Bloggers in Las Vegas (Part One)

Wow, I've already gotten some very positive responses. Some of the top players I know have written to say they feel I'm doing the right thing. Not that I had any doubts, but it surely feels good to hear something positive, instead of just constant criticism and flaming.

I know that some of the bloggers in Vegas think I was talking badly about them, but nothing could be further from the truth. I had a great time and thought everyone was pretty awesome, except maybe BG, who had a hard time taking my ribbing ;)

The person I was so disappointed in was myself! I was veering way off course in this journal, and was beating myself up when I found out just how wrong I'd been. There is absolutely no reason that normal people should not come home at night and decompress by playing a little low buy-in online game, having a good time and laughing it up. $25 is nothing for a night's entertainment. I was looking at things from a backwards view, and the person I was beating up in my journal was myself, not you guys.

I think there is a little bit of a misunderstanding about me and Hold'em. I don't "hate" Hold'em. I don't hate any poker game, although O8 used to drive me to distraction (now you know why I have no hair, lol). The thing with HE is, after the big boom, no one wanted to play anything else. So it was sort of like if I were a board game specialist, then suddenly the only game readily available to play was Monopoly. It gets old, fast, when it is the only game in town.

I have probably played 1000 Hold'em tourneys in the past two years (including SNG's, that is). So please don't be under any misconception that I "hate" HE, or that I "don't know how to play HE." I seem to get that a lot.

Now, getting to the time we spent in Vegas...I think Glenn's journal is probably better than anything I'd have to say, but I did have a great time.

We arrived around 11am on Friday and went to Excal/Luxor after dropping our dog off at the vet. We saw Mas at Luxor, then later Bad Blood and Otis came in. Those two were so stuck together during the two days we were there that I'd swear they were more than friends, if I didn't know better (haha).

I heard that Boy Genius was going to be at the tourney, so I looked around for him, but never saw him show up. I wanted to rib him about teasing his ex-wife.

Glenn and I headed up to the Bellagio while the Luxor tourney was going on. They had both a 20/40 and a 40/80 Stud game going, but they were no good, despite a big festival being held at the time. I cashed out of 20/40 in about 15 minutes, $24 down.

I saw the tourney circuit players there, save one or two. I was hoping to run into Greg, and ask him to come by ST if he had a chance. He must have been busted out, or not played on Friday. I didn't see Jean either. I was able to give a quick hello and encouragement to a few players, and say a formal "hi" to Harry Demetriou, whom I've never spoken to in person.

We hightailed it back to the Excal, where everyone was arriving and starting to play. One table was populated almost completely by bloggers. Pauly asked me to join in, but when I found out it was only $1-3 spread limit HE, I just couldn't force myself to do it.

Instead, I tried to get Gail to set up a private mixed game for us. She agreed to do so when there were extra dealers available. We never did get the private game, but we did get a 2/4 O8 game going, which was mostly populated by bloggers.

No one really makes anything in this type of game, the house is usually the only big winner. I think Al made a little profit, but just about everyone else was even or a bit down. I think I finished $20 down.

Al and I had planned to eat at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint, because we'd heard that Boy Genius loved sushi. Oddly enough BG didn't even end up attending! In fact, we couldn't get anyone to come with us save Al, Mrs, Mike, Glenn and me. Sad.

We had a fabulous time, got to spend some good quality time talking, and Al wasn't even the drunkest person on the room. Instead, all of these old ladies were doing shots and laughing it up. Now, you know it's bad when you are in a sushi place, the place next door is a bar with video poker, and it's the BAR patrons who are banging on the wall to be quiet! We couldn't endure anymore, though, when the ladies started doing Japanese karaoke and had the words to Jingle Bells provided for them. Yeah, they were THAT drunk.

Amazingly, our pit bullish Yorkie was so drugged up that he let everyone pet him. We were astounded. He is usually barking and biting like mad. He must have been really stoned, lucky dog.

We dropped off the sushi lovers and went to check into our hotel. The ole' Travelodge, that accepts pets. We went to sleep rather early and got up early enough to get to the banquet at 9:30am.

Surprisingly, we weren't the first ones there. There were probably already ten people in the room. The ever-ready J&J, Charlie and a few more. The coffee was strong and hot, and Glenn ate plenty of the free grub, so it must have been okay, lol.

Part two coming soon...