Tuesday 1 September 2009

Awesome two days

Hallo

Sunday Me Owe and Jeal went to the Grand Canyon. The drive said 2.5 hours but it took us 4, they were repaving the 20 mile stretch leading to the canyon so that was a dirt/gravel track where you couldnt go over 20mph realistically! Once there we got a coach thing to "Eagle point" which is where the skywalk is (we didnt go on) but has some amazing views nonetheless. What i found amazing is that there were no barriers! You could literally slip one step and fall into the thing, with zero chance of survival given the size. Weird.
The next (and last) stop was a weird name i can't remember but had even better views. There was a big rock hill thing in the middle which you could climb at your own risk (the other side = big canyon, hello death) so of course we climbed it. and filmed it. lol. was awesome at the top though, crazy scenery. Then went home after a delicious nutritious burger king (I have eaten so much bad food this week its unreal.)

Today we went to Lake Mead and got out a powerboat + wakeboard+ tube for the day. Was probably the most fun day ive had here, although i can't wakeboard to save my life...or swim for that matter. Alas the tube was fun though, you literally hang on and then go 20-30mph through the water trying not to fall off. I bit a lump out of my mouth, but asides from that was unharmed!

This evening we headed to the strip and looked round the Wynn casino which was really nice, is prob the most expensive casino on the strip. It had blackjack tables with $500 minimums in public view which was pretty crazy. I then went shopping as owe and rich played poker and jeal/mario chilled, managing to get lost in the forum shops at cesears along the way! V expensive everywhere though :(
On the upside had a % in rich who won the tournament at TI, ship!

Will probably do a final post on thursday, we leave friday so that will be it.

-Adamx

Thursday 27 August 2009

Past couple of days

So we picked up sam and chris on tuesday, showed them the house etc and had a dip in the jacuzzi before heading onto the strip with them. We ate at the Bellagio buffet which was amazing. Any meat, fish etc etc, all perfectly cooked, can't really describe it in words! And all for $30 inc drinks, is ridiculous. Afterwards we went to the Stratosphere, and did the rides at the top around midnight. I have never been so nervous in my life, they are crazy (look them up on google). Got a photo of me and sam on the insanity ride which is pretty cool.

Yesterday we had a good gym session, then went clothes shopping at another outlet place (like tk maxx but better) and i bought some more stuff. Afterwards we had dinner here (steak, pasta, peas) then had a few drinks before headed to the club LAX at the luxor. Chris and Sam are staying there so we were on guest list + free entry which was needed given the price of drinks inside :| but there you go. Had a good night, the music was pretty good and we stayed on the dancefloor for 3 hours or so. Then a taxi home + i've just woken up!

Today i think we're going to do a little bit of daytime strip exploring then might play poker this evening. Tomorrow night is going to be our biggest night out of the holiday at TAO i think, then saturday we're watching an MMA fight at the orleans. Citing!

-Adam xx

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Update
Friday night we went to Club rain at the Palms, was an awesome club and the DJ on a friday turns out to be pretty famous (DJ AM) so that was cool. This meant we slept most of Saturday daytime, Owes friend Kim was coming on saturday night. I think we ended up watching a film in the afternoon, then we headed to the Mirage where we had some big margharitas then Ceasars palace where we had a gambling night. I played some blackjack and broke even, then won a little on roulette, so ended up in a small profit for the night which wasn't really expected! Rich played cash poker going halves with Owe and won $600 (!) so that was cool. Sunday we went shopping in the afternoon then decided to head to downtown to play at Binions, the casino where the first world series of poker was. I final tabled then got it all in KK vs A2o for an 18k pot just short of the money, 22x flop, see you later! A real shame as i really wanted to cash at binions, but there you go. We then saw the light show on Freemont st which was pretty intense, then headed back to the strip for a bit before heading home and getting some much needed sleep.
Yesterday we got up at a decent time (11!) and headed out to the Red Rock canyon. You pay for entry for the car, then its a 14 mile drive all around these mountains. It was awesome, we took a picnic to have half way round and have a fair few photos as there was some impressive scenery. The one funny point was a car trying to overtake us on a single lane one way road (americans do not care) which was pretty dodgy given either side of the road is either a big rock or a big drop......!
In the evening we had a chinese at a local place that was pretty good, then dropped hector back off at the airportt :( then headed to the strip. Mario, Owe, Jeal and Rich wanted to play the $150 deepstack tournament at Ceasars whilst I really wanted to play cash games. So, i went on an exploration! I ended up in a smaller casino close by called Ballys and played cash there, winnig 1.5 buyins in about 3 hours. The game was a load of 50+ men and me (so i fitted right in) although one guy did take a disliking to me, calling me an Fing retard (i took his money) resulting in him getting a warning from the floor and me going bright red, even though i essentially outplayed him. lol. He was about 65-70 and called Kenneth...who knew that profile could get so angry! After a few hours i was kinda tired, so cashed out my big rack of chips and headed back to ceasars to give owe his share (he had a % of me) and see how they were getting on. Jeal and Rich were out, then owe got it in 80% favourite twice for 50k pots both times (400k in play) with 2 tables left and lost both which was pretty damn sick. Mario final tabled, top 5 paid, won a MASSIVE 110k pot against super drunk guy and was quickly in the money (top 5 paid). With 4 left he won A7 vs 1010 with high blinds, giving him over half the chips in play 3 handed. The two left got it in A8 vs 33, of course 33 holds and he is heads up. They even out the payouts so it is $2,000 to first and $1700 to second, with mario having 3:1 chip lead. He wins a few pots, then they get in in KJ vs 77. KK4 8 K board so Mario wins the tournament with Quads! Was awesome as by this point mario had drunk at least 12 $1 cocktails so was rambling on anyway which the table loved, people actually enjoyed seeing him win. Owe and him were 50:50 so it was $1k each, photos then ensued.

Today Chris and Sam get here, so we're dropping Owe Mario and Rich off at the strip then picking them up and showing them the house, then headed back to the strip with them in the evening. I think i'll be a tourist with them rather than play poker, but we'll see.

Can't upload photos as connection is so bad :(

Will update again later in the week, we're going out wednesday and friday for sure, probably grand canyon next monday. xxxx

Friday 21 August 2009

ahhhhh....Ceasar!

Hey
Quick update! Haven't had internet past day so couldn't update yesterday. The past 3 days has seen the arrival of mario and yesterday Owes friend Hector. We've been to downtown which was awesome, going back of course to see the lights but even our little trip was fun. Got photos taken with $1 million, saw the poker hall of fame and now know how good freemont st should be! After that the boys played a comp at the venetian and me and mario played at treasure island as it was cheaper. Jeal cashed in the venetian comp for a small prof, i busted out early at TI and Mario chopped it getting the lions share! I played cash there afterwards on an INCREDIBLY soft table and won my tournament buyin back within 1 hr. Handy.
We've all joined a local gym, going there 5 times a week. Was cheap ($18) which is nice, should come back a bit fitter too which is obv good. Still not sleeping that great though, averaging 5-6 hours, taking melatonin before bed but im not sure how much of a difference that makes.
We went to a WALMART yesterday which was huge! I bought a payasyougo phone so i can call home / owe and rich bought one so we can now split up without worrying. Also had to buy a new beard trimmer as mine broke in the aeroplane :( hopefully can claim it on my travel insurance though. Last night picked up hector and played at Ceasars palace in their tournament. Was sick, if we'd have got there 1hr earlier and played cash games their bad beat jackpot was hit and anyone playing cash at the time got $2000 each! (Winner and loser got $40k and $20k too!) Again I busted tournament early but had some match bonus stuff so played for 20 mins or so in the casino, won my buyin for tournamentback and insta left! I had 25% in rich who ended up winning the tournament so ended up in profit for the day :)

Today we're hitting gym, then getting pancakes, then relaxing at home before going out to our first club tonight (hector knows people so is getting us in for free!)

Photos:


This took 20 mins to load so will have to do for now! Thats the view from my room!

-Adam x

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Much better

Hey,

After posting yesterday I just milled around the house for a bit till the boys were up, then we went to a place called "Las Vegas Premium Outlets". It was awesome! The shops were places like billabong, ripcurl, hurley, lacoste, guess, ralph lauren, tommy hilfiger, ed hardy, dkny...150 shops total. I bought a hoody, jeans and rugby top from tommy, some melatonin from a nutrition place and some aftershave. Owe spent lots buying stuff from all over the place, rich got a hoody swimshorts and flip flops and jeal bought some sick cufflinks from kenneth cole. Was 115 degrees outside though, they had these little fan/water sprayers on all over the place that looked like patio heaters but tbh they didnt make too much of a difference!

Jeal cooked us dinner after a quick supermarket visit, and we decided we'd go to the strip to play some nl cash there. At least that was the plan, but after dinner i felt really tired so went for a nap in order to leave in an hour. Got woken up in time to go but was so sleepy there was no point in me playing poker and losing, so decided to stay here. Ended up sleeping for 12.5 hours!

Not sure what we're up to today, the boys are asleep atm. Mario is getting here at 8.30pm, so will be picking him up, think we might then take him to downtown after and do freemont st but im not sure.

Just got my order from amazon of the american casino guide 09, cost us 10 dolls each for two copies (it has vouchers in the back) and already found about $50 worth of savings each in there (2 for 1 dinner, free slot play etc), handy!

-Adam

Monday 17 August 2009

Yesterday/last night

After my post yesterday (I was on about 2 hours sleep when i posted, wasn't feeling great) I ended up being awake for the rest of the day bar a 1 hour nap mid afternoon. Turns out the sandwiches we bought on Saturday night did really not agree with me, it was horrible. By about 5pm i was feeling a little better and we decided to go to the Red Rock Casino which is a 2-3 min drive from our house to play their $50 nightly tournament. Rich had read that the steakhouse there was really good, and we had an hour or so before the tournament began so we went and checked it out. I was really not feeling to sharp again so just had some soup (which to be fair was amazingly good!) whilst Owe and Rich both went for the fillet mignion. I tried a little slither of both, and oh my god it was good! Definately going back there.

So we end up sitting down about half an hour late for the tournament because of dinner, and turns out we're all at the same table! Lol. We get a ton of abuse from some old woman nit for being late which was pretty funny, as the rest of the table all know each other and just tell us she moans the whole tournament every tournament. Turns out the americans love to talk at the table, every hand is analysed, alot of the time whilst its being played which if you did at an english casino you would probably get a warning from the floorman. In general though everyone was really friendly and because its a casino off the strip most of them are locals so having tourists is fun for them. I knocked out one guy just before the break (A10 > K3o) who then promptly bought us a round!
Me and Jeal both final tabled, with top 5 being paid. We both started with around 15k from our starting stacks of 6k, in the bottom half of the chip counts. We swapped an extra 10% (we all had 10% of one another before the tournament started) so I had 60% of myself. Jeal busted 7th with about 5 bbs shipping the cutoff and running into the sbs AA, gg. I knocked out 8th place A10 vs A7 putting me upto about 25k then 6th place 1010 vs 99 to put me around 50k. 5 handed, the incredibly drunk guy to my right raises to 7k at 1.5k 3k utg. I have AA and make it 19k total, folded to him and he flats. Board comes 878, he open ships for 35k so has me covered and I obviously snap. He has A9 for air, so needs running cards. J turn gave him outs for a 10, but the 4 river shipped me the 100k pot for 1/3rd of the chips in play 4 handed. The decent aggro guy to my right has about 80k, with the other two having 50k or so each. Blinds are 2k 4k 400a and 3k 6k 500a, so i'm open shoving the button a fair amount, and work my way up to 160k w/o showdown. Next thing were 3 handed, 160k 70k 50k. Button folds, agrro sb limps, i raise with KQ, he reraises and im really confused, he has 30k back and there is about 60k in the pot. Its a pot where if I win I ship the comp for $1500, and if i lose it leave me with 100k, him 130k and other guy 50k. I take along time and eventually ship as his hand looks like 22-AA and given the pot size im good, plus he did this to a guy earlier with 62o and showed the table. It was a cry-ship though so im not sure how much I like it, and im not sure I liked it when he rolled over AA and I was dead on the turn! Oh well. He then busted out the 3rd place guy and I was heads up. First got $1500 and Second $600 (weird). He offered me a deal of $1300 $800, so I would get $200 more, but blinds were 4k 8k and stacks 100k me 180k him so one double and i'm good + im sure i'd win more than one in four times so i turned it down. He started open shipping every sb, so all i could do was the same back. With 90k i shipped J10 diamonds, he snapped with KQ diamonds, oh dear. The flop came Jack high with 2 diamonds so its 50:50. Turn was a brick, but river came the Qh to give him the win, gg. Still pleased with how I played though, and after the dealer tip + paying out the 40% I owed the boys I had $300 profit. Ship! I also got a little card protector for cashing but lost it in the casino! :'(

Got back here around 12.30, ate some food and felt sick again so went straight to bed whilst Jeal and Owe went for a late night jacuzzi session together!

I woke up around 6am and haven't been back to sleep since, my stomach feels really weird but i'm not sure if its because there isn't much in it or if im still sick. I guess i'll have a bagel and see.
Today we're going to go to an outlet center and do some shopping i think, then will probably try another cardroom tonight.

Will update tomorrow no doubt, hope everyone back home is well!

-Adam

Sunday 16 August 2009

Last night / plans

Hey,

Yesterday was a good day. Firstly we went to the pool for a fair while - if we don't all come back very tanned I will be suprised! It is sooo hot here, around 38-42 each day, with not a cloud in the sky. Although i guess that makes sense since we are in the desert :S.
I hadn't been swimming for a long long time and it definately showed. I got mocked alot becuase:

1) I don't really float
2) It takes me along time to get anywhere in the water
3) I find it hard to reach the bottom....it goes on. Oh well!

We went to the supermarket yesterday and stocked up on food/drink for the house. American supermarkets are fantastic, they had an english section which was great! You can get robinsons fruit and barley for $7.50 or 1 can of heinz beans for $4...cheap.

Last night we hit the strip again, but this time since it was a saturday we got a taxi there and back so jeal could have a few drinks. Our cab driver was really funny, although they all want to take you to "gentlemans establishments" as i think they get money for taking you there. We spent the whole night at Caesers (spelling?) Palace which is ancient rome themed and pretty cool inside. Lots of statues of the gods etc, all waitresses in white outfits that i guess are supposed to fit the era. We were going to go to the nightclub inside called Pure, but not only was the queue huge but you meet so many groups of people walking round the casino that as long as you're not in a clubbing mood talking to random people can be just as fun. So far we haven't met anyone not friendly, everyone seems to be here to have a good time and all want to know where you're from etc etc. Owe (thus us) met up with some girls again from the night before which was funny, i think jeal might post here later so will leave those stories up to him.

I think we are all going to relax over the next few days, it's been a big couple of nights. Of course its been awesome but theres only so much Vegas you can handle over 3 weeks and we want to pace ourselves!

A couple of things we will hopefully do this week:

Freemont Street Experience- in downtown, a mile or so down the strip, this is a street that has been covered in lights (you cant see the sky) and has light shows every x hours. It's free of course, and apparently amazing. Whilst we're in downtown I know jeal (well all of us) want to go to the Golden Nugget where they film high stakes poker, and Binions where the original World Series was held for a long time.

Stratosphere - the skyscraper in vegas which is a casino and hotel. At the top there are 3 rollercoasters, so we'll definately be going on those!

I also want to drive to the red rock canyon which is about 2 miles away (out of my window all i can see is mountains!) and go for an explore.

Oh, and we will definately play some poker, probably at the venetian.

Chris and Sam get here next week which will be great!

Tonight we're staying in so probably won't update for a day or two...

-Adam x