On my flight Saturday one of my buddies asked me if I thought it would be better to win early and Vegas and leave even or lose early and leave even? My immediate response was that I would rather win early so you could enjoy the feeling of being up and not feel that you need to push to catch up during your trip. After this last trip I am not so sure…

I just returned form LV last night having been there with two buddies from Saturday to Tuesday. We stayed at the Planet Hollywood because it is our favorite room, more on that later, and we were able to get a great deal on the rooms.

Saturday afternoon we played NL at PH for about 5 hours and I netted about $40. Better than a loss but nothing to right home about. I WAS CARD DEAD THE WHOLE WEEKEND. About 10:00 pm we slipped over to the craps tables and had a great 90 minutes on the tables including a 45 minute role of mine that hit a “fire bet”. We walked away up about $400 and went straight to the sports book to wager on two games that appeared to be sure things. I bet my craps winnings on the Broncos and the Eagles which both came up short. The only upside is that I am a Bears fan so at least they won.

Sunday morning we head down to MGM for a few hours of NL. Competition was pretty average. There were a couple of really solid players but most were casual or and weak. I won about $300 in three hours before we went back to PH hoping the room picked up a bit. When we returned the room was hopping. I really the feel of the room and the dealers but most importantly is the fact that it draws very weak players. That said, I had the worst run of bad cards I have ever had. I played probably 6-7 hours and never had a great hand to make money but never got mixed up in a hand that cost me any real money. My session ended when my all-in for about $120 with two pair (QJ) was rebuffed by a better two pair (KQ) that came post all-in. Anyway, left down $300 and went back to the craps table to make it back…OPPPS! Craps were just that and within about 45 minutes I was down $400, ugh. Decided to turn in early as I am getting old and drank too much.

Monday we woke up early and went back down to MGM. Nothing memorable about the morning except some young foreign kid that was very LAG but kept on winning. I think he hit four river straights/flushes with improper calls. He had everyone else nervous because you never knew what he had. Again I was card dead but the only real hit I took was when I bet $25 into a $40 pot post flop with one caller. I have AK with a K on the board with no flush or straight possibility. Turn is a 5 for a set by the Villain which cost me another $70 on my turn bet and we checked down the river. This guy was a complete donk and bust out soon after. Left in the early afternoon down about $220.

Back to the PH for a few hours prior to MNF. Played with some of my favorite dealers (Junior, Wayne and Tracy (WOW)) only to learn that Monday night was the last night of poker in that room. Huh! This is a great location but apparently ownership wanted to move the High Limit area over in that space. The dealers didn’t even know at that time if they were coming in the next day or where the poker would be assuming there would be poker. We stopped playing around 1:00 am and when we came down Tuesday morning the room was completely moved and the high limit tables were in place. I will give these guys credit that at least they can move furniture quickly. After a few minutes of searching we see that they have placed the poker table in the back of the casino in a roped off area. This is not an ideal location and will hopefully be remedied. I will be back to LV in two weeks and will check in on how things are going.

After the gut punch from PH brass we went over to Bellagio to play $2/$5 for a couple of hours before our flight. I have never played Bellagio and was glad I did. It was a Tuesday morning so it was fairly slow but we got on a table right away and I won about $125 in 90 minutes of play. A couple of observations which I will also post in a room review are that the chairs at B suck, the dealers have no personality and management seems a little stuck on themselves. That said, Bellagio is Bellagio and I am staying there in two weeks for work so I will likely play in the room again. I didn’t find the play any more challenging than the play at the MGM $1/$2 NL so anyone that wants to try a higher limit game maybe this is the place for you.

Overall I had a good not great time because of the poor cards I got during my trip. When you only have limited days and you spend most of the time folding off bad starters it leaves you with an empty feeling. As for my friends original question, I still think it is better to win early but in my case I won early got back to even in 36 hours and left down about $500. Well there’s always next time.