MuckPls and BigWhale vs Vegas (01/13-01/27)

Slow/broken elevators are tilting for me...

Seven hundred dollars for shoes??!?

Not for shoes, for Air Jordan’s!

Does MGM have any promos going? Sometimes promo grinders can be good to play against.

Nike, right? I can't wear Nike's anyway (like i would if I could) because my feet are too wide.

I have a friend that does that. He thinks poker is a waste of time, because if you buy in for $500, you're lucky if you win $200. The way he plays blackjack is to bet $100 a hand on a $500 buy-in, and come out with $1000. He thinks that's normal because that's the way he does it.

I usually change 500 too but at $50 tables, that way I can press my bets if I start winning. Usually do $50, $50, $100, $200, $400. High risk high reward strategy.

To be fair those are a $300 or less depending on size (re-sell price) pair of shoes that UN sells for $700. Insane the volume they do considering everything costs twice as much as everywhere else.

Bill, I didn't even try wearing them until a few years ago for the same reason. Just go a half or full size up and you'll be fine. Funny enough most people hate the model of shoe he posted because it pinches the pinky toe but I find them to be the most comfortable silhouette for me.

That is meticulous record keeping, to the 50 cents.

Plush cash game:

Obviously insanely happy to be up 10k with 5 more days to go of the trip. Couldn’t ask for more.

Or actually there is one small thing. If the elevators at Caesar’s would work and I could get back to my room that would be absolutely amazing!!

CET's philosophy is if you have 8 elevators, and 2 of them work, that's adequate. Horseshoe is the same.

I think at any given time they just shut off the power on some of them to save money.

The first screenshot is from the MGM app so it’s automatic.

Truth is, the most I've ever paid for shoes was $110, dress shoes for work. Plus, I don't care anything about anything Jordan. He's behind Russell and Wilt in my book. If he had played in their era all his 3 pointers would've been 2's, and most of his drives would've ended in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Completely agree. However I don’t have the option to view and buy them in Europe. It’s through StockX only and I’ve had a couple of bad experiences already with them so have to go for the added markup and pay for it

massive leak not to do that imo

you're clearly smart enough to do it as it does not take a lot of intelligence, just practice and discipline

My husband does some strategy (starts with an M, maybe? Martingale -- thanks, Google) where you double your bet until you hit and then go back to the min-bet. It's worked a few times, but you seem to run much better than he does!

This is a sort of Martingale as well, just a different version. I put aside first win the keep doubling for exactly 4 hands and then reset to $50. If the bet loses at any time until 4 I again reset to $50.

Maybe not the best use of my last full day in Vegas for this time, but I headed out here this morning with plans to not play a single cash game hand:

The South Point logo is visible on the door, and I went here to try their 10:05am $60 tournament! It has 20 minute levels, and 15k chips, and not a completely awful structure.

My first buy-in basically went to pieces. I first lost against a short-ish stack with my AKdd vs QQ (preflop), then was card-dead for a long time, got very short, found AKo, jammed it in there, and lost to A8cc. Standard.

I bought in again, and the second bullet fared much better. I raise up AJo on 4-800-800 to 2000, and BB jams for around 12k. Felt borderline, but I had already seen this guy push all-in twice before, so he seemed to not just nit it up. So I made the call, and held up against his KQdd on a low board.

That table then broke, and I get moved to a nearby one. I sit down and see a limp for 800 and a raise to 3000 from a guy who:

1) Has huge earbuds and sunglasses.
2) Looks completely stone faced and like a real douchebag grinder.

(apologies if I offend someone with this description, but the entire look was just so overdone that it just looked miserable).

So I 3-bet AThh to 10k, fully knowing I am commiting myself against this guy. And sure enough, he jams. I call, and he shows up with TT. Ok, so he actually had a real hand, but no sweat, I am still 30% and will still have over 10k back if I lose.

I do not lose as the board comes 4-Q-5-K-J. A very lucky suckout, and the guy leaves in a huff. We now have over 40k in our stack, which is a great start. Don't remember when this picture was taken, probably somewhere after that hand:

I win a few more small pots and feel in total control of the table. Then we get AKo from UTG and raise to 2600 at 600-1200-1200. An OMC from EP1 3-bets to 6500, before OMC in seat 2 jams for 22k. Pretty insane action, but we are not talking about a lot of big blinds, and I cover the 3-better pretty decently. So I jam all-in, and he is being a nit and folds AKo.

The OMC that jammed does however have QQ, which holds up. So just like that I lose around 35% of my stack.

Just a few hands later, it folds to SB who jams for only 9000. I look down at A2o in the BB. Feels borderline given his look, but it's just 7.5 bb and he might just try to gamble it up right before the re-entry period ends. So I call, but end up losing to KQ suited.

The great start has been descimated and I am down to 20000 chips after break, with blinds moving to 1000-1500-1500. This was the situation just before re-entry ended:

I come back and do a good job staying afloat, winning some pots here and there while the field size drops quickly. Just in one level after break we lost over 20 players, and it continued in that vein. The structure was obviously very shallow now, but I somehow made it down to a redraw of 27 players, with top 21 getting paid. The lowest payouts were only $97 USD however, so my plan was certainly not to nit it up to min-cash.

Even though I had stayed alive through many levels now, I was never called when all-in, so I never had any big confrontations. That left with me 45k at 2000-4000-4000, with blinds moving to 3000-6000-6000 in less than 2 minutes. We are 25 players left, and I find 33 from third position. That will have to do, and I just checked in SnapShove that 33+ is the pairs you push from this position.

An OMC in SB calls with AJo, so we have a flip. Q-9-4-6.... J. Of course a Jack on the river, and I am completely descimated with 7000 chips left.

I fold my two hands from early position (utter trash), and I am forced all-in from BB. I get moved table for this hand, and there is a raise upfront from MP + a call from SB. I look down at my hand and see 83cc, and the flop comes 9-8-7 one club. Not too terrible, SB checks, MP moves all-in, and SB folds. He shows A9o, so we have 5 outs, but they do not come to fruition.

24th place and $120 USD lost. Utterly frustrating, because even though it's a small buy-in the field size alone makes it fairly attractive, and if I had gotten that double up I would have liked my chances to reach FT. But apart from that AT-hand earlier I was really not running well in all-ins.

Back at NYNY now, on a rainy Vegas day. Will head out and find a (hopefully good) cash game now. Stats-update can wait for tonight.

You just have to get lucky in those tournaments -- and more than once. Played well! I hope you find a good cash game for your last night. Go, go, go!

Venetian has a 2/4 game going if you want something more than 1/3.

Or Aria 1/3, plays huge as always.

Currently in a massive 1/3 game, up a bunch. Plan is to play until 5, then eat at Carbone and then maaaaybe continue. I as well started coughing like crazy this morning which is probably due to the room at Cesars as I don’t get the same issue at Vdara or any MGM properties. I do have allergies so it’s probably dust or mold or a mix of both.

Oh and on a happy note: officially in profit for the trip after some shopping. I brought 3k with me + took out another 1.5k and have shopped for 5k. Anything after that is pure profit (currently at $6000+).

Probably the best food I had in my life. Downside is that now I can’t move. Highly recommend Carbone but pls go hungry!

Veal Parm?

I've heard good things about Carbone but never got round to it.

Yes. I’ve heard good things about it too but never managed to pull the trigger for various reasons. Decided tonight was the night. Currently at the Aria poker table struggling to breathe.

I love the South Point and their daily, it's the best way to spend half a day without losing a lot. I've probably cashed three of the 8 times I've played it, chopped one of those.

Aria 1/3 pays for dinner and then some. Sadly table broke so time to get some zzzzzz

Stats: