Mike and I figured that after two EA's where I got my head handed to me, we need to be on a budget. So we set up our Excellant Adventure to go to poker games with lower buy-ins. Along the way we hit downtown once, the strip 3 times and one independent off the strip casino. Two of the casinos were not on a previous EA.

The lowest buy-in for any poker game in Las Vegas is $20. Three of our buy-in were $20. One was $30, and one was $40.

The first casino we hit was the El Cortez. Small 1-3-6 game with a $20 buy-in. It has one $1 blind. Just like I said when I first reviewed this room, its a great game to learn limit hold-em in. Just one dollar per rotation. The action was OK. About 80% locals at 10:30pm on Monday night.

I played tight. The rules of this adventure were, we play until one of us goes broke or we get sick of the people we are playing with. I lost $10 and Mike lost the full $20. No rebuys on this EA. So I won the El Cortez.

We left there around 11:30pm. We made it to the Tuscany at midnight. The Tuscany was a new room for us. They have 7 tables, a nice staff, but only one game going, 3-6 limit hold-em game with a $40 minimum buy-in. The action was good, one guy was there on his birthday, dumping money as fast as he could get it out of his wallet. I won $10, Mike won $42. That ties us at 1 casino a piece. We left because the game got short.

The third casino we went to was Bill's, formally the Barbary Coast. They have an interesting no-limit game. $20 buy-in, one $1 blind. They had two games going. A couple of IP dealers were there playing. Mike and I get on the table with 2 of the most annoying people I have ever played with. First there was cheering guy. When he won, he pumped his fist and cheered. The other was drunk woman. She kept scooting closer to me and talking about her hands, her life, how much she drank, etc., etc. So I'm fired up to be at that table!

Fortunately, the players stunk and we both won. I won $37 and Mike won $12. I won casino 3. I think that there is a real market for this type of low buy-in no-limit game. I enjoyed it (mostly because I won), and I will probably play it again. We left Bill's at 2am.

The next stop on EA14 was one of the most legendary poker room's we have covered, the Mirage. This was our first trip to the Mirage on an EA. We were hoping to play 1-4 stud. That game was not going so we settled for 3-6 limit hold-em, with a $30 buy-in. We got in the game at 2:15am.

A couple of things about the Mirage. It was the premier room in Vegas until the Bellagio opened in the late nineties. They have 25 tables. Run evening tournaments 5 nights a week. They spread holdem, Omaha Hi-low, and low limit stud. Also, my ex works there, her name is EVIL.

The 3-6 game has a lot of action. It takes all of 30 minutes for me to lose $30 and Mike to lose $8. Mike wins the Mirage. Its all tied up 2 to 2. On a side note, I almost got into a fight at the table with an annoying drunk. Instead of fighting, Mike and I took EVIL and her friend, Big Head (her nickname, I don't make this stuff up.), to go eat at the IP coffee shop.

Since we were at the IP anyway, we thought we would break the tie with a heads up game in their poker room. The IP is the location of the weekly mixed game on Sunday night. Richard, the shift manager agreed to run the game, we both buy in for $20 bucks. To decide which game, EVIL picks one card from the mixed game cards. She picks Badugi. That was a lucky pick for me. I am better at the draw games and Mike is better at stud games. I win $13 and Mike loses $20, giving me the win at the fifth casino.

So I won the Excellant Adventure competition. I won 3 casino's and $20. Mike won 2 casinos and $4. I will admit that had EVIL drawn Razz or some other fake stud game, I probably would of lost.

It was a fun EA. We went to some nice rooms and played 7 hours of poker with only $130 at risk. I hope we do this kind of competition again. All of you are welcomed to join us.

Good Luck!

SouthPointPerry