I spent last weekend (May 21-22) at the Excalibur. The hotel was OK and the poker was good. I played two ring games at the 1-3 table. There are mostly new players at this table, but a few older guys are there that you can tell are regulars. I bought in for $100 both times. Saturday night I played for about 2 hours and was up $25. I went back Sun afternoon and played 3 hours and was up $75. There were a lot of new players who were learning and I also caught a lot hands. There wasn't much waiting, but it was pretty busy both times. The tables were decent and they all had Shuffle masters. The dealers all seemed pretty good and kept the games moving.

I also played 3 tournaments on Sunday at the Luxor. There was a 10am tourney for $25 + $3 for 50 extra in chips. It had about 64 players. You start of with 300 in chips and blinds started at $15-$25. It was tough because you had to catch something real quick. Fortunately I caught AK early and flopped AK. I ended up placing fourth and cashed in $70. Then I played in the same type tourney at noon, but busted out fairly early. Both tourneys start off limit for the first hour, then go to no limit after that. The 8:30pm tournament was fun. It was a $55 buy also with 300 in chips. It had a max of 30 players, ten of which don't get started until people bust out. I called early with A J twice but caught nothing and was real low in chips already. I went all in when I caught AK suited. I had the guy covered (AQ), but he caught a Queen on the turn and I was gone. It was hard to judge the players talent, since you didn't have many chips to play with. You either had to be a great bluffer, or catch something early. They try to get those tournaments over in a couple of hours, because they don't have a lot of room to spare. The Luxor had two tables with Shuffle Masters, and the rest were hand shuffled. They served donuts and also had a Spaghetti bar for lunch. The one thing you notice is when you’re all in there is no turn your cards over and set them up for a big show down like TV. The dealers just keep it moving and are almost done by the time you realize you need to show your cards.

Catch you at the tables!