[beavens]

haha - i love these stories!!

during the same trip as my drunken debacle:

my friend and i had just flown in from DC at about 12am vegas time. so after the drive up to DC and the flight, we were pretty tired. but we just got to vegas for the first time ever and to top it off, we decided to not book the room for that night - save money by just checking in the next day! hell, we only had to pull an allnighter - and this is vegas baby!

needingly to refuel, we hit up denny's and get some grub. needless to say, it was incredible.

after "dinner", we hit the strip to check things out. my friend had never been in a casino, so we poked our heads in Treasure Island, but didn't see anything we really liked. then we ended up in the Mirage, and decided to play a little 1-2 NL.

played until about 5am or so and decided to call it quits. i was up about only 15 and my friend was down some - no worries. at this point we have a little booze in us and are still pretty tired/jetlagged. time to explore some more.

went around a few more casinos and decided to check out Caesar's and the shops they had (remember this is at like 5:45am and they were all closed). we walked through the shops and whatnot, then walked back to the casino to leave.

ok, maybe blame it on the slightly drunk and majorly tired factor - but could NOT FIND THE EXIT!!

we saw a place that said 'exit', but there were 8 million "THIS IS NOT AN EXIT" signs around it!! we walked all over the casino looking for one - no luck. we went into the hotel - no luck. even walked around where the pool is! (apparently you weren't supposed to be there at that houe) there seemed to be a few construction exits, but we didnt want to risk it. so back in the casino we go.

we saw how we got IN the place - the escalators. but where were the ones going out?? we saw our only option - run up the 'going down' escalator. my friend managed without a problem to make the jump and begin the the downward stairs. i wasn't so lucky - i stumbled when i landed, but upon sight of those metal teeth i was able to correct myself and regain control. we then made our way going opposite of the moving sidewalks and finally exited back onto the strip. we were never the same after Caesar's, and i dont want to go into that death trap again!

we figure we were too tired to do anything else, so let's go and wait at the hotel until we can check in. no worries right?

well we get to the Riviera at about 7 or so - feeling ok.

thing that sucks about the Riviera - not much going on. lots of slots and old people. their poker 'section' is kinda a joke. the wait to check in was probably the worst time i've ever had. i was beyond tired, my legs were twitchy and ached, and we had nothing to do. for hours we'd walk around, come back to the sportsbook, pass out for a few minutes, walk around, wait - rinse and repeat.

finally it was nearing 11am and my friend was about to get in from colorado. we were so tired that we just sat in the lobby, right next to the elevators, waiting for him. people would come out the elevators and look down upon us with pity and resent. i swear we felt like second class citizens. one older woman even came up and asked "did they kick you boys out??" - classic. so finally our knight in shining armor walks through the door at about 12pm or so. we were psyched to see him, cause the room was in his name.

lo and behold - check-in isnt until FOUR PM!! [censored]! no way would could last that long! we felt defeated and on the brink of tears.

lucky for us, mgt decided to let people check in at 1pm instead. relieved, we got our bags from the captain and waited in line. as soon as we get in the room, my colorado friend asks if we want to get any food? we say "hell no", crank up AC, and pass out for a delicious 5 hours or so.

upon waking we took on vegas like it meant to be taken on.

great trip and well worth the losses in gambling!