TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Caveat: This trip report does not contain any stories of strippas or jail sentences, just a thirty-something small part-time poker player who spends a few days in Las Vegas. Oh and I'm not all that witty either...


Every time I read a trip report I wish there were pictures. So I've included one of my wife and I that was taken during our vacation. This is, by the way, the first time I've posted a photograph of myself during my stint on Two Plus Two (man I really thought I was better looking than this)

http://www.UploadYourImages.com/img/...lk_part_ii.jpg

Arrival

We fly out of Buffalo at 7 am on Sunday July 9th. Of course I can't sleep the night before because I'm so anxious. We touch down in LV at approx 8:30 am and take the provided shuttle to the Flamingo. As we wait in line to check-in I tell my wife I'm going to get a room upgrade by paying off the hotel desk clerk (aka the "$20 Trick") As we approach I wink at my wife and say "watch this" I take a $20 bill, fold it up and place it on the desk w/ my credit card. "Do you have any upgrades available, my wife and I are on our honeymoon?" The receptionist looks down at my twenty, looks up at me, and then makes a face as if I was asking for her phone number. "Um, well we have upgrades I'll explain the cost of them to you in a second. Meanwhile I'm going to go to the end of the desk and pretend I'm doing something, when I get back I really hope that $20 is off the desk" ...PWNED! Not only are we not upgraded she proceeds to tell us that we have to wait until 3 PM to check-in, two bad beats and I'm not even checked in yet.

Pool

We rip through our luggage and grab a couple of bathing suits and head to the pool. Fortunately there are only a bajillion people hanging by the Flamingo pool at 9 am. We hit the bar and order two Malibu & Pineapples ($16 drinks / $4 tip) and painstakingly look for two chairs. We finally find 2 that has about a quarter inch of room on each side. As I finally maneuver my way around and sit down my drink goes ass-over-tea kettle. "Two coronas please" ($9/$3) much better and hardly any chance of spillage. We settle in but I'm ready for some poker and tell my wife I'll be back in one hour. (By the way, where is a decent pool without the chaos? We stayed at the Mirage last year and it was just as bad.)


Poker

I hit the 1/2 NL table at the Flamingo and buy-in for the max amount of $300.

The first hand I play I pick up wired 8s and raise it up $8 from the CO... button calls, the rest fold. Flop A 10 9r, I check (possibly looking to C/R) button checks. Turn T and I lead out for $15, lady calls. River is a 3 and I'm feeling frisky and represent aces up or trip tens and lead again for $26 hoping/praying she folds... she snap calls w/ pocket 6s... MHIG! This probaly wasn't the brightest of plays on my part w/ that board especially considering she had position on me but I needed to get my feet wet.

The biggest hand I had in my first session was A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Early raise to $8 w/ one caller and I call on the button. Flop 10 high rainbow. Check check and I bet $15, both call. Turn 10, I bet $30, one caller. River is an Ace and I fill up and bet $50... fold.

First Poker Session: + $115

Dining (Margaritaville)

2 Coronas
2 "Catch of the Days" (Blackened Tilapia)
$30/$10

This was a nice lunch, complete w/ reggae tunes, cold beer and good food. We also had an interesting conversation w/ a couple next to us. Apparently they were locals and lived 5 minutes away from a brothel. The guy explained his girlfriend or wife makes $20 a day there. I tell her she needs a raise and she takes this as a compliment.

Drinking & Prince

We finally check-in, shower and head to the Mandalay Bay to see Purple Reign at the House of Blues. I ask a young waiter at the restaurant where the show room is for concerts. He lets me know it's right next door and asks if I'm going to the Prince show. He then gives me two VIP tickets. Sweet, I give him $5 and we head to the Rum Jungle to warm up w/ a few more drinks before the show. The Jungle is a great place and the drinks were fantastic. I had a Hawaiian Pau and Bobbi (my wife) had a Rum Jungle Juice ($24 / ?) We then head over for the concert. At this time there is a line to get in and I go to the doorman and give him the VIP tickets. He lets me know the tickets will get me in but not past that 30 minute line. Oh well, the show was great! Prince turned into Morris Day about half way through and I was completely back in the 80s again. Oh the VIP tickets included a free drink. I had a Vodka/Red Bull/Purple Razzmatazz and officially was off my ass. We took the short bus home after the show which seemed to take about an hour to get back to the Flamingo. Of course drunken breakfast was in order at the Flamingo Cafe and officially kept us up around-the-clock (EST)

Day one complete. If there isn't much interest I'll discontinue the report (I'd understand).

Here's a picture from later in the week, just in case.

http://www.UploadYourImages.com/img/...d_i_part_v.jpg

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Nice, keep em coming.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Good Report....Keep 'em coming...Nice looking wifey [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Whoa, I always thought you were a college student.

Nice report. Planning on playing any WSOP events?

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Planning on playing any WSOP events?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll give you the answer to this during day 2's recap, ok?

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

ZOMG, I see that you said there was a pic of you and your wife so I of course scroll down looking for the pic before I read the story. At the bottom of the post it says, "Here is a pic..." So I sit there waiting for the pic to load. Then, poof, it loads and your wife looks a lot like Daniel N. Oh wait, there's another pic near the top! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Nice report. More please!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

nice report kev

i met negreanu also while i was in vegas, chatted for a while and he is really a stand up guy, just as personable as he is on tv. nh

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Good report. Mad props that you got to meet DN.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Nice report. Post stuff from the other days too, we all [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] trip reports.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Man, Daniel Negraneau looks rundown in that picture.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Nice, keep em coming.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Good Report....Keep 'em coming...Nice looking wifey [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

yep. nice lookin gal u got there. can't say too much for ur ugly head though:()
Indy

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

trip reports rule, keep em coming!

i recall asking for a courtesy upgrade the last time i stayed at the bellagio. it sounded like she was willing to help us out. so as we got our key, i discreetly gave her a 20. as we were going to the room, i realized it was a standard room, just with a better view. but as we were unpacking, she was nice enough to call us and and actually gave us the upgrade.

clearly a case of YMMV. at least we know it can be done...

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Very nice report. Can't wait to hear about your foray into Let It Ride as a bankroll-building session....

Were you sitting down in the pic with DN, or does Daliman tower over you??? j/k

Good luck in Vegas! SMcF

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

DAY II

Woke up at 6:30 am. I was a bit hungover but didn't have time to think about it. I planned to spend most of my time at the tables in the mornings. Especially today, the start of WSOP Event #17 ($1,000 NL) I showered, kissed my sleeping wife and told her if she didn't hear from me I'd meet her at the pool. I swayed my way to the Barbary Coast by 7:30 to take the shuttle to the Gold Coast. Unfortunately, the shuttle didn't start until 9 am. No worries I'll take the Bally's shuttle to the RIO. I stumble my drunk ass directly across the street and read the sign "Shuttle starts at 9 AM" Oh well, I'll just grab this Jamaican Cab driver waiting patiently to escort me safely to the RIO. I jump in and off we go. As we near the overpass, near the RIO, a clown in a BMW cuts us off. Apparently my Jamaican friend forgot all about "Irie Mon" or whatever and busts out an arsenal of obscenities including double barrel fingers and f-bombs. We approach the traffic light and oh great look, it's turning red! The guy in the BMW polishes his rearview mirror and starts making some odd gestures. "Here we go!" I think to myself as the cabbie throws the car in park, unbuckles his seat belt and swings open the door. You're kidding me right? My head hurts, I'm a little nauseous from 1 hour of sleep and I find myself in the middle of this mess. Fortunately between "stupid" and
"fawk" the light turns green and the BMW speeds away. Of course our cabbie then cuts some other guy off because he's in complete disarray and explains how he wouldn't have done that had the other guy not been such a "stupid fawk" He then asks if I'm here for "cards" and explains that he needs to take me back to the convention center. "No thanks, I'm good!" ($11)

RIO

For those of you that have not had the chance to experience the WSOP yet, the scene at the RIO is really cool! As I finally approached the poker room there was a line of people in the hallway. I worked my way to the satellite line inside where there was about 6-7 guys standing. I inquired about today's event and they said it was sold out (2000 entrants) and that there was already 500-600 alternates. This was disheartening, I really wanted to play but wasn't all that thrilled about being an alternate in my first event. There was about 10 dealers waiting for instructions and the brush or tournament director said they'd start the satellites at 9 am. Within a few minutes we had 10 for a $125 STT and soon the cards were in the air.

WSOP Satellite

If you're not familiar w/ the WSOP Satellites, it's winner take all in the 10 man STT. So for a $125 sat. you will win two $500 WSOP chips (good for any of the events) and $125 in cash. I asked around and selling these for face value would not be a problem. Of course you can't sell them back to RIO. Anyway, after reading some previous trip reports I was hoping my table would turn out to be a donkellite. Unfortunately it wasn't. The one girl at the table came in 12th last year in the women's event, the guy to my right in the 4 seat came in 80th in the ME last year (knew he looked familiar) and two of the other guys explained how they sold $2000 worth of satellite chips last year, and some other solid poker history behind the others. The structure is terrible, you start w/ t1000 in chips and the blinds go up every 2 minutes (or so it seemed) Anyway, we were all in push fold mode by the end of an hour. I doubled up w/ KK vs AT and felt pretty good. However, as the field thinned to 5 I pushed from the button holding J8s (w/ a pretty tight image) and the SB instantly called w/ AQ... I didn't improve. I picked up my stuff and walked out of the room. I was a little disappointed but for some reason I felt more good than bad about the whole thing. I was kind of thinking to myself "I'll be back here someday..." Until then I need to befriend some donks at the Flamingo and get back my losses. Cab ride ($11)

-$125

Poker - Flamingo 2/5 NL

I'm back to the hotel by approx 11 am and jump in a 2/5 NL game. I lose $100 on some mundane c-bets and missed flops early but double up with those wired crazy 8s again on the following hand: Two to the flop with a board of 899r. I check behind and the turn is a 4, Villain is an old action monkey and makes a pretty decent size bet, I think and think and think and decide to make a little raise. He smooth calls. He leads out on the river when a red Q hits the board w/ a pot size bet and I shove all in, he calls quickly but takes forever to count out his chips. I'm actually nervous he may have made 9s full but he filled up on the turn w/ pocket 4s... MHIG. I actually felted another older gentleman when I call a big preflop raise on the button w/ 78s, flop 863, turn (you guessed it) 8, I move him in and he tables JJ.

+$238

Dining - Delmonico's

Now I've been waiting for this dinner for a few weeks now. I researched this forum for the best steakhouse and it was a toss up between a few, including Craft, N9NE, etc. I came to the conclusion I'll try them all someday so I can't miss. We order the pretzel fondue and lobster bisque as appetizers, GREAT START!! I order the bone-in-ribeye and my wife has the filet. Delicious, but to be honest I've had steak that was just as good before. Although the signature steak is the bone-in-ribeye, I thought my wife's filet was just as nice. We ordered smashed potatoes and asparagus as sides, both very tasty. I give Delmonico's a solid A. I was extremely happy w/ the service and the food. $150 / $30.

Black Jack

As we're walking through the Venetian casino I can't help myself and sit down at a $15 black jack table. Dealer turns over black jack three of the next 5 hands, I'm not sure I even won a hand. Down $100 in less than 5 minutes... RIGGED! This just in, gambling and losing in front of the wife is -EV!

Coming up: Elton John, Tony G and Two (small) Final Tables

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Wish I could see the pics here at work. Oh well, I'll see them later. $20/day for his wife/gf? Maybe she parks cars or maybe it's one of those high-roller things where $1 is code for $100.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
nice lookin gal u got there. can't say too much for ur ugly head though

[/ QUOTE ]

he must have serios game to have accomplished that though, givin what he has to work with [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
nice lookin gal u got there. can't say too much for ur ugly head though

[/ QUOTE ]

he must have serios game to have accomplished that though, givin what he has to work with [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, it's the camera I'm telling ya! It's one of those old instant polaroid joints.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

this is awesome man. Keep it coming and thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to my time there as well.

low limit ballas rul3!!!!!!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

Day III

It's 7 am, rise and shine! I tip-toe around the room in the dark looking for a baseball hat, some shorts and my poker bank roll. No time for breakfast, the drunk donks from the night before are waiting.

Poker - 1/2 NL Flamingo

Sure enough there is one NL table running. I buy in for $300 and sit down in the 4 seat. 2 young kids sitting in the 7 and 8 seats look completely exhausted. Come to find out they had been playing for 20 hours straight. In fact they both busted out of the $1K WSOP event the day before and had been playing since. For the most part I avoided them, they had pretty decent stacks and really tightened up anyway. However there were 3 or 4 guys at the table that were looking to gambool it up and they were drunk. I stacked one of them when I made top two pair w/ AK, he had Ax. During this session another donk in a Barry Sanders jersey had about $70 in chips left in front of him and went all-in UTG?!?!? He was called by QQ and flipped over 99 and took the broke walk of shame back to his room. Anyway, I was able to build my stack to $563 at this point when the table started to break up. So I bought into the $60 daily 10 am tournament.

Poker - Tournament Style

The morning tournament at the Flamingo has a rough structure. t1000 starting chips w/ blinds rising every 20 minutes. Again $60 entry fee, 40 runners. I doubled up when my pocket Js held against AK on an all under board. After that the table was EXTREMELY tight and I took advantage every time I had position when it was folded to me. I didn't have a seat change throughout the tournament and the next thing I realized the final table had formed around me. It was pretty neat because there were railbirds, including my wife. Of course the blinds were huge and everyone had about the same stack size. Before a ten minute break we race off the t100 chips and I lose t400 on the deal (damn)! I pick up pocket 2s on the button and open shove, BB calls w/ KQ and I double up when he doesn't improve. I'm thrilled and fortunate to have won that race and I'm in pretty good shape w/ the field whittled down to 6. I'm sitting in the CO position and look down to find AQs. What makes this better is that a tight nit UTG limps and I'm staring at an extra 5000 chips (blinds 1000/2000) and I have about 7000 behind. It's folded to me and I push when all of a sudden the lady in the SB gets all Tiffany Williamson on me and goes in the tank forever. I put her on pocket 8s or the like. She has about 6000 behind so she's not committed. The only hand she's seen me show down was pocket 2s. I look at the BB and he's all but mucked his cards and tighty-whitey UTG is acting the same. Come on Tiffany let this hand go, please. Sure enough she calls, BB and UTG fold and I quickly show AQ, she then says "you got it" and flips over 9To... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? First of all when she said "you got it" I threw up a little in my mouth because I know that's some sort of reverse rigged psychology and second of all I know how far behind I am, in fact I'm pretty certain I'm drawing dead to her 9T!?! Flop 9 high, turn and river are blanks and I'm completely disgusted. She will not even look in my direction and I mumble a few words under my breath, something similar to the lines the Jamaican cab driver taught me. I'm crippled and exit shortly thereafter.

Walking the Strip / Fashion Mall

My wife came down to the poker room to let me know she was going to the Fashion Mall. She didn't know I entered the tournament and was pretty excited to watch, despite the outcome. Anyway, I tell her I'm done w/ poker for now. I keep reminding myself I'm still up $300 for the day but that beat still stings. FWIW I think SnGs have helped me deal w/ bad tournament beats. The Fashion Mall is a place w/ a bunch of nice stores, that is all. However, I like to spend the money I earned from poker whenever I run bad or in this case get bounced out of a tourney. So I was in the shopping mood and purchased cool cocktail glasses from Z Gallery. We then head across the street to the Wynn. The Wynn was not finished last year when I was in town so I was interested to check out the poker room. The Wynn is very nice and the poker room is beautiful. The place was jam packed and there appeared to be some pretty big NL games going on.

Night Time

One of Bobbi's requests on this trip was to check out the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Neither of us had ever been there (cab ride $10) The pool is impressive and looks like it would be a good time, especially during "Rehab". We then check out the menu at Nobu but decide dinner can wait and take a cab to NYNY. We find ourselves drinking Red Bull & Vodkas at Coyote Ugly ($25/$5) Good news, they're 2 for 1 until 9 o'clock! Coyote Ugly is fun despite the fact that AC/DC gets on my nerves after "You Shook Me All Night Long" played 5 times within an hour. The music is selected on the juke box. Leaving this responsibility to customers isn't always the freshest idea. Even one of the bartenders started bitching and asked that someone please play a song we can dance to. The next song was David Banner's "Play" which turned around the feel in the bar. 4 RB&Vs later, on an empty stomach, and it's time for dinner. The first place we find in NYNY was Il Fornaio. I order ravioli stuffed w/ crab and topped w/ cream sauce and shrimp, Bobbi has a chicken and spinach dish. It was pretty good ($50 / $10)
We cab it back to the hotel but not before drunken roulette (-$40)


Coming Up: My worst live beat eva!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
First of all when she said "you got it" I threw up a little in my mouth because I know that's some sort of reverse rigged psychology and second of all I know how far behind I am, in fact I'm pretty certain I'm drawing dead to her 9T!?! Flop 9 high, turn and river are blanks and I'm completely disgusted.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha, this reminded me SO much of the last tournament I played in Vegas. There were ~120 runners iirc, and we were down to the last 40 or so. The final 2 tables cashed and I had a decent stack. Folded to short-stacked LP who moved in and then folded to SB, who re-raised. I looked down at AQs in the BB, and went all-in for some large amount. I don't remember the specifics, only that SB and myself were very close in chips and very far ahead of the rest of the table - his raise did not commit him. Anyway, he tanked for 2 years and finally came to the conclusion of "I have to call you, man". He tabled 87s and 30 seconds later I was steaming back down the strip to my hotel.

To make matters even worse, I decided to deal with my mega tilt by playing in a 1-2 NL game at the Monte Carlo where I was staying. You need to consider 2 things. 1) The biggest NL game I had played at the time was NL50 on Party because 2) I sucked at poker back then. The first hand I played, I got stacked for $160. Good times.


Ok, sorry for the hijack, but that bit about the tournament reminded me so much of my last trip to Vegas. Anyway, these reports are good, keep them coming!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]


Haha, this reminded me SO much of the last tournament I played in Vegas. There were ~120 runners iirc, and we were down to the last 40 or so. The final 2 tables cashed and I had a decent stack. Folded to short-stacked LP who moved in and then folded to SB, who re-raised. I looked down at AQs in the BB, and went all-in for some large amount. I don't remember the specifics, only that SB and myself were very close in chips and very far ahead of the rest of the table - his raise did not commit him. Anyway, he tanked for 2 years and finally came to the conclusion of "I have to call you, man". He tabled 87s and 30 seconds later I was steaming back down the strip to my hotel.
because 2) I sucked at poker back then. The first hand I played, I got stacked for $160. Good times.



[/ QUOTE ]

It's just crazy. You know when villain is in the tank forever that you're ahead but there's a part of you that doesn't want the call. I really hate when I have that bad feeling.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

More shorter paragraphs!

Other than that this is pretty good...I'm surprised how much of what happened you can recollect...I'm pretty much worthless at remember what happened with my poker an hour ago let alone days ago.

Yugoslav

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
More shorter paragraphs!

Other than that this is pretty good...I'm surprised how much of what happened you can recollect...I'm pretty much worthless at remember what happened with my poker an hour ago let alone days ago.

Yugoslav

[/ QUOTE ]

Yugo - just wait till you get to be my age. I cant remember what hand I folded one second after it happens, let alone an hour later. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Kev - I agree with Yugo, short paragraphs = easier to read.

Very nice report! Keep them coming! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
More shorter paragraphs!

Other than that this is pretty good...I'm surprised how much of what happened you can recollect...I'm pretty much worthless at remember what happened with my poker an hour ago let alone days ago.

Yugoslav

[/ QUOTE ]

I cheated Yugo, while my wife was getting ready at night I took notes.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

ship the next day!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
ship the next day!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks... love GtrHtr! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
First of all when she said "you got it" I threw up a little in my mouth because I know that's some sort of reverse rigged psychology and second of all I know how far behind I am, in fact I'm pretty certain I'm drawing dead to her 9T!?! Flop 9 high, turn and river are blanks and I'm completely disgusted.

[/ QUOTE ]

I laughed out loud at this. Been there, done that and drawing dead is the perfect description.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (9/19-9/14)
 

This is sweet trip report I hope there is some more to come. Im so jealous that I wont be in vegas at all this summer.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

DAY IV (morning/afternoon edition)

Poker - Flamingo

Yep, you guessed it I'm sitting in the 1/2 NL game at the Flamingo by 7:30 am. I buy in for $300 and build up my stack to $500+. At this point in the vacation I am really feeling good about poker. So much of what I've read is paying off. I'm spotting the donkeys at every table I sit at within a few minutes. I'm avoiding the solid players unless I have a huge hand. Sometimes I'm even isolating the donks that limp in early w/ raises to get it heads-up and other astute poker strategy that hardly comes into play in Speed SnGs. In fact, I'm getting illusions of grandeur that I can move up and play 2/5 NL on a regular basis. Perhaps I'll become a cash specialist.

That said, I'm hitting some flops and my strong hands are holding up... which helps! And then the following 2 hands occur:

With a large stack in front of me I call an EP raise w/ pkt 5s. Flop comes 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] EP raiser bets $10 (into a $20 pot) and I raise to $40, she/villain calls. "Please dealer no [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]" Turn is the 10 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Villain checks and I bet $50. She check raises me all-in w/ $200 behind. WTF? This is an easy lay down, right? What hand does she check-raise her whole stack with that I'm ahead of on that awful board? I go in the tank for a few minutes and muck my hand. She says "nice fold" and tables A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] OMG COMPLETELY PWNED!!!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

OK, so I got bluffed out of a huge hand. Even Dan Harrington says it's normal to fold the best hands sometimes. I got out played, no big deal. I left a lot of money on the table w/ that hand but I didn't lose much. Avoiding tilt, I'm able to build my stack back up to what it was.

I'm dealt A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 4 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and call a $10 raise with two other players. One of the players has about $70, the other has about $200. Flop J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] EP position leads for $20, other villain calls and I call. The turn is the beautiful 10 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] EP donk bets $20, MP call and I say I'm going to raise and put the MP Villain all-in. Well much to my delight the EP player says he's moving all in and I snap call and show the NUTS!!! It gets better, they both show the same exact hand, JQ top 2 pair! They are drawing to 2 outs. I am counting my pot when the dealer rivers a JACK!! I cannot believe my eyes. I am so sick, that is the worst live beat that I have ever encountered. I know I was only 60:40 preflop or whatever but most of my money went in as a 95% fav!

To make matters worse the EP Villain will not let it go and keeps going on and on about how it's the first miracle river card of his life "of course it is" as I mumble some words to myself that rhyme w/ "other lucker"

As we all know poker will humble you very quickly, unless of course you're Good2CU (which by the way I'm very jealous of that crazy money shot he displayed from Vegas). It's such a sick game we play. But I'm able to keep my head and cash out $599. Life is still very good.

+$299

WSOP

It's just about noon, time to railbird the $50K HORSE event at the RIO. I am very excited about this, so much so that I make my wife come along whether she liked it or not. We had planned to meet at the Flamingo Poker room at noon and then jump in the Gold Coast shuttle ($4)

The $50K event lived up to all my expectations. We weren't even in the room yet and Matusow goes running right by us into the bathroom. As we enter the PR, Shawn "Sheiky" Shacon is standing right in the doorway. Two seconds later Daniel walks by (see picture from day 1)! It was a who's who of poker.

We find a spot in front of Tony G and Sammy Farha's table. It was quite a treat to listen to them talk it up. TG was having the time of his life and was all smiles throughout the time we watched. He is such an ass, but watching him have such a good time made me see him in a different light. Of course Sammy was the only one participating in the chatter while the rest were all business.

Oh, well except for Matusow who was in the middle of the room on his cell phone screaming "I'm 75:1 to win, anyone want this action?" All the stars were out (Doyle, Juanda, Greenstein, TJ, etc etc)

Here's a pic from where we were standing, how many of these players can you identify?


http://www.UploadYourImages.com/img/446784poker_v.jpg


Coming soon: Day 4 (Night time - Elton John concert)

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Pretty awesome that you got to catch some of the Horse event. I really considered taking a flight out to Vegas while this was going on. Kinda wish that I had now.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

[ QUOTE ]
We weren't even in the room yet and Matusow goes running right by us into the bathroom.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is funny to me, last year at the ME, I was leaving the room and going to the bathroom and hit that first corner as you leave the hall where the tourney is going on and as I approach the corner I hear this ranting coming toward the corner from the other direction. I slow down to avoid the trainwreck and Matusow, yelling at himself (there was no one else around), comes barrelling around the corner into me with this startled look on his face. I gave him my best "wtf" look and he shut up and moved out toward the room. Funny to me.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Day IV (Evening Edition)

My wife purchased Elton John tickets for us a few weeks ago for tonight. He's filling in for Celine Dion at Caesars for a few weeks, which works for me because Elton John is good ($300)

We head over to Caesars and check out the scene at the Coliseum. There are lines forming but we still have about 45 minutes until the show. We had a Buy One Get One free drink coupon for Slice in Caesars so we figured this would be a good time to use it. We order a couple of mixed drinks and hand him the coupon. Seriously, he THREW our change back on the bar. Really buddy? I laugh and think that just cost you $5, stupid ass. Apparently he's not too keen on coupons ($10)

The Elton John show was fantastic. Although I like his music, I overheard several people say that they weren't fans but really enjoyed the concert. During each song there is a huge screen behind the stage that displays a film that explains what the song's meaning is. This was great, especially on songs like "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Rocket Man", and "Daniel".

We go across the casino floor to Mesa Grill. During some time around the pool earlier in the week I had a conversation w/ a guy from Chicago. He said the Margarita's at Mesa Grill are out of this world so of course I order a Tanqueray and tonic, my wife gets the margarita. She says it's delicious and worth the praise. The bartender is a real nice guy named "Cooper" and we get to talking. He shows me the bottle of tequila that her drink was made with and I accidentally smash it into my very empty drink glass and it shatters. He makes me another drink before I even ask and refills my wife's. I love a great bartender! He recommends we go next door to visit his girlfriend who bartends at Bradley Ogden's for their steak burger. He then tells us the drinks are on him ($0 / $15)

On to Bradley Ogden's, steak burger and fries for me, hummus for my wife and 2 amstel lights. It was quiet and we ate right at the bar. Perfect late night snack. ($48 / $12)

Coming up: I get stacked! [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

DAY V - Part I

The fifth day of my vacation was the most eventful.

I wake up and head down to the Flamingo poker room, per usual. However, as I make my way past the WSOP slot machine sign and head to the PR there isn't one person playing. This is bad news.

One of the dealers I've become friendly with is sitting at a table reading Card Player. I ask "Man, where are all the drunks?" He let's me know that the game broke up about an hour ago and he thinks it'll start back up around 9 or 10 am.

I grab a Card Player and start looking aimlessly until I get to pictures of Sabrina Gadecki (WPT) IMO an improvement over Courtney Friehl. Anyway, there are random people coming down to the poker room but only to sign up for the morning tourney and then they head back to their rooms. Apparently there are only six spots left in the tournament so I take one and bounce to Bally's to see if there is a game.

The Bally's poker area is small but fortunately there is a 1/2 NL table going. I sit down in the 7 seat with a bunch of young guys talking about twoplustwo and neverwin w/ huge pyramids of chips in front of them. Whatever, I'm running fairly well and have a lot of confidence.

Within the first orbit I wake up to pocket aces in the SB. 4 limpers and I jack it up to $15 and get two callers. Flop comes A93 (monotone [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]s) I lead out for $50 and get one caller.

(The caller played in the only significant hand that I witnessed. He was an asian dude that chased the nut flush til the river and then took a stab with air w/ a $70 bet on the river. One of the young kids thought for 5 minutes, called w/ bottom pair and took it down.)

The turn is a brick and I lead out for $100 (pot $150) I don't want to give him a good price to call if he has a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] although now I've come to realize I'm all but committed to this pot. Well much to my dismay he moves me all in and now I'm sick to my stomach. I tell him I'm calling and that I need to fill up on the river and of course he shows Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] The river sucks and MHIB. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

The neverwin crew tell me they go broke w/ that hand, especially given the read from the hand played before. I replayed this in my head for hours and I'm just not sure I can play this differently besides folding on the river.

Well, I lose $300 in 10 minutes and forgo a rebuy. I'm back to my dark room within minutes and go over that hand a bajillion times wondering what I should have done differently.

(-$300)

Flamingo 10 AM Tournament

After beating myself up for a few hours I grab my backpack and head downstairs for the tournament.

40 runners / $60 entry / top 3 get paid

Again, format is rough so you need to double up soon. Luckily that happens when my pocket Jacks holds up against J10s [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. I also raise some blinds in position (stealing a few) and successfully c-betting the others. I'm the healthiest at the table.

Next important hand (blinds 50/100) and a tight older guy limps from LP, SB calls and I have A7o in the BB. I ask the older guy how much he has in front of him and he says t700.
"I raise, 700 more" My hand is not great to say the least, but I thought I'd send a little message to everyone at the table. Of course Villain makes me sweat for several minutes and then calls and flips over A9 (Yikes!) Flop 77T, thank you luckbox!

The most important hand of the tournament for me was a race I won w/ AQ vs. 66. The turn brought a beautiful Q!!!

I'll skip all the other trite hands that got me to the final table from that point and bring you right to the bubble.

Actually, when we were down to 4, I was short stacked and suggested a chop. One of the dealers told me that a lot of these tourneys end up in a chop when it's four-ways because of tax purposes ($600+ and you have to fill out a W-3 form)
Well a girl in her 30s is oppossed and "too excited to chop it now." I understand, and actually the only reason I wanted to was because of the results of my first FT at the Flamingo, the $300 beating I took earlier and I'm short stacked.

Well after a few steals and a couple BBs folded to me the bubble busts and the girl in her 30s is ass out!

Down to 3, blinds 2000/4000 the chip leader limped from the buttom, SB called and I get my first monster hand of the tournament (POCKET ACES) I shove and the chip leader calls w/ KTs. This time rockets hold up and I'm huge. The short stack blinded out a few hands later.

Down to 2, myself and a middle aged lady, who ALL of the railbirds are rooting for. I have a pretty good lead on her when I push w/ A5o and she calls w/ AQ. Flop A56 (yes), turn 8, river Q (so close!!!!) We are fairly even at this point.

I lean on her every single hand. When she limps I push, when I'm in the SB I push. She starts to get annoyed and tells me flat out she's calling me w/ any 2 the next time I do that. I look down and see K9s in the SB. I put a chip on my hole cards and ask her if she is going to call me, she says "YES" - "I'm all in" and she makes the call w/ 3 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] I flop top top 2 pair!! This is the first time I've ever said this... SHIP IT!

My first live tourney win!

The poker room manager asks me if I have a good tax accountant while he's filling out the W3 form. "You shouldn't have to worry about this" he tells me.

+ $1,025 (- $60 tip for the dealers)



Coming next: $40 cover charges


Sorry for bad grammar, long paragraphs and going from past tense to present tense, etc. It's a bit laborious writing trip reports, who knew? By the way, is anyone still with me?

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Not much you could have done on the AA hand. You're just playing poker when you go broke there.

Big congrats on the win though, that's awesome!

And yes, I'm still with you... I've enjoyed reading these.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

I am still with you too. Enjoyed reading these. Alot more detailed than most and since I am living vicariously through you as I have never made it to Vegas, the detail is great!

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Congrats!

Very nice read. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

Thanks for the kind words fellas.



Oh and I needed to hear this:

[ QUOTE ]
Not much you could have done on the AA hand. You're just playing poker when you go broke there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

grats on the win! I'm reading these, glad to see a fellow buffalonian doing well down there!

I also go broke there with the AA in a heartbeat. The things I have seen at those low stakes NL tables would make your head spin.

Re: TR: Small Balla (and wife) take on Vegas (7/19-7/14)
 

i'm still with you, waiting for the totalling up of $$$ which I anticipate will be in your final post. Very interesting reads and the time you've spent putting it together is appreciated. I hope you get to say "ship it" a few more times before the end :-)