Update

As expected I didn't blog from Las Vegas.  I was doing some running updates on Twitter and Facebook.  Just not enough time/dedication to sit for 10 minutes each day and blog.

Had a great time in Vegas.  The weather was hot and sunny and I actually got to enjoy it for at least a few minutes each day.  Yes most of my time was spent inside poker rooms -- which is why the weather in Vegas doesn't matter too much -- but I walked outside and spent a few mornings relaxing by the pool. Overall I wound up down a bit for the trip playing poker.  I did really well the first week, then the second week I made a few mistakes and got a bit unlucky in a few hands.  No doubt playing a lot improved my game.  One of my big takeaways is learning to trust my reads -- i.e., whether my opponent has a hand or is bluffing -- which have been dead on.  I've been pretty good but lost a few pots where I called and should have raised.

I played at about a dozen different poker rooms and stopped by two or three others just to take a look.  Added to my chip collection and upgraded a number of other chips to excellent condition.  I guess with all the action the WSOP brings to town a lot of places put new $1 chips in play.  Speaking of which, one of the really cool things I did was to check out the WSOP action.  Meier and I watched the $50,000 Players Championship where we could see 100 of the best -- or at least 100 of the wealthiest poker players -- up close.  Basically every big name player was there, like an all-star game or sorts.  I'd say 1/3 of the field was big name players anyone who follows the sport would recognize (Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, etc.), 1/3 were guys some people would recognize or some knew that they won this or that tournament, and the rest appeared to be internet wonder kids.  There were a bunch of young guys that didn't look at all familiar. In addition to watching the start, I came back three days later to sit in the studio and watch the final three battle it out.  It's just what you see on TV.  In fact if you watch on ESPN July 27th, you should be able to see me on TV.

Also met up with my cousins Roz and Irv while there and got to catch up.  And I did a touristy thing and checked out the Auto Collection at Imperial Palace.  Lots of cool, classic cars; Monica would love it.

Last week I spent catching up between handing our remodeling projects.  With the floors being sanded and finished, I had to get the dogs out of the house every day.  Our deck contractor also started the tear down of the existing deck.  We knew some of the decking was bad, but as he's removed the decking up we can see how badly rotted some of the joists are.

The hardwood floor is basically done.  The flooring is all in, sanded and finished.  He just needs to reinstall the molding, air registers, and some other things that were removed.  He's also going to install the hardwood stairs and then we're done with the inside.  Deck project is going to take a while.