Rageotones takes Vegas by storm...(1/4-1/7 TR)

[rageotones]

i plan on making this pretty long, but i'll separate it out for you guys. if you don't like the first part, stop reading....or keep reading and bitch about it.

part 1 cliff's notes below
so it all starts with a letter from harrah's telling me i've been invited to their 75k freeroll that starts on friday 1/5. i guess they sent these to 1 gazillion people, b/c i'm not a high roller by any means. i don't have a lot of cash to spare right now, but i'm not giving up a free shot at 30k(first prize) and a free room in vegas for the weekend, so i immediately book a spot at bally's and get a plane ticket. i ask my parents for a ticket for Christmas, and they say ok, so i'm in for a totally free trip to vegas. ship it.

i only have a few friends who like to gamble, but none of them seem interested in going this particular weekend. oh well, i have no problem spending a weekend in vegas solo. also, i have one buddy who is going to be there that weekend for work, so i'll have someone to go out with at night. that works for me.

fasforward to thursday 1/4. i'm not really getting a lot of work done since i'm leaving work at noon. i have about $500 in my pocket, and my plane leaves at 4 from DFW, so i'm pretty much just thinking about how i'm going to lose my money in vegas this time.

i head home at noon, go to get a haircut, then come back home and start packing(i don't like to do anything before it absolutely has to be done). against my better judgement, i figure i'll save a few $$ on parking, so i have someone coming to take me to the airport around 1:30 or so. i'll spend no money on parking this trip...great decision for me.

i get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. i check in at the little computer for american, and it asks if i want to spend $135 to upgrade to firt class one way. hmmm, my trip was totally free....yep, i think i'll do it. this will be my one time to feel like a balla on the trip before i get to vegas where the real ballas roll.

we start to board, and i take my seat in first class(FC). i make sure to get an isle seat, since i have to piss a lot when i drink, and definitely plan on taking advantage of the drinks on the way to vegas(it's about 2:45 to vegas from dallas fyi). after everyone is on board, i get a crown and coke from the flight attendent(FA) and decide i'm really going to like this FC thing.

i learned one very important thing about flying on this trip. the whole "make sure your seats are in the upright position" thing is total b.s. my seat was leaned back the entire trip from boarding to deboarding, and they didn't say anything about it. i guess just one more way that they screw the non-FC passengers(which is usually me, since this is the first time i've flown FC). i finish drink 1 while we taxi to the runway, and we're off to vegas.

we get in the air, and i decide that scotch will be the way to go from here on out. i order a glenlivit, and start chatting it up with the guy next to me for a minute or two before he goes to his cd-player, and i go to my dvd player for some Thank You for Smoking action. a great way to start the trip.

not too long goes by before they bring by the food for us FC folk. i go with the veggie pizza, salad, and this little thing of brie and crackers. as the FA is pouring my chardonay, i ask for another scotch. she obliges, and i dig into my food. it was actually really good, but much better considering that i had already felt a little bit warmer than usual from the first two drinks.

i finish up everything, get one more scotch, and finish up my movie. i start listening to my mp3 player for a short while before i can feel my ears starting to tell me that we're beginning our decent into fabulous LV. i start talking to the guy next to me some more about poker and what not (he told me earlier that he played poker in puerto rico...where he's from). he's just a casual player, but enjoys the game. we then start talking a little about work, and i come to find out that he's some sort of badass(BA) originally from Trinidad and Tobago. we exchange cards, and decide to share a cab to the strip. i hear the FA tell a guy in front of me to be sure to finish quickly as she's handing him one last drink. hmmmm... i immediately get her attention, ask for one more crown and coke, and suck it down before we get ready for landing.

after getting our luggage, we take a cab that stops first at his hotel. he hands me a 20, and i try to give him change, but he refuses. really nice guy, and i tell him i'll e-mail him sometime and let him know how the poker trip went. ship it...almost free cab to the hotel.

i finally get to bally's, and go to check in. a cute girl(7) helps me get checked in. i ask if i can switch to one king bed instead of two queens since no one ended up coming with me for the trip. she says that she can do 1 queen in the north tower which is nicer, and i say ok. i drop her a 5 after it's all done, say thank you, and head to my room.

the room is really nice. has the little vanity mirror place with a chair by the bathroom. has 1 queen bed, and the rest of the room has a sofa, a little coffee table. then it has a full dining room table with chairs. one more nice chair, and 2 more dining room style chair. it's probably 40% bigger than a regular room, plus only has 1 bed making it feel 100% bigger than a normal room. this is going to be nice.

i just drop my stuff off because i have to get over to harrah's to register for their freeroll.

cliff's notes
take first class to vegas, get drunk on the plane, meet an important guy from puerto rico, and get upgraded to a nicer room at bally's

going to get some food...more to come on my first drunken night later on.

after preview...it looks like this might end up being the longest trip report ever. i guess it'll make up for me not writing one last time.

[rageotones]

these take a little while. is anyone interested in me continuing?

[steamboatin]

keep it coming

[teamjcfl]

if you are gonna be a balla, understand that f/c doesn't need to put their seats in the upright position cuz the guy behind you can get out if he needs to without the seat upright...

[rageotones]

[ QUOTE ]
if you are gonna be a balla, understand that f/c doesn't need to put their seats in the upright position cuz the guy behind you can get out if he needs to without the seat upright...

[/ QUOTE ]

a. i'll probably never be a huge balla
b. i never thought of that...it makes sense
c. nice 1st post

[pig4bill]

That get-your-drink-at-the-gate thing is one of the best things about FC. The schmoes in coach have to wait 20 minutes until they get up to altitude.

Man, stopping at IP when Venetian is only a couple hundred feet away had to be a bad call.

[rageotones]

part 2

i head over to harrah's, which is only a mildly annoying walk from ballys. it's kind of cold outside, but i'm doing pretty good from my 5 or 6 drinks on the plane.

i do all that i can to avoid stopping along the way to gamble(i think i might have been asian in my former life. as of this life, i'm 24 y/o, 1/4 mexican and the rest some mixture of whities, and on my 5th trip to vegas).

...and then i see it....that siren that is o'sheas. o'sheas is my first love since i've been coming to vegas. my first trip, the day i turned 21, i enjoyed this place b/c you could gamble for relatively cheap. i think it's the only place that i've ever had a good run at craps in vegas. i stroll in, but come to find out that most of the tables are 10 and up. i finally see a $5 bj table, but i'm too impatient to wait on a seat, or to squish in between 2 rather large people. i only have about 15 mins to make it to harrah's to register, so i just head over there.

i get up to registration and see a huge gathering of people. there are free drink places set up, a buffet, and a huge line of people waiting to register. i'm surprised at how nice harrah's has made this thing. i register and find out that i'm not playing until the 4 o'clock round the next day; this makes me pretty happy. i decide that it'd be kind of smart to just get water this go 'round(maybe the last good decision i make this night), grab a couple of egg rolls, and finally feel the itch hit me. i decide i need to find the fastest way to get into a poker game.

i head downstairs to harrah's poker room, and the place is packed. virtually every table in the room is going (maybe 15 or so), and there is a decent wait. screw that. there are 100's of games running all over this town, and i'm not about to wait so that i can play at harrah's.

moving along, the next place i see is imperial palace(IP). i played there once a few trips back and swore i'd never play there again(this was back when it was upstairs). it was just kind of this depressing place, and i decided that i just didn't get a good vibe from this room. oh well, i really want to play, and any room will do at this point.

i see that they have their new room in a lot better spot, but only have 2 or 3 tables running. i ask if i can get into a 1/2 game, and the guy tells me that they'll put me on a list and see if they can't get another game rolling. i tell him i'm going to go over to the craps table for a few minutes while i wait.

i get to the craps table and drop a quick 40. i want to say that i had 200 in cash on me along with 2 $50 gift traveler check things to start the night. nothing interested happens at craps. pass line with double odds, placing the 6 and 8 for $6, yadda yadda.

i go back to the IP "poker room" (i.e. roped off section of casino floor), and see that my name has not moved up the list. i again decide that i'm not waiting to play somewhere that isn't even that nice or special, and move on to the next stop.

...coming up in part 3...caesar's palace and late night bally's action.

[AtoZ]

Great read! I'm leaving for LV a week from today, and this is just getting me more psyched to fish in the pond that is 1/2NL and low-buy tourneys.

[rageotones]

forget awards, how 'bout a custon title.

what'd'ya say *TT*? eh...ehhh?

[aces_dad]

Nice trip report!