Background - Spent 4 days in Vegas last Nov with my wife after a Caribbean cruise. We shopped and saw a show every night – pretty much a poker free zone – and she hated the place. “If you like it that much, come back on your own”.
As the months passed I was asked on a regular basis “Have you booked Vegas yet?”
I knew deep down it was a woman trap but eventually booked a week to coincide with a friend and his brother’s trip.
Cue tantrum from beloved wife “I can’t believe you have booked it – don’t bother coming back. You prefer poker to me”

Offer to cancel—“ The fact that you wanted to go and booked it is just as bad as going” .In deep shit so decide to continue with trip to have something tangible for
hassle.

Arrive from England at 1210pm Wed 28th and get taxi to Hooters – not the biggest or best but a comfortable room.
Quick shower and change and walk to Planet Hollywood for 2 pm Tourny.
Tread water for an hour but then double up with trip 6’s. Raise with AKs and get re-raised all in. Call and walk into AA. Get lucky with runner runner QJ for a straight.
Get to Final table in 2nd place but go card dead. People are pushing and dropping as we get down to 6 players. I am now short stacked and push with A 10 after a limper, run into AJ but hit a 10 on the flop. Talk breaks out about a chop, only one dissenter who eventually agrees to a 5-way chop for $470. Good start.

Walk back to MGM and sit at 1/2 cash game with $200 at 7pm. Get into a hand with a local holding J 10 , flop is 10 6 4 , I bet 15 he raises to 40 – call. Turn is J, I bet 40 he raises all in for 310. Hmm, He starts talking “You can’t call that” “Why can’t I call?” “You just can’t”. I call, he has 6 4 for a flopped 2 pair which doesn’t improve.
He and his friend are now eying my stack like hungry wolves and are obviously intent on relieving me of all my chips. Within 10 minutes I get A7. Flop is 77x and hungry wolf #2 bets into me for 15, I call. Turn is a blank. He bets again 40, I call. River is another blank. He bets 80, I raise all in. He has 180 behind and insta calls. H e shows K7 with confidence; I burst his bubble with A7.

Wolves are even hungrier and a little bit steaming. I now have a quiet hour were nothing much happens but then come alive with 2 nut flushes that pick up smallish pots and a hidden straight that picks up a big one.

I’ve now been at the table for 16 hours and am sitting on $900 when I make the big mistake of saying “I’m not going until I’ve reached $1000” Wolves are still here and their faces are saying “No way baby” A couple of tourists at my end of the table are rooting for me but the rest of the table are residents of Frost City. I get to 988; fall to 820, back up to 960 and eventually 3 hours after my foolish remark I win with 2 pair to reach $1028. I rack up and leave.

It’s now 2pm Thurs, with the 8 hours time difference I have been up for 29 hours but I’m not tired so I return to Hooters for a shower and change and then back to MGM to meet friend and brother for 6pm Tourny.
Not much to report on this, all in with AK against 99. River an A to eliminate friend’s brother. Suddenly reach Zombie state, past tired, where large cards are floating behind other player’s heads. Get involved in a threesome with QQ. That Q of hearts is one dirty bitch.
Reach final table short stacked and push with KQ, gets through. Push again with KK in small blind. Big blind calls with Ax and hits A on turn.
Out in 8th, only paying 5.

Must sleep now. Back to Hooters where a cash game is in progress. Only 3 tables on show. Sit down with $200 just to chill. A guy in seat 7 starts talking and I recognise his accent.” Where you from?” I ask. “Liverpool” “Where in Liverpool?” “Liscard” he replies. “That’s not Liverpool, it’s Wallasey on the other side of the Mersey”
He only lives one mile away from me, complete stranger - small world.
Play J5 on a 55x flop. I check, two other check including my neighbour. Turn is a J and 3rd player bets 20, neighbour calls and I check first better’s stack. He has 60 behind and I put him on a good J so raise all in. He folds but neighbour calls for his 200. He has 5x for slow played trips. I wasn’t after his stack but take it anyway, he was trapping me so don’t feel so bad.
Cash out at $500 and go to bed

Session 1 -- 51 hours awake
Planet Hollywood Tourny + 410
MGM cash +828
MGM Tourny - 125
Hooters cash 300

Total +1413

Friday – up in time for taxi to Venetian for 12pm Tourny. 75 entrants card dead for two sessions but picking up chips. Get down to 30 players when I get 10 10 and raise, one caller. Flop is K 10 9. I bet out 4k same caller. Turn is a blank and I push all in and am called by a gut shot draw. River is a J to complete the straight. Gone to a guy who puts most of his chips on the line for a gut shot.
So Friday and Sat become bad 10’s day ( More later )

Jump into a 1 / 2 game at Venetiian with $300 straight into a crazy aggressive table.
Messed up with one hand holding 7 3 in the big blind. Flop is 7 3 3. Checked by one, Guy bets out 20 , I call and so does checker - hello! Original better bet the turn , call, call. River is a 7. 3rd player pushes all in . Original better talks “That is the worst card for me” and folds . I call and say it was the best card for him. Chop pot with guy who has 7x.. I ask if original better would call an all in on the turn, he says “Hell yeah , I had A3”. Oops.
Trip 3’s now become the theme of the session. I am up to $500 and get pocket 3’s. Flop is K3x. Opponent ( young oriental ) bets 25, I call. Turn is J. Johnny Chan bets 100 , I push all in and he calls with pocket J’s. Down to 195 I buy back up to 300.
Within 10 minutes I get 33 again which becomes a boat to someone’s trip 9’s.Double up. Then I play 8 7 .Flop is 769. Opponenet bets 35 , I call with pair and draw. Turn is a 7 improving me. I call the 60 bet and hit an 8 on the river. Guy has 8 10 for a flopped straight and calls my all in. Back up to over 600. Get an open ended straight draw holding Q 10. Bet out , one caller . Turn is a third club. Check , check. River is a blank and he bets 45. I ask “How much you got left ?” “165” I put him all in thinking I am representing the flush. He starts taking “What can you have?” He eventually calls with the nut flush. Oops , but not the worst play. He can’t call without the nuts. Down to 480.
It is now Sat 1 30 pm . Another long day after getting up at 1130 Friday.
Cash out +80.
Not tired but feeling strange.
On walk back up the Strip I am drawn into Planet Hollywood for the 1400 Tourny- 111 runners.
Remember going out with 10 10 at Venetian, well folded A 10 to a raise. Flop is A 10 10 with heavy betting. Hmm. Build stack up to 18k when down to 30 players. Play J 10 and flop 10xx – 2 hearts. Bet 4k , call. Turn is a 10h , I push all in and am called by a flush . Oops , wrong 10 . Down to 5k and in trouble. Get back to 11k. All the small stacks are pushing. I have 10 4 in big blind with 4 players in an unusually un-raised pot. Flop is Ax4 – 2 spades. I think of pushing but am 2nd to act so check. Turn is 10s , I push and am called by 2 made flushes. Gone.
So was done by trip 10’s twice and 2 pair with 10’s in 2 tournies.

Back to Hooters to clean up and maybe sleep – still not tired – strange thing Adrenaline. Ring wife for a chat – she is not happy, worlds apart – literally.

Sat 6pm – have been up over 30 hours – am not tired but go to bed.

Session 2 -- 30.5 hours awake
Venetian Tourny - 145
Venetian + 80
Planet Hollywood Tourny - 60

Total - 125

Wake at 7am Sun feeling tired. Is this a bad sign. Has the magic gone. I have planned to play Orleans and TI Headhunters today.
Shower , shave and walk up East Trop to Excal which is supposed to be fishy.
On entering I ask Merlin for the magic to be still around. By the magic I mean that feeling that you know where you are in a hand. A tourist’s raise usually means good cards – AK,AQ, AJ , pairs. You can call and if the flop is low and raggedy you can bet into them and take it. A local’s raise could mean anything, they just want to outplay you on the flop. Once they know you know you get some respect.
Sat with 200 at 1 /3 game full of locals. Played KQ and a local with a stack over 1k eventually folded on the river showing J10 but not mucking. He waits for me to show, but I won’t until he mucks , he just smiles and eventually mucks. Angle shooter – would have claimed hand if I had mucked – so it’s going to be on e of those games.
Merlin desserts me all session.I am rivered 8 times , rebuy and then play this hand.
I have Q 10 on a flop of 10 4 7. Three players , turn is 10 and player bets , call, I call.
River is blank and player #3 bets again , I raise , call , reraise. I think I have him beaten and eventually all the chips are in three way. He shows 10 9 which I can beat , but young oriental has pocket 4’s.
Leave down $400. Merlin thanks a bunch.
Taxi to Caesars to meet guys for 7pm Tourny. Agree on 15% cut on other 2 if placed in the money.
Ring wife again – still not good “Don’t ring anymore”
Tourney is tough , build 5k up to 11k .Get JJ and end up all in against AQ , river Q. Sets me back to 3k Get in a race with 10 10 – yes those lucky 10’s – against AK. Turn is K and I am gone in 30th place. No joy for other two either.

Walk the strip, remembering good times last Nov with my wife .I am not feeling my best – you could say I am low , not because of poker results but gulf the size of Canyon that now is apparent with my beloved.

Re-enter Excal with intention of winning back my losses.
Lost cause , lose 200 more, but my heart is not in it.

Leave and check out Tropicana. Only one table going short handed. Could get more action in the Vatican. Leave up 50.

Bed 10am Mon

Session 3 -- 27 hours awake
Excal cash -400
Caesars Tourny - 150
Excal cash -200
Tropicana cash +50

Total - 700

Up at 2pm Mon and arrange lunch with buddies at Monte Carlo – The Brew. Decide to try Caesars 7pm again because of the structure. Do A bit of shopping in the Forum , trying to find the perfect gift for my wife – not easy.
Friend doesn’t show for Caesars , but his brother does. Hardly know his brother but agree on 30% stake in each other.

Card dead early and my 5k is soon down to 3k. Wait for a hand but it doesn’t come.
Win a few pots and get moved tables. Am on 6k – officially the short stack with mountain stacks around me when I realise there are only 2 tables left. Most people are playing scared , so near the final table so I decide I have nothing to lose and push with KQ which picks up the 2 / 4 blinds and antes. I push again with A9 and nobody wants to play. I now have 18k and a girl raises to 10 k. It is folded around to me with 44.I decide she has a big A. I hope she has a big A. I push all in and she tanks , no big pair then. Eventually she calls with KQ. Flop is xxJ to give her more outs , but I survive .I push one more time and get through showing J2s , hoping for later action. Reach final table of 9 with 41k.

I raise with AJ and am called by a smaller stack who has KK. Flop is AJx and I dodge the K’s to eliminate him.
A few more bite the dust as I stay out of the action. Then it is folded around to me on the button.I push all in with A6s. Small blind folds, big blind does the “You got a big hand ?” routine and calls with A7o. Flop brings a 6 and we are down to 4 players.

I get blind on blind with blinds at 5k and 10k. I ask if large stack would like to see a flop which hadn’t happened for a while. He agrees . I call the extra 5k and he checks.
Flop is Q 5 3. I have Q9 and bet 20k he pushes all in. I call. He shows 5 3 and jumps up arms aloft. But before he can say a word in triumph, a Q hits the turn and I double up. He starts to bad mouth me. “ What a bad call “, “How could you make that call, it was such bad play”. I just stack chips thinking top pair heads up is not a bad call.
We get down to 3 players but one will not chop. The big German – Angelo.
We get down to 2 . I have 230k and Angelo has 130k. We play a few hands , nothing serious. And then this. We see a flop of Qxx. Check , check. Turn is an 8. I am holding 10 8 and bet 20k. He pushes all in. Hmm. Can he have a Q. If he is bluffing , which he was capable of , I can take it down here. If he isn’t I will be down to 100k but not out of it. I call, he has the Q. Play a few more hands before I push all in on small blind with 73. He can’t call without a hand. He has AK and it is all over.
2nd for $2000. Tip dealers $200 and walk with $1800. I am still counting at the cage when I remember our 30% agreement. That is $500. Ouch.

It is now 2 30 am so walk over to Venetian and sit at 1 / 2 with $300. Am buzzing after Tourney and have come to play.
Within 10 minutes I lose to boat over boat for all my stack. Rebuy for 300 and slowly build until I double up pocket 7’s against pocket A’s. Flop is 568 , turn a blank. Any 4 or 9 gives me the straight. River is a 7.
Young Oriental is talking , telling a story of how he plays at the Commerce in LA and bad players chase down straights and flushes all day. 20 Minutes later I am in a hand with A6 , flop is 642 – 2 hearts. I bet the pot and Commerce Kid calls, Turn is a blank and I bet pot again , Kid calls. River is Ah giving me 2 pair but making a possible flush. I bet out and the kid raises 120 more. I start to recall his story , would he call down a flush draw with no pot odds like the players he so obviously despised.I decide not and call. He mucks.
Cash out at 780 +180.

Bed at 10 am

Session 4-- 20 hours awake

Caesars Tourny - 150 +1800 – 500 = +1150
Venetian cash +180

Total +1330

Up at 1330 pm Tues
Feeling tired again.
Arrange to do Caesars 7pm again with boys.
Sit at MGM with 200 killing time nothing alarming happens and walk with 300 after an hour.
Walk to Venetian to be nearer Caesers and sit with 300 again killing time , In reality I am ready for home, my poker engine is running on empty.
Leave down 70 .

Caesars Tourny .Pay Chris $500.First hand played. Raise to 600 with AK when blinds are 100 / 200. One caller. Flop is Kxx. Caller bets 500 I raise to 1500 . Call. Turn is 9. He pushes all in , I call . He had KQ and I double up.
Come back from the break and look down at AKs. Raise to 600 , re-raised to 1500. I could call and see a flop and maybe get away from the hand , afterall I am still healthy after doubling up ( 9500 ) .However I put him on a pair and fancy racing so I push all in. Insta call. Not good. AA – even worse. Gone . Bad play.

Walk across Strip to Flamingo and get Monorail back to MGM. Am feeling pain , not just from my dumb play but from my rapidly failing marriage.

It is 10pm so decide to play all night until 9am and then pack and catch cab at 1130 for 1410 flight back, hoping to sleep all the way on 10 hour flight.

Sit with 200 again at MGM, and play any two cards, it is my last session and I am up for it. Lose 200 playing crap to build a calling station image. Rebuy for 200 and start hitting cards early. Play 89s and hit a 567 flop and get paid. Next hand I play 3s4s and again flop is 567 “You know I like 89”, no takers – but show hand anyway just for crazy image.
Get AA three times in half an hour and make no money.
First time it is folded around to me on the small blind and big blind asks for a chop.
Agree as was the practice at the table.
Ten Minutes later I get them again and raise to 15 , Michael from Alaska had become friendly with me but raises to 60. “I thought we were friends Michael”, “Just playing my hand” .“Do you want me to play my hand , Michael?” .”Sure”. I push all in and he calls with the other 2 Aces. Chop.
Third time I raise but lay them down to a $ 40 bet and call on a 864 flop. Trip 8’s beating 2 pair.
Soon I play 75 and hit trips on the flop. A guy bets the flop and I call. Turn is 7747 giving me quads and I ask “Have you got a pocket pair ?” He goes all in and I ask how much. $95 .Call and show 7 , he is out of his seat and into the night.
All in with AA against QQ , Q on turn.
Limp in with JJ,10 10, AK and let people do betting for me. Soon my limp is seen as a raise or it could be a genuine limp.
It getting near 9am , time to go .
I raise with QQ for a change , reraised, all in by nutcase for 80, all in for 200 by newcomer. Hmm.
I call 200 , Re-raiser folds QQ face up – ouch, nutter has jackshit, new guy has AK.
K on flop and I am dead.
Rack up with 610 up 210.

Back to Hooters for shower and packing.
While I’m packing my phone rings and It’s Chris my Caesars partner.
Last night he got heads up with Angelo the mad German .Came in 2nd.
My 15% is good for $270

Session 5-- 19.5 hours awake
MGM +100
Venetian cash -70
Caesars Tourny - 150 +270 = +120
MGM cash +210

Total +360

Trip Total +1878

Sleep on plane and arrive home to empty house.
A note is on the fireplace. Hmm. Wedding photo is still on the wall.
Open letter – it is not good

“It is time to put this in writing to you as you are clearly not getting the message through words or texts or the many discussions we have had over the last couple of years.
You have a problem – an obsessive compulsive one - POKER.
Which has led to the breakdown of our marriage and you are totally responsible for it 100%.
I cannot live with it and I will not be treated like you have treated me.
You know ( and I believe you know if you told the truth to yourself ) that you have pushed me to the limit and you should not have gone to Vegas.
I do not think I will ever forgive you for this. You were my world the first few years of our marriage and you are no longer.I do not love you as I did as you have destroyed it.
As I have told you, all my friends and family think you have a problem, the only person who thinks what you have done is normal is you. Have you tried asking some of our friends what they think about it all, have you tried going for a drink with some male friends and asked what they think of your obsession. No you haven’t, because you have withdrawn from everyone and at every opportunity you are at the casino, Gerry’s, reading books about poker, watching recorded poker on TV every day, playing on line or planning your next trip to Cardiff , Edinburgh , Vegas or local casino. Even your own lads think you have got it bad. Well I’m sure they will be very proud of you now.

In summary, as I have stated, you have played on line when you promised you wouldn’t , you went to Edinburgh after promising you wouldn’t .The only books you read are about poker, you record 3 hours of it a day to watch. Poker is all you talk about to our friends, you have nothing else to say – you have become an obsessive bore!

You could have cancelled Vegas but you chose not to. You could have afforded the loss , you know that.

As you know, I have told you how much you have hurt me. And you have let me down constantly. You have no more chances .I would never have wanted to go away from you for a week - it clearly doesn’t matter to you.

I am not going over all this with you again. Even on the phone you didn’t get it, and tried to say we’ll sort stuff out. Well it is too late for words and chances to break more promises. You picked the wrong woman to make a twat out of.

I do not want to discuss a compromise or “try and get a balance”. Been there, done that – it didn’t work.

I think you need to move out and evaluate your life and seek help for your addition.
You would never give poker up for me.
Even if you could give it up completely, I think the trust has gone and I could never trust you again, because you only “mean promises at the time you say them” - pathetic

I am looking forward to getting my life back, as I have said you are not the man I married, and I would never have married the poker obsessed person that you have become.”

I finally get it but fear it is way too late. What a complete jerk. Wait for her to come home. Wait, wait, wait.

She gets home , and I see the anger and hurt in her eyes. I also see a little love, not much, but a little.

We talk it out , it is a close call.
Bottom line - poker free house , no internet , no books , no TV recording, no talking with friends. That’s easy when your marriage is on the line.
No live poker for 2 months.

I am sticking to this because I love my wife and I would rather have a life with her with no poker than a poker full life without her.

If this is ringing any alarm bells for anyone, well read it again.