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
Congrats on your slot win. Run it up.
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Session 4: Resorts World 1/3
just a couple hand histories
someone jammed a JT5r flop against my pocket aces and I turned a set for the easy scoop and a little breathing room.
I played pretty tight the whole session and didn't get too out of line
wild hand... open raise raise shove call:
runout AKJJA
AJ > KK
there were three aces, three kings three jacks at showdown
another hand, some weird action: open, call, sb raise to $75, CO shoves for like $600. sb has $700+ back, he tanks for 5 whole minutes. eventually folds AK. the raiser shows 7-4. sb asks to run it. 7 comes so he would have won anyway
another weird hand, straddle, calls around, I have QJhh, straddler (crazy guy above) raises, a couple callers.
Q43. straddler says "I have a queen" and bets $100. I call. BB raises to $520, other guy calls all in.
raiser has 4-3 > AQ.
so 4-3o oop calls $31 preflop, and then wins like $800 pot. huh.
this game is wild
the Poker Pilot was at another table. I came over and said hi and he was kind
Resorts World is the best room, most comfortable room with the absolute best staff and dealers. the location sucks and that limits the number of games going. still is my favorite room.
the crazies eventually leave or move to bigger game. this poor fellow next to me started with like $100 and folded for an hour and half. eventually he tripled up with like a pair of 9s. a couple hands later, I found QQ, caught top set on the flop and sent him home.
on the last hand I played QJ, caught a jack on the flop, and let a lady triple barrel me with like bottom pair combo draw that misses and I scoop.
booked a $147 win in about 4.5 hours.
need to eat something, don't really know what. decided on La La Noodle and the Mongolian Beef. it was fine. food was ready so fast, and I was in and out in like 25 minutes
not sure what to do, I sat down for some Pai Gow. played over an hour, won $50.
passed by the Timber Wolf game. the red bucket is getting close.
I think I'm ready for the Wynn buffet. What is better, brunch or dinner?
(don't care for crab, love lobster)
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 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 eve
1) Nice slot win! The degen lifestyle have you now 😀
2) How was the temperature in the pool? Swimmable or just cold & miserable?
3) Any Bob Mather-stories? What made you feel like he was an a*hole?
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.
Same here. Dustin is fantastic. A master of remembering names too.
Terry is also a very nice dealer at MB.
Thanks for sharing your trip - It means a lot for me that go to Vegas just once a year.
Please share why you think Bob is an a-hole, I've just seen him on Youtube....
Fantastic run at slots and glad poker is going well. Do they get any PLO going at Resorts World?
I prefer buffets for brunch, but that's so I can play poker at night -- and it's usually a little less expensive.
here's my experience with Bob Mather.
- tournament just started. Bob comes to the table. someone says "hey I've played with you before." he says, 'maybe, I'm Lexi Mather's husband...' something like that, so he's already announced his celebrity status as the first thing he says.
- he is away from the table, his BB. he's walking back but misses time and the dealer takes his cards. he reached out "no I'm here" and slams his cards on his cards that are in the muck. "sir please don't touch the muck cards." "I was here you can't take my cards." "sir you were out of your seat not yet touching the chair." Bob yells "FLOOR!" they come over, and say something like he was not in his seat and if the dealer determines that it's a muck and it will be honored. someone at the table may have said sorry man, and he says something close to "well some miserable people need a way to show the only power they have available" and he berated the dealer some more.
this was Lv1, 100/200/200. c'mon dude
- other than that, constantly distracted, needing to be told multiple times that it is his turn to act. in and out of his seat and focused on his phone or turned around looking away, even in the middle of hands he's in. it's a tournament, bro
I don't have any plans today other than eat at Wynn.
play at Wynn?
thinking of Bellagio 2/5?
should I take a break and see a show?
degen on some other game (BJ, UTH, full buckets?)
I don't have any plans today other than eat at Wynn.
play at Wynn?
thinking of Bellagio 2/5?
should I take a break and see a show?
degen on some other game (BJ, UTH, full buckets?)
I rarely take a break from poker -- never for a whole day 😉 Degening is always fun. Shows are, too. I love Absinthe!
Yea, "off" days aren't really a thing for me in Vegas anymore. When I'm there it's go, go, go. The opportunity is too precious. I can chill at home.
That being said, pool days can be good. Maybe throw down a sports bet or two.
In terms of touristy stuff, I enjoyed the Mob Museum and Pinball Hall of Fame. If either sounds interesting and you haven't seen it yet, could be worth a look.
Congrats on the wins so far!
I started walking to the tram but turned around to check my favorite machine
two big buckets! how full do they need to get?
hit a few decent wins right away, but at $4 per spin it doesn't last long. hate to admit it but I fed the machine many bills. eventually two buckets exploded and I hit the bonus
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no jackpots this time and I fed the wolves a lot more than $178.10. better luck next time. or last time...?
the green bucket is now pretty full too. good luck next guy
hopefully I still have enough cash for poker
I started walking to the tram but turned around to check my favorite machine
two big buckets! how full do they need to get?
hit a few decent wins right away, but at $4 per spin it doesn't last long. hate to admit it but I fed the machine many bills. eventually two buckets exploded and I hit the bonus
[Uploading Image...]
no jackpots this time and I fed the wolves a lot more than $178.10. better luck next time. or last time...?
the green bucket is now pretty full too. good luck next guy
hopefull
Nickel credits and it's still $4 a spin? Yikes.
I started walking to the tram but turned around to check my favorite machine
two big buckets! how full do they need to get?
The first rule of advantage slot play is: If you don't know, don't play!
The one exception I would make personally is seeing a "Must Hit By $XXX" machine that looks like a sure thing. And I could be wrong about that one.
pictures don't do it justice and haven't seen every one but this was the most beautiful Conservatory display I have seen
the walk from Bellagio to Wynncore was 35 minutes. took the wrong exit so it took longer than it should have
f u F1
sit down for 1/3, lots of deep stacks. I quickly get a watermelon juice and I'm feeling good
Nice pics. Go, go, go!
here's my experience with Bob Mather.
- tournament just started. Bob comes to the table. someone says "hey I've played with you before." he says, 'maybe, I'm Lexi Mather's husband...' something like that, so he's already announced his celebrity status as the first thing he says.
- he is away from the table, his BB. he's walking back but misses time and the dealer takes his cards. he reached out "no I'm here" and slams his cards on his cards that are in the muck. "sir please don't touch the muck ca
I'm willing to give him a pass on the first one; he probably gets told a lot that he looks familiar etc. Plus, if I was married to Lexi I would brag about it all the time 😀
The issue with his cards being mucked though... that sounds really entitled. And berating the dealer is obviously unacceptable, especially as the dealer didn't even do anything wrong.
Edit: not saying it would be ok regardless.
Session 5: Wynn 1/3
fifteen minutes in...
- I look down at two black kings on the button and open.
ace on the flop. of course someone had an ace, and after my c-bet he finished his check-check-check (even after pairing his other card on river) so I probably lost the minimum
twenty minutes in...
- OMC opens, in SB 88 I call, other calls.
I check in the dark
flop = bingo. 998. old man reg bets $40, me and utg call
turn 3, two d two s. check check, old man bets $75. I call. other player goes all in. bingo bingo. old guy takes a while but folds and I snap and flip my boat. he has Q9cc and I am feeling good about life
- I open in mp with K6cc for $8. four calls.
river Q83c. what to do? I blast off for $30, everyone folds and I win $32
- I open utg with AKhd $12. four calls.
753sss. I c-bet, folds, I win $49
being at a table with much more accomplished regs, I was very pleased with my play. I got some hands, but I also put myself in position to make good hands. as you can see by my pic earlier there were a lot of big stacks but I never felt intimidated or afraid to get in the mix or be aggressive.
played 2.5 hours and finished +$345
The first rule of advantage slot play is: If you don't know, don't play!
The one exception I would make personally is seeing a "Must Hit By $XXX" machine that looks like a sure thing. And I could be wrong about that one.
what I should have done is when the two buckets were ready to burst bump up to $8/spin
and hope I get there quick
Today's meal: Buffet at Wynn
used my poker comps to save $7!
the wagyu beef from my last plate was probably the best beef I've ever had. the pizza was best I've had in the last 10 years. and considering it was my last plate when I was already overfull and I still loved it says a lot
there were so many choices, I could go 2 more times getting different stuff and still not try everything I want
I tried to pace myself and not go crazy but I still ate way too much, almost making myself sick. kinda embarrassing. but it was all so good.
my only negative comment was the room may have been a little cold and by the time I get to my seat the food was cold. but it was way good, worth the price and of course I recommend it
decided to go see my sister's family and watch the Golden Knights game together and relax. it was a 50 minute Uber ride, holy smokes. but coming off a winning afternoon and a great supper I was in a good mood and the driver was very friendly and happy music played on the radio.
(TV real big (65'), don't know why it looks so small in the photo
anyway, not a super productive final evening but they appreciated the visit and it was nice to lounge on the couch with people I actually know
planning to try Bellagio tonight
nice comeback for their first road win of the year!
