Mini trip report - NBA All Star weekend (part of it anyway)

[pig4bill]

I'd like to post yet another mini-trip report about how I went to Vegas on NBA All-Star weekend and gambled with barely post-pubescent multi-millionaires. I'd like to, but that's not what happened. I decided I would fly out Friday after work and return Saturday evening. There are a lot of All-Star activities on Saturday, so I figured Friday would be the best night for restless NBA'ers to gambool. Besides, room rates for Saturday were more than outrageous. Upon arriving at the airport, and checking in to Bally's, I was walking through baggage claim and saw a couple hot chick limo drivers holding up signs for Carmello Anthony and LeBron James. That is as close to an NBA player as I got all trip. The first bad choice I made was long before I hit the tables. Trying to save 8 bucks, I decided to do the $5 shuttle thing instead of taking a taxi. It's a false economy because it took an hour and a half before I was in my room. Time is precious in Vegas considering what I spent on airfare and room. I am a moron.

First stop: Bally's

Even though I hate the idea of a jackpot drop, I decide to try Bally's first, because 2+2'ers keep going on about how great is is, but mostly because I'm already there. Friday night, 10 p.m., things should be hopping, right? The 1/2 NL is wheezing. Three tables with five or six players each. When I'm seated, I am the sixth player at my table. There's one guy with about $500 in front of him, and he's the only one that seems to have seen the word "aggression" before. I flop a boat, and play it about as slowly as I can and win a $14 pot. We're making $5 turn and river bets trying to get a call. BTW, unless the NBA is now made up of 5'6" Asian guys and 5'9" 140 pound white dudes, thare's nary an NBA player in sight. As has been mentioned elsewhere, there are a helluva lot of black people in town. 20% are apparently Jerry Springer/Oprah addicts and think it's mandatory for women to yell at the top of their lungs all the time, and 20% are thug gangsta wannabes (or maybe real be's). This is apparently the NBA fan demographic these days.

Anyway, I can't stand this pace of play and have dribbled off almost half my $100 buy-in on unimproved AK and small pairs, and am anxious to get the hell out of there. Finally enough people join the table to fill it up and add a little action. When I am the most aggressive player at the table, that is one weak table. Since I've sat, I'm the only one that has gone all-in. My best hand: I check in the BB with 45s, and the flop comes A45, two clubs. I bet $15, one of the new guys comes over the top for $30 and I push for about $68 total. He goes into the tank for a few minutes and folds. In retrospect I probably should have stayed if they're going to play like that. I did get to witness a jackpot hand in action. A guy made quad 10's and won a jackpot of $116. What a joke - the pot they were playing had over $200 in it. Everything stops for the HHJ Chinese fire drill to start. The dealer counts all the cards, and play is stopped until they can pay him. They won't even push him the pot. The dealer and floor involved agree this is idiotic. It's taking forever for the floor to pay this guy. After five minutes of sitting with our thumbs up our butts, I bail out of there with a $7 net profit after 1 hour of play.

Next up: Bellagio and beyond

[pig4bill]

I trudge over to Bellagio and go through the ridiculous rigamarole of getting on the 2/5 NL list. Although I'm third on the list, I know from past experience it will be at least a half hour wait. They note there are 11 names on the list, and say they could open another 2/5 table, but already have 7 games going. Can't fault that logic, wouldn't want to have 8 tables going. In the meantime, I walk around, hit the head, look around the bars to see if any of the rumored hookers are working (none), and look around the room for tall multi-millionaires. I see only a couple tall guys, but it's obvious they don't run up and down a court for a living. What the hell, if there are no NBA'ers at Bell, it's going to be hard to find them anywhere.

A seat finally opens and I figure I'll try it as long as I'm here. It's a slow, rocky game. There is one guy that's a bit aggro, but not even as tough as many of our local 6/12 guys. I don't see anybody drunk, or even drinking. There is one guy that seems to be donating a bit. He must have run good earlier because he's got about $600 in front. Geez, if this is how poker is going to be, I'd rather go to the strip club and see if I can "back" Brandi in a satellite (cheaper than bar hookers). So I order up the Heinekens and play to try and break even so the beers are free. After the first Heinie, cocktail service goes belly up. The waitresses all seemed to have joined the Witness Protection Program. In the meantime, I find pocket aces. Crap. I'm 0 for 3 with AA since I began tracking my luck with them. I raise to $15, donator comes over the top for $45, and I push for $160 (yeah, I know I'm not supposed to buy in short). I'm about 3 words into my Jamie Gold don't-call-I-have-a-good-hand rap because I'll be happy with just his $45, when he calls with JJ. Wonder of wonders, the aces hold up (1 for 4 now) and donator is felted an orbit later. A coupe other guys bail, and the table breaks. It's 1 a.m. on a Friday night. Cripes. I head for the strip club, still too sober but with $132 profit in 1.5 hours.

Weirdness, but not in a good way.

Upon stepping out of the front door, I see a cab line with 100 people in it. No lie. Beer in hand, I decide I'll walk to the Wynn en route to the strip club. There's a guy with a medical emergency in the cab line. Having visited the ER myself last week, I empathize. Then as I walk over the walkway to Bally's, I see the issue. Southbound strip traffic is stopped completely by police in front of the Mirage. Northbound traffic is not doing so great either since left turns are impossible. No wonder the cab line is so bad - no cabs are moving. I finally realize it's stupid to try to walk down to the Wynn. I'm tired and the walk would only sober me up. Trying to think of what else I could do that is stupid, I walk by the Bally's table I left earlier. Most of the same guys are still there. Then, unfortunately, I remember that Paris has ongoing tournaments. The next one starts at 1:30, in 20 minutes. No names on the list yet. A couple newbie guys in front of me get talked into signing up by the brush.

They filled up 1 table, so we will essentially have a sit and go. Top three places paid, lol. Someone at the table said the ruckus on the strip was caused by a woman jumping out of her car and shooting another woman. No word on her condition at the time. Weird. So these two birds that got talked into playing, have been taught how to play by Norm Chad. So obviously, they get hit by the deck pretty good, and can't bust out no matter how hard they try. Like one of them being down to his last 400T and picking up AA, getting 2 callers, and have them hold up. We bust a few guys out, and I figure my chances are good because I'm not even counting the newbies. My stack is in decent shape when this hand comes up. I flop 2 pair but there are 2 clubs out. I bet a decent amount and the turn is a spade. The pot is getting to be good sized, so I push, which is a little more than the pot, giving Mr. Club Draw less than 2 to 1 with 1 card to come. The guy at the end of the table is deciding whether to call when I see Mr. Club Draw cutting out the chips for a call. I had given him more credit than that as a player, but maybe he's not so good after all. Guy at the far end sees it too and folds. Club Draw calls and of course, the river is a club that doesn't fill me up. The friggin' newbies lasted longer than I did.

At least I had a few beers during the tourney, but strip clubbing is out of the question. I'm hungry enough to eat... never mind. When I know I'm going drinking, I don't eat at all that day, otherwise I get too full of beer. I hadn't eaten anything since dinner Thursday. Ordering enough room service for three is standard when I get like this. I call and get a recording that says room service closes at midnight. WTF? This is Vegas, not Topeka. I trudge to the 24 hour coffee shop and find out it's going to be an hour wait because they only have 3 people working late night. Now I'm really pissed off and go to the front desk to talk to a manager. I'll be calm and sober in the morning, so I want to bitch his ass out tonight! He agreed it's a stupid change but had no say in it. He suggests the coffee shop over at Paris. After dragging my butt over there, I find out it's a 90 minute wait. Hell with that, gift shop for Doritos and beef jerky. More reasons to think Harrah's sucks, and after being a fairly steady customer since the 80's, I won't go back there except as a last resort.

Next up: Venetian on Saturday.

[GTL]

you sound like one grumpy mother [censored].

[blutarski]

Did you have a worse time than the chick who got shot in the street?

[grando]

the harrah's coffee shop makes an awesome quesadilla

[pig4bill]

According to the paper the next day, the woman didn't shoot anyone. She fired two rounds. One into the trunk of her own Jag (nobody in it) and who knows where the other round went.

My plan was to get up early and try to satellite into the Venetian noon tournament. I want to try a deep-stack event but I suck at tournaments and don't want to just throw away $540 with almost no chance at cashing. I've had moderate success at SNG's though because you only need to get lucky for a few key hands and hope to hold on for a chop. I get a late start because of last night's chase for food, and get to the Venetian around 9:45. I need to check out today, but for some reason I thought I could go to the Venetian, win a seat, and be back in time to check out, and head back for the noon tournament. What was I thinking? I am a moron.

I sign up #8 on the list and #2 on the 1/2 NL list. Neither list moves for 10 minutes. I still haven't eaten anything besides half a bag of Doritos and a few pieces of beef jerky since Thursday night. The poker room menu sucks, and is expensive. I mention how that contrasts with the Cali food service and the floor guy says put 40 other poker rooms next door and see what they offer. They just don't get it. Casino management sees any player benefits as reward for the undeserving. They need to see perks as incentive for players to give their casino their business. Anyway, I figure I can zip over to the food court just a hundred feet away and grab something quick. Seven minutes later I return to see my name off the 1/2 list and the SNG under way. Arggh. I sign up for both again.

I'm not expecting to win any money in the 1/2, just keep myself from going stir-crazy waiting for the satellite. Unfortunately I pick up a lot of AK, AJ type of hands that miss the flop completely, and I have to give up in the face of strong betting. Then I pick up KK and a guy in front of me raises and gets called. I push and both call. The kings hold up and I'm freerolling into the satellite. WooHoo! A couple hands later the SNG is called and I get to hit and run with a great excuse. I cash out for $161 profit in 20 minutes of play. The sat is $130 so I'm +31 even after that.

The sat starts at around 10:30. Top two finishers get a seat in the $540 at noon. A guy I suspect is LasVegasMichael is sitting in seat 2, and a talkative older guy to his left. It's not mean-spirited or obnoxious talk, he's just talking a lot about poker theory. I don't know if he's a good player or not, but he's catching a lot of nice cards. Somewhere along the line I catch AA and it holds up (now 2 for 5). A few guys bust out and Hispanic Guy in seat 6 is getting close to the felt. Talky Guy has been catching hand after hand and is dominant chip leader. Hispanic Guy and Talky Guy get involved in an all-in and I'm hoping for another bust to make it three left to go. Instead, Hispanic Guy doubles up and this seems to be the turning point for him. I'm getting close to the felt and have to push with QJ of diamonds. Talky and Hispanic both call, and the flop comes three diamonds. It's ironic because Talky has just been lecturing on the foolhardiness of assigning extra value to suited cards. I hope that no more diamonds arrive, both guys check it down, and I triple up. I think Suspected LasVegasMichael busts out around here and we are down to bubbling. Talky keeps grousing that Hispanic and I aren't getting into a confrontation so he can bust me, and I say the same to Talky. By now, Hispanic Guy has played some good hands and taken the chip lead. Meanwhile, the big noon tourney has started. Thank goodness for deep stacks. They could blind us off for two hours and it wouldn't hurt. Then a pivotal hand takes place. Talky raises on the button, and I find A7d in the BB. Suited ace seems like a monster to me 3 handed, so I push and am called by Talky, who ironically had just been re-lecturing us on suited cards. I can't remember what he has but I end up flushing, and he's down to T400 with the blinds at 400/800. He doubles up the next hand with a pocket pair. And again the next hand with AK. Did I mention he's catching some nice cards? A couple more double-ups and he's right back in the mix. Arggh. Finally, Hispanic Guy takes him out and I am in the big noon tournament at the Venetian!

BTW, I see lots of displays for Chinese New Year - the year of the Pig. Cool, I can use a good year.

Dealing with the results of my stupidity.

I'm loving this deep stack stuff! I'm making calls that I probably should always make, but have been afraid to in the past. I take a couple chances that I'm not really priced into making, and they pay off with straights and flushes. I'd rather pick up all these great cards late instead of early, but I don't mind too much. I still have to check out from Bally's and I decide to take my shot 20 minutes before the break. Traffic is Ridiculous, I decide to walk back from Bally's, threading through dozens of gangsta-looking folk with my bag and two or three grand in my pockets. Yikes. Total round-trip time is 65 minutes. Even with missing blinds and antes, my stack still has over T11,000. Did I mention how I love this deep stack stuff?

They break our table and the new one is a whole different kettle of fish (although only 1 fish at this table). No pot goes unraised. Cutoff or button always bumps it if nobody else does first. The first table had it's share of limped pots. I get a number of hands that keep missing the flop, and I'm getting short. Average stack is T17,000 and I'm down to T8500. Blinds are 300/600 50 ante, so I can't even try a steal without doing serious damage to my stack. Not that it matters because it's getting raised every time I'm in steal position. Pushbot mode. Finally, with 7 minutes before the level change, I get two red 7's in the BB. UTG raises to 1900 and I push and he instacalls with AA. I have four hearts on the turn and nearly suck out on him, but bust out around 50th out of 109 entries. This was a fun tournament, with much better players than I usually play in tourneys, and it didn't hurt that it was a freeroll for me.

Getting home was a nightmare. Quicky version is two hours before flight time is not enough to get to the airport with the huge crowd in town even with the Mad Ukranian cab driver. Settle for Oakland and take a $75 shuttle to the San Jose airport where my car is parked.

The trip was a disappointment on one level because I was hoping to play some NBA donators, but I'm not an NBA fanboy by any means, so not seeing any pro athletes was no big deal at all. Also, I could not have asked for better results anyway, as I got very, very lucky to win what I did in the time played. The only difference would have been that I would have been playing higher stakes.

[VegasTommy]

The " talky" guy you referred to at the "SNG" for the noon tourny at the Venetian on Saturday was not LASVEGASMICHAEL. That guy was named Mike and always has a whole lot to say, but was not the LASVEGASMICHAEL that posts on here. Las Vegas Michael is a lot much nicer and quieter.

Tommy

[pig4bill]

No, I said I thought the talky fellow was sitting to the left of the guy I suspected was LasVegasMichael. Yes, there were three Michaels at the table I think. Where were you sitting?

[VegasTommy]

I wasnt playing in your SNG. I was in the room and saw your table go. Las Vegas Michael was not in the room that day while I was there. I saw a Mike at your table in the 2 seat, and he is very talkative.

[sternroolz]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd rather go to the strip club and see if I can "back" Brandi in a satellite

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually Brandi was at Bellagio friday night. I see her every damm time I'm in Vegas. Each time she is with a different nerdy/goofy looking guy. I feel sorry for them but then realize if they are this dumb, they deserve whatever she gives them.

[ QUOTE ]
(cheaper than bar hookers).

[/ QUOTE ]

In the end, I doubt it.