What the hell is going on in Vegas the night of the 10th? Just checking last minute flights are a steal but to find a room Saturday night is ridiculous. Not a UFC fan but that would be my first guess.
Seekthegrail is there alone, perhaps he has a 2nd bed for that night?
What the hell is going on in Vegas the night of the 10th? Just checking last minute flights are a steal but to find a room Saturday night is ridiculous. Not a UFC fan but that would be my first guess.
Gl folks - sending a whole lotta run-good your way.
I highly recomend the PH $75.00 tourneys - SUPER soft - I played 5 and cashed in 4!! Players usually chop top three to five, depending. These things funded our trip, pretty much...lotta guys don't like it because the "room" is in the middle of the casino, no walls, but I found it made the atmosphere fun...to each his own...have a blast!!
The Venetian Poker Room has been tweeting and posting on their facebook page a complimentary buffet between 11:30 and 2:30 the last few days, including today.
The Venetian Poker Room has been tweeting and posting on their facebook page a complimentary buffet between 11:30 and 2:30 the last few days, including today.
Everyday during DSE, soup, salad, 2 meats, potatoes, veggies....not bad for free
There was no one there making sure u have tourney receipt, so I assume anyone can go.
OK a quick jaunt down is coming closer to fruition.
Planning on flying in Saturday evening but having trouble finding a decent price for hotel. Would seekthegrail have a bed for me to crash for a couple hours Saturday night (obv split the cost)? I have the Palms lined up for Sunday Monday nights.
I assume with the Palms being off the strip is it likely a $65 car rental will pay for itself over 3 days? With car maybe I can find a cheaper off site hotel in case Steve doesn't think he can handle me.
Seekthegrail and I missed checking into our flight back by 3 minutes so we are here for one more night. Got a room back in Flamingo for $30 and fly out tomorrow.
The Mooses got on the flight OK and Comp's flight was later so Steve and I get one bonus day of poker.
I will do a trip report when I get back as I'm using my Blackberry and typing is a pain.
Seekthegrail and I missed checking into our flight back by 3 minutes so we are here for one more night. Got a room back in Flamingo for $30 and fly out tomorrow.
The Mooses got on the flight OK and Comp's flight was later so Steve and I get one bonus day of poker.
I will do a trip report when I get back as I'm using my Blackberry and typing is a pain.
And we're back at the airport with plenty of time to spare this time. I did get to see the Bellagio fountains last night and played at the MGM for a bit, then back to Flamingo to lose a big hand to Seekthegrail when his AA beat my KK.
(Warning: this ended up being pretty longwinded but I was there for 10 days and this is my first trip report so let me know if this was too much detail)
I had an incredible time and I think the best way to sum up my experience is to say to anyone on this forum who hasn’t been to Vegas yet – what are you waiting for? I’m definitely going back although I should probably wait a bit before broaching the subject with my wife.
A lot of credit goes to my travel companions – Moose, MsMoose, Compuease, and SeektheGrail (with an honorable mention to T8urmoney and Hellmuth’s Mole for joining us briefly). Travelling with people who have been there before really helped as they were able to make suggestions of things to do (ie different poker rooms to play at) and places to eat, although Moose eventually gave up asking me what I wanted to do next as I kept responding with “it doesn’t matter to me”. It was a truthful response as everything and anything was new to me and I’d already decided I would be returning to Vegas so it didn’t matter too much if I didn’t get to see / do everything I wanted to.
I didn’t take too many pictures so hopefully Moose posts a report with some of his, and he did tweet a few of me. I took some notes as I went along but not many detailed hand histories. I’ll try to do better next time.
Monday, Nov 5
Got picked up by the Mooses and SeektheGrail in Woodstock at the designated rendezvous point around 4pm and made it to Caesars Windsor in good time. Checked in, had a quick bite to eat then we used our direct bet money – I put mine on black at roulette and won my $15. Headed to the poker room where I had a winning session mostly thanks to some Moose chips that made their way into my stack. Didn’t stay too late and turned in early.
Tuesday, Nov 6
Quick breakfast at Tim’s then through to tunnel to confuse the US Border Guard on the amount of money we were bringing into their country. High roller – SeektheGrail – put our combined amount way over the $10k limit so we had the pleasure of seeing another agent inside who eventually understood that we each had our own money and no one was over the $10k on their own, so they let us go after MsMoose had almost finished filling in a form that wasn’t needed. Getting to the airport was easy and the flight was great.
In LV, we found Comp at the luggage area and SeektheGrail won luggage roulette. Over to the car rental area where the 5 of us squeezed into our Toyota Yaris – I’m pretty sure we exceeded the maximum recommended weight capacity and putting our seatbelts on in the back seat meant taking turns groping Comp but he didn’t seem to mind.
We dropped SeektheGrail off at the Monte Carlo and parked at the Flamingo where we found a huge line at check-in. The Mooses had their platinum card so they could skip the line but I noticed they had a separate line for Total Rewards Gold Card holders – and it was empty. Comp and I walked to the head of that line and go checked in faster than the Mooses – I don’t really understand why everyone doesn’t have a TR card but I guess that is one benefit of travelling with Moose. He made sure I made a trip to Caesar’s Windsor before I booked my room just to make sure I had TR card and earned some points. The room was OK, probably not nice enough for my wife but it was clean and the beds were comfortable, and the location is very central to the strip.
Down to the Flamingo poker room for what would be the start of many hours of mostly limit poker with occasional no-limit thrown in for variety. It is a fairly well run poker room although a bit crowded, sometimes noisy, and smoky. (My previous casino experience has been in Fallsview, Brantford, and Windsor which are completely smoke free so it took me a while to get used to second hand smoke drifting into the poker room.) We took a break from poker to head over to Ellis Island for the BBQ dinner where we met T8urmoney and his girlfriend. The food was a good as promised then we headed back to Flamingo to earn some more hours towards the Friday freeroll.
I think it was after midnight that Moose decided to teach me how to play craps so he led me and SeektheGrail to Casino Royale where I discovered I can throw the dice with the best of them. All three of us made money, although I still don’t understand the game completely.
Wednesday Nov 7
We made the drive out to the M casino which is a relatively new casino south of the strip in Henderson. It is a beautiful casino and their card room was the best in my opinion. Plenty of room, very friendly staff, lots of promos, and almost smoke free. Did I mention the beer menu? Over 90 different types of beer on tap from around the world. We played long enough to get our free jackets, which ended up costing me $120 in losses. On our way back to the strip, we stopped in at Joker’s Wild for some craps fun where I lost most of what I had won at craps at Casino Royal. Dinner was the buffet at Caesars which was very good and we didn’t have to wait in line very long. We put in some more time at Flamingo before calling it a night.
Thursday Nov 8
Some more poker for breakfast at Flamingo then we headed over to Hash House for lunch then to the Venetian where SeektheGrail and I put our $300 down for the 3pm PLO tournament while the Mooses played cash games. This was the only event I specifically wanted to play, primarily since PLO tournaments are non-existent in Ontario and I really like PLO. SeektheGrail and I ended up at the same table, and the rest of the players seemed to be either very competent or luckboxes. One guy was playing and raising almost every hand and I was pretty card dead until the first break – any good starting hands would completely miss the flop and I donated a bunch of my chips to the young aggressive player.
At the break, SeektheGrail gave me some encouragement and reminded me to wait for good cards which turned out to be good advice – for me. After the break I finally get a reasonable hand – AA103 double suited – so I think I potted pre-flop and SeektheGrail came along with maybe one or two others. The flop wasn’t too scary and either SeektheGrail or I raised and there were just the two of us left. The turn gave me the nut flush draw, a straight draw, and I felt my Aces were pretty good so I ended up with all my chips in and SeektheGrail called. The river was kind and gave me the flush I was looking for and I doubled up while SeektheGrail went on life support. Unfortunately, two hands later I make the second nut flush only to lose a huge pot to the guy on my left who had the A high flush.
At the dinner break, I had 5000 chips left with blinds at $200 $400 and SeektheGrail was out. We went to the noodle place for dinner where I saw Kathy Liebert waiting in line (my only poker celebrity sighting of the trip – not that I really looked for them). After dinner, I did an early double up when my AAxx held up against a KKxx. I lost a few and won a few and around 1030pm we were down to 3 tables out of 102 entries. Top 13 paid out so I was within sight of making the money but I only had about 10 big blinds left so I knew I needed to win a big hand to stay in. At 11pm I decided to make my move with AAxx and this time, the villan’s KKxx made a flush and I was out in 20th.
Overall I was pleased that I made it so deep in my first big PLO tournament although it would have been nice to make it into the money. First place paid just under $7k and 13th was just under $700. I played some $1 $2 no limit for a while at the Venetian then called it a night.
Friday, Nov 9
Got up for the 9am Flamingo freeroll and busted early so I played cash for a while waiting for Moose to win the last longer and get his $200. We then headed to the Orleans were Moose, SeektheGrail and I entered the $75 HORSE tournament. This time we were all seated at different tables to start. They eventually had 39 entries and most were grumpy retired guys although there were a couple of younger women playing.
Not much happened for me for the first little while and I decided I was playing too tight and should use that image to my advantage. In a stud round I got 72 down and a 7 up and thought it might be fun to see this hand a bit further. There was only one bet so I called and see a 2 dealt to me and the other two players didn’t have anything scary up either, so I bet and was called by both. Next card is a blank for me but the player at the far end of the table now had 3 to the nut spade flush and the guy on my right had a pair of 8s showing. I wanted to see if Mr Flushdraw had anything so when the pair of 8s checked, I bet and Mr Flushdraw just called and so did the 8s. Next card is another blank for all of us and I end up being the bettor again with both calling. The guy with the 8s keeps staring at me like I have two heads since he obviously has the best hand with 8s showing but I remain calm and wait for 7th street which doesn’t help me. The 8s check again so I bet and this time Mr Flushdraw raises me so I’m a little concerned that maybe he hit his flush, but not too concerned since he had been so passive on previous streets. The 8s fold and I think for a bit then call. I was right, Mr Flushdraw missed his flush and only had a pair of Aces. I show my two pair 7s and 2s and the guy with 8s goes wild. He folded trip 8s and asks me if I thought I had the best hand. I told him I was a little worried about Mr Flushdraw but I thought he missed it and took a chance. The 8s mutters for a few more minutes until he folds his next hand then goes for a walk to calm down. Between hands the dealer leans over to me and told me my call was gutsy but he couldn’t believe the guy folded trip 8s with what was showing. Possibly not my best playing but I just had this sense that the guy missed his flush and did not put Mr 8s on trips at all since he never led the betting. If he had re-raised me at any point, I would have put him on at least 2 pair which would have beat my two pair and insta-folded. Oh well, it was a fun hand to play.
A few hands later in Stud 8, I get K7 down with a lucky 7 up so a call a bet and see K dealt to me. Hmm, two pair again – could I be lucky twice? I bet this time and get a few callers. Next card is another lucky 7 to me and I have the best hand showing with a pair of 7s so I lead the betting. The other up cards show no one is likely on a low draw so I’m pretty sure my boat will scoop the pot. I bet each time I can for the next cards which are irrelevant to me and confirm no low hands are possible. I get two callers all the way to 7th street where I show my boat and collect a nice pot.
Then I go card dead for a long time and my stack shrinks with a lot of bring ins and blinds. Moose gets moved to my table, replacing Mr 8s on my right and brings with him a very healthy chip stack. A little while later, SeektheGrail replaces the guy on my left and I’m stuck between two competent players with more chips than me. We get down to two tables and I can’t make any more hands work and go out in 14th. SeektheGrail and Moose go on to take 2nd and 3rd, winning me back my buyin since we had all swapped 10% of each other. I played cash waiting for them to finish and made $55 so overall the Orleans was good to me.
We head back to the M casino to get some more time in to qualify for their freeroll then off to bed.
Stopped in at Southpoint on the way to the freeroll at the M. It was a pretty quiet card room as it was mostly local retirees playing, but it was fun.
I go out early in the M freeroll when I go all in from the button with pocket 10s only to find the small blind was slow playing her pocket aces. Msmoose wins the last longer but none of us make it in the money.
We were late to our reservation at the Gordon Ramsey Steakhouse in Paris, but a quick phone call from Moose confirmed we could still get a table although we might wait a bit. It was a very good dinner and I had the Caesar salad, American Kobe Beef Rib Cap, sautéed spinach and a baked potato the size of a football. The food was excellent although a bit pricey as my bill came to $117 with tax and tip, plus $16 for wine. But it was a nice one-time indulgence.
We had planned to see Penn & Teller after Gordon Ramsey, but they had cancelled so we went off in search of more poker.
We head over to the Wynn to check out the scenery and play some poker. Compuease and Hellmuth’s Mole catch up with us there for few minutes then off to bed.
Sunday, Nov 11
A few more hours in Flamingo to qualify for Monday’s freeroll and try to win some splashed pots from their football promo. I get none of the bonus money but have a good time as the players really get into the games and enjoy themselves.
We head over to le Burger in Paris and request a table for 6 and wait for SeektheGrail, Comp and Hellmuth’s Mole to show up. I ordered fries with blue cheese and bacon (awesome if you love blue cheese) and get the Italian burger. SeektheGrail has a little trouble with his blood sugar but fortunately we brought along our own nurse, MsMoose who takes charge and saves the day.
Moose and I head over to IP to get into the famous Sunday night mixed game while SeektheGrail takes a short break to recover from dinner. I was disappointed to find the IP had only 2 tables going – the mixed game and a 2-4 limit game. Moose got a seat at the mixed game right away and I played 2-4 for a while. I finally get quads – AAAA – only to find out the IP must be the only poker room that does not pay a bonus for quads. SeektheGrail shows up a bit later and gets quad 3s, only to experience the same disappointment. I finally get into the mixed game which was a lot of fun. I didn’t stay too late as it was after midnight by the time I got to the table. The drink service at IP was essentially non-existent. Server came by maybe once an hour and frequently forgot orders. This was definitely the worst card room of the trip.
Monday, Nov 12
The Flamingo freeroll at 9am doesn’t see any of us in the money but SeektheGrail wins the last longer. We head back to the M casino for their Veterans Day promo – all our previous cash game playing there gave us entries into a drum (every time the dealer changed) from which they drew names every half hour for cash prizes. Despite all our combined entries, we miss everything although I managed to win two free buffet passes and MsMoose talked the poker room manager into another buffet pass. When the draws were over at 1030pm, we head back to the Flamingo and I get to bed early to rest up for my side trip on Tuesday.
Just after we arrived at the M, I witnessed what is definitely the funniest thing I’ve ever seen at a poker table. I sit down at a 2-4 limit table that is filled with retirees. I fold the first hand and watch as the flop gets dealt out. Suddenly, this tiny old grandma in the 4 seat starts yelling for the floor. She accuses the old guy in the 5 seat of shoving her. The floor comes over and the old guy complains the old lady keeps getting into his space and he just gently nudged her arm to get her out of his way. They go back and forth for a few minutes while the floor tries to calm them down. I struggle to keep my poker face on and not burst out laughing. The floor finally tells them both that if they don’t calm down, they will both have to leave. The floor puts a cup holder between them (the kind that slide under the rail) and tells them both to behave. One hand later, the old lady mutters again “he shoved me” and they almost get into it again until the dealer says he’s not dealing anymore until they be quiet. Next hand, the 9 seat opens up and neither of them will move to it so MsMoose sits down. A while later, the old lady’s husband shuffles up behind her and she goes on her “he shoved me” tirade all over again. MsMoose and I move to the 3-6 game which is opened by the floor. MsMoose sits down in the 4 seat and puts a pencil down on the felt to her left and tells the floor “this is my side” – the floor just shakes her head and we have a good laugh.
Tuesday, Nov 13
I get up early and have a quick breakfast so I can meet my shuttle which takes me to the airport in nearby Boulder, where I board a helicopter for a tour of the Grand Canyon with a fly over of the Hoover Dam. The weather was perfect – no clouds and no wind. I had a window seat so the views were fantastic. I’ll post a few pictures but they really don’t do it justice – it’s something you just need to experience in person. This was by far the highlight of my trip and something I would do again. Next time, I might pay a bit extra and go for a longer trip that takes you deeper into the canyon and you take off and land at LV airport instead of Boulder.
I get back and head back to the Venetian to pick up my free Deepstack T-shirt then over to the Mirage to play more poker with the Mooses. SeektheGrail joins us a bit later and head back to the M to eat our free buffet dinner which turned out to be very good. The M let us cash out our comps which turned out to be $25 (which means we played at least 25 hours of poker there).
After dinner we drive over to Green Valley Ranch casino where I make $2.50 off my free slot play but lose $29 at poker. The room was OK but the tables had wooden racetracks and the lighting wasn’t the best.
Wednesday, Nov 14 - final day (or so I thought)
We pack up, check out, and head to Terribles for a final breakfast. On the way to the airport, we stop for a photo at the welcome to Vegas sign then return the rental. We take the shuttle to the check in area of Spirit where SeektheGrail and I find out we are 3 minutes too late to get our boarding pass and our seats are gone! The Mooses had printed their boarding passes at the hotel for free since Moose has his platinum card but SeektheGrail and I didn’t and just planned to check in at the airport. The next flight where seats were available was the next day, so after getting over the initial shock, we book the flight and say a quick good-bye to the Mooses. SeektheGrail calls the Grail who confirms she can pick us up at Detroit airport and drive us home. I connect to the free wifi at the airport and we manage to find a room at the Flamingo for $30 so we book it and take a cab back to the strip and check back in to the Flamingo.
SeektheGrail heads back to the Venetian while I decide to take a walking tour of the south end of the strip. I end up in MGM which is under some renovation so it took a bit of work finding the poker room. It was pretty dead with only 2 tables of no limit and one of $2 $4 limit with open seats. I sit at the limit game for a few hours and find out half the table is two couples. They decide to leave which breaks the table and I head out to explore.
I walk over to the Tropicana but the poker room was empty and then over to Excalibur but they had only no limit games and a waiting list. I wandered through NY NY and found they do not have live poker so I stopped in at the Aria. The poker room was packed and they were spreading some PLO but it was $8 $16 which was a little high for me, and there was a waiting list for the other games so I wandered the casino a bit and found the tram to Bellagio.
The Bellagio is decadent and I felt a little underdressed in my jeans and hoodie, until I found the poker room. It was also very busy and waiting lists for all tables so I took another walk and made it out front of the fountains in time for the 530pm show. It was nice to watch – I took a few pictures with my Blackberry as I didn’t have my other camera with me.
I texted SeektheGrail that I was heading back to Flamingo and he joined me there around 1030pm. I was playing a $2 $4 game with a full kill, which confused every dealer who came to the table, since they usually do just a half kill. Lots of drunk idiots at the table who call with any two cards and often hit. I finally get a decent hand with KK and SeektheGrail raises, so we cap it pre-flop and after the flop. A J appears on the board which slows SeektheGrail down since he knows I like to play hands with a J and I just might have two this time. At showdown, I flip over the cowboys and he shows the bullets which takes most of my stack. Two hands later, I get AA and one of the drunks at the end of the table calls every one of my raises and manages to crack my aces with a 6 high flush and I’m done for the night.
Thursday, Nov 15
After a quick breakfast at the Flamingo, we cab it over to the airport at least 2 hours before our flight, just to be sure we don’t miss it. It was fortunate that neither of us had to go back to work that day anyway, and the Grail was willing to pick us up in Detroit. The flight was uneventful and I managed to sleep a bit and the Grail found us right after we landed. Crossing the border was easy and we stopped for food at Swiss Chalet in Windsor, then I was dropped off to get my vehicle in Woodstock. Moose had checked my suitcase (since he is a member of Spirit Air and it was supposed to be cheaper), and since I knew he had his Thursday night game going until midnight, I decided to drive there to get my luggage. I watched them wrap up the game then headed home, where I crawled into bed and slept until noon the next day.
I must have the best wife in the world since she didn’t mind too much that I was away an extra day, and I think she might even let me go back again although for sure it won’t be for 10 days. Overall, I was down in poker primarily due to the $300 PLO tournament buyin and consistent losing sessions at the M. But, this was a vacation for me and I stayed well within my budget (even with the extra night and added cost for the missed flight).
Many thanks to Moose and MsMoose for being the designated drivers of the rental car, and for making the trip extremely enjoyable. Thanks also to Comp and SeektheGrail for taking turns as my roommate at Flamingo, and a special thanks to the Grail for making the drive by herself to Detroit airport to pick us up (my wife thanks you too!).
Comments
Seekthegrail is there alone, perhaps he has a 2nd bed for that night?
Negative - UFC in Montreal on the 17th
Free jacket with 4 hours play on Wed. Looks like I will be heading there after breakfast instead of Palms.
Also Nov.12 they are having a Veteran's Day promo and giving polo's for 4 hours play.
Have a blast
Or here of course.
Ship that first VDSE and I'll be on my way!
Gl and have fun all.
You don't need to figure out twitter (or have an account). Just click on the link in the op of my BAP thread.. At least for mine..
I highly recomend the PH $75.00 tourneys - SUPER soft - I played 5 and cashed in 4!! Players usually chop top three to five, depending. These things funded our trip, pretty much...lotta guys don't like it because the "room" is in the middle of the casino, no walls, but I found it made the atmosphere fun...to each his own...have a blast!!
Good buffet, but for the price, need to be a seafood fan, otherwise not worth it IMO.
G/f luv'd it
Everyday during DSE, soup, salad, 2 meats, potatoes, veggies....not bad for free
There was no one there making sure u have tourney receipt, so I assume anyone can go.
Some random pics I took from the plane on the way in.
Planning on flying in Saturday evening but having trouble finding a decent price for hotel. Would seekthegrail have a bed for me to crash for a couple hours Saturday night (obv split the cost)? I have the Palms lined up for Sunday Monday nights.
I assume with the Palms being off the strip is it likely a $65 car rental will pay for itself over 3 days? With car maybe I can find a cheaper off site hotel in case Steve doesn't think he can handle me.
The Mooses got on the flight OK and Comp's flight was later so Steve and I get one bonus day of poker.
I will do a trip report when I get back as I'm using my Blackberry and typing is a pain.
Jac
haha...only $30 for an extra day of poker. WIN!
Jac
I had an incredible time and I think the best way to sum up my experience is to say to anyone on this forum who hasn’t been to Vegas yet – what are you waiting for? I’m definitely going back although I should probably wait a bit before broaching the subject with my wife.
A lot of credit goes to my travel companions – Moose, MsMoose, Compuease, and SeektheGrail (with an honorable mention to T8urmoney and Hellmuth’s Mole for joining us briefly). Travelling with people who have been there before really helped as they were able to make suggestions of things to do (ie different poker rooms to play at) and places to eat, although Moose eventually gave up asking me what I wanted to do next as I kept responding with “it doesn’t matter to me”. It was a truthful response as everything and anything was new to me and I’d already decided I would be returning to Vegas so it didn’t matter too much if I didn’t get to see / do everything I wanted to.
I didn’t take too many pictures so hopefully Moose posts a report with some of his, and he did tweet a few of me. I took some notes as I went along but not many detailed hand histories. I’ll try to do better next time.
Monday, Nov 5
Got picked up by the Mooses and SeektheGrail in Woodstock at the designated rendezvous point around 4pm and made it to Caesars Windsor in good time. Checked in, had a quick bite to eat then we used our direct bet money – I put mine on black at roulette and won my $15. Headed to the poker room where I had a winning session mostly thanks to some Moose chips that made their way into my stack. Didn’t stay too late and turned in early.
Tuesday, Nov 6
Quick breakfast at Tim’s then through to tunnel to confuse the US Border Guard on the amount of money we were bringing into their country. High roller – SeektheGrail – put our combined amount way over the $10k limit so we had the pleasure of seeing another agent inside who eventually understood that we each had our own money and no one was over the $10k on their own, so they let us go after MsMoose had almost finished filling in a form that wasn’t needed. Getting to the airport was easy and the flight was great.
In LV, we found Comp at the luggage area and SeektheGrail won luggage roulette. Over to the car rental area where the 5 of us squeezed into our Toyota Yaris – I’m pretty sure we exceeded the maximum recommended weight capacity and putting our seatbelts on in the back seat meant taking turns groping Comp but he didn’t seem to mind.
We dropped SeektheGrail off at the Monte Carlo and parked at the Flamingo where we found a huge line at check-in. The Mooses had their platinum card so they could skip the line but I noticed they had a separate line for Total Rewards Gold Card holders – and it was empty. Comp and I walked to the head of that line and go checked in faster than the Mooses – I don’t really understand why everyone doesn’t have a TR card but I guess that is one benefit of travelling with Moose. He made sure I made a trip to Caesar’s Windsor before I booked my room just to make sure I had TR card and earned some points. The room was OK, probably not nice enough for my wife but it was clean and the beds were comfortable, and the location is very central to the strip.
Down to the Flamingo poker room for what would be the start of many hours of mostly limit poker with occasional no-limit thrown in for variety. It is a fairly well run poker room although a bit crowded, sometimes noisy, and smoky. (My previous casino experience has been in Fallsview, Brantford, and Windsor which are completely smoke free so it took me a while to get used to second hand smoke drifting into the poker room.) We took a break from poker to head over to Ellis Island for the BBQ dinner where we met T8urmoney and his girlfriend. The food was a good as promised then we headed back to Flamingo to earn some more hours towards the Friday freeroll.
I think it was after midnight that Moose decided to teach me how to play craps so he led me and SeektheGrail to Casino Royale where I discovered I can throw the dice with the best of them. All three of us made money, although I still don’t understand the game completely.
Wednesday Nov 7
We made the drive out to the M casino which is a relatively new casino south of the strip in Henderson. It is a beautiful casino and their card room was the best in my opinion. Plenty of room, very friendly staff, lots of promos, and almost smoke free. Did I mention the beer menu? Over 90 different types of beer on tap from around the world. We played long enough to get our free jackets, which ended up costing me $120 in losses. On our way back to the strip, we stopped in at Joker’s Wild for some craps fun where I lost most of what I had won at craps at Casino Royal. Dinner was the buffet at Caesars which was very good and we didn’t have to wait in line very long. We put in some more time at Flamingo before calling it a night.
Thursday Nov 8
Some more poker for breakfast at Flamingo then we headed over to Hash House for lunch then to the Venetian where SeektheGrail and I put our $300 down for the 3pm PLO tournament while the Mooses played cash games. This was the only event I specifically wanted to play, primarily since PLO tournaments are non-existent in Ontario and I really like PLO. SeektheGrail and I ended up at the same table, and the rest of the players seemed to be either very competent or luckboxes. One guy was playing and raising almost every hand and I was pretty card dead until the first break – any good starting hands would completely miss the flop and I donated a bunch of my chips to the young aggressive player.
At the break, SeektheGrail gave me some encouragement and reminded me to wait for good cards which turned out to be good advice – for me. After the break I finally get a reasonable hand – AA103 double suited – so I think I potted pre-flop and SeektheGrail came along with maybe one or two others. The flop wasn’t too scary and either SeektheGrail or I raised and there were just the two of us left. The turn gave me the nut flush draw, a straight draw, and I felt my Aces were pretty good so I ended up with all my chips in and SeektheGrail called. The river was kind and gave me the flush I was looking for and I doubled up while SeektheGrail went on life support. Unfortunately, two hands later I make the second nut flush only to lose a huge pot to the guy on my left who had the A high flush.
At the dinner break, I had 5000 chips left with blinds at $200 $400 and SeektheGrail was out. We went to the noodle place for dinner where I saw Kathy Liebert waiting in line (my only poker celebrity sighting of the trip – not that I really looked for them). After dinner, I did an early double up when my AAxx held up against a KKxx. I lost a few and won a few and around 1030pm we were down to 3 tables out of 102 entries. Top 13 paid out so I was within sight of making the money but I only had about 10 big blinds left so I knew I needed to win a big hand to stay in. At 11pm I decided to make my move with AAxx and this time, the villan’s KKxx made a flush and I was out in 20th.
Overall I was pleased that I made it so deep in my first big PLO tournament although it would have been nice to make it into the money. First place paid just under $7k and 13th was just under $700. I played some $1 $2 no limit for a while at the Venetian then called it a night.
Friday, Nov 9
Got up for the 9am Flamingo freeroll and busted early so I played cash for a while waiting for Moose to win the last longer and get his $200. We then headed to the Orleans were Moose, SeektheGrail and I entered the $75 HORSE tournament. This time we were all seated at different tables to start. They eventually had 39 entries and most were grumpy retired guys although there were a couple of younger women playing.
Not much happened for me for the first little while and I decided I was playing too tight and should use that image to my advantage. In a stud round I got 72 down and a 7 up and thought it might be fun to see this hand a bit further. There was only one bet so I called and see a 2 dealt to me and the other two players didn’t have anything scary up either, so I bet and was called by both. Next card is a blank for me but the player at the far end of the table now had 3 to the nut spade flush and the guy on my right had a pair of 8s showing. I wanted to see if Mr Flushdraw had anything so when the pair of 8s checked, I bet and Mr Flushdraw just called and so did the 8s. Next card is another blank for all of us and I end up being the bettor again with both calling. The guy with the 8s keeps staring at me like I have two heads since he obviously has the best hand with 8s showing but I remain calm and wait for 7th street which doesn’t help me. The 8s check again so I bet and this time Mr Flushdraw raises me so I’m a little concerned that maybe he hit his flush, but not too concerned since he had been so passive on previous streets. The 8s fold and I think for a bit then call. I was right, Mr Flushdraw missed his flush and only had a pair of Aces. I show my two pair 7s and 2s and the guy with 8s goes wild. He folded trip 8s and asks me if I thought I had the best hand. I told him I was a little worried about Mr Flushdraw but I thought he missed it and took a chance. The 8s mutters for a few more minutes until he folds his next hand then goes for a walk to calm down. Between hands the dealer leans over to me and told me my call was gutsy but he couldn’t believe the guy folded trip 8s with what was showing. Possibly not my best playing but I just had this sense that the guy missed his flush and did not put Mr 8s on trips at all since he never led the betting. If he had re-raised me at any point, I would have put him on at least 2 pair which would have beat my two pair and insta-folded. Oh well, it was a fun hand to play.
A few hands later in Stud 8, I get K7 down with a lucky 7 up so a call a bet and see K dealt to me. Hmm, two pair again – could I be lucky twice? I bet this time and get a few callers. Next card is another lucky 7 to me and I have the best hand showing with a pair of 7s so I lead the betting. The other up cards show no one is likely on a low draw so I’m pretty sure my boat will scoop the pot. I bet each time I can for the next cards which are irrelevant to me and confirm no low hands are possible. I get two callers all the way to 7th street where I show my boat and collect a nice pot.
Then I go card dead for a long time and my stack shrinks with a lot of bring ins and blinds. Moose gets moved to my table, replacing Mr 8s on my right and brings with him a very healthy chip stack. A little while later, SeektheGrail replaces the guy on my left and I’m stuck between two competent players with more chips than me. We get down to two tables and I can’t make any more hands work and go out in 14th. SeektheGrail and Moose go on to take 2nd and 3rd, winning me back my buyin since we had all swapped 10% of each other. I played cash waiting for them to finish and made $55 so overall the Orleans was good to me.
We head back to the M casino to get some more time in to qualify for their freeroll then off to bed.
Stopped in at Southpoint on the way to the freeroll at the M. It was a pretty quiet card room as it was mostly local retirees playing, but it was fun.
I go out early in the M freeroll when I go all in from the button with pocket 10s only to find the small blind was slow playing her pocket aces. Msmoose wins the last longer but none of us make it in the money.
We were late to our reservation at the Gordon Ramsey Steakhouse in Paris, but a quick phone call from Moose confirmed we could still get a table although we might wait a bit. It was a very good dinner and I had the Caesar salad, American Kobe Beef Rib Cap, sautéed spinach and a baked potato the size of a football. The food was excellent although a bit pricey as my bill came to $117 with tax and tip, plus $16 for wine. But it was a nice one-time indulgence.
We had planned to see Penn & Teller after Gordon Ramsey, but they had cancelled so we went off in search of more poker.
We head over to the Wynn to check out the scenery and play some poker. Compuease and Hellmuth’s Mole catch up with us there for few minutes then off to bed.
Sunday, Nov 11
A few more hours in Flamingo to qualify for Monday’s freeroll and try to win some splashed pots from their football promo. I get none of the bonus money but have a good time as the players really get into the games and enjoy themselves.
We head over to le Burger in Paris and request a table for 6 and wait for SeektheGrail, Comp and Hellmuth’s Mole to show up. I ordered fries with blue cheese and bacon (awesome if you love blue cheese) and get the Italian burger. SeektheGrail has a little trouble with his blood sugar but fortunately we brought along our own nurse, MsMoose who takes charge and saves the day.
Moose and I head over to IP to get into the famous Sunday night mixed game while SeektheGrail takes a short break to recover from dinner. I was disappointed to find the IP had only 2 tables going – the mixed game and a 2-4 limit game. Moose got a seat at the mixed game right away and I played 2-4 for a while. I finally get quads – AAAA – only to find out the IP must be the only poker room that does not pay a bonus for quads. SeektheGrail shows up a bit later and gets quad 3s, only to experience the same disappointment. I finally get into the mixed game which was a lot of fun. I didn’t stay too late as it was after midnight by the time I got to the table. The drink service at IP was essentially non-existent. Server came by maybe once an hour and frequently forgot orders. This was definitely the worst card room of the trip.
Monday, Nov 12
The Flamingo freeroll at 9am doesn’t see any of us in the money but SeektheGrail wins the last longer. We head back to the M casino for their Veterans Day promo – all our previous cash game playing there gave us entries into a drum (every time the dealer changed) from which they drew names every half hour for cash prizes. Despite all our combined entries, we miss everything although I managed to win two free buffet passes and MsMoose talked the poker room manager into another buffet pass. When the draws were over at 1030pm, we head back to the Flamingo and I get to bed early to rest up for my side trip on Tuesday.
Just after we arrived at the M, I witnessed what is definitely the funniest thing I’ve ever seen at a poker table. I sit down at a 2-4 limit table that is filled with retirees. I fold the first hand and watch as the flop gets dealt out. Suddenly, this tiny old grandma in the 4 seat starts yelling for the floor. She accuses the old guy in the 5 seat of shoving her. The floor comes over and the old guy complains the old lady keeps getting into his space and he just gently nudged her arm to get her out of his way. They go back and forth for a few minutes while the floor tries to calm them down. I struggle to keep my poker face on and not burst out laughing. The floor finally tells them both that if they don’t calm down, they will both have to leave. The floor puts a cup holder between them (the kind that slide under the rail) and tells them both to behave. One hand later, the old lady mutters again “he shoved me” and they almost get into it again until the dealer says he’s not dealing anymore until they be quiet. Next hand, the 9 seat opens up and neither of them will move to it so MsMoose sits down. A while later, the old lady’s husband shuffles up behind her and she goes on her “he shoved me” tirade all over again. MsMoose and I move to the 3-6 game which is opened by the floor. MsMoose sits down in the 4 seat and puts a pencil down on the felt to her left and tells the floor “this is my side” – the floor just shakes her head and we have a good laugh.
Tuesday, Nov 13
I get up early and have a quick breakfast so I can meet my shuttle which takes me to the airport in nearby Boulder, where I board a helicopter for a tour of the Grand Canyon with a fly over of the Hoover Dam. The weather was perfect – no clouds and no wind. I had a window seat so the views were fantastic. I’ll post a few pictures but they really don’t do it justice – it’s something you just need to experience in person. This was by far the highlight of my trip and something I would do again. Next time, I might pay a bit extra and go for a longer trip that takes you deeper into the canyon and you take off and land at LV airport instead of Boulder.
I get back and head back to the Venetian to pick up my free Deepstack T-shirt then over to the Mirage to play more poker with the Mooses. SeektheGrail joins us a bit later and head back to the M to eat our free buffet dinner which turned out to be very good. The M let us cash out our comps which turned out to be $25 (which means we played at least 25 hours of poker there).
After dinner we drive over to Green Valley Ranch casino where I make $2.50 off my free slot play but lose $29 at poker. The room was OK but the tables had wooden racetracks and the lighting wasn’t the best.
Wednesday, Nov 14 - final day (or so I thought)
We pack up, check out, and head to Terribles for a final breakfast. On the way to the airport, we stop for a photo at the welcome to Vegas sign then return the rental. We take the shuttle to the check in area of Spirit where SeektheGrail and I find out we are 3 minutes too late to get our boarding pass and our seats are gone! The Mooses had printed their boarding passes at the hotel for free since Moose has his platinum card but SeektheGrail and I didn’t and just planned to check in at the airport. The next flight where seats were available was the next day, so after getting over the initial shock, we book the flight and say a quick good-bye to the Mooses. SeektheGrail calls the Grail who confirms she can pick us up at Detroit airport and drive us home. I connect to the free wifi at the airport and we manage to find a room at the Flamingo for $30 so we book it and take a cab back to the strip and check back in to the Flamingo.
SeektheGrail heads back to the Venetian while I decide to take a walking tour of the south end of the strip. I end up in MGM which is under some renovation so it took a bit of work finding the poker room. It was pretty dead with only 2 tables of no limit and one of $2 $4 limit with open seats. I sit at the limit game for a few hours and find out half the table is two couples. They decide to leave which breaks the table and I head out to explore.
I walk over to the Tropicana but the poker room was empty and then over to Excalibur but they had only no limit games and a waiting list. I wandered through NY NY and found they do not have live poker so I stopped in at the Aria. The poker room was packed and they were spreading some PLO but it was $8 $16 which was a little high for me, and there was a waiting list for the other games so I wandered the casino a bit and found the tram to Bellagio.
The Bellagio is decadent and I felt a little underdressed in my jeans and hoodie, until I found the poker room. It was also very busy and waiting lists for all tables so I took another walk and made it out front of the fountains in time for the 530pm show. It was nice to watch – I took a few pictures with my Blackberry as I didn’t have my other camera with me.
I texted SeektheGrail that I was heading back to Flamingo and he joined me there around 1030pm. I was playing a $2 $4 game with a full kill, which confused every dealer who came to the table, since they usually do just a half kill. Lots of drunk idiots at the table who call with any two cards and often hit. I finally get a decent hand with KK and SeektheGrail raises, so we cap it pre-flop and after the flop. A J appears on the board which slows SeektheGrail down since he knows I like to play hands with a J and I just might have two this time. At showdown, I flip over the cowboys and he shows the bullets which takes most of my stack. Two hands later, I get AA and one of the drunks at the end of the table calls every one of my raises and manages to crack my aces with a 6 high flush and I’m done for the night.
Thursday, Nov 15
After a quick breakfast at the Flamingo, we cab it over to the airport at least 2 hours before our flight, just to be sure we don’t miss it. It was fortunate that neither of us had to go back to work that day anyway, and the Grail was willing to pick us up in Detroit. The flight was uneventful and I managed to sleep a bit and the Grail found us right after we landed. Crossing the border was easy and we stopped for food at Swiss Chalet in Windsor, then I was dropped off to get my vehicle in Woodstock. Moose had checked my suitcase (since he is a member of Spirit Air and it was supposed to be cheaper), and since I knew he had his Thursday night game going until midnight, I decided to drive there to get my luggage. I watched them wrap up the game then headed home, where I crawled into bed and slept until noon the next day.
I must have the best wife in the world since she didn’t mind too much that I was away an extra day, and I think she might even let me go back again although for sure it won’t be for 10 days. Overall, I was down in poker primarily due to the $300 PLO tournament buyin and consistent losing sessions at the M. But, this was a vacation for me and I stayed well within my budget (even with the extra night and added cost for the missed flight).
Many thanks to Moose and MsMoose for being the designated drivers of the rental car, and for making the trip extremely enjoyable. Thanks also to Comp and SeektheGrail for taking turns as my roommate at Flamingo, and a special thanks to the Grail for making the drive by herself to Detroit airport to pick us up (my wife thanks you too!).