Vegas Keno

Felt like sitting for a short while after eating,

so we grabbed a free beverage courtesy of

the Palace Station and put a $1 down on Keno.

Nice comfy chairs and not smoky compared to

the rest of the casino. I totally whiffed until

the very last number. Draw 20 numbers and

I only hit one...lol

Casino was quite busy and plenty smoky.

I was very temped by lots of action on their

low limit craps tables, but the smoke made

my eyes burn and I knew I wouldn’t be able

to stick around long enough to ride out a bad run.

Palace Stations poker room did have a bit

of action: 3 limit tables (2/4 &3/6) and

a $1/2 NL. Didnt check it out too closely.

Vegas Saturday

Headed over to the PALACE STATION Casino

for something to eat. We thought it would be

safe since OJ SIMPSON was arrested and

wasn’t staying there any more. Checked out

the Grand Café since that was about our only

option there.

There were about 30 members of a biker gang

inside. Undeterred, we sat down and ordered

a late night breakfast. $8.99 each.

No coupons, feels weird paying full price.

Place was really busy, service was accordingly

slow. Food was ok, nothing special.

Probably wouldn’t go back.

Vegas Signs

I saw 2 funny signs today.

First is pictured above.

You need a sign to tell the police to arrest

people stealing shit from a construction site ?

Second one, we had stopped by Walgreens

to pick up some water and snacks.

There was a 1ft x 2ft sign at the check-out counter

that read: " To purchase Cigarettes, we will

ask for identification if you look under 40 "

I thought they were hassling people up here

who look under 25...lol

I tried to take a picture of it, but the clerk and

security guard said no photography inside

the store please. Still feels strange seeing

armed guards at the front entrance of drug

stores and at the Dollar store.

Saturday

SATURDAY April 19th

Made our way downtown just after 1pm to

Fremont Street to pick up our FSE Coupon book

at the Oxygen Bar (used coupon in ACG).

Then to the FREMONT HOTEL’s Paradise Buffet.

Used 2 for 1 coupon from FSE booklet.

Paid $11.85 for 2 Champagne Brunch’s !

Ate here on last trip, so the very dark lighting

wasn’t a surprise. Food was good quality,

reasonably hot, decent selection. Bacon, eggs,

French toast, pancakes, made to order omelets,

fresh fruit, shrimp, crab, smoked salmon, sushi,

carved prime rib, lamb and of course, uber-cheap

champagne (sparlking white wine/ginger ale).

Left very satisfied.

Went across the street to the GOLDEN NUGGET

and were a bit surprised to see how busy the

floor was for around 2:30pm on a Saturday

afternoon.

Poker room had 6 tables going, half were limit,

the other half were $1/2 NL (no max). We were both

seated within minuts, by friendly floor manager

"Houston", to a very beatable $1/2 game. Half of

the table were 60 yrs + soft, passive rocks who

played quite predictably. This is what I come to

Vegas for. A game where I can consistently raise

and take it, or confidently fold 2 pair because

these guys let you know exactly what they have.

The $3/6 limit game appeared very juicy,

I watched for a bit while stretching my legs.

I don’t really enjoy limit holdem and its not my

strongest game, but I’m pretty sure I could

pull atleast 3-4 BB/hr if not more …the pots were

that big and the play was just that bad.

Sitting directly across from me on the next table

over was MONTEL WILLIAMS, the tv talk show

host. He’s a regular at the Nugget, hosting

"Montels", $88 and $1080 sit & go tournaments

to promote and raise money for his multiple

sclerosis charity. From what I watched,

Montel played a pretty straight forward

textbook game (he said he’s read 50 poker books),

aggressively raising when in a pot, and rarely

playing from out of position. He was wearing

the same psychedelic skin tight shirt he

wore at the World Series. Even if its lucky....

its still an ugly shirt.

Friday Eve

View from Parking Garage Roof of Caesars

In need of a poker fix, we head north

to the middle strip to CAESARS PALACE

around 6pm.

We were seated at $1/2 tables immediately.

The place was pretty hoppin. Plenty of

Limit games going. A $2/5 NL and a $2/5

Pot Limit Omaha Hi game were also running

throughout the night. Tournament was just

about to start when we got there.

Play at the tables was average, definitely

an opportunity to make some money for

skilled players.

Drink service was horrible.

Minimum ½ hour wait, sometimes an

entire hour ! (Servers are unionized,

not that friendly).

Overall, I played well but just couldn’t get

anything going card wise. Played 7 ½ hrs

and finished down about $120.

My table got broken down and I was moved

to g-didi’s table who was running really cold,

not just cold but gross.

A few examples:

She got it all in with AA vs. QQ and villain

spiked a queen. Got it all in with KK vs. 88

and villain spiked an 8. Had AA vs. 99.

Villain hits 9 on turn & 9 on river for Quads.

Folded on the river, pretty sure her opponent

had atleast one nine. Spirit nearly broken,

she quit the game and headed to the casino floor.

The gambling gods must have taken a little pity

on her, because she won $78 on slots

while waiting for me.

Got to see some poker celebs in the

poker room. The WSOP Academy ($2000 seminar)

was running a tournament for their students.

Pros there included Annie Duke, Andy Bloch,

Phil Gordon and more.

Joe Navarro, former FBI interrogator

and WSOPA instructor who’s written a couple

of the best books on poker tells and body

language hung out at my table for a bit,

talking to the dealer in between hands.

Washrooms outside the poker room

were nasty later in the evening. Mostly due

to drunk patrons of the PURE nightclub

across from the poker room.

Friday Silverton

Lions and Giraffe at Bass Pro Shops

Checking out all the stuffed wildlife worked

up an appetite. Used a 2 for 1 coupon (ACG)

for the Silverton Buffet. Total $21 for 2.

Nice atmosphere, vegas lounge music,

great service on refills and food was HOT.

Great steaks, fresh and tasty Alaskan King

Crab legs, fried coconut shrimp, pulled BBQ

beef, corn on the cob, sushi, spring rolls,

stuffed crab, smoked salmon, carved turkey/

beef/lamb, pastas, salads, lots of desserts,

self serve wine. Food: A- Service: B+

(lowered because of cold reception people,

servers were great though).

Used $10 free slot play coupon (ACG).

Must have played 20-25 minutes on it

then hit a big bonus, cashed out +$18.75.

(Almost free buffets for us)

Silverton poker room had a single

2/4 limit table that included at least

one off-duty dealer sitting in.

Friday South Vegas

Headed back over to Silverton Casino which

just happens to have a BASS PRO SHOPS

attached to it…What a total coincidence that I

would end up at the casino with a fishing store

attached to it …lol. I've been to the ones in Detroit

and north of Toronto, but its always fun to see

the massive aquariums and animal displays.

Walked through aisle after aisle of fishing stuff

and didn’t buy a thing. Very proud of myself.

Vegas Friday

Drive by snapshot of South Point Casino

2:30pm. Made our way south to

SILVERTON CASINO for something to eat.

Buffet is closed from 3-4pm so we headed

across the street to the home of

Poker After Dark, the SOUTH POINT CASINO

for a couple free drinks (ACG coupon).

I had an amaretto/coke, Gina got a strawberry

margarita. Both were excellent.

South Point Poker Room had one full table,

one short table, appeared to be mostly locals.

Played some slots to pass the time til dinner,

Left with $17 of the Casinos money.

Overall, the South Point seems like a

very up to date and well kept hotel.

Wasn’t very smoky overall, although the

craps area was pretty thick with smoke.

Vegas Friday

Gamblers General Store

FRIDAY April 18th

Up at the crack of noon…lol.

$3 overpriced coffee from the coffee shop

in the Sahara lobby and a couple protein bars

that I had picked up from the dollar store.

On the road shortly after 1pm.

Went downtown to Gamblers General Store

and Spinetti’s. Spinetti's just moved to this

new location on Main Street beside GGS.

Picked up some poker chips to complete

my home game set, saved a bunch on

shipping/brokerage by bringing them back

with me. Pretty cool browsing through these

massive poker supply stores, selection is unreal.

Vegas Thurs Night

Treasure Island Poker Room

8pm. Looking for some good poker action,

we decided to head over to TREASURE ISLAND.

I had heard good things about TI’s poker room.

Well run, good comps ($2/hr), lots of fish, etc.

They were in the midst of their 7pm tournament

and only had a single $1/3 table going.

First Impression: very nice room, like it.

20 minutes later, they started a 2nd $1/3

($500max) table and was seated.

Didn’t take me very long (played for 20 minutes)

to figure out this wasn’t where I’d be spending

my poker time in vegas. The table was VERY

aggressive and obviously very skilled.

There was only myself and one other guy

who were not local full time players or shills

(players employed by the casino). I wasn’t sure

if I was the fish, or the other tourist guy was,

so I cashed out my chips before I found out.

Floor manager Michelle was super friendly

(not to mention attractive) and TI had

the fastest dealers of the whole trip.

Headed back downtown to the EL CORTEZ.

A very smoky casino. Has that old school vegas

feel to it. It was very busy, lots of older folks.

There were 2 limit tables going, Old rocks vs.

Old donks. If you dont mind the smoke,

a very cheap place to stay ($30-60/night).

Café was closed, so we went over to

Boyd's CALIFORNIA casino and the

Market Street Café. Probably my favourite

(cheap, good value) place to eat in Vegas.

Late night specials 11pm-9am like their

$2.95 breakfast (2eggs, 2bacon, 2toast, hashbrowns)

& the $4 chicken fingers (3 big ones) w/ fries.

Friendly service, 2 can eat for $12 including

drinks and taxes and always leave full & satisfied.

Their $6 breakfast buffet is great too,

I just have a hard time getting up and active

before 11am, so its usually when I’ve been up

all night and stumble in there around 6am.

Went back to home base at the SAHARA

to play some $1/3 NL poker. Sahara has

some of the oldest dealers in vegas.

Half of them are named Bill. Avg age 55-60 ?

The one guy said he’d been dealing poker

for 43 years …lol.

I wasn’t in on it but there was a hand

where the dealer (and floor) made an error.

Hand played out like this:
X1 raises to $12 (+9)

Y2 raises to $32 (+20)

Z3 raises ALL IN to $48 (+16)

X1 calls $48 (36 more)

Y2 raises ALL IN to $400
Even though I’m not in the hand,

I’ve seen a couple of the dealers misread

the board and attempt to award pots

to the wrong person, so I suggest to the

dealer that Y2 cannot make the 2nd raise,

just call because Z3’s ALL IN was not a

full raise (atleast equal to the previous raise),

therefore this did not reopen the action

for Y2 to raise again.

Y2 claimed it was legal because her raise

was atleast 50% of the previous raise.

The dealer agreed, but called the floor over

to make a final decision. Floor manager agreed

that as long as the raise was 50% more

than the previous raise, the raise was legal.

Citing the questionable rule knowledge

of the poker room staff, the mediocre dealer

skills, and worn out cards, I picked up my chips,

cashed out, and headed up to the room for

some shut eye. (didn’t return to the sahara

poker room after that)

Vegas Thurs

Nothing unusual about a massage

parlour in vegas. Had me curious

about what an ASSAGE parlour

might offer though.

.

Vegas Trip Thurs

Freemont Street / Binions / Golden Nugget

THURSDAY April 17th

Up at 10am (ridiculously early for me).
Decided we’d head downtown for breakfast
at CALIFORNIA Casino or the El Cortez.
We needed to stop by a Walgreens or
some other drug store to pick up a few
toiletries and a bunch of bottled water.

On our way there, we stopped at The
Gamblers Book Store (630 S. 11th Street)
to pick up the 2008 AMERICAN CASINO
GUIDE (ACG). Paid $15.95. Lots of coupons
inside it, 2 for 1 buffets, $10 free slot plays,
$10 BlackJack match plays, 2 for 1 tickets.
A great value, tonnes of useful coupons
which I will try to note throughout my report.
The kicker is it has a 10% off coupon in it
for the Gamblers Book Store which the
guy tore out and applied to the cost
of the book !

Right next door to the GBS was a
Dollar Store (corner of Charleston & Maryland.)
It had a great selection and some great deals.
I think next time, I will forgo buying and
packing all those little mini bottles of soap,
shampoo, shaving cream, etc and just
hit the dollar store when I get there.
Easier and cheaper.

Got what we needed and headed
downtown to Fremont Street.

The urge for breakfast had passed
by this time and decided it was time
for lunch and strolled over to the
FOUR QUEENS Hotel & Casino and
had lunch at Magnolia’s. Decided on
the full rack of ribs and chicken gumbo
soup - $16.95ea. Had a 2 for 1 appetizer
coupon from the ACG book. Came to $24
for both of us including coffee, pops and
our tip. Food was decent, not amazing.
Very big portions. Signed up for 4Queens
players card and got a deck of playing cards
in a cool metal package.

3pm. Decided to check out CIRCUS CIRCUS,
heard they had a decent poker room.
First impression: Too may kids and the
whole place had some very odd smells.
Kids are great but they don’t belong in a
casino, let alone in vegas. Picked up the
Circus Circus Coupon book that I had heard
good things about (used an ACG coupon
to get it). Garbage, that’s what it was,
and that’s where it ended up. A coupon for a
free fountain pop when I buy a $20 pizza …
Fuck Off. $10 off a $100 spa package… Fuck Off.

The poker room had two Limit tables going,
that’s it. Bathrooms were nasty. Based on
my 20 minutes here, I wouldn’t stay at this
hotel even if they comped my rooms & meals.

4pm. Went to the MGM GRAND knowing
that they would have some good poker going.
Had 7-10 games running while we were there.
Approx 2/3 of the room was $1/2 NL ($200max)
and 1/3 was limit ($2/4 and $3/6). They also had
a $2/5NL going, but it was full and seats were
very slow to open up. MGM has a good
atmosphere, the whole casino does,
but especially the poker room. Its semi-enclosed,
gets some walk by traffic since its right across
from the lions cages. Tables have a marble
racetrack, which I’m not a big fan off.
Room is pretty loud, partly because of
people riffling their chips on the marble racetrack,
but mostly because of the floor guy talking
on the microphone a lot. It did keep the room
organized and draw in lurkers who heard him
announce when they had a seat open.
They also have computerized tracking,
the dealer swipes your player card right at
the table which ensures you get comp credit
for your play. Mostly 21-35 aged males,
not that many drinking or drunk.
Washrooms are relatively close, clean and
have HOT water, who knew that was
even possible.

Poker Action was pretty good.
Ended up ahead a little more than $100.

Vegas Trip Report (STARTS HERE)

view from my room at the Sahara

WEDNESDAY April 16th

Here’s the low down on my latest trip
to Las Vegas. Not entirely comprehensive,
but since no one was paying me to keep
detailed notes, i did the best i could.

Thought I’d be making this one by myself,
but my traveling companion Gina “g-didi” Reed
was able to get some time off work.
She generously offered to be my chaufeur
for the trip.

Left London about 7am and made the
2 hr drive to Detroit Metro Airport.
Only a 5 minute wait in line to cross the
border got us there with time to spare.
Flew SouthWest Airlines this trip
($245 round trip taxes incl.)

I definitely miss flying WestJet.
Despite both using Boeing 737,
the WestJet has individual expressvu
satellite television on the back of the seat
which makes the flight pass by way quicker.
We made a quick hop from DTW to Chicago,
an hour layover and then on to Las Vegas.

Arrived at McCarron Airport around 3:30pm
and picked up our rental car. Used discount
code "TARR" at Dollar.com and got the car
from Wednesday aft to Monday morn for
$116 all included. I recommend not getting
a P/T Cruiser if at all possible. Piece of crap,
and not that good on gas for a 4 cyl.
They didn’t have any mid-sized or larger cars
left, and didn’t feel like waiting around for one
to be returned, so we took the P/T Cruiser.

Renting a car is definitely the way to go.
Gives you the freedom to go to any casino,
restaurant or attraction you want, not just
what’s close to your hotel. Consider that a
cab ride anywhere is $10 and a cab any distance
is gonna run you $20. You can take the "Deuce"
bus for $5 a day, but you can wait a while for one
during prime times and you still end up walking
a fair bit. For the cost of one cab ride a day, you
can rent a car and do things on your own schedule.

We were hungry after a day of traveling
so we stopped by TERRIBLES Casino
(4100 Paradise Rd.) It was International & BBQ
night at the buffet. Decent food selection:
Carved roast beef, shrimp, jerk chicken,
Thai peanut chicken skewers, along with
the usually buffet staples. Used 2 for 1 coupon:
$10.74 Tax Inc for both of us. Food: B Service: C
(didn’t like that the server picked our cutlery
from bulk tubs and brought it with us to the table)

Walked through the casino and was compelled
to play The Price is Right DICE GAME slot machine.
My dog Titus has a favourite toy, his dice and the
TPIR machines were giving good action on the
last trip. Up a few bucks then…Cha-Ching ! + $160.
Cashed out. Seemed to be an older crowd here,
smoky, and very busy every where we went
on the floor, especially on the cheap slots.

Headed over to the SAHARA hotel and
checked into my room. Fast check in, no line up.
Put our valuables in lock box (no in-room safe).
Dumped our bags, had a quick shower then
went down to the casino floor to check it out.
A little smokey, but not unbearable.

Found the poker room. Its generally pretty
slow if there aren’t any tournaments going on.
Tournies get 4-7 tables for their $40 + $20 events.
Dealers are adequate, but their pitch accuracy
and speed could use a bit of work. (doesn’t help
that the cards were beyond their useful life).
Drink service in the poker room was
very slow and the waitresses were old
and/or homely looking.

Sahara poker room spreads $1/3 NoLimit
($300max), but didn’t have one going.
We got them to start a list and within 10 minutes
we were playing. We started with 4 players
and they didnt start taking a rake until we had
7 players (fair I thought). The game was
reasonably soft, passive.

Was dealt: 67 of clubs. Flop: Ad,4c,5c.
Bet out, only g-didi called.
Turn was 8c. Check-check.
I bet $3 on the river. G-didi said she had nothing,
but I think she smelled a rat and folded.
Won $ 150 jackpot for my 4 thru 8 straight flush.
+ the $24 in the pot.

Not long after, Gina had pocket QQ against
3 players (including me). She flopped a set,
played it fairly strong & made Quad Queens
on the river. Unfortunately,Gina's Jackpot
for quads was only $50. I think she won more
than that from the pot.

Played for about 5 hours til 1am and
called it a night, was feeling the effects of
not much sleep the previous few nights
& a long day of travel.

Headed back to the hotel room on the
8th floor of the Alexandria tower. The room
was somewhat dated looking but adequate,
clean, quiet, no smells. It had in room
wi-fi (+$12/day), a small tv and a comfortable
king size bed. Windows opened completely,
not really a balcony, more like a cement perch
you could stand on, although I’m not sure
you were really supposed to.

Room didn’t have independent temperature
control. You could turn the fan on/off, but the
temp is set based on outside temperature.
Wasn’t a problem this trip (avg. temp was 65-70F
at night, 75-80F during day), but I can’t imagine
not having control of the room temperature during
the summer when it’s 40C/115F.

The only other downside to the Sahara was
these annoying Tahiti Village agents, standing
in the lobby by the casino floor entrance, trying to
get you to go on a time share presentation in
exchange for free show tickets. Fuck off.
(You’ve probably seen the commercials on tv
late at night with Allan Thicke offering you
a free 3 night vegas holiday).

Hotel location was pretty convenient,
easy access to the strip and downtown along
the less busy streets like Paradise Rd.
Can catch the monorail from the Sahara
to the rest of the strip as well.