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First Vegas Poker Trip 2/16 - 2/19
Just got back from Vegas last night from my 3rd visit. This is the first time I've played poker there though. I honestly don't know what the hell I did the first two trips if I didn't play poker. I'm 24 and my buddy is 26; it was his first time going to Vegas.
Overall I walked away slightly up from poker and random gambling, but it's something like $20 or $30 at most due to quick and brutal blackjack losses (we started calling it "crackjack"). We probably played about 16 hours of poker and my biggest winning session was a $115 profit in about 2 hours playing $2-$4 at the MGM.
In fact the only game we played the whole time was $2-$4 Limit but next time I go I'll be playing $3-$6 or $4-$8 for sure. It seems like such a crap-shoot sometimes in $2-$4. I can't count the number of times I had to lay down pocket jacks or queens because there were 5 players in the hand on the turn with 4 of the same suit on the board (and I didn't have one). I'm used to no limit play so this seemed odd and frustrating to me.
The Excalibur had the best bonus thing in my opinion. If your pocket aces are cracked then you can spin this wheel and win anywhere from $20 to like $1000 or something. It's pretty decent, and I saw it happen two or three times while playing there. You can also spin anytime you hit quads or a straight flush I believe.
TI has a pretty decent comp deal. They'll pay you $2 per hour in comps for playing poker if you sign up for their player's club, and you can use the credit in any of the restaurants there and Starbucks. Might as well do it if you're going to play for 3 or 4 hours, plus their room is very slick.
The Venetian, Caesar's Palace, and Wynn have amazing poker rooms, but I couldn't afford to play in those. MGM was by far my favorite room and I made $ each time there.
Ok, so I guess this isn't so much of a trip report, but more like random observations...I might as well give a few more in that case:
Overall if I were to do it all over again I'd do the following:
- Stay at the MGM, Luxor, or Mandalay Bay for easy poker access, nicer atmospheres, and to avoid having to take the monorail 4156346243 times from Imperial Palace.
- Forget 'saving money by going during the week'. There's a reason it costs more to be there on Friday and Saturday, we realized. (We came for a little club action too, and the one we wanted to hit the most was closed on Monday.)
- Play higher limit poker, at least $3-$6 but I would love to try $4-$8 sometime.
- Avoid black jack and roulette like the plague.
- Bring at least two girls with us so there's pressure to take more breaks from poker and go out drinking/dancing.
Awards ceremony:
Best Buffet - Bellagio (You have to make 3 laps just to form an attack strategy. Mirage was very good too.)
Worst Buffet - Treasure Island (way to mess up everything...dolmas and egg rolls for breakfast? really?!)
Best Overall Poker Room - MGM (Right next to a nice club/bar that plays music while you take peoples' money, I like that even though some people said they hated it.)
Smokiest Casino - Imperial Palace (I bet it was more smoky than the top floor of Monte Carlo the other week.)
Best Drink - The Jaded Mojito at 'Liquidity' in the Luxor
Worst Drink - 99c Marg from Bill's Gamblin' Hall (Yes, I found that it's possible for something to be overpriced at 99c.)
Best Cocktail Waitresses - Venetian, MGM, Imperial Palace, Mandalay Bay, Wynn, Planet Hollywood, Luxor...etc
Ok, that pretty much sums it up, I'll be going back soon for more.
@urbanpopex
This is not meant to be a dig on you, but it amuses me, and I'm interested in what others at my level of play think.
I'm primarily a low limit player and this type of statement never fails to amuse me. 3-6 and most of the time 4-8 isn't any better than 2-4 if it is the lowest game in the room. Very rarely will you see both 2-4 and 3-6 in the same room, so they are basically the same game (kill games not included in this generalization). 4-8 seems to be hit or miss on how crazy loose it is. If there is a 2-4 game also, then it is more reasonable, if it is the lowest it tends to lean towards crazy but not as bad.
Complaining about all the callers is fine here, and I agree, but I loooove the NL players only playing to get a fix, then complaining they can't push anyone out. Very Low Limit games are about the odds and draws, not the high cards.
just a low limit junkie
Zaudtke
Very good post zaudtke. I have found myself in the "NL player in a 2/4 game to get a fix" situation a few times including my last trip when I played at TI. Finished a session of NL, wanted to play a while longer and have a few drinks. Lost a big 2/4 pot when I flopped a set vs flopped Q high straight. First reaction was "why are you in the hand w/ Q 10 os, but before I said anything I remembered the game I was in, relaxed and said nice hand. The odd card hands have tons of value and calling stations are the name of the game. Your lowest limit in the room statement is also right on, it's all relative. 2/4 to your average joe at Golden Nugget is the same game to your average joe playing 6/12 at Wynn.
@mnpuckster
That's interesting, I didn't realize this was the case. I'm looking forward to going back to play some $3-$6 or $4-$8 and seeing how I hold up. It's nice to hear that the level of play doesn't ramp up very much. It's most exciting because I really wanted to play at the Wynn and Venetian poker rooms but wasn't at all confident enough or staked to play $4-$8.
the thing you did right was not bringing the women with you. You will have very little poker time if you have women with you unless they love the pool!!!