leon
05-09-2003, 08:15 AM
So several other posters have done these in the past and I've always enjoyed reading their experiences. I figured I'd do one of my own. I make it out to Vegas quite often but this is my first one of these "reports".
Got in 4/28 at midnight and went straight home (my parents live in Vegas). Too tired to play- hey, it was 3 am in Boston. Started off well, exercising good "game selection", even if that meant no game at all.
Played pretty much every day up until 5/2. I saw someone who I later confirmed was the babe on one day at the Mirage, but didn't sit in her game. Messaged her to confirm and played with her the next day before confirmation. Nothing interesting of note besides pretty substandard cards, and seeing the babe get KK hammered by flopped quads.
On 5/2 the girlfriend came into town, followed quickly by two of my friends from back East. I played host all weekend and didn't get to play much, esp with the girl by my side. Did manage to sit 20/40 for a few hrs and book a 15 BB win- she got to see me drag two pots, including a 3 pusher (where the dealer takes 3 seperate motions to push the chips) that took me 3 more hands to stack. No Taco Bell for YOU tonight honey! /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
Speaking of non taco-bell, we went to Aqua at the Bellagio that night. I highly recommend it for those who haven't been- the service is impeccable. The escarole I had at Emeril's was superior in my mind, but overall the food was great. The girl got me a nice money clip at Tiffany's too, which unfortunately (or fortunately?) won't fit my roll. Gotta love her anyways.
Monday my friends (who play low limit) went to check out the Mandalay, on advice I gave them based on Clarkmeister/Dynasty information from here. I shopped with the woman. Came to pick them up in the afternoon and both were up at least two racks. This is a 4/8 game with a half-kill for those who don't know, and it's off the hook. I didn't see anyone who I thought could play, although I did see one man who played EVERY HAND dealt to him (he'll reappear later in the story). Apparently another guy there fell asleep in the middle of a hand where he held cards. Mandalay has a 3$ max rake, as well as high hand bonuses, so for 4/8 players there shouldn't ever be a reason for them to play at the Bellagio (besides the fact that Mandalay allows smoking).
I dropped the girl off at the airport Mon afternoon and headed back to the Mandalay. Picked up the friends and grabbed dinner, and they decided they wanted more. I make a decision that this will be fun- poker night and join them, and we plan on playing low limit at the Excalibur later that night.
As we walk back into the Mandalay poker room, I notice a distinctive person wearing a distinctive tan hat. Yep, it's our own Tommy Angelo. I introduce myself and he quickly intro's me to Clarkmeister. Hmmm, this room seems to have picked up at least two players who might cause me a bit of trouble /forums/images/icons/wink.gif Both are stellar people who invite me to Dynasty's home game, which unfortunately I can't attend b/c of aforementioned friends. Plus I suck at pot limit /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
A couple interesting hands-
I'm chatting with Tommy as he describes the various chip stacking patterns he's used over the years to my friend Brett and me. Clarkmiester who was at the other table taps me on the shoulder at says, "Leon, you might want to see this. I just 3 bet your friend preflop". My buddy had gotten into Clark's game and had apparently raised preflop, with Clark 3 betting him. The flop came Q high, with a bet and smooth call (I think). Turn was a 3rd club, my friend bets, Clark raises, my friend thinks for a while and 3 bets. Clark calls, asking me, "can he beat aces?" Obviously I don't say anything, but I know my friend won't three bet the turn and not be able to beat an over pair. He bets the river, Clark calls and my friend takes it down with a flopped set of Q's. Clarkmeister mucks without showing, and later says he had KK. I was proud of my friend for 3 betting b/c a few months ago he would have just called the turn bet, and check/called the river fearing a flush.
Another hand- Tommy and I are talking about something. Old man who played every hand limps in and Tommy pops it with A7 sooted. Head up, flop comes 457 rainbow. Old man check/calls. Turn 8, old man check/calls. River is a 3, old man check/calls again. Tommy tables his hand. Old man looks at the board, looks at his hand, and tables 58 offsoot. Tommy looks completely blank for a second, says absolutely nothing, and then turns back to me and continues our conversation as if nothing happened. It was so nonchalant it was funny.
I get Clark's old seat as he moves to Tommy's table, and they soon rack up and leave. Book a small win there. We head to the Excalibur's 2-6 spread limit game which is also very soft and great fun. They have a wheel there with various dollar amounts from 20- 100 on it, and if you get AA cracked or make quads or better you get to spin the wheel. I doze on autopilot for a while, then the game gets short handed and I wake up. Drag pot after pot with semi-rags while putting one poor victim and one decent player but completely ABC on tilt. Poor ABC guy couldn't understand my open raise with K7 sooted- kept shaking his head and muttering. Meanwhile, I proceed to make a straight flush one hand on the river, bet the river, and victim RAISES me with a rivered top pair. I reraise the nuts and let my friend whose stated goal for the whole trip was to "spin the wheel" proceed to do so. He nets me an extra 35$. Great spin Mark. /forums/images/icons/mad.gif We finally rack up at 4 am, Mark and I up 2 racks a piece, with only Brett getting left out of the action (his short handed game no goot).
Only other interest of note- I played a little 20/40 before jumping on the plane yesterday and got to sit with both the babe and Tommy. The babe was there when I arrived at the Mirage and since I had confirmation of her identity I introduced myself. For those who don't know, she is quite friendly and is in fact a babe. She proceeds to sell me Tommy's CD, and tries to sell me a hat as well. I explain that it would not be possible for me to LG if I wore a hat. She tells me Tommy is on his way to the Mirage.
Tommy shows up later and we all play in the same game for a while (which was actually quite good). Which of course means we'd all leave stuck. One nut job was jamming a lot of hands with garbage, but he'd hit a high percentage of those. We also had some 21 yr old (supposedly) in our game who was just running over the table. Everything he played, he hit. To his credit he was quite aggressive and generally played well, but he sucked out on the babe a few times /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif Mind you, I'm only 25 so what does it say about me that I think of this guy as some young kid who's running well? LOL. When you're hot you're hot I guess, might as well milk it for all it's worth.
Nut job was telling a funny story about some guy who apparently had the worst breath in all of creation. Every five minutes he'd yell, "My God. He had the worst breath. It was like he was sucking Saddam's ass all day". LOL Supposedly the babe tossed him some gum at one point, which he proceeded to throw away /forums/images/icons/grin.gif When Tommy sat down he got the bad breath story repeated to him. The storyteller said to Tommy "his breath smelled worse than your ass" to which Tommy, deadpan, says "that's pretty bad" /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
I butchered one hand I played. I had AK off in mid and 3 bet a solid raiser in early. He 4 bets me preflop. Flop comes 8 7 2 with 2 hearts, and I call his bet. Turn is a 3rd heart, I have the king of hearts and semi bluff raise. He calls, and calls my river bet after my miss. I get to see AA, with the Ace of hearts, for a mere 220$. That was a few fruit plates, heck, a few dinners at Aqua. Later I rewind and release that I could have, in fact, given a solid preflop 4-bettor credit for AA or KK, and mucked on the flop. Or realized that a semi-bluff turn raise had no "bluff" potential. That's a 140$ mistake right there (220 - the 80$ which was going in preflop), and I got to embarass myself in front of both the babe and Tommy.
Tommy leaves about a hr before I have to. Babe and I continue to butt our heads against the brick wall, catching nothing and getting sucked out on. She racks up and leaves, and I soon follow suit. I do have to say that the experience was worth its weight in gold- I got to meet a fabulous person (babe), chat with Tommy more, AND get his CD, which by the way is mad cool.
I'm up for the trip, but WAY up in terms of personal relationships/new friends. I highly recommend anyone coming out to Vegas to try and meet the Vegas 2+2ers.
If you're still here, you're not bored.
Leon
Got in 4/28 at midnight and went straight home (my parents live in Vegas). Too tired to play- hey, it was 3 am in Boston. Started off well, exercising good "game selection", even if that meant no game at all.
Played pretty much every day up until 5/2. I saw someone who I later confirmed was the babe on one day at the Mirage, but didn't sit in her game. Messaged her to confirm and played with her the next day before confirmation. Nothing interesting of note besides pretty substandard cards, and seeing the babe get KK hammered by flopped quads.
On 5/2 the girlfriend came into town, followed quickly by two of my friends from back East. I played host all weekend and didn't get to play much, esp with the girl by my side. Did manage to sit 20/40 for a few hrs and book a 15 BB win- she got to see me drag two pots, including a 3 pusher (where the dealer takes 3 seperate motions to push the chips) that took me 3 more hands to stack. No Taco Bell for YOU tonight honey! /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
Speaking of non taco-bell, we went to Aqua at the Bellagio that night. I highly recommend it for those who haven't been- the service is impeccable. The escarole I had at Emeril's was superior in my mind, but overall the food was great. The girl got me a nice money clip at Tiffany's too, which unfortunately (or fortunately?) won't fit my roll. Gotta love her anyways.
Monday my friends (who play low limit) went to check out the Mandalay, on advice I gave them based on Clarkmeister/Dynasty information from here. I shopped with the woman. Came to pick them up in the afternoon and both were up at least two racks. This is a 4/8 game with a half-kill for those who don't know, and it's off the hook. I didn't see anyone who I thought could play, although I did see one man who played EVERY HAND dealt to him (he'll reappear later in the story). Apparently another guy there fell asleep in the middle of a hand where he held cards. Mandalay has a 3$ max rake, as well as high hand bonuses, so for 4/8 players there shouldn't ever be a reason for them to play at the Bellagio (besides the fact that Mandalay allows smoking).
I dropped the girl off at the airport Mon afternoon and headed back to the Mandalay. Picked up the friends and grabbed dinner, and they decided they wanted more. I make a decision that this will be fun- poker night and join them, and we plan on playing low limit at the Excalibur later that night.
As we walk back into the Mandalay poker room, I notice a distinctive person wearing a distinctive tan hat. Yep, it's our own Tommy Angelo. I introduce myself and he quickly intro's me to Clarkmeister. Hmmm, this room seems to have picked up at least two players who might cause me a bit of trouble /forums/images/icons/wink.gif Both are stellar people who invite me to Dynasty's home game, which unfortunately I can't attend b/c of aforementioned friends. Plus I suck at pot limit /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
A couple interesting hands-
I'm chatting with Tommy as he describes the various chip stacking patterns he's used over the years to my friend Brett and me. Clarkmiester who was at the other table taps me on the shoulder at says, "Leon, you might want to see this. I just 3 bet your friend preflop". My buddy had gotten into Clark's game and had apparently raised preflop, with Clark 3 betting him. The flop came Q high, with a bet and smooth call (I think). Turn was a 3rd club, my friend bets, Clark raises, my friend thinks for a while and 3 bets. Clark calls, asking me, "can he beat aces?" Obviously I don't say anything, but I know my friend won't three bet the turn and not be able to beat an over pair. He bets the river, Clark calls and my friend takes it down with a flopped set of Q's. Clarkmeister mucks without showing, and later says he had KK. I was proud of my friend for 3 betting b/c a few months ago he would have just called the turn bet, and check/called the river fearing a flush.
Another hand- Tommy and I are talking about something. Old man who played every hand limps in and Tommy pops it with A7 sooted. Head up, flop comes 457 rainbow. Old man check/calls. Turn 8, old man check/calls. River is a 3, old man check/calls again. Tommy tables his hand. Old man looks at the board, looks at his hand, and tables 58 offsoot. Tommy looks completely blank for a second, says absolutely nothing, and then turns back to me and continues our conversation as if nothing happened. It was so nonchalant it was funny.
I get Clark's old seat as he moves to Tommy's table, and they soon rack up and leave. Book a small win there. We head to the Excalibur's 2-6 spread limit game which is also very soft and great fun. They have a wheel there with various dollar amounts from 20- 100 on it, and if you get AA cracked or make quads or better you get to spin the wheel. I doze on autopilot for a while, then the game gets short handed and I wake up. Drag pot after pot with semi-rags while putting one poor victim and one decent player but completely ABC on tilt. Poor ABC guy couldn't understand my open raise with K7 sooted- kept shaking his head and muttering. Meanwhile, I proceed to make a straight flush one hand on the river, bet the river, and victim RAISES me with a rivered top pair. I reraise the nuts and let my friend whose stated goal for the whole trip was to "spin the wheel" proceed to do so. He nets me an extra 35$. Great spin Mark. /forums/images/icons/mad.gif We finally rack up at 4 am, Mark and I up 2 racks a piece, with only Brett getting left out of the action (his short handed game no goot).
Only other interest of note- I played a little 20/40 before jumping on the plane yesterday and got to sit with both the babe and Tommy. The babe was there when I arrived at the Mirage and since I had confirmation of her identity I introduced myself. For those who don't know, she is quite friendly and is in fact a babe. She proceeds to sell me Tommy's CD, and tries to sell me a hat as well. I explain that it would not be possible for me to LG if I wore a hat. She tells me Tommy is on his way to the Mirage.
Tommy shows up later and we all play in the same game for a while (which was actually quite good). Which of course means we'd all leave stuck. One nut job was jamming a lot of hands with garbage, but he'd hit a high percentage of those. We also had some 21 yr old (supposedly) in our game who was just running over the table. Everything he played, he hit. To his credit he was quite aggressive and generally played well, but he sucked out on the babe a few times /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif Mind you, I'm only 25 so what does it say about me that I think of this guy as some young kid who's running well? LOL. When you're hot you're hot I guess, might as well milk it for all it's worth.
Nut job was telling a funny story about some guy who apparently had the worst breath in all of creation. Every five minutes he'd yell, "My God. He had the worst breath. It was like he was sucking Saddam's ass all day". LOL Supposedly the babe tossed him some gum at one point, which he proceeded to throw away /forums/images/icons/grin.gif When Tommy sat down he got the bad breath story repeated to him. The storyteller said to Tommy "his breath smelled worse than your ass" to which Tommy, deadpan, says "that's pretty bad" /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
I butchered one hand I played. I had AK off in mid and 3 bet a solid raiser in early. He 4 bets me preflop. Flop comes 8 7 2 with 2 hearts, and I call his bet. Turn is a 3rd heart, I have the king of hearts and semi bluff raise. He calls, and calls my river bet after my miss. I get to see AA, with the Ace of hearts, for a mere 220$. That was a few fruit plates, heck, a few dinners at Aqua. Later I rewind and release that I could have, in fact, given a solid preflop 4-bettor credit for AA or KK, and mucked on the flop. Or realized that a semi-bluff turn raise had no "bluff" potential. That's a 140$ mistake right there (220 - the 80$ which was going in preflop), and I got to embarass myself in front of both the babe and Tommy.
Tommy leaves about a hr before I have to. Babe and I continue to butt our heads against the brick wall, catching nothing and getting sucked out on. She racks up and leaves, and I soon follow suit. I do have to say that the experience was worth its weight in gold- I got to meet a fabulous person (babe), chat with Tommy more, AND get his CD, which by the way is mad cool.
I'm up for the trip, but WAY up in terms of personal relationships/new friends. I highly recommend anyone coming out to Vegas to try and meet the Vegas 2+2ers.
If you're still here, you're not bored.
Leon