Main Event Trip Report
Let me start off by saying I am a terrible writer and decided to post this as a courtesy to all of those that have posted before.
Day 1 (7/6)
My flight out of Philly on Southwest airlines was uneventful. I was fortunate enough to score a bulhead seat next to a nice chatty lady from Orange County Ca. We talked for a good part of the trip out there. Our flight landed 45 minutes early into Vegas.
I grabbed a cab and headed over to Paris. I told the driver to take Paradise to Harmon to Audrie St. The last time I was in town I was tunneled by a driver and decided I wouldn't let that happen again. My cab ride was $18 including the tip.
I was really impressed by the lobby of the Paris Hotel and Casino. The decor is themed in a french style, with beautiful chandeliers and marble. There was no line as I checked in and was given a room with a view of the Bellagio fountains and the Eiffel Tower. The room was small compared to the Rio which is where I stayed last year. The room had two queen sized beds and had an odor. I called down to the front desk and asked for a room change, since my reservation was for a single king sized bed. The staff member said that reservations are not guaranteed but would do what she could. I could hear her typing away on her keyboard as if she were writing War and Peace. She finally found me a new room with a view of the strip and a king sized bed. I went back down to the lobby to get my new keys and proceeded to room 1098P. The room was at the very end of the hallway and was the last room on the left. I walked into a very large room with two large windows overlooking the pool, Bellagio fountains and the Eiffel Tower. The other window had a view of Bally's and I could see the Rio from there as well. The decor was some what dated and there was a hole in the wall near the foyer. I decided not to complain about the room and went downstairs to give the girl at the front desk a tip for going out of her way to accomodate me.
Two of my friends were due in later that night so I decided to grab something to eat. I saw pretty good reviews of the Le Burger Brasserie and decided to give it a try. The decor of this place is alot like any sports bar I have been to. They had a decent menu with a wide variety of burgers. I decided on the "Le Bleu" which is a burger with blue cheese, avacado and bacon. I gotta say, this was a terrific burger. Perfectly cooked and huge side of fries. I was able to pay for this with the comps I have been saving for this trip.
I took a stroll through the corridor that connects Paris with Bally's. This area is themed parisian style and reminded me of Disney with all the detail they had put into making this place look like Paris. There were many shops that offered everything from clothing to pastries. I ended up in Bally's and decided to play in the $1 - $2 cash game as I waited for my friends who were booked for the week in Bally's.
Getting a seat at one of the tables probably took 15 minutes. I sat down at the table and bought in for $200. My very first hand I get pocket Q's. I make a a raise to $12 and get one caller. The flop came 7 6 2 rainbow. I lead out for $ 20 and the villain calls. The turn is a Jc with no flush draws. He checks and I make it $45 to go and he calls. The river was a 4. He checks and I make it $75 to go. He raises me all in. I had about $50 left and decided to call. I figured him for AJ but to my suprise he turned over 4 6 for two pair. Down one buy in. I reloaded and continued to play the rest of the night with no hands of note. I got a text message that my buddies were in route and I cashed out at about $230. Not exactly what I was hoping for with all the reviews of how soft the games at Bally's were. The table was very loose and unpredictable. There was definitely money to be made in this room as I would find out later in my trip.
I met up with GW and BB at the Paris bar, in the middle of the casino. We talked for about an hour or so about strategy and the main event. GW and I both won our seats into the ME through local poker clubs and BB was paying his way into the event. This was a lifelong dream of his and since he had the money he was going to fulfill this dream. We all agreed that we wanted to go up to Binions the next day and play in the Binions Classic which started around 1 or 2 PM. Off to bed I went with dreams of a ME cash and starting off my trip with a win at Binions.
To be continued.........
Great report and looking forward to hearing the rest.
Early arrival into McCarran? Check.
Not getting tunnelrolled by the cabbie? Check.
Staying at Paris (best decor, good eats, only drawback no poker room)? Check.
Room view of Bellagio fountains? Check.
Comped meal at Burger Brasserie? Check.
Down almost a full buy-in at Bally's on the first day? Wellllll, you can't win 'em all.
Looking forward to the next installment!
Le Burger i love that place,i almost got the "Le Bleu" but i thought the blue cheese might be a little too strong and for my first time there thought i would play it safe with just a bacon cheese burger,but think i'm ready for the Le Bleu in oct...
Day 2
We head up to Binions after a decent breakfast at the Side Walk Cafe. We used to have a Side Walk Cafe here in AC. The food was about the same, typical diner food with good coffee.The decor is nice and the staff were attentive. We head out to catch a cab up to Binions.
We arrive at Binions about an hour early for the tournament. We go up to the podium with no one in line. This place was a ghost town when we walked in. We register for the tournament and after me insisting we go get a picture with the million dollars. My buddies are laughing at me for being so cheesy and acting like a tourist, but relented anyway.
After the picture we decide to go play some cash for a little while. There were 3 or 4 regulars sitting there and were very happy to see some fresh meat sit down. This lasted for about 5 minutes until they realized we were degnerate gamblers trying to win a pissing contest between our friends. Every pot was raised and re-raised by at least 2 of us. We play alot together and rarely give each other credit for a hand. The regulars soon became folding machines and just watched us 3 and 4 bet each other. They were a nice group and started rooting for each one of us to go broke. My friend BB was the big winner in this game. He ran his 200 up to over 500 in about 40 minutes. I lost about $75 during this pissing contest and GW lost a little over $175. The tournament was about to start so we headed over to the tournament area. By the time we got back there were a little over 70 people waiting for the tournament.
The tournament started with about 85 runners. My buddy BB is sitting 2 seats to my left. I chip up pretty early when my set of 6's buries another guy's set of 4's. I am off to a great start with that double up and a gew smaller pots. I am in the BB with Ts Js and BB raises. Everyone folds to me and I call. The flop comes A K Q rainbow. I check and BB makes a pot sized bet. I smooth call and the turn is a 4c. Now the board has 2 clubs. I check and BB makes another pot sized bet. I re-raise him and after a few minutes he shoves on me and I call. He has AJo. He is drawing to a ten for a chop. He never improves and I take him out. He laughs and heads off for some more cash games. At the break GW is sitting on an above avergae stack and I am one of the chip leaders. GW suggests a 70/30 split and I agree. After 20 minutes or so my table gets broken up and I sit down at a new table.
My new table is a mixture of tourists, like myself, and a couple local rocks. I know they are regulars since every dealer greets them by their first name. This table was quite passive and I was able to start accumulating chips by raising in position and building a pretty loose image. I was really surprised that I wasn't re-raised very often. I thought it was pretty easy to figure out what I was doing but, was allowed to continue my shennanigans the entire time I was at this table. The table broke up and we were down to 2 tables.
After a few more levels we broke for dinner. I walked around trying to find a place to eat. By this time GW and BB were both playing cash and weren't interested in eating. I walked up near the front of Binions and found a little counter service place that reminded me alot of a luncheonette. The cooks and and counter people were all wearing aprons and paper white hats. I decided on the burger since the young kid sitting next to me was devouring his and it looked great. I gotta say this was a really good burger, even better than the one I had at the Burger Brasserie. It was perfectly cooked and juicy. The fries were excellent too. For about 10 bucks I thought this was a good value.
After the dinner break I get moved to a tougher group of players. I tightened up my game and played TAG. I get mixed up in a hand where a rock raised my blind and I defended with 7h 8h. The flop came 5h 6h Kd. I checked and the original raiser makes a 1/2 pot sized bet. I take my time and make the call. The turn was the Qh. Bingo! I check and he makes another 1/2 pot sized bet. I think for a moment or two and shove on him. He calls and turns over Ah Kc. The river comes the 2h and I am out. I thought I played the hand well, but in hindsight I was surprised at his call. I figured he had to make for the flush with my call on the flop. He did have the nut redraw and It came on the river. I finisherd in 18th place with no money to show for my efforts.
I go looking for the boys and find them at a BJ table. I tell them I am going to play craps a few tables over. I buy in for $200 and start playing the pass line. They offered 5X odds on all bets. After a couple rollers this young, beautiful young girl starts to roll. She is new to craps. I can tell by the way she handles the dice and the dealers kept telling her she can't shake them in both hands. This girl goes on a really good run. She was hitting evry 10, 4, 9, 5 and every other point she rolled. It finally ended and I cashed out up nearly $250.
After collecting our cheesy pictures we hang out on Fremont street for a while. We all liked the atmosphere and the vibe of the place. There was a saxophone player, playing what appeared to be an electric sax, it sounded great. He had the crowd really into it and was taking requests. We hung out watching him for a while and decided to go into the 4 queens. We walked into the 4 Queens and saw they were selling raffles for a Ford Mustang Foos. This car was amazing! It was a beautiful convertible with styling I have never seen on a Mustang. I wanted to buy a chance but the line was long and the boys weren't interested in waiting around for me to get a ticket so we split. We walked around the area checking out all smoking hot dealers that are strategically placed by the front door to draw in dirty old men, such as ourselves. I thougt GW was going to break my ribs with all the elbow jabbing he was giving me everytime we walked by one of these beautiful girls.
By this time it was getting late and decided to head back down to our necck of the strip. After getting beat up playing BJ at Bally's I decided I wanted to retire early since the next day was day 1d and my second attempt at the ME. I stayed up and watched the last Bellagio fountain show for the night. It was really awesome to view it from my room. After the show I hit the sack while drams of a ME event cash danced through my head.
To be continued.............
@fatb
The Le Blue was excellent. I thought the Blue Cheese would be overpowering too, it wasn't. It was a perfect balance between the cheese, the avacado and the bacon. I would definitely recommend this burger if you are a fan of clue cheese.
First of all, I very much enjoy your writing style. Your inclusion of great detail makes the readers able to visualize and literally follow along in your poker playing, hotel, and restaurants.
I am very much looking forward to additional installments!
I second that. I'm very interested. Even getting frustrated that I can't read more right now haha.
good read. You're a much better write than you lay claim to.
I will update this report in the next day or so. Sorry about the delay. Work has been hectic with the start of school around the corner.
Should I continue this in this thread or write a trip report for each day? I see other people appear to write new reports for each day.
Bigcrit
I would say keep posting here - that way the whole story is all in one place.
Great job so far......I love downtown and Binion's. Fun read.
Still waiting for the next update in this TR. I've been enjoying it so far.
Dont know about the accuracy, but on my last visit, the cab driver told me there is a massive fine($600) if they get caught using the tunnel and 15 to ferry passengars. Cabbie said if they get pulled over, the policeman will go straight to the passenger and ask them if they requested the tunnel. If the reply is no, they write the ticket. Second offence is revocation of license plus bigger fine (much bigger - $3000). He said this law has been in effect for a year or more. But I still tell them no tunnel.
I will complete the trip report sometime this week. I have been much busier than expected. Thanks for your patience.