Arrived in Vegas on the 13th with Diane and Leslie (Wife and Daughter) and checked into THE hotel at Mandalay Bay. Did the family thing until Wednesday. Just prior to our trip, I just got news that a re-organization is taking place within the company that I work for. As a result, my job in Kansas City may be disappearing. So that brought a great excuse for us to look into the housing market in Vegas on Tuesday. WOW. Prices sure have gone up the past couple of years! We didn’t get finished with that until very late on Tuesday and I missed the Chipboard gathering. Played $4-$8 Hold-em at Mandalay Bay and won $210.

Wednesday the family left and I checked into the Rivera. Went to Banquet and was very lucky to sit at the same table with Gene Trimble, Andy Hughes, Katie Smith, Jay Sands, Terry Shaffer, Sunday Silverman, and Rich Figarotta and his wife. What a nice dinner and great speaker as well. After the banquet, I proceed to Bellegio for some more poker. Played $8-$16 and won $180. So far so good.

Thursday - I walked to the convention floor and said hi to everyone that I knew. Spent all day again with real estate agent which robbed some of my convention time. I Played in Poker Tournament that night. Nothing major to report except one funny story. New dealer came into our table and he was complaining that his seat was too low and he needed a cushion. On his first shuffle, I said, you deal me Aces and I’ll run and get you a cushion. First hand dealt…. Pocket aces of course! I made good on my promise and bolted out of the room and got him a cushion. Played in Andy’s no-limit game after I got knocked out. Never got anything going and was under my $100 initial buy-in all night. Cashed out with with $82 so I only lost $18 while playing with all of those sharks.

A few months earlier, I posted a message about my custom built poker table. Gene knew I was not happy with my felt that I used and he had a sample poker layout laying around from when they were developing a new layout. He was very generous and offered me that sample. I picked it up and was very happy indeed. Thank you Gene! First thing I did after getting home was to lay it one my table to snap a picture (please see below).

Friday - I have a friend, John Bastarache, who is retired but works as a traveling poker dealer and works most of the major poker tournaments. He’s in town for next week’s big Bellegio tournament so I have plans to meet him. We meet at the Golden Nugget and play in their daily tournament at noon. First hour is limit tournament, and then it switches to no-limit. I drop $73 ($30 buy-in, $3 for dealer, $20 initial re-buy and $20 add-on after first break). Have a great first hour and am up to $10k in chips during the limit portion but lose my stack during the no-limit part. I play and lost playing $4-$8 while waiting for John to finish. John finishes 1st place and take home $1,500. I parked in one of the Horseshoe parking garages and forget which one I’m parked in. After about an hour walking the ramps, I finally find it. Geez, that was not fun. That night we also play some $1-$2 no-limit at Bellegio. I got lose a few hundred before making a comeback and ended up $80 on the night.

Saturday – Since John’s tournament went so well the day before, he wants to do it again and I agree. To make a long story short, just read my Friday report. Here’s a recap... I lose, he takes first place AGAIN! This time he takes home $1,700 for 1st place. Unreal. He’s up for bigger action and we head to Monte Carlo for some $2-$4 no-limit that night. I ruled the table… well except for two hands. I lost two pots that I alone and deposited $250 in each hand but lose both of them. Hand one, I have 45 suited on button and flop brings 459 (two pair for me). A guy that just sat down at the table bets $25 and I come over the top of him for the rest of his chips. He calls and only has A9 (top pair). He catches an Ace on the turn and takes it. Other big losing hand, I limp in with AQ clubs. Flop comes Q94 and a guy bets into me. I re-raise him another hundred and he calls. Turn brings a queen and I’m already counting his stack in my head to see how much I’ll take off this guy. He checks and I check. River brings a blank, and he fires out a big bet and I call. He’s got Q9 for a boat and takes it down. CRAP! That’s what I get for smoothing calling my AQ and playing an un-raised pot for big money. Even though I dropped $500 on those two hands, I still post a $218 win for the night and all is still good.

I didn’t spend a lot of time on the convention floor this year nor did I bring any traders. My main goal for my convention this year was to see old friends again and meet some new ones. I did that and had a great time in the process.