One Last Shot

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Friday, 25th November 2011

After last night’s debacle I was determined to get some poker in on the last full day in Vegas. Considering the Mirage room was purely HE and It’s not my favourite cash game I decided to try the Venetian again despite the battering I’d been getting there.

Not that I got there until around 2pm. The beds at the Mirage are very nice too, perhaps not quite as comfortable as those at Harrah's but nice enough that I lazed until well after 1pm.

I tried to give the Venetian’s food court a go but the temptation of Stella got the better of me so back to the Grand Lux Cafe it was. The bartender recognised me...they’re kind of good at that and it does help that I sometimes have my name on my shirt. You may mock (and you have) but  it does break the ice sometimes.

Anyway, a very nice Reuben sandwich and a couple of Stellas and I was ready to get back at it.

I finally got into a game about 3pm and really hunkered down and ground it out. Within and hour I was up $100 and feeling much more comfortable but then the Americans all decided to head off for an early dinner and we sat short handed for quite a while.

This led to me dropping a few chips just in blinds but I was holding my own. When we finally got back to a full table when I got involved in a hand where I flopped a set with a low on the board and got into a raising war against to players both (I knew) playing the nut low.

Unfortunately the board didn’t pair and ran out all low and I had to let it go after pumping a significant proportion of my stack into the pot.

This depressed the living shit out of me but I wasn’t willing to give up on playing just yet. Battening down the hatches I played locked down poker for another few hours and by 11pm and 7 hours of play I was back over my starting stack and called it a night with a grand total of $62 profit.

I can’t say I’ve broken the back of the Venetian demon but it’s not looming over me any more.

So back to the Mirage for something to eat. I just walked past the queue of people at BLT Burger (who wanted tables) and sat myself at the bar.

A VERY nice turkey burger and couple of Bud Lights and that had me finished off. I went back to the room...no Pete but that wasn’t terribly surprising...he wandered in around 5am just as I was waking up.

So that’s about it really....the season finale of Paulie Does Vegas.

A few random thoughts just to round off.

Firstly, I realised in the can to McCarran for the flight back that I’d done this trip in reverse to my previous few trips. I’d normally do a week on the Strip and then relax off-strip for the second week. Consequently, I was somewhat more tired on this trip that I had expected.

Secondly, I took care of myself a little better than I have before, I ate properly...hell, very well, compared to just grabbing things when I wanted. I was only visited by the bear once and that helped too.

Being with a group is just awesome but it is nice to have some time to yourself.

I didn’t hit up half the places I had planned...I’m not worried, the occasion didn’t arise but I think you would have liked some of the choices, perhaps next time.

I’ve seem some discussion (already) about next year. I still maintain that late in the year (October to  December) is the best time...it’s not blisteringly hot, the weather, even late at night is still T-Shirt weather for Brits.

I have the first couple of weeks of November 2012 pencilled in but that’s likely to be another road trip from LA to Vegas (perhaps with a side trip to Laughlin). Still, that’s just the basic outline for now and it’s a long way off.

Peace.

It’s Over, Deal With It

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Thursday, 24th November 2011

Well, it finally arrived...the main strength of the APAT contingent was heading home today. Not me of course, I have another couple of days...of which more later. Thanks to Dawn’s negotiating skills I wasn’t rushed about moving out of my hotel room until I was good and ready but by 2pm I was packed up and checked out and sitting in the Starbucks near to the lobby waiting for my brother.

A parade of happy, but very tired APAT faces paraded past to do the check-out thing and wait for various taxis and limos. Yes, Vegas can be a tiring place to visit..even for the young. Because there is so much to see, do and experience, especially for the Vegas Virgins, they try to cram it all in into the quite short amount of time.

Sleep comes far down on the list and that catches up with you eventually. For many it will be when they get home...some may be unconscious on take-off from McCarran.

Anyway, back to me.

Pete eventually out in an appearance about 2.45pm and did his check-out thing. No surprisingly, in additional to getting 5 days for free, they comped the other two nights based on his play over the past few days.

Me... I earned a grand total of $6...whoop-de-doo.

So, with the admin done, we cabbed it over to the Mirage...no way I was lugging 20kg of luggage across Harrah's casino floor, across LV Blvd and then across the Mirage.

Check-in was easy and we made our way up to our room for the next two nights.

Very nice rooms even if I say it myself

By the time we gotten unpacked and sorted it was time to eat. The line at the buffet was too long so I directed Pete to BLT Burger.

Mmmmmm.....gorgeous with a couple of draft Bud Lites. Pete thought it was the bees patellae.

With the body sated Pete went off to do his thing and I headed to the Mirage Poker Room. They don’t get anything other than Hold’em going on here very often so I just decided to sit in on a 3/6 Limit game.

Unfortunately, the game was shorthanded for quite a while and I didn’t fare very well. In the end I just go blinded away and ended up down about $100.

I got bored with it and decided to rest up for a while before thinking of what to do next. On my way out of the poker room I met a local friend who deals at both the Mirage and Bills and we caught up in a very quick fashion as she was just coming on shift.

On getting back to the room, I find Pete already collapsed on his bed pretty much spark out. I found this idea quite attractive and got my head down.

Of course, this was fatal and I woke up around 11.30pm and that was that, I read for a while but couldn’t get back to sleep and the next thing I know it’s well past 3am and Pete and I are watching re-runs of Friends...all the Thanksgiving episodes.

[sorry]Hangs head in shame[/sorry]

So...nothing much to report of the Thursday night...another rest day overall.

You Can’t Beat A Happy Ending

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Wednesday, 23rd November 2011

Another good night’s sleep....like I said, the beds at Harrah's are very comfortable. I was doing the general stooging around the room when my brother Pete texted me suggesting breakfast. At 11am...is he insane...that’s way to early!?

Nevertheless, I felt it my duty to see the little blighter as I hadn’t actually laid eyes on him for 5 days or so. Good to know he was still alive although judging by the look of him when he knocked on my door it had been a rough night.

We sauntered down to The Cafe at Harrah's...an unimaginative name but accurate. Steak, Eggs, Breakfast potatoes, orange juice and coffee....lovely. We caught up on our various doings but as out interest on the gambling front are different he decided to have another shot at the blackjack tables and, mug that I am, went back to the Venetian.

Seriously, I should have known better....

No madam...you did not KNOW the villain had JJ on a J7388 board when you called all the streets of betting, raised by the villain and reraised by me on every street. I knew he was betting the come on the flop with his A2, I’d been watching him do it for past hour.

If you seriously thought he had JJ you would not have called with a bare 3 and no low on the flop and gone runner runner with 83 to boat the river against my 77.

That was enough, I’d been there less than 2 hours and was down $140 already...I’m done.

Of course, this left me with the rest of the day to fill. I wandered back to Harrah's and played the penny slots for an hour or two dropping another $100 or so...no, I lie, it was more like $200.

Jesus, I’m so stupid sometimes.

That put me further in a funk and I was sitting in my room trying to decide whether to even bother to do anything for the evening when I got a text from, as it turned out, Ger to the effect that they had acted on a suggestion of mine from some time back and made reservations at The Range Steakhouse upstairs in Harrah's for 8pm.

I kind of felt obliged to be there ad it had been my original idea but on reflection that wasn’t the important point. No, this would be my last opportunity so socialise with some of my APAT friends before they flew back and that I could not miss.

So, I threw off my troubles and made my way downstairs and found a small crowd at the Numb bar just outside The Range’s private elevator. It seemed that some people there were unconvinced about the value of the meal compared to the cost so they elected to choose the Outback instead.

Fair enough. As it turned out Richard Baker called me and said that he had rounded up a few more and we eventually made it upstairs eleven handed. A couple of tables pushed together right by the window overlooking the Strip and all the ambiance you might expect.

Oysters, Steak and Lobster followed by Tiramisu all washed down with a few large glasses of wine.

How much you ask?...About $110 each and worth every red cent. The service and food were top notch and I would recommend it if you happen to be into that kind of experience.

We were out by 10.30 pm or so, I’m not precisely sure of the time but I suggested that we finish off the night at Toby Keith's.

This ideas was more or les warmly received although I did see Ger and a couple of others yawning but that didn’t stop them following along.

On arrival, someone was getting the drinks in while we tried to find a table that we could all sit at when I looked around to find Dawn having a barney with a security guard.

It seemed that this jobsworth was concerned about us disrupting the flow of the restaurant section by sitting at a ‘restaurant table’ instead of at a a set of stools no more than 4 feet away.

Dawn was explaining to this f...ellow that it was had to disrupt the flow when there were precisely 3 people sitting the the restaurant section which had space for over 100 covers.

Regardless, I suggested to Dawn that it wasn’t worth the hassle but somehow, bless her, she managed to wangle not only $50 worth of comps as an apology for our trouble but late check-out (2pm instead of noon) for all of us in the party staying at Harrah's.

Gift of the gab I suppose.

Well that sealed it...we were drinking and singing along to the somewhat (I thought) mediocre cover band playing and eventually closed up the joint at 1.30am.

Job done.

I shook a few hands in case I didn’t see them again before they flew out and wended my weary way back my room. Stuffed and Happy.

The Venetian Is My Kryptonite

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Tuesday, 22nd November 2011

With nothing planned...at least with any specificity...I could have my usual long lie-in and general pottering around in the room time before doing anything of consequence. I decided to give the Venetian another shot but took my time in strolling over...it would be there when I got there.

My first port of call was the Walgreens (sort of like a giant Boots) for my annual purchase of 1000 Ibuprofen. How daft is it that if you try and buy more than 18 in Tesco they wrestle you to the ground in case you do yourself harm but over here I can buy enough to keep me going for well over a year?

This in the most litigious country in the world...batty I tell you!

Anyway, after making my purchase I took the opportunity to wander through the Canal Shoppes....such a better experience, at least visually, to me...that the Forum Shops.

Same basic idea, shops selling stuff I don’t want and couldn’t afford anyway but the Venetian seems to do it just a little more class than Caesars.

Having skipped breakfast as I usually do, I made my weary (yes already) way to the Grand Lux Cafe and brunched on a very nice meal of fish and chips...with the perennial couple of Stellas of course.

After that it was the poker room where, I’m sorry to say, the experience of a couple of days ago repeated itself. Either zero playable hands or getting crushed by river rats.

I played until about 6pm or thereabouts before calling it quits down about $140.

I don’t know what it is, I used to do quite well at the Venetian...it could just be that I’ve got worse, the variance could be catching up with me or the opposition has gotten better.

Personally, I’d go with No. 2,  then No. 1 then No. 3 in order of likelihood, but whatever it is I’m only going to give it one more shot.

Licking my wounds I strolled back to Harrah's and into Toby Keith’s. A few Bud Lites and a plate of chicken pieces lifted my spirits some but when the band came on my aged ears couldn’t take the racket so I called it a night.

Now look, some of you are, no doubt, sitting there thinking, Paulie’s in the mecca of all gamblers, Sin City, Las Vegas itself and he’s getting in before midnight.

I can understand that thinking but you kind of have to look at it from my point of view.

Firstly, I’m older than most people generally judge and I weigh...there’s no getting away from it...a lot...so I get tired.

Then, also, I’ve been coming here for 20 years or more so I don’t have that ‘Gee Whiz, Look at that!” excitement that the Vegas virgins have.

Finally, folks...and this is the biggie...this is my main holiday for the year and if I want to relax and vegetate that’s what I’m going to do.

Perhaps it makes this blog a tad on the boring side on occasion but them’s the breaks for you.

OK. Rant over.

Like I said, I’ll give the Venetian one more shot tomorrow and see what the day brings after than. Most if not all of the contingent are heading home so maybe we’ll all get together for something but we’ll see.

It’s A Nice Day For A White Wedding

APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Monday, 21st November 2011

Calling it an early night yesterday was a wise decision as I needed to be at The Chapel of The Flowers for Adam and Julie’s wedding. A few of us gathered in the lobby around 10.30 and we hopped in a a cab or two to head over to the chapel arriving shortly before 10.45. In fact we arrived shortly before the groom!

Many of the visiting APATers had made the effort to dress up for the happy day especially Stuart Oliver who was in full Scottish regalia. For myself I confess that I had not (I had a full suitcase as it was) so I hid myself at the back out of camera shot.

The chapel was completely full and, indeed, the minister commented that he’d never had such a crowd, especially from overseas. I thought that the minister did a wonderful job of the ceremony and Adam and Julie were clearly enjoying their special day.

Once the ceremony was after the bride and groom were taken off to do a photo-shoot and we all trooped outside to find that the sun had truly come out for the first time during our visit. It was a gloriously sunny day.

We all stooged around for a while as Dawn organised us like a military action. We would need more than a few cabs but I was fortunate enough to blag a spot in one of the chapel’s super-stretch limos to Caesars and the Cheesecake factory.

The driver let us out right be a side door just a hundred yards from the restaurant and we lined up outside. Somehow we’d beaten the happy couple to the place but Dawn was on the case.

It seemed that despite a couple of confirmation call the restaurant didn’t take reservations so Dawn had to badger the manager into sorting out some space for us.

It all worked out in the end and by the time we were done we filled three large tables. Somehow Ger and the rest of the party had gotten side-tracked into a bar so that was a little disappointing but still we had a nice meal for what I thought was a pretty decent price for the Forum Shops.

By 3pm I was ready for a nap so I trudged the whole length of the Forum Shops back to Harrah's. I made sure to set my phone alarm so there wouldn’t be a repeat of Saturday.  By 5.30 I was cabbing over to the Tropicana for the JAPAT Wedding Tournament.

I really like the way they’re refurbished the Trop although they’ve started pumping in some smell that just, if you’ll pardon the expression, gets up my nose.

We got away with 50 runners or thereabouts but once again I got nowhere with any action or move I would make. I managed to run my A4s into Don Robert’s AA who was on fire on our table.

A couple of drinks later and we’d managed to get a 3/6 Omaha 8 cash game running full of APAT regulars.

Ger seemed to be hitting everything in sight even when he should have gotten out of the hand some time before. This was a little frustrating but there is nothing you can do in these situations.

I sat in for a few hours while dwindling chips slowly. By the time the tourney was over I was ready to call it a night...this must have been around 1am and I was down $140.

So be it...I made my way outside and grabbed a cab back to Harrah's.

I have nothing specific planned for the next few days, my travel guru duties are done and dusted, I’ll just play it by ear