My I'm flying out of BNA at 7:25AM tomorrow. What's my move now? I owe fifteen grand in a day, and I'm broke.

Oh wait, that's Rounders...

Seriously...thanks for the great feedback. I'm pretty shocked to see a couple of tr heavy-hitters posting in here...if I can entertain half the people half as well as you guys have done, I figure that's ok by me.

I had a relatively uneventful day yesterday. My wife flew out to Vegas around noon to meet up with her friends, I worked all day, came home, gave my son Jack a bath and put him to bed, and thanks to my great in-laws who are in town for the duration of the Vegas trip, I set out for one last session before my trip.

For reasons I do not understand and refuse to question, my run-good seems to have some life yet. I played for about 6 hours, and put $200 on $1420. That gets my roll $6,700, and increases my plus-side swing to over $10,000 in just under 2 months of playing 1/2.

Don't get me wrong when I talk about run-good. I do feel like I'm playing well, but I haven't had a huge hand cracked, or suffered any sort of massive beat in a big pot in two months. If that's not run-good, I dont' know what is. I suffer no delusion that my recent win rate is even remotely sustainable, and I am fully prepared for the inevitable end to the pot raking party that has been me at the tables recently. Variance is a cruel mistress, but she can be so very kind as well. I'm happy to enjoy it while it lasts, and I will accept the reality of the long run as it continues to reveal itself while I continue to play and learn along the way.

But today? WAHOO!!

I now have the largest poker roll I've ever had, and I'm leaving for the longest poker trip I've ever taken in under 24 hours. Wish me luck. Or, maybe I should say "more luck."

GL

Enjoying the read, give us more, and GL!

I wish you great skill combined with compassionate probability.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

I meant to mention this: my wife is only staying in town until Monday morning. After that I'll be by myself for the whole week and following weekend, so if anyone who reads this wants to get together for a session, or a beer, etc. let me know.

Bummer! We're only gonna miss each other by an hour because I fly out of BNA at 0630 and plan to arrive in Key West at 1230. The wife and I had originally planned a Commerce trip this weekend, but it got derailed for reasons I'll explain in the "Toothbrush" TR I plan on doing in OOT.

And while I'm on the subject of derailaments, I wanna apologize to you for interjecting this shameless forewarning of my poker-free TR.

Good luck to you, my fellow Southerner. Perhaps we'll catch each other on the other side?

My best,

doc

I don't doubt your skills DrThunder, but if I had a game like "Jimmy's" game to play in I think I would take my vacations to a beach somewhere. Why leave? Is it that urge to compete, to find out where your skills rank with the grinders of LV? Or do you just love poker and crave some alone time in Vegas?

Anyway, just like everyone else, I'm enjoying the read. Best of luck.

Come on, you know all the answers to these questions even as you type them.
GL OP, No update will be a bad update so just keep them coming so us unfortunate ones get to live this with you.

posting to subscribe

My wife is dragging me out the door to go to lunch right now, but I will ponder this excellent question and post up later or tomorrow. And thanks for the encouragement!

It's 3:30am on Saturday morning. I'm playing 1/2 at Bally's, and I've put my $300 buy-in on almost $400. It's mostly been a nit-fest, but we've seen the action pick up a bit as table constituency has gotten younger, and the time has gotten later. I'm on the button, and when the action gets to Travis in the cut-off, he makes it $11. I look down at Ad 10d and call. We get one other customer as I think to myself 'Ac and two diamonds would be nice right here.' The flop comes Ah, 7d 5d.

Close enough.

--

Remember when I said something about how I'd played my last session before my trip? Well...not so much. When everyone was in bed by 8:15pm, I decided to head over to Jimmy's for one last go. It was a mostly unremarkable session, except that I got into the game for $600 before turning things around and managing a $200 profit before leaving at 1:00am.

I was home by 1:15, packed, and in bed by 2. I had to be up at 5:15 to shower and get to the airport but that was ok, as I wanted to sleep on the plane. Unfortunately I was unable to fall asleep and ended up getting about 1 hour's worth. I'm supposed to be all rested up to prepare for the inevitable sleep schedule hyjinx that come with a trip to Vegas. Oh well.

I was early to the airport, so I took the opportunity to find something to read and some food. Bought the latest Nick Hornby book, and settled in at one of the morning breakfast joints to eat and read. I don't know if it was due to fatigue, or just me being a dumb-ass, but when I looked at my watch it was 7:05. I was 2 minutes away from the gate, and my flight was scheduled for 7:25 take-off. What does this mean? It means that the extra $10 or whatever that I paid to Southwest for my early automatic check-in (A-20 btw...nice) was a total waste. I got to the gate with about 9 people left to board, got on, and set about picking upon whom I'd visit the torture that is sitting next to me in a plane.

Flight uneventful; arrived in Vegas on time and rested. Dollar dorked up my reservation when I changed the dates a while back, so my "express" check-in took an hour, and yielded a car that wasn't as nice as what I'd reserved. Whatever.

Check-in at Bally's, on the other hand, was a total success. The nice lady there was happy to help my wife and I celebrate our anniversary and recently discovered pregnancy by hooking me up with a North Tower Grand Suite for a tiny rate increase. The rack on this room is $100 on top of the regular rate, which for me would have been $1000...no chance. $20/night? Done, especially since I'm only paying for my weekend nights...all the weekdays are comped. Yay me.

The room is fine, but nothing to write home about. The lady at the desk referred to it as 'renovated,' and I believe her. I think it probably happened in 1998 or so, but whatever. It's big, has a really big jacuzzi, and a crappy tv. I'm still ok with paying the small premium, but I might not bother again. I think it might be time to find a new favorite cheap place to stay.

My wife and I had a great day that included lunch at Aria, a drive around the strip, and an evening downtown. Being pregnant, her nights are short, so when she decided at 10 that it was bed time, I was off to the tables. I got on the 1/2 list, and was seated in about 45 minutes.

The game wasn't remarkable in any way...general nit-fest that I tried with limited success to loosen up. I met a couple of cool regs. I sat next to Travis all night. He's a super nice younger guy, tight player, smart, plays as a part-time job. We had some fun conversation over the course of the night, and I hope to run into him again. I'll be playing here until at least Sunday, as my wife flies out Monday morning.

--

The action checks to Travis, and after some careful consideration he bets $50. I haven't seen him make a single move all night (I don't think), and in any case I'm just trying to get it all in, so I tank for a bit, and make it $150. It folds to Travis, and he shoves. I call, and we both turn over A 10...I'm free-rolling. The turn is a brick, but the Kd gives me the nuts and the biggest pot of the night.

--

I ended up +$475 on the night thanks to that pot...a perfect start to the trip. Sunday it's dinner atop the Strat and Lion King at Mandalay Bay. I am becoming ever more aware that this heater I've been on cannot be long for this world, but I'm just taking every session as it comes, and whatever happens, I will live to fight another day.

As for today, I'm fighting with $475 more in my pocket than I had yesterday.

Good players can be steady, consistent winners! "Heaters", IMO, are for donkeys who get hit by the deck or good players who make a string of huge wins. Don't sell yourself short!

Congrats on the solid start, now take your wife to a nice show for good karma!

Hmmm if you would have bricked that 300 off, I wonder how this would have all changed. Im guessing you not posting this story and still owing the guy about 4k and u never showing up again. God bless that third 10 uh?

Well, as I said at the start, if id dumped that $300 I was done and was cancelling the trip, so ya. The trips came several weeks and a few thousand later. But ya, your observation is a keen one...if I had no money I wouldn't be writing this tr.

Oh, and no, I wouldn't still owe...also mentioned that I had made the nec arrangements to pay my debt.

Another great installment. Keep 'em coming.

BTW, the north tower was renovated in 2004, not 1998, but does look like it was done longer ago than that. Just be glad that you didn't get stuck in the unrenovated south tower. That would have been truly depressing.

Where do you plan to play after your wife leaves town tomorrow? No reason to hang around Bally's if you don't have to.

Just a quick note of interest...I have the privilege of sitting 1/2 with Tony Bigcharles atm. I'll be posting a proper update tomorrow (probably).

OMG

TONY BIGCHARLES!!!!!

It can get better.

Better have pics...

Did he smell?

update?!???

I've only been playing for about an hour, but I've already more-than doubled up, and have maybe $725 in front of me. I'm in the small blind, and I'm holding AdKc. There's a raise to $5 in early position, and 6 callers, so when it gets to me I make it $15 to go. I get a call in middle position, as well as in the cut-off. The flop comes 5J6 rainbow, with the Jd. I bet $40, and both players call. The turn comes 9d, and I check it. Middle position guy bets $40, cut-off calls, so sure, what the hell...I call with my draw to the nut flush. The river is the perfect Qd. I decide to bet small in hopes of getting a raise in there...$80. MP makes it $200, and the competent, conservative lady in the cut-off shoves for about $400 on top. I look at her, look at the board, look back at her again and stare. "Just to confirm; you're all in, yes?" She confirms. I look at the board again, and look back at her. "Um...ok, I call..."

Then she turns over J5, and I know I've made a terrible mistake.

--

While I'm thinking of it, I apologize if there are time line inconsistencies in here...I'm not taking notes, so there is a real possibility of errors in that regard.

--


My lovely wife has gone back to Nashville, after a very enjoyable weekend that saw us all over town taking in as much touristy stuff as we could handle. On Saturday, Carrie spent the morning at the pool while I slept in after my poker session. She reports that while the Bally's pool is not in the same league as the Hard Rock or Mandalay Bay, she likes it better because it's populated by regular, average people. She had a ball, got some sun, met some nice folks from MN, and in general, relaxed. She returned to the room at about 11 to wake me up.

After a light lunch we went for a drive out to Red Rock Canyon. Neither of us was really interested in going for a hike, seeing as how it was 103f or so outside, but the scenic drive through the canyon is very enjoyable. We returned from that trip to a nice afternoon nap, then it was off to Mandalay Bay for The Lion King. TO say that I'm not a big fan of musicals would be a bit of an understatement. But, this was a great show, and I recommend it to anyone.

This was a 4pm show, so after recovering the car from valet, we set out to find someplace we'd never been for dinner. When I saw the sign for Ellis Island Brewery, I was pretty sure I remembered reading on 2p2 about this place being a good spot for a casual meal at a good price, so we gave it a shot.

"Casual" does not quite get it if you're talking about EI. The fact that the casino floor is unadorned cement should tell you everything you need to know about the level of formality about the place. We waited an hour to get seated, but I was able to make up for that by losing $200 teaching my wife how roulette works. Once we got seated, service was slow, and the food was meh. I won't be back unless someone can explain where I went wrong with regard to finding the good stuff there.

After dinner it was back to the hotel and to bed for Carrie, and off to another session of Bally's 1/2 for me. I bought in for three, and immediately purchased what I thought would be good karma. We opened a new table, and when the dealer sold everyone chips, the end count came up $10 short. Nobody would fess up to having the extra Hamilton and I a) didn't want the dealer to get hassled (I like her...and she's cute), and b) I wanted to get the cards in the air, so I tossed her two red birds and said "let's play."

Good karma hand: very first hand, I was on the button and doubled up with pocket 9's on a 6622J board. No need to go into detail as it wasn't really an interesting hand, but suffice it to say that my bs-o-meter was off the chart on the guy, and I was right. About an hour later I got into the hand I described above. Yes, I misread the board...it was 5J5, not 5J6. I lost about $600 in that hand, and that kicked off what has been a seemingly endless bad run. Of course it's only been a few days, but it's starting to sting a little. Since that hand, I feel that I've made one significant mistake that cost me chips, and apart form that I've been getting it in good with the best of it, or been coolered. Here's a partial list of beats (not all are "bad beats, but tough just the same) that I've been piling up...

AA v. AQ all-in pre-flop, flop a Q, turn a Q
AA v. AK all-in on K49 flop, K on turn
AA v. KK all-in pre-flop, K on river (just the same, was nice to meet you, Asian San Fran kid)
66 v. A9 flop is 6A9, 9 on river for $450 pot
AK v. QQ flop is 10 JQ10, all in, turn and river are running 5's
99 v. A5 all in (v. short stack) on 92A flop...turn 4 river 3.

And my personal favorite...the SAME LADY has stacked me TWICE with flopped quads v. my big hand...once I had pocket 7's and flopped 744 to her pocket 4's, and the other time I had A8 and the board went A33A10 to her pocket 3'.

I still feel good though. I have had a few rough moments, but in general I feel like I'm playing well, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to turn things around. My wife flew out Monday morning, but because I've been a steady loser, I haven't ventured to 2/5 yet. I'm stuck about $1600 since arriving, and I'm not one to chase losses by moving up, so it's 1/2 for me until I get most of that back. I've had multiple $1500+ days of 1/2 in this place over the lasts couple of years, so I remain hopeful.

If you're reading this and you're around, stop by and say hi. I'm the big blond guy with a goatee who just had his aces cracked...again.

--

I just wanted to mention that I'm not ignoring the questions on here...I'm writing this off-line and then posting it. I will respond to the other post in the next day or two.

And no, Tony didn't' smell. He was back again last night, but he didn't sit at my table. He did announce to the whole room that he's probably the only person to ever get on the list at Bally's by texting someone who was playing, while riding the monorail. If he comes back tonight I'll ask him to take a picture with me for 2p2.

I think I might hit up Planet Hollywood at some point...I've heard tell that the 1/2 over there has been pretty good recently. Apart from that or other random wanderings, by 2/5 Bellagio trip is now back-burnered until I make some damn money.

wtf... I always call this guy Luis Guzman (for obv reasons). They have same lithp and everything!

Quick session note for tonight...

If having a 3 in your hand were the object of the game I'd be up about $7,000.

No offense intended, but it looks like you also misread your own hand.

That was another terrible mistake, or what?