Not yet, but maybe later tonight if the list looks ok.

Waking up in Vegas is always a great feeling, although it's with a tingle of sadness today as it's time to go home. The flight back to London leaves tonight at 8:20pm, and I will be home in Malta on Saturday evening (local time).

But before we think about that, let us recap an interesting day of poker & Vegas. I started off the day at the Mandalay Bay pool, before heading out to play. My first destination was here:



I joined what was actually a somewhat lively game, with a drunk woman around 50 and her husband at the table, in addition to a very splashy young Asian kid who was in Vegas for the first time.

I won my first hand when there was a straddle to $6 on the button by the woman, and one player limped in. I made it $21 in the hijack with A7hh, and get calls from the straddle + the limper. K-5-2 one heart seems fairly harmless to me, so after limper checks I bet $30 and get two quick folds.



Then UTG limps for $3, and I chose to limp behind with 44 (limping or raising are both fine). The young Asian raises to $20 from cutoff, BB calls, first limper call, and I obviously call as well. Flop comes T-6-3, and actuall checks around. Turn is another T, and BB now comes out with $25. Not much I can do then I think, so I just fold along with everyone else.

A while later there is straddle, and I find QJcc in hijack. I make it $20, only to see the Asian kid 3-bet to $60 from SB. It folds back to me, and given what I have seen from him so far (extremely active), I chose to make the call in position. We go heads-up to A-Q-8 all spades, and he bets out $40. Not an amazing spot, but in position against a small bet I chose to call and see what he does.

Turn is another spade, the 9. Opponent now checks, and I was slightly unsure about this one since many high spades are accounted for. However, I can easily have a hand like KsQx or similar. So this is a great situation for yet another 'Crush Live Poker' concept - the variable turn sizing (which is not very variable at all). I bet $65, and the Asian fold immediately. So he was clearly out to lunch in this one.

I win a few small pots more, including having AA once from UTG. I made it $15 simply to get more money in there, but for once everyone at the table just folded. Huge disappointment given how the game had played so far, but not much to do with that.

I win another one from the Asian a while later as well, whe he straddles UTG. I find QJo in cutoff and make it $20, and he is the only caller. Flop comes 3-7-7 two spades, which seems quite harmless. He checks, and I make it $15. He calls, and the prettiest card in the deck (As) lands on turn.

He checks again, and I thought I could represent this card. And unlike in other spots this trip, where I have checked behind to bet the river, I didn't want to do that here. This guy will surely pounce on weakness if I check back, regardless of what he holds. So in this spot it's better to just bet, and my sizing of $35 got the job done.

I also win a small pot 3-betting QQ, before a weird spot came up. I raise A6cc to $12 from 3rd position, and a new player who seems very recrational makes the call (he took the seat of the woman, who had left). SB and BB also call, and we see 6-2-3 two hearts, one club. Both blinds check, and I decided to bet $25 for some value & protection. The first guy does however call, while the other two fold.

Turn comes 2h, so the flush gets there. I decided to check, due to positional awareness (he called my bet with 2 players left behind him) and the flush getting in. He does bet, but only $30. Although I had trouble coming up with any bluff - maybe a reason to fold - it still felt a bit weak to me.

I made the call, and river comes another 3. So we have 6-2-3-2-3. I check, sort-of expecting this to go check-check, but he actually bets again. $50 is the amount this time. I took a lot of time with it, because from what I have seen from this opponent so far I strongly doubt he bets 88 for example on the river, or maybe even a flush. To me his line feels inconsistent with what he is representing, but the problem was that I couldn't really find any logical bluff. So I begrudingly folded, and I guess we'll never know.

Also lose the next hand, when I raise JJ to $12 and get calls from cutoff and BB. Flop comes A-K-9, BB checks and I decided to check as well. The button, who is new to the table and looks a bit OMC-ish, immediately bets $25. I chose to fold here, although in hindsight I didn't think enough about the board texture and how he is fairly capped at having only one pair most of the time. So maybe I could have blasted off on this one, although it would obviously have been risky.

The spewy Asian eventually also left the game, and it started to become much tamer. So I decided to go find a better one, and left with a $45 profit after 2 hours and 45 minutes of play. Bit of a strange session, where I thought I did some decent stuff but didn't get any really huge hands against the splashy players when they were present. I also lost a few hands (the two above) towards the end, which made it only a small winner.

I crossed the street over to Linq Promenade to find some food. The location for that can be seen in the second picture below:





Also had to briefly stop by the Flamingo habitat, while checking Bravo and deciding on where to play.





I wanted to head to the Wynn, however their lists looked very long on PokerAtlas when I checked, and I didn't want to head all the way out there and get stuck waiting for a long time. So instead we took a shorter walk over to the casino which is pretty much opposite of this one:



GG WP to Mirage. Although it's not a place I have spent a lot of time at, it's truly an iconic casino. And it will be a bit sad to no longer being able to dream about Vegas and the f**king Mirage!

(TR will continue below)

Great pictures!!

Across from Mirage is The Venetian, and I quickly got a seat. As soon as I get to my table, there is some commotion with a guy around 30 who talks loudly, saying he is new to poker and doesn't understand what happens etc. This guy was all over the place, likely both extremely drunk & high, and constantly barraged the dealers with questions, as well as the guy sitting next to him. He also seemed to have trouble following the action, constantly taking ages when it was on him.

His demeanor was also all over the place, mostly trying to be friendly and apologetic, but at times berating players as well. He accused the guy to his left of seeing his cards, he started to taunt me after he won a big pot (more about that below), and he made up a nickname for one guy at the table who didn't seem to take well to it etc. The floor was over several times to talk to him, but thankfully he never got kicked out of the game.

The first hand of note is however without him at the table. An OMC-looking guy raises to $10 from EP1, and I chose to just call in the hijack with TT. SB also calls, and we go 3-ways to J-7-2 rainbow. It checks to me, I throw out $15 for value and only SB calls. This guy looks like a real OMC, so when the turn comes a 6 I check it behind.

River is a 3, and he checks again. I think I can mostly discount him having a Jack now, so focus is to get value from 7x or pairs like 88 and 99. I throw out $22, but he folds fairly quickly. Maybe he was just chasing with a gutshot or something.

Then here is a limp to $3, and I raise to $15 with QTo from MP. Bit light, but it's following the mantra I have at times been implementing well; if there is just one limper ahead I ignore it and raise my normal range. I get a call from the button, and the limper also calls.

Flop comes A-T-8 and I decided to check this one after limper checks. Button also checks, so we get a free turn card. It's a 6, and the limper now leads $20. I call, and the button does the same. River comes a K, and the limper checks. With BTN calling behind me I am a bit vary, and just checks. It does however check down, the limper shows 89s, and my Ten is good. Nice!



The crazy guy have returned to table, every hand is taking ages, and I can tell some people are getting frustrated. I am however in a really good mood, occasionally try to engage the guy in conversation, and doing all I can to ensure he does not feel alienated at the table. His play is really erratic, at times showing insane bluffs and occasionally going all-in for gigantic overbets etc.

He then goes all-in UTG for over $300, and everyone folds. The next hand I am in cutoff and find KTcc when it's folded to me. I raise to $15, and it folds to him in BB. His chips are in a big mess in front of him, and he announces "all-in" and starts splashing them all over the table. The dealer halfway manages to stop him, and starts counting the bet (turned out to be $314).

Like wtf. I have a much better hand than average, and I really think that at this point he just wants to gamble with pretty much any two cards. A part of me wondered if I should find an even more secure spot to gamble with him, but I honestly thought that he could have anything here. So let's gamble. I put out a chip for a call.

A-9-3-Q-A

I am left with King high, and disappointment fills me as the guy announces "two pair" and shows a measly pair of deuces. I do however not show a single bit of disappointment outwardly, but calmly tell him nice hand, and reload for $300 more (I had around $45 left or so).

Just two hands later I get a better spot, when there are two limps for $3, and I make it $21 with JJ. SB calls before the crazy guy says that he will raise 'whatever this is' and throw out a stack of chips. It turned out to be $55, and it folds to me. I make it $156, although in hindsight could have just jammed it. He thinks for a bit and sadly folds.

I ask him if he didn't want to go all-in again, and he says "Oh, it was you that did it? If I had known that I would have gone all-in, because you are a terrible poker player!". I laugh and agree with his statement. So it seems he had no idea who even made the raise

(He started being more obnoxious a bit later towards me, semi-yelling in my face about how he was gonna break me, and how I thought I could take advantage of him and there was no chance of that happening etc. I obviously just smiled and agreed with him).

Then I play a stupid pot when he is away from the table for a few minutes. There is a limp for $3, and I make it $15 from the button with K7cc. BB call, and the limper does the same. A-6-4 one club seems reasonable with some good backdoors, so when it checks to me I make it $20. BB calls, and the limper folds.

Turn is a J (no club), and after BB checks I bet $55. This is a clear mistake, as I should reserve my continues here for equity cards (all clubs) and straight cards like 3, 5, and 8. Instead I just bet without a good reason, and get punished for it. He raises to $145 and I have to sheepishly fold. Probably one of the worst hands I have played this trip, and not good enough. With such a maniac at the table, I don't have to go crazy against others without a good reason to do so.

A while later I find ATo in MP and raise to $15. I get calls from all 3 players directly behind me, including the maniac on the button. Flop comes A-K-2, and I think a bit and check. The other two check as well, and I knew he couldn't resist a stab when it checked to him. He makes it $55, and I raise it up to $125. Against this guy, TP and good kicker is definitely the nuts. It folds to him, and he quickly says call.

I was ready to jam on many turns, but then it comes a 2. Really bad card as I now chop against other Ax, but I am obviously not ready to fold. So why not check it over to him and see if he wants to bluff at it. I do just that, but he quickly checks back. River is a 7, and I bet out $55 to hopefully get a crying call if he has something below an Ace. He does however fold, which is a bit surprising.



Sadly the guy eventually dumped off his stack to someone and left the table. Very disappointing to actually not have profited against such a player, which is the most absurd one I have ever faced in Vegas ever I think.

A few more hands from the session. After one limp from a new Asian female, I make it $15 with TT right behind her. BB calls, and the limper folds. Flop comes Q-9-7 two diamonds (I have one), and he leads right out for $20. Not sure what to make of this, but I obviously call.

Turn is an Ace, and he leads for $25. However, both the sizing and the way he did it seemed a bit defensive to me. He is likely just betting a Queen, but since I can't beat that it would be stupid to keep calling. So I raise it up to $75, and he folds fairly quickly. Nice to get plays like that through, which was a variation of him using almost the "same bet" on turn + a live tell I picked up from his demanor.

After winning a small one with AA, I find AJcc the very next hand from UTG. I make it $12, EP1 calls, before a new female player clicks it up to $30. Likely a huge hand, but I am getting a good price so I call. EP1 does the same, and we see 5-3-2 one club. She bets $50 after it checks to her, and I don't think I caught quite enough of a piece here to continue. So I fold, and EP1 does the same.

Since the maniac had left the game did not have the same value anymore, so I cashed out after 2.5 hours with a loss of $90 USD. Not too terrible given I got stacked earlier, but against such a crazy player one most obviously expect some variance. I knew I was making a slightly optimistic call with the KT, and thus have to live with the result of it.

(TR will continue below)

Man I love it when the whackos start berating me. A real treat

Great stuff. Keep it coming

Loving the trip report Whale -- thanks for sharing and for the detailed hand history. Getting my excited to head out next month.

Re: the tough Aria game: Anytime you have to think about 4-bet bluffing not once but twice in a 1/3 game, it's time to find a new game.

One other thought on that hand-history. I don't think the 42s call was all that egregious or station-y. In fact I'll bet it's GTO-approved at least some of the time. Once you overbet on the river, you're going super polar repping a T or air -- that's not a size you're gonna take with an A. So bottom pair and top pair are effectively the same hand vs your polarized, and his hand unblocks your middling bluffs that call the raise preflop (like QJo). All that said, this is a spot that you should almost never be in w/ a 1/3 game!

One last destination for yesterday evening, which was at MGM Grand. I saw they had open seating on Bravo, and I figured it would be good to be close to "home". MGM was insanely packed and there was a lot of eye candy to see. It's really too bad I don't have any female company myself that I can bring along to Vegas. That said, it would obviously leave less time for poker, so there are pros and cons to everything.

After sitting down in a game at MGM, I get involved my very first hand. I find KQhh and raise it up to $10 ($1-$2 blinds). I get no less than 4 callers, and we see 7-6-5 two hearts. It checks to me, and I should maybe bet here since my hand is good enough to call a check-raise. But in game against this many players and on this board I chose to check it. It checks around.

5h on the turn, so we make a very hidden flush. It checks to me again, and I make it $25. Sadly everyone folds out, so I likely wouldnt' have gotten much more even by betting the flop. Still think that would have been a better play though, as these players likely won't attack the board with big draws most of the time.

Then there are 3 limps, and I find AKo in BB. I make it $15, and only one player calls with only $45 behind or so. Flop comes 6-3-3 two spades, and I figure this shouldn't hit him too hard. I make it $13, but he minclicks it to $27. Such a silly sizing and he has so little behind, so it's whatever. I just put him all-in, especially since I do have the Ks in my hand as well. He calls.

Turn is 8s, and river is Ts, so I make a sneaky backdoor flush. Opponent actually looked very disappointed, so maybe he actually had a pair of sevens or something like that? Either way, in my mind we are practically all-in pre anyway, so I think gambling with Ace high against such a small stack is fine.

I then lose a small one when I raise A3ss to $10 from MP, and get calls from cutoff and button. Flop comes A-K-J, and I bet out $8 to get calls from Kx and Jx. That said, I can easily bet much more here as their kickers likely will have some kind of straight draw as well. So that is a sizing mistake on my part. Only button calls.

Turn is a Q, not my favorite card as he can easily have made two pair or a straight. I check, and he checks behind. River comes an 8, and I check hoping to just get to showdown. He does however throw out $25, and I make the fold. Although he checked back turn, I think this would be too light of a call versus a random who didn't seem like a very good player.

More raising, this time with 66 from UTG to $10. EP1 calls, an OMC who is new to the table. We go heads-up to A-K-4, so it's time to buckle up. I start off with a bet of $10, and he quickly calls. Turn comes a 7, I increase to $25 and he once again calls quickly.

River is a 2, and this is very simliar to the tournament hand at South Point a few days ago. He is likely capped at AQ at most, and how do we put AQ/AJ hands in a shitty spot? I think that betting $140 into $93 qualifies as such, so that is what I did. Opponent goes into the tank for a long time, but eventually says 'good bet' and releases his cards. He actually said he had just a pair of Tens, but I am not entirely sure if I believe him.



Then I go card-dead for a long time, before finally finding A5hh in SB after a limp. I make it $12, and get calls from BB and the limper. We see T-T-3 no hearts, but I think these paired boards are quite good to bet on. So I throw out $16 and both fold.

Then I go back to folding for a while, before opening K8dd from cutoff. I make it $10, and a fishy player calls right behind me. Flop comes 9-2-5 two spades no diamonds, and I decided to just check it and give up. He does however check back, and Ks lands on turn. I bet out $10 and he calls quickly.

River is a Q, and maybe I missed a bet here. When he called that quickly on turn I thought my kicker could be in trouble, so I just checked. He checks quickly back, showing AQo with the spade. So that is exactly the kind of hand that could have called the river, although I don't think I made a huge mistake here.

Game got very passive, although two younger Asian guys joined the table "just to splash around a bit" as they told their friends. They occasionally did so, but I never got in any trouble against them. I won a couple of small pots, of which we can run through one.

I raise AQo to $10 from early position, and one of the Asians calls in MP. We go heads-up to Q-J-5 two hearts, and I bet out $14 as there are many hands that can call this board (thus I can go $20 as well). He calls, and turn comes a 7. I bet $35, and he folds quickly. I do think I have the right idea on this one, but as always my sizings should have been even bigger.

After being out all day I was getting a bit tired, so I just booked the $151 win after 2 hours and 15 minutes of play.

I then went back to Mandalay Bay, and did some quick degening before going to bed. I have mostly been running pretty bad at Video Poker this trip, but I must say that this hand below helped and was a really fun experience. My second ever Royal Flush:



(and yes, I am purposedly only betting 5 credits here instead of 6 to not invoke the STP portion).

Today is Friday (Rebecca Black approves), and it's sadly time to get ready and check out of my room. But to be honest I don't feel too bad about it; trip has felt long as it has been fun. And although I am not entirely happy my play, I do think I have found a new aggression level in some pots this trip that has served me well. Both in regards to isolating limpers a bit more frequently, and also to using board textures to my advantage.

I will post one more update from Harry Reid Airport tonight, and obviously also more thoughts when I get home. And I am sure I will be back to Vegas again later this year


Cash Games:

Hours played: 42h 00 min
Won/loss: +$1192 USD
Hourly rate: $28.4 USD

Tournaments:

Profit/loss: -$224 USD (3 played)

Nice job keeping your cool against the obnoxious lunatic. As the saying goes, don't tap the fish tank. It's too bad you weren't the one to be able to separate him from all of his chips.

Ah, day drinking poker players. Aren't they grand?

I watch most of the Crush Live Poker youtubes. As much as you refer to it, I'm thinking maybe I should sign up.

I've said this before, I generally like Phil Hellmuth. I used to live just down the road from him about 15 miles. He does a ton of charity events and charitable things in general. I liked when WPT had an event at the local cardroom and he always played in it. However, when ordinary schmucks like your guy see Phil's antics on tv they think they need to act the same way, and that's not good.

Which YT videos/channels, articles or 2+2 threads have helped you the most with becoming a better live player, Whale?

Very nice hit! What is the "STP portion"?

You can rent one in Vegas. It would probably cost you less than a girlfriend from home.

Wat?? That's crazy! Multipliers are most of the fun. When you have multipliers, you intently watch every card roll off. What if you had a 10x multiplier on that? If you play Double Super Times Pay you could have even more. I had 2 multipliers on the initial deal on 5 hands once. It dealt 4 to a royal while it was deciding on the second multiplier.

You forgot the tally from degen gambling.

Yes, I agree with your sentiment about the 42cc hand. Maybe a more value-ish sizing could have gotten a fold.

STP = Super Times Pay, you pay extra to get a random multiplier on some hands

For studying, I listen to every single 'Crush Live Poker' podcast, and just hearing Bart Hanson repeat the same concepts over and over in my ear really helps. I do watch occasional videos as well, not as many as I should though.

After checking out of Mandalay Bay a few minutes after 11am, I eventually made my way over here:



The plan was to late register their $160 11am tournament, which has 20 minute blinds and thus slightly more play than the 9am ones. However, upon arriving I learned that the tourney had been cancelled as they did not have enough runners. They did however inform me that they had another one starting at ($100 buy-in and 15 min levels).

With these tournaments lasting 3-4 hours at most, I figured I would have time to win it before heading to the airport. While waiting, I first got a 20 minute massage downstairs at Horseshoe, plus had some food and went outside for a little bit.





I then joined the 2pm tournament, which got a very moderate field of 21 entires. Suited me well though, as it would be even quicker to finish. Top 4 players would get paid, with the winner taking home something like $680 or so.

Long story short is that I played great for the first few levels, getting in some good value bets against the mostly terrible opponents, and generally winning small pots here and there. So when it came close to the end of late registration (after level 6), I had built up my stack to 44k from 20k starting.

Then it folds to me in SB at 800-1600-1600, and I chose to just limp in with AJo against a semi-active older man with an accent. He raises to 4600, and with him having around 25k in total I just set him all-in. He calls fairly quickly and shows KQo. I did not win, and when the break approached I had 23k left.

After break I went through the blinds (1000-2000-2000), and see a guy in his 60s jam his short stack for 14k. He had just doubled up pushing K2 suited, so even though he now has more chips I assume he is going to push somewhat wide here with the blinds soon comping up. So when I find KJcc I reshove, and we are heads-up. He has ATo, slightly stronger than I expected.

A-K-J-A-5, so I lose yet another all-in. That leaves me with only 4000 chips, also known as 2 big blinds.

They go into the middle the very next hand when it folds to me and I look down at QTo in cutoff. Easy all-in, and the guy with the accent calls on the button. BB (tight woman) actually folds out, and I am up against the rather speculative 96dd.

In other words, I was in an Uber towards the airport within 10 minutes afterwards. That's just the nature of these fast tournaments; I would be shocked if I was not the best player in the field from what I observed at my table at least. But if you lose 3 all-ins in a row you are usually out, even if you were a favorite in 2 out of the 3 spots.

But overall it has been a really fun trip, the results are ok-ish (although should be so much better if I had managed to make some better decisions), and I can't wait to do it all over again. I should however have played even more hours; and longer sessions. I always start to think the grass is greener other places if I am in a mediocre game, but there is probably a lot of value in just sitting there and getting the right spots against the right players.

I will likely post one more random update when I have hopefully made it safe & sound back to Malta. For now, here is the standard sign showing yet another trip has come to an end (and no, they still haven't updated the airport name at these sings):

Safe travels. Great trip

Thanks for the incredibly detailed and voluminous number of hand histories. I learned a lot watching you hunt for spots. Great trip report!

Thanks for the report mate and I’m glad you had a fun holiday

nice job. you are the poker hand history king of 2+2LVL.
glad you had a good time. safe travels home

LOL, always get a kick out of the McCarran International sign.

Never noticed the sign hasn't been updated. Isn't it kinda like Las Vegas in general?

Lots of glitz, but look closely, and it's sorta broken down and not updated.

Thanks for the great TR, Whale (as always). Safe travels.

Enjoyed the TR. I second the many people who appreciate the thorough HHs.

Leaving Vegas can be tough, but leaving with a nice profit in your pocket always feels better than the alternative.

Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone! Made it safe and sound back home last night. As always, I slept a ton on the flight from Vegas to London, so that one went by really quick.

With a lot of hours between flights at the airport, I decided to get a room at an airport hotel to take a shower and relax for a bit. I get in to the room, open my backpack to find my laptop... only to realize it's not there! Brief panic ensures, but almost immediately I knew what had happened.

I did not use my laptop on the plane, but I did use it to update this TR at Harry Reid Airport. And I have my entire life struggled with carelessness and occasional bad short term memory. So I simply must have forgotten to put it back down into the backpack, and just left it there. Which is just insane, but I cannot think of any other explanation or spot where I could have left it.

Immediately I got online and filed a lost items report at their website, and I will also call them to ask when the Lost & Found department opens later today. I can only hope that someone has found it, and have been nice enough to turn it in instead of just steal it. At least it is password-protected, so unless someone really goes to town they shouldn't be able to use it for anything too sinister.

This always happens in my life, I constantly forget things and putting myself in really stupid situations. A few quick examples:

- Many years ago I put my wallet on top of the car roof while pumping gas. Obviously forget it up there, and drove away. Thankfully someone found it at the gas station (assume it immediately fell off) and was able to find my number and call me to inform me.
- A couple of years ago I was flying back from vacation somewhere (actually not Vegas), and managed to forget my hand luggage in the overhead bin when leaving the plane. Ended up having to fly back to that airport to pick it up myself a few days later, as it otherwise would have taken 2-3 weeks to get my stuff back.
- Two years ago I managed to lock myself out of my apartment when I was going to the gym, and ended up having to climb a balcony from my neighbours apartment over to my own in order to get back inside.

It's a wonder I actually manage to somewhat function in society to be honest, and it obviously put a damper on the excitement I had from the Vegas trip. But I am somewhat hopeful that the laptop will be found and eventually returned to me. In worst case I guess I can just go to Vegas and pick it up myself

(half-way kidding although that idea obviously have some appeal)

Really nice TR BigWhale. Enjoyed the rounding reports of the lower stake cash games at all of the various rooms and great pictures too. Lots of great poker analysis as well - thanks for posting!

Might as well give some final thoughts about the trip while at it, in no particular order:

Mandalay Bay:

- Very underrated property. Rooms are really nice and spacious, especially the gigantic bathroom.
- Unlike some other properties, house keeping were on point and seemed to be hard at work every single day.
- Pool complex is effin' amazing, and the biggest plus about this hotel in my opinion.
- Only tried the poker room once, but they seemed to have some action most of the day at least.
- Their crap shoot tournaments also seemed to have surprisingly big fields, often around 30 entries or so.
- Big drawback is the location. Free tram to Excal is great, but you still end up taking a ton of Ubers to go anywhere.
- I am also not a big fan of the distinct scent they pump on to the casino floor, although I did get used to it eventually.

Vegas in May:

- Amazing weather, 30+ Celcius (that's 86F or higher) almost all days.
- Very crowded and lots of people everywhere. Even MB was semi-crowded at times.

Poker in general:

- Despite being just a few weeks before WSOP, there seems to be a lot of games going almost everywhere.
- Lots of fishy opponents, even if you obviously run into some grinders, like that one evening at Aria.
- Unless playing daily tournaments, you are however unlikely to find tables without at least one other decent player.
- Even playing mostly daytime games, there was surprisingly decent action in most my games. Never really had those crusty OMC games where nothing happened.

My own poker play:

- One glaring mistake first, I play too many short sessions and not enough long ones.
- This takes away too much time, as I have to move from one location to another, and might also make me tired more quickly.
- As always I struggled with some bet sizes, in addition to having the proper discipline. Both in regards to when to reign it in, but especially in isolating limpers even more than I do.
- In short, I need to be a nightmare to play against more often and attack weakness with even more frequency than I do - not give people cheap flops.
- I am however very happy with some of my more creative lines, using board texture to push people off hands and finding occasional good bluff spots.
- And although not perfect in all spots, I did manage to keep my composure and cool a bit better than at some other trips. Still too many spots where I get frustrated with myself though.

And a couple of other random bullet points:

- I should have tried even more rooms, but Wynn always had a long list every time I checked, and Resorts World often had few games going.
- I was very happy with my tournament play, and really should have had more than 1 cash in the 4 played, if not for some bad luck.
- Should maybe have tried one of the deeper tournaments (Aria, RW, or a Venetian one), but I like my edge even in the fast-paced ones.
- Apart from the last 2 days I went to the gym every day before that, which is not too terrible I guess.
- Generally running pretty bad at Video Poker this trip again, but lol sample size. That said, I hit my second Royal Flush, which was fun!
- And I actually ran decent in the few slot machines I played (only Quick Hits and Buffalo for low amounts), so can't complain too much overall.
- I didn't play any $2/$5 this trip, simply because I didn't feel like I had to. And given how I struggled against some $1/$3 grinders at Aria one evening, probably just as well.
- Overall I don't think 42.5 hours cash game play over 9 days is good enough however, should have been closer to 50 at least.

Overall a really fun trip, even though I really think I could have played much better in some spots and won even more money. That said, there is really only one spot where I am pretty sure I gave away too much money, which is the J3 vs JJ-hand at Golden Nugget. I should have realized that when an OMC opponent min-raises river against an overbet, he has a better full house than me 99% of the time.

The trip felt really long, and for what ended up as a solo trip I think I did a reasonable job at occasionally relax at least. But time flies so insanely fast in Vegas, and I don't think I ever will get over that slightly stressed feeling I have when there. Even though I am semi-disciplined about taking time for other stuff like gym & pool, I am always looking at the clock stressing a bit about when I can be in a game etc. But this ties back to what I mentioned earlier; I need to be better at staying longer in games and playing more hours when I am there. That take care of the problem itself; if I know I am going to stay for 6-7 hours there is no stress even if I am not in a game until 2-3pm or whatever.

I really hope I can squeeze in one more Vegas-trip this year as well, quite possibly around the same time that MuckPls goes in October. I am pretty sure that my brother would like to join too, since he didn't get to go this time around. So even though I enjoy solo trips, it would still be even more fun with some company next time around. That said, one always meet people to talk to around the poker table at least, and I like that I at times managed to be semi-sociable with opponents this trip.

One last thing; I do enjoy writing these TRs and I want to thank everyone for the nice comments along the way. I don't always take the time to reply to everyone, but I do read them all and it's very motivating to see how much people enjoy the detail I put into these. And as I have mentioned many times before, it's always very fun for me to bring these up again and re-read for myself a few weeks (ok, who am I kidding - a few days) later when I start missing Vegas and want to go back etc.

That said, I have strongly considered maybe taking a trip where I don't post while in Vegas, and only make a TR when I get home - like Leon does it for example. It takes at least 1 hour, if not more, for every single post with all the hand histories etc. And that is a lot of time that I could otherwise use for other stuff. I do think it would be nice to not have that 'pressure' of posting every day while in Vegas, so it might be something that I try out in the near future. The alternative is obviously to cut down on hand histories and only do 2-3 from each session, which could be a reasonable solution as well I guess.

But yeah, that's it for this one. I'll update if I hear anything about my missing laptop, but otherwise that concludes another fun and slightly profitable trip to Vegas. But for someone who is as passionate as I am about poker, I really need to start playing even more in upcoming trips. Even though I enjoy other stuff in Vegas too, this trip really hammered in for me that poker is what I am really there for. So we need more poker going forward.

Until next time.