So I have enjoyed plenty of trip reports on here and should have done one earlier this year when I played at the WSOP but it was a boring trip with just poker and sleep.

Anyway this year I turn the magic four zero and the wife if taking me on what was meant to be a surprise visit to Vegas for my birthday. It was a sterling effort by her to try and surprise me and she even emailed my work to get me the time off. However she failed to realise I have access to the HR emails so I read that she actually booked me the holiday (lulz).

Hoping as this is meant to be a surprise the trip will be mainly doing fun stuff in Vegas (any ideas are welcome), some blackjack and some poker. Poker wise this year I am down around 3k after the WSOP as well lol donkaments. Despite being down I am not going to chase any losses and probably will jump into some 1/3 or 2/5 games as and when.

Flights are pretty shitty as we leave around 4pm UK time and arrive in Vegas at 6pm and as someone who does not sleep on planes I have a feeling the first evening might be a complete write off. Staying at caesars palace and I have no idea on what room she has booked for us so that should be a laugh when we get there. May have to attempt the $20 trick if that still works there.

Pictures of shoes, money and other fun stuff will be posted in due course. Also this may get a little messy some nights as I have not had an alcoholic drink in over a year and I do plan on sinking a few as Greyhounds activate the run good right?

Oh and one last thing are there any shows on around this time that are worth a visit? I am completely open to ideas!

Nice! I'm in for updates.

In!

As for sleeping on planes, what I've done is get some OTC sleeping pills before leaving. After takeoff, have a drink and take a pill. I'm able to get at least some sleep then. Arrive tired, but at least not exhausted.

Did you let her know the surprise was a bust or will/did you fake it?

I may have to try this as I have an 8am start in the morning and I do not fancy checking into the hotel after being up for 24 hours

Yeah I let her know of her little slip which is now why I know where we are staying etc. However there are other surprises when I get there apparently. Knowing her its going to either be amazing or a complete disaster! Strap in for the ride

Hi there,

As a Euro and going with your wife and not only for poker-til-puking, I would highly recommend three things that made my last trips to Vegas really more enjoyable than the ones in which I basically did nothing but poker and eating awful things

These are:

1) Going to as sport event (football, hockey) even if you are not a fan of the sport itself, the show and the ambiance is totally worth it and nothing as in Europe.

2) Play Craps! it looks complicated at first but is far more enjoyable than any casino games, just learn by watching some videos from color up on youtube, try to find low minimums (ellis Island is top with brewery inside!). Also the rules make it far better than Vegas BJ's rules (6/5, no double on split, and all the sh** you don't see in Europe). Take advantage of early morning with jet lag to find an empty table and don't be afraid to ask dealers. Craps dealers are usually the friendliest dealers in a casino.

3) Since it won't be too hot, take some time to just walk in the morning and casino hop the strip, it's less time spent to lose money and more to really enjoy the place

Enjoy yourself

Reminder: Many OTC sleeping aids use diphenhydramine (Benadryl) as their primary component. This (or other antihistamines) will have the effect of drying you out. That may or may not be a good reminder to stay hydrated in LV. Just something to keep in mind.

Have fun and act surprised a lot!

Thanks

Walking is definitely something I want to do. This year I did a few walking challenges where I walked 100km in 24 hours. My first trip I did to Vegas I thought it was not far from The Bellagio to the Welcome to Vegas sign. That was for certain a Vegas Virgin mistake

Luckly I do drink alot. I maybe surprised and she has booked business class so we can lie down. If that is an option I know I should be able to rest. Just cant do it sat up.

I hope this isn't an unfortunate choice of terms.

Unless, of course, you're into that. Not judging.

Well I don't turn 40 until Tuesday. Might be something to do before right

Not started off the morning well at all. Only had 3 hours sleep so running on fumes. However it may mean I will be able to sleep on the plane.

5 hours to go and I am feeling like a kid going to Disneyland. Not sure why as have been to Vegas a couple of times now but it always has that appeal to me.

Bankroll pic



Not taking too much cash as the exchange is awful here. LOL GrEAT bRiTaIn. However I have a couple of bank accounts that don't charge for using my card and pretty much give me spot rate.

Shoe pic



Have I missed anything

In for the run good!

Oh boy what a first day of travelling.

Been up now for well over 24 hours. The run bad happened when my bag caused some issue at security and our flight was delayed for over a hour


Flight was ok for over 10 hours but I am realising at I am getting older the cheap seats are no longer fun. Feeling incredibly flagged we managed to get our room at Caesars Palace. We ran good when the $20 trick got us an upgrade to a fountain view room.



Quick bite to eat in the food court here as the plane food was garbage. Spunked off $100 on the slots in just under 10 mins and I remembered why I don't play slots.

Although I am super tired there seems to be a real hive of activity in the poker room. Led in bed now thinking do I YOLO a session or sleep as I have been awake for so long.

I can relate as my knees can't take cramped seats. Nice room! Have fun!

Best feeling in the world GL at the tables!

Might be too late but if you’re looking for show options I highly recommend the Spiegel World show (Absinthe, Opium and Atomic Saloon Show). If you haven’t seen any probably go with Absinthe which I believe is still on a circus tent at Caesars.

https://spiegelworld.com/

Assuming that is you’re not a prune and have a sense of humor.

Well the session never happened the night before. Sleep got the best of me. However I only got 5 hours and was up at 5am!

I could not get back off so I had a little walk around the casino floor. Avoided the tables which is unlike me but clearly the sensible part of me took over. Went back to my room and the wife was up so we decided to go for breakfast at 7am.

Now last time I took the wife here we had the Bellagio buffet fully comped for 4 days so we decided to try that again as it was really good. Get there far too early as it does not open till 8am so what's the best thing to do? That's right burn money on that stupid horse racing game! $100 down again.

Now for breakfast. Because it was comped last time I did not realise how expensive it actually is. Don't think I have ever paid $100 for breakfast ever. It really was an amazing buffet with absolutely everything you could want and more. I made the most of it and ate the world. I am talking waffles, pancakes, fruit, pastries and even roast beef.



After the feast we could not move but decided to walk some off. Took a look around the conservatory and it's looking really good



The wife was still pretty tired so she decided to get some more sleep. Now the wise thing for me to do was do the same but when does anyone do anything wise in Vegas? What does that mean for me? Some 1/3 at Ceasers. The tournament was running and I was tempted to play but then that restricts my time and I had no idea what the wife had planned. There was around 80 runners for the morning game which I was quite surprised with. The room was absolutely buzzing so I was going forward when I got seated immediately! Is that some run good?



Bought in for the max $300 and it became quickly apparent that this table was going to tight. There were 4 chop of the blinds in the first orbit. The players were acting like GTO bots and not usually what I call the Vegas vibe. Probably would be safe to say the other 7 were all regs. Luckily they were bad regs.

As you would expect on these tight tables there were not many raises and players would often limp with their strong hands. To make any big pots in this game I was either going to have to get into coolers or try and encourage action. The latter was extremely hard as I did straddle and talked alot to see if I could drive the action but it never happened.

Biggest pot for me was a funny one. MP opens to 10. I am OTB with 5h4h and 3 bet to 40. He call and we see a flop of A33 with one heart. He checks so I do around 1/3 pot and bet 25. He min raises to 50. With a gutter and back door hearts I am not going anywhere even though it's clear he has the ace. Turn card is interesting at its the 6h. He leads out for another 25. With the insane odds knowing that if I hit my open ender or flush i can most likely stack him I call and am rewarded with a beautiful 2c. He checks and with a pot size bet left I just shove. Now he goes into the tank for 30 seconds groans and moans and folds AQ face up. Yuk!! I show my hand as I want action again in the future and get the old 'how can you 3 bet with that' line.

Even showing bluffs it was just raise and takes. I did lose a small pot with KT Vs AT on a T high board and called a small value bet on the river.

The wife texted me saying she was up so I said to come down as the game was dead. She had said we had plans now so I cashed out for $405. Booked a small win which was good considering the table dynamic. Any Vegas regs reading this. If you are playing 1/3 with out of towners at least make it fun. There was no conversation, most had ear phones in and when the dealer is more interested to talk also you know they are bored.

The plans in the afternoon consisted of some pretty cool stuff. The wife had booked the open top bus which is really good considering I have not really ventured as far from the strip. We did a little window shopping first to plan what to buy for ourselves and the kids back at home. Then walked down to the MGM to get on the bus. First stop was the high roller and we got off as she had booked tickets for that. My phone died so I did not get many pics. Booooo

The rest of the bus was great as I got to see the arts District and then freemont street which again I had never been to before.

At the end of the tour we got some more run good as the guide asked if we had a good time and I said yes but as my phone died I did not get many pictures. He then comped us a night bus tour and said if you can charge your phone in a hour you will get some great pictures. So that's what we did. I dashed back to our room at Ceasers from the high roller and managed to get some juice before we went again





Once the tour had finished around 9:30pm we had both realised we had not eaten in 12 hours since the buffet so grabbed a bite to eat at Virgil's real BBQ. Not sure what others think but I really enjoyed the Burger with Beef brisket, BBQ sauce and onion rings. Would 100% go again.



We headed back to the room around 11pm where once I led on the bed to relax for a minute and contemplate playing poker I passed out. Next thing I know it's 4:30am and I go downstairs to get propositioned by two hookers while writing this trip report!

We were considering this and now after this recommendation we will definitely book it

Looking like I have brought the English weather here with me also as it's going to rain hard today they say. The perfect birthday present as it's the big four zero today.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday! Nice TR, thank you for sharing!

Are you sure the two hookers weren't part of Mrs Waste's birthday present?

HBD! Enjoying the TR so far.

I love this style of writing for a TR. Good stuff and great pics so far.