(Semi) Live TR 22nd June - 8th July

So it's the best time of the year once again, the WSOP is in full flow and I'm heading out Friday to get in on the action once again

I was staying until the 6th, but then I found out the UFC was in town. A well placed bribe with the old man and I extended for another 2 nights to fit that in before coming home.

It was about double the price of Flamingo to extend the Palazzo so I'm moving over there for a couple nights. I've not stayed there before so I'm interested to see what it's like, hopefully it's not too bad after the bashing it seems to have taken here of late.....


HOTELS

22nd-1st July Rush JR Suite @ Golden Nugget

1st-6th July Palazzo

6th-8th July Go Lux-w-view @ Flamingo



My MS has gotten much worse again, last year I was using a scooter to get around in the Palazzo where everything was so spaced out. All good fun and it was acceptable to drink drive there too :evillaugh

This year I'm a lot less stable than last year so I'm using a stick/crutches to get about all the time, without them I look like I have already downed a bottle of Goose before I leave the room

As a result of this I am actually going to better the efforts of the last two trips and play more poker to pay for the vacation!!

I'll be playing mostly at the Nugget which is the reason for staying there, I will also play a couple others that fit in with my trip at the Wynn/Palazzo.


POKER

24th June 12pm $340 Wynn PLO8 $340
24th June 5pm $125 Nugget M/E Sat $135

25th June 12pm $230 Nugget HORSE $240

26th June 12pm $1k Binions NLHE $1000

27th June 5pm $125 Nugget M/E Sat $135

28th June 12pm $230 GN PLO/HE Mix $240

29th June 12pm $225 Nugget NLHE $235

30th June 12pm $1080 GN NLHE $1090

3rd July 12pm $250 Wynn M/E Sat $275

4th July 12pm $600 PP Nugget $600



Other than that the main source of my interest is eating, I love nice restaurants and probably spend more money on food than I do gambling!!

I had a mediocre experience at Carnevino last year, but as Jilly talks it up so much and posted such a great review I am going to give it another spin.

Sushi Samba is a given, Delmonico is on the list as is Bouchon for brunch and L'atelier @ MGM after UFC (if I can talk the others into it). I'm sure there will be others than will take my fancy and I've set aside $3k for the 'food fund' so to speak.

Whilst at the Nugget I'll be trying to give most of their restaurants a visit as well as Triple George Grill, possibly Oscars and any others I can pick up from the DT thread posted the other day

It's been a long few months waiting and thanks to all the members here for helping them pass a little quicker with all your great reports.

 

how the hell do you get around the nugget with the use of crutches? Or are the tourneys in a seperate area with more space.

My cuz has Ms - later stages that yours by the sound of it - I hope you get the appropriate amount of help.

When my cuz first developed symptoms she didn't tell anyone where she lived - after a year or so they all seemed convinced that she was a high level functioning alcoholic becuase of her slurring of her speak - even early in the morning... embarrassing for them when they found out!!


I'd be interested in how the Binions tourney pans out.. would love to do those one year.


Of course if you want to play more poker you may have to party slightly less than in previous years...

Enjoyed your previous reports and I look forward to this one.

Oh and just in case you are interested in the football - its all on ESPN and you'll be able to watch it pretty much anywhere.. KO just before noon Vegas time..

 

The tournaments are in 'The Grand' opposite the sushi bar, I can park a scooter outside there and then just walk in to the table. I might even try to walk it from the Rush Tower if it's not too far and see how that goes.

My only real problem is spasticity in my legs, it's gotten a lot worse this last 7 months and only since November my walking has deteriorated to the point I need a stick/crutches.

I'm just awaiting trials for Fampyra which is a drug to aid walking and I'm due to go testing for intrathecal baclofen as the oral isn't doing enough now. I have Tysabri which is the drug with what appears to be the best efficacy at stopping relapses and slowing progression.

It might not appear to be working, but I had an MRI and my lesion burden is less than when I started. This is all the more puzzling as they can't ascertain why my walking/spasticity is much worse. Other than that I'm 100% fine though so it could be worse, I don't need to be able to walk in Vegas so I can drink/gamble and eat :evillaugh

Yeah I used to get people pull me up when I used disabled parking bays, I could walk fine and would only have problems with distance. They would lecture me and their faces when I tell them I have MS used to be a picture. I'd let them stew a while, feign offence until they had cringed enough then just laugh and tell them not to worry. I figure that at least they wouldn't bother someone else in the future who may be upset, so it's all good

I hope that she's at least getting the right medical care too, I know that for some people here they have really big problems on that side of things and it's a postcode lottery as to the care they receive.

I'll be playing a lot more and hopefully they'll go well this year, the Binions one is one of the big buyins so hopefully it goes well. I'll hopefully be updating on collecting the $50k or so first prize!!

I know, I'll be doing a 'bit' less drinking than the previous 2 years, but not too much I hope as it's all about the Goose when in Vegas

I'll try to update regularly and I always say I'll get pics, but never remember to do so... I don't do much video poker or anything so there are never any quads to photograph etc.

England have done well getting out of the group given all the injury problems so I'll definitely be looking forward to hopefully seeing us progress to the semis and beyond when I get there

 

good luck with the treatment. It is a lottery and theres a lot of misunderstanding about it in the medical community - as well as outside it..

at least you know have a celebrity to promote the cause...... (is that wrong to think of Osbourne like that?)

Have fun out there - at least it'll be easier with friends who know the problems you have..

I'm sure the goose will help

 

Good luck! Have a great time!!

 

Thanks mike and yes it most definitely is

I see the news yes, terrible shame for him and hopefully with his financial position he's well placed to hold it off as best is possible.

Thanks and I will no doubt have that

Thanks LaRae I will most certainly

 

Well got here uneventfully and in good time, traffic was terrible from the airport and I was so glad to finally get checked in. Got to the room and it was amazing, but on the downside it's just too big.

I asked to be moved into a standard Rush Tower room and that was sorted straight away, I was surprised as it's a saturday night and I thought it might have been a no go.

I was really feeling it after so long travelling and despite knowing I should stay up was asleep by 6. I woke up a couple times between then and 2am. Got up for an hour, cleared some emails and then slept again until 7.

Not much planned for today, I may watch the football and then go for some lunch somewhere in the Nugget. Tonight about 12 of us are going to Vic & Anthony's for dinner and from there who knows, but it could lead to some hangoveresque type activities no doubt :evillaugh

It's been so long, but it's so good to be back and hopefully by tonight I'll have recovered from the travels enough to be in full liver punishing form!!!

 

Off to a good start Nice. Have fun!

 

Well my laptop started playing up, I was tilted trying to update on another forum via iPad and couldn't face trying to do this too so left it until I got home.

I've got some pretty comical stories to tell and some ridiculous ones too. Had some great dinners, some epic laughs and it's safe to say I will be staying at the Nugget every year now!!

I've had to go straight back to work as soon as I got home and will start relaying some stories from the trip over the weekend once I've got a couple days off.

Will be fun for me reliving some of the stuff I got up to and will also hurt as I know I won't be back for almost 12 months.....

Still hopefully it will provide a few chuckles and who knows maybe a few of you may have been unfortunate enough to cross paths with some of us as we wreaked havoc on Fremont :evillaugh

 

call in sick and do the trip report big guy!!!!

 

I work from home and my dad works for the same company so those days are long gone.....

I'll get started now before I start work and hopefully get it finished over the weekend

 

This was the comment from a friend of mine describing their trip

Fair to say Marky has landed

Week one pre marky, breakfast between 7 and 8:30 am.

Week two with Marky - bed between 7 and 8:30am

I had to sort them out it was annoying me reading about people going to bed at midnight in Vegas

Anyway on we go.............


The first day out was the Saturday and I started early in the day watching the football in the sportsbook at the Nugget. Nothing major just dusted off half a dozen Corona over the afternoon and the 3rd 200mtr trek to the restrooms had me heading to registration for a scooter

Once that was sorted I went back to the room for an hour to chill before getting ready for the forum dinner I had arranged before I left the UK. I headed down to the Centre Bar at the Nugget which was to be our base for much of the next 2 weeks and I'm not sure that they were ready for us :evillaugh

A couple people dropped out of the meal as is normally the case in Vegas, the upside was a few more stepped in and we got to Vic & Anthony's with 11 people which was more than I envisaged.

The meal was great I had the Scallops followed by the daily special of a 6oz filet accompanied by 2 crab stuffed king prawns and some herbed potatoes. Both courses were excellent and helped down by several glasses of red the night was going very well.

The bill came out at around $1200 for 11 people including several bottles of wine, very good value I felt. Everyone was very complimentary about the food and the restaurant too.

The only negative was for the sommelier who suggested a wine which for the table that they only had 3 of in stock and predictably ran out mid way through the night. I didn't think this was that big of a deal and was soon put right by the people who regularly drink wine

This was soon resolved as he was coerced by the resident wine expert into replacing it with a more expensive bottle at the same price and order was restored

After the meal most of us headed to the centre bar once again to continue the drinking. I was now introduced to my drink of choice for the trip 'Raspberry Vodka Tonic' and this would be my staple beverage for the next 2 weeks along with the odd Sambuca.

The guys had mentioned to me they had trouble getting served at the bars during the evening once they got busy and I noted that they were tipping a buck a round. I knew how to sort this out so when the barman Kelly came to take my order I slipped him $10 requesting that he keep the drinks strong and flowing fast

Suffice to say everyone was happy as we never had to wait long for a drink the rest of the trip. Might not have helped us out as most nights I drove back to my room in some states from there :evillaugh

Around 1am the ladies of the night arrived and in my wisdom I decided there was some fun to be had. I ordered shots for the bar, this involved in Kelly pouring up a round of Sambucas and passing them around to the ladies who were 'working'. A couple didn't want to partake, but I encouraged them with the instructions that this was a drinkers bar and non drinkers would be asked to leave

They all got involved and I continued replenishing the glasses through the next few hours. Great for morale and we had lots of US born tourists joining in too and morale was super high at the bar. I was getting more and more drunk as were all my friends and most amusingly my friend noted that all the ladies of the night were absolutely trashed too :evillaugh

One of the girls sidled up to my friend a retired gentleman with the line

"If u were a gent you would buy a lady a drink"

He responds with "I'm no gent miss"

She counters with"That's ok I'm no lady"


They make small talk then she asks if he wants to go on an adults adventure night....... Unfortunately her phone goes off, but she gives him her card before she leaves

A couple of the guys are in absolute stitches and I don't think the Nugget has ever seen the likes of what is going on. I've got people balancing drinks on their heads, the working girls are all smashed and work seems to be the last thing on their minds

Around 4am I am really drunk so the guys attempt to escort me back to the Rush Tower as I'm really in no state to drive. As I round the corner to the elevators I'm going way too fast and crash straight into the ashtrays outside the lifts

A woman comes raring out of the 24hr shop and is wondering what on earth is going on. My friend reassures her everything is ok and off she goes. The only problem is that I'm now incoherent and can't remember my room number. I'm apparently driving the scooter backwards and forwards in the lift like something out of Austin Powers (I can't confirm/deny and I've not seen the film so don't know)

They have to prise my passport out of my pocket so that the desk clerk will hand out the room number, in the meantime one of the girls from the bar comes strolling out of the elevators after obviously having got some work done and asks why we're going to bed.

I now decide we're all going back to the bar and the guys told me that they were amazed that I even thought to try and drink more. Like the soldiers they are back they went with me and with my second wind drink we did before finally hitting the hay at around 7am.

A seriously heavy first night out and one which would set the tone for the whole few weeks we were in the Nugget!!

I've got to start work now, but will endeavour to get a couple more days off at some point tonight or tomorrow

 

Funny scooter story. Hope you did well with the poker and had fun with the ladies.

 

Poker went terribly, I picked up a couple hundred from a % swap and other than that a couple bubbles was all I could muster.

The trip was amazing though and didn't miss the strip at all. I loved the 5 days I had at the Palazzo for the dinners we had, but I am now a downtown convert and Rush Tower soldier for life :evillaugh

 

The next day I chilled out in the room for the morning and slept sporadically through the early afternoon. We all met up at the cardroom around 5pm and headed to Lillies for some dinner. The lads had intended getting chinese, but I talked them all around to teppanyaki and I managed to sweet talk the hostess into finding us a spot at one of the tables

A good meal with decent quality food and very tasty too other than the lobster which was overcooked unfortuantely. Kong our chef was great value with lots of banter. One of the other guys took a video and once he's uploaded it I'll repost it here.

Afterwards I went over to Binions to play the sat to their $1k tournament that evening and catch up with a lad who used to work for the same company as me until a month previously. Sat was pretty dull and nothing eventful happened, my exit hand was a flip and upon completion I rode on back over to the Nugget bar for a few cocktails

That's the thing I love about Vegas so much, you always have a decent crowd even on a Monday night and downtown everyone is so much more friendly. The fella who had the card from the lady on the Saturday night met her again here this evening and they went off on their adult adventure

Back he came an hour or so later and he was mightily pleased with himself. I was $100 light as he nipped me for his fee so he didn't have to open the safe when he went into the room lol. I retired around 2am in much better control of the scooter and got myself a good nights sleep before the tournament

 

Played the Binions $1k Tuesday and it was a very frustrating tourney. I was impressed with my patience although ultimately it stopped me trebling up when I opted not to punt

My peak stack was 34k @ 6/1200 from a 30k start and I just never really got anything going all day. I didn't have a terrible table although there were a few very good players and I never managed to get into any good situations at all.

I hovered between 30k and 20k for the first 6 hours, coming back from dinner to 500/1k I had 19k and was looking for a spot to get a double. I managed to chip back up to 34k without showdown and I made what I think was a correct fold.

I open with 88 to 2.8k @ 6/1200 100ra from the c/o playing 9 handed

Button who is a spewy german makes it 8200 (covers) has been seen to flat call ep opens from mp with Q7o and then get it in on 346 flop against the american guy who is a friend of a big UK online player Stevie444 so basically just bat crazy.

sb folds and bb shoves for 30k (Has only been sat for a couple rounds, not shown down anything, but is known to Stevie's friend so presume he's a good player)

I thought for a couple minutes, from the german's body language didn't get the impression he was folding and decide to muck. German AK BB AQ and AK wins.


Bustout hand hijack opens to 3.5k @ 8/1600 w 200ra, button flat calls playing about 150k (has been at the table all day and peels a lot preflop with all sorts of random crap)

I shove 25200 with AJ, original raiser snap folds and the button thinks for a couple minutes...

I'm feeling pretty happy the longer he thinks, when he finally calls am expecting to be in decent shape and am pretty gutted when he shows me AQ

Q high flop and the scooter is rapidly on the way back to centre bar for some raspberry vodka!!

I along with a couple of the others end up getting utterly destroyed again and finally call it a night when everyone else is going for breakfast. It is safe to say that we've made the centre bar our home and it's definitely my favourite place in Vegas to grab a drink

I spend most of the 27th relaxing in the room watching Wimbledon and Game of Thrones between naps. I was going to head out around teatime, but then fell asleep until 2am

With a tournament planned for the 28th I took the smart option of just getting some early morning room service and going back to bed....

 

Jeez it's 530am here, I stayed up after work to watch the boxing and wish I hadn't now.... That boy Danny Garcia did a number on Khan and certainly showed some impressive punching power so well done him!!

I'll have to get some sleep as I'm working again tomorrow night and try to get a bit more down tomorrow

 

Loving the report Marky!

That first night was a CLASSIC!!!!

Hookers and Blow and Go Carts in the elevator---Good Stuff!

 

Yeah it was true Vegas carnage and I have to say my drink driving skills improved as the week went on :evillaugh

The hookers all loved us after that first night and they were heavy in number throughout the fortnight that we were there. It has to be said they're great banter and that bar was comedy

I had to laugh when I was down there drinking on the 4th of July I think it was and one of the girls stopped at the bar as she was walking through

'Oh my god how can you still be in Vegas?'

We're dedicated to the cause baby!!


I'll try to get another couple nights done tonight and get it all closed out before the end of the week.

 

Loving the tr, Marky! More,please.