Vegas Day 3 recap

Went to RA Sushi for lunch at the Fashion Mall (across from the Wynn).  The food was better than I had expected (chain restaurant) and the prices weren’t too bad (compared to those of other restaurants in the area).  Afterwards, went to MGM Grand to play poker ($2/$5) no-limit for 4.5 hours.  The competition at MGM Grand was probably the worst of the three casinos that I’d visited.  I was worried that I was playing too tight early on (J,6 offsuit is not a hand you want to play to a preflop raise of 7x the big blind).  I’d call a 15-20 dollar raise preflop with something half-decent hoping to flop a monster but never materialized to anything more than a fold on the turn.  Was down 200 or so after the first couple hours.  The weird thing was, when I started getting better cards (A,Q) and flopped something, the players usually didn’t back off as they’d keep calling my bets.  I guess none were astute enough to realize that I was only playing premium hands or if I was still in a hand that meant that I had something (because this was a loose table, it was more ‘correct’ to play tight than loose).  Ironically, it was these two girls who at times soft-played each other that picked up on it.  However, because I saw one of these girls whisper to the other girl after I’d just won a big pot (i presumed one girl was telling the other girl that if I bet out that meant I had it), I knew that the next time I was in a hand against them, if they checked on the turn or river, I would bet out 3/4 the size of the pot and they would fold.  And that’s exactly what happened.  These girl were horrible players (we kept saying they were “fearless” as a euphemism), yet they would put bad beats on the other players (one guy flopped a set and one of the girls made horrible calls to runner, runner, flush his ass).  I guess people didn’t seem to mind losing money to eye-candy with big breast implants and nosejobs (my guess is that they’re either A) was a Hooters girl at the new Hooters casino nextdoor, or B) stripper/centerfold, etc).   They both ended up being the big stacks at the table and I was so so waiting to bust ’em as I had position on them.  But I had to head over to the Wynn for the dinner buffet.  I ended up making $4 bucks at MGM Grand (i was up $200 with an hour left but decided to chase some flushes–the implied odds were too great considering that these fish couldn’t fold!). 

The dinner buffet at the Wynn was very impressive.  Every dish they had there (and there were A LOT) could be a dish at any good restaurant.  They had pretty much everything that you could wish for:  Some Chinese (awesome fried rice, mongolian beef, noodles, etc), Thai, Italian, prime rib, lamb chops, salads, king crab, desserts, etc.  It cost around $40 bucks a person after tax but it was well worth it.  It’s the same price as Bellagio’s Gourmet Dinner Buffet but much, much better, IMO.  I’ll definitely go back to the Wynn for the buffet again.

Overall, I accomplished my objectives in Vegas (in order of importance):  1) Spend time with people I haven’t seen in awhile, 2) Eat good food, 3) Poker.  Though I would’ve liked to have made money at the tables, I know that if I had played more, I’d be in the positive since the quality of my cards would regress towards the mean and these people can’t fold.  Definitely won big with #1 and #2, so all’s good.