This was the first time I played live poker in Las Vegas. Needless to say, I was very excited. Played two days. Here we go...

Day One
Hit up the MGM per all the good things I've heard here. It did not disappoint. Location seems to be the one sticking point people have with this place, but I think it's perfect. Being so close to the nightlife options in the hotel, it attracts many fish. Onto the notable hands. Bought in $200 for the 1/2 NL game. Two loose cannons at this table. A Yugoslavian and a Japanese guy (who'll I refer to as Yugo and Japan here). Within 10 minutes, I lose my buy in to Yugo. He raises in mid position to $15. I have QQ and re-raise to $45. He pushes all-in. Normally, I'd fold. But, even in just those first 10 minutes, I pinned him as a loose aggressive player. So, I thought a little bit and called. He had KQ. Beautiful. But, I think we know what happens next. He flops a K. And, just for good measure, turns another K for a full house. $200 gone. But, I knew right away I could make my money back from this guy, and I did. Here's the hand.

Yugo calls in mid-position. A few other callers. I'm dealt AJ off on the button. I raise to $12. Yugo and another call. Flop comes AJblank. I bet 2/3 pot. Yugo calls, and the other folds. Turn comes blank. I bet 2/3 pot again, and Yugo calls. River is blank. I bet $30. Yugo raises me to $90. I only have $120 behind me. So, I push all in. It's literally $29 for him to call me in this pot of about $400. Yugo shows a 6 for a lowly one pair and doesn't call. Huh? He chases the whole time, raises me, and then folds because he didn't want to call $29 for a $400 pot? I don't show and scoop the winnings. Amazing. Never seen anything like that.

The last notable hand was with Japan and Yugo. This was a disappointing one. Especially since I told my friends that I was going to play until I won $500 or it was 10pm, whichever came first. We were going out clubbing, so that's where the time came in. At 9:45 I'm up $430 and dealt AA. Beautiful. I say to myself, this is the last hand. I've been playing Japan and Yugo now for 3 hours and they almost any raise pre-flop. So, with only Yugo calling, I raise in mid-position to $15. Silly raise, but this is a silly table. And sure enough Japan (who has nothing in the pot) calls and Yugo calls. Flop comes 1099. Check. Check. And, I bet large. Japan calls. Yugo folds. Turn comes K. Japan bets out 1/2 the pot. I thought I was beat. I thought he'd call QJ. But, he's also a silly player who'd do the same with KJ or A10. So, I push him all-in, he calls, and what does he show? 97 off. That's right. This guy called 97 off out of position with nothing in the pot for 7 1/2 times the big blind. Needless to say, I lose. Day one ends with me being up $230. Good, but disappointing.

Day two
I go to TI. Everyone raved about this place. I'm not sure I get it. For one, at about 4pm there was literally one guy at the 1/3 NL table (the only cash game table being played by the way). That's right, 1 guy. I join, another joins and we start playing 3 handed with no rake. If this place is so good, why are there only three of us playing a cash game in this room? Aside from that, the room is fairly small. And, the competition was tough. Once we got a full table, I can fairly say every one was solid. No fish, and few really good players. I lost $190 here and left. A disappointing visit. The one positive here was that the dealers are the best I found. But, that doesn't make up for everything else.

I move on to the Venetian. This is one nice room. Very large. Very open and lots of people. I made $110 here, but I was tilting and got lucky. I lost $150 to a guy in two hands who just out played me. Then, I got frisky with JJ and luckily rivered my set while pushing this guy all in with his top K pair. After that, I played tight. Fairly uneventful, but still a good room.

After dinner at Valentinos at the Venetian (which buy the was probably the worst Italian meal I've ever had and cost me $65), I hit up Ceasers. Another nice room. But, tucked away. So, not many people just drop in. I have a rule that I don't drink when I play poker. After this trip, I've instituted another rule - I shouldn't play when I'm tired. If I had followed this rule, I would've left Vegas up $350. Instead, I left up $30. Here are the two notable hands.

A girl joined who was really aggressive. We'll call here Angry Girl. Angry Girl raised every pot at this 1/3 NL game. Every pot. And almost always to $15. And she bet hard post-flop and almost always chased people away, whether after the flop, turn, or river. People always folded. I obviously noticed this. So, when she raised and I found 33 I called. If I hit my set, I'm golden. If not, I'll drop the hand. Sure enough, I flop my set. I check. She bets $20. I raise to $50. She calls. Turn comes blank. I bet $75 and she calls. River comes blank. I think, ask how much she has behind her which is $150, and I push all in. She folds, I have no idea what she had. I thought she was bluffing ever raise with junk, but I think she just played lots of marginal hands which would explain her calls on this hand. She probably had a gut-shot straight draw or something. Anyways, I'm feeling good. And table loves it because they were getting tired of Angry Girl. This is where I was up $350 for the whole trip. Then, I got tired, and made a stupid call which lost me $250. Angry Girl raises to $15. Another calls. I'm the dealer and have AQ suited. I re-raise to $45. Angry Girl and other guy call. Flop comes A23 with a flush draw. Angry Girl immediately bets out $20. Other guy calls. I re-raise to $80. I think my play so far was good. But, then it falls apart. She pushes all-in. Other guy folds. And it's $120 more for me to call. If I was not tired, I would have known that my top pair second best kicker is probably not worth that call. But, I do. She flips A2 off, and for good measure, rivers a full house. Stupid call by me. I know better. And, that's why I will never play tired again.

So, all in all, up $30 for the whole trip. I learned a lot. And, visited some nice rooms. I'm hoping to go back very soon.

Side note - stopped by the WSOP for the first time. Saw Humberto playing. That guy cracks me up. Also, I stayed at the Palms, but didn't play there. That said, if you're a younger person like me, that's definitely the place to stay. Lots of young, attractive women. Great pool scene. Great clubs which you can get in for free or a hefty discount and not wait in line. Ghost Bar was fantastic. And we got a free room upgrade. Not bad for $108 a night. If this place was on the strip, they could charge twice that easily. Highly recommended.