Just Another Day At T’Mill

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Wednesday, 16th November 2011

I just can’t figure out why I’m not sleeping right. I think I’m fighting off a cold or it could be the air-conditioning is drying me out and messing up my sinuses and simulating a cold. Anyway, it’s nice to have plenty of time in the mornings to get stuff done, catch up on work emails and some TV.

Nothing special to do until around noon when I’m ready for breakfast and some poker.

As I said, breakfast first so I chose the Courtyard Cafe in the Orleans...what the American would call a coffee-shop. That’s different from a Starbucks or Costa, you know, what we would think of a coffee shop.

Nope this is full service food and coffee restaurant. Steak, Eggs and Hash Browns. Lovely...and 10% off with a voucher they give you when you check in.

That set me up for a day of grinding. Grinding. It’s what I do.

I got seated after just a couple of minutes...It’s handy having my Kindle with me as it gives me something to read other than the usual poker magazines they have lying around.

I wish I had much of anything interesting to report but it was nothing I haven’t already detailed over the past few days...more of the same today.

After 6 hours I was precisely on my original $200 (but +EV on the beers of course). I suppose that’s good enough.

I haven’t done an exact count up but I think over the 5 days I’m basically breakeven on the poker...maybe a few bucks ahead in cash terms but definitely a winner in the ‘drinking for profit’ stakes.

A big thanks to Nellie, Jenna & Caroline for taking care of me in the beer department. As soon as I was even close to polishing off my drink another would materialise. I wish I could have taken pictures for you but it’s kind of frowned on.

Take it from me....you missed something.

As I was walking over to TGI’s for something to eat (with another 15% off voucher) I met Andy & Deb (who’d been dabbling in the 2/4 LHE muddy waters) and they offered a lift over the the Stratosphere again where they were going.

I wasn’t really in the mood so I gratefully declined and got my beer and steak on instead.

By 8pm I was ready to leave but in two minds as to whether to bother with poker or not. I decided not to but rather to play a few slot machines and a little blackjack.

Once again, nothing of interest....sorry, I wish I could spice this post entry up but I’d rather tell you the truth.

In the words of the Pub Crawl people on Vegas Video Network ”I may leave stuff out, but I don’t make shit up”.

Tomorrow is D-Day for the British Invasion. Some commandos have already reconnoitred the area but the main landing party hits the beaches at 2pm PST.

I have a feeling that my brother is bringing the bear with him.

So be it.

So Far, So....’Meh’

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Tuesday, 15th November 2011

Tuesday was always going to be a quiet day. I don’t plan a lot for myself on these trips normally preferring to just go with the flow. Obviously, once the rest of the contingent arrive on Thursday we’re planned like the Germans invading Poland but that’s a whole other thing.

I pottered around the room for a few hours after I woke up. I can’t say it was a perfect night but it was slightly better than the previous ones I’ve had here.

Anyway, by the time I left the room at noon I was ready for a day of grinding. A grind it would prove to be. I opted not to eat breakfast, or should it be lunch, or brunch, at that time of day? Whatever, I didn’t and just made my way to the card room and got seated immediately as it was a little .quieter than the previous few days.

I was trying to find a happy medium between the boredom of folding a lot of hands and the fun of playing the pretty looking hands that I probably should fold but like to surprise people with.

This led to my stack doing a yoyo for a while getting as low as $20 from my initial buy-in of $200. That pulled me up sharpish and I really had to get back to proper grinding.

Since the Orleans is primarily a locals casino you see a lot of the same faces every day and they tend to soft play each other and will check it down when they get heads up. Oh, they’re not raising any anyone out and then doing it but all the same it’s happening all the same.

I saw this on more than one occasion, especially between the little old ladies who are friends, and when I queried of one why she had checked her quads she replied, quite openly, “Oh, we always do that”.

Sigh.

The dealer just ignored my question as to whether you could check the nuts and I can’t be bothered to take it further. Nothing is going to change and I guess it’s just another thing I’ll have get used to.

After about 7 hours I’d finally gotten my stack back up to my original buy-in but had consumed a number (OK, a lot) of beers. In fact, I was sitting on a small profit of around $40 and was considering taking a break and even perhaps just locking in that small profit.

Stupidly, I ignored that impulse and got involved in a nut high vs. my nut low hand where I got counterfeited by a 3 outer on the river which lost me a few dollars.

I played a little while longer getting down to $150 when people started leaving and the table dynamic changed.

I was getting hungry by then and decided just to take the small loss and grab some food at TGIs.

In thinking it over I had to be fairly close to break even after tips after 8 hours. I mean figure 3 beers and hour plus, say, 3 pots an hour over 8 hours...hang on let me take my socks off...

6 x 8 = 48...so yeah....I can call it break even if I want. A little self-justification is good for the soul.

Hey, what do you mean delusional? Yes, yes, I should have listed to my instincts and taken the profit when I had the chance but there you go.

Anyway, back to my home away from home, TGI Fridays for a nice Steak and Salmon meal and a couple of Stellas. At around 10pm, I realised that I was not looking forward to finishing off my pint...it just tasted ‘not right’. It wasn’t bad or anything it just felt like I was forcing it.

I abandoned it, paid my bill and went for a wander around the casino to let the food digest a while. Not particular destination or plan, I’d just see what was what and if anything caught my eye then fair enough.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself wandering back to the room....auto-pilot must be trying to tell me something.

I took the hint, clearly the old PASPS (that’s the Paulie’s Autonomic Self Preservation System) for those who might remember was kicking in even if I didn’t know why. I wasn’t drunk by any means despite 8 hours or more of drinking....three Bud Lites an hour over 7 hours wouldn’t  even dent my alcohol stream. I hung out the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign just in case of ursine intervention (I could have been wrong about the bear after all) and crashed.

Running Good On Empty

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Monday, 14th November 2011

Perhaps the Irish Nachos and Irish Coffee wasn’t such a good idea. I don’t usually eat of lot of dairy products and the lactose may have had an unfortunate effect on my digestive system. That meant another disturbed night.

Either that or my system is trying to fight something off...I was sneezing a little this morning and I had the feeling that a cold might be coming so I dosed myself up with some left over drugs I got the last time I was here.

So, feeling rather...erm...empty, I wallowed for a while and I didn’t make it out of the hotel room until after 2pm. I couldn’t face eating so I just went straight to the poker room.

I got seated almost straight away for a change and bought in for my usual $200. On looking back, I realise that I was playing a little tighter than I was yesterday. A defensive mechanism perhaps but it worked.

I stayed out of silly hands (as you should) and save some money by easy folds when I might have called ‘for value’ yesterday. I didn’t get involved in a couple of hands where I made the ultimate nuts on the turn and several other players had a piece or were going for lows that didn’t get there.

I’d limited myself to soft drinks and water after the nights intestinal difficulties and it did seem to have done the trick. I still wasn’t hungry though.

By 5.30pm, I was up around $200 (which is a nice feeling) when Andy Duncan tapped me on the shoulder and told me that he and Deb were thinking of driving over to the Stratosphere for their 7pm tournament.

I decided that locking up the win would be a sensible thing so I elected to join them.

We drove over (spotting one of my back-up venues for Friday on the way) in time for the start and the action was simply crazy...at least  on my table. It’s the usual madness that happens when there is an add-on and re-buy phase. I didn’t fare two well and busted out around half-way but not until I’d taken out Andy blind-on-blind when he ran into my KK.

I was crippled by the same KK against my AJs even though the guy did the whole ‘Oh, I’ll have to make stand’ Hollywood bit. I’d already committed enough so that I was going to see it through and despite having 12 outs on the flop I managed to miss them all.

I went all-in blind on the next hand and, as it turned out, with the best hand 22 vs. AQs vs. QJs...but the board ran out hearts to give the same villain as before a flush.

Deb lasted until 15th or so and we decided to come back to the Orleans for some food. We had a nice meal in TGIs and I downed a couple of Stellas but by the end I was feeling rather tired and decided to call it a night rather than play a little more cash.

I bid the Duncans goodnight and made my happy way back to my room for a nice rest.

All was well and the drinking bear hasn’t put in an appearance yet...but there is a rumour that he’ll be getting to town on Thursday. I’m alerting the TSA and ICE.

Paulie Hits Vegas, Vegas Hits Back

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Sunday, 13th November 2011

Not the greatest night’s sleep I’ve ever had, perhaps it was the jet-lag or that ‘not my own bed’ thing, but sleep came in fits and starts so I didn’t feel rested at all. Nevertheless, I left the room at the crack of 11am and headed down for breakfast.

As it was Sunday there was a queue at the place I was planning on going to so rather than waiting I hit the buffet where the was no waiting time. Standard buffet fare, nothing worth going into detail about and I wandered into the poker room about noon. I got myself on the list but still had to wait over an hour before getting seated.

As it turns out I wish I hadn’t bothered. I’ve seen some crap play before and combine that with a severe case of card deadness and I just wasn’t getting it done.

I’d play a hand, flop the world and miss, or get suck-out on at the end or, and here’s a real ball buster, I flop a full house on a 655 board with a nut low draw, that’s A265 for the uninitiated, there is a bet in front of me, cool he has a 5, I raise and some lady calls and so does the first guy.

Turn is a K and I lead, and she raises, EP gets out of the way, I just raise and we end up capping it.

River is a J and I check call the river and she rolls over KK79. WTF? You call a bet and re-raise with a gutshot and no low and hit a fricking 2 outer?

That was the hand that put me on tilt....but I wasn’t going to play like that so I just took my lumps and cashed out down $160.

Sigh.

I had to do something to relieve the stress, so I thought drinking might help...it always has in the past. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do a little scouting for Friday and sauntered over to McMullan's, getting there around 5.30...just in time to take advantage of the end of happy hour.

I ordered a Stella and took a look at their menu. I was pointed at the happy hour menu by the barman where items were half off. I’d been itching to try their Irish Nachos since I heard about them...basically it’s a plate of home made crisps (not tortilla chips like normal) covered in melted cheese and other yummy goodness.

For $4 (half of $8) for a small portion it seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Then it arrived....

Oh Feck...it was a mountain...and this was a small portion....I’d hate to see the large one. Nevertheless I gave it my best effort but it defied all attempts and I think I managed about half of it before admitting defeat.

In the meantime the live music was starting up. Their regular guy is John Windsor and he’s a born showman with a great line in patter and music. It seems that Sunday night is when he brings a few friends in to play as well and there was a nice mix of music on offer.

By 8.30 however, I was feeling tired again but I didn’t want to call it a night just yet so I resorted to a simple solution...Irish Coffee. All the alcohol plus caffeine goodness.

A couple of those seemed to do the trick but in the end it was always a losing proposition and by 10pm the spirit was willing but the flesh was not.

I walked the couple of hundred yards back to the Orleans and called it a night. I hope tomorrow goes better.

“It’s Better To Travel Well, Than Arrive”

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Saturday, 12th November 2011

With all due respect to the Buddha, it’s obvious he’d never been to Vegas. Getting there is a grind and once you’re there it’s like coming home...well, at least it is for me. I’d overnighted at the Crowne Plaza at Gatwick and received a nice, complimentary, upgrade to a Club room.

I supped down a few Fosters and a decent sandwich before getting a decent night’s sleep.

I shuttled to the airport around 9.30 and barely had time to scarf down a Wetherspoon’s breakfast and a pint before the flight was boarding. It seemed that the seat I had switched my booking to hadn’t made it through their system but it was fine, I was still in Premium Economy but upstairs rather than down.

The in flight entertainment system was the older model but it didn’t really bother me...I’d seen most of their offerings anyway, plus I had my Kindle. I can’t say that the hours sped by but I did manage to doze for, maybe, a hour and just contented myself with polishing off two or three books.

The flight was a little bumpy with light turbulence on more than a couple of occasions but otherwise it was uneventful and we landed bang on time.

Passport control and customs was a breeze and I caught a cab with no hassle. The driver seemed keen to take the tunnel to the Orleans even though it’s the long way but I insisted on using the surface streets rather than the freeway. The driver was so keen that he offered to knock off $10 from the fare if we went his way so he could get back. This seemed like a deal and I upped his tip and the whole cab ride cost me just under what I would have expected anyway. I’ll call that my first win.

Check-in at the Orleans was a breeze and I was into my rather large room in no time. I unpacked, abluted and got the IT rig set up.

I had a minor problem with the US sim I had bought as my phone didn’t seem to want to recognise it...until I realised I’d put it in upside-down!

After fixing this schoolboy error I as still having problems but a quick glance showed me that the phone hadn’t auto-selected the APN and after referring to the information I’d got from the people who sold me the sim I had this set up and I was off and rocking....almost.

I tried to access the APAT site on my phone only to find that a net-nanny was set and after calling T-Mobile Customer Service found it couldn't;t be removed without a US Social Security Number (to validate my age). Apparently the only way I can get this taken off is to visit a physical store. I’m not sure I’ll bother as I have access to all my social media sites and apps and I don’t really see any overwhelming need to access APAT while on the mover on this trip.

Once I’d gotten all those issues resolved I was feeling somewhat peckish...and in need of a large drink...so I headed out and down to TGI Fridays.

No, it’s not like the UK versions...at least not much. I ensconced myself at the bar and settled on a pint of Stella rather than the somewhat weaker US offerings.

The first disappeared rather quickly and the second was consumed while I tucked into a very decent 10oz steak. One more did the trick and it was time to pay off the $40 bill (including tip) and get stuck into some poker.

I had to wait a while before a seat opened up at the 4-8 Omaha Hi/lo tables but eventually I settled in and bought in for a couple of hundred.

Nothing eventful to report, my stack bounced around a little...getting down to just under $100 after couple of sick river suckouts but overall the play was pretty easy to read.

Regardless, I wasn’t making huge inroads but just grinding away. Around 11.30 pm and a mere $50 up I’d been up for going on 24 hours and was starting to feeling it.

That would do...I’d covered ‘lunch’, the rake, tips and such...time to call it a night.