Just to remind the faithful readers, Flynn and Ollie spent the Jolly-days in the fine locale of Clark County. Lest you forget, we didn’t actually go to Las Vegas, which is north of the ‘strip’ down by the Strat. Strangely enough, the critters have been here for 6 weeks and have yet to set foot in Fremont or the Arts District. Mental note to remedy that soon. Someone did a vlog on the El Cortez, and now we want to go maybe play some slots, have some food and earn some comps. Not sure why, but the vlog was good enough to make them want to do that. Sign of a good vlog, we suppose.
For those that are already missing the warm fuzzy feeling of the holidays:
Thursday, 28th of Dec went something like this: MGM Grand for some 1/2 nlhe with a friend for about an hour. This game has promos and the stakes are lowest in town without it being a limit game. What is awkward about this room is A) the parking B) it is shoved against a wall by a main walkway, much like the old Harrah’s room was, so all the smokers and lookie-loos are super close by and C) it is really dark That being said, if you are into promos and low-stakes, overall this is a good option. While Flynn normally avoids this particular type of game, he did manage to get lucky a few hands and win a bit of moolah before moving on. BTW, does any casino do 2/4 limit anymore? I think Golden Nugget used to, but have not checked on this recently.
Same day, Flynn and friend moved on to the Bellagio to play some 1/3 nlhe, no promos. The table selected was not as splashy as some of them can get there, so pre-flop limping was actually a thing. This is unusual for the Bellagio venue. Again, Flynn took a very small profit after about 2 hours, and they called it a day.
Friday, at the Wynn: The start of the NYE weekend was upon us, so off Flynn went to his favorite venue to fleece the tourists and partiers who were getting a head start. Good intentions and all that; the table was pretty chill (not overly splashy, didn’t play bigger than the stakes, and so forth). Flynn settled in for the duration. He nearly fell asleep at the table – huh? Oh yeah, bungled up rib/muscle relaxant taken 12 hours previously, who knew? Bring on the Wynn quality caffeinated beverages, please!
Flynn had once again neglected to bring a lunch. Instead he ordered a pizza from the Italian place. After years of playing there, he had no idea he could order tableside from Allegro – you just have to make sure there is a food-runner willing to do it. Anyway, this was a first for him, and as he was sick of the noodle and lobby bar joints, he was looking forward to something different. The pizza is ‘fancy’ thin crust with gourmet toppings, and difficult to eat at the table due to shape and lack of melted cheese to make the toppings stick. So, yeah, it was good, it was not a poker-table pizza. Bummer.
10 hours later..
Flynn finally leaves. That is the problem with this poker room; it is too comfortable, even if the food options are not optimal. Oh yeah, he lost a bunch of his Flynn-funds as well. Almost two buy-ins. WTH? Followers of this blog know the reason from the last few write-ups. He didn’t pack his lunch!!! Seriously, is this a real thing?
Saturday, Bellagio – the last poker session of 2023: 2/5 was the usual game of choice, and Flynn managed to score a table with his peeps. This was a crazy swingy session, duration almost 8 hours, where he was down over 2 buy-ins at one point, during which he ordered food table-side. We know how that will turn out. However, sheer grit and determination he pulled himself up by the bootstraps and managed to eek out a WIN of almost half of a buy-in. Okay, this did not cover the losses from the Wynn/Encore the session previously, but still, it was a profit. Add food to that, and Flynn considers it a double-win, lunch myth busted?
Side notes at Bellagio that day: 1. Flynn got a star-photo with Jesse Sylvia 2. Tried to apologize to Brad Owen about the op-ed, (seriously, GOOD JEALOUS) but is not sure he succeeded (we have his pix on the wall already) and 3. Friend CA slayed the 1/3 game there – he crushed it.
Ringing in the New Year: Flynn and Ollie opted to avoid the strip at all costs. They went for a hike in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area which was longer than they were led to believe – ouch. (That’s a good ouch, btw). Later that night they went to the South Point for their first ever NYE celebration. Yeah, they have not been to a NYE event since … no clue, at least 30 years. The Spazmatics were playing/entertaining, there was an open bar and open food. It was SO MUCH FUN. The band played til 1 am, and F&O danced the entire time. Between the hike and the dancing, the Google Fit nearly broke.
The first poker session of 2024, took place at the Aria on Wednesday, the 3rd of January (it took a couple of days to sober up). For some reason, as Flynn was walking past the room there, he diverted inside instead of continuing on to the Bellagio. It just sort of happened, it called to him. Lured him inside. To play it safe, he did not order food. He literally bumped into Michael Mizrachi (sorry, no photo). He stayed for 5 hours, playing 1/3, and more than doubled his buy-in. Whew!
Friday, the 6th Jan: Bellagio for the usual 2/5 session. Flynn coincidentally ran into Lightning, a friend from AZ who often just crushes Flynn in home games or drunk poker. He was also there at the same time as CA, who did not fare as well as he did previously. Flynn dutifully packed his lunch (a chicken sandwich if you must know), stayed for a mere 3 hours before taking the win for more than double is buy-in. Woo hoo! Notes about this game: This was not a table of Flynn’s usual peeps, although there were 1 or 2 players with whom he was familiar. This was an angry table: big pots, suck outs, big bluff attempts, men losing to women, players rebuying max and shoving next hand, you could cut it with a knife. One guy ran though 3 full buy-ins in 20 minutes on utter tilt. Flynn sat back and watched the testosterone fly, and picked his spots very, very, very carefully. This is not in any way shape or form a dis about men (Flynn is a boy, his handler is a female that plays like a baller). It is a comment about these 4-5 particular players, one of which got sideways with a cocktail server when she wouldn’t bring him water outside of her normal rotation. Assjerk. Those ladies are busy and hustling (usually), be polite to them please, and thank you.
Time to wrap up this trip report, Flynn hopes you enjoy reading his commentary and adventures. Flynn, Ollie, Erin and Jeff wish our readers a healthy and entertaining 2024.
A quick reminder: check out our star pictures, poker parking, and poker swag pages! You can find them on the menu. Duh.
Fin
Flynn