Summer of Tournaments – Day 25
After a short break over the July Fourth holiday, it’s back to the Summer of Tournaments. I left San Diego very early and arrived in Las Vegas at 6AM. I made a quick stop at the M hotel to see if there was any free play on my card. Before the M was sold to the Argosy Group a couple of years ago, I used to regularly receive mailers with free rooms, free plays, free buffets, and free logo gifts. It was, for a while, considered my “home casino.” However, since the sale, all of this is gone. First the rooms—gone, then the gifts—gone, then the two free buffets turned into one and the last six months—gone. Now, even my monthly miniscule $10 free play—gone.
The M Resort, south of the Strip is no longer on the must visit list
The M still is a beautiful casino and though the poker room has been turned into a tournament center and the buffet no longer serves breakfast, it’s still worth a short visit. They’ve changed their machines around but still do have a bank of full pay Aces Bonus machines. Alas, no more free play so there really is no longer a reason to come back; I put in a $20 just to keep my card active, and lost.
I then drove on to Sam’s Town where I’ll be staying for the next couple of nights. Once again, the comp nights come with a $10 food credit. I’m meeting Martin, who is also coming in for a couple of days, a little later. I sat down and played the 9/6 Jacks progressive and after an hour cashed out for a $25 profit, which I used for the $23 poker tournament at 10 AM. You might remember that I’ve been playing in about four of these the past few weeks and losing within in the first or second hour. However, this day I finally made it to the final table and then the final three. I was second in chips, but the leader was quite a bit ahead of us and agreed to chop the money (It was almost three hours by this time) as long as he got a bonus. We agreed he’d get $200 and the other player and I received $120 each.
I got a text from my grandchildren’s aunt Mary and her dad, Ed who are in town and would be coming to meet me to play in the 1 PM poker tournament, which has a $35 buy in and a $10 add-on. Mary is seven months pregnant but she loves to play poker and ready to play. We all bought in and the game began. After a couple hours, Ed lost holding pocket queens went all in but ran into pocket Aces (my usual story). Mary and I worked our way all the way to the final table. I began as the short stack, but my experience at the recent Planet Hollywood tournament taught me to become more aggressive here, not to hold back hoping someone would go out. The tournament pays the top four. I began bluffing a lot of pots when the time was right and catching a few good hands as well. Soon, with eight people left on the table, I had the second most chips on the table. Mary’s chip stack was beginning to dwindle and I suggested to the table that we could chop. The chip leader and I were about equal and I suggested the table give us a $30 bonus and everyone else would get $150. Everyone agreed and I made a tidy $180 win. That’s a total of $300 (minus the $68 buy-ins) going my way. It’s not much money, but certainly elevated my confidence in the game.
Ed had brought a couple of Las Vegas Advisor coupon books, which had twofers in them at the Sam’s buffet. Martin joined us and even though the coupon says on the back that one person must pay cash, they accepted my slot points. It’s Friday Seafood night, and though I am not a big fan of Sam’s Town buffet, this time around, it was excellent. They serve large plates of steamed crab along with sushi, shrimp, oysters, and many other fish dishes along with the usual prime rib and other dishes. I think it’s the best buffet Sam’s offers, though also its most expensive, but with the coupon and points, it’s a great deal.
I said my goodbyes to all, got my room and called it a day. It was time to catch up on some sleep.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 16 Cost: $244 Won: $2150 Balance: $1974
After a short break over the July Fourth holiday, it’s back to the Summer of Tournaments. I left San Diego very early and arrived in Las Vegas at 6AM. I made a quick stop at the M hotel to see if there was any free play on my card. Before the M was sold to the Argosy Group a couple of years ago, I used to regularly receive mailers with free rooms, free plays, free buffets, and free logo gifts. It was, for a while, considered my “home casino.” However, since the sale, all of this is gone. First the rooms—gone, then the gifts—gone, then the two free buffets turned into one and the last six months—gone. Now, even my monthly miniscule $10 free play—gone.
The M Resort, south of the Strip is no longer on the must visit list
The M still is a beautiful casino and though the poker room has been turned into a tournament center and the buffet no longer serves breakfast, it’s still worth a short visit. They’ve changed their machines around but still do have a bank of full pay Aces Bonus machines. Alas, no more free play so there really is no longer a reason to come back; I put in a $20 just to keep my card active, and lost.
I then drove on to Sam’s Town where I’ll be staying for the next couple of nights. Once again, the comp nights come with a $10 food credit. I’m meeting Martin, who is also coming in for a couple of days, a little later. I sat down and played the 9/6 Jacks progressive and after an hour cashed out for a $25 profit, which I used for the $23 poker tournament at 10 AM. You might remember that I’ve been playing in about four of these the past few weeks and losing within in the first or second hour. However, this day I finally made it to the final table and then the final three. I was second in chips, but the leader was quite a bit ahead of us and agreed to chop the money (It was almost three hours by this time) as long as he got a bonus. We agreed he’d get $200 and the other player and I received $120 each.
I got a text from my grandchildren’s aunt Mary and her dad, Ed who are in town and would be coming to meet me to play in the 1 PM poker tournament, which has a $35 buy in and a $10 add-on. Mary is seven months pregnant but she loves to play poker and ready to play. We all bought in and the game began. After a couple hours, Ed lost holding pocket queens went all in but ran into pocket Aces (my usual story). Mary and I worked our way all the way to the final table. I began as the short stack, but my experience at the recent Planet Hollywood tournament taught me to become more aggressive here, not to hold back hoping someone would go out. The tournament pays the top four. I began bluffing a lot of pots when the time was right and catching a few good hands as well. Soon, with eight people left on the table, I had the second most chips on the table. Mary’s chip stack was beginning to dwindle and I suggested to the table that we could chop. The chip leader and I were about equal and I suggested the table give us a $30 bonus and everyone else would get $150. Everyone agreed and I made a tidy $180 win. That’s a total of $300 (minus the $68 buy-ins) going my way. It’s not much money, but certainly elevated my confidence in the game.
Ed had brought a couple of Las Vegas Advisor coupon books, which had twofers in them at the Sam’s buffet. Martin joined us and even though the coupon says on the back that one person must pay cash, they accepted my slot points. It’s Friday Seafood night, and though I am not a big fan of Sam’s Town buffet, this time around, it was excellent. They serve large plates of steamed crab along with sushi, shrimp, oysters, and many other fish dishes along with the usual prime rib and other dishes. I think it’s the best buffet Sam’s offers, though also its most expensive, but with the coupon and points, it’s a great deal.
I said my goodbyes to all, got my room and called it a day. It was time to catch up on some sleep.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 16 Cost: $244 Won: $2150 Balance: $1974
