I thought it might be years before I returned to Vegas after my first-ever trip. Turns out, it was less than 2 months later.
Thanks to a fortuitous set of circumstances in my real-world job situation, I found myself being offered a new job and having a week of time on my hands before I started. Knowing that it takes time to build up that PTO (personal time off, the new concept for vacation time that also includes sick and personal days) and knowing that I needed a week and a half of the PTO for a summer 2006 event, I figured this was going to be my last chance for a vacation is a long time.
With weekend commitments (my Sunday softball league and team practices on Saturdays), I actually had only the 5 weekdays for a real vacation. But it was enough. I was online, searching for the best Strip hotel deals. I figured I’d drive down again to save the expense and hassle of flying (not to mention it’d be harder to get good fares on short notice) and a rental car.
I ended up at the north end of the Strip at the Sahara. Because I wasn’t actually staying any weekend days, I got a good rate, and the Sahara is one terminus of the Las Vegas monorail.
I arrived Monday evening just after dark (after getting some good views of desert thunderstorms in the last half hour of the drive). The check-in line was quite long and there were just 2 or 3 clerks at the desk, so the check-in process took more than half an hour. I was chomping at the bit to hit the poker tables, of course.
The Sahara has a poker room, a small one. I decided to try it out rather than tackle the unfamiliar north end of the Strip after dark. It didn’t take long to get into a $2/$4 game where I played for about 2 ½ hours and raked in a $50 new win.
The Sahara also features daily low-buy-in NL tournaments, so I decided that I’d give that a try the next day. But Tuesday mornings are apparently slow in the springtime and I was one of just 33 entrants, which left a prize pool to be distributed to just the top 3 finishers. I played reasonably well and made it to the final table. My stack wasn’t the highest, in fact, it was somewhat low with just a couple of big blinds left, and my last hand was when there were just 7 players left and I was in late position, everyone else had folded, and I went all-in with A-middle offsuit and got called by the big blind who had A-higher.
I didn’t expect I’d get a much better hand in the limited time I had left, I got the heads up situation I wanted, and unfortunately met up with the higher ace that held up. Still, I don’t think that was a bad decision.
It was time to head out. I made my way out back to the monorail where I bought a 10-ride ticket for $20 (individual rides are $3) and waited for the next train. When it finally arrived and I boarded, I found myself bombarded with ads for each stow. The train itself made its way sloooowly along the elevated track meandering away from the Strip and finally back again. I realized that this route is a boondoggle; such a train should have been built right above the center of the Strip, south into the airport, and north into downtown.
But the south end is at the MGM Grand, which was my destination, its poker room open less than 2 months. (I also considered trying the brand new Wynn, but didn’t want to fight the opening crowds.
As at Bellagio, the lowest limit Hole Em game available at the MGM poker room is $4/$8. A seat was available right away and I sat down. The game was friendly and a bit loose. The dealers were competent and the seats were comfortable. I made a small profit of $60 in the 8 hours I played.
But I was also uncomfortable. I had dressed for Vegas in the late spring: t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. But the MGM poker room was cold. I was almost, but not quite, shivering for almost my whole time there.
And the room is also noisy. The whole room is built in a spacious area around one of the clubs/bars. This particular venue plays music loudly. The noise permeates the poker room, making it difficult to just have a conversation with the player sitting nest to you.
The temperature and the noise made me decide I didn’t want to go back.
Wednesday and Thursday I decided to hang at Bellagio. When I arrived I found that they had finished the renovations of their poker room, which cost anywhere from $5 million to $6 million, depending on who you ask. The new digs sure look nice, but I noticed lots of little things that make it seem like the room wasn’t designed for the comfort of either the players or the people who work there.
The chairs: The padding and high backs are nice, as are the capabilities to swivel and tilt back. But you and tilt back too far and the curl at the top of the back takes away a lot of the room between tables, especially if a player is slid back, leaning back, or both.
The tables: Way too close together. Combined with the chair back design it’s almost impossible to move between most of the tables. I imagine the cocktail waitresses’ legs are full of bruises from getting hit by chair backs at the end of shifts.
The tables: The felt on many tables wasn’t centered, the oval having been pushed away from the dealer and closer to the 5 and 6 seats, making dealers have to reach even farther for bets and making some have to constantly ask players on the opposite end sides of the tables to push their bets further in.
The tables: Some tables had no dealer cutouts.
The tables: OK, well one table I heard several dealers describe had a sharp protrusion next to the dealer seat under that table, a protrusion that was causing frequent injury.
The floor’s stand: Elegant marble and an utterly unusable work surface. That surface is angled down. Put just about anything on that surface and it slides right off the stand. No lip on the bottom edge to catch anything either. The floor folk kludged up a whole bunch of things to keep their clipboards and other work equipment stable.
One of the aspects of my day job is usability, so I notice when things aren’t well designed, even little things. I talked to a number of dealers about some of these design issues and they were universal in that they were not consulted when the room was being designed. Good designers know that for design to work (not just look good), the people who are going to be using the design must be involved and provide input in the design process. It appears that this wasn’t done, and the result is something that may be pretty, but it is also frustrating, especially to the people who work there and have to suffer with the design flaws day in and day out.
Meanwhile, I had two long days of play, days that were not terribly successful. On Wednesday I played for 8 hours and dropped my entire $250 buy-in, a session that ran so cold I had no wins in the last 3-plus hours. Thursday I ground it out for 11 ½ hours to eke out a net profit of a whopping $10.
This day, however, saw the biggest hand (and possibly the biggest pot) I have ever had. I was in late position and decided I wanted to get aggressive with a few limpers and a hand of 9h-10h, so I raised. 4 players called the raise to see a fop of Kh, Qh, and another Q. One bet made the rounds with no one folding, a blank came on the turn and it was checked around.
My eyes practically bugged out of their head when the Jh appeared on the river. I fought to stay calm as a bet across the table caused everyone to fold to me. I raised. The original better re-raised. I re-raised again and he responded with another re-raise. I came back with another raise and he finally called. The table exploded when I showed my straight flush and the caller showed off his queens full instead of mucking. My hands were literally shaking as I raked in that huge pot. Actually, I was shaking all over at that point and I had to get up and go to the restroom and splash some water on my face and take a few deep breaths to try and calm down. My first straight flush!
I had one last night in Vegas. I had actually considered taking in a show, but I really didn’t want to pay full-price for a decent show (especially as my Wednesday session had made the trip a net loss so far) and the show I wanted to see, Penn & Teller, wasn’t available at the half-price ticket places. Besides, my poker sessions were going long as well even if I had wanted to go.
So I stopped by Bellagio for one last Session before the drive out on Friday morning and popped a nice $65 net profit in 1 ½ hours, thanks in no small part to a Midwestern farmer who popped in to play, played most hands, and allowed me to isolate him when I had good hands and take a few good sized wins, even though I won just 4 pots overall.
Unlike the first time I left, though, this time I’m sure I’ll be back, and I’m sure it won’t be all that long before I return.