Trip Report: Solo Vegas Trip Feb 11-15, it's all about the poker

Good luck, have fun!!

Looking forward to reading more.

Sure, I'm in. Safe travels, run well.

Bucket hat at the table is always a good move. Good luck and run well!

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I made it to Vegas and after attending a few lectures I walk to the Horsehoe poker room. I win the first hand I play, but when the dealer pushes the pot to me, it is made up of an assortment of plastic items, mostly the size of tic tacs and pills. I try to make sense of what each one is worth. I ask the Japanese lady dealer, and I can't understand her. Most of the players are Japanese women. I am directed to a legend on the table felt which is even more confusing. One of my "chips" is an elephant figurine with the number 9 on it, but it's not worth 9 of anything. I decide to leave the game and walk to the Bellagio. As I walk, I think god this is bizarre, this must be a dream, but no, I am here in Vegas right now. I think about how I need to include this in my trip report on 2plus2. I think about taking a break to write down some notes for the TR post.

I wake up in my bed, it's 5:40am on Super Bowl Sunday. It was a dream, of course, no wonder. It's real life now. I decide to go play some poker. The drive to the poker room is usually 35 minutes, but at this hour, it's only 20. In the darkness on the freeway, to my left, I see the Super Bowl venue lit up with its lights. No Super Bowl traffic yet. I think about my goals for today - just play good, play perfect, don't care about how much you win or lose. The way I've been running, it's hard not to feel like I am due for a big win or that's what I really need.

5-5 NL. Everyone is straddling $10 utg. There is a seat open, and I'm not card dead. I'm up $70 after a few hands played and 30 minutes.It folds to me in the CO, I make it $30 with KdJd. B is loose and tilted, and calls. The player in the straddle makes it $125. Back on me, my CO opening range is wide, is this player iso-raising me wide too? I decide to 4-bet bluff to $310. Then I look at my stack, I've now got $560 left behind. Shoot, I just 4-bet more than 30% of my stack, not supposed to do that, that is a mistake. B folds. The 3-bettor now jams, puttling me all-in. My thought is "I 4-bet more than 30% of my stack, I am pot committed." I don't really think more, I call him. Wtf, dude. I'm supposed to think about every decision. My assessment is that in these big pots, my brain sometimes goes on autopilot or short circuit or whatever badness. I flop an open ender to the nut straight, but he has AA and I lose my stack.

I sit there thinking, dude, this is bad play. Your goal was to play well, and you just snap called when a 4-bet bluff is a hand you need to fold to a 5 bet shove.

I have not been playing my best for a while now. Lots of people would say take a break. Do some studying. Instead, I withdrew a bunch of cash from the bank yesterday and am going to Vegas. What the heck, wtf, we will see what happens, I suppose.

The rest of this session, I get a bunch of hands to play. I played them ok, not sure I played them all great. But after getting down $1100, I make it all the way back to finish up $124 for the session which lasted just under 2 hrs.

I get home in time before the wife, kid, and dog wake up. We can do a Sunday as usual. Don't care much about the Super Bowl, I am a Niners fan.

===

Epilogue: Here is a hand I don't know if I played well.

H in utg straddle with Js7s.
V solid player LP opens $30.
B calls. Fish in BB calls.
H calls.

($120) Qs 9s 6h
X. X.
V $65.
Only H calls.

($250) 4s
H x.
V $75.
H calls.

($400) 5d
H x.
V $100.
H calls.
V shows 66.
H wins.

I think I may have played that hand too passively. With V's small turn bet, I should have raised him. And as played, I think I should have stuck more money in on the river via a bet or a raise.
===

This seems way too passive, yes. Against 25% sizing on the river you have an easy check-raise as played.

Personally I am either raising the turn or leading the river to avoid it going check-check. So many opponents are checking back hands like AQ on the river there, and even though your opponent had 66 for a set he was even afraid to bet anything more than $100!

The river-lead is particularly great, because our opponents are going to call a bet with most of the same hands that they are checking back with. So if you lead $275 I think he calls with AQ for example, while at the same time he would check it back if you checked it to him.

Edit: Good luck in Vegas, looking forward to the TR 😀

My new running shoes will have their maiden voyage tomorrow. Protein bars will be a much better alternative to the temptations of snack shop chips and candy. Hopefully it will be a trip that doesn’t require any undoing of rubber bands!

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have a fun trip!

I don't play much cash and maybe I shouldn't give away my priceless trade secrets (joking), but any time I've been in a rut in Vegas and lacking confidence, the Horseshoe 1/3 game has been an effective antidote. I've not only never had a difficult session there, I'd go as far as saying that I've barely even had a difficult decision. Most of the tables have been very passive, scared, and nitty; yet typically featuring 2-3 payoff stations who can't let go of the second best hand. Aggro ABC play equates to smooth sailing.

Now that I've written this I'm sure I'll get owned the next time I play there, but anyway that has been my experience.

Very soft game where most opponents want to nut peddle and maybe back their way into a high hand.

Hmm, I have a very tough time winning a dollar there.

Goals for my Vegas trip:

- Play solid poker, ie no punting, no spew, no overcalling
- Have fun playing poker
- Attend all the conferences that are relevant to my work
- Exercise almost every day
- Have a couple interesting meals
- Be friendly, talk to a few people
- Sleep at least 6.5 hrs each night
- Take some interesting pictures
- (Secretly hoping this trip turns my poker game around.)

I haven't looked at my stats in a while. Here they are. Yikes. This is a graph for the past 12 months, live cash games. Break even since mid September 2025...

I'm not claiming I have a recipe for success, so no predictions please!
Btw, if this graph doesn't turn upward, I probably should start doing some serious studying.

I played a very long session of 3-5 NL there when I was in town for the WSOP last June. It seemed like every player in that Horseshoe poker room was in town for the WSOP, so it wasn't the greatest of games then. I am hoping it will be a different scene this week.

are you n Vegas yet?

Got a seat right away in the 5/10. Only bought in for $800. It’s only been 25 minutes but it doesn’t look like a great game. I might move down to the 2/5 if this doesn’t start looking better.

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Everyone looks like a regular player and lots of preflop 3-betting.

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I am in such a rush to get to the poker table, I get my dinner from Pisa Pizza, in the food mall right below the bridge to Bellagio. It was bad, I didn't finish it.

Later at the tables, I eat a protein bar and a Chomps beef stick. Vegas cuisine is wasted on me.

I sit down at th 5-10 NL Holdem at Bellagio, and it's not a great game. They all look like regular poker players, several of them are saying hi as if they know each other. They look like younger versions of me. And maybe better. I think I might leave this game and check out the 2-5 NL instead, but this one is a must-move and people keep getting shipped out, so I think I'l wait it out a bit. I get into several 3-bet pots and, before you know it, I am down $500. I am not likely to get this back playing 2-5 tonight! I top off my stack to $1300 and then I get this hand:

$20 UTG straddle
B opens $50
H in SB has Ad Ac, and makes it $140 (I got cute with my small size here, because I had 3-bet this guy a few times and was hoping he would read this small size as weakness and re-raise)
BB calls
Straddle calls
B calls.

sh*t, 4 ways to the flop!

($560) Kc Qd 6s
I check.
BB is really eager and bets $230.
Straddle and button fold.
The bettor really looked thrilled with his hand, so I just call.

($1020) As
I check.
V bets $240.
I go all-in for $1000.
V snap calls.

River is a 6c. Villain shows KsQs. Whew, I dodged his 9 outs! Everyone at this table has been buying in for the $2500 max, and now my stack fits in with the neighborhood!

I get moved to one of the main games. It's not a great game, it's got the guys I was playing with earlier. After about 2 hours, I cash out and move down to the 2-5 NL.

The 2-5 NL is a great game. Lots of single raised pots going multiway. I lose my $500 stack vs a flush draw, all-in on the flop, but he hits the river. I stack someone else when we get all-in on the flop and I have AA. A pair of aces held up! After an hour and half, this game gets a lot worse. 3 old-man-coffees are in the game. In fact, one of them open folds JJ on the button after the small blind tells him he wants to chop with the BB. Ok it's late, time to go. I told the wife I would call her at 10:30pm, and it's 10:45.

I walk back to the Horseshoe.

I call the wife, she doesn't answer. I guess she is asleep.

I go to Sbarro and get a slice of pizza. It's much better than the slice I had earlier.

Results:
5/10 NL 2hrs, +1393
2/5 NL 1.5 hrs, -166

I pass by the Horseshoe poker room on my way back to my room. They are running a tournament at 11pm. They have only 1/3 and 2/3 NL going.

I need to get some sleep now!

Great start!

Nice hourly in that 5/10.

Unless it's WSOP time, or Trooper's PLO buddies show up, that's as big as it gets at Horseshoe. The 2/3 plays a lot like 2/5 because it's the biggest game in the room.

There was a pizza joint in the Paris hallway that sells by the slice, that's usually better than Sbarro.. They're open late but it might not be midnight late.

Thursday 9:30am
Horseshoe has one 1-3 NL.
Bellagio has three 1-3 NL, and one short handed 5-10 NL.

My conference has a video feed, so after watching the 8am lecture live, I’m now walking around and following the lecture on my phone.

Last night I was in bed by midnight, but did not get to sleep until after 1am. Alarm was set for 7:15am, but I woke up at 6:15. Couldn’t get back to sleep, so I went to the gym for 45 minutes.

On the list for 1-3 and on the interest list for 2-5 at Bellagio.

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How’d the sesh go?

I moved around a bit today:

Bellagio 1-3; 22 minutes, -$19
Bellagio 2-5; 1 hr 45, -$7
Horseshoe 1-3; 47 min, -$62
Horseshoe 2-3; 1 hr, -$26
Bellagio 5-10; 5 min, -$50
Bellagio 2-5; 3 hrs, +$154

So, -$10 over 7 hrs today...so far...

None of the games were awesome today, probably just typical for Thursday daytime.

The 5-10 was particularly awful. I walked in and sat down at what was a new game, but it was 4-handed, with the other 3 players looking like young regulars. I played 2 orbits. The only time I opened, it was As2s on the button, for $30. The SB makes it $130. I folded. I think A2 suited is a fold there...Anyone disagree?

The Bellagio 2/5 wasn't actually bad. At one point I was up $550 in that game. But I lost on this hand:
Loose rec opens $25 in EP.
I'm in the plus1 and make it $75 with QQ.
Player in the small blind calls $75.
Loose rec goes all-in for $300.
I decide to jam over the top, and this pushes out the player in the small blind (he had about $375 left behind and I covered him).
The all-in villain has KK and it holds.
I wonder if I should have just flatted his all-in to try and keep the small blind in.

Anyway, my head feels quite tired. I am going to go back to the gym and finish up my workout. Maybe that will help. Then get something to eat.
Probably should just call it a night then. I can't imagine I'm going to be playing my best poker after I've already played 7 hrs today.
I'll probably be tempted by the 2/3 at the Horseshoe...we will see.

I want to play the 5-10 at Bellagio when it's juicy, at night. But if I'm already tired out by evening, I'm not going to want to play that night time 5-10.

If I play another session tonight, I am going to call myself a degenerate. Or at least a bit of an obsessive. Oh well, that's what I am here in Vegas for! I don't think I have to wake up til 8:30am tomorrow.

The view out of my room right now:

Btw, the hotel tap water tastes pretty bad. Should I be drinking Vegas tap water?

I'd fold A2ss there too - it's a better 4 bet than a call imo

Vegas tap water in moderate quantities is fine to drink. Won't taste particularly good, but better for your health than most drinks a restaurant will serve you.

I think fold or bet are probably your two best options in the A2s hand. Guessing I would be folding most of the time absent reads.