A couple friends and I try to hit up Vegas once every month or so (not too hard coming from San Francisco). This past weekend was our December trip, and boy was it awesome. My friends go to club, I go to club and play poker (hopefully not together ;D). As I'm new to the room, I'll detail my usual weekend Vegas trip:

Friday:
- Arrive in hotel by 5PM
- 5-7PM: Random (play some craps/pai gow with friends, place a sports bet, etc.)
- 7-9PM: Nice dinner
- 9-10PM: Pre-party and get ready for club
- 10PM-sometime in the morning: Club = Party

Saturday:
- 10AM-Noon: Wake-up, brunch
- Noon-7PM: Poker
- 7-9PM: Nice Dinner
- 9-10PM: Pre-party and get ready for club
- 10PM-sometime in the morning: Club = Party

Sunday:
Saturday:
- 10AM-Noon: Wake-up, brunch
- Noon-4PM: Poker
- 6PM: Flight home

As you can see, there is a bit of routine here, but the afternoon poker sessions almost always pay for the trip (or a good portion of it). My advice to any average to above-average player in Vegas for the weekend would be to hit up Bellagio. Play a little tighter than you normally would and you'll make money. The tight aggressive type is what I'm thinking about here.

Now on to this past weekend: As usual, I hit up Bellagio around 1 on Sat afternoon (a bit later than normal led to an hour wait). I sat down at a 2/5 game and noticed that the Danish gentleman to my right had about $2800 behind him. While thanking the poker gods for sitting directly behind him, I pick up a quick vibe that the rest of the table is unhappy with this gentleman. I find out why 20 mins later as he proceeds to spill his Jack and Coke all over the table (needless to say, he's still a bit drunk from last night). The afternoon goes as expected. I sat tight, won very few pots (showed top 2 pair once; still around even for the session) until 5:30 rolls around and I'm about ready to meet up with the friends for dinner.

From the CO, I'm dealt KQs. 2 limp in front of me, I raise to $20 (standard pre-flop raise at this table), the SB and two limpers call - $85 in the pot. The flop hits KQ2 rainbow - score! Here's my chance. Thankfully the SB leads out with $20 and is called quickly by the two in front of me. A quick thought, and I raise to $120 (again, tight aggressive here - we don't like giving people odds). SB folds, and I only get one caller. Turn comes shows another K - sweet!. The guy in front of me has been playing pretty lose while I've been sitting here, so I'm hoping he's holding something like J10 and he hits his straight, so we both check. The river shows 8, thereby not filling out a flush, nor a straight. The guy leads out with $150; I sit and think for a bit, and go all-in over the top (another $250) now hoping he has AK. He does not and folds, and I'm now up around $370 for the session. Another successful session.

What was the Venetian mistake you ask? Well, on Sunday prior to leaving for the airport I had a quick 2 hour session at a 2/5 table there. Wow – talk about a different atmosphere. Being a pretty average player, I can’t switch gears as quickly as I’d like. Sitting down at a very tight game is not my forte. And herein lies the problem – the Venetian room seems to be about as slow I’ve seen in Vegas…I lost $50 after a few hours, and promptly got up when I saw my friends were ready to leave.

So, another successful trip – hoping they keep coming.