Vegas 2015 Trip Report (1 Viewer)

[Poker Zombie]

You would think that I would have thought about this earlier, but I've been posting most of the trip report on Twitter (@TN_Fireman). It's quick and easy, and I am lousy at typing on a phone, so Twitter gets up to the "minute" updates. Y'all get a "Hey, I'm not doing anything now. Post on PCF".

First, Fly in. Southwest, first class seating. "Whaaaa?" you say, "Southwest doesn't have 1st class". I beg to differ.

Ok, the movie is 8 years old, but those were 2 mighty fine martinis. I call that a win, and we haven't even landed yet.

Then it was a limo trip from the airport. Had the limo driver stop off at a party store so we could buy a case of water, because in Vegas, staying hydrated is key. Also, the limo surprised us with free champagne - It's no longer their policy, but you gotta love a driver that says "fuck policy, sparkling cider sucks".

As Vegas is the home of all things bribed, we slipped the girl $20 at check-in at the Bellagio. Boom, upgrade! Nothing super awesome, but a corner room with a couple of great views. This one from the Jacuzzi:

Then it's over the Planet Hollywood. I love me some Earl of Sandwich. Then a few steps into the poker room for a daily tournament. Lousy blinds that do not get the BGinGA seal of approval. Chips do not get anybodies seal of approval.

This is one of those rare occasions where chips photograph better than they look. The T5000s were repeatedly mistaken for T500s. No love for the Zombies though. We busted from the 2x blind increases. Que Sera Sera

For those of you that do visit Vegas, but don't do Facebook, you might not want to read about how we used the MyVegas on Facebook rewards to play some free video poker. Free. $75 worth of spins. We cashed out with exactly $75. For free. If you're too cool for Facebook, you probably wouldn't enjoy video poker either. I'll spend that free money for you.

For dinner, we stroll behind the strip for a steak dinner. Bet $1, get the dinner for $9.99. Our bets earned us $7. Dinner comes with a pretty good 20oz craft beer too. Food for thought.

The nightcap was over to Casino Royale. They had a promotion on the video poker and slots so we gave it a whirl. Not much love there (Mrs Zombie cashed out up 80 cents), but the Craps table had the right energy flowing, and we played wayyyy to late into the night, fueled by plenty of free martinis. When all was said and done, we hoofed it back to the room, $36 richer somehow.

Day 2 will be posted later...

 

[ChaosRock]

Love it! Keep 'em coming Zombs!!!

 

[slisk250]

Casino Royale is the best craps odds on the strip right now I think.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Definitely the best "behind" odds, at 100x. Our modus operandi is to play as long as our old bones/backs can keep us standing. then 1 final bet utilizing the full power of 100x odds. The table goes absolutely electric. This time we just called it quits when after a long run with a good shooter after about an hour of bleeding chips on a cold table. We actually would of left sooner but I was sandwiched between Mrs Zombie an a single highly friendly cougar. I wasn't sure what I thought could take place, but I wasn't going to be the one to leave and make it not happen.

And if it did happen, it wouldn't show up in this tournament report. Does anybody know if Penthouse Forums accepts tournament reports? I do post pr0n!

 

[slisk250]

It you get a chance, go to Paris and get a look at some blue 1s. I hope the condition is worth a harvest in July. Let me know.

 

[slisk250]

but I was sandwiched between Mrs Zombie an a single highly friendly cougar. I wasn't sure what I thought could take place, but I wasn't going to be the one to leave and make it not happen.

Remember to tell the stick man "short dice" when the shooter is a voluptuous cougar.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Remember to tell the stick man "short dice" when the shooter is a voluptuous cougar.

I heard that once during the game but did not get it. Now I do, and understand completely!

 

[k9dr]

Just the diversion I need today - thanks for the report. The steak at Ellis Island is always solid.

 

[Ronoh]

+1 to MyVegas. I've gotten free tickets to four cirque shows, $75 free bar tab, couple nice free meals and still have a million LPs (roughly $1200-2000 theoretical value last I knew but haven't played in nearly a year so value has probably went down)

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, Day 2

We woke in the morning to the realization that I bought a couple of American Casino Guides (Amazon for about $14 each). Think "Entertainment" book for gamblers. The book contains a bunch of coupons for casinos all around the US, including off-strip properties in Vegas. To get maximum value, we were going to hoof it back over to Ellis Island and use our coupons for a $5 match play, and a slot/video poker promotion.

First of all, Ellis Island Casino around 10 or 11 am is a bit depressing. Still, we didn't return for the local flavor, we came to take their cash. The slot/vp promotion required playing $10, then going to a kiosk to see how much free play you would get, from $10-$100. So, let's do some quick coupon math:

Jacks or Better has a roughly 98% payback on perfect play. So, let's say with Zombie play it's 95%. So I am giving them $10, and at the end of playing the $10 they will Theoretically cash me out for $9.50. We don't know how the promotion is skewed (it used to be an actual wheel, but now it's just digital), but lets just assume 99.99999% get $10 freeplay. Which you go back, play through it, and cash out for another $9.50. So you lose 50 cents and gain $9.50, for a net gain of $9 and a little Vegas entertainment. At least that's the theory.

In practice, our $20 plummeted to $8.75. As expected, we only won $10 in freeplay each. So before we burn through that, lets change up our luck with the other coupon.

Coupon B is a $5 matchplay. Basically you wager $5, but the house treats it like a $10 wager. You have to use it on something that pays even odds, so Roulette with Red/Black, Even/Odd, or Top 18/Bottom 18. Back to math school...

The house edge on American (00) roulette is 5.26%. There is 1 bet with worse odds, but we'll save that discussion for Roulette theory. Every bet (save 1), no matter where you put it gives the house a little over a nickle on every dollar. So I surrender $5 they return me $4.74 (loss of $0.26). The $5 coupon of course will theoretically return $4.74. So, Lose 26 cents, get paid 4.74, and run a net profit of $4.48. Mrs Zombie went Red, I put my money and coupon on Even. number came up 23 Red. Mrs Zombie collected her $5 chip, $5 for her win, and $5 for the coupon's win. I lost $5. (The coupon is surrendered win or lose) so, a $10 net profit.

Little did I know, this was going to be today's theme.

If you were reading this thread hoping for tales of huge wagers and massive scores, you will need to wait until we get into the Colossus. This is more "Fun in Vegas at minimal cost", or "How to have a fun, no stress vacation on a tighter budget".

Back to the Video Poker, with $10 at the ready. I hit a pair of jacks once. Period. Mrs Zombie's machine is singing away merrily though. so as we wrap up we find ourselves cashing out for $31.25, or an $11.25 profit. All on the shoulders of Mrs Zombie.

Heading back to the Bellagio, we strolled through the Bazaar Shoppes at Bally's. Nice items cost about $1,000, everything else is mall junk. The speakers in the mall play the most messed up collection of music. Country, followed by Sinatra, then a Hip-Hop song. Like Pandora set on "All".

Our main purpose here (other than morbid curiosity) was to hit a food truck that won the Season 5 Food Network "Great Food Truck Race". They had a little kiosk in the mall, along with other food "trucks". The cook made me laugh a lot. He was sooooo friggin stoned I thought he might accidentally burn the tent down. Turns out, people in medial jobs work better stoned. The food (chicken shawarma, fish tacos, and 7 spice fries) was excellent, but you must like that kind of thing because they were absolutely flavor loaded. My fingers still smell like curry sauce after many medical-grade hand washings. My finger meat has been permanently marinated.

Back to the room to rest off some of the overstuffed feeling, then onto poker at Caesars. $125 buy-in, but the same crappy structure. BG, fix this damn place! The chips however, much worse:

In stacks, the 100 and the 1000 are nearly identical, though you would never think it by the chip facing. Chippers, be careful when using 414 spots! I want to say it was ugly chips that knocked me out, but really, It was playing out of position all afternoon. I lasted through 1/2 the field then dumped. One quick glance and I saw Mrs Zombie was really short stacked. 3BB short. I chortled. The waitress asked if I was alright. I said, she's got them, and they don't even know it yet.

I had time, so onto the cash game.

No shot of the cash game chips. I have an old shot of those chips, and they haven't changed. I like them though, at least the $1s. Again I couldn't get out of the way of position, and my kickers were always 1 short - even on trips. 2 hours later, I lost $200, and then back to the room. Shortly afterwards, she texted me: "In the Money". I headed back.

Before I could make it all the way back to rail for her, they had chopped. 1000/700/700/700/160. The $160 was to go to the player that bubbled, and they played that out. 1st had easily 2x the chips, but was willing to sacrifice $300 to make the next tournament's late buy-in. the remaining 3 within a blind or 2 of each other. We met up outside for her celebratory photo.

She's 5' in front of the statue. I just needed to remember that positioning is everything.

Back to the room to chill a bit before dinner. Time for some PCF, and strategy talk. She's so much better playing than I am, but she still views me as her teacher.

Onto the Buffet!

Waiting until 8 for dinner has it's flaws. Everybody apparently eats dinner at 8. Luckily we're VIPs, and got to cut the line that they claimed was a 1 hour wait. How are we, a couple of small spenders VIPs? Did I mention Facebook? Yep, MyVegas on Facebook earned us 2 free buffets at Bellagio, with VIP access. Still too cool for Facebook? That's over $150 in free stuff so far, plus 1 hour of not standing with the unwashed masses. This VIP stuff goes to my head pretty quickly.

Downside to the buffet... Stuffed. we were going to head over to the Flamingo for more poker, but miserable can't be a good way to play. Then there's this whole scale in the bathroom. Who puts a scale in a bathroom in a hotel anyway? Is that just to see how much you ate at the buffet? If so, then I would weigh myself before and after eating. +5 lbs.

It's the only time I finished up today.

 

[detroitdad]

My finger meat has been permanently marinated.

I lol'd

Thanks for sharing. Awesome TR sir.

 

[Bloody Marvelous]

Just the diversion I need today - thanks for the report. The steak at Ellis Island is always solid.

I hear the Macaroni and Cheese is pretty good at Rikers Island.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, Day 3

*Parental warning The following post has been rated PG-13, and might not be suitable for all ages*

Waking up this morning I still feel bloated. Buffets suck for those of us with little willpower.

Now, I typically don't post everything that happens, because you don't need to know about bowel movements. This one you need to know about. It was a monster. The bathroom in our room at the Bellagio is huge, with a separate room for the toilet. Classy people call this a water closet, I call it a shit-stink containment unit. When you drop something this big you wish there was some sort of high-pressure exhaust fan, but here I was, surrounded in the stink coming from my ass, and it just kept coming. Worst part - it smelled exactly like a cheap buffet. If you've ever been into a Golden Corral, you know the smell. There's some food for thought.

When I finish, I need to weigh myself. Either I ran a marathon in my sleep, or I dropped a 2 pound shit. Had I known, I would have called the sewage treatment facility to warn them Buffet-zilla was on her way. Since I didn't have their number, I used the hotel stationary and wrote a letter of apology. Then I flushed the letter so it would get to the right people. I hope they accept the apology - I still have 3 more pounds to send them.

Now that I made room, It's over to the Aria for another free BUFFET! Again, I will mention Facebook and MyVegas, because they covered us here as well. If you are too cool for Facebook, then your waistline thanks you.

Walking over to the poker room I stopped by the ATM. It's always good to have something smaller than a $20 when tipping a waitress. It's not a real ATM ofcourse, those fees would be nuts, but a video game called "No Rake Heads Up Texas Holdem Poker". This is what it says. No rake Heads up limit poker vs a computer that is supposed to be able to learn your style, and crush you. I never stay long enough to let it learn me. I finished up $8 and cashed out.

Then it was into the 1pm tournament. Aria was completely not ready for the WSOP this year. The poker room was packed. Wait-lists for cash games were unbelievable. They usually expand their room during the WSOP, but this year they had moved the slot machines out of the way and set up tables, but still no chairs. The tourney took 10 tables, and therefore could sit 100 players. There were 131 alternates! Of those 51 eventually got seated.

I slipped in an extra T6000 into my stack. I hoped nobody would notice.

I got crushed when calling an all-in vs a short stack. Turns out the short stack had a T5000 chip I didn't see, and wasn't so short. Again, I was eliminated exactly mid-field.

Since cash games were way more waiting than I would be happy with, I took a walk over to the Flamingo. Then I realized Mrs Zombie was holding onto my Players card for the Flamingo, so I crossed back to the Bellagio. Their wait lists were the same, just huge. So I beat up on my ATM (this time at the Bellagio) for another $80

I headed back to Aria to rail for Mrs. Zombie. She wal looking to pick her spot, and from after the cutoff thought long and hard before folding preflop, Mrs. Zombie shoved with 7BB. She got called by the big, and found her A8 up against AQ. Timing was good though, as this put us perfectly on track for meeting up with fellow PCFers. All clouds/silver lining.

Only regret to the meet was not getting a photo to commemorate the occasion on the boards. It is always a great pleasure to see Paulo again, and 1st time meeting with Nitzilla and Mrs Zilla was a delight. I look forward to meeting them at a full meetup someday. Denver, were already looking at you.

From there it was onto my favorite Italian restaurant, Battistia's Hole in the Wall. Too much food, the way an Italian grandmother would give you, and cheap wine. I may be a wine snob, but I do love unlimited quantities of a palatable grape.

From there we drunkenly caught a shuttle to the Rio to pick up our seat assignment. Thinking late night was wise, we found hundreds of others thought so as well. 1 hr 21 minutes. But we are done, and 1 less thing to clutter the mind before our big Wsop event.

Back to the room, a short soak in the jacuzzi to sooth aching muscles from a long walking day and a lot of standing, and straight into bed.

 

[Forest@Farmington]

Great trip report and doing vegas with coupons is always fun. I am not afraid of Facebook so I will look into myvegas and like them. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Trihonda]

Are you using the Bravo Poker App? I'm a huge fan, and it helped me immensely at figuring out games to play, and seeing where cash games had waits, open seats, etc... And when I know I was going to play cash somewhere, it provides phone numbers for the poker rooms, and I'd simply call ahead to get on the list. It seemed like all the folks in the know, where using Bravo? I'm no Vegas expert, but I liked the app, a lot.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I actually am using the Bravo app. That's why I was hitting the Flamingo, but when I realized I didn't have my player's card handy I could either get a replacement card (pretty easy) or check out the Bellagio. I must say I was more enamored with the Bellagio, but anytime I can rail a 1000-2000 NL game, I am no longer in my right mind. A flat call on the river with middle pair for $50,000? my head still cannot wrap around it. I risk my own life, and broke my back (literally) to save the lives of others, for an annual salary that is less than that bad call.
After that, I just wasn't thinking straight. Worse, I was dressed better than all but 1 guy at the table of 9.

Yes, they filled a 1000-2000 NL game. I love Vegas.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas: Day 4

Slept in very late, 10am. That's noon in Nashville time, so today is already a win. Today is going to be a no gamble, no drinking day. Just relaxing by the pool, dinner and a show. We're juicing up the batteries preparing for our run at the Colossus.

We headed down to the pool where we had a cabana waiting. We ordered lobster and wine for "breakfast". So much for no drinking. I should have made a running alcohol count, but then Courage might suggest I join AA, and none of us wants that. I mention Courage of course, because of the number of beautiful women at the pool. I would have posted pics, but seriously, you can see it all on the internet. Meanwhile I was living in the internet! All 3D, all sizes (including one girl with such huge boobs and tine frame that she could only be anime), and sometimes interactive. Met a really nice woman knocking back a gin and tonic. Given my surgical scars are in full view while at the pool, it felt pretty good to be hit on by a strange hot woman on a girl's weekend. Feels even better knowing Mrs Zombie isn't "possessive".

We spent most of the day just chilling, finally leaving the pool to get dinner.

Dinner was back to the Aria and Julian Serrano's for tapas and wine. I give it the Zombie stamp of approval. I won't carry on about it, because I again forgot to take pics. Mostly because taking photos in a restaurant feels so "22 year old". Do it often enough and they give you a selfie stick.

We had a little time to kill, so Mrs Zombie grabbed yet more money from the Heads Up Poker machine. I love that thing.

Then we cut on over to Sage for drinks. This time it's absinthe, the drink that was illegal in the US until fairly recently. 2 drinks Free from MyVegas/Facebook. Not to belabor that point, but new day. The Absinthe drink is really a work of art. It must be for what would have run $65 for 2 drinks. Stuff had us both buzzing though as we headed for the show.

The show - no surprise - was Absinthe. Front row, complementary champagne. I've seen many shows in Vegas, and this one was by far the best. You know you're in for a good time when the lights dim, and a P.A. kicks in with the usual "no flash photography" stuff. Then they say "If words like Fuck or Shit offend you, you're in the wrong fucking show".

We were flying after the show. There was no way we were going to sleep, so we hit the "Baccarat Bar" back at the Bellagio for top shelf martinis and a cigar. Then 2 more martinis. then shit got blurry...

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas: Day 5

Ow, my head.

This isn't how I wanted to start this day off. I woke way too early, and couldn't get back to sleep. If this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine, but dammit body, Y U NO SLEEP? A light breakfast of a ham and cheese croissant at Palio in the Bellagio turns out to be surprisingly large.

We pack up, and the Zombies move base camp over to the Rio. Of course there are no rooms ready, this place is going to be packed. Slip the desk clerk a little extra green and tell him first one that opens up. in the tower closest to the convention center. We've done the long walk at Rio before, and if you're in the Masquerade tower, your walk to the WSOP is pretty much in another state. You have to re sinc your watch for the time zone change between the two.

Our plan was to hit the buffet and then take a nap before our event. No room - not for more food, and no place to sleep. If this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

We head into the center to look for Nitzilla. At least if you are looking for a needle in a haystack, you only have to search 1 room. After a while we settle for just checking out the action at random tables. Judging from the ranges I'm seeing, a lot of yahoos are really counting on their extra bullet. We check with the hotel, to find our Redbelly/PCF sponsorship package. They charge us a $5 handling fee. I just kind of face palm the idea that somehow they figured one more way to nickle-dime you in Vegas. That said, I would have tipped the guy $5 anyway, but instead some fat cat millionaire is going to add it to the corporate spreadsheet to justify his exorbitant salary for a job well done. News flash: You ran the company into bankruptcy. Whatever, if this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

Finally we get a call that our room opened up. Open the door, and Boom! Overwhelmed by the smell of bacon. I'm not sure who invented bacon room deodorizer, but he is either genius or psychotic. Either way, he's fat with a cholesterol level near 400.

We lock up our valuables in the in-room safe and we hit the hay, but still can't sleep more than 15 minutes. Well, if Paulo was able to take it to day 2 on limited sleep, then I won't let sleep be a factor either. I'll kill some time online. PCF does wonders for killing nerves. Pics of chips are very soothing.

No internet. Simply cannot get on. OK, I'll work it out with my phone. I can overcome this. Besides, if this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

We decide to get something light to eat. Maybe a salad or something, because there is no way that croissant is going to carry us past 3am. Type code into safe, safe reads open, but the door never opens. F**K! Come on man! The zombies on walking dead have it easier than this! If this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be... oh, who am I kidding, my f**king seat ticket is in that safe!

Maintenance comes up and fixes the problem, and we head out for food. The bar and grill is packed, and we only have an hour. Call an audible and hit the Indian restaurant. Score! We weren't able to get a decent salad, but apps will tie us over, and we did bring plenty of snacks. Besides, if this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

Take seats. I'm already tilty because I hate making change all the time, and these stacks are stupid. You just made over 1.5 million in rake (not a joke, actual calculation) for this one tournament! call Bud Jones, and get an add-on. Here give me the phone, I'll do it for you! (anybody else need samples?)

Early on I get shoved around too much. Raise fold. Stupid, but correctable. I one player will be easy-cheesy to trap, but I need cards. I run AQ, into a flop Qxx and *thunk* KK. I repeat this a couple more times and now I'm gun shy or stupid for missing over-pairs. Then I faux-pas.

AJ on the button. SB is all-in with his blind after a terrible beat. Middle Position limps, Late Position raises, I call, MP flats. Flop J 9 x checks around to me. I raise, MP 3 bets. Now this might be is terrible, but I was waiting for this. I had a dead-nuts read that said this guy would re-raise me and I snap called all-in with my remaining 7-8 BB



I was out of order.

LP thinks about it, then shoves. New action to me, and now I fold. MP also folds (as I knew he would). Showdown with All-in reveals KK. I'd be upset about top pair running into over-pair again, but this felt like a bullet just wizzed by my head. had LP with KK just called, I was toast. If this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

An orbit later, I shove with AJ and 7BB, and the big stack calls with 64s. The right call on his part, and my luck is not turning around. 4 comes up, I go out. A smear in the books for the worlds largest ever poker tournament. I only raked chips twice in the whole tournament. I'm getting used to this though. If this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

I rail for Mrs Zombie. I collect statistical information on all the opponents at her table. Ranges, positions, even mannerisms when they call with a strong hand, drawing hand, or just before they fold. Benefit to being a female poker player, she can pee on break and still have time to discuss strategy.

Strategy and good play aren't enough against the Colossus. You need luck and Mrs Zombie's ran out. I was quite impressed with her play, but when a fairly decent stack went all in with top pair post flop, she called turning 2 pair. Unfortunately villain tripped on the turn, and Liz went to short stack then eventually no stack in standard play.

Onto the bar to decompress and debrief over the first drinks in over 24 hours - a sin in Las Vegas, but if this is all that goes wrong today, I'll be fine.

Wait, the day is over. I guess I'm just fine. Look for me at the tables tomorrow. :

 

[detroitdad]

Sir,

Its been a pleasure following your trip report. If I ever make it to Vegas again I will be contacting you on how to take advantage of this "facebook" thing you keep talking about

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas: Day 6

6:30 am and I'm awake again. Skull crushing headache again. It's not hangover induced, it's my body's natural tendency to always wake up at 6am. Multiple days of 3 hours of sleep take it's toll on an old man. To top it off, I smell something toasty like waffles. Maybe I'm having a stroke.

I look out the window of our "Bacon Suite" to see if we are being attacked by the Planet of the Waffle People and realize we are just above the Hash House A Go-Go. That explains the breakfasty aromas of the room, and I can rule out a stroke.

Mrs Zombie has no internal clock. If sh goes to bed at 3am, shes not waking before she gets get full 8 hours, so I go into full vacation mode. Some reading on my iPad, catching up a bit on PCF (way behind on threads still). This is going to set the theme for the day.

We catch lunch across the street at the Gold Coast's Ping Pang Pong. I do love Dim Sum, the most confusing meal a non-Chinese person will ever eat. Always adventurous, We ate many things we could not identify, including this...

this...

and this...

If anybody can identify these things let me know They were all good, but the first one might have been shrimp in a bull scrotum - in which case, I'm not sure I want to know.

From here we do something completely bizarre for most Vegas visitors, but normal for a Vegas local. We catch a movie.

I know, why go on vacation and see a movie you could see at home? That't the point. Neither Mrs. Zombie or I could actually remember the last time we saw a movie in the theater. If we catch a movie, it's at home via Comcast or Amazon Prime. We have a nice home theater, and the conveniences overshadow the advantage of an actual theater, but there is something a little more magical when it's on the big screen, even if it costs $16, and another $5 for a Pepsi.

So we saw Mad Max: Fury Road. I am typically hesitant to see remakes, but this one smokes the original. I won't risk spoilers, but the movie packed more into 2 hours than I ever thought possible. Tons of stunts that did not look CGI'ed (except the flame throwers ). I know CGI is a part of movie magic, but when it is so obvious (I'm looking at you Fast and Furious series) it takes the magic right out of a movie. This alone makes Mad Max worth the price of admission. Add an excellent plot, a story that leaves you wanting a sequel and a prequel, and they skip just about every stupid Hollywood bit...

Spoiler:

Spoiler: Stupid Hollywood bits

Stupid love interest, The hero has to save the day, children cannot die, Everyone must survive for the sequel, happy ending

From the theater, we head back just in time to rail for Paulo. Caught him as he was doubling up with AK pocket, with an AAK flop. It makes me happy just typing such a thing. I think his opponent had a King, but Paulo had to pull it off well enough to devastate one of the big stacks at the table.

We couldn't rail for long though, as our 6pm Deepstack was about to start. Given the number of people that were planning for 4 days of Colossus, but were now without a game, the Deepstack was an obvious choice. The lines were about 30 minutes long for signup, and again the WSOP was a bit overwhelmed. 20,000 poker players with nothing to do? We would never had guessed they would want to play poker.

I won't even discuss my run. Level 4 and done. Mrs Zombie went a couple hours longer before she went bust. We grabbed a late night meal, then I headed up to bed while she went to look for Paulo (who had been moved) and to rail. She was a little steamed over how she played one particular hand. If anyone has advice, I'd be happy to hear it. I'd been coaching her for some time, but now she has surpassed me and quite frankly, I'm not too proud to ask for outside opinions.

The hand:
Hero has 16BB
Villain about 60BB.
Table personality: If one player limps, 2-4 limpers will come along.

Hero gets AK from early position.She limps in, Villain raises. Folds come around and she jams, Villain tanks and eventually folds.

I think it was the right move. She thinks she should have 3 bet about 9BB and tried to extract more chips out of the table's big stack. What would you have done?

 

[detroitdad]

The hand:
Hero has 16BB
Villain about 60BB.
Table personality: If one player limps, 3-5 limpers will come along.

Hero gets AK from early position.She limps in, Villain raises. Folds come around and she jams, Villain tanks and eventually folds.

I like this move. If nobody had re-raised then she would be screwed. If she felt there was going to be a raiser then this is a good play. I use it all the time in early position (I guess that probably means its a bad play, lol).

As for Mad Max...........concur 100%. I love the action/stunts. For basically a 2 hour chase scene, they didn't repeat one stunt.

 

[BiGGyT]

" Still too cool for Facebook?"

Maybe......

Good TR, like the smelly details.

T

ps: I don't understand this, thought the opposite to be true.


"Benefit to being a female poker player, she can pee on break and still have time to discuss strategy."

 

[Ronoh]

ps: I don't understand this, thought the opposite to be true.


"Benefit to being a female poker player, she can pee on break and still have time to discuss strategy."

Lines for the men's are very, very, very long on official breaks.

 

[detroitdad]

" Still too cool for Facebook?"

Maybe......

Good TR, like the smelly details.

T

ps: I don't understand this, thought the opposite to be true.


"Benefit to being a female poker player, she can pee on break and still have time to discuss strategy."

less women playing increasing your chance at finding an open stall?

 

[ChipEnvy]

I want to hang with the PZ! This is the type of trip report I always mean to write but it either a) I never get around to it, or B) after I read what I've written, it sounds so dumb I delete it.

 

[Mr Tree]

I want to hang with the PZ! This is the type of trip report I always mean to write but it either a) I never get around to it, or B) after I read what I've written, it sounds so dumb I delete it.

Plus they bake cookies

 

[Poker Zombie]

ps: I don't understand this, thought the opposite to be true.


"Benefit to being a female poker player, she can pee on break and still have time to discuss strategy."

22,000 men peeing all at once, 30 women peeing all at once. It's a genital to hole ratio. If Las Vegas wasn't a desert, there would be a lot of well watered bushes at the end of the series.

They actually losed down 1 womens restroom to convert it to a men's, but that really, really doesn't help. Men actually break into a run when there are 20 seconds before break.

 

[BiGGyT]

See, in my mind, I am thinking of non-WSOP situations, I did not put myself in the proper setting.

That makes A LOT more sense in context.

I learned something today,

and knowing is half the battle.

Thanks PZ!


I am still "too cool" for FB.....

(but my wife gets us the FB comps)



T

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas: Day 7

If you've ever said "It doesn't matter where you stay in Vegas, if you're in your room your eyes are closed", you've never tried to use the internet. The connection at the Bellagio was lightning quick. The Rio's is sluggishly slow, even at 7:30am. If it is taking you a long time to read today's post, it's because of their slow speeds.

Again, I wake up but after my morning report I head down to the casino while Mrs. Zombie sleeps. Slide into the 10am turbo tournament, 40BB to start, 15 minute levels. This game isn't about poker though. It's a chance to decompress with others that have been cleaned out at the Colossus. It's a $65 therapy session. First, you shut up anyone telling you their bad beat. Then you discuss everything else. Dealer pitches cards, waitresses are hot, drinks come quickly, and everyone is chatty.

It's why I love poker.

The chips are less lovely:

Poker rooms could make a small fortune selling hand sanitizer.

From there, it's back up to the room where we had 1/2 a sandwich left over from Mrs. Zombie's dinner the previous night. The Rio might have slow internet speeds, but at least they have in room refrigerators. Cold bottled water without trips to the ice machine, and room for leftovers (though no microwave, so plan your leftovers accordingly).

We head back downstairs and get in line for he 3pm Deepstack. It's about an hour and a half before the thing begins, but we figure "20,000 people thought they would still be playing the Colossus today. What would they want to do now?" As we walked down the main hallway, the one that had previously been loaded with tables, we were surprised to see the tables were gone, and banks of video poker machines in their place. Very odd, you would think that today's Deepstack would have more players, because more had busted out of the Colossus.

We spent maybe 20 minutes in line, then we just kind of hung out for a bit before heading to our tables. With my back to the main part of the floor I didn't realize there was a line growing behind me. It was literally 1,000 people long. All waiting to get into the Deepstack. The first 3 hours we didn't even have a dealer push because officials were completely overwhelmed. they Upon inquiry as to what the WSOP thought players would do after being busted out, a cashier said "They thought they would go home". The Colossus is scheduled to run until Tuesday. I guess those powers that be must have jobs that allow them to be off work whenever they like. The rest of us have to schedule time off. If I take time off to play poker, I'm not going to catch a different flight and go to work just because I caught a bad run of cards. I'm going to play more cards!

Well, at least 5 hours worth. I would have liked to hung in longer, as I do like Bud Jones chips. They resist hand-gunk well.

I'm starting to think my game sucks, but I am constantly happy with my calls, even when I was sitting on 22, UTG staring at a AKJ flop, knowing the only reason your opponent 3 bet your preflop UTG raise was if he has a middle pocket pair. AKJ could have been 22x, I knew I had him, and was right. I love those calls.

We eyeball the Rio's 9pm tourney, but after the 1st level we took our names off the alternate list. Note: they had the tables to seat the 14+ alternates, but they had to send their dealers to the WSOP. They just didn't have enough help. So much was run so well surrounding the Colossus. It just amazes me that they missed out on the demand for low cost poker. Heck, if I owned a casino in Vegas, I would open/expand my card room around the WSOP every year. That said, I would go bankrupt buying new and different sets of chips.

Dinner at the All Amberican Bar and Grill. It's overpriced but decent bar food. Moreover, at 9:30 options off strip become limited. Tomorrow's another day...

 

[Redbelly]

These are just perfect stories! Humor and good info! Especially for my first time staying at the RIO and playing! Thank you!