F- them, I busted Cheryl Hines

So we just got back from Las Vegas. It was the first time in a while that we went just for fun, not to meet someone there or to do something. At the same time, we did have a lot planned, so the trip went by rather quickly. Here's a brief overview:

Highlights

1. We saw the 50k HORSE final table, well, most of it. It was a lot of fun to watch though. We almost didn't get in, but we were able to get seats at the last minute. We stayed for almost 10 hours, when we had to leave because we were both exhausted. the final table lasted about 14 hours total, so there's no way we would have made it all the way. Congratulations Scotty Nguyen on the victory there.

2. We chatted with Daniel Negreanu for a bit. Now, this wasn't a fan boy, we went up and started talking to him kind of thing. He started talking to us first, giving Catherine a little lesson on sweating cards, and then we just had a short conversation. It was really cool because he was really nice and not arrogant at all. Considering he's one of our favorite players, it was a really fun experience.

3. We got to hang out with my folks some, which is always nice. They were on a sick losing streak (weird, losing money to the casinos?), so they were bummed a lot of the time. But we had some good meals, and went and saw Love at the Mirage, which was pretty neat. So it was a good time.

4. I got to play some other, non-NLHE games, like Omaha 8-or-better, 7 Card Stud, and even some HORSE, which was a lot of fun. The card rooms are starting to try to spread some lower limit Pot Limit Omaha games too, which I'm really excited about. I love playing the other games because it helps me become a much more rounded poker player. I'm not just a hold' em player. Plus I find that it helps my hold 'em game as well, when I apply some of the concepts I learn from the other games. I'm really looking forward to getting to know some of these other games.

5. I played a one table sit n' go at the Mirage with Ray Romano and Cheryl Hines. I was playing 4/8 HORSE while Catherine was in a tournament and saw they were signing up for the SNG, so I jumped in immediately. It was a ton of fun. They were both very kind and fun to play with. Ray was funny, but he sat on the other side of the table and went out early. So I didn't get to talk to him much. But I saw near Cheryl Hines and we chatted some, which was just amazing. She was really cool and down to earth. Not arrogant at all. I felt bad though because when we were three handed I was brutalizing her, raising almost every hand, and she wasn't getting any cards, and I could tell that was frustrating. I eventually busted her on the bubble and the other player and I chopped the prize money, so I walked away with a nice profit, and a great story. This was definitely one of the best parts of the trip.

6. I really feel like my poker game is going to a new level, in a couple of different ways. I told myself that this trip I didn't want to focus on winning, but playing well and losing my ego. I really feel like I did those things over all, which really makes me happy. I did make a lot of mistakes, but over all I can tell I'm thinking things through more clearly, which is helping me make better decisions and making me a better player. I also tried to let go of my ego and just play good whether I won or lost, and this really helped me have more fun at the table and helped me to be more confident, and that helped me to really control the table most of the time, especially in the cash games. I was able to get away with a lot because my table antics kept people off balance. I even talked Cheryl Hines out of bluffing me a few times, which allowed me to win some pots with marginal hands. So, overall, I was really happy with how I played.

7. Finally, Catherine and I had a fun time just being together. I just love spending time with her. We have so much fun together most of the time and I just love spending time with her, talking about whatever, seeing her try new things, and having her encourage me to try harder. She's the best.

Downsides

1. Even though I think I played well, we still left down, together, around 800 bucks. Some of that is table games (blackjack, video poker, and 3 card poker), but we did lost a bit in the cash games and I'm down a bit in the tournaments, even though I scored in that SNG. So, our losing streak largely continues, which is annoying, but I'm very confident that it will not continue for much longer. In fact, if it wasn't for some beats and coolers I'd be up about 4 or 5 hundred myself. Two times I was stuck 4 or 5 hundred in a session and was able to fight back to being only stuck about 50 bucks each time. So it could have been a lot worse.

2. My parents losing a lot made things a bit more awkward some of the time, which sucked. But that can't be helped.

3. There was so much going on that we didn't get to do everything we wanted. We didn't play as much poker as we wanted. I didn't get to play as much of the other games as I would have liked. I wanted to play a few more tournaments. We wanted to head over to see the Main Event of the WSOP, but didn't get a chance (because we wanted to play more). And we really didn't get to have a lot of time to just relax together.

All in all, the goods outweight the bads and I'd have to say that it was a really fun trip. I'm really excited to head back next month with the Mengs! Should be fun.

In other news, we finally got our tax rebate check and we got the full amount. So that means we'll be getting some new tattoos soon. I think I have my ideas picked out but we're going to head to Barnes and Nobles this weekend to check out the picture books to see if there is anything else we want. I'm hoping to have at least two more tattoos by the end of the year, perhaps as many as four.