Vegas Baby!!!

Las Vegas... Disneyland for adults... a city that is WAAAYYYYY over-the-top.

Anyhow, I made it to Vegas finally!!! (the first attempt before Christmas resulting in the plane being diverted en-route to Dallas)

After dropping my stuff off at the hotel, I went over to Caesars Palace for the 7pm poker tournament ($160 buy-in). I didn't get anything to eat beforehand, thinking it would all be over in an hour or two. (either I would crash out early, or it would be pretty quick, since casinos make their money from cash games, rather than tournaments) Anyhow, I was joined by about 70 people.

Well, I won't bore you with a hand-by-hand recap, but I played really well. No big mistakes, but after losing a "coin flip" (where there is roughly a 50-50 chance of winning or losing the hand against somebody else "all-in") I had about half the chips I started with. So... good thing I'll be out soon and can go get some dinner, right? Well no... I started accumulating a bunch of chips... playing really well...

So, about 7 hours later, I made it to the final table... where everybody would get paid out. Another hour or so later, it was 3am, I was starving, and there were 4 of us left. Winner would take $4000, 2nd about $2000, and 3rd and 4th about $900-1000. In hindsight, I should have brought up the idea of a "chop", where the remaining players agree to split the money evenly amongst themselves, but I was feeling confident. A couple of hands later... oops... a decision made from tiredness and a few too many free beers. So... out in 4th place and collecting the $900!

Not bad... but straight to bed!!!!

The next day I just wandered around town. Played a bit of poker "cash game", but wasn't really in the mood and lost about $150. Then I played a 10-person tournament ($60) at a different casino, but that was set up to run pretty quickly (and rely more on luck than skill), so I finished 5th. After winning a bit at roulette (using a coupon where your winnings would be doubled), I ended up with a profit of about $600-650. Not bad for two days work at Vegas, but a real shame I got tired when I had the chance to win $2000-4000. Oh well... next time I'll know better!!

So, after Vegas it was off to South America!!!