7/12 - 7/15 at Harrah's - Observations - WSOP

Flew in on Allegiant Air from Rockford - flight was an hour late, but fine. I am not going to give a detailed trip report, just note some observations from about a 20th time Vegas visitor.

Room - We had a standard room on the 5th floor of the Mardi Gras Tower. We had a dazzling view of the vents on the top of some part of the building. On the positive, if there had been a fire, we could have just jumped off onto the roof. The room was clean and the A/C cooled it down pretty quickly, although it was a little loud.

Car - We rented a Dodge Avenger from Hertz through Hotwire. I usually rent with Dollar's loyalty program, but found a better deal here. I was a little worried about a long line or slow checkout process, but they were lightning fast and not pushy about the extra coverages. Also when we dropped our car off at the rental facility on Sunday, a Hertz in an SUV drove up by us. He asked if we were heading back to the airport. He told us that they randomly pick up customers and take them back to the airport, instead of having them ride the shuttle. He was very friendly, and we avoided the cattle truck that is the shuttle. I like to hit outlying places, and it is very nice to have a car. I have learned the ways to avoid the worst of the traffic most of the time.

WSOP - We went to watch the WSOP on Friday. It was Day 4. We got there right when play was starting at noon. The day started with slightly over 700 players. We went up and watched the featured table, that had Johnny Chan and Eric Lindberg. It was cool seeing the ESPN people scrambling around getting everything set for TV. There were 7 different cameras rolling for the featured table. As we wandered around, we saw Huck Seed, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Selbst, Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu was exceptionally nice to the people in the crowd. He was at a group of 3 tables right by the entrance. He was signing autographs, having his picture taken, and constantly interacting with the crowd. He and Antonio Esfandiari were at adjacent tables, and they were going back and forth with each other playfully.

After about an hour of watching play, they were down to around 675 players, and the top 666 end up in the money. At this point, players got real tight. You could sense the tension in the room, as small stacks just tried to protect and advance. When they got down to 669, they made all the tables deal at the same time. Any all-in raises had to wait for TV cameras to come in. They ended up with 5 tables having all-ins. They did these with an announcer running from table to table, and TV cameras surrounding each table as they played them out. As they got the third bust-out, a loud cheer went up from the crowd, as that meant each of the remaining players was guaranteed at least $19,227.

It was exciting seeing the cutoff point, and fun to see the ESPN production and the featured table setup, as well as seeing a few poker celebs. However, watching a live poker tournament is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Gambling - My wife plays primarily slots, with a little blackjack thrown in. I play blackjack and Texas Hold-em Bonus. Our biggest wins this trip were in blackjack. Embarassingly enough, it was at a 6:5 table at the Casino Royale. I have pledged never to play these games. However, we were with another couple and wanted to socialize playing bj without leaving the strip to find better rules at a low level. I normally go places like Silverton, Gold Coast, or Orleans. We just didn't really have enough time and didn't feel like fighting traffic, so we contributed to the proliferation of these tables. Curse us out, it is deserved.

Food - We are not foodies, so I won't give a play by play of our meals at Panda Express and Cinnabon. Funny story, we were in the elevator at Harrah's taking our chinese food to the room to eat. Somebody mentioned that we had gourmet food. I told them that we were taking it to our penthouse suite on the 5th floor. They could tell there that we were all class.

Rant - My wife and I are public school educators, so we like kids. However, not in Vegas. That's not my big rant. All of a sudden, dogs are around. I have recently seen on the CET website that the casinos have pet-friendly rooms. Really? Really? Twice, we went to get on the elevators, and met people coming off the elevator with their dogs. But that's not the worst. We were at Southpoint on Saturday night going to a comedy show. They have a decent Italian restaurant there called Don Vito's. Most people going in were dressed nicely, with women in dresses or skirts and men in slack and shirts. Then we saw a lady walk in carrying her little dog. I'm not a pet person, and I would have complained if I had been seated at a nearby table. Later on after we were done watching the comedian, I saw the same lady walking through the slot machine area carrying the dog. Really? I realize that people like their pets, but they have to take them to dinner and gambling. Wow.

Show - At Southpoint we saw Sarah Colonna, a comic who is on the Chelsea Lately show. She was hilarious. I would strongly recommend her show.

Construction - The east side of the strip is torn up between Harrah's and Flamingo. It was really crowded, with the construction of the new entrance to Linq/IP/3535/whatever it will be called. As a dedicated low roller, I was sad to see O'Sheas gone. It was a dive, but it was kind of a fun dive. That was the first casino in Vegas at which I played a table game.

Weather - Those of us in Wisconsin have had a ridiculously hot and dry summer. We got to Vegas, and it rained and was cooler weather than we have felt in a month. Weird. All 3 full days we were out there were comfortable. Today as I type this back in Sconnie, it is 97 degrees and humid with a heat index of 99.

 

This weather is awful!!! Storms came thru for 3a days & everyone of them broke up b4 tbey hit us. Farm fields are all dead.

I won't criticize the blackjack - it's a bit like goinv to the theatre & paying for popcorn with a 5000% markup. As long as you had fun, that is what counts!!!

 

Don't want to hijack your trip report. Fri and Sat we got a total of 3/10 tenths of an inch. Add that to the 1/4 inch we got in early June and that's it.

So tired of watering all my wife's flower pots and veggie garden every other day. Surrounded by farmers and their corn is at best two feet high. Watch the food prices jump-even higher!

We're N & W of Milwaukee, by about 40 miles.

Sorry, back to your trip report, I just needed to whine and it's 99 degrees out.

 

At least you get storms. In Milwaukee, we have to live vicariously. This past Saturday morning (7-14) the skies were dark and we looked at the radar and we were right in the middle of a green blob. Except it didn't rain a drop at our house.

 

Enjoyed your report.
I love dogs, but I don't want to eat and play next to one either.
I hear ya about the heat. We are on a water ration schedule here in our little town. At least you had a little break from it.
I'm glad to hear Sarah puts on a good show. I like watching her on Lately.
Thanks for posting.

 

Hi! I really liked how you outlined your report. Very easy to read. (Spent the weekend in Milwaukee, for my son's baseball games. Feel bad for your severe drought conditions. Have never seen anything like it!)