Got in 3 hours late due to bad weather, a later arriving plane, and TSA having to "sweep" the plane before anyone could get on.

Then alamo rent a car computers are down and the line is well over a hour wait. However my friend had to wait for my late plane so he timed the line where I was next when I finally showed up.

So in the rental and on the way to In-N-Out at 1am. It's a tradition to hit In-N-Out first thing and the burger is as good as it always is.

Off to the MGM Grand poker room and some $1/$2 N.L. Was 4th on the wait list and the first 3 names went off in like 5 seconds... I actually had to wait about 3 minutes before a seat opened.
I bought in for the tourist looking $100 and went with the hey I just got into town and I am a tourist looking to just spend some time before I go to sleep table imiage. I am in seat #1. To my right is a local (Joe) all the dealers knew his name and he played as tight as all could be. If he was in a hand I was not unless at all times I held the nuts. Also at the table in seat #8 was mr wild hair guy, at first I thougt he was a sucker... later I realized he was actually pretty good. most of the others just came and went without much of a impact in my mind.

I played till 5:30am with little to report other than me and Mr. Wild hair traded some chips and big hands back and forth. The most memorable was I had Ace ten of hearts in mid-postion. Mr Wild Hair was the small blind, I limped and was fully expecting a raise from Wild hair, when a very tight player raised from the button to $12.
Mr wild hair calls as do I. The flop is Ace, rag, rag, rainbow. Check, check, to the button as he bets $30. We both call. Turn is a ten and a second spade. Wild Hair bets out $40. I raise to $85. Button folds (thank god, I thought). Wild hair says I should have reraised it preflop and folds Kings. I inturn show him my top 2 and we both wonder what tight guy on button had. I think it was Jacks but who knows.
Anyways the low point for the stack during the session was $78, the high point was $265... left with $240 and went with a friend to play limit for a bit. Made $12 in the 40 mins of no fold em hold em limit. Gave the dealer $10 of it and the waitress the other 2 and finished that night +$140.

strolled around the strip from 6am till 9am then went over to the luxor breakfast buffett and it was VERY good. Checked in early at the Luxor at 11am and took a 3 hour nap. Back up at 2:30 and ready just after 3pm and down to the luxor to play some blackjack with my friend. Not a good session of blackjack... oh well... it's time for the highlight of the trip, the HEADHUNTERS at T.I. at 7pm!!

Get to T.I. at 6:30pm and sign up. I am only the 7th to sign up... not a good sign as I was hopeing for 30+... oh well. Join a $1/$3 game. Why is it $1/$3 and not $1/$2??? who knows but I am in seat 10 and play about 15 hands. I see 4 flops and win 1 pot and I am down $22. Don't recall much standing out other than winning the last hand on a bluff and my buddy sucking out to win one hand.

The Headhunters...
22 enter. I am at table #2 in seat #4. First hand Ace King off and in the small blind. 4 or 5 callers and I kick it to 4 times the big blind. 1 caller a guy from canada. very nice guy and at the time I thought a easy mark. Anyways, flop is all rags, I bet roughly the pot and he folds. I declar myself the "chip leader" and get a few laughs. The first hour I spend a lot of time splashing around in pots building a loose and aggressive image. I actually had many good hands but a few questionable ones. I get into a hand with my buddy and make a bluff on the river with 6 high knowing darn well he is sitting on 2nd pair. He is going to fold and then declairs well at least the chips are going to you and says I call. I insta muck my cards into the muck and say you win. The table is now thinking I am a donkey as I just gave away a lot in that hand.
Perfect timing to now tighten up as we hit the 3rd blind level. I am now getting action each time I want it. I hit broadway on the turn and its the nuts on the river. I bet out and get not 1 but 2 callers (I think they both had an ace and maybe even 2 pair). It goes like this for some time when there is 13 of us left. I have not won any bounties at this time but I have over 12K in chips and the average stack is about 8,500.

Now for my favorite part of the whole trip...

I have King/jack off no clubs. I am two from the big blind and I limp $200. The button raises it to 3x to $600, I call, as does the one of the blinds and one in mid-postion. Flop is jack, 8, 9 all clubs. blind checks, I fire a bet of about 80% of the pot at it. $1900 to go, fold from midpostion, then the button looks at his cards and I immeadtely think he is checking to see if he has the ace of clubs. He looks at board, looks at his cards and says ALL In for $6,000. I have about $12k left after the $2,500 I have put in this pot. The blind folds and I am left to think. After some debate with myself I decide I am ahead but I don't want to race 50/50 here with someone for hlaf my stack and fold face up. he shows the 10 of clubs and says straight flush draw. I think his other card was an off ace.
I then go on a rant about how this tournment is not about building stacks as half the money is in the bounties and I screwed up. I should have been gambling and called. I then announce to the table "I am on tilt"... I reach for my sunglasses, knocking over a stack of my chips, i drop the case on the ground, I get them out and put them on, clean up my stack, and everyone is waiting as I am first to act. I look at my cards and I bet out $1,500 7.5 times the big blind... I hear someone say just give me anything,.. folding around... to the big blind and she has $2600. She says if she has anything she is going all in.
she has 5/2 and folds... she says where are those aces when I need them.. and I say "these aces?" and flip over rockets... the whole table erupts and I hear all kinds of I really believed you were on tilt and I was going to call if I had anything.

We get down to the final ten. The first two both go out when their pocket aces are cracked by a smaller pair the hits on the river. There is 8 of us left and I am in midpostion and about 3rd in chips when I pick up pocket tens. I limp as the far end of the table has been raising a lot and I plan a reraise. Sure enough the button reraises, I go all in over the top, he insta calls. I flip over my tens and sure enough he has aces... the table all says to me dont worry you'll hit it on the river... flop is all blanks, turn blank, river 10!! damn I feel bad for the guy. I just took him out and I am now the chip leader on a major league suckout. Well its my first bounty and so I will take it.
If I had lost I had him covered pretty good so I would have been down but not out... and with plenty of time with the structure of the tournment. 2 more guys go out and this weak player from france named Gill is hanging on the low stack. I raise with Ace Queen, he goes all in I call. He had King jack and nothing hits the board and he is out in 5th. my 2nd bounty.

4 of us left. Mr Lucky from Seattle, Nice guy from england, the very good player who I tangled with a lot from Canada, and myself. Well good guy from canada takes out nice guy from england. and there is 3 of us left. I had told them when there was 5 left I was open to chop. Now there is 3 and 3rd gets $220 2nd $330 and 1st $550 (plus the double bounty). Mr good guy canada says not yet to the chop. The mr lucky doubles up off him and we all have about the same. I tell him with the bouties the chop is $417. After getting sucked out by Mr. Lucky he says still want to chop? I say if you do and I am pretty sure Mr. Lucky from Seattle does.
so we chop it for $367 each. plus the $50 bounty for ourselves. I tip the dealers and shake some hands...

Speaking of shaking hands... it was at this time I meet LVM (las Vegas Mike) and a few others. It was very nice meeting you and nice to talk with some of the other (even if they are Ohio State football fans) avpers. At first I was like why does TI poker room get so much hype here on AVP. But by the end I understood that it really deserves it. It was nice meeting you Mike and the others there.

I played a newly opened cash table of $1/$3 with a massive A-hole drunk who was luckier than he was a A-Hole so that was DAMN lucky. There was a small incident. But the management and dealer took care of it. This guy made the game totally enjoyable so after picking up $13 I tipped the dealer $12 and said I don't know how you do it (meaning put up with guys like him) and left with a $1 more than I started with some 3o mins later. Left up from tourny and cash games +$354.

We then went on our way and played craps and blackjack and others for the rest of the night... called it a night at about 3am after using my comp at the luxor restaraunt for dinner. Woke up at 7:30am and took care of work things over the phone and went down and played blackjack for a while why waiting for my friend to get ready.

We then went over to ride the rides at the top of the strat and check out the view, sadly the insanity was closed due to high winds. The other two were fun though. Then we went to this movie theather (rave?) it was very nice and we saw 21. Good movie, bad remake of the book.

Then we were ready to play 21 oursleves. We did... it didn't go so well.

Then I was back at MGM monday afternoon. Played with this local named Jen. She may have been the best female I have ever played with. Also, one of the best I have played with regardless of gender. She took me for my first hundred. We then settled in and focused on Mr agressive. We each took him for $50+ and had him up and walking and talking to himself. Mine was on a pure bluff. Hers was on a paired board flush. Finally Jen and I mix it up one last time. She is the button and riases to $15 and says come on Jake its an easy $15. I call. flop is all rags. I bet out $25, she calls. Turn brings a blank and a 2nd spade. We both check river is a Jack non spade. I bet out $50. She thinks and tanks and says my Ace King no good here. I said well mine seemed to be and show the Ace king with nothing but Jack high on the board. She says very well done and I feel good that I just took her for $40 of her money. Along with the 6 dead limpers and blinds the pot was $50. and with that I was back over $200 at $210. Played a bit longer and we both left me up $1 and her up about $150.

comp dinner at luxor and then into their poker room where I bought in for $200... play about 20 hands and get the feel of the players when I get Kings... I make a small raise to $8. I get reraised to $30... I reraise it to $60 and he insta goes all in and insta call. he flips over 8's and I flip kings. the flop brings an 8 and I think oh well, the turn is a KING, and I think HELL YES!... the river the case 8. the table groans and I simply get up and walk away.... walk all the way back to MGM Grand.

Sit down first hand as I have to post the $2 and I check it with pocket 4's. The flop comes 9/4/3. with 5 of us to the flop I bet $10 guy to my right raises it to $25. everyone else clears. I reraise it to $50. He asks how much I have left. I say well I posted the $2 and then this bet is $50, so that would be $48 he goes ok I am all in. I say ok I call. and he doesnt flip he says, you have the 9? nope I say/ flush draw? nope again? 2 pair? nope again, I ask are you done guessing? You figure it out yet?? a 3rd diamond ace hits the river. I say you didn't have that flush did you? nope? I have a set of 4's. he mucks says something about two pair... and I was like 4's and 3's? this other guy says no I mucked the other 4. so was it 9's and 3's? who knows??? but a quick double up was nice.
I would be at this table for the duration of my trip till 4am. I would bounce up from $200 to $300 and play around there for a while. Then took a beating down to $160. Last hand I will describe. Mr aggressive right next to me is out there are a number of limpers and I limp with queen 8 of spades from the button as mr aggressive is gone I may try to steal in postion.
Holy flop, Queen, Queen, 8. I actually have to relook at my cards. It's checked around. turn is a 6... small blind bets $10. mid postion guy raises to $30, I raise him to $60, blind folds, he calls. river brings a 2, he checks. I say I'll put you all in. He insta calls.. I say sorry pal I have the nuts. he says something about ace queen but doesnt show and mucks. at 2am I am to tired to play but I only have an hour and 45 mins till I leave and no room. I play no hold em fold em and lose during that duration. For that session I leave up $139

Overall poker winnings $434

man this was long and I left a lot out and I wasn't even there that long!!!

Thanks for reading
Jake