Just got back from a four day trip to LV (10/5 - 10/8) with my wife. Didn't play a ton of poker, but here's how my trip was anyway. :)

Landed Saturday and got to the Tropicana in no time (seems like baggage claim at McCarran has gotten faster in the last couple years). We were able to check in early, and got a room in their Club Tower. It's a bit of a hike from the lobby, but the rooms were clean and the bed was VERY comfortable, which is about the only thing I care about.

As an aside, I liked the Tropicana and would stay there again. It's small, and the lack of an in-house poker room is a bit of a drag, but it's also less expensive and crazy than the big places.

Had dinner at Le Burger Brasserie, and thought it was excellent. My wife had the lamb burger, and I had the wagyu burger with bleu cheese, bacon and avocado. In retrospect, I shouldn't have gotten the bleu cheese with the wagyu, as the cheese overpowered the meat flavor. Oh, got a vanilla shake that was awesome!

Saw Jersey Boys that night, which was an excellent show. Not really my kind of music, but a good story, and the singing was outstanding.

Played 3/6 LHE at the Mirage on Sunday for a few hours, and really couldn't get any traction. No really notable hands for me. -$20

Dinner that night was at the Bacchanal Buffet at CP. While the food was excellent, the combination of the wait (almost an hour) and the cost ($50), made it a worse value than other buffets I've had in LV.

Saw Absinthe Sunday night. Hysterical and incredible. We had 2nd row seats, so you could truly appreciate the acrobatics, and the attractiveness of the women. The humor was completely raunchy and incredibly funny. Would highly recommend if you don't mind R-rated shows and humor.

Played in the MGM 11A tourney Monday. Maybe 25 players, but with re-entries we had 33 buy-ins, paying five. 6000 starting stacks. My image is probably pretty tight, as I only saw premium hands or complete trash. Hands of note:
Third level (100-200), my stack ~7000, I find KK in middle position and pop to 600, one caller late (stack ~5500) who is borderline tight/loose, big blind calls, pot 1900. Flop 8-7-3 rainbow. I c-bet 1000. Late position calls, BB folds, pot 3900. Turn 3, fourth suit. I'm feeling good here, as I'm only beat by AA or some random 3, which i didn't think LP was loose enough to play. I bet 2000, call, pot 7900. River comes 3rd 3. I shove, LP calls, and folds to my tabled Kings for an early almost-double.

My one truly lucky hand happens at 200-400-25 with my stack maybe 11K. A loose player limps in EP, the player one to my right (him MP, me CO) raises to 1200. He has just rebought after busting out at a different table, so I have no info on him. I look down at QQ and three-bet to 3000. Everybody turbo-folds until the loose limper shoves about 7000. MP shoves 6000. I tank for a bit and call, figuring I'm ahead of EP, and hoping MP has AK. EP tables AQo, but MP shows KK, and I'm figuring I'm in trouble b/c I'd have a short stack. Flop comes A-T-x rainbow. Turn J, and I call for, and get, one of the two remaining Ks for a broadway chop with EP. MP looks disgusted and leaves.

My stack size fluctuates for awhile, but I increment it up to maybe 18K, and blinds are climbing fast. With ~15 players left (7 at my table), we are probably at 300-600-50, and I find KTspades in MP. I pop to 1500, and get one caller in LP who has me covered (Pot 4250). Flop Jh-9s-8s for 2nd flush and up/down straight draws where the Q gives me the nuts. I bet 2700 and get called. Pot almost 10K. Turn 2c. I fire a second barrel (6000), as my opponent has been sticky on the flop but has dropped off to two bets previously. He calls, and I'm calculating if I'm in shove/fold mode if I don't improve (deciding I am), when the river comes the beautiful As to give me the nuts. I pause for awhile to try to give the appearance of a decision and shove my remaining stack. He calls and sees the bad news and mucks.

Down to 7 players, chips fairly evenly distributed but a couple shorter stacks and one big stack (the guy I beat with the hand above, who is the tourney assassin, he must've knocked out 10 players himself), I get 99 in LP. I raise and get called by the big stack in the SB. Flop is 9-7-3 rainbow, and SB bets out. I overshove and get called by JJ. My 9's hold and I'm the new chip leader.

The rest of the field gets picked off by the top 3 finishers. 3rd busts out to the same Villain from the above two hands, and we're heads up. Chips are about 120K for V and 80K for me at 4000-8000-??? when I get AKh. We get it all in and I'm excited to see him with Q9d until the flop shows 2 diamonds, and the turn another, and I'm out in 2nd place for $495.

End poker content

Dinner that night at Capital Grille in the Fashion Show Mall, which was excellent. Not the best steak I've had in LV (that would be at Craftsteak), but still very good.

Lunch at Earl of Sandwich (PH) on Tuesday was the best food value of the trip, as it wasn't the usual Strip markup.

Wish I were still there...