I appreciated this site helping me plan my trip so I hope to repay a little with a trip report of my own. Started off early at Caesar's Palace at 9 am. I have been playing mostly 3/6 limit poker, a little 6/12 and various tournaments at our two local casinos with some online for about 10 years. Felt it was time to move up to no limit and get my feet wet. Registered at the podium, got a players card, signed up for the noon tourny and sat down at a new 1/2 no limit table. Seemed like it took a long time to get things going but played tight aggressive with a few pre-flop raises from late position. Won a few pots and doubled my $100 buy in. Tourny started right on time, Didn't get the re-buy right away as I wanted to save it in case I lost an all in I would still have life. Wound up knocking out after the first break, good players and some pros. Can't just sit there and call with hands like k/10 from early, I need to either raise or fold! Calling is the weakest play I can do.

Went downtown to Binions after checking into my room at the Vegas club. Floor persons, Tish and Ethan were very sloppy and unprofessial. Tish yells to Ethan from three feet away, "Ethan! I'm going to the bathroom!" over and over again. Cripes, I'm trying to concentrate. Ethan yells into the microphone every 30 seconds "Open seats in the Poker Room!" They should turn off the speakers in the card room area. One drunk maniac playing 5/2 off suit caught two pair and killed my pair of kings, he finally left and the game calmed down. Went up another $100 playing tight. Won a big pot when I flopped a set of 10's and a preflop raiser on the button caught an Ace with A/Q in the hole. Wound up with a $150 profit.

On to the Golden Nugget. Nice room with a good mix of players. Again, seemed to take forever to get a game started. Everyone bought in for either $100 or $200 except this one interesting guy, Duke, in a fancy suit, ponytail and carnation on his lapel. He buys in for $500 and then says with a dramatic flourish says to everyone within listening distance "Excuse me while I whip this out..." then puts three cash stacks of $10,000 each in front of him and spends a lot of time handling it like it was a new born baby and arranging it just so. $30k in a 1/2 no limit game?! Must have been a desparate plea for attention. Loud mouth drunk runs him off in about 10 minutes. I ran into a set with my poket Kings and had to buy in for another $100. Hand of the night, I went all in for $270 with A/K and a board of K,6,5. One guy calls me and shows K/5, two pair. Oh well, I'm thinking, only bought in for $200, then a beautiful Ace hits the river. Yeehaa!

Next day (Sunday) went to the Venetian and ran into Doyle Brunson, very cool. Since it was my last day I started playing more loose and ran into trips (again) with top pair and a flush draw. Down $300. Yikes. Went to Ballys and got into a 1/2 no limit game that was nuts. One guy bet $25 pre-flop EVERY hand for 10 hands in a row, routinely raises $50 or $100 and is winning every pot. Finally an nice old gentleman goes all in for about $150 with pocket rockets, and gets 4 callers!! Spikes an A on the flop and takes down a nice pot. Mr. Aggressive mucks without showing his hand. I got out of sync and bet/call with the losers and folded the winners. Down another $400. Went to sports bar to drown my sorrows. This could be a spot for a soft game if you are a patient player.

Lessons Learned:

1. Stay with your game plan but vary your play, if you see someone playing tight, assume he has a hand if he raises, don't put all your money in on a draw. Throw in a pre-flop raise once in a while from late position.

2. At a loose table play tight, at a tight table play loose.

3. Stay off the freakin' craps table, it is a bankroll killer!!

4. You cannot even beat the rake at low limit poker, no limit is the way to go

5. Enjoy yourself, treat it as a entertainment experience, don't risk more than you can afford to lose and have fun.