Las Vegas, Day Four

March 9

I knew this was going to be one long, eventful, fun-filled day.

I was so right.

First of all, I was extremely enthusiastic and excited about my ticket to the 7:30 PM showing of "O" at the Bellagio. Quite a few years ago now I had seen one of Cirque du Soleil's traveling shows in Vancouver, which I had quite enjoyed, and I could only imagine that this one would blow it away.

Secondly, today was going to be Venetian day! Mike and I were both determined to actually play in the nicest poker room we'd seen on the Strip. And if we were lucky, we'd try our luck at an Omaha game to boot.

Before all of that, though, it was more than time to eat a huge breakfast buffet with everyone, which we all proceeded to do at the Planet Hollywood. Overall I made some wise choices and I quite enjoyed a variety of items on their menu. I mostly stuck to breakfast dishes even though we didn't get seated until about 12:45PM.

Once the meal was over, Mike and I took the much-needed walk out in the sunlight to work off some of the meal and fully wake up on the trek to the Venetian.

Upon our arrival we both found seats at a NL 1/2 table, as they didn't yet have an Omaha game going. Bad beat!

Milly doubled up on like the third hand of the session when his QQ held up vs. an overplayed top pair. I started salivating because yes, this was a donkey-filled table.

Then about 25 minutes into the session I looked down at AA in MP and raised it up to $10. I winced as four players called the raise. The flop was an innocuous 457 rainbow and the SB led out for $12 and the one good player I'd observed smooth called in the 4s. I raised it up to $47 total and the SB called and the 4s jacked it up with a 3-bet to $147. I tanked for about 45 seconds and correctly deduced that I'd been outflopped (he flashed top set).

The very next hand I had AKs UTG and raised to $12. The BB called and flopped a straight with 98o and I paid him off on two streets with my 4-flush and inside Broadway straight draw.

All of a sudden I was relatively short-stacked with less than $100 in front of me.

The next hand I played was AJs from MP. I made the standard open-raise to $10 and a semi-competent gambooooler called from the BB as three players saw the flop of JTx. He led out for $12, I jammed to $65, he said "I am making a bad call here" and called with KQ and spiked an A on the river for a straight. Rebuy!

(At this point I was still cheerful, still really enjoying the venue, taking the free drinks, people-watching, and so forth. The Venetian really is a remarkable place.)

I was then able to make my hammer play of the trip to general acclaim!

I made a preflop raise with the suited hammer in diamonds. An older fellow had just shifted seats to my immediate right (s5) and I was ready to play a nice pot with him in position. Sure enough we saw a 975 flop with two clubs. I bet the flop and he check-raised me, feeding me some fishy line about saying he knew he had the best hand unless I was holding JJ or better. This got my radar going that he was bluffing, so I called. We checked the turn, which was an offsuit Q. Then when the river came the Qc to complete a club flush he fired out a $50 bet. I tanked for a couple of minutes and went with my read and he flipped over a red AK and my 3rd pair was good.

Mike gave me the thumbs up for the hammer play and a few of the players at the table exclaimed at my call and tapped the table.

Unfortunately, as my chipstack grew up to $250 (still $150 down for the session) and the afternoon wore on as I contemplated my imminent departure for the Bellagio, I had the worst possible event happen to me:

I flopped the nut straight in a limped pot. Holding KT in late position, I saw a beautiful QJ9 rainbow board on the flop. The SB (same guy who led out when I had AA earlier) led out with a bet for $8 into the $12 pot. I smooth called with a plan to put in a huge raise on the turn and hopefully get more dead money from other players in on this incredible flop. Sure enough, someone else stuck around as the turn was a non-threatening 4s.

SB led out again for $15 and I jacked it up to $85. SB tanked for a while and called. The river was a 2s. SB led out for $70, I pushed my last $150 in, he called ... with QTs for the backdoor flush.

I stood up, politely congratulated him on his hand, nodded to Mike, and began an early walk over to the Bellagio as I grimaced to myself over my misfortune.


My grumpiness quickly vanished, though, as I walked up to wander around the Bellagio poker room just after 6 o'clock with an hour to kill before Karl & Jane and three more of our party were to meet up and collect our tickets to the show.

I was able to discreetly geek out at the Big Game which was just getting started (I was abel to see Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra and his wife, and David Benyamine at the table eating dinner prior to playing). I was also able to watch a juicy NL 10/20 game in the alternative high stakes room off in the other corner. I suddenly wished I had a stake to play in that game from some of the action I saw there -- some of those players were remarkably transparent!


And then ... time passed, my friends arrived, and we excitedly proceeded into the theater for the show. It was everything I'd hoped for and more. I was enthralled from beginning to end with the spectacle and clapped my hands off.

Giddy with adrenalin, we all cabbed over to our new favourite bar at the Wynn after the show for drinks and buzzed to each other about our favourit parts of the show (mine was the incredible display by a female acrobat who balanced on her head on a miniscule stand mounted on a thin trapeze wire as she went up and down and sideways over a hundred feet over the water).

I finally got back to my room at 1AM where I quickly freshened up and headed back over to the trusty PH poker room to play with the rest of the gang in a transplanted home game. I ended up a paltry $14 but had a blast, powering through a few beers and laughing at some of the silly hands that were played.

I dragged myself to bed at about 5AM.


March 10

This was, simply put, check out and shopping day. I dragged myself out of bed and collected all my belongings by 10:30 AM. Mike and I walked over to Ghirardelli's and purchased some souvenir chocolate at his recommendation (my sister later endorsed his good taste). We got over to the Caesar's forum and I decided breakfast would be decadent double-scoop of gelato; I chose wisely there as well (creme de menthe and bananas foster). I was then determined to get my parents some Cirque souvenirs for their new Beatles-themed show "Love" which was playing over at the Mirage, and since I'd seen some "Love" programs and CD-DVD packages for sale back at the Bellagio gift shop when I'd been browsing there the previous night, it was off to the Bellagio again for me where I scooped up those items.

At that point, it was time for a taxi to the airport and a tired flight home. I failed in my mission to freeroll all my trip expenses with poker profits -- ending up roughly even for the trip, but quite pleased at my overall performance despite the lackluster results -- but thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to Las Vegas.

I can't wait to go back.

Las Vegas, Day Three

March 8


Saturday morning began reasonably early, as I raged solo for breakfast (a tasty apricot pastry and a cup of coffee had me rarin' to go) as I decided to take another walk to a portion of the Strip I'd yet to see before hooking up mid-afternoon with Don and Chad at the MGM.

This meant I took my time wandering about, taking the tram over to the Mandelay Bay, admiring its luxurious decor; zipping around the bustling New York, New York; and jetting through the Luxor & tacky Excalibur with alacrity before arriving at the MGM for a real lunch at the Stage Deli (a filling Reuben + soda) and a relaxed hour trading text messages with Don as I sat at the sports book.

Funny aside: Chad was the first to arrive and I spotted him at a 1/2 table with a big stack in front of him. I correctly deduced that there weren't two 250+ lb poker-playing Detroit Tigers jersey-wearing guys in the casino. So when Don got there a little after 3 o'clock (I had just gotten a seat at a 1/2 table elsewhere in the room) and introduced himself, I was proven correct in the Chad guessing game.

Don and I hit off instantly; he is a nice, gregarious guy who made me feel comfortable right away. I wish I could have torn myself away from the juicy 1/2 table I was at to sit down with him at the 2/5 game he was at. Instead, I fruitlessly attempted to get a table change over to Chad's game with no luck. So ultimately we all ended up going back over to the Stage Deli for an hour and talking sports during an impromptu dinner break. Don bailed soon afterwards as he couldn't get anything going at his 2/5 table.

I booked a nice winning session when I got up to leave at 9:30PM to go meet up with Mike, Karl, Jane, Johnny and Scott for late-night ice cream over at the Venetian. (My Belgian chocolate milkshake was divine.) On our way there, we sneered at the morass of people lined up at the Tao. Desperate to find a better spot for some drinks, we headed over to a ridiculously nice outdoor bar at the Wynn, which featured hourly light and music shows. I splurged on a superb dram of Caol Ila; Karl treated himself to a nice cigar.

Full of vim and vigor, Johnny & Scott and I accepted Eitan's invitation to go cruising around Vegas in his Mustang convertible. It was a blast; much more fun without the luggage in one's lap . . . we ended up of all places at a Sonic Burger for a snack at 3:30 AM, complete with roller-blading staff and an invasion of drunks from a nearby casino who harassed the manager.

I crawled into bed by 5 o'clock hoping to catch a few hours sleep before a big buffet breakfast that was planned for noon Sunday at the Planet Hollywood.


NB. A few poker highlights from the MGM: they had the nicest and most personable dealers that I encountered, by far.

My 1/2 table was very juicy. I was sitting in the 9 seat and quickly identified a target in seat 6 after he had taken down two decent-sized pots from me with 3-out suckouts. I came roaring back by somehow winning with AKs unimproved (I had jacked it up to $15 preflop in a straddled pot) against 3 other players when the seat 6 fish bluffed on the river betting $10 into a $65 pot and showed down J4o(!). I took down another nice pot off him with 87s in late position when I flopped a 4-flush in a four-way pot and was able to flat-call closing the action on the flop. I hit my flush on the turn and again just called when the PF raiser lead out and the seat 6 donkey called. Then on the river when a blank came he called my $50 value bet with one pair.

At this point I was clearly tilting this guy -- he had also had a premium pair cracked by a fellow donkey and was not playing his "A" game. I felted him by raising pocket threes to $9 on the button and got a beatiful A73 flop. He check-raised me allin and I beat him into the pot and he showed A5. He didn't get his miracle and he stood up.

By this point I'd built my stack up to nearly $500, but I gave most of it back when I flopped top two pair (AQ) and ran into a set of kings.

After the dinner break I probably played my favourite hand of the entire trip.

I picked up KK on the button and raised it up to $9 after a limper [Raise #1]. The small blind woke up and min-raised to $18 [Raise #2]. The limper flat-called and I jacked it up to $60 [Raise #3]. The SB flat-calls my raise and then the limper shoves for another $126 on top of that [Raise #4]. I go all-in over the top and the SB folds (AQ) and the limper shockingly shows KJo(!) [Raise #5]. He fails to get a miracle flop and I rake in a huge pot. I guess this victim didn't realize that the third raise = KK or AA? The fifth raise sure does!

I cashed out up $150 after I get JJ cracked and lose a couple of pots with AK unimproved. I easily could have walked out of the MGM with 1K or more in my pocket if I had been able to dodge a couple of bullets or seen one or more flops in the right spots. I can see why Chad and Don frequent this particular card room on a regular basis, that's for sure. It's a target-rich environment.

Overall it was a very fun day and I hope to get in more face-time with the poker blogging crowd in the summer.

Las Vegas, Day Two

March 7th [edited]

By 11AM I'm up and downstairs having crepes and hot chocolate for breakfast. It's not the real France but I do my best to pretend.

Then I head back to the Planet Hollywood poker room to see if I can get some momentum going. I found out soon enough it would be of the negative type, sadly.

I sat down with Karl and Jane and a host of strangers and began the session on the wrong foot as in the very first orbit I find JJ in middle position. Karl had open-raised UTG to $7 so I decided to play it fast and re-raised to $25. He called and I saw a horrible AKQ flop. I make a standard flop bet of $25 as a semibluff since I no longer figured to have the best hand, took a free card on the turn after Karl checked, and folded to his river value bet when I didn't spike my inside straight or trips.

I flop the stone cold nuts after raising with AKs (to $8 from EP) and get four callers on an AKK flop. It's checked around on the flop and I bet out half-pot when a ten hits on the turn, hoping someone will go to war with a Broadway straight or tens full; I get one caller who meekly folds to my full-sized pot bet on the river when a blank falls.

I fold 66 to a limp re-raiser when I see a KT3 flop and he led out for one-third of the pot. The donkey flashes AQ and I curse myself for not trusting my read and re-raising in position on the flop to put him to the test since he made such a weak c-bet.

I lose a big pot with Ks9h when I open on the button. The flop was QsQhTh and I bet out and get called by the small blind headsup. The turn is the Jh which gives me the nut straight and a straightflush redraw so I re-raise when my opponent leads out. She tanks for a while and calls. The river blanks and I fire a pot-sized bet again and she tanks again and ultimately calls with a baby flush (4h5h) to win a big pot. Sad, considering any heart on the river would have shipped me the pot, plus she nearly folded in fear of a full house.

I flop tens full of queens and win a modest pot from Jane (she correctly folded JJ when I re-raised her flop c-bet).

I drop a $100 pot to an extremely annoying dealer playing on her off-day when she defended her BB with Q7s and flopped trips vs. my ovepair on a 776 flop.

I reluctantly rebuy for another $100. Almost immediately I get kicked in the junk, when I get 3-outed for a $100+ pot when my flopped two pair (Q2 on a QT2TK board) loses to the mighty AJ. This table is full of calling stations who can't fold but they get there just the same.
Supposedly this guy had his inaugural casino session of poker yesterday. Plus he was from Toronto, so I'm allowed to hate him.

I end up down $300 and frustrated when I CRAI a TT3 flop with 77 and a drunk guy holding AJ felt like calling my shove. He hits a jack immediately on the turn.

******

Fortunately, the evening was much more enjoyable than beating my head against the wall at poker. All fourteen of us gathered at the outdoor patio seating of the Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at the Paris, directly opposite the stunning Bellagio fountain display. Much good food and drink and good conversation was had by all; I started with a fantastic mussel soup w/saffron, had a superbly cooked rare steak (w/dijon mustard) and washed it all down with some Stella and a sip of Matt's 100 year-old Grand Marnier.

Then it was back for a midnight session (again at the PH with everyone) and I was able to reverse my fortunes from the afternoon. I sat at a table with Mike (and later on we were joined by Johnny) and I had my "A" game. We had some prime targets at our table, with a stumbling drunk LAG and "Mr. 17" who would open-raise to $17 (at a 1/2 NL table!) at every opportunity and straddled every chance he got (which hit my blinds, since he was sitting two to my left).

So I patiently adjusted to the game, buckled up and waited to get paid off when I connected to some flops. And connect I eventually did. I rapidly recouped $100 in losses, then outplayed the only other solid player at my table (who was thankfully sitting directly to my right) when I flat-called his PF raise with AQ. The flop came down A97 rainbow, and I min-raised his flop bet. He insta-called. I checked behind when a Q hit on the turn, and then bet the pot when the 9 paired on the river. As soon as he said "I think we have the same hand and this is going to be a chop" I was praying for a call, and he obliged, flipping over A8s.

Then I hit a big hand as "Mr. 17" open-raised his standard amount and I was able to call closing the action with JTs with four players seeing the flop with $70 or so in the pot. I hit a jackpot flop with a JT7 board and check-raised the field to $120 to go after it was checked around to the button, who had opted to take a $40 stab at buying the pot with AQ (gutterball) to take down all kinds of dead money without a showdown. My $17 investment earned me $110 profit just like that.

I then played my first real pot against Mike and my 87s (which I'd open-raised with in EP) hit the flop hard on an A83 4-flush board for me. Mike re-raised me and I had a rather easy call and hit my flush on the turn. I check-called his bet, but the action froze when a fourth heart came on the river. Mike showed A3 for flopped two pair and my flush was good.

I cashed out at 3:15 AM +$313, which meant I was a whopping $13 in the black for the day.

As I was at the cashier, I saw Matt take a really sick beat for a huge pot and had to commiserate with him. He made a tough call of a drunken donkey's open-shove for $350 into a re-raised pot where Matt had flopped TPTK on a K42 board. Donkey flipped over 66. The turn card was the Kh, giving Matt top two. Incredibly, the board four-flushed hearts, giving the pot to the donkey's 6-high flush.

After consoling Matt for a minute or two -- he was understandably stunned at the outcome of that hand), I went to bed tired and happy after a full day of cards, good food, and yet more gawking at the sights and sounds of Vegas.

Las Vegas, Day One

Thursday, March 6th:

8 AM - early rendezvous with roommate Mike Milner to share a cab to the airport. I eat a muffin for breakfast and have a coffee. I was only able to get maybe 4 hours of sleep, so I plan to make my first night in Vegas an early one to get charged up for a long weekend of fun.

11:30 AM - takeoff from YVR with two others from our large group of 14 travelers to Vegas. Arrive in Vegas where I discover slot machines at an airport, which is a first for me.

The four of us shuttle over to the rental car area where Eitan happily upgrades his rental car to a white Mustang convertible. Natually his girlfriend Kim rides shotgun, and the Mustang doesn't exactly have a large trunk, so Mike and I are left holding huge suitcases in our laps as I get my first glimpse of the Las Vegas Strip, complete with the "Girls in 20 mins" Mexican guys standing around handing out cards. Gridlock ensues and we inch along to the Paris where Mike and I are staying and we get ourselves checked in at 4:45PM. The desk person mistakenly assigns us to a room with a king-sized bed rather than the two queens we'd asked for (insert ghey joke of your choice here) and we finally get that straightened out and settled in by 5 o'clock.

By 5:30 Mike and I are sitting down at the Bellagio buffet for our first meal of the day. I manage nearly four helpings plus dessert.

At 7:45 after nearly two hours of constant eating, I decide to walk it off with a long, long walk to see some sights and gawk some more at the spectacles that a first-timer sees with fresh eyes in Vegas. Mike acts as a knowledgeable tour guide as we walk through several casinos and hotels.

At 11PM, we meet up with a slew of our group at the poker room at Planet Hollywood (where the majority all stayed) for some NL 1/2. The game was softer than I dared dream. Mike is able to make the first hammer play of the trip as he flops two pair and felts someone. I lose a chunk of my stack to a calling station when I flop the nut flush draw and second pair and play it hard in position (I was the preflop raiser on the button with A8s) vs. a calling station who can't fold top pair, no kicker (JT) on a scary board (J-8-5, Q, 7).

I chisel back with a nice OBFV (which wasn't called) with KK on the turn on a J-high flop with two diamonds. I finally flop a set of sixes on a 69T flop and lead out for $30 from the big blind in a multiway pot. A shorty raised all-in for $10 more and the drunk girl to my immediate right called $40 cold. I overcall and check when the board pairs the ten, giving me sixes full. Sadly I can't take down a juicy side pot when I OBFV on the river when a blank falls on the river.

The session ends at 1:30 AM; I cash out +$83.

I head back to the hotel and crash at about 2AM.

Vegas Departure Imminent

In less than 24 hours. I'm getting jazzed up for it, and I'll be sure to write a thorough trip report upon my return.

I hope to manage to meet some of the Vegas-based bloggers while I'm there.

Any last-minute suggestions of a can't miss nature for a first-timer to Vegas? Feel free to leave any recommendations in the comments.