I came to Vegas for my 21st birthday over spring break. My brother paid for my hotel and airfare as my Christmas and birthday presents rolled into one. Before I left I cashed my tax return and gathered the money from all my relatives and headed out.

Now Ive played poker since I was about 14 and I consider my self a good player. I win 95% of the time at my weekly game and in high school even found it hard to find people to play because my "rep" had scared people off. That said I knew Vegas would be a whole different game. I planned on pretty much only playing poker because I felt like it was the only game that I could rely on any talent I might have.

We arrived on the afternoon the day before my birthday so I had a ton of time to walk around and scope out rooms. The problem was that since we were staying at the Sahara, everything was way far away. We should have sprung for the monorail but we were cheap and just decided to stay at the Sahara and the Riviera.

Midnight finally came and I was 21. Now the other thing that comes along with being 21 is drinking. So rather than try and balance poker with drinking which for sure throws off my game I decided to just play some blackjack and drink with my friends.

The next morning the poker started...

Played in the $50 tournament at the Riviera with 30 people just to get the feel of Vegas Poker. Pretty generic competition but then my luck hit rock bottom and never came back. Got knocked out with A9 top pair of flop with 4 to the flush with my Ace. Called all in by K9 with 4 flush. King hits on the river and Im out...

First cash game at the Sahara later on, first hand dealt AA 3-6 limit game with kill pot on. Bet it through... Beat by 22 on the river... Flop full house, lose to 4 of a kind... Never ever got in the flow of things.

Went back to 1-3 NL the next day bought in for $200 right after a tournament got under way thinking I'd catch the early out players that werent good. Apparently all the locals had the same idea and i sat with 8 of what appeared to be best friends with over 1200 in each of their stacks. Every bet was over $40 and I never got the cards to even attempt to play, especially with the cards I got all trip.

I messed around in a few 2-4 games and the luck continued. Eventually I just gave into the rest of the scene and abandoned poker. Good thing I was able to win back all my money somehow at blackjack and then lost right back at craps.

Overall even with the crappy poker play and luck I had the best 5 days of my life and a memorable 21st. I will be back this summer to try my luck again and maybe do a little better.