Day 1 - Part 2

Man, the clamoring for trip reports is even being heard across the nation this far South. I'll try to oblige.

One thing I forgot to mention about the play at Binion's was what I believe to be the FIRST Hammer dropping by a blogger on the trip. What was especially funny is that at the 2/4 table we were at, there was a total calling station. Any paint and she was in. Just as an example, my JT on a J-high board outkicked her J3. So when she called the big blind and Bill Rini made it 4, I was a bit surprised that when the action got back to her, she folded. Bill Rini dropped the hammer at 6:55 Vegas time and took the pot down PRE-FLOP!!! He obviously had the talent, the wherewithall, the moxie, and the m@d sk1llz to do it. Perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come.

Mrs_Blood, Maudie and I shared a ride to Caesars where Maudie was due to have dinner. I took a lovely stroll down the strip, all the while educating Mrs_Blood about porn-slappers. I had heard rumors (OK, I had called him earlier), that the Brothers McGrupp were at the Excalibur earlier. So we made that our destination.

Upon arriving, there was nary a blogger in sight. The McGrupps had gone to check out the Wynn and I told them I'd have to meet them at the MGM later for the 1st of the scheduled events - a 2/4 mixed game. What to do? The Mrs had a itch for the poker so I got us at the same 2-6 table. She was prepared to play. She took down the very first hand with QTo. A Q-high flop, a T on the turn, and finally another Q on the river. She was of course called down the whole way by a random monkey and we were off.

Otis and CJ later joined the festivities. At approximately 9:15 Vegas time, Otis dropped the hammer at the Excalibur. Felt like home.

In what I'm calling "BEST. SLOW. ROLL. EVER." the following hand was dealt. The poor, unknown victim held KK. Our haggard, old slow roller called the pre-flop raise and we saw an 885 flop. More betting ensued. A 9 on the turn, repeat previous betting pattern. A third 8 on the river and we see the pot capped. The victim, obviously proud of his Kings shows first. The slow roller flips his cards, face up, but one on top of the other. The 1st card that's face up shows a 5, for what the table perceives as an inferior full house. The old geezer then ever so slowly slides the 5 off his second card to reveal the case 8 and the table erupts. God bless limit poker.

With that, the bloggers who were at the Ex migrated across the street towards the MGM. Nice place that MGM. Compared to the Plaza, it was perhaps 17 orders of magnitude cleaner and more inviting.

When I got to the MGM's poker room, I found myself extremely impressed with its layout. With the nice shuffle masters in each table keeping the action going and flat screen displays showing the wait list for each game, this room was catering to my needs. I'll tell you all this right now. I simply will not play on a table without a shuffle master again. The games move so much faster, it's amazing. With the amount of time I spend online playing, I'm spoiled by the speed. These tables bring some of that speed to live play and I for one welcome our new impatient, action-junkie overlords.

By the time we arrived, the 2/4 game upstairs was full. I did get to introduce myself to several bloggers who hadn't made the previous trip last December. I'll forget some of you, and for that I apologize. But I saw -EV, Spaceman, Heather, April, Chad, Easycure, StB, and a bunch of others. Mrs_Blood went off to do something with Mrs. Otis for a bit so I sat down at a 4/8 table. Joe Speaker was already there with a massive pile of chips. The table was real soft, and only got softer when Otis sat down. I kid.

I played for a bit when MGM personell notified me that Internet Celebrity(tm) AlCantHang had arrived. That basically threw a monkey wrench into any more real poker as I made my way to greet him. I noticed a second 2/4 mixed game open up, but was too late to join that one as well. When Mrs_Blood came back from her time with Mrs. Otis, I could read in her eyes that my poker for the evening was ending. I promised to her that I'd not leave her by herself in Vegas so I cashed in my chips and we made our way out. I did stop to say hello to the other bloggers who had arrived, including DrizztDJ and Iggy who had made his way over to the MGM.

G-Rob was due to arrive soon, but I wouldn't see him until day 2. No matter, it's not like I see enough of him anyway. I kid.