Monday, June 25, 2007

It's great to be in Vegas

Touched down around 9 p.m. last night, took the bus to the new car rental center and grabbed my car and headed downtown to Binion's. Grabbed the room key from the front desk and took my crap up to my room and then headed over to the Golden Nugget to meet with the guys from Rounder Magazine. They were there shooting the next Rounder girl in front of the shark tank of the new pool.

Last summer, they were in the process of building that new pool and it seems a wise choice. The pool surrounds a large fish tank (with plenty of sharks in it). There's two decks above the tank and a water slide that goes right through it. They also deal blackjack and what not out by the pool. It's most impressive stuff and I wouldn't be surprised if the Nugget gets business from people who just want to stay there to lounge around the pool. They're shooting poker pro Vanessa Rousso out there tonight for the cover of the next issue, which they will be passing out when the main event starts. Perhaps Rounder Magazine will take off and me getting involved on the ground floor will pay dividends.

I grabbed a late night breakfast at Binion's Coffeeshop (probably my favorite place to eat in Vegas, even if they have eliminated the Chinese menu there) and then headed up to the room. By then Ted was back and we chatted for a while before I drifted off to sleep.

He's done well since last summer, with a $100K+ cash in a Fiesta Al Lago tournament at Bellagio last October. Me, I've just disappeared from poker completely until now. Maybe I can come back with a big bang.

It sure didn't start this morning, however, as I dropped $100 in a 4/8 Omaha Hi-Lo game in rapid time as I waited for Ted to shower so we could head to the McDonald's at the Plaza for some coffee. You'd think if you raised a kill pot to $12 under the gun with A-A-2-K (one ace suited in clubs) you could narrow the field, but I ended up seeing a nasty flop of Q-Q-9 with three other players for a cap of $30. I got creamed by A-3-5-Q. A third queen on the turn trapped me as I had to call the guy down to make sure he didn't have 9-9 in the hole since I had the nuts if he didn't have a queen. I've been playing a lot of O/8 online lately and been doing well so I think I'm going to give the $200 O/8 tournament at the Binion's Poker Classic a shot tomorrow.

We got our coffee and headed over here to the Rio. It's set up a lot differently this year, with the final table, cash games and satellites all switched around to different parts of the convention center. Not sure I like the new look (also a lot darker with most of the overhead lights turned off), but I understand the need to keep things fresh.

Now I'm sitting in the media room waiting for many of my old writing pals to file their way in as the morning progresses. I had to sneak in while the security guard's back was turned as I can't get my media credential until 11 a.m. so I'm stuck in here for the next couple of hours.

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