Quote:
Originally Posted by -UBetIFold-
Also my first ever trip to Vegas was earlier this year and we stayed at the mirage. Those pictures bring back some great memories. Also played their nightly trny twice. Cashed the first and chopped the 2nd.
Boy were they eager to get us to make a deal though and just end the thing right there and move onto a cash table where presumably they are making more money.
Thanks!
Pretty much every sub-$100 buy-in daily will have that. The manager will post chop values on the board, or will actually announce what the house policy is regarding chops. They want the tournament to end to free up the dealer and open another cash table. And most structures are so ridiculously turbo at the end that the chip leader is lucky to have five big blinds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mendicant loafer
At least once, every time my brother and I are in Vegas together, we play 2-4 at the Flamingo. Rules; you may not look at your hole cards. ever. every hand you manage to win, earn 1 pt. each point is worth $5 at cashout. Drunk Canadian Hilarity ensues (I won 19-17 our last game. Only cost me 2 racks).
That's actually pretty hilarious. I may have to steal that the next time we do a 2/4 night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pig4bill
Seriously? They made people that entered before the start time be alternates?
It was a 7pm tournament. I got there at 7:02 and took the 9th (of 10) seats. They sat the 10th, and the alternates bought in after us. They had intended on starting on two tables, but had to merge when they only had 8 players at 7pm sharp.
We looked at Orleans, Red Rock, Green Valley, and South Point. But a) the Flamingo had 3 tables running, but every other place only had 1, and b) it's possible that one of us in the group works for one of those rooms. So coming in and saying "Hey co-workers, I'm here with a friend who is deliberately trying to get 86'ed" wouldn't be kosher.
Friday, August 5
It's my birthday! And I'm also going on like 3 hours of sleep after my night at the Flamingo (totally worth it). The wife and I stock up on chips, drinks, cupcakes, and some other goodies. For some reason, I only took a picture of half the beer:
As the day wore on, people started canceling left and right. Parents of one-year old twins decide to stay home now that the babies are sleeping through the night. Pahrump broad and her husband don't want to make the drive after having a few cocktails. Someone has a friend in from out of town. Someone else has to work. I almost put an open invite here and on Reddit just to try to fill in the seats. But in the end, I think it worked out well. It was me, the wife, Jamie, my wife's friend (the one that rented the theater for Ghostbusters), Brad, some random dude Brad knows, Joboo, Gremlin, and his wife. We played some haunted house board game, then a bunch of rounds of Cards Against Humanity. We laughed a lot during this, and it was really about the best night I could have asked for.
Saturday, August 6
I need to rewind a little bit just to show what a remarkable day this turned out to be. Back in January, my wife was able to change her name with the Social Security office without issue. That weekend, we went to the DMV to get a license. We waited two hours to get checked in, and another two hours to be called over to a window, only to be rejected - we needed a court order due to the middle name change. It was a miserable day, and this happened during a time where my wife was working six or seven days a week. Getting time off was rare. Spending that time off in a DMV only to get rejected at the end was enraging.
So this time, we book an appointment for 11:45am. I'm dubious about whether or not these appointments actually work, but figure I'll trust the system and see how it goes. We pull in around 11:40.
... and we're completely done by 12:05. It was unreal how quick it was. Everything is stamped and approved, the wife upgrades to the new Real ID and gets a new photo taken, and we're out the door wondering if that really just ****ing happened. Pro-tip to anyone moving here: Use the DMV appointment scheduler thing (Fast Pass, maybe? I forget the actual name). It's amazing how much time you'll save.
Celebratory lunch:
This was the first time I got a non-breakfast item (western BBQ cheesburger). It was good, but I'll stick to the kielbasa scramble.
After that, the wife wants to check with the SPCA to see if the cat we wanted to adopt is available. I forget how much I mentioned this before (I should really re-read some of this drivel before I start tripping over myself), but the quick version is this: We found a cat we liked one day, decided two days later to adopt her, only to find out that her entire "kitty condo" (about 15 cats) was under quarantine until further notice. That was a couple of weeks ago. We show up today, and we're told the room is clear and she's good to go. So... we got another cat. And with another cat, means it's time to buy a bunch of **** like a Roomba:
For that price, it better come with instructions to train cats on how to ride this thing around the room.
We also upgraded the cat tree from this:
To this:
After dropping about a grand on this stuff, plus food, collar, water dish, etc., our other cat is freaking out and I think he's not using his litter box, which is like the #1 sign that we'd have to give the new cat back. I'm ****ing heartbroken. We'll have to give it a few more days, but I'm not optimistic.
Around 7pm, I decide I'm going to head over to the Linq for their final night, plus try to get in on the drawings. I check Bravo, and the room is offline. This is a bad sign. I call, and whoever I talked with basically laughed at me when I wanted to be put on the list. Guess I waited too long, so I hang out with the wife until she goes to bed around 10.
Still in the mood to play, I decide to go back to Bally's, the scene of my 8-handed bust out just a few days before. I see they have a handful of games running and no one on the list. I call ahead anyway, just to be safe. I picked Bally's because I figure anywhere on the Strip will have some hot broads for me to watch in between hands. Instead, I got Defcon. Thousands upon thousands of hairy guys in black t-shirts and combat boots, and the occasional Penelope-from-Criminal-Minds girl. I wonder if I've made a mistake, but figure I should at least check out the room before leaving. I hit the men's room first, only to be greeted by this:
I hate hackers.
But I love drunk Defcon people who decide they want to play cards. They open a new game when I get there. It's me, one woman who clearly knows what she's doing, and seven drunken Defcon people who just couldn't wait to give away their money. For example, I saw one hand where the board was JQT54. Player 1 bets a small amount ($20?). Player 2 raises to $60. Player 1 re-raises to $140. PLAYER 2 ****ING CALLS AND SHOWS 32!!!! When Player 1 showed K8 and won the pot, he was legitimately surprised.
The solid woman has moved to my right. I've seen her on blinds or the button when, if there's a handful of limpers to her, she'll fire out for like $15-$20. So now I'm on the SB. There's four limpers and, true to form, she makes it $15 from the button. I see A2dd and decide to see if she's actually strong or just trying to steal, so I make it $45. Imagine my surprise when one of the limpers now decides to make it $75 and all in. ****. Did I just walk into something here? Woman folds, I call. Board runs out A982K. I show the two pair and the other player mucks. The woman looks at me and says "I'm never giving you credit for a good hand again". Good to know.
A few hands later, I'm on the btn with JJ. Four limpers to me and I make it $10. Four callers including the SB and the flop comes KJ3. SB leads out for $15. One caller. I make it $40. SB tanks, folds, and says "You've got me outkicked". Other player calls. KJ? AK or QT maybe? I can't quite figure out his range before the dealer burns and throws the final J out there. Other guy checks, and I check behind hoping that he's got something goofy under there. River is an 8, and no flush or straight possible. Other player leads for $30. I see he's only got like $40 or $50 behind, so I have to try and get the rest of it. I make it $100. He snap-calls and triumphantly shows 33. I show him the bad news, he taps the table and walks off as the dealer calls for a high hand. It was worth an extra $50 to me, plus they put 13 cards on the table. If I pick the Jack, I get $500. I missed the Jack (actually moved the Jack card out of the way to pick whatever garbage I got) and took my bonus.
About an hour later and I'm up almost $200. I consider leaving since I'm starting to get tired. I'm UTG and look down at a beautiful AA. I raise to $6. A loosebad player two to my left makes it $15. I hope he's got something and not just blowing smoke. One player calls. I make it $50. Loosebad shoves for like $220. Other guy folds, I call, he shows KK. I'm very unhappy to see a K on the turn, and my profits are dried up. I lose a little bit more chasing with suited connectors and the like, but I eventually get back to black after hitting back-to-back sets. I cash out a $65 winner and head home.
From the garage, I hear some really loud music. I didn't realize there was a pool party area right outside of the garage:
Sunday, August 7
The wife has to work this afternoon, so after doing some cleaning and putzing around the house, I decide to run the 2pm at TI. It's the same structure and guarantee as the 10pm, but typically far fewer players. Getting in the money is a breeze. First, I need a bite to eat. I decide to hit the Burger King on Rainbow and Spring Mountain. It's currently the only business left in tact on this corner:
This mall has been empty since I moved here 10 years ago, and it looks like it's been abandoned for far longer than that. I don't know what's more of an indicator of how ****ty our economy was: Strip malls where all of the businesses have failed, or strip malls that never got a single business to move in in the first place.
The good news, however, is that we are only days away from the opening of:
I saw this cart back in NYC and the line was massive. I asked a cabbie where he'd recommend for food, and that was the first place he mentioned. Apparently, wherever they're parked in NYC (in front of a Hilton, maybe?) offered them $3mil to move. The Halal Guys rejected it. They pull in $40k a day in business. I can only imagine how insane the lines are going to be when they open this week.
I get to the TI at about 2:05. The clock is counting down to 4 hours and 55 minutes from now... which means their 7pm tournament. Ugh. I look, and there are no games running - cash or tournament. I ask the front desk guy, and he said they had two players show up at 1:40, and that was it. Only one name on the cash game list, too, so it was going to be a quiet day. We chat for a bit, and he said some of the dealers from the TI went to the Linq yesterday at 10:45am (15 minutes before the games started). The tables were full and there was a 20+ person list. If I had wanted a seat, I needed to be there by like 10am at the latest. I guess waiting until 7pm that night was a mistake.
I check the oft-inaccurate PokerAtlas for other tournaments, and find a decent 3pm that is sure to run. Off to plan B!
At this point, I know I don't have a ton of time before the wife is done with work, so a 5k starting stack and 20 minute levels is just what I needed. Thing start slow, and then I find my mojo. I'm winning pot after pot, and built a stack of almost 25k by first break:
The players start dwindling down and my stack continues to grow until I lost about 60% all in pre with 88 v KT. K in the window and I'm not happy. The bubble bursts, and I double through the chip leader with QQ v AJ on KJTKQ run out. We're down to four handed and in the money, and we do a quick chip count and talk about doing an individual chip count chop. When we realized that the separation between first and last place was about 3bb, we decide on an even chop. After tipping the dealers, I take my $200 profit and head home.