Damn right, and I'd do it again, too. (Yes, this was a dumb bet especially at the moneyline odds they were getting, but as a Sharks fan I'm contractually obligated to bet against the Knights.)

Well done. Looking forward to more.

well I'm glad you lost this bet

helicopter trip to Grand Canyon sounds wonderful. when I come out there with my wife I'll try to get that in. what does that end up costing and how much time?

i did the sunset helicopter tour 10+ years ago and it was an absolute highlight. fly out in afternoon, visit grand canyon and fly back towards the sunset and then over the strip at early night. magical.
my guess is it was around $200 but it was a long time ago, i might be off.

Tragically this price is way off. I did it about 4 years ago. I think it was a cool experience and was a bucket list item for me, but idk if it was really worth the price. Ironically buzzing the strip just as it was starting to light up was more memorable than the canyon; this is also an option for anyone interested.

Grand Canyon helicopter trip really was spectacular. It was undoubtedly touristy and pricey (around $500 a head for those asking...may or may not have been worth it), but it was a very cool experience once up in the air. The pilot/tour guide we had was excellent. There were about 6-7 choppers on the trip, each with 6 people on them. It was 45 mins-hour flight to the Canyon following Lake Mead past the Hoover Dam to the western rim. Once we landed we spent probably 30 mins down there with champagne and snacks. The flight back was two legs through a different part of the desert, and the stop at the refueling station was actually cool because it was the perfect time of night before sunset and the scenery was beautiful. And then seeing the strip via helicopter in and out of Vegas was cool, too. But I'll just give a photo dump because my words won't really do it justice:







Can't say this is something I'd have done without my wish pushing it, but I'm glad now that we did it.

We thought we were going to have to skip dinner because of the trio, but the other couple we're with went to the Knights-Avs game, so we were able to make the 9:30 reservation at Bazar Meats at the Sahara. It was a hike but the food was excellent and the presentation of the tasting menu was a lot of fun. I failed to take photos of most of the dishes but I at least snapped this one:



(That's fritters in a glass shoe.)

Once we got back to Caesars after the lenghthy dinner, we had planned to go to a cocktail bar for a nightcap. But the bars were all closed outside of the hotel lobby bar and the sportsbook (and Omnia). One of the ways that we felt the infrastructure in Vegas, including staffing, just isn't quite back to meet what I assume is a surge in demand. I bet it will catch up soon -- the casinos have to know they're wasting money with all the people wandering (and the packed lobby bar).

In any event, after a drink I bid my party adieu to try to hit up some late-night poker at the Caesars poker room, thinking the games would be best then. That might be true but this turned into my worst session, where I was either getting run over or running into it and making good folds (I think one hand was the former, the rest were the latter).

I limped J8cc in the sb and a new player in bb w/ maybe a $100 stack makes it 6. We go to the flop 6 ways and see a JT9r flop. BB leads out $25 and gets two callers and I hate life and fold, b/c this guy screams strength and I may be drawing to second best. Even though I was right and he flopped two pair, a 7 on the river woulda given me the winner. Oh well, don't be results oriented. BB proceeds to ask how long he has to play before he can leave, is told he can leave anytime and he's gone. Easy game.

Orbit or two later I'm up against an old guy who has a big chip stack in front of him, and i'm $300 effective. He'd already made a big 3/4 river bet against me earlier when I missed a draw. I raise 66 $15 over a limp and old guy calls in the btn. Flop is 855r, I bet $15 and he calls. Turn is 2h putting two on the board, I x and he bets $25 into the $60 pot, I call. River is the Tc, I x and he fires $100. I tank for a bit..I'm unblocking high cards but blocking the flush draws ... I fold, giving his image credit and the fact these big bets at $1/3 are so rarely bluffs.

Of course, I'm put in a similar spot by another guy who had just come from a broken game and had $450ish in front of him. He had played pretty snug and had made a small pfr or two. It's folded to him in the co and he raises to $7. I've got Td9h and call to a flop of T54ccs. I x to him planning to x/r a small bet, but he x's behind. River is the 4s and I bet $10 into a pot of $14, which he quickly raises to $25. I make the call, and decide the game plan is to call big river bets on most red cards. River, however, is the Qs. I x and he bets $55 into the $65 pot. I folded, but I don't like it.

At this point it's after 2 a.m. so I'm more playing off feel rather than trying to really dive into his likely range, but I think I'm supposed to call here given the draw heavy board. My thinking in game was the most obvious draw he'd raise the turn with after x'ing flop (spades) got there. And I again followed the adage of folding marginal hands to big river bets in $1/3 live games. Maybe I should have called off all three of these spots.

The session got even more annoying when a guy sat to my left who was raising basically every pot limped or folded to him. I was looking for a great spot to limp/3b him but it never came, and I chickened out when I limped behind with something like 74s and there were multiple callers. I finally got QQ in the sb with multiple limps that was a perfect spot to 3b aggro dude, but then the btn made it $11, so I 3bet to keep the hand from going 6 ways, and btn folded.

Finally called it a night around 3:15 a.m., in for $400 out for $198. It was time for sleep, and I had one more day to run it up -- or give back the profit I'd grinded. More on my final two pre-flight sessions tomorrow.

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About 2 years back a guy on the old CLP forum started tracking hands where there was a big river bet in 1/3. I forget the definition of big in this case. Anyway, over 90% of the time he saw the cards, the river bet was 2p or better.

I'm glad you enjoyed the canyon! Is there a story behind why they serve food in a glass shoe?

My group had designs on a last poolside morning but nobody was really up and moving beyond getting out the door by the 11 a.m. checkout time. Guess that's to be expected after three days in Vegas...

I see everyone off to the airport and I've got a little under 8 hours before I've gotta head there myself, and where else but Vegas can I find all kinds of games at 11 a.m. on a Monday. Pre-trip I had planned on playing the Orelans 11a MTT again but I worry about making my flight if I make a run and catching a cab all the way out there.

Before the trip I had also hoped to play at Aria because it's the only major Vegas room I've yet to play in, but the entire weekend the lists for $1/3 and $2/5 were at least 30+ deep, sometimes over 50, with just 2-4 tables running. They were running a $10k tournament series so not sure if that had something to do with it, but it was frustrating when it didn't seem like their room was using all of its tables. Any hope that Monday morning would be better was dashed when the list was around 38, with 2 tables running. I called to put my name on the list anyway ... maybe I'd be able to get a seat in 3 hours? Called to get on the Wynn $1/3 and hopped in a cab north.



Wynn really is a nice hotel and the poker room is, too. I got seated right away in one of the two $1/3 games they had going -- the only cash table I played that was 9-handed -- and took a seat. Before I can get myself settled I stare down at AKo for my first hand. A 50-something guy makes it $15 and I pop it up to $45 and he makes the call. The flop comes T72r and he donks $25 into the $90 pot. I call and we see a turn 7 and another bet of $25. I call because pot odds and I probably have 6 clean outs, but the river is another T and he bets $35 into the pot of $190. I know I should fold but I can't for that price so I toss in a call and get shown KK. Welcome to the table ... at least he didn't 4-bet?

Table has one bad splashy player, who told me he was getting killed when he was in my 1 seat so he switched. The rest all seem solid, which is to be expected for 11 a.m. on a Monday. Unfortunately I can't get anything good against the action player before he leaves for $2/5 to try to make back his losses. He made a big river bet against me that was a bluff after he called my cbet and we x'd the turn on an Ax board, but I had queen high so I didn't even beat all of his bluffs.

At my lowest point I was down $200 (I'd topped back up), and I contemplated finding a better game. But two of the other better players left quickly thereafter, and suddenly we were shorthanded and I was picking up blinds and small pots. Then we get the best kind of action player: the one who walks into the room, asks the brush what the biggest game is, sits at $1/3 and buys in for the maximum. He quickly ordered food a drinks and was calling loosely pre and post and didn't seem to care about losing money, but was very concerned with how long his rice bowl was taking to arrive.

He'd already dusted off about $250 when I look down at A9ss utg and raise it up to $12. He comes along in the hj, the bb calls and we see a flop of K95 w/ one spade. I x, he bets $15 and I call. Turn is the 7s, I x again and he makes it $30, with about $200 behind. I'm tempted to pop it up here and jam basically all rivers but I don't think he's folding anything better, so I might as well keep his bluffs in and take the spade equity. I call and we see the river Ts that gives me the nuts. He's three barreled at least once so I x a third time and he puts out $50 into the pot of $125. He's got maybe $125ish behind, so I wait a beat and then put out a raise of $250 to put him all in. He doesn't think for too long before making the call and I show him the bad news. He flips over AKo and I'm apologetic for getting lucky to catch on him. (All the while patting myself on the back for getting full value when I did make my flush. A couple orbits later he turned a flush and put out a tiny suck bet on the river.)

Didn't have any other hands I took notes on after that, but I kept chipping up to cash out at an even $700 after in for $400, a 100bb profit. I thought about staying longer since our friend reoladed for $500, but I was getting hungry and had my sights on Tacos el Gordo, which I've never had before. Walked over there and let me say, at $9 it was dollar-for-dollar the best meal I had on the trip.



Resorts world still getting its finishing touches ahead of opening late this month:



Checked back at Aria list and it was still 50 people long. I try to call to see where I'm at and instead they put me on the list again and hang up. Time to give up on Aria. I walk back through the Wynncore to the Palazzo to poke my head over at the final table of the MSPT with $367k up top. Keep walking to the Venetian and I'm in my last game before my flight.

Wish I had more to report on the final session, but it was literally a fold fest. First hour I'm not sure I played a hand -- when I got 55 in the sb I had to chop it. The only real notable thing about the table was the very chatty impeccably dressed gay man who kept the table lively. He was very active and liked to flash a card when he had top pair. If you're a reg in Vegas you've probably played with him -- said he's been playing for years and studied under Barry Greenstein and was playing the Venetian MTT that started that evening at 6.

My only trivial hand I remember was 3-betting to $80 w/ AKhh a laggy middle-aged guy who was attacking limpers and had raised it to $25. He folded. After 90 minutes I cash out down a whopping $22 and head back toward Bellagio to cash in my Giants sports bet and find some food before my flight.

First I made one more stop at Treasure Island to collect one of the few $1 chips I don't have yet from the Strip. I put $16 on the roulette table to make a $15 bet and for the first time out of three attempts on the trip, I hit black and have some chips to take to the cage. I make it back to Bellagio -- and am glad I shopped around the odds for the Giants to win the WS. After seeing 10-1 and 12-1 elsewhere, Bellagio/MGM has them at 38-1 (and 18-1 to win the pennant). I put $10 each on em to win the NL and WS and then go grab a greasy slice of pepperoni pizza at Snacks to take in the sports book for a few before it's time to go to the airport.

Poker stats:
Cash game sessions 7, + $708
MTTs 1, -$100

Other gambling: +$55 blackjack, -$32 sports bets, -$20 video poker while waiting for a table, -$15 roulette

Random thoughts on late-pandemic Vegas:

-- The games are still good. People haven't played live poker for a year and are excited to get back into it, and there's plenty of people happy to donate to the game still playing, along with some bad regs. It's all about game selection -- even at $1/3 you're going to find good players, so if you've got too many of em at the table just switch, especially in Vegas. I was guilty of not following this advice a couple of times. I suspect you'll find similar at $2/5.

-- The foot traffic is back, the infrastructure hasn't quite caught up. I'm hoping more dealers get hired in the coming weeks (along with more servers, cooks, etc.) to deal with the surge of people who are going to keep coming. But things are nearly back to normal. I barely wore a mask all weekend, except in a couple of ubers.

-- Do the silly touristy/splurgy thing, even if it costs more than it should. You won't regret it the next time you suddenly can't do anything because there's a pandemic (let's hope not again in our lifetimes).

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It was a Jose Andrés restaurant, and the server told us his mom used to yell at him about putting his feet on the table, so this was some kind of homage to his mother, or soemthing. Whatever the reason the fritters inside were very good!


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This is great advice! And thanks for the TR, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip

Why is there an uber driver shortage? Do they need to show proof of vaccination now or something?

Cause drivers don't want to wait 20 minutes to pick a ride up, drive 15-20 minutes in strip traffic to the drop off destination and take another 15-30 minutes to get to the next pickup for $3-7 per ride and no tip (l remember reading somewhere that less than 25% of people leave a tip on Uber, about 60% on Lyft).

Also no benefits and a terrible fuel program, which pretty much fronts your fill up on a card and debits it from the money you make on your trips.

The only people left doing Uber/Lyft in Vegas are people who don't understand the math on vehicle depreciation, people with low overhead who live with family/roomates, and those who would rather make minimum wage driving their car than to work retail or in the back of a kitchen.

I remember when Uber first started in Vegas, drivers were guaranteed $3base per pickup and 1.80/mile that was split with Uber 80/20. Now its almost a 55%-driver 45%-Uber split with the drivers on a $2 base and $1.10/mile.

A driver could take 30-45 mins to pick up a rider from the airport, just to drop them off at MGM and net less than $3 bucks.

There's some Uber driver forums online with some real horror stories from drivers.

I always tipped $5. I never could understand how people were making any money when I would request an Uber, have someone accept it, wait 15 minutes for them to arrive, then have them drive me for 15 minutes to the strip and my ride being $11-13 or something. Even tipping $5 it was much cheaper than a cab and most people Ubering had fairly nice cars.

Never knew how much Uber took out, but knew it had to be something, so even if it was a small percentage they were only making $15-20 an hour before paying for all their gas, deterioration of their vehicle, and also having to deal with drunk tourists ****ing **** up. As you said, you can make more than that working just about anywhere and not get your car ruined.

Over the last few years I've been tipping $20 with a stop between the airport and the hotel. Maybe I'm a fish, but I always felt bad for taking up so much of their time. Between kickbacks and bad tippers (if those numbers are correct), then maybe I've been tipping too much.

Hmm..I was there 2 years ago and no issue with getting an uber, that's why I figured it was corona related.

Part of it was the ban on surge pricing that was just recently removed. Apparently, Nevada had banned Uber and Lyft from implementing surge pricing during a state of emergency. It might have seemed like a good idea on paper, but due to the pandemic, the state of emergency in Nevada has lasted over a year.

As Foatie pointed out, driving for Lyft and Uber is pretty **** money, so the year long ban on surge pricing had the effect of causing a lot of drivers to leave the industry.

Thank you for the TR!

Thanks for the TR, OP!