Ok we have arrived in Las Vegas and it is still the most amazing place in the world.
I have not really had a chance to get that excited about the trip this year, as I have had things to deal with back at home and as this is now my second visit. So it has sort of crept up on my without me thinking about it too much. A last minute underwear crisis on Tuesday was averted thanks to a 2 for 1 sale at Marks & Spencer and on Thursday morning at 5.15am Jon picked me up to travel to Manchester airport for the direct flight to LV. This year I am not on my Jack Jones as fellow Solihull Home Game members Jon & Martyn have also made the trip out to the world series. I am out here for 2 weeks, Martyn is here for 10 days & Jon is staying out for the entire WSOP, all 8 weeks in total (so sick). APAT legend Simon "Mr Final Table" Auckland is also on his way out here in mid june so between us we hope for some good cashes and maybe more (beware of the bok).
So we continue to Martyn"s then make the uneventful (ie no delays) journey to Manchester airport arriving at 7am. We check in for the BMI flight to LV and proceed to departures. A coffee and bacon buttie occupy half hour or so, but we still have 90 minutes till take off. A load of ladies dressed as police officers descend to the bar area and proceed to get the beers in at 7.30am (my kind of women). Jon & Martyn are not impressed but they got my attention. Now after that brief distraction the only thing to do is to get the cards out and begin the 17 card chinese poker marathon that would continue until we land in LV. Without getting too techinical the object is to make 2 five card poker hands, a 3 card poker hand & a 4 card badugi hand. We tend to play a tournament format rather than a cash per point game. So the winner is the player with the most points after 9 rounds, with 1 point for each winning hand against each player and a 1 point bonus if you scoop him. This is such a sick game and I am not sure why we always end up playing it, as I hate it at times. However on this occasion it provides me with my first holiday cash!!! A sick last hand sees me scoop Martyn and overcome a 3 point deficit to win $5 (Jon points out that it is not a Vegas cash as we are still in Manchester), but I will take it all the same.
We then board the plane and there is a slight issue in that Martyn is seated 15 rows behind myself & Jon, however we are hoping someone will switch, but it seems unlikely as the plane is full. We take off and I discover that Jon is a little uncomfortable with flying (well only the take off & landing part, he is fine once we are in the air). This really surprises me as Jon is the most logical and rational person I know, so I do what any other friend woud do in the circumstances, take the mick and humiliate him for his silly fear. I don"t have a problem with flying, if it is time to go then so be it. Once in the air Martyn informs us that there are 2 empty seat next to him. This is a right result and is also slightly bizzare as there are not that many empty seats on the entire plane, so for 2 to be free next to him was weird. We continue to play chinese poker for the whole of the 10 hour flight and Martyn was probably wishing those seats had been occupied as he ended down $35, I was up $10 and Jon up $25. The flight itself was okay, not much leg room and BMI are not in the same league as Virgin. Food was pants, but then that is a given and you have to pay for beer (it was free with Virgin). The air stewardess don"t smile and seem miserable all the time then as we were leaving the plane one of then bokked us by asking if we were going to win lots of money.
We got a taxi to Circus Circus and checked in. A quick freshen up and we decide to take a wander down the strip. The plan is not to play any poker today but to register for the 2 day $1,500 event at the Rio. It is really hot now as it is mid afternoon and looking around I notice that alot has changed since last year. The Frontier has been knocked down (but the sign is still there for some reason), the Wynn Encore has appeared aswell as Donald Trump"s tower. I am really feeling good now and the tiredness has gone as we take in the sights of the strip. This is Jon"s first visit so myself & Martyn are acting as sort of tour guides, pointing out all the main casinos and attractions. We head to Ceasar"s to get a beer, and I am delighted to see that the pu$$ycat casino is still situated next to the poker room. They only work on the weekends so may have to check them out tonight.
Next we move on to the Rio to register for the WSOP event. Jon & Martyn get sorted out with reward cards and then we all drop $1,500 at the registartion desk to play in the WSOP no limit hold em event. We have all chosen to play on the Sunday and it starts at 12noon so an early night will be in order to be on the top of our games. The Rio is not that busy as the WSOP doesn"t officially start until today with the $10k Omaha World Championship. However star spotting sees David Gray (not the babylon guy, the poker player), Kristy Gazes (looking mighty foxy) & Chris Ferguson (minus the trademark stetson). This may become a regular thing as the three of us turn into complete marks and list any famous poker pros we see or encounter across the felt. We have to draw the line and have agreed to admire from afar and under no circumstances will we be asking for photos or autographs (way too geeky).
Pretty tired by now so head back to Circus for a bit to eat. It is now around 7.30pm local time and we decide to crash in order to be fresh for the poker on Friday. I don"t plan to sleep right away but as soon as I sit down I am dead to the world.
So it is now 9.30am and we have arranged to meet for breakfast around 11am. Plan for today is to play some poker. We are taking a trip to downtime to play the $150 NLHE at Binion"s. We felt this would be a good introduction to Vegas poker and a chance to play at the legendary Binion"s Horseshoe. I played alot of these event last year and was really impressed so I am really looking forward to it.
Will post details of how we get on later this evening.
I hope you all enjoy this blog and any comments are appreciated.
As always I will sign off with my catchphase, so till the next time;
NO BAD BEATS - even if you are playing 17 card chinese poker...
