Day One

Arrive in vegas after a ten hour flight from London and walk over the domestic terminal to catch the shuttle bus to the gold coast as I cannot stand Las Vegas taxis due to their rip off prices and being taken the long route on previous trips. I arrived at the Gold Coast at around 4pm and there was no queue for check in. Check in was smooth thought about the $20 trick but figured as I was on my own I didn’t really need any type of upgrade. On a side note I found the gold coast to be an excellent hotel, it has a great location to get to the rio and back and I found the room was more than satisfactory for myself, don’t get me wrong if I was with my wife or girlfriend this wouldn’t be my first choice but for a solo traveller who was playing poker 14+ hours a day it was perfect, the only bad point I found was their free shuttle there was no signs for a queue and none of the staff really knew much about it, as in arrival times it was more like wait outside and when it comes it comes but I just walked to the rio and their shuttle buses are very organised and come every 30 mins so problem solved.

So after finding my room and dumping my stuff and getting just generally excited about being in vegas I decided for head to the venetian for the 7pm $125 Tournament, on the way out if the casino I spot a $5 minimum blackjack table pull up for $20 quickly turn it into $120 before cashing out and heading for the venetian. I had planned to get the shuttle to the strip from the gold coast but with that no where to be seen I decided to walk which wasn’t the best idea in the world as it must have been a 110 outside, but in fairness if it was good weather it isn’t a bad walk. Played in the tournament think there were just over 200 players registered and I ended up something like 29th just outside the money with final hand being me push all in short stack with J-8 off getting called by pocket sevens. Flop J 3 6 Turn 8 so two pair for me river 7 night night. Now on to my first moan for this report don’t get me wrong I love vegas but what is it with all these tournaments now allowing re entry it was making this tournament as good as a re buy event which I hate. Caught the shuttle back from Harrahs and went to the Amazon room to try a satellite for the $1000 WSOP event. Brought into a $125 I can’t remember any great hands but we got down to 3 handed and I was the short stack, now I can’t say for the sure but the two other guys seemed quite friendly and they were clearly trying to play together against me so they could then split it. I had other plans though and with a couple of well timed shoves and the best hand holding I managed to knock one of them out and me and the other split it as the blinds were so big we only had about ten big blind stacks. So I got a $500 lammer and $60 cash. $20 to the dealer and I was heading back to the gold coast $350 in profit including my lamer.

Day Two

I woke up and decided to head over to the rio and buy in to the $1000 WSOP event, now for the 2nd moan on the way to the Amazon room you walk past the pool and there are around 20 tables there and that was where I was seated and to be honest I think that it is really bad to seat players there due to there being a lot of people traffic walking past there all the time and the loud music coming from the pool area, I understand they have a vast amount of players coming for the WSOP but for a $1000 buy in I would expect to be sat somewhere quieter. Anyways we got started and we all started with 3000 chips with 60 mins levels blind starting at 25/25. I played solid poker for the first two levels not doing to much won a few small pots but nothing massive and went into the break with 3325. I then played one of the worse hands of poker I have ever played. Player under the gun raised to 225 he had been playing very loose chasing flush draws for a third of his stack and hitting them but he weren’t even drawing to the nuts stuff like 10 high flushes, anyways I call out of the small blind with king jack of clubs. Flop J 48 with one club, I check he fires 350 I call the turn comes 9 Clubs I check again and he fires 600 which I call again, the river comes a off suit 2 so im left with top pair decent kicker. I check again and he bet 1000 I thought about it for a while and figured he was bluffing due to his image I call and he turns over pocket aces. Which leaves me 1150. Next hand guy with a stack of about 6500 raises to 275 in mid position and I push with king queen suited slightly tilted but also short stacked, no lie here he thinks about it for a whole two minutes and then says I don’t like to let my money go and calls me with ace queen. Board run out no king or funky straight and I’m gone. My honest opinion on this tournament was I really enjoyed my first WSOP event but I feel the starting stack is pretty short and you do really need to double your starting stack by about the 4th level to give yourself a decent chance of getting deep. But once you commit to a hand you can quite easily do your whole stack in one hand. After going out I played cash at bally’s which was pretty busy as usual don’t really remember any hands really but I ended up winning about a $100 before heading to the venetian for the $125 again which I was out early and I didn’t buy back in because the structure is a bit to fast to warrant buying in again.

Total losses for the day roughly $550.

Day 3
I had decided today to play in the 2pm $260 deep stack tournament at the rio as last year I played it and the structure/ chip stack was excellent for the buy in and id pretty much planned my hotel location around this tournament unfortunately before I went id read some pretty bad reports on this tourney but it was booked by then . Before I headed to the rio I thought id check out the TGI’s which is in the gold coast as up until now id eaten nothing better than slices of pizza and burgers. I had a full rack of ribs which weren’t bad im sure there are better in vegas but im also sure there are a lot worse. Got to the rio and registered for the tourney and there was over 600 players which made for a juicy prizepool but unfortunately this tourney has been ruined as reported with the blinds being very fast now and there was no where near as much play as last year. Nevertheless I managed to get my 15,000 all in when the blinds were 400/800 with an ante can’t remember what with ace king and I got two callers one with queens the other tens. Flop A K 4 turn J River TEN so four outs between two hands and I still manage to get knocked out again. Go register for a $175 satellite to try and qualify for the up and coming $1500 WSOP Event get seated and again manage to get 3 handed as the blinds are big again we chop it 3 ways so a $500 lammer and $40 each I believe. I then headed to the strip to meet a friend who I meet on a previous trip who is from L.A, before she arrived I went to Aria and managed to lose $100 playing cash I then meet up with my friend and played my cash at Harrahs which weren’t a bad little room. I brought in for $150 on a $1-$2 and managed to win a little bit, I then played a hand where the player UTG +1 made it $7 dollars to play and no lie the whole table called so I had to have a look for $5 more. Flop 7 Q 3 bingo, check whole table checks to a guy in late position who bets $40 which I smooth call but then I rest of the table fold. Turn 10 I check again and he leads for $80 leaving himself about a $100 behind I know he has a queen with a good kicker so I figure I’ll let him hang himself on the river. River is another queen so no point checked now I go all in he calls I show him 7’s full he shows me ace queen thanks. the really bad thing about having a lamer is you either have to buy in to a tournament with it or sell it so I headed back to the Amazon room and entered another $125 satellite to try and make the other $1000 I need for the event but got knock out early when my ace queen got out drawn by ace jack. Entered another $175 and managed to get heads up, yet again the blinds were really big but the guy had about two thirds of chips and wouldn’t chop evenly which I understand but he still wanted the chop I managed to get another $500 lammer and all the cash out of the deal so it weren’t to bad but I was still $500 short of my buy in. On a side note I found the single table satellites very easy to navigate through well at least down to 3-4 players by just really either going all in or folding or just playing hands really strong, I just found that if you try to play ABC before you know it you end up half your stack if it don’t go your way and it makes it harder to build your stack just my opinion, also this year there seemed to be so many young internet kids at the rio which made for a pretty fun atmosphere and also some loose play. After the last chop I decided to call it a night. Total profit for the day roughly $380 and a $500 lammer.

Day Four
Today me and my friend headed to binions to play in their 2pm $200 Binions Classic think there were roughly 110 players, we both played really well but I cant remember any hands of note my friend finished up 14th and I bubbled the final table but we did a deal so I got my buy in back but that weren’t really the point I was started to get slightly pissed at just not getting any real run of luck when I really needed it. Anyway not much of note about even for the day. Side note I always try to make it to binions at least once a trip but it really breaks my heart seeing that place every time I go there they seem to be getting rid of more and more of the poker room but I still love it and will always visit there every time I’m in vegas.

Day Five

Woke up about ten and said screw it ill add the $500 dollars to my two lammers and give $1500 WSOP Event a shot. So registered and used my $10 dollar food coupon to get something to eat in the WSOP poker kitchen one word for the food there AVERAGE but it filled a hole. Got seated in the Amazon room which made me happy as weren’t out by the pool and we got started. Think there ended up being 3200 players, we started with 4500 in chips on a 60 min clock. Played for the first few levels didn’t really add to my stack got pocket kings one raised it and got two callers but bet the flop and they both folded. I then got moved to another table and sat down straight to aces. Blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante and I raised to 475 and got one caller. Flop K 10 4 I bet out 650 and was raised to 1325 I then moved all in and after some thought my opponent called showing me K 9 off turn and river out harmlessly and im up to nearly 10,000. About 10 hands later im dealt aces again and raise it up to 675 as blinds are now 150/300 with a 25 ante and get one caller. Flop 2 5 6 opponent leads out for 750 which I smooth call turn is a J and he leads out again for 1600 which I again smooth call. River is a 10 and he again leads out for 2200, which stops me for a second and I think. Going through what he could have I either put him on connecting cards or a decent pocket pair. So I called and he showed me 4-5 off for a pair and busted straight draw so with that pot I’m up to 16000 and change. Next few hours went by with no real hands of note just me stealing blinds and antes and keeping my head above water. On dinner break went to eat at the carnival buffet at the rio people moan about this buffet but I found it ok plenty of choice and service was good. Late on in the evening we were moved to the pavilion room by now the blinds were 400/800 with a 75 ante and my stack was around 12,500, I raised my first hand upon sitting down and got raised by some guy ive seen seen on ESPN footage this year some ex facebook executive and I had to fold. I came back after the break and managed to get doubled up to around 23,000 when my all in with kings got called by tens and held up. After that day one finished bagged up my chips and went to bed with a smile on my face id made day 2. Total $1500 down on the day but am still in tournament I brought in for.

Day 6

Ok today I get a lay in as we don’t have to start playing til 2pm but I still end up running late and end up eating at the poker kitchen again which again was average need to really learn from past experiences. Headed to my table and started day two with 18,500 with blinds of 500/1000 and 100 antes. Third hand in UTG+2 makes it 3000 to go and gets a call from the guy next him I look at queens and push for 17,300ish first guy takes a while and calls second guy folds. Flop 2 4 8 turn J river KING and I’m out no bad beat but I’m gutted would have been a great pot to scoop and would have really set me up for the tournament. What pisses me off more was I planned to play the $500 deep stack the venetian but it started at 12 so I am now mega annoyed and feel if played id only lose my money so I headed to the vintage car museum at the I.P which killed a few hours. I then ate a steak at the outback which was really nice but then again most steaks we get in England really don’t match up to anything in America. Played in the venetian 7pm $125 again but my heart weren’t really in it and went out early so I heaed back to the gold coast and played blackjack and won $150 so that made me happy. Not much loss today but out of the $1500. Bankroll Total around $1200 left

Day 7

Today I decided to play in the 12pm $220 Caesars mega stack tournament, this had to be the worst tournament I played in all week. They give you a mega stack but they also give you a mega fast structure to go with it. I managed to get knocked out after about 6 levels but they let you re enter until level 8 so like a dick I re entered. I cant remember the blinds but I managed to flop a straight and made a big bet as there was a flush draw and got called the flush came on the turn and I got put all in at this point I had about 7 big blinds left I made a crying call got shown the flush and promptly departing the mega stack vowing never to play in one again. I then decided I go to the oyster bar at harrahs to drown my sorrows and eat loads of lovely oysters. So I had half a dozen oysters and a 1lb of Alaskan King Crab which all though expensive is one of the nicest things I have ever eaten, so with my bill topping a $100 for one person I though I better leave and try win some back so I headed to the venetian for the 7pm $125 which started out well we then had a guy move to our table and was moving all in every hand due to the re entry policy. He moved in on me and I called him with ace queen he showed J-7 flop came down 2 6 4 turn was a king and river was a Jack so I was out again for a big pot. I then brought into a single table satellite for a deep stack event but didn’t manage to cash in it. I headed back to the Gold Coast and took stock of the day and I had $340 left of my bankroll with 3 days to go. Now I had prepared for this situation and I did have back up money but I decided that the way my luck was running id just lose it so I managed to re arrange my flight and I head home early.

Returned home $320
Total lost 3480

So of course I had a good time and I managed to for fill a goal of mine and play in the WSOP but I have realised that the Vegas I knew 7-8 years ago has changed and that there are some very average tournaments there now and only the bigger buy in ones seem to have a really playable structure. I hope that next year they will change the RIO deep stack back to like it was in 2010 but I doubt it. I will be returning in 2012 to try and get my revenge at WSOP or at least come back with a few thousand.

I hope if you have got this far into this report you enjoyed reading it and I’m sorry if there weren’t that much hand information but I didn’t plan on writing it as I pretty much lost my shirt and my biggest earner was one cash session and couple of split satellites and winning a $180 on megabucks but as I write this I’m at working in a custody office in a police station in east London looking at a full naked man and having to deal with a bunch of drunk blokes so writing this report hasn’t been as bad as I thought and some times tournament poker can be a cruel mistress. And to all the people who say they never see a losing trip report you now have one.

All the best

James