if you see a young pretty Asian woman with a nice haircut strolling with a scruffy white guy, that's us.

driving through Las Vegas is an adventure.

got back and headed to Mirage to see LOVE show. on Monday when we went to TI I noticed signs at the garage "parking always free *for guests*" and there was a attendant at the entrance who looked at us very seriously, motioned us to roll the window down and demanded our purpose in parking here. this time, we were going to Mirage and for part of the drive I was trying to think of an answer that was truthful and wouldn't cause suspicion. but when we arrived the attendant just waved as we passed through.

I'm a Cirque fan, not crazy about the Beatles though, and was nervous about this show and it cost a lot but it is pretty popular so I was hoping to be surprised. after 30 minutes I hated it and wanted to leave. it did improve somewhat, and had a nice ending with Hey Jude (which I love), so ultimately it upgraded to didn't like. the focus of the show is on the production elements, there were too many people that only distracted without adding anything substantial. lots of just dancing to a loud soundtrack. I was hoping for a little more Cirque-esque, focus on superhuman talent and there was barely any.

but still it was a nice date out and we had a pleasant time together.

Wait, isn't the point of a 2 week notice that you be working those 2 weeks to finish up any projects you're working on?

I saw one of those lionfish on a fishing trip to Mexico. He was in a lagoon about a foot from shore. A kid wanted to play with it so I warned him about the spines.

ventured out for a nightly session. from Luxor, I tried calling the room at Mandalay Bay, it went to the operator who said the poker room was closed. incredulous, I ventured over and sure enough there were 3 tables running and I had immediate seating.

regular straddles but super passive game. most of the time any bet on later streets took it down whether I had something or not. still, I got to showdown a few times and had a winner.

1) QJ UTG I bet 7, villian calls
663 flop checks
turn J, I bet $10, he raises to $35, I call
River is ace. no flush or straight. I check he bets $75, fold. I have no idea what he has

2) short stack button straddles, SB calls, CO with 5's I raise to $15 and they both call.
35J on flop, I bet 10, he jams for $21, we both call, my set is obviously good for a modest scoop.

Age 30-45 Caucasian woman sat down to my right for $100. she clearly knew how to play though. she was on her phone the entire time. we were always waiting for her, but when beckoned she would toss in chips immediately without looking or apologizing. after about half hour she was already over $400.

Trying to stay aggressive but didn't hit any hands for a while. stayed around $410 stack, couldn't get much more.

3) one weird hand, UTG straddle (lady above), I complete in the BB with Q9hd with a couple others.
flop comes 964hhd. guy on button getting a massage bets $3. I raise to $11. he says that's a weird raise (I'm thinking $3 is a weird bet) and calls.
turn is 7h. I think it went check $15 call.
river is As. I check, he bets $35.
I'm trying to think of what he could have. Ace-3 of hearts? AQ? I announce I think I'm beat but want him to prove it and he shows 85cc for a straight.
lots of errors, I think my first was calling the straddle, I've been pretty active betting and raising and my standard $15 straddle knocks him out of the pot. a raise to $15 likely gets him off the flop. on the river I only beat a bluff. calling knowing I am beat is obviously -EV but I'm not losing sleep over it.

the game wasn't very fun. nobody talking, lots of passive players, I was considering a table change but I wouldn't be playing much longer anyway. wanted one more crack at chipping up but when my stack dropped to $315 I decided to rack up and keep my symbolic win streak alive with a $15 profit.

My favorite Vegas show is Absinthe. My husband loved LOVE, but he's a huge Beatles fan. I've heard the magician / mind guy at Bally's is amazing.

Glad you guys are having fun and the poker is going well. Mrs. Langdon must approve of it a little more now

a little different of a day. had a churchy appointment in the morning and checked out of Luxor a little late so had to skip breakfast. had wanted to eat at Eggscellent, one of the highest rated breakfast spots in the valley. will have to hit it next time. for a quick lunch after we ate at Jack in the Box. we don't have those in ND and it is my favorite fast food place. it did not disappoint.



took the drive out to Hoover Dam. I wasn't just surprised, I think it was the highlight of our trip! I've been to Mount Rushmore a couple of times but Hoover Dam is like 10 times more impressive. there is a walking bridge overlooking the dam, and then we also drove over and walked on the dam, and everybody around us had the same goofy smile, it is such a neat and beautiful place. not only the construction and workmanship but the landscape scenery too. a lot of walking. we didn't take a tour or go in anywhere, but just walking around was really cool. I highly recommend making a visit.




for dinner I took my wife out to Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian churrasco. it was my third time there. maybe a little more than what we needed, another eat your heart out place. obviously the meat is the focus but I really like some of the other stuff they have; their au gratin potatoes are the best I've ever had, I love the fried bananas, table bread, and pineapple prosciutto. no booze and we had a coupon and the bill post dessert and tip was $143, which is by far the priciest meal of our trip.

after Mystere, Golden Knights and LOVE, I wanted something a little more chill and decided on Frankly Frank, a Sinatra tribute show at Alexis Park (a place I didn't know existed). apparently no one else does either because there were only 4 couples in attendance. the feature Michael Sinatra (coincidentally) did pretty well, I liked his female cohort Valida even better. they had a tough job trying to entertain a disappointingly small crowd but they managed to keep the energy and stay engaging and interested. Michael was not doing an impersonation; it was a tribute to Frank Sinatra in his own style. I love Frank Sinatra's music. didn't particularly care for Michael's interpretation but it was still nice. got to talk to them after the show for a minute and they were very appreciative. my wife is not as familiar with the music and I should have played it a bit before our trip to prepare but she played along.

got to MGMG in time as a new table was just opening up. rewind to Monday Night at MB, while I was waiting for a table this super loud and annoying kid was at a table with an older guy. so loud and just stupid that I sat at the other end of the room. fast forward to today and that kid and his dad are at the table to my right. potentially nice guys (as least the dad) but the young fella I wanted to punch in his face. they were pretty drunk already (again), they both had a bunch of chips and were playing very loose and stupid (showing a card in the middle of a live hand) so I figured it was worth to stick with it.

1) A4 UTG I open to 7, a couple callers.
AKQTKhhh runout. I bet like $35 on the river and he had A9hh for the whole pot no chop. don't know why he didn't raise with the nut flush. but I lost less than I should have.

I bluffed dad off pocket kings on a two-jack turn as he commented "you don't raise much, I can tell you are a good player. pretty tight."

2) in LP I look down at KK and open to 11, two callers.
flop is okay, K55hh. young Asian guy bets $15. what do you with the virtual nuts? I guess just call. other guy folded unfortunately.
turn is 10s. he bets $30. I raise to $85, he folds. don't know how I could have gotten more, just call and hope he continues to blast off?
but the silver lining is I won a pot with KK, and last year I lost like 90% of my KK hands.

I wasn't in it but on a AA772, dad lost aces full to quad 7s. dad and kid left at that point and the game instantly much faster and much quieter.

3) KK again in MP. hoping to see another and I did, flop KQ4ssh. I bet and a call, turn is another heart, I bet and take it. so two sets of kings in a row that win.

I have an early morning and as I was still up a little, and the table pretty sharp, I took my modest $35 non-loss to bed.

Friday will be my heavy play day. wish me luck.

If you didn't know, JITB will serve anything on their menu any time you want it. I recommend the breakfast burrito, it's huge. The breakfast jack variants have a whole fried egg.

You should've taken the tour! It's fantastic. You go inside pretty much to the bottom. You see the power generating turbines and all the inner workings.

yeah I like JITB. the jumbo jack was super good, the tacos are always a hit. mini churros were also fun for the first time

so today I'm taking my wife to the airport, will come back and sleep for a bit more then I have literally 24 hours on my own with zero plans and zero reservations.

I think the plan today is start with a cash game at Venetian. then play the Wynn noon tournament. if I don't win the Wynn I'll play at Resorts World later.
I found a good late-night deal for a room at Westgate tonight. that replaces the plan of staying for free with my sister on the northwest side of town.

saw at least 5 prostitutes on my short walk back. one propositioned me and called me handsome. feels good to be noticed.

At MGM we were in South Tower second floor, so the elevator is right next to the parking garage, elevator never took more than 20 seconds from pushing the button to getting out and the room was right around the corner. I was surprised to find that there was less walking for us there than at Mandalay Bay and Luxor. I didn't take any photos but the room was very nice. I didn't do anything at MGM Grand but play poker and sleep but I liked it.

headed over to Venetian for some promo hunting.

The plan was to play 1/3 at Venetian for hours before registering for the Wynn tourney at 2:00. instead I got crushed.
expecting a nitty group of old men, it was a very social table and pretty splashy.

1) T9 in MP There was an all in for $31 and me and another (very happy splashy guy we'll call Steve) call.
flop T65. bet call.
turn K. check he bets call.
river blank, I bet he jams and I fold. the all in player had A5, Steve "mucked" but he flashed K6 on the way down. he was just there to have a good time.

2) open, I raise button with AQhs, BB raises to $85. I call, but I only have like 40 left.
flop was 876hh. he jams and I call expecting to see KK and that's what he has. no ace no flush and I am rebuying for another $300.

3) after a limp and raise, Steve reraises UTG to like $30, he's got like 50 behind, with A9 I raise to put him all in and he calls.
93 > 9A wtf

Needless to say it is going poorly.

a little later on a QJ98 board on the turn Steve tables his QT. rivers K for straight.

4) guy on my right raises, I reraise with QQ.
JT6 flop. I go all in he calls with AJ and rivers another J to bust me again. I am now in for $700.

5) in a limped pot with A4 flop comes 744. several bets and calls, turn is a nice A, bet I jam and beat his 4. my 4s full of Aces is the high hand leader for about 3 minutes.

6) with JJ on ten high board. I lose to a flop set of 3s to bust out again.

Guy at my table won the high hand but it was the basic and no table share.

combination of bad play and bad luck. don't get involved in a hand when promo hunters are blasting off, and be wary of old men blasting off on a low board after calling pre for $11. two hours in and a substantial $715 loss. at least my wallet folds easier now.

Wynn tournament didn't start much better. Two hands at the table and I'm already down to 13k from 20k.

1) I get a little redemption when it limps to me in big blind special with 6-2 off. flop A64. I river a third 6 and my 2500 get two calls and I am at close to starting stack.

2) CO with 99 I raise to 1100 get some calls.
873hh, pretty good flop.
another 8 on turn checks around. another 9 would be nice.
river is the glorious 9h. even better, guy bets into me, I raise to 10k and he calls. he does not have quads.

raise AQ two hands in a row, miss flop, get blasted off and fold.

3) maybe my favorite hand, UTG opens, I call with 5-5, BB raises to 2200, three calls.
Flop 234. bet and calls.
turn another 3. bet and calls.
river is not an A, 5 or 6, checks around and my 5s hold against AQ and AK. I am up to nearly 2x starting and get moved to a new table.



4) hand of the week: AKdd in CO. I raise and calls.
flop is good, ATJsdd. he bets I call.
turn is 6 or something, he bets I call.
river is 8d. I have nut flush. he jams, I instant call, and he flips Q9dd. sweet. no, not sweet. I lost to a f*ing straight flush. I even had blockers. I'm left with like 8k. should have just planned to sleep on my sister's couch tonight.

5) raise to 1k, I call in CO with 98dd, button raises to 4k for the second hand in a row. we call.
flop is something like T97dxx. I donk 2k because I'm crazy. they call.
Turn is K. checks.
river is 8. I jam for like 6k and she rejams with AK and my two pair is good! back up to like 25k at first break.

Starting to recognize people from previous trips. poker community is a small world.

Up and down I go. in a multi-way pot I flop a set of jacks, I bet, young British lady shoves with AJ flush draw and I win to double up and I'm chip leader at the table.

with TT in MP I open to 2500. button raises to 8500 and I call.
flop not good, AK7. he checks back.
turn is the miracle T. I jam, he calls with AK and does not improve. you gotta win your all-ins. we are now about 100k at level 7 (500/1k/1k)

Get 'em!

The Orleans Friday night tournament has a good structure and usually gets around 200 entries.

Lost a big pot as JJ jams and I call with AJss and do not improve. that was a mistake.

so many fun hands. I limp on button with J9dd, call a raise, flop is J53dd. bet, call, I raise, fold, he calls all in with a set of 3s, I go 9-9 for the runner runner bigger boat.

second break, end of registration. 1 bullet, no add-on with 81k.

Nice run so far in the tourney dude!
Good luck the rest of the way and let’s ship it!

How much?

Keep running hot!

Wow, 205 entries.

For the pros or Langdon???

haha it didn't get that far. she looked like nice company though, I like a nice thick short woman

made it to break, got about 120k
60 left, 27th get paid
haven't eaten today, just a couple watermelon juices and strawberry Julius
I'm not paying $18 for a slice of pizza or $35 for some noodles