Hey Folks,
Well as some of you know I recently had a week long vacation in Vegas to celebrate my 21st birthday. What a success, who says you can’t have fun with your parents!!! After my first evening consisting of putting random dollars in 1 cent machines I got lucky. After putting $10 in another 1 cent machine I got paid! $700 and a crackin start to a holiday!!!
I have to say that before I went to Vegas I thought it would be very "plastic", But I couldn't have been more wrong. With my parents eager to show me everything they knew in Vegas I was starting a very interesting journey, from the high class shops at 'Desert passage' to the tear drops in my eyes from the fountains at Bellagio’s.... there was nothing but pure class about the whole city.
Any one who said life ends at 40 was grossly mistaken. I sat for several hours playing let it ride having a chat and a laugh with a 68 year old guy from Wisconsin, a 40(ish) year old dealer from Illinois and a lovely (early) 40 yr old woman from Hawaii. Never have I laughed so hard (all be it through disappointment) when playing let it ride for several hours without a single hand having a woman come and sit to my right (therefore being dealt the cards I would have had) and being dealt 2 pair, 2 pair, flush, 3 of a kind..... and then.... yup you guessed it a straight!!! With it being bonus'n all she made about 800 - 900 dollars profit, which anyone will tell you for let it ride is not only incredibly lucky... but unusual. Nevertheless we had a good laugh and was notably more sociable than anywhere in the UK. With the ages on the table ranging from 21 to 71 everyone was having fun.
Now for the inevitable... the poker. I loved the tournaments; I played in 2 tournaments... both in the golden nugget. First game I was joined by Mr Rivercard himself... although he regretted being on my table.... and to my left. It was very funny to see his face and to hear his rants as I played 'suicide poker'. With one re-buy allowed I was confident. I think what really got to him (and some of the other players) was my unstoppable good fortune. Time and Time again I was in a pot I should not have been in, and time and time again I was the severe underdog with one maybe two outs... and for a solid hour I hit every single one of them.... from a flush on the Rivercard to beat a well earned straight... to the four of a kind.... TWICE! I was not the most popular player.... well to those I knocked out, especially as I was for sometime the only person not to rebuy (only one was allowed). After a good 2 hours of play I was easily tournament chip leader (and had re-bought... not that I needed to though). Unfortunately my luck took a drastic turn for the worse when on the final table (7 players) I went all in with J A of diamonds and was beaten.... badly unfortunately before the break another guy had clawed his way to my position and was able to match my all in... kicking me out 7th. With the remaining players dealing for the 6th to pay I was thoroughly disappointed. When 3 players remained they dealt, with Mr Riveracard taking $600 as well as the other contender, and the Leader taking $800 they all left happy.
Being thoroughly disappointed with the turnout of my first tournament I was adamant I was going to come back go for the cash.... I came back alright, two days later and well into my holiday. I started playing REALLY tight and didn't play a hand for about 1.5 - 2 hours. I was really reaching as I watched my stack go from the $2000 I started with to around $500... I needed a miracle, but i settled for about 5 of them lol. I went all in with pocket deuces... and hit both of them to make four of a kind, nicely doubling up. I then hit trip Q's followed buy a full house, J's over Q's. My next couple of hands although nothing spectacular gave me the final well needed boost to take me up to around 15,000 which made me a very strong competitor. Although I was in serious trouble when I went all in just before the break to get slaughtered by four of a kind 6's. After smoking roughly 7 - 8 cigarettes (to ease my utter shame of the last hand) I came back to the table with pure determination. Fortunately my all in was not matched so i was still in there... JUST. I made a real effort and was applauded for my play in the third part of the tournament. We had started playing at 7pm and by this point it was about 10pm(ish) I was starting to realize I could win this. After taking down some monster pots I had come back again from about $500 (bare in mind the blinds by this point are about $300 - $600) I was up again, this time to about $40,000. I had some great chances to take out a few key players but was out played. On one specific occasion I was up against the epitome of 'The Friendly Granny' I had A 9 spades and the flop had come Q Q 4 (club, spade, spade) I was in a great position and was preparing to make a BIG move... but the lil ole granny went all in before me, it wouldn't have knocked me out... but it would have been a substantial dent. She went all in declaring "I have Q 4, but you can call me if you like".... Now I myself am one for "coffee housing" but this lil ole lady really had me by the balls. She had done similar moves in the past and had been truthful, but the pot with her all in was already about $40K and with mine it would have been a total of around $70K.... What to do. I looked at her and was really really confused, what do you do when a sweet mild mannered old lady grabs you buy the balls and tells you that she's being gentle (i.e. by telling me her cards). I folded, it’s all I could do.... but on the promise of seeing her cards, we had an agreement...... 2 7 off suit.... I wanted to cry, infact... I'm man enough to admit there was the odd tear in my eye. I applauded her play and took my seat again (I had stood pretty damn quick). This little old lady was only to do it to me again just 5 hands later. With 3 all ins and me with my favorite hand.... I had a flush, K high only one card could beat me they couldn't all have the ace of spades.... The lil old lady (who was now to my left) warned me she was going all in and that i should fold my hand as she had the ace... not this time missy... ALL IN!!!!! Then it happened.... she turned her cards to reveal Ace of diamonds.... and A of spades, she had me.... and whats worse is by this time she matched my chips. Knocking me out in 6th place.
With my poker playing improved from when I came I was happy. Although I didn't win I definitely feel confident enough to play here in Plymouth more. After my poker and let it ride stints I decided to follow another dream of mine... SKY DIVING!
Now most people with agree that there is no logical reason for anybody to want to jump out of a perfectly serviceable plane. However, I have to say after doing it I can think of many reasons. I had originally wanted to do it earlier in the week but with no avail as no-one seemed to be answering there phones. After returning from a show I had received a call, telling me I needed to meet a minibus in the MacDonald’s car park at 8am the next day. That was it, with the jump secured by credit card and I was ready! The next day I was up early and ready to go, a 6am start got me prepared for my jump. The bus finally turned up at 8:45, and I had met my companions for the next few hours. The journey to the skydiving place was more nerve racking and scarier than I have ever encountered… and what you may ask scared me so much….? Was it the erratic driving??? Nope… Was it the unprofessional looking “kid” driving us there…. Nope… it was “THE CONTRACT”!!! Now I was expecting a liability contract, but this was ridiculous. There were various lines which I found highly questionable… not to mention the amount of times it mentioned the possibility of “severe injury and death”. One sentence even stated “there is a high chance of death or serious injury”. I could not possible sign this… could I? Well I did, and I don’t regret it. When we arrived at the location we were weighed and suited up. I was jumping with a former SAS jumper which boosted my confidence exponentially. After getting suited up we were straight off to the plane…. No training… just jumping. Although slightly worried by the lack of training I was nevertheless going to jump. We entered a small Cessna plane and began taking off… all the while being further strapped up (mainly to our pros). When we had reached our target height it was Tim to jump first (my new found bud), He went and I was shuffled along to the door… Now if you’re scared of heights you would not have wanted to be looking 2 miles down and trying desperately to get your damn foot on that damn ledge. Fortunately I am not scared of heights, I was ready to go…. 3, 2….. we had jumped before he finished saying 3 (didn’t even get to 2 lol) 40 second freefall followed by a nice gentle glide. A rush like no other…. Forget this ‘betty ford’ clinic and all these other anti drug places… send them all out of a plane 12,000 ft in the air. They’d soon realize there are bigger better rushes out there (although I would just like to mention I have never and will never partake in the consumption or condone the consumption of any illegal drugs)… but bloody hell… what a rush!!!!!
Anyway, I didn’t spend all my time gambling and jumping out of planes. I spent one day shopping. Now most 21yr olds would not appreciate a day out with there mom shopping. But when you’re in Vegas, there’s a whole different story. We went to the ‘Premium Outlet’ mall, this place had it all, Tommie Hilfiger, Armani, Sketchers, Oakley to name just a few. I was very impressed, especially when my ever loving mother gave me $200 and said ‘have fun’. I was overjoyed. I decided to indulge… although I went a little over budget after meeting up with my mom again. I managed to buy a pair of discontinued half wire Oakleys for $94 (RRP in the UK of a staggering £499, or £280 online), a pair of Armani jeans for $98 (RRP in the UK of £199 or £145 online). A pair of really nice sketchers for $62 (RRP in the UK of £140 or $90 online) and finally a custom made alpine star flexi-fit
cap personalized with old English writing on the rear set me back $30. All in all $284 spent and $1315.13 (£701.98) saved…. What a bargain!
Finally while in Vegas you just have to see a show. And wow we saw two of the best. Wynns ‘Le Reve’ and The Beatles ‘Love’ both stunning shows with incredible athletics and stunning performances. Simply breathtaking and by far two of the most entertaining shows I have ever watched. I would HIGHLY recommend both shows to anyone from 21 to 121. I would go into detail of the shows but this is the longest post ever and no-ones gonna read all the way down to here so I wont waste any more time.
2nd October 2006, 03:40 PM
Venetian
Linear Mode
