Sunday – Warning, this is a rather long trip report.

I had my trip to Vegas planned since January and couldn’t wait to get out there. I had booked the trip with an old friend from high school, so I knew I would not have anything to inhibit from me from playing poker. My trip, however, was almost ruined completely when I came down with a terrible cold less than a week before the trip. Since I couldn’t imagine not being in Vegas, I went to the doctor. I got my first bad beat of the trip before it even began because I was diagnosed with strep throat. Luckily, I had four days before my trip began and I would no longer be contagious by the time I touched down in Vegas. So, by the time I made it on my flight, my antibiotics were working well and I was feeling about 100% better.

I touched down in Vegas Sunday morning, February 28th and proceeded to check into Planet Hollywood. The trip got off to a good start when I requested I room upgrade and was given a much larger room on a higher level. (I believe the $20 trick is a waste as a friendly request nets a better room for me 4/5 times.)

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I checked into the room as I still had not recovered 100%. After a few hours of rest though, poker was all I could think of and I headed over to the Bellagio. Oddly enough, the Bellagio was one of the few poker rooms in Vegas that I had yet to play in. Before checking out the Bellagio, I quickly strolled through Aria and found that their poker room only had two 2/5 tables going at nearly noon on a Sunday. I was unimpressed by this and decided that I would not be playing there the majority of the trip.

Once at the Bellagio, I was quickly seated at a 2/5 table (5 tables were running). I proceeded to go card dead, miss every flop, and have every c-bet re-raised. I was having a dreadful session and was down to my last $100 (out of two buy-ins) when I decide to push on the blinds and one limper from the button with a weak king. I get called by the big blind with J-10. I end up hitting my kicker and he whiffs. I then used that momentum and proceeded to get hit by the deck and have a complete change of my luck.

One major hand that changed the game for me: the guy who doubled me up had been playing fairly LAG and raised to $30 in the big blind after a bunch of limps, including my limp from the button with A-10 of spades. My stack was at $300 and his was about $800. I called the raise and pot was about $80 when we see a flop of 10-10-8. He led the flop for $60, I raised to $160 and he ends up pushing with A-A. He misses his one outer and I end up taking down a pot that allowed me to make some moves at the table.

2 hours later I cashed out up $200 and called it a day for poker on my first day in Vegas. That night I ate at Joe’s Stone Crab for dinner and had an amazing meal. I highly recommend the Stone Crab Claws there as they were fresh and service was also A-plus.

Monday

Monday morning I woke up early with poker on the brain and left for a morning session at the Bellagio. I caught the tail end of an all nighter 2/5 table. There was a mandatory $10 straddle on and I was loving the game because I knew I would be able to value bet my hands and just play ABC. There were some real characters at the table including one gentleman who said he was the marketing representative for a male “herbal supplement” pill. He has the table laughing the whole time and continued the riot when he brought down a huge bag of samples and passed them out to the whole table. Unfortunately, I cannot report if they work or not as I did not take them. With no real notable hands, I cashed out up $200 about 3 hours later.

Total: $600

Later Monday night I went to MGM as it is my favorite room to play in Vegas as I always find the 2/5 juicy and it fails to disappoint me once again when I am seated in a very loose 2/5 game. I double up early on by hitting a set of 8’s on a dry board and Villain overplays his overpair. I almost leave, but I decide to stay in the session a little while longer. That is when the hand of the trip occurs and leads into the wildest 2/5 game I have ever played in. I get QQ in late position ($1000 in my stack) and everyone has called a $10 straddle so far (6 players). I decide to isolate and raise to $80. The small blind goes into the tank and eventually folds. The big blind raises to $280 (he has a $1000 stack also and is one of the tightest and most solid players at the table so I respect his raise very much and instantly put him on AA-KK and at worst AK suited. The player right in front of my action decides to push all in for $800. At this point, I don’t have a great read on the other player but decide at least one of the players has my queens crushed. Therefore I fold and big blind calls the all in.

Turns out the big blind has AA and other player has KK. The AA holds up but not before I have to see a Q on the flop (disgusting). Anyway, this hand becomes the key because this puts the KK player in loose-fish mode and he begins to try to bully the table around with absolutely no skill. Loose player says he is a bar owner from Montana and only wants to beat better players with money they care about while he doesn’t care about money at all. Therefore, he becomes a madman and literally raises every 4 out of 5 hands to $50 or more and then pushes a full buy-in ($1000) in the middle on most flops. Everyone begins to lick their chops and before you know it, everyone is calling to hit against this guy and each pre-flop pot is about $300.

He proceeds to lose $4000 grand this way and only wins 1 out of 6 times he does this. I am frustrated that I can’t pick up a hand during this mayhem and the one time I do pick up a hand later on Q-Q is one time he is waiting for more chips to come and doesn’t play the hand.

30 minutes later he is busto and says he is going back to the room to get another $10,000. I think everyone at the table believes him but we still play poker against each other while he is gone. Instantly this game has become more of a 5/10 game as this man has doubled up half of the table and half of the table is sitting with $2000-$3000 stacks while I am sitting with the max buy-in of $1000. This leads to my demise later in the session.

The loose player eventually does come back with $10,000 in an envelope! He loses about $3000 more the same exact way before he finally starts lucking out against players. Now, in the meantime, the players are still playing against each other, including myself. I find that half of the table is weak and begin to actually want to get involved in hands with them instead of playing the flop lottery against the loose player.

I then begin to take the worst string of bad beats I have ever taken.

I literally have 3 straights rivered by flushes (money went in all three times on turn and only once did player have pot odds to call). I lose $600 on one hand, $470 on another, and the last and worst flush suckout for $750, which was around a $1800 pot. After all these beats I would have left, but the loose player made the game all to tempting to leave.

That is when this hand comes up: I have about $600 and just took a terrible beat. I get 4/6 spades in the cutoff and call a $25 raise from early position as there were already 5 callers. The flop came 5-7-J rainbow. The big blind raises to $125 and I call and so does the small blind. The money card 3 comes on the river, completing the rainbow, so I am feeling GREAT about this hand. The small blind makes it $300 (has $2000 behind) and the big blind pushes all in for $300 more.) I am short but I can’t wait to push my stack all in and small blind insta calls. It is at this point I think I may be chopping with one of the players but big blind almost throws his cards in and then small blind tells me he has a set......and before the river is dealt, I know what is going to happen. My friend is sweating me and I’m telling him to just think no pair on board. River is dealt and the pretty little 3 of spades pops up busting my straight to bits.

Therefore, I took my shot at a once in a lifetime 2/5 game and end up going busto by some of the worst beats and never getting a legitimate shot at the loose players money. I guess these are the swings of a deep stacked game and the fact is that my stack of 700-1000 was never enough to get the $2500 players out as they had doubled off the fish and surely felt they were playing with someone elses cash. Theses are the swings of 2/5 though and I can accept that. Needless to say, I leave the game down $2700 and get going from MGM. I also decide that I don’t want to play there the rest of the trip.

Trip total: -$2100

Tuesday

I wake up Tuesday morning feeling pretty shitty about the previous night but I talk to girlfriend (who has been with me throughout poker) and she tells me to just accept it as a once in a lifetime night and the beats are just going to happen sometimes. I understand variance as well as everyone but it still helps to get some reassurance from an outsider sometimes.

Therefore, I get back on the horse and go over to the Bellagio and have a real grind session at a 2/5 table. I was surprised how good the action was during the early mornings and afternoons at the 2/5 tables at the Bellagio. This basically kept me coming back all week. The action and the fantastic strawberry julius’ that they serve. A soft table here and there doesn’t hurt either.

After a great session, (hit the nut flush on a guy who held the second nuts for a $700 pot) I get up from the table with a renewed vigor for the trip and leave with a $600 profit after about 3 hours.

Trip Total: $-1500.

I decide to have some friends with some other friends that were staying in Vegas. Let me say it was a memorable night bordering on semi-legality and included much slumming at the IP, so I guess that could explain it all.

Wednesday

I wake up Wednesday early once again with a desire to hit the tables immediately. I play the best 2/5 poker I have played in a month or two and take $550 off the table within less than an hour. I value bet the shit out of an A-K on an A high board when my opponent held A-Q (made about $250 on one pot). I also made a hero call when I was pushed on while holding a pair of 10-10.

Hand went like this. I raise from early position with 10-10 to $30 and get one caller. I have a stack of about $700 and a woman who has been playing very tight calls me with about a $350 stack. The flop came 4-5-9 and I bet $60 and get an instant call. I really have her on A-K but I intend to find out on the turn. The turn is a J and I make it $130. She insta-calls again but doesn’t push and I just feel like I am good as I expected a re-raise from her if she had it. The river is a brick 2 and I check willing to call in the event she pushes. She then pushes for ~170 and I make the call. She flashes A-K and I take down the pot. I guess it’s not really a hero call, I just feel like I had a good read and played the hand well for myself.

Trip total: -$950.

At this point, I am feeling really good and feel like I can overcome the terrible 2/5 session at MGM. I decide to call it a day on poker until I pass the PHo poker room at about 1 A.M. Now, they only are spreading 1/2, but I want to give it some loving as it is my hotel’s poker room and it is talked about a lot on AVP and by AVP’ers. I had a great time just playing ABC at 1/2 and chatting with the players. 1/2 is much more fun and I find it much less of a grind than 2/5. (well, except for the money of course).

Anyway, I chat with one of the younger female dealers (never caught name although I am sure many on AVP know who I am talking about). She tells me she is studying Crim Justice and wants to go to law school. I try talking her out of it, as I know it is tough to go from poker lifestyle to finishing law school (I’m finishing this semester), but she is committed. I’m glad to see a positive story though and I wish her all the best in success, although she still had that pre-law school positive attitude that I always find laughable. When she rotates, one of the other players says he had a problem with her and says he doubts she goes anywhere in life (this is when I remember why I disdain 1/2 tables). So, this guy is on his millionth beer and I know it is a matter of time before he spews and he will spew his chips even sooner.

Therefore, I make it my personal mission to re-allocate his chips to my stack do to his careless comment. I decide I must defend the random dealer’s honor for all dealers who dream of getting out. Plus, it will be fun. With little time passing, I get 3-5 off and limp. I flop a wheel and who do I get involved with? Spew-tard of course. I convince him to give me all his chips (about $150) with his weak A. I leave up about $200 after an hour or so. Thanks mostly to that hand.

Trip Total: $-750.

I must say PHo seems to be running smoothly after the Harrah’s takeover. Although I don’t know how it will be in a couple of months. I really liked the PHo and hope it retains its little niche.

Thursday

By Thursday, I was feeling a little tired from poker and decided to waste time in Vegas until Thursday night and play. Thursday, I play 2/5 table at night at the Bellagio and proceed to get cracked by a 10/20 player that dropped down. He busted me due to his call of a $40 raise preflop with 2-6 offsuit and hitting 2’s on the flop. This loosened me up a bit and I was missing draws left and right until I hit two pair and cracked a guys’s Kings.

Anyway, this session was rather boring except for a very outspoken girl from LA which I had a humorous back and forth discussion with across the table. This talk really put the table on tilt and both her and I were able to profit from the table’s frustration. Unfortunately, I was unable to completely dig out of my early beats and lost $200 in the session. Therefore, I leave Vegas down around $1000, but considering I would have been profitable except for MGM, I am happy with my trip and I will be able to make the $1000 back rather quickly just by playing at the local casino.

Trip total $-950

Times eating at Earl of Sandwich: 4

Until next time.