Part 1 of my four day trip- this report for Saturday and Sunday

We hit town on Sat., 12/17 for several reasons- my birthday, some good food, one good show, and poker. When you’re with your wife, priorities are mutual, so I have to do more stuff than just poker. I do enough of that either back home in the Sacramento area, or on the road as a part time caddy on various professional golf tours.
But, at least I’ve convinced my wife that a better value for her gambling dollar is to play some limit poker, instead of a constant fight with the slot machines. So, me and my big ideas now see me playing limit with her during the daylight, and then I’m off to the NL tables in the later evening.
First stop, after checking into our comped digs at Planet Hollywood, is the Flamingo poker room, and we both tee it up playing 2-4 limit. We both buy a rack, and can’t catch a cold. She rebuys for 60, and I’m playing with 40-ish dollars most of the afternoon. We both give it up around 500pm, both down- me -50 and her-120. We head over to Harrah’s Range Steakhouse for some good grub. Great view, great food, prices are right for Las Vegas Blvd. And the cowboy says hi and bye.
Next, it’s the Sat.Night Bounty tournament at Mirage. Its my first time playing the big bounty, and its 110.00 buy-in. She plays the 3-6 limit table. I get bored, frustrated, and still have an average chip stack at the break. Still, I do nothing, no KOs, up to the second break, and go donk off some money in roulette. I always play four numbers cold, her birthday and mine, 12-19. Hers are 3 and 10. I buy 40 inside and put a fiver on each number. First spin- 19! $175.00, plus my bet, plus the unused 20.00, cash it in for 200.00. tip the dealer a fiver- and things are looking up. Back to the bounty, I see 6-6 in middle position, raise about 4x the BB, and get 3-bet by Mr. Aggressive on the button. I call, leaving me with an SPR of about 1-1. I have one move at that ratio, and three cards under 10 force me to shove for my life. He insta-calls, and shows AA. OK, so no bounty for me. Its $75 bounties, and the 25 left over goes to first place. Not a format I’d ever play again, and it broke my streak of Mirage cashes at six.
So, off to the NL tables, but first, check on her stack. She’s got 350.00 in front of her, so needless to say she a very happy camper. I buy in for the 300 max at Mirage 1-2 NL. Soon, I have a pure double. Lots of limpers make for monster straights, and I’m hitting the one gappers a few times for incredible straights. My PFraises are getting one and two callers, and C-bets are mostly working.
Memorable hand one- I see KQ suited and LAG-button makes the call. We get 15 each in there PF. Flop Q72, and I c-bet for 25, insta-call. Turn blanks, and I check, inducing Mr.GoogleMillionaire to splash it up for 50. I insta-call, making him blanche. River is another 2, and I follow-up with a “same bet” verbal and move. “go ahead, you can afford to call” is my unspoken message, and he does. The KQ tables and he insta-folds his probable QJ. His best buddy is seated next to me in seat nine, and is a font of info about the villain. As time goes on, the table kind of beats him up, leaving him just nine chips. He shoves pre-flop, and I try and give him a courtesy double-up. I hold garbage, 9-4o. Flop K-10-6, and villain triumphantly flips over the AK. Turn, 4, River, 9…no flush, and I’m kinda embarrassed to turn over the winner. But, I do, and his friends absolutely howl him off to the craps tables.
Plus 300 for the night at the NL, making it an OK day. Plus my wife comes over and hands me another 200 for me to “hold” as she wants to go play the slots…”just a little”. Right.
Sunday is a planned excursion to MGM for the 11am MTT. She goes for the slots, as there is not any limit action when we arrive. The MTT attracts 35 runners, and I have a good run. Players are easy to tag in this event- they are competent, or they are not. I arrive at the final table with some good stacks, survive two bad beat with AK and JJ, and still make the final three, and a chop is offered. I don’t care, and one kid says “I’m here for the medallion”, or what ever it is that MGM gives MTT winners. So, we play. I had done the math, and a 3-way chop would give us 595 each. I get by the 3 place test, but get crippled in the 3-way all in, and the kid who wants the medallion gets it from me without a sweat. I still get 560 for 2nd, so it came out the same for me. I play with the wife after, now comfy at her 2-4 limit table. She is down about 60, and I pick up another 40, covering the dealers gratuities and drink tips for the day.
Now, a word about the MGM room. Its moved from its usual place near Rainforest and SportsBook, to another space on the other side of the lions. I hear this is temporary, and I sure hope so. T cannot imagine anyone is happy here- not the players, not the staff. In its current form it is inadequate for its needs, too noisy, not intimate, and needs a lot of shoring up to be anything like the old room.
Dinner finds us across the street at NYNY. We wanted to explore and wander, and end up dining at Sporting House. What a sportsJunkies paradise! 12 live feeds, and an interactive TV on your table that you control. Hockey and SNF! The place is great. The food is average, and service OK. We stumble over to Monte Carlo- another new casino for the two of us.
Spread Limit-wow. I had to explain this to my wife, its 2-6 spread, sort of like 3-6. Kinda, but not. She caught on. She lost 100. I played for some fun, knowing that she was bound for slots, and I could play some NL on the other going table.
Memorable spread limit hand: Limp, Limp, wife limps, I see A-10s, and make it 8 dollars. Call, Call, LAG-Chinese lady on the button calls with authority. Big pocket pair for sure. Flop- 8-K-Q…crap. I only have a gutter for the straight. I c-bet it, and get Ms. ChinaLAG and another limper. Bang, as the J turns for me. Again, six dollar bet gets both callers, and a river blank assures the nutz. I table the straight for the pot, and Ms.ChinaLAG slams her flopped set of 8s. wow. Time to go to no-limit, up +40. I take my 140 stack and buy another 100 for the NL table. There are only two decent stacks, and one guy is missing. The other is a Euro-type, young kid in a suit, trying to really Gus-up the table. It didn’t work. I called a few of his $25 c-bets, and he folds every time by the river. Hmmm, and then the rest of the table sees this as well. Pretty soon, he’s down from five towers to two. But, he hits a few home runs and gets most of it back. However, my mission is accomplished. It seems a nitty little 1-2 NL game at Monte Carlo has gotten a lot looser. And for all that work, after 90 minutes, I’ve got nothing to show for it. Even. I go find my better half for a needed break, and chat with her for a while. We decide to give it one more hour.
Magic. In the next 45 minutes, I move up to +580. An A-Jo raised to 13.00 gets a caller on the button. Now, this guy is real tight. No action. Flop has a J with two rags. I bet 25.00, and get RASIED by Mr.Tight to 50.00. He’s got me covered, and I have two choices. I select option one, and come over the top of him for another 100.00 to 150.00. He’s either got overpair or two pair- and he calls. Turn is harmless for both of us as I slide in the rest, about another 120, as I’m certainly committed. The river is the miracle Jack and I turn over the winner, he folds, sighs, and says goodnight, fellas, racking up what used to be over 400.00, and now is about 180. Not five hands later, I get 4-4 in late position. Grandpa on the button raises my “yo11.00” to a silent 25.00. We see it together, and he just never saw the bullet coming. Q-8-4. I check, he bets 25, call. 3. I check he bets 40, I go all in. He shoves them all in, fo’schizzle with a big pocket. I don’t think I needed the board to pair but it did, and the 8 gave me the FH and him a probable full Depends, as he silently stood, left, and took it like a man. I guess it’s the “late-night-old-guy-donk-off” that I’ve heard so much about, but never got to experience. The thinking is, perhaps, I’m even, been playing all night, and I’m either gonna double up or go home. Happy to help out, fellas.
Hey, one note about the Monte Carlo. Easily one of the more beautiful small rooms in Vegas. Great artwork, able dealers. Service was slow, but I don’t drink anyways.

We wander back to PHollywood for a latenight burger at Planet Dailies. I need some sleep- then and now. Part 2 later.