MuckPls and everyone else vs Vegas (10/4 to 10/20)
Figured I’d start the TR as I have some time on my hand before my trip. Where to start…
Haven’t really played any poker a
Boom. Swings seem exhausting to a nit like me. Hope you’re up now?
What hours are you sleeping/waking there this trip?
Soon there will be some Vegas-action for me as well. Chilling at Heathrow in London, waiting for the flight to Vegas.
10 hour flight will be a bit tiresome, but that's all right when the Las Vegas heat awaits at the end of it 
Safe travels!
Boom. Swings seem exhausting to a nit like me. Hope you’re up now?
What hours are you sleeping/waking there this trip?
I stick to EU time mostly meaning I wake up around 3-4 am. But it’s getting later and later every day.
I have recovered most of the initial losses, but I’m still stuck $2000 or so. One good day and I am even!
Another day at the office. Yesterday really broke me so gonna take it easy today. And then the highlight of the trip tonight: Kabuto!!! Can’t wait!
Finally had one of those pure sessions where everything works out. Up $500 after a couple of hours. Time to take a break until Kabuto and get back into it tomorrow morning.
Trip so far:
From unstuck to ROBUSTO!
Kabuto!!!!
We did the sake pairing so we are pretty blasted. Only one thing to do: it’s time for Bellagio and shove every third hand and tilt the living **** out of OMCs!
I have finally made it to Las Vegas, and I am as always stoked to be here 😀
Flight from London was fine, except two minutes of heavy turbulence over Greenland. But we landed just 15 minutes after scheduled time, I breezed through immigration in 20 minutes, and was met with the above sign.
Took a taxi over to MGM Grand, and by the time I got here I already had my room ready on the MGM-app. Staying in a Grand King room, which is a reasonable enough room without being super luxurious.
After scoping out the room I went for a quick walk over to Target just to stock up on a couple of items. The sights and sounds of Vegas was as always stunning:
I am sure that today is a really good evening for poker, but I am too tired to even consider playing for an hour or two. Just gonna eat something real quick and probably just go to bed. I see that Monday 14th is a public holiday here in the US (Columbus Day), so the games will probably be really good tomorrow as well.
Weather forecast looks amazing as well, so I will be sure to get a dip in the pool pretty much every day that I am here.
That's all the excitement for tonight from my end. Except the usual stuff in the days coming, with a lot of hand histories as well as the occcasional pictures with variable quality (just like the poker play, in other words).
Kabuto looks great. I wish our experience had been better :(
Glad you made it Whale! Good luck at the tables 😀
Columbus Day not such a big holiday in the US anymore. I don't imagine there will be a flood of tourists coming in for a three-day weekend.
Welcome to USA#n, Whale, and GL to both of you now.
I love the feeling of waking up the first morning in Las Vegas 😀 Although this time around I woke up super-early (around 3:45am) and had a bit of a headache. Thankfully that went away eventually, and I have just been taking it fairly easy this morning. Went down around 5am to play a bit of video poker, which didn't yield any profit but was fun.
It's time to find any donkeys soon, but in the meantime - here is a lion and some pandas chilling this morning:
After VP I also squeezed in an early morning workout when the gym opened. Great stuff. My back is a bit sore from the flights and the slight injury last week, but nothing that a foamroller and (eventually) some massages can't fix.
Now I'm actually gonna head out and find a poker game. Might not be too much action around 9am on a Sunday morning, but I am sure we can find a game somewhere 😀
It was the best meal I have probably ever had, it was amazing.
What was bad about your experience? Can’t image Kabuto ever being bad.
An inspector dropped by before our dinner, and instead of appeasing us with a small dish, sake, etc., they just made us wait and then got their timing off for everything else. Also served us the same fish multiple times. The dishes were OK, but nothing outstanding. It just wasn't worth the money. Our experience at Hiroyoshi was much better, including the food.
If you want to read about it: https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/108/l...
Sadly it turned around again this morning and now I’m stuck big time again. Time to recover:
Oh, no. What did it if you don't mind sharing? I'm sure it will turn back up again!
After posting earlier today, I headed over to Aria to say hello to MuckPls + the guy who plays PLO (who also is an ex-colleague of mine). I then put myself on the waitlist for $1/$3 at Aria, although surprisingly enough there was no game at 9:30am in the morning.
However, the list filled up fairly quickly and a new game started a few minutes before 10. In that game was also MuckPls, and although I don't really want to play against friends too often there was no other game to change into.
Although I only played for 2 hours and 15 minutes, there was a fair bit of interesting spots. First hand of note comes when MuckPls straddle, one player call the straddle, and I make it $25 (should go $30) from MP with AJo. BB calls, Muck calls in straddle, and limper calls. Flop comes 3-6-2 two diamond, and I have none. Everyone checks to me, and I just check it back. Turn was a 4 and after Muck bet and the limper called, I fold.
Early in the session it seems like a lot of people were willing to limp-call, and I hoped that would be the case when the table fish (who only stayed for 30 minutes sadly) limped for $3 and I find AA behind him. Hello Aces! I make it $17, but for the first time so far he actually limp-folded.
I raise the next hand too; making it $12 from UTG with 88. I get no less than 4 calls behind me, and we go 5-ways to J-9-2. I decided to check this one, and it checks around. Turn is a Q, and a decent Asian (who soon left for $2/$5) leads out. Even with a gutshot now, I don't think I can continue. So I fold.
Also had 77 once in SB after raise to $15 and one call, could maybe have squeezed but decided to call. I did not connect too hard, and had to fold.
Then there is a limp for $3, Muck makes it $16 from the button and I have AKhh in BB. Lovely hand, and I raise it up to $60. Somewhat big sizing, but I am OOP and I know that Muck is a bit more dedicated than me to see some flops. I do however get no action, as both players fold.
Another limp for $3, and once again Muck makes it $15, this time from MP. I have KQhh on the button, and decided to call since I am in position and dont 'need' to 3-bet. The limper also calls, and we go 3-ways to K-T-3 one heart. It checks to me, and I take it down with a bet of $30. Could maybe size lower, but I think hands like JJ, QJ, JT, AT etc. will call regardless of the sizing.
Then I play a hand that is very borderline. Muck straddles UTG as always, and I am in third pos with QJo (black cards). I raise it up to $20, however the pre-flop app that I have on my phone actually says this should be a 100% fold. Lesson learned. A decent Finnish player calls on the button, and Muck also defends his straddle.
Flop comes T-5-4 two hearts, and after Muck checks I decided to bet $30 here. This might be too thin, although all overcards will be good for me on the turn. But with a heart-draw out there and me not having a heart, it is probably too optimistic. If turn comes Jh or something, I cannot feel confident in my hand. But as played, both opponents call my $30 bet.
Turn is the Kc, which put two clubs out there. I think this is a great spot for a double barrel, as I think it's extremely unlikely that someone have slow played a set on this board. If one of the opponents have a T and the other one have a draw of some kind, I should be able to force both of these out if I bet a reasonable size. In addition, I have also picked up actual equity. So I make it $90 (into $150 or so), and the Finnish player looks pained for a few seconds before folding.
Muck does however do something I did not expect at all; he moves all-in. I gave it a few seconds to calculate potodds, but I am not getting the right prize with just an open ender. I assumed the most likely holding for Muck here would be something like KT, and there are many combos of those (he calls from straddle with all off-suit combos as well). I would not put it past him to slow play a set either, although I do think that when it goes bet-call on the flop he would raise his sets fairly often.
Either way, I had to fold and reload another $100. If MuckPls want to chime in with his cards in this spot, feel free to do so.
I do however win a couple of small pots to work my stack back up again. I raise AA to $12 from UTG, and get two callers. Flop comes T-6-2, which looks very safe. I bet $22 and they both sadly fold.
Then there are three limps to me and I have KThh in SB. I bump it up to $20, and an OMC is the only caller. Flop comes Q-4-5 one heart, which is good enough to start a bet on when heads-up. So I throw out $20 again, and he folds.
The same OMC then actually puts on the straddle, and it folds to me on the button. 78dd looks pretty, so I make it $20. Another OMC calls in BB, while straddle folds. We see A-8-6 two clubs, and he has already checked dark. I think a bit and check behind.
Turn is 4c, so three clubs out there now. He checks again, and I bet $25 for equity denial + some possible value from a club draw. He calls quickly. River is another 4, which goes check-check, and I am good. He verbally announced 'nothing', so I assume he probably just had a high club of some sort.
After going card-dead for a while I then pick up TT in cutoff. I raise to $12, and it folds to BB. He is a young kid probably around 25, and has a short stack. He puts in a raise to $25, which feels very strong to me given the positions and the way he has played so far. My first thought was to call and play some flops, but after thinking about it for a while I actually decided to jam on him. He only started with around $120, we are 6-handed this hand, and even if I think he is strong there are still more AK than big pairs out there. He does not snap-call, which is good news, but he eventually puts it in.
We agree to flip over our cards, and he sadly have me pipped with JJ. The board runs out K-K-9-3... T, and I get a very lucky river card to win this decently sized pot. For what it's worth, I think the result would have been somewhat similar if I just called, but it obviously depends on his sizings and how he decided to play it.
In profit now, and I only played one more significant hand before cashing out. There is a limp for $3, and I make it $15 with 99 from MP. It folds around to early position, and I now see there was actually two limpers, and not just one. They both call. Oh well, not a gigantic mistake although I would probably have made it $20 if I had seen both of them.
T-8-4 hits the board, and they both check to me. I make it $20 to get value from 8x and other lower pairs, but they both end up calling. Turn is another T, which I liked to see as that cuts down on Tx-combos. First limper checks, but then the second one (middle aged woman) moves all-in for $89.
I gave it a few seconds but fairly quickly decided on a fold. There isn't really any draws on the flop, and I don't think she is the kind of player that just goes crazy with 77 or similar. Since I had the first limper behind me, I chose to fold. And good thing I did, as he snap-calls and win the hand with T8cc.
After a round or two more, I cashed out with a gigantic profit of $7 USD. I then went over to NYNY for a quick massage, and now I am going to hit up the MGM Grand pool complex 😀 That will surely energize me before an evening session, where I will try to play a bit longer than what I did at Aria.
Cool view from the elevator bank at MGM Grand Tower; nice view of OYO and the airport:
Hours played: 2h 15min
Won/lost: +$7 USD
Hourly rate: $3.1 USD
welcome to Vegas Whale! Have a fun trip
I had 5c6c in the above hand vs Whale. Pair + fd.
In it until we win it:
There is a guy at my 1/3 table sitting with $6000… one time?
Some HHs BigWhale style.
In the straddle with AdQd. Russian OWC is in the bb. Folds to her, she makes it $25, I make it $75. She now jams for $250 that I obviously call. Board runs out KT36Kr and we lose vs the mighty K7o.
“She read me like a book!”
Gonna call it for today. This random pic I found pretty much describes current mood:
