Vegas Aftermath

I'm still trying to recover from the trip to Vegas this past weekend. I met a lot of great people and had a wonderful time. Those trips are always too short, and the three hour time difference wreaks havoc on my system when I get back. (When did I get old? I used to be able to work a night shift for 5 days straight and be fine the next day. Now I can't make a three hour time change without hurting for days...)

My highlights from the Vegas trip:

The trip started out a little rough, with our plane being delayed by several hours. We missed a great sushi dinner with the bloggers, but we were able to meet up with them at the MGM poker room later. I was convinced by Felicia to try some games I'd never played before (Razz and Stud/Stud8) and really enjoyed learning. After that, we all headed back to the Plaza for some no-limit hold'em. I finished down only $12 for the night, so I consider that a good night. I was a little fish in a big pond...

Fast forward to Saturday - the Aladdin tournament. I wasn't getting any cards and I was afraid of finishing low. I should probably feel bad for cracking pocket As twice, but I don't. *lol* Once, they were slow-played when I was in the BB and it was folded around to the SB. He was trying to make a little chips off of them, and I was on a high flush draw after the flop. When third heart came on the turn, Helixx had to lay them down. Later, with Felicia seated on my right, I finally saw a hand I could play - KTs. Went all in, which wasn't even the amount Derek bet. Flushed again. I'm sure they were both cursing me, but I felt I didn't have much of a choice at that point. Finished up in 16th out of 71. Not in the money, but a very respectable finish.

Afterward, we headed for dinner/drinks at LaSalsa. I just have to say that the female bloggers/wives are the coolest people! If they only lived closer... They are a group of women that I could hang with on a regular basis, which is something for me since I don't have many female friends. We drank many margaritas and planned our evening out. I have yet to see it, but I know there's a picture of Rachel, Heather and I singing karaoke. I think Bill Rini has it... I need to get a copy!

That night, Heather, Michele and I decided on Coyote Ugly first. I'd been to the one in Philly and always had fun, but Michele wasn't so sure that this one would be from her first experience there. We got in and grabbed drinks. The place was a bunch of zombies. Since we weren't afraid to dance and have fun, we soon became the favorites of the girls working the bar. They called us up to dance at least half a dozen times. After we tired of it, we got other women to go up and dance on the bar. We found benefactors that supplied us with drinks for the rest of the night, and we were golden. Several hours of dancing later, it was time to call it a night.

I'll admit that I was the reason that we didn't go to another bar. While in the thick of things, I didn't even feel the alcohol. Once we stepped out of the bar, it hit me like a ton of bricks! Heather and I walked Michele to her room, then Heather dropped me off at the Plaza.

Sunday was an all-day poker session for me. I know I should've gotten up sooner, but I had a streak of bad luck initially (-$260) and I was determined to make it back. 12 hours later, I was +$200. I just regret not spending that time with the others.

Monday we checked out of the room and spent some time in the sports book. I attempted to learn to read the racing sheets but failed miserably. We headed to Ceaser's sports book to wait for dinner. I bypassed the racing sheets and decided to pick a horse the only way I know how - find the prettiest horse and bet on it. After placing my $5 bet, I find out that the horse is a 20-1 longshot. Great. Turns out that the horse was having a good day and he won, making my $5 bet pay out $101. Yay for me! You'd have thought that I'd just won several thousand dollars for all of the noise I made. Enough betting for me. Dinner time.

We met up with Poker Prof and picked out a restaurant. We decided on BOA, a place that nobody in our party had been to before. It was a great choice. We were served by Victor, one of the most amazing people. He talked wines with BG, made great suggestions, and made sure we had a great time. Even when two people showed up late, he made sure their food came out with ours only a few minutes after they ordered. After he arranged dessert on the terrace with a beautiful view, he informed us that he had arranged some evening entertainment for us - VIP access to the House of Blues' Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay. I tried to get Al to wait a while to go to the airport so we could be bumped, but he wasn't into the idea.

After a delayed redeye flight and an hour drive home, we crashed. Hard. It's been 2 days since we got back. I'm still having a hard time, and I think it's just because I'd rather be back in Vegas. Having a great trip like that makes it harder to come back to the grind.

There were a few things that I didn't get to do - play craps with the guys, play slots with Grubby and Iggy, and hanging out with some of the other wives. I'm sure there are a million more things, too. Next time...

The best part of the trip was definitely the people - all those that I'd met before and those I just met this weekend. Al and I don't feel the need to do everything together, so I got to do the things I wanted to do and vice versa. It's a realization we came to a long time ago - we would probably kill each other if we spent that much time together. We work for the same company and ride to work together every day. Add home time and other social activities, and it's good for us to do things separately.

Now, I just can't wait until the next trip! We'll be seeing Bob and a few others out in Atlantic City in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, we'll continue to see people before our next big trip to Vegas.