Return of the Bloo - San Diego and Las Vegas (5-14 November)
11-10-2016
, 07:09 PM
11-11-2016
, 05:19 AM
Quote:
Flyertalk's good, but Head For Points is more useful for Brits - there's some really well written articles on there that lay it all out very clearly. It's pretty comprehensive, and the guy who runs it is often happy to answer questions if people email them to him.
I mainly get points through churning the Amex Gold - if you have a partner you can refer for it, you can then cancel and they can refer you again six months later. If you can hit the spending targets (£2k in 3 months), and make sure you keep track of when your six months are up, you can easily clear 66,000 airmiles a year with this alone.
I mainly get points through churning the Amex Gold - if you have a partner you can refer for it, you can then cancel and they can refer you again six months later. If you can hit the spending targets (£2k in 3 months), and make sure you keep track of when your six months are up, you can easily clear 66,000 airmiles a year with this alone.
Again, loving the report and especially some big winning sessions. No greater feeling than wandering the Strip after a big win
11-12-2016
, 04:52 PM
Thursday
Waking up in Vegas is just the best. Wake up and bam, there you are in Vegas. And then you can go eat an oversized, overpriced breakfast (and if it's just you it's usually easy to skip the stupid queues and sit at the counter). And so I found myself happily enjoying some huevos rancheros and eavesdropping on my neighbours talking about the upcoming marathon.
I started the day with a wander through a few casinos I haven't really investigated that much before - Venetian/Palazzo, and then Wynn/Encore. I think the Venetian in particular is great to wander through, do a bit of window shopping, try the free samples in the super expensive shops, even the stupid gondoliers are kinda charming. And the new dancing fountain outside the Wynn is quite cool too.
After making it up to the Wynn, I eventually managed to hunt down the poker room, and got on the list for 1/3. A new table started up, with the usual mix of old man coffees, a few recs looking to kill time while their wives had massages or whatever, and one interesting one - a young guy from Chile who seemed more than a little competent. He bought in for the full 500 and button straddled every time, which set off a couple of red flags for me.
The first significant hand came when I joined a limping parade from MP with pocket sevens. The aforementioned competent Chilean made it 26, and after two people called before me, I figured I was probably priced in enough to setmine, and called, as did the guy to my left. We went five to the flop of 976ss, with me second to act. Really not a fan of this spot tbh. First to act checked, and then the guy after me checked out of turn before it got pulled back by the dealer. I hate my life if this checks through, given the number of awful turn cards, and we've already got a decent pot out there, so I throw out 75. The Chilean tank-folds, the rest fold a bit faster. Not sure if I should have gone for a CRAI here - I felt like that might be the right play at the time, but now looking back on it I think I feel ok about playing this fast.
I go a bit card dead for a while, before picking up A7o on the button with three limpers before me. Well, I've got an ace and position, so I make it 20. SB, an older English guy, calls, along with one of the limpers. The flop comes A74r, and SB bets out 25. The limper folds, and I'm kinda smelling a rat here because he seems very confident. I flat call it, and then the turn K completes the rainbow. He bets 40, which I call. A queen hits on the river, and I call off 70 more to be shown AK. Well, I guess that could have been worse.
Two hands later, I pick up kings, and my raise pre gets called by the Chilean OTB. He calls my bet/bet/shove line on a J6546 board, and the kings are good for a double up. I'm now sitting on a bit over $450.
As you can see, I am drinking an exceedingly manly drink (amaretto/coke, solid 'I want something sweet and not to get too buzzed yet' drink. The Wynn poker room is nice, but the lack of cupholders bugs me. Why wouldn't you get them put in? Anyway, I don't hit any more significant hands, and eventually cash out for $406 from a $300 buyin, so 4/4 on positive sessions so far.
After cashing out, I wandered over to the Fashion Show Mall to have a glance at whether there was anything that'd work as a present for my wife (nope), and whether there were any interesting looking shows on the Tix4Tonight booth. Having a look through the options, and a quick google for reviews, I ended up buying a ticket for Shotspeare (drunken Shakespeare) at Planet Hollywood for $35. Seemed like it had the potential to be pretty funny if done right, and if not, oh well, not like it's a pricey show.
It was about 4:30 now, and I'd planned to eat dinner at Bazaar Meat at SLS, where they've got a happy hour bar menu from 5-7pm. I got the monorail down (MONORAIL!) and had a quick scout around SLS first. It's perfectly nice, but can't see how it'd be worth a trip that far north unless you're headed to one of the restaurants. Anyway, happy hour started with a (very nice) daiquiri, followed by a couple of oysters (I like oysters, but never want more than a couple, so I'm always pleased when I can order just one or two).
Next up was the pork chicharron, which came as one huge piece before being broken tableside. This was absolutely great, particularly with the yoghurt. Like a meatier, classier chips and dip, and solid value at $6, I didn't expect this to be filling but it was.
The suckling pig that they do here was the thing that really brought this place to my attention, because I love really well cooked pork. But while a quarter of suckling pig is both pricey and kinda obscene to eat if you're just one guy on your own, the bar menu has a small suckling pig sandwich that allows you to capture a bit of the magic. This was super super rich and extremely tasty. It looked like a small sandwich when it came out, but it packed a lot of flavour in there, and I'm not sure I could have managed a second one.
I did fancy something a bit more, though, I'd planned on the beef tartare before finding out that some of my earlier options were more filling than expected. I remembered reading online that the tomato tartare was meant to be very good, and, hey, I should probably eat at least some vegetable today, so gave that a go. And, yeah, it was good, not something I'd rave about but very well done, and a nice refresher after the heavier food.
I'm not a big fan of most desserts, but something on the cocktail menu here did manage to pique my interest - the 'Don't be a Lemon'. Rum, citrus, pomegranate, some other stuff, and liquid nitrogen, all mixed tableside. It was quite a good spectacle, I'm a sucker for this kinda thing. It basically comes out as a shotglass of boozy lemon sorbet, like a posh frozen daiquiri. Wouldn't have it again, but was an interesting one to try.
After tax and tip, I got out for $70, which doesn't seem too bad for me for four small plates plus two cocktails. I can see how it's easy to run up a whopper of a bill here though. After the meal, I headed down to Planet Hollywood to play some poker before my show. I got on a newly opened table, and looked down at AKo my first hand, and opened it to 12. The guy on my left, who was a big, stocky guy in his mid-30s, 3bet me up to 30, and everyone else folded. I made it 80, and he called. The flop came QJx, and I should x/f, but stupidly put a cbet out and have then priced myself into calling the inevitable shove. One of the things I'm bad at in live poker is keeping track of other people's stack sizes and ending up committing myself to pots that I should get away from. He flips over KK, and I don't catch up. Bad play on the flop, time to get my head back in the game and play better.
Next hand of significance is when I pick up T9o on the BTN. There's one limper before me, and I raise to 12. Stocky guy calls from the SB, the rest fold, and we go heads-up to a flop of 87xr. That's a flop I like to see a bit more. He bets out 22, which I flat. The turn comes a T, he bets 80, and while the sizing has me a little worried, I don't think I can fold top pair and an open-ended draw here. The river comes a 9, and goes check/check, and my hand is good.
About fifteen minutes before I'm going to leave for my show, I pick up AJo in the BB. An early position raise to 12 is called in 3 places before it gets to me, and this seems like the perfect spot for a semi-bluff squeeze, so I make it 42 and get two callers. The flop comes rainbow and Jack high, which is about as good as I can hope for, and my 75 cbet takes it down. I cash out $566, having been in for $600, so while it's my first losing session it's not as bad as it could have been given that awful first hand.
Anyway, now it's time for SHOTSPEARE! This was a pretty fun show, definitely decent value at $35. Lots of filthy jokes, lots of audience participation/forced drinking, lots of guys having to read soliloquies while the audience threw socks at them, or the rest of the cast groped them, or someone shoved saltines in their mouth...if you're up for this kind of drunken bedlam, it's a very fun hour.
I bought back in at Planet Hollywood following the show and played a couple of hours without really anything of any significance happening. In for $300, out for $269 to book a small loser before wandering back to bed.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Overall Trip Position: +$1,368
Waking up in Vegas is just the best. Wake up and bam, there you are in Vegas. And then you can go eat an oversized, overpriced breakfast (and if it's just you it's usually easy to skip the stupid queues and sit at the counter). And so I found myself happily enjoying some huevos rancheros and eavesdropping on my neighbours talking about the upcoming marathon.
I started the day with a wander through a few casinos I haven't really investigated that much before - Venetian/Palazzo, and then Wynn/Encore. I think the Venetian in particular is great to wander through, do a bit of window shopping, try the free samples in the super expensive shops, even the stupid gondoliers are kinda charming. And the new dancing fountain outside the Wynn is quite cool too.
After making it up to the Wynn, I eventually managed to hunt down the poker room, and got on the list for 1/3. A new table started up, with the usual mix of old man coffees, a few recs looking to kill time while their wives had massages or whatever, and one interesting one - a young guy from Chile who seemed more than a little competent. He bought in for the full 500 and button straddled every time, which set off a couple of red flags for me.
The first significant hand came when I joined a limping parade from MP with pocket sevens. The aforementioned competent Chilean made it 26, and after two people called before me, I figured I was probably priced in enough to setmine, and called, as did the guy to my left. We went five to the flop of 976ss, with me second to act. Really not a fan of this spot tbh. First to act checked, and then the guy after me checked out of turn before it got pulled back by the dealer. I hate my life if this checks through, given the number of awful turn cards, and we've already got a decent pot out there, so I throw out 75. The Chilean tank-folds, the rest fold a bit faster. Not sure if I should have gone for a CRAI here - I felt like that might be the right play at the time, but now looking back on it I think I feel ok about playing this fast.
I go a bit card dead for a while, before picking up A7o on the button with three limpers before me. Well, I've got an ace and position, so I make it 20. SB, an older English guy, calls, along with one of the limpers. The flop comes A74r, and SB bets out 25. The limper folds, and I'm kinda smelling a rat here because he seems very confident. I flat call it, and then the turn K completes the rainbow. He bets 40, which I call. A queen hits on the river, and I call off 70 more to be shown AK. Well, I guess that could have been worse.
Two hands later, I pick up kings, and my raise pre gets called by the Chilean OTB. He calls my bet/bet/shove line on a J6546 board, and the kings are good for a double up. I'm now sitting on a bit over $450.
As you can see, I am drinking an exceedingly manly drink (amaretto/coke, solid 'I want something sweet and not to get too buzzed yet' drink. The Wynn poker room is nice, but the lack of cupholders bugs me. Why wouldn't you get them put in? Anyway, I don't hit any more significant hands, and eventually cash out for $406 from a $300 buyin, so 4/4 on positive sessions so far.
After cashing out, I wandered over to the Fashion Show Mall to have a glance at whether there was anything that'd work as a present for my wife (nope), and whether there were any interesting looking shows on the Tix4Tonight booth. Having a look through the options, and a quick google for reviews, I ended up buying a ticket for Shotspeare (drunken Shakespeare) at Planet Hollywood for $35. Seemed like it had the potential to be pretty funny if done right, and if not, oh well, not like it's a pricey show.
It was about 4:30 now, and I'd planned to eat dinner at Bazaar Meat at SLS, where they've got a happy hour bar menu from 5-7pm. I got the monorail down (MONORAIL!) and had a quick scout around SLS first. It's perfectly nice, but can't see how it'd be worth a trip that far north unless you're headed to one of the restaurants. Anyway, happy hour started with a (very nice) daiquiri, followed by a couple of oysters (I like oysters, but never want more than a couple, so I'm always pleased when I can order just one or two).
Next up was the pork chicharron, which came as one huge piece before being broken tableside. This was absolutely great, particularly with the yoghurt. Like a meatier, classier chips and dip, and solid value at $6, I didn't expect this to be filling but it was.
The suckling pig that they do here was the thing that really brought this place to my attention, because I love really well cooked pork. But while a quarter of suckling pig is both pricey and kinda obscene to eat if you're just one guy on your own, the bar menu has a small suckling pig sandwich that allows you to capture a bit of the magic. This was super super rich and extremely tasty. It looked like a small sandwich when it came out, but it packed a lot of flavour in there, and I'm not sure I could have managed a second one.
I did fancy something a bit more, though, I'd planned on the beef tartare before finding out that some of my earlier options were more filling than expected. I remembered reading online that the tomato tartare was meant to be very good, and, hey, I should probably eat at least some vegetable today, so gave that a go. And, yeah, it was good, not something I'd rave about but very well done, and a nice refresher after the heavier food.
I'm not a big fan of most desserts, but something on the cocktail menu here did manage to pique my interest - the 'Don't be a Lemon'. Rum, citrus, pomegranate, some other stuff, and liquid nitrogen, all mixed tableside. It was quite a good spectacle, I'm a sucker for this kinda thing. It basically comes out as a shotglass of boozy lemon sorbet, like a posh frozen daiquiri. Wouldn't have it again, but was an interesting one to try.
After tax and tip, I got out for $70, which doesn't seem too bad for me for four small plates plus two cocktails. I can see how it's easy to run up a whopper of a bill here though. After the meal, I headed down to Planet Hollywood to play some poker before my show. I got on a newly opened table, and looked down at AKo my first hand, and opened it to 12. The guy on my left, who was a big, stocky guy in his mid-30s, 3bet me up to 30, and everyone else folded. I made it 80, and he called. The flop came QJx, and I should x/f, but stupidly put a cbet out and have then priced myself into calling the inevitable shove. One of the things I'm bad at in live poker is keeping track of other people's stack sizes and ending up committing myself to pots that I should get away from. He flips over KK, and I don't catch up. Bad play on the flop, time to get my head back in the game and play better.
Next hand of significance is when I pick up T9o on the BTN. There's one limper before me, and I raise to 12. Stocky guy calls from the SB, the rest fold, and we go heads-up to a flop of 87xr. That's a flop I like to see a bit more. He bets out 22, which I flat. The turn comes a T, he bets 80, and while the sizing has me a little worried, I don't think I can fold top pair and an open-ended draw here. The river comes a 9, and goes check/check, and my hand is good.
About fifteen minutes before I'm going to leave for my show, I pick up AJo in the BB. An early position raise to 12 is called in 3 places before it gets to me, and this seems like the perfect spot for a semi-bluff squeeze, so I make it 42 and get two callers. The flop comes rainbow and Jack high, which is about as good as I can hope for, and my 75 cbet takes it down. I cash out $566, having been in for $600, so while it's my first losing session it's not as bad as it could have been given that awful first hand.
Anyway, now it's time for SHOTSPEARE! This was a pretty fun show, definitely decent value at $35. Lots of filthy jokes, lots of audience participation/forced drinking, lots of guys having to read soliloquies while the audience threw socks at them, or the rest of the cast groped them, or someone shoved saltines in their mouth...if you're up for this kind of drunken bedlam, it's a very fun hour.
I bought back in at Planet Hollywood following the show and played a couple of hours without really anything of any significance happening. In for $300, out for $269 to book a small loser before wandering back to bed.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Overall Trip Position: +$1,368
11-13-2016
, 03:40 PM
Friday
OK, so today I'm checking out of the Mirage and moving on down to Mandalay Bay for the remaining three nights of my stay. The day starts with an utterly filthy waffle, bacon and maple syrup breakfast, which is delicious but definitely going to kill me.
After that, I go pack everything up in the room (making doubly sure that I've not left anything behind this time, as I feel MGM would be less accommodating on sending it back). Unfortunately I've got some weird room charges from the Bellagio Baccarrat Lounge showing up on my bill, so I have to stand in line for the regular check-out to get them removed. Then it's off to downtown, where I'd planned to have a look around Container Park for some presents for my wife (success on this front, at last), and have a quick poke around Fremont Street. Unfortunately, I'd not realised it was veterans day, so this is what I was greeted with.
So it wasn't the easiest place to get around when you've got the main street closed off for parading veterans, re-enactors, oath keepers, cadets, really anyone with a connection to the military, no matter how tenuous. Was quite cool to see though. Anyway, after this, I headed on over to the Pinball Hall of Fame, one of my favourite places in Vegas. It was just as much fun as last time, even though I still totally suck at pinball. The NBA machine ended up being my favourite this time round, as getting the ball to fly through the hoop was satisfying and actually accomplishable for a bad player like me.
Anyway, after half an hour or so there, it was time to check in at Mandalay, and after a bit of confusion trying to find the self-parking, I was checked in, and got the good news that my coat had arrived! It cost me $53 to get it shipped over from San Diego which, well, I can live with that as my own personal stupidity tax, I'll take it out of my poker winnings. What did annoy me though was that the business centre at Mandalay Bay charged me $10 to pick the coat up, which is cheeky as **** tbh. $35 a night resort fee, and they can't hold onto a package for me for a few hours. VEGAS!
anyway, here is the coat after its adventures
Mandalay Bay is a pretty damn nice hotel, tbh, I think it gets a bit underrated due to its undeniably awful location. But the room rates were pretty comparable to those at the Mirage, and the room quality is a clear step up, particularly with the bathroom. After unpacking my stuff into the new room, it was time for a quick lunch at the Border Grill, where a carne asade quesadilla and a beer really hit the spot. Nothing spectacular, but just very nicely done.
I was meeting JMurder3 at the MGM Grand to play a bi of poker next. I got there a bit before him, so wandered around the casino a while. And then I spotted two machines next to each other, both Quick Hits Platinum, but one with progressive jackpots almost double the value of the other. I double-checked they were the same, had a bit of a consider, and then thought 'hey, let's give it a go, it's got to be pretty close to EV+ given how high the progressives have got'.
Putting in the first $100 was stupid, putting in the second one was idiotic. I came to my senses and cashed out after it had eaten $160 of my money in less than five minutes, and took one last look at the two machines before seeing what I'd been missing. Of course a machine that's 5c a spin has higher jackpots than one that's 1c a spin, you blithering idiot. Another $160 idiot tax to add to the $63 for the coat, Vegas is an expensive place to be an idiot.
Anyway, I then caught up with JM3, and we both got seats at 1/2, and were able to transfer onto the same table fairly quickly. The first hand I got involved in was when I picked up KJo in the CO, and flat called 11 from a guy in MP. The flop came K96hh, he checked, I bet 20 (which I meant to be 15), and he called. The turn was a blank, and he check-raised my bet of 30 to 75, which, ehhh, I really don't see what he plays for value this way - surely a monster wouldn't check a wettish flop, and none of the draws came in. I call, and he shoves his last 80 on a river blank, which I kinda feel I've now obliged myself to call as well. He flips up KQo, which, well, nice hand sir, but that's one hell of a weird line you took with it.
A while later, I get into a hand with JM3, when I call his raise pre with 55, and shove over his cbet on a 743 flop for a total of ~100. He calls and flips up the AA, but the six spikes on the turn to give me the pot. He's very gracious about it (and was a lovely guy to chat to the whole time tbh, was great meeting you!). Fortunately he hit a few hands later and ended up cashing out up $50 or so, which made me feel a bit less guilty about putting that bad beat on him.
I get into one more hand with the old King Jack (sooted this time), when I limp/call 12 from UTG against the same guy who beat me with KQo earlier. The flop comes KQxr, and I check/call 25. The turn is an 8, and goes x/x. The river's a blank, and he bets out 60 when I check to him, I call and get shown AA for the second time today. Not sure if I was too loose preflop there, or if I should get away from that big river sizing (I'd have folded to a turn bet).
Anyway, I cash out $364, having been in for $500, so a $136 loss. Wasn't on my best game really, I don't think, oh well. I said goodbye to JM3, and headed up the strip to the Mirage, where I had tickets for Love (plz don't point out the stupidity of booking the show at the Mirage for the day after I stopped staying t the Mirage, I'm well aware of it). I did take a quick picture of the stage before it started.
Love was really good, it's not really got any particularly impressive stunts, but then it's all about the spectacle. I loved the woman dancing with light projections during While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and the wheeled ladder tricks for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, but really all of it was great. I saw a Cirque show in the Albert Hall before ever seeing one in Vegas, and the big difference really is the stages - when you're able to completely custom-build a stage for a show like this it really does seem to increase the impressiveness of the stuff you can do.
After Love, I was meeting gobbo and DonkDonkDonkDonk at Chada Street for dinner. No photos here (when I'm eating with other people I never think to take them), but the highlights were the crab fat fried rice (generous amounts of crab, I could eat this by the bucket), some delicious meat skewers, and a thing I forget the name of that was a pork dish with thai basil. Beer list was good as well, always nice to see Dogfish Head on tap.
We headed downtown to Fremont Street, as D4 hadn't been there before, and spent a bit of time wandering around taking in the crowds (as you can expect, it was utterly rammed), and pooling our money to hunt slot machine progressives with gobbo, who actually knew what he was doing here. The first one we found was a Volcano slot machine that was just ****ing mad, with eruptions and stampedes of animals and lava flows and a mini-game that encouraged you to wave your hand around on the screen but actually took no notice of how much your hand was waving (this seems dangerous given the amount of drunk people in casinos). We cashed out up $9 and suitably entertained. Unfortunately, the next machine we hit was a ****er that took us for $130 by just failing to hit the bonus rounds over and over again, before then teasing us at the end by getting us to within a whisker of the $500 prize before NOPE, minimum bonus. D4 and I also took advantage of the 'one free ace at blackjack' promo for new players cards at Binions to make a quick $10 back. So overall, I was down about $30 from all of this, but hey, it was a fun time.
D4 and I wanted to play 1/2 at the Golden Nugget, so said goodbye to gobbo (was great seeing you as always), and sat down. Despite playing a pretty long session here, I only took notes on one hand, where I had AKs and raised to 15, getting one caller. I cbet 25 on a J55hh flop, which was caller, and bet another 35 when the Kh came on the turn. He shoved 150 over the top, which was ultimately a pretty easy fold. I remember being down a bit for a while, but eventually cashed out $332 having been in for $360, so a $28 loss.
It was a fun, lively table, though - particularly with one guy who got cut off from alcohol about five minutes after I sat down at the table, and proceeded to whine about it and accuse varying people of 'ratting him out' for the next several hours. While everyone else mocked him. Once it got to about 4am, I called it a night, and headed back to Mandalay.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Overall Trip Position: +$954
OK, so today I'm checking out of the Mirage and moving on down to Mandalay Bay for the remaining three nights of my stay. The day starts with an utterly filthy waffle, bacon and maple syrup breakfast, which is delicious but definitely going to kill me.
After that, I go pack everything up in the room (making doubly sure that I've not left anything behind this time, as I feel MGM would be less accommodating on sending it back). Unfortunately I've got some weird room charges from the Bellagio Baccarrat Lounge showing up on my bill, so I have to stand in line for the regular check-out to get them removed. Then it's off to downtown, where I'd planned to have a look around Container Park for some presents for my wife (success on this front, at last), and have a quick poke around Fremont Street. Unfortunately, I'd not realised it was veterans day, so this is what I was greeted with.
So it wasn't the easiest place to get around when you've got the main street closed off for parading veterans, re-enactors, oath keepers, cadets, really anyone with a connection to the military, no matter how tenuous. Was quite cool to see though. Anyway, after this, I headed on over to the Pinball Hall of Fame, one of my favourite places in Vegas. It was just as much fun as last time, even though I still totally suck at pinball. The NBA machine ended up being my favourite this time round, as getting the ball to fly through the hoop was satisfying and actually accomplishable for a bad player like me.
Anyway, after half an hour or so there, it was time to check in at Mandalay, and after a bit of confusion trying to find the self-parking, I was checked in, and got the good news that my coat had arrived! It cost me $53 to get it shipped over from San Diego which, well, I can live with that as my own personal stupidity tax, I'll take it out of my poker winnings. What did annoy me though was that the business centre at Mandalay Bay charged me $10 to pick the coat up, which is cheeky as **** tbh. $35 a night resort fee, and they can't hold onto a package for me for a few hours. VEGAS!
anyway, here is the coat after its adventures
Mandalay Bay is a pretty damn nice hotel, tbh, I think it gets a bit underrated due to its undeniably awful location. But the room rates were pretty comparable to those at the Mirage, and the room quality is a clear step up, particularly with the bathroom. After unpacking my stuff into the new room, it was time for a quick lunch at the Border Grill, where a carne asade quesadilla and a beer really hit the spot. Nothing spectacular, but just very nicely done.
I was meeting JMurder3 at the MGM Grand to play a bi of poker next. I got there a bit before him, so wandered around the casino a while. And then I spotted two machines next to each other, both Quick Hits Platinum, but one with progressive jackpots almost double the value of the other. I double-checked they were the same, had a bit of a consider, and then thought 'hey, let's give it a go, it's got to be pretty close to EV+ given how high the progressives have got'.
Putting in the first $100 was stupid, putting in the second one was idiotic. I came to my senses and cashed out after it had eaten $160 of my money in less than five minutes, and took one last look at the two machines before seeing what I'd been missing. Of course a machine that's 5c a spin has higher jackpots than one that's 1c a spin, you blithering idiot. Another $160 idiot tax to add to the $63 for the coat, Vegas is an expensive place to be an idiot.
Anyway, I then caught up with JM3, and we both got seats at 1/2, and were able to transfer onto the same table fairly quickly. The first hand I got involved in was when I picked up KJo in the CO, and flat called 11 from a guy in MP. The flop came K96hh, he checked, I bet 20 (which I meant to be 15), and he called. The turn was a blank, and he check-raised my bet of 30 to 75, which, ehhh, I really don't see what he plays for value this way - surely a monster wouldn't check a wettish flop, and none of the draws came in. I call, and he shoves his last 80 on a river blank, which I kinda feel I've now obliged myself to call as well. He flips up KQo, which, well, nice hand sir, but that's one hell of a weird line you took with it.
A while later, I get into a hand with JM3, when I call his raise pre with 55, and shove over his cbet on a 743 flop for a total of ~100. He calls and flips up the AA, but the six spikes on the turn to give me the pot. He's very gracious about it (and was a lovely guy to chat to the whole time tbh, was great meeting you!). Fortunately he hit a few hands later and ended up cashing out up $50 or so, which made me feel a bit less guilty about putting that bad beat on him.
I get into one more hand with the old King Jack (sooted this time), when I limp/call 12 from UTG against the same guy who beat me with KQo earlier. The flop comes KQxr, and I check/call 25. The turn is an 8, and goes x/x. The river's a blank, and he bets out 60 when I check to him, I call and get shown AA for the second time today. Not sure if I was too loose preflop there, or if I should get away from that big river sizing (I'd have folded to a turn bet).
Anyway, I cash out $364, having been in for $500, so a $136 loss. Wasn't on my best game really, I don't think, oh well. I said goodbye to JM3, and headed up the strip to the Mirage, where I had tickets for Love (plz don't point out the stupidity of booking the show at the Mirage for the day after I stopped staying t the Mirage, I'm well aware of it). I did take a quick picture of the stage before it started.
Love was really good, it's not really got any particularly impressive stunts, but then it's all about the spectacle. I loved the woman dancing with light projections during While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and the wheeled ladder tricks for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, but really all of it was great. I saw a Cirque show in the Albert Hall before ever seeing one in Vegas, and the big difference really is the stages - when you're able to completely custom-build a stage for a show like this it really does seem to increase the impressiveness of the stuff you can do.
After Love, I was meeting gobbo and DonkDonkDonkDonk at Chada Street for dinner. No photos here (when I'm eating with other people I never think to take them), but the highlights were the crab fat fried rice (generous amounts of crab, I could eat this by the bucket), some delicious meat skewers, and a thing I forget the name of that was a pork dish with thai basil. Beer list was good as well, always nice to see Dogfish Head on tap.
We headed downtown to Fremont Street, as D4 hadn't been there before, and spent a bit of time wandering around taking in the crowds (as you can expect, it was utterly rammed), and pooling our money to hunt slot machine progressives with gobbo, who actually knew what he was doing here. The first one we found was a Volcano slot machine that was just ****ing mad, with eruptions and stampedes of animals and lava flows and a mini-game that encouraged you to wave your hand around on the screen but actually took no notice of how much your hand was waving (this seems dangerous given the amount of drunk people in casinos). We cashed out up $9 and suitably entertained. Unfortunately, the next machine we hit was a ****er that took us for $130 by just failing to hit the bonus rounds over and over again, before then teasing us at the end by getting us to within a whisker of the $500 prize before NOPE, minimum bonus. D4 and I also took advantage of the 'one free ace at blackjack' promo for new players cards at Binions to make a quick $10 back. So overall, I was down about $30 from all of this, but hey, it was a fun time.
D4 and I wanted to play 1/2 at the Golden Nugget, so said goodbye to gobbo (was great seeing you as always), and sat down. Despite playing a pretty long session here, I only took notes on one hand, where I had AKs and raised to 15, getting one caller. I cbet 25 on a J55hh flop, which was caller, and bet another 35 when the Kh came on the turn. He shoved 150 over the top, which was ultimately a pretty easy fold. I remember being down a bit for a while, but eventually cashed out $332 having been in for $360, so a $28 loss.
It was a fun, lively table, though - particularly with one guy who got cut off from alcohol about five minutes after I sat down at the table, and proceeded to whine about it and accuse varying people of 'ratting him out' for the next several hours. While everyone else mocked him. Once it got to about 4am, I called it a night, and headed back to Mandalay.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Overall Trip Position: +$954
Last edited by Bloobird; 11-13-2016 at 03:50 PM.
11-28-2016
, 03:17 PM
Saturday
Waking up on Saturday morning is particularly tricky. My body decides it's morning at 9am, but my mind really isn't ready to function on less than five hours sleep. An hour or so later I give up on trying to get back to sleep, and drag myself downstairs for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel for breakfast, which helps me feel slightly more human. The plan was for today to be a heavy poker day, and I've not played at Mandalay Bay yet, so I take a seat at the 1/2 there.
The first hand I get into doesn't go wonderfully. I get ATo in the BB, and there's an early raise to 10 that's been called once. I figure this is a decent spot to semibluff 3bet, and pop it up to 32, both call. The flop comes QTx, I bet 35, the original raiser (overweight MAWG with a stupid beard) calls, and the other guy folds. The turn comes an Ace, I check (for reasons that escape me now, looking back this should be a clear bet), and he shoves 150 into a pot that's worth about 160. I don't love the spot but call it off, and don't catch one of my four outs against KJ. Probably dug my own hole with the 3bet, I'm still playing a bit too much like I would online.
It's actually quite a good table, though, the two guys down my end are a youngish guy from New York State, who's a somewhat competent player who's decided to LAG it up a bit for fun, and an older guy from Missouri who had a fascinating life story - he'd been a local bookie for years and made stupid money, drank heavily, gambled tonnes, then (in an unclear order), divorced his wife, cut back on the drinking and gambling, got remarried to a woman twenty years his junior, found Jesus, and adopted two Kazakhstani girls. Similarly to Oklahoma in my first session, he was a super friendly guy to talk to, and had some great stories.
An hour or so in, I pick up AJo in the BB, and it limps round to Missouri in the SB. He makes it 12, and I call. An asian shortstack backshoves ~100, Missouri gives it the 'well, you've got me beat but I'll give you action' speech and flat calls, and I literally never have the worst hand against him here, so overshove for a total of 300. He doesn't take long to call, and it's my AJ vs his QJ, and 99 for the shortstack. A Jack hits on the turn, and that's enough for a $700 pot to be pushed my way. That makes up for that first hand. Gotta love live poker when you're putting 100bb in with AJo and not even feeling the slightest tinge of worry.
I get into it with the young LAG next, when I'm holding KK and raise to 15 from UTG, he calls out of the SB, everyone else folds. The flop comes J86dd, and he check/calls 25. The turn is another jack and checks through, and the river is the five of diamonds. He tanks a little then puts out 25, and I feel obliged to call and see J4. An orbit or two later I pick up 99 in the SB, and am the fifth caller of a raise to 15. The flop comes 986dd, I check, and there's a bet of 30 and a call. Unfortunately, no-one wants to give me action on my raise to 90, but that's way too wet a board to flat call on. Ultimately I cash out for $736, having been in the game for $550, so that's a reasonable first session of the day. As with most of the smaller rooms, if you catch a good table it seems like they can be really good, particularly during the day. Guys like Missouri who've got 4-5 hours to kill while their wives get massages or go shopping are the closest thing to the archetypical Vegas tourist fish that you'll see anywhere.
One of the things I wanted to do on this trip that I hadn't done before was to visit a proper American steakhouse and get a really good steak. Given that I had a good amount of resort credit at Mandalay Bay to use up, Stripsteak seemed like the obvious choice. I'd planned this one a little, with the lighter breakfast, so that I should be nice and hungry for a big meal. Unfortunately this worked a little too well, and I devoured most of the pre-meal duck-fat fries they bring you (I am weak). They were so delicious though.
I did regret my gluttony slightly when I then found myself faced with a 16oz ribeye and a big bowl of potato gratin.
Money shot of the inside of the steak - it was perfectly cooked, absolute melt in the mouth texture that I've just not been able to find in even the good London steakhouses I've been to (Hawksmoor, Gaucho...).
Ultimately 16oz was just too much steak for me after those fries. The last 4oz or so had to be forced down but it was so tasty I wasn't going to waste a gram. And definitely not when it was a $60 steak. The gratin was delicious but utterly unnecessary - I barely finished half of it. Solo diners here really could just get a steak and eat the complimentary fries and be OK unless you've got a massive appetite.
Anyway, after this meal I really needed a bit of a walk to aid the digestion, so went on a slow, contentedly bloated wander up to Aria, another room I'd never got around to playing in. I stumbled through the Park by Monte Carlo on my way up there which was...OK, I guess? Seemed a little cold and unfriendly rather than a proper gathering space.
I'd heard good and bad things about Aria's poker room, and I guess both of them were true. The standard of play seemed on average higher, with more competent younger guys who'd clearly learned to play at least semi-aggressively, and less nut-peddling OMCs. And it was a less chatty room, although this seemed very table-dependent, some tables were clearly very loud and there to gamble, others were a lot quieter. But then everything was running super smoothly, and there certainly were a decent number of action players around. The table I got started out quiet, but I figured I'd give it a while and see if it improved, and move on elsewhere if not.
I pick up AKo early on in LP, and there's a button straddle that's been called five ways by the time it makes it to me. I pop it up to 20 and get two customers. The flop comes 433r, and they check it to me, I make it 35 and both call. The turn is a T, and it's again checked to me, I like my chances of getting them off weak pairs here and bet out 75, and both fold.
I chip up a little more with some smallish pots, and then get into a hand with one of the aforementioned semi-aggro younger guys. I raise pre with AJhh, and get two callers. The flop comes T64hh, it's checked to me, I bet out...something, I forget what, get raised by the semi-aggro guy, and figure he's bluffing or semi-bluffing often enough here for a shove to be good. Unfortunately he's sitting on 64o, I don't catch up, and now I'm down about a hundred and fifty. Oops.
A few hands later I find AQo UTG and raise to 15, called by both blinds. The flop comes Q64r, and the callers check to me. I put out 25, and the SB (young guy, stupid hat) shoves. BB quickly folds, and I ask for a count. As soon as I do that, he flips up his own AQ, thinking I said 'call'. The dealer (and some of the other players) did back me up that I'd not called, and fortunately there wasn't any animosity. I guess when it doesn't change any of the action (I'm not folding TPTK to a $100 shove) and you end up chopping it's hard to have too many hard feelings. After trying to chat with him post-hand, it seemed like this guy had massive problems with understanding my accent in general. He was from somewhere in the Deep South, and clearly the Queen's English doesn't fly down there.
A while later I pick up JJ, raise to 18 over a few limpers and get four callers. The flop comes T33hh, and my bet of 30 gets one caller, I've got position on him. We both check when a King hits on the turn, and he checks again when the river is a 6. I figure it's a decent spot for a value bet and put out 35, which he calls and MHIG. Not sure if this even qualifies as thin value really, but I was pleased with the bet there.
A few hands on, I pick up T9cc UTG and limp into a five way pot. The flop comes T97hhd, I bet 10 and get called by the BTN. The turn is the Qd, I bet 20 and get called. The river comes down the Ad, which I don't LOVE, but isn't an awful card for me either. I check/call a bet of 50, and MHIG.
I'm about to call it a night, and I'm playing out of my rack when I pick up AKs UTG+1. After my raise pre, another English guy who's sitting on about $100 shoves all-in. Everyone else folds, I obv make the call, and win a race against nines to claim a nice little pot at the end of my session and turn a small loser into a small winner.
In for $500, out for $589, so another winning day for the ledger.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Day Four Poker Results: +$275
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Overall Trip Position: +$1,229
Waking up on Saturday morning is particularly tricky. My body decides it's morning at 9am, but my mind really isn't ready to function on less than five hours sleep. An hour or so later I give up on trying to get back to sleep, and drag myself downstairs for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel for breakfast, which helps me feel slightly more human. The plan was for today to be a heavy poker day, and I've not played at Mandalay Bay yet, so I take a seat at the 1/2 there.
The first hand I get into doesn't go wonderfully. I get ATo in the BB, and there's an early raise to 10 that's been called once. I figure this is a decent spot to semibluff 3bet, and pop it up to 32, both call. The flop comes QTx, I bet 35, the original raiser (overweight MAWG with a stupid beard) calls, and the other guy folds. The turn comes an Ace, I check (for reasons that escape me now, looking back this should be a clear bet), and he shoves 150 into a pot that's worth about 160. I don't love the spot but call it off, and don't catch one of my four outs against KJ. Probably dug my own hole with the 3bet, I'm still playing a bit too much like I would online.
It's actually quite a good table, though, the two guys down my end are a youngish guy from New York State, who's a somewhat competent player who's decided to LAG it up a bit for fun, and an older guy from Missouri who had a fascinating life story - he'd been a local bookie for years and made stupid money, drank heavily, gambled tonnes, then (in an unclear order), divorced his wife, cut back on the drinking and gambling, got remarried to a woman twenty years his junior, found Jesus, and adopted two Kazakhstani girls. Similarly to Oklahoma in my first session, he was a super friendly guy to talk to, and had some great stories.
An hour or so in, I pick up AJo in the BB, and it limps round to Missouri in the SB. He makes it 12, and I call. An asian shortstack backshoves ~100, Missouri gives it the 'well, you've got me beat but I'll give you action' speech and flat calls, and I literally never have the worst hand against him here, so overshove for a total of 300. He doesn't take long to call, and it's my AJ vs his QJ, and 99 for the shortstack. A Jack hits on the turn, and that's enough for a $700 pot to be pushed my way. That makes up for that first hand. Gotta love live poker when you're putting 100bb in with AJo and not even feeling the slightest tinge of worry.
I get into it with the young LAG next, when I'm holding KK and raise to 15 from UTG, he calls out of the SB, everyone else folds. The flop comes J86dd, and he check/calls 25. The turn is another jack and checks through, and the river is the five of diamonds. He tanks a little then puts out 25, and I feel obliged to call and see J4. An orbit or two later I pick up 99 in the SB, and am the fifth caller of a raise to 15. The flop comes 986dd, I check, and there's a bet of 30 and a call. Unfortunately, no-one wants to give me action on my raise to 90, but that's way too wet a board to flat call on. Ultimately I cash out for $736, having been in the game for $550, so that's a reasonable first session of the day. As with most of the smaller rooms, if you catch a good table it seems like they can be really good, particularly during the day. Guys like Missouri who've got 4-5 hours to kill while their wives get massages or go shopping are the closest thing to the archetypical Vegas tourist fish that you'll see anywhere.
One of the things I wanted to do on this trip that I hadn't done before was to visit a proper American steakhouse and get a really good steak. Given that I had a good amount of resort credit at Mandalay Bay to use up, Stripsteak seemed like the obvious choice. I'd planned this one a little, with the lighter breakfast, so that I should be nice and hungry for a big meal. Unfortunately this worked a little too well, and I devoured most of the pre-meal duck-fat fries they bring you (I am weak). They were so delicious though.
I did regret my gluttony slightly when I then found myself faced with a 16oz ribeye and a big bowl of potato gratin.
Money shot of the inside of the steak - it was perfectly cooked, absolute melt in the mouth texture that I've just not been able to find in even the good London steakhouses I've been to (Hawksmoor, Gaucho...).
Ultimately 16oz was just too much steak for me after those fries. The last 4oz or so had to be forced down but it was so tasty I wasn't going to waste a gram. And definitely not when it was a $60 steak. The gratin was delicious but utterly unnecessary - I barely finished half of it. Solo diners here really could just get a steak and eat the complimentary fries and be OK unless you've got a massive appetite.
Anyway, after this meal I really needed a bit of a walk to aid the digestion, so went on a slow, contentedly bloated wander up to Aria, another room I'd never got around to playing in. I stumbled through the Park by Monte Carlo on my way up there which was...OK, I guess? Seemed a little cold and unfriendly rather than a proper gathering space.
I'd heard good and bad things about Aria's poker room, and I guess both of them were true. The standard of play seemed on average higher, with more competent younger guys who'd clearly learned to play at least semi-aggressively, and less nut-peddling OMCs. And it was a less chatty room, although this seemed very table-dependent, some tables were clearly very loud and there to gamble, others were a lot quieter. But then everything was running super smoothly, and there certainly were a decent number of action players around. The table I got started out quiet, but I figured I'd give it a while and see if it improved, and move on elsewhere if not.
I pick up AKo early on in LP, and there's a button straddle that's been called five ways by the time it makes it to me. I pop it up to 20 and get two customers. The flop comes 433r, and they check it to me, I make it 35 and both call. The turn is a T, and it's again checked to me, I like my chances of getting them off weak pairs here and bet out 75, and both fold.
I chip up a little more with some smallish pots, and then get into a hand with one of the aforementioned semi-aggro younger guys. I raise pre with AJhh, and get two callers. The flop comes T64hh, it's checked to me, I bet out...something, I forget what, get raised by the semi-aggro guy, and figure he's bluffing or semi-bluffing often enough here for a shove to be good. Unfortunately he's sitting on 64o, I don't catch up, and now I'm down about a hundred and fifty. Oops.
A few hands later I find AQo UTG and raise to 15, called by both blinds. The flop comes Q64r, and the callers check to me. I put out 25, and the SB (young guy, stupid hat) shoves. BB quickly folds, and I ask for a count. As soon as I do that, he flips up his own AQ, thinking I said 'call'. The dealer (and some of the other players) did back me up that I'd not called, and fortunately there wasn't any animosity. I guess when it doesn't change any of the action (I'm not folding TPTK to a $100 shove) and you end up chopping it's hard to have too many hard feelings. After trying to chat with him post-hand, it seemed like this guy had massive problems with understanding my accent in general. He was from somewhere in the Deep South, and clearly the Queen's English doesn't fly down there.
A while later I pick up JJ, raise to 18 over a few limpers and get four callers. The flop comes T33hh, and my bet of 30 gets one caller, I've got position on him. We both check when a King hits on the turn, and he checks again when the river is a 6. I figure it's a decent spot for a value bet and put out 35, which he calls and MHIG. Not sure if this even qualifies as thin value really, but I was pleased with the bet there.
A few hands on, I pick up T9cc UTG and limp into a five way pot. The flop comes T97hhd, I bet 10 and get called by the BTN. The turn is the Qd, I bet 20 and get called. The river comes down the Ad, which I don't LOVE, but isn't an awful card for me either. I check/call a bet of 50, and MHIG.
I'm about to call it a night, and I'm playing out of my rack when I pick up AKs UTG+1. After my raise pre, another English guy who's sitting on about $100 shoves all-in. Everyone else folds, I obv make the call, and win a race against nines to claim a nice little pot at the end of my session and turn a small loser into a small winner.
In for $500, out for $589, so another winning day for the ledger.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Day Four Poker Results: +$275
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Overall Trip Position: +$1,229
03-13-2017
, 09:11 AM
Sunday
In all honesty, I started my last full day in Vegas not really feeling it. It didn't help that, when checking my phone after waking up, I realised that my plan to visit Raku for a last-night dinner was destined to fail on account of their not being open on Sundays. Oh well. It also didn't particularly help being down in Mandalay Bay. The hotel itself is lovely, but it really is a long old walk to any other casino worth giving the time of day to (20-30 minutes to Aria or MGM, depending on walking speed and how lost I got in Excalibur (srsly it's a goddamn maze)).
I also found that the south end of the Strip is nowhere near as for walking as the north end. The stretch between Spring Mountain and Harmon (TI/Palazzo down to PH/Cosmo) just seems so much more alive, more fun to wander around, than the southern end. I think Aria being set back a way from the main Strip doesn't help much, even with the new 'Park' thing down by Monte Carlo. Would definitely look to stay back in the north Strip if/when I make it back here.
Anyway, grumbling aside, I had some breakfast to eat, and ended up going for what was a perfectly adequate bowl of char siu noodle soup from the Noodle Bar.
After that I went to go sit back down at Mandalay Bay's 1/2 tables. I had tickets for Zumanity at NYNY later, so didn't want to wander too far north, and given my earlier comments on the low stakes daytime games being broadly similar from place to place, albeit with high variance on the quality of the table you got, I figured there was no point seeking out a particular one for daytime poker, so I might as well play where I was staying.
Although maybe I should have moved. There was a youngish guy playing at Mandalay who proceeded to soul own me for the first hour and a half, playing pretty damn laggy but he had position on me most of the time and I kept missing the flops, or missing my draws. Any time I tried to make a move he went over the top, any time I got sticky with a marginal hand, he had it. I actually changed seats after being down $200 in that 90 minutes so I was sitting to his left. I rarely bother to seat change, but this was one of the few cases where just stopping having to play OOP against him in every damn pot was worth it.
My luck didn't really turn, though. I played a 4 hour session in total, and the only hand that was significant enough for me to take notes on was when I had 65dd in the BB, and called a raise to 10 pre that went four ways to the flop. The flop was KT3dd, and I check/called 30. We went heads-up to the turn, which was a 4 and went check check. I figured it was worth bluffing 55 at a river Q, and was raised all-in by a guy who showed AJo after I folded, good to see someone hit their draw I guess. In for $500, out for $260 in a session where I was just never able to get anything going - the game was OK, but I just never got cards worth a damn. At least the Cowboys/Steelers game was entertaining to watch, particularly since the poker room screens were about 10 seconds ahead of the screens in the sports book, so we got to enjoy the delayed reactions after every big play.
I cashed out my pitiful $9 of comps from Mandalay (hey, I'm not gonna turn down free money, even if it is a laughably small amount) and headed over to the Burger Bar, more driven by the beer menu than the food. I'd heard that this was one of the places in Vegas that occasionally gets Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, which (despite looking) I've never been able to track down a bottle of. Unfortunately there wasn't any around this time, but a bottle of their Flesh and Blood IPA went down very nicely, and the happy hour sliders were decent enough value for $6 (by Strip standards, at least - these couldn't hold a candle to that animal style double double).
After this 'meal', I took a walk down the Strip, and stopped at one of the bars outside Monte Carlo to watch the marathon runners going past. I don't envy them in the slightest, I still have nightmares about school cross-country, and stopped doing any kind of long-distance running the first opportunity I got. Just don't get the appeal in the slightest. A long hike is great, love that, but **** running for 26 miles until everything chafes. Was much happier as the guy sitting at the side of the Strip enjoying a cold beer. Even if they live for another 10 years because of it, I'll enjoy it more.
I still had a few hours before the show, so decided to go check out the poker room at Monte Carlo, which was another one I'd never played in before. Unfortunately, I turned up just as one of their 1/2 tables broke, meaning there were no seats available at the other two. So, to pass the time until a seat came free, I sat down at a 3/6 spread limit game. I had to get the dealer to explain to me exactly how spread limit works, but, eh, how hard can it be?
Well, for a girl who I'll rename Chrissie sitting a few seats to my right, it could be very hard indeed. I don't think I've seen anyone this lost at a poker table who wasn't coma-inducingly drunk. Oh, and to make things weirder, she sounded almost exactly like the dumb blonde one off 2 Broke Girls (my wife watches the odd episode if there's nothing else on and the dark haired girl is quite attractive, DON'T JUDGE ME), and the woman next to her had a strong Eastern European accent (like the, uh, Eastern European one off 2 Broke Girls, I assume these characters have names), so I did feel like I'd stumbled into some awful, awful sitcom. She's reaching for chips in the photo below.
Chrissie had no idea what hand beat what (or even what made up a poker hand), but that was OK, because she would basically decide at the start of each hand whether she was going to play or not, and if she decided to play she was never folding. She lost about $40 at one point calling down with 62o no pair. I won one hand against her betting out every street for value with ace high, but lost another when me and another guy capped betting preflop (I had AKs, he had QQ), but Chrissie flopped the full house. Fortunately I missed my cards, but the guy with queens would have been taken to the cleaners if Chrissie actually understood she had a full house and raised at any point. She'd always bet out if checked to, but never raised someone else's bet. I do literally mean 'always' and 'never' there. She seemed to be having fun though, there was a good bit of table chat going on.
Although, as always in poker, the table had a miserable old git who hates fun, money, and everything really. This guy was an Asian man in at least his sixties who had the seat to my left and was (of course) drinking an absurdly specifically ordered coffee. After Chrissie was beaten again in a hand by a guy she'd had a lot of back and forth banter with, she called him an *******. Old Asian douchebag instantly calls the floor to express his outrage that this kind of language is utterly unacceptable and demand that she be sanctioned. What a ****. He's probably one of those awful players who thinks that anyone not playing 'correctly' is spoiling the game. Fortunately the floor managed to issue the mildest of possible warnings, with the rest of the table staring daggers at the douchebag. ****, it's not even that she's the table fish (again, this is 3/6 spread limit, ain't nobody making money at that game), it's just the level of pettiness and self-righteousness you need to call a floor on someone for the mildest of profanities at ****ing 3/6 limit.
Anyway, shortly after this I got called for 1/2, and left the 3/6 table down about 20. Definitely got my money's worth in entertainment there. The 1/2 table was nothing particularly notable - I played for about 90 minutes and cashed out $354 from a $260 buyin (including the loss at 3/6). The biggest pot I won was a four-way showdown where my AJ high beat both AT high and A7 high. Pity they couldn't bring out the case Ace there.
I wandered over to Zumanity, which was, uh, a weird show to go to as a lone guy tbh. I wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been the only show that I hadn't seen that I could get free tickets for through MyVegas, and while Love blew me away, this was, well, fine. There were a few impressive acts, but less than at the other Cirque shows I've seen, and the whole thing is really set up for couples, as you'd expect. Would probably have loved it if I'd gone with my wife (although if you do go I would strongly recommend balcony seats unless you're happy to be pulled into the performance, I was definitely glad to avoid that one), as it was it was fine, but just a bit too odd to go to on your own. Still, can't argue with free. Have a post-show photo (albeit in spoilers as it's slightly NSFW).
Anyway, after this it was time to head to the Aria for some more poker. I asked for a seat at 1/3, and was told I could have a seat straight away at 'protection poker', which was a new one to me. It seems like one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen a game have - if you've got >66% equity in a pot when you go all-in and lose, you get back 20% of the pot. Just a bizarre idea, and I can't imagine it lasting - surely 90% of the fun in poker is the rush of adrenaline you get when the turn of a card can mean a big win or loss. You just do the rest of the poker stuff in order to have a chance at that rush occasionally without having to give up EV for it. No idea if these 'protected' games would be fishier or not than your average game, but I only played 5-6 hands there before being called for a proper 1/3 game.
I sat down, and was dealt AKs first hand. That wasn't good luck for me at Planet Hollywood. I raise it to 18 over a limper, a youngish guy 3bets to 50, and the limper shoves a total of 53. I'm at $300 effective with the 3bettor, and I guess I could call here, but I don't love playing a big pot OOP when I'll need to check/fold a lot of flops. With the limper's money in the pot, I'm pretty sure a shove is EV+, so that's what I go for, and the youngish guy tanks but eventually makes the call. He's got QQ, and though I turn a wheel draw, the ladies win the race. The shortstack had J8s, which, uh...yeah. Not sure what his plan was there. Anyway, once again I drop $300 with AKs on the first hand at a table, although I feel less bad about this one.
I see more big cards an orbit later when I pick up kings and raise to 15 over a limper, getting two callers. The flop comes QTxcc, I bet 25 and get one caller, the SB. The turn comes another Queen, and he donks out 55. Not sure I'm good enough to fold there despite the strength that shows, so I make the call, and we see an Ace on the river, which I hate. I'd fold to a bet, but it goes check/check and I'm thinking I might be good until he flips over KQo. Maybe this isn't going to be my night.
I win a little bit back with, of all things, J7o in the BB. A limped pot comes with a Jack-high flop, and I get two streets of value from J5s, helped by a second Jack hitting on the river after I checked the turn. A few hands later I look down at Aces UTG and raise it up to 15, and get two callers - a youngish Asian guy and the guy who won a race against me earlier. The flop comes 98xdd, and I bet out 25. The Asian guy raises to 60, the other guy shoves over the top, and my cards are straight into the muck. Asian guy calls it off, and turns out it was the nut flush draw for the young guy vs the Asian's JTdd, so I did actually have some pretty good equity. Fortunately the flush hits on the river, which I guess is results based thinking, but I'll take it!
A few hands later I limp/call 10 with QTss, and flop my own combo draw on J9xss. I call down against a woman who hasn't played many hands and is radiating strength, and hit my flush on the river to crack her aces and win a pretty good pot.
I'd planned to call it a night at about 2am so I got a decent enough night's sleep, as I've got to be fairly coherent as soon as I'm back in the UK. But then the time comes, and I'm feeling like this is a pretty good table where I've got a good chance of getting unstuck for the day, so I keep playing. I pick up A3s in the CO, and raise it up to 15, getting called by the BTN and the BB. The flop comes A83hh, and my bet of 25 is called by the BTN. The turn is an offsuit 4, and BTN calls a bet of 50. The river is a second 4, counterfeiting me, and I check and see a bet of 50 which is just too small for me to fold to. BTN shows me the bad news of AQ.
The next hand of significance is when I pick up my bogey hand of AKs, and raise it pre to 20, getting one caller. The flop comes AQxr, and my bet of 30 is called. The turn is an 8, and he calls another 50. The river J isn't the greatest card in the deck for me, but I bet out another 75, which he calls fairly quickly, and MHIG. Thought that was somewhat thin value on the river there, but maybe not.
It's a bit after 3am when I pick up 87dd in the SB, and call a raise of 12. We go 4 ways to a flop of 872hh, and I check to the raiser, the Asian guy who lost with a combo draw earlier. He bets out 42, and it's called by a woman sitting on about $200. I'd be very surprised to not have the best hand here, and so pop it up to 110. The Asian guy doesn't take long to shove for about 400 total (I cover), and the woman calls reasonably quickly. I'm a little worried about her hand, but confident I'm well ahead of whatever he has, so I call it off, with the total pot being about $1100. The Asian guy cheers and punches the air when a heart comes on the turn, which is probably a bad sign. River is a blank, and both he and the woman turn up flushes - his ace high beats her queen high. I don't normally get too rustled by bad beats at the poker table, but losing a four figure pot when I had ~70% equity did hurt, and I figured I was done for the trip at that point. No way I could keep playing with a level head that night. I cash out $55 from $780 for by far my worst session of the trip.
guess I shoulda been playing protection poker after all
Ultimately it was the first and last hands that did the damage. Win that first race and I'm pretty much even for the session, hold in this last hand and I book a solid winner, but sometimes it doesn't work out. I wander back to Mandalay thinking about how things could have been, and regretting telling my wife that I was up $1200 earlier. I'm sure many others will know that as soon as you tell your wife you're currently up $X from poker, then if the actual win turns out to be anything less than $X, it's a disappointment. Oh well.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Day Four Poker Results: +$275
Day Five Poker Results: -$871
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Final Trip Position: +$358
I mean, if you'd offered me +$600 on poker at the start of the trip I'd have taken it. I'm a rec player with no delusions of anything more than competence, but it's a pity that the worst day was the last one. If you switch Day One and Day Five, I leave Vegas feeling incredible, having turned things around. As it is, I leave a winner but one feeling that it could have been so much more. Take away some bad plays in 2-3 hands, leaving the coat in San Diego and the slot machine stupidity at MGM, and I probably walk out a four-figure winner, but then there's no point looking at things like that.
Last day in Vegas and final thoughts to follow.
In all honesty, I started my last full day in Vegas not really feeling it. It didn't help that, when checking my phone after waking up, I realised that my plan to visit Raku for a last-night dinner was destined to fail on account of their not being open on Sundays. Oh well. It also didn't particularly help being down in Mandalay Bay. The hotel itself is lovely, but it really is a long old walk to any other casino worth giving the time of day to (20-30 minutes to Aria or MGM, depending on walking speed and how lost I got in Excalibur (srsly it's a goddamn maze)).
I also found that the south end of the Strip is nowhere near as for walking as the north end. The stretch between Spring Mountain and Harmon (TI/Palazzo down to PH/Cosmo) just seems so much more alive, more fun to wander around, than the southern end. I think Aria being set back a way from the main Strip doesn't help much, even with the new 'Park' thing down by Monte Carlo. Would definitely look to stay back in the north Strip if/when I make it back here.
Anyway, grumbling aside, I had some breakfast to eat, and ended up going for what was a perfectly adequate bowl of char siu noodle soup from the Noodle Bar.
After that I went to go sit back down at Mandalay Bay's 1/2 tables. I had tickets for Zumanity at NYNY later, so didn't want to wander too far north, and given my earlier comments on the low stakes daytime games being broadly similar from place to place, albeit with high variance on the quality of the table you got, I figured there was no point seeking out a particular one for daytime poker, so I might as well play where I was staying.
Although maybe I should have moved. There was a youngish guy playing at Mandalay who proceeded to soul own me for the first hour and a half, playing pretty damn laggy but he had position on me most of the time and I kept missing the flops, or missing my draws. Any time I tried to make a move he went over the top, any time I got sticky with a marginal hand, he had it. I actually changed seats after being down $200 in that 90 minutes so I was sitting to his left. I rarely bother to seat change, but this was one of the few cases where just stopping having to play OOP against him in every damn pot was worth it.
My luck didn't really turn, though. I played a 4 hour session in total, and the only hand that was significant enough for me to take notes on was when I had 65dd in the BB, and called a raise to 10 pre that went four ways to the flop. The flop was KT3dd, and I check/called 30. We went heads-up to the turn, which was a 4 and went check check. I figured it was worth bluffing 55 at a river Q, and was raised all-in by a guy who showed AJo after I folded, good to see someone hit their draw I guess. In for $500, out for $260 in a session where I was just never able to get anything going - the game was OK, but I just never got cards worth a damn. At least the Cowboys/Steelers game was entertaining to watch, particularly since the poker room screens were about 10 seconds ahead of the screens in the sports book, so we got to enjoy the delayed reactions after every big play.
I cashed out my pitiful $9 of comps from Mandalay (hey, I'm not gonna turn down free money, even if it is a laughably small amount) and headed over to the Burger Bar, more driven by the beer menu than the food. I'd heard that this was one of the places in Vegas that occasionally gets Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, which (despite looking) I've never been able to track down a bottle of. Unfortunately there wasn't any around this time, but a bottle of their Flesh and Blood IPA went down very nicely, and the happy hour sliders were decent enough value for $6 (by Strip standards, at least - these couldn't hold a candle to that animal style double double).
After this 'meal', I took a walk down the Strip, and stopped at one of the bars outside Monte Carlo to watch the marathon runners going past. I don't envy them in the slightest, I still have nightmares about school cross-country, and stopped doing any kind of long-distance running the first opportunity I got. Just don't get the appeal in the slightest. A long hike is great, love that, but **** running for 26 miles until everything chafes. Was much happier as the guy sitting at the side of the Strip enjoying a cold beer. Even if they live for another 10 years because of it, I'll enjoy it more.
I still had a few hours before the show, so decided to go check out the poker room at Monte Carlo, which was another one I'd never played in before. Unfortunately, I turned up just as one of their 1/2 tables broke, meaning there were no seats available at the other two. So, to pass the time until a seat came free, I sat down at a 3/6 spread limit game. I had to get the dealer to explain to me exactly how spread limit works, but, eh, how hard can it be?
Well, for a girl who I'll rename Chrissie sitting a few seats to my right, it could be very hard indeed. I don't think I've seen anyone this lost at a poker table who wasn't coma-inducingly drunk. Oh, and to make things weirder, she sounded almost exactly like the dumb blonde one off 2 Broke Girls (my wife watches the odd episode if there's nothing else on and the dark haired girl is quite attractive, DON'T JUDGE ME), and the woman next to her had a strong Eastern European accent (like the, uh, Eastern European one off 2 Broke Girls, I assume these characters have names), so I did feel like I'd stumbled into some awful, awful sitcom. She's reaching for chips in the photo below.
Chrissie had no idea what hand beat what (or even what made up a poker hand), but that was OK, because she would basically decide at the start of each hand whether she was going to play or not, and if she decided to play she was never folding. She lost about $40 at one point calling down with 62o no pair. I won one hand against her betting out every street for value with ace high, but lost another when me and another guy capped betting preflop (I had AKs, he had QQ), but Chrissie flopped the full house. Fortunately I missed my cards, but the guy with queens would have been taken to the cleaners if Chrissie actually understood she had a full house and raised at any point. She'd always bet out if checked to, but never raised someone else's bet. I do literally mean 'always' and 'never' there. She seemed to be having fun though, there was a good bit of table chat going on.
Although, as always in poker, the table had a miserable old git who hates fun, money, and everything really. This guy was an Asian man in at least his sixties who had the seat to my left and was (of course) drinking an absurdly specifically ordered coffee. After Chrissie was beaten again in a hand by a guy she'd had a lot of back and forth banter with, she called him an *******. Old Asian douchebag instantly calls the floor to express his outrage that this kind of language is utterly unacceptable and demand that she be sanctioned. What a ****. He's probably one of those awful players who thinks that anyone not playing 'correctly' is spoiling the game. Fortunately the floor managed to issue the mildest of possible warnings, with the rest of the table staring daggers at the douchebag. ****, it's not even that she's the table fish (again, this is 3/6 spread limit, ain't nobody making money at that game), it's just the level of pettiness and self-righteousness you need to call a floor on someone for the mildest of profanities at ****ing 3/6 limit.
Anyway, shortly after this I got called for 1/2, and left the 3/6 table down about 20. Definitely got my money's worth in entertainment there. The 1/2 table was nothing particularly notable - I played for about 90 minutes and cashed out $354 from a $260 buyin (including the loss at 3/6). The biggest pot I won was a four-way showdown where my AJ high beat both AT high and A7 high. Pity they couldn't bring out the case Ace there.
I wandered over to Zumanity, which was, uh, a weird show to go to as a lone guy tbh. I wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been the only show that I hadn't seen that I could get free tickets for through MyVegas, and while Love blew me away, this was, well, fine. There were a few impressive acts, but less than at the other Cirque shows I've seen, and the whole thing is really set up for couples, as you'd expect. Would probably have loved it if I'd gone with my wife (although if you do go I would strongly recommend balcony seats unless you're happy to be pulled into the performance, I was definitely glad to avoid that one), as it was it was fine, but just a bit too odd to go to on your own. Still, can't argue with free. Have a post-show photo (albeit in spoilers as it's slightly NSFW).
Spoiler:
Anyway, after this it was time to head to the Aria for some more poker. I asked for a seat at 1/3, and was told I could have a seat straight away at 'protection poker', which was a new one to me. It seems like one of the weirdest gimmicks I've seen a game have - if you've got >66% equity in a pot when you go all-in and lose, you get back 20% of the pot. Just a bizarre idea, and I can't imagine it lasting - surely 90% of the fun in poker is the rush of adrenaline you get when the turn of a card can mean a big win or loss. You just do the rest of the poker stuff in order to have a chance at that rush occasionally without having to give up EV for it. No idea if these 'protected' games would be fishier or not than your average game, but I only played 5-6 hands there before being called for a proper 1/3 game.
I sat down, and was dealt AKs first hand. That wasn't good luck for me at Planet Hollywood. I raise it to 18 over a limper, a youngish guy 3bets to 50, and the limper shoves a total of 53. I'm at $300 effective with the 3bettor, and I guess I could call here, but I don't love playing a big pot OOP when I'll need to check/fold a lot of flops. With the limper's money in the pot, I'm pretty sure a shove is EV+, so that's what I go for, and the youngish guy tanks but eventually makes the call. He's got QQ, and though I turn a wheel draw, the ladies win the race. The shortstack had J8s, which, uh...yeah. Not sure what his plan was there. Anyway, once again I drop $300 with AKs on the first hand at a table, although I feel less bad about this one.
I see more big cards an orbit later when I pick up kings and raise to 15 over a limper, getting two callers. The flop comes QTxcc, I bet 25 and get one caller, the SB. The turn comes another Queen, and he donks out 55. Not sure I'm good enough to fold there despite the strength that shows, so I make the call, and we see an Ace on the river, which I hate. I'd fold to a bet, but it goes check/check and I'm thinking I might be good until he flips over KQo. Maybe this isn't going to be my night.
I win a little bit back with, of all things, J7o in the BB. A limped pot comes with a Jack-high flop, and I get two streets of value from J5s, helped by a second Jack hitting on the river after I checked the turn. A few hands later I look down at Aces UTG and raise it up to 15, and get two callers - a youngish Asian guy and the guy who won a race against me earlier. The flop comes 98xdd, and I bet out 25. The Asian guy raises to 60, the other guy shoves over the top, and my cards are straight into the muck. Asian guy calls it off, and turns out it was the nut flush draw for the young guy vs the Asian's JTdd, so I did actually have some pretty good equity. Fortunately the flush hits on the river, which I guess is results based thinking, but I'll take it!
A few hands later I limp/call 10 with QTss, and flop my own combo draw on J9xss. I call down against a woman who hasn't played many hands and is radiating strength, and hit my flush on the river to crack her aces and win a pretty good pot.
I'd planned to call it a night at about 2am so I got a decent enough night's sleep, as I've got to be fairly coherent as soon as I'm back in the UK. But then the time comes, and I'm feeling like this is a pretty good table where I've got a good chance of getting unstuck for the day, so I keep playing. I pick up A3s in the CO, and raise it up to 15, getting called by the BTN and the BB. The flop comes A83hh, and my bet of 25 is called by the BTN. The turn is an offsuit 4, and BTN calls a bet of 50. The river is a second 4, counterfeiting me, and I check and see a bet of 50 which is just too small for me to fold to. BTN shows me the bad news of AQ.
The next hand of significance is when I pick up my bogey hand of AKs, and raise it pre to 20, getting one caller. The flop comes AQxr, and my bet of 30 is called. The turn is an 8, and he calls another 50. The river J isn't the greatest card in the deck for me, but I bet out another 75, which he calls fairly quickly, and MHIG. Thought that was somewhat thin value on the river there, but maybe not.
It's a bit after 3am when I pick up 87dd in the SB, and call a raise of 12. We go 4 ways to a flop of 872hh, and I check to the raiser, the Asian guy who lost with a combo draw earlier. He bets out 42, and it's called by a woman sitting on about $200. I'd be very surprised to not have the best hand here, and so pop it up to 110. The Asian guy doesn't take long to shove for about 400 total (I cover), and the woman calls reasonably quickly. I'm a little worried about her hand, but confident I'm well ahead of whatever he has, so I call it off, with the total pot being about $1100. The Asian guy cheers and punches the air when a heart comes on the turn, which is probably a bad sign. River is a blank, and both he and the woman turn up flushes - his ace high beats her queen high. I don't normally get too rustled by bad beats at the poker table, but losing a four figure pot when I had ~70% equity did hurt, and I figured I was done for the trip at that point. No way I could keep playing with a level head that night. I cash out $55 from $780 for by far my worst session of the trip.
guess I shoulda been playing protection poker after all
Ultimately it was the first and last hands that did the damage. Win that first race and I'm pretty much even for the session, hold in this last hand and I book a solid winner, but sometimes it doesn't work out. I wander back to Mandalay thinking about how things could have been, and regretting telling my wife that I was up $1200 earlier. I'm sure many others will know that as soon as you tell your wife you're currently up $X from poker, then if the actual win turns out to be anything less than $X, it's a disappointment. Oh well.
Day One Poker Results: +$1,327
Day Two Poker Results: +$41
Day Three Poker Results: -$164
Day Four Poker Results: +$275
Day Five Poker Results: -$871
Other Gambling and Stupidity Tax: -$250
Final Trip Position: +$358
I mean, if you'd offered me +$600 on poker at the start of the trip I'd have taken it. I'm a rec player with no delusions of anything more than competence, but it's a pity that the worst day was the last one. If you switch Day One and Day Five, I leave Vegas feeling incredible, having turned things around. As it is, I leave a winner but one feeling that it could have been so much more. Take away some bad plays in 2-3 hands, leaving the coat in San Diego and the slot machine stupidity at MGM, and I probably walk out a four-figure winner, but then there's no point looking at things like that.
Last day in Vegas and final thoughts to follow.