I just went through literally the coldest stretch of my life as here in North Dakota we had wind chill “feels like” levels -50 to -70 F for a few days. absolutely insane. should be no surprise that my mind is looking ahead to my upcoming trip to the desert in a couple weeks for a respite from the winter misery.

This is my 9th trip to Vegas since 2018, and first since this one last summer. This time will be a totally different experience as instead of running away for 3-4 days solo, I will be going with my wife for a full week (Sunday to Sunday). I've been talking about it at the conclusion of every previous trip and it's finally going to happen. we just had our 15th anniversary and in conjunction with my upcoming 40th birthday, Vegas is where I want to go.

I am worried that I bit off more than I can chew as she doesn't want me to gamble at all, and filling the time with other stuff that is enjoyable and doesn't cost my retirement isn't easy. additionally, after our flight was booked I realized that this is Super Bowl Week (happening in Vegas of course). things require a little more planning ahead of time. don't worry though, I plan on playing poker in the evenings or whenever I can and I'm now realizing that with an influx of sport tourists in town, this could be a prime opportunity for (soft) poker.

last couple times I stayed at Red Rock, which was heaven. unfortunately I learned that my generous comps were a 1-year teaser and even my loyal play last year provided zero offers this time (best they quoted me was like 3 midweek nights for $900, wtf).

we will be staying South-Strip MGM for most of our time here, including a little bouncing between Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and MGM Grand. speaking of Grand we will be driving to Arizona on Friday and for obvious availability reasons we are spending the Saturday night before the Super Bowl at my sister and BiL’s house in NW LV.

I've got tickets to a show nearly every night and we will be inside T-Mobile Arena for a Knights game. got a few dinner reservations; neither of us are huge steak fans and we don't care for rich people food so it probably won't seem very fancy or impressive. but will still be great just as long as I impress the wife without emptying our bank account. not afraid to venture off-Strip for some dining opportunities.

no pools unfortunately but we are excited for the Vegas “winter” weather and have some outdoor activities on the agenda.

January sucks but is quite busy for us (I'll share some boring personal crap in my next post) so we are very much looking forward to this extended getaway. this will be a unique TR for me. I've been making plans for months. I am excited to not be lonely, although that will result in significantly lower time at the tables. doesn't look like there have been too many TRs in the forum recently, so I hope this one will be interesting and enjoyable for you to follow.

Did you say your wife wants zero gambling to take place during a full week in Vegas?

well, it's what she wants and what she says.
she has no interest in playing anything herself.
also claims she will not go to a show alone so I can play.
not ideal, but I'll be creative and have fun

In for anticipated exciting developments as to whether compromises are reached and how. I always enjoy your trips reports, so my expectations are high!

Living vicariously through you (Don't let us down! :-) )

Always in for a Langdon TR! Travel safely, stay warm til then.

Primarily, congratulations on the anniversary and happy birthday!

Looking forward to it!!

Congratulations on surviving-50 to -70 windchills man, that sounds brutal!

Hope you two have a great time in Vegas and good luck at the poker tables.

You probably have to go through Flagstaff to get to the canyon. Be ready like you are in ND, have extra food and water in the car in case a surprise storm comes up they close the highways. It's no ND but Flagstaff still gets 200 inches of snow a year.

had a little pre-trip tuneup game tonight, as a local friend runs a 1/2 home game in town. some of the worst players ever are in this game. one guy especially, worst poker player I've ever seen. so I get excited when he's there. one of the players sometimes cooks or bakes (or both, like tonight) and made some delicious soup, which was perfect for another frigid night, so that was a bonus. kind of a wild game, they like to do bomb pots for BigO or double board Omaha every few hands; I suck at BigO so I usually sit those out.

these guys love to splash around and I just nit it up. but wow did I hit some hands. early on, deuces in on the button, call a $10 raise several ways. KT4 flop, checks around (thank you). spike a 2 on the turn, someone bets and I raise, some calls. the clown bets into me on the river, I won nearly $200 that hand.

I joined a double-board 4-card hi $50-cap hand, the top board flopped AK8 and I looked down at AAxx, then another K on the turn (one K on the bottom board too) so I knew I had the nuts there with like three other players calling $50 bets and raises. ended up chopping but that was another easy $150+.

unfortunately I didn't get very many hands to play vs the clown. nitty lady raises to $60 preflop, he calls, flop K94 and she bets like $100, he calls, turn is a J, she jams for like $400, he tanks... obviously she has pocket kings... he calls with K2. another hand, BigO, runout went like AQJ64sss, he calls a multi-way all-ins with A4 (2-pair, trash) vs a couple sets and a flush... later he calls a $65 river bet on a J9xxx board and can't beat a pair of nines. the guy bluffs half the time, calls off the rest of the time, rebuys as everyone else is stacking his chips... I couldn't believe the crap I was seeing.

anyway, I played for 2.5 hours. only won like 5 hands including a couple chops, never even lost at showdown, and finished +$340. and when I leave everyone is thanking me for coming... there can be a lot of variance in the game because there is a lot of aggressive action and players change week to week but wow. without a doubt the softest game I've ever played. bankroll booster.

Subbing. Sounds like a fun trip as long as you get a little poker in Lucky for me my husband is also a poker player, and that's about all we do in Vegas, although we've seen a few shows and will have a couple of nice dinners.

So much to do in Vegas. Maybe you should get those shark reef tour tickets that MuckPls raved about. Sounds pretty cool.

Will be reading along. Can't wait to hear the restaurants you chose.

Have fun!

(Heading there in March and will try to have a report.)

I went on a prolonged poker slump from like May-November (including my June weekend in Vegas) so I haven't done a whole lotta playing. I took a break from 2+2, left the VMB forum too. I joined Reddit but that place is a bigger cesspool of negativity than even Twitter. so here I am back at the friendly confines of LVL. the poker itch is back and reflecting on recent sessions it appears (hopefully) my slump is over.

I continue to be a dealer for weekend tourneys around North Dakota, mainly as a revenue source to finance this trip. New Year was a good weekend that netted me about $2K. the tour management also started hosting free poker league, and I was invited to be one of the hosts for that which I have been told earns me a free trip to Vegas in May.

I have been in Dakota for 10 years now. I hate it and I've been trying to leave for the last six. I recently applied for a job with my company in Las Vegas but didn't get it, which bums me out. but my kids love it here and don't want to move and neither does my wife so I am probably stuck here for a while. one thing that I haven't completely taken advantage of or figured out how best to utilize: my job is remote and I can theoretically work from anywhere, so maybe I gotta just book a flight and get out for a few days every once in a while.

January is the most depressing month of the year, especially in an arctic tundra like North Dakota and I always try to make a winter trip somewhere warm. I'm a classical musician and have a stretch right now of a few big concerts. I am flying my mom into town for one, and then we are flying out the next day and leaving her to watch the kiddos.

I've got a pretty full itinerary planned. I still want to play poker as much as I can, which will probably be just nights, but it's a little tricky as I don't know how to keep Mrs. Langdon busy and entertained without me.

She'll sleep some time. Can she hold her liquor better than you can ?

Shark Reef is pretty cool, did not know it was still open.

Sorry about the slump, but glad you are back! I feel you on living somewhere for others. I never thought I'd stay here, although I have a very good job that would be hard to replicate. We stayed because of my husband's kids, even though he could have made a fortune (that part stings a little) with jobs he was offered in NY and California. C'est la vie. We are happy, and it sounds as if you are, too, which is all that matters.

Being able to work remotely is awesome. I love the idea of just taking off for a few days when you can.

When we were dating, I loved watching my now-husband play poker. Not sure if your wife would like that or not. Of course, one day he handed me a few hundred and send me to a no-limit game. Lost the $200 in about a half hour, but I was hooked!

I did see a few massages / spa time on Groupon in Vegas -- you could get a few hours at least

I wonder how often roofies are used on wives so that husbands can go out on the town?

I have been in Dakota for 10 years now. I hate it and I've been trying to leave for the last six. I recently applied for a job with my company in Las Vegas but didn't get it, which bums me out. but my kids love it here and don't want to move and neither does my wife so I am probably stuck here for a while.

[unsolicited advice] If you really want to live elsewhere, do not wait to move until you don't have the energy to move and don't have a specific destination picked out [/unsolicited advice]

I've been in a similar situation for a lot longer than ten years. Unlike you, I don't hate it here; I would simply prefer to be living elsewhere. If I hated it here, I would probably gather enough energy to overcome my dread of having to move and come up with a destination pretty quickly. I have the means to move, but at some point that I can't quite put my finger on I lost the motivation. Don't be like me. [really /unsolicited advice]

Now get started on your Vegas trip! I can't stand the suspense!

I always enjoy your TRs and will try to follow along. Have fun and GL!

another pre-trip poker session as I was invited to another 1/2 home game. no super terrible players this time, one guy finished 1st and 3rd in a couple tourneys last weekend, all 8 players are cash game regs.

It was “dealer’s choice,” which made for a lot of weird stuff. 6-card Omaha Hi-Lo; 4-card double board, 2 of spades is wild; 4-card double board, pass one card to the left; 7-card something-or-other. I love holdem and hate BigO because I'm a nit, so it wasn't my favorite thing as I was there 2 hours and didn't get to choose. but the people are very splashy, preflop raising to $31 and getting 4 calls most hands.

hand histories in these games are pretty pointless, and it's hard to really judge how well I actually did but the numbers speak for themselves and in 2 hours of play I finished +$195.

so I have five winning sessions in a row, getting about +$1200 in like 12 hours. getting more experienced in mix games, I don't know how much it really helps me other than in these same crazy home games.

Well done! Keep it up in Vegas

I spent two hours Sunday playing $25 5/6 card PLO bomb pots. Unfortunately, didn't fair as well as you did.

I picked up my mom from the airport so that must mean my trip is coming up soon.

Obligatory shoe and bankroll pic.


hiking, running, walking and sandals. I could bring some dress shoes but deciding to skip those since as it is half my suitcase will be footwear.

I've been planning and saving up for this trip so the play money stack is nearly double any previous trip.

we have several dinner reservations and show tickets for every night. I have the itinerary planned out practically completely

some interesting change of plans, as a business meeting in LA popped up for Mrs Langdon so she will fly there and back during the week, giving me 24 hours in Vegas on my own. this means no Grand Canyon visit this time (I have yet to go there) but a chance for a poker marathon.

a few days ago the temperature in Bismarck hit 55 degrees. less than 3 weeks ago the feels like temperature was about 60 below zero. that's a 115 degree swing in the same calendar month.

an interesting personal development: I had applied for a local job for the third time in 6 months, got a call from a recruiter today and had an interview, and then a hiring manager called me this afternoon and after another short interview he asked me to check out the facility tomorrow. this is incredibly exciting as it sounds very promising. I would rather be down south but this position pays about 30% more than what I make now and is probably with a better company. so this winter trip is perfect timing. assuming that meeting goes well I can potentially send my current boss my 2 week notice while I'm in Vegas.

Good luck with the career!

Sounds like a great move for you.

Yeah, good luck with the interview. Instead of giving boss 2 week notice, though, just tell him you're not coming back.

If he interprets that as "not coming back from Vegas," well, that's fine.

Awesome on the job! Best of luck. Safe travels to Vegas.

Saturday night I had a symphony concert where I was a featured soloist; this was the reason for choosing this week for my trip, so my mother could fly in to watch and then stay while we head out of town. it was a concert I've been working on and excited about for a year now so glad it came and glad it's done.

here's me in the front


I did have an hour long job interview Saturday morning and it went really well. no offer yet but I'm hoping it gets to that when I return.

so yeah, it has been a real good weekend

we are at the airport now. the plane is late arriving because Allegiant is always late. but we will be in Vegas in a few hours. I forgot to delete my photos and the wife saw my shoes and bankroll picture and asked why I'm bringing over $2000 in cash for gambling. I didn't have a very good answer, other than because I can. I gave her a few hundred to spend herself.