Travel safely, and welcome back! Hope the weather on that side of the Rockies is better for you than this side.

Replying to sub-excited for you and excited to read about the trip!

LFG

Would reply with a bankroll pic and shoes of my own if I had any… Will probably post a long update from Vegas, until then please enjoy a picture of Poppy, our newest addition to the family. 10/10 landseal.

With 6.5 hours connection time in London, I had booked myself a day room at an airport hotel to catch up on sleep before next flight. Got probably close to 2 hours of sleep, which helped a lot.

Now it's almost time for boarding:



I don't have too many plans and ideas for this trip really. Except to play good poker, play some more $2/$5, and otherwise relax a lot. Might check out Fontainebleau one of these days, although obviously no poker and outside of my price range.

But whatever I get up to, it will be a ton of fun! Just gotta get through this 10 hour flight first...

Meanwhile a few rows in front of BigWhale from business class:




Gonna have a proper sleep and hopefully land in Vegas rested.

Taking him with you? Just say you have flying anxiety and he calms you down. It works in the U.S.


Just out of curiosity, how many USD does it cost to travel like that?

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=virgi...s+class+1%2F27

We have made it to Vegas! Flight was a bit long/tiresome, but all is forgotten when you touch down and the anticipation for the coming days set in. Breezed through immigration in five minutes, and shared a cab with MuckPls to Caesars, where he is staying for the first few nights.

From there I took the quick walk over to where I am staying for the first few nights. It wasn't too hard to locate my destination:



Check in was quick, and I made it up to my room, which is about all the excitement you guys will get for tonight. I am going straight to bed now, after having taken a shower. But the room looks chill enough (as always here at Horseshoe), and this time I have a great view of The Sphere:





Now I am looking forward to getting some proper sleep in a nice comfy bed. Let's get the party started tomorrow instead, with some actual Vegas-fun.

Was gonna update last night but the last couple of days of chaos has worn me down and I crashed as soon as we landed…

Sooo, where to start? Backstory:

Went to France with family for Christmas and new year. One night we go to a restaurant and eat oysters and me and my son get the mother of all food poisonings and end up in hospital for a day. It was the most brutal thing I have ever experienced, literally 24 hours after eating we started throwing up at the same time and couldn’t stop.

Fast forward to beginning of January. We are back in Malta, kids first day of school. Second day kid no 1 gets sick. Then kid no 2. Then wife. Wednesday night 3 days before Vegas I got sick and spent the next 3 days in bed or vomiting (again). I was very very close to cancel the entire trip but decided **** it, I’m a bit better so I’ll just go and rest in Vegas for a couple days.

Saturday flight from Malta to London was very chill:



Arrived in LHR, went through the terminals and started feeling proper ****. No energy, just want to sleep. No worries have lounge pass with 7 hours layover.

Go to N1 lounge:

- Sir you can only access the lounge 3 hours before your flight departure

Go to Virgin Atlantic lounge, same thing.

At this point I am tired, feel absolutely **** and exhausted (to clarify I was no longer sick, just felt tired and weak after everything). Super-monkey-tilt and I go to the Virgin counter and buy a business class upgrade for $900 that also gave me free unlimited lounge access. Food + shower + sleep and boarded the plane at 5:



Since this is technically not a night flight it meant that a group of 7-8 brits were up drinking and making a huge mess basically the entire flight. Despite that I still got 5 hours of sleep and the fact that I could be in a bed helped a TON!

Quick taxi to Cesars palace, checked in by 9 pm and was asleep within 5 minutes. And now? Now it’s currently 3 am, I’m wide awake, had a long steam shower and breakfast.





Time to hit up a game somewhere, and just take it easy. Then hit up a CVS and shove as much pre and probiotics down my throat as physically possible and just take it easy for the next 2-3 days.

That’s not an easy thing to answer. If you buy it outright both ways? $5-6000 at least.

- I bought MLA-LHR-LAS and back economy for $800

- I upgraded my LHR-LAS flight using points from economy to Premium economy (theoretically $1200 upgrade)

- I then upgraded my Premium Economy to Business one way at Heathrow for $900, but that’s last option price.

So in reality around $1700 one way.

Already made back $280 of the $900 upgrade at Cesars:



Then some early morning Bellagio conservatory:



And now stuck in a 1/3 Aria game:

I am envious of it all. Cannot wait to get there in March. I have a pup who looks a lot like Poppy -- best dog I've ever had. Wonder if the sickness was food poisoning or just a flu? Food poisoning usually kicks in before 6 hours (maybe 8). Glad you are feeling better.

I hope you both run well!

First one was 100% food poisoning from the oysters, second one was flu. Mostly good now tho, taking it super easy.

Not much to report here so far, been taking it super chill. Woke up around 3:50am after 6 hours of sleep, then met up with MuckPls to check out the conservatory at Bellagio. Nice with so few people around!



We then went over to Aria, where they - to my dismay - have removed a lot of the decent Video Poker machines that I used to play on last year. Very disappointing, and it makes me wonder if it still is worth it to try and get a decent amount of coin-in at MGM Rewards. From memory, Aria was the best option to play and I strongly doubt the other properties in their portfolio have gotten better paytables since last time.

But that's just the way it goes, I guess, with options for Video Poker on The Strip getting worse and worse. I guess if I want good paytables I can always make the trek out to The Palms, where they have a really good selection.

Anyway, I digress. Just got back from the Horseshoe gym, which was a good way to 'start' the day (although I have been up for some hours now). And now I'm actually gonna try to find a poker game!

Another 3 hours in the books at Aria, wish that this stack was profit but sadly lost $35 total. Oh well:



Now time to chill for a few hours until an evening session.

Subbed, one of my favorite trip posters. Good luck on the trip

How long are the wait times?

None, got seats at both Cesars and Aria instantly. Granted it was late at night/early morning but still. Surprisingly busy everywhere btw.

I finally got myself out to play some poker, and settled on a nearby location.

Here is a picture of the new country bar outside Horseshoe, that apparently opens on Tuesday. Nice of them to actually name it after my real first name



I went over to Bellagio, and after a ten minute wait I got a seat in a $1/$3 game that had just started. Bought in for the usual $300, and quickly played some semi-big pots.

First one is when there are 4 limps to me, and I am in BB with KK. I bump it up to $20, and get no less than 3 callers. So we go 4-ways to A-Q-5 rainbow. I am first to act and check, UTG checks, and a player in MP bets $25. Button folds, I call and UTG folds. Definitely think I have to call once against this sizing, especially when I can be fairly certain that it goes heads-up to the turn.

Turn is a T, and after I check he checks back almost immediately. River is another A, and I think this is a great spot for some kind of block-bet. I am seeking value from Qx, but also ensuring that I can get to showdown somewhat cheaply in case he has trips with a weak kicker. So I bet $41 (into $133), and he thinks for a bit and calls. I show my hand and he sighs and shows a Queen and mucks.

A bit later there is a limp for $3, and I make it $15 with AKo in cutoff. Button calls and limper calls. Flop comes K-4-7 and after the limper checks I bet $15. Small, but obviously want to encourage hands with little equity to stick around, like 7x or 88 or similar. Button min-clicks it up to $30, and after the limper folds it's back on me.

My first thought was to 4-bet the flop, because this smells like bullshit, likely a weaker King that wants to find out where it is. But I settled on a call, as I didn't want to scare him off. Turn comes a T, and after I check he checks back. River is an 8, and I think he likely was pot-controlling on turn with a weaker King. So I target one, and bet $80 into $110 or so - in hindsight wish I had gone $100. Anyway, opponent thinks and thinks before finally throwing in a chip for a call. My hand is obviously good.



I then lose a couple of small ones, first with KQo where I raise to $12 from UTG and get 4-callers, and a terrible flop (8-8-6). I also made a very tight fold a couple of hands later, which deserves a mention.

UTG raises to $12, an Asian player who is new to the table. Another fishy Asian calls, and I call on the button with red AQo. Probably plays better as a 3-bet, but I thought since I had button I could mix in some calls + have no idea how this new UTG-raiser plays. Honestly, I think all 3 options are on the table here - including just folding it pre.

BB also calls, so we go 4-ways to A-7-6 rainbow. BB checks, and UTG immediately bets out $25 into 3 other players. The fishy Asian folds, I call, and BB folds. Turn is a J, and he again almost immediately bets out $50. I fold.

I dont beat AK, I don't beat AJ now, and I cannot imagine that he would play AT/A9 this hard. It just seemed like a really annoying spot with very few good rivers (except a Queen). In hindsight should maybe have used a Bart Hanson-consept, and called turn to fold river if he bets again - even if a complete blank comes out. Probably would have been better, but I don't hate my fold either although it's very nitty.

I then fold for a while before finding AK in hearts after the fishy Asian have limped. I make it $15, player to my right calls and limper actually folds. Opponent is a younger guy, but seems a bit fishy and he was the one that made the min-raise in my previous AK hand. Either way, flop comes 6-T-4 with the Ten of hearts. Seems good enough to start a bet, so I make it $16. He thinks and calls.

Turn is a K, which is good news. I make it $40 this time - cannot make it too big for a ten to call. He almost immediately moves all-in, and I actually didn't like to hear it as I thought this player had well over $200 behind. However, I glance over at his stack and see that he must have lost a lot in a hand I didn't pay attention to, because he only has around $110 in total. As soon as I see that I obviously call.

River comes a 3, and he shows JTo for a weird/bad played hand. Honestly no idea what he was thinking there, but I was also a bit annoyed at myself for not paying attention to his stack size better during the hand. Had I seen how short he was I would obviously have called immediately, instead of taking 10-15 seconds like I did.

After that pot I was up over $300, but lost a little bit back in some small pots where I didn't hit the flop. So a bit later I decided to just take the profit of $284 USD to get a good start to the trip, even though it was a short session.

Now I'm gonna take a little nap, and hopefully get more energy for a longer session this evening.


Cash Games:

Hours played: 1h 45min
Won/lost: +$284 USD
Hourly rate: +$162.3 USD

After taking a nap of around 1.5 hours and forcing myself out of bed, I saw on Bravo that there was a ton of games going at all properties. Settled on Caesars Palace, as they seemed to have a pretty short wait list. And indeed I got a seat almost immediately upon arriving.

I folded for the first 2-3 orbits while I noticed one Asian player was fairly active in pots despite playing somewhat short stacked. He was involved in my first hand, when I raise JTcc to $12, only to see him jam for $52. I did some calculations and decided on a slightly loose call. He shows KQo, which ends up holding up on a x-x-x-K-x board - and I didn't get any closer than turning a flush draw. Oh well, small pot.

Very next hand I have AQo and make it $12 again. One caller right behind me, before the Asian 3-bets to $40. Looks somewhat strong, but I think I am too high up in my range here against this player who I have seen doesn't need to have the nuts. So I 4-bet to $112 to get it in against him. He instacalls, and show the same hand as last time (KQo). That is good news, and my hand holds up on a low board.

After that hand I was super card-dead for 30-40 minutes, before picking up AA from EP1. I make it $12, and get one caller two spots to my left. Flop comes T-8-2 two spades (I have no spade), and I bet $17. He ends up calling after mulling it over for a bit. Turn is Qs, which is about the worst card as it fills both J9 for straight and any flush. I check it over to him, and he bets $30. Can't fold for that prize I think, so I call to see what he does on the river.

River is a red 5, I check, and he once again bets $30. Same bet, and sizing feels kinda weak. At the same time, I think he with 100% certainty checks back a Ten here on the river once I call turn. So the fact that he continues to bet is a bit alarming, but I am getting a good price and I am underrepped. So I call, only to see him turn over QTo for turned two pair. Not that surprised that he had me beat, but I don't think I can play it any other way.

Down around $80 now, and not much happens for another 30 minutes as I keep getting very unplayable cards. But finally I get a free look in BB with K7dd after a cascade of limpers in front. We go 5-ways to Q-9-6 two diamonds, and I decided to lead for $10 here. I have an overcard and there are plenty of turns that give me a straight draw as well. In addition, I obviously have the flushdraw. UTG-limper calls, and another limper also calls.

Turn comes a K, so now I suddenly have top pair as well. I bet $25 for value against Qx, only to see UTG min-raise it up to $50. He is probably strong, and only have around $75 back, but I don't think I can fold. At the same time I thought jamming would be a bit spewy, since I am most likely getting it in behind. So I call. Certainly wouldn't hate a jam either given his stack size, but as said I do think we are likely not ahead right now.

As it was, the river came the 9d, and I lead to put him all-in. He calls almost instantly with 66 for a flopped set. So obviously I got lucky there, and my assumption about him being strong on turn was correct. But he played it pretty horrible imo, and only have himself to blame.

Up around $70 then, but lose some back in a spot I could have avoided. I raise AKhh to $12 and get one caller. Flop comes 9-8-5 one heart. I decided to check it, maybe too tight HU but this is a board that favors him a lot. He checks back. Turn is another 9, and I check again, just trying to get to showdown cheaply. He bets $12, and I call. I think he bets most of his pairs on the flop when I check, so this seemed a bit fishy to me.

River is another 5, so the board is double paired. I check, and he now bets $17. I managed to talk myself into a call here, but I don't like it. The opponent, although not a great player, seemed experienced enough (possibly a local reg) to know that I likely have A high in this spot, and I cannot see him bluffing for that sizing. It stinks some kind of pair, and after I called he showed up with 53ss. Not what I expected, but I still think I should fold river.

Lose a few more small pots (sorry for lack of pictures, I promise one soon), and am down around even when I find KTss from UTG. We are now down to 6-handed after a few players have left and/or got stacked, so I raise to $12. EP1 calls, a new player to the table who have turned out to be fairly splashy so far. We see 9-5-3 one spade, and I bet $15. Seems reasonable to start a bet here, given I raised from UTG and have two backdoor-options at least. He calls.

Turn comes 2s, so we now have a draw. I bet $37, only to see him pretty much snap-call. That said, not a surprise that he doesn't fold on this card, so if I chose to bet here I should also have a lot of river bluffs I think. It didn't come to that however, as river lands a beautiful 7s. I bet $105 (into $132), and he calls within 10 seconds. My hand is obviously good. So that was a nice runout.



After that I played a lot of small pots, and most of them went my way, which was a nice feeling. I did however miss value in one spot, which annoys me slightly. There are two limps for $3, and I make it $16 in cutoff with TT. Only the second limper, an Asian female calls. Flop comes Q-J-8, she checks, and I think a bit and check behind.

Turn comes another 8, she checks, and I bet $15 to hopefully get value from lower pairs or straight draws. In hindsight could maybe have started a bet on the flop for the same reasons. Anyway, she calls quickly.

River is yet another 8, so I make a full house. She checks, and I took some time with this. It really felt like she could have a lower full house here, and if I think about it logically she would probably bet all her Qx and Jx on the turn after I checked back flop. But my thought process wasn't that clear in game sadly, although I really felt like I should bet. But in the end I chickened out and just showed my hand. She nodded, and showed me 77.

Note to self - I must take myself to value town sometimes in order to get a better winrate. Even if she would have showed up with Jx here, a bet is still the best river play here. And for this actual hand, I am very certain that she would have called $25 or similar with her full house.

But overall it was a good session, although I think I made a few small-ish mistakes. Stack just kept growing towards the end, and maybe I should have stayed a bit longer. But instead I took the profit of $233 USD after 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Went back to Horseshoe to potentially play a bit here, but was tired so only ended up playing a little bit of Video Poker. Even though the paytables are generally bad at all Caesars locations, I must say they have a really good selection of machines here at Horsehoe. I do enjoy playing the machine below a bit, even though the denom is a bit low for single line (machine is hardwired to $25c and Double Double Bonus). So close to a Royal Flush here on this progressive machine:



Hitting it here would have meant $1051.09 USD (as seen on the picture), and what comes on the draw if not a red King:



Sadly the wrong one, but oh well. Was still a good sweat. And although I haven't played many hours, it has been a good day poker wise as well. Certainly making some mistakes and could ramp up aggression even more in a few spots, but I do think some of my sizings have been better so far.

Will obviously play more and longer sessions as the trip moves along, but for now I didn't want to exhaust myself when I can feel that I am getting tired. Not sure what and where to play tomorrow, but we will work that out when we wake up.


Cash Games:

Hours played: 4h 30 min
Won/lost: +517 USD
Hourly rate: +$114.9 USD

https://www.vpfree2.com/ in case you forgot.

For the flu, I've had good luck with EmergenC, seems to absorb quickly without burning out the guts. Get some zinc to go with it. If you're having congestion or runny nose, NyQuil/DayQuil work well for me. The Nyquil tends to knock you out so be ready for bed.

How do those progressive jackpots work? It looks like most of them pay less than just a 4 coin win.

FWIW there are as good a payout machines as CET has these days over at Paris, and more machines than Horseshoe has, I think. They're not hard to find in the high limit room, and they're probably in other parts of the casino, I didn't really look. I like Super Times Pay and Double Super Times Pay. They cost an extra coin (2 extra for DSTP) but the multipliers add some excitement imo. I've been hunting a Royal after 3 dry years, and if I hit one, it'll be that much nicer with a multiplier, or even 2 multipliers.

Totally dead after today, still up and playing so will just summarise and leave BigWhale for HHs:

- Went to Bellagio and sat at a deep 1/3 game, in for $300:



- Lost QQ vs KK for 1k + pot (no picture)

- Went to VP and lost $600

- Took out $500, lost it at UX in 36 seconds

- Took out $500, went to blackjack and after 1.5 hours:




$175 profit in total (minus atm fees sigh).

Now time for some rest, work day tomorrow so will be no or minimal play.

Not to nit-pick, but on Qd9x6d Kx 9d, V holding 66 would have rivered a boat. I'm guessing either no 9 on flop, or river was a non-9 diamond. Regardless, enjoying the TR. Continued best of luck to both you and Muck.