The following is an edited version of a trip report I have submitted on a couple of other Las Vegas sites, chopped down to focus on poker.

Wy wife and I stayed 4 nights at TI from May 27 to 31. After arriving, eating, checking in, and walking around, we went separate ways. I took monorail to MGM (via Harrah's) and its poker room. Bought in to a 2/4 table for $100. My initial goal was to score a few quick profits on the first day, so I could play the rest of the trip on profit. I managed to be seated at the perfect table to accomplish my objective. Passive players - YESSS! Within about 45 minutes I had hit a few hands and racked up a quick profit of $54. Time to leave.

Walked over to Monte Carlo and tried it again for about an hour. Nothing doing. Couldn't get cards, so I quit about 4:15 $6 ahead (Total profit so far: $60). Headed back to MGM to meet Wifey at Emeril's.

After dinner and Ka, we took the monorail back to Harrah's, where Wifey headed for bed after a long day, and I headed for another poker game. I decided on Flamingo, and was glad I did, because I managed to score an $84 profit on another passive 2/4 table.

At that point, I decided to finish off the night at the new TI poker room. It was about 11:30 PM when I finally got a seat. A melee ensued at another table with a middle-aged guy yelling "F---ing liar!" at a young guy. The young guy moved to a different table, but it just kept going on and on. He was saying,"I didn't do anything! Check the tapes!", and it would only get the first guy going again. The manager tried to calm them both down. A big security guy came in and talked to them. Finally after repeated outbursts over about 10 minutes, the staff told the first guy,"Cash in your chips. You've played your last hand." In my opinion, they were about 10 minutes too late in making that decision. It should have been done immediately. Anyway, I played for about an hour, couldn't get anywhere, and started getting too tired to concentrate (after being awake for about 21 hours), so I left about 12:30 AM, down $40 for the session, and hit the sack just after 1 AM.

Profit to this point: (+$104)

Sunday, May 28:
I spend morning with Wifey, eating breakfast at Bouchon, walking around Mirage and Caesar's, and losing $50 at a Barbary Coast blackjack table. We the ate lunch at Olive's in Bellagio, checked out the conservatory, and walked on down to Monte Carlo. We then part ways. She's anxious to go to the pool, exercise, and go shopping, so she heads for the Deuce stop to return to TI. I'm anxious to play some more poker. I head into the MC poker room. I give it an hour at a 2/4 table, but the table is tight, and I can't get anywhere, so I leave down $12. An interesting twist at MC is that their 2/4 game has a single $2 blind, with no small blind. However, they also now have a half kill, so if someone wins 2 pots in a row, the game essentially becomes a 3/6 game for the next hand.

I move on down the strip and take the tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay. There is a big poker tournament going on there in a roped off area in front of the poker room, where Men the Master and Nam Lee are playing at 2 different tables.

The MB poker room has no 2/4 or 3/6 limit games, so I go ahead and buy into my 1st ever 4/8 game with $120. It's also a half kill game, so if someone wins 2 pots in a row, it becomes 6/12 for the next hand. The blinds in this game are $1 and $2, but a raise pre-flop is $4.

Some young punks at the other end of the table had apparently been bullying the table, because they had large chip stacks and were playing lots of hands. I lost several hands early, including one where I stayed too long with pocket queens where I was obviously beaten - huge mistake on my part, one of my 2 worst plays on the whole trip. So as I looked down at my half-eaten chip stack, I decided I needed to change gears. I went into ultra-tight mode against this aggressive table. I decided that the structure of this game would eventually reward my type of play if I were patient enough, so I just needed to hunker down, wait, and not force. For a long while, I couldn't get any decent cards. A guy sat down on my left who was a very strong fearless player, and he started taking down the one remaining young gun at the other end. The young gun had over $300 in front of him. Once the rest of the table saw what trash cards he was raising with over and over, they started calling and re-raising him. I watched his chip stack evaporate, mostly moving towards the strong player on my left. Eventually, the kid ran out of chips and pulled out a $100 to buy more chips. We sat there watching this guy pull out a $100 at least 5 times to buy more chips, just to end up giving them away.

Finally after a couple of hours of holding steady, I started getting some cards to play, so I was able to get in on the action. Within a period of about a half hour, I won several pots and built a stack of over $200. I was getting mentally tired at this point, so I decided it was a good time to leave, up $81. I had been there for 3 hours and it was now 7 PM.

I took the tram back to Excal and walked up the strip. I needed the walk. Stopped to check out Planet Aladdin & construction progress. About what I figured. Still very busy and lots of machines going, with temporary walls blocking off large sections, especially in the middle of the casino. I stopped by Starbucks and got an oatmeal cookie and mocha frappacino (mocha light with no whipped cream, so I can pretend it's healthy). Hit the spot and woke me out of my Corona and poker induced daze. That was dinner for me.

Proceeded on to Paris, where I put my name on a list to play 3/6 poker. Played some 50 play penny VP while waiting for an open seat. Finally they called me after about 15-20 minutes. Sat down and managed to hit some good hands, coming away with a $92 profit.

Came out of Paris and enjoyed the Bellagio fountains across the street accompanied by Rachmaninoff. I'm a fan of Rachmaninoff, so it doesn't get much better than this for me. Headed on back to TI to play just a little more poker before bed. Played about an hour where I stayed pretty even, so I finally gave up $9 ahead.

Profit on Sunday (+120)
Net profit for trip (+224)

Monday, May 39:
My plan is to enter the Caesar's noon poker tournament. Wifey and I agreed to meet at Isla at 6 PM if I were out of the tournament. If I didn't make it, it would mean that I was still in and Wifey would come to Caesar's. If I went out just before 6, I'd stay there and wait for her so that we wouldn't cross paths and miss each other.

With plenty of time before the tournament, I went over to BC and tried another shot at their blackjack table. Mistake. Took slightly longer with the same result. (-$50). Well that sucked.

Got a wrap at the Caesar's food court to make sure I wouldn't get hungry during the tournament. Too big, could only eat half. Bought in to the tournament for $80 (1500 in chips). Joe Awada and a couple other guys were playing a 3 handed casual game on the raised platform. I recognized one of the other guys from TV (a big older guy), but couldn't remember his name. As the tournament was about to start, I decided to go ahead and take the $50 one-time rebuy for another 3000 in chips for a starting total of 4500. Most others did the same. I figure that 3000 is worth more when the blinds are low than after they start going up.

My strategy was to play very tight for the first 2 rounds, grab a few easy pots when the situations presented themselves, and watch the playing styles of the other players. Hopefully a number of less-skilled players will be eliminated early. 40 minute blinds meant that I could be patient, which is why I chose this tournament.

Plan worked well. My stack stayed steady and I found a few spots to make moves and take enough pots to keep my stack healthy. First hand of 3rd round I was able to win a nice pot with AK when a K hit on the flop.

One memorable hand was Q10 of clubs on the button. No raises, so I limp in. Flop includes an 8 and 9 with 2 clubs. First better bets 500 (fairly small fraction of the pot). Others fold and I call with flush and inside straight draws. Turn doesn't help and he again bets 500. I call once again. River is K of clubs. He bets 500 once again, so knew he didn't have Ac. I raise to 2000, thinking it was hefty, but callable if he had something. He said,"You son of a bitch!", thought a minute and folded. As I was raking in the chips, I said,"You know, I think I LIKE being called a son of a bitch at a poker table." Good times.

Unfortunately the good times didn't last. I had built up a nice stack of about 20,000 from winning some occasional carefully chosen battles, but the blinds were creeping up on me and I went long periods without playable cards.

The beginning of the end for me came holding a K10 in the big blind (600SB/1200BB/100ante). All folded around to small blind who raised to 3000. He had about half of my chip stack, so I figured he was making a move on me in a situation where he was even more desperate than me. I put him all in and he called (unfortunately). He had A3. Flop was KJ10, so I was in great shape, but he hit a Q on the river for a straight, which cut me in half. Now I was on life support, and hope was dwindling. Two more strikes put me out for good. At this point there were 26 players left out of 93, and down to 3 tables out of 10. It was 4:30.

After dinner at Isla and a short visit to the dreary Westin casino for their $1 craps happy hour, I moved on to the Bally's poker room. They had a waiting list for 3/6, so I went over to Paris to see if I could get seated there. There was a wait there too, After a few minutes of waiting, I noticed on the monitor at Paris that there was now open seating at Bally's, so the Paris poker room manager called over to Bally's and asked them to save it for me.

At the Bally's 3/6 table I ran into another group of young WPT wannabes. It was an aggressive table, and had potential to be profitable, but I couldn't get the right cards at the right times. I stuck it out for over 4 hours, but finally quit at 2:30 AM, down $50. On the way back to TI in front of Caesar's I had my only hooker encounter on the trip, who asked me if I wanted company. Too tired to do anything but shake my head and wave her off. By the time I got back to bed it was just after 3 AM.

Loss on Monday (-$120 on BJ, craps, and poker)
Net profit for trip (+$104)

Tuesday, May 30:
I took the Deuce and managed to get downtown reasonably quick, since there was not much traffic mid-morning. Headed over to El Cortez for some single deck BJ. No more $3 single deck BJ at El Cortez, now it's $5. I played for a few minutes anyway and walked away +$20. Went over to the $3 craps table and played a few minutes. I got a few wins and rolled a couple of points myself and walked away +$21. This is more like it. I left El Cortez after a half hour up $41.

Went over to 4 Queens and got a seat at their $2 BJ table. Bought in for $20. Started downhill early, and had a see-saw battle with dealer, but I was eventually busted.

OK that's enough BJ and craps for this trip! Went over to Golden Nugget to find a seat at a 2/4 poker table. Nothing available, so I decided to try Binion's, since I hadn't played there before. Should have gotten something to eat first, because once I was settled in at Binion's I didn't want to leave. I loved it there! Manager and dealers were all really nice. They all joked and teased with each other, especially Sundi and Chris. Normally dealers say something like "Action's on you sir." when it's your turn. Chris, a large African American gentleman says,"You da man!" They made everyone feel right at home. One elderly dealer (Don maybe?) took extra care with a couple of beginners at our table. All in all, it was like the "Cheers" of poker rooms. There were a number of regular locals in the room, who play there all the time like it's their clubhouse.

I started getting hungry, but since I didn't want to leave, I had a liquid lunch. Corona (liquid bread) with lime (Vitamin C infusion). What could be healthier? I've found I like to sip Mexican beer while playing poker. For some reason Mexican beers don't give me a headache (as long as I follow them with water), and are just the trick to calm me down at a poker table.

I lost a few hands early, but determined this time I was going to fight my way back, since I was enjoying the people and really couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing or anyplace I'd rather be. I settled in for the afternoon. I spent a long time card-dead. As it got to be late afternoon, some of the tourists left and more locals sat down at my table. I finally hit a few winning hands and got a few bucks ahead of my $100 buy-in. 5PM rolled around, and I decided I had better head to the Deuce for the long ride back to TI to meet Wifey at 6:30. 6 hours at a poker table to win $11! That'd be a tough living!

Back to strip to meet Wifey for mediocre overpriced dinner at Kahunaville. After dinner Wifey wanted to go watch the BB game and meet at Tangerine's at 10 to check it out (since we could get in for free with a TI room key). That gave me just enough time for a short poker session. I headed over to Mirage on the tram and got an immediate seat at a 3/6 table.

Chips arrived just as dealer dealt me in on my first hand next to the button, after I had posted the $3 blind. I looked down at QJ of diamonds. Flop had 2 queens. My attention was divided between watching the players in front of me and gathering my chips. Next thing I knew, dealer had turned over the 4th card without giving me a chance to bet - other players had checked. I was flustered and speechless at this point. Check, check, and he turns over the 5th card. Check, check, and one of the players points to me and says,"Doesn't he get a chance to bet?" I say, "Yeah, I'd like a chance to bet" and toss out $6. The dealer is embarrassed (as he should be) and calls for the floor manager. Other player says, That's OK I fold, and last opponent folded too. I won the small pot. Not sure I could have gotten any more out of them, but still, this was about the worst mistake I've seen by a dealer, and it could have been much worse in a hotly contested pot.

I took down several quick pots and was up about $75 only minutes after arriving at the table. Then my cards cooled a little. After losing a battle holding AK, I decided to leave $42 ahead and go on back to TI on the tram.

I still had an hour to go, so I bought in for $60 at a TI 2/4 table. Lost a couple of hands, then had one of my favorite hands of the trip. I was small blind and called with KQ. Flop gives me 2 pair. I bet, several callers. Turn is a lower card. I bet, a raise, a call, and I call. River: Q!!!! I check of course. Next player bets, call, I RAISE!! Call, call. I take it down to the sounds of groans at the other end of the table. Good times!! I now have $90 ($30 ahead) - time to leave before I have to pay the blinds again.

Wifey and I spend a little time at Tangerine's and checking out Wynn after dark and their cheesy light show. OK, that's enough Wynn. I walk Wifey back to TI so she can go to bed. Naturally I intend to play poker until I drop, and I had yet to play at the new Venetian poker room, so that's where I head. Bought in for $100. Tough 3/6 table. I go up and down just above and below even. The guy on my right is a newbie calling station, if I can just find some opportunities. At first when I got there the table was moderately aggressive, but the number of aggressive young players increased. And these guys were pretty sharp. There was also an elderly Asian lady on my left who was a pretty tough cookie, and not afraid to go head to head with the young guys, who seemed to enjoy being challenged by her. Interesting table dynamic. My stack went up and down, but I was steadily seeing more downs than ups. Unfortunately, I ended up in more losing situations than winning ones, especially as i got more tired, and I made a couple of loose calls that I usually wouldn't make. My $100 finally ran out. I knew at that point I had about $50 of trip profit left, and this was going to be my last session of the trip, so I said,"What the hell?" and bought another $50 of chips. I won back about $30 of my initial buy-in, but then started going downhill again. I finally ended up with $6 and called it quits at 3:30 AM. This poker player was all poked out. At this point I was feeling more like the pokee than the poker, but that's how it goes sometimes.

For the trip I ended up with $163 in profit in poker, lost $100 in blackjack, and spent around $50-60 on slots, so I figure I came out just a few bucks ahead. That was my objective - to spend as much time playing games as possible and come out even or ahead. Hope to return on a solo trip around the end of the summer to get another poker fix.

I've really enjoyed reading the trip reports and reviews on this site. My trip was as well planned and fun as it was because of all the info I gathered from all of you. Thank you. I hope my experiences in turn help some of you.