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Las Vegas, NV : Feb 19th-22nd
Well, what started as an idea to take a couple days off work turned into a 5-day, 4-night excursion to Sin City...where sleeping until Noon is pretty stinkin' normal! There's always that 'thing' about Vegas that makes you feel like you're on an alternate planet and that when you're there it's like you never have to return to wherever you came from. Anyone else feel that way??
Ok, where to start!? The 'window' shopping, the food, the people, the poker, the taxis...all could have their own chapter!
Lots of (Window) Shopping or should I call it 'perusing' through all the amazing designers and expensive items that most of us wouldn't glance at on any normal day of the week. But hey, it's Vegas, and the Louis Vitton store is THREE stories!! There are TWO Salvadore Ferragamo stores within fifty feet of each other, there are extravagant jewelry and timepiece stores every few steps, and there is amazing, 'oh-my-god-this-is-really-good' food is E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!!
We pretty much parked ourselves at the Venetian and Palazzo shops for half the trip since we spent nearly a whole day (5-6 hours) touring these shops alone! The forum shops at Caesars are nice, but not as spacious and cozy as the Venetian-Palazzo arrangement down the Strip. Next to Bellagio they recently built 'City Center', a five-tower amazement of condos, more high-end retails stores and of course, restaurants and attractions...many of which are due out in 2010 and 2011.
As you'll see below, we had some fun at the Burberry store where I tried on a $650 Burlap coat. We visited Chanel and Prada where I had to hold Kerry (my other half) up or she would have fainted. We parked ourselves at one of the best Banana Republic stores I've ever visited for at least an hour on the last day. And I believe between the two of us we saw enough eye candy walking around these stores as there could be...from an apparel and accessories standpoint that is! Next time I'll make sure to have an idea of some purchases in mind so we're a little focused. For Kerry I could have just left her at the Ralph Lauren store for life and she would have been good to go I believe.
 
Then there was the Poker...something I dream about weekly, but never act on since, well, it's so darn stressful when you're playing for more than nickels and dimes. Venetian, Bellagio, and Wynn are all staple names in the worldwide poker arena, and funny enough all feel like a separate home away from home when I'm there. For anyone who knows about poker, there are a multitude of different level of games to play in 'limit' structure and 'no-limit' structure; I opted to play 'limit' structure which caters to those looking to minimize any potential losses.
Here are a couple of my best hands I played:
Hand #1 @ Bellagio - Rolled-up 8's were dealt to me in the $20-40 limit 7-card Stud game at Bellagio, a game that I have an excellent record in playing in the past. Last time I played there in the summer of 2007 when I was contracted as a Tournament Supervisor for the WSOP (World Series of Poker) where I turned $400 into $2000! 'Rolled-up' means I started with THREE 8's to begin the hand...a VERY strong holding. The action moved around the table slowly and I limped in for the $5 call. With a hand this big I was hoping for 'action' behind me (betting and raising) but had no such luck, so hoped that the player to my left was eager to try to make a play and get into trouble. He limped and the initial caller and I went to 'fourth-street' to see the next card. Both players checked and so did I, hoping to trap one of them for all their chips.
Once we reached fourth street, two 'blanks' (low cards) had hit me and a really tight player bet out $40 expecting to win the pot right there. Instead, I raised him to $80 and he called and the other player mucked. Looking at his 'up-cards' (cards showing) I noticed he probably had two-pair, but wondered if I got lucky somehow when I raised. So going to 'sixth-street' he checked, I bet $40 and he called.
On the river (the last card, dealt face down) he must have caught something, but I still saw no flush or straight draws present so I raised his $40 bet to $80 immediately. He was an older man from New York, wearing an aged Yankees hat and was actually sitting at the same table when I played there last in 2007 (ironic). He went into the tank (thought a lot) for at least 30-seconds before re-raising me to $120! At this point I had no choice except to call his bet in case he made a magic card on the end or higher trips. After my quick call he looked up at me and said, "Whad'ya have?" Since he asked I knew my hand was good...the three 8's held up as I didn't fill up for the full house, but raked in a pot of $515 and started stacking. .
Hand #2 @ Tuscany - While playing a $25 buy-in No-Limit hold'em tournament with $10 optional rebuys at the Tuscany Casino (where we stayed) I found myself in the following situation with SIX players left in the tournament and I was the chip leader at the final table. We had started with over 50 people and I was really concerned with making the most profit off the tourney as possible. However, at this time the blinds had reached an unreal level (8,000-16,000) and even though I was sitting on well over 100,000 in chips I would be sacrificing the chip lead and potentially could get knocked out as there were still two short-stacked players behind me that might push as well.
Here's the situation: The player under-the-gun (first to act) looked down at his chips, thought for half a second, then declared 'All-In'! He had shown some pretty good hands, but had enough chips that the blinds could have gone around him and he would have still had enough to play with. The next player folded to me and I looked down at J-J and really had to think about my options. After thinking for nearly a minute, I folded, wondering if my opponent was holding A-Q or A-K, which I feared. Based on his non-verbal actions and talking I established that he either held something like A-Q or 9-9, but wasn't certain and wasn't willing to risk the chips because if one more player got knocked out we would all move substantially up the money payout scale.
So, I folded, he was called by one of the short stacks, and sure enough, he rolled over 7-7 and never improved. In hindsight I would've won the hand, but also, we knocked out another player after that and wound up chopping (splitting) the money FIVE ways and taking home $500 each for our time. Tough decision at a tough time, but I went with my gut and thought it was the smart thing to do, otherwise I would've walked away with $150 if I would've gone broke there.
Lots and Lots of Tasty Treats and Food was all around....I can't tell you how difficult it was walking around and smelling the most wonderful flavors about every ten feet it felt like!! Because of my small successes at poker we were able to eat a little more extravagant than usual and tasted what we could of the local cuisine. Here were a couple of our favorites:
Espressamente @ Palazzo Shoppes - you MUST try their Cafe O'Le, their Tiramisu Gelato, and their Crepes...Mmmmm!!! We stopped in there after walking through Barney's and wanted to order pretty much everything on their menu. Highly recommend!
Todd English's OLIVES @ Bellagio Shoppes - Not that we didn't like that it was the only place I've ever seen 'Sexy Scallions' on the menu as an item in a salad, but hey, we did pretty good for making a random selection. Lemon-oysters on the half-shell, tasty portobello-feta flatbread and Scallops to-die-for served with the best risotto I've ever had...Muy Delicioso!! (Very delicious) Since we're not drinkers we opted for the sparkling water, but their wine list is impeccable. At our cozy booth in the darkened room with triple ceiling-trims I even saw the stylish manager signing for a bottle of rare wine brought up from their private cellar...wow!
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