Apologize in advance for the long post. Poker room reviews are at the end.

Got in Friday around noon from Lansing, MI and lo and behold who is my bus driver to the Golden Nugget -- fellow AVP'er, the infamous Cactus Jack. Enjoyable fellow and he sure does love Vegas and by the way, he is undoubtedly the most entertaining driver that I have ever ridden with.

Shortly after checking in (3pm), went down to the poker room for some warm-up before meeting everyone at PH for the 7pm tourney. Action was fairly good, but had to scale down pre-flop bet to 10, before getting any action. Got cracked early for 200 with a 2 outer flush and bought another 300. Edged that stack up to nearly 450 by nearly 430pm. We were going to leave for PH at 5pm and get something to eat before meeting up, but no I had to continue playing. 5 minutes before leaving, I had 77 in the big blind, UTG raised to 20 (huge pre-flop raise at this table!!!, button calls and of course where can I go; flop- 276 rainbow, UTG makes a 50 continuation, button raises to 150 and I'm excited and reraised another 150. UTG folds and the button quick calls for his remaining chips and shows QQ while grinning widely. Of course the turn is a Q and Jerry cashes out is remaining 80 chips for 420 downer. Ouch, woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Got down to PH around 530pm and shortly thereafter seen a smiling dude in a Vince Young Jersey. LO and behold its Tennessee's most feared poker legend -- Huddler. We sat down and played some 1/2 waiting for the others to arrive. Good session only played for less than an hour and cashed out an extra 180. Now only down 260. On the road back.

AVP, What a great group. Mike, your contributions are invaluable and definitely appreciated. I could have talked all night with this crew. But a damn tourney got in the way. Anyway we had 17 members get in the last longer pool. Was able to dodge bullets and not get any bad beats, plus having the luxury of some extremely weak players at my tables (they weren't AVP'ers) and was able to make it to the final table, but went out as the bubble person. Luckily, everyone agreed to pay the bubble guy 10 from their pocket, so I actually made 10 from the tourney. Huddler (who exited right before me) agreed to split the last longer bonus and I had made a deal with another AVP'er to split who was seated next to me when we were down to 2 tables; so I got 40 of the 170 bonus. Now only down 220.

The PH poker room was very comfortable and the dealers were up to snuff. Even tho some people complained about the entertainment that was going on next to the room, I rather enjoyed the music which was mostly 70's and 80's, plus it provided my wife entertainment while I could play poker -- what a deal she's happy and I'm playing poker.

We walked the strip to the Wynn and took the double deck public transport back to the Nugget. Liked only paying $4 to return -- the cab ride to the strip set me back $20. spoken like a true gambler -- bitch about $20 expense, but willing to call $40 with a small pocket pair with 4 other callers -- go figure. Sounds like PeopleMover and his $12 internet fee.

Becky was tired and I went down to the poker room. Wound up in probably the craziest poker game I had ever been in. At the Nugget, there is no cap on the buy-in and there was one guy (I'll call him Pockets, as in deep)there who was trying to impress his girlfriend. I don't know how much he bought in for, but Pockets probably now had over $2500 in chips. He probably played 7 hands on each orbit and would raise to $20 to $25 preflop and then follow that with an all-in raise after the flop. The whole table was trembling and praying for AA or KK. Watched one lady become so disgusted that she raised him pre-flop, then called his all-in for $800(her money) with A2 suited, he showed a K6 off, but was rewarded with a 6 on the flop that held. I took a different strategy, I bumped my starting stack to $500 and would play into to him occasionally post flop, if I could act in front of him; sometimes taking it down, but most times folding to an all-in raise.

After about an 90 minutes, I was questioning my strategy, I was up only about $20, but I was probably down $150 to him and up $170 to the rest of the table. The savior hand came in the form of J10dd, I checked he raised from the button to $25, I was the only caller from 4 limpers. Flop was 4,7,10 rainbow, I check, he goes all-in, I call. Pockets had A4, the pair of 10's held and my stack was at $495 for Pockets to ship. Unfortunately, this was one of Pockets last hands at our table, alas he had entered the tournament. I left shortly after he did -- the table was so locked down that there was virtually no action, plus they were treating me like I had just slew a dragon. Cashed out $1020. But one bright side, I'm up $300.

Went and played the Texas Hold'em table game (a weakness that I need to avoid). And gave back my profit. Back to even. Played some more poker at GN, but was to tired to play well. I'm sure that has never happened to anyone else. Folded KKdh with an eight high flop that had 3 spades to a 150 pot after a $400 all-in, he had one caller, they each had QQ. woulda, coulda, shoulda. Wife shows up, smiling, but showered and looking fresh, my god it's 7am. We use a comp for breakfast and time to rest up. Glad she showed up, I probably would have dropped $300. Now down $100.

Up at 1pm, and strolled around with Becky downtown. Played some more table Hold'em -- might as well be flipping coins. But taught my wife to play -- looks like it will be her game of choice. Walk away around even and a comp for dinner. The Nugget is great for comp meals, albeit it is always at the buffet, but it beats the alternative. Play some poker that night and lose about $300, mostly solid play, but dropped over $400 in a pot where I had pocket aces that tripped and I didn't bet enough to run the the guy off his flush draw. It was Bob Chalmers (2006 Limit bracelet winner). Nice guy and a pretty decent player. But now I'm down $400, but still feeling good about the way I'm playing and looking forward to TI Sunday evening (we're moving to Harrah's for Sunday & Monday.

Becky and I wake up and go play some table Hold'em again -- I think she is hooked. But I catch an incredible streak and go up $800 before we have to check out. No, I don't play the bonus which only pays 30-1 for pockets aces-- it's the worst odds anywhere. Now I'm up $400 overall. Whoppee!!!!

Off to the strip at Harrah's, I'm getting ready to go fishing. Of course we have to stop at the table Hold'em initially since I'm now an expert and drop $500 in about 45 minutes -- what an idiot. Last trip I won over $2500 playing poker but gave $900 back to the casinos playing that stupid game and vowed to never play it again. Went to the poker room at Harrah's and picked up another $200. Now up $100 with TI to come after a nice dinner with my baby.

Didn't feel good when I counted my trip alloted bankroll before exiting the room -- it was exactly $1300 -- yes I am superstitious, plus I made another gaff that I am funny about, I let Harrah's give me two fifties when I cashed out. I normally make it a point to never carry fifties in my bankroll. I guess I felt with my superior abilities, I could spit into the face of the poker gods that I so worship. Guess how TI worked out.

But before heading to TI, I had to stop at the table Hold'em table again -- oops -- a quick $300 drop in 30 minutes.

TI was a nice well run poker room that was exactly as described here in the forum. Loose aggressive players. Unfortunately, our table had 4 dealers from Caesar's, myself, another above average player and 3 fish. Normally I will get up from a table when I don't feel that I am one of the top 2 players. Although I wasn't intimidated, there were at least 4 other players of my caliber. But if your going to spit in the face of the poker gods, you might as well break all your rules and crap down the throats of the gods to boot. By 3am, I had frettered away $500 ($250 of it in a pot with 4 players in which in had top pair with the nut flush draw -- it didn't hit). I'm down over $800 for the night and switch to another table with the intent of getting it all back. I was the short stack by a mile with only $500 and nothing to pull from my pocket. Couldn't really get anything going , but felt good about the talent at the table, ran up to a high of $800, by 8am I finally bust out, dejected, a loser, and tired; my original $1200 bankroll gone. Call my darling wife, but no answer, go to the room and wake up a 1pm.

Catch up with Becky at O'Shea's where she is playing the table Hold'em game -- she is grinning from ear to ear and is up over $800 -- her initial bet is only $5, but she is playing the bonus (guess she wasn't listening to me when I told her it was the worst bet in Vegas). Needless to say she hit some bonuses and was telling me that I was crazy for thinking it was a bad bet. Mother knows best. And anyway who am I to argue now that I'm busted.

Luckily she takes my losses well in stride, probably because she is up over $1000 overall. We have a nice dinner after sightseeing and retire to the room. The next morning, she gives me $178 in chips from Harrah's. And I go down to the poker room and cash out with $240 after about an hour playing with the biggest rocks. Oh boy, only down $1160 now. Decide to play in the Caesar's noon tourney after checking out -- our plane out doesn't leave until 11:30 pm.

Played really well in the tourney, but finished in 10th place of 81 players -- they paid 9. Didn't put any bad beats on anyone, but had 3 placed on me. One happened with 13 players left. I caught a guy in the cookie jar with K6 off pre-flop when I had AQc. He was overcommitted with his first bet and called my all'in. Flop was KKJ and a 6 followed on the turn. TOAST. But my remaining chips put me in 10th place with the big blind on top of me. If my hand had stood I would have been in 3rd in chip count. Still I felt good about how I played and I probably needed that more than anything else.

With only a few hours remaining Becky and I ate a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory in the Forum shops.

While walking back to Harrah's to pick up our luggage and head for the airport, we realized that we had about 40 minutes to kill. So, we stopped into O'Shea's to play some table Hold'em. With my outstanding performance so far, I had to have my wife stake me $100 to the game. Also, I had to play the bonus because "that is how you win at this game". Who am I to argue, she is up over $1000 and I'm down over $1000. Unbelievably, in a 30 minute stretch, I only lose about 3 to 4 hands, but most importantly I had AK suited twice and AQ suited on the last hand played, I cashed over $600.

But after paying my baby back $400, I am still going to return home with over $300 in my pocket. And she has doubled her original $500. So we went out with $1700 and returned with $1350, after spending over $800 on meals, incidentals, and entertainment. We met a lot of great people, had a lot of fun, learned not to piss off the poker gods, and look forward to our next trip.

Poker room reviews:

Golden Nugget- nice room with a good layout, the competition was average to weak, chairs comfortable, dealers competent, good music (70's & 80's) and there were always someone at the table ready to give away their money. Didn't play any tourneys here only cash (1/2), but be ready to be at a table with someone who buys in with a pile of chips and wants to bully everyone. On return trips I will probably make this my mainstay due to the competition and my comfort with downtown.

Harrah's -- room was away and closed off which didn't really make you feel that you were in a casino until you went to the bathroom. Staff weren't overly friendly and the dealers made you feel obligated to tip regardless of pot size. Competition was average and favored the aggressor with the tight players. Probably won't play there on return trip unless we stay there again and only for convenience.

Treasure Island -- as advertised, I just elected to break every rule that I make for myself. I will definitely play there again, but follow my rule of changing tables when I don't feel that I am a clear cut top two player at the table regardless of how bad the other players are. The dealers do pressure for tips. There are a lot of locals who frequent the room to pick up easy money, just make sure that you aren't at a table full of them.

Planet Hollywood -- really nice comfortable room, although some people do not enjoy the entertainment adjacent to the room, I found it appealing. The dealers appeared appreciative to any tips and they didn't solicit. The tourney was well run with merely average players (except for the AVP'ers)and the cash game appeared soft with a $12 pre-flop raise being the norm. I will definitely return here.

Caesar's -- very well run tourney with a great structure and good payouts. My first table was a dream starting table -- only had 2 poker players and 7 fish who were waiting for cards. Will definitely play this tournament again.

Probably the best part of the trip though was spending time with my wife. As any poker player knows the lowest feeling is when your bankroll is depleted. But Becky picked me up and reminded me that poker is how we were able to make this trip and that I was playing on money that was taken from the games that I play back here in Michigan. Learned not to piss off the poker gods and am definitely looking forward to our next trip.