Bring a tissue. Solo poker trip. Part 1
I flew out of Toronto at 9pm on sunday the 17th, my birthday! Arrived in Vegas at 1030. Took the shuttle, which stopped at a bunch of dirty looking off the strip hotels, to the Mirage. I was gonna try the $20 trick but the girl behind the desk upgraded me to a suite without me asking! Beautiful room, King bed, jacuzzi, 3 tvs. Loved it!
1st session. I sit down at Mirage for their 1-2 (1-3?) game just after midnight. I play TAG for about 90 minutes without picking up any real hands when I pick up AK off. I raise to $15 and get one caller. Flop is AK8 with two diamonds. I bet $30 into a $35 pot. V calls. Turn is 4s. So board is AdKc8d4s. I bet $60 V tanks and calls. Pot is $95. River is 9d and I know my top two pair are no good. I check, V moves all in, I fold, he shows the flush. I've got about $100 left. A few hands later I limp on the button with 7c8c. 5 players. Flop is rainbow 569! Hoorah! Two checks and a bet of $7. I reraise to $25.Everyone folds except bettor who calls. Turn is Ah putting 2 hearts on board. V bets $25 I move all in he calls, river is a brick and I double up. As I'm stacking my chips I get dealt pocket aces. I raise to $15 and get 2 callers. Flop is 9c5c2s. Pot is $50 ish. I bet $35. Dude beside me has been involved in almost every pot and spends half his time turned around talking to his friend insta shoves and loudly says all in! I ignore the little voice inside me that says he flopped a set and call. He flopped trip 5's. Wahh wahhh! Off to bed. Little did I know that this session was the start of the worst run of luck I have ever had at poker.
I eat breakfast at Cravings, the buffet in Mirage. Pretty decent. Very large and the line moves quickly. cost $16. Best french toast I've ever had! I wander down the strip in and out of casinos and hotels all the way through Caesars, Bellagio, Aria,MGM, NYNY, Excaliber, Luxor, and Mandalay. I decide to play the $50 Excalibur tourney for some giggles while I wait for the afternoon games to get juicy. Blinds go up every 15 minutes and you start with 40 big blinds. 20 players, they pay top three. First place is 340 I think. I was just goofing entering this tourney but I play solid poker and have the chip lead and the low stack at points. The blinds and antes get dirty big and I end up having to shove light with Q3s. I get called and miss and bust out on the bubble.
Down $200 cash games and down $50 tournaments.
I eat lunch at the burger bar at MB. Pretty tasty Kobe burger.I sit down at MGM, my favourite room to play cash at 4. I buy in for $200. I hit a couple big hands and made a couple good lay downs including folding my AA vs what turned out to be a set of 8's. I can often get people to show me their hands because I work really hard to make everyone laugh and keep the game light and happy. My batman t-shirt also helps!
- Biggest hand of note in this 3 hour session. I pick up 77 on the button and call at $12 bet with one other caller. Flop is A76. Original bettor bets $20. 2nd guy calls and I raise it to $50. Both guys call. Turn is J. Both guys check to me and I bet $60. First guy calls, second guy moves all in! I sit and pretend to ponder for a minute and I move all in. Original raiser looks sick and eventually calls. Dealer for some reason doesn't create a side pot just deals the river. 7!! I never ever slow roll and announce "I got it" as I show my quads. Both guys muck and I rake a $600 pot. I'm up about $450. Play another round and cash out with $610.
Up 210 in cash.
Eat dinner at Cheese Cake factory, loved it. and head to PH around 10.
This is the most interesting table I have ever played at. Dude from Vancouver was telling all new players that if you win a hand you have to show one card. Only one old guy refused. Almost eveyone straddled. 6 of the 9 players were really drunk. I won a couple decent hands and was up $250. There was a guy that kept showing his hand to his neighbour every time he folded. The pit boss came by and said no more showing cards of you'll be asked to leave. Very next hand 3 players are checking it down and this guy flips his hand up onto the table. He thought the button had checked bit the button hadn't acted yet. Guy made an honest mistake and immediately apologized. No one at the table was annoyed but the pit boss immediately dropped a rack in front of him and told him he has to leave. The dude tried to explain himself but go nowhere. I didn't want this guy out of the game. He made it really fun and was pushing the action. Pit boss was a bit of hard ass and wouldn't yield. Drunk buddy got up and wandered around a bit with his stack of chips. Security showed him the cashier cage. Before he left the table he tipped the dealer $25 and said sorry. Guy on my left kept urging guy on my right to go to the strippers. This dude was hilarious! We had a couple really fun dealers in a row tha let a lot slide. Guy on my left, Boston, started touching the flop cards and flipping them over and calling them wild cards! It was hilarious! No one at the table minded since he was hilarious and harmless. The dealer warned him a few times but was laughing with us.
Another weird play happens. Guy in seat 9 and Vancouver in seat 1 get into a hand. 1 raises preflop to $12. All fold to chubs in 9 and he raises to $30. Vancouver starts talking, he has been warned previously that verbals are binding so he needs to be careful. He asks what Chubs will do if he moves all in. Chubs says he doesn't know and it depends. Vancouver moves all in. Chubs says, what sounds to me and the dealer, "If you're all in I call." Dealer puts the All In card in front of 1 and the Call card at 9. Vancouver shows QQ while the dealer deals the five cards quickly. A K 4 9 9 Chubs has about $120 in front of him. He tables 66 and the dealer reaches to slide his chips to Vancouver. Chubs freaks out and yells "Whoa Whoa Whoa!" He now claims that he never said call but had said he couldn't call. Why would he call with 66 he asks? The dealer says she heard him say call and Chubs is getting really upset. The dealer calls the floor and ask Chubs why he didn't say anything when she put the call card in front of him and dealt out the cards. He goes back and forth with her and the pit boss for a while stating that he would never call all in with 66. I am %100 that he had called, even if he didn't mean to. Vancouver decides that he feels bad and is going to let the guy keep his money. Dealer says you can't give chips away at the table. Guy says he'll give money back and leave. I am blown away by this whole thing, anyone ever see anything like this? Vancouver stacks the chips and cuts them in half, about $180 in each pile and gives it to Chubs. So Chubs makes a $60 profit with a losing hand and Vancouver has to leave the table because thats the only way the pit boss would allow him to give his money back. Such a weird hand. I don't care what you meant to say or do, I'm keeping those chips 100% of the time.
I was up about $300 and was thinking about cashing out when this hand happened. I have KJh on the button and call a raise of $12 that already had two callers. Pot is 50 ish. Flop is Qh10s2h. I have a open ended straight draw, a flush draw and two over cards. (he ends up having pocket 66) Original bettor bets $7?? I raise to $40 and he moves all in. I can't put him on even top pair, and I have so many outs. I move all in. He shows his sixes. so I have 21 outs...... Can't hit any of them. I had a $600 stack and now have a $200 stack. I fold three times with TPTK and once with @ pair to what I know are better hands, and they show me, and end up with $50 in my stack... I'm rather tilted and shove with 1010, get called by KJ and dude windows the J. I walk my sorry ass back to my fantastic suite to end day 2.
Down $90 in cash and down $50 tourney.
More tomorrow.
Excellent work so far.
My favorite: I walk my sorry ass back to my fantastic suite to end day 2.
Also, I'm keeping any chips the dealer pushes me unless the floor makes me give them back. Tough.
I KNOW!!! One of the weirdest things I've seen! I follow the Prime Directive when not in a hand so I didn't say anything.
Really liked your TR.
Im staying at The Mirage too when I go to Vegas in a month.
One question about the upgrade you got for free: Was the suite a renovated room?
Suite was brand new. Marble counter tops. A tv that came out of the stand at the foot of the bed. A couple that had the same check in as me got the same upgrade. I don't know if it's beacuse they had over booked all the single, king size, non smoking rooms(I checked in at midnight) or if they had a surplus and upgraded a bunch of people to make them warm and fuzzy. But honestly it was a beautiful suite!
When are you going?
June 5th- June 14th
I booked a Deluxe Room, not sure what to expect from a $20 tip. maybe one of those rooms on 24th floor that has a private elevator?
Your suite would be awesome tho.
I stayed at Venetian last year (during wsop) but didnt really like it that much.
I played a lot at Mirage.
Great trip report. Looking towards the rest.
T minus 57 hours til scheduled landing and counting...
@Jump
still waiting for part 2
I'll write the rest here instead of posting another trip report. Sorry for both people reading this that it took so long
Day 3 and 4 were filled with bad beats and me getting dickered!
I play the morning tourney at MGM. Pretty big field, 86 players. This tourney structure pretty much requires that you double up at least once in the first hour. If you don't manage to get a lot of chips early on you have to start shoving by the fourth level. I missed a couple draws that I sei bluffed and had my TPTK rivered by an obvious flush draw. By level 5 the antes were in effect and my stack was dwindling. There were about 40 players left when I flopped a set with 88 and check raised all in on the flop. Chip leader at the table graciously called and I doubled up. Due to the increasing blinds the game turned into a shove fest and my cards were just dirty. I shoved with 10J suited and stole the blinds and antes and next rotation I shoved with KQ suited and was called by A7off. Lady hit her 7 and I'm out.
I played cash at MGM immediately following the tourney for a couple hours. No really big hands but I was a quiet winner and was up about 150 when I cashed out.
I played at Aria that night. Sat down around 8. I had dinner at Cafe Vettero, just a couple minutes from the poker room. Very nice place. Good selection on the menu, fast service, touch screen menu out front that excited me cause I'm a huge geek
The Aria poker room is beautiful. Most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in. It seems to attract a lot of serious players and a fair amount of poor players as well. If you pay attention you should be able to make $$ here. I played the 1-3 game and bought in for $300. In the first 30 minutes I ran really hot. In BB I have 85 off and check to see the flop with 4 players. Flop is 8h5h4c Yahtzee! I bet $10 and two players fold, SB raises to $25. I don't like the flush cards so I reraise to $50 and SB calls. Turn is Jd and SB bets $50. I move all in, he calls, I flip my hand, he urinates into his pants. The river is 2d and SB mucks. I didn't ask what he had. I had him covered and am up $200 ish. He rebuys for $150. Two hands later I flop trip 4's. Same guy had raised to $15 preflop and I called from UTG. Flop is 4K10 rAINBOW, he C-Bets $20 and I move all in. He insta calls and tables AKclubs. Brick brick and he looks green. Now I'm up 350. I decide that this isn't a fishy enough table and I'm only going to stay a bit longer. Well that turns out to be a mistake as some suit wearing douchebag gets my number and spanks me soundly. I flop top two pair with KQ and bet each street agressively. He calls all the way to the river where he moves all in. Guy had flopped a pair of 7's on a KsQd7h board. Anyways, he goes runner runner diamonds to hit his flush draw. Yeah I'm like 80% to win that on the flop. Oh well. Lose $150. Twenty minutes later I flop top pair with KQ to his trip kings. Ouch. Cost me $300. I cash out of Aria with 200, down 100.
HAND ANALYSIS!
So I decide to play at Ballys. It's about 10 when I sit down. The table is lively and juicy with a coupe uber aggressive players at one end. I felted a guy to my left in the first 10 hands. I flopped two pair with suited connector and then flopped trips on a paired board. I'm up $250 with a stack of $450.
I have KdQd. Preflop raise of $12 by player in early position. Two callers and I call on the button.
Flop is KcJd3d. So I have top pair with Queen kicker and a flush draw. Original bettor bets $20, other two fold and I raise to $60. He tanks for a solid minute and calls.
Pot is about $170, I have $380 ish behind.
Turn is Qh giving me top two pair. He bets $50.
What can we put him on?
I should add he looked sick when he called my reraise on the flop.
@Jump
Nice trip report!
What kind of player is the original raiser? You said the table had a couple of uber aggressive player, was he one of them?
I would think your 2 pair is good there, the $50 feels like a blocking bet to me. There is a small possibility he had a gut shot on the flop (A10 diamonds?), and now he wants to string you along. I would probably just call the turn and see the river for cheap. If he bets river again, you can call, if he checks the river, you can bet 1/2 pot.
great reports!! enjoyed the flow. I feel bad for Vancouver guy. he shouldn't have done that.
Need more info on your opponent to see if A10 is in his range (unlikely). Anyways, I'd say he has something like AK or AA. KK is possible but statisically improbable. Regardless you have top two and a flush draw. WHatever his range is it weighs more heavily on hands that you beat and you have a flush draw to fall back on anyways. only way i bail is if a 10 or A hits the river and he leads out.
how i play the turn depends on the player.
He'd only been at the table for about 10 hands. Hadn't seen him in any pots. He was drinking and clearly a tourist.
Before you said he looked sick on the flop reraise I would've guessed AK or AA as likely. but most drunk tourists are happy when you reraise against them with those hands. that makes me think his hand could be weaker like QQ. so it's possible he could be getting fancy with QQ on the turn.
the problem here is he is a drunk tourist and you have no reads or history. Thus you need to play your hand for value. a board of K-Q-J-3 is pretty scary. Since you aren't drawing to the nut flush and have a pretty strong hand I am more inclined to try and just get the money in on the turn. reason why is it just hard to fold this hand as he could have a number of hands that you are beating. Also, there are so many scare cards that can come that beat your or kill the action. any diamond or A, K, Q, J, 10 is a killer. Any A, J or 10 could put you behind. a diamond could give him the nut flush.
Did he have you covered? if so stacks are kind of awkward here. if you call there is $270 in the pot and you'll have $330 behind. your hand is not megapowerful. I'm inclined to just put it in on the turn and see what happens.
this is a good hand to post in the strat forum (without the results)!!!
I figured there was a lot of hands I'm ahead of. But like you said there are a lot of scare cards that can come for me on the river. Any diamond, any ace, any ten...
So I decide to shove on the turn. He does have me covered. I figure that my top two pair are beating any reasonable made hand here. I wasn't worried about QQ since I know 2 queens are accounted for.
Well turns out he had A 10 and hit his 3 outer gut shot! Balls.