BigWhale & brother (feat. MuckPls) does Vegas - 2025 edition (21st-31st March)

Trip is GG for me, flight home leaves at 10 pm tomorrow. My last chance at Bellagio 1/3 turned into being down $200 and in for $500 total.

Then turned it around and was up $250. Wrote to BigWhale that I’m taking money off the table and moving over to Venetian to lock in a bit of profit. Was about to rack up and ran QQ into KK for stacks and well, that’s that.

It’s been a long and boring and overall frustrating trip. Lost on blackjack, lost on VP, lost on poker. Didn’t have a single day since I arrived where I made a single dollar profit. That’s a first for a trip.

Not sure what to feel really. After a shitty October trip and a shitty March trip all I can think of is that I am seriously tired of Vegas and need a long break to appreciate it again. Maybe I’ll be back next October or something like that. But for now I am 99% sure I’m cancelling my October trip.

Bummer about the results.

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into giving all of us stuck at home or bored at work some Vegas content to daydream about.

Even if the results aren’t ideal.

That’s part of Vegas trips too!

Really sucks Muck. I’ve been there and am sure most of us have.

To quote the Godfather, ‘this is the life we have chosen’ but the losses over losses can really hit you in the guts.

It might be too late, but hopefully you can treat yourself to a nice meal and buy a few things for yourself and people back home? Dropping another $1k or w/e won’t materially affect you from an overall pov but will allow you to head home with ‘something’. I know it helped me when my last wsop trip resulted in a 5 figure loss, a stolen wallet and a car that had been smashed into at the airport car park.

Leon, I remembered your recommendation, Woodford reserve neat:

And a last steak at Bavettes:

Appreciate it, it really sucks but it is what it is. Not really shopping anything this trip, mainly because both me and everyone else already have everything I can think of from Vegas haha. I have already bought a bunch of US snacks and stuff like that to take home tho as that’s always an exciting thing for the kids. Will treat them to some travelling instead, got a busy year ahead of us.

terrible take. he's not stealing anything from an employer. it's a casino. Muck was playing a game. dealer was doing him a solid and went though his boss first.
Muck says he's had a rough week of gambling, consider it like asking the front desk if they can take anything off the bill

Sorry guys, falling slightly behind on updates here. Especially as I had a lot of text written earlier, but pressed a random button that caused all of it to disappear. So let's start over from scratch with events from earlier this morning.

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I woke up today after around 8 hours of sleep, and felt quite rested despite my throat being a bit sore. And after updating the TR, I decided to head over here:

This Family Pool is the only one open at Flamingo now, as they are rebuilding the old area with the 'Go Pool'. The pool itself is a bit cramped and have too many kids, but the water felt nice and it was really refreshing to swim a bit and relax for a few minutes.

Then I met up with 'Enhanced', first for some -EV gambling at Flamingo. I did reasonably well at this Bonus Poker game with unusual paytables:

But then it was time to head out into the Vegas heat, as we had a specific destination in mind. On the way there, we passed this shell of a former iconic property:

The goal was obviously to play at Venetian, and this was the first time that 'Enhanced' had seen their new poker room. He decided on a whim to play a $400 one-day tournament that had started 90 minutes ago, while I got a seat in a $1/3 Cash Game.

I won a small pot with KQo early (flopping two pair), before actually getting a decent win from a PLO Bomb Pot. I was dealt 3378 single suited, and we ended up with these boards:

Top board: Q-8-5-4-T three spades. I only have one pair.
Bottom board: A-3-7-9-Q no flush. I have three of a kind.

I bet all three streets, as I was certain as the hand progressed that I would win at least half. One opponent made a flush on the top board to win that one, while a third player in the hand only had two pair on each board and won nothing. So that was a decent start.

Also won a small pot with AKo after BTN limped in for $3. I made it $17, he called, and we saw A-K-7 on the flop. Almost too good, but since people love to play Ax I chose a sizing of $20. He thought about for a little bit before folding.

Then UTG makes it $10, one player call in the field, and I call on the button with A2dd. Hand seems slightly too weak for a squeeze, and I have position anyway. BB also calls, so we go 4-ways to A-3-4 with one diamond. Interesting.

After BB checks, the PFR bets out $25 which seems quite strong. I don't think there is any point in raising here, so I just call and BB follows suit. Turn is a black K, and it actually checks to me. I briefly considered making a small protection bet, but ultimately ended checking it back. River comes a T, and once again it checks to me. Not quite sure what worse can call though, so I just check it back as the pot is decently large already.

I do however end up losing to A9 from UTG, which was interesting to take note of (should not be an open from that position).

A while later there is a limp from a short stack for $3, and I have JJ in 4th position. I raise to $15, and SB calls. Then the original limper jams his entire $55 into the middle, and I reraise to $125 to drive out the third guy. He folds, and the board runs out A-5-T-7-T.

Opponent had already showed his J8 of hearts on the flop, so I just turned over my hand as well. The guy left the table and I started stacking the chips, when seat 2 pipes up and seem adament that the all-in player had JT and made trips. Most of the table did however agree with me that he had shown J8 suited, and the guy had left the room anyway, so there was no point in going to the cameras to determine it. I would obviously had no issue with it had they chosen to do so, because I am very certain that opponent had J8s, and not JT. And the player who brought it up eventually dropped the issue as well.

Then we see a limp for $3, before the active guy with A9o from earlier makes it $13 from MP. It folds to me in SB with KJss, which I think plays best as a 3-bet. So I make it $45 to go, and the original raiser calls, but he does so fairly quickly in a way that makes me think that a 4-bet was not considered from his end.

The flop comes Q-8-5 with no spades, however in a 3-bet pot I assume I can bet small with my entire range and there are a few good turns at least. So I put out $35, and thankfully the opponent folds quickly.

I then raise KQo to $15 over a limp, only to see SB 3-bet to $50. Not much to do then besides fold, as KQo is likely one of the worst hands I will have after raising from early position. The opponent was a bit spewy, but not to the point where I think I should have called here.

Then I play a hand absurdly bad, with no good explanation on why. Early position limp, the guy who 3-bet the last hand limp, and I have QJo in BB. For some reason I just checked it here, but two face cards against limpers should be a raise all day. Instead we see J-4-7 two hearts with only $9 in the middle, and I check (could have led out).

First limper bets $7 and second guy calls. This is again a spot to consider a raise, as I likely have the best hand and can get paid by hands like JT and J9 or all flush draws. Instead I just call again, and an Ace lands on the turn. It checks around.

River comes a 9, and I check again. Second player also check, before the third one bets out for $20. For some reason I managed to talk myself into a call here, as he could possibly have some missed flush draws etc. But this time he had A4o for two pair, which just shows that I would have likely won the hand if I raised it pre or on the flop. Really bad play, and way too passive. No idea why I still do sh*t like this after all these years.

A while later we have two limps for $3, and the active guy makes it $21 behind them. In my head I am starting to calculate a good 3-bet amount and decide that $75 will probably do it if I have something worth playing. I guess KK qualify as playable, so I make it $75 and it folds back to him.

He thinks for a long time and I do my best to look nonchalant and not look at him. After 30 seconds or so he puts out $260 as a 4-bet. Technically, KK is not always a fist-bump get it in when we are 130 bb deep (I started the hand with $407), but with this guy being fairly active and me having 3-bet him once before I think we have no choice here. I move all-in, and the guy visibly does not like it but calls within 5 seconds.

A-7-K-3-5 on the board, and my opponent mucked his cards already upon seeing the turn. So I assume he maybe had something like AJ or AQ that he turned into a bluff? Regardless, an amazing pot to win.

I was however not able to take a stack picture, simply because I get involved in the very next hand as well. The guy that I paid off with QJ earlier raises to $15, and OMC calls the raise, and I have JJ on the button. I raise to $60, and the original raiser folds while the OMC actually calls. So he has double-flatted two raises, which is usually not super strong.

Flop comes 9-8-5 rainbow, which is not terribly scary although he could have some sets. But we can worry about that later. He checks, I bet $65 and he calls. Turn is another 9, which I didn't think mattered too much. In game I thought I could get value against hands like 66 and 77 and TT and 78s, but maybe it's a bit too thin. Either way, betting felt better than checking, so after he checks I make it $100. He calls again.

River is a 7, which is not a great card for me I think. 77 was one of the hands I thought he could have, and he must have something to keep calling me. So when he checks, I just decided to take it to showdown. He turns over QQ, which was extremely surprising to me considering his preflop-actions. And a frustrating pot to lose, since I have to give away a lot of the profit from the KK hand only 2-3 minutes later.

I lose another pot which I think I could have played better as well. There are two limps to me, and I make it $17 from the hijack with KQo. Button calls, and both the limpers call as well. So we go 4-was to A-8-5 all hearts (I have Qh). In game the flop checked around, however looking back I should start a bet here. The two limpers are unlikely to be super strong, so I really only need to get through the button for the most part. Plus, I do have some equity and betting into 3 players here will look strong.

Turn is the 4c, which is a blank. First limper now bets out $30, an OMC to my left calls, and I decided to overall. Maybe too light although I am drawing to the second nut flush. Button actually also calls, so we have quite a big pot going to the river. It comes an Ace, and there is a bet of $60 and a call ahead of me. Not much to do then with K high (turn it into a bluff with semi-flush blocker?), so I fold. JThh from the first limper wins the pot.

I do win a couple of small pots later though, one with QJ (raise pre and bet 9-8-2 flop), and one where I raise 56hh over a limp and flop TP to take it down.

Then I win a bomb pot to take my stack over $600 again, although I played this hand completely horrible by checking back the river in position and ending up scooping. It's actually so embarrasing that I don't even want to run through the hand. But if enough people request to hear about it in this thread, then I can obviously do so.

One last hand, where I raise 99 to $15 over a limp, and get one call behind, plus the BB and the limper also follow suit. We see K-Q-8 two spades, which is not really all that great for me. So I just check it, and it ends up checking around.

Turn is another K, and it checks to me again. I try a small protection bet of $20, although this might be too thin (can really only get value against 8x and JT). BB, the guy who I doubled up against, is the only caller. I am ready to just check it down on the river, which lands a T, but he leads out for $45. Not much to do then but fold.

My brother had a couple of unlucky spots and busted the tourney, and I took that as my sign to leave. The result was pretty decent, as I won $310 USD over 3 hours and 31 minutes. However, I completely butchered the QJ hand from earlier, as well as the Bomb Pot that I did not write up in detail. I gotta stop with this tendencies to be passive sometimes, and just completely hammer these guys with raises pre and value bets.

I have also played a session at Aria tonight, but that writeup will have to wait for tomorrow.

Cash Games:

Hours played: 9h 17 min
Won/lost: - $182 USD
Hourly rate: +$19.84 USD

Tournaments:

Won/lost: +$406 USD (1 played)

Solid winning session, don’t be too hard on yourself, we all make mistakes or play spots badly sometimes. The key is to realize it, which it seems like you have, and make the adjustments next time.

If it’s not too much to ask please could i get a photo of the current state of construction on the main pool at Flamingo?
That’s if they haven’t got it walled off and you can see it of course.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry about the trip results, Muck. Thanks for keeping us up to date in spite of the bad trip.

Travel safely. Be well.

Morning. Yes, I will try to take a picture of it. There is a really good overview spot on the walk to the Monorail platform.

Here are some picture from Bellago last evening. We start off with 'PinkyRing', where apparently Bruno Mars is forced to preform occasionally in order to pay off his gambling debts to MGM:

And these are from the conservatory:

As you all can see, there was a lot of great views 😀

After Bellagio I went over to Aria to play a session. Took the tram over just for variety:

And after a 10 minute wait they started up a new $1/$3 game, all the way up in the back where they usually have the tournament tables. We started off the game 6-handed, and I came out flying on the very first hand.

There is a limp for $3 from UTG, and I make it $15 in 3rd position with KJcc. The limper calls, and we go heads up to Q-9-8 with Q and 8 of clubs! Pretty sick flop, and after he checks I bet $15. In hindsight I should go bigger - I can call any check-raise that comes in and I want to build up the pot with this mega-draw. He calls.

Tc lands on the turn, so we make our flush. Sadly not the straight flush, but still a very strong hand. After he checks I increase to $45 (into $64), and he once again calls fairly quickly.

River comes a K and he now leads for $30. Seems like a stop-bet given the small sizing, but I also think he is fairly strong and likely have a straight here. So I raise to $145, although maybe I could have just jammed here? That said, I didn''t want to scare him off since there are a flush out there after all. Either way, he calls fairly quickly and obviously muck when I show my flush.

Then I raise A7cc to $12 from EP1 (still 6-handed), only to see SB 3-bet to $50 and the guy I beat in the last hand jam for around $100 or so. I obviously have to fold then, and Small Blind wins the pot with a pair of Queens.

A few hands later I am in the BB and a fairly tight guy raises to $15 from 2nd pos. I have KTo, which seems good enough for a defend. Flop comes K-J-6 two clubs, and after I check he bets $20. I call, and we see a 9 on the turn. This card goes check-check.

So when the river lands a harmless 2 I think I have to go for value against hands like AJ, QQ, TT or whatever he has that is below a King. I didn't think I could go very big though, although in hindsight I should maybe have done that since the flush draw missed. But I settled on $28, and after some time in the tank he did make the call. My hand is good.

Then a new OMC to the table makes it $6 pre, after having made it $12 the previous hand. I have QTcc on the button and decided on a call. I was a bit suspicious of his sizing but he looked very OMC-ish and since I am position I don't think I really 'need' to consider 3-betting as much. Either way, the BB also calls.

3-way then to K-J-Q rainbow, and it checks to me. I might have made a few too many check backs so far this trip, but in my defense there is no scare cards here on the turn. Ace would be great for me, 9 would be great, and the others are just low cards that won't change the board.

Turn is an 8 and after BB checks the OMC now throws out $15. Fairly big for this pot, but I think I have an easy call here. To my surprise BB also calls, and we see another 8 on the river.

BB checks again, and the OMC now makes it $25. I don't think his line make a ton of sense unless he slow played something on the flop, and I really wanted to call. That said, there aren't many logical bluffs here and he is not the kind of guy that would go thin with AQ or something I assume. I am not afraid of accidentally losing here, but with BB behind me who could have an 8 I chose to fold. BB did however also quickly release, so I guess we will never know.

Then a new old guy sits down to my left, and my ears pricked up when one of the dealers in disbelief said something like 'you're gonna play $1/$3?' when he arrived. And this old guy (mid-60s?) confirmed that he was on wait list for bigger games.

First hand involving him is when an active guy makes it $10 from 3rd pos, one guy calls, and I have KJhh in SB. That means squeeze-time, so we make it $50 only to see the old guy cold-call (!) the 3-bet. The other two folds out, and the flop comes 2-6-5 one heart.

Maybe I should bet here, but I have already seen this old guy 4-bet jam 44 into KK (and sucking out) pre, and he didn't seem like much of a folder. I also thought he could be wild enough to raise if I make a small bet of $30 or something. So I just checked, he slided out $100 and I folded. He showed a 4 afterwards.

Another similar spot two rounds later, there is a limp for $3, the active guy makes it $17, player to his left calls and I have AQo in SB. Another very clear squeeze, although I miscalculated and only made it $65. This obviously does not deter the old crazy guy who cold-calls one again, and this brings in the other two as well.

So we have a $260 pot pre, and it would be nice to hit something here. But no, J-2-4 hits the board. I cannot start a bluff here into 3 people I think, so I check. The crazy old guy then proceed to move all-in, and wins the pot. I even think there is a small chance that AQ high could be good here, but I will find better spots than this.

I forgot to take many stack pictures last night, so here is a picture of the new BLVD-building instead:

Back to poker, and after a limp for $3 from the OMC I make it $15 with KQo. That scares no-one as the crazy guy calls, two other calls, and the limper follows suit. So we already have $75 in the middle when the flop comes J-T-4. That's decent at least, so when it checks to me I bet $30. I only get one caller, in the guy I beat with KTo earlier.

Turn comes a random 6, and I think he is mostly capped to one pair here. So let's try to put a lot of pressure of those now, and likely just give up river if he calls again and I don't improve. I slide out $100 (into $135), and he is in the tank for 30 seconds before finally folding. Nice.

After that I went super card dead for a while, and the action player moved over to $2/$5. Should maybe have followed him there, but I was a bit too tired to consider that option seriously. I actually got so bored that I opened Q4cc to $12 when it folded to me on the button. Only BB calls, and we see A-Q-J. Really good board for my range, and I start off with a small bet of $10 after he checks. He calls.

Turn is another A, and he checks again. I was a bit uncertain about this one, but I actually didn't feel that I had to run a big bluff here. My Q has plenty of showdown value, but I still want to get calls from Jx and gutshots. So I bet for $20, and he calls again. River is a 4, which pairs me but is fairly irrelevant. He checks, and I check it back and beat JTo. Very happy with myself that I got in two streets here, but I think a third bet would be too thin.

Back to being card-dead after the monster that was Q4s, I just played for 2-3 rounds more before cashing out a $182 USD profit after 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Together with 'Enhanced', who had played a bit of PLO Cash at the same time, I made my way back to Flamingo. Here are a few pictures from the beautiful Vegas evening:

Cash Games:

Hours played: 11h 45 min
Won/lost: - $364 USD
Hourly rate: +$30.93 USD

Tournaments:

Won/lost: +$406 USD (1 played)

looks like you subtracted instead of adding.
last update you were at -$182, you say you booked a $182 win, so that should put you at $0, not -$364

Might have been a typo in an earlier post, where it should have said plus $182.

My app says I am up $364. Would post a screenshot if I knew how 🤔

Edit: I see the typo now. Too late to change but I will fix it next update. Thanks Langdon.

Today me and 'Enhanced' had decided to enter the $100 10:05am tournament at South Point, which today got 130 entries. We made it there only 10 minutes after it had started, and jumped in with 20k at blinds 100-200.

The level of play was as always extremely strange and fishy; lots of OMCs who are either limping 100% of their range or some OMCs that were splashing around a lot with huge raises. And while there are the occasional decent player in the field, these are far and few between.

I was fairly card dead the first couple of levels and stack had mostly stayed around starting, when I found AK from UTG and made it 2000 at 400-800-800. A young-ish player in MP moves all-in for around 18k and when it folds back to me I obviously snap-call. We are up against JJ and even flopped an Ace, but that doesn't help when he goes runner runner to make a diamond flush.

After that hand I was descimated and busted a few hands later with 78o versus 44 (most of my stack were in already with BB and ante). Time to hit the rebuy cage! (I am not in this picture obviously):

Second bullet went much better however, and I was up to around 30k when I raise AJdd to 3500 (1000-1500-1500), and an OMC in EP1 call. Flop is a beauty with J-7-9 with the latter two in diamonds. I bet 3000 and he just instantly jams, covering me. I obviously call, and he only has TT no diamond. So he is drawing quite dead here, and my hand indeed holds up.

A while later I find AKhh from EP1 and make it 3500 again. I get one caller, before an OMC jams for 16k. I rejam, and make a flush to beat his QJo (not that I needed to, Ace high would have been good).

So when late registration ended after level 8, I had 84k and was sitting pretty decent with blinds going to 1000-2000-2000. We soon learned that top 18 players would be getting paid.

I win a few small pots quickly after break, and also knock out a short-ish player with AQo versus A8 after I raised button and he jammed SB. I have over 110k now, and a real good shot at going deep:

Then we have a limp for 3000, I make it 10k behind him with 66, and a player behind me moves in for 33k total. It folds back to me, and I am getting a decent price and should have enough flips. So I call, but lose the hand against AJo despite me flopping a set. Once again a runner runner flush came to the opponent's rescue.

Not to worry though, we raise up AKo and call a 45k jam from an OMC, only to see him having KK. But an A on the river (thanks BarryG) wins me the pot, and I still have around 110k when my table break and we are down to 27 players left.

I then lose a big pot however, and it might have been my own fault. I raise ATo from UTG (8-handed) to 13000 (3k-6k-6k), and only SB calls. We see Q-8-J on the flop with two clubs and one spade. I have neither and I think these cards can hit the opponent, so I just check it back for a free turn.

It comes 9c, so we have three clubs out there but I make my straight. Opponent checks, I bet 15k, and he jams for only around 20-25k more. I assume we are chopping a lot here, but I make the call quickly. He did indeed also have AT, only his were the suited variety in clubs. So I am drawing dead, and I am now short.

I did however win another small pot to get back up around 75k, and thankfully eliminations were coming pretty fast. So when second break started we were 18 players left (ITM), and both me and 'Enhanced' was still in it. We both had very similar stack sizes though, so we needed to make something happen quick with blinds going up to 4000-8000-8000.

No luck for me sadly though, as I get in AJo versus KQo shortly after the break, but K-J-5-7-7 runout gives my opponent the pot. So I am out in 17th place for $223 USD - a gigantic profit of $23 dollars!

('Enhanced' busted shortly after in 15th place, so no final table for him either)

Fun tournament, and there is obviously always a shot when you get that deep. But you obviously need some luck when blinds are getting high, and that just didn't quite materialize today. Although in retrospect I could maybe have folded that ATo from UTG and avoided losing half my stack there.

Now it's time to head out and find an evening Cash Game!

Cash Games:

Hours played: 11h 45 min
Won/lost: + $364 USD
Hourly rate: +$30.93 USD

Tournaments:

Won/lost: +$429 USD (2 played)

Tourney Pro!

Nice tournament for both of you. Although it's too bad you weren't at the same table so there could be scandi on scandi violence.

Great job cashing, for both of you!

With both of you cashing it, it’s like you’re now Eskimo brothers for that tourney 😀

One final airport pic:

And one final food pic from the Mexican place at NYNY:

Now just a short 20 hour trip and I’ll be home with my family and dogs. Miss them terribly.

Heckin' cute puppers!

(and safe travels home for 'MuckPls')

Oh man, I hope that table side guac doesn’t do to you what it generally does to me!

Safe trip mate

Safe travels. Give the pups a scratch for me.

Nah, all good! I’m used to Mexican food, was no issue at all.

Already in London, home in 8 hours.

After coming back from South Point and relaxing a bit, it was time to head out and find a game to play. We both ended up going to Venetian again to play $1/$3 as my brother was keen on trying the Double Board PLO bomb pots, and I am always down for playing in their new & comfortable room.

We both got a seat immediately (at different tables), and I got to work immediately at mine. I raise 77 to $12 from MP, and get calls from the button (short stacked female) and BB. The latter said that he had been playing since 9am this morning, so he was on a long session (I should take note).

Either way, flop comes A-5-5 and after BB checks I throw out $15 just to hopefully fold out overcards to my sevens. Button folds, but BB comes along. Turn comes a 4, and goes check-check. The same with river (3), and I lose to AJo. On that static board I am not super likely to be best once he calls flop, so I thought it made sense to just get to showdown cheaply.

Then it folds to me on the button and I make it $12 with K8hh. SB folds, but BB moves all-in for $27 (the short stacked girl). I had anticipated this could happen, but still thought my hand was way too good to not raise on the button. So I call, only to lose against her ATo when the board runs out (Q-9-7-6-2) with no flush available.

Then we play a Bomb Pot, where I flop a flush on the top board and an open ender on the bottom one. As we were only 5 players for this one, I ended up betting when checked to me, and I got two callers. Turn got checked around, and by the river I still had nothing one on board but a Q high flush on the other.

However, this is a **** hand where I can easily get scooped. And that is exactly what happened. BB lead out for $60 on the river, and although my reasoning was that he was likely playing the other board I still make a terrible call here when I am only calling to win half. The third player folds out, and BB had the nut flush. Just really poor play by me, and in addition to other losses I am suddenly down $150 after just 30 minutes.

Then a new player at the table, a young guy who turned out to be decent, raises to $10 from hijack. I have 99 on the button and decide to just call. I didn't know much about him yet and being in position I don't think I need to be quite as trigger happy with my 3-betting. That said, getting it HU in position would obviously be a great result - and an argument for a 3-bet. Instad, SB also calls and we see A-J-8 on the board. PFR bets out $20 and with a player behind me and two overcards I have to fold this one.

I then win 1-2 tiny pots before it folds to a new annoying black player to my right (talking too much nonsese and wanting to disect every hand afterwards). He makes it $6, and I have QJcc in SB. Against such a bullshit sizing I am going to 3-bet, although I should have made it slightly bigger than what I did ($22).

BB suddenly cold-calls out of nowhere, while the original raiser folds. So we go heads-up to K-J-K with one club. Doesn't seem terrible but I am a bit vary about the cold calling range. I chose to bet very small here for $10, to entice hands like TT and 99 to continue, along with AQ or whatever. He calls.

Turn comes a 5, and I bet $16 with the same reasoning as above (with plans to check river). Opponent now springs to life however and raises to $50. This guy did not seem very skillfull, so I strongly doubt that he is picking on my small sizings. Most likely he just has Kx and wants value. So I end up folding.

Shortly after I get involved against the same player again. The black guy limps the button for $3, and I have KJo in SB. I make it $17, and the BB calls and says 'only because it's you'. Button folds out, so we are heads-up to A-J-2 two hearts. I decided to check this one, and he quickly checks back.

Turn is a 4, and I check again (not sure why). He now bets $15, and I call. I do think his speech play before the flop was somewhat honest (he was referring to our previous hand), and I don't think his range is super strong here.

River is a Q, and after I check he now bets $50. As said above, I don't think he was super strong when he called pre, so we can make some assumptions here:

- He is extremely unlikely to have AJ or AQ I think.
- He is not the type of guy to value bet a hand like A9 or something here.
- And the flush draw on the flop missed.

Furthermore, I have the best candidate to call down with in my hand. I have no hearts (unblocking all flush draws), and I also block the KT straight that is now available. All this adds up to a call, but he shows up with A2o for two pair. That's also something I had in my head while thinking on the river; the only Ax he bets here will be two pair. Apart from that, there is a decent chance I could be good. But alas, not this time.

More losing follows, I raise AQo to $15 over a limp, and only a woman in her mid-50s call two spots behind me. Flop comes 7-8-8 one spade, and I went for a small bet of $12 here. I am sort-of doing this for value as I think it might entice her to call with worse Ax, and if a spade comes on turn I can considering laying down the hammer there. She calls.

Turn is another 8, which is a pretty bad card for my plans. I check, and she very quickly checks back. Having said that, I had seen her do this also with value hands like top pair etc. River is a 6, and I check just hoping to get to showdown. She instantly checks back and shows 99 (lol wtf) after I had revealed my hand. Pretty absurd that she is not even considering going for value there.

Then the black guy limps again (as he was known to do), and I raise KQo to $15 from 3rd pos. BB calls, the limper also calls, and we see 7-4-5 two spades on the board. Pretty bad overall, and after BB checks the limper bets out for $10. Small sizing but I have nothing to work with here + a player behind who could easily have hit this. So I just fold.

I won a decent small pot though when the black guy raises to $10 from 3rd pos. I have 76hh, and decided to call. While I would prefer a 3-bet to get it HU in position, this guy is likely fairly strong when he is raising instead of limping. My call inspire others to come along, so we go 5-ways to Q-8-5 one heart.

Everyone actually checks to me, and I make it $25 and take it down. The good thing about betting here is that people will likely not put me on the straight draw, and there are also a ton of good turns that I can continue on.

Then I find a premium in QQ and makes it $12 from UTG. The middle-aged woman calls again, and everyone else folds out. The flop comes A-7-8, and I chose to bet $11 - as always with the view to get calls from pairs below my Queens. She calls quickly.

Turn is a K and goes check-check, and another K lands on the river. I check once more, and she puts out $25. There is absolutely no way I am good here given how she has played so far, and I cannot think of any logical bluff that would take this line and sizing. So I fold face-up, but she does sadly not show.

After this hand I go very card-dead and fold for several orbits. Then there is a limp for $3 from a very fishy new player (who replaced the annoying black guy). I have 77 from EP1 and makes it $15, and only a new young-ish frat boy type to my left calls the raise. So we go heads-up to K-2-2, and I bet $15 again to get value against pairs below mine. He min-clicks it up to $30, which seems a bit fishy to me. He might be doing it with a King, but he might also just be clicking buttons with a worse hand to 'find out where he is at'. So I call once to see what he does.

Turn is a 3, and after I check he bets $22. Wtf. I ask to see his stack and he has like $75 left after the bet. This is straight out of Bart Hanson's teaching material about the 'same bet' - he makes a min raise on flop and then follows it up with the same (or even smaller) bet on the turn. I consider jamming, but in game didn't think I needed to. I assume that if I call now, he will just shut down and check behind everything on river. So I call.

However, as the famous phrase from European Poker Tour (EPT) broadcasts goes - always coming seven! A 7 indeed lands on the river, so now I obviously hope he has a King. And I cannot in a million years risk it checking through, so I jam in front. He seems visibly upset by this, but calls within 15 seconds with KQo. So I obviously get super lucky to win this one, but overall his line seemed so fishy that I don't think I had any choice but to continue here.

Then a very tight guy raises to $10 from EP1. It folds to me on the button with KK, and I glance over at his stack and see that it's only around $200. So I make it $40, but sadly he folds fairly quickly when it gets back to him.

And then a decent young player on the button makes it $10, and I have (guess what) KK in the Big Blind. I 3-bet to $42, thinking this is a great spot as it comes shortly after the first 3-bet, and we have a button versus BB situation. I also chose to make it fairly big to make it seem like I don't really want a call. He is in the box for at least 30-40 seconds, but sadly ends up folding.

Same guy raises to $10 again a few hands later and I have A6hh on the button. I chose to just call due to position, and we go heads-up to K-4-7 two hearts. He bets $20 (almost full pot) and I call with devious plans if I get a turn card that might fill a straight or give me more outs. Instead the Jd comes, and he bets $60. This guy is clearly a good player who knows that he can bet big on this board since it favors him greatly, and it prices me out to draw for a naked flush (hitting an A might not be good). So I have to fold.

A while later we have a limp from UTG, and SB (who seemed ok but was running super hot) makes it $10. A bit of a bullshit raise over a limp, and I not sure why I didn't pounce on it. Because I have AJss, which is a perfect spot for a 3-bet in position. But instead I just called, which brought in the limper as well.

A-A-9 is the flop, and SB surprisingly checks. I check (could bet small), and the limper checks behind. Turn comes a 3, and after SB checks again it's time to get some money in the pot. I bet $11 and the limper is the only caller.

River comes a J, so we make a full house. It's not good enough for the high hand (which is currently Quad Aces), but it's still a great runout. I doubt the limper have an Ace, but he's not going to call much with other types of hands. So I bet $45 (into $52) to target one, although I could go even bigger. Opponent thinks for a bit but then call, and I am obviously good.

(later in conversation he said he called with a 9, so he clearly did not believe me).

Decent pot to win, but I got too passive with it and should 3-bet preflop. This passiveness also comes to force in the next hand where UTG limps in for $3. I am in EP1 with A9cc which should be a raise at this generally very passive table. But I have decided to leave after this round, and I was feeling a bit tired, so I just limped along.

We end up with a 5-way limped pot and the board A-7-Q all diamonds. It checks to me, and I do what Bart Hanson suggests, which is to bet small on these monotone boards. I make it $6, and only a new young Asian to the table calls.

Turn is a 9, so we have two pair now. He checks from SB, and I increase to $17. He calls once more. River is the Ah, so we make a sneaky full house. He checks again, and I wasn't quite sure what to put him on. He would play a flush more aggressively I think, so it could be that he maybe missed a draw. But it could also be that he had a random Ace from SB and now have trips.

Also, if I was driving this hand with something like KT or JT with one diamond, I would for sure bet huge to try and get him to fold. Would I have bluffed on an A river? Probably not, but he doesn't know that. And he seems like a decent player that can read hands beyond 'omg this was a big bet'. So I put out $112 (into $61), hoping for some kind of hero call due to the fishy sizing.

It almost worked, as opponent was in the tank for around 2 minutes before folding. It makes me wonder what is hand was, but in general I like my idea although I might have went a bit too large. Maybe something like $75 could have yielded a call.

Overall it was a bit of a frustrating session as I made one terrible bomp pot mistake and also couldn't connect much in the beginning of the session. But at least I managed to crawl back a bit, making the end result -$169 USD after 4 hours and 14 minutes.

Today it's time to check out of Flamingo, and head over to MGM Grand for the remainder of the trip. But I have really enjoyed staying here for 4 days, as I think the room is great (Flamingo Room) and the property itself is a great location. The gym is also really good (although due to being sick I was only able to use it once), and overall not much to complain about here.

Time goes fast in Vegas as always, and I assume the upcoming weekend will be really good. So I will try to push myself and play even more hours the next couple of days.

Edit: After cashing out and waiting for 'Enhanced' to finish his session I suddenly spotted Joey Ingram at Venetian. He was just walking around and looking around a bit, so I mustered up the courage to approach him and say that I really enjoy his content. He seemed like a chill guy, and we talked for a minute or two. Sadly I was a bit tired (as mentioned), so I forgot ask for a picture for this TR. I should also have asked him for advise on PLO double board bomb pots 😀

Cash Games:

Hours played: 15h 59 min
Won/lost: + $195 USD
Hourly rate: +$12.19 USD

Tournaments:

Won/lost: +$429 USD (2 played)