Vegas Poker Rooms - Trip Report

[slk23]

First time in Vegas over Labor Day weekend.. had a chance to play some poker at the various rooms... brief descriptions of my experiences with each room and a few hand histories.. I was playing at all diff times of the day/night so the “personalities” of each room may or may not be spot on with my perspective

-Paris 1-2NL: complete dump.. dark and in the corner of casino. small only 3 tables going..majority were very LAGGY.. raising preflop 15-25. flop bets of 20-30+.. turn bets of 50+.. total donkfest.. would not recommend playing

-Caesars 1-3NL: VERY nice room... very spacious, quiet and secluded from rest of casino/slots..tons of tables and flat screen tvs mounted everywhere...variety of limits..mainly touristy types at table.. preflop raises 7-15.. good beatable game..

Mirage 1-2NL: somewhat small and dark i thought.. very loud as its right next to the pits/bar. again touristy types at my table.. most who played tight..i started raising to 10 /w marginal+ hands to get the action going... 2 bigs hands...first some background hands with the first villian..i had AK and flopped an Ace.. betting 3/4 pot all the way.. villain check/calls me down to river and hits his A5 kicker..ugh… another hand he turns broadway /w AJ.. im betting for him with flopped top pair of Qs.. river he checks and i bet out 50.. he JUST calls with nuts...wtf….im bewildered…. ff a few hands.. i have KK UTG.. raise to 10 he calls from teh SB or BB along /w a few others.. flop comes 579.. he checks i bet out 25ish.. he calls.. turn K...he checks.. i think for a bit here and bet big, 100.. he min raises to 200, leaving 50 or so behind...i have him covered...i put him on 2 pair or so.. and go allin..of course he calls..Mirage you can hide ur cards till showdown.. river i spike the 5 and slam my boat down proudly.. villain laughs in disgust as he flips up 68 for flopped straight..not sure what i wouldve done if he check raised me on the flop... prolly call like a donk?! the other big hand.. i raise to 10 with Q10... a few callers.. flop is 9JK..nuts!.. donk in previous hand bets out 20..guy smooth calls.. i also call.. late position raises 100 more... donk folds.. smooth caller calls and i push for 200+.. raiser calls and smooth caller also calls.. i have both covered. this time everyone shows.. raiser has bottom set of 9s.. smooth caller has AA.. turn and river brick for a nice 600ish pot in 1-2NL.. gotta love it..

Treasure Island 1-3NL: another small room but 4/5 tables going.. sit down in the 1 seat with 200... everyone looked under 30 yrs old.. a few asians and frat boy types with big stacks each... vert Laggy with preflop raises to 15-20.. a couple hands worth mentioning... 7h9h.. flop is 9 high rainbow.. i bet out.. 1 caller... turn is Ah.. i bet out 15 or so.. get raised to 40... he must hvae hit the ace.. i have tons of outs and call for an additional 25..river is a nice 2h.. giving me the runner runner flush.. i quickly check and he bets out 30... i immediately say raise it up 50 more...he contemplates the fold but eventually makes the crying call... biggest hand of the trip…I call a raise with pocket 8s… three to the flop of 8Tx with 2 clubs....EP bets out 20.. I just smooth call looking to trap.. LP raises 80 more…EP goes all in for ~100 total… I think for a sec and go all-in for ~300 total… LP thinks for about 3 sec and announces Call…again at TI you can “hide” ur holecards till showdown..i don’t recall the turn and river, but after LP says “I have 10s”.. and I thought he meant he has a set of 10s..and I say “you have a set of 10s?” to make sure.. he goes “no, a pair of 10s” and shows AT of clubs… for the nut flush draw.. EP has QT and I rake the ~700+ pot….after about 45 min of playing… this is when poker is easy…

MGM Grand 1-2NL: decently sized.. has “two” sides within the room..with plenty of tables.. out in the open of the casino entrance/lobby area…table was total NIT…more than half would fold in 1-2… no raising, just limping in.. there were a ton of 6-10 pots just checking down to the river… I got bored and left after about an hour…porlly should have tried the 2-5NL but it was late and so we just left…

Bellagio 2-5NL: saw Freddy Deep in the high limit area… room was crowded… playing 10-handed seemed to be a bit much too…table was prolly most diverse, skill-wise and playing-style wise, out of all the rooms… some seemed to be regulars chatting it up /w the dealers and some were older gentlemen looking to play some poker for fun…and again some young “online” looking guys… although it played pretty tight preflop…standard raises of 25..and rarely did it even get to the river…combo of TAG and LAG players….one guy, who looked like a lesbo girl, said he took celebrity photos when they came to party in vegas.. he had an iPhone full of pics with Paris, Lohan, JT, etc… he was actually posing next to some of them so they were legit pics..said he took the Lohan ankle monitor pic…didn’t catch his name tho… then another older lady who looked Hispanic said she used to date Mike Matusow back in the day…she was from Jersey and works as a Floorperson at the Borgata… anyone know/heard anything about these 2 ppl?? Anyways as for hands, got lucky and cracked Kings /w Tens on a flop of 1022.. smooth called his flop bet and got it all-in on the turn for a ~600 pot again..

Overall ran pretty well for only ~15 hours of table time.. Caesars was prolly the best overall room that I went to followed by Bellagio and Mirage.. didn’t get to play at the Venetian or Wynn rooms…

till next yr....