Trip Report 9/21 - 9/26
About OP
Top Posts
mrbaseball
7
9mo agoMade it home safe and sound. Thanks all for following along. I enjoy doing these things and its nice to know you guys read them 😀 I had a great time but it was little bittersweet. But that is the nature of tournament poker. There is always a woulda, coulda, shoulda aspect to it. But cashing in a tournament however small is pretty good since it's hard to get to the money for a variety of reasons. While min cashes feel a bit hollow they feel a whole lot better than bubbling out!
Wynncore
Staying at the Encore was prettyt nice. Beautiful resort and rooms. The reasons I stayed there is because I had always wanted to give it a try but always seemed to be at an outrageous price point but this time was very resonablly priced and for at least this particuliar week lower than my goto at the Venetian/Palazzo. I like that end of the strip because Wynn and Venetian are my goto tournaments. If I were more of a cash game guy I might tend to stay more on the Belleagi/Aria/Horseshoe section of the strip. The room was awesome but almost too high tech for my tastes. All the room controls run off of an ipad. The only choices you have for lighting are all on, low, or all off. So I would turn all off then go physically turn on the light or two that I wanted. As previously mentioned the Fitness Center was best I have seen. Shoulda checked it out before tha last day 😀 The pool was great too. Seemed bit smallish but it was never crowded and I love that they have the padded/cushions chairs. Will I stay there again? Unlikely as I do prefer Venetian/Palazzo and Treasure Island is a great budget option if staying at that end of the strip. I "almost" stayed at Resorts World this trip and still may give that a try in the furure.
Food
You saw it. it was good. You also saw it all if you have ever read one of my previous trip reports as I tend to eat the same damn thing every trip. I am a creature of habit and I know what I like 😀
Tournaments
Played 3 and cashed in two which is hard to complain about but it felt like it shoulda been better.
Venetian 2 Day $400 entry - This was the main event for me this trip and I thought I played some of my best poker on day one. The deck never really hit me but I was able to focus and apply a lot of patience and discipline. I have only played in a handfull of multiday tounies in the past and never saw a day 2. So it was really exciting to get to bag up some chips and come back to play for the big money. As we kmnow that didn't work out. On that first hand looking down at AA after the only shorter stack raised I thought my rungood was finally gonna show up but we know it didn't. Equally demoralizing was after doubling my meager 31K to 70K getting another double up chance with A9 against K8 andhaving him hit the 8. If my A9 holds there I am right back to where I started rather than out in only 8 hands.
Wynn $200 Daily - This was a tumultuous tournament with a lot of swings and huge variance. I was stuck hard more than a few times but always seemed to claw my way back to average. My big hand in this tourney was against a guy on tilt. He had just lost a hand he played really bad allowing his opponent to catch up. He was steaming and made a rage tilt all-in on the next hand. Being on the button with AK was fortunate on my part. AK was good against his 2 random cards and I finally had a stack. But this one was all scratching and clawing I could never really get anything going. I limped into the bubble with virtually no chance other than having position on the only shorter stack who got blinded off into a desperation shove before I had too. I messed up my reporting during this tournament for some reason? I had been doing updates every break but they didn't show up because I would preview my post before submitting and then forgetting to submit. This tournnament only ha 88 runners but thenext 2 nights it was over 110 each day. Wynn daily is an awesome tournament.
Venetian $400 (40K stack) One Day - After my abrubt departure from the 2 day event I walked around for a bit trying to decide just what I should do next. Cash, this tournament or another Wynn daily? I decided to jump into this as my "last chance" tournament sice I knew I would play another tourney on Thursday my last day. Had dinner reservations for that absolutely awesome steak dinner. I got in late in level 3 and that fine with 40K starting stacks. I proceded to fold every hand until the break because I never saw an opportunity to put in any money. But even though I was showing some patience and discipline I was still sort of tilting for the 2 day bad beats. I started chipping up after the break and felt good. But for whatever reason (seething tilt!) I decided to go totally off the rails on the much discussed AQ hand. I am really pissed at myself for losing focus there and hopefully I will lodge that one in my brain so I don't make that mistake again. That is aleak I thought I had plugged but being my "last chance" tournament I tried to make something happen which is always a mistake.
So I wind up winning about $190iish in 3 entries. It always good to walk away plus money in tournaments it felt like it could abeen so much better.
Cash (and gambling)
Other than the last day I played very little cash. The 3 Venetian sessions were winners and the shortened Wynn sesssion was a loser for a little over $200 profit. I didn't really gamble much at all. A couple of bubble craps sessions where I won $150ish anf I probably dumped $60 in stupid slot machines. I typically do and had planned to play a stadium baccarat session but never got around to it. Going deeper into tournaments keeps you away from doing stupid stuff in casinos 😀
So again thanks for following along. I can't wait to do it all again! I will likely go back in the Jan/Feb timeframe as I always like break up the Chicago winter with an LV trip. I always have a good time there despite having the same basic routine every trip....
mrbaseball
6
9mo agoThe bubble finally burst at about 11:00 and I made it! I don't think I've ever been so card dead in the tournament and still made the money. I do think I played some of my best poker though. I made some moves and pick some spots and that's the only way I survived. But the beginning and end of the tournament was just totally nothing.
So I bag a meager 140k. There were at least a couple of people that have less than that.
It's not ideal but I am in the money with probably 20 ish or so big blinds. The tournament restarts 11:00 a.m. wednesday. This is the first time I've ever bagged chips and made it to the second day in a tournament. So that's a personal accomplishment that I've always wanted to do.
I am pretty exhausted but I'm not very sleepy. I'm also hungry but I don't really want to get anything to eat. I've got a bag of Chex mix up in the room which I just popped open and then wash that down with a couple of beers. Then hopefully I get a good night's sleep tonight and probably play the Wynn daily. I just need to relax for a little bit before I go to bed....
mrbaseball
4
9mo agoWell this trip is pretty much over. I got another hour or so of cash in before dinner. It went pretty well in for $300 out for 453 So another $153 profit.
Had my typical final day steak dinner at delmonico. As always it was outstanding. But I would like to add tonight's meal was maybe the best I've ever had there it was just spectacular. But I have noticed a slight decrease in the quality of service. Pre-covid it was absolutely impeccable. Now it's still very good but it isn't quite that oh wow I can't believe how good this service is.
Had the bone-in ribeye steak fries and I washed it down with three Abita Ambers.
Now I'm just going to pack relax a little bit and hopefully get a good night's sleep I have to leave here by about by about 5:00 a.m. as I have a 7:00 a.m. flight.
Thanks again for following along it is appreciated. I'll give him more detailed recap of the trip when I get home tomorrow afternoon....
