Having had a 2 1/2 hour softball practice in the morning on Monday, I didn't get on the road until about 2:30 in the afternoon, which meant I didn't even make it to the mountains before dark. Perhaps the best thing about rolling along I-15 in the blackness is about when you get to South Point and you see the glow in the sky that is the Strip.

Zipped down Flamingo into the back of the Harrah's parking lot, and up at the end of the ramp to the third floor was a fat parking space right in front of me, just steps from the entrance and elevator.

That was about the only good luck of the first days.

The room at Harrah's is on the 17th floor of the Carnival tower, facing southeast, and nice and quiet, at least from the outside. Internal noise, however, comes through the walls and doors easily. The room is big, it does have a desk (contrary to Harrah's customer service), and the hot water comes fast. But the bed is just average, and the A/C, in its attempts to be "environmentally friendly," requires movement in the room to work, so if I'm just at my computer at the desk, it doesn't run.

It's late, after 11, and I want to be at the Mirage in the morning, so I just hit the sack.

I hit Mirage in the morning, and promptly start my trip with a couple of suckouts. I finish at 11 down about $70. Not long before the break, with nothing really happening, I open-raise with J9s. I get min raised, and after everyone folds, I call. Flop is J9x. I check, he goes all-in, and I pull a Phil Hellmuth; I can't get my chips in the pot fast enough. He has aces, my top two hold up, and I almost double up. I hit the break in good position, with about T$13K, but go card dead afterward. I get crippled some time later when my AQ falls to 99, and I'm out 20 (of 44). I chat with Chris a bit before I head out. I'm also surprised not to have run into LVM.

I take a beak and take the shuttle over to the Rio. I wander around the WSOP poker for awhile. I see Dan Harrington in a table by the rail and I stop and take a couple of pictures of him playing. I'm disappointed to see no $10/$20 game going. I head back to the strip.

I hit the Venetian later and find a good $8/$16 game going. At least, I thought it was good. I got up early, then just took a beating. For example, I open-raise with AQ, get a couple of callers. I decide to slowplay a flop of AKx and it's checked around. A blank falls on the turn, and I bet out and get one caller--who makes a 7 on the turn to give his K-7 (with which he cold-calle PF) two pair. He makes two bad decisions (calling preflop and calling a turn big bet) and gets paid off. I get both aces and kings cracked, and when my $300 buy in disappears in just under 4 hours, I call it a day.

I decide to do the Buffet of Buffets. It's a bit late when I get in at Harrah's, and I have a whopping $3 in my TR account to offset the $35 cost. Nice buffet though. Lots of prime rib later I waddle out.

Later in the evening, I decide to sit in a !/2 NL game at the IP. I've been texting 24fanatics, but he's downtown. I sit in for $140, expecting to play tight, log a few table game hours, and see what I can get from Harrah's. I'm mostly card dead for an hour. The table is mostly passive. I see a couple of flops with small pairs that go nowhere. My last hand, a small EP raise (to $8), a couple of cold callers, and I have 23s in the BB. It's only $6 more, so I think I'm getting good odds if I hit. And I flop the flush, CR (after $20 bet, call, call), get it all in, only to find a bigger flush. Oh well....

Wednesday I'm at the Mirage again (after breakfast at Harrah's buffet). After several callers in the $3/$6 game, I get KK in the BB and raise. Everyone calls, of course. I bet out flop and turn, but check-call river when 3 to straight appears, and sure enough..... Down about $50 when the tournament starts.

Slow start to the tournament. Down abut T$1K at the break, then chip up a bit, get down to final two tables (only 3 started today). We're playing 6 and 6 and I get KK. I raise. Blind reraises, and I go all in. She calls with.....99! Of course, a 9 hits the turn. I get exactly what I wanted get my money in very good, and I'm still busted.

Head back over to the Venetian and the $8/$16 game. A couple of Internet NL kiddies trying to run over the game. One, in particular, has the table abuzz. I want to tell these people to shut up about the guy, that the attention just encourages him. I get down some, they work my way back. Finally, I get KK and raise in EP. Only a couple of callers, but one is the wild Internet kiddie. Flop is J55. I bet, only he calls. Turn is a magical K. I check. He bets, I check-raise, he insta-calls. River is a blank. I lead out. He raises. I 3-bet. And he puts on a show. Stands up. Talks about what he has. Shows me the 5. Says I "couldn't" have kings of jacks. (Apparently, they don't teach you on the Internet how to recognize a tight player.) hems and haws some more, finally calls. I just flip my kings and drag a very large pot. Not long afterward, I'm tired of the shenanigans, pick up and cash in $80 up, and head over to the Harrah's pool. I think I doze off a bit on the chair after the sun slides by the building and I'm in the shadows. Which makes it me a little bit late to....

Take the shuttle over to the Rio again. I get there about 8pm, and the line for the buffet is a mile long. It takes me more than an hour to get in. More good food. Desserts just so-so though.

I head back to the WSOP again. It's still looking very full, even after 10. I take some photos of the ESPN main tables. I see only one face I recognize. I learn later that today was the day that Phil Hellmuth made his grand entrance, but I see no tables that are drawing a giant crowd. I see no one even on the interest list for $10/$20, so I head back outside to catch the shuttle back to the strip. Just as I get out to the sidewalk, I hear a muffled "boom" just to the north, and all the lights at the Rio go out, inside and outside. The Gold Coast across the street is still lit up, but everything at the Rio is dark, the hotel rooms, the casino, the outside lights, everything. Less than 10 minutes later, the lights come back on. I winder what that 10 minutes was like in the WSOP rooms. By then, it's late, so I hit the sack to be ready for Thursday morning at the Mirage.