There is no turning back now.  I have started this blog and now I have to follow through.  I’ve had some feelings of apprehension since my first post.  This is because I know that there is a much better chance of me having a losing trip than a winning trip, as is normal in poker.  Also, because I have kinda handcuffed myself here.  Not only do I have to have a winning trip, but based on my goals that I stated in my first blog, I will have to win big or it will seem like a failure (I would have to have a couple top 10 finishes, which is a huge task when every tourney has over 1000 players).  Whatever it’s too late now, so we may as well move forward.

I still have to wait until Saturday to play my first tourney and my poker itch is in full effect.  I haven’t played in 10 days, which is the longest span I have gone in a year and a half.  It’s my fault though, I am a complete moron but I guess that is standard.  When I put my tournament schedule together, I left myself a 6-7 day span after arriving in Vegas where I don’t play poker, and  I could just party and chill.  I wanted to get a lot of it out of my system so I can focus on poker for the rest of the trip.  The problem is that I misjudged the time frame by 6-7 days like an idiot.  I could be playing tournaments right now, but my bankroll and schedule is already set so I’m stuck going out drinking and spending money everyday instead of getting to work.  Tough life I know but whatever.  Some funny stuff has happened in the last few days though as a result of being out and about.

In most Vegas hotels (at least all the good ones), to enter the pool you need to have a room key from that specific hotel or you can’t get in.  Well, I just happen to like a lot of different pools and so do my friends…

so my mission for room keys began.   The goal is to collect a key from each hotel so we can present it and get in where we need to.  So far MGM Grand, Flamingo, and Caesar’s have all been conquered.  I walked into the pool at the Rio to meet a friend who was there; I didn’t have a key but stayed there the last 2 years so I knew they didn’t check for room keys… or so I thought.  I get to the entrance and I get asked for my room key, the one I don’t have.  So naturally I bluffed my way in.  I told her my stuff was at my chair and I was only gone 2 minutes as I walked in.  I touched her shoulder as I walked past and turned my head to keep walking, knowing she wasn’t about to chase me down.  It’s really not that hard to bluff a 16 yr old lifeguard.  When I got in, I opened the side gate for my friend “the enabler” and was able to obtain a room key from a friend by the time I left the pool… Yeaasssssss.

Now allow me to paint a picture of how Vegas can influence the most basic scenario into pure degeneracy.   Later that day a group of us go to a restaurant inside a casino that we know has happy hour for food.  We choose this place so we can save money and eat cheap as we are all on a budget.  As is standard in casinos, there are gaming tables everywhere within eyeshot of our table, including a blackjack table like 15 feet away.   One of my friends who is pretty broke gets up from the table to try and “freeroll” lunch.  His goal is to win 10 bucks so his meal is essentially free.  He comes back after 4 minutes, down $50 of money he desperately needs and we all laugh at him for being a degenerate.  The waitress comes we order our $9 meals and start eating.    He scarfs it down and asks me to let him out of the booth… I wonder why.  Another good friend of mine, who just happens to be Kevin Saul, a poker pro who has won millions of dollars and has personally taught me more about the game than anyone, gets up too.  As he walks off he yells “freeroll!!” suggesting that he is about to win enough money to cover his meal (he ordered like $20 of food).  They both come back a short time later.  My first friend happily pulls out 1 black $100 chip from his pocket and shows us that he just his money back after losing $50 literally 10 mins before.  Kevin comes back smiling too, not because he won, but because he has a story.  After losing his first $200 in a few hands he buys in for another $100 and throws in on the table as he takes 1 step back to finish his cigarette.  Unfortunately for him, cash plays at this casino, and the dealer interpreted this as a bet.  The dealer deals him a hand; simultaneously Kevin goes to dispute what has just happened but sees that he has been dealt an 18 against the dealer’s 6.  Happy with this draw he doesn’t dispute the ruling and the dealer proceeds to run out a 5 card 20.  Annoyed by this unlucky string of events, he bets another $100 bill… and the dealer pulls blackjack lol. He is now paying $420 dollars for his happy hour lunch at TGI FRIDAY’S.  Way to go Kev..

Let’s see, what else is there?

• We went to the topless pool at Caesars and were able to get in for free bc my friend works there.  We were not impressed by the middle aged, overweight European women and their gigantic breasts.  Not impressed at all…. So we went to Flamingo which is my personal favorite.  I like it there bc its not shmoozy like some top tier pools and is a perfect environment for scumbags like my friends and I (and of course my brother who is a filthy piece of thrash).
• A friend of mine, who backs another friend of mine in poker tournaments, lost their entire tourney bankroll playing blackjack and slots.  We hand to lend him $1300 for the next 2 days until he gets home to get more money.  Keep up the good work boys.
• All of clothes have horrible creases in them from being in my suitcase for 2 weeks.  I tried on like 5 tshirts last night before we went out and everyone kept laughing at me.  I threw on a hoodie and got laughed at even more because I kept the wrinkled tshirt on topped it off with something impractical in Vegas where it’s always hot.  We saw Hangover 2 and it wasn’t as good as the original.

Well that’s it for now.  I will share my next post after I begin playing my first event.  I need to get to work and I need money.  I’ll let everyone know if anything good happens between now and then.
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