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Poker Tournament Centric Trip

Discussion in 'The Poker Room' started by Wanger1969, Sep 11, 2012.

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  1. Wanger1969

    Wanger1969 Iowa Nice

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    Has anyone ever tried a trip centered around playing just poker tournaments throughout the 4 or 5 days? We are planning a mid-week trip and are going to attempt to do this. (along with eating and sleeping and some occasional craps in the middle)

    Considering this, and also considering that we aren't made of money, where would be a good place to stay as a central locale? We usually don't want to play in a tourney thats going to cost us more than a hundy-ish buy in. We want serious but friendly play. (half the fun of poker is the social aspect) Room cost doesn't really matter, just a clean place with some decent food options around it.

    The trip is planned for April-ish 2013, so lots of time to plan.

    Any thoughts or guidance is appreciated. I've only played in a few poker rooms in Vegas. (Stratosphere , IP, Bally's, and *sniff sniff* O'Sheas)

    Thanks!
    Kay
     
  2. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    I did this a couple times back in the day when I was a poker player and not a degenerate gambler.

    The basic problem you tend to run into is that the tournaments with the best structures cost more. The cheaper tourneys that you will see in just about every casino don't allow for enough play before the blinds are sky-high -- think of it like playing a turbo. Except with more luck required.

    You're going to want to play the nightly Caesars tourney, which has a good structure, but it runs $110 on weeknights and $200 something on weekends. To me, for tourneys, this has to be your go-to option.

    There may be some decent structures downtown at the Nugget, but I can't say as I've not played that part of town.

    If you don't care about the structure and just want to know times and buy-ins, go here: http://www.allvegaspoker.com/tournaments.php

    Staying cheap and centrally on the strip is an easier consideration...depends how cheap you want to go. Check Bill's, Imperial Palace, and Bally's for low priced, centrally located places. You can probably find people here who know a lot about all those places, and maybe even some room deals through some of the links on this site.
     
  3. johnvic

    johnvic VIP Whale

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    I never did a poker tournament trip because I don't play tournaments or no limit. But I have done poker trips and got the poker rate. This was at The Wynn when they had limit hold 'em running. I got a great rate, for Wynn, and they still gave comps that got me a lunch every day. I miss limit at the Wynn because I love that room.
     
  4. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    The above sentence is awesome, pun intended or not.

    It seems to me the issue with doing this, is that you need to plan for 3-4 hours of availability to enter a tournament, but could be out in 10 minutes. So especially if the budget is too tight to sit cash games in between, you'll want a plan in case of early exit, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time waiting on the next tourney, or playing timidly just to try to eat up time.

    As for where to stay, what do you mean by central locale? You want to be mid-strip? Or you just want good tournaments near where you stay?
     
  5. Marky147

    Marky147 VIP Whale

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    I do 2/3 weeks every summer during June/July for the WSOP, I haven't always succeeded in putting in as much volume as I intended though due to other activities taking precedence :drunk:

    Obviously I never have to worry about finding tournaments to play during the WSOP as most of the resorts have festivals on and I'm spoilt for choice.

    This year I stayed at the Nugget and just played their festival along with the $1k at Binions. Worked out ideal for me, but other years I've stayed at the Palazzo and played a bit there during their festival.

    For your level of buyin, I'd suggest maybe looking to play at Aria, Bellagio, or Caesars.

    You might even be able to swing Poker rate at Aria which is 99/139 and a $25? resort fee.

    Aria has a daily $125 at 1pm and 7pm which has $10k chips and a 30 minute clock.

    Bellagio has a daily $120 at 2pm with 10k chips and a 25minute clock

    Caesars has several comps through the day

    9am $65 3k chips and a 15min clock

    12pm $100 10k chips and a 20 min clock

    2pm $225 15k chips and a 30 min clock

    3pm $65 3k chips and a 15min clock

    7pm $100 10k chips and a 20 min clock

    10pm $80 7.5k chips and a 20 min clock


    If you wanted somewhere a bit cheaper to stay, you have Ballys just across the road and within walking distance to all 3 :)

    Good luck and enjoy, I have 9 months before I'm back out there :grrr:
     
  6. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    I've done three of them, and check my counter below to see when number four is.

    And since I am never bashful about rehashing my trip reports....

    November 2009
    September 2010
    October 2011

    We always stay downtown (fits our vibe and our group of guys really don't need a lot of accommodations). We always rent a car, and this year I've got four days in a full size at Alamo for $89 all-in.

    Read the TRs for how we kill time in between games. Hint... we try not to bleed our bankroll in the casino while we wait.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  7. Wanger1969

    Wanger1969 Iowa Nice

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    Fantastic suggestions, thank you everyone! This has given me some good info to build on. Again, plenty of time to plan!

    Thanks again!
    Kay
     
  8. Bazzito52

    Bazzito52 Low-Roller

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    Check out this site for a very comprehensive list of Las Vegas poker tournaments:

    http://www.allvegaspoker.com/tournaments.php

    My son and I really like that noon tournament at Wynn. The structure is very favorable and the room is very comfortable. I've bubbled once and my son and I chopped as two of the final three players another time. So the competition can't be all that tough! :wink

    Good Luck and Best Wishes for a great trip.
     
  9. Jinx

    Jinx VIP Whale

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    Just a heads up too, Harrahs and PH have decent structure tournaments for lower level buy in, the Mirage also has similar structure. Under $100, around 8k in chips, 20 minute levels and they start at 25/50 on most of them.
     
  10. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    My only concern is about how up-to-date that site is. I also downloaded the All Vegas Poker app on my Android, but I just fear that we make arrangements to get to a game that doesn't actually exist.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  11. mike_m235

    mike_m235 Tourist

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    Most of those games never change. I've played the same tourneys at the same casinos for years.
     
  12. y2mulder

    y2mulder Low-Roller

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    "Most" of the Harrah's properties should be avoided. The MGM really pissed me off when I was easy chip leader with 6 to go, and the blinds suddenly started going from 1000-2000, to 30000-60000, to 4000000000-8000000000.

    Joking aside, They just doubled every level all of the sudden....like they had a plane to catch. Died in 5th, on the BUBBLE, as it just became a shove-fest effectively wiping out 3 hours of perfect poker.

    +1 on the AVP website. Must read stuff.
     
  13. KKB

    KKB VIP Whale

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    It's nearly all I do in Vegas

    Poker tourneys r my focus.
    Best tourneys under $100 r Harrahs & to. Ph looks 3good until u realize blinds start at 100/200. These also will only run a few hours.
    Best tourneys under $150 are aria and Venetian (7pm) but plan on up to 9 hours to cash.
     
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