Weekend trip 8/17-19
I was just in Vegas about four weeks ago, but with the wife and kids visiting family in Michigan and me all alone for the weekend, I decided to make my first "solo" trip to sin city.
Firday (8/17)
Left Orange County around 0530 and arrived in Vegas around 0910. I wanted to arrive early enough to play in the 1100 tournamnet at Sahara's. I didn't think I would arrive so early. Anyhow got to Sahara and had breakfast and checked out some of the Nascar stuff. Not really a race fan, but hadn't been in Sahara's for about 10 years or so.
Checked out the poker room after breakfast. Nothing special at all and there was only one game going (2-4 limit). Trecked over to the Sports book to bet on my beloved baseball games. I've been red-hot betting on baseball and thankfully, I had even better results than my visit last month. I was in my baseball zone again. Started off the morning taking the O's over the Jays. It was a nice dog play and won. I also took the Cubbies at -120 to win 500 and that also hit nicely.
I got back to the Sahara poker room and paid my 42 bucks to play the tournament. I've only played a few tourneys, but liked them and after reading about the Sahara tournamnet on this site, thought I would give it a try.
The people at the Sahara poker room are really nice and the dealers did a great job. I had the honor of busting out first..hehe First let me say that I did like the amount of chips and structure this tournament had and other than the fact that I went out early, I did have fun. Unfortunately my king high flush on the flop died to an Ace high flush on the flop and a few hands later my boat got beat by a bigger one. I guess I might have been too aggressive early, but I had good hands and wanted to maximize my chips.
I went over to the Orleans (where I was staying for two nights) and pretty much hung out in the sportsbook. I ended up going 4 for 5 on my games on Friday and was up a little over 1200. I played poker later that night for about 5 hours. I never did play NL on this trip, but played 2-4, 4-8 and on the last night 10-20 at the Orleans. After the first night on the tables, I was down 38 bucks. I really didn't mind as my baseball games were rockin.... :)
Saturday (8/18)
Got up early and hit the pool, had breakfast and then headed back to Sahara hoping to make it past the first break. Long story short, I made it to the second break (barely) and got knocked out shortly afterwards. I really couldn't get anything going and the chips were quickly vanishing (especially at the 300-600 antes). One girl sat at our table as a new player about an hour into the tournamnet and she built her chips to over 40k (a bunch of red and black chips) in an hour or so. She looked like Phil Ivey and was chewwing away at her gum (that was annoying). She must have got pocket aces and kings 7 times that hour and maybe lost one pot out of evey hand she was in. Talking about a mean streak..whew. I wonder how she ended up? I am guessing she porobably made the final table, but who knows. I do like this tournamnet and when I get back to Vegas (could be a few years...moving to Toronto) I will play this one again.
Again, I had a great day on baseball. I hit 5 of 6 games and overall, I was up over 4k for the two days. I ended up making three big bets on the Giants, D-bakcs and M's on Saturday and was rewareded nicely. I played some 4-8 and then for the first time, 10-20 and had a ball. I porbably wouldn't have tried 10-20 usually, but after cashing the last of my baseball tickets, I was really feeling good and said what the hell. I did better on the 4-8 table and after about 2 hours finished up around + 286. On the 10-20 table, I lost a bit over 200 or so. The players at the Orleans are better than those at the Excalibur. A lot of locals, but some really good people. One old timer on the 4-8 was really a great guy and we talked the entire time. I told him the Mariners (which were starting in less than 10 minutes) was a dead lock. He gets up and I am guessing he went to the bathroom or something. He comes back about 10 mins later and shows me his betting slip on the M's, risking 500 bucks ( the M's were -150). Now I had the pressure of that game hitting for him and for me (I had them 1500/1000). The M's went down early, but true to form, they smoked Danks and the White Sox and Harold (is that his name?) and I walked over to the book and cashed our tickets. He was so happy and I felt really good for him.
Overall, I had a blast going solo, as I could do as I pleased. Nothing better than playing poker and watching the games I've bet on (with multiple Coronas). I played a NL game for the first time last month, but didn't get to it this trip. I wish I had. Only regret is not following my hunch and sticking around to watch and play the Yankee game Sunday morning with Wang pitching. The book had the Yanks at -185 and at -110 on the Run line. I got up early around 730 and debated on staying to bet 2200 to win 2000 on the Yanks RL, but decided to hit the road. I really liked this game to hit and when I got back to OC, found out the Yanks covered it easily. Great trip though.
We're leaving the last week of September for our move to Toronto, so maybe, just maybe, I can get the family to make one more 3 day weekend trip to Vegas before we leave for good.....until then,
Rob
When did Simi Valley get moved to Orange County?
Nice report, and good luck getting back to Vegas before you move. Maybe you need to suggest other relatives for your wife and kids to visit before you move.
i've never understood the sports betting #s??? what does it all mean? IE, yanks -185 to -110 runline???
Sportsbetting is on a 100 dollar scale. For example, if your team is -185 then you have to bet $185 to make $100. If they are the underdog at +185, then you have to bet $100 to make $185.
When he is talking about the runline in baseball, the odds are different because you are giving up a certain amount of runs, similar to a point spread in say football. So for the example of the runline being -110, you will give up a specified amount of runs which in this case could have been 1.5 runs. But by giving up these runs you reduce the line from -185 to -110.
You don't have to make your bets in 100 dollar increments but this is the ratio of your payout.
Hope this explanation helps.
Great trip summary SimiRob. You must follow baseball on a daily basis. Do you use any other informational tools (i.e. baseball weekly or any other publication) to make your betting decisions?
nice report. Good luck on the move to Toronto. Check out fallsview in Niagara. Casino Rama is not bad either. You'll have to bet on Proline in Ontario, where they give you crappy odds.
Great report. Any info that you could give on the baseball betting would be great!
Great report, I have always wanted to do the solo trip but always seem to find a reason not to. Fortunately, I get out there enough with friends that I can play as much poker as I like.
Thanks guys. Yep, I am a true baxeball sevant
I've been betting primarily on baseball for many years (about 22 or so) and baseball is by far my most lucrative action. I also like betting on football (college and then pro), but I do not do as well and rely on information and advice from others. I do crunch numbers as a tool (baseball weekly, foxsports, estpn, stats.com, etc) but they are only tools and serve as just a piece of the puzzle. I like current trends over long term trends (how is this team or this pitcher doing over his or their last 5 games as opposed to how did he or they do against this team over the past season or number of seasons). I also belong to a few sites where guys like me (who love baseball and betting on it) from around the country exchange information and ideas. I had a really good year last year (betting in Vegas and on line) but this year is even better, so I am truly thankful.
September is really a great month for us gamblers...baseball, college football and pro football... cant wait....
Rob
Elf,
I am oroginally from Simi Valley (Ventura County) but the family and I are moving to Toronto (work transfer) at the end of September and we are staying in Garden Grove with the in-laws as we sold our house in June. Its been trying living temporarily with the in-laws, but I can't complain. I am happy we were able to sell our house early this summer. If it had been the same market as two years ago, I would have waited until we were just about ready to make our move before selling, but it is a different market for sure. Could have made an additional 130k selling 18 months ago
Hank 987-
Ok here it is (your winner for the day
)
Thursday (8/23) take the Oakland A's (-121) over the TB D-Rays. This will be my only play of the day...best of luck
Rob
Yet another AVPer to hit a streak on the sportsbook. I'll place my first bet one of these days. Enjoyed the report, though.
Hank...
Hope you played my complimentary winner on the A's as it was an easy winner
I know it will eventuall end soon, but since I have come back from Vegas, I have not had a losing day betting on the games (via macho and 5 dimes).... lets keep er rolling 
SimiRob, I saw your post of picking Oakland today but the game had already started. You are a win machine. You should have your own baseball pick of the day thread.
Keep it up.
I'm sorry I didn't play it, but thanks anyway. Nice work and I hope you keep it rolling!
I'll post another winner for Friday. Will look at the board in the morning and start the research
.
Todays picks....
Firday (8/24) Atlanta Braves (-133)
Seattle M's (-127)
Thanks SimiRob for the picks! I'll put some money down on these two games. Hopefully they will pay off but if not, no big deal.
nice roll going. 3-0 on the AVP posted plays for a nice profit. Thank God for internet betting
SimiRob,
You are the man. Thanks for winning picks! I didn't have much but i did bet the two teams and also put a little on the 2 team parlay.
Keep posting your picks when you have time.
Dude you rule, make your daily pick thread.
SimiRob,
On your last day in Vegas, why didn't you bet the Yankees before you left? Also what percentage of your plays in baseball are on dogs?
I think a sports wagering thread would be great.
Ive been betting on baseball for approximately 6 years. The play I most look to make is getting a great price on an underdog.
I stay away from Yankees -220 type wagers. I also stay away from runlines. I try to hop on the occassional DRays or Marlins +175.
A great trend I have been tracking is taking the over in Marlins games at HOME (1:00) start. Must be something with the heat that takes its toll on pitchers.
So who's gonna start the baseball wagering thread?
I won't start it, but I definitely will be watching it. Let's get this thing rolling.
Hey guys,
Glad the picks are going well. I had a winner on Saturday and two yesterday (Dodgers and Angels). I tried posting, but I think something was wrong with the AVP site and I couldn't do it. I will look at the board today and see if there is anything I like.
I usually play favorites and occassionaly dogs. I don't really get into the VALUE stuff, but tend to only bet on a team that I think cleary has the best chace of winning (like the Dodgers last night to avoid the sweep with David Wells
)
Yes, I should have stuck around the weekend before last to make one last bet on the Yanks, but I wanted to miss traffic and didn't want to get too greedy.
Lets all make some do-ray-me
For the AVP staff:
Would it be ok to start a Betting thread (baseball and football)? Maybe a few winners would equal more chips at the table
If it is ok, how would I start it?
Thanks,
Rob
Sure, go right ahead. I would recommend starting the thread in the General Gambling forum.
Thanks Michael...
Will start the thread in the Gambling forum.
I have a few baseball picks and one football pick