WTF - $1/2 NL Uncapped? January 2023 Las Vegas Poker Trip Continues at MGM, Golden Nugget, Horseshoe, South Point and Venetian

 Wednesday, January 11, 2023

It was finally time to try my luck at MGM Grand. Years ago, it was one of my favorite spots to play. I had some great days there, especially when playing their pyramid promos. However, for some reason, MGM was very unkind to me in 2022. In fact, I lost more money at only one other casino last year: Desert Diamond in Glendale, AZ. It was a new year ... or so I thought. After making my way south down the Strip, I got to MGM just as a new $1/2 table was opening. As I took out my cashola and saw that almost everyone was buying in for $200 or so, one players asked "Aren't all the NL games here now uncapped? The dealer stated that this was true, and one player bought in for ... $1,000! As things were, he was on my immediate left. I quickly racked up my chip and scooted to the one remaining open seat at the opposite end of the table.

I tweeted about this situation and received several responses in favor of such a move. The main thought seemed to be more opportunity to win more money. That might be true. However, in my mind, it changes the texture of the $1/2 games , which tend to be recreational and ... well, fun! A few times after the game started, the guy with $1K led out for $30. Ummm ... not exactly the usual starting raise in $1/2. He quickly learned that he wasn't going to get action unless someone had a monster, and he settled down into more conventional $1/2 NL play. EDITORIAL COMMENT: As for the folks on Twitter who liked the uncapped buy in, they can have it. I say, put on the big boy or big girl pants and play $2/5, $5/10 if you want to play big stacks.

I was doing okay until I called a short stack's all in when I had A-Q. She, of course, had A-K and doubled up through me. However, the crucial play was when I flopped a set of 3s. There had been flush possibilities on the board, but  third heart never came. I was hoping that the big stack guy had Aces up since the only things that were going to beat me were a bigger set or if he had a 4, which would complete a straight. Unfortunately, the player had a pair of fours and I shipped me meager stack to his big one. Once again, things at MGM just didn't work out for me. I think I will avoid it on my next trip or two.

I decided to relax before my planned 7:00pm tournament at the Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series. Private Uber service was provided by my friend, Larry. He struggled and went out fairly early. However, I won a few hands and was at least keeping about even with my opening stack until the big moment arrived. I looked down to see pocket rockets. A loose and poor player raised, only to be three bet by a newer player who had recently come to the table. He had been making large raises. I made a very large raise, but did not go all in. The initial raiser quickly folded, but the new guy thought for a minute and called, so I was thinking maybe K-K or Q-Q. He would act first after the flop, and I would then shove all in no matter what. The flop was 10-rag-rag and he checked. I shoved all in and he called ... with 9-9! He got no help on the river, and I doubled up. the stack didn't get much larger a a few of the 20-minute levels went by. I was moved to a new table just before the first break. A few of the players had my covered plus more. There were some shorties at the table, so I wanted to be careful. Finally, it got to the point where I would need to shove. I was in the small blind with 10d-5d. A shorty called, I completed, and the big blind, another shorty, called. The flop was 9-4-2 with two diamonds. I shoved with my diamond draw and was quickly called by the big blind - a bad sign. the other shorty folded. We turned over cards and I was horrified to see the the big blind was 9-4! At least I had some outs, but go no help on the turn or river now. I was crippled, and a few hands later, the shorty who had folded the hand of my big loss now had more chips that me and pushed all in. I looked down to see 10-10 and insta-called. We turned over our card and she had A-J. It was going to be a race. The first flop card was a rag, but then Ace ... Ace. Dead except to a perfect run out. At least I lasted over three hours, but dang ... I saw some really terrible poker. 

We decided to eat at Circa in 8 East, a Pan-Asian restaurant. As Larry had told me earlier, their brisket fried rice was pretty good! After the late dinner, Larry dropped me off at Horseshoe, and I decided to play a late-night session there. My table was not much fun, but I saw that AgSweep was playing at another table and moved there. It was a fun table! It became even more fun when one dealer started dealing me cards that either flopped straights or led to straights. Sometimes poker is EZ! AgSweep called it quits at about 3:30am (she had said earlier "I'm not going to be playing any sessions until 3am.") and I left shortly thereafter. A player who had the big stack at the table stopped me to say "Hey - I really had a tough time figuring out how to play you." Of course, I loved the compliment and then responded "Are you trying to say that I suck?" We both had a good laugh. It was time for bed.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Larry and I always do a poker session off the Strip when we are in town together, but I decided against our usual journey to Red Rock and instead suggested the we do the South Point buffet for lunch and then play poker. We did so, and were quickly seated at $1/2 NL after lunch. I doubled up when I flopped a straight vs an over pair and then had pocket Queens turn into a set on the flop and quads on the river. I was able to extract money from one player in the hand and happily took the $50 bonus. We didn't stay particularly long and left when some players changed and the dynamics were totally different. Hew dropped me off at Horseshoe and headed back to his hotel.

My session at Horseshoe was another marathon. Poker and Twitter friend Bill Boudreau had been playing for several hours at a table that he said was tight and not really fun. My table was similar. It hurts your soul when you make a small raise with A-A and even the blinds won't call! Bill later left, and I went to his table when I requested a table change. A couple of players from Norway sat down and a few others changed, and suddenly we had a fun action table. The only negative at the start: sitting virtually right behind me was a most unwelcome sight at the Las Vegas poker tables: the Man Hating Woman. She left to use the restroom and I was tempted to "accidently" bump into her table and topple her stack of chips. Well, at least it was fun to talk about.

There were a couple of other irritating things about the table. Two guys bought chips and sat down. One guy played about an orbit, then walked away. The other player never actually even played a hand before walking away. Another player took long breaks from the table, but at least he played some hands. I asked the brush about picking up the two guys because they had been gone about a half hour, but he responded that it had only been 14 minutes. Well, it felt like a half hour and it was obvious that they were not going to be back soon. A while later, the guy who hadn't played a hand came back and was asking "Did Pierre come back?" We shook our heads and off he went. At least if his friend was Lucky Pierre, we'd know what he'd be doing! The guy finally came back after being gone for 37 minutes (Pierre never returned), played a hand or two and cashed out. Meanwhile, a number of new players were all seated at other tables while we played five or six handed. Grrrrrr ...

Another annoying thing was that one guy at the table talked with one of the Norwegian guys non-stop for several hours - no exaggeration. Socialism, Euro-Socialism, Bernie Sanders, US political policies, ... Hours -- literally hours. AgSweep informed me the Jon "PearlJammed" Turner was at her table. He has only won millions more than me in poker. My best guess is that he was burning time while a young woman who apparently was his girlfriend was playing some $2/3 NL. After a long session that left me with about as much as I came with, I called it a night. The highlight of the evening? When dealer friend Vinnie started his shift.

Friday, January 13, 2023

I had a late evening flight home planned, so I packed, checked out of Horseshoe, had lunch, and headed down to Venetian. I had also thought about playing at Wynn/Encore, but there was a long wait list at Wynn. At Venetian, the wait was short and there was a high hand promo going on. Ding!

My table at the V was pretty tight, but I won a little here and there until I got some decent cards. I had four to a full house in spades and was needing the Jack on the river. Unfortunately, one of the other players had the Jack. I ended up making a nice profit, but was surprised when I came back to my table after a restroom break and finding that the table had broken up! That told me that it was time to end my poker on this trip and prepare to head to the airport. My flight was late and we were delayed once we landed, so I didn't end up getting to my home until after 2am. As always, I was greeted at the dor by these hoodlums.

All in all, this Las Vegas trip was solid. I was able to have lots of fun playing poker, got to see some friends, and kept in touch with other friends and my brother via texts/private messages, so it was almost like they were there with me. My next trip has not yet been planned. In the meantime, it will be back to the local poker rooms for now. I hope to get out to Talking Stick tonight to see poker dealer Ron, who is visiting friends in town this weekend.

Thanks for reading!