Went to Vegas for a family reunion. I arranged my flight to arrive a few hours earlier than everyone else so I could play some uinterrupted poker. I decided on 1/2 NLHE at the Aladdin. I chose the 1/2 game because of my horrible experiences playing 3/6 limit. I live in Houston and travel to Lake Charles, LA occassionally to play at the casinos. The 3/6 games in Lake Charles are chucker specials. There are 4 or 5 players chasing after every flop and they are immune to raises. This results in a disproportionate number of bad beats.

At any rate, I sat down early in the morning with 4 other players. The game didn't have a lot of action, but as the day got older, the table got fuller and the action started picking up. I eventually finished up about $350, due in large part to a ridiculous hand where my KK and huge all-in bet on the turn got the only other player to lay down his KK. He was a really good player, but just overanalyzed the hand, telling me he thought I had AA. I kind of felt sorry for him. (In addition to KK, I also had a flush draw. The dealer was kind enough to rabbit hunt the river, but it was a blank. That made my opponent feel ever worse. He probably lost about $125 on that hand.)

At any rate, I decided then and there that 1/2 NLHE is eminently better than 3/6 limit. The players seemed to be better generally and would lay down drawing hands to a big bet, unlike 3/6 where you are constrained to betting a fixed amount so that the chuckers at the table don't feel any real pain or hesitate in chasing the miracle card. Also, the play was relatively tight. The big bettors who had to show usually had good cards, so it seemed there was very little bluffing (maybe a little blind stealing, but at 1/2, who cares).

The next day I played the 1pm tourney at the Aladdin. This game was the polar opposite of the 1/2 NLHE game. Huge preflop betting (which is to be expected in a quick running tourney), and I bascially donked off all my chips in 20 minutes. Oh, well, nap time. Came down from my room after an hour and a half nap and sat at a 1/2 NLHE table. Quickly figured out what was going on--one drunk money machine betting ridiculous amounts on every hand and the rest of the players salivating and waiting to pick him off. The drunk lost about $500 in two hours. Ooff. Unfortunately, I could only pick up the second-best hand and eventually finished down $150. I wasn't pleased to lose, but unlike a 3/6 game, I was losing to quality hands played by quality players. Not a single suck-out/donkey-play/what-the-f***-are-you-doing loss. I can live with that.

DRINKING TIME--this is unrelated to poker, but very related to Las Vegas. That night my cousins and I (about 10 of us from the ages of 18 to 36), bought a few six packs and a bottle of champagne and walked down the strip from Aladdin to the Venetian. This was a fantastic time. If you're in Vegas with a good-sized group and want some cheap drinking/entertainment, take advantage of Vegas's liquor laws and walk the strip with some cold beverages. We ended up at Mist in Treasure Island and stayed way too late.

Woke up hungover and hoping to redeem myself from yesterday's loss. I sat down at a new 1/2 NLHE table and proceeded to double my $200 buy-in to $400. Play was once again tight and smart with big pots usually coming down to two players with good hands. Just one donkey peeling off $100 bills after his bad bluffs kept getting beat by players with quality cards.

ONE NOTE ABOUT 3/6: I played 3/6 limit at the Mirage in March and won $120. The play was loose/passive at a full table with only one guy willing to chase. Half the players were novices and played any king/any ace. I don't know if the rest of Vegas is like this, or just the Mirage, or I just got lucky, but I've played enough 3/6 at Lake Charles to swear off 3/6 limit for ever. 1/2 in Vegas is very rewarding for a tight, patient player.