I had one $200 dollar voucher from Frontier to use before the end of the month and I got an email about rooms for $28 a night at the Sahara with a $10 food credit per day, so I was off to Vegas for 3 days and two nights (June 11-13).

I got to my room about 2:30 pm on Wednesday after landing at 12:30 pm. Come on Steve Wynn would it kill you to extend the Monorail to the airport? I get something to eat and head over to the Stratosphere for its 4 pm tournament. When I stayed at the Strat about 3 years ago they were in the process of starting poker again. At that time, they had just roped off an area off of the main entrance and were in the process of training dealers while I was there. I was happy to see the new poker room just off of Roxy's. It is a nice room with comfortable chairs and most of the dealers were pretty nice. Plus, they have New Castle in the poker room. The tournament is a $60 no add-on or re-buy tournament, but you can come back in during the first hour. 4k tournament chips, blinds start at 25-50, antes start in the third hour, 20 minute levels. Pretty standard for a cheap Vegas buy-in.

Nothing too interesting happens in the first hour, I win a couple of small pots and lose a small pot. I am at $4700 starting level hour ($200-$400), about half-way through the level, I get AKh in mid-position, I raise to $1200 and it folds to the cut-off who was just moved to the table the hand before and is the big stack at the tournament. He pops it to $3000. I push, I can't see any other option, I can't just call and leave $1700 behind and I can't fold AK in a tournament, this is my shot to double up, plus he might just be playing big stack. He has queens and the ladies out race me.

After my knockout, I take the monorail down to centerstrip, eat, walk around a bit, and then check out the mirage poker room based on recommendation of a friend who was in Vegas in May. I end up playing 1-2NL from about 8pm-2am. I end up at a great table. I am sitting next to Mal from California who comes to Vegas monthly and is a good player despite donking about $100 to me when I have aces and she has no piece of the flop. Also at the table are two brothers who are wearing matching Hawaiian shirts with their dad giving shit about it the whole time – the dealers never got tired of “same shirt table 14”. The brothers dub a young attractive blond “Snickerdoodle” since her cards early on a hotter than snickerdoodles right out of the oven or at least that it what they tell her, her boyfriend is sex panther for the panther tat and the anchorman reference.

My favorite hand of the night - I am in the cut-off and with 3 limpers ahead of me, I get KQo and limp as well, the blinds come in for a 6-way pot. The flop comes 279 rainbow, checks all around, a king on the turn, a young Marine makes it $10, one call before me, I make it $30, Marine calls, other folds. The river is a Q, he bets $20, I make it $40, he calls and I show my two pair and he shows K5 and goes off about how unlucky he is and how frustrated he is always getting sucked out on the river. Every one at the table is confused since he was behind the whole way and he got re-raised on 4th and 5th street. The dealer tells him to cool it or walk. He cools it and rest of us wait to take the rest of his chips - that takes about another twenty minutes. Add young, hot-headed Marines to list of fish in the Vegas poker rooms. Worst loss of the night. I am in mid-late position with one limper in, I have 1010o and make it $10. The blinds fold and limper calls. The flop comes 346 rainbow, limper checks, I bet $20, he raises it $50. I call although I think I am likely behind since his pre-flop call range is 3s-9s and I don't think he is capable of making a move here with AK or simlar, so I am behind most of his holdings. The turn is a 2 and he moves all-in. I go in the tank and he drops his head, after a minute I fold. I am sure I am beat, so I am glad he pushed, if he makes a reasonable bet and I have to think it about it with my $82 already in the pot. Overall an up and down night, my stack fluctuated from $200 to $425, and left up $70. I like the mirage room a lot. They spread a lot games and even run a bunch of SNGs.

The next day I get up and go the breakfast at IHOP, one of the three best things about staying at the Sahara is the close proximity of IHOP – a better breakfast than most hotels on the strip. The other two things are the monorail stop and the tournaments. I head back to the centerstip and take the Paris shuttle to the Rio to check out the WSOP. I make my way to the tournament room and first table I stop at has Hevad Khan, Freddy Deeb, and Scotty Nyguen, how would you like to pay $2500 and get sat at the table at the start. I play in the Rio poker room for a couple of hours and leave, my table sucks - a bunch of young guys who think because they are great players because they are playing in same hotel as the WSOP, I leave even. No interesting hands. The Rio poker room is nice enough, but certainly not worth getting off the strip.

I head back to the Strat for the 4 pm tournament again. Definitely, the best poker I played the whole time I was there. I made the money and we chopped 4 way after playing two levels with 4 players with the two big stacks taking $500 and myself and the other short stack taking $300. I played great considering I only saw AK once, I got it at the final table, moved all-in and did not get called, otherwise the biggest pair I got was nines. I was fortunate at the final table, I had a woman sitting on my right that did not understand how wide my push range was since my M was always below 10, she folded A-rag and KQ to me multiple times - keeping me going. After playing for almost 4 hours in the tournament, I watched the 4th quarter of the Celtics-Lakers game in the book at the Strat. Making the money in that tournament saved me some $ since had I been able to make it to the book I would have taken the
Lakers -7.5 and that would have been a bad beat with the way the Cs came back down 24.

After the game, I head back to the Mirage and again I play until about 2. My best hand of the trip – mid-position raiser makes it $12, I am on the button with 77 and call, the blinds fold. The flop is 710A two spades, the raiser makes it $10, I raise to $30 trying to push out the draw (writing this I realize I should have raised to $40), he goes into the tank and keeps looking at the board like what could I have that would make me raise- I know he has an ace and probably at least one spade, he finally calls. The turn is 5c (board is now 2s and 2c) and he checks, I make it $40 and goes in the tank again, he finally calls. The river is Kh and he checks, I bet $50 and he thinks a bit and calls, I show my set and he folds. Although, I gave him the right odds to call if he had 2 spades, I think I did a nice job of building the pot rather than just pushing. I think that is the more profitable play (admittedly a riskier) than the guy who pushed his set on the turn with me the day before. I win some other nice pots and leave up $200 after I can’t take this annoying kid anymore. He buys in for only $100 and plays as tight as possible never calling any raise and does not shut up the whole time. He tries to get “everyone” to straddle and he tries to get everyone to put out $6 with no raise preflop and other funny tricks. Maybe we would go along with you once if you would actually play your stack. After sitting there for 2 hours he still had $90 in front, if you want to talk fine, but at least give me your stack while you talk - either play or leave. Instead I leave.

My last day and my flight leaves at 6:15, so the shuttle is picking me up at 4pm. I play in the Sahara 11 am tournament. I get pretty lucky early on, I call a raise on the button with AQ and flop two pair, I also limp from the cut-off with A10o and flop trips, I also felt a guy with AA when he has A5o and catches no piece of the board, but still pushes all-in on the turn even though I bet the flop and turn. I am up to $12000 after the first break and then I donk half my stack with 77 against the big stack at the table. I get put out in 11th when a regular from Rhode Island who now lives in Vegas who is pushing all the short stacks (my guess is a lot of Vegas regulars know him -bald, glasses, about 250 lbs. east coast accent) raises my BB to $12000 when I have $13500, I call with 55 and he has A5, he rivers an Ace. He says “finally” to the dealer despite that is the 3rd pot he has won on the river from behind and he also explains to me that he is just pushing and got caught. Thanks - I understand that is what you are supposed to do with your big stack. 3 short of the money, it would have been nice to cash in 2 of 3 tournaments. I also wish I would have stayed another day, I would have gone back to the Rio to play in a mega satellite for the main event. Definitely going back next year during the WSOP. End the trip up $400, would have liked it to be more, but can't complain when you come home with all your money and some other people's as well.

It is amazing to me how poker in Vegas has changed since the first time I went to Vegas to play live three years ago. On every street corner when you are stopped people all around you are talking about their bad beat or big pot – same with every cell phone conversation you walk by. Maybe it was going during the WSOP, but still, it was amazing. I can’t see this poker thing dying anytime soon.

My trip to the airport was slow and I almost missed my flight, a crane from the city center project fell across the strip, pushing all the traffic off the strip. So far 6 people have died on site and 8 more from injuries at the site since they started construction, I know you want to get it up as soon as possible, but come on make the site safe for the workers please.