Poker Forum > Member Blogs

The Perils of Paulie - An Irregular Blog

<< < (113/115) > >>

duke3016:

--- Quote from: Paulie_D on November 08, 2016, 22:31:46 PM ---
Next thing I know, I"m pretty sure I"ve dozed off and Ger Jr is leaning over me asking if I"m alright. I probably mumbled something incoherent but assuring.

--- End quote ---


Believe me he is used to it  ;D

Paulie_D:
I"ve been rooting about in some old "cloud" files I recently came across when I was recording trip reports.

Combined with what remains of the old disrupted blog files i"ll try and reconstruct a couple of trip diaries from Vegas  excursions, not sure everything survived but here goes.

December 2012 into January (Xmas & New Year in Vegas)....a long trip this one....three weeks. I would be accompanied, at least for some of it...by Ger and Don Logan


A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 0 - December 16th, 2012

Planning had taken some months but the time of departure was a less than 24 hours away as I left home for my overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Gatwick.

Immediately, I was in some trouble as the M25 had apparently been closed between my junction and the Dartford tunnel but a judicious bit of backroads driving got me where I needed to be only 30 minutes later.

Comfortably situated in the HI bar I indulged in a few pints and a very nice BBQ pulled pork pizza as I whiled away the evening.

Oh, did I mention that the room and 24 days parking was a mere £127 after discounts and the like? Cheaper than a taxi both ways and long stay parking at the airport.

Upgraded to Executive Room too.

Enough.

A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 1 - December 17th, 2012

Getting There Is Half The Experience

The HI threw in a complimentary buffet breakfast and I took full advantage as I dislike airline food and needed to stock up for the 12 hours ahead.

I was on the airport shuttle by 9am and, having checked in online, I was able to scoot through Bag Drop and Security in record time. I only had to wait a few minutes before they announced the gate number and, even better, it was the first one down the line.

Things were looking up. A 20 minute wait before being able to board but I was in my PE seat in short order and on looking round it was clear that this flight wasn"t as packed as those I have experienced before.

Although I did have a gent in the seat next to me he soon moved to another seat once we were in the air for more room (which I had planned to do) and I was in airline heaven. New seatback IFE kit with all mod-cons.

It wasn"t until I went to the loo the first time that I realised just how empty the flight was. There was an older couple seated in the exit row by the door but I swear the next 20 rows back were empty. Apparently the manifest had 114 passengers and 18 crew listed!

Nothing spectacular to mention on the flight, I napped for about an hour I guess but otherwise just watched a few movies or read for a while.

We landed 15 minutes early and taxied for a while to the new Terminal 3 but we were off the plane and down to passport control in no time.

Then it started.

Apparently we had landed just after a full AeroMexico flight and they were just starting processing the passengers. Now, I"m not saying that these passengers were subject to any greater scrutiny than the norm....but they didn"t get to us for an hour. It was quite warm in passport control and we actually had two people faint from having to stand for so long. It could be that they hadn"t hydrated properly on the flight but still!

Anyway, I finally got through the usual Border Control grilling, who always seem surprised that anyone would want to spend more than a week in Vegas. I spun them some bull**** about extending my usual time by "visiting friends in the area for the holidays" and all was good.

Due to the wait the bags were already on the carousel and mine rolled around just as I walked up. I grabbed it and headed outside to grab a cab.

Now it was my own fault but I was kind of tired from the flight and wasn"t thinking and when the driver suggested taking the highway to TI I said OK...forgetting that this is cabbie code for “I"m long-hauling you”.

Whatever, I twigged about halfway there and dunned him on a tip.

Check-in at TI was a breeze and I made my way to my room to rest up for a while. Pretty good size room and a decent view...if you like that sort of thing.

Oddly, I can"t find a power point anywhere near the workdesk which seems very strange but I figure can work around it. Wi-fi works fine and is included in the Resort Fee.

I napped for a couple of hours before making my way down to The Pub at Monte Carlo to meet up with some old friends from the London Poker Meetup who, not quite coincidentally, are also in town for a few days.

Beers were had, I had a very nice Belgian Beer Tasting selection TYVM, food was eaten and memories were shared.

I don"t recall The Pub closing up that early but, then again, it is only Monday...however, I"d been up for over 24 hours with only small catnaps in the interim (and a few beers) so I called it a night and was back in my TI crash pad by 11pm.

Paulie_D:
A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 2 - December 18th 2012

Blue Moon Over Vegas

I can"t say that I had the greatest nights sleep but, fortunately, I had ample opportunity to get a nap or two in the morning as, as is usual when I"m in Las Vegas, I"m not planning on leaving the room until noon.

Perhaps it was the delayed sleep after the long flight or the mix of Belgian Beers (the Timmerman Strawberry was very nice) that"s got my sleep clock off a little.

Still the bed is very comfortable.

I did make one discovery this morning, the workdesk does have a power point. It was practically right under my nose but since it was black it was discretely blending into the dark wood panelling surrounding the desk. At least that"s my story.

Noon rolled around and I headed out for something to eat and, of course, to get some cards in the air.

I had a number of reasons for choosing TI as part of my hotel medley, one was the price since I got a pretty good deal (pre-resort fee), the second was the fact that I like checking out hotels I haven"t stayed at before and the final reason was location.

Right opposite the Venetian. That"s right, I can walk out of my room, out of the casino, over the walkway crossing the Strip and be in the Poker room in under 10 minutes. That"s at my walking pace...I reckon anyone else could do it in five.

However, I popped into the big Walgreens store next to the Venetian to buy a bottle of JD Honey for my evening visit (of which more later).

As I said, food was...erm...on the menu, and I wanted to try out Rattlecan, a beer and burger restaurant next door to the poker room at the V.



Heavyish metal / Rock playing over the sound system is my kind of thing especially when it"s not cranked up so high that you can"t hear yourself think. First order of business was a beer though and I have a fondness for Blue Moon...and they have it on draft. Would I like a large one, as a matter of fact, I would. A 20oz iced glass is in front of me in seconds and I"m necking it in no time.

I order their signature burger...hell why not...and that fills a hole...as does another Blue Moon.



Not cheap though, the burger was around $18 and the beers were $11 each. The final toll was over $40 and I left a generous tip for the very attentive (and attractive naturally) girl behind the  bar.

Suitably refreshed I got my name down on the list for some 4/8 Omaha 8/b but had to wait for while before a seat opened up.

Lord, I"d forgotten how these players love their poor draws. Even though I won the very first hand by flopping the nut low / nut flush and got paid on every street, I still managed to get out drawn more than a few times in the intervening 4 hours. Backdoor everything seemed to get there, oh, you have a 4 outer to a higher boat than mine...here you go!

Whatever, I dropped about $130 and will chalk it up to first day lessons.

I had made contact with the people at the Vegas Video Network some time ago regarding the possibility of making a visit while I was in town.

VVN is a small video company specialising in marketing video, podcasts and the like. However, they have two or three weekly podcasts which, if you are interested in the Vegas "scene", as I am, bear watching.



I jumped in a cab about 5.15 and made my way over to their studio facility on Convention Center Drive (a short walk from the Peppermill Lounge) and was finally able to meet the people I had been tweeting with back and forth for some time. I know that conversation was mentioned during the taping (towards the end) but whether it will make it into the final cut I don"t know.


Take it from me, they don"t take themselves seriously...at all. It was a fascinating insight into what goes on behind the scenes in the making of a podcast and I plan to make a visit a regular feature on my future Vegas trips.

My main contact there was Jacob, their Technical Director, and we made tentative plans to get together for a few drinks on Saturday. I think Ger and Don will get a kick out of it too.

I was done and dusted by 8pm and after making my goodbyes made my way back out into the cold Vegas evening.

Of course, being the numpty that I am, I had forgotten to consider how I was going to get back to my hotel which was about a mile away. Did I do the sensible thing and call a taxi from the hotel opposite...of course not, I"m an idiot.

So I walked it. Now, I know that for the most of you this is a trivial thing but I"m old and fat and by the time I"d trudged my way to TI I was in a world of hurt, legs aching, dogs barking and, oddly, with an aching back.

There was only one possible cure. Beef and Beer. The logical place for both was Gilleys but I avoided the bar area (with mechanical bull) and made my way to the front for the restaurant area facing the strip.

Blue Moon again?...Ohhhh, yes please. Plate of meat with that? You bet.

Now the food offering wasn"t anything to write home about (or I would be writing about it) but the Blue Moon didn"t let me down.

Nor did the 4th or 5th. By the time I was finished, most of the aches and pains had subsided but I was also in no state for much of anything else so I chose the sensible option and retired relatively early.

Gotta pace yourself you know.

Paulie_D:
A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 3 - December 19th 2012

Slowin" It Down & Grindin" It Out

Surprisingly, I awoke without any headache or a visit from the Drinking Bear, I guess he hasn"t figured out that I"m out of the country yet.

Today, Wednesday for me, was one where I had no specific plans and nothing in particular was grabbing my attention for any sort of adventure. So, over to the Venetian then to grind out 4/8 Omaha 8/b.

However, the body needed sustenance so I stopped in at the Grand Lux Cafe for some more Blue Moon (yummy) and a Buffalo Chicken Burger.

Being in no rush I dallied over an extra pint or two before making my way over to the Poker Room. I was on the list only for a short while before they fired up a new "must move" table and I dived into the fray.

If you"ve never played limit O8 then you have no idea how soul destroying it can be. 6-7 see a flop pretty much every hand and some outrageous draws get there.

I had more than a few big hands crushed by low outers, including Kings full beaten by quad 7 (admittedly he flopped it but still) and I was in a hole for quite some time. Eventually though every worm gets his turn and after about 6 hours of play I was a whole $50 to the good and I figured that would have to do.

I couldn"t really decide where I wanted to eat so I thought I would just head back to TI and see what was on offer. As it turns out the options aren"t huge but I plumped for Kahunaville, a sort of Tropical Cafe type place.

The Pit Ribs sounded nice as did a couple of draft beers (no Blue Moon this time, just Bud Light).

Wow, you hear the term "Fall off the bone"...well those ribs were just that...literally. When I picked up the first rib it came away in my hand clean as a whistle. Yummy.



I hoovered up the food and a few more beers before heading out into the casino again. Frankly, I wasn"t in the mood to do much so I wandered about for a while before deciding that sitting in the Breeze Bar while necking some cocktails and doing some people watching wouldn"t be the worst thing.

It wasn"t. The cocktails were very moreish but I managed to restrain myself and just...erm...hung for an hour or two before calling it a day.

Not a late night, I suspect there may be a few of those in the next few days.

Paulie_D:
A Very Vegas Vacation - Day 4 - December 20th 2012

Santa Ger Is Coming To Town

Thursday rolled around as it tends to do after Wednesday and my stay at TI is now at an end. So, it"s Moving Day v1.0 and I"m due to switch over to Harrahs.

I check out of TI and take a cab over to Harrahs, I don"t think the cab driver was too impressed with the short ride but a hefty tip percentage seemed to appease him.

Official check in time wasn"t until 4pm but they squeezed me in and I was comfortably esconsed in my room by 1pm.

Decent sized room in the Carnaval Tower. Certainly, I think it"s larger than the one I had last year.







The view isn"t great but if you look closely you can see the some of pylons that will hold up the new giant ferris wheel / observation thingy that"s going up behind the Linq.



Needing food, I examine each of the offerings available to me in Harrahs before falling back on an old favourite, Toby Keith"s Bar. Several beers and a plate of chicken tenders later, Ger enters the bar....somewhat later than I expected. Apparently, he"d got my text telling him where I was, about 3.30 but I hadn"t gotten a reply. Turns out he"d programmed my number wrong into his phone.

We have a few beers although Ger seemed put out that he was drinking his out of a "jam jar" as he called it.



It wasn"t long before he"s off talking to random strangers as he tends to do.

Perhaps he finds me boring?

Anyway, after a couple, he asks me for a plan of action and I suggest Miller"s Ale House which is south of the airport in a shopping / restaurant complex called Town Square. We cab it down and arrive in the early evening.







I immediately introduce Ger into the delights of Blue Moon and he seems to like it. We share our admiration for Linsey the bartender (sorry no picture) but as usual Ger is off talking to randoms again.

The first thing one of them said was "Which part of Scotland are you guys from?” Wow, talk about wrong on so many levels. Regardless, Ger chats to them for a while before coming back and says, quietly, to me “The only things missing from those guys is a white sheet and a pointy hat”. I was amIused.

After only a couple of pints, I can tell Ger really isn"t into it and when he suggests going back to the hotel I agree. The long flight can really take it out of you.

We ask the hostess to call us a cab and he pulls up almost immediately and is, as usual, subjected to an interrogation by The Duke about whether he"s happy in his work and whether he"s having a good day. Sometimes...sigh.

We"re back at the hotel by 7pm and Ger wants to play Pai Gow. I feel like getting my feet wet so we jump on a $10 table. I think Ger made it another 90 minutes or so before deciding that rest was required and reminds me that Chezger don"t do mornings before going to crash.

should have taken that as a sign but I stayed and in the space of 4 hours spanked off $200. Unfortunately, I can"t say that I got full beer value as the cocktail waitress was somewhat slow in coming around. Oh well, I have the hang of it now.

Not the rollicking pub crawl you were expecting I can guess. I"ll see what I can come up with when Don gets in this evening.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page