Kicking off 2025 in the 702: TR 1/26 - 1/30
I've usually taken 1-2 trips to Vegas per year since 2018. this will be my 5th trip within the last 12 months. holy smokes, what a year!
almost always make a January or February getaway for something to look to during the most depressing time of the year when the North Dakota weather is dreadful.
booked my flight and hotel rooms way back in August, and like I have for the past several years, booked almost exclusively MGM. however, pair of recent developments ticked me off. first, MGM raised resort fees. paying extra more for nothing is kind of a turnoff. maybe rates from booking time would have grandfathered in but whatever. second thing is while I got a decent rate for Sunday, myvegas free room comp was not available for Monday night. so I said f-it and booked 2 nights at South Point. wow, feels amazing. haven't stayed there for several years but SP has been my favorite resort since I stayed there my first trip.
will probably pay about $60 more total for two nights than at Park MGM but I am still relieved. for this former penny-pinching bargain-hunting low-roller, not booking the lowest room deal available is some kind of personal achievement. feels like I've been a prisoner of MGM with no good offers to show for it. a third thing is Park MGM room wifi is unusable and I plan to work Monday and Tuesday mornings. that was probably the deciding factor.
that being said, it's just two nights and the other two nights will be my initiation at the dirty castle. so I'm not completely divorcing MGM and will be staying some time on Strip but you can tell I'm thrilled to finally be back at SP.
as it's only like 25 hours a week a few times a year and I'm playing recreationally, I will totally be results oriented. pot odds mean nothing when you're beat. if my bluff doesn't work it was a mistake. if my pocket queens get beat heads up by pocket 8s, well that's just a bad beat. here's hoping the end results are favorable and I win more than I lose, no matter how well or "correctly" I play.
only plan is to play poker and pai gow, and save a little PTO by working some mornings. have played almost exclusively 1/2-3 but I'm now in a position where I can look for 2/5, although the goal is to play and have fun and not risk financial ruin. no specific events, no shows, no tourist attractions. if I'm running bad maybe I'll sneak into "O" or catch a movie at SP on cheap Tuesday. Golden Knights have a game in town, so I might try getting a ticket day-of. but in general, there isn't anything Vegas I'm dying to do or try other than pai gow and poker.
loved Wynn buffet in November and want to go back, so that will be my big meal and I'll play a session in that nice room. have some food comps available at Mandalay Bay so I'll play there during first couple days and eat where I can use it. staying at South Point means I should play a daily tourney (have 2-3 nice finishes there previously) along with cash, and I like their dining options. will have a car and therefore will be mobile if there's something else to try (Cheesecake Factory needs to continue as a trip tradition and still have McMullan's and cronuts on my to-do list). don't think I'll get around to Venetian or Aria but may visit Bellagio for a game.
flight is a few weeks away but at least we are in the right month. haven't been many Vegas TRs on here for a while. had a pre-trip warm up recently that was interesting to share in a follow up post.
I've been doing this a while, you know what to expect, what do you guys want to see in a Langdon TR?
I am getting killed. ain't gonna outlast baseball man
mrbaseball commented that the wifi in the poker room sucks, I can barely even get my network to work. that's kinda a problem
Session 2: Venetian Deepstack Tournament
objective was not realized. never got any playable cards. once I got down to three chips I got several shoves through, was hoping my newfound desperate aggression would get a lean call at some point. but alas, my AJ eventually got called by TT, did not improve. and I left in level 7.
day is still young. didn't go far, sat down for cash game.
Session 3: Venetian 2/3
this was not a nitty, promo-hunting table. in fact, spoiler, don't think anyone from my table ever got on the board with a HH. lots of young competent regs, few fish, lots of chips on the table. we had two bomb pots early but after that most of the table didn't want them. pretty lady on my left had a dog carrier on her lap. I have a little dog at home so that created a bit of amicability.
- I open on button with AK, three calls.
flop A84. donk for $20. ok, I call.
turn is 6. he bets $75, I shove him all win, he calls for like $110 more and the 8 on the river doesn't matter. "I thought you had that." well I'm glad you donked, bet and called for all your chips.
- an open, I raise to $35 with TT, two callers
flop is K85ccd. check check, I bet $60, he check raise jams for about $240 and I'm screwed. fold.
Add on $100, in for $400 now
- I open SB with AK, calls.
jack high flop, checks.
Turn queen rainbow. I bet, SB raises to $55. I call.
river is not AKT, check bet fold cry
- couple hands later I limp with A3cc, BB raises, call call.
flop 832 one c. cbet, I call.
turn ace. bet I call.
river queen. he bets $55, I snap and beat his king high to finally get back on track
- limped in with T8. T on flop, T on the turn. I bet $10 and everyone folded. just realized any full house qualifies for HH so the bet was a mistake.
- I open with A5, get raised and I call.
flop 5 high, checks around.
turn is ace, he bets, I call. this was a mistake as flush draw was on the board....
and the third spade hits. but he checks, I check back and 2 pair wins. "you were supposed to bet the flop so I could raise." sorry dude.
Achievement Unlocked: after adding on I am unstuck
- next hand: hot shot young guy with WSOP hat opens. I call in blind with AQ.
flop is KJTss. I DONK, he calls.
turn isn't great, 3s. I check, he bets, I call.
he bets river $125 and I snap. he doesn't have a flush
Achievement Unlocked: donk bet flop and win the hand
- next hand, it's getting ridiculous. I get 77 and call an open.
T74 on flop. he bets I call.
turn river, no boat or quads, he bets, I raise $75 and he calls!
the deck is hitting me, I'm a calling station but they don't stop. went from like $230 to $600 in like 5 minutes.
- few hands later, I call a raise with A3.
flop is AA9. wsop bets, I hem and haw, eventually call.
he bets the turn, eventually I bet the river and he folds.
- few hands later, wsop opens, I raise with AJcc. finally hit a flush, I bet, he tanks, and calls. "you're taking all my chips" he mutters. well you have quite a few more I'd like.
- next hand, wsop opens, I call with A3.
flop is QQ8. he's seeing ghosts now. checks, he checks the turn, I bet and he folds.
around this point everybody leaves and the game dissolves. it was pretty weird, the other 2/3 table was full but my table they all left within five minutes. was that my fault?
after being down over $200 earlier I racked up for a profit of +$283 in 3 hours. not a life-changing session but was a brief sun-run turnaround. halfway done my "two days profit in cash games".
I'm still not very familiar with Venetian and while the parking garage is supposedly close to the poker room I must have gone the long way.
[B]- I open on button with AK, three calls.
flop A84. donk for $20. ok, I call.
turn is 6. he bets $75, I shove him all win, he calls for like $110 more and the 8 on the river doesn't matter. "I thought you had that." well I'm glad you donked, bet and called for all your chips.
- an open, I raise to $35 with TT, two callers
flop is K85ccd. check check, I bet $60, he check raise jams for about $240 and I'm screwed. fold.
Add on $100, in for $400 now
after being down over $200 earlier I racked up for
Nice win! 😀
Hand 1 shows what I mentioned a few days ago; donk leadouts are usually weak. This guy probably just had Ax and had no idea what to do with it (I would have raised the flop fwiw, maybe $55-$60 to rope him in)
In hand 2 I think you can get away with betting a bit smaller in a 3-bet pot if you are going to bet here. $35-$40 would be enough, but I am not 100% sure if i even would bet here against two players.
Nice session!
Well done. Donk away! (But not your chips...)
a stressful drive from Venetian to South Point in the dark, Paradise to 215.
upon arriving I immediately sat down at a Pai Gow table where I stayed for 4 full hours. table minimum is $10, which I started with until getting comfortable. SP has a PG progressive jackpot, which I obediently played along with for a while, $1 per hand isn't much for a $164K win that actually hit last week. but after about an hour and dropping down $100 I said f'it, scrapped any side bets and moved up to $20 for the rest of the time.
no one ever hit quads+ anyway
two observations about SP PG: players have to wait until the dealer completely arranges her cards and then she pushes the players cards forward. at other places (like Park MGM), players can immediately take and work their cards once all sets have been distributed, and you can work it while the dealer is also working theirs. the extra waiting makes a slow game a little slower.
the second thing is of course it is a smoking casino. for those two things, I would much rather play PG at Park.
on a positive note: South Point seems to have a million Pai Gow tables and the minimum is low, $10.
as mentioned, I dropped about $100, 90 to be exact, and then as I put my last two red chips down, we hit a run. and not just a goofy stretch where dealer went dead. won my $10, popped them back to $20. dealer got two pair, I hit AAKKQQ. dealer got QQ and AJ, I got 6644 AQ. next hand dealer got a flush, I hit a full house, and the dealer gave a look of disbelief. then I get AA99. when the dealer got straight plus ace high, I at least pulled two pair to push.
didn't last forever but at least got unstuck and more time to play. at around 11pm I cashed out for +$35 and four hours of entertainment.
a busy day: 4.5 hours work-work, 1.5ish hours of tourney, 3 hours of cash game, and 4 hours of pai gow.
woke up on time and got a full morning of work-work done.
remembered I was supposed to get $20 in freeplay with my reservation. hurried down to the front desk to pick that up before checking out. sat down at VP and ran it up to $33. score
for lunch decided to eat at the Oyster Bar. was going to get some gumbo ($32), but lunch special shrimp green curry advertised for like $12. sure.
it was very good but pretty small for Vegas standards. this will not tie me over for through dinner.
like a good customer I took my freeplay win and said let's degen it up, walked around and found a slot machine with a red firecracker bonus ready to burst.
$4.80 per spin. pretty early on the green bonus went off, not expecting that, and I get a lot of spaces to win close to
still chasing that red one, I got many red icons that failed to set it off, wtf. after feeding the machine a Benjamin it finally went
and got like 11 spaces for like $27 win. gotta be kidding me
cashed out for a loss of like $80 even after hitting two bonuses. don't bother chasing the firecrackers
discovered that along with watermelon and strawberry julius, my favorite casino drinks are chamomile tea with lemon and virgin pina colada
made a pair of blunders on way out. forgot to use my poker comps at hotel checkout, and again neglected to use them for lunch. hopefully SP notices my 4 hours of Pai Gow minX2 and substantial slot play and gives me an opportunity to return
headed to Aria, got on list for 1/3 and 2/5, by the time I got out of the bathroom my name has been called for a brand new 2/5 game. let's go
Session 4: Aria 2/5
may have bitten off more than I can chew. bought in for $400 and everyone else was $1000+. guy to my left wants to do $25 bet for button draw.
- open, call plus me with 77.
flop AKQ. little scary for a raised multi-way pot. checks around
turn and river, no 7, I go ahead and check and my little pair is good for a +$30 start
- straddle, AA first time this trip, button I raise, straddle calls.
flop 873ssh, I cbet he calls
turn Kd, he checks dark second time and I check back
river 6. he bets $65. I think about it, call and see the bad news T9 for the river straight. oof
- straddle, I raise to $50 with TT, bunch of calls
flop K72ddh. I have a super tight image. I cbet $65 and get a snap call by ace-cracker.
turn 3h, checks
river 3d, pairing board and completing a flush draw (can't remember if I have a d). I have like $130 behind. if I check then he bets and I'm in a pickle. so I make a little shrug, check my cards quickly and push my stack in. he slams his cards down into the muck and I can breathe again
buy lower-bowl hockey tickets for $100 total
hands in FF>>
- lose a little pot two pair K high vs A high
- win a nice pot A9 > AJ on 953A8
- win AK > AA... QJJTQ, a little scary. we playing pinochle?
- lose a bunch when trying to steal the blinds on the button, try to bluff my missed straight
- the hem 'n haw on flopped trip queens got me paid off vs JJ
- got paid with king high flush
how long to qualify for legitimate 2/5 session? these stakes make me nauseous. waiting for my camomile tea then running out of here
- couldn't come soon enough. SB opens, I call BB with QT. ace-cracker always in it limp calls.
flop KT8. check, I bet, they call
turn Q. check, I bet $75, call, raise $175, call call.
river 7. he bets $1000. does AJ make this line? yes, as does set of kings. Aces maybe too. I fold. other guy tanks, folds KQ so I was at least second best.
-QQ, ace on flop. I cbet he calls, he bets $200 the turn and I'm screwed. profit gone.
- open, I call ATcc, raise, fold, I call.
flop a combo draw but doesn't get there, he shoves and I fold.
- next hand I make a turn shove for $200 but they fold.
card dead for hour and a half but still here
- eventually get AK and get a check raise jam, but no call. can't recall if that is an objective
- same guy opens $20, I call SB with 22.
flop 754. he bets, I call
5 turn, can't remember
river gin: 2. I try to look despondent, check. he shoves and I snap the trap, and he slams his cards in anger. deuces usually loses, but not this time.
after 4 hours at 2/5, hello, we are back in profit
English to my right racks up and I get up too. we've survived the deepest game of my life and escaped with a $200 win.
Session 1: South Point
hit a rut, started punting and a couple new old guys came in and they called everything. dropped to around my starting stack.
how did this happen? you seemed to be running like God and winning most pots but all of a sudden you're at starting? given you seem to play very nitty, I'm interested in how this happened...or where you up a lot less that it seems?
how did this happen? you seemed to be running like God and winning most pots but all of a sudden you're at starting? given you seem to play very nitty, I'm interested in how this happened...or where you up a lot less that it seems?
can lose a lot of chips in 2+ hours when you don't make any hands and all your bluffs got called. my wins were small and my losses bigger.
at this point I can't recall much other than one guy that had my number
redeemed my comps for Posh Burger. $20 burger no fries, Aria is expensive. oh well, just cost me a few bucks
a few minutes early so stopped at Park MGM for a little pai gow. updating previous note comparing SP, Park is even better in that you can basically take and check your cards right when they come out. dealer went on a run, I went down to my last chip, won, flipped it on top and won that to break even in about thirty minutes.
not used to all this gambling, I'm exhausted. happy to just sit back and chill for a few hours and cheer for the Knights. my ticket works and I am in the Arena.
Knights blew a 2-goal lead and lost 20 seconds into OT. lame
realization: I probably enjoy watching the game on TV more than solo at the arena.
my car is at Aria, my room is at Treasure Island, but I don't think I'm done yet. will let the garage traffic thin out a bit
Knights blew a 2-goal lead and lost 20 seconds into OT. lame
realization: I probably enjoy watching the game on TV more than solo at the arena.
Interesting. I'm the exact opposite. So hard to watch on TV but used to love watching the Durham Wasps in person many years ago here in the Elite League (UK).
took the tram to Bellagio. quick walk through the Conservatory,
then put my name on list for 2/5 and 1/3. got called for 2/5 first
Session 5: Bellagio
main characters in this game were two young guys Paul to my left, and Max a few to my right.
first hand, Paul UTG open, call, Max button raise to $80. I'm BB with AQo. bleh. fold. Paul jams for like $460.
second hand, Max opens, Paul raises to like $90.
- third hand: Max opens, I raise button $50 with AKsc, call
flop A84ddh. I cbet $50, he calls.
turn Tc, I shove and he folds.
couple hands later, on the turn in a growing pot, Paul shoves and another guy calls and loses. Paul has picked up over $600 chips in my first 15 minutes and is bossing the table. a couple seats open and I hop over to his left
next hand: Max opens, Paul raises to $105, Max raises $225, Paul shoves and Max folds. poor guy is heavily involved in nearly every hand and has folded every one. he changes seats to my left
my name gets called for a new 1/3 game and I think it's move it or lose it time
interesting table, there are 3 young Middle Eastern pals in the game. one asks what the cut card is. in the first hand, the second one shoves his AA on a 87699 board vs the guy with a T then rebuys.
a little later the second guy called a multi-way all in on a turn with 3 diamonds. the other two both had diamonds, he did not. sadly, he left.
he is replaced by another Middle Eastern pal, but he's at least competent and comfortable. rest of the table had one young white guy and the rest were Asians. when the white guy and other players left, they were replaced by more Asians
- this ought to be an achievement: the aggressive young Korean on my left limps, three more limps, I raise $20 on the big blind without looking at my cards and everyone folds.
I win a lot of small pots, can't really win any big ones. several times in multi-way pots nobody seemed to want I would make a stab and get called by someone waiting with a monster.
- guy to my right opens $15, I call with AJ, guy to my left raises to $215. how is that ever a good play?
game got shorthanded but I felt I had an edge and stayed even though it was very late. eventually the table broke before any success and I moved to another table. this one had a lot of deep stacks and loud mouths. an older white guy was very loud and talkative every hand, never in a good way, making huge raises, telling people to call his shoves, saying he's waiting to knock out a guy at the end of the table, etc. he lost a big hand and reloaded, but then won a few huge pots to like triple up, and then left.
I didn't get many playable hands but continued to wait patiently...
- there's an open to $6, I raise button to $15 with AcTs, he calls.
flop looks good: AsTc2c. he bets, I shove with top two pair, he calls... and turns over Red Aces for the nuts. blockers aren't real!
I cannot believe he had pocket aces there. I had some chips left but after playing and waiting over 3 hours I get the worst cooler of the trip, and leave a $390 loser for the night.
it's like 2:03am and the tram is closed so I make the walk to Aria which gives me lots more time to soak up my misery. get my car and drive to TI where I go to bed and hope for a nice deep sleep to forget it all.
got my car and made it to South Point a little before check-in time. every table in the poker room is full. feels like Bellagio in July. I got on the list for 1/2 (43), 2/3 (33) and 3/5 (13).
You accidentally attached the wrong photo. That's the one you took of the super seniors tournament.
unfortunately didn't sleep deeply, eventually got out of bed a little before 9am still troubled by last night's cooler disaster.
not a great judge of hotel rooms as I'm not very picky. if it's clean, smells good, the bed is comfy enough and the shower works then I'm satisfied. Treasure Island seems nice enough.
the good news is it's Win-at-Wynn-Day Wednesday! I'll take a shower, play a few minutes in the TI casino, then head across the street for the rest of the day.
have a very early morning flight so my last day has a hard stop around 10pm
Sorry bout the cooler. Personally, I would have stayed at the 2/5. Paul sounds like my kind of player! Smart moving to his left.
Win-Day had a nice start at TI where I played a short session of pai gow winning $110, then chose to play with house money on some slots to make the gatekeepers happy.
couldn't find the fishing game I "enjoyed" last year, but I sat down at some dumb cats game.
after a bunch of nothing I hit a nice $51 win. followed that up with a $41 win soon after.
figured all the good stuff was out of the way so went down to minimum bet, and when I was ready to cash out another bonus triggered for two of the bowls. unfortunate timing, but this should be good.
pretty lame, $15.
took my unexplected profit of $14 profit to the cashier
I checked in at Wynn as a new game was about to start. bought in for max $500, which may be my most ever.
Go get 'em!!!
Session 6: Wynn 1/3
- I open UTG JJ, lots of calls
flop JT9, top set is nice.
turn A
river K. he didn't have much left but I slowed down and checked it back. board got scarier, but he would have raised earlier with a Q so I could have ruled that out and he likely would have called his $35ish with his ace. a nice start but a little sloppy by me.
- one limper, I open QT
flop is KJ8ss. donk, and I raise
turn is As, giving me Broadway but putting 3 spades.
river is not another spade, I bet and get a fold.
by the time my watermelon is here I'm over $600
- bunch of limps, I blind raise $21 on button. three calls, then a short stack shoves for $54 total. I peek down at 7-5, oops, and fold. at least two others call the small shove. winner hit trip 4s. how multiple players go limp call call is mystifying.
I don't want to be too preoccupied with my phone and now that I have some chips I'll keep additional hand histories to a minimum and try to relax
Keep it up!
