First and foremost I want to thank everyone that has posted on ALLVEGASPOKER. It really helped me with learning where and what to play before I got to Las Vegas. My wife and I have visited Las Vegas many times before but, I was never able to get myself to play the poker tables for fear of loosing my shirt to the local sharks that feed on tourist like me - I think I left a sour taste in their mouth as you will soon see. Our local Dog Tracks where I live only have $2 single blind Hold'em. That had been my extent of live poker before playing on this trip. So, if you're a first timer heading out west to the gambling mecca of the world, read on - this little fish has some reporting to tell.

11/5 - We chose Binion's because it was one of the cheaper places to stay. It's not as fancy as a strip hotel but it serves it's purpose well. We arrived late from the east coast (12:30am PT or 3:30am ET). Coming from across the country, our bodies felt the need to sleep after about an hour of loosing ($90) at blackjack. Before I went to bed, I had to stroll by Binion's card room to look in on patrons and to rail watch for a few minutes before I realized I could barely keep my eyes open. I did see one guy take down a pot of average size with only 'A' high. I put that in my memory banks and headed up to my room for much needed sleep and to recharge myself for the next few days of card playin' fun!

11/6 - Woke up around 8:00am and ate breakfast with my son at the Fremont Hotel. An awesome Sunday morning breakfast buffet I might add. After our fill, I played craps with my son for about 20 mins (lost 60$) and was eager to hit the poker room. I practically ran across the casino like a kid at recess to play. The room was almost empty except for the three tables going. I was greeted immediately and was promptly and surprisingly seated at 2-4 game that was in progress. My buy-in was for $80. I think the minimum buy-in is $20. The dealer and almost everyone said good morning. I was somewhat nervous and when I received my first two cards (Ad3c), I figured I better toss'em since I wanted to get the feel for the table on my first hand. Well, I watched 7 people out of the 9 others (not including myself) casually call the $2 blind, the SB calls and the BB checks. OK - no raising? I was expecting at least a raise pre-flop. Oh well, the flop comes down 245 off-suit. I'm thinking to myself I just folded a darn good hand. Everyone checks and the turn comes 9d. Early position players all check and the button finally pushes in a $4 bet. Three callers and the river card is turned, it's a 10c. Everyone checks excepts button who throws another $4 in and all three previous callers fold. He takes down the pot with a pair of 9's. How do I know, cause the guy turns over his cards as he's mucking them and says "All I had was nines" (he had 9Qh). Well this gets me sitting up in my seat and I'm thinking, I could have won the pot, and easily too! Well, during the remainder of my very first session I was dealt the worst garbage imaginable. I mean my best hand after the A3 was a 10Jd. I couldn't catch one flop. I raised with a 89c on the button one time to see if anyone would call and sure enough I had three callers. The flop comes down 2c 6d Ah. I had to toss my 89 became extremely insignificant with an ‘A’ on the board. So anyway, my first session which lasted about 4.5 hours was not profitable. I lost $50 of my initial $80. My son finally came and rescued me for lunch. It was a good time for a break anyway. After lunch, I went over to the Golden Nugget. Again, I was greeted immediately and promptly seated at another 2-4 game in progress. This time the atmosphere seemed different. The poker room is quaint. The dealers are just as friendly as Binion's. But the biggest plus was the hands of cards I was able to play. I consider my self a tight-solid player and I played this way for the entire duration of the trip for fear of not knowing what to expect. So, if you were at the table I was playing at, would you not recognize if I was out of position and raising with great cards (AA both red), not to call? Well my friends, on a 2-4 table don't be surprised if more than four people call that raise. It happened every single time anyone raised. I went on to win the pocket AA’s hand, nothing too exciting because I checked raised on the river hoping no one caught two pair or something crazy, and was able to win my first decent pot. I played for about another 4 hours and left up $25 but still down a total of $25 from the previous session. My son and I went to the 9:00pm Howie Mandel show at MGM Grand, great show, laughed a lot but did not get back to the hotel until around 11:45am. We decided to play a little craps and black jack and proceeded to lose $60. I was really feeling the effects of time zone changes and went to bed. I should have known better to gamble when I was tired, but I paid my dues and called it a night.

11/7 – Woke up about 8:00am again and made a bee-line to the poker room. My son slept in that day because he stayed up later than I did and played and lost more money on blackjack and craps. This time I had to wait a few minutes so I walked across the street to Golden Nugget and bought a $3.65 coffee at Starbucks then back to Binion’s where they finally were able to seat me. The play was a little more aggressive this particular morning. On almost every hand there was a raise pre-flop from a old grump that appeared to have stayed up all night and complained about every card that was flopped on the table, especially when it did not match his. This was an incredible luck of good fortune for everyone at the table including myself. One particular hand I remember; I was dealt pocket 8’s on the button. Flop comes down – K66, everyone checks except the grumpy old man. He bets his $2 (with sorted words I might add), I raise to $4, he reraises to $6, I call. The turn comes Q. Grumpy old man checks to me, and I check now knowing he has neither a K Q or 6 because the LOUD mouth says he doesn’t have it to the person next to him. But, I also hear him say “I’m gonna make this guyu pay for it on the rivah”. So now I’m pretty sure this guy is holding a lower pocket pair , like 3’s or 4’s. The river card comes down, it’s a 5. He bets $4 and says, “I know this guy will raise me, I can’t wait”, so I raise it up to $8 and naturally he reraises again and I easily call. He turns over his pocket 7’s and gladly turn over my 8’s. He let out a barrage of profanity and for the next five or six hands kept heckling and lacing the other players and me with endless play critique. Needless to say, this old grump did not win one hand the whole time I was there that morning and I was glad to take this guys money. Played all the way till lunch time then I decided I would spend some more time with my son. We both played craps and blackjack, he won I did not (I kept telling myself I should have stayed at the poker table). That afternoon we ventured out to the strip as we had Blue Man Group tickets for the early evening show. If you like percussion, this show rocks! We got back to our hotel around 9:45pm so I ventured a few more hours at Binion’s and decided to loosen up my play a bit. I only bought in for $50 but soon realized why I play in solid-tight mode. I did not win a hand during the session and donated my $50 to eight guys at the table. One note, if your mind keeps telling you get out of a hand – DO IT! My two pair never held up and I even lost out to a flopped set of Queens on one hand by a rivered straight naturally. I finally said good night around 1:45am and slept off my stupid play.

11/8 – This was our shortest day to play since we left on this afternoon. We slept till around 9:00am and had breakfast at the Fremont Buffet. They still have the best omelets on this planet. Managed to get back to the Nugget’s poker room at around 10:30am and did not leave the tables till 3:00pm that afternoon. The luck I needed had just sat down before me and I had a grin from ear to ear. It was everyone’s poker friend the “Grumpy Old Man”. He acknowledged me with a “Everyone better watch this guy, he’s borrowing some of my chips and I plan on getting them back during today’s play!” Well that’s all I needed to hear, I knew I was going to have some fun. I didn’t play very many hands the first hour. I waited and I finally get a pocket pair of Jacks, both of them black. I’m in a middle position and all the early position players fold. I raise it up to $4 and the rest of the table except for the button, SB and grumpy old man (he’s on BB), call the bet. As the flop comes down he’s staring right me. I glance down and notice the flop comes down all spades, one of them the ace of spades. Everyone checks to me and I put out another $2. The button and SB both fold and grumpy old man thinks about it and decides to raise me up to $4. I’m watching him mumble something to another guy seated next to him and I was about to just call, except the guy he was talking to says “I tossed the Q of spades”. I couldn’t believe I just heard that. The dealer immediately tells the two to quit talking about their hands until after the decision. So I immediately raise it up to $6. The table goes quiet for a second and the grumpy old man thinks for minute or two, talking to him self , and calls. I put him on another low pocket pair, one of them possibly a spade. The turn comes a 5 of clubs. I’m praying that he doesn’t make a set with that card. I bet out $4 and he quickly calls. I’m feeling pretty good now. I’m pretty confident he hasn’t made a set and a small pair with a flush draw is all he’s holding. The river comes K of spades. What a magical card that was. I almost busted out laughing because I knew this guy was going to go nuts when I turned over my cards. So I bet out another $4 and the grumpy old man raises me to $8. No problem, I recheck my cards, twice, then I reraise him. We capped it and he quickly turns over pocket Kings, both of them red. He stands up and says “I warned you about me getting my chips back”. I flip my cards up to the dealer and look right at the old guy and say “Flush, jack high!” It was a glorious moment, the guy just kind of stammered and walked away screaming that he wasn’t going to sit at the table with amateurs anymore. When he finally came back, he played one more hand apologized to everyone at the table (except me), tipped the dealer a few dollars and said goodbye. I told him I’d be back here in February and to just look for the amateur with the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s hat on.

I managed to pull myself out of bad slump on the last day. I managed to grab some pretty decent pots. My son ended up doing real well at the craps and blackjack tables. If you’re thinking about heading to Las Vegas and you’re worried about what other people might think of your play – forget about it. Most of the sharks do not play 2-4 limit. They are sitting at the 1-2 NL games or higher games that are offered. There were locals at the table that were very good players. As I mentioned before I’m a tight-solid player, usually after I can get a pot or two and show them my cards, the locals or other solid players recognize this play and will usually and respectfully fold to any raise or bet. Some will go all the way to the river, but the majority does not chase bad cards. Stick with your top ten hands and the big blind specials and play smart. And don’t let talkative and obnoxious people get into your head ignore it. A few more quick notes – MGM great looking poker room will definitely try to play it when I return. Binion’s hotel will always reign as the must play hotel. The Nugget’s dealers and hosts were most pleasurable and friendly. I can’t wait for February to arrive!