Poker Trips 2024 / 2025

Unfortunately it’s non transferable. So I have to play if I win it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day Ten - Thursday August 8th

The last two leaderboard tournaments are higher buy-ins. Today we have $1,100 Omaha 8

I have a very strange table. It’s like bingo with 5 or 6 players seeing every flop no matter how many raises there are.

At first break I haven’t made a hand and I’m down to 15k from 30k starting stack.

At 2nd break after I did make a few hands I’m up to 60k

Just after the 3rd break I’m out. After the 2nd break some very aggressive players (even more aggressive than the already aggressive players that were originally there) joined the table and it was just carnage.
Every pot was 3 bet and 4 bet. We have some good starting hands but just whiffed every flop.

So back to the day job. We have bets on New England tonight in their first pre-season game. We laid -4.5, -5 and -5.5 so quite a big position. The game closed -6.5

We find a good spot to watch it in the sportsbook.

The total was originally bet down on the possibility of weather, then when it looked like the weather would miss it drifted back up.

I’m watching the game and looks like the weather did indeed arrive as it’s windy and raining pretty good. I watch the first two series and look at the live total and see it hasn’t adjusted enough. There’s no way this can go over. We unleash hell.

Well not quite hell, but we put some coin down on the live under and first half under, both at the kiosks and at the counter.

This is the life. I’m relaxing with corona’s and kamikaze’s in the bar and let others do the work. Much easier than playing poker for a living.

We cash all our bets on the game for a very nice day.

After the game finishes I go to check out the tournament. Smaller field today so only paying 6 spots. Yuval our main challenger busts in 8th. No points.
Neal Corcoran takes it down to become a new challenger. Looks like I’ll have to fade 4 or 5 rivals tomorrow if I don’t cash.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lovely property, I played Event 1 1M guarantee.

When I busted they broke down to 6 tables, 3 hours short of day 3.

Day Eleven - Friday August 9th

Happy to get my morning swim in today after having missed it the last couple of days.

The last tournament for the leaderboard today $1,100 HORSE

I finish the rebuy period on one bullet with 40k, up from 30k starting. Not great but certainly playable.

There’s less entries today so only paying 5 spots. Yuval will need 4th or better to beat me if I don’t cash. He comes to our table after his breaks with a similar size stack. We play the following hand in Stud at 2k - 4k limits

He raises with an 8 up
I 3-bet with an Ace up. (I do have another ace in my down cards) He calls.
4th, 5th and 6th street no help for either of us. I’m betting and he’s calling.
7th street no help for me. I check. He bets.
I know he’s made two pair but I have to call.
Sure enough he started with hidden Kings and caught two pair on 7th to beat me. That one hurts as it makes me weak and him strong.

A few hands later the situation is reversed with him having the Aces and me the Kings. He catches open 3’s as well on 5th and I correctly fold but again it hurts. I’m out soon after.

Dinner at Council Oak. I try the New York stripper with Potato Gratin and 2 glasses of Malbec. The steak was pretty bland and rather disappointing to be honest. Also over-cooked as I asked for medium rare and it came nearer to medium.

Def Leppard playing here tonight and the casino is pretty full.

We’re only interested in betting NFL preseason though.

We set ourselves up in the sportsbook again.
Having already bet the Atlanta / Miami total Over we add Houston and Under and Philadelphia and Under (some of it bet live)

Slight bad beat on the Miami total as there was 27 points in the first half but only 6 in the 2nd.

We made up for it by getting lucky with Philly. The Under was never in doubt but Philly missed a 50 yard field goal (hit upright) with the game tied and only 20 seconds left in the game.
On the very next play Baltimore for some reason ran a passing play (looking for a Hail Mary I guess) but the Philly D stripped the ball from the QB and recovered it. They then made the game winning field goal as time expired.

So another good day on NFL preseason.

At halftime in the games I went to check on the HORSE final table.
With 5 left Yuval was still there as well as Chris Hice who beat me heads up in the $600 HORSE and could also pass me on the leaderboard with a win.
What happened next I didn’t like one bit.
They made a deal with Chris getting 1st place and Yuval 2nd place. That meant both would pass me on the leaderboard with Yuval winning it. Yuval also gave Chris $1k under the table to accept the deal. The whole thing stank to me. That’s not really winning it.

So in the end I finish 3rd on the leaderboard, the prize for which is an $1,100 seat into the Hold’em tournament on Monday. Not that I really want to play the tournament but it’s non transferable so I guess I don’t have much choice.

Day 1A of the main started today. This is the feature table setup that they are live streaming.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day Twelve - Saturday August 10th

After our morning swim we head to the sportsbook to watch the Olympic women’s soccer final.

Finals are usually tight affairs and i’m thinking both teams will be tired after 5 games in 16 days, plus it’s a really hot day and all things point towards the under.

USA win 1-0 [emoji736]

Brisket sliders for lunch while we watch. Really good [emoji39]

The leaderboard is over but there are still mixed tournaments to be played.

$600 8-game today. We grind our short stack all the way to the final table and on the bubble.

At this point we only have 100k in chips and put it in shortly after the break starting with A-4-5 in Razz. For once we don’t catch bricks and make a 6 to double up.

The bubble bursts and we lose a couple of players then play a big pot in 2-7.
There’s already 3 bets when it gets to me in the big blind and I look down to see 2-4-5-7-K
I 4 bet to get it heads up and we both take 1.
I make a 9 straight away and bet.
Villian calls and takes 1.
I bet and again Villian calls and takes 1.
On the end I check, he bets, I call.
He made an 8 and we’re short again.

We’re all in again on Razz with 3-5-7 and this time we do catch bricks to be eliminated in 3rd place.

Another near miss. [emoji30]

We also have a rough day in NFL preseason going 2 - 5 despite having good closing line value on all plays.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You obviously know what you’re doing. Lots of deep runs [emoji106]

Day Thirteen - Sunday August 11th

Another day, another near miss. This story is getting old now. Sigh.

First this is the NFL preseason action we had today.

Denver +3.5 was never really in danger but we took a bad beat on Dallas.
Up by 6 with LA driving inside the last two minutes. First they intercept them but it was called back for defensive holding which allows the drive to continue and they get the TD on 4th and goal on the last play of the game. More sighs. [emoji17]

Today’s tournament was $400 O.E. and it seemed a soft field. We couldn’t really take advantage early but did so as the tournament progressed and made the final table with about 200k in chips.

Same old story. Can’t get the cards to fall for us at the final table.
People betting the brains out of their high pairs in the Stud 8 round and us missing monster draws.
First it was us with 5-6-7-8 against K-K-x-x
We made two pair 8’s and 4’s no low. Villain made a flush on 7th. Half our stack gone.

Then we were eliminated after we made a King high pai gow with no low after starting 2-5-6 suited vs 9-9-x

It never rains but it pours?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice report and great run.

Day Fourteen - Monday August 12th

Last day today. On deck we have the $1,100 No Limit Hold’em tournament with a $500,000 guarantee which I won a seat for by finishing 3rd in the mixed game leaderboard.
To be honest I’d rather be playing the $1,100 Big O but I can’t pass up the freeroll.

The tournament starts at 12pm but I take a look at the structure and it’s pretty slow so decide to skip the first few levels and go after the 1st break.

Gives us chance to get a few rays at the pool. Normally it’s all in the shade earlier.

I get myself mentally prepared to play the two card game and in a positive mood but that drains away shortly after I sit down. 3 people with sunglasses at my table, 3 more with earphones in, and at least 5 people more interested in their cell phones. And to top it all off the guy on my right has a routine of looking at his cards, placing a chip on top and then taking 30 seconds to make a decision, any decision, even folding. I’m losing the will to live and I’ve only just sat down. Get me back in a mix game [emoji30]

Unfortunately I still remember how to play and have doubled my 20k starting stack to 40k at the dinner break which is inexplicably 90 minutes long? WTF? I guess they want registration open longer to meet the guarantee.

Salmon and baked ziti today in the food court.

The 90 minute dinner break reminds me of when I used to play at the Aviation Club de France in Paris many years ago. They would always have a two hour dinner break with at least 3 courses including a cheese course and all the wine you could drink, but that was Paris and right on the Champ-Elysees. Not sure the long break is warranted here.

With the extended break I have time for dessert tonight. Really good gelato here at the constant grind coffee place. My favorite is mint chocolate with rainbow sprinkles .

Anyway back at it and there’s some big hands going on at our table - AA loses to QQ when the other two queens come on the flop to make quads.
Every pot is opened and 3 bet with occasional 4 bets. Pretty much everyone knows how to play to a decent standard. There’s no table talk. All too serious for my liking.
My torment is ended when I 4-bet AKs into QQ and don’t get any help from the runout.
I bust just too late to max late-reg the Big O so that’s all she wrote for this trip.
My mate Lee from Manchester ends up winning the Big O after a 3-way chop. I tease him of course that he only won it because I wasn’t in the field, but happy for him and some dollars going back across the pond.

By the Numbers

Tournaments Played: 12
Bullets Fired: 14
Total buy-ins: $9,200

Cashes: 6
Final Tables: 5
Total Prize money: $21,560

Net Winnings: $12,360

(Excluding the NLH freeroll)

We only had the one cash session where we lost $1,000. Sports bets we made around $2000.

Total expenses were around $3,000 including everything: flights, hotel, ubers and food.

So roughly about $10k net profit for two weeks work. We’ll take it.

Had a good time and made some new friends. Really impressed with the facility, good tournaments, good structures, well run, good TD’s, good dealers. Everything first class. Will definitely be back.

Until next time.

Dios lo bendiga [emoji120]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the report, very enjoyable.

Great thread I enjoyed following along! Very refreshing. Also the pic with the laptop, drinks, and bet tickets…living the dream!

Thanks for the TR and well done on the results. Shame you couldn’t take one down but still, very consistent

Time for another trip, and trip report of course.[emoji3]

[emoji3575] Heading back to the Hard Rock tomorrow for their Rock n’ Roll Poker Open [emoji450]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LFG!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open 2024
Day One - Tuesday November 19th

Here we goooo!

Stealing Dak Prescott’s cadence which Cooper Rush is also using now Dak is out for the season. It’s sticking in my head. Not that it’s doing either of them any good this season. Texans -7 an easy winner last night on MNF which I watched as I packed.

Same route as last time: Medellin - Panama - Fort Lauderdale with Copa.

Up early for the first leg of the journey and surprised as we get to walk out onto the tarmac to the plane. No sky bridge or gate or whatever they call them. Not had that happen for a long time.

Run good has started early. Upgrade to business class.

Lots of leg room. Sadly only on this leg of the trip.

How is it that in any romantic comedy you care to watch, when the main character gets on a plane there’s always a hot chic seated next to him and they start flirting or whatever.
Never happened to me I swear. I always get fat dudes or old ladies. Today it’s two old gals from Panama but they’re nice enough.

Smooth flight and no problems getting through immigration and we’re checked into the same hotel as before.

A different room but everything is exactly the same.

We’re on the other side of the hotel this time though so can see the guitar from our window.

A somewhat angry looking overcast sky tonight.

After unpacking we take the walk to the casino and get a new Unity card printed as I forgot to bring mine and pick up the printed schedule. I know it’s all online but call me old fashioned I much prefer it physically in my hand.

Anticipating long tournament days ahead with not much time to eat well, I indulge myself tonight at Council Oak.

They have all the cuts that they offer on display as you walk in. Reminds me of Letterman when he used to play know your cuts of meat with the audience. [emoji3052]

I remember the New York stripper I had here last time was pretty bland so opted for something else this time.

Better choice this time. Bone-in 12oz Filet. Was really good.

There’s no leaderboard this time. Not sure why as everyone seemed to like it last time, not too bothered as I plan on taking a couple of days off anyway.

This is my tentative schedule:

Wed 20: $600 Big O
Thur 21: $600 Eight Game
Fri 22: $600 Omaha 8
Sat 23: Day Off. Hurricanes game and Billy Joel
Sun 24: Day Off. Dolphins game
Mon 25: $600 Triple Stud
Tue 26: $600 Deuce to Seven
Wed 27: $600 HORSE
Thur 28: Thanksgiving. No mix tourney.
Fri 29: $600 Big Bet Mix Dealers Choice
Sat 30: $600 Mixed PLO
Sun 1: $600 PLO 8
Mon 2: $600 Omaha 8
Tue 3: Fly home

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

great that you can get a decent amount of volume in. are they all 1 day tournies?

also, no hold em main event to consider?

Hey hey,
Enjoyed the first TR, impressively successful poker wise, not just fun in the sun! Hope the run good continues.
Q, does that staybridge suite thing have a stove? I couldn’t tell from the photo you posted from the first TR, I see a sink and dishware so I would assume so. Would be good to know for the future as I’d like to check out hard rock and I like to fry an egg in the morning so that I’m not eating at the casino for every damn meal.

Yes all 1 day tournaments. Volume is something they have here in abundance. They have several different tournaments each day so if you get knocked out of one early you can usually jump in another.

The main is a $3,500 WPT with a $3 million guarantee. It’s very unlikely that I will play as I don’t really enjoy playing hold’em that much and I’d also be a dog against good hold’em players.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes the kitchens are pretty well equipped and include a two ring stove

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open
Day Two - Wednesday November 20th

The tournament (Big O) didn’t start until 2pm today so the plan was to get in some pool time in the morning, only I’d forgotten to pack my trunks. [emoji30]

That required an unplanned stop to some nearby stores to buy a new pair but we wouldn’t be denied our pool time.

I thought this was supposed to be the sunshine state? Haven’t seen it yet this trip.

We dove in the deep end and the water hit us like a knife. Did not expect it to be that cold. I know it’s overcast but it’s still 80 degrees out.
Got used to it after a couple of lengths.

Onto the tournament and it was the same setup as last time. The opening NLH event in the big ballroom.

And us in the mixed tournament in the smaller room next door.

Nice turnout today. 122 entries and paying 16 spots with $16k up top.

We got through the late reg period on our first bullet chipping up steadily, without really playing any big hands of note, just picking up 5k here and 10k there. (Starting stack was 20k)

We’d amassed 130k on the break where they raced off the black chips.

Unfortunately it was downhill from there. I still had 90k when we were down to 18, just 2 from the money when we played the following hand.

6 handed and playing 2k-4k I open for 10k UTG with AK346ds. It folds round to the BB who defends.
Flop 2-7-10 with 2 spades
BB checks. I bet 15k. He raises to 50k (he has me covered)
I have an uncounterfitable nut low draw and a 6 high flush draw which may or not be good.
I make the call.
The turn pairs the 7 and he goes all in.
I go into the tank.
I have to assume my flush draw is no good so I’m drawing to the low for only half the pot in the best case scenario if he doesn’t have a low draw as well.
I think for a long time and elect to fold saving my last 30k. It was very marginal.
He showed 10-10 for the full house.
Call or food on the turn neither here nor there. My mistake was betting the flop and not checking behind. [emoji30] Only myself to blame.

I get garbage in the blinds and am left with only 20k which I put in a couple of hands later with A2457ss. I get called by AAxxx
The flop of K-6-6 is not good but a 3 on the turn gives me hope.
Turned out to be false hope. Another 3 on the river sealed my fate and I’m out in 18th.
I guess 2 from the money is now the bubble if 1 from the money is the stone bubble?

We were stuck on 18 players for over an hour. The short stacks kept doubling. I’m never playing to min cash but frustrating all the same to bubble.

I was right to have a good meal last night. No dinner break on these 2pm starts. Squeezed in some bourbon chicken from the Asian place in the food court on one of the 15 minute breaks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Really enjoying this TR, and all the mixed game hand histories!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open
Day Three - Thursday November 21st

No time for the pool this morning. Went from a late finish last night to an early start at 11am today for the Eight Game.

My opening table is tough but we increase the 25k starting stack to about 32k before we get moved to a new table which I was happy about as the new table was a lot softer.

The guy to me left was playing every hand. The only bad thing was he was winning most of them. He was starting so far behind every time but was just walking on water.

Over the course of the next 4 hours I lost pretty much every hand I played against him as my stack dwindled down to nothing and elimination.

There was a $1k PLO 5 tourney I could have jumped into but saw there was a list for a Big O cash game so went to the poker room to check it out.

They were just calling the game down when I got there so managed to get a seat.

Playing 5-5-10 I bought in for $1,000 and the game was okay. Not super good, but not bad.

Time charge is $9 per player per half hour. We did a bomb pot for it but they don’t let you do double board here so that kills the fun and the action. In Vegas we did double board with ultimate high and ultimate low which is the nuts.

We ate at the table. Chicken parm sandwich. Decidedly average.

Won a nice hand when I called a pre-flop raise in a multi-way pot with TJJQK.
The flop came K-Q-7 with two diamonds.
The original raiser c-bet the flop and it was folded to us.
I put him on AA2xx with nut diamond draw.
I had two diamonds in my hand so we’re blocking two of his outs therefore I like my hand.
The only question was whether to get it in now or wait and see a turn.
I elected to put it in then. I raised the pot which would set the original raiser all-in and he called.
Turned out to be a good decision as the turn paired the Queen. He had what we thought he had. No Ace on the river and we raked it in.

A couple of guys left for dinner and their replacements weren’t good for the game let’s say. As the game was no longer good and I was winning about $1,500 I decided to rack up and go and watch the 2nd half of the NFL game in the bar.

I had bet Under 37 due to the weather conditions and it looked good at half time but they somehow managed to score a flurry of points in the 2nd half in the middle of a blizzard to leave me ripping up my ticket and looking for a stiff drink. [emoji30] [emoji483]

Every point I’ve ever scored in three cushion billiards comes as a surprise to me, that game is HARD.

Nice hit in the Big O cash game!

It is hard, but that the Beaty of it and what makes it so satisfying when you put a series together.