TR + PICS: 4 Dutch guys, 1 wk roadtrip, 2 wks Vegas
12-15-2014
, 03:43 PM
Day 13
It is a morning like most mornings, so no surprises here. We normally go to Vegas in May, but October is even better to be here. It is still a nice 80-90F. Not too hot, perfect.
Fedor will play the 400$ tourney in the Wynn and the rest of us want to grind some hours at the Flamingo. I still need 2 hours for the freeroll, which is tomorrow and the others a bit over 7.
We drop off Fedor near the Wynn and we park the car at the Flamingo. First we head over to the Paris to have breakfast/lunch at Mon Ami Gabi.
Back at the Flamingo we play for a couple of hours and it is a real grind. The only hand worth mentioning is a hand from Ouwkes against the ultimate calling station. He has A
K and after a raise he is HU against villain. Flop is A
810
. Ouwkes c-bets, villain raises, Ouwkes goes all in and he calls. Turn is 2, river is 2. Villain just shakes his head and says: “I missed”. He is about to fold when he looks again and says: “No, I didn’t” and he opens up J2. It really looked like a slowroll, but we believe he didn’t do it on purpose and that it’s just a rookie mistake.
3 hours in I’ve had enough of this boring table, but at least I can play the freeroll tomorrow morning.
Fedor’s tournament was no success and he joins us. He got busted with AQ preflop all in against another AQ. Needless to say he was a bit tilted. He reportedly stormed out to the European roulette in the high limit we visited a couple of days ago and this time he didn’t waste any time to try and use the 5$ chips, he just used the 25$ ones. 2 spins later he was 1500$ up and waved the manager in the pinstriped suit goodbye. Have a nice life sir.
We decide that tonight is an excellent opportunity to go to 1 of the sushi restaurants that Webjoker has recommended, namely Musashi.
Ok, this is so much better than Japonais. We keep ordering and everything tastes great. The check is over 200$, but worth every dollar.
check please
We head back to the Flamingo, because Ouwkes still needs a few hours for the freeroll, so he and Fedor sit down in the poker room. Fedor has some fond memories of the Limit Game in the Flamingo (see picture below from our last trip) where he pulled an all nighter to clear the freeroll but he decides to join the 1-2NL with Ouwkes to have some fun.
Roald thinks it’s not worth the grind so he joins me at the Crazy 4 Poker table. We sit next to 2 girls, 1 of which turns out has some Dutch roots. It’s a fun table and when a dealer named Phornzie starts dealing she is automatically renamed ‘The Fonz’. (yes, I am that old…).
After getting several good hands in the beginning one of the girls keeps losing time after time. “I used to like you, Fonzie”, she says. “Until you jumped the shark”, I add. This cultural reference earns me a “Wheyheeee” and a high five.
After a few hours we check upon Fedor and Ouwkes. Ouwkes still needs to play 1.5 hours but the rest of us have had enough. He decides to stay for a couple of hours, since the table is pretty juicy. At 01.00 we head home. Tomorrow the freeroll, and……. the LA Lakers are coming to town!
It is a morning like most mornings, so no surprises here. We normally go to Vegas in May, but October is even better to be here. It is still a nice 80-90F. Not too hot, perfect.
Fedor will play the 400$ tourney in the Wynn and the rest of us want to grind some hours at the Flamingo. I still need 2 hours for the freeroll, which is tomorrow and the others a bit over 7.
We drop off Fedor near the Wynn and we park the car at the Flamingo. First we head over to the Paris to have breakfast/lunch at Mon Ami Gabi.
Back at the Flamingo we play for a couple of hours and it is a real grind. The only hand worth mentioning is a hand from Ouwkes against the ultimate calling station. He has A
K and after a raise he is HU against villain. Flop is A810. Ouwkes c-bets, villain raises, Ouwkes goes all in and he calls. Turn is 2, river is 2. Villain just shakes his head and says: “I missed”. He is about to fold when he looks again and says: “No, I didn’t” and he opens up J2. It really looked like a slowroll, but we believe he didn’t do it on purpose and that it’s just a rookie mistake. 3 hours in I’ve had enough of this boring table, but at least I can play the freeroll tomorrow morning.
Fedor’s tournament was no success and he joins us. He got busted with AQ preflop all in against another AQ. Needless to say he was a bit tilted. He reportedly stormed out to the European roulette in the high limit we visited a couple of days ago and this time he didn’t waste any time to try and use the 5$ chips, he just used the 25$ ones. 2 spins later he was 1500$ up and waved the manager in the pinstriped suit goodbye. Have a nice life sir.
We decide that tonight is an excellent opportunity to go to 1 of the sushi restaurants that Webjoker has recommended, namely Musashi.
Ok, this is so much better than Japonais. We keep ordering and everything tastes great. The check is over 200$, but worth every dollar.
check please
We head back to the Flamingo, because Ouwkes still needs a few hours for the freeroll, so he and Fedor sit down in the poker room. Fedor has some fond memories of the Limit Game in the Flamingo (see picture below from our last trip) where he pulled an all nighter to clear the freeroll but he decides to join the 1-2NL with Ouwkes to have some fun.
Roald thinks it’s not worth the grind so he joins me at the Crazy 4 Poker table. We sit next to 2 girls, 1 of which turns out has some Dutch roots. It’s a fun table and when a dealer named Phornzie starts dealing she is automatically renamed ‘The Fonz’. (yes, I am that old…).
After getting several good hands in the beginning one of the girls keeps losing time after time. “I used to like you, Fonzie”, she says. “Until you jumped the shark”, I add. This cultural reference earns me a “Wheyheeee” and a high five.
After a few hours we check upon Fedor and Ouwkes. Ouwkes still needs to play 1.5 hours but the rest of us have had enough. He decides to stay for a couple of hours, since the table is pretty juicy. At 01.00 we head home. Tomorrow the freeroll, and……. the LA Lakers are coming to town!
12-16-2014
, 10:13 PM
12-20-2014
, 11:13 AM
Day 14
I have set my alarm this morning, since the weekly Flamingo freeroll starts at 9 AM. Even though Roald won’t play the freeroll he still wants to join us because he had the brilliant plan of having breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi, where you can sit outside with a perfect view on the Strip and the Bellagio.
Fedor won’t join. He will go to the Strip at a later time to buy us tickets for the Lakers game in the MGM Grand Arena tonight against the Sacramento Kings.
I ask Roald if he has seen Ouwkes, but he is not in his bed. I check the couch in the pool-room, no sign of him. Ok, no worries, knowing him he stayed in town last night and didn’t bother to come home.
We get in the car and head to the Flamingo. On the way over there I try to call him. I expect 2 things: 1) I get his voicemail or 2) he picks up, completely pissed. I didn’t expect option number 3: he picks up and he doesn’t sound drunk at all. He is still at the Flamingo and because the table was so crazy/juicy he decided to stay all night.
Roald and I Valet park the car and meet up with Ouwkes. I ask how his night went and he starts telling us a story about two Ozzies who sat the entire night with him at the table. They both got really drunk and hit every hand that they played. One of them was so drunk he couldn’t stack his chips anymore; there was just one big pile of chips. He was so far gone, he even bit in a glass! His entire mouth was filled with pieces of glass. Btw, this was not enough reason to send the guy home apparently. Only when he started to fall off his chair the staff strongly suggested him to pack up and leave.
Ouwkes is not in the mood for breakfast, so Roald an I walk towards the Paris. It’s around 8 AM and there is plenty of space outside on the terrace of Mon Ami. I love observing people. At this time there are basically 4 types of people on the Strip.
1) The working crowd e.g. road workers.
2) The drunk who went clubbin’ all night. Easy to spot, especially the girls, who are holding their heels in their hands so they have to walk barefoot.
3) The early bird tourists who want to make the most of their day. Most of them are couples where the wife is in charge and the hubby obediently follows and
4) the running fanatics. These peeps are crazy enough to exercise at this god-forsaken hour on a street that is definitely not fit for running on.
We order a cappuccino, fresh OJ and a bagel with salmon and watch the world pass by. 2 Tables next to us 2 guys are sitting down and they can be placed in the 2nd category mentioned above. They are really trying to act sober but they fail in every way. Coffee is spilled and lifting a fork to their mouth turns out to be very difficult.
Back in the Flamingo I sit down at a table filled with regulars and where the average age is 65. I am crippled when my QQ can’t win from 99. After several limpers I find AT on the button. I go all in and got called by one of the limpers with AQ. No help and I’m out. I join Roald who is sitting at a Table Game and I drop 300$ like it’s hot. This turned out to be a good indication for the rest of the day. Ouwkes is also out of the tournament and he and Roald decide to go home.
I hang around for a bit and after a while I decide to go to the Planet. There are several items on my to-do/to-eat list and of them (besides a slice of pizza from the Secret Pizza Place in the Cosmo) is a sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich. There is already a big queue, but when you play poker, you can order a sandwich via the poker pit. Excellent!
I sit down and have a look at the menu. They all look nice to me but I chose the safe option and order the Earl’s Club.I can see why this joint is so popular. Great tasty sandwiches.
Poker-wise this is not my day. I have AK and I hit 2 pair on the flop, but got defeated by a flush. I hit a set, the other makes a straight and so on.
Since I have to some kill time until around 6 PM today I decide to play one of their daily tournaments. I take it easy and wait for my spots instead of playing aggressively.
I build up some stack, but the structure is gruesome and in no time I have about 10BB left. I push my last 8.5k with 99 against AQ and for some reason I win this hand. I did not expect this, looking at my luck in tournaments the last couple of days. In the commotion I collect my chips without properly counting. 2 Hands later I realize I only have 13k instead of the 18k that I was supposed to have (2x 8.5k + blinds). Somehow the dealer didn’t give me a 5k chip. I tell this to the dealer but he is convinced he did everything correctly and that calling the floor is of no use, since they won’t check this anyway. FML.
My final 2 hands are in line with the former days. AT vs 66 with a T on the flop and a 6 on the river and 55 vs AQ with a Q on the flop and no help for me.
Luckily there are the girls in the pleasure pit to comfort me. Also the Vodka/pineapple is soothing the pain. What doesn’t help is the cash flow going in the wrong direction.
At about 5.30 PM I walk towards the MGM. I enter the MGM via the West Wing Bar. The last time I was here was 2 years ago and at that time they were in the middle of the renovation. Unfortunately they have decided to keep the poker room at the ‘new’ spot. I really liked the original place. Oh well. The lion den is also gone and they now have a new bar. The former 4 times we have stayed here, but it still baffles me how big this hotel is.
When I finally arrive at the Grand Arena Fedor and Roald are already there (Ouwkes won’t join us and he is sleeping like a log at the moment). We have some nice seats in the corner.
I always wanted to attend an NBA game and this is the perfect way even though this is only a pre-season game. I really like the Lakers ever since we have been coming to Vegas. There was always a lot of cheering going on at the several sportsbooks during the play-offs in May and it got me excited too. Unfortunately Kobe isn't playing tonight. Still, it’s very nice to see this match and it is exciting until the end when the Kings win with a 2-pointer in the buzzer.
warm-up
We call Ouwkes to see where he is at, but it sounds like we just woke him up. We agree to meet up in the MGM to have a quick bite at Wolfgang Pucks Grill bar. In the meantime it’s European roulette time!!
There is only one small Indian guy playing and he is betting at least 1000$ per spin. It is fascinating to see. He tells us he is already 25k in the hole today, but that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He keeps smiling the entire time.
When Ouwkes finally arrives we have dinner at Wolfgang’s. It’s around midnight when we are finished and we all want to do something different. I want to play at the MGM (trip down memory lane), Roald wants to play at the Flamingo and Ouwkes and Fedor will try their luck at the Bellagio. I walk to the poker pit and when I walk by the cashier I see our Indian friend who is in need of some more ammo to play on the roulette.
One advantage of the poker pit in the MGM, it’s close to Hakkasan, so a lot of nice looking ladies are lining up over there.
This is really not my day because I get a seat with my back towards the casino, so I can’t see what’s passing by. One thing I hear though, and that is the entourage of Mini-Me. There is a lot of shouting going on and when I turn around I see Mini-Me (Verne Troyer), sitting in a custom-made electric wheelchair with several guys walking behind him, making sure we know a celebrity is coming through.
I play for a couple of hours but I can’t win a single pot.
I leave at around 4 AM. Roald is already at home and 10 minutes after I arrive both Fedor and Ouwkes step in as well. Time for some well-deserved sleep.
I have set my alarm this morning, since the weekly Flamingo freeroll starts at 9 AM. Even though Roald won’t play the freeroll he still wants to join us because he had the brilliant plan of having breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi, where you can sit outside with a perfect view on the Strip and the Bellagio.
Fedor won’t join. He will go to the Strip at a later time to buy us tickets for the Lakers game in the MGM Grand Arena tonight against the Sacramento Kings.
I ask Roald if he has seen Ouwkes, but he is not in his bed. I check the couch in the pool-room, no sign of him. Ok, no worries, knowing him he stayed in town last night and didn’t bother to come home.
We get in the car and head to the Flamingo. On the way over there I try to call him. I expect 2 things: 1) I get his voicemail or 2) he picks up, completely pissed. I didn’t expect option number 3: he picks up and he doesn’t sound drunk at all. He is still at the Flamingo and because the table was so crazy/juicy he decided to stay all night.
Roald and I Valet park the car and meet up with Ouwkes. I ask how his night went and he starts telling us a story about two Ozzies who sat the entire night with him at the table. They both got really drunk and hit every hand that they played. One of them was so drunk he couldn’t stack his chips anymore; there was just one big pile of chips. He was so far gone, he even bit in a glass! His entire mouth was filled with pieces of glass. Btw, this was not enough reason to send the guy home apparently. Only when he started to fall off his chair the staff strongly suggested him to pack up and leave.
Ouwkes is not in the mood for breakfast, so Roald an I walk towards the Paris. It’s around 8 AM and there is plenty of space outside on the terrace of Mon Ami. I love observing people. At this time there are basically 4 types of people on the Strip.
1) The working crowd e.g. road workers.
2) The drunk who went clubbin’ all night. Easy to spot, especially the girls, who are holding their heels in their hands so they have to walk barefoot.
3) The early bird tourists who want to make the most of their day. Most of them are couples where the wife is in charge and the hubby obediently follows and
4) the running fanatics. These peeps are crazy enough to exercise at this god-forsaken hour on a street that is definitely not fit for running on.
We order a cappuccino, fresh OJ and a bagel with salmon and watch the world pass by. 2 Tables next to us 2 guys are sitting down and they can be placed in the 2nd category mentioned above. They are really trying to act sober but they fail in every way. Coffee is spilled and lifting a fork to their mouth turns out to be very difficult.
Back in the Flamingo I sit down at a table filled with regulars and where the average age is 65. I am crippled when my QQ can’t win from 99. After several limpers I find AT on the button. I go all in and got called by one of the limpers with AQ. No help and I’m out. I join Roald who is sitting at a Table Game and I drop 300$ like it’s hot. This turned out to be a good indication for the rest of the day. Ouwkes is also out of the tournament and he and Roald decide to go home.
I hang around for a bit and after a while I decide to go to the Planet. There are several items on my to-do/to-eat list and of them (besides a slice of pizza from the Secret Pizza Place in the Cosmo) is a sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich. There is already a big queue, but when you play poker, you can order a sandwich via the poker pit. Excellent!
I sit down and have a look at the menu. They all look nice to me but I chose the safe option and order the Earl’s Club.I can see why this joint is so popular. Great tasty sandwiches.
Poker-wise this is not my day. I have AK and I hit 2 pair on the flop, but got defeated by a flush. I hit a set, the other makes a straight and so on.
Since I have to some kill time until around 6 PM today I decide to play one of their daily tournaments. I take it easy and wait for my spots instead of playing aggressively.
I build up some stack, but the structure is gruesome and in no time I have about 10BB left. I push my last 8.5k with 99 against AQ and for some reason I win this hand. I did not expect this, looking at my luck in tournaments the last couple of days. In the commotion I collect my chips without properly counting. 2 Hands later I realize I only have 13k instead of the 18k that I was supposed to have (2x 8.5k + blinds). Somehow the dealer didn’t give me a 5k chip. I tell this to the dealer but he is convinced he did everything correctly and that calling the floor is of no use, since they won’t check this anyway. FML.
My final 2 hands are in line with the former days. AT vs 66 with a T on the flop and a 6 on the river and 55 vs AQ with a Q on the flop and no help for me.
Luckily there are the girls in the pleasure pit to comfort me. Also the Vodka/pineapple is soothing the pain. What doesn’t help is the cash flow going in the wrong direction.
At about 5.30 PM I walk towards the MGM. I enter the MGM via the West Wing Bar. The last time I was here was 2 years ago and at that time they were in the middle of the renovation. Unfortunately they have decided to keep the poker room at the ‘new’ spot. I really liked the original place. Oh well. The lion den is also gone and they now have a new bar. The former 4 times we have stayed here, but it still baffles me how big this hotel is.
When I finally arrive at the Grand Arena Fedor and Roald are already there (Ouwkes won’t join us and he is sleeping like a log at the moment). We have some nice seats in the corner.
I always wanted to attend an NBA game and this is the perfect way even though this is only a pre-season game. I really like the Lakers ever since we have been coming to Vegas. There was always a lot of cheering going on at the several sportsbooks during the play-offs in May and it got me excited too. Unfortunately Kobe isn't playing tonight. Still, it’s very nice to see this match and it is exciting until the end when the Kings win with a 2-pointer in the buzzer.
warm-up
We call Ouwkes to see where he is at, but it sounds like we just woke him up. We agree to meet up in the MGM to have a quick bite at Wolfgang Pucks Grill bar. In the meantime it’s European roulette time!!
There is only one small Indian guy playing and he is betting at least 1000$ per spin. It is fascinating to see. He tells us he is already 25k in the hole today, but that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He keeps smiling the entire time.
When Ouwkes finally arrives we have dinner at Wolfgang’s. It’s around midnight when we are finished and we all want to do something different. I want to play at the MGM (trip down memory lane), Roald wants to play at the Flamingo and Ouwkes and Fedor will try their luck at the Bellagio. I walk to the poker pit and when I walk by the cashier I see our Indian friend who is in need of some more ammo to play on the roulette.
One advantage of the poker pit in the MGM, it’s close to Hakkasan, so a lot of nice looking ladies are lining up over there.
This is really not my day because I get a seat with my back towards the casino, so I can’t see what’s passing by. One thing I hear though, and that is the entourage of Mini-Me. There is a lot of shouting going on and when I turn around I see Mini-Me (Verne Troyer), sitting in a custom-made electric wheelchair with several guys walking behind him, making sure we know a celebrity is coming through.
I play for a couple of hours but I can’t win a single pot.
I leave at around 4 AM. Roald is already at home and 10 minutes after I arrive both Fedor and Ouwkes step in as well. Time for some well-deserved sleep.
Last edited by RemCorleone; 12-20-2014 at 11:33 AM.
12-22-2014
, 10:16 AM
Day 15
It is around 11 AM when I wake up. The others are already awake and are discussing what we are gonna do today. They want to visit a casino that we normally don’t go to without a car and the winner is the South Point Hotel and Casino. This hotel also has a cinema and a bowling alley. For us it is sort of a tradition to bowl a few frames in the Gold Coast, but this is a good alternative.
It’s about a 20 minute drive to the casino and when we arrive, the first thing we notice are an awful lot of cowboys/girls. Apparently there is some sort of convention going on because it is packed with people who are all dressed up, hats included. I go to the restroom and I overhear one cowboy saying to the other: “that’s a fancy shirt you got there!” Only in Vegas.
We follow the signs to the bowling alley but we immediately see we are out of luck, because the official WSOB is going on. Yes, the World Series of Bowling. 32 lanes on one side and 32 lanes on the other side are completely filled with Bowling pro’s. We watch for a few minutes, but this is not our scene.
Back to our scene, the poker room. Yep, this feels like Reno again. Old regulars playing a-b-c poker. Within 2 hours I’m up 400$. At the end of the session this hand comes up and I am still wondering if my turn action was the right one.
There are several limpers and I have 6 7 on the button. I raise to 20$ when an old regular on de SB who has only been interested in American Football on the screens minraises to 40$. One other calls and I also call. Flop is 345. A dreamflop but still a bit dangerous. Old man checks, other guy checks too and I bet 60$. Both players call. Turn is 6
. Old man checks again and the other one goes all in for his remaining 70$. I think he made a straight as well, maybe with 22, but most likely with 77. The old guy can only have AA, KK or AK, but does he fold when I go over the top. I decide that I want to keep him in the pot and just call, thinking he can’t throw away AA or KK. He also calls. River is A. Without hesitation he goes all in for about 300$. Shoot….. I can only beat trips aces, but chances are he has K. Still, I think about it for 2 minutes, but I fold in the end. He opens up AK. Other guy has 77. Thoughts? Should I have raised on the turn?
Still, we all leave with a profit. Roald isn’t feeling so well, so we drop him off at home. He has finally discovered House of Cards on Netflix, so his evening is sorted with binge watching.
Ouwkes, Fedor and I decide to go to the Aria. Before we start playing we sit down at Lemongrass. The dumplings must be really delicious, so we take that as a starter. Fedor orders a Thai Iced Tea. It looks disgusting. I ask for a sip and it also tastes awful. Ouwkes thinks that someone with gonorrhea has prepared this drink. I will spare you the details that are mentioned….
For main course I have the green curry, Fedor a chicken dish and Ouwkes just some satay. Fedor’s dish and mine are brought within 5 minutes, but not the satay. We already start, but after a few minutes, still nothing. We call the waiter and he has some excuse about miscommunication with the kitchen. He asks if Ouwkes wants another beer while he waits. Yep, sure. His satay arrives a few minutes later. Overall quality is pretty good but when we get the check we see that the beer he offered isn’t on the house. We sort of assumed this, given the situation. For the first time in 5 years we don’t leave a tip.
Saturday night in the Aria, definitely poker players with another skillset than the ones in South Point. I am a bit restless and play way too many hands. I lose 2 buy-ins and decide to quit.
I sit down at Ultimate Texas and when I look to my left I think I sit next to Elisabeth Shue. I can’t really say for sure, because she is wearing a hat and I only see her from the side. Within 2 hands she is leaving and when she is standing up I see she is really small. When I check IMDb it says that mrs. Shue is only 5’2”, so that also checks out. On the other hand, what is someone like her doing on a 10$ table game? I’m 90% sure I just sat next to someone who I had a little crush on ever since she played in Leaving Las Vegas.
The rest of the evening is a bit uneventful and ends at the European roulette. Luckily I win back most of my money but this is peanuts compared to a guy who plays with 100$ chips. Yesterday was already fascinating (Indian guy), but this is really impressive. He tells us he won over 300k last week. Nice!!! I am also curious how much he has already lost with this game, but I decide not to ask.
At around 4 AM the taxi drops us off at home. Tomorrow the outlet store and Fremont!
It is around 11 AM when I wake up. The others are already awake and are discussing what we are gonna do today. They want to visit a casino that we normally don’t go to without a car and the winner is the South Point Hotel and Casino. This hotel also has a cinema and a bowling alley. For us it is sort of a tradition to bowl a few frames in the Gold Coast, but this is a good alternative.
It’s about a 20 minute drive to the casino and when we arrive, the first thing we notice are an awful lot of cowboys/girls. Apparently there is some sort of convention going on because it is packed with people who are all dressed up, hats included. I go to the restroom and I overhear one cowboy saying to the other: “that’s a fancy shirt you got there!” Only in Vegas.
We follow the signs to the bowling alley but we immediately see we are out of luck, because the official WSOB is going on. Yes, the World Series of Bowling. 32 lanes on one side and 32 lanes on the other side are completely filled with Bowling pro’s. We watch for a few minutes, but this is not our scene.
Back to our scene, the poker room. Yep, this feels like Reno again. Old regulars playing a-b-c poker. Within 2 hours I’m up 400$. At the end of the session this hand comes up and I am still wondering if my turn action was the right one.
There are several limpers and I have 6
7 on the button. I raise to 20$ when an old regular on de SB who has only been interested in American Football on the screens minraises to 40$. One other calls and I also call. Flop is 345. A dreamflop but still a bit dangerous. Old man checks, other guy checks too and I bet 60$. Both players call. Turn is 6. Old man checks again and the other one goes all in for his remaining 70$. I think he made a straight as well, maybe with 22, but most likely with 77. The old guy can only have AA, KK or AK, but does he fold when I go over the top. I decide that I want to keep him in the pot and just call, thinking he can’t throw away AA or KK. He also calls. River is A. Without hesitation he goes all in for about 300$. Shoot….. I can only beat trips aces, but chances are he has K. Still, I think about it for 2 minutes, but I fold in the end. He opens up AK. Other guy has 77. Thoughts? Should I have raised on the turn?Still, we all leave with a profit. Roald isn’t feeling so well, so we drop him off at home. He has finally discovered House of Cards on Netflix, so his evening is sorted with binge watching.
Ouwkes, Fedor and I decide to go to the Aria. Before we start playing we sit down at Lemongrass. The dumplings must be really delicious, so we take that as a starter. Fedor orders a Thai Iced Tea. It looks disgusting. I ask for a sip and it also tastes awful. Ouwkes thinks that someone with gonorrhea has prepared this drink. I will spare you the details that are mentioned….
For main course I have the green curry, Fedor a chicken dish and Ouwkes just some satay. Fedor’s dish and mine are brought within 5 minutes, but not the satay. We already start, but after a few minutes, still nothing. We call the waiter and he has some excuse about miscommunication with the kitchen. He asks if Ouwkes wants another beer while he waits. Yep, sure. His satay arrives a few minutes later. Overall quality is pretty good but when we get the check we see that the beer he offered isn’t on the house. We sort of assumed this, given the situation. For the first time in 5 years we don’t leave a tip.
Saturday night in the Aria, definitely poker players with another skillset than the ones in South Point. I am a bit restless and play way too many hands. I lose 2 buy-ins and decide to quit.
I sit down at Ultimate Texas and when I look to my left I think I sit next to Elisabeth Shue. I can’t really say for sure, because she is wearing a hat and I only see her from the side. Within 2 hands she is leaving and when she is standing up I see she is really small. When I check IMDb it says that mrs. Shue is only 5’2”, so that also checks out. On the other hand, what is someone like her doing on a 10$ table game? I’m 90% sure I just sat next to someone who I had a little crush on ever since she played in Leaving Las Vegas.
The rest of the evening is a bit uneventful and ends at the European roulette. Luckily I win back most of my money but this is peanuts compared to a guy who plays with 100$ chips. Yesterday was already fascinating (Indian guy), but this is really impressive. He tells us he won over 300k last week. Nice!!! I am also curious how much he has already lost with this game, but I decide not to ask.
At around 4 AM the taxi drops us off at home. Tomorrow the outlet store and Fremont!
12-22-2014
, 10:51 AM
Awesome thread.
Terrible runout in the hand for you.
Did the 77 include a diamond?
I'm probably shoving turn for protection. I like your logic though and I am not that good at poker.
Terrible runout in the hand for you.
Did the 77 include a diamond?
I'm probably shoving turn for protection. I like your logic though and I am not that good at poker.
12-22-2014
, 12:45 PM
Yes, he had 7
, so I would have lost the main pot anyway, since he made a higher flush
12-22-2014
, 12:51 PM
I don't mind the play, but I'm terrible at poker as well
12-23-2014
, 06:27 PM
12-27-2014
, 10:47 AM
Day 16
Sunday morning and Ouwkes is off to the grocery store to take care of the breakfast shopping.
Today, the outlet stores and Fremont Street are on the itinerary, but only late this afternoon and evening. Time to relax and enjoy this sunny day as much as possible, because next week we will be back in the Netherlands, fighting against a winter depression.
We leave around 4 PM. I have a tradition to buy a watch every time I am here, so that’s on my list. Roald needs some running shoes, Fedor some clothing and Ouwkes also needs a new wardrobe and a Michael Kors bag for a colleague. Now, shopping for someone else is always difficult, especially if you have to shop for women. She sort of gave a description what the bag should look like, but of course they didn’t have such a bag. When Ouwkes takes some pictures of the collection to forward this to her, a Paul Blart Mall Cop look-a-like springs into action and summons Ouwkes to delete the pictures. He only deletes one, so hopefully she can make a decision, based on the other pictures.
I buy a nice watch from Karl Lagerfeld (didn’t know he had a watch collection). Unfortunately Roald can’t find a decent pair of shoes. The others make a dent in their budget in the Calvin Klein shop. We probably have to come back here tomorrow to get this bag issue sorted.
Next stop, Fremont Street. Fremont is really growing on me. The first time I came here I only saw the freaks and weirdoes. Now I can see through that and I really start liking it here. I also like the old school casinos, all drenched in history and great stories.
We decide to have dinner at Chart House in the Golden Nugget. The first thing we see is this huge fish tank behind the bar.
The food is pretty good. Alex, the waiter recommends 2 appetizers, the tempura shrimp and east meets west Tuna. Main course is also good quality and we decide to order the 2 signature desserts as well, the hot chocolate lava cake and the Soufflé. We have to wait extra on these desserts, since the first attempt for the soufflé failed, but it is definitely worth the wait.
Outside again we watch a light show (Pinball wizard) and a Halloween themed song. New for us are the zip lines where people can soar over Fremont Street.
Ok, time for some poker. We really want to play at Binions, but the place is dead. So, back to the Golden Nugget. A lot of tables are open and we all can be seated within 10 minutes. My table is a mix of decent and inexperienced players. I try to avoid the decent ones, but when I get involved with the fish they hit everything. It’s one of those days again (a bit too many for my liking to be honest).
Fedor comes over and says that his table is crazy. Since there is no max buy-in here there are players who buy in for 10k. There is one player who raises to 100 every hand. I consider a table change, but decide not to do that. In the end I wish I did, because I drop 2 buy-ins on my table.
Maybe the poker-gods are against me, the table-game-gods smile upon me this vacation. I win back my buy-ins, also because the dealer doesn’t really know what he is doing regarding the pay-outs. This is definitely +EV. Funny thing is that everybody at the table sees what he is doing wrong, but a silent pact is made and everybody act as if they don’t know what’s going on.
It’s around 3 AM when we leave. Roald has left a bit earlier, so Fedor, Ouwkes and I take a cab. Fedor is in charge of telling the cabbie where to go, but he is too intoxicated to realize we get long hauled (and so were we).
Sunday morning and Ouwkes is off to the grocery store to take care of the breakfast shopping.
Today, the outlet stores and Fremont Street are on the itinerary, but only late this afternoon and evening. Time to relax and enjoy this sunny day as much as possible, because next week we will be back in the Netherlands, fighting against a winter depression.
We leave around 4 PM. I have a tradition to buy a watch every time I am here, so that’s on my list. Roald needs some running shoes, Fedor some clothing and Ouwkes also needs a new wardrobe and a Michael Kors bag for a colleague. Now, shopping for someone else is always difficult, especially if you have to shop for women. She sort of gave a description what the bag should look like, but of course they didn’t have such a bag. When Ouwkes takes some pictures of the collection to forward this to her, a Paul Blart Mall Cop look-a-like springs into action and summons Ouwkes to delete the pictures. He only deletes one, so hopefully she can make a decision, based on the other pictures.
I buy a nice watch from Karl Lagerfeld (didn’t know he had a watch collection). Unfortunately Roald can’t find a decent pair of shoes. The others make a dent in their budget in the Calvin Klein shop. We probably have to come back here tomorrow to get this bag issue sorted.
Next stop, Fremont Street. Fremont is really growing on me. The first time I came here I only saw the freaks and weirdoes. Now I can see through that and I really start liking it here. I also like the old school casinos, all drenched in history and great stories.
We decide to have dinner at Chart House in the Golden Nugget. The first thing we see is this huge fish tank behind the bar.
The food is pretty good. Alex, the waiter recommends 2 appetizers, the tempura shrimp and east meets west Tuna. Main course is also good quality and we decide to order the 2 signature desserts as well, the hot chocolate lava cake and the Soufflé. We have to wait extra on these desserts, since the first attempt for the soufflé failed, but it is definitely worth the wait.
Outside again we watch a light show (Pinball wizard) and a Halloween themed song. New for us are the zip lines where people can soar over Fremont Street.
Ok, time for some poker. We really want to play at Binions, but the place is dead. So, back to the Golden Nugget. A lot of tables are open and we all can be seated within 10 minutes. My table is a mix of decent and inexperienced players. I try to avoid the decent ones, but when I get involved with the fish they hit everything. It’s one of those days again (a bit too many for my liking to be honest).
Fedor comes over and says that his table is crazy. Since there is no max buy-in here there are players who buy in for 10k. There is one player who raises to 100 every hand. I consider a table change, but decide not to do that. In the end I wish I did, because I drop 2 buy-ins on my table.
Maybe the poker-gods are against me, the table-game-gods smile upon me this vacation. I win back my buy-ins, also because the dealer doesn’t really know what he is doing regarding the pay-outs. This is definitely +EV. Funny thing is that everybody at the table sees what he is doing wrong, but a silent pact is made and everybody act as if they don’t know what’s going on.
It’s around 3 AM when we leave. Roald has left a bit earlier, so Fedor, Ouwkes and I take a cab. Fedor is in charge of telling the cabbie where to go, but he is too intoxicated to realize we get long hauled (and so were we).
12-28-2014
, 08:59 PM
12-30-2014
, 11:54 AM
Day 17
Cronuts. A hybrid between a donut and a croissant. I’ve heard that people in New York are standing in line to eat this, so I was curious if these cronuts had found their way to Vegas. Answer is: yes.
A few blocks from our house is Al’s donuts and apparently he makes one of the best. Fedor and I hop in the car to get a few of those.
The shop itself is tucked away and it looks a bit shabby, but we definitely came to the right place. We buy 4 cronuts and since we are here anyway also a few donuts.
Back home the coffee is already sorted, so we dive right in. Nice! Ok, maybe not the healthiest breakfast of all time, but a good way to start the day.
Roald and I plan to play 18 holes tomorrow so we drive to the Las Vegas National Golfcourse, which is less than 5 minutes away to check it out and to reserve a tee-time for 8 AM tomorrow morning.
Tonight we are finally going to fire up the grill outside, so we need MEAT. The meat at the grocery store didn’t look too good so Roald will check online where we can find some bbq meat. After a few minutes he has found a place that advertises with the best bbq in Las Vegas, John Mull’s. It is actually called John Mull’s Roadkill Grill and doesn’t sound inviting, but Roald assures us they also sell regular meat. Ok, why not….
We’ve asked the owner of the house to come over, because after a few days after arrival we started having issues with the drainage. The water in the bathrooms remains in the sinks and when we use the dishwasher the water in the kitchen sink rises.
When she arrives we show her what’s going on. She understands this is a problem and she says she will try to fix this.
While she is working on this issue we leave her alone and head over to the Strip.
We have to go back to the Mirage to cash out a voucher Ouwkes still has. Also, his colleague has made up her mind about the Michael Kors bag, so the outlet store is also on today’s list.
We decide to play poker for a few hours first in the Mirage. Like I said before, the Mirage and I are no friends when it comes to poker. Today is no exception. Even though I am doing the best I can I lose one buy-in. Ouwkes is also 2 buy-ins down, which he mainly lost to a granny who hits everything, mostly on the river….
We take our loss and set sail to the outlet stores. I ask if we can take the Las Vegas Blvd, so we can make a quick stop at the shop from Pawn Stars. When we get there we see there is a line outside! Ok, forget this sh*t. I also read that it’s more of a souvenir shop these days so it’s really not worth a visit anymore.
When we arrive at the outlet stores, Ouwkes quickly gets out to purchase the bag, while we stay in the car where this conversation takes place.
“Ok Ro, what’s the address of this Roadkill grill, so I can program the sat-nav.”
“Eeehhh….address….. right…….I know it’s somewhere in the North-West.”
“North-West, excellent. Can you be a bit more specific?”
“Hmm… not really, no……. wait… something with Tim?”
“Not really helpful here dude.”
“Ok, I think it was something with Tim or Tom.”
We can’t look it up online since there is no Wifi nearby, so we check the sat-nav if this rings a bell. Unfortunately you have to fill in a house number first, which we also don’t have of course. After a few minutes we find something named Thom Boulevard and Roald is pretty sure this is the place. Ok, let’s give it a try.
Ouwkes returns with the bag and we follow the sat-nav to Thom. We drive for several miles and Vegas slowly disappears in our rear view mirror. We arrive in a suburban area and it doesn’t look like this has some sort of shopping area or butcher.
We are about to give up when we see a ranch. Yep, this is the place! This is so not what we expected. The place looks empty, but from a door we see people coming out with bags of food in their hands so we head over to the door.
We enter and it’s a small area, filled with customers waiting in line. Wow, what is this place? It turns out we can buy take-away bbq meat with several side dishes here. We change our plans, we will not bbq ourselves, but order it here. I sort of resist at first but I am outnumbered and I’m just being laughed at.
They ask us where we are from and they are highly surprised to hear we are from Holland. I think we are the first foreign tourists ever to visit this place. People in line start telling us this is the best bbq they ever had. We tell them we came to Vegas especially to visit this place.
We all take the 3 meat combo. Ribs, brisket, pulled chicken, pork, you name it. We get some extra mac & cheese and bbq sauce. We rush back home, but it’s still a 30 minute drive. The smell of the food in the car is hard to resist, but somehow we manage.
It’s already dark when we arrive. We open the door and turn off the alarm, but somehow our code doesn’t work anymore. All bells and whistles go off and there is nothing we can do about it. Within 2 minutes the phone rings. It’s the security company and Fedor has to explain what is going on. We try to call the owner and luckily she answers her phone. She calls with the security company and the alarm stops.
We think it has something to do with the fact that when she left the house this afternoon she used her own code and that disabled our code. We get a new code and we can finally eat.
Ok, granted, the meat is pretty tasty and the mac & cheese is delicious. It was a good choice to change our plans.
Regarding the water issue: there is a note on the table stating that she couldn’t fix the problem, so tomorrow a plumber will come by to solve it.
It’s around 11 PM and I’m tired. Tomorrow morning I have to get up early for golf, so I’m off to bed. It’s also Ouwkes’ last day tomorrow so chances are it’s going to be a long day.
Cronuts. A hybrid between a donut and a croissant. I’ve heard that people in New York are standing in line to eat this, so I was curious if these cronuts had found their way to Vegas. Answer is: yes.
A few blocks from our house is Al’s donuts and apparently he makes one of the best. Fedor and I hop in the car to get a few of those.
The shop itself is tucked away and it looks a bit shabby, but we definitely came to the right place. We buy 4 cronuts and since we are here anyway also a few donuts.
Back home the coffee is already sorted, so we dive right in. Nice! Ok, maybe not the healthiest breakfast of all time, but a good way to start the day.
Roald and I plan to play 18 holes tomorrow so we drive to the Las Vegas National Golfcourse, which is less than 5 minutes away to check it out and to reserve a tee-time for 8 AM tomorrow morning.
Tonight we are finally going to fire up the grill outside, so we need MEAT. The meat at the grocery store didn’t look too good so Roald will check online where we can find some bbq meat. After a few minutes he has found a place that advertises with the best bbq in Las Vegas, John Mull’s. It is actually called John Mull’s Roadkill Grill and doesn’t sound inviting, but Roald assures us they also sell regular meat. Ok, why not….
We’ve asked the owner of the house to come over, because after a few days after arrival we started having issues with the drainage. The water in the bathrooms remains in the sinks and when we use the dishwasher the water in the kitchen sink rises.
When she arrives we show her what’s going on. She understands this is a problem and she says she will try to fix this.
While she is working on this issue we leave her alone and head over to the Strip.
We have to go back to the Mirage to cash out a voucher Ouwkes still has. Also, his colleague has made up her mind about the Michael Kors bag, so the outlet store is also on today’s list.
We decide to play poker for a few hours first in the Mirage. Like I said before, the Mirage and I are no friends when it comes to poker. Today is no exception. Even though I am doing the best I can I lose one buy-in. Ouwkes is also 2 buy-ins down, which he mainly lost to a granny who hits everything, mostly on the river….
We take our loss and set sail to the outlet stores. I ask if we can take the Las Vegas Blvd, so we can make a quick stop at the shop from Pawn Stars. When we get there we see there is a line outside! Ok, forget this sh*t. I also read that it’s more of a souvenir shop these days so it’s really not worth a visit anymore.
When we arrive at the outlet stores, Ouwkes quickly gets out to purchase the bag, while we stay in the car where this conversation takes place.
“Ok Ro, what’s the address of this Roadkill grill, so I can program the sat-nav.”
“Eeehhh….address….. right…….I know it’s somewhere in the North-West.”
“North-West, excellent. Can you be a bit more specific?”
“Hmm… not really, no……. wait… something with Tim?”
“Not really helpful here dude.”
“Ok, I think it was something with Tim or Tom.”
We can’t look it up online since there is no Wifi nearby, so we check the sat-nav if this rings a bell. Unfortunately you have to fill in a house number first, which we also don’t have of course. After a few minutes we find something named Thom Boulevard and Roald is pretty sure this is the place. Ok, let’s give it a try.
Ouwkes returns with the bag and we follow the sat-nav to Thom. We drive for several miles and Vegas slowly disappears in our rear view mirror. We arrive in a suburban area and it doesn’t look like this has some sort of shopping area or butcher.
We are about to give up when we see a ranch. Yep, this is the place! This is so not what we expected. The place looks empty, but from a door we see people coming out with bags of food in their hands so we head over to the door.
We enter and it’s a small area, filled with customers waiting in line. Wow, what is this place? It turns out we can buy take-away bbq meat with several side dishes here. We change our plans, we will not bbq ourselves, but order it here. I sort of resist at first but I am outnumbered and I’m just being laughed at.
They ask us where we are from and they are highly surprised to hear we are from Holland. I think we are the first foreign tourists ever to visit this place. People in line start telling us this is the best bbq they ever had. We tell them we came to Vegas especially to visit this place.
We all take the 3 meat combo. Ribs, brisket, pulled chicken, pork, you name it. We get some extra mac & cheese and bbq sauce. We rush back home, but it’s still a 30 minute drive. The smell of the food in the car is hard to resist, but somehow we manage.
It’s already dark when we arrive. We open the door and turn off the alarm, but somehow our code doesn’t work anymore. All bells and whistles go off and there is nothing we can do about it. Within 2 minutes the phone rings. It’s the security company and Fedor has to explain what is going on. We try to call the owner and luckily she answers her phone. She calls with the security company and the alarm stops.
We think it has something to do with the fact that when she left the house this afternoon she used her own code and that disabled our code. We get a new code and we can finally eat.
Ok, granted, the meat is pretty tasty and the mac & cheese is delicious. It was a good choice to change our plans.
Regarding the water issue: there is a note on the table stating that she couldn’t fix the problem, so tomorrow a plumber will come by to solve it.
It’s around 11 PM and I’m tired. Tomorrow morning I have to get up early for golf, so I’m off to bed. It’s also Ouwkes’ last day tomorrow so chances are it’s going to be a long day.