Vegas Day 2
October 31, 2007
Trip Report – Vegas Day 2
We wake up at the crack of 10am (yep 3 hours sleep so far) and head across the street for a slice of pizza. It was actually… ok. This was my first meal in Vegas and it cost me a whole $6. We were all extremely hung over. So much so that we all decided that laying around poolside would be in order. Man was that place packed and plentiful… numerous groups of girls as far as the eyes could see kept us there for about an hour (short but sweet) until I got restless and wanted me some more poker action! I decided to give the old sitngo a try. I bought in for the cheapo – mistake #1 ($70 each two places paid) and man did I ever pay the price. What a bunch of donkeys!! It’s really a eye opener for someone like me who expects the play to be so much better and then to realize about 3 hands in that I can easily run over every single person if I am just patient. I should have just listened to Chad.
I play extremely tight for the first two levels and finally raise with 3’s and get back to even. I slow played my turned full house after betting my flopped two pair and min raised the river when the guy bet his 4th pair into me. Quit funny actually, maybe I should have pushed as I am sure he would have called and I could have avoided what would be my demise by the very same foe. The villan would get his revenge though after sucking out on me in back to back hands and then sends me home in 3rd when he CALLS my all in (K10c) with…. wait for it… 7-3 of spades! A seven on the river sends me packing and I go Oh No for One. Fawkin’ crap players. The guy couldn’t even stack his chips! Bullshit.
Anyway, while that was going on the rest of the crew was laying out by the pool and the Jacuzzi. I caught up with them after lunch and two of them decided to go to the Rhino. Alan had suggested that I go there, but for some reason I just wasn’t interested. At the time, I just didn’t feel like getting the high pressure sales of the ladies… I hear that they basically just sit on your lap and don’t let go until you cough up some cash and move to the VIP room. I’m glad I decided to stay back and play some table games… although they didn’t turn out the way I had planned.
I’ve always been a sucker for the roulette table. Jordan specifically suggested that I stay away… but if you know me at all, if I see an opportunity, then I pounce. This story I am about to get into is exactly what happened to me 10 years ago when I visited Vegas for the first time… weird how some things just never change.
So I’m walking around and just watching various tables (I’ve been trying to learn craps lately) and I see a roulette table that catches my eye. I am a sucker for betting on the outside. I figure it gives me “almost” fair enough odds to gamble on. I look and see a table that has had about 8-9 red numbers in a row. Funny enough, there is also another crew of two body builder type dudes (you know the kind – tighty shirts, bulging pecs and just trying to find the gun show gangsta wannabe types… but who knows maybe they really were actually part of the mob…) and their lady friend. These guys are high rollers, obviously, because they have man-purses and pull out wads of bills just like rich people do. Anyway, I figure they are on to the same theory as me… it must hit black sooner or later right? So I pull out $20 and place it on black and it hits, these guys did the same, except it was for $200 each! Crazy. So I pull out $20 and put down my profits and hit black again! Woo hoo, $40 in 2 minutes… Vegas is so easy.
I use that profit and blow it at craps (easy come easy go… even again!) and then keep walking around a bit more until I find ANOTHER different roulette table with the same situation… and guess who rolls up right behind me? The two muscle shirt wearing ballers!! So this time the action is flowing and everyone is on black to double up again as there has been another sighting of a streak of reds (maybe about 8 in a row at this point). So I pull out $20, lose. They pull out $200, and lose. I go another $20 and lose and so do they (always at least 10 times more than me though). These guys continue to pound the table for two more tries (but now moved up to $500 a spin and have gotten special permission from the pit to do so as the max was only $200… they also get a few comp’s in the process) while I just sit back and watch. I’m already in the hole and figure what is the point. They miss again! Now it’s been about 12-13 in a row and I just have to get back in there. I pull out $100 this time and it misses again!! Faaaaaack! When is this sucker going to pay off! Other people have now joined in the fun and there is collectively over $1000 riding on each spin of the wheel. FINALLY, it hits and the crowd goes wild!! A few guys were lucky enough to hit it once and they were out with their profits. I grab my break even money and get out of there and so do the mobsters… So after all that stress… I lose money, but at least it wasn’t $240! I’m pretty sure that “team gun show” left in the hole for at least $400-600 each. Crazy times.
That night we ate dinner at the Mirage at a place called Japonais. It was unbelievable! Although for $100 per person it should be… Kobe Filets - $46, numerous appetizers, Miso - $6. I had to laugh. I’ve tried hundreds of miso soups in my life; however this one I can say was top two. The other being the one I had the next night at Okada at the Wynn. Both meals were cooked to perfection and well worth the hundred bones per. Mouth watering and delicious! Okada was pretty cool. They have a designated chef that comes and cooks the various courses right in front of you. You sit in an 8 person square table and the chefs are great. The service is great and the food was awesome. We started with a salad and miso. Then a hot baby scallop appy followed by your choice of freshly fried rice or noodles. Then we topped it off with a perfectly cooked 10 ounce New York steak. We all skipped dessert, but it was some chocolaty goodness of some sort. Too full!!
Night number two we crashed hard (after our dinner at Japonais). Everyone was so full of food that we all headed to the room for a nap… We had been drinking all day again and after the nap three of the guys decided that it was time to go out again. Off they went. ND even met Fred Couples for the first time at the Playboy club. Kinda makes me wish I had gone out that night just for that experience. An ex Masters champion was in Vegas and I missed him! Bad beat.
So after the guys left and CD was asleep I went down for some more poker fun. I decided to take another crack at a Sitngo. Mistake #2! I played tight. Tighter than ever. For some reason (no wait I know why) no one noticed this except for one player. I raised UTG+1 with AA and got two callers. The flop was K-10-8 rainbow and I check raised and was called by A-K. Double up thank you. About two orbits later I find JJ in EP again. I raise 4x and get one caller who happened to be on quite the tear and was the chip leader by far. With seven players remaining I guess he felt like he could bully me. The flop comes 8-10-10. I bet out half the pot and he raises me 3x. I guess I could have laid it down right then and there but decided that he was a donkey and I pushed and he called. He flipped over… K-10o. Who calls 4x BB raise with K-10 offsuit! Donkey’s in Vegas that’s who! I decided then and there that I would not be playing in another of those ever again. Fuck that shit.
After watching a couple of more hands I decided to head over to the sportsbook and see what that was all about. I wanted to place some football bets so that Sunday would be all the more interesting (as if I needed an excuse). I should have found an internet connection and checked out what Miami Don had to suggest for this week, but instead went with my weak instincts and it didn’t pay off. I guess my problem was that I really didn’t know what the best formula was. Should I bet one game? Two? Parlay? Total? Bet the line? I don’t even know any other terms or what I should have done so I just went with what I do at home. Bet 3-4 games with the spread and hope that I go 100%. Well of course we all know how hard that can be, so needless to say I went 2-4 in the morning and 2-3 in the afternoon. I bet small so I wasn’t too worried (less than $50 in total). The funny thing was I must have spent 20-30 minutes grinding out a couple of those games. Especially the Pats vs. Dolphins. I just couldn’t come to grips with the fact that the Dolphins were THAT good where they would actually cover 17 points! As you know, I am a Colts fan and have been for over 10 years now. I also remember reading Don’s blog once and how he said that giving up that many points is a suckers bet. Well I guess I was the sucker!
The evening ended with me getting to bed at a reasonable 1am this time. There was a plan though. I remember at the end of my first cash session, two or three people showing up at my table around 6-7am and making a killing off the drunk/sobering up people such as myself. I decided to turn the tables and give it a try. So my plan was to get up early and hit the cash table hard bright and early.
Did my plan work? Stay tuned for Day 3.
—-
In other news, there seems to be a lot of great writing going on lately with regards to this BBTwo freeroll seat for the best story. Well it’s just been taken to the next level. Check out Kaj’s newest dedicated blog. There are a few other good ones out there but I am too crunched for time to go and look for them again and link them. Maybe next time.
Happy Spooky Day. I’m in, are you?
Comments
Got something to say?