Trip Report Vegas 2/1-2/6 Long, multiple parts

[zman31]

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your wife is 6'2"??? How tall are you? Pics?

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Pics might make her my ex-wife, but yep she is 6'2". I'm the same height. All of her height is in her legs; when seated next to each other I'm about 3" taller. I have her in weight though by about 60lbs right now though I'm trying to close the gap.

[Dominic]

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your wife is 6'2"??? How tall are you? Pics?

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Pics might make her my ex-wife, but yep she is 6'2". I'm the same height. All of her height is in her legs; when seated next to each other I'm about 3" taller. I have her in weight though by about 60lbs right now though I'm trying to close the gap.

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cool deal...you're a lucky man!

[zman31]

Super Bowl Sunday 2/4

My original plan for the Super Bowl was to head early to the Brew Pub in Monte Carlo, grab a seat and drink beer and eat fried food all day with a large, rowdy, Vegas crowd of other vacationers. The closer the game got the less appealing this sounded. I know the wife would be bored silly and when she’s board the chances of me having a good time decrease drastically. She can’t sit still for a half hour sitcom much less 3 hours of pre-game and a full NFL game. So, if I decided to do the Brew Pub I would most likely wind up by myself. Time for a change of plan; we sleep in, get breakfast at the Café, do a little shopping and then nap time for the wife and poker time for me. I figure the camaraderie at the poker table will make for a fun viewing experience, the beer will be cheaper and I won’t have to listen to Phil Simms.

I get an immediate seat around 1pm and tell the wife to hang out and come get me in an hour or so when she’s hungry and I’ll leave my chips and we can grab something quick in the hotel. I sit down and immediately get stacked. I wish I could remember the hand, I’m sure I played it terribly. I rebuy and get a beer and just ABC it until the wife comes to get me. Most of the table seems to have plans for the Super Bowl so it looks like the table will be breaking. Looking around the room it looks like there are 2 other 1-2nl tables going. The wife comes around 2pm and I leave my chips and head to Dragon Noodle for a snack so as to remain hungry for Craftsteak.

Dragon Noodle in Monte Carlo may have some good options on the menu but we did not have them. The pot stickers, normally a reliable choice on any Asian menu, were flavorless; they had none of that oniony bite that I expect and the flavor of the meat was just bland. We decided to split the chicken with noodles. It was a soup of weak broth, bland vegetables and unseasoned chicken with ramen type noodles: nearly inedible. We picked out the chicken and ate some of the noodles but it was a struggle. The wife made the menu selection as it seemed light and she apologized no fewer than 4 times while we were trying to get it down. Avoid at all costs unless someone you know tells you there is something specific on the menu that you would like.

Back to the poker room about 2:30 and the table is getting ready to break. Of the 6 players remaining, only 2 of us will be sticking around. I look around and recognize a few people that I’ve played with over the last couple of days. Kenny, the hearing impaired Korean guy and Alan, the republican Bostonian who debated with the liberal leaning Brett Jungblut about the recent increase to the minimum wage (everyone at that table wished they had an iPod). I grab a seat at their table and have a perfect straight on view of the TV. Nice.

The poker room at Monte Carlo was in a strange time warp, the future was now. A big play would happen; a small cheer would come from the players and then 5 seconds later the sports book next door would explode in raucous shouting. If only I could harness this bizarre bend in the time space continuum to get an early look at the flop. Sadly, Max Walker I am not. The Super Bowl was a lot of fun, the play was loose and friendly and I held my own and got a few beers. The commercials that were very visual, like the mutt who becomes a Dalmatian in the Budweiser ad, or the beard comb over sported by Jim Gaffigan in the Sierra Mist spot were enjoyed the most in the poker room that didn’t have the sound on. I had a great time laughing it up with everyone, watching the big plays and playing poker the whole time. I mostly remembered to post my blinds and fold in turn too! Hey, maybe I’m getting the hang of this. I probably finished the session down about $50 for a net loss, with the early stacking, of $250. Those single mistakes can be very costly. My normal game online is $.10/$.25nl at Full Tilt. I came to Vegas to play and with a roll of $1600 but when the smallest raise in these games is about $12 or half my normal buy-in it can be a bit daunting as I am not made of money.

I beg off around 6:30 as the Super Bowl is spiraling downward, happy the sports book lines were long the past few days as my bet was going to be a parlay of the Bears and the under. $100 saved. I head up to the room to iron a shirt and get ready for Craftsteak and watch the end of the game in the room.

We walk over to MGM and head to the restaurant around 7:30. The hostess is a little hotty and asks if we’ll be dining with them tonight. Yes, we will, party of 2 for 8pm. We have a seat at the bar, Beam whiskey sour for me please, a daiquiri for the lady. We’re informed that they do not have frozen drinks. I get it, the place is all class and they’re not going to disturb the diners with a blender going off every other minute and they certainly wouldn’t serve you something from one of those spinning slushee contraptions you would find at Margaritaville. No problem. The wife is not a big drinker and neither of us enjoy wine so she just sticks to Pepsi.

We’re seated by the hostess promptly at 8. Robert, our waiter, introduces himself and his assistant. The menu is laid out and we’re looking it over. We’ve heard good things about the tasting menu and we’re deciding between that and ala carte. We ask a few questions of Robert and make a decision.

We ordered the Kobe beef tasting menu. Robert wants to know if we like tartare. I wanted to try it but raw food and the wife don’t go well together so we asked that it not be included in our menu. So, on to the food we go.

First up, a trio of appetizers...roasted red pepper slices, chilled with garlic and olive oil; grilled whole prawns with a tomato, garlic dipping sauce and a red leaf salad (salad was the only thing basic, the other 2 dishes were superb). The prawns came out of their shells easily and the sauce was light and flavorful.

Entrée course consisted of 2 steaks, one Kobe filet, medium rare and perfectly fatty and meaty, melt in your mouth delicious. And a Kobe skirt steak, cooked medium. Again, excellent flavor from an altogether different cut of meat. These were served with 3 sides. Grilled asparagus (standard but very good), a potato puree that the wife referred to as twice-baked potato soup, a perfect description. It was served in a copper tureen and was an amazingly good take on a starch. Lastly, 3 different kinds of grilled mushrooms; one of which, hedgehog, I had never had. A new favorite as it is meaty without the chewyness you sometimes get. We finished the filet but the skirt was too much and only all 3 sides were left unfinished. It was just too much food.

Dessert brought 4 items. Fresh pineapple, cubed. A fried pastry with caramel dipping sauce. 4 ice creams: chocolate, pineapple, kiwi, and butter pecan. The kiwi was amazing. And the last and obviously best, a small chocolate lava cake. Dessert was accompanied by coffee, each of us got our own miniature French press.

2 beers (Sierra Nevada IPA, another favorite + 1 pepsi + tip = $375 - $100 timeshare score = $275 out of pocket. Not bad at either price. We had an excellent meal that we’ll remember for a long time.

[StevieG]

Nice report, zman, thanks for sharing.

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We ordered the Kobe beef tasting menu.

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Sweet, sounds like a good dining experience. Craftsteak is on the short list of places to try when next in Vegas.

[zman31]

Since we’re out already it seems like a good time to do the Stratosphere. We take a cab from MGM to the Stratosphere and for the first time since our arrival I get the feeling that the cabby actually took the fastest and most direct route. I don’t know my way around the strip and thusly have no idea if the other drivers were mucking about but this guy seemed to get the job done properly. Bill: $10.75.

We stroll through the casino and get in line for tickets to the top. As we’re waiting in line two Middle Eastern fellows hand us some tickets for the insanity ride. Sweet! Now all we need are tickets for the ride up. From the look of the tickets they gave us, each of them rode one of the other 2 rides and then got scared and decided the insanity was too much. The insanity is the one I wanted to ride.

The wife and I board the elevator and the doors close for the mach 2 ride up. Nine hundred feet and .9 seconds later we’re at the top. The view is jaw dropping. Does anyone in the entire city turn off a lamp, ever? The valley is blanketed in lights, quite beautiful. We have a brief argument about whether the Eiffel tower is higher or not. I think the Stratosphere might have it, the wife insists that it isn’t even close, the Eiffel tower is much taller. A quick google search upon returning home confirms that she is correct that the Eiffel tower is taller but only by 150 feet (900 ft to 1063 ft. We were there last summer and it seemed pretty close to me. I’ll tell her she was right one of these days.

We get in line to ride Insanity. Super Bowl Sunday = no waiting! When the ride stops we’re ushered on. Now, if you’ve never heard anything about this thing or seen it, here is a brief attempt to describe it. The ride itself is a takeoff on those swing rides you see at fairs and amusement parks where you sit in the swing, the support structure in the middle turns in a circle, moving faster and faster and your swing goes higher and higher as you spin around. Picture a 30’ curved crane arm. Hanging from the arm are 6 metal arms with seats for two people at the end of each. The seats face in so you’re looking at the 2 people across from you. After everyone is locked in a gate at the edge of the tower drops and the crane rotates so all six seats are hanging in midair, 900 feet in the air. The contraption then starts to spin and your chair is flung from the center and you are no spinning quickly in a clockwise motion and nearly facing straight down. I would estimate the angle at about 20 degrees from perpendicular. It lasts about 3 minutes. You’re then slowed down and brought back in and the gate goes up and you may exit the ride. I felt like I had just done a leg in a bat-spin relay. But it was crazy fun. I’m glad I have a strong stomach as I would have felt terrible losing that Craftsteak meal.

[rrb]

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and I won’t have to listen to Phil Simms.

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LOL - I thought I was the only one who hates Phil Simms the commentator