I have been playing poker online for about a year and a half now and with buddies for about 4 years. We just really started playing strictly Hold'em two years ago. Anyways, my wife had booked a trip to Vegas for my 30th bday, which was on Feb 2nd, and I was going to make sure I played poker atleast once while I was there. I mean, if you play poker quite a bit at home and are in Vegas, you kinda have to experience a game there. Well, the night of Feb 2nd I told the wife I was going to the MGM to give it a shot. Since this was my birthday, she really had no say in what I wanted to do...I played the "it's my day..." card with her. So at around 11:30pm I head across the walkway from NYNY where we were staying, down the stairs and right to the managers desk. I sign up for $2-$4 limit and they say it will only be a few minutes. They were right...about 10 minutes later I'm seated and waiting for my chips. I buy in for $100 and need to wait two hands until I'm the big blind. It is now go time...I place my blind and the dealer starts dealing the cards. I calmly look down and see that I have been dealt Q9 off-suit. Not a strong starting hand so I will just limp in. No raises and I'm in. Flop comes Q73 rainbow. I have top pair with an "ok" kicker so I bet out. I get a few callers but nobody raises, so I start to think the guys that are in are chasing something. Next card to come was what I had hoped for, another Q. I bet out, get two callers and the river card was nothing. No possible straight or flush on board. I bet out and get one caller, I think he had 2 pairs, but my trip 3's got him. Feels good winning your first ever hand in Vegas, I know start to play somewhat smart and tight. After a couple hours, I am pretty low on chips and start to loosen up my betting, hoping to catch some decent pots but it seems to backfire. Oh well, I figure I have go to play for about 3 1/2 hours of poker in Vegas for $100, and I had fun doing it. I'm down to $6 and get dealt pocket 2's. I have told the guy next to me that I will now only play pocket Aces and that's what I tell him I have. I raise and I get put all in. Since there were a few other callers I don't get to flip my cards over and stand up like you see on tv (really wanted to do that, lol). Anyways, flop is flipped and I'm still sitting their with my pocket 2's then comes the turn...HELLO, it's another 2!! Long story short, I take my part of the pot down! This seemed to wake my poker Gods because from this point on, I went on a pretty big tear. I believe I won the next pot with pocket 3's, hitting a third 3 on the flop. A few hands later I am dealt JQ of clubs. Flop comes 10 of clubs, 6 hearts, 2 of clubs. I don't have a pair but decide that I will see another card so I call, I think it was one bet to go. The turn comes and it's a nice one for me, K of clubs. I have now made my flush and am one card away from a Royal Flush. I figure someone has the Ace of clubs but I doubt they have another club in their hand to beat my flush. I bet out and get three callers. Now the river comes and this is where I about crap myself. Dealer flips over Ace of clubs to complete my Royal Flush. I was in shock but still remained calm. I bet out and get one caller. I now get to flip over my JQ of clubs and watch guys' jaws drop. It's not to often you get a Royal Flush and it's even rarer to get them with using your two pocket cards. I asked the dealer about high hand jackpot and he said they didn't have one there. That really sucked. I get a hand like that and only take home a $27 pot. Oh well, what can you do. I think that that is something the MGM needs to add to their poker room, not that they need help filling it, just that it's a nice bonus for a player to win. Well, after a while the room began to split up and we only had 5 players left at our table. Management asked if we would move to another table that had spots open, so we did and I continued to get great hands and also bluff some people out of hands. That was odd to me cause here at home, people don't fold to easy even after the river card has been thrown down and they still have nothing. One guy called my two pair with a 6 high!! Can you believe that? We all had a good laugh over it though. Well, that was my first poker experience in Vegas and I have to say, I will be back. From going all-in with my final $6 to leaving the table with around $240, I say it was a good end to my 30th bday.