Walt TR - Part 2 of 4

Walt TR - Part 2 of 4

Walt TR - Part 2 of 4
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HOTEL

My 9-day residency at Vegas Club was bookended by two stays at the El
Cortez. The first was for two free nights in a Tower room, which I
earned merely by staying at the ElCo in April. I received a
south-facing room with the distant Strip-view...

http :// waltlv.tripod,com /vegas/elcoview.jpg

MEALS

* One afternoon before a poker session, I stopped at Bella Panini in
the Venetian's Grand Canal food court and ordered two half-paninis, one
with turkey breast and the other chicken parmigiana. The bill was
under $10 with an ACG 2-for-1 menu item coupon. Both sandwiches were
good and filling.

Feeling peckish after the same poker session, I returned to the
Venetian and used another 2-for-1 coupon to buy a couple of New York
pretzels. I ate them while watching NBA Final Game 3 on a bar TV in
the casino.

* Another night after poker I stopped at Ellis Island around 12:45 AM
for the steak special. The hostess gave me a number to wait for a
seat. This seemed odd since the main dining area was nearly empty, and
even the smaller side room had a couple of empty tables. I guess they
were short of help that night, but I wasn't about to stand around like
a chump looking at a roomful of empty tables. I got out of there,
drove downtown and had pancakes at the Golden Gate coffee shop. I
asked for the optional strawberries and whipped cream toppings. It was
all okay and cheap enough at $4.84 plus tip. Of course, I still prefer
the blueberry pancakes at Blueberry Hill on East Flamingo.

* Later in the trip I returned to Ellis Island around lunchtime for
another attempt at the steak special. This time I was seated
immediately. The steak, salad and fries were all very good, and even
the green beans were well-cooked and served hot. My root beer was
tasty and the server was attentive. Overall it was as good a "steak
special" experience as I've ever had at Ellis Island.

SHOWS

* Saturday, June 7th brought more music downtown to the 3rd Street
Stage. A group billed only as "Motown Review" performed 90 minutes'
worth of R&B classics with great energy and enthusiasm. The lead
singer (in the black t-shirt) was outstanding both vocally and in his
dance moves on this warm Vegas evening. The crowd sure seemed to enjoy
it, too.

http :// waltlv.tripod,com /vegas/motown.jpg

http :// www .youtube,com /watch?v=tC24UqZ0 vE

* Sunday, June 8th marked the first anniversary of the Springs
Preserve, a quarter-billion-dollar ode to nature across from the
Meadows Mall a few minutes west of downtown. Admission was only $6 on
this day (versus the normal $18.95) which included special
entertainment and all the vanilla ice cream you could stomach.
Needless to say the turnout was huge and I had to park about 1/3-mile
away at the aforementioned mall.

It took about a half-hour just to get through the line buying admission
tickets. It was quite hot waiting in the sun, and some families got
discouraged and left. While I was waiting, a couple of Preserve
employees came down the line pushing a cart full of bottled water which
they were selling at $2 a pop. Another employee was pimping $75 annual
memberships which she said would allow us to bypass the line we were
waiting in. I didn't see any takers.

By the time I got to the amphitheater, the Pickadillos were halfway
through their first set. I didn't have a hat to keep the sun off, so I
used a couple sheets of the Review-Journal which worked fine as an
umbrella. Eagle-eyed Steve H-K spotted me crouching on the fake grass
in front of the stage and gave me a wave. Later on I sat for a while
with Steve and his wife Stella at their table, and said hello to
Pickadillos guitarist Raj Rathor who is still dreamy.

The ice cream (vanilla only) was indeed free if you were willing to
stand in the long lines. I managed to get a couple of cups early in
the day. Later on near closing time the crowds dissipated and I went
back a couple more times.

I also toured some of the indoor exhibits. They cover stuff like the
geological past of the Vegas valley, the wildlife in the area, and
man's effect on nature. Alternative energy is promoted. There are
some live desert animals on display, mainly lizards and bugs.
Unfortunately, desert animals tend to avoid the heat of the day and so
there weren't many to see. All in all, it's definitely not worth the
regular price of 19 bucks.

Other entertainment for the day included some Second City performers
who were having a tough time getting useful improvisation suggestions
from the kids playing on the lawn.

Better received were Killian's Angels, an all-female Irish rock band
who have played at the Orleans and other Vegas venues...

http :// waltlv.tripod,com /vegas/angels.jpg

Also defying the 100+ heat were Celtic Storm, a local Irish
step-dancing troupe...

http :// waltlv.tripod,com /vegas/celtic.jpg

http :// www .youtube,com /watch?v=V0mPExHBJyc

But of course, I came to see the Pickadillos, who repeated their first
set later in the afternoon. Hopefully we can get them to perform at
next Joone's AVLV gathering...

http :// waltlv2.tripod,com /vegas/pickadillos608.jpg

http :// www .youtube,com /watch?v=Lnw7uHewX3U

If the Springs Preserve holds another anniversary day next year, it
would be worth going at the discounted price. Otherwise I can't
recommend it.

WANDERINGS

* On Monday June 9th I got up early (for me) to call the Greek Isles
box office at 10 AM and score some free same-day tix to "World's
Greatest Magic Show." Apparently this promotion is either little-known
to the public or it's already been used by everyone but me, since I got
through on the phone immediately and ordered a couple of tickets for
Donna and me. There's a $2/ticket service fee. I also agreed on an
upgrade to "VIP" seats closer to the stage ($7.50/seat), so the total
was $19.00, an excellent bargain for a show that came highly
recommended by Steve H-K.

I drove immediately to the Greek Isles to pick up the tickets. Back
downtown, I returned to my room at Vegas Club, then did some online
stuff using the free wi-fi at Main Street Station. Denny had emailed
Donna asking for some betting info from the Golden Nugget sportsbook,
so I went over and checked it out. I also had a shrimp cocktail at the
Golden Gate, photographed the show listings at Tix4Tonight for posting
here, and wandered in and out of a couple of other casinos before
returning to my room.

Around 3 PM Donna called and we arranged to meet for dinner and the
magic show. At 4:30 PM I was getting ready to go out for the evening
when I discovered I had misplaced the show tickets. I was sure I had
them when I drove back from the Greek Isles, so I searched the room and
my belongings several times, and I went up to the V.C. garage to look
in my car as well. The tickets were nowhere to be found. I then
called the box office to see if the tickets could be reissued. No luck
with that, either. Finally I had to deliver the bad news to Donna.
She took it in stride and we made other plans.

We had dinner at the MSS brewpub, the first meal there for both of us.
In honor of Andrew, I ordered the filet mignon sandwich and a Marker
Pale Ale. Donna ordered Cameron's favorite, the prime rib, along with
a Black Chip Porter.

http :// waltlv2.tripod,com /vegas/brewpub.jpg

I dug into my filet mignon sandwich while Donna sent Andrew a
video-taunt. Donna generously picked up the meal tab using her MSS
comps.

In lieu of the magic show, I suggested going to see Santa Fe and the
Fat City Horns, a pretty good band that plays on Monday nights in the
Palms lounge. When we got there, it turned out they were performing a
couple hours later than I thought, so we didn't get to see them either.
Donna played some Palms slots for a while, then we drove to Harrah's
outdoor Carnival Court for the 9:30 PM "Purple Reign" show.

This is a new venue for Purple Reign, and frankly it's not a good one.
The sound system is terrible and most of the patrons are there to get
drunk on outrageously-overpriced drinks. The best place to see Purple
Reign remains the showroom at South Point on Fridays at 10:30 PM ($5
cover).

We drove back downtown and Donna called it a night after a long travel
day from SoCal. I picked up two burgers and fries at the Plaza
McDonald's to eat in my room.

* A couple nights after the magic show misfire, we tried again, this
time with Gordie Brown at the V Theater in Planet Hollywood. I
procured a couple of half-price tickets at Tix4Tonight, which I
immediately stuck in my rental car's glovebox for safekeeping.

Fast-forward to the evening. I met Donna around 7:45 PM outside the
high-limit room on the mezzanine level at PH. We left the casino,
walked thru the Miracle Mile shops to where the fake thunderstorm is
located, and entered the Ocean One Bar & Grille for dinner. At first I
was a little put off by the large sheets of crinkly white paper
covering the tablecloths, but this was easily excused once dinner was
served.

We shared an appetizer of Pina Colada Shrimp, which were four
medium-sized coconut shrimp with thin slices of red onion resting in a
shallow layer of a flavorful cream sauce. They were pretty good.

Donna's entree was the Double Pork Chop with mashed potato, green beans
and applesauce, to which she gave her seal of approval. I had the
Teriyaki Seared Tuna, a thick medallion of tuna atop a bed of mashed
potato and surrounded by assorted stir-fried veggies like broccoli,
snow peas, water chestnuts and carrot slivers. I enjoyed it very much.
The bill came to around $50 plus tax/tip. My $25 dining certificate
from Restaurant,com reduced the tab considerably, thereby adding to the
enjoyment.

We still had some time before our show, so we sat at our table and
chatted while nursing our beverages. After a while the waiter brought
us complimentary take-away cups of our dinner drinks (iced tea and
lemonade), and even refilled mine when I ran dry. For the quality of
the food and service I would definitely eat there again. The dining
certificates are still available at Restaurant,com .

From the restaurant we walked to the V Theater for the Gordie Brown
show. Cost was about $37 for general admission at Tix4Tonight; use
this coupon for $2 off the service charge...

http :// www .tix4tonight,com /coupon.htm

Gordie Brown performs a wide range of talking and singing
impersonations. Some of his better ones were of Jack Nicholson, Paul
Simon as a singing stand-up comic, and Tom Cruise just wearing
sunglasses and grinning maniacally. When impersonating singers, Brown
changes the lyrics of their well-known songs to humorous effect.

Although the show lasted only just over an hour, Brown packed a lot of
entertainment into that time, and his interaction with the audience
gave the show a friendly and informal air. I'd say it was worth the
discounted price. The V Theater is not large so even the cheaper
general-admission seats to the rear are fine.

GAMBLING

Slots: At the Orleans I lost $4 on a bit of idle slot play. Another
$5 disappeared into a Palms slot.

Freeplay:

El Cortez: I ran $5 from a funbook coupon thru a slot machine. I
didn't write down the exact result, so let's say I cashed out with $4.

Poker:

* Playing Holdem after live music was working okay for me, so I tried
again after the "Motown Review" show, returning to the I.P. to see if I
could draw water from the poker well again. And how! The highlight of
this session was being dealt pocket 8's, getting a third 8 on the flop
and the remaining 8 on the river. I was in a heads-up showdown with a
guy who made his flush with that last 8, and needless to say, he was
very disappointed. In addition taking a $45-50 pot, I also got to spin
the poker room's prize wheel, which offers a bonus of $25-100 for
winning with four-of-a-kind or higher (both of your hole cards must
play). I hit the wheel for another $75. Despite winning only 5 or 6
hands during the session, I came away with $165 profit. I was liking
the I.P. poker room.

* I played another 3 hours of poker at the I.P. on the evening after
the Pickadillos show. I was down about $25 early, recovered to go
about $25 up, then fell back to about even. Then I got hot and went up
about $90 before losing a couple of showdowns and cashing out with a
$61 profit.

--------------------
Tomorrow: a Vintage Suite at the ElCo, more meals, shows, gambling,
and Hoppy...

--- Walt

Re: Walt TR - Part 2 of 4

On Jul 15, 4:56 am, Walt <n...@none.void> wrote:
> Walt TR  - Part 2 of 4

> * Playing Holdem after live music was working okay for me, so I tried
> again after the "Motown Review" show, returning to the I.P. to see if I
> could draw water from the poker well again.  And how!  The highlight of
> this session was being dealt pocket 8's, getting a third 8 on the flop
> and the remaining 8 on the river.  I was in a heads-up showdown with a
> guy who made his flush with that last 8, and needless to say, he was
> very disappointed.  In addition taking a $45-50 pot,

Many many years ago I was playing a lot of 7 card stud $1-$3 (around
1980 + - ) and the wife and I went into the Hilton to see John
Davidson.

Since we were early I went to the poker area. I had played at either
Circus Circus or Stardust the day before for the first time playing
holdem and determined that everyone at the table knew each other and I
was the set up guy so I left after a short time and deciced to stick
with 7 card stud.

Anyway the first hand I'm dealt 2 Kings down and the up card is a
King. I got nervous thinking is this a set up? Being it was so long
ago I forget some of the details but several players stayed in for the
second up card and yeap the fourth King. And someone raised my Kings
showing which I raised back. 3 players including myself were still in
for the 5th card. Woman acroos from me gets a 9 and shows a pair of
9's. Other guy seems to have shot at flush (or maybe it was a
straight). Anyway I bet , woman raises, guy calls, i reraise, she
reraises, guy folds. Since there are only 2 of us left in pot the 3
raise limit is waived and I raised again. There was some more raising
on the 6th card but just a call by the woman on the last card. Yea she
had four 9's to my four K's.

Oh yea, soon after my wife came by and said she didn't feel weel so we
skipped the show. In those days you made a reservation and paid during
the show so we were not out any money.

Another favorite poker story was around the same time give or take a
year. We stayed at the Maxim and were going to show at Caesars (Hal
Linden??). As we walked into Caesars they gave you a free pull coupon.
So we went right to the slot and I won $5. Decide to play it on $5 BJ
until I lost it or won a few bucks. 8 hands later after 8 straight
winning hands I had $45.

Went to poker room and play $1-$3 7 card stud. Long story short I
could not lose. played about 45 mins - 1 hour and had approx. $175. So
from a free pull had $175. Players were upset when I left the poker
table but we had reservations for Ann Margaret (I think?). One other
thing I rememeber at that poker session was a player getting very
upset when I check raised him. I kindly informed him this was not a
friendly home game, but he was very upset.