Las Vegas Trip Report June 8-13, 2025: I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends/Poker Sucks

Sunday, June 8, 2025

It was time for another trip to Sin City. I was unsure if I wanted to go just over a week after getting home from my trip to central Europe, but I wanted to play in the Golden Nugget tag team event with my friend NormInVegas. I made last-minute air and hotel reservations, and I was ready for some fun. The fun would have to wait, however, as my 12:47pm Frontier Airlines flight was ready to take off when the pilot announced that a leak was detected in the plane's air conditioning system. The flight was pretty warm as were taxiing for takeoff. Since it was already 104 degrees in Phoenix, we were immediately taken back to our gate and instructed to deplane. The other passengers and I waited ... and waited ... and waited. We finally were able to get back on the plane and take off on the short flight. We originally were supposed to land in Las Vegas at 2:02pm. As it was, my Las Vegas Lyft driver picked me up at 7:24pm. As one person noted, this was the first bad beat of the trip!

I stayed at my usual Las Vegas "home" -- the so-called Dirty Castle: Excalibur. I was quite surprised that my Resort Tower room was as nice as it was. Perhaps the furniture had been replaced by hand-me-downs from Aria or Bellagio?

After catching dinner, I decided to go to an old favorite and a close poker room, MGM. The table I was seated at was okay. The players seemed to be decent -- except for two. One was calling down with obviously inferior hands, and one guy was doing crap like being in a hand with Q-3os and betting big each time on a Queen-high flop. Noted. After winning some pots and building a little stack, I was in the big blind with A-7os. There was a raise to either $7 or $10, and I called to defend my blind. The flop was 7-2-5. I decided to check, then called a small raise. There were just three players in the hand: me, and the two other players I deemed to be bad. The turn was a great card: an Ace. I now bet and was called by the calling station. To my surprise and delight, the Q-3 guy made a big raise -- something I had seen him do before with a relatively light hand. There was little doubt what I was going to do. I jammed all in, thinking he'd fold. The calling station called and, much to my surprise, the Q-3 guy called. I thought that I would be scooping a huge pot ... until he tabled 4-3os! The river didn't deliver one of the four outs I had. I had been felted my first session. This was just the first of several disappointing sessions in the trip. It was time to play a few slots and call it a night.

Monday, June 9, 2025

After breakfast at the MGM buffet (covered under a resort credit I had with my reservation), I headed to try out the new poker room at Planet Hollywood. It is a different kind of room, with small alcove-like areas outside the main room. I counted 23 tables, but my count might be off a tad. I was not impressed by the two brush people, who seemed to be consumed with a small tournament that was going on. I was ignored for several minutes before finally getting on the wait list. Shortly after being seated, I was joined by poker friend Vegas_Degen (Larry), who I had not seen for some time. Larry divides most of his time between Las Vegas and the Philippines. The game was nothing out of the ordinary, but one play was significant in my mind. Larry was seated on my immediate left. In one hand he was on the button and raised. I don't remember my hand (it was good enough for a limp in the cutoff), so I called. The flop was 10-rag-10. I thought that it was a great flop to make a river steal. After a couple rounds of betting, I made a big raise on the river, expecting Larry to fold. Unfortunately, he insta-raised all in. I was forced to fold. He showed 10-10 for flopped quads! Great plan, oh lightning genius! Despite my crappy play, I was impressed by the new PH room and hope that it will stick around awhile. It is easy to find after taking the escalator near Cafe' Hollywood.

Larry, who showed his disloyalty by flopping quads on me!

That evening, Larry and I played at the new room in Caesars Palace. It is very small and difficult to find. Luckily, I was seated at the front of the room, soon to be joined by Larry. There was a lot of walk-by traffic, so the room seemed really loud. I heard that a new room is hoped to be opened by December. That would be nice, as I found the current room very uncomfortable.

Nothing seemed to be breaking right for me, and my stack was dwindling. I finally got a decent hand (A-Kos) and raised. I was called by one player who was relatively new to the table. The flop was Q-rag-rag -- all clubs. I had no clubs. I decided, perhaps recklessly, to jam my remaining stack, hoping to get my opponent to fold. He tanked, then called -- with J-J, one club. There were no clubs on the turn or river, and no Aces or Kings either. Bye bye chippies. This is one play I really thought a lot about afterward. A jam born of frustration? I dunno. All I knew was that I certainly wasn't feeling a great poker vibe this trip ... and I still had three full days to go!

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

I had tried to play at what has become my Las Vegas honey hole -- Bellagio -- the day before, but there were a ton of people playing there, and the desk seemed to be wallowing in confusion. I attempted to get seated and was told to speak to the guy at the podium in the sports book area, which had partially been converted to a poker area. I had played here before. Seating had been a bit tight, but I was involved in some fun games. However, I waited ... and waited for someone to speak with. Finally, a guy came out and told me that that area was full and that I should return to the desk. I was then put on the $1/3 list -- several places down from where I would have been if I had just been placed on the list when I first approached the desk. I waited a bit,  then left very frustrated.

This day proved to again be frustrating. I got on the list and was quickly the second in line. The person above me had been called, and his name was flashing. I was right outside the room, waiting to hear my name. I finally saw my name flashing, and happily went to the desk. The woman there told me that my name had been called three times (huh?). I told her that I was right outside the room and immediately came when my name started flashing. She said the seat had already been filled, but she left me at the top of the list. Very disappointing experiences with a room that I had really been liking. They just seemed to be overwhelmed by the pure numbers of people. However, I was quickly seated and watched the player on my right flop a set ... flop a straight ... flop a set ... while I got nothing. NOTHING! I got frustrated and left.

I played a short session at Horseshoe before being picked up by poker friend NormInVegas. We headed to the Golden Nugget to play in its Grand Series tag team event.

Arizona donk and Norm

This tournament is mainly for fun, as it has a quick, donkathon structure. I played the first level and was dealt A-Jos right away. I raised and got two callers. The flop was J-5-6. The player on my right made a big bet. I contemplated raising, but just called. The third player came along. The turn was a rag, and he bet again. I was putting him on K-J. I called. The other player came along. The river was another rag. He bet, I called, the other player came along. He flipped over Q-J. I felt great until the third player flipped over 6-5os for the flopped two pair. Sheesh! I was actually quite active in the first level, getting hands like A-k, 9-9 and 4-4. I won a pot and chopped another to help get back chips I lost on my first hand. Norm played level two, I played three, and he played four. we were getting short stacked at the end of level  four. I was getting ready to be in shove mode in level five when Norm pushed all in with two pair. Unfortunately, he lost to a straight (that sounded familiar!) and the dream was over.

We then decided to play some $1/2 at the Golden Nugget poker room. We were seated at the same table, which was great. There was some really unusual (fishy) play there. Norm took advantage when he had quads and found that another player just couldn't lay his hand down with three of a kind on the baord and Norm betting big. Nice play! I, unfortunately, was bleeding chips and was waiting for my chance. I got it when I was dealt Q-Q. There was a raise and I reraised. I got two callers. The flop was 1o high. The first player checked, and I shoved all in. The woman sitting across from me called. I felt good. The turn was a blank and the river was ... an Ace. I already felt wheat was coming. She flipped over A-10, and I was done playing poker for the day. I'm sure Norm heard a lot of whining at our dinner shortly thereafter.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

I decided to play at the Venetian, where I had been having fun and some success on previous trips. I got on the wait list on Poker Atlas, and was surprised when I was listed as POI. I later discovered about the changes made there. I made the long walk down the Strip for exercise. When I got to the poker room, my timing was exquisite, as I had moved to third on the list behind two who had not yet checked in. I was seated immediately. I did not have the success with bomb pots I had on my most recent trip, but I was at least at a relatively fun table. I really had one guy's number, and he kept spewing chips to me and others. He was a decent player, but just ran into some bad luck.

I left to meet my friend Mitch at the Horseshoe bar. He had been playing in the WSOP Seniors $5K entry and had been doing quite well. We decided to eat at Ole Red in front of Horseshoe. On the way there, I discovered that I had left my phone at the bar in Horseshoe. Stoopid! Mitch took this picture of me after we returned to the bar, finding my phone just where I had left it.

We ate at Ole Red's, which was quite an experience. It seemed like the security here was heavier that Donald Trump's! We ate on the second level. It was loud. Really LOUD! The chicken tenders salad I had was really pretty good, but Mitch paid a ridiculous price for beer.

We played some $1/3 cash at Horseshoe, then Mitch, who had had a long day, flying in from southern Florida, then playing in and bagging in his WSOP tournament, needed to finally get some sleep. I was running well and had a small profit when I decided to play one more hand -- which usually meant disaster for me. Someone raised, and I looked down to see K-Qos. I decided to call. The flop was Q-Q-K! The initial raiser was an aggressive local, and he handed over a lot of chips to me. If only he called my river bet ... as luck would have it, the poker gods had not forgotten who I am. I was dealt J-10 and called a raise by a local who was running short. The flop was J-10-A. I raised and he shoved. Of course, I called. And, of course, he had A-J! Easy come, easy go. It was time to go back to Excalibur and call it a night.

CMitch and yours truly

Thursday, June 12, 2025

This was going to be my last day in Las Vegas as I had a morning flight on Friday. There were plans for a possible meet up game with friends that evening, but I was beginning to feel pokered out for the trip since nothing seemed to be going right. I decided to go back to MGM and try my luck there. I was bleeding chips and looking for just that right spot. I found it when a player just rebought and looked to be on tilt. He raised as I looked down at A-Qos. I called. The flop was A-A-4. Bingo! I was hoping to catch the final Ace for the high hand of the half hour bonus as well as the special promo board bonus. Or at least get another Queen for the full house and the  half hour high hand. I got neither, but felt good about my hand. We got it all in by the river, and my opponent looked discouraged, thinking he'd been run down. He turned over friggin A-4 for the flopped boat! That was the final straw for me. I left the table and decided that my poker was done for the trip.

Poker friend WashDude (Darren) was coming into town this day and had invited me to join him and a few friends for dinner at the Roma Deli & Restaurant. He asked me to pass along the invitation to Norm. So, I decided to let some other friends know that my poker was done for the trip. Norm and I and a friend of Darren's met for dinner and had a wonderful time. I have a strong suspicion that several glasses of wine added to the great time. As I posted on X, what could be better than a dinner of pasta, wine, and cannoli with friends?

 

Darren's friend Joe, Darren, Norm & me.

Friday, June 13, 2025

I had a very easy morning. A great Uber driver took me to the airport. My flight left early and got in early. My wife picked me up at the airport. Soon I was home and life would be quickly back to normal.

Epilog

My friend Mitch continues to be a poker monster. This guy placed third in the WSOP Seniors a few years ago for a score of over $300K. This year, he just missed the final table in his $5K event, finishing 11th. He followed it up with a 282/7575 finish in the WSOP $1K Seniors event. If only I had his mad tournament skills.

Darren is heading back to Saskatchewan today after playing some tournaments and also the mixed game festival at Bellagio. I don't know how he survives without having a Roma Deli in Canada.

Norm keeps me updated on the latest happenings in Las Vegas. Our mutual Chicago background plus poker has made us pretty tight friends.

Although I have played a few online poker tournaments in a private home game series, I have yet to step into a casino to play poker since coming home. I am almost at one complete week without it. I kind of miss it, but it's like dealing with a girlfriend who no longer loves you. At least it feels that way to me. Strange, and yet amazing how this game has a hold on us.

In short, poker was a disaster this trip. I don't have to like it, but I accept it as part of the ups and downs of the game. However, the saving grace of this trip was having an excellent time playing poker, socializing, and eating with friends. In that regard, the trip went far beyond expectations.

Thanks for reading!

Jetting Up ... Or Is It Jetting Down?

This post actually begins almost 50 years ago. My small group of friends decided that we would all get the same logo t-shirt and have a nickname printed on back. Although I strongly campaigned for black Bad Company shirts and informally calling ourselves Bad Company, we opted for Elton John Captain Fantastic shirts. They were a heather blue color, and looked kind of like this:

Well, that was the front. What to put on the back? One guy had Spud, another had Snatch, one had The Pepperoni Kid, and another had, I think, Spider. What to put on mine? I didn't really ever have a nickname that stuck. I opted for Jet. Why Jet? I'm sure the Wings song by that name was part of the reason. The main reason, however, was a self-perception of how I functioned. Like a Jet, it took a lot of energy to get me started and "in the air" about something, but once I got going, like a jet airplane, I was almost impossible to stop short of a major crash.

Why do I share this story? Well, my clinical psychology background always had me interested in how people functioned and why, and what motivated them. My last blog post talked about the weight loss regimen that I was on. Over the years as my weight went up, I did little about it. I paid the price, having a mild heart attack almost 14 years ago. Afterward, I was involved in a cardiac rehab program at a local health center and lost some weight. My short term goal is to dip below that weight. Today marks four months since I began this self challenge. The result has been the loss of 38 pounds. Along with radically changing my diet, I also have been getting in much more walking each day. I am really pretty damn proud of myself.

But let's step back a minute. What finally motivated "Jet" to get off his butt and finally do something about the weight? It was a unique combination of many things and many people. Some poker people get some kudos here. Tony Bigcharles made a comment upon not seeing me for a long period of time. "I see your belly has gotten bigger. So has mine and another friend." Ouch. It wasn't said in a bad way, but it was one of many things that got me thinking. Old online poker friends and former bloggers Very Josie and The Crafty Southpaw (Gary) both lost weight to improve their health. Jeez, I thought, if they can do it, why can't I?

A friend from my local trivia group is really into healthy foods and really got me seriously thinking about this a year ago. Over the past year, I've seen several friends and former classmates that passed away. I thought that if I wanted to have some more good years, I'd better do something before it was too late. When I visited Tony in Texas and vlogged about it, I was shocked at how terrible I looked. A guy from X named Michael sent me a private message and was pretty blunt about how I looked and what I should do. He was right. And finally, what perhaps really got me to take action, was something my doctor wrote in my file. It was a shock many years ago to see that I had an official diagnosis of obesity, among other things. My Arizona primary care physician, whom I really like, wrote that I was "morbidly obese." I thought that description was for guys who were around 300 or 400 or more pounds. But yeah -- I was way beyond a little overweight. Now I was pissed. The Jet had been fueled up. It was time to head down the runway.

Over the past few weeks, I have lightened up my strict eating habits a little. I actually had a slice of pizza a week ago. Last night, after a long poker/gambling session at Talking Stick, I stopped at Whataburger and had my first fast food hamburger since I started my diet. I've actually allowed myself a bit of chocolate. But I weigh myself each morning, which continues to motivate me. I recently had to buy some new shorts, jeans, and shirts because my old clothes are now huge and don't fit me. That is a nice problem to have. I know that I look better and feel better. And I will keep this going until I am where I want to be.

So ... this is what I have been concentrating on the past four months. Cruising altitude: slightly less than six feet.

Thanks for reading!

Return to Las Vegas March 9-14, 2024 and a Weighty Decision

I almost can't believe that it has now been over six months since I have been to Las Vegas. A variety of circumstances have led to this half-year break. They included having a colonoscopy, a trip to Greece, my wife's trip to help her sister, my wife's trip to assist our son in moving here, actually having our son here, a mystery respiratory illness, a trip to the Grand Canyon, several Phoenix Suns games, a Seattle Mariners spring training game, various concerts, driving my non-profit's clients to several medical appointments ...

It sounds a little busier than it has actually felt. Unfortunately, I have also been running extremely bad in poker, which started right at the end of my last Las Vegas trip. Either that, or suddenly I now really suck at poker. It has been a very frustrating (in poker) last six months. I am hoping that a trip to Las Vegas will help get me back on track.

I decided not to write a Part II to my last post. However, I will speak here of one of the two things I was going to write about. With several things serving as motivation, I decided that I needed to do something about my weight if I hope to live several more years. It is funny sometimes to look at the perspectives that we have integrated into ourselves. I was a skinny kid. My siblings were also pretty thin. However, I've had a huge appetite almost my entire life. In high school, I was very active in sports. I was a victim of the freshman 15 when I began college. I was pretty slim when I began my first professional job after being poor during graduate school -- which certainly helps keep weight down -- but over the years, my weight went up. The glory era of online poker didn't help as I played poker almost every night back then. Anyway, after hemming and hawing after deciding not to pay $1,100-1,500/month to get semaglutide shots, I decide to man up and cut out sugar and carbs from my diet. I am not following any particular name diet plan and am not feverishly counting my carbs, just cutting out all the bad stuff. Monday, March 10 will be the two-month mark since I began. As of the morning of March 7, I have lost 26 pounds. the first 20 came off pretty rapidly the first month, but things have slowed down the past four weeks. However, what I am doing is very reasonable. I was surprised that I have not missed many things I regularly ate, but the temptations seem to be coming a little bit more the past couple of weeks. However, I am a stubborn dude and have largely stuck with my plan. In the past two months, I've had two days when I ate a lot of carbs, usually due to some life circumstance, but they actually seemed to help me bust through some weight plateaus I had been stuck on. So ... a slimmer version of lightning36 will be invading Las Vegas this coming week.

I plan on playing some poker with some friends and maybe doing a few meals with some. Hit me up if you want to fling a few cards together or grab a drink/meal (keto in my case, of course). I have felt pretty bored the last few weeks. I am really looking forward to this trip.

Thanks for reading!   

My Personal Life, Part I: The Gift

How many times in life do we wish for  a second chance? How many times do we actually get that chance? If we do, how do things work out? I have gotten a lot more insight into these questions the past two months. I am happy to report positive results.

The background: My wife and I have three children. The middle child is our son, Rick. In the summer of 2013, Rick began taking classes at the University of Illinois and wanted to live on/near campus. Amazingly, just before the fall semester began, we were able to find him a decent apartment very close to the building where he would take most of his computer science classes. That same summer, our oldest daughter also moved out after she completed her Associate in Arts degree. Life was never the same after they moved out, as we went from a family of five to a family of three.

There is certainly an adjustment phase. Since both were still living in town, we still saw/heard from them occasionally, especially if the subject was free use of our laundry or a home cooked meal, not to mention the occasional need for some cashola. Initially, I remember both feelings of sadness at their leaving and also happiness at seeing them start to transition into responsible adults. We still had a daughter living at home and did not become empty nesters until I retired and we were selling our house just over four years ago.

Rick, who was in the Math/Computer Science program at the University of Illinois, had a bright future ahead of him. He decided to take a job in Seattle -- 2,000 miles away! Fortunately, since he was living in a major city and we were within driving distance to the Chicago airports, we knew visiting could always be done by tweaking our work/vacation schedules.

I retired from my job in July 2020. Our youngest daughter moved out in October, knowing that the sale of our house and our move to the Phoenix area was imminent. When she did, we were without children living in our house for the first time since 1992 -- the first time in 28 years! There were certainly  feelings of sadness and emptiness, but also an excitement at realizing that hey -- this is how we started 32 years ago! We sold our house in Illinois in December and moved to Arizona just before Christmas of 2020. Our son was now 1,400 miles away and our daughters were 1,700 miles away.

The move to Arizona has been great for us. My wife's best friend lives out here, and I have family in the area. However, more and more, we felt the pangs that many advancing age parents feel: we miss our kids. They don't understand how much visits, phone calls and texts mean to us. Fortunately, between our visiting them and their visiting us, we've still been able to see each other sporadically. And although it is great living by ourselves and only having ourselves and our pets (two dogs and a cat) to take care of on a daily basis, there has been a degree of quietness and loneliness that we have adapted to.

Recently, we had a change, as our son ran into some bad times. He broke up with his long-time girlfriend who moved to Seattle with him, and was laid off from his sweet computer engineering job due to company cost cutting measures. He was in a downward spiral. After going through his severance pay and savings, he had no money for rent. We had been offering to let him take a nice break away by vising us, but declined. Finally, my wife convinced him to move in with us for three months to try to effect change in his life. So, at the end of last November, my wife flew to Seattle, helped my son pack and move some things into storage, and drove back home with him. He has now been at our house for about two months.

How has it been? Well, there were obviously some adjustments that had to be made by all three of us. Shopping and sleeping routines, among other things, had to be modified. Suddenly the downsized house for two retirees now had to make room for a third person. No more walking around the house in varying degrees of nakedness!

In spite of these minor issues, the experience has so far been overwhelmingly positive. My wife has always expressed how much she loved it when our kids were real little. Personally, I like things more with having adult children. I know that we both have felt lonely without our children around. After over 11 years without our son living with us and over four years since we became empty nesters, we once again have a child in the house. To me, it is more like a second chance to experience family in a way we never thought we'd see again. And as much as my son is struggling to work through his difficulties (he did find a great 30+ hours/week job at a landscaping company a few minutes walk from our house), it has been a joy to have him here -- really, a gift, to be able to get back, if only for a short time, that feeling of having your own kids back in the house. He's trying to find a computer engineering job where he can work from home, or some type of hybrid job that would be based in Seattle. He is through 2/3 of the time we initially agreed upon, due to review at the end of the three month period. He desperately wants to moved back to Seattle, but the professional job situation is crucial. He might move back to Seattle and move in with a friend until he finds a job, but we are hoping that he will stay with us until he has that job. We have no idea what the future will bring right now. However, I am determined to enjoy this gift while we have it. We have already gone to two Phoenix Suns games and will likely go to a Seattle Mariners cactus league game or two. I might take my son with me for a short stay in Las Vegas so that he can experience the city that I love. The conversations we have are amazing. Talk about generational differences!

This issue is one that has been dominating my life for the past couple of months. In my next post -- My Personal Life, Part II --  I will write about two other major life changes that 2025 has brought. It seems that things are rarely dull in Arizona retired life!

Thanks for reading.

Hello, Yeah, It's Been Awhile. Not Much, How 'Bout You?

I was quiet surprised to see that my last post had been 2 1/2 months ago. What have I been doing since my last report of Oct 27?

Oct 29: Jeff Lynn's ELO concert.

Nov 3: A really bad day. I went to see the Chicago Bears embarrass themselves vs the Arizona Cardinals. I got a great last-minute ticket and loved the atmosphere for the game, which almost appeared to be a home game for da Bears. A great crowd of fans was disappointed and angry at what they witnessed ... and paid for tickets, parking, travel, etc.

Nov 14: Bachelor week began as my wife flew back to Illinois to help her sister, who was experiencing severe medical issues.

Nov 23: High school football state semi-finals as my nephew's team (he is head coach) goes for back-to-back state championships.

Nov 24: Wife flies out to Seattle to help our son pack up and move to Arizona to stay with us for three months or maybe a little longer.

Nov 28: Thanksgiving with my AZ family.

Nov 30: Nephew's team comes from behind with 1:14 to play to win the state title again by 1 point.

Dec 2: Wife returns with our son. We had been empty nesters for over four years, and our son had not lived with us for about 8 years.

Dec 19: Went to Indiana Pacers at Phoenix Suns NBA game.

Things seemed to be cruising pretty well until sometime in mid-December, I came down with a cold, had it almost go away, and then return with a vengeance. This kept up for several weeks into January. The cold seems to have finally run its course.

Jan 11: Burton Cummings concert.

I had two trips to Las Vegas (December and January) that I canceled due to this nagging cold. I haven't been to Las Vegas since September -- the longest stretch since I moved to Arizona, I think. I hope to head back to Las Vegas early in February.

I traveled a lot in four months (July - October) that included Las Vegas, Wisconsin/Illinois, Napa CA, Las Vegas again, Greece, and Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas. I dunno -- maybe I wore down my resistance with the trips? 

Anyway, I am feeling better and did a lot of thinking in December about my life and where I am. I have decided to make a couple of fundamental changes in my life for 2025 (I guess you could call them New Year resolutions) and already have both in process. I'll speak more about them later as the new year unfolds.

Thanks for reading!

Of TBC, Dallas Poker Clubs, Oklahoma Poker, and family visits: My Road Trip of Oct 23-27, 2024

For several years, Tony Bigcharles and I had talked about taking a road trip so that Tony could visit his mother in rural Kansas. With Tony always on the go and with my living in Phoenix, the trip never came about. However, after returning from a vacation with my wife to Greece, I saw what appeared to be the perfect spot in my calendar for me to go. I made a deal with Tony that if he would handle all expenses, I would drive him to see his mom. He agreed, and I spent several hours looking at plane flights, rental cars, hotel rooms, and poker rooms so that we could make the trip at a decent price while staying in decent hotels. Everything came into place, and the wheels were set in motion for me to leave the morning of Wednesday, October 23 and get back home late night on Sunday, October 27.

Wed, Oct 23, 2024

The trip started with my flight from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. A big thank you to Alysia Chang, who ordered me a Starbucks coffee while I was waiting for my flight to leave. Kudos to Frontier Airlines, which had a modest price for my flight to Dallas, and gave me a free aisle seat in the front of the plane.

The trip to DFW was unremarkable, and soon I was headed on the shuttle to the car rental center. I had decided to rent a Chevy Malibu for its combination of comfort and gas mileage, and was able to pick out my choice at Hertz. I drove to Tony's hotel, assisted with a little clean up, and then headed for something to eat before we played poker. Our first poker club stop: Peaks Dallas. Texas, as you might know, does not have casinos but does have private poker clubs. You pay a membership fee ($10 for the day is standard, but as a new player, I only had to pay $1) and instead of having rake taken out of pots, you pay an hourly fee. In this case, it was $13/hour, which seems to be pretty standard. I did vlog this first session:

Tony had a really good session (watch the vlog for details), whereas I was pretty much card dead and ended up with a HUGE profit of $20, playing a mixed Hold em/Omaha game until moving to a $1/2 NLHE game. They were able to do bomb pots, which are always fun.

We then moved to another private club, Shuffle 214 Dallas. I lost some money initially, then got it and more back when I had a couple of nice hands, including pocket Kings. I played them the lightning way, not the Robvegaspoker way. I was sitting pretty until I was the small blind with the button straddling. I had a pretty Ah-Qh and raised to $15. The straddler re-raised to $40, and I called. The flop was 8-Q-8. The player who straddled had been caught semi-bluffing a short time before, and frankly, I didn't believe him. I raised and he only called. The turn was a blank, and I decided to put him to the test. I felt pretty confident that I was ahead. I jammed all in, which he clearly was not expecting. He went into the tank for several minutes, which seemed like hours. He started saying things like "What do you have? Q-Q? A-Q?" When he mentioned A-Q, I thought I might be in trouble. Finally he decided to call and asked how many times I'd like to run it. I said twice. He then flipped over ... K-K! I got no help on either run out and he stacked me for a pot of over $1,000. Yuck. He then started telling me what a great play I'd made since he ALMOST folded. Meh. Tony lost some at Shuffle, and that was the end of the night. Not a great poker start to the trip.

Thurs, Oct 24, 2024

We checked out of Tony's hotel suite (I slept on the hide-a-bed in the living room), and made the drive into Oklahoma to play at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant. The poker room was pretty dead and had two tables of $1/2 NL going. Tony and I were seated at different tables. Once again, I was pretty much card dead and did lose a couple of pots when guys stuck in a hand when way behind and got a lucky river card. I lost part of a buy in, and Tony lost. He then headed to the video blackjack machines while I played some slots. I liked the poker room and also the rest of the casino. Looking back, we stayed there way too long, as we had a 350 mile drive to Kansas to make that afternoon and evening. I was determined to get us to our hotel, but Tony was trying to persuade me to stop somewhere else along the way. It was really dark until we were greeted with some lightning, then rain. However, We kept going, getting to our hotel at about 11:00pm.

Fri, Oct 25, 2024

After waking up and getting a nice meal in the Comfort Inn breakfast area, we headed to his mother's place. The plan was to drop Tony off at 9:00am. He would then stay the rest of the day and night at his mother's house, while I would have a nice day of relaxation. We got there shortly after 9. I met Tony's mother for the first time. We had a nice conversation before I left and headed out of town. I decided to stay at the same hotel that Tony and I stayed at Thursday night. I got to the parking lot shortly before noon and was deciding about going in to see if I could check into my new room a little early. I ended up taking a 3+ hour nap in the car!

I had a nice quiet, relaxing evening, watching the World Series on television and swimming in the indoor heated pool. Tony, meanwhile, was staying in his mom's basement. He had mentioned staying there in the past. I envisioned a dungeon, complete with trolls and dragons. In reality, the basement had been fixed up years ago as a very nice apartment for Tony's son. Since his mother went to sleep very early, Tony was able to go online and search out blackjack games, unfortunately. The results were predictable, unfortunately. If only he could kick this nasty habit.

Sat, Oct 26, 2024

After another hearty Comfort Inn breakfast, I drove the 30+ minutes to Tony's mother's house to pick up Tony. We then got to his son's (Mark's) place shortly after 10:00am. I met his roommate, and the we drove off to take Mark out to one his his favorite spots, Wendy's. When the local bowling center opened at 11:30, we went inside to go bowling. I opted to oversee the electronic scoring so that father and son could have this time to bowl together. They had separate lanes to bowl on, and I saw an unbelievable display by Mark, a regular bowler, as he bowled eight games in 52 minutes, with scores  ranging from 121 to 188. It was quite a performance. Tony did okay for a person who never bowls, bowling three games in 35 minutes before deciding to give his arm a rest. 

This was when we ran into our complication in the visit. Mark was supposed to be back by 2:00pm, but we had to make a trip back to Tony's mother's house because Tony inadvertently left his phone there. Mark wanted to go with us to see his grandmother, but decided not to at the last minute. He had us drop him off back at the bowling alley, where a ride home had been arranged for later that afternoon. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication dealing with Mark and times which came back to haunt us later. That was unfortunate, as the three of us had a fun time bowling, riding around, and just having fun talking as guys would in that situation. I gave props to Tony for doing a good job interacting with his son. He was patient and  bought several pair of reading glasses, a set of headphones and a bowling gift card for Mark. But now it was time to hit the road, as we needed to drive 250 miles to get to our hotel in Norman, Oklahoma. The hotel was adjacent to the Riverwind Casino. After checking in, we headed to the poker room, where we had a substantial wait to be seated.

I was not doing well at our $1/3 NL table and decided to take a break. I resurfaced at a $1/2 table and did well, more than covering my loss at the first session. We went back to the hotel, where I posted this vlog:

It was time to call it a night. We would have a long day on Sunday, the final day of the trip.

Sun, Oct 27, 2024

We woke up, had breakfast, and decided to put in one  last session at Riverwind. I had an absolute horror of a session -- one of those where you get beat almost every hand, I raised on the button with Ad-Kd. I got two callers, one of whom stuck in the hand with me. The flop was 10-K-rag, a good flop for me. My raise was called by one player. After the turn put two cards to a flush on the board, my opponent checked and I shoved to make sure the price high if he was going for the flush. To my horror, he called and flipped over pocket 10s. Oops! A  few hands later, I again had Ad-Kd and was in a hand that had been raised by TBC. The flop was Queen high with two diamond on the board. When short stacked Tony raised, I shoved. He called with his K-Q. My flush didn't get there. Boo! I ran into set for the second time in my session and finally called it quits when my A-K lost to K-Q --- again! There were several more times when the poker gods pissed on me that session. It was horrible!

Tony and I got in some machine time which, looking back, was a mistake as it took too much time. We got in the car and drove the 100 miles to WinStar World Casino in Thackerville. It was ginormous! We were running out of time and did not play poker there. I did see the poker room and was surprised how little action was going on. Whereas I liked both Choctaw and Riverwind casinos, I didn't particularly like WinStar because it was so big. Row after row of slot machines. Ugh.

We headed back to Dallas, where I dropped Tony off at his new hotel and then at one of the Dallas poker clubs. We said goodbye and I headed to the DFW Airport to drop off my rental car. My night flight left a little late, but it made up for the lost time on the flight back to Phoenix. It was the end of an exhausting five days.

I have chosen to say little about the miscommunication regarding Tony's son and the visit. I was upset, however, by the tone and content of the emails I received from Tony's mom Saturday night. I give props to Tony for responding to her and sticking up for me and himself. I was determined not to let her ruin what had been a fun and enjoyable trip.

Some statistics:

Days: 5

Flights: 2

Flight miles: 1,760

Rental car miles: 1,165

Satisfaction of seeing Tony with his mother and then his son: Priceless beyond words

Some people asked me why I did this. The best answer I can give comes from my Catholic upbringing.

Luke 12:48: Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required.

Mathew 25:35-40: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?" And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

Thanks for reading!

Las Vegas Trip Report Sept 2-6, 2024: Outed Three Times at the Poker Table

 Prior to September 2

It seemed like this day would never come. I had spent a significant amount of time assisting my wife, who was caring for our elderly friend, Sandra. Sandra had made the decision several weeks before to stop going to her twice-weekly dialysis treatments. However, Sandra had made this same decision about three or four times before, only to start back when she started to feel really bad or her fear of dying overcame her. This time, however, she was serious. She lapsed into unconsciousness the third week in August, and we and two care givers were watching her as much as we could. My wife and I had a vacation to Napa, CA planned for Aug 26-29. We were hoping that Sandra would pass before we left. I was actually the last person to see her alive Sunday night, Aug 25. I had given her a sedative and morphine that had been provided by hospice and was watching the Three Stooges, followed by Pulp Fiction. About 11:00pm, I said what I imagined would be my last goodbye. My wife and I had an early Monday morning flight into Oakland. Sometime after we landed, my wife received a text that Sandra was found dead when a neighbor checked on her late in the morning. A huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders. It was time to have fun in Napa! Having nothing planned for Labor Day weekend, a time I traditionally spent in Las Vegas, I made plane and hotel reservations to lock in my trip, which I felt I sorely needed. A tip of the cap to my Australian brother, thundering36, who for several years went out to Las Vegas with me that weekend to celebrate his birthday. I would have to celebrate without him.

Monday, September 2, 2024

The earliest flight that I could get on Frontier was in the afternoon. The day started off well when Alysia Chang texted me to find out when my flight got in. She offered to pick me up at the airport and drive us somewhere for dinner. She did just that, and we met up with Chris Abramski at Tacos and Beer for Happy Hour. After some street tacos and beer, we headed straight to the Venetian, where I was excited to play at the its poker room. It wasn't too difficult to find when coming in from the parking  garage, but Venetian needs to put up better signage. The new second floor poker room, in the Grand Canal Shoppes area, looks pretty spectacular. The blue and white tables and chairs reminds one of another classy poker room in the immediate area. The chairs were all brand new and wonderful, a badly-needed change from the old chairs that had seen their better days. Chris had gotten there before Alysia and me, and doubled up on a flopped straight pretty quickly. Poker is EZ sometimes! I got seated at table 25, and Alysia, Chris, and Las Vegas poker friend Luke Johnston all moved to my table. Normally, this would have resulted in my having a blast. However, there was a woman at the table who was cackling loudly the entire time. I don't remember playing with her before, but interestingly enough, I saw her playing later at night at Bellagio later in the week. She was older, and had short white hair that was parted on one side, reminding me of class picture day from when I was in elementary school. I had nothing against her personally, but her loud cackling was being projected straight at me, causing a massive sound in my hearing aids. I eventually moved to a different seat to avoid listening to her at her maximum volume.

Unfortunately, I was card dead most of the session. Even with a decent starting hand, I couldn't hit a flop to save my life. My play then got sloppy as I was frustrated. The only redeeming part of the session (apart from playing at a table with three friends!)was that a dealer from Venetian, Dustin, approached me and said, "It's nice to meet a member of the Inner Circle," so he had apparently been reading Tony Bigcharles's blog for some time. 

He said that he actually only met Tony once in a casino. I had not been outed at a poker room for a year or two. Little was I to know that this would be happening two more times this trip!

My final hand, I shoved with a pair and was called by the raiser in the hand. He had top-top and I thought I had sucked out on him when I hit two pair. Unfortunately, he also had the nut flush draw and hit it on the turn or river. Meh. I lost my buy-in plus another $100, so the poker was not off to a good start. Could this be foreshadowing? Alysia cashed out and drove me to Excalibur to finally get into my room. Day two would hopefully be much better poker-wise.

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

When the going gets tough, what do you do? You go to your honey hole. For me, this meant Bellagio. It had never been a favorite back in these days when it was so packed with tables that you could barely walk, but I had been having much success there in the past year. Since December, 2023, I had won 11 of the 13 sessions I played there. I had been running really well, and as a few of my poker friends could attest, I was really dominating play there. So yeah, bring it on, Bellagio!

I was first seated at a table with some pretty good players. I quickly learned not to stay in a hand unless it was solid. After about a 1/2 hour of play and a small profit, I decided to request a table change ... and what a great decision that was! The players at my new table all looked pretty new, and I suddenly began to catch a few cards. This was a classic table of no fold me Hold em. People kept calling my raises, and I went n a short torrid streak, winning every significant hand for about 20 minutes. My stack grew and grew. I only remember losing one significant hand when someone turned a gutshot straight. I knew I was behind and called anyway, thinking that the way I was winning, I might just hit the card I needed. Well, I didn't. 😃 I decided that cashing out with a good profit would make the most sense when a few players changed and the table dynamics changed with them. I was now back at even at poker for the trip.

Next stop: Horseshoe. Now, some familiar with me and my blog might know that many years ago, I couldn't lose when Horseshoe was Bally's. Then things turned dramatically -- in the opposite direction. I think it was on my last trip to Las Vegas that I won playing there by sucking out. I am not too proud to accept a suckout, u see. 😁 I was seated at a decent table but wasn't winning many pots as I had gone card dead again. As I was bleeding chips, I took a stand against the table lucksack and doubled up. I left after winning a couple more hands and grinding out a small profit. I had told James "Pman" Urbanic that I would play some poker at Westgate after he started his shift this trip, so it was off to the monorail to Westgate. Thanks to Alysia for loaning me her locals monorail card.

When I got to Westgate, it was shortly after 9:00pm. An earlier tournament was at the final table and a new one had just started. The $1/2 NL game that had been going that evening had just broken up. I said a quick greeting to James and headed back to the monorail  to play at MGM. Long ago, MGM had been one of my favorite and profitable rooms, but like Horseshoe, things had changed. However, I was at a really good table, played very well, and caught some cards. I made a very nice profit to end the night, profiting in four figures for the day which, to me, is pretty good in $1/2 and $1/3 NL. I went to my room with a tired but happy face.

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

I decided that I would first head from Excalibur -- the "dirty castle, ' to Luxor -- the "dirty pyramid," 😀 to put a few bucks in the progressive slots there that cnote_vegas has mentioned in his X posts several times. My victim: the progressive with $173,000+ up top. Not bad for only $.75 maximum/spin. Although I hit some decent hands and could have pulled a profit out of the machine, I was looking for more. I burned my winnings and a little more before deciding to move on. We can always dream, can't we?

Dinner that evening was at Ellis Island BBQ with Alysia, her brother Solomon, and poker buddy NormInVegas. The portions were HUGE, the price very reasonable for Las Vegas (especially if you take advantage of two specials that both decrease the price you pay), and the taste -- excellent if you like your BBQ sauce sweet. I will definitely go there again.

After dinner, Norm and I headed for Bellagio. As we were at the desk to check in, I saw that we were standing next to three ol' tyme poker bloggers: Grange, Poker Peaker, and Bad Blood. They told me that Dr Chako has left Las Vegas earlier that day. Talk about  a living time machine. 😝

I was seated at a table and soon afterward was joined by Norm. Things went haywire quickly. I lost chips and was not having fun. I was doubting my ability to win in the game and wanted to change tables, but I didn't because Norm was there. u see, this was therefore all HIS fault, of course. 😀 At the end, I jammed to a raise (stoopid stoopid) with pocket 8s. My opponent called. I thought I sucked out on the river when I binked an 8, but he flipped over his cards to show that he flopped a set of 10s. Bad decisions by me, baaaad poker. I headed to the sportsbook for a break. After checking social media and whatnot, I decided to buy in again. That was, in retrospect, a mistake. The session was so bad that I can barely remember anything about it, except that I ran top-top into Aces. I'd had enough for the night. I tucked my tail between my legs and headed for the slot machines. On the way, I was stopped by a guy who said "You're lightning, aren't you?" Hmmm ... who could this be? I had a nice conversation with a guy named Lewis. He said that he had played poker with TBC many years ago at Suncoast. I guess he had continued to follow Tony's blog, thus the familiarity with me. I texted Tony later that night to see if he had an idea of who Lewis was. He had no recollection of him. Sometimes the ol' memory isn't what it used to be. 

Thursday, September 5, 2024

I decided that my final full day in Las Vegas would be relaxed. I made plans to meet Chris Abramski at MGM at 4:30ish to be seated in time for its Thursday Night Football promo. I decided to take it easy that day. I had lunch at Buca di Beppo in Excalibur and had a fine looking and tasting antipasti salad. 

I got to MGM about two hours before the 5:20pm start of the game and was seated at an interesting table. My rivered flush lost to a rivered straight flush. One player called a short stack all-in with ... 3-3os -- the dirty diaper! Things just weren't going well for me despite being at a table with a few obviously weak players. Hell - maybe some players thought I was a weak player! I couldn't hit any flops and got suckered into losing a huge pot when I should have known better. I was missing every draw and playing poorly. It's bad when you can feel yourself playing badly. After a few player changes, I was sitting next to a guy who appeared somewhat familiar. He asked me where I was from. I responded Phoenix, but originally Chicago and Illinois. He then said "You're lightning, aren't you?! Damn -- the third time this trip! I said "I don't know him" and smiled. He said his name was JT and that he was a local. I donked off the rest of my chips and left at halftime. Back to the slots where I was having decent success. By the way Chris Abramski, what the hell ever happened to you?

Friday, September 6, 2024

Final morning in Las Vegas. I checked out of my hotel at 11:00am and decided on lunch at Hooters in Oyo. However, I guess my thinking cap wasn't on. I headed from Excalibur toward the Tropicana, not expecting everything to be completely blocked off. No easy way to get past Tropicana to Oyo. I decided to grab a sub at Jimmy John's in the Excalibur food court. Now, I know a lot about Jimmy John's. I've been to the first Jimmy John's store. The headquarters for Jimmy John's was in my town in Illinois. Heck -- Jimmy John used to live a mile away from me. Everyone store I've ever been in has had the famous Jimmy John's freaky fast service ... except the one in Excalibur. I'm guessing it is not a franchised store since you can't find out much info about it. The lackadaisical young guy who has been there almost every time I've gone was there was working. I attempted to order an original #3 Totally Tuna sub. "Sorry - we are out of tuna." Ummm ... okay. Then I tried to order an original #5 Vito. "We are out of pepperoni." Seriously? I said that I'll get my lunch elsewhere and headed to Buca. The pasta sauce there is dull, but hey -- at least I could get lunch there.

I caught a Lyft to the airport and had a little luck there. I had been assigned a middle seat of my Frontier flight back home, but the person in the isle seat didn't show. The 40-minute flight home was unremarkable except that we got in too early and a plane was still at our gate. I quick pick up from my wife and I was home by dinnertime.

Epilog

Looking back, I really enjoyed my meals and poker with my friends. That is always the high point. I did really well on slots. Although I didn't really mention them in my report, I won on several and had a blast doing so. I have new respect for the Frankenstein machines that I previously disdained. The poker? Well, I had an exceptional day on Tuesday. However, for the other sessions, I either was card dead, missed most draws, or played poorly. Sometimes that just happens, I guess. I was in a bad funk and got impatient. At least my Tuesday poker wins and slot wins through the five days covered most of my poker losses, leaving me down a puny buy-in for the trip. The end result is that I had a good time, played poker and slots, and it didn't cost me too much what with cheap Frontier flights and a cheap room at the "Dirty Castle."

A special thanks to NormInVegas for the ride from Ellis Island to Bellagio and to Alysia for the airport pick up, a few other rides, and use of her monorail ticket. It's nice to have friends who live in Las Vegas. 😀

I probably will not return for at least a month, maybe several due to this year's F1 race. In the meantime, I have a colonoscopy scheduled soon, a trip to Greece at the end of the month, and in October, possibly a trip with TBC to get him to visit his mother and son. That could be really interesting.

Thanks for reading! 😊