJ vs AA on a 9-high board, all the money was going in at some point. I'm glad I didn't top off my stack before that hand.

thanks for the comments. and on the bright side I had chips to cash in. it was not total devastation. especially considering I was down about $440 and all-in for the last $60ish

Good luck on the rest of your trip. Have fun.

Mental game is huge in poker, so just focus on the process and try to make the best decision in every spot regardless of the last hand, last day, last week, etc. If you feel like you botched a spot, ask yourself what you can do differently the next time.

TI probably has the best table games conditions on the strip for a low roller. Probably only place on the strip $15 or less six deck 3/2 BJ and $25 or double deck 3/2 BJ.

Good to see Langdon back in Vegas, wasn’t aware of your big win in February, very nice.

always happy to see DaNit hanging out

my room at Aria was pretty nice. I thought the bathroom was a little odd how the shower and tub were in the same space.



my room faced the Cosmo, and when I got back to the room, the noise and pounding bass of some club party was very loud from midnight until at least 2. then at 4:30 I was woken by neighbors fighting, followed by a couple trips to the bathroom feeling the heat of the Thai noodles. when I was finally ready to sleep some more the morning light was sneaking through the side of the curtain and I couldn't block it more completely. pillow wasn't that comfy either, though I could have tried one of the other four. not a great night sleep.

in the morning I got to the pool 5 minutes before open. there was a line of 100 people.
but pretty quick entry, and after finding a chair I was the first person in the big pool. I got some pretty relaxing exercise swimming the lengths of the pool which was nearly all to myself. I guess for most people the attraction of the pool is sitting dry in the sun. I like that the pool is a little deeper than most Vegas pools so I can swim around. another thing I hadn't noticed much at other places is there is a water cooler by the pool which is nice for cheap non-alcohol drinkers like myself. makes for a comfortable dip. I just spent one hour and really liked it.

howeva, after checking out, there were issues in the parking garage. I was stuck waiting to exit for a full 40 minutes. wtf. no lie, 40 minutes. they finally opened the gate and everyone flooded out.

I drove out to my favorite breakfast spot, Blueberry Hill. apparently it is everyone else's favorite because the parking lot was full and lots of people were waiting outside and inside. but hopeful, I checked in and was told there was immediate seating at the counter and I was in and happy once more.

I’ll have to check out Blueberry Hill, sounds like my kinda joint

all fueled up and ready to go, hoping for a long day.

Gogogogo!

Play good, run even better!

Seems like I wandered into Blueberry Hill before, quite nice breakfast spot. If you're looking for an alternative, there's a small café on Polaris (imaginatively named the Polaris Street Café) just north of the Rio that has good breakfast at a reasonable price.

Also, what TJ wrote.

really tough table. any open gets 3-bet. most of my 3-bets get 4-bet. I'm not getting any hands and I can't bluff.

Here are some hand histories.

- Level 2
UTG raises 600. I call with T8 on button. BB raises to 3000. fold, I call.
KK8, which is very interesting. he checks. I bet 4000. he raises to 10k and I fold.
he comments after that he should have just called, which makes me fairly certain he had AK. any other hand and pretty sure he folds.

- Level 3
UTG opens 700, I raise 2000. button jams for 3500. OR folds and I call.
my AJss vs her A8cs and I hold. it isn't much but it's good to stack something.

- Level 4
I was really struggling when after an open by woman who was opening every hand, I'm on the button and look down at two black aces. I raise to 3k and she calls.
flop is A83hh giving me top set. unfortunately she checks, and I check too.
turn is a T hearts, which kills any chance at getting action. I bet and she folds. good to scoop, but a fast play on the flop probably gets me paid.

made it to the first break but I don't have many chips left. if I had money to spare I would just fire another bullet but I can't today. at least I've had my watermelon juice and strawberry julius.

I live around the corner from Blueberry Hill on Flamingo & Decatur and only been there one time. It's good but not Pepermill good.

Yikes, what a story. Good job getting on the plane anyway!

got moved to a brand new table.
nothing for two orbits. shoved 7s and stole the blinds, that was the only hand I played for 40 minutes.

Level 6
early raise to 1600, I shove 5300 with A9, and cannot beat AK, so I am out. somehow I outlasted seventy people.

it was a couple hands early that got me. I hate playing the first couple levels, no good ever comes of it. anyway I'm reminded that I suck at poker and wonder how I have ever won anything before.

I guess I won some more pool time.

Does that get posted on your Hendon Mob results?