Flew into Vegas on 6/15 from Columbus for a software conference at the Venetian but stayed at TI. The flight was uneventful and it took approximately 1 hour from the time I boarded off the plane until I was in the check-in line at TI. The line was long and I had to wait another 45 minutes until I was able to get to my room. It has been about 3 years since I was in Vegas and I wanted to spend some time walking the strip to see the changes this city constantly goes through. It is amazing how this city can still create the buzz inside you with all its dizzying lights. The Palazzo and the Encore was new to me as well as the City Center.

Enough site seeing for now. Time to check out the poker rooms. Went back to TI to check out the 7pm tourney. Read good reviews about the room and decided to give it a go. The room is somewhat off the casino floor and is quite small but had a great ambiance about it. It was dark but did not have poor lighting. At home I normally play in a friendly neighborhood tournaments with friends for a small amount of money. Our tournaments are very friendly but we don't really get in a large number of hands in. I just play for the social aspects of the game but also would like to be better at the game.

I entered the $65 7pm tourney and had a blast. The tourney had a mix of locals and tourists (like me) and for the most part they all played TAG with only a few loose cannons. The dealers were great. They were very professional and kept the game fun. I was able to play in 6 tournaments throughout the week at TI and only saw 1 misdealt hand in that time.

In the first tournament I was not able to get far due to the Corona's. I wasn't paying attention to the game and was chatting with guy beside who happened to be the big blind and I was drinking a lot. When the action came around to me, I assumed that it was only him and I in the hand. Just for giggles I decided to push all-in with the blinds at 200/400 with my QJ suited. Well he folded just like I thought he would but on the other side of the dealer I heard a "call". Well that just sickened me. I didn't notice that the guy under the gun had called the blind previously. He ended up taking all of my chips with his big slick. Couldn't believed that I just donked off all of my chips on a play like that.

Overall I played in 6 of those $65 tournaments throughout the week. I was able to cash in 3 of those with two 4th place finishes and a 4 way chop in the last tournament I played in. That was a wild chop. With only four players left I was the big stack (for once) and under the gun with 77. The blinds were 2000/4000. I made it 16,000 to go just wanting to take the blinds. But the older gent just called my raise and only had another 8000 or 9000 behind that and then the girl in the small bind goes all-in with around 32,000. The big blind folds and now it's up to me. I have been trying to get the others to chop for a few hands now and I brought that topic up again. I had another 40,000 left but felt that I was dominated by the girl who could have had a big pair. The dealer called the floor to determine if the players were able to chop while we were in the middle of the hand and she said that so long as all the players had agreed, they can chop anytime. After a few anxious moments, all agreed to chop with $420 to everyone. We all exposed our hands and ran the cards to see what would have transpired. The older gent had AJ off and the girl that I was so worried about had 33. The older gent would have rivered a A would have won the main pot of over 60,000 if he and I would have called the girl's all-in. Don't know if that was the right move for me but a chop was better than 4th place again.

Overall I spent about $500 playing poker that week and cashed out around $720 minus dealer tips. Fun week! I liked to thank the staff and especially the dealers for making the game of poker fun. I would highly recommend this room to anyone looking for a good time in Vegas.