First,a little background. I've been playing poker for about year and a half, mostly in a regular home game. I've played at a small Native-American casino a couple times but it wasn't much fun. I watch a lot of poker on television; I really like HSP and PAD. I've also read a number of poker books but none of this scratches my poker itch, an itch that had gotten progressively worse since I started lurking on this site about 7-8 months ago. I knew I needed to get to Vegas. I'm 45 years and I'd never been to Vegas. Sad, I know.
My uncle retired and moved to Vegas recently so now I had no excuse not to go. I had a free place to stay and a free airline ticket through Alaska Airlines. My best friend agreed to go (he doesn't play poker but he's been to Vegas a few times and enjoys gambling) so we scheduled our trip.
We arrived in Vegas on Friday, Feb. 15th. That first night we just walked the strip with uncle acting as tour guide. We started at the observation deck of the Stratosphere. I'm sure to many of you that might seem lame but I thought it was pretty cool. I'm telling ya, when I watched people riding X Scream it made me queasy. I'm not good with rides, especially ones where you are hanging 900 feet above the ground. After we left the Strat. we headed south on the strip and stopped in many of the hotels along the way. Spent most of time at the Wynn and the Venetian. Both are beautiful. I took a few minutes to check out the poker rooms at both places. As most people have already stated her on AVP, they are nice looking rooms and they were both very busy. I think I saw LV Mike leaving/taking break at the Wynn - about 7:30 p.m.. Am I right LV Mike? We continued our way down the strip to the Flamingo. We had tickets to George Wallace. The show was damn good; the guy is funny. He's been around a while, I'm old enough to remember, but even you young guys would enjoy him. The tickets were only $43, seemed reasonable. We headed back to my uncle's house after the show to get a good nights sleep. Yes, I know it was only 11:00 but I am old.
Saturday we headed down to the strip so I could play some poker, my uncle could hit the table games and my friend could hit the sports book. I thought I'd give the MGM poker room a try based on AVP reviews. It didn't disappoint. I decided to play 1-2NL and bought in for $200. I wasn't as nervous I as thought I was going to be playing live in Vegas for the first time. The table was great. The players were nice enough. No jerks. No hooded sweat-shirt-sunglasses guy. Although, as I expected at the MGM I was the OLD guy at the table. I'm 45, the others at the table ranged from probably 21-32 years old. Which was fine with me. Also, the dealers were solid. They kept the game moving and had no miss deals in the time I was there. I played for just over 4 hours and left with a $350 profit. I played how I normally do, TAG. I was dealt pretty good cards but when I went through stretches where I was card dead I didn't get impatient and it paid off. I also had good reads on a few of the players and was able to call down a few hands and win with second pair. I felt great when I left. It was fun playing live in Vegas. I LOVE poker.
Sunday was as much fun as Saturday, but not as profitable. We headed back down to MGM. Bought in for $200 again. Didn't play as well today. Some of that had to do with me, some of it had to do with the table. Better players today. I was tight today but not aggressive enough. I learned today I'm an okay player but I have a lot to learn. That's okay though, it gives me an excuse to head to Vegas more often; I need the practice. After playing for 4 hours and down $200 my buddy and I went dinner and then picked up my uncle and headed to the Red Rock Casino. My friend needed to cash in a sports bet and my uncle wanted to play some 3 card poker (Red Rock is 5 minutes from his house). So I decided to play some poker. I played a bit better then I had that afternoon at the MGM but I couldn't get anything going. I left after 2 hours down about $150. I'll submit a room review soon. I left Vegas the next morning wondering how soon I can get back. I'm hoping for mid-June. We'll see. I LOVE VEGAS. Thanks to all you AVP'ers this sight is incredible!

P.S. I had the best steak dinner I've ever had on Saturday night. Del Frisco's Steakhouse on Paradise Ave. off Flamingo. Give it a try you won't be disappointed.