I was in Vegas from march 14-19th for a conference and to play poker. Stayed at the Flamingo, which i always enjoy. I play 1/2NL regularly at the Winstar casino in Oklahoma, and that's the only game i played in Vegas.

Started the trip off at the flamingo room, which isn't very nice, and haven't won there in the past for some reason. I was card dead and lost $200. Should've realised it was gonna be a bad night, and just cut my loss at $100.

Day 2

Played at Bally's for a few hours. Had a fun table, and left $50 ahead after about 2 hours.

Day 3

Played at Mirage and lost $200. Another card dead night and slowly dwindled down. Lost a big pot when some donk called a $15 raise with 2 4 against my AK. Haven't had luck at the Mirage in the past either. I decided the rest of the trip, that i'm only going to rooms that i've had success in the past...call is superstition, i guess. But turned out, i was right for doing so.

Day 4

Wanted to go downtown, so i started off at Binions. Mainly older players. I left $231 ahead. They have a very nice, new poker room. Huge improvement from the old, dingy room where they now do tourneys. I always enjoy playing downtown...players are friendlier, and it is just more laid back...not to mention all the history of Freemont street. All my money basically came from one hand against a regular, old grinder--very nice guy. I get QQ and raise to $12...flop is Q 10 2 !! I bet $15, he raises to $40...i make it $80, and he goes all in...at that point i knew he had 10's, and was very happy. My hand holds up, and i win a $450 pot. I ate a great cheeseburger there at the diner, and then went over to the Golden Nugget.

I always enjoy the GN. Nice, smaller room, and friendly staff. I started off winning a big hand with 8 9 on a 10 j q board. Went from $200 to $320. Then I get AA in big blind and raise to $20, with 1 call. Flop a set with 2 hearts on the board. The guy checks, and he has about $60 left, so i go all in, and thank god he calls with JJ. The turn is an Ace, giving me quads, and a high hand payout of $211. I was up to about $550. Thinking about leaving, and i should've. I flopped a 7 high flush against an aggressive lady. I thought she was chasing, but she had a horrible q 2, and she flopped flush. I lost about $100 on that hand. I left ahead $231. I love the golden nugget, and will go back. I will probably only frequent rooms with high hand payouts from now on...especially since i've hit them my last 2 trips (last year at Caesars quad 7's paid me $262).

Later that night i head over to Caesars. It's a crazy table with younger players, like myself. A local chic would straddle, and make it $40 almost every time. So i am just waiting to pick up a decent hand and capatilize. Several other loose aggressive players at the table. One hand i raise to $15 with AA, and not surprisingly, get called by 4 people. Flop is 2 3 5. A little scary for my hand, especially with these maniacs. I bet $70, and thank god, everyone folds. Then i won another pot with AK, and that was about all that happened for me. I was patient, and picked my spots. The table was a lot of fun. The crazy action is always entertaining, and much different than the laid back vibe of the downtown rooms. I left ahead $105 that night. Caesars food and drink service is still pathetic...it takes forever for your drink to arrive, and if you want food, fuhgeddaboutit...expect to wait an hour. Maybe they can step up and address the issue, instead of having every poker player at the table complain about the service. Even floor staff agree that the service is not up to par.
Ended up $320 ahead from poker for the week. Had a blast, and Can't wait until July when i go back.