BBC Z's Oct 13th - Oct 16th Las Vegas Trip Report (w/ hork42 & buddy) - Day 1
Vegas trip report day 1:
Preamble: Hork42 has three final days of freedom before the ‘bun in the oven’, so it’s Vegas for 3 days while his wife is at some sewing convention. We find a third person (Kevin) and we’re set.
Warning #1: I’m writing this report on my 3 hour flight from Vegas -> Pittsburgh. I’ve got a LOT of time to kill, so I think this thing will be pretty long and rambling. Buyers beware. There weren’t too many memorable hands so it’s more about the experience than the poker.
Warning #2: This was my first trip to Vegas, so I’m sure it translates into the most mundane things seeming interesting.
Day 1: - The MGM Grand. Thursday Night/Friday Morning
Fly to Vegas and arrive at 10pm Local time (1am ET). Pick up our bags, rental car (The worlds ugliest car, a white dodge magnum) and head over to the Boardwalk. Boardwalk is a very nice, cheap, convenient hotel. It features easy access to MGM / Bellagio / Aladdin towards the end of the strip. Anyway, we check in and proceed to go through the first of many arguments and indecisions of the trip. Kevin and I want to eat, but we can’t figure out where to go. Hork42 refuses to eat anything off the boardwalk, so it’s off to the MGM we go. I pick up a cheap-o hotdog while Hork and Kevin go and find some McDonalds allegedly on site. They return after an hour, play for about 45 minutes and leave.
Now.. MGM.. VERY nice poker room. Very open, yet the machines are far enough away that noise doesn’t become a problem <although noise WILL be a problem in a few hours>. Room’s right by their nightclub, so there’s plenty of talent to watch stroll by if tight poker bores you. It was a very young crowd. I assume this is because all the oldies are downtown or at the Stardust. Stakes ranging on the low end of the spectrum 2-4 -> 4-8 and 1-2 2-5 NL. I proceed to sit down at a normal loose 2/4 table. It’s about 2am ET now so I sure don’t feel like I’m bringing in the A game to the table but its VEGAS, you gotta be gambling if you are awake.
A side piece of information. Three of us are on the trip, one hotel room. Two beds and I am a miserable sleeper with people around me. Hork and Kevin plan a golf tee-time the next day for 1pm. I decide that rather than spooning with Hork or Kevin, I’ll stay away until they go out so I’ll have the room to myself to catch up on the missing sleep.
So I sit in this 2/4 game. I decide early on that this is going to be my drinking night; poker is a mere pretense to the availability of alcohol. The plan being that on the subsequent days, I’ll play higher limits sober. Back history tells me I’m a terrible drunken player so 2/4 is a perfect fit. Everyone at the table is 35 or younger and boozing it up like there’s no tomorrow. Ok enough rambling, how about a little poker content? I’ve had about 8 drinks when the following transpires (long after Hork and Kevin go back to the room).
Two buddies are playing in Seat 1 and Seat 9. I’m in seat 4 and the button’s somewhere around seat 1. I pick up AJs and open raise. Seat9 (S9) three bets and S1 4 bets. I call thinking it’s capped. S9 5-bets. MGM uses a bet and 4 raises cap system. So it’s capped and we have 4 or 5 players to the flop. Yes, we’re drunk. Flop comes 9 high with one spade and one club. S9 bets, S1 raises, I call, S9 3-bets, S1-4 bets and I’ve had enough I fold. But I gotta know what the hell these guy are playing. Obviously, I’m expecting an AA/KK/QQ showdown. Back story on S9, he’s pretty tight and he likes talking to people about strategy and enjoys berating players for bizarre plays. I don’t like the guy. The turn is heads-up and brings a low spade and it goes bet/call. River is a spade and it’s (S9) bet/raise/call. S1 shows down 56s. I ask the dealer to show S9’s hand. S9 goes into an UPROAR not understanding why I can do that. I just say it’s the rule. Now, I realize now that it was TRES uncool of my to do it, but you try thinking rationally after those Heinekens. S9 proceeds to tilt off about his last $40 over the next 3 hands and tells me to F-off as he leaves. I have to admit, I did enjoy putting a table coach rock on tilt like that.
Fast-forward a few more hours. A few new faces, S1 and S9 are long gone. I’m about 12ish Heinekens into the game and having a blast. Someone suggests the entire table do jagerbombs. Unsurprisingly, EVERYONE agrees. 10 drinks are brought to the table and they all go down. “â€Who’s up for another?†Bam, within about 15 min we’ve got the entire tabling going again. Now it’s around 5am, there three games going on. Another 2/4 HE and a 2/4 Crazy Pineapple game along with the various NL games going on the distant/hidden side of the room. The HE table is about two rows away from us and the pineapple table is about 4. As I get up from to go to the washroom, I hear the pineapple table talking about doing a collective jagerbomb. I immediately stop in the tracks and call the table a complete bunch of wannabes who have to come up with fruity alternate games because they can’t handle the complexity of holdem. Well needless to say that didn’t go over too well with the equally drunken pineapple table. At first, the pineapplers invite me to in their game to which I respond “There’s no way I’m sitting at a table with all that brown trout at it†to which I get 3-4 confirmation nods. Little did I know I had just started a turf war. They would start shouting from their table at us, and we’d reciprocate. Some guys would fold and come over and talk some smack. It was just priceless. Finally the floor came over and told us all to shut up or he’d kick the entire table out of the room. I remarked (rather loudly I find out later) that there’s no way they’d ever kick out a full table at 6am. Jagerbombs are proposed again and we find out that the floor has cut our collective drink ordered capacity. Single orders only and even certain players are cut off. SURPRISINGLY, this BBC Z wasn’t one of them. So my beers keep coming. After one of my many bathroom trips, I walk past the floor. I ask him if he did in fact cut the entire table off. He says that he did and proceeds to tell me to watch out or he’ll kick me out of the room. I ask why and apparently, he overheard my comment about them never kicking us all out. He says “Yes, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again if I have to.†I profusely apologize to him and return to my seat.
Eventually, the pineapple game breaks up and it’s 9am local time. Who walks into the room? Hork and there’s a seat open on my left. I talk to him about whatever (I can barely recall anything). He tells me later that I was shouting so loud at him for the half hour he sat down that he had a splitting headache. Score another one for the Z man at getting those tight aggressive off the table.
Cue to 10am, I’ve stopped drinking because I notice I’m on the verge of spinning and switch to waters in a far-too-late attempt at re-hydration. At 11:30am, I’m sitting 3 off the button barely able to hold my head up when my ‘table buddy’ who had recently left the game comes over and tells me I look like hell. I agree and figure with Hork awake I’m good to go back to the room and sleep.
Funny side story: I had originally signed for the rental car and had the car keys on me most of the night. Obviously Hork and Kevin needed them to get to the golf course. I COULD NOT remember if I actually gave Hork the keys or not and pretty much stressed about losing them at the poker room. So my walk back to boardwalk was one of drunken stress about what I’m going to do when I get back to the room, see both guys sitting there waiting for me to give non-existent keys to them.
I’m relieved when no one is in the room.
I go to sleep at noon.
End of day one and probably the most fun I’ve had playing poker in my life.
I’m down -$30 after spending most of the night down $100-$140. I call it a good start considering how much fun I had.
EDIT #1: S9 had KK.
Edit #2: Providing link to Day 2: http://www.pokerforum.ca/forum/index.php?topic=6301.0
Preamble: Hork42 has three final days of freedom before the ‘bun in the oven’, so it’s Vegas for 3 days while his wife is at some sewing convention. We find a third person (Kevin) and we’re set.
Warning #1: I’m writing this report on my 3 hour flight from Vegas -> Pittsburgh. I’ve got a LOT of time to kill, so I think this thing will be pretty long and rambling. Buyers beware. There weren’t too many memorable hands so it’s more about the experience than the poker.
Warning #2: This was my first trip to Vegas, so I’m sure it translates into the most mundane things seeming interesting.
Day 1: - The MGM Grand. Thursday Night/Friday Morning
Fly to Vegas and arrive at 10pm Local time (1am ET). Pick up our bags, rental car (The worlds ugliest car, a white dodge magnum) and head over to the Boardwalk. Boardwalk is a very nice, cheap, convenient hotel. It features easy access to MGM / Bellagio / Aladdin towards the end of the strip. Anyway, we check in and proceed to go through the first of many arguments and indecisions of the trip. Kevin and I want to eat, but we can’t figure out where to go. Hork42 refuses to eat anything off the boardwalk, so it’s off to the MGM we go. I pick up a cheap-o hotdog while Hork and Kevin go and find some McDonalds allegedly on site. They return after an hour, play for about 45 minutes and leave.
Now.. MGM.. VERY nice poker room. Very open, yet the machines are far enough away that noise doesn’t become a problem <although noise WILL be a problem in a few hours>. Room’s right by their nightclub, so there’s plenty of talent to watch stroll by if tight poker bores you. It was a very young crowd. I assume this is because all the oldies are downtown or at the Stardust. Stakes ranging on the low end of the spectrum 2-4 -> 4-8 and 1-2 2-5 NL. I proceed to sit down at a normal loose 2/4 table. It’s about 2am ET now so I sure don’t feel like I’m bringing in the A game to the table but its VEGAS, you gotta be gambling if you are awake.
A side piece of information. Three of us are on the trip, one hotel room. Two beds and I am a miserable sleeper with people around me. Hork and Kevin plan a golf tee-time the next day for 1pm. I decide that rather than spooning with Hork or Kevin, I’ll stay away until they go out so I’ll have the room to myself to catch up on the missing sleep.
So I sit in this 2/4 game. I decide early on that this is going to be my drinking night; poker is a mere pretense to the availability of alcohol. The plan being that on the subsequent days, I’ll play higher limits sober. Back history tells me I’m a terrible drunken player so 2/4 is a perfect fit. Everyone at the table is 35 or younger and boozing it up like there’s no tomorrow. Ok enough rambling, how about a little poker content? I’ve had about 8 drinks when the following transpires (long after Hork and Kevin go back to the room).
Two buddies are playing in Seat 1 and Seat 9. I’m in seat 4 and the button’s somewhere around seat 1. I pick up AJs and open raise. Seat9 (S9) three bets and S1 4 bets. I call thinking it’s capped. S9 5-bets. MGM uses a bet and 4 raises cap system. So it’s capped and we have 4 or 5 players to the flop. Yes, we’re drunk. Flop comes 9 high with one spade and one club. S9 bets, S1 raises, I call, S9 3-bets, S1-4 bets and I’ve had enough I fold. But I gotta know what the hell these guy are playing. Obviously, I’m expecting an AA/KK/QQ showdown. Back story on S9, he’s pretty tight and he likes talking to people about strategy and enjoys berating players for bizarre plays. I don’t like the guy. The turn is heads-up and brings a low spade and it goes bet/call. River is a spade and it’s (S9) bet/raise/call. S1 shows down 56s. I ask the dealer to show S9’s hand. S9 goes into an UPROAR not understanding why I can do that. I just say it’s the rule. Now, I realize now that it was TRES uncool of my to do it, but you try thinking rationally after those Heinekens. S9 proceeds to tilt off about his last $40 over the next 3 hands and tells me to F-off as he leaves. I have to admit, I did enjoy putting a table coach rock on tilt like that.
Fast-forward a few more hours. A few new faces, S1 and S9 are long gone. I’m about 12ish Heinekens into the game and having a blast. Someone suggests the entire table do jagerbombs. Unsurprisingly, EVERYONE agrees. 10 drinks are brought to the table and they all go down. “â€Who’s up for another?†Bam, within about 15 min we’ve got the entire tabling going again. Now it’s around 5am, there three games going on. Another 2/4 HE and a 2/4 Crazy Pineapple game along with the various NL games going on the distant/hidden side of the room. The HE table is about two rows away from us and the pineapple table is about 4. As I get up from to go to the washroom, I hear the pineapple table talking about doing a collective jagerbomb. I immediately stop in the tracks and call the table a complete bunch of wannabes who have to come up with fruity alternate games because they can’t handle the complexity of holdem. Well needless to say that didn’t go over too well with the equally drunken pineapple table. At first, the pineapplers invite me to in their game to which I respond “There’s no way I’m sitting at a table with all that brown trout at it†to which I get 3-4 confirmation nods. Little did I know I had just started a turf war. They would start shouting from their table at us, and we’d reciprocate. Some guys would fold and come over and talk some smack. It was just priceless. Finally the floor came over and told us all to shut up or he’d kick the entire table out of the room. I remarked (rather loudly I find out later) that there’s no way they’d ever kick out a full table at 6am. Jagerbombs are proposed again and we find out that the floor has cut our collective drink ordered capacity. Single orders only and even certain players are cut off. SURPRISINGLY, this BBC Z wasn’t one of them. So my beers keep coming. After one of my many bathroom trips, I walk past the floor. I ask him if he did in fact cut the entire table off. He says that he did and proceeds to tell me to watch out or he’ll kick me out of the room. I ask why and apparently, he overheard my comment about them never kicking us all out. He says “Yes, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again if I have to.†I profusely apologize to him and return to my seat.
Eventually, the pineapple game breaks up and it’s 9am local time. Who walks into the room? Hork and there’s a seat open on my left. I talk to him about whatever (I can barely recall anything). He tells me later that I was shouting so loud at him for the half hour he sat down that he had a splitting headache. Score another one for the Z man at getting those tight aggressive off the table.
Cue to 10am, I’ve stopped drinking because I notice I’m on the verge of spinning and switch to waters in a far-too-late attempt at re-hydration. At 11:30am, I’m sitting 3 off the button barely able to hold my head up when my ‘table buddy’ who had recently left the game comes over and tells me I look like hell. I agree and figure with Hork awake I’m good to go back to the room and sleep.
Funny side story: I had originally signed for the rental car and had the car keys on me most of the night. Obviously Hork and Kevin needed them to get to the golf course. I COULD NOT remember if I actually gave Hork the keys or not and pretty much stressed about losing them at the poker room. So my walk back to boardwalk was one of drunken stress about what I’m going to do when I get back to the room, see both guys sitting there waiting for me to give non-existent keys to them.
I’m relieved when no one is in the room.
I go to sleep at noon.
End of day one and probably the most fun I’ve had playing poker in my life.
I’m down -$30 after spending most of the night down $100-$140. I call it a good start considering how much fun I had.
EDIT #1: S9 had KK.
Edit #2: Providing link to Day 2: http://www.pokerforum.ca/forum/index.php?topic=6301.0
Comments
i felt like i was right there with you
Nice post BBC Z, a good read.....sounds like a blast.
Very good so far!!
Can't wait to read about the hangover.
... I can see it now.... a white dodge magnum... up and down the strip... radio pumping out... "The boys are back in town!"