I stayed at the Sahara, so I played in as many of the $42 + $20 tournaments as I possibly could (and maybe some that I shouldn't have!).

We came in from Ohio, so the time change is pretty significant. We got there by noon Vegas time, but we'd been up since 5:30am East Coast time.

We first hit the Stratosphere $1/$2 NLH table. I bought in for $60. I got up to $100, when I got A-K of diamonds. UTG raised to $10, I reraised all-in, trying to take a chance and get up early on the trip. One guy struggled for a minute, but called my $91 rereaise. Everyone folded to the UTG player, who called fairly quickly. I didn't like him calling at all. I wanted him to fold because I was quite sure I had the other guy beat. The flop didn't hit me. The UTG flipped up 8-8 and took in a $270+ pot. The other guy mucked after I flipped my hand up. I was a little shocked that the guy called an all-in and a call when he was only $10 invested, but maybe he "had a feeling." Anyway, that's poker, and that cash game was foreshadowing to how the rest of my tournament play would go.

After that session, we went to the MGM room. My friend, Mark, had never been to Vegas, so he wanted to see as much as he could. He loved the MGM room. We played some more NLH cash games. He was up a little, but I was still down after that session as well.

We hit the 7pm Sahara tournament. I love this tournament. Low buy-in, good size, with a chance to win a couple grand if you win it all. That's a good formula!

Mark jumped out to an early lead, taking in some big multi-way pots. But more on his story later.

I, on the other hand, staying right in the middle of the pack. Down to three tables, this critical hand came up. I called an early position all-in with 10-10. The all-in was for 3500 in chips. I was in late position with 11K in chips. I figured everyone would fold and let me take on the all-in heads up, but the big blind decided to call, too. The flop came Q-J-8 with two clubs. I had no clubs, and I hated the two overcards. I checked, hoping that the BB would also check it down, thereby giving us two chances to eliminate the all-in guy. But the BB moved all-in, telling me he hit either a Q or J. And I said as much, claiming, "You better have hit a Q or a J, because I'm folding tens." I folded them face up.

The BB didn't seem to get my point. He flipped up 8-5 off suit. The all-in flipped up pocket nines, and took down the 11K pot. That put me on tilt, and I was out a few hands later.

But back to Mark: Down to two tables, Mark still had a good stack, but others were getting close, and a few were ahead of him. I'd say he was in the top 6 in chips. That is, until he lost three straight hands against the SAME PLAYER within 10 hands of each other. The first two times, his opponent had pocket aces, and the third time the guy had pocket kings! It was really unbelieveable. Needless to say, those three hands crippled his stack, and he was out a few shy of the final table and a cash.

About the time all of that happened, the 11pm was getting started. I was in that one, too, against my better judgement. I was extremely tired, but I felt I was playing well and wanted to give it another shot. Mark played, too, but was out before the first break.

I caught a good rush of hands and made it down to the final two tables. We played forever on the bubble, but during that time, I hit a big hand. UTG, I picked up J-J. I made it 6K to go, hoping to entice the button to get it all in for his final 4k or so, only he folded. It came back around to the small blind, who immediately announced all-in. The BB folded, and now I had a tough decision to make, especially since the SB had me well covered in chips.

I took my good old time, checking out the SB. I felt he had an ace, but I wasn't sure how big it was. Then he said to me, "If you fold, I'll show you one card." For some reason, that told me his kicker wasn't strong, so I finally called. He had A-9. My hand held up, and I was now one of the chip leaders.

At the final table of 11, the short stacks were moving all-in left and right, and winning. Soon, the blinds were high as hell. Nothing big really happened for me here, and I finished in 8th place. When I was walking back to my room, I realized that I'd been up for about 25 hours.

Somehow I made it out of bed for the 11am tourney. Again, here, Mark and I were playing solid poker, and we both found ourselves at the final table of 11 guys. Unfortunately, they paid only the top 6, since there weren't as many people in this one (45).

Down to nine guys, this is how I was eliminated: with blinds of 1000/2000, I raise to 6k from the small blind A-7 spades. Just the big blind is left in the hand. He moves all in. I deliberate once again. I feel I have the best hand, so I call, even though I regret not moving all in on him instead. Here's why I regret it: he says, "You're not going to believe this," and flips up 10-3 off suit.

A river 3 ends my tournament, and this guy rakes in a 25K pot and is in the top 3 in chips. I was pretty devastated by this hit.

Mark went on to take 6th.

All in all, I was still happy with the way things were going. To this point, we'd done 4 tournamants and had two final tables and a cash between us. If I could have just avoided some bad luck, my results could have been a lot different in terms of money made.

That night, we didt the 7pm at the Aladdin. Again, here, I lost an all-in pot with pocket tens when a player called me with A-9 and rivered an ace on me. Again, the pot was at a crucial stage in the tournament, when we were down to three tables. Mark was on fire, and cruised into the final table. He took 6th again, but cashed for his efforts. So now we'd played 6 tournaments with 2 cashes and two final tables between us. Not too shabby, in my opinion.

We again did the 11pm Sahara with no luck. Again, I got down to the final 15 or so and just went cold, cold, cold.

The next morning we did the little Stratosphere tourney. Again, I took another crucial beat when my A-J of spades lost to K-3 offsuit. I lost about half my stack right after I did the add-on, rendering it essentially worthless. The very next hand I picked up K-K and won nothing but the blinds. It was one of those days already.

We made our way back to the MGM for our final session. We both sat at a $1/$2 NLH table. Mark was there first, as I was checking the baseball scores and taking a mental break.

When Mark called me, telling me he'd already doubled up, I decided to get into the game. I started with $60 again, but got the best rush of cards I'd had all trip. Unfortunately, one of the hands was against Mark. We'd both flopped sets, mine of eights, his of sixes. Need I say more?

When it was all said and done, I cashed out with about $210. Mark stayed a little longer and got back his money plus $30, which isn't too bad, considering he was in for $200.

This was my first losing trip in Vegas, but I am pleased with how I played. Bad luck can be the difference between winning and losing, and unfortunately, that was the case for me this time around.