Video here since Youtube linking doesn't seem to want to work.

One of the cooler things that came out of my gradual descent into sleep-wrecked insanity was my choice to skip the morning grind at (presumably) Bellagio and use the amazing view out over the Rio, Palms and the mountains as a backdrop while ****ing around in some lowstakes homegames with mates from home. This video is over about 90 minutes from just before 6am to around a quarter past 7. Vegas is beautiful sometimes, I'm glad I stopped for a while to appreciate it.

One of the things you mentioned that I would be cautious with is sharing a room with someone you've met only a couple times. Could be potential for either getting freerolled on the room costs or worse, potential to be robbed.

You're 100% right. I generally trust my reads with people and am very suspicious as a default so heres a list of things I consider good checkmarks to be able to trust someone enough to offer the above;

- being late 20s-mid 30s
- having a family thats demonstratable via insta/fb/whatever. married people with kids tend to be the most trustworthy in my book.
- has a fulltime job and pursues poker part time as supplementation/free holiday
- plays <2/5 (bigger than, not equal to/bigger than) for most of their demonstratable volume
- bonus points to the above if theyre on instagram proving as much in a believable sense (not winning every session ala the ny pokerking)
- isnt a complete dolt in the games
- has a similar introverted personality to me away from the tables and is not looking for a room to party.

Most of these are personal checkmarks, I know others would have their own preferences. I think its fairly easy to discern whos in town to work and whos there for other reasons with poker funding it. Boring worktrip people stick out or find themselves out very quickly in game with the right questions

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LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO

My $0.02: Considering how many "I was scammed by XXX" threads there are, and XXX always being a well known pro who plays high, I'm not sure playing over 2/5 helps much.

Then again, I'd prob never get a room or even split an apartment with someone I don't know/don't have personal references for.

And on a grammar note, if you want to say "greater than 2/5", the symbol is the other way: > 2/5. The way you wrote it actually means less than.

Lol thats what happens when you comment at 7am obv meant >2/5 thanks for the correction!

And agreed, I more meant as a general guide as opposed to a concrete rule. I screen pretty heavily before even considering but Im sure theres still enough dodgy people who can mask their image.

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Okay, last post regarding this trip and an adaptation of my prior 'things I wanna do different next time' into 'things I WILL do different next time'

...THINGS I WILL DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME

1. Weigh a maximum of 185lbs when departing for the trip, and 190lbs when returning home (5lbs of fried chicken weight in 3 weeks is acceptable for life +ev )

This is more of a discipline thing than anything else. I'm a former two sport athlete at a semi professional level (granted, 10 years ago) and know I have the discipline to diet and work out but I sit at 200 because I'm a lazy ass and unmotivated like a lot of early 30s people with seated jobs. I'm going to force myself to shed 15lbs and get some steady workout regime in place before I go to enforce some daily routine. I shouldn't be struggling to stretch my calves at the end of two weeks of mostly sitting down and walking at a pace that isn't above 'casual'.

2. Find a tournament series/reason for people to be in town and match my trip to that.

I did this unintentionally this time with the 5 Diamond and then latterly the rodeo convention but I didn't take advantage of either or plan my schedule around the games they stimulated. I don't want to spend a day in Vegas without a reason to be there.

3. Study Bravo in the week/fortnight before and construct a plan for the week.

This is crucial and will help avoid the mental destruction I imposed on myself. It doesn't matter if I'm working 10am-6pm each day or 11pm-7am, as long as it's mostly standardised and I can plan my sleep and daily routine around it.

4. Contentious one...don't leave the better half at home.

Honestly unsure about this one but my mind tells me it's correct.

My partner isn't into poker, gambling or the desert. However, she appreciates that what I do requires a lot of skill and more importantly mental clarity and absence of emotion. We both missed each other a lot during this trip and it probably contributed to my slow descent into madness!

If I can find something productive for her to attack as her 'workday' while I do the same with poker, it'll be tremendously useful to have her around for my non-poker time. Don't feel alone, have a sounding board, have someone to do fun Vegas things with/eat at nice restaurants without making the other jealous etc The question is what? We're looking into basic stocktrading, social media and Youtube as potential solutions, I don't really want to put out a poker vlog though and what can be done in that medium has pretty much been exhausted by now anyway.

5. Take more cash capital with me.

I didn't have any trouble with bankroll or cash available this trip. I took 6k USD with me from Australia and didn't require a topup and was unstuck for all but the first day of the trip as I didn't touch the cash for expenses (except tipping of valet etc). However, I felt a bit gunshy especially towards the start about getting in games I definitely should have been in. Buying in 1k for 2-3 bullets in a 2/5 game when you only have 6k total on you feels like the cash you have is your entire roll and affects your play, even if that's ridiculous and you could easily go withdraw more.

I think if I took 15k I wouldnt have blinked at jumping in a lot of 5/10 lineups I definitely should have been getting in.

6. Don't be afraid to split the trip up.

Vegas, LA, Bay Area and Sacramento are all close. Theres great games away from Vegas in all these areas and I enjoy driving. It's a waste not to.

It was a fun trip and I'm definitely pumped for the next round. Thanks to all the great people I met on the trip and the people who showed support in this thread! Legitimately enjoyed talking through the experience with you all and I'll work on making it more prompt next time (maybe that can be the fulltime job for the missus, 2+2 thread update & FAQ division?)