First of all thanks to all avp members who answered my many newbie questions....basically this was a 3 night trip form dec 22 to 25 from atlanta and staying at TI

I don't know if I should do a whole trip report or just a poker report

since this is a poker forum ill stick to only poker

First night I went to excalibur to try their pokerpro tables....I liked them very much BUT the room kind of sucked...and it was way down the strip...players seemed to know what they were doing and i successfully trapped on a few occasions...i tried the .50/$1 nl game and hit quad jacks against this guy and i got to spin the wheel and hit $35 but for some reason they were doubling it that night so i won $70 on top of the huge pot i had won ...i left a little while after that though but broke even basically that night with the $70 jackpot prize...I would have gone back again but it was just too damn far

so the next day basically I tried a trny at TI...the 7 pm $65 I think and the players weren't into it and the dealers were sort of intimidating for new players...I don't know I just didn't feel too comfortable in that room maybe it was too damn dark or something...but play was pretty decent and the room did feel a little cramped

So i went to try planet hollywood...this is by far my favorite poker room out of the three...I liked the atmosphere...a lot of people my age...some regulars..and waitresses were hot as biscuits...best dealers probably i had seen on my trip...so this was my second night and I bought in with $200 at the 1/2 nl game..there were 9 or 10 people at the table including me and I could tell one was at least a semi regular Vegas poker player and another asian guy was pretty good too

i like cash games because you can sit back and wait for the hands you don't feel pressured to "make a move" or go in with hands you don't think you will win

so I started playing around 9 or 10 pm and had built my stack to about $380 ish with really really tight play

Then I lost about $150 or so in a big pot close to like 2 or 3 am...I don't remember the hand but I remember i played it really bad basically trying to go after a calling station and he had a set or something like that

so I'm down to like $200 not bad i've played for 4 hours and am even lol...not short stacked or anything by any means...so next hand I get K7 spades and i sort of was mad but then i decided well if i hit this maybe i'll take advantage of the fact that people saw me lose a big hand...so 5 people are in and flop is like Jack of spades...and ten of spades and a red 7...so i figure i have bottom pair and a flush draw so i bet like $30 to get everyone out of the pot maybe get one caller...so I did that and I get one caller..but he was the semi regular guy who was probably the best player at the table in my view...so i was like alright i have no idea how to play this if i miss it cause it was obvious i had a flush draw probably...so turn comes like a red 2 or 3..something meaningless....and I'm up first...for some reason I don't know why...maybe cause i got nervous and didn't know how to play with a flush draw or against a good opponent lol...but i bet $50 and the pot was like 200 or so at that point and he called and i about fainted i'm like im cooked....then the river came Ace of spades and i almost wet myself haha..i had 100 or so left and im like if i push all in he will fold probably...but i wana extract some money...then his friend sitting beside him that just got me on the big pot two minutes ago was probably laughing at me and my idiot plays and said like "i guess you gotta go all in" lol and i'm like..."i guess so"....then i hesitated on purpose ...and pushed all in....first time vegas push all in damn that was a good feeling...anyways he thought for like 5 minutes and he finally called and he needed my 7 of spades for his straight flush haha...wow $550 pot or something crazy like that maybe $540 ish...I said right there that i would not play another hand as it was 3 am ish and i needed to sleep lol...so i just tipped the dealer like 40 and kept the 500 i don't know if i was tipping way more or just right but i figure who the fuq can complain about 40 and i was happy as hell about my pot lol

then i went back to TI and played some craps...i just asked the dealers the rules and they were very friendly...and i love craps...the min was $5 even at night and you could play with $50 for an hour or two if you were just betting pass line like me with minimums lol

I think i was up and down but basically broke even....

so third day I play some craps in the morning again and go eat the ti buffet then do some sight seeing and go to the planet hollywood poker room again and this time it was earlier at like 6 pm since i had a flight in the afternoon and needed to be asleep around 2 am ish

so I sit down with $200 and there's a lot of Persians playing and more "good" players earlier in the afternoon or evening i guess...but I was at around $200 till 8 or 9 pm and wasn't catching anything i think best hand I had was 99 and board had like two overs so i had to get rid of it...I won one big hand I had q 9 and raised pre flop to get the "good" players out of the pot then i figure if i get a queen or maybe a two pair i can get some money out of the callers...i flopped a straight and the persian guy beside me had like two pair so i get $100 or so out of that pot...then i had A diamonds and 3 spades or something and flop had three diamonds...i think it was checked around then the turn was no diamond i figure someone hit a flush and was trying to get a bet...so i did bet on the turn to get some people out like 30 or so and only one was remaining..another arabian guy...and he called and river came a diamond and i bet like 50 which was close to what he had left like 75 or so and he calls with a king high flush and he had made it on the flop cause ha had another diamond he was just trying to get me to go on tilt from the last losing hand...which well he got his wish

i think then i got back down to 200 somehow with my trip 8s losing to a straight i think...then it was close to 12 am and i figure ill take my 200 and break even and call it a night then i got involved in a hand with a straight flush draw that cost me like 100 more and then i lost the rest of the 100 to like top pair vs top pair but he had better kicker
so i lost 200 the last night which wasn't too bad i had that budgeted for poker and other gambling

so i still had 550 or some winnings from my 750 gambling budget and i was pretty happy going back to my room with a great vacation behind me almost...so i went back to ti and just for one last time i tried some craps with my $50 from $550 winnings and was playing with a few people and had gotten to about 100 from 50 pretty fast cause i learned to take odds on the six and eight lol and got lucky a couple times i guess....then i was playing alone and bet on the don't pass line and hit like sevens twice and 11 once and i was down to like 75 so i took a 25 chip and put it on the pass line and got it after like 10 rolls lol...then did it again i think and i had gotten to 150 or so...then i had 175 and im like ok its late i gotta flight im in good position ill bet 25 and keep 100 profit and that covers 100 of my poker losses so i did bet the 25 and lost it then cashed out at least that was some sort of happy ending to my trip

sorry i've never done a trip report so excuse my errors and story telling ability

and as you can tell i suck at poker and sucked out on the few hands that i did win

i wanted to try mgm grand poker room but i was having way too much fun at planet hollywood

I will definitely try to improve my play and play exclusively poker and craps next trip since i did all the mandatory sight seeing or whatever

thinking of putting this $600 ish towards my next vegas trip and i will probably stay at like planet hollywood or somewhere near that location as i hated walking from ti...