The wife and I went to Vegas a few weeks back for a long weekend. Both my wife and I are in the military and she is getting deployed and will miss her birthday, our anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day. The purpose of this trip was to celebrate all that and spend some time together before she leaves.

That said I did not expect to play much poker. I was still reeling from my birthday fleecing back in May (see trip report what a time to be card dead) so I was ok with just enjoying the other things that Vegas has to offer. We packed quite a bit into our weekend and I still managed some time at the tables. Jersey Boys is a fantastic show and I love Mario Batali's restaurant Entoteca San Marco.

We stayed at the Venetian because I wanted to be someplace nice since this was really a trip for my wife. The $20 trick worked again although not as well as last time at the Monte Carlo. The clerk returned my $20 and gave us a strip view room for free. She said she appreciated the tip but because her Dad was a career army man she felt giving us a nice view was the least she could do. She was extremely friendly.
The room was fantastic and my wife loved it. In fact I don’t know if I will get her to stay anywhere else from here on out. If you can get a good deal I highly recommend the Venetian, especially if traveling with your significant other. I wouldn’t stay there on a guy’s trip but when the “room time” is equal to or exceeds your table time it’s nice to be in a beautiful suite.

As far as the poker, I played very little and only played at the Venetian. First off the room is fantastic and you eventually get used to whatever it is they pump through the ventilation system. I didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes for a seat at 1/2 NL. After one session here this quickly became my favorite room.

My first session on Friday evening was very memorable. About an hour into my session, like manna from heaven, an extremely drunk lady sat down with obviously more money than sense. At first she made me suspicious because she acted like she didn’t know the rules and I thought perhaps she was playing us. It was so over the top that I couldn’t believe it was happening. She asked the dealer to hit her, tried to trade in her cards etc. We quickly realized though it was not an act. After about 3 hands she started going all in every time the action reached her. Most everyone would fold unless they had a big pair but she was showing down a lot of crap like J 2 os. She managed to felt one poor guy on a very memorable hand for me. I was in the SB and had pocket 9’s. When the action came to her she went all in. I thought long and hard before folding my 9’s. Something just did not feel right and I was not sure that the remaining players would all fold leaving me heads up with her. The guy across from me called and everyone else folded. She showed J 3 os and he turned over pocket 9’s. When she spiked a J on the flop I cringed for the guy but was very happy that I listed to that little voice that said fold. I felted her two hands later when my Pocket Rockets held up for the first time in probably a year. She reached into her purse and dug out more money and I felted her again with Queens. She got up, said she was going to the ATM and would be back. We all prayed she would but she never did. That was the first time I have ever been at a table with a fish and not only got playable hands but the hands held up. What I also recalled about the table was the fact that we all seemed to stay out of each other’s way and just concentrated on her money. Unless you have a high pair most everyone allowed whoever called to go heads up with her. It was like some unwritten rule or something. I got AA one more time after she left and after getting the 3rd A on the flop was able to get my opponent went all in on her straight draw. She never got the K and I ended my evening with almost $700 profit.
I know this report is short and not full of many poker details. I felt I owed it to everyone to write about winning after my last report was just about getting racked and beaten like a dog. I found that when poker was not my focus I had a better time not only at the table but doing all the other things that Vegas has to offer. Thanks for reading.