Edge34
07-11-2005, 02:00 AM
The setup: I turned 21 on June 7th. This is important, and needs to be celebrated this summer in the proper way. Myself and 3 long-time buddies decide...its time to go to Vegas! I'm playing poker for my money this summer so I've got some free time on my hands, needless to say. The others need to get time off of work, and it turns out the earliest we can go is July 6th. Hmm...WSOP main event opening weekend. Hmmmmph. Guess you could twist my arm. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
In order to keep this thing in order, I'll break this thing up into the 4 days we were out there, Wednesday through Saturday.
Wednesday
We end up having a flight out of Minneapolis at 7:30 local time. That's a f***ing pain in the ass. That's what I get for having a friend who can't ask for time off until like the damn week before. Oh well, we make up for it by getting the 4 of us together on Tuesday night and drinking beers, generally carousing all night. There's time to sleep on the plane.
Well, I get about an hour of sleep on the 3 hour flight to Sin City...I'm running on pure adrenaline, but I don't mind. We end up gambling on when the flight will take off (I win), when it will land (I lose), among other things. I win $20 from one of the guys playing some heads-up on the flight. This will turn out to be some of my last winning for the trip, but that's for later. We land at the airport and decide that for $40 we'll take the limo that's parked outside instead of some crummy taxi. Even if we lose out shirts, we're rolling into town in style.
We're staying at the Mirage, and as we're driving, I see the Strip for the first time and realize that everything is even bigger than I expected. Lame, sure, but that was all I could think. The limo driver did do a nice job of giving us a little history lesson, since I'm about the only one in our group who really knows even a little bit about how this town came to be what it is today. Check-in goes surprisingly smoothly once we arrive, probably because its 9 in the morning there. We head off to the roulette table on our way to the elevators, because I've been challenged to bet red versus black. $20 later my friend tries to convince me he just won my money...most of my luck is over now, but he'll soon find out his is too. Sleep time? Hell no. We go check out the room (very nice IMO) and get set to hit the town...
And by hit the town, I mean try to find a damned bank because one of us couldn't be bothered to make sure he had the cash on hand that he would need for the trip. They tell us at the front desk that there's a US Bank on Flamingo, so off we go. After about 2 miles we get impatient and turn around. We go into a gas station and ask where it is, only to find that had we walked for 5 more minutes, we'd have been there. Sweet.
We go grab some lunch from Carnegie Deli and play blackjack for a while. I break exactly even, which is surprising, because I've already begun drinking. Hey, it may be 10 AM in Vegas, but its 5:00 somewhere. I must say, I'm not disappointed with the Mirage's Captain & Cokes, even if it takes approximately 2.5 hours to get them after you've ordered.
We decide that maybe a little sleep and a shower are in order before the night's activities. Once we're all cleaned up, we go across the street to Harrah's to check out Toby Keith's new restaurant. Hate away, but this place actually has some ridiculously good food. As I said, though, I'd been drinking and decided now was no time to stop. Once we get the check I realize I've been drinking $6 Miller Lites. Ouch. Oh well, harm's done. Next on the night's schedule: Ghostbar.
Now, I've never actually played a single hand of real money poker on UltimateBet. However, I have an account there in case I ever decide I want to, and I got the email invitation to go to the pre-WSOP party. I have to say, it kicked some major ass. I mean, getting into Ghostbar with no cover and drinking all night on UB's tab was sweet as it was. But I'll also admit I had to be a fan-boy, at least a little on that night. We go outside once we reach Ghostbar and find a couch to sit on as we drink and take in the town from 55 stories. There's an open couch with a few people around, so we sit. I look to see who's leaning on the arm of the couch after we sit down and realize that I'm looking at Antonio Esfandiari and Russ Hamilton, 1994 WSOP ME Champion. This is pretty sweet for a guy on his first trip out, even though I later realize that Antonio is basically as much of a dick as people say he is, as he couldn't be pried away from this (ridiculously hot) chick who had her arms around his waist all night. Maybe people who've met him can say different, but he seems like the kind of guy who got made fun of a LOT as a kid and now thinks he's all hot [censored] because he's a semi-celebrity. It wasn't a problem though - I actually ended up sitting and talking (and drinking heavily) with David Ulliott for a while. Probably the nicest guy I met there all night, and when we talked about the tourney the next day, he said he was on Day 1, and he'd "be drunk then too". Well played Devilfish. I also got to talk to Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilley for a while, as well as Phil Hellmuth (who even wore his Oakleys inside the fuggin' club). So yeah, I was a fanboy, I asked for the pictures, but UB put on one helluva party. UB's party ended at 10, so we ended up going back to the Mirage for more random gambling, including the dumbest game ever, casino war. Sadly, however, as drunk as I was, I forgot to man up and bring out the "black action" that Rick Diesel did so well. The night ended at around 2 AM with me absolutely bombed and worn out from the longest day (2 days?) of my life. Vegas friggin' rules.
OK, its 1 AM here now, and Saturday kicked my ass enough that I've slept for MAYBE 4 hours...more to come...
In order to keep this thing in order, I'll break this thing up into the 4 days we were out there, Wednesday through Saturday.
Wednesday
We end up having a flight out of Minneapolis at 7:30 local time. That's a f***ing pain in the ass. That's what I get for having a friend who can't ask for time off until like the damn week before. Oh well, we make up for it by getting the 4 of us together on Tuesday night and drinking beers, generally carousing all night. There's time to sleep on the plane.
Well, I get about an hour of sleep on the 3 hour flight to Sin City...I'm running on pure adrenaline, but I don't mind. We end up gambling on when the flight will take off (I win), when it will land (I lose), among other things. I win $20 from one of the guys playing some heads-up on the flight. This will turn out to be some of my last winning for the trip, but that's for later. We land at the airport and decide that for $40 we'll take the limo that's parked outside instead of some crummy taxi. Even if we lose out shirts, we're rolling into town in style.
We're staying at the Mirage, and as we're driving, I see the Strip for the first time and realize that everything is even bigger than I expected. Lame, sure, but that was all I could think. The limo driver did do a nice job of giving us a little history lesson, since I'm about the only one in our group who really knows even a little bit about how this town came to be what it is today. Check-in goes surprisingly smoothly once we arrive, probably because its 9 in the morning there. We head off to the roulette table on our way to the elevators, because I've been challenged to bet red versus black. $20 later my friend tries to convince me he just won my money...most of my luck is over now, but he'll soon find out his is too. Sleep time? Hell no. We go check out the room (very nice IMO) and get set to hit the town...
And by hit the town, I mean try to find a damned bank because one of us couldn't be bothered to make sure he had the cash on hand that he would need for the trip. They tell us at the front desk that there's a US Bank on Flamingo, so off we go. After about 2 miles we get impatient and turn around. We go into a gas station and ask where it is, only to find that had we walked for 5 more minutes, we'd have been there. Sweet.
We go grab some lunch from Carnegie Deli and play blackjack for a while. I break exactly even, which is surprising, because I've already begun drinking. Hey, it may be 10 AM in Vegas, but its 5:00 somewhere. I must say, I'm not disappointed with the Mirage's Captain & Cokes, even if it takes approximately 2.5 hours to get them after you've ordered.
We decide that maybe a little sleep and a shower are in order before the night's activities. Once we're all cleaned up, we go across the street to Harrah's to check out Toby Keith's new restaurant. Hate away, but this place actually has some ridiculously good food. As I said, though, I'd been drinking and decided now was no time to stop. Once we get the check I realize I've been drinking $6 Miller Lites. Ouch. Oh well, harm's done. Next on the night's schedule: Ghostbar.
Now, I've never actually played a single hand of real money poker on UltimateBet. However, I have an account there in case I ever decide I want to, and I got the email invitation to go to the pre-WSOP party. I have to say, it kicked some major ass. I mean, getting into Ghostbar with no cover and drinking all night on UB's tab was sweet as it was. But I'll also admit I had to be a fan-boy, at least a little on that night. We go outside once we reach Ghostbar and find a couch to sit on as we drink and take in the town from 55 stories. There's an open couch with a few people around, so we sit. I look to see who's leaning on the arm of the couch after we sit down and realize that I'm looking at Antonio Esfandiari and Russ Hamilton, 1994 WSOP ME Champion. This is pretty sweet for a guy on his first trip out, even though I later realize that Antonio is basically as much of a dick as people say he is, as he couldn't be pried away from this (ridiculously hot) chick who had her arms around his waist all night. Maybe people who've met him can say different, but he seems like the kind of guy who got made fun of a LOT as a kid and now thinks he's all hot [censored] because he's a semi-celebrity. It wasn't a problem though - I actually ended up sitting and talking (and drinking heavily) with David Ulliott for a while. Probably the nicest guy I met there all night, and when we talked about the tourney the next day, he said he was on Day 1, and he'd "be drunk then too". Well played Devilfish. I also got to talk to Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilley for a while, as well as Phil Hellmuth (who even wore his Oakleys inside the fuggin' club). So yeah, I was a fanboy, I asked for the pictures, but UB put on one helluva party. UB's party ended at 10, so we ended up going back to the Mirage for more random gambling, including the dumbest game ever, casino war. Sadly, however, as drunk as I was, I forgot to man up and bring out the "black action" that Rick Diesel did so well. The night ended at around 2 AM with me absolutely bombed and worn out from the longest day (2 days?) of my life. Vegas friggin' rules.
OK, its 1 AM here now, and Saturday kicked my ass enough that I've slept for MAYBE 4 hours...more to come...