Whelp,after weeks of not going to a new casino, Mike and I risk our lives and go to North Las Vegas. Thank God the New Town Tavern has closed down. I think with my smart alleck mouth I would of been knifed in the first 10 minutes.

So we start out at the Poker Palace around 6:30. Its an 8 table room that only runs $17 tournaments during the week. Mike and I jump in right before the break. I win the last longer bet we have for the entry fee. After Mike gets knocked out I try to dump my chips so we can get the heck out of there. A funny thing happens. I run up my stack until I have the chip lead. One guy I beat asks if this is the first time I've played poker. It was fun knocking him out. I end up chopping the tournament three ways. After tipping, I win $167.

The staff was pleasant but the room has no action except on the weekends, when they get 2-4 limit. I don't think its worth risking your life in North Las Vegas to go here.

We leave the Palace. Get on the 95 and go to the Cannery East on the Boulder Strip. Its a new room in a pretty new building. The inside is decorated like the Cannery North. They have three games going: two 2-4's and one 4-8. We arrived around 8:45pm. In the background the Eagles and Cowboys were still playing that basketball game from Monday night. I think they scored about 100 points. I took the under.

The games at Cannery East were filled with nits. Most of them were concerned about the football drawing not the game. One had his wife reading the paper at the table. She hit me in the head with it each time she turned a page. I lost $5. If I go back to the Boulder strip it will be to go to the Omaha Hi game at the Boulder Station.

We leave at around 10:30pm and go to the Cannery North. I used to play there a few years ago when the poker room was in the pit. They have moved it to next to the sports book. They have 10 tables and were spreading 2-4 when we got there. The floorman, Elaine, recognized Mike and me from AVP. I don't think she was a crazy fan, just an avid AVPer.

Its nice room but kind of an out of the way location. They only had one game going. And a bitter mom blamed me and Mike for her losing. Since I was worried she would hit me, we left. I won $80.

Our last stop was the Santa Fe station. We sit in a 1-2 no-limit game. I win, Mike loses. LVM has never won at the Santa Fe station. I don't know how many times he has played there. But he told me he would rather drive 20 miles to another locals casino then go to the Santa Fe. The room was filled with rabid football fans. I am a big football fan. But even I think drunk 45 year old guys in football jerseys, screaming about their teams are idiots. Its a pretty room, reminds me a little of Red Rock. Has good action. I won $100.

I ended up winning $342 dollars on this weeks Excellant Adventure.

My sidekick has pointed out that I give more favorable reviews to rooms where I win or where I like the staff. In an effort to live up to my journalistic integrity, I have to admit that this might be the case. I have not gone back and reviewed the previous EA's so I can't say with 100% certainty if this is true.

I do know that a good staff can overcome many deficiencies. I will go out of my way to play at the IP or the Red Rock because of the staff. They go out of their way to make me feel welcomed. I have felt lost in the crowd at strip casinos. I think many of us have our favorite rooms and a big part of it is a good staff.

As far as winning influencing me. Hey, I like to win more than I like to lose. And it probably has influenced my perceptions.

SouthPointPerry