Drove down to the Strip to play poker Saturday night. Bellagio. My favorite cardroom by far. Spreads the most games by far. Marco and others like Venetian best, mostly because of the space between the tables. Personally, I'd rather be cramped in a better game.

Started at 7 pm. 2-5 NL. Won about $400 the first few hours. A total manic - raising with anything - was in the game. When a seat to his left came open, I jumped at it. You typically want to be to the left of a very aggressive player, so you act AFTER him.

I have 5-7 in the small blind, in an un-raised pot. I limped in. The manic was on the button. Flop comes 346 unsuited. I had the nuts! I check, manic bets $20 - I make it $40, and he calls. River comes 9. I still have the nuts. I bet $75 and instantly he says ALL IN. He had over $1000 left! My heart was racing. I checked the board, and my cards to be sure, and called. The river was a blank - the manic had 2-5 (the second nuts) and I won a $2000 pot!!

Funny thing is, the manic responded to this be leaving to play in the 5-10 game. Even funnier, he sat down right next to noted poker author Mason Malmuth. He was broke within a half hour.

About 1 am I decide to take a shot. Up $1600 at that point, I go to 5-10 for the first time ever. Typically, I'm not a big fan of playing higher than I am comfortable. But a great book about Stu Ungar called One of a Kind talks about to be great you must be comfortable with losing, because no matter the endeavor, you will likely be a loser when you step up to the next level until you have experience at that level. If you can't deal with losing, then you can't grow into that next level. A tough theory for me, but I've been working on it.

Played very tight at 5-10, and won another $100 - for a total of $1700. Drove home at 4 am, down the half-empty Strip with the windows down.