A Valuable Lesson Learned in Las Vegas

Just got back on Saturday from my week in Vegas. This trip was a learning experience, as I put in over 50 hours at just the Venetian card room plus the games I played elsewhere on the strip. I have come to several conclusions which I will explain later.

I started off my week at the Mirage, since it was directly across the street and they have a better game selection than Harrahs. I would strongly discourage anyone from playing poker at Harrahs unless you are hobbled and can't go anywhere else. The games suck, the floor/brush people are inattentive, and the games plod along. Anyway, bought into the $1/2 at Mirage and get mushed pretty quick. I was up a little when I got dealt AA. The guy behind me raises and I re-raise him. He calls. Flop was Q-J-2. He bets into me, I raise all-in and he calls. He shows KK and is a 99.99999999992% favorite to win. Sure enough, turn 10 river A. I don't bother with a second buy, I get up and go blow off some steam at the table games.

I decided to start off day two with some play at Venetian. I bought into an $8/16 T-HORSE game (HORSE plus Triple Draw). I played very loose and aggressive and got generally picked apart. I played way too many triple draw hands and ended up second best a lot. I dropped my buy-in when I got into an insane O8 hand where I flopped top two and the nut low only to be absolutely horse fucked by a guy who ran me all the way down to hit a 2 out deuce to make the wheel on the river. Disgusted, I decided to walk away for a bit.

As an aside, the Venetian is definitely the play to be playing poker right now in Las Vegas. They were in the middle of the Deepstack Extravaganza, and there were over 40 cash tables running at 3:30AM on a Tuesday. INSANE. They will spread whatever you want, I kid you not. I sat in a mix game that was Stud8, Razz, BadAcey (Badugi and A-5 lowball split game), Big Omaha (5 card Omaha hi/lo), and 2-7 Triple Draw). They'll start a list and table if you can get the players together, and I was impressed at how accomodating the brush and the floor were.

I hit the Hold'em table game at Harrahs and went on a sick run, plus $600 in about an hour. I normally don't play the bonus bets but I was hot, hitting QQ, KK, AK, and AA twice. I cashed out way ahead and was feeling pretty good. After an insane breakfast at Hash House a Go Go at Imperial Palace (mashed potato and bacon stuffed burger FTW) I went back to Venetian on Wednesday to take another shot. I sat down at the HORSE game again and made some adjustments. They paid off as I doubled up my buy-in and got quite a lot of live experience against some really good players. I hit the Hold'em table game for another $300 before calling it a night.

The next day Kirsten wanted to go somewhere else so we hit the MGM poker room. They are spreading a .50/$1 NL "beginners game" which I should've been in but I instead decided to hit the $1/2. On hand #2 I get AA and make it $15. Four callers. Flop Q-5-6 all diamonds (I have the Ad). I lead out for $50 and get shoved on, I call and watch two bricks fall and my hand loses to the K9d. I buy back in full and take another stab at this table. They are playing a style of poker that aggravates the shit out of me - they're all passive and limp around until someone raises, then they start re-raising and shoving. Everyone's trying to trap and it ends up being either $2 to see a flop or $50. I blow through a second buy-in trying to make a play at a pot and running into pocket queens AND pocket kings. Frustrated, I decide to head over the Venetian and play some $8/16 Hold'em. I lose a buyin to a guy who decides to call a cap (5 bets) preflop with 10-6d. He flops a four flush and I flop Broadway, the flop and turn are capped and calls along happily to his flush on the river. Crippled, I decide to leave.

I took a little time off from the tables and headed out for lunch at Jack in the Box by the Stratosphere. JITB is some of the best fast food available, the sourdough burgers are awesome. After lunch we headed over to the Gun Store, where Kirsten bought me the WWII package as a birthday gift. I got to shoot a German submachine gun, a Tommy gun, and a Colt 1911. It was a lot of fun and I even got her to shoot.

Early in the morning I hit the card room at Harrahs and sat in on a $1/2 NL game. I lost about half my stack on the first orbit when I flopped trip kings and lost on kicker. I worked by stack back up a little and then started blinding off. I couldn't get a hand to hold up, I would raise preflop with hands like AK or AQ and miss the flop completely and have to fold to bets/raises. I finally went broke when I flopped a pair of aces with AQ suited and lost to AK. I was at the table when a guy hit the royal flush bonus, he flopped a royal in clubs with AJc and won a $4900 bonus. I also played a $100 tournament at Harrahs, it runs kind of like Dave's. The buyin is $60 with an optional $40 add on. There's also a $10 bounty on every player you bust. I busted when I turned a flush with 8-7 suited and lost to AK suited and a guy with trips who bingoed his full house. It was the only tournament I played during the entire week.

I spent the rest of the week at Venetian playing $8/16 Hold'em or Mix Games. I did pretty well, making back most of my losses from the week. Some of the interesting things to note: I played $4/8 Hold'em with a holocaust survivor (he had the number tattoed on his arm). One of the dealers actually asked him "What does your tattoo mean?". He wasn't a very good player either but was pleasant and didn't mind losing. I was also hopped on by a regular after a hand. I held 9-8 on a flop of J-8-2. I bet out and was called by an asian guy. Turn a blank, bet and call again. River another blank and I bet again and was called. I turned over my hand and the dealer says "Straight". The asian guy mucks and the dealer pulls his hand into the pile, then he looks at the board and says "Wait, I had pocket 9's!". They want to pull his hand out of the muck but I've already been pushed the pot. I object and the regular calls the floor over. The floor agrees - if the asian guy had shown his hand he would've gotten the pot but since he mucked it was mine. Then they wanted me to split the pot with him, which I refused. I told them I had no idea what he had and wasn't splitting shit with anyone. I ended up stacking the regular later when I raised with KJ and flopped a boat, he chased me all the way down with a pocket pair and lost.

My last day in Vegas I was playing break even at $8/16 when I decided to sit at the $1/2 PLO. I played exactly one hand and won, taking down a $400 pot. I flopped two pair, a flush and straight draw, and ended up winning with Q's up. I also found out that I could use my Venetian comps ($51 by Saturday) for a massage, which I did. I can't wait until we move out to Nevada, I'm sure I'll be a regular there.

This trip taught me a few things about my play - that I am severely under-bankrolled for playing NL and that it turns out that I am a very good limit Hold'em player. I finally found a stakes at limit that is both profitable and comfortable for me to play. I think I'm going to dedicate myself more toward limit play and less towards NL for cash. I'm not going to quit playing NL completely, but I need to pick better games for myself and try to maximize my profit.

I am taking a poker vacation probably for the next few weeks until the busy season at work is over. After a week solid of playing I need some time off.