My wife and I were in Vegas 10July05 thru 16July05. We stayed at the Hard Rock, Wynn, and the Golden Nugget.

Hard Rock: No Poker.

Wynn: I was not ready to play poker at Wynn yet, but was walking by the Poker room after breakfast on Wednesday the 13th and I saw someone who looked just like Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. After a second look, I confirmed that it was Chris and also noticed that there were other "faces" I recognized including: Phil Helmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Ted Forrest, Phil Gordon, TJ Cloutier, Jennifer Harmen, and Howard Lederer. It turns out that FullTiltPoker was having a tournament at Wynn. Spectators were allowed to watch along the rails so I walked into the room and found a spot next to a table. It was fascinating to watch the play and listen to the discussion of the players at the table. It is much different than the edited version you see on TV. The players were all friendly and took the time to take pictures and sign stuff on their break. Daniel Negreanu was particularly accomodating to the crowd.

Golden Nugget: My wife and I play Texas Hold'em at home with friends, but had not played in a Casino. We decided to attend the 10:00am Hold'em lesson in the Golden Nugget Poker Room. The dealer went through the basics of the game, passed out tournament chips, and took the table through several practice hands. I won one of the practice hands with a nut flush.

They them opened up a 2/4 limit table after the lesson. The minimum buy-in was $20 and people around the table were buying in with $20-$100. My wife and I both started with $20 in chips. Several hands into the game, my wife won her first pot with two pair. A couple of hands after that, I got pocket nines in the big blind, and decided to raise. several people stayed in and the flop came rainbow wih no overcards. The turn and the river were not as kind (King, Ace), but I sensed from the betting that they didn't really help anyone so I bet when it was checked to me after the river card. My pocket nines held up and I won my first pot. We ended up playing about and hour and a half and cashed out up $4 for the session.

We found the poker room at the Golden Nugget to be confortable. The dealers were friendly and helpful. The cocktail service was satistfactory, but not outstanding. We enjoyed playing there and look forward to playing Hold'em on our next trip.