THE BAD - Arrived on Super Bowl Sunday, not by choice, but for a business conference. Staying at the Westin, so checked out Bally's across the street. The poker area is in the middle of everything and not really a separate room, but the service was fine and there wasn't a wait to get into a 1/2 NLHE game. I'd like to blame my horrible showing on jet lag, but it was more because I spent too much time watching TV and not enough watching the other players. Got decent cards from time to time, but played them poorly (slow playing big hands allowing others to hit their draws) or didn't watch betting patterns and put people on the correct hands. Typical hand - had AK and the worst player at the table (to my right) called my pre-flop raise. Flop comes A,K,6 rainbow. He checks, I make small bet to keep him in the hand and get called. Turn is a 10 and again I make a value bet and get called. River is a Q. He makes a pretty sizeable bet and I call without even thinking about it - he has K,J and hit the straight. It was so obvious - the guy across the table said "you had to know that's what he was holding". The night got so bad that another player at the table (who had been consistently winning, especially against me) called my $15 pre-flop raise with 4,4 (I had aces), called a $20 bet after a A,2,5 flop, wouldn't bet so I could check-raise after a rag on the turn, and then called my all-in after (you can see it coming, can't you) a 3 hit on the river. A relatively expensive ($200) night, but a good lesson for the rest of the week - this is not my home game. Not all of the players are great, but there's enough good ones that you better be focused. Overall rating on the Bally's room - OK. Average dealers, nothing special at all in terms of atmosphere, and an average mix of players with no locals, but they were probably staying away because of the Super Bowl.

THE GOOD - PART I - Didn't play again until Wednesday - conference ended Tuesday and my wife came into town. She plays too, which is really cool because I don't have to worry about leaving here stranded while I play and we can trade stories about hands we are playing. We wandered over to the Wynn in the morning with no real intention of playing - just wanted to see the room after reading the reviews on this site. Wow - it was just beautiful. It's in a separate section of the place so there's no noise or smoke, and the tables, staff, and everything about it was first class. We decided to get on a list for a 1-3 NLHE table, and in about 20 minutes one was put together. From the start it was clear that 6 of the initial 9 players were local, regular players who were very into the game. One was only playing until his regular 20-40 Omaha game got started, so this game was nothing but a warm up for him (we bought in for $300 each, most others bought in for $500). Between my experience Sunday and the intimidating atmosphere, I really stayed focused and held my own for the most part. My best moment - called a small raise from the BB with A,2 suited. Flop comes 3,4,5 rainbow and check to the raiser who has 9,9 - he bets and it gets folded to me and I call. Turn is a 9 - I bet, get raised and I go all-in. My hand holds up. Then the guy tells me "I knew from your reaction that you loved that flop and figured you for a set". Freaks me out - I was sure I didn't do anything to give my hand away. Anyhow, I beat him on another hand a little later and he leaves, and one of the other locals told me I had really put him on tilt, that he was a very good local player who is great at reading people and he was not BSing me when said he had a good read on me. I left with $525, so up $225. Overall, the locals there were extremely tough but very nice as long as you play the "right way". For example, you ALWAYS chop when it folds around to the blinds. I'd definitely go back, but only if I'm well rested and not drinking. Dealers are very good as is the staff - friendly and knowledgeable. Get there early, as there was a pretty big waiting list by the time we left.

THE UGLY - Went to Harrah's on Thursday for their 3PM tournament. $100 Buy-in with no re-buys. I really like the atmosphere at Harrah's - not intimidating like the Wynn or Bellagio, and not out in the open like Bally's or a lot of others we passed by. Anyhow, only 20 players so they only paid two places and it went quickly - blinds went up every 15 minutes. Played very well with not great cards and was chip leader when we got down to one table. Then cards absolutely dried up and couldn't even consider stealing with one of my 9,2 or 6,3 holdings because someone always made a big raise/went all-in before it got to me. Held on until it was three-handed but was short-stacked. Got A,8s and pushed all-in, but both of the other players called and it got checked down. BB also had A,8 and SB had A,5 and couldn't even get a chop - a 5 had come up on the turn.
Played 1-2 NL cash game there several hours that night and lost another $150 - was ahead for most of the time but started splashing around when I shouldn't have and then tried to steal at the wrong times. Bummer day all around.
Then on Friday (our last day there), we went back to Harrah's for the 11AM $50 NLHE tournament. 50 players max, with a $40 re-buy in the first hour (don't have to bust out or anything to re-buy), with new players coming in if someone gets eliminated. Again, I start out playing really well, picking good spots to raise, making really good reads, and getting my chips in with the best hands. Then the first of two hands that destroyed me - had K,K in late position, had 5 limpers in front of me and made a 5x BB raise. BB thought about it a bit (so I knew I had him dominated) and went all-in. He had just re-bought but I had him well covered and instantly called - he had 8,8. His third 8 came on the turn and I was crippled and decided to re-buy. Next time around I was in BB and the SB made a very big raise, so I put him on J,J or Q,Q (he did have the queens) so there were only three hands I could have to consider calling and looked down to see one of them - A,Ks. In these tournaments with 15 minute blind levels you have to win a couple of coin flips so I called. I lost, but took some consolation in the fact that the guy I lost to was genuinely a good guy (we'd been chatting it up a lot) and ended up winning the tournament. I wasn't sure I wanted to play any more after my consistently bad results over the past two days, but my wife was on the list for the 1-2 NL game and talked me into getting on the list too. Glad she did.
THE GOOD - PART II - Got on the 1-2 NL table with a mix of locals, three old rich guys from Texas, and several young internet players. I got in the zone with good reads, perfect bets, and a nice mix of cards. This table either limped or made 2-3x BB raises that made it easy to hang in with as you build your stack. Best example - had A,9 of spades in position and faced a $12 raise with three callers. When the flop came up three spades, I called the initial raiser's bet (he had top two pair), bet after he checked on the turn just enough to get a call, and when the board didn't pair and he bet $50 on the river, I went in the tank long enough before raising all-in that he said he didn't believe I had it and was just trying to bully with the big stack that he called - took $250 from him in that one hand. There were lots more like that, but to make an already long story short I cashed out after three hours with over $1,100, which isn't bad at all for a 1-2 game. Couldn't have stayed longer, but we had dinner/show reservations. It was like making a long birdie put on the 18th hole - definitely going to bring me back again.
Overall, the Harrah's room is nice and the competition is a real mixed bag. There were a few maniacs in the tourneys, but overall the people we sat in the cash games with were great - some of the locals and the old guys from Texas were hilarious. The room is never full, so you can get in either limit or NL games with virtually no wait. The service is just fine both from a management and drink standpoint - just a really laid-back place that we enjoyed a lot.