Aloha 2+2,

Just got back from the desert, and though I’m usually a 50/50 chance TR guy, I figured I would share this one, which is being written up post trip. Also, I stayed at Resorts World and I’m gonna guess some people may want to know what it’s like. I’ll split it up into a couple posts, and my photo set isn’t exactly great, but it’s what I got.



Saturday July 10.

Had to find my mask before heading to the airport, so that was kind of a bummer. Everything around here, save for like one restaurant I go to, has been maskless and open since memorial day weekend. Forgot how much I did not enjoy wearing the thing, but oh well, if I need to for travel that’s fine.

Win 1, got bumped up to first class.

Which means Slurmz got to sleep the whole damn flight, it was great.

Landed, picked up the bag and grabbed a taxi to Resorts world. I know the fares are posted directly when you get your cab now, but Resorts World isn’t on the boards yet. Also back home the uber/lyft situation is a damn yard sale with a large shortage of drivers so I didn’t want to chance melting in the heat with my bags if it’s the same in Vegas (spoiler, it very much is). The guy asks if I have cash, and quotes me 35$ when I say I do. We’re off without the meter being turned on. Seems like a fair trade.

Get to Resorts world and get dropped off at the Hilton.

Beat 1, my Digital Key is still not ready, so I have to wait in the check in line.

It actually moved pretty fast, and I’m in my room on the 58th floor facing the strip in about 15 minutes. Pros and Cons for the Room

Pros; Rooms nice, The view is pretty great but its only a smaller window of your window with their big led billboard on the side of the hotel, shower is a rainfall shower.






Cons; Rooms quite small (like smaller than Aria small), fridge doesn’t work,

Also the strip view rooms face the outdoor club, and much like Wynn/Encore you can hear it bumping from your room. The bass is noticeable. I live near train tracks and a fire station with an ambulance back home so it was fine with me, also I don’t spend much time in the room, but I’m guessing some of their other guests will be less than pleased. I know checking it at Encore, they usually ask you if that’s OK, I did not get said question here.

Anyway, quick Cat Nap, shower, and I was off to explore a little bit. The gaming floor is huge. I’ll talk a little more in a future post, but yeah, Resorts World has a lot to offer.








Met up with a friend around 5 and we got Mexican tapas at Viva! at Resorts World.

I don’t have pics of the food, but the order was Octopus, Carnitas, Ceviche, (all served kinda tapas style) and an order of Tortillas. I had the Margarita, and my friend had Mezcal. As for the food

Octopus; the Spanish octopus at Catch and the Octopus verde at Eataly are both better and cost the same. Still it was better than anything I can get at home.

Carnitas; The Carnitas were fall apart with a fork good. Do recommend.

Ceviche; It was Ceviche. It was good Ceviche. It wasn’t a standout or anything.

Finish up food and it was time to head out to the fight. Here’s where things start going bad for Resorts World….

The pool lets out about the same time we are trying to get out, and there was also a Garth Brooks concert going on at Allegiant Stadium I guess. This creates an absolute shitshow at the front. The cab line is unreal and populated with at least 2 shirtless dudes in wheelchairs who look like they need to go get fluids at the hospital, not back to their room with their buddies which is where they are obviously going. Lyft and Uber are both a no go, no one is getting through, and RW is far enough from everything else on the strip that walking anywhere else in 110 degree heat is a non-starter. After 10 minutes of trying to figure something out, we just get in the car and park at Cosmo to walk over. Probably cost us a fight on the prelims.

Anyway, parked at the Cosmo and walked the bridge/Aria/Park MGM route, my friend picks out who I was told was Lacey Wildd from Botched while we were walking through Aria so we had to double back to do a walk by. All I can say is they looked more ridiculous in person.

Into T-Mobile and grabbing drinks on the way to our seats.

Beat 2; T-Mobile is pouring out ALL drinks into plastic cup. And, despite the fact that they are all cashless (like pretty much every sporting venue post Covid), they are not all touchless (which everywhere else is). This means that every transaction at the beer fridge involves opening said beer (or Water!) and pouring it out 1 at a time into a plastic cup, THEN running your card, waiting for **** to print, and then having to fill out the Tip/Total/Signature line with ink. Un-F’in-Real how long that line took. For how awesome this arena is (I’ve been to a couple fights and hockey games here), it is run very, very, poorly, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.

Anyway, we finally got to our seats in the upper part of the Loge (100 level). I had similar seats to a fight before here, and I’ll say they were very good. Would recommend as a cheaper option than lower bowl seats.










The fight was a blast. Maybe because it was the first indoor event I’ve attended in 18 months that was packed to the brim, no masks, etc. but I had a ton of fun. Tai Tuivasa stole the damn show. Walked out to Spice Girls, dropped Greg Hardy, did a shooey, and then had some fun on the mic afterward. It was awesome. The main event was kinda anti-climactic, but damn if the lead up didn’t feel like a huge fight. Plus I won some coin on the under 1.5 rounds.

After the fight we head back to the Cosmo where they are checking **** at the door to let you in. Either a reservation or a room key (they accepted our parking ticket). Kinda wild to see, and they were enforcing it, I saw 2 guys get practically tackled trying to get under the ropes.

Head back to Resorts World and spent the rest of the night at Starlight 66 drinking a couple drinks. GREAT views from the 66th floor, drinks weren’t that terribly priced (20$ a pop), and it was a very chill relaxed vibe. Would recommend. Unfortunately the reflections off the glass ruin pretty much any photo from up there, but trust me it’s sweet.

Around 1:30 everyone kinda decides to split, so I head to the poker room for a late night 1-3 session. Got an immediate seat (good!) next to the belligerent ******* of the table (bad!). He complained very loudly about drink service like 3 times in the first 20 minutes I was there. After he got up to ***** to the floor about it, then sat back down cursing under his breath I decided that this actually sucked and just left to go up to the room before the first dealer change -15$ on poker.




I’ll write up Sunday hopefully tomorrow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great trip!

Really appreciating the Resorts World review

Sounds like fun.

The fight pics aren't showing up for me btw. Anyone else?

Noticed that too. The poker pic is out of order as well. It kinda looks like the first curse word I dropped scrambled everything.

I’ll clean it up for the next post, and hopefully it works better? It’s a little different than last time I did a TR (last summer)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

RW pics






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Fight pics






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Good stuff

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

Thanks. Good so far, looking forward to the rest.

Alright well the photos aren’t exactly going well for me this time, so you all get text, then photos from here on out. Sorry (in my most Minnesota voice)

Sunday July 11th



Woke up early, saw my phone wasn’t plugged in but looked plugged in. Figured that dumb problem out and went to the pool.

RW Win. Great, great, damn pool. Theres like 9 of them. Supposedly 5 acres of pools? Space to just lay out and hang for all. Also an infinity pool with a view (ish?). Do recommend. I would say best pool-ish spot on the strip. Bigger and more spots that any place else, and its not really close (Mirage is probably the closest). Didn’t see any table games, but maybe it was early, and also I wasn’t looking for them, plus it was early. Probably the only drawback. Also I have no pool pics.

Left the pool, showered up, and went to RedTail for the Euro Champ game. Pics below. Great Fun game to watch. Redtail review below


Pros; Can very much be a fun spot! TVs everywhere, Old school arcade games, nice staff. Also they seem to be throwing out the party vibe (couches, NBA Jam TE, pop a shot, pool tables) they have a whole ton of unused space, like Covid spacing space. Very strange. It kinda looked like maybe they roll out Beer Pong tables later?



Cons; Quite far away in the RW mall, for better or worse you have to pass by the Dawg House (which is where the RW sports book is located, more on that later) and go quite a ways down the mall.



still had fun (Great game!) and it was a fun spot to be a random and cheer for/against some soccer.

Food/Bev Review

I had the chili burger and it was fine, but Holsteins blows it out the water. They did the 2 patty move, which is great if you know how to do it, but most burger spots don’t. They’d be better with a ½ pounder. Pretty sure it wouldn’t have mattered how I ordered, but I asked for pink, then was asked “so like medium?” Sure. You work here. Very well done for both of them. For 25$ it was disappointing. I’d maybe try again, but the Dawg House is in the gaming floor, they aren’t. I’d go there first. Wish them the best, but they need to offer something special/big to make people pass the Dawg House and wander down the mall, which I’m not sure they do. Hope they prove me wrong. The staff was very nice.



Anyway met back up with friends at Starlight 66 after the game for a drink (Victoria was our waitress and she might be the most gorgeous women I have ever seen! Super sweet as well) and made our way to the center strip area. The crew kinda breaks apart here with different ideas for diner, poker, table games, peeler joint, etc. No big deal. Vegas is a damn blast solo!!

I made my way to the cosmo, a good friend works there and was on dice. Table was a little steep (50$ min, max I Usually go is 25$), but company is company, so I belly up.

Dice come to me and I go en fuego!!!!

The lady to my left is throwing money around, 100 across all 3 bonuses, numbers, etc. I have bets out too, but nothing like her.

What felt like an hour in but was definitely only like 20 minutes, I’ve made a ton of points, cleared the talls, and only have the 2 left for the smalls, alls. She tosses 100 Horn for her, 25 for the dealers, and 25 for me? (never had that happen before!). I tell the dealers that my 25 is theirs (Thanks for the thought though!) I look at the table and realize this is a 20-25k roll if I go snake eyes for her with the 100s spread on the bonuses. Damn Wild!

The dice leave my hand and………

7 out. Oh well. Vegas wasn’t built on winners.

Color up my stack to walking chips and head up to Momofuku for dinner. Pretty big wait, but the “you got a bar seat for me? Yes, just me” finds me with a seat at the prep kitchen bar. Ramen and a beer. I love the Ramen here, try to get it every time.

Recognize the bartender pouring drinks and tell my server to let him know Slurmz from MN says hello. A couple minutes later we are chatting and I have a free cocktail in front of me. I absolutely love knowing service industry people in not my hometown! It really does make other places feel like home.

Belly full of food and I make my way over to the Bellagio for some poker. Get seated at a table and it is unreal wild. People are ordering 2 beers at a time, prop bets are being taken on whether or not 2 beers will come back, chips are flying, jokes are being cracked, straddles, the works. Great, great table. Unfortunately for yours truly my 2 big hands don’t go my way. Hands below, apologies, I’m not the best at typing up poker hands.

Stack is at 350ish (+50). Hero has 5 5 on button.

Bet to 15, call, call, Raise to 50.

Hero calls, BB Calls, Call, Call, Call. (Yes, it was that type of table)



300ish in pot.

Flop is 4, 6, 7 rainbow.

Bet 40, Call, Call, Raise to 120.

Hero shoves (300 ish). Original Bettor Hollywoods for like 5 minutes with 88 and folds. Raiser calls and tables AA. I knew I was behind, the pot played itself though. Turn and river bricks out (K, 9).

Reload

Nothing of note. Chipped up to 350ish again.

1 away from the button, straddle on (super loose guy, same one who hollywooded 88 when he was obviously toast). Pick up A 10. Bump it to 20.

Straddle reraises to 60. Hero Calls.

5 7 10. Straddle puts out 40, Hero Bumps it to 120. Straddle pushes in. Hero Calls

A 10 vs Q 10 (it was suited).

3, Q come out. And Im felted again, tired, and head back to the room.

+800ish Dice

-600 Poker



Monday hopefully coming later today.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Red Tail photos







Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Momofuku



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Random RW photos






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The B





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

thanks for the report!

I've never been to resorts world but you make it seem like a decent property. Seems like walking distance to Encore poker room, maybe V as well? How was their own poker room?

Regarding the hotel room, is fridge not working a common thing or you just didn't care to swithc rooms?

Tyia

eta: tx for the fight pics, I always wonder at what the view is actually like and if it's worth the money

[ ] Pics of Victoria

...obv

I was there for this fight the exact same time, stayed at westgate and was also my first time to Vegas. Absolutely great time but saturday day and night seemed like a **** show everywhere due to garth brook and the fights and bruno mars. I was in section 220 and my buddy was in section 10 (Balling)

Great TR! Enjoyed the pics and RW review. Looking forward to checking it out during my next trip.

Monday July 12th



Wake up, same cell phone problem (you’d figure Im not this stupid, but I am). Get a charge going and hit the pool for an hour or two beforeit becomes Mars hot to be outside.



Again, highly recommend the pool here. New favorite.



Head back inside, shower up and eat at the Eat Market (or whatever they call it here). Its like 30 spots, any food you’d want, though a very Asian slant, which sounds great to me! Also, you can just order from any of the touch screens, then go pick your food up when they text you it’s ready. And it works too! Like really slick. I had the duck tacos, the shrimp dumplings, and a Hatachino White Ale. All from different stands and it took zero time. They have a crazy amount of stuff from everywhere, and everything I had was at least good, if not great for the price. Do recommend for the price and convenience.



The Eats,



Duck Tacos. There were a ton of raves about the duck burrito and I wanted it bad. But it wasn’t on the menu when I was there. Kinda weird. You obviously advertise it. Duck Tacos (13$) were good, but small, id grab that damn burrito if it was there. I bet it’s awesome.



Shrimp dumplings were amazing for like 12$. Put that in Beauty and Essex and People pay 25$ for it and still brag about it. Do recommend.



Hitachino White Ale on draft is kind of a unicorn thing. Its 14$. Its worth it. You also have to go to Nori Bar and order it in person. Again DO recommend. I’ve only seen it one other place on tap. I also live in the Midwest so if it’s like commonplace in the Bay Area I guess I’m just hip anymore.



Filled up it was craps time. Sat for too much of the afternoon. It was FUN! Won some, lost some, left with a small winner. Table kicked ass. Shout out to Dave the carpenter from LA who hung out with me for probably longer than he wanted to. Drink service at the dice table was great, probably put down 4 Stella’s in under two hours. Table was fun and talkative. Would roll again. Also, and it was fine but weird, they ask to cash you out as a cash slip, like the slots. I don’t play tall enough, but that seems like there’s a tax pay or something I’m missing. Again you don’t have to, but they were very adamant in asking. Never heard of that tech at a craps table, and the “hey you want a ticket?” Instead of chips was strange. Maybe it gets you comps, maybe Uncle Sam grabs some money? IDK.


Hit the room, showered, and made my way to Mandalay for the US vs Australia game. We just decided to get tickets at the ticket office to save on fees and, in front of us was a couple who were both digging for second base, but in front of them in line was,

FL legend Billy Donovan (WAY shorter than he looks)

And (PDX former coach) Mo Cheeks

Billy was NOT happy where his will call tickets were, he called people, he was wearing a gold chain, he seems like an a* hole. Kept the agent busy for like 10 minutes. Which if there wasn’t a line would be fine but there very much was one, and they are here to watch the US exhibition game against Australia. These are your hard core fans. Don’t be an ass. Mo seemed cool. I said “hey mo” I got a nod. He did seem to be trying to usher both of them into the arena, like people know us. We can solve this inside move.

Cliff notes. Mo Cheeks seems like an awesome dude. Biily Donovan doesn’t (plus he wears a gold chain as a 55 year old dude)

Anyway I asked for the cheapest seats you got, and got a seat in the upper deck for the game. Lotta Armchair GMs around me. Tatum Sucks, Durant Sucks, Grant is the Future, Dame is Selfish, Lakers should Trade for Dame, etc. etc. Im an MN kid and the Wolves have always been terrible. Still love b-ball at the highest level. Trade all of them for Deangello Russel please!, It was fun. Of course they lost, because USA basketball doesn’t mean anything to the best of the best.

Durant takes a lot of front running ****, but he’s always been in on team USA, he shows up and plays in the exhibition games, dude cares. I have a compare it to hockey take (from MN), but him and Lillard show up ready to go. Gotta love that.



Anyway, game over, uber back, and back up to Starlight 66 for a couple drinks. Had fun for probably too long. Game break and Im back to the poker room.



Buy in and proceed to run over the table. It was prime for LAG city. In for 300, out for 1000+. Was called on 2 hands, and one was a huge mistake (left 250 on the table). Gotta bet to win. Also I threw back like 10 Stella’s, played my image up (ask if Im the blind, what’s it to me, show bluffs, etc). Settle into the Slurmz mode. Don’t get me wrong, the cards weren’t bad, but it seemed like a lot of people trying to not lose more for their flight in the morning.

The 250 mistake.

Hero has K5 clubs on the big blind.

Checks around, 2 clubs on the flop, including the Ac another c and junk

Hero bets to 15, Button Raise to 40 (pretty loose all night). Hero calls, one other call (for what? I don’t know).

Turn is a non pair club, Hero has the nuts. Villian bets 40. Hero Calls. I played MouseTrap growing up buddy.

River doesn’t pair ****, Hero checks over, Villian goes 40 again (History here, he bet 40 into me before and I raised 140 wanting a call, didn’t get it).

Drunk hero tosses a single (I know dumb) chip in as a raise to 100. Said it too, but after the toss.

There’s was some talk at the table, I wanted a raise to 100. I know that’s not what I did. I’m not an ass that is on me.

Somehow no raise. Just a call. He tables the Q high flush (2nd nuts). I win a nice pot with the K high flush (nuts), but I play that pot in any other way and I have the other 200 chips in his stack. I start fuming at my dumbassery, 10 beers deep, at like 4 AM.

Blinds come around to me and I just leave. Always been able to recognize when I’m making dumb plays, win or lose, at the low stakes.

Up to the room and I am out.

Tuesday is not that cool, but Ill try to get it up tomorrow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The food spots







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The food




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**** sorry more food





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The food market/rando RW photos






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Line for usa b ball (featuring one Billy d)





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The game







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also last thing on Michelin Ultra arena. I got a 24 oz Wolf Pup from Golden Road (LA) for 13$. I know it’s still robbery, but it’s not fort knox robbery and it tastes good and it lasted pretty much the whole game. Please keep it.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk