Trip report 10/11 - 10/14/07

Warning – This trip report may be too long, not coherent in parts, and generally may not interest you. If you have no interest in poker, sports or a lack of fine dining, save 10 minutes of your life and quit now. Also, if you want reviews on attractions or shows, this is not the report for you as we can’t be bothered for these on our brief trips. Now if anyone is still with me, here we go.

Partners in Crime: Hoopswife and Coach. Alone trip which is great because we can do whatever we want and not have to worry about what others want to do. Don’t get me wrong, its fun to go with people and show them some of the cool stuff we like and we always have a good time with other people, but its great to go just the two of us.
Excuse, I mean, reason for trip: Coach’s bday
Plan: Have fun, gamble some, spend time in sports book, win lots and drink more
Trip length: Thurs Oct 11 – Sun Oct 14

DAY ONE:
On what should have been a fabulous homecoming for Coach getting out of school to come pick me up, I had just finished a phone call with a client who reamed me a new one because he had an unreasonable deadline for a project (less than 24 hours) involving 10,000 documents and software I had never used. It all ended “well” but not before he told me that I would not be going out of town until it was resolved. Pardon? I think not, I’m going to Vegas. After a few tense phone calls with software company, it was discovered that the client’s computer system sucks and that is why the software wasn’t working as expected. That’s what I get for working with lawyers. However, for anyone reading this that may be an attorney, YOU obviously have brains, personality, a social life and you don’t wear white athletic socks with a suit, so my comment certainly does not apply to you.

Let’s dry our eyes, put away the violins and move on, shall we? It’s Vegas baby!

Coach and I left home for CLE at approx 3pm for a 6pm non-stop to Vegas on Southwest. Tickets were booked in April for $260 per person including tax. Traffic was light as we made our way to “airplane port” as my now 9 year old daughter used to call it as a toddler. Parked car and grabbed shuttle where we checked in with skycap, threw him the luggage, tipped him a couple bucks and proceeded through security without a problem except a slight delay as they took a closer look at our DVD player.

We had about 2 hours til our flight left, so we proceed to Max and Erma’s for an early dinner while contemplating our favorite little playground and anticipated what we hoped was a fun filled couple days in paradise. We boarded the plane with A boarding passes and the flight left on time. Coach and I watched Oceans 11 and part of The Sentinel til the battery died on the DVD player. I had never watched any of the “Oceans” movies and I enjoyed it. Moving on then, flight was uneventful, except for several announcements about two people on board who had never flown before, and easily in their 20s. It made me realize how lucky we are to be able to make this trip twice a year and a couple trips to the beach as well. Maybe one day our kids will realize life is good. I just have to say, the flight is about 4.5 hours and it really is an hour too long, ok, its about 4 hours too long, but I start losing it at the 3.5 hour mark. By the time we get there I need a drink, bathroom break, big stretch and to hear the DING DING DING in the terminal when we deplane. Ahh, we are finally here!

We proceed to baggage where Coach knew I secured Presidential Limo for our ride to Bally’s. We found our driver and anxiously awaited our luggage to come careening off the conveyor, after what seemed like forever, it finally arrived. Had I timed it, it was probably only 15 minutes but it felt like forever at the time. I chatted with Sammy while Coach anxiously looked for the bags, muscling unsuspecting people out of the way so he could stand right in front where the bags come out. So off we go to the limo with our driver, Sammy. Nice guy. He assisted us with our bags and opened the champagne. I then dug a CD out of my bag that I had made for Coach of his favorite songs for his bday starting with a couple by a favorite local group, The Michael Stanley Band. Sadly, the CD player in the back of the limo didn’t work, but Sammy offered to play it up front, put the partition down and cranked it up for us. We had a great drive down the strip and attempted to finish the bottle of champagne in short order, but last time I did that I had some unexpected difficulty speaking clearly which can only be explained by eating and drinking very little before I fly, for obvious reasons, and then downing a half a bottle of champagne in approx 15 minutes on an empty stomach. For some reason this makes me a little loopy, so I opted not to do that since I wanted to check in at hotel and try the $20 trick, and I felt that slurring my words at that time might not be advantageous to the grand plan.

I proceed to check in and Coach stayed nearby with luggage. I should say that I never tried the $20 trick at Bally’s at the actual hotel, as previously we used the airport check-in and although I loved checking in at the airport, I was not previously overly impressed with my accommodations with the $20 trick. Fortunately line was very short with about 3 parties ahead of me. I was judging the staff at the desk, trying to figure out my best first “bet”. I was fully prepared to “lose” my license in my purse and wave ahead the person behind me to get the right agent. However, I didn’t have to as a young man in his 20s finished up with his guest and waved me over with a big smile. Now, since I am a planner, I wore a rather low cut shirt on the flight, hoping to secure a male agent at the counter. On my walk to him, my purse somehow “caught” on my shirt, revealing even a little more than the shirt intentioned. Ding dang, how’d that happen? I would bet leaning over the counter certainly didn’t hurt things either. So I proceed to give him my ID on top, $20 in middle and Visa on bottom. He takes them from me with appropriate welcomes blah blah blah and then says “ma’am do you need change?” No, but if he had time to check if any upgrades were available I would appreciate it. He smiled and started typing away. Lo and behold, he announced that he had a Jacuzzi suite available, non-smoking king and although it didn’t have a full fountain view, it did have a partial and was renovated in North Tower and he would be happy to offer me this complimentary upgrade. Ah ha! Let’s just take a moment to thank the girls for their assistance in securing a fabulous room for Coach for his bday. Thanks girls!

So we check in to our beautiful suite with a living room area, raised area with Jacuzzi tub, two separate areas, one with a bidet and one for other facilities, two large vanities, and two large mirrored closets. Fabulous, dahling. I only have one complaint about this room, and really more of an observation than anything. There are more lights in this room than I have ever seen and my father in law is an electrician. Good god. The vanity lights are insane, if they are on for more than 5 minutes, you start sweating. A few dimmers installed would have made the room absolutely perfect. But really, who cares? Its Vegas and I scored a suite upgrade!!!! And the room was great, we raved about it all trip. I didn’t even mind the long walk to the room as it was the farthest off of the elevator. For anyone who cares, we booked the room months ago using our Total Rewards card and paid $50 for Thursday, $120 for Friday and $140 for Saturday. And with a free upgrade to suite? Nice! Score one for the good guys. We later reduced that by $40 from Total Rewards card, so a total of $250 for a suite for 3 nights. Can’t beat that.

Let’s move on shall we? That evening I played some quarter VP while I believe Coach ran down to sports book briefly and then off to poker room for him. I had no luck at VP, so I think I then met Coach in poker room, or maybe we went together. Hmm….things get a little fuzzy in there somewhere. Anyway we played some 1-2 NL. Had fun, had a few beers, but I left down $40. That’s ok. I had several beers and was entertained. Coach was down $5 on VP and $35 from poker room. I don't know what I spent on VP that night, but I don't think I played very long. Really had no cards to speak of in poker room but we had a good first night but by this time its about 1a? Vegas time approx so its about 4am at home, and we were beat. Only thing of mention was Coach ran to grab a sandwich and a gentleman in a cowboy hat we were playing cards with (who had way too many chips) referred to me as “city girl” but was being a tool about it. Frankly, I don’t remember the exchange or how that came about, but the dealer told him to please be nice to the other players. That earned the dealer a nice tip shortly after when I left although I hadn’t been in any hands while he was dealing. I had a good time, no reason not to tip the dealer, especially when he was trying to help me out when Coach left briefly.

Otherwise, the other players were great and we had a good time talking to people and I love playing cards with Coach – we just have such a good time. And this trip, I was trying to talk him into drinking more while we are there and playing cards (good influence I know), he generally will be pretty well behaved, and at home he really has to be somewhat careful because of his job, he doesn’t need people walking around saying they saw him at such and such a bar drinking as the tongues would start wagging, so he is very reserved at home. Anyway, I just wanted him to have a great time and relax and it’s Vegas – where you do things you wouldn’t or couldn’t do at home!

It was a long day and we were glad to be there and it was time to get some rest for our first full day Friday.

Day Two "What? No kicker?" coming hopefully sometime tomorrow……..

 

First off, I'm not really a poker player, nor am I a big fan of American sports (I'm a soccer man), but I found your Day 1 TR a hoot. Sounds like you had a great time, I await your subsequent reports with anticipation

 

Keep it coming! I too, sometimes ask the "girls" for a little help. Hey. they appreciate a nice room too! LOL!!!

 

Trip Report 10/11 - 10/14 Day Two

My notes start to get sketchy beginning on day 2, but here goes.........

Anyone still with me or bored to tears?

Woke up Friday morning too early, about 7am Vegas time, but pretty good for us considering its 10am at home, and I can’t remember when I have slept past 7am anyway.
Actually I think I woke up Coach – can’t recall. Not sure he was thrilled with being up so early but I was ready to start the day!!

If I recall, Coach took a quick shower and I opted for the tousled “I just got up†look. Not sure it worked as if would for say, Eva Mendes, but who cares, no one is out and about this early and no paparazzi in sight, so I think I am safe. We head to Ellis Island for breakfast. Service started out very slow but picked up when Coach commented that we had never waited that long for someone to take our order (the waiter was behind the partition ). After we ordered and Coach was reviewing his picks for the day, I head out to casino to wander around. I sat down at a $ .25 machine, threw in $20 and hit several 3ok and full house immediately and cashed out up $10. Not bad for 5 minutes. I had corn beef hash and Coach had a Denver omelet. Service picked up and was very attentive after that. Breakfast was ok, nothing fabulous, but for $12 + tip, you can hardly complain.

Plan for day was to play some cards and watch the Tribe game later in the day. We walked over to Paris to check out the poker room as they had a waiting list for $1-2 NL at Bally’s. Paris had openings and Coach sat down. I don’t prefer the Paris poker room, I know its open, but I feel claustrophobic in there. I was happy to wander, stretch and see if I could find a .25 wheel of fortune machine. I located the machines, but all full, even at 8-8:30am. I continue to wander and now I’m thirsty, so I head to Paris Gustov’s bar to play some .25 max bet VP and have some juice. So there is hardly anyone around at the bar, which I like in the morning, and I select a machine and play. Pretty much immediately I hit 4ok 6s. Nice! So I cash out and throw another $20 in. Shortly thereafter, I hit 4ok 2s (but unfortunately didn’t get the kicker), cash out, throw another $20 in, then 4ok 4s, again no kicker, cash out, throw another $20 in, and then 4ok Kings. Great way to start the first day! Coach did well in the poker room that morning as well, leaving up +105. Hey – that was seriously fun!

I think we both headed to Bally’s and played some VP and I hit 4ok Jacks, but I think Coach was down $40 that session on VP. At this point it was about 1pm, and we were both ready for a little siesta. Up to the room, 30 minute power nap, changed into our Tribe gear, and off we go to Ellis Island for steak special. Again service a little slow, but we had time and weren’t stressed. Great steaks – we always go to Ellis Island for steaks when we are here, at least twice in 3.5 days (Coach had the steak special for breakfast this last spring trip which cracks me up). Great meal and we are stuffed. $14 plus tip and off we go to head over to Bellagio. I believe Coach placed the bets early in the day for the Tribe game $100 for him $50 for me. He went over to Bellagio sports book first to get us a couple seats Meanwhile, I freshened up the hair and makeup (can’t have anyone mistaking me for a boy or anything crazy while I have the athletic gear on) and met him shortly after. I think Coach got there a little after 3pm and I arrived around 4pm-ish.

So we watch the Tribe game which consists mostly of Red Sox fans although there were some Tribe fans as well. There was one Red Sox fan in particular who was quite possibly the biggest, loudest moron ever. Being a Coaches wife, I am an expert on moronic fans, so you can take my word for it. I have no trouble with a loud fan cheering on the team, being enthusiastic, etc., but the comments this guy was making were tiresome. The typical strikes on Red Sox players he bitched about as being bogus as well as standing up pumping his fists at the Tribe fans when an Indians player struck out. It was every single play, every single ball or strike he had to comment on and loudly. He was in the row in front of me, so kind of hard to ignore him and couldn’t move seats as the place was packed. Sit down shut up and cheer for your team when appropriate, not every damn play. On the up side, I thought for sure he would have lost his voice by the 3rd inning, but no such luck. Anyway, the game got ugly and it was pretty clear that the Tribe just didn’t click this game and the Red Sox were playing well, so we cut our losses to go play some cards after the 8th inning. A note of interest was we saw Jean Robert playing poker in Bellagio sports book (he must have gone a long way on Survivor, Coach said he looked thin) and saw Slovinsky making several trips to bet on the ponies when taking a break from the poker room. Sadly, I didn’t see my idol Jennifer Harmon in the High Roller room at Bellagio this trip. That. Chick. Rocks.

So we exit the premises and Coach heads over to Paris poker room and I go to Bally’s to play some more VP to see if the 4ok streak would continue. Sadly, I did nothing on VP so I decided to take my remaining session money to buy in at the poker room at Bally’s and see if I could catch any better cards than the previous night. Had fun playing poker. Only remember one hand of note. One hand I was in late position and called $2 to see the flop with 8-9 offsuit. Normally I wouldn’t call this, unless it were suited, even in late position. Based on the fact I lost big money on 2 different hands with pocket Ks then As, I should start calling suited connectors if I can get in cheap. Anyway, back to the action. Flop is 567 rainbow so I hit a straight. Both players checked and I bet $20, which immediately after I thought I bet too much because I want them to call (I’m sure it had nothing to do with how many beers I had thus far), but got lucky and had two callers. Next card is a 4. Both check, I bet $20 again. First guy folds and remaining guy calls. (FYI – I was having a great time at this table, and was chatting with everyone and there was no one annoying, except for poor tippers, which there was every other time I was playing). River is a 4. Ok, so I wait and guy is thinking thinking thinking. He finally bets $80, so now I’m thinking, wanting to go all in, but concerned he could have a full house or god forbid quad 4s. But I have a straight. I’m pretty damn sure I have the best hand, but you know, 8-9 beers later, etc etc, he would have had to put all his chips in if I put him all in, and it would bust him out. Don’t get me wrong, if I had it in for this player I would have pushed, but we were having so much fun. Anyway, you know what happens next, I just call. Yep – start cursing now. Maybe I was an idiot. But hey – I was having fun, and frankly, I would have felt no better if I busted him and he had to rebuy, because I had more chips than he did. He had 8-3 suited and I raked in the chips, just as I am gathering and starting to stack and grabbing a tip for the dealer, this local kid (early-mid 20s) calls me a “total idiot†for not pushing all in. He proceeds to go on and on about how people don’t know how to play and I could have had all his chips and he is tired of playing with idiots (he was never in the hand) etc etc. I said something along the lines of “I’m here for a couple days having a good time and its not as if I would have retired playing 1-2 had I pushed him all in.†Fortunately, I had another nice dealer (it helps being the only girl at a table) who told Skippy not to talk to other players like that at his table. Heh. Take that local boy. I did note that this “kid†won a few pots, none huge, but he didn’t even give the dealer a $1. Its just wrong in my opinion. I am finding that the real “idiots†at the table talk trash, think they know everything about the game, they are better than anyone else at the table and have no class because they don’t tip the dealers. Just sayin’. If they are such know it alls they should take their superior posteriors over to Bellagio and play in the high limit room. Let me know when it happens, I want to see them max out the visa trying to play with the pros. If you are so great why are you playing 1-2? Ok, rant over!

Shortly thereafter I colored up, threw another $5 to my dealer buddy and head off to grab a sandwich from Nosh (using points on my Total Rewards card) to take to room and call it a day at about 12:30 a.m.. Coach was exhausted, so he had already gone to room to crash.

At end of day today, Coach is up $200 playing in poker room, even in sports book (Lost Tribe and won San Jose) and Down $80 at VP. My notes on money are bad, meaning, I didn’t keep track, and normally I do. Anyway, I had enough money that I didn’t need to ge any from the gambling stash until later Saturday, so must have done well there.

DAY THREE COMING SOON…… “You’d have thought it was Christmas……â€

 

Keep Going!!! Great report so far!

 

and what kind of fun did the 'girls' have on day 3?????????

 

waiting for day three!!

 

Great so far....but I thought we would have our day 3!!!

 

Great Tr so far and nice score on the upgrade.

I couldn't agree with you more

 

I DESPISE people like that. Nobody has any business telling anyone else how to play no matter how high or low the stakes are.

Great trip report so far, can't wait to read the rest! Love the gambling details.

 

DAY THREE COMING SOON…… “You’d have thought it was Christmas……”

Sorry for the hiatus – work combined with a nasty cold and other unavoidable issues, I didn’t get back to the report. I also was not very motivated as I thought no one was that interested in our boring trip as there weren’t many responses – really – we are boring - but Coach said people kept checking the thread….and since Mikey seems to be MIA, you have to read something other than Maxim right? Not that there is anything wrong with that. So the story continues…..

Actually, we will likely put Day 3 and 4 combined since Sunday was a short day, but back to Saturday, Day Three…..

Coach up and ready to shower and get dressed and head over to Ellis Island for breakfast and Coach had very important work to do at breakfast this morning. Ok – he bounded out of bed checked the clock told me to get my ass in gear and move it along girlie. This is a man on a mission! I again opted for that “just got out of bed tousled look” because that’s what it was – I did attempt to fix myself up a bit, but hey – Its 7am on a Saturday – who cares?

So, this day, is unlike any other for Coach. His favorite. Better than a cold beer on a hot beach, the smell of a campfire, friends coming to play cards, better than the food at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and News Years Day combined, and even better than the shot just before the buzzer to beat that rival you can’t stand. Yes, people, this is serious. It’s football season, our Tribe was in the playoffs, and did I mention its football season? Does it get any better than that?

Suffice it to say, a conversation with me over breakfast was not in his plan. Which was fine as his eyes gaze lovingly at his pages of notes in front of him about games he liked, checking the lines etc etc. You really can’t interrupt the process, I get it, I’m ok with it, he loves it and he rarely watches much football at home, so its no big deal to me. We both order 2 eggs, toast and hashbrowns, Coach has sausage and I have bacon. So as he settle in to wait for breakfast he is studying and I am itchy. What’s that I here? Video poker? Let’s go see if I can spot someone who has been up all night……so as he finalizes his picks for the day – I’m off to check out the casino. So I see a little 25 cent VP which looks very lonely and I ignore the sticky mess on the machine and try to give it a little love. A Kid Rock look-a-like is 2 games down from me playing keno on a machine and something else – don’t know what it was. He looked harmless in a “its ok Im in a public place sort of way”. Just kidding, he looked harmless, but again, if I yelled Coach would have heard me. So I sit down and after a few hands, I hit 4OK 5s. Fab! Score one for Hoopswife! So Kid is now watching what Im doing which is slightly unnerving, but again, public place, so its all good. I make some small talk and intend to play down to an even dollar amount and cash out. So Kid goes back to his game and there we are 4OK 5s again. Two in a row. Damn, I’ve still got it! So one more hand and cash out about $130. Not bad for 10 minutes! I did have to watch Kid’s machine for him after I won the second one, he didn’t want to give up his machines and he had to shake his groove thing, guess that Bud was kicking in.

So I go back to the table after getting my test from Coach that breakfast was served and showed him the ticket. Good start to the day! So we had breakfast and bolted the scene so Coach could find his favorite seat at Bally’s Sports book – on the aisle, closer to the boards that show the lines so he can camp out for the day. Yes folks, the day! Or at least until it was time to eat before going to watch the Tribe later in the day at the Bellagio.

He had several games in the works Saturday and was more like a kid in a candy store than I have ever seen. It was pretty neat to see him like that, he doesn’t get like that very often. Anyway, he had Ohio State (winner plus $50), a 3 team parlay (loser -$20), Boston College (loser by 1/2 point because of missed extra point -$55), 2 team parlay (winner plus $52), Indians (winner plus $65) , Under Indians/Red Sox (loser -$25) and Cincinnati (loser -$55). He also played a 5 team parlay for a friend who lost badly if I recall correctly, and another 3 team parlay for another friend, who won his 3 teamer and put it all on Virginia and lost. Oops. Anyway, Coach won $12 in the sports book overall Saturday and had the best time. Really, its not about how much you win than didn’t lose. 
I intended to spend the day doing a little shopping for kids and lounging in the Jacuzzi with some fun drink, whether it be a cappuccino with whipped cream and caramel, Starbucks sweetened ice tea or maybe a bloody mary….hmm, this requires thought. Although my feet were swollen and hurt like hell (can’t blame it on heels this trip, I only brought flip flops  and a pair of tennis shoes, but those are for working out in!) but I knew I had to get something for the kds – so since I hadn’t done my shower for the day, I figured Id walk to M&M store for kids gifts while it was still early in morning, get my chores done, head back to room, and hang in that Jacuzzi. Oh yeah. Beautiful walk from Bally’s to M&M store, but let me tell you, its not a short walk if you feet already hurt. Anyway, was heading back to Ballys and took a few quick pictures of Bellagio fountains as I purchased a disposable camera at M&M store because I wanted pics of room to make family and friends jealous.  It was at this time I realize I am sweating like a pig and its HOT now. I was wearing cargo pants and a wife beater with a very light cardigan sweater over it and I was warm. Not being comfy in public with only a wife beater on (Here’s where the girls would appear jgates , but no show today) I braved it out and made it back to Bally’s.

I stopped in to visit Coach in sports book who is still one happy guy and he gives me some messages to ext to his buddies who have parlays back home. So off I go room to drop off packages and decide on a beverage to have in the Jacuzzi. Somehow I got distracted and decided to shower, change and I was thirsty, so I went down to casino to play something so I could get a free drink!

I sat down at the bartop at Bally’s, ordered a diet pepsi and threw a $20 in the machine. Can I just say, I love these bartenders at Bally’s. They are very attentive and I never want for anything – they chat with me see how I’m doing etc etc. Its fun. Anyway, my first hand, I hit 4OK aces, no kicker, so I hold my aces and, and, and…. No kicker. Damn, oh well. I’m happy with the aces! A few minutes later I hit 4OK 2s, no kicker then less than 5 minutes later 4OK jacks. Nice! Its about 11:45a and I’m ready for a little break – so I walk around, walk over to Paris, people watch and check in on Coach again, another round of messages to the boys back home and back to see if my machine still likes me. So its around a quarter after one and I sit back down and play afew minutes and hit 4OK 4s, no kicker and a few minutes later 4OK Ks. Nice! I think I gave a bit back over the next hour and then I quit, got our boarding passes at kiosk at Bally’s and Coach and I headed for Ellis Island for steak special at about 315p so we had time to eat and get seats at Bellagio for Indians Red Sox game later.

Side note – the new sports book at Ellis Island is nice! Lots of flat screens and they show horses and games on flat screens which is a nice feature that you don’t always find at the big places. Its small, but if you saw their previous sports book, it’s a major improvement.

Dinner was good as always and Coach headed to Bellagio to get seats for us and I went to freshen up and meet him there. My back was bothering me and I was feeling very tired Saturday, so I sat in room a few minutes before heading over to Bellagio. I couldn’t sit very long during game, I was really antsy and back was bothering me, so I kept getting up and walking around. I did wander over to a VP machine on my wander and his 4OK aces. Nice! Cashed out ticket for about $230 there.

We watched game and we were holding our own, but I just couldn’t sit in those seats another minute , I had to get up and move or go to bed or something. So Coach suggested we go play some poker and I was all for that. So we head to Bally’s poker room and get sets at same table and even next to each other which was nice.

We had a blast playing. Dealer was from Boston so we were giving him some grief while we watched the end of the game (Tribe won that one!) drank several beers, Coach played well and won and I played, not well, but fortunately, Bank of Coach is open 24 hours a day and he kept sliding me $100s, so I could keep donating (I had put my earlier winnings in the safe so I wouldn’t be tempted) . I had a blast, but called some hands when I shouldn’t, but there were good people at the table and we really had fun. Sleep was finally calling me and I think we grabbed a sandwich at Nosh and went to bed around 2am. Coach ended up $12 in sports book, up $225 in poker room and up $30 in VP. I ended up up on VP, but not sure how much – I did bad at counting, but I had several hundred easily, probably close to $500 today, but gave back lots at poker, couple hundred there.

DAY FOUR…I hate leaving, but then, part of me is ready….
We love coming to Vegas – but for the amount of gambling we do, 3.5 days is really enough. I think if I went to the pool, walked more, saw more, or did something other than gamble and go to Ellis Island, I could stay longer, but its long enough to be away from the kids.

We fly out at 2pm and we like to eat at airport for some weird reason, so we plan to head out about 11:30a for airport, so it’s a short morning.

So we decide to get a bagel at Nosh for breakfast and Coach is going to play some poker. There was only one table going at Bally’s and I wasn’t feeling it so I sat down and played some VP by poker room. I hit 4OK 4, again no kicker. And sat and talked to this guy awhile, he knew everyone that walked past that worked at Bally’s, knew their names and families, etc. It was wild. The guy clearly had more money than I will ever see in my life, and as a former bartender, I watched him order and tip and the guy left $60 for bartender in less than 45 minutes, for 3 drinks (2 for him, one for his girlfriend (she was mid 20s and he had to be in his 60s). He had to bolt as his limo arrived to take him to the golf tournament as he had “two clients” in it. Hmm….can’t figure out what this guy did for a living, but he also had 35 horses and 90% of them are racing currently – that one I heard while eavesdropping. Anyway, he was an absolute riot this guy and very entertaining for the last morning. He was very vegas.

Anyway, Coach wasn’t getting cards in poker room and down $90 so we packed up room and checked out (I had $39 in total rewards credits and coach had $ .90 – two issues here – I had credits from last trip in May I forgot to cash and I play a lot of VP and Coach plays poker and in sports book, which obviously gets you no where in comp land as we all know). We are figuring out we are much better off playing in poker room and cutting down or out on the VP, but I really like VP, and sometimes I like playing VP as I can be social, but I’m not playing against anyone, if that makes sense. Better off paying more for room but losing less in casino. Anyway, I could play 5 or 10 cent, but then I’ll probably hit royals every 10 hands then I’ll want to slit my wrists if I’m not playing 25 or 50 VP. 


So we throw in another $40 or so on progressive VP to see if we hit and we don’t. We start to notice A LOT of people with their luggage who we are assume are leaving and so we decide to head out early in case taxi line is long, and check in security blah blah blah. Interestingly, there is NO line at Bally’s for taxi – not one person. Weird – but we’ll take it. We head to airport, check in with skycap and proceed to Mexican restaurant at airport and have lunch. We then proceed to B gates (first time we have gone out over there, we usually are in C with Southwest, but you should have seen the C line, it was past the Mexican restaurant. Scary glad we didn’t have to go that way.

Anyway, we boarded, snagged a few pillows and took off on time I believe and the flight was uneventful. I often think on these fall trips on the way home, that this is my last chance to spend a little time with Coach as conditioning winds down and before practice gears up. For the next few months, he is very busy and I love getting to hang with him before his crazy time starts.

Hope you enjoyed the report. Sorry it is so long and I hope some of you enjoyed it.

Highlights: sportsbook extravaganza, lots of 4ok, great room
Lowlights: “Serious” players at 1-2 tables are irritating – throw
your $10,000 of monopoly money in to WSOP so I can watch Jennifer Harmon take it from you
Things I missed this trip: Harrah’s piano bar, cappuccino (how did I
manage?), starbucks iced tea and the jacuzzi
Things Coach missed this trip: I don’t think he missed a thing – its his bday trip and he did what he loves to do and had a great time

Hope you had a great bday Coach – I had a great time – until May……..I guess I’ll need a new ticker……

Hoopswife – out.

 

what a great trip report!!... and great luck!! can you explain what 4OK's are?....

aloha,
Hula

 

Thanks hula! 4OKs are four of a kind (s).

 

Very nicely done with the 4oks. Glad you and Coach had a good time, there's nothing worse than going to Vegas and feeling like it was a waste of time and money.

 

Thanks for writing up Days 3/4!! We were ALL waiting for it!! (You are hilarious!)

 

oh my gosh!! you truly hit those 4ok's A LOT!!... WAY TO GO!!

 

Great report

Thanks for posting the last bit. I was waiting for itopcorn

 

Excellent write up Hoops! Thanks so much for finishing it...I was waiting to comment until you were done.