Day 3
Slept a lot better the second night after my buddy tossed me an extra pair of earplugs. The previous night was an intense battle of "who could snore louder" and it turns out there are no winners in that game. So up a little early before our breakfast reservation, I decided to do a little accounting and found I had a wad of $20s that needed to be $100s. Sensibly, I made my way to the casino floor, walked right past the cage, and put my ten $20 bills into a video poker machine. I hit buttons for a few minutes, found the cashout button and the machine printed me a ticket for $150. I guess they charge a $50 bill conversion fee? Maybe the cage would have been a better choice. Bad beat #1.
Breakfast was in the Linq at Chayo. I ordered the Chilaquiles with chorizo and was horribly disappointed. The green sauce had no discernable flavor, and also lacked seasoning. Bad beat #2 and it's not even 11am yet.
Breakfast wasn't much of a hit for half the table, but for others it was due to raging hangovers rather than bland food. So I had that going for me, which was nice. We wrapped up and headed down to Paris to see what kind of action was going on, and it turned out not much. Sat down at a new Pai Gow table next to a nice gentleman who had never played the game before. He was only at the table because the dealer was his blackjack dealer the night prior, and she was his good luck charm. Apparently she was a shark at Pai Gow, as she decimated the table in short order. Even landing quads with a pair back to really put a nail in our collective coffins. Left that table down about a hundo, and found myself a bubble craps machine with some of the other guys. Played pretty conservative, but hit a couple points plus a few of the inside numbers and had made back most of what I lost at Pai Gow. I pulled my money down slowly as it seemed the seven would be inevitable...but it never came. I hit my last point and cashed out, while the other guys had their screens loaded up and were raking even after I cashed out my ticket and chips. It ended up going 40+ rolls, and I cashed out after 18...what could have been. Bad beat #3.
Time to play some poker. Aria was calling me, so I headed down the strip. Proceeded to completely miss the correct entrance and walked probably an extra mile through the mall and casino floor before finally arriving at the poker room. Popped on the 1/2 PLO and 1/3 NLH lists, which were both short. My name gets called for NLH and I grab a seat at a table with three players with stacks <$50. Ugh. Everyone is miserable except for one kid wearing Ray-Bans in a wool pea coat with the collar popped. He's very chatty, but really just not vibing with anyone at the table. He announces he's "playing blind" on a few hands, and makes sure everyone knows it as he bets small on the flop and turn. It's not an action table, and this is not going over well. But he's about the only player with a real stack of around $300, so he's my new target. I win a couple smallish pots early on, and sitting at about $380 when I get dealt
in mid position. I raise to $10, my new buddy calls, and a short stack on the button shoves his $30 stack. We both call and see a flop of
rainbow. I bet $70 into the $90ish pot, and he raises to $210. I don't think too long before shoving and he basically snap calls. He doesn't flip them over right away, so I really am not sure where I'm at but feel pretty good. The turn comes
and I wince a bit, and the river
and I'm basically reaching into my pocket to rebuy. He eagerly asks me if I have
, and I say "two pair" and flip my hand...and he starts ranting "what a cooler!" and mucks. The short stack mucks as well, and I drag a beauty of a pot. And then I wonder...what the hell is the cooler there? He sounded like he wanted me to have
, but he would have still lost. I don't think he realized there was an Ace on the river, and must have had
? I don't know, and I don't care, cause his stack became my stack. A few new players rotate in and I learn that there is a finance convention going on at the Aria. I look around and there's so many polos and quarter zips over button down shirts that it all makes sense. The few that sat at my table were god awful at poker, but I could not make any hands against them. Also had a random guy that would 3b shove
whenever he got it. I don't think he played any other hands. But again, my cards were all but dead, so I eventually racked up and made it back to the Linq to meet up with the crew.
I get cleaned up for dinner at Virgil's BBQ, but first to the floor for some light degeneracy. I've still got that $150 ticket in my pocket, so I jumped on a video rapid roulette machine. Roulette has zero appeal to me, I really just don't get it. Lost $40 and switched over to bubble craps. This was a machine with my own personal bubble dice, which was really fun. Could play real fast, and had another exceptional run, and up $111 in no time. Right behind me was the Linq's modern version of the Sigma Derby. Decided to pop my ticket in there to bet on the ponies. Not really as fun as the old school machine that required quarters. but still fun to see the mechanical horses make their way around the track. Played 6 or 7 races and finished even, considered that a win.
Off to dinner at Virgil's. Walking down the promenade between Linq and Flamingo was awesome, I had no idea that area even existed. Lot's of restaurants, dessert spots, shopping, etc. There's a big zip line overhead and the walkway leads all the way down to the High Roller observation wheel. Great little area, would recommend a stroll down there. But we had one purpose - to get some BBQ. I've consumed an obscene amount of food on this trip already, but this was not the time to hold back. My buddy and I decided to split the "Pig Out!" platter, consisting of spare ribs, pulled pork, sliced brisket, and a half chicken. Paired with mac 'n' cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, and corn bread. Now, I am far from a BBQ connoisseur, but this BBQ was not it. The brisket and pulled pork were passable, but the chicken tasted far too blackened. Very carbon-y rather than BBQ-y. I couldn't describe the ribs as anything other than weird in both texture and taste. And the mac was even undercooked. Who knows, maybe my palette was wrecked from all the eating and drinking before, but I could not in good conscious recommend that place to anyone. Bad beat #4.
Being our last night, I didn't want to abandon the group for another poker session. But I did want to get the whole group at at Pai Gow table, and as we walked back to the Linq, there was an open table there just waiting for us. Finally got a wonderful dealer, and she brought both some much needed energy as well as some decent cards. We were all playing the bonus, but not the progressive, and she somehow decided I was the one to yell at for not playing it. I made a couple full houses, and she really let me know I was missing out! The progressive paid $20 for a FH, and after about 40 minutes I probably would have paid the equivalent in losses on the progressive, so I stood my ground. I played it once or twice to get her off my back, but never any luck. I was up a little bit, maybe $75, and peeled open my hand to reveal a beautiful hand containing
plus a pair. It's funny to pull open a great hand and have the first words out of your mouth be "oh god, she's gonna be real mad at me." When she opened my hand, I think she tried to slap me from across the table, but luckily she was not tall enough to reach. I still got my $125 or so on the regular bonus, but missed out on $375 with the progressive. I guess she was right, though it still would have taken a big chunk of those winnings to play the progressive all night. We tipped her out nicely and decided to pack it in once a new, boring dealer took her place. Color up!
After it was all said and done, I overcame the bad beats of the day to earn a nice profit. Given the bad beats were mostly food related, I guess they weren't really a threat to my bankroll anyway.
Overall with the gambling, I came out pretty much dead even. On the poker side, the results were pretty decent. Though I really felt like I was card dead the entire trip. Had aces in PLO once, never in hold 'em. Could barely scrape together playable suited connectors, but I guess that kept me out of trouble. Won a couple big hands and that was really all it took.
(shoutout
@edwardstarcraft for building the poker tools app, and incorporating an enhancement I suggested within like a day!)
Flight home was uneventful, and it was right back to real life.
Thanks for reading.
against the 
of the previously mentioned gentleman after getting all in on a 
in the SB, UTG had raised and there were a couple callers before it got to me. I decide on calling cause I am a nit. Flop comes 
. Original raiser bets $75, folds around to me, and I raise to $200, he jams and I call for about $200 more. I opt to run it twice, and see the bad news when he flips over 
xx. Drill a spade and clean river on the first board, and the second board no spade and we think it's a chop for a second until my opponent realizes I spiked the 
to hit my gutterball. SCOOP!
against three other players. Flop came 
. My straight is good for half of the main and half of the side pot. Shorter stack had 
