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The Perils of Paulie - An Irregular Blog
Paulie_D:
Repost
APAT - Vegas Vengeance: Friday, 25th 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 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 **** 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 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. [2016 Note: Nope, didn"t happen]
Peace.
Paulie_D:
Matt Dale has been doing some digital archaeology and gradually bringing back some blog posts from past years.
I"m gonna have to make sure I dupe these off-site in case of future issues but, in the interim, I"ll keep reposting some of the more interesting (well, at least to me) trip reports from days gone by as they are unearthed.
So, continuing on...THAT trip to APAT Ireland in 2010 but some background first.
I have great fun in researchng Travel related stuff and found out that (at the time) you could pay a low combined price to travel by train / ferry from anywhere in the UK. It compared very well with flights/taxi cost if you have the time.
You still can!
Pleased with myself I thought.."why not?"...you live and learn.
APAT Dublin....the day before. Pt I
Friday 24th September 2010
The day dawned...but as usual I was up before that...(when did it stop getting light before I am awake?)..but no time to dawdle around with a cup of coffee and a bacon sarnie this morning. Oh no..I"m off to Dublin today.
Having found this (supposedly) simple relaxing train/ferry option for c.£65 I kind of had to try it out.
Silly me....I should have known that any journey relying on the much vaunted London public transportation system was not going to be easy.
No problem getting the bus to Upminster station...oddly quiet this morning...It"s been a few years since I"ve been a regular commuter but recall the buses and trains being fuller. It"s not as though I"ve gotten any smaller!
So...District Line to London with a quick change to the Hammersmith and CIty Line to roll into Euston Square around 8.30 or so for a 9.10 departure to Holyhead.
All started well but when I try to make the change to the H&C line I encounter my first problem. After going just one stop we"re told that the service is being suspended due to signalling difficulties. Sigh.
OK, backup plan..back on the District Line to Tower Hill, change to the Circle Line. Get to Tower Hill. swap platforms...stairs, bane of my existence.
Excellent..Circle Line train rolls in 1 minute later. I board.
Nope...announcement. "Circle Line is suspended".
FECK!
OK, I check the time...and continued travel by train just isn"t going to cut it. I hoof it to Fenchurch Street and finally manage to flag down a cab about 8.35.
We seem to crawl through town taking some back-doubles that have me thinking I"m being long-hauled. I deliberately don"t check the time all the way.
Either I make it..or I don"t.
T.B.C.
Paulie_D:
APAT Dublin....the day before. Pt II
Friday 24th September 2010
...so, we roll up to Euston and I get out of the cab and pay the man his money...and it"s 9.03am. I just handed him a £20 note and didn"t have time for change...decent tip for him!
I race...OK, waddle as fast as I can..up the stairs and immediately see the electronic board showing my train is on platform 4.
9.05am...I make it down the ramp and on to the first carriage I"m ticketed for, which turns out to be the last but one carriage at the rear of the train. I plunk myself down in the first non-reserved seat and all is right.
9.08 am Plug in the laptop, grab the free wifi and I"m good to go.
OR AT LEAST I THINK I AM!
T.B.C.
duke3016:
I need my Guru fix ;D
Paulie_D:
APAT Dublin....the day before. Pt III
Friday 24th September 2010
Having had a pretty fraught journey so far, I"m very happy to be relaxing in a nice seat, with a table with all of the electronic access I need to make the rest of the trip an enjoyable one.
BUT
About 90 minutes in, I think, we pull into Chester and I"m busy typing away when there"s a tap on my shoulder and the train attendant asks me where I"m going.
"Holyhead", I reply.
"Oh. You have to be in the first 6 carriages for that, the train is splitting here."
Whatever...I thank him, quickly grab my stuff and try to disembark...but the doors won"t open. I grab another attendant and she explains that until the train has split the doors remain locked.
FFS..a couple of minutes go by while I quietly fume, the train splits and my half moves a hundred yards down the platform.
The doors unlock and I"m off. I see the fellow who told me about the train splitting, which is the first I"ve heard of it...and we exchange waves.
Now my wave meant.."Yes it"s me, I coming to get back on the train"...but apparently we were not speaking in the same wave language because he turns to the train guard and says something...AND THE TRAIN PULLS OUT!
I DO NOT BELIEVE THE DAY I"M HAVING!
I harangue the guy for a couple of minutes and he just looks at me blankly and says "I"m not responsible for holding trains".
I give up...apparently his red Virgin waistcoat is cutting of the oxygen to his brain.
I just ask when is the next train to Holyhead and apparently there is one is 10 minutes from the next platform over.
I heave my ageing carcase over the bridge to the next platform and the train is waiting for me. I clamber aboard and settle into my new seat. No luxuries here, no power point, no wifi.
Oh well, I have my mobile broadband dongle and as soon as we set off, I get set up again and start figuring out when I"ll arrive at Holyhead and whether I"ll make the ferry.
A quick check with Trainline lets me know that I should arrive before departure of the ferry..about 30 minutes...but there could be a problem as check-in will have closed 15 minutes before that...at least according to the ticket stuff I got from the ferry company.
I then have to start thinking about what will happen if I don"t make it...do I take the next ferry?...but that"s not for another 7 hours and it would mean arriving at my hotel at 2am...and it"s not 24 hour reception.
I could overnight in Holyhead and catch the fast ferry on Saturday morning...or I could just abandon the whole idea and turn around and go home.
I have so many scenarios floating around in my head, I can"t concentrate on reading my book. I just sit in my seat and watch the scenery go by...slowly.
Actually, that wasn"t to bad, it was very nice scenery and I wish I could have appreciated it more..but I had too much going on to do that.
At one point we stop at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch...but for some reason the driver doesn"t announce the stop. Heh!
Eventually, we arrive at Holyhead (2 minutes early in fact), I head off towards the Stena terminal at the end of the platform to discover my fate.
T.B.C.
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