Long story short... I'm going to become a live reg now and streams are going to be converted into youtube vlogs. Rebranding to UpNeeme and already sorted a rakeback deal at the Bellagio.
lol jk
Real long story short: Up +1.1k from poker, could have been more had I stayed away from drinks and poker tables but still a great weekend.
Friday: So, the airport is an interesting place. Had the opportunity to fly for the first time (that I could remember) and I didn't like it lol. I'm not a fan of roller coasters and man did it feel like one. Or maybe it was cause I chose a cheap airline to fly with. Either way, I slept at midnight and woke up at 2AM for nothing because I was sitting at the airport at 3AM waiting for my flight to depart. (This becomes relevant later) So much for the email telling me that I should be there 2-3 hours early because of expected delays at LAX... Anyways I land and get to where I'm staying for the weekend (Planet Hollywood) and fire up a game for an hour til I wait for my friends to get here. $1/$2 game, bought in for $300 and left +$150 richer. No hands that I remember, just a bunch of calling stations and one "reg" that would always bet big when checked to. Wanted to push around the new Asian kid in town I guess lol.
Chip porn #1:
Onto the next session at the Bellagio once my friends came in. Made about a buy-in at their $1/$3 game. Just basically checked KK OOP in a SRP on a 7 high board multiway. Checked through blank T turn where someone bet pot and I shoved and he called with probably a pair, he didn't show. This game was also an hour as we were hungry and were just waiting for restaurants to open. +$400 and some change this session. So far my hourly is amazing hehe.
Chip porn #2:
Bonus pic:
So we ate at Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips, and I unfortunately didn't get the fish and chips. I got the lobster and shrimp with truffle parmesan chips and I wish I had gotten the fish instead because the size of my lobster was looked like it was portioned by someone that has never been to the US. Best fries I probably ever had though!
Going to go check into our room and got distracted by the casinos we went through. Played a lot of blackjack and roulette and lost a couple, yada yada..
Then we ate at the Bacchanal and holy ****... Best food I've ever had. Never tried lamb but man do they make some good ass lamb. Definitely going to be coming back next time. Or every single time...
Session #3: late at night at the Venetian
Ended the day here playing til 3AM cause I was card-dead and stuck. Was about a 6 hour session. My first $2/$5 game here at Vegas and my VPIP was probably 5%. Every marginal hand I opened faced a 3-bet or just didn't hit a flop 15-way. The only good hands I got were KK, twice. One I lost the minimum as a reg opens $20 and we 3-bet with KK to $75 from the SB. 9 high flop and I bet 33%ish flop and x/c a double on a runout like 6 turn and 3 river, no flushes possible (98263r was the board I think). He shows flopped set of 8's. We were 1.2k deep so was pretty glad he didn't overbet the river vs my capped range. Lost around $500 there. The second time I had KK, was just a 3-way all in on the flop with a maniac that jammed over my c-bet with 88 on J92 and a recreational player that called the maniac's jam ($400 eff with him) and then called my re-jam ($1.1k eff with him, he covered me slightly). Unfortunately, he binks his flush on the river and we need to buy in again... First bust of Vegas and certainly not the last lol. As you can see, I was very excited to play this session:
Due to my lack of sleep throughout the weekend and before I got on my flight, me trying to stay awake is going to be the biggest challenge. Down -$1.1k and -$550 for the weekend.
That was Friday. And Saturday was more degeneracy but this time at the craps table. I do have to say that was my favorite table game to play though. Spent the day sight-seeing and drinking my day away and slept at midnight only to wake up at 4AM to squeeze in one last session before my flight leaves at 1PM. Quick side-note: Go to Nacho Daddy and get their Surf-N-Turf Combo. It's just 2 tacos and a side of rice and beans for $20 but it's not just any two tacos; it was a filet mignon taco and a battered lobster tail taco. Size was decently large and my god were these the best tacos I have ever eaten in my life. Both tacos just melted in my mouth and they were made with mango salsa and your typical cabbage and tartar sauce combo, respectively. Absolutely perfect. I wouldn't eat this everyday because $20 is a high price to pay for 2 tacos but man it's worth it for the experience that's for sure. I was disappointed at Vegas lobster because of Ramsay's restaurant but this one, more than enough, made up for it. Good portions, amazing taste. Was extra exciting as that time as that would have been my 3rd time having lobster, the first being when I was in a restaurant for a special occasion in middle school. I always missed lobster after that and was glad to fulfill that craving at that Mexican restaurant. Will definitely be adding this to the list of things that I need to get every time I'm in Vegas. Additionally, if anyone has any food recommendations on the strip, feel free to share. I'm definitely going to be returning and trying out more foods!
Session #4: early mornings at the Bellagio
Pretty good session $2/$5, game was alright. Met a guy that vlogs, but don't really watch besides Owne and Neeme. Up around $300 one table because I 3b AA and x on some flop and he barreled twice because he hit a pair of 6s with A6s on the turn and put me on AK. I thought these stereotypes of Vegas regs putting people on 1 hand was exaggerated but I got to experience that first hand lol. Table broke and I ran well in the draw, had the first pick and luckily I picked very well. 1 whale that was running hot with any two cards (about 5k in front of him) and a bad reg that was tanking for an actual 5 minutes every decision against me. Hand against the whale was pretty boring. Just went for value once with AQ after he 3-bet me and J high flop went x/x. Turn I hit a Q and he just called a double barrel. The interesting hand was with the tanking reg. Hand that made him it think it was okay to tank for 20 minutes every hand afterwards went like, I open UTG+1 or something (lol fr positions) with A8dd $15 and he 3-bet from maybe the CO to $40 and I call since he made it so small and we're about $1400 deep. Flop comes T96hh with a backdoor flush draw for me. He bet $80 on the flop which I thought was really weird. There was a couple hand before this where I think I had a value hand and he tank folded the river which makes me think he was just trying to attack me in pots and 'outplay' me. He reallyyyyyyy hated being wrong. Can't catch every bluff in poker. Anyways, because of this and us being deep, that made me lean towards a x/r and I made it $200. He tank for an actual 5 minutes and makes the call. Kd came giving us more equity with the flush draw and I barreled about $350, leaving about a $900 shove on $1200 pot river (I recall at the time of doing the math. I'm too lazy to do the math now). Tanks literally for 10 minutes, I really didn't want to be rude and call the floor and as I nearly got fed up, he finally folded. Pretty happy with the result as I was probably going to have to shove river given his tanking... Maybe would have been the biggest trap in poker history lol. After this hand, every hand just played itself and we're able to catch hands vs random calling stations. Ended the session up +$1612 and obligatory chip porn:
That picture shows 2.4k but I lost a hundred or two in pots by just x/folding.
At the cage:
Went to Ramsay's fish and chips restaurant after I ended the session at 10AM only to find out they open at 11. That was a bummer and wasted 30 minutes walking from the Bellagio and back to Planet Hollywood and that about ends the trip report. Was pretty hungry and even sadder as I found out I won't be able to fit one more Vegas meal in but ended the weekend up 1k while being able to have fun and eat amazing food with friends so I can't complain. I hope this wasn't too boring to read.
Overall trip thoughts: Definitely returning again but not as often as I thought I'd want to. Might be just a twice or three times a year thing during times when the poker tables have the most traffic. But I plan these trips to be a lot longer than 48 hours. If I do go next time, I'm going to look to stay a week at least so I can get a proper grind in. I think this weekend was good in that I got to not be miserable on the poker tables and did a lot of sightseeing. Great 1st Vegas experience. Having said that, with most of the sight-seeing done, next Vegas trip will be poker oriented and might add a tourney or two in cause why not. Would be pretty cool to bink a live tourney since there's more fame and action compared to an online tourney lol. Thanks for reading guys and expect a stream in about 12 hours from this post. Back on the grind and hoping for another positive month in June. I did play some global poker today and man I feel so spoiled after live poker. I didn't have to deal with people 3-betting so much in live (or at all) and having to play more than 2 hands a minute made my head hurt lol. Live poker was so slow but I tried to inject logic to get rid of some card-dead tilt issues I had. Worked well and was patient, didn't deviate to opening super loose because "bored" and "it was sooted" and the conclusion I came up with really helped for any future live poker play that I'll do.
Any questions, you can ask me on stream (twitch.tv/updogpoker) in 12 hours (3PM PST) or PM me on discord, links in twitch description. That'll be it