CMP
07-05-2005, 01:18 PM
I was out there for the Boringest Bachelor Party ever (my own) - only gambling, drinking, and hanging out.
Thursday night – America West flight was delayed by 1 hour. However, once on board, I found the plane to be just fine. The outbound movie “Hitch” was so-so – there were some funny parts, but man, a movie on the plane really helps take care of a 3.5 hour flight. The pilot put the hammer down and we made it to Vegas only about 30 minutes late.
We picked up our minivan from Dollar rent-a-car and piled in – we were 6 now, but more were on their way. We would discover after about a day and a half of having the radio off that the van from Dollar was equipped with satellite radio – score!! Proceed to In-n-Out Burger – sooooo tasty, and see some guys that we recognize as Chicago poker players there (weird).
4 got dropped off at the Rio while 2 head back to the house to drop off the bags. Follow the signs to the World Series of Poker - holy crap. The room is HUGE – 200 tables. The TV taping area is obvious, so after putting my name on the list for $4-8 limit holdem, we cruised over and checked out the final table of the $5000 No-Limit event – it’s down to 3 players – Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, and someone I didn’t recognize – it’s pretty boring stuff – raise and take it. We saw one all-in hand (Scotty) with AJ vs. A7 and he survived and doubled up off the 3rd guy. When we left at around 3, they were still going 3-handed.
We also saw just about every other recognizable player from the WPT/WSOP tv shows – rather than name them all, I’ll say I DIDN’T see Gus, Hellmuth or Negranu. They were all playing $400-800 mixed games (I think) – all games were Omaha/8 while we were watching.
So, I got called for my game to table 200 – the highest numbered table, and just inside the first door you can walk in to get into the WSOP room.
I’m completely card dead (my best non-pair hand: AJ twice); I get 2 pocket pairs: 33 which turns into 333 and 44 which turns into 4444. I also make a small flush and 2 pair with one of the AJs and leave up $110 after about a 4 hour session. On the last hand, I have A7h, flop a flush draw, the turn gives me an open-ended straight draw as well, and I totally brick on the river – a sign of things to come (or continue). Some dude calls me with a pair of 8s (2nd or 3rd pair on the board) and takes a $100 pot. But still, plus $110 for the night, which starts the trip off right.
Friday – we wake up, have breakfast at one of our favorite local places, and meet up with 3 more at SunCoast(so we’re now 10). I play blackjack and give back the $110 I won the prior night. Then it’s craps - $90, and Pai Gow - $40. The casino gave everyone at the blackjack table a free dinner at the café, though, so our first dinner for 10 runs everyone $5. SunCoast is very friendly with table game comps - nobody was betting more than $5-10 a hand, and they've done this for us on past trips too.
After dinner, we head to the MGM Grand to check out the poker room while others wander to Exalibur, Luxor, etc. I get in a $3-6 game with a buddy of mine, and the game is just ridiculous – all you need is to get some cards and you get paid off. My buddy makes some big hands and within an hour is up $200 or so – meanwhile, my card deadness continues. I got JJ once and called with many others – flop comes with an A, so I fold – turn is a J, which makes me momentarily sad, but the river completes a 4 card straight involving a 10, which takes it, so I’m not too bad (nobody would’ve folded).
My buddy keeps inching up, up, up, and I keep inching down, down, down. I make quads AGAIN (it seems like a HUGE hand or no hand at all for me) but don’t make too much on it (I’m heads up vs. KK who only calls, never raises me). It seems like if I ever do get AK, KQ, etc., I never make a pair.
Eventually, a 3rd buddy sits in our same game and takes the last half of my buyin by just playing straightforward and having better cards than me – I have TT, he has KK (no cards above T on the board). My last hand, I have TT again, and he has AK – hits a K to send me to the rail. -$100 to the MGM $3-6 players.
I wander over to Excal to find the guys (they tell me they’re heading there), but they’re drunkenly lollygagging at Luxor, so a poker newbie friend and I sit for about an hour in the $2-6 game at Excal. Only memorable hand, I have 55 and limp – first card off the deck is a 5 – sweet!. One caller hits an 8 on the turn to go with his 88 – suck! Leave there down $40
Saturday day, we checked out the Wynn – very nice! I like the design (instead of a separate mall, all the shops run along the casino floor). We chilled in the race and sports book and bet on horse races, picking the most ridiculous names we could and just making each other laugh. Then some of us checked out the poker room – well, 2 of our friends (not me) were already checking out the poker room when one of them returned after a short time. He sat in a $4-8 game and described it as having “the worst players ever.” He won $100 in a little over an hour. Sweet, maybe I can recoup some of these losses. I get in a game and it is as it was described – ridiculously bad players. I get KK for the first (and only) time this trip – I never did get AA or QQ. I raise pre-flop after obviously playing tight and get 6 callers. I should be able to let it go when an A flops, but I can’t, and I pay off A2o and A4o who chop it. Later I get TT again and raise – 4 callers, flop is like 8-4-4. Someone had called with K4, of course, and took me down. My last hand, I have AQ, and the flop is 8-T-Q and the same guy has J9 for the straight – bye bye $100.
That was during the daytime, and after some time chilling at the house, the last guy was finally arriving, so we tell him to cab it to the Orleans and we’ll meet him there. We take over a blackjack table and the good times continue to roll for the first few dealers – the drinks flow, the banter is witty, and I’m up a few units. Then, of course, we hit a downswing. Some people leave to play poker, but we’re still having fun. I only play blackjack this night, but before we leave, I put my last $40 out at once (that's 8 units to me), and I get an 11, while the dealer shows a 4. I grab $40 more from the wallet and double down – I draw a 3 or something ridiculous and the dealer flips a T under and then hits a 4 to make 18.
Sunday morning, we play golf at Angel Park (the par 3 course). Nice use of the desert terrain, and a bargain at $17 greens fee, $10 for the club rental, and $6 for a half a cart for the guy with the knee problem. I shoot probably the best golf of my life – 4 pars out of 12 and I finish at bogey (49 for 12 holes).
After golf, we collect the non-golfers for the centerpiece meal at Memphis Championship Barbecue. So tasty. I recommend seeking one of these out (I think there are 3), especially if you have a rental car.
We go back to the Rio and I buy into a $50 single table tourney, which represents the last of my gambling budget.
In the $50 tournaments, the top 2 places get their $50 cash back plus an entry into one of the Rio’s $200 tournaments (at 3, 7, or 11pm) which pay cash or WSOP main event seats.
The players at my table were terrible, with the exception of a few – maybe – but the tournament structure went so fast too, that you needed to catch some cards early to do anything. One guy was hitting EVERYTHING, constantly winning with hands that were crushed pre-flop – A2 hitting a 2 to beat AQ, constantly hitting his 2nd pair when he was tied with someone with a worse kicker, etc. So terrible. I get down to the final 3, and it’s me, the woman to my right, and the terrible guy. In my big blind, I get T7 and check after terrible guy limps in. Flop is T-7-x and I move all in – he thinks and says “okay, if I win I knock you out – I call” and flips up K7 – I’ve got him drawing dead to a K, and what do you think the river is?
That night we returned to the Orleans and a few people gambled while most of us went to see War of the Worlds – pretty good blockbuster fare – actually quite dark, disturbing, and gory.
Monday morning we woke up, made breakfast, cleaned the house, and headed for the airport. I thought I was screwed without a seat assignment on America West, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to take the exit row window seat upon check-in. I dozed during the return flight offering “The Ice Princess.”
Even though the gambling didn’t go my way, it was a fantastic trip – having my college buds from all over the country come in to hang out with me was really nice – I think I laughed for 4 days straight.
MP
Thursday night – America West flight was delayed by 1 hour. However, once on board, I found the plane to be just fine. The outbound movie “Hitch” was so-so – there were some funny parts, but man, a movie on the plane really helps take care of a 3.5 hour flight. The pilot put the hammer down and we made it to Vegas only about 30 minutes late.
We picked up our minivan from Dollar rent-a-car and piled in – we were 6 now, but more were on their way. We would discover after about a day and a half of having the radio off that the van from Dollar was equipped with satellite radio – score!! Proceed to In-n-Out Burger – sooooo tasty, and see some guys that we recognize as Chicago poker players there (weird).
4 got dropped off at the Rio while 2 head back to the house to drop off the bags. Follow the signs to the World Series of Poker - holy crap. The room is HUGE – 200 tables. The TV taping area is obvious, so after putting my name on the list for $4-8 limit holdem, we cruised over and checked out the final table of the $5000 No-Limit event – it’s down to 3 players – Doyle Brunson, Scotty Nguyen, and someone I didn’t recognize – it’s pretty boring stuff – raise and take it. We saw one all-in hand (Scotty) with AJ vs. A7 and he survived and doubled up off the 3rd guy. When we left at around 3, they were still going 3-handed.
We also saw just about every other recognizable player from the WPT/WSOP tv shows – rather than name them all, I’ll say I DIDN’T see Gus, Hellmuth or Negranu. They were all playing $400-800 mixed games (I think) – all games were Omaha/8 while we were watching.
So, I got called for my game to table 200 – the highest numbered table, and just inside the first door you can walk in to get into the WSOP room.
I’m completely card dead (my best non-pair hand: AJ twice); I get 2 pocket pairs: 33 which turns into 333 and 44 which turns into 4444. I also make a small flush and 2 pair with one of the AJs and leave up $110 after about a 4 hour session. On the last hand, I have A7h, flop a flush draw, the turn gives me an open-ended straight draw as well, and I totally brick on the river – a sign of things to come (or continue). Some dude calls me with a pair of 8s (2nd or 3rd pair on the board) and takes a $100 pot. But still, plus $110 for the night, which starts the trip off right.
Friday – we wake up, have breakfast at one of our favorite local places, and meet up with 3 more at SunCoast(so we’re now 10). I play blackjack and give back the $110 I won the prior night. Then it’s craps - $90, and Pai Gow - $40. The casino gave everyone at the blackjack table a free dinner at the café, though, so our first dinner for 10 runs everyone $5. SunCoast is very friendly with table game comps - nobody was betting more than $5-10 a hand, and they've done this for us on past trips too.
After dinner, we head to the MGM Grand to check out the poker room while others wander to Exalibur, Luxor, etc. I get in a $3-6 game with a buddy of mine, and the game is just ridiculous – all you need is to get some cards and you get paid off. My buddy makes some big hands and within an hour is up $200 or so – meanwhile, my card deadness continues. I got JJ once and called with many others – flop comes with an A, so I fold – turn is a J, which makes me momentarily sad, but the river completes a 4 card straight involving a 10, which takes it, so I’m not too bad (nobody would’ve folded).
My buddy keeps inching up, up, up, and I keep inching down, down, down. I make quads AGAIN (it seems like a HUGE hand or no hand at all for me) but don’t make too much on it (I’m heads up vs. KK who only calls, never raises me). It seems like if I ever do get AK, KQ, etc., I never make a pair.
Eventually, a 3rd buddy sits in our same game and takes the last half of my buyin by just playing straightforward and having better cards than me – I have TT, he has KK (no cards above T on the board). My last hand, I have TT again, and he has AK – hits a K to send me to the rail. -$100 to the MGM $3-6 players.
I wander over to Excal to find the guys (they tell me they’re heading there), but they’re drunkenly lollygagging at Luxor, so a poker newbie friend and I sit for about an hour in the $2-6 game at Excal. Only memorable hand, I have 55 and limp – first card off the deck is a 5 – sweet!. One caller hits an 8 on the turn to go with his 88 – suck! Leave there down $40
Saturday day, we checked out the Wynn – very nice! I like the design (instead of a separate mall, all the shops run along the casino floor). We chilled in the race and sports book and bet on horse races, picking the most ridiculous names we could and just making each other laugh. Then some of us checked out the poker room – well, 2 of our friends (not me) were already checking out the poker room when one of them returned after a short time. He sat in a $4-8 game and described it as having “the worst players ever.” He won $100 in a little over an hour. Sweet, maybe I can recoup some of these losses. I get in a game and it is as it was described – ridiculously bad players. I get KK for the first (and only) time this trip – I never did get AA or QQ. I raise pre-flop after obviously playing tight and get 6 callers. I should be able to let it go when an A flops, but I can’t, and I pay off A2o and A4o who chop it. Later I get TT again and raise – 4 callers, flop is like 8-4-4. Someone had called with K4, of course, and took me down. My last hand, I have AQ, and the flop is 8-T-Q and the same guy has J9 for the straight – bye bye $100.
That was during the daytime, and after some time chilling at the house, the last guy was finally arriving, so we tell him to cab it to the Orleans and we’ll meet him there. We take over a blackjack table and the good times continue to roll for the first few dealers – the drinks flow, the banter is witty, and I’m up a few units. Then, of course, we hit a downswing. Some people leave to play poker, but we’re still having fun. I only play blackjack this night, but before we leave, I put my last $40 out at once (that's 8 units to me), and I get an 11, while the dealer shows a 4. I grab $40 more from the wallet and double down – I draw a 3 or something ridiculous and the dealer flips a T under and then hits a 4 to make 18.
Sunday morning, we play golf at Angel Park (the par 3 course). Nice use of the desert terrain, and a bargain at $17 greens fee, $10 for the club rental, and $6 for a half a cart for the guy with the knee problem. I shoot probably the best golf of my life – 4 pars out of 12 and I finish at bogey (49 for 12 holes).
After golf, we collect the non-golfers for the centerpiece meal at Memphis Championship Barbecue. So tasty. I recommend seeking one of these out (I think there are 3), especially if you have a rental car.
We go back to the Rio and I buy into a $50 single table tourney, which represents the last of my gambling budget.
In the $50 tournaments, the top 2 places get their $50 cash back plus an entry into one of the Rio’s $200 tournaments (at 3, 7, or 11pm) which pay cash or WSOP main event seats.
The players at my table were terrible, with the exception of a few – maybe – but the tournament structure went so fast too, that you needed to catch some cards early to do anything. One guy was hitting EVERYTHING, constantly winning with hands that were crushed pre-flop – A2 hitting a 2 to beat AQ, constantly hitting his 2nd pair when he was tied with someone with a worse kicker, etc. So terrible. I get down to the final 3, and it’s me, the woman to my right, and the terrible guy. In my big blind, I get T7 and check after terrible guy limps in. Flop is T-7-x and I move all in – he thinks and says “okay, if I win I knock you out – I call” and flips up K7 – I’ve got him drawing dead to a K, and what do you think the river is?
That night we returned to the Orleans and a few people gambled while most of us went to see War of the Worlds – pretty good blockbuster fare – actually quite dark, disturbing, and gory.
Monday morning we woke up, made breakfast, cleaned the house, and headed for the airport. I thought I was screwed without a seat assignment on America West, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to take the exit row window seat upon check-in. I dozed during the return flight offering “The Ice Princess.”
Even though the gambling didn’t go my way, it was a fantastic trip – having my college buds from all over the country come in to hang out with me was really nice – I think I laughed for 4 days straight.
MP