Made the trip to Vegas for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend pretty much at the last minute. Great room rate at Bally's ($59) and $332 airfare via Continental from Cleveland. So much for going to, or staying in Vegas being a large imposition on ones bankroll!

I didn't arrive until about 8:00 and was able to check in and make it to the tables by 9:30. I prefer 1-2 no limit. The usual suspects were playing, and in the next five hours I was able to stand up and leave up about $170. At least 4 of the ten seats changed every 1/2 hour, with dissapointed flush chasers being mauled by the more knowledgable sharks. I managed to avoid much chasing and just collected when I had good hands. I felt pretty good about my play.

Thanksgiving day I played again, and observed the 11:00 tournament at Bally's. Glad I didn't enter, as it was pretty much an "all-in" fest with 7's or better. I decided not to play the tournament the rest of my stay, and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday shifted to other rooms during that slot. Bellagio, Paris, MGM and Imperial Palace are within easy walking distance and I tryed each. The Bellagio was the only location were I consistantly lost good hands and eventually gave up my $200 stake. Very good players making extremely good raises early and I learned alot!

My only really "great moment" was on Saturday/Sunday morning when I managed to catch a jack high club straight flush on the turn. The last player folded to my raise, but I managed to end the hand up over $800 for the session, including the $450 Bally's high hand bonus.

Overall for the weekend I returned home with almost $1100 and enough to pay for the weekend with a bit left over for the next trip.