Day 1 -- Wednesday, May 23rd

After flying in from Kansas City I took the bus from McCarren to MGM and walked to Paris. Having bought a terrific Ric Steves travel bag a couple years ago I’m pretty much able to pack what I need for extended trips into it and my “personal item” to avoid checking anything. It has backpack straps as well so hoofing it, like to change hotels, is no big deal. I have learned to get some rest when I arrive in Vegas instead of just jumping right into the action. When I don’t, I almost always don’t have any fortune and thus sets a crummy tone to a trip. So, once I found my way to my room overlooking Paris’ pool I napped a couple hours. I then eased into things by strolling over to Bally’s for some $3-6 LH seat time. After not playing a hand the first round I button raised with 74o and got 5 callers including the blinds (typical). The flop comes out 562 with 2 clubs. Action checks around for me to bet, I get 3 callers. I bet the 9c turn card and bb calls. River is 3c (Gin!) I bet, bb calls and steams when I show her the straight that causes her to lose 40% of her stack. She later gets me and another guy w/a boat vs my aces up. She eventually cashes out short of busto. I net $55 for 2 hours and head off to my room for some sleep.

Day 2 -- Thursday, May 24th

I walked over to the Flamingo, locked up my room for the night there, and left my luggage at the Bell Desk so I could catch the shuttle from Bill’s to the Orleans where I plan to play the $235 buy-in Orleans Open H.O.R.S.E. event at 2 pm. I pick up a copy of my players card and hit the buffet [excellent] to get some fuel in the tank. 24fanatics is staying here so via the magic of twitter manage to meet up in the poker room and get acquainted. I hang out with him while waiting for an Omaha 8 cash game seat to open to get a bit of seat time in prior to the tournament. I eventually get seated but manage to lose $35 in an uneventful hour. The tournament was just an outright struggle. I just couldn’t get anything going here. I couldn’t get cards in the right situation against the right people. I also didn’t play to my potential. I didn’t make fatal mistakes like unnecessarily getting involved in big pots and wind up drawing to half or getting stuck folding on 6th street in stud rounds before folding. Combine that with an older fellow that just racked up cards and chips like a magnet to an upright freezer and you have a bad environment. I went out 110th or so out of over 140 runners. After busting I caught the shuttle back to Bill’s, checked into my room at the Flamingo, then headed over to Bally’s to catch up with 24fanatics to play some $3-6 LH. It was a good table but I couldn’t win enough to accumulate a stack. After a couple hours we headed over to TI to catch up with AlaskGal, who was dealing the evening tournament. She had brought some of the Classic AVP card protectors I’d arranged to buy from her. I bought 3 of them, figuring jkinsey435 might buy one off of me since I was sure she didn’t have one. 24fanatics and I decided to play the evening $50 tournament that had a bunch of young Aussies signed up. There wound up being enough entries for 5 places to be paid. After playing short-stack king and surviving nearly a dozen all-ins 24fanatics finished 4th for $143 and I went out 3rd for $200! A good end for the AVP’ers. After a ride from 24fanatics back to Bill’s I caught the $4.99 late night breakfast special at Magnolias before heading off to bed. -$235 Orleans tournament + -$35 Orleans cash + $150 TI tournament = -$120, -$65 for the trip.

Day 3 -- Friday, May 25th

Today began with a late morning start. I played some $2-4 LH at Flamingo for an hour until 24fanatics picked me up so we could head out to Sam’s Town in hopes of finding a 7-Card Stud cash game. I managed to bluff a woman who’d gutterballed me earlier and a loose aggressive guy. I also played position on loose aggressive guy, who was on my right, by raising with pretty much anything connecting. It was fun, he was po’d. All good. Wound up maybe $20 in my short session. Off to Sam’s Twon. Not only were we able to get seats at the $1-5 w/25 cent ante stud game but also running was a $3-6 Omaha 8 w/kill game. We opted to play the 1:30 $35+$10 add-on tournament. The 2-tables tournament, approximately 20 players, was good fun. I got bubbled the “final table” when a LAG with dbl my stack 3 bet me all-in after I had 2.5x raised UTG 6-handed and he drew out on my snap call, A7o v AQ on a JJJx7 board. 24fanatics went on to cash when the final five elected to chop the money evenly for $100+ profit. As he finished that out I sat in on the Omaha 8 game. He later joined a freshly started $2-6 SLH game. We played until about 5:30. Neither of us had eaten all day so we found a nearby In-N-Out Burger on our way downtown to check into our hotel rooms. Animal Style Double-Doubles with extra crispy fries, with a Diet Coke for balance, was just what the doctor ordered! Tasting the grilled onions the second time around on our way to the Four Queens was a little less than ideal but it wasn’t anything a beer wouldn’t cure. After checking in we parted ways for awhile (I took a short late evening nap). Once I got up around midnight II caught up with 24fanatics at the $2-4 LH table at the Golden Nugget about 4 beers into his session. I got seated at the back table but quickly transferred up to the front one to get one of the best seats in the house (many of you know which seats those are and which table I’m talking about). The game was struggling to keep players seated (no 3rd man walking rule?!) and I’d already bluffed two players out of pots when new players filled the table and we jumped the game up to $3-6 w/½ kill. Once that happened the game got substantially bigger and much tougher to beat. Unbelievably there were more limpers, 7-8 common. Raises were called by most limpers even in kill pots. Position and other tactics generally went out the window. Big pairs got crushed, 3-outters catching and pairing of bad kickers were frequent, non-kill pre-flop pots of $70-80 were common. I essentially bled and bled and waited and waited, even losing the minimum w/flopped set of 10s versus a turned broadway. 3.5 hours in and $20 left of my $100 starting stack left I won a small heads-up pot to get me a double up away from even. Well, AKo turning into quadzilla kings trippled me up to over $115 and I then vaulted up to $195 when my JJ turned into a flush. A half hour later I cashed out after giving $19 back and went to bed. 24fanatics left a couple hours earlier down a rack after a couple more beers and a few more suckout losses. $20 LH + $7 Stud + -$45 tournament + -$38 O 8 + $76 LH = -$20 Day, -$45 trip.

Day 4 -- Saturday, May 26th

My trip documenting get’s a little shoddy at this point but hopefully it still has entertainment value.
After sleeping in a bit I think I ate at the Binions Cafe and then met up with jkinsey435 and her mom at the Dunkin Donuts inside before registering for the day’s Binions Poker Classic $150+$10 buy-in NLH tournament. I wasn’t planning to play until tomorrow’s event but I decided to go with it. It had 145 runners and paid 14 places. I had some designs on playing the $330 Omaha 8 Orleans Open tournament but decided to just stay downtown. I busted during the 7th level, shortly after the break, when I was in the bb at $400-800 w/100 ante and only 9 bb left when hijack raised 2.5x bb after it was folded around. It was a solid local player who I’d seen do similar standard raises with a variety of hands but not total garbage. I pushed for my last 7,200 or so w/KQo and his AA finished me off. I’d lost half my stack in the previous level when my bb and a passive loose utg local who’d limped saw a Q58 rainbow flop that game be bottom 2 pr. I check, he bets $600 (blinds $300-600 w/50 ante so 1,900 in the pot when he bet. I KNEW he didn’t have a Queen so I called. Turn comes a 10, 3,100 in the pot. I lead for 1,250 figuring he at best had paired the 10. He calls. River brings an ace. I bet 2,100, he raises to 5k, I call. He shows runner runner broadway. Slick. Later I’m sitting at a $2-4 LH table blowing off some steam with other bust-outs when the guy who KO’d me shows up. He’d had his KK cracked by my nemesis’ QQ. We discussed my hand, settling on my turn bet needing to be closer to pot-sized but he knew the local who got us both and said the guy was likely to have called as folded because he rarely lasts because of his passive-loose calling station nature. Wonderous! Anyway he suggests I try the Golden Nugget’s 7p $65+40 rebuy/add-on tournament because he said the field is far less competent. Before I leave I track down jkinsey to pay off our last longer bet. She got $10 and one of the Classic AVP card protectors I’d bought off of AlaskaGal.

We both wound up playing and getting a cut of a negotiated deal where places 7-9 got a $100 save. I went out when as utg+2 I move all-in for 35k whenblinds are 5k-10k with QJd and bb calls w/AKo and neither of us improve. Lots of WPT Bootcamp players were entered in this including one skinny-ass, unpleasant woman with some LIPS experience who thought she was the shit. One of those who wants a chop until she sucks out literally 5-6 times with 4 outs max and then she suddenly is the one who won’t negotiate. I hate people like that, glad I’m not her husband. Being a bitch is one thing but a turncoat is another thing entirely. The kind of person you’ll set up to get crushed just for the sport of it. 24fanatics showed up shortly before I busted so we hung out on Fremont Street marveling at the motley pool of people flooding the street. If we saw 20 people leading young children around by the hand at midnight we saw 50 w/babies in strollers. What the hell are people thinking keeping children up that late at night. Just selfish. Anyway, we hit the hay for the night.
- $50 Binions LH + -$160 Binions tournament + -$5 Nugget tournament = -$215, -$260 trip.

Day 5 -- Sunday, May 27

I started my morning with some breakfast with at Binions Cafe. An entertaining thing happened while I was drinking the rest of my coffee and thinking about my day...a fire extinguisher accidently went off in the kitchen. The workers were all laughing and trying to figure out what to do since the chunk of the kitchen next to the wall facing the bar was contaminated. Crew members from Vince Neal’s band were drifting in and out of the Cafe as well. I chose not to play that day’s Binions Poker Classic NLH tournament because I’d played the day before. 24fanatics and jkinsey435 elected to play, not sure if they had a last longer bet or not. Instead I caught the Deuce to Caesars, walked to Bill’s and caught the shuttle to the Orleans with the idea of playing some Omaha 8 cash game before taking in the 7pm $100 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. I did, but wound up down nearly a rack before buying in. An interesting thing happened to me here, the card rack from the event I played earlier this week was a late addition to my table here. Not only did his garbage play not fly here I chopped him up on the pot that eliminated him. Yes I enjoyed my taste of revenge. Anyway, I played much better and was much more aggressive until I made a mistake in the last hand before the final table. I was pretty card dead, at one point 31st out of 48 entries. Once I tripled up with rolled up 7s in a stud round I got back to average. Once at the final table I proceeded to get crippled when my I missed my draws and then quartered on two successive hands before being eliminated 7th with 5 places being paid. Since it was midnight I was able to catch the last shuttle to Bill’s and then took the Deuce back downtown and hit the sack. -$200 cash and tournament. $-460 trip.

Day 6 -- Monday, May 28

Friends pick me up at Golden Nugget to go to lunch. Hash House at M (Banana cinnamon cream French toast with pecan maple syrup and plenty of coffee). They showed me the poker room there and showed me South Point Casino and its poker room. They eventually delivered me to the Orleans where I will stay for the next 3 nights as part of a slot tournament package. After checking in I manage to catch up with 24fanatics we head over to the Rio to find jkinsey435, who was was playing a 2pm $235 deep stack tournament. We wander by the AVP booth in the hallway to say hello . We ask about card protectors, t-shirts and other swag but the friendly woman at the booth (I’m sorry I forgot your name whomever you are) say Jon just left and he has all of it. She said she’ll have him leave some for when we come back. We left within the hour but apparently he wasn’t back buy but she said she’d be sure to have some on hand. Anyway, and you’ll have to check out Jkinsey’s trip report, but we caught up with her while checking out the tournament action. It was my first time seeing the WSOP scene and it was pretty fantastic, especially the oceans of full tables we came across. We couldn’t stay long because 24fanatics had lined up lunch with dshapiro at the sushi restaurant Goyemon. I’ve only been slightly exposed to sushi before and don’t know many people who are what I’d call sushi aficionados. So it was a good first time to go to a restaurant with a couple people who know their sushi. It was an outstanding experience. $27 or so for all-you-can-eat made to order. See my review for the restaurant on tripadvisor. The four of us waddled out of restaurant and headed over to Green Valley Ranch to get into the night’s regularly scheduled PLO 8 tournament. We were too late registering for three tables to be used to start the tournament so we wound up on the alternate list. We both took seats at LH tables but he barely got a hand in before he took his seat. I was maybe 20 minutes behind but I had fun stirring the pot at the $2-4 table I was at. I waited for the round to complete before playing a hand, trying to figure out who was who. I quickly learned the large stack woman at the end of the table was who I wanted to tangle with, the table was fairly tight. I’m on the button w/34 suited and she’s utg+3. Limp, limp, she raises, all fold around buy hijack and me, and I raise to make the blinds and other think. All fold, she calls, 3rd party calls. Flop A2x. She bets, 3rd party folds, I raise, she reraises, I call. Yep she has an Ace. She best blank turn, I raise to represent pairing weak kickered ace. She raises, I call. River is a 5. She bets, I raise, she calls. She steams. She tilts for a round, rest of table looks at me like I’m nuts. I wind up leaving with an extra $20 by the time my name is called.

24fanatics is already seated when I join in. I quickly discover that his observation that these are the worst PLO 8 players ever is indeed accurate. I was pretty much staying out of trouble, looking to play premium hands because most of the field wasn’t sharp enough to lay much down when I set myself up to play a pot with the lady who was chip leader at the final table. She wasn’t any good, just lucky. I managed to triple up but got crippled a few hands later when she called my 3 bet all-in pot sized bet (she had me barely covered at the moment) with something like 5689 rainbow vs my double-suited AK25 or such and I got scooped. 24fanatics was still in when they chopped a few hands later. I was pretty po’d. Oh well. Down like $25 for the night. If I remember right we then went off to Red Rock to play some limit hold’em. 24fanatics played some $2-4 while I took a seat at the $3-6 /w kill Omaha 8 if I remember right. Probably the least comfortable seats I’ve sat in at any room. Had a fellow on my right that really played this game well, I don’t run into too many people who go out of their way so actively to keep the kill button. It is logical, keep the kill button, the pots are bigger, you win more money. And win he did. He felted a guy twice that was on his left while I was in seat 10. After the second time I moved to his left so I could play strong hands in position. I nearly doubled up in an early hand we got tangled up in and then he kinda respected me after that. After awhile I just couldn’t take it any more and I started laughing after he blew somebody else out. He asked what I was laughing at, I responded that I was laughing at what his strategy has been for the bulk of play and that I’m the only one who has figured it out. He deadpanned, “what are you talking about? What am I doing?” I told him he’s actively defending the kill button to maximize his profits by successfully getting head’s-up or maybe 3-handed so he can bury people in big pots. He continued to play stupid but honestly I’d never seen someone do what he did and do it well. I think I picked up a rack while he was up over $300 from what I saw. $75 for the night, -$385 for the trip.

Day 7 -- Tuesday, May 29

Today was Orleans Slot tournament. 24fanatics hung out with me while I tapped my life away the first 10 minute round. I went the second round alone, accumulating enough points to finish in the bottom 10% of the field. 20-30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back...but I was freerolling anyway so no biggee. I played $2-4 LH at Orleans. Made back around $40, nice to make back a little bit of cash. Wife arrives late that afternoon, surprising me as I walk out after seeing Avengers at the Orleans theaters. She was exhausted after traveling all day and went to sleep after a bath. Oklahoma City to Vegas via Memphis (Yuck!). I played the $4-8 Omaha 8 w/ ½ kill most of the evening, winning about $50 or so. $90 for the day, -$295 for the trip.

Day 8 -- Wednesday, May 30

24fanatics flew back home this morning. After sleeping in my famished and refreshed wife caught the Orleans’ breakfast buffet. 4 pm $100+30 Caesars 10% event. Very few runners for this tournament, which was a re-entry event, but I played because I liked the concept. In the end there were only 51 entries with five players receiving $990 each. Early things went well for me, including semi-bluff shoving a paired board river card that folded a guy I was head’s up with who said he folded the nut straight (he had me covered but I would have crippled him if he’d called and lost). A young Frenchman at the opposite end of my table, who always raised in unraised pots, found himself unable to call my three bet all-in (I’d been waiting on this situation for quite awhile) despite having what I knew was top pair weak kicker when his Ax got him in trouble. When things began to go south was when the Russian fellow on my right in seat 1, a loose action kind of player raised UTG, I reraised with KQ clubs. He shoves, I have him covered like 5-1, and I call. He shows KQ hearts and, you guessed it, he rivers the heart flush to double through me. I next run AK into aces. Next, I make a standard raise trying to make a move and the strongest player in the tournament who has sat to my left the entire tournament 3 bets big. I fold. Finally, with about 8 bb left I raise all-in with J10 or whatnot UTG+2 with 8 left on my table and the fellow on my left calls when he wakes up with Aces. End of story. I didn’t play much the rest of the night because of being pretty frustrated. Pretty much just putzed around with slots and such with my wife the rest of the day. -$130 for the day, -$425 for the trip.

Day 9 -- Thursday, May 31

Played $4-8 LH w/ ½ kill and won back yesterday’s buy-in in an hour. Good to know what a difference a day makes. Very loose aggressive table with pots regularly in the $120-$150 range. Relocated to the Four Queens for the duration of the trip. 12 pm $200 Binion’s Omaha 8 event. I played well, had a great read on every player at the table but just could not get enough scoops to make any headway. Even at the third break I only had my starting stack. After having to fold post flop a couple times I got moved to another table to the left of the giant stacked, obvious table luck box (he had like ⅔ rds of chips on the table) with about 7bb left and wound up all in with something like AQ36. Not only did the river miss my broadway draw but even an ace would have gotten me the high. Low missed too. Have decided this would be the last tournament of the trip for me. Java Vegas for breakfast. Dinner at Magnolias, Prime Rib with fantasticly fresh horseradish. $145 -$200 = -$55 for the day. -$480 for the trip.

Day 10 -- Friday, June 1

It was a pretty uneventful day. My wife and I joined jkinsey435 and her mother for breakfast at Binions Cafe before wandering down to El Cortez in the afternoon, played some $1-6 SLH, had a few drinks. Game was real social and loose, the famous Jackie Gaughan was already seated at the table and we played with him and some of his friends for an hour before he left for dinner. I realized too late that the game had toughened up until I was down ¾ of my $100 buy-in. We ate breakfast at Binions Cafe with Jkinsey and her mom. Dinner at Magnolias, Ribeye...no horseradish tonight. -$70 for the day, -$550 for the trip.

Day 11 -- Saturday, June 2

After sleeping in a bit my wife and I wandered down to El Cortez for breakfast at Cafe Cortez and then played some $1-5 w/ 25-cent ante Stud. A few regulars had started the game including two very sweet, very elderly women. Most of the time we played 5-6 handed and not for substantial pots. It was very social except for one fellow who was taking it pretty seriously so we’d only try to take substantial chunks out of his chip stacks. We didn’t make much money, she lost, I won so it balanced, but it was fun just to get to play some stud. We finally wandered back to the hotel and checked out at the deadline and took the bus to the airport where we boarded separate flights to Oklahoma City and started our drive back to Kansas. $50 for the day, -$500 for the trip.

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT
(ignore the link below)