I must attend an investment conference for continuing ed credit for one of my financial designations. Fortunately, the conference is in Vegas. (There are worse places to have a conference)
This will mark the first time I’ve been to Vegas on weekdays. (Sunday to Wednesday)

I leave Milwaukee on time for the 4 hour flight to Vegas. We arrive @ 10PM PST with no issues.

My conference was being held at the Bellagio, but the discounted room is still $200/night. I easily found a better deal and booked Caesar’s due to the close proximity to the Bellagio. (I’m not a morning person so being reasonable close to the conference was important to me.) However at the last minute, I obtained a better rate at Vdara.

I checked in Vdara with no issues. I have to say that the Vdara is the nicest place that I’ve stayed in Vegas. (I’ve stayed other 5 star Vegas resorts including Wynn/Encore, Trump, & Caesars) Normally, I’m not a fan of the modern décor, but Vdara is nicely done. It has a comfortable feel unlike many modern decors that give an “antiseptic feel”. The room was very large and tastefully decorated. For $120 night (including the resort fee), it was an incredible steal. The connection to the Bellagio made for easy access to my conference.

I walk through the Bellagio hoping to find a spot to eat. The Bellagio was PACKED. I’ve never seen it so busy. Deciding that I would get no food in a timely fashion at Bellagio, I walk up the Strip and grab a burger at Grand Lux. Since I’m so close already, I decide to play at the Wynn for my first session.

Wynn $1/3
I am immediately seated in a $1/3 game. The game is playing tight and action is moving extremely slow.
To top it off my cards are terrible, not affording me an opportunity to get involved. The table is a mix of solid regulars, tourists from UK, and other tourists from the US. All but two are solid players.
I am card dead and it’s a slow bleed as I move down a $60 from my original $300 buy-in. One hand on the plus side: I call a raise, in the SB with A, 9 from one of the solid regulars. We are heads up. The flop is Ace high. I check hoping that he will make a continuation bet. He checks. Turn is a rag. I check again; he bets $15. I call. The River is another rag. I bet $25. He thinks for a bit, looks perplexed, and reluctantly makes the call. After I show, he mucks.
Cards are just not falling in my favor, so I decide to open up, start bluffing and creating hands. These players are good enough to fold. It works. I’m able to bluff a couple of the regulars to earn a couple of decent Pots.
The only other hand of the note: I called a pre-flop raise from a short stack with QQ. Unfortunately, damn near the entire table calls too. I flop top Set on a rainbow flop, 6 handed. Hoping to entice the small stack (he only has $50 behind) to go all-in, I make a $10 bet from the Small Blind. Everyone calls. The Turn is another rag. I can’t afford to let another cheap card come off, so I make a bet for $75 and everyone folds.
Many of the weaker players are either bust or leave the game. I decide that a change of scenery is in order. After two hours, I leave up $157.

Mirage $1/2
It’s 1AM and I head over to the Mirage. I am seated a table that is playing short (Avg stack is $150 or less). Play is extremely poor. Bad players making bad decisions. I’m salivating at this table despite being short. I beat up a EuroTrash guy who insists in making small bets into Pots. I take him to task, re-raising his feeler bets and winning the Pots immediately. Of course, he has to Hollywood his fold every time, like it’s a friggin’ hard decision. However, I keep getting sucked into hands where my opponents don’t size their bets properly. It’s a slow bleed and I can’t connect. After 4 hours, I’m exhausted and I have to be up in a few short hours for my conference. I leave the Mirage down a disappointing $39.

After a mere 3.5 hours of sleep, I make it over to the Bellagio for the start of my conference.
After listening to a day of investment information….poker is in order.

Having not played a Caesar’s in a long time, I elect to give it a shot.

Caesar’s $1/3
I‘m immediately seated in a $1/3 game. The table is a mix of bad and worse players. Of course, their decisions are flawed and misguided. For example: I’m in the BB with JT offsuit. A player in UTG+2 raises and finds 3 callers to me. I call. Flop is Q,9,6 rainbow. I lead with my draw for $50. It folds to the Button who calls. The Turn is a K completing my draw. I check hoping that my opponent will bet. Unfortunately, he checks. The River is a T. I make a Pot sized bet. Villain calls. I show my hand for the straight. Villain shows J,7os. WTF?? Why is he even in the hand? We chop up the Pot.
I salivate at the opportunity to rip this table apart. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
I bust a young, loudmouth Eastcoaster when I River the nut straight and it gives him top two pair. His boisterous, loud demeanor quickly changes. Maybe he’ll have trouble making rent this month?
That’s the extent of my good hands. I get KK and AA cracked on back to back hands. I hold A,J on a 8,J,J flop and my opponent has 8,8.
Luckily, the competition is completely incompetent and can’t maximize a hand. After nearly 5.5 hours, I escape with an $85 profit. Incredible considering how bad things went for me.

I decide to call it a night @ 1AM knowing that I have another day of listening to others’ investment expertise all day tomorrow.

After day two of the conference, I duck out early hoping to turn my poker luck around. I stumble into the Bellagio 5 Star WPT event. I see Kenny Tran, Phil Hellmuth, Eric Seidel, and Doyle Brunson. I’m sure many other famous players were playing but I don’t watch enough poker on TV to know. The event was surprisingly accessible to fans. (I don’t really care about photos or meeting famous people, but they are very accessible at these events if you’re into it.)

When I come back for my WSOP trip in a few weeks, I’m staying at Harrah’s. Despite its great location, I’ve never even been inside the casino much less the poker room. I elect to give it a shot.

Harrah’s $1/2
I have to wait as they are getting a new game going. After 20 minutes, we get the game going.
Only two of us are the only non-locals. It’s clear the other “regulars” are here to earn their hours for……..I’m sure something quite valuable?

My session came down to three hands, none of which went my way. I started up $60 after earning a couple of Pots. Falling off a cliff, I doubled up a short stack regular with AQ vs AK on an Ace high flop. He actually had a bit more money than I thought….should have asked for a count.
I raise pre-flop with AQ and get heads up against a regular. I fire two barrels on a ragged flop and turn. Check, check on the River and he shows me 99 for his Pot.
Against the same player, I end up flopping bottom two pair vs his flopped straight to lose another hundred.
I decide that I’m playing like a moron and I’m unlikely to make it back quickly against the tight regulars.
I leave down $273.

Being that Aria is close to my hotel and they have a great poker room, I decide to play there.

Aria $1/3
Again, I’m seated immediately. There is a familiar regular that I see at the table. He always seems to be seated with me every time I play at Aria. He is boastful and loves to tell you about his $5/10 NL hands “from the night before”. However, he buys in short at $1/3 and loves to tell everybody how play. Everybody LOVES a know-it-all and unsolicited poker advice from a stranger!! To me, it doesn’t add up that he regularly play $5/10 NL but buys in short at $1/3?
I bust him on the following hand. I raise in mid position with 9d,8d. It folds to him in the SB and he calls.
Three others call in front of me. I have position and I’m only in mid position. Nice. Flop is 9s,Qd,Ad. It checks to me. I bet $50. Boastful guy in the SB goes all-in for $80 more. Folds to me. With a pair, flush draw and only $80, it’s pretty much an auto-call for me. Boastful Villain shows A,Q. Ouch. Turn is the Kd and Villain doesn’t improve on the River. I finally get something to go my way! Villain is livid (I don’t understand how you can be upset after losing $140 when you normally play with $5k in front of you….but whatever.)
“How could you call that immediately?” he asks.
“I had a pair and flush draw. You had the only hand that I was in bad shape against. Even then, I was getting proper odds,” I coldly responded.
“I had you crushed,” he retorted.
“Well, it must have been that HUGE $80 bet.” I shot back.
He gets pissed and changes tables. I ask the dealer (who he had been friendly with), if he really plays $5/10 regularly? The dealer responds that he is an attorney in Vegas and does regularly play the $5/10 NL. I’m still skeptical.
My good fortune would quickly come to an end. The table began to turnover to inexperienced tourists that don’t know how to fold. My kind of players!! Two players from Kansas get seated to my immediate right. They have clearly never played live poker before. (One tried to raise a $15 bet to $25. The rule was quickly explained to him.) The boys Kansas and I get involved:
It’s a limped Pot. I call from the Button with K,9os. Flop is Kd,9s,2d. Checks to Kansas #1 and he bets $15. Kansas #2 immediately raises to $30. I look back at the flop and my cards. I’m surprised by this action. I raise to $45. Action Folds to Kansas #1. He thinks and folds. (A surprise cuz the dude called everything.) Kansas #2 calls. Turn is 2c. Kansas #2 shoves for $90. I have a sinking feeling but have to call a player this inexperienced. He shows me K,2. Ugh.
I get down nearly $250 before turning it around and getting back to even…an accomplishment considering how bad I’ve been running. It’s midnight and I think about leaving after the next orbit.
Then I make one of the worst gaffes I’ve made……..well, since I can remember.
For the embarrassing details, read on:
UTG player raises to $15. I call UTG+2 with Jd,8d. One other caller. It folds to the BB who calls. Flop is 7d,7s,Jd. BB checks. UTG bets $15. I raise to $40. Folds to the BB who re-raises to $90. UTG calls immediately. I should have accepted that my hand has no hope and folded. Instead, I believe that I can shove my remaining $250 and I’ll get heads against the BB. (My read was that he had a 7. But this STILL isn’t a good situation for me.) I shove. BB insta calls as does UTG. They show J,7 and Ad,Kd respectively. I’m crushed and barring a miracle I’m losing my stack. The miracle doesn’t come and I call it a night. Down $300.

This was the last session I played. I ended the trip down $370 in 21 hours of play; easily the worst results from a Vegas poker excursion ever for me. Obviously, I’m a terrible poker player.
As an aside, I found to the weekday action as plentiful and poor as any weekend. I noticed no difference in number of players or quality of play.

Hoping for a better result, I’ll be back in a few weeks for a dedicated poker trip during the WSOP and hope to get 40+ hours in then.
That trip report is upcoming…………………..

Comments, Questions, and Feedback always welcome!

Thanks,
WynnGolfHatGuy