Vegas/Commerce/Pool/Drunk Trip Report 2

Continued from Trip Report 1…

On our way in to Vegas, about an hour from town, Roman called the Riviera to see if they had any rooms. Up to that point, we were winging it with no hotel room. But we did have an offer to stay at someone’s house. I was cool with whatever we ended up doing.

Good fortune (I guess) smiled on us and we landed a room at the Riv. I don’t particularly like staying at lower end hotels/casinos while in Vegas. But this time, we were there to play pool at the Riv so it made sense. Unfortunately, its at the sad end of the strip. Most of the biggest, nicest casinos are at least 2 miles away. Oh, well.

Roman and I ran into Pam (our weekly league team captain) and chatted for a few. We finally made it to check in and found that customer service is becoming obsolete at the Riviera. Instead of dealing with a person at the check-in desk, they now have kiosks like you will find in more and more airports these days. It should have been simple enough – Slide your credit card and the computer identifies you and checks you in. But Roman apparently has a golden touch. He had to swipe his card a couple dozen times before it was recognized. It then brought up a couple of options on the touch screen. He selected one of them and voila! A Windows desktop appeared. “Cool! Let’s upgrade ourselves to a suite,” I suggested. A different kiosk worked a little better and we headed to our room to drop off our gear.

We didn’t stick around the room very long because our first priority was to get a drink. Now this is where I run into a personal issue. I used to be all about drinking and having crazy fun whenever I went to Vegas. But now there are poker rooms as far as the eye can see with plenty of action for sure over this very crowded weekend. When it comes to playing poker, I don’t drink because it makes it difficult to maintain focus on the game. I wanted to play poker at some point that night but we had just arrived. So I felt compelled to have a swig to get the weekend started right.

I decided I could handle a drink or two and remain clear-headed enough to play cards later on in the evening. Besides, we would have to walk a ways to another casino if we really wanted to play and the walk could help enliven the senses. So Roman and I hit what I think is the only bar in the Riv’s casino. It “smelled like a leak,” to quote an old friend. No mind. A drink or two and we would no longer notice the wicked scent. We each put some change in the video poker games at the bar so we could drink for free. Good idea as it turned out because Roman caught four Ks playing Js or better. It would be his only profit for the trip. I had one ridiculous video poker hand. I was dealt x5684 and decided to draw for the 7 to complete the gut-shot. It was Js or better and there was no paint or pair on board so it wasn’t such a bad play. Well the Black Label (on the rocks; my go-to drink) must have been kicking in because as I hit the buttons to hold the 5, 6, 8, and 4, I whiffed on the 4 and struck the deal button. D’Oh! But to my surprise and delight, the two cards I drew were…wait for it…4 and 7! In that order. Wow. That’s nutty. I guess that’s the best way to have fun playing 25¢ vp.

Next, we headed to the convention area where the pool tourneys were to be held because we had to meet up with our 3rd teammate and register. That took a while because when I told her to meet us at registration, she went to hotel registration and waited several minutes before calling me to find out she was in the wrong place. When we finally got done with that, Roman and I decided to check out the Riviera’s so-called poker room. Its not actually a room. Rather, its 5 tables bordered by a short gate. I hadn’t expected much and didn’t want to play there anyway. There was one game going (limit & full) and we decided to ask what the chances were of starting another table. By chance, a few other people walked up at the same time so we sat down. We soon had a 1-2NLH game in action.

Yikes! What the hell was I doing? First, I drank before playing. Now I was involved in a penny-ante game in a make-shift card room. I bought in for the max amount, $200. The minimum buy-in was $40. I was thinking about what the heck I was doing there when I realized that everyone else at the table bought in for the minimum. Then I came to the conclusion that this was the perfect situation considering I was bordering on a buzz (Oh, yeah. I had another BL while waiting for our teammate at pool reg.) The stakes were insignificant and there was no chance of quickly losing what I had in front of me to any of these folks with only $40 in front of them. Then the waitress came by and it was on.

I began drinking with a complete disregard for…well…anything. I was no longer worried about the game and I was staying where I was playing. So no worries. Time to just have fun. The drinks came swiftly, the pours were tall, and the table was soft. This was probably the easiest game I have ever found. Even my friend was dumping chips to me. A couple of times, I had the best of it and new it so I made huge bets to let him know, “I’ve got it. Your aces are no good. Go away.” But he would painfully call. After he lost a buy-in, I stacked off $100 in chips and slid them over to him. I don’t know why. I just thought it was good idea at the time. At least it kept the game full and, even if he lost them, the chips were still in play.

He lost them.

But that was not a problem. Like I stated, the game was easy. I won it back from those that took it from him. I don’t recall details of many hands from that night. I do, however, recall that I was having a great time, chatting people up and making jokes. There were times during the night when people were generally unreceptive. But, more than not, they either put up with my antics or joined in. In one hand of note, I had checked from the BB holding A-Q with several limpers. I think the pot was six-handed before the flop. The board came K-T-x rainbow and everyone checked. I exclaimed, “OK (rapping the table.) But you better hope a jack doesn’t come.” A jack did hit on the turn and I jumped out of my seat, laughing. Then I checked. And, of course, someone didn’t believe that I wanted a J and bet into me. There was one caller ahead of me and I decided to call. I bet the river and (I think) I got one caller. It was a pretty huge pot for that game. The table got a little quiet after that one. That is to say, they did. Not me.

The game continued with players leaving only to be shortly replaced. I was amazed that it didn’t break or even come close. Whenever we did have a vacant seat, I would hail passersby and invite them to join us. But no one ever did. A guy who looked like Kelsey Grammer sat in and I proceeded to call him “Kelsey Grammer.” Fortunately for me, he didn’t mind.

Next thing I new, Roman, who had left around 1 or 2am, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “We play our first match at 7pm.” I wondered how he knew that because the captains’ meeting, where they would reveal that info, wasn’t until 8:30am. He had just come from there. I asked what time it was…9am. Duuuuuude! I had been playing for 10 hours. Roman invited me to meet him and several others for breakfast right then so I put the decision to the table. “What should I do? Keep playing or go eat?” Someone yelled out, “Leave!” I found that funny because it had to be a new player who hadn’t had his morning java yet. So I laughed, said good luck to everyone, and went to eat. I cashed -- winner $500. That is damn good for a 1-2 game.

I ate breakfast with my friends at a hotel diner and stumbled back to my room. I don’t even remember the entire trek to the room. Roman called me at 5pm to make sure I was alive and would be awake and ready for pool at 7pm. It took about an hour for me to crawl to the shower but I made it on time.

What a great way to start a Vegas trip, heh? Next time, the saga comes to its exciting conclusion.

SEEYa