Las Vegas 2006 - Trip Report - Cary

So I don't have to tell the same stories over and over, here is a mini-trip report. You poker players who would be bored with my daily actions can skim through, since I visited some of the new rooms that opened. Since I was there for a conference and took Charlene, I didn't really play that much poker. I was down $1,000 before I even arrived as I prepaid for Charlene's flight, Jay Leno tix, and Elton John Tix. Naturally my airfare, room, and rental car were provided by the govt. Thanks for paying your taxes :-)

Sat April 1st:

We got to Vegas at 10:30AM. Got the car and checked into Harrah's. Took a nap. Ate at Sonic. Went to Mirage at 7:00ish and ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Definitely get the Kung Pao spaghetti with Shrimp and chicken. Dinner was $40. We killed time by playing Wheel of Fortune and Video poker slots and cashed out +50. Dinner was paid. Jay Leno was pretty good. If you like his monologue, then that's what the show is like for about 75 minutes. Mirage was absolutely packed with people and poker room was hopping.

Sun Apr 2nd:

Drove to JW Marriott 12 miles away and registered for the conference. The Rampart Casino is inside. We played roulette (suckers game) and we cashed out +80. Dinner is free again. Drove to the RIO and ate at Bobelo's our favorite Mexican restaurant. Watched the free RIO show and basically did nothing. Checked out the RIO poker room. Don't waste your time. It's not a room, it's a roped off area by the buffet with a couple tables. I asked if they spread Omaha and you'd think I was speaking Chinese or something. That night I played at Harrah's poker room. It's by the sports book. It was dead with 2 tables of $1/$2 no limit going. I arrived at 11:00PM. Table action was very tight except for this one drunk guy that didn't know how to play. I tried for 3 hours to get heads-up and was only able to do it once. he was sucking out on everyone and was up $600 at 2:00AM. I couldn't take it anymore as I only played 5 hands in that 3 hours. Dave Taylor would tell me stories about sessions like this and I was unable to comprehend. Now I know. I did have KK on the small blind once. 5 limpers at $2.00 and I raised it $20. Got 1 caller (big blind). Flop came A J 7. I checked and he bet $15. I mucked my kings face up and said your Ace is good sir. He promptly turned over A T offsuit. Then muttered that I was the only guy at the table who wouldn't pay him off. Like it was my fault his 1 over card hit and I knew I was beat. Rest of the table was shocked. How can you lay that down, etc. Whispering to each other. I just sat there and said please god just give me some cards to crack these retards. I was in the 1 seat and the dealer leans in 5 mins later and says nice laydown. That made me feel so much better :-). Anyways I left at 2:00AM and was down $32. Definitely play there late at night if you get the chance. Room is nothing special though.

Mon Apr 3rd:

Went to conference. Arrived at 7:45Am and ate the continental breakfast. I hate making business small-talk with strangers so I found a table with 2 geeks on their laptops and a woman reading the schedule guide. Cool, I can eat in peace before 8:00 kickoff. Well some ass sits down and insists on introducing himself and trying to engage conversation. He sees my badge that has US Dept of Defense on it and says "Oh you're one of those". He's from liberal, er I mean silicone Valley somewhere in tree-hugger California. naturally I say what do you mean by "one of those" He says Warmonger, etc. Then says what branch. I say NSA. He says "oh, are you a spy" ?. I say "yeah, something like that". Then he goes into how we're violating his rights, listening to his calls etc. So I let him finish and of course the dudes with laptops and woman are now fully attentive. I say I'm sure YOU aren't that interesting that NSA would want to listen to anything you have to say. You obviously don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about national security. I didn't come here to debate liberal pukes and I'd like to eat my bagel in peace. So if you don't mind, shut the phuck up. I was ready to go Mike Granata on his ass but that pretty much ended the conversation. I couldn't really function/listen to the speakers as I was on conference tilt and departed for the Orleans.

Played in the 12:00 Omaha hi-lo tourney. Most of you already know I placed 2nd out of 102 in this tourney last time I was in Vegas so I was eager to give it another crack. There were 60 players and I finished 13th. 3 away from the final table. I was pretty much short-stacked the whole way as all my open-ended, flush, and full-house draws never made it. I got 1 or 2 stories but they are too long for email. The whole final table of 10 made a deal so tourney ended 10 mins after I busted. Weird to get 10 people to make a deal with not that much money. Oh well most of them were over 65 so they probably needed to get to the early bird dinner special.

Tues Apr 4th:

Took the wife over to the Wynn and poker room was hopping. We piddled around and went to Caesars to see Elton. Checked out the poker room which was VERY nice. Lot of space between tables and decorated nicely. They have a separate tourney room. They only had 4 tables going at 6:00PM so that's kinda not a good sign. They blamed it on the Bellagio having WPT event or something. I have to say if you don't like the crowds at Bellagio then Caesars could be the place to go for that area of Vegas. I certainly will return. We weren't hungry so I played some 3-card poker and wife played slots to kill time before Elton. I was playing $10 limit and was moderately ahead like $40 when I upped my bet to $20. Looked at my hand and it was QcKcAc for a straight flush. 40-1 payoff baby. Wife comes back and I got all these weird colors of chips. I cashed out +900 and the trip is now pretty much a freeroll. Went to the show which is in the Celine Dion coliseum theater they built for her. very nice and not a bad seat in the house. We were 3rd row in the 2nd upper deck section and could see everything. Elton put on one hell of a show and my cheap-ass who was mad to pay $175 a ticket admitted it was totally worth it. He rocked out for 1 hour and 45 minutes. The video show that flashed during his songs was sometimes kinda weird but the show was great and I highly recommend it.

Wed Apr 5th:

After the conference I dropped wife off at Circus Circus to watch the shows and she can walk to the fashion show mall etc. I went to the Venetian since they opened their poker room 2 days ago. Let me just say that this room is the bomb. They spent 3 million and it shows. Plush couches in waiting area. Nice TV's, Plenty of space between tables, and the decor was just awesome. They really catered to you. They only had 4 tables going but business picked up over the next couple of hours. They also have the hottest cocktail waitresses of any casino I've been in. Drinks were in big glasses. I even got a small gift for being there the first week it opened. I sat down at 4-8 limit hold'em. There were 4 people at the table from a conference that were beginners. I folded a lot the first 2 orbits and was astounded by the calling to the river that was going on. I wanted to tighten up but no cards were coming. I look down under the gun and see A5o. Oh well these people can win with it why can't I. I see the flop and it's A T 6 rainbow. I bet and get 2 callers. Turn is another 6. I continuation bet and get 1 caller. (getting nervous). River is a K. Wow that's a good card. Now my kicker isn't so crappy and we'll probably split the pot. I bet, he raises, and just in case he's got AT or whatever I just call. Man turns over K3o. He chased me down from behind with K3 and paid me off. I have entered poker utopia. But then I go 2 hours with no cards and all 4 leave for the airport. I'm up a measly $12. We merge with another 4-8 table which is mostly locals. It's painful. However the wife comes rushing in with a slot ticket. I gave her $20 and she turned it into +250 by hitting the 1,000 jackpot on wheel of fortune. It's time to pack up and we leave. I talk to the manager Gino from Jersey and he says just ask for him when you come to Venetian and he'll make sure you're taken care of. I loved the room and will be playing there for sure. The only drawbacks are parking garage sucks (Locals say to park at Mirage and walk across the street) and I heard that the food menu is outrageous. $14 for a hotdog etc.

Thur Apr 5th:

I took the woman to IMAX theater and saw Underwater 3D show which was awesome. Right before breakfast I put $100 into a video poker machine and won $25 for a flush on first pull. Promptly cashed out and paid for the buffet. Before heading to airport we stopped at Hooters Casino that just opened. It looks like a fresh coat of paint and woodwork over a shithole casino. it used to be San Remo so that's pretty much what happened. Place was dead. The outdoor bar is called "NIPPERS". I thought that was clever. Some of the girl dealers were dressed like normal Hooters waitresses, but nothing special. They did have a quaint poker closet, er I mean poker room. it had a whole 3 tables. Only 1 table was going at the time. At the airport I won $44 in video poker since our plane was delayed 30 minutes.

Most of you are asleep by now but that's what I remember. Treasure Island and Red Rock casino will be opening poker rooms next month. I honestly don't know how they will sustain that many rooms unless poker gets even hotter. I expect some of the rooms to be closed next year. Hopefully not Caesars or Venetian !!! Definitely do the hit and run method on the slots. It's so easy to cash out with ticket system instead of lugging quarters everywhere. I gotta get some sleep now. Jet lag is a B*tch.

Cary