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June 8-12 Live from Las Vegas

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by SnertAlert, Jun 10, 2007.

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  1. SnertAlert

    SnertAlert Toast Smuggler

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2003
    Messages:
    347
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50

    My Trip Report

    Day 1: Aces Cracked and a Pai Gow Straight Flush

    I woke up late Friday and had a number of things to do before I got on the plane. This trip meant late nights at work all week, so I was behind on my usual Vegas preparation. I paid bills, stopped by work to tie up loose ends, got travelers checks at the bank, picked up cigars at the smoke shop, then packed. I was on the road by 2:45pm and headed for the Pasco airport. Checking in and the flight were smooth. My in-flight movie was Déjà vu, the latest Bruckheimer/Scott production which sounded promising. It was just average. Too hard to explain all the paradoxes in time travel in a few minutes allotted in the movie. I arrive in Vegas on time and pick up my car at the new McCarran car facility at 9:00pm and roll for the Orleans. I’m not sure if I like the new facility, but Dollar Express made things smooth and I had a small Dodge Caliber in minutes. For $15 a day, I would have driven a Chinese rickshaw. I raced down LVB to Russell Road and cut over at Arville to avoid the freeway traffic at the Trop interchange. Check in at the Orleans was fast and I was given room 1115 with a moderate view of the pool. The rooms at the Orleans are roomy with a nice couch and chair in the corner. Live Jazz Friday nights at the pool and it was busy and loud. It’s a good thing I didn’t need any sleep, but this was Vegas, and it was still early. I picked up a fifth of Crown at the liquor store and poured myself a small one on the rocks. Gotta drive tonight….so….must…take….it….easy…..so….hard….to…..do. Mmmmmm…the warm glow of alcohol on an empty stomach feels so good. I had a 1/3 lb burger and fries at Terrible Mike’s, the Orleans burger bar. I ordered medium, and it was pink through….just right. They have a nice condiment bar with just about everything you would want on a burger. I must have been hungry because I literally inhaled the burger. It was 9:30pm by the time I finished so it was off to Caesars to catch the last of women’s poker school tourney Sticky is playing in. In case you didn’t know, there is a poker school hosted by Annie Duke, and if you place top 10 in the school tourney, they pay entry to the women’s championship event. Sticky decided to attend to help get her tuned up for the main event. I parked the car and proceeded to wander around Caesars looking for the poker room. The line for Pure was broken into ladies and guys and was several hundred deep. For a guy who couldn’t dance if his life depended on it….I just don’t see the fascination with dropping hundreds in a club. But after seeing the line of smoking hot women all dressed to the 9’s, I think I have an idea why the guys were there. Incredible, long legs and short dresses. I make another circle around the casino and finally spot the Poker Room. It was right behind the line of ladies waiting in line for Pure. I have no idea how I missed it the first time. Distracted somehow I guess.

    I walk into the poker room and inquire where the ladies tourney is located and the young kid behind the counter said it was at noon and already over. Bah, I don’t believe it. I decided to wander back to the tournament room and there were 3 tables of women left in the back. Never trust the young and uneducated products of our public school system. I spot Sticky at the nearest table and she is short stacked with about $4500 in chips. I say a quick “hi†and stand back to watch the game unfold. She is forced to fold a couple hands then folds the blinds. At this point she is the smallest stack at the table. Ante is $100 and I think blinds were $400/$800. The button passes her by and next hand she goes all in for about $2200. I notice a small tremble in her hand and think “uh ohâ€. The button and small blind fold. The big blind mouths “sh!t†as she looks at her cards. Good news I suspect, but what do I know about poker. I am still learning. Big blinds stack has about $12000, thinking hard. She reluctantly calls and they flip them over. A 9 Sticky versus 2 4 Big Blind, both off suit. An ace comes on the flop and Sticky rakes a nice pot to stay in the game on a weak hand. Next hand is dealt, one bet behind her, and Sticky goes quickly all in again. This time there is no tremble in her hand so I suspect she is bluffing, trying the push people out and steal some blinds. There are 2 callers all in and they flip them over. Holy crap Sticky has AA! Sweet! Next best hand is K J off suit (the “Martyâ€). Flop comes mostly junk and things look good. Hopes are dashed when runner-runner K J comes on the turn and river. Bah. One of the instructors is watching and says quietly “that was sick, that was just sickâ€. No kidding buddy. She finished 21st out of 100. Anyway, from the 10 or so hands I saw Sticky played well and set herself up to triple up and be the biggest stacks at the table, but it was not to be. She took it all well knowing she was one hand from making the final table in all likelihood. Good to know these things don’t just happen on PokerStars, but still hard to watch.

    Over MMIV, Sticky, JoeVegas, and I went in search of a Pai Gow game after the IP suite party. We never did find a table at MMIV, so it was game on tonight, at least for a while since she needed to get up in the morning for school. Sticky makes a call home and it sounds like everyone is well. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee at Charbucks. We played some Pai Gow at TI and I was up most of the time. I got whittled back to the original $100 and I am done. Sticky says “play one more hand, you’ll winâ€. So I play against my better judgment, and proceed to win the next hand. I give $5 to the dealer and put $5 on Sticky’s bonus hand. Next three Sticky hands are trips ($15), straight ($15), and holy crap a straight flush ($250!!!). I stacked the profits for the first 2 on the flat bet, but all 3 were pushes because the dealer’s top hands were strong. I dropped Sticky a black chip for her awesome hand and it was time to go. Silly girl didn’t want to take it, but I explained that I always have to share when I play someone else’s hand like that. It is good luck for me. We part ways and I rolled for the Orleans. Still wide awake, I played my Dam LumberJack Beavers game for an hour or so, broke even, then went to bed. It was 4:30am, asleep by 5.
     
  2. texas_aggie_girl_93

    texas_aggie_girl_93 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2006
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Katy, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    39
    Congrats on the SF. Hope your luck holds out.

    Thanks for the Sticky report too!
     
  3. aggie182

    aggie182 Off Key and Out of Tune

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Missouri City, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    Congrats on the straight flush.
     
  4. hanoscf

    hanoscf High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2007
    Messages:
    501
    Location:
    NW Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    I LOVE Dam Lumberjack Beavers! It's so funny.
     
  5. Jer

    Jer “The Walrus has spoken”

    Joined:
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    Very cool....:)
     
  6. SnertAlert

    SnertAlert Toast Smuggler

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2003
    Messages:
    347
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Day 2: Recharging My Batteries and “Spot the Poker Pro”

    I could only sleep until 9:00am. I got up, showered, grabbed a cup of coffee at SBC and watched TV all morning. I just needed a day to decompress, something I didn’t get an opportunity to do last trip. Breakfast was a hot dog at the sports book with sauerkraut and mustard. I’ve never been very picky about food. I stopped by the pool for a bit, but basically did nothing all morning. I drove to the Wynn and played some penny slots. Mostly lost but had a good time. I walked around the strip, played more penny slots and still lost small amounts of money. Then, back to the room at 3pm for a short nap. Before I knew it, it was 5pm and time to go see how Sticky’s day in class went. We met at the Poker Room at Caesars and went to the TI to go play some Pai Gow. We each bought in for a hundy and proceeded to have a choppy session. The guy to my right loved to be the bank, and every time he beat us, would return half our flat bet, calling it a “rebate”. He was having a good time and so were we. Eventually we were each up about $25 and Sticky went off to call home and I continued to play a while longer. Eventually, the table cleared out and I colored up. Sticky returned and sounds like everyone at home was doing well. Off for a quick bite at Grande Lux then over to the Rio to watch some poker. Sticky needed to find her table and get comfortable with her surroundings. I was in awe the minute we walked into the room. Hundreds of tables full with various games, 7 Stud, Omaha, Hold Em, etc. on the huge floor of the convention center pavilion. We wander around and immediately see Allen Cunningham, Barry Greenstein and Ted Forrest at what looks like the final 4 tables of the 7 stud tourney. These guys are all business. Barry’s stack is huge. As focused at Cunningham looks on television, he is even more so in person. You can literally see the gears turning as he puts people on hands and calculates his pot odds. There is a bit of a ruckus behind us and Humberto Brenes is doing his contrived dance for the cameras and obviously took some poor guy down. He waves Shark II around, the new version has LED flashing eyes and teeth. Clearly his celebration is for the cameras, and I am thinking he needs a choreographer, because his dance moves needs some work. We walk around all the tables and see Phil Hellmuth. Taller than I expected. He abruptly stands up and walks away from his table with a sour look on his face and is standing about 6 feet away from us before turning back and yelling “am I still in?”. Eventually he does win the hand and goes back and sits down. Drama. Sticky points out a few more pros, none of which I have ever heard of. It is good to have her around because I don’t have cable and rarely watch poker. We went out to the tent to find Sticky’s table for tomorrow. The tent is really a temporary structure with hard sides and a tented top. The air conditioning isn’t bad. Out here we see many more pros. We spot Doyle in the far corner but never get close. Sticky spots Mike the Mouth and the Grinder. I see Jennifer Harman. Many others Sticky points out but I can’t remember their names now, but it was nice to just walk around and watch them play for a bit. Sticky finds here table 84 for the tournament. Spot the poker pro is more fun that spot the hooker, I’ve decided. Eventually it is time to go so Sticky can get some sleep for tomorrow. I dropped her off at the Luxor and race over to the Orleans. No late night penny slots tonight, I crash hard at about 2:30am or so.
     
  7. gmoney590

    gmoney590 VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Love the daily updates; keep them coming. Sorry to hear that Sticky didn't last long but what can you do. What was the problem with the drink service?
    No waitresses or just plain crappy service.
     
  8. SnertAlert

    SnertAlert Toast Smuggler

    Joined:
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    Messages:
    347
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Day 3: Poker Bad, Alcohol Good

    I wake up around 9:00am and shower up. I read a couple chapters in my book and watch some television before checking out. Another hotdog and a large SBC breakfast blend and I am good to go. I rolled for the Rio to watch Sticky play some poker. Arriving there 15 minutes before the start at noon, I spot Sticky at table 83 and we chat or a bit. She seems cool as a cucumber. I planned to walk around and take some notes on other players and their tendencies, but security chases out all the spectators. Evidently the AC can’t keep up with the 95 degree heat if the doors are opened and closed all day long, or that is the excuse they give anyway. I am disappointed I won’t get to watch, but I make myself useful by going to buy Sticky a pack of smokes across the street. I wander down to the Palms to locate a wifi hotspot, but no luck there. I made my way back to the Rio to make sure there wasn’t a short break at the first hour, and as I hustle my way down the convention center hallway. As I get close I see Sticky walking in my direction. Damn, that can only mean one thing. Sticky out. She gave me a quick recount of events as we walked over to the phone so she can call home. I was sorry to see her out so early, but she played quality hands and got beat by better hands. Not much you can do about that. I will let her fill in the blanks as to what happened, but she took the whole thing pretty well considering. After a few penny slots and nonexistent drink service, we headed over and bought some stuff at the WSOP store. I picked up a nice coffee cup that will replace my Aladdin cup at work and eyed the $900 WSOP leather jacket. Very cool, but I am way too hard on clothes to pay that much. A quick side comment here. The entire trip drink service at MGM and Harrah’s casinos was deplorable. I have never seen such poor service at the slots. Several times I actually had to buy $7 beers because I waited over an hour for a waitress and never saw one. OK….back to the trip. Heres where things started moving quickly and my memory starts getting a little fuzzy. We went downtown and made a small slots donation at Vegas Club and played some Pai Gow at El Cortez. I think we both broke even. We had a quick bite at the Golden Nugget Carson Street Café. It was very good….I suggest the Ruben. We made a quick trip out to Sunset Station to have Mikey deal me some Pai Gow. I won $5 total, and could never get over the hump to tip really well. I did win a flush bonus for the dealer, but that was about it. Then off to the Luxor to drop off Sticky and get me checked in. I asked for a tower room, and received the upgrade without a problem. I gave the desk girl a tip and said thanks. I was in the same tower at Sticky, just a few floors below. It was nice because we could meet at Starbucks near the elevators, and I didn’t have to get lost in the maze that is the Luxor trying to locate someone. There are more turns in this place than Sears Point. I met back up with Sticky and she was feeling a little poker deprived. We headed over to the MGM and sat down at a 2-4 limit game at about 10pm or so. I raked a few pots, flopped quad aces, and was up about $30 quickly. If you haven’t played 2-4, it is an incredibly loose game. Not uncommon to have 4-6 people in a hand to see the flop. I played tight and did OK. Then I decided to get drunk and have a good time. After many, many crown rocks we called it a morning at 6:30am, and I was down about $50 for the evening playing some pretty crazy cards. We left the poker room and had a good breakfast burrito at the Studio Café and Sticky had lots of toast. She left a piece of toast, and for some reason I thought she might want that later. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess, but not such a good idea when I opened my pack the next day to find an old piece of dried, crumpled up piece toast in the bottom of my pack while watching the WSOP. I walked home at 8:00am, felt like a vampire in the sunlight, but made it back in one piece. Told Sticky to have a good morning’s sleep, went to my room and fell asleep in about 30 seconds.
     
  9. Coaster Kikky

    Coaster Kikky Tourist

    Joined:
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    Hey Snert - In case I don't get to see Sticky before she heads back to O Canada, please tell her it was great to see her again, if briefly, although the time I spent with her this time probably was three times the amount of time I've got to spend with her on any previous trips combined!
     
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