I awoke in an unfamiliar place and had a short pang of confusion. When I looked out the window and saw Circus Circus I remembered I was in Las Vegas, NV. Meccah. I rushed around and realized it was only 7:30am. I had only slept for 5 hours, but awoke naturally feeling pretty good. I dressed and decided to walk down the street to the Sahara by myself in the warm desert air. Little did I know that Vegas can have weather under 40 degrees this early in the morning. As I walked down the street to the Sahara, I saw my dad walking towards me.
"Where were you?" I asked.
"Sratosphere. I was looking at the video poker."
I told him of my want to see the Sahara and he decided to join me. As we walked in, I was surprised to people sitting at a full Blackjack table. After wandering the NASCAR section and the measly poker room, we came back to the gaming area and we pulled out some cash. The game that had caught our eye: $3 Minimum Craps. Rollin' dem bones at 8am. We both did well, having several hot streaks that lasted for upwards of 15 rolls each. I was more curious about the Blackjack table I saw and went back to investigate. It was only $1 to play a hand. No wonder there were so many people. I found a seat and went for it only to lose complete interest when I lost $20 as slowly as if i had set it on fire. Slightly angry at the coldness of the deck I found my father playing video poker and we cashed out and checked out. It seems Lady Luck had been toying with us both, letting us win at craps to only lose some of it back at other games.
Later that afternoon, my uncle wanted to take us to a fantastic buffet located in the Rio. My father and I killed time by watching the Circus Circus trapeze team practice their swings and twirls and such. When we arrived at the Rio, I was salivating. Here was the home of the world series of poker and it was in this building that Joe Cada won $8.5M not two months ago. The buffet was amazing and I recommend it to anyone who goes. From pizza to pot stickers from crab cakes to Creme Brulee, it was all there. After we had eaten our fill, some more so than others, we wandered slowly towards the Rio's smallish poker room. I asked about the Amazon Room and they told me everything was dismantled when the series wasn't going on. Not even the banners were up. I was a bit dissapointed but not fully surprised. My father cheered me up by pulling out a fortune cookie paper with lucky numbers on the back. We laughed about playing those numbers in Roulette and finally decided to do it. (Even as I type that I recognize my own degenerate actions.) We placed bets on our numbers in our own pattern: Dad prefered the more direct approach of covering one or two numbers with one bet, whereas I prefered a bigger cushion and played 4 or 6. We would lose a little then win a little and then lose again. We finally got a bit bored after a few spins. My father looked up at my mother and said, "Nancy, what's your lucky number again?"
"Black two." She replied. She didn't care for roulette that much, preferring slots and blackjack.
We both placed chips on black two, I doubling up just in case. The table was stunned and then elated when the little ball dropped into black two. $72 in my pocket. Thanks Mom.
We crossed the highway and went into the Palms where I was impressed but disinterested. All the table limits were too high for my comfort level and the poker room to small and crowded with old regulars. I was tempted to play a parlay card on the upcoming Bengals v. Jets game. In retrospect I'm glad I did not because all of the ones I would have picked ended up being wrong. After the Palms we happened upon the Orleans and as soon as we walked in I saw the poker room, right where everyone could see it. I informed my party i was going to play and put my name on $1/$2 No Limit Hold 'Em and $2/$4 Limit Hold'em, my best and 3rd best games respectively. I peeled $100 off and bought a stack of red chips and waited. Lucky me i got $1/$2 but unfortunately I had failed to notice something. The placard stated that the minimum buy-in was a $100 but the maximum was $500. One guy sat down with a max buy-in and pushed everyone around and open raising for as much as $25. My plan to deal with him was to be a total nit and wait til I got a really strong pair or maybe A-K, A-Q suited and then re-pop him all-in. I never got any cards that I could play. Best I got was Jacks and some Ace-Face combos that wouldn't connect. I left that game thoroughly dissapointed and $35 shorter. I informed my parents I was done and checked my phone to see what time it was. I noticed it was after 5:00pm and smiled. Bellagio beckoned.
If Las Vegas is Meccah, then the Bellagio is Solomon's Temple. The fountains danced for us, propelled by unseen forces but I was restless. The fabled poker room was waiting for me and I was anxious. Finally we entered the casino and waded through the seas of people. I remember being confused, wondering why there were so many people there on a Thursday night. The loud cheering from the bars reminded me though. Texas vs. Alabama. I smiled even wider as I walked into the poker room. People were paying more attention to the TV's than their cards. Except for the pros. You could spot them easily. They weren't watching the game. Lucky me I got a seat immediately and pulled out what was left of my meager bankroll, about $155. I was to leave here winner or loser. No breaking even. Well not really, but that sounds cool. Mostly I wanted to diminish any loses I had at the other games, and regain some of my dignity as a fledgling poker pro.
I started off down but then pulled ahead a little bit. I was a little worried that I was going to be unable to win, until I just relaxed and played. Uncle Ken back home had told me (through my father) that I shouldn't change my game. Play the way I like and I'll do well. So I did. Suddenly it came back to me, playing my looser style yielded bigger payoffs and with my focused mind I avoided situations were I was a severe underdog. Then there were the moments I lived for: The Hero Call, The Christmas Gift and the Big Bluff. Oh how all the degenerates live for those moments. With a board reading Ah-4s-10h-6s, my opponent shoved his remaining $50 into the pot of $75 as the 2 of clubs hit the board. I re-checked my 3-4 of hearts that had failed to improve and studied my opponent. Something wasn't right to me and I thought for a second the hands he may have played like that. For some reason I put him on a busted straight draw, K-Q, K-J, Q-J and maybe he had picked up a flush draw on the way too. I looked down at my stack of $170ish and decided that a call would not hurt me too badly, I'd only be down about $30 which could be recovered with time. And I really didnt believe him. So I called. He licked his teeth and nodded as he rolled over K-Q of spades. No pair, no flush, no straight. I rolled over my 3-4 for a pair of fours and scooped.
My Christmas Gift was just weird. With A-10 offsuit I called a small preflop raise that ushered in a few other players as well. The flop was 10-7-3 with two diamonds. The preflop raiser shoved for $35 into the small pot and I call. The other fold and he flips over K-4 of hearts. Re-read the last few sentences if you want, but i couldn't make sense of it. He didn't improve and I won.
My luck stalled for a bit and I lost back some of that cash. I waited patiently and got A-K of diamonds in the cutoff. A New Yorker who was about 6 drinks in and on my right raised preflop to $12, I re-popped him to $30 everyone else folded and he called. The flop was 3-3-10 and he led out for about half the pot, about $35ish. I weighed my options and decided to go for it. I cocked my gun and fired $85 back at him. He sat there for about two minutes and then folded. He hounded me for what I had and I told him I would tell hime when either of us leave. I normally show bluffs but there were new players at the table and I wanted to hold onto my table image of playing fast with big hands, IMHO it makes it easier to take down hands with mediocre cards. The guy turned to he "bro" next to him and said he folded pocket Jacks. I was stunned to say the least.
After about 6 hours I had won a fair amount and lost it back. I decided to call it a night. I left a little bit ahead and with my dignity restored. I had played very well and proven to myself that I could take on a table of regulars and strangers. We went back to the timeshare/hotel room and I conked out, exhausted from the session.
Next Time
Caesar's Palace, The Mirage, The MGM Grand, New York New York Terrible's, Ellis Island and flying back home
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