I flew into Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 29, taking advantage of a Southwest round trip flight voucher that expired on February 1. Between Tuesday and Wednesday I played about 15 hours of poker at Bellagio and the Venetian, getting my poker fix until a planned return trip for March Madness.

I had been up all night Monday getting advance work done so I would have to spend a minimum amount of my short Vegas trip working. Touched down in Vegas around 9:30 am and grabbed a cab to Bally's, taking advantage of a room rate of $33. A couple days before my trip, Bally's sent me an offer to upgrade my room to a larger and more modern North Tower room for an extra $10 per night. Seemed like a good deal, so I took it.

Upon reaching reaching the check-in desk, I tipped the clerk $10 and told her how excited I was to be back in town. I didn't really expect anything extra for my $10 tip, but I think it is always appropriate (and wise) to tip the check-in clerk and be as nice as possible to him or her. She gave me one of the nicest, largest rooms with one of the best views in the North Tower, and then told me she was going to remove the $10 per night upgrade charge because I was such a "valued customer." - Nice way to start the trip!

I anticipated catching some sleep before hitting the poker tables that night, but I was too excited to sleep. Accordingly, I grabbed some lunch at the Planet Hollywood Spice Market buffet (it was excellent), and then strolled across the street to the Bellagio.

I played at a 1/3 NL table for about four hours. I like the Bellagio poker room because there always seems to be a good number of wealthy Europeans who play loose and don't seem to mind if they lose. Typically, about 1/3 of the players are absolute fish, 1/3 of the players are decent but eminently beatable, and about 1/3 of the players are tough. I almost always end up making money in the Bellagio poker room.

This time, the players were different. Almost everybody at the table was a Vegas regular. Most of them knew each other, and the dealers knew most of them. I felt like I was in the movie Rounders and I had sat down at the table in Atlantic City that had been filled up with all the New York City pros.

I ended up down $60 after four hours of play. If you account for the cocktail tips and dealer tips, I probably actually ended down only about $40. I felt I had played pretty well, but never really got any cards. The only times I hit pairs, they were low or middle pairs that never caught trips. No real memorable hands because I had very little to play and the quality of the opposition lent few opportunities to steal pots with garbage.

I went back to Bally's and slept for three hours, waking up again at 9:00 pm. I grabbed a sandwich at Paris and then headed back to Bellagio. I figured my afternoon table had been almost all Vegas regulars because it was a weekday afternoon when I had played. I hoped and expected to see more tourists and fish at the nighttime tables.

I again sat down at a 1/3 NL table, but again had a table full of Vegas regulars who (mostly) all knew the dealers and each other. Frustratingly, I was again card dead and down $40 after several hours of play. Finally, at about 2:00 am, the 2/5 NL table next to me seemed to be getting lively. I figured this would be a good time to try to make a nice score in the higher stakes game.

I played the 2/5 NL game until 4:30 am. The guy next to me was a Bellagio and Aria regular who was incredibly drunk, incredibly outrageous, and incredibly funny. Even while incredibly drunk, however, he played pretty well.

During my time at the 2/5 table, I played tight, received about average cards and made about $50. The table broke at 4:30 and I returned to the 1/3 NL table.

Finally, the 1/3 table was more appealing. About 1/2 the players were Vegas regulars, about 1/4 were tourists playing a solid game, and about 1/4 were fairly weak (although nobody was an absolute fish). Even though this was a tougher table than I had come to expect at Bellagio, this was the most inviting table I played at during my entire trip.

At about 6:00 am, for the first time in my 12 hours of play to that point, I finally had a pocket pair catch trips. I picked up roughly $100 on the hand, and a short time later caught trips again, netting another $100. I felt I could make money at that table all day, except most of the players left by 6:30 am. I cashed out with a $300 profit, though I was up only a little more than $200 considering my earlier modest loss and all the tips I gave dealers and cocktail waitresses during the evening.

My 12 hours of play had earned me a comped breakfast at the Bellagio buffet. As always, it was outstanding. After eating my fill, I strolled back to Bally's under the morning sun. I love Vegas all-nighters!

I again woke up after just a few hours of sleep. After doing some window shopping on the strip and grabbing a burger at Margaritaville (it was disappointing), I walked over to the Venetian for some more poker.

The Venetian poker room is a much more comfortable poker room than the Bellagio. There is more room between the tables, which allows you to scoot back a little from the table and relax a little when you are out of a hand. At Bellagio, by contrast, I was repeatedly admonished by people that I was blocking the path between tables or actually smashing into a player at the table behind me when I leaned back a little bit from the table. Also, the Venetian provides much quicker drink service. The advantage of the Bellagio, from my point of view, is the softer competition and a more cozy feel to the room.

Anyway, I bought into a 2/5 NL game and again found that almost all of the players knew the dealers and each other. They were also clearly very good players. I played for about 3 hours, playing more aggressively now than I had at the Bellagio. After a few chip swings of several hundred dollars, I cashed out with a $100 profit. Just before cashing out, I was up $400 when I got in a fairly large pot with a player I had been frequently pushing around. I had pocket queens and caught trips on the flop. After building up a nice pot, the turn hit an 8 and the river hit a 9 to fill up a community mini-straight of 7,8,9,10. Although I had already invested $300 in the pot, I folded to a $300 bet after the river 9 hit. The villain showed me a Jack, which both frustrated me and vindicated me. Instead of ending the session up $700 or more, I ended the session up $100. Oh well, a profit is still a profit.

Reflecting on the trip, this was by far the toughest competition I had ever encountered at the Vegas poker tables. I imagine this was because in mid-week during a slow tourist season, there was a higher percentage of local grinders at the tables than is the case at almost any other time of the year. Still, I felt pretty happy about my game (although I noted some occasions when better play could have netted me more money) and was very happy to hold my own and turn a modest profit against such relatively tough competition. I wonder if anybody can tell me whether I just happened to hit tough tables or whether indeed this a very difficult time to find a soft game in Vegas.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to posting again after my March Madness trip.

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