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Total respect Gary and carry on enjoying it :-)
Closing Balance £46.16
Up £2.75 today
To my relief my decision to temporarily ditch MTTs bore fruit. I only had time for five heads-up matches today though results were pleasing, I won four and chalked-up my first profitable day since Wednesday.
It was also good to get back to enjoying some proper games of poker against competent players after facing the weekend maniacs. Only one of my opponents today adopted the level one all-in bingo tactics that were being used by the majority yesterday.
Slow speed HU matches have been a great bankroll builder for me so far. A couple of people have suggested I use them to go all the way to £1K, gradually upping the stakes as I go. However there’s absolutely no way I’ll be doing that. For a start I’d find it too boring, secondly I’d be facing much tougher opponents on average at the higher buy-ins and my ROI would fall accordingly. MTTs are my game of choice and by far the most profitable form of poker for me. I still expect them to generate at least £800 of the £1,000 profit required. Once my balance is comfortable I’ll switch back to playing mainly MTTs. I’ll still mix in some STTs when I need an extra push to help me reach the 500 point C4P threshold, or when I simply don’t have time for anything else.
Today’s results;
7620749HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 14:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620744HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:52NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620659HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:23NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957620615HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 13:16NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057620426HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker25/02/2013 12:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95
http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/651/graphday54.jpg
Closing Balance £48.41
Up £2.25 today
I played a mix of STTs, finishing slightly up at the end of my session.
Results were a bit all over the place. I was beaten by some terrible players, including one guy who defeated me HU by winning from behind three times, including calling my re-shove for his stack after completing from the small blind with J4o. In contrast when I played my toughest HU opponent, someone I felt was better than me, I won soon after binking a 27/73 aipf pot with an outkicked ace to survive.
This unpredictability is one of the things that makes poker such a great game. Anybody can win on their day, regardless of their skill and experience compared to their opponent. If you put a chess novice up against a Grandmaster it would be a pointless exercise, he would have absolutely no chance of winning. If you put a poker novice up against Phil Ivey and gave them a shallow stack each the novice is in with a reasonable chance.
Today’s results;
7625048HNLB0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:28NL Hold'em £1 + £0.1510/10-£1.157625340HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:27NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625228HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:27NL Hold'em £1 + £0.155/6-£1.157625318HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625262HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:19NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057625239HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 16:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625211HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 15:53NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624989HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 15:00NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957625015HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:50NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624877HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:44NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057624871HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:22NL Hold'em £1 + £0.155/6-£1.157624948HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 14:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624865HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624665HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:39NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057624687HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 13:20NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.052/2-£0.557624312HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 12:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957624472HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker26/02/2013 11:29NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.85
Closing Balance £52.21
Up £3.80 today
Over the next few days my volume will be even lower than usual. I’m going to be quite busy with non-poker stuff as I need to tie-up loose ends ahead of my imminent holiday. Today’s job was catching-up on business paperwork, though with it being me I couldn’t resist having a few mixed STTs going on the side.
Initially results were frustrating. I struggled to get past some calling stations in HU matches. One guy in particular was almost unbeatable today. This hand pretty much sums our matches; in level 1 he decided to open limp 83o on the SB and call my re-raise to 4BB. The flop comes down AK8, I have AK so I’m pretty happy at this point. He opted to call my c-bet, also my turn bet, then caught his two-outer on the river. I smelt a rat and checked the river back, probably losing the minimum under the circumstances.
The session ended better than it started. With the paperwork finished I gave the poker my full focus for a while and results improved. I particularly enjoyed a Scary 6-max STT win after using bubble-bully tactics to totally run over my opponents during three-handed play.
All things considered I’m pleased with results over the last three days. Switching back to STTs seems to have stopped the downswing in its tracks and I’m happy to be heading the right way again. While using the aggressive 20 buy-in rule I knew I was putting my balance in peril. I’m rethinking my BRM strategy at the moment. I now feel a 30 buy-in rule might be more prudent. That will require a balance of £69.00+ before I start buying into £2.30 Bounty Hunters again.
Todays results;
7629320HNLT,6MX0.1GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:54NL Hold'em £1 + £0.11/6£2.87628953HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957629279HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 15:05NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.051/2£0.457628979HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 13:48NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.857628936HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 13:04NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057628911HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957628884HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:26NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957628870HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:19NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057628843HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker27/02/2013 12:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Already done a awesome job making something from nothing.
Will follow this with interest.
GL
Daz
Day 56
Closing Balance £52.21
Didn't play, no change
I was too busy with non poker stuff to play today. Tomorrow I have less lined up, so I'm hoping to get at least a couple of hours worth of STTs in.
In February I only earned 262 Poker Points so I won't be receiving a C4P payment any time soon. It's hardly surprising, I only played a low volume and all of that was at micro-stakes. I won't be earning C4P in March either as I'll be taking a two week break. Hopefully come April my volume will increase to the point where I start exceeding the monthly 500 point threshold.
February had many highs, and a few lows, but overall I consider the month to be a big success. Here's why;
Opening balances 1/2/13; Cash £11.52, Poker Points 223
Closing balances 28/2/13; Cash £52.21, Poker Points 350
So my cash balance increased by a massive 353%. I couldn't ask for more, in fact it's unlikely I'll see such a huge percentage increase again in any future month on the road to £1K. If I can even get close I'll be delighted.
Closing Balance £54.66
Up £2.45 today
It wasn’t easy to get a game today. Apart from a couple of regs multi-tabling DYMs there wasn’t much traffic in the micro STT lobby during my session. At one point I even resorted to joining Moonlit81’s turbo HU table for a quick match. Moonlit81 is probably the strongest opponent regularly playing HU at the same level as me right now so I usually prefer to give him/her a wide berth.
A poor player who caught some lucky cards beat me in my first HU match, though things improved after that and I went on to win 6/8 games. I came away empty handed from a £1.15 SnG Bounty Hunter, my pocket 88 failing to hold against a limp/caller with AJo when I found a great squeeze/shove spot for a pot worth the chiplead at a soft table.
This week’s £1,000 Freerolls look very attractive. I can’t play this evening because it runs at a very awkward time for me (alarm set for 12-20am tonight). However after tomorrow I have a fortnight off work, so I’ll be entering the freerolls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Starting Tuesday I’ll be taking a break from online poker for around two weeks.
Todays results;
7638097HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 15:44NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637965HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:43NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637631HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:20NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637667HNLB0.15GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 14:02NL Hold'em £1 + £0.157/10-£1.157637467HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 12:28NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637526HNLT,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 11:34NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637357HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 11:29NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057637281HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 10:57NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957637008HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker01/03/2013 10:33NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
I don't post hands here too often, but I was pleased with this one today, I believe it's the first straight flush I've made since starting this diary. Come the river I was hoping my opponent held the nut-flush or 7d for a lower straight flush, in which I almost certainly win a full double. My river bet size was carefully chosen to get crying calls from weaker flushes, as turned out to be the case, also to give the illusion of fold equity to nut/second nut flushes that might decide to re-shove.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancex Small blind 20.00 20.00 1706.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 40.00 60.00 1234.00 Your hole cards 7 Q x Raise 60.00 120.00 1646.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 160.00 1194.00 Flop 9 J 5 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 200.00 1606.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 240.00 1154.00 Turn 10 GaryQQQ Check x Bet 40.00 280.00 1566.00 GaryQQQ Raise 120.00 400.00 1034.00 x Call 80.00 480.00 1486.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 200.00 680.00 834.00 xCall 200.00 880.00 1286.00 GaryQQQ Show 7 Q x Muck 3 2 GaryQQQ Win Straight Flush to the Queen 880.00 1714.00
best wishes
dev
Closing Balance £57.03
Up £2.37 today
Today was a good day for me no matter what happened on the poker tables; I finished a six month run of working six days per week and started a much needed two week break.
I played in a few assorted STTs this afternoon. In the HU games I had a torrid start losing three out of the first four matches. I don’t think I was doing too much wrong, it was simply a case of my opponents enjoying more favourable run-outs than me. Results improved somewhat after that and I was slightly up before entering a couple of evening tournaments.
I was an early casualty in the £1,000 Freeroll, giving away my stack with AQ<TT on an AT3 flop. The flop was all hearts and I c-bet the flop and turn very big to get value from a flush draw. Looking at the hand history now I can see my pot-sized river shove was terrible, my worst play of the day. The flush didn’t get there and I was only getting called if beat.
After that I tried my luck in a £1 deepstack. Initially I enjoyed the relaxed slow structure, though I must admit by the time an hour and a half had passed I was beginning to tire. 9-00pm feels pretty late when you’ve been up since 12-20am and worked an 11 hour shift. I felt I had an edge over my table, but I wasn’t really getting the cards to work with. My post flop hand-reading skills were mainly being used to make good folds, not win good pots.
At about the two hour point with a stack less than half of average I began to run out of patience and switched to a laggy style, happy to boom or bust. It was a rollercoaster ride from there as I played a high variance style. When I shoved 24o and J2o preflop I wasn’t called, ironically when I shoved TT I ran into KK and was left on fumes. Eventually after four hours of play I busted in 18th/154 for a min-cash. My exit came when I shoved A2s from the SB into 25o on the BB, inevitably the three-outer hit on the river, though to be fair stacks were so shallow that the BB was priced in with any two cards.
So I finished slightly up on the day. I was pleased because I feel like I ran below neutral overall. Even if I’d lost a bit of money I wouldn’t have minded because I thoroughly enjoyed the poker, for the most part finding myself playing sporting and friendly opponents, several of whom mentioned this diary in the chatbox.
Todays results;
7641729HNL 0.1GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 19:45NL Hold'em £1 + £0.118/154£0.967643618HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 18:50NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957643508HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 17:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957643169HNLB0.15GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 17:11NL Hold'em £1 + £0.152/10£0.737643308HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 17:01NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.857643299HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 16:23NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057643151HNL6MX,DN0.15GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 16:13NL Hold'em £1 + £0.151/6£0.857643047HNLT,6MX0.1GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 16:03NL Hold'em £1 + £0.15/6-£1.17643027HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 15:35NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057642875HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 15:15NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057642758HNLB0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 15:02NL Hold'em £0.3 + £0.052/10£0.387642775HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker02/03/2013 14:09NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.95
A hand from this evenings deepstack. The river is the worst card in the deck for my flush and I wave goodbye to a juicy pot. Even the nut-flush would be an easy fold when player A leads half pot into three opponents. I've no idea what player B was trying to achieve by open limping his kings at this mainly passive table.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceA Small blind 40.00 40.00 6480.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 80.00 120.00 6260.00 Your hole cards 7 K B Call 80.00 200.00 4502.50 T Call 80.00 280.00 3320.00 earlbrutus Call 80.00 360.00 4810.00 olden007 Call 80.00 440.00 4187.50 A Call 40.00 480.00 6440.00 GaryQQQ Check Flop 6 J 3 A Bet 160.00 640.00 6280.00 GaryQQQ Call 160.00 800.00 6100.00 B Call 160.00 960.00 4342.50 T Call 160.00 1120.00 3160.00 earlbrutus Fold olden007 Fold Turn J A Check GaryQQQ Bet 640.00 1760.00 5460.00 B Call 640.00 2400.00 3702.50 T Call 640.00 3040.00 2520.00 A Call 640.00 3680.00 5640.00 River J A Bet 1840.00 5520.00 3800.00 GaryQQQ Fold B Call 1840.00 7360.00 1862.50 T Fold A Show J A B Muck K K A Win Four Jacks 7360.00 11160.00
At the current rate of progress this is gonna take a while
Closing Balance £57.58
Up 55p today
This morning I only had time for a quick hour of poker. In the first HU STT I ran as badly as possible to lose. Then the usual influx of Sunday bingo players began. I like a good game of poker but I’m not so keen on preflop shoving competitions with 75BB stacks. Playing these guys might be +ev, but it’s not my definition of fun.
In the evening I returned to the tables and became an early casualty in the £1,000 Freeroll once again. I decided to play for stacks with KhQh on a low flop with two hearts but was unable to crack pocket aces. The villain in the hand used most of timebar before correctly calling my river check/shove bluff, well played that man, I put him to a tough decision.
In the £1.10 Deepstack after spending the first hour at around starting stack I accumulated chips nicely in the second hour and was in the top 10% of the field. However after 130 minutes of careful play I was destined to crash ‘n burn in the space of a few hands. First my stack was badly dented when I took on a maniac with my AKs, his cold 4-bet shove with 98 won the huge pot. There was no chance of getting my chips back; he got moved from the table immediately after that hand. Less than an orbit later I ran QQ into KK and was left on fumes. A couple of hands after that I was out when I shoved my last 10BB from the SB with J9s into AJ on the BB.
After the deepie I played another couple of HU STTs. In the first I got a proper game, in the second I found myself playing another bingo maniac. I eventually caught him, but that’s not the sort of game I want to play so I decided to call it a night.
Todays results;
7649313HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 22:15NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957649302HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 21:49NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957646267HNL 0.1GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 19:45NL Hold'em £1 + £0.194/174-£1.17644245HPL6MX0.1GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 11:56PL Hold'em £1 + £0.15/6-£1.17646803HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 11:48NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957646785HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 11:39NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957646478HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker03/03/2013 11:21NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
A bingo maniac announces his arrival, this is the first hand of a HU match. For some unholy reason a lot of this sort of stuff is seen at the tables every Sunday;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancec Small blind 10.00 10.00 1490.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 1480.00 Your hole cards 4 9 cAll-in 1490.00 1520.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold c Muck c Win 40.00 40.00 cReturn 1480.00 0.00 1520.00
It took 21 tedious minutes, but I caught him eventually;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 50.00 50.00 1470.00 c Big blind 100.00 150.00 1380.00 Your hole cards J J GaryQQQ Call 50.00 200.00 1420.00 c All-in 1380.00 1580.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 1380.00 2960.00 40.00 GaryQQQ Show J J c Show 5 9 Flop 6 A 5 Turn K River 9 GaryQQQ Win Flush to the Ace 2960.00 3000.00
Closing Balance £61.18
Up £3.60 today
It was my first day of a fortnight off work today. I was pretty busy tying-up loose ends and packing so didn’t get around to playing much poker. During the daytime I played 5 HU STTs and was very pleased to win 4 of them. It might have been a clean sweep if it weren’t a case of ‘Coolers R Us’ in the first game, I found myself the wrong side of a lot of stuff that doesn’t happen too much in HU play; flopped two pairs against flopped set, flopped nut-straight against flopped flush, etc, etc.
In the evening could I make it third time lucky in the Freeroll Festival? Nope. There were some maniacs at my starting table begging to give their chips away, but I didn’t get the cards to take them. My demise came in a blind vs blind pot 40 minutes into the tournament. I raised to 2.5BB from the SB with AJ and was flatted by Q9 on the BB. I failed to find my fold button on the J99 flop. I thought about entering the forum DTD games, it’s not very often I get the chance and I always enjoy them thoroughly, however two of the three tournaments had entry fees that would have broken my 30 buy-in policy. I’m sticking to the rule rigidly so I decided to give it a swerve this time.
My last games were another 3 HU STTs. I was content with 2 wins from 3. The losing game was unavoidable the way the cards were peeling, my weak opponent managing to catch perfect cards time after time. I’m not complaining, it happens both ways. I had a game like that on Saturday against stuarty117 which I simply couldn’t lose the way the cards were falling.
This diary is a dull read at the moment as I make a series of small steps at micro-stakes. Despite that I’m personally very happy with progress. I'm laying the foundations for bigger games later on. Since my short sharp downswing I’ve grinded my balance from a low of £42.41 back up to £61.18 coutesy of 7 consecutive small winning days. That’s a healthy growth of 44%, and I’m now within sight of my new £69.00 (30 buy-in) requirement to enter £2.30 Bounty Hunters, which of course offer the potential for more rapid growth. My results in micro HU STTs have been particularly pleasing to date, far better than I anticipated. According to the Sharkscope database I’ve won 119/177 games, that's a win rate of 67.2% returning a total ROI of 29.4%, plus I’m pretty sure it missed a small number of games that I won.
Holiday!
After today I’m taking a complete break from online poker for about two weeks. On Saturday I fly to Vegas (baby) with my partner and fellow Sky player Lea116311 where we'll celebrate her birthday. Happy times! This is the trip paid for by my successful £51--->£1,051 bankroll challenge last year. I’ll be still be dropping into the forum every now and then over the next few days as I travel around the UK, mainly to maintain the tournament results thread, however you definitely won’t be seeing me at the tables.
I wish you all the best of luck at the tables while I’m away. This diary will resume on my return.
Todays results;
7652586HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 20:36NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957652449HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 20:26NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.057652429HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 20:09NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957651368HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 15:24NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957650983HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 15:12NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957650913HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 12:48NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957650878HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 12:23NL Hold'em £1 + £0.051/2£0.957650854HNLHU0.05GBPSkyPoker04/03/2013 11:53NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.05
Progress so far;
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/4522/graphday61.jpg
I'M SURE YOU'LL BOTH HAVE A FANTASTIC TIME,OH...
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEA XX
(* *)
^
ian
We're visiting relatives in North Wales at the moment Pad, next stop the Midlands, Sussex on Friday. We won't be coming as far north as your neck of the woods on this trip.
No change
(Away on holiday, didn’t play)
During my recent online poker break I enjoyed a 5 night stay in Las Vegas. The holiday was paid for by my successful £51 to £1,051 challenge last year, plus other online poker profits. It was timed to celebrate a special birthday for my partner and fellow Sky poker player Lea116311. Her daughter and son-in-law also travelled with us. As requested here is an account of our stay. It was my first visit to the city.
Saturday
The first surprise coming into Vegas was the weather. It was mid-afternoon when we landed but surprisingly chilly. All the mountains surrounding the valley were covered in snow and there was a bracing wind blowing through the city, not exactly what I was expecting in a desert location. After a long day and the 10 hour flight we were handed the keys to our hotel room at about 5-00pm local time. We stayed in Ballys, it’s directly opposite the Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip, on the Junction with East Flamingo Road. The location couldn’t have been better, we were slap-bang in the middle of everything. Due to the eight hour time difference our bodies thought it was the early hours of the morning, so we were pretty tired for the rest of that day. On foot we explored our hotel and The Paris, which was next door, then the south end of The Strip. We went to the top of the replica Eiffel Tower from where we watched the famous Bellagio fountains perform to a Michael Jackson song.
Sunday
After a good night’s sleep we were fully recharged and excited at the prospect of our first full day. Pleasingly the weather was warming up too, a trend that would continue throughout our stay. After a breakfast buffet in the Paris we decided the best way to get a feel for the city was to buy a 48-hour ticket for the ‘hop on/hop off’ red bus tour. It turned out to be money well spent. We were taken around just about everything of interest in the city on the open top-deck with a very useful commentary from a tour guide. The buses come at 30 minute intervals and we got on and off at will. We made stops at Circus Circus, The Golden Nugget, the famous ‘Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas’ sign and visited The National Atomic Testing Museum (which includes a fascinating section about the other Area51!). In the evening we walked to The Mirage. After a delicious meal in Fin restaurant we saw the highly popular Love, the Cirque du Soleil show based on the music of The Beatles. If I’m honest I didn’t have a clue what was going on most of the time, but I know it was thoroughly enjoyable and an amazing spectacle to witness.
Monday
This was the day Lea celebrated her birthday. After breakfast in Ballys we walked to the nearby Venetian. After looking around the hotel the girls were keen to have a ride in a gondola, so we paid our fare and all hopped in. I found the experience, complete with singing gondolier, a bit on the cheesy side, particularly having been to the real-life Venice in the past, however the girls enjoyed it which is the main thing. We used the red bus tickets again to do some more exploring in the afternoon, including a visit to The Mob Museum and took a look around the impressive Aria Resort. In the evening we went for a celebration meal in the Top of the World, a rotating restaurant at the top of the tower at The Stratosphere, which is by far the tallest building in the city. It was an excellent choice and we all had a brilliant evening. The views of Vegas from up there can only be described as spectacular, the food and service were absolutely first class.
Tuesday
Poker time! The Aria and Venetian were the best poker rooms we’d seen during our stay, they both looked great and it was a close choice between the two. After breakfast in The Flamingo buffet we decided to enter the daily tournament at The Venetian, a $150 freezeout with 63 entrants. The standard was mixed, some guys were obviously strong local players, others recreational tourists who were playing far below optimal. More importantly playing in this tournament was a very enjoyable experience, all the entrants and staff were very friendly and everybody was having a great time in a very pleasant environment, the waitress service was excellent. Lea and I both made the last two tables but fell a little short of the money. By necessity a daily tournament has a fast structure, much like a one-day SPT. Lea was unlucky to run her pocket QQ into KK when stacks were shallow, I exited soon after when I squeeze-shoved over two limpers, one of whom made the call with a dominating hand. Despite failing to cash we both agreed entering the tournament had been a great experience and left the poker room very happy.
After the poker we crossed over the road to take a look around the huge and very impressive Caesars Palace Resort. Then we dropped into the Wynn Encore for a while, this is where the infamous pictures of Prince Harry were taken in a suite last year. He’s very popular out there; apparently that incident boosted tourism by 40% overnight. After meeting the others we then took a cab to downtown Vegas. Fremont Street with its’ incredible light show was yet another wonderful experience. While there we ate dinner in the notorious Heart Attack Grill where everybody was having a great laugh. They specialise in high calorie food and drinks and are proud holders of a Guinness World Record for the selling most calorific burger in the world. All the staff dress as doctors and nurses and the customers have to wear surgical gowns. If you weigh over 350 pounds you eat for free (the vast majority of diners were actually very slim), if you can’t finish your meal you get spanked by a nurse!
Wednesday
We went on a full day tour to the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon. The sights were incredible, the impressive dam being one of mankind’s greatest structures, The Grand Canyon one of nature’s finest creations. We’ve all seen these fabulous things on TV many times, but to appreciate them fully you simply have to see them with your own eyes. We did the extra miles to visit the South rim of the canyon, which at an altitude of 8,000 feet offers the most spectacular views of them all. It was a long day, we didn’t get back to Vegas until 11-00pm after a 6-00am pick-up, however seeing the stunning scenery at one of the ‘seven natural wonders of the world’ and one of the ‘seven wonders of the industrial world’ both in the same day made the effort more than worthwhile.
Thursday
Time was limited as we needed to be at the airport by 3-00pm. After exploring The Bellagio and New York New York we enjoyed a superb lunch buffet in Planet Hollywood. After a spot of shopping it was time wave goodbye to ‘Sin City’ and head back to the UK. The weather had got warmer and warmer each day we were there. When we left it was 28°C and a cracking day.
I’d recommend a visit to Vegas to just about everybody, especially poker players. I mentioned earlier it was my first visit to the city, well hopefully it won’t be my last, I’d go back at the drop of a cowboy’s hat. The quality of food and the level of service everywhere is always first class, most things you can do are affordable to ordinary working people. The well-known hotel/resorts are amazing places; each absolutely huge with shopping arcades, multiple restaurants, massive casinos, funfair type rides, incredible decor and much more. To compare them to any hotel you may see in this country, or just about any county for that matter, does them no justice at all.
You can’t help noticing that Vegas has taken a hit due to the recession. Some abandoned construction sites in prime locations look rather sad. There are also several flattened blocks in prime locations close to The Strip where now demolished buildings must have once existed. We saw a few well known places that are still standing but have been shut-down, most noticeably The Sahara complex. Despite this everything that is still running, and that is the vast majority of town, is impeccably presented clean, modern and very well run, they don’t do tatty in Vegas. Inevitably there were occasional beggars on public walk-ways, however they were all totally non-aggressive. Seeing people smoking indoors in public areas again was somewhat surprising now I’m used to the UK ban, though I believe smoking wasn’t permitted in poker rooms. Perhaps the only irritation of note in the city was the high number of touts. If you walk along The Strip in the morning when it’s fairly quiet somebody will approach you every couple of minutes. In the evening when it’s far busier they’re mainly pushing services offered by ladies of dubious morality, desperately trying to dish out their leaflets to absolutely everybody, regardless of age or sex, most of them end up as litter on the pavement.
‘What about the gambling?’ you may ask. Well, we didn’t really get around to any. We were so busy doing other things we didn’t have the time. Apart from the poker tournament (which I consider somewhat different to gambling) all we did was put a dollar or two in micro-stakes slot machines a few times. That was it. I’d rather spend my money on the fine food, shows and excursions than risk it in –ev gambling situations. There are unlimited ways to gamble in Vegas, and if that’s what you’re looking for you be sure you'll be catered for to the greatest possible extent. However that certainly wasn’t the reason we travelled over 5,000 miles each way, Las Vegas is so much more than just gambling.
..........Hi Gary/Lea, superb reading and terrific post once again. Thoroughly enjoyed it and glad that you all had a terrfic time and a birthday treat for Lea that she will never forget, welcome back guys....:)
Your writing style is so nice to read, great work so far by the way.
Do you have a link to the £51 to £1,051 challenge? I cant find it.
glad to hear you all had such a lovely time.
(made that grind last year all the more worthwhile.)
if i was a gambling man,(which i'm not really apart from the poker,which i don't see as gambling anymore,just a way of making some money lol), i'd have a bet with you that you'll all be back there again some day...
but i won't take you up on that one,(and take your money),as i'm confident that another poker challenge you do,(maybe even the one you are on at the moment?)will once again pay a good deal towards another trip.
best wishes as always,
(* *)
^
ian
Thanks guys, here is the link for calcalfold;
http://tinyurl.com/a6x2j77