All,

Shares Magazine journalist Geoff Ho is off to the bright lights of Las Vegas next week to chance his arm on the card tables out there.

Geoff is an avid poker player and plays in regular tournaments, and now the action in Vegas is beckoning for him.

MoneyAM Poker Room has sponsored him to see how well he can do, and Geoff will be posting regularly on this thread to keep you all informed of the highs and the lows of Las Vegas life.

Will Geoff make his fortune and be sunning himself in the tropics after his week in the US? Or will he return down at heel?

Will he sink? Or will he swim?

Find out with Geoffs diary on this thread starting next week.

Viva Las Vegas!!

How long will he be out there for?

Gausie,

He leaves tomorrow and will be back on 4th April

Ian

I'm going out at the end of the month, much fun will be had.

Scrip - I'm there last week in April - I always think its a bit chilly in March.

I meant to say end of April, I am in the US for a few weeks and will be drifting past Vegas as my dad is out there around that time doing the Grand Canyon bit. I am coming back second week of May.

I'm going to Brighton Pier next week. Wish me luck.

Careful Kayak - I always think Brighton is a bit chilly in March.

Rhyll tends to be Bracing as well

Skegness for me early April. Bracing even on a summers day.

Skegness Butlins Tonight. For Me.

Clacton Pier next wednesday,sea fishing for me.

lol

Does he need a caddy to stash the cash & wipe his brow :)

Wimps. Thurso in mid summer is usually baltic!

You lot will go anywhere.
Being a Yorkshireman, still living in Yorkshire, I have no need to travel. I reside in Gods own county, that no other place on Earth can ever be as beautiful as.
The desolation of the moors, the history of York, the cosmopolitan Leeds, the beauty of Whitby and the tranquility of the Dales on my doorstep.
I suggest a winter mornings ramble on Otley Chevin or a lazy summers day in Richmond. Granted, both are bloody freezing, but why go anywhere else?
Okay I admit it, I'm going to Mexico in June, but only to remind me how luck I am to be out on the Pennines in winter.
Alan

HA - I agree.

How can the grand canyon even begin to compare to the majesty and grandeur of the cow and calf on Ilkley moor?

And the beers better

the weather aint

Beer? That ain't beer! ;-))

Yorkshire - a fine place to pass through was always my thinking. ;-)))

If it were the worst beer in England (and its not) it would still be better than that weak Yank crap.

Can I just add JOSEPH HOLTS :-)

ha6 - so true. You can't get a hit from a bucketful over there.

Iain - I guess you can, but I'm unsure why. ;-)))

Hello all

Geoff here. Finally landed in Vegas (Sunday, 26 March 20:32 western time) after an amusing night in LA (I stopped over there first for the day as the flight was about 150 quid cheaper than a direct flight) where many a beer was had and I mugged $120 off a pissed student over a few games of pool. The cocky SOB had the nerve to think that us Brits can't play pool. Well he got a good hiding I tell you.
Also had an interesting night in the Bycycle casino in LA - played a few hands of texas hold'em before I realised than none of the people there knew how to lose with dignity.
While I'm on the subject of dignity, my pet hate at the moment is the US customs and border control service. Its moto includes the words "respect", "courtesy" and "professionalism". My @rse.
Walking through LAX I presented my passport at immigration. I was slightly concerned when the customs agent in front of me looked at my passport sternly and then called his supervisor. The supervisor looked at it before breaking out into giggles. Apparently they found my passport photo funny. If recall correctly, the words were "you look like you just stepped off the boat. pissed." No wonder everybody hates them.
Tomorrow (Tuesday back in dear old Blighty) I'm heading off for a $22 dollar buy in tournament at Stratosphere. For those of you that play poker online but have never really played in a real life competitive tournament before, this is the place to start, rather than going to Bellagio and playing for a minimum of $500. The other thing to note is that Bellagio has a dress code, so those of you planning to go there need to bring smart clothing if you fancy playing there.
The weather out here is great, T-Shirt weather great. As in 68 degrees at a minimum. The only thing I would say is bring a jacket. It was a little nippy when the sun went down. Right, I'm off to a pub called the Rose & Crown. It's a Disney-fied version of an English pub (think JDW but really, really tacky), but it does show the footie so I'm off to watch the tape of Man Utd versus Birmingham. Vaya con dios.
Geoff

Inflict as much pain on the Yanks as possible Geoff.I bleedin Hate them ;-)

Geoff. The Sahara also runs tournaments which I thought were well run. Cost is about $40-$60 dollars from memory - not as much as the Bellagio, anyway. And about 70 entered when I was there. Very enjoyable. The nearby Hilton is OK, but not many enter.

My wife and I had a meal in the Stratosphere - expensive but good and well worth the money for the experience.

Geoff ,go and see some boxing if you get the chance ,you can't beat Vegas for a fight (except the York Hall Bethnal Green) , iv'e seen many there over the years ,but as a young broke man i bought a ticket to Marvin Hagler v Tommy Hearns for the World Middleweight Championship in 1985,,it was my life savings , but probably the best and most exciting night of my life .

The day did not start well. I got back from the Rose & Crown late. 4am late. A very shot nap followed before I started the day's gambling at 9:30. First stop was a local casino (I'm staying with friends who live about 40 mins drive from the strip) called Sunset Station. I thought a nice, $18 tournament playing against just 29 other people would be just the thing to ease me into the day.
I went out within 20 minutes. My problems were three fold: 1) I was still inebriated from the night before, 2) I had no decent cards and 3) when I finally got something resembling a decent hand (ace 10 off suit), my straight by a skinny runt who managed to turn his two pair into a full house thanks to the river.
After that I ventured to the Monte Carlo, with mixed results. On the bright side, I finished third in a $50 dollar no-limit hold'em tournament. On the other hand I got sweet FA for my efforts, while the winner got $400 and the runner up got $70. Drat.
While mulling my options, I decided to have a go at video poker. Mistakenly, I thought having a decent knowledge of odds and being a fair poker player would allow me to make some money from it. Turns out the games are all fixed in favour of the house. I ended up losing something like $80 while my friend Adam, for just $20 ended up winning $200 when he flopped a royal flush.
Still the session ended on a brighter note when I went to the Excalibur. I paid $20 to play limit hold'em and left with $60. By the time I ventured into Excalibur I'd recovered fully from the previous night's excursions. This leaves me confident of being able to produce better results from tommorrow.
That said, tomorrow's gambling efforts will be delayed by Arsenal vs Juventus. The game kicks off here at 10:45, so it'll be late afternoon before I even begin. And to everbody that has left suggestions on this thread, thanks. I'll keep them in mind when I'm out and about.

Do not play poker if a) inebriated, b) tired, c) tired or d) tired. lol.

I'd be interested to know whether you have a basic technique - Very conservative, conservative, aggressive or extremely aggressive... or whether you play mixed as you feel at the time.

Go all that way and play for peanuts man!! What's up with you!! Thought Mike sponsored you to play poker not kids stuf! On that note, and if I were sponsoring you, you'd play poker not watching football or out getting pissed!!!!

Mr Euro: he is on hols!!

Are there still pros out there, working shifts - the one's who sleep through the day so they're fresh to fleece the tourists and the, er, tired and inebriated, at night?

Hmmmmnnn.
The day started on a sour note as Arsenal beat Juventus, much to the delight of the dozen or so Arsenal fans that I was in the Crown & Anchor with. A short cab ride later and I was back in Excalibur playing limit hold'em, which went really well at first.
To answer your question Maggot, I usually play a fairly tight game, which worked very well at Excalibur. I started with $50 and turned it into $400 within about 2 hours simply by playing tight and betting strongly on the button.
You would not believe just how stupid some people are or just how laughably weak their starting hands are. For example, I held pocket jacks and flopped a jack, 8 and a 3. An eight appeared on the turn and my opponent thought he had it in the bag with his two pair, eights and threes, so he bet big. I called. nothing came up on the river so I check raised him. At the end of it he expressed surprise when informed that three of a kind beats two pair.
I should have quit at $400 but greed got the better of me. The pros start coming out to play in the late afternoon and tangling with them was not a good idea as I did lose a couple of hands. The people I played against weren't famous like Doyle Brunson or Phil Hellmuth, but they were effective. I only played a few hands against them and in the end, I consider myself lucky to have walked off with $330.
After my success with the poker I decided to hit the video slot machines. Bad move - I lost $100 using my mate's "fool proof" system. Still, I'm up for the day and off to watch Boston Legal on TV.
Tomorrow's gambling activities will be delayed by a rather more important match than Arsenal's minor tie with Juventus. Watching West Ham get beaten by the one, the only United takes priority over everything, including gambling.

PS: It's raining in Vegas and just turned cold. So much for that sunny holiday thing. Bah.

Geoff. I see now that you are playing cash games as opposed to tourneys. The great advantage with tourneys is that you know your maximum loss before starting, of course, which makes it ideal for non-experts. I had assumed that cash players were very much better than average - obviously not!

Do you play tourneys?

Bullie??

"MoneyAM Poker Room has sponsored him to see how well he can do"

UNITED! UNITED! Watched United's win over West Ham in the pub, which put me in a great mood today. After the game I headed to Luxor, where I came 16th in a $35 a head tournament, just outside of the money. But that did not spoil my mood - United had won afterall.
After that, I went back to Excalibur and the cash games. Despite playing solid poker I was down $80 within an hour thanks to some very, very fortunate river cards for my opponents. That necessitated a change of pace on my part and I started playing super-aggressively. That seemed to do the trick and soon I had recovered my money. Still, I was happy because United won and that's what matters.
Fast forward to after dinner and things turned for the worse. Whoever made invented video poker is on my death list. The guy who invented slots is a new addition to said list. I dropped $200 on the slots. Not good. If I ever see a slot machine again it'll be too soon. Ditto for video poker.
That leaves just poker and I'm determined to recoup the money I lost elsewhere. Somebody is going to be on the receiving end of a beating tomorrow.

Probably you with that attitude ;)

You're a bit slow to learn, Geoff, that slots and video poker require no skill whatever and are weighted in favour of the house. I spent 10 days in Vegas last year and did not go on a single slot! The reason is that I know I am not excessively lucky - and you need to be to win.

Still, as long as United won (I presume you are referring to Manchester United) that's OK. They will be really grateful for your support.

Don't think much to your last remark, though. Being determined to recoup the money places you under unneccessary pressure. All you can do is to play the cards you have the best you can. Whether you win or not on any particular day is in the lap of the Gods.

Lecture over. Have a good day, now! :>)

Yes. As long as United won, then that's OK. Because that's what matters.

Sheeesh............

Respect? Not.

(Either for Geoff Ho and his attitude and skill for playing poker or towards MoneyAM for sponsoring him).

What do others think?

I think he's young and impetuous. And he is on his hols. And he is being refreshingly honest with his reports. So any criticism must be made with that in mind.

I think as a fan of the Salford red sox, he should feel at home being a Man Utd fan that far from old trafford. ;-)

DocProc,

It is supposed to be a fun diary piece from Geoff - he is actually on annual holiday, and we asked him to take time out from his own holiday to post a few light hearted comments on his trials and tribulations in Vegas, for which we have sponsored him(beer money).

Sounds a lot like me when I was his age.

I am willing to do a swop and rerun it :)

Ian

And here's me thinking it's an 'all-expenses paid by MoneyAM' trip to Las Vegas.

Am I daft or what?

:-)

Lost 10p today on one of those games where you try to get the 2p coins to fall over the edge. Things went from bad to worse when my crane picked up the teddy bear and then dropped it. Decided to retire for the day.

Kayak,LOL :-)

Kayak you can hedge against that ,a hard shove should get the 2p's flowing out ,,then move away swiftly when the alarm goes off and let those teenagers take the blame.

Geoff,

Trust you do NOT try to play the mother of all hands [in-joke from previous Shares staff poker game]. The Yanks won't be as forgiving as we were. Next Wednesday I expect my 500 back or you'll be ramping Arsenal for the next ten years.

Shares ed

Doc, I made the same mistake in thinking he was being sponsored.

Now we know it's a holiday it's something different! Good luck kid and keep us posted.

No footy tonight so he should do OK.



Let's watch ths space, eh?

Sponsorship doesn't mean 100% of everything. So obviously, if Moneyam are paying his beer money he's going to drink a lot of beer! Makes sense to me.

I think some people should lighten up !!

The United comments are tongue in cheek i would guess so take them in the mood they are expressed .

The only thing i would question is playing slots and video poker when there is real game waiting to be played .
Better to lose at the table than drop money pushing buttons when you know it is stacked against you .

Jerry - the "mother of all poker hands" (aces over kings, full house) actually helped me come third in a tournament at Luxor today. I started the tournament, which was $35 a head, badly, as nothing came my way and my stack was slowly being eaten away by the blinds. Fortunately, the mother of all hands came up and I soon trebled my stack and knocked out a really obnoxious Texan in the process.
After that it was a regal procession to the final table, where I eventually came unstuck pushing hard with a straight to the king. My opponent had the ace and won it when he got the queen on the river. Still I managed third and made $400 in the process.
Feeling flush with success, I decided to head on down to Caesar's Palace and play no-limit hold 'em. That was not such a smart move. I played $300 no limit for over four hours and all I had to show for it was a piddly $20 profit. Nothing came my way and like this morning, my stack was just being chipped away by the blinds and antes. I got lucky when I managed to flop three tens, which was the start of my come back. I eventually got my money back when my prayers for a heart flush draw came true and the 8, 4 and king made my ace high flush. I decided to stop playing after getting my money back - after all, I started playing poker at 8am and played for nearly 12 hours.
Having spent four days doing nothing but gambling, I'm going to take the day off tomorrow and do a bit of sight seeing, present shopping (for that Arsenal comment Jerry I'm bringing NOTHING back for the office!), etc.
My next forray will be on Saturday in the morning after I've watched Man Utd versus Bolton (on at 6 am in Vegas), which will see me try my luck in one of the daily tournaments at Binion's Horseshoe Casino, where they hold the world series of poker.

Geoff

Ay, you've got some stamina, mate!

Are you still playing Geoff? In case you didn't see United won again.

Sorry for the delay folks. A lot of things have happened in Las Vegas and unfortunately, fate has not been kind to some of my friends here.
Despite my desire to not do any gambling on Friday, things did not go according to plan. I went to see Rent on Friday at Paris and it was the WORST excuse of a musical I've ever seen. No plot, no fun, average music sums up Rent and me and my friends Adam and Fiona walked out at the interval.
Feeling very annoyed at having forked over $70 for a ticket for that travesty of a show, I decided to play $50 no limit hold'em at Paris. I really should not have played - your game goes to pieces if you are a) drunk, b) tired or c) angry. I was most definately c after watching Rent and so it came as no surprise that Paris was unkind to me. Nothing went right at what is a very nice, welcoming poker room. When I threw away garbage like 6 4 off suit, those cards would inevitably form things like straights, full houses, etc thanks to the flop and turn out to be the best hand. When I bet heavily with things like pocket aces, somebody would win with three 9s. That was very annoying.
Then came the ultimate distraction - a simply stunning girl (she couldn't have been more than 23) sat down at our table and I have to say it was very hard to ignore her perfectly shaped assets, which were packaged in a very skimpy outfit. She cleaned up. I did not play a hand against her but the men who did paid attention to her instead of their game. Unsurprisingly, she won a stack of money byt not one of the guys on my table complained. There were all trying to get her number.
Nothing was going my way so after an hour I decided to leave with a $35 loss. To compound my misery I won and then lost $100 on the blackjack.
Saturday was a different story. It started with me watching Bolton vs Man Utd on pay per view at 6am at my friend Adam's house. Once the game finished, it was back to the Casinos. I came fifth in a $50 a head no-limit hold'em tournament at the Excalibur which netted me $200. Things just kept going my way. I'd have solid starting hands - at the very minimum I start with ace-10 and even if the flop held nothing for me, people were betting so weakly that I could afford to see the turn and river cards, which for some reason, all seemed to go my way. I ended up beating one guy with four 6s thanks to good turn and river cards! Eventually, my luck ran out when I went all in with a pair of jacks only to be confronted by a pair of queens.
At that point I met up with a few friends from London and New York and we started playing $50 limit hold'em. I made $340 thanks to my tight play and habit of only betting on the strongest hands. I cleaned out a guy called Tim, who is on the coaching staff of the Kansas City Chiefs american football team. He seemed to think that betting big on the blind would scare me off. It didn't because I had pocket aces and ace, five, nine came up on the board. Tim went all in (he was down to his last $20) and had a pair of kings. Nothing came up to help him and I took the last of his money. This carried on in a similar fashion with a number of other victims. NEVER in my life have I seen so many weak poker players in one place. These guys play anything, be it low cards off suit, rubbish like two 3s or 6 and 7 suited.
After that we went drinking in the bars and clubs around the strip and at about 1am I got a phone call from Adam telling me he and Fiona - my hosts in Vegas and long-time friends - were having marital difficulties. Rather than go back to their house and interupt their arguments, I spent $250 on a hotel room. I spent most of Sunday in the bar by Excalbur's pool with my mates sunning myself. Apart from taking advantage of the excellent weather, I gather that my absence has lead to my friends having very serious, but necessary discussions.
I've only just arrived back at Adam's following a $90 cab ride (my friends live very, very far away from the strip) and the upshot is that a fair chunk of my poker profits from Saturday have been eroded.
In summary I'd say this - Vegas is a fun place to visit, but the slot machines and video poker will kill you. The casinos know this and do all they can to make sure you stay regardless, hence the free drinks and snacks. In fact, had I had the common sense to ignore the slots and video poker, I'd comfortably have enough to have paid for the flights out here and most of the drinking I've done. This hard won wisdom will never be forgotten.
I'm calling it quits now and I'm heading back to LA tomorrow. The fact is that I still have money and I'd like to do something other than gamble and watch two dear friends rip each other to shreds. As much as I'd like to say something, common sense says never get in the way of a fighting couple. Also, I'm looking forward to going back home and seeing my girlfriend.

Geoff

$250 for a room in the excalibur????????

Casino rate there is about $80 for a tower room. It's one of the cheapest hotels on the strip.

Wine, Women and Song - looks like you've had trouble with all three!

Thanks for the narrative - and yes, your friends must live a long way from the strip of it's a $90 ride! The lady poker player sounds as if she knows how to win... distraction is the name of the game.

Can I go Moneyam? :-)
Drinking competion in Vegas, sounds good