+190 @ The Mirage, The Bellagio, and Harrah's

Another year, another Cal Poly Grad student reunion in Vegas. As you can see from the log I played a LOT of poker and I quickly got tired of taking notes. I do have some highlights for your entertainment pleasure. But first, some general comments. I had never played at Harrah's before but Nora wanted to try her hand at hold-em, and when we found this $2-$4 game we sat down and not only had fun but also did pretty well. Because it seemed so much cheaper, I played a little looser than normal.

The $4-$8 at Bellagio was a new experience for me too. The play was very fast and before I knew it $60 had drained from my stack. I got a little of it back before the table was broken to make space for the tournament. It was looking like a bit of a wait so I made my back to the Mirage and played there. I can see myself playing at the Bellagio again though. I'll have to get used to the psychological aspects of playing at a higher limit. And now to some hands.

Red pocket aces late position. I was betting the entire way even when the third heart fell on the turn. I also bet the aces of spades on the river. I lost to a small heart flush. I should probably have slowed down and even folded.

Pocket K which I raised pre-flop. Lot of callers. A,K,9 on the flop and I bet only to get raised. Huh? I suppose that someone could have been slow playing pocket A. I didn't think so however. I made it three bets and just got a call. There were two of us by that time. I made it three bets on the turn and was just called on the river. The turn and the river could have made a straight if someone had been willing to stay with us with their 2,5. I didn't think that was likely. My opponent was stunned to see the set of K. She didn't show.

I also had pocket Q and J a couple times each. Twice they won, and twice an A fell on the board and checkers became betters so I bailed.

The most interesting hand was at Harrah's with 10,7 diamonds in late position. Lots of players and I called to get rewarded with J,9 diamonds on the flop. Wow! I raised on the come and still got lots of callers. What happens next? 8 of diamonds on the turn. It was checked to me and I bet of course. Of course people saw that there was a straight flush possibility, but the normal flush is scarier. What was next? 6 diamonds on the river. Wow wow wow! Now people were talking openly about the board. I was hoping that someone with the A or K of diamonds would stick around and start raising, but no suck luck; I just got a couple calls. It was pretty cool showing my 6 card straight flush.

It is nice being positive after 6 months in the red. I've had a nice run in the past two months by bringing home over $500. The trick now is to keep the momentum going.