Vegas TR - Superbowl Edition

Tues Jan 29  - 11:30pm Checked into a Forum Tower
room Caesars Windsor. Used the comped room to catch
some Z's before crossing border.  Nice rooms, always
clean and modern. HDTV and pneumatic toilet seat.

Wed Jan 30  - 6:45am Checked out, headed to Detroit Tunnel.

7:30am Breakfast at Rams Horn (2nd location) 
Ham+Cheese Omlette and the Paul Bunyan Combo,
Tea + Coffee.  $15.67  Great value, hot food
on the way to the DTW airport.
http://www.ramshornrestaurants.com/menu

flew Southwest Airlines, uneventful flight. ( $ 258 RT)
60 F (15C) upon arrival. sunshine felt great !
Vitamin D from a bottle just cant compare to the
healthy feeling from sunshine on your skin.

1:00pm picked up National rental car ($112.73 for entire week)
2013 Toyota Corolla - great little car,  and headed to 99c Store.
loaded up with energy drinks (gotta love one called WhoopAss),
snacks, vitamins and personal care products.  -$30

2:00pm.  Bellagio, picked up Cirque de Soleil "O"
tickets at box office. Comped from myvegas.
(MyVegas is a Facebook game that earns comps at MGM properties)
$360 value. Took 15 minutes to redeem,
i dont think they've done too many.

2;45pm   Checked in at Harrahs, room #2908,  Carnival tower. 
Comped for the week from poker play. Room was clean, decent,
nothing special, typical of Harrahs.  No early check in fee.
Room wasnt very quiet, not hotels fault, just ignorant inconsiderate guests,

Saw this, its hard to read but sign says Compact Cars Only.
This person believes that a Crown Victoria qualifies as a compact.

4:00pm  drove south of strip to Premium Outlet Mall. 
no deals at NewBalance or other stores i checked out. 
It was fairly busy, a lot of euros.

5:30pm  Silverton Casino Buffet.
241 ACG (american casino guide) coupon.
$15.12 for 2. Consistantly good quality,
especially the desserts.  Poker room still closed,
waiting for Cantor to remodel and likely integrate it
into the sportsbook like at Palms.

7:00pm   Parked at Bellagio and walked strip.  
Fewer straight up "spare some change" beggers,
but more "kick me in the nuts" and "punch me in the
throat for a donation" types.  I admire their creativity.

Bills Gambling Hall is closing in a few days so we
checked it out.  (reopening as Drai's boutique hotel in 2014)
Surprisingly dead. Happened upon Tix4Tonite,
Bought 2 tix for Esteban for $25each. 

7:30pm Walked down to Flamingo,
poker room had 3 tables of 1/2NL going.
played 2 hours.  - $24
Flamingo is one of 7 Caesars Entertainment properties
participating in the MegaBeat Jackpot promotion. 
If your Quad Queens or better get beaten you win
the Bad Beat portion, approx $90,000, the winner of the
hand wins approx $45,000. Everyone playing at one of the
7 poker rooms when the Beat happens get a share which
fluctuates depending on how many people are playing at that
time, went as low as $650 at peak times and as high as $2500
in the early hours when crowds were thin.


10pm  Cirque de Soleil 'O' at Bellagio.
Literally front row, 2 seats from center.
Some splish splash spray. Good show.
recommend sitting about halfway back for full view experience.

 


















Thurs Jan 31

10am  - drove downtown to Fremont St.
11am  - Neon Boneyard  Las Vegas Signs Project
(Las Vegas Blvd. between Sahara and Washington Street)
guided tours Mondays-Saturdays 10:00 a.m til sunset.
One-hour tours run every half hour. Tickets are $18. 
http://www.neonmuseum.org/tour-info
Cool history lesson, wish the signs were laid out better
for picture taking.  Recommended for an off the strip adventure.

                                                           

12:30pm  -  Jerkey Store 3rd St., 1/2 block off Fremont.
 www.beefjerkystore.com/  Crazy selection of jerky and candy.
Got some salmon, elk, and bison jerky -$37

1:00pm  Heart Attack Grill. at neonopolis on fremont.
customers weighing in over 350lbs eat free.  love the gimmicks,
add extra 20 slices of bacon to your burger for $3.95 ,
fries cooked in lard, butterfat milkshakes with a pat of butter on top,
 but the execution was a fail.  food wasnt very good.
yelp/tripadvisor reports say i'm not alone in my disappointment.
soggy fries, "shake" is served with a spoon, its a dessert, not a drink.
-$31

2:00pm   Binions. only 1 poker table going, locals.
played slots -$10.  My $42 in comps from 2 yrs ago are still alive. 
Didnt want to redeem them for an ugly denim jacket or crappy fleece.
I hear that Binions Steakhouse is great, but already have 3 steak
dinners planned.  Will save the comps for next trip, definitely eating
a big slab of beef for free here next visit to Binions


Wandered over to The D. 
Renovations are a huge improvement over the Fitz. 
Great place to stay downtown, nice rooms cheap.
Played 25cent Sigma Derby horse wagering for 90 minutes.
 -$10 good fun way to pass the time, good drinks and service.

5:00pm El Cortez Hotel & Casino  $10 ACG free slot play. 
played video craps, +$6   Love this dive (hate the smoke)

7:30pm  Las Vegas Hotel LVH, formerly the Hilton.
First time at the famous LVH SuperBook.
Placed a bunch of UFC and Superbowl bets. (net loss $20) 
Free Drinks in sportsbook with betting slip.
You know you've earned the name 'SuperBook'
when there are lines designated for "Minimum $1,000 bets"

8:30pm  Esteban in the Shimmer Cabaret at LVH.
Small venue, maybe 150 capacity.  Great show.
Tipped the usher and got probably best seats in the house,
dead center 15ft from stage. A few static crackles
otherwise sound was great. Meet + greet after,
people are very rude but Esteban was classy about it.

10:30pm -  back to Harrah's poker room. 
It's been moved to the North Entrance by the Strip,
Unfortunately it's not isolated from casino smoke and noise
like its previous location.   5 tables going.  Great opportunity
to make money, loose table, bad players but couldnt get
dealt playable cards.  6 hours -$25

4:30am walked across to Mirage to use free Wifi before bed.
Mandalay Bay, MGM, Bellagio, Mirage, Monte Carlo and Aria
have free wifi throughout. NYNY, Luxor, Excalibur will be
adding wifi within the year



Friday Feb 1

Noon - MyVegas comp redemption at Mlife booth for
Bellagio lunch Buffet. Fairly quick + easy, considering
its all done manually, handwritten. Comp paper allowed us
to skip the line up of approx 80 ppl.  Still one of the best
buffet's in vegas. Weekday Lunch is great value at $20.99

1:00pm played 1/3 in the bellagio poker room til 4pm.
Still card dead -$88.  Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman, and
John Hennigan playing in Bobby's room.

Starting to get noticeably busy, people arriving for
superbowl weekend.  350,000+ expected for the big game.
There werent a lot of hotel vacancies and rooms were
going for premium prices on saturday and sunday.

4:30 walked over to the Monte Carlo poker room.
Had to wait a half hour for seat to open up. 
Couldnt make much happen.  -$24
Saw this ad for The Pub at Monte Carlo, made me giggle.

7pm went over to NYNY to redeem a $75 MyVegas food Comp.
Tried Chin Chin.  Food was ok, not amazing.  Drinks were very tasty.
Electric Lemonaide $12,  Velvet Kitten $11

Sat Feb 2

1:00pm  comp Luxor Buffet.  myvegas redemtion was very slow.
Luxor Mlife booth has done over 600 of these and they still
dont seem to have the process down yet.  Buffet is priced at
$21.99. I would be angry if i had to pay for this.  At free it was
barely worth it. Only vegas buffet i've seen with self serve drinks.
Desserts were actually ok, everything else is soup-kitchen quality.
Avoid this place unless you're desperate.

Headed back to the 99cent store
(E. Charleston Blvd/Maryland Pkwy)
to reload on energy drinks and propel.
Need to have plenty on hand for the superbowl.

3:00pm  Balley's poker room has recently relocated to near
the front of the Casino, next to The Nosh snack bar  +$30

5:00pm  THE Steakhouse at Circus Circus,
myvegas $150 comp.  We had the Grilled Garlic Shrimp $21,
Porterhouse $49, Bone-in Ribeye $50, and some merlot http://www.circuscircus.com/images/PDF/SteakhouseMenu.pdf
Side dish of garlic mashed potatoes were excellent.
The tenderloin portion of my Porterhouse had big gobs
of fat and had some tendonous tissue. 
The strip portion was a bit dry and flavorless
(despite being served rare). 
The Ribeye steak was better, had some flavor. 
Atmosphere was old-school vegas, dimly lit, wood and leather
Be sure to wear cool clothing, the heat from
the grill made it a little too warm, especially since my
body temp goes up when i eat.

7:00pm went to Palms to check out poker. Cool room,
its integrated into the sportsbook operated by cantor. 
7 tables, 3 games going but no movement.  Used a
$10 matchplay ACG coupon on the roulette table. +$20

7:30pm  drove up to Luv-It Custard, near Stratosphere.
got Western cup and Cheesecake cone. $5ea.
http://www.luvitfrozencustard.com/menu.html
Very tastey !

8:30  back to Harrah's poker room for the rest of the night 
played well, ran well  +$350


Sunday Feb 3 

10:00am  up early to start superbowl sunday cuz
 the game starts 3pm pst.   myvegas Comp,
Border Grill Brunch at Mandalay Bay. 
Fast redemption. value $30ea  AYCE tapas style.
All items were sweet or spicey.
Paid $5 extra for unlimited mimosa's.
Had the option of dining inside or sitting outside
on a covered veranda overlooking the pool.
Beautiful morning, no way we would be eating indoors.

 

Saw this game combo coming out of Mandalay Bay.

Hesitant to tell my buddy Craig Robillard about it, he may

end up spending his entire next trip at this machine.



                                                                                                                                       

 

 

12:00pm -  the original plan was to watch the superbowl

at the LVH superbook, but we stopped by Harrah's

poker room and started playing, the games were

pretty good and we had good seats to watch the

big screen tv's so we ended up staying and playing

poker through the whole game.  6 1/2 hrs  +$70

 

8:00pm  myvegas Comp redemption for Cravings buffet

at Mirage.another slow Mlife processing.  $30 value each.

Buffet was good. but overpriced if you pay cash.

Seafood and Desserts were good.

 

9:30  back to Harrah's poker room for rest of the night -150

 

Monday Feb 4

 

10am  Red Rock breakfast buffet.  Station Casino's are offering

great value on their buffets, and Red Rock is probably their best

(GVR is likely #2)  Always been extremely happy with the food

and service.  Dollar for dollar, best buffet value in vegas and the

scenery is amazing !  $6.99 Breakfast $8.99 Lunch $12.99 Dinner

 

12:00  drove back to the strip, stopped by the Stratosphere,

no poker games going, just a few guys sitting around waiting

for one to start.

 

1:00pm drove back to Harrahs for poker til 4pm.  still cant get my

poker mojo going.  Got it all in with AA vs a drunk guys 57.

- $236

 

5:00pm Tender Steakhouse at Luxor. 

myvegas Comp $150value.  Nice atmosphere,

servers more casual than at CircusCircus.  Mohito was yum.

Had 3 soup sampler (lobster bisque, mushroom, kobe chile),

2 thumbs up for the soups. Ordered the foie gras

just to piss off the PETA people, large caesar salad,

20oz Black Angus Ribeye, 10oz range-fed wyoming Bison Sirloin. 

Ribeye was great, flavorful. Bison was a little bland, but that is

often the case because of the leanness and being grass fed.

http://www.luxor.com/files/dining_steakhouse_menu.pdf

Probably my favorite myvegas comp (along with bellagio buffets)

 

7:00pm -  given a groupon for free so we stopped by Ben&Jerry's

at Planet Hollywood.  Had banana split with 3x ice cream, and

a Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream, Soooo tastey good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8:00pm  back to Harrah's for some poker  + $80

 

Tues Feb 5

 

11;50am  back for another free myvegas comped Bellagio

Lunch Buffet.  Loaded up on the desserts.  A+

 

 

1:30pm back to Harrah's poker room. still running like crap -400

 

6:00pm  dinner at 9 Fine Irishmen at NYNY.  $100 myvegas comp.

16oz Ribeye Steak w/mashed potatos, Seafood soup,

Fish and Chips and a couple beers.  Food was disappointing.

Service was worse.  Soup was mostly potatoes and didnt come

with a spoon, had to hunt down a server to get one.  Steak didnt

come with a knife, had to hunt down a server to get one.

Elderly couple beside us got soup too, no fuckin spoons.

They were also served their main before their appetizer,

Fish was doughy, chips were soggy.  For an irish bar, the menu

wasnt very irish. They didnt even have a beer menu. Others seem

to rank this place highly for a myvegas comp, I do not.

 

7:30pm  Harrah's poker room for another 4 hours. still no poker mojo.

All in with AA vs JJ, guy hit a jack.

my QQ ran into KK, my KK ran into AA

my set of 777 ran into 888

and got it all in with a set o 3's only to get beat by a flush.

amazing i left down only - $200

 

A fitting way to end my first ever overall losing trip to vegas.

 

 

Wed Feb 6

 

up early 7:00am, checked out of hotel by 8am. 

Palace Station buffet for breakfast only $4.99

(Lunch is $6.99, Dinner is $7.99)

Nothing fancy, decent quality. great value.

Unusually long line up because the national team from France

was here fuelling up for the World Series of Rugby

being held at Sam Boyd Stadium by UNLV.

Placed some futures bets to keep me interested in

otherwise boring sports over the winter. Woman at ticket counter

offered me free drink tickets at 8:30am, only in Vegas.

 

2013 Stanley Cup

Detroit Redwings  18 / 1

(bought as a hedge against a bet that Wings wont make playoffs)

Ottawa Senators  30/ 1

Colorado Avs       30 / 1

 

2014 Superbowl

Chicago Bears 20 / 1

 

2013 NCAA Basketball Tourny

Minnesota   30/ 1

Louisville   12/ 1

 

 



Vegas Trip Report

Tues Nov 3:

Flight out was on time, but crowded and very warm.
Another great airfare deal, $63 each way plus tax.

Arrived in Vegas approx 4pm. Picked up the rental car,
a Chevy Aveo. Budget car for sure, manual windows
and locks. No cupholders, WTF ! Only 30,000 miles
but rattles galore. First bet of the trip... will this car
reach 50,000 miles before being scrapped ?

Made our way to the RIO. Fast, smooth check-in.
Room 1622 was big and clean. In room safe, fridge,
couch and granite writing desk were nice features.
Beds were acceptable but nothing to write home about.
Less than expectation. Rooms were complimentary,
so no complaining from me. Starbucks located at the
elevators on way up to rooms is a plus, although line up
was often lengthy.

Very hungry so went across the street to the Gold Coast.
Quality of the buffet was less than previous trips.
Hard to beat AYCE for two for about $12 (with 241
ACG coupon). Used ACG $5 match play on roulette.
Ran that up to +$15 and quit.

Drove to the 99¢ Store to stock up on snacks, beverages,
vitamins and toiletries. -$20 but worth every penny.
Save a lot of money buying stuff like gatorade/energy drinks/
protein bars there rather than $3 each at 7-11. Feeling very
tired so headed back to the RIO to have some mindless
slot machine fun and sleep. +$18

Wed Nov 11:
Up before 7am (a vegas first for me). Wanted to
make it in time for breakfast at the South Point.
Used 241 POV coupon. $7.51 for two of us.
Nothing amazing, but left very satisfiied. 7.5/10
Poker room was totally empty at 10am. Slots were
very tight, ate my $20 bill in no time. No rewards/offers
for new club signups. They did have $5 blackjack
and craps tables open early.

Went to the Venetian for a dose of $1/2 NL holdem.
Pretty good action just ran bad $-160.
Gina had a good session. +$305

Headed downtown to Main Street Station for some food.
MSS is generally considered the best buffet downtown and
didnt disappoint. $11.88 for 2 with ACG. Good hot food. 8/10.
-$20 playing video poker.

Walked over to Binions and played some Pai Gow
for 2 hours. -$10. Binions poker room wasnt too
busy so we sat down and played for a bit. I saw a
4-way all in pot worth over $900 and no one showed
the nuts. Finished +$50.

Hung out on fremont street and watched the light show.
Had a 99¢ deep fried Twinky and a deep fried Oreo cookie
from Mermaids. They were as disgusting as they were cheap.
Mermaids was packed with drunk kids under 25. I'm sure
they love these nasty greaseball treats.

Back to the RIO poker room for a couple hours before bed. +$86
Thurs:
Drove down to the Silverton Casino. Their buffet is no longer open for breakfast or lunch during the week.
Kinda disappointing.
Went to the Orleans buffet instead.
Food was hot and flavorful. 9/10

Next stop, the Monte Carlo poker room. Only 1 table
of $2/4 limit holdem going. Put our names on the
interest list for $1/2 NL and sat down at the limit table.
Didnt take long, couple of orbits before the NL table
started up short handed. Got hit over the head
with cards, wish I could get cards like that with
a full table and deep stacks. +$110.
Good drink service, strong cocktails :)

Went to check out Caesars Palace poker room.
Not sure why, its been pretty disappointing the
last couple visits. Their Bad Beat Jackpot was
at $210k with quad 3's qualifier. - $200.

Back to Silverton for dinner. A little early,
so did some browsing at the Bass Pro Shop
on the other end of the casino. Stumbled across
a demo setup of Nintendo Wii Fishing.
Havent really played video games since i was
a teenager, but had a riot. Thursdays is hawaiin
themed buffet (one of Silvertons primary clientele).
$21.61 for two (ACG) including free mai tai's,
which were totally delicious. 8.5/10

No better way to spend an evening in vegas than
at the Venetian poker room. Another bad run of cards
for me. Had to lay down top set with KK on KJT flop
and a Q on turn. Later, my KK ran into AA, all in preflop.
Ended the session -$200.

Fri:
Slept in a bit and Checked out of the RIO.
Went to Terrible's Casino for a cheap and easy breakfast.
$8.64 for 2 with ACG. 5.5/10. There were lots of machines
that were shut down or malfunctioning. Not sure what that
means. Casino was busy though.

Checked in at Imperial Palace around noon. Room 1669 was
pretty typical of other rooms at the IP. A/C wasnt super cold,
probably would have to change rooms if it was mid summer.

Headed up the street to the Mirage. Decent room, good drink
service. +$19 Posted Rake is $1 per $10 in the pot ($4max)

Dropped by the Orleans to kill some time and play some slots.
Very busy. Shitty drink service.

Went to dinner at Makino for sushi. Its close to the RIO,
just north of Flamingo Rd. on Decatur. Excellent sushi,
sashimi. Dessert and hot food ok, the rest was Fantastic.
9.5/10

Back to the IP to play some poker. I continue to run bad.
Had 3 sets cracked in 45 minutes. Had JJ beat by T2,
all in on a flop of T73. Finished session -$300.

Walked down to the Flamingo poker room. Had 83 in sb.
Flop 832 with two clubs. utg+1 calls my donk bet of $10.
Turn is 7clubs, i check, he bets $30. I insta-muck face up.
utg+1 tables 83off, same hand. I guess my poker's not at
a high enough level to put an early position player on 83o.
Only other hand I played, I have TT in small blind.
Cut-off raises to $10, i call. Flop is 963 rainbow,
I check raise all-in. Opponent shows QQ. -$100.

Walked down to Balleys. Made up some lost ground.
Stole some orphaned pots, and somehow made AK
into a winning hand. +$425

Sat:
Drove downtown for lunch buffet at the Fremont Hotel.
$11.85 for two buffets with coupon. Improved since
last visit. All the food was very hot. Ate my monies
worth in smoked salmon alone. 8/10

Went across the street to the Golden Nugget.
Lost 2 short stack buyins of -$100. Bad players,
just got unlucky.

Played Pai Gow over at Binions for a couple hours.
Was ahead most of the time but left -$50 because
of a sick run by dealer.

Binions poker room was a little better to me.
+$320 mostly because of one hand i slowplayed.
Limped with JJ in middle position. Board came
KJQ 9 9. Opponent shoved on the river with his J9.
Basically got me back to even for the day. Had dinner
at Binions Cafe (downstairs at the back, near
Bennys Bullpen). Prime Rib dinner with potato,
veggies, and hearty soup for $9.95. For two of us,
the total came to $19.73 with drinks after $3 players
club discount (used comps earned playing pai gow).
Highly recommended, great hot home cooked type food.

Went back to Imperial Palace for more poker.
Fast drink service, but they tasted brutal.
Note to server: most people who drink Crown Royal
can distinguish it from Jack Daniels.
Witnessed one of the most brutal procedural rulings
by a floor manager ever. After the flop, the dealer
prematurely swept in the board cards, thinking that
all players had folded to a players bet (but there was
still a player with live cards yet to act). Floor is called.
He gives the player who has yet to act the option to
1) fold and forfeit the pot, or 2) call and turn over both
hands to see who wins (has the best TWO CARD HAND,
no board cards). IMO, the stub was not fouled and was
easily retrievable. The 3 flop cards were KNOWN and
retrievable from the muck.

The most fair thing to do would be to recreate the board
and continue. The least fair option is to decide who wins
based on who had the best starting hand. I offered the
supervisor example of flopping an open ended
straight-flush draw with suited connectors, versus an
opponent with pocket 22. While the 22 technically has
the best two card hand, the open ended straight flush draw
is a 70% fave ! Being the smart ass I am, I requested that
the floor spread a No Flop Holdem game, winner is decided
by their starting hand. He declined. Ended the session +$65

Walked next door to Harrah's poker room. -$174
i got stacked twice, taking two tough beats.
Also had KsQs on JsTs3h board, got it all in,
was called by 99, LOL. No help.

Went over to the Flamingo. +$25.
Regulars/locals started rolling in at 2am.
Game got real tough quickly. Starting at 4am,
all of the high hand bonuses double. Would have
like to stick around for that, but the game sucked.

Back to the IP. Played some video poker before bed, +$11

Sun:
Strolled by Tix4Tonight at Casino Royale on our way
to breakfast. Picked up 2 tix for the Cirque de Solei
show Mystere, $58 each incl service charge.
Also got 2 vouchers for $14.95 ($5 off) for
Todai Sushi at Planet Hollywood. Walked across
the street to Treasure Island to pick up the tickets,
always a good idea to p/u early to get first choice.
Got some nice seats in third row.

Drove to Silverton for sunday champagne brunch
2 for $18.36 (ACG). Some nice smoked salmon and
stuffed crab. The french toast was tremendous.
Desserts were A+. 9/10.
Hit the bathrooms on our way out. Saw an elderly man
stealing a large quantity of paper towel. He managed
to conceal them well and evade security on his way out.
Another vegas first !

Decided to give the Stratosphere a try.
1 table of $1/2 going plus about 20 players in a tournament.
Started playing shorthanded at a must-move table before
playing at the main table. Very friendly and social game,
lots of laughing and jokes, lots of $2 limping
(just the way i like it) with generally bad/weak players.
Example: there was an all in raise-fest on a JJ622 board.
Two players show a 2 and third player mucks.
Played from 3-5pm. Finished -$8. Placed some futures
bets at the Strat sports book. I got a couple tickets for
my nephews christmas stockings. $5 on Montreal,
$5 on Calgary to win the Stanley Cup.

Headed back to the room at IP to freshen up and
relax for a half hour. Back to the Harrah's poker room.
Plenty of weak players, just couldnt get dealt many
playable cards. +$40.

Walked up to TI for the Cirque show. Pretty amazing.
I see why Guy is a billionaire. Cant get enough poker
so we went next door to the Mirage poker room.
The room was busy but seemed poorly organized.
Got seated at an outer table by the sportsbook,
very smokey, almost unbearable. Didnt stay too long. $+26

Mon:
Had lunch at Todai Sushi $34.43 for two.
Pretty decent, but not amazing. 8/10

Downtown to the ElCortez. Free slotplay, played Deuces Wild
video poker, cashed out +$5. Thought about playing the $1-6
spread limit poker game at the ElCo, but owner Jackie Goeghan
wasnt playing so I headed to Binions instead. About 2:15pm,
only 3 tables running, no one moving so I had to wait.
Somehow I had my seat given away while i went to the
washroom (away 3-4minutes tops). Dealer/floor lady didnt
seam to understand what the words "Lock Up" that were
written next to my name meant. I told the guy who
was at the desk when I left, that I'd be right back so please
lock up my seat. He apparently went on break but wrote it
on the sign up sheet. Took another half hour for a seat
to open up. Didnt take me long to realize that 7-8 of
the players at the table were good, i left after 15 minutes
with a $4 profit. Basically, a total waste of the afternoon.

I did learn something though.....
Monday afternoon is a bad time to buy drugs on Fremont.
Walking along the Fremont Street Experience on my way
back to the ElCo, I saw 5 people tweeking hard.
One guy wearing a shirt and tie was preaching to an
invisible congregation. Testify ! Another was trying
to take a shower fully clothed in the bushes. When the
sprinklers failed to give him adequate (any) water,
he got on his knees and demanded that they turn on.

Back to the Mirage for some early evening poker.
First table was tough, too many skilled players, asked for
a table change before the end of the first orbit.
Was granted one quickly. New table was much softer.
Ran into one of the worst dealers ever (#1?).
Her name was Rachel, a puffy eyed bleach blonde lady
of 55+years. She did her best to tilt me with her total
incompetance. First hand she dealt, she collects the bets
and makes a pot before the action is complete.
Big blind raises and there's total confusion as to
who has how much in the pot. Overall, slow as fuck !
Slow dealing, slow counting the box, slow following
the action. Later, she pushed a pot to Ace high
when there was full house on board. I managed to play
my 'A' game the entire trip so far with the exception of
a couple hours of 'B' game play when i was tired late.
This dealer drove me to drink...lol
I started feeling pretty good in no time.
There was a 35 year old couple that wandered into
the poker room from the sportsbook. I could hear her say
" I don’t think we're allowed in here" as they sat down
on one of the couches by the big screen tv.
I leaned over and said with a totally serious face
"someone's going to ask to see your ID in a second".
Before the panic spread from the woman’s face to the
rest of her body, I let her off the hook with a big roar
of laughter. Turns out they were from Ottawa, first trip
to vegas, so we had a long chit-chat about where to go,
what to see and do. Cocktails ! Left +$86

Got a $20 comp from the supervisor. Not too hard to
get if you ask. Went to the BLT Burger restaurant
inside the Mirage. Ordered 2 Angus burgers, 2 fries
and 1 shake. $40 ! Pretty steep. The comp ticket
took a bit of the sting out, brought it down to
fair market value. 7.5/10

Off to Harrah’s for an hour of poker. +$40
Watched Monday Night Football.
Steelers win, therefore do I. +$20.

Back to the IP poker room. Another sketchy floor ruling
(same supervisor). Guy to my right had the clock called
on him (lol) by a feeble 80yr old man. Old guy wasn’t in
the hand and dude barely got 30 seconds for his decision
before the supe was called over. I objected.
I wasn’t in the hand, but the guy deserved more time.
It was for his whole stack ($200+). I don’t remember
the exact cards on the board, but it was coordinated enough
that any thinking player would need some time to analyze it.
I asked the floor what amount of time should pass before a
clock is called. His reply…”the time it takes for me to
walk over here”. I said “ so if I call the clock on someone
the moment its their turn and you get here 5 seconds later,
they have a total of 65 seconds to decide or their hand is dead ?”
......Yes ! After the hand was complete (buddy timed out
and was folded) I told the old man, “No disrespect sir,
but you better make your decisions instantly or I’ll be
calling the clock on you every hand.” Despite attempts by
several players at the table to get him to stick around
(and continue donating), he and his wife left after
another orbit to spread their miserable attitudes elsewhere.
The room was super cold, but at least the Corona’s
were coming frequently. Another table broke and
3 aggro kids with big stacks joined our table.
Killed action from the weak players. Left after two orbits.
Ended the session +$100. Late night snack at the Cafe at
Bills Gambling Hall. $5.95 Steak + Eggs special. Pretty good
value. Seat by the door, not sure if the whole restaurant
was smokey or if it was just because of our proximity to
the casino floor.

Tues:
Last day, so up early. Hit the Harrah’s Café for
breakfast at 10:30. Didn’t seem like great value.
2 eggs, hashbrowns, 3 strips of bacon,
toast, coffee, (x2) came to $28.06 + tip.
Used harrah’s points to pay since it
seamed like a rip off paying cash.

Walked up to the Venetian. Played poker for 2 hours.
-$18, not much action, pretty nitty. Made the last of
my sportsbook wagers -$40 (until they win).
Got a good price on Pittsburgh to win the Superbowl 9/1

Went back to the IP to get the car. Car Gone ! Car Gone !
Looked everywhere, no car. Took a while to realize we
somehow walked back to the IP from the Mirage last night.
Walked over to the Mirage to get our "stolen" car…lol.

Drove down to Balleys. Got a good view of a young woman
flashing her bare crotch going up the escalator. Yeah Vegas !
Played poker and drank a lot of Corona’s for 3 hours. +$110.

It was nice having the IP room comped for an extra night,
there was no rush to check out. Went back to the room to shower
and relax for a half hour before having to leave.

Hit the Gold Coast buffet one last time for some quick eats.
$12.50 for two using ACG coupon.

Refueled the car ($-23 for the week) and took the shuttle to catch the plane.

A totally great trip, didn’t bring home stacks of money,
but had as much fun as I’ve ever had.