Ok, first thing I have to say about Vegas is it's fucking awesome. Unfortunately I was only there for 2 days, but I'm already thinking about trips back there in the near future. Everything's bigger/better/brighter than I was expecting, and I was expecting a lot.
I was staying at a hotel off the strip, just opposite the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino. Of course, first thing I had to do upon arrival was get myself straight across there for a quick gamble. Now, believe it or not, I'd never been into a casino before, but as soon as I walked in it was like entering heaven. Being the Hard Rock Casino, it was full of great music, hot rock-chicks in bikinis and, of course, lots of chances to gamble. I wanted to keep things small before heading to the strip, so just put $2 in some crazy machine, and two spins later I was printing a ticket for $30, cashing it in, and heading back to the hotel
That was the last of the winning for day 1, as we headed for a meal and a limo ride down the strip. I spent the rest of the evening putting the $30 back into slot machines, checking out various casinos, and (unsuccesfully) trying to spot poker celebs at the Bellagio. And getting drunk.
Day 2, the plan was to hit the poker tables early and play for 24h before getting out of Vegas. Only problem was my bankroll of $200. Doesn't stretch too far playing $1/$2 NLHE, when a standard pre flop raise is $14, and even more when the straddle's on.
Anyway, managed to get into the Monte Carlo for about 11am (I can't actually remember why I chose this place, but that's where I ended up). Now, as I said before, I'd never been into a casino before Vegas, so my live poker experience was limited to home games - and based on those I don't exactly have the poker face for live games. Luckily, I settled into it quite quickly. The poker room was quiet at this time, just this $1/$2 NL game, and a heads up battle from the previous night's tournament.
The game was great. There was me, an American guy (whose wife was about to win that tourney), a young American kid who was clearly a great player, and a load of American-Asians, who were there to gamble. Plenty of big bluffs, chips in the middle with top pair etc. Unfortunately I just wasn't getting any of the action. I was down to about $180 after an hour, and built it up to $220 an hour later with some steady play, when the following hand occured.
I'm on the button, and get dealt KK. 1 early position caller, everyone folds to me. I raise to $10, and BB re-raises to $25, early position folds. Now the BB is probably the craziest guy at the table, so you can tell how delighted I am to have KK against him. I decide just to flat call, and the flop comes a very nice looking 8 6 2 rainbow. He checks raises me (can't remember the exact amounts), and I move all in. He tanks for an absolute age, I'm loving it. I just know I'm ahead right now, and even better he's considering a call. Finally he reluctantly calls, I start to count the chips in my head and he flips over AA ... BOLLOCKS. Needless to say, I didn't get lucky on the turn or river, and made a quick, quiet exit from the table with my bankroll decimated.
Now I should point out that I wasn't strictly in Vegas with just $200 to my name, it's just that my bank were being wankers, and I couldn't access my account, which wasn't particularly helpful, although it did allow me to calm down and avoid tilt. I spent the next few hours (and about $50 on the internet) trying to access more money, extremely unsuccesfully. I headed out to dinner with friends, and the plan was to eat, get drunk, ride rollercoasters, play the slots and forget about poker.
As I'm sure you'll have guessed, that plan went out of the window when I spotted a poker room, and managed to borrow $300 from a friend.
Part 2 (poker in the Excalibur) coming up ...