sunday cont'd

I didnt mind the wait, there were
2 cash game tables going in the usually
dead SAHARA poker room, so I sat down
after I got knocked out of the tournament.
My table had 5 full time players, guys who
normally play 10/20 and 20/40 games at the
WYNN, VENETIAN and BELLAGIO.

I played tight for the first while to get
a feel for the game. I didnt feel like I was
outclassed by these guys, so I figured I'd
stay until G got knocked out of the tourny
(not thinking it would be 3 hours).
It was actually one of the more fun games
I played. Playing against more experienced
players, you have to keep your head in the game.
Since they were used to much bigger stakes,
they got bored, and virtually every hand had
a straddle and even some blind raising.
I ended up leaving the game + $230

Headed back downtown.
2am and it had cooled off to a very
pleasant (but still warm) 98 degrees F.

Hungry so we went over to KITTY'S CAFE
at the El Cortez. No Coupon. $20 for 2 of us.
Really good food, had burger, fries, etc.

Went back to the 4 QUEENs.
Took a few spins of the slots before bed. +$6.

Sunday cont'd

We had decided we were going to
play a poker tournament on this trip,
so Gina and I headed down to the
STRATOSPHERE. Nicer inside than
I expected. Was expecting a run down
dump. Very busy casino. Poker room
was totally dead though, one table at 6pm.
Werent going to wait around and chance it
if there would be a decent turn out for
their tournament.

Headed over to the SAHARA to play

their popular 7pm $45 tourny with

optional $20 Rebuys for the first hour.
4k starting chips. (+2k for $20r/b).
136 Entrants.

25/50 level: I played lots of speculative
hands trying to hit a monster and
double up, but I basically stayed even
in chips.

50/100: only played one hand, KK.

100/200: only played one hand, AK,
"stole" the pot by continuation
betting every street.

200/400: played one hand, AA.
Still basically at my starting
stack of around 6000 chips.

300/600: didnt get dealt anything.
Table got broken, moved to button
at next table. 2nd hand, got dealt 99.
Folded to me, pushed all in from
cutoff position with 5200 chips.
Donkey Polish guy calls off 95%
of his stack from the Big Blind with
A2 off. A on the flop. Turn gives me
a diamond draw. River is 2 of clubs,
I'm out.

Gina ran into the same guy later
in the tournament, roughly 18 people
left, same situation. She's on the button,
folded to her. She doesn't have a lot of chips
so she pushes with 66. Same Donkey Polish
guy calls from the big blind with A5 off.
This time no luck for the donk. Justice !
She doubles up.

Gina had a couple other memorable hands.

She made a Paul Magriel style bet, putting

out one of each color chip as her raise.

Totally confused everybody and they folded.

At the 100/200 level,she set a trap by

limping in middle position with AA,

knowing that the chip leader & table bully

in the small blind was ripe to take a beating.

True to form, the bully pops it to 1100 !

Gina, without missing a beat, pushed her

whole stack (about 6000) into the middle,

and the donkey called with KQ offsuit ! LOL

Nice double up. (incidentally, she played

with the same guy later on in a cash game

at the VENETIAN and watched him piss away

his big stack twice and go broke).

Gina ended up finishing 6th out of 136

for +$260. (No tax withholding, just signed name).

Way to go GINA ! !

Lots of offers for a chop deal,
but as often happens in low buy-in
tournaments, inexperienced chip leaders
get greedy and ask for $ proportionate
to their chip stack. And as often happens,
the big chip leader who refused the deal
got knocked out in 7th !
HAHAHA, looks good on you asshole.
He originally wanted $1400 !! to chop,

then refused a $650 chop. In the end,
he left the tournament with $170 instead.
Let that be a lesson.

Because a few people refused the
different chop deals, the tournament
that usually only lasts about 4 hours,
didnt get done until 1am (6 hours).

SUNDAY July 27

Slept in til 1pm.
Went over to the MAIN STREET STATION
for their buffet. Used a FSE coupon,
2 of us ate for $11.84. Made +$12 on
the Kenny Rogers 'The Gambler' slots
while waiting for the buffet to open.
Free Lunch !
Tried a few new things like collard greens
and oxtail. Always a great value and
lots of choices at the MSS buffet.

Headed back to the 4Queens.
Gina made +$225 on ThreeCard Poker
with three of a kind 7's.
I'm sure she heard my voice echoing
"Quit While You're Ahead,
Quit While You're Ahead"...lol
I definitely follow that philosophy
playing games with a big house
advantage like most table games & slots.
You cant beat them in the long run,
so take your profit and run.

saturday cont'd

Walked down towards the EL CORTEZ.
Checked out some of the cool neon
down on the Fremont East district.
A lot of people seem concerned
because once you get away from

the Fremont Street Experience canopy,
the neighborhood is a little sketchy.
No need to be concerned.
Felt very safe walking over.
The El-Co still had quite a bit of action,
even after 3am. Even the poker game
was still going on, with a wait list.

saturday cont'd

Headed back to the room at the 4 QUEENS
to freshen up. A little disappointed that we
didnt get any room cleaning service from
the 4Q staff. I threw the old towels on the
floor assuming there'd be fresh ones when
I got back. Had to call down to desk to get
fresh ones. Guess leaving a nice tip for
Rosa & Carmelita the day before isnt enough
to get them to come back the next day.

Went over to the GOLDEN NUGGET for some
poker. Ran cold, always seamed to have the
2nd nut hand, -$200. Left rather than rebuying.

Went over to FITZGERALDS.
Really rude cashiers. -$5 on slots.
Headed upstairs to the Fitz poker room.
Closed and deserted at 2:45am.

Went out onto Fremont Street to do some
people watching. Totally dead at 3am (see photo).
Maybe during the week, but not that early
on a Saturday night. That's just not right !
Even most of the shops were closed.
Not just the street vendors kiosks,
but all the gift/variety stores too.
The U.S. economy has tanked and its
hitting vegas hard. A year ago,
the street had people on it
every hour of the day.

saturday cont'd

Walked over to BINIONS and
got seated at a newly started
1/2NL ($100max) table.

There is almost no way to beat
this game, the play was very tight
and with a 10% rake, not easy to profit.
Managed to leave up +$25.

Moved to a newly opened $1/3 NL ($1000 max)
must-move game. Played short handed,
4-6 players for probably 30-40 minutes (+ $20)
before getting a seat in the main game
where most players had $500-1000 stacks.

Bought in for $300. Several prop players
(employed by the casino to fill seats)
at the table, but their play was fairly
straightforward. Played for 2 hours
and left with another +$109 profit.
The Binions poker room is brighter
and cleaner than it was a year ago.
They are moving and upgrading the
poker room, renovations supposed to
be done by October.

Went down to CAESARS and played for a
while. Wasnt my best effort. - $70 .

Saturday cont'd

New Entrance to the El Cortez Hotel Casino

Walked down to the EL CORTEZ
to play some slots. I lost -$20 on slots,
but you certainly get lots of play for
your money at that casino, I guess

thats why a lot of the hardcore slot players

stay there. Had some free cocktails
and put my name on the waiting list
for the $1-3-6 Limit Poker game.

Pretty cool to get a chance to play with
the Owner of the casino, JACKIE GOEGHAN.
He plays at the table for atleast 4-6 hours
most days. There were only two on the list
ahead of me, but the blinds are so small,
and they have a high hand jackpot, so not
many go broke or just get up and leave.

SATURDAY July 26

Up before noon and headed to the
FREMONT buffet. 2for1 FSE coupon,
G-didi and I ate for $5.42 each. Its a
consistantly good buffet, nice smoked
salmon and really good cheesecake.
I wish they would turn the lights up a bit.

Friday cont'd

Headed to the MGM to play some poker.
+ $220 profit in about 2 hour session.

Went over to the VENETIAN, signed up
for their $1/2 list. 10 people in front of us.
Used the washroom, came back and
our names were gone. Asked if our names
were called and guys says "Oh ya, we
called you 10 minutes ago" We werent even
gone for 5 minutes, more like 3 minutes.
Hell, 15 minutes ago we were still in the
garage looking for a parking spot !
Left pissed off that either this guy's
bullshitting me or he has no sense of time.

Went back downtown and finished up
the night with a 6hr session at the NUGGET.
Seemed to be running cold, had to lay down
a full house, trips, and flopped bottom end of
a straight twice. (- $205)



Jeff was over at the 4 QUEENS playing
3 Card Poker and hit a straight flush for a
+$400 cash. I lost -$10 on slots at the
Nugget, but made +$6 at the 4Q,
so -$4 on slots for the night.

5:30am, almost time for bed, but went
over for the graveyard specials at the
CAL, $4 Chicken Strips & Fries and
the $4 striploin steak.

FRIDAY July 25

Started the day off with a coffee from the
Dunkin Donuts across the street at BINIONS.
Not nearly as good Tim Hortons, but better
than going without a coffee in the morning.


All thats left of the Frontier Hotel, next to T.I.


Went to TREASURE ISLAND and had
their buffet. 3 of us ate for $50. Pretty decent.
They had some tastey and fancy looking sushi.
Really good desserts. Overall, recommend it.

Checked out the LUXOR, only because I'd
never been there before. Its the casino shaped
like a pyramid. Unfortunately, the inside isnt
nearly as impressive as the outside. Probably
wont be back unless given a good reason
(like a dirt cheap room rate).

Hit the Worlds Largest Gift Shop/General Store
on the strip. Another disappointment.
A lot of over priced cheaply made crap.

thursday cont'd

Headed back across the street to
CAESARS PALACE to play some poker.
NBA basketball star TONY PARKER and
EVA LONGORIA from Desparate Housewives
were both there playing poker.
We actually saw several NBA players all
around Vegas, they sort of stand out,
but I dont follow basketball enough
to recognize their faces.

Sat down, first hand, I made QUAD SIXES,
got paid +$124 from the high hand jackpot.
Ended the poker session up +$180.
Jeff made a nice +$530 profit, alot of which
came off of Tony Parker's brother.
Not bad for his first live casino cash game.
Gina was kindof card dead but managed
a +$60 profit. Overall, pretty good for a
150 minute session.


Jeff taking full advantage of
the open alcohol laws.

Went back downtown and played some
$1/2NL at the GOLDEN NUGGET.
Was seated at a table with legendary
Vegas comedian VINNY FAVORITO.
Very solid player. He made some really
good laydowns (layed down his set to a
flush, layed down small straight to a
bigger one). He made a big laydown
against me in a $150 pot. I limped in
with AK (as i've been know to do)
and made broadway on the turn.
He layed down a set of 10's on the
river saying "you played that
like you have Ace Fuckin King".
I collected the pot, mucked my cards
face down and unsuccessfully tried to
convince him that he was wrong....
saying "who would limp with AK ?"

Vinny's been the feature at O'Shea's
on the strip for a few years, but just signed
a big contract to play 6 nights a week
at the FLAMINGO. I will definitely
have to catch his show next trip.

Thursday cont'd

Jeff & Gina enjoying Margaritas /Monster Nacho Plate

Since this was Jeff's first time in Vegas,
we made sure drive up and down the strip
and see the sites. Walked through the
FLAMINGO and went to the BELLAGIO
and watched the fountain show.
Went across the street to Jimmy Buffets
MARGARITAVILLE and Jeff treated us to
some delicious margarita's and nachos.
Was better than the last time I went.
They had Jimmy Buffet music and
videos playing, along with performers
on stilts and a girl who slid down the giant
volcano waterslide, into the 400 litre
margarita blender by the bar.

THURSDAY July 24

Drove down to the south end of the strip
to the SILVERTON Casino. Enjoyed their
lunch buffet, 3 of us ate for $20 including tip.
They had some excellent Catfish, Yum !

Wandered around the Bass Pro Shops
which is attached to the casino.

Really enjoy looking at all the taxidermy,

fish and wildlife throughout the store.

As a recovering fishing addict, I thought I did
pretty good to only spend $40 on fishing lures.

wednesday cont'd

Hit the GAMBLERS BOOK STORE to
pick up another ACG book. Came across
a copy of Professional No-Limit Holdem
by Ed Miller (which always seems to be
back ordered back home), so i picked
that up too. A quick glance through it,
gives me the impression this book is gold!
Advanced concepts for cash games.
Would probably put this in the category of
NL Theory & Practice. Not a beginners book.
Cant wait to get started on it.

Conveniently, there's a DollarStore
next to GBS, so we popped in to get
some refreshments, snacks and toiletries.
$1 styrofoam cooler to put water
and soda's in was a great investment.

Headed back to the airport to pick up
our friend Jeff Smith (molson35 from the
Premier Tour online events) who was
coming in for a vegas vacation.

Made our way to Downtown LasVegas.
Checked in to the FOUR QUEENS after
lunch. Tried the $20 trick, (tipping the front
desk clerk for free room upgrade) but she said
there were no upgrades available.
Took a tour around Freemont Street.
Checked out BINIONS (-$5 on slots) and the
FREEMONT (+$2 on slots).

It was a very long day/night previous...
watched the 08 WSOP on ESPN,
went to work, then off to Detroit,
so I needed a nap around 5pm.
My renovated 4Queens room was clean,
had a flat panel tv, & a very comfortable bed.
Bathroom was small, but adequate.
No hesitation staying here again.

Woke up around 9:30pm and headed over
to the CALIFORNIA Casino for their
$4 Chicken Finger and Fries special.
One of my favourite Vegas food deals.
Lost -$5 on the Reel 'Em In fishing game.

Really surprised how dead Fremont St.
is after midnight, guess it IS only the
middle of the week.



Went over to BINIONS, wasnt much
happening in the poker room so went
across the street to the GOLDEN NUGGET
and played some $1/2 NL (table stakes, no max).
Action was a little slow, but had mucho fun.
+ $85 over 4 hours of play. Headed back
to the 4Queens. Made + $12.25 on the
Village People Party slots before bed.

WEDNESDAY July 23

Arrived in Vegas on Wednesday about
9am local time, picked up the rental car
and headed to TERRIBLES Casino to get
some breakfast. Used a coupon from the
AMERICAN CASINO GUIDE, 2 for 1 buffet.
Grand Total = $5.40 for two people ! Crazy !
Not amazing or really hot food, but a great
breakfast for cheapo's like me.

Played some slots after breakfast.
Made +$16.50 on The Price Is Right - Dice Game,
and earned 6 free pepsi's and a free t-shirt
just from playing for a 1/2 hour or so.

Along with a +$15 profit, Gina earned 1000 pts
on her card and got $10 cashback,
real paper money in hand, not a credit.

Gotta love TERRIBLES.
You can cash in your slot club points
for CIGARETTES, BEER, and ALCOHOL.
(Limit 1 carton, 1 case of beer per day..lol).
If you dont have enough points,
pick up a 60 OUNCER (1.75L) of VODKA
in the gift shop for $10.95, no shit !
Been a while since I've bought one,
but thats gotta be atleast $40 in Canada...lol

Vegas Trip July STARTS HERE

Left London, ON, Canada about 2:30am,
bright and early Wednesday. Headed out of
Detroit again this trip, just so much cheaper
to fly from the D than out of Toronto.
Flew Spirit Airlines. Cheap, and for good reason.
Planes were very unclean, and leg space
was non-existant. If you're taller than about 5'9",
you'll be cramped. Over 6' tall, forgetaboutit !

Thinking maybe they bought these dirty
worn out planes from a bankrupt russian airline
because the toilet paper looks likes something
out of the former soviet union, thin enough
to almost call it transparent.

Interesting situation, first 10 minutes of the flight,
there was an Islamic guy praying at the back
of the plane, right in front of the bathroom
(for unknown reasons, the flight attendant
sent him there instead of an empty seat row).
Most people were trying to be respectful,
but if you gotta go pee, you gotta go.
Finally, the flight attendant told him he
couldnt pray there anymore.
I didnt have the heart to tell him he was
praying in the wrong direction anyways,
Mecca was on the other side of the plane.

Watched the movie "The Grand" on my new
mp3 player during the flight to pass the time.
Decent movie, lots of poker player/poker celeb
cameo's. Plot was a little weak, but funny
just the same.

2 Canadians at WSOP Final Table !

Its down to the final nine players, dubbed by
many as the "November Nine", who will
now take a break for almost four months
and return to the Rio Nov. 9th to play the
first part of the final table. The final 2
players will then return for a heads-up
match Nov. 10th to determine the champion.

Tournament director Jack Effel announced
the final-table participants to thunderous
applause, adding "Players, you may now
go on your 117-day break!"


The 2008 WSOP Main EventFinal Table:

Dennis Phillips 53, St. Louis, MO, -26,295,000

Ivan Demidov, 27, Moscow, Russia, -24,400,000

Scott Montgomery, 26, Perth, ON, -19,690,000

Peter Eastgate, 22, Odense, Denmark, -18,375,000

Ylon Schwartz, 38, Brooklyn, NY, -12,525,000

Darus Suharto, 39, Toronto, ON, -12,520,000

David Rheem, 28, Los Angeles, CA, -10,230,000

Craig Marquis, 23, Arlington, TX, -10,210,000

Kelly Kim, 31, Whittier, CA, -2,620,000


Canadian Scott Montgomery is a
professional poker player who's had some
pretty decent results so far this year:
-2008 Bellagio Cup IV, 4th, $36,025
-2008 WSOP Event 25 (Heads-Up), 16th, $36,096
-2008 WSOP Event 7 (NLHE) 17th, $18,833
-2008 WSOP Event 2 (NLHE) 29th $18,770
-2008 WPT L.A. Poker Classic (WPT) 5th $296,860

The other Canadian, an accountant from
Toronto named Darus Suharto has only
one previous major cash. It was at the
2006 WSOP Main Event where he finished
448th for $26,389.

Final-table payouts:
1st: $9,119,338
2nd: $5,790,024
3rd: $4,503,352
4th: $3,763,516 5
th: $3,088,013
6th: $2,412,510
7th: $1,769,177
8th: $1,286,672
9th: $900,670

TV coverage of this years WSOP
preliminary events starts this
Tuesday the 22nd at 8pm for those
of you lucky enough to get ESPN.
(Event #1 WC Pot-Limit Holdem)

Free Slurpee's this Friday

7-Eleven® celebrates Friday, July 11,
with Free Slurpee® drinks,
National Hot Dog Month with Big Bite®
Meal Deal, and first frozen Monster beverage
not sold in a can.

DALLAS, (July 2, 2008) – It’s that time of year
when the sun is hot and the Slurpee® drinks
are free-zing – emphasis on the FREE part.
July 11, aka 7/11, is the day that 7-Eleven, Inc.,
the world’s premier convenience retailer,
celebrates its birthday and says “thank you”
to its customers with free Slurpee drinks at
participating stores. This year’s 7-Eleven® Day
marks the company’s 81st birthday.
Customers can pour their favorite Slurpee flavour
in colorful, 7.11-ounce “Birthday” cups throughout
the day, while cup supplies last.

7-Eleven is the home of the Big Bite® Oscar-Mayer
all-beef hot dog and the number-one retailer of
grilled hot dogs. And to celebrate National
Hot Dog Month in July, participating 7-Eleven
stores are offering a quarter-pound Big Bite
hot dog and Big Gulp® drink for just $1.99 (all July).

Also, new for July is the first ever Monster Energy
Slurpee drink, called Black Ice. Black Ice is a
black-colored energy Slurpee drink packed with
a full load of Monster’s potent energy blend.
This is the first frozen Monster beverage and
the first variety not sold in a can.

Main Event picks disappoint

Most of my WSOP main event picks
(for the Full Tilt Fantasy Poker)
were eliminated on the first day of play.

David Chiu, David Pham, J.C. Tran,
Kenny Tran, John Phan, Minh Ly,
Andy Black, Tony G, Gavin Griffin
and Surinder Sunar are all toast.

My hopes rest mostly on Scott Clements,
Toto Leonidas, and Hasan Habib, who
all advanced to day 2 with VERY healthy
chip stacks. My two other picks that
still remain, Alex Jacob and John Juanda,
cant be counted out yet, as they both have
around 20,000 chips going into day 2.

Scott Clements has played really well
throughout this years events and has
had a lot of success surviving large fields.
Toto is one of the best there is at reading
people & picking off weak donkey stacks,
so those are the 2 i'm sending my mojo to.

Full Tilt FTOPS 9 announced

Full Tilt has announced the dates for the
Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS.

The latest edition of the highly popular
tri-annual series, FTOPS IX, will run
August 6-17, 2008.

FTOPS IX jumps forward from previous editions
with the inclusion of 25 events, and a total
guarantee over the series of more that $15 million
in prize money. Highlights in the upcoming
FTOPS IX series include the return of the
two-day $2,500 "deep stack" NL, event,
beginning on Saturday, August 16th and
carrying a $2 million guarantee, and the
FTOPS IX Main Event itself, which runs on
Sunday, August 17th and features a minimum
of $2.5 million in prize money.

Four other FTOPS IX events will serve up
at least a million each in guarantee winnings:
Event 1, $200+16 No-Limit Hold'em;
Event 10, $300+22 No-Limit Hold'em;
Event 12, $1,000+60 No-Limit Hold'em 6-max;
Event 17, $300+22 NL Hold'em 6-max (w/Rb).

Satellites start this week for all FTOPS IX events.
Event hosts have not yet been named.

FTOPS IX schedule (all starting times ET):
#/ Date/Time/ Buy-in/ Guarantee
#1, 8-6 21:00 $200+16 NL Holdem $1million
#2, 8-7 14:00 $240+16 PL Omaha/8 KnockOut $200k
#3, 8-7 21:00 $200 + $16 NL Holdem 4x S/O 6-Max $250k
#4, 8-8 14:00 $300+22 NL Holdem (1R/1A) 6-Max $600k
#5, 8-8 21:00 $200+16 Stud $100k
#6, 8-9 14:00 $500+35 PL Omaha 6-Max $300k
#7, 8-9 16:30 $100+9 NL Holdem Rebuy $500k
#8, 8-10 14:00 $240+16 NL Holdem 6-Max Knockout $500k
#9, 8-10 16:00 $500+35 NL Holdem Heads-Up $500k
#10, 8-10 18:00 $300+22 NL Holdem $1.5million
#11, 8-11 14:00 $200+16 LIMIT Holdem $200k
#12, 8-11 21:00 $1,000+60 NL Holdem 6-Max $1.5million
#13, 8-12 14:00 $200+16 HA (PL Hold 'em/PL Omaha) $200k
#14, 8-12 21:00 $500+35 HORSE $300k
#15, 8-12 21:00 $200+16 NL Holdem TURBO $500k
#16, 8-13 14:00 $200+16 Omaha-8 $200k
#17, 8-13 21:00 $300+22 NL Holdem 6-Max Rebuy $1million
#18, 8-14 14:00 $500+35 NL Hold'em 3x Shootout $300k
#19, 8-14 21:00 $300+22 MIXED Holdem 6-Max $300k
#20, 8-15 14:00 $200+16 NL Hold'em 6-Max $400k
#21, 8-15 21:00 $300+22 Razz $150k
#22, 8-16 14:00 $2,500+120 NL Hold'em $2million
#23, 8-16 16:30 $100+9 PL Omaha Rebuy $350k
#24, 8-17 14:00 $120+9 NL Holdem KnockOut $400k
Main Event
#25, 8-17 18:00 $500 + $35 NL Holdem $2.5million