Vegas Trip Report 10-23 10-25 (LONG)

[jdoe]

Booked a flight and room on expedia. Stayed in the west wing at MGM. I have stayed in the Mirage and at the Orleans. The room at MGM is very similar to the pics on the MGM website. I did like the fact that the room had a safe as I don’t like to carry around my whole roll. The room was OK and the location was pretty good. It was only a short walk to the poker room or the strip.

Got in town about 11AM and met up with a friend who took us to MGM buffet for lunch. I was really hoping for a lot more but it was on someone else’s dime so why pitch a fuss. Finished up with lunch and hit the players club for players cards. I “thought” I understood that you get $1 per hour to play poker. I thought cool. I got a $25 dining credit for booking with expedia and I could play enough hours to pay for my breakfast. I signed up for players cards and asked for free play (pretended to be a slot player), they said no. Oh well whatever got right into a 4-8 game. Noting noteworthy, a standard combination of good and bad players tight players and gamblers.

I wander over to the sports book and bet a few ponies. I know nothing about the horses. I always lose money on them so I play really small. I look at the odds and there are 3 horses at 3:1-ish and everything else was 30:1 so I said what the heck I bet a $2 trifecta on the 3 favorites. And hit it. I guess the thing about horse racing is your odds change. But I knew a trifecta will pay a lot. I go right to the window and try to get my money and they tell me its not official yet (you noob!) so I ask what the payout on a trifecta is? They say there is no way of knowing (you noob!) arg! So I am hoping for something like 300 or 400:1 on my bet. They put my ticket in the machine and I win $25. Oh well, whatever.

Wife wants to get ready for dinner so we take a stroll down the strip. Its easy to forget how big those hotels on the strip are. You see where you want to go and it looks like it only a few blocks away. You walk and walk and never get there. We head over to the bellagio for dinner. We hit the buffet, $58 for 2 people and its worth every penny. I gorge myself on seafood and chocolate cake and wander over to the poker room.

There is some kind of big game going in the back with David Grey, Andy Bloch (I think) Jen Harmon and Ted Forrest. I decide to NOT buy-in. Brush, send me to your finest 4-8 table. This table was super aggressive, lots of 3 bets preflop called 6 ways. No hands of interest, the usual low limit stuff KK cracked by a nut straight on the river. I run hot cold hot cold and cash out. Back to MGM and to sleep

We roll out of bed at about 8AM load up on some (free?) Starbucks and wander down the strip on foot. The plan was to play in the Venetian’s noon tourney. We get there just in time and I sign up and the wife plays the 4-8. The smell of the air freshener really got to me and for that reason alone I wont go back. I go about 4 orbits of card dead/flop dead and bleed about 25% of my stack,. I take the re-buy in seat 3. Next hand seat 7 and 9 go all in with AA vs. JJ and JJ sucks out on the flop. Next few hands I pick up AsKd on the button 3 limpers to me at 50-100 blinds and I bet 800, everyone folds to the 9 seat and he start lecturing me on how I overbet (whatever), he goes into the tank and call 700 more. Flop comes J T 4 rainbow 1 diamond and he bets 500 into a the pot. I call. Turn is the ace diamonds. He checks I go all in for about 2400 he sits and thinks and calls with 9d 7d rivers 5d. Lecture me about my play huh? Way to call off your chips with 8 outs. With an ugly beat and smelly air freshener infecting my brain I decide to leave. Got UMICH +400 for national championship for a buddy on the way out.

Time to go to the Wynn. Grab a sandwich for me and a salad for her $32. All very good.

I find it very odd that the play at every room is different. You would think that every game would be the same at every casino, but that’s not the case. Wife sits 4-8 I decide I want to play the No limit 1 3 game. The game is very good for a small buy-in NL. I buy 100 but the average stack is about 250 I grind out a small win and go to 4-8 to play with my wife. I know playing at the same table has some disadvantages but we were there to go on vacation together. This table had 6 people without a clue of what they were doing, but I could tell these people had money. One guy sits down 2 to my left and buys in for 300 in a 4-8 game.
37.5 big bets..ok whatever. I get into a hand with him I have QJ flop J 3 5 I bet he calls, turn Q I check he bets I CR! He calls river is a brick rainbow I bet he calls I flop over my hand and say top 2. He trys to find a spot to much his cards and turns them over JJ and still thinks he lost. Wow what can you say about that. I could have lost a lot more if he knew how to play. We cash out and start thinking dinner. We have not set the world on fire with our poker play but we were not stuck 8 buy-ins either so we decide we want something a little better that average. We head back to MGM and get a late reservation at gallagers steakhouse in NY NY. I wanted a big chunk o meat but was not ready to pay for crafsteak or SW. we go in for a late dinner. Order the scampi prawns. They were so big I was compelled to sneak a picture. Excellent. Main course for me sirloin. So I always take great care in ordering my steak, I like them rare but every place seem to have a different definition of rare medium-rare and medium so I always ask. I tell the guy I like my steaks rare but not cold in the middle. How does you medium come out. He says pink top to bottom and goes on to tell me he like it the same way wife orders the prime rib. My steak come out well done. ARG! I hate complaining about stuff but I am not going to eat a well done $35 steak. Much to the waiter’s credit he said it was not right and makes it right. In the meantime I get to watch my wife eat knowing that when she gets done she will have to watch me eat. My steak comes out perfect and 3 people come over to ask me if it is ok. “yeah its good leave me alone I want to eat it now” the bill was about 120 bux and I would say it was slightly overpriced but next time I am going to SW.

Walk back over to MGM wife falls asleep, and I am ready to play some poker.

I go downstairs and get into a 2-5 no limit game 100 min 500 max. the stacks are really deep. One guy at the table has about 2 grand in front of him everyone else has 300-500. I was not too sure what to expect so I buy-in for 120 (stack of each).

This was a level of poker I am not used to. The action was huge. I won a few small hands folded a few draws for my whole stack picked up KQ on the button called for $15 4 ways flop Q 4 6. Check check bet $25 I call fold fold turn K he checks I go all in for $70, the guy stares me down like I raped and murdered his daughter. then says “why would I call that im not going to get anything,” and folds. I know he didn’t have a hand there or he would have called, but I did start to see that I was not going to get any action because I only had about $200 in front of me. But that look he gave me really creeped me out. A few hands later 2 big stacks go at it. Raise raise prefolp 2 ways 100 in the pot (I folded) flop is 2 3 4 small stack goes all in or about 500 and big stack intacall and says wheel draw! And all I can think is holy [censored]! 5 lands on the turn and the big stack shows AA. Now the big stack has about 3 grand in front of him. A new player buys in for 100 and the big stack gives him [censored] about it. And rides him every hand about how lame it is to buy the minimum. And of course a few hands later they get into a pot together. Big stack bets 15 small stack goes all-in for 100ish big stack picks up his $15 bet and chucks it at the guy and goes into an F bomb tirade, racked up his 3 dimes changes tables. This basically busts our table so I decide I need to drop a level and go to the 1-2 game. It was a nice change of pace. Less angry 3rd hand in I pickup 45 suited in the cut-ff and call a $6 raise. I flop the wheel and pick up and action Queen on the turn and double up vs. AQ.

I went on to make my best and worst plays of the trip at that table

Best: Mid position under the gun bets $25. I was watching this guy all night loves to gamble loves to see flops will not call an all in with the worst hand. He had about 125 more behind so I raise to 100 straight knowing we would call to see the flop. He calls I go all in in the dark flop K 3 5. Oops I put him on KK bus he sit there and thinks about it so I know I am good, its just a matter of whether or not he realizes he is getting 9:1 to call and try to suck it out. To my surprise he folds, I feel obligated to show the AA

WORST:

AQ mid position I raise it to $10 and get a blind caller flop A A 8 he checks I bet 20 he makes it 40 I smooth call. Turn 4 he bets 50 I call again. River 6 he bets 100 and I call he shows A8 for the nuts. Yuck

I leave my no limit experience stuck about 150 and go to bed at 7am

Wake up round 10:30 head to star bucks to use up our free coffe. We charge it to the room like we were told and head over to checkout. I’m thinking it should be a wash we played many hours of poker plus $25 free, the desk says we owe $42 for starbucks, I say we have a dining credit of $25 and logged at least 20 hours of poker. She takes our player cards and calls the players club and says we have no action. And says we need to play $25 a hand for a rating. I can see where this is going, I tell her we were told to charge everything to the room and use the points and dining credit at the end to settle up. She says star bucks does not count. Then she says let me take off one of you star bucks, fine whatever I gave them $15 and we checked our bags with the bell desk to pick up for our 10PM flight.

Last day of our trip and decide to wander over to the palms. My wife was meeting a friend there so I jumped into a 4-8 ½ kill nit fest. The room was small and the players were all old and nitty. I go on to drop 3 racks on the most ridiculous beats. Top pair top kicker cracked by every possible draw out there. And you know what really bothers me about getting sucked out on by bad players is the don’t raise the river when they hit their stupid draws. Its almost like a slow roll, not sure why this bothers me that are saving me money. I leave another 100 on the craps table just for good measure and we are out of there.

Next stop stardust for a few chips as souvenirs. 6 days until they close. We sit in a 4-8 game that started in the 60’s when these guys were all still young. These guys were kicking it old school. And I MEAN OLD! This is one of the places where cocktail waitresses and poker dealers go to die. A woman walked over to me with a name tag on and asked me how I was doing, I said good and I was about to ask her to send over a cocktail waitress when I realized she was the cocktail waitress. That would have been embarrassing. Grab a few chips and continue to grab chips at the Rivera and circus circus. No reason to ever go there again , blah.

We walk down the strip looking for an early dinner, our flight leaves in 4 hours. We are just looking for a beer and a burger and accidentally walk into a Spanish restaurant. We decide to stay and have a meal. the waitress explained meals are served on a small plate and you use the really small plates and share everything. My first thought is this is going suck AND cost 100 bux. Surprisingly it was very good, I had seafood salad and beef skewers, wife had an olive tomato pizza and stuffed mushrooms. Everything was very good. I can’t remember the name of the place but it was on the strip next to TI.

Back to the MGM and time to play while we wait for our flight. Wife goes souvenirs shopping and I go back to the 4-8 and pick up with the silly beats. I flop a set and lose to a gutshot, flop 2 pair and lose to runner-runner 5 high diamonds. Then the beat of game came when I had 9T on the button and called flop comes T T A me and the big blind put in 5 bets, and I just know she has AK turn A unreal, I fold she shows the ace. I suppose she could have has AT but she would have showed both cards. Blah. I go immediately on tilt and win 3 in a row cash out up $5 (if I would have cold called 4 bets on a flop of T 5 3 with J9 I would have made it 4 in a row with running straight and scooped an extra $200)

Redeye back to Michigan was uneventful.

I don’t think I will stay at the MGM again, the property is fine but it was not very close to the places I wanted to play at.

[SubGreen]

your best play was all-in, in the dark? you had to have a better hand than that to share.

THanks for the report, i'll make sure not to eat there when i'm in vegas in a couple weeks

[Dominic]

was the spanish place you ate at a tapas restaurant called Babariba and was it in the Fashion Show mall across from the Wynn?

[Photoc]

Excellent report. I have a few comments on some specifics.

[ QUOTE ]
I “thought” I understood that you get $1 per hour to play poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do get $1/hour by swiping in the poker room with the dealer at the table you're on. They'll log you out when you leave or pause your time when you AFT.

[ QUOTE ]
There is some kind of big game going in the back with David Grey, Andy Bloch (I think) Jen Harmon and Ted Forrest. I decide to NOT buy-in.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL Good thing, you aren't getting into this game without 6 figures.

[ QUOTE ]
Wife sits 4-8 I decide I want to play the No limit 1 3 game. The game is very good for a small buy-in NL. I buy 100 but the average stack is about 250

[/ QUOTE ]

You buy in way too short for a no cap game. I'm surprised the average stack is so low. Most buy ins are the 300-600 range on this game.

[ QUOTE ]
I go downstairs and get into a 2-5 no limit game 100 min 500 max. the stacks are really deep. One guy at the table has about 2 grand in front of him everyone else has 300-500. I was not too sure what to expect so I buy-in for 120 (stack of each).

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, 500 max, eveyrone has 300-500 does NOT equal a deep game. One guy having 2k does not make a deep stack game. Again, stop buying in so short. If you're afraid to play that deep, go play 1/2.

[ QUOTE ]
4-8 ½ kill nit fest. The room was small and the players were all old and nitty. I go on to drop 3 racks on the most ridiculous beats. Top pair top kicker cracked by every possible draw out there.

[/ QUOTE ]

TPTK isn't that great of a hand in any limit game unless you're playing short handed.

[ QUOTE ]
And you know what really bothers me about getting sucked out on by bad players is the don’t raise the river when they hit their stupid draws.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know, I'd rather have them 2 bet me and I 3 bet when they're holding the nuts too. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Next stop stardust for a few chips as souvenirs. 6 days until they close. We sit in a 4-8 game that started in the 60’s when these guys were all still young.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought they only spread 3/6. Doesn't matter cuz you are right, those are the same players that have been there when the place first open [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
nd I MEAN OLD! This is one of the places where cocktail waitresses and poker dealers go to die. A woman walked over to me with a name tag on and asked me how I was doing, I said good and I was about to ask her to send over a cocktail waitress when I realized she was the cocktail waitress.

[/ QUOTE ]

I LOL'd hard at this one.

[jdoe]

It really was my best play because I knew the guy would call 100 but fold to an all-in. Nothing interesting really happened at the tables I played at.

[jdoe]

[ QUOTE ]
I go downstairs and get into a 2-5 no limit game 100 min 500 max. the stacks are really deep. One guy at the table has about 2 grand in front of him everyone else has 300-500. I was not too sure what to expect so I buy-in for 120 (stack of each).

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, 500 max, eveyrone has 300-500 does NOT equal a deep game. One guy having 2k does not make a deep stack game. Again, stop buying in so short. If you're afraid to play that deep, go play 1/2.

As I look back on it you are right. I didn't get action when I got good hands because of it. First time in a game that size. I will know better next time.

jdoe

[Photoc]

jdoe Just be careful of leaving yourself too short stacked to get action in games like this. Most of the 1/2 NL games are in the 50-200 range, with a few going higher to 300 and 500 (caesars at 500). It can get tough when you only have 25 big blinds in front of you. You really can't manuever or value bet. It's a raise preflop or call of one, then most likely a good sized bet on the turn will leave you with only 25-50 in your stack. Then again, there are entire strategies written out for the short stack play that are very good as well. I don't really care for NL, hence I don't really play it too much, but when I did, I usually bought the max (whatever it was). Everyoe plays different though. Basically, if you're not comfortable playing that high, take a step down to where it is more comfortable and tear up them fishes [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[pig4bill]

[ QUOTE ]
jdoe Just be careful of leaving yourself too short stacked to get action in games like this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh? You mean they fold if I bet too small? Let me at that game!

I'm always screwing myself with those players cards. I usually remember to clock in, although you would hope the floor would help out and ask if you have a card, but they never seem to. But when I bust out I'm always too pissed to remember to clock out, and I forfeit all that time.

I found the MGM poker room un-fun to play in too, plus it's far away from Bell/Caesars/Aladdin, etc so I don't get down there very often. I'll have to try it again to see if it's any better next trip.

[Photoc]

[ QUOTE ]
Heh? You mean they fold if I bet too small? Let me at that game!

[/ QUOTE ]

Not exactly. Whenever I used to play 2/5 regularly and you see people buy in for the min or just above the min buy in, you pretty much know they are there for a fast double up and leave. They aren't giving any action whatsoever unless they have the nuts or they are set mining. No bluffs to pick off, no strategy to play against them, just fold to "most" of them when they are in there ready to commit their entire stack because that stack isn't much compared to the table average and you can usually tell if they just want that quick double up and cash out.

Course, I hope someone else doubles them up so they leave right away and bring in someone who actually come to play pokah that they saw on the TV the other day!