Las Vegas Trip Report

Back in January Lisa sent an Evite for Andy’s birthday in Las Vegas. I made some calls and found out I could get 4 nights at the IP on the strip for free and cheap airfare. So I went ahead and booked. For the next ten weeks or so I was pretty sure I was going by myself since no one else booked until two weeks ago!

So I got to JFK on Thursday night and checked in and then met Andy. Between checking in and meeting Andy the flight went from on time to a 3 hour delay. I went to the Jet Blue Ask desk and asked if we were getting any dinner vouchers because of the delay and I was laughed at. So we had a 3 hour 27 course dinner at the tapas restaurant at the airport. Karen was on an earlier flight, Lisa was flying from Newark (1st class) and Jonathan and Shira were arriving on Friday. It was about 3am (Vegas time) by the time I dropped of my bag (what kind of casino has a 13th floor and why would they put me on it??) The room was basic, but had a small balcony (and was free!!) The poker room had a sign that listed local poker tournaments and there was a 3am tourney at O’Sheas. I made a right instead of a left so I was late for the tourney and I played craps instead.

On Friday I had to wake up to take a conference call from work. Then I took the monorail to MGM and walked to Mandalay Bay. The shuttle is connected to the IP so it was easy on my end. The “close to” Mandalay Bay turned out to be a bit optimistic. I finally made it and had lunch at Canters Deli with Andy and Karen. Then Andy and I played ½. The suite at The Hotel @ Mandalay Bay was the nicest hotel room I have seen. (Two rooms, 1.5 bathrooms/13th floor). I then went to the Excalibur on my own to check out my PTEK investment. Excalibur has the only all electric room in Nevada. They were spreading .50/1 NLHE so I played for a couple of hours until Shira arrived and we went to dinner at the Italian restaurant at New York New York.

On Saturday Andy, Lisa and I played a $50 tourney at Mandalay. The tournament started with 2,000 chips and was 200/400 blinds with a 25 ante by the fourth round (15 min. rounds). My proud moment (and there were not many this trip) was when I got QQ to fold to my 10/10. The bet was 200 and the guy next to me raised to 500. I went all in for 1,800 or so and said I am beating you now. One guy went all in for 400 and then the guy next to me said A’s or K’s to me and folded Q’s face up. I showed my 10’s v the all ins 9’s and won the hand. I got the death glare from QQ but when a 10 hit on the river he was a bit happier.

After I was out I dragged Andy and met Shira at the Excalibur. They stayed in the sports book (I bet Villanova to win the NCAA, Eagles to win the Super Bowl and Phillies to win the World Series) and I went and played a $30 tourney. They got 40 people or so and their 9am tourney is $20. Cheap tourneys and .50/1 No limit are their niche and they always had people when I was there.

Dinner Saturday night was for Andy’s birthday and we went to my Cousin Jodie’s restaurant (Country Club at The Wynn). We had a table with a view of the 18th hole and the food and wine were great. Andy who doesn’t go back to the same restaurant twice said he would go back!

On Sunday Shira and I went with Jodie to brunch at Bouchon at the Venetian. Bouchon is owned by the same owner as Per Se in NY and French Laundry in CA. The brunch was great and they treated Jodie like the Queen of Vegas : ) I then went to the Venetian to play 4/8 with a half kill O8. CK was two tables away. At seven I switched to the 10 game mixed game at the IP. At 9 everyone met up for dinner and then we played a little poker (1/5 spread limit) and a lot of craps at O’Sheas. I got back to the IP at 2:30am and then rejoined the mixed game until 5am! (Double Board Omaha rocks!) Normal check out was 11am but I asked and got it extended to 8pm for free.

On Monday I went to the noon $60 O8 tourney at the Orleans. The Orleans is off the strip and is like a city by itself. There is a TGI Fridays, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a hockey rink…. I made it to the break and then rolled the dice with a nut/nut draw. The dice came up seven and I was off to meet Norit for lunch. I had veggie fish since my favorite vegan restaurant in Vegas was out of “duck”. After lunch I went back to the room and napped until I got a text from ck. Venetian 0/8?? I went to the Venetian and posted my first and only poker win for the trip.

We sat on the ground for two hours or so while the pilot fixed the GPS and then I slept in most of yesterday. I got an email for a $25 voucher from Jet Blue for the second delay.