OK, back from Las Vegas. Wow what a trip of peaks and valleys that was. But well well well worth it for the experience and the learning.
This is gonna get quite long so if you wanna read the whole thing, bring a lunch and some No Doz.
I get into Vegas a bit after midnight since my connecting flight in Reno was delayed. After the most absolutely fcuking nuts cab ride since the invention of the wheel, I manage to find and get into MVP's apartment. Nice apartment but the freakin complex is one godawful abortion of design. You need a fuggin GPS just to find your apartment after finding the complex! The apartment numbers mean absolutely nothing as far as how they are laid out. It's like the designer took a map of the complex and just dropped a bag of numbered tiles on it and whatever number landed on an apt that's the address it got. UGH.
But the apt is nice and MVP is a fairly clean bubba so it definitely ranked very high on my list of Vegas resorts to stay at when going there to play poker and not bringing the family. I take that back, it ranks #1 but that might have something to do with the room rates.
Thanks for putting me up buddy.
After dropping off my bag I walk to the Bellagio to find MVP and Twelver. They were in a crappy 2/5 NL game so we decided to head over to Ballys. I should have known better. I was extremely tired and nothing good has ever happened to me at that place. This time, I made $179 profit on my very first hand when I limped in with 55 in EP and flopped a set. I bet right into the villain every single street and stacked him. But this was just a ploy by the Ballys software (which is so obviously rigged that it's sick) to get me to stay there and play poker in a condition that I have proven in the past just loses me money until not only my $179 profit was gone but so was my $300 buyin. Dammit I need a poker babysitter to make me go to bed when I'm tired and making stupid plays. Since I know he'll bring it up if I don't, my best move that night was one that MVP likes to refer to as my bluff call. I don't know about the bluff part but it was definitely a really bad call on my part. Basically, I called a pot sized $100 bet with an OESD and no flush draw on the turn and then folded to the villains push on the river when I missed and only had J high. That was not a good move and the night did not end any better. Thankfully I was able to keep myself from buyin any more chips once my stack was gone a few hands later when I lost the rest of my chips to an A7< AJ on an Ace high board.
Twelver on the other hand cashed out about $600 in profit from that game while MVP had a lovely AA flop a set hand that got cracked by the mighty J7s who goes runner runner flush to double up through him. So at least one of the 3 of us made some money that night. At least better things were ahead for us.
Thursday -$300
Friday, the 3 of us played in the $340 deepstack tourney at the wonderful Venetian poker room. None of us cashed although MVP made it fairly deep and lasted about 8-10 hours I think. Bobby met up with us just before twelver and I busted so we all went to the Treasure Island poker room to play 1/3 NL to wait on MVP's future. I'm hesistant in mentioning this, because I don't want it to change, but the TI poker room has to be the best kept 1/3 NL secret in Vegas. The game is so good that it's obvious that not many decent players know about it or there would be a few more sharks around I would think.
Anyway, the 3 of us all get on the same table. Bobby in the one seat, twelver in the 3 and me in the 6. Now obviously having 3 of us at the same table doesn't seem like much of a formula for making money off of strangers but I'll be damned if it didn't happen anyway. The most memorable hand of the session was when I limped with 99 and flopped K99. A dude on my right bets into me the whole way with me just calling and trying like hell to make it look I only had a weak K that I just wouldn't lay down. Of course on the river I raised him the last little bit of his stack to get him allin and twelver starts hollering show us the Kings Full! Actually, Dem's Quads Bithces!!!! I ended up making a $413 profit that session which I think is fairly good for a 1/3 game. We quit when MVP texted us that he was getting short and things weren't looking too great so we headed back to the Venetian to see if we could rail him some luck but it wasn't meant to be. He busts and we all go to the Grand Lux Cafe' for one of the best dinners I have had in quite awhile. The poker room had comped us $15 each for our tourney buyin's which made it all the better as those meals are not cheap. But OMG are they good. I've never had such a wonderful shrimp dinner. If you like seafood and don't want a steak, get the Shrimp Scampi. You will NOT be disappointed.
After dinner we decide to go check out the Bellagio games. Twelver and MVP sat at a 2/5NL game and Bobby and I played some 4/8 limit. I can't begin to describe how bad the players were but I still managed to lose $166 by getting 3 sets cracked by rivered straights and one hand where I flopped the nut straight, got counterfeited on the turn and then sucked out on on the river by a higher straight who hit his gutshot. Ugly, Ugly, Ugly. I was pissed by then so I cashed out. I mean damn, those folks DO NOT EVAH FOLD!!!!! Which of course means profit for us in the long run, but this session showed none. I never did get around to playing any 8/16 limit after that like I had planned on.
We headed back to the TI where bobby and I got on one table and MVP and twelver got on another. Bobby and I ended up regretting it as we both got nailed for stacks. Bobby on a KK<QQ hand and me on my last hand of the night when I had AK and lost to a slow played AA on an AK3 board. I could have played the hand better but I was still gonna lose my stack on that one unfortunately. Called it a night after that.
Friday -$393 total for trip -$693 
Saturday bobby, MVP and I wake up and twelver is already gone to go play in the noon $540 tourney at the V so I walked over to play some 1/2 NL while MVP took bobby back to his friend's house on the way to Home Depot so he could get a new lock for his front door. I look in on twelver and he's doing ok so I get in the 1/2 NL game. I'm in the 10 seat and the others at my end of the table were all fairly good, tight players. 2 of them were man and wife who really seemed to know what they were doing but she stacked his ass twice when he made a couple bad plays OOP to her which was EVRY funny. He even left to go back to their room after the 2nd one LOL. I did manage to take a nice chunk off both of them in the same hand though when I rivered my flush. I had position on them and had bet my draw the entire way. He check raised me on the river an extra $50 and she called. I was sure I was beat by a higher flush but I wasn't going to fold it for an extra $50 after she had called as well. I reluctantly put out my call only to have them BOTH turn over straights that they had hit on the river! WOOT FOR ME!!! SHIP IT BITCHES!!! They both bought more chips and she proceeded to stack him the 2nd time shortly after that and he left. She said her goodbyes a little while later. Then the guy on my right left also. MVP showed up and sat in his spot though and in his first hand proceeded to stack a Kiwi dude when he had like 72s in the BB and flopped a 7. Good Times. I made $344 that session. During my time at this table twelver had busted out of the tourney and sat in a 2/5 NL game. Bought in for 1K and cashed out like $2900 or some shit like that. Show boat.
Then with bobby having not come back, we decided to go play the Saturday night $105 tourney at the Orleans. Old casino, good tourney. I outlasted both of them noobz so they bugged out on me and cabbed it back to the TI. Later when I did bust, Cactus Jack had showed up and he gave me a ride back to the TI. He went home instead of playing though, saying something about how he had jacked off on a floor all day and was tired. Or was it jack hammered? Hell, I don't remember, probably the first.
I checked out the TI games that MVP and twelver were in but they didn't look especially inviting right then so I walked over to the V and got in a 1/2 NL game again. Wow was there a lot of money won on that table by just a couple of people. Thankfully I was one of them.
Here's a funny hand to set up a hand I was in. I'm sitting at the end of the table ( I like this cuz I don't have to turn my head to see everyone. ) Dude on my right is a decent player and he and I had been having a great time. He gets into a hand with this kid who I had up until then thought had played more than a few hands of poker because he had complained about how many times his Aces had been cracked this week. Dude on my right has position on him. Kid bets PF, Dude raises him, kid calls. Flop is KJJ kid checks, Dude bets, kid calls. Turn is a 9. Kid check calls again. River is a K. Kid checks, Dude bets like $50, Kid check raises him the last of his chips which is like an extra $50. Dude thinks about it and thinks about it and just can't believe the kid has him beat so he finally calls because of how many chips he already has in the pot. He is SURE he is beat and is kicking himself for making the call. He shows ATs and the kid shows 88. Now, the funny and telling part about this is that the kid then has to hav it explained to him that he ACTUALLY LOST the hand!!! LMAO!!!! He's all like "How can I have lost? I had a pocket pair and he doesn't!!! And he isn't joking! OMG WOW, ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!
OK, so now I know this kid is clueless. He buys some more chips which is of course great for the rest of us.
A few hands later, I limp in from CO with 88 after the kid had limped and a few others as well. Flop comes Q83, the kid bets, I look at his stack and he only has about $50 left and as I'm thinking of how I can get the last of it out of him, the dealer says he has another $100 behind that just hasn't arrived from the chip runner yet. So I start talking to the kid asking him stuff like "can you beat a pair?" (now i know all you experienced players would know I had a big hand now but I knew the kid wouldn't) I ask him a few more questions and then tell him that if he wants to play for the rest of his chips that are coming that's fine but I'm going to raise since I don't think he can beat a pair. He thinks about it and finally pushes the rest of his chips and says allin and I insta-call. His extra chips finally show up. He flips over KQo and looks fairly pleased with himself. I turn over my 88 and the table erupts with laughter and comments on my salesmanship.
The dealer slides my the nice pot and here's where it got even funnier, the kid says, "Dude, aint you even gonna leave me $1 so I can say I left with at least some money?" Now, as if him asking that isn't funny enough, I grab a $1 chip and fling it his direction. In between us is this guy who has built a nice tower of chips. In like 3-4 columns with one being real high. SOMEHOW, when I fling the chip towards the kid, it like hits the “Jenga” chip in this guys tower and the ENTIRE thing crashes down. I mean it was unreal how they just all fell apart to cuz it wasn't just the high ones. It was like ALL of the chips fell. I couldn't have done it again in 1000000000 tries with out throwing it as hard as I could and I had just gave it a little fling. Was funny enough that even the owner of the chips was laughing about it. I cashed out awhile later after 2 of the other 3 (besides myself) $800+ stacks left and went to watch twelver and MVP finish up their night. After they cashed out we went to Denny’s, gorged ourselves on eggs and meat, then went home and crashed.
Saturday +$698 total for trip +$5 LOL
Sunday I wake up at like 11:30 and twelver is already gone. He headed out to Caesars Palace early to get in some 2/5 NL before his flight. MVP and I met up with him there and then went to have lunch with him before he had to leave. After he headed out for the airport, MVP and I headed over to the TI for some 1/3 NL action.
When we got there, there was only one 1/3 table going so we got on the list. Soon they started another one and we were sat down. We each bought in for the max $500 along with 2 others, one of which turned out to be this Total Maniac LagTard Japanese guy. I think that makes him a TMLTJG which is definitely going to need it’s own category in the PT autorate rules soon. This guy was like open raising $80 practically every hand and either taking all the limps and blinds or beating the folks stupid enough to just call. MVP finally managed to nail him good when he picked up AA though. With this dude playing practically any hand and me not playing any I decided to do something to make me look like someone who would try to steal a pot from him or at least be loose enough to play draws against him. So I open raised 56c form UTG+1, got 3 or 4 callers including the Japanese guy. Flop comes AK9 with 2 clubs. I make a ¾ pot CB bet and they all fold to me. MVP then says, go ahead sir, show us you Ace. I tell him I don’t have one and flip over my 56c and the dealer says, “Club Draw”. Why he said it, I’m not sure, but it let the Japanese guy know I was one who would gamble it up a bit. A horror story followed shortly thereafter. One I will not soon forget.
I get JJ in EP and raise to $25. One caller, then Japanese guy reraises to $100 after thinking about it for a second. Something about the way he did it and the fact that he had been making these reraises all the damned time told me he did not have my JJ beat. Maybe 2 over cards, maybe a smaller PP, but I definitely had the best hand and I just knew it. As soon as he made his bet and it folded back to me I immediately stated “ALLIN”, first caller folds and it’s on the Japanese guy to act. He thinks and thinks, and looks at me a few times. All the while I’m knowing with certainty that I have the best hand now. Finally he says “Ok, I’ll play with you, I call” and he flips over TT. WOOT!!!! Approximately a $1k pot and I am a huge favorite to win it!!! FVCK YEAH!!!!
Flop of course has a T. OH NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This can’t be!!!!! And just as MVP is starting to chant for a runner runner straight resuckout, the final T comes up.
Bye Bye $500. Thanks for comin’ out. I think I’ll go puke now.
Oh Well, CHIPS Please!!!!
So I make another $500 buyin, and over the course of the next 3-4 hours I managed to win back $367 of that original $500 so I leave only being down -$133. The we went back to the V and clocked out and cashed out my comp oney and some of MVP’s and went to the Grand Lux Cafe’ again. This time I had the 11oz. fillet and it was AWESOME!!! So was our waitress Allisson G who by the way was hot and was putting her hands on me and being all super attentive to us. MVP kept trying to get me to get her phone # and prove my manliness but at 41 and married I no longer feel the need to have to prove it. I mean it’s pretty apparent already. But I did enjoy her attentiveness. LOL!!! MVP tipped her VERY well and paid for the part of my dinner that wasn’t covered by comps so THANK YOU SIR!!!!!!!!!
Then, since my plane was leaving early the next morning, we decided to just stay up all night playing poker until it was time to go instead of going back to the apt and sleeping a bit. We headed over to Caesars Palace where I won back almost all the rest of what I had lost earlier on. Best hand of that session for me was when I pulled a truly tite attempt to open check and then limp when told I couldn’t, when I had AA in the hole. I stacked to guy to my left with this move and I doubt anybody saw AA coming.
One other hand of note at that table was when I managed to get paid off more by totally misplaying a hand. I forget what position I was in but I know I had position on the villain cuz he was on my right and acted first.
I get AQo and villain raises to $20 PF. I just call. Flop is like AK(T?), villain bets like $40, I just called. Turn comes rag, villain says something like “Well, you just called my flop bet so I guess I’ll just have to check it to you.” I respond “And I guess I’ll just have to check it back to you.” River is another rag (I think it was anyways, I know it didn’t help my hand at all) villain (who likes to talk a lot when he’s not sure what you have) says “well, since you didn’t bet your ace, I’ll bet mine. $50.” Of course at this time I already know I TOTALLY screwed this hand up play wise but now I’m not so sure I don’t have the best hand so I just call. Turns out he had like A6 or something and I take down a nice pot. Thinking about it and then talking to him about it later, he probably would have folded had I bet the turn so by misplaying the hand I actually made an extra $50. Woot to the lucky!!! Left there with a $104 profit awhile later after losing a little of my profits. I then lost $2 overall playing video poker, video BJ and real BJ at the TI while MVP and I waited out the rest of the night til it was time to leave for the airport.
Sunday -$21 Total for trip -$16
In retrospect, even though I started out really badly, and had the one HUGE bad beat, I still made a profit on the cash games this trip with a couple of really nice comebacks. So, not counting the tourneys, I made $419. But since the tourneys did come out of my BR I’m still counting the trip as a loss in the $ department. But dang, I played so much better this time and learned a LOT and got a lot of really good live game experience so I consider the trip a roaring success. February has turned out to be my best month EVAH and I actually feel real good about poker ATM.
![[Ad]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Ad.gif "The Ace of Diamonds")
![[6d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/6d.gif "The Six of Diamonds")
![[Jc]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Jc.gif "The Jack of Clubs")
![[Js]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Js.gif "The Jack of Spades")
![[Qc]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Qc.gif "The Queen of Clubs")
![[Jd]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Jd.gif "The Jack of Diamonds")
![[Jh]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Jh.gif "The Jack of Hearts")
![[Ks]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Ks.gif "The King of Spades")
![[Qd]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Qd.gif "The Queen of Diamonds")
![[Ah]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Ah.gif "The Ace of Hearts")
![[Tc]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Tc.gif "The Ten of Clubs")
(a straight, Ten to Ace)
![[Qh]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Qh.gif "The Queen of Hearts")
![[3s]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/3s.gif "The Three of Spades")
![[6h]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/6h.gif "The Six of Hearts")
![[4d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/4d.gif "The Four of Diamonds")
![[Kc]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Kc.gif "The King of Clubs")
![[Ts]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Ts.gif "The Ten of Spades")
![[5c]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/5c.gif "The Five of Clubs")
![[4c]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/4c.gif "The Four of Clubs")
(two pair, Kings and Fours)
![[Kh]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Kh.gif "The King of Hearts")
![[9s]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/9s.gif "The Nine of Spades")
![[5d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/5d.gif "The Five of Diamonds")
![[8s]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/8s.gif "The Eight of Spades")
![[8d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/8d.gif "The Eight of Diamonds")
![[Qs]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Qs.gif "The Queen of Spades")
![[4h]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/4h.gif "The Four of Hearts")
![[As]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/As.gif "The Ace of Spades")
![[9c]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/9c.gif "The Nine of Clubs")
![[7h]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/7h.gif "The Seven of Hearts")
![[7s]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/7s.gif "The Seven of Spades")
![[7d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/7d.gif "The Seven of Diamonds")
![[7c]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/7c.gif "The Seven of Clubs")
![[4s]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/4s.gif "The Four of Spades")
![[8c]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/8c.gif "The Eight of Clubs")
![[3d]](http://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/3d.gif "The Three of Diamonds")