I woke up five minutes before my alarm was set to go off - VEGAS BABY !The Super Shuttle was a few minutes early but, no worries, I was all set to go. Spoke with the driver on the way to the next pick-up (which was way out of the way compared to the normal route to the airport - maybe they were short drivers this morning?) and he basically complained about his girlfriend and how all she wanted was money, money and more money - I replied - "who doesn't?" At least it got a laugh out of him and he told me about his almost two year old baby - although I avoided telling him that I'm a divorce attorney as that usually brings up tons of questions about child support and child custody - I'm done with free legal advice!
Made it to the airport which was surprisingly crowded and breezed through security. Now enjoying some Vitamin Water Zero (XXX flavor) and a protein bar.
I arrived at Caesars Palace and used the self-serve kiosk to check-in - not too bad and better than waiting in the check-in line. Of course, in order to check-in early, I would have to pay $30 - basically got you by the you know what's with that fee as I don't feel like storing my bags for 3 hours. So, I clicked yes and I was off to my room. Hail, Caesar (Julius Tower)
Room was very nice, small but well appointed with a nice view of the Flamingo. I logged on to the WIFI and was very disappointed - it was so slow it will not even let me upload any photos to my blog or even to Twitter. As such, everything above was uploaded using my Verizon data plan. I've Tweeted to Caesars so we shall see if they give me a resort fee discount for my troubles LOL - sorry, I couldn't keep myself from laughing!
Venturing out and about - Took a short walk through the Forum Shops as I forgot to bring some moisturizer and the desert is not kind to my skin so picked up some facial moisturizer at Sephora - shout out to the transgendered sales girl as I think we are at a point in society (or maybe just in NY and Vegas, where nobody blinks when encountering a transgendered person - pat on the back to society)
Alright, gathered myself together and headed to the Palace Court at Caesars - one table was Reserved for a guy playing $5k two hands at a time - one was $500min- two were $200min and one was $100min
I was about to sit down at first base at the $100 min table when the guy sitting in the center seat hopped to first base over saying he wanted that seat - I looked at him quizzically and he stated "Well, I want to play the first spot" to which I replied "Well why weren't you sitting there to begin with" to which he replied "I don't like actually sitting there but want to be the first" - the floor person sided with him because he had been at the table first - I rolled my eyes and walked around the pit when a dealer who remembered me from years ago said hello - I stopped to chat and found out a dealer I always enjoyed playing with had retired and now plays golf 4-5 times per week (good for him!) and apologized to the woman playing for interrupting her game - she replied "Nonsense - you seem like a fun guy, why don't you join me?" - I replied that I like to play at $100min tables and not $200min - this was quickly remedied as she had the floor person grant me a special dispensation to play $100min-turns out she is a retired corporate litigation attorney here for a few days with her husband--so we played and had some fun for about an hour before her husband showed up and they were off to explore more of Vegas beyond the blackjack tables.
Moments later, a gentleman and his girlfriend sat down to play and the whole table got to talking about conspiracy theories in the financial world (this guy was just being promoted to CFO of the company he worked for and on his way to Europe to meet some new clients) We both rode the roller coaster that is the game of blackjack - the most I was ahead was $500 and the most I was down was $500 - not a bad standard deviation at all - However, after playing a couple of hours i couldn't decide whether I was more tired, thirsty or hungry. Without fanfare, I decided to head up to the room, shower and venture out to find some sustenance. Like I stated, not much in the way of crazy bad or crazy good runs of cards at the table, which is fine by me. Trip +300
Apparently, everyone else in Vegas had the same idea - since I'm by myself, I figured I could at least find a spot at a bar and order food somewhere or at least get something at the food court. However, after a half hour I had yet to hit pay dirt - until I happened upon “Seersucker”, where I was treated to a super spicy burger and fries which was excellent but left my mouth on fire. A Buddy of mine from NY who now lives in Vegas dropped by and witnessed the worst a$$-beating I could take, not in terms of monetary loss but in terms of dealer insanity...Of course, the idiot guy from before who had to play first base decided to jump in and out of the game every 15 hands or so - hate that they allow mid-shoe entry - but, be that as it may, over the course of four shoes, the dealers made 31 Blackjacks - yes, you read that correctly, 31 Blackjacks - I think I had maybe 4 during those shoes
I am now taking a break but RAAAAAAAAGING - Trip -1700
Took a break and watched my buddy play $5 three card poker - a lady at the table kept telling him the only way to make money at the game was to play the 6-card bonus - I told him this bet was a waste - however, he was having a good time and played it sporadically - after about 30 minutes, he had lost his $100 buy-in and asked me if I had calmed down enough to resume my play...I nodded affirmatively and we headed back to Palace Court - The "I have to be at first base" guy was there and now he had become my best friend informing me how the table was doing -- the guy who was actually at first base was playing 1k/hand and I saw him go through about 10k in a shoe and he quit--"first base guy" following shortly thereafter. I sat down at first base and my buddy ordered a Guiness while I ordered a Fiji water--there was an affable guy at third base and right before the shoe started a couple of young guys sat down (they were both immediately ID'd and couldn't have been older than 22 or 23). Only one of them was going to play and he had neither cash nor chips - what he did have, however, was a stack of fifty $500 bet vouchers - the dealer asked him where he got them all and he replied it's his first time in Vegas and he just won a slot tournament where first prize was $25k in promo vouchers (apparently, they forced him to take them at a $500 minimum) We all played a few roller coaster shoes with a dealer who seemed more interested in joking about all the table losses than actually dealing the cards. The young guy played through 9500 of his vouchers and wound up with 8k in cash for his troubles. He left when the dealer changed to a friendly woman I remember playing with a couple of years ago. By this time, out of my 3k trip buy-in, I was down to 500. However, the dealer change was exactly what the doctor ordered as, within one shoe, I had gotten all the way back to 1800 of the 3k bankroll I began with. There was a reserved table with a guy playing 5k/hand with about 10 hangers-on cheering for him (maybe they were getting a cut of the action, but I doubt it lol). I'd like to win so much that I had a fan club :) oh well, a man can dream
My buddy wanted to play some more three card poker so he played some more but was out another 50 quickly. We grabbed some pizza at Di Fara but was not good at all. He was heading back home to Chinatown to go to a karaoke bar - I wished him goodnight, got an almond Snickers bar and headed up to the room
Trip -1200 and I'm exhausted Sweet dreams