A point of view
Dec. 19th, 2005 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksSo, as I dragged my rather heavy Samsonite case out of the Flamingo in the general direction of the Venetian, I noticed a curious phenomenon. It was raining. At least, it was the Nevada desert apology for rain, which is an overcast sky pathetically spitting a few drops of moisture onto a drought-suffering landscape. The central reservation between the Boardwalk and Fatburger's is now covered with artificial grass. Even in Las Vegas, where money is no object, they cannot create water. Although I am sure that Rumsfeld and Cheney are hard at work demanding that God be categorized a war criminal for such a heinous activity in the face of the all-powerful United States.
The Venetian is nice -- palatial, even. But that doesn't stop the check-in process being a mire of bureaucracy 15 minutes long as the clerk covers all angles to make sure that you cannot sue them. This includes an explanation that, if you touch anything from the mini-bar, you will be charged an obscene price for it, whether you consume it or not. In the past, people took stuff from the mini-bar (or "snacks and amenities" section) and replaced them at one-fifth of the price via the not unintelligent move of going to a nearby mini-mart. The front of the mini-bar now also states that "for your convenience, items removed will be automatically charged". For your convenience? For goodness' sake, we know why this system was introduced, and we accept it, but don't treat us like we are brain-dead.
Oh, and the view is crappy. This is the downside of being a solo male. Just as you tend to be allocated tables in restaurants that are next to the kitchens or the toilets, so you get rooms with shitty views. I don't bother moaning, so I guess that the hotel has got it right. Couples complain more.
After the efforts of moving I had a nap, and so did not sit down to a game -- in the Wynn -- until 7pm. The walk from the Venetian to the Wynn is not a long one, but the pavement on one side is theoretically closed, while on the other, Treasure Island, side, it is three-quarters closed, reduced to a three-foot wide strip of sidewalk. Here you have an eight-lane highway, and the space allocated for pedestrians is two people (or, if you are from the American heartland, one people) wide. Madness.
The five hour session at the Wynn continued the "running bad" scenario. Keeping my online numbers in my head, I worked out that my plays, far from getting an expected success rate of around 30% when I raised (it's 45% online, but I'm allowing for the greater number of calling stations and the correspondingly higher reward if I win the pot) were hitting at less than 20%. I was about to leave when $200 down after five hours of pretty much constant misery when I hit AQoff in UTG+1. I raised and got two cold callers, plus one of the blinds. Flop came 689 rainbow. Check to me. I bet, called by the guy on my left and by the blind. Turn is a Jack. I bet. Both call. River is a deuce, no possible flush on board. I check. Both players check. I turn over my Ace high. Blind shows Ace-Seven for a missed straight and the old guy on my left slow-rolls me with seven-deuce for a pair of twos. Marvellous.
That makes me a grand total of $5 up at 4-8 after 70 hours' play. On the plus side, the Wynn game was incredibly soft, definitely weaker than Bellagio. Oh, and here's a great example of running bad. One woman, who played every hand (I can't remember what hand she beat me on, but it was something like T3 off to my AK on a board of Txxxx), was in the one seat. The four seat had a tight-passive player in it. The three seat became available. I snapped it up. Within a hand, the woman had left to play in the $8-$16 game(yes, believe, man, believe), while the tight-passive guy took her seat. He was replaced by the loose old guy who was eventually to screw me with that seven-deuce.
SG was half-right. Getting online at the Venetian was fairly easy. I eventually found the R-45 cable hidden behind the sofa. I clicked on Internet explorer and it told me to enter the registration key on my "welcoming fax". Unfortunately, I didn't have a welcoming fax. But the front desk gave me the code in seconds. And it's $1.04 cheaper than in the Flamingo for 24 hours' access.
The Bathroom
View of sleeping section from window
View of relaxing section from sleeping section
The Venetian is nice -- palatial, even. But that doesn't stop the check-in process being a mire of bureaucracy 15 minutes long as the clerk covers all angles to make sure that you cannot sue them. This includes an explanation that, if you touch anything from the mini-bar, you will be charged an obscene price for it, whether you consume it or not. In the past, people took stuff from the mini-bar (or "snacks and amenities" section) and replaced them at one-fifth of the price via the not unintelligent move of going to a nearby mini-mart. The front of the mini-bar now also states that "for your convenience, items removed will be automatically charged". For your convenience? For goodness' sake, we know why this system was introduced, and we accept it, but don't treat us like we are brain-dead.
Oh, and the view is crappy. This is the downside of being a solo male. Just as you tend to be allocated tables in restaurants that are next to the kitchens or the toilets, so you get rooms with shitty views. I don't bother moaning, so I guess that the hotel has got it right. Couples complain more.
After the efforts of moving I had a nap, and so did not sit down to a game -- in the Wynn -- until 7pm. The walk from the Venetian to the Wynn is not a long one, but the pavement on one side is theoretically closed, while on the other, Treasure Island, side, it is three-quarters closed, reduced to a three-foot wide strip of sidewalk. Here you have an eight-lane highway, and the space allocated for pedestrians is two people (or, if you are from the American heartland, one people) wide. Madness.
The five hour session at the Wynn continued the "running bad" scenario. Keeping my online numbers in my head, I worked out that my plays, far from getting an expected success rate of around 30% when I raised (it's 45% online, but I'm allowing for the greater number of calling stations and the correspondingly higher reward if I win the pot) were hitting at less than 20%. I was about to leave when $200 down after five hours of pretty much constant misery when I hit AQoff in UTG+1. I raised and got two cold callers, plus one of the blinds. Flop came 689 rainbow. Check to me. I bet, called by the guy on my left and by the blind. Turn is a Jack. I bet. Both call. River is a deuce, no possible flush on board. I check. Both players check. I turn over my Ace high. Blind shows Ace-Seven for a missed straight and the old guy on my left slow-rolls me with seven-deuce for a pair of twos. Marvellous.
That makes me a grand total of $5 up at 4-8 after 70 hours' play. On the plus side, the Wynn game was incredibly soft, definitely weaker than Bellagio. Oh, and here's a great example of running bad. One woman, who played every hand (I can't remember what hand she beat me on, but it was something like T3 off to my AK on a board of Txxxx), was in the one seat. The four seat had a tight-passive player in it. The three seat became available. I snapped it up. Within a hand, the woman had left to play in the $8-$16 game(yes, believe, man, believe), while the tight-passive guy took her seat. He was replaced by the loose old guy who was eventually to screw me with that seven-deuce.
SG was half-right. Getting online at the Venetian was fairly easy. I eventually found the R-45 cable hidden behind the sofa. I clicked on Internet explorer and it told me to enter the registration key on my "welcoming fax". Unfortunately, I didn't have a welcoming fax. But the front desk gave me the code in seconds. And it's $1.04 cheaper than in the Flamingo for 24 hours' access.
The Bathroom
View of sleeping section from window
View of relaxing section from sleeping section
Or replace with tea
Date: 2005-12-19 08:46 pm (UTC)Your comments on the single male traveller also remind me of the bewildered response of a waiter in the Seychelles in 1993 when he found I'd travelled there alone. "No wife? Why not?"
-- Jonathan (Sant Pere de Ribes)
Vegas
Date: 2005-12-19 10:39 pm (UTC)Well I have been following your vegas exploits and travails, and the inevitable question in my mind is when are you going to leave finance writing/research behind and go pro?
BluffTHIS!
Re: Vegas
Date: 2005-12-20 02:51 am (UTC)Another minus $150 in six hours today, as I patiently awaited, well, anything, to be frank. I managed to get Queens cracked twice and Jacks cracked twice in the first 40 hands or so, which sent me to minus $130 or thereabouts, and it was then a continued descent to minus $200, before I clawed a bit back when the table tightened up. I think that I won two showdowns in the six hours, although I also stole a few uncontesteds even though I missed.
Or maybe you mean pro as a travel writer. Hard work, mate. Give me the office and insurance any day of the week.
Re: Vegas
Date: 2005-12-20 03:24 am (UTC)On a more serious note though, are you finding it difficult to get paid off when you do have a good hand? If that is the case then perhaps you need to change gears occasionally and be seen betting and raising with draws and middle pairs with a overcard (if you aren't already doing so). This is of course a hard situation to get just right, since in tighter games you need to be able to steal more, which you seem to be doing your fair share of.
Anyway, I hope the cards run better and the fish are more abundant the rest of your stay.
BluffTHIS!
Re: Vegas
Date: 2005-12-20 07:44 am (UTC)Honestly, nothing is going wrong (well, not much) in the game. When I get my hands I am getting paid off in the loose games, while if the opponents are willing to lay a hand down, then I am betting that correctly as well. I've even been dodging bullets. It really is just a case of running bad. A couple of times today I made mistakes that, although they probably didn't cost money in total EV, were (in)actions that were a result of my bad results (see today's post). But in quite a few others, I've dodged bullets rather than walked into them. It may be hard to believe, but I've been saving big bets in the main, rather than wasting them.
There are times when you have to look for leaks, but there are other times when you know that you are doing things right, but the cards are not working. When it is the latter case, it's a mistake to try to force the issue.
PJ