Poker Hates Me: Trip Report Part One
December 16, 2007
Although we arrived in Vegas late Wednesday afternoon, I decided to take it easy and just hang out at the condo that night. I was going to be in Vegas for a week so there would be plenty of time to play poker. I also had decided to heed Otis’s advice and play poker during the day, leaving night time to socialize with the bloggers. It was great advice and made perfect sense, unfortunately poker seemed to be pissed off at me and I didn’t post a win at any point during the week.
I headed to the MGM at 1pm on Thursday afternoon looking forward to check raising some douchebags in the 2-4 limit game. There was immediate seating and I sat down in the 8 seat with my rack of chips. I was ahead briefly but I couldn’t catch any cards and, had I played my junk like everyone else at the table, I would have lost even more. Nothing was hitting. It was a shame too because this British couple showed up and started some serious donking around. They were the only British people not in town for the Hatton fight and were supposed to be on a plane back to England. It turned out there was a 6 hour delay so they decided to take a taxi back to the MGM for a bit more poker. They weren’t trying to make a profit and probably went through 4 or 5 buy-ins. The wife was splitting her winnings with the dealers and they definitely made out better than she did. There were so many chips on the table and I couldn’t get any of them. Finally it was time to leave and meet up with the parents for dinner. When I left the table, I was down $47.
On Friday I got to the MGM to find that there was only an interest list for 2-4. However, they were seating a 3-6 table and I decided to give it a shot. I was up and down most of the day and we didn’t have a full table until almost 5pm. At one point we were playing 4-handed which I actually found to be kind of fun. I also discovered that I was sitting next to a local who knew all about the bloggers. He was actually preparing to meet some of them that evening and I offered to introduce him. Cactus Jack also gave me a few pointers on my play that I will hopefully remember in the future. By the end of the session I was up $50 but still down $3 for the trip. It was the best day I would have as far as poker play for the rest of my stay.
Saturday was the big tournament and I don’t really count the entry fee as part of my poker bankroll. It’s money saved for this specific purpose and if I happen to win some money, great and if I don’t, I don’t mind. I got down to the final 3 tables and was very short stacked. I finally found a hand when Rooster raised ahead of me. I knew it was my best chance and I knew he was going to call so I went all-in. My AK did not stand up against his monster 6 10 and I was out somewhere between 25 and 30. Of course Rooster took my chips and went on to win the whole damn thing so at least it wasn’t a total loss. If I’m going to lose I want it to be to the person who eventually wins.
Sunday, I played no poker. I was too tired and there was lots of football on (I don’t really like football but bloggers were there so I went to hang out).
On Monday I sat down at 3-6 again. It did not go well. I was never ahead of my buy-in and I just couldn’t get any cards to help me out. It really, really sucked! After I went broke I had some time to kill before meeting the parents for dinner so I went looking for a lucky penny slot machine. Within minutes I had run my $20 up to $130. Thanks for the tips Grubby!
Tuesday came about and I was determine to take my slot winnings and win big. I left the table with $15. These 3 guys from Boston sat down about halfway through the session and actually knew what they were doing. Apparently they play at Foxwoods all the time. There was a lot of pre-flop raising and they were able to take down a lot of pots. Again, I couldn’t get anything though I did have a couple of good plays and, after a few hours, I left with my head down and a tear in my eye (not really but it sounds more pitiful).
So, all in all the poker part of my Vegas trip sucked. I think it was a combination of bad cards and that fact that the MGM refurbished all their poker tables with this ugly brown felt. I think brown is an unlucky color for me, yeah it was the MGM’s fault.
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