who cares about the Super Bowl? TR 2/8 - 2/12

Wow, thats wild, means the floor can't even give you a bump on ratings, I would be very surprised if this tech exist on the dice table.

after my recent trip I kinda made a goal, let's call it for Lent, for a "fast from gambling with chips" til after Halloween. mostly to appease the wife and kiddos. doing good.

I am getting offers and can get four comp nights at Fontainebleau and Palms for June. flight tickets would not be cost-prohibitive either. considering going.

so then comes the question:
1) do I go, enjoy the Vegas heat, relax at the pool, eat good food, see a show, work-work, etc., and not do any gaming? this would likely burn me for future comps at those hotels, and is that a waste of a trip?
2) go, do all those things, play a little bit at those places to keep the casinos happy, skip poker this trip?
3) go and do like a normal trip, while using a smaller bankroll?
4) stay home? plan on a legit trip end of 2026 or in 2027

could justify that "Lent is over" and that was good enough. rest of the family will be overseas without me during that time anyway. nobody's heart will be broken if I go and play. maybe a broken personal commitment. I'm down over $5K my last three trips

anyway, just thought I'd bounce it off you anonymous stranger friends, see if you had any comments. is it weak to go? or dumb not to

I don’t think you’re going to get many votes for ‘stay at home’ on here!

Your family will be overseas and you’re all on your lonesome you say? Why aren’t those Vegas flights booked already? [emoji3]

As someone on my own limited bankroll and trying to justify my own trips, I can relate. Blunt question, are you +expectation at poker? If so, definitely a combo of 1 and 3. Enjoy yourself, and play this crazy card game we all love.

I vote for option 2. Mindset is critical in poker and I don't think it's good to play when we are feeling pressure or fear.

On the other hand, if you can comfortably squeeze in a getaway then it seems like a nice gift to yourself. YOLO and all that.

Especially since home is, well, North Dakota.

Agree with Tony. If you're bacheloring anyway, may as well do so in Vegas.

Plus, you always write good TRs. Something for us, too! 😀

wow, you guys coming through in the clutch

probably everyone believes this for themselves but I think I am +e at poker. recognize during my last trip in a DBBP game I made a ridiculously bad play that cost about -$600. an experience I have reflected on regularly for close to three months now, definitely learned from and cannot repeat.
also had a losing session at Wynn where I felt I was more skilled than the other players and didn't make bad plays, I just went a bit card dead while a fish went on a sunrun and there was nothing I could do. not much other volume to balance that out.
previous trip I final-tabled at Wynn my only tournament entry of the trip.
feel like a +e player but with a capped bankroll that limits the number of bullets in the chamber.

So, is the ‘set goal’ something you communicated or have understanding with Mrs Langdon? How would that go over with the fam if you went to Vegas? You need a clear conscience to both enjoy and potentially play your best. If Mrs not likely onboard after a conversation I’d vote #4. #1 is silly talk IMO (travel during WSOP to work remote and have all the lovely gaming choices?).

Going on limited bankroll would be my choice if I go. Maybe not do the table games or slots (but that is easy for me to do).

Your question made me think of the scene from Animal House with the angel sitting on one shoulder and the devil sitting on the other, each trying to convince Tom Hulce's character (Pinto) to choose the option they wanted. He eventually chose to side with the angel's wishes, and didn't her brains out. (I'm hoping that 48 years is long enough for that to not require a spoiler alert.) Anyways, Langdon, I'm hoping that the other side wins this moral dilemma, meaning that you opt for either option 2 or 3, and that you chronicle it here.

go to Vegas, but do some study/work on your game between now and then. treat it as a training trip and play short, sharp sessions....several 2hour ish sessions per day. and IMHO avoid rooms with bomb pots

You'll be furious with yourself if you don't go. So:

Go. Book it.
You have weeks to consider carefully what you want to accomplish on the trip.
Stick to your plan
Right up to the point that you don't.

the problem was I left a V 2/3 game where I was doing well with the periodic BP to play a $3 DBBP full time game.

the set goal was something committed myself voluntarily and told my wife and kids I would do but not at their insistence. don't think I would cause undue harm unless I went on a bender.

think the only person I would "seriously" offend by going and playing is myself. but I would get over that pretty easily.

thanks everyone for your predictable comments. would rather go when there's pool time available than wait til winter anyway. we'll see if I can make it work.

Life it too short - go to Vegas. And Fountainebleau & Palms sounds like a chill combination.

Since you are going in June, I think you should squeeze in one decent tourney either at WSOP or somewhere else.

I vote for #4 as that is what you want to do.... otherwise you'd have flights booked.

He might as well, since he'll be neck-deep in them anyway. Cash games during the WSOP sometimes have long lists.

I have only been once (last summer), so I don't have much to compare with. But the huge lists were almost non-existent for me last year; longest I had to wait for a seat was perhaps 20-25 minutes at most.

That's much better than earlier years.

yeah dunno about that, in 2024 the cash game wait lists were super long everywhere

I was there 2023/24/25 and the lists last year was nothing compared to previous years. Was super easy to get a seat especially if you go to a room that still allows callin.

after bringing it up, Mrs Langdon isn't very happy with the idea. shocker! but her only insistence is that I don't go when she's gone so if I do end up going it would probably be late June or July
I'll only go if I can get good deals on hotel (little early for that) and flights. but at least it is or has been fun to think about

I’d vote #4. Give you time to add to the bankroll and you’ll be able to play a ton of poker guilt-free.

And your comps won’t be messed up by taking a short, gambling free trip beforehand.