Continued from part 3. Catch up on previous installments and follow the author, @Snickers99Poker on the Twitters.
I walk back to the Aria and back to my room. They have turndown service for the Sky Suites so I made sure I turned off my ‘do not disturb’ light before I left for dinner. No plastic signs here…there’s a button next to the door where you can select privacy (light next to door in the hallway turns red) or request housekeeping (turns green) or nothing (white light). I walk into my room and all the lights are on and dimmed, and both TVs were on and turned to the jazz music station. I did read about this online somewhere so it wasn’t a surprise. And I admit…it was nice.
It also is a little creepy. The iPhone cord I left plugged into an outlet on the wet bar was neatly tied in a tight circle. My jeans that I wore earlier (having switched to shorts when I checked into my room) and a pair of workout type shorts I was wearing earlier in one of my trips to my room to cool down were both folded and hanging on a chair in the bedroom. I unloaded all my toiletries by one of the sinks in the bathroom. I didn’t really do it neatly…they were just there. Housekeeping organized my toiletries so they were all lined up nice and straight. By the bed was a white mat that had a pair of Aria slippers on it. God forbid I get up tomorrow and have to put my feet on the carpet! And the big pile of decorative pillows that were on top of the bed are now gone. The little shelf in the bedroom has two little packages of chocolate. The whole thing was creepy but awesome.
The tub has jets and I’m hot and sweaty. So what the hell…I draw a bath, hop in, and turn on the jets. Ahh. This is kinda nice. I turn off the jets and can hear the jazz music from the TV in the bedroom so I just laid there for a bit and relaxed. This might be my standard way of closing out each night I’m here.
Finally out of the tub, I dry off and hop into bed. Unwrap my tightly wound iPhone cord so I can charge my phone, I lie in bed and catch up on Twitter and play a game or two. OK, off to bed. Day one done and I have not gambled yet.
Sunday, June 26th:
Slept just OK, which is usual for me when traveling. I like it super cold and can’t seem to get the room cold enough for me. Put my feet under the blanket…too hot. Pull them out…too cold. And I woke up with a sore throat. Shit. I don’t want to get sick on my vacation! Not sure how to explain it but it’s like a ‘high’ sore throat. Like it felt like the top of my throat was closing up from being swollen. I have no idea where this came from. I felt fine last night but right now feel wiped. But I think I usually feel wiped after my first night. It’s a long day with the traveling and getting settled. You know what? It was probably that kid I sat next to on the plane. Who knows what he was carrying around.
After a while of drifting in and out of sleep, I finally grab my phone and catch up on Twitter. This usually wakes me up some…reading something. Eventually I actually get out of bed and shower. I did have loose plans of maybe getting up early and walking to the Las Vegas sign before it got too hot, but I blew that by lying in bed too long.
The shower is pretty nice. Good pressure. It’s a stand up shower (no tub…that’s separate) covered in marble. A little ledge has a wash cloth, and bottles of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. I usually just use my own shampoo that I bring with me but this stuff is supposed to be good so I wash and condition my hair with their stuff.
Done with the shower, I explore the bathroom a little. There’s a box (kinda looks like a jewelry box…sorta) on the counter between the two sinks. I open it up and there’s a small can of shaving cream and I think a disposable razor (I forget and I use an electric razor so I wasn’t too interested). It also has a box that had stuff like a sewing kit, nail file, Q-tips, etc., in it. This ‘jewelry type’ box also has a pull out drawer with two dental kits and two bottles of mouthwash. I open the dental kit and it has what seems to be a pretty good full-size toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste. Again, I usually use my own but if they’re providing it (and I paid for it), I’ll use theirs.
Have to decide what to do today. Shoot. I just remembered that I didn’t print out my spreadsheet of poker tournaments. Every year I made a spreadsheet of poker tournaments and get as much information I can. How many chips you start with, time of levels, and so on. Pick out the best ones and then highlight them. I remember that Harrah’s daily tournaments were barely playable last year but they’ve since made changes and it’s an awful tournament now. I remember Caesar’s has good ones and so does Treasure Island but TI is pretty far down the Strip from me. Aria had good daily tournaments (the best, really) but they’re doing a tournament series and the buyins are too high for me. I always do all this poker tournament research and usually just end up playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em the whole time. UTH kinda scratches my poker itch and I can start and stop playing when I want as I usually play tournaments when I play ‘real’ poker so it depends on their schedule.
I think I finally have a plan for the day…at least the first part of the day. I’m going down to the Sky lounge to get something in my stomach and then head to the Las Vegas monorail. I have a MyVegas reward for buy one, get one free 3-day monorail passes. I’ll get two three-day passes, start using the one, and then when that expires I’ll use the other one. After I get the passes, I’ll hop the monorail down to the Linq to cash in a winning football bet (Carolina over Dallas) I made back in November but had left town before the end of the game. Then if the Linq has $5 Ultimate Texas Hold’em, I’ll take a seat and play a bit. After that, not sure.
Down the elevator to the Sky lounge. While I was there I asked about the laptop/tablet situation, where I thought one came with the room. It sorta does but you have to come down to the check-in area, request one, and then you can use it in the lounge. Good to know.
Then the long walk to the monorail station. Walk through Aria, then Crystals, then over two pedestrian bridges, down to Paris, walk through Paris and all the shops that leads you to Bally’s, then the long walk to the back of Bally’s, past the food court and sports book. Whew…finally the monorail station. I probably could have just walked to the Linq in the time it took me to get to the station, but at least parts of my walk were in air conditioning.
As I get to the monorail station, there’s a family in front of me at the booth where I need to cash in my reward. Father, mother (assume), and little baby in a stroller. And they take forever. I don’t know what they were doing and I’m thinking ‘geez, if I walked just a little faster I would have gotten here before them.’ And I start getting hot because the monorail booth is outside.
They’re finally done and it’s my turn. I always worry the person I deal with when cashing in a MyVegas reward will have no idea what I’m talking about. But honestly, I’ve cashed in several and everyone knew exactly what to do. The monorail booth chick was no different. I hand her my printed email and my ID. A few moments later, I have my two 3-day passes. Walk to the turnstile, use one of my tickets, and I’m off to catch the monorail.
Depending on the time of day, the monorail arrives every four to eight minutes. I have this knack of popping up just as it arrives or I don’t wait very long. Sure enough, it pulls up as I get to the top of the stairs. Sweet. (Of course, had the family of three not been in front of me at the booth, I would have been waiting but that ruins the whole story of catching the monorail every time just as it arrives.)
Every year I say I should take the monorail down to the end to SLS as I haven’t been there. And every year I don’t. And I didn’t this year either. But I do take this one to the Linq/Harrah’s station and get off. And time for another rant. The monorail station here is above ground. So after you exit through the turnstiles, you have to go down somehow. They have steps, escalators, and an elevator. One escalator goes up, the other side goes down. The down escalator is working just fine, so I take that. I notice the up escalator is not working and is roped off. I think this trip is the trip where I saw the most non-functioning escalators. But I don’t understand that if the up escalator is not working, why not make the down escalator the up escalator? I’d much rather walk down stairs then up them. Seems silly to have the down escalator working and the up not. Just switch them.
I love the monorail for its ease, but the stations do take a bit of walking to get to. If it’s your first or second time in Las Vegas, I wouldn’t recommend the monorail. You’re not going to see much since they run behind the casinos…you should walk the Strip and take in the sights. Or do what my girlfriend and I did in our first trip some 15 years ago when we stayed at the Strat…buy a one way ticket all the way to the end at MGM and walk back. (Hint…it’s a really long walk.)
After taking the long walk from the monorail to the casino floor at the Linq on my way to the sports book, I pass the row where their UTH table is. I look down the row and it looks like nobody is playing. I don’t like playing with just the dealer so I’m not sure I’m going to play. But now it’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve yet to gamble (or drink alcohol!).
I cash my ticket in, turning my big $10 bet into $19.05. Sweet! I’m officially up for the trip! I walk back to the UTH table and I was wrong. When I looked down the row at what I thought was the UTH table, it was actually a different game. The UTH table isn’t even open. Come on! I had a good time playing there at the Linq last time. I remember the table wasn’t usually open before noon, but it’s 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon! Argh. At least I don’t have to worry about playing against just the dealer. Let me walk over to Harrah’s to see what’s up over there.
Walk over to Harrah’s and they have two UTH tables and they’re both full. So why doesn’t Linq have their one table open? I think about going over to the Flamingo but I’m not sure I like it there. I can’t believe I took the monorail all the way down here just to turn around and take it all the way back. I could have cashed my ticket in at any CET property but came down to the Linq (where I placed the bet) to play UTH here. Shoot. With Planet Hollywood, Paris, and Bally’s close by, I might end up not using my other monorail ticket since the main reason of coming down here was to play at the Linq. At least the monorail ticket is good for a year so if I don’t use it, I can bring it next time as long as it’s within a year. The one I used expires Wednesday afternoon…seems like a waste to use the second one starting then since I’m leaving Friday.
I didn’t write my notes for this day until the next day and I forget what I did next. Probably making my way back to my room to regroup and decide what’s next. I might have stopped and checked out the tables at Bally’s, Paris, and Planet Hollywood on the way back. I think the UTH tables were full at PH and were still $10. How long have I been in Las Vegas and STILL haven’t gambled or drank any alcohol yet? Two bullet points on my To Do list was gamble more and drink more. And I’ve done neither.
I know that at any rate, I’m now hot and sweaty because of me not handling the heat well. So it’s time to head to the room to cool down and decide what’s next. And I have to eat something.
Everybody raves about Five50 Pizza inside Aria (named for the wood burning oven that cooks the pizza at 550 degrees). I tried to get some last night but the line was too long. So let me check it out on the way to my room and if the line isn’t too long, I’ll get a couple slices to enjoy in my room with one of my Mountain Dews from the ABC store.
I walk up to Five50 and…sweet! Only one guy in line. They do have table service, and there’s some tables you can stand at to eat your take out, but I think I’d rather eat in my room and relax. I order a slice of the Gotham (pepperoni, sausage, salami, mozzarella, grana padano) and accidentally order a slice of the four-cheese pizza. The counter guy asks if it’s OK I have the five-cheese pizza as it’s hard to take just one of the cheeses off. Ha…Mr. Funny Guy. He throws the slices into the oven to warm them up for a few minutes and I’m off to my room.
As I take the elevator up to my room, I’m joined by one guy, maybe my age (50), maybe a little younger. We make small talk…he initiated it as I’m a quiet guy and prefer the ‘four corner’ elevator format (everybody stands in an open corner). He asks how my day was going. He’s here for a family reunion. Nice. I wonder how many members and if they’re all staying at Aria. Of course I could have asked this but didn’t. He seemed like a nice guy and even said for me to enjoy my food when he got off the elevator.
Back in my room to eat my pizza. And I see why so many people recommend it. It’s really pretty good. With the poker room right around the bend from them, I can imagine they do a good take out business. Quick and good. The sauce on the four…er, five-cheese slice has a good homemade flavor and consistency. And the Gotham, with all the meat, is awesome. This isn’t good for me as I tend to get into restaurant ruts. All these fancy restaurants with great food in Las Vegas and I KNOW I’m going to get pizza at least one more time. It’s another thing in the ‘what I’m doing different this year’ column that doesn’t get done…eat at least one ‘good’ meal. Well, it’s only Sunday…plenty of time to get in a good meal.
The total was $12.44 for two slices. Huh. Around $6 a slice. Didn’t realize it was that much at the time until I got back home and looked at my receipts. Didn’t even look at the price at time. Just ordered, gave my credit card, signed the slip. It is good pizza and it is Aria but you might want to check the price if you decide to get a whole pizza.
My room is finally nice and cold. Turns out I was not working the thermostat the best way. I had it on the ‘on’ setting (instead of auto) with the temp set at 62, figuring it would just stay on and get colder and colder. But it seems to be better to have it on ‘auto’ and let it figure it out. Always the first thing I did when getting back to the room was turn down the thermostat. I was wearing sandals but I got so cold I had to put socks on. But I’m not complaining. Love it cold.
Even though nobody was touching it, the setting would always go up a few degrees so I always had to set it back down to 62. This is better than CET properties which I think have the AC on a timer and/or motion detector. Meaning if there hasn’t been movement in the room, the AC will shut itself off eventually. THAT, I hate as I would come back to a somewhat warm room. I can’t prove this (other than seeing a motion detector in my Linq room last year) but I know the AC does eventually shut itself off. It shut down on me once in the middle of the night in Atlantic City and had to get up to turn it back on.
While I’m eating, I’m watching the Dodgers/Pirates game on ESPN. It’s the Sunday night game and it’s in Pittsburgh. It started 8:00 Pittsburgh time, which is 5:00 out here. So I’m watching Sunday night baseball at 5 in the afternoon. I’m not a huge baseball fan (anymore) but root for the Phillies as I grew up in South Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia. Since moving to Pittsburgh 16 years ago, I do kinda root for the Pirates to win. Any town is better when their sports teams are winning. Plus I’m familiar with the Pirates as the Phillies and Pirates had some great battles in the late 70’s when they were in the same division.
I text my girlfriend that I’m not having a good time. I’m not having a bad time, but I’m not having a good time. In a weird way, being in a suite makes it feel like less of a trip. Here I am, sitting on my couch, eating pizza off my coffee table with a Mountain Dew I got out of the fridge and watching TV. If I was in the Linq, I’d probably be eating the pizza while sitting on the bed in a small hotel room with dirty clothes laying on the floor. But the whole room here in Aria is spotless thanks to the twice daily housekeeping, who even pick up my clothes. It’s weird. I mean, the suite is awesome but I wonder if in some weird way it’s cutting into my enjoyment. I think this has to be my last summer Las Vegas trip. The hot weather is deciding my plans too much.
It’s after five and I still haven’t gambled. Or drank alcohol unless you count the alcohol milkshake last night (which I don’t). Girlfriend texts back that maybe I should pack it in for the day, stay in my room and relax, and get a fresh start tomorrow. Relaxing is part of a vacation, right? But that doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. I’m here six nights and I know they’re going to fly by and I will regret ‘giving up’ a night by staying in. OK, this is ridiculous…this is Las Vegas. Get off the couch and let’s go!
My belly full of awesome pizza and Mountain Dew, and all cooled down by the awesome air conditioner, I have a new plan. I’m going to wait a little bit until the sun goes down (it’s 110 right now!) and then I’m going to PH and playing SOMETHING! ANYTHING! Well, not slots. Or blackjack because I never took the time to learn proper strategy. Well, really, I only know how to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em and 3-card Poker (and poker poker…like go to the poker room and play poker). So when I say play anything, that means one of those two games.
Caesars has a 9:00 poker tournament and I remember from my poker tournament spreadsheet (that I forgot to bring) that Caesars tournaments are pretty good. So I’ll play something at PH and as it gets closer to 9, I’ll see if I want to walk over to Caesars to play the tournament. I set a reminder on my phone for 8:30 so I don’t lose track of time and miss the tournament…if I decide to play. Look at me! I have a plan!
I leave for PH, stopping at the Sky lounge to grab a Coke for the walk. Arrive at PH but the UTH tables are once again $10. I’m not sure I want to play at that limit but it doesn’t matter since there are no open seats anyway. So I sit down at a 3-card poker table. The limit is $5, but I’m betting $10. I’m OK betting $10 on this game.
It’s just me and one other player who leaves after a few hands. As I mentioned, I usually don’t like playing with just the dealer. Reasons include that I much rather listen to a conversation at the table than be a part of one (or I’d rather interject one-liners instead of carrying a conversation). And if it’s just me and the dealer, and they’re a talker, well dot dot dot.
This dealer isn’t talkative but she’s quick. That’s another reason I don’t like playing at an empty table. The game goes too fast without other players there to slow it down. The hands per hour shoots way up which is great if you’re winning but since the casino has the edge, I’d rather slow it down and enjoy. And the game is a little boring when you’re there by yourself. I know…I just said I don’t like to talk. But if there are other people there, I can listen. And I like to watch people. I especially like it when the spouse of someone comes up to the table for an update and the other spouse flat out lies to them. “How are you doing?” “Oh, I’m up a little.” No you’re not. You’ve pulled out two 100 dollar bills since I been here so unless you were on a tear before I got here and put those chips in your pocket, you are not up.
I’m up $50 (no, really…no spouse to lie to) and nobody else is sitting down so I decide to stop. Hey! I gambled and won $50! That’s better than sitting in my room! I did not get a drink because no waitresses came by in the time I was at the table. I have to use the bathroom and spend the next 30 minutes (really, around 30 minutes) looking for a clean bathroom. Fine if you’re a guy and want to use a stall instead of a urinal. But if you’re going to stand there and pee, for goodness sake lift the lid first! Either there’s pee all over the lid or the last person didn’t flush, or there’s no open stalls. And I need a stall.
I did a complete lap around the Miracle Mile Shops before I finally found a suitable bathroom. In a way, this was a good thing because I found another ABC store and THIS one has singles of alcohol bottles. Much more than the other ABC store. I kinda thought I remembered there were two ABC stores in the Shops. Not right now, but I’ll be back to pick up some single bottles.
Because it took me so long to find a freakin bathroom, I have to skip the poker tournament at Caesars because it’s getting close to nine. I’d have to rush over there and then I’d be hot and gross and frustrated which is not a good way to start off a tournament. I’ll skip that tonight. Instead, I pop out of PH and walk the short walk to Paris.
I forget if I checked out the games there but now we’re at Evening Call after walking through Las Vegas Shopping at Paris, which apparently is the proper name of the collection of shops you pass while walking through the connector between Paris and Bally’s. I’m dying of thirst. The lightweight drinker that I am, I like the slushy drinks at Evening Call and usually get at least one while I’m in Las Vegas. I love the Coco Loco…blue citrus punch and coconut rum. $17 for 50 ounces plus extra if you want extra shots of alcohol, which I don’t. Keep the plastic cup as refills are just $12. I suppose there’s a slight alcohol taste but they usually don’t get me buzzed. I just like the taste and it cools me down.
What I usually do is get one of these on my way back to my room for the night. I bring an 8-ounce plastic soda bottle filled with rum from home and top off my drink with my rum instead of paying $3. This usually gets me nice and drunk until I pass out on my bed. Good times. Hey…it’s tradition. This is the first time I’m getting one while headed to gamble. Too big to put on the table while playing, I’ll have to put it on the floor and hope nobody kicks it over. (Side note…earlier I was looking for locations of Evening Call on my phone but couldn’t remember the name. I searched for Evening Shade, the sitcom from the early 90’s with Burt Reynolds. Oops.)
Into Bally’s now and I walk over to the two Ultimate Texas Hold’em tables. If you know how to play UTH, you can skip this part. I’ll try to explain it as easily as I can. It’s one of those games that is better to see how it works rather than someone telling you.
Start by putting up an Ante and Blind bet. These two bets have to be the same amount. There’s an optional bet called Trips, BUT DON’T PLAY IT! Sucker bet. Almost every time you play and don’t play Trips, someone will ask you why and tell you that’s how you make money at this game. LIES! Don’t believe them! This bet pays off when you get three-of-a-kind or better, whether you beat the dealer or not. This bet does NOT have to equal the Ante or Blind (but of course has to be at least the table minimum). You might also see a Six Card Bonus bet. Another sucker bet. Avoid it! But it’s fun to watch others play it.
So I break down UTH as you being heads up against the dealer and you have to know when to go all in since you can only bet once in this game. Knowing how to play poker, especially heads up, is a great advantage. Just like Hold’em, you’re trying to make the best 5-card poker hand and beat the dealer (doesn’t matter what the other players are doing). You get dealt two cards and have the option of betting 3 or 4 times your ante bet. Never bet 3x. If your cards are good enough for 3x, they’re good enough for 4x. If you make a bet, you’re done for the hand and wait until everything plays out.
You can check if you want. If you do that, the dealer flips up three cards from the five in front of them. Now you have a better idea of your hand but now if you bet, you can only 2x your ante. Again, if you bet here, you’re done for this hand. Check again and the dealer turns up the turn and river at the same time. This is your last chance to bet as long as you haven’t before but now you can only bet 1x your ante. Or you can fold.
Dealer turns up her hand, makes her 5-card poker hand, you see if you beat her. If you did play the 6-card bonus, she clears the table except the cards of the people making this sucker bet, takes the four cards that the machine spit out way before the hand began and she put on the 6-card bonus spot, and you try to make a poker hand. I think you need three-of-a-kind or better to win. Big winnings if you make a 6-card Royal Flush (adding in the nine), etc. But don’t worry about it. You probably didn’t win.
I hope that wasn’t too bad. Again, it’s easier once you start playing. But the point I want to make is how much a $5 table can cost you per hand versus $10, and versus 3-card poker. At a $5 UTH table not counting trips or the 6-card bonus because you shouldn’t bet them, you can have $30 out there every hand. $5 for the ante, $5 for the blind, $20 for a 4x bet preflop. The game is swingy. Lose a couple of those 4x hands in a row sucks. (But not as swingy as Mississippi Stud…or so I hear.) If it’s a $10 table, you can have $60 out there. Per hand. That’s why I’m hesitant to play a $10 table. Compare this to 3-card poker. A $5 table, if you make the pairs plus bet (which you shouldn’t but I admit I do), the most you can have out there is $15. $10 table will cost you $30 per hand. Big difference. (There’s also a 6-card bonus in 3-card poker…don’t play it.)
Come back tomorrow for Part 5!
