Kevin's Vegas Trip August 2026

  Weather in Vegas as I leave Check out this morning was 11 am, so left I bag with the bell-desk and headed off to the Venetian for a last session before departure. They formed a new table just after I arrived and it was mainly sober, and not very good, tourists. I won a few nice pots with big pairs and a nice bomb pot where I manged to scoop both pots from a nice lady who considerably overvalued her hand - a made straight on one board with no-draws. I finished the session up $364, which was a nice way to close before heading to the airport. I had another win there as I was asked to check in my hand-luggage for free as the flight is full. €150 saved over the holiday by avoiding checked baggage - even though I was prepared to pay the cost on this trip, as with various bits and bobs purchased the case was full and I was at the cabin weight limit (having established the case is also, marginally, oversized on the outward journey. Boarding starts in just over 1 hour, and I'll be home in...

I headed to the Venetian (yes, I'm a creature of habit - but it was hot and I didn't want to walk too far outside!) at about 8, and had decided to use my 'comps' to get a nice meal, for my last 'proper' meal in Vegas. Despite what google assured it, it turned out I wasn't able to simply present my card in the restaurant, and after first visiting the Casino Rewards desk, I was sent to Poker Room to get my voucher there - they really don't want to make it easy for you! Fortunately, in anticipation that I might have some issues, I had chosen the Grand Lux Cafe, which is immediately downstairs from the Poker room. That meant I didn't have far to go, and by the time I got back to the Cafe, my carbonera was waiting for me. Carbonera at the Grand Lux It was delicious, costing me $5 for taxes and tips, with $25 taken care of by the comps. Then it was upstairs to the poker room. Despite being registered, it took a while to get involved - but they set up a new...

For my last full day here, I elected to start the day in the MGM, arriving a litle after mid-day. The room was again fairly quiet and I got a seat immediately. One unusual feature of the MGM is they allow you buy in deep to their $1/3 game - up to $1000, and up to a few months ago, used to permit an unlimited buy-in. I don't really get it. If you're good enough to leverage a really big stack and play really deep, you'd be at 2/5 or higher in another room. If you ask me, most of the guys doing it (buying $1K in chips) just want to be Billy Big Balls at the table. I sat down and had one such character at the table, immediately to my left. I knew the drill and let him over-aggress on my good hands before smashing back with big raises. I probably took $200 off him in total, and eventually he moved to the other end of the table. One in the eye for the bullies! A few other deep stacks materialised during the day, but most were tourists with more money than game. I didn't get ...

  Back Street Boys An inauspicious start to yesterday as I had an upset stomach and decided to take a quiet day in my room, reading and snoozing. By late afternoon all appeared fine, so I left about 5:45 and made my way to the nearby Venetian. The place was mobbed, but thanks to their use of the Poker Atlas app, I was able to add my name to the list before leaving my room and got seated immediately upon arrival. The table was mainly tourists for most of the night and generally not too challenging. I was picking up my share of small pots, but it was taking a while to get going. I ended up staying for 5 hours, during which time I was in 4 big pots - winning one and losing 3. The first one saw three limpers and I, on the button, looked down to see beautiful AA. I raised to 20 and got 2 callers, going three way to the flop. 862 with a flushdraw was pretty good so I bet 40. One caller folded and the other raised to 80. I wasn't thrilled but there were many hands that raise there that I ...

After the bad-beat at the Bellagio, I left the table and after sitting for a few minutes to compose my thoughts and plans, decided I'd go for a walk, and visit an ATM - I'd perhaps been overly confident in spending winnings in cash for food, shopping etc, so after two losing sessions was a bit low. Most ATMs in the casino's charge ludicrous fees ($10 or more), so I decided I'd take a 20 minute walk to the Bank of America ATM in the M&M store - both to decompress and to give two fingers to the casino gouging! MGM Mission being accomplished I decided to go to the adjacent MGM poker room and play what would be one last session of the day if I didn't win. I wasn't making a third withdrawal this trip, so I was now on a ration. Bankroll swings are a part of poker, and overall I wasn't unhappy with the way I was playing - but that didn't mean I was just going to keep throwning money at it either! The MGM game the day before had been pretty soft, and yesterd...

Pagliacci Pagliacci is, reputedly, the most tragic of Italian operas, although if you asked my opinion, having to sit through multiple hourse of fat costumed singers warbling through some melodramatic excresences is tragedy enough. Life mirroring art, I was that singer experiencing the melodrama on Thursday night and yesterday morning. Venetian  After my last post I went to surroundings familiar. The table was nothing remarkable - a few locals, some tourists and a couple of Chinese kids. The latter turned out to be both native Chinese, but both had come to college in America. Both played that aggressive, large-betting style that their compatriots seem to favour. So be it, it can be turned against them. It was interesting to hear one of them talking about the college poker scene in his university (Urbana-Champaign) amongst the Chinese students. Absolutely mad stuff. Playing 25-50 no-limit with 10K and 20K stacks. There are either some very rich Chinese students (probably) or a very ...

One of the joys of travel is experiencing the way other cultures do things differently than your own. That doesn't stop you being able to criticise of course..... So, American Toilets - especially in public venues (e.g. casino floor) have two bizarre features The seat is U-shaped and sits quite proud/elevated (i.e. with a noticeable gap) from the porcelain rim The water level is extremely high Now I'm not sure what their poo-engineers had in mind, perhaps they want to leave room for a sub-aqua team to launch from the front of the bowl, or the option to retrofit a little padded shelf for gentlemen to rest their equipment. But it really doesn't match the biology. Raised seats with a gap are already a major risk for sniper-wee, but the damnable u-shape makes it like being an archer standing in the turrets of a children's castle. Given that biology dictactes that our sphincter muscles are significantly co-ordinated, a gentleman has little option but to take firm hold of his...

One of my favourite Rory Gallagher songs mixing the Piedmont style with some boogie-woogie piano style syncopation Tonights dinner was at the "Flour and Barley" pizzeria in the Linq promenade. I can heartily recommend it. Good wine and beer selection, excellent food at reasonable prices, and as a bonus had a nice little bit of music with a guitarist playing away in the corner. Not quite in Rory's class, but very listenable. I had the Calabrese. Deee-licious. Perfect Neopolitan crust, with fresh mozarrella, Italian sausage, chilis, salsa verde and rocket. Tonights dinner It is just after 8 pm as I write. I think I'll have a short rest, maybe read something, and then head to the Venetian for some poker and a beer or two!

  The MGM poker room Once upon a long ago, the MGM was not only the biggest casino hotel on the strip, but one of the most attractive - including their huge glass enclosures with live Lions, including the famous 'Leo' from the MGM studios movie lead-in. Their poker room too, used to be one of the leading venues, but no more. For reasons best known to themselves, they have not moved with the times and paid $2 per hour in 'comps' for players unlike most of the casinos - including fellow M-Life venues The Aria and The Bellagio. As such, I'd heard it is largely shunned by the local pros and grinders and the games consist mainly of tourists. Based on my experience today I'd say that is true. Like most other venues now they are doing one hand of double-board bomp-pot Omaha at the start of every 30 minute dealer rotation. They rake as much, if not more than other poker rooms (probably another reason the regs don't like it), but they offer lots of promotions such as...

  The Aria Poker Room I think I've played the Aria poker room about 5 times, and apart from cashing in a tournament once, every session I've played there has been a losing one. I'm not a believer in superstition, but sometimes its hard to wear that conviction! Anyhow I suited up today and went to the Aria this morning and I'm glad to say that I broke the losing streak. The session itself wasn't anything remarkable - the table had a few tourists (although they mostly knew what they were doing) and a few Vegas regulars, who weren't as good as they thought they were. I didn't really get much action on most of my decent hands and neither did I hit many draws. The wins I had were mostly small pots, with two exceptions. In the first there was an UTG raise, followed by a button 3bet (from a player who was tilting). I was in the SB and had AK, so I 4bet big and took down about $70. The other one was where I called a button raise in the BB with KJs - which I could ha...

The iconic fountains at the Bellagio After the bad beats at Caesar's, I decided to take a short stroll, before deciding what to do next. The Bellagio is one of the most beautfiul buildings in Vegas, and (by local standards) oozes class. In fairness, there are some aspects that are really amazing - the Venetian stained glass ceiling, the marble and gold decor, and the iconic fountains with their synchronized music display. As I was just next door and heard a couple in front of me talking about going to watch them, I decided that wasn't the worst idea and spent 10 minutes enjoying the show. I've always liked the Bellagio poker room too, and with time to have caught my breath, I decided to go to their poker room for a few hours rather than heading home for a 9 o'clock bedtime. The room was actually pretty quiest and I got seated immediately. I was interested to see that they (Bellagio) in common with Caesar's have brought in the double-board bomp pot Omaha on every dea...

Joe Louis statue in Caesar's Joe Louis was way before my time but anyone into boxing will know of him as a legendary fighter who inspired others such as Ali. Known as the Brown Bomber, he boxed in an era when fighters didn't make a fortune, so after retirement he parlayed his fame as a 'meet'n'greet' man in Caesar's, where the casino rightly estimated that it was worth paying him a handsome salary as people would want to come into the casino to shake his hand. Decades later, the darker and altogether mor tragic figure of Sonny Liston would do the same, before his untimely and suspicious death. I went back to Caesar's yesterday about 5:30. The room was surprisingly quiet, and I got seated immediately - and as it happened beside Larry from Chicago who'd played with before. The table was ok. An old guy from California sat down, and had a few interesting stories. Had boxed competively in his youth before giving up for a tennis scholarship to college. Aft...

I wanted to pick up a few nick-nacks as gifts, and also needed to get some more drugs (legal variety - melatonin tablets!). What better place to look than the emporium of tack in the tackiest city in the world. The self-advertised largest gift store in the world! It didn't disappoint, with everything imaginable from the acceptable to the most crass, and even a few things worth buying. Definitely worth a visit if you want some Vegas souvenirs. I managed to get a gaudy Vegas coffee mug with my name on it, so hopefully the mug scroungers and thieves at work get the message! We actually had some rain also, and thunderstorms are forecast for later. I managed to stay largely dry, and after completing the shopping hopped back on the Deuce heading for The Linq. I stopped at In'n'Out Burger on the way. $10 for a decent burger and fries; so shows that not everything in Vegas is a total rip-off. I treated myself to a nice cold beer to wash it down. Currently back in the hotel and it i...

As mentioned in this morning's post-breakfast dispatch , the plan was to play some more poker this morning, and then evaluate. Having finished breakfast I decided I'd also do some shopping for some gifts and the latest pharma requests from daughter number 1. First stop was the Venetian which I hit about 9:30 am. I decided to try out the Poker Atlas app - it allows you to register your name on the wait list remotely. Worked a treat and I was seated as soon as I arrived. Wizard of Oz display in the Venetian Given the time of the morning there was nobody drinking. One of the players (German I think) had been at my table yesterday and seemed solid. Most of the rest looked like regulars, but it emerged there were a few tourists. There was one local pro who I'd played with last year, but I remembered enough about him not to be worried. Things were slow to get started, but gradually I started to get a few hands. The first big one, I raised TT and got called by the button and big b...

The Wynn is one of the most swanky hotels on the strip, and as with such places, they deliberately make it hard to go places without passing lots of ridiculously expensive shops. To add to the joy, google maps has the poker room located in a different place than it actually is, so I had a lot of wandering through places like below before I actually found it: Typical Wynn Shopping The room was hopping when I arrived, the 12pm daily tournament was underway about an hour and had 4 tables going. Plus a lot of 2/5, 5/10 and various PLO tables. I had to wait about 20 minutes before they created a new 1/3 table to accomodate the wait list and then we were off. The table was a mix of a few tourists (in holiday mode - good!) and a bunch of regulars of various ages. There wasn't a huge amount of action, and the cards weren't really coming my way. I slowly bled chips with a variety of promising hands that didn't deliver, before one decent hand put me slightly ahead again. A mid positi...

Having started the poker element of the trip at the closest card room to me in Caesar's, yesterday morning I went to probably the next closest - The Venetian. This has often been one of my favourite rooms. The tables are spacious and comfortable, there are free help-yourself coffee and soft drinks, and the dealers are usually pretty good. The crowd there varies, but there are usually a mix you'd expect and hope for depending on the time of day. I forgot to take a picture, but here is one from t'internet which is actually the table and (one of the) dealer I had yesterday Poker at the Venetian Given that it was 10 am or so when I landed, I didn't expect much partying to be going on, but there was a guy drinking a corona immediately to my left, so not all bad. He turned out to be a fairly tight local regular, but he was a nice guy and we had some fun as we had many pots where it was checked to me, and as the Venetian don't allow a pre-flop 'chop', we would chec...

 I did promise a photo or video of the Sphere, so here it is: Not as 'Vegas' as many of its incarnations, but hey - that is what was onshow earlier this morning, so that is what you get! After breakfast I took the 15-20 min walk to the Venetian. I was under the impression that I'd have to upgrade my loyalty card but that doesn't seem to be the case. I played a few hours (I'll update separately on that), and then took another 20 minute (although turned out to be more like 35, as I couldn't find the poker room where Google Maps said it was!) walk to the Wynn. Here is a photo looking Southwards from outside the Veniatan. Looking South from the Venetian Again, a few hours there and then I decided I would go for some shopping. Given the price of any kind of snack etc, I normally buy some water and some basic food (bread, cold meat, cheese) so I don't need to eat out at every meal. I also had shopping lists for various people for various medications, ointments, dr...

D'Unbelievables used have a sketch about the GAA fans having their dinner at 9am to get a 'good run at the day' on excursions to Croke Park. Well in my case, last food was about 4:30pm Vegas time, before hitting bed around midnight. I slept well - the beds in the Linq are comfortable, albeit a Super-king size feels a bit unnervingly spacious! After a shower I went to one of the food spots on my list- the Hash House A Go Go, in the Linq. Their portion sizes are insane, the food is good and it is fairly cheap. A good way to break a 16 hour fast, and it'll keep me going till 7pm or so tonight. Here is my breakfast - A California Scramble with 3 eggs, bacon, avacode, chicken, bell peppers and cheese. Grilled potatoes, sour dough toast and some fruit round it off. $25 including tip. California Scramble I'm back in the room now, posting a few updates and digesting that breakfast. The plan for today is a bit fluid. I think I'll pick up a 3 day pass for the Deuce - the ...

So, as I planned in last nights update, I went to Caesars where I played for about 4 hours. Caesars poker table, first our. Up slightly As , the first task to try to suss out the other players. It was a full table - I was given the last free seat and seated immediately after arriving at the room. The first sign was that most people seemed to have a drink in front of them which is a good sign - usually more relaxed, fun and profitable. On my immediate left was an Asian looking guy, whose name began with M. Mitsubishi it is. Then a guy about my aged who looked like Lou Reed and had a big stack. Then someone I can't remember and a Russian guy, who'll we'll call Boris, also with a big stack. All on my left unfortunately - as you generally want to be acting after guys like that who look like they may know what they're doing. On my right were three guys who looked pretty relaxed - AJ from Carolina, Samir from Morocco and Larry from Chicago. I started cautiously, as I usually ...

Well, that was a long journey. Left the house at 10:30 am this morning, and it is 3:30am Irish time as I write this. It turned out that my carry-on was oversized, at least for the first leg. Nobody said anything while boarding, but the overhead bin wouldn't close 😉. The stewardess was very nice about it, and simply put it in a storage area at the front. The Dublin leg was a little taking off, and I wasn't best pleased that when we landed, we had to board buses and cross to the other side of Schipol. Nonetheless, I made the gate just after boarding had started, and on the advice of the previous crew made my way to the top of the queue to declare mea culpa on the leviathan travel case. It turned out I had been flagged for some extra checks, but fortunately no latex or back-rooms were involved and a few swaps later I was given the all clear. Good to have that relief - no-one wants to start a holiday with a positive smear test. The baggage bins on the 777 were a good bit big, and ...

And we're off! Arrived at the airport with tons of time to spare, which was just as well - KLM had moved my flight from T2 to T1. So a few extra steps banked! Getting my tickets took longer than expected as the KLM guy had to check my esta, which involved digging through emails and logging into the US site. Security had long queues, and I got some queries about my case, which it appears may be too big for carry on. We'll see when I reach the gate, but hopefully everything is ok! Had time for a quick pint to get into holiday mood, and this update. Flight to Amsterdam takes off in just over 1 hour, and I have less than 1 hour in Schipol, so I hope for no hassle their either! Due to land in Las Vegas at 6:30pm local time (2:30 am Irish). If I get some sleep on the flight, which I expect to, then I'll probably try and stay up till 11pm or so local time to get myself into the run of things. I believe Caesar's Palace has moved their poker room back to its rightful/traditional...