Recon Mission part 1

So we set of to Vegas for a 10 day recon mission. The plan was to get out and about in Vegas and to see a lot more of the place than just the strip itself. So many people just dont realise the size of the city or just how many people do live there. As i said in previous posts Vegas like most of America has a troublesome housing market, but that said they are still building brand new homes at an amzing rate. Ahouse build before 2000 is considered old. We even went to see a house that had been build in 1985 and the estate agent described it as ancient.

With the collapse of Maxjet it was back to Gatwick to fly once again with Virgin. I so prefer flying from Stanstead but this is no longer an option and as it goes to the trip to Gatwick went without a hitch and soon enough we were in the air (during the wsop we flew direct on Maxjet, for some reason we had a stopoff in iceland). The flight went pretty quick well as quick as a 11hr flight can go.

We stayed in Treasure Island a hotel i had stayed in before and quite like. I consider it in the 2nd tier of hotels on the strip but is the best price of those hotels with a great location. I managed to get out and into the poker room at the Venetian and i played for a couple of hours before I decided enough was enough for my first night and it was time to get my head down. A loss of $167 wasnt the best way to start the trip but it felt good to be playing poker in Vegas again and it has been a long time since i have played any nlh cash.

We had landed at McCarren about on Friday afternoon so the play was to get out and about on the strip and play some poker over the weekend and then hire a car on Monday and get out and start seeing some houses. After my early night on the Friday im up and out of the hotel room for 6am and Im walking down a cold and windy Las Vegas Blvd anxious to see how the cash games were looking at this time of the morning.

On previous trips i was a regular in this game at this time. 1/2 the time cos i would be stuck the other time cos im sick. I walk into the Venetian (my hotel of choice) and discover 1 2-5 nlh game in progress. I get my players card swiped (they pay you $1.50 p/h to play in there games which you can use to buy food). So totally refreshed and ready to play i sit down with my $500 in chips and get ready to win back the loses from the night before with hopefully some more on top.

There is a hand going on while I stack my chips and i find myself stuck between 2 young americans who are argueing over who has drunk the most and about the fish that have taken there chips and hit and run through the night. Straight away im making mental notes on the players at the table working out what i can get away with and against which players. The 2 drunks have about 2k and 1k in front of them and i know this will be a good chance to make so money.

I get myself into a pot with the louder of the 2 americans after about 45 mins, my stack has already increased from 500 to about 800. He raises from mid postion and i smooth call with AhQc round the back. The flop comes down queen jack four with 2 hearts, he puts out a continuation bet of $75 my read was that he had missed the flop but his cockyness has meant he was betting out no matter what I decide to flat call allowing him to hang himself later on. The turn comes the 10h and he bets out again this time $150. So I now have top pair top kicker with nut flush draw and nut straight drawand I decide there is enough in the pot to snap it off and take it down. I considered the fact that he could of had AK and had hit his gutshot on the turn but I thought the flush might even cause him concerns. I move all in and in an instance he turns his hand over and puts a chip on top of his cards. This is not a rule im in favour of but in vegas you are allowed to reveal your hole cards to get a reaction from the other player. He show 1010 for the turned set and starts talking to me to get a reaction asking me what i think of his hand. He has to call just over $500 he has been getting beaten up all night and i had found out he was in for $4000 total for the night. Confidentally i put my 2 cards side by side an i offer him the choice to look at 1 of them. Ideally he will turn over the Ace of Hearts which means i could have the made straight or a flush but istead he picks the Queen. Straight away i get a speech Oh what a mistake it is showing me a card my mate does that move all the time you have a set of queens this is an easy pass for me now im drawing to 1 card if you had the straight of the flush i would of called to get lucky with the house up but now i have the under set against you i fold. He mucks and tells me triumphantly to show the rest of the players at the table my other queen. I turn over my ace, the dealer rabbit hunts the river which is the remaining 10. As you can imagine he went on ultratilt did the rest of his money in the next 30 mins and the game broke as soon as he left. So back to the room by 8am and time for breakfast.