Going to Vegas was a tremendous experience on a lot of different levels. I got to meet friends from CardsChat.com, a forum community I have been a regular at since January of 2007. Meeting people from the site after being in touch with them for over a year and a half was a surreal experience to say the least. Let’s try to recap the trip in chunks according to activity, otherwise I’ll probably miss commenting on one of the many experiences of the trip.
You Don’t Need a Car in Vegas
My research in transportation was time well spent. Instead of renting a cheap car for $25/day plus gas expenses, I took a shuttle for $6.50 from the airport directly to my hotel. From there, because of the proximity of the Imperial Palace hotel to many destinations on the strip, I walked. For those places that I could not walk, specifically the MGM, I took the new monorail which was $5 a ride which was a time saver as well as relief from the hot sun. I got over to Rio for free via the free shuttle from Harrahs which was next door, so for the most part, I was able to get around to everyplace I wanted to go by walking or via the $5 monorail rides.
Meeting CardsChat People
I got to meet a lot of CC people and I know I will forget a few. I’ll mention those that I have mentioned in the blog before – ChuckTs and Zachvac. Both of these guys have played 200nl and dabbled at 400nl and have games that consistent and intelligent. I’ve learned a lot from these two and thought of them as friends before the trip and definitely think of them that way afterward. We hung out a lot as a result of previous relationships built before the trip plus we all stayed at the same hotel which made logistics a factor.
ChuckTs is a tremendous guy off of the internet, very easy going and fun to hang out with. Zach is a great guy and always seemed to have a funny witty comment or two to add to the conversation. Hanging out with Debi (Datoka-xx) was a lot of fun, she’s such a funny lady and a great poker player and I’ll remember the dinner she and I had with ChuckTs very fondly.
I got to meet guys I didn’t know very well in Joe, Fredrick and Curtis and had extended conversations with all three. Joe is a gentleman and the guy everyone would love to talk to at a party. A nice guy I was very pleased to get to know. Fredrick writes a blog I often visit and I wasn’t sure if he and I would hit it off for whatever reason, but we actually hit it off from the beginning famously. Fredrick is definitely a guy I’d keep as a friend if it weren’t for the geographical distance from Los Angeles to wherever he calls home in Sweden. His wife Lori is very nice and his son Benjamin made me a teeny bit jealous for fatherhood. Curtis (Jamile) was a guy I barely knew from the forums but was someone I really was impressed with in person. He’s from Hawaii and for those of you that don’t know, native Hawaiian people are about the nicest, most generous and downright cool people you’ll ever meet in life. He and I started calling each other brother which I almost NEVER do with someone who is not related to me or in my fraternity. I guess I’ll always be a wanna-be native Hawaiian person 
Anyways, Curtis is a tremendous individual and I look forward to seeing him again.
Other people I really enjoyed meeting include Tammy, Amador_Ed, Beth and of course the biggest character of them all, Jason (AlienGenius). Jason was hilarious and his off-internet personality was a bit different from the forums. He’s a wacky guy that exudes personality, especially when he’s been drinking. Think crazy casino happy-drunk guy with blue hair. I had a lot of fun hanging out with him and crusing the strip in his rented 1952 Jaguar.
Accommodations
Staying at Imperial Palace definitely saved me some money. I spent a grand total of $89 out the door for staying for 4 nights which is an incredible deal. The negative was that my “upgraded” mini-suite was a disaster, from the stains on the ground to the lack of an internet connection (which I had paid for). I got to see Debi’s room at MGM which she slipped a tip for and it was gorgeous, and on top of that because she had played so much poker there, they comp’d her two nights. So in the end, maybe you should pay a little more to make sure you sleep a bit better.
Tournaments
I am almost famously a hater of tournaments and Sit n Gos. I can’t get over that one bad hand ends your session completely and throws away hours of work in a fireball of disgust and despair. Despite this, I ended up playing in 2 one table Sit n Go tournaments and one multi table tournament. The two Sit n Gos were played at the MGM 11-handed with the entire CardsChat group. The structure was re-donk-ulous with a 1,000 starting chip stack, 25-50 starting blinds, and 12-minute intervals. Somehow, I managed to take down the first one for first place, and then get heads-up for the second one. After trading the chip lead just on blinds on three consecutive hands I asked Joe if he just wanted to chop 1st and he agreed. Back-to-back!
I got support for organizing a “CardsChat Invasion” tournament, so what I did is research which one had a low buyin but good structure and ended up with the one at Sahara. It had a $65 buyin and that got you $6,000 in chips, 25-50 starting blinds, and 20 minute levels. I think seven of us entered the tournament which started with 80-some players, with both myself and Tammy making the final table. I tried to get everyone to agree to a final-table chop but that wouldn’t happen but we did agree to pay 9th and 8th a $65 bubble prize paid by the 1st and 2nd place finishers. That meant I was ITM as a shortstack and happy as can be! I actually lasted until 7th, where I again asked for a table chop (would have been +$300) but one guy said no (resident luckbox of course) and I busted shortly thereafter, but doubled by buy-in and left happy after 4 hours of entertainment.
Cash Games
The cash games going in Vegas were a bit tougher than usual, especially at rooms like Venetian which looked like where all the 2p2′ers ended up to “rake in the juicy cash games during the WSOP” as a couple of early 20-somethings told me at my hotel. The juicy side cash games during the WSOP is now a complete myth thanks to the improved player pools and lack of whales thanks to the economy. However, I sat at many a bad table during my stay and really like the MGM and wished I had played there more. Both Taylor and I ran terrible in Vegas as I saw him have AA cracked twice while railing. I’ll briefly go over my three “table groaners” which weren’t fun …
Slowrolled at Venetian
Dealt KK in UTG+1 at the 1/2 NL table. Raised to $15. Two callers both behind me, both look like LAG type players. Flop is 6TQ rainbow and I cbet to $40. One fold, and the next guy shoves all in for my last $180ish. I call, not too happy about the situation once a Q and a 9 roll off on turn and river. I say “I think you won with that turn” and show my KK. He looks at it somewhat surprised and says, “No you’re good” and then waits a second and then says “Ohhhh wait. I hit my gutshot” and shows 78. So he made a move on my cbet (fair enough) and was drawing to runner runner or a gutshot and hit. The slowroll was just bullshit and something we saw a little bit of in Vegas … I guess respect isn’t on the menu during the WSOP. Jason was there to watch that hand and was probably more upset than I was but it was late and after that called it a night.
Disaster at the Mirage
I had to learn a tough lesson when playing really old people – they NEVER FOLD. Ever. I had AK in MP and bumped it to $15 and got called by the SB and the LAG player in the BB. Flop came 2JJ two spades and I cbet just about pot. The old geezer in the SB tanks and calls, and the BB insta-folds. The turn brought a Q and filled the flush and the SB checks again and I bet a good amount. SB tanks again, calls. River brought a 3 and the SB checks and so I figure there’s no way he’s folding even to a shove so I check. He shows pocket 8s and I fold and he announced he figured I was gonna bluff him as a young aggressive guy. Guess he called it.
A few hands later I pick up QQ in MP and again make it $15 to go. Folds around to the BB (same old geezer) who calls. I figure he’s never folding to me EVER. Flop came a wonderful AK4 and he checks. I check. Turn is a 9, he checks, I check … I know the geezer has an A. River he bets $15 and I turn over QQ and say “fold” and the table kinda gasps (as if it were a tough fold) and the geezer turns over AK. lol.
Finally at the same table I pick up QJ suited in LP and I make a raise to $12 and I get called by a belligerent immigrant on the button (he complained the entire time) as well as three others. Flop couldn’t have been better – 9TK rainbow. Checked to me and I cbet it, and the immigrant guy pushes it in and everyone folds to me so I get in my last $120 or so. I show my flopped straight, he doesn’t bat an eye, turn is a K and he turns over 99 for the boat. Table groans, I leave.
The Coup de Grace
It’s the last night and we made our way over to Mandalay Bay which I had never seen before. It’s a nice little shuttle ride over from Excalibur and I was impressed with the high ceilings and nice layout of the casino. The poker room is small but known for recreational fish throwing their money away. I sit at a super fishy table where one guy is donk betting bottom pair every time and an Asian girl is going crazy with her flush draws (she said “I just want to give bad beat tee hee hee!”). I sit back and basically either steal the blinds or fold for about an hour. In MP I got 55 against an UTG raise to $8 so I flat and so does the button and BB. Four to the flop and its AT5 and I’ve picked up bottom set. The BB donks out for $35 and I tank and shove for the Hollywood effect. Everyone folds and the BB calls and the turn river come 2 and 3. I turn over my set, the table says “wow!” and the villain turns over TT for the bigger flopped set. Table groans, I mutter “all trip long…” and leave.
Keeping a Level Head
Having met Fredrick Paulsson, a man who famously never tilts, I got to see a little bit of what it takes to really be successful as a full time online poker player. He mentioned that if you have time to convert the hand, post the hand and complain about the hand, then that is just way too much time to be focusing on the bad beat. I also got to see how well he handed the Day 1D registration disaster and how he kept a very level head and how impressed I was with that. So I kept that in mind the whole time while playing poker to not let coolers or beats get in the way of a great trip. I was real happy that I kept a positive attitude and never let the beats get to me. When someone asked me about them in Vegas I just said “I don’t remember them” even though the last night I actually had a dream reliving the last set-under-set hand that woke me up lol. Anyways, it was a real good lesson into anti-tilt behavior and despite those experiences I had a lot of fun playing live cash game poker.
Final Thoughts
I had a lot of fun on this trip and will be going again next year assuming that it happens. I would really like to see everyone again, as well as meet some new faces. All the way around I had a great time and look back at it as a very positive experience. The CC party at the MGM Lofts was amazing, I took a video which I will post later about how sick this crib was, it was just unreal. As far as poker goes, I feel fine about my game and was happy I was leaving +$8 overall during my trip
