I got to Vegas at 5pm on Friday, made some sports bets and immediately registered for the Venetian 7pm tournament. As I've learned and most of the regulars on this site have learned already the Venetian has the best tournaments in Vegas.

I buy into a 1-2 cash game and play for about an hour and a half before the tournament starts. I basically play just one hand where I hit a the nut straight on the turn, cash out +200 which more than covers my tournament buy-in.

I run okay for about 3 hours into the tourney before I'm dealt A2 suited spades on the button. Flop comes AcKs7s. It checks around and I raise a thousand. I get one caller. Turn comes and its a 2d. I think I'm good even if I don't hit my flush and I go over-the-top all-in on a 2 thousand raise. Player has AK, I don't hit and I'm gone. No worries, no problem with how that hand played out, just bad luck.

I then head on over to Caesars and buy into a 2-5 NLH game. It's a pretty bad tourist table with one very nice, yet horrible player who has a stack of about 2000 when I sit down.....yes.

My BIG cooler hand of the night was when I called a $15 raise with 5 in the hand. I have 8d7d which I love 5-handed. Flop comes 5,6,9 and well, yeah. No flush draw nothing. I'm second to act and quickly check. Big stack is last to act and he goes over-the-top on a $25 raise and puts in $100. I'm next to act and I re-raise to $200. Everyone then folds until big-stack pushes all-in. I immediately call. He has NOTHING more than AK of spades. Nothing. Anyway, he hits runner-runner flush and I'm immediately down $500 and on total and complete tilt.

I'm usually the nicest guy on the table, but I berated this donkey up-and-down asking him what possible hand he thought he could beat after the flop when someone re-raises his re-raise? He tells me that I shouldn't have called a raise of $15 with just 87 and that there is NO WAY he could put me on 87 with his GIGANTIC $15 raise. Then I completely lose it and say, "fine, you don't put me on a straight. How about a paired 5? Pair of sixes? Pair of 9s? Pocket 2s? Pocket 3s? A set maybe? I list all the hands that beats his Ace high and he just doesn't get it.

Anyway, I take a walk, play some blackjack at the very nice Pussy-Cat doll lounge pit and win $200 and then head back calm. I should note hear that a big plus of the Caesars poker room is that every half hour two gorgeous go-go dancers waltz by the room as they have to cross the poker room to get to their dressing room. I also notice that the waitresses at Caesars have gotten hotter which is always a plus.

Anyway, I get big-stack donk back when I hit a set of Qs on the flop. I end the session +$200 and go to bed. I hit some sports bet and with my blackjack winnings I got to bed up $1000 and I'm happy.

I wake up early the next morning to bet on the under for Wake Forest/Navy, Colorado State and the over in the Colorado State/Fresno bowl game. I hit two out of three and go up $300 from those.

I don't register for the Saturday $540 nooner as I'm a cheapo, but I do sit down at a cash game. I should have headed back to Caesars as the players at this 2-5 game were all very good. Not a bad player on the table as is fairly normal at the Venetian and I'm card-dead. Five hours later I walk down $600. No bad hands, no suck-outs, just out-played by better players for the most part.

I then join my friends and play some very irresponsible blackjack and craps and win $800 and I'm feeling a bit like Nick Papagiorgio from Vegas Vacation. We treat ourselves at Delmonico and I have an excellent slab of meat, sit back and enjoy life for a while.

I miss getting in on the 7pm tourney, so instead head on over to the Wynn to see what is going on there. I have to wait for about an hour for my 2-5 seat, so..........back to blackjack and craps. Yes, I'm again Nick Papagiourgio, so I win another $500 this time before my seat opens.

The Wynn is an interesting room as you'll alternatively play with some of the best players in the city along with complete donk yet rich tourists. Throwing out a $500 raise to a lot of these guys is like normal people throwing out 50 cents, so you have to adjust, bear down and just wait for your hand and stay away from the pros.

I get my stack up to about $2300 after buying in for $1000 and I'm happy. I then get my hand. KK against a rich donk who wasn't quite as donk as Caesars donk, yet still a donk. He raises $100 UNG and I"m in the small blind. Two people call and I go over-the-top for $300. He calls while the others fold.

Flop comes K, 10, J with a flush draw. I raise $500 and he immediately shoves all-in. I don't like it, but wow, I've seen this guy shove all-in with top pair and even middle pair a lot of times during the session, so I call. Yes, he had the AQ and I bust out. I consider my situation and then think that basically breaking even on the day or close to it isn't so bad and head for bed after spending some time at Blush.

I wake up very late on Sunday, but just in time to get in on the Sunday nooner at the Venetian. I put money on the Pats and the Saints the night before, so I'm very happy where those games are at when I wake up. As soon as those games shortly after the tournament starts I'm already up $700, so I'm in a good mood.

I play well, but bust out around 5pm as I'd been running on a short stack for a long-time, shove all-in with AK off, get called by pocket Js, don't catch and it's done.

I head on over to the Grand Luxe and treat myself to a Cajun Ribeye at the bar (excellent) and I'm satisfied and kill some time before the Venetian 7pm tourney.

I play better than I've played the entire trip during the tourney and make it to the final table with the chip average. 106 people were in the tournament, so it paid the top 9 and I'm happy. The hand that made me was when I hit a set of 4s and doubled-up with about 16 players left. I'm in good shape.

I get the best seat on the final table as there is a completely drunk guy with an enormous chip lead and I have position on him. I like it.

I run pretty bad and get chipped down a bit while playing very tight. Two people get eliminated and we're down to 7 when I get dealt pocket 9s. I'm second-lowest in chips at that point, so when UNG raises enough to cover me I shove all-in. UNG is second in chips and a pretty loose player, so I think I'm good until the button calls.

We're all-in three-handed. UNG has just KJ while the button has AQ. I have to avoid a lot to chip up, but the board runs out rag, rag, rag, rag, rag and all of the sudden I'm second in chips.

I play very tight again until we're three-handed. The incredibly drunk guy is still in as he busted out one lady with his 10 5 off-suit sucking out her AK, so yeah, I thought I was in good shape.

We got to the point where all three of us were pretty even in chips and I'm dealt K10 on the button. I raise 60K which is about 1/3 of my stack. Small blind (good player) considers it for a long time and then calls while drunkard folds in the BB. I tell myself that if he checks to me that I shove no matter what before the flop.

Flop comes Q, 5, 7 and he quickly checks. I don't know why, but I check as well. Turn comes and it's a J and I'm open-ended. He checks to me and I shove this time as I think my K high is still good and I'm open-ended. He calls and yes, he hit his J.

I don't catch up and I'm busted out at 2am while winning a sweet 1400, but I'm still upset with how I played the last hand. It was the first hand of the entire night where I felt I made a mistake and I can't get over it. I go to bed, leave early the next morning and then realize that all things considered I had a damn good trip to Vegas.