Flew in on Wed morning from Denver on Frontier flight 777, wondering what those supposed lucky numbers might portend for my 13th trip to Vegas. Got checked in at the Flamingo, and made my way down to the Venetian to play in their noon $150 tourney. 87 entrants and with 11 people left I call all in on the last hand of the 12th level when my A8 in the big blind is beat by pocket QQ in the small blind. Another guy goes out on the other table at the same time so we both miss the final table by one hand, and more importantly just one spot out of the money as the top 9 were paid ($10k+ prize pool). A great tourney that I will be sure to play again the next time I'm in town.

After 6+ hours of poker I got a quick dinner at Chipotle and finally made it to my room. Stayed in one of the remodeled GO rooms which are very nice and a big step up from their regular rooms. I head over to the TI to play in their 10PM tourney and play just terribly - didn't even make it to the first break. Just mentally spent, and tired, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. After a couple hours of black jack and Pai Gow poker I call it an early night as two friends will be flying in on Thursday.
Waking up before 7am I quickly lose $150 at black jack in a nearly deserted casino when I realize for that amount of money I could get a nice massage at their spa for less and it would last longer. Meet up with another friend, Mark, from Denver who arrives just before lunch so we make our way over to Planet Hollywood to play in their 2pm tourney. I make it to the 4th level when my string of mediocre cards and one bad beat no longer holds up. I played in their $1/2 NL game for about 90 minutes and left up about $25. After meeting up with Mike, the third and final person to join in for the weekend, we changed for dinner and went for sushi at Hamada, then walked to the Hard Rock. Finally got in a good session at the craps table, but still ended up down. Never could get in with a hot roller the entire trip. Head back to the Flamingo for a couple of cool down beers at Bugsy’s Bar before bed.

Friday morning after the breakfast buffet we head over to the TI for their 11am tourney. One friend had only played in home games, was a little intimidated, so he sweated me. There were a couple of young Brits at the table who made it quite fun. I make it to about 16th out of 34 entries, while my other friend Mark ends up winning it for about $550. Since it was just before 2pm we decide to sign up for that tourney too. The newbie does alright, but doesn’t make it to the first break. I do much better and finish in 8th (top 4 paid), but Mark finishes in second for $450 so a damn good day of poker for him.

After dinner that the café at Paris we head back to the P Ho, where truth be told there were hotter women than were at the Hard Rock the night before. Maybe it was just the day of the week, but holy cow! We then walked down to Monte Carlo which must have the lowest table minimums on that end of the Strip. We saw several $5 craps, pai gow and black jack tables which just amazed us. I made my way back to the poker room for some $2/4 limit. The room was nice enough, but it seemed like they were trying to be too classy. The paintings on the walls would have worked better if they were dogs player poker rather than some made up scene from the Victorian era with men in top hats and women in white gloves.

On Saturday Mike played the 11am tourney while I played some $2/4 limit. I was planning to play the 3pm $65 tourney at Caesars but got there after they had already hit their 50 player limit. They said they usually open the sign-up 3-4 hours before the tourney and usually sold out at least an hour before play started. Very disappointed, I made my way over to Harrahs to play in their 3:30 $60 tourney with a $40 add on. I got super lucky on my very first hand when my AK suited caught the river flush to beat pocket kings. I waited to take the add on till we hit the break at the 1 hour limit. I made it another couple of levels, but went out when my JJ ran into KK. Had dinner at the Strip House back at Planet Hollywood. Very good and prices seemed to be in the range of most of the other steak joints on the strip. After dinner we went back to the Monte Carlo because of their lower table limits and were not disappointed.

Sunday morning Mark took off to catch his 9am flight before I was even up. I packed up and made my way down to Mandalay Bay hoping to play in their 11am $50 Crazy Pineapple tourney, but they’ve cancelled it and made it a regular no limit tourney instead. I shouldn’t have played since it is not a very good structure. Instead I last until the second level when my A-10 loses to KJ when the J pairs on the flop. I make my way up to the MGM to get 2+ hours of $3/6 in before I have to catch a cab to the airport for my flight back to Denver. Overall I was down for the trip, happy with my tournament play early in the trip, and knocking myself for my play late in the trip. I expect more poker with the boys next year since it seems to be one of the only areas of the casino that is non-smoking, and if you play tight you may not get rich but you can certainly get drunk for cheap. Now I only have 345 days to count down till next year’s trip.