Little Vegas Trip Report

[nanoking]

Went to Vegas to use up some free rooms left over from my days as a card counter. Stayed at the Plaza. Didn't log many hours, but had a calm and positive trip. Much more enjoyable than blackjack or video poker. The nonsense details in this report are probably only of use to people new to Vegas.

Sorry no specific hand postings. I avoid marginal situations like the plague so most of my decisions are straightforward (as it should be?) I've got some questions and issues buried throughout and welcome all comments. I'm not as cocky as this post suggests, it's just an artifact of typing from my poker journal and some internet braggadocio.

Bellagio: Played 4/8 holdem.
This was really my first time playing poker in Vegas since "learning to play", meaning a few months of heavy online and live practice. Game was stereotypically Vegas as I had heard it, tight passive. My KK held up twice and I was 1 for 2 with AK. I was a little slow in getting my aggression up to appropriate levels and lost a few bets by not betting on the river in cases where hindsight shows I had the other player dominated. I had to limp more preflop and check-call more on the flop to keep people around. I was aware that this increased my risk of being sucked out on, but I got lucky enough to not have any tough laydowns (any other effective approaches?).

I got twitchy from drinking too much coffee. My wife was playing on my right and kept getting trapped with overcards. My wife has no compunction in her playing style. When she's convinced she has a hand she'll fling those chips with abandon. Since I was running good and it was a mini-vacation I went easy on her during our interstate poker post-game.

My table image was aggressive and I was the only one to 3-bet in 3 hours. The players were quite the rotating band with better players leaving most quickly for higher games. There was plenty of money to be won with pretty low variance for the patient.

The seats were those adjustable kind, and everybody else had them screwed down as low as they could go so I felt like the king of the table up high.

Orleans: Played 4/8 Omaha Hilo, 1/2 kill, 1/2 blinds
My first time playing Omaha8 live. Soft game, however, the dealers kept making mistakes like dropping decks, picking them up, and dealing them again (!). The floorman wasn't filling seats even as people were sitting waiting, and wasn't starting new games either. Their list is not computerized, it's just a list on a screen. They let dealers go off duty early when people were lining up and the tourney was about to end. Floorman wasn't dealing with players yelling. Players were bad and getting tense from losing so much, but this was making for weirdness at the table. People were getting neurotic about squaring the table (very funny, but got old). During this annoying behavior by cast and crew, I didn't get an ace for 5 orbits and left for lunch at Koji, which I unequivocally recommend.

Excalibur: 2-6 spread, single $2 blind
Thank you Raiders and Bucs for bringing together such wonderful players to play in Excalibur's "kitchen table" poker room. I found out who was playing in the Super Bowl noon on Sunday, but pretended like I cared so I wouldn't be ostracized. Weird structure? 2-6 on all betting rounds. My favorite bet was when I "made it $17" on the river. Try counting that out right without giving away you've filled up. This game was like what tight passive Vegas players imagine it's like to ram and jam. I thought I was able to exploit being able to raise 3x the min bet at any time (protecting hands, thinning field, check-raising, trapping). Really had to take matters into my own hands as far as getting the pot big when I was in (bet $3 to tease everybody to stay in, check-raise $6 since they're pot committed, etc.) There's got to be more that can be done to take advantage of this structure. I was thinking of it like pot-limit with training wheels? Tough to get odds, but easier to get implied odds?

My biggest pot was with 96s in the big blind when I made my straight (had double draw). I made my straight on the river, but it was pretty cheap to get there. Players pretty much called anything on the river.

NK

[nanoking]

BTW, is this the right place to post trip reports? What do people like to see in trip reports?

Thanks,
NK

[J.A.Sucker]

Is your trip report little because you're the "nano" king? [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[nanoking]

little because of trip length, not post length (obviously, lol).

The whole nanoking thing is just funny to me on multiple levels: nanotechnology, ruler of a microscopic kingdom, it kind of rolls off the tongue, it fit as an email when I started college. Who knows how much sense it makes now. I was thinking of picking a poker specific handle, but changing handles is tricky. I've always liked "WinstonWolf" like from Pulp Fiction. I wonder if anyone's taken that. Oh well, I'm stuck with "NK".

N [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img] K [img]/forums/images/icons/spade.gif[/img]

[mike l.]

"The seats were those adjustable kind, and everybody else had them screwed down as low as they could go so I felt like the king of the table up high."

i just wanted to say that i was there recently and the seats there are HORRIBLE. so f*cking awful! i had excruciating lower back pain after the first night of play and wisely went out of my way to find a normal straight back chair for the second session. the problem is that the chairs lean back to readily. you just barely sit back against them and they recline all the way back and it puts you in a terrible situation. very poorly designed.

[Dynasty]

I also hate the Bellagio chairs and have occassinally had a mildly sore back after playing there for about 4 hours. It's one of the small reasons I play at the Mirage more often.

[mike l.]

while im at it:

the bellagio buffet is nasty. the mirage is also kinda gross, but much better nonetheless. hell all buffets are kinda gross. also i was served a disgusting burnt hamburger at 4am at the bellagio cafe and it took 30 minutes to arrive. but i must say that it was easy to get a comp both nights i was playing 30 at the bellagio, they were nice about it and quick to please. as for the mirage, it's pretty cool to get a $10 credit for cpk: that's the best comp going anywhere.

also, the weekend 30-60 games at bellagio were so so good.
way better than the last couple times i played 20 at mirage. i will just remember to always seek out a normal chair somewhere before sitting down.

[snakehead]

the problem is that the chairs lean back to readily

I think the spring tension on these chairs is adjustable,
just like and office chair. the only other complaint I have heard about the bellagio chairs came from donna harris. go figure.

[snakehead]

the bellagio buffet is nasty

now I know you're looney tunes. bellagio has the best buffet in vegas. I don't mind paying full price for it. I'd rather eat at the snack bar than the mirage buffet, though.

maybe the horseshoe buffet would be more to your liking.

[balt999]

Hey, when you spend over a million dollars on your bathrooms...what is left for poker chairs? [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]