Ongoing VP TR, PART 2!

I suspect you'd have enough people just from 2+2 that like your thread to get a leon meetup game going, fish or no.

Any recent trips to your local, Barona?

Not a bad idea. It'll be a huge change from my normal pattern of behavior (get coffee, push buttons while waking up) for the last 10 yrs, but does harken back to my playing days where I'd try to get on a table as soon as I woke up.

Just one. Been trying to limit myself to once a month. Shocker- it sucked.

Don't worry, when you get old you won't be able to remember your hands.

5/14-5/17 TR

Bored at work. Haven't done anything other than a post-facto TR in forever. Let's do this.

Backstory- since I survived that charity poker tournament in Apr with a small loss, I figure I've got another trip in me. There's a 5k+1.5k rebuy slot tournament at the Wynn this weekend. Seems like just last year (it was...) that D and I fired 25k at this thing- 2 5k entries and a 10k. Nada, nothing, zilch between the two of us. I know I just played in one of these in March (with mom, and got min cash AGAIN), AND I know I've said this many times- I hate these things and never win. BUT-

I don't hate these things. I hate not binking these things. There's a difference.

I know there's no correlation whatsoever with gut feelings and outcome, but man I feel good about this trip. Like, better than I've felt in a long time. A couple things have lined up- first of all, D finally found a job! So while he can't join me this trip, he's got an income again and we'll definitely be able to take trips together in the future. Secondly, I've been to the local precisely once in the last month and hit this-

Way above average kicker draw.

First dealt premiums in months. And, bc my bankroll is so short, I managed to hold onto basically every penny that session.

I tried to get any friend/wife to join me, but to no avail. So, this'll be my first solo trip in a while too! I'm factoring that in, gonna play real slow and small and let the game come to me. Also have some non-gambling things lined up in case I need to kill time, and lastly I'm planning on leaving early Sun morning (was considering a Thurs-Sat trip and spend less time on the ground as I discussed in my last TR, but it's not going to be feasible this time if/WHEN I bink this thing).

Agenda-
Thurs- get in, try Sartiano's again
Fri- 5k tourney which I'm in plays. Gonna try breakfast at Casa Playa.
Sat- Rebuy portion of the tourney, dinner at Mizumi, Awakening if things are terrible (otherwise I can always bail, it wasn't very good last time).
Sun- head home early.

Bankroll- 35k.

Other- no free credit from host this time bc I "barely lost" (his words) last time. I will, however, be full RFB since I'm flying solo. I think I'll take a chance and put a bottle of bourbon on my tab. If he said full RFB, well...

I'll also consider playing some poker if things are really rough and I need to kill time.

More coming!

Locked and loaded! This is gonna have me Jonesing for my next trip that much more…

It’s about time you binked one of these slot tourneys.

Waiting for the slot tourney sun run!

dealt premium quads is great

17/50 kickers is AMAZING!. very happy for you

Leon, one of the VP vloggers posted a video on instagram the other day, and it’s probably by far the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYSIbdXFW...

What are the odds of getting dealt trips on 100 play and not converting to quads a single time?

Actually, I just looked it up and expected result is 4.5 and it puts 0 at 1.3%. It’s low but I would have expected it to be much lower.

Feel free to bink this one

I watch those guys daily… that draw was disgustingly bad.

second the emotion for this order to be sustained
show of hands, ayes first

In the midst of a garbage session, I finally got AAA on a 100 play and bricked it all and I could feel something inside my brain wanting to snap

Nice hit..

Day 1

I haven't even left and I get the first bad beat of the trip- the dreaded rolling Southwest delay. I reschedule my Lyft, and then get hit with another delay... eventually I realize I'll be at airport way too early but I don't want to take the chance they're just going to move the flight up again. I've had this happen before too and to me that's the absolute worst. Delays are one thing, but if they delay a passenger, and the passenger decides to show up later, ONLY to have the flight get moved up again... WTF. I'd rather they just stick with the delay.

So I cancel Lyft and get my housekeeper to drive me. More flexibility that way and I'd rather pay him anyways. Still eat the Lyft fee but I figure now even if they move the flight up I'm fine. I end up eating a near three hour delay. Argh.

Finally here.

My driver informs me EDC is in town- that explains the obnoxious techno DJ set up they have at the airport baggage claim! WTF. I liked techno and clubbing back in the day, but super loud dance music at the airport? Pass. She said the airport was already backed up on a Thurs- I snap decide to move up my ride just a bit more for Sunday since I'll be leaving in mid-morning. I'm already playing it safe (from a bankroll perspective) by leaving early, looks like I'll play it just a bit more safely...

They're renovating the Tower suites bar- for me, what that means is no easy access to quality bourbon, and I have to take the long way around to get to the room.

This used to lead from the elevators to the bar, then gambling...

OK. I've decided to play more UX this trip. I used to say, I needed 3 5 digits hits to just break even on a trip. Well, now I've had so many trips in a row where I can't even hit one 5 digit hit. Some have been a disaster, of course, some not so bad, but unless I get dealt a monster at multiline there's basically no way I can make a score. So I decide to go back to a higher variance route, but one where at least I've got a shot at a winner.

I open with dealt quads on hand #55!

Spoiler

Show

MEH MEH MEH. Not even a handpay lol.

OK, a good start from a draw perspective, but I'm gonna need those multipliers eventually...

Eventually, that machine cools off and I move to multiline quarters. Must have given back money really quickly to decide to turn the variance down as far as possible (for me).

Hit three times here.

Moved to multiline dollars...

I played a ton. I know I ultimately gave back everything, but it's a small loss. For me, this is a decent start. Cycled a bunch of hands, and actually got really poor cards for long stretches. If things EVER TURN AROUND, I could crush this trip. Down 3k headed into the first craps session of the trip...

I don't know why I'm more scared of craps than VP. I really shouldn't be, the numbers don't lie- all my devastating "lose 10k in an hr", all the trips where I've lost 50-60k have been bc VP is a nightmare. I think it's just the insta-out potential of dice- it FEELS worse than the death by 1000 cuts on a machine. But on a trip where I have to behave from minute one, craps is both the safer YET SCARIER alternate.

I walk past the tables at Wynn, planning to go to Encore unless conditions are optimal. Well, they've got a table open at Wynn, good crew, half of side completely open. That's as optimal as it gets for me. I buy in, bet my usual even numbers and bet for the crew as well. First roll decent. OK, second roll- keep betting for dealers.

We catch some legit heat. They are hammering the 4, and I'm pressing the crew as well. When I walked up to the table, I told the crew "dealer purple is a bucket list item". Well, now we've got a 200$ dealer 4! Shooter goes... 4! Well, there's only one way to get that bucket item list crossed off- jam the dealers to 500$! A 400$ hit and they pick up a measly 100$, but we've got a bucket list item crossed off!

Dealers have 500$. I've only got 1200$ lol.

Come on. Come on. Pay off one time. Pay off one time and I jam the dealers to YELLOW AND WE CROSS ANOTHER BUCKET LIST ITEM OFF. COME ON!

Oh well. That was fun at least. We get a couple more decent rolls in there, but the table cools off hard. It's close enough to dinner now- time to lock in a win!

In for 4, out for 11!

I'm up 4k for the trip.

I head to Sartiano's, the new Italian steak place. I ate here with D last trip, wasn't super impressed but I'll go anywhere at least twice.

I get the veal parm again, asparagus just bc I need vegetables. I actually wanted to try more and different stuff, but I've been taking one of those new GLP-1 agonists for a couple months now and I know I just won't be able to eat much. Long story short folks- they are MIRACLE drugs and should be handing them out for free. We'd save trillions over a decade in the US healthcare costs alone. Downside- you CANNOT overeat. It's not possible. You get full so fast, and the desire for more is just fundamentally shut off. So, I'll try more dishes when I'm out here with friends again- in fact, I might not even order myself, just let everyone else order and I pick from their plates. The drugs are THAT powerful.

After dinner, more VP.

I recall this being a decent, but still losing session. I might have lost 2k? Still, not bad for VP and not bad for the trip. Note continued lack of monsters and 5 digit hits...

I decide to play craps again. Once again, I've found optimal conditions at the Wynn, so that's where I'll be.

I bet my usual, bet for the dealers... and it's good again! Nothing amazing, but that's 2/2 sessions so far where I come out of the gates a winner. SUCH a different trip so far than the usual. Hopefully this means I'll bink the slot tourney! I play for about an hr- it's nearly midnight, I'm up for the session... let's just lock in a win.

In for 5, out for 6.7k.

Head up to the room, do some math... OK, I've survived the first day AND got a small win. I'll take it.

Day 1 result- +3.7k
Dealt quads- 1

Day 2 coming soon...

much better start than recent trips. very promising.

GLP question. Which one if you don’t mind sharing?

Nice hit on the craps

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sure, I figured I'd get a bunch of questions on this so I'll answer most of them now.

First of all, I'm not taking the drug for weight loss reasons. Anyone who I've met knows I'm not overweight, and so may be wondering why I'm even taking the drug in the first place. To answer your question, I'm taking Zepbound. Ozempic was the first, I think Wegovy is the oral version of Ozempic, and Zepbound is newer (and better).

Back to my reasons- I've never had an unhealthy relationship with food, but DO have a propensity towards weight gain if I don't watch what I eat. It's why I've been low carb since 2010- better and worse adherence since then, but my baseline is 80/20 good/bad. I'm 90/10 when I'm super motivated or when I used to cut weight for lifting meets. But I control food for the most part, it doesn't control me.

What DOES control me, and has my entire life, are my addictions. I have a very addictive personality and when I get into something, I don't do it half way- I dive all the way in. So it's not enough for me to get into soccer- I've got to coach a team, I've got to wear a soccer jersey every day, I have get a soccer ball tattooed on my body, I have to memorize every player in the EPL, La Liga, etc. You get the idea. It's not enough for me to get into CrossFit- I have to own a CrossFit gym. I'm the guy playing a piano that has to have a Steinway. Etc.

So that's fine for my hobbies, but not fine when it comes to alcohol. I've been drinking pretty heavily since I first got into bourbon about a decade ago. I don't drink except when I'm relaxing at home, but I'm relaxing at home every day in some way. Not fine when it comes to nicotine- I'm still chewing nicotine gum despite having "quit" over 20 yrs ago. Still smoke like a chimney every time I'm in Vegas. Not fine when it comes to gambling- I'm not a gambling addict, but I sure do have self-destructive tendencies.

SO- my curiosity was piqued when I learned that GLP-1s seem to fundamentally turn down ALL addictive behaviors such as food. They also seem to cut inflammation outside of simply reducing blood sugar, weight loss etc. Something magical and wonderful is happening at the center of all dopamine-reward behaviors and the negative health consequences from them. After my recent physical I was sold- I am pre-diabetic, DESPITE eating lower carb than 99% of people! Some research shows- yep, high alcohol consumption can make you very insulin resistant. WTF am I eating low carb and trying to be healthy for, if I'm just going to overdo it on the alcohol side and get diabetes anyways?

On top of that, I could stand to lose about 10 lbs and remember when I was 5% body fat and shredded, and it would be kind of cool to get back to that...

So. I'm 8 weeks in, starting dose. NO SIDE EFFECTS. Down 15lbs and can see my abs again, which is nice. More importantly, nicotine and alcohol comsumption has been cut in half, without trying! Like I said, you just stop thinking about these things as much on these drugs. Sure, I still drink, but that voice telling me to pour another one is quiet. Many nights I've poured myself a drink and just left 1/2 when I went to bed. Old me would have reflexively finished it.

Obv the same things go for food. You just think about food less. When you eat, you physically cannot eat that much. It's just a miracle drug in every sense. OF COURSE it's not covered by insurance. And in this country, it won't be covered unless you're already obese, diabetic or both. That's why I said it should be handed out for free on every street corner. Number one killer in this country? Heart attack. Number one cause? Obesity/diabetes (the two basically go hand in hand). When you think of all the downstream complications of obesity and diabetes (heart attack stroke cancer blindness kidney failure etc etc etc) it's a no brainer. Add in the potential to treat addiction behaviors like smoking, drinking??? That's why my estimate of saving trillions may be an UNDERESTIMATION. I predict the possibility these drugs are free in a fukkked up healthcare country like the US as approx 0.0%, but here we are.

I've basically paid for the drug simply by reducing my alcohol, food and nicotine consumption. OK, long side note/free advertising for the drugs over. But they really are miracle drugs.

I wasn't going to ask about GLPs. I'm more curious about TDB vs DDB... or what variations you like?

hmm, interesting re the is there any less energy in the gym, given the lower cal intake?

I've heard/read that a few times re the addictions & tried to get my ex to try. Great that it's working for you

Been on Mounjaro myself and wow it is an amazing drug. Lost 44kg in like 18 months. I could not agree more with you on what you have said about it filling you up so fast. It even reversed my type 2

Housekeeper, and a nanny? Or are they the same? Is the nanny even still in the picture? I remember him being discussed on prior trip reports. Interesting that both your housekeeper and nanny are/were guys.