So, I've never been to Vegas to play poker before. I've been there for conferences and stopping overnight on my way to Utah's National Parks, but never to play poker. It was only in town two days, but it was memorable.

Day One (Thanksgiving Day):

I get into town about 3pm after driving in from LA. Traffic was light and flowing at about 85-90 mph, so that was a nice start to the day. Hotwire put me at the Tropicana after telling me it was a four-star hotel. I was skeptical, but I had heard nice things about the big renovation they'd undertaken; when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a legit four-star now, very nice. The "South Beach" decor is heavy on whites, oranges, bamboo, and wicker, so it still seems a little cheesy to me, but it's very pretty. I actually met up with someone who worked at the Trop for years pre-renovation and she said she barely recognized it. I got settled and got some lunch/dinner, then went to the MGM Grand about 5:30.

MGM Grand: Took me about 15-20 to get seated (watched the Lions while I waited), and bought in for $300 at the 1-2. I was pretty card dead (and would be the whole trip, actually), but managed to buy a few pots and about an hour in was at like $330ish. The play was very passive, lots of limped pots, folds to c-bets, etc. Chairs are okay, not wheeled or adjustable, and I really dislike the granite track on the table. It's pretty, but it makes it impossible for me to keep my cards where I want them.

Signature Hand: About an hour in, I've got 34c in the cutoff, all but one person limps in front of me, so I do as well. The button and small blind limp, then the BB makes it $16. All but one of the people in call in front of me, so I call the 16 as well, simply for the implied odds. The button and small blind both call, so we go to a seven person, $116 pre-flop pot at the 1-2 table. Flop comes A 5 6 rainbow, giving me the up and down straight draw. BB moves all in for about $85 (which is about his only move), three people in early position fold, and the woman to my left calls (leaving her about $130 behind). With the pot at about $285, I shove my remaining $300 or so. The button tanks a bit then calls with his remaining $80 or so (not sure why he was tanking, given he had a legit draw when he told me about the hand afterward). The woman on my left calls my raise and we have a four-way all-in with the total on the table about $720. Turn comes 2, making my straight. River is a king, giving the woman top two pair and a great deal of frustration when I table my straight.

Literally as I'm stacking my chips, my friend (from LA, hosts my home game) calls me and tells me that his plans have changed and he is going out to the Golden Nugget this evening. Even though I don't believe that "hit and run"s exist, I'm a nice guy, so I stick around another 25 minutes rather than leave immediately after felting three other players. I leave $414 up and I head down to the Golden Nugget, getting to the tables around 7:45.

Golden Nugget: Get to the Nugget and sit down at 1-2 almost immediately, buying in for $300. I ask for a table change to sit with my friend rather than have him come to me (since he says his table is very soft). About 15 minutes in, I sit with him. He's right, the table is very soft, with about half of the table folding to nearly any strong bet and about half calling stations who just can't release their hands. I remain pretty card dead, but once I figure out who is who, I'm able to push people around some. The Nugget is a nice room, a bit cramped in terms of table spacing, but pretty quiet and has a very cool "upscale yet old-school" vibe; there are at least a half-dozen cowboy hats at the tables.

Signature Hand: My friend's brothers finish their gambling at around 9:15 and we decide to play out the remaining free hands before our blinds then leave (I stupidly took a cab down because I was told it was only like $10 - it wasn't...It was almost $30, so I'm catching a ride back with them). Literally the third to last hand before we finish, and it's a five handed limped pot. I've got T9s and the flop comes T33 one spade, and my friend, first to act, checks in front of me. I bet $10 and everyone folds and my friend calls. The turn comes 5s, giving me the flush draw, so I bet $40 and my friend tanks a bit then calls. The call concerns me some, but at this point, I'm not figuring him for and over pair or AT, since he'd have raised with those if he were going to play them from EP, so I'm putting him on a smaller pair and a hunch that I'm snowing him. River comes 5, he checks, and I make a somewhat stupid bet: I put out $100, which only makes sense if I think he's going to call with 99 or less, I honestly should have checked behind, but he did a great job of imitating his "you're full of BS" face so I believed him...In part, I was correct, he would call with less than 99 - In this case, he tabled 33 for the flopped quads...:|

He picked up the high hand jackpot and left me down $147 for the Nugget, since we played only two more hands then left. I spent the rest of the night having a nice dinner with two other friends at the restaurant in front of Paris while people watching and counting animal print clothing, argyle sweaters, and women wearing boots with heels too high for them to walk properly (The boot women won).

Day Two:

Aria: I get up around 10am and hit the Aria around 11:30. It takes about 20-25 minutes to get seated (LSU-Arkansas was starting, so I wasn't bored), and I get seated in a new game. The Aria is *gorgeous*, comfy seats, roomy tables, pretty waitstaff; I'm loving this place. The game isn't soft, but it is beatable, and it takes me a little while to pick up the rhythm of the players but I had a lot of fun playing against some good guys. The cards are friendlier to me here, and I river a boat while all-in against a guy who hit his nut flush on the turn and flopped a set of fives against another guys pocket kings.

Signature Hand: About an hour in, I'm back to about even at $300 (after being down under $200), I'm in the BB and I look down and see 34d. I decide that since 34s was so nice to me the night before, why not play it again. EP lead out for $10, a LP player called, as did I from the BB. Flop comes A 5 6 rainbow...this seems familiar to me somehow. I lead into the raiser for $30, he calls, LP folds. Turn comes a 2...*pause*. I bet out $100, which is enough to put the guy all-in, and he calls. River is a blank and I table my straight.

I left the Aria after about two hours up $292. I'd have loved to stay longer, but I had some non-poker recreation planned at 3pm, so I went back to my hotel.

Golden Nugget: Went back down to the Nugget that evening to play with my friend again. Much busier this night, with a lot more player turnover (more tourists, I assume). I immediately sit at my friend's table and the game is soft again. I'm back to card dead, but with the game as soft as it is, within about an hour I'm up to $375 or so ($300 buy-in).

Signature Hand: After a seat change, I'm sitting two seats down from my friend who's in the big blind. I look down at 88 and raise to $12 only my friend calls. Flop comes 3 T J rainbow; I'm not happy with two overs. My friend checks, I check behind. Turn comes an 8. My friend leads into me for $25 with about $75 behind, he likes making moves on the turn, and I've got my set, so I raise to put him all in. He calls. Mere seconds before the river card comes out, I say "Well, at least this time you couldn't have flopped quads on me" as the river card comes down a J. I table my 8s, saying [i]"Full House"[i] as he tables his JJ and just stares at me with an incredulous look on his face. I'm laughing my ass off within seconds as we speculate on the odds of the same player making quads two nights in a row (with only 2 hours of play each time), someone else having a hand each time (quads can kill action), and having that person be your friend and co-worker from another city who's only play at that Casino so you two can hang out...Bastard. :D

His brother comes back from the sports book around 9:15 and he leaves (with my money and another high hand jackpot) and I stick around another hour. I'm able to recover and I end the night up $61 at the Nugget.

Day Three: (Why it's always best to leave a little early rather than a little late)

The Mirage: On my last day I only had time to hit one room before heading back to LA. I wanted to see the Bellagio, the Venetian, and the Mirage, and decided that since the Mirage Manager is active on the AVP forums, I'd go there. Checked out of the Trop and headed over to the Mirage around Noon. Got seated immediately at 1-2 ($300 buyin). The game was actually a decent amount more passive than I expected with lots of limping, limpers calling, and few people pushing the action. My card death continued (As a note, I'm someone who can raise from EP with 56s, so when I say "card death", I'm not talking "No big pocket pairs") and I grabbed a few little pots here and there, but about an hour in I was down about $50 to some wasted c-bets.

Signature Hand (Good): I'm in MP and the player to my right raises to $10. He's not raised much at all, so I'm assuming he's got some muscle here. I look down at 34h...well damn, I've got to play them, don't I? Folds around and the Button calls - three to the flop. Flop comes A 2 8h, only the single draw to the straight. Player in front of me checks, I check (hoping to see another card for free), and the button checks. Turn comes 5h...yep, another straight. Player in front of me checks, I bet $30, button calls, player in front of me goes all-in. His remainder is not a full raise so I can just call (I didn't notice that, so I tipped my hand a bit trying to go all-in), button calls behind me. River comes Kh, giving me the backdoor flush. I've got a bit more than the pot behind, so I debate whether to bet small or big, and figure that the small bet screams "value bet" anyway, so the bet size isn't terribly relevant to whether the button will call - I'm not putting him on making the backdoor flush with me (I've got him on an ace, hopefully AK) so I move all-in...He had an Ace, but it was weak, and he folded (he said he was going to fold to any bet).

Later I tried to make an aggressive four-bet all-in bluff on the turn in a hand and lost, leaving me down my $300 buy-in. It wasn't necessarily a stupid play, but it wasn't "my play" - I ignored my read on the other guy's initial bet and I tried putting a high risk move on a guy who probably wasn't thinking beyond his own cards. When I play my "optimal strategy" approach, I'm consistently profitable, when I get outside of that and slip into an aggressive "maximum exploitation" mode, I get into trouble...I remember that 99% of the time, but that 1% is a problem...

Trip Summary:
$320: total profit after stupid Mirage play (paid for my trip in its entirety).
$625: approximate profit on three hands playing 34 suited.
$270 + $450: approximate pot and jackpot winnings my friend made from quadding me twice.
5 hours 10 minutes: Time of drive back to LA during which I could have my "internal conversation" about why I should remember to stay within my own game.

All in all, a great trip.