Summer 2015 Las Vegas Trip Report - Part III: A PICTURE OF MR. SUBLIMINAL!

Wednesday, June 3 - Saturday,day, June 6

Wednesday started off with something that would make the day great for me: my favorite meal at P.F. Chang's in Planet Hollywood -- Mongolian Beef. If you haven't tried this dish at P.F. Chang's, you are missing something special.

Being that I was already at Planet Hollywood, I decided to give the poker room a go. Although many people like this room, I never really have liked it. The "poker room" consisted of a bunch of tables right in front of the Earl of Sandwich shop. I guess this was due to the poker tournament series that was going on? I was losing a little and winning a little when I hit a decent streak. It got much better when I flopped a set and a decent player at the table didn't believe I had the goods. Score!

After cashing out a nice profit, I jumped over to the sports book to watch my Chicago Blackhawks face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the Stanley Cup Final. Although the Hawks were behind, two quick goals in the third period gave them the first game. Yowsa!

I then headed to MGM to play some cash games with Rob and to meet and play with Mr. Ben. Although the company was excellent, my poker game seemed a little off. I began receiving a bunch of great hands in the first few orbits -- QQ, AK, QQ, QQ ... I was beginning to look like quite the aggro player. I chipped up but then lost a lot of my winnings when I perhaps overplayed one of the many QQ hands. Ah well ... I lost part of a buy in and left when Rob and Mr. Ben decided to leave.

I then decided to play at PH as I made my way back north up The Strip. Apparently, I had missed all the action of some guys who dusted of a few grand. Some at the table had profited from the bad players and had big stacks. I didn't enjoy the table I was at and should have just left. I ended up eventually dusting off a buy-in when I was outkicked for top pair. I decided to head to my old honey hole, Bally's, which had not been treating me well this trip and the previous one.

Things just got worse at Bally's. The table had some interesting characters. One guy looked to be a younger, thin version of Tony Bigcharles. He apparently got rivered by another guy at the table and wouldn't just forget it. He kept whining for an hour. The guy on my right spoke so loudly that I had to take both of my  hearing aids out. He went on and on about some beautiful young blond girl. And then there was the European guy and the middle aged Asian guy. Such was my late night table.

Eventually the blond came around, and as it turns out, she was the missing player at the table. She was young, very blond, very cute and attractive. She said her name was Starr. I could quickly see bu her play that she knew exactly what she was doing in every poker hand.

There came a point when I had an open-ended straight draw and a massive pot in front of me. The easy thing to do would have been to fold. However, I made the choice to gamble and boom - buy in gone. A short time later there was another opportunity to get in on a big pot with another open ended straight draw. Not feeling lucky the second time, I folded. Of course, the card I needed came on the turn after I folded. Bah! Time to call it a night.

On Thursday afternoon, I entered into a tournament at Treasure Island (TI) with Mr. Ben. After the first break I was dealt pocket Kings in late position. I put out a healthy raise and picked up three callers. The flop was Jack high and one guy went all in. Followed by a second guy. It was only an el cheapo tournament, but I figured "what the heck" and also went all in. A fourth guy joined us. It turned out that the first guy had a set of Jacks. The other hands were as I expected: A-J and 5-5. I lost my stack, and that was that.

I played the cash games at TI for awhile and then decided to go back to Bally's. My run-bad at Bally's continued. One guy chased his flush draw to the river ... and hit, of course. In another hand I flopped two pair, only to be second best to a guy who flopped a straight. Dayum!

At that point it was time to take a break from poker. I met up with Mr. Subliminal, and we devised a plan to raise money for our dinner. Subliminal brought an accordion and I "borrowed" a plastic tub used as a drum from one of the usual Strip vagrants. He was sleeping at the time.

Subliminal and I set up shop on the overpass outside Bellagio. We jammed to an amazing number of tunes from Fur Elise to Uptown Funk. The money just poured in. Despite being lobbied to continue to perform after a third standing ovation, we ditched our instruments in Subliminal's underground lair and headed to the Bellagio Café with our hard earned cashola.

As promised, I am now publishing FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME a picture of Mr. Subliminal. Ready? Drum roll, please ....................................

Of course I am on the RIGHT, u see ...

 

Subliminal went off to ... ummm ... do what ever Las Vegas homeless guys do when they have a full belly. I, meanwhile, decided to play some $1/2 NL at Bellagio. After getting up about $100 or so, I decided to call it a night -- my last full night in Las Vegas.

 

On Friday morning I checked out of The LINQ and headed to Mirage to get in a final cash session there since that poker room had been so good to me. It didn't disappoint as a table full of donators kept giving and giving. However, a few crusty old regulars soon entered the game, and I got rivered by one flush chaser for a big pot and was bet off an overpair in another hand. It was time to grab my winnings and go. And go I did, to ... Harrah's! I squeezed in one last session (another short one with a modest profit) while waiting for Rob to pick me up and drive me and my luggage to MGM.

 

Rob and I ate a final Rob-comped meal at TAP and were joined by none other than Pete P. Peters, who just arrived in town. After finishing our meal, we sat for what would be my final poker session of the trip. Rob and PPP were seated at the same table and I joined them after a short wait to transfer over. A little bit later, Chris Abramski arrived and got a seat, but wasn't able to get to our table before I had to leave.

 

Time ran out for me and I caught a cab to the airport. I had not taken a redeye flight for many years. It was wonderful! I slept almost the entire trip back to Chicago. Once there, I lounged in the AA Admirals Club, enjoying a leisurely breakfast while I waited for my commuter flight back home Saturday morning.

 

My oldest daughter picked me up at the airport in my convertible. While away, my wife reloaded hydraulic fuel in the motor for the top, allowing me to enjoy the open air ride on my way back home.

 

Although I had too many losing sessions to end up on the plus side this trip, I had one great time. My next trip to Las Vegas is already booked for October 4-9, partly to attend a national conference. I imagine that I will be able to somehow work in at least a few minutes of poker. What do you think?