Well, the events of today were certainly not as traumatic or violent as yesterdays’.
I never sleep well when I am in Las Vegas. I found myself awake at 3:00am and staring at the stucco on the ceiling of our room. Sean was still asleep, likely still having nightmares over the horrors he had to endure yesterday.
I head downstairs to try out my luck on the MGM Grand slot machines. I had 2 good hits.
I was at a nickel Lobstermainia machine when a young party girl sat down beside me, put $100 into the machine and hit the MAX BET button. I don’t know if she realized this or not, but the maximum bet turned out to be 300 nickels, or $15 per spin. I didn’t say anything. She hit the MAX SPIN button 6 times without winning anything, cashed out the remaining $10 and left with a befuddled look on her face.
At around 8:00am I return to the room to get Sean for breakfast at the MGM Buffet. The selection here is decent, and I even tried their “MGM Twinkie”. I am assuming this is their version of a Deep Fried Twinkie. Well, Sean and I did try it but it tasted terrible and we didn’t finish it.
I'm pretty sure this isn't really a Twinkie, but I'm sure it'll clog your arteries all the same! :<;
We had some time to kill so I decided to make some purchases for my wife (who is a saint for letting me come to Las Vegas) and 2 daughters. We picked up our tickets for the Mentalist @ Planet Hollywood for Sunday June 16. I purchased 2 tickets through Groupon for $25. From there it was off to Sephora, then Guerlain @ the Palazzo and finally the Apple Store in the Fashion Show Mall.
Well, today I was playing in the Golden Nugget’s poker tournament, “The Grand”. The buy in for their Pot Limit Omaha 8 High/Low was $240 and it started at noon. 122 people entered and first place paid about $7300.
My Mlife offer included 2 tickets to “Ka” at 9:30pm. The plan was to send Sean back to the MGM Grand on the Deuce bus if I happened to make it far in the tournament. I didn’t see much of Sean on this day. He said he tried to go swimming in the Shark Tank pool, but there were no chairs available and the upper level adults only pool was charging $20 per lounge chair. So he basically wandered around the casinos of Fremont Street drinking.
I was seated at a table that had way too many “table captains”. No less than 5 players at my table kept belittling and critiquing the dealers and arguing amongst themselves over petty dealing procedures. It made the table mood pretty poor.
I hold my own through the first 2 breaks. By the dinner break at 6:30pm I had 17600 in chips and there were 51 people left. So, I give Sean 1 ticket to “Ka” and he pays his $6 to get on the Deuce at about 7:15pm. I tell him that if I bust out of the tournament before 9:30, I’ll meet him at the show.
Sean riding the Deuce.
The dinner break ended at 7:30pm and we commence play again.
Now over the course of the tournament, I’ve only tabled 2 hands, both of which won the pot. Each of those winning hands contained 2 aces. I played really tight for 8 straight hours so that when the blinds got really high like right now, I could re-raise someone and take down a good pot since anyone at this table of “would be professionals” would realize I am tightest person at the table and fold to me. Well I am reduced to about 15000 in chips and I get this hand:
Ad As Ah 4h
It’s not the greatest of Omaha 8 hands, but my plan was to hope for a raise in front of me, so that I could re-raise all and force the initial raiser to fold. If he calls and we see a flop, my hand would be a favorite over any other hand that would call.
Well, there is a raise in front of me, and I re-raise all in. The initial raiser has me covered and says:
“I know exactly what you have but I’ll gamble with you.” He calls my re-raise with:
Ac 2h 3s 5d
He says, “Nice hand. I like yours better than mine.”
The flop comes 3s 9h Qh. This gives me the over pair of aces and the nut flush draw. The villain has a pair of 3’s and a backdoor nut low draw. I can tell by the look on his face that he thinks he is going to lose.
The turn is the 8s. I still have the overpair with the nut flush draw. The villain is 1 card closer to a low. The only cards that can come to win him the whole pot are: 3d, 3c, 5s, 5c. All of the other 40 cards in the deck will either result in a split pot or win the whole pot for me.
Once again my luck in poker tournaments is putrid. The 5s arrives on the river giving the villain 2 pair and the nut low. I am out in 45th place.
I leave the tournament area, check out of the Golden Nugget, and drive back to the MGM Grand to try and meet up with Sean to see “Ka”.
I get back to the room at 8:30pm. Sean is in there with the face palm when he sees me.
“Man! I should’ve waited for you! I just spent over an hour on the bus! I just got here!”
“Sorry man, there was nothing I could do. Looks like we both took a bad beat there.”
My mood improved though. Just before the show, Sean and I were playing some slot machines. Sean loses $20 in a machine. I put $100 into the machine and hit this within the first few spins.
Sean has never seen a Cirque Du Soleil show before. The comped tickets had us in Section 102, Row K, Seats 4 and 5. The seats were great and Sean loved the show. The only Cirque shows I haven’t seen are Zumanity and the new Michael Jackson One. Everyone has their own personal favorite Cirque show, and mine is “Ka”. I just think that stage is incredible.
After the show, we eat at Wolfgang Puck’s American Bar and Grill. Is this the MGM Grand’s version of a coffee shop? Sean orders a flatiron steak and says it’s one of the best steaks he’s ever had.
After dinner, I lose a bunch of money playing Blackjack, Roulette and Craps. It looks like my luck has taken a turn for the worst. At this point I was considering getting a refund on my WSOP buy in. If my luck continues to be this bad, I don’t know if I want to flush another $1500 down the toilet.
I hit the sack at around 2:30am.
My bankroll = -$500
Sean’s bankroll = -$250
# drinks Sean had = 16
Day 3 to follow.
I never sleep well when I am in Las Vegas. I found myself awake at 3:00am and staring at the stucco on the ceiling of our room. Sean was still asleep, likely still having nightmares over the horrors he had to endure yesterday.
I head downstairs to try out my luck on the MGM Grand slot machines. I had 2 good hits.
I was at a nickel Lobstermainia machine when a young party girl sat down beside me, put $100 into the machine and hit the MAX BET button. I don’t know if she realized this or not, but the maximum bet turned out to be 300 nickels, or $15 per spin. I didn’t say anything. She hit the MAX SPIN button 6 times without winning anything, cashed out the remaining $10 and left with a befuddled look on her face.
At around 8:00am I return to the room to get Sean for breakfast at the MGM Buffet. The selection here is decent, and I even tried their “MGM Twinkie”. I am assuming this is their version of a Deep Fried Twinkie. Well, Sean and I did try it but it tasted terrible and we didn’t finish it.
I'm pretty sure this isn't really a Twinkie, but I'm sure it'll clog your arteries all the same! :<;
We had some time to kill so I decided to make some purchases for my wife (who is a saint for letting me come to Las Vegas) and 2 daughters. We picked up our tickets for the Mentalist @ Planet Hollywood for Sunday June 16. I purchased 2 tickets through Groupon for $25. From there it was off to Sephora, then Guerlain @ the Palazzo and finally the Apple Store in the Fashion Show Mall.
Well, today I was playing in the Golden Nugget’s poker tournament, “The Grand”. The buy in for their Pot Limit Omaha 8 High/Low was $240 and it started at noon. 122 people entered and first place paid about $7300.
My Mlife offer included 2 tickets to “Ka” at 9:30pm. The plan was to send Sean back to the MGM Grand on the Deuce bus if I happened to make it far in the tournament. I didn’t see much of Sean on this day. He said he tried to go swimming in the Shark Tank pool, but there were no chairs available and the upper level adults only pool was charging $20 per lounge chair. So he basically wandered around the casinos of Fremont Street drinking.
I was seated at a table that had way too many “table captains”. No less than 5 players at my table kept belittling and critiquing the dealers and arguing amongst themselves over petty dealing procedures. It made the table mood pretty poor.
I hold my own through the first 2 breaks. By the dinner break at 6:30pm I had 17600 in chips and there were 51 people left. So, I give Sean 1 ticket to “Ka” and he pays his $6 to get on the Deuce at about 7:15pm. I tell him that if I bust out of the tournament before 9:30, I’ll meet him at the show.
Sean riding the Deuce.
The dinner break ended at 7:30pm and we commence play again.
Now over the course of the tournament, I’ve only tabled 2 hands, both of which won the pot. Each of those winning hands contained 2 aces. I played really tight for 8 straight hours so that when the blinds got really high like right now, I could re-raise someone and take down a good pot since anyone at this table of “would be professionals” would realize I am tightest person at the table and fold to me. Well I am reduced to about 15000 in chips and I get this hand:
Ad As Ah 4h
It’s not the greatest of Omaha 8 hands, but my plan was to hope for a raise in front of me, so that I could re-raise all and force the initial raiser to fold. If he calls and we see a flop, my hand would be a favorite over any other hand that would call.
Well, there is a raise in front of me, and I re-raise all in. The initial raiser has me covered and says:
“I know exactly what you have but I’ll gamble with you.” He calls my re-raise with:
Ac 2h 3s 5d
He says, “Nice hand. I like yours better than mine.”
The flop comes 3s 9h Qh. This gives me the over pair of aces and the nut flush draw. The villain has a pair of 3’s and a backdoor nut low draw. I can tell by the look on his face that he thinks he is going to lose.
The turn is the 8s. I still have the overpair with the nut flush draw. The villain is 1 card closer to a low. The only cards that can come to win him the whole pot are: 3d, 3c, 5s, 5c. All of the other 40 cards in the deck will either result in a split pot or win the whole pot for me.
Once again my luck in poker tournaments is putrid. The 5s arrives on the river giving the villain 2 pair and the nut low. I am out in 45th place.
I leave the tournament area, check out of the Golden Nugget, and drive back to the MGM Grand to try and meet up with Sean to see “Ka”.
I get back to the room at 8:30pm. Sean is in there with the face palm when he sees me.
“Man! I should’ve waited for you! I just spent over an hour on the bus! I just got here!”
“Sorry man, there was nothing I could do. Looks like we both took a bad beat there.”
My mood improved though. Just before the show, Sean and I were playing some slot machines. Sean loses $20 in a machine. I put $100 into the machine and hit this within the first few spins.
Sean has never seen a Cirque Du Soleil show before. The comped tickets had us in Section 102, Row K, Seats 4 and 5. The seats were great and Sean loved the show. The only Cirque shows I haven’t seen are Zumanity and the new Michael Jackson One. Everyone has their own personal favorite Cirque show, and mine is “Ka”. I just think that stage is incredible.
After the show, we eat at Wolfgang Puck’s American Bar and Grill. Is this the MGM Grand’s version of a coffee shop? Sean orders a flatiron steak and says it’s one of the best steaks he’s ever had.
After dinner, I lose a bunch of money playing Blackjack, Roulette and Craps. It looks like my luck has taken a turn for the worst. At this point I was considering getting a refund on my WSOP buy in. If my luck continues to be this bad, I don’t know if I want to flush another $1500 down the toilet.
I hit the sack at around 2:30am.
My bankroll = -$500
Sean’s bankroll = -$250
# drinks Sean had = 16
Day 3 to follow.
