We went to test our metal in a bunch of tournament play. The tournament that we planned the trip around was the noon deep stack tournament at the Venetian. It was a $150 buy in on Tuesday with about 60 entrants of varying skill level. The great thing about this game was that it was a deep stack format, which allows you to play "the long game" effectively without it turning into an all in fest after the 3rd blind level.

After playing a little $3 $6 at the Monte Carlo and checking in on some of our favorite pros at Bobby's Room on Monday night we retired early by Vegas standards to get some good rest before the marathon tournament. We arrived at the Venetian after a quick breakfast and eagerly awaited for the dealers to "shuffle up and deal." I was seated in seat 10 at the back table of the tournament room with Colorado to my right, a non-descript older man on the other side of the dealer. I was intent on playing very tight for the first few levels and get a feel for the players at my table and try to pick the two or three weakest players to steal some pots from. To my surprise, during the first 10 minutes of the game, there were three all in announcements from the table adjacent to us. Two people were busted in a game with a 7500 chips starting stack before the first blind raise! I think this influenced the play of my table because the players began to loosen up immediately.

One guy across from me and the one female at my table began to battle it out hand after hand. She was a much better player than he and after he donked off about half his stack to her he was on tilt and was eliminated in a matter of minutes. Then, my first target, we'll call him "baldy," began to toss some money around and I was ready to go to work. I made sure to enter all pots that he was involved in and really put the screws to him. I won about 4 or 5 decent sized pots from him without having to show any cards and established my table image. ALL IN! again the announcement from the table next to me and another player bites the dust. That table was now down to 7 players. Baldy was getting needled by a couple other players at our table and he was fast approaching mega tilt. It was apparent because every time he lost a pot, his bald head got redder and redder which was fun to watch. The lady at our table finally busted him with a well executed trap move with a nut flush against his set of kings just before the second blind raise. We were down to 8 players and it was time to break the all in table across me.

We got two players. the one that worried me was "Big Tex" who was put into seat 8 and had a mountain of chips.(About 35 - 40 thousand) He immediately began to throw his weight around. He took a large pot with a set of twos and then lost a big one when he went all in and got called by the lady at our table who was extremely happy to double up. Fortunately for me, she only had about 8000 in chips which left him with around 42000. Then the poker gods smiled upon me. I looked down at AK of spades on the big blind. Tex makes a sizable raise on the button, Colorado folds between us and I fire back at Tex for a reraise. I am thinking I can either steal his money right here or take it to the flop and push him out there. ALL IN Tex says! Dammit! This is not what I expected and I was not going to be very happy with myself if I lost my tournament life before the first break. I go into the tank for a few minutes and remember one of my favorite quotes for playing poker. Fortune Favors the Bold. Call I say and flip my big slick. He immediately concedes that he did not think I would call and flips over a weak ace. Flop comes with both an ace and a king and got my first double up of the game. Thins brings my chip count to about 22000 but the poker gods were not finished with me yet. Next hand, I look down at rockets in the little blind. There are a smattering of callers and of course Tex raises again. I am more than happy to fire at him hoping for another all in but he still feels the sting form the last hand and calls. The flop comes with a bunch of junk which worries me some seeing the hands Tex has been betting with. I want this pot right now so I make a pot sized bet in first position and it is enough to get him out. I am now at 26000 in chips and feeling very confident. Two hands later, rockets again! I am tempted to get cute with this pair since I am in late position but luckily logic intervenes. Tex raises the blind and I come over the top for a 4 times raise. Now he is thinking that I am just trying to push him around. OK kid, he says, put your money where your mouth is and goes all in. PERFECT! I call without any hesitation and the table erupts at my second pair of aces in just a few hands. No one improves, Tex is gone and I am the overall tournament leader with almost 60,000 in chips at the first break.

I go for a smoke and to check in with my buddy who is also doing well. We head back for round two and this is where I make my first mistake. Instead of taking advantage of my large stack and table image, I tighten up and turn into a rock. I don't play a hand for almost an hour and then I am moved to another table where there are some larger stacks. I do not have the advantage of table image here and when I do make a stab at a pot, the other players have no problem calling. I donk off a few thousand chips and am reeling a little bit not sure what to do. There is one guy in particular, we'll call him "Mullet Man" who is gunning for me. He has a moderate stack in front of him and I underestimated him as a player and lose two very big pots to him. Meanwhile, my buddy is not doing so well. He takes a bad beat and then tilts a little more chips away. I look over and give him a nod. He puts his IPOD on and goes on a mega rush. He turns 2500 in chips to almost 40000 in a matter of minutes. Seeing this gives me some confidence and I reassert myself at my table. For the next three hours, we are both playing well and the field is being trimmed down.

We now have 19 players left in the tournament and are eagerly awaiting the final table. Unfortunately, my buddy loses his whole stack and goes out in 15th place. A very hard thing to swallow. Finally, the tables break and we move to the main room for the final table. This is where it becomes apparent that I should have kept the gas petal down instead of tightening up. The stacks are larger than mine and the blinds are reaching ridiculous levels. After the 6th hour, I am down to less than 10000 in chips and find myself the small stack at the final table. The antes are now up to 500 and the blinds are 2000 4000. Things are looking very bleak for me and I am left with one move. Push, push, and push some more. The first hand back after the break puts me in the big blind and everyone folds to me which almost doubles me up without a play. I hit a few hands and go on my second big rush of the tournament. I am going all in on almost every hand at this point and the table has tightened up so I am stealing almost 10000 chips per hand. After about 40 minutes of hard work, I am again in the chip lead, with Mullet Man not far behind. We recognize the situation and stay out of each others way for a while as other players are trying to desperately make some moves. The final remaining female in the tournament is short stacked and goes all in in front of me. I look down at pocket 8s and call. She turns over J 9 and we are off to the races. Of course, she hits her river 9 and doubles up. Vengeance is mine however, as I end her tournament a few hands later with a big blind special two pair. Now we are down to 7 players. The pay out is for top five and "Pats Hat" is practically begging for a chop. Mullet man will have none of it and after much pleading, he agrees to take some money off of the top to pay the bubble but that is it. We break for the 7th time in the game with everyone in the money. 7th place is gone and the bubble knows he's getting something back so we all congratulate each other for a well played game thus far. I have "Frenchie" to my right who has been on a mini rush. I have already picked up a some info about this guy and know that he is pushing with any pocket pair. He raises in front of me for 18000 and I look down at AQ of diamonds. Our stacks are about even so I go all in hoping he has a low pair and I can scare him off. After a few long minutes of deliberation which includes him pulling a calculator out of his bag and typing up some numbers he calls and flips pocket 7s. I feel OK about this and the flop hits my ace and my heart is racing with anticipation of doubling back into the chip lead. Turn comes junk and I am practically pulling the pot my way. Then he hits his two outer with a 7 on the river. I cannot believe it. My tournament is done and after 7 1/2 hours my payout is $375 for a $225 profit. I walk away disgusted, pissing and moaning about Frenchies bad call and cursing the poker gods.

Although I had accomplished my goal of cashing in the game, I leaves a bad taste in your mouth to play for so long, go through incredible swings and then lose to a two outer. My buddy and I hit the buffet and get a few drinks. I then go and promptly lose my winnings playing $1 $2 at the Monte Carlo. Whiskey is the only thing that can console me now so we head to Coyote Ugly for some Jamison shots, which are huge by the way and definitely worth the money. We hang for a little while and commiserate about our losses and make fun of peoples bad tattoos to help us feel better. The bar closes and we retire to our room after a grueling day of cards.

The next morning we head to MGM for the morning tournament. It is not a great tournament structure. For $60 you get 2000 chips, there are 20 minutes levels, which double the blinds every time. Neither of us make it to the final table but it was a fun game and we met some interesting players. We then head to Planet Hollywood for the 2PM which is also $60 but you get 4000 in chips and can reenter during the first hour. We wanted to warm up for the 'Grinder Tournament' that night at 7PM. I will spare you all the details, but for the rest of the trip, we consistently finish just out of the money in all of the games we play. What I would like to say though is that Planet Hollywood is a great casino. The poker room is awesome, the dealers are friendly, the drink girls are prompt, and the chairs are the most comfortable on the strip, which in my opinion is a much overlooked aspect of poker rooms. They also have the best buffet that I have eaten at so far and for $25 dollars it is a steal.

In conclusion, I would like to recount what we learned on this trip in hopes that the few of you that take the time to read this novel will be able to make better decisions about how and where to spend your money:

1. $1 $2 no limit poker is not a game to be taken lightly. There are plenty of locals and semi-pros that are just waiting for vacationers to prey on. Unless you have a sizable bankroll, avoid this game.

2. If you are a tournament player, the deep stack Venetian is a great game to play. Remember, if you are able to build a big stack, use it before you lose it.

3. Planet Hollywood is great. Plan some time to play in that room and also save some cash to have a few drinks in the lounge. There is a very entertaining piano player that plays Wednesday - Friday. He has a broad repertoire and can get the crowd going. The buffet is a must!!!

4. Playing blackjack at 3:30 AM after a losing day at cards and drinking heavily has negative EV! While it was fun, I felt like a real ass the next morning waking up $200 poorer than I should have been.