Introduction

Hello! I'm Bloobird, and you may remember me from the 2018 trip report I completely blasted, or possibly more favourably from my 2015 or 2016 TRs.

Anyway, after four years, I'm going to be back in Vegas very soon! Always knew it was going to be a while after the last trip, given small children, but I didn't anticipate Covid as well.



Travelling solo this time, and planning to do the TR live, which should mean a lot more pictures, a lot less words, and a lot less of a chance of me failing completely (might recap the best bits of the 2018 trip in here before the next one starts, if I get the time).

The Itinerary

Once again, I'm doing a little more than just Vegas...

- I fly out to San Francisco on Monday 25th. I've got three nights in San Francisco, plans include seeing a Lady Lamb gig and catching a Giants game.
- On Thursday 28th, I drive to Yosemite to do some hiking. I've got a night booked in the Yosemite Valley Lodge right in the park.
- Friday 29th starts with a morning of hiking in Yosemite, then I'm driving to Kernville for beer and live music at Kern River Brewing
- Saturday 30th is a scenic drive from Kernville through Death Valley, finally coming into Vegas in the evening.
- Staying at the Park MGM from Saturday 30th until the evening of Friday 6th, when I'm flying back home.

Very hyped for this trip, although a little nervous about the need to pass a covid test on Sunday next week before I travel. I'm triple vaxxed, had Covid back in January, and symptomless, but I've played enough poker to know that even 99% EV isn't a sure thing. Could be the biggest beat of the trip before I even get to the airport, as this holiday is in a gap between jobs for me, and rescheduling might be impossible.

Vegas Plans

- Lots of food. Current plans include e, Kaiseki Yuzu, Edo Tapas, Main Street Provisions, Milos, Cipriani, China Poblano, Bavette's and a few wild cards, but there's every chance I might change some of those around in the next couple of weeks.
- Shows (got tickets to O, Mystere and Blue Man Group, and hoping to hit up the dueling pianos in NYNY and maybe a show at the Sand Dollar Lounge one evening)
- Area 15 (both Omega Mart and Lost Spirits sound absolutely amazing and I'm super keen to see them)
- Plenty of alcohol (mostly beer, some cocktails)
- Pinball Hall of Fame (the absolute best thing in Vegas and I will hear no other opinion)
- Lots of low stakes poker (I'm out of practice and even when I was in practice I wasn't anything to shout about poker-wise. And I'll be drinking. So anything better than breaking even will be a win)
- Maybe some other stuff idk

Meetup?

Are you in Vegas (or SF) at the same time as me? Do you like the idea of socialising with a 33-year old accountant who genuinely thinks that tax laws are super interesting? Do you want to not only read this TR, but also feature in it? Then get in touch! I'm travelling solo and always happy to meet a friendly 2+2er, so drop me a PM or post in here and we can see if we can make something work.

Obligatory shoe pic - beat up Merrells for hiking, Loakes (need a polish) for when I go somewhere nice, and Vans/Sperrys for everyday wandering

oh, and reading a 2+2 classic to get me even more hyped for Vegas

Gl. Intrigued by omega mart. Had one friend go but apparently it was rammed.

Probably in for a lunch & some low limit drinking.

In for the TR.

Nice time of year to be in Death Valley. Should be warm, but not unpleasant. If you're fortunate and they've gotten some rains, the desert wildflowers can be pretty spetacular.

Just east of DV is a ghost town called Rhyolite, if you're into that sort of thing. Kinda-sorta on the way to Vegas.

Safe travels, especially in the Sierras this time of year.

Great start! My first thought was wondering if you ever finished up the last one, lol. Good luck.

Ooh good luck!!

sub

I saw her at a bar in Angel, was really good.

Enjoy your trip!

On board for the ride. Have fun!

Posting to subscribe in epic bread.

GL!!!

subbed, and I had no idea there was a book about the ship it holla ballas.

hyped

Weds/Thurs/Fri would all work for me, let me know nearer the time which works for you and can plan something

thanks - will keep it in mind depending on how much time I spend sightseeing in Death Valley and what time it is when I reach the other side

oh nice, I only found out about her last year but Ripely Pine in particular is already one of my absolute favourite albums of the '10s

it's surprisingly a really good book - don't think I'm aware of a book out there that does a better job at portraying the internet poker boom

alright, let's start with the best story. if I remember correctly, it was the night before halloween

had done a day trip to Zion with my dad, so spent the day hiking and driving, then we went for an outstanding meal in Edo Tapas

it was 10pmish when we left that, and my dad is old and likes an early bed, so he called it a night fairly shortly after that, I decided to go play some 1/2 at Planet Hollywood, figured I'd play for a couple of hours and call it a night around 1am

I sat down at a fairly mediocre table, played for half an hour or so, then I spotted a guy wearing a trash bag, which caught my attention, and after a second glance, I was 90% sure it was 2+2 legend slim/arthurbach

for those who don't know him, he's posted a series of super degen trip reports that are highly entertaining, very much the opposite of what you get from me

anyway, I wandered over and confirmed that it was him, and then table-changed over when I got the chance because I figured there was a good chance of some entertaining shenanigans, he was fun to chat to, and at one point mentioned he'd met one of the backstreet boys earlier that evening

about half an hour later, that self-same backstreet boy wandered over and sat down at the poker table, and one of the most fun times I've ever had at a poker table ensued

slim, the backstreet boy, and a couple of other guys (iirc one of them owned a marina somewhere?) were playing full wild LAG, tonnes of drinking (myself included), tonnes of stories, plenty of chatting ****, just a crazy fun time. most of the anecdotes told were unrepeatable, but I will say that the backstreet boy explaining how he'd chipped his tooth was one of the funniest goddamn stories I've ever heard

I remember little of the poker, other than that at one point slim was shoving his stack ($800 or so) blind every hand, he got all folds every time until I woke up with AQs the fifth or sixth time he did it. I felt pretty good when the board ran out Q-high. slim flipped his first card over, a queen, so he had some outs. he flipped the other one over to reveal the case queen and I've lost a $1600 pot vs someone playing blind, lol them's the breaks

game broke around 6-7amish, somehow despite sitting in one of the best, most actiony games of my life, I'd ended up almost exactly breakeven across the session, but **** it, you'd pay a lot of money to have that much fun, and I staggered back to bed, briefly waking my dad to tell him to under no circumstances wake me before midday

(and if you want to hear how slim told it, see below, it's my hand holding the corona in the final pic, although I've got no photos of that evening myself)

Thursday probably the best generally, but any should be fine. Much more flexible since starting my own firm in March.

Pmed you

Sounds fantastic and as you said we are there at the same time - PM'ing you now. Given the obvious overlaps in food, booze and poker then crossing paths sounds like a plan!!!

don't want this to turn into a debate on masks, but purely selfishly in terms of my personal comfort I'm delighted by this:

https://mobile.twitter.com/British_A...27659412226058

GL on the trip and be interesting to get your thoughts on Rhyolite if you go - I drove up there in 2019.

three more sleeps!

still sweating the covid test on Sunday, but I did one yesterday that came up negative so would have to be really unlucky to test positive three days later

got most of the packing done, looks like I'll manage with hand luggage only which always makes life far easier

have a few photos from my last trip - let's start with the food porn to whet the appetite

Wing Lei peking duck - this was a fun tasting menu but definitely way overpriced for what it was, even by Vegas standards. Still, it was my dad's favourite meal in Vegas so **** it.



the dessert was very good though (with bonus action shot of my dad downing his wine)



Nomad bar avocado toast - yes I'm a millennial but goddamn this was good



Edo Tapas was my favourite meal, so good I'm going back this time. Bikini sandwich and the croquettes the absolute highlights for me, and we went back for a second round of them after the main tasting menu



Sparrow and Wolf bone in steak with banchan - great last night meal, the steak at Bavette's (no photo as it's so goddamn dark in there) was better, but not by much, and this was far better value.



Did a tour of Banger Brewing which was a fun way to pass an hour - good beer as well.



other unphotographed meals included Peppermill (meh), Wicked Spoon (also meh), Bavette's (great but super pricey) and a few casual places (nothing noteworthy)

(I've upgraded to a Pixel 6 recently so photo quality on this trip should hopefully be way higher)

well there's the biggest potential beat of the trip dodged

got the covid admin done, checked in as soon as it opened, and bagged a window seat

nice

6am start, but I'm on the move. After over a year of anticipation, it's happening!

certainly a good date for me this year