1st Vegas trip report 6/2-6/9, $2/4 - $4/8 limit, 9 rooms (part 1)

[jively]

Well, I enjoy reading everyone's trip reports, and I learned a lot, so I will reciprocate with my own trip report. My fiancée Jenn and I went to Vegas for vacation, and I got 9 opportunities to play. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Jenn has learned to play hold'em as well, which is convenient. She’s very cool.

The info from www.AllVegasPoker.com was good, but the limits stated on the web weren't always available. I would suggest calling the room to see what limits are going before heading over.


MGM, Saturday afternoon, $3/6

Our first session was on Saturday afternoon at MGM. I played $3/6 with an interesting fellow. There was an older Indian guy who was raising every hand pre-flop blind. Strangely, it took me over an hour for it to be clear! (My initial notes said "a lot of pre-flop raising.") I was playing cautiously. In 2 1/2 hours I think I won two hands, one where ATs hit a pair of Aces and held up, and another where my pocket Jacks held up. On the Jacks hand, I was in early position and limp-reraised, knowing the Indian guy was going to raise blind. That was the first time I ever limp-RRed.

We played 2 1/2 hours, and I ended down $19. Jenn played 2/4 and ended down $10.


Saturday night we saw Blue Man Group at the Venetian. It was seriously awesome. It was very funny, and had outstanding and creative music. I highly recommend this show. We then had dinner at Tsunami, a pan-Asian restaurant, and then checked out the cool fake sky and canal built inside the Venetian. It was really incredibly realistic. If you are going to Vegas and have not been upstairs in the Venetian, definitely see it. Jenn and I took a gondola ride as well. That was romantic, particularly because the drivers sing Italian songs during the ride.


On Sunday, we went to the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Jenn is from the south and really enjoyed the gospel singing and the southern buffet. There was a WPT event there, a $10,000 buy-in tournament on the first day, and I was able to walk around and recognize a lot of famous players. I saw Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, T.J. Cloutier, David Sklansky and John D'Agastino. I think I saw Huck Seed but I'm not 100% sure. (I took some pics on my camera phone, but haven't really looked at them yet.)

I think Mandalay Bay started at $4/8, so was too high for Jenn to play, and I had a number of Mimosas with brunch, so we decided not to play there. We walked over to Luxor, and after some time looking around and playing their excellent selection of retro video games, decided to play poker there.


Luxor, Sunday late afternoon, $4/8

I played $4/8 at Luxor, but the blinds were only $1 and $2. It was an interesting structure. It led to a lot of 5-7 way limp pots, or 2-3 way raised pots. There were a lot of regulars there. There were a couple of promotions where at my table, they were trying to get a lot of hours in per week. Jenn played $1/2 and then $2/4. At her $2/4 table people were trying to win $20 pots so they could get tickets towards a jackpot promotion. She commented that people were playing like maniacs so the pots would be bigger, which changed the character of the game and made it harder to read.

Anyway, I started off hitting a couple of flops. I had AQs and turned a straight. I limped K9s from EP and hit 2 pair. And I flopped a flush with my A9s, all in the first 15 minutes! Those hands brought me up by $100. I gave a lot of that back over then next hour or so.

I had KQs and raised PF and had a cold caller behind me. I flopped a King, and bet the flop, turn and river. The cold caller calls all the way down and showed AK! Nice hand, sir!

I finished the 2 hour session up $42, so I was up $23 for the trip. Jenn played $1/2, moved to $2/4 when her table broke up, and ended down $47.


Excalibur, Sunday night, $2/6 spread limit

We then continued up to Excalibur and played there on Sunday night. This was my first spread limit experience. There was a lot of drinking at the game. It was mostly 20-somethings who liked to talk about baseball and football.

I started off with AQo in the big blind. I raised $6 pre-flop, and it was heads up. The flop came QJx. I bet $6, and he called. The turn was another Q. I bet $6, he raised, and I 3-bet. He called. The river was a T. I bet $6, he raised, and I called. He showed QT, and hit a 3-outer on the river. I tried to remain calm and not be flustered. I think I played it fine, and that's just poker.

Not long after, I had something like Q9 of hearts, and limped from MP. It was 6-ways, and the flop came something like AKx with 2 hearts. I don't remember exactly, but I think I bet, some callers, and a raise. Some callers, and I called, and it was still 6-way. The turn was a blank. Checked to the flop better who bet, and we all called again, building a really large pot. The river was a heart, giving me the 2nd-nut flush. I bet, and got 4 callers. The player to my left had Jx of hearts, to just miss, and I took down the big pot. "Making your flush on the river in a big pot is a lot of fun." GSIH, p. 59.

There were some other lessons learned by the spread limit. I had AK from UTG and raised $6. It was folded all the way around. $6 is maybe too much to raise from EP with $1 and $2 blinds. The next hand, UTG raises $6 with QQ and it is folded around. Maybe $4 or $5 is a better raise there.

Another player played a hand where they bet the flop, bet the turn, and then bet the river when it was heads up. The opponent folded, and the winner showed a busted flush draw. I thought that it was interesting, so I tried it myself. Didn't work though; they called the river. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Near the end of my session, I hit a couple of sets. Yay! My set of 10s turned into 10s full and I won. But then my set of 8s lost to a straight. I ended the 1 3/4 hour session up $54.50, making me up $77.50 for the trip. Jenn ended down $15, playing the $1/3 spread limit game.


On our way back, we rode the roller coaster at New York, New York. It was a longer, better ride than we expected. In our opinion, the best roller coaster ride in Vegas.

I'll post more later, especially if anyone finds this interesting. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] The other rooms were Aladdin, Sahara, Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, Imperial Palace, and Silverton.

-Tom