Stayed at Arias in Citycenter with good promo. Check in was awful just like MGM. Probably 8 windows open with 8 different lines. Of course the line I picked had some problem, so I was moved over to a new line with only 1 person in line. When he was finished, the guy next to him waiting for the other line moved over thinking it’s only 1 line, or maybe he was just plain rude. Then, the rep closed the line by hanging the sign “Please use next window.” Great, I will wait at the 3rd line. Finally, got my keys (magnetic or RFID that you just need to wave in front of the door sensor) after an agonizing 15-20 mins. Room was new but feels like the job was rushed through. Picture frame has scratches; wall paper is scratched up as well. Sunday buffet Brunch is $25 or $35 Sat dinner. They were nice enough to let me walk around the buffet to decide. So, we opted for brunch which served pretty much the same food. Alaska split crab legs were pretty small and dingy. Roast beef was rough, lamb rack was decent. TV remote didn’t work when we tried to check out the next morning. Asked the cleaning lady and was politely referred to call housekeeping. Called and was told be there in 10 to 15mins max. Of course never showed up. It’s close to 12pm checkout time, so decided to go down to lobby to check out (I need a copy of the receipt to make sure everything was right). Big mistake, tons of people, again with different lines. Picked the wrong line again, people in front with problems. Waited for another good 15 mins to checkout, “have a nice day” and couldn’t wait to get out of this crappy place. Citycenter was the most expensive metropolitan project in US and it sure destined to doom. It’s like a shell company, looks nice and futuristic from outside with nothing to offer inside. Swimming pool wasn’t ready. Long walk to other casino. Tight slot machines but they were pretty new and offer all kinds of new games. Windows were dirty. They have a tourney everyday at 12pm with $120 buyin for 8000 chips. 60 people showed up on Sat. Enough said, go there with a very low expectation. Lets get to some poker stuff.

1st night of poker. Decided to play at Bally since everyone is raving how soft competition is. Couldn’t catch any cards and ended down $50 at $1/2 NL. Exhausted, walked to Bellagio and took the tram back to Arias which is a little faster than walking in my opinion. Bally’s tables have tracker machine for logging your playing time on the table now.

2nd day, decided to play at Excalibur $1/$2 NL. Supposedly, it has very soft games. Again, card dead. Even my neighbors noticed how tight I played, and asked me if I played a hand in the last hour or so. Explained that I can’t really play K-2, or J-6. Finally got JJ, raised to $12. 2 callers, flop all low cards. Checked to me, and I fired $15, 1 caller left. Turn another low card, fired $30 and got a fold from villain. I proudly showed them the goods. Next hand, I looked down again at JJ like they never left my hands. Contemplating how to play them, decided to mix it up and just smooth called UTG. 4 or 5 limpers as usual. My English neighbor pumped it up at BB to $15. I smooth called and so did 2 others. Flop J88, bingo bongo wamboozo. Flopped the boat. Everyone checked. Turn some unrelated card to me, my English neighbor betted $15, I smooth called and everyone else dropped out. My English neighbor smartly checked dark. Some brick on the river. I had to decide the max money I can extract from my friend since he knows how solidly and tightly I play. Decided $30 again was about right for roughly $90 pot. He called and giggle when he saw my full housed and said that $30 was just about what he would pay to look me up. Another hour passed by without any memorable hand. Getting bored, I raised from button to $15 with QJ. 3 callers, flop 996. All checked to me, and I decided to fire a continuation bet of $40 to get the job done. The new played went all in for $60, everyone else folded back to me. I had no choice but to call the additional $15. Of course he had the 9. He called my $15 raise with 9T suited from SB!! Dinner time, and had to quit.

After dinner, went back to Excalibur with my friend for a revenge. Armed with a full stomach and a fresh mind, I was ready to tackle 8 new players. I and my friend seated at a brand new $1/2 NL table. A couple of people were really short stacked, probably like $60 buyin. Played my usual tight game until I figured everyone out. 3 limpers in addition to the 2 blinds tallied up to be $9 dead money in the pot. So, I raised from late position with AT to $12. Only 2 callers, 1 of them is an older gentleman calling station (OGCS). Flop A98, OGCS fired out $20, lost 1 player and I called knowing my AT is good. Turn 4, checked to me and I wanted to play small ball poker with a mediocre Ace, so I checked behind. River a 2, and he threw out 2 green chips for a bet of $50. I knew he had air or a weak Ace since he limped in preflop. I said “called” without much deliberation. He turned over A2 and I revealed my AT, only to figure out that he caught a 3 outers for a 2 pairs. I was so mad at myself to let him get there. But, AT wasn’t such a strong hand and I didn’t want to play a huge pot with it. Thought I could just get to show down. My friend said he would fold if I pushed all in at the turn with my remaining $50 when he checked (pot was around$80, so I doubt if he would fold). I told him I don’t think so. What do you guys think? You think I played this hand bad?

Next hand I got AJ from late position, and raised to $12 again with a little steam coming off my ears. Tightest player on the table pushed all in with $26 at BB. I had to call $14 more for a pot of over $40 (with some previous limpers). I called reluctantly, and he flipped over AK and I told him I put him on that or big pairs. Either way, I was way underdog, and doubled him up. “Reload time for me!”

An orbit later, my friend raised to $12, OGCS called along with 1 more player. Flop KQ6 with 2 spades, my friend C-bet like $20, only OGCS stuck around. Turn a 4, no spades. My friend pushed all in with the remaining roughly $45. OGCS called without much thought. River a brick. My friend said, “you got it” as he turned over 88 for an aggressive bluff. OGCS mucked his cards and the whole table erupted with disbelief. This OGCS was calling all the way down with a flush draw only, without a K or Q. I told my friend he would have called my all-in bet with a measly A2. It’s getting late, gotta work next day, so told him 1 last orbit and we would be out.

At this point, I was stuck $100 with a wild image. Couldn’t wait to get a good hand. Before you know it, I looked down at Rockets at SB. This is the only big pair I got for the last 8 hrs of playing over 2 days (JJ is the best hand I’ve seen so far). There were like 5 limpers with the blinds. I told myself not to get cute, so raised big to $20 this time. 1 Caller from late position. Flop 88Q, I fired again $20, villain thought a few seconds then, rasied to $40. Music to my ears, “Ka-Ching”. I hollywooded a little, then pushed all in for $50 more on top. He went into a tank as I could hardly control my excitement. He finally called with his 66. Turn and River both bricked out and I doubled up.

Couple hands later, I raised from late position to $12 with 56 suited just because I had some extra chips now. 3 callers to see a flop of 99J, all checked. Naturally, I checked this time after I lost to a 9T suited earlier in the day with a similar flop. Turn another 9, all checked to me again. I thought I could take this pot down right here, but didn’t want to risk any more money, so checked behind as well. Turn 6. All checked around to me again. I thought maybe my 6 is good at this spot. Anyone with 9 or J would definitely take a stab at it, even the smallish bet of $5 or $10. No way they would check it 3 times. But then, who would pay me off. Would anyone call me without a better hand than me? What if someone reraise me, then I would definitely waste my money. Anyway, tanking for a minute and everyone was waiting for me, I slowly counted out $12 to bet. This way, I would lose the minimum if I got reraised, yet make it look like a steal with such a small bet. Surprisingly, all 3 called. Everyone turned up the hands. Before I could even see what these people were calling me with, I was pushed over this $70 pot! Obviously, they called me with Ace high, or King high. What a risky thin value bet! You think this is a wrong logic for this thin value bet?

What a trip, down 1 buyin of $100, and recovered all plus a little more after 8 hrs of poker. Thank you for reading this long post. Feel free to give me some suggestions on those hands.