Went on a degen pit trip around Vegas the last couple days. The Hard 6 Couple is back in town after being MIA almost all of 2021, we finally get the long rolls and make $30/60 hard sixes a few times per session.

Craps & Mizumi at the wynn, no pics of food since it was a nice dinner with the girlfriend.



In for $500

Craps, BJ, and Pai Gow (just to dump some back) at South Point. In for $1700


And craps at the Cromwell, in for $400


I dump back $1500(!) playing a crazy drinking $2/3 game at South Point from 12-6am on Sunday/Monday. Lowlights include: me heroing a drunk LA Filipino dude with AK on 85533 and him showing Q9, then him going wild and stacking my JJ with QQ aipf, him calling my bluff jam OTR with AK after just flatting pre and each street on Kxxxx, and him finally putting me down ith J9 vs T7 on J958dd when he donk shoved turn for 2x pot ($650 into $330ish) and I don’t boat up the river. We mostly played 3- and 4-handed though, which I truly love. Just on the wrong side of the swings and also, I was out of it after the tequila earlier Sunday night. Just a bad decision to go back to the casino, then a bad decision to rebuy.

I sleep all of Monday afternoon and night, even as the Steelers come through for my broken parlay (Birds pushed -4 @ Washington’s dump of a field.)

I take Tuesday off from poker before hitting the South Point again in the afternoon.

Another craps and BJ session before eating a splendid (albeit VERY expensive) meal at Michael’s. It was true old school restaurant that gives everything one could want and finished at least one dish tableside for each course. The bonus sweets after dessert were the coup d grace on an excellent meal. Into the pits for $1k:



Despite the bad poker session, this trip is an absolute sun run so far. Almost regret going to LA this weekend for a mini vacation within the vacation, but I’m hoping I’ll keep the momentum when I’m back

At the Venetian giving some VP for free drinks, my brother’s behind bar at the Bar Luxe. Name drop me to the scraggly black haired kid for better service

****ed up off chasing scotch with scooby snacks

lost $200 quick playing double double bonus vp

now a new dog ass game is milking me for hundreds because my girlfriend likes the sound when it says moneyball

wow ended up getting a few money balls. up $200 and headed to CRAPS



hard 6s and vodka crans inbound

oops we did it again




crapped all over these boys at the venetian, my gf hit the hard 6 at $25 then $50 then rolled for 20 minutes

i hit all tall and rolled for another half hour

we ate a couple shitty rolls after us before picking up. once the table gets too crowded the vibe has never lasted for me, one day i’m sure i’ll get the armageddon run that lasts for a whole ring of rollers. until then, I’ll be happy booking solid wins.




hit up BJ after while we waited for grand lux.





put home a small win but lost $150 doubled and split on back to back hands to end the final shoe. we take the W into 1:30am dinner tho

Bro Save your $$ and Avoid This game! It is the one of the dumbest slots in the entire casino

time for a little heat check. forced to sunset so my girlfriend can play the ****ing paper only bingo lol

if i win here i can win anywhere this trip



in for $500 in BJ out for $9. to the dice

this **** don’t stop. i’ve never run this pure in craps during a Vegas trip as I lock up another $900 win today.




unreal man. table is on a scorcher for two hours, but I backslid $700 hanging on too long. c’est la vie, I’ll take the win regardless.

good night lads

Into the $5/5 with rock PLO at Aria. First time ever playing PLO with a rock, purely looking to gamble it up.

First bullet squashed on my first hand 3bet / calling off multi-way with KQQ7 double suited. QT88 hits a set OTR to beat me and single suited aces. -$500

In for $500 more

I should have liked to produce a good [post]. This has not come about, but the time is past in which I could improve it.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations



I get QQ86ds again and, like the hand about ten minutes prior, stuff my $500 in pre. We get three callers, one of whom releases to a flop jam on AK5, one heart. Gonna need some backdoors to come in, as I suspect my queens are no longer good even if we spike a set.

Of course, with 7h…3h we scoop a massive one! My heart rate is through the room as I’m def gambling at this table, the other regs seem to know each other and certainly all know PLO better than me. Still, we persevere.

I get a big river bluff raise through with A3hh65ss on T87s7K and show. A couple hands later I get all of a shortie’s stack with the nut flush on KQTQ6sss and I’m up over $3k very quickly, much to the reg in seat 3’s disdain. He was groaning and acting like a dick after I scooped both pots, way to tap the glass buddy. I’m a big PLO fish.




Get in QQTcc7x on Q65Jddcc after potting flop multi-way against JJ98dd. Turn goes pot pot for $2k total. He rivers the flush and I lose a $5k pot. Sickening - we’re down as fast as we were up. Time to spin it back.

Lose another big hand with 2nd nut flush and top two vs nut flush all in on the turn and I’m suddenly down $1k after being up $2500 less than an hour ago. The morning hours usually haven’t been good to me at the poker tables - I should learn my lesson and sleep in rather than playing this sicko game.

My pride gets the best of me and I stay to rebuy for $1k more. Let’s see if we can catch some cards.

Quickly we get in 6533ds against AA on QQ3 for $600 on the flop. Runout goes K…Q. Brutal rivers today but that’s what I get for playing PLO above my budget. Ok, now in for another $500 and my cap - $2500 total today. One more try to spin this $900ish up or it’s going to be a downright horrendous session. No brains, all heart, the cards will come through…






A few more orbits we play super tight and win 0 pots that go multi-way to flops as we have to x/f. In short order we get stacked for the final time:

Flop goes 6 ways to A26r after a $45 raise pre. I’ve got A257ds with backdoor clubs, old man who wasn’t the preflop raiser shoots out $200. I call from MP but nobody else comes along.
The 3c slides in and old guy bombs turn. We call off into a massive pot praying for a decent river, it doesn’t come, and we are shown 66. -$2500 my first time playing the 5/5 with rock game at the Aria. I’m sure some of those boys will be happy to see me if I ever come back.



I tilt dump off another $700 playing $50-200 hand BJ on the way out, going up $700 in the first shoe and losing 8 straight in the second.






I won’t moan too much; I expected some regression to the mean after the first couple weeks of this trip. But the $3200 loss today stings, especially since I was playing two games I am -EV in and shouldn’t have been playing. It’s cheeseburgers for dinner and an idle plan for tomorrow to regroup mentally.

come join me at the South Point for Tuesday morning's tourney
haha

Yeah, played some pretty rotten PLO hands there as I think you know.

Chin up though as we're enjoying the ride!

Yesterday I spent most of the day shopping, but managed to dust off $700 playing BJ at the Aria. I was up to $2k at one point but backslid to $1300 then lost 9 straight hands in a very favorable deck situation to an on-fire dealer, as she made 21s vs my 20s and twice made blackjack on back-to-back hands. Tilt dropped in the remaining $400 and went 5/3/6/8 for one too many against a 9.

After that I took some time to meditate and perform yoga before hitting Resorts World. Enjoyed a couple drinks at their cocktail lounge, including a rubber ducky champagne bathtub.








After I dumped $600 and my GF $400 in craps, at an ice cold table that couldn’t sustain any points, we went to El Dorado Cantina for dinner (across the street next to Sapphire). The food was solid but overpriced, idk if I’ll make it back there. But the green salsa was excellent.

Overall a bit of a pullback this week as I lick my wounds. Was up about $8k on the trip, but I’ve donated back $4000 with a couple of rough days this week - I can’t help thinking about the PLO river suck out with $5k in the middle; I know that subconsciously entitlement tilt is still affecting my decision-making and my overpressing for another big win. I’m going to stay away from the pits for a few days to prevent anything dumb from happening

Subbing. Awesome report. Thanks for posting. The 5/5 PLO w/ rock at Aria is brutal. Love it, but they really like to gamble, so running good is a must

Replying to sub-awesome TR! Am hoping to head to Vegas in early March and this TR is getting me hype.

What is your craps strategy? I love throwing the bones and love hearing about great rolls.

Truer words never spoken. I was beat up bad enough to stick to NL the rest of the trip


Thanks, I‘ll be back March 10-20ish too. Will look out for your post. As far as craps, it’s obv -EV so I usually embrace it when I’m having fun and can afford to punt some off. I look for tables with good personalities, whether it’s the stickmen or other players at the table.

I’ll put the min on the line, $50-100 behind, a quarter on hard 6 and $30 6&8 until the table heats up or I go busto. When it does I expand to the 5&9, hard 8, all tall/small/make ‘em all, and eventually either come bets or 4&10. I never play the dark side and actively cheer at people who do (sorry not sorry!)

Have a two team parlay for Buffalo -5 and LA Rams money line @ $330 in the wings this weekend. So far split 1/1 and breakeven on sports bets this trip, the Rams game will be the decider.

Will try to get a couple good poker sessions and one more good BJ / craps night; I fly back to NYC this Thursday to start my final semester of law school.

Great TR!


WTF is a rubber ducky champagne bathtub?

What we drink when we’re celebrating big tickets of course



I’ve been slamming the Rams to win the SB all season (12:1, 11:1, 10:1) and loved this matchup. For the three biggest sports bets I’ve made in my life, I’ve had all three locked up midway through the 3rd quarter (Bucs SB last year, Eagles/Pats OVER on a big alternate spread, and this past Rams/Cards game). Feels pretty good to start drinking and celebrating well before the game is over.

Will stay away against Brady and the Bucs this upcoming weekend, however… I’ve seen Tom do it too many times, no matter how few weapons he’s got left.



I’m back from the weekend Los Angeles trip. Classes started for me (remotely via Zoom) this week, so it’s tough to get out to mid-day poker but I really want one 5/T session at the Bellagio before I go. I’ll have an update for you all then and another when I fly back on Thursday night.

Much love, let’s stay hot for the last couple days

Nothing can happen if it’s not first a dream.
- Jim Valvano



For as long as I have lived, I have wanted to be the best at something, anything, no matter how small. I might be there for eating bagel bites (at least 6,000 consumed lifetime by conservative estimate) but I need certainty - some objective measurement or outside validation.

I’ve competed in loads of sports, extracurricular activities, and video games to come very close, on occasion reaching the top 5-10 of online ladders. But I haven’t ever locked in the way the #1s in a specific game or challenge do, dedicating their whole lives to something special. I get burnt out, or realize I will never be elite, and move onward happier for the experience.

The only constant in my life throughout all of these endeavors has been poker, which has consumed me since I played on my mom’s full tilt account when I was 12. And now I am happy to announce that I have a chance to chase a championship with poker. It is a very limited one and the title is of course meaningless - I harbor no illusions about my skill compared to the tournament crushers and Truetellers of the world. But still, “best collegiate poker player” would be nice.

Along with the rest of my team at Columbia Law, I compete in the https://pokeripa.com/ipa-format-rules/ Intercollegiate Poker Championship. It is a crapshoot sit-n-go format against (mostly horrible) college students, but a number of high profile schools and sponsors have legitimized the IPA.

Right now, my boys are in first in our group and almost assured to make the playoffs.




Our last match was a couple of days ago and we dominated, getting 1st, 2nd (me), 2nd, 3rd, and last across our five tables. I’d love to keep the momentum rolling and work toward my first title, with a $15K cash prize that is all but meaningless in the face of me being able to finally say - definitively - that I am the king, of a minuscule domain.





T-2 days until I leave Las Vegas for a couple of months. If people are interested, I may report on my Atlantic City trips in this thread but will definitely write back here when I return in a couple months for the annual spring break / March Madness voyage with my college buddies.

In the meantime, I hope I can come up with one more good story before I go.

sweet and good luck with your tourney

Dinner and dice at the Aria tonight as we tried the Las Vegas Carbone.

This outpost outclassed the New York City version, but I was with good company and wanted to avoid holding up dishes to snap pics.

The vodka rigatoni is all the equal of the NYC counterpart, the bread basket and prosciutto/mozzarella app were superior, and the dover piccata was perfect for me. The veal parm was just OK while I enjoyed the AOP pasta dish comprised of angel hair / oil / peppers and the rest of the table did not. Potatoes louie were not special either.

The drinks, aesthetic, and service were all superior however. This location feels far more spacious and staff were more generous with timings, appetizer sizes, and more attentive to drinks.



Before dinner I got hit up at the pai gow table for $100 going 0-1-8 as I hit a few straights on bottom but had no top. In for $900 out for $800.

After dinner I’m down to $100 and have to reload at the craps table for $700. The first couple rollers crap out and I’m down to $500ish…

At this point I’m a few cocktails from upstairs and a few beers deep so my memory is hazy. But the shooter across the table from me hits a woman in the face throwing the dice and the pit gets mad. I dump another $200 across two rollers. Finally, salvation comes as I near my last two rounds of the night. A quick thrower fires a hard 6 (+$225) on the first throw after he sets a ten then knocks down the point. I’m back up to $400 and he rolls for a long time, eventually hitting the all tall (which my girlfriend was on but not myself). He then crapped out immediately after. I am at $500 again. Then it’s my turn to get the dice; we paint em all, $50 hard six, and the numbers for $25/30 in the center. $25 on the line and $100 setting points behind.

I set a nine, hit hard 6, and instantly shoot back up to even. The dice are hot, I hear. I roll a few points and suddenly I’m only two numbers away from making them all, sitting on $1300 already. I’ve pressed the hard six to $80, have pressed up to $90 on 6/8, $50 on 5/9, and desperately need the ten and the deuce to slide in for a massive craps win. I set the dice to my (superstitious) three & three, load them in my right, cock the wrist, and fling…



Three on one, one on the other. Ok, a four. Next throw: three again… and a four. The mega roll ends with a whimper, and my girlfriend and the next shooter don’t hit anything. I lose $150ish on each roll and throw a desperation black on the hard 6 on the last shooter. He sets a 6 and sevens out immediately. I rack my $900, happy to book a small win at craps after losing pai gow but having backslid a bit.

I definitely felt myself pressing for a big win on the last night I am sleeping in Vegas, but I don’t feel bad. Eventually one of these trips will result in a colossal craps win, and I am happy to report that - for the second time out of six recorded trips - I end a dice winner. +2400 on craps meant a lot of hard sixes came in, although I didn’t have any make ‘em alls like I did during my only other winning trip.

I will not get another poker session in either (+5900 NL, -2500 PLO) but posted a nice win across ten sessions:




I also went 2-1 (with one pending) on sports bets and parlays to end +550. Finally, with table games I ran average. Blackjack I ended +350 but lost back -600 playing pai gow and ultimate. Those two games have never been good to me, and I doubt ever will be unless I hit a miracle progressive. I won’t count on it.



And so marks the end of my ~4 week long winter break in my favorite city in the world.

Total winnings from gambling: 6100 (-$124, see below)
Restaurants, ubers, tips, and entertainment: -2800
Two law school textbooks (e-book & used - good condition): -410

Hopefully I can invest some of these winnings into the Atlantic City economy within the next few weeks. Until then, I’m leaving Vegas with a parlay to redeem for some pocket change when I get back:

Rams +3, 1H Titans, 1H Packers $124 to win $780…

Thanks to everyone interested and may we all run pure.

Excellent report. Look forward to more from AC.

Thanks for sharing!

Great report. Looking forward to Spring Break!