I arrived to Vegas on Thursday and headed over to Manadalay Bay to play 4-8 Texas Hold'em. The waitresses are always knockouts, but too much saline and not enough smiles is not the right combination. Mandalay Bay does not have a Bad Beat Jackpot, but does pay out a high hand bonus for 4 of a kind or better. Both hole cards must play. The pot is tracked for each possible high hand. Bonuses start at $20 and go to $500 until they're hit. The only $500 bonus was for quad 8s. I flopped them and had 2 guys betting into me. I won the pot plus $500.

On Friday I decided to play at MGM. The poker room is terrible and the waitresses just okay. I played in their $60 sit-and-go which paid $300 for 1st and $200 for 2nd. After flopping 2 pair and having a guy go runner-runner for a straight to double him up I flopped a set of 7s and again a guy goes all in and hits runner-runner flush for me to double him up! Somehow I ended up coming in 2nd and collect $200.

Today, Saturday, I went to see the new Venetian poker room (see my poker room review on the Venetian). The 4-8 Hold'em game was loose. When they announced a $125 sit-and-go I figured I'd give it a try. They paid $550 for 1st, $330 for 2nd, and $220 for 3rd and start you off with 1500 in tournament chips. I lost $700 on the first hand but worked my way back to eventually win the tournament and collect the $550.

I'm staying at the South Coast casino which is about 6 miles south of Mandalay Bay and still considered to be "on the strip" in Las Vegas. Very nice rooms -- better than their Orleans property. Beautiful granite everywhere.

If my next 4 days go as well as these first 3 I'll end up with a nice pile cash and some nice memories.