Tuesday 16th June.

Played the $300 at the Venetian again, got off to a flyer in the first half an hour and then this occurred against the only opponent who had showed any aggression. It folded around to me on the button and I raised with 99 and the aggressive player in the big blind called me. Flop came down a beautiful 1093, he bet out 400 and i raised to 1200, he then bet 1000 on the 3 turn and I thought I'd play trappy and just call his bet and look like I'm making a move on him on the river.
River was a 7 and he bet out 2000 and I took my time before shoving all in hoping to make it look like a bluff only to hear him call straight away and show 1010. Didn't put him on that at all as felt he would of re-raised pre-flop with 10's therefore only hand I could loose to was quad 3's but that would be so unlikely. Spoke to some top online players later in the day at the Rio and they said they would play it the same way. I had 1800 chips left this hand and managed to stay in for another two hours before i had to stat shoving and eventually came unstuck trying to steal the blinds and ante's with 23off suit and ran into AK and didn't win, sigh.

Went to the Rio after this and watched the final table of the Pot Limit Omaha event which had two brits battling for the bracelet, Jeff Kimber and Ross (the bloke from London's Burning) Boatman. Also on another final table over the way was John Duthie playing in the $10k heads up tournament for $600k+ first prize. Saw loads of well known players today and spoke briefly to Andy Black. The English players came a creditable 2nd and 4th and John Duthie also came runner-up however it was a very good performance by all of them.

Monday 15th June.

Played the $300 at the Venetian, felt I played well, however lost chips on 1 hand when there was a limper and I raised it up x4 with 34 hearts the big blind called as did the limper. Flop came a flush draw with an Ace, so i bet out representing the ace and both called. Turn was Ace of hearts giving me a small flush, this time the big blind lead out and the limper called, I should have given up here as both were showing they had some kind of made hand but I still called hoping that perhaps both of them had an Ace and we all checked the river and all of us had flushes lol. Managed to grind away for 6 hours in all up until blinds were very big. I ended up going out when there was two limper's and I shoved A3 diamonds for 12x the big blind and the 1st limper somehow made the worst call ever with A8spades and a player still left to act behind.

Then went to the Mirage and played cash for 7 hours. Said to myself that if I made $400 profit tonight then I would buy myself into the $1500 World Series event at the Rio otherwise I'd play the $300 at the Venetian again. Started off well with being $150 up but lost two big pots and was down $350, managed to get back to even before running JJ into AA on a 7 high board and then i re raised with KK only to get my opponent to shove all in for $130 more had to make the call with the odds even if I knew he had Aces which he did and therefore ended up $225 down for the session.

Sunday 14th June.

Moving hotels again this time to the Palms. This is just over the road from the Rio so can have a walk over and see whats happenning at the WSOP every now and then.
Hotel room is again decent, very comfy bed.

Played online $340 WSOP main event qualifier online as there was 240 packages on offer to the main event, unfortunately only outlasted half the field.

Played some $1/2 cash at Caesars Palace whilst waiting for it's 7pm tournament to start made $85 profit. Played the $100 tournament at Ceasars but again didn't last long.

Then decided to go to Planet Hollywood again to see if it was as soft as the day before. It was and this time I ensured I left in profit after turning my $200 into $580.

Saturday 13th June.

Collected my $500 from the Mirage. Then went to Treasure Island and played some $1/2 cash managed to turn the $200 I sat down with into $800.
Then wondered up the strip and went into Serendipity's for a quick snack, ordered a $20 steak sandwich and this is what came out.







ridiculous amount of food.

Then decided to look in Planet Hollywood as I've never been in there before, didn't realise they had a poker room, played a bit of $1/2 cash and the players were so so bad, was $150 up but stupidly I bluffed my profit all away and even ended up $40 down. So soft, easy money to be made here at weekends with a solid cash game strategy.
Went back to Orleans and played a bit of craps on the low limit tables there and came away $45 profit.

Friday 12th June.

Played $300 Tournament at Caesars Palace lost a couple pots early on and then did very well not to get knocked out when I raised with 44 and got 1 caller and the flop came down 234, he checked and I bet the flop and then my oppo bet into me on the turn and river and amazingly I didn't reraise him i just called him and he had 56 for the nut straight. About an hour later I called a raise with 55 and saw the flop come down QQ5 I checked raiser bet out and I pushed all in only to be called by Q10 turn and river came 9, 9 to give her a bigger full house and knock me out.

I played a $100 Sit and go at the Mirage top 2 placed paid and managed to get to last 2 and we chopped it heads up for $500 each, but the Mirage wouldn't pay me out without seeing my passport and waiting for some tax forms to go through!!!! They then asked me if I wanted to tip the dealers, cheeky b'tards, told then I would when I get my money. (Like hell).

Went to Venetian to see one of the young lads I've met from blonde come 3rd for $15k in a tournament, we all then went to get some food from the Mexican in the Palazzo, I offered to pay for mine but he insisted on getting it which was very kind, then played craps at the Palazzo and I joined in this time and turned $100 into $280. We then went to the Wynn and had cocktails whilst watching all the rich snobs wondering around as if they were god. We flipped coins for who paid for each round of cocktails, two groups of 4 I lost my group both times and then went heads up to pay and gave my opponent the call and they lost both times. ;0)

Thursday 11th June.

Went to the Rio to watch a young internet player from England called JP Kelly who had reached the final table of a World Series Pot Limit Holdem tourney. After about five hours he succeeded in taking down the event and the first UK World Series of Poker win for two years.
Saw loads of well known poker players and ended up chatting to Neil "Bad beat" Channing. Met Moorman for the first time as well.

Went from the Rio to Caesars and played some $1/2 cash, after about 30 mins this one kid at the table said he was going all in blind every hand, he had about $140 in front of him, he went all in blind and ended up having 85 and getting called by two players one with KQ and other with A9 and he beat them both by rivering a straight. Next hand he did the same and ended up having 63 and beating 1 player and splitting with another who held 66 when again he rivered a straight.
Next hand it folded to me in the small blind and I had K10s and said to the bloke are you going all in again and he said yes probably so I said i'll pre-empty it and went all in myself as my hand was way above an average hand. He then bottled it and looked at his cards before calling with 99, the board came KK9 sigh, I miss my K, 10 or runner pair so loose a $200 pot. Then later on I make an awful mistake when I though I had A6 spades and had rivered a straight and re raised a chap all in only to find I have A7spades and had just a pair of sevens, oops mistakeaments, I always try to remember my cards at the start of my hand and never look back but it worked against me here. Then lost a 1010 v QQ pot when i reraised a loose player. Ended up $550 down.
Then had a go at Casino War at MGM, basically you have to beat the dealers high card. Won $100 before giving up and going to bed, very tired again today prob should have left poker and I wouldn't of made that silly mistake..

Wednesday 10th June.

Moved Hotel from Exscabular as I now call it to Orleans, what a relief the Orleans is very nice, rooms have a bath, coffee making facilities, big 42" widescreen tele, and the place is well kept and is not ridiculously crowded as you don't have people wondering in off the strip. For a very cheap hotel this is the business i'm glad i tried it, would definitely recommend it as it's only a $10 taxi ride from the strip, but there's shuttle buses running every 15 mins so you don't even need to get a taxi, it's got a cinema and bowling alley and arcade so more kid friendly than the average casino as well.
Was tired after moving hotels so had a bite to eat in the Oyster bar in the Orleans, big portions, loads of fish but pretty bland. Then played a couple of online tournaments, min cashed in one.
Looked at the Orleans poker room which was quite large and went to register for the 7pm tournament that was about to start only to find it was a Limit tournament. Was about to get a taxi to the strip when I changed my mind and decided to play it. It was a long grind but after 5 hours I reached the final table, I ended up coming 6th out of 65 for $190, massive $120 profit, lol.

Tuesday 9th June.

Went back to the Venetian deepstack where they were doing a $225 shootout.
Was looking forward to a deepstack STT and thought I'd do well until they announced that it was only 1500 starting stack and that it wasn't a proper shootout as the winner of the table goes into a multitable tournament the day after but you can enter in another of the six flights they are doing for the day.
Anyway had to fold AKs on a Q10x flop to action and then raise 99 only for three allins behind me (AK, AQ, and JJ). Then missed the flop with AJs before waiting another orbit before seeing a flop with 108clubs in the bb. Flop comes 1087 with two diamonds. I check and player in first pos bets 200 into the 150 pot and mid limper calls so i reraise all in for 900, first player folds second player calls and shows he had limped in with 69 of diamonds, I turn a club for a possible flush but miss all my outs on the river.
Nice tournie lasted approx 15 mins absolutely rediculous crapshoot.

Then went to the Wynn to look for a cash game but they weren't running anything lower than $2/5 No Limit so I head back up the strip to Harrahs I played a bit of cash and get $150 ahead but somehow end up bluffing off loads including a 3 barrell bluff with Q high for $200 and end up $150 down, must leant to scoot off to the next cardroom when i'm up.
Played in a MTT with 59 runners but after 2 hours the levels went from 300/600 to 500/1000 and then 1000/2000 and was a total crapshoot managed to get to 14k and in the bb had K6 folded to aggressive player in sb who shoved and i felt this could be any 2 so I instacalled but typically he had AQ this time and I didn't hit so finished about 22nd.

Had a look around Tropicana as I have never looked there before, 10 mins later exit Tropicana can't say i've missed anything by not going there.

Monday 8th June.

Entered my biggest live tournament the $330 Venetian deepstack. Played well managed to play my aggressive online game and was really enjoying it. Over 6 and a half hours managed to chip up from 12000 starting chips to 40000 but then at the 600/1200 100 ante level it came apart. I raised from mid with QQ and got one french donk caller flop 772, I bet he calls, turn was a 9 I check he checks behind, river was a unscary 3 I thought oppo had nothing and that the best way was to get him to bluff at the pot so I check and he bets 5k 2/3 pot I think I'm miles ahead but just call only to find he has 77, wtf? Amazed I lost so little pleased with the way I played it. Then came by downfall hand I raised to 2900 with AQ and got 3 callers my first mistake was forgetting the blinds had gone up and not raising a bit more my second mistake was jamming allin on a Q82 flop, there was about 14k in the middle and i had 22k left, knew I was only going to get called by a worse hand and sure enough the button had 88, Ace on the turn made it interesting but I didn't get lucky when a K hit the river. So finished 200th out of 839 runners top 70 paid though, however very pleased overall with my play.

Then got a shuttle bus from Harrahs to the Rio to see what was happening at the WSOP, saw British Pro Richard Ashby as well as Eric Seidel, Howard Lederer and old big head himself Phil Helmuth amongst those still playing. Tables didn't look anywhere near as nice as the Venetian but it was nice to see where the WSOP is played.

Had a meal at the strangely named Gaylords Indian restaurant at the Rio before heading back to my hotel.

Sunday 7th June.

Suffering big style, will be staying off alcohol for a fair few days.
Played a few online tournaments in my room, 4 to be precise mini cashed in the $750k on Full Tilt and somehow managed to bubble the Sunday second chance on Stars when I had a big stack but the crucial hand was when I 4 bet a well known player Travesty Fund with 88 committing myself and loosing a race for a top 10 chipstack versus his AK.

Then had a nice steak in a cafe in Mandalay Bay before loosing two buyins at $1/2 the first when I got three bet holding AKs from the bb with a caller behind me I four bet jammed but he had AA.
And the other buyin was when I check raised on a JJ8 flop two spades with the nut flush draw, jammed the turn when another 8 peeled off but got called by KK.

Saturday 6th June.

Got up at 5.30 and went with Hayley to the airport. Got back to the Venetian to have a couple of hours extra sleep before checking out as I was moving to the Excaliber for the next four nights.

OMG what a sh*thole after the last two places i've stayed. Real trailer trash city.

Suppose room would be ok if I hadn't been to the other two, if you want a very basic room if your only coming over for the weekend and not planning to spend much time in your room , then it would do you as the location on the strip isn't too bad.

Went on monorail to the Venetian to see if I recognized anyone in the deepstack being played that day, saw Chiprich from blonde getting knocked out as soon as I arrive with KK v AA.
We had a few beers until RookieITB got knocked out and then we went downtown and I watched them play craps in The Golden Nugget and we had a steak at Binions. We then went to the Bellagio and watched a few others get knocked out of the $1k buyin tournament being run there.
There was 10 of us by now and we ended up having cocktails in a bar at the Bellagio before watching them play craps until 4 in the morning. As we flipped for the cocktails and with not loosing any I managed to get quite drunk for less than $10 in tips.

Friday 5th June.

Spent the day shopping at the Premium Retail outlet downtown and then a last look up the strip, showed Hayley the Bellagio briefly. Rushed back as we were seeing the Jersey Boys at the Palazzo on the night, wasn't looking forward to this as didn't think it was my cup of tea, but really really enjoyed it, knew more Four Season songs than I realised and it was a great show.
Back to hotel room to pack up as Hayley had to depart at 6 in the morning.

Thursday 4th June.

Arranged to renew our wedding vows at the Little White Chapel in downtown Las Vegas.
Chose a drive through in a white limo as you can see.

Did I feel a bit of a fool at the start. (x)

Did I really enjoy it at the end. (x)

After the wedding we went to the Wynn and had a lovely seafood meal and then watched the water based show La Reve which was good.

Wednesday 3rd June.

Looked around shops at the Venetian and Pallazo (sp.), had a gondola ride in the Venetian and then found a nice Mexican restaurant Dos Caminos within the Palazzo.
Hayley not feeling very well on the night so I went to the Mirage and played my first poker of the trip. Played a $1/2 cash game and managed to get $200 ahead at one stage but ended up finishing only $90 ahead after playing for five hours. Played far too tight and folded the best hand on quite a few occasions I believe, had a player to my left from Brazil who was calling every hand including reraises up to $20 made it difficult but still shouldn't have been so tight, my lack of live play affected me tonight.

Tuesday 2nd June.

After a poor nights sleep we complained about the room and they offered to move us to a quieter area of the hotel at the end of a corridor we asked about an upgrade and ended up moving to a suite which i supposed to cost $200 extra a night but they offered it to us at $100 extra a night. Moved into this suite and it was definitely worth the extra money, I shall post a video of it later but was split up into 4 rooms and they're was loads of space, made a massive difference as it was no a very pleasant room.

We had our trip in a helicopter over the grand canyon to look forward to today, so we chilled and had a light lunch at the Lux cafe in the Venetian before getting picked up by the Heli-USA bus.
The Helicopter was so much smaller than I anticipated and was very cramped inside with 6 passengers and the pilot. It also got very very hot inside, went over Lake Las Vegas where Celine Dion has a mansion went over parts of Lake Mead and then saw Hoover dam.
Then went into Grand Canyon but no sooner had we gone into the canyon were we coming out the other side. I was under the impression you go quite deep into the canyon so i think everyone was disappointed with that. Then landed at an Indian working ranch, where we had a meal and then was due to go on a horse ride, however they argued that I hadn't paid for it despite when I booked pre-trip on the website I had selected horseride and thought I had already paid for it.
Anyway I could see that no matter how much arguing I'd have to pay again so we went on a 30 minute horse ride in the desert sun. Then got picked up by the helicopter and had a quicker journey back over the Vegas strip.
Really enjoyed the day and think it was an experience you have to do in Vegas but it was costly for what it was.

On the night we got the bus (Deuce) to downtown Freemont Street and we had an explore before having a steak at Binions steakhouse.

Monday 1st June.

Moved Hotels to the Venetian thought a suite here would be very impressive as it was quite expensive however the room was not as good as the one in the MGM Signature and you could hear people in the corridor and every door slam made the room shake.
Went to see the Phantom of the Opera on the night which was worth every penny, excellent performance only downside was a couple of eastern European women behind who kept on yapping away throughout the performance.

Sunday 31st May.

Planned to take Hayley around Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay, had Lunch at Dick's last resort where you pay for the pleasure of the staff insulting you, wasn't overly impressed though soon wears thin, had a long walk around Luxor and Mandalay Bay, Hayley wasn't impressed with Mandalay Bay which was strange as it was one of my fave casino's last time I was here. Went to Tournament of Kings show on the night again at Excalibur had second row seats which I thought would be a nice view until I got covered in horse shit when a horse galloped past, show wasn't very good so a bit disappointed.

Saturday 30th May.

First full day in Vegas, showed Hayley around MGM Grand had a meal in the Rainforest Cafe, then had a very quick dash around New York New York before getting Monorail tickets and heading to the Mirage to pick up tickets to the Cirque de Soleil show Love. Had a look around Mirage and Treasure Island before doing a bit of shopping at the Fashion Mall.
Then headed back to get ready for the show, had a meal at Nobhill Tavern but because we had to wait for a table had to rush the meal a bit, still very nice food and excellent service.
Then saw Love which was a complete visual overload. I'm not a big fan of the Beatles but it was compelling viewing.

Vegas 2009

Took 21 hours to get to Vegas, we had a 4 hour stopover in Philadelphia however once boarding the plane we were told there was major storms in the flightpath and we were stuck on the runway for 3 hours. Arrived at the MGM Signature around 22.00hrs Vegas time, we were both shattered so we ordered some food up to the room and didn't even venture out.

We had a junior suite which was very nice, jacuzzi, complete kitchen, balcony with a lovely view, and the in-suite dining was delicious, very pleasant start to the trip.