Day One – Wednesday 3/17 – MGM, Bills, Flamingo

First day out with two of the three AC amigos we hit MGM for the 11:00 $60 tourney and some $1/$2 cash games. We wanted to play the Planet Hollywood 10:00 (twice as many chips, same buy in) but we were too late, so 11:00 MGM would have to do. About 60 signed up for the tournament with 20 standbys in reserve for the first hour. We were seated at different tables. I was a little annoyed with the short stack going in, but managed to win a few pots and essentially double up. As the blinds ran higher nearing the first break, I had to make a move with AJs. Raise, re-raise in front from two also short stacks, I went all-in in late position. Early raiser thought for a long time before calling with K7o, middle guy had TT. I caught an ace on the flop but a ten on the river ended my tourney.

I went to play some cash games, bought for $150, which was average I saw others holding, and they started a new table almost immediately. A few hands in I get KQs in middle position, first, third and fourth all limp for $2. For whatever reason, I decide to do the same (Raise here next time? Your thoughts?) Fold to the button, who raises to $12, facing four other players. Blinds fold, first position calls, third position folds, fourth position calls. I now face $10 to call $41, easy call, hoping no ace on the board and maybe a king and queen. Boom - KQT, rainbow, none of my suit. First position bets $25 into $51 pot, fourth calls, I call. (Raise here next time, yes I think so. Note – where is this weak-passive play coming from, am I tired from the flight?) Button raises all in - first and fourth positions fold immediately. I have to mention, the guy on the button is known by everyone in the room it seems. I wonder if he’s on this forum. Anyway, I think about it for a while, I need to call my last $120 or so to win $251, seems clear. The hands I obviously fear are KK, QQ, TT or AJ. The bet does make me think he’s just trying to buy the pot and make me think he has AJ/J9, but his preflop raise makes a pair more likely. I decide the pot odds are too good and I’m probably ahead, and call. He shows AA, which puts me ahead. (2 A, 3 T, 4 J, or runner, runner pair – let’s call it 9.5 outs.) I think he even taps the table and says good call, but by that time the jack on the river was finishing his straight. I consider rebuying as my table image must now be strong, but for a change I recognize I would go on tilt and don’t. I’m sure they’re talking about me as I walk away.

My amigo hung in the tourney for a little longer before the blinds ate him up – I tell him my bad beat stories, we check out the lion exhibit and off we go up the strip.

-$60 tourney
-$150 cash
-$210 total at MGM

We hit Bills Gamblin’ Hall sometime in the afternoon, just in time for one of their tourneys. Their tourneys have changed to $30 entry $10 admin fee, by the way. Anyway, for that little buy-in, I decide to go for it and end up entering the tourney which maxes out at ten players because they don’t have any more dealers. I know this room is a joke, but the management did the best they could with what they have. Total prize pool is only $200. Brutal admin fee, they really should lower it and do $25 and $5 or less if they need to stay at $30 total. The low buy in brought in a multitude of players – good and bad, everyone playing more or less readable poker. I busted out the one local first, nondescript Qx hand vs. my AK, he pot committed himself on a preflop bluff. Slowly grinding and playing by the book, the rest slowly busted out to four (paying two spots, $120 and $80). Final four were two women who were friends, and were good players, and one other guy who was quiet and tight. I was the chip leader for most of the tournament and the blinds slowly caught the women and I took their stacks. Shame, I liked them, really. I chopped the pot with the quiet guy for $100 as we were nearly even.

My friend played three card poker and didn’t win a single hand while waiting for his free Miller Lite, which is the only reason he played. It was hilarious to watch him buy an $80 free beer, which didn’t make up for my $150 Heineken at MGM...

+$70 tourney at Bills
-$140 for the day so far

Third amigo shows up in the afternoon, meets us on the strip. We head to Flamingo for a session of $1/$2. We really liked this room – solid management, solid dealers, good action, little smoke. I sit down for $150 again and flop Ks full of As (KK in my hand) first hand. No action or hands for a long time, switch tables on a whim. Flop a FH a few hands in, my hand is 77, saw the flop with a limp, flop is TT7. There was action to me, so I just played calling station in a sandwich spot until the river – two straight-ish rags on the turn and river and I think I’m golden, hoping someone made a straight or will go with a ten. I get all the money in and my opponent flips TT for a flopped four of a kind. Brutal. Didn’t matter how I played that hand, all the money was going in and I was going out. Still should have bet it out.

I check out of poker after what I felt like was my third poorly played bad beat of the day and play some $0.25 JoB video poker for cheap amusement. Does full pay still exist? I couldn’t find any. I hit a royal flush for $1,000 and show my ticket to my friends who are still at the tables. Vegas!

-$150 cash at Flamingo
-$290 poker total (I’m only tracking poker here)

Day Two – Thursday 3/18 – Planet Hollywood

Moving into day two, I’m feeling horrible about my poker. The win at Bills is little consolation considering I did take a couple bad luck/bad play/bad read beats the previous day. I decide I need to play a couple tournaments to get back in the groove. I play a lot of tournaments in Atlantic City and I’ve always been better in them than in cash games. We head to Planet Hollywood after placing our sports bets for the day.

I played in two tournaments, the first, 10:00 $60 buy in, $4000 starting chips, was well run as the rest of the room wasn’t busy. They are installing the electric for tableside trackers and auto shufflers as the tournament was going on, so they literally have a jackhammer in the room. Not fun, but I have my headphones with me, so that made it bearable. They stop around 11:30. That’s about when I bust out – no cards, all my moves were poorly timed (vs. opponents cards, not my position). Not much else to say. Interesting room; the slot machines are a big distraction that close by. It would be nice to have a more defined poker space. Change that center bar into the poker room maybe.

The second tourney, 2:00, was larger, and $80. I made it to the final table with no idea of where I stood. The tourney trackers had not been updated since the start. Rebuys were never posted, players eliminated, correct starting chips, nothing. I raised a ruckus about it on the break before the final table and they finally updated it, and it was still wrong. I have to say, the management of the room was good, except for this. I ended up taking a shot with the best hand I’d seen in ages (A8s, yep my cards were that bad) and while I caught an 8 on the flop, my opponent also caught a T on the flop, so that was that. Turns out I missed the money (didn’t know where I stood for sure or even if I WAS at the final table at the time) by a couple spots and could have probably bled into the money. Top prize was $1,500, paying 6 out of 60. Grr.

-$140 tourneys at Planet Hollywood and for the day
-$430 poker total

I spent the rest of the day watching basketball and playing dumb stuff for fun with the crew. My buddies did well in cash games at Planet Hollywood and said management was solid for cash games.

Day Three – Friday, March 19 – Rio, Imperial Palace

Meet up with ten other friends from around the country who are in town for our usual March Madness celebration – they arrived yesterday but we were on different schedules. Vegas! We all head to the Gold Coast for some “breakfast” (at Noon), then we do some bowling. After that fun I take my two amigos over to the Palms (easiest poker I ever played) to check out the action. No action at all in their room(s) so we head over to check out Rio. I couldn’t believe their table game minimums were so high (lowest I saw was $15). Anyway, poker room has tons of action. We all get seated nearly immediately. We had been joking about ordering interesting drinks at the poker table (stingers, rusty nails, etc.) and for some reason I order a white Russian. I crush this table with solid hands and more than double up my $150 buy in. Nothing much to note, just that I made a lot of calls I wouldn’t normally make. Example, I held QQ, raised a few limpers to $15 pre-flop as I don’t really want to see the flop – it comes 478 two hearts and has straights/flush draws written all over it. Checked to me, I bet out to try to eliminate the draws, get one caller. We both check the turn, a K, he bets the pot into me on the river, a 9. I’m terrified of JT or a K at this point but call anyway and show the QQ’s. He mucks, I think he had JJ. That sort of hand happened a couple times and I only question my check on the turn…but it worked out. I cash out after only a couple hours.

+$220 cash at Rio

My friends are doing well but want to stay, so I hit the poker machines again. Nothing this time, just a few $20’s down the slot. During this break, I check out the rest of the place. There was a red 1985 Lamborghini Countach parked out front. What a car. It made me remember to go see the Auto Collection at Imperial Palace on Sunday too.

We head to Imperial Palace to cash in and place some sports bets. We sit down at a $1/$2, I buy for $150. We had some wild action at the table and we’re sitting right next to each other (positions 8 & 9). Guy on my right calls down a hand until the river, goes all in vs. someone at the other end. He turns over a straight flush. $250 high hand jackpot for him, and it plays (he keeps it on the table, he has the option to take it off – this will be important later). Next hand, position 1 flops four of a kind, so a bonus is paid to him too. This also stays on the table. Wild!

My amigo, we’ll call him Captain Courageous (CC), makes two of the most brave poker plays I’ve ever seen. Many hands after the SF and 4K madness, CC re-raises preflop with rags, gets several callers. He totally misses the flop. Position 1 bets pot size, everyone folds, CC raises with nothing. Position 1 calls. This is where I would have run for the hills. On the turn, Position 1 bets again and CC raises $100 over, all in, with nothing – and it wasn’t a scare card for anyone with any hand. Position 1 thinks for about five minutes and folds. CC has Brass Balls.

A few hands later, talkative guy on my right raises, CC re-raises preflop. Talkative guy says how this is a big hand, should he re-raise now or wait for the flop – I should mention, he has played according to his talk and shown according to it too. I put him on KK, AA or AK right there. Flop comes 34A, CC checks, talkative guy checks behind (he says “you want me to bet into you, don’t you, well I won’t”, CC says “you’re the action man” or something to that effect). The turn is another Ace. CC checks, talkative puts in $100. CC thinks for so long he’s put on the clock. He raises all in, guy calls, CC shows KK, talkative shows JJ. CC now has Iron Balls and a big stack.

He played well – we both did. So well, we were accused of collusion (not with each other, with people we didn’t know). That’s a first! If the accusing guy down the other end hadn’t called with nothing constantly and bet out his drawing hands, I would never have made any money, so thank you, guy who accused us! IP is a fun room, worth checking out.

+$120 cash at IP
+$340 poker for the day
-$90 poker total

Day Four – Saturday, March 20 – Bills

After a long day of partying with the full crew, the three amigos sit late night for $0.50/$1 at Bills already hammered. Vegas! We thought $50 buy in at $0.50/$1 was solid as we’ve never all played at the same table. Amigo three, also known as Three Racks (TR), gets stacked immediately at the other table holding KK. He rebuys. So, it takes some time for the three of us to be together (two tables going), but then it happens, and we’re jerks.

The cards start coming and we’re raising every hand. Position raises start working, full houses are flopping and we take everyone’s money, including each other’s. I don’t remember many details, but here’s a quick summary – we had too many drinks, tequila shots, massages, plans to hook up later, named AQ “Carrie”, and eventually we left with the table’s money. I remember I had pocket threes something like five times. It was the most fun I ever had on a poker table and I walked away up $75.

+$75 cash at Bills
-$25 poker total (up overall thanks to sports betting and video poker)

Day ?? – Sunday, March 21 and beyond…

TR’s flight was cancelled and he had to stay an extra two days, boo friggin hoo. TR sent us multiple cell phone pictures of his growing $1/$2 stack at Flamingo on Monday – buy in for $200, up to $600, up to $1,200 – needs a third rack to cashout! Once he hits three racks, he’s out.

Vegas!