MuckPls and everyone else vs Vegas (10/4 to 10/20)

This update is coming to you from Harry Reid Airport, as it's time for me to go home. I really wish I had more days, but such is life - I am sure I will be back soon 😀 Let us recap the day below.

I checked out of the hotel room around 10:15am and stored my luggage, which was a quick hotel. Then I headed over to Aria to meet up with MuckPls and sicarriu5 + do some -EV gambling and wagering.

So long, MGM Grand:

On the way to Aria, I passed by these guys hanging out near the NYNY Sportsbook:

Once at Aria I played a fair bit of Video Poker and also some Buffalo Gold slots, breaking even. That is a win in my book. Obviously not degening it as hard as MuckPls, but here is a decent win:

Eventually though I bid the guys farewell, and headed over to Venetian for one last session. I really enjoy the new room, and wanted to pay it one last visit. There was however a long wait list when I got there, so I ended up putting myself on the list for both $1/$2 and $2/$3. I got the latter seat first (within 10 minutes), and jumped into the game with $400 (it's $600 max, I believe). Game was not overly tough, although there was 1-2 good players in the game. I will say the $2/$3 at Horseshoe last night was tougher, especially as the evening progressed and new players came into the game.

Either way, I actually started off playing & winning my first hand. I find AQss from UTG after a $6 straddle, and raise it up to $20. I get no less than 3 callers, one in the field and also BB + straddle. Flop is relatively pleasant looking, with A-9-6 two clubs. I was a bit uncertain about sizing here, but settled on $40, which prompted everyone else to fold. In hindsight maybe better to go $55-$60 to charge all the draws (flush draws + open enders) a bit more.

I also get KK in SB after a raise to $10 and a call on the button. I 3-bet to $55, but sadly they both fold. Definitely a decent start:

Just a few hands later I also find QQ in late position, and raise to $12 in cutoff. A female player calls on the button, and the rest fold. Heads-up to J-5-4 all hearts, and I have Qh. I bet $15, but she just folds quickly.

A good player then raises to $12 from 3rd pos, and it folds to me in BB with A9o. Good enough to defend HU, so I flick in the call. A-7-4 two diamonds, and after I check he checks it back. Turn is a T, and I decided to check again. He bets out $20, and I call. River is another T, completing the flush draw on the flop. I do however think he would bet his draws on the flop, so I am not very worried. I check, and he checks it back. I table my hand, expecting it to be good, but he has A9ss for the chop.

I then get a slightly annoying spot when there is a raise to $8 from an OMC, a semi-active middle aged guy calls in position, and I complete in BB for just $5 more with 95hh. We see 9-7-4 one heart, which actually checks around. Turn is a 5 so I make two pair. I lead out for $15, although in hindsight could maybe go for a check-raise. The OMC folds, but the middle aged guy finds raising chips and make it $45. Bit alarming, but I call.

River is a T, so I don't boat up (I was gonna lead $115 or something if it came in), and I check it over to him. He eventually settles on a bet of $80. This one felt a bit close to me, as he is repping a quite narrow range. He either has 86 suited (and didn't bet flop in position?), a slow played 77 or 44, or a turned 55, which I block. I was tempted to call, but I struggled to find any bluffs that he could have. So I made a painful fold, although I am definitely a bit underrepped here. But the only realistic 2 pair combo that I beat must be something like 45 suited.

I also lose a bit on Double Board Bomb Pots every dealer change - they are very addictive, but it feels very hard to win one. In this $2/$3 game they cost $10 each hand, so a profit can quickly vanish if you have 5-6 of those. There was one of these I wish I had played differently, and taken down the high board in a 4-way hand - which would have yielded a decent profit. But I guess I have to ask Bart Hanson for some split pot strategy, as that is his favorite format.

Then it folds to me on the button, and I raise up A9o to $11. SB, who seems like a good thinking player, calls and BB folds. We get a favorable A-A-5 flop, and after he checks I bet $10. He calls. Turn is a 4, he checks, I bet $20 and he calls again.

River comes a 9, so we suddenly have a full house. He thinks for a long time but checks, and I decided on an overbet of $105 (into $85). I think is opponent is expecting me to be fairly light from the button, and as you guys have seen in previous posts - I will chose this sizing with bluffs as well 😀

Sadly he folds after thinking for a bit, and I show my cards to the dealer and announce "high hand!". Aces full of Nines was the best high hand so far in this 30 minute period, but I still had to wait 24 minutes to see if anyone would manage to beat it. To be fair, I didn't have a lot of hope initially of the hand holding up - but with a fairly high full house it's certainly not impossible.

While waiting for the clock to tick down, I play a hand against the good player again. I raise A4dd to $12 from 4th position, and he calls on the button. Heads-up to J-9-4 one diamond, and I chose to bet $10 here. A small sizing here makes it easier to call the check raise I expected to come in, and indeed he makes it $30. I call, and we see the 7d on the turn. Pair and flush draw, and I would consider a check-raise here depending on his sizing. He does however just check it back.

River is another 9, and after I check it over to him he once again just checks back. I table my hand confidently, and it's obviously good. A small pot, but I think I played it well and had a plan.

A few minutes later the good news was also announced over the speakers; that Aces full of Nines was the winning high hand! This means I got to head up to the podium and pick a random envelope with a price. These range between $100 and up to $10k, and I managed to draw one for $175 USD. Fairly happy with that, as it's more than the minimum payout.

I played one more bomb pot, before racking up and leaving a few hands later, with a profit of $195 USD. Most of it came from the promo winnings of course, but I was profitable in the game and if it hadn't been for the bomb pots I would have won a bit more. It was a short session of 2 hours.

This concludes the poker for this trip; one more post below.

Cash Games:

Hours played: 37h 30 min
Won/lost: -$985 USD
Hourly rate: -$26.3 USD

Tournaments:

Won/lost: -$200 (2 tourneys)

There was one thing that I have been putting off this trip, that I really wanted to do - which is to take a trip to a rather obscure location. I have seen some videos on YouTube from the Tuscany Hotel and Casino, and think that looks like a really nice place that I would certainly consider staying at in the future. For those that don't know, this hotel is behind Horseshoe, just a few blocks behind it (I estimate 6-7 minute walking distance).

I ordered an Uber from Venetian to Tuscany, and got a lucky random draw with a female driver named Jessica who seemed really keen in talking to me during the whole trip there. Sadly did not exchange numbers (mostly because I think it would come off creepy to ask), but it was nice to talk to a female was cute and seemed surprisingly interested in getting to know things about me.. That said, it might be her style just to get bigger tips (and it obviously worked on me).

Either way, Tuscany Hotel & Casino. I signed up for a players card, played some VP (decent paytables), had something to eat in the small deli they have there, and then headed back to MGM Grand to pick up the luggage. Here are some pictures:

Now it's 2 hours until my flight leaves, and even though the results have not been as expected it has still been a really nice trip. Although it's so easy to feel stressed in Vegas, and time flies way too fast. But as always I did the mistake of not playing enough long sessions, and moving around too much at times. But I will summarize the trip a bit more once I am hopefully safe & sound back home in Malta.

As always 2+2, it's been a blast (although extremely time consuming) to give you my insight into Vegas and poker. MuckPls will keep the thread going for a day or two longer, but for me we bid farewell in the usual style.

Nice!

Are there any decisions to make on a slot like that, as there in in vp? Or do you just push any button and the outcome is the same?

Absolutely nothing. This one has a bonus buy feature that you can buy for $50-100-150 depending on how much you bet. I bought it on $100 and hit $800 and $2900 (not back to back obviously but within 20 or so buys)

Interesting subject for a sculpture. Most people are probably too young to understand what it is.

I was really hungry, so decided to stop for some quick food on this new location (sorry for bad picture, a homeless guy was laying where I wanted to stand to take the picture, and I didn't want to go near him):

Wat? There's a Whataburger on the Strip? Whereabouts is it?

Corner of Aria between Aria and Park MGM

Yeah it opened in April or so, if I remember correctly. It's right below Waldorf Astoria, and close to the CVS that is next to Park MGM.

It took over the location where Bobby's Burger Palace was, although I never visited that establishment.

Boom!

Aria?

Thanks, I seldom get to that area.

Not to be confused with the companion sculpture in Washington DC. I can try to post an image sometime after I sober up.

safe trip Whale, thanks for the TR.

fingers crossed Muck can have a big finish

Have really enjoyed this trip report so far, great work by BW, Muck and others. Even the woke drama turned out to be a net positive in the end as the vast majority opted for sanity.

Am now even more excited about my December trip than I was before - thanks guys!

Yes, safe travels Whale. Thanks again.

On my way to the airport as well, Sicariu driving to California and PLO friend stays for another 2 months. Had a pretty bad session last night and today morning so leaving Vegas on fumes.

Will update when I’m back home. It’s been a blast, thanks for following.

Poker stats:

Gambling stats:

This does not include $900 slot win at Ceasars Palace, $900 table game win at Ceasars palace and $900 table game win at Planet Hollywood.

Pretty brutal but it is what it is (and it’s not great [emoji23])

Curious to see how my offers go after this.

Just in general, do you think it's worth it to subscribe to CLP?

110% much so, even if the results on this trip would disagree 😀 But listening to the concepts that Bart Hanson teaches for years now have completely changed the way I think about poker. It's so much more 'relaxing' actually having a plan for each hand and knowing what to look for on a board.

In the latest podcast that Bart put out, he actually discussed running a triple barrel bluff on an A-K-x board during his last session, as the person who called his raise simply cannot have AA/KK or AK here most of the time. It's exactly this kind of stuff I have been trying to implement at times, and it was good to get a reassurance that this is a reasonable thought process.

And in addition, he obviously also teaches a lot of stuff specifically geared towards live poker tendencies. He has a 'small stakes exploit' guide with the 15 (or maybe it's 20) most common patterns for live players, and also a 'c-betting matrix', going into detail on what is important to look at before deciding whether to start a bet on a board.

I used to think that I 'had' to c-bet often simply because you 'need to be aggressive', but that is a very flawed thinking and just lead to me losing way more money that I had to without even realizing why. And even though I am really only half-assing it (I have the time to study way more poker than I do), I still pick up more than enough good concepts from CLP to make it worth the subscription prize.

I agree with BigWhale about the value of CLP. After reading and rereading hand histories from his trip reports along with his occasional reference to CLP concepts, I decided to change my approach. I started watching the YouTube videos (they're free) and, over time, have made a few slight tweaks to the concepts since I only play low stakes live. It has had a huge effect on my play and results. My win rate has almost tripled this year.

Thanks for the feedback. I am in two minds about this.

For one, I think it's great that I am now actually able to start thinking about an opponents possible range during hands + have a plan on what I want to accomplish with my bet sizes. It's still a work in progress, but I am honestly a bit shocked at how well these things clicked for me in my head during this trip. So I don't think that can ever be a bad thing, and I should try to continue to improve this part and getting even clearer thoughts.

However, it might be that I am overestimating the number of combos opponents will have. Maybe most Las Vegas players (and I obviously know this to be partially true) are just huge nits who peddle the nuts a lot and only gets to the turn (or river) with the strongest part of their range. If that is the case, then obviously some of my bluff will work less than they 'should'. But there are also some player types who I adjust my play against, and are less hesitant to bluff.

I obviously know, and as Bart Hanson also say, that playing low stakes poker is 90% about getting value. But although lol sample size over just 37.5 hours, it felt like I didn't have all that many spots to go for thin value this trip. Thus I probably ended up running a few more bluffs than usual.

Thanks for yet another great TR, guys.

I made it home safe & sound last night after the long travel day, but both flights went by without a hitch and I was as always able to sleep a fair bit on the flight to London. It's perfect having that late evening flight to catch, which gives you a few extra hours in Vegas on the last day + you are usually exhausted by the time you board the plane.

Quick summary of a couple of things as always:

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* I really enjoyed staying at MGM Grand, and the room was actually a pleasant surprise. Very comfortable bed, I like the shower/tub combo in the bathroom, and everything looked very clean (well, except the windows which were very dirty).

* The property itself is huge, crowded and very lively most of the time. Poker room is a bit dark and dingy, but overall a decent option. Selection of Video Poker machines was also reasonable, although paytables are not amazing.

* Apart from checkout day, I went to the gym every single day, which I am happy about. A big hotel like this should however have a slightly bigger gym; it gets very crowded in there during the morning.

* Pool actually felt a bit underwhelming. There is a lot of people, so you can't really swim a ton, the jacuzzi had very weak jet streams, and although the lazy river is great it's also extremely crowded. That said, would probably have spent more time there if I had someone to keep me company.

* Overall I was running really good on Video Poker this trip; ended up with a $580 profit or so at MGM properties. I hit one handpay of $1400 (although lost 30% on tax), and also hit a $1k Royal Flush early. Wagering was not MuckPls level of degeneracy, but reasonable enough for 7 days.

* Weather was amazing most days, even warmer than i had expected. And October in general seems like a good time to head to Vegas; tons of people around and poker action was fairly lively.
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I will have to re-read the poker parts to conclude, but for now I am quite happy with my play - despite the results. It's impossible to play perfect, but I don't think I made any gigantic mistakes, dollar-wise. That said, it's obviously easy to feel stupid when you run a bluff with 9 high and get called by top set. I might be deluding myself though, but apart from a few exceptions it didn't feel like I was running amazing. But over just 37.5 hours of play, that can obviously happen.

I still think I am a huge favorite in the games, and I have a lot of belief in my overall playing style. But there are probably tweaks I can do to adjust even better to my opponents, especially in regards to saving money against people who you just know will never bluff the river etc. I also still need to work on my mindset a bit, and having a more careless attitude also when I am losing.

As always I am not playing enough long sessions, although some of it have to do with just personal preference - I like taking breaks and have time to do a few other things as well besides playing poker. And in addition, I also like to update the Trip Report fairly often so that I am not way behind on updates. But I should still be better at semi-planning my day, and have some days where I have decided that "I am going to play at this location for this many hours, unless something insane happens".

But overall it was a really fun trip which I enjoyed a lot (although I didn't feel too great on Friday last week, when I lost over $1000 at Aria and Horseshoe combined), and I can only repeat what I have said before - it feels impossible to ever get tired of Vegas. Even though the games have gotten marginally tougher the last few years, it still feels like there are money to be won. And just being there and enjoying life outside of poker feels amazing too, although a 7 day trips a bit on the short side.

I will probably be back in Vegas again before you know it, although if I go on a solo-trip again I am strongly considering to do a Leon and only post a TR after the fact. I would need to take a bit more detailed notes then, but I still think it would be a huge time saver to not have the pressure of updating the TR while in Vegas. But let's see what happens. It's not 100% impossible that there will be yet another trip this year, although it depends on prizes/offers, and a few other factors.

Until next time.

Thanks for the great TR, guys. Sorry for the losses, but glad you had fun.

Whale, we've stayed at the Tuscany, and we actually really enjoyed it. It was a few years ago, though. The walk is not too bad to the Strip, and it does force you to get those steps in -- not that it's difficult in Las Vegas 😉

great TR guys and I love that you both so clearly love Vegas. I think that's the most fun part of your reports...other than the detail you go into, which is very generous

for us readers, trip reports should make us feel some FOMO and start planning our next trips and your ones always do

thank you

I only watch his youtubes. I can't count combos, but his recent videos have discussed a lot, the combos that villain CAN'T have, and that's almost as good.

I just never seem to remember that stuff when I get to the table. For me I best retain it by repetition, and that's my problem now - no nearby poker rooms. That leads to playing short hours the times I do get to Vegas. I play a couple hours when I first get there, lose a bunch of money, then I don't want to play anymore. So I lose because I don't get enough hours in and I don't get hours in because I lose a lot. What I should do is save up a pile of money big enough to last a week in Vegas and just grind. I actually used to play 2/5 when I lived in California because I had a cardroom 10 minutes away and was able to play a lot.

Thanks for the recommendation, I think I'll sign up.

I love Vegas so much that we are actually considering to semi-retire there in 8-9 years. Looking into buying something and spend 6 out of 12 months living in Vegas.

Not sure about near future however. Would love to go back next spring but my current schedule is pretty insane so it’s highly unlikely. But never know, anything can happen!