Like everyone else, I spent most of the day stuffing my face full of turkey, ham, pumpkin pie, etc. I came home and took a nap for 2-3 hours. I got up and my roommates were out to I went to Caesar's and sat down to play 1-3 NL. The table was horrible. There were two guys on my right who kept bragging to each other about all the things they blowing money on..."I chartered a jet to go to San Diego for dinner with my girlfriend while my wife was out of town" and "I spent almost 5k repairing my Rolex"..those were the two comments I remember most...ugh. Playing poker with two guys pumping up their self-image like that is nauseating. I finally left and decided to play the 11pm tourney. It's a $120 buyin, 4k in chips and 30 minute blinds. I was playing pretty tight, and had a couple of good breaks. I tripled up in one hand which started it all. The player to my right went all in with pocket 5s, I had AK of clubs, so I called (it was about 3000). A player behind me went all-in for about 7k, and I figured I had to call with all that money out there and the ability to take out 2 players. The third player had QQ. The flop was A-J-x, and the turn and river were blanks, so I scooped both pots. I made the final table as the chip leader. The guy in the one seat was the tourney donk. He got there by busting a player with 9/6 off against queens, he hit runner-runner 9s. His luck finally ran out. I had AA under the gun and I made the min raise. Everyone else folded to the donk, who said "You know what I'm gonna do, right?". I simply nodded and waited. He pushed all his chips in and I immediately called, forgetting there was one more player left to act (he had nothing and was gonna fold anyway). I caught him bluffing as he turned over Q8 of diamonds. The flop was three small cards, all black, and I gladly took his money, much to the delight of everyone else. He busted out two hands later when he went allin with 7/4 hearts. His opponent had KK. That took us to six players, and we agreed to donate $30 apiece to give to the bubble boy, so he got $180, while at the same time not fouling up the payouts. It was very tight from there. I had pocket 3s and hit a set on the turn, busting out a player to make us 4-handed. Finally we got to heads-up with me having a 2-1 chip lead. I got caught bluffing to give the lead up for awhile, then I got lucky and hit a str8 to get the lead back. My opponent and I went to the bathroom and to have a cigarette during heads-up and we talked and laughed the whole time (he was a good player and a great sport). The second hand after we got back, I had K9 and hit a 9 on the flop. He went all-in and I called. He had AJ and didn't hit, so I finally won. First paid $1584, and I took $1400, tipping the rest. Caesar's also gives the winner a card protector with the gladiator logo on one side and Caesar's Palace 2007 on the other.

A funny story after the tourney. I went back to play 1-3 for a little bit. Chuck was dealing, he's a regular graveyard dealer, been around the block alot, very good dealer. We were talking about the tourney and he asked what the payout was. I told him it was $1584 but I only took $1400 and tipped the rest. He laughed and said to me "You need to win more often.". I couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't making a smartass comment, he was just appreciating the tipout and like any other dealer likes players who tip to win.

Like everything else at Caesar's it was well-run, comfortable, and enjoyable. Their tourney room is as big as their main room, and it's quiet. My only two things are they play 10-handed until they get to three tables or so, and that their tourney tables don't have shufflemasters. I don't know if that's normal for tourneys or not, but they would go faster if they did.