Feb 14th-16th
I arrived at the airport at 5:45pm for my 6:40pm flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas. I met my girlfriend at check-in and what do you know flight is delayed half an hour. I never had this happen before on Southwest. When on board, the flight was smooth and quick. We arrived at McCarran exactly an hour from leaving SF. The airport was actually busy. With Valentine’s Day and it being President’s Day weekend, going on this weekend was a good choice. My girlfriend and I cab it over to the TI. We told the driver not to take the tunnel, but instead he took a road where no other car was seen. HMMM No complaints though.
We arrived at TI a short while later and walk over to check in. Being that it was our 7 year this past Friday and Valentine’s Day, it was a perfect time to try the $20 trick. I slipped the twenty between my license and credit card. A smoking room with two queens. HMMM Give me back my twenty. She then gets on the phone if there was anything available non-smoking with a view. We’re able to get that room, with a nice view of the Wynn and the Palazzo, and comped champagne. (For some reason we never called in for it though)
After dropping off our bags, we get some dinner at the Coffee Shop. My girlfriend had the Surf and Turf, and I had the Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Potato. Both were really good. My girlfriend is tired, and I walk her up to the room. On to the poker…..
I take the short walk over to the Venetian and clock in on the 1-2 list. The Venetian was extremely crowded. The Deep Stacks have been running and have been doing well, so I’ve heard. I get a seat a little after 11:15pm and buy in for $300. I get chipped down to $200 from normal play. The last hand before we had to be must moved I get 98os in the big blind. I make about $135 after flopping trips and filling up on the river. The other player who was in with me said he had an 8 as well, but I put him on tptk on the flop. I move to a new table with $335. This move was maybe two hours after playing at the other table.
About an hour into the new table, a drunk guy from the Air Force Academy sat down. He had a huge championship hockey ring on. He sits down with a Corona, but it looks like he has had more to drink. He asks if this is no limit, and when sitting down under the gun, he raises to 4. This should be fun. He of course buys in for $75, and miraculously chips up to $400. About an hour and a half later, this memorable hand comes up. An early raise of $12 was called by two people including the drunk air force guy (DAFG). I have AQ clubs in the big blind and call. In the midst of this, I was talking to a local woman, who I played with before. We had nice conversations while playing. The flop is 10,8,4 with two clubs. I bet $15 to build a little pot. DAFG calls and the turn is a 4 of clubs. With no raise on the flop, I put DAFG on a ten. I bet $20. DAFG min raises to $40. OKAY I smell trips. I decide to raise to $80 to see if he reraises with a boat. He calls, sips his vodka tonic, and says I must have a flush. The river is a 9 of clubs. I bet $50. DAFG goes all in and has me covered. I ask the dealer if I’m allowed to flip my hand. Dealer calls floor over, and I’m allowed to. I wanted to see how DAFG would react. I think he has A4. About ten seconds later, while he’s talking to his neighbor, he looks at my hand from across the table and says f***. I insta call and he tables 94. In the aftermath, I should’ve folded after he said I had a flush on the turn, and after he reraised all in with four clubs. I had the nut flush, but I should’ve known that he wasn’t stupid enough to raise with only trips in that situation. Bad call on my part. I end up rebuying for another $300. DAFG spreads all his winnings around the table except for me. I leave even after my second buy-in.
Day 1: 11:20pm-7:45am Buy-in: $600 Cashout: $300
My girlfriend and I woke up a little before 12, and we start to get ready. We walk it over to the Caesar’s food court. We get the usual calamari basket, and my girlfriend has the idea of playing poker. After eating, we walk over to Bally’s for hopefully the usual donks. I actually sit down first at 2:30pm. The table didn’t have any bad players as hoped. A few severely overplayed top pair, but the rest looked like local grinders. The table looked safe, so I told me girlfriend to take a seat. She started at 4, and we left at 6:45. I bought in for the usual 3. Not too many memorable hands. Got away from kings when an ace flopped, top two to a turned straight, and tptk to a turned flush. Nothing was going right so far on this trip.
Day 2A: 2:30pm-6:45pm Buy-in: $300 Cashout: $100
We walk back to the TI to get ready. We had a reservation at 9:30pm at the SW Steakhouse at the Wynn. The walk over to the Wynn was actually kind of long and cold, but we were rewarded with a good meal. The 40 ounces of Porterhouse was cooked perfectly. Little bit rare for me, but my girlfriend likes it rarer than I do. We ordered the puree potato and creamed corn for sides, which were also good. We check out the poker room there, since I’ve never been to the Wynn. It looked like a bunch of grinders. We cab it back to Ti, change clothes, and walk down to the TI poker room. My girlfriend came up $85 at Bally’s, so she decided to play again. Nothing too memorable. She bought in for a $100. On one hand, she gets it in with two others on a K,5,8 flop. She has pocket 8’s. The turn and river are jacks, and another lady had KJ. Horrible river. We play from 11:40pm to 1:40am. My girlfriend lost her winnings but is starting to enjoy it better than slots.
Day 2B: 11:40pm-1:40am Buy-in:$300 Cashout: $303
We head back to the room. We fall asleep and get some sleep for our 1pm late checkout. In the morning, we get ready, checkout, and walk over to the Venetian. I clear my comps out from poker for $25. My girlfriend and I have lunch at the Lux. She had the Jumbo Shrimp platter, and I had the Fish and Chips. After lunch, we head over to the poker room. There was a lot of action today. The $330 Deep Stack was running. I bought in for $300 and sat down at 2:45pm. Normal play got me up to $450. Slowly lose that, my girlfriend table changes to mine. She has about $75. She ends up going through two $100 buy ins. First one, she gets it in with two others. On a board of 5,Q,J,10, she has pocket jacks. The river is a nine. Big stack tables K10. On her second buy in, she limps with AK of hearts. Flop is K,J,2. Turn is blank. The river is a king. Three all ins again. Big stack (same guy) flopped a set of 2’s. My girlfriend enjoyed herself. She played well, but she got sucked out. I changed seats a little before my girlfriend busted out and was able to play next to a cool guy from New York. A maniac took a seat in seat 9 with $75. Of course, he chipped up to $300. On one hand, I was in the big blind. The nice New York guy (NNYG) had been straddling every chance he had. Three or four calls to him with his straddle. He raises to $25. Maniac calls, everyone else folds. Flop is 5,4,3. NNYG bets $40. Maniac contemplates and calls. Turn is an ace. NNYG checks. Maniac bets $50. River is a blank club, putting four on the board. It went check, check. NNYG flips up pockets tens, and maniac flips up K2 spades. NNYG calls maniac a donk the rest of the time I was there. They were getting into numerous verbal battles.
Two hands happened. One before the maniac hand and one after. The one before happened like this. I had A10 offsuit in the big blind with six other limpers. The flop was A,10,6 with two diamonds. SB checks, and I lead out for $20. I was up about $150 on the session. I get two callers. River is a black 3. I bet out $40. I get one call, and another players all in for about $75. I call. The other guy calls. The river is a 4 of diamonds. Check, check, and the guy who reraised all in has 75 of diamonds. I get pretty annoyed that I keep getting sucked out on the turn and river on this trip. The hand after that maniac hand, I was in the big blind again with A6 offsuit. The flop is A62 with two hearts. I check this time. Maniac bets $10. I raise to $30, and some other guy cold calls, along with maniac. The turn is a 4 of hearts. I bet out $50. Maniac was about to leave. His chips were in a rack already. Before calling my bet on the flop, he said I must have hearts. After my turn bet, the cold caller folds, and the maniac reraises all the chips in front of him. I flip my hand up again in front of me. I tell maniac that I didn’t know if I was beat. He looks at his hand. He had been drinking a lot of Coronas. He tells me he’s afraid of a straight flush draw. HMMMM I decide that I believe him and fold.
On a side note, I just remembered a hand early in my session. I had aces under the gun and raise to $15. I get two callers. Flop is 10,6,3. I bet $15 because the flop “feels” like a set. One fold, and the guy on the button raises to $45, leaving him with $66. I just call to see what he does with his stack on the turn, which is a 7. I check, and he goes in for the $66. I fold my aces face up in the middle. Old guy is nice and shows me his pocket 10’s.
Day 3: 2:45pm-8:05pm Buy-in: $300 Cashout: $295

We cab it over to the airport for our 9:40 flight. It’s delayed until 11. When we arrived in SF, we taxied for 20 minutes, and the belt was broken on the baggage carousel. So we waited another hour.
Overall, I had a good trip. I lost $500. I played well, but couldn’t get any luck. I’ll be back in April for the next Deep Stack. I might play in the $550 on the 4th or try to satellite into the $1070 on the 5th. Thanks for reading this long trip report. Good luck at the tables……