Vegas update #1

OK landed in Vegas and was dead tired. I hadn’t slept much the last 2 days because of job interviews. Last interview went great but once again I don’t have all the training they’d like me to have so I’m not holding my breath on any of them. Hooked up with Moki and he took me on a tour of a couple of the casinos. The tournament room in the RIO is massive. If you’ve ever watched the WSOP coverage on ESPN you’ve seen the room but its so much bigger in person. It has 2,000 people playing poker in it, not to mention the dealers, tournament staff, reporters, friends standing around the tables. Its just amazing. We spent the night at Casa Fuente smoking/drinking late into the night. Then I had a party to attend back at the Rio for Cardplayers.com. I got there late but the party was still going strong. I finally left around 4am after having spent several hours talking poker and strategy with one of Cardrunners top pros. Overall though I’m not all that impressed with Vegas. Its so damn hot. Its over 110 degrees and the locals tell me its cooler now than the last couple of weeks when it was around 120. And man its so expensive to get around town. Cab rides are $5 for the 1st mile and $2.50 a mile after that. And the Rio where the tournaments are isn’t close enough to walk to anything so I have to cab to get there every day or walk ½ a mile to another Harrah’s properties to try and catch the shuttle which runs every 30 minutes. But they start late and shut down earlier than is convenient for me. The city looks nice especially at night when it’s all lit up but between the heat, the crowds, and the prices I’m just not as excited about it as I thought I would be. But anyway today was my 1st day in a tournament. Played the afternoon $550 buy in event which payed out 1 out of 20 a seat. Below is part of what I typed up as a trip report on another site and I’m lazy and just cut/paste it here. Today Moki and I played the 4pm sat. I was a card rack in the 1st 3 levels. AA 2x, AK 2x, KK once. I was still at my starting stack nearing 1st break even after getting paid off a couple times. A couple very loose agro guys either 3 bet me pre, or CRAI on flops. I had only shown down AK once and AA 2x. Those were my only showdowns so I look like a complete nit. Blinds are going up and I have about 11BBs. 3 guys limp and I shove A7s and everyone folds. Next hand I get KK on the btn. 1 limp, I raise, SB shoves and I call he had 53o and doubled me up. At 1st break I'm 2.5x the starting stack and somewhat above average.Get back from break and I get KK but no action when I 3 bet. I kept slowly chipping up but the blinds are rising and most people are getting below 10BB stacks. LP agro kid with 12BBs raises and I shove TT he had KK and cripples me with 150 left. I steal once or twice and then just sit back playing the waiting game as I had enough chips to wait. I get 88 UTG and shove and moron on the button calls all in with 44 and doubled me back up again. Next orbit blinds go up and I'm down to about 6BBs. I shove K7s UTG+1 and get 2 calls behind me. One guy had A9s and the other AQo. Flop comes T98 giving me the straight and flush draws. Turn is a 6 giving me the straight, but the river is a J giving AQ the 3 outter and eliminated me with about 110 players left and top 20 get a seat in the Main Event. I win that hand and I was back above average at a very weak table. I blame it on Moki busting out cause after he stopped by my table to tell me he was going to dinner I ran horrible. lol Hopefully we both have better luck tomorrow.

Also not sure how much I'll get to update as my cell connection here through my laptop is really bad. I'll do what I can but not sure I can do daily updates but obv if I get a seat or something huge happens I'll do my best to get it up on here.