5 Days @ the Golden Nugget
Day 1: Most of this day was spent on the road. Socorro is about 9 1/2 - 10 hours from Vegas. We got up early, hit the road, but took our time at rest stops, food stops, etc. Checked in at the Golden Nugget at about 4:00PM. We got lucky and walked right up to the first check-in station with no waiting and were in our South Tower (no free upgrade here) room within 12 minutes or so. Time to wash-up, have a Crown/Coke and relax for a few. My first comment to my girlfriend (BD) is about the heat, or lack thereof. Every time we're here about the same time of year and it's usually like 115 days and 100 nights. Day 1 this year was around 87-90, very cool by Vegas standards and very enjoyable as well. We grab a sandwhich at the Grille (great food, btw) and relax some more. Then we both check our player's cards to make sure we're still in the system...we are. Time to head-out to Fremont Street and play tourist a little. We walk the street and check out the shops and booths. I forget to check out the deep-fried Oreos but make a mental note to try one the next day. Then it's time for some fun. BD isn't a poker player. She enjoys kicking back in front of the slots, enjoying a margarita, and just kickin' it. I, of course, go check out the poker room. It's fairly busy and there is no 1-2nl or 3-6 limit available, so I take a 2-4 limit to pass some time. I failed to mention that it was more than one Crown & Coke I had before I take my seat, hehe. Anyway, I start checking out the players and they're all but 2 from out of town. And...they're all drinking and having fun.It's a true no-fold 'em, holdem game. I smile to myself and think that I should easily be able to pick up a few bucks off a table of drunken tourists. 2 hours and a rack shorter, I realised who the drunken tourist was.....LESSON- do not drink and play poker expecting to win!!!!!!! The 2 locals (the only ones not drinking) were extremely pleased.
to be continued....
Day 2:
Ugh, taken a while to update this...Back to work after the trip and lots of catching up to do:
Took our time getting going Sunday morning. No coffee makers in the room (yeah, it's Vegas, baby). Go down to the lobby and wait in line for twenty minutes for two coffees and Danishes at Starbucks. BD's almost ready by then. We decide to go check out the wax museum at the Venetian before we do any gambling or poker. Drive to the venetian and are pleasantly surprised to find a spot in the parking ramp right away and to find out it's free. We stroll on over to the wax museum and it turned out to be pretty cool. Very life-like figures that you can pose with (Jenna Jamison)
. Tired of walking, we hop the monorail and ride it all the way both ways just to kick it for awhile and see the strip from a very different point-of-view. An hour later, we're back at the Venetian and start walking South. We checked out the IP, Harrah's, Las vegas Club, and a few others. Had an afternoon dinner at Outback's. It was alot more reasonable than the fancier steakhouses and it's always a good value and great steak. Dinner for two about 80.00 including a couple drinks. Get our Harrah's card cuz for some reason, we never got one. We threw a few bucks in the machines ...maybe we'll get on their mailing list? Then a few more drinks at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar. By then it was about 8PM, so we drive back downtown, freshen up a bit, and walk the Fremont Street. BD checks out the Chippendale's and I forget to get a deep-fried Oreo as suggested by AlaskaGal. I tell BD to go ahead to the Chippendale's show and I'd go spend some time at GlitterGulch. We do neither and end up back in the GN. Time for some more live poker 3-6 limit again as the only open 1-2 nl is stacked with green and I don't want to buy-in short-stacked. 3 hours of break-even(card-dead) poker at that level is all I can stand so it's up to the room with a Philly Cheese sandwich from the Grille (delicious and reasonable).
Day 3:
. 1139.00 ftw.
Another line at Starbuck's, fifteen minutes or so. Hot cocolate and croissants to start the day. I want to play the 225 Grand event but decide there will be too many entries and don't want BD to be a poker widow for 12-14 hours. I opt for the 65 daily event they have. BD goes to the machines and I sit with 33 others in the tourney. The structure is similar to those I play here in New Mexico and I feel comfortable about finishing well. I stay away from the local's stacks as much as possible. There were a few that obviously knew each other and were regulars of this tourney. I started slow, playing only three hands (all winners) in the first hour. Key hand: pocket 3's in cutoff. utg calls, folded around to me..I call. Button folds, sb folds, and bb checks. Flop 10-7-3 rainbow. Checked around to me and I check as well..Turn is A. bb bets about half the pot, utg raises, and I shove. Both call and the river brings nada. Nice triple score. 33>a10>ak
It's only 2:15 in the afternoon. I grab BD and we do some casino hopping, drinking and just checking it out in general. I forget to get a deep-fried Oreo again but the margarita's we're drinking kick-in and I decide that there will be no more poker this day. After imbibing on a little too much tequila, we head to the room.
Day 4:
I wake-up dreading the trip downstairs to Starbucks but I really need to juice-up. To my surprise, there are only two people ahead of me and I'm back at the room with natural OJ, coffee and Danish. This day was scheduled to be our railbird trip to the Rio. Every year we go, buy a cap at the WSOP store, and do the autograph and picture thing. I got to add Mike Sexton and Johnny Chan to the collection along with the usuals...Mike Matusow, Greg Raymer, Negreanu, etc. We watched Chan play 2 hands in three orbits and decided to head out. Though it's exciting to see all the pros at work, it does become boring after awhile. Poker is much more a player's sport than one for spectators unless you're watching the hole cards on TV. As I said, it's still alot of fun and we'll keep going back until I sit on the other side of the ropes. A few drinks and a few slots later, we left the Rio and headed back downtown for our final night. We check out the Fremont Street experience again and I forget to eat a deep-fried Oreo again. A few hours of 3-6 in the poker room finds me up about 45.00 and it's off to bed.
Day 5:
Leaving Vegas is always hard. The time we're there seems like it's never long enough to do it all, and if I had my way, I'd be in a poker room the entire time, but such is life. No Starbucks this morning as we just want to pack up and hit the road. We check out by 9:00 and as we're pulling out of the parking ramp, I remember that i wanted to try a deep-fried Oreo, but that doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse to stay longer. On the Boulder Highway we decide to stop at the last casino before the Dam. No time for poker if they did have a room ( I saw two tables sitting vacant on the casino floor) so we play slots for 30 minutes or so and I cash 350.00. Nice way to end a trip, I'd say.
Sorry if I jumped from 1st person to 2nd or 3rd person in this report (for all you nits out there) but this was finished up back here at work in somewhat of a hurry. See ya next year, Las Vegas!!
Coming soon....groundhog day in Vegas...stay tuned!!