So this trip was organized while I was at my parent’s for thanksgiving, and my younger brother and I decided to take our 3rd brother to Vegas for his 21st birthday.

I book a room at Harrah’s the first two nights, and at Vdara the last 3. They book flights out of Cedar Rapids, I book my flight out of Chicago and we are all set to head to Vegas!

Friday Dec 25th
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I arrive on Southwest at about 330pm from Chicago without any issues. Love flying southwest, never a problem, and everyone that works there genuinely seems to enjoy their job. One of the flight attendants put together a 20 question xmas trivia (on his own time for fun) thing where everyone filled out answers and then they tallied up a winner. And before landing one of the other flight attendants led us through a bunch of stretches after the 4 hour flight.

I take a cab to Harrah’s and check-in. It takes forever to check-in with 2-3 people working the registration counter, and about 60 people in line to check-in, ugh! After an hour or so I get my room keys, drop off my bags in my room and head down to the Harrah’s poker room to wait out the 3 or 4 hours until my brothers show up. When I get to the poker room, they have a tournament running and a couple tables of 1/2NL going, so I jump into the cash game.

Overall, my experience in this room was good. Dealers were good, floor was nice, no complaints. I probably won’t go back since I like to play higher, but I had a good impression of the room other than the lack of games.

I loved the fact that I could button straddle here. I took full advantage as did the player to my left. This old angry nit two to my left would sit out every single time he was in the blinds to avoid the straddled pots lol. A third player went on monkey tilt when we started doing it, but about 20 minutes later he was doing it every time he was on the button, it was hilarious.

Harrahs 1/2NL:
------------------------------

UTG (loose player been losing, $80) makes it $12, folds to me in CO with AKo, I make it $52. Button (solid, loose aggressive player, $200) instantly moves all in. UTG folds. I call and win a race vs QQ and get berated about how I could possibly call with AK there. I stack my chips quietly.

I raise to $12 UTG with AKo, UTG+1,UTG+2 ($200, old asshole super-nit who sat at every button straddle wen in blinds) and one other call. Flop comes KK4dd I lead for $30, he thinks for a bit and flats. I know he has a king and I am doing happy dances inside. Turn comes 8c, I check he pushes all in and I snap call and win. He did not show. There is no better feeling than felting an old nit! So much fun!

MP (TAGish ok player, $250) makes it $7, one call from CO, I make it $28 in the SB with QQ. MP calls, CO pushes all in for $56 more. I push all in and MP folds. CO has AQo and spikes an ace on the turn.

Dealt TT+ (no AA though) 8 times in the session and lose (mainly by folding w/o showdown) every single time.

Later in the session, the old nit is losing somewhat big ($300+) and is in the BB. The button straddles, this Asian player UTG says this is his last hand. The nit BB immediately announces he is sitting out this hand, and the Asian player picks up his already racked up chips and starts walking away. As soon as he does that, the nit puts his big blind back in the pot. Asian guy comes back to the table to try to get back in the hand, but the old nit says “you already left, get out of here”. Wow. What an asshole. The dealer can’t believe it either.

My brothers call me to let me know they have arrived and I rack up and leave.

Total: +$157

The three of us head over to the Venetian to grab some dinner. We end up eating at this Mexican place there, the name of which escapes me. The food was actually quite good. I got some enchiladas, and the guacamole was pretty good as well.

After dinner, we all decide to check out the Venetian poker room. One brother gets a 1/2NL seat, the other sits in a 4/8 limit game. I decide to check out the 2/5NL action. A new game opens right when I show up and I get right in.

As usual the Venetian room is beautiful, well run, and has great action up to 2/5NL. I think the 5/10NL action is probably better at the Bellagio. They only had one table going at the Venetian and the action didn’t look great.

Venetian 2/5NL:
------------------------------

What a crazy table with some great action.

I am up $500 very quickly winning a pot with 74s when the flop comes 974ss when a guy pushes all in with J9 for $300 and I win a couple other smaller hands.

Raise to $15 in EP, bunch of callers to me including HJ. I call on button with 6s5s. Flop comes 7s6h4s. Early leads out for $40, HJ flats, I make it $180 on the button. EP agonizes and folds. HJ ships it all in for $370 total. I snap and lose to 77.

6 limpers and I'm in the BB with 92dd. Flop comes Kd6d3d. I lead for $25, button calls (HJ from last hand, huge station). Turn comes another 6, I'm pretty excited thinking there is a good chance he has a six or king and is never folding. I bet $60, he calls. River comes an 8c, I bet $150 he calls and wins with Jd7d.

I start hand with $700ish. Limp UTG, UTG+1, I make it $30 with AA UTG+2. 3 callers including UTG+1 (very tight girl, plays super solid) and LP (loose aggressive Armenian action player who was making a lot of moves, generally playing very LAG). Flop is KsTd7s they check to me, I bet $80, Armenian (huge stack) CR to $180 and I am salivating. Folds to UTG+1 tight girl and she ships it in for $350ish total, and I go from salivating to being unhappy! I fold annoyingly and show the guy next to me. He says I'm nuts for folding, I tell him I'll bet him any amount he wants I don't have her beat, he says lets bet $10 (lol) and I take it down when she shows TT. Armenian calls off UTG+1’s push with 33 and turns a set but it is no good vs her set of tens, wow!

I have $800 to start this next hand. I'm in SB with QQ there is a straddle, 4 callers, I make it $60. 3 callers including crazy Armenian in MP. Flop comes Qd5h4d. I lead for $130, Armenian makes it $330 woo hoo, I tank and push all in and he tank calls with 8c5c haha. Turn comes 5d river blank and I win (first big pair to win a pot, good first win!).

I raise UTG+1 just before leaving to $20 with QQ. 3 callers including UTG+2 (LAP). Flop is 8d 5h 3d. I lead for $50 he calls. Turn is Jc. I lead for $120 he calls. River comes a 9h. I check he quickly bets $200 and I snap call faster than he can put the chips in the pot and win vs Ad4d.

Total: +$930

My middle brother loses $170 quickly at 1/2NL and leaves with the other brother who won $40 at 4/8 limit. They walk around the strip checking out the various casinos while I played the 2/5NL session.

Saturday December 26th
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We wake up and head down to the sports book to place a $100 bet on the Lakers -7. I end up winning the bet, but it takes 2 overtimes and some miracles to get the victory!

I lose $40 on slots while waiting for my brothers at Bally’s. I went over before them to pick up our tickets to the price is right. They make it over and we go grab lunch at some deli in between Bally’s and Paris. The food was decent, nothing special.

After lunch we head into the price is right. None of the 3 of us ever get called up there, which sucked, but the show was decently entertaining. The prizes were all way smaller than I expected. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, but not sure if I would ever do it again.

After the show we head back to the room and take a nap. Wake up later and get ready to head out for dinner + O! I am pretty pumped to see O as I had heard only great things about it. We head over to the Bellagio and eat at Noodles before the show. The food is decent (I’ve eaten there a few times before) and we all leave stuffed.

At this point we head to the sportsbook to watch the Lakers game since we have time before O starts. We see everything until the end of the first OT (which ends with a miracle put back by Pau Gasol with 0.4 seconds left).

I got O tickets on ebay from a Vegas ticket broker for $140 per ticket. The seats were absolutely amazing (section 103 - middle, lower section about 15 rows back). Face value on the tickets was like $165, so I was very pleased. The show was great, I would go back again. Highly recommend this show to anybody who heads to Vegas!

After the show I decide to jump into a 5/10NL game at the Bellagio while my brothers go play craps.

Bellagio 5/10NL:
------------------------------

No big hands, not a single showdown except for the pot at the end. Won a few pots double barreling and with cbets. Finally won a pot with a big pair (JJ/KK), who would have thought!

One limper, I raise to $50 in MP with KK. BB calls. Flop comes T53r. He check/calls a $60 bet. Turn comes an 8 putting up a backdoor flush draw. He leads for $100, I call. River pairs the 5. He check/folds to my $200 river bet.

I observe a really crazy hand while at the table. There is a raise from EP to $40, 2 callers, SB 3bets to $240, gets cold called by BB and gets called by the other 3 players as well (including MP loose-passive who goes all in for $30 more or so). They go to the flop 5 handed with $1200 in the pot already!! Flop comes Th8h3c, she moves all in for her last $850 or so. BB tanks for several minutes and folds (presumably KK/QQ), all others fold. Turn and river comes running hearts. She shows her AA no heart. All in guy stares at board for a really long time, smiles, and slowly rolls over Ah9s wow! This slow roll would come back to bite him in the ass later.

Later in the session, hyper agro guy with $10k+ (game has a $1500 max buy in!) in his stack makes it $60 UTG, slow roller from the previous hand moves all in for $600 more. UTG calls pretty quick. Board runs out JhTh9h3s2c. Slowroller flips over 44. UTG looks at board and hand for a long time and finally flips over AA, the other guy went nuts and then left angry, it was great!

I limp UTG with 8s8h. 5 other limpers including BB. Flop is 7d7c2d. I lead for $40, girl in LP calls (aggressive preflop/flop but doesn’t value bet thin on later streets). Turn 5h. I check/call $90. River is 8c. I check she checks behind with Jh7h! Ugh, I figured it was either a missed flush draw or a 7, and either way she would bet. I still can’t figure out how you don’t bet a 7 there. Think check/raise is the right play on that river, but if I had known she would check behind with Jh7h I probably would have bet !

Total: +$451

Sunday December 27th
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We wake up Sunday and check out of Harrah’s and head over to Vdara. I absolutely loved this hotel. It is connected to the Bellagio, 60 second walk from Aria, and the rooms are really nice. We got a room with a great view of Las Vegas, the Bellagio, and the fountain show.

I decide to check out the Aria poker room. I thought it was a very nice looking poker room. There weren’t a ton of games running in the afternoon, no 5/10NL, only 1 or 2 2/5NL games. The action was great though, so no complaints. Seemed to be very well run with the floor making good decisions any time there was an issue.

Aria 2/5NL:
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With $450 in chips, I call $20 with 66 on the button after a few others callers, crazy aggro SB makes it $50 more and gets 3 callers in front of me, I call. Flop is Jd6d5h woot, SB checks, solid UTG bets out $150, HJ calls, I move all in, SB folds, UTG calls, HJ calls for less. Total pot $1450. Turn 4d, River 2d and my hand is somehow good vs an overpair with no diamond and 52o (HJ lol).

After that I pretty much lose every pot for 4 hours (this would become a theme on this trip) flopping tons of second best hands.

Total: -$200

That evening we head to see Seinfeld perform at the Coliseum in Caesars. The show was great and absolutely hilarious. Exceeded my expectations!

That night at midnight my brother turned 21, and we celebrated by doing shot after shot of patron and then heading out at about 1230am to gamble the night away!

My brother was completely hammered when we hit the craps table at Aria. He was making pretty much every mistake possible, taking the dice off the table, moving them between hands, not hitting the back wall when shooting, etc. The pit lets a lot of it slide which was pretty nice of them. All 3 of us end up winning money after a couple of shooters get really hot! Great success! We order more drinks and then head over to the BJ tables. We all win again at the BJ tables and things are going great! We color up after a while to walk around and figure out what to do next when the little brother starts not feeling good and spends the next hour on the floor of the Aria bathroom stall. The next day he remembers very little from the night before, a great 21st birthday haha.

Gambling with brothers: +$230

Monday December 28th
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The next day I decide to head back to the Bellagio to play some more poker, while my brothers continue to sleep.

Bellagio 5/10NL:
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This was just a really gross session again just flopping lots of second best hands or getting drawn out on. I’m sure a few bad plays in there as well, but I couldn’t believe how many times I had to let go of pretty big hands this session.

I raise UTG+1 to $50 with AQ and get 1 caller on the button from a pretty solid/tight player. Flop comes Q53r. I bet $80 he calls. Turn comes 9 putting a flush draw. I bet $160 and he makes it $450. I fold and he shows KK.

UTG+1 raises to $50, I call next to act with AKo, 2 other callers including the BB who is a very straight-forward tight player. Flop comes Ad 8h 4d. UTG+1 bets $150, I smooth call, LP folds, BB makes it $450 to go. I hate this spot, and normally I would go with my hand here because of the various possible combo draws. But in this case I just didn’t think he was raising any draw really with the Ad on the board and decided to fold after UTG+1 folds. Raiser flashes 88 to the table and decided to leave after that hand.

Later in the night I’m down to $600. I raise in the CO to $50 after one limper with TT. Really loose BB calls, limper calls. Flop comes JdTd8h. They both check, I bet $120, BB check raises all in, limper folds, and I snap call. Turn 9d, river Ac. BB shows KQo. It was not my night!

Total: -$2800

At this point I have $1k left in my pocket and it is off to the Bellagio blackjack tables to play some tilted blackjack for $50/hand. Thankfully I ran really good and won $800 playing for an hour. My brother joined me and also won about $200.

Tilt Blackjack: +$800

Tuesday December 29th
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I wake up before my brothers again, and head to the Bellagio to play some more poker.

Bellagio 5/10NL:
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I forgot to take notes after this session, and don’t remember the details of any hand super well. I just kept losing and losing though, it was lots of fun! I leave at 6pm to head over to Planet Hollywood for the America’s Got Talent show that my brother got us tickets for.

Total: $-1300

America’s Got Talent was pretty entertaining. I never really watched the show on TV, but basically it was all the winning acts from the show, with Jerry Springer hosting, who was really entertaining. I really liked this women singer who sang opera as if she was actually Italian, and this drummer group.

After the show we decide to go to dinner at PF Changs. We go to the restaurant and the wait is an 45-60 minutes. So we get a buzzer and head back into the casino to do some gambling. My brothers hit the bathroom and I sit down at the BJ table and start betting $50/hand. In about 15 minutes I win close to another $800! It was absolutely nuts how good I was running.

The best hand I was dealt 66 vs a 6, split them and get 65 and 66, double down on the 65 and hit a king! Split the 66 again, 64 and 67, double down on the first and hit a jack and stay on the other. Dealer busts! Easy $250! It’s funny because if I lost $250 while playing 5/10NL it wouldn’t bother me at all, but I was literally holding my breath as she flipped her card and dealt the hand out.

Total: +$765 in 15 minutes

My brothers come back and are like “wtf, what happened while we were in the bathroom!”

I’m starting to think that I should give up poker and just play blackjack .

Dinner at PF Chang’s was ok, nothing amazing.

After dinner we go searching for $10/hand BJ tables so my brothers could play too. We end up at Excalibur in the pit where the girls are dancing right behind the BJ dealers. I lose or push for 18 straight hands, luckily only betting $25/hand this time. I guess the blackjack run good had to end at some point!

Excalibur BJ: -$600

Afterwards I decide to head back to the Bellagio, while my brothers are tired and after a few nights of heavy drinking and head back to the room.

This session at the Bellagio goes much better than the last two.

Bellagio 5/10NL:
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6 handed, UTG (loose player who loves to make moves with $800) limps, LP limps, I make it $70 total in SB with AhKh. Flop comes As Tc 6s. I lead out for $100, he min-raises to $200, I push all in, he snap calls with 8s3s and gets there on the river. Wow I’m off to a good start again!

After that I basically could do no wrong the rest of the session.

Loose and tilted UTG raises to $50 with $650 behind, 1 caller to me. I reraise to $200 with QQ on the button. UTG calls quickly, caller folds. Flop comes 983r. He quickly pushes all in, I snap call. Turn K, river 3. I show my hand and rake in the pot. UTG claims he had 98, which I don’t believe for a second. I’m guessing he had a hand like TJ or T9.

6 handed. LAG/good MP raises to $40, folds to me and I call in the BB with 77. Flop comes K73r. I check/call $80. Turn comes a Q completing the rainbow. I check, he bets $150, I check raise to $420, he thinks for a while and calls. At this point he has $750 behind and I cover. River is a 2. I think for a bit and shove all in. He tanks, and eventually folds.

5 handed. UTG raises to $50, button calls, SB calls, I call with 63s my favorite hand! Flop comes 853r. I check/call a $140 bet. Turn is a 3c putting a back door flush draw on the board. I check, he bets $300 and I check raise all in for his last $550 which he calls off quickly. River is a blank and I show my hand and scoop the pot. He shows me a 5c and starts to berate me, rebuys, and says “the chips are going to fly now”! Sounds good to me!

My favorite hand of the trip is this next one. Villain is a very straight forward TAG player. Probably would be a huge winner in a 1/2NL game, but I doubt he is a winner at this level. Effective stacks are $1800ish. He raises in MP, I call in the BB with 6d4d. Flop comes A75r. I check/call a $60 bet. Turn comes a jack. I check, he bets $140, I check/raise to $420 total, he thinks for a bit, shows A8s and folds. Once he bets the turn, I think the fold is good, but betting that turn is a major mistake against any good/aggressive player. I am literally never calling with a worse hand, and he sets himself up to get bluffed off of 1 pair if I decide to make a move. He is better off checking back the turn and calling any river bet or value betting the river himself if I check to him again.

At about 630am, the 25/50NL game breaks and 3 players come over and sit in our game. The two better players are on my immediate left so I am thinking it may be time to call it a night soon!

A few minutes later I am dealt AKo in MP. One limper to me (loose player from 25/50NL game, seemed like the weaker of the 3), I raise to $50, 1 caller in LP, BB calls (TAG from last hand), limper caller. We go to the flop 4 handed. Flop comes Ks7c4c. BB leads for $100, limper flats, I raise to $400, BB folds, limper calls after saying “I know you have the best hand but I’m going to bust you here”. Turn comes a Qd. He checks, at this point I’m not really sure what to make of the hand, but not sure if I can really value bet again, so I check behind. River comes Jh, he briefly thinks about betting and then checks. I check behind and scoop the pot vs Ac9c.

The villain from the last hand moves in between the two good 25/50NL players on my left, so now I am OOP against all 3 of these guys. At this point I figure I’ll play until the next dealer change (5/10NL is a time charge game so makes sense to leave at dealer changes).

Last hand of the night I raise to $40 in the CO with KTo. Button and SB call, BB raises to $200. This is just so likely to be a squeeze from a good aggressive high stakes player, and I think for a while about making it $500 to go (even counting it out), but then decide to let it go and not get involved in any madness just before leaving. Everyone folds, he looks at me, laughs and says “you should have done it” and flips over 72s. Oh well, dealer change happens 1 hand later and I rack up for the night.

Total: +$3000

Wednesday December 30th
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The next day we all check out and I see my brothers off to the airport and head back to the Bellagio for one last session before heading out myself.

Bellagio 5/10NL:
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I get a ton of premium hands early in this session, but get very little action on any of them.

Couple of interesting hands from later in the session.

Solid player in MP makes it $30 after two limpers (had no idea what that meant at this point but figured a mediocre hand). I call in SB with AJo, we go 5 to the flop. Flop comes Jh5c3c. I lead for $120, he makes it $200 more everyone else folds. I flat the raise. Turn Qs goes check/check. River is Ac and like a fish I check/call a $340 bet and get shown 7c6c.

An orbit later, I am in the BB with about $1100. UTG and UTG+1 limp, villain from last hand makes it $30 in MP, folds around to SB who pushes all in for his last $190. I look down at AhKd. I decide to flat, limpers fold, and original raiser calls. Flop comes 6h6s4h. I check, MP bets $350 and I fold. Turn/river come heart/heart and MP scoops with 2h2s. Maybe I’m being results oriented but I think I played this hand pretty bad with the flat call preflop. After last hand I know MP isn’t likely strong here, and the limpers had limped quite often so they are unlikely to have a big hand. I should have shoved preflop to isolate against the SB, and even if one of them calls it’s likely a coin flip.

Total: $-300

Total Poker: $0
Total Gambling: $1200

Overall it was a really fun trip, saw a lot of good shows, had a lot of fun with my brothers. The poker went about as poorly as it ever has for me in Vegas, but that’s poker for you! I felt like I played pretty well most of the time. Luckily my run good at BJ/craps kept the trip in the black.

Can’t wait to get back to Vegas soon! I am thinking of coming back in for march madness and the next AVP tournament. If anyone actually read this whole TR I am very impressed!