My First 10 Days in Las Vegas

This is a an old post from another website that I don't use anymore, so I've decided to post it here. It describes my first week or so in Las Vegas, from late May into early June '05.

....My name is Max and I am a professional poker player. I grew up mostly in the Boston area and went to Umass Amherst on and off for 3 years. After one year at Umass I had to get away and so I went to California to "find myself." After two months there I was a little bored myself, so I decided to head into Mexico.....well now, thats a whole other story which I will not get into here. I spent two months there and then headed back to Boston and back to Umass, where I continued my "education" for another two semesters. This past winter, the night before I was leaving for my 5th semester at Umass, I found out that they had kicked me out for a semester because of my grades in the fall. Holy fuck! What now? Well, I got a job as a cook in Needham and started to play online poker almost religiously. From about late March into early May, I made a lot of final tables in a bunch of tournaments and took 1st place in 3 of them. As the wins kept piling up, I knew my job at the restaurant was on its last leg. Then my grandmother died and when I got back from the funeral I gave my two week notice at work. My last day of work was about May 7th, and looking at my bank account, which was hovering between 6k-12k, and my 21st birthday on the 22nd of May, I decided it was time to move to Vegas and try and take over the poker world, or at least delve inside that world and to see what came of it all.On May 23rd I got on a plane headed to Las Vegas. On the flight I sat wide awake for 6 hours just staring out the window, thinking of what my life would bring in Vegas. Passing over the Rocky Mountains and the flat terrain of the middle of the country I thought to myself, "What the fuck am I doing???"I got into Vegas, went to my room at Binion's downtown, showered and relaxed for a while. I then decided to check out the poker room and ended up making about $350 at the 1-2NL tables. Good start, no?The next day I ventured out into the sweltering heat of Vegas in the summer and headed for The Mirage. My father is friends with one of the people that runs the poker room and so I went and introduced myself, then I went and sat 1-2NL and bought in for $200. 12 hours later my stack had grown to about $1,500. The table switched over to a 2-5NL game and the action got a lot faster and more intense.40 hours later, still sitting at the same table, my stack, which had grown so big that I could barely see over it, I had turned $200 into $5,700. Talk about a good start in Vegas.Over those 40 hours I met some amazing people and I still see and chill with a lot of them now in and around las vegas. The night after my 40 hour session, and just after I had slept for 14 hours straight, I headed over to the Bellagio. When I got there, I found out that the 2-5NL game was a $200max. so I ventured over to the other desk that is in charge of bigger games and was told there was a seat at the 10-20NL table. Now, for those of you who do not know, 10-20NL is one of the highest of no limit cash games. The only cardrooms in Vegas that really have 10-20NL are Bellagio, Wynn, and I think the Palms sometimes has one. It is a very intense and extremely tough limit to play at.So, I bought in for 1k and in 4 hours of play I left with $7,000 in my pocket. Holy fuck! 6k to the good at the Mirage and another 6k at the Bellagio! Insane, amazing, unbelievable; I could barely fathom all this money that was now mine. AMAZING!!!!!So, in under 100 hours I had gone from 1-2NL to 10-20NL. My bankroll had grown from 6k to all of a sudden 18k?!?!?!?!?! I was lovin' it! I mean, this is what I came here to do. I said it before flying out to Vegas: I was coming here to do one of two things.....explode or go bust. I was exploding!

....................

So, I leave the Bellagio up 6 grand...fucking unbelievable. I mean, its just money, and thats just it; its not entirely about the money, although the money is amazing....its the fact that I sat down at one of the highest No Limit Holdem games in Las Vegas and raped it. Mind you, that was about my 4th time ever playing poker in an actual casino.Anyways, I'm up a shitload of money and lovin' it. I get a new room at the 4Queens, which is also downtown. Pass out for what felt like an entire day. I go back out the next day, chill out with a buddy of mine, Justin, and go play some more at the Bellagio. I play a long session (maybe 10 hours) and end up dead even; in for 5k but break dead even. Then, the 10-20nl game breaks and the only NL game available is the 25-50NL. Fucking hectic stakes. Even the Bellagio rarely has a no limit game this high. I jump in for $5,000 and whatdoyaknow im bust within 2 hours. FunFun!.....I'm steaming, and I have a quick chat with my pops and then I hear about a 10-20NL game at the Wynn, so I roll. I sit down with some crazy heads with REAL money. On the first hand of the table, three guys push allin for about 2k a piece. The winner flops a flush with 6 4 and cracks a guy with kk and 55. I'm laughing my balls off. I'm only in for a grand and these savage are tossing around dimes like they're pennies. Well, I cant remember everything that happened that night, but what I do know is that after about 8 hours of playing I am up $10,000. Yup, thats right, i have turned a profit of 10 thousand dollars in an 8 hour period, completely wiping out the 5k I had lost earlier and sending me home with a fat wallet.Now im busting! C-notes as far as the eye can see. Shit is real!I sleep like a baby and the next day I roll back to the Wynn feeling like a million bucks, literally. I put in a 30 hour session this time and at one point in the session im actually up about 15k! I later went on to drop about 6k back to the table, but I still left the Wynn up about 9k. Can I really complain? During this session I actually played in a $17,500 pot, and won it....

More Positives

So, in addition to that 2k I won last night, I chopped up a PotLimit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament on PokerStars today for 1k. Not too much money, but yes indeed the rebuilding of the BR has really started to pick up....


My Dad finalized the deal to publish one of his 3 books on the black panthers. It'll be coming out within the next 12 months. I'm psyched for him. Congrats Dad.


It's been a long day, g'nite...

MAX

"Comin' up I was confused, my momma kissin' a girl...." -50 Cent

Won 2k in the 15-30LHE game at the bellagio last night. Fuckin'A, maybe things are looking up. Gotta get that bankroll back on track.

OH YA, my car is coming into SanDiego next week, amazing! www.scion.com, its the TC. So, i'll be going out there to pick it up and maybe chill in LA for a day or two.

Met a good friend of Scott Fischman's the other day, dude's a beast.
Saw Phil Ivey at the Bellagio last night, he's a goddamn beast.

My buddy Amos won a 24k pot the other day in the Bellagio 10-20NL game, congrats to him.


Aight, I gotta get going.

MAX

The Times They Are A-Changin'.....

So, a few updates:

#1: Jake left---very extrenuating circumstances, but he'll be back, ya, he'll be back

#2: Stopped playing 10-20NL, my bankroll is shit....I basically have horrible money management and didnt play cards seriously for about 1-2 months and just spent too much of my money; fell out of my groove....I've moved over to the 2-5NL and 15-30 limit games, which, sadly, are going just as poorly as the 10-20NL, although the losses are easier to take.....money is only money, but it is a nessecity, especially in this business. I am dangerously close to the felt but hopefully things will be looking up soon. Can someone say 40 hour work weeks coming soon??? Oh fuck.

#3: Sarah, a good friend from UMASS, said that she is going to move in with me within the next couple months---that would be amazing....

#4: Trying to sell my car; my new one should be arriving into SanDiego within the next month

#5: Playing a lot more poker, lower limits obviously, and trying to hit the gym 5 days a week.

#6: Learning, thinking, and improving life one step at a time-----Vegas is a very tough place to be legitimate (maybe Sasha (squanto) will be the only one to actually understand this statement)).

#7: Like Big Pun said, "I just lost a 100 pounds, I'm tryina live."

Los Amigos Son Familia

Well, its been a while since ive spit any kind of knowledge on this thing.

It's been a pretty fuckin' wild few weeks. Lotta shit going on, well for me at least.

I was in Boston with friends and family a couple weeks ago. It was an awesome trip. Got to see everyone back home and rageitup cause every fuckin' cat in the bean is now 21, which is sick. Basically chilled all day and partied every night i was home. It was a blast for sure. Hadn't drank that heavily since umass. Anyways, it was a great time seeing everyone back in the bean, although i was pissed that powers and wegs were on their own little roadtrip, but, whamado.

So, I flew back to Vegas around the 23rd of August. Got back, had a few days to myself to get everything back in order and whatnot. Tried to play a little cards......well, that didnt go so well; dropped a buyin at the 10-20nl at the Bellagio (but again, whamado). Deadass, I pour my fuckin' heart into a lot of these big games, and when I lose, it is straight crushing sometimes. Obviously when I dominate and win some dough, the feeling is completely reversed, but as of late, my luck/play/cards have been pretty nil at best.

So, Josh and his girl Margot flew in and I scooped them at the airport a few days after I got back into Vegas. We hung out for a few nights, boozed, chilled around town, chopped with his brother+his wife. Definitely a good time, hadnt seen my nigga josh in a few months; good to catch up and shit. Then Jake flew in from Denver a few days later (him not arriving with his car and without ruslan is another long ass story). And the same day, Brooksy and his girl, Lindsay, flew in from Boston on their way to Hawaii, but staying at my spot in vegas until their 48 layover was up. So we all went out that night, got shitty, the usual good times. Jake yuked and passed out, which would happen again the next night for that little beast. So, me, jake, brooks, and lindsay hung out for the next day or so and then they headed on to Hawaii, leaving me and jake in vegas dolo (margot went home, vegas went to cali). Then, on top of all these heads being here, an old friend of Jakes from Brookline, Julia, and some of her friends, were here for a few days staying at the Mirage. So, obviously more raging ensued with these chicks, went to some bars, a cool fuckin' club called Tabu in the MGM, and got real fucked up for a few more days.

Well, everything has calmed down significantly over the past couple days. It's now just me and Chuck in Vegas, who was/is currently getting a job. Its been a struggle for the kid but hes about to cop some waiter job or some shit. Aaaaaand, well, my father flew in from Boston on Sunday, so I've been chilling with him the past couple days, which is real amazing cause I wont see him probably until thanksgiving.

As you can see, its been a whirlwind of people and places and heckticity the past few weeks, but things are finally settling down, me and jake are chillin', im getting back to the Wynn cardroom where it still feels like home (the Bellagio is still raping me, financially that is, so I figure on taking a long break from there). Gotta rebuild my bankroll, which is sliding downwardly way too fast, but im not worried. Hey, I built it up like a motherfucker before, just gotta do it up again. Heart and balls motherfuckers, and maybe a little strategery.

P.S.---Me and chuck are probably moving to SanDiego around Nov. 1st, if everything goes as planned


P.P.S.---My folks are buying me a car (how this came to be is another long story, but lets just say that on top of everything else my current vehicle is an absolute shitbox), it should be ready for me to scoop within the next month.....its a Scion Tc, ya ya i know what ur thinking but ur wrong, its a sick car, check it out www.scion.com

P.P.P.S.---There aint much depth to this whole fuckin' blog thing as of yet. To tell you the truth im not really sure why im writing this shit, because as many of you know I already do a lot of writing myself, alot of which I probably wouldnt share on a website, but I hope to actually begin taking this blog more seriously and actually write some entries of real meaning......well, coming soon i guess



Goodnight