2Tone Vegas Trip Report #7 – Punching my own weight

[2Tone]

I was supposed to have been done with Vegas for the year, with no plans to return until CES in January at the earliest. But when my boss offered me the opportunity to attend a marketing conference on the company’s dime, of course I was in.

I flew out from Seattle Wednesday afternoon. I arrived at about 7:00, a half hour late. Shuttled to MGM to avoid the cab line, and sailed through check-in. For a hotel of that size, they do a good job of accommodating the crush of people.

I immediately went across the street to the Excalibur, where I have been on a multi-year quixotic quest to either hits quads or get Aces cracked, allowing me to spin the Wheel of Fun for fabulous cash prizes, even it is just $20. Usually, I can do so while playing a very silly 2-5 limit spread game, which is often hyper-loose and fun. Alas, tonight they only had 2/4 limit and 1/3 NL. Having resolved not to play anything but limit this trip, I sat at 2/4, and value-bet my top pairs for a small win.

From there I went over for a couple of beers at Coyote Ugly, where my knowledge of Journey lyrics earned me a free shot of a foul fruity booze concoction, poured into my mouth by a Coyote who had my head wedged between her thighs at the time.

Sufficiently fueled up, I trammed over to the Luxor and LAX. LAX is the new hot club from the management group that runs Pure and Jet. They just opened this past Labor Day, and have been doing the big celeb names “hosted by” events. Inside was sufficiently swank. But they are getting smarter as well. Since the big money at these places is made by bottle service, they had a small dance floor, and more private tables than some of the other venues. Good DJ spinning hip-hop and pop-song mash-ups. I left at 1 a.m, at which point the place was heating up, but I had a 7 a.m. wake-up call.

The conference was at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, familiar to reality TV show fans, located about a 10 minute cab ride from the strip. Place was nice enough, with a spacious casino including a poker room, tons of restaurants, a great pool area featuring day beds. But it is too far removed from everything else for me to want to stay there.

Thursday night a co-worker and a dined at Emril’s at the MGM. The redfish was excellent, if pricey. After that I settled into a lengthy 3/6 session at the MGM’s top-notch poker room. Game was a little tighter than I expected, but my hands held up for the most part, and I left up another $60.

The conference got out earlier on Friday afternoon, which was much appreciated. Now on my own dime and time, I made it over the Palms in time to catch the end of their “Ditch Friday” afternoon pool party, the last of the season. It was cloudy and not much about 75, which meant the crowd was relatively sparse. Fortunately, Vegas pool parties only come in various degrees of awesome, so that still meant at least a dozen bikini clad hotties dancing to a DJ.

Checked in directly across the street at the Gold Coast. It’s a three minute walk from the Palms, and $150 cheaper on a Friday night. Hotel was functional.

Back at the Palms, I had another winning session, this time at 4/8 with a half-kill. Game was mostly populated by local regulars, but plenty juicy none the less. Profits went to cocktails at the Playboy Club and later at Moon, their roof-top nightclub, which recently hosted MTV’s VMA show.

Watching the club girls in their short skirts and tight dresses made me want to watch club girls of another type without dresses. A free pass and convenient location convinced me to give Seamless another try, despite how sketchy it was last time. I should have learned my lesson the first time – a couple of the dancers looked like meth poster girls. It would have been worth the cab fair to Cheetahs or the Rhino. I was back to the room before 4 a.m.

Up relatively early the next morning (Sat) for my final day, I immediately returned to the Palms. An omelet and pot of coffee later, I was feeling fine again. But at 10:30 a.m., the 4/8 game wasn’t going yet – just a 2/4 table. Playing mostly with retirees, this game was a slow form of death. At one point a man who had otherwise been silent for 45 minutes loudly berated me for raising my flush draw after the flop, which turned into two pair on the river to beat his Top pair with no kicker. Yeah, thanks for the advice.

Finally got up to 4/8, and ran well yet again. In a kill pot (6/12), I limped in early position with pockets 8s (should have raised here). After the flop I had a set, and the turn brought me a full house. My opponent was unlucky enough to have trips. He raised me on the river, allowing me to three-bet, which he called, and I scooped a $120+ pot. I left for the airport not long after, up nearly $300 for the trip.

Compared to previous adventures, I didn’t have as much fun (No crew of friends, WSOP or CES), but made more money. I’ve finally learned that I am winning 4/8 and below limit player, a component tournament player, and a lousy NL cash game player. The more limit, (and less NL) I play, the more I make. And that’s fine – punch your own weight, and you don’t get knocked out.

Hope to be back for CES.