An Englishman in Vegas

[Disturbance]

This trip report takes place in November 2003. There's no good reason for me inflicting it on the forum now other than I've never written about it before and I currently have some spare time on my hands.

The main protaganists are myself (Rob) and my good friend Mark. Names have not been changed to protect the dubious.

Background:

I started playing poker online in June 2003 shortly after Mark had told me he had started playing and had made some money and it seemed quite easy. So I duly stuck £10 into Ladbrokes and amazingly won my first ever sit n' go tournament. I can still remember the adrenaline rush I got that first time knowing I was playing for real money. Fast forward to 5 months later and I had over £500 in my account, suggestions had been raised to visit Las Vegas and with my new found wealth I was decidely cocky and well motivated to make the trip.

In Mid-November 2003 my Dad deposited myself and Mark at Manchester airport unhealthily early on a Sunday morning and we were ready to invade America! The first minor setback occurs when we are queueing to check in when a bulldog faced and very moody woman working for the airline approaches us while we're in line to ask us if we have any sharp objects (security was very strict obv so soon after 9/11). Unbelievably Mark produces a Swiss army knife from his pocket with a 3 inch blade which he has to ditch. This was my first WTF moment of the trip, as in 'how did you think it would be ok to bring that???' After that she wants to check everything we're carrying and I have to demonstrate that the digi camera I've borrowed from a friend really is a camera and not made of high explosives.

We manage to check in without further incident and kill time in the airport lounge watching England defeat France in the Rugby World Cup Semi-final. Then we board our 8 hour BMI flight to Chicago. I'm sitting next to a posh looking American lady and her cardigan annoyingly hangs over half of my seat. She asks me where I'm going in the US, when I say Las Vegas she calls it the armpit of America. This thankfully ceases conversation for the rest of the flight, luckily BMI provide free booze.

Upon landing in Chicago to catch the connecting flight to Vegas we are herded through immigration by a very large, very rude American guard with a gun. No one argues. Thankfully the guy on the customs booth is quite friendly and chatty, we compare broadband prices as that was my job at the time and I am officially stamped into the US of A. Yay!

While waiting for the connecting flight at O'Hare I buy USA today and attempt to make an international phonecall with the $10 in change I have from the guy at the newsstand. This proves fruitless after speaking to several operators who don't seem to understand me (we're speaking the same language FFS). Although I have a tri-band mobile I stupidly have it locked for international calls as this is the default setting and can't unlock it.

Eventually we board the oldest aircraft in United Airlines' fleet (on the backrow) to make the flight to Vegas. We are given a packet of peanuts for sustenance. After a couple of hours my mood lifts considerably as we descend into Sin City. It's dark by now and everything is lit up, it looks fooking incredible from the air and the excitement is building. After landing at McCarran we grab our bags and head straight for the taxi rank, ignoring the 1000 slot machines offering you the chance to go broke before you even get out of the airport.

The Taxi driver transports us at what seems like 100mph to our hotel of choice, The Tropicana. As you've probably gathered I'm not a high roller and this place was booked on the cheap [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] From what little homework I've done I know enough to make sure we don't go via 'the tunnel' and the cabbie obliges. Checkin is smooth and we get an upgrade without asking which is nice. We dump our bags in the room, have a quick wash and decide to immediately get on the piss. I grab my passport and immediately head down to the bar, the passport is needed as I subsequently get ID'ed *everywhere*. I look quite young but this is weird compared to the UK.

The first evening passes without too much incident. We mostly just play some $5 blackjack at the Trop. I stagger back to the room after taking liberties with the free booze. For some reason I feel guilty stuffing approx $50 profit in chips in my pocket and walking away, I'm such a noob I couldn't even find the cashier's cage in my jetlagged/drunken state.

I wake up obscenely early the next day in a haze, this is the view from the hotel room:



As long as ppl don't hate it I'll post the rest soon, and if you do I'll post it just to spite you [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]