This report is, well, a little late. No other reasons than I can be very lazy, and I would probably have never got around to doing this if not from the periodic guilt I have felt since my trip. In addition to AVP being my favourite site on the Interweb for daily entertainment, the tourney details section alone has been invaluable in planning my 2-3 annual trips. Enough about my guilt trip, here goes…

I arrived in Vegas Sat June 28th at 11PM, a tepid 101 degrees at that time. It got up to 114 degrees during the day so after a few days, 101 did feel cool… I checked into Golden Nugget for 1st ever downtown stay. The room was fine, the bathroom a little small compared to Strip rooms (I have stayed @ Wynn, Caesars, Flamingo, and Bally's on previous trips, also Boardwalk but I try to forget that!) but it was clean, the bed was nice, great value for the price. Since I was moving to T.I. on Mon when my dad was flying in, I figured I would check out downtown. The pool at Nugget is pretty wicked. For those that don’t know, it is shaped like a doughnut, with the hole being a huge shark tank! It is pretty wicked to swim up to the glass, the sharks and other ugly fish looking like they can swim over and take you out! It is reason enough to stay there during pool season.

I was also looking forward to playing in the Grand tournament. As others have noted, this series had difficulty gaining traction, even during the busy World Series time, due to the competition (mainly Binions, Venetion, and Caesars) all having established deep stacked tourneys on at the same time. In fact, the noon Sunday $550 had only 2 tables of players so I decided on playing the 2pm instead, I think it was about $130 and had about 65 players. I did not have a lot of success, as my relatively strong stack was lost after 3-4 levels when my AA got cracked by QQ. Errrr. The new Grand tourney room is pretty nice, but the quality of dealers was NOT where it should be for Vegas. One dealer did not even riffle the deck together most times, and when I asked him to reshuffle as it is sort of important, he blamed it on the table not having any cushion, i.e. the felt was laid straight on the plywood. Dealers, does this make it tough to shuffle?

Any way, I have luke warm feelings about the Grand Tourney Series, maybe if they moved it so they were not up against the big boys, and can therefore get some decent dealers, it would be pretty good as the casino and Grand room are pretty nice. I spent the rest of the day playing 4-8 Omaha Hi-Low at Binions, stayed even against a few local sharks so was happy with that, and generally enjoying the downtown scene, especially the booze. The new nightclub at GN, Golddiggers, was fairly slow, but it was Sun night so not sure what I should expect.

On Monday I checked into T.I., and met up with my Pa as he got settled into his own room after arriving at noon. (He is 71, also an avid poker player, but a 7am to 9pm kind of guy; I am 41 and a 10am-4am guy, so separate rooms) Was very pleasantly surprised at how nice the T.I. rooms are. I felt it was better than Caesars and anywhere else I have stayed in Vegas except for Wynn. Of course it is at least half the price, so it is probably the best value. TI is a wicked place to stay for poker players as the tourneys there are great for small buy-in 2-3hr type and the location cannot be beat. 5-10 min to Wynn, Venetian and Mirage rooms and a 20-30min walk to Caesars and Bellagio rooms as well. If you like 1-3NL or 2-4 limit, TI poker room is the best in town for staff friendliness, professionalism, and all round fun atmosphere. The only negative about TI in my opinion was the food. Both the 24hr coffee shop and the buffet were horrible, salty and fatty, I recommend eating at Wynn or V, it’s worth the walk.

We spent the rest of the day checking out these casinos, I also played the 2pm TI tourney, played like a donkey and was out b4 the break. The 8pm (approx $150) at V was a little better, I made it til midnight, but again no cash for me. At least I have a sweatshirt to remember it. I got so cold dressed in only a T-shirt and shorts that I ran to the gift shop at the first break, $50 real nice. The $330 noon DSE had just burst the money bubble, around 65 runners are paid out of 730ish entrants!!! I have to try that one next year. Back to TI for some Pai Gow and Heinekens til crashing.

On Tuesday, got up, worked out (yes the casinos do have gyms, I think it was $20 a day at both TI and GN), puttered around, then met up with Pa and headed over to Wynn for lunch buffet. Best buffet ever. Both Pa and I played the 2pm Wynn tourney. Not sure why the tourney’s at Wynn don’t get more people outside of World Series time, I think they are fantastic value, the room is awesome, maybe a little loud with the PA but still the waitresses and the Strawberry Julius are wicked. Since it was during the World Series, the room was packed so it was capped at 60 runners. I actually got a few cards, made a few good lay downs, built a nice stack until this hand just b4 first break. Blind was around 100 or 150, I make it 4xBB with QQ in MP folded to button who makes it $4000 to go. This is now almost half my stack, so what to do? Villain had played a lot of hands, some well played, but 2 lucky rivers and he had over $20K in chips. I re-raised all in, so quickly that my Pa, who was at the same table, later told me he thought I had AA. Nope, but the button did! Yikes. Right on the door was a lovely Q hearts and I am in business. Villain quickly tilted right out b4 the break, without saying a word to me from that point on – can’t we all be friends?? Hahaha.

After 1st break, the re-buy period is over and the blinds do start to move up. Our table breaks and the next 3 hrs I played pretty standard tourney strategy as detailed by Harrington in his books. My Pa was out with 25 left, kind of glad I did not have to play with him anymore as he can get rolling, and his fold or all in style can be frustrating to play against. Down to 2 tables, 8 per, when lady on my right makes it 3xBB. She did not strike me as very good, so I was happy to make a big re-raise with KK, hoping she would come along with a weaker hand. Be careful what you ask for, as she re-raises me, we get it all in, she has AK, bingo, oh-oh A on the flop and I am crippled. I scratch and claw while trying not to steam, survive a race when my 22 gets called by A10, staying alive. We make it to 6 at our table, 5 at other, top 9 get paid. Someone proposes we split right there for $1060 each, selling it by pointing out that we would need to make it to 3rd to make better $.The huge chip leader at my table was playing in his first tourney, and I think he felt pressured to make the deal. As much as I was happy with the deal due to my small 6xBB stack, I kind of felt bad for him, as while we all waited to get paid he realized he should have waited til only 8-9 left, oh well, I took my money and ran!

I ended up at Mirage, playing 10-20 limit, had fun, and lost a little. Man, it is hard to find mid-limit HE in this town; it is weird because I think there are a lot more big pots in limit. It really should be named different then NLHE as it really is a very different game, with different skills. Also played a sit-and-go for $110, chopped 3 ways, blinds went up so fast it was an all-in fest by the 3rd level and I got lucky.

Next day, same routine, gym, then the buffet then Wynn tourney, this time even better results. I was never a small stack. 2 hands of note: 2 tables left, smoking hot, but kind of crabby woman on my right is BB, just as I look at my cards, I hear a huge yell, the waitress has spilt hot coffee down her back!! We were 10min from break, and since I intentionally did not act, the TD killed the hand and we went to break while she went to her room to change. A doctor checked her out, her burns were not too bad, but they sure took care of her. I saw her at the taxi line the next day; she confirmed they comped her room for all 4 nights, not a small thing at the Wynn! I almost felt bad when 10 min after action resumed I took out her AQ with KK and I was final table bound. Almost.

10 handed, 9 paid. I notice a chip stack but no player. Turns out he had to go see Bette Midler with his wife, and he left after 6hrs of play! Funny part was he actually made it to 8th place, as a kid, for no reason, went all in with A7 and was eliminated on the bubble. Once he realized what he had done, did he ever slink out of there real quick. I managed to double up twice, once with flopped straight with JQ, and once with AA versus KK. Hard to push all in when empty chair-chip stack has 2 hands left b4 being knocked out, but I figured not much $ difference between 8 and 9 so go for it. The TD recorded his name, and held $ for him to pick up the next day. Anyways, made it to 5 handed, made chop deal, 2 big stacks (inc me) got $2600 each, 3 small stacks $1200 each. Woo-hoo!

On Thursday, same routine, gym, buffet, tourney. Except this time I played like a donkey and was out b4 the break. Calling raises out of position, re-raising with small pairs, just dumb. Oh well, I still love the Wynn. I was able to make use of the alone time (Pa had left on Wed) to check out some places I had never been, on the North Strip. Sahara, yuck, no point going there again. But it was worth going into that hole of a casino called Circus Circus to get a steak. It truly is the best I have ever had in Vegas – and that includes N9ne at the Palms and the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay. And pretty reasonable - steak, salad, glass of wine $58 inc tip!!! Well worth it. Then, I headed to the airport for the red-eye home. Always so sad….

If you are still reading this, thanks for taking the time, see you on the felt!