I stayed at the Sahara the last weekend of April '05 and was eager to try out their newly enlarged poker room. It had more tables than my last trip in April '04 and had a nicer metal rail with card suit motif.

First some general observations and comments.

Room and environment:

The poker room is wedged in between slot machines on either of the long sides and the Caravan Cafe and the escalator to the bathrooms at the entrance to the poker room itself. The tables were all in decent shape, the chips were fairly grungy so I cut way back on the chip tricks, and one table in the back left corner was a little dimly lit. Tables up by the entrance are so close to the slots that you get sick of the same catchy jingles playing over and over. During breaks, some pretty good sandwiches were served at the back of the room and I smashed down quite a few.

Personnel:

The dealers ranged from authoritarian to gregarious and funny, most of them were easy-going and efficient, and I thought a couple of the gals were hot. Only 1 misdeal in the 3 tourneys I played. Drink service was acceptable and one or two of the gals were pretty cute. The tournament was run very well, empty seats were filled quickly, and technical disputes were settled efficiently by the floor manager. They run 3 tournaments every day so they all know the drill.

Tournament structure:

$40+$2 buy-in for 2000T and an add-on card. You can give up the card and do a $20 add-on for 1500T before the first break at 1 hour into the tournament. If you add-on and bust out within the first hour you can buy in again as a new player for $40+2 but you won't get an add-on card. Blinds increased at 20 minute intervals: 25/25, 25/50, 50/100, 10 min. break + color-up, 100/200, 200/400, 400/800, 10 min. break + color-up, 500/1000, 2000/4000, 4000/8000, 10 min. break, 5000/10000, 10000/20000 (not sure after that.)

Tournament 1: 7pm Thursday, 123 players

I'll only describe a few memorable players and key hands for me. At the start I immediately picked out the no-hopers at the table: a gal who was the ultimate calling station and a guy whose post-flop betting pattern exactly telegraphed his hole cards. I didn't get any of their chips before they were knocked out. At the first break I had 6000 so I didn't need to do the add-on. I got incredibly lucky a few times, winning a few races and surviving many all-ins.

With 2 tables left I was drastically short-stacked and got moved to a table with the leaders. I managed to take most of the big stack's chips over time since he was tilting and I was beating him with my AJ vs. his A9 and other marginal hands. He got knocked out in about 12th. Another one of the big stacks made occasional notes in a little black book, some kind of project he'd been working on for several years. He was knocked out before the final table.

Two lucky hands for me: 1) 88 in the hole with 10 players left and I move all-in. I get called and she flips up KK. I hit an 8 on the flop and knock her out. 2) 8-handed at the final table, I was down to the felt, put 10000 in the small blind, had only 10000 left and went all-in with T2 of clubs. I was in the money so what the heck? 2 shorter stacks call all-in, big stack calls. We flip up and I say "You guys are gonna love this." They all show unpaired paint, I flop a 2, they don't improve, and I more than triple up.

I knocked out my buddy in 6th with AK vs. his A6. Last hand: short stack slides in, big stack calls, I re-raise all-in with 55. I figure this is a good chance to become chip leader. Big stack calls, and he and short stack flip up KQo. I'm ahead, but they hit K-high straights on the turn to knock me out and split my stack. I made $340 for 5th place, the eventual winner won about $2100, 2nd about $1200, 3rd about $800.

Tournament 2: 11am Friday, about 60 players

I guess people aren't awake for morning tournaments, even on weekends. The smaller field meant that only the top 7 or 8 places got paid. I'd had very little sleep and was hung over thanks to Club Platinum. This hurt my play, and I made 4 big mistakes that kept me from making the money.

At the first table I slow-played AQs, hit the nut flush on the turn, and took most of the chip leader's stack. There were the usual inexperienced players making obvious mistakes to get knocked out early. I made a bad tactical fold: laid down AJc that would have won, and I would have risked only 1/4 of my stack to knock out one buy and short-stack another player. Oops. I did the optional add-on at the break.

Last hand: big stack slides all-in and looked weak. Micro-stack thinks for about 30 seconds, just long enough for big stack's composure to crack. Micro stack folds and big stack blnks and relaxes uncontrollably. I put him on a weak ace, look down at 99 and instantly call all-in. He flips up A4o but hits an ace on the river to knock me out, about 5 short of the money.

Tournament 3: Saturday 7pm, about 130 players

We were all jammed in 12 to a table because of the number of players. I decided to play extremely tight but it was easy with the horror show of hands I was dealt. A pretty young brunette 2 seats to my left said she was a limo driver and had seen a fatal crash. A car got launched off an overpass as she drove under it and it landed on its roof 2 lanes over from her. Dual fatality. The female driver had been shot in the head so she was already dead when the car hit. Anyway, the limo gal was knocked out pretty early.

I recognized the player to my left as one of the dealers from Thursday night's tourney. He was wearing the cap and shades but I recognized his voice. It's probably an unfair stereotype, but he "played like a dealer": high-action, super-aggressive, ultimately played too many hands. He put a dealer from the Palms on tilt by forcing off several pots. He became chip leader but was knocked out just after the break: no rebuy.

I was getting short-stacked so I had to do the add-on at the break. I managed to gradually add to my stack. A player was knocked out and to our delight and horror Joe Awada sat down. In case you don't know, he's won a World Series of Poker Bracelet in '04 and appeared in a World Poker Tour event in '05. In between signing Card Player magazines, he managed to easily become the chip leader, knocking out 5 or 6 players. At one point he held KK, flopped another K, and hit another K on the river. Someone pushed all-in and pow: another knockout.

He was in a good mood, friendly and easy-going. His kids were riding the roller coaster, was there to pass the time until they were done, and told us he had to leave soon. He proceeded to try dumping chips off to us before he had to go, but still hit monster hands to knock out yet more victims. He said "OK, I've given chips to you, you, and you, but not you" looking at me.

I was in the big blind, he limped in, small blind limped in. I had 72c. On the flop of 7TK he said "I have nothing" to which I replied "Well, I have almost nothing." He raised most of my stack, I believed him, and called. SB folded. Turn was a jack, he puts me all-in. I call. River is a 9, he flips up 35o, and I double up. I had doubled up against Joe Awada with 72. Thanks Joe!

He dumped most of his massive stack off to other folks but had to leave. His stack stayed there and got blinded down, but after a while the tournament director ordered it killed to make room for another player. Last hand: I had AQs, pushed all-in, big stack to my left thinks for 20 seconds and calls. He flips up AJo but hits a jack on the turn and I'm out in about 50th place. Oh well, 3 bad beats to get knocked out of 3 tourneys. But I have a Joe Awada story!

Summary

The Sahara tournaments are close to the cheapest ones you can find in Vegas. There are quite a few newbie tourists (such as myself) so although the field is big you can progress by just playing solid and keeping out of trouble early. The room is decent but unglamorous, they feed you sandwiches, and the staff is generally great. Good way to get some tournament experience before trying the bigger events.