I’ve enjoyed this site for some time, but this is my first trip report. I used by blackberry to take notes during each game, which helped me remember details but also resulted in this being long. I hope everyone enjoys it and feel free to provide feedback so I can make my future posts even better.

Day 1
This was first trip to Vegas without my wife since I got married a few years ago. We usually make it out to Vegas together at least once a year. The occasion this time was a bachelor party and 8 of us were flying in from Baltimore and staying at the Monte Carlo. Although my buddies were flying in on Friday night, I flew in Friday morning in order to head a head start on poker.

I had a pretty uneventful flight in from the east coast. I connected through Philly and had the unfortunate pleasure of being surrounded by drunken 50+ year old women from Philly going to Vegas to party. The stewardess did her best to poison them all with Vodka but it only made things worse.

Other than the drunken shouting all around me the flight was uneventful and upon arrival I was VERY HAPPY when I got sent to cab stand #8, as that is my lucky number. Cab driver was nice and didn’t long haul me which I appreciated. Not wanting to waste time checking in, I dropped my bags off at the bell man at Monte Carlo and got some grub at Rubios before hitting the tables. Fresh Mexican food is a great way to start a marathon poker session.

-Aria +$32
My first poker room on the day was pretty underwhelming. Aria was certainly new and the chairs were comfortable, but the table didn’t have much action so I left after an hour. The only hand of note was when my AJ flopped 2 pair and I won a small pot. Some folks have commented that Aria is a long walk, but I found the location pretty convenient from Monte Carlo. I would definitely play there again as it appears the lack of action may have had more to do with the time of day than anything else. The dealers and chip runners were friendly and helpful.

-Bellagio +101
Stop #2 had lots of action. This was first time playing cash games at the Bellagio and I was not disappointed. Lots of action on every hand and my stack moved up and down quite a bit. There were also a number of characters at the table including a Canadian guy blatantly hitting on a girl who came to the table. It was pretty funny except the girl was terrible and he eventually chased her away before we could win her money. My biggest hand was 10 6 unsuited in small blind. Three players called the BB (including me in SB) and the BB checked. The flop brought me a 10 6 7 rainbow. Two pair! Both players checked to me so I bet out $15. The BB folded and one other player called. The turn was a six giving me full house. I checked the turn and our villain led out with a bet of 30. I pretended to tank for a minute or two and then went ahead and called. The river was a blank, but I went ahead and pushed all in. Our villain called my all in and showed a flop straight which he slow played right into my full house. Bad beat for him but I was happy to pull in a winner pot of close to $400.

Poker gods took a little bit back from me a few hands later when my own 10 high flopped straight got 4 card flushed on the river when a girl from Miami who went all in on the flop with top pair top kicker. Oh well – I still managed to cash out up $100 which was nice.

-Ceasers. +16
I don’t know why, but the action and vibe at this table were terrible. It was like being at 2/4 limit table where everyone is just in the hand for chance at jackpot hand. Anyway, I flopped a set and a straight but could not get any action on either hand. Figuring players here had my tells after about 1 hour I gave up to go meet my buddies who had finally arrived.

-MGM. +58
After dinner we decided to hit up the MGM for some gambling. I have proven inept at table games, so I left the fellas and went straight to my favorite poker room on the strip. In an odd turn of events, I got seated at the same table as a Vegas regular that I played with for several hours earlier in the day at Bellagio. I don’t know the odds of that happening, but he was a nice guy and I didn’t mind playing with him again. There were a couple players at MGM who appeared to be regulars, but they were cool guys and ABC players so I didn't mind. Also, there were plenty of drunken targets to fleece so most of the good players stayed away from each other in hands.

I had one interesting hand that I thought I played well but one local was pretty annoyed. The set up is I was dealt AK in the hole and popped it $20. The only caller was a TAG who claimed to play for living in Vegas. Flop came down K66 rainbow. I bet 20 the “pro” calls. Before the turn is dealt I kick out a blind bet of 40. Turn is a 3. Pro is very annoyed with blind bet on turn and tanks. After some hemming and hawing he calls. River is an 8 (no flush). I push all in for $120 more. Pro really goes inside his tank now. He is steaming. He stars me down and shows a K. I think he had a read on me because he called and showed AK - a split pot. When he saw my hand he gave me a lot of crap about the blind bet on turn. I thought it worked to put him off his game, even if I didn't win the hand outright. Since I had been a tight player I didn't seem him calling K6 or K3 or even playing pocket 3s or 8s to the turn / river. I figured I had one chance to win the hand and that was all in, with the most likely down side of splitting, which is what happened. Anyway, the guy who I had played with at the Bellagio defended the move, but local pro was annoyed with me for the rest of the game.

My biggest hand of the night was against a really drunk guy. I was dealt pocket queens and popped it $20 preflop. My only caller was a drunk New York guy in 50s. He was on the button and had been a calling station all night, so I wasn’t worried he had a hand. The flop came down 9 7 9. I bet 20 and Mr. Calling Station raises me to $40. He had been raising flops all night so figured he did not have a 9. The turn is a J, and figuring I’m still good put out $30. He tanks for a minute and then calls. The river was 2 and I push $50. My man raises it up another $50 and I have to call. He shows 67 making a lower two pair than my queens, giving me the pot. The rest of the table was not impressed with the showdown.

After playing for a while I left MGM to catch up with my buddies at Red Square at Mandalay Bay. It was a nice bar but pretty expensive.

SATURDAY
We started the day off with an indoor skydiving session. To be honest I expected it would be pretty hokey, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Well worth every penny. The instructor was very helpful and everyone there was friendly. The experience of flying inside a wind tunnel is pretty unique and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to feel the experience of skydiving without jumping out of an airplane.

For lunch we hit up the much lauded IN-N-OUT Burger, which turned out to be better than fat burger to my surprise.

-Monte Carlo +123
Won all on trip 8s flop 789 blank 3. Agro tried to raise 70 regretted it when I came over the top with $150. He claimed to have pocket pair higher than board. I’m pretty sure he had nothing.

-Rio. +112
The group headed out to the RIO to catch the Penn and Teller show. As a gag, we all wore fake mustaches and threw $20 in a pot to be awarded to person who kept it on the longest. My mustache was a pirate stash, which looked more realistic than anyone else’s. Since I had an hour prior to the show I went to the poker room to play a few orbits. The mustache combined with my circa 1998 Oakley M Frames made it near impossible for anyone to take me seriously.

I won 140 when pushed 100 with AK. 1 villain called with pocket jacks. Flop gave me an ace but 3 hearts gave villian flush draw. Luckily turn and river were blanks so I won the coin flip!

-bellagio -130
After the show we took cabs to the Bellagio. I wish we hadn’t. The luck of my mustache wore off and the table had bad vibes. One regular at the end of the table was running over anybody and I couldn’t catch cards. Rather than bleed out I decided to bounce.

O’Shea’s. -45 (won 50 in roulette)
By this point it was about 1:30am so I decided to register for the 2:00 am tourney. There were 11 players and everyone was having lot of fun. The dealers were excellent and the competition was weak. Unfortunately I made it to third and had my two pair beat on the river with 1 outer wheel. Oh well that’s poker. I was even because I put $50 on red and won prior to the tourney, which turned my game into a free roll.

SUNDAY
-Ceasers -130
This game was tough. Everyone at the table seemed to be a regular, except for a couple ladies from Dallas that were getting ridiculous cards. I was really disappointed because I picked up a huge tell on the ladies but never had the chance to play against them in a hand. I do not recall how I lost $130, probably because I was distracted watching NFL games which I had bet poorly on.

Lost $200 on NFL bets. I am terrible at picking winners for NFL. I have no idea why I thought NO would cover and NY had a shot to. On a plus side my ticket for NO to win the SB is still alive.

-Golden Nugget - $12
Played craps for first time. Fun game! Played for a couple hours and cashed out up $12. I signed up for poker but the line was long I decided to head back to my hotel after a while.

-Monte Carlo tourney. +300
Since I was leaving in the morning I decided to play the $60 11:00 pm tournament. There were two tables and the crowd was friendly. I was playing very well and built my stack to probably 3x bigger than anyone else. Being it was a fast game lots of players were pushing all in preflop. Imagine my surprise to have all in bet come my way, and to look down and see KK. I called and the villain shows AA. Go figure there went half of my stack.

Later on, I flopped a wheel with A2 from the big blind and UTG pushed all in. Thinking UTG would not call with 67 I called and sure enough I was totally wrong. There went another ½ my stack.

At this point there were 7 players left with top 3 getting paid. I was shorter stack but not the smallest. I was dealt KdQd and raised it 3x the BB. 3 people called. The flop came out AcKhQs. I pushed all in and the guy to my right pushed all in over top me. The button called us both. At this point I know I know I’m in trouble. The guy to my right shows AsQh (bigger two pair) and the button show 10sJc (Straight). I ask for a king two folders both claim to have folded kings. Based on that I start calling for 10 J to split the pot. The turn brings a 6 and I get up to go. Then…..WAM a miracle king on the river. I was in shock because I believed both guys when they claimed to fold kings. It was the biggest suck out of my weekend and gave me a big stack. From that point I played down to top 2. The other guy had a bigger stack than me, but I told him I would keep pushing all in ever hand unless he chopped even. It worked we split the money.

Since I had a flight in 5 hours, I decided to stay up and played cash game until 4 am. A drunk guy at the table had us all making each bet by naming an NFL player. The bet would be whatever that player’s jersey was. One aggressive guy was betting "Joe Montana" or 16 preflop blind every time. Needless to say there was action if you wanted it. The dealers at Monte Carlo were very cool and didn't get upset with us, even when the drunk guy asked them to validate bets by naming players and called the floor over with questions like "can Brett Farve straddle the button" and referred to misdealt cards as "Chris Henry". Wow. +$1 when all was said and done at this game.

Anyway – that’s my trip report. I can’t wait to go back to Vegas in April with my wife for my company’s annual trip. Last time we went they rented out the Ghost Bar for a party on Saturday night, so I’m crossing my fingers they do that again! I may play in the Venetian daily too if folks recommend it.