I finally made my first trip back to Vegas last week after several years away. This was actually the first time I have played live in a casino since the poker boom hit so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

I arrived early Thursday in time for the 10am no limit tourney at the Aladdin. Buy in was $40 and the blinds started at $25/50 $1500 starting chips) and basically doubled every 15 minutes. First place paid a little over $800. I had a few minutes to kill before the tourney started so I headed over to the Bellagio to see what was happening. I found Phil Ivey and Sam Farha playing heads up in the back room, which I guess was an all night session since most pro's aren't getting up at 9am. Back to the tourney - I had one 'good' player at my table, a couple solid players and the rest ranged from bad to flat out brand new players. Overall I was happy with my play, no real mistakes or hands of interest. I got knocked out at the $300/600 level when I went on in with AKo after flopping an ace and got called by someone with pocket sevens. He not only hit his seven on the turn, but caught the last seven on the river for good measure. The tournament isn't listed as a rebuy, but it basically functions as one. When a player busts out he has the option to re-enter if the tournament is not full. He can then choose to stay in his current seat or take one of the seats that were empty at the start of the tournament. I think we had four re-entries at my table including two by the guy who knocked me out.

I went back to my hotel room with the intention of sleeping until about four or five, but I guess I was so excited to be in Vegas I woke back up after about an hour and couldn't go back to sleep. I went to check out the MGM room, which looked to be pretty busy, but then I went on down to the Aladdin as I had heard they had the loosest games. The Aladdin was pretty quiet so I headed over to Bellagio again to look for stars. I hit the jackpot and found Chip Reese, David Beniamine (sp?), Barry Greenstein, Doyle, Jennifer Harmon, and Chou Jang playing in the back room. I watched thru the glass for a few minutes while trying not to look like a total dork, and then ran back to the Aladdin pumped up to play some poker.

At this point it was about 2pm and as I said it was a little slow. The only games going were a $3/6 and a $1/2 NL. I didn't really have the bankroll for NL, so I jumped in the $3/6. The game was suprisingly loose, with a mix of a couple of solid players and a couple of very loose beginner types. At one point a guy sat down who was so drunk he didn't even know what casino he was in. It was about 3pm and that was when I knew I loved Vegas. He was throwing money all over, and anytime someone raised he would say something like 'You raise ME? I raise YOU!' and fire in a reraise with nothing. It was hillarious. Unfortunately he burned thru his chips pretty quick and left for a while. He later came back and lost another buyin, but I never had any hands while he was there so I didn't get much from him. I had build up a nice little stack during the first few hours but the game really tightened up around 5pm. I probably should have left, but there was one loose player remaining and I kept thinking the game would get better after dinner time. For the next few hours whenever I would play a pot I would either win a small pot or get chased down at the river so I blinded myself down quite a bit. I eventually called it quits after about nine hours down about 15 big bets, but I felt good with my play and how beatable the games were. (I thought they were pretty similiar to Party Poker. 3-5 people to the flop with the occasional raise)

I headed back down to the MGM since it was close to my hotel and the room was hopping. The games were very loose with atleast five people seeing most flops. I mentioned my bankroll wasn't the biggest, so I decided to play a little $2/4 to ensure I could take a few bad sessions and still play all weekend. The game was very loose passive, with hardly any raises (except from me ofcourse lol). I played for about four hours and called it quits about 3am having made back a bit from my Aladdin session. I stopped by the Bellagio again and saw Eli Elezra playing some game with a handful of cards (chinese poker?) with an unknown opponent.

I woke up on Friday about noon and headed back down to the poker rooms. The MGM was again busy, but I also checked the Aladdin but it was dead. I headed back to the MGM and the games were again juicy. I had planned to play $2/4 again, but the $3/6 looked so good I had to jump in. I again took some beats and grinded around even for a bit when the game started to dry up. There was a $2/4 on the next table that was looking good so I did the smart thing this time and switched tables. Again the game was very passive, and I was able to play some draws and pick up some pots by being aggressive. Unfortunately, I was intown for a friend's wedding and I had to leave about 7pm to go to dinner and the bachelor party. I had hoped to play more Fri and Sat, but unfortunately I pretty much went all in at the strip club and ended up not having much time to play anyway between dinners and receptions and obligations with friends.

Overall the games were very beatable at both placed, with the MGM being hands down the bigger and better room. Everything is computerized so when a player leaves the table the dealer punches it in and the desk immediately knows there is an opening. Plasma screens line the walls with the games available. During all my visits to the Aladdin I never saw anything other than one or two $3/6 games and a couple of $1/2 NL. At the MGM, they always had a couple of $2/4 and $3/6 games going, along with several $1/2 and $2/5 NL games. There was also usually a $4/8 with half kill going plua a $5/10 by early Fri evening. I never quite made up for my first loosing session, but I came close and in hindsight I wish I would have played all my time at the MGM. The room is beautiful and the games are very soft. While, there were a few solid players at both rooms I never came across anyone to be afraid of. Even the people I suspected might be local semi-pro types were fairly predictable and didn't run over the table. Infact once they tag you as a tight player you could sometimes push them off a hand by being aggressive. For exemple my first session at the MGM I started off getting horrible cards and folded almost everything for the first half hour or so. I heard two of these guys whispering that I wasn't going to play anything but pocket aces or kings. Now I am a tight aggressive player, but I am no rock, and for the rest of the night these guys always thought I was on aces or kings no matter how many pots I played. It was hillarious.

Hope this report was helpful, it was definately long :o)

Lee