Sometimes I have not the time nor the place to blogout--maybe later for an original from me. However, Lazers, who writes the J & B recaps every other Thursday, is a talented writewr who lets me pub. his stuff some times. This was saved for a rainy day, and its his recap of his trip 6m ago to Vegas:
Remember: what happens in Vagas gets published in Chicago.
There is a coda to this trip which I will Pub. later iin the day:: it's Peppy's additions to above. He is alspo a J and B'r---
December 2006 (Trip #25)- Luxor
Written by D.L.
ed. (names only) by Hilts
My 25th trip to Las Vegas coincided with what I believe was Peppys 28th jaunt. The plan was to meet at the Luxor sportsbook around noon on Monday, December 11th.
Monday-
On the flight, the first song to play on my ipod was “Devil in Disguise” by Elvis. I like the Elvis connotation to begin the trip.
My flight is a bit early, and I arrive at the Luxor before 10:00 am. Peppys is not yet here, and I’m already down $55. Of course, that was in cab fares rather than gambling. I place Zo’s $10 bet on the Bears (giving 6 ½ vs. Rams on Monday Night Football later that night) and spend some time becoming acclimated with Luxor, at least the route between the sportsbook and the poker area.
I had never stayed at Luxor before, and I looked forward to staying in the pyramid just for rides in an elevator that ascended at an angle (they call it an “inclinator” rather than “elevator”). The Inclinator was a huge disappointment. They should have windows so riders can enjoy the ride, but there are none. I couldn’t even tell that we were rising at an angle.
Luxor rooms are on the outer fringe of the pyramid, and the center remains open. The inner portion of the hallway had a short wall over which guests can look down into the atrium. Peppys and I are both curious as to how many people have fallen to their deaths.
After some grub, we head up to Bellagio and manage to get seats at the $5 handicap table. As usual, the waitresses were solid. I thought one in particular would make a great wife, at least through the honeymoon.
Our main dealer was Rodrick from Oklahoma. In case you were wondering what ever happened to Uncle Joe from “Petticoat Junction” he is now dealing blackjack at Bellagio. Rodrick was filled with one-liners. Some were funny. Some became tiresome (example: if someone left the table, Rodrick would yell “Next!”). A Rodrick lines did lead to one of the trip’s running gags, as he gave a rundown of how he was feeling and, since in mixed company, substituted “feet” to describe his sore “ass.” Thereafter, many women were complimented with “nice feet.”
I don’t think Rodrick much liked when Peppys and I would get a good banter going. I think he liked being the show.
The swing dealer was Rod from Las Vegas, quickly nicknamed “Buzzkill.” I would say that Rod had no personality, but I hate even to use the word “personality” in a sentence about him.
Some of the players at our table were abysmal. One guy who played first base may have been the worst blackjack player ever. He seemed to make the opposite play in every situation. For example, if he had 14 against the dealer’s 4, he would take a hit. Then if he had 14 against the dealer’s 8, he would stay. I think this was the guy who led me to ask if Peppys had ever read Bill James’ description of Willie Mays Aikens playing defense.
Blackjack count: Lazers 14 Peppys 7
Peppys up $112. Peppys down.
We move over to the sportsbook for the football game (final: Bears 42 Rams 27 and Zo wins $9.10 on her bet). Peppys decides to downgrade his gambling losses by the $11 that he decided not to bet on the Rams (kind of like “opportunity cost”).
With the Five Diamond World Poker Classic taking place at Bellagio, we did see some pro players. As a matter of fact, the Seniors event had started on Monday (leading Peppys to ask, “why couldn’t it be the Hot Chicks tournament?”), and we did catch Men the Master at one table.
The main poker room is right next to the sportsbook, and a few pros were coming in and out. Eskimo Clark (nickname appropriate) would often come by to monitor the football game. On one of those trips, he sat next to me and started talking football with me. He said odds on the Saints to win it all were at 27-1 not all that long ago, and he ran through a few mathematical examples of how much could be won under various betting amounts (“if you bet $10,000, you could win $270,000”- yeah, as if I have $10,000 sitting around to wager on the Saints).
The barely alive Titans were at 999-1, leading to Peppys and I concocting a master plan to raise the funds to have our own casino (with no single-deck, 6-5 blackjack or other unnecessary table games). However, we never got around to making the Titans bet, which was to be the first step in the financing of the casino. Assuming the Titans win the Superbowl, of course.
We walk over to Ellis Island for dinner, backed-up by the worst karaoke I’ve ever heard, although I did enjoy the effort put forth by one guy who sang “Monster Mash.”
After dinner, we made our way up north to Wynn then back again. We couldn’t find any low limit tables that were anything but the plague that is single-deck, 6-5 blackjack. It’s a Monday in December! Notice the higher limit tables that were empty! Notice the small amount of people walking on the Strip! Isn’t it a good time to cater to lower limits so that you will have somebody gambling something?
Making our way back south, we go through Flamingo. I notice a hot, Asian gal in tight jeans and midriff-baring top. She takes a seat at the front bar, alone. She is definitely for sale, and I should probably circle around for a closer look, but Peppys was well ahead of me by now. I elect to catch up with Peppys instead of a scouting mission.
We end up in Barbary Coast, where there are a couple of cute Asian dealers, but none of them are at our table. Overall, we had a table that played pretty decent, including the lady from Canada (we played with several Canadians today) who got rattled when she had a
6-6-6 situation with her cards.
Peppys finds himself in the “Mike North” hand: 4-4 against the dealer’s 5. Peppys splits the 4-4, wins with both hands, and calls North a jackass.
We struggled at this table. Our worst dealer was something along the lines of Tajj’e from Abyssinia. I’m not sure how much of that I have correct, but I do know she had the apostrophe in her first name. Who the hell has an apostrophe in their first name? As for her origin, Peppys thought it looked like something written in pig Latin.
By the time the shifts changed, and our table received the pretty Julia from Brazil, Peppys was down and I managed to climb back up to even (the killer for me at this table was doubling down- they just weren’t working).
Blackjack count: Peppys 5 Peppys 1
Day one drinks for me included Captain and Coke, Amaretto Sour, Amaretto Stone Sour, and a beer that I never ordered at Ellis Island. I had enough to drink that by the time we were gambling at Barbary Coast, it took me awhile to figure out 1) that the faucets in the restroom were NOT motion activated (don’t know how long I stood there waving my hands beneath them, trying to trigger the motion sensor), and 2) there WAS an automatic shuffler at our table, and that’s the reason why the dealer was shuffling so fast.
Back at Luxor around 4:00 am. Awake around 7:00 am (stupid body clock). Out of bed around 10:30 am.
Tuesday-
I head down to the Luxor poker area to enter the noon tournament for $30 plus $3 add-on. I didn’t know about the add-on component until we were seated at the table, and I made a quick dash to one of the shops to buy some Mentos so that I would have three singles (I do not know why I didn’t just have the dealer break my $20, but on the plus side, I got to eat Mentos later!).
The tournament had around 50-60 people. Top 7 spots pay. Starting chip stacks were $400 plus $200 (the add-on). Blinds started at $25-$25 and went up every 15 minutes. This is a very fast structure with not a whole lot of chips. Stacks are probably too small to make any bluffs, unless I can get some hands and build a large stack early.
The player who is supposed to be in seat #11 is sitting in seat #1. When the error is pointed out, he says, “Oh, I thought it was clockwise from the dealer.” Duh- it is clockwise from the dealer. What kind of clock does this guy use?
The first hand I played, I had A-7 (don’t recall if suited or not)- good example of how loose the play had to be with the blind structure. I ended up with a chopped pot in this one.
I had an A-K hold up against an A-J. Later, I was fortunate to have an A-5 beat A-Q. However, I lost a coin-flip for my final hand as my 7-7 was beaten by K-Q when a queen hit the turn. I played for perhaps an hour and finished somewhere around 24th or so.
After Peppys and I have lunch (the second McDonalds meal of the trip), we head over to Monte Carlo, where Peppys will play first base and I’ll be at second.
I make an early mistake by ordering a Rusty Nail (inspired by one of our Bellagio teammates the day before)- that would be scotch and drambuie. Goodbye esophagus. I would switch to a White Russian after that fiasco.
One of our middle infielders earns the nickname Charles de Gaulle do to his propensity to surrender his hand under many circumstances.
One of our dealers was a foreign guy named Richie. English was not his strong point, and it was not easy to negotiate when I tried to buy his vest and nametag. Richie’s break dealer was Betty, and I probably did some damage to table karma when I quickly called her Betty Boop.
Peppys can fill the details in for this one, but on one of my restroom trips, our table had a bad incident in which one of our middle infield clowns decided to start splitting 10s.
Peppys starts to collect commissions from the table for giving out advice on their hands.
After Richie departs, our dealer is Leo, who is very serious. He won’t even tell us a joke. As a matter of fact, Leo doesn’t even like jokes. This guy needs to loosen up a bit.
Blackjack count: Peppys 21 Peppys 18; however, just like the Negro Leagues, I think those statistics may be sketchy.
I was up around $200 while Peppys was down.
The Monte Carlo table was one of those situations in which Peppys and I were the table. One good example of that was the lady who went back to her room to get more money so that she could keep playing (I think she was one of the commission payors).
Bellagio-
Peppys loses $100 so quickly that I don’t think there was time for any stories to develop.
Poker satellites for the WPT tournament are still running in the Fontana Lounge. Jennifer Tilly is playing. Clonie Gowan is also seen prancing about in her tight, little jeans.
Back to Luxor sometime between 2 and 2:30 am. Same morning schedule from the day before.
Wednesday-
I again sign up for the noon poker tournament at Luxor. Less people are playing today, perhaps 35 or so. I’m the big blind for the very first hand and get to see a flop with 7-2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in hold ‘em. Players keep checking the hand around until I draw a straight by the river. Lazo is in the lead.
The old guy three seats to my right wins some big pots early by drawing out on the river. He wasn’t very good at paying attention in general, though. Since our dealer apparently wasn’t good at that either, my table had a fiasco with the blinds. See, the old guy decided to raise the blinds on his own. While the other tables were still at $25-$50, our table played several hands at $50-$100. The error wasn’t realized until the blinds really went up to $50-$100, and I was one of the people screwed by it.
With blinds still at $50-$100, I raise to $300 under the gun with K-10 offsuit. Mr. River calls. The flop comes 10-high with all clubs. I move all in for my remaining $175, and Mr. River calls with his nut-flush draw. Of course, he hits it on the river, and I’m eliminated somewhere around 14th.
I nicknamed one of the guys at my table Latka, as he frequently had that “deer in the headlights” look every time it was his turn to act.
One of the things I noticed about moving back and forth between hold ‘em and blackjack was that I would need a few hands to adjust when I would go back to blackjack. I would look at K-K at a blackjack table and subconsciously think it has A-J dominated. The situation is similar to the days of going to Great America, and we would spend the last 60-90 minutes riding the bumper cars. It would take the same subconscious adjustment to go from bumper cars to driving my real car.
After poker, I made the rest of Zo’s bets. Her $10 bet on red at the roulette table (let it ride twice if wins) was a loser on the first spin. However, her $10 passline bet at craps (let it ride three times if wins) made its way up to $160. On one roll, the dice flew off of the table. Despite a heavy search, only one of them was found. Later that evening, as I was emptying my pockets in the hotel room, I found the other die. Good souvenir.
I find Peppys playing videopoker, and I manage to turn a quick $20 profit doing the same.
We head over to the Hooters casino for lunch at the café. One of my candidates for hottest chick of the trip was a gal sitting at one of the front blackjack tables- tiny, busty, Asian gal that was just gorgeous.
After lunch, we play some blackjack at Excalibur with our dealer, Sandy. I drop $100 in no time, and Peppys also drops some money.
Blackjack count: Peppys 5 Peppys 1
We did have a cute Asian girl at third base. However, the lady sitting next to me was a horrible player. She had a blackjack reference card sitting right in front of her on the table, and she still was making incorrect moves.
I tried my first Zombie. I didn’t like it.
Back to Monte Carlo, and the scenario was deadly. I liked both of our dealers: Rosario (a hot Mexican girl with short, dark hair, glasses, and a nice rack. She may be my pick for hottest chick of the trip, though Peppys didn’t care much for her), and Darlene. We had a cute, Asian waitress named Jerilee, who may have been on her first night on the job (we saw her following another waitress earlier, as if training, and she once dumped over a tray of drinks). I kept ordering a keg from Jerilee, and she told me that next year we’d have a private keg. Not sure what that means. And to make the whole scenario even worse, we had a table filled with people who overall knew how to play and were either fun or characters. Everything is great and I don’t want to leave this table. Unfortunately, I was getting my ass kicked at blackjack.
Two of our early teammates were a couple of old, foreign ladies from California. My favorite moment from them came when one yelled at the other to “wake up!”
Our long-term third baseman was a kid from upper Michigan who was on the 6th night of his first Las Vegas trip. He now knows that six nights is way too long.
Peppys and I toast Ed Rebacz for his birthday.
I don’t remember why she did this, but Rosario (Rosa for short) once did a seig heil.
One ancient guy joins the table (Rosa still isn’t sure if it was a guy or girl). His hair is slicked back, he is wearing sunglasses, and the collar of his white coat is turned up, like Fonzie. He puts $120 on the table but was then baffled when Rosa gave him $120 in chips. He thought he had placed $40 on the table.
Rosa later gives herself the giggles when she says “shit” in front of us.
For her last shift, Rosa had taken off her glasses, as they were giving her a headache. She can’t see as well and noticeably squints (Rosa looks hot when she squints). I get a great reaction from the table when I tell her that I’m better looking than she remembers.
After Rosa left, the dealers were Anthony with swing dealer Edith.
I tried my first Alabama Slammer and didn’t like it, so I switched back to White Russians. I lost $215 at this session. Peppys left the table long before I did, a losing session for him also. I had become so accustomed to losing with Rosa that one time I won a hand but automatically started to place another chip in the betting spot before Rosa had paid the winning bet. It looked like I was cheating, and I felt very embarrassed by the incident.
We head back towards Luxor, making our way through New York New York. There a foreign gal getting her photo taken with a $15 voucher for her slot machine win. I think she was British, but at the least had a great rack.
After Peppys leaves for the airport, I head back to Bellagio. The handicap table is filled with 4 guys that appeared to be together. The dealer was helping them out a lot with some very basic decisions. I decide to roam a bit- Fontana Lounge, poker room- then head back to the handicap table. Third base is now open, but before sitting down I witness one of the friends double-down with a 12. I decide not to join the table.
On the walkway between Bally’s and Barbary Coast: I’m pretty sure that the guy waiting for the elevator is wearing a dress.
I decide to scout Flamingo. The gals in pink who were earlier dealing for the tables right by the entrance are replaced by regular dealers. There aren’t any $5 tables- Flamingo still thinks it’s a destination.
Back to Barbary Coast, and although there are several $5 options for blackjack, I notice one of the cute Asian dealers from the other night is dealing $10 2-deck blackjack. I decide to join the table with Shan Shan from China for some gaming and rum and cokes.
The other three people at this table were together, having some sort of work relationship. I was at first base. Bob, an older, laid-back guy was at second and playing two spots. Julie, a younger, somewhat overweight blonde that wasn’t really playing herself but would occasionally take over for her co-workers, was sitting next to Bob and I suppose counts as our shortstop.
Our third baseman was Karen- perhaps in her 50s- and one of the drunkest, most obnoxious people of all-time. I would describe Karen’s alcohol-graveled voice by saying “this one goes to 11.” Game on!
Nearly every sentence she uttered began with “Julie! Julie!” while Julie was bending Bob’s ear about some relationship she was having.
This was one of those tables where the cards are dealt facedown and players get to handle them. To double-down, a player places the cards face-up and places the additional bet. The dealer would then deal the hit card facedown. However, Karen always requested that the dealer show her the hit right away. The dealer would give Karen a glimpse, then everyone in the casino knew if it was a bad card as Karen would yell “that card sucks!” or howl “Nooooo!”
As drunk as she was, Karen played blackjack surprisingly well, but some of her advice was brutal. I was admonished for splitting 7-7 against the dealer’s 4. Karen told me “never split 7s- you’ll just end up with two 17s.”
Although I was introduced into the group by name, Karen quickly forgot my name and started calling me Junior.
When we all would win a hand, high-fives were exchanged, and I still don’t know how Karen managed not to topple over the table when reaching to give a high-five to me.
Karen was betting decent-sized amounts, and she would put silver chips atop her wager for the dealers (our swing dealer was also a cute Asian, Cindy from Saigon). After each winning hand, Karen would ask the dealer “how much of this is yours?” The question was particularly funny after she won a monster amount of chips after some splitting and asked the question while pointing to her unorganized mountain of chips.
Usually, dealer tips would ride around twice before Karen made the dealer take it. Karen would drunkenly place the chips on the table in a way that they splashed all over. Chips would roll into the table’s chip tray, and Karen would reach into the tray to retrieve them, getting herself in trouble in the process.
Karen took close to forever to stack her chips into a bet, reminding me of the drunken craps player at Imperial Palace from the 1992 trip.
Karen liked Shan Shan and Cindy, but she did not like Julianna from Las Vegas (also Asian but not cute). Karen once became very serious and sternly told her “I will never tip you.” She also frequently referred to Julianna as a bitch. (Note: I had the sense to see a major shift in karma at the table and left soon after Julianna became our dealer).
Karen once stopped a lady who was walking past and ordered a drink from her. The lady was not a waitress or even an employee.
When Cindy first joined our table to deal, Karen was happy and kept badgering her to tell the rest of us how much money Karen made with her earlier.
Karen once requested a blue chip from the dealer tray. There aren’t any blue chips in the dealer tray.
I’m sure I’m missing more lines and incidents from the Karen Show, and hopefully I’ll remember more, as she was damn entertaining.
I left Barbary Coast down $81.
On the trip back to Luxor, I was crossing the bridge between New York New York and Excalibur. There were three black girls headed in the other direction. They weren’t dressed like hookers, so I wasn’t thinking that they were, until two of them altered their path to make sure they intercepted me. The gal who picked the best route approached me first and said, “can you give me a hug? I’m cold.” I just kept moving and was back in the hotel room by 3:00 am.
Trip #25 to Las Vegas is over and though nothing monumental, it was very fun, as usual. My thoughts on Las Vegas could probably best be summed up by my thoughts as the plane was landing at McCarran Airport on Monday morning- even though a trip was already set up for next August, I felt somewhat bummed that a second trip wasn’t already on the agenda, too.
Remember: what happens in Vagas gets published in Chicago.
There is a coda to this trip which I will Pub. later iin the day:: it's Peppy's additions to above. He is alspo a J and B'r---
December 2006 (Trip #25)- Luxor
Written by D.L.
ed. (names only) by Hilts
My 25th trip to Las Vegas coincided with what I believe was Peppys 28th jaunt. The plan was to meet at the Luxor sportsbook around noon on Monday, December 11th.
Monday-
On the flight, the first song to play on my ipod was “Devil in Disguise” by Elvis. I like the Elvis connotation to begin the trip.
My flight is a bit early, and I arrive at the Luxor before 10:00 am. Peppys is not yet here, and I’m already down $55. Of course, that was in cab fares rather than gambling. I place Zo’s $10 bet on the Bears (giving 6 ½ vs. Rams on Monday Night Football later that night) and spend some time becoming acclimated with Luxor, at least the route between the sportsbook and the poker area.
I had never stayed at Luxor before, and I looked forward to staying in the pyramid just for rides in an elevator that ascended at an angle (they call it an “inclinator” rather than “elevator”). The Inclinator was a huge disappointment. They should have windows so riders can enjoy the ride, but there are none. I couldn’t even tell that we were rising at an angle.
Luxor rooms are on the outer fringe of the pyramid, and the center remains open. The inner portion of the hallway had a short wall over which guests can look down into the atrium. Peppys and I are both curious as to how many people have fallen to their deaths.
After some grub, we head up to Bellagio and manage to get seats at the $5 handicap table. As usual, the waitresses were solid. I thought one in particular would make a great wife, at least through the honeymoon.
Our main dealer was Rodrick from Oklahoma. In case you were wondering what ever happened to Uncle Joe from “Petticoat Junction” he is now dealing blackjack at Bellagio. Rodrick was filled with one-liners. Some were funny. Some became tiresome (example: if someone left the table, Rodrick would yell “Next!”). A Rodrick lines did lead to one of the trip’s running gags, as he gave a rundown of how he was feeling and, since in mixed company, substituted “feet” to describe his sore “ass.” Thereafter, many women were complimented with “nice feet.”
I don’t think Rodrick much liked when Peppys and I would get a good banter going. I think he liked being the show.
The swing dealer was Rod from Las Vegas, quickly nicknamed “Buzzkill.” I would say that Rod had no personality, but I hate even to use the word “personality” in a sentence about him.
Some of the players at our table were abysmal. One guy who played first base may have been the worst blackjack player ever. He seemed to make the opposite play in every situation. For example, if he had 14 against the dealer’s 4, he would take a hit. Then if he had 14 against the dealer’s 8, he would stay. I think this was the guy who led me to ask if Peppys had ever read Bill James’ description of Willie Mays Aikens playing defense.
Blackjack count: Lazers 14 Peppys 7
Peppys up $112. Peppys down.
We move over to the sportsbook for the football game (final: Bears 42 Rams 27 and Zo wins $9.10 on her bet). Peppys decides to downgrade his gambling losses by the $11 that he decided not to bet on the Rams (kind of like “opportunity cost”).
With the Five Diamond World Poker Classic taking place at Bellagio, we did see some pro players. As a matter of fact, the Seniors event had started on Monday (leading Peppys to ask, “why couldn’t it be the Hot Chicks tournament?”), and we did catch Men the Master at one table.
The main poker room is right next to the sportsbook, and a few pros were coming in and out. Eskimo Clark (nickname appropriate) would often come by to monitor the football game. On one of those trips, he sat next to me and started talking football with me. He said odds on the Saints to win it all were at 27-1 not all that long ago, and he ran through a few mathematical examples of how much could be won under various betting amounts (“if you bet $10,000, you could win $270,000”- yeah, as if I have $10,000 sitting around to wager on the Saints).
The barely alive Titans were at 999-1, leading to Peppys and I concocting a master plan to raise the funds to have our own casino (with no single-deck, 6-5 blackjack or other unnecessary table games). However, we never got around to making the Titans bet, which was to be the first step in the financing of the casino. Assuming the Titans win the Superbowl, of course.
We walk over to Ellis Island for dinner, backed-up by the worst karaoke I’ve ever heard, although I did enjoy the effort put forth by one guy who sang “Monster Mash.”
After dinner, we made our way up north to Wynn then back again. We couldn’t find any low limit tables that were anything but the plague that is single-deck, 6-5 blackjack. It’s a Monday in December! Notice the higher limit tables that were empty! Notice the small amount of people walking on the Strip! Isn’t it a good time to cater to lower limits so that you will have somebody gambling something?
Making our way back south, we go through Flamingo. I notice a hot, Asian gal in tight jeans and midriff-baring top. She takes a seat at the front bar, alone. She is definitely for sale, and I should probably circle around for a closer look, but Peppys was well ahead of me by now. I elect to catch up with Peppys instead of a scouting mission.
We end up in Barbary Coast, where there are a couple of cute Asian dealers, but none of them are at our table. Overall, we had a table that played pretty decent, including the lady from Canada (we played with several Canadians today) who got rattled when she had a
6-6-6 situation with her cards.
Peppys finds himself in the “Mike North” hand: 4-4 against the dealer’s 5. Peppys splits the 4-4, wins with both hands, and calls North a jackass.
We struggled at this table. Our worst dealer was something along the lines of Tajj’e from Abyssinia. I’m not sure how much of that I have correct, but I do know she had the apostrophe in her first name. Who the hell has an apostrophe in their first name? As for her origin, Peppys thought it looked like something written in pig Latin.
By the time the shifts changed, and our table received the pretty Julia from Brazil, Peppys was down and I managed to climb back up to even (the killer for me at this table was doubling down- they just weren’t working).
Blackjack count: Peppys 5 Peppys 1
Day one drinks for me included Captain and Coke, Amaretto Sour, Amaretto Stone Sour, and a beer that I never ordered at Ellis Island. I had enough to drink that by the time we were gambling at Barbary Coast, it took me awhile to figure out 1) that the faucets in the restroom were NOT motion activated (don’t know how long I stood there waving my hands beneath them, trying to trigger the motion sensor), and 2) there WAS an automatic shuffler at our table, and that’s the reason why the dealer was shuffling so fast.
Back at Luxor around 4:00 am. Awake around 7:00 am (stupid body clock). Out of bed around 10:30 am.
Tuesday-
I head down to the Luxor poker area to enter the noon tournament for $30 plus $3 add-on. I didn’t know about the add-on component until we were seated at the table, and I made a quick dash to one of the shops to buy some Mentos so that I would have three singles (I do not know why I didn’t just have the dealer break my $20, but on the plus side, I got to eat Mentos later!).
The tournament had around 50-60 people. Top 7 spots pay. Starting chip stacks were $400 plus $200 (the add-on). Blinds started at $25-$25 and went up every 15 minutes. This is a very fast structure with not a whole lot of chips. Stacks are probably too small to make any bluffs, unless I can get some hands and build a large stack early.
The player who is supposed to be in seat #11 is sitting in seat #1. When the error is pointed out, he says, “Oh, I thought it was clockwise from the dealer.” Duh- it is clockwise from the dealer. What kind of clock does this guy use?
The first hand I played, I had A-7 (don’t recall if suited or not)- good example of how loose the play had to be with the blind structure. I ended up with a chopped pot in this one.
I had an A-K hold up against an A-J. Later, I was fortunate to have an A-5 beat A-Q. However, I lost a coin-flip for my final hand as my 7-7 was beaten by K-Q when a queen hit the turn. I played for perhaps an hour and finished somewhere around 24th or so.
After Peppys and I have lunch (the second McDonalds meal of the trip), we head over to Monte Carlo, where Peppys will play first base and I’ll be at second.
I make an early mistake by ordering a Rusty Nail (inspired by one of our Bellagio teammates the day before)- that would be scotch and drambuie. Goodbye esophagus. I would switch to a White Russian after that fiasco.
One of our middle infielders earns the nickname Charles de Gaulle do to his propensity to surrender his hand under many circumstances.
One of our dealers was a foreign guy named Richie. English was not his strong point, and it was not easy to negotiate when I tried to buy his vest and nametag. Richie’s break dealer was Betty, and I probably did some damage to table karma when I quickly called her Betty Boop.
Peppys can fill the details in for this one, but on one of my restroom trips, our table had a bad incident in which one of our middle infield clowns decided to start splitting 10s.
Peppys starts to collect commissions from the table for giving out advice on their hands.
After Richie departs, our dealer is Leo, who is very serious. He won’t even tell us a joke. As a matter of fact, Leo doesn’t even like jokes. This guy needs to loosen up a bit.
Blackjack count: Peppys 21 Peppys 18; however, just like the Negro Leagues, I think those statistics may be sketchy.
I was up around $200 while Peppys was down.
The Monte Carlo table was one of those situations in which Peppys and I were the table. One good example of that was the lady who went back to her room to get more money so that she could keep playing (I think she was one of the commission payors).
Bellagio-
Peppys loses $100 so quickly that I don’t think there was time for any stories to develop.
Poker satellites for the WPT tournament are still running in the Fontana Lounge. Jennifer Tilly is playing. Clonie Gowan is also seen prancing about in her tight, little jeans.
Back to Luxor sometime between 2 and 2:30 am. Same morning schedule from the day before.
Wednesday-
I again sign up for the noon poker tournament at Luxor. Less people are playing today, perhaps 35 or so. I’m the big blind for the very first hand and get to see a flop with 7-2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in hold ‘em. Players keep checking the hand around until I draw a straight by the river. Lazo is in the lead.
The old guy three seats to my right wins some big pots early by drawing out on the river. He wasn’t very good at paying attention in general, though. Since our dealer apparently wasn’t good at that either, my table had a fiasco with the blinds. See, the old guy decided to raise the blinds on his own. While the other tables were still at $25-$50, our table played several hands at $50-$100. The error wasn’t realized until the blinds really went up to $50-$100, and I was one of the people screwed by it.
With blinds still at $50-$100, I raise to $300 under the gun with K-10 offsuit. Mr. River calls. The flop comes 10-high with all clubs. I move all in for my remaining $175, and Mr. River calls with his nut-flush draw. Of course, he hits it on the river, and I’m eliminated somewhere around 14th.
I nicknamed one of the guys at my table Latka, as he frequently had that “deer in the headlights” look every time it was his turn to act.
One of the things I noticed about moving back and forth between hold ‘em and blackjack was that I would need a few hands to adjust when I would go back to blackjack. I would look at K-K at a blackjack table and subconsciously think it has A-J dominated. The situation is similar to the days of going to Great America, and we would spend the last 60-90 minutes riding the bumper cars. It would take the same subconscious adjustment to go from bumper cars to driving my real car.
After poker, I made the rest of Zo’s bets. Her $10 bet on red at the roulette table (let it ride twice if wins) was a loser on the first spin. However, her $10 passline bet at craps (let it ride three times if wins) made its way up to $160. On one roll, the dice flew off of the table. Despite a heavy search, only one of them was found. Later that evening, as I was emptying my pockets in the hotel room, I found the other die. Good souvenir.
I find Peppys playing videopoker, and I manage to turn a quick $20 profit doing the same.
We head over to the Hooters casino for lunch at the café. One of my candidates for hottest chick of the trip was a gal sitting at one of the front blackjack tables- tiny, busty, Asian gal that was just gorgeous.
After lunch, we play some blackjack at Excalibur with our dealer, Sandy. I drop $100 in no time, and Peppys also drops some money.
Blackjack count: Peppys 5 Peppys 1
We did have a cute Asian girl at third base. However, the lady sitting next to me was a horrible player. She had a blackjack reference card sitting right in front of her on the table, and she still was making incorrect moves.
I tried my first Zombie. I didn’t like it.
Back to Monte Carlo, and the scenario was deadly. I liked both of our dealers: Rosario (a hot Mexican girl with short, dark hair, glasses, and a nice rack. She may be my pick for hottest chick of the trip, though Peppys didn’t care much for her), and Darlene. We had a cute, Asian waitress named Jerilee, who may have been on her first night on the job (we saw her following another waitress earlier, as if training, and she once dumped over a tray of drinks). I kept ordering a keg from Jerilee, and she told me that next year we’d have a private keg. Not sure what that means. And to make the whole scenario even worse, we had a table filled with people who overall knew how to play and were either fun or characters. Everything is great and I don’t want to leave this table. Unfortunately, I was getting my ass kicked at blackjack.
Two of our early teammates were a couple of old, foreign ladies from California. My favorite moment from them came when one yelled at the other to “wake up!”
Our long-term third baseman was a kid from upper Michigan who was on the 6th night of his first Las Vegas trip. He now knows that six nights is way too long.
Peppys and I toast Ed Rebacz for his birthday.
I don’t remember why she did this, but Rosario (Rosa for short) once did a seig heil.
One ancient guy joins the table (Rosa still isn’t sure if it was a guy or girl). His hair is slicked back, he is wearing sunglasses, and the collar of his white coat is turned up, like Fonzie. He puts $120 on the table but was then baffled when Rosa gave him $120 in chips. He thought he had placed $40 on the table.
Rosa later gives herself the giggles when she says “shit” in front of us.
For her last shift, Rosa had taken off her glasses, as they were giving her a headache. She can’t see as well and noticeably squints (Rosa looks hot when she squints). I get a great reaction from the table when I tell her that I’m better looking than she remembers.
After Rosa left, the dealers were Anthony with swing dealer Edith.
I tried my first Alabama Slammer and didn’t like it, so I switched back to White Russians. I lost $215 at this session. Peppys left the table long before I did, a losing session for him also. I had become so accustomed to losing with Rosa that one time I won a hand but automatically started to place another chip in the betting spot before Rosa had paid the winning bet. It looked like I was cheating, and I felt very embarrassed by the incident.
We head back towards Luxor, making our way through New York New York. There a foreign gal getting her photo taken with a $15 voucher for her slot machine win. I think she was British, but at the least had a great rack.
After Peppys leaves for the airport, I head back to Bellagio. The handicap table is filled with 4 guys that appeared to be together. The dealer was helping them out a lot with some very basic decisions. I decide to roam a bit- Fontana Lounge, poker room- then head back to the handicap table. Third base is now open, but before sitting down I witness one of the friends double-down with a 12. I decide not to join the table.
On the walkway between Bally’s and Barbary Coast: I’m pretty sure that the guy waiting for the elevator is wearing a dress.
I decide to scout Flamingo. The gals in pink who were earlier dealing for the tables right by the entrance are replaced by regular dealers. There aren’t any $5 tables- Flamingo still thinks it’s a destination.
Back to Barbary Coast, and although there are several $5 options for blackjack, I notice one of the cute Asian dealers from the other night is dealing $10 2-deck blackjack. I decide to join the table with Shan Shan from China for some gaming and rum and cokes.
The other three people at this table were together, having some sort of work relationship. I was at first base. Bob, an older, laid-back guy was at second and playing two spots. Julie, a younger, somewhat overweight blonde that wasn’t really playing herself but would occasionally take over for her co-workers, was sitting next to Bob and I suppose counts as our shortstop.
Our third baseman was Karen- perhaps in her 50s- and one of the drunkest, most obnoxious people of all-time. I would describe Karen’s alcohol-graveled voice by saying “this one goes to 11.” Game on!
Nearly every sentence she uttered began with “Julie! Julie!” while Julie was bending Bob’s ear about some relationship she was having.
This was one of those tables where the cards are dealt facedown and players get to handle them. To double-down, a player places the cards face-up and places the additional bet. The dealer would then deal the hit card facedown. However, Karen always requested that the dealer show her the hit right away. The dealer would give Karen a glimpse, then everyone in the casino knew if it was a bad card as Karen would yell “that card sucks!” or howl “Nooooo!”
As drunk as she was, Karen played blackjack surprisingly well, but some of her advice was brutal. I was admonished for splitting 7-7 against the dealer’s 4. Karen told me “never split 7s- you’ll just end up with two 17s.”
Although I was introduced into the group by name, Karen quickly forgot my name and started calling me Junior.
When we all would win a hand, high-fives were exchanged, and I still don’t know how Karen managed not to topple over the table when reaching to give a high-five to me.
Karen was betting decent-sized amounts, and she would put silver chips atop her wager for the dealers (our swing dealer was also a cute Asian, Cindy from Saigon). After each winning hand, Karen would ask the dealer “how much of this is yours?” The question was particularly funny after she won a monster amount of chips after some splitting and asked the question while pointing to her unorganized mountain of chips.
Usually, dealer tips would ride around twice before Karen made the dealer take it. Karen would drunkenly place the chips on the table in a way that they splashed all over. Chips would roll into the table’s chip tray, and Karen would reach into the tray to retrieve them, getting herself in trouble in the process.
Karen took close to forever to stack her chips into a bet, reminding me of the drunken craps player at Imperial Palace from the 1992 trip.
Karen liked Shan Shan and Cindy, but she did not like Julianna from Las Vegas (also Asian but not cute). Karen once became very serious and sternly told her “I will never tip you.” She also frequently referred to Julianna as a bitch. (Note: I had the sense to see a major shift in karma at the table and left soon after Julianna became our dealer).
Karen once stopped a lady who was walking past and ordered a drink from her. The lady was not a waitress or even an employee.
When Cindy first joined our table to deal, Karen was happy and kept badgering her to tell the rest of us how much money Karen made with her earlier.
Karen once requested a blue chip from the dealer tray. There aren’t any blue chips in the dealer tray.
I’m sure I’m missing more lines and incidents from the Karen Show, and hopefully I’ll remember more, as she was damn entertaining.
I left Barbary Coast down $81.
On the trip back to Luxor, I was crossing the bridge between New York New York and Excalibur. There were three black girls headed in the other direction. They weren’t dressed like hookers, so I wasn’t thinking that they were, until two of them altered their path to make sure they intercepted me. The gal who picked the best route approached me first and said, “can you give me a hug? I’m cold.” I just kept moving and was back in the hotel room by 3:00 am.
Trip #25 to Las Vegas is over and though nothing monumental, it was very fun, as usual. My thoughts on Las Vegas could probably best be summed up by my thoughts as the plane was landing at McCarran Airport on Monday morning- even though a trip was already set up for next August, I felt somewhat bummed that a second trip wasn’t already on the agenda, too.
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