I went to Vegas with my wife for her training seminar November 7 to Nov 11. We stayed at the Venetian which is where her conference was held. I’m required to do wifey stuff for the weekend before I can get away and hit the tables.

Go to the area you are interested in:

Flight:
We flew from Milwaukee on Air Tran. We have flown with them about 5 times now to various locations and have yet to have a delay either coming or going. The seats are tight and it was hard to open my laptop and watch a movie. The WiFi is $12.95 for 24 hours. I decided against it. Arrived in Vegas on time.. Took a slow walk to the baggage area and only waited a few minutes for our bags. We decided to take the shuttle to the V for $6 each. A shuttle pulled up right as we got out there. Sweet! What I did not realize is that you sit there until it is full. So we sat for about 30 minutes. Usually a taxi is about $20 max so was the $8 worth it?

Venetian:
Check in was smooth, the place is nice, but I feel it is a little to “stuffy” for me. The rooms are getting older and the service relating to the rooms is slipping a little. For example: We had 2 light bulbs burned out in the bathroom which is pretty dark as it is. The TV remote was missing and when I tried to turn on the TV by hand it did not work. I called the desk as we were leaving for lunch. When we got back, the bulbs were replaced, there was a new remote there, but the TV still did not work. They ended up coming back to fix that problem. Another little thing: They give you three towels when you first get into your room. When we used two the first day they only replaced one for a now total of 2. They also gave us two hair conditioners but I figured when they would come and replenish the next day that they would leave shampoo. They never did replenish like they used to do. Lastly, I usually put my toothbrush and paste in a bathroom glass. Usually they will then leave a new glass the next day. That never happened. Oh yeah, internet was $10/day. This might be the norm on the strip, I do not know.

Food:
Here are the “bigger named” places that we went to.
LAGASSE'S STADIUM (Palazzo)
We were starving when we got into the hotel so we dumped our bags and went to find a burger and to watch some Big 10 football. My wife suggested Lagasse’s. They said that they had seats and were serving food but it was $75 a person for seating in the main area and $25 each for seating in the outer area minimums. After looking at a menu, we figured that with a few beers we would spend the $50 so we went with it (plus we were hungry). The place is pretty cool, but unless you are with some big eaters/drinkers I do not think it is really worth it. We were sitting in some sort of living room chairs with a small table between us that the food barely fit on. Just like at home I guess! The burger was average, the onion rings were really good, but I do not think I’ll be back. They did have party rooms to rent that seem like they could be fun if you had the right amount of people. One room had a pool table in it.

LAVO (Palazzo)
My wife and I and two friends of hers ate at Lavo’s on Sunday night. Weird place. It looks to be fancy, but you get garlic bread wrapped in tin foil. People there were dressed in everything from jeans and a polo shirt to suits. The prices looked fancy! that being said, the big meatball appetizer was one of the best that I ever had. We also had scallops for an appetizer and that was average. The rest of the food was a little better then average. I would go back for the meatballs (maybe next time I would just get spaghetti and meat balls).

BLT Burger (Mirage)
The four of us ate lunch here and it was very good. I did spend the extra for the Kobe beef burger, but did not notice a difference from regular beef. Ice cream shakes were also good. I would go back again.

B.B. Kings (Mirage)
I have wanted to go to BB’s for a few years. They had live music which is always a plus. I had the ribs that I was disappointed in. Once again all four of us made it here. Food was average at best, I probably will not go there again.

Serendipity 3 (Caesars)
My wife and I went here for dinner on our last night. It has a casual dress code and overlooking the strip and part of Caesars. (We got the Caesars side). I had a pot pie and my wife had a grilled cheese. Food was good while I was eating it, but a few hours later I ended up in the bathroom. I guess it was a little too rich for me. I might go back if my wife wanted to.

It is hard for me to judge food. I’m a plain and picky eater. Personally I would rather just get a burger and a beer and leave it at that. Although I like having good food at a nice place, I would rather wear jeans and be in a more casual environment. My wife does like trying new things (especially desert) so we go to these places.

Poker

I finally got to a poker table on Saturday night. I tucked my wife in around 11:00 PM and headed to the IP to play poker. Normally I’m a limit player and last trip I chickened out of NL so I decided this was the trip.
I bought in at the IP for $150. This place was freezing! I did not have a jacket with me and was actually shivering. I played tight aggressive poker. Played in position and did not chase too much. Bluffed a few times when I thought I could get away with it. I decided that if I was going to play a hand that I would play it strong. No memorable hands and I never had any big pairs to play. I won a lot with A-Q or A-Js what an “A” would flop and someone would call me down with an A-7 off. I only ran in to a few of these were they ended up with two pair. I ended up $145 after 2 ½ hours. I wanted to stay there later, but I was cold (booze did not help) and tired. I was up a 3:00 AM Vegas time and I’m just getting to old to stay up all night!

I got back to the tables on Monday. I played the $60 Mirage tourney at 11:00 AM. 43 runners and I ended up 5th in chips when we chopped. First in chips almost had the whole table covered. He got the first place money ($370 or so) and we split the rest. I think it ended up about $250 for each. I had pocket Q’s three times before the first break. The first time I raised preflop and got one caller. Flop was a Qc-Jx-5c. I bet out and she came over the top all-in. I had her covered by about 2000 chips because I had won a few hands. I put her on Ac-Jc and was trying to figure out if I should call her in the first round. I did and she had J-J. I dodged the other jacks and doubled up. The other two times I had the Q’s. I raised preflop and got 2 callers. A-x-x with two of a suit that I did not have. Checked to me and next person went all-in. Next player folded and I decided to fold face up. He showed his Ace. Last time someone raised and I called with QQ. Low flop (lower then a Q) rainbow. He went all-in after the flop. I figured that he was trying to steal, but this was still before the first break. I had a lot of chips and decided I did not want to find out if he tripped up a small card or if he had a monster or if he had nothing. I guess if I would have re-raised preflop I might have found out where I was.
The only other hand that I think I played poorly was this: We were at 2 tables and I had raised two times in a row with premium hands from mid position and got no callers. I use under the gun when I looked down at KK. I decided to just call as I wanted some action. Unfortunately I let the BB in for free who ended up 2 pairing. He was only making minimum bets on a scary board and he checked at the river hoping to check-raise me (I also checked) so I think I lost as little as I could on this. Looking back, I should have continued to play the big hands big. Rather win a little pot then to lose a big one in a tourney.
When we got to the final table I needed to go all-in as I was last in chips. I had A-10 and shoved. I got two callers! After the flop, the guy to my left bet out. I figured that I was dead. Right after he did it and the other guy folded the guy to my left said “that was dumb.” He was on a draw and bet the other guy out. An “A” ended up coming down so I won, and found out that I would have won anyway, but dumb move and he knew it. That moved me up to 5th in chips when 2 other guys were also getting to shove. It was then decided that we chop. The whole tourney took 2 ½ hours. I actually liked the play and the flat payout. For people like me it was perfect. There was one dealer who was an older lady that made two major mistakes. The first one, the guy in the #1 seat went all-in and got two callers. He was short stack that they both had him covered. She put down the flop and realized that he did not have any cards. She mucked his cards! Now, he had been warned earlier to not put is cards out so far and to protect them. But, he did not have a chip to protect them. Yes it is ultimately his fault as it is the player’s responsibility to protect, but still. The other two guys tried to give him the pot, but that was not allowed as his cards were mucked (which is the right call). The next time (same lady, same round dealing) someone went all-in after the flop (I think) and the guy with A-A called (who was a shorter stack then the guy all in). She ended up pushing the pot to the first bettor (the guys without AA) and picked up the flop cards. The guy with the AA complained that the floor was called over. They ended up splitting the pot. I know that dealers can make mistakes, but this woman did not belong at the table. I’ll give her the one with the guy in seat #1, but not the AA situation.

Monday night after I tucked the wife in again, I decided to go to Bally’s to play. I had also read that this is a good room for beginners. The room was dead. It was actually full of people but they were all dead. No energy on the room at all. Nobody really talking, nothing really happening. Just people playing cards. I expected more at midnight. There was only one have of note. I had raised OTB with A2s and had the straight flush draw with a handful of people in the pot. Bally’s has a straight flush jackpot. I ended up minimum betting the hand to see if I could have gotten lucky with the straight flush. I never hit my flush (straight or otherwise) and did not hit my Ace. Needless to say I ended up giving away the pot to a small pair. I realized that unless I have an open ender I should have just played my normal game. I did end up +$145 after 3 hours.

Tuesday, late afternoon, when I was waiting for my wife to finish up her conference I sat down at Harrah’s in the ½ NL game. This was a crazy game. I bought in for $150 and knew that I had about 45 minutes before my wife would come and get me. Most hands saw 6-8 people to the flop with everyone limping in.
I forgot my previous wining ways and got caught up in playing basically any two cards, regardless of position. I stuck around with the draws and second pair only to be felted when my A-K off got crushed by 7-3s when he flopped 2 pair and I flopped the A. I realized how easy it is to get “undisciplined” in this game.

I never made it back to the card room. I go a little sick from dinner on Tuesday night and decided to lie down at 10:00 PM. Unfortunately I did not wake up until the next morning and it was time to fly home.

Overall I really like NL cash games. I still like investing time in a tourney even if I do not cash (but I like it when I do). I do not get to play a lot of poker at home (or on-line) so just playing for me is a good thing.
I would definitely play the Mirage tourney again as well as ½ NL.

As I made some money playing poker, I gave most of it back on other games. Not to mention what my wife lost on slots.

My overall results:
- $40 Slots (penny slots!)
- $200 Black Jack
- $15 Craps
- $20 Video poker
+ $ 395 poker