Room Hopping, Celebrities, Royal Flushes, Quads, and Donkeys
My fiancee and I just returned from a visit to Las Vegas (Apr 10-16), and I was fortunate enough to visit a dozen Las Vegas area poker rooms for varying lengths of time. Curious? Read on!
Note: Due to the number of rooms I visited and the experiences therein, I'm sure this will be long. I'm sure it'll be entertaining, though. Due to the length, I'll probably split this into two/three different posts... the second/third one will be a reply on the forum to this one.
First a bit of background: I'm primarily a 1/2 NL Hold'em cash game player living in Connecticut. I have a "day job", so poker is a serious hobby for me. I take the game seriously and study it in my free time. As a result, I'm a winning player (at least in my sample size!) and keep detailed records of each session. For this Vegas trip, I was with my fiancee on our vacation, so I had no real expectations for the visit poker-wise. I just wanted to play here and there. As it turned out, I played quite a bit at a lot of different rooms. Now, on to the report...
Apr 10 (Sat) - We flew into lovely McCarran International Airport from NYC, arriving in the early afternoon. We then checked in to the first hotel of our trip: New York / New York. My fiancee is fairly new to poker and is used to the 2/4 limit games here in CT, so she wanted to play 2/4 in Vegas. As such, we found our first room to play at late on this Saturday night: Imperial Palace.
Imperial Palace (10pm Sat) - I'd read the comments on AVP about the action at IP on weekend nights, and they were pretty accurate, at least on one table. There were 2 tables of 1/2 NL and 1 table of 2/4 limit going. The first table I played at was a bit of a bore, so I switched to the other table that looked much more lively. This table was highlighted by two drunk Russian guys, one of which had about $1500 piled in front of him. I was waiting for my opportunity to take some of that and bought in for $200. Long story short: I got my money in good against the drunk big stack three times, which resulted in me losing two of three! D'OH!! In a bit of good news, I heard a lot of commotion over at the 2/4 table... and it turned out that my fiancee had flopped quad Aces, netting her a small pot and a $75 bonus payout.
Results: -$278 in 2 hours at IP, -$278 for the trip
Apr 11 (Sun) - At about 11am, my fiancee wanted to spend some time relaxing at the NY/NY pool, so I went off in a southerly direction looking to sample the rooms at Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. I stopped by Excalibur first, but they only one game going: 2/4 limit that was just starting up. I wasn't interested in that, so I moved on to the next room, Luxor.
Luxor (11am Sun) - The Luxor had one table of 1/2 NL going, and there was one open seat. I liked the room, as the dealers were decent and friendly and the cocktail servers were readily available. The play here was pretty standard as far as 1/2 NL games go: a couple of good players mixed with a bunch of others ranging from decent/predictable to pretty bad. I managed to hit a nicely disguised straight against one of the better players, a nice British gentleman to my right, and I left the room with a good score, leaving on my quest to experience Mandalay Bay.
Results: +$125 in 1 hour at the Luxor, -$153 for the trip
Mandalay Bay (12:30pm Sun) - The room had a couple of 1/2 NL games going, so I bought in to one of them immediately for $200. After about 15 minutes of play, my fiancee texted me that she was back in the hotel room, so I picked up and left after a very brief winning session. Yeah, that's right, I won a small pot on a c-bet, then I did the ole hit-n-run. :)
Results: +$20 in 15 minutes at Mandalay Bay, -$128 for the trip
Flamingo (2:30pm Sun) - My fiancee wanted to go play some more 2/4 limit, so we headed up the Strip to the Flamingo. They had the Aces Cracked promotion running until 4pm, so the room had a couple of tables of each of 1/2 NL and 2/4 limit. I bought in for my usual $200 and saw that rather quickly get flushed down the toilet, literally. I had a great run of starting hands and very good flops. But, I had my flopped TPTK and two-pair hands get chased down by river flushes on three separate instances. I was able to fold two of them because they were clearly transparent draws that made hands (yes, they each showed), so I was not totally broke. Somewhere in the middle of those three hands, I picked up AA and raised to $12. (Maybe stupid considering the $100 bonus for Aces Cracked? Comments on the true +EV play there??) I got two callers out-of-position, and we saw a flop of JJ7. The first player to act bet out $25, and the next guy raised to $60 in front of me. Clearly, my Aces were no good here, but also I was clearly going to have to throw my last $125 in to get the $100 bonus. So, that's obviously not +EV! Hence, I folded. The river brought another J to make the raiser quad jacks.
After all of the excitement, I was left with only $25. Normally, I'd be reloading, but I just wanted to see if I could build it back up. I also didn't love the run of luck I was having. Think about it: getting Aces cracked during an Aces Cracked bonus period, but not being able to even show the hand down and collect! Anyways, I stuck my last $25 in preflop when I was dealt AQ in the cutoff. I got two callers, which I liked, actually... time to triple up! Of course, the board whiffed me. As it turned out, it whiffed the other two, as well... until the river 4, which made the guy next to me holding A5 the wheel. ARRGH! This game can be so tilting. I then went to play at the 2/4 table with my fiancee, hoping to get my Aces cracked with the rest of the people there. I made $45 there, which I gave to my fiancee when we were done.
Results: -$200 in 1.5 hrs at the Flamingo, -$338 for the trip
I'll cut this original post off here. More to come very soon....
Nice report..... looking forward to more.
Part 2:
After some sightseeing, we went to Excalibur so my fiancee could play some more 2/4 limit...
Excalibur (6pm Sun): This particular game was an extreme bore, with flops rarely seen because a $7-8 raise would take down the pot preflop. Where was all of this action-packed Vegas poker I always read about?? Anyways, I was able to pick spots to steal a few pots, and I built my stack to about $250. My fiancee quickly tired of her table, too, so we left after about 1 hour. The room was decent enough, but there's really nothing special here. There was the wheel that gets spun for cracked Aces, which I guess might have explained all of the nits at the table this time. We left but vowed to come back some other time, since it was close to NY/NY.
Results: +$53 in 1 hour at Excalibur, -$275 for the trip
After dinner at Il Fornaio in NY/NY (good Italian food!), we decided to play some more poker late night, this time at MGM Grand. At this point, I had modified my poker goal and was hoping to visit as many rooms as possible on this trip. We were playing in short little bursts, for the most part, so it was the opposite of what I'm used to in CT, where I go to Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods and usually stay 8-10 hours. Anyways, on to the next stop...
MGM Grand (9:30pm Sun): I had read about all of the great action at MGM Grand on AVP, but again I was disappointed. I was beginning to sense a trend of very tight tables no matter where I went. Why? I have no idea. Open question to anyone reading: why did I encounter such tight play? Is this the new "normal"? I wouldn't have thought so, especially on the weekends. Anyways, this session was like a continuation of a few previous ones: get dealt an astonishing number of good preflop hands, hit many flops, run into someone else with a monster, then get away as cheaply as possible while still losing $50-60 per clip. After about 2 hours, I had lost another $200 when the 2 somewhat loose players at the table had decided to pick up and leave. Having bought in for $300 at this table, I decided to try something different. So, I took my remaining $100 to the open seat at the 2-5 NL table, where I pledged to play solid shortstack strategy and just take the opportunity to get some live experience at a 2-5 table. I played there for about 3 hours, and I ended up nearly doubling my $100 stack. Overall, it was good experience to just learn what the style of play is like at 2-5. There was one hilarious moment when a grumpy older guy started needling a younger kid to his right. The kid was taking a long time thinking thru most decisions, which was made even more evident by the fact that he played a ton of pots... therefore had that many more decisions. The old guy was getting seriously annoyed, and he eventually said, "You know, you watch too much poker on TV. Cut this crap out and play. You're not playing, you're showboating." Argument and name-calling ensued, of course. Another oddity: you were not allowed to use the $1 chips as part of your bets at the 2-5 game. So, you couldn't raise $17 preflop. It had to be $15 or $20. I have only played 2-5 one other time, but I don't recall that being the case when I did. Is this something that's MGM specific?
Results: -$109 in 5 hours at MGM Grand, -$384 for the trip
Apr 12 (Mon) - We took a ride to Red Rock Canyon on Monday, which was just awesome. The weather was pretty chilly, though, so we couldn't hike on any of the trails like we would have done if it were warmer. But, the scenery was amazing, and I'd highly recommend a visit next time you're in Vegas. After the canyon visit, we stopped at Red Rock Casino, which wasn't there the last time I had been to Red Rock Canyon (about 7-8 years ago).
Red Rock (3pm Mon) - We just stopped in briefly here, and I had to wait a while to get a seat at the 1-2 table. We were both impressed by the casino itself, and the poker room is also very nice. But, the game was filled with locals who knew one another. When I finally did get a seat, I bought in for $200, as usual. Keeping with the theme of the trip, I was dealt KK on about my 10th hand, when I was in early position. I raised preflop, of course, and got one caller, a woman on the button. The flop of T73 was innocuous enough, so I bet $20. She called, so I figured she connected with the flop, most likely with top pair. The turn was a 5. I figured to be ahead again, so I bet $45 into the ~$60 pot. She grumbled to herself a bit, gave the "I guess I'm going home early" speech, then called. Thankfully for me, she also decided to flip her cards over, for some unknown reason. Apparently she thought that was the river... I don't know! Of course, she had 77 for a flopped set, which she quickly tried to cover up once she realized the hand wasn't over. Sorry, lady, too late. So, I thanked her for saving me the $75 she had left in her stack, and we went check-check on the river Ace. Having lost another $85 on a cooler, I was ready to leave before tilting. So, I picked up my chips and got out of Dodge.
Results: -$85 in 30 minutes at Red Rock, -$469 for the trip
More next post...
Enjoying your report. The "bets in even increments of $5" is standard for Vegas 2-5 NL.
Great report bro!
nice report
Part 3... I'm glad people are enjoying it thus far!
Excalibur (7pm Mon) - My fiancee and I went back to Excalibur after we returned from Red Rock, and after about a half hour wait for a new 1/2 table to start, I took my seat. This table was a donkey farm. It had, by far, the most donkeys I encountered in my trip. It was a dream, really: about 5-6 guys who grossly overplayed any top pair hand. There were also two guys from England there who were solid but predictable, and there was one other European who appeared to be very good. Unfortunately, my stay at the donkey farm began with me covered in poo, because my run of bad luck continued at the start. Case in point: I held AT in middle position. I raised to 12, and I got 3 callers: 3 of the overplaying donks. The flop was T64, and I checked planning to check-raise one of the donks in particular that I suspected would fire big at the pot, since he had done so about 5-6 times already in 20 hands. (I know conventional wisdom is to keep the pot small with small hands like one pair, but it's relative. If the competition will shove money in with worse hands, then I think your TPTK hand becomes "bigger".) So, of course, donk #1 bet 40. He got called by donk #2 before it gets to me. I shoved the rest of my chips in ($160). #1 calls me after about 5 seconds of thought. #2 raised all-in for $10 more, which was of course called by #1. Of course, I was obviously thinking that my TPTK hand must not be good after all. My suspicions couldn't be confirmed, though, because nobody showed right away. Turn: 2, River: Q. At that point, donk #2 showed his QT for a rivered 2 pair. Donk #1 then showed his KT and muttered about getting rivered. Then, I showed my AT and inquired, "who got rivered?" So, that wonderful little lady on the river cost me about a $480 pot. Nice. Rebuy!
I actually reloaded for $300 this time, because there was now so much money on the table in front of so many bad players. Shortly thereafter, another nice hand goes down: The one good Euro player raises in EP to $12. I look down to see QQ, so I reraise to $40. A different donk visiting from Texas (I'll call him Texan) was in late position, and he flat calls the $40. Interesting. The Euro then reraises to $120. In the face of all of this action, my QQ obviously must be crushed, so I fold. The Texan then shoves for $40 more ($160 total), which the Euro obviously calls. Again, neither show. The flop: 996. Immediately after the flop, Texan flips over his $160 all-in pre-flop hand... J9 suited!!! JACK-NINE! Holy crap. This obviously annoys the Euro, who then angrily shows his KK. This, of course, makes me feel better about my fold. That is, until the turn brings a Q. (Yeah, you just knew that would happen, didn't you?!?
This game can test a man's sanity!) So, Texan scoops a huge pot that would have been mine if I were only slightly less donkish than he was. Texan then went on to overplay a top pair hand shortly thereafter to win another person's $200 stack. (Who knows what the loser had??) Texan, by the way, was quite aggressive with any blackjack-type hand or any pair. He regularly raised preflop with any such hand.
Anyways, I had built my rebuy up to about $340 when another fateful hand occurred: I had 76 suited in the big blind, and there were 4 limpers to me. I checked to see a glorious flop of J76. I bet $10 into the $10 pot, not wanting to slowplay bottom two pair. Plus, I knew plenty of folks at this table would play along with a lot of weaker holdings. So, anyways, after my $10 bet, Texan actually reraised me to $40. Everyone else folded to me, so it was just him and me. I took a moment to think this one through, since he had me well covered in chips. What could he have that beats me? He would have raised JJ preflop. 66 and 77 have only one combination left, and he probably would have raised those preflop, too. So, I was pretty sure a set was out of his range. The only other hands that beat me are J7 and J6, which are obviously quite random. But, it was limped preflop, so it's possible the Texan Flushmaster played the suited varieties of those, as evidenced by his J9 suited all-in earlier. But, any reasonable Jx hand made up the majority of his range, since he had overplayed every other top pair hand he was in to that point. So, I made the determination that A) I was ahead, and B) he would call with any of his inferior Jx holdings. So, I raised to $100. He rather immediately shoved all-in, which left me facing a $240 decision to call. Of course, I went thru my whole thought process again, but I just couldn't change my range from the last time I thought about it. Getting almost 2:1 on a call, I thought there was well more than a 33% chance that my hand was best here. So, I eventually called. He was really a nice guy, so the other two times he had people all in and was ahead, he had showed his hand right away. This time, when I called, he didn't immediately show, which made me confident in the hand. The turn was a K and the river was an A. He flipped over his KJ just as the river was being dealt. At this point, I was ready to go stab myself with King Arthur's sword, and I flipped over my now-useless 76 to show the table. Texan exclaimed, "Aww, man. I'm sorry. I would have NEVER thought you had two pair. I had top pair, so I thought that was good enough to play all-in." (No, he clearly wasn't joking or acting.) So, another huge pot, this one $690, gets shipped to the underdog. In other words: not me.
Shortly thereafter, one of the most tilting things in poker occurred: the donk with my chips picked up and left. Texan said he wanted to go play blackjack to "try out a new system his friend told him about", and off he went with his $900. Remarkably, after being stuck $500 in this session alone, I was able to not go on tilt, and I made back about $180. After a total of three hours, I left the Excalibur wondering when this twisted run would end.
Results: -$321 in 3 hours at the Excalibur, -$790 for the trip.
Man, these trip reports are going much longer than I thought! I'll keep them going, if anybody is interested. I don't want to bore you all... the sound of thousands of people's heads hitting their keyboards at once might disturb the local wildlife. If you want more, then speak up...
Keep them coming
I can feel your pain
But Poker is just so fun
This reminds me so much of previous Vegas trips I've had.
I want to hear more... but finish quickly... I'm headed to Vegas on Saturday
very entertaining trip report.. keep it coming
More More!!!!!! But I'm really hoping the next post (s) entail some better "luck" for you....im feelin the pain