Annual (soon to be semi-annual) poker trip to Vegas Jan 25 - 31. Mixed in more blackjack and craps this time. I studied the 3-point Molly craps strategy before going this time. I won $600 using it at El Cortez, but probably lost it all back in other sessions. We usually play minimum stakes blackjack, but this time, my brother and it played $25 BJ with a $500 roll each, and sticking to basic strategy with no bet size changes. We played this all day at Orleans before the doom switch was turned on in the late afternoon and they busted us. Made sure to at least get my buffet comped. OK, on to poker now. Played poker sessions in Aria, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Ballys, Planet Hollywood, Binions, Red Rock, Venetian. Not really too much to talk about in cash games, just grinding it out. I only got stacked once, in my very last session at Caesars Palace 1/2 NLright before heading to the airport. In SB I have KT clubs and call a small raise (maybe $7 total?). Flop is Q9x, checks around. Turn is J, giving me nut straight. I bet $20 or so and get one caller. River is J. I bet $50, villain raises me and I call my last $75 off. He hit full house when board paired on river. Looks like he slow played his set with 99 on the flop, I outran him, and he caught back up. Oh well, it's poker. Played two tourneys during the Venetian Deep Stack series. The $250 Limit Omaha HL had me card dead the last 4 or 5 levels I played and I busted out of the money wiith a full house that was beaten by a better boat. The next day I played the $200 NL Holdem MMA Fighter Bounty. This had $50 bounties on each player and a package of UFC souvenirs if you knocked out one of the 5 fighters in the field. Danny Davis Jr. was a fighter at my table. Really fun guy. It was obvious that he probably does better in the octagon than he does in the oval. Everybody was licking their chops for him and another player tapped him out. I went on to collect 3 bounties in the tourney. There were 224 entries and 24 get paid. As we approached the bubble, with 3 tables left, the crowd all wanted to give bubble boy protection. Everyone ageed to this except one dude who just looked perpetually grumpy. So we had to go hand for hand until the bubble popped. Fortunately that only lasted about 4 or 5 hands. I entered the money with about 8 BBs at 500 antes 3K/6K blinds. I had to forfeit my BB with a junk hand to a raise. On SB I picked up KJ. Player in MP raises. I could fold, call more than half my stack, or shove. I decided to go with it and shoved. She tables AQ. Good news, I got live cards. Bad news, she hits her Q and I hit my J. Took a min cash of $243 plus $150 in bounties. This tourney was the highlight of my trip. I have moneyed a few of these live tournies and have come to realize that you can be very selective in the hands you play, and you only need to get serious in about 4 or 5 hands before you make the money. Folding small pairs in early postion has become easier for me over the years. I saw many players work up big stacks only to lose them all in marginal situations. Looking forward to my next trip. See my room review of Red Rock, bottom line I won't go back there because of their favoritism toward locals.