Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Bad Beat Monday
It's been quite an interlude over here at GotP. My apologies to the few that check back for updates. It's been a pretty busy week - and unfortunately not much of that time has been spent either playing poker or writing about it.
Between some busy days at work, having relatives drop in for a weeklong visit, and finding myself sucked into the baseball playoffs and my 5-0 Jets - there just hasn't seemed to be time to finish updating my trip report.
Yesterday - for the first time in a while I had some free time. Of course there was that 14 inning, 5 hour Yankees-Red Sox game that I watched in it's entirety - however baseball is a poker friendly pasttime - and I was excited to spend a few hours enjoying the game (as long as the Yanks lost) and playing poker.
Unfortunately, though Boston triumphed over the bad guys - I had no such luck. The day started on a Party $50NL table. I doubled up after waiting for quite a while to get a playable hand when my AK hit two pair and Ax couldn't or wouldn't fold. (had me worried though)
I played pretty smart - even reading another hand when my top pair got chased down by a flush draw (never mind my flop and turn pot bets, apparently) - and though the flush came on the river and he checked it - I wisely checked it rather than make a stupid bet at the river. Still it was quite a pot, and though I congratulated myself on paying attention enough not to get burnt for more - it wasn't fun to see a good portion of my profit slide over to another stack.
Finally, after swimming for a while with a small profit - I catch AA. Two limpers (for $1) , I raise to $5 in MP. I catch 3 callers, the button and the two early limpers. (guess I should've raised more. The flop comes J-8-4 rainbow. It's checked, and the second limper bets $6 into the $21 pot. I think about raising here - but I think the bettor has top pair - and I'm thinking the other players will lay down to a raise - so I get greedy and smooth call.
Both other players call the $6.
The turn is a T. Now I'm not too happy about that T. JT is possible - some players will even call 5xBB preflop raise w/this hand. The raiser opens for $20.
Now I'm worried about JT or even trips. But I'm still reading top pair for some reason. I should probably lay this down - but I feel strongly that I'm ahead of the bettor. After some agonizing over the fold button - I slide the bet slider to the right and push all in for about the pot - $40.
The button calls behind me (whoops!) and the bettor goes all in too - called by the button.
The river is another T.
Bettor shows TT for four of a kind.
Button shows AJ - for the top pair I was reading on the bettor.
I muck my AA and quickly shut down Party Poker.
Sometimes I can play through a bad hand or a bad beat. I'm not really sure which this was - though I suspect I could've played this hand ALOT better. For some reason - I just felt like I should take a break for a while after this hand.
As I look back on it - the two things I could've done is to raise preflop more aggressively, and/or to have raised the flop (where I was still definitely ahead). Instead I took the risk of someone catching me (and they did) - and busting me.
No matter - at 10pm I entered Ultimate Bet's 10+1 10,000 guaranteed rebuy tournament. The overlay was pretty nice with the guarantee and as expected the turnout was over 1000 players. I wasn't planning on rebuying - in fact I'm not a huge fan of rebuy tournaments - but the top prizes were pretty attractive.
Unfortunately though I flop a set with 44 on the very first hand - it's not action time yet - and I can't convince anyone to bet into me. Much later on I get AK - raise it up - pick up too many callers - and have to fold when I miss the flop.
I still wait patiently - while the action heats up at the table and am rewarded when I get KK in LP - raise the pot and pick up 3 callers. The flop comes all undercards - and I'm good. I raise the pot and have 2 callers. A fourth undercard on the turn. I'm short stacked in relation to the pot - so I push after the callers check. I pick up two callers. One hit trips on the turn with 77 - and the other has AT for top pair.
Ooops. I rebuy.
Slightly on tilt - but forcing myself to remain tight and patient. As is the case in many rebuy tourneys - the action is being pushed and if you can just hit a few hands...
I catch JTo in the BB - it's raised 2xBB - a whole mess of callers - so of course I call.
The flop comes K-Q-8 (rainbow). I have a double belly buster straight draw. (both the A and 9 give me the straight. It's bet and called by a few callers - I call hoping to hit one of my outs.
A 9 comes on the turn. I check - it's bet and called - no messing around this time, I push hoping to pick up a disbelieving caller. I do get one - and he shows 88 for the flopped trips. I'm in good shape...
The river is a 9.
See ya. Want to rebuy? No thanks.
Actually the happy ending to this story? The UB tournament crashed and I got a message from UB saying they were refunding entry fees. The players left in the tourney get a free-roll for 20,000. I just get my money back.
Heck - I'll take it.
Looking forward to Iggy's PokerStars blogger tournament on Thursday night. Though I'll be flying to chicago tomorrow - I'll find a way to play via dial-up in my hotel room. I just wish my game were in a slightly better state.
Here's hoping I can get lucky. See you all on Thursday!
|
It's been quite an interlude over here at GotP. My apologies to the few that check back for updates. It's been a pretty busy week - and unfortunately not much of that time has been spent either playing poker or writing about it.
Between some busy days at work, having relatives drop in for a weeklong visit, and finding myself sucked into the baseball playoffs and my 5-0 Jets - there just hasn't seemed to be time to finish updating my trip report.
Yesterday - for the first time in a while I had some free time. Of course there was that 14 inning, 5 hour Yankees-Red Sox game that I watched in it's entirety - however baseball is a poker friendly pasttime - and I was excited to spend a few hours enjoying the game (as long as the Yanks lost) and playing poker.
Unfortunately, though Boston triumphed over the bad guys - I had no such luck. The day started on a Party $50NL table. I doubled up after waiting for quite a while to get a playable hand when my AK hit two pair and Ax couldn't or wouldn't fold. (had me worried though)
I played pretty smart - even reading another hand when my top pair got chased down by a flush draw (never mind my flop and turn pot bets, apparently) - and though the flush came on the river and he checked it - I wisely checked it rather than make a stupid bet at the river. Still it was quite a pot, and though I congratulated myself on paying attention enough not to get burnt for more - it wasn't fun to see a good portion of my profit slide over to another stack.
Finally, after swimming for a while with a small profit - I catch AA. Two limpers (for $1) , I raise to $5 in MP. I catch 3 callers, the button and the two early limpers. (guess I should've raised more. The flop comes J-8-4 rainbow. It's checked, and the second limper bets $6 into the $21 pot. I think about raising here - but I think the bettor has top pair - and I'm thinking the other players will lay down to a raise - so I get greedy and smooth call.
Both other players call the $6.
The turn is a T. Now I'm not too happy about that T. JT is possible - some players will even call 5xBB preflop raise w/this hand. The raiser opens for $20.
Now I'm worried about JT or even trips. But I'm still reading top pair for some reason. I should probably lay this down - but I feel strongly that I'm ahead of the bettor. After some agonizing over the fold button - I slide the bet slider to the right and push all in for about the pot - $40.
The button calls behind me (whoops!) and the bettor goes all in too - called by the button.
The river is another T.
Bettor shows TT for four of a kind.
Button shows AJ - for the top pair I was reading on the bettor.
I muck my AA and quickly shut down Party Poker.
Sometimes I can play through a bad hand or a bad beat. I'm not really sure which this was - though I suspect I could've played this hand ALOT better. For some reason - I just felt like I should take a break for a while after this hand.
As I look back on it - the two things I could've done is to raise preflop more aggressively, and/or to have raised the flop (where I was still definitely ahead). Instead I took the risk of someone catching me (and they did) - and busting me.
No matter - at 10pm I entered Ultimate Bet's 10+1 10,000 guaranteed rebuy tournament. The overlay was pretty nice with the guarantee and as expected the turnout was over 1000 players. I wasn't planning on rebuying - in fact I'm not a huge fan of rebuy tournaments - but the top prizes were pretty attractive.
Unfortunately though I flop a set with 44 on the very first hand - it's not action time yet - and I can't convince anyone to bet into me. Much later on I get AK - raise it up - pick up too many callers - and have to fold when I miss the flop.
I still wait patiently - while the action heats up at the table and am rewarded when I get KK in LP - raise the pot and pick up 3 callers. The flop comes all undercards - and I'm good. I raise the pot and have 2 callers. A fourth undercard on the turn. I'm short stacked in relation to the pot - so I push after the callers check. I pick up two callers. One hit trips on the turn with 77 - and the other has AT for top pair.
Ooops. I rebuy.
Slightly on tilt - but forcing myself to remain tight and patient. As is the case in many rebuy tourneys - the action is being pushed and if you can just hit a few hands...
I catch JTo in the BB - it's raised 2xBB - a whole mess of callers - so of course I call.
The flop comes K-Q-8 (rainbow). I have a double belly buster straight draw. (both the A and 9 give me the straight. It's bet and called by a few callers - I call hoping to hit one of my outs.
A 9 comes on the turn. I check - it's bet and called - no messing around this time, I push hoping to pick up a disbelieving caller. I do get one - and he shows 88 for the flopped trips. I'm in good shape...
The river is a 9.
See ya. Want to rebuy? No thanks.
Actually the happy ending to this story? The UB tournament crashed and I got a message from UB saying they were refunding entry fees. The players left in the tourney get a free-roll for 20,000. I just get my money back.
Heck - I'll take it.
Looking forward to Iggy's PokerStars blogger tournament on Thursday night. Though I'll be flying to chicago tomorrow - I'll find a way to play via dial-up in my hotel room. I just wish my game were in a slightly better state.
Here's hoping I can get lucky. See you all on Thursday!
Friday, October 08, 2004
Trip Report Interlude
Yes - I know, this trip report has dragged on and on. I'm working on Day 4 right now - and trying desperately to at least get the draft completed before it all becomes a faded memory.
I suppose it would have written itself if it were a more interesting story (like the last Borgata trip). It's still interesting I suppose - just not as profitable (happy) an ending.
Anyways - a couple of poker thoughts I've been having and wanted to post before the continuation of my Vegas trip journal.
I've been spending a decent amount of time lurking on the Party and UB $50/$100 NL tables. I figured out pretty early on that while the $25 NL tables were profitable - the higher games are even MORE profitable.
Seriously - I figured the competition at the $50/$100 max buy-in limits would toughen up. Not really the case. Although I've gone on some bad streaks - and made some pretty tough and potentially bad laydowns in some rather large pots - for the most part I've been pretty steadily building my bankroll on these tables.
It's kind of disappointing when I don't double up at least once through the fish in these games.
There's really not that much trickery or skill in my opinion necessary to beat the game either.
Basically I just play pretty tight - with a healthy consideration given over to position, and keep my aggressive bets within the ranges of half the pot to the pot. (in other words - I rarely overbet)
I add value to hands that can make the nuts like small/mid pockets, suited Aces (I play these too much), and the suited connectors from 78 up.
I'm much more likely to play these hands or even call a small raise in position with these hands.
I don't mess around with Ace, poor kicker or two face cards, gaps, etc... very much with few exceptions.
In general - although I believe I possess the skill to outplay most of the players I see post flop - I try to limit the hands I play to those that I feel are relatively straightforward. Either you hit your hand (or big draw), or you get out.
As for when you connect with a flop. Well - it's amazing how effective the small lead bet on the flop can be. When forced to act first - when holding the nuts (a flopped boat, straight, trips) - my favorite way to play this is to make a small bet (2x min - half pot).
If no one has anything - you win a small pot. If someone has something - you can be assured of getting raised. And you'll collect a few calls (and sometimes raises) from drawers who have no idea they're drawing dead. You may even encourage an aggressive player to try a steal-raise.
I find that over half the time - the second best hand will come over the top of my weak lead. I can either call and check the turn if I think he's aggressive - or come back over the top if I think he has a hand that he can't get away from - or if I don't want to give him another card.
In any case I find this is the strategem that makes up the bulk of my profit.
As for playing non-nut hands/draws - well all I can say is that I play them very carefully. I have on occasion made a bad read or two and gotten hurt, but for the most part - I'm very willing to lay down TPTK in the face of someone who is representing something better.
If anything - I tend to play a little weak in these situations.
For the most part - many times - once you've had your initial betting confrontation (on the flop or turn) - unless your opponent is really strong - they tend not to follow through if you've called them. Allowing you to check down to the river and see who had the better hand.
In any case - none of this any revelational poker strategy. It's low limit NLHE for chrissakes - play solid poker. But it works. (cards willing)
I may never play limit again...
Last night - I returned to the online tournament circuit - jumping into a $10 UB tourney that had a reasonable 2-300 person field. I played pretty good for the first 2 hours - making it to the bubble where the tourney generally slows down. Unfortunately I hit a nut flush on the river when a second ace came on the last card. My suited king all of a sudden looked good - for some reason I read 3 aces and not full house. I was so convinced that I pushed all in on top of his bet instead of giving him room to at least represent the house and give myself an opportunity to make another read/decision. Unfortunately he HAD been slow-playing two pair and made his house with the second ace. And I was out on the bubble.
My tournament dry spell continues.
I just withdrew a few hundred dollars from my burgeoning UB account with the intention of going after some bonus dollars somewhere. I originally intended get Party's redeposit bonus but missed the deadline over the weekend.
I've been thinking about trying out InterPoker for their 100% deposit bonus (up to $90). (thanks to Sound of a Suckout for the tip)
But do I really want to spend time on another sub-standard site grinding out my bonus?
I also read about this new site - Check and Raise on the Poker Professor's blog. It looks interesting and I registered and will check them out when they open. I'm happy to see anything that can come out with improvements to the current batch of poker interfaces. At the least it may drive some improvements from the current sites.
But you know - I'll probably just stick it in my Party account and look to play some bigger games.
That's it for now - the rest of my Vegas trip reports should be up by the end of next week.
|
Yes - I know, this trip report has dragged on and on. I'm working on Day 4 right now - and trying desperately to at least get the draft completed before it all becomes a faded memory.
I suppose it would have written itself if it were a more interesting story (like the last Borgata trip). It's still interesting I suppose - just not as profitable (happy) an ending.
Anyways - a couple of poker thoughts I've been having and wanted to post before the continuation of my Vegas trip journal.
I've been spending a decent amount of time lurking on the Party and UB $50/$100 NL tables. I figured out pretty early on that while the $25 NL tables were profitable - the higher games are even MORE profitable.
Seriously - I figured the competition at the $50/$100 max buy-in limits would toughen up. Not really the case. Although I've gone on some bad streaks - and made some pretty tough and potentially bad laydowns in some rather large pots - for the most part I've been pretty steadily building my bankroll on these tables.
It's kind of disappointing when I don't double up at least once through the fish in these games.
There's really not that much trickery or skill in my opinion necessary to beat the game either.
Basically I just play pretty tight - with a healthy consideration given over to position, and keep my aggressive bets within the ranges of half the pot to the pot. (in other words - I rarely overbet)
I add value to hands that can make the nuts like small/mid pockets, suited Aces (I play these too much), and the suited connectors from 78 up.
I'm much more likely to play these hands or even call a small raise in position with these hands.
I don't mess around with Ace, poor kicker or two face cards, gaps, etc... very much with few exceptions.
In general - although I believe I possess the skill to outplay most of the players I see post flop - I try to limit the hands I play to those that I feel are relatively straightforward. Either you hit your hand (or big draw), or you get out.
As for when you connect with a flop. Well - it's amazing how effective the small lead bet on the flop can be. When forced to act first - when holding the nuts (a flopped boat, straight, trips) - my favorite way to play this is to make a small bet (2x min - half pot).
If no one has anything - you win a small pot. If someone has something - you can be assured of getting raised. And you'll collect a few calls (and sometimes raises) from drawers who have no idea they're drawing dead. You may even encourage an aggressive player to try a steal-raise.
I find that over half the time - the second best hand will come over the top of my weak lead. I can either call and check the turn if I think he's aggressive - or come back over the top if I think he has a hand that he can't get away from - or if I don't want to give him another card.
In any case I find this is the strategem that makes up the bulk of my profit.
As for playing non-nut hands/draws - well all I can say is that I play them very carefully. I have on occasion made a bad read or two and gotten hurt, but for the most part - I'm very willing to lay down TPTK in the face of someone who is representing something better.
If anything - I tend to play a little weak in these situations.
For the most part - many times - once you've had your initial betting confrontation (on the flop or turn) - unless your opponent is really strong - they tend not to follow through if you've called them. Allowing you to check down to the river and see who had the better hand.
In any case - none of this any revelational poker strategy. It's low limit NLHE for chrissakes - play solid poker. But it works. (cards willing)
I may never play limit again...
Last night - I returned to the online tournament circuit - jumping into a $10 UB tourney that had a reasonable 2-300 person field. I played pretty good for the first 2 hours - making it to the bubble where the tourney generally slows down. Unfortunately I hit a nut flush on the river when a second ace came on the last card. My suited king all of a sudden looked good - for some reason I read 3 aces and not full house. I was so convinced that I pushed all in on top of his bet instead of giving him room to at least represent the house and give myself an opportunity to make another read/decision. Unfortunately he HAD been slow-playing two pair and made his house with the second ace. And I was out on the bubble.
My tournament dry spell continues.
I just withdrew a few hundred dollars from my burgeoning UB account with the intention of going after some bonus dollars somewhere. I originally intended get Party's redeposit bonus but missed the deadline over the weekend.
I've been thinking about trying out InterPoker for their 100% deposit bonus (up to $90). (thanks to Sound of a Suckout for the tip)
But do I really want to spend time on another sub-standard site grinding out my bonus?
I also read about this new site - Check and Raise on the Poker Professor's blog. It looks interesting and I registered and will check them out when they open. I'm happy to see anything that can come out with improvements to the current batch of poker interfaces. At the least it may drive some improvements from the current sites.
But you know - I'll probably just stick it in my Party account and look to play some bigger games.
That's it for now - the rest of my Vegas trip reports should be up by the end of next week.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Vegas Trip Report - Day 2
Friday morning – I wake up refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunately as I shower, dress and attempt to sneak down to the poker room for some early morning action, my girlfriend wakes up and asks sleepily “where are you going?”.
“Uh – to go get some coffee..” I reply sheepishly (at the poker room – I’m thinking).
“Sounds like a good idea – hey – let’s go to the buffet” she says getting up out of bed.
Busted. And just like that – I was off… to the Bellagio buffet.
(Told you there wouldn’t be as much poker content)
The Bellagio buffet is pretty well reviewed by tourists to Vegas. I won’t spend an extraordinary amount of time on it – but for those curious – here’s my two cents.
In general – pretty standard stuff – tins of burnt bacon, greasy sausage, and the always scary looking vat of scrambled eggs. The omelettes to order were pretty damn good – I got mine with king crab and shrimp – not my typical omelette, but I was trying to get my $12 worth…
Some of the other offerings are where the Bellagio buffet really shines. Found some half decent lox along with a bagel like substance (not bad for the West Coast). Since it was late breakfast – they started bringing out some lunch items – and I was able to snag a heaping plate of shrimp cocktail. (mmmm..)
And finally they even had some desert offering out – y’know – cuz breakfast just isn’t breakfast without finishing it off with some crepes or a piece of pie.
It goes without saying that I ate too much. But I’ll be damned if I ever go to a buffet and don’t get my money’s worth. (which reminds me of a scary college episode at a Wendy’s $2.99 Super Bar, a day which will live in infamy – but that’s another story)
So finished with our 2 hour break-fast – we headed back out to the casino floor. I longingly looked over at the poker room which was beginning to fill up – but found myself somewhat unwillingly dragged off to a blackjack table tantalizingly close to the poker room.
Actually at the Bellagio the BJ tables by the poker room/sportsbook are the only ones I like to play. First off they have double deck blackjack which I prefer greatly to the never-ending automatic shoe variety. And secondly – it just seems more friendly over there. Maybe because there’s less foot traffic – maybe because the tables are usually slightly higher limits than the ones immediately past the lobby.
Anyways – I recommend you play there (if you absolutely have to play BJ). My girlfriend had ingeniously (she’s the inspiration for the title of this blog) purchased one of those little BJ strategy cards in preparation for playing. I think she had been trying to memorize the strategy thinking that you couldn’t look at the card while you played.
So we sat down at an empty ($25) BJ table. The first thing I did was tell her to pull out the strategy card. She looked at me innocently – like “what card?”.
I quickly explained that it was ok to play with the card. (although if you tip the dealers and are nice – they’ll usually give you the correct advice)
So we were off and running – playing BJ – and I soon realized as I received my first soft count hand – that I did not remember the BJ basic strategy as well as I had thought. I let slip some comment about how it was amazing how many years I’d been playing and still couldn’t remember the basic strategy.
That’s when the pit boss got suddenly interested. “How MANY years have you been playing blackjack?” she asked me.
“Uh… maybe 20. 25?” I answered without thinking.
“How old were you when you started playing, exactly?” she asked.
“How old? Well, I come from a gambling family – I probably learned how to play when about the same time I learned to count.” I proudly replied.
And you still can’t memorize the basic strategy?” she asked teasingly.
This became the running joke – as I tried to remember the proper move on split numbers and soft counts – only to check with the card and find that I was wrong a good portion of the time. (apparently – I’m a bit too apt to split and double)
The various dealers, pit bosses, and even my girlfriend found this amazingly funny for some reason. (why is everybody always picking on me?)
I just found it plain embarrassing. (though it got funny to me too after a few drinks) Halfway through the session that stupid little card moved it’s way from in front of my girlfriend to in front of me.
Meanwhile – though we were having a good time, and playing strictly by the basic strategy – we were still losing, and badly.
An interesting blackjack side note. It’s funny how many people don’t like to play at an empty table. Blackjack CAN be a social game. Not always – there’s always plenty of people who take it much too seriously. I mean if you aren’t going to have fun playing – why even bother??? But the thing I noticed is that once you get a game going on an empty table and appear to be having even a reasonable time – players start swooping in out of the crowd to take up spots.
And I’m nowhere near the most entertaining or fun blackjack player I know. Some good friends of mine who live and breathe blackjack happen to be some of the greatest people to play blackjack with in the world.
They’ve invented or adapted table antics like, the bull dance, a victory celebration inspired by Happy Gilmore, that consists of either the seated bounce and spank (use your imagination) or the more celebratory version – in which you stand up, bounce and spank back and forth behind the table.
There’s also my favorite - suspense cards (getting your double down cards dealt face down). So when the dealer doesn’t bust – you still have that last element of suspense as you see if you made your 20 or 21 on the double. The Bellagio dealers happily have no problem with suspense cards. (some places do)
They’re the kind of players that can get a whole table of strangers to stand up for a dealer break out of superstition. And turn those strangers into drunken high-fiving best friends within an hour or (usually) less.
That’s why they call themselves “Blackjack Ambassadors of Goodwill.”
Me – I’m more the quiet, subtle reaction player. But perhaps it’s because I have friends usually providing the entertainment and energy.
Without them – perhaps feeling something missing – I come out of the shell a bit.
Anyways – long story – short, -$400 in a few hours of $25 (that crept up to $50 and sometimes $100) blackjack. And yes though it was fun – it was most certainly not -$400 fun!
I don’t know what my g/f dropped at the table. Not as much, I think – as she was actually up for a while. We left when I refused to dig into my wallet any further.
I wasn’t exactly upset – but neither was I happy. I mean – I had gone from a nice start in the poker room Wednesday night – to suddenly in the hole after a few hours of BJ.
I think my g/f may have realized the slight frustration I felt – because she graciously decided to head for the pool and spa for the couple of hours before we were scheduled to see “O” and mentioned ‘whydon’tIhitthepokerroom’?
Why don’t I, indeed? I think I was gone before she could finish her sentence.
A few seconds later I was on the list at the full room. Unfortunately the 8-16 had a long list – and I just couldn’t bring myself to play 4-8.
What to do? There really isn’t much of a waiting area in the Bellagio poker room. (a minor, yet significant complaint) There were at least a 20 names on the list and no empty tables visible to open. I was in for an hour wait at least…
So I headed off to kill some time at a video poker machine, passing by the bj table we had just left and noticing it was empty and now a $50 min table…
No luck at video poker – and a poor substitute for the real thing – I went back to check on the list – but the Friday afternoon players seemed to be entrenched in their seats. I came very/very close to checking on the 15/30, 20/40 games – but quickly decided that would be a very bad idea in my current mental state.
As I wondered what my next move was – I walked by the old BJ table, empty again – and noticed it was back to a $25 min.
Next thing I knew – I was seated back in the same seat – with a pile of green $25 chips (and sans strategy card) hitting, standing, doubling, splitting, and never, never surrendering.
I must’ve been having fun – (well – I WAS winning) because in a few short minutes I was joined by other players. Actually it was a good group – one guy – a $100 BJ table decided to slum with me – and we got along great. Winning tends to build BJ friendships. We started drinking, bumping fists on big dealer breaks, and just generally having some good BJ fun. A young woman joined us soon after – and we went on another little run – and she soon became part of our little clique.
In just a short hour or so – I found myself back up the $400 I lost and even up a few hundred more.
It was at this point that I began to start thinking about leaving. Impulsively I asked to color up – much to the dismay of my new friends.
“You ever see a couple of strangers tackle someone trying to leave a hot blackjack table?” asked one of my new friends.
“It ain’t a pretty sight.” Added the other.
It was all in good humor. And I did understand their feelings. So not wanting to break the table karma – I hung around. But I scaled back my betting to a strict $25 – not wanting to tempt fate and risk the $$$ I had just won back.
Unfortunately for the table – the cards went cold – maybe I had irreparably hurt our karma already by coloring up. I bounced up and down – until I had finally lost my meager profit and at that point neither of my new friends were as adamant that I stay.
Still – I had won back my earlier loss – and was feeling pretty damn good about it.
With the bounce back in my step – I headed back to my room to get ready to go see the much ballyhooed Cirque de Soleil “O” show.
(to be continued)
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Friday morning – I wake up refreshed and ready to go. Unfortunately as I shower, dress and attempt to sneak down to the poker room for some early morning action, my girlfriend wakes up and asks sleepily “where are you going?”.
“Uh – to go get some coffee..” I reply sheepishly (at the poker room – I’m thinking).
“Sounds like a good idea – hey – let’s go to the buffet” she says getting up out of bed.
Busted. And just like that – I was off… to the Bellagio buffet.
(Told you there wouldn’t be as much poker content)
The Bellagio buffet is pretty well reviewed by tourists to Vegas. I won’t spend an extraordinary amount of time on it – but for those curious – here’s my two cents.
In general – pretty standard stuff – tins of burnt bacon, greasy sausage, and the always scary looking vat of scrambled eggs. The omelettes to order were pretty damn good – I got mine with king crab and shrimp – not my typical omelette, but I was trying to get my $12 worth…
Some of the other offerings are where the Bellagio buffet really shines. Found some half decent lox along with a bagel like substance (not bad for the West Coast). Since it was late breakfast – they started bringing out some lunch items – and I was able to snag a heaping plate of shrimp cocktail. (mmmm..)
And finally they even had some desert offering out – y’know – cuz breakfast just isn’t breakfast without finishing it off with some crepes or a piece of pie.
It goes without saying that I ate too much. But I’ll be damned if I ever go to a buffet and don’t get my money’s worth. (which reminds me of a scary college episode at a Wendy’s $2.99 Super Bar, a day which will live in infamy – but that’s another story)
So finished with our 2 hour break-fast – we headed back out to the casino floor. I longingly looked over at the poker room which was beginning to fill up – but found myself somewhat unwillingly dragged off to a blackjack table tantalizingly close to the poker room.
Actually at the Bellagio the BJ tables by the poker room/sportsbook are the only ones I like to play. First off they have double deck blackjack which I prefer greatly to the never-ending automatic shoe variety. And secondly – it just seems more friendly over there. Maybe because there’s less foot traffic – maybe because the tables are usually slightly higher limits than the ones immediately past the lobby.
Anyways – I recommend you play there (if you absolutely have to play BJ). My girlfriend had ingeniously (she’s the inspiration for the title of this blog) purchased one of those little BJ strategy cards in preparation for playing. I think she had been trying to memorize the strategy thinking that you couldn’t look at the card while you played.
So we sat down at an empty ($25) BJ table. The first thing I did was tell her to pull out the strategy card. She looked at me innocently – like “what card?”.
I quickly explained that it was ok to play with the card. (although if you tip the dealers and are nice – they’ll usually give you the correct advice)
So we were off and running – playing BJ – and I soon realized as I received my first soft count hand – that I did not remember the BJ basic strategy as well as I had thought. I let slip some comment about how it was amazing how many years I’d been playing and still couldn’t remember the basic strategy.
That’s when the pit boss got suddenly interested. “How MANY years have you been playing blackjack?” she asked me.
“Uh… maybe 20. 25?” I answered without thinking.
“How old were you when you started playing, exactly?” she asked.
“How old? Well, I come from a gambling family – I probably learned how to play when about the same time I learned to count.” I proudly replied.
And you still can’t memorize the basic strategy?” she asked teasingly.
This became the running joke – as I tried to remember the proper move on split numbers and soft counts – only to check with the card and find that I was wrong a good portion of the time. (apparently – I’m a bit too apt to split and double)
The various dealers, pit bosses, and even my girlfriend found this amazingly funny for some reason. (why is everybody always picking on me?)
I just found it plain embarrassing. (though it got funny to me too after a few drinks) Halfway through the session that stupid little card moved it’s way from in front of my girlfriend to in front of me.
Meanwhile – though we were having a good time, and playing strictly by the basic strategy – we were still losing, and badly.
An interesting blackjack side note. It’s funny how many people don’t like to play at an empty table. Blackjack CAN be a social game. Not always – there’s always plenty of people who take it much too seriously. I mean if you aren’t going to have fun playing – why even bother??? But the thing I noticed is that once you get a game going on an empty table and appear to be having even a reasonable time – players start swooping in out of the crowd to take up spots.
And I’m nowhere near the most entertaining or fun blackjack player I know. Some good friends of mine who live and breathe blackjack happen to be some of the greatest people to play blackjack with in the world.
They’ve invented or adapted table antics like, the bull dance, a victory celebration inspired by Happy Gilmore, that consists of either the seated bounce and spank (use your imagination) or the more celebratory version – in which you stand up, bounce and spank back and forth behind the table.
There’s also my favorite - suspense cards (getting your double down cards dealt face down). So when the dealer doesn’t bust – you still have that last element of suspense as you see if you made your 20 or 21 on the double. The Bellagio dealers happily have no problem with suspense cards. (some places do)
They’re the kind of players that can get a whole table of strangers to stand up for a dealer break out of superstition. And turn those strangers into drunken high-fiving best friends within an hour or (usually) less.
That’s why they call themselves “Blackjack Ambassadors of Goodwill.”
Me – I’m more the quiet, subtle reaction player. But perhaps it’s because I have friends usually providing the entertainment and energy.
Without them – perhaps feeling something missing – I come out of the shell a bit.
Anyways – long story – short, -$400 in a few hours of $25 (that crept up to $50 and sometimes $100) blackjack. And yes though it was fun – it was most certainly not -$400 fun!
I don’t know what my g/f dropped at the table. Not as much, I think – as she was actually up for a while. We left when I refused to dig into my wallet any further.
I wasn’t exactly upset – but neither was I happy. I mean – I had gone from a nice start in the poker room Wednesday night – to suddenly in the hole after a few hours of BJ.
I think my g/f may have realized the slight frustration I felt – because she graciously decided to head for the pool and spa for the couple of hours before we were scheduled to see “O” and mentioned ‘whydon’tIhitthepokerroom’?
Why don’t I, indeed? I think I was gone before she could finish her sentence.
A few seconds later I was on the list at the full room. Unfortunately the 8-16 had a long list – and I just couldn’t bring myself to play 4-8.
What to do? There really isn’t much of a waiting area in the Bellagio poker room. (a minor, yet significant complaint) There were at least a 20 names on the list and no empty tables visible to open. I was in for an hour wait at least…
So I headed off to kill some time at a video poker machine, passing by the bj table we had just left and noticing it was empty and now a $50 min table…
No luck at video poker – and a poor substitute for the real thing – I went back to check on the list – but the Friday afternoon players seemed to be entrenched in their seats. I came very/very close to checking on the 15/30, 20/40 games – but quickly decided that would be a very bad idea in my current mental state.
As I wondered what my next move was – I walked by the old BJ table, empty again – and noticed it was back to a $25 min.
Next thing I knew – I was seated back in the same seat – with a pile of green $25 chips (and sans strategy card) hitting, standing, doubling, splitting, and never, never surrendering.
I must’ve been having fun – (well – I WAS winning) because in a few short minutes I was joined by other players. Actually it was a good group – one guy – a $100 BJ table decided to slum with me – and we got along great. Winning tends to build BJ friendships. We started drinking, bumping fists on big dealer breaks, and just generally having some good BJ fun. A young woman joined us soon after – and we went on another little run – and she soon became part of our little clique.
In just a short hour or so – I found myself back up the $400 I lost and even up a few hundred more.
It was at this point that I began to start thinking about leaving. Impulsively I asked to color up – much to the dismay of my new friends.
“You ever see a couple of strangers tackle someone trying to leave a hot blackjack table?” asked one of my new friends.
“It ain’t a pretty sight.” Added the other.
It was all in good humor. And I did understand their feelings. So not wanting to break the table karma – I hung around. But I scaled back my betting to a strict $25 – not wanting to tempt fate and risk the $$$ I had just won back.
Unfortunately for the table – the cards went cold – maybe I had irreparably hurt our karma already by coloring up. I bounced up and down – until I had finally lost my meager profit and at that point neither of my new friends were as adamant that I stay.
Still – I had won back my earlier loss – and was feeling pretty damn good about it.
With the bounce back in my step – I headed back to my room to get ready to go see the much ballyhooed Cirque de Soleil “O” show.
(to be continued)
Friday, October 01, 2004
Vegas Trip Report - Day 1
So it was Wednesday night (seems like so long ago) and there I was at JFK getting ready to board a JetBlue flight to Vegas!
Actually I wasn’t as excited as I expected to be. There’s something missing when you fly out to someplace exciting like Vegas solo.
I remember once flying out with buddies for a bachelor party. We all showed up in sportsjackets, trying to look like high rollers and immediately ruined the illusion by high-fiving each other incessantly on meeting at the airport and screaming inane things like “Vegas, baby!”….
By the time we boarded the plane – we were three sheets to the wind, jackets crumpled and wrinkled, and the plane ride was a two hour party followed by a four hour nap…
Flying solo is a much more meditative experience in contrast.
I arrived at McCarran around 10:30. Waited a few minutes at baggage claim for my brother to arrive from Denver, picked him up and headed off to the Bellagio.
As the cab headed towards the bright lights of the Strip – I began to feel some excitement. I think it was the thought that I would be in the action soon.
We threw our bags in with the concierge, headed off to the room – and my brother immediately found a seat in an 8-16 game, while I waited next on the list.
I was soon seated at the same table – and after checking in with the poker office to get a time card (poker room rate!) – settled in to the table with five stacks of red.
The 8-16 game is a strange limit. I suppose it qualifies as low limit. It contains the usual mix of loose gambling types, rocks, and the occasional out and out fish. Really not much different from the 6-12 game I am accustomed to playing at the Borgata and Mirage.
As far as the room itself – well there are plenty of tables – it’s pretty comfortable, not anywhere near as nice as the Borgata, by comparison – but that’s a much newer room. There isn’t really much of a waiting area – so when the list gets long most people put their names on and leave – which means when a spot does open up – if you’re patiently hanging around – you might just get lucky.
Waitress service is pretty good – they come around pretty often. And the drinks were ok too – I noticed some players ordering some kind of daiquiri looking drink. When I asked what it was – I was informed it was a orange Julius… I hadn’t had one of those since I was a kid – pretty good too…
Mostly I drank jack and cokes – to such an extent that by my third visit to the room – the waitresses would just point at me and say “jack and coke”…
Nice. To be remembered.
All the dealers were as expected – very professional and for the most part friendly and funny.
All in all – a great poker room. I just wish more rooms would adopt the Borgata’s automated/video display waiting list. But it was kinda cool some nights to look up at the high limit area and see Gus Hansen, Eskimo Clark, Phil Ivey etc…
Our first table was pretty good and got better as random people kept sitting down with hardly any clue as how to play the game. It only took an hour or two before one of the loose players – “rasta-man” we called him – folded on a flop bet from me – and verbally told the table “I ain’t calling that guy – when he’s in a pot – he’s got the nuts!”…
This was to be the story of my Bellagio trip – as indeed I pretty much played tight – and mucking hands apparently is difficult to hide from players who enter 1 out of every 2 pots on average… Apparently even though I do my best to camouflage myself as an asian ‘gambling’ player – with a drink in front of me at all times, the occasional shout of ‘ai-yah’ when someone shows me an unexpected winner, and a few loose raises (on drawing hands) – it does not take a genius to figure out that I throw away the vast majority of hands I see – and if I stay in a pot – I’m usually holding something.
Still I managed to drag a few big pots when I made some boats with my pocket pairs in multi handed spots. Lucky – pretty much. My brother meanwhile was hitting hands left and right – at one point getting dealt pocket rockets 2 hands in a row (and holding up both times!).
It was pretty good action for a Wednesday night game and thanks to a steady influx of stragglers the game even stayed live till about 5-6 am. By the time the table broke I had booked a solid $300 win – but my brother meanwhile had amassed a truly massive pile of red for a profit of over $1000…
He was beside himself with excitement as he filled three racks up with red. His biggest poker win of his life. And as I was staking him for the weekend – I was equally excited. (go horse!)
What a start to the weekend! We found even more luck when we went to check with the front desk as to when we could check in for our Thursday room and found we were ok to check in right away…
(Note to players – you do not need a room in Vegas your first night there. It’s just completely unnecessary. The odds of sleeping before morning when presented with the opportunity to gamble the night away are slim to none)
After a few hours of lying in bed (but not sleeping) – listening to my brother excitedly recant every detail of his big win, we decided that we weren’t ready to sleep just yet – and headed off to the Luxor for a little low limit tourney action.
Admittedly it was sort of an anticlimax. After playing 8-16 at the Bellagio – sitting down for a $40 buy-in tournament, on no sleep and with a bunch of players who barely knew what they were doing gave me kind of a surreal “what am I doing here?” feeling.
But hey – action is action, baby.
For those looking for some details on the Luxor action – they have a 12pm tourney every day – sign up starts at 10am or so to get a spot. You start with 500 in chips – with a 100 add on for $5. The first hour is limit – and I advise you simply stay out of the action pretty much for the first hour. Then it converts to no-limit – and with the so many short stacks compared to the blind levels after the first hour – it becomes a push fest.
Still – not terrible EV for a solid player – although it will take some luck still to win.
I made it through the first hour relatively even. Not playing anything till the blinds reached a significant level (100-200). Then I won a few pots – and put a bad beat on a short stack that raised my blind with an all-in that was 2xBB. Even though I had nothing – I had to call in that situation. But the all-in player a grumpy old guy – seemed to jump out of his seat when I flipped up my 84o…
He wasn’t very happy when it ended up a winner against his AK either..
But just like that I was the table hero – as this guy apparently had not been making friends at his end of the table. I just don’t understand people like that – if you aren’t having fun…
Anyways I made it through to the final two tables (see – I told you it went fast) when they moved me over to my brother’s table. He was a short stack in late position and found a hand to push with after a few limpers. I looked down at my hand from the SB to see AQo…
I ponder it for a while – looking over at the limpers. “Let’s make a pot!” I heard myself cheer to the table as I called his all in for about half my stack…
Of course the BB (another short stack) and both limpers came in. The flop came 3 low cards and was checked. On the turn (another blank) one of the limpers tried to bet me out – but I called him immediately. The river made it 5 cards T and below. Again I called another bet from the other bettor (hey – I was pot committed!).
The bettor showed K-Q for K high – I took the side pot. For the main pot my brother showed AK – which looked to be good until the BB turned up T8o – to quadruple up and knock my brother out.
“Why’d you call me with AQ!” my brother screamed at me as he got up to leave the table. I laughed – I suppose I wasn’t taking this tourney 100% seriously and was playing kinda loose… It didn’t matter though – the BB surely would’ve called him. At least I gave him a chance to quadruple up if he’d hit.
Anyways – after some more furious betting we got down to the final table. I was playing for first place and found A2o UTG and pushed. (I had stolen quite a few blinds earlier to get to this point) It folded to the SB who barely had me covered and really, really looked like he wanted to fold his hand.
He ended up calling with Q5o – and spiked runner/runner Qs to knock me out in 5th place…
Still I was happy with how I played. Fifth place payed a staggering $100 or something like that – really you needed to finish top two to make any significant money.
We headed back to the Bellagio, mentally exhausted, barely running on adrenaline – but wired with a promising start under our belt – and four more days of action ahead.
Well I actually only got maybe an hour of sleep before my girlfriend showed up and immediately dragged me out of bed and down to the buffet. We toured the casino although I was in a half stupor, I tried very hard to make the best of it. I mean, this is Vegas – an hour of sleep is normal.
I taught her how to play video poker – a game that used to pass many a casino hour for me back in the day when my bankroll was just a few hundred dollars. Amazingly – I still enjoy the game. Much more so – now that I can afford the swings – and understand that I’m simply playing to hit a big hand (four of a kind or better) or go bust…
Anyways – Thursday night after some various gambling we headed to the MGM Grand to check out a late night performance of La Femme. It’s billed as “Artistry of the Nude”. Feeling a little sleepy – and not knowing what to expect – I figured – worst comes to worst – I’d catch a quick nap.
The theatre was set up cabaret style with small round tables and four chairs around each table. A waitress came over and took our orders for overpriced drinks. (In Vegas – if you gamble – having to pay for drinks seems blasphemous)
And then we settled in for the show.
Ahem… Well what can I say about La Femme? I definitely did NOT sleep through the show. Actually when the first act started it was a bit jarring – we were REALLY close to the stage and – well – jaded as I am – I found myself a little taken aback (but not in a bad way).
Let’s just put it this way – beautiful, talented, sexy girls. Very interesting costumes (or the lack therof), creative routines, with imaginative use of light and color.
Oh – and did I mention nudity?
As Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury would thoughtfully say “Tastefully done. It’s important. To be tasteful.”
For the $60 ticket price or whatever – I recommend checking it out. In fact – I’d probably go see it again. If that’s not a recommendation I don’t know what is. (but I wouldn't order a drink)
Well that was Thursday night – I eventually did go to sleep – for about 5-6 hours. One 24 hour day down – 3 more to go….
|
So it was Wednesday night (seems like so long ago) and there I was at JFK getting ready to board a JetBlue flight to Vegas!
Actually I wasn’t as excited as I expected to be. There’s something missing when you fly out to someplace exciting like Vegas solo.
I remember once flying out with buddies for a bachelor party. We all showed up in sportsjackets, trying to look like high rollers and immediately ruined the illusion by high-fiving each other incessantly on meeting at the airport and screaming inane things like “Vegas, baby!”….
By the time we boarded the plane – we were three sheets to the wind, jackets crumpled and wrinkled, and the plane ride was a two hour party followed by a four hour nap…
Flying solo is a much more meditative experience in contrast.
I arrived at McCarran around 10:30. Waited a few minutes at baggage claim for my brother to arrive from Denver, picked him up and headed off to the Bellagio.
As the cab headed towards the bright lights of the Strip – I began to feel some excitement. I think it was the thought that I would be in the action soon.
We threw our bags in with the concierge, headed off to the room – and my brother immediately found a seat in an 8-16 game, while I waited next on the list.
I was soon seated at the same table – and after checking in with the poker office to get a time card (poker room rate!) – settled in to the table with five stacks of red.
The 8-16 game is a strange limit. I suppose it qualifies as low limit. It contains the usual mix of loose gambling types, rocks, and the occasional out and out fish. Really not much different from the 6-12 game I am accustomed to playing at the Borgata and Mirage.
As far as the room itself – well there are plenty of tables – it’s pretty comfortable, not anywhere near as nice as the Borgata, by comparison – but that’s a much newer room. There isn’t really much of a waiting area – so when the list gets long most people put their names on and leave – which means when a spot does open up – if you’re patiently hanging around – you might just get lucky.
Waitress service is pretty good – they come around pretty often. And the drinks were ok too – I noticed some players ordering some kind of daiquiri looking drink. When I asked what it was – I was informed it was a orange Julius… I hadn’t had one of those since I was a kid – pretty good too…
Mostly I drank jack and cokes – to such an extent that by my third visit to the room – the waitresses would just point at me and say “jack and coke”…
Nice. To be remembered.
All the dealers were as expected – very professional and for the most part friendly and funny.
All in all – a great poker room. I just wish more rooms would adopt the Borgata’s automated/video display waiting list. But it was kinda cool some nights to look up at the high limit area and see Gus Hansen, Eskimo Clark, Phil Ivey etc…
Our first table was pretty good and got better as random people kept sitting down with hardly any clue as how to play the game. It only took an hour or two before one of the loose players – “rasta-man” we called him – folded on a flop bet from me – and verbally told the table “I ain’t calling that guy – when he’s in a pot – he’s got the nuts!”…
This was to be the story of my Bellagio trip – as indeed I pretty much played tight – and mucking hands apparently is difficult to hide from players who enter 1 out of every 2 pots on average… Apparently even though I do my best to camouflage myself as an asian ‘gambling’ player – with a drink in front of me at all times, the occasional shout of ‘ai-yah’ when someone shows me an unexpected winner, and a few loose raises (on drawing hands) – it does not take a genius to figure out that I throw away the vast majority of hands I see – and if I stay in a pot – I’m usually holding something.
Still I managed to drag a few big pots when I made some boats with my pocket pairs in multi handed spots. Lucky – pretty much. My brother meanwhile was hitting hands left and right – at one point getting dealt pocket rockets 2 hands in a row (and holding up both times!).
It was pretty good action for a Wednesday night game and thanks to a steady influx of stragglers the game even stayed live till about 5-6 am. By the time the table broke I had booked a solid $300 win – but my brother meanwhile had amassed a truly massive pile of red for a profit of over $1000…
He was beside himself with excitement as he filled three racks up with red. His biggest poker win of his life. And as I was staking him for the weekend – I was equally excited. (go horse!)
What a start to the weekend! We found even more luck when we went to check with the front desk as to when we could check in for our Thursday room and found we were ok to check in right away…
(Note to players – you do not need a room in Vegas your first night there. It’s just completely unnecessary. The odds of sleeping before morning when presented with the opportunity to gamble the night away are slim to none)
After a few hours of lying in bed (but not sleeping) – listening to my brother excitedly recant every detail of his big win, we decided that we weren’t ready to sleep just yet – and headed off to the Luxor for a little low limit tourney action.
Admittedly it was sort of an anticlimax. After playing 8-16 at the Bellagio – sitting down for a $40 buy-in tournament, on no sleep and with a bunch of players who barely knew what they were doing gave me kind of a surreal “what am I doing here?” feeling.
But hey – action is action, baby.
For those looking for some details on the Luxor action – they have a 12pm tourney every day – sign up starts at 10am or so to get a spot. You start with 500 in chips – with a 100 add on for $5. The first hour is limit – and I advise you simply stay out of the action pretty much for the first hour. Then it converts to no-limit – and with the so many short stacks compared to the blind levels after the first hour – it becomes a push fest.
Still – not terrible EV for a solid player – although it will take some luck still to win.
I made it through the first hour relatively even. Not playing anything till the blinds reached a significant level (100-200). Then I won a few pots – and put a bad beat on a short stack that raised my blind with an all-in that was 2xBB. Even though I had nothing – I had to call in that situation. But the all-in player a grumpy old guy – seemed to jump out of his seat when I flipped up my 84o…
He wasn’t very happy when it ended up a winner against his AK either..
But just like that I was the table hero – as this guy apparently had not been making friends at his end of the table. I just don’t understand people like that – if you aren’t having fun…
Anyways I made it through to the final two tables (see – I told you it went fast) when they moved me over to my brother’s table. He was a short stack in late position and found a hand to push with after a few limpers. I looked down at my hand from the SB to see AQo…
I ponder it for a while – looking over at the limpers. “Let’s make a pot!” I heard myself cheer to the table as I called his all in for about half my stack…
Of course the BB (another short stack) and both limpers came in. The flop came 3 low cards and was checked. On the turn (another blank) one of the limpers tried to bet me out – but I called him immediately. The river made it 5 cards T and below. Again I called another bet from the other bettor (hey – I was pot committed!).
The bettor showed K-Q for K high – I took the side pot. For the main pot my brother showed AK – which looked to be good until the BB turned up T8o – to quadruple up and knock my brother out.
“Why’d you call me with AQ!” my brother screamed at me as he got up to leave the table. I laughed – I suppose I wasn’t taking this tourney 100% seriously and was playing kinda loose… It didn’t matter though – the BB surely would’ve called him. At least I gave him a chance to quadruple up if he’d hit.
Anyways – after some more furious betting we got down to the final table. I was playing for first place and found A2o UTG and pushed. (I had stolen quite a few blinds earlier to get to this point) It folded to the SB who barely had me covered and really, really looked like he wanted to fold his hand.
He ended up calling with Q5o – and spiked runner/runner Qs to knock me out in 5th place…
Still I was happy with how I played. Fifth place payed a staggering $100 or something like that – really you needed to finish top two to make any significant money.
We headed back to the Bellagio, mentally exhausted, barely running on adrenaline – but wired with a promising start under our belt – and four more days of action ahead.
Well I actually only got maybe an hour of sleep before my girlfriend showed up and immediately dragged me out of bed and down to the buffet. We toured the casino although I was in a half stupor, I tried very hard to make the best of it. I mean, this is Vegas – an hour of sleep is normal.
I taught her how to play video poker – a game that used to pass many a casino hour for me back in the day when my bankroll was just a few hundred dollars. Amazingly – I still enjoy the game. Much more so – now that I can afford the swings – and understand that I’m simply playing to hit a big hand (four of a kind or better) or go bust…
Anyways – Thursday night after some various gambling we headed to the MGM Grand to check out a late night performance of La Femme. It’s billed as “Artistry of the Nude”. Feeling a little sleepy – and not knowing what to expect – I figured – worst comes to worst – I’d catch a quick nap.
The theatre was set up cabaret style with small round tables and four chairs around each table. A waitress came over and took our orders for overpriced drinks. (In Vegas – if you gamble – having to pay for drinks seems blasphemous)
And then we settled in for the show.
Ahem… Well what can I say about La Femme? I definitely did NOT sleep through the show. Actually when the first act started it was a bit jarring – we were REALLY close to the stage and – well – jaded as I am – I found myself a little taken aback (but not in a bad way).
Let’s just put it this way – beautiful, talented, sexy girls. Very interesting costumes (or the lack therof), creative routines, with imaginative use of light and color.
Oh – and did I mention nudity?
As Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury would thoughtfully say “Tastefully done. It’s important. To be tasteful.”
For the $60 ticket price or whatever – I recommend checking it out. In fact – I’d probably go see it again. If that’s not a recommendation I don’t know what is. (but I wouldn't order a drink)
Well that was Thursday night – I eventually did go to sleep – for about 5-6 hours. One 24 hour day down – 3 more to go….
