Thanks PP. And definitely do a TR.

That's why I did one in the first place, because I saw others putting in the effort.

Thank you!

Had two sessions today. Both were 1-2 games since they didn't have anything bigger playing.

The first session was a quickie. In for 300, out for 775-ish.



Then tonight was productive but not necessarily fun. I ran over the table for the most part, chipping up from 300 to 700, back down to 300, then finished around 900.

My image was aggro/maniac, and the table never adjusted. They just folded for the most part, or I was able to get to showdown relatively cheaply when I was beaten.

In a funny moment, I raised preflop with 33, and a V flatted. I cbet a KxAxJx board. Checked the KxAxJxQx flop. V bet out small on the KxAxJxQx10x river and I jammed all in, just being silly since we chop. But he went in the tank LOL!! The table was dying to tell him, but everyone stayed quiet. He finally called and table took a collective breath.

Just testing the new app

Hello sports fans. I'm back in town. This TR might be a bit different as I'm here for business with non-poker players. My guess is there will be some good food and a little bit of pit action, but I won't pre-judge.

We're staying at the Cromwell. It's my first time, and so far I like what I see.



Greeting you at the elevator is a pretty decent coffee-espresso machine.



Here's a look at the room.









Slippers and robes...



And this has to be one of the better mini bars.



My crew doesn't arrive for a few hours so I'm going to find a game to jump in somewhere.

bar with no bourbon = total fail on cromwell's part

Good luck. Have fun. Run good!

Bastards!

Thankya. So far so good. Update coming

Had a few hours to spare, so I headed over to Aria for some 2-5. First mini bad beat was the Bellagio walkway which wasn't working.



My table was pretty decent. The guy in the 7 seat was playing 90% of hands and blowing off stack after stack to the table. I managed to get a bit of it. In addition to him, two other players were driving the action, and it was obvious that my best play would be to tighten up and leverage my image to steal and go for value when I had the goods. It worked for the most part. In for 1000, out for 1500ish.





It was then time for dinner, my choice, so I took us to Sage in Aria. If you've been reading this TR, you know it's one of my favorites.

On the way, we stopped by the Caesars sports book and my friend spread about 1500 over several cfb playoff games.

Once at Sage, We sat at the bar, and the bartender Aaron recognized me from previous trips and walked over to shake my hand and say hello. That was impressive.

Check out the wall of whiskeys in this place.



And part of the flight menu



I didn't snap as many pics as before, but I stuck pretty much to my routine. We went family style and started with the oysters, then did the roasted pear, wagyu beef tartare, and finished with the scallops and veal cheeks. Uh-mazing.







After dinner we decided to Uber back to Cromwell and degen at a blackjack table. After all kinds of ups and downs, I somehow squeezed out a 300ish win. Yes, I beat the devil and won at BJ.



After that we hit up craps, where of course I played the dark side, which earned me the meanest scorn I've ever received from a fellow craps player. She told me to NOT bet against the shooter because he was hot. Whatever. I was up and down and came out slightly ahead. We then went back to BJ, I lost a little, but ended the pit session with a decent win. My buddy was just wiped out in brutal fashion.

He called it a night so I went back to Aria for more 2-5. Sat at a table of mostly fish and ended up getting paid on a set I hit on the flop. I also hit a straight flush and went for gold against a V who appeared to have the high flush, but he didn't and folded to my river shove.

There was one big spot at the table. He kept calling down with bottom pair, gutshots and other crap. One example was him calling a 200bb all-in on a stupid wet turn with middle pair (which he won obv). And he kept winning and felting players. I tried valiantly to get in hands with him, value betting the piss out of anything as good as 2nd pair, but could never get a large pot.

By the end of the night I was up about 400.

Great TR. I hadn't realized the rooms at the Cromwell were that nice. Anytime I've been in the casino, it's been a ghost town. Nice cash results too.

Thanks. The rooms are definitely nice, with good amenities and helpful staff, but they're rather small. Not much room to move around.

Good thread!

First bad beat was taking the long route to Aria - you should just go via the conservatory then Vdara.


I went there a couple of weeks ago - I was impressed they had a whole load of SMWS (Single Malt Whisky Society) bottles... I didn't think anyone had those outside of the UK.

Thanks for the tip about going through vdara. Will try it out.

wow great ongoing TR! Keep it up love the pics!

Last night was just brutal. After my recent craps and BJ win, I got cocky I guess, and thought I could re-create the magic. But no.

There was no poker yesterday as the crew was intent on drinking and pit action. I haven't had one of those nights in LV for a while, so I thought this could be fun.

We started at $25 BJ tables at Cromwell and I was quickly down $300. In brutal fashion. Every double down I was given an A, 2 or 3, and I pushed several blackjacks.

And one time I had a $50 bet and was forced to split my 8s against a dealer's 10 (everyone at the table told me that you MUST split 8s - is this true - I don't known BJ?), and subsequently got another 8, which I split, another 8, which I split - hitting the house limit on splitting. On my first 8, the next card dealt was..... an 8!! Which of course I hit and busted. Next eight I got a 3 and double downed and got a 3. Next 8 I busted, and the last 8 I got 20 (IIRC). Dealer turned over a 10 and I instantly lost $200.

I decided to take my gin and tonic and go on a little break. After walking around a bit, I decided to go punish the craps table.

We walked up and I started playing on the dark side and quickly ran up $300. Easy game. I told myself I was going to bet with the shooter the next round, but at the last second changed my mind. Huge mistake.

The way I play is to bet don't pass, back it up, bet don't come, back those up, and triple my odds bet if shooter hits my point. Well, the shooter hit every point 2 or 3 times. I lost a lot. A whole lot.

Well, I wasn't going to let that stop my evening. Hell no. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!?

We went back to blackjack. It was there that bloody prison rape went down, and I finally admitted I could take no more and returned to my room. I thought for a little about hitting up poker to chase my losses but decided against it since I was drunk and tired (not a good recipe for good poker).

Sorry I failed to include any pics, but it's probably for the better. I need to heal from last night's trauma. Today is dedicated to good, solid poker. I would prefer to leave LV on an upbeat note.

Thanks Dolph!

You're describing almost every blackjack experience I've ever had with the exception of those right at the end of my trips. Oddly enough the blackjack sessions at the very end of any given trip tend to be winners (obviously just coincidence). Prior to that I inevitably get absolutely pummeled. Five 8s, though, wow...

Better luck fella. Great TR!

Indeed!

I don't think I would've split 8s there against a 10. I would've actually surrendered. Your chance of winning with 8s against a 10 is a low and when you split 8s, chances are you are looking at two 18s which will still lose to 19/20/21 against dealer.

+1 if $50 is considered a big bet for u. If its a min bet, split away.

It depends on how much the money means to you. If it is a lot of money to you then surrender. But if it isn't, and you are playing mathematically correct, you should split. Here are the expected values of your options (based on 6 deck shoe):

Stand -0.536853
Hit -0.535361
Split -0.486276 with No Double After Split allowed
Split -0.475385 when Double After Split allowed
Surrender -0.500 with no variation (and less and less places offer surrender)

So splitting is the best option from an expected value. But again it depends how much the money means to you. None of the options are great.

That's what my gut was telling me, but when the table was questioning my manhood as I was trying to make a decision, I succumbed to the pressure!

I'm not sure how to define big. I was only playing with budgeted money, but it still "felt" big. I try to play mathematically correct overall, regardless of bet size, and stay within budget.

This is very helpful. Thanks for crunching the numbers.

Money means a lot to me. But if I've budgeted an amount to play (optimally), I'm already willing to lose it.