Trip Report: Las Vegas Budget Ballin' 3/22-3/26

[Man of Means]

interesting premise and good writing - hope things get rolling here in the hilarity and poker depts.

[scotty-win]

Thanks - more poker's on the way, but not sure what I can do for hilarity. D-FENS is funnier than I am, hopefully he'll have something to add, even if it's making fun of me.

[magicratx]

Good set up here for a possibly epic thread

[D-FENS]

Hey Scott, thanks for referring to me as a "limit specialist," although I would have to disagree. I would consider my limit skills as "slightly less retarded than everyone else at the 4-8 table."

Also I should mention that "douchenozzle" is not mine. I stole that from that comedian Christian Finnegan (who sucks, btw, but I did like his use of the word "douchenozzle.")

I am also in the process of writing my own trip report that will probably be completely different than Scott's trip report.

[scotty-win]

OK D. It's all relative I guess. If you're slightly less retarded than the rest of the 4-8ers, than maybe I'm a smidgen less retarded than them but a tad more than you.

[Arbitrage]

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Good set up here for a possibly epic thread

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I'm not sure about that...

I did enjoy part 1, though.

[D-FENS]

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Good set up here for a possibly epic thread

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I'm not sure about that...

I did enjoy part 1, though.

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I wouldn't be so sure about that either. It's not like any of us banged any strippers or snorted coke off a hooker's boob or anything. We had a good time, though.

[scotty-win]

Friday morning I wake up and head for the 4-8 (half-kill) game. As with other times I’ve been to GC, it’s full of gamboooooling Asians. Awesome. I rock it, winning 3 kill pots in a row at one point and leave +$200 after 2 hours.

One win of note: I’m in middle position with pocket red Kings. I raise pre-flop, and am called by the button - a super loose Asian guy who had been hemorrhaging chips since Steve was at the table last night. Flop: Ks 9s 2s. I bet; he raises; I re-raise; he calls and shows his buddy standing behind him his cards. Buddy shrugs. Umm, OK, thanks for that. Let’s not see another spade come. Turn is not a spade, river is not a spade, but he calls my bets at both, then mucks when he sees my set.

Lunchtime at the Port-o-Call buffet means it’s budget-balla time again, and the 5 of us eat for $4.95 each with coups. 6/9 for food/service. None of us sampled the delicacy below:



Jon & Ubaldo arrive Friday afternoon and meet us at Bally’s, where we’re staying for the weekend. We had heard that the north tower was way better, but the place was packed, so we got south tower. Our view is below. No complaints.



Ubaldo, Alex, Matt, & I want to work out, and head for the Bally’s spa, despite the $22 non-budget-balla price. On the way, I put $60 on Butler (+10) to cover against Florida. I’m from Indianapolis originally and know Butler plays that old-school Indiana farmer type of ball that Florida won’t be able to handle.

We get to the spa at 4 and find out it’s $15 after 5:30. The manager rounds up the clock and we’re in for 15. I just stick with dumbbells, but the place is way decent for a hotel gym, and that’s before we wander into the spa side. The attendant hands us robes, towels, & sandals and we do a steam room -> cold tub -> hot tub -> sauna cycle. We wear towels around our waists the whole time (including in water) to avoid seeing each other’s junk, but a few cat brains get exposed when sitting down. We clean up in time to see Butler lose only by 8. Totally refreshed and me +$54 from Butler, we meet up with the rest of the group to walk to our Friday night dinner spot, the budget-ballin’ paradise Ellis Island. That is, after we pass by this pick-up truck in the Bally’s parking garage:



It’s an easy walk to EI from the back of Bally’s. Here’s Steve and Alex leading the pack, then Dave, Ubaldo, Nate, and Matt trailing.




They told us it would be at least an hour wait for a table at the Ellis restaurant, so what better time to make use of some unlimited-drinks-for-2-for-one-hour coupons from the POV? I shared mine with my brother, and Steve shared his with Ubaldo. We gave the other guys a couple of 4-free-cocktails coups and we were good to go. I don’t remember much of that next hour or so except running to bar every 5-10 minutes in between blackjack and craps. We had all these blackjack match-plays but somehow I still dropped 40, and then 20 or 40 at craps, which I’d never played before. Yeah that was smart.

Finally, we sit, and it’s $4.95 steak dinner (always that price at Ellis, no coup needed) time. Steve & I bust out the buy-one-get-one-free coups for some appetizers, and wings & chicken fingers are on the way. If you haven’t had the EI steak dinner, you need to. Food/Service = 8/10.



Here a couple endorsement pics. Steve & I with the POVs:



And one for Ellis:



Being the budget balla that I am, I cover dinner for our group, which was a whopping….



The guys throw on a $20 tip, and we’re outta there. (let me clarify that even though we were budget ballin’, we never skimped on tips)

Back to Bally’s, we meet up with Sam, and decide on courses of action. The poker players of the group want to go to the Venetian, and the other guys come along. Finally some more poker action.

The V is packed but there’s only one 4-8 on a Friday night. Steve, Dave, and I eventually get spots at the table, and my first hand, BB, 63off. 3 limpers, no raise, I check. Flop is J 7 2, gets checked around. Turn 6. I bet, call, call, fold. River 3. I bet, call, call. I show two pair, and an Asian woman next to Steve scolds me for playing it. Okay, if that makes you feel better for not betting your jack on the flop. The guy next to me told me she was crafty, so she’ll be known as Crasian in this story. Here’s a blurry picture of her (to Steve’s left):




Two hands later, I have AdQd on button. Folders, then Crasian raises, fold, fold, I re-raise, Crasian calls. Flop is Ah Ks X. She checks, I bet, she check-raises. I’m thinking if she had AA, KK, or AK, she would have re-raised pre-flop, so I call the check-raise. Turn is a Qh. She bets, I raise, she calls. River’s a 2c. She bets and I just call because she’s got me all confused now. Of course, she shows AK for a better two-pair.

A few hands later, I raise in MP with QQ. Crasian’s in SB and calls, BB calls. Flop’s K J T. She checks, BB checks, I bet, they both call. Turn’s an 8. Check-check-I bet- Crasian calls, BB folds. River’s X. Crasian checks, and I just check, again all confused by her. She shows pocket Kings; I ask why she never raised, and she says she thought I had AQ again. I say, if so, you should’ve folded. She shrugs.

Any commentary on the above two hands is appreciated. I feel like I played them pretty decently?

So with those hands and some stupid limping, I’m down like 120 after 30 minutes, then things get a little better. I hit a set & boat and happen to not be involved in pots against Crasian, and end the session down 75. At one point a group of hot girls walks by our table, and one of them waves and says “hi boys”. The whole table turns their heads. One end of the table is whispering and I can’t hear it, then later Dave tells me it was Nicky Hilton. We had the obligatory Johnny Chan sighting too, who walked by Matt & Alex’s NL table.

On the way out I put a buck in the nickel salmon-n-bear slot by the bathroom, and it starts spinning itself for about 2 minutes, and I cash at $50. I’ll take it.

Back to Bally’s and half-sleep from 4 to 8am.

--end of part 2--

Summary: Morning gambooling w. loose Asians @ Gold Coast 4-8 table = +$200. Move to Bally's. Work-out/spa visit at Bally's. No, we're not gay. Ellis Island $4.95 steaks + unlimited drinks = -$80 at blackjack & craps. But that's not the point, is it? Confusion against Crasian @ Venetian 4-8 table = -$75. Salmon + bears = +$49.

[pig4bill]

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We had the obligatory Johnny Chan sighting too, who walked by Matt & Alex’s NL table.

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And here I've been to Vegas dozens of times and never have seen Johnny Chan there. I saw him in San Jose, but that was at a WPT event, so doesn't really count.

[dozer]

I stand corrected, this TR is solid.