Vegas TR - April 2013
5 days in Vegas and still hungry for more.
Never done a TR before so I'll keep it brief as not to bore you all.
DAY 1 (Thursday):
Late arrival, so just played a short $1/$3 session at TI (we were staying there) to get my feet wet. New room is in a better location than before, but the action was dead. One table, 7 players, all nits. Apparently, that's who the $55 tourneys are attracting, according to the dealers. Too bad - it's a nice room, well run, good dealers, good comps. Got bored so started to get creative and blew off my stack.
DAY 2 (Friday):
Headed to the Wynn around 4pm. Was standing at the brush waiting for a seat when a tall man dressed in a black sweatsuit and black baseball hat walks up next to me and asks for a private table. Yes, it was indeed Phil Hellmuth. He ended up playing chinese poker with one of the original Facebook guys for $400 a point.
I played a full $1/$3 session, but again, very nitty. Most buying in for $200 or less on a $500 max table. Hands played themselves for the most part, as there was very little bluffing. I was getting hands so played relatively tight and had a small profit but ran KK into AA twice in an hour and that was the end of my night, down another $500.
DAY 3 (Saturday):
After a full day of shopping with the family, played the 7pm $55 tourney at TI - finished 6th of 30 for no cash. Then headed to the Venetian for some $1/$2. More grinding. Won a big hand with flopped flush over flopped set, followed by more grinding, and finished the night +$100.
DAY 4 (Sunday):
Too a fabulous Dunebuggy excursion in the morning - highly recommended! Then nap and dinner at Margaritaville (love that place) and then poker. Enough of this grinding crap - off to the ARIA!
Great action room, even with only a $300 max on the $1/$3 tables. Stacks were deep, good mix of players, room was packed. Was able to play my normal game with success. A few hands in I made a preflop raise UTG with 58 suited, flopped the nut straight and got paid off and stacked a guy. After that, I got no credit for having a hand and turned flopped a set of 5s into a $1000 pot.
Finished the night +$1650.
DAY 5 (Monday):
Brunch at Hash House a Go-GO was disappointing. I don't know if it's because I had built it up too high in my mind, or if people just love the portion sizes, but we found the food to be bland. Portions were huge, as advertised, but we found it wasteful. Also, they had stopped their full breakfast menu at 11am so chioces were limited.
CSI experience afterwards was pretty fun and interesting, especially if you watch the show. It wasn't quite as engaging as I had hoped, but you definitely get your $30 worth.
Back to the ARIA in the evening. Only 6 $1/$3 tables running, but action was still good. Played with several of the same ppl from the night before, so it was like a continuation of the same session. Nothing as exciting as the night before, but made a nice $450 profit.
Overall, great trip.
Total Profit/Loss: +$1200
Lesson learned: play at the ARIA.
Highlight: meeting Hellmuth at the Wynn
Disappointment: Hash House A Go-Go
I will post the details of the big hand in the appropriate section if you care to see how it played out and/or critique the play.
Also, I have some thoughts on Vegas for families. If anyone is interested I will post them later.
Never done a TR before so I'll keep it brief as not to bore you all.
DAY 1 (Thursday):
Late arrival, so just played a short $1/$3 session at TI (we were staying there) to get my feet wet. New room is in a better location than before, but the action was dead. One table, 7 players, all nits. Apparently, that's who the $55 tourneys are attracting, according to the dealers. Too bad - it's a nice room, well run, good dealers, good comps. Got bored so started to get creative and blew off my stack.
DAY 2 (Friday):
Headed to the Wynn around 4pm. Was standing at the brush waiting for a seat when a tall man dressed in a black sweatsuit and black baseball hat walks up next to me and asks for a private table. Yes, it was indeed Phil Hellmuth. He ended up playing chinese poker with one of the original Facebook guys for $400 a point.
I played a full $1/$3 session, but again, very nitty. Most buying in for $200 or less on a $500 max table. Hands played themselves for the most part, as there was very little bluffing. I was getting hands so played relatively tight and had a small profit but ran KK into AA twice in an hour and that was the end of my night, down another $500.
DAY 3 (Saturday):
After a full day of shopping with the family, played the 7pm $55 tourney at TI - finished 6th of 30 for no cash. Then headed to the Venetian for some $1/$2. More grinding. Won a big hand with flopped flush over flopped set, followed by more grinding, and finished the night +$100.
DAY 4 (Sunday):
Too a fabulous Dunebuggy excursion in the morning - highly recommended! Then nap and dinner at Margaritaville (love that place) and then poker. Enough of this grinding crap - off to the ARIA!
Great action room, even with only a $300 max on the $1/$3 tables. Stacks were deep, good mix of players, room was packed. Was able to play my normal game with success. A few hands in I made a preflop raise UTG with 58 suited, flopped the nut straight and got paid off and stacked a guy. After that, I got no credit for having a hand and turned flopped a set of 5s into a $1000 pot.
Finished the night +$1650.
DAY 5 (Monday):
Brunch at Hash House a Go-GO was disappointing. I don't know if it's because I had built it up too high in my mind, or if people just love the portion sizes, but we found the food to be bland. Portions were huge, as advertised, but we found it wasteful. Also, they had stopped their full breakfast menu at 11am so chioces were limited.
CSI experience afterwards was pretty fun and interesting, especially if you watch the show. It wasn't quite as engaging as I had hoped, but you definitely get your $30 worth.
Back to the ARIA in the evening. Only 6 $1/$3 tables running, but action was still good. Played with several of the same ppl from the night before, so it was like a continuation of the same session. Nothing as exciting as the night before, but made a nice $450 profit.
Overall, great trip.
Total Profit/Loss: +$1200
Lesson learned: play at the ARIA.
Highlight: meeting Hellmuth at the Wynn
Disappointment: Hash House A Go-Go
I will post the details of the big hand in the appropriate section if you care to see how it played out and/or critique the play.
Also, I have some thoughts on Vegas for families. If anyone is interested I will post them later.
Comments
Yeah, I had a woody for a few hrs afterwards
Nice guy too - not like on TV.
Plus, I got a pretty good deal at $100 a night all in.
Poker room sux. Not nearly as good as it was last year. Better location tho. The burger/dog joint next door is good and takes comps.
Wife loved it which at the end of the day was all that mattered.
1. Stay at a quiet or familly oriented resort. Our experience at TI was very nice as it gave us a change to get away from all the "hoopla" on the strip. We also felt that Excalibur would be a good choice as it had mostly families staying there from what we could see, and they had interesting things for the kids to do within the resort. Downside of TI was the pool. Small and crowded with partiers. Need a multi-pool resort such as MGM.
2. Go during off-season. It wasn't super busy when we were there, so the days were pretty tame, but my kids didn't feel comfortable being on the strip after dinner, once the younger crowd got going.
3. Plan LOTS of activities. Kids get bored easily and aimlessly walking the strip is not fun for them. Also, this will allow them to rest at the hotel in the evenings when the strip livens up. They will also sleep later, which leaves more poker time.
4. Schedule your family time and poker time to avoid conflicts. We had a routine that worked really well for us: Brekkie at 10am, family activities 10am till 6pm, dinner at the hotel, then poker time from 8pm till I got tired (usually 5 or 6 am), then sleep.
5. Don't waste your money on nice restaurants. The food courts are good with lots of choices. We found Venetian and Fashion Show Mall to have the best ones. Also, you can take it back to your room and get the kids settled in a little earlier.
6. Passes for the busses are well worth it. $8 for a 24-hr pass can get you lots of places, including downtown, outlet malls, and all the stops along the strip. Cuts down on the walking and provides a break from the heat.
7. Don't let your kids hug the characters on the strip, even if it is Spongebob or Hello Kitty - eeew!
That's all I can think of right now. I will make additions if other thoughts come to mind.
Good call on the characters.
People leave Vegas with $$$ ? Isn't that against the law?
In order of enjoyment by the kids:
1. Dunebuggy ride in the desert. Expensive, but way cool and fun for everyone. *****
2. CSI Experience - great value at $30 pp. *****
3. Shopping - 1 day at fashion show mall, and 1 day at the outlet malls. ( I have teenage girls, ugh!). ****
4. Eating take out in bed in front of the TV at the hotel - apparently an activity in my family. ****
5. Excalibur Fun Dungeon - nice for a cool rest for Mom and Dad and fun for the kids for a couple of hours. ***
Only if they find out.
1. Circus Circus is a dive.
2. Most hotels let kids stay free if you just don't tell them the kids are with you. We didn't pay extra for our kids at TI.
3. I wouldn't take a smaller child - even at 12 and 14 my kids were still apprehensive.
3. I shouldn't have to say this, but, I cannot emphasize this point enough:
NEVER LEAVE YOUR KID WITH STRANGERS IN VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Depends on what you want to do. Everywhere we went was accessible by bus and that also meant I didn't have to attend the full shopping extravaganza with the women.
Also, I'm on vacay. I don't want to be saddled with the responsibility of a rental car and navigation.
We saw a Hello Kitty that looked more like Smelly Cat from Friends, a Spongebob that looked like he just washed up on shore, and a strangely deformed/mutated Mickey & Minnie.
And you can hug the Cleopatra with the adam's apple and back hair all you want. Have at er!
Disagree on car rental... That is the best... Buses are generally crowded and slow. Monorail is fine but not convenient... Cabs are ok but the cost can really add up if you are moving around much..
but what do I know?
IMO, LV is not a place for anyone under 21. Seriously, go alone or with other adults and buy the kids a trip somewhere appropriate for children with your winnings.
Ditto to that!