I arrived in Vegas at 2pm local time on Thursday the 25th. I got something to eat at Circus Circus where we were staying (which by the way is terrible, do not stay there) and headed straight to the Bellagio.

I bought in to a 2-5 no-limit game for the full $500 and got involved in some nice pots right away. I ran my stack up to just over $1,100 in the first 2 hours and the table was great for action. That is when the following hand came up:

I am in the big blind holding the 5-6 of clubs. There are 4 callers and no raisers to me in the big blind. I check and we take the flop five handed. The flop is 6-6-5 with two spades and 1 diamond.

The small blind checks, I check (slowplaying the nut hand), the next player bets $20, the next player folds, the next player raises to $100 and the small blinds folds, so now it is back to me. I raise it to $300 straight. My thinking is that someone has a 6 and I am looking to play a big pot heads up. Both players call!

The turn is the 2 of hearts. I bet $400 which is half of my stack. The next player calls my $400 and the next player goes all-in and he has both of us covered. I look at the board 1 more time to make sure I have the best hand and I call. The third player in the hand decides he is all-in as well. The total pot is over $4,000. I can only win just over $3,300.

The river is the 4 of spades. The first player shows Ace-6 for 3 of a kind. I show my hand for the top full-house. The third player shows the 7-8 of spades for a rivered straight flush. I wanted to puke. Instead of puking or punching the crap out of him, I said nice hand and immediately left the poker room. I went back to the hotel, I showered and and tried to convince myself that if I played again that night I would not be on TILT. I decied to head to the Venetian to get my money back and then some.

Venetian. A few big hands from the session.

I won a thousand dollar pot when I had Ace-5 spades on the button and called a $25 raise from someone in early position after 3 other calls. The flop was Ace, Ace, 5. He bet $50, I called. The turn was the 2 of hearts. He bet $100, I raised to $350. He went all in for a little more than $500. I called and he had Ace-King, so my full-house held up.

I also played a crazy hand that could have cost me my whole stack. I raised to $25 with Ace-Queen. I was called by 3 players. The flop was Queen, Queen, 10. I bet $100, the next guy raised to $300, and the third guy re-raised to $1,000. I thought long and hard, but folded. The first raiser moved all-in and here is what they had.

First guy 10-10 for a flopped full-house. Second guy had Queen-10 for a bigger flopped full-house. I got lucky to get away from that hand for only $125.

So far on the trip I had Aces 4 times and they have won the pot all 4 times. I busted a guy with only $250 the last time I had them. This is a good sign, because the last time I was in Vegas, I was 0 for 7 with Aces on that trip.

I played most of the night with Tommy Vu on my left. He is the infomercial guy that final table a WSOP event this year. He is a good guy.

I bought in for $1,000 at the 2-5 no-limit game and cashed out with $2,284, Nice recovery from my earlier Bellagio debacle.

Friday October 26th,

I went to the Wynn and played 2-5 no limit. I started playing around 5pm and finished at 1:30am.

I bought in for a total of $1,000 and cashed out for $1,729.

My first $500 buy-in was lost in the first 2 hours when I flopped a set of tens on a board of 10-7-5. We were heads-up and I led for $40, the villian in the hand check raised me to $140. I moved all-in. He called with pocket Queens and hit a Queen on the river to bust me. The table was good so I bought in for another $500 and started building my stack back-up.

I had lots of small pots go my way and was up to around 1k when I decided to try to steal a pot with a re-raise bluff on the following hand. I had King-10 of clubs on the button and called a $20 raise. We took the flop 4 handed. The flop was Ace-9-4, no clubs. The first bettor made it $60 to go, the next player called and I decided to make a play and I re-raised to $200. The first bettor thought forever and decided to fold. The next guy who called the raise now moved all-in for $360 total, I had a very good read on this player and everything about him told me he was trying to re-steal the pot from me. I really didn't think he had anything based on a tell I picked up on him earlier. I called his all-in. The turn card was a King and the river was a 7. He just looked at me and said, "what do you have?" I said, "I called your all-in, what do you have?" He turned over King-Deuce and I said, I can beat that, and showed my winning hand. He went crazy calling me all sorts of names for calling his re-raise with King-10. The other guy who folded was upset too, because he folded an Ace. I just calmly stacked the over $900 pot. I now had the table thinking I was a complete maniac and all I needed was to pick one more big hand and make another re-raise and I would have gotten paid off nicely. Unfortunately, after that hand I went completey card dead for the next 2 hours.

I did however make a huge mistake that cost me a few hunderd dollars. I mucked my winning hand when a player called his hand wrong. I made the Ace-high flush on the turn and the board paired nines on the end. The other player bet $100 and I called. He said full-house and flipped his cards over, I thought he had K-9 and there was a King and 2 nines on the board. I folded my hand face down and then right away realized the other player actually had Queen-9 for only 3 nines. It was too late, the dealer put my cards in the muck and pushed the pot to the other player. My flush was good and folding it face down cost me a $300 pot.

Oh well, he is the same guy I got to fold the Ace in the hand where I went crazy bluffing and won, so I guess it worked out.

After my terrible beat in my first session at Bellagio, I had winning sessions at both the Venetian, and the Wynn.

The Wynn is an absolutely awesome hotel and casino. Tonight was my first time there and it is first class. The poker room is very nice.

Saturday October 27th.

I played 2 sessions of poker and went to Vegoose musical festival.

I woke up and went to Mirage to have the buffet. It was outstanding.

I played a short session of 2-5 no-lomit at the Mirage, but it was a very good session. I bought in for $500 and cashed out for $906 in 2 hours of play.

Only 2 real interesting hands. Once I had Aces and re-raised a guy that raised my $25 bet to $100. I re-reraised all-in and he folded.

The other big hand was when I was on the button with Jack-2 of hearts. I raised to $25 after 4 people called to try to pick up the blinds. The big blind called and so did 1 other player. The flop was Jack of spades, 5 of hearts, and 3 of hearts. They both checked and I bet $100. The big blind re-raised me to $250. I thought for a second and then re-raised him all-in. He immediately folded. I was pretty sure that he had a big pair.

The Vegoose show was awesome. Public Enemy was the bomb, and Daft Punk was very good, but I think you had to be on some serious drugs to enjoy some of the other bands, because people were going nuts for some of the groups that I thought were terrible.

After the shows, I went to Treasure Island to play some more cards, but the room was full and after waiting 15 minutes for a seat I decided to leave and go to the Venetian across the street. I sat down at a new 2-5 no-limit table and it was a great table. There was tons of action. Every pot was getting raised and re-raised. I loved it. I bought in for $500 and got involved on the very first hand. I had Ace-Queen of spades on the button and raised 3 callers to $30.
Everyone called. There was $120 in the pot and the flop came King-Jack-10 with 2 hearts. I flopped the nut straight. The first player bet $100, the next guy called, after the third player folded, I went all-in for $470. One guy called and the turn was the 3 of clubs and the river was the 2 of diamonds. I turned my cards over and he folded. I doubled up on the first hand. The next big hand I played did not go so well. I had Ace-King in the big blind and called a $25 raise. The flop was Ace-King-4. I checked, the next guy bet $60, and I called. The turn card was the 8 of hearts. I checked again and this time the guy bet $200. I moved all-in. He called right away and I knew I was beat. The river was the 9 of clubs and he turned over pocket 4's for a set of 4's. That sucked.

I now had just over $150 left so I bought $350 more to get back to $500. In the small blind I got 7-7. I called a $25 raise after 4 other people had already called. The flop came 7-2-2. I flopped the top full-house. I checked and the original raiser bet $100. Everyone folded back to me and I just called. I was almost positive that the raiser had Aces. The turn was a Queen. I checked and he bet $300. I moved all-in for just $75 more and he called. The river was another Queen. I turned over my 7's and he folded his hand.

So about 30 minutes after that hand 4 guys left the table to play in the new 5-10 no-limit game that just started and I decided to quit rather than play short-handed. After all of those big hands and crazy action I left the game up $56.

Sunday, October 28th in Vegas was an adventure.

First I woke up and went down to get a cab to the Mirage to watch the Bears game.

There was a line 20 people deep and no cabs so I decided to walk to the Wynn.

I watched the Bears completely suck and ate a reuben at the Wynn sportsbook. The sandwich was very good.

After the Bears game I decided to play poker at the Wynn. I bought into the 2-5 no-limit for $900 and promptly started to play terrible. I mis-played a few hands in small pots and then I just completely went on tilt. First I raised to $25 on the button with King-4 after a few limpers to try to pick up the blinds. The big blind and 3 others called. The flop came King-4-7. The big blind bet $50, the others folded, so I raised to $150. The big blind then went all-in for $225 total. I called. The turn was a Queen, and the river was a Queen. He turned over Ace-King for a better 2 pair. That's what I get for raising with that trash. The next hand that I played terrible was when I was in the small blind. I had 9-7 and called a $20 raise in a 4way pot. the flop came King-6-8. I had an open-end straight draw so I led out for $50. everyone folded except the original raiser, who promptly raised me to $150. I picked up what I thought was a pretty strong tell on her and I thought she was weak so I called with the intention of bluffing the turn if I did not hit my straight. the turn was a deuce. I moved all-in. She called instantly and when a Queen hit the river I knew I was crushed. She turned over pocket Kings for a flopped set. So much for that read. So after that hand I was down to $150 from my original $900 buy-in. I decided that I was not going to reload and play short stacked.

A few hands later I got Ace of clubs- 4 of spades and called a $15 raise in a 5 way pot. the flop came 2-3-5 all clubs. The raiser bet $50, I moved all-in for my last $135 with the straight and flush draws. The small blind called and so did the raiser. The turn was the Queen of hearts and the river was the Ace of hearts. The small blind said straight and turned over 4-7. He thought he had 4-6 so he called by mistake. The raiser had King-jack with the King of clubs so he missed as well and I won the pot with my pair of Aces. I now had almost $500 in chips again so I immediately decided to mis-play another hand. I had 5-5 in first position a little while later and called a $25 raise after limping. We took the flop 4 handed. the flop came 9-9-4. I checked and the raiser bet $60. Everyone folded to me, so what do I do? I check-raised to $160. I thought he might have Ace-king or Ace-Queen so I wanted to take the pot right there and not let him hit his card on the turn. He called my $100 raise. I know realized that I played this hand like crap again and was totally done with it until the turn card was a 5. WOW! How lucky is that. I now tried to figure out how much I could get him to put in. The turn was an 8. I decided to go all-in. He called and I showed my set of 5's and he was disgusted. He had pocket jacks.

After that hand I was now up for the day amazingly. I had played so bad, but yet I was up just over $150. I stayed right around $1,100 dollars for the next hour until my biggest win of the trip hand happened.

I was holding the (bull-dozer- home game term) which is the 9-10 diamonds in the small blind. I called a $25 raise after 2 guys called. The flop was 9-10-Jack. I flopped 2 pair and decided to lead out with a bet of $75. The original raiser then raised it to $200 and the next guy called. I decided to call as well and see the turn. The turn was a 9!!!! WOW, I turned a full-house. I led out for $300, the raiser called me and the other guy folded. The river was a 3. I moved all-in for my last $575. The raiser thought forever and was trying to stare me down. He finally decided to call and I turned over my full-house and he threw his cards in the muck. I had just won a $2,500 pot.

I played a little while longer and then left to go to Vegoose. After playing terrible to start the day I ended the session booking a little over a $1,500 win.

I went to Vegoose and saw Rage against the machine. It was a great show.

After the show I went to Slots-a-fun and I blew $60 playing $3 blackjack so I decided to walk across the street to the Riviera. By now I have had more than my share of beers so playing cards is not a good idea, but what the hell, I decide to buy-in to the 1-2 no limit game for $100.

I lost $40 on the first hand I played when I called an all-in with a guy that had only $40 with 10-10. He had Ace-king and flopped a king to win the pot. For some reason that put me on TILT. It probably had something to do with the amount of beer I drank. Anyways 2 hands later I am in the big-blind and after the entire table called a raise to $8 I decided to move all in for my last $60 without looking at my cards.

The original raiser starting doing the stare down and talking act and I couldn't help but laugh at him. He decided to go all-in so the rest of the table folded. The board came King-4-5-4-jack. He turned over pocket 10's and I flipped my cards up and I had Jack-6, so I won with a pair of Jacks. The guy went completely nuts. It was great. What made it even better was the guy next to me said, "you know he went all-in without looking at his cards." This set the guy off even more. I couldn't do anything but laugh. After that hand I played a few more hands and decided it was time to leave.

I cashed out for $129, so I won $29 at the Riviera. Book it!!!!--- another winning session.

So the recap is I played 7 session of poker: 2 at Venetian, 2 at Wynn, 1 each at Bellagio, Mirage, and Riviera. I won 6 of them.

I had a great time playing cards and going to the concerts.

Please comment on any/ all of the hands I talked about.