Black Friday getaway to the 702: TR 11/28- 12/3

I've been trying to write this wrap for several days now, and struggling to write something good.

I love coming to Vegas. each time I've discovered something I love. the highlight this time was hiking at Red Rock. I've done that several times before, but never an advanced scramble with a group. it was challenging and even scary at times. look up Vegas Hikers if that's something interesting to you. I may need to get some sandstone scramble shoes if I plan to do it more regularly, although what l have was adequate to keep me alive.

the weather was awesome. this was the latest in the year that I've come. daytime with a hoodie was comfy, a light jacket was more than adequate for hiking, and doing a little swimming was still enjoyable.

playing deep in the Wynn tourney was very satisfying. was probably chip leader with 4 tables left and 3 tables left and briefly on the final table. of course I wanted to last longer (and aces up < bottom trips late is tough to overcome) but top 7 was my target.
I've played 5 or 6 Wynn tourneys now and FT'd twice.

but even a decent tourney score didn't cover my poker losses that followed. across the next three days it was a mix of card dead, poor play and bad beats. I chopped one big bomb pot hand, and that was the only significant pot I stacked in the final 15 hours I played. probably went like -$2K in cash games. that's a couple bad trips in a row.

I'm kinda at a poker crossroads. the deep bankroll regs in Vegas push out the tourist recs and I don't feel I have a place at the table. considering taking a 12 month break from poker; or if I do play in a future trip, keep it to one session. poker has been my primary trip focus the last 5 years but especially in this crappy economy I probably can't afford to keep dropping thousands of dollars.

I'm not much of a gambler. I don't really like slots or VP, blackjack is more irritating than anything, sports wagering seems like a fools errand, and now even playing poker is losing interest. but the one that has become my favorite casino game is pai gow! saw and played it for the first time June 2024 and enjoyed it each time since then. it's also the only thing I can't seem to find anywhere outside of Vegas, so that keeps me interested in coming back.

still think Red Rock is my favorite resort. the rooms are great, pool is great, I like the casino layout, and I don't know anywhere in Vegas that has a better range and variety of good dining options going from affordable quality all the way up to fine dining.

Treasure Island is an affordable hotel and they seem to treat you well, and it is in a great location, but the casino floor is on the depressing side and I can't think of another Vegas resort with worse dining options.

if I still want to come to Vegas and I don't want to stick with poker all the time, seems like it opens my options on where to stay and play. maybe more Stations? Palms? Rio? or maybe plan around a show, concert or event?

anyway, despite coming home about $950 lighter I had a good time and glad I went. what else is there to say? no poker playing trips in the near future but if I can match some hotel offers with cheap flight dates I would come back.

Thanks for the write-up. Don't give up on poker yet. There are still good games and money to be won. And you seem to do well in tourneys, so have fun with those. However, Vegas is great for lots of other reasons and I hope you do go back. I love it 😉

Thanks for the TR. I enjoyed the read.

If it helps I have been there, many many times. BigWhale can tell you how many times I was tilted sitting in my room and googling flights back to Europe and promising never to come back. But in the end I stayed, got over the tilt and the variance.

In the long run, and if you have the roll to afford it, short term variance doesn’t mean anything. Losing 2k sucks but if you get it in good it will even out.

Great TR Langdon-thanks for letting us follow along! As someone that has done a few TRs, but not finished them on account of laziness, enjoying Vegas, sleep deprivation, and laziness, I great appreciate your ability to always finish TRs.

As frustrating as it may be, try not to sweat the poker variance too much. Like others have said, lean into what you’re enjoying that trip-tourneys, cash games, pai gow, hiking, restaurants, etc. We’ve all been there and have had some bad Vegas trips, but the beauty of Vegas is there are so many things to do there.

thanks everyone for the nice comments.

one funny thing, I got mail today from Treasure Island. thought it was just a marketing offer but it was a Christmas card! couldn't believe it! I don't know why TI loves me, I've eaten in their restaurants zero times, I play very little slots, haven't really given them much money but wow they seem to treat me very well.

maybe I'm just easy to please but these personalized cards make me happy

If you were playing cash at Wynn 1/3, that game is full of killers. I saw some of the ones at my table later on at the 5/10 table. All those guys knew each other too.

Read some of the articles and youtubes about the brass at MGM. They don't want us there. They want the big spenders and ignorant gamblers. They want the people that don't care that a hotel room for a random Friday night will cost them $500. I think it would serve us all well to take a break from Vegas, and if ignorant whales is all the casinos want, that's what they'll get. The coming recession is as good a time as any to de-Vegas for awhile. I was supposed to go for Thanksgiving for a week. I had killer reservations too, but I had some mini-catastrophies to deal with and didn't go at all.

I don't know if I completely agree with this statement. Are there a bit more regs who are trying to grind and play decent than 2018 for example? Sure, but I also think there are still a ton of people who come to Vegas to just 'gamble' a bit at the poker tables and don't have the patience to sit and fold for too long. So I can't imagine the games ever being bad for many years yet, even if they sometimes are a bit nitty and serious.

May I suggest that your game selection might be the biggest problem? I get that you have much less time than for example me (who is a single guy without kids) to go to Vegas and grind, and thus you want to make the most of your time. But although I have only skimmed through this recent TR, it seems like you are intentionally seeking out games that might not be the best use of your time. From memory, I remember that:

- You have played $2/$5 at Aria, which is from what I have heard a super serious and grindy game.
- You have played a lot of $2/$3 at Venetian, which probably will be a bit tougher than $1/$3 (latter is usually very soft).
- You have played a fair bit of $1/$3 at Wynn with a deep buy-in and lots of grinders.

I don't have enough experience with Red Rock to say whether that is a though game or not (only played there one evening with lots of fishy OMCs), and I understand that you enjoy that property and wants to play there while you are staying of course. But maybe you should put more focus into finding more fun & less serious games during your trips? I can't help but think that maybe you are trying to belong in games that are slightly too tough for you?

(although I admire that, and I should push myself into bigger games more often myself)

have played exactly 1 session of Aria 2/5, in January 2025 and went +$200. was stressful though
Venetian 2/3 think I've played 5 sessions and my only losing one was the most recent. I do like that game better than their 1/3
have played a small bit of cash at Wynn and done okay, some up some down

For the lols….here is a typical guy I played at Aria 2/5 during my last trip to Vegas

Note…brought his game player, had a stand for his phone AND brought his iPad!

Good for the game?

well so much for that. already booked a flight for February 8.
wife's not happy about it but she didn't argue. flight is pretty cheap and I don't think I'll have to pay for hotel rooms. don't want to waste a good opportunity to get out of the cold winter. she booked a flight to Asia for the third year in a row for the spring.

Nice! Where will you be staying?

I don't visit LVL much anymore, but always like a Langdon TR. Nice tourney run. Was it all face up pai gow? I know must usually are now. Also, I don't think the regular bonus is $5. That's only for the envy.

I also love the Red Rocks pics and the superhero woman that is behind you in that pic. At least I assume that is you.

first 2 (of 4) nights I already reserved for Red Rock (comp). I have an offer for TI that would work for the other two

my current employer is doing super bad and my team had our hours mandatory cut. I've been applying for jobs for a while now (again), but I'm considering seeing if I can get a job dealing poker in Vegas. the summer (WSOP) could be a bridge at least to finding another job in Vegas and be a way out of Dakota.
the wife doesn't think that's a good career plan. and if RW and PH close that would complicate my chances. but I'd like to at least apply and see any opportunities arise in/from my Feb trip.

do dealers at WSOP get access to the EDR?

You mean the poker rooms? I know from a very good source that RW won’t close for a very long time. Not sure about PH tho.

AI search says yes.

I think this may be rhetorical but my answer is a hard no. Unless he's live betting nfl in which case answer changes to yes.

Just read the whole TR, thank you for sharing this. I'm flying to Vegas tomorrow for 5 days with the family, my 4th time in a calendar year (lucky me). I wish my writing abilities in English were this good to write one.

If that's your writing ability in English, it's better than most Americans'!