The Vegas Trip

PROLOGUE

Sorry it took me so long to post this. My excuses are: (1) I'm still really tired from the trip (I'm getting too old for these kind of "vacations;") and (2) my memory of specifics is a little hazy (if you know what I mean and I think you do).

The latter excuse is important because readers like Fredrick and Alane want specifics about how certain poker hands played out, and I really only have a good memory regarding four or five key hands (I should keep a poker journal but I don't). Sorry for the length of this narrative -- I didn't have time to make it shorter. Anyway, here goes:

THE FIRST 24 HOURS

Linda and I arrived at Las Vegas at about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday after taking full advantage of the free drinks offered in first class (thanks for the upgrades, Liz). It was snowing when we left Central Oregon, so the clear skies and 80 degree weather that greeted us in Vegas was certainly appreciated -- it made the one hour we had to wait for a cab a bit more bearable.

After dinner at Battistas, I hit the craps tables over at the Casino Royale, where they still have $2 tables (I don't like playing craps at the $10 tables most other Strip casinos offer because you can really take a beating if the numbers don't show up). I wasn't planning on gambling a whole lot on Thursday evening, so I only bought $60 worth of chips. I then proceeded to watch them steadily disappear. In fact, I eventually got down to $3 in my stack after making my usual line and two come bets (with odds), so I figured it would be the last roll of the evening for me.

But then something great happened: the shooter did not seven out right away -- he began hitting numbers. By the time he rolled a seven, I had won all my money back and then some. My chip stack fluctuated wildly from that point on. I had to get off the table by 11:00 to meet Danimal, Liz, and Laurie (my wife's friend) at the hotel, so my goal was to leave the table at that time no matter what.

Interestingly enough, when 11:00 pm rolled around, the player next to me was rolling pretty well. I was low in chips at the time, so I decided (of course) to see it out. He rolled for quite a while, and by the time he was finished, I was up a little over $200 for the night. I figured it was a good time to leave, so I tipped the dealers and got out of there.

On Friday morning, Linda and I headed over to the MGM Grand to secure our places in line for the U2 show. We got our ticket through the fan club, so all we had to do was sign in when we arrived, write our number in line on our hands (we were 126 and 127), hang out for a while, and then leave. That saved us from having to stand in line all day, something that would have been impossible for me to do given the number of poker and craps tables in the immediate area.

I then met Danimal and Liz at the Flamingo's poker room, bought $60 in chips, and got a seat at the $1/$2 no-limit table. After sitting down, I immediately realized that I didn't have enough chips, because most of the players there had several hundred worth sitting in front of them. I tried limping in for a few hands, but someone at the table always raised it up. What that meant is that I pretty much had to wait for a great hand before committing to a pot.

I won a few hands and lost a few. A guy at our table actually got a royal flush, the first one I had ever seen in live play. The casino awarded him at least $400 for that the next day (The Flamingo pays out extra money when folks hit high hands -- Liz got four queens on Sunday and received $200 for them).

More of our group started trickling in. Roxy stopped by and watched Dan, Liz and I play for a while, then sat down at the $2/$4 table with Liz. Both Liz and Roxy won during this session -- Roxy made about $140.

Travis and Sara showed up about that time as well. Danimal, who was playing at my table, left to greet them on the rail. I stayed behind, got dealt a pocket pair of Kings, got all my remaining chips in the pot, and tripled up when the Kings held. By the time I had to leave, I was $60 or so up for the session and had several double Jack-on-the-rocks working as well. In other words, I was more than ready for the U2 show.

THE U2 CONCERT

Getting into the show was a piece of cake. I met up with Linda and Laurie (that's a picture of us at the concert below), and we took the monorail to the show, found our place in line, and got a spot right in front of the secondary stage located at the end of a large circular catwalk.

After the opening act, I went out to get Linda and Laurie a drink. On my way back, this big dude wouldn't let me through. He was convinced that I had just arrived and was trying to muscle my way to the front of the secondary stage. I told him that I already have a position up there, and then said, "Look, I just went and got these drinks for my wife and her friend -- do you think I drink white wine?!" He glanced down at what I was holding, then let me pass. As I was making my way to Linda and Laurie, I made a mental note to use that same technique if I ever arrive late to a show and want to get a good position in front of the stage.

Before U2 came out, some stage hands taped a lyric sheet (see pictures below) on the floor of the catwalk. It had the lyric for the song "Walk On." Bono moved around a lot for the show, so it appears that was the only song he didn't feel too comfortable with as far as remembering the lyric goes. They performed "Walk On" as an encore, and Bono sang the entire song right in front of us and referred to the lyric sheet several times during the performance.

U2 played a good set, starting out with a couple songs off their latest album ("City Of Blinding Lights" and "Vertigo"), then played a lot of my favorites, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "One," and "Pride (In The Name of Love)." They ended the show with "40," which is always a great way to close out. A good portion of the show took place right in front of us on the secondary stage, which allowed Linda to take some great pictures.

There were a couple of surprises, like hearing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" played early in the concert. A big surprise for me was the performance of "Miss Sarajevo," a song off of their somewhat obscure "Passengers" album. When Bono announced the song, I thought that maybe Luciano Pavarotti was going to join them on stage. Bono, however, sang Pavarotti's part, and it was very well done.

I was also surprised when they played "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" as an encore. I don't think I've ever heard that song played live, except maybe during the Zoo TV Tour in the early 90s (but I'm not sure they were playing it even then).

A funny thing happened during that song. Linda still has to wear that big neck brace from her surgery. Bono was singing that song right in front of us, and when he sang the words, "You're an accident waiting to happen . . .," he pointed right at Linda and smiled. Linda was filming the sequence and captured the whole thing in a 15-second long mini-film.

My only complaint about the concert is that they didn't play enough songs off of Achtung Baby -- I really wanted to hear "Zoo Station" (which they ended up playing the next night, btw) -- but I enjoyed the show. The Vegas concert crowds are always very boisterous.

DICE RUN HOT AND COLD ON SATURDAY

Due to excessive partying from the day before, I slept in on Saturday. Roxy, Liz, Brett, and Jenny played in a poker tourney at The Luxor, but none of them made it into the money (Roxy lasted the longest -- she busted out when her A/10 was dominated by an A/J). In the early afternoon, I went over to Danimal and Liz's hotel room at the Imperial Palace for a little gathering. Everyone had arrived in Vegas by that time, and present in room were the aforementioned Roxy, Travis, Sara, Brett and Jenny, as well as Nick, Lisa & Chris, Pete, and Christian.

After enjoying a few beverages, several of us went over to the Casino Royale to play dice. The tables were extremely crowded, but Nick and I finally got a place on one of them, and our timing couldn't have been better. Shortly after we started making bets, a guy on the other side of the table started on a very hot hand. It went on for well over a half hour, and even my low stakes betting yielded a profit of about $330. Nick also won a lot of money, but had the good sense to leave the table at the end of the hot roll. I stayed around, lost about $80, and then left when I was still up about $250.

Danimal and I returned to the same table later in the day, and it was brutal. A guy on our side of the table went on a good roll that netted us about $100 each, but then the table went dead. The worst part was that the shooters (including me) would seven out just as the table got loaded with bets. Danimal was smart enough to leave before it got too expensive for him. I stayed around to see if the worm would turn, and I dropped $240 before I figured out that it was time to call it an evening.

THE LAST DAY/NIGHT IN VEGAS

Sunday started out with an excellent brunch at Caesar's Palace. Due to my recent jaw surgery (yeah, Linda and I make quite a pair), I was limited to very soft "no-chew" foods, but one of the cooks made me a great smoked salmon, cream cheese and chive omelet.

I then hit the poker room at the Flamingo and bought in for $100 at the $1/$2 no-limit table. After folding a few hands, I got dealt an A/K offsuit. Someone raised it up, and I along with another player called the raise. The flop went something like K-10-2. I was the first to act, so I raised $30. One guy called me, and the other remaining player folded. The turn card looked non-threatening, so I put in the remainder of my chips and was called. My opponent was on a draw and he missed it on the river and I more than double up my $100.

A couple hands later, I was dealt another A/K, and I put in a small raise. The guy to the left of me called. The flop contained an ace, so I raised (a little bigger this time), and was called. A queen came up on the turn. I put in $20, and my opponent raised. I called. The river card looked non-threatening, but I checked it. My opponent raised $40, I thought awhile, then called it. He was holding A/Q, which gave him a two pair and the pot. I congratulated him on a good hand. By the time the dust settled, I realized that I had lost most of my stack on that one hand.

A few hands later, I got dealt pocket Aces in the big blind. There was a bet and a raise in front of me, so when the action got to me, I went all-in with my remaining $70 or so. I got a couple of callers. Right at that point, Linda and Laurie walked up to the table. I said something like, "you're just in time to see me all-in -- it could get ugly."

Laurie had to go catch her flight home, so they said goodbye and started walking away. I said, "Well, at least stay to watch the end of this hand." They came back to watch. An ace and a queen showed up on the flop, then another queen showed up on the turn, giving me a full house, aces over queens. I took down a sizable main pot, and I have the witnesses to prove it. I didn't hang around for much longer after that.

That evening, a bunch of us went over to a place called "The Beach" and shot some pool for awhile. At about 11:15, Julie and Spike decided to go elsewhere, so I shared a cab with them and got dropped off at the Casino Royale for more craps. I played until about 3:30 am. The action was up and down. While I played, I taught two women next to me how to make come bets with odds, and they made some money off these bets. Danimal called me and wanted to play poker over at the Flamingo, so I finished up on a roll and left the craps table $140 up for the session.

When I reached the Flamingo, Danimal wasn't there, but there was an opening at the $1/$2 no-limit table, so I acquired $100 in chips and sat down. I watched a couple hands, and it looked like folks were able to limp in, so I decided to limp in when I got dealt a 7-8 suited in early position. Unfortunately, a guy across the table raised $10. I figured this would be my last gambling in Vegas for a while, so I called him.

The flop was something like 2-5-8, all different suits. I flopped top pair, so I bet something like $15. The guy who raised it up pre-flop re-raised me $20 more. I called him. Another low card came up on the turn. I felt I had the best hand at that point and that the guy on the other side of the table was on a draw, so I went all-in with my last $50 or so. He thought about it for a while, then called me. He turned over AK, meaning that an Ace or a King on the river would beat me, as would a certain low card which I can't remember now (it might have been a four -- whatever the card was, it would have given him a straight). In any event, the river card was a seven, giving me two pair. I doubled up on the first hand I played.

A few hands later, I won another $100. I can't remember the specifics of that particular hand, but that put me up over $200. People started dropping out of the game, and soon there were only three of us left, and the table was closed up. There was still a $2/$4 limit game, but I wanted to play no-limit, so I left with an additional $200 in my wallet.

Danimal called me in the middle of all that, and I told him the action was good and to come on over. Right after that call, the table closed up, so I met him for breakfast at the Imperial Palace. It was about 5:30 am by the time we finished eating. Danimal had to go wake up Liz and Nick at about 6:15 so they could catch their early flight home, so we decided to hit the Casino Royale one last time for a short craps session on the $2 table. When we got there, all the tables were closed down. In other words, we wanted some more action before we left, but couldn't get it. Therefore, Danimal and I did not really quit -- Vegas quit on us.

I was able to get three hours of sleep before Linda and I had to leave for the airport.

EPILOGUE

How much did I win in Vegas on this trip? Somewhere between $500 and $600.

Did I lose anything besides brain cells? Yes -- I lost four pounds while there, which is a first for me (I usually gain weight in Vegas). It was the combination of not eating very much on my no-chew diet and then walking five miles or more a day which did it.

A reader has asked, "what's the draw at Las Vegas?" For me, it is all the gambling opportunities. My wife is not a gambler, but she enjoys shopping there and seeing the sights. We also try to schedule our trips (1) when there is a good rock concert in town, and (2) when the weather is crappy in Central Oregon but still good in Vegas.

But it is an exhausting experience. I am looking forward to going back, but I'll need a year or so to recover.