My girlfriend and I flew to Vegas on Tuesday evening to join a couple of friends who were celebrating their anniversary. Given that I am the only poker player (I use that term liberally) I only played a few sessions during our very enjoyable trip. I'll include some other information, but first the poker.

On 3/7 I awoke at 9:00 a.m. after two hours of sleep, and decided to play some low-limit. I was in terrible shape and just wanted to watch some basketball and limit my losses. Since we were staying at MGM Signature, I decided to try MGM Grand first. I had a choice of waiting for a 1-2 game or immediate seating at 4-8--there were only 3 tables going at that time. The 4-8 game only had 5 players, and I didn't want to wait for no-limit, so I went to Excalibur, where I have played in the past. I was seated immediately in a 2-4 game. My first hand was QQ. I was in early position, raised, and took the blinds uncontested. For the first hour I was extremely hot. AQ twice, many suited connectors, and to top it all off, 99 which made quads. After getting $20 on my wheel spin, I was up $75 in the first 45 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the play was unexpectedly tight, with only 3 or 4 players to the flop. Players were also very passive Despite my good starting hands, I either missed the flop or managed to chase people out with my bets. After the first hour or so, I began playing pretty loose without the same quality of cards and managed to make second best quite often. All told I played almost 3 hours and ended the session up $22, not counting my wheel spin bonanza.

On 3/8 during the day I again played at Excalibur for about 2 hours while my girlfriend and friends played pai gow. I played much tighter than the previous day, and ended the session up $43. My most profitable hand occured when I checked in the big blind with unsuited QJ and four limpers. The flop came Q64 rainbow. I bet and got two callers. The J on the turn gave me two pair. I bet again and had one caller. I re-raised hoping that he hadn't slow played pocket jacks, and got a call. The river was a harmless 10, and we capped the betting. The other player mucked his hand when I showed my two pair. I again saw quad 9's during this session. Unfortunately, they were in the hands of another player when I caught a nut flush. Fortunately, he played them passively for one bet on the turn and river, and I escaped with minimal dammage.

During the day on 3/9 I played a couple of rounds of 1-2 no-limit at MGM just to say that I had. I liked the room okay, but I didn't have much time to play, and I had been drinking, so I played very timidly. Nothing remarkable during this short session. I limped in with pocket 5's twice, once folding to a $15 raise, and once calling a $9 raise. I didn't hit my set, and folded to a pot-sized bet.

That night we went downtown, and around 11:00 I wandered over to Binion's. I've never played there and just wanted to check it out. I was immediately seated in a 2-4 game that was very much different from the Excalibur games. Play was much looser. I was one of the few who did not see every flop. Even with the loose pre-flop play, the play was pretty predictable. I played almost two hours and had only one showdown, which I won. I ended the session up $25.

Next, I went to Fitzgeralds. The only game going was a 3-6 game with a full kill. It was almost 3:00 a.m. by this time, and I was pretty beat. In fact, I only played because I heard an announcement that they had openings and would allow buy-ins for as little as $30. I decided to try it out and bought in for $35, my pai gow winnings. The play was fairly loose and very agressive with a majority of the bets being capped. I played very few hands and ended the session down $25.

Final Poker observations:
I really like the low-limit game at Excalibur. The previous reviews are right on; it is a very tourist-heavy game. Even though I'm not all that experienced, I generally felt like I was one of the two best players at any table I was at. The only surprise was that the players were pretty tight pre-flop. It was a treat to play at Binion's, but I don't think that I'll return. Although most of the players were friendly, there was a certain edge to the game and the room that made me somewhat uncomfortable. In fact, two players at my table squared off after one of them got into an argument with the dealer. The game at Fitzgeralds seemed to have an even mix of locals and tourists. I definitely was not one of the best players at the table, but they were a fun group to observe.

Non Poker Observations:
Hotel. Got a great deal to stay at MGM ($69/night). We were upgraded to a Signature suite without asking. An awesome room and great for this trip, but a very long distance from the MGM casino. It took me over 30 minutes to walk from my room to Excalibur. I was just in town to play poker, I would rather stay elsewhere within MGM.

Food. Ate at Emeril's Fish House, which was okay, but not as good as Delmonico, in my opinion. Went to Bellagio for the noon buffet. We arrived at the buffet at 10:45 a.m. and got the breakfast price ($13.95 I think) even though they were already serving lunch. I have had the Bellagio buffet a number of times, and it never disappoints. Went to Mr. Lucky's at Hard Rock for the steak and shrimp special. Even though it wasn't the best steak I've ever had, for $7.77 it was a pretty good deal.

Drinks. I had a lot. Probably the worst drink I had was a white Russian at Bill's (formerly Barbary Coast). I still like the casino, but the drink quality seems to have gone down. We went to Hooters one afternoon for some pai gow and video poker, and I found it to be an unexpected gem. The drinks come in plastic cups that are larger than the glasses in most casinos. I had several white Russians and a jack and coke or two and found the quality of the drinks to be outstanding. Also, I sat at the bar to watch some basketball and my drinks were comped even though I wasn't playing max credits on video poker.