Day 1 – Arrived in Vegas around 8pm. Hopped in a taxi and asked the driver to take me to Treasure Island, but “don’t take the tunnel.” He asked “No tunnel? But it’s faster.” I insisted no tunnel and he complied. The fare ended up right at $20, which I’m pretty sure is cheaper than when I got tunneled a couple months ago, but not by much. No problem getting checked in to my comped room at TI, and the room was great. I also got a comped room at Flamingo along with a voucher for a free cruise, so I checked in there too, but the rooms are nicer at TI, so I slept at TI. I just didn’t feel like poker that night, so I played blackjack at Caesar’s. I dug almost a $600 hole for myself but fought back out of it and cashed out ahead $200. I went back to TI, and looked for a $1 slot machine to try $20. There weren’t any $1 machines right in front of me, but there was a $5 machine that seemed to be calling my name. I put $15 bucks in and decided to try 1 pull for 3 credits. Blue 7, Blue 7, Blue 7… $250. I cashed out and called it a night.

Day 2 – Up early, steak and eggs special at Flamingo for $5.99. Not bad. Over to Mirage for some 1-2 NL. First hand, I get pocket 9’s. Didn’t cost much to see the flop, so I play. XX9 on the flop. Player 1 bets $10, I call. Blank on the turn, player 1 bets again, I call. Another blank on the river, player 1 bets $20. I raise $50 and he folds. Nice intro to the Mirage room. After a couple hours I tripled my buy-in from $200 to $600 and decide to take a break. Spent a couple hours at the TI pool, then headed to Caesar’s for the 2pm tourney, 15,000 chips for $235, 51 runners, top 7 get paid. I played solid, and had some luck when I needed it, made it to the final 6 after 8 hours of play. We decided to chop the pot based on chip counts. I ended up ahead over $1,000 bucks after the buy-in and tip. It’s a great feeling to make it that far, but man I was worn out. Everyone was tired and the blinds were so high, the poker part of the game seemed to be over so chopping seemed best for everyone. Up $1400 for the day was enough for me. Headed back to TI in time to catch the Prime Rib special at the Coffee House. Great meal for $22.

Day 3 – Went ahead and checked out of TI and moved everything to Flamingo. Had a $5 off coupon for Augustus Café at Caesar’s. Their steak and eggs was $18, but that’s all I ever seem to eat for breakfast in vegas. It turned out to be well worth it, much better quality than the cheaper breakfast deals. Played some 1-3 NL at Caesar’s. Their “splash the pot” promotion was running. The house adds $50 to the pot for one hand at the top of the hour. I get dealt A-8, and the flop is AAX. There might have some betting in there but when the fourth Ace came out on the river I had to bet some more. Of course I took down the pot with quad aces, unfortunately no high-hand bonus, since I only had one Ace in my pocket. I cashed out and jumped into the 9am tourney for $80. I won some decent pots and was pretty active to start the tourney. I got dealt AQ, and the flop was QXX. Player 1 bet, I raised, and player 1 went all-in. Top Pair, Top Kicker, and no read on this guy yet, so I have to call. Wish I hadn’t when he turns over pocket Kings… Crap, no help to come and I’m the first one out of the tourney. Back to the cash game and I lose what I had won earlier and then some. Time for the 11am tourney at Mirage, $80 for 7500 chips and there’s $25 bounties. I was card dead at the start then I finally got something I could play, pocket Jacks. Flop came all low cards, so I bet with my Jacks, player 1 goes all in with about half my stack. I call and lose to his bullets. I manage to hang around and make it to the final three with four bounties. This paid enough to put me ahead $8 for the day. I also think I learned better posture and how to relax because these 5 hours of tourney didn’t hurt me nearly as much as the previous night’s 8 hours. Had a coupon for a burger, fries and shake at Bill’s for $4.99. Great deal and was just the right amount of food. Then went to Planet Hollywood for some more 1-2NL. Bought in for $200. The table was really loose, half the table playing the straddle when it was their turn. I got up to $400 when the monster hand of hands comes up. I’ve got pocket 10’s and raise to $6 pre flop which thins the field a little bit. Flop comes 6-8-10 rainbow. Player 1 bets $25, Player 2 raises to $50, I call. Player 1 than re-raises all-in with about $400. Player 2 insta-calls. I’ve got top set and am thinking there’s no way I can fold here. What can they have? AA? KK? Smaller set? I honestly didn’t see the straight possibility so I called. Player 2 shows 6-8 for two pair, player 1 shows 7-9 for the straight and I am behind. I call for the dealer to pair the board, the turn brings no help. Come on dealer, pair the board. The board-pairing 8 on the river fills my boat and I triple up to $1200. and this is a $1-$2 game? Gotta love No Limit. The next hour goes by and I can’t lose. One hand, an opponent slow plays his bullets to the river and then pushes. I call because the river completes my straight and I take down another good pot. Another hand, a different opponent bets his bullets every step, but I already flopped a set to my cowboys. I get cowboys again and have to slow down on a flop of AAJ, my opponent min bets each step until the river and then goes all-in. Because of my monster stack, and feeling that he only has a jack, I call and show my kings. His cards go into the muck and another pot comes my way. The dealer suggests I try the $1 Wheel of Fortune with the luck I’m having. When I’ve got over $2,200 in front of me from a $200 buy-in, I announce to the table, that I’m playing one more orbit and I’m through. I’m sure the players wanted a chance at winning their chips back but were also glad to see me leave. One of the players asked the dealer for my seat, I hope it worked out for him, but I didn’t stick around to see. I took the dealer’s advice and put $100 into the $1 WoF for a chance at a $1.3 million jackpot. No jackpot, but after several free bonus spins, I cashed out $600 for a decent profit. Gotta check-out and head to the airport soon so I head back to Flamingo to get my stuff. I tried a couple more slot machines along the way with no luck, and decided to give blackjack another try when I got back to Flamingo. Lost $500 in about 5 minutes, guess that’s why they call it the devil’s game. Finished the trip ahead almost $4,000 so I can’t complain. Think I’ll stick to Poker from now on and stay away from blackjack. Can’t wait to get back to vegas to do it again, hopefully within a couple months.