Vegas!

Tuesday 9th of June

Hardcore leaching off some house’s wireless
The strip stands out like a sore thumb. The whole city is not like this.

Arrived at Vegas yesterday and pretty much just crashed upon arrival. The journey was real long, and the jetlag is still lingering for sure, went to bed at 8pm last night only to wake up at 5 this morning.

Vegas is definitely a weird place, the noises from the slots are unbearable and you have to walk through them every time you want to leave the hotel. The poker room here is pretty cool though, the tournament structure is a bit crap but there’s some others going on around the strip.

Yesterday I played 3 hours of a cash game, with blinds at $1-$2 and an optional button straddle of $4, which is something I hadn’t seen before. We had a good table, and I made friends with two Norwegian guys, one either side of me, who were pretty much over to do the same thing I am. The play was super soft, with a guy who sounded like Buzz Lightyear limp calling any bet up to $20. He was the main target for the table really.

We also had this Philippino guy who was joking around the whole time but who clearly was a good player. Flopped a couple of sets (One against the Buzz Lightyear guy) at the right times to leave with around $200 profit, but subsequently pumped $60 back in the crappy tournament.

I met a guy named Eddy “Kingpin LV” in the tournament, who plays poker, wears a lot of bling and produces records. Thought that was pretty cool. Got his number and he said he’d show me around some pubs/clubs if I wanted a guide. He answered his phone with a “Holla” everytime. Cool.

We then went for a wander around the strip. Caeser’s palace is the biggest and most ridiculous place I have ever seen but they have the most amazing aquarium. There must have been around 20 different types of exotic fish on display, including manta rays and guys who looked like nemo. Went to a load of high street shops of familiar brands (Puma, Nike, Urban outfitters etc.) and there’s just so much clothing I want to get it’s ridiculous. We’ll see how the poker goes…

Today we’re gonna go for pancakes in the place nextdoor, and then probably just bum around the stratosphere. We plan to go up the tower to the bar and get an overview of the place. Also, our hotel does all you drink for 4 hours from 4-8pm for $20?! We’re going to go for unlimited drinks with the Norwegians one day this week.

Gonna head to the Golden nugget on Friday for a $200 tournament with a great structure, so pretty excited about that!

I’ll keep you updated as I go, but I think this’ll probably get out later than Today, so the updates may come in bursts!

James