I slept until 10. wow. I told my wife that today WAS my actual birthday, and my plans were to play the best, meaning the 12 noon Venetian MTT. She wanted a spa day anyways, so we agreed to meet at the V after she got beautiful on me. I get there in time to try and make my buy-in for 45 minutes. Fail. Get aggro on a 1-2 table full of Walter Matthaus and Don Ameches- good recipe for rinsing off a stack or two. Make a little bit back, but still down -100. Buy in at $150.00, and it’s a rough start.
The tournament is one of the better dailies in LV. They get over 65 players as I recall, great for a Monday. I make steady progress.
Big hand 1- I started at the final table, so its great knowing I never move, and players move here. A young lady with a lot of chips move to seat 4, and I’m in 7, with the button. Total limp pot, and I see 5h6h. call. Flop-whammo, three hearts Qhigh. Check, check, check, to me, fire 1800, since blinds were 150/300 or so, a pot bet. Girl calls. All else dump. Turn is a payola card, the Ace-d. She checks, I shove after tanking. She really tanks, decides to call for the 18k I’ve shoved. She’s got Ah and I show the flopped flush. The river is harmless as I make a big double up to have a great stack.
Big hand 2- 600/1200, again with the button. Limp, limp, me see JJ. I make it 7000, with about 28,000 behind. Blinds fold, big stack who has been leaking for an hour decides “time to gambol”, and shove another 14,000 on top of the 7,000. I call, and turn ‘em over. He’s got K-10o…wow. Terrible call. Flop is all him, K and two rags, I have no hope for anything running, and get crippled. One orbit later I’m gone in 18th place as my pocket 7s get called with AJo. He makes a straight with that chit and its over. I find my wife, play a little slots to get the hotness out. We decide to go to the Mirage to pick up our show tickets for tomorrow night, and then walk back to PH. She says she’s gonna nap before our 715pm dinner at MonAmiGabi- which is my cue to stop at Ballys to try and recoup. Its 500pm, and I’m still burning from the KO.
I get a seat right away, at a great, loose table. Nice stacks, very touristy. I play LAGgy, and pretty much rinse off 140 or so. I get them in with QQ, and my style gets a caller. Double the pathetic $60, but later get hammered some more, and need to rebuy one redstack. Great – in for $300 in this game. Two hands get me back and then some. Qc2c from the BB and I call $10- the small blind made it 10. Button stays, 30 PF. A Yahtze flop for me, 3 clubs. SB makes it 20, I flat, and the button flats after thinking long and hard. Hmmmm. Turn is harmless, SB now checks- I make it $100 to go, needing to get either a set or an Ac outta here if I can. Button tanks, folds, and the SB tosses in his remaining 80. River is a pairing 4d, and the Button starts yapping about how he folded a set, and how I made a good bet. Thanks pal.
Last big hand is a three-way with the same SB guy, rebought for a hundo, and a LAGgy type French kid in seat 2. (I’m in 7) Frenchie is first, I’m last as I see A6d and call for the $8.00. Flop 2d4d6h..wow. Frenchie checks, Silent guy slides 20 in there?, and I then put in all in. Frenchie calls, saying he’s forced to, and Silentguy folds his tent. I tell Frenchie I think we’re both drawing to the Ds, but I got a pair. I’m right as he turns over Q5d as he slides in his hundo. He’s dead to a Q or 3, and the river 3d helps me finish him off. I get out of there up +150, getting back some from the V session.
I make it to the room in time to clean up for our great birthday dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, at Paris next door. Now, my wife speaks French fluently, it was her college major. We get a great table inside the glass, with views of the Bellagio fountains erupting every ten minutes. Food was plentiful and tasty. I recco the Beef Bouguigion, with Caesar Salad. Top it off with the chocolate pecan tart, and you are done, man. This place lived up to its billing.
My wife is tired, and says she wants me to go play at the Bellagio w/out here. So, I do promising to be back at a decent hour. Right. She’s playing slots at PH anyways- I know all that. I get seated at the B around 10pm, in a juicy 1-2 game, 200max. Its been a long time since I’ve played here, and I’m happy to start a this level, not knowing much about anyone here. Big stacks here, the other end has seats 7-600, seat 8-500 and seat 9, and incredible 900 in bills and a few hundo in red scattered about. It is cool having my back to Bobby's Room, knowing that Doyle and Lyle Berman are playing right behind me tonight.
Total card deadness for 3 hours. Amazing that I still have around 100 in front of me. I’ve been stealing whenever I could, but I’m ded. Then even my steals fail. I’m down to 25, and need to rebuy for a hundo. Meanwhile, seat 8 cashes, Seat 9 is getting more intoxicated, and seat 7 appears rather inept despite his stack. I need to stick around. Finally, sonme chinks in their armor. Seat 4 to my left makes a pure double-up on seat 9, playing 10-6suited passively on a harmless looking flop. A on the turn get seat 9 fired up, chatty, telling him to fold his obviously inferior hand. Seat4 calls, and the river 6 makes him the boat, unknown to the drunk. 9 makes it 100, and seat 4 plays him perfect, tanking, shoving, and waiting. Mr drunk then tanks, turns his A over, and says “do you want a call?”. No comment from 4- wow. He gets the call, and turns 275 into 550 rather quickly. This is the true beginning of the end for the kid who can’t handle it. Now, he gets real agro, making big c-bets, which all get called, and he orders a few more beers. I tell my end of the table that the rest of his stack has a half-life of 35 minutes. He’s now under 400.
He bet into my set once, but folded a river bet. Same with Mr.Tight, a DonKnotts type in seat 1 who culled 200 from him. Seat 4 clipped another 100, and it was all over in less than an hour for the kid who can’t handle either his stack or his beer. A cool 1000 in a 1-2 game at Bellagio donked off in about 4 1/2 hours.
Its now close to 300am, so much for getting in early. I cash for 295, down just 5 on the night. I try the HeadsUpTexas Hold’em game on the way out. Its OK, just play aggressive is what I’ve read. I make ten bucks on it, deciding I’d rather play live, and call it a night. Its been a long day with nuttin to show for it, but it’s a birthday in Vegas.

Tuesday is our last full day in LV, and we need to do some Xmas Shopping. We complete the feat at Miracle Mile shops, and then Forum shops. Our main goal today is to see Terry Fator at Mirage, 730pm. Wife bought the tix in advance for my b-day present. I’m glad we got the tix in advance, as he’s sold out. We can walk right in.
We end up playing 3-6 limit at Mirage, getting there at 400pm. More card death. The only big hands I get are against my wife…jeeze. I get it all in w/QJ, telling her I need runner/runner against her on an Ace rag flop. Of course it comes K-10 and I double up on here. Chit, she’s the last person I want to piss off. I was just donking, trying to dump to her and rebuy. Oh well. At 530 we decide to dine at CalPizzaKitch, before the show. We’re both out about 80, and the horse bets I make during dinner bring that total to -130. Some slot play after make it down 180 for the day so far. I know better too, but still feel leaky.
Hey, the show was great. A Very Terry Christmas. This guy has talent, just like the show said. I am impressed by his reditions of Bing Crosby, David Bowie doing Drummer Boy, Dean Martin, Elvis, Etta James. Non stop over 90 minutes. Plus, the wife did it up big with our third row end seats- I’ll need to see the Amex bill to get a final figure, but I’m sure they were pricey.
After the show, she wants to play more 3-6. OK with me, but let me go to 1-2NL. So we split up. I get Table 1, up in the corner of the balcony. Nice and quiet. One big stack in seat 4, and I’m in 2. I buy for 240.00. I make a few big hands right away, and get complimented by everybody- well, except one guy. “Tex” and his wife are down in seat 7 and 8. It appears to me he’s been table captain all night, and he didn’t like anyone coming in making money on his table at all. The only thing is, he’s a horrible player.
IN a six way limped pot, Tex shoves with 100 in late pos, showing his ace/rag after all fold. He does it again to a shortstacker old man tourist, hitting A6o on the guys 1010 and cleaning him for 50. OK, I’m likin’ this stuff.
Tex eventually looses, rebuys, wins, basically keep about 100 in front of him. I see K-10h in early pos with him and anotherI had made it 8.00 to go PF. Flop-a-rooski for me, I check KK7, neighbor bets 20, Tex flats, and I make it 100. Neighbor folds, saying “there’s only two Kings in the deck” Tex calls the bet, putting him all-in, and triumphantly turns over the K5o. It runs out J and 2, and Tex goes pale as my kicker puts him in clear 2nd place. Nice. Tex requests a table change, and I’m looking at 625 in front of me.
It pretty much stays that way for the rest of the evening. I got it in big against the Asian Law Student from Dartmouth, and boy did he have me. Big PF bets, about 50 in the pot. I have AcJc, and he calls. Flop A-r-r, and I make it a pot bet, and get flatted. Radar!. Turn is a pairing 8, no flush. Jeeze…I make it 100. calls. River, the miracle J. I tank, think, shove. He tanks, calls- with AK. Wow. That made my night, and ruined his.That kept me at plus 400 for this game. I’m outta here, as is wifey who is up some 90 or so at her limit game. Our cab gets to PH in no time. We slot it for a few minutes, and I hit the Buffalo machine right away for a $60 bonus. Done- 100am. She stays. I never see her until I wake up at 900am.
I ask how she did, and when she doesn’t answer me I know its bad news. She confesses she had another Buffalo up to 550, gave it all back, and totally lost all her cash allotment for the day. Oh, well. Thank gawd I use the daily envelope system for her. I’m never expecting her to win anything, anyways.
Wednesday is our takeoff. We have breakfast at PH’s Spice Market buffet for the 2nd time- a great breakfast buffet. We are left with about 90 minutes before we need to taxi to McCarran. Back to the Buffalos! I bonus it again for 70, and quit. She plays, and hits a huge bonus- 175.00 in one repeating bonus spin. We venture over near the front door, and try another, and she bingoes that one for about 125. A cool 300 return for my wife on our way home. We’re happy.
I haven’t mentioned much about the PH poker room- its just not for me. LOUD. I played once for only 20 minutes, after night one. Not worth talking about. Dumped a hundred, but its way too loud for me late-nights, and I’ve tried their MTT before. Too fast a structure, blind start at 100-200 or something like that.. OK for some.

Cash won comes to +1200 or so. I don’t do a perfect count in LasVegas because I’m just not that into it. Cash rinses include cabs, tips, snacks, stuff…you know, Vegas crap.
The week starts with 3k in my pocket and ends with 4.2k. We charge all meals, and look to get some wipe-off from our host after. Meals ran about 650, 400 at Harrahs properties. Our nice host comped the Breakfasts at Dailies and Spice, KOing the tab down another 125.00. rooms were comp
I’ve got some spare chang for that necklace she wanted for Xmas.