Sunday

This is an annual trip for a group of friends that usually includes three to five of us at time; we're pals from back in our school days, and we've been doing the trip for about 10 years now - just the guys. This year, two of us were coming in from Toronto, and one other from Winnipeg.

We departed Pearson Intl. Airport in Toronto about 45 minutes late after the flight crew informed us that "six people had checked in, checked their baggage, and then fled the airport". Nice and reassuring. The airline had to remove the offending bags and rebalance what was left.

After a flight that was otherwise without incident, we arrived at McCarran around 9:45am and were checked in at Paris by 10:30am The airport was dead, and there was no wait for a cab; it was already clear how much Vegas is suffering in the current econom. Additionally, we were able to get right into our rooms when we checked in, despite it being a Sunday morning.

After meeting up with our friend from Winnipeg, who had come in the day before, we hit the Burger Brasserie for lunch and NFL football action. Then it was off to the Premium Outlets to make sure that the wives and kids were taken care of. A tip to those of you with spouses who want to have regular Vegas trips: it's not a bad idea to bring home gifts that come from places other than the airport or the casino gift shops.

After that, I was off to the Rio to register for a blackjack tourney. I took the opportunity to try out the poker room, and jumped rignt into a 1-3 NL game without a wait. We played shorthanded for most of the time I was there, probably about an hour and a half with anywhere from 6-7 people. I played my usual style .... supertight to start, showing down only premium hands and folding a lot preflop. That bought me a few pots later on in the session when I hit nothing but represented better than what I had. I ended up booking a $115 profit for about an hour and a half's play.

From there, I hooked up with my friends again and we went to Noodles at Bellagio for dinner; this has become an annual tradition, as the food is good quality at reasonable prices. The WPT Five Diamond Classic main event was on Day 1B, but we didn't see any big name poker players wandering around. Afterwards, we headed over to Planet Hollywood for the 8PM tourney. We started off with four tables and, as luck would have it, we all three of us ended up at the same starting table. Friend #1 started making some moves and built his stack up early .. until getting caught when he four-raised (!) all-in postflop on 5-6-8r board with Ad5d. Not surprisingly, his opponent had hit his 4-7 from the big blind.

I was able to build up my stack as well, picking off bluffs and bluffing some weaker players. We got down to two tables when I took a particularly bad beat. I limped with Ah2h from middle position with a stack of 9,000 chips and blinds at 200-400. Four of us went to the flop, including both blinds and an early-position limper, all of whom I had covered. The flop came down A-8-2r. Both blinds and the early position limper checked to me, and I checked behind to disguise my holdings. I felt that any bet would have been interpreted as an ace, and I probably would not have got any action.

The turn brought a 10, bringing a two-flush to the board. The blinds checked again, and the early position limper bet about 800. I raised him back to 2700, the blinds folded and he shoved all-in for about 3500 more. I called, and he flipped up pocket jacks. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a story unless he hit his two-outer ... which is exactly what happened. I survived for a while longer, but lost when I shoved my short stack with 5-5 on a 3-4-7 flop, got called by pocket 8s, hit my 5 on the turn and lost when a 6 fell on the river. Classic 'suck/re-suck'. My other friend made the final table, but was severely shortstack and bowed out in 10th place.

Monday .... aka the 'day of quads'

As per our usual custom, the guys met at the Paris pai gow tables whenever we got up in the morning. I had a particularly good session this day, highlighted by getting dealt quad aces, and ending up $100 to the better.

After that, we travelled over to the Rio for my blackjack tourney (I couldn't catch up to the guy who won just about every hand that he played), and followed that up with lunch at the Carnival World Buffet. It's much better than I remembered from the last time we were there, perhaps 4-5 years ago. The selection was, as always, tremendous, but the quality was a big step up from the warming tray burgers that they used to have.

Played some roulette - had my last few chips on the board when I hit my number, and was able to work my way back up to even money.

After that we returned to the strip, and I spent about an hour and a half in the Bally's poker room playing a 1-2NL game. Never got much going, and I left to meet my friends at 5:30 with an extra $5 in my pocket. I asked if Frank was working, was told that he was not.

The plan at that time was to play the 7pm Caesar's tourney. We opted to skip dinner (we would either get food service at the tourney or eat afterwards if we all busted out early) and played low limit Caribbean Stud Poker at Paris instead. About four or five hands in, I squeezed out a queen .... and then four eights. I had played the fortune bonus, and the dealer qualified to book me a $7050 profit ($500 fortune, 20-1 odds on my 'bet' and even money on my ante).

From there, I floated about six inches off the ground over to Caesar's Palace for the 7pm tourney. Met Doug (Lightning McQueen here on AVP). A genuinely nice guy, quick with a smile. 89 players participated in the tourney.

In the second level, I looked down to find 10-10. The flop was good and bad - a 10 in the window turned into 10-J-Q sooooted. I bet out half the pot to see where I was in the hand, and found one caller. The turn brought a magical fourth 10, but I was unable to get any more action.

I built up my chip stack relatively early, and won a big pot with JJ vs. 66 all-in after a flop of 8-5-5. From there, i was able to skate to the final table in relatively good shape.

The final table itself was rough. Firstly; there was no bubble play, as the 10th and 11th place finishers went out on separate tables in the same hand. Secondly, we must have gone over an hour without an elimination.there were six called all-ins, and the short stack survived every one. In the meantime, I was relatively card dead, and when I finally made a move with the short stack, I picked the wrong time to do so as my all-in post-flop move was called by top pair.

So, I cashed in 9th, which was good enough for $347 ($330 after dealer tips). I joked that I should go play Let It Ride and look for quads there, too.

Both of my friends were eliminated with A-Q against A-K AIPF. One finished 46th, the other was 20th.

Oh, and I never did get to eat dinner. For some reason, the kitchen shut down at 7:30.

to be continued ...