VEGAS TRIP REPORT: My first time at B&M tables

[Gomez22]

First of all, thank you to all that replied to my questions about the games in Vegas..... it was very helpful.

We arrived in Vegas last Sunday evening, about 6:00 PM Vegas time, and I headed to the poker room at the Mirage about midnight to test the 3/6....

First session there: 5 hours, and I won $150.... you guys were right: TOTAL FISH POND!!!!

Monday, my friends had to go to a convention, and they wanted to go to the King's Tournament at the Excalibur that night, so they dropped me off there around noon, I got tickets, and played the 1-3 spread there until almost 8:00 PM, hitting quad 10's once and winning just over $100. After the King's tournament, we went to Red Square at Mandalay Bay, drank LOTS of vodka, then went back to the Mirage(and bed!!)

Tuesday, my friends once again at a convention, I went down to the Mirage poker room for some more 3/6. I got up about $150, and started asking one of the "usuals" at my table(an asian man named Ronnie, I think - real funny nice guy) about the satellites and the tourneys they run. The sats for the Tuesday tourneys were only $35 and 2 players got into the tourney from them.... I kept stalling, and eventually, for whatever dumb-a$$ reason, I decided to NOT play in any satellites, stayed at the table until 5:00 PM, took some bad beats, and finished that session dead even. After the Bellagio buffet and a trip to Crazy Horse Too, I returned to the poker room, playing 3/6 again until 6 AM, winning about $80.

Wednesday, I went shopping a t Caesars while my friends were in conventions again. Bought my fiance a Louis Vuitton purse, had it shipped home, played some video poker, went to Battista's for dinner, and went back to the room about 10:00 PM, having severe stomach ache from eating too much damn food and 2 bottles of wine.... had to get up early Thursday to play golf at Legacy anyways.....

Thursday, we played golf at the Legacy, went back to the Mirage, ate at the Mirage buffet, and I played the 3/6 in the Mirage for about 10 hours until around 6 AM again, winning just over $200.

Friday, we all went shopping.... First we went ot the Gamblor's General Store(I think that was the name) on S. Main St.... I got a nice little 11.5 gram clay ship set(300 chips, 2 decks of Binion's cards and a nice aluminum case, dealer button and 6 cut-cards for $235... I thought it was a good deal), and Cloutier/McEvoy's book on Championship PL/NL poker.... Also saw the jacket for Ed Miller's new book there, stating it would be released sometime around July 13th??? Then we went to some outlet shops, bought more junk, and back to Battista's again for dinner.

After dinner, I went to the room, my buddies went to Margaritaville..... I went to the Mirage poker room around 8:30 PM, sat in a game until about 11:00 PM(winning $160), when my friends called and said they were playing at the Excalibur..... I also talked to a fellow 2+2er earlier, and knew he was at the Excalibur,so I thought I'd head down there, wehn the 2+2er called and said he was at the Mirage, so I went back down there, met him, and we played until roughly 4:00 AM, me having my first losing session, taking a $70 hit....

All told, I came out about $587 ahead in the poker area(Paid for my fiance's Louis Vuitton bag)..... I had some small sessions intersperced that I didn't mention above, and won about $100 on slots and video poker, as well.....

One night(which I can't remember exactly), we stopped at the Bellagio, and I saw Freddie Deeb and Eskimo Clark playing there.... Sam Grizzle was there as well, but he was just sweating someone for all I could tell.

A player at the Mirage on Sunday told me that last Saturday night, Chip Reese, Howard Lederer, and Doyle were all at the same table at the Bellagio playing $1000/$2000 limit..... just a rumor I heard.

Never went to a steak place, opting to go back to Battista's on Friday again.

I know it's not much of a trip report, but I had a blast, and for not having played any limit for almost 6 months, did much better than I thought I would. I have posted some hands in the SS and Mid-stakes forums if anyone wants to see some of my "glory" hands from the trip.

Once again, thanks for all the help/advice... Can't wait to get into some B&M action again..

'Mez

[fsuplayer]

Great first Report Gomez. Vegas is awesome, I cant wait to go back there on the last day ofl July with my friends.

If you are going to be buying your wife things like that, you'd better start movin up to the 6-12 or 10-20 where you can make some real dough, otherwise it makes the trip a barely +EV experiance [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img].

It looks like you did very well, $550-600 is not something to sneeze at for $3-6.

Congrats on your first trip.

FsuPlayer

[Gomez22]

Thanks for the words....

My friends were out there for business, and the only thing I had to pay for was the plane ticket($196 round trip from Ohio), so it wasn't so bad from an EV standpoint.....

I had planned on hitting 4/8, and if having some success at that, playing 6/12 or 10/20 on Friday, but after I bought my fiance her bag, I figured to stay low in case I ran bad, and I could still be, at worst, only down $100 or so for the whole trip.....

She never complained about me going, and cleaned the basement(where the computer, playstation, 1 of the TV's, my brewery, and my own fridge is) while I was gone, so she's easily worth it... plus, she never gives me any crap about how much I play online, so I figure I can give a little back, know what I mean???

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

PS - I paid for her engagement ring in December with winnings from online poker, so she sees a great benefit to it now...... Funny how that works!!

'Mez

[laceratedsky]

Gomez why didn't you play any No Limit at the Excal, or anywhere for that matter? Heard there is a nice $100 max buy in table at the Excal.

[fsuplayer]

[ QUOTE ]
plus, she never gives me any crap about how much I play online, so I figure I can give a little back, know what I mean???




[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats on the great pick, def. +EV!

[ QUOTE ]
PS - I paid for her engagement ring in December with winnings from online poker

[/ QUOTE ]

Its looking like I may be doing the same...since she is starting to come around with this poker thing!

fsuplayer

[sucka]

I got a nice little 11.5 gram clay ship set(300 chips, 2 decks of Binion's cards and a nice aluminum case, dealer button and 6 cut-cards for $235... I thought it was a good deal)

Ouch!

Have you ever heard of eBay?

I just bought a brand new set of 1000 VERY nice 11.5 gram chips with a new design, and a case for $210.

A 300 chip set like you are talking about regularly sells on ebay for $30-50 depending on the style of chip.

Here's an auction that looks like it's going to close in a few minutes for a 300 chip set with cards for ~$22.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...60274&rd=1

Oops....

[Gomez22]

[ QUOTE ]
I just bought a brand new set of 1000 VERY nice 11.5 gram chips with a new design, and a case for $210.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm.... well ain't I a stupid f*ck. I guess for my 1st set, I wanted something that I could see, touch and feel before I bought it.... I've seen the chip auctions on ebay before, but always wondered how good they were.

The chips I got are pretty plain, and although I really like them(size, weight, feel), at least now, I think I can order some and compare to what I have now.

I wanna get some with $$$ denominations on them for playing ring style.... the ones I got out there are mostly for when we play freezeouts, and maybe just for show.

Thanks for the advice, though... I plan to check into some ebay chips and auctions in the next week to see what's what.....

'Mez

[Gomez22]

[ QUOTE ]
Gomez why didn't you play any No Limit at the Excal, or anywhere for that matter? Heard there is a nice $100 max buy in table at the Excal.

[/ QUOTE ]

There was only 1 NL table going when I was there, and they said they didn't know if another would open as most of the NL players were there in the evening. Add that to the fact that this was my first time in a B&M since I got "in the know"(yes.... I was a touch nervous) and I just felt my variance would be a touch lower(for now) at limit games.

My fiance and her parents are going out next May(maybe). I plan on tagging along if they do, and playing some of the lower NL games and also entering a few tournaments at either the Mirage or the Luxor.

[MisterKing]

Gomez-

Love the CBJ logo. I actually tend to don my Blue Jackets visor when hitting the tables on trips up to AC from my transplanted home in Wash. DC. Shame there isn't anything closer to Columbus as far as B&M poker...

Just a quick note on the 1-3 spread at Excalibur. That has got to be the funniest game in all of Vegas. A poker blogger I read regularly (Hank, aka Hdouble, from "The Cards Speak") refers to it as "Retard Poker," and calling it that is a defninite insult to the mentally impaired community. Its the only game I've seen that rivaled Party as far as outright lack of poker skill. This is not to say that other B&M games aren't fishy, but not to such a degree.

I wonder if you had the same experience?

[fsuplayer]

Oh yeah, i forgot to mention that you did get robbed on those chips. But I also know what it feels like to see something in front of you and hold it and not want to wait or go on ebay. Oh well...

[ QUOTE ]
I wanna get some with $$$ denominations on them for playing ring style

[/ QUOTE ]

I would strongly recommend against this. All my buddies who did this regret it. Once the denom. are on, if your game changes stakes at all, you must buy more chips (or different one) and it gets expensive. Buy the unmarked ones and they can change with your game size nicely.

FWIT: My chips have change twice in the last six months due to higher stakes and I only had to buy more chips once, just 50 of them..

fsuplayer