I dropped the dogs of with an ex, who always loved my dogs. I was afraid that when I went out of town, the usual fair of leave them outside to their doghouse with the neighbors feeding them might not work in December like it does in warmer parts of the year. I was afraid Georgia might decide to have some of those 20-degree nights while I was gone. Of course instead there were highs in the 70’s in Atlanta while I was gone, and lows in the high 20’s in Vegas. But still I felt good knowing my dogs would be more properly loved on while I was away.
Jeff came over late, and we stayed up drinking the rest of the beer until about 3am. Good thing we ran out of beer, or we would have definitely missed our flight. I set my alarm for 6am, but it didn’t go off. I forgot about the “weekend” setting which keeps it from going off on the weekends. Luckily Jeff is a doctor and has some crazy “doctor time radar thing” so he woke up at 6:15am and without showers we were off to the airport.
We were nowhere near each other on the plane, but I did manage to watch Stardust, and before I knew it, we were landing in Vegas. At the baggage claim we hear our names being called to the Delta suitcase center, as it appears my bag didn’t make it out on our flight. “I told you you should have tipped the guy”, Jeff said, speaking of the curbside bag guys. I had no idea you were supposed to tip them, and I guess it worked against me. Well the bag would be delivered to Chris’s house later that day, so we met Chris and were off.
Two bloody Mary’s on the plane, and then a breakfast with a few screwdrivers, and by the time we got to Chris’s house, all we could do was lay around on the couch and take naps. A few hours before dark, Chris took us four wheeling behind his house, which was right on the edge of the Vegas house construction, and we bounced up the hills until we found a trail. We walked up a bit, and found a bunch of 1,000’s of years old petroglyphs carved into the hills. (Pictures to follow when I get them from Jeff) We sat up there as the sun was going down, and then back to the house and before we knew it, the entire day was gone, and we had fallen asleep. Maybe not the best idea to get only 3 hours sleep before traveling.
Gambling in Vegas
Day 2 saw us get up early, drink some screwdrivers, and head out to the casinos. We started off at a $65 tourney at the Flamingo. Pay out was at 3, and I got 8th. Jeff was out early and played some cash games to win his money back. Then off the Paris for another $65 tourney. Jeff was out early again, and this time I got 6th when I was killed by suck out. Then off down the street to the MGM Grand. The MGM had the best common card room I had seen yet, and I really enjoyed myself in the $1-$2 game. We played for another 6 hours, and by the time we left, I was actually up about $30 for the day after winning back my tourney buy ins at the cash tables.
Heading home that night I felt like it was Vegas 0, Shawn 1.
Day 3 I got tricked. We all woke up, and Chris said they wanted to go on a long hike. He said it was up to me if I wanted to go or stay home, and that it only 300 feet in elevation and that his grandmother could do it. Not wanting to be called a pussy, I said I was going. In reality, it was a 6-mile hike with about 1,000 feet in elevation over the course of the circle around a large stone mountain. I didn’t really realize this until we were about 2 miles in on the back side, and by that time, I might as well keep going. I’m glad I did.
It was a really nice hike, and the steep parts were not too bad, and the scenery was something to see. It seems every new hill brought a patch of different plants or trees, depending on how much sun light that part of the trail got. Up at the top the view was fulfilling, as I realized it had been maybe a decade or more since I climbed that high up a mountainside. I was proud of myself, until I realized we had more than 3 miles to go, and I didn’t know if it would all be down, or a mix of down and up. In reality, the down was harder on me than the up, as my knees were starting to hurt a bit by the end, but we made it to the car, and on the drive out we were all thinking of some good beer, good food, and Monday Night Football.
Unfortunately the Falcons were playing, the home team, and it was embarrassing, but the meal Jeff and Danielle cooked up was better than most dinners at a fine restaurant. We fell asleep in that full on a good meal and just did a 6-mile hike kind of way with visions of poker in our heads.
Day 4, back to the strip. Jeff was down overall for the trip, and I was still sitting at up $30, so we went back to the MGM Grand poker room. I was either staying even or getting rocked by suck outs all day long. I bought back in a few times, and after 5 hours, I was in for $600 bucks with only $200 left in front of me. The cards had been slim, and the suck outs were plentiful. And then the hand that would ruin my vacation.
I got the aces, it’s about time I’m thinking, but I know enough about aces to know how much they can lose you a big pot. Already on my table, I had seen aces lose 3 times over the course of the afternoon. I raise it up, and get called, and the flop comes Q-9-5, all spades. I look back, and I don’t have the ace of spades, so I get a little worried. I throw out a bet, and get called. Turn is another 9. I bet again, and get called again. Now in my experience with poker so far, which I’m no pro by any means, but usually when you bet and get called twice, chances are you might be beat. So the river comes, it’s a 6. Not a spade, and no straight on the board. I think I checked this time, and the guy goes all in for everything I have left, which is about $125. I’ve already bought in all the money I planned to play, and if I lost this hand, I would be getting up and leaving the tables for my trip, so I thought about it for maybe 3 or 4 minutes. First of all, I was worried he flopped a flush. But other hands on my mind were any 9, or a pair of 5’s, and after the river, a pair of 6’s. He could have also played the way he did with a pair of Q’s in the hole. So I was agonizing. I finally laid it down, and he showed KK. I would have won a huge pot, and I was now on tilt. Of course, while on tilt, I start getting AK, and AQ, and I keep playing hoping everyone thinks I’m on tilt, but I still couldn’t hit a flop.
I hung in for a few more hours, but eventually went broke. I had brought $400 to lose in Vegas… not a lot I know, but with Christmas coming up and home repairs in my future, I didn’t want to gamble too much money away. But now I was down almost $600. I’m over my limit, so I get up from the table. I head down the way trying to clear my head, and I see a roulette table. I put my last $20 cash down on red because the new girl who is working for me suggested I do so before heading out of town. I doubled up. Then I somehow went on a run for the next hour and ended up winning almost $200 at roulette. During this time I saw some guys put $500 on black and double up, and a girl spend 35 minutes betting almost every number on the board and eventually losing it all.
Jeff was done, so we headed over to Hooters casino to find another poker game. I figure I’ve got a buy in for a $1-$2 game. They have two tables of drunken people at Hooters, one smoking table, one non-smoking. I take the smoking table and play for another 2 hours and break even. Jeff took the non-smoking table and won $450. I guess it pays to be a non-smoker.
So on the way home that night, I figured the score was now, Vegas 1, Shawn 1.
By the time I got to sleep, it was 3am, or 6am EST. I was awake 4 hours later to sounds of kids playing downstairs. (My bed was the couch). A few hours later I was off to the airport, and saying goodbye to my buddies. The flight home had a crappy movie, so I read most of the way, and how I got to work on Thursday around 10am, I will never know, but there you go… my first run in with Vegas. I ended up coming home with the exact amount I had planned to lose, so I guess overall, I did well. The caliber of poker player out there was much better than I am used to in Atlanta, so overall I feel like I learned some good lessons. I’ll go back and visit, but I don’t think I could ever live there. The place it too full of rocks and retaining walls with no trees. Maybe next time I will catch a few shows. |
