HI! IM FROM THE INTERNET!(Vegas Trip Report)

[uw_madtown]

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Bump.

C'mon guys, where are the rest of you. No one else wants to let us losers who couldn't attend in on the trip?

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I started a trip report and then Firefox locked up. It crushed my soul. I'll post one eventually though.

[B Dids]

What Happens In Vegas Stays in Vegas?

[nolanfan34]

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What Happens In Vegas Stays in Vegas?

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Did jason_t stay there or something? He's been quiet.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What Happens In Vegas Stays in Vegas?

[/ QUOTE ]

Did jason_t stay there or something? He's been quiet.

[/ QUOTE ]

jason_t was there and has returned. A group of us had lunch Sunday at the deli thing at the Wynn, it was good. I'm not sure how much he or others will weigh in regarding reports though, my initial feeling is that most might not bother doing much of a write-up. TStone made a post in NVG though, that's a good read.

Also, nolanfan. Holy [censored], I found a PM from you from like October that I never read about the fantasy football league. I owe you money, and will attempt to salvage what is probably and unsalvagable season. PM me with the best was to pay you.

[TStoneMBD]

pittm you messed up the names in the picture. the guy who has klepton's name is actually me with me leaning over the table. kleptons face isnt showing.

[ClaytonN]

i take it this is the only good picture from the trip?

[TStoneMBD]

there is a good picture of a few players in my thread in nvg:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0#Post3891754

but noone brought their camera.

[uw_madtown]

PRE-VEGAS

I wake up Friday at 7 AM Central to do all sorts of random errands that need to be taken care of before Vegas. Get to Dane Co Airport 2 hours before flight departure and realize that the place is a hole. Have 2 beers (Spotted Cow, a Wisconsin favorite) to console myself. Flight to O'Hare is roughly 3 minutes long. Make note to self: flight direct from Madison to Vegas next time as the hassle of a layover in Chicago is not worth it. See elephants in a parking lot somewhere during the landing, which is the first time the passenger next to me looked up from her magazine.

All the internet terminals in O'Hare are packed, which sucks since I have stuff I was supposed to e-mail out before I left for business back home. After spending 20 minutes wandering around looking for those, I get a sandwich and another drink. Try using my laptop to watch some Arrested Development only to discover it sucks ass and won't run without shutting down a few minutes in. Get on the flight to Vegas and have a couple more drinks while watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I'd already seen. Meh. Cute flight attendant hooks me up with extra booze though. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]



VEGAS, FRIDAY NIGHT

Get into Vegas and realize my phone battery is low, so I stop at one of the airport bars and plug it in to charge while getting yet another drink (I can already tell that most of my money this weekend won't be lost at the poker table). Call Dids, decide to cab to the Wynn and check my bag and then call back to find out where they're at by then. Get in, check my bag and check out the poker room, then call Dids back. Can't hear him too well but I hear something about them heading to Bellagio. I start walking up the strip and by the time I get to Bellagio I realize I'm going to want to take cabs the rest of the weekend. Check out the Bellagio for the first time and realize how much nicer the Wynn is IMO. Get my name on the list for 4/8 and check out the sportsbook, and then Dids calls back--they're going to the MGM for either craps or poker.

Get to the MGM and see no sign of anyone at the poker room, so I wander around the craps area (and miss everyone the first time through). Finally spot Dids and start getting introduced to people. Ask how everyone's doing at craps and the universal answer is "stuck." Rumor has it that GoT and CDC were stuck like $2k and I'm [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]ing Vegas already. They head over to blackjack to either drop more or end up ahead for the night, which apparently was their strategy the night before. They of course get about fifty-seven 20s against a dealer bust and I realize, as TStone put it, "It's good to be asian."

We head back to Bellagio for a 1/2 mixed game in GoT et al's room. On the way, a black guy approaches Dids holding out a CD and talking about how he's a rapper from Milwaukee. Dids realizes he should pawn the guy off on me since I'm from Wisconsin and am the editor of the Arts section of UW's student paper. I grab one and look at it, figuring it'd make a good joke souvenir for one of my rap writers who knows I'm here. Guy says how he wants me to buy it to help him get started. I figure it's a demo and falsely promise I'll buy the album once I get back home. He repeats that he wants me to buy it. I repeat, yeah, of course, I will, and keep walking. After about five times of this exchange, TStone figures out that I don't realize this IS the album and I feel like a jackass. Buy the album anyway because it's $10 and like I said, knew someone who'd get a kick out of it.

After a lot of running around, we eventually get about 15 racks of blue up to the room and start playing. Shant and Klepton (Carlo) bring in two 24 packs of Natty Light and after the required bitching and moaning, we all start drinking. Entity (Rob) shows up with a bottle of Ketel One and buys in to my left. I plan on stealing his cards and/or his alcohol but fail miserably. As TStone said in his report, the game was out of control and pots were 40 BBs from the start. Games included Crazy Fox, double/triple/quadruple flop hold'em, razz, Death Donkey (Chris) 4 Card Double Draw with a community river, something I think called Mississippi holdem (individual down rivers instead of a community river). Some of these games were played hi/lo but I don't remember which. At some point I decide to cap with 69s for value and a flop comes 99x. bakkubakku bets, I raise, he 3-bets, I 4-bet and he screams "YOU PLAYED SOME GARBAGE LIKE 69s DIDN'T YOU, FISH!" I think we still cap the turn and he calls a river bet. I show my 69s and bakku cries while Rob starts screaming about how much he loves playing Big Lick.

It's at this point we realize that Rob is drinking straight Ketel and is as drunk as bisonbison apparently was last trip. His response to our heckling is to give us the finger--yet another sign he's the second coming of bison. I point this out to him and he lays back on the bed and screams "I AM AN INTERNET CELEBRITY!" He then realizes he's dropped a rack and needs more chips. I offer him $15 for his glass of vodka. After putting in his blind, he promptly takes the glass back and I realize I made a bad investment. Also, at this point, GoT is putting out everyone's blind straddle, blind 3-bets, blind 4-bets, and blind caps. I think bottomset folded his straddle somewhere in here and we all declare him to be a nit. The game eventually breaks as the asians want to go play more craps and blackjack, Rob's plastered and may or may not be getting staked for the craps game, and others are tired. We head downstairs and I realize despite Rob's constant thieving of my stack I still ended up like $17. I believe bakku trucked out 17 racks.

Dids and bottomset, both of whom I'm staying with at the Wynn, decide to go watch the gamb000lers. I get a room key and head to the poker room to play some 4/8. Game is largely uneventful and boring, but I've told the waitress to keep jack&cokes coming at as rapid a clip as possible (this is standard during all poker play the rest of the trip). Bottomset eventually sits at my table on the other side and humiliates me in the following hand (details are fuzzy, so bottomset can correct me if I'm wrong). I may be the only person on the trip who can say he accidentally 7-bet:

bottomset is the BB, I'm in middle-late position. Everyone folds to me, I raise with QQ, folded to bottomset who 3-bets, I 4-bet, he calls. Flop comes QJ8. BS checks, I bet, he raises, I 3-bet, he 4-bets, I 5-bet, he 6-bets. I realize he just 3-bet me preflop with T9 and call him a fish while intending to call. In my drunkeness, I accidentally end up putting out too many chips and end up being forced to 7-bet. He 8-bets, and I call down without filling up and he shows T9o. They weren't even soooooted. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Before leaving we go check in with the other people still playing. I also meet PITTM, and he says he's flying out pretty soon. We never even got to make massive 4/8 towers. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Bottomset and I walk back to the Wynn at like 5:30 AM. Dids is already back and asleep, and bottomset decides he's going to crash too. I call the desk to get my bag brought up and then head down to the poker room to keep playing, because there's a $110 tourney at the Aladdin at noon that I want to play in for fun and if I sleep now I'm not sure I'd make it there.



SATURDAY

First I grab breakfast at the Terrace Cafe. 3 eggs over easy, toast, a ham steak, and hashbrowns. Good food but definitely overpriced. Play some early morning drunken 4/8 at the Wynn. This is the first time I meet a LAG who looks like a cross between a hair metal band reject and Weird Al Yankovic. I also see him every other time I'm in the Wynn poker room, so I think he played for 48 hours straight at the 4/8. Nothing particularly interesting happens in this game, and I don't remember any hands.

Go upstairs to shower and change before the tournament. Get to Aladdin at 10:30 and play 3/6 for an hour and drop a rack. FU to the podium guy who said it was silly to buy in for $300, I run bad. The tourney gets going and I get shortstacked early on but manage to survive with a double up at one point. Start with 2k in chips, blinds were 25/50 and doubled every 20 minutes I think. People could rebuy through the first hour, something I was not informed of or I'd have played much differently. Oh well. Around the 1:40 mark I get all in with JJ against 3 callers and MHIG, yay. At some point I'm probably in the top 3 stacks but I drop a bit later when I call all-ins from people with 3BB and lose. Big hand is with the blinds 1k/2k, UTG (new to the table) makes it 4k, MP (played with him the whole time, he's solid and I think he's a floor at Aladdin who knows Al Capone Jr) calls, folded to me in the BB. I have AKo and push in for my last 13k to make it 15k total. EP calls, MP folds (wtf?). EP shows 33 and I don't improve, and I'm out in 14th, 5 people out of the money. Sigh.

I go back to the Wynn to crash for a few hours before at least showing up to say Hi to people at Magoofest (which I never did [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ). Sleep for 3 hours, wake up and call Dids. Turns out he's down in the Wynn poker room, so we meet up and walk up to the Mirage to check out their buffet. Good food, but I wimp out on a second plate of meat and instead get a plate of fruit and then dessert. We both observe that they have some sort of yellow dessert surprise that looks like shredded cheesey potatoes... wtf again? We walk to Bellagio to meet up with people there.

Get to Bellagio and finally meet PJN, rmarotti, rt, and jason_t. Get on the list for 4/8 and get seated at a table next to Jason's. One orbit in and I already hate this table -- 2 chops, 3 uncalled PFRs, 3 hands where BB calls PFR and then check-folds the flop. No hands to showdown. I demand a drink and a table change. Turns out Jason's looking to change tables so I swap seats with him. I sit down and an obvious 4/8 local with a stick up his ass tells me "You guys are punks. Your friends are punks. I'm getting your asses thrown out of here." [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

I tell the dealer I'm waiting for my blind and go talk to shant, who's now standing outside the poker room. Apparently a few of them were sweating jason's hand placing prop bets on the flop color and this guy complained to the floor, getting shant kicked out of the poker room. He then turns around and heads back in to talk to sthief (Josh) and other people playing the 15 and 30 games. I laugh and go sit back down. 4/8 local hates me and I haven't said a word. I just shrug and keep playing. At this point, Shant, Carlo, Josh and a few other people start sweating Jason on his new table and make some more color prop bets. 4/8 local starts pointing and them and calling for the floor. Someone yells "What's your problem?!" and he stutters something I don't remember, to which Josh replies "YOU BEAT YOUR WIFE! You beat your wife... no, you probably don't even have a wife to beat!" Needless to say, all of them get tossed except myself and I think Moozh was also playing somewhere to the side. I go back to the entrance and Jason says they're going to go get something to eat and head back to the Wynn. I plan to meet them there and head back to the table.

As soon as I get back to the table, the group leaves by walking along the rail, giving Josh another chance to yell about 4/8 local beating his wife. A black chick to his right turns around and tells Josh to watch his mouth because SHE'S his wife, to which Josh replies, "No you're not. You're a whore. AND HE BEATS YOU! YOU BEAT YOUR WHORE!" I have to leave the table so I don't bust out laughing right in the guy's face. Shortly after everyone leaves, the black chick stops looking at her hands and just calls everyone down blind, and the local is on uber-tilt. He also gives me a dirty look when I raise his post with AA. Yes, even after I showed it down, he still looked at me like I'd killed his firstborn. He was an [censored].

Also, through their conversation, it comes out that the black chick is a former porn star named Mocha (Photo Link) who's now married to a rich, older white guy (not the 4/8 local). She seemed familiar but I couldn't remember what from. Weird. She also later tells me I'm a nice guy -- mostly because I've been quiet the whole game. Which is mostly my way of avoiding saying something that might get me punched in the face.

Cash out and see bicycklekick in the high stakes area. Let him know the early events and all he can do is shake his head and laugh. I head back to the Wynn and meet up with everyone again. Watch the 4/8 crazy pineapple game, which was insane. Also sit in a fantastic 4/8 game where there were three middle-aged brothers and their elderly father to my left. All four would regularly call 3-bets cold preflop and I'm in [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], until the father accidentally cuts his finger on a rack and starts bleeding on the table (he didn't notice because he'd lost most of the use of that hand to a stroke). It's roughly at that time that the pineapple game breaks. Dids tells me that a bunch of them are going to Lure, the club in the Wynn. I decide to keep playing and meet up with them after (I hear Lure was a blast, this was a major mistake).



SUNDAY

After playing til about 4 (?) I call Dids and find out they're just on their way out of the Wynn, so I meet up with them. Shant, PJN, Dids, RT and I get a cab and head back to Bellagio.

In the process, we have the best cab ride ever. Apparently in the last cab, Shant found out that the cabbie had taken "blaowww-blaowww" for cab fare from girls a few times. We ask Mike, our cabbie, if he would ever accept blaow blaow for cab fare, and he says "No, you don't know where she's been if she's willing to do that for $10." Shant tips him $3 for being an upstanding man of fine moral fiber. We then start to wonder if this was actually the answer Shant wanted, or whether maybe he was trying to offer up PJN's services for a free ride. We then ask the cabbie what if it was a top-flight escort and not some street hooker -- would he then accept the blaow-blaow? His reply "No, but I'd definitely think about it" earns him another $3 tip. He also honks at two flipped-collar douchebags that are blocking the Bellagio cab entrance to work his way up to $8 in tips before we even pay the fare.

Get to the Bellagio and we start sweating GoT, CDC, bakku and maybe Rob (?). Shant starts fanning out his $1 bills and yelling for color prop bets. He takes black against half the table, except for the black guy in the game because obviously if he's going to bet on the flop color, he should bet black and not red. PJN also starts betting against GoT, hoping for an all-paint flop so he can score an entire rack. It never happens.

Eventually we have like 7 people sweating the game and cheering for prop bets, but this time no one's complaining. Nonetheless, this floor has a stick up his ass and makes us go to the rail. We do, and still make just as much noise and continue the prop bets. After awhile, we're all told that we can't stay at the rail and we have to leave. Most of us retreat to the bar, now officially not in [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] with the Bellagio. Shant yells towards the room "NO HAVING FUN" when GoT stands to yell "AIYA" at a flop. Eventually Shant can't resist himself and he tries to slink back to the rail. PJN goes up as well and they talk while the rest of us continuing drinking. PJN returns after a few minutes and says, "Anyone want to make a prop bet that security comes down here for Shant?" I ask for odds, he offers 100-1. I say "I'll take that for $5." As soon as the words leave my mouth, two guys in red security coats come around the corner and start talking to Shant. I throw a $5 bill at PJN and tell him to [censored] off.

After awhile Shant chills them out and they leave and he stays at the bar. I head to the bathroom and run into NLSoldier and TStone, who apparently went to a strip club with other people, including a now-lost Josh. I introduce myself to NLSoldier, doubting he'll recognize my screenname because I don't post much. He tells me I'm an internet legend and I laugh because either he's drunk and being sarcastic, or he remembers me for something stupid like ADHOC or whatever. Either one is hilarious, but it was cool meeting him, particularly during later breakfast events. Anyway, I tell them about all of us getting tossed from the Bellagio poker room for the second time in like 12 hours, and then we talk about the Wynn pineapple game getting carded. Both of them, being underage, get very secretive any time a Bellagio worker walks by. At one point, two or three people in red coats walk through from different directions. About five minutes later, Shant comes back through being escorted to his room. We all wish him a fine evening and laugh our asses off, although I hear the best part of the entire thing was when he got into the elevator, he asked the other passengers where their security was. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

TStone calls it a night and NLSoldier and I go back to meet up with the group of about 10 that's gathered at the bar outside the poker room. We decide to head to the Bellagio Cafe and get more drinks and breakfast. PJN orders a round of kamikaze shots for everyone and a shot of tequila for he and Victor who we met up with back at the bar. He also whips out his status as an internet celebrity to try and buy drinks for four chicks celebrating someone's birthday, but gets no response because they're uptight bitches. After the shots, we order another few drinks and 5 or 6 shots of "liquid cocaine," also I'm not sure what RT described the shot as is ACTUALLY a true shot of "liquid cocaine." Anyway, he orders them and describes them as 1/3 Jaeger, 1/3 Goldschlager, and 1/3 Bacardi 151 on top. We also order food. While waiting for food, PJN informs Dids that he's willing to stake him, either for the 15/30 game or the hooker game. Dids refuses, PJN insists, and it eventually results in PJN throwing a stack of rubber-banded 100s at Dids across the table. Also, at some point, NLSoldier gets Josh and Peachy (not in Vegas) on a 3-way conference call. We still don't know where Josh is at this point. This is probably around the time he was trying to find his Bellagio room in Bally's. This call also allowed PJN to rail off a line of obscenities, including "[censored] YOU PEACHY!" when handed the phone.

Shots of LC come and we pass them around to the appropriate people who don't know what's in them. Waitress says chasers will be out shortly, but no one listens. This results in NLSoldier trying to chase with french fries and bottomset looking like he was about ready to vomit in his breakfast. PJN and Victor order a shot of tequila each again, and we get talking poker for awhile until the manager says we're being too loud and since we're done with our meal, we have to leave. Bellagio hates fun, apparently.

At this point, Victor and NL Soldier call it a night and the rest of us head back to Wynn, either to crash or play there. PJN drunkenly buys into the 15 game with a pool of red chips and I can't tell if he's winning or losing at any point in the night. Anyway, I meet thirddan for the first time I think, and he, RT, Moozh and I play some drunken 4/8 which includes the hair metal band reject I mentioned previously. Really fun game and had a great time meeting you guys. Also, the Wynn rocks as they allowed color flop prop bets on the condition they were "for fun," wink, wink. I proceed to tilt off $20 or so by running bad at color flops.

Also, we figure out that RT is a huge fish at playing KK. Two hands against me:

First hand, I'm the SB and RT is in the BB. We get an EP limper and it's folded to me. Failing to notice the limper, I raise my J5o. RT says, "You know we have a limper, right?" In fine form, I deadpan, "Of course I do." He laughs and calls, limper calls as well. Flop comes ATx, two suited. RT swears it contained a Q but this is one of few hands I remember fairly well. Anyway, I check, RT checks, limper checks. The turn is a J, and I bet out. RT thinks for a long while and folds, and the limper calls. River brick, and I bet and don't get called. I take the pot and ask RT what he had. He says KK and both Moozh and I are in shock that he folded to my turn bet. He defends it by saying I raised into a limper, and the flop was A high, and blah blah blah. He's just a big fish.

This is later proven when I straddle. I straddle and start making flop color prop bets, RT cold calls UTG with KK, Moozh cold calls with ?? in UTG+1, we get 2 or 3 more cold-callers. It gets around to me and I'm so excited to see the flop color (I'm so stuck at the prop bets) that I check my straddle option. RT goes NUTS and the flop comes God knows what. I check, RT bets, other people do things and I fold my 43o. He swears and then starts declaring that he "angry-bets." He later defends cold calling there because I'm supposed to raise my straddle so he can 4-bet. I tell him he's a major fish, and I spend the next hour or so declaring that I "lovingly bet" everytime I bet into him. thirddan makes a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] out of his chips to comemmorate the occasion.

It's like 11 AM by now, so Moozh wimps out and goes to sleep. Jason calls and wants to meet up with lunch, so RT and I go hang out at the deli thing waiting for him. We have lunch and I mostly just complain about not taking the Begals, who were only favored 3.5 against Baltimore. Stupid stupid stupid. Had a burger there, and that was pretty solid. After that the group of us wander back to the poker room and try calling around but no one's answering, so we all disperse for awhile. I head up to the room and find Dids and bottomset watching football, so I gladly join in. After they've both showered I take a bath and start watching highlights on the bathroom TV. Somehow I manage not to pass out in the tub. I change and go back into the room and apparently everyone's just going to meet for dinner at the Aladdin buffet later. I tell them to wake me up before we go and I fall asleep for 2 hours, grand totalling 5 hours for the entire trip.

Rest of Sunday was pretty tame, as we just met up with people at Bellagio and then went to Aladdin. Food was pretty good there as well, but I'm really disappointed that I didn't find time to go hit Bellagio or Wynn's... next time I guess. Afterwards Dids and I just head back to the Wynn and I pack up to leave for my flight.



POST-VEGAS

Short notes include that I almost missed my flight from O'Hare to Madison because they boarded early and I didn't hear first or second calls, and barely heard final call when I was heading to the bathroom. Also, I had classes and work at the paper on Monday after getting in at 8 AM and getting no sleep on the return flight, so I ended up not getting to sleep until 9 PM on Monday. And then I woke up at 10 PM on Tuesday. OMG best sleep ever.


All in all, had an amazing time. Everyone was as awesome as I expected, particularly the regulars of SS and HUSH and #sstakes that I've talked to most. Next trip, definitely going to need 4 full days. April, right? [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Dids' comments upon reading this a minute ago:
<BDids> I approve of this trip report
<BDids> although it seems like we're dating [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
<madtown> !!!
<madtown> we aren't?
<BDids> hmmm
<BDids> there wasn't much physical going on
<madtown> I did sleep on your bed while you watched primetime
<BDids> valid point!

[Entity]

[ QUOTE ]
despite Rob's constant thieving of my stack

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I vaguely also recall stealing your cards and playing Omaha while the rest of you were playing Hold'em at least once. Or attempting to. Good times.

[B Dids]

In that game- once GoT saw I was stuck, we started sharing cards in order to make eachother have better starting hands. All we were able to do was make better 2nd and 3rd best hands, because bakku was clearly cheating. I'm pretty sure he just had three queens he was never returning to the deck.