Snap Calls and Craps Rolls - TR 11th - 18th Feb 2019
02-13-2019
, 07:46 PM
I got woken up this morning by what sounded like a jumbo jet taking off in the room, only to realise it was Martin snoring! I'd only gotten three hours sleep but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get back to sleep, jet-lag currently a real killer.
After doing some work emails I decide to head down to the PH poker room to get an early game in. Alas the poker room was totally dead and I checked the Bravo App and it seemed like there were hardly any games running in Vegas at this time.
Me and Martin had agreed to try out Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace today as I've heard really good things about it. So after sorting out LOVE tickets for tonight I head over to Caesars Palace to hopefully get a game going and to put in a few hours before Martin arrives and we go for food. I head out on the strip and as I'm waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see two showgirls there, the ones that walk on the strip and tourists take photos with. One of the showgirls says "Can you take our picture please" and starts to hand me her phone. I respond with "Are you joking?" assuming it was a troll or scam. They both laugh and say "No no, our boss wants us to check in". I gladly take the photo and head on my way down the strip again. Pretty funny and never realised that even the showgirls who walk the strip have bosses?
I arrive at Caesars Palace and get taken to the only $1/$2 seat open. I sit down and look around the table. I must of been at least 35+ years younger than everyone else sat down at the table, no one on there was under 70 years old I would guess. One of the old boys jokingly says to the Poker Manager "Did you get check his ID? You have to be over 65 to sit down here".
Checking the morning news
Kind of knew before I even played my first hand that the game would be terrible and as expected it was a very very tight game. Took about 45 minutes before one of my raises was 3bet, snap fold A
Q and was shown the expected A
A
. But it was the only game running in this area and Martin was coming soonish for the Bacchanal Buffet so decided to stick it out. All the guys were nice enough and apparently all play with each other everyday. No real hands to report on, nothing major. Martin turned up around 1pm and I decided to head to the buffet having made my morning $85 donation to the Vegas pension fund.
We arrive at Bacchanal Buffet and as I said I have heard really good things about it and I was pretty hungry at this point so couldn't wait to get stuck in.
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5 (The healthy round):
Overall buffet was very good and after the first plate I thought I'd seen all the food choices only to realise I'd only actually seen about half. The inevitable post buffet regrets hit pretty hard during the last plate though. We headed back to PH so I could hibernate for a bit. Tonight Me, Martin, Jon, Dan, Pete and Lewis are all heading to watch LOVE at the Mirage. I've seen this show a bunch of times with Martin and really "love" it. I'm really hoping the others will enjoy it as well, will let you know what they think. Until then going for a nap and hopefully a ladder to climb out of the hole a little later.
After doing some work emails I decide to head down to the PH poker room to get an early game in. Alas the poker room was totally dead and I checked the Bravo App and it seemed like there were hardly any games running in Vegas at this time.
Me and Martin had agreed to try out Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace today as I've heard really good things about it. So after sorting out LOVE tickets for tonight I head over to Caesars Palace to hopefully get a game going and to put in a few hours before Martin arrives and we go for food. I head out on the strip and as I'm waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see two showgirls there, the ones that walk on the strip and tourists take photos with. One of the showgirls says "Can you take our picture please" and starts to hand me her phone. I respond with "Are you joking?" assuming it was a troll or scam. They both laugh and say "No no, our boss wants us to check in". I gladly take the photo and head on my way down the strip again. Pretty funny and never realised that even the showgirls who walk the strip have bosses?
I arrive at Caesars Palace and get taken to the only $1/$2 seat open. I sit down and look around the table. I must of been at least 35+ years younger than everyone else sat down at the table, no one on there was under 70 years old I would guess. One of the old boys jokingly says to the Poker Manager "Did you get check his ID? You have to be over 65 to sit down here".
Checking the morning news
Kind of knew before I even played my first hand that the game would be terrible and as expected it was a very very tight game. Took about 45 minutes before one of my raises was 3bet, snap fold A
Q and was shown the expected AA. But it was the only game running in this area and Martin was coming soonish for the Bacchanal Buffet so decided to stick it out. All the guys were nice enough and apparently all play with each other everyday. No real hands to report on, nothing major. Martin turned up around 1pm and I decided to head to the buffet having made my morning $85 donation to the Vegas pension fund.We arrive at Bacchanal Buffet and as I said I have heard really good things about it and I was pretty hungry at this point so couldn't wait to get stuck in.
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5 (The healthy round):
Overall buffet was very good and after the first plate I thought I'd seen all the food choices only to realise I'd only actually seen about half. The inevitable post buffet regrets hit pretty hard during the last plate though. We headed back to PH so I could hibernate for a bit. Tonight Me, Martin, Jon, Dan, Pete and Lewis are all heading to watch LOVE at the Mirage. I've seen this show a bunch of times with Martin and really "love" it. I'm really hoping the others will enjoy it as well, will let you know what they think. Until then going for a nap and hopefully a ladder to climb out of the hole a little later.
Last edited by hutchyw117; 02-13-2019 at 07:57 PM.
02-13-2019
, 08:00 PM
Sadelle’s second attempt at serving up fried chicken:
The first attempt came out with one piece red/pink in the middle so I sent it back.
“Oh yeah!” the barman agreed. “We’ll get ‘em to stick in the oven for a bit, get it cooked right through.”
Err, okay fella, sounds...good? Let’s fade the salmonella one time then.
Chicken was fine, though kind of bland without any spice or seasoning in the coating. $36 with tax and tip feels... well, like standard Vegas I guess!
Before I left the table I confirmed, twice, that I have 1hr 15mins before my seat would be cashed out. I return after exactly 1 hour to be greeted by the Asian lady frantically waving the floor back who’d grabbed my chips. I explained how I was told I had an hour and a quarter and I’ve only been gone an hour.
“But you’ve missed like 4 buttons!” The floor explained. I was puzzled.
“Sure, but...then tell me I can miss 4 buttons rather than an hour and a quarter!”
He rolled his eyes and let me take my seat back like he was doing me a huge favour. Back in the mixer!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The first attempt came out with one piece red/pink in the middle so I sent it back.
“Oh yeah!” the barman agreed. “We’ll get ‘em to stick in the oven for a bit, get it cooked right through.”
Err, okay fella, sounds...good? Let’s fade the salmonella one time then.
Chicken was fine, though kind of bland without any spice or seasoning in the coating. $36 with tax and tip feels... well, like standard Vegas I guess!
Before I left the table I confirmed, twice, that I have 1hr 15mins before my seat would be cashed out. I return after exactly 1 hour to be greeted by the Asian lady frantically waving the floor back who’d grabbed my chips. I explained how I was told I had an hour and a quarter and I’ve only been gone an hour.
“But you’ve missed like 4 buttons!” The floor explained. I was puzzled.
“Sure, but...then tell me I can miss 4 buttons rather than an hour and a quarter!”
He rolled his eyes and let me take my seat back like he was doing me a huge favour. Back in the mixer!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
02-13-2019
, 08:47 PM
Deploying a vodka-watermelon in support of this request.
Was up to around 450 until tight opener 15, I call btn with KJ and blinds call. Flop J96dd check to me I bet 35. Sb calls with 90 behind. Turn 9. Check to me I put him in, he sighcalls, river 6, he’s got 97o
lovely peeling, chap! Dan and I are in agreement that there’s an awful lot of top-of-range sigh-calling going on around the place this week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
02-14-2019
, 01:43 AM
Cheers for all the comments, tips, and love, we appreciate it!
So I started the new 1/3 game at 10.30am and only left at 7.30pm, coming out a $105 winner. All things considered with how yesterday went, I’m pretty content with elapsing a day without losing further cash (indeed, booking a small win!)
It was a session where I couldn’t really build up any momentum - I’d win a few pots and start to build a stack and then be involved in some dumb spot where I’d give a bunch back. Later on in the session I started on the vodka watermelons and went for a seat change to spook the RNG into giving me some rungood.
It actually worked well: about 4 hands after moving I get 2 streets of value with KK on QJxhhxAh (anti-gin river card) and win another medium one with AK. I got up to around 530 when I lost a large-ish one in daft fashion. Here’s my moan to Tom and Dan which includes the hh:
David Levi, an apparent reg in the Bellagio and generally loud and pseudo-friendly (kind of funny and nice but really straddling the line between that and just being a dick) wandered down from the high stakes area and dropped a yellow chip in an empty seat at one point. He gave some good action for about 4 hands before getting up and taking relentless phone calls and roaming the room instead of playing.
For the last hour or so I was more into chatting it up with some friendly old boys at the table who had plenty to say and good stories and after all said and done I managed to muster a $103 win in the end - which I’ll definitely take at this juncture.
Took a celebratory beer in here with Dan and Jon afterwards:
Most of the guys are seeing LOVE tonight at the Mirage but I’ve seen it twice so am going to kill time/roll dice/grind pai gow in the Mirage until they’re done.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So I started the new 1/3 game at 10.30am and only left at 7.30pm, coming out a $105 winner. All things considered with how yesterday went, I’m pretty content with elapsing a day without losing further cash (indeed, booking a small win!)
It was a session where I couldn’t really build up any momentum - I’d win a few pots and start to build a stack and then be involved in some dumb spot where I’d give a bunch back. Later on in the session I started on the vodka watermelons and went for a seat change to spook the RNG into giving me some rungood.
It actually worked well: about 4 hands after moving I get 2 streets of value with KK on QJxhhxAh (anti-gin river card) and win another medium one with AK. I got up to around 530 when I lost a large-ish one in daft fashion. Here’s my moan to Tom and Dan which includes the hh:
David Levi, an apparent reg in the Bellagio and generally loud and pseudo-friendly (kind of funny and nice but really straddling the line between that and just being a dick) wandered down from the high stakes area and dropped a yellow chip in an empty seat at one point. He gave some good action for about 4 hands before getting up and taking relentless phone calls and roaming the room instead of playing.
For the last hour or so I was more into chatting it up with some friendly old boys at the table who had plenty to say and good stories and after all said and done I managed to muster a $103 win in the end - which I’ll definitely take at this juncture.
Took a celebratory beer in here with Dan and Jon afterwards:
Most of the guys are seeing LOVE tonight at the Mirage but I’ve seen it twice so am going to kill time/roll dice/grind pai gow in the Mirage until they’re done.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
02-14-2019
, 05:04 AM
02-14-2019
, 05:11 AM
Quote:
Round 5 (The healthy round):
Overall buffet was very good and after the first plate I thought I'd seen all the food choices only to realise I'd only actually seen about half. The inevitable post buffet regrets hit pretty hard during the last plate though.
Overall buffet was very good and after the first plate I thought I'd seen all the food choices only to realise I'd only actually seen about half. The inevitable post buffet regrets hit pretty hard during the last plate though.
Quote:
Sadelle’s second attempt at serving up fried chicken:
The first attempt came out with one piece red/pink in the middle so I sent it back.
“Oh yeah!” the barman agreed. “We’ll get ‘em to stick in the oven for a bit, get it cooked right through.”
Err, okay fella, sounds...good? Let’s fade the salmonella one time then.
Chicken was fine, though kind of bland without any spice or seasoning in the coating. $36 with tax and tip feels... well, like standard Vegas I guess!
The first attempt came out with one piece red/pink in the middle so I sent it back.
“Oh yeah!” the barman agreed. “We’ll get ‘em to stick in the oven for a bit, get it cooked right through.”
Err, okay fella, sounds...good? Let’s fade the salmonella one time then.
Chicken was fine, though kind of bland without any spice or seasoning in the coating. $36 with tax and tip feels... well, like standard Vegas I guess!
02-14-2019
, 09:44 AM
Hey TwoPlusTwo,
Thanks for all the nice comments so far!
So after the post buffet hibernation I woke up like a bear after a long winter. Bit groggy but ready for the summer of action ahead. I actually managed to get about 4 hours sleep in which is the longest stretch I'd put together since arriving here.
I woke up about 40 minutes before me and Martin had to head over to the Mirage for LOVE so just chilled a bit and got ready. Had to make a couple of different trips back to the room from the Casino floor as I firstly forgot contact lenses, then managed to put the contacts in the wrong eyes and third time lucky got it right. Gonna blame that one on the post nap groggyness.
Me and Martin head over to the Mirage and arrive around 21:15 for the 21:30 showing of Love. We meet Dan, Jon, Pete, Lewis and Joe at a bar near the theatre and when it was time to go in we leave Joe at a Craps table and head in. I think this is the 4th or maybe 5th time I have seen Love but the last time I saw it was a couple of years ago now so was quite excited to see it again. As in previous years the show didn't disappoint and is still hands down best show in Vegas imo.
Jon, Pete, Dan and Lewis also seemed to enjoy it and all said it was value for money despite all of them taking some small naps during it
After Love we meet up with Joey again and decide to all head to a Sky Bar for a drink. Another of Joey's recommendations before Vegas was to visit the Sky Bar at Waldorf Astoria so this is what we locked in and headed down the strip towards the Aria.
Token fountain photos on the way:
After a bit of a mission we eventually find the entrance to Waldorf Astoria and all head up to the 23rd floor where the Sky Bar is located. The bar was pretty quiet and we literally got the best seats in the house.
(Picture doesn't do the view justice)
A round of cocktails and beers later and we're ready to head out. Someone asked the friendly waitress where we should go next and she recommended visiting On The Record in MGM Park which was next door. She said that Wednesday was locals night and that there would be a good vibe so it was pretty much decided for us. Joey made his CCR hat-trick by losing the round of drinks again, guess the EV is finally leveling out!
And the standard Moet vending machine (as you do)
We head over to the MGM Park (Previously Monte Carlo), think one of the only few Vegas casinos I have never been in before. Arrive at On The Record and watch on as Pete uses his master negotiation skills to bring the entrance fee from $30 to $20 per person. We all enter and get a drink in. The club was really cool actually but we were all kind of expecting more of a quiet bar type place and at least for me wasn't really drunk enough for a club. Few drinks down the hole seemed to help things though.
On The Record seemed to have two areas. The main dance floor with a really cool Rolls Royce themed DJ booth:
The club also had a outside area which had a British theme. The DJ booth and bar were in a big red double decker bus and to enter you needed to go through a British red phone box. I'm not sure if it was just because we had just seen Love or because Gordon Ramsay was on our room key but I always find it amazing how much British themed stuff is in the US. The outside area music was really great as well.
A few drinks later me, Joey and Martin decide to head out of the club onto the Casino floor for a little gamble. We left the other three to stay for a dance. Joey, me and Martin fairly quickly eye up a potentially good craps table for our evening gamble and all buy in for the standard $100. We joined the table during a guys mid-heater roll and this guys heater didn't stop after we joined the table either. Fairly quickly we'd got back the $80 or so we had staked on his roll and were freerolling. He craps out fairly soon after breaking even though. Next up was our boy Joey and he also didn't disappoint. Hitting the point once and 8, 10 and 6 a bunch of times. After a good roll Joey rolls a 7 and gets a well deserved applause from the table. Next up should have been Martin but he wasn't feeling the roll so passed it onto me. As I've said in previous posts I always feel a bit jinxed in Craps and normally prefer to pass the roll on myself but this time I felt something different and felt a Craps confidence I have not felt before. My turn to show the Craps gods who is the boss I thought as I literally roll a 7 on my very first roll after getting the point number, FML. After that it felt like the magic was over and I decided to cash out my small profit of $85 (pays for my poker loss earlier in the day). By this time it was 3am and On The Record which Dan, Pete and Lewis were still in was closing so they headed over to the Craps table to meet us. Joey and Martin kept playing Craps and Lewis and Pete took my empty spot at the table while me and Dan had a chat at a slot machine near by. I don't think the rolls after I left went very well though and it wasn't very long before we were heading out of MGM Park back towards PH. We say bye to Dan and Joe as they head to the Bellagio. I was still too full from the buffet earlier but watch on as the others smash up a Earl and we all head to bed around 4am. It's nearly 6am now and I'm not really that tired but will try and get some sleep in so on a semi normal sleeping pattern. I think the plan tomorrow seems to be head to Fremont Street, get some drinks in fairly early on, play the $50 Golden Nugget donkament with a bunch of side bets between us all and hopefully have a a table full ofof us on the final table. Til then!
Thanks for all the nice comments so far!
So after the post buffet hibernation I woke up like a bear after a long winter. Bit groggy but ready for the summer of action ahead. I actually managed to get about 4 hours sleep in which is the longest stretch I'd put together since arriving here.
I woke up about 40 minutes before me and Martin had to head over to the Mirage for LOVE so just chilled a bit and got ready. Had to make a couple of different trips back to the room from the Casino floor as I firstly forgot contact lenses, then managed to put the contacts in the wrong eyes and third time lucky got it right. Gonna blame that one on the post nap groggyness.
Me and Martin head over to the Mirage and arrive around 21:15 for the 21:30 showing of Love. We meet Dan, Jon, Pete, Lewis and Joe at a bar near the theatre and when it was time to go in we leave Joe at a Craps table and head in. I think this is the 4th or maybe 5th time I have seen Love but the last time I saw it was a couple of years ago now so was quite excited to see it again. As in previous years the show didn't disappoint and is still hands down best show in Vegas imo.
Jon, Pete, Dan and Lewis also seemed to enjoy it and all said it was value for money despite all of them taking some small naps during it
After Love we meet up with Joey again and decide to all head to a Sky Bar for a drink. Another of Joey's recommendations before Vegas was to visit the Sky Bar at Waldorf Astoria so this is what we locked in and headed down the strip towards the Aria. Token fountain photos on the way:
After a bit of a mission we eventually find the entrance to Waldorf Astoria and all head up to the 23rd floor where the Sky Bar is located. The bar was pretty quiet and we literally got the best seats in the house.
(Picture doesn't do the view justice)
A round of cocktails and beers later and we're ready to head out. Someone asked the friendly waitress where we should go next and she recommended visiting On The Record in MGM Park which was next door. She said that Wednesday was locals night and that there would be a good vibe so it was pretty much decided for us. Joey made his CCR hat-trick by losing the round of drinks again, guess the EV is finally leveling out!
And the standard Moet vending machine (as you do)
We head over to the MGM Park (Previously Monte Carlo), think one of the only few Vegas casinos I have never been in before. Arrive at On The Record and watch on as Pete uses his master negotiation skills to bring the entrance fee from $30 to $20 per person. We all enter and get a drink in. The club was really cool actually but we were all kind of expecting more of a quiet bar type place and at least for me wasn't really drunk enough for a club. Few drinks down the hole seemed to help things though.
On The Record seemed to have two areas. The main dance floor with a really cool Rolls Royce themed DJ booth:
The club also had a outside area which had a British theme. The DJ booth and bar were in a big red double decker bus and to enter you needed to go through a British red phone box. I'm not sure if it was just because we had just seen Love or because Gordon Ramsay was on our room key but I always find it amazing how much British themed stuff is in the US. The outside area music was really great as well.
A few drinks later me, Joey and Martin decide to head out of the club onto the Casino floor for a little gamble. We left the other three to stay for a dance. Joey, me and Martin fairly quickly eye up a potentially good craps table for our evening gamble and all buy in for the standard $100. We joined the table during a guys mid-heater roll and this guys heater didn't stop after we joined the table either. Fairly quickly we'd got back the $80 or so we had staked on his roll and were freerolling. He craps out fairly soon after breaking even though. Next up was our boy Joey and he also didn't disappoint. Hitting the point once and 8, 10 and 6 a bunch of times. After a good roll Joey rolls a 7 and gets a well deserved applause from the table. Next up should have been Martin but he wasn't feeling the roll so passed it onto me. As I've said in previous posts I always feel a bit jinxed in Craps and normally prefer to pass the roll on myself but this time I felt something different and felt a Craps confidence I have not felt before. My turn to show the Craps gods who is the boss I thought as I literally roll a 7 on my very first roll after getting the point number, FML. After that it felt like the magic was over and I decided to cash out my small profit of $85 (pays for my poker loss earlier in the day). By this time it was 3am and On The Record which Dan, Pete and Lewis were still in was closing so they headed over to the Craps table to meet us. Joey and Martin kept playing Craps and Lewis and Pete took my empty spot at the table while me and Dan had a chat at a slot machine near by. I don't think the rolls after I left went very well though and it wasn't very long before we were heading out of MGM Park back towards PH. We say bye to Dan and Joe as they head to the Bellagio. I was still too full from the buffet earlier but watch on as the others smash up a Earl and we all head to bed around 4am. It's nearly 6am now and I'm not really that tired but will try and get some sleep in so on a semi normal sleeping pattern. I think the plan tomorrow seems to be head to Fremont Street, get some drinks in fairly early on, play the $50 Golden Nugget donkament with a bunch of side bets between us all and hopefully have a a table full ofof us on the final table. Til then!
Last edited by hutchyw117; 02-14-2019 at 09:57 AM.
02-14-2019
, 04:24 PM
A fair bit to update on from last night but can also be summarised by continued distribution of tourist dollars into the local economy.
Currently at 2/5 Gelato with Dan trying to run it up in a lively game. Plans this afternoon for the whole crew to hit up the $50 tournament at the Nugget downtown!
For now though, deal me a winner!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Currently at 2/5 Gelato with Dan trying to run it up in a lively game. Plans this afternoon for the whole crew to hit up the $50 tournament at the Nugget downtown!
For now though, deal me a winner!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
02-14-2019
, 05:10 PM
ROFL! That's hilarious!
How much was it?
What's your craps method? In my early years I rolled like a madman and all I had to do was bet on anything but Don't. I had way more than my fair share of hot rolls, so I figure that's over with for my lifetime. These days I just plunk chips on Pass or Don't Pass and hope I win. Doesn't work very well.
edit: FYI There's a WSOP Circuit event starting Friday at the Rio.
How much was it?
Quote:
A few drinks later me, Joey and Martin decide to head out of the club onto the Casino floor for a little gamble. We left the other three to stay for a dance. Joey, me and Martin fairly quickly eye up a potentially good craps table for our evening gamble and all buy in for the standard $100. We joined the table during a guys mid-heater roll and this guys heater didn't stop after we joined the table either. Fairly quickly we'd got back the $80 or so we had staked on his roll and were freerolling. He craps out fairly soon after breaking even though. Next up was our boy Joey and he also didn't disappoint. Hitting the point once and 8, 10 and 6 a bunch of times. After a good roll Joey rolls a 7 and gets a well deserved applause from the table.
edit: FYI There's a WSOP Circuit event starting Friday at the Rio.
02-15-2019
, 05:35 AM
Blimey, a lot has happened since my last update. I think I left things after grinding all day at the Bellagio for a $103 win and waiting around for the group to come out of Love in the Mirage. I spewed off 100 in the electronic craps machine which was frankly just a bit annoying because I might as well have just played real craps if I’m going to incinerate $100.
Shortly before the guys came out from Love I won a few hands of free bet blackjack to recoup $40. We headed to the Sky Bar in Waldorf Astoria as described by Tom where I made it three CCR losses on the bounce. It really sucks losing these at Vegas drink prices.
The place we went to, On The Record in Park MGM was cool, but I think generally we could have benefited from having had a few more drinks beforehand. It wasn’t long before I was putting the feelers out to go find a craps table. Tom and Martin joined me.
We joined just as a guy was in the midst of a very hot roll, and he had around $8k in front of him. Politely waiting until he hit the next point to drop our money in, we were soon feeling the benefit of his heat. He 7’d out soon though, and I was up next and finally put together a respectable roll of 8 or 9 throws.
Ultimately though, things ended in bankruptcy but my $300 loss felt less severe compared to the guy next to me whose $8k had become $0k and was taking out a $5k marker from the house to embrace the $13k swings.
I had $30 left in a green and red chip from craps and told Tom and Dan I was going to drop it on a number at roulette. I headed to the nearest wheel and slid my passport to the dealer along with $30 and a declaration of “11, please!”
She basically ignored me, then span the ball, then ordered no more bets without having processed or acknowledged my hole-escape attempt. I don’t have to finish this story in order for you to know where the ball lands. Other guys at the table protested on my behalf that my bet should stand but I just grimaced ruefully in the knowledge that this is exactly how things are going so far.
Gambling morale was very low after this as we headed back to the Bellagio to a 4am bedtime. It seemed like nobody could do anything right, there was no heat anywhere, and Vegas was just handing our arse to us on plates. My running total is around -$1.1k for all gambling activity... must do better.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Shortly before the guys came out from Love I won a few hands of free bet blackjack to recoup $40. We headed to the Sky Bar in Waldorf Astoria as described by Tom where I made it three CCR losses on the bounce. It really sucks losing these at Vegas drink prices.
The place we went to, On The Record in Park MGM was cool, but I think generally we could have benefited from having had a few more drinks beforehand. It wasn’t long before I was putting the feelers out to go find a craps table. Tom and Martin joined me.
We joined just as a guy was in the midst of a very hot roll, and he had around $8k in front of him. Politely waiting until he hit the next point to drop our money in, we were soon feeling the benefit of his heat. He 7’d out soon though, and I was up next and finally put together a respectable roll of 8 or 9 throws.
Ultimately though, things ended in bankruptcy but my $300 loss felt less severe compared to the guy next to me whose $8k had become $0k and was taking out a $5k marker from the house to embrace the $13k swings.
I had $30 left in a green and red chip from craps and told Tom and Dan I was going to drop it on a number at roulette. I headed to the nearest wheel and slid my passport to the dealer along with $30 and a declaration of “11, please!”
She basically ignored me, then span the ball, then ordered no more bets without having processed or acknowledged my hole-escape attempt. I don’t have to finish this story in order for you to know where the ball lands. Other guys at the table protested on my behalf that my bet should stand but I just grimaced ruefully in the knowledge that this is exactly how things are going so far.
Gambling morale was very low after this as we headed back to the Bellagio to a 4am bedtime. It seemed like nobody could do anything right, there was no heat anywhere, and Vegas was just handing our arse to us on plates. My running total is around -$1.1k for all gambling activity... must do better.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
02-15-2019
, 11:44 AM
Hey TwoPlusTwo,
I woke up yesterday to a strange tapping sound on the window. Open the curtains only to find a wet and grey Vegas looking back at me!!
I've been to Vegas when it has rained before but this was the worse rain in Vegas I'd seen anyway. Dan messages and suggests that we head to the Aria Cafe for breakfast so that's exactly what me, him, Jon and Joey do. A quick wet dash across to the Aria:
Food is good. I ordered a strawberry smoothie and the breakfast sandwich but replaced the egg and avocado with sausages which the others at the table found pretty funny. "Egg and avocado are the main bit!" Joey shouts at me.
Duncs arrives and predictably we end up at a Craps table again. Didn't really feel it but Duncs and Joey loaded up. Me, Jon and Dan left them to check out what was happening at the Aria Poker room. All the tables were full again and sitting around on the waiting list for 30 minutes didn't seem that appealing so me and Jon headed back to PH to try and jump in the game there. We left Dan at the Aria who joined a $2/$5 game and Joey followed Dan into the $2/$5 game as there was a massive whale on the table. I'll let Joey post about this session but this was the text I got sent about it:
Me and Jon jumped in the PH 1/2. Not really any interesting hands for me to report on tbh. The PH games seem a little dead during the day but I guess that's the same everywhere in Vegas, I think I played well though. As I said in my previous post we had all agreed to head to downtown to play the 3pm daily $50 Golden Nugget Donkament for a bit of fun. So I cash my $127 profit in from the morning PH session and me and Jon grab a Uber over to downtown.
It took us a little longer than expected to get there and you needed to register for a Casino card to play in tourney so in the end me and Jon late registered about 15 minutes late. Everyone in the group was here apart from Joey and Dan who couldn't leave the $2/$5 whale at the Aria and for Martin who decided he didn't really fancy a tourney and decided to punt his money in electronic craps instead:
In for $200 and out for $900
Back to the tourney. We stump up the $50 only to find out that Golden Nugget take $17 of that as rake!!
So basically playing a $33+$17 tourney which I found fairly insane but is just for fun and drinks I guess. I sit down at my table which also includes Duncan and Pete (It was Pete's first ever live tourney in a Casino).
Let's gogo:
I have to say that the level of play in this field was beyond horrendous and I think it was the first live tourney for about half the field! Fairly early on I manage to get it all in with AA v QQ v QT all in pre flop. Board runs out AT2Q2 for a nice little early triple up. It was quite funny because the woman who had called off with QT was screaming "Ten, Ten, Ten" as the turn and river card were being dealt. I confirmed to the dealer that he can give her what she wanted.
We saw this tourney as a pay $50 and to drink as much as you can for free as fast as possible. Sex on the Beaches were flowing for me. And I was probably having the most fun I've had so far in Vegas.
Pete made a very questionable play. A bald very loud drunk guy who Duncs dubbed as Bald Jesus saw a river with Pete and bet 1500, Pete shoves all in for 1800 total, bald Jesus makes the call for 300 more with top pair and Pete turns over the Q high bluff, GG. Another very funny hand was when there had been a raise from MP and a few players call. The Flop came AK3r and the old guy who had been in the SB just donk leads rips all in for like 5k into the 1k pot. This guy had been playing sooo tight I'd not even really noticed him sat there for the last 45 minutes and now he's over bet shipping, I assumed he had quad Aces. The lady next to act makes the tank call with A6o and the old boy turns over KJo?? Waited 45 minutes to play a hand, flops middle pair, ****s himself and rips it in lol.
Dan and Joe arrive from the Aria at this point and late reg in. Dan joins our table and one of another tables breaks so Tom also joins our table. Fairly soon after Tom joined the table bald Jesus spills a full glass of hot tea all over Tom's cards, chips (and hands). Rather than moving us to a new table the floor staff give it a little mop up with some tissues and Tom is left to play the rest of the tourney in a puddle of cold tea Bald Jesus doesn't even blink and just goes straight back to his massage.
It doesn't seem to slow Tom down though as Duncan ships from EP with A8s, Tom makes the call with the 77 and the board runs out fairly brutal for Duncs, A896T. Not soon after that Dan ships all in and Tom makes the call with the old trusted Q3o from the BB. Dan shows QJ but the 3 in the window card is bad news for him as he busts to the hands of Tom as well. Jon was also on our table now and on my direct right. It was folded to him in the SB and he looks down at one card and ships all in. I look down at a 2 as my first card and slowly squeeze out the Ace as the second for A2o. Fairly brutal spot I thought because the one card Jon looked at is most likely a Ace or King. If it's a Ace then I'm crushed and a King and I'm probably not in amazing shape either. Blinds were high though and it was only about 1/4 of my stack so I decide to make the call and he shows K9o (phew) and we hold. Blinds increased and the final table seemed to come around fairly quickly. 4 out of the 10 from our group who entered had made the final table which was a great result to say we were playing just for fun and drinks. 39 buyins into the tourney meant that top 4 of the tourney get paid (1st $515, 2nd $386, 3rd $257, 4th $129).
Final table time!
Tom kept his run good alive on the Final Table as well. Shipping all in with K6s from UTG with about 6bbs only to run into the BBs Aces. Somehow manages to hit the magic runner runner backdoor flush lol. Two hands later he limps the SB with QQ to trap and bald Jesus in the BB just rips it all in. (I have to say that after downing about 10 straight whiskeys bald Jesus wasn't doing great by this stage and had spent most of the final table puking in the toilet). Anyway, Bald Jesus had a legit hand here with JJ but was no match for Tom's QQ and another player was out. I got it all in with 88 vs shortstackers AK and won the flip to bust another player. At this stage we were 5 handed, 4 Brits and 1 American left. The American guy found the whole experience and British invasion quite funny. We all decided just to throw $10 into the middle so that 5th place would get $50 and would get some sort of cash.
Drinks were still flowing and I still had a very healthy chip stack at this stage, was having a great time. I then raised UTG+1 with AKo, Lewis defends his BB. The Flop comes 5T3r and I decide to cbet and Lewis calls. Turn is what I think is the dream card for me... K... Lewis checks, I ship all in and Lewis snap calls and turns over the K5o
Lost a chunk there and was now the short stack and looking like I was going out in 5th.
But by this stage the blinds were so high it was already a craps shoot. I stole a few blinds and built my stack up a little more. The only remaining American guy gets it in all in vs Chris on T56, Chris has AT and the American guy has 74cc. Turn comes Qc which gives the American guy a backdoor flush draw and even more outs but he bricks out! Pretty sick that only four people cash in this tourney and all four were from our group. Not sure if the daily Golden Nugget tourneys appear on Hendon Mob database? But would love to see those four English flags if it does!
And then there were four:
Chris was the chip leader four handed and increased his stack even more when he got it all in vs Lewis with AT v AJ on TxxAx. We were down to three handed, me, Chris and Tom. I was the short stack of the table and there was discussion to chop the prize pool but we decided in the end that it would just be more fun to play it out. Fairly early on after making this decision Tom ships from the BTN and I look down at KJo in the BB. By this stage the blinds and antes were very high and decided to call it off. Luckily Tom had KT and we held for a nice double up and to put me about level in chips with him now.
After abit of a three handed battle of back and forth Tom ships it all in from the BTN with QJo and is called by Chris's AK in the SB. Chris holds and we're heads up!
Me vs the wizard!
We play HU for about 20 minutes, I had about 60k in chips to Chris's 140k. I limp the BTN with KQo, Chris jams all in and I make the call. Chris turns over Q8o to give me a good chance to double up. Board runs out 457.... J... 6 and it's GG.
Won $386 for my troubles and had about 15 Sex on the beach cocktails for free so seemed like great value!
After calculating my Poker P&L for the trip after this win I was very happy to find out I was officially out of the poker hole for the trip now and up a massive $26! While we were final tabling the ones of the group who had busted had gone to see Mike The Hammer. While we waited for that show to finish me, Chris and Dan play our $10 matched chip you get when you first sign up to the Golden Nugget. We all wonder over to the BJ table and put $10 on plus the $10 matched chip. Me and Chris continue our run good and both peel in 20s vs the dealers 3. Dan stands on 14 and the dealer busts. Another $20 profit each for the team for the night, things do seem to be turning around for the group. We meet the others of the group after they're done with Mike the Hammer and go for another Joey recommended dinner. I'll let Joey update you on the rest though.
Overall very fun day though! Profitable as well, I think everyone in the group had a winning day today which is great for everyones spirits going into the last few days!
We won't be needing these...
I woke up yesterday to a strange tapping sound on the window. Open the curtains only to find a wet and grey Vegas looking back at me!!
I've been to Vegas when it has rained before but this was the worse rain in Vegas I'd seen anyway. Dan messages and suggests that we head to the Aria Cafe for breakfast so that's exactly what me, him, Jon and Joey do. A quick wet dash across to the Aria:
Food is good. I ordered a strawberry smoothie and the breakfast sandwich but replaced the egg and avocado with sausages which the others at the table found pretty funny. "Egg and avocado are the main bit!" Joey shouts at me.
Duncs arrives and predictably we end up at a Craps table again. Didn't really feel it but Duncs and Joey loaded up. Me, Jon and Dan left them to check out what was happening at the Aria Poker room. All the tables were full again and sitting around on the waiting list for 30 minutes didn't seem that appealing so me and Jon headed back to PH to try and jump in the game there. We left Dan at the Aria who joined a $2/$5 game and Joey followed Dan into the $2/$5 game as there was a massive whale on the table. I'll let Joey post about this session but this was the text I got sent about it:
Me and Jon jumped in the PH 1/2. Not really any interesting hands for me to report on tbh. The PH games seem a little dead during the day but I guess that's the same everywhere in Vegas, I think I played well though. As I said in my previous post we had all agreed to head to downtown to play the 3pm daily $50 Golden Nugget Donkament for a bit of fun. So I cash my $127 profit in from the morning PH session and me and Jon grab a Uber over to downtown.
It took us a little longer than expected to get there and you needed to register for a Casino card to play in tourney so in the end me and Jon late registered about 15 minutes late. Everyone in the group was here apart from Joey and Dan who couldn't leave the $2/$5 whale at the Aria and for Martin who decided he didn't really fancy a tourney and decided to punt his money in electronic craps instead:
In for $200 and out for $900
Back to the tourney. We stump up the $50 only to find out that Golden Nugget take $17 of that as rake!!
So basically playing a $33+$17 tourney which I found fairly insane but is just for fun and drinks I guess. I sit down at my table which also includes Duncan and Pete (It was Pete's first ever live tourney in a Casino). Let's gogo:
I have to say that the level of play in this field was beyond horrendous and I think it was the first live tourney for about half the field! Fairly early on I manage to get it all in with AA v QQ v QT all in pre flop. Board runs out AT2Q2 for a nice little early triple up. It was quite funny because the woman who had called off with QT was screaming "Ten, Ten, Ten" as the turn and river card were being dealt. I confirmed to the dealer that he can give her what she wanted
. We saw this tourney as a pay $50 and to drink as much as you can for free as fast as possible. Sex on the Beaches were flowing for me. And I was probably having the most fun I've had so far in Vegas.
Pete made a very questionable play. A bald very loud drunk guy who Duncs dubbed as Bald Jesus saw a river with Pete and bet 1500, Pete shoves all in for 1800 total, bald Jesus makes the call for 300 more with top pair and Pete turns over the Q high bluff, GG. Another very funny hand was when there had been a raise from MP and a few players call. The Flop came AK3r and the old guy who had been in the SB just donk leads rips all in for like 5k into the 1k pot. This guy had been playing sooo tight I'd not even really noticed him sat there for the last 45 minutes and now he's over bet shipping, I assumed he had quad Aces. The lady next to act makes the tank call with A6o and the old boy turns over KJo?? Waited 45 minutes to play a hand, flops middle pair, ****s himself and rips it in lol.
Dan and Joe arrive from the Aria at this point and late reg in. Dan joins our table and one of another tables breaks so Tom also joins our table. Fairly soon after Tom joined the table bald Jesus spills a full glass of hot tea all over Tom's cards, chips (and hands). Rather than moving us to a new table the floor staff give it a little mop up with some tissues and Tom is left to play the rest of the tourney in a puddle of cold tea
Bald Jesus doesn't even blink and just goes straight back to his massage.It doesn't seem to slow Tom down though as Duncan ships from EP with A8s, Tom makes the call with the 77 and the board runs out fairly brutal for Duncs, A896T. Not soon after that Dan ships all in and Tom makes the call with the old trusted Q3o from the BB. Dan shows QJ but the 3 in the window card is bad news for him as he busts to the hands of Tom as well. Jon was also on our table now and on my direct right. It was folded to him in the SB and he looks down at one card and ships all in. I look down at a 2 as my first card and slowly squeeze out the Ace as the second for A2o. Fairly brutal spot I thought because the one card Jon looked at is most likely a Ace or King. If it's a Ace then I'm crushed and a King and I'm probably not in amazing shape either. Blinds were high though and it was only about 1/4 of my stack so I decide to make the call and he shows K9o (phew) and we hold. Blinds increased and the final table seemed to come around fairly quickly. 4 out of the 10 from our group who entered had made the final table which was a great result to say we were playing just for fun and drinks. 39 buyins into the tourney meant that top 4 of the tourney get paid (1st $515, 2nd $386, 3rd $257, 4th $129).
Final table time!
Tom kept his run good alive on the Final Table as well. Shipping all in with K6s from UTG with about 6bbs only to run into the BBs Aces. Somehow manages to hit the magic runner runner backdoor flush lol. Two hands later he limps the SB with QQ to trap and bald Jesus in the BB just rips it all in. (I have to say that after downing about 10 straight whiskeys bald Jesus wasn't doing great by this stage and had spent most of the final table puking in the toilet). Anyway, Bald Jesus had a legit hand here with JJ but was no match for Tom's QQ and another player was out. I got it all in with 88 vs shortstackers AK and won the flip to bust another player. At this stage we were 5 handed, 4 Brits and 1 American left. The American guy found the whole experience and British invasion quite funny. We all decided just to throw $10 into the middle so that 5th place would get $50 and would get some sort of cash.
Drinks were still flowing and I still had a very healthy chip stack at this stage, was having a great time. I then raised UTG+1 with AKo, Lewis defends his BB. The Flop comes 5T3r and I decide to cbet and Lewis calls. Turn is what I think is the dream card for me... K... Lewis checks, I ship all in and Lewis snap calls and turns over the K5o
Lost a chunk there and was now the short stack and looking like I was going out in 5th.But by this stage the blinds were so high it was already a craps shoot. I stole a few blinds and built my stack up a little more. The only remaining American guy gets it in all in vs Chris on T56, Chris has AT and the American guy has 74cc. Turn comes Qc which gives the American guy a backdoor flush draw and even more outs but he bricks out! Pretty sick that only four people cash in this tourney and all four were from our group. Not sure if the daily Golden Nugget tourneys appear on Hendon Mob database? But would love to see those four English flags if it does!
And then there were four:
Chris was the chip leader four handed and increased his stack even more when he got it all in vs Lewis with AT v AJ on TxxAx. We were down to three handed, me, Chris and Tom. I was the short stack of the table and there was discussion to chop the prize pool but we decided in the end that it would just be more fun to play it out. Fairly early on after making this decision Tom ships from the BTN and I look down at KJo in the BB. By this stage the blinds and antes were very high and decided to call it off. Luckily Tom had KT and we held for a nice double up and to put me about level in chips with him now.
After abit of a three handed battle of back and forth Tom ships it all in from the BTN with QJo and is called by Chris's AK in the SB. Chris holds and we're heads up!
Me vs the wizard!
We play HU for about 20 minutes, I had about 60k in chips to Chris's 140k. I limp the BTN with KQo, Chris jams all in and I make the call. Chris turns over Q8o to give me a good chance to double up. Board runs out 457.... J... 6 and it's GG.
Won $386 for my troubles and had about 15 Sex on the beach cocktails for free so seemed like great value!
After calculating my Poker P&L for the trip after this win I was very happy to find out I was officially out of the poker hole for the trip now and up a massive $26! While we were final tabling the ones of the group who had busted had gone to see Mike The Hammer. While we waited for that show to finish me, Chris and Dan play our $10 matched chip you get when you first sign up to the Golden Nugget. We all wonder over to the BJ table and put $10 on plus the $10 matched chip. Me and Chris continue our run good and both peel in 20s vs the dealers 3. Dan stands on 14 and the dealer busts. Another $20 profit each for the team for the night, things do seem to be turning around for the group. We meet the others of the group after they're done with Mike the Hammer and go for another Joey recommended dinner. I'll let Joey update you on the rest though.
Overall very fun day though! Profitable as well, I think everyone in the group had a winning day today which is great for everyones spirits going into the last few days!
We won't be needing these...
Last edited by hutchyw117; 02-15-2019 at 12:10 PM.
