Every year my buddy and I head out to Vegas for 5-6 days of marathon poker. This year, thanks to a discounted room, we decided to stay at The Rio Resort. I prefer to stay on the strip, but I've heard good things about the Rio so why not give it a try. We got off to a bad start. We arrived on a Monday night at 9pm and the line to check in was crazy. It was an hour before we had our keys to the room. I've never seen anything like it at any of the other resorts I've been to in Vegas. I noticed that there was a similair line every day to check in. They just didn't have enough staff to check everyone in. The room was great, but the TV remote didn't work. Three calls to the front desk and two remotes later the problem was never resolved. Well, that will be my last stay at The Rio.

Now on to poker. We played tournaments at Caesars Palace, Monte Carlo, Aria and The Stratosphere. The tournament at Caesars was a WSOP pre-event. $135 buy in, 15K in chips, no limit hold-em. What I didn't realize was that you could re-buy. I avoid re-buy tournaments because I find you get quite a few players who play wild thinking they will just re-buy. Well, the player to my left did exactly that. He played his first 4 hands without looking at his cards until the turn and betting heavy pre and post flop. On his 5th hand I had 44 so I decided to call and see the flop. The hand had 3 players with a flop of J 8 3 rainbow. It surprizingly checked around. The turn brought my 4 and a flush draw. The betting went Mr. No Look - all in, player 2 call and I pushed all-in. No Look had 2 pair (83) and player 2 hit a set of Jacks. River no help and I'm done. I can't ever remember getting knocked out of a tournament in less than 15 minutes.

I played the morning tournament every day at the Monte Carlo. It's a great way to start the day. $50 buy-in, 20 players, no pressure. Well, for the week. I cashed once, bubbled twice and no-good twice. Despite my poor showing I still had a good time and will go back again. The Floor and dealers are friendly and professional. It's just a nice place to play cards.

I played the 7pm at the Stratosphere. It's a good tournament because they usually get a good turnout (75-95) players and for $65 I feel no pressure. I played the tournament 3 times but was always at least 10 players from the money.

Now let's talk about The Aria. I like the 1pm tournament. $125 buy-in, with 75-120 players. 10K in starting chips. I played it 3 times. Only once coming close to the money. Added bonus; Doyle Brunson playing in the high stakes area. I just like saying that Doyle and I played in the same poker room.

I played cash at Planet Hollywood and The Venetian. 1/2 or 1/3 no limit holdem. I had no luck, but I got to see one player at The Venetian who was amazing. He bought in for $300 and 2 hours later he had $1000 in front of him. He played with an ease and calm that reminded me of Doyle Brunson. He called down one player who was trying to bluff him off a descent hand and he pushed all in on another player who tried to push him around. I love to see someone at the card table who can play so well.

While this trip was not a profitable one, I still enjoyed.