Moose in Vegas Day 5 - Tues
Ok last day in Vegas. Have to catch the flight out at 10:20 pm so time to squeeze in the maximum amount of gambling and drinking. First we want to take our free trip up the tower to see Las Vegas from above. To stay at the Strat we were paying $20 per night but they tack on a $5 per night 'resort fee'. Virtually every hotel in Vegas adds on some sort of energy surcharge or local phone fee or in-room safe fee but at least at the Strat it includes a free Vegas show (which we saw yesterday) and a free trip up the tower. It was a nice view but would have been better at night, however the free pass is only good until 2 pm each day.
Ok downstairs to check out. Left our bags with the bell cap. Fortunately for us maybe, we had no valuable cameras or anything worth stealing. Sat down at the 2-4 table. I was starting to get pretty sick of Corona and besides it was still morning so decided on hot chocolate and Grand Marnier and then a couple of coffee and Bailey's and I was on my way to becoming a wide awake drunk. The morning tourney wrapped up and to my surprise character #3 - Dopey Kid and #4 Dorky Chinese guy had played. Dopey kid sat at our table and Dorkey guy went to play nl - at least he had gotten his luggage back by now. The morning tourney doesn't draw a lot of players so it is basically a $50 sng. However if you stay and play afterward, at 1 pm they draw 2 names from the players remaining for a free entry the next day. Hardly anyone stays so at worst you probably have a 50% shot at a free tourney.
Finally got into a hand with the dopey kid. Sitting with A9 in the bb, about 4 limpers. Flop comes AA4. I bet out. Dopey kid raises, all folded to me. I know I am ahead in this hand because the kid had previously demonstrated that he was willing to raise virtually any A preflop. I smooth call and check the turn to him. He bets and I call again. I figure I've gotten the max out of him by now so I bet out on the river. To my surprise he raises, so I reraise. Next he pulls out his second charming trait - he raises again and says out loud "Well if you've got an A, I'm beat". Well duh. I raise again and he calls. Never found out what he was playing. But he was basically down to the felt now and as he gets up to leave he tells his gf, "well I'm only down around $400. Not bad." Not too good either after 2 days.
After 2.5 hours I was up $18 and MM down $22. We checked our totals and now the race was on. After 5 days me down $110 and MM was down $111. One more good session should hopefully put us ahead on the trip. One the first day we met character #1, Don at the Aladdin. He invited us to come back on Tues, as at 2 pm he said he holds an advanced hold'em lesson on reading players etc. So we got up at about 1:20 pm to head down on the bus. The day before we had bought a 24hr bus pass for $5. Cheapest way to get up and down the strip but I wouldn't recommend it. Got on the bus at the Strat at about 1:30. Got to the Aladdin about 2:20pm. We could have walked to the Sahara and taken the monorail and been at the Aladdin in 20 minutes. Anyways, gamblers are so unreliable - he wasn't there. We had about 2 hours left on our bus passes so we decided it wasn't worth sitting at a table and we hopped back on the bus and got off at the Sahara. So that was a waste of about 2 hours of gambling time.
We went to the coffee shop to use up our $4 comps from the night before. MM had breakfast while I decided to have a hamburger. Great hamburger. It was huge and came with cheese, mushrooms and bacon for about $5.25. Take off the comp and it was a great deal. While we were eating they kept calling for players for the 4-4-8-8 spread limit game. They advertise this game on all their signage but I had yet to see a table run all week. I wanted to play but MM was afraid of running into the locals we had played the night before so she left for the Strat.
Vegas allows shills and props, so to get the game going the Sahara put a couple of prop players at the table. They were 8 handed so as soon as I sat down the last prop player left. Slowly the players dwindled away and after an hour the table got to 3 handed and broke. My last hand was AA, only the bb called and he folded to my flop bet. It was a psychological victory. Up a mighty $1. So back to the Strat for my final few hours of gambling.
Played another 2.5 hours at the Strat but the poker gods refused to let us go home winners. Down $54 for me and down $18 for MM. Final totals me down $163 after 42hrs of poker and MM down $129 after 32hrs. Still I had met my goal of 8 hours per day Just a little frustrating. Off to the airport at around 8:30pm.
We were lucky we didn't push our gambling any further because after sitting down in the terminal we ran into a couple from Detroit who had been there all day. When you arrive in Vegas they warn you to check in at least one hour before your flight. Well we found out from them that if you don't do that - you don't fly. Fortunately for them there were enough seats to get them on our red eye out.
Arrived in Detroit around 5:30 am. Picked up our car, had breakfast and drove to Windsor. As if gambling in Vegas all week wasn't enough, we decided to stop in Casino Windsor and play some more. Unfortunately at 8 am there isn't much action so we headed home.
All in all a good trip. I would definitely recommend the Mirage if you play 3-6 and up and recommend the Sahara if you want to play 2-4. Next trip I will make sure to get to MGM and IP. But I would also like to play Bally's, which looked pretty good, Wynn, Bellagio and Caesar's.
Ok downstairs to check out. Left our bags with the bell cap. Fortunately for us maybe, we had no valuable cameras or anything worth stealing. Sat down at the 2-4 table. I was starting to get pretty sick of Corona and besides it was still morning so decided on hot chocolate and Grand Marnier and then a couple of coffee and Bailey's and I was on my way to becoming a wide awake drunk. The morning tourney wrapped up and to my surprise character #3 - Dopey Kid and #4 Dorky Chinese guy had played. Dopey kid sat at our table and Dorkey guy went to play nl - at least he had gotten his luggage back by now. The morning tourney doesn't draw a lot of players so it is basically a $50 sng. However if you stay and play afterward, at 1 pm they draw 2 names from the players remaining for a free entry the next day. Hardly anyone stays so at worst you probably have a 50% shot at a free tourney.
Finally got into a hand with the dopey kid. Sitting with A9 in the bb, about 4 limpers. Flop comes AA4. I bet out. Dopey kid raises, all folded to me. I know I am ahead in this hand because the kid had previously demonstrated that he was willing to raise virtually any A preflop. I smooth call and check the turn to him. He bets and I call again. I figure I've gotten the max out of him by now so I bet out on the river. To my surprise he raises, so I reraise. Next he pulls out his second charming trait - he raises again and says out loud "Well if you've got an A, I'm beat". Well duh. I raise again and he calls. Never found out what he was playing. But he was basically down to the felt now and as he gets up to leave he tells his gf, "well I'm only down around $400. Not bad." Not too good either after 2 days.
After 2.5 hours I was up $18 and MM down $22. We checked our totals and now the race was on. After 5 days me down $110 and MM was down $111. One more good session should hopefully put us ahead on the trip. One the first day we met character #1, Don at the Aladdin. He invited us to come back on Tues, as at 2 pm he said he holds an advanced hold'em lesson on reading players etc. So we got up at about 1:20 pm to head down on the bus. The day before we had bought a 24hr bus pass for $5. Cheapest way to get up and down the strip but I wouldn't recommend it. Got on the bus at the Strat at about 1:30. Got to the Aladdin about 2:20pm. We could have walked to the Sahara and taken the monorail and been at the Aladdin in 20 minutes. Anyways, gamblers are so unreliable - he wasn't there. We had about 2 hours left on our bus passes so we decided it wasn't worth sitting at a table and we hopped back on the bus and got off at the Sahara. So that was a waste of about 2 hours of gambling time.
We went to the coffee shop to use up our $4 comps from the night before. MM had breakfast while I decided to have a hamburger. Great hamburger. It was huge and came with cheese, mushrooms and bacon for about $5.25. Take off the comp and it was a great deal. While we were eating they kept calling for players for the 4-4-8-8 spread limit game. They advertise this game on all their signage but I had yet to see a table run all week. I wanted to play but MM was afraid of running into the locals we had played the night before so she left for the Strat.
Vegas allows shills and props, so to get the game going the Sahara put a couple of prop players at the table. They were 8 handed so as soon as I sat down the last prop player left. Slowly the players dwindled away and after an hour the table got to 3 handed and broke. My last hand was AA, only the bb called and he folded to my flop bet. It was a psychological victory. Up a mighty $1. So back to the Strat for my final few hours of gambling.
Played another 2.5 hours at the Strat but the poker gods refused to let us go home winners. Down $54 for me and down $18 for MM. Final totals me down $163 after 42hrs of poker and MM down $129 after 32hrs. Still I had met my goal of 8 hours per day Just a little frustrating. Off to the airport at around 8:30pm.
We were lucky we didn't push our gambling any further because after sitting down in the terminal we ran into a couple from Detroit who had been there all day. When you arrive in Vegas they warn you to check in at least one hour before your flight. Well we found out from them that if you don't do that - you don't fly. Fortunately for them there were enough seats to get them on our red eye out.
Arrived in Detroit around 5:30 am. Picked up our car, had breakfast and drove to Windsor. As if gambling in Vegas all week wasn't enough, we decided to stop in Casino Windsor and play some more. Unfortunately at 8 am there isn't much action so we headed home.
All in all a good trip. I would definitely recommend the Mirage if you play 3-6 and up and recommend the Sahara if you want to play 2-4. Next trip I will make sure to get to MGM and IP. But I would also like to play Bally's, which looked pretty good, Wynn, Bellagio and Caesar's.
Comments
How did you find the tables in Vegas compared to what you see at Brantford at 2-5?
Like I said by day 2 we were wishing we were back in Brantford - except of course for the free booze and reduced rake. Part of it I think was that we were there during low season so it was mostly locals at the tables. Very soft play but the lack of aggression meant small pots.
Thanks for all the great information and locations, it was a great indepth look that I was having a hard time finding anywhere else. Anyway I am heading down there the end of feb, got any suggestions for me, I am staying at the strat. Also where can I find bigger games, I couldn't forsee myslef sitting at 2/4, hell I can't even stand 3/6 in Windsor, I would like to play 5/10 or 10/20, maybe 4/8 if the table is right. but thanks for the information, I will put up a post on my trip. later
LOL. Great reports, Moose. Thanks!
Sorry had to put that in there because your report came out after I got back. But definitely won't trust those guys again.