Southwest Trip Report (Arizon and Vegas) - L-O-N-G LONG!

[jhall23]

My girlfriend and I hadn't been on a vacation in a while and decided that we would go out to Arizona and check out the Grand Canyon and a few other places. Checking into flights we found that Vegas or Phoenix were the best places to fly in so of course I suggested Vegas as neither of us had been and we really wouldn't do much in Phoenix anyway. So the vacation plans were hatched to head out and fly into Vegas but leave right away for AZ and then head back to Vegas for Halloween weekend. Sorry no crazy stripper stories but some things that some might find amusing. If the AZ part doesn't interest you skip down to the VEGAS section.

We leave Boston at 8:30pm on Sunday night. Plane gets into Vegas at 12:00 in the am. As mentioned this is my first time to Vegas so flying in at night is perfect. The plan is that we are leaving early in the AM to head out east to AZ and hit the Grand Canyon as our first stop. The urge to hit the strip is strong but we decide to keep the fun for the weekend when we get back to vegas. We drip up the south side of the strip and stop at the first place to see if we can get a room, the lovely Klondike hotel and casino. I walk in and ask if there are any rooms with a single bed for 2. The receptionist says none available but there are some sweets. I’m thinking crap but ask how much and she tells me 34.95 and I laugh in side at the cheapness and book the room. It’s everything I hoped for minus the vibrating bed. Can’t resist the urge to do a little of the Vegas thing so we head to the bar and I give the Video Poker a whoping to the tune of $1.50 after tipping for drinks. It’s really sad in the Klondike and we soon hit the hay to get an early jump on the drive the next day.

So the next day we head for our Nature section of the vacation. I’ll keep this short as it probably isn’t that interesting but there were a few fun things. We get to the GC in the mid afternoon. Neither of us have been before so it was quite amazing. It’s crazy as you walk along the edges how close death is to you. We wonder how many people are victims to the canyon a year and I say it must be some number > 1. Later on a tour in Sedona we hear that they lose 2-10 people a year to falling in. We hit several spots and watch the sunset. The next day hit some more spots. After a while it just kinda gets like “yep that’s amazing” but is just more of the same. If I go back I’d like more time so we can do a long hike down into the canyon. Highlight of Day too was something for the internet peeps.




Views from the point if your interested.





Later in the day we drive down to Sedona which I have been to before, but the gf hasn’t. The drive down 89A through Oak Creek Canyon is awesome. Sedona is great still. Such a unique piece of the country.

In Sedona you'll see a bunch of things such as:






We spend 2 nights in Sedona and do a jeep tour which was pretty fun. Later we get suckered into hearing a presentation on a "Vacation Ownership" (AKA the new improved form of the Timeshare) which took 90 minutes of our time, however I did get a 100 rebate on the Jeep tour so it was worth it I guess. On the second night we drive out a bit and pull of the road to smoke a small spliff and check out the stars. Stars out there are nuts. It’s almost like there are no spaces between them cause there are so many. We see a couple of shooting stars as well. My girlfriend has always lived in the city so she was very excited to see them as she had never seen one before.

Next day we drive up to Flagstaff to stay for the night. Nice little college town near the mountains. Found a nice cd store and picked up some cd’s. We stayed at La Monte Vista hotel which is famous and supposedly haunted. There is a nice little bar in the hotel where we hang that night. We were a little upset in the morning as there were no hauntings to report. Blah.

So we conclude our nature part of the Vacation and head out the next day to get the complete opposite experience in Vegas. I have a friend from college who now lives in Vegas how I haven’t seen in 5 years so I am pretty psyched. We were originally going to stay with her, but some problems came up in her apartment and we decide to stay somewhere on the strip. We opted for the Imperial Palace as it was cheap and we probably wouldn’t be in the room much anyway.

VEGAS

So the vacation wasn't really meant to be one where lot's of Poker playing would be done since my Girlfriend is much of a gambler and doesn't really play. But she knows we can't be in Vegas and expect me not to play at some point. We decide that I will play Saturday afternoon and finish up so that we can have some fun at night with my friend from College. Friday consists of us pretty much walking down from the Imperial Palace all the way down to Mandaly Bay at the end of the strip. We stop in several places along the way either for me to take a look at the poker room to get an idea of where I want to play the next day or to quick hit some cheap slots so that we can get a drink and hit the road again. I went into several poker rooms. MGM grand and Bellagio impressed me the most of the rooms I saw that night. Some of them like the Trop were very depressing. Since I live an MA and occassionally go to Foxwoods the size of the rooms isn't impressive at all, but regardless the nice ones are much nicer and have much less a ratio of gross looking people in sweatpants to normal people than at Foxwoods which is nice. Also it seems that there is a good diversity of games per table where Foxwoods has recently been taken over by hold'em.

Later in the night we meet up with my friend from college. She isn't a poker player either so we decide to hit up some casino's and play some table games. I don't really know much about table games, but long before I played poker I tried Let it ride and it was simple so I played some of that. After playing poker for so long it is even simpler. I didn't know what the house edge is in that (I have since found it is usually 3.5%) but with minimum bets of 5$ I figured the game would be +EV if we had a good waitress that came round frequently with drinks. Ended up -60 for the night but had lots of fun regardless. Not much else to report on Friday night.

On saturday we headed over to the Mirage as I wanted to check out their Poker room. The room there is pretty decent size and is very close to the Imperial Palace so it was probably the one I would play at unless the Wynn impressed me enough later. While there we decide to hit up their champagne brunch which was phenominal. I know Vegas is know for buffets, but regardless I was very impressed. After this we hit the Wynn to check the poker room out. This room looked nice as well, but nothing fantastic that would get me to go there instead of the Mirage. So after that we head back to the IP and hit some cheap slots and get some bloody mary's to get the big day rolling. I soon after leave for the Mirage to play some poker.

POKER CONTENT

Prior to heading to the Mirage I called a bunch of places I had been to the previous day to see how many games of 1/2 (or closest there to) games they had running. Pretty much 2-3 was the tops at 1:00 PM so the Mirage it was. I headed over and the room was pretty packed, but I was seated pretty quickly into a 1/2NL game. Although I did come to try and play well I was also looking to have a good time. My table seemed to be great. Couple of younger guys to my left both had some drinks and I quickly get a beer to join them.

Pretty card dead in the beginning so I don't play many pots as I am trying to figure everyone out. 2 Loose aggro's to my left so it's hard to get in some pots at first. Game is really good though. Young maniac plays for a bit and opens every 2nd or third pot big and quickly donates his stack and leaves. After a while I get in and pick up some pots but never get a hand showdown. Some very interesting characters at the table. 2 of the youngish guy's to my left must be staying at the mirage as they have been playing there all weekend and have a little friendly rivalry going. One loves to "make moves" and is busting the others balls cause he has over 1000 which is much more than the other guy. At one point there is this older guy at the table who I can obviously tell is a local. He is so tan that he almost looks Native American, but clearly isn't. He also has on lots of odd jewelery. He has an attitude and quickly doubles up and is gone. Then there was this really crazy old dude. I think he said he was 74 or something. He was a typical old nit if he bet out get out of his pot. One hand oddly enough folded around to him when he and I were in the blind. I had already looked at my hand as had he before it was folded to him and he asked if I wanted to chop. I had QJ but of course said sure as I don't want to be an ass. He flips up AK. I mention I had QJ and he says the flop probably would have come AKT. That's nothing though. Later on, and I have no Idea how this gets started, the old guy starts talking about sex. Now I can't remember all the details, which is probably good for you guys, but basically he starts talking about how when you get old some crazy [censored] happens. Your foreskin gets all messed up etc etc and talks about getting it on. Most people are grossed out and he plows on for at least 5 minutes until he finally concludes with "so you should definetly get your kids circumsized". After it's done I tip the old guy for giving me the most surreal and gross story I have heard from a stranger. Later the guy starts talking about books. He asked who wrote the "book on tells" and people let him know Caro of course. He then starts ragging on Caro and Sklansky saying what have they ever done. Several people jump in to defend DS.

Anyway, not that many interesting hands came up. But the following three were the ones that stood out in my mind the most.

I get AQo in mid-position and open for 10 after 1 limper. Both blinds and the limper call. Flop comes QJx 2 diamonds. Checked to me and I bet 35. SB min-raises back to me. This was realatively early in the night. At this point I should have a pretty tight image and haven't shown down many hands. SB from what I saw was tight as well. The hands he had shown down had been strong and I had seen him do things like call with AK out of position instead of re-raising (which most 1/2 players do). I have a little over 200 and he has me covered. I take a quick look and he is staring at the felt looking pretty non-confrontational. I just can't fold to a gay min-raise so I call. I am hoping I can get a better feel on the turn since I have position. A blank peels off and he bets 50 into what must be about 130-140 pot after the rake. I am pretty confused by his betting, but again he seems non-confronational and with this and his betting I think he has a made hand. Now I just have to wonder whether he is trying to lure me in with a strong hand or if he can possibly overvalue something like KQ. I decide against this guy it's probably not worth it and let it go instead of pushing.

Second hand. EP raises to 15 and it folds to me in either the SB or BB with 66. He has about 160ish I think and I cover. Normally this is a fold for me HU OOP, but I have seen several different openings from this guy and think I have noticed that 15 is usually face cards, 20 is a mid-ish pair and 25 is something big. Other than that odd opening stuff the guy is one of the better players. Flop comes 79x with 2 hearts. I check to him and he leads for 30. I notice that he is staring me down. All of I sudden I find myself announcing all-in. He is one of the guys from the rivalry. At this point he took a hit from the other guy and for the first time is below 200. He at one point had at least 400. Through conversation it seems like he is really trying to book a win and is pretty attached to his chips. With my read that he usually opens for 15 with overcards and his stare down I got the feeling I should be able to take the pot down and I don't know what overs I would want to see on the turn so I thought best to take down the pot there. Online I would probably just fold but everything seemed to make me believe he didn't want to call. He agonized for a bit and then folded. He claims he had TT and his buddy and another guy are shocked (I also though he was more likely to have overs). I relieve his mind when he asks if I had a set saying I yes I had 77. Not sure if either of us believe each other.

Last hand is well into the session. I am thinking about wrapping up soon as I have to head back to the hotel to get ready to go out for the night. This is many hours and several beers into the session. I get 67o I think in one of the blinds, but I forget what happened PF. Flop comes 589 rainbow. I check and loose winning guy from the rivalry bets 10 and 2 others fold and it's me and him HU. Now I don't think I even realized at the time I had the nut straight as I remember looking at my cards and going "HEY LOOK AT THAT". Luckily for me I have the perfect guy to my left as I may have made a mistake by checking the flop depending on who else was in the pot. He likes to make moves and call down big "bluffs" with stuff like mid-pair etc. At this point I have about 425 or so and he has me covered so I need to try and build a pot. I c/r to 40 and he gives me a once over and quickly calls. Turn is a 2c putting 2 clubs on the board. I lead for 75 and after a bit he moves all in. I insta call after making sure that yes this is hold'em not Omaha. He flips up Q8c and I'm liking it until the club hits the river. Not here to wine about a draw-out, but I actually got something usefull out of this. I sat for a bit, but wasn't upset at all. I was about to leave anyway so I guess that's it for Poker for the day. I get up and shake the guys hand as well as another guy I have been chummy with and tell them I had fun. Now I never have gotten openly pissed at someone at the table, that's pretty easy to put on a face and move on knowing that draw-outs happen, but as I was leaving I noticed that my head was absolutely clear and I was actually happy. It was quite shocking to find this mental state and it just showed me I have come along way since I started playing more seriously last year. I kind of reveresed hit-n-run myself since I couldn't play any more even though if I had time I clearly should have as the game was good and I was playing fine. But I knew it was just one hand in the long run and moved on. The 425 wasn't a bankroll cripler, though it does mean something to me as it's about 10% of what I have as an online roll at the moment. But it showed me that with a decent roll I can easily approach the game with the right amount of detachment. Good lesson to myself. So all in all I had bought in for 300 so so far I am -360 for gambling.

END POKER

So after poker I head back to the IP to change and get ready for the evening. We wanted to hit an old schoold stereo-typial Vegas show so we opted to go to the Folies Bergere at the trop. We got the seats in the round boths so it was perfect. We head over to the Trop and get there a little early and play some more Let it Ride while waiting for the show to start. I win about 50 before my friend gets there and we go in to see the show. Have a Vodka martini (straight up) at the show and have a pretty good time. Not sure whether it's worth the dough, but the show was entertaining for what it was. The juggler/comedian in the middle was funny for the current state of mind I was in.

After the show we play a little more let it ride, but then they up the min-bet so we decide to go to the Boardwalk which we know has cheap games as none of us are much for table games. I was going to try black jack at the BW since they have $3 tables, but it was booked so more Let-it ride it was. After a while I was down 50 bucks when I got hooked up. I got JJx as my down cards. Dealers first card is a J, Dealers second card is a jack. [censored], 50 to 1. That's 250 per bet for a total of +750 profit. My GF doesn't realize how big a pay-off it is at first and after she does she says she was actually shaking. The floor has to come over and they have to take pictures of it etc it was quite an envent for Let it ride. Then the floor gives me crap about not putting in the bonus bet which would have won me another 100. I further disappoint him by not putting down the greens I have just one as my bets and keep playing $5. I then hit a crazy run and hit a straight and several 2 pair hands. After tipping the dealer several times I am still up about 850 when I cash out so +800 total for let it ride which more than makes up for my poker lose earlier.

It's like (2 or 3 depening on daylight savings time) when we head out. My girlfriend and I are both good and drunk at this time and I decide I want to stop by the Bellagio on the way back to see if the big game was running. Indeed it was when we went there. I saw Chan, Gian, Elezra and 2 people I don't know in the room playing.

That reminds me there was a club near the room with a long line. Now I am sure there are always lots of hot girls out at night in Vegas, but on Halloween damn. The theme this year seemed to be police or nurses. And of course we know what that means. Slutty police/nurse costumes. I can't remember ever seen so many hot girls in one night. It was quite a site.

Anyway, by the time we get back to the IP and hit the hay it is 4 ish. For some reason I wake up at about 7:30 am and am unable to get back to sleep while having images of cards that I can't remove showing up in my minds eye. It was quite annoying.

We eventually get up and pack up and go to check out. Our flight is a red-eye at 12:30 am so we leave our bags. We spend the day wandering around dazed with no home. We ended up spending a good part of it at Ceasers near the sport-book sitting in some comfy chairs at some slot machines. I had to get something from my win the previous night so I got this kick ass Tobey Keith hat at Harrahs. It's got this awesome red-mesh and crazy Burlap on the front. I mean how can I resist.



In hindsight we should have got a hotel room on Sunday just so we could have rested for a bit so we could have done more. We wanted to go to the Stratosphere and ride the rides at the top, but that definetly wasn't happening.

Eventually the day moves on and we end up at the airport and I sleep the entire way home. The whole vacation was great, but next time I definetly want to spend some more time and check out more of the poker rooms in the area.

Sorry if you read all that, but I hope you enjoyed!