wildpitcher
09-20-2005, 12:23 AM
My son was fortunate enough to win a seat to the Main Event ($10K No Limit Hold `em) at this year's World Series of Poker. Well, I don't need much of an excuse to make a trip to Vegas. A trip to watch him play was certainly more than enough reason! So I spent July 6-11 in Las Vegas.
I flew down Wednesday, July 6 from Sea/Tac airport. Alaska Air now uses the new terminal at Las Vegas, which is a train ride away from the main terminal. A little slower to get in and out of airport, but not bad.
I rented my car, as usual from National - I get a company rate there. I dropped my son and his friend off at MGM Grand (they had 9 nights comped there with the WSOP seat) and I proceeded to my room at the Orleans. I had my usual non-smoking room, up as high as I could get it. As always, the Orleans was great.
The next morning I went to the Rio to see the start of the World Series main event. Imagine, if you can, 200 poker tables in one room, each with a powerful lamp hanging above it. It was wall-to-wall Hold `Em Poker. The din from 1800 poker entrants playing with their chips was nearly deafening. Narrow aisles between banks of tables for the specatators to stand and watch. My son had a tough table, including a poker pro (Layne Flack), the person who came in 7th overall in the 2004 event, and the woman who advanced the farthest of all women at this year's event.
Watching tournament poker is a lot like watching paint dry. So when that got old, I'd visit the Poker Lifestyle exhibition in an adjacent room at the Rio. There were exhibitors from online poker sites, gaming supply companies, booksellers, poker magazines, etc. It was a lot of fun checking out all the booths. There was one booth giving away samples of a sipping whiskey.... I made sure to visit that booth every day.
I played a little of all the table games and had better than average luck. I played Limit Hold `Em at Harrahs and won a few bucks. I did quite well at Blackjack and Craps. Baccarat and Three Card Poker were probably about break-even. I didn't play much Roulette.
Where did I gamble? The New Frontier; Downtown at Las Vegas Club, Golden Gate, and the 4 Queens; Luxor; back at the Orleans; and the Sports Book at The Venetian. I also spent a little time at Caesars. I had a lot of fun playing low minimum craps at the Golden Gate. At the sports book, I bet some baseball and got my winning bet down for the Baseball All Star Game (yay, American League).
How'd I do? Won $200 for the trip. All that fun and they paid me to do it.
Oh, and my son? He busted out about 5pm on the first day. But so did about 2/3 of the pros that were playing. Wait `till next year.
Viva Las Vegas
I flew down Wednesday, July 6 from Sea/Tac airport. Alaska Air now uses the new terminal at Las Vegas, which is a train ride away from the main terminal. A little slower to get in and out of airport, but not bad.
I rented my car, as usual from National - I get a company rate there. I dropped my son and his friend off at MGM Grand (they had 9 nights comped there with the WSOP seat) and I proceeded to my room at the Orleans. I had my usual non-smoking room, up as high as I could get it. As always, the Orleans was great.
The next morning I went to the Rio to see the start of the World Series main event. Imagine, if you can, 200 poker tables in one room, each with a powerful lamp hanging above it. It was wall-to-wall Hold `Em Poker. The din from 1800 poker entrants playing with their chips was nearly deafening. Narrow aisles between banks of tables for the specatators to stand and watch. My son had a tough table, including a poker pro (Layne Flack), the person who came in 7th overall in the 2004 event, and the woman who advanced the farthest of all women at this year's event.
Watching tournament poker is a lot like watching paint dry. So when that got old, I'd visit the Poker Lifestyle exhibition in an adjacent room at the Rio. There were exhibitors from online poker sites, gaming supply companies, booksellers, poker magazines, etc. It was a lot of fun checking out all the booths. There was one booth giving away samples of a sipping whiskey.... I made sure to visit that booth every day.
I played a little of all the table games and had better than average luck. I played Limit Hold `Em at Harrahs and won a few bucks. I did quite well at Blackjack and Craps. Baccarat and Three Card Poker were probably about break-even. I didn't play much Roulette.
Where did I gamble? The New Frontier; Downtown at Las Vegas Club, Golden Gate, and the 4 Queens; Luxor; back at the Orleans; and the Sports Book at The Venetian. I also spent a little time at Caesars. I had a lot of fun playing low minimum craps at the Golden Gate. At the sports book, I bet some baseball and got my winning bet down for the Baseball All Star Game (yay, American League).
How'd I do? Won $200 for the trip. All that fun and they paid me to do it.
Oh, and my son? He busted out about 5pm on the first day. But so did about 2/3 of the pros that were playing. Wait `till next year.
Viva Las Vegas