I realized late last night that I ask too many questions about certain matters. This is a note to myself to stop doing so. The answers aren't always what I want to hear, but chock-full of good information nonetheless.
In another important life-situation, I stood up for myself and ended up making things much better.
I bought a Nintendo Wii. I have downloaded a bunch of older 80s-90s video games. I DL'd Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros., and Ice Hockey. Each week Nintendo releases more games for download... I'll be snagging Donkey Kong Country ASAP!!! The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is pretty frappin' wonderful!!! I like using three (3) exclamation points at the end of sentences sometimes!!!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Vegas Trip.... Final Two Days
The final Two days I'm in Las Vegas I switch two strictly playing Poker Tournaments.
I end up cashing in 3 of the 9 tournaments I play in for the trip and wind up with a slight profit for just the tournaments.
The Treasure Island Poker room dealers are pretty cool people. I'd love to move out there and become "one of them." I have more in common with those guys than I do with most of the people I know here in NC.
Going into the last couple of hours before I have to leave for the airport... I was down almost 400 bucks. I decide to lay down 2 hundo at a BlackJack table and let that be the last of my gambling. The dealer had an amazing personality and was talking with me about random things the whole time. An Asian dude who looked uncannily like Jin from LOST came and sat down next to me and started playing as well. Soon after the Asian guy a young couple sat down.
I was betting mostly 25 bucks a hand, but would occasionaly double down or bet 50 to start with and double down for a 100 total bet. Our table was kicking the dealer's arse. I ended up transforming that 200 into 1000 and decided it was time to quit. The dealer colored up my smaller $25 green chips into 2 $500 purple I had a short stack of 5 dollar chips and 1 dollar chips from where I had hit blackjack on several occasions... I had also been tipping the dealer throughout the session and sometimes making a wager for him, but I thought he was awesome and tipped him all my excess (around 25 bucks.)
I cashed in my chips at the cashier cage, got my bag, and got in an airport-bound Taxi.
The flight back was extremely turbulent for the first 30 minutes, but ended up being fine.
I had an amazing time and can't wait to go back.
I end up cashing in 3 of the 9 tournaments I play in for the trip and wind up with a slight profit for just the tournaments.
The Treasure Island Poker room dealers are pretty cool people. I'd love to move out there and become "one of them." I have more in common with those guys than I do with most of the people I know here in NC.
Going into the last couple of hours before I have to leave for the airport... I was down almost 400 bucks. I decide to lay down 2 hundo at a BlackJack table and let that be the last of my gambling. The dealer had an amazing personality and was talking with me about random things the whole time. An Asian dude who looked uncannily like Jin from LOST came and sat down next to me and started playing as well. Soon after the Asian guy a young couple sat down.
I was betting mostly 25 bucks a hand, but would occasionaly double down or bet 50 to start with and double down for a 100 total bet. Our table was kicking the dealer's arse. I ended up transforming that 200 into 1000 and decided it was time to quit. The dealer colored up my smaller $25 green chips into 2 $500 purple I had a short stack of 5 dollar chips and 1 dollar chips from where I had hit blackjack on several occasions... I had also been tipping the dealer throughout the session and sometimes making a wager for him, but I thought he was awesome and tipped him all my excess (around 25 bucks.)
I cashed in my chips at the cashier cage, got my bag, and got in an airport-bound Taxi.
The flight back was extremely turbulent for the first 30 minutes, but ended up being fine.
I had an amazing time and can't wait to go back.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Day 2 in Vegas
Las Vegas, Day 2 - Wednesday
Wednesday morning I wake up and go downstairs to check my bank account... -69.23???????
I called my bank and found out that Treasure Island had placed charges on my card for incedentals or something like that. Eric Barbaro had informed me that nothing would be charged to my card until the end of the trip. I called him up and he got me hooked up with the right people to get that charge taken off. By the end of the trip, my room ended up being free of charge due to the amount I was wagering at the blackjack tables. I wouldn't have minded those incedental charges had they wited til the end of the trip becuase I got paid on Friday. I had money in hand, but was worried about my bank situation and didn't want to play anything until I got that taken care of. Treasure Island faxed my bank with a release form and the situation was completely taken care of. Whew!!!
Time for another poker tournament...
Josh and I enter another poker tournament at Treasure Island at 11 AM. Josh gets busted out fairly early and watches me play for the next couple of hours. The tournament was only paying 3 money spots and I got kinda short-stacked with 4 players still at the table. I pushed all-in with AJs and am called down by one of the big stacks. He slams his cards down on the table...97o!
It wasn't a horrible play on his part...sure he was behind, but he wanted me out. I'm out in 4th place and have nothing to show for playing... other than learning that Treasure Island is trict about speaking English only during play. A German gentleman and his girlfriend were at the table and speaking German back and forth to each other constantly. The dealer lectured them about the "English Only" policy.
Time to try out tournies at another casino...
Josh and I walk about a mile up the strip to the Aladdin. I played my butt off in this tournament. People were scared to play back at me and rightfully so. This allowed me to pull off a couple of bluffs pre-flop and a few later during hands as well. I kicked butt at the final table as well and had a massive chip stack when there were 8 of us left. I had pocket Kings and raised a decent amount pre-flop...I get re-raised by a guy with less chips than me he has A7s (hearts.) Two hearts on the flop and then a 4th heart on the river gave the guy a flush. I still had a lot of chips and played extremely tight until I was guaranteed cash. I built my stack back up quite a bit and was dealt pocket Kings again. I push all in and am called by the same guy that called me last time....this time he has A7o. The bastard hits a 7 on the flop and another 7 on the turn. He just barely had more chips than me...so I was out in 4th place. This was a much larger tournament than I had just played at Treasure Island, so 4th place took home a nice chunk of change... a little over 300 bucks. Josh busted out early on in this tournament as well, so he had to watch me for another 3 hours or so from the rail.
We head back to Treasure Island to play in the 7PM tournament. This tourney was paying the top 4 spots and Josh and I both make it to the final table. We were down to the final 5 players and I had a massive chip lead. Josh was seated to my left and was the short stack. Action is folded around to us in the blinds. I look down to pocket 3's and push all-in. Josh says, "Me too. I'm all-in". He flips over A7, I believe (can't remember exactly.) Anyway, it doesn't matter because my 3's held up. I knocked Josh out and went on to knock another player out as well. The other two remaining players kept catching cards against me and eventually an Asian guy, who happened to be an off-duty poker dealer at Treasure Island, called my all-in with KJ while I held A9. He catches a King on the turn and I need an Ace on the river to stay in. No Ace falls and I'm out in 3rd. Another nice pay day!
I ran into some sour luck at the blackjack table. The starting dealer was a middle-aged woman... wearing too much lipstick. You could tell that she hated her job. I should have gotten up, but proceeded to lose everything I made from the poker tournaments that day and then some. I was pissed at myself for not getting up. By the end of the night I was actually down a couple hundred bucks for the trip, but tables would soon turn in my favor...
...TO BE CONTINUED...
Wednesday morning I wake up and go downstairs to check my bank account... -69.23???????
I called my bank and found out that Treasure Island had placed charges on my card for incedentals or something like that. Eric Barbaro had informed me that nothing would be charged to my card until the end of the trip. I called him up and he got me hooked up with the right people to get that charge taken off. By the end of the trip, my room ended up being free of charge due to the amount I was wagering at the blackjack tables. I wouldn't have minded those incedental charges had they wited til the end of the trip becuase I got paid on Friday. I had money in hand, but was worried about my bank situation and didn't want to play anything until I got that taken care of. Treasure Island faxed my bank with a release form and the situation was completely taken care of. Whew!!!
Time for another poker tournament...
Josh and I enter another poker tournament at Treasure Island at 11 AM. Josh gets busted out fairly early and watches me play for the next couple of hours. The tournament was only paying 3 money spots and I got kinda short-stacked with 4 players still at the table. I pushed all-in with AJs and am called down by one of the big stacks. He slams his cards down on the table...97o!
It wasn't a horrible play on his part...sure he was behind, but he wanted me out. I'm out in 4th place and have nothing to show for playing... other than learning that Treasure Island is trict about speaking English only during play. A German gentleman and his girlfriend were at the table and speaking German back and forth to each other constantly. The dealer lectured them about the "English Only" policy.
Time to try out tournies at another casino...
Josh and I walk about a mile up the strip to the Aladdin. I played my butt off in this tournament. People were scared to play back at me and rightfully so. This allowed me to pull off a couple of bluffs pre-flop and a few later during hands as well. I kicked butt at the final table as well and had a massive chip stack when there were 8 of us left. I had pocket Kings and raised a decent amount pre-flop...I get re-raised by a guy with less chips than me he has A7s (hearts.) Two hearts on the flop and then a 4th heart on the river gave the guy a flush. I still had a lot of chips and played extremely tight until I was guaranteed cash. I built my stack back up quite a bit and was dealt pocket Kings again. I push all in and am called by the same guy that called me last time....this time he has A7o. The bastard hits a 7 on the flop and another 7 on the turn. He just barely had more chips than me...so I was out in 4th place. This was a much larger tournament than I had just played at Treasure Island, so 4th place took home a nice chunk of change... a little over 300 bucks. Josh busted out early on in this tournament as well, so he had to watch me for another 3 hours or so from the rail.
We head back to Treasure Island to play in the 7PM tournament. This tourney was paying the top 4 spots and Josh and I both make it to the final table. We were down to the final 5 players and I had a massive chip lead. Josh was seated to my left and was the short stack. Action is folded around to us in the blinds. I look down to pocket 3's and push all-in. Josh says, "Me too. I'm all-in". He flips over A7, I believe (can't remember exactly.) Anyway, it doesn't matter because my 3's held up. I knocked Josh out and went on to knock another player out as well. The other two remaining players kept catching cards against me and eventually an Asian guy, who happened to be an off-duty poker dealer at Treasure Island, called my all-in with KJ while I held A9. He catches a King on the turn and I need an Ace on the river to stay in. No Ace falls and I'm out in 3rd. Another nice pay day!
I ran into some sour luck at the blackjack table. The starting dealer was a middle-aged woman... wearing too much lipstick. You could tell that she hated her job. I should have gotten up, but proceeded to lose everything I made from the poker tournaments that day and then some. I was pissed at myself for not getting up. By the end of the night I was actually down a couple hundred bucks for the trip, but tables would soon turn in my favor...
...TO BE CONTINUED...
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Vegas Trip Report
Las Vegas, Day One - Tuesday
Upon arrival at the Las Vegas airort, I headed straight for the tram booths. Taking a tram is always cheaper thasn taking a taxi, but the trams are usually slam packed because they go to all of the casinos. I paid my 5.50 and waited for the #5 tram to show up. I loaded my bag and waited about 15 minutes for the tram to take off. No one else that purchased a ticket was sent to number 5 for that go-round so it was just me and the driver. Straight to Treasure Island I went!
I meet up with my buddy Josh and he takes me to our room, an executive suite on the 32nd floor. I dropped my bags off in the room and he informs me that he has another meeting and that' he'll meet up with me in a bit. I had my MGM Player's club card made and was ready to hit the casino floor!
I decided to hop on a Wheel of Fortune $1 slot machine...I hit the bonus spin game 3 or 4 times within my first 50 pulls, but nothing higher than 50 bucks. All the while, there was an Asian gentleman playing an adjacent machine. He and I were rooting each other on every time one of us would hit the bonus game. Neither of us made anything huge and I decided to move to a different Wheel of Fortune $1 slot.
The new WoF machine was located directly across from the previously played machine in the "kiosk" and I was now seated caddy-cornered to the Asian dude and right next to an elderly Asian woman. I sit down and within 25 spins the woman hit the bonus game and won $500 bucks. I high-fived her and she said, "Your turn to hit big." She was right! No more than 20 pulls later, I hit the bonus spin game. The needle spun around and started slowing down around the $1,000 sector. 99.999999999999% of the time the needle goes just past the 1,000 and into the $20, but not his time the needle stopped in the $1,000!!!
Up over $1,000 for the trip so far, I decide to cash out and call Josh. It was around time for his meeting to let out. I darted over to the elevators to show him the voucher I had for just over $1,200. I cashed-in the voucher and went up to the room so Josh could get his wallet.
Josh isn't much of a gambler, but I taught him to play poker and he is becoming a decent player. He asked me to win him a hundred bucks. I told him to give me 40 bucks and I'll hit the blackjack tables. I turned the $40 into $140 within 15 minutes. I tipped the dealer and then headed off for the poker rom to play in a tournament.
Josh and I busted out of the poker tournament after a couple of hours and I heded out to the blackjack tables again. I gave the dealer my players club card and began betting $25 a hand, which is the minimum to become rated. I began making a bit of cash and decided to jack my bet amount up to $50 a hand for a while. After about 15 minutes of betting $50 a hand I was still hovering around my original profit amount. I looked up and this dude with slicked-back hair and a nice suit on had been closely watching my play. As I was getting up from the table he intoduced himself to me...Eric Barbaro, Casino Marketing. He asked ifm I had a host and informed me that at the rate I was betting, I would be able to get lots of free stuff. He asked where we were staying and I told him that we were at Treasure Island, but moving to another Casino after that night's stay. He told me that if I decided I wanted to stay at Treasure Island for the rest of my trip to give him a call and he could get me a huge discount.
Josh and I discussed it and decided we'd rather just stay at Treasure Island than move our stuff to another casino-hotel. I called Eric up and he set us up to stay in the hotel in one of the $300/ night rooms at the casino rate of $70 a night. He also told me to check with him at the end of the trip as I would probably get the room for free.
I went to the room for a little while and then decided to return to the blackjack table. The dealer got on a huge winning streak and I lost about half of what I had previously won. I called it a night... still being up almost $1,000 for the trip.
Las Vegas, Day 2 - Wednesday
...Details Coming Soon
Upon arrival at the Las Vegas airort, I headed straight for the tram booths. Taking a tram is always cheaper thasn taking a taxi, but the trams are usually slam packed because they go to all of the casinos. I paid my 5.50 and waited for the #5 tram to show up. I loaded my bag and waited about 15 minutes for the tram to take off. No one else that purchased a ticket was sent to number 5 for that go-round so it was just me and the driver. Straight to Treasure Island I went!
I meet up with my buddy Josh and he takes me to our room, an executive suite on the 32nd floor. I dropped my bags off in the room and he informs me that he has another meeting and that' he'll meet up with me in a bit. I had my MGM Player's club card made and was ready to hit the casino floor!
I decided to hop on a Wheel of Fortune $1 slot machine...I hit the bonus spin game 3 or 4 times within my first 50 pulls, but nothing higher than 50 bucks. All the while, there was an Asian gentleman playing an adjacent machine. He and I were rooting each other on every time one of us would hit the bonus game. Neither of us made anything huge and I decided to move to a different Wheel of Fortune $1 slot.
The new WoF machine was located directly across from the previously played machine in the "kiosk" and I was now seated caddy-cornered to the Asian dude and right next to an elderly Asian woman. I sit down and within 25 spins the woman hit the bonus game and won $500 bucks. I high-fived her and she said, "Your turn to hit big." She was right! No more than 20 pulls later, I hit the bonus spin game. The needle spun around and started slowing down around the $1,000 sector. 99.999999999999% of the time the needle goes just past the 1,000 and into the $20, but not his time the needle stopped in the $1,000!!!
Up over $1,000 for the trip so far, I decide to cash out and call Josh. It was around time for his meeting to let out. I darted over to the elevators to show him the voucher I had for just over $1,200. I cashed-in the voucher and went up to the room so Josh could get his wallet.
Josh isn't much of a gambler, but I taught him to play poker and he is becoming a decent player. He asked me to win him a hundred bucks. I told him to give me 40 bucks and I'll hit the blackjack tables. I turned the $40 into $140 within 15 minutes. I tipped the dealer and then headed off for the poker rom to play in a tournament.
Josh and I busted out of the poker tournament after a couple of hours and I heded out to the blackjack tables again. I gave the dealer my players club card and began betting $25 a hand, which is the minimum to become rated. I began making a bit of cash and decided to jack my bet amount up to $50 a hand for a while. After about 15 minutes of betting $50 a hand I was still hovering around my original profit amount. I looked up and this dude with slicked-back hair and a nice suit on had been closely watching my play. As I was getting up from the table he intoduced himself to me...Eric Barbaro, Casino Marketing. He asked ifm I had a host and informed me that at the rate I was betting, I would be able to get lots of free stuff. He asked where we were staying and I told him that we were at Treasure Island, but moving to another Casino after that night's stay. He told me that if I decided I wanted to stay at Treasure Island for the rest of my trip to give him a call and he could get me a huge discount.
Josh and I discussed it and decided we'd rather just stay at Treasure Island than move our stuff to another casino-hotel. I called Eric up and he set us up to stay in the hotel in one of the $300/ night rooms at the casino rate of $70 a night. He also told me to check with him at the end of the trip as I would probably get the room for free.
I went to the room for a little while and then decided to return to the blackjack table. The dealer got on a huge winning streak and I lost about half of what I had previously won. I called it a night... still being up almost $1,000 for the trip.
Las Vegas, Day 2 - Wednesday
...Details Coming Soon
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