I arrived on Tuesday, March 13 with two of my close friends The Cowboy and Chopper! This being Choppers first trip I wanted to make sure he had a good time and see all the sights. We stayed four nights at The Four Queens and were able to get the poker room rate from the manager of the card room at Binion’s. Just $24 M-T and $52 F/S it is well worth the deal. My thought is why pay $100 or more for a room when all you do there is nap and shower? So The Cowboy retired early as I figured he would and Chopper and I set out to see Fremont Street. We returned to the room at 4am to catch a three hour nap and headed out to get some breakfast before we hit the $1/$2 No Limit table at Golden Nugget. All three of us were seated at the same table with some older regulars who seemed to be very kind. We played our required four hours in order to get the $10 food comp that they offered. I finished up $27 for the session. The one thing I did not appreciate was the fact that they use 50 cent coins to rake. If the pot doesn’t reach $10 they still will get a rake for a $5 pot. Booooooo!
The three of us headed over to play the $100 2pm NL tournament at Binion’s. There were only 29 entries which came as a surprise to me because of the good structure they have that gives you a lot of play. Binion’s also is offering a $10 food comp to anyone who plays in a daily tournament and plays one hour of live action afterwards. They also have $2 per hour comp for playing in their cash games which is unlimited on the day. With twelve players left and blinds at 600/1,200 there is a raise utg and I’m in the cutoff with KK and 65,000 chips so I re-raise of course and it gets back to him and he says I am all in for 59K. I kind of feel disgusted but I am not good enough to fold here and he has AA and I was hitting the rail soon after. I moved over to the $1/$2 No Limit table where I played a quick 15 minute session and was up $107 when The Cowboy and Chopper decided it was time to visit the buffet at Golden Nugget to take advantage of our $10 comp. When we returned to Binion’s for some more poker, we were surprised to find a list for a $3/$6 Omaha/8 with a half-kill. So the three of us signed up and the game started shortly thereafter. The best surprise was that the card room manager announced that they would only be taking a $2 max rake! The game quickly filled up and we played for more than five hours at a full table. I was a $33 winner for the session and a $62 winner for the day.
Thursday morning came early as the NCAA games tip off at 9am so if you want to place some bets you had better get to the sports book early. The three of us watched some basketball until it was time to head back to Binion’s for the $100 2pm again. This time I made it all the way to the final table when there were 9 of us left I raised to 6k with AKs and the button who was the massive chip leader and table captain made it 25k I only had 50k so the decision was easy, I moved all in and he called with QQ and I was headed to the rail once again. The best part of the day was getting the Omaha/8 game off again with the same $2 max rake. Props to the Binion’s staff for getting this up and running! I had a small $5 win for the session but finished the day down.
Friday morning I was back at it with some more bets on the NCAA games and the Binion’s $100 2pm tournament. Chopper wanted to hit the poker action early on Friday so he entered the Binion’s 10am $60 tournament and won it for $400! I was able to build up another nice stack with only 11 players left. I was in the cutoff when Mr. Aggressive to my right made it 3k to go with blinds of 600/1,200 so I flatted with TT. The button also called as did the BB. The flop was a dream 55T! The BB checked and Mr. Aggressive bet out 5k and I called as did the button and BB, the turn was a Q and it went check, check so I checked as well and the button bet 5k and the BB called, Mr. Aggressive folded so I called as well. The river was a 6 and the BB moved all in for 10k and I shoved for 11,600 the button folded, the BB turned over 55 for flopped quads and I was once again headed to the rail shortly thereafter. Chopper was able to get a chop of this tournament. We don’t call him Chopper for nothing!
Saturday came and The Cowboy headed back to Ohio and Chopper and I went to The M Resort for the night where my wife and her friend awaited us. No poker as we just watched basketball and partied for St Patrick’s Day! On Sunday we moved over to The Orleans for our final three days in Las Vegas. I have always been fond of the poker room at The Orleans. I love the fact that you can always get in an Omaha/8 or better cash game and they have a max rake of $3 on all games. I did play two hours of $4/$8 Omaha/8 with a half-kill but lost $62.
Monday Chopper and I played the Noon $75 Omaha/8 tournament at The Orleans. There were a total of 61 players but it was not to be as he went out 20th and I was next out. So I sat back down in the $4/$8 Omaha/8 game and lost $123 so another losing day for me!
Tuesday came and it was our last full day in Vegas so we wanted to get out and see the sights so where did we end up, Binion’s for the 2pm $100 again! This time I was not able to get anything going and was out shortly after the second break. Chopper …. well you know we don’t call him Chopper for nothing! Chopped again! I was able to win $70 in the $1/$2 No Limit game but still finished down for the day. Overall it was a great time and I am already looking forward to going back again!