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 smok
Speaking of Wynn. I meant to put this in my own TR. But when I was in the taxi last Sunday on my way the Venetian we were directly behind a black Rolls Royce and the license plate was WYNN. I have to assume that's Steve's car? Not that he's driving 😀
Go read Leon's epic vp thread. He's a Wynn whale and gets driven around in their Rollers often.
p2, Poker Reflections
I love the poker dealers at Bellagio, they are clearly the best in Vegas. Wynn and Resorts World are up there too but IMO Bellagio's are a cut above. (the floor staff, location, environment, and overall administration are definitely not.)
I like the new room at Venetian. other than Internet/network service limitations, there was nothing I don't like about the room. chairs are super comfortable. I found at least one drink server was aggressively nice to the point it was awkwardly confusing. the location is fine, although if they just said "between Palazzo and Venetian upstairs" that would have made it crystal clear. would definitely play there again.
Wynn is such a nice place to play poker. the floor staff and management is incomparable. drink service is the best. the room is comfortable and the dealers are great. I love the smell of Wynn better than Aria.
the Wynn room was surprisingly slow, even in the evening. would it better to have fewer games and let people wait longer? I dunno, but it was frustrating how shorthanded the games got. the wait lists had like 10 call-ins but no bodies.
was also surprising how low the turnout was for the Venetian tournaments. 100 entries was not what I was expecting. is $400 too high a price point for a weekday?
only looked one day but I am not impressed with South Point poker for cash games. they offer so many great promos that the entire room is packed with OMCs and nits. maybe the 2/5 is better? I assume their daily tournaments are still among the best in the valley though.
played at Aria and it's good and busy, and it's in a great location. but the room is dark and again I found drink service slow as always. not one of my preferred rooms.
during my time I found Bellagio to be the softest, despite me having my worst session. Aria and Wynn were both hard. had to be careful, and fortunately I was.
in general I feel like I have moved up from 1/2 -1/3. would put my name on both 1/3 and 2/5 lists to get going. think the session at Aria knocked the nerves off. in previous trips I have been fine with a lighter table and just relaxing for a few hours playing small pots and socializing. I don't have a big poker bankroll and I'm not buying in for $1000 and I am unlikely to bet or call off $600 without the nuts, but I'm okay being a little shortstacked and nitting it up for a deeper game. it is still game dependent, and if I don't feel comfortable I will move tables. and some 1/3 games play deep as 2/5 or deeper. but I'm definitely not afraid of 2/5 anymore.
found that it was rare to go to a flop heads up. even 5x opens would go multi-way.
Feb 2024 I binked a $6600 tournament score and at home last year I worked enough to earn about $6000 as a tournament dealer, but I really don't enjoy playing tournies. played a $400 Venetian this time and a $600 Wynn last summer and I won't play that high in Vegas again. maybe one $200 per trip. rather play cash games.
following are goals to check off a few strategic moves and play some long sessions.- donk lead a flop. this is something I have never done. if I'm first to act in a raised pot I have always checked in the dark. I've been thinking of when this donk could be applied and maybe even effective. will try and report back- check raise bluff to win and check raise to get called and win-
-I did donk bet and won the hand at showdown. actually found another opportunity my first session, when a flop came AA4 (I had like Q6 or something).
- don't think I check raise bluffed + win, but I did several check raise to win.
- did not make a $200 bet or raise, other than a couple all-in shoves
- did add-on and then back to profit
- never got super shortstacked to the point of leaving early
- no tourney deep run
- technically only one 6-hour session, but I did play close to 30 hours cash + a tourney in 4 days
- several reasonable 2/5 sessions
- did finish +$ cash Mon & Wed
- work-worked enough
- didn't get sick
the actual results from the trip were alarming. here's a summary, including partial sessions
- South Point 1/2 (+54, 6 h)
- Venetian 2/3 (+283, 3 h)
- Aria 2/5 (+203, 4 h)
- Bellagio 2/5 (+57, .5 h)
- Bellagio 1/3 (-447, 3 h)
- Wynn 1/3 (+428, 5h)
- Wynn 1/3 (-60, 1 h)
- Wynn 2/5 (+479, 2h)
- South Point LHE (-113, 2.5 h)
- Venetian tournament (-400)
- Pai Gow +$135
- slots -$xx
1/2 or 1/3 = -$25 in 15 h
2/5 or 2/3 = +$1,022 in 9.5 h
came home with about $600 more cash than I brought
obviously, great trip. things I would have done differently: skip attending VGK, see O or Awakening, play a lower buy-in tourney instead.
though January was slow it was still fun and poker in Vegas is better and easier than in Dakota.
no plan to return yet but can't wait til I do
thanks for following along.
was also surprising how low the turnout was for the Venetian tournaments. 100 entries was not what I was expecting. is $400 too high a price point for a weekday?
I'd say 100 for a single day $400 at Venetian is about average turnout, maybe even a little above average. Tournaments don't do crazy numbers unless there's a big magnet series running in town like WSOP, WPT, NAPT. Without a big event to pull out-of-towners, it's just going to be local regs and a small assortment of random visitors.
MTT ecosystem in Vegas is actually pretty small. It feels huge in the summer because people are traveling from all over the world to play stuff.
Thanks for the summary. Glad you were a winner!
Aria drink service must be the worst in Vegas ;( I wish the other rooms had more PLO.
I didn't mention it but that 30 hours in 4 days was the most poker I've ever played in one week. several more hours at pai gow too. pretty good
played tonight in Dakota for the first time in 2025 at a friend's home game. it was 1/2 NL with Omaha (4 or 5 card) bomb pots of various types about three times per orbit. last year I usually sat out most of the BigO but decided wth I'm here and haven't been for a while. for the first hour I may not have played a single holdem hand but the deck hit me hard in the bomb pots. I'm not good at BigO but even a dummy like me can't screw up when I get full house on both boards. another time I thought I missed and mucked, but then grab and flipped them and sure enough I secured the low for a chop. in another hand on a JJ858 board I made a modest bet with J432 and got a fold; fortunate because he had a flush and I didn't realize I only had trips. another time I showed my hand at river and somehow scooped the hi and lo without even knowing what my hi was. lucky day
next time around (HE) I was in a pot with this young aggressive whale. he bets $160 on the turn, I check call. river put four to a straight, I bet like $90 bluff and he folded. I had his number all night, showing tons of wins, which helped get a couple bluffs though. at this point I had about $1100 chips from my $300 start.
- the very next hand I open with A4ss UTG, bunch of calls.
flop T64ssc. old guy bets $160. I call.
turn is like 9c. he shoves for $300. I call.
he has QQ. we have a $950 pot and I've got like 14 outs to my biggest session win ever.
river is 3d brick, he turns his overpair and the chips slide his way
it was a super splashy game. one new guy came. after like an hour he says "I think I'll take my $25 loss and go, you guys are more than I can handle."
played for about 3.5 hours, ended up +$225 which is a bit of a disappointment from where I was at but a win in Dakota after a stretch of ten straight bustouts in 2024 feels good.
on the afore-mentioned job front: wife does not want to move (especially to Tulsa OK) but we have a trip booked in March to check it out just in case. the Bismarck manager job is opening up soon and that's the one we want. it has been at or colder than -17F more than five times in the two weeks since I've been back. I hate the cold.
Congrats on the win -- sounds like a fantastic game.
I cannot imagine why the wife wants to stay in that weather, but good for your for supporting her by supporting her and going for the manager job in Bismarck! I hope she loves Tulsa, though 😉
so we are kinda in the important moment right now.
I did have a great job interview last week for the local operations manager. the regional boss who I talked to is awesome and someone I would love to work with. waiting for the outcome.
also, I am currently at the airport headed to Tulsa with the wife for a free vacation to check it out and consider if that's a relocation opportunity as a backup plan.
the third opportunity was a Dallas regional manager position, but they didn't interview me and didn't even fill the position. would say I'm bitter but... I am.
seems like Tulsa Hard Rock has a decent poker room. she says we aren't stopping there but that would be a perk of moving. anybody on here ever been there?
this was a "mild" ND winter but it was also unbearable. Tulsa will be in the 70s this weekend. while I and my family hope we get the Bismarck job, I'm hoping Tulsa becomes a compelling alternative. if I get passed over again then I will be ready to look for another company.
I have been in Tulsa, but it's been a while. My recollection is that it's another mid-sized midwestern city. Quite conservative, bible-thumping types abound, if that's a concern.
I have been in Tulsa, but it's been a while. My recollection is that it's another mid-sized midwestern city. Quite conservative, bible-thumping types abound, if that's a concern.
well, the objective of the Tulsa Remote program is to incentivize more liberals to move in. probably too little too late. ND is probably even more conservative but likely less extreme.
we are about 15 years too late to get established somewhere nice. but we don't have any debt and are comfortable in our modest ways, and the housing market sucks everywhere.
seems like Tulsa Hard Rock has a decent poker room. she says we aren't stopping there but that would be a perk of moving. anybody on here ever been there?
I went there last year to check off my 49th state - only played one session of 1/2 at Tulsa Hard Rock on a Wednesday night but the action was incredible - very loose tables, nonsensical multi-way jams with stone bluffs, etc.
On the other hand, it was difficult to dodge or steer conversations away from conservative politics - one of the waitresses got in a screaming match with a 2/5 reg when he wouldn't shut up about bashing trans people (her sister was trans and she was not having it). Nearly every Uber I took also resulted in unprovoked liberal-bashing from the driver. Also got norovirus at one of the nicer steakhouses there, so am a bit jaded from that as well
I went there last year to check off my 49th state - only played one session of 1/2 at Tulsa Hard Rock on a Wednesday night but the action was incredible - very loose tables, nonsensical multi-way jams with stone bluffs, etc.On the other hand, it was difficult to dodge or steer conversations away from conservative politics - one of the waitresses got in a screaming match with a
yeah I get it. here in Dakota the table talk is ranching and liberal bashing. the player of the year of here is a raging political psycho.
wish people would just be nice, and keep their stupid beliefs to themselves. if it's (2 out of 3) offensive, unnecessary, factually incorrect, then it's a stupid belief that shouldn't be broadcast
Room sounds great. I'd love to be my liberal self and just tilt the heck out of them! It's what I do in the games here 😉 Not only am I almost always the only woman, but I'm definitely the only liberal.
Room sounds great. I'd love to be my liberal self and just tilt the heck out of them! It's what I do in the games here 😉 Not only am I almost always the only woman, but I'm definitely the only liberal.
Personally I feel like setting the location on my dating apps to Tulsa immediately, but opinions might vary 😀
(and who am I kidding, I wouldn't get any matches there either)
my first night here I was ready to report back "ain't moving to Tulsa."
but a couple days later I am super impressed. I really like the city, downtown, restaurants, some amazing parks, and we drove around several nice liveable neighborhoods. don't know if we will definitely move there but I am not opposed to the idea.
I'm a little concerned with the lack of updates following my interview in Bismarck.
second best day of the year is today:
booked my next Vegas trip
(first best is obviously day I get there)
new TR coming soon
my first night here I was ready to report back "ain't moving to Tulsa."but a couple days later I am super impressed. I really like the city, downtown, restaurants, some amazing parks, and we drove around several nice liveable neighborhoods. don't know if we will definitely move there but I am not opposed to the idea.I'm a little concerned with the lack of updates following my i
I was in Tulsa in 2022 to cover the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills but, apart from a short session at the casino, sadly don't have any strong memories of the place (good or bad).
However, did discover the interesting little tale below about the golf club:
"On May 27, 1981, Roger Wheeler, a Tulsa businessman and owner of Miami's World Jai Alai, was murdered in the parking lot of the club. The killing was ordered by Winter Hill Gang mobster Whitey Bulger, who discovered that Wheeler had uncovered the gang's ongoing embezzlement from the jai alai organization"
