A weekend to remember... or if you're lucky, to forget
This was actually started a few days ago. Life keeps getting in the way. :-)
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We headed down to the Borgata on Saturday. The original plans were to make it down on Friday night, but I was oncall for work and I had some stuff going on. I ended up finishing my work earlier than I thought. Instead of going home afterward and getting a good night's sleep, I began my weekend with a night out with Danielle. As usual, the beer flowed and we had a good night. It included a stop at our all-night diner for eggs and bacon. (Nothing is better after a night of drinking than breakfast at 1:30 in the morning.)
Saturday morning came way too quickly, but I got up decently early. Once we grabbed showers and pack a bag, we head out to AC. The drive was fairly uneventful, except for a few idiots who don't know how to get out of the left lane. Typical for any highway driving though. We arrived by 1:30 PM and head straight to the Borgata.
We were feeling pretty lucky because there didn't seem to be any traffic snarls anywhere... until we got to the Borgata. It seemed that everyone is too good to park their own cars, so the line for valet parking is looped all the way around and out onto the highway. After getting cut off by 3 or 4 people who felt that waiting in line was beneath them, I was able to get into the lane for the parking garage and find a spot. We ended up on the 4th floor, but we didn't have to park very far out at all.
The Borgata was busy, but it usually is on a Saturday. After a quick trip to the bathroom, we made our way up to the ballroom where they're holding the tourneys. Pauly was hanging out at the media table, and I gave him a huge hug. We met the other media guys and said hi to a couple of people we knew who were playing. After surveying the place, we headed downstairs to see who was playing in the poker room and how long it would be to get a chair.
The poker room was mobbed. I know it's usually busy on any given Saturday, but this was ridiculous. Most of the wait lists had at least 70-80 people on them. With several of the tables in use for event #1, it left very little for the cash game players. At that point, I knew I wasn't playing here at any time during the weekend. We ended up joining Landow in going over to Wild Wild West/Bally's.
The poker room in Wild Wild West was only running single table tourneys. With the high juice (over 30%) and silly blind structures, it was something else I wasn't interested in. Al had gone wandering and came back with Beck in tow. We decided to head over to Bally's poker room where we could get into a nice, relaxing ring game... and play the worst poker of our lives. :-) Luckily, there was much drinking involved. It made the poker seem more natural.
I actually expected Al to get thrown out of the poker room. Those that know Al know that he's usually an extremely nice person. He's very friendly and talkative. The drugged-out donkey on the other end of the table rubbed him the wrong way. Not just a little either. Towards the end, he stood up and made a few choice comments that I was positive would make sure he was escorted from the room. Luckily, Landow decided it was time to go home to take care of the dog... and he dropped us back off at Borgata.
On the way over, we decided that food was a necessity. I love the food at Noodles of the World (NoW). Yummy! We (Me, Al, Beck) took turns standing in line during the hour and a half to get in there, and -EV joined us as we approached the front. Of course, we all looked on in envy at the "black label" line - the special "high roller" line that was always shorter and took much less time to get through. By sheer force of will, I was able to keep from wandering off and playing slots. I hadn't lost anything so far, and I wanted to keep it that way.
Dinner was great, and Al graciously picked up the tab. While the guys waited for the check, I excused myself to go have a cigarette. (Of course, I figured that while I was out of sight of the guys, I could play a little slots and not get razzed for it.) I lit up and sat down at one of the quarter machines. As I'm putting in my $20, I look down and find a "black label" Borgata card. Score! I figured that even if I lost this $20, the shorter line at NoW would be worth it. (I'm not above pretending to be someone else to get special treatment.) I settle in and start hitting the button. I had gone for 4 "pulls" and gotten nothing. On the 5th pull, I get a double-bar in the first column and a 10x symbol in the second. Thinking that this was going to be another cruel slot-machine tease, I ash my cigarette and get ready to pull again. As I look back up, the machine starts making noise. I thought I'd gotten another random bar for 150 credits or so - which is still a nice little win. Nope, another 10x symbol. My jaw dropped and I almost lost my cigarette out of my hand. Of course, everyone starts looking over at me....
While waiting for the floor staff to bring back my money, I look up and see the guys walking out of the restaurant. I'm waving and yelling to try to get their attention (I sure as heck wasn't leaving my machine) but no luck. A nice Borgata server walking by offered to let him know I was trying to get their attention, and Al headed over shortly after. After collecting my winnings, we headed up to see Pauly and took off for Harrah's.
Harrah's will have to wait for another post. I've gone on too long with this... The freak show is yet to come.
___________________________________________
We headed down to the Borgata on Saturday. The original plans were to make it down on Friday night, but I was oncall for work and I had some stuff going on. I ended up finishing my work earlier than I thought. Instead of going home afterward and getting a good night's sleep, I began my weekend with a night out with Danielle. As usual, the beer flowed and we had a good night. It included a stop at our all-night diner for eggs and bacon. (Nothing is better after a night of drinking than breakfast at 1:30 in the morning.)
Saturday morning came way too quickly, but I got up decently early. Once we grabbed showers and pack a bag, we head out to AC. The drive was fairly uneventful, except for a few idiots who don't know how to get out of the left lane. Typical for any highway driving though. We arrived by 1:30 PM and head straight to the Borgata.
We were feeling pretty lucky because there didn't seem to be any traffic snarls anywhere... until we got to the Borgata. It seemed that everyone is too good to park their own cars, so the line for valet parking is looped all the way around and out onto the highway. After getting cut off by 3 or 4 people who felt that waiting in line was beneath them, I was able to get into the lane for the parking garage and find a spot. We ended up on the 4th floor, but we didn't have to park very far out at all.
The Borgata was busy, but it usually is on a Saturday. After a quick trip to the bathroom, we made our way up to the ballroom where they're holding the tourneys. Pauly was hanging out at the media table, and I gave him a huge hug. We met the other media guys and said hi to a couple of people we knew who were playing. After surveying the place, we headed downstairs to see who was playing in the poker room and how long it would be to get a chair.
The poker room was mobbed. I know it's usually busy on any given Saturday, but this was ridiculous. Most of the wait lists had at least 70-80 people on them. With several of the tables in use for event #1, it left very little for the cash game players. At that point, I knew I wasn't playing here at any time during the weekend. We ended up joining Landow in going over to Wild Wild West/Bally's.
The poker room in Wild Wild West was only running single table tourneys. With the high juice (over 30%) and silly blind structures, it was something else I wasn't interested in. Al had gone wandering and came back with Beck in tow. We decided to head over to Bally's poker room where we could get into a nice, relaxing ring game... and play the worst poker of our lives. :-) Luckily, there was much drinking involved. It made the poker seem more natural.
I actually expected Al to get thrown out of the poker room. Those that know Al know that he's usually an extremely nice person. He's very friendly and talkative. The drugged-out donkey on the other end of the table rubbed him the wrong way. Not just a little either. Towards the end, he stood up and made a few choice comments that I was positive would make sure he was escorted from the room. Luckily, Landow decided it was time to go home to take care of the dog... and he dropped us back off at Borgata.
On the way over, we decided that food was a necessity. I love the food at Noodles of the World (NoW). Yummy! We (Me, Al, Beck) took turns standing in line during the hour and a half to get in there, and -EV joined us as we approached the front. Of course, we all looked on in envy at the "black label" line - the special "high roller" line that was always shorter and took much less time to get through. By sheer force of will, I was able to keep from wandering off and playing slots. I hadn't lost anything so far, and I wanted to keep it that way.
Dinner was great, and Al graciously picked up the tab. While the guys waited for the check, I excused myself to go have a cigarette. (Of course, I figured that while I was out of sight of the guys, I could play a little slots and not get razzed for it.) I lit up and sat down at one of the quarter machines. As I'm putting in my $20, I look down and find a "black label" Borgata card. Score! I figured that even if I lost this $20, the shorter line at NoW would be worth it. (I'm not above pretending to be someone else to get special treatment.) I settle in and start hitting the button. I had gone for 4 "pulls" and gotten nothing. On the 5th pull, I get a double-bar in the first column and a 10x symbol in the second. Thinking that this was going to be another cruel slot-machine tease, I ash my cigarette and get ready to pull again. As I look back up, the machine starts making noise. I thought I'd gotten another random bar for 150 credits or so - which is still a nice little win. Nope, another 10x symbol. My jaw dropped and I almost lost my cigarette out of my hand. Of course, everyone starts looking over at me....
While waiting for the floor staff to bring back my money, I look up and see the guys walking out of the restaurant. I'm waving and yelling to try to get their attention (I sure as heck wasn't leaving my machine) but no luck. A nice Borgata server walking by offered to let him know I was trying to get their attention, and Al headed over shortly after. After collecting my winnings, we headed up to see Pauly and took off for Harrah's.
Harrah's will have to wait for another post. I've gone on too long with this... The freak show is yet to come.
posted by EvieMarie at 8:25 PM
1 Comments:
Albert Schweitzer:
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
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