I'm a Fool for the City: Las Vegas Trip Report: June 9-13, 2026 -- Part I

Prologue

Many years ago I lost count of the number of trips I've taken to Las Vegas. For quite some time, I have been saying that I've taken over 100. They started back in the 1980s, then tremendously accelerated beginning in 2000 when my brother, thundering36, moved back to the United States from Australia. Las Vegas was our get away playground. We stayed at soooo many Strip hotels, from dives like the Circus Circus Manor and Westward Ho, to nice places like Bellagio, Encore, and Cosmopolitan. I used to be a solid Caesars guy, often staying at Bally's, Harrah's, and Flamingo, but after getting my great offers yanked, I switched over to MGM properties. Although I've stayed at MGM, NYNY, Park MGM, and other properties, I've taken a weird liking to the so-called "Dirty Castle" -- Excalibur. It's my usual base of operations unless Mrs. Lightning accompanies me, a pretty rare occurrence. She doesn't like Las Vegas. Imagine.

Although I drove (from the Phoenix metro area) on my last trip here, I decided to fly this time. With flight credits and special deals, it was actually cheaper to fly than to pay inflated gasoline prices. I usually fly Frontier round trip, but this time I flew in on American and then back home on Frontier. There is quite a difference. Despite the bad rap Frontier gets, everything seems to go smoother because, with a fee for carry-on bags, Frontier largely has people checking bags and carrying on personal items. American, however, does not charge for a carry on, thus many people carry on bulky suitcases that quickly fill up the overhead bins. A great number of people were struggling with these bags, making the boarding process quite arduous. As for me -- I pack everything in a small backpack. No checked luggage. No "technical" carry on. Easy ... and cheap!

Leading up to this trip, I had actually been feeling under the weather for a few days. I was hoping to fling some cards with poker buddy, Mr Subliminal, at Talking Stick in Scottsdale last Sunday night, but I was too fatigued to meet him for a late night session. On Monday, still feeling tired and unwell, I had to drive someone to a medical appointment (volunteer work), head to my audiologist's office, drive my daughter to work, do some grocery shopping -- all before going to a Rod Steward/Richard Marx concert in the evening. Needless to say, that fatigue wouldn't be going away soon.

Tuesday, June 8

After getting a few hours of sleep and quickly packing, I was off to the airport as my wife graciously drove me there. I used to just park in off-airport parking, but now I prefer to be catered to a bit -- getting dropped off and picked up.

The American flight was uneventful. I had a 50% off Lyft offer, so I headed to the Harry Reid Uber/Lyft area. For the first time EVER, I had a driver grab my ride immediately. I had not even gotten to the pick-up area when I reserved, so I had to hustle. The driver told me that he had been waiting almost ten minutes for someone to look for a ride. The area was pretty much deserted.

Thanks to the MGM properties app and check-in procedures, my room was ready for me as I got in around noon. However, it was much more important for me to burn up my freeplay at the Excalibur slots. Having won a little and lost a little, I headed to my room. I had lunch at Buca di Beppo (Creamy Pesto Penne, salad and garlic bread for $10.99 -- a steal, even though I had a food and beverage credit). I eventually decided to meet up with Luke Johnston at the WSOP and play some cash games there. Upon arriving at WSOP, I spotted Chris Abramski already there. Unfortunately, Chris, Luke and I were seated at different tables. Whereas Luke said that his table was fun, mine wasn't. Nobody talked. Everyone seemed too serious for $1/3 NL poker. I had some bad luck and made a stupid play, so chips were flying away from me. I was feeling dead tired and just left in a hurry, planning to go to bed early. However, I played some of those fun Excalibur slots and ended up winning back all that I had lost at WSOP, plus was even a little bit ahead. A very uneventful first day in Las Vegas, but hey -- at least the ledger was in the black even though I had a short, horrible first session of poker. I've had worse first days. Onward and upward.

Wednesday, June 9

I used more of my food and beverage credit to eat brunch at the Excalibur buffet. Unfortunately, since the MGM buffet is now closed, my other options would have been Wicked Spoon in Cosmopolitan or Bellagio. I wasn't overly impressed with either the last times I had been there, so Excalibur it was. Would I pay the regular price to eat there? No. Would I eat there for free? Yes! It was actually fairly busy. The food was okay.

Afterward, I headed to play poker at MGM. Now, years ago, MGM used to be a primo place to play poker. Management kept moving the room from place to place, and it never seemed to regain the momentum it once had. But ... I still like playing there, even though it has not been very good to me the past few years.

The session started out rough. Then change finally came. I turned the nut straight and was all in with that and a flush draw, and was called. The river gave my opponent a higher straight, and I almost missed that I hit the flush on the river. Thank goodness that I didn't muck my cards when I initially thought that I had lost the hand.

I then hit a really good streak. A calling station stayed in hands too long and must have thought that I always bluffed. He was wrong! I won some great pots and some bomb pots, but after a few players left and the table chemistry changed, I thought it best to lock down my sweet session and head north to Venetian to meet up with Chris Abramski. That day was one of the days that I was thankful for the monorail.

At Venetian, I got off to a quick start. I was pretty satisfied with my play, except for one huge mistake on a bomb pot when I was thinking of leaving. Chris and I were the last two players in the hand. I hit the nut flush on one board and should have potted. I didn't and just made a good raise, and Chris called. The river paired the board on the nut flush hand, which unfortunately gave Chris a boat.

Why poker is so weird: Chris took a nasty beat when he had a guy crushed with a flush. Unfortunately, the guy got lucky on the river and hit a straight flush, costing Chris dearly. Seeing that, I couldn't be too upset since I had made an error in bet sizing that opened the door for him. Would he have called my shove with a set on the crucial hand and with three spades on the board? I guess we'll never know. When I felt my focus waning, I decided to leave. I told Chris that I was reminded of the roulette scene in the movie Casablanca. Rick asks the croupier, "How we doing tonight?" after Rick had the wheel rigged for a young Bulgarian man to win. The croupier replied, "Well, a couple thousand less than I thought there would be." I left with a respectable profit -- but a little less than I thought there would be. 

I took the monorail back to MGM, but decided to play one more session there. After about an hour and a half and losing money, I decided to end poker for the night. Thanks to my earlier sessions (and a little slot play), I headed back to my room having had a very profitable second day. Things had been working out so far. Amazing!

Part II is coming. Thanks for reading. Comments are welcomed.