So, I went to Vegas last June during the WSOP. I wrote A TR that I didn’t bother to circulate. My attitude was a little grim to start that trip. An excerpt from my June TR:

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So I find myself going to Vegas again… It has been a while. I guess I was there a couple of times last year, but I’ve really barely gambled at all in the last year or so. In my spare time I once chose to grind out modest opportunities in Illinois, Indiana, Nevada and the South. Now I spend most of my time grinding out my pay check. In truth I haven’t had a lot of gamble in me lately. My last vacation was spent swimming with large sea turtles and schools of tang and squid amidst the coral and sea grass. There was mystery and wonder for me there and I did not miss banging on the buttons of a machine waiting for lightning to strike.

Old habits die hard I suppose, because I’m grimacing through rush hour traffic to Midway Airport to catch a flight to Las Vegas. Annie Lennox comes on the radio to give me the healthy gamblers perspective. A timely refresher course.
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused

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That trip in June actually turned out to be a gas. I kept the dial on my cynicism turned down to a moderate level. I popped a royal (vp) at the Palms. I placed 11th in a tournament field of 800+. I had a couple of nice meals. I caught a seminar with Doyle and Caro. I soaked in the circus that is the World Series. I played with poker freaks from all over the world. I returned home a winner in more ways than one…

So I went to Vegas this November. I looked forward to it this time… more of a toe tappin’ Old 97s thing going this time on the way out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDDyD0Hj5n0&feature=related

It’s Tuesday and Nancy and I work through the day. We fly American out of O’ Hare that evening. Upgrade to FC with miles. No car rental this time, which means we spin the wacky cabby wheel of fortune --On the way to Palazzo I get a lecture on how to play TDB video poker and the reason not to stay at a casino until you’re dead broke… it’s because you’ll be dead broke.

After check in and unpacking, I wind down with a little Star Wars penny slots. Every APs game of choice. In truth, I don’t know what vp remains at Palazzo and it has been a long day. I’m in no shape to play poker and I don‘t feel like scouting. The Force is with me and I win $100.

Wednesday
After breakfast I play a single table satellite hoping to win my tournament entry. No Joy. I played one hand badly, but I felt good about my play in the rest of the satellite. I’m quite a bit more comfortable with STTs. 6 left and the blinds make everyone a micro stack. The shorties keep doubling up and no one goes away. With everyone short it’s a crapshoot. I eventually open jam with 9 10 on the button and run into KK. Looks like I pay cash money for the noon Deep Stack series tournament.

The noon tournament does not go particularly well. $350 gets 12K in chips with 40 minute levels. Roughly 350 entries. A far cry from the 800+ for the same tournament during the WSOP. I play pretty uninspired poker. Weak and tight with no cards. 5 hours later I’m getting short and don’t have much room to play with. I pick up AQ off and it’s folded to me in LP. I raise 3X BB with a big chip. Folded to lady in BB with much healthier stack who complains she didn’t hear me say raise. Dealer confirms that I did. She complains a little more and then reraises. Calling leaves me ultra short and folding leaves me looking for a spot to get everything in. I hate my hand. I hate how I got to this place in the tournament. I don’t have any good choices, but I decide that if I want any shot at placing I need to gamble. I get my stack in knowing she has to call. She tables KK. How do you complain a shorty is raising into your KK? My ace doesn’t come and I get to have a nice dinner at N9ne rather than gulp down a burger in the food court.

Semi tipsy (doesn’t take much these days. A big bottle of Chimay.) and well fed, I push buttons at the Palms FPDW prog. Let’s just say it’s not my day.

Thursday
Insomnia, Daylight savings and the change from central time has me up very early. I soak in the tub and watch a B movie. Apparently King Arthur was really a Roman knight… or something. You can only do that so long. I get dressed and walk to the V to find a 1-2 NLHE table and several fellows who have been up all night. I make a couple of hundred on one hand. I get someone to commit their stack on bottom 2.

I revisit the satellite tables after a coffee in the players lounge with Nancy. No joy today either. I go out in 4th.

The V sets up a simple little buffet spread with seating on a front patio for players who buy into the tournament. I eat chicken wings and watch the gondoleers float buy until the tournament begins.

Todays tournament is kind of a wild ride. I still make mistakes, but I am more aggressive. Sometimes a little too aggressive. 2nd level, UTG raises to $450 with 1 caller and I reraise to $2K out of the blinds with KK. He reraises to 9K, about 3/4 of his stack. Lesson #1: Adjust your play for conditions. In the low limit online SNGs and fast tournaments I usually play there is just no getting away from KK preflop. It’s just not even a consideration. The stacks are deep enough here that it at least deserves some thought. Am I up against the one hand that crushes me? That “Lesson #1” is something I thought of after I quickly jammed and he tabled AA. I flop a K and sweat a flush draw to double up early in the tournament. I is a poker genius.

I do the exact opposite of what I should do and tighten up. I should be raising a little selective hell with these chips I just lucked into. I hang back and wait for cards. It’s a failing of mine in these big tournaments. I can find reasons and spots to be extremely aggressive in my little online SnGs, but I get all warm and comfy with a big stack here. Some aggressive Brits, dealers on a poker holiday, get moved to my table and I piss away chips on blinds and a couple of premium hands that get over run. When they break the table I can’t be happier. Time to invent a new image.

Early in the new table UTG raises, 1 caller in MP and I call my 88 in LP. I have room to play. But the blinds have definitely caught up to my stack. Flop comes AA8. UTG bets half pot. MP folds and I smooth call. Turn comes rag. UTG bets half pot. I think for a second and really hope the guy has the big ace. I jam. If he calls he’ll snap call and he’ll have outs. Player agonizes for a while and finally gets away from KK. I’m a little more aggressive and make some chips at this table before it breaks.

At my next table Penn Gilette’s (sp?) wife is sitting 2 seats to my right and soon JJ Liu http://www.pokerpages.com/players/profiles/59659/joanne-liu.htm , a giant stack, is seated to my immediate right. I’ve seen JJ play on TV and a couple of years ago I played the same table with her in one of the bigger Caesars Dailies. There was some sort of poker boot camp going on, and I guess she just likes to play. She puts pressure on and isn’t afraid to gamble. She had an average stack, but was very aggressive and made a pretty sick call to chase down a bluff that day at Caesars. Looks like she has over 80K to start here --More than double anyone at the table. I’m glad she’s on my right.

I mostly stay out of her way. I take a few blinds. I reraise with the goods a couple of times and get folded to. I raise and get called a couple of times. I C bet one without hitting and take it down and I hit top pair top kick on another with my opponent giving up on the turn. I take out a couple of shorties, calling with medium pockets. Nothing brilliant or special, but I’m taking chips.

I’m up to about 40K with blinds 500/1000 and antes. EP raises to 3K. JJ reraises to 13K. She has been doing this a lot. Calling that raise leaves most of her opponents married to the pot. I look down at KK in the SB. There is nothing spectacular about my jam here. It’s just about the only way I can figure to play it. EP folds and JJ starts counting chips and thinks for a good long time. I’m trying to remember the numbers. I think she’s getting a tiny bit more than 2 to 1 on the call. At this point I know I have her if she makes the call and if I double up here I have an excellent shot to at least make the money.

She calls. You guessed it. 8 comes on the flop. She makes the final table and I get to have dinner at Dos Caminos. She apologizes and says she called because of the odds. I tell her not to sweat it and that I’ve enjoyed watching her on TV.

I exit with as much dignity as I can muster. I don’t feel bad going out this way and I feel a tiny bit better about my play today. Not much, but a little. If I want to get good at this I’ve got a lot of work to do yet.

Friday
We leave Saturday, so the Friday tournament isn’t an option. If you go deep they take 2 days. Except for a little trip to the Palms I haven’t been out of Venetian/Palazzo. I’ve barely seen the light of day since Tuesday in Chicago. I need to get out. Nancy and I take a stroll to MGM where I play cash… badly.

The table, with two exceptions, is filled with pretty awful players. Today I guess I’ll include myself in the awful category. I play way too many hands and refuse to think through and fold when I’m probably beat. I lose 2 buy ins before I get up in disgust.

After a nice lunch at Mon Ami Gabi I play some vp at Paris… at Paris. I’m playing triple play 97% vp and it’s official. 97%! I’m on freakin’ tilt. I probably started the day on tilt. It almost never happens to me, but a couple days of almost no success has taken more toll than I thought. Pretty weird feeling. It’s like you know the universe owes you and you’re just daring it not to pay up… or you’ll kick and scream and throw money in the air, I guess. Pretty self destructive, because the universe doesn’t give a crap. I know the casino isn’t any place for me now. I hang out in the room at Palazzo. Check e mails. Make phone calls. Just get my head someplace different for a few hours.

TI runs a fun little bounty tournament. I played it a year or so ago. I notice online that Mirage runs the same thing with what looks like a slightly better structure at 7:00 that night. $150 entry. $50 goes directly to your bounty. 30 minute levels with 7K starting chips. We get about 40 players. Mostly tourists out to have a good time, which at this point, is my goal as well. I go home tomorrow.

The competition is much softer. I go into the final table with a micro stack. 10K, an M of 3 or 4. I’m frantically looking for a spot to get my money in. My Aks gets called by AT and I double up. A tiny bit of breathing room. A couple of hands later a raise gets reraised by a big stack and I look down at AA out of the blinds. My jam gets called by KK and I have 40K+. The table is tight and fairly passive, which lets me do my share of stealing, but I also get dealt an inordinate amount of premium hands. I slowly build my stack to 100K. By 2 AM I’m heads up against a stack of 150K. I talk chop, but it sounds like he wants to give me second place money. Heck, I’m going to get second place anyway. Maybe he’s unclear on the concept. I say, “OK, let’s gamble.”

With blinds of 5/10K it’s over in a half dozen hands. I open jam 77. He calls A8 and hit’s the 8 on the flop. I hit my 2 outer on the river to double up. Next hand he open jams his last 50K and I instacall with 10 10. It holds against J 10.

I take down a purse of $1450 including bounties. It’s 3:00 AM. I walk the Strip. I am alone in the darkness with a desert breeze in my face, and I am a winner. That moment is worth money, but you can’t buy it.

Saturday
We have a few hours before our flight this afternoon and we decide to go downtown to play a little vp. I make my rounds to check out the progs. I haven’t looked at the vpFREE database in a very long time, but I scout some new fp vp at Binions and give them some action. Can’t get away from poker, though. I notice Helmuth walking the halls at the GN. They are taping PAD.

Grub
N9ne --Never have eaten at the one in Chicago. I turn my Palms comp pockets inside out for this dinner. Steaks and service were very good, but I couldn’t get past the feeling that I was eating in some hipster’s basement. I prefer Alize.

Dos Caminos --Again has kind of a hipster vibe. It’s not quite Frontera, but it has some nice salsas, cochinita pibil, carnitas… service is uneven, but food is several steps ahead of the typical casino Mex.

Mon Ami Gabi --Service is spot on and the 80+ degree day made the patio a perfect lunch spot.

Binions Snack Bar --Pretty good diner burger.

Grand Lux --My omelette had a texture like extruded plastic. They really need to invest in a whisk.

Digs
Our first time staying at Palazzo. It’s a nice big split level room like at the V. 3 Televisions with one in the bathroom. The price and location are right for our purposes. Nice views of the Strip. My one complaint is that I couldn’t watch tv from the tub without the tap being in my face. It’s a serious design flaw that interferes with my tendency to transform into a pond lily at 4AM while vacationing in Vegas. Something about that dry desert air.

Final Word
No deep thoughts or words of wisdom. I recognize that my play is average at best. I am -ev in most large field tournaments, but play them because it interests me. It’s fun. I imagine a slot jockey might say the same about Wheel of Fortune if pressed to be cognizant for a few moments.

The DSE tournaments at the V seem pretty well managed. I would recommend them to those who have an interest. I’ll probably play them again, so there is promise of dead money in their future. Or maybe I’ll get lucky…