Super Bowl Weekend - Feb 1 - 4 at Main Street Station

This was my sixth consecutive trip to Las Vegas (7th overall) to watch the Super Bowl, and for the 7th time I had a different travel companion. This year, only Poker Pat joined me. He had sort of committed last fall, believing that he could talk any additional poker buddy into sharing a room with him. Unfortunately, not only couldn't he convince anyone else to join him, he waited too long (about a week) to book the room and ended up paying about $100 more than originally quoted. So it was a platonic weekend with Pat, and a more poker-centric trip than I get during most Super Bowl parties.

I am not a fan of live trip reports, in part because I think a TR written upon completion of the trip can offer a narrative and can be crafted by the writer based on the whole, as opposed to 150 posts of "this happened" then "that happened". This is in no way to disparage live trip reporters, just that I am not a big fan of reading them, so therefore I don't even consider writing one.

And frankly, if I do this right, I just might get an actual nomination for the "Favorite Trip Report" category of the ViMBy's (feel free to follow the link to vote...) And just like when movie studios release films at the last minute to be able to be nominated for an Oscar, he we go!!!!

Saturday, January 25 - ("What? I thought you said your trip started February 1. What gives, Bud?" says you, the Gentle Reader. "Calm down there, Slick." replies, I. "Just keep reading." Sheesh.)

The short(ish) version of a long story is that at a bowling tournament on the afternoon of Jan 25, one of my teammates got a call from his girl that said that she couldn't get the car started, but they have dinner plans and tickets to a show at Potawatomi Casino and she was upset that they may miss it. I told my buddy that I had to go downtown anyway that evening, and I'd be happy to pick her up from their home, then drop both off. Then they would only have a one-way Uber/Lyft ride.

But when I pulled into the porte-cochère to drop them off, my eye started twitching and I could feel the bounding pulse in my neck... I was about to exit a casino property without wagering. Was I sick?

No, instead I completed my evening plans, but sorta came back to the casino.

I put exactly $100 into a Wonder 4 machine, got that up to about $300, went to one of the wonder towers, got a little more (though with 80 Super Game spins on the Rhino Charge, it probably should have paid more than $50) then spun around and won a little more on the Bengal Treasures Lightning Link. By the time my wife texted, wondering where the hell I was, I cashed out for this...


(Note the time... 9:49 PM)

I cashed the ticket and walked past RuYi and decided to treat myself to an avocado boba tea (with tapioca, of course). They had a Chinese New Year promotion and were not accepting to-go orders, even just for the tea, so I headed towards a soda machine. I was a little pissed - how difficult would it be to make a boba tea for me as it doesn't require any special packaging - but now that I had a full soda, I couldn't walk out with it. So I found the nearest slot machine and tilted a $20 while I drank my soda.



I guess this was better than a boba tea. I asked the slot attendant for a check, and he said that on a busy Saturday night, it might take a few additional minutes.

I tried really, REALLY hard not to gamble, but there is a long row of Buffaloes along the wall, but on each end was some generic slot game with a big wheel. There was a line to play the Buffaloes, but this generic machine closest to me went unplayed. In went another $20, and by the time the attendant was back with my check...


Note the time, 10:33 PM. That was a hell of a forty-five minute stretch. And if I had had any concerns about my Super Bowl bankroll, I no longer did. $2400 of insurance is a good way to start a trip.

(All times shown are PST, except where noted)

Saturday, February 1 at 11:30 AM CST - When I started the modern stretch of going to Vegas to watch the Super Bowl, I had had a bowling tournament previously scheduled for travel day. Turns out that we won the tournament (my first Milwaukee Association title), so now I try to schedule a tournament on getaway day each year.

2:00 PM CST - Fuck bowling. I'm in Vacation Mode.



4:30 PM CST - A dinner date with my wife. I love her, but its not applicable to the story (Side note; like how an expert filmmaker gunning for Oscar consideration pads the movie with context for our hero so that you're more invested in him, I include this context for our hero so that you're more invested in him)

7:30 PM CST - Pat and I get a ride from Pat's son-in-law, and we're in the far corner of Terminal 5 at Chicago O'Hare, which is the International Terminal. I have never, ever flown internationally, so even for someone like me on the downhill slope away from middle-aged, it was kind of cool to walk past gates full of people awaiting flights to Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen and Aukland. Kind of makes my 3-1/2 hour flight jammed into a church pew seem easy-peasy.

7:45 PM CST - With my fortified bankroll, before I left I decided to buy a new bag, one in which Amazon said would fit as a "personal item" with Frontier, Spirit and Allegiant.



It seemed a little big as I fit a LOT of stuff in there, and I had quite a bit of room left over. I didn't think there was any way that I was going to get away with not paying for a carry on.


What the hell do I know anyway?

8:20 PM CST - I am getting a little antsy of waiting, and talking with Pat has gotten me a little thirsty so I head to the Hudson for a bottle of water. While walking, I see the tail of our plane. Maybe its me, but when first spotted while walking amongst people and looking through the plate glass which was reflecting the lights in the terminal, I think I saw that our tail animal was the gremlin from that Twilight Zone episode.




Well, it looked like that to me. Pat said it was a walrus. I guess so...



Somewhere in the air ?ST - I had downloaded and watched Blow Out. I have recently gotten into the 80s All Over podcast (each episode, the two co-hosts reviewed all major film releases for that month, which started with January 1980, and ended when they pulled the plug in mid-1985). When they discuss a film that seems interesting, I put it on my Amazon Watchlist. Recently Blow Out appeared as available, so I downloaded it. I enjoyed it. Then I took a nap.

About 45 minutes after the previous entry ?ST - I woke up with a headache, but I just attributed that to trying to sleep while folded at a 90 degree angle. I put on my next download, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, in which he interviews Barack Obama. Now, this is not a political comment, however my political leaning does not lean into Obama. However, I find him to be personally fascinating and I really enjoy listening to him speak. His banter with Letterman was smooth and enjoyable... but I fell back asleep during it.

About 15 minutes after the previous entry ?ST - I woke up again, this time with a more severe headache. Three times, I've developed a migraine while in Vegas, but this was odd to hurt so much in the air. I took inventory... no nausea, not photosensitive... I wrote it off as a bad headache and vowed not to let it ruin the rest of my night. The plan after arriving was a little light gambling, then sort of right to bed.

11:00 PM - "Hi, Ma, I'm Home!"



11:45 PM - With no trouble renting the car and despite a pounding headache, I drop off Pat at the Fremont and I give the car to the Main Street Station valet. I go in and head towards the front desk. With this headache, I've got to lay down and try to sleep it off.

11:48 PM - Motherfuckers put a full casino between the valet and the front desk. But you know, my headache wasn't that bad... I could maybe gamble a little. During last September's poker trip, I won about $500 on the Buffalo Diamond machine on the far wall near the entrance to the Berlin Wall men's room. Could lightning strike twice?

For those not familiar with the Buffalo Diamond, there are three levels of diamond bonus, with each one increasing until that bonus is achieved. To make it more fun, there is a separate count meter for each credit level ($0.75, $1.60, $2.50 and whatever the highest denomination is). The machine three down from the one I hit last September was at 65 Purple spins (at 4X multiplier) for a $1.60 bet. I thought it might be an advantage play. 4X is huge regardless of the number of spins, but 65 was a ton.

Sunday, February 2 @ 1:00 AM - in go hundies number 2, 3 and 4. Then, down to my last $18 before I go to bed in pain and grumpy, suddenly...


I had milked that meter up from 65 to 76 spins. My hope is that it behaves for me.



With retriggers up to 135 spins at 4X, it was at my second hand-pay jackpot in a week. But I still had a headache. I got my money, my W2G (which is fine by me, as I don't do the taxes... my wife does) cashed out that $17.95, then got my room and went to bed without wagering another nickel. Three hours from stepping off the plane, I was up $1003.15. This had the makings of an epic trip.

And the makings of an epic trip report... like epic Godfather films.

Evening came and morning followed, the first day.

 

Congrats on the pre-trip win and the first day/morning win. Hope they are more wins to come.

 

One hell of a start!

 

Congrats!!

 

Congrats.

 

GREAT start! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

Great beginnings. How do you remember everything? I have to do a TR live because I forget 80-90% of what I would put in. I find a TR is more for myself as a memory of the trip.

 

Well, I don't drink very much, so that helps

Also, all photos and texts are time stamped, and that helps to piece together the "whens".

 

Absolutely 100% true. These TRs are basically my journal of my trips, they are just shared with Internetland. I re-read them often prior to a trip.

Especially with my poker trips, I will read each one once in the weeks leading up to the trip and it puts those memories fresh in my mind. Then while on the trip, I can bring up those "Remember when" moments.

 

That's a great way to look at it! Ok, I have a new goal for my March trip. Journal it through a trip report!!

 

I enjoy a full trip report over the live reports as well.

 

Nice, look forward to the poker.

 

Nice start and congrats on the wins. Looking forward to day two.

Mark

 

Eagerly awaiting day 2!

 

February 2 @ 7:40 AM - Good morning, Las Vegas!


Well, what kind of view did I expect? I checked in after 1:00 AM on Super Bowl Sunday.

My headache is mostly gone, though I was smart while waiting for my hand pay and got two bottles of water. I drank one right away while waiting, but took the other to the room with me. It made a great vessel in which to add a packet of Drip Drop. Just in case, you know... (hat tip to @Astribling).

Before I left home, numerous people (my beautiful bride, Poker Scott and Poker Pete) each gave me a whole list of bets to make. I gathered up all of the lists and the pre-printed list of South Point prop bets, because once I left the room, I wouldn't be back all day.

8:00 AM - After showering, I headed down for breakfast (OK, a coffee and a donut from Lapperts, but man, that Old Fashioned donut was good!) and some morning video poker. Knowing that Pat is not a gambler and that there would likely be a lot of poker poker over the next two days, I knew I needed to get my gambling in where I could. But I didn't play any VP. For some reason, the sports book at the Cal called my name as I was riding down the escalator. Then it caught my eye.

8:15 AM - The internet (motto: "Believe everything you read on the internet") had said that South Point had moved the Super Bowl line to KC -2 with a 54 over/under. The Cal had KC -1.5/53.5. I immediately got in line to bet it. I grabbed all of the betting slips (everyone in my group wanted KC, although the over and under was split). I bet everyone's KC bet, and also everyone who had the over because the Cal's line was lower. Once I made those bets, I grabbed the Cal's pre-printed props list, and they had a lot of the same props as South Point, but a lot of the odds were better. I quickly tried to compare the prop bets that I (and the others) wanted and jotted some notes and got back in line. They also had two props that I hadn't seen at South Point...

• Total points from Giannis Antetokounmpo in Sunday's Bucks game -1/2 point over Patrick Mahomes rushing yards, and
• The "Joe Montana Special", a bet that at no time would the score be 19-16 (the two uniform numbers he wore with KC and SF)

I bet on Antetokounmpo and "no", among the other bets from the Cal. Then it occurred to me that I hadn't prepared myself to bet at different books for everybody, and that I'd be spending a lot of time cross-checking to make sure everybody's bets were in, and that I had to figure out how to tell who won what. But that was a worry for later. I was just thrilled to see some lower lines. While in line, Pat joined me, so we left as soon as the bets were made. No VP for me.

9:30 AM - Welcome to the South Point sports book. I was about 80th in line, with a poker tournament starting in a half hour.



I did get lucky, as when I got about 5 people from the front, they opened another window right next to my line, and like the old ladies in the grocery store, we jockeyed for position at the new window. I was third. By the time it was my turn, the line I had left hadn't moved. Success!

9:55 AM - The ticket writer was really cool, as I was able to give her the slips from my friends and she entered their action without me having to read off from each list. She almost got some of them right, but more on that later. I didn't have time to look at all 90 tickets, I had a card game to play.

10:02 AM - There was a line to enter the poker tournament and they started a couple of minutes late so they could process entries. As I did with my recent September poker trip, I will indent the poker talk, so that if it bores you... just skip the indented stuff. Also, as I wrote last fall, I am not writing the poker talk to discuss how I played a hand, how I could have played it better, or to brag about my skills. It is so that y'alls can live the ups and downs with me as I ratchet up the suspense of how I finish each tournament.


They had expected quite a big crowd for the day that they brought extra tables from the basement. I was on one of the generic tables outside of the actual poker room. No matter. Cards in the air!

South Point 10:00 AM Sunday tournament - 87 entries at $60 each. Start with 10K chips.

First hand AcKc. There was a raise from 100 to 300. I re-raised to 600 with one caller. Flop 246, led for 1200 was called. Turn 6. He jammed, I folded.

Dealt QQ, flop blanks, bet 1500, was called by one guy. Turn K, I bet 3000 was called. River A, both checked. He showed KQ. At that point in the game, my 1500 post-flop bet was pretty big; I was trying to shut it down. My 3000 turn bet was trying to show a strong K (or better). This guy was either an idiot thinking his Q kicker was good, or he saw right through the idiot trying to get QQ through a K on the board. Down to 3000.

Start of L3 with 2200, QQ again. Raised to 800, all folded. First hand I raked today, I just wish it was for more than blinds.

Early position with 44, limped and saw flop, 238. I jammed for 2500, all folded. Up to 3800. Trying really hard to rebuild from the QQ setback from earlier.

Shoved with AT at the turn when I had a 4-flush and a 10, and shoved again with AQ and a board of nothing, and a third time with 33 on an AA247 board. Back in the game with 8800 mid L3.

And then there's Pat. Or, subtitled "I thought we were friends".

I was dealt AQ suited so I bet pre-flop and only Pat called. There was a K on the flop and we both checked. When the A fell on the turn, I jammed about 8000 and Pat snap called... with AK. I was out in 50th place.

Pat and I talked about that hand quite a bit. With the K on the flop, he knew he was pretty good which is why he checked (I might have done the same thing in his position) but that A on the turn basically made my hand. I don't jam without it... as a matter of fact, with almost any other card than a Q, I would check and fold to a bet. Turned out that Pat's BINGO card was my death card. But that's poker. Skill gets you so far, then its up to the cards.
​

11:50 AM - I find a quiet area and I sort through mine, Pete's, Scott's and my wife's bets, cross-checking their lists with the 90 tickets from two sports books, and I see a few errors. A couple of prop overs are printed as unders, a couple prop unders as overs, and Pete's $50 bet on the under in the game was printed as a bet on KC -1.5, so I get back in the line. Almost a carbon-copy of earlier, I am really, really lucky to be walking past the book when another window opens, and I am second in line. Did I feel bad for the hundreds that had been in line for quite a while? Eh, maybe a little.

But not that much.

The ticket writer had no problem re-writing the overs-to-be-unders-and-vice-versa tickets, but she couldn't change the KC -1.5 as the line had moved up to -2. I had to buy Pete's under (luckily for him, that line moved also to 54.5) and I had to eat that KC ticket. I sure hope they win.

12:30 PM - Finally, a chance to relax with a drink and a gamble.



12:35 PM - I actually got a few hands in before Pat finds me. He got knocked out of the tournament when his pocket aces were beat. Since each of us (separately) had only a donut for breakfast, we headed to the Coronado Cafe for lunch.


The $14.99 prime rib special never fails to disappoint.

1:30 PM - I walk Pat back to the Exhibit Hall (so that he knows where it is as that's where we'll eventually be watching the game) as he was going to play the 2:00 poker tournament while I preferred to watch the start of the game. I was just about to find the party that was holding a table for us when my son texted me... with a list of props to bet on the Daddy Savings and Loan credit line. South Point had a couple of betting windows in the area, but the line stretched all the way to there, so I found a kiosk with no line to use. I should have known I was in trouble when he wanted a KC/Over parley, but I couldn't figure out how to write a parley on the kiosk. Instead of just getting in line, I continued to enter his props... a disturbingly many of them were centered on Mecole Hardman overs. I had entered seven bets when I actually looked at the tickets that spit out... all seven were for the same bet.

1:45 PM - Now I am pissed. Aaron had come to a Super Bowl in Vegas with me a few years back and he knows how nutso the books are. Yet he waits till the last minute to place a shitton of bets, and now technology is fucking with me. I look at the line for the temporary betting stations and it has only gotten longer. I decide to go to the windows outside the Grand Ballroom, as I don't recall them being too long during previous Super Bowls.


I was partially right. They had a temporary betting window by the Grand Ballroom.

2:20 PM - I was not lucky enough to be standing next to a window when it opens, and I've lost a half-hour of precious, precious Vegas Time. Before I leave the window, I check the tickets. Aaron texted that he wanted Tyrann Mathieu for MVP and gave me #4257... which turned out to be Harrison Butker. I told him that I wasn't getting back in line, and the he'd better hope that Butker kicks the shit out of the ball.

2:30 PM - The game starts in an hour, but I HAVE to gamble. This is driving me crazy!

2:45 PM - I noticed a trend at the four casinos in which I spent most of my time on this trip (Cal, MSS, South Point and Sam's Town) and that is that there are far fewer Lightning Link and Lock It Link games than there are at my local casinos. Hell, at Potawatomi, there are only three category of slots in the entire casino; Links, Wonder 4 variants and Buffaloes. I find something close to a Link game and plunk in some money. Shortly after on a bonus, I am getting pumpkin after pumpkin after pumpkin, until get an entire screen full of pumpkins. On a proper Link game, that's the Grand Jackpot. I don't squeal, but I fumble for my camera to get a video of the screen going crazy, but I see this...


I collect 18 out of 18 pumpkins for a measly $150? What the hell?

Wait, there's a secondary wheel up top that spins horizontally...


Yummy. $300. They didn't even have the courtesy of a real multiplier. What has two thumbs and is pissed about winning $300?

This guy. I rip my TITO out of the slot and make contact for the Super Bowl party.

3:00 PM - I meet VMB's own @Johnzimbo, who was gracious enough to save two seats at a decent table so that I didn't have to sit in a ballroom and not gamble all day. John had three tables of people, so there was no problem squeezing Pat and I in there.


That's John, hitching a ride. To my right is his lovely wife's lovely arm.

3:38 PM - Quiet. I am watching football.

5:00 PM - Other than the drink line being obnoxious (in four previous Super Bowl parties at South Point, I don't ever recall the beer lines moving this slowly) there is nothing bad to say about the South Point party... well, the sound of the game was a little wonky and echoey, but even that was a minor thing. They had all the traditional junk food, and this year for the first time they also had ice cream treats. And even better, they accepted the sports book drink tickets a the portable bar.

5:10 PM - Halftime! And what a better way to enjoy the halftime show than with the Buffaloes...




Ah, Buffaloes, my only true friend.

5:35 PM - Pat is bounced out of the poker tournament and joins us. Pat is a retired engineer but is pretty straight laced (even for an engineer), however, he gets a beer in him and has really loosened up. Could be the Chiefs making a comeback, as he also liked KC.

6:15 PM - Text from Aaron... "We are in very serious 'Aaron goes 0-12 on Super Bowl bets' territory". Immediately after, Mahomes throws to a wide open Tyreek Hill for 44 yards. Aaron has Mahomes longest pass of over 44.5 yards. Next text "HALF A YARD SHORT SONUVAB". Poor kid. Hill had to camp out under the ball because Mahomes kept back-peddling. Had Mahomes thrown it earlier, it goes for more than 44.

7:00 PM - You either saw the game and know the result, or you didn't and don't care. But what you also don't care (but will read) about is how I key-rushed the game!!!! I had KC-1.5, KC-2, the under 54, prop bets of KC-3.5, KC-6.5, KC-7.5, KC-10.5 and under 51.5. I had Kelce with a TD, Williams with a TD, SF with a rushing TD... I could go on and on.

And I will. The most fun win was the Giannis/Mahomes bet. Antetokounmpo had 30 points, so my bet wins if Mahomes has 29 rushing yards or less. At one point, Mahomes had 37 yards rushing, so I put that ticket in the "loss" pile. Then KC started killing the clock, and Mahomes was taking quite a few steps backwards before downing. Curious as to how far he backed up, I checked NFL(dot)com...


Well, looky looky! Snatched an under from the jaws of the over. That doesn't happen often.

I personally put $665 into action, and only had $155 in losing tickets. I cashed for $940.90. I love Las Vegas!!! We say goodbye to @Johnzimbo and his family and friends and thank them for their hospitality. They graciously invite us to watch the game with them next year. Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I believe that we will.

8:00 PM - Pat and I sit at a Pai Gow Poker table and play a few hands while we discuss our next move... which we don't have. We consider playing the 10:00 PM poker tournament at South Point, but Monday will be a full day of poker so we decide not to. We decide to just play Pai Gow all night, but we'd go back to a Boyd property downtown. We're staying there, why not earn my free room?

8:45 PM - But first, dinner at the Triple 7 at Main Street. I decided to let my hair down.



9:30 PM - We start walking through every casino downtown on a quest for two seats at any Pai Gow Poker table. First through The Plaza, then through the Golden Gate, and it occurs to us that this will be a difficult chore on Super Bowl Sunday. But soldier on we do, though Golden Nugget, Four Queens and the Fremont. We decide to try Downtown Grand... they're always empty, right? Well, they do have a one table with two seats, but it is a $25 table, which is too rich for Pat's blood, as his standard buy in is for only $50. He decides to hit the bathroom. I hit a video poker machine. Quickly, I am dealt four to a Royal.



Did I really get the wrong end of the open-ender, winning $62.50 instead of $1,000.00? Don't these machines know how much that 2%er cost me? No wonder I hate this place.

10:15 PM - We get back to Main Street Station and Pat decides that since I enjoy video poker (and there are not two seats together at the Boar's Head) we'd sit together and play nearby. Pat starts at one coin per hand, but he's feeling a bit randy and ups it to 2 quarters per hand.


Guys, that is the look of unadulterated joy a $25 win on a fifty-cent bet.

You do notice no pictures of my video screen. The market correction has begun.

11:00 PM - I send Grandpa off to bed and find the only open seat at the Boar's Head Bar. "One Black Chip Porter, please!". Too far into the first benjamin, this...



Sigh. And that guy next to me... I told him I was doing a video, couldn't he stop yammering for six seconds?

Monday, February 3 at 1:00 AM - Two more bills into video poker and two other ones in various slots chasing the video poker losses led me to call it a night and schlump to my room. For having such a great day, it ended with a distinctive thud. But there would be one more day.

Evening came and morning followed, the second day.

 

Great so far. Love the 4 to a Royal draws.

 

I'da liked 'em better if one woulda hit...

 

I should have said the videos of the 4 to a Royal. So close on that first one.

 

Will be saving you a couple of seats next year for sure...and if I can get my crew to the South Point early enough I might blow some cash in that 10 AM tournament

 

Love the detailed reports you do