Hey all. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the trip reports here for a while, and wanted to take the time to share my last experience in Vegas over the January 18th weekend... A little background will hopefully make it easier for you to see how I approach the game and what I am looking to get out of the game of poker, and how that translates to the way I play and why I enjoyed my last trip to the Mandalay Bay.

I was in town for three days, the first day being my partners’ annual meeting to map out our strategy for the next years direction of the company. We had rooms at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, and generally always stay there or at the MB itself. Every once in a while, I try the Four Seasons, but see so little of the room itself, it is hardly worth it.

Friday, we hit the conference room at Joe’s Crab Shack in Caesar’s for a three hour lunch meeting to get the work out of the way. Fortunately, after about the second hour, we ordered cocktails, and that speeded things right along... Afterwards we reconnected for a few hours of gambling at the Wynn prior to meeting the wives for dinner and a show.

I did not even see the poker room at the Wynn until after dinner (more on that later), and did not play there. It was BJ for two hours, and then off to dinner and the show. I generally play BJ at a quarter table and go two handed at between $50-$150 per hand. This session did not lead me to greatness, but I did head to dinner up $500 exactly. Dinner at Cusca Cuccina (sp) was a major disappointment, and I do not recommended at all. The show, La Reve, also really failed to deliver. Once you have seen Ka at the MGM, all the other cirque like shows seem to fall short.

Got back to the MB after the show and got my name on the $2-$4 NL sign up sheet, but fell into a BJ table and missed my call. Decided I was too tired and hit the sack. Sat. was spent hitting the shops in anticipation of dinner at Nobu at the Hard Rock for the wife and me. As always happens, the group decided they wanted to jump on the coat tails of my culinary knowledge, so we called to see if we could get in for a larger group. Could not get a reservation there for eight, poor planning I know, but Saturday was our “free” night. Decided to go big time Vegas and see if the $100 trick would work with the Maître’d at Nobu. Walked up to the line at 7:00 o’clock and asked if there was any chance she could seat the eight of us. After she stopped laughing and inquiring if I was kidding, she looked down at the Benjamin folded in my hand, and reached over the counter to take my hand like a caressing lover and led our group to its freshly found table of eight. Money talks very loudly in Vegas.

After dinner, we stayed around the HR for a little BJ. The wheels on the bus came completely off there, and the losses mounted. Walked out the door stuck $3,000, as I was playing with my wife and she was losing equally as quickly. Did get an offer for a couple nights free lodging in February from the pit guy if I wanted to come back.

We headed straight back to the MB and I beelined to the poker room to get my name on the $2-$4 NL game. As we were waiting my wife and I started talking to some young kids who were in architecture school together, and just starting to date. As I met my wife in architectural school too, we began chatting and I miraculously missed my name call for the $2-$4 game. The list had know grown to 8-9, so I just asked to get me at whatever game I could. A $1-$2 spot opened about three minutes later, at around 11:30 Saturday night I sat down immediately to the dealers left with a max buy of $200, noticed the button to my left, and was asked if I wanted to post. Of course I said, got in with great position. That was the beginning of what turned out to be a very lucky session. I have never sat so close to the dealer before and had to make a few adjustments to the way I stack my chips and sit at the table to make sure I did not affect their dealing. The only other problem I had from this position was that I could not see the guy to the dealers immediate right, and even forgot he was there a few times.

Anyway, before I get into the game itself, I want to give a little bit of information on how I play. First of all, I go to Vegas for the absolute enjoyment of it. I know enough math to know that I will lose at BJ over time, but it sure is fun to play when you win! I like to camaraderie and excitement of sitting at any table, poker, BJ, craps, and having fun. I play poker to have a great deal of fun, but also for the competition. I do not use my poker winnings to add to my life in any way at all, so to me it is just a game. The chips are markers to keep score, and so the fun of poker does not come from sweating out winning a big pot on a coin flip from someone that needs the money worse than I do, but playing a competition in which I can beat the other people through better skill, aggression, or (occasionally) luck. I play online at SnGo tournaments almost exclusively, because they play into that side of my game. The winner take most approach feeds my competitive side. I also approach poker like anything else in my life, very analytically. Once I find something I like, I try to master it. I have read just about every book ever written on poker, Brunson, Harrington, Gordon, Slansky, you name it. I also live in a state were live games are legal so I get to play a lot of dealers choice games that go to either Omaha or HE. I have played in three local tournaments that have been run around here the last couple of years for charities, etc., and took 9th, 2nd, and 4th. I also donated back all of my winnings each time which amounted to a little over $2,000, as the money means more to them than me.

Anyway, that’s enough about me, let’s get to the game. As I said, I sit down and immediately try to get a feel for the game, i.e., what’s the standard raise, who are the pros, is there any easy money at the table, etc. I don’t see any easy money right away, so I realize I must be the easy money right now. Make a point to start my game very tight and aggressive. I do not limp into any pots, even with position, “just to see pot”. I see so many limpers and callers get chipped off hand after hand with raises and re-raises, only to wake up with a hand and no bullets to fire. No sense seeing a $200 buy in get chipped down to $75-$100 only to catch aces and double up back to your initial buy in. Poker is a very easy game to play if you only show down the best hand.

Regardless, early into the game within the 1st couple of orbits, I look down to see what I first think were A A. Closer examination and shaking the couple of beers I have had already, revealed a pair of 4's. Darn the luck I think, but I am in the cut-off, so I may get a chance to do a little set mining here. A couple of limpers get in the pot when it gets to me, and I make the standard raise to $12. Button, SB, BB and limpers all come along for the ride. Flop comes 4 J 4. I am now completely confused. I thought at first I had pocket Aces, rechecked and was sure I had seen two fours, but now my hand is on the flop. This can't be. I generally don't pay attention to suits when I see pocket pairs, so I could not use that to help me figure out what was happening. Finally, it dawned on me, I had flopped QUADS! I tapped the table as I asked the dealer who he liked in the playoff games tomorrow. All my other victims checked as well. Turn was a blank, but a Q fell on the river and the early limper bumped the pot $20. I would have bet if he did not do it for me, but until the river I was playing slower than nuns play strip poker. I figured he caught and was not stealing but did not like his kicker that much, as a 1/3 pot bet into a 5 handed pot was not going to get him anywhere in this game. 1 caller and the rest folded to me, so I popped it to $80, to see if I could get paid. Fortunately, he decided Q 10 was worth $60, and after the other guy folded, I got paid off. Only at this point did I find out about the high hand jackpot. Add another $126 to $190 pot. I love me some me! The game stopped for a bit as they called the floor and I signed some paperwork. The dealer also counted down the deck to make sure there were not any more fours to be found.

Jumping off track, I will talk about tipping here for a moment. I tip way too much. I like rewarding people that do their job well, and make my life easier. So, to keep my math simple I gave the dealer the $26 on the high hand to make it an even $100 for me. I also gave him about $15 on the pot. I noticed that all of the sudden we were becoming very good friends. A few whispered comments like, this new guy that sat down just played terribly on the 2/4 limit table, or good fold to a hand I played a bit later. It seems like my tipping was helping me get some insight into the game, and that turned out to be a big help later. The dealers are also a very tight nit group, so they all let each other know about a good tipper like me, so each new person that sits down starts as my friend. If I would steal the blinds from the button, I would just ship them to the dealer and say thanks, I'll pay mine this round. Stuff like that is a lot of fun for me and also these people that have a very tough job to do.

I grind away for the next hour or so and have about $600 in front of me. I have not shown down the worst hand yet, and am winning a lot of other hands with solid raises. I am really paying attention to pot sizes and the amount I need to raise to control the action. I am definitely leading the game, but I am noticing that the tourists are slowly leaving the table and the seats are filling up with guys that the dealers all know by name. Hmmmm... I think that the sharks are starting to see some blood in the water, and I realize that I am the blood. Time to switch gears and find the next level of tight aggressive mode. If they want to play, let them come after me and I am going to make it very expensive to find out that they are playing second best cards.

The guy to the dealers right I have now nicknamed the Scorpion as he is dressed in all black, of Mexican descent, and plays about two hands an hour and when he turns his cards over its like a poisonous stinger, it kills his opponent. Note to avoid him, but can not help myself when I look down to see A A. Ah, better to be lucky than good. I bump the bet to $17 (this was the second semi standard raise...) from under the gun, and watch everyone fold to the scorpion in the BB. He calls the $15. The flop is A 7 something. Flopped trip Aces, rainbow flop, no logical straight action, how to play. Decide to raise to $20 or about 1/2 the size of the pot to see what will happen, after his check. I am either going to get action, or he is walking. Sweet, I get a call. Turn is another blank, he checks, me $40, he calls. I am certain he has some sort of ace play now, so I know I am going to get paid. He has about $120 or so in front of him, and when the river hits blank again, he bets $60, slight Hollywood re-raise with a lot of muttering and lip moving on my part, I bump him All-in, hear call and I flip over the winner. He never showed. My guess is that he was thinking I was on a weak ace and thought he was trapping me. Anyway, he left for about 10 minutes and came back to the table sitting in another spot four away from me across the table. He looked at me a lot the rest of the night. I don’t think he figured I could raise trips like that, and could not put me on that hand. The books all say to not slow play, but it seems so counterintuitive until it works for you.

A few minutes later I look down and see A A again in BB. I now am convinced that someone put something in my beer and I am hallucinating. I had just got up from a bathroom break, listening to two punk kids debate the affects of Cocaine on the Adderall that they had taken earlier in the night. From what I gathered from their conversation, they were going to take the lab rat approach to answering this age old question instead of a more scientific approach. I wished them well, and scurried back to my table. The UTG to my left had raised it to $12 to start the action. He got a few callers when it came to me and I bumped it to $45. He had a bout $240 or so behind, and I was sitting with about $700 or so. I hear the best possible thing a man can hear in my position when the frat boy says re-raise. He puts out $100 with a lot of flourish, making 4 stacks of five and then ceremoniously kicking over the 4th stack to show it held an even five chips. I grab two of my $100 towers, smash them down on the felt and announce with gusto all in. Frat boy instacalls and turns over a beautiful J J. Flop was no help for either of us, neither was the turn. I begin to reach out to grab my two $100 towers back, when the dealer decided to burn and turn the river. I don't know why she is bothering, as this Frat boy is not going to the Izod store tomorrow to buy himself or Muffy or Buffy or whatever her name is a new shirt, because he is felted. Dealer decides that I did not tip well enough earlier, because she bottom deals him one of the only two cards that could help him, another Jack...

Ouch, back to $500, but I decide I can get the money back from the kid given a little more time. Unfortunately for me, Frat Boy II comes up and lets the table know that Susi from the Spearmint Rhino just called and wants to go "hang out", as her shift just ended. Frat Boy I can't get out of their fast enough. I don't have any time to tell him that the $500 or so he is leaving with would be better spent used as kindling to start a fire at an old folk's mixer, as there would be an equal shot of any sex occurring during either evening.

Around this same time, as my interest was waning, a very beautiful young lady walks into the room. I think that she is coming to sweat her boyfriend, but she is walking right to our table. None of the guys in this group would qualify as her boyfriend, so I wonder what is going on. Much to my delight, it turns out she will be sitting at our table. Her skirt length is impossibly short, and I still wonder if she bought it in the store and it shrunk, or she actually thought it covered enough skin. Regardless, her fashion sense was to my benefit. She sits almost directly across from me. It turns out she is pretty good, and her boyfriend is even better. He is at the 2/4 table, and I am thanking my lucky stars I never moved up when they asked.

Back to the action. Between the dealers and I, everyone that managed to sit down learned of my flopped quads earlier in the evening. I joked how I only played the nuts, blah, blah, blah. Well, cute gal "Sunny" has me reinvigorated to play the game, so I decide to play for a while longer; it's now around 3:00 am. I am half hoping we can convince “Sunny” to play strip poker instead. That was the only thing all night that did not go my way...

I look down from MP to see a 7 7. I have around $425 in front of me, so I decide to go along for the ride. There was an earlier raise from a drunken guy to $12, and I wanted to see another set if possible. I called and let the action move on. Couple of other callers including SB get into the pot to pump it up to around $50. Flop comes 7s Ks 7. I am really, really confused again. I was virtually certain of my hand PF, but once again was counterfeited as the rule of poker is you do not flop QUADS two times in a night. I need to decide if I should look at my cards to confirm or just go with the hallucination. I decide to pretend I have the nuts and check. One of the callers raises to $25 and I smooth call. Turn is blank, and we go check check. River is 3s, and SB bets $50, I re-raise to $125, and get the call. He made his flush, and as a miracle, my cards remained 7 7, and I take it down. Get the big pot jackpot again. Sign my name on the line directly below the line from my earlier quads, and ask the floor person if this has ever happened here before. Not that he recalled. I suggested the game is a lot easier if I could flop a couple of other hands like this. A couple of the other dealers come by and congratulate me, and say good luck. I am now convinced that they may be renaming the room after me. Maybe the next time I play...

A while later, "Gus Hanson" sits down. He brings with him five towers of chips that I find out amount to about $900. I have just about $800 in front of me, and immediately start to have thoughts about how to get into his stack. My good friend "Jason" the dealer sees me eyeing his stack and whispers to me that, "Gus only plays the nuts, he does not lose. Be very careful if you chose to play. He left the 2/4 table to come to play with you..." This turned out to be the best advice I was given all night. I watch Gus felt a few players and it was always with a nut over second nut hand. He sent "Sunny" to the ATM with his A A A 9 9 full house for her trip Aces. His Ace high flush sent "Yao Ming" back to his room when his J high flush did not hold up. Aside from that, Gus did not show down, as he won his pots with big stack raises. The only hand we played all night was after about an hour together, he raised my button, which I had been defending with more rigor than my blinds. I quickly re-popped to $40, and he folded after giving me some flack. Later on, after "Sunny" suggested shots, Gus started doing fire tricks with his drink, which I think someone said was Sambuca (sp). He dipped is finger in it and lit it on fire, and then put some in his mouth and lit it as well. We all got a big kick out of it, and I flipped him a five dollar chip and thanked him for the show. Another round of guffaws followed.

"Sunny" got back from the ATM after her hand with Gus, and rebought in. She and I got involved in a couple of hands which both resulted in her ending on the felt. I felt bad, but she was trying to get me off hands and just did not have enough money in front of her to make it happen. If she played again with me and her aggression, she might be able to make it happen. I wish her well, but she needs to make sure to rebuy for the max...

As it is now around 6:00 am or so, this report is about over, I promise. A few more things happened of note, so I will continue on. The first is a big Ol' boy from Tennessee sits down. He said he used to be a football coach and is now retired. He buys in for $300. I don't know why they raised the max buy in, but I will take it! Immediately, big boy starts playing, and he is horrible. Watch him call into a big pot with 3 clubs showing and 4-5 people in it with the 6 of clubs, and say he was on a busted flush draw. He did not notice the winner played a Q high flush that he caught on the turn. The guy to my left, who is a solid young local kid is running a great commentary for me, but won't get in to play with this guy. I am thinking about giving him and "Sunny" another $100 so they can start playing with this guy because this is literally like watching a mint sit down. Rebuy, $300, felt, rebuy, felt, rebuy.

I finally decide to play with this guy when I find 8h 9h and he is the BB. I raise $17, knowing his call is coming. I am only expecting to get a little, but he has about $275 or so left after his last rebuy. We also have a new dealer, Jodi, and she is just coming in from the shift change. We have not played together yet. Big Boy calls (shock!). Flop is Ace 8 6. I over bet his check $40, just in case he is playing a weak ace, I want to have the chance to get out now and fight another day. At this point "Sunny" whispers to the guy between her and me that she folded A 8 for what would have been top two pair. She folded to my larger than normal raise, as she saw me on a big over pair, and she was also way understacked, below $100. She has also been playing with me a while, and has seen me play the best hand most of the time with a bigger raise. Shows the power of having the right stack in front of you and being the first raiser into a pot. Both played a bit into how this hand played out, and for that I am thankful. Her admitting to folding one of the aces made me feel better that Big Boy did not have one in his hand. I guess that's why they tell people to not discuss there hands until the action is completed. Back to the action, Big Boy, after referencing some hands he saw people play on the WSOP on ESPN announces that he hopes that I don't have an Ace and that he has really good draw and calls. Phew, no ace to be found. I normally would not give too much credence to what people say about there hand, but he has been calling out his own hands all along. I am in one of the only hands I have been in all night where I think I might be gambling, but know I am winning at this point. Of course the turn is a 5, so I am now concerned about his earlier declared straight draw. In retrospect, I don't know why I was scared at all, but I sometimes get into a position where I can see winners in my opponents where they do not logically exist. I am really working on that. Regardless, his check brought out one of my $100 towers. I wanted to raise more, but was eyeing the felt under his stack and really wanted to see all of it. Call. 10 on the river, pretty much puts the straight out of my mind. Check. Stephen King him with Two Towers, he has about $150 or so left and hmmms and hasssss, and eventually calls with 4 5. Said he was just calling to make me show the winner, he knew he was beat. My second pair of 8 8 holds up. He marvels at me on how I played the hand. Reminds me that he was a 7 away from winning the hand. Blah Blah Blah... I let him go on and on for a few minutes, and say to him how he should rebuy and keep waiting for the seven. He does not get it. Eventually, Gus Hanson leans over and tells him that my 9 would have counterfeited his "great" inside straight draw. Gus did it with enough volume and flourish that the whole table laughed. Put Big Boy in such a good mood though, he rebought again. Table now had over $1000 of his dead money.

Jodi the dealer pushed the pot towards me, and I started stacking and stacking and stacking. I pulled out all of the silver, as is my custom, and now had cards and the action on me. Damn gotta play this hand, so I call a bet with cards I don't remember. Turn is checked. River brings some action, which I consider calling but eventually fold. I know I had top pair, but fold to two guys with two pair. Get back to stacking and organizing chips which is now hard, as I have well over $1000 in front of me. Separate all of the $1 chips out and make a tower which is about $40 or so, get finished doing all of this work, just as the new dealer shows up. Jodi gets up and fairly loudly declares that this table is so so, but I won a big pot, and did not tip. I literally had just finished organizing my stack and had been tipping so well all night long, I would often wait a hand or two just to get organized before tipping. I was also so close to the dealer, a few would miss the tip, as I set them close to the jackpot drop and they could not see them back there. I would wait for a lull in the action and say thanks, this is for you. Regardless, Jodi called me out just as I was reaching for the stack of blues that I was giving to her. I let her walk away a few feet, and said excuse me, Jodi, she came back and I said this is for you and point to the blue. She about fell over, as did the dealer who just sat down. Regardless I enjoyed watching her pour the chips into her tip cup and realize that they were not going to fit, so she had to come back for seconds. I made a joke about a tip buffet that she enjoyed. Regardless, we were best of friends from that point forward.

She later gave me some insight on poker in Vegas and let me know that the Wynn was probably the toughest game in town for a tourist, because there was no max buy in, so the sharks would swim in that water. They run a lot of low of tables so that the local pros can spread themselves across more tables and put a few fish at each table. The action stays low until the fish come to swim then get ready for fireworks. She said the best game for a guy like me who wants to recreate his home game was to be found at the MGM. Each other room had, too much rake, too many sharks, or out and out collusion from the dealers on down.

Gus and I count down our stacks and we find out I am ahead, $1,350 or so to his just over $1,300. I know he really wants to eat at my table, but we have avoided each other all night long, and alas, tonight will not be his night. I really wish we could have played, but I will have to wait till I get there again...

It was now 10:00 am and I was running on empty. I decided call it quits on one more orbit, and my favorite dealer of the night "Jason" was throwing cards for us. "Jerry Yang" is at the table and has been showing the best hand with K 3 and Q 7 on some fairly big pots, so I see him really loose. He was a nice kid, though and we joked quite a bit up until this point. On the hand with me as the second to the cutoff (hijack?) I find 8h 10h on my last orbit. He raised to $12 with about $400 behind from his winning his bad kicker hands. I call and the BB jumps in too. Flop is Qh 10 9. I catch my ten and some crazy way to make a back door flush which I am convinced will hold up. He bets twenty five which is exactly the amount of chips that I look down to see in my only stack of chips that don't make a hundred. Ok, I'll call. If I don't improve, I only have one more hand before I go, and I can take my nice even number of money home. 10 falls on the turn. Bingo! He bets $50. I mull a second, decide that Steven King writes good books so I will do the twin tower move again and put him on a decision for all his money up. If he calls, he is pot committed. If he raises all in, I am calling because the money is right. Blah, blah blah... regardless he eventually folds after the Scorpion, who is still there after all this time, calls for a clock. Dealer says he is giving him a 30 second pre clock call before he calls the floor person over for the real clock. Kinda odd, but kinda funny. He folds with Q K and says he knows I have the 10. Gus Hanson says you think. I smirk for a few seconds and say, nah it was my best bluff of the night. Gus falls out his chair, and I flip my cards over into the muck face up.

I got up, grabbed a few racks to load up in, and stood to leave. I reached down to grab the racks and pulled out a nice stack or twenty reds, which I handed to "Jason" and said thanks for the really fun time I had playing here. I heard a few people say some nice stuff about me and they wish more people took care of the dealers like I did. I thought to myself that more would, if they were playing free money. Regardless, as I cashed out Gus Hanson came over and said he respected my game. That was worth more to me than any of the money I won that night, and just to prove it, I took the $1,300 in profit and gave it all back on the BJ table in less than twenty minutes. My heavy action did not get a single look from the pit boss at all. I guess I am coming back to Vegas in February and playing at the Hard Rock. Too bad they don't have poker there.

... A few notes. Not all hands are exactly as described, as I was not taking notes, but the general gist was the same. If I did not call out suits, it was because a) I did not remember and b) it did not matter to the action as a flush hand never showed up. The names in quotes are aliases, except for Gus Hanson, but I figured you knew that it was not really him, but just a guy that looked a lot like him. I can't wait to get back...