My former roommates and I all met in Vegas for a 3 day reunion staying at The Venetian. This hotel is beautiful and everything about it was just perfect. The pool was a bit of a "scene" on the w/end days but during the week it was nice and relaxing.

For the first 3 days of my trip I didn't play a single hand of poker as none of my friends are poker players. Talk about restraint! I did play some Black Jack at TI and had a really fun afternoon. Played at a $5 table, bought in for forty, drank 4 or 5 drinks, tipped the waitresses and dealers really well and came out with $42. Most importantly it was a super fun table where everyone had a great afternoon of cheap gambling.

Tuesday my female roommates all leave and my boyfriend arrives out for a conference. We move hotels to where the conference is (Ballys) and it was ok. The room itself was pretty nice but I didn't really love the rest of the hotel so much. That night we head to Caesars as I had wanted to play the ladies tournament and my boyfriend was going to watch and be my cheering squad.

I'm a pretty decent player - certainly not brilliant or anywhere near professional but I can hold my own pretty nicely at any table and I've placed well in tournaments and cash games at various venues. In my home game I tend to do ok as well. Anyway, the tournament has a whopping 22 players ($75 buy in) and I figure I really had a great shot at this. We sit down and immediately I got nervous. I've never played a ladies tournament before and for some reason I put so much pressure on myself to be better than all the other girls and I ended up playing the worst poker I've ever played. Things went from bad to worse when the only other player at my table whose play I respected just kept beating up on me and everyone else at the table. Twice in a row she flopped the nut flush and took two people out of the tournament. Needless to say she took me out when my QQ fell to her flush on the turn. I can't blame her - my play was awful.

So we left there and I was frustrated with myself and poker! Hit up the roulette table and quickly got back my buy in of $75 from the tournament and a further $50. Now I feel better.

Wednesday night my boyfriend played the Grinders tournament at PH and really enjoyed it and the structure. He played on Mizrachi's table and on that particular night when my boyfriend was busted out Mizrachi was by far the chip leader.

While he was playing that I played a little 1/2 NL cash game and managed to turn my $100 buy in into a whopping $110. Still, it was fun.

Thursday I played the PH 2pm tournament and was doing really well (51 players). Didn't feel any of the nerves that I felt at the ladies tournament a few days earlier and was relaxed and confident at the table. Made one awful lay down which in hindsight cost me going much deeper into the tournament. In the big blind I held my 4 2 os to no raise. Flop comes A 2 4 - nice I have two pair but there is also already a possible straight out there and someone else may have played A rag to counterfeit my lower two pair. Right? Guy goes all in and next guy calls (they each had me covered) so I really think about whether the first guys overbet was to make it look like he was on a draw to the straight but already had it. Then the other guys all in made me think he thought the same thing but had two pair and figured he was in front. So I folded my bottom two pair. Turns out I was wrong... They each had one further card to the straight which never came and I would have taken large chunks of both their chips. Oh well.... I guess I'm still learning. I finally went out when my AK suited didn't meet a partner against pocket 7s.

I really liked PH and the dealers were great, the room a good size and play was fine. Like I said, I'm not the worlds greatest player and consider myself to be very much a "learner" but I didn't feel out of my league there. Especially considering one guy at the table put a bet out there, then reached to take it back saying "I changed my mind". Dealer quickly asked if he was for real! Same guy tried to fold his BB to no raise and the dealer told him he may as well hold on to those cards as there was no raise to which he replied "oh I don't want them".

My boyfriend played The Grinders tournament again on Friday night and busted out fairly deep but then played a 1/2 NL to a $800 profit. He then sadly gave it all back on Saturday night. That's poker.

I really didn't play anywhere near as much poker as I thought I would but that's ok. Vegas isn't going anywhere.

I loved PH, I love The Venetian, Mon Ami Gabi at Paris is awesome, margaritas at Coyote Ugly at NYNY are fabulous, the Spice Market Buffet at PH is great, the Terrace Restaurant at the Wynn is awesome, Pure at Caesars Palace is a huge see and be seen (but fun), the Bellagio Sports Book is the nicest I've been in (I also won money here so that helps).

Until next time...