******NEW PHOTOS IN MARCH VEGAS ALBUM******
i flew into vegas via phoenix on saturday eve. upon arriving at NYNY, i chatted with cory for a while, who was worn out from a day of blackjack and cocktails. so, i walked over to the mandalay bay for some poker.
after 8 hours or so, cory called me at 7 am and i joined him back at the hotel for some breakfast. he headed off to his work convention, and i headed to sleep. when i woke up, we went back the mandalay and played til the wee hours of the morning. that was one of the most frustrating sessions i've ever played. i was up a good chunk of change, and lost quite a bit of it in one hand to the biggest donkey play ever:
i am on the button with 2 clubs 2 spades;. there are 2 other limpers, me and the 2 blinds, so 5 to the flop. flop comes A spades 9 diamonds 2 hearts. small blind bets 25, big blind folds, another guy folds, next guy makes it 65. i make it 200 go to with my trip 2's. small blind folds, raiser calls without hesitation. next card is 9 clubs so i have a full house. i say "i'll put you all in" which is another 175 for him. he calls without hesitation. so at this point i think he has ace-nine or something to beat me. last card is A clubs;. he turns up ace-queen. so basically on the flop, i am 98% to win the hand, and he catches runner runner to beat me. i asked him if at any point he thought he was behind in the hand, (like maybe when i made it 200 to go) and he said "this is just fun for me. i have a billion condos in costa rica, blah blah blah blah". basically he tried to justify being such a donkey. i tuned most of it out. in any case, the beats will hit you now and then, but statistically for every 50 plays he makes like those, someone else is gonna win 49 of them. so, people often ask me if luck is involved in poker, and this is an example of where it was involved quite heavily.
cory on the other hand, got involved in a huge pot when he had the nut flush draw and it hit, giving him a great night. go cory!
monday i tried a tournament at circus circus after a breakfast of a banana and raisin bran. how wholesome! the tournament sucked ass, as they ran some donkey-format limit/no limit. the first 4 rounds are limit, then it turns to no limit. how horrible. i'd avoid at all costs if i were you.
after that fiasco, i walked to the mirage. i love the room there...30+ tables, real professionally run, and a lot of action. i sat on a 500 buy in NL table, and quickly build my way up to 700. then christmas came early. i was dealt a kings and someone raised to 25 in front of me. i made it 75 to go, and he thought for a second then made it 175. i had a pretty good read on the guy, and he was super aggressive and not very good, so i said, "all in" which was 700 all day. he thought for 2 minutes (which told me he did not have aces) and then called. he turned up ACE TEN. hahaha! i was a 80/20 favorite, and my cowboys held up. whoooooo!!!!!!!!!!
for a break, cory and i went to carnegie deli in the mirage. he had a hot ham and cheese, and i got a corned beef sandwich. the service was initially horrible, and they tried to make up for it by giving me like 2 pounds of corned beef on rye. needless to say i couldn't finish half of it. it was good, but really, i think jake's back home in milwaukee is better! take that new york!
that evening, we went to the beautiful bellagio, where we both had winning sessions. highlights were watching some high limit hold 'em. people were playing 80/160 which is huge. also, there is a backrub girl who goes around and gives massages while you are playing. i was stressed and got one. amazing! all casinos should have them.
tuesday, i went to the rio for a tournament. it was poorly run, and the workers were unprofessional. they have a lot of work to do before hosting the WSOP. i don't recommend going to the rio for poker.
once cory got out of work, we headed to the palms all night. it was an up and down session, but i left up. also, i had a great dinner delivered to my poker table: chilean sea bass on wilted spinach. yum!
wednesday was our last day. i went to the aladdin for a tournament and busted out early. after that i walked up and down the strip a bit for some photos and exercise. i ended up back at the mandalay where i met cory. we played all night, and met a guy named eric from mississippi who was pretty funny. he busted my aces with 73 suited which put me on tilt for a bit, but after a few hours, we were all pals.
to end the all-nighter, i took a cab to the airport and headed home. overall, it was a great vegas trip, one of the best. NYNY is probably the nicest hotel i've stayed in on the strip, but i'd still like to stay at the mirage or mandalay next time.
i was going to go to canterbury park in MN this weekend, but most of the other parties baled, so i drove to green bay to oneida yesterday. after a twelve hour session that started with my queens getting cracked by runner runner 4 flush, i made back most of my dough and drove home in a daze. i just woke up and here i am.
anyone for brunch tomorrow?