I headed out to Vegas last week with my wife who has a scrapbook convention. Being the good husband that I am, I agreed to tag along. I played lots of poker and my goal was to come home with more money than I left with.

Wed 9/23
My first day in Vegas was a roller coaster at the poker table. We were staying at Sunset Station for my wife's convention. It is 11 miles from the strip so we decided to stay at our hotel and not venture out to the strip on the first day.

I went to the poker room at 4pm and the average age in the room had to be 70years old and they were only playing limit poker. I decided to wait until the evening to see if they got a no-limit game going. At around 7:30pm I went back to the room and they had a 1-2 no-limit with a $300 max buy-in going. I sat down with $300. There were already a few big stacks with about $700 each. On the first hand I played I was in the small blind. After a few players limped in the button raised to $6. I looked down at 2 red aces and raised to $25. The button then announced all-in and he had over $700. I called. The flop was King,2,3 turn 8 river 9 and of course he turned over pocket Kings and I re-loaded. The next hand I played I had 2 Jacks and raised on the button to $12 after 2 limpers. The same guy with the Kings was the only caller. The flop was Jack, Queen, 4. I bet $20 and he called. The turn was a queen. He bet $100, I went all-in and he called. The river was a 4. He showed Ace, Queen for Queens full of fours and I re-bought again. WOW- I love poker. Eventually I was able to win a few pots and built my stack to $400 when I went on a rush. I raised on the button with 9-7 of hearts. The flop was Jack, 8, 5 for a double gut shot straight. The first player bet $20, the next called and I raised to $60. They both called. The turn was a 10 and I bet $100. One guy went all-in for $260, I called the river was a 3 and he turned over 2 pair and I won the pot with my straight. The very next hand I raised to $12 with the 5=7 of cubs. 6 people called. The flop was 6club, 8club, King diamond. I bet $100. 2 people called including the guy who beat me with the Kings. The turn was the 4 of hearts giving me the nuts. I bet $150 and Kings boy went all-in. I called. The river was an Ace of diamonds and i turned over the nuts. I was also able to win a decent sized pot with Aces before I left and went up to the room to get ready for bed. No funny stories to tell today as we mostly hung out at the pool and relaxed when I was not playing cards. Most of the time we were the only people in the water with about 10 total people at the pool.

9/24
Thursday was a great day. I played for 4 hours at the Sunset Station. It started out much different than my 1st session. There were many more locals in this line up and it was a rock garden. Since it was such a tight game, I decided to play almost every hand that was not raised and raise about half the hands I played. To get the game going I raised 10 hands in a row and everyone folded after limping in. Finally on my 11th raise with 3-4 of clubs I was called by a 60 year old guy with a permanent scowl on his face. By the way, did I mention that I had a few drinks before I started playing this session so I was pretty talkative. Anyways the flop was King-3-4. I bet $25 and the grouch said he was tired of my bullying and raised to $75. Before he even got the chips out I stated all-in and then told him he wasn't going to like it. He thought forever and called. The turn was a 7 the river was an 8. He tabled Ace-King and I showed my 2 pair. Let the games begin. He started to berate me on how I could raise with such a terrible hand and so forth. The very next hand I get 9-5 of diamonds, while he is still moaning to the guy next to him I raise it to $12 after a few limps. Grouchy guys buddy says he can beat 3-4 and calls, so does the grouch. The flop is Queen-7-8. They both check to me and I bet $30. (with my straight draw) LOL. They both call. The turn is a King. They both check and I check. The river is you got it a 6, giving me the straight. They both check again and I bet $75. The first guy insta-calls and the grouch starts yelling at him saying he wanted to call my bluff. He folds and I say straight and turn my cards over. The guy looked sick and the muttering continued. I then busted a short stack with a flush I made on the turn. I was holding the powerful 2-3 of hearts. After these 3 hands I was up about $600. Since most of these guys all know each other, they were now talking about me openly. I loved it. I folded for awhile knowing I was going to have to show these guys a hand now so the next hand I played I had
A-K on my straddle, which by straddling I was making the table upset as well. 5 people called the $4 straddle so I raised it up to $30. I was called by the grouch and another guy. the flop was Ace-4-6. I bet out $50. They both called. The turn was a King. I bet $75. The first guy called, the grouch now cut out a raise and made it $200 to go. He had $200 more behind so I decided to just call hoping the third guy would come in but he folded. The river was a King giving me a full house. I bet all-in. He called and I showed the full house and won again. I got up to use the bathroom and when I came back to the table, the guy next to me said that the 5 older locals had all put a bounty on me. He said it real soft like he thought I was going to be upset. I laughed and said real loud- COCKTAILS. The waitress came over and I said I would like to get the table some shots. The waitress laughed and said most of the guys would only do a shot of coffee or tea.

The very next hand, I had J-10 of hearts. I raised, got 2 callers. The flop was 8hearts,4hearts,Queen clubs. I bet $30 and was called. The turn was Queen of hearts. I bet $75 and was called. The river was the 4 of spades. Grouchy checked and I felt like he was trapping me so I checked. He turned over AK of hearts!! WOW I was glad the board double paired or he would have doubled up.

I left the table up about $900 and was pretty hammered. After getting a sandwich, I met my wife who was finishing up her classes for the day and we decided to go to the strip. We went to the cab line and there were no cabs. I went inside and asked the bell guy for a cab. He asked where we were going and I told him the Wynn. He then said that he would have a driver take us. I thought that was great! We were so far from the strip that cabs had to be called to the hotel. WOW!

We rode down to the strip in the Hotel car and I tipped the driver $25 bucks. My wife and I walked around 5 or 6 different hotel/ casinos and then she said she was tired. So around 3 am Vegas time we took a cab back to the hotel. The fare was $35 bucks- WOW pretty steep.

I was feeling pretty good still so I went back to the card room. There was only one game going and it was 4-8 limit so I decided to play. It was a drunken fest and was really just about having fun. I played for 3 more hours and won $37 bucks- just enough to cover the cab ride.

9/25
Friday I started at the Wynn. I love this poker room. I started at the 2-5 game with the intentions of playing 5-10 no-limit as soon as the game started. I played 2-5 no-limit for about an hour and somehow found a way to lose $1000 to the mouthy player at the table. This guy was a non-stop jabber box. He was like a color commentator on every hand. The hand he beat me on, I raised him on 4th street with a set of Nines. There were 2 clubs on the board. He said something like- You have a set, I have a flush draw, if I want to make your kids hate me I should move all-in and hit my flush on the river. I said nothing. He moved all-in, I called, the river was a club and he turned over the flush and said- Tell little Johnny I am sorry he won't be getting those new shoes you promised him. I thought his wit was very clever and you could tell he did this to get people to try to come after him. It did not have time to work on me because I got called to the new 5-10 game. I played the 5-10 game for several hours. There is no max buy-in at the table. I bought in for 1k and I was the short stack. I did not think that the play was that great. Lots of people chasing draws and hard to bet people out of the pot so I just waited back for a hand. I played 7 1k or larger pots during my session and I won 4 of them. I doubled up with ACES. I folded Kings on the river to a large bet after putting in over $400 on the turn when both the flush and straight card hit the river.

My only real interesting hand was when I had ACE-10 of clubs on the button and raised to $60 after 1 caller. I got one caller and the flop was 4club-7club-King diamond. He checked and I bet $100. He raised to $200. I smooth called. The turn was the Queen of clubs. He now bet out just $150. I smooth called again. I did not think he had much and was trying to push me off the hand by making it look like a value bet. The river was the 2 of hearts. He now bets $500 into and $800 pot. He has $900 behind. I moved all-in and he looked sick. Without calling he turned over the 5-6 of clubs for a flush and a stright flush draw on the flop. He started talking to me asking what I had? Saying I would not play the nuts that way, but maybe I had a flush bigger than his. He looked like he was about to fold so I said, have you folded yet? You know I don't leave the house without the nuts. Get the F** out of my pot. He said now I know you have the nuts. I said well then why haven't you folded yet, I have to leave soon so make up your mind. You are outhinking yourself. You made your hand and our now just trying to save face incase you are beat. You are going to call- If you weren't you would have folded already. There are no ESPN crews around so just call or fold. He called and I turned over the nuts. He went a little crazy throwing his chair back and calling me a few names. I said nothing. Just stacked the chips and bills. I lost my last hand of the session when I flopped a straight and flush draw and folded on the river after calling the flop and turn bets.
I finished the Wynn session down 1k at the 2-5 game and up $1700 at the 5-10 game. It was fun, but a little out of my comfort zone at 5-10 with the no max buy in.

I left the Wynn when my wife called and met her at Bellagio for what I thought was dinner, but she had a suprise for me. She had a photographer waiting with her at the B from her convention and this woman was going to take our picture all over the strip-- Wow- It doesn't get any better than that-- (Heavy sarcasim intended) so I spent the next hour walking and posing and smiling all for my wife's photo class she was taking. I don't know about you guys but I only have about 10 smiles in me a day, but somehow I managed. Now I know what it feels like to be stalked by the Paparazzi. It is a weird feeling to be walking and BAM out of nowhere she runs up and takes a photo right in your face while telling you to act naturally or give me a smile, or look to your left. Anyways- enought about that.

After the photo shoot I went to play at Bellagio- I played there from 7pm to 3am and won a buy-in for the session. No real hands to talk about. I did play with Hal Labarsky- the blind guy from the world series a few years ago. I played with Tommy Vu- the infomercial King and I played with 2 internet guys that are pretty good. This marks my 4th trip of playing with Tommy Vu now and he remembered me as soon as I sat down. That is pretty weird as I only see him once a year and he is always falling asleep at the table when we play.

9/26
I got to the Venetian at 1pm and bought into the 2-5 no limit game for $500. The very first hand I got 10-9 diamonds on the button and raised to $30. I got 2 callers. The flop was 6-7-8 rainbow. I bet $50, got raised to $150 and the next guy went all-in. Both guys had more than me. I called, the other guy called. The turn was a 9, the river was a 10 putting a straight on the board. One guy turned over pocket jacks--- What are you f'ing kidding me. What is this guy doing in the pot! He was the third all-in caller. 1st hand down $500. The guy I lost to was a russian dude with all the usual bling and shades on. He was calling over to his friends at the other table and making a big scene when he won the hand. I re-bought for 1k as the table had a lot of chips and did not play another hand for about 45min. During this time I watched this Russian dude run the table over with trash hands like 9-2 making 2 pair. Finally on the button I got KQ suited. I re-raised the Russian to $80 after he opened for $25. He of course called. The flop was J-10-4 with 2 diamonds. I had diamonds. He came right out betting for $100. I just called. The turn was the 9 of hearts giving me the nut straight with a flush re-draw. He now bets $340. I took my time to make sure he thought I was pondering. I then announced all-in. He insta-called and then started to call his friends over again. The river was the 4 of clubs. He turned over Ace-jack for top pair and I showed down the nuts. He then announced to me and his friends that we were going to war now. He was going to play every hand I raised to bust me.

The next hand I played I had AK of diamonds. I raised. He called. The flop was ACE-10-4 2 spades. I bet $100 and he called. The turn was a 5. I bet $200. He called. The river was a 4. He now bets $340. I hesitate and then call. He does not want to show- I say I called you.. He shows a 5. I say is that it? He says yes. I turn over my hand and rake the pot. He starts calling his friends over and starts gesturing loudly in Russian to them as I stack the chips. At this time I asked his friends what "boom batta" was saying. They said who are you talking about?

I said your buddy, "boom batta"- they said his name is Joseph- I said my bad I thought his name was "boom batta" because everytime I play a pot with this guy I can't help but think of this song line that goes, "boom batta, my pocket is getting fatta" from all the hundreds he keeps giving me..LOL. Man they both laughed and then started talking very loudly in Russian. I said- Hey let's order a shot since we are even now... He says we are not close to even, but he will do a shot of vodka with me. I agree.

We do the shot and He tops his stack off to 1k again a little while later when the following hand comes up. By this time, I have a very reliable tell on this guy when he has a strong hand and when he does not. It is a tell on how he puts his chips into the pot and it has proven very reliable because he has shown a few bluffs that I have noticed the tell after getting people to fold to a big river bet.

The next hand I play- I have the old 9-6 of hearts on the button. Since I have position on this guy almost every hand I am now going to punish him when I think he is bluffing. I raise it to $30. He is the only caller. The flop is 4-4-3 with one heart. He checks and I bet $50. He calls. The turn is the 9 of clubs, giving me top pair. He checks, I bet $150. He calls. The river is the Queen of clubs putting 3 clubs on the board. Now bets a whopping $550. He did it the same way he did when he was bluffing earlier. I knew I was going to call, but I asked him if he wanted to call his buddies over to see the hand? He said- sure and called them over. I told his buddies that I was thinking about calling him whth the 9-6 of hearts... I paused and then called.... He said, nice call and said I have 6 high!!! Sweet!!! The best thing was after the hand, one of his buddies said, stop bluffing or he will keep calling you boom boom hey batter batter or whatever. Man I could not stop laughing. He then declared that the war was over and that he was not going to play anymore hands with me.

By this time I am up about 2k and the Notre Dame starts so I mostly just fold. I did play pocket Jacks and a guy hit a set of nines and won $400 from me on the hand. I then lost another big hand where I bluffed a flush draw and was called by the silent guy next to me for another $500.

I was just about to leave when I got Ace-4 diamonds on the button and called $25 after 4 others called the raise. the flop was Jack-2-3 with one diamond. The raiser bet just $50 and got one caller to me. Both guys had around $700 so I called. the turn was the 5 of diamonds...Bingo,bango,boingo I have the straight with the straight flush re-draw. The raiser bets $100, other guy folds...I raise it to $250. He re-raises to $450 and I move in. He calls. The river is the 6 of hearts. I show the straight--- He shows pocket Jacks for the flopped set and I win the hand. After that hand I ordered a shot and watched the end of the ND game.. what a finish and then left up a little more than $3300 for the day.

I then went to Treasure Island and played some 1-3NL. raised every hand while ordering beers and shots and was somehow winning. I played for 2 hours and left down $200 and called it a night. No real interesting hands from TI, just a lot of drunken having fun playing. The table was friendly and talkative. I then took a cab back to the hotel and by the time I found my wife she said I was in no condition to do anything else so she sent me to bed.

9/28
Sunday we rented a cabana at the pool to watch football and nurse my severe hangover. We stayed there for 5 hours before going to the strip around dinner time. We had a nice dinner at the MGM buffet and then I played some 2-5NL at MGM while my wife did some souvenir shopping. I played for a little more than 2 hours and won a few hundred mostly on one big hand. We then went to NYNY to hang out and found out that the Big Apple bar is no longer there. They have turned the area into a high roller slots area of something. We were bummed. That was a nice place to just hang out and relax. We decided to walk around a little more and then we headed back to pack and our flight took off for home at 6am Monday. There is no place like Vegas.