Im done slackin' and have time at work to write my trip report to Vegas. Keep in mind that all games I play are 1-2 NL unless otherwise noted. Ill keep the events in order as they happened and make note of interesting points.

Tuesday - Arrive at 2:30 Vegas time after a chat with a very sexy gal on the plane. She was a regular in Vegas and pointed me in the right direction to find a cab. I jumped in the cab and took it to the Excalibur. Fare was $16 which seemed a bit steep but I dropped him a $25 and he gave me the customary saying, "Good Luck."

I decide to checkin immediately which was a bad idea considering it was 3 pm. The line was about a 15 minute wait. I get to my room in Tower 2 and it has a great view of the strip. I washup and run straight to the poker room. I get into a game at the Excal right away and buy in for $150. I dont catch any cards for the hour until I limp in with 8-9 os. I flop an up-and-down str8 draw and have a raiser at the table. The turn card gives me the str8 and again I face aggresion and just smooth call. River is a blank and the other guy bets heavy, I go all in for the rest of chips and he calls. He had 2 pairs and I win $140. I play a few more hands and leave. Up $140! One think I noticed about the Excal that I liked was that if you get AA cracked you get to spin a wheel for a chance to win $300 max or a number of other monetary prizes.

I take the long walk from Excal through MGM and aboard the Monorail. I purchase the 2-ride pass for $9 and off I go to the Sahara for the 7 pm MTT. I get to the Sahara and am just not impressed, its old, dim and smells funny. I sign up for the tourny and grab a bite to eat. Theyve got a $7.99 Prime Rib special that was pretty good. I decided to play some 2-4 Limit and play sharp. I won $60 which was enough to cover my buyin and some. Sweet!

I dont catch any cards until I get KsKc in the BB at level 3 of the tourny. Action goes around with a few limpers until a small raise by the SB. I double the raise of the SB and the limpers fold. SB calls. Flop comes out numbers all Hearts. SB bets small, I move all in and SB, hesitant at first, calls with QhJs. Of course the random heart comes for a one card flush. I wish everyone good luck as I walk from the table in disgust.

I decide to make way back to the south strip and play there. Went back to Excal and waited about 5 mins for a game to open up. At this point I made a mistake of beginning to drink. I lpay in a shorthanded game with a number of donks. Unfortunately my head wasnt in the game. In one hand I remember I got an inside straight on the turn and was facing a aggresive bettor. I was just confused because I was trying to figure out if indeed this woman was a man. She had man hands. But anyway the he/she was betting and I became a calling station for god knows what reason, and it folds over an A hi flush. I got back up during the session but overall found myself down $80. I decided to take a break from poker and sit and play blackjack. I play for about 5 min and realize why I hate the game. Dealer shows a 5, you have 20 and youre happy, betting goes around, dealer has a random 6 and then catches a face card.

So I walk over to Tropicana and get into a game almost right away. Buy in for $150 and begin to play. The table was the drunkest Ive seen and it was only 11 pm or so. I keep on ordering my Absolut (which im sure is Popov or Skol) and cranberry juice. I catch a few hands and am up for the session. I start noticing players arent giving me action when I get aggresive, so I decide Ive had enough of this room and leave. I won $62 playing here.

I walk over to MGM and am amazed at how big their poker room is. The tables are very nice with marble and auto-shufflers. A very cute ditsy waitress walking around with legs that stretch for miles. I buy in for $140 and jump into action. This was a very bad table for limpers as every hand had a raiser. A few players on tilt, your couple of random drunks and the rest were solid fundamental poker players. One guy showed his hand everytime which was a bit odd. I ended up losing my buy-in and was plastered drunk at this point. But still this became my favorite poker room.

I walked to Tropican for another go at it and not one person, NOT ONE PERSON, wasnt drinking. Everyone was loud and abnoxious. Overall I won another $90 here after flopping a set of 99 against an all in AK. It was getting late so I headed back to the hotel. I sat in this lounge area and started conversing with another tourist who was there with her friend. The vibe was good and I was close to sealing the deal as I asked her back to my room to "hangout". She made the lame excuse of saying she needed to let her friend know where she was going to be. Here comes this Rosanne look-a-like beast of a woman, drunk and beligerant. She basically cock blocks. I decide its not worth it and abort the mission. ZZZZZZ

Wednesday - I woke up around 10 am and sign up for the the Excal $35 MTT. At this time I also checkout out very quickly. I dont catch any cards and then get moved as the field shrinks. I sit at the new table and get dealt KK in the BB again. Deja Vu. 2 limpers call as does SB. I move all in for the remainder of my chips. I get 2 callers, one of which is all in. So its my KsKc, vs 10d9d vs A5 os, of course three diamonds hit the flop and i walk away again in despair. I did like this tournament very much for the cheap price. There are 2 of these daily at 9am and 11 am. Breakfast of Champions!

Im off to find a business center so I can print my boarding pass for the next days flight. Turns out there is one in Mandalay Bay. I take the long voyage and do my business without paying. $14 for a half hour of internet? What are they smoking on?

I had a bad experience at Mandalay with the floor person but found out I was in the wrong. The room was very nice with quick service. There were two tables going on at this time. One just starting and the other seemed like it featured many locals with deep stacks.

I leave Mandalay and decide to stop at Luxor to play in their game. for the 1-2 NL its a max buyin of $50? Okay? I decide to play and realize its not for me. I lost a few bucks but obviously nothing to cry about.

I take the long journey to the MGM monorail station and purchase the $15 all day ride pass. I stopped at Ceasars and was in a game in about 15 mins. One of my favorite rooms on the strip, it had it all. I ended up making some good hands and had a winning session. I won over $170 and possibly more. I forgot what I bought in for before hand so the number may have actually been $220. I will be back at this place!

I decide to run over to the Sahara and grab a bite to eat since I missed breakfast. I grab another Prime Rib special and buy in for the 7 pm MTT. I have plenty of time and didnt want to sit in this scum joint. So I go and try my lick at Harrah's. The room is nice and well run. There were 3 games there but within an hour they became 2 short handed games. It was an aggresive table with a straddler and preflop raise everytime. Seemed like everyone knew each other. It was like that scene at the Casino from Rounders. I lost a few dollars and jumped on the Mono back to Sahara.

Got in the tourny and got into a good table. Some players seemed like they didnt know what they were doing. The first hour I got no love. Ate my $42 sandwich and even added on the 2K in chips for the extra $20. Thigs start to turnaround. I double up, take down small pots and then double up again against until I get close to 30K in chips. I look around and can only assume Im the chip leader. We go into another break and the field feels like it hasnt shrunk at all. Then in about a half hour it was starting to dwindle. ANother break and Im cruisin. So were down to 4 tables now and a few players with deep stacks get relocated to our table. I watch this one dufus and he has blind thief written all over him. Hes playing his stack very good. Im in the BB with 10's and he rasies the BB 3x. Everyone folds. I made a dumb move and push all in for an additonal 28K. He took all his time to study me and even had time called on him. He announced he had J's and that must have let out a tell which I need to work on. He calls and im devastated. Add insult to injury when he hits a J on the turn.

0-3 in tournament play overall for the trip which was a shame.

Im frustrated from tourny play and decide its time to get back at what im really good at. I decide to stop at Imperial Palace. The room was friendly and located perfectly in the casino to attract donkeys from other games. I win a few small pots and someone accuses me of being a pro. The game was interesting with straigh flushes and at one point AAAA on the board. WOW!! I liekd this room with all the comps they were offering, the number of tourist/donkey players, and the friendly dealers. The only reason I left is because some bloke next to me had the most rank breath imaginable. It was very bad and made it hard to concentrate. I won about $50 or so in this room.

I then hit the strip by foot. On every corner there seemed to be aspiring artists trying to sell you a cd, hookers, and illegals passing out flyers and throwing them on the flooor.

I walked into the Bellagio and they were packed!! They werent offering a 1-2 game and im not at the level for 2-5 just yet. atleast my bankroll isnt. But wow, would I love to play here!

I went to some place called Bills Saloon and had , yup you guessed it, another prime rib dinner. Kept walkin the strip till I got to Paris. It was gettin late and they had 2-3 tables running and I was first to get into a NL game. I waited about 10 mins and realized I was wasting time. It seemed like a group of tourists playing and I would definetly come back and try my luck. They were also running a tourny at 1:30 am for you late night people. But I had enough of tournament poker.

Back to Excal for another go at it. I get AK early on I raise then am faced with an All-in for a total of $80. I call and am faced with...... AQ.. YAY. The king hits and no worries. I win about $110 when its all done and decided to leave and go to MGM.

Arrive at MGM and am seated right away. Its gettin late and my flight leaves in 5 hours at this point. I play around limping in, raising with rags, and really play the table. A few of the players seem like they know each other but I cant tell. There is a celebrity to my left. Someone noticed him and asked him "Are you the Sonic guy" and he replied yes. He looked familiar but Im not sure which commercials I seen him on.

I catch another sneaky str8 and get paid off. I win over $140 and decide to leave since I feel I was figured out. I go to Tropicana and its just as drunk and beligerant as the night before. I play a few rounds and just dont get any luck. The one time I catch a hand I dont get any action. I lose about $20 and decide to leave. Overall I had mixed emotions about Tropicana. I like playing against drunks but at the same time it can get annoying. Plus they claim you get a tshirt when you sign up for the Players Card and then tell you you have to play slots. Slots? Whats that?

So my last round is at MGM, I dont even bother asking the floor for a seat and just sit down at the first table I see. I dont like the table because its short-handed so I move. I sit at the new table and about 4 players from the previous group I played against a few hours back were still there. I dont catch any cards and dwindle my stack down by about $50. The table is breaking down and I move again. Its gettin close and everyone seems a bit antsy. I have only about $120 in front of me at this point (Wish I had more). I get KK in the BB (again). Basically I move all in after facing a multiple raises. I get 2 callers and the pot is close to $400. I hit a K on the flop and win the main pot. YEAH!!!!

I stay around for another few rounds, pick up another small pot and decide its time to leave. Its about 5 am at this point and im not ready for the airport just yet. I play some blackjack and win me another $30. Sweet!

I had to wait in line for the Cashier as these ladies were cashing in pennies. Yes! Pennies!?!
Im just cursing under my breath. Realizing they had about 3 dollars in pennies and the cashier was old enough to know Lewis and Clark, I tryed to offer them $5 just to get out of line and let me go. I hoesty waited 15 mins to cash my chips.

Took a quick cab, which coast about $10 or so to the airport and back home I go.

Overall the trip was succusful and profitable. The next time I go I plan on being on a bigger bankroll and to try some more rooms out.

My favorite was: MGM followed by Ceasars and Imperial Palace.

My least favorite: Luxor (Blind structure 2-1-1) and Sahara (just old and grimey)

Thanks to all of you at this site for giving me tips and insightful comments. I plan on being active and to talk about poker. If I stay with the company Im at now I get an all expense paid trip to Vegas at the end of June. Right now Im shopping for a deal to go to Vegas in late May/early June or any weekend in between.