Last Minute Dash to the 702 - TR 11/3 - 11/7
For those of you who know me on here, I'm a guy who usually books a trip 6 months in advance and plans everything down to the minute and dollar. already been to Vegas three times in 2024 and I have another trip booked for late January. my MGM Gold tier expired and I don't have any great offers. I'm super busy at home and the cold season is approaching. so why the heck did I just book another getaway one week in advance and how did I get away with it?
the wife just went on a 3 week trip overseas leaving me to take care of our two boys and dog. that was exhausting, but successful. she and daughter have been slowly getting over jetlag so I've continued to pull a big load (not really comparable to what she usually does but responsible enough). frankly, her trip was to get even with me. but I've been teasing and joking about having a getaway and 'oh look at this cheap flight' which she shoots down but then last week she yielded. caught me off guard. I had already concluded that I had enough other crap to do and I could save up my bankroll for January. but hey why not
I really have a poker itch and my friend who runs a home game has been inviting me for a few weeks. so I tell myself, we'll see how Tuesday night goes. if I come out on top I'll book the trip. as it turns out the "night" did not go well and I dropped $360 in one hour before leaving with my tail between my legs. so my decision is made.
then for some reason I check hotels, make some reservations and buy a fight ticket. don't have any good reason to other than I wanna play pai gow, I wanna get out of North Dakota, and "I'm a man, I'm 40!"
I'm losing count but I think this is my 12th trip to Vegas, 10th solo. was last there with the whole family for the steamy Fourth of July. all I wanna do is play poker and pai gow; I have no other plans or expectations. the NAPT will be going that week up at RW so maybe I'll venture up there and try out for The Big Game audition tourney.
unlike typical trips with lots of bouncing around, I have all four nights booked at Park MGM. didn't seem to be better prices anywhere. Mandalay Bay was only a little bit higher but I called to check and their poker room is back to the regular schedule of closed Tuesdays, and that was the deciding kill factor.
not renting a car, not expecting any shows or shopping. only expenses expect to be food and Uber. if gaming goes good early maybe I'll splurge. if gaming goes super bad I'll have my work computer with me to keep me safely busy and saving PTO.
wife reminded me I'll miss voting day so I better look into early voting. then maybe I can watch the election night carnage from a poker room TV.
will only buy into 1 tourney max, rest of time expects to be poker cash games at Mandalay Bay, Aria, Bellagio, Wynn, and maybe Resorts World. and pai gow at Park.
you can expect some hand histories and some stories from the table. hopefully plenty of chip porn scooping my way and food pics when I am able to eat. I think I'm more consistent writing my TRs than most of you are reading them. hopefully you enjoy it
This one puzzled me, Langdon. You turned a straight, correct? Granted, BB can have 98 or 84 in an unraised pot, but does he lead these often enough on the flop? How much was the shove, who covers, and how much were his leads on flop & turn? This info would definitely factor into whether this is a call or a fold on the river.
Regardless, enjoying the TR. Best wishes!
Correction: I did not have a straight. I missed the flush and missed the straight.
I needed a 6 or A and the turn was an 8 or some other brick
Tulsa is just a hot and humid Bismarck.
Sounds like a tough decision, with learning about the upcoming retirement. Hope you make the one that is best for you and your family. One thing that's important in life-changing decisions: once it's made, it's made. Try not to play the "what if I'd done the other?" game.
- 43ss cutoff I call an open.
Q52r giving me another open ender. utg raiser c-bets, I call.
turn K, he bets like $20, I call.
river is low but not the right low, a second deuce. he checks to me. I've already been trapped before. I chicken check and he lays down something crappy like 98 for nothing, but his 9-high plays.
what kind of bet do you throw out when you are playing the 22KQ5 board?
This is probably too loose pre, even if the table was not squeeze-happy behind you, and you are in position.
But as played this seems like a good spot for a small-ish bet. You are not going to get him off Qx or Kx no matter what you do, so we should rather aim to get folds from the weaker parts of his range.
I'm guessing pot is around.. $75? If so, just throw out $30 to get folds from hands like JT, AJ, AT, J9s, basically stuff that turned a draw on turn and thus decided to bet again. Maybe he will also fold out a hand like 66/77 or similar, if he for some reason played it like that.
On the somewhat positive side, Tulsa does have the Hard Rock casino just east of town in Catoosa. With a poker room. Have played many Oklahoma state championship tourneys there, final tabled a few, won one and have a dinky trophy for my troubles. And a few bucks to go with it. But ……. It’s still Tulsa.
I don't think you should feel any guilt. Have fun and run good!
Can't comment on Oklahoma or North Dakota, but I don't think I could handle winters in ND.
Langdon in a year:
sorry for the incorrect info in one of my HH last night, it was late.
got up to pee around 6:30 and of course couldn't fall back asleep so after 4 hours of sleep I am awake and working at 7am, despite really sore eyes. that late night session really was a poor choice and not worth it.
like last time, the Internet in the hotel room sucks so I brought my workstation down to the conference center. they don't have any nice "guests business room" and the bigger tables seem to be in the middle of the lobby with no outlets. so I am here halfway down the hallway setup on a tiny round table with my laptop resting on another chair and my keyboard hanging half off the table. but the connection is good enough, my VPN works and I am on the clock being productive. another issue I discovered is if I gotta visit the men's room I have to pack up all my stuff. Depends may be in order. jk
I got 4 solid hours of work done which means the rest of the day is open for play. I deserve it! haven't really eaten anything since dinner Sunday but I'm kinda exhausted and a nap is calling.
last week when I was preparing, the extended forecast showed mid-70s and sunny all week. when I looked today it is low-60s all week.
nap wasn't very effective but whatevs. shower was nice. went down to play Pai Gow, which was one of the main objectives of this whole trip (ND has poker, blackjack, roulette, even UTH; but no PG).
hand histories in PG are pretty redundant, but early on I lost 3 straight hands. how in hell do you lose 3 straight hands in Pai Gow? I was getting king high repeatedly while the dealer kept getting two pair. after an hour I was down 7 units; 8 was my loss stop. but I won a hand, then another. dealer gave me a bunch of red chips because she wanted me to play the bonus. wasn't getting any luck with that. so I just stacked the red and said well, if I can get back to just -$100 down I'll go. but after three straight hands I said, you can't run away from a heater. the red stack stayed there on the dot. I went up 7 units in 9 hands with that lucky stack of reds. I beat a dealer straight with a bigger straight, beat another straight with a flush + ace high, beat dealer pair + ace with a full house. got back to even and cashed out after about 80 minutes feeling good. didn't win but still love Pai Gow.
one more comment: the casino at Park MGM is awesome. nothing beats no smoking table games. no distractions, no unpleasantries.
okay, it is time to eat my first Vegas meal. Ri-Ra's it is.
I'm probably the only human that visits an Irish pub and doesn't drink. but I love Irish food. Ri-Ra's isn't as good as the Irish pub in Bismarck but it was still tasty and filled me up for about the cost of an egg sandwich and juice elsewhere.
belly finally full, time to play poker. nothing else on the agenda.
Monday was a really weird day.
the good news is I can probably now eat breakfast at Primrose and I don't have to take the bus to Resorts World
Can't wait for details!
Session 2: Mandalay Bay 1/2
new game started 5-handed with my favorite dealer Dustin. if you have met Dustin at MB you remember him. he talks non-stop. but in an entertaining and friendly way. haven't seen him there in over a year but I always look for him. apparently he got sent home early so only had him for one down.
the guy to my right Steven (50 white male from CO) was a friendly maniac. lots of big raises that made no sense. guy couple to my left (Bryson, 35 white malefrom Atlanta) had aces like 4 times, each getting set or boat; another time AT got him a boat. he hit the final hourly high hand of the day. not very aggressive or intimidating but quietly friendly and super lucky. at one point on a 9433 board with AK I was convinced he had quad 3s. just tens though. I stayed away from him anyway.
he was still there when I eventually left. Frenchy (40M from France), and Jim (40M Asian with a nice silver necklace), and Rico (young guy who regular opened to $4) also at my table, along with a couple old guys who didn't seem very good, but there to have fun like me.
- straddle limp limp I raise QTss and get lots of calls for th first legit pot of the day.
flop 983cc. Frenchy bets, I call for the hell of it
turn 6c. he checks, I check behind.
river 5c. there is a lot of stuff out there. I watch him, he does the thing where he starts counting chips, then checks. this feels looks weak. I bet $50.
he tanks, looks at his cards, tanks some more. eventually he counts his chips and moves then forward. I show queen high and he flips over 7c9d.
he kinda had it the whole way, pair, straight, then flush. don't know what it would take to get him off but probably more than I was willing to go
- minraise call call, I raise to $16 with A5ss.
flop is 976 one spade. I'm heads up to a small stack Steve to my right.
turn hits my gutter, 8h. I put him all in and he calls. I flip over my cards, he has 4-3 nothing, and the river is the ten to put a higher straight on the board and we chop. boo
Steven busted against some nit, then rebought. then there was some penis contest vs Asian Jim where they both went all in preflop and on a King high board, maniac Steven showed AJ for ace high and Jim mucked. so now friendly maniac is playing deep.
- didnt take notes on it but I have Q9, flop is KTX, checks.
turn is the J to give me a straight. I bet they call.
river is a queen, absolute disaster. they each have an ace.
- I finally did get a bluff on Frenchy with my KT on a Q878. he raised pre, I put him on ace high or small pair and he folded.
- open call call, I call with 33ds, five ways
flop is Jack high, checks
3 on the turn, third club. Steven tosses out $75 (his standard). I snap call. Jim shoves for like $200. maniac folds. I have about $90 behind. he could have anything, I am priced in. he has a flush and the board does not pair and I am out.
feeling defeated, gotta take a leak and I wanted to place a bet so I leave. I think about what to do next and start writing this. then I realize: there is a friendly maniac playing deep, along with two old fish. where else would I go?
I go back, I'm now in for $700. unfortunately one fish gone, other old guy left shortly thereafter, and maniac had lost a bit. but we can do it.
table got really short again, like five, lots of chopped blinds. I'm down over $500 at this point, rack my chips, change my mind and stay.
- and then I get Aces on the button. I open small hoping for some action and Frenchy obliges.
low flop, he donks I snap call. low turn, he bets, I call. river pairs the 8, highest card, he bets and I call and beat his 77s. I finally have a stack.
Frenchy left, table broke. I move to new table.
- same thing, new day. 4-3ss, I open, only BB calls.
flop is 52Qss giving me a combo draw again. I bet, he calls.
turn K, check check.
river bricks, of course. he checks a third time. I bet, and after thinking, he calls with AJ.
I am a nit, I never play low suites connecters. this week I'm like wtf maybe I'll hit a surprise. and every time I try I get a combo draw. that misses. so I try stealing and get called by no pair.
these are not super serious games, pots are not deep. I'm here for fun and trying different things. so far NOT working out.
I'm tired of journaling.
new table got super short. I continue to flounder. so far my MB experience has been disappointing. I get a rack and get ready to leave again, but then suddenly we are full ring and I stick around. kind of interesting dynamics; we had 3 East Indians at the table along with a young Asian kid in over his head and Lawrence (50M Asian, super aggressive) to my direct right. apologies for potential racist appearance but demographics are important to recognize in poker. I've played with a lot of East Indian players at MB over the years and never seen one leave with a win, so I like playing with them and being friendly.
- I win a nice multiway pot when my K8 gets 2 pair. following hand A4hh flops a straight and Bryson and Lawrence both call me down. I've made up most of my losses.
- now in hour 6: Lawrence straddles, up first 2-2 I open EP to $10. Lawrence raises to $20. if I'm going to play deuces I have to play them.
flop = gin. A82.
runout is somthing like A825Qx. I bet $90, he calls. and we are officially in profit.
I'm getting super tired and finally rack up at my high point of $825 for an actual win. I hate rebuying; I feel like most of the time my results are consistent through a session so if I'm losing and getting unlucky early I am likely to stay losing and continue getting unlucky. this was a good session in that "I fought through adversity" (LOL) and hung in there, playing my opponents more than the cards, and was able to crawl back from a $500 loss to $125 win in 6.5 hours.
enjoyed a slice of cheap pizza from my favorite cheap pizza place Slice of Vegas.
it was good, but a bunch of pepperoni was kinda piled together and may not have cooked long enough and it may have caused some digestive issues later.
part 2 of the night coming later
Nice comeback! I have no problem re-buying -- I usually do better on my second buy-in 😉
Good job. I agree with Java......I play better when I'm stuck a buyin. But you don't have to go that route.
Session 2: Mandalay Bay 1/2
- same thing, new day. 4-3ss, I open, only BB calls.
flop is 52Qss giving me a combo draw again. I bet, he calls.
turn K, check check.
river bricks, of course. he checks a third time. I bet, and after thinking, he calls with AJ.
I am a nit, I never play low suites connecters. this week I'm like wtf maybe I'll hit a surprise. and every time I try I get a combo draw. that misses. so I try stealing and get called by no pair.
I'm getting super tired and finally rack up at my
Always feels good turning a huge loss into a small win 😀
Regarding 43ss, it's probably not a good idea to play these hands if you don't have a clear plan on how you are going to play them. You get a good scare card on the turn, you have a boat load of equity, and you have 4 high. In other words, the conditions are pefect for blasting the turn with an overbet to apply max fold-equity.
If he calls and you miss, then just give up; he clearly have something since he could call the big bet on turn.
If he calls and you hit; awesome - we have built up the pot and can get even more value than if the pot was smaller.
Honestly, I'd rather play blind (not letting them know I'm blind) than raise small suited connectors -- unless maybe it's folded to me on BTN and I know my blinds will most likely fold.
If I'm blind, I can convince myself I have a great hand, and they are more likely to believe me 😉
this was one of the first times I've been to Vegas when there is an actual NFL game on during my stay. so decide to place a sports wager in a casino for the first time. people say it makes the game more fun to watch.
so the MNF game is like half hour away, Chiefs at home in Primetime in the rain, against a terrible Bucs team with a terrible defense andmissing their 3 top receivers. I don't like the Chiefs and don't think they are actually that good this year but -9 points seems reasonable. so I place $20 down
and of course the Chiefs play awful and the Bucs defense has their best game of the year and the Chiefs still win without covering. what a terrible game. did not add to any enjoyment.
after poker it's still only like 9:30 and I have some Freeplay from the myvegas app I can use. first is $25 BJ matchplay. I get 34ss (of course) vs dealer J. hit, 9 = 16. great. I hit again because that's what "the book says" and I get a deuce for 18. okay, we're alive. I watch the dealer's face and after flipping her card she goes to get another one so that's a good sign. J + 3 + Q = bust. I win $50!
that was the only hand I played.
send my wife a cheeky text "somehow I haven't lost any money"
then I have $25 in freeplay to use. don't see any VP machines worth wasting time on. I hate slots but after wandering around I see this Timber Wolf Bucks machine that looks interesting, and the green bucket looks pretty full. what the hell maybe I'm an advantage slot player. I don't really know how much each spin is but I get a couple little wins, use up my FP up a few bucks, try a couple more spins on my initial $20 bill. then I trigger a bonus for 12 free games. alright, I get a win for like $10 (I think, not too sure), then get a few symbol things, it tells me to touch the bag and reveals a minor jackpot. that sounds good, I'm expecting like $15 but it keeps spinning and spinning with some happy music. I look up and it is $1000.
when I walk by the machine the next day the green bucket was pretty low so yeah, Langdon is a retiring advantage slot player now.
now that my trip is paid for I'm like let's play some Pai Gow!
my strategy for PG is get down a bunch early and then work to get back to even. literally did not win a hand for close to 45 minutes. mostly pushes, down like $150. meanwhile, the gu on my right gets a straight flush bonus and the lady on my left hits a Dealer ace high + Player ace high bonus.
got nothing to lose so I double the bet to $50. win, lose, win. no bonus but I actually hit some full houses. it took forever and all the drunk left me alone and I was exhausted but finally I hit a hand, got to even, and I cashed out for a $0 +/-
so yeah weird day. I claw back from like $175 in Pai Gow twice to even, claw back from down $500 in poker to +$125, lose $20 in NFL, win one hand at BJ for +$50, and play 4 minutes of slots for +$1060
Honestly, I'd rather play blind (not letting them know I'm blind) than raise small suited connectors -- unless maybe it's folded to me on BTN and I know my blinds will most likely fold.
If I'm blind, I can convince myself I have a great hand, and they are more likely to believe me 😉
It's not a lie if you believe it.
Nice hit, Langdon!
boom, great Vegas Day!
There aren't many feelings better than popping a big win at a game you don't understand at all! Grats!!!
sorry for the incorrect info in one of my HH last night, it was late.
got up to pee around 6:30 and of course couldn't fall back asleep so after 4 hours of sleep I am awake and working at 7am, despite really sore eyes. that late night session really was a poor choice and not worth it.
like last time, the Internet in the hotel room sucks so I brought my workstation down to the conference center. they don't have any nice "guests business room" and the bigger tables seem to be in the middle of the l
I've never been able to get my vpn to work in Vegas, and still be able to connect.
and I am on the clock being productive. another issue I discovered is if I gotta visit the men's room I have to pack up all my stuff. Depends may be in order. jk
Always feels good turning a huge loss into a small win 😀
Regarding 43ss, it's probably not a good idea to play these hands if you don't have a clear plan on how you are going to play them. You get a good scare card on the turn, you have a boat load of equity, and you have 4 high. In other words, the conditions are pefect for blasting the turn with an overbet to apply max fold-equity.
If he calls and you miss, then just give up; he clearly have something since he could call the big bet on turn.
If
I need to hire you and/or Muck to coach me before next WSOP.
woke up around 7 and found a place to work-work, but it was in front of the four large TV display flashing cable news election coverage and ESPN morning garbage. super annoying but at least I could be productive.
upon walking out I saw the pool area right there, and someone was going in. thought I'd check it out. at like 10:30am it was super cold, in the 50s, but upon asking they said the pool is heated and there is also a jacuzzi. I changed and came back down for my first ever outdoor swim in November.
I know I keep mentioning Primrose but I'm a man of simple tastes and nothing on the menu interests me. now after noon I still haven't eaten but I have a craving for a burger. Side Betty Grill it is.
hailed an Uber and headed to Resorts World.
Session 3: NAPT $360 Tournament
NAPT was upstairs. the setup was really impressive. it is well organized with a great staff and great dealers. there were a bunch of tourneys going simultaneously (main event, super-high roller, my $360, a ladies event, etc), and the tables were coordinated with color lights to make it really easy to navigate. even with like 6 tourneys going there were plenty of clocks that were easy to identify. the Pokerstars crew plus Resorts World crew put on a professional production and I was very impressed. much better than the WSOP nightmares I hear about
I watch all the Pokerstars EPT tourney streams and went looking for familiar faces and there were plenty of them. I saw Lex Veldhuis, Renia Nesredine (who is from Tulsa, she final tabled two EPT main events this year), Jonathan Little, Andrew Chewy Lichtenberger, Jason Koon, Masato Yokosawa, David Lappin, Parker Tonka Talbot, and Lexi Mather. Lexi's husband was at my table. he is a total a**hole.
- Lv2: I open with KJss, heads up
flop 7 high one spade, I c-bet, he calls
turn brick checks
river Ace. what to do with king high. I bet like 3300 and he calls with A8. I'm dumb
a big pot brewed. runout 5c6c8 2Qc
Mather shoved on board with 99. after a long tank a guy from Iceland called with KQ, and Mr Mather busted. pretty wild hand.
I only remember my bad hands. in Lv3 I'm to like 46k from 30k start
- Lv4 QQ I open, SB calls.
flop A94, I c-bet, he calls. smells like an ace
turn J, checks
river 8. he bets small, 2500. I tank, but "getting a great price" as they say. he shows a set of 9s. I take a hit.
- Lv5 eventually I'm down to about 10k. folds to the SB who completes, I have A6dd and raise, he calls.
ace high flop, one diamond
I shove the turn, he asks why, and calls with A8 and his kicker plays. so I'm out a couple minutes before break.
I play poker fan boy checking out the fields. I consider rebuying but decide to go play cash instead, hoping to save $60. got my tourney experience for the trip. saw James Hartigan in the hall later and he was kind enough to say hi and shake my hand.
