I got married last year, and my bachelor party was in Vegas. There's an old trip report about it last September. My best man is now engaged and getting married in a few months, so we planned a return trip. There wound up being about 9-10 of us...and boy, did it get crazy.

Friday 7/9:

Had a very early flight in. 2 other guys were on my flight. We saw Air Force One at the airport when we landed. Very big plane. Regardless of our individual politics, President Obama very nearly gave us a bad beat upon arrival. He had been in town stumping for Sen. Harry Reid and was on his way back to the airport. Apparently they shut down the freeway and entrance / exit to the airport for this. When we got in the cab line, our driver was yelling at us to hurry as they were broadcasting there was only about a minute until the closure. We pulled up to the exit *just* as the police closed it. Driver thought we'd be stuck for upwards of an hour. Damn. But we told him we'd take care of him and back him up if need be. So in an amazing display of LV cabbie awesomeness, he puts the car in reverse, slides backwards and BETWEEN two lines of cars, forces his way over to a backroads exit, and we slip away from the airport just in the nick of time. We tipped him very well upon arrival at the MGM.

Since it was still so early, most of our group hadn't yet landed, and we couldn't check in. So we checked bags at the desk and headed to the MGM poker room. The casinos near me are all limit-only. You have to drive about 2.5 hours to get to a place that does NL, so my experience with NL is pretty...limited. I talk about some hands below, with any strategy questions or comments I have in parentheses.

After reading these forums quite a bit, my strategy for my first game of the trip was to be pretty quiet when first getting to a table and wait for any reads I might get. I'm a pretty LAG tourney player, but I didn't want to go splashing about in a cash game when I had limited resources. I bought in for $200 at a 1-2 game. No real hands of note until about 1.5 hours in. I've taken down some small pots, and have been able to pick my spots to bluff. I haven't been too aggressive yet. I'm in LP and find Js6s after a couple limpers. I limp too (I know, but they were sooooted). BB raises to $7, which of course causes everyone else to come along. The button and cutoff had folded, so I had position, and with 5 other people in the pot already, I (think?) was priced in for $5 more. The flop comes out A-6-6, 2 hearts. Bingo. BB leads for $15. MP guy raises to $35. Folds to me. I think about smooth-calling, but I don't want let hearts get there. I don't think MP has a 6, but if he does, it's time to find out. I re-raise to $75 (was this too much?) BB tanks and goes all-in for $110. MP goes all-in as well. I have BB covered by about $50, and MP by about $80. I think there's too much in there to fold (right?) so after about 20 seconds, I call. Imagine my utter shock when BB flips up KK and MP flips up AK! No heart draws. I just have to dodge one King and 2 Aces. And, amazingly, I do. I rake a big pot. What was BB thinking? For that matter, what was MP thinking? My re-raise should have told them I had a 6. It was about this point that I realized just how right the posts about the MGM room were. It was soft. I used this to good fortune as the trip went on.

So I cash out soon after, +$300 for 2 hours' worth of work. Not bad. Our group is slowly trickling in, so those of us here make the pilgrimage to In-n-Out Burger. Yummy. After lunch, our rooms are ready, so we check in and get comfy. We have dinner reservations at 8, so there's a little free time. More poker!

Nothing much of note in this session, except that I notice post-flop raises seem to get a lot of respect (the above story notwithstanding). No big hands, but I play position and steal a lot of small pots. I finish up about $97. At this point, I haven't had to show a single hand down except for that earlier hand.

Dinner is at Pampas in Planet Hollywood. It's a Brazilian-style grill place. The meat comes to you on a sword and they carve pieces off. It comes with salad bar, which is a blessing and a curse. There is actually REALLY good stuff at the salad bar! So much good stuff that you could fill up on it if you're not careful. But the meat is excellent, especially the sirloin and the lamb. Juicy, tender, melts in your mouth. Great drunken dinner for our group. We go out to wander the strip and look at the "summer scenery," of which there is a lot. I love my wife dearly, but looking is free.

I wind up back at MGM around midnight. I'm tired and tipsy, but instead of listening to reason, I go to the poker room. Not the best idea. Luckily, prior to dinner, I'd left most of my cash in the room safe. It was like I knew I might do something stupid later and wanted to limit my losses. I have only about $120 in my wallet. Made overconfident by my earlier success, I run through that in short order by doing dumb stuff like trying to run a bluff through 5 people and re-raising with garbage. I'm put out of my misery soon, and hit the hay. Still up for the trip.

Saturday, 7/10:

I wake up a bit early. We're in a mini-suite. My roomies are still conked out, one on the bed, one on the couch. I shower and shave and decide it's time for morning poker. Buy in for $200. I'm feeling better, and more aggressive. I'm able to pick good spots to steal raised pots (although sometimes I think I was bluffing with what actually was the best hand) and am up about $70 or so when The Hand happens. All 3 players in the hand are between $250 and $300 stacks. I'm in BB. New guy in MP raises to $10 - standard raise. Crazsian in LP re-raises to $30. I look down and see AsKs. I call. (I think I should have re-raised to isolate, but I didn't have a read on new guy, and I was out of position. Thoughts?) New guy calls. Flop comes A-7-8 rainbow, one spade. I lead out for $45 (too little?). New guy thinks and calls, Crazsian snap calls. Turn is a 5, completing the rainbow. I don't like my position here, and since my flop bet got called, I'm still not sure where I am. In hindsight, I think I should have led out again here, but I check. New guy checks. Crazsian thinks and bets $75. As I run through the hand in my head, I can't figure out where he is. I considered re-raising (it would most likely be all-in) but decided just to all. New guy snap calls. wtf? River is another 7. It checks around quickly. I show AK. New guy folds, and Crazsian flings AQ down in disgust. I scoop a huge pot! I'm pretty sure I could have gotten more value on the turn and river. However, on the river, a bet is most of my stack, and I was a bit worried that the only hand to call would be something that beat me. I think a bet was still the right move, but hindsight is 20-20. I take down a few more decent pots, and decide (wisely) to stop playing +$444. Not bad for an hour and a half!

The rest of the day is spent at the Lazy River pool. I use part of my winnings to buy drinks and inner tubes for all. Man, there are some GOOD looking girls that go by. We have prime seats by the river, so there's always some solid scenery. Amazingly, I manage to tan and not burn. That evening, we really get to partying. I don't remember a lot, but I do recall walking down the strip, drinking straight from a champagne bottle. I also learned how to play craps, but I do not bet, as in yet another fit of wonderful foresight, I locked my debit and credit cards, along with all but $120 in my room before leaving. So the cash buys the drinks, and I avoid any stupid bets. Winner! Although no one will ever let me throw the dice again because on my first two throws, I tossed a 1-1, then a 1-2. Some guy swore at me in a foreign language. It was a blast. At some point, one of our group apparently walked into and bowled over a small child. I wasn't around for that, but it sounds funny, especially if you know the guy, because this is something that he could do even sober. After people have had their table-game fill, we head to Sapphire and contribute to the local talent's college funds. There was, of course, other debauchery and hijinks, but the night is a bit fuzzy, and this is a poker forum.

Sunday, 7/11:

After trying unsuccessfully to sleep last night off, I give it up and shower up. I never smoke cigarettes, but when I'm really drunk, I love cigars. I was really drunk last night. And now I'm coughing up a storm. Go me! Those of us with later flights stagger into Denny's for a late breakfast. The guy who bowled over the kid woke up with a broken toe! His right toe is all swollen and purple. Nasty. And he has no idea how he did it. None at all. Ah, Vegas.

My flight out is the last of the group (thanks a ton Orbitz), so I see the rest of the guys out of the lobby. While some of us live in the same area, a good deal of us have settled elsewhere. It sounds stupid and cliche, but these guys really are my best friends, and seeing some of them head off, and knowing I won't see them for another year or two at least makes me quite sad. The weekend was full of partying and acting younger than we are, but damned if I don't love just hanging out with those guys.

Anyway. Back to the poker room to while away the hours until my flight. I'm doing pretty good money-wise, as my winnings have paid for the room and all my meals. I figure I can drop $400 and still come out ahead, but if I lose that, I have to stop. I quickly lose my first $200 buy-in, when run my QJ into AQ on a Q-Q-T-4-7 board. I quickly lost most of my second, when I run KsJh into Ah8h on a Kh-Qh-9h flop and I can't catch the Th or runner-runner. Ouch. Looks like I'll be heading to the airport early. However, I'm able to fight back by being extremely patient. I only had about $80, but I was really trying to pick my spots, and it was working. I ground myself back to around $175 (still stuck $225 this session). I then pick up KcJc in the BB. A fat LAG (FLAG) raises to $12 in MP. I call, and a fat solid guy (FSG) calls in EP as well. Flop comes J-8-4 with 2 hearts. I check. FSG bets $40. FLAG thinks and calls. I really don't think FLAG has anything, but I'm not so sure about FSG. He didn't re-raise pre-flop, and his overbet looks fishy. I tank for a bit. I really think I have the best hand here, unless FLAG is hollywooding. Only one way to find out. I re-raise to $80. FSG looks uncomfortable. After about a minute of internal debate, he calls, but doesn't look happy. FLAG glares at me, but amazingly he folds quickly. Turn comes Q, completing the flush, as well as a possible (though unlikely) straight. I check, as does FSG. River comes an A. Ugh. But amazingly, FSG checks behind me again. I show my hand, and he rolls 9-9. I got lucky, as a big river bet would almost certainly have forced me out. I wonder if I lost value by not betting the turn. I don't think he'd have called though, and if I was raised, I don't see how I could call, as there really wouldn't have been anything I could beat. In any case, this hand starts the heater up under my chair. My flushes hit, my straights come in, my bluffs aren't called. By airport time, I've made up my initial losses and manage to walk away + $160.

The trip home is uneventful, and I'm glad to see my wife and dog waiting for me at pickup.

What a great trip with a great group of guys. The poker was a real pleasant surprise for me as well. Aggression really seemed to pay off in these 1-2 games. I took a lot of pots down without a fight, just by picking good spots. I don't think I actually showed down more than 8-9 hands the entire trip. I definitely ran good, but it's also good for the ego to know I can run in that kind of game.

Whew. Long one. Thanks for reading!