Vegas Trip Report
Ok, I don't know if I can recount every poker session but I will give you the jist of each one.
Coles Notes version:
7 Days in vegas, played over 80 hours of poker
1-2NL made 2500
2-5NL made 3000
Played 1 tourney (150.00 deep stack at venetian) finished 8th.
Now here we go:
So I left last Friday just before the giant snow storm touched down in T.O. I was feeling sick so the plane ride did not help. Got into vegas that Friday night (I always take the 830 out of Pearson and then the red eye home, best way to go when travelling to vegas)
Friday no poker, just settled into the house (there were 14 of us for the first 4 days, then 6 the last 3)
Saturday morning the 6 of us that are poker junkies travel over to our favorite fish hole. The Venetian. This is by far the best poker room in vegas as they pay you 1.25 hour to play 2-5NL and basically 1 session earns you enough for food comps to eat for free while you play.
1-2 NL has a max buy in of 300 which is loaded to the brim with a combination of tourists, dealers, and regulars, all which are very beatable and very profitable.
2-5NL has a max buy in of 1000 which makes the game very soft and juicy. For some reason everyone likes to bluff. There are a lot of regulars in this game but they are not that much trouble. Still a very beatable game regularly.
The only problem I find is that from Mon-Thurs the games are very slow, they pick up again from Thurs-Sun when all the tourists land and play.
Anywho back to my trip report. So Saturday morning we get to the Venetian for around 11am. I decided that I really wanted to play the deep stack (10K chips 40 minute blinds) for 550 but I didnt want to pay. I wanted to win my buy in. So I sat at the 1/2NL and announced to the table that I will be winning 500 in the next hour to go play the tourney and then I am off. They all started to laugh and said good luck.
Within 20 minutes I am up 300 bucks when I stack some guy after turning a gutshot straight and check raising him on the river all in (he had flopped 2 pair). The table is disgusted with me as I called a 10 dollar bet for a 10 and it came...(little do they know that I am a regular 5/5 5/10NL player so 10 bucks is not breaking the bank by any means for me.
I get up to about 425 by the end of the hour but I decide to refrain from the tourney because this 1/2 game is very juicy and I have now 2.5 buy ins in front of me enough to swallow the table. My buddy decides to sit down with me and we both start to make a mockery of the table.
At about 2:30 we decide we are going to have fun with the tables and the dealers. Everytime someone raises to 10 bucks we told the dealer to say "10 dollar make you holla" and we would tip him/her 1 buck (we got a few guys at the table in on this as well so it was worth 5-6bucks everytime a dealer said it)
The next thing we added was if the pot was more than 50 bucks they would pass the pot yelling "SHIP IT" then they would receive tips again.
Lets just say I was in tears for most of the afternoon having these dealers yelling "SHIP IT" everytime a big pot was awarded. Needless to say it was a fun time.
The first session ended at around 2am and I finished +900 so it was a good day.
The next day I came back and played 2-5NL this time and cleared another 1500. The two big hands that day for me were A3D where I flopped a straight draw flush draw and got all my money in and turned the straight against 2 other people for 1000. The next pot was 99 vs AA where I flopped a 9 and got paid. He just smooth called my 25 dollar raise then shoved on the flop after I bet out 50.
Monday-Wed was very slow I did grind out more from both 1/2 and 2/5 but there was nothing to memorable except more profit from each game. I was really torn between both the 1-2 and 2-5 game because each were extremely profitable it was just dependant on how I felt. Usually if I was a little tired I would go sit at 1/2 because there is no thinking involved. If I was fresh I would sit at 2/5.
Now its thursday and tourney day. I decided to play the 150.00 deep stack (7500 chips 30 minute blinds) They average about 95 players in this every day and they pay the final table (which isn't bad at all, first place is usually a little over 3K)
So my table has a bunch of tourists and 1 regular who knows everyone and plays a solid game from what i see early on. I keep up with the first 2 level blinds by stealing in late position with no resistance.
My first test is when I pick up 44 in BB. UTG raises 3.5x the BB (50/100) and I make the call. The flop comes 228 all rainbow. I check and he fires out 800. I sit for a second there and think....I smell AK, so I decide to float him one time to see if I bet the turn he willl slow down. Turn is a 9. So I fire out 1000 to see where I am at. He quickly re-raises me another 2K, at this point I know for sure he has overs because he didn't even think about what he was doing, he just threw money in. River is a J I fire out 1000 and he mucks saying "you actually had a 2". I say "don't play AK so fast" and the game keeps moving.
We get to 100-200 and I am sitting at about 10K in chips where my super rush starts. I pick up A10 in the SB and complete for an extra 100. Flop QKJ rainbow. NUTS. So I check and BB bets out 600, button raises to 1600, I smooth call along with BB (woohooo I am going to get paid). Turn is a 6S and I check again, BB checks, button goes all in for 9K....I call instantly, BB folds. Button flips over 910 for low end straight and I take the pot down. Now I am at over 20K.
The very next hand I pick up KK and make it 1600 to go. The SB shoves on me for his whole stack and I call instantly. He flips over JJ and I take it down. So I am sitting at break with close to 40K in chips with the blinds at 100-200 with 25 ante. I proceed to run around the poker room in the next level yelling "I am the CHIP LEADER". The rest of the tourney was not too happy with my antics...heheheh
I sit tight and steal blinds and pick up small pots as no one wants to play up against me. I pick up KK again and make it 1600 to go, SB re-raises me to 4500 I shove on him and he calls for 17K with JJ. I take it down again, now up to 60K in chips. This was great, steam rolling the entire tourney and the blinds are no where to be found
So we get down to 2 tables and I am chip leader still with about 80K and here is where I get lucky. The blinds are 600-1200 with a 75ante and MP makes it 6K to go, LP calls 6K and I am in the BB with AJH so i decide to complete. Flop comes KD2H4H, so I check and right away both players go all in. I have them both covered so I call. One flips over 88 and the other K6H, turn comes a 10D, river comes QS I make my straight and knock out 2 players, now I am well over 100K and cruising.
I ride all the way to the final table with the chip lead. Now here is where I screw up. I steal a bunch of pots by playing position and picking on the short stacks. I pick up 86C and make it 6K to go (which was the standard raise at this table for some reason) one guy min raises me to 12K so I complete and board comes J48 rainbow. I check and right away he fires out 15K. I sit and think for a second (he was a relatively tight player) and I call. Turn is a 7 so I fire out 30K to see if maybe I can move him off his hand but he shoves on me. Now here is where I should have folded (I still would have had 60K in chips) but I look at the board and I have a gutshot with a pair...LOL...so I make the donkey call and he flips over QQ and I am dead. Left with my last 10K I shove with 78 off and get called by AA and I am out in 8th place.
Overall it was a great tourney I should have been a little bit more patient but ah well. They shipped me 450.00 for my troubles and I went back over to the cash game with the money and proceeded to make some more playing 2-5NL.
Coles Notes version:
7 Days in vegas, played over 80 hours of poker
1-2NL made 2500
2-5NL made 3000
Played 1 tourney (150.00 deep stack at venetian) finished 8th.
Now here we go:
So I left last Friday just before the giant snow storm touched down in T.O. I was feeling sick so the plane ride did not help. Got into vegas that Friday night (I always take the 830 out of Pearson and then the red eye home, best way to go when travelling to vegas)
Friday no poker, just settled into the house (there were 14 of us for the first 4 days, then 6 the last 3)
Saturday morning the 6 of us that are poker junkies travel over to our favorite fish hole. The Venetian. This is by far the best poker room in vegas as they pay you 1.25 hour to play 2-5NL and basically 1 session earns you enough for food comps to eat for free while you play.
1-2 NL has a max buy in of 300 which is loaded to the brim with a combination of tourists, dealers, and regulars, all which are very beatable and very profitable.
2-5NL has a max buy in of 1000 which makes the game very soft and juicy. For some reason everyone likes to bluff. There are a lot of regulars in this game but they are not that much trouble. Still a very beatable game regularly.
The only problem I find is that from Mon-Thurs the games are very slow, they pick up again from Thurs-Sun when all the tourists land and play.
Anywho back to my trip report. So Saturday morning we get to the Venetian for around 11am. I decided that I really wanted to play the deep stack (10K chips 40 minute blinds) for 550 but I didnt want to pay. I wanted to win my buy in. So I sat at the 1/2NL and announced to the table that I will be winning 500 in the next hour to go play the tourney and then I am off. They all started to laugh and said good luck.
Within 20 minutes I am up 300 bucks when I stack some guy after turning a gutshot straight and check raising him on the river all in (he had flopped 2 pair). The table is disgusted with me as I called a 10 dollar bet for a 10 and it came...(little do they know that I am a regular 5/5 5/10NL player so 10 bucks is not breaking the bank by any means for me.
I get up to about 425 by the end of the hour but I decide to refrain from the tourney because this 1/2 game is very juicy and I have now 2.5 buy ins in front of me enough to swallow the table. My buddy decides to sit down with me and we both start to make a mockery of the table.
At about 2:30 we decide we are going to have fun with the tables and the dealers. Everytime someone raises to 10 bucks we told the dealer to say "10 dollar make you holla" and we would tip him/her 1 buck (we got a few guys at the table in on this as well so it was worth 5-6bucks everytime a dealer said it)
The next thing we added was if the pot was more than 50 bucks they would pass the pot yelling "SHIP IT" then they would receive tips again.
Lets just say I was in tears for most of the afternoon having these dealers yelling "SHIP IT" everytime a big pot was awarded. Needless to say it was a fun time.
The first session ended at around 2am and I finished +900 so it was a good day.
The next day I came back and played 2-5NL this time and cleared another 1500. The two big hands that day for me were A3D where I flopped a straight draw flush draw and got all my money in and turned the straight against 2 other people for 1000. The next pot was 99 vs AA where I flopped a 9 and got paid. He just smooth called my 25 dollar raise then shoved on the flop after I bet out 50.
Monday-Wed was very slow I did grind out more from both 1/2 and 2/5 but there was nothing to memorable except more profit from each game. I was really torn between both the 1-2 and 2-5 game because each were extremely profitable it was just dependant on how I felt. Usually if I was a little tired I would go sit at 1/2 because there is no thinking involved. If I was fresh I would sit at 2/5.
Now its thursday and tourney day. I decided to play the 150.00 deep stack (7500 chips 30 minute blinds) They average about 95 players in this every day and they pay the final table (which isn't bad at all, first place is usually a little over 3K)
So my table has a bunch of tourists and 1 regular who knows everyone and plays a solid game from what i see early on. I keep up with the first 2 level blinds by stealing in late position with no resistance.
My first test is when I pick up 44 in BB. UTG raises 3.5x the BB (50/100) and I make the call. The flop comes 228 all rainbow. I check and he fires out 800. I sit for a second there and think....I smell AK, so I decide to float him one time to see if I bet the turn he willl slow down. Turn is a 9. So I fire out 1000 to see where I am at. He quickly re-raises me another 2K, at this point I know for sure he has overs because he didn't even think about what he was doing, he just threw money in. River is a J I fire out 1000 and he mucks saying "you actually had a 2". I say "don't play AK so fast" and the game keeps moving.
We get to 100-200 and I am sitting at about 10K in chips where my super rush starts. I pick up A10 in the SB and complete for an extra 100. Flop QKJ rainbow. NUTS. So I check and BB bets out 600, button raises to 1600, I smooth call along with BB (woohooo I am going to get paid). Turn is a 6S and I check again, BB checks, button goes all in for 9K....I call instantly, BB folds. Button flips over 910 for low end straight and I take the pot down. Now I am at over 20K.
The very next hand I pick up KK and make it 1600 to go. The SB shoves on me for his whole stack and I call instantly. He flips over JJ and I take it down. So I am sitting at break with close to 40K in chips with the blinds at 100-200 with 25 ante. I proceed to run around the poker room in the next level yelling "I am the CHIP LEADER". The rest of the tourney was not too happy with my antics...heheheh
I sit tight and steal blinds and pick up small pots as no one wants to play up against me. I pick up KK again and make it 1600 to go, SB re-raises me to 4500 I shove on him and he calls for 17K with JJ. I take it down again, now up to 60K in chips. This was great, steam rolling the entire tourney and the blinds are no where to be found
So we get down to 2 tables and I am chip leader still with about 80K and here is where I get lucky. The blinds are 600-1200 with a 75ante and MP makes it 6K to go, LP calls 6K and I am in the BB with AJH so i decide to complete. Flop comes KD2H4H, so I check and right away both players go all in. I have them both covered so I call. One flips over 88 and the other K6H, turn comes a 10D, river comes QS I make my straight and knock out 2 players, now I am well over 100K and cruising.
I ride all the way to the final table with the chip lead. Now here is where I screw up. I steal a bunch of pots by playing position and picking on the short stacks. I pick up 86C and make it 6K to go (which was the standard raise at this table for some reason) one guy min raises me to 12K so I complete and board comes J48 rainbow. I check and right away he fires out 15K. I sit and think for a second (he was a relatively tight player) and I call. Turn is a 7 so I fire out 30K to see if maybe I can move him off his hand but he shoves on me. Now here is where I should have folded (I still would have had 60K in chips) but I look at the board and I have a gutshot with a pair...LOL...so I make the donkey call and he flips over QQ and I am dead. Left with my last 10K I shove with 78 off and get called by AA and I am out in 8th place.
Overall it was a great tourney I should have been a little bit more patient but ah well. They shipped me 450.00 for my troubles and I went back over to the cash game with the money and proceeded to make some more playing 2-5NL.
Comments
Can you talk more about this? How'd you find a house to rent?
We usually find the houses to rent off of cyberrentals.com and right now Vegas is going through a bad stint with the sub-prime mortgages so people are losing their shirts out there.
The house itself cost us about 4000 for the week plus we buy our own food and rent cars. It basically worked out to about 460 per person for the week to stay in vegas with all food and transportation paid for.
Not that it really mattered, the first day I made all my money back....lol