I made this trip to Vegas for a convention that we have every year. This was only the second time I have played poker in any of the Vegas casinos, but my first time at the Excalibur and Alladin.

Tuesday Night:
My friend and I went to the Sahara, where he was prepared to play some low limit blackjack. I on the other hand wanted some $2/$4 hold'em action. I put my name on the list which looked to be about 3 deep. The last time I was in Vegas (over the summer) the Sahara had not been remodeled, or should I say made larger. I guess not by much though. At the time, the daily tournament was ending and was down to 1 table. I waited and waited for over an hour and a half before I finally took my name off the list. I had won $200 playing blackjack anyway to I hit the bed. Beside noticing that there seemed to be about 4-5 more tables than before, I also noticed that it was now a no-smoking room. Which I can give or take.

Wednesday Night:
Went to the Excalibur after reading many good things about this poker room. Sat down after only waiting about 5-10 minutes at the $100 max $1/$2 NL game. This was quite an experience. First of all the players seemed to be pretty good. I am really learning quickly that casino play is not the same as home game play! I was lucky enough to have a nice funny player sitting to my right who was nice to me and did not raise me all-in with the nut flush to my flopped straight. The dealers were good, but there was one particular female dealer who just had a bad attitude from the moment she sat down. I really could not justify giving her much for tips. Apparently the guy who was playing to my right told me she was actually in a better mood than he has ever seen. As I was saying about the players, and from what has already been posted, there seemed to be a few people who were playing for a living, eating up the tourist fish. One gentleman at my table walked away with at least $800-$1000. I mostly stayed out of his way. I loved the "4 of a kind" wheel. I actually got pocket aces and proceeded to check them all the way down after getting an ace on the flop, and an ace on the turn. That hand gave me about $55 bucks plus the wheel spin which got me an additional $25. Overall, a very pleasant evening. They were also giving away food vouchers. I don't think you even had to play 4 hours.

Thursday:
Went to the Alladin to check out their new room, which was definitely not their when I was in Vegas over the summer...I guess I would have known since I was staying there. The room was exactly as it is reviewed on this website. You can tell it was an old slot room, and there are many slots surrounding it. The Managers and floor people were very nice and helped me pick a table. I again sat down at the $100 max $1/$2 NL game, hoping for some fish and a little bit of luck. Well the fish were definitely present, and I was as unlucky in poker as I have ever been. On the first hand I was sucked out on after going all-in with two pair (he made his flush on the river. The hand that made me leave was when I had gone all-in against the same player with my set versus his straight draw, and again he made it on the river. I really wanted to put down another $100 and win my money back, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I also found one thing odd. After raising pre-flop with pocket Aces, I got no callers and turned over my cards to show (I had been doing this after I had bluffed at a pretty good pot...trying to establish some kind of presence). The dealer then proceeded to deal out the flop and the river! I couldn't believe it! Was this necessary? Nobody asked him to do it! Anyway, the room was probably my least favorite rooms that I have been in (Mirage, Sahara, Ballys, Excalibur, Stardust). Other than that, it was a very fun time for poker in Vegas!