With all due respect to Hunter S. Thompson, my trip to Las Vegas was a frustrating
exercise in variance.

Before I even left, I was having problems with a new employee at work. I decided it was best
to let her go rather than risk problems while I was gone. I notified her by email as I was boarding
my flight in Tampa. Even though my other employees now needed to work short handed,
morale improved 100%. I used frequent flyer miles and flew first class on American and
had a good meal - chilled salmon salad - with several rum & cokes and warm chocolate chip
cookies.

I had a 2 hour layover in Dallas and decided to get a shoe shine.

The flight from Dallas to Las Vegas was uneventful. Had another nice meal - lobster ravioli - and several more rum & cokes followed by a Bailey's & coffee.

I arrived early into Las Vegas but took a wrong turn on the way to baggage claim. I ended up in terminal 3 and had to take a shuttle to get my bag in terminal 1. An hour later I finally had my bag and called the free airport shuttle to take me to Ellis Island. The room at the Super 8 wasn't bad for one night.

I walked over to the Bellagio to start my poker for the trip. I had previously sworn off Bellagio due to previous bad luck there, but decided to give it another try. I bought in for $200 at 1/2 NL and ordered a Stella. My first hand I bluffed a straight on the river and villain laid down two pair for a nice start. Soon after I raised preflop with 88 in MP and was called by V OTB. I cbet a 3 diamond flop and V just called. The turn was the 8d and I decided it was best to check. V checked behind. The river was a blank and I check called a small value bet on the river. V had flopped a straight flush and I lost the minimum with set of 888. I'm just happy the board did not pair on the river. I finally got stacked overplaying TPTK vs. a set of 777 against a very LAG V. I thought I was way ahead against his range. Oh well, the Bellagio is still a thorn in my side. ( 1:05, -$200 ).

I was getting tired so I walked back over to Ellis Island and decided to try my luck at video poker. I played .25 JOB at the bar and had a couple nice amber ales. I bought in for $20 and cashed out $35 for a small cash and beer profit. ( +$15 )

I woke up early the next morning since my body was still on east coast time and had a very good steak & eggs breakfast for $5.99 at the Ellis Island cafe. I had contacted TBC on his blog and offered to drive him to Jean on Sunday morning. He declined saying he did not feel safe having never met me. Just trying to do a good deed.

I decided to go on a quick chip run and walked north down the strip. I picked up new $1 chips at Harrah's and The Quad. Along the way I saw a good poker license plate parked at Bally's.

I checked out of Ellis Island and took the free shuttle to go pick up my rental car. I got a pretty good rate of $169 for a Honda Civic for the week. If I had picked it up the night before it would have cost an extra $50.

After picking up the rental car I checked in for my veterinary conference at Mandalay Bay and headed straight to the poker room. I have always liked this room and the dealers always remember me. I bought in for $200 at 1/2 NL and cashed out 2 hours later to go check into my room at Aria down $50. I didn't play any memorable hands, mostly just calling with speculative hands and missing the flops. ( 2:18, -$50 )

After checking into my room I played some 1/3 NL at Aria buying in for $200. I only had a short time to play as the plan was to meet cdnmoose and mrsmoose at Bellagio for the buffet. I had the usual bad run of starting hands for 15 minutes then lost half my stack bluffing into the nut flush - oops. Almost time to leave and I get dealt AA in the BB. A few limpers and one raise to me and I shove for $100 and get one caller for the double up and leave. ( :28, +$66 )

The conservatory at Bellagio is all decorated for ChInese New Year - The Year of the Snake

The plan was to get to the Bellagio buffet right before prices went up for dinner. We were in line about 10 people back when the prices went up. We decided to head to Hot & Juicy instead. We rode in cdnmoose's Mustang convertible.

The food at Hot & Juicy was great. We ordered 1 lb each of shrimp, crawfish, and mussels plus a side of cajun fries and some brews. I like spicy food but luckily cdn and mrsmoose wanted to order mild and it still had a pretty good kick to it. Still not satisfied, we ordered another pound of shrimp and some rolls to sop up the juice.

After dinner, they dropped me back at Aria and I headed straight to the poker room for some more 1/3 NL. I was staying at Aria on the poker rate which was discounted from $239 per night down to $99 per night Sunday thru Thursday for 5 hours of play per day. Even better, I got the hours comped by the poker room manager at our local card room (I take care of his cat) because he is friends with the poker host at Aria. I played a 4 hour session and won most of my profit in one hand. There was a new player in MP at the table and the chip runner had not even brought his $300 in chips. Several limpers and I raise OTB to $17 with 35h. Only caller is new player still without chips. Flop comes A28hh. V leads for $20 and I call. Turn is an off suit 4 giving me the wheel. V leads for $50, I raise to $125, and V calls. Blank river and V checks, I shove for $125 and V calls. I say straight and V mucks. Chip runner delivers his chips to me. :) ( 4:16, +$382 )

After poker I headed to NYNY to see Zumanity. The show was pretty good, but not up to the caliber of other cirque shows.

I walked back to Aria stopping by CVS on the way to pick up some chocolate milk and a danish for breakfast. Even though it was really late, I stopped back in at Aria for another quick session of 1/3 NL. Only good hand I flopped a boat with 22 on a JJ2 flop. Short stack V shoves and I call and hold. Lose a few more hands and cash out down a little. ( :28, -$35 )

I get up early on Monday to head to the conference for a breakfast meeting - ham & cheese croissants, yogurt, and coffee hits the spot. I attend a few meetings and then tour the exhibit hall before heading to the poker room for lunch. Won a nice pot early with a flopped set of 777. V laid down TPTK to a pot sized shove on the river. Later I raised again OTB with 35o. Everyone folds to my cbet on an 8 high board. From there I steadily bled chips and eventually got stacked when my turned straight got run down by a rivered flush. ( 2:44, -$200 )

Made some hockey bets - Panthers over Leafs, Habs & Canes over 5.5, and Canes score first - $20 on each - lost all three. ( -$60 )

More meetings in the afternoon and then I headed to Le Burger Brasserie for my favorite Le' Originale lamb burger medium rare with an Eiffel tower of onion rings and a couple Fat Tire's. Sorry Courage, no perv shot of the cute waitress this time. Although the big dude serving me probably had cleavage too. :p

After dinner I head back to the LSU alumni reception at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Nobody I knew so I left pretty quickly and headed back to Aria for more 1/3 NL. Blew thru 2.5 buy ins getting 2 outered on the river twice in a row. ( 3:22, -$500 )

Tuesday morning I walked over to the Miracle Mile shops for breakfast at La Salsa Cantina - 2 eggs, bacon, hash browns, and flour tortillas for $3.95.

After breakfast I headed to the conference. Once again, my insurance company was offfering free blood screens so I had my blood drawn despite not fasting the recommended 8 hours prior. Just got the results yesterday and everything checked out great even though I really don't watch what I eat or drink. Luckily they weren't testing my blood alcohol. :stunned:

I headed to the Mandalay Bay poker room for short session of 1/2 NL. No noteworthy hands and cashed out up a little just happy to book a win for a change. ( 1:40, + $71 )

For lunch I headed over to Estatioro Milo's at the Cosmopolitan. It was rated as one of the top 10 values on Las Vegas Advisor and was very good. I had the grilled scallop skewer appetizer, grilled mediterranean sea bass, and walnut cake for dessert all for $20.13.

After lunch I took advantage of the $100 comp offer at Cosmo. If you lose $100 at VP, VBJ, or slots they credit it back to you. I bought in for $100 at a .25 JOB bar top and started ordering Rum Runner's. Never got ahead, but it took over an hour and several drinks before my $100 was gone. I got that credited back to me and decided to save it for later. I took one $10 spin on roulette keying 17, 19, & 20 plus their corners and lost. ( -$110 )

I walked back over to Aria for some more 1/3 NL. I only had time for a short session before dinner and cashed out + $35. ( 1:12, + $35 )

I made two more hockey bets - Lightning & Leafs over 6 for $50, and Blackhawks -1.5 over the Canucks for $100 to win $330. The Lightning scored an empty netter at the end to make the score 4-2 giving me a push. The Blackhawks were covering 3-1 with 2 minutes left when the Canucks scored twice to force overtime and give me the loss. ( -$100 )

For dinner, I met cdn and mrsmoose at Gordon Ramsey at Caesar's Palace. I was still full from lunch so I just ordered an appetizer. The food was pretty good but pricey.

After dinner, I headed to the Kenny Loggins concert being sponsored by Bayer at my conference. I had front row seats and he put on a great show - everything from "Even though we ain't got money" and "Your mama don't dance and your daddy don't rock & roll" to "I'm all right", "Footloose", and "Danger Zone".

Followed the concert with a late night session of 1/3 NL at Aria buying in for $300 for a change. Lost half my stack QQ

I slept in a little on Wednesday morning before heading to the meetings. I skipped breakfast because I was planning on hitting the Aria buffet for a late lunch. I played some more 1/2 NL at Mandalay Bay after the meetings. First hand at a new table and I chop the blinds unfortunately with KK - hopefully that is good karma at least. Next hand I get moved to the main game from the must move table. I stacked a very aggressive villain with a rivered pair of 66. He raised to $19 in a straddled pot. I called UTG with 56c. Flop comes Dr. Pepper - 10,2,4cc. I check call V's $35 bet. Ace of diamonds comes on the turn and I check. V bets $55 and I shove with combo draw + emergency pair draw. V tanks for a while and calls saying my ace is good. I tell him I don't have an ace. River is the 6s and I scoop the pot vs. V's KQc. I was a lot further behind than I thought. ( 2:22, +$358)

Next I hit the Aria buffet arriving right before the prices are raised for dinner. I paid $21 instead of $33. Lots of great food - prime rib, king crab legs, seafood gumbo, boiled shrimp - and awesome desserts - pecan pie, chocolate cake, butterscotch shooters, cake on a stick, and ice cream or gelato.

Fully stuffed after a 2 hour meal at the buffet, I waddled back to the poker room at Aria for more 1/3 NL. I was ahead at 1/3 when they opened the multi action poker table, so I decided to give it a try. Two dealers, two different sets of chips, two different decks of cards, and 8 confused players playing two hands of 1/3 NL simultaneously. It was pretty fun but difficult to follow at first. The nice thing was $3 max rake and 3x the usual $2 per hour comps. I eventually got stacked on one side when I raise QKh and get one caller. Flop comes J52hh. I bet $15 and V calls. Turn is an off suit 10 and I bet $25. V raises to $75 and I shove with my combo draw. V calls and I whiff the river and lose to a set of JJJ. ( 6:18, -$313 )

I finally won a hockey bet too - Avalanche over the Blues for $20 - it was scoreless after 3 periods and the Avs won it in the shootout. ( +$20 )

This concludes the first half of my trip - this is taking a lot longer than usual. Still to come - bubbling a tourney at the Wynn, automatic weapons, meeting up with Harlequin, chip and a chair comeback win at Binion's, and mdambach's 50th birthday party with top secret info on future new molds - which will stay secret with me. 8)

Thursday was the final day of my conference. I went to meetings in the AM then headed to the Mandalay Bay poker room for more 1/2 NL. I played a short session and cashed out ahead $101. From there I headed back to Aria and decided to grab some Thai for lunch at Lemongrass using poker comps - drunken seafood noodle - #4 on spiciness - awesome meal. ( 1:17, +$101 )

Since the conference was over, I finally had time to play some tournaments. The plan was to drive down to the Wynn and play the Big Bounty tournament - $140 buy in with $25 bounties. Unfortunately that was when the big shootout closed down the strip for 24 hours. I ended up walking from Aria to Wynn thru the Bellagio and Caesars. The Wynn was all decorated for Chinese New Year. I arrived early and played some 1/3 NL. Early on I raised to $17 with JJ in the SB and got 2 callers. Flop comes 4410 rainbow and I cbet $35. One caller raised all in for $85 and I call and win. Next I lost a big chunk of my stack with 88 vs. 77. V flopped as set and I flopped open ended. V just called all 3 streets. The Wynn also has a weird button straddle - action starts UTG not on the SB and button acts last unless their is a raise greater than $20. I finally got stacked with AK

On tilt, I headed to the roulette table and decided to do 3 spins at $15 each. I bet $5 on 17, $5 on $20, plus $1 on the shared corners. I hit the 3rd spin with a 17 to win $216.

The tourney started soon after and only got 25 entries due to the traffic snarl on the strip. I built a huge stack and collected 4 bounties arriving at the final table with almost 40% of the chips in play. I raised 4x the BB with AKs and got called by the next biggest stack OTB. Flop comes K78ss and I lead out with a pot sized bet which is called by the V. Turn is a blank and I shove with TPTK and the nut flush draw. V calls with K5 off suit and spikes his 5 on the river to cripple me. I bubble the tourney a while later. (4:45, -$40)

Starting stack for tourney

Stack at final table

I walked back down the strip heading to Bally's to play some poker with cdn and mrsmoose.

I sat at a 1/2 NL table at Bally's with mrsmoose. The young girl on my left was from the Philippines and was wearing some very interesting gloves. Of course I snapped a pic. I lost almost 1/2 my stack when I ran my 55 into AA. The very next hand I stacked the same V with AA vs. KK. Cashed out soon after with a small win. ( 1:20, +$76 )

From there, I headed back to the Aria, making a quick stop at the Pleasure Pit at PH and the Earl of Sandwich. The late night clientele is pretty nice.

More to come tomorrow.

Friday morning I slept in a little and then went by the cage to pick up an $8 Chinese New Year chip for djmarc. Then I headed over to Miracle Mile again for breakfast at Oyster Bay - steak & eggs for $6.95. After breakfast I walked back thru Cosmo and decided to use my $100 free play. I played a Texas Hold'em Heads Up Poker machine and turned my free play into $140 for a net $40 win. ( +$40 )

Then I headed back to Aria to check out. I went by the poker host first and she confirmed my hours had been comped, so I went to the front desk and checked out. Then I went back to my room to get my bags. I didn't realize the key cards were inactivated immediately. I had to call security and wait 30 minutes to get my bags out of the room. :stunned:

After checking out of Aria, I walked down to NYNY to try to get a rack of $1 chips for Racer96. I simply went to the cage and said I would like a rack of new $1 chips. The young guy went in the back and brought out a brand spanking new rack of minty $1 chips still in the box. I gave him a nice tip for his help.

Before the trip I had purchased a groupon to shoot some machine guns - $75 for two different guns - an M4 and an HP5 - with 100 rounds each at Battlefield Vegas. I'm not much of a shooter but it was fun. You would be safe if all you had on you was an X. :embarras:

After that I headed over to Spinetti's to pick up some chips and a poster of the Vegas skyline.

Then I went downtown to check in at Main Street Station for the next two nights. Pretty nice room and the 777 Brewpub was great. I had the Royal Red Lager.

Then I wandered Fremont street and picked up new $1 chips at Las Vegas Club and The D. Also took the first of many perv shots for Courage. ;)

Wandered Fremont Street - roulette at Main Street Station - lose - blackjack at the D - up a little - craps at the D - busto.

Grabbed a really spicy Jamaican jerk beef on a stick from a street vendor on Fremont - very tasty.

More sights on Fremont Street.

Played 1/2 NL at Binion's. They also have an interesting button straddle - the "Downtown Straddle" - $4 min, no max - button acts last unless two raises in front. I played for an hour and finished up a little. ( :55, +$58 )

Next I decided to give my money away at the Golden Nuggett. Lost my stack with an all in bluff when a scare card came on the turn. V had pocket AA and was not scared - oops. ( 1:41, -$456 )

Then I got a text from Harlequin and we decided to meet up at the Venetian. He had gotten extra CNY chips so I bought three from him and traded an Aria for one more. I also went to the cage at the Wynn and got a few from previous years too. We had dinner at Grand Luxe and then headed to the poker room. He played 8/16 PLO and I stuck with 1/2 NL. He cashed out 2 racks of $2 chips ahead and I lost again. The best thing about the Venetian and Wynn too is they have plugs built in under the table to charge your phone - very handy. ( 4:13, -$75 )

Thoroughly discouraged after another losing day I headed back to Main Street Station for the night. I passed a few nice sights on Fremont Street along the way and then lost some more at roulette and BJ before bed. ( -$100 ) Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Woke up early again Saturday morning and ate at the buffet at MSS - pretty good for $10. Lots of Hawaiian clientele there so they had some cultural choices in addition to the usual breakfast fare.

After breakfast I signed up for the 10:00 AM tournament at Binion's - $60 buy in with $6000 starting chips and 15 minute levels. I was chipping up nicely in the 3rd level when I got in the following deja vu hand. I raised 3.5x the BB with AKss and get 4 callers. Flop comes K92ss. UTG leads out for $1000, everyone else folds, and I shove. V of course has effin K5 - turn is a K - and the river is the effin 5s knocking me down to one $500 chip. I toss it in blind and win against 2 callers. I toss it in blind again, and win against one caller. I toss it in blind again and everyone folds. Now with enough chips to work with, I go into short stack ninja mode. I eventually make it to the final table, still as the short stack, having survived 11 all ins, 5 of them blind. Early on at the final table, I am in the BB with only a 3 BB stack, 5 limpers to me and I shove blind again. They all check it down on a board of Q9753. Nobody hit anything and I quintuple up with K3. Guy to my left says, "you're a tough turtle to drown". I put my new chips to work immediately and knocked out most of the remaining players. Got to heads up with a 3:1 chip advantage and shoved with K4 to win vs. A7. It's not K5 but it will do. ( 3:26, +$420 )

Grabbed a grilled pastrami on rye at the Binion's Deli for lunch with a food comp from the tournament and then headed back to the laundromat for some more refreshments. I found it ironic the flavor she was standing in front of.

After lunch I headed down the strip stopping at the Riviera to rub some brass ass.

I had one more Groupon to use at the Minus 5 Ice Bar at Mandalay Bay. For $15 I got admission, a parka and gloves, and one drink served in a glass made of ice. It was pretty cool but the novelty wore off quickly. No pics inside because they make you leave your cell phone in a locker.

Very cold and pretty buzzed from my one drink I head to the Mandalay Bay poker room for my final session of 1/2 NL. I buy in for $200 and settle in for what I hope will be a long grind before I head to the Golden Nugget for mdambach's 50th birthday party. The very first hand I get J10s in MP and call a $7 raise and the button comes along as well. Three to the flop of 59Qsss. Finally my luck is turning - I flop a flush with an open ended redraw to the straight flush. UTG leads out for $25. I think about raising but would rather play a big pot and just call. The button calls too. Turn is the 2s. UTG checks, I bet $100, button shoves, and UTG mucks red AA face up. I know I am drawing to 2 outs but am already pot committed + there is a potential $500 high hand bonus for a straight flush. I ask for a black 8 on the river - I should have been more specific - the dealer rolls the effin 8 of clubs and I lose again. Pretty sure it would have played out the same way even if I would have raised the flop. ( :06, -$200 )

I decided to call it quits. I hadn't tallied my total loss yet, but I'm pretty sure it was close to this.

I texted mdambach and he met me at the private elevators to go up to his suite at the Golden Nugget. I met his family and several friends. Had some nice food and a few drinks. Michael is very proud of the fact that he was able to move cross country and resume chip production as soon as he has. He showed me a chip made with another vintage mold he found during the move - different than the molds he revealed at JimB's retirement party. Suffice it to say, I think everyone will be excited when he decides to reveal the next secret mold. The only ones I can reveal are gummy chips. ;)

I left the party and headed back to MSS to get packed for my flight home in the morning. I stopped at Lappert's in the Cal to get some Caramel Pecan ice cream.

I had time before my flight to grab breakfast, and since I had never tried it, I headed to the Peppermill - Lorraine omelet, hash browns, and blueberry muffin - yummy.

I flew Southwest nonstop on the way home and slept most of the way. All told, I played almost 50 hours of poker in 8 different poker rooms, cashing up in only 9 out of 21 sessions, and finishing down $857 from poker only for the trip. I lost probably another $500 on blackjack, craps, roulette, and sports. This was my first losing trip in almost 10 years.

Finally, these are the other chips I collected on my trip and forgot to include earlier. Thanks to cdnmoose for the Jerry's Nugget $1 and to Harlequin for the Chinese New Year chips.

One last interesting stat - I had an app on my phone called Striiv - it measures your steps and mileage you walk - I averaged over 20,000 steps and 6-8 miles per day while in Las Vegas. :stunned:

Until next time ...........