We have arrived. Picked up our rental car at Fox, which was practically a nightmare, or a joke. slow line, crappy service, I paid for our cheap reserved car, he sent us out to pick any car in Section 2. there were no cars in Sections 2, 3, 4, or 5. the attendant by the exit told me to take any car so I took a Jeep Wrangler. it was that or a Dodge Charger. glad I didn't pay for an upgrade out of the basic.

Checked into our room at Mandalay Bay, and headed downstairs to check out the relocated poker room for one hour as my wife notified me I was choosing that over the sex. sacrifices were made.

Congratulations on the solo and the interview! I'm not musical at all, French horn?

Safe travels, looking forward to updates.

Wow, poker over sex for a man? Hmmm. I hope you make it up to her (she's going to feel unattractive/unloved/unwanted ).

And I just saw that she didn't know you were bringing money for poker. LOL. Good luck!

…and then we had sex

Unlike most people I like playing at Mandalay Bay because it is the friendliest place and the nittiest room with the fewest regs. at 1:30am I bought in for the max $300 but was already one of the shortest. deep stacks, lots of straddles, this was not the typical Mandalay Bay game. In that hour there was only like 1 limped pot and I don't remember any hands ending pre-flop. lots of raises and lots of calls.

1) my very first hand was UTG I raised with TT got callers. K high flop, bb bet $15 flop and $25 turn, he won with KQ.

2) next hand, straddle, in blind I had AKss, got bet into twice, ace on flop and river, I won a nice pot there to get back on track.

3) MP raise to $10, I call in SB with 33dc.
hoping for a 3 on the flop and I get one, 863hhs
cutoff bets $40, and I call.
turn is another 6, filling me up. I think I checked, he bet, I called.
hoping for an ace or heart, river is neither, I lead for $60, he calls and I'm good for a nice scoop.

4) I raise MP with AQhh
TT6hxx. I c-bet for $20, didn't see the guy to my left call, but the other lady folded and I nearly tossed my cards back. I don't know if that was a tell from me or not.
J turn, checks
A on river. I lead $35 he jams for $195, I don't think that's ever a bluff and I fold.

5) UTG opens to $12, I'm SB with 33 again, I come along hoping for a 3 again.
I binked them both, J33 for QUADS
I check, bet $20, a couple calls
turn J (who cares), I check, $25, a call, I raise to $60 and they both fold (?!)
but that's okay as it's still good for the high hand promo and an extra $100



my hour was up and people were racking up anyway and I cashed out for 670, +$370 in a very eventful and quick session. so next I'll be freerolling

Well done. I hope you went back the room and made your wife happy.

Nice win! Was there many tables running? I like the new placement of the 'room'; everyone arriving with the tram can see it as soon as they come down the escalator.

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Regarding the hand above, you should definitely fast play (raise) the flop. $40 was probably a pretty huge bet from the cutoff here (assume maybe 4 players to the flop?), and there are a couple of draws you would like to charge. Just raise it up to $130 or something, and if he calls you can pretty much play for stacks on the turn.

As played, betting only $60 on the river seems very small for whatever the pot size was. Especially if a bet went in on the turn as well, which would probably make the pot at least $200 by the river. Nice hand, but could probably have won more!

wife had a nice long hot bath and was ready for bed and in a good mood, probably disappointed she couldn't make fun of me for losing.

room and bed were very nice, much better than ours at home. I like staying at Mandalay Bay. but for the second time, there was some mechanical noise that kept me up, this time it sounded like an old iron door or gate creaking in the wind. I can be a light sleeper so it bothered me and woke up at like 8 or 9am with a headache.

don't worry people, we did the deed this morning and it was great.

I redeemed my poker comps for a voucher, and asked if she would rather stay on site and go to a nice sit down breakfast restaurant or to a buffet, and she said buffet. Mrs Langdon and I are quite different. one of my priorities for travel is to eat good food; she says when she is on vacation she has less interest in eating. but that's fine, we have a BOGO to Excal buffet and I had planned to go there Monday anyway.

it is raining today and rather cold. Bismarck has been unseasonally warm the last couple weeks, with super dense fog 24 hours a day for over a week and constantly misty, and presently Vegas is not a whole lot better out.

we walked to Luxor (because I took a wrong turn and missed the tram) and rode to Excalibur. got pretty wet. I like the smell at Luxor better than MB, and Excal smells awful.

The buffet at Excalibur was perfectly acceptable. I had an omelet, sausage, ham and beef from the carving station, stir fry veggies (bok choy is my favorite vegetable), some potatoes and bacon, fresh pineapple and melon, and it was all delicious. if you remember my earlier reports I love and look for chocolate milk and they had some and it was great! key lime pie and bread pudding were a great dessert.



the biscuits and gravy were bad, crepe station was closed and they didn't have French toast. also didn't like the carrot cake. but I was very satisfied and happy and full. I told Mrs Langdon she didn't have to stuff herself and I didn't (too badly) but she did.

took the tram back to MB, followed MuckPls advice and went to the Shark Reef Aquarium. it is great, very enjoyable, and was an hour well spent.



then back for a nap

My husband always buys me chocolate milk for the room in case I drink a little too much -- great hangover cure

He told her he won $100 playing poker and that she could have it. She happy.

This actually is the typical Mandalay Bay late night game. The nitty games there are only the daytime crowd.

there were 2 tables at 1:30am. I went down to check it out at 1:30pm and there were 2 tables with like 15 on the wait list. I asked if a third table was likely soon and the manager said probably not for a while.

I'm fine with how I played. I only saw one $70+ bet called the whole session and that was a set of Js vs set of As. I don't know if I could have gotten more and if he jams with A6 I'm screwed. I believe he did have a 6 so he could have called a bigger bet but I prefer a lower variance style.

saw some 3:2 $25 blackjack tables late last night, but this morning and afternoon 3:2 was $50+, and $25 or $15 was 6:5.

there is a big boxing bout Thursday here at MB and they had a makeshift ring set up and some media and one of the upcoming fighters appeared. I waited for the other guy to show up but got bored and left.

kinda a lazy day. we drove out to Target to buy some water, snacks and some VGK gear and explore the area. I got a Tropical Smoothie; I love that place and we don't have them in ND. I was amazed at how many Asian restaurants there are on Spring Mountain Rd.

drove back to Treasure Island but we were still quite early so we walked through Wynn. some beautiful displays



checked out the Sphere

then headed back to TI to watch Mystere.
my second time. it did not disappoint. such an amazing show and I highly recommend.



rode the tram over to Mirage to see the volcano show but alas, the NFL is ruining everything. no volcano. front of Bellagio is also all blocked. and all this continuous road construction is killing me and making driving around even more stressful.

but still it was an excellent first day in Vegas. hoping to wrap it up with another good poker session.

MB had 4 tables going and another big list. I called ahead but still waited around about 30-40 minutes before sitting down.

1) very first: I raise CO with KQ, a few calls.
flop is AJT rainbow. hello broadway. villian bets $15, I raise to $40, v calls everyone else folds.
turn is another A, which is very good or very bad. he checks, I bet down like $26, he calls.
river is a Q which is annoying, he bets like $50 and I instant call and beat his A9. nice pot, but should have gone bigger on turn. I'm surprised he didn't raise his trip aces. but I'm happy to scoop.

Super nitty table. a couple players I remember from previous trips. after an hour, up $100, I changed tables. could immediately see this one was much more active and aggressive.

thought I hit jackpot when my 5-6 on the button turned a nut straight, only to see the guy who jammed in front of me flip over the same hand.

2) limps to me in the button with 9-7, I call hoping for a good flop. I hit it, JT8cc for the straight.
I don't remember the action, but a Kx on the turn. checks to me and I bet $35, he raises to $90. AQ gets there, Q9 get there, but those doesn't seem like a limped hand. I call.
river is a total brick, 2s. I check, he checks back announcing a king. did I miss value? yes, probably a couple times, but I'm okay with that. still stacking a bunch of new chips.

after one hour at Table 2 I was up another $200.

I had a couple more nice hands against a drunk guy with a castle of chips. I don't have the memory but eventually cashed out $682 for another extra buy in.



on the way back I sat down at blackjack and in about twelve hands added another $50 to my night. it has been a very nice 1.5 days at Mandalay Bay.

Well done! Sounds like a great first day or two!

I don't think my wife understands how I could be up $800 in two nights.

woke up to visit the fitness center, which at Mandalay Bay is only a small cardio room with a dozen cardio machines and a few hand weights. a little disappointing but better than nothing.

when I planned for our trip I initially found a super good deal for Luxor for 5 nights. but later I changed to get 2 nights at Mandalay Bay followed by 2 nights at Luxor, so today was moving day. not a big deal, just took about an hour to pack and unpack. our room was ready right at 11am so we were never homeless. our room at Luxor is incredibly basic, doesn't even have a closet. I am very glad we took those days at MB as the better short stay was worth the minor inconvenience.

I want to show I'm not a completely uncivilized cheap bastard so we went to Seabreeze Cafe. I got the crunchy french toast, she got a breakfast burrito. I thought it was good.



after that we had some time to kill. we took the tram and strolled through NYNY and Park MGM and Aria. NYNY was the smokiest resort we've been in; it was pretty uncomfortable. I had some freeplay for MGM so I tried to figure out how to use it. I have never played a slot machine before. took a while but eventually we figured it out and 25 spins later we cashed out +$22.55, so another win. Mrs Langdon believes slot machines are the dumbest and most boring things ever, I'm probably not far behind. but at least she is excited for "free" ice cream later.

Filling mornings and afternoons in Vegas without playing poker is a bit of a challenge, especially when it is rainy. I booked tickets to see the Mac King Show at 3pm today, and the 2+ hours before that was mostly strolling around which left us with very tired legs and bored.

Mac King was great. I laughed a lot. there is a lot of audience participation of course which can and did lead to a lot of unpredictability, and he milked it like it would always lead to a disaster. but he didn't miss a beat. very entertaining and seems like a genuinely good guy, which I like to support.



took a little rest. Mrs Langdon is a lawyer and has calls from like 8 new clients since we left. I'm impressed and proud of her.

dinner at Diablo's Cantina. our server was very good and the food was good. seems quite a bit more expensive than last time I came, and the server offered us "complimentary" quacamole for our chips which ended being $14 but whatever.

We are in the Fortress for the Golden Knights game! I love our seats. we have a perfect view of the ice.

there are a LOT of Oilers fans in the arena, the crowd was much louder for the McDavid goal than the Knights equalizer at the end of the first.

I love hockey and I love watching a game at T-Mobile Arena. I was thrilled to find out Golden Knights were in town this week and hosting their biggest rivals, the Edmonton Oilers. the game did not disappoint and the good guys won, snapping the Oilers long win streak and disappointing a lot of their fans. wife doesn't understand hockey but she had a good time too.

Go Knights Go!

the game was not shown (i.e. blacked out for pay channels) on the local VGK channel so u got to see a game most locals couldn't from home.

Fun fact; apparently there exists another gym at Mandalay Bay. However, that one is not free and you actually have to pay to use it. Pretty crazy concept, as if the $45 resort fee is not expensive enough!

That said, for a short vacation I think the above (the 'cardio room') is more than good enough. So if I stay at Mandalay Bay in the future (had a brief stay in 2022), I don't think I will bother looking around for this second gym.

honestly I wasn't planning on doing anything after the game but after walking back to the room my wife assumed I was headed back out to play some more and I'm like, sounds good to me. at this rate no reason not to.

so I hoofed it over to the closest game going on, which was at MGM Grand, my least favorite poker room in Vegas and where I've had the worst fortune. challenge accepted.

bought in for $300 and sat down in a game with one Asian guy with a fortress of chips, and probably nobody else with more than $400. it was an interesting game, very social, a lot of limping, a lot of calling, frequent straddles, a few super aggros who jammed regularly.

1) Very first hand 88sh in BB. limped to me, I raised, several callers.
flop TT6ssc. I bet $21, only one caller, player with three times as many chips as anyone else.
turn is 9s, check check.
river is Qs. I bet $35, he raises to $105. I call, he has AsJh for the rivered nut flush.
this was my first bad hand of the week and reminiscent of previous punts at MGMG.

2) EP raises to 5, me in MP with AT I raise to 10, LP raises to $25, only I call.
T98, xx.
I bet $35 on river, he says "I gotta see if you hit the straight," lose to QQ.
another awful punt, if I spent 15 seconds thinking pre or post flop it was clear this guy had a huge pocket pair.
it's been one orbit and I'm down like $250. I add another $100.
the Asian guy leaves and suddenly in this uncapped game there is no one over $400.

with A5 I am able to double up on AJ756.

3) double straddle 5 and 10. I am CO with K8o. I raise to $20, only the second straddle calls, a new player who is very aggressive in a Florida Panthers (hockey) jersey.
flop is 832. don't remember action.
turn 3, I bet $35, he jams, I make call and show immediately. he is not flatting that preflop action with an overpair and there are flush draws out there.
river is another 8 for full house and he mucks.

I now have the appearance of an extremely reckless maniac. but I also appear like someone deadly to try to bluff against.

4) same player, I have A8o, I raise to $10 and there are a bunch of callers. flop comes 842, guy bets $50. I'm eyeing his stack, there are like 3 other players and I want to isolate for all his chips, he has $170 behind, I raise to $120, he shoves, I instant call and table my hand. don't remember the runout but he didn't show and I felted him for the second time in about three hands and he's gone. the guy next to me says that was a ballsy move, I thought it was very simple.



I don't think I won another hand for an hour, pretty card-dead, made some "where am I at" bets into a young masked Asian woman who predictably jammed and I quickly folded. later with KQ I flopped trip queens and took most of her chips.

pretty tired, I cashed out for 913, making it a +$513 3-hour session without ever hitting a straight or flush. I think I am up to $1300 through 6 hours of 1/2. I have 8 straight winning poker sessions since New Year weekend.

Pretty nice run to ro-busto!!

one of my priorities was to go hiking this week, but it has been so wet we postponed yesterday, and even though today is sunny the canyon is probably wet and muddy, and we walked so much yesterday I'm not in the mood. so reluctantly, no hiking this week. subject to change.

headed to the Bellagio this morning, first to the buffet. I would say the drinks and desserts are worth the price of admission. the special juices are awesome. my favorite desserts were the raspberry mousse, pistachio macarons, gelato, and the little Bismarck donut. the regular food had a huge variety but I didn't feel like anything other than the brisket hash was great. I tried an oyster and it was literally the most disgusting thing I've ever put in my mouth. but very satisfied with the meal, left uncomfortably over-stuffed but happy. this was another reason to skip hiking



checked out the Conservatory's super beautiful Chinese New Year display. after that walked over to the Flamingo. the casino was so smokey, worst place ever. I never want to go in there again. got to the Habitat, which was very refreshing and clean. my first time over there, I loved it. even bought a souvenir stuffie for my kiddo.





a little more comfortable from our meal by now after walking, we headed over to Chinatown. Mrs Langdon is Asian, and for a decade in North Dakota there is no one that can give her a decent haircut. after a nice night Sunday I checked a few places and found a highly rated Asian salon with an open appointment for today. she's getting treated and I can relax on the comfy couch off my feet and watch K-Pop music videos.

after this going to visit my sister's family.