The Perils of Paulie - An Irregular Blog

[George2Loose]

Are u enjoying it? Great write ups but it reads like Vegas is a bit if a chore

[Paulie_D]

Great stuff Paulie, sounds like it's been a superb trip. Can't wait to hear more in Manchester 

Unfortunately, I won't be in Manchester....the car needs some TLC

[Paulie_D]

Are u enjoying it? Great write ups but it reads like Vegas is a bit if a chore

I am enjoying it...I've lost money over the past few days...although not huge amounts by any means...but it's been hacking me off a little.

Plus, I still think I'm fighting something off...I have a persistent tickle in my throat and a developing cough....I've been dosing myself as much as possible but perhaps that's what dragging me down.

[Paulie_D]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Tuesday, 21st November 2011

“The Venetian Is My Kryptonite?”

With nothing planned...at least with any specificity...for today 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...than 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 Harrahs 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.

Out.

[Paulie_D]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Wednesday, 22nd November 2011

“You Can’t Beat A Happy Ending”

Another good night’s sleep....like I said, the beds at Harrahs 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 Harrahs...an unimaginative name but accurate. Steak, Eggs, Breakfast potatoes, orange juice and coffee....loverly.

We caught up on our various doings but as our interests 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 Harrahs 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 upstair in Harrahs for 8pm.

I kind of felt obliged to be there as it had been my original idea but on reflection that wasn’t the inportant 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 to start (and they were REALLY good), Steak and Lobster followed by Tiramasu 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 Keiths.

This ideas was more or less 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 set of stools no more than 4 feet away.

Dawn was explaining to this f...ellow that it was hard 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 Harrahs.

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.

[Paulie_D]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Thursday, 22rd November 2011

“It’s Over, Deal With It”

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 unconcious on take-off from McCarran.

Anyway, back to me.

Pete eventually put in an appearance about 2.45pm and did his check-out thing. No surprisingly, in addition 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 Harrahs 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 patellas.

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.

[Paulie_D]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Friday, 23rd November 2011

“One Last Shot”

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 Harrahs 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 an 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 two 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 sh*t 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 cab 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 seen 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.

[duke3016]

I have the first couple of weeks of November 2012 pencilled in

Ger likes this

[Santino67]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Friday, 23rd November 2011

Secondly, I took care of myself a little better than I have before, I ate properly...hell, very well,

  

[George2Loose]

Ever done a travel guide to Prague? Fancy doing one?

[Paulie_D]

Ever done a travel guide to Prague? Fancy doing one?

Never been to Prague....but it's on my bucket list.

[Mikeyboy9361]

Ever done a travel guide to Prague? Fancy doing one?

The Jag club....end of tips!

[SirPercival]

APAT - Vegas Vengeance : Monday, 20th November 2011

“It’s A Nice Day For A White Wedding”

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.

epic FAIL IMO 

[Paulie_D]

epic FAIL IMO 

Oops...I meant of the streamed video.

They made the short fat ones stand down front for the group shot.

[Paulie_D]

The Saga of Sir Paulie

“Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the Sons of Arius, there was an age undreamed of; when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world.  Hither came Sir Paulie, red of hair, baggy-eyed, map in hand, a traveller, a sage, a player, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the streets of the Earth under his booted heel...”

“ It is I, his chronicler, who knows well his saga.  Now let me tell you of the days of high adventure…”

…and thus was decreed that in the first month of the twelfth year of the third Christian millennium that a final great joust would be held to celebrate the fifth year of the reign of the High Emperor, Des “the Red” scion of the Great House of Duff.

The Emperor’s Grand Vizier, Lord Richard of Prew, did counsel his liege that his subjects would, of certes, rebel if the joust was held once more in the dark northern depths of his lands known as “The Black Country” and that he had received many an imprecation from his southern subjects to hold the joust in their environs.

So wise was the Emperor that he gave credence to the advice of his loyal and trusted vassal and thus a meeting place was found on the southern shores.

Notice of the joust was published across the Emperor’s domain. Only the bravest and brightest competitors were expected to attend. Nevertheless, word spread far and wide, being whispered in the dark corners of taprooms and secret gambling halls that anyone could enter could they but find the sum of 75 gold pieces.

Sir Paulie, our gallant hero, was well known to the Emperor and his Grand Vizier and was a frequent combatant in their regular jousting competitions. Indeed, he had travelled far and wide across the Emperor’s lands and was oft consulted on acceptable lodging and hostelries.

Sir Paulie was determined to make a good showing at this final event of the emperor’s jousting season and entered the lists with gladness in his heart.

It was of no great surprise that Sir Paulie wouldst throw his name into contention for the grand prize in this enterprise. It was well known that Sir Paulie was a mediocre jouster at best but was well enamoured of the entertainment in taprooms and dancing clubs that accompanied these events across the empire and was savouring the opportunity of another adventure in the company of other frequent combatants.

Sir Paulie’s coterie didst include Sir Gerard the Duke of Chester, Sir Phillip of Tompkyfish, Sir Stuart (Count of Wild Abandon) and the Lord Martyn and Lady Dawn of Jaxie and our hero was much dismayed at learning that so many of his friends would not be in attendance, perforce, by dint of duties elsewhere or other jousts at the same juncture but was glad that so many other of his acquaintance would be joining in the competition.

"...and thus I begin the tale of Sir Paulie and the Southern shores. I will have more on the morrow."