VPC Goes Vegas 2016
03-03-2016
, 03:29 PM
VPC Went Vegas Day 2; Vegas Bound!
Mike McDermott: “This is the one time I don't need you to tell me how I f*cked up, I know I f*cked up, what I need from you is water, I need whatever water and Ibuprofen you can give me.”
That’s pretty much how I feel at 7AM in the morning. Hungover less than ten hours after departure and a three and a half hour nap before a long travel day. Perfect. Baars is no mood to get up just yet. Baars woke me around 5AM when he was let into the room by hotel security wearing nothing but his boxers…
Waking up Baars….
I wake Baars up at least five times before I head out. I tell him he has 20 minutes until the shuttle brings us to Schiphol. “Twenty minutes? You act like the room is on fire. Chill.” Oke. See it yourself. When the shuttle pulls up at the front of the hotel I give Baars one last call, clearly waking him up again.
Me: “The Shuttle is here’’.
Baars; “Well… I’m not”
Me: “I know that”
Baars; “Hmmm”
The six of us shuttle into Schiphol Airport side betting on whether or not Baars will make the flight. Baars is my official travel partner but I proceed to check in by myself. After I obtain my boarding passes I call our boy again and find out he somehow made his way into a shuttle bus that is about to leave the hotel. I decide to wait at check-in mostly because I give a drunk toddler a better shot at making it through customs on his own than Baars. I specifically tell Baars to meet me at the automated check-in poles in front of desk 36.
Baars doesn’t show until I spot him at the check-in desk behind me making ‘how the hell I’m I supposed to know that’ gestures at girl behind the counter. I know for sure Baars didn’t check-in manually because there is no way he would have figured out the machine on his own. I try to make my way over to him but I can’t come closer than like 30 feet. I signal the check-in lady to let Baars turn around. Baars finally sees me and screams “Where are we going? Chicago?” Oh boy…
I see the lady asks Baars another question while I walk around the back side of the check-in desk on my way to customs. Baars looks at her for a second and grabs his phone… I make my way over to the desk and take care of the check-in procedures advising Baars to just STFU.
Classic helpless look
Nothing sums Baars up better than the following; he complains about not having had breakfast about ten times before departure while having passed at least a dozen restaurants and then proceeds to order an iced coffee at Starbucks when he wanted a hot one. When Iebus says he’s going to grab a bite to eat Baars stands beside him with his classical helpless look and shrugs his shoulders. When Iebus returns with a simple slice of pizza about ten minutes later Baars looks at the slice and Iebus as if they were a Maria appearance here at Schiphol Gateway. Hugo tells him there is no time left to get slice now and Baars storms off pissed barely making United Flight 59’s last call.
En route finally. I’m a little shocked by the 10:14 hour flight duration as I thought it was only a ~ 9 hour flight towards Houston. The first hour of the flight I tab Baars shoulder every five minutes and point at the remaining flight length. Baars cracks me up by giving me this look every single time;
The flight towards Houston is decent. I obviously refuse every form of airplane food and The Martian (***) and Black Mass (*****) help me through the first stages of the flight. At the end of the flight we discover the in-flight entertainment poker game offers multiplayer options and not long after the cards are literally in the air at a $ 10,- stake. Variance shows its ugly side as Damvic proceeds to bink three out of the four tourneys.
We were supposed to have short lay-over in Houston but United changed their schedule and we’re now looking at a four hour wait. Not that anyone would be able to make a < 2 hour lay-over in Houston. The custom rituals are just ridicules. It also takes me less than 10 minutes to be fed up with the average American. There are quite a few things I don’t particularly like about the average American but one thing that really bugs me is the fact that a lot of them like to openly criticise their colleagues or show – minimal - seniority. The job market may very well be more cut throat in the States than in Europe but doing that still makes you a d*ck.
A nice burger at Ruby’s Dinner and Damvic blocking his bank account - forgot to activate outer EU usage - has spirits lifted until the screen shows our Vegas flight is delayed by another hour due to an extra security check. The flight itself is uneventful at best. No in-flight entrainment, a middle seat and it’s hot as f*ck. However, as always all travel misery is forgotten quickly once you set foot on Vegas soil.
Our taxi driver doesn’t neglect the ‘No Tunnel’ advice and about $ 15,- later he pulls up to our home for the coming eight nights; Excalibur Hotel & Casino. The $ 20,- trick gives us the option for a bigger room or a room with decent Strip view. We go for the latter;
After a swift shower it’s off to the ATM and poker room to light the first dollars on fire. There are no open seats at the Excalibur 1-2 game so I put my name on the list. However, I didn’t come to Vegas to wait for freaking seats and I’m anxious as f*ck to get into action. After five minutes I want to make my way to MGM to jump into a game when I hear the lovely words ‘Robburd for 1-2 No Limit’.
Fifth trip to Vegas and I’m still blown away by the level of play here at the micro stakes. It’s a classic ‘lock the doors’ kind of game with not a single capable player at the table. I need a little time to adjust to these ranges though. I open black aces for $ 10,- and get 3 callers. There is a $ 25,- donk bet and min raise to $ 50,- when it gets back to me. The flop shows 5h 6h 7h. Hmmm. I give up and see 7Ts scoop the pot.
The waitress is fast and that’s all that really matters on a first night in Vegas anyway. The Corona’s are piling up as my game deteriorates from A to my slobby D game. Around three in the morning I’m losing pots that I actually thought I had won. I check my TT over pair on the river ready to snap call as I’m fairly sure villain has a busted flush draw. Villain checks A4s behind on the two spade board and I ‘berate him’ – it’s a very friendly game – for not bluffing the river. Imagine my surprise when the ~ $ 150,- pot gets shipped to Villain. I didn’t see the 2, 3 and 5 that were out there somewhere… Nice value check, sir.
Around five in the morning I call it a night and fix the ~ $ 50,- poker loss by binking a 14 on the roulette making the first night a small winner. As per usual on the first night only Hugo seems to be up and running at this hour. Bozzie and Iebus went to bed around 1AM and I don’t see Jelzo or Wum in the poker room either. I haven’t seen Baars and Damvic at all this first night. I join Hugo to his room because I enjoy waking Bozzie up in the middle of the night. However, Damvic is in the other bed as the roommate situation got switched back to its original shape apparently. Being in bed doesn’t stop Damvic from joining Hugo and me for a ‘Run Good Shot' of a local drink that Hugo brought with him.
After the shots I make my way to my room. Or so I imagine. I can’t remember the exact room number but I’m pretty sure I can narrow it down to like four rooms. My key card disagrees. No doors open and I’m pretty tilted. I make my way down when I realise I’m probably in the wrong tower. I spend the next 40 minutes going through every f*cking tower basically trying every room on the 15th floor. No luck. I go back to registration when I remember what the correct tower might be. I passed Dicks Last Resort on the way to the tower right after check-in so I head in that direction. I nearly explode when I can’t get a single door to open on the floor once again. Finally Baars answers his phone and opens a door about 60 feet to my left. Home sweet home.
Roomie
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
Mike McDermott: “This is the one time I don't need you to tell me how I f*cked up, I know I f*cked up, what I need from you is water, I need whatever water and Ibuprofen you can give me.”
That’s pretty much how I feel at 7AM in the morning. Hungover less than ten hours after departure and a three and a half hour nap before a long travel day. Perfect. Baars is no mood to get up just yet. Baars woke me around 5AM when he was let into the room by hotel security wearing nothing but his boxers…
Waking up Baars….
I wake Baars up at least five times before I head out. I tell him he has 20 minutes until the shuttle brings us to Schiphol. “Twenty minutes? You act like the room is on fire. Chill.” Oke. See it yourself. When the shuttle pulls up at the front of the hotel I give Baars one last call, clearly waking him up again.
Me: “The Shuttle is here’’.
Baars; “Well… I’m not”
Me: “I know that”
Baars; “Hmmm”
The six of us shuttle into Schiphol Airport side betting on whether or not Baars will make the flight. Baars is my official travel partner but I proceed to check in by myself. After I obtain my boarding passes I call our boy again and find out he somehow made his way into a shuttle bus that is about to leave the hotel. I decide to wait at check-in mostly because I give a drunk toddler a better shot at making it through customs on his own than Baars. I specifically tell Baars to meet me at the automated check-in poles in front of desk 36.
Baars doesn’t show until I spot him at the check-in desk behind me making ‘how the hell I’m I supposed to know that’ gestures at girl behind the counter. I know for sure Baars didn’t check-in manually because there is no way he would have figured out the machine on his own. I try to make my way over to him but I can’t come closer than like 30 feet. I signal the check-in lady to let Baars turn around. Baars finally sees me and screams “Where are we going? Chicago?” Oh boy…
I see the lady asks Baars another question while I walk around the back side of the check-in desk on my way to customs. Baars looks at her for a second and grabs his phone… I make my way over to the desk and take care of the check-in procedures advising Baars to just STFU.
Classic helpless look
Nothing sums Baars up better than the following; he complains about not having had breakfast about ten times before departure while having passed at least a dozen restaurants and then proceeds to order an iced coffee at Starbucks when he wanted a hot one. When Iebus says he’s going to grab a bite to eat Baars stands beside him with his classical helpless look and shrugs his shoulders. When Iebus returns with a simple slice of pizza about ten minutes later Baars looks at the slice and Iebus as if they were a Maria appearance here at Schiphol Gateway. Hugo tells him there is no time left to get slice now and Baars storms off pissed barely making United Flight 59’s last call.
En route finally. I’m a little shocked by the 10:14 hour flight duration as I thought it was only a ~ 9 hour flight towards Houston. The first hour of the flight I tab Baars shoulder every five minutes and point at the remaining flight length. Baars cracks me up by giving me this look every single time;
The flight towards Houston is decent. I obviously refuse every form of airplane food and The Martian (***) and Black Mass (*****) help me through the first stages of the flight. At the end of the flight we discover the in-flight entertainment poker game offers multiplayer options and not long after the cards are literally in the air at a $ 10,- stake. Variance shows its ugly side as Damvic proceeds to bink three out of the four tourneys.
We were supposed to have short lay-over in Houston but United changed their schedule and we’re now looking at a four hour wait. Not that anyone would be able to make a < 2 hour lay-over in Houston. The custom rituals are just ridicules. It also takes me less than 10 minutes to be fed up with the average American. There are quite a few things I don’t particularly like about the average American but one thing that really bugs me is the fact that a lot of them like to openly criticise their colleagues or show – minimal - seniority. The job market may very well be more cut throat in the States than in Europe but doing that still makes you a d*ck.
A nice burger at Ruby’s Dinner and Damvic blocking his bank account - forgot to activate outer EU usage - has spirits lifted until the screen shows our Vegas flight is delayed by another hour due to an extra security check. The flight itself is uneventful at best. No in-flight entrainment, a middle seat and it’s hot as f*ck. However, as always all travel misery is forgotten quickly once you set foot on Vegas soil.
Our taxi driver doesn’t neglect the ‘No Tunnel’ advice and about $ 15,- later he pulls up to our home for the coming eight nights; Excalibur Hotel & Casino. The $ 20,- trick gives us the option for a bigger room or a room with decent Strip view. We go for the latter;
After a swift shower it’s off to the ATM and poker room to light the first dollars on fire. There are no open seats at the Excalibur 1-2 game so I put my name on the list. However, I didn’t come to Vegas to wait for freaking seats and I’m anxious as f*ck to get into action. After five minutes I want to make my way to MGM to jump into a game when I hear the lovely words ‘Robburd for 1-2 No Limit’.
Fifth trip to Vegas and I’m still blown away by the level of play here at the micro stakes. It’s a classic ‘lock the doors’ kind of game with not a single capable player at the table. I need a little time to adjust to these ranges though. I open black aces for $ 10,- and get 3 callers. There is a $ 25,- donk bet and min raise to $ 50,- when it gets back to me. The flop shows 5h 6h 7h. Hmmm. I give up and see 7Ts scoop the pot.
The waitress is fast and that’s all that really matters on a first night in Vegas anyway. The Corona’s are piling up as my game deteriorates from A to my slobby D game. Around three in the morning I’m losing pots that I actually thought I had won. I check my TT over pair on the river ready to snap call as I’m fairly sure villain has a busted flush draw. Villain checks A4s behind on the two spade board and I ‘berate him’ – it’s a very friendly game – for not bluffing the river. Imagine my surprise when the ~ $ 150,- pot gets shipped to Villain. I didn’t see the 2, 3 and 5 that were out there somewhere… Nice value check, sir.
Around five in the morning I call it a night and fix the ~ $ 50,- poker loss by binking a 14 on the roulette making the first night a small winner. As per usual on the first night only Hugo seems to be up and running at this hour. Bozzie and Iebus went to bed around 1AM and I don’t see Jelzo or Wum in the poker room either. I haven’t seen Baars and Damvic at all this first night. I join Hugo to his room because I enjoy waking Bozzie up in the middle of the night. However, Damvic is in the other bed as the roommate situation got switched back to its original shape apparently. Being in bed doesn’t stop Damvic from joining Hugo and me for a ‘Run Good Shot' of a local drink that Hugo brought with him.
After the shots I make my way to my room. Or so I imagine. I can’t remember the exact room number but I’m pretty sure I can narrow it down to like four rooms. My key card disagrees. No doors open and I’m pretty tilted. I make my way down when I realise I’m probably in the wrong tower. I spend the next 40 minutes going through every f*cking tower basically trying every room on the 15th floor. No luck. I go back to registration when I remember what the correct tower might be. I passed Dicks Last Resort on the way to the tower right after check-in so I head in that direction. I nearly explode when I can’t get a single door to open on the floor once again. Finally Baars answers his phone and opens a door about 60 feet to my left. Home sweet home.
Roomie
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
03-05-2016
, 11:34 AM
VPC Went Vegas Day 3; The Big Easy
I wake up at 9AM which is not acceptable after hitting the sheets at 06:30. I make an Ibuprofen, Vitamin C and Lormetazepam cocktail that knocks me on my ass again till about 11:30. Much better. There is hardly a better feeling then leaving your Vegas hotel room on your first day after a refreshing shower with a wallet full of cash. It makes me want to high five the housekeeping ladies on the way to the elevator.
I make my way to the poker room where I see the VPC flew halfway around the planet to take each other’s money. There is a seat open but why the hell would I sit down at a table where Bozzie, Hugo, Jelzo & Wum are playing? Everybody already had breakfast so I make my way to Planet Hollywood’s Earl of Sandwich on my own. That’s probably the thing I like the most about the VPC. We are a group but no one gives a f*ck if anyone goes their own way.
With freezing temperatures back in The Netherlands it takes very little time to get used to the lovely ~ 75 degrees here in Las Vegas. This city sure looks sexy in the sunlight. If you don’t look to close, that is. On my way to Earl of Sandwich I’m reminded numerous times that Vegas brings out the scum of the earth as well. Staying at a fleabag hotel like Excalibur doesn’t help with that matter. I took me ten Excalibur steps to realise this was the last time we tied to save a buck while booking the trip. Four stars and upwards from here on.
I actually can’t believe I only discovered Earl of Sandwich last trip. I could have breakfast here every day for the rest of my life. The size of the sandwiches is pure perfection. I go with The Italian this first morning. Finger licking good.
After breakfast I make my way to Caesars to check out the new poker room. I like the new room. The staff is ridiculously friendly. The room doesn’t like me to much though. In the very first hand I get all the money in with 44 on a 466 board only to see the lovely 0% equity behind my name. I reload and after about three hours I cash out a $ 60,- loser. I try to print a free buffet voucher but the Total Rewards card needs a PIN which I don’t have. The Total Rewards desk at Caesars is crowded so I try again at Planet Hollywood where things are handled swiftly. I receive a new card and my free buffet voucher but I’m pretty sure that is going to go to waste.
I make my way back to Excalibur since the five of us - Hugo, Iebus, Jelzo, Wum & me - are grabbing are cab to Orleans at 17:00. Baars and Damvic are going to visit Steel Panther who play at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues. I always wanted to play the Friday night tourney in Orleans but never got the chance. The boys are going for dinner at TGI Fridays. Due to my late breakfast / lunch I’m not hungry so I sit down for some pre-tourney 2/4 Limit Stella Artois drinking.
The tourney starts us off with a 12,5k stack and a total of 167 entries are made this Friday night. My direct neighbour is someone that I have seen on every trip to Vegas so far. It’s former Binions tournament director Paul Campbell who joined Aria two months ago. Jelzo busts within the first orbit. Iebus and Hugo don’t last too long either. Wum and me are steadily battling our way through this soft field. With about 30 players left UTG ships eight bigs and I re-ship AQo from the cut-off with about 30bb. SB tanks forever before calling with AKo. The flop shows a very handsome queen and I now have decent chips. I don’t celebrate suck-outs because I’ve been on the other side of the table more times than I care to remember. I just stack the chips and mumble ‘unlucky sir’. Villain however proceeds to stare at me for at least twenty minutes as if I spit his momma in the face. What is wrong with these people?
One interesting hand occurs where I get semi unlucky. We are just ITM at a ~ 125k average. I - 200k - open AKc UTG for 2,5x. UTG +1 - semi hot chick with 400k - insta calls and the BB follows suit. I c-bet 50% on a 6h 7h 7d flop. UTG +1 again insta calls. SB folds. Turn is 6h 7h 7d (9d). UTG held a speech about how much she hated the AK call by the SB in the suck-out hand earlier from a ‘protecting your stack’ point of view. I think I’m looking at a range of mostly over pairs and some AK & FD combo’s. With the ‘I hate the AK call’ in mind I go for maximum pressure and over shove the turn. She tanks forever and calls. Not good. I expect to be up against Jacks or Queens here all day. Instead she tables AQd. River brings the 9c and let me tell you Joe Stapleton; not everybody loves a chopped pot. There could have been plenty of worse rivers of course but things would have looked pretty good if I nailed this ~ 60+% equity shot.
I go card and spot dead as the structure of the tournament becomes less sexy. One thing I don’t like about the tourney clock in Orleans is the fact that it shows the ‘chop value’ all the time. With 14 players left - Wum min cashed – pay-out is like $ 270,- when chop value is at $ 1100,-. This influences decisions too much especially with people openly suggesting chops at the other table. When the unofficial finale table of ten is reached its 3AM and we decide to look at the numbers. I’m 9th in chips with 92k and blinds about to go to 8/16k. The tournament director runs the ICM numbers and I would get $ 840,-. Everyone but me agrees to a chop. I declare I need 1K to make a deal since I’m not giving up a shot at the 4k first price for less. 10th place pays ~ $ 400,-. One dude is very eager to make to a deal happen and suggests he will throw in a C-note to make a deal happen. The chip leader doesn’t really want to chop so this thing could go south very fast. I take the $ 940,- and call it a night. I’m a little conflicted about it but taking 5th place money with < 6BB isn’t too shabby with ten players left. I guess.
After the tourney I show Wum what a Vegas bowling alley looks like before we make our way back to Excalibur where we dust off some dollars at the roulette before heading to bed at 5AM. Not because I’m tired – I’m not – but because the Aria daily starts in six hours…
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
I wake up at 9AM which is not acceptable after hitting the sheets at 06:30. I make an Ibuprofen, Vitamin C and Lormetazepam cocktail that knocks me on my ass again till about 11:30. Much better. There is hardly a better feeling then leaving your Vegas hotel room on your first day after a refreshing shower with a wallet full of cash. It makes me want to high five the housekeeping ladies on the way to the elevator.
I make my way to the poker room where I see the VPC flew halfway around the planet to take each other’s money. There is a seat open but why the hell would I sit down at a table where Bozzie, Hugo, Jelzo & Wum are playing? Everybody already had breakfast so I make my way to Planet Hollywood’s Earl of Sandwich on my own. That’s probably the thing I like the most about the VPC. We are a group but no one gives a f*ck if anyone goes their own way.
With freezing temperatures back in The Netherlands it takes very little time to get used to the lovely ~ 75 degrees here in Las Vegas. This city sure looks sexy in the sunlight. If you don’t look to close, that is. On my way to Earl of Sandwich I’m reminded numerous times that Vegas brings out the scum of the earth as well. Staying at a fleabag hotel like Excalibur doesn’t help with that matter. I took me ten Excalibur steps to realise this was the last time we tied to save a buck while booking the trip. Four stars and upwards from here on.
I actually can’t believe I only discovered Earl of Sandwich last trip. I could have breakfast here every day for the rest of my life. The size of the sandwiches is pure perfection. I go with The Italian this first morning. Finger licking good.
After breakfast I make my way to Caesars to check out the new poker room. I like the new room. The staff is ridiculously friendly. The room doesn’t like me to much though. In the very first hand I get all the money in with 44 on a 466 board only to see the lovely 0% equity behind my name. I reload and after about three hours I cash out a $ 60,- loser. I try to print a free buffet voucher but the Total Rewards card needs a PIN which I don’t have. The Total Rewards desk at Caesars is crowded so I try again at Planet Hollywood where things are handled swiftly. I receive a new card and my free buffet voucher but I’m pretty sure that is going to go to waste.
I make my way back to Excalibur since the five of us - Hugo, Iebus, Jelzo, Wum & me - are grabbing are cab to Orleans at 17:00. Baars and Damvic are going to visit Steel Panther who play at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues. I always wanted to play the Friday night tourney in Orleans but never got the chance. The boys are going for dinner at TGI Fridays. Due to my late breakfast / lunch I’m not hungry so I sit down for some pre-tourney 2/4 Limit Stella Artois drinking.
The tourney starts us off with a 12,5k stack and a total of 167 entries are made this Friday night. My direct neighbour is someone that I have seen on every trip to Vegas so far. It’s former Binions tournament director Paul Campbell who joined Aria two months ago. Jelzo busts within the first orbit. Iebus and Hugo don’t last too long either. Wum and me are steadily battling our way through this soft field. With about 30 players left UTG ships eight bigs and I re-ship AQo from the cut-off with about 30bb. SB tanks forever before calling with AKo. The flop shows a very handsome queen and I now have decent chips. I don’t celebrate suck-outs because I’ve been on the other side of the table more times than I care to remember. I just stack the chips and mumble ‘unlucky sir’. Villain however proceeds to stare at me for at least twenty minutes as if I spit his momma in the face. What is wrong with these people?
One interesting hand occurs where I get semi unlucky. We are just ITM at a ~ 125k average. I - 200k - open AKc UTG for 2,5x. UTG +1 - semi hot chick with 400k - insta calls and the BB follows suit. I c-bet 50% on a 6h 7h 7d flop. UTG +1 again insta calls. SB folds. Turn is 6h 7h 7d (9d). UTG held a speech about how much she hated the AK call by the SB in the suck-out hand earlier from a ‘protecting your stack’ point of view. I think I’m looking at a range of mostly over pairs and some AK & FD combo’s. With the ‘I hate the AK call’ in mind I go for maximum pressure and over shove the turn. She tanks forever and calls. Not good. I expect to be up against Jacks or Queens here all day. Instead she tables AQd. River brings the 9c and let me tell you Joe Stapleton; not everybody loves a chopped pot. There could have been plenty of worse rivers of course but things would have looked pretty good if I nailed this ~ 60+% equity shot.
I go card and spot dead as the structure of the tournament becomes less sexy. One thing I don’t like about the tourney clock in Orleans is the fact that it shows the ‘chop value’ all the time. With 14 players left - Wum min cashed – pay-out is like $ 270,- when chop value is at $ 1100,-. This influences decisions too much especially with people openly suggesting chops at the other table. When the unofficial finale table of ten is reached its 3AM and we decide to look at the numbers. I’m 9th in chips with 92k and blinds about to go to 8/16k. The tournament director runs the ICM numbers and I would get $ 840,-. Everyone but me agrees to a chop. I declare I need 1K to make a deal since I’m not giving up a shot at the 4k first price for less. 10th place pays ~ $ 400,-. One dude is very eager to make to a deal happen and suggests he will throw in a C-note to make a deal happen. The chip leader doesn’t really want to chop so this thing could go south very fast. I take the $ 940,- and call it a night. I’m a little conflicted about it but taking 5th place money with < 6BB isn’t too shabby with ten players left. I guess.
After the tourney I show Wum what a Vegas bowling alley looks like before we make our way back to Excalibur where we dust off some dollars at the roulette before heading to bed at 5AM. Not because I’m tired – I’m not – but because the Aria daily starts in six hours…
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
03-06-2016
, 02:41 PM
03-07-2016
, 03:33 PM
VPC Went Vegas Day 4; Dirty Dutch
I wake up at 08:30 which sucks. I need to get up in one hour so I can’t take a sleeping pill and there is no way I’ll fall back to sleep. Oh well. I most likely bust the Aria Daily somewhere around 4/5PM so I’ll probably be able to squeeze in some sleep before we go banana’s at Hakkasan tonight.
Wum, Jelzo, Hugo, Iebus and me are firing at this Aria $ 240,- Daily. Aria started these 240’s a couple of weeks ago on Friday and Saturday mornings. I order the Hawaiian BBQ at Earl this morning. Lovely as always. The tourney starts off with 20k. Jelzo is at my table today but besides him there isn’t much to be feared at this table. I have Vaya Con Dios – Puerto Rico on repeat to get me into zen modus. I play solid and get up to 30k with very few show-downs.
Hugo has to fire second bullet after about an hour but still doesn’t make the first break. I go completely card dead for hours and with every move I make villains just seems to have the goods. One of those days I guess. I grind twenty bigs for a few hours before losing a standard flip to bust. Meh. It’s about 4PM so my schedule is intact. Damvic, Hugo and Wum decided to go with another preparation plan for our night out in Hakkasan. Their plan is to get absolutely wasted before dinnertime. They have an agreement with the waitress to drop a bottle of Corona every ten minutes. The eye in the sky doesn’t allow two drinks at a time so they’re chugging back 50% of the bottle every ten minutes. I can’t see this ending well but hey; at least it’s fun to watch. After a lovely slice of Five50 pizza I make my way to the ABC Stores to purchase Budweiser’s for the Hakkasan Hotel Room pre-party.
Back in Excalibur I put the Budweiser’s on ice before heading to bed. However, when I walk into ice machine room I nearly pass out. I know enough. I’m in serious trouble. As described in detail in the previous trip report I’m struggling with medical issues. Mostly hyperventilation at this point. My body didn’t get enough rest the last couple days and alcohol makes my body very restless overall. Hyperventilation is not the bag breathing attacks you see on television. In reality it’s a silent assassin. After I put all the Buds on ice I actually have to lean against the walls to reach my bed. I set the alarm at 20:30 and crash.
Despite staying on the 15th floor a scream from the Sportsbook wakes me at 20:50. Bozzie put a hundo on the UNLV match who had a spread of -9. UNLV was ahead all match. With 2.4 seconds on the clock they lead 80 to 77. A miracle half-court shot ties the score and during extra time UNLV get their asses handed to them sending Bozzie into a tilt coma.
Baars lies in in his bed staring at the ceiling when I ask him if he didn’t hear my alarm clock go off. “Oh, yeah. Your phone was making funny noises” REALLY? I hit the shower and with much reluctance open a Budweiser on my way to the Casino floor. I don’t feel like drinking at all but what can you do? These Hakkasan idiots charge you like ~ $ 25,- a drink. We better be ****faced before we arrive at that joint. WhatsApp shows me Iebus chopped the Aria daily three way for ~ $ 3,5k. Very nice. Especially since I had 0% just like last time in Namur. FML. It also shows pictures of Hugo and Damvic at dinner. Both drunk as a lord.
The Hakkasan pre party starts at 10PM in our hotel room. Bozzie’s nephew joins the party as he just touched down in Vegas for a business trip minutes ago. Jelzo and Wum didn’t get Hakkasan tickets and the fact that I can’t remember if they were present for the pre party should give you a good idea of what is about to come. I brought a bottle of Schrobbeler (20%) and Hugo brought a bottle from a local brewery (40%) as well. The pre party is pretty cool. Damvic and Hugo both look like they broke the record of the Las Vegas Marathon this afternoon. Around 23:30 we make our way to Hakkasan after our hotel bottle service ended.
Now. I’m not much of club guy but it bothered me that I hadn’t been to a real Vegas nightclub on the previous trips. Closest we came was Ghostbar and Voodoo Lounge. We bought $ 100,- VIP tickets so we can cut the massive general admission line. This is actually a pretty good deal. The ticket gets you a $ 100,- drink voucher so basically the entry is free since spending < $ 100,- on Booze is nearly impossible anyway.
The club is massive. It takes a little time to get the party going but when DJ Chuckie starts spinning the roof blows off the place. If you manage to get past the first ten seconds of the above video you can see what I mean. It was pretty epic. Around 2AM I’m completely wasted but manage to grind it out till the party is over. Vodka Red Bull sure keeps you going. As you can see in the movie below I took some suboptimal lines on the walk back to Excalibur. Baars took some wrong turns as well as it took him 90 minutes to find his way back from MGM to Excalibur. No idea what happened to Bozzie and Damvic to be honest except Damvic locking himself out of his room.
Apparently we went for pizza after…
Believe it or not but instead of going to bed I made my way to the poker room when we got back to Excalibur. Not the best idea you say? Nonsense. I actually won a buy-in removing the dent Hakkasan made in the wallet. I don’t remember much besides going to bed in brought daylight at 8AM. Heck of a night.
Post Clubbin’ Poker…
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
I wake up at 08:30 which sucks. I need to get up in one hour so I can’t take a sleeping pill and there is no way I’ll fall back to sleep. Oh well. I most likely bust the Aria Daily somewhere around 4/5PM so I’ll probably be able to squeeze in some sleep before we go banana’s at Hakkasan tonight.
Wum, Jelzo, Hugo, Iebus and me are firing at this Aria $ 240,- Daily. Aria started these 240’s a couple of weeks ago on Friday and Saturday mornings. I order the Hawaiian BBQ at Earl this morning. Lovely as always. The tourney starts off with 20k. Jelzo is at my table today but besides him there isn’t much to be feared at this table. I have Vaya Con Dios – Puerto Rico on repeat to get me into zen modus. I play solid and get up to 30k with very few show-downs.
Hugo has to fire second bullet after about an hour but still doesn’t make the first break. I go completely card dead for hours and with every move I make villains just seems to have the goods. One of those days I guess. I grind twenty bigs for a few hours before losing a standard flip to bust. Meh. It’s about 4PM so my schedule is intact. Damvic, Hugo and Wum decided to go with another preparation plan for our night out in Hakkasan. Their plan is to get absolutely wasted before dinnertime. They have an agreement with the waitress to drop a bottle of Corona every ten minutes. The eye in the sky doesn’t allow two drinks at a time so they’re chugging back 50% of the bottle every ten minutes. I can’t see this ending well but hey; at least it’s fun to watch. After a lovely slice of Five50 pizza I make my way to the ABC Stores to purchase Budweiser’s for the Hakkasan Hotel Room pre-party.
Back in Excalibur I put the Budweiser’s on ice before heading to bed. However, when I walk into ice machine room I nearly pass out. I know enough. I’m in serious trouble. As described in detail in the previous trip report I’m struggling with medical issues. Mostly hyperventilation at this point. My body didn’t get enough rest the last couple days and alcohol makes my body very restless overall. Hyperventilation is not the bag breathing attacks you see on television. In reality it’s a silent assassin. After I put all the Buds on ice I actually have to lean against the walls to reach my bed. I set the alarm at 20:30 and crash.
Despite staying on the 15th floor a scream from the Sportsbook wakes me at 20:50. Bozzie put a hundo on the UNLV match who had a spread of -9. UNLV was ahead all match. With 2.4 seconds on the clock they lead 80 to 77. A miracle half-court shot ties the score and during extra time UNLV get their asses handed to them sending Bozzie into a tilt coma.
Baars lies in in his bed staring at the ceiling when I ask him if he didn’t hear my alarm clock go off. “Oh, yeah. Your phone was making funny noises” REALLY? I hit the shower and with much reluctance open a Budweiser on my way to the Casino floor. I don’t feel like drinking at all but what can you do? These Hakkasan idiots charge you like ~ $ 25,- a drink. We better be ****faced before we arrive at that joint. WhatsApp shows me Iebus chopped the Aria daily three way for ~ $ 3,5k. Very nice. Especially since I had 0% just like last time in Namur. FML. It also shows pictures of Hugo and Damvic at dinner. Both drunk as a lord.
The Hakkasan pre party starts at 10PM in our hotel room. Bozzie’s nephew joins the party as he just touched down in Vegas for a business trip minutes ago. Jelzo and Wum didn’t get Hakkasan tickets and the fact that I can’t remember if they were present for the pre party should give you a good idea of what is about to come. I brought a bottle of Schrobbeler (20%) and Hugo brought a bottle from a local brewery (40%) as well. The pre party is pretty cool. Damvic and Hugo both look like they broke the record of the Las Vegas Marathon this afternoon. Around 23:30 we make our way to Hakkasan after our hotel bottle service ended.
Now. I’m not much of club guy but it bothered me that I hadn’t been to a real Vegas nightclub on the previous trips. Closest we came was Ghostbar and Voodoo Lounge. We bought $ 100,- VIP tickets so we can cut the massive general admission line. This is actually a pretty good deal. The ticket gets you a $ 100,- drink voucher so basically the entry is free since spending < $ 100,- on Booze is nearly impossible anyway.
The club is massive. It takes a little time to get the party going but when DJ Chuckie starts spinning the roof blows off the place. If you manage to get past the first ten seconds of the above video you can see what I mean. It was pretty epic. Around 2AM I’m completely wasted but manage to grind it out till the party is over. Vodka Red Bull sure keeps you going. As you can see in the movie below I took some suboptimal lines on the walk back to Excalibur. Baars took some wrong turns as well as it took him 90 minutes to find his way back from MGM to Excalibur. No idea what happened to Bozzie and Damvic to be honest except Damvic locking himself out of his room.
Apparently we went for pizza after…
Believe it or not but instead of going to bed I made my way to the poker room when we got back to Excalibur. Not the best idea you say? Nonsense. I actually won a buy-in removing the dent Hakkasan made in the wallet. I don’t remember much besides going to bed in brought daylight at 8AM. Heck of a night.
Post Clubbin’ Poker…
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
03-09-2016
, 05:58 AM
VPC Went Vegas Day 5; What happens in V….
Plans for today; NO DRINKING and the 7PM HORSE tourney at Orleans. No idea what time I woke up or how long I’ve slept. Not long enough is only thing I’m sure about. One thing I do remember; Baars telling me a bedside story this morning. I don’t really believe in ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ but I’m afraid I have to file this story in that category. Let’s just say Baars made a classic Vegas mistake. A costly one.
Somewhere in the afternoon most of us make our way to the Strip for some poker. Bozzie slides back into his Vegas Tilt Coma after spewing a buy-in vs. Iebus earlier that morning and stays behind at Excalibur. I feel absolutely terrible and then some. I’m hungover and in full throttle hyperventilation mode. I just can’t seem to get my breathing rhythm under control. Best way to describe how that feels is like walking underwater.
We take a short pony betting break at Bellagio where I watch Iebus lose yet another race going O for 50 in his Vegas pony betting career. We decide to go play at Caesars but I nearly pass out after getting up at Bellagio so I go back to Excalibur to crash. I want to play the 7PM Horse tourney so I go for some more rest. On my way through Bellagio run into good old Johnny Chan. How short is that guy?
The alarm wakes me at 18:30. I really wanted to play the Horse tourney but the wise decision is to stay in bed for a while longer. I text Iebus I’m skipping the tourney but will make my way to Orleans later. In the group app I find a recording that says; “Waddup, it’s the Trooper” from The Trooper 97 himself. Apparently Wum is Troopers direct neighbour in the Caesars game. I should have ****ing stayed! I prepared a little Mail Time Package for The Trooper 97 but forgot to bring it… I’ve send it out to some Dutchies leaving for Vegas this week so they will make the drop-off.
Around 10PM I make my way to Orleans. I never played any other form then Hold’em live and that’s why I wanted to play the Horse tourney. However, Orleans has several 4/8 Omaha Eight games going daily so I go with that. I more or less know the rules to the game but have zero strategic knowledge. After two hands I conclude that is not going to matter much today. I see people going to capped flops with 569T single suited. This should be fun.
I’m going with the tight is right strategy today. I pick-up some decent hands here and there and I’m up from the get go. Iebus joins my table after busting the Horse tourney. Tight is right is not in Iebus’s poker book and he needs < 50 minutes to burns trough 200 one dollar chips with a 94.2% VPIP. Iebus gives me some advice; ‘Never go for just the Low’. Alright. I’m pretty sure that is accurate if we replace the word Low with High…
Omaha Eight is awesome. I have an absolute blast and rack up a $ 50,- winner after about four hours. My plan was to not drink today however I see someone order a Greyhound and being a 2+2 Trip Report Fanboy I need to order one. Let me put it like this; I would need to flip a coin given the option to either lick a homeless guy’s balls or drink another Greyhound.
Toxic waste.
Back in Excalibur I grind some 1/2 NL before making my way to my room. I check in with Baars first who has been burning monies these first few days like you wouldn’t believe it. I can see from a mile away things are bad by Baars’s demeanour. I tell him I will bring some run good and within 15 minutes we spin his last $ 50 - of the day, that is – up to about 700 bucks. I suggest taking half of that to the room for the next day. Like a true degen Baars looks at me like I just suggested root canal treatment. I leave Baars and pop a sleeping pill around 3AM before jumping into bed.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
Plans for today; NO DRINKING and the 7PM HORSE tourney at Orleans. No idea what time I woke up or how long I’ve slept. Not long enough is only thing I’m sure about. One thing I do remember; Baars telling me a bedside story this morning. I don’t really believe in ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ but I’m afraid I have to file this story in that category. Let’s just say Baars made a classic Vegas mistake. A costly one.
Somewhere in the afternoon most of us make our way to the Strip for some poker. Bozzie slides back into his Vegas Tilt Coma after spewing a buy-in vs. Iebus earlier that morning and stays behind at Excalibur. I feel absolutely terrible and then some. I’m hungover and in full throttle hyperventilation mode. I just can’t seem to get my breathing rhythm under control. Best way to describe how that feels is like walking underwater.
We take a short pony betting break at Bellagio where I watch Iebus lose yet another race going O for 50 in his Vegas pony betting career. We decide to go play at Caesars but I nearly pass out after getting up at Bellagio so I go back to Excalibur to crash. I want to play the 7PM Horse tourney so I go for some more rest. On my way through Bellagio run into good old Johnny Chan. How short is that guy?
The alarm wakes me at 18:30. I really wanted to play the Horse tourney but the wise decision is to stay in bed for a while longer. I text Iebus I’m skipping the tourney but will make my way to Orleans later. In the group app I find a recording that says; “Waddup, it’s the Trooper” from The Trooper 97 himself. Apparently Wum is Troopers direct neighbour in the Caesars game. I should have ****ing stayed! I prepared a little Mail Time Package for The Trooper 97 but forgot to bring it… I’ve send it out to some Dutchies leaving for Vegas this week so they will make the drop-off.
Around 10PM I make my way to Orleans. I never played any other form then Hold’em live and that’s why I wanted to play the Horse tourney. However, Orleans has several 4/8 Omaha Eight games going daily so I go with that. I more or less know the rules to the game but have zero strategic knowledge. After two hands I conclude that is not going to matter much today. I see people going to capped flops with 569T single suited. This should be fun.
I’m going with the tight is right strategy today. I pick-up some decent hands here and there and I’m up from the get go. Iebus joins my table after busting the Horse tourney. Tight is right is not in Iebus’s poker book and he needs < 50 minutes to burns trough 200 one dollar chips with a 94.2% VPIP. Iebus gives me some advice; ‘Never go for just the Low’. Alright. I’m pretty sure that is accurate if we replace the word Low with High…
Omaha Eight is awesome. I have an absolute blast and rack up a $ 50,- winner after about four hours. My plan was to not drink today however I see someone order a Greyhound and being a 2+2 Trip Report Fanboy I need to order one. Let me put it like this; I would need to flip a coin given the option to either lick a homeless guy’s balls or drink another Greyhound.
Toxic waste.
Back in Excalibur I grind some 1/2 NL before making my way to my room. I check in with Baars first who has been burning monies these first few days like you wouldn’t believe it. I can see from a mile away things are bad by Baars’s demeanour. I tell him I will bring some run good and within 15 minutes we spin his last $ 50 - of the day, that is – up to about 700 bucks. I suggest taking half of that to the room for the next day. Like a true degen Baars looks at me like I just suggested root canal treatment. I leave Baars and pop a sleeping pill around 3AM before jumping into bed.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands.
03-11-2016
, 06:38 AM
Updates? Looking forward to it 