Wow, how do you even start to talk about 4 days of poker in Las Vegas? Our first day there was a long session, until about 3 a.m. I played both 1/2 No Limit and 4/8 hi/low limit omaha. Neither game was particularly good for me and got stuck about $400. Tuesday decided to play my first tournament at the Venetian, a $150 deepstack bounty tournament ($25 bounty). I was playing tight, not getting involved in many hands. The table was aggressive and one player got knocked out early while another almost got eliminated. There were at least 4 all-ins within the first 20 minutes. My first big hand was with 2/2 against a smallish raise with a couple of callers. The flop was almost perfect: A/2/3 with 2 hearts. I checked to the raiser and he did not dissapoint, betting almost the pot. Everyone else folded and I flat called to spring the trap on the turn. The turn brought a 4, also a heart, and when I checked (a big mistake), he checked behind. Feh. Now the turn brings a 5 of hearts to put a straight on the board. With no heart in my hand (wow, now if it had been the 2///), I check/folded to his large river bet.
Now I hit my last hand of the tournament. I raised with JJ and was called by a deeper stack on the button. The flop was J/10/9 and by the opponent's face (he expressed great sadness), I could tell that he connected solidly, perhaps having a queen/ace, J/10, or even K/Q. I bet a half pot continuation bet and he "reluctantly" called. My turn bet on a brick was met with an all-in raise. I very briefly considered the possibilities, but felt that I had better than a 50/50 chance to double up. A fold would have left me with less than 1/2 my starting chips, maybe 3000 or so. Blinds were only about 100/200 so I would have been fairly short stacked. Decided to gamble and saw the bad news. He had called my preflop raise with 7/8 offsuit and had the low end of the straight. He wasn't excited to see my set, as I think he put me on aces or kings and realized I had tons of outs (10 to be exact). Unfortunately I missed and was out early. The cash games continued to elude me and dropped some more money.
Wednesday turned out to be a great poker day for me. Starting with the 11:00 Mirage $60 tournament I chopped 4 ways for about $180 (there were only 17 players and huge house cut, plus we gave the chip leader more). But, hey, a win is a win. Then sat down in the 1/2 NL game and ran pretty even until the table got short stacked. I raised with A/J of diamonds, got a couple of callers. The flop was A/K/6 and the big blind bet $20 while a lady to my right called. I briefly considered flat calling, but wanted to go heads up, so I raised all-in. He called and she folded. The turn brought the second diamond, and I had a royal flush draw. The river was a jack and he tabled A/6 for flopped two pair to lose to my rivered 2 pair. After that, the table broke down and I left up almost $300 for the day.
Moving back over to the Venetian after seeing "Jersey Boys" at Paris, played until the wee hours in a 4/8 omaha. Finished that game up a $100 or so about 1:30 a.m.
Last sessions before we left on Thursday, very short 1/2 NL stuck about $40, moved to 4/8 limit game, crushed it in 20 minutes up over $100, then moved to omaha 4/8 and quit up another $20 or so. Time to leave for the airport.
A great trip with good friends, lots of poker, stuck slightly, about $400 for the 4 days which includes all my food, taxis, tips, drinks, etc. Not bad entertainment for the price.
Recap: 1/2 NL: loss
4/8 limit: win
4/8 omaha: win
tournaments: small loss
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