I LOVE VEGAS!

Sorry, didn't mean to scream like that, I'm just so very excited. As ass-backwards as it sounds, my only goal for this trip was to play less and I think I accomplished that. And now that I read Joe's new post, I was not alone. I swear we're long lost brothers from another mother.

That and I unintentionally follow him around like I am his little brother.

"Where ya goin' Joe? Huh? Huh? Can I come? YIP YIP YIP!"

I'm the guy that tends to sit back and observe rather than join in right away, and I did a lot of that back in June. I didn't talk to--or attempt to, as is better the case--the people I wanted to talk to. This go 'round, however, I broke out of my slightly introverted shell and tried actively engage people in conversation. Sometimes it worked, others, not so well, but for the most part--no matter how much I lost at the tables or spent in the bar--I came out way ahead for the trip. Way ahead.

I made the decision early in the trip to only recount a few of the highlights that were important to me, if even that. Most people don't care to read how much poker I didn't play, or each and every conversation I had, and that's futile anyhow, because I'm sure that I had brain horked sometime in the middle of the day Saturday, and details that were once there are no longer.

No worry, because there are things that hold more personal and nobody else really cares about. So, onto the highlights!

--The funniest moment, by far, of the trip was watching TrumpJosh slip and fall on the marble floor of the MGM Sportsbook bar, and in the process, dump an entire beer on his own face. His own face.

He sure knows how to make a first impression, so I'll give him that much.

Joe was nice enough to ask him if he was hurt before helping him up and laughing at him. I'm not that nice, so I just laughed at him. My stomach still hurts from laughing so hard.

--Running into a very tired Blood outside of the Excalibur poker room at 4am Friday morning, and when I asked him where he was going, he said "to the strip to catch a cab".

When I told him he was walking the wrong way, I proceeded to get us lost trying to find the real front door. I still don't understand how that happened. It's just a big, dirty square, is it not?

--Playing 4/8 at the IP a few hours before my flight yesterday with Bobby Bracelet, Alan, and TrumpJosh.

Bobby was on Perma-Tilt after being told that he hadn't been rated after a drunken 7 hour blackjack session at the Bellagio in October, so he decided to live straddle, bet and raise his way to the river on a 3-3-A-7-7 board. Blind.

The first card he flipped over was a 7 for the runner-runner full house. His second card?

I wouldn't be telling this story if it had been anything other than a 2.

"You're going to hell for that", was my response.

--Walking into the tournament area and reading a sign that translated into "OPEN BAR!" and realizing that it's all downhill from there. At noon. I tried to get somebody to set a line for the over/under of how many bloggers would be bombed by the first break, but everybody I talked to was either too hungover or already too drunk to give a shit.

--Trying to learn craps--again--at Casino Royale after the aforementioned OPEN BAR! is probably not a good idea. I still had no idea what was going on, and why everyone was cheering so loud.

--Sitting at a 4/8 (1/2 kill) with Dr. Jeff, Pablo, Shelly and Alan at the MGM Friday night. There's no other way to explain it than to say that I had a blast making fun of the people on the other side of the table. Hitting runner-runner full house against one of the other guy's set of eights when I was too stupid to realize I was that far behind was just an added bonus.

--No less than 3 people said that they were deeply disturbed by my thoughts during sex a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure there's a higher compliment I could've received. You're welcome.

I spent far more for pints of Pyramid than I lost at the tables, and that was the beauty of this whole trip. I could've wasted my whole meager bankroll on beer and birthday vodka shots, and it still would've been worth every penny.

There are few people in the community that are huge cheerleaders, and I wholly appreciate each and every conversation I had with them. It's just the kick in the ass I need to gain more confidence, and stop writing like a pussy.

Thank you. Seriously.