Here we are again, time for the annual Vegas trip diary! A little different vibe to the trip this year, mainly (I think) due to the different arrival day (Tuesday!) and staggered arrival times for everyone. Here we go with the stream of consciousness diary, based on my notes and foggy recollections:
Tue, Mar 13
The trip over this year was much less of an adventure; a long flight from Guangzhou to LA where I slept about 6 hours on the plane, a nice total. Got about 75% of my game reviews done on the flight to LA; landed in LA at 6 pm local time and was exhausted. Slept the whole way on the puddle jumper to LV. but awoke in time to see the strip upon landing. Are all flights into McCarran required to come in from the east - so the strip is seen prominently off the right side of the aircraft? It was heart warming to see the strip at night from the air again.
After landing, meeting Layup and checking in among all the hotties in the lobby (Tuesday night is industry night, apparently, so Layup and I were checking in among 50-100 twenty something ladies from LV/Southern Cal), our first and only game that night was UTH, where we met Don and Mike. We disbanded around 1:00, 1:300 to sleep.....I took a sleeping pill to make sure I would get some sleep to adjust.....
Wed Mar 14
.....and I awake at 4:15 wide awake. I finally rouse myself out of the room at 5:00 or so and head downstairs. First game to play, solo, in the morning? Tiles! Of course! I had the white dealer (Curt) who is a health fanatic; we talked a while about living a healthy lifestyle without McDonalds (I agree), soda (of course! I have given that up since January and have felt much better), and Head & Shoulders......
uh, what?
He talked about all the chemicals in those processed shampoos and how the body ingests them just by their use and all those preservatives/toxins just build up in your body and cause all sorts of health issues. After about 10 minutes, I picked up......
...and met Layup at the craps table! I think this is before we left for Target - we played craps at 7 in the morning. A good session, with a key lesson I learned. Layup was rolling, I was betting my hard 4s and 10s.....and Layup hit a $5 hard 4 for me. I parlayed it - made it $40 hard 4 - and Layup hit it again! Woo hoo! $280!
In all the celebration, I forgot about the original bet. The dealer even asked if I wanted to press - I said no, half paying attention.
Three rolls later, Layup hit it again.......... the celebration for that hard 4 was much more muted, since I should have had even more out there after the first hit.
But still, can't complain about a winning session as Layup and I did our Target run that morning, searching in vain for Clairol Nice N Easy color 106G. We bought 6 bags of Easter candy that I am shocked stayed unopened through the whole trip.
It was very weird heading out to golf that afternoon without rushing to place any bets. The whole morning felt out of whack as I didn't have my stack of bets for the first day of action. Wednesday felt free!
Golf was uneventful - somehow, Layup, Jason and I won money even we all played badly. My highlight was a -60 yard chip; I drove into the weeds on the left on #6 at Rio Secco. I planned to chip out from a horrid lie, and I did! Clean chip out sideways, where it almost made the fairway, but rolled back down a hill to the cart path. The ball then settled on the cart path - and the path was sloped back toward the tee; I watched in shock as the ball rolled ever so solwly backward down the path - 10 yards back....20....30....slow enough where it never left the path but keeping momentum...40....50.....60.....
We got back from golf and had about 2 hours until dinner; I laid down for a bit and (I think fell asleep). I awoke to Layup getting out of the shower.
Wow, I said groggily. How long did I nap for?
"You were asleep? You were awake when I went in the shower."
No, I fell asleep, dammit! How much shut eye did I get?
"Ok, maybe 5 minutes, top."
So on that rest, we went to dinner at Bouchon, where the dinner laster forever and we had to read the menus by the flashlights on our iPhones. Bouchon does breakfast well, but dinner? Eh - I'd say a B+. The best thing about that dinner is that a new tradition is born - the group parlay. Everyone threw in some money for a parlay the next day and picked one game - one game only - for the parlay. If we won, great! If the parlay had just one loser, the person who picked the losing game would pay for dinner the next night. (And, if the parlay had just one winner, then the person with the winner would eat for free the next night).
I decided to pick the first game of the tournament, Murray State -5. My fate would be decided early.
After dinner, I have in my notes that we played craps and UTH, although I remember none of it.
Thu, Mar 15
Got up around 8 - 6 hours of sleep, a record for the first day of the tournament. The whole day felt weird - it felt like Friday all day, probably because it was the start of the 2nd full day in Vegas. Didn't have time to do any gambling before we left for golf that morning; I got my wagers in, including a special lock for the Kansas St - Southern Miss under. Murray St. decided to do me a favor and pull away in the second half to cover for me; I held off our parlay with a solid single.
That pattern would keep up the rest of the trip, as we entered two more group parlays for Friday's morning and evening games; I chose Cincinnati -2 in the morning for Friday and St Louis +3 in the evening, starting each of our 3 parlays with a winner. Just call me Kenny Lofton.
Golf was a mixed bag, as usual. We played Southern Highlands for the 2nd straight year - and I can't rave enough about the course. Just a wonderfull layout and test, putting all of us in tough situations every few holes. Who can forget Mike's adventures on 12 - with the 45 degree downhill chip shot then leading to a 110 foot par putt? The pressure on #17 was intense, when Wiz, Don and Mike all hit into the water on a 180 yd par 3 ---- how am I supposed to hit a long iron into the wind after that? Somehow, I made 4 to win the hole for Mike and I. With my game falling off a cliff, Mike and I tied Wiz and Don for the final 6 holes - even when Wiz/Don combined for 3 birdies in those last 6 holes.
My game is all mental - I have the yips. Most normal people have the yips on the putting green, where they can't take the putter back on a 2 foot putt. Me? I can't take the club back when I am on the tree. I swear, the most nervous I have been on a golf course in 2 years was the tee shot on #1 at Southern Highlands. I wanted to get it overwith as soon as possible - I popped up a 3 wood 195 yards down the middle.
I can drop a ball in the fairway and hit a 3 wood fairly straight, 230 yards. Put it on a tee? I quiver and pull the hell out of it, or top it, or pop it up. It's embarassing and frustrating.......and since I can't get to a range, I can't work my way out of it. So I think I have to suffer with the tee yips for at least another year. Nice.
(Oh, that Southern Miss game? I heard there was a wild ending and the over covered by a half point. Nice. )
Dinner that night was at Lavo, the Italian restaurant at the Palazzo; two things I will remember about that dinner:
1. I ordered the seafood ravioli special when 3 others ordered the Chicken Parmigian. My mouth was watering when the Chicken Parm came to the table; their entree was the size of a blackjack table. My order consisted of 6 or 7 raviolis in a huge bowl. The appearance definitely underwhelmed.
2. Many people raved about the Fried Oreos for dessert, so of course I had to have it - served with a vanilla milkshake. Oh God, that was a mistake. It was 20% Oreo, 80% pure grease. It was wonderful to eat, but I should not have had 4.
(That being said, I want one NOW).
Light gambling that night, as I found Leland at a Pai Gow poker table. Shortly after I sat down, a new dealer came to the table; her name on her name tag was "Kyung". Well, I wanted to impress Leland with my multiculturalism, so I decided to try to talk to her in her native (?)language.
"Ni Hao!" I said proudly.
Without missing a beat, she said coldly "I'm not Chinese...."
Leland leans over and whispers "The Big K!"
Ah yes! Chinese don't have y's in their names. She's Korean, of course.
That little event may have been the cause of Leland banking against me later on at that table - where he actaully beat me and the dealer with his Q-10 on top vs. my Q-10 and the dealer's Q-10. Damn copy rules. I got him later, however.
Some more UTH and a late night black jack session with Mike, and it was time to call it a night. Little did I know what was in store for Friday.
Tue, Mar 13
The trip over this year was much less of an adventure; a long flight from Guangzhou to LA where I slept about 6 hours on the plane, a nice total. Got about 75% of my game reviews done on the flight to LA; landed in LA at 6 pm local time and was exhausted. Slept the whole way on the puddle jumper to LV. but awoke in time to see the strip upon landing. Are all flights into McCarran required to come in from the east - so the strip is seen prominently off the right side of the aircraft? It was heart warming to see the strip at night from the air again.
After landing, meeting Layup and checking in among all the hotties in the lobby (Tuesday night is industry night, apparently, so Layup and I were checking in among 50-100 twenty something ladies from LV/Southern Cal), our first and only game that night was UTH, where we met Don and Mike. We disbanded around 1:00, 1:300 to sleep.....I took a sleeping pill to make sure I would get some sleep to adjust.....
Wed Mar 14
.....and I awake at 4:15 wide awake. I finally rouse myself out of the room at 5:00 or so and head downstairs. First game to play, solo, in the morning? Tiles! Of course! I had the white dealer (Curt) who is a health fanatic; we talked a while about living a healthy lifestyle without McDonalds (I agree), soda (of course! I have given that up since January and have felt much better), and Head & Shoulders......
uh, what?
He talked about all the chemicals in those processed shampoos and how the body ingests them just by their use and all those preservatives/toxins just build up in your body and cause all sorts of health issues. After about 10 minutes, I picked up......
...and met Layup at the craps table! I think this is before we left for Target - we played craps at 7 in the morning. A good session, with a key lesson I learned. Layup was rolling, I was betting my hard 4s and 10s.....and Layup hit a $5 hard 4 for me. I parlayed it - made it $40 hard 4 - and Layup hit it again! Woo hoo! $280!
In all the celebration, I forgot about the original bet. The dealer even asked if I wanted to press - I said no, half paying attention.
Three rolls later, Layup hit it again.......... the celebration for that hard 4 was much more muted, since I should have had even more out there after the first hit.
But still, can't complain about a winning session as Layup and I did our Target run that morning, searching in vain for Clairol Nice N Easy color 106G. We bought 6 bags of Easter candy that I am shocked stayed unopened through the whole trip.
It was very weird heading out to golf that afternoon without rushing to place any bets. The whole morning felt out of whack as I didn't have my stack of bets for the first day of action. Wednesday felt free!
Golf was uneventful - somehow, Layup, Jason and I won money even we all played badly. My highlight was a -60 yard chip; I drove into the weeds on the left on #6 at Rio Secco. I planned to chip out from a horrid lie, and I did! Clean chip out sideways, where it almost made the fairway, but rolled back down a hill to the cart path. The ball then settled on the cart path - and the path was sloped back toward the tee; I watched in shock as the ball rolled ever so solwly backward down the path - 10 yards back....20....30....slow enough where it never left the path but keeping momentum...40....50.....60.....
We got back from golf and had about 2 hours until dinner; I laid down for a bit and (I think fell asleep). I awoke to Layup getting out of the shower.
Wow, I said groggily. How long did I nap for?
"You were asleep? You were awake when I went in the shower."
No, I fell asleep, dammit! How much shut eye did I get?
"Ok, maybe 5 minutes, top."
So on that rest, we went to dinner at Bouchon, where the dinner laster forever and we had to read the menus by the flashlights on our iPhones. Bouchon does breakfast well, but dinner? Eh - I'd say a B+. The best thing about that dinner is that a new tradition is born - the group parlay. Everyone threw in some money for a parlay the next day and picked one game - one game only - for the parlay. If we won, great! If the parlay had just one loser, the person who picked the losing game would pay for dinner the next night. (And, if the parlay had just one winner, then the person with the winner would eat for free the next night).
I decided to pick the first game of the tournament, Murray State -5. My fate would be decided early.
After dinner, I have in my notes that we played craps and UTH, although I remember none of it.
Thu, Mar 15
Got up around 8 - 6 hours of sleep, a record for the first day of the tournament. The whole day felt weird - it felt like Friday all day, probably because it was the start of the 2nd full day in Vegas. Didn't have time to do any gambling before we left for golf that morning; I got my wagers in, including a special lock for the Kansas St - Southern Miss under. Murray St. decided to do me a favor and pull away in the second half to cover for me; I held off our parlay with a solid single.
That pattern would keep up the rest of the trip, as we entered two more group parlays for Friday's morning and evening games; I chose Cincinnati -2 in the morning for Friday and St Louis +3 in the evening, starting each of our 3 parlays with a winner. Just call me Kenny Lofton.
Golf was a mixed bag, as usual. We played Southern Highlands for the 2nd straight year - and I can't rave enough about the course. Just a wonderfull layout and test, putting all of us in tough situations every few holes. Who can forget Mike's adventures on 12 - with the 45 degree downhill chip shot then leading to a 110 foot par putt? The pressure on #17 was intense, when Wiz, Don and Mike all hit into the water on a 180 yd par 3 ---- how am I supposed to hit a long iron into the wind after that? Somehow, I made 4 to win the hole for Mike and I. With my game falling off a cliff, Mike and I tied Wiz and Don for the final 6 holes - even when Wiz/Don combined for 3 birdies in those last 6 holes.
My game is all mental - I have the yips. Most normal people have the yips on the putting green, where they can't take the putter back on a 2 foot putt. Me? I can't take the club back when I am on the tree. I swear, the most nervous I have been on a golf course in 2 years was the tee shot on #1 at Southern Highlands. I wanted to get it overwith as soon as possible - I popped up a 3 wood 195 yards down the middle.
I can drop a ball in the fairway and hit a 3 wood fairly straight, 230 yards. Put it on a tee? I quiver and pull the hell out of it, or top it, or pop it up. It's embarassing and frustrating.......and since I can't get to a range, I can't work my way out of it. So I think I have to suffer with the tee yips for at least another year. Nice.
(Oh, that Southern Miss game? I heard there was a wild ending and the over covered by a half point. Nice. )
Dinner that night was at Lavo, the Italian restaurant at the Palazzo; two things I will remember about that dinner:
1. I ordered the seafood ravioli special when 3 others ordered the Chicken Parmigian. My mouth was watering when the Chicken Parm came to the table; their entree was the size of a blackjack table. My order consisted of 6 or 7 raviolis in a huge bowl. The appearance definitely underwhelmed.
2. Many people raved about the Fried Oreos for dessert, so of course I had to have it - served with a vanilla milkshake. Oh God, that was a mistake. It was 20% Oreo, 80% pure grease. It was wonderful to eat, but I should not have had 4.
(That being said, I want one NOW).
Light gambling that night, as I found Leland at a Pai Gow poker table. Shortly after I sat down, a new dealer came to the table; her name on her name tag was "Kyung". Well, I wanted to impress Leland with my multiculturalism, so I decided to try to talk to her in her native (?)language.
"Ni Hao!" I said proudly.
Without missing a beat, she said coldly "I'm not Chinese...."
Leland leans over and whispers "The Big K!"
Ah yes! Chinese don't have y's in their names. She's Korean, of course.
That little event may have been the cause of Leland banking against me later on at that table - where he actaully beat me and the dealer with his Q-10 on top vs. my Q-10 and the dealer's Q-10. Damn copy rules. I got him later, however.
Some more UTH and a late night black jack session with Mike, and it was time to call it a night. Little did I know what was in store for Friday.
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