Last Vegas update. Phew

This trip report seemed like it was never going to end, but alas here we are.

The next day I leave my hotel. I was staying another day but the room rate at the Luxor shot up from 140 to 350 so I went to a place a little off the strip. We actually spend the better part of the morning trying to find it because when booking it online it I saw the name Tropicana. I assumed it was the tropicana hotel so after driving, waiting in line for an hour, finding out its not our hotel, checking out the internet, finding our hotel it's now kind of late. =( After we get settled in around 3:30 pm I hit up the pool with my friend then get ready for the 2+2 meet and greet we had friday night and Red Rock casino.

We go to a BBQ style restaurant called salt licks I believe, and have a nice meal and chat. Some of these guys are degenerate gamblers to the fullest. They feel the need to gamble so much that someone guys and buys a rack of reds chips just so they could gamble at the table while waiting for our food.

At the other end they proceed to do about 10 100$ flips of Omaha Hi with the last one being a 6 way flip. This is where each person in puts 100$ in before getting their cards then the flop turn and river are dealt and the person with the best hand wins the pot.


Finally casino security come into the restaurant and tell them they can't gamble in there and all gambling has to stop.

We eat a ncie meal and head over to ceasars where TT (moderator from 2+2 forums) has reserved us 4 tables for a 2-4 limit mix game of what ever we want. A few people show up there like tuff_fish, and Mason Malmuth. I was too concerned with drinking and having fun in a low limit game though to want to chat it up with others not at my table. We do some shots and pound some drinks.

Vanessa Selbst sits at my table about 1k deep, and she introduces herself to all of us and asks us who we are. I used to play with her at 1-2 games at foxwoods back in the day but she obviously didn't remember me. For those that don't know she played in a NL hoold'em tournament at the WSOP in 2006. She was the girl who shoved all in preflop with 52 of spades against someones aces. A funny hand occured while playing a game called 2-7 triple draw. It's a draw game where there are 3 rounds that you can discard and draw a new one. The object is to make the best 5 card low hand, so the best hand is 7 5 4 3 2. I haven't played this game in over a year but a funny hand happens.

I pick up a 432 with 2 high cards and I get in the action and draw 2 cards. I draw almost the best possible cards for my hand, 85. So Vanessa bets out after the draw and a few people call and I raise. She thinks I'm full of it and I tell her I have a very good low. she calls me and I stand pat (I do not draw any other cards). She calls both other draws where I stand pat as well and after the hand I turn mine up and say well I have the second nuts so it's going to be hard to beat me. I was actually wrong here. Then she proceeds to berate me for my miscalculation of the 2nd nut low and didn't realize my 85432 was not lower then a 76432, but I scooped the pot anyhow with the 3rd nuts.

So we play some exciting badugi, 2-7 TD, double flop Omaha, Double flop hold 'em and finished with a 7 stud hi lo game where you also declared post 7th street where you go for hi, lo, or both. Way to much to try to describe in this post and probably in this blog ever.

2 of the tables break and I decide to just head back to the room seeing as I had to be up at 6:30 am for my 9:45 flight back home.

So unfortunately I did not over sleep and end up staying in Vegas for ever. I was at the airport and hit up a slot machine early in the morning just because it was 7/7/07 and was feeling lucky. I played the wheel of fortune and didnt even get to spin the big wheel. Ohh well.

Anyways the guys at CR put together an amazing trip for me and I had a blast. I couldn't thank them enough for this opportunity, and I'm hopefully going to head back out to Vegas in January. I love it out there and surprisingly the games are very soft out there.

end TR

Vegas part 5

This trip report never ends.

So I wake up the next morning pretty early, (shocked at how I did that) and I make a few phone calls to some friends and let them know about the amazing time I had that night.

I know some people from 2+2 who are going to be out in Vegas this week so I get in touch with a few of them. They say they are going to play some cards over at MGM. I gladly ablige and meet them over there.

On the way over i find this beauty out in the MGM parking lot. Maybach Benz


I hop into a 1-2NL game, and proceed to find every possible 2 in a deck of cards my entire time while playing. I think standard vegas deck have 16 2s in them. So yeah, I run pretty cold and end up down a hundred for the session, which isn't bad considering how poor I was running. But calling down correctly with middle pairs, ace high, and folding KK to someones boat helped me minimize my losses. I felt that I played great poker but sometimes playing your best just isn't enough. After about 10 hours of play I'm pretty beat and decide to call it a night.

Thursday is the gaming and life expo at the Rio where CR has a booth set up where you can meet the pros and learn about the company. The guys tell me to meet up with them over there so I head to the Rio around 1pm. I stop by the booth and say hi, but all I really have on my mind is getting some solid grinding in.

I head over to the poker room at the Rio. Holy hell is it huge. I try to sign up for a 1-2 game but the lowest they are spreading is 2-5. I only had about 1k on me and didn't want to sit with 2 buy ins, so I decide to hit up some other casinos in the area. I just despise buying in to a game on a short stack. I decide to take a taxi over to the Palms, where they have one table of 1-2NL going. So obv I leave there and go to Gold Coast, which also is only spreading one game of 1-2. So I finally decide fuck it I'll go short stack 2-5NL which I really dont want to do, but have no choice if I want to play.

So I sit in with my 40BB's (200$) and proceed to play very tight for a while. I ran ok but couldnt get involved in too many pots. After about 2 hours I'm down to 175 and i pick up QQ UTG+1 and raise to 20. After 1 fold I get raised to 55 and everyone folds to me. I get a nasty feeling that he has AA but for 35BB's I decided im going to go with that hand post flop so I call.

Flop J 3 4 dd
I check
Villain checks

hmmmm

Turn 6d
I check
Villain bets 100
I shove for my remaining 20 and he calls

Tables AA

river 9d

I check my queens to see if either was a diamond but those bitches were black. Good game.

I meet back up with the guys at the booth, tell them I lost and didn't feel like playing 2-5 anymore and I'm gonna head back to my room. I strike up a conversation with Townsend before I leave though and we begin talking about a coaching session that the guys are going to do for me. We try to set up a time and I tell them Im leaving saturday morning, and Townsend is playing in the WSOP main event on Friday all day. He decides we should do it right then and there. He says lets go back to my room and well get this going. I happily agree and we head back to the Bellagio. It was really cool to just hang with him for a little while and talk. He really is a cool and down to earth guy. Most people with the kind of money that he has are arrogant and snotty but he was a very cool and relaxed guy.

So when we get to his room I fire up 3 tables and begin to play. I play pretty tight and while hes sitting behind me watching I fold a K7s from MP in a 6max game. He tells me I should be raising this hand and I'm in shock because its just a looser style then Im used to playing. Anyhow we discuss some strategy and he gives me some great advice, which leads to some great calls. I make one sick value overbet all in against a 64/0 fish with the flopped nuts, and he tells me I should have just valuebet him there smaller. I bet about 100BBs into 70. I tell him I'm pretty sure this guy will call with any piece here because of previous hands that we have played this session. Here's the hand.

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

SB: $132.70
Hero (BB): $136.70
UTG: $98.00
CO: $366.60
BTN: $121.20

CO posts $1.00
Preflop: Hero is dealt 5c 4s (5 Players)
UTG calls $1.00, CO checks, BTN folds, SB calls $0.50, Hero checks

Flop: ($4) 3h 6h 2d (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.50, UTG folds, CO calls $4.50, SB folds

Turn: ($13) Kc (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $7.00, Hero raises to $32.00, CO calls $25.00

River: ($77) 4d (2 Players)
Hero bets all-in for $99.20, CO calls $99.20

Pot Size: $275.40 ($3 Rake)

CO had 3c Kd (two pair, Kings and Threes) and LOST (-$136.70)
Hero had 5c 4s (a straight, Six high) and WON (+$136.20)

I just knew the guy was going to call me super light here even if I made a massive overbet like this. Brain commended me on the play. Awesome feeling =) =) =)

So I end our session while trying to get some more last pointers. He tells me I have a solid game and he'd like to see me be more aggressive. I had thought I had been super aggressive this session and upon checking my stats I ran 23/20/6, which I personally feel is a bit much for 100NL. But im going to toy around with it. I try to run between 17/15/3 and 19/17/4 and these stats have given me the most success. So we end the session there and I'm down just a little bit which was ok considering I started the session down about 2.5 buy ins (250$).

I go head back to my hotel now and get ready for the CR/Bluff magazine party. I had a few of the guys from 2+2 head over to the Rio earlier to meet up with me and get passes to the party as well.

In the meantime I ordered a nice meal from room service. Awesome burger and a bowl of soup. also 34$ but still very tasty and filling.

I head over to the party around 10:15. Its open bar till 12 so I proceed to pound as many drinks as possible. I think the vodka somehow was about 12% alcohol because I wasnt too drunk after 12 drinks in a hour and a half period.


While there Ezra introduces me to the infamous tuff_fish. He is an internet player who would make some pretty hilaorious poker videos of himself playing and when he lost he would be very vulgar on the video. His plays for the most part were pretty horrific. If you are curious just search tuff fish in youtube.com. Me and the guys I met up with from 2+2 hang out with him all night.

Me and tuff_fish Cardrunners guest pro and 2+2er tufat and tuff_fish

Me, tufat, and a moderator from 2+2 Ed Mcwilliams (I was checking out a stripper giving a lap dance to someone right next to me mid picture).


All the people I meet up with leave the party to head to a club and I decide instead of paying 10$ for a beer and 9$ for a bottle of water I'll head to the MGM for some late night 1-2 and lots of jager.

I play pretty loose here and run pretty well also, until I flop trips with 96cc and get runner runner flushed on a Q66 board by KQ, but I fold to her river bet and seeing how tight of a player this lady was it was evident I was beat. She would never bet a board with 4 hearts if she in fact didn't have one herself. So I manage to squeeze out a small 40$ profit and head back to the hotel.

I also had some friends come up from Arizona that night so we could spend the next day out doing stuff. They ended up in California after taking a wrong turn which allowed me to play poker till 4:30 am and they arrived at 5am.

This is the last post I will do today. There is a little more left and hopefully I will get to it tomorrow.

Vegas part 4

Phew. Ok so here is part 4.

I get inside the Bellagio around 8:30 and since I'm a little early I decide I'll grab a beer and throw a few bucks in a nickel slot to kill the time. They arrive around 9:10 and I meet Green Plastic (Taylor Caby), Muddy (Andrew Wiggins), Stinger (Brian Hastings), Ezra and they say we need to go get Rugby (Brian Townsend). Not only did I meet some great players but now I'm gonna meet rugby (for those who don't know he is one of the top, if not THE top online poker player in the world). Im PUMPED. Hes playing 500-1k PLO/NLH in bobbys room at the Bellagio. We get to the entrance and they wave him over and he comes out. We tell him were goin to eat a FIX and he says hell stop over in a little while.

So we go back to FIX and start boozin it up and talkin a little poker. A guy from bluff magazine comes over and hangs with us for a while, and Townsend follows suit.

When he gets there he tells us hes stuck about 100k. I shit my pants.

So we eat an amazing meal and booze it up while we are there. I opt out on appetizers but have one of the slider burgers they order and a few chili fries. For dinner I had an amazing NY Strip steak and it was cooked to perfection. We drank a bunch of beer and a tequilla shot during dinner. Total bill 450$, pre tip. Nonetheless the meal was absolutely amazing. Afterwards we head out of the restaurant and hang out at the bar right by the poker room. The guys buy me a bunch of drinks and I'm gettin pretty sloppy now. I leave to take a piss and this is where things get good.

As I'm walking back from the bathroom a few of the guys are yelling "machine machine come here come here" They seem all frantic so I roll over with a whats up.

"Dude we are so fucking jealous right now. Townsend wants you to go into Bobby's Room and sweat him in the game for about 15 mins!!!!!!!" They tell me how they've known him for over a year and have never been invited in the room, or even stepped in it.

HOLY SHIT is all I can think. Again if you are not familiar with this it is a private room in the middle of the poker room at the Bellagio. There is glass in the front of the room so you can see in, but not just anyone can walk in. You have to basically either be invited, or be playing in the nosebleed stake games they offer. Bobby Baldwin has part ownership of the Bellagio and this room is named after him. I get the biggest cheese on my face and I'm also kinda nervous. As I walk to the room I try to keep my composure and not look like a complete loser walking in.

So I go in and get to sit behind Townsend and watch him play for a while. I estimate he had about 700,000 dollars in front of him. When I first got there they were playing PLO. Every hand he played while I was there he won. I must be his good luck charm obviously.

So not to mention am I sitting behind and sweating rugby, but also across from me at the table is Phil Ivey, Minh Ly is on my right, Bobby Baldwin is in the 10 seat, Gus Hansen and David Oppenhiem are hangin out in the lounge area, and Chaiu Giang shows up later as well.

Anyways being able to sweat rugby was one of the most insane things I've ever had happen to me. I'll probably never step foot in that room again for the rest of my life. Before I left the table I asked one thing from Brian. I really wanted to check out one of his many 25k chips, and he gladly abliged. (never held 25k before).

After this we head out and go to a piano bar in New york new york. I briefly meet a few other top online pros and proceed to get wrecked with these guys. But given that im on EST or 3 hours ahead of where they are, I'm absolutely smashed by 115am (415am EST), so I head out of the bar and stumble back to my room. That was a fun walk.

Since I started playing poker this is probably the most inspiring and influential experience I have had to date

Vegas part 3

So when I got settled into my room I called up Ezra from Cardrunners, told him I was all settled in and was ready to go!!! He told me that they were going to take me out to dinner that night and I was game for whatever they wanted to do.

I started some ironing so my clothes would be nice and fresh for the trip. I got about halfway through them before I decided not to do anymore.

Ezra gets in touch with me again and tells me the deal. They decide to take me to a restaurant at the Bellagio called FIX. Anything sounds good to me at that point so I tell him I will meet them over there whenever they are ready. Reservation time is 9pm.

I decide I want to walk and check everything out at night in Vegas and get a little familiar with the area around my hotel. I took a few pictures on my walk to the Bellagio.


MGM

Plantet Hollywood

The Bellagio

Ballys and I'm not sure, lol.
Now before going in I caught the beginning of the Bellagio fountain show.


Geez so many pictures. Ok most of the rest will be stories so I will start the 4th installment of the trip report.

Vegas part 2

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been working alot and playing alot of poker as well. So I'll get on with the rest of the Vegas trip.

I land in Vegas around 3pm PST. Quickly grab a cab and I'm off to the Luxor. I get there around 4ish and go to check in. The line is about 45 minutes long. Apparently there are only 4 people who work the front desk at the Luxor to check in the over 100 person line. So after waiting for a while i finally check in and head up to my room. They set me up on the 21st floor. The views were awesome.

View of the pool from my window.


The bedroom

The bathroom
Dusk from my window



I have a bunch of pictures of when I left the hotel and I will make a new post now and include those so that this post isn't filled with a ton of pictures.

Where have you been????

Well it's been a while since my last update. Vegas was amazing and I am going to do multiple posts to cover the trip report. I've been sleeping so much recently. Vegas really drained me. I've also played a decent amount of poker and worked a few hours as well, so I haven't had much time to update.

In this post I will tell you about the flight.

I left Bradley Airport tuesday Jul 3rd at 8:40am and had a lay over in Baltimore before my flight to Vegas. We landed in Baltimore about 50 mins later. I decided it would be a great time to start the party so I went to the bar for a few cocktails and breakfast.

While there I figured I'd get some hands in as well. Unfortunatley, in this airport the wi-fi isn't free and I didn't feel like paying for a day long subscription when I would only be there for about 2 hours. So I picked up some weak connections from others and surfed 2+2 as well as I could. We were off by 11:10am.

I didn't take too many pictures until we got out to the desert. It was a real shock to actually fly over the desert. (I've never seen the desert in person) It was shocking to see how desolate it was. The few random houses I felt horrible for being lost in the middle of nowhere.

I did manage to grab a few pictures of the Grand Canyon and what I think was the Colorado River, but I'm not positive on that.


Now heres a few of the awesome river we flew over



Tomorrow I will post my first night story, as well as some interesting hands played online from this week.

Leaving for Vegas

So I leave tomorrow morning at 8:40 am. I have a 3 hour layover in Baltimore then i should be in Vegas by 2:20 PM PST. I'm hoping with all the new added security I don't have any problems and none of my flights are delayed. Stupid terrorists.

Anyways, I've been working a lot and haven't had much time to play poker. That will be changing very soon and I will have some good updates, hands, strat, and obviously information on how the trip is going!!!