This trip was for my wife's (Sandy) friend's wedding. There would be about 45 people in Vegas for the wedding. We booked a Delta flight for the way out and they changed our it after it was booked. Originally we were going through Minneapolis but we got re-routed through Atlanta. Not only did this add 2.5 hours of flying time, but we also had to leave Des Moines at 6:00 AM instead of 7:25 AM. I was just hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come. We got up at 3:30 on Tuesday and left the house at about 4:15. Check in at the airport was a breeze and we at the terminal by 5:15. The flight to Atlanta was smooth. We had a 1.5 hours lay over so we grabbed some breakfast and then got back on a plain for the 4.5 hour flight to Vegas. One of the Harry Potter movies was on and it helped to pass the time. The ride got a little choppy as we got closer to Vegas but over all it wasn't too bad. The luggage came out quickly and we were off to catch a cab (very short line) to the Monte Carlo. We were checked in by 1:30 (3:30 Des Moines time) and decided that it was best to try and get in a quick nap before hitting the town.

We woke up after about an hour and were feeling refreshed. The plan for the night was to catch the 8:00 PM show at the Comedy Stop so we headed to the Tropicana to pick up tickets. At this point we were both pretty hungry and though we would give the PH buffet a try. Good choice. Everything we had was excellent. My only complaint is that the crab legs are served cold. They are so much better hot. I even got my wife to try the sushi, but she still isn't a fan. Next was a stroll through the Miracle Mile shops. Then we head up the strip and end up at the Bellagio, stopping by the poker room so that I can teach Sandy the mechanics of limit holdem. It was now about 6:00 and seating for the show is first come first serve (doors open at 7:00) and we wanted good seats so we walked back down to the Tropicana. We had a little time to kill and tried to find a $5 blackjack table but they were all full. We ended up sitting down at an old school $0.25 slot machine that took actual quarters. Sandy whips out her change and we start put quarters in 1 at a time. Each time we win we hit the cash out button just to here the clanking of our new found wealth as it falls from the machine. We both found this to be hilarious. I guess we are just easily amused. We head up to the show at 7:00 and get some good seats next to a lovely couple from Michigan. The show was great. I would highly recommend it to anyone and it is a great value at only $20 per ticket (included 1 drink).

After the show Sandy says she want to play poker. She has planed for fun with my family before, but never for money. We head over to the casino were I popped my Vegas poker cherry, the Excalibur, to find a 2-4 limit game for her. She is first on the 2-4 list and is seated in about 5 minutes with $60. I sit down at a 1-3 nl table with $200. Things start pretty uneventfully for me but I can see that Sandy is having a great time yucking it up with the table. She has always been the life of the party so this didn't surprise me. Unfortunately I see her pulling another $20 out of her pocket in about 25 minutes as she was down to her last few chips. A few minutes later she is getting up from the table and comes over to let me know she has been felted. She sits behind me to watch a few minutes as I play 1 more round as I was just getting dealt my big blind. I think she is my good luck charm because I flopped trip kings the next 2 hands and raked in a couple of nice pots. I cashed out +$155 in about 45 minutes. Nice start for me, but I wish Sandy had had better luck. She said she flopped 2 pair twice that got run down by a straight on the river and her last hand was pocket kings that got beat by a flopped straight. We checked out Dicks Last Resort on our way out of the Excalibur and it looked like a fun place. We were hopping to come back here after more people got into town. It was getting late for us by this time so we strolled through NYNY on the way back to the Monte and called it a night at about 12:30.

Got up on Wednesday and walked the strip for a while. Others from the group were coming in the early afternoon and we would need to be back at the Monte to greet them and let them in the room. Sandy and I shared a room with 3 of her lady friends (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas). We walk through a bunch of the t-shirt shops along the east side of the strip and then head through the Paris casino. We end up in front of O'Sheas and see a midget is on the bar pouring shots into people's mouths. Hilarious. They also had a sign for beer pong, and knowing Sandy's friends, I knew we would be back here later. We got as far as Harrah's before we got a call that the first person had arrived and we started the walk back to the Monte. Lisa was the first to arrive (around 12:30) and she was ready to find some food. Mexican sounded good and I had heard good things about Gonzalez y Gonzalez at NYNY. We each get one of the giant margaritas and have some pretty good food to go with it. Back to the Monte to great some more new arrivals.

By 4:00 all of that days new arrivals were settled in and we head out to walk the strip. The card slappers are out in full force and I jokingly tell Sandy to start collecting them to see how many she can get by the end of the trip. I think the giant margarita convinced her that this would be fun and away she goes, grabbing every card that is offered to her. Some of the others in the group decide they need to help her pick up cards and by the end of the night her purse is over flowing with them. We stacked them up the next day and had a full 9 inches of cards! This is just from 1 night. Imagine what you could get in an entire trip. As we continue up the strip I can tell we are being pulled towards the beer pong tables at O'Sheas. When we arrive we are disappointed to learn that the midget only works until 6:00 and it is now 6:05. We have a drink and then venture to the back of the casino to find the beer pong. We end up playing beer pong with random people from all over the country until about midnight when the group decides it is time to move the party back to the Monte and do some gambling there.

Everyone finds their game of choice and I head to the poker room. I get seated in the 2 seat with my $200 immediately. I notice the 9 seat looks like LVM's long lost twin brother, but it can't be him because he only plays at TI. After about 30 minutes I overhear the 9 seat start talking about the different poker rooms in Vegas and then he brings up AllVegasPoker and mentions he is one of the moderators. At this point I realize it has to be the great LVM and I introduce myself. This was the first time he had played outside of TI in 9 months and it was a pleasure to play with him. The session started off well by winning a couple of smaller pots and I was quickly up $80. I slowly gave my money away on missed draws and getting re-raised off of a couple of weak hands. ***WARNING: HEAR IS THE ONLY BAD BEAT STORY OF THE POST*** About an hour into the session I pick up my first pocket pair of the trip. I get QQ in MP (about $195) and raise to 15. I get called by the player to by left (about $140). The villain has been playing pretty tight so I am putting him on a big Ace or a pocket pair. The flop comes out J93 rainbow. I bet 25 and the villain goes into the tank. He look uncomfortable like he wants to fold. At this point I think KJ and QJ are also possible hands. He calls. The turn is a 5 and I bet 35. Villain goes into the tank and eventually pushes all-in for about $65 more. Now its is my turn to start thinking and I can't come up with a way that the 5 helped him. The pot is about $215 and I am getting a good price and think I am ahead of his pair of Jacks so I call and he turns over a set of fives. ***END OF BAD BEAT STORY*** I buy another $100 of chips. Towards the end of the session I am sitting on about $160 and raise to $15 from LP with AJ and get called by 4 players. The turn comes queen high and is pretty ragged. It gets checked to me and I make a c-bet of around $40 into 4 players, which is typically a bad idea. It folds around to LVM who thinks and eventual says something to the effect of 'If I'm going broke it might as well be to an AVPer'. He pushes in for about 45 more and I put him on a draw based on his speech and from what I have read on this site. I call and the cards brick out for LVM and my Ace high is good. I cash out a short while later down $80.

Thursday comes around and one of the crew decides that it is time that I learn her favorite casino game, Pai Gow. It didn't take long and I was liking what she was teaching. It's a pretty easy game and it seems that the $$$ last longer than they do on a blackjack table. Some of our crew took over an entire table and we had a great time. After a quick bite at the Chinese joint in the Monte I head to the poker room. This was a very uneventful session as I didn't get the greatest starting hand and didn't hit many flops. The only hand of note came when a younger gent (yg) sits down and announces that he is getting married in 2 hours. His first hand the flop comes down 88Q after 5 or 6 limpers (I have QT). He checks and I bet 10. Every folds to the yg and he calls. Turn is a 3 and he starts counting out a couple of chips and then checks. I check behind. The rive is an 8 and he bets 25 and I call and he turns up A8 for quads. I end up down $100 in a little over 3 hours.

Tonight is the bachelor/bachelorette party. Everyone gets ready and we head off to the Piano Bar at Harrah's. They have karokee from 6-9 and then have dueling pianos from 9-2. Our group walks in a takes up about 1/4 of the place. It was a good time. Good karokee and great dueling pianos. I had my only celebrity encounter here. Johnathan Hillstrand from the show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery channel was in attendance and was having a good time. Around midnight we decide to start heading back toward the Monte and once again get drawn to the beer pong tables at O'Sheas. After a couple games and couple slices of pizza from Mama Mia's (in O'Sheas) we stumble back to the Monte and call it a night.

Friday morning rolls around and I am itching to play poker. I head down to the poker room and get seated right away. This was 4 hours of no big hands. I saw some cheap flops and won some small pots but couldn't get anything going. No real interesting hands and I cashed out down $45. Most of the group heads downtown Friday night. We go put our name in at Tony Roma's in Freemont and walk around the casino while we wait. We come upon an empty $0.50 roulette table and the group takes it over. I buy $20 in chips and cash out +$46 20 minutes later when we are called to be seated. The food was good but there was a group of 40 or so people sitting in the same area as we were and they kept yelling across tables at each other. It kind of killed the mood, but we made the best of it. We walked around after we ate and ended up down at El Cortez where my wife and I managed to win another $25 playing Pai Gow. Sandy and then take our winnings and by some cheesy shirts, fanny packs and a hat to wear to a Halloween party (we are going as LV tourists). We catch a cab back to the Monte and everyone starts gambling.

Its about 12:30 and I put my name in at the poker room and after about 20 minutes I decided to head over to MGM. I get seated right away with $200. It doesn't take long to realize this is a wild table. The drunk player (DP) in the 3 seat (I am in the 6 seat) raises at least half of the pots anywhere from 15 - 35. Raises to 15 get 3-5 callers and raises to 25 will get 2-3 callers. After missing a couple of draws I find myself down $100 so I buy another stack of reds. I win a nice pot with a semi-bluff raise against the only overly tight player at the table when I flop a middle pair with a flush draw. This is the only time on the trip that betting on the come worked out for me. Every other time I made this move I got called down or re-raised out of the hand. I worked my stack up to $335. I am in the big blind and everyone limps in around to DP who makes it $20 to go. Folds to me and I look down and find AK of clubs. I don't want to take a 5 or 6 handed flop with AK so I make it $45 to go. It folds to DP and he calls and has me covered. You can't really put him on a hand as he has been raising with ATC. The flop comes K95 rainbow. Perfect flop I think. I bet $45 and DP instantly goes all-in. He has been making big bets all night with any piece of the flop. I go into the tank and ask for a count. He is acting the same as he has all night so I can't pick up a physical tell that indicates he has a monster. I have found that drunk loud players typically get really quite when the have a big hand. After think for a while I decide there is such a high chance that he has a weak king of middle pair that I have to call. I hate putting my money in with 1 pair but I don't think I had a choice here. I call and he turns of KJ and I rake in the $670 pot. This puts DP down to about $20 and he leaves a couple hands later. Once DP is gone the action quickly dried up and I was getting tired so I call it a night at 3:30. The MGM always seems to have good action at night but it is really loud in there.

Saturday is wedding day. The roomies and I rollout of bed and head straight over to the ESPN zone at about 10:30 for some eats. The server is taking the drink orders and everyone is starting the day with water. Sandy says she will have a water for now but will get a stiffy later. The waiter smiles and asks 'Is that a drink?" Since the filter between my brain and mouth isn't functioning any more I answer by saying "It is at the end!" This get a good laugh from everyone, including the wife. Apparently I can't embarrass her as easily as I used to. I get ready around noon and leave the room so all of the ladies can get ready. I get in a 1.5 hour session at the Monte. I sit down at the table and there is close to 5k in play!!! There is crazy action but I can't get a hand that is worth seeing the flop and cash out down $50. We head to the wedding at the Garden of Love. After the wedding Sandy and I go to the Stratosphere to check out the view. It was OK, but would probably be better during the night. There is an informal reception at the Pub in the Monte and we head back to that.

At 8:30 I take off for some more poker. I have always wanted to play at the Wynn, so that is my first destination. I buy in for $300. I flop a lot of draws while I am hear and don't hit any of them. I find myself down $100 so I buy back up to my $300 buy-in. It might have just been the table I was at, but there was more raising and re-raising after the flop/turn here than any other room I have played in. Lost about another $100 when a short stacks flopped set beats my top 2 pair. Interesting side note, while I am playing Sandy calls to let me know there have been some shootings on the south end of the strip. I guess there was a boxing fight between a couple of Latinos and the different gangs in LV had their favorites for the fight. After the fight things got a little heated and lead started flying. Anyway, I leave the Wynn after 2 hours and am down $205. I head over to the Venetian and get seated (7 seat) after a short wait and buy-in for $200. My 3rd hand I am on the button and have T7 of diamonds. There are 4 limpers to me and I join the party and we take a 7 handed flop of T87 with 2 hearts. It gets checked to the dude with sunglasses (DWS) in the 2 seat who bets 15 (starts with about $165). It folds to me and I don't want a bunch of people chasing so I make it $40 to go. Only DWS calls. The turn is a 10 and DWS checks. I bet $50 and he thinks for a while and calls. The river is about the worst card possible, an 8. DWS checks and I bet $70, which is enough to put him all-in. He thinks for a while and calls. I show and he mucks but they tumble in face up and he had Aces. DWS rebuys. A while later I am in LP and it is limped to me. I have JT and join in. The button makes it $15 to go and I call after 3 others did the same (I have all players in the hand covered). The flop comes T93 with 2 spades. It is checked to me and I check. The button bets $20 into a $75 pot. He has been showing a lot of his cards and has always bet bigger with made hands and smaller without them. I put him on 2 overs. DWS calls and I raise to $60. In hind sight I think this raise was a little light, but I just wanted to make sure that the button didn't have a real hand before getting to deep in the hand. The button folds and DWS quickly calls. The way he called both the bets on the flop made me think he had a draw. The turn is another 3 and DWS checks. I bet $75 and DWS gives me the stare. He picks up his cards and everyone on his corner can see them. After a few seconds I hear him say 'Is this going to hit?' and the player to his right shrugs. DWS calls. The river is the 2 of diamonds and DWS checks. I bet $30, hoping he will see that as being weak and raise but he folds his QJ of spades. I call it a night a short while later and cash out up $315. I catch a cab back to the Monte to avoid any possible trouble on the way back and find that the strip has been shut down due to the shooting. I get to bed at about 2:30 and am getting up at 5:00 to get on a 8:00 flight home.

Sunday we get to the airport and make our way to the ticket counter quickly. We show the itinerary to the clerk and she starts banging away on her keyboard. She looks up and asks if we would like an exit row. This was the best part of the trip. I am 6'6" and don't have much leg room on flights. Of course we accepted. It was the best flight of my life! I was able to sleep for about an 1.5 hours on the way home.

Overall I had a great trip. I was a few draws away from turning a really nice profit, but I can't complain about the $345 I won in 18 hours of poker and another $100 or so on table games. I wanted to make it to TI as well, but that will have to wait for the next trip. Now I just need to teach my wife how to gamble as she donated about $250 to different games.

All comments and questions are welcome.