The annual trip to Vegas to reunite with college buddies is always a good time. This year was the best trip in recent memory with a huge turn-out to celebrate some upcoming nuptials. This is my first AVP trip report as an AVP rookie and relative poker neophyte. Have only played in about 1/2 dozen live tourneys, limit my online play to fake money on Poker Academy, so read on at your own risk! Like I say, neophyte on both counts. I welcome your feedback on my play, and the trip report.

Booked an early flight out of Denver on Southwest in order to make it to town for Friday's 11am $65 tourney at the MGM. Checked-in online the night before to miss the worst of the cattle car syndrome. Great flight, pleasant flight attendants as always, and an on-time arrival in Vegas. No complaints - and the cheapest flight option out there. Easy airport exit with only carry-on, skipping the mayhem of the baggage claim.

Quick cab ride to NYNY - short cab line at 10am. Slow check-in line at the hotel as the understaffed registration desk was working both the check-outs and ins. Finally got help from an Asst Mgr, making the $20 trick a bit tenuous. Did some due diligence on what rooms were available to upgrade into before making the "comp upgrade" play. Needed two beds (good friends w/ the college buddy roommate, but not that good), so not a lot of upgrade options. Skipped the $20 trick as the only suite type w/ two beds were sold out.

Over the bridge to the MGM, registered for the $65NL at 10:45. Ended up as Alternate #7 after they sat ~80 for the tourney. Picked up a quick turkey sandwich at The Stage for some pre-tourney calories (ok sandwich, nothing like the real thing in Manhattan, but convenient location next to the poker room). About 20 alternates cleared making total players ~100. The wait was reasonably short. Ended up in seat #10 (ugh) of what was to eventually be the final table with my 2k starting stack. Unfortunately, that was as close to the "final table" as I was going to get.

Cards were cold and my approach until I get more experience is to play tight. Picked up a few chips betting 8-8 aggressively after a rainbow flop w/ no overcards. Amazingly I won a decent pot with QJ of spades. Short stack went all-in pre-flop and I called from middle position, assuming he was playing loose with his stack at ~3x the big blind. Two other callers assumed the same thing. Nothing hit anybody on the flop, the turn or the river. I was pretty sure someone would have made some kind of pair playing an Ax or something. The other two callers and I checked it down and Q-high held up! To illustrate how cold the cards were, those were the ONLY two hands I played into the flop except for big blind option checks and a couple of limp-ins in late position. I did note I play tight, but the cards were cold (lots of 9-4, J-6 type crud). I made it to the break with ~$6k in chips. Sat down after the break with the blinds at 400/800, antes 100. Now the blinds were catching me and I went all-in in middle position pre-flop with A8 diamonds. Maybe a loose play, but the 1200 of blinds were only a few positions away. One caller (I guess my tight play and middle position all-in pushed folks out). No A, only one diamond on the flop. Opponent's JJ hole cards held up.

Great tourney experience for me and a well-run tourney. Lots of credit to the manager running the tourney (whose name I'm blanking on). He was readily available, was quick to fill seats and kept the alternates well organized. On the other hand, cocktail service was nearly non-existent. I ordered a beer at 50/100 and got it just in time for the break... I ordered another immediately.

Caught up with the college crowd at Nine Fine in the NYNY. Great bar for Guinness and catching up on old times. Got 15 of the guys loaded into a limo for our afternoon poker trip to the TI. Met by 5 others there (one straight from McCarran with his suitcase in tow - strong effort) to seat two full tables. I worked with the TI poker room manager, Chris Coffin (AVP handle - TI Poker), to reserve two tables for our group in advance. Thanks to AVP for connecting me w/ Chris. Chris organized a great two-table tournament for our group from 4:00-6:00. Chris - it was a great time and a great chance for our group to play with one another, catch up on life and get the weekend off to a good start. Thanks!

Decent play for me with only one hand of note, bad note... Tourney started w/ 8k of chips, blinds fixed at 100/200. Build to 14k over the first hour or so playing tight/aggressive. Then in middle/late position, I pick up KhKc pre-flop. With two calling stations in the pot ahead of me, and two more behind, I bet hard w/ 6x the blind (1200 bet). Ended up w/ 3 callers for a pot of ~5k. The flop doesn't have an A, a K, or a straight draw, but does have two diamonds. Checked to me so I bet 3k. 1 caller to make the pot ~11k. Villain had been playing an "I don't really know what I'm doing" table image, but had built the big stack. V was a friend of a friend, so not only had we not played together in a home game, I knew very little about his personality. Turn was a blank, a low spade I think. He hadn't been leading the betting, just calling, so I put him on the diamond draw. Or slow-playing trips w/ a low pocket pair (but why call 6x pre-flop with a low pair?). I push my remaining ~10k stack (almost a pot-sized bet) to take away the pot odds from the potential flush draw. He deliberated for about 30s and called, so maybe his table image was accurate. He revealed J9 diamonds against my kings. And, you guessed it, sucked out a diamond on the river. Disappointing to say the least (translated to about $140 of "real" money). Thoughts/criticism on the hand/play are welcome!

Props again to Chris and the entire staff at the TI. Cocktails were quick and attentive. Dealers were engaging and humorous. One in particular, "Nam", deserves note as he appropriately engaged in our fun banter making the game that much more entertaining. He left after we were done to deal the WSOP. Late afternoon/dinner time left us with a quiet room where we could get a little rowdy w/o creating any issues for other players. A professional room that went the extra mile for us.

Spent all day Saturday lounging by the NYNY pool in a cabana. I know, no poker, but good for the reunion part of the trip. One of the few remaining single guys in our group recruited a group of gals to take advantage of our deck chair real estate - us older dudes were hiding in the shade/fan of the cabana! We taught them about the merits of red beer (abt a tablespoon of bloody mary mix to ~8oz of light beer) on a sunny day and they tried to remind us about life in our early 20s.

The rest of the crowd headed downtown for cheap craps after Game 4 of the Stanley Cup in the ESPNZone at NYNY. Good place to watch a game, with the neighboring small sports book. Won 100 on the Wings, which was definitely betting w/ my head as I'm an Avs fan. I peeled off from craps and played for a couple of hours of 2-4 limit at Binion's. Binion's was the first casino I played in a couple of years ago, so good to reconnect. Low-pressure, salt-of-the-earth room (both staff and players). Lot of decent local play, so not a lot of upside. One tourist at our table simply couldn't see straight possibilities on the board and lost a fair amt of chips to straights, esp inside. Unfortunately, while I had that read, I never got into a straight draw against him... Lost about $15 over three hours (against the rake and tips), so not displeased.

Summary:
MGM $65 tourney: B+ (they need to sort out the cocktail service - even if you just want water or juice)
TI tourney: A+
NYNY cabana time: A
Binion's limit game: A-
Red Wings: C- (F if they had lost game 4)

Best to all - and thanks for those who are still enduring what has become a lengthy post.