Well another session that could have been a lot better. I played at the Sahara 1/2 game/ $500 max buy in which was cool, very deep game and a lot of very bad players. Had a bad run of cards. First big hand I play, I raise to $30 with KK, CO calls me, so does the BB. Flop is [10c] . BB bets out $60, I raise to $200. Co pushs all in for $380. BB thinks about it and folds. I call, with how long the Co called I was pretty sure he was on a draw and he was [10h]. is the river card and now I'm pretty much hoping he checks it down because I cant call any bet. He pushs all in. I tell him nice catch and fold. He shows AA with the A of diamonds. And tells me I didnt need a catch. I miss the good olds days when I actually made money when I flopped a set vs an overcard. I did make a little comeback at the end of the night. I flopped a gut shot and a flush draw with J10c and took someones stack who tried to bluff me after I made the nut straight. Overall for the session, down $19 in 5.5 hrs. Hopefully today will be a little better.

Well today was a little better than yesterday but not by much. I decided to do a little tour of all the smaller poker rooms at the north end of the strip.

The day started out well. I played first at the 1/2 at the stratosphere. First 10 hands I play, I get AA in the SB. Gets raised to $7 than $27 in front of me. I reraise to $100, get called. small cards on the flop. I push in, get called by KK and I hold up. This was a great start, to bad I didnt win another hand for 2.5 hrs I played there. A hand to sum up the day. I get QJd in the BB. MP raises to $4, 4 players call. I call, great flop for me. J108 with two diamonds. I check, preflop raiser bets out $30, one caller. I raise to $100. Preflop =raisor calls all in. I knew he wasnt folding but I wanted the other player out of the pot since. Preflop raisor has kk. I miss all of my 17 outs and the moron is rewarded for misplaying his big pair. End this session up $77.

I need to go to bed so I will finish this update in the morning.

Day 2 Continued

2nd stop of the day Stardust again a 1/2 game. One horrible player at my game who seemed to catch a 4 outter or less on the river every third hand. He played really bad and overbet the heck out of any pair. He was the perfect player to trap, to bad I didnt get a real hand. I made one really bad play. I flopped a pair and a gut shot with K10d flop is KJ9 with two diamonds. It checks to me I bet out $25 and the rock utg makes it $50. I know I have diamonds to win so I call. Brick on the turn, he checks, I check behind him. River pairs the J he checks and I decide to try to push him off his hand. I put him in for his last $65, he calls and turns over Q10 for the str8. I played my hand almost as badly as he did. Down $ 125 for 3.5 hrs.

Session #3:
Next stop the Oreleans, I was so burned out on NL I decided i wanted to play some o8. The O8 list was full so I decided to play NL while I waited. First big hand I played I flopped a set of 4's checked around on the flop after the preflop raisor checked. K on the turn hit his big slick and I took his stack $200. Then once again, i couldnt win another pot. I hit AK only to fold to a big bet on the turn after the flush card hit. I left HE up $65. I got called for the O8 game so I moved. Horrible players at the table, raise utg with 35J9 was pretty common. We went 12 bets on the river on a board of 24610K rainbow with one player turning over 2299. of course making a hand was not possible for me. I won 1/2 pot in 1.5 hrs of play. I raise the button with A234 suited to the A. Flop is Q24 with 2 diamonds so I have 2 pr the nut flush draw. Q on the turn, 5 on the river. And the moron with naked A3 and I get to chop. Total +$25 in 3.5 hrs

Session #4:
Played the new Hilton room. Short session. First big hand I play. I get 108c on the button flop is . Mp bets out $15, I raise to $45 after two players in between us call. Bettor pushs all in for another $30. Two players in the middle fold and I call. He turns over 77. Giving me a 20 outs of course I miss all of them and lose. Final funny hand. UTG has $12 left, he raises to $10. Same guy with 77 raises to $20. I look down at KK, I push all in, he thinks about it and folds and shows AJh. The other player calls and turns over the other KK. Flop is AA3, thankfully I pushed all in and he folded. Total for the session -$55 in 1.75 hrs.

Ok here is a personal note. I am really burned out on poker. I used to be excited about Vegas trips, this trip, i really didnt want to go. So I'm here and I really dont want to be. I am really sick of playing poker. I have two more days here and I have to play. Part of it is of course that the trip hasnt been good and neither was the last trip. I have been grinded to death,i haven't had my big pairs holding up. This is going to be my last chance to make money until school starts which is some added pressure. My goal was to have enough money to buy a new car, well I hit that goal a month ago. Then I started to have visions of actually buying a car that I would enjoy driving, the goal was to make enough to buy a 2000 Intergra. All I needed was $1500 more before the last Vegas trip, after that trip it was $2100. Now its $2600. Now it looks like a Honda Civic is more likely in the works, unless I have a great run the next two days. As you can tell I'm frusterated and burned out. I am actually really looking forward to school starting and not playing poker everyday. I know Robin (my ex) reads this from time to time and she is probably saying "I told you so." I know I'm not the first poker player to hit total burnout level, I remember Kenny going through the same thing a while back and he got through it and I'm sure I will too. Just a bad time to go through a bad run, I guess.

Sounds like a break from Poker is exactly what you need. I bet after some time away, all your poker juices will start to flow again.

I think you deserved BTP'er of the Month award for giving money to the RC and donating your winnings while really needing the money for personal stuff.

Fortune has a way of eventually smiling on such people!

Thanks everyone for the support. One of the best parts about BTP is the people here.

I dont know if I want to be labeled BTPer of the month but thanks for the offer Trodgers. =)
I may be a bleeding heart liberal but I do believe it is our reponsibilty as human beings to help each other in times of great need. I am not a religious person at all but I do believe strongly in karma, and hopefully if I am ever in a world of hurt like these people are it will be repayed to me. Really I am very lucky, I am in a Vegas hotel room, playing on a laptop that my poker winnings bought me and my biggest gripe in the world is that I'm burned out on playing poker. When you look at the big picture, my life is pretty good.

I decided to play downtown today to maybe cut the monotony of late. I played first at The Plaza.

Session 1: Totally and completely card dead. Really only played one big hand. I limp with AK. Crazy old man raises to $20, I call, so does a decent lady in between us. He has $400 or so she has $250 and I have them both covered. Flop is perfect, QJ10 rainbow. Old man bets out $50 lady raises to $100. I decide to call and try to get both of their stacks. The old man just call. A on the turn making the 2nd spade. Old man pushs all in, lady pushs all in, I call. Old man had K2o lady has KQo. We chop. this was the only hand I "won" in 2.4 hrs at the Plaza. -$71 in 2.5 hrs.

Session 2: Golden Nugget: Again very card dead only one big hand. I raise from MP with JJ, BB who is a decent player makes it $40. 3 other callers, so I call. Flop is KJ3, BB checks, checks to me, i check and it checks around. 2s on the turn, BB bets out $30, one player calls, I raise to $130. BB calls player 2 folds. J on the river. Giving me quads, BB moves all in, I insta call. He has KK and I got my first ever one outter in a $1000 pot. This was a small miracle, if I had lost a full $500 buy in with set over set I might have found the nearest balcony and jumped. What happens after is commical. This old asain guy to my right starts telling me I was 1:400 to win the pot. The middle eastern guy to my right who is a total ass starts telling me how lucky I am and how bad a player I am. No Shit I was lucky, but I asked him would he have folded??? He starts lecturing me about how badly I played my hand. I really dont see where I misplayed my hand. The other guy misplayed the heck out of his hand, his reraise gave everyone odds to try to crack his KK. All the NL games downtown are no cap buy ins. So I start mocking the middle eastern guy, I start telling him that it is my first time playing no limit. He grabs a stack of hunderds and drops them on the table, it must have been 4 or 5 thousand. So he is my BB when I am the SB, 2 players limp, I call and he makes it $40 to go. Everyone limps around to me, I show him my J10o and tell him I am happy to give him my $2. So he starts giving me a lecture on how I talk to much and that this is a serious game, if I want to talk there is a bar over there and maybe I can meet some girls. So the next hand, I limp and he raises to $50 this time. Again my sb and I have less than nothing. It folds to me and i ask how much do you have behind you. It is obvious to everyone that he has me covered five fold. He growls way more than you have. I say ok and fold again. He gets even more pissy and says just play. I said of sir when I have AA I will be happy to play all in with you. He grumbles something and looks away. A couple hands later he is talking to the guy next to him and the action is on him. I look over and say" Sir, please pay attention to the game, if you want to talk there is a bar right over there. There are lots of pretty girls to talk to." He gives me a dirty looks and folds. It is to bad i didnt get any cards because I would have loved to play a big pot with him. He wanted so bad to beat me, that I could have doubled through him. That would have been awsome. Well one lucky session made my day +$660 over 3.5 hrs

I'm going to play the Sahara game tonight, then checkout in the morning. Then play the 1/3 with no cap at the Wynn.

I guess I didnt really cover it in my last post, but once I get back from Vegas I will be taking some time off playing. It might be a couple of days or a couple of weeks. I will take as much time as i need until I feel like playing again.

Seems like you had fun busting the Middle Eastern guys balls... Of course, as everyone said, if you need some time, take it... The thing about B&M games is that they move SOOOOOOO slow, and you see SOOOOOOOOOOO few hands that when you get your trips cracked, you wanna jab a buffet spoon into the eye of the first guy that says "Nice hand" to the guy who just cracked you w/ his K2o when he rivers a runner runner flush...

Any time I have a couple -$500 days in a row, I tell everyone how I FUCKING HATE POKER..... Then I bust a couple of idiots and feel a little better... I'm sure you'll come around...

MVP I never considered using a buffet spoon but that might have the desired effect. I think it is a pretty good sign that I am burned out on poker that messing with the middle eastern guy was more fun to me than playing poker in Vegas. Its not that I hate poker, and I did get to bust a few idiots, but I think I just got sick of the grind.

Finally had one good session:

Sahara 1/3 Nl game:

This session started like the rest of the trip, I called a min raise from a crappy player with J10c, flop is J109 with 9 clubs. Bet out $30, he calls. Turn is the 4c, I bet out $40, he push all in for $100. I have a sinking felling but call, he turns over Q8 for the damn book end. Next hand I have 65 in the SB, it gets min raised by the weak tight player, he has done this a lot, then folded to a bet. so I call. Flop is 356. I check, he bets out $20, I raise to $70, he calls. He has $150 left. At this point I made a mistake, he had a black $100 chip on the bottom of his stack which I didnt see. I thought he has $60 left. The turn is a J, I push in a stack of chips intending to put him all in. He grabs the black chip and throws it in, and now has $70 or so left. River is a 7, I now think I'm beat but because of my miscalculation I really cant fold. I check, he checks and turns over 77. Uggg
This was the last big hand for awhile and I was talking to the guy next to me about leaving and heading over to the stratasphere. The guy who is sitting next to me is a regular and keeps telling me we need to bust someone because there is a really bad player next on the list. Then comes a fun hand. I get A6h on the button, It has been a very passive table. I call a min raise from the hot girl at our table. Flop is A66, lol, she bets out $30, her Bf calls, I smooth call. Turn is a 3. She bets out $30 again, her BF raises to $90. I call, she calls all in. He has $50 left, it gets all in on the river he had 33, she has AQ. So I bust both of them at the same time. Then the game got really good, both the next two players who sat down were action players. One was a dealer. At this point the table goes psycho agressive, every pot is raised. $17 was pretty average. I dont see a flop for almost an hour even from my blinds. Finally I get [10s] on my button in an unraised pot. I call mostly out of bordon but also knowing making one hand would pay me big. Flop is . So I have a huge draw, the dealer bets out $50, another good player at my table calls in between so I just call. Turn , money card. Dealer bets out $100, player in the middle calls. Now I am a little concerned, he may have the same hand as me, but he also may have a set ot flush draw. I raise to $300, dealer calls all in for $150 more. Good player has $800 left and I have him covered. He thinks and folds and shows A9s, So I got lucky, the spade hits and I lose a lot of $. So I now have $1100 in front of me. I get 22 in mp, very bad player lady, raises to $20, same good player to my right calls so does most of the rest of the table. Six way flop and Q32 rainbow. Good player bets out $75, he starts the hand with $750 , I call hoping to get action behind. The woman calls pushs all in for here last $110. Since it is not a full bet, no one can reraise. Both of us call. Turn is the . Good player bets out $200. I push all in, he thinks for what feels like forever. This is good I feared he has 33 but he would have called instantly. He calls and turns over AA. No A on the river and I win a hug pot. I now have over $2000 in front of me. One final hand, loose player who is down to $100 pushs all in dark from 2nd postion. I look down at AQh. Bad player in 1st postion raises to $150. He has $700 total. I really want to play this pot, but I knew that he would have called an all in and I was not in the mood to play a huge pot all in preflop without a made hand. I fold, 1st postion had AJ, all in player had QJ. I think I played it fine but that would have made it a record night. I played 6.5 hrs and finsihed up $1480. Nice night

I also made friends with the poker room manager, which is nice. I now have a hook up on rooms at the Sahara, he gave me a card and told me to call him personally to book rooms. I dont know if he thought I was a fishy and he wanted my action in the room or what, but I like it either way. He even tried to hook me up with special message. I asked him where I could get a message since my back was killing me. He told me to go down the street to a special message parlor and ask for Sumhe and she would take care of me. I thanked him but decided that the spa at the sahara the next day would be a better idea.

Next Day I play Bellagio, didnt make much at the game, made one good hand. I have $250 in front of me villian has $200. I limp with A8c in the SB. Flop is AQ3, no clubs, it checks around. Turn is an 8, I check player 1 bets out $30, villian calls, I raise to $75. Villian calls, river is a 9, I bet out $50, he push all in for another $75, I call he turns over Q8. Only decent hand I played. +$260 in 2.5 hrs

Went to Mandalay Bay since I havent played their room before and I have a chip from there in my collection. First hand I play like a moron. I get 88 limp, flop is 982. I check from ep, and i t checks around. Turn is a 5, BB bets out $30, I raise to $90. Button is all in so is the SB. I call realizing I am behind but I am now getting odds to calls to fill up. $100 more to win $650 and I'm 4:1 to fill up. I miss both of them have 67. Rebuy, next hand I get A10h in sb. Limps to the button who calls, I call BB who is a moron min raises. both of us call. Flop is 10 . I check, BB bets $50, button calls. I move all in, even vs an over pair I am a coin flop, and I am getting great pot equity. BB calls, button folds. BB has Q10o I make a heart on the turn to overkill the pot. After that I went cold carded and didnt win another pot for th next 2 hrs. -$79 over 2.75 hrs.

I start school again on Thursday and I am heading up to the bay area to see my mom one more time so I may be done playing for the summer. I'm not sure, if I feel like playing again there are plenty of places to play but we'll see. So I am going to post my summer results now and they may change depending. These are Jun 10- Sep 15

Live games
+$7727 322.75 hrs $23.94 per hour

STG
+ $422

Bonus
+ 500

MTT
+297

Grand total
$8946

My goal was $4000 so I could buy a laptop, I got that and more. I guess for all the bitching I did I blew away my goals.