Fun at the Golden Nugget
Arrived in Vegas on Friday, first time staying downtown and at the golden nugget. I realized that the hotel has been renovated since I first visted this place over 10 years ago...lol The pool was great and I loved the shark tank and SLIDE. My friends and I only decided to stay here because of a really low casino rate we got and other rooms on the strip were in excess of $200... way too much money to spend on the room, rather put it on the felt!! =)
Friday afternoon - checked in and relaxed a bit in the room, as I was tired from driving. Got up and had a nice buffet dinner at the GN for $19.99, not bad! Went downstairs and looked at the poker room which was really full of players, so I decided to play blackjack and a little baccarat... up/down the usual and quit at 2am +$100.
Saturday Morning, woke up really early around 8AM to check out the poker room. Got down to see only one low limit game going on and another $1/$2 no-limit game going on. I railed for a few minutes and I saw the stupidest thing ever. This guy opened pushed UTG + 1 for $65 and this one girl went into the tank for like 1 minute and finally called...everyone else folds. The open push shows A - 10 and the girl shows A - 9...That's not the funny part...the dealer puts out the flop, turn, river...and it's K - 4 - 4 - J - 3. He pushes the pot to the guy and the girl storms off all pissed off. Nice work dealer!
Anyways, the game didn't look good, so I went to play some some paigow and lost $100, then I played their "ultimate texas holdem" and donked off another $100...wow does this game suck... It's pretty much going all in and the dealer calling you in the dark...LOL worst casino game ever. I felt like I was getting bad beat all over the place and the sad part was, I wasn't even having fun playing this!
I decided to make a trip to the MGM and play some $1/$2 NO limit, HUGE waitlist as it was saturday night and the room was packed, most definetly from people from the WSOP. I decided to play baccarat and I saw Ming ly (sp?), he's a really time high roller! Most have been sitting on $100,000 or more when I saw him tearing up some cards.
Anyways I go back to the golden nugget after some drinks and good food and play some $3/$6 full-kill limit holdem' game waiting for my friends to get ready and go out again. First hand I get I'm UTG and see AK...I raise and get 5 callers. I already can tell this game is loose as hell and the players suck. The flop comes rags and I get bet into, 2 callers I fold. Second hand I'm in the big blind and get Queens. It's limped to me and I decided not to raise because I generally don't want to raise knowing all the limpers will call. I know for certain one or more of the players will have an ace or king in their hand and if the flop comes with any ace or king, I'll be drawing very slim. The flop comes all little and I play down to the river and one guy shows gut shot for the straight. Nice!
Nothing else happens, I miss a few flush draws and straight draws and I'm stuck $150 while waiting for my friends...dammit! (lol) A little while later, I limp in a kill pot and take it down with A-J. I win a few more pots by turning two pair etc..but the MOST memorable hand was one when this one African-American gentleman (actually he was quite an ass) raised it in early position. I was in the big blind and called with 3-7. The flop is 10-8-3. He bets and I call. Turn comes an 9, he bets, I call. River comes a 2. He bets, I call. He has A-K, stands up and storms off all pissed. I leave up a modest $3 and have fun the rest of the night with the boys.
The golden nugget poker room is average in size, the dealers at my table were all excellent, but that one from earlier was pretty bad. The room was clean and cocktails were coming really fast. I would play here more and look forward to playing some no limit.
@dontbam
What rooms were you looking at? Aren't half the places on the strip under $75 a night?
@Jooky
What rooms were you looking at? Aren't half the places on the strip under $75 a night?[/quote]
On a weekend during WSOP room rates can creep up a little. Actually, I always stay on the strip but a friend of mine just came back from a trip (stayed at the nugget) and I'm thinking I'm overdue for an Old Vegas DT weekend.
I found a rate for $99 per night on friday and saturday...every other strip hotel was $200+ for the same days. There must have been a convention in town, I'm not sure
No offense but ....
@dontbam
Huh?
Huh? The list at MGM usually runs very fast.
Generally when I know I have the best hand and people with worse hands will call I raise.
That pre-flop call is miserable. And I'm not sure the race of the villain affects the play of the hand much.
Regarding the Q-Q hand, I'm no limit player, but when you have a plurality of the equity, you want to get more money in the pot.
Regarding the A-K hand, you folded two overs when you were getting 15:1 on your call, unless you had a strong feeling that there was a set or a straight out there, I think that's a call you want to make. Again, talk to the LHE specialists to get better feedback.
Regarding the 7-3 hand, what John said.
Hope you had a fun trip.
I'm confused about this statement. Isn't this a split pot (4-4-A-K-J)? The dealer pushed to the A-10 and nobody said anything or are you saying the dealer was so bad that he missed the split pot? Actually, this would be the type of game I would like to play in. The looser the better!
Did they do anything when Minh Ly tore up the cards? I always wonder if the high rollers can get away with a little more because of the money they're risking.
Sounds like you had a good time. I haven't stayed downtown in about 10 years. Maybe it's time to make a trip to the old Vegas.
@splashhappy
Book early enough, and the cheap places (IP, Sahara, Excalibur, Riviera, Circus Circus, etc.) will still be cheap, even during the WSOP. I booked Excalibur in May for $56 a night during the main event, but I think it's $90-$100 now.
@psujohn
Huh?[/quote]
I didn't want to wait
Generally when I know I have the best hand and people with worse hands will call I raise.[/quote]
I'm not a limit player but I generally do not want to get into situations where I know I am basically drawing to win the hand, as QQ hardly will win at showdown when not improved.
That pre-flop call is miserable. And I'm not sure the race of the villain affects the play of the hand much.[/quote]
I don't find calling with any two cards a bad play in limit.
@Scrupboy
I'm confused about this statement. Isn't this a split pot (4-4-A-K-J)? The dealer pushed to the A-10 and nobody said anything or are you saying the dealer was so bad that he missed the split pot? Actually, this would be the type of game I would like to play in. The looser the better!
Did they do anything when Minh Ly tore up the cards? I always wonder if the high rollers can get away with a little more because of the money they're risking.
Sounds like you had a good time. I haven't stayed downtown in about 10 years. Maybe it's time to make a trip to the old Vegas.[/quote]
Yeah you should definetly check out downtown, actually has a very nice vibe and nice people all around. Not the typical rowdy and bling-bling wanna-be kids, but down to earth folks having a good time.
Yes the pot was a SPLIT pot. I actually spoke up on the rail which I know is not proper poker etiquette, and some elderly lady scoled me from the rail !
Regarding Minh Ly, in big baccarat it is actually okay to do whatever the hell you want to the cards. Dealers generally dont like this behavior but it is acceptable.
@dontbam
While I fully respect your right to play your chips however you'd like you'll find that both of those ideas as against conventional wisdom.
Folding AK was a solid fold.
If you don't hit the flop in LL it's best to dump your hand on a post flop bet. With 5 others in the hand preflop and 3 betting or calling post flop someone hit that flop to some degree and even with 15:1 odds I fold.
Low limit is all about TPTK. If you don't flop it (or better) or a drawing hand get out.