Note: When I first began posting TRs over a half dozen years ago they were
an imaginative and sometimes imagined description of a tourists� Vegas
adventures. Over time they have grown to include numerous destinations with
liberal details of video poker plays and now even live poker. It is a
curiosity that they now seem to me less relevant to more people. Skim or
skip as you like. There may come a day when even I don�t bother reading
them.
We booked the trip the same day I pulled the offer out of the mailbox. It�s
our first free junket offer --Free flight out of Chicago MDW and digs at
Harrah�s Laughlin, according to the mailer, based on my Caesars play. Nancy
and I enjoy the more sedate atmosphere of Laughlin as a change from our
usual LV getaway. It�s a gambling destination in the desert, but it still
has kind of a weird Dells vibe to it. Substitute, casinos for Tommy
Bartlett, desert mountains for verdant moraine and� well maybe that�s just
me. Anyway, I�m looking forward to a little jet skiing sandwiched in
between large slices of doing nothing in particular.
Several weeks later and a couple days before departure I�m extremely curious
to find out whether I am going to live much less make it to Laughlin.
Something nasty has had me down to about � speed and very short of breath
for weeks and several courses of antibiotics aren�t kicking it. The ER doc
gives me a diagnosis of viral bronchitis which is a darn sight better than I
was imagining. Upon learning that I was going to survive, Nancy asks the
doc whether I can make Laughlin in 2 days. Practical girl, my wife. I�m
taking a dozen pills a day and huffing albuterol like a degenerate aerosol
junkie, but I make it.
The Flight
It is a chartered Allegiant MD80. We have seats with additional leg room
just forward of the galley, but even the regular seats have better legroom
than the AA and SWA planes we are accustomed to taking. The flight leaves
late and makes an inexplicable stop in Des moines (Wichita on the way back)
for refueling. Delays aside, a pretty good flying experience.
The Hotel
Harrah�s is supposed to be one of the shinier pennies of the Laughlin
hotels. The tower 2 room we have is certainly better than the Edgewater
room we had last year and better than Harrah�s LV or Reno, but you aren�t
going to mistake it for a Bellagio room. It has a nice view of the river.
A bus and a small armada of wheelchairs (apparently we are the youngsters of
the junket set) is waiting for us when we deplane to take us to Harrah�s.
No messing with baggage as bags are taken from plane and deposited directly
in our rooms. No check in either. A girl with margaritas is waiting for us
as we exit the bus and we pick up our packet with room key, coupons and
players cards before we even enter the casino.
Harrah�s has a separate �family� tower and �family� pool, which is nice if
you want to escape the screaming pygmies. They also have a small strip of
beach on the river, which is kind of neat if 115 degree heat doesn�t singe
the skin right off of you.
Diamond lounge hours are something like 3PM to 9PM weekdays and a little
longer weekends. The lounge has a nice little patio over looking the river.
Grub was pretty unimpressive, but I often think that of Harrah�s lounge
fare.
Dining
We weren�t there long enough and I wasn�t in good enough shape to truly pig
out, but I made a stab at gaining back the dozen or so pounds I had lost in
the last few weeks.
Beach Cafe: The Cuban sandwich at the coffee shop was pretty good, though
grilled rather than pressed, so it was greasier.
Buffet: Eh, I am seldom impressed by buffets. This one had lots of lunch
dinner items out at breakfast and Nancy liked it. I tried the �breakfast�
sushi. Note to sushi chefs everywhere --Short grain rice wrapped around a
hunk of pineapple just doesn�t work. We used 241 ACG coupon.
Baja Blue Restaurant and Cantina: As a Chicagoan I am accustomed to having
a burrito as big as my head, but I made do with the carnitas fajitas. Not
bad for chain style Mexican fare and I felt in good enough health to imbibe
a margarita. Again, 241 ACG coupon used without incident.
The Range: Service was surprisingly slow at the Harrah�s high end
restaurant. Nancy�s steak was quite good, cooked as requested and her baked
potato was easily the size of my foot�. About a 10 �. My General�s chicken
wasn�t quite Asian (unless miniature vegetables make something Asian) or
spicy as billed in the menu, though it was moist and not overcooked. The
tempura artichokes were 3 whole big artichokes (hearts and stems) battered
and fried, strangely served with an au jus sauce. I�m a big fan of
artichokes and almost anything battered and fried, but this dish was just
not thought out. Most tables afford a nice view of the river. I�ll keep it
simple next time and stick to the steak.
Gambling
Ahh, the good stuff. I�ll first commend Harrah�s Laughlin for devoting what
I estimate to be about 1/3 of their floor space to nonsmoking and further
commend them for actually keeping some playable vp inventory there. Anyone
who thinks a nonsmoking casino would whither and die from lack of gamblers
needs to see Harrah�s Laughlin. The nonsmoking casino jumps and my lungs
especially welcomed the clear air this trip.
Poker
A long time vp player, I�ve been playing live poker since February and I
continue on that journey. I began playing mostly limit poker, trying to
grind out small advantages while learning, taking advantage of online
bonuses and occasionally playing live. My Lee Jones LL hold em manual is
falling apart from use and poor binding, but lately I have had an attraction
to tournament play. There is a certain purity in a cash game, but
tournaments are like coke in the 70s �They�re everywhere and damned
addictive. Maybe the holdem tournament is the new crack cocaine of
gambling� an allusion probably lost on all but the diehard vp player.
Laughlin is not exactly the nexus of live poker, but it is around. I still
felt like crap and was not inclined to do a lot of hoofing and investigating
options and conditions or even stray too far from my room . I took what
Harrah�s offered. During the week they offered one to two tables of $3/$6
limit hold �em w/kill. Nothing else. I stayed away from these as I read
somewhere that Harrah�s L rake was higher than normal for the area, and in
truth I didn�t have the energy for long hours at the poker table while still
knocking out some coin in on vp. They opened a $2/$5 NL game on Friday, our
last night. Almost took a seat at the NL table as I noticed some of the
same weak players at the table that I�d faced off against in the
tournaments, but I was pretty tired from 2 tournaments and vp play that day,
and decided my condition wasn�t good enough.
I played 4 small 2 table tournaments at Harrah�s during the roughly 48 hours
we were in Laughlin. I chopped with the chip lead in 2 of the 4. Players I
ran up against in Laughlin were generally tighter and more passive than the
ones I played against in Vegas. I didn�t ask directly, but I calculated
Harrah�s kept about 18% of the buy in for the $150 evening tournaments. I
much prefer the Paris and Bally�s method (and lower 10%) of posting the
administrative fee separate and up front.
Once again, any tournament prize over $600 rated a W2. This time when we
chopped my W2 was for the amount of the chop rather than the place money I
would have received if the tournament was stopped right then --Much more
satisfactory as I received a $1200 W2 for a $750 chop at a Paris tournament
in June.
The Harrah�s room wasn�t bad. It was in a separate room just off the casino
floor and quiet enough. Decent view of the river if the shades were up and
the sun wasn�t burning. No tournament clock, just a timer. Most of the
dealers seemed on top of the game, though one needed to be watched.
Of my last six tournaments I have chopped with the chip lead in 3.
Admittedly no great feat as these are 2 and 4 table tournaments, but still a
pretty surprising result for someone with no tournament or NL skills. Am I
really that good or are the people I am playing against really that bad. No
question. They are really that bad. So I am able to defend myself against
the weak, careless and feebleminded. I�ll take what I can get.
Things I have learned (or think I have learned), in no particular order, so
far about tournament play:
1)It�s like a cash game, but with artificial constraints of time, bankroll
and location that do and should affect the decisions one makes during the
game.
2) The art of the deal. My chops have shown me that there is an element of
negotiation that I did not think would be called for in poker. When you are
negotiating it is important to have a decent idea of what your chip stack is
worth in tournament equity and any other mitigating factor that might affect
what comprises a good or bad deal for you. I made one silly chop and a
couple of decent ones, but as I get more confident and if the competition
remains weak, I am less likely to chop at all.
3) Be aware. Be aware of your position. I won several small pots without
much but position. Be aware of your chipstack and the relative positions
and sizes of the chip stacks around you. It affects how you play your
cards. Be aware of player tendencies (maniac/tight/ passive etc.) and how
those tendencies are positioned around you. Be aware of the clock, and what
the blind levels are and will be relative to your chip stack and others. Be
aware.
4) Verbally announce your action and don�t be shy about asking what the
action has been before you. I have made several bonehead errors because
most of my previous experience has been playing limit and online.
5) Sometimes there�s a right time to do the wrong thing. In my last TR I
patted myself on the back for only getting my money out when I was ahead.
In much the same way that it makes sense in blackjack tournaments to
double/split to get more money out on the table because of your chipstack,
hands remaining or position regardless if it is the highest EV play for the
hand, it is also occasionally the right thing to do in tournament poker to
get your money out on the table even when you have a good idea that you are
behind. I was UTG with an 17K chip stack, 4 players remaining, blinds at
2/4K and going up next hand to 4/8K. I know I�ll have to put almost half my
chips in the BB next hand. I raise my K2s to 8K (probably should have
pushed all in right there) and would be really happy to just take the
blinds, second position pushes 16K all in and the blinds fold. This guy is
reckless and hasn�t needed much to push before, but it doesn�t take a rocket
scientist to figure that I am probably behind. I don�t want to, but I am at
least heads up this hand and the size of the blinds soon to come my way
force me to get my money on the table. I call. He shows A10o and I am
thankful not to be dominated. Flop comes 2 diamonds and an ace and I river
my flush draw to win and put me in the money and the chip lead. I�m almost
positive that even if I didn�t get lucky it would have been the right time
to do the wrong thing. I pat myself on the back this time for getting my
money out when I was behind. You�re playing the tournament, not the hand.
6) If possible, make bets that make calls unattractive for opponents if you�
re up against drawing hands or think you are ahead at the moment, but the
hand could be vulnerable. This is a power one doesn�t have in limit play.
I made an idiotic check raise in one tournament that practically begged for
a call when I should have pushed all in. It cost me the tournament. If I
thought real hard I couldn�t have figured out a worse way to play it and I�m
still kicking myself.
7) Try to see cheap flops early on when blinds are still small vs. your
stack size. Small pairs and suited connectors. Sometimes this is easy
and sometimes not. Depends on how aggressive the table is.
8) Limp with big pocket pairs at your own risk. As a limit player something
I don�t need a lesson on, but I have seen it done several times in my
tournament play.
OK, I could go on, but this has to be getting tedious to anyone bothering to
read this. The poker players already know it and the vp players don�t give
a rats� tuchus. Let�s just say I�m having fun playing poker and tournament
poker in particular lately. It�s finally time to crack that Harrington
book.
Video Poker
Nancy and I ran about 50K through the machines in 2 days. This may or may
not be enough for a future freebie trip to Laughlin. Time will tell. The
majority of our action was on the JB 50 plays, though we also played some
.50/1$ single plays. Nancy popped her first 4K royal and I was royaless for
the trip. Not even a nickel dinger! The first several minutes after our
arrival, while checking out the poker room, I noticed a new WSOP hold �em
based vp game from WMS. The 8/5 JB base game sucked, but I was curious and
threw in a Benjamin. I managed a 3000 plus credit hit, winning the �final
table� bonus round. Curiosity satisfied, I moved on.
I always forget the correct Harrah�s nomenclature, but we seemed to be
getting at least 2 comp credits for every tier credit we earned. If I�m not
mistaken, sometimes we were earning 3 comp credits for every tier credit.
Much better than we earn locally, but still nothing to get excited over with
Laughlin inventory unless there are good multipoint opportunities.
Inventory: I noticed a lone green glass JB slant top in the nonsmoking
casino near the drawing drum, 2 quarter/.50 JB slant tops facing window
nearest Range, several 1&2$ JB slant tops in a bank near the Range, 2 .50/$
slant tops on east wall near poker room, 2 nickel/dime slant top JB 50 plays
on east wall in nonsmoking casino and 2 a bit further down in the smoking
area. I wasn�t up to much paytable hunting. I�ll try to do a more thorough
inventory if we get another invite.
Our expected loss for 50K of JB action is in the area of $250. If that
works for continued junkets, it�s not a bad value for a freebie get away.
If continued invites require significantly more action, then it is probably
not a good enough value for us without some good bounce or other slot
benefits to compensate. Our actual results were better than expected.
Nancy netted a few K and, while I bled dollars at the vp machines, my fluke
hit on the novelty machine and my wins playing poker left me comfortably in
the black.