Mini Vegas trip report - pre-Super Bowl Saturday

[pig4bill]

So I've been reading 2+2 and how there are so many bad players in Vegas for the Super Bowl weekend. I've been card dead all month, and hope maybe a road trip might shake the Bad Luck Monkey off my back. There's a round trip fare on Southwest for under $200, but rooms are still on the spendy side. Nobody is going to be playing poker on Sunday anyway, so I get a late afternoon departure Saturday with a 6 am return Sunday, and just figure to ironman it at the tables the whole trip.

There will be plenty of time Saturday morning to lose $325 in a Shooting Stars satellite at Bay 101 before my flight. As it gets closer to the tournament in the spring, these sats get more popular and it's harder to get in unless you wake up at oh-dark-thirty to sign up. It's supposed to start at 7:15, so I will be a sneaky bastard and wake up at 5-freakin-30 a.m. to make sure I get in. I arrive at 6:30 and get a weird feeling because there is no line at signup. All 140 seats have been sold plus 4 alternates, and they started the thing already! I have little hope of getting in anytime soon because it's a rebuy, but I sign up anyway. Surprisingly, I'm in 10 minutes later. I get no hands to play, as my streak continues. Every time I get something remotely playable, like KJo, it's raised in front of me, and I fold. Finally, a few minutes after the break, in level 4 with the blinds at 100-200, I find AA. I almost hate to get AA since I seem to lose a lot with them. It might be selective memory, so I began keeping track of my record with AA, and I am 0-1 since I started keeping track. Anyway, it's been raised to $1000 in front of me, indicating a hand that doesn't want to be called. I'm not going to dick around with these stinkin' aces, so I push with about $3800, content to get the $1300 in the pot. Of course, he calls, with pocket 8's. Geez. Flop comes all blanks. Oops, 2 of them are hearts, and one of those 8's is a heart. You guessed it, turn is a heart, river a heart. I don't even want to know what the probability is of turning a 1 pocket card heart into a flush. 0-2 since I've been keeping track. Great start for my road trip.

Next up: Wild and crazy Super Bowl fans in Vegas

[Aces_up_North]

he had a 5% chance to hit his runner runner after the flop, then 21% after the turn heart. Thats not counting the chance to hit his other two 8s to win the pot, but that wasn't figured in in the Pokulator

Sad story so far, hope it got better

[pig4bill]

The plane arrives in Vegas at about 5 p.m. without crashing, so my luck is improving already. I'm on the cheap this trip, so I take the $5 shuttle to Luxor. I want to try the $50 NL game that I've heard about here. I see no drunken Super Bowl tourists or crazy guys that push with 10-8o. It's playing about the same as any other 1-2 NL game. There are hands being pushed, but they would probably be pushed in any other game. I won a few hands in 1 1/2 hours for $36 and finally have a winning session in 2007!

I took the walkway over to the Excalibur. I've had good luck there in the past before they re-built the poker room. The 1-3 NL used to have a lot of wild and crazy play. The feel of the games now are completely different. This table is full of rocky nits. Seldom more than 3 to a flop. Hardly anyone here has even heard of the Super Bowl, much less are drunken tourists in town for it. Nevertheless, they aren't very good players, and in an hour I'm +$57.

Next: The legendary MGM Grand, widely heralded on 2+2 for loose play.

[52s]

This weekend sucked huge monkey [censored] all around. Nits all over the place. Horrible tippers galore. Just royal suck. I wouldn't be shocked if the MGM 1/2 played like ass as well.

I'm not in the mood to write out my rant on how 1/2 NL is the most worthless piece of [censored] game ever, but is the most neccessary evil in all of poker, but good lord did this weekend blow.

And to the [censored] who was trying to tell me that it's not the dealer's job to call a string bet, but the player's, [censored] you and go back to Foxwoods, you wanting-to-angle-shoot no-nothing assface.

[rageotones]

[ QUOTE ]
This weekend sucked huge monkey [censored] all around. Nits all over the place. Horrible tippers galore. Just royal suck. I wouldn't be shocked if the MGM 1/2 played like ass as well.

I'm not in the mood to write out my rant on how 1/2 NL is the most worthless piece of [censored] game ever, but is the most neccessary evil in all of poker, but good lord did this weekend blow.

And to the [censored] who was trying to tell me that it's not the dealer's job to call a string bet, but the player's, [censored] you and go back to Foxwoods, you wanting-to-angle-shoot no-nothing assface.


[/ QUOTE ]

please tell us how you really feel

[midwestkc]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This weekend sucked huge monkey [censored] all around. Nits all over the place. Horrible tippers galore. Just royal suck. I wouldn't be shocked if the MGM 1/2 played like ass as well.

I'm not in the mood to write out my rant on how 1/2 NL is the most worthless piece of [censored] game ever, but is the most neccessary evil in all of poker, but good lord did this weekend blow.

And to the [censored] who was trying to tell me that it's not the dealer's job to call a string bet, but the player's, [censored] you and go back to Foxwoods, you wanting-to-angle-shoot no-nothing assface.


[/ QUOTE ]

please tell us how you really feel

[/ QUOTE ]

Read between the lines...This was the best weekend ever, with great tippers, friendly, knowledgable players that also happened to be POWs.

[52s]

[ QUOTE ]
please tell us how you really feel

[/ QUOTE ]

Pleasureable and happy go lucky.

But this weekend blew major dick. I can only sit in the box and watch so much "4 limpers before the flop, there's the meager 8 bucks in the pot, here's the flop... oh, there's the $10 bet, oh there's the Hollywood thinking about the call when I know 115% he's folding, yup here's everyone folding... here's your 8 bucks sir, good hand." play before I want to gouge my friggin' eyes out.

This is why dealer's become action monkeys, BTW. We can't stand watching this crap.

[pig4bill]

I had a big-ass post typed out, but screwed up somehow and deleted it. At any rate, the Cliff notes were posted above by 52s. Here's a longer version, but not as long as the first one I typed:

Arriving at MGM, the list for 1-2 NL was about 12 deep and 6 deep for 3-6 limit. I put my name on both. Twenty minutes later I get called for 3-6. Three huge stacks are sitting (about 4 racks apiece) so I don't know if that means there were Super Bowlers that got cleaned out or what. Although most of these people heard of the Super Bowl, none were drunk except for one guy. Tight table, usually 3 or 4 to a flop. Drunk guy was my only hope, but he went on one of the biggest card rushes I've ever seen. From three stacks to three racks in half an hour. I did start to get better cards, including AA again (0-3 now), but the Card Fairy only did half her job. I flopped a dozen big draws (flush and oesd) but didn't hit a single one. I left after an hour and a half, -$100.

Time to head to mid-strip. There must have been some sort of event at MGM because the cab line had 70 or 80 people in it. I decide to be adventurous and try the monorail for the first time. Luckily, the station is right by the front door. Five bucks later and I'm whisked to Bally's. The other main reason (besides poker) I made the trip was to put down a bet on the Super Bowl. Bally's sports book just closed. Figures. I stop by the poker room and am number 9 on the 1-2 NL list. Browsing the tables, I'm reminded of the new jackpot drop. Screw this, wonder if the Bellagio sports book is open.

It is, and everyone has the same spread all over town. I make my bet and find the poker list, which isn't always easy at Bellagio. 2-5 NL is the lowest NL they have. That's higher than I normally play, but my bankroll isn't too decimated and I don't plan any other stops before my 6 a.m. flight, so I sign up number 14. I wander over to the "snack bar" and pay $6.35 for a cup of potato salad and a small soda. As I'm chewing on my potato salad they call my name. I wave and try to yell at the guy. He's only 6 feet away but he ignores me and walks away. I give chase and finally run him down before he gives my seat away. The vaunted Bellagio customer service - it never disappoints.

Once again, everyone seems far too sober at this table. I ask about how the games have been at other rooms, and it seems to be tight and nitty all over. Friday night it was wild and loose. Doh! I picked the wrong night. There's a guy with a big pile of chips right across from me, and two minutes after I sit down, he stacks the guy next to me for about $600. Apparently they have been butting heads all night. It runs out Big Pile is not much of a player, just very lucky. I only play 1 hand against him, calling him down with 2 pair against his K high, no pair. He racks up soon after. Damn, he's probably the only guy I have a chance against. There is a bully that raises at almost every chance. Unfortunately Bully Guy is also very lucky. For example, he raises me after the flop with no pair and no draw and calls my AKs all-in with 85. Hits a river 8 and I'm rebuying. I got only one other decent hand, pocket 7's and flopped a set. Two diamonds on the board though, so I insta-pushed and was content to win the 80 bucks. I was clearly outclassed by most at the table and feel fortunate to lose only $164 in 4 hours. One guy got stacked for 3 $500 buy-ins and Bully Guy's luck ran out as his $1200 stack went to the felt.

Made the 6 a.m. flight, no crashes, got home, sacked out, and missed the first half of the Super Bowl. I was a tired puppy.

Epilogue: Need you even ask who I bet on for the game?

[rageotones]

yeah. it's hard to pass up the bears getting 7...i'm sure quite a few people lost money on that one.

[pig4bill]

I forgot a minor detail about my session at the Bellagio. If a player is all-in and the hand is heads-up, both players have to turn their cards up. I've never seen this in a cash game, and apparently Bell only does this in 2/5.