I went to Vegas for a 5 day trip to meet a bunch of guys from work to watch the beginning of the March Madness tourney and to also play poker. I have never played a NL live game and have pretty much been playing LHE in Vegas and some Indian casinos over the past 7 years. I planned on playing NL 1-2 on this trip as well as a tournament.

I usually stay at the Orleans and have done so over the past 5 years. Until this trip, I have never played in their poker room (last few trips, the waiting list was long and my time was short). I checked in to the Orleans Hotel on Monday (3/12) around lunchtime. Got settled into the room, rested for a while and then headed downstairs to check out the poker room. I was kind of suprised at how crowded the room was, especially for a Monday afternoon. I later found out that the daily noon tournamnet had just started. Anyhow, I decided to warm up with some 2-4 limit HE. I was able to sit down immediately to a full table. It only took me a short while to determine who the tight locals were (waiting for the jackpot I suppose) and who the tourists were (some ok some playing for the first time). The locals were ok I guess. They played kind of tight and only really bet out when they had a winning hand. A couple of the tourists would pretty much call all the way to the end (as I had guessed would happen at the 2-4 after reading the reports on this outstanding web site). I played that first day from 1Pm to 7PM. The table was fun and we had good conversation and laughs. I wish I had signed up first for a player card, but didn't do so until I had been at the table for the first 5 hours. After all was said and done, I walked off the table with 185 bucks (started with 100). Not a killing, I know, but it was good practice, entertainment and had a bunch of beer!

First Day- up 85 (poker) up 100 (NBA)= +185

Day Two (Tuesday).

We were a group of 10 guys from work and I was the first to arrive. The others were not going to arrive in Vegas until Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Tuesday, I pretty much relaxed around the hotel. Went swimming in the morning and got a good work-out. i planned on playing the Tuesday noon tourney, but lost track of time and got to the poker room (Orleans) around 1PM. This time I checked in with my Orleans players card and again sat at a 2-4 limit HE game. This time, the room was less crowded, but the 2-4 table was full. Not as many locals this time and the play was much more loose. If you are patient, you can defenitely win some money. I played for 5 hours on this table (started with a 100 rack again) and by 6PM I had 230 in front of me and cashed out. Again, this is not going to make me rich, but I was happy to have two consecutive winning sessions under my belt.

Day two- Up 130 (poker) Up 200 (NBA) = +330 (tuesday) and +185 (monday) Total +415

Wednesday-

Today, I planned on playing the noon tournament at the Orleans. I paid the 40 entry fee plus the 5 dollar dealer bonus, which gave me 1250 in chips. As soon as I sat at my table, I immediately bought the rebuy (2000 chips) for an additional 40 bucks. Total cost was 85 bucks for 3250 in chips. I anticipated an early shoot out at my table (guess I am used to the pokerstars on line play money tourneys), but to my suprise, the players played the game well. By the end of round one, I was down to about 1800 in chips and felt I would be out of the tourney pretty soon. This was my first live tourney and I wanted to al least make it into the second round (which I did). On the second table, I felt I needed to make a move early, so I went all in (1800) with pocket 7's. I was called by two players. One had A-Q suited and the other had A-J d/h. I thought I would be done here. The flop came out 5-3-9 rainbow. Next came 6 and finally the river brought a rag. I tripled up on my first hand of round two. Now I felt I had some chips to work with and guessed I was about average chip stack. By the last hand of round two, I had knocked out another 3 players (given a 5 dollar casiono chip for each player I knocked out...had 25 in casino chips now). We were going into the last hand before the second round ended, and I had about 16K in chips. According to the tourney board, the average chips stack was around 4.5K, so I knew I must be in the top 10 for chips. Last hand in round two... I tell myself not to get into a fight with player to my left, who has about as many chips as I do. Tell myself to play tight and go onto round 3..... You can guess it right? 4 players at the table. Guy to the left has been aggressive, betting pre-flop 2k on average. I get j-10 spades. I bet 2k, guy to my left calls, next player folds and guy to my right goes all in for an additional 2k. I call as does player to my left. flop comes up 8-9-J rainbow. I hit top pair with an open end straight. I should have gone all in to flush gut to the left out. I bet 4k and guy to the left calls. queen comes on the turn and I made my straight. I go all in. Unfortunately, guy to the left has K-10 which makes a bigger straight and busts both me and player to my right out. That pot made hime an additional 20k and brought his stack to around 36k. My first tourney and I busted out 31st place (77 entered). I was pretty bummed that I went to war with the big stack against his and also bummed that I didn't take a bit longer to look at the board, but I had fun and learned my lesson.

After the tourney, I sat down at the 2-4 game again. I really thought I would have by now played at the 4-8 or a NL game, but I was having fun at the 2-4 and more importantly, was winning some money. I was determined to get back my 85 dollars from the tournement. Long story short, the game was much tighter and after playing for 3 hours, I was up only 35 dollars. I picked up my buddy from the airport and we headed over to Green Valley Ranch to check out the sports book. I took the Phoenix Suns (against to Dallas Mavericks) on the money line. bet 200 and won 320. took the Mavs on a half-time bet and won an additional 200. I was feeling happy again. We had dinner and decided to meet at GVR sportsbook the following morning at 7AM for day one of March Madness. I went back to the Orleans, rested for a bit and headed to the poker room by 8Pm. I told myself I would play at Ceasers and the Veneatian (as I have read so many good things on this site(, but never made it and only played at the Orleans. Now I am up 465 for the day and +875 for the trip. I was haveing so much fun (meeting some good people) at the 2-4 table, I thought what the hell. This time it was really differennt. A full table and I think 7 of the 10 players are totally new to poker and the other 2 players are fair at best. I played tight-aggressive (played with only good starting hands) at first and then played a bit looser. The stars were alligned for me on this table as I could do no wrong with this group. If they hit the flush, I had the boat...if they had thier straigh, I had a flush, etc., etc. I played for 8 straigh hours and ended at 3AM. I was the first to leave at 3AM as the table was still full. I wish I could have stayed evern longer, but knew I needed to be at GVR sports book by 7am and would only get 3 hours of sleep. In hind sight, I should have sucked it up and played until the game broke. I stared with a rack of 100 and ended the night at 460!! Had a blast and up 360 was icing on the cake.

End of day three + 1235 for the trip.

That was pretty much for me as far as poker goes. I did play my tournement, but never made it to a nl game as I had planned on. I did win another 800 betting on college ball on Thursday and ended up leaving for home early friday morning (driving back to Calif.) Over all I had a blast and one of a few trips to Vegas, where I actually made a profit (thanks to playing mostly poker and staying away from black jack and craps, etc.) And luckily, my pals are die-hard basketball fans, which helped me greatly with the picks (I dont follow basket ball...more of a baseball and football bettor). Total profit for the trip was +2035. spent about 300 for food and hotel and came home with 1700+ in my pocket. I will be going back to Vegas in late April and I will defenitely play a few more tourneys and at least one NL game...I promise.

Take care... Rob