While Peter Schoenke and Mike Romanowski actually have work to do in Vegas, I'm just here to draft the FSTA NL Expert League Team, play poker and get hammered with some of the industry guys.

I like my draft (13-team league) a good deal - picked 8th and took Juan Pierre (his batting average was hurt by an artificially low hit rate last year) - then got Carlos Beltran on the way back. Took Pat Burrell in Round 3, then rolled the dice on Ben Sheets in Round 4. The usual suspects were in the league - Jason Grey, Nate Ravitz, Matthew Berry, Eric Karabell, Larry Schechter... it's a tough group, but that just makes winning it more meaningful. (Haven't won since 2001, but am usually in the top three or four). I'll do a complete writeup of it when I get back into town next week.

Got knocked out of the poker tournament right away, which was too bad because I was the defending champ - no idea who won it. Schoenke, the 2004 champ, was still alive when I left. Between Schoenke and I, RotoWire had always had at least a piece of the 60-person tournament title, so I hope he kept it in the family.

Other high/low-lights of the trip:

• Lost a two and three-team parlay in the closing seconds Wednesday night when Oklahoma State covered on a running three-pointer against Miami in the opening round of the NIT.
• Ate the best burger of my life at Bradley Ogden's. If you're ever in Vegas, and you want to treat yourself to something really good, get the $19 burger at Ogden's restaurant in Caesar's. I made Romo get one, and he'll back me up on this - it's the best burger either of us have eaten in our lives - perfectly medium rare ground rib-eye and Kobe beef trimmings with a little blue cheese, crisp pickles, and lettuce lightly dabbed with olive oil and salt. And small trays of ketchup, mustard and mayo. It's as good as any steak, lobster or any fancy meal you can get.
• Went to clubs at Caesar's (Pure) and the Wynn (Tryst). Both are considered to be among the better ones in Vegas, but there was nothing pure about Pure, and the only tryst I had at Tryst was with the hookers outside the club at 6 am. Of course, I didn't partake in any of that, but I was dumb and drunk enough to buy two particularly attractive ones drinks while I pretended to consider their offers. That's $21 I'll never get back.

  Someone named Lou should really open a skanky downscale casino across from the Wynn and call it Lou's. You figure if people lose at the Wynn, they might think they can win at Lou's. I know I'd rather go to the club at Lou's no matter what they call it. Maybe I'd wind up having a tryst I didn't have to pay $300-$500 for. (Yes, I did ask the price).

• Was supposed to leave for LA Friday morning, but Romo and I were so hung over, we couldn't bring ourselves to deal with the misery of packing up and getting on an airplane, so we stayed an extra day.