A good day

The next day of my Vegas trip turned out to be a very good one. I woke up completely refreshed and excited to play some more poker. I wasn't expected to start the trade show until 3:30 that day, so I had plenty of time to try my luck at the tables. I made my way to the Belagio again and to my immediate dismay I found out that they only had a $2/$5 NL table running and no $1/$2 tables. I decided against my better judgment to take a shot with a short stack but this turned out to be lucky thing for me.

I sat down with $300 and proceded to get pocket Kings, pocket Queens, pocket Aces and pocket Jacks within the first 10 minutes. Not only did this put me up rather quickly but it also led the other players to avoid me in a lot of pots which enabled me to actually win a few pots uncontested. I was also amazed at how the level of play was no better than the play found at the lower stake games in Vegas. I guess Vegas tends to get more touristy players than AC or other places get. The horrible decisions made by most players was truly a great way to make money if you played tight and straight forward and focused. While it was true that the deck was hitting me pretty well I felt that I played my best poker in quite a while. I played for a good 3 and half hours until I realized that I needed to get some lunch and make my way over to the convention. I was up a good 400 dollars or more when I announced to the table that I was playing my last hand. I was dealt pocket nines and was on the button. The under the gun raiser made a more than usual raise which led me to believe that he had a big pocket pair like aces or kings. A bad player from middle position made the call so I decided to call as well and see if I could hit my set and maybe stack the guy. The flop truly was a great flop for me- 983 rainbow. I had top set and the original raiser was betting big into me. Ultimately, we ended up all in and I raked in a huge pot of $1500 when my trip 9's held against his pocket Kings. It was my biggest pot ever and I was walking on air during the convention.

The convention itself was also the biggest I've attended for the type of show it was. There was a lot of students which really do me no good business-wise except to get my name out but I did make a lot of decent contacts and I hope to see some business from it. Even as trade shows drain the life out of you I still managed to let my big win carry me through the 3 hour shift and I dropped into a restaurant on the way back to my hotel. It was called RM Seafood (the RM stood for Rick Moonen) and it was probably the best sushi I've ever had, the Artic Char was absolutely and incredibly delecious.

After a quick change of clothes I planned on going back to the Belagio, but saw that the Luxor actually had a 1/2 table going. I figured I'd save myself a cab ride and took a seat there. Again, with the exception of a few decent players, the level of play was rather bad and I quickly went up and was making some money. They had a special promotion where once an hour the highest valued hand (with some stipulations) would win $100. During my time spent there, I managed to get Aces full of fives and it held up as the best hand for the remaining 50 minutes. That combined with the $200 I won playing made me an $1500 winner for the day.

Up $1500 with a great meal in my belly, I slept like a baby that night. Blissfully unaware of any problems at home I had a great day where the only thing I wish for was my wife by my side to share it with.

to be continued...