Las Vegas Trip Report: June 28 - July 2, 2017
An unexpected trip to Las Vegas was a great way to end the month of June and finally get away with some time to myself. As usual, Sin City did not disappoint as the poker was great and I was able to spend some time with some old friends and meet a few new ones.
I had been out to Seattle with my wife to visit my son. From there, on Wednesday, my wife flew to Scottsdale to visit her best friend while I headed to Las Vegas. The trip started off on a poor note when I made an unwise decision to give Lyft Line ridesharing a try. It sounded great, right? Share a ride with someone going along my route and pay a discount price? Well, things didn't quite work out the way I would have liked.
To begin, it took longer to get my Lyft ride than other times when I just rode alone. The other passenger was dropped off sort of along the way. After we dropped her off at a parking lot to pick up her car, I expected to get to my hotel, Harrah's. Instead, the driver went out of the way to pick up a guy and his wife, which added additional time on to the trip. I was not happy. Lesson learned. Bad way to save a few dollars.
After checking in at Harrah's, I played sessions at Mirage and, strangely enough, Flamingo, a place I rarely play and have never particularly liked. I ended up a little on the positive side, not a terrible result to the first evening of poker. I called it a night (or rather, a morning), with hopes of killing it the rest of the trip.
On Thursday, I headed to the Mirage in the afternoon, booking a profit, and then headed to what used to be my favorite poker room, Bally's. I was going nowhere fast until old friend and Bally's poker dealer Ron dealt to my table. Over the years, for whatever reason, it seemed like I lost when Ron dealt. This time however , was different. I flopped a set of 3's and doubled up. A few hands later , I flopped quad 10's and felted the same guy who had doubled me up he I must admit, Ron has suddenly become a much better dealer!
I left Bally's with a nice profit and headed to MGM Grand, where I was to meet poker friends Rob and also Vook ,who I'd never met.
Vook arranged to also meet up with some of his poker friends After some dinner and drinks, we headed to the poker room. Rob and I were at one table and Vook and his friends were at another. Lady Luck was shining on me as I schooled Rob on such things as cracking the DREADED POCKET KINGS with Q-8 sooted. Of course, Rob also schooled me on one hand when I refused to chop blinds with him just to have a little fun, and he picked off my bluff. Bah! However, another session, another profit. And a fun night for five guys who like to play poker.
After MGM, I headed to Planet Hollywood to try my luck there. PH, as usual, provided good games and a profit. Feeling tired as the morning was beginning, I decided to call it a night. However, on the way back to my room, I was startled when a woman of the night slapped my butt and tried to grab my arm and walk along side of me, much as my wife likes to do. Hmmm ... she did look amazingly good looking for a street walker, so I ... well, you know Mr. Clean Living here. I told her "no thanks" and hustled back to my room with a huge grin on my face. Just another night in Las Vegas!
After a minimum of sleep on Friday morning, I headed across the street to once again play at the Mirage. My table had a few people spewing chips, so I knew the afternoon would be good. I made sure that I stayed long enough so the I would be there for at least one down dealt by Kristi (Alaska Gal). My dealer/friend luck continued as Kristi flopped me a full house! I didn't make much off the hand, but it was fun anyway.
I cashed out with a profit and headed to In-N-Out at The LINQ to grab a double double animal style, then proceeded to Planet Hollywood to meet up with VegasDWP and Tony Bigcharles. Rob was able to meet us a little later.
There were a few humorous things from that night. VegasDWP gave both Tony and me a casino chip from Wynn Macau as a souvenir. When I joked about how little it was worth in the US, he pulled out a hundred bill, equivalent, he said, to about $18 US money, and gave it to Tony as a souvenir. Unfortunately, didn't seem to quite get or appreciate this and cashed it in at a currency exchange! The chip got me two admonishments from casino personnel because they thought that it looked too much like a PH $25 chip. I guess I should have taken it off the top of one of my stacks before shoving on one hand! They made me put it in my pocket - lol.
I cashed out another profit, ate a late meal with Tony, and headed back to Harrah's for my last night there. I have no hooker stories from that night. I guess I was just a one night wonder!
On Saturday, I checked out of Harrah's and again headed to the Mirage for some poker. One hand of note: I looked down to see AA. I raised and was three-bet by another player at the table who was a nice guy and appeared to be a decent player. I hollywooded for a bit, not wanting to overdo it. I shoved and he called. I was hoping he had KK, but unfortunately, he also had AA. fortunately, there were no backdoor four-flushes, which would be a crappy way for anyone to win in that situation.
After booking another profit, I met Alysia Chang at Harrah's, and she drove me to my new hotel for one night, Fortune Hotel and Suites. I was pleased to see that the hotel seemed to be okay, as it was quite a bargain for Las Vegas on a Saturday night. AC picked up VegasDWP, and the three of us grabbed an early dinner at Sweet Poke. Afterward, AC went back to her studying, and Vegas DWP and I went to Golden Nugget to play poker and meet up with Tony.
Now I have to tell you, I have not had good experiences playing at the Golden Nugget. The last time, I blew through a buy-in very quickly. Among reasons I don't like playing there: sketchy players, crowded room, no Verizon service there, uncapped buy-in. There was a guy at our table who was acting very strangely, but he left. I didn't like not having phone service and, after digging myself in a hole, I was back to about even and wanted to leave. However, since I was playing there with friends, I decided to stay. Bad choice. I played crappy poker and lost the equivalent of a regular buy-in. I decided to leave, and Tony caught me before I left to suggest playing poker somewhere else. We Ubered to Planet Hollywood, which always seems to be very good to me.
The session at PH was a little more like it. I doubled up early against one player, then felted him after he rebought when I hit a set of 10's on the turn as he caught the second nut flush. I raised and he re-raised and I called. The river paired the board, and my chip stack was looking rather healthy.
Some time thereafter, I got the opportunity I was looking for: the chance to mix it up with Tony. Tony led out the betting with 20-something and I three-bet to $68 with KK. Tony then quickly shoved all in. Did he have Aces (maybe), Kings (unlikely), Queens (possibly) or was he bluffing (maybe)? I was thinking either Aces or a bluff and I decided to call. u see, he turned over ACES, of course! But ... I just had a feeling I was going to win the hand. The flop was J-J-Q. The turn was a 9, giving me four more outs. Unfortunately for Tony, the river was a 10, giving me the straight and Tony's stack of $200-250. I was very impressed that he remained calm. Meanwhile, I stacked chips.
We played more and I won some more hands, then decided to book the win, get something to eat, and try to get an hour or two of sleep before my flight. Tony and I ate at Planet Dailies (I highly recommend the late-night steak and eggs special) and then got ready to head out.
Tony arranged for an Uber pick up and was going to have the driver drop me off along the way. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out. I saw that the driver noted in his profile that he was hard of hearing. When he got to PH, we went inside his car and the music was turned up at top volume. Tony tried to explain about dropping me off, but he was unable to communicate with the driver. Tony was having difficulty messaging the driver, and the driver responded "no" when I asked if he could read lips. Finally I told Tony that I would just take my own Uber and said goodnight. My ride back to the hotel was uneventful.
I got about an hour of sleep (not much sleep the entire trip), checked out and caught the hotel shuttle to the airport.
It is interesting that this trip to Las Vegas was planned relatively late yet was one of the better ones since I took home a very nice profit, met up with several friends, and had a blast. The only downer of the entire trip was the time spent at the Golden Nugget, which was also the only significant losing session of the trip.
Fortunately, my original summer trip to Las Vegas is now officially less than three weeks away. I will be meeting up with Aussie pal Koala and am tentatively planning a dinner at Hugo's Cellar for the two of us and Alysia on Tuesday, July 18 or Wednesday, July 19. Others are invited. If interested, let me know ASAP.
Thanks for reading!
I had been out to Seattle with my wife to visit my son. From there, on Wednesday, my wife flew to Scottsdale to visit her best friend while I headed to Las Vegas. The trip started off on a poor note when I made an unwise decision to give Lyft Line ridesharing a try. It sounded great, right? Share a ride with someone going along my route and pay a discount price? Well, things didn't quite work out the way I would have liked.
To begin, it took longer to get my Lyft ride than other times when I just rode alone. The other passenger was dropped off sort of along the way. After we dropped her off at a parking lot to pick up her car, I expected to get to my hotel, Harrah's. Instead, the driver went out of the way to pick up a guy and his wife, which added additional time on to the trip. I was not happy. Lesson learned. Bad way to save a few dollars.
After checking in at Harrah's, I played sessions at Mirage and, strangely enough, Flamingo, a place I rarely play and have never particularly liked. I ended up a little on the positive side, not a terrible result to the first evening of poker. I called it a night (or rather, a morning), with hopes of killing it the rest of the trip.
On Thursday, I headed to the Mirage in the afternoon, booking a profit, and then headed to what used to be my favorite poker room, Bally's. I was going nowhere fast until old friend and Bally's poker dealer Ron dealt to my table. Over the years, for whatever reason, it seemed like I lost when Ron dealt. This time however , was different. I flopped a set of 3's and doubled up. A few hands later , I flopped quad 10's and felted the same guy who had doubled me up he I must admit, Ron has suddenly become a much better dealer!
I left Bally's with a nice profit and headed to MGM Grand, where I was to meet poker friends Rob and also Vook ,who I'd never met.
lightning, Vook and Rob
After a minimum of sleep on Friday morning, I headed across the street to once again play at the Mirage. My table had a few people spewing chips, so I knew the afternoon would be good. I made sure that I stayed long enough so the I would be there for at least one down dealt by Kristi (Alaska Gal). My dealer/friend luck continued as Kristi flopped me a full house! I didn't make much off the hand, but it was fun anyway.
I cashed out with a profit and headed to In-N-Out at The LINQ to grab a double double animal style, then proceeded to Planet Hollywood to meet up with VegasDWP and Tony Bigcharles. Rob was able to meet us a little later.
There were a few humorous things from that night. VegasDWP gave both Tony and me a casino chip from Wynn Macau as a souvenir. When I joked about how little it was worth in the US, he pulled out a hundred bill, equivalent, he said, to about $18 US money, and gave it to Tony as a souvenir. Unfortunately, didn't seem to quite get or appreciate this and cashed it in at a currency exchange! The chip got me two admonishments from casino personnel because they thought that it looked too much like a PH $25 chip. I guess I should have taken it off the top of one of my stacks before shoving on one hand! They made me put it in my pocket - lol.
Tony studying poker strategy between hands. Oh wait - that is Candy Crush Saga!
On Saturday, I checked out of Harrah's and again headed to the Mirage for some poker. One hand of note: I looked down to see AA. I raised and was three-bet by another player at the table who was a nice guy and appeared to be a decent player. I hollywooded for a bit, not wanting to overdo it. I shoved and he called. I was hoping he had KK, but unfortunately, he also had AA. fortunately, there were no backdoor four-flushes, which would be a crappy way for anyone to win in that situation.
After booking another profit, I met Alysia Chang at Harrah's, and she drove me to my new hotel for one night, Fortune Hotel and Suites. I was pleased to see that the hotel seemed to be okay, as it was quite a bargain for Las Vegas on a Saturday night. AC picked up VegasDWP, and the three of us grabbed an early dinner at Sweet Poke. Afterward, AC went back to her studying, and Vegas DWP and I went to Golden Nugget to play poker and meet up with Tony.
Now I have to tell you, I have not had good experiences playing at the Golden Nugget. The last time, I blew through a buy-in very quickly. Among reasons I don't like playing there: sketchy players, crowded room, no Verizon service there, uncapped buy-in. There was a guy at our table who was acting very strangely, but he left. I didn't like not having phone service and, after digging myself in a hole, I was back to about even and wanted to leave. However, since I was playing there with friends, I decided to stay. Bad choice. I played crappy poker and lost the equivalent of a regular buy-in. I decided to leave, and Tony caught me before I left to suggest playing poker somewhere else. We Ubered to Planet Hollywood, which always seems to be very good to me.
The session at PH was a little more like it. I doubled up early against one player, then felted him after he rebought when I hit a set of 10's on the turn as he caught the second nut flush. I raised and he re-raised and I called. The river paired the board, and my chip stack was looking rather healthy.
Some time thereafter, I got the opportunity I was looking for: the chance to mix it up with Tony. Tony led out the betting with 20-something and I three-bet to $68 with KK. Tony then quickly shoved all in. Did he have Aces (maybe), Kings (unlikely), Queens (possibly) or was he bluffing (maybe)? I was thinking either Aces or a bluff and I decided to call. u see, he turned over ACES, of course! But ... I just had a feeling I was going to win the hand. The flop was J-J-Q. The turn was a 9, giving me four more outs. Unfortunately for Tony, the river was a 10, giving me the straight and Tony's stack of $200-250. I was very impressed that he remained calm. Meanwhile, I stacked chips.
Tony arranged for an Uber pick up and was going to have the driver drop me off along the way. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out. I saw that the driver noted in his profile that he was hard of hearing. When he got to PH, we went inside his car and the music was turned up at top volume. Tony tried to explain about dropping me off, but he was unable to communicate with the driver. Tony was having difficulty messaging the driver, and the driver responded "no" when I asked if he could read lips. Finally I told Tony that I would just take my own Uber and said goodnight. My ride back to the hotel was uneventful.
I got about an hour of sleep (not much sleep the entire trip), checked out and caught the hotel shuttle to the airport.
It is interesting that this trip to Las Vegas was planned relatively late yet was one of the better ones since I took home a very nice profit, met up with several friends, and had a blast. The only downer of the entire trip was the time spent at the Golden Nugget, which was also the only significant losing session of the trip.
Fortunately, my original summer trip to Las Vegas is now officially less than three weeks away. I will be meeting up with Aussie pal Koala and am tentatively planning a dinner at Hugo's Cellar for the two of us and Alysia on Tuesday, July 18 or Wednesday, July 19. Others are invited. If interested, let me know ASAP.
Thanks for reading!
posted by lightning36 at 1:40 AM
9 Comments:
Great trip report Lightning! No surprise the novelty of having a hundred dollar bill from Asia eluded Tony.
Sounds almost as good a trip as a nitty player from Memphis, Florida.
those of us without income, or enough income to cover their monthly living expenses, (for those who dont know how to fight their housing costs double per month) the minute we get any possessions, we must immediately turn them into cash to survive. by the way it was $11, not $18. be glad u are in the 1% which doesnt need the $11
@TBC -- You got $11 for something that was worth $18 according to Vegas DWP. And I assure you that I am not in the 1%. I don't think I even know anyone in the 1%.
Great trip, great report, great pics, thanks for sharing. Please say "hi" for me to Mrs. Lightning.
Was a pleasure meeting you in person. Thanks for taking the time to meet up. Cheers and best wishes!
Your posts are always better when they feature yours truly, of course.
Also, this post was about the length of one of my posts. You are learning, u see.
In the hand where you cracked Tony's Aces, you left out what your hand was. Obviously it was the dreaded pocket Kings. Or it could have been the not so dreaded pocket 8's. But I know it was Kings.
It was great seeing you again and I wish we could have had more time playing together. I'm on to your Queen-10 suited crap.
Hope we can do it again soon.
I finished the post late at night. I can't believe that I left out that I had KK against Tony.
Q-10 sooted is crap? What about Q-8 sooted? Of course, the key is knowing how to PLAY hands like this, u see. I just might revolutionize NL Hold 'em!
Might be time to partner-up with Tony and travel the country playing poker. Now, who will be Tom Cruise and who Dustin Hoffman? :)
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