So we arrived at our hotel around 7:30pm local time Wednesday night. We're staying at the Golden Nugget, which is a very nice hotel. The room itself was simply average, but what do two guys who hardly see the room need? If this were a "room review," I would grip about the lack of a coffee maker in our room and the lousy pillows, but that's for another place.

I made my way to the GN poker room. It is a nice-looking room. Smallish, but nice. The floor was quite friendly and attentive to the needs of the players and the dealers. The dealers weren't overly friendly, but they weren't rude or unfriendly, either. None of the players were going out of their way to engage in conversation with the dealers, so I made a point to ask them all their names and chat with them while I was playing (I sat in the 10 hole).

There is a minimum buy in of $100 with no max for the $1/$2 NL game, so I bought in for approximately $260 (I lost about $40 playing $2/$4 Limit waiting to get on the NL game). I played nearly 7 hours and cashed out at 4:30am local time (a full 24 hours awake/traveling) at $1100: $800+ profit for the night. Hello Las Vegas!!!

Thursday afternoon we bowled (terribly, I might add) and I finally found a poker table at maybe 9pm local time. This time, the Bellagio. The room is beautiful. I waited maybe 25 minutes to get into a $1/$2 NL game. This time, the max is $300. I bought in for the max. I had to send my buddy up the Strip to Harrah's to find a $2/$4 LHE for him. He walked up there and they didn't have a game! It was strictly NL. He was willing to play $3/$6, but nothing. So he trekked all the way back to Planet Hollywood and stayed there. I ended my stay at Bellagio after a couple hours (I had somewhere else I wanted to go) and cashed out $700: up $400. Thank you Bellagio!!
A few comments about this room: I didn't find the tables to be THAT crowded as I was expecting from many other reports. At my "home" poker room, Argosy Lawrenceburg, IN, the tables are actually a bit tighter than that, so I didn't notice it one bit. Cocktail service was fast to take orders, but the girl kept forgetting where I was (I didn't move seats or tables) all night with my Red Bulls. I don't get the big deal with whether it's in a can or not. I didn't mind it served in a glass...the ice helps take the bitter taste away and I enjoyed them much more this way. The floor people were as I was expecting. They weren't rude, but you could tell they just don't give a crap about the low-limit players. One kid asked for a food comp and was instructed to see the manager in his office because he was the only one who could give them away. The kid asked how much the comp was for and he got a "I dunno, he's the man with the comps."

My next stop was the Venetian. It was a beautiful night for a walk, but there is too much construction on the strip right now. Some places you had to squeeze through as the sidewalks narrowed. Anyhow, the Venetian's room was big. I was seated in a $1/$2 NL game immediately and brought chips. The runner looked stunned when I gave him a tip, but was very appreciative. The brush/floor was very friendly, always seen chatting with players (regulars, I assume) and were on their game. The cocktails were great too. Fast and friendly. I can't remember if there was a max buy in for this game or not (I think it was $200), but I bought in for $200 and a few hours later cashed out $500: up another $300. I had a huge suckout that made my entire night. I had my buddy get a cab from Planet Hollywood and pick me up to head back to the Nugget. More bowling in the morning. The Venetian is a beautiful, spacious room. What I didn't like about it was the TV's and the computerized wait list was so small it was nearly impossible to watch the game, much less a list (if you were on one). I'm sure it's a product of the room size that is the culprit for this, but they should have bigger TV's.

Friday I was going to head back to Bellagio, but the rest of my teammates were going to MGM to play LHE, so I decided to try what is often referred to as the softest NL game in town (I had debated whether I wanted to make the trip the first two days but decided I would skip it). This was my first experience with the Genesis Bravo (?) system of swiping and player tracking. It was neat. This room was by far the busiest and best ran room on my trip. The floor was constantly seating players, getting chips, opening games and advertising open seats. Drinks came the quickest in this room. I bought in for the max ($200) and cashed out $600: up $400 more. The dealers here we the friendliest on my trip, and so were the players. It helped that a big fight was happening the next night and there were "25,000 english in town," according to one dealer. It was a nice mix of people. I wanted a massage, but never had the change to flag one down. I ordered a reuben from the deli and it arrived hot and delicious in minutes.

Since we were leaving early Saturday morning, I decided to get back to the Nugget and play a nonstop session there until the airport called. That was a mistake. I was up $100 early, but fatigue and boredom (the room was more "nittish" than the other day) set in and my play spiraled downhill quickly. I started disregarding the value of my chips because I was up so much for the week and began spewing them all over the place. I think I ended that session down $300, but considering my week, I wasn't upset. I knew it was my fault for the loss.

It's time to comment on the type of play I encountered all week: it was all the same. Every table (with exception to my last session at GN) was loose, super passive. So much so that I could open my game to nearly limping every hand to a flop. Combined with some weak play and a deck that continued to hit me all week, I was able to confuse the 1-2 good players at each table that I could outplay them as well. I definitely found the competition to be much weaker than what I experience at my local casino, but after thinking about it, that's to be expected from a tourist town. Even after dumping money the last night of poker (and more in the casino at table games), I was still able to double my starting bankroll after all expenses were paid. With the free stays I'm sure to receive from the GN, I'm looking forward to adding another trip to my schedule before my wife and I go in October for our anniversary.

This trip definitely brought my confidence back in my game, and I started missing the action the moment we got into the cab headed toward the airport!