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Vegas + Wsop Trip Report (long)


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Day 1 (thursday)So, me and my Brother arrived in Vegas on Thursday afternoon (the 25th), and were eager to do some gambling. It was too early to check into our room at Caesar's, so we hit the poker room. Unfortunately, we got distracted on the way to the poker room, and found a game of single deck black jack that promptly removed $400 from my wallet. got to the poker room, decided to play some 1-3 since we douln't be playing too long and I didn't want to get stuck too much early on in the trip. Had a rough start to the session, getting down about $300 in the first hour. Then picked up Qc8c in the small blind, flopped 88J, and doubled up against an uber-donk older guy who held AJ. It was all gravy from there, and a couple hours later, I'd won back the $400 I lost at blackjack, plus about $150 more. (this would be a recurring theme on the trip, lose at BJ, win it back at poker... I hate blackjack for the record.) My brother dropped $600 at 1-3, but he had actually won $300 or so at blackjack, so he was ok. After poker, we checked in and headed to our room before heading over to Bellagio.We had planned on playing a (hopefully) long session of 5-10 at Bellagio on our first night, its a bit out of my roll, but I figured I'd take a shot since we are in vegas and I'd been running good lately. The list for 5-10 was about 30 names long so we put our names on the list and went off into the pits, where we played some WPT bonus table game which was boring, and I lost $100 pretty quickly. After an hour or so of that, we headed back to the poker room and found we were near the top of the list, and we were in the game shortly after. The 5-10 game was not exactly tough, but there weren't any particularly bad players. I was card/flop dead for most of the session, but really felt as though I was playing exceptionally well, and nobody really picked up any hands against me when I was raising/betting, so I was able to build up my stack to about $1500 from my starting stack of $1000 after 6 or 7 hours (and 10 or 11 beers). After a short break to eat at Noodles (delicious), we got back in the game. At about 3 AM, I was getting tired, and we decided to head back to caesar's. Unfortunately, I caught the 'last hand bug' and lost a bunch right before leaving. the hand went down like this:I have Kd7d on the button, after a straddle, and ep raiser makes it 40, two people called, and I called on the button. (I know, marginal call at the best, but like I said, I had the 'last hand bug' and felt compelled to play). the sb and the straddler called to make the pot roughly $200 to the flop. the flop looked good, KQ7 rainbow with 1 diamond. the sb donk-bet $100, and everyone folded to me, I made it $400 to go. He stood up, asked me how much I had behind, and after a few moments of deliberaiton, anounced he was all-in. He had me covered slightly, and I would have had to call just over $1000. He was an older gentleman who had been playing very solid thus far, and pretty straightforward, rarely 3-betting preflop. He'd lost 1 buy-in earlier with AK on a 248 flop that had been checked around, with a K on the turn, he got it all-in against 88. It was a tough spot, because the only hand the I could beat was AK, but the only hands that he can realistically have that beat me are QQ and 77, and I have one of the 7's. I tanked for about 5 minutes and folded face up, he didn't show his hand. I'm pretty comfortable with the fold, and I didn't mind showing because it was my last hand anyway. So, after playing for 7 hours, I netted a hefty $45 profit. weeeeeeeee! my brother was up $145, much lower swings, ironically, than our earlier session at 1-3. We headed back and decided to call it a night1st day gambling totals:Blackjack/table games: $-500Poker: +595Day 2 (friday)On Friday, we got up, had breakfast and headed over to the Rio to buy in for Saturday's $1500 NLH event. It was my first trip to Vegas during the WSOP and I was in awe of the size of the tournament rooms there and the sheer number of players. it was very cool. We decided to hop into the satellite room and try one single-table satellite before we ponied up the cash. There was a $125 satellite registering, so we hopped in. My table was full of super weak-tight players, although I found myself down to 500 of my original 1000 stack after check calling 3 super tiny bets with AJ on an AT582 board against AT. Then double shortly after when my KhTh outran A6o. When the blinds were 100/200, I picked up and ace in 4 straight hands and shoved all 4 times, busting 2 players in the process. It was shocking how tight everyone (except me and my brother) were playing. I was staying out of my brother's way for the most part since he was on my direct left and had enough chips to cripple me. We ended up getting to three handed with me having 1/2 the chips in play with 5000, my brother had about 3000, and the other guy had 2000. My brother doubled the other guy up shortly after when his A6 ran into AA in a bvb situation. The guy was so tight though, he quickly folded himself down to about 2000 chips. With the blinds at 150/300, I had 6k to 3400 (weak-tight guy) to 600 (brother). I picked up AQ, and shoved on the button, my brother called from the small blind with Jd5d, and the other guy called from the big blind with AT. unfortunately, a T and a J on the flop had them both back in business. I continued shoving all-in until I had a nice chip lead again, and busted my brother with KQ vs his 99. Got heads up with about a 7-3 advantage, and 300-600 blinds, and shoved the first hand with 3s5s, unfortunately, he had AK, and I bricked 18 outs twice on a 4s6s9x flop. Shoved all-in a few more times to recapture the chip lead, and then shoved with 8d9d, and got called by 77, the flop was a monster again, TdJc4d, I bricked the turn, but hit the 7d on the river to complete both of my draws, and end the tournament. He wanted to chop when we were even in chips but I declined. it was shocking how tight he was playing. I probably shoved all-in 25 times in 4-handed and lower, and only got called by AK, AT, and 77. Anyway, the win paid out $1000 in tourney chips and $120 cash. I gave my brother his $125 back and we went and bought into the tournament (at a $1000 discount).After buying in, we decided to play one more satty for kicks. Played a $175 tournament, and the table was much tougher. there was a lower level tv pro on my left but I can't remember his name. I think he got on tv a couple times in 2004. shorter, frumpy looking guy who was a real douche-bag and played horribly. I started off hot busting the first 3 players and building my stack to 4000. then with blinds 50-100 got it all-in against a short stack with 5bbs. my KQ to his AA. flop AJ4, turn T, river T. 2 hands later got AcTc, raised to 400 after a limper, button shoved for 1000, I called and he tables AhQh. flop Ax7x4h turn Th, river 9h. two beautiful turns and ugly rivers had my stack back down to a regular level. grinded it out for awhile, my bro busted in 5th, and I got down to 3-handed with the aforementioned pro, and a guy on my right who played a very solid short stack strategy. ended up shoving in with A2, and couldn't outrun 33 to bust in third.After the satellites we bumped into a couple guys we knew from our home town and hit the blackjack table at Rio for some drinks and fun. that quickly turned into a $200 loss and we called it quits and headed back to Caesar's. At Caesar's we hopped into a 2-5 game and I dropped $200 on my first hand with KQ on a Q high flop against AQ. reloaded back to $500. there were 4 greek guys at our table all wearing matching poker hoodies with a greek flag on their shoulder. their 'ring leader' was in seat 7, and he was a gigantic Douche. they kept speaking Greek to each other, and the Dealer continually told them to stop. He began berating the dealer in english, and even made the dealer call a floor person over to explain to them why they couldn't speak Greek to each other. Turns out, the 'ring leader' was this guy, who final tabled the $1500 tournament the next day (I recognized him and his hoodie when I was browsing pics from the event yesterday):http://www.pokernews.com/files_en/reportin...498bdc19f3b.jpganyway, I wasn't unhappy when our table broke shortly after, and I moved to a new table. I had built my stack up to about $950 by this time. I was sitting in Seat 8, and there was a gorgeous brunette sitting in Seat 2 who was mostly an aggro-donk, plus she had lost a few pots in a row and seemed to be tilting a bit. She made it $35 from ep, it folded to me in the small blind and I raised to $110 with JJ, she made the call after deliberating for a few moments. The flop came 245, and she checked. I made a weakish bet of $125 to induce a bluff, since I knew she was steaming. she obliged, check-raising me to 500. the bet wreaked of an Ax kind of hand semi-bluffing me, so I had no choice but to shove in over the top for a total of about 400 more. I hate putting this much money in with an overpair, but I felt the situation justified it. she tanked for a few minutes before making the call. the turn was a sickening 3, and the river was a K. luckily, she mucked when I showed my JJ and I raked a huge pot. we played for several more hours and ai lost about $500 back with top 2 against a combo draw that hit, but still booked a $1300 win on the night. We called it a night at about 5 am since we were playing the WSOP event at noon the next day.Gambling totals for the day:Blackjack/table games: -$200Poker (including satellite win): +$2175Day 3 (Saturday) – WSOP dayOn Saturday, I woke up at 10, feeling surprisingly fresh, showered, and headed to the Rio. Grabbed a quick breakfast wrap, grabbed a beer, and got to the tournament room just in time for the shuffle up and deal. I didn’t recognize anyone at the table, but noticed seat 8 was wearing a WSOP bracelet. Then I noticed the small head and shoulders bottle that he was using as a card protector, and put two and two together and realized it was Todd Witteles, AKA Dan Druff. At first, I thought I’d hit a jackpot with my table, as everybody was limping in and playing generally loose passive. Won a big pot early in the tournament when I rivered a flush with Ad9d, the flop was AxQd4d. That got my stack up to about 8k, and late in the first level. I get 77 on the button. After one ep limper, Dan Druff made it 250 to go with about 6500 behind, I called on the button, and everyone else folded. The flop was a beautiful 457 with 2 diamonds. He fired out 600. I considered smooth calling but decided that too many terrible cards can come on the turn. I knew that a raise here looks like an absolutely huge hand, so I decided to slightly overbet, making it 2500 to go, and try to make it look like I had some kind of combo draw and wanted him to fold. He tanked for a few minutes and shoved in with QQ, I snap called and the turn and river bricked out, and I was up to about 15000 very early in the tournament. There is actually a thread over on NWP discussing the hand:http://www.neverwinpoker.com/forums/shooti...-me-t68863.htmlIf you go http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/photostore and choose event 51, table 125, I am the guy in pictures: DSC_9711, 9712, and 9713, those pics were takes shortly after I busted Dan Druff, see how excited I look? Lol. My brother busted shortly after on a bad beat. He got it in on a A9K4 board against AQ for a 14000 chip pot, and the river was a Q.Anyway, the table turned out to be not as easy as I had originally hoped. Lost one big pot with JJ against Qh8h on a 5h6c7sTh board. I called a check-raise on the turn, and we both checked a 7h river. It’s sick because I knew he was making a move and strongly considered shoving the turn, but chickened out, and he hit the river. Shortly after, my table broke, and I went to a new table. I was sitting in the worst seat at the table, as I had 4 good LAGs on my left and 4 decent TAGs on my right. On top of that, I was retardedly card/situation dead for about 3 straight hours as my chips dwindled. I limped into the dinner break with 6400 chips. Shortly after the dinner break, with blinds 200/400 and a 50 ante, a mid-position raiser made it 1000, and I shoved from the big blind with AdQd. He tanked and called with 77. A 245 flop gave me some options, but I bricked the turn and river and was headed for the rail. All-in-all, it was a great experience, and I plan on playing again next year. I feel like I played very well. Hit some cards early, and then made the most out of what I was given for the rest of the day.After I busted, I met up with my brother and we headed to the Hard Rock poker room for some 2-5 and drinks. We played for 6 hours or so. There were a few big donkeys at the table, but I couldn’t really capitalize. I was up about $800 at one point, but lost about 80 bbs with KK vs AA all in preflop (k on flop, A on turn), and then another 75 bbs with 6d3d on an all-diamond flop against Ad9d. Ended up playing a little longer than I should have, as I was litereally falling asleep at the table (lol), and we headed back to caesar’s at around 4 AM. I ended up breaking even on the session:Totals for the day:Poker (including WSOP buy-in): -$1545Wow, this is really becoming long-winded, haha. I will finish the trip report tomorrow sometime. If you made it this far, my apologies for wasting so much of your time ;)edit: trip report is now continued below

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Looks like 'The Dreamcrusher" is still at it!I've always disliked Randy Jensen since the WSOP coverage of his bust out a few years ago (probably the last time he was covered in anything). He pushed in in early position with something like QJ and got called by some old guy with AQ (after saying things like "you don't have to call," and other beggarly things). THEN, he starts railing about how unlucky he was that he got called and how he never catches a break, if I remember correctly. After his obnoxiously loud calls for a J fail and he busts out, he turns to Hellmuth or some other pro (which would explain the cameras being at his table) and tops it all off by saying "I guess I'll leave it to you to win this for the good players..... Oh the humanity!The only thing I disliked about the report is you not busting him. I don't imagine you stayed for the end of the satellite, so let's all just pretend he came in 2nd place for $0.Other than that, well done.

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haha, well, he was outchipped 4-1 when I busted (the other guy busted me).He played terribly, including calling all-in earlier in the tournament on the turn with 6d3d on an 89JQ board with 2 diamonds and hitting the river against KT. Plus he was talking loudly the whole time to anyone who would listen about this hot stripper that he was texting on his phone, and showing pictures to the table, even though he'd never met her in person, lol. The funniest part was when some guy on the rail asked if he'd met him before because he looked familiar. He said "well, you might have seen me on tv?" then laughed really loudly. this was followed by an awkward silence at the table when nobody acknowledged his comment.

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haha, well, he was outchipped 4-1 when I busted (the other guy busted me).He played terribly, including calling all-in earlier in the tournament on the turn with 6d3d on an 89JQ board with 2 diamonds and hitting the river against KT. Plus he was talking loudly the whole time to anyone who would listen about this hot stripper that he was texting on his phone, and showing pictures to the table, even though he'd never met her in person, lol. The funniest part was when some guy on the rail asked if he'd met him before because he looked familiar. He said "well, you might have seen me on tv?" then laughed really loudly. this was followed by an awkward silence at the table when nobody acknowledged his comment.
I usually would reply with something like, "right, that's where I've seen you, America's Most Wanted"
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I usually would reply with something like, "right, that's where I've seen you, America's Most Wanted"
I would have responded, "Sorry, I don't watch To Catch a Predator"
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I usually would reply with something like, "right, that's where I've seen you, America's Most Wanted"
zing! I enjoyed the post, more importantly you busted Witteles. He brings that stupid card protector so people know who he is. I'd like to find the video of him ripping that chair cover off the chair at that final table he was at a few years ago.
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Ok, before I continue with my trip report, I'd like to share a little story from my last trip to Vegas, since I didn't write a trip report for that one.I was playing 2-5 at the mirage at a super juicy table. Lo and behold, who would walk into the room, speak to the floor person, and take a seat 2 to my left? the one and only, the incomparable, the beautiful, talented...... KFL!!!! That's right folks, I experienced the true beauty of Kathy liebert live and in person, and we touched the same cards, yes we did. Honestly, all joking aside, she seemed like a really nice person, and somebody at the table asked her if she liked Annie Duke as a person, and she made a face and said 'no comment' so I have to give her props for that. hilariously, these 2 40-50 year old guys at the table instantly turned into super fans upon her arrival and started gushing and asking for pictures, it was enough to make me sick, but she handled it well. Now, I need to mention a certain hand that she played, as she played it absolutely horrificly. As a preface, I don't know what KFLs roll looks like, but it didn't seem like she was just 'messing' around and having fun in this game. there were 5-10 and higher seats available, but she chose 2-5. I could be wrong, but she bought in for $1000 and seemed to be taking the game seriously. Before I start, I must mention that her opponent in this hand was one of the biggest donkeys I have ever seen outside of poker stars. However, she did not know this, they did not know each other, and she had only been at the table for an orbit or two and this guy had not been out of line yet.ok, on to the hand: after 3 limpers, KFL raises to 40 from mp, gets called by the button + the 3 limpers. flop 9dTdQc. checked to her, she checks, button bets 90, UTG calls, she makes it 300 to go, button folds, UTG calls. now, UTG says "you have a diamond draw?" to which KFL quickly replies "no". The turn is the Jd, putting 9TJQ out there with 3 diamonds. UTG checks, and KFL looks sheepish, commenting "crap, I just told this gy I wasn't on a diamond draw and now a diamond comes" she then proceeds to tank for a minute, then shove all-in for about $800. UTG tanks and calls. KFL shows 99. UTG shows QTo. Results aside, is that not the most horrendous shove you have ever seen? she 100% turned her hand into a bluff that had little chance of working, not to mention I really don't think that was her intention, the fact that she found the one player in Vegas who would call her with worse on that board is neither here nor there. I think I sat there with my mouth open gaping at the spot where the cards had been long after the dealer had cleaned them up. But then again, she is freakin' KFL, so she was probably just thinking about 97 levels higher than me and I just couldn't comprehend it.anyway, back to my trip report:Day 4 (Sunday)After a good sleep in, we grab some breakfast and head over to the premium outlet mall to buy some clothes. (clothes are way cheaper in vegas than in Canada). Also purchased some new Sunglasses. It was ferakin' hot outside so we got out of there as soon as possible and headed to the Mirage. the reason? because it is the only casino (that I know of) on the strip that has an Ultimate texas Hold'em table game. If you haven't played it, it is, IMO the most fun table game there is, for a poker player. It blows all the other lame poker table games out of the water. As well, if you play it correctly, the odds aren't terrible. probably fairly similar or a little worse than playing perfect blackjack, but 10x the fun. It's a super fun game, and we planned to put in a session of that and have some drinks. All the dealer's remembered us from our last trip as the Tall Canadians (I'm 6'9, my bro is 6'5). I put in my longest session ever at a non-poker table, and we played for about 5 hours and downed plenty of tasty beverages in the process. We both lost about $200 after being up for most of the session, but eventually the odds got the better of us, and we decided to go play a game we could actually (theoretically) win at. We hit the Buffet at Mirage, which was mediocre at best, and then it was back to the Hard Rock Poker room.I need to mention that the Hard Rock poker room is the most awesomely under-appreciated poker room in Vegas. It’s just a totally cool and fun vibe that you don’t get anywhere else. There is music playing, drink service is fantastic, and the dealer’s are good and really cool, and they encourage side games and other crazy stuff.Also, you can ‘hard rock straddle’ on the button and you get to act last preflop, which is sweet. In fact, if you are ever there on a Tuesday, they have something called ‘trash talk poker’ which is a 2-5 game with some rules changes: mandatory straddle on the button $10 min $100 max. Yes, you can straddle for $100 on the button, and apparently, lots of people do. 2-7 game is in effect ($10 from each player), trash talk is encouraged, and if anyone wins with a full house or better the rest of the table has to take a shot. Sounds like a blast to me, not to mention a potentially super juicy game, especially since I actually play pretty well when drunk. Anyway, this kind of gives you an idea of the awesomeness of the Hard rock poker room. If you want to play poker but still went to vegas to have a good time, it is a nice trade off. Wow, that sounded like an advertisement, lol.On the way to the room, we stopped to play Blackjack at the umm, stripper tables? There are super hot girls dealing blackjack and half-naked girls dancing on a stage behind. Our dealer was super cool and had an unbelievable body, and the girls on stage just kept staring back at me and making eye contact when I looked up at them, which made me feel strangely guilty, lol. We played for about an hour and got crushed, each losing $400 on $25 bets. Off to the poker room we went, and sat down at a 2-5 game. I lost a sick pot on my first hand. There was a straddle on the button and I made it 40 to go with AsQh, everyone folded and the button made the call. My opponent was wearing a hoodie and an ipod, so I figured he thought he was pretty good, haha. The flop was Q77 with 2 spades. I made a weak bet of 40 into $85, hoping to induce a raise. He made it 100. I decided to slow play a bit. The only real bad turn card would be a spade, and I had the As, so I’d have redraws if necessary. In hindsight, I should have just reraised the flop since I bet to induce, plus I was OOP. Anyway, the turn was the 6s. I checked and he bet 200. I still didn’t really believe he had a hand, and besides, I had a bunch of redraw outs if I happened to be wrong, any Q, 7, or spade on the river and I’m happy. River was a blank and we went check, check, and he showed 5s2s for the flush and the pot. Kind of got owned on that one, and not particularly happy with how I played it. but I reloaded and doubled shortly later when I flopped a set of 6’s on an A high board against AK. I felt like I’d played bad for the first hour and felt lucky to be up. The game broke shortly after and we hopped into a 1-2 game for a bit. An hour later, I was up $120 in that game and the 2-5 game was restarting. Shortly into the 2nd 2-5 session, I took down a nice pot with AA vs KK for a guy’s $400 stack. I was playing really stellar poker at that 2nd table, really picking my spots and basically controlling the table. Somehow this guy on my right still thought I was playing super straight forward tight poker. One hand, we were playing 6 handed, there was a straddle, and he raised to $35 from the Hijack, I made it $115 to go from the CO with Qh4h. It folded back to him and he tanked for two minutes before saying “man, you’ve been playing really solid, I fold” and tabling QQ face up, lol? I said ‘nice fold’ and mucked my cards. That same guy started to get drunk and play reaaaally badly. I felt bad for him, because it got down to 3-handed, and me and my brother were running his show. It wasn’t collusion, we don’t soft play each other when we play at the same table. However, we both recognized that he was by far the weakest link, so we kind of stayed out of each other’s way for the most part, he respects my game and doesn’t like to battle with me anyway, and he was playing really really well all night, so I wasn’t duking it out with him too much either. Anyway, we continued to pound on this guy, when 4 buddies all from LA sat down at the table around 3 AM and bought in for $2000 each. Me and my brother were both sitting on about $2300-$2500 stacks at this point. I quickly recognized that A.) these guys were uber aggressive. B.) they were smart players C.) our 2-5 game just turned into about a 10-20 game, and D.) they were checking it down when it was just two of them left in the hand. I have no shame leaving a game when it is no longer profitable, so me and my bro packed up our chips and left. We were both fairly drunk at this point, so we decided to head back to the room.Day 4 totals:Blackjack/table games: -$600Poker: $+1265Day 5 (Monday)We had to catch a flight at 7:40, so we got up and checked out at 11, and headed to the fashion mall to buy some stuff for our girlfriends. Got out of there as quickly as possible and headed back to Caesar’s for a relaxing session of 1-3 to finish off the trip. We played for 3 hours, I was up $500 at one point but actually semi-spewed back all of it and finished the session -$15. We headed to the airport, ate dinner at Chili’s, dropped 60 bucks into a slot machine, then caught our flight. I popped Pulp fiction into my PSP and had a relaxing flight home.All in all, a fantastic and fun trip to vegas, can’t wait to go back!!! I believe some of my friends are planning a trip for Halloween, so I’ll probably be going then. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!!Trip Totals:Blackjack/Table games: -$1200Poker: (including WSOP buyin, but factoring in satellite win): +$2490

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Very nice report, I enjoyed it.
yep
Bump! Just in case anyone didn't see the second half of the report yet :club:
egomaniac attention whoreI would know, I'm one
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Bump! Just in case anyone didn't see the second half of the report yet :club:
Good bump - Enjoyed both parts.Caesars had the Pussycat Dolls blackjack tables last year when I was there - sounds exactly like the stripper tables. The odds weren't quite as good as at a regular BJ table (I think that a blackjack paid off less then 3-2 or something) but as the dealer said, you make up for it in the entertainment value.
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yepegomaniac attention whore
QFTAnd gobears, yes, it is much like the Pussycat dolls Blackjack tables. Blackjacks pay 6-5.however, the dealers and dancers are much hotter (IMO) at Hard Rock, and the dancers dance more like strippers and less like Britney spears when she was on the Mickey Mouse Club.As well, I walked by the pussycat dolls tables many times and none of the dealers or dancers looked like they were having fun. The Dealers and Dancers at Hard rock genuinely seem to be having a good time, and it makes for a fun atmosphere. Either that, or they are excellent at faking it (I can never tell :club: )
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