Let me preface by saying that I am a very poor college student from Fort Collins, CO. Well, for 3 more days anyway... I graduate Saturday! Anyway, on a complete whim, my roommate and I decided to book a very random trip to Vegas for Nov 22-24. We had never stayed on a weekend, and since Denver flies to Vegas for the price of dirt we were able to book 2 nights at the Excalibur and flight for a hair under $250 a piece. With $1000 in my pocket, we touched down around lunch time Saturday. Let the games begin.

Tried the $20 trick, which I had heard had a great success rate at Excalibur. No luck. The lady at the desk was very nice and courteous, but told us she could only simply upgrade us for $20/per night as opposed to $30. Let's see... $20 + $20 + $20(tip from trick) = $60.. meaning no deal whatsover. No thanks, we'll just stare at the highway. Up to the room for a quick shot of vodka and down to Tropicana for some craps.

Met a nice guy and his girlfriend who had met in Vegas exactly 1 year prior and came back as a dating anniversary present. Really nice couple, especially because he won me $95 in about 6 rolls. Good start. Now, to MGM.

Threw down some money on the Texas Tech vs Oklahoma game, bet on the under at 78 1/2... and lost. Wow, those teams can score.

Ditched my buddy and went to check out the new Excalibur "I don't have a clue how to play live poker but I sure do like playing online at work when my boss isn't looking so maybe I can give it a shot between late night Patron and bong hits" tables. I was not impressed. Played a quick $30 or so Sit n Go, finished 5th. It was fun conversation for the most part, but it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing. Promised my table that I would come back that evening for some $.50/$1 NL... ha ha ha yeah right. Can't complain, had a few Coronas and was feeling good so I decided to try my luck elsewhere.

Was about to hit MGM when I get a call from my roommate saying his girlfriend had just arrived with her family at the airport and they would like to take us to dinner. We ran to the little gift shop at Monte Carlo and each chugged a bottle of DELICIOUS Sutter Home wine... cough cough. I was thoroughly drunk at this point, but my roommate was something else. Never let a lightweight who thinks he's hardcore drink a bottle of wine (his was white zen HAHAHA). Needless to say, he passed out at the Luxor buffet bathroom, puking his brains out. Took me and his girlfriend's dad 30 minutes to get him off the floor. I walked him back to the hotel, and marveled at his weak liver. Oh well, I'm on vacation. Met up with a friend from class and drank the night away.

Sunday morning, woke with an amazing hangover. Seriously, even I was impressed.. being from Colorado has its perks when it comes to drinking at lower altitude. Threw down some NFL bets and grabbed a quick lunch. Headed to MGM to sit at my favorite $1/$2 NL game in town. I love this room; it's totally made for a college kid. You can act drunk, laugh your ass off, and get paid off big time.

My friend Ashleigh, who had recently moved to Vegas to dance (Ohhhh yeah!) called me to meet up, and as she arrived this happened. Sitting on a stack of roughly $150, I look down to see KK in LP. Bump it up to $15 with 4 callers. Flop comes QXX rainbow. After a couple checks, MP bets $30 and I raise to $75. Others fold and guy goes into tank. Finally calls and the turn is another blank. He checks and I push. He insta calls with AQos, but rivers another queen to dash my good mood. Oh well, time for drinks and craziness with Ash.

Walked around near Venetian for a bit, saw some cool Christmas stuff and carolers which I actually enjoyed. Went and threw on the suit as the sun went down and pimped around with Ash for the rest of the night, feeling good. Finally got back to my room at midnight for a pick me up, and found my roommate STILL PASSED OUT. Wow, some trip he had. Whatever, I had stuff to do.

Monday morning, say bye to Ash and find Rory still hurting and not wanting to do anything. I decided it was another alone day, but had no problem with it because I was leaving at 9pm and wanted to end the trip on a high note. Headed down to Luxor and sat at an entertaining 1/2 NL game with a British guy who was hammered. The guy next to me was really frustrated by his antics, and kept saying he couldn't wait to bust the guy. I folded a hand and as I sipped my Corona he nudges me and shows me 88. I give him the head nod as if to say, get this guy outta here (the Brit raised every hand preflop to $6, then continued with $12 or $24 bets on EVERY HAND). Karma came hard. Flop comes 88A and I literally almost choke on my beer. I calmy watch as friend to my right puts the Brit on a tailspin of indecision. Finally, after some agressive reraising, They are both All-in for over $400 a piece and friend takes down the pot with a huge smile. I think the Brit showed A3 off suit. Wow. Friend guy wins another $100 for highhand jackpot. Good for him. I took my own $100 profit and laughed all the way back to Excalibur.

Headed down to TI for their $65 tourney. Played pretty well for 5 levels but never really increased my stack to anything impressive. Got caught all in with pocket 10s on a 7 4 2 rainbow board by rockets. Guy played them perfectly, oh well it happens.

Look in my wallet and see I have $400 left, which I needed to pay rent on the 1st. Hmmmm, find another $60 in my pocket and decide that this will have to be it in terms of gambling. Prayed for a miracle as I took my last $60 and tried to win my money back like Clark Griswald in Vegas Vacation. Little did I know I would go on the run of my life.

3 hours before our flight leaves the ground, I decided to stop in at Paris for a little BJ. Put my $60 on a $10 table and watch it grow to $300 before I know whats happening. Happy as a lamb, I meet the now walking Rory at MGM so he could cash out a bet from Saturday. Decide we need to catch a cab in 1 hour, so I sit at another 1/2 NL table and win $300 more in 5 hands. First hand I sat down with I bullied the table with a big raise holding QJ suited after a couple rerasies. Can't believe no one called. Pinned me as a dumb aggressive kid, which was perfect. Next hand, pocket 10s in LP. Preflop raise to $20 by one guy, $40 by next lady with a call by me and a call by him. Over $120 in the pot when flop comes 10 A J rainbow. He leads with 20 again, she bumps to $40 again, and I sit. Didnt think there was a prayer that anyone had KQ although its seemed likely, but I push anyway. First guy folds and lady calls. Flips over A 3 os. HAHA sweet. She even hit another ace on the river, and it took the dealer a few minutes to explain that I indeed had a full house, which made her 3OAK worthless.

Made it to the airport with $100 less than I brought in my wallet, and about $20 in random bills I had been using for tips. Stuck those in a wheel of fortune slot machine and wouldn't ya know, won $200 more at the flippin airport. Nice. Ended up +$100 for the trip but it felt like $1000. After all the gifts, drinks, food, and gambling I did, I left with a huge smile on my face considering I had actually beat Vegas, even it was only just a little

Thanks for reading!!!