WSOP Las Vegas 2017 - Trip Report - Jhiym

Tuesday June 6th:

Viva Las Vegas! This year I took my Mom with me on my WSOP trip. We flew out of BWI just after 1pm on Southwest and arrived in Las Vegas around 4:30pm and got a cab to the RIO. We had dinner at the Bar and Grill place at the RIO and then she went and played slots and I went to the WSOP area and registered for the $1500 HORSE event for Wednesday. After registering, I had a look around and found my table and seat so I could easily find it the next day. This year we started in the Amazon room and my table was on the outer edge next to the spectators / isle. Easy to find. Seemed like a lot less going on and fewer players than previous years, but still exciting. I play slots for a little while then off to bed.

Wednesday June 7th:

WSOP $1500 HORSE Event:

Breakfast with Mom at the grill next to the sports bar, then off to the WSOP area. I met up with Bob Lauria and we walked around a bit waiting for the Amazon room to be opened. I buy a WSOP coin for my collection and we get some water. The room opens and we find our seats and wait. A few minutes later Greg Raymer comes in and we chat for a bit while waiting for the tournament to begin. Finally 11am arrives and we Shuffle up and deal!

This is it! The year I win a bracelet! All I have to do is beat out over 700 other players. I start well, winning hands in all the types of poker played in HORSE, a few hold'em hands go well and by the first break I take my starting stack of 7500 chips to over 10k. We get to Stud and I have three to an Ace high club flush right away. The guy at the end of the table is also chasing a flush with diamonds. What he doesn't know is my second highest club is a King. We take turns betting aand raising and by 7th street we both have Ace high flushes. Then I show my King and he shows his King. My next highest club is a Jack which beats his 9 so I win. Whew!

The cards go cold for a while and other break and then another two levels. I still have a nice stack and we are closing in on the dinner break, my first goal in sight. We are now playing Omaha 8. I am dealt 2234 so I play. flop comes A29. I bet and I get a call. The turn is a K. I bet and get a call. The river is an Ace, giving me a full house, 2's full of Aces! Finally the Poker Gods are with me and we are about to go deep! I bet, he raises, I reraise and so does he, so I call. I show him my boat and then he shows me his quad Aces. I am down to a few chips and eliminated a few hands later in Razz.

Harrah's:

I find my Mom playing slots and she's having fun and winning free games enough to keep playing on their money. We have some dinner at the RIO Buffet and then decided to see somewhere else so we catch the shuttle to Harrah's. At Harrah's, I enter the 7pm $100 evening tournament. The poker room is small and the tournament tables are cramped right against the wall. There are a bunch of guys from Germany playing and they are all aggressive and have bad cards. But they end up having the cards against me and I am out after about 2 hours. I walk over and checkout part of the Linq and then walk back to Harrah's to find Mom and head back to the RIO.

Thursday June 8th:

Sam's Town

Today we head east to Sam's Town to try a locals place. I play in the $30 10am freezeout tournament. Everyone knows everyone else but me. Seems the first hour is limit hold'em. I get dealt Aces and bet and get callers all the way to the river. One of them was chasing a straight and got there on the river. I end up getting eliminated before we get to the no limit portion of the tournament. We get some lunch and play slots for a while then try Bingo for 2 sessions. It was neat and fast but we end up not winning any games.

Palace Station:

We catch a cab to Palace Station just north of the Stratosphere. We have some dinner and then I find the poker room. It's a smaller room with two tables going and they never have tournaments. So I play some 2/4 limit for a while. There is a drunk lady at the table who just flew into Vegas and has no idea what her cards are but she's calling every hand and showing 26 offsuit and the like at showdown. She's gonna wake up tomorrow and wonder where all her money went for sure. She asks the older guy next to her where he is from and he says "Canada". She looks confused and says "Why?". And he laughs and says "Well I didn't have a choice, that's where my mother had me". A few hands later she asks the same guy next to her where he is from. Ok, I've seen this movie, time to cash out. I go find mom and play slots for a while. I win over $700 on Willy Wonka and another $300 on some Red Chilli Pepper slot. She wins some on a Lightning Zeus game.

Friday June 9th:

Mandalay Bay:

We catch a cab to Mandalay Bay and have breakfast. Mom wanted to see where they filmed the TV show Las Vegas, starring James Caan. I play in the 11am No Limit Hold'em tournament. Nice poker room. The dealer has been dealing for 17 years so naturally he knows more about poker than the rest of us and gives us all lessons whether we want them or not. Play comes to me and the blinds are 100/200. I throw out a $500 chip after saying I call. The dealer stops play and says to me that I don't need to say anything, the fact that I threw one chip is enough to know it is a call. Fshuh! Oh really, are you sure? Because this is my first tournament you know. Thanks for the tip." A few hands later I throw out a $500 chip and say nothing. So he looks at me and says is that a call or raise? So I say "Well its a single chip call but last time you told me not to say anything". Then he stopped giving me lessons. Final Table woo-hoo! Ok, we started with nine and have a few rebuys, but still. Eventually, I get down to 6th and bust out, not enough to make it to the money.

Oh dealer, do I need to tell you I am out or will you get that part when I walk away? :)

Excalibur:

We take the tram to Excalibur and play slots until dinner where we go to see the Tournament of Kings Jousting Dinner. Fun show based on Merlin and King Arthur. There is a little person dressed as the Court Jester who is dancing and flirting with the maidens in the show. He was as fun to watch as the jousting. Mom isn't winning on the slots here so after dinner we head back to the RIO where I play in the 9pm Bounty tournament and win two bounties but bust out in 8th outside the money.

Saturday June 10th:

The Orleans:

Today we headed to the Orleans, my Mom and Dad's favorite place to play in Vegas. She felt right at home and I went to play the noon tournament, a $130 bounty. This turned out to be the largest tournament of the trip besides the WSOP event. I play well and kept a good stack moving in the right direction, I busted a few poeple out and collected some bounties along the way. I then get Aces and AK 4 times in a row, twice each. I bet and get zero callers, but I collect the blinds and keep playing. Later I get AK and shove all-in instead of just betting and this time I get a caller with a pair of nine's and I get no help on the board and I am out in 17th place which is in the money so I got a cash and two bounties. I collect my winnings but forget to cash in my bounties so I bring home a bunch of extra $5 chips from the Orleans.

New Bathroom Laws in Vegas:

During the Orleans tournament, we reach the first break so I head to the men's room near the poker room. While at the urinal, a security guy walks in and over to the stalls and raps on the stall door. A guy that sounds just like Cheech Marin in the stall says "I am in here."

Security Guy: What are you doing in there?
Cheech: I am taking a shit, what do you think?
Security Guy: Well you've been in there a really long time, are you ok?
Cheech: What the hell Man! Is there a time limit for taking a shit now too?

Then I left. The security guy walks out behind me and radios in to HQ that he told the guy to wrap it up. I guess calling the clock has a whole new meaning now in Vegas poker rooms. :)

South Point:

We then catch a cab to the South Point casino and the cab driver stops on the way so I can get a picture of the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. At the South Point we get dinner at the Steak and Shake and then I play in the 7pm tournament. I register late as the Orleans tournament took a long time to finish, but I only miss about half of the first level. Another nice poker room and cheap $55 tournament. I play for about 2 hours and then bust out and play slots for a while before we head back to the RIO.

Sunday June 11th:

The Mirage:

Today, we get a taxi to the Mirage and have some breakfast at the buffet. Then we go to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and see the White Tigers for a while, a Vegas tradition for me. Afterwards, I play in the 11am deepstack tournament. The Mirage has a new remodeled poker room that's pretty nice. I make it about half way through the 60 player field and bust out.

MGM:

We catch a cab down the Strip to the MGM and play slots and have some dinner. Then we go see David Copperfield. I got us tickets months before the trip and we were in the 3rd row, center stage. Mom was worried that David Copperfield would pull her out of the crowd to participate in the magic tricks. He did walk down our isle a few times to do tricks in the crowd. One trick, he threw a nerf frizbee and whoever caught it would be his next assistent. It was heading right at my Mom, who ducked just before it hit her and it hit the lady behind her. Almost! It was a good show. David Copperfield was a lot more down to earth and normal than I expected. It had some funny bits too. Why did I use his first and last name three times above? It just sounds right with both pieces I guess.

My Jenny:

We headed back to the RIO. It was about 9pm so I walked down to the WSOP area to see what was happening. Both big rooms had some tournaments going and across the hall they had the TV table and a few tables for tournaments about to make it to the final table. The Seven-Duece 10k event was in that room and down to about 5 tables. All the players were on break. I hung around thinking that was one of Jen Harman's best games and maybe she was still in. Sure enough with about 2 minutes left on the break, Jen walked in and was heading to her table. My heart started pounding, the cracking Peter Brady voice kicked in and I asked her if I could get a pitcure. She smiled and said sure. Yes! But there was no one around so nobody to take the picture so I had to attempt a selfie of us while being nervous and her break ending. I got the picture but it's blurry and I look like a goober. Guess I can't help that last bit. She is still perfect though!

Monday June 12th:

Downtown / Fremont Street:

Our last day in Vegas so we took a cab downtown to Fremont Street. I decided not to play poker at the Golden Nugget or Binion's and just played slots with Mom all day. We started at the Golden Nugget, then Binion's, then the Four Queens. I won $900 on a Fire Horse slot machine game when I got free spins and filled the screen with all wild symbols 3 times, $250 each for those. Biggest win of the week for me. After that we played at the Fremont, The D, and then The Plaza and then headed back to the RIO.

I played in the evening tournament at the RIO one last time this trip. I knocked out 4 people and was rolling. Then I started calling all-ins that had smaller stacks, but kept losing those. I busted out 5th, just two from the money.

Tuesday June 13th:

Uneventful flight home and drive from the airport. Kitty was waiting by the door when I finally made it home around midnight. All is well.

Recap:

1 Week in Vegas
16 Casinos
9 Poker tournaments
1 tournament cash
1 cash game
Jen is still perfect!