Primrose for breakfast followed by Aria 1/3.

Let's see what today has to offer.

good luck man, I’m in the 5/5 PLO today wearing a black T and purple sweats if you want to rip a shot or two

Rickroll: too long didn't read haha. Nah but seriously, I don't have any issues with masks at all. I actually even wear it when out on the street.

Anyway, let's have fun instead and end the politics and mask debate. It's Vegas

Pro tip- stop playing poker and just degen with VP. Can't tell you how many trips I made in the past, grind for days, play well etc and there's always one session where you just run terribly and meh F it whole trip ruined. Some of them were still profitable but to me it sucks to grind out 500-1000 7 sessions straight and then have a big loser for 3-5k. Sure you still might be up but did you have fun. Or even worse, get stuck early and spend the rest of the trip trying to grind back.

Poker's a great long run game, but no way I waste a Vegas trip on it these days

I did that last night actually and got absolutely crushed. Down like 4k, some at blackjack but most of it at VP.

Also funny thing, spoke to a host this morning at Park mgm to see if he can comp me a bit more on my losses and he straight up told me I am already over-comped. Hilarious. I have 7 hours at $75 average bet blackjack and $35 000 coin-in at VP + down around 7k total.

agreed, i'll report my post in hopes a mod deletes it

glgl

gotcha

ty, thread is saved

Bellagio conservatory from earlier this morning. Walked over but didn't really feel like playing so went back to the room for a while. Plan is to hit up Aria later tonight and try and stay all night or as long as possible. Very very long way to go to get unstuck.

Sucks. You still have a few days to survive huh? Hate being in that spot, nothing worse than being broke in Vegas. Looks like grinding it is.

Yeah I still have a decent backup left and 4 full days not counting today. I'll manage, it is expected, but also very annoying since I've been running absolute garbage every single trip.

Too bad LHE basically isn't a thing anymore. Eventually when your run good comes back there's no better salve for the soul than mounds of chips that you have to stand up to even see over. Need 8-9 racks to carry your chips to the cage lol.

My day started fairly lazy; woke up around 7:30am with a slight headache, but forced myself to go to the gym which helped remove all such signs. This might also help:



Then went out quickly to buy some clothes at Marshalls - obviously not a high-end store, but it's right across the street and has a decent selection I think. On the way there I got some New York vibes:



After that it was time to find a game. For some reason I really felt like playing at Ceasars, so the choice was already made. Found my way over there and got seated in a new $1-$3 game within 10 minutes. My very first hand was a fun one; it's limped around and I complete from SB with 9c 8d. BB check and we go 5-way to 8h-3d-8c. Considered leading out, but decided to check instead and it checks around.

Turn comes with 5d , and I now lead out $10 into $18. Only one opponent calls, a guy in his 30s who had enquired about playing $2-$5 with floor earlier. River brings the As, and I decided to make a sneaky check. Normally I don't count on others to be their hand, but all draws missed, my hand doesn't look very strong, and if this guy is a $2-$5 player he might try to turn a missed draw into a bluff. He takes the bait and bet $35, which is full pot. I debate a few seconds, but don't really see any worse 8x that I can get value from, so I just call. He says he missed and shows 64dd for the monster-draw on the turn.

Then I fold for a few orbits, while watching the younger player to my right being fairly active with isolating limpers. He has done it 3 times already, and the fourth time he makes it $25 over two limps from HJ. I am in CO with Ac Qs and make it $75. I thought it was very likely I would get this one through, and generally I am trying to play hands like AQ and similar a bit more aggressive than I have done in the past. Anyway, I do not get the desired result as opponent fairly instantly moves all-in when it gets back to him.

The shove is just for $122 more, and there is $282 in the middle after his push I believe. I end up making the call, but it might not be correct given the potodds and that I am very certain I am 30% (against a big pair or AK). Basically I think I made two mistakes in this hand:

1) I don't need to go full 3x on the 3-bet, as I am in position. Something like $63 would have been enough.
2) In a close spot I should "randomize" my decision by calling the push with the suited variants. This off-suit one should probably be a fold.

Anyway, despite an Ace on the river, I did not win. Was pretty much dead after the flop of K-2-2 against his KK. Not an ideal start, but I resolved myself to just forget about it and move on.

We start the climb back to even when I raise QTss to $12 from MP, and get calls from an OMC and an OWC (woman). Flop comes J-T-2 with two diamonds. Checks to me, and I bet $12 again. Probably slightly too low, but not a distaster. OMC calls and woman folds. Turn is another J (no flush), and I still think I can go small for value against pocket pairs between 2-10. So I make it $25, and he thinks about it a bit before folding.

Then I raise Qs Jd from cutoff, and the same woman calls from SB while the rest of the players fold. We see Q-9-5 with two spades. She checks, I bet $12, and she calls. Turn J is a good card, and I size up to $35 (into $51). She once again calls. River comes 8h and she checks again. With 4 to a straight out there, I am not sure what I am getting value from, so I just check it back. She shows A2ss for a missed flush draw and we take it down.

Also won another small pot after defending BB with J6hh against a raise (flopped second pair), before I find 55 from UTG some time later. I raise to $12, and get 3 callers. Flop comes Qc-Js-6c, and I just check it when it gets back to me. Cannot really bluff into 3 others on this board. Everyone checks, and the beautiful 5s lands on turn.

An Israelian player in BB immediately goes for chips and bets $23. This guy said it was his first time in Vegas, and seemed a bit inexperienced with live poker. As of such I think he is the type of player that might have problems letting go of top pair. So I raise it up to $75; a line that must look a bit weird if someone is paying attention. He thinks about it for a few seconds, but end up folding.

The very next hand an active Asian player raises to $15 over a limp from the woman, and I find 9s Ts in the Big Blind. I call, and the woman also calls. We flop an absolute dream with 7s-2s-8h, so we have both an OESD and a flushdraw. I check, woman checks, and the raiser bets $28. I quickly slide out a stack amounting to $100, which in essence sets him all-in as he has only about the same behind. Maybe the raise was slightly big, but it's not like I necessarily have to flip against him here if he has something like pocket Jacks or similar. I obviously don't mind, but getting a pair to fold would be a good result as well. He thinks for a long time, probably a minute at least, before finally looking back at his hand a few times and releasing. Pretty sure I got him off an overpair there.

Also played a few other small pots, ultimately crawling back out of the hole and into a $28 USD profit at Ceasars before leaving. I'll take it given that I dusted off over $200 on the AQ-hand.

(forgot to take any stack pictures)

Since I like to play at random casinos (more about that later), my next choice was this one:



There was a short wait list, so I used that time to get a quick massage - which was awesome. And just as I was getting back to the poker room my name was called for a seat - perfect timing!

The very first hand dealt to me turned out to be the biggest one at Ballys for me. I am in the Big Blind and check my options with Kh 6h after 4 others have limped in. Flop comes Td-6d-3h. I check, a young-ish player who limped in UTG bets $10, an OMC calls, and I call. This call might actually be slightly borderline, but with the backdoor flush and chance to make two pair/trips, I still think it's reasonable.

Turn is one of those good cards for me, the 4 of hearts. I check, UTG bets $25, OMC calls, and I call once again. River comes the lovely Ah, so I make the nut flush. The pot is like $120, however I do think both the Ace and the flush card will be scary for them. Furthermore, UTG tried to check out of turn before realizing I hadn't acted yet, so I don't think I can go too big here. I bet $45, UTG calls instantly, and OMC thinks a bit and folds. I show the winner, and UTG shows he actually had AT for a rivered two pair.

(and yet he was gonna check it, lol):



Immediately up around $100 then, and after that not too much happened. Won a few small ones, lost a few small ones.

One slightly funny hand was when a tight Asian player open-raised to $25 (!) when it folded to him. I am in the Big Blind and look down at 8h 8d. I was almost tempted to just fold, because he only had around $150 behind. But ultimately I couldn't resist the chance to flop a set against him and make him lose his mind with AA/KK. The flop did however only come 7-9-3. I check, he instantly bets $50, I fold face-up and he shows AA (obviously). It's just an absurd way to play AA, where he was bound to win $4 USD - except he found a donkey in the big blind willing to give him a bit more

Only played for 1.5 hours, game was fairly boring, so cashed out +$85 USD. I decided to walk back to the hotel, despite it being fairly chilly outside, but it's not really a long walk at all. On my way here I took a few pictures:

The Cosmopolitan. Sadly not quite baller enough to for a room here with a wrap-around balcony, but maybe in the future:



And if anyone watches the YouTube videos of "Pompsie", then they are hopefully familiar with this legendary hotel. Suffice to say it's not on my list for potential places to stay at:



Plan now is to head out to Resorts World. Might be few tables running (2 running with 8 on list now it seems), but I really want to check it out and I am willing to wait a little bit for a seat if needed. Will obviously post some pictures from there, and hopefully some cool hand histories as well.

Hours played: 19h 25 min
Won/lost: + $509 USD
Hourly rate: + $26.44 USD

$3K loss on $35K of coin in seems brutal, maybe standard on these high volatility type VP, like DDB etc. Damn your due for some premium bands at some point.

Yeah it's pretty insane. Dropped another $400 as we speak waiting for a 1/3 seat. Ah well, I consider myself lucky as my 10th hand on my first trip was quad aces with a kicker for 4k, so it's payback time. Kind of

Lol loss of $400 while waiting for $1/$3 seems brutal.

Story of my life

Stupid but it doesn’t sound so bad if you said you where waiting for $5/$10.

you too, eh?
I'm down like just $600 and scared to go home

You probably don't want to know how much I am down with everything included but again it is an expensive vacation and I only bring money I expect to lose. Its Vegas!

Shots of Jameson and 1/3 at Aria, what could go wrong? Also went over to the handroll sushi place at Cosmopolitan before the session, surprisingly good sushi.

White Russians flowing, stacks are being built, etc.

The casino location formerly known as Stardust is where I have spent my night - and it was an interesting session for sure! Let's get to it.

I took ta taxi over to Resorts World and pretty much immediately (after getting a player's card) jumped into a game. It looked somewhat young and competent at first glance, but in all honestly it wasn't very tough and the two best players left within 30 minutes after I had sat down.

First impression of the room - very big, but clearly too big for the current demand at the moment. There was like 5-6 tables running + a $160 tournament that got 19 players. Chairs were comfortable, table not as cramped as I had thought, and the chips were nice. The only downside is that it was fairly cold in the room, so cold that I had to pull the hoodie over my head at times to stay warmer.

My first winning hand at this casino came when I found Qs Qs and made it $15 over a limp. I got no less than 3 callers, and the dealer spreads out T-7-4 with two hearts. It checks to me and I bet $35. Big blind calls, the rest folds. Turn is a black Ace, he checks and I bet $50. He folds.

Then lost some of these early winnings back, through opening ATo and 77 and getting called by a short stack. In both instances I bet small on flop, only to have him jam for $50-$60 more.

As mentioned above, players were leaving at there was a period where we played 5-handed. During this one, there was a limp from 2nd position, and I limp along from button with T8cc. Could raise, but hardly mandatory with a gap suited connector. Had it been T9s I would have raised for sure. Anyway, 4 players see the flop of Qh-Jd-9h.

Pretty decent flop, and the first limper leads out for $12. That is full pot, and there are too many draws to slow play, so I make it $35. He thinks about it and calls. Turn comes 6d, putting two draws out there. He checks, and I make it $62 (into $82), and he once again calls. River comes with a huge brick, the 3 of clubs. He checks, and I put him all-in for his remaining $160. He thinks for about 20 seconds and then make the call - which is obviously good news for me. He said he had two pair, which I believe (QT?).



Decent start then, and I basically hover around $500-$550 for a long time (bought in for $300). I lost a medium sized pot with two pair vs a flush, but generally was able to chip away in small pots through keeping up decent aggression pre-flop.

I then take a small break to walk around the casino a bit and look around:





But when I come back to the game 15 minutes later, things start going completely off the rails. It starts with UTG, a new player to the table, raise to $20 from UTG. Gigantic sizing, and he looked like the biggest OMC in the world. Big guy, not much hair, wearing a N95-mask. One Asian player calls behind, and I find QQ on the button. Due to the profiling of the UTG-raiser and him being over $400 deep I chose to just call here. Obviously a gigantic mistake, should make it $90 or something all day. BB also calls.

Flop comes 9-8-2 rainbow. BB checks, PFR checks, and the Asian player bets $45. I only call (another mistake?), BB folds, and raiser instacalls. That makes me slightly worried, because it would be typical OMCs to be afraid of 'something' with their huge pairs, thus opting to check-call instead. Turn comes a harmless 5 (don't think anyone has 76) and this time it checks to me. I decided to bet fairly small, $70, to target TT and JJ in case they are out there. At least from the Asian player I think that is a possibility. After I bet, the PF-raiser instacalls my bet. Asian player looks pained, but folds (he later said he had TT).

River comes with a harmless 3 and he checks again. I am honestly very confused and ended up checking back as I though there was a good chance he is pot-controlling with AA/KK. However, he only shows AT off-suit (!) - which is just absurd, although I heard him say that he thought he had ATcc, which would have been a 4-flush on turn.

That explanation makes sense for what it's worth, as the cards they use there look very unusual compared to other rooms in Vegas. Twice the first hour I mistook a Ten for a King, due to the way they were shaped.

Regardless - I have never been so wrong about a player as I was here. If nothing else stack looks nice:



Over $700 here, but things went completely horrible after that. First I doubled up a short stack (who had like $30), then I folded for a while, and observed the guy i thought was an OMC splash around like a madman and often just jamming $150-$200 pre over small raises. He was in almost every pot and seemed to have very little regard for money.

A bit later it folds to me and I raise Qc Td from cutoff to $11. Only the maniacal old guy calls from BB. Flop comes T-9-2 with two diamonds. He checks, and I bet $10. He calls. Turn is a black A, and he leads here for $35. I am a bit puzzled by it, and he doesn't have a ton behind, although I have learned by now that this guy is easily the type who could have called flop with Ace high. I decide to call once and see what he does on river. It comes with a 6 (fills 78 for what it's worth), and he jams his remaining $59.

I am getting almost 2:1 and this guy seems a bit crazy. However, why would he bluff into the preflop-raiser when an Ace comes on turn? It's hard to find logical bluffs, so I end up making the fold. He proudly shows K8 of spades for absolutely nothing all the way. Suicidal in my opinion, and maybe I should have called down - although against any sane player this is likely a fold.

Then comes the pivotal hand, which starts with a limp from 3rd position, and I raise A5cc to $15. Maniac insta-calls from SB, BB calls, and limper calls. We see A-9-3 with one clubs, and it checks around. I chose to just take a card here, as I am either way ahead or way behind.

Turn is a 4; pretty good as I now have a gutshot as well. It checks to me again, and now I want to take down the pot and/or get value from worse. So I bet $30, only to see the manic instantly move all-in for $213 USD total. The other two players fold, and I sigh a bit. My line really doesn't look like an Ace given I checked flop, and he has done these massive jams before as mentioned. But he hasn't been caught in any huge bluffs - apart from the one against me in the medium sized pot above.

I ended up calling - not sure if I like it all that much. Because even if he is going bezerk with.. A7o or something, I am still behind. And there aren't a ton of logical bluffs, although a flushdraw did come in on turn (hearts I think). He shows A3o, river is a K, and I have to send a lot of my stack away to this terrible player. Not a good feeling.

Played for a little longer, while the maniac proceeded to give away chips. In his defense, he was terribly unlucky in some spots, and actually mostly showed up with good hands when he was all-in and called. Obviously would have been useful information to have earlier, but such is life.

I lost a bit more through raising some hands and not finding much success. The maniac showed on me twice when I had opened 66, and he showed KK and AK those two times. So again - although he was splashing around like crazy he usually showed up with something when he wagered his stack. That can be a difficult distinction to make; that just because someone is playing rather absurd pre-flop, doesn't mean that they will do the same post when pots get big.

He eventually went bust though, and I left at the same time with a meager profit of +$56 USD. Not a fun feeling when I was up $400 at one point, but that's poker. Still 4 full days left to actually make good decisions (unlike above), and it was nice checking out Resorts World.

Hours played: 22h 45 min
Won/lost: + $565 USD
Hourly rate: + $24.84 USD

Over-comped? What other luxuries have you received other than a room at NoMad (which would probably be totally empty if you weren't there)?

4 nights comp + $200 resort credit + $200 freeplay. Apparently that covers the 15% of my losses which is the max.