Time for another Vegas TR! Now with fast cars. 21st November to 30th November

100%. 5x more enjoyable, not at all tired at the other end and the hidden benefit (particularly when travelling to and from Australia) is that it means you don’t dread the flight

100% Agree. Last year when I flew business on BA I arrived and felt fantastic for having a sleep.

Just had an email from the Horseshoe warning me of severe delays from Thursday and that it might be difficult getting there. Any locals know much about this? It should be ok to be able to get a taxi from the airport right? Guessing we are going to be stung with stupidly high prices

F1 practice maybe? Horseshoe is on the "inside" of the track, meaning you have to drive across the racing surface. Obviously the track has to be closed for that. You could maybe have the taxi take you to a hotel on the outside of the track, like Bellagio, and schlep your luggage across the walkway, but that might be closed. You might also be able to check your luggage at the bell desk of one of those hotels, go play poker, eat, drink, etc until you can get across the track. There's a back way into Caesars for sure, Bellagio maybe. Flamingo Rd may be blocked off so you can't get into North Valet entrance of Bellagio.

Or you could go to Mandalay Bay, or South Point, which is 5-10 miles down the freeway.

So my friend has been given more info on the tickets we have bagged for free.

He says we are in the West Harmon Zone which is just before turn 17 on the track which is the final turn before the start finish line. We are right in the thick of it apparently and has said we still should be getting the pit passes or some kind of access to around that area. Not sure what that means but for the 3 days of F1 we have free hospitality so I am all for it. At this point I do not care what we get as I just want to get there!

Excitement is definitely kicking in. Fingers crossed the upgrade bid I put in for premium on the plane gets accepted also. Currently there are 12 seats on the plane and 8 offers so we have not been outbid yet.

Now I know poker wise I am not the biggest tournament fan but it looks like there are loads of tournament series going on the week after the F1 so it maybe a case of tournament in the day and if I bust that cash or pit games in the evening. Looks like I best get packing soon as only 3 days to go!

Last year F1 was a real **** show logistically. I doubt they have really put much money and effort into changing that because the casinos benefit in a way from you not being able to move around efficiently using taxi's or ubers. They figure it locks you into the casino and you truly have to gamble/eat where you stay.

I suggest be prepared to walk or pay surge prices and taxi rates for sitting still in traffic. Poker wise, unless you are in poor shape, or have physical ailment, you should be able to get from Horseshoe to Venetian to play, but trying to navigate around further north or south than that, you will be spending quite a bit more energy/money.

Anyone who lives/works here that was around for last year knows to just avoid that area and intersection where Horseshoe is located lol.

Yeah, but once you're at Venetian, Wynn and Resorts don't seem that far away. It's still a hike.

If you're on foot, you can use the overhead walkways to get across the Strip or Flamingo, unless they close those while cars are on-track.

Time to head to the airport!

Less than 24 hours until touchdown.

Quick and easy travel day 😀 Have fun!

Go waste go! Safe travels.

Hope you brought a jacket, it's cold in November and the races and practice are at night.

Well what a first day that was.

Had the usual lack of sleep from excitement so was up early in the UK. Went to collect my friend from his house in the car and when we went to leave the car would not start up again! After a few minutes of panic and a little tinkering with the car it was up and running again. Praying there is no problem coming back and it's my own fault for using my older car.

Still arrive early at the airport and checking in was a smooth process. The lady at the desk was probably the most friendliest I have ever experienced so a tick in the box for Virgin on that one. We chill in the lounge until our flight is called and because I won the bid for premium seats we were first on the plane

The flight itself was as always long! Even with the better seats I got no sleep at all. My friend had the better idea by drinking plenty of jack Daniels and coke before the flight and about 6 of them during. He essentially just passed out and slept. Service on the Virgin flight was amazing and they tried to keep you fed and watered as much as possible.

Landing at Vegas will never get old. I just love seeing all the lights and you basically can smell that atmosphere the moment you get off the plane.

This image will never get old.

My first bad beat of the trip so far came from the stupid taxi driver who told us he could not drop us outside the Horseshoe but could get close so we could walk a short distance. Fine we thought and I understood this might be the case but he clearly took a wrong turn and then pretty much forced us to get out of the car near the Wynn!!!

Charged $44 for the privilege because there is a $15 surcharge for the F1 (utter scam) and he completely took us to the wrong place. So a 30 min walk later around and then through Las Vegas Boulevard we arrive at the Horseshoe to check in.

Again another seemless process as the express check in was that. Room here at the Horseshoe is decent but a little dated. However it's a base and a comfortable bed. Plus it's comped so who cares.

We decide to just dump our stuff and head to practice 2 of the F1 as we wanted to see where we will be seating for the rest of the weekend.

Arrived at the West Harmon zone and I have to say the atmosphere was pretty dead. I am hoping it's because it was just practice and that's the reason why. The seats themselves have a great view of the track

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Noted I zoomed out in these pictures to get it all in. Also have taken some good videos.

Anyway that was the first night as we went back to the hotel after to get some much needed rest. I have typically woken up at 5am and cannot get back off so I may go downstairs now for some early morning degen action as I did none in my first night.

Damn for some reason one of the pictures is not uploading. Will check that out another time.

Took some inspiration from Leon's thread while I was up early.

5 royals? You're running super hot. Bump that up to dollar credits and get 20 thousand next time.

Amazing last 28 hours in Vegas.

Started off waking up at 5am thanks to not adjusting to the time yet. Played a bit of video poker as you saw in the previous photo.

Tried to then walk a bit to tire myself out but to no avail so called back home to speak to a few people. By the time that was all done I went back to the room to see P had woken up and he wanted breakfast. He mentioned about Hash a go go which I had not tried yet so we went there.

Food was a breakfast sandwich and crispy potatoes. Going to give this a 4/10 at best as there was far too much cheese and it was mostly forgettable. Portion was far too much for me also. See what was left.

Headed to the F1 hub at the Venetian to pick up a freebie we were promised (a baseball cap) and waited 45 mins ina queue to get into the shop! Honestly F1 fever around here has picked up and it's clear to see how much money this race puts into the city. People were buying merchandise left, right and centre. Including me as I bagged a hoodie to wear while the racing is on in the evening as it's so cold.

Headed back to the Horseshoe and I wanted to play some cash. I was immediately seated at a 1/3 game which went ok.

I played for 3 hours and was essentially card dead. There were only 2 hands to note in the whole session.

Asian lady raises to $10 UTG+1 and I look down at KJdd on the button. This hand is a prime candidate to 3 bet on the button so I did and made it $30 to go.

Flop KJ4 rainbow.

She donk leads for $20. Now this lady had been betting pot or over every time she hit top pair or had an overpair so this small bet screamed pair smaller than a K. I wanted to see if she was as bad as I thought she was so raised to $65. Might have been a bit too much in hindsight and maybe calling would have been better. However she instantly mucked QQ face up so I doubt she was putting anymore in anyway.

Only other hand which would be worth a mention as the pot was bigger than most (and this will demonstrate what a **** game this was) was when 4 limpers came into the pot. I look down at T9ss and bump it up to something like $23, all but one folds and I take it down with a cbet when I whiffed the flop.

In for $300 out for $403 or something like that. Did not note it down but was $100 up in 3 hours.

Enough time had passed now to head over to our grandstand at the GP so we did that and watched the race along with qualifying. Not too much to report here apart from it was busy and super cold. We had a good time as F1 fans and had some complimentary drinks. All my pictures of this were over the 10mb limit so will not upload.

P wants to go drinking but refuses to pay strip prices. He wants to show me the stage door casino as Budweiser is only $1 he says. I let out a little groan as I know this place is a bit of a **** hole. However I agree to go for a couple with him.

Wow this place was worse than I thought and despite the drinks being cheap the service was terrible, place was like a crack den and it stank of stale meat. I was later told the stale meat smell was the $2 hot dogs they sell

Not my cup of tea but the only saving grace was that P's nephew was on his way from the track. Now his nephew is a technician for McLaren F1 team and is leading the technical crew for one of their drivers this weekend. We had a great chat about F1, what he does and some insider knowledge on who is going to do well in the race today (may have to have a bet on this).

Long story short is that he has promised us some merchandise and has said we should be ok to meet a few of the team as well. For an F1 fan this is great.

However I decide I want to play some cash as I did not feel like getting drunk as I had only eaten food for breakfast at 9am and 20 hours had passed so I would have gotten drunk pretty quickly. So at 5am I decide to head to the Bellagio to play some 2/5

What I thought was going to be a juicy game at that time of the morning turned out to be 40 mins of the worst **** regs known to man and the game broke before the hour was up. Finish $15 and the less said about this game the better.

Was thinking of going to bed but the BJ table at the horseshoe was calling me. In for $200. Out for $1400. P showed his face around 7am drunk as anything so I told him to go to bed as he was about to start betting $100 a hand on BJ. Not a great idea in that state.

Anyway been up for 28 hours now so probably best I sleep

good write up and nice job on the BJ hit. I don't think I could stomach wagering enough to get me a $1200 profit

Seems like the gambling is off to a great start!

Stage Door is the diviest of dive bars. I can see why it's not a lot of people's cup of tea, but it reminds me of the places in my hometown.

This says a lot about my hometown.

Congratulations on the BJ hit, have fun at the races.

Well done!

If the Stage Door is the bar next to the convenience store that sells high-end bourbon and some decent wine, I know it but have never been in. Tried to go in on my ~50th birthday, but they wouldn't let me in w/o an ID. Hysterical!

Yeah they demand you have ID if you want to go in. In hindsight I should have said I did not have any.

Also just been woken up by security so now wide awake. Debating on playing some more 1/3.

This needs more details.

Stage Door also (last time I was there) wands every person who enters. High-class joint.

Security decided to knock on everyone's door on the floor I am staying on screaming security check.

Opened the door, they looked inside and said all was good then left. Really frustrating

How long has the Do Not Disturb sign been up?

that would make me ****ing furious

great first day and 28 hours is a vg effort