bad beetz
04-07-2003, 08:44 PM
My friend wrote a much more extensive report than mine and posted it on RPG. here it is:
Now that the March Madness opening weekend Vegas trip is over, the
tale must be told. The group doubled this year. The cast of characters
for the 5th reincarnation of this trip was as follows.
Dave - New to the trip this year, provides great amusement as he is
carded at any establishment that requires you to be over 16.
backupDave - Used to be Steel's roomate, casino poker virgin, or so he
claims.
Marcus - Your not so humble author. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
Steel - Insanely aggressive king of the marathon poker session.
Isaacs - All the way out from DC, returning after a one year hiatus.
Smoothie(Shaw) - Used to go for the clubs, tried his hand at poker this
trip.
Taylor - Odds master, degree in Math and CS, teaches his classes at the
poker table, while tuition normally isn't cheap there were some
bargains available this trip........
Rob - Where to begin...... He goes for the clubs and the women. Oh
yeah and he might watch some basketball while the women are sleeping
after a night at the clubs.
Dwayne's crew - There was a crew of about 10 other guys some of us knew
that was also there this weekend. Since they got a suite we decided to
hang out with them and snag some free food and beer. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
THURSDAY:
The trip officially began on Thursday. Steel decided to get the jump
on everyone by booking his flight to arrive 11:55 pm Wednesday. The
bastard. Taylor and I carpooled to the airport around 3pm. We played
some heads up hold' em in the bar at the SJ airport and by the time I got
on the plane I was already down about $9 but up 3 double screwdrivers.
Vivek, one of the guys from Dwayne's crew was on our flight so we
snagged a row and I was able win back about $4 on the plane flight. We
arrived at the airport and were greeted by an insanely long cab line. It
took us about 2 seconds to decide to get a limo but we were intercepted
by a skycap who noticed our plight and said he could get us right in a
cab if we 'took care of him'. We agreed and then quickly slipped him
$15 for the effort before Taylor got any ideas about how to 'take care
of the skycap'. Checked in to the Luxor and then headed out to find
this suite. Unfortunately the architect who designed the Luxor must have
received his degree from one of those schools that advertise in the
back of a magazine. The trek from our hotel room to the suite involved
walking one entire side of the pyramid, taking the elevator down to the
ground. Walk another side of the pyramid through the casino and then
take an elevator to the 30th floor. 30 minutes later we found the suite.
We swiped some beers and waited the arrival of the rest of our crew.
Not much action on my odds sheet. Mostly the action consisted of Dave
trying to convince everyone to bet on his being able to score a buffet
comp from the Bellagio. Of course as soon as the betting closed he
pulled said buffet comp from his pocket. Oops. Lucky for me he was only
able to convince Taylor to place the bet. About 10 other bets were
placed and we were off. (I blatantly ripped this idea off after reading
some other trip reports from the tiltboys. I hope I don't owe them
royalties or anything.) Amazingly Rob took the UNDER on the number of
drinks consumed by the group before 11pm Thursday. (43) His hope of
winning was crushed shortly when Steel arrived and said that he had already
had 13 by 9pm...... I quit counting at 51.
Once everyone arrived most of Dwayne's crew decided that Babies at the
Hard Rock was the destination of the evening. Shaw and Rob decided to
join them while the rest of us decided that we had already been in
Vegas for far too long without playing poker and headed for the Luxor poker
room.
******** Begin Poker content **********
Amazingly the place was packed. We got seated pretty quick in the
1-4-8-8 game. I proceeded to get stuck about $200 dollars. Eventually as
players moved around we ended up with Isaacs, Taylor, myself, and Dave1
in seats 1-5. Two players at the other end of the table seemed to have
it in for us. I never did figure out why. Anyways, we named one Lex
since he looked like a cross between Lex luthor and Mr. Clean. (seat8)
Seat 9 we just called yellow shirt, I will leave it to you to figure
out why.... Isaacs went to bed around 1am since he was still on east
coast time. I managed to claw my way back to -100 mainly because Lex and
yellow shirt kept calling with weird draws and middle/bottom pairs
trying to 'take us down'. The also liked to laugh to at their own little
jokes when they managed to beat one of us. Meanwhile Steel has arrived
and was seated with ud and is starting to punish the table. He is up
at least 2 racks. I hate playing against him as he usually plays higher
limits and I can never get a line on where he is at. This is
compounded by the fact that he is fairly intoxicated by this point. I tangle up
rather messily with him in one hand.
Steel raises one caller from late position and I 3-bet with 66 hoping
to isolate against him because I am pretty sure I am ahead. Other
player folds and Steel calls. Flop is 9-4-3 with two hearts. I bet out
Steel raises and I make it 3. Turn was either an 8 or a duece. Again I
bet out and Steel raises. I think for a second and I am positive I am
still ahead and make it 3 again. The turn is a 6, and hearts didn't
get there. I bet out yet again and get raised I make it 3 and he makes
it 4. I have to just call now and get shown 7-5 hearts..... Hey at
least I was right that I was ahead until the river..... Later he confided
to me that he would have ONLY gone 6 bets there on the river. Lucky
me.
So I am back down to -200 now. The came the hand of the year. Steel
is on the button and gets into a hand with Lex. Flops is 9-8-x with
two diamonds. Lex bets and Steel raised the flop. The turn is a black
10 and the river another non-diamond rag, Steel bets the river and Lex
raises him. He thinks for a second and calls. Then came the funniest
exchange I have ever seen at the poker table.
Lex: "Do you like apples? How do you like them apples?"
*Tables K-J offsuit*
Dealer: *Looks at board for several seconds*
"King high"
Steel: "Well if by apples you mean missing, I like em."
*Tables K-10 diamonds*
Lex: "What, no I have a straight!"
Dealer: "8-9-10-J-K is not a straight sir"
Dave: "Allllll Reds" (clutch quote by Dave here of Oceans 11 remake)
So about 15 minutes later when we all finished laughing so hard that I
almost started crying and everyone was actually in physical pain Lex
was still about 9 shades of Red. You would think that Lex would no
better than to tangle with the man of Steel........ Amazingly he didn't
leave the table, but he did seem to forget to make any snide comments on
the river for the rest of the session. Eventually I drag myself off to
bed around 5:30 am. Steel cashes out up over 3 racks from this game.
******** End Poker content **********
***** Rant mode on *****
The graveyard dealers at the Luxor are probably the poorest I saw this
trip. Which is tough to say since I have played there during the day
in their tourneys and they seem great every other time I have played
there. The daytime poker manager Jim is great.
Saw a horrible decision. We get possibly the meanest dealer I have
ever had. She sits down and starts right in on everyone. She actually
calls the floor on Steel for swearing one single time. Steel gets to
the river against this drunk pretty bad player. Board is J-high. Player
throws a J out into the middle of the table into the pot leaving his
other card face down. Dealer says sir you need to show both cards.
Player grabs second card and flings it into the air from the 7 seat. The
card hits me in leg in the 4 seat and goes off the table on the floor.
I don't touch the card and then his buddy in the 6 seat reaches down
and grabs it and puts a Q on the table. (5 seat was empty) Steel asks
dealer if that hand is live. Dealer says nothing. Steel asks the
dealer again and she says it is. Now other player is saying either you can
beat a jack or not. Steel asks dealer a 3rd time. "Are you sure that
hand that went off the table and on the floor is a live hand?" The
dealers says it is. Steel looks at the $30 pot and just mucks it rather
than call the floor and chase off the player who was playing fairly
poorly.
***** Rant mode off *****
Meanwhile at the Hard Rock, Rob was after a different kind of score.
As Smoothie tells it:
Thursday night we met two girls, I was suppose to keep one entertained
downstairs while Rob frolic'd in the bedroom with the other. Time was
about 5am. Me and this girl (who was black) wandered around the Luxor
and played some slots. Then a few big black guys took notice of a hot
black chick with some drunk ass white dude. They charged into battle.
An intense cock fight ensued... and I ended up on the losing side.
Hey, I was outnumbered!. There was no actual fight, just some strategic
body placement and friendly words of distraction (ie cock fight)... I
told her we should take off and find her friend, but she wanted to
stay. So I took off and went up to the room. When I got there and her
friend was not with me, Rob and the other chick gave me some [censored] and told
me to find her. I set out again to find her. After stumbling around
the casino for an hour or so.... I gave up. I came back and crashed.
The next morning I had 3 messages by noon. Each one consisted of a
partially histerical girl saying something about not being able to find
her friend, because she never came home. Oops.
So the lesson here is don't hire Smoothie if you need a babysitter. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
FRIDAY:
You would think that the tale of Lex ended on Thursday night. But it
didn't. Remember that Isaacs is still on east coast time. Well he
wakes up around 8:30am and heads down to the poker room to sign us up for
the noon tourney. He heads over to the sports book to check out the
lines on some games and starts picking which basketball teams he wants to
get screwed over by today. He donates several dollars to the Luxor
sports book in exchange for a few soon to be worthless scraps of paper
when he hears a very loud "No [censored] YOU". He turns around and sees two
guys yelling at each other and about to throw down. And who is involved
in this ruckus? You guessed, it Frank Stallone. No wait, it was Lex.
And then security came. And then Lex got 86'ed. And then we all had
another good laugh when we heard that. (sorry for stealing your joke
Norm)
Friday started with myself and Isaacs entering the Luxor tourney.
Pretty forgettable tourney. I make it about halfway and bust out with A-Q
off against 5-5. Oh well, at least Presto held up even if I didn't
have it. Isaacs and I meet up with Smoothie and Rob and we decide to head
to the Mirage for some hoops. The Mirage is packed. After about an
hour we snag some chairs in the horsie section. Start ordering beers and
watching the games. We all lose badly....... something like 2/13
among the 4 of us. It is decided that it is in our best interests to bet
horses instead of basketball. We pool $40 and start betting. Not sure
what all the terms mean but we were doing things like quinella box's.
I still don't know exactly what those are, but I they must suck since
we didn't win any of them.
******** Begin Poker content **********
Once the basketball games are over Shaw wants to try out poker. (home
games, but never played in Casino before) We get into the 3-6 game.
He and Isaacs get at the same table and I join them for about an hour
until I get a 6/12 seat. The game was fairly friendly and full of less
than average players. One hand Isaacs gets involved in a pot with AK.
Flop is A-K-A. I don't recollect the entire play of the hand except
for the river. Player on my right bets out and I see Isaacs raise. As
he raises I notice that his hand is shaking like he is the poster child
for Parkinson's disease. I thought his shaking was actually going to
knock over my chips stacks. Then the guy on my right sits there talking
to himself about if he should call or not!!!! Eventually he actually
calls..... I don't even remember what he called with but it was at
least several orders of magnitude worse than Aces full.
I get in a good 6/12 game, but don't get much in the way of cards. A
rather uneventful session and I finish -37. Shaw manages to win $50 in
his first live hold'em game. Including a hand where he flopped quad
sixes. Unfortunately he has yet to learn of the slowplay and plays them
a wee bit aggressively. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif backupDave arrives in Vegas after driving
from Salt Lake City. He has also never played in casino poker. He
sits at the table with Isaacs and is shown the ropes. Shaw takes off to
meet Rob and the other crew who are headed to Bikini's at the Rio. Dave
and Taylor arrive and sit at the 10/20 game. All 7 of us agree to meet
up and 3am at Casino Royale for a late night craps session. Taylor
sits down at the 10/20 and decides to post rather than wait a lap. The
dealer rewards him by dealing him 3-2 offsuit. Taylor decides to make
the best of it by raising the three callers, and then betting the whole
way. The river is a 3 and the whole table nearly explodes when his 3-2
wins. So then in the first 45 minutes at the table he gets AA, KK, and
AK suited no one ever believes him, and he wins over a rack of red. He
continues to punish the game finishing +850 for the session. Dave
doesn't do so well finishing -100.
******** End Poker content **********
BackupDave decides to stay and play poker at the Mirage. We take off
around 2:30am to hit the $1 craps at the Casino Royale. Only they
don't have $1 craps. /forums/images/icons/frown.gif $3 and $5 now. The $5 table looks far more fun,
so we all buy-in. The first shooter proceeds to shoot for about 15
minutes straight hitting at least 6 or 7 points. The next two shooters do
nearly as well. We wait until about 4:00am but the other guys never
show so we pack it up. I think we were all about +100 here. (guess we
should have taken more advantage of that 100x odds)
SATURDAY:
Again Isaacs crashed early which is good since then he is able to buy
us in to the Sat morning Luxor tourney. I get up around 10:30 just in
time to see backupDave stumble in. He says that he just came from the
3-6 table. I ask how he did and he informs me that he won $500 in the
first ever 3-6 game he played..... I have been playing for 2 years and
heve never won that much in one sesison of 3-6. Then he says that he
was up a couple hundred more, but he played like crap for the last 2 or
3 hours. I start to wonder if that was really the first time he played
in a Casino......
******** Begin Poker content **********
Luxor tourney was better today. My table was almost entirely new
poker players. Took a hit early when I took my 88 against two overcards
and he caught one. Luckily 3 hands later I raised with A-9 suited and
flopped the nut flush. I checked and let someone else bet so I could get
all-in and grew my stack to about 400.
I score another nice one when I raise pre-flop with 77. 3 caller and
flop is 10-7-10. I check and one check behind me(2 seat) and last
player bets. Myself and 2 seat call.(I know that I can still get all-in)
Turn is the case 7 and I go ahead and bet out know. 2 seat raises me
we lose the other player and I make it 3 bets. Dont recall caring what
the river was cause it wasn't a 10. I bet and go all-in and she calls
with a 10. I tell the dealer to send it, and he does.
I go card dead again. I get pretty much nothing and get caught trying
to steal once. 8 players left and Frank (luxor tourney regular) goes
all-in with JJ, guy on my right calls with AA. Frank sucks out and
flops a jack, but is brutally re-sucked out on when the A hits the river.
Isaacs and I are both in the money now. Then I see a phenominally
stupid play. 7 seat is short stacked in BB. Big stack in 2 seat calls as
does 4 seat on my right. 7 seat goes all-in and both call. Turn puts
two clubs on the board. 2 seat now bets 700 into a dry side pot with a
flush DRAW when the main pot is only around 15% of his stack! Of
course 4 seat has to fold the hand that would have rivered a gutshot
straight and busted out the 7 seat. This ends up costing me $5 as I go out
shortly after two awful hands in a row. The first time I take AK up
against AA. Oops, and then 3 hands later I take K-J against Isaacs A-K and
IGHN. I go sit in the live game and then imagine my surprise as I see
the two big stacks in the tourney both go out 5th and 4th...... Isaacs
ends up getting heads up with the 7 seat who should have been busted
out at least 20 mins earlier. Crazy game this poker.
******** End Poker content **********
Isaacs, Taylor, Dave and I head up to eat lunch at the Luxor.
Smoothie had to leave this morning and so Rob joins us about halfway through
lunch and we find out why they never found us last night. I guess Rob
had made another new 'friend'. So he headed back to the room with a
VERY intoxicated Smoothie in tow. Several hours later Smoothie was
mumbling in his bed and Rob was starting to get worried. Smoothie then
decided to get up. A few seconds, and one loud crash later he is laying
atop the ironing board on the floor. Then he gets up and falls asleep
sitting at the table. After a short nap he finally got to the bathroom.
When he didn't come out Rob was kind of worried so he went to check on
him. When Rob walked in the bathroom there was Smoothie trying to
sleep on the counter in the bathroom. He must have been cold as he decided
that toilet papaer would keep him warm and was attempting to cover
himself with it. Rob finally got him to bed for good.
After we had a good laugh we got to watch Rob work his magic. Two
rather attractive women were seated at the table near ours. Rob decides
that he needed to meet them. Now if you were trying to figure out what
approach to use here would decide on taking a half eaten plate of
Nachos and offering it to them? And if you tried this would you honestly
think it had a chance in hell of working? Neither would any of us. This
didn't deter Rob as he didn't bother to consult with us and our
inferior suaveness. Amazingly he did not get slapped and in the end he was
sitting at their table and they were all eating the freaking Nachos. The
4 of us are blown away as Rob lets us know that he will be meeting up
with them at the pool after lunch.......
The 4 of us minus Rob head back to the Mirage. Isaacs has dinner
plans so we get seated at the poker table. I get moved to his 3/6 game and
Taylor and Dave head back to the 10/20.
******** Begin Poker content **********
After about 3 hands I decide that this game needs a kick in the pants.
So I start straddling. I find out that the 8 and 9 seat have been
trying to livin up the game with no success so I agree to help them. I
don't catch any hands for a while and eventually the straddles start to
take their toll. I am stuck a rack or so. Then to make matter even
worse I get involved in the following hand. I straddle and it is folded
around to Isaacs in the SB who makes it 9. I just call with Kd-x. I
like the J-8-2 flop since it is all diamonds. I bet out and Isaacs calls.
Turn is a diamond so I bet out again. Again he calls. River is a J.
I again bet out, he raises, I re-raise and say that it is in case he
doesn't have the A of diamonds. He 4 bets and I am positive that I am
beat so I muck my hand face up on the table expecting to see him flash
the A of diamonds. Instead he flashes pocket dueces, oops. Good thing I
saved that $6 on the end. I'll just forget about the $30 or so I threw
away.....
Isaacs leaves for dinner and I keep on drinking and playing. I
announce to the table that I am going to continue straddling until someone
else does. It takes about another hour until I am able to get someone to
straddle. My game keeps getting better and better as the players that
have a clue keep leaving and the ones left are either uber tight,
passive or clueless. I make some money by doing things like raising
pre-flop with med pairs and betting out on the flop with my under pair and
getting everyone to fold. I am really liking this table because there is
no one I am really scared of and I am pretty sure that they all pegged
me as a drunk loose crappy player. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif Well they definitely got the
drunk part right.
Best hand of the session. I straddle and get 5 callers and pick up
K-J off. I just check. Flop is K-J-8. I bet out and get 3 or 4
callers. Turn is a 10. I again bet out and get one caller and then the 3
seat puts in a raise. I think about it and I am pretty sure that he can't
have A-Q or Q-9 but I haven't seen this guy raise for a bit so I just
call. River puts a flush on board. I check and call the 3 seat. He
proudly announces two-pair and flips over 10-8 off???? I announce two
bigger pair, and take down the pot. Guess I should'nt have slowed
down...... Next hand I pick up 8-7 clubs in the BB. Flop a flush and take
down another decent pot. By 9 when Isaacs gets back from dinner I have
gone from -150 to +200. I check in with Taylor and Dave and Dave is
stuck about $700. I do the right thing and get the cocktail waitress to
send him a shot of Tequila. (Your welcome Dave) I don't recall
exactly how it happenned but suddenly Dave, backupDave, Isaacs, Taylor, and
myself are all at the same 3/6 table. The game got awful real fast.
Especially since Dave was still on 10/20 tilt and playing very
aggressively. Luckily the game broke up as we managed to pretty much chase
everyone off the table. We cashed out and headed to meet the rest of the
crew for some more craps action.
******** End Poker content **********
Again the plan was to find cheap craps and meet up with the other
guys. This night was worse than the first time though. Taylor couldn't
stop with how awful the Casino Royale was and refused to go there. We
then proceded to try Barbary Coast and even the crappy Boardwalk Hilton
and no one had less than $10 or $15 dollar craps. Finally after playing
phone tag with Rob and the other we decide to call it a night. Taylor
and Dave head up to check out the suite since it sounded on the phone
like the other guys were having fun. No one is there but on the way
down they are surprised by Rob who is heading up to the suite with an
attractive companion. They go to bed. Isaacs and I lost them on the way
back. We wander through the Excalibur and then decide to grab a bite to
eat. We finally crash out around 4:30 or so and then I get a late
night call from Rob who has a rather pressing need for some supplies. Rob
gets what he needs and then heads back to his room, not the suite.
We have to check out of the room on Sunday so I start moving stuff
over to Rob's room. After talking with Taylor and Dave we realize our
timelines dont jive and we deduce that the girl that Rob was with at 4:30
am was not the same one they saw him with at the suite earlier......
Impressive.
We decide to hit the buffet at the Bellagio. Forgot it was the
champagne brunch but it was the best buffet I have had in Vegas to date.
Taylor and Dave head to the poker room and we bid farewell to Taylor as he
is leaving in a couple hours. Rob and I head over to watch some hoops
at the Paris. They have this great setup in one of the theatres and
you can watch four games at once. Of course we lose our bets on those
ones too. Head up to the Sahara to play in the Sunday night tourney.
backupDave is running all over my table in the first hour and I finally
re-raise him all-in with A-10 offsuit. I only made this move since he
was taking about 1 of every 3 pots. He has suited connectors and I
double up. Don't really make a hand though after that and bust out again
when I take A-Q against Presto. Ugh. Steel wins our last longer bet
but he and backupDave both bust out short of the money.
I play some blackjack and then we meet up with Dwayne's crew and head
back to the Luxor. We are hanging out at the little bar right outside
the Ra night club. (which is closed on sunday night) Tim, one of the
guys in Dwayne's crew has pretty much been up the whole weekend. Maybe
3 hours sleep total. The sleep depravation, among other things, is
really starting to get to him and he is really starting to lose it. It's
hard not to laugh really. The cash register at the bar makes this
little beep sound about once every 5 minutes. Every time Tim totally loses
it.
Cash Register: Beep
Tim: "Ahhhhh, dammit, what the hell is that beeping it's driving me
crazy!"
One of us: "It's just the cash register"
Tim: "Damnit, its driving me crazy"
******* 5 seconds later ************
Cash Register: Beep
Tim: "Ahhhhh, dammit, what the hell is that beeping it's driving me
crazy!"
etc, etc
Repeat ad nauseum.....
Luckily we finally got Tim to agree that it was time for bed for him.
We decide to head over to the Island Lounge at Mandalay and watch the
professionals at work. I never realized that the Island Lounge was the
place in Vegas for the working girl. Dave finds us down here after a
while. We stay here until Rob leaves at 4 to catch his flight. Of
course he manages to find the one female in the bar who isn't there to work
and would have made another 'friend' had he not had to leave to catch
his flight. People start to head out around 4:30. I planned to go to
bed and get up in the morning for a couple hour poker session before my
flight but I am unable to resist the pull of the Mandalay bay 4/8 with
a half kill.
******** Begin Poker content **********
I have to wait for a 4/8 seat so I take a seat in the 1-5 stud game.
Really only win one pot as when I fill up on 7th street. I did see the
dealer deal a Royal flush in spades to one guy at the table. He won
about $250 in high hand bonus. Then he tipped the dealer about $15 and
gave everyone else at the table a $5 chip. I thought that was pretty
nice. I finally get into the hold'em game. This was a good game. I am
down a little and pick up pocket 10's in late position. I haven't been
at the table long, but I have noticed that the player 2 to my left
likes to raise a lot. He just calls from one of the blinds. Flop is J
high. I bet out and he raises me. On the river the board is still J
high. I think about it for a while but I finally decide to call him down.
He says good call as he shows 8 high????? and throws his cards
away..... This was a scene that would repeat itself many times this session.
The game slowly dwindles down until there are but 4 of us around 5:00
am. Luckily the mad bluffer is one of the 4 and I stay in the game even
though I normally never play that short. We actually make some monster
pots in this 4 handed game. I raise from the button with Q-6 suited
and mad bluffer 3 bets me so I go ahead and make it 4. (pretty sure I
have never before in my life made it 4 bets with Q-6 suited) I flop a
queen, bet and get raised on the flop so I make it 3 bets. He calls the
turn and then raises on the river. Of course he has crap again and
complements me on my "nice call" with top pair.... Not sure why this guy
thought there was any chance in hell I was folding against him but I am
not one to complain. Eventually around 6:30 some of the early birds
start straggling in. One of the better players from earlier in the
session returns. The mad bluffer is still there and I am really starting to
get tired. I should leave now as I am up about $140 and very tired but
stupidly I stay. I make the two following awful plays. 6 handed now
and I raise pre-flop with A-J suited. Flop has an Ace. One of the
blinds, a fairly solid player who is a floor at the Bellagio bets out. I
decide to go ahead and raise and she 3 bets me. I think for several
seconds and almost muck my hand face up on the table to show that I know
she has me. Of course that would be the smart play. I chose to be an
idiot and call her down only to be shown, yup A-Q. Duh. I love it when
I throw away 2.5BB. The next play is even more costly. The better
player who returned calls from middle position and I raise with AK from
late position and the mad bluffer makes it 3. We both just call. Flop
is Q-6-4 and I go ahead and bet out. Mad bluffer raises and solid
player JUST CALLS two bets. This probably should have set of some kind of
warning bell, but I sure didn't hear it. I call as well. Turn is a K.
Again I bet out. Mad bluffer raises and solid player 3-bets. For some
reason, not sure why I think that the solid player put me on a Q and
think his K is now good so I decide that I should make it 4 bets. Both
players call. I am worried when solid player calls. I bet river and
both player call me. Turns out I made it 4 bets while I was in third
place as Mad bluffer shows me 6-4 and solid player shows 44...... Solid
player can't believe I don't have KK. I bleed off a couple more dollars
and then finally realize that I am far far far from my A-game and cash
out saving $40 of my profit. Oh also while I was at the hold em table
the same dealer that dealt the royal earlier managed to deal another
straight flush and quad 6's. Three high hands in one session.
Unfortunately I didn't have any of them. I head back to the room around 9:00
am.
******** End Poker content **********
So at 9:30am I get back to the room. Realizing that I am screwed
since I will only be able to sleep for 3 hours before my plane leaves I
call SWA and ask for an earlier flight. The inform me that the only one
with any seats leaves in 1:20 mins. I switch flights and then throw
everything in my bag and run for the elevator. Check out, and am greeted
by a cab line of at least 75 people. Pay $35 for a limo ride to the
airport. Ouch. Driver drops me off in a great spot right by an
escalator that puts me about 100 feet from the security checkpoint. I make my
plane with at least 10 minutes to spare. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif And just like that my
trip is done. Except for Dave who stayed in Vegas for two more
days.......
Aftermath:
My bookie debut didn't go so well. My lines were off on nearly
everything. Here are the results for the bets placed.
Over/Unders Line Actual
Tequila shots by Dave at the poker table in one session 4 2
Number of group at same poker table at same time 3 5
Number of other players chased off table in that time 2 5(game broke)
Longest single session of poker by anyone 27 18
Total # of drinks by entire group before 11pm Thursday 43 51+
Odds
Dave gets buffet comp at Bellagio 3:2 Pays
Rob sticks to his resolution and does not play roulette 6:1 Pays
Net results
Rob +15
Dave +7
Taylor +3
Shaw +2
Isaacs +1
Hmmm, maybe I better hire a consultant next year to set my lines for
me...... Also due to the poker content I plan to post this one a poker
newsgroup as well. Hopefully you all had fun and plan to return next
year.
Marcus
Now that the March Madness opening weekend Vegas trip is over, the
tale must be told. The group doubled this year. The cast of characters
for the 5th reincarnation of this trip was as follows.
Dave - New to the trip this year, provides great amusement as he is
carded at any establishment that requires you to be over 16.
backupDave - Used to be Steel's roomate, casino poker virgin, or so he
claims.
Marcus - Your not so humble author. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
Steel - Insanely aggressive king of the marathon poker session.
Isaacs - All the way out from DC, returning after a one year hiatus.
Smoothie(Shaw) - Used to go for the clubs, tried his hand at poker this
trip.
Taylor - Odds master, degree in Math and CS, teaches his classes at the
poker table, while tuition normally isn't cheap there were some
bargains available this trip........
Rob - Where to begin...... He goes for the clubs and the women. Oh
yeah and he might watch some basketball while the women are sleeping
after a night at the clubs.
Dwayne's crew - There was a crew of about 10 other guys some of us knew
that was also there this weekend. Since they got a suite we decided to
hang out with them and snag some free food and beer. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
THURSDAY:
The trip officially began on Thursday. Steel decided to get the jump
on everyone by booking his flight to arrive 11:55 pm Wednesday. The
bastard. Taylor and I carpooled to the airport around 3pm. We played
some heads up hold' em in the bar at the SJ airport and by the time I got
on the plane I was already down about $9 but up 3 double screwdrivers.
Vivek, one of the guys from Dwayne's crew was on our flight so we
snagged a row and I was able win back about $4 on the plane flight. We
arrived at the airport and were greeted by an insanely long cab line. It
took us about 2 seconds to decide to get a limo but we were intercepted
by a skycap who noticed our plight and said he could get us right in a
cab if we 'took care of him'. We agreed and then quickly slipped him
$15 for the effort before Taylor got any ideas about how to 'take care
of the skycap'. Checked in to the Luxor and then headed out to find
this suite. Unfortunately the architect who designed the Luxor must have
received his degree from one of those schools that advertise in the
back of a magazine. The trek from our hotel room to the suite involved
walking one entire side of the pyramid, taking the elevator down to the
ground. Walk another side of the pyramid through the casino and then
take an elevator to the 30th floor. 30 minutes later we found the suite.
We swiped some beers and waited the arrival of the rest of our crew.
Not much action on my odds sheet. Mostly the action consisted of Dave
trying to convince everyone to bet on his being able to score a buffet
comp from the Bellagio. Of course as soon as the betting closed he
pulled said buffet comp from his pocket. Oops. Lucky for me he was only
able to convince Taylor to place the bet. About 10 other bets were
placed and we were off. (I blatantly ripped this idea off after reading
some other trip reports from the tiltboys. I hope I don't owe them
royalties or anything.) Amazingly Rob took the UNDER on the number of
drinks consumed by the group before 11pm Thursday. (43) His hope of
winning was crushed shortly when Steel arrived and said that he had already
had 13 by 9pm...... I quit counting at 51.
Once everyone arrived most of Dwayne's crew decided that Babies at the
Hard Rock was the destination of the evening. Shaw and Rob decided to
join them while the rest of us decided that we had already been in
Vegas for far too long without playing poker and headed for the Luxor poker
room.
******** Begin Poker content **********
Amazingly the place was packed. We got seated pretty quick in the
1-4-8-8 game. I proceeded to get stuck about $200 dollars. Eventually as
players moved around we ended up with Isaacs, Taylor, myself, and Dave1
in seats 1-5. Two players at the other end of the table seemed to have
it in for us. I never did figure out why. Anyways, we named one Lex
since he looked like a cross between Lex luthor and Mr. Clean. (seat8)
Seat 9 we just called yellow shirt, I will leave it to you to figure
out why.... Isaacs went to bed around 1am since he was still on east
coast time. I managed to claw my way back to -100 mainly because Lex and
yellow shirt kept calling with weird draws and middle/bottom pairs
trying to 'take us down'. The also liked to laugh to at their own little
jokes when they managed to beat one of us. Meanwhile Steel has arrived
and was seated with ud and is starting to punish the table. He is up
at least 2 racks. I hate playing against him as he usually plays higher
limits and I can never get a line on where he is at. This is
compounded by the fact that he is fairly intoxicated by this point. I tangle up
rather messily with him in one hand.
Steel raises one caller from late position and I 3-bet with 66 hoping
to isolate against him because I am pretty sure I am ahead. Other
player folds and Steel calls. Flop is 9-4-3 with two hearts. I bet out
Steel raises and I make it 3. Turn was either an 8 or a duece. Again I
bet out and Steel raises. I think for a second and I am positive I am
still ahead and make it 3 again. The turn is a 6, and hearts didn't
get there. I bet out yet again and get raised I make it 3 and he makes
it 4. I have to just call now and get shown 7-5 hearts..... Hey at
least I was right that I was ahead until the river..... Later he confided
to me that he would have ONLY gone 6 bets there on the river. Lucky
me.
So I am back down to -200 now. The came the hand of the year. Steel
is on the button and gets into a hand with Lex. Flops is 9-8-x with
two diamonds. Lex bets and Steel raised the flop. The turn is a black
10 and the river another non-diamond rag, Steel bets the river and Lex
raises him. He thinks for a second and calls. Then came the funniest
exchange I have ever seen at the poker table.
Lex: "Do you like apples? How do you like them apples?"
*Tables K-J offsuit*
Dealer: *Looks at board for several seconds*
"King high"
Steel: "Well if by apples you mean missing, I like em."
*Tables K-10 diamonds*
Lex: "What, no I have a straight!"
Dealer: "8-9-10-J-K is not a straight sir"
Dave: "Allllll Reds" (clutch quote by Dave here of Oceans 11 remake)
So about 15 minutes later when we all finished laughing so hard that I
almost started crying and everyone was actually in physical pain Lex
was still about 9 shades of Red. You would think that Lex would no
better than to tangle with the man of Steel........ Amazingly he didn't
leave the table, but he did seem to forget to make any snide comments on
the river for the rest of the session. Eventually I drag myself off to
bed around 5:30 am. Steel cashes out up over 3 racks from this game.
******** End Poker content **********
***** Rant mode on *****
The graveyard dealers at the Luxor are probably the poorest I saw this
trip. Which is tough to say since I have played there during the day
in their tourneys and they seem great every other time I have played
there. The daytime poker manager Jim is great.
Saw a horrible decision. We get possibly the meanest dealer I have
ever had. She sits down and starts right in on everyone. She actually
calls the floor on Steel for swearing one single time. Steel gets to
the river against this drunk pretty bad player. Board is J-high. Player
throws a J out into the middle of the table into the pot leaving his
other card face down. Dealer says sir you need to show both cards.
Player grabs second card and flings it into the air from the 7 seat. The
card hits me in leg in the 4 seat and goes off the table on the floor.
I don't touch the card and then his buddy in the 6 seat reaches down
and grabs it and puts a Q on the table. (5 seat was empty) Steel asks
dealer if that hand is live. Dealer says nothing. Steel asks the
dealer again and she says it is. Now other player is saying either you can
beat a jack or not. Steel asks dealer a 3rd time. "Are you sure that
hand that went off the table and on the floor is a live hand?" The
dealers says it is. Steel looks at the $30 pot and just mucks it rather
than call the floor and chase off the player who was playing fairly
poorly.
***** Rant mode off *****
Meanwhile at the Hard Rock, Rob was after a different kind of score.
As Smoothie tells it:
Thursday night we met two girls, I was suppose to keep one entertained
downstairs while Rob frolic'd in the bedroom with the other. Time was
about 5am. Me and this girl (who was black) wandered around the Luxor
and played some slots. Then a few big black guys took notice of a hot
black chick with some drunk ass white dude. They charged into battle.
An intense cock fight ensued... and I ended up on the losing side.
Hey, I was outnumbered!. There was no actual fight, just some strategic
body placement and friendly words of distraction (ie cock fight)... I
told her we should take off and find her friend, but she wanted to
stay. So I took off and went up to the room. When I got there and her
friend was not with me, Rob and the other chick gave me some [censored] and told
me to find her. I set out again to find her. After stumbling around
the casino for an hour or so.... I gave up. I came back and crashed.
The next morning I had 3 messages by noon. Each one consisted of a
partially histerical girl saying something about not being able to find
her friend, because she never came home. Oops.
So the lesson here is don't hire Smoothie if you need a babysitter. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
FRIDAY:
You would think that the tale of Lex ended on Thursday night. But it
didn't. Remember that Isaacs is still on east coast time. Well he
wakes up around 8:30am and heads down to the poker room to sign us up for
the noon tourney. He heads over to the sports book to check out the
lines on some games and starts picking which basketball teams he wants to
get screwed over by today. He donates several dollars to the Luxor
sports book in exchange for a few soon to be worthless scraps of paper
when he hears a very loud "No [censored] YOU". He turns around and sees two
guys yelling at each other and about to throw down. And who is involved
in this ruckus? You guessed, it Frank Stallone. No wait, it was Lex.
And then security came. And then Lex got 86'ed. And then we all had
another good laugh when we heard that. (sorry for stealing your joke
Norm)
Friday started with myself and Isaacs entering the Luxor tourney.
Pretty forgettable tourney. I make it about halfway and bust out with A-Q
off against 5-5. Oh well, at least Presto held up even if I didn't
have it. Isaacs and I meet up with Smoothie and Rob and we decide to head
to the Mirage for some hoops. The Mirage is packed. After about an
hour we snag some chairs in the horsie section. Start ordering beers and
watching the games. We all lose badly....... something like 2/13
among the 4 of us. It is decided that it is in our best interests to bet
horses instead of basketball. We pool $40 and start betting. Not sure
what all the terms mean but we were doing things like quinella box's.
I still don't know exactly what those are, but I they must suck since
we didn't win any of them.
******** Begin Poker content **********
Once the basketball games are over Shaw wants to try out poker. (home
games, but never played in Casino before) We get into the 3-6 game.
He and Isaacs get at the same table and I join them for about an hour
until I get a 6/12 seat. The game was fairly friendly and full of less
than average players. One hand Isaacs gets involved in a pot with AK.
Flop is A-K-A. I don't recollect the entire play of the hand except
for the river. Player on my right bets out and I see Isaacs raise. As
he raises I notice that his hand is shaking like he is the poster child
for Parkinson's disease. I thought his shaking was actually going to
knock over my chips stacks. Then the guy on my right sits there talking
to himself about if he should call or not!!!! Eventually he actually
calls..... I don't even remember what he called with but it was at
least several orders of magnitude worse than Aces full.
I get in a good 6/12 game, but don't get much in the way of cards. A
rather uneventful session and I finish -37. Shaw manages to win $50 in
his first live hold'em game. Including a hand where he flopped quad
sixes. Unfortunately he has yet to learn of the slowplay and plays them
a wee bit aggressively. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif backupDave arrives in Vegas after driving
from Salt Lake City. He has also never played in casino poker. He
sits at the table with Isaacs and is shown the ropes. Shaw takes off to
meet Rob and the other crew who are headed to Bikini's at the Rio. Dave
and Taylor arrive and sit at the 10/20 game. All 7 of us agree to meet
up and 3am at Casino Royale for a late night craps session. Taylor
sits down at the 10/20 and decides to post rather than wait a lap. The
dealer rewards him by dealing him 3-2 offsuit. Taylor decides to make
the best of it by raising the three callers, and then betting the whole
way. The river is a 3 and the whole table nearly explodes when his 3-2
wins. So then in the first 45 minutes at the table he gets AA, KK, and
AK suited no one ever believes him, and he wins over a rack of red. He
continues to punish the game finishing +850 for the session. Dave
doesn't do so well finishing -100.
******** End Poker content **********
BackupDave decides to stay and play poker at the Mirage. We take off
around 2:30am to hit the $1 craps at the Casino Royale. Only they
don't have $1 craps. /forums/images/icons/frown.gif $3 and $5 now. The $5 table looks far more fun,
so we all buy-in. The first shooter proceeds to shoot for about 15
minutes straight hitting at least 6 or 7 points. The next two shooters do
nearly as well. We wait until about 4:00am but the other guys never
show so we pack it up. I think we were all about +100 here. (guess we
should have taken more advantage of that 100x odds)
SATURDAY:
Again Isaacs crashed early which is good since then he is able to buy
us in to the Sat morning Luxor tourney. I get up around 10:30 just in
time to see backupDave stumble in. He says that he just came from the
3-6 table. I ask how he did and he informs me that he won $500 in the
first ever 3-6 game he played..... I have been playing for 2 years and
heve never won that much in one sesison of 3-6. Then he says that he
was up a couple hundred more, but he played like crap for the last 2 or
3 hours. I start to wonder if that was really the first time he played
in a Casino......
******** Begin Poker content **********
Luxor tourney was better today. My table was almost entirely new
poker players. Took a hit early when I took my 88 against two overcards
and he caught one. Luckily 3 hands later I raised with A-9 suited and
flopped the nut flush. I checked and let someone else bet so I could get
all-in and grew my stack to about 400.
I score another nice one when I raise pre-flop with 77. 3 caller and
flop is 10-7-10. I check and one check behind me(2 seat) and last
player bets. Myself and 2 seat call.(I know that I can still get all-in)
Turn is the case 7 and I go ahead and bet out know. 2 seat raises me
we lose the other player and I make it 3 bets. Dont recall caring what
the river was cause it wasn't a 10. I bet and go all-in and she calls
with a 10. I tell the dealer to send it, and he does.
I go card dead again. I get pretty much nothing and get caught trying
to steal once. 8 players left and Frank (luxor tourney regular) goes
all-in with JJ, guy on my right calls with AA. Frank sucks out and
flops a jack, but is brutally re-sucked out on when the A hits the river.
Isaacs and I are both in the money now. Then I see a phenominally
stupid play. 7 seat is short stacked in BB. Big stack in 2 seat calls as
does 4 seat on my right. 7 seat goes all-in and both call. Turn puts
two clubs on the board. 2 seat now bets 700 into a dry side pot with a
flush DRAW when the main pot is only around 15% of his stack! Of
course 4 seat has to fold the hand that would have rivered a gutshot
straight and busted out the 7 seat. This ends up costing me $5 as I go out
shortly after two awful hands in a row. The first time I take AK up
against AA. Oops, and then 3 hands later I take K-J against Isaacs A-K and
IGHN. I go sit in the live game and then imagine my surprise as I see
the two big stacks in the tourney both go out 5th and 4th...... Isaacs
ends up getting heads up with the 7 seat who should have been busted
out at least 20 mins earlier. Crazy game this poker.
******** End Poker content **********
Isaacs, Taylor, Dave and I head up to eat lunch at the Luxor.
Smoothie had to leave this morning and so Rob joins us about halfway through
lunch and we find out why they never found us last night. I guess Rob
had made another new 'friend'. So he headed back to the room with a
VERY intoxicated Smoothie in tow. Several hours later Smoothie was
mumbling in his bed and Rob was starting to get worried. Smoothie then
decided to get up. A few seconds, and one loud crash later he is laying
atop the ironing board on the floor. Then he gets up and falls asleep
sitting at the table. After a short nap he finally got to the bathroom.
When he didn't come out Rob was kind of worried so he went to check on
him. When Rob walked in the bathroom there was Smoothie trying to
sleep on the counter in the bathroom. He must have been cold as he decided
that toilet papaer would keep him warm and was attempting to cover
himself with it. Rob finally got him to bed for good.
After we had a good laugh we got to watch Rob work his magic. Two
rather attractive women were seated at the table near ours. Rob decides
that he needed to meet them. Now if you were trying to figure out what
approach to use here would decide on taking a half eaten plate of
Nachos and offering it to them? And if you tried this would you honestly
think it had a chance in hell of working? Neither would any of us. This
didn't deter Rob as he didn't bother to consult with us and our
inferior suaveness. Amazingly he did not get slapped and in the end he was
sitting at their table and they were all eating the freaking Nachos. The
4 of us are blown away as Rob lets us know that he will be meeting up
with them at the pool after lunch.......
The 4 of us minus Rob head back to the Mirage. Isaacs has dinner
plans so we get seated at the poker table. I get moved to his 3/6 game and
Taylor and Dave head back to the 10/20.
******** Begin Poker content **********
After about 3 hands I decide that this game needs a kick in the pants.
So I start straddling. I find out that the 8 and 9 seat have been
trying to livin up the game with no success so I agree to help them. I
don't catch any hands for a while and eventually the straddles start to
take their toll. I am stuck a rack or so. Then to make matter even
worse I get involved in the following hand. I straddle and it is folded
around to Isaacs in the SB who makes it 9. I just call with Kd-x. I
like the J-8-2 flop since it is all diamonds. I bet out and Isaacs calls.
Turn is a diamond so I bet out again. Again he calls. River is a J.
I again bet out, he raises, I re-raise and say that it is in case he
doesn't have the A of diamonds. He 4 bets and I am positive that I am
beat so I muck my hand face up on the table expecting to see him flash
the A of diamonds. Instead he flashes pocket dueces, oops. Good thing I
saved that $6 on the end. I'll just forget about the $30 or so I threw
away.....
Isaacs leaves for dinner and I keep on drinking and playing. I
announce to the table that I am going to continue straddling until someone
else does. It takes about another hour until I am able to get someone to
straddle. My game keeps getting better and better as the players that
have a clue keep leaving and the ones left are either uber tight,
passive or clueless. I make some money by doing things like raising
pre-flop with med pairs and betting out on the flop with my under pair and
getting everyone to fold. I am really liking this table because there is
no one I am really scared of and I am pretty sure that they all pegged
me as a drunk loose crappy player. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif Well they definitely got the
drunk part right.
Best hand of the session. I straddle and get 5 callers and pick up
K-J off. I just check. Flop is K-J-8. I bet out and get 3 or 4
callers. Turn is a 10. I again bet out and get one caller and then the 3
seat puts in a raise. I think about it and I am pretty sure that he can't
have A-Q or Q-9 but I haven't seen this guy raise for a bit so I just
call. River puts a flush on board. I check and call the 3 seat. He
proudly announces two-pair and flips over 10-8 off???? I announce two
bigger pair, and take down the pot. Guess I should'nt have slowed
down...... Next hand I pick up 8-7 clubs in the BB. Flop a flush and take
down another decent pot. By 9 when Isaacs gets back from dinner I have
gone from -150 to +200. I check in with Taylor and Dave and Dave is
stuck about $700. I do the right thing and get the cocktail waitress to
send him a shot of Tequila. (Your welcome Dave) I don't recall
exactly how it happenned but suddenly Dave, backupDave, Isaacs, Taylor, and
myself are all at the same 3/6 table. The game got awful real fast.
Especially since Dave was still on 10/20 tilt and playing very
aggressively. Luckily the game broke up as we managed to pretty much chase
everyone off the table. We cashed out and headed to meet the rest of the
crew for some more craps action.
******** End Poker content **********
Again the plan was to find cheap craps and meet up with the other
guys. This night was worse than the first time though. Taylor couldn't
stop with how awful the Casino Royale was and refused to go there. We
then proceded to try Barbary Coast and even the crappy Boardwalk Hilton
and no one had less than $10 or $15 dollar craps. Finally after playing
phone tag with Rob and the other we decide to call it a night. Taylor
and Dave head up to check out the suite since it sounded on the phone
like the other guys were having fun. No one is there but on the way
down they are surprised by Rob who is heading up to the suite with an
attractive companion. They go to bed. Isaacs and I lost them on the way
back. We wander through the Excalibur and then decide to grab a bite to
eat. We finally crash out around 4:30 or so and then I get a late
night call from Rob who has a rather pressing need for some supplies. Rob
gets what he needs and then heads back to his room, not the suite.
We have to check out of the room on Sunday so I start moving stuff
over to Rob's room. After talking with Taylor and Dave we realize our
timelines dont jive and we deduce that the girl that Rob was with at 4:30
am was not the same one they saw him with at the suite earlier......
Impressive.
We decide to hit the buffet at the Bellagio. Forgot it was the
champagne brunch but it was the best buffet I have had in Vegas to date.
Taylor and Dave head to the poker room and we bid farewell to Taylor as he
is leaving in a couple hours. Rob and I head over to watch some hoops
at the Paris. They have this great setup in one of the theatres and
you can watch four games at once. Of course we lose our bets on those
ones too. Head up to the Sahara to play in the Sunday night tourney.
backupDave is running all over my table in the first hour and I finally
re-raise him all-in with A-10 offsuit. I only made this move since he
was taking about 1 of every 3 pots. He has suited connectors and I
double up. Don't really make a hand though after that and bust out again
when I take A-Q against Presto. Ugh. Steel wins our last longer bet
but he and backupDave both bust out short of the money.
I play some blackjack and then we meet up with Dwayne's crew and head
back to the Luxor. We are hanging out at the little bar right outside
the Ra night club. (which is closed on sunday night) Tim, one of the
guys in Dwayne's crew has pretty much been up the whole weekend. Maybe
3 hours sleep total. The sleep depravation, among other things, is
really starting to get to him and he is really starting to lose it. It's
hard not to laugh really. The cash register at the bar makes this
little beep sound about once every 5 minutes. Every time Tim totally loses
it.
Cash Register: Beep
Tim: "Ahhhhh, dammit, what the hell is that beeping it's driving me
crazy!"
One of us: "It's just the cash register"
Tim: "Damnit, its driving me crazy"
******* 5 seconds later ************
Cash Register: Beep
Tim: "Ahhhhh, dammit, what the hell is that beeping it's driving me
crazy!"
etc, etc
Repeat ad nauseum.....
Luckily we finally got Tim to agree that it was time for bed for him.
We decide to head over to the Island Lounge at Mandalay and watch the
professionals at work. I never realized that the Island Lounge was the
place in Vegas for the working girl. Dave finds us down here after a
while. We stay here until Rob leaves at 4 to catch his flight. Of
course he manages to find the one female in the bar who isn't there to work
and would have made another 'friend' had he not had to leave to catch
his flight. People start to head out around 4:30. I planned to go to
bed and get up in the morning for a couple hour poker session before my
flight but I am unable to resist the pull of the Mandalay bay 4/8 with
a half kill.
******** Begin Poker content **********
I have to wait for a 4/8 seat so I take a seat in the 1-5 stud game.
Really only win one pot as when I fill up on 7th street. I did see the
dealer deal a Royal flush in spades to one guy at the table. He won
about $250 in high hand bonus. Then he tipped the dealer about $15 and
gave everyone else at the table a $5 chip. I thought that was pretty
nice. I finally get into the hold'em game. This was a good game. I am
down a little and pick up pocket 10's in late position. I haven't been
at the table long, but I have noticed that the player 2 to my left
likes to raise a lot. He just calls from one of the blinds. Flop is J
high. I bet out and he raises me. On the river the board is still J
high. I think about it for a while but I finally decide to call him down.
He says good call as he shows 8 high????? and throws his cards
away..... This was a scene that would repeat itself many times this session.
The game slowly dwindles down until there are but 4 of us around 5:00
am. Luckily the mad bluffer is one of the 4 and I stay in the game even
though I normally never play that short. We actually make some monster
pots in this 4 handed game. I raise from the button with Q-6 suited
and mad bluffer 3 bets me so I go ahead and make it 4. (pretty sure I
have never before in my life made it 4 bets with Q-6 suited) I flop a
queen, bet and get raised on the flop so I make it 3 bets. He calls the
turn and then raises on the river. Of course he has crap again and
complements me on my "nice call" with top pair.... Not sure why this guy
thought there was any chance in hell I was folding against him but I am
not one to complain. Eventually around 6:30 some of the early birds
start straggling in. One of the better players from earlier in the
session returns. The mad bluffer is still there and I am really starting to
get tired. I should leave now as I am up about $140 and very tired but
stupidly I stay. I make the two following awful plays. 6 handed now
and I raise pre-flop with A-J suited. Flop has an Ace. One of the
blinds, a fairly solid player who is a floor at the Bellagio bets out. I
decide to go ahead and raise and she 3 bets me. I think for several
seconds and almost muck my hand face up on the table to show that I know
she has me. Of course that would be the smart play. I chose to be an
idiot and call her down only to be shown, yup A-Q. Duh. I love it when
I throw away 2.5BB. The next play is even more costly. The better
player who returned calls from middle position and I raise with AK from
late position and the mad bluffer makes it 3. We both just call. Flop
is Q-6-4 and I go ahead and bet out. Mad bluffer raises and solid
player JUST CALLS two bets. This probably should have set of some kind of
warning bell, but I sure didn't hear it. I call as well. Turn is a K.
Again I bet out. Mad bluffer raises and solid player 3-bets. For some
reason, not sure why I think that the solid player put me on a Q and
think his K is now good so I decide that I should make it 4 bets. Both
players call. I am worried when solid player calls. I bet river and
both player call me. Turns out I made it 4 bets while I was in third
place as Mad bluffer shows me 6-4 and solid player shows 44...... Solid
player can't believe I don't have KK. I bleed off a couple more dollars
and then finally realize that I am far far far from my A-game and cash
out saving $40 of my profit. Oh also while I was at the hold em table
the same dealer that dealt the royal earlier managed to deal another
straight flush and quad 6's. Three high hands in one session.
Unfortunately I didn't have any of them. I head back to the room around 9:00
am.
******** End Poker content **********
So at 9:30am I get back to the room. Realizing that I am screwed
since I will only be able to sleep for 3 hours before my plane leaves I
call SWA and ask for an earlier flight. The inform me that the only one
with any seats leaves in 1:20 mins. I switch flights and then throw
everything in my bag and run for the elevator. Check out, and am greeted
by a cab line of at least 75 people. Pay $35 for a limo ride to the
airport. Ouch. Driver drops me off in a great spot right by an
escalator that puts me about 100 feet from the security checkpoint. I make my
plane with at least 10 minutes to spare. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif And just like that my
trip is done. Except for Dave who stayed in Vegas for two more
days.......
Aftermath:
My bookie debut didn't go so well. My lines were off on nearly
everything. Here are the results for the bets placed.
Over/Unders Line Actual
Tequila shots by Dave at the poker table in one session 4 2
Number of group at same poker table at same time 3 5
Number of other players chased off table in that time 2 5(game broke)
Longest single session of poker by anyone 27 18
Total # of drinks by entire group before 11pm Thursday 43 51+
Odds
Dave gets buffet comp at Bellagio 3:2 Pays
Rob sticks to his resolution and does not play roulette 6:1 Pays
Net results
Rob +15
Dave +7
Taylor +3
Shaw +2
Isaacs +1
Hmmm, maybe I better hire a consultant next year to set my lines for
me...... Also due to the poker content I plan to post this one a poker
newsgroup as well. Hopefully you all had fun and plan to return next
year.
Marcus