Went to Vegas for a couple of nights solo Oct 4-5. Rode the new(-ish)-to-me 2003 VTX1300 from Phoenix to Vegas Saturday, arriving mid-afternoon. Check-in at the Flamingo was a breeze, courtesy of a friend of a friend hookup. After a shower, I was ready to hit the tables! I went mostly for tournament play, but sat down first at the 1/1 NLHE at the Quad. (-200) :-( And that was the last of my cash game effort.

Saturday night I played at the Aria 7pm $125 buy-in. This is a great tournament, but not so much for me this time. I had pocket A's and pocket Q's cracked within the first hour, signalling an end to my tournament there. However, I was knocked out in time to watch the Jael-Mary catch propelling ASU over USC at the bar next to the poker room, which was nice. Go Devils! (-125)

Sunday morning I played the Planet Hollywood daily 10am tournament. Always liked this tournament, which I have won, once, back when the poker room was near the front door to the Strip. How many years ago was that? It was a high-roller lounge, and now I think it's a burger bar. I guess that one win keeps me coming back. Didn't cash. (-80?)

Sunday afternoon I played the Flamingo $50, 1/2 chopped $500 for a win! (+200)

Sunday evening found me back at the Aria for their 7pm. This time I was a little better prepared, mentally. No big ASU game to distract me, and better rested after an afternoon nap. Again, this tournament is the best on the Strip, rivals Binion's Saturday afternoon tournament IMO. 10k starting stack, 30 min levels, no weird/excessive bumps in blinds. And I was doing fine. Seemed like every pkt pair (of which I had many) hit on the flop, making easy decisions for me, and knocking out a few players. By the end of the night (15 levels later) we chopped 7 ways for almost 1k each (we also paid the bubble $160, $20 each). Even though we decided to pay the bubble, we played 8 handed for almost 1.5 hours! Great competition, and I really look forward to playing here again. Didn't get back to the Flamingo until almost 4am, and had to check-out and ride home that morning. Not the best plan, should have stayed one more night. (+800)

Also played some craps and video poker, briefly and sporadically thru the weekend, for another +200. Didn't make it to Caesar's to check out the new poker room there, which was on my list of things to do. Didn't make it downtown for cheap craps/BJ, either, also on the list. Oh, well. I'm pretty sure I'll be back :-)