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Nov 1-3, A Poker Mission

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Jer, Nov 6, 2003.

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  1. Jer

    Jer “The Walrus has spoken”

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    My Trip Report

    First of all, I want to say thank you to all the people who sent the nice messages to me after finding out about my accident. Its nice to know there are caring people everywhere these days!

    Okay, the first gamble in Vegas I made was not booking a room... I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do so I just hopped in the truck and went out there to find greatness. Drive there was pretty dull, hit rain a little out of San Bernadino and found out I needed new wipers!

    I actually stopped at Primm to use the bathroom and get a drink, so I had to try my luck at something... I saw the craps tables were $2. so I plopped down a $50 and tried my luck. We had three girls there who had never played before! I looked at the racks and they were pretty full, so I went with the $5 pass and full odds along with $32 on the inside with the point being nine. She hit the six, then the 5, then the 8, and then sevened out. Could have been worse I guess. I rolled, same point, $16 inside, hit the six, five, and then the 8 as well. After that the seven popped up after hitting some idiots hand after trying to make a late bet. I took what was left and went to the nearest double deck BJ table. Put down a $100 and turned it into $1200 in less than 30 minutes. I couldn't lose, I actually think I lost 3 times in that whole time. It was beautiful, ALL my double downs hit, I never busted, and a few 21's where here and there as well.

    I actually thought to turn back and head home after being up so big. But, I looked at it like I wouldn't have to pay for this vacation now. So, I got back on the road and was an extremely happy guy.

    I stopped first at the Bellagio to see what their poker room was all about. Beautiful... The only table they had open was a $15/30 hold 'em and I wasn't quite ready for that yet. So I thanked the man and headed to the Monte Carlo. When I got there, they had just opened up a table there and needed one more to fill it! I was in, now lets see what damage I could do. It was 1-4-8-8 and I finally figured out the betting after the first hand. I couldn't get anything to come in with. When it was my blind, I picked up a whopping 2,3 offsuit. Since nobody raised, I went in. The flop was 3,3,2!. I had flopped a low boat, so I bet and 7 people came in with me! I was shocked seeing what kind of junk came up. The turn was an ace, and then 5 people were still in so I raised, and the was re-raised by this guy on the other end. I re-raised him again and he stared at me and just called. The river was a three, so I now had 4 3's. 3 were still in, and the bet and raised, so I re-raised. This hand was wild. I started to think what the others were thinking. If I were them and saw the guy raise on the turn and then re-raised his raise, I must have had the goods... So, the other guy raised again, so I re-raised again. They just stared at me and one of them says "You got the three, huh?" I said "Sure!!! I have a couple in my hand!" The table shared a small laugh on that one... Well, they just called so I turned over my 3, the other guy flipped pocket aces, and the other guy flipped pocket two's. So, with that I won my first hand and filled two more racks as well! After that I couldn’t hit anything again. I must have gone 9 straight without being able to come in at all. My blind came back up and I picked up pocket kings. To make a long and painful story short, I lost to pocket aces. On the river too, DAMN!!!!! So, I went another 4 hours or so and started to get hungry so I asked the pit what they could do for me as far as food. The guy was a real class act. He said since I have only been there a few hours there wasn’t much he could do but if I was staying there he could comp me whatever I needed if I promised to come back and play. I explained him my situation and he told me to hold on while he checked something. He called “Louise†and turned his back and mumbled a few things and asked for my license. After reading it off to her, he told her thank you and hung up. “$59 a night sound right to you?†I jumped back and said thank you and went to check in. On the way there I passed by the sportsbook. I was gonna bet on USC and Virginia Tech, but didn’t know how much. I sat down and looked at the odds and they were still close to the original lines so I did it… “$1000 two teamer on USC and VaTech, Please???†The guy looked at me and said it was a sure winner and he had the exact same bet! Well, lets hope so, that was mostly all my winnings from Primm.

    I went to check in and had a nice lady who was form San Diego as well and we started talking about the fires and how we were both VERY affected by them. I thought this was a good time to ask for an upgrade, but she started tearing up. She did say that I was in a room that was FAR from the elevator and if I didn’t like the walk that I could come back and change rooms. I thanked her and was off to my room! She wasn’t kidding. 4th floor, ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THE HALL!!!! I didn’t mind it, I put my stuff in there and jumped on the bed to relax a few minutes. Just then my cell phone rang, it was my wife asking me how I was and what was going on. I gave her the details and she was happy that I was somewhere after not reserving anything!

    After the call, I went back down and ate at the buffet. Nothing special, but it was free and the shrimp was VERY good. After that I headed back to the poker room and thanked John for his hospitality and he told me to come to him anytime during my stay to make anything better for me. This time I sat down with a bunch of kids from University of Miami… Ouch, I was watching the game with them and hoping the other team would win! After a few hands, I spoke up… They all laughed and told me my bet was a loser and I should stick to poker. We all laughed and played for what turned out to be 11 hours straight. Caught a nice rush and filled a few racks, mainly because these guys were getting drunker and the game was on so they were trying to keep up with that as well…

    VaTech went up big, I knew it… USC ended up winning big, and the Miami guys stood up and bowed to me! The great part?? I turned that $1000 into $3600. I said, “Free Drinks for everyone in the casino!!!†Cheesy, I know, but it was funny… After finding out it was 4 in the morning, I was drunk as hell and needed to crash. I had turned $100 into $300 and played for 11 hours, so that was a major victory I thought!

    That walk was horrible at 4 in the morning and wobbly at that. I got in there and just fell on the bed. At 4:30, I woke up after hearing this annoying noise. It was a running water sound and a dull humming. I sat there for almost 30 minutes and it didn’t go away. A quick call down to the front desk and they said a manager would be calling me back ASAP. I fell back asleep and woke up to the phone ringing. It was a manager and he asked me what the problem was and I lifted the phone from my ear and told him to listen. He told me that the hotel was booked solid and there was nothing he could do until later that day. I said whatever and told him to call back whenever he could do something. I fell back asleep thinking this noise had to be bad if he could hear it through the phone. 9:30 rolled around and I got up and showered. The sound was gone, but the outside noise was still pretty bad. No phone call from the manager, so I just headed to the food court to grab a bagel and a coffee for my morning fuel. Today was the day I would play the $15/30 at the Bellagio. I got there and there were 7 people at a table playing. I looked around and knew I had seen at least two of them on TV. Ouch, do I run? Nah…. I learn a lesson with the Monte Carlo’s money. I buy in for $500 and just start to think how I am going to play. I come to the conclusion that chips are chips and I would play the same way I have at the lower limit tables. But the same thing happened… I couldn’t get a thing to come in on. No lie, after an hour I picked up pocket aces on the blind. A raise was called by the second guy and they all looked up and stared when I said “Re-Raise!†4 got out and it was down to four. The flop was a an A,K,3 of hearts. Great, someone has the flush. My trips were dead already? I was raised, so he had made his flush. The other guy just called, next guy folded. It was the three of us and the turn was 9 of spades. Bet, bet, Raise… We both called and waited for the river… 9 of hearts! I had a boat, and had beaten this guys flush. Bet, bet, raise…. I re-raised and both of them re-raised so I re-raised and went all in. Flush guy just stared at me… He called and I called…. The other guy flipped over his pocket kings and said “Kings full fellas…†Flush guy did have a flush with the Q,J of hearts. They looked at me… My heart was pounding as I flipped them over “Aces full fellas….†I had won a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY!!!!! All of the pros looked at me and said, “New to the game?†I told them I was new enough and they all smiled. So, with that pot I went up to $1700 I think. I wanted to leave the table with that much, but I thought it would be rude to leave after a big win like that. I stayed in and played a few here and there and nothing really amounted to anything… I ended up playing for 3 hours and leaving the table with $1400 after I bought in for $500! I was rolling. I asked the boss for a comp to Noodles(I love that place!!!) That was no problem, so off I went to enjoy some shrimp and chicken noodles! After that I went back to the MC to relax and see if another 1-4-8-8 table was open. It was full, so I went and played a Video poker machine. All I had at the time were hundreds so I put one in and played. I saw that only 20 credits came up and I thought that was funny because it was only a dollar machine. Nope, it was a $5 machine. I laughed, since the first deal was a loss. I almost cashed out, but I was up and wanted to see if something would happen. The next draw, A,K,Q,J of hearts and a 9 of diamonds. WOW!!! I was 4 cards to a royal on a $5 machine. My heart was pumping!!! If that 10 of hearts hits, that’s like $20,000!!!! I keep the four and calm myself to hit the draw button… Ace shows up and there was my let down. Oh well, at least I didn’t lose! I played one more time and hit two pair and got trip 4’s and ended up $25 ahead. I stopped and headed back to the poker room where my seat had just opened up. It was a bunch of locals and two of us from California. They all knew each other and welcomed us kindly which was nice.

    I couldn’t pick up anything, came in with pocket 10’s twice and lost on the river twice. I got a suited A,K and nothing happened. I finally one with my pocket three’s, but the pot was very small. But then something cool happened… I flipped up my cards, 8,9 of diamonds so I limped in with them. A only three of us stayed in, and the flop came 7 of clubs, and 10, J of diamonds. I had flopped the straight, 4 cards to a flush, and 4 to a straight flush. I thought I was in the driver’s seat, so I raised. Another folded, so it was heads up. The turn was an Ace of diamonds, so now I had the flush. I checked just to see where this guy was, and he bet me. I thought about check raising his ass, but I didn’t. The river was…. 7 of diamonds. I had made the STRAIGHT FLUSH. I bet it and he raised me… I re-raised him and he sat there and stared. “Re-Raise,†he said. So I re-raised him. He called and said, “Queen high flush is no good my friend….†I flipped them over and said, “How ‘bout the straight flush to the jack?†The table went, “WHOAAAAAAAA…..†The guy blinked twice, the dealer called it out and called over the pitboss to verify and started counting his cards. The only time I ever see the dealer counting his cards is if a jackpot has been made! John said, “Good job Jer, that’s $500 to you for that hand…†Sweet!!!! A few minutes later they brought me my victorious rack of reds and I tipped the dealer $75. He was happy, I was happy, and table was happy(except the guy I beat…) Well, after playing for almost another two hours, I was hungry. I headed back to the Bellagio for the Buffet and it was excellent. Played Keno a few times and donated my $10 bucks. I told the runner maybe she should have just kept the money instead on getting me my tickets!

    After eating, I wanted to play Baccarrat. I found the big table and put down $1000. I was watching the card and seeing what had happened before I got there and the bank was cleaning up. I put down my 1st black on the bank, and it came up. I doubled it and kept it on the bank, that was a good bet as well.. I’m up like $285 already and should have left. I ended up losing the next 8 times, that grand was gone! I put my tail between my legs and ran away from that table. I checked out the poker room, it was jammed packed. I saw a person I played with earlier and he asked me how I was doing. I told him about the straight flush at the MC, and he congratulated me. Well, after a few minutes of small talk, I was on my way back to the MC. I played poker for another 5 hours and lost about $200 this time. I figured my run at greatness may have been over so I went back up to my noisy room. It was quiet for some reason, and I looked at the phone to see if there were any messages. None… I thought a manager was calling me back? Guess not. Oh well, I was too tired to pursue it so I just turned on the tv and put my head down to relax. Next thing I know, its 4:30 in the morning and that annoying sound starts up again. Wow… It was HORRIBLE! I wasn’t drunk this time, so the noise was much more intense. I called down and wanted to talk to a manager about it. The same one got on and asked me what the problem was. I said, “Are you kidding??? I talked to you yesterday about this problem and nothing has been done…†After him reeling and giving me a few excuses why it has taken a day to get back to me, he asked me if I wanted to change rooms. I told him yes, simply for the fact of making him work. After a few minutes, he called back and told me I was in room 10-236. Well, I was in 4-236 now, and that means it’s the far room from the elevator and politely declined and asked for another room. He started getting a little snippy now and asked me what I wanted to do. I told him to get me a room that wasn’t so darn far away from the elevator, that didn’t hum, that didn’t have a whole lot of outside noise, and didn’t have that water running sound. “Oh, you want everything perfect then?,†was his response. I lost it. “YES that’s what I want and think after paying money really deserve it…†After him telling me that I didn’t need to be rude, I simply backed up and told him to get me another room and I wanted to speak with someone higher than him. He did not like that at all. He said thank you, told me that someone would be up to my room with keys, and his supervisor would be contacting after 8 when they came in. I hung up and waited for my keys. 6 minutes later, a lady was up there with my keys and after she handed them to me she stood there waiting for a tip I guess. I had no small bills (10 was the lowest) and I told her sorry. She got this disgusted look on her face and stormed off. I peeked my head out of the door and told her to get the tip from the desk manager… After changing rooms and getting settled in, I wasn’t tired anymore. It was 5:30 am Monday, so I showered went down to see what was up in the casino. It was dead. I played some craps, lost $100 quickly. I played some BJ, lost another $100 quickly. I asked the pitboss where I could go if I had lost something. “Lost and found of course, what have you lost?†I told him my luck and we all had a nice early Vegas morning laugh. I chased the $100 with another hundred and got back to even so I just stopped. I saw a full mini bac table so I just stopped and watched for awhile. There was this one guy who couldn’t lose. $500 a bet, and he called 4 ties as well. He must have had $40,000 in chips in front of him at a $10 table. He stared and stared at his paper. “TIE BET IS GOOD!!!!†he yelled. So everyone bet the tie, and it hit. Cheering at 6:30 is a good thing! Especially since the guy put out $1500 on the tie. $13,500 came his way. He tipped the dealer $1000 colored up! Some guy started singing the Rocky theme song while moneyman left the table. Too funny.

    Well, after this I went downtown for awhile and bumped around. Nothing interesting, no wins, but no losses either. It was 10 am and I started to feel a little tired. I went back to the MC, saw the same girl who checked me in and asked her if anything had been noted on my account. She looked into it and said a super was to be calling me and asked what was wrong. I told her and then she said the the super was extremely nice and to see what she could do for me as far as comping my room. I thanked her and went back up to see that annoying flashing light on the phone. I called the extension that was left by the super and we talked for almost 20 minutes about my experience. She put me on hold and told me that all charges would be comped at check out and to hit a restaurant before I left to take full advantage. I was just tired so I told her that I wanted another night if possible so I could take a nap and be able to leave later that night or whenever. “No problem…†And that was that.

    I slept for a few hours, went back down to the poker room and played for a little while. Again, I couldn’t catch anything so after two hours, I started to miss my boys at home. I gathered my stuff and hit the road.


    All in all, I had a great time. Met some cool people playing poker, made a good connection with the boss at the MC poker room, and bottom line I made some cash… Next trip is March Madness, and if all goes well, I will be staying at the MC for free!
     
  2. rugbysteve

    rugbysteve Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Dammm Jer.... Great read.. I love it !!!! Driving there alone with no room reserved.. man that is the best.... That would be my style as well... but man... if my wife was along... that would never fly. And the luck... WOW !!! the straight flush.. ohh yeah.. you had to be stoked. What a great trip.. thnaks for sharing all the details. I guess my only question.... after a trip like that you sure your gonna be able to wait until march?..... give me $20 that you end up there before then. Great Trip report, Thanks for sharing.. Peace, Rugysteve
     
  3. doctor_al

    doctor_al VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    I love poker stories, and you got some great ones out of this trip, Jer. Walking up to the 15/30 table? hanging in to the river with trips against a flush? You've got brass ones.

    My favorite quote was from the Primm craps story:
     
  4. sunni

    sunni VIP Whale

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    Jer,
    You are the man ! Great report !

    sunni
    T-17
     
  5. Coaster Kikky

    Coaster Kikky Tourist

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    I love your stories Jer, but you are going to be putting some serious ideas in my husband's head about poker! [​IMG]

    Kitty
     
  6. pezarino

    pezarino Guest

    Jer - I don't really know that much about poker but I loved reading your trip report. I'm glad you won some $$$. "started to miss your boys".....what about your wife!! You better be nice or you won't be allowed to go again!!
     
  7. Smarra17

    Smarra17 Poker Queen

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    Jer, I needed that story before I get on my plane tomorrow night and head to Vegas. This trip is the time I try Hold 'em at a casino and hopefully my luck will be as good as yours. Great trip and glad to see that you are feeling better! [​IMG]
     
  8. milehiman

    milehiman VIP Whale

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    great story.

    My mind must also be in the gutter because when I read the Primm part of the story I was thinking along the same lines as Doctor_Al.
     
  9. HurricaneMikey

    HurricaneMikey A-List Buffoon

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    Jer! You're my BOY!! Man, that's a great trip [​IMG]

    I thought I was the only one that caught the "checking out the full racks" in Primm part.

    It looks like we'll be at the Monte Carlo also in March, but you won't be pulling none of that poker-ninja shit on me [​IMG]

    Good Stuff, man--made my whole day just reading it.

    Mikey
     
  10. db28455

    db28455 Guest

    Now why can't *I* have a trip like that?!
     
  11. greg775

    greg775 Tourist

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    YOu ought to write a novel.
    That was good stuff.
    Congrats.
     
  12. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Great report. That must be the best poker story I've read in a long while. Thanks for writing.
     
  13. cruiser

    cruiser High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Jer,
    Excellent trip report! It was a great read. I've been out of town on business for 11 days now and still have another 11 to go. When I do get back to my hotel room, I can't get any channel that shows world tour poker so I'm badly in need of a Vegas fix. I only play blackjack but love watching poker on TV. And reading your trip report was exactly what I needed right now. Thanks!

    T-35 [​IMG]
     
  14. KathyinNY

    KathyinNY Tourist

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    Excellent report. I like those that I feel I was right there watching you play.

    Doesn't the wife like Vegas? I would have been envious, lol.
     
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