Part 1 of 3

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007. The day had finally arrived. My first trip to Las Vegas with the sole purpose to gamble, drink and take down Vegas like the “high roller” that I dream of being. Since my first ever trip to Nevada’s little piece of Heaven less then 2 years ago, I had made two more journey’s to the City of Broken Dreams in between. (I know, I know I went from Heaven to Hell all in one line, but isn’t that what Vegas is all about?)

The first two trips were with my wife who isn’t a big gambler so it tended to cramp my perceived style. She was more into the shows and the pools and the shopping and while I love her dearly, do you know how much two tickets to “Love”, souvenirs from the show and a nice dinner out costs? I could play 6 or 7 tournaments at TI or Planet Hollywood for that kind of money! The most recent trip was in July on a family vacation as we drove to Disneyland and if I thought my wife cramped my style, bringing my three sons along as well and staying at the Excalibur for two nights really made it tough for me in my quest to become the next Johnny Chan. I could almost hear the other poker players snickering as I was dragged through the casino on the way to the pool carrying a huge inflatable dragon (damn Tournament of Kings).

Nope, my time had finally come. Just me and three buddies from my home poker game staying center strip at the lovely Imperial Palace, right in the heart of the action. Could it be that the gambling Gods were finally going to pay me off? I had been doing all the hard work necessary to prepare for this trip. Playing online, reading Super System 1 and 2, drinking American beer until 3:00 in the morning and most importantly checking out AllVegasPoker.com. The crew including me, Big Al, Lucky OT and Jason (we didn’t have a nickname for him YET) flew out of Calgary Wednesday afternoon and by the time we got to the IP it was close to 9:00 pm. All of the guys had been to Vegas a couple times before but I was the most experienced Casino Player of the bunch having played one tournament at the Excalibur and a couple times at the Luxor, I mean how pathetic is that? A total of 10 days I’ve spent in Vegas and I’ve only played in three poker tournaments and no cash games. What have we been doing with our time? A bunch of grown men being forced to trudge through the M&M store. Well there was not going to be any of that on this trip.

After checking into the Palace we quickly hit the strip. (Tried the $20 trick, got an upgrade to a Deluxe Room which was okay and probably saved us each a ½ hour in walking through the hotel over 3 days) The plan was to wander over to TI to play the 11:00 pm tournament. When we show up there’s just a couple cash games going, so it looks nice and inviting. The room is cozy and relatively quiet so a good place for us to test the waters. About 45-50 players. The 3 others with me get seated together at the same table and I’m off on my own which is fine so I can just concentrate on the cards. My first AVP sighting is right across the table from me, Boofer is dealing. I don’t introduce myself though (too shy and it looked like he could care less) but he does a good job of dealing and moving the game along, one of the better dealers I saw all trip.

So here it comes, my first hand of the trip. I’m in late position but think to myself as the call to “Shuffle up and deal” comes, just don’t give me good cards for the first few hands so I can settle down and get a bit of a read on the other players. Boofer deals the cards, I peek, ACES ..... are you kiddin’ me!!! I have a bad feeling. Couple limpers and the guy to my right (GTR) raises 3X to $150. He looks like the young aggressive type but it’s hard to get a read since it’s my FIRST FREAKIN’ HAND! I decide to test him and re-raise to $500 and he calls. Flop comes K Q 8 .... great his AK just hit, right? He’s got a pair of Kings and I’m ahead. He bets $150, I think and call. Turn and river are blank, no straights no flushes another $800 each into the pot and I have to win this one, don’t I? What a great start to my trip. GTR flips QQ for trip Q’s and I show my AA and get the sympathy of the table as he rakes in over a 1/3 of my stack.

Vegas Lesson #1: A HIGH PAIR IS WORTHLESS ON IT'S OWN

After that hand I was stunned for a bit but I tightened up and planned on playing premium hands only, too bad I didn’t get any. GTR wins twice more with trip Q’s and I am short stacked now. Blinds are 50/100 and I’ve got about $750. I’m in the BB with 75 suited, two limpers and the SB calls, I check. I’m pretty much gonna push if I catch anything. Flop comes 852 rainbow, SB checks, I push all-in with a pair of 5’s. Early limper thinks for a bit and says “you’ve probably got me beat” and mucks KK face up with two guys still in the hand. After some collective groans from the table and a warning from Boofer the other limpers fold and I take in my first and ONLY hand .... I’m loosing to this guy? He asks if he had me beat and I tell him he “just a little bit” (duh!) A change of dealers and Nam sits down so he’ll change my luck? He’s another great dealer and entertaining, but there’s no miracle comeback stories here. Blinds are 100/200 GTR raises, I go all in for my last $850 with 55, lady to my left (LTL) calls, dude to her left (DTL) goes all in for $1300, GTR has LTL covered by lots and push her all in ($2000) which she calls. LTL shows QQ, DTL shows 88, GTR has JJ. Q hits on the flop and 5 on the river with a pair on the board. I go out with a fullhouse and beaten by QQ again.

Bad news, I’m out before the first break. Good news, there are some bad players here and I should be able to do better next time. The other guys make the break but not much longer so no one cashes. Time to get some drinks wander around and discuss our strategy. Loose $100 at blackjack and see Phil “The Unabomber” Laak playing at the Bellagio. It’s been a long day so we head to bed, but it’s a restless sleep dreaming of what the future holds. Who knew how drastically our fates would change?

End Part 1 of 3