Trip Diary 8-7-06 (4 of 20)
I'm still waking up before sunrise. A victim of habit, I
can't seem to get myself tired enough to sleep more than six hours.
I have no idea if this is a good thing or bad. Anyway, after brewing
my coffee and reading for an hour or so, I headed over to Kinko's on
Sahara to write up yesterday's trip report. I'm missing my laptop
more and more each day. First of all, I HATE rushing through these
reports as I'm leaving some things out, and I'm afraid these reports
are lacking any originality. I'm having to take the pragmatic
approach with little style
I apologize for this. Hopefully, my part
comes in soon.
I was typing my report when I glanced at my watch. It was
9:30 AM, and I was supposed to pick up Martin at the airport at
10:05! I rushed the finish and headed out on Decatur to Tropicana
and on to the airport. Thanks to some green lights, I made it with
ten minutes to spare. Short time parking at McCarran Airport is a
breeze. San Diego could use a little lesson here. Why am I picking
up Martin? Well, he came to Las Vegas a week ago or so for a
tournament and fell asleep at the wheel just before Primm on I-15 and
took out some barbed wire fence and leaving tire marks on the dry
lake there. His car took some damage, so he decided he didn't want
to drive again so soon. I agreed to be his chauffer for this trip
(what have I done?)
After greeting Martin and getting his luggage, he wanted to
stop over at the Luxor to check the poker room. He had heard that on
Monday nights, they offered bonuses for the four highest hands during
4 to 8 PM. It turned out true. We then drove over to his hotel to
get him checked into the Orleans where he was registered for a slot
tournament. It came with two days stay and some generous prizes.
He checked in fine and we were ready for some lunch, so we
ate at TGI Fridays, which he had a coupon for. I had ribs and he had
a club sandwich. Both were good, though nothing to out of your way
for (3 forks). After lunch, we played some triple play nickels for a
progressive jackpot. We both lost, and though my losing would become
today's theme, this was the last time today that Martin would lose.
He soon picked up some nice wins on a Cashman machine, while my 20s
were disappearing.
We drove back over to the Luxor and were a couple of hours
early. We decided to walk through Mandalay Bay (where we parked),
the Luxor, and the Excalibur just to look around. We finally began
playing poker at the Luxor at around 3:30. The way it works is that
you play for four hours. In that time, the top hand is paid $500.00;
second, $300.00; third $200.00; and fourth $100.00. All the tables
were eligible regardless of what game you were playing. We settled
into a 2/4 table.
I won't go into great detail about the play, but I will say
that I played quite well. I'm an online player and haven't played
live since last December. Martin plays live about three or four
times a week at the various Indian casinos in San Diego. This is why
he wanted to play this bonus gamehe says it's a very strong play.
Okay, four and a half hours we played. I only made one mistake,
which cost me a pot, but the only hands I lost were ones that my
opponents out drew me. I bought in for $100.00, and cashed out for
$87.00a loss of $13, which I more than paid in out tips for drinks
and pot wins. Though I didn't win, I felt very good about my play.
Now, here's the cool part. After about a half hour, Martin
caught Aces full of Queens, which at the time was the second best
hand up to that point. However, an hour later, he filled a gut shot
7 of diamonds for an 8 high straight flush. The problem? There were
still two and half hours to go. Other tables started catching four-
of-a-kinds. Martin sweated out the whole of the bonus games, but
came out with the top hand. He not only was given the $500.00, but
was also given $50 for the hand (the usual bonus for a straight flush
there). So, as it turned out, going to this poker game was a very
good ideafor Martin. But I had a good too, so no complaints here.
We drove over to Terribles for dinner using our 2 for 1
coupon. I had a patty melt and Martin a Chinese dish (2 ½ forks).
The service was slow but the for four bucks each, we got a very nice
meal.
I dropped Martin off at Orleans and headed back to the Vegas
Club. The progressive on the nickel deuces and Joker's Wild are both
over $600.00. I threw a twenty, but I just can't hit the broad side
of a barn today.
Final tally for the day: Martin a rich man. Jon licking
his wounds.
More tomorrow.