First, I'd like to thank the adminstrators and posters here. Without the solid advice on this forum, my trip wouldn't have been nearly as fun.

As noted above, I was in town for a bachelor party, but my main objective was to play in as many poker rooms as possible. With that in mind, I flew in Wednesday morning, a day and a half before everyone else was scheduled to get in. Thanks to AVP, I got two nights at MGM for $59 per night.

Day 1-Scene 1

I landed at 7:55 a.m. and, after learning that a room was not available yet, I checked my bags and went on my poker search. There weren't many people at MGM (2 1-2 nl games with 7-8 eight palyers apiece) so I walked to Excalibur. I got to Excalibur around 8:30-8:45 and found only people waiting for the 9:00 a.m. tourney. Unfazed, I decided to check out Luxor despite the not so positive reviews from this site.

When I got to Luxor, there were two games going: no limit and 2-4 limit. There were only two players in the no limit game, so I decided to opt for the 2-4 game, have a drink and be on my way. One drink turned into two and two turned into eight. In all, I spent almost three hours playing 2-4 at Luxor. Not really what I had in mind, but I had a good time. When I got there I was one of only four players, but by the time I left we had a full table. So, after one casino I was down $58 and +8 white Russians. By the way, the service was very fast and friendly, but I'm pretty sure that they use powdered creamer in their white Russians. So, if you find yourself at the Luxor, you might want to try another drink.

Next stop: Mandalay Bay. By the time I got to Mandalay Bay it was just after noon. Given that I had a decent buzz, I intended to play some more 2-4 limit. Alas, there weren't any openings so I sat down with $200 at a 1-2 no limit game. A fun group of people, and the card gods were definitely on my side. I had no difficult decisions. On my second or third hand, I was in the big blind and checked my option holding J8. The flop brought two jacks and a queen. The turn brought the case jack. My poor acting skills netted me a profit of only $50 and much ribbing from the table. Several hands later, I flopped a set of Kings. Again, I definitely won the minimum, but at least I was winning. Five more white Russians somewhat erased my memory, but I'm pretty certain that I didn't play another hand for the remaining hour and a half of my session. After two casinos: -$17 + 13 white Russians--5 with real milk.

After my session at Mandalay Bay, I stopped at the Burger Bar for a Kobe Beef Burger. $20 is a lot for a burger and fries in my world, but it was good, and I'm glad that I tried it once. After my burger I hit Monte Carlo. After a ten minute or so wait, they opened a new 2-4 limit game. There were three locals pretty much just logging their hours and three other players who were staying at the MC. The action was very tight and passive. Although I liked the room, I played for only about an hour because I had sobered up some (only 1 white Russian at MC) and decided I wanted to play some more no limit. After cashing out ahead $20, I went to Planet Hollywood.

Perhaps I wasn't as sober as I thought, but I had a terrible time finding the Planet Hollywood Poker Room. It's not like it's hidden or anything, but finding my way through the mall next to Planet Hollywood left me disoriented. Anyway, when I got to the Poker Room at approximately 3:00 p.m. there weren't any games going. I waited for about 15 minutes as the morning tournament (I guess?) was finishing up, and then they opened a new 1-2 nl table. I sat next to a very interesting character who claimed that he worked construction at Planet Hollywood and was on the clock while he was playing. When we started there were only 4 players and I was in the big blind. After the flop there were two to a straight flush on the board, and the guy next to me was begging me not to fold to his $5 bet. He explained that he wanted enough money in the pot so that he could claim a jackpot. The dealer politely reminded him that if he kept talking he could forfeit any potential payout. Anyway, he didn't end up hitting the straight flush but I ended up contributing $10 to keep his dreams alive. I had two napkins by the way. Then, it couldn't have been more than five hands later, the same guy gets quad 2s. I don't recall exactly, but I believe they netted him somewhere around $100. The rest of my session was pretty uneventful. I won only a few pots on the flop with continuation bets and managed to fall a little below my $200 buy in. Right before I intended to leave I was dealt pocket 3s. I limped and made a set on the flop. With two diamonds on the board, I bet $20, happy to take it down right there. I got one caller. After a blank on the turn, I bet $40 and got another call. As you probably can guess, the third diamond came on the river. I checked and the villain checked and he took the pot down with 5-6 of diamonds (he also had an opened ended straight draw). After a few more hands, I left down for the session -$95. The drink service was spotty, but I stuck to diet coke and water. The server was pretty entertaining because she walked around like she had been shot in the leg. But, I suppose if I had to carry drinks around in those outfits, I would have sore feet, too.

After PH, I decided it was time for a quick nap, a shower, and then an evening session of some no limit.

Day 1 Scene 2

My one hour nap turned into three hours, and by the time I got to the MGM poker room, it was just before 10:00p.m. After about a 10-minute wait, I was seated at a 1-2 nl game. My stategy, as I am not very experienced at no limit, was to play super tight. In fact, I only played one hand in the first hour. I raised to 15 with AQ suited and got two callers and took down the pot with a $25 continuation bet on a blank flop. That was pretty much it for my 3 hour session. I raised with good hands and either won or lost pre-showdown. Not good poker necessarily, but it helped build my confidence and kept the variance to a minimum. I ended the session up $26 and hopped on the Deuce. I arrived at TI sometime around 1:30 a.m. There was one table of 1-3 nl that was full and a 2-4 table that had only five players on it, including a manager. As I expected from the reviews, I was very impressed with the friendly staff at TI. It also helped that the deck totally hit me in the face. I played for only about an hour and won $95. It helped that one guy at my table raised every hand, but I've never been that hot before. I only had a couple of drinks here, but the service was very fast and friendly.

As it was getting late and I was getting tired, I decided to head over to the Mirage just so that I can say that I've played there. The night manager was in the middle of changing decks so I had to wait about 10 minutes before being seated at a 3-6 limit game. Generally a nice group of people, with one crusty old guy who looked like he had been in the poker room since the first night it opened. He muttered under his breath the entire time and, from what I was told, he had a running feud with one of the other players at the table who had sucked out on him a time or two. My favorite hand of the session involved the old man and his arch nemesis, who seemed like a very funny and nice guy. The arch nemesis raised all in for his remaining $5 pre-flop and the old guy and one other person called. The flop was AA8. Two checks. Turn was a 10. Old guy bets and the other player folded. River was another 8. The arch nemesis shows A-J and says it looks like we split it, and the old man slow rolls A-10 for a larger boat. The arch nemesis became enraged--remember, he only lost $5--and tore his cards in half and threw them on the table. Ah, fun times. I left shortly after that with a $10 profit for the session.

I decided that I had played enough poker for a day so I decided to catch the Deuce back to MGM. I should note that it was very windy and pretty cold that night and my shorts and polo shirt weren't keeping me very warm. I walked to the Deuce stop in front of Caesar's and waited for around 30 minutes. I would have continued walking, but the bus stop provided some shelter from the cool wind. Not five minutes after I got to the Deuce stop, another guy joined me. He looked like he had been drinking hard since the morning. He talked on his cell phone for about 10 minutes and then finally passed out on the bench. When the bus finally arrived, I tried to wake him up, but the bus driver told me to leave him there, and, since she was my ride, I left the man behind. By the time I got back to the MGM it was around 5:00 a.m. Overall, a successful day. I played a lot of poker and didn't lose my shirt.