This is my 10th trip to Vegas since 2018, and first since
this trip earlier this year. This will be back to more typical after the birthday/anniversary vacation with my other half in February.
quick poker history: played live poker in Vegas for the first time May 2018 and got hooked. went back in July and my notes say I finished -$250 which was financially catastrophic. binked a small tourney at Binions in 2019, and chopped a tourney at GVR in 2020 pre-Covid. returned Jan 2022, hitting Venetian high hand and taking $1000+ and chopping a tourney at South Point. won Covid in Vegas in July. a couple comped Red Rock stays in 2023 with no good poker moments. spent a full week Feb 2024 and chopped a Wynn tourney for close to $7000.
quick personal history: 40M, been in North Dakota for over 11 years. don't like it, but comfortable. third year in operations for a trucking company, I am very good at what I do but a bit stuck and underpaid. several jobs or opportunities in the company or outside that I felt I deserved but did not get. however, my 9-to-5 allows me to do a lot of things I want to do like perform in the symphony, sing in a men's chorus, serve in my church, be a dad, and work as a poker dealer for the local tournament circuit. would like to move but with the housing market and with high interest rates, better options have not been identified and I can honestly say I am at the happiest point in my life regardless.
we have poker, blackjack and quite a bit of gambling opportunities up here but I don't do much of that anymore and save it for Vegas. local results have been bad and obviously my limited Vegas experience looks better. I work as a poker dealer 1-2 weekends a month and play 2-3 tournaments a year to scratch the itch. limiting to that keeps the wife happy and she tolerates my getaways to the desert. I've encouraged her to take some trips of her own and she discovered how fun that can be last year. our relationship has never been better.
I realized that by now I've pretty much done or tried everything I want to do in Vegas. I've seen a bunch of shows, attended live sporting events, stayed at a lot of different hotels, been to Hoover Dam and Red Rock, won about $7K in a tourney, took first in a smaller tourney, seen the WSOP. done the Fremont Street thing, gone with the wife, lounged in a cabana, seen the flamingos and shark reef, etc. I know what I like and what there is to do. started collecting chips from each casino but kinda gave that up as it's not worth the time. and while I still keep a tight budget and plan meticulously, I am happily no longer pinching pennies.
the excuse for this trip is that as an occasional host for bar league poker league I was told I get a free trip for the national tournament at the Golden Nugget. I originally booked for Sun-Thur. later, I learned that the event goes Tues-Fri. additionally, the family is coming back in July, and the wife said "don't plan on gambling, that's family time." so I said f it, I'll extend my May trip and rebooked through Saturday. so this Sun-Sat is my longest solo trip to date. my "refund" was an Allegiant voucher with an exp date which means I have another excuse to come back.
very few set plans. a little bit of bouncing between hotels because I am still too cheap to stay put. I am ready to play the Wynn Summer Series $600 tourney on Memorial Day, which will be my biggest ever buy-in. will do the obligatory Golden Nugget hyper turbo qualifier on Tuesday. will be Downtown for more than a few hours for the first time in about five years. also returning to Aria for the first time in a while to give that another chance after negative experiences previously. other than that, play some cash. may go hiking at Red Rock. may catch Ka or O. if I suck or go broke, I am bringing my computer and can work remotely and save some PTO. additionally, will try chasing some tier matching and see if I can get my MGM Pearl to Gold for a few months, and get some dining credit at Fountainbleu where I can eat a $100 meal for the first time (for free, of course. or that's the goal if it works).
in recent years I have a lot of success in winter trips and got crushed during summer trips. I thought I would be sneaky coming in May a little earlier but then I realized the WSOP will start on Tuesday and Memorial Day will be packed everywhere anyway so I'm not avoiding any of that. was originally planning on spending Monday at the lazy river at MGM Grand, but if I can spend most of the afternoon at Wynn I won't have time or a need to fight the holiday crowds at the pool so I switched to the cheaper Luxor instead. I have no interest (and no budget) to play in the WSOP; don't like Caesars and don't care much for multi-day events when on a limited schedule.
Staying at:
- Sun Aria
- Mon Luxor
- Tue Wed Thu Golden Nugget
- Fri sister's couch
Loose goals/plans:
- Wynn $600 Tournament
- may play another tourney at Golden Nugget or Resorts World
- cash games at Aria, RW, GN and Wynn, maybe MB and/or SP
- Step Into The Ring tourney (FPN) at GN
- may do a little degen play for offers?
- relax at the pool (Aria & GN)
- eat at McMullans or RiRa
- eat Wynn buffet
- get a cronut?
still have a couple weeks before the trip but you folks know how it is. the TR Intro is basically the kickoff for the vacation and I'm excited.
already know it will be too long for the dog but a couple new toys to destroy put a smile on her face