Stayed at Bill's Gambling Hall 12/19-12/26. This is still a place to stay most everyone overlooks that they shouldn't. It has THE best and most central location in Vegas. The casino, just off the sidewalk, belies the quality of the room accomodations, which are quite nice, and it's an incredible value. Easy and free parking and less than 5 minutes from your room to a half dozen poker rooms. Enough said.

Flew in w/ family Wednesday morning from Dulles airport after waking at 4:30am. Arrived 10:30am and had in-laws pick us up and take us all back to their place in Henderson. Kids stayed w/ Grammy and wife and I had hotel room to ourselves for some alone time.

Started out at the Bellagio with some 2/5NL. Bot in for 300 or so and treaded water for a while to gauge table. Got dealt 1010 and raised to 4xBB and got a couple callers. Long story short I committed to this hand pretty/too strongly early when the flop came 845 rainbow and then followed up w/ a near pot sized bet (200+/-) on the turn and knew I was toast when I was reraised allin. Villain flopped 2pair w/ 45 and actually filled up (unnecessarily) on the river just for show! Worst played hand of the week for me right off the bat to lose a very big pot. Felted. Nice hand sir.

I rebuy for 200 and ten minutes later am dealt KhKs in the SB. EP player raises to 20 and is called by the button. I pause for a second, think there's a good chance I'll be read as on-tilt if I go allin, and go allin for around 180.
EP folds but button sizes me up a minute or so and decides to call. He has AhQc. Would be a mundane bad beat story to just say an A flopped but no such luck. Flop is all undercards with two hearts. See where this is going? Turn is a heart and ... so is the river. Okie dokie. Anyone for some 4-8 limit?

Next day I walk the 50 yards to the Flamingo card room and buyin for 200 in their 1/2NL game early in the morning. Soon after am dealt 99, I raise to 3xBB am called a couple of times and flop comes Q99. I check (I know, it's questionable, but (probably) irrelavent to the outcome) button bets 10 and I call. Turn is a rag I bet 10 button raises to 30 and I'm allin for 180 or so and he calls. He tables QJ so of course the river is a J. I had him covered so I'm not quite felted, but crippled. I add 100 or so and three hands later get AKo on the button. 3-4 limpers to me and I raise to 12 and am called by the SB only. Flop is A73 I bet 25 and he puts me allin for his 20 or so more and shows 33 for a set. Wow. Nice start, glad there's some Bank of America's in Vegas. I didn't come this trip playing on doing any tournies but decide to change things up and enter the $75 buyin at the Flamingo starting in 5 minutes at 10:30am. There's 18 players, tourney will pay top 2 places only. I finish second for 360. It's something, and I desperately needed the boost in morale at this point.

Stroll over to Planet Hollywood's room later in the afternoon. I like the aesthetics of this room and have done well here previously. Play 1/2nl again while wifie does the shopping thing and plan to meet up for dinner for the buffet downstairs. I hold steady for a couple hours and wife shows up a the designted time for dinner. I motion I'm playing one more hand (of course) and flop a set of 4's and double up my 200 in that one hand. Cash out. Phew!

Quick rundown of rest of trip:

Bally's 1/2NL up a little. Yuckie little room squeezed into the side of the casino floor.

More 1/2 at Flamingo -- up a few BB's.

Next day walked through Forum Shops and lunched at Spago which is a tradition for wifie and I. Really enjoyed it. Walked up to TI, braving a stiff headwind. Found room and was greeted by floor mgr Perry of AVP fame! and I introduced myself (I left out the part about me being the biggest fish currently on the strip). Found a spot a 1/2 table and dug in. Ultimately lost my buyin when my KK found AA two seats to my left quite happy to get it allin PF and have his AA's hold up. The usual. My impression of the room is just okay. It was obvious the room was a little clubby, with a number of people who knew each other and happy to be playing in those games. It was Friday afternoon/evening and there was a crazy table in the back of the room with one guy playing 50+ stacks of red ($5000+) in a 2/5NL game of whackiness. You TI regulars I'm sure know this game and the players. The 1/2Nl table I was at had a couple of loose/action asian guys who were brothers playing that I was trying to play some pots with, but my cards never cooperated. When they took off it was 7 or 8 very tough players left. Two younger guys playing next to each other looked as though they'd spent hours in the mirror nailing down Phil Ivey's affect. And looking around I didn't see much of the usual crowd of mixed tourists. If I lived in Vegas I'd try to make a home at this room, but I'm not sure I'd consider it the best place to win at. Also, I found the small high intensity lights that illuminate the tables a little brighter than normal, possible because the ceiling is lower and the rest of the room is a little darker than normal. I usually wear a baseball hat when I play but didn't have one on that day, but would want to have one to play here again.

Played 4-8limit w/ 1/2 kill at GVR for a few hours. 6-7 to the flop on average and I'm card dead. Down but not to bad.

Flamingo 1/2nl buyin for 150 lose it within 20 minutes when I'm 1/3 in PF w/ QQ bet into by one of 2 villians on an all-rag flop and have my alling raise called by KK which holds.

Last stop Bellagio. Had played some 4-8 here a couple nights previous licking my NL wounds and found again 6-8 to the flop on average for some engaging ATC poker. PF raises did not narrow the field but perhaps enticed MORE callers. There's a thought... Hmm. Anyway, played 8-16 for 5 hours or so and still 5-7 to the flop on average. Just couldn't get many cards again on this showdown-fest table. Did kinda screw up one hand here though: I"m dealt KK in the BB and raise after 4 limpers. All call of course (and a couple folders offer to cold-call to get back in!) Flop comes KQQ and after chuckling to myself over my good fortune I pull the f'n boneheaded move of betting out. ARGH when EVERYONE folds. Nice job. Left some $$ on the table no doubt. Obvious to me noone had one of the 3 remaining K's and Q's but if I'd checked it someone surely would have bet some draw or just taken a stab at the pot at some point. Still not the worst pot of the week.

All in all we had a good time if not for poker. We had X-Mas with the family, drank and ate, saw the B fountain show with the kids and had a week away from my office. I'll take it.

I'll chalk the week's poor results up mostly to variance but still it was a bit disappointing.