Last night was far more eventful than I anticipated. Didn’t get to bed til 2.30am, or 10.30am UK time meaning I’d been up for around 28 hours at that point. Just woken up now at 8.30am after a solid 6 hours sleep which, given how jet leg and Vegas mess with your sleep, seems a pretty decent result.
Dan, Tom, Martin, Jon and I all put sessions in at the Bellagio as a first port of call upon arrival yesterday but it was largely carnage. I couldn’t really get anything going, finding myself in a lot of annoying spots where nothing quite went right and ended up -350 on session 1. Dan was getting beaten up at 2/5 and Jon too at the 1/3, whilst Martin and Tom managed to escape level or with small profits. We tapped out after a few hours and headed for Secret Pizza:
After that, Lewis and Pete had arrived in town and we met up with them to show them around a bit. Whilst waiting to meet them in the PH, Dan, Jon and I sought vengeance for the poker losses in a true game of skill: Casino War.
We stuck $20 each into a communal bankroll and probably ran about as good as it’s possible to run at War. We kept afloat long enough to get a beer, and cashed out for a morale-boosting $5 & 1 beer profit each, or rather Jon and I did - Dan scoffed at the idea of cashing out a single green and was duly punished after going all-in and seeing his Q destroyed by a dealer A.
We met Lewis and Pete and went on a bit of a casino crawl, first up to O’Sheas for a beer and we played some blackjack fairly successfully, Pete and I getting away even and Lewis making around $100. With it being those guys’ first time in Vegas it was a lot of fun sweating with them and watching Lewis run up a profit.
Next stop was the Venetian for just a wander around and a drink. Lewis’s blackjack profit was put to good utility as he lost the game of Spoof to buy the $100-round...
Then we headed into Harrah’s on our way back down the strip. An empty Free Bet Blackjack table called out to us and we had a great time for an hour or more drinking beers and keeping our heads above water - all 5 of us managed to have a few beers and come away no worse than even to a man: the highlight being Jon’s last hand where he was all-in for $80 or so having been into the game for $200. He managed to find an 11 for a free double and the dealer did her thing and painted it for 21 to bungee Jon Boy out of the hole!
We received the lovely news that Duncan, Chris, Tom, and Dan had arrived in town from San Diego and were slinging dice at PH, so we power-walked down there to join in and arrived just as an Asian girl was working some heat into proceedings. This was a very fun session, with 6 of us crammed around one end of the table and the rest railing and we had plenty to cheer (except for my dismal roll which 7’d out immediately after setting the point and loading the bases). Everyone else’s rolls were much better and we landed some nice hard-ways presses and the crew were doing well out of us; it was generally a great time, everyone managing profits of between 200-500.
I’d expected to crash with exhaustion at any moment but the flowing beers and good times were keeping my body and mind in high spirits and we wandered over to the poker room where Tom had earlier left the craps rail to grab a seat. With 2 empty seats to his right, Dan and I licked our lips and attempted to bum-hunt him only to be told by the floor that we can’t both sit. Neither of us sat, therefore, in protest, and we ended up managing to get the floor to agree to start a whole new table with 9 of us!
The 2-7 game was immediately in-play for $10 per man and resulted in several fun hands, with Chris punting off a stack into my trips early on trying to secure the $80 windfall and more important bragging rights.
A few randoms came and went, trying to get a slice of the action but to no avail, topped off by Dan punishing one such random chap who led into him on the river for about $70. Dan coldly makes it $175 which is enough for the guy to muck his 72o face up, to be shown Dan’s 83o! Bluffing with the best hand...
After that we grabbed an Earl and wrapped things up. Dan had managed to win $400 or so in the game, making some headway into the chunky $1700 loss he’d weathered earlier at 2/5. I conjured up a $200 win which, allied with a $250 or so craps win makes, I think, slightly ahead after day 1’s action! A very fine and welcome result after the poor start. I think we’d all agree that day 1 was a massive hit and I’m very excited that this is just the start - it’s impossible to beat the fun of being in Vegas with some of your favourite company.
Today’s plan is to get breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi and dinner at Hell’s Kitchen, punctuated by the Champions’ League football games at 12. Until then, 2+2!
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