Vegas trip log - 10/2/11 to 10/6/11

After the incredibly lengthy cruise report I provided last month, I'm dedicated to providing a shorter report for my G2E Las Vegas trip. Of course, I doubt I'll succeed in keeping it brief, so consider yourself warned.

Specific discussion of many of the games seen at G2E are in other threads. This is more about my visit in general.

Note: Click on any photo for a high-res version.



Day One - Sunday 10/2

While flying over the Grand Canyon, the pilot does a couple zig-zags. Nice. I got a few good pictures, but none of Hoover Dam. We land ahead of the scheduled 11:00 landing, at about 10:45am, then sit out in the middle of the airport for 25 minutes, because there is a plane at our assigned gate. There's a million empty gates! Why can't they use one of those? Too bad the pilot didn't know ahead of time. He could have circled over the canyon or dam. Sigh...

Luggage took an uncharacteristically LONG time to appear. I finally got it all at about 11:35.

My rental car is from Fox Car Rental. For those that don't know it, you take a shuttle to the off-site car rental center. However, Fox isn't located there, so you take a second shuttle to their own rental center. Because of this, I was warned to not use Fox. But the rate I got was far cheaper than anywhere else: $33 total for two days. Got to Fox at about 12:05. About 6 people on line, being handled by 4 clerks. At about 12:25, I finished my paperwork and was selecting my car. Not bad considering the cheap rate. Of course the clerk DID try to get me to purchase insurance for only $30 extra per day!

The car I chose happened to have less than 1/4 tank of gas. I drove it to one of their people, who asked if I wanted a different car, or to wait two minutes. More because I had already loaded my gear, plugged in my GPS and it was the only white economy car they had, I chose to wait. I used the bathroom while I waited. When I got out, the car was back, full of gas. So, no real problem or complaint there.

Got to Fiesta Henderson at about 1:00. I didn't see any indication of where the hotel entrance was, so I parked in the garage, and dragged my luggage thru the casino. No big deal. It's on wheels.

The parking garage has a nice design. It's rather large. The far end has a ramp that goes up to each level, then goes back down to each level, making it easy to select a level, as well as to pick a new level if desired (higher OR lower), and to get back out when leaving.

There were two clerks at the front desk, both with other guests, but no line. Waited about 2 minutes and was being helped. There were no King size non-smoking available yet. I could wait, or take a two queen. My only concern was non-smoking, so I took what I could get. Less than 5 minutes later, I was on my way to the two queen room.

I decided to use the pool. It's small - about twice the size of a typical backyard pool. And COLD! I stood in there about a minute before going to the hot tub. I use that term loosely. It was more like a warm tub.
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I had enough after a few minutes, got out, took a shower, then headed out by about 2:20.


Hoover Dam. Got there at around 3:00.

I completely missed the turn for the $7 parking garage on the NV side, ride over the dam, skip the $7 parking lot on the AZ, and find a space in the first free lot on the AZ side. I didn't even realize I had done that. I just kept kicking myself until I realized I was in the first available free lot. Sweet!

As I'm walking across the dam, we hear an announcement: "Take the bait off the hook." I didn't see who was fishing or where, but, apparently, you can fish with a bare hook or lure, but no bait.
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Keep off wall? Hell, I was getting dizzy just holding the camera over the edge!

I took the generator tour. $11. I wanted to take the complete dam tour for $30, but that was sold out. The generator tour was OK. I asked one question, to our guide who had been introduced as an electrical engineer. When in the generator room, he pointed out, among other things, the 8 large generators, and the one small one. The small generator makes all the electric needed by the NV side of the dam. I asked why they didn't just tap into the electric generated by the big units. His answer was rather lame: "Because we sell that." I didn't see the point of that answer. I mean, not all the generators run at all times, so it's not like if they tap in for their own small needs that the power companies are gonna be pissed that it's only 99.9% of capacity....
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A few minutes later, a guy who was taking the tour, approached me and identified himself as a power company linesman from another state. I.E. He was just a guy on the tour, but he had a better answer: Voltage. The big generators were making electric at very high voltage and would require step-down transformers, etc. The little generator makes 220/110 volt, ready for immediate use. Now THAT made sense.

By the time I got done with the tour, the gift shop was closed, so no place to purchase a water bottle. I was thirsty, etc. So I didn't bother to spend additional time walking up to the bridge. Plus there was a light drizzle, so why chance it?


First stop back was at the Hacienda. On the way to the dam I noticed the electric sign out front indicated Nathan's Hot Dogs for $1.99. That's about where my budget is, so I went in, and directly to the snack bar and got one. The dog was absolutely NOT a Nathan's Hot Dot. Hell, I don't think it was a hot dog! More like a bad knockwurst, warming up in one of those dog rollers you see at truck stops.

They had one pit, about 7 tables. The sign out front also indicated $1 craps and $2 BJ. Some BJ tables had printing indicating 3:2, but don't know if those were the $2 tables since they were all closed. The $1 craps was half open. I.E. There was one dealer working the left side of the table, with a piece of wood covered with pyramids to the right of the prop bets. As luck would have it, I got a spot in the stickman's area, with my chips on the very end of the railing on the left side. It was the only spot left.

When the dice came to me, I was shocked to see just how short my dice throws were. It might have been a dice-setter's dream!

While I was there, another dealer came by, was sitting on a chair in the right side dealer's position, talking to the working dealer. He was acting like he was on break. While he was there, 4 or 5 girls came up and wanted to play. But because the table was only half open, there was no room. You'd think that they'd remove that damn wall and open the table, but no.

It WAS $1 minimum, but FULL double odds. At least that's what I think it was. I was able to place $5 odds on a $1 bet of a point of 6, and $10 odds on a $3 bet of a point of 5. They did NOT have 25¢ chips.

There was an obnoxious player betting tall stacks on the field bet. At one point, he lost, and the dealer counted it out. It was more than the $200 table limit, so the dealer returned the excess. I would have expected him to screw the obnoxious player.


Next stop was RailRoad pass. I stopped there primarily because, on the way to the dam, there was a train passing behind it, and I thought it would have made a good picture, if I was quicker with the camera. How's that for a stupid reason to stop?

There's only about 6 tables in their one pit. I didn't bother to check the BJ tables. The one craps table was also $1 minimum, $200 maximum, also no 25¢ chips, but it was was staffed by 2 dealers and a stick. I quickly learned that it is NOT full double odds. Just double. Of course, the crew would suggest that I could increase my pass line bet if I wanted to increase the odds.


Next stop, Jokers Wild. This was on my hit list, because the rumor is that they use 25¢ chips. The rumor was right. Not only that, it was $1 minimum, $200 maximum, with 10x odds! Only 1 pit with 6 tables. 1 craps, 2 open BJ tables that were single deck - I didn't ask what the minimum was or what BJ paid, 2 additional BJ tables that were closed, and 1 Roulette.

I went to craps, and was standing next to a Dark Sider who stood on the end next to the dealer, and had to assist the dealer, telling her to pick up the losers before paying the winners, telling her how much, etc. It screamed that this was a break-in shop. Even so, other dealers seemed more competent, including being able to not only handle the fractional bets and pay-outs, but handling incorrect bets as well. You'd figure that with 25¢ chips, players would make bets in units so they payouts would be right. But no. I'd see $3 place 5/9 bets and $4 place 6/8 bets.

On the other hand, some people were taking full advantage of the $1/10x odds, including laying correct odds on dark side bets.

There was one shooter who was obviously a newbie. At one point, she threw the dice up, kinda like a woman's underarm softball pitch. It was so high, that rather than merely call it "No roll", the stickman snatched one of the dice out of the air!

For every shooter, I'd place $11 inside, including the point - I wasn't on the line. when the dice came to me, I of course had a line bet so I could shoot. I established a point of 9, and gave the dealer $$8.50. One roll later, I see that I have chips on all 4 inside numbers. Total bet is $11. I ask the dealer, "I thought I gave you $8.50 for my inside bets." She tells me no, so I ask to take down the 9. Mind you, I segregated my chips ahead of time, so I'm 100% sure I gave her $8.50. I tried to correct it, right? It was OK to keep the error, right? Dan you there?

Aside from that one little error in my favor, I thought it was great using 25¢ chips. It was a bonus that it was a $1 minimum. I've said it before that I don't really care what the table minimum is (within reason), but use 25¢ chips! Allow fractional units!

Somewhere along Boulder Highway, without even realizing it, you come to the top of a hill, and suddenly, the entire Las Vegas valley appears before you. I rather cool looking sight.
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I had planned on going all the way to Fremont Street, but it was about 9:30, and I was already getting tired, so I headed to Fiesta Henderson instead.

PaiGowDan was on duty, working the craps table, so I played craps for a while until my wallet was hurting, then moved on to the next table: EZ Pai Gow. During this time, I'd be yelling to Dan how stupid the game is, or how great it is, whatever. Of course he knew that my comments had nothing to do with the no-commission part, but everything to do with how the cards were coming. In the 45 minutes or so I played, the dealer NEVER got that Queen-High hand, and I was about even. This means that I would have been down if I had been paying commissions for the wins. Sweet.

I then talked to the pit boss and scored a free breakfast buffet. Sweet! Value, $4.49, so, OK, maybe I actually earned it rather than getting it because I was Dan's friend. Whatever.

I call it a night and head to my room.

I had a terrible night of sleep because the A/C unit was noisy. And not merely loud background noise. Every few minutes it made noise like something was hitting the fan. VERY annoying.

There was no coffee maker, but the light switch near the door actually turned on a light by the door - as well as a light in the closet, which had a door. The hangers were wood that came off the rod - although with the small "can't steal it" type hook. The soap was the ultra-thin hotel style, but was purple, with a weird scent I couldn't identify. It was NOT lavender. Also, the shower drained slowly.

There was free internet (well, included in the $10 resort fee), but the reception was spotty.

I guess I can't really complain. I had gotten the internet special of $19.95, which, with the $10 resort fee, was the same as I expected to pay at Imperial Palace, so why not stay at PaiGowDan's home turf?

No offense Dan, but I hope you're working elsewhere next year (or better, retired with your EZ PaiGow money!)


Day Two - Monday 10/3

The next morning, I pack up and am ready to check out, when I go down to the buffet at 7:30. It opens at 8:00. Sigh. To kill 30 minutes, I go play EZ Pai Gow. The very first hand, the dealer gets that dang Queen-high hand. But it's OK. I actually had crap and was hoping to sneak thru with a push. Sweet.

I hit the buffet. There was only one chef making omelettes, and only making them two at a time. On the flip side, there weren't too many customers, so the line at the omelette wasn't too long. It, and the other items were acceptable at best. Then again, the price was only $4.49. Far better than what I remember about the IP breakfast buffet. And cheaper....


I check out. For no particular reason, I decided to go to the front desk to do this. Nobody on line. Done in two minutes.


I head out. First stop, Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour. It's a free tour where you can watch them make chocolate thru glass. FYI: Ethel M is Forrest Mars' mother. Some time after retiring from M&M/Mars, he got bored and started this venture. It was a cool self-guided tour.

Next stop, lunch with Rich Newman, my patent lawyer. Thanks Rich!

Next stop, Imperial Palace. There's a line to check in. The guy at the front of the line tells me he's been there over 45 minutes, so I leave.

Next stop, Atomic Testing Museum. It's interesting, but I'm kinda fading in & out. I actually fell asleep during one of the little movies they play.

When I get out, the parking lot has puddles all over. It had rained. Looking around, I can see that it's still raining, with thunder and lightning in the distance, but sunny where I am. Weird.

Next stop, Gambler's Warehouse, in the downtown area. Lots of cool stuff inside. I had no plans to purchase anything. Just another tourist stop. The next stop is Spinetti's which is right next door. I mean so close that people usually just park and walk from one to the other. But it's raining again, hard so I wait for a lull, and being the pussy that I am, I drive over. It's another cool store.
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Next stop, Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. I manage to get the one open parking space and go in. Man this place is like a zoo. It looks nothing like how it looks on Pawn Stars. They must close the place when they film - and only film when the stars are in town. When I walked in, I didn't see the stars, but recognized the security guard at the door. I asked "Where's..." and he responded as if he hears this question all the time. "Doing a public appearance in ___."

There were people buying stuff. I didn't see anyone selling or pawning stuff. There was also a large collection of over priced souvenirs. I managed to get a reasonably priced souvenir: In the parking is a tent selling refreshments. I got a 16.9 oz private label water bottle for only $2! However, the label was glued on tight, and printed on the kind of paper that doesn't tear. I ended up destroying it before I could save it. Sigh.
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Next stop, back to IP to check in. I head to the IP's back entrance, along Winnick Ave from Sands Ave. As I pass Harrah's, there's a barricade on the street. The entrance to IP is flooded, and it looks like there's a river flowing! So I turn around and park at Harrah's.

It's about 4:00 and the line is even longer than before. So I play a poker tourney. After I bust out, I check back at the IP front desk. Still a long line, so I go to my car, change clothes in the parking lot, and head to the Sands for the welcome party.

Nothing special about the party except for the nearly naked girls, which I posted in another thread. The food was OK, but it was free, so whatever.
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After about 90 minutes, I head back to the IP. The line is still long, so I play poker awhile. By the time I finish, the line is gone. I check in at around 10:00, bring my stuff to my room, then return the rental.

On the way to Fox, I stop at one of the hundreds of Terribles gas stations to fill the tank. I get the feeling that Terrible owns the local Chevron concession. ALL of the Terribles are Chevron. Returning the car takes less than 5 minutes. Really, no problem there. I get on the shuttle to the rental center (the one where normal people would then take a second shuttle to the airport). I'm the only one on board. I tell the driver my story about staying in Henderson the first night, then staying at the IP the remainder, etc. And then I ask if she wouldn't mind taking me to the South Strip Transfer Terminal. It's the bus station about a mile from the consolidated rental car center. No problem. Sweet! She takes me there, and I tip her $2. The express bus I want (formerly called The Ace) is leaving in two minutes. Nice!

The closest stop to the IP is at Paris. No big deal. I don't mind walking the strip. Except the rain from hours before still hadn't dried. Some of the sidewalk was very slippery. I nearly killed myself a couple times!

When I get back to my room, I start noticing differences from Fiesta Henderson. The soaps are larger than what was at Fiesta. There's a coffee machine with coffee and fixings in the bathroom. The closet is about twice the size as the one at Fiesta, but without a door, and the hangars were metal with loops instead of hooks. I.E. Not only can't you steal them, but you can't even remove them from the rod. Also, the switch by the front door operates the lamp by the window. There's no light in the foyer / closet.

But it's comfortable, and the A/C had a nice, steady, relatively quiet hum. I got some good sleep that night.


Day Three - Tuesday 10/4

Head to G2E, get there about 10:10. Get my badge in no time. I won't bother listing details of what I did at G2E. Most of that is covered in other threads.

Meet up with the Wiz and some other members at about 12:30. Members hanging out included the Wizard, CrystalMath, Miplet, PaiGowDan, Elliot (math guy - I forget his WoV name), NicksGamingStuff, as well as a few others whom I forget. Sorry gang, but I have a bad memory for that sort of stuff.

As we're talking, Wiz says that I should hire Miplet to do the math reports for Poker For Roulette, suggesting that he'd be cheaper, and that roulette math isn't too difficult, and it would be a good way for Mip to get in the industry. As a result of that, and that he's is also staying at the IP, we end up hanging together more-or-less for the remainder of our visit.

I give my literature to anyone that appears to have anything related to Roulette in their booth. I get some good responses, but I get some rather bland responses too. That doesn't bother me. All I need is one distributor to run with it.

I'm not sure why one vendor thought a midget Elvis would be a good attraction, or why this other vendor has these pants from the 70's, but here ya go:
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At about 4:15, Wiz, Mip and I meet and head over to Buca de Beppo for the WizCon dinner. We planned on a 5:00 dinner, and parked at Terribles at about 4:40, so we stop at the player's club desk to sign up, etc. Then head to Buca. Elliot meets us after a few minutes. It doesn't take long for Wiz to get into a groove, asking the waitress trivia questions. Be forewarned: If you ever go to a restaurant with the Wiz, he's gonna do the trivia thing, but he's also going to get some side action on whether or not we thing the waitress will know the answer. I won't go into details of the wagering, but I was the big loser, and the Wiz was the big winner.

After dinner Elliot leaves, and Wiz, Mip and I go to Terribles, and find a double-deck pitch BJ game paying 3:2. I'm not sure of the other rules, but they couldn't have been bad, otherwise I doubt Wiz and Mip would have sat down. After a while, NicksGamingStuff joins us but isn't playing. I have him at least join the fun by allowing him to cut whenever it's my option.

At one point, Mip got into an interesting hand. We're pretty sure he had taken five little cards totaling 11, then took a 6, and stood with the dealer shoring a 6. Wiz and I both stood with less than 17. Wiz didn't see what happened (I told him later), and Mip and I aren't sure, but we think the dealer got 18, and PAID Mip. It was only a $5 bet, but we both looked at it and froze. Personally, I can't add three single digit number when playing BJ, so six numbers was a real challenge. Therefore, I really don't know who won that hand. Mip later told me that he was 99% sure he had 17 with the dealer having 18. But as he was adding the cards again the dealer paid him fast and scooped the cards. He really didn't have a chance to finish adding. No matter. We looked at each other and said, "Don't tell Dan" and then started cracking up.

After a while, Wiz had taken enough punishment. I won't say how much, but it should be no surprise that he wasn't playing badly. He was just getting beaten. Me too, but I was playing lower stakes. Mip did OK. Nick said he'd drive Mip and me back to IP, so I walked with Wiz to his car to retrieve my bag of goodies from G2E. As we were walking, I told Wiz I felt bad for his loss. I'm not sure if he was serious or not in the way he brushed it off, but he said something like "That's part of what I do. Sometimes I win. Not tonight."

Mip and I were playing a little while when Nick went for a walk. A little while later, he said he played slots and won... $2.25. Woo hoo!

A little while later, I went broke and didn't want to reload. It was fine because Nick was hinting that he wanted to leave. Mip added up his chips and he was ahead... $1.00! Woo hoo! Yeah, it was time to leave. LOL.


Day Four - Wednesday, 10/5

I meet Mip at McDonalds for breakfast, then head to G2E. Somewhere along the way, Mip tells me that he had walked from the airport to IP.

Let me repeat that:

Miplet walked from McCarran Airport to Imperial Palace.

Ya know, in threads comparing Vegas to Atlantic City, I often mention that the AC airport is about 15 miles away, while, if you're motivated, you can walk from McCarran to, say, Hard Rock. I never thought anyone would do it!

As we're walking the floor, I'm handing out copies of my literature with similar results to yesterday, plus one guy who seems very interested. He asks if I can come back tomorrow, since the person he wants me to talk to isn't there today. That sounds promising!

I had plans on getting to the GhostBar by 3:00 for a meeting with someone from TCS John Huxley about my idea. A few weeks ago, I had an email exchange to set up the meeting. So I left the Sands at about 1:30, head to the IP to shower and change, and take a cab over to Palms. The cabbie didn't know which door is best for the GhostBar. Isn't the alternate entrances to the resorts something they should know? Whatever. I get there at 2:45. Perfect.

When I get to the GhostBar elevator, someone from TCS John Huxley asks how the ride was. I start to mention that the issue with the cabbie and I get interrupted. "Didn't you know about our limo service?" Yeah, I knew, but I figured that was for important people such as casino executives. Me? I'm just an ordinary guy. Sure, I've got a side bet idea that TCS may be interested in, but limo? Nah. So she says when I'm ready to leave, to stop back and get a limo! Ok, ok...

I get upstairs and barely get in the room when a woman in black dress approaches and asks if I need a drink. For the entire time I'm in the GhostBar, I can't figure out if she, and some of the other ladies serving drinks, are GhostBar waitresses, TCS employees - or if they were hired just for the event.

The first games I see are semi-electronic versions of Roulette and Craps. Both have a table with a large screen build into the table, with sensors along the edge. You press the sensor while betting on the screen. It makes a connection between your two hands to know who is betting where.

The Roulette table had a roulette wheel attached that would spin on it's own. After the spin, losing chips get pushed into one corner (where there is what looks like an opening for a chip sorter), and payouts are made.

The Craps table had virtual dice, attached to real dice. This was kinda weird. When it was time to shoot, the dice would slide towards one player (who may not even have an active bet). That player then touches the screen, shakes the dice and throws them. Nearby, there are dice under a dome with a camera where a dealer is standing by, running the table. While the shaking and throwing is going on, these real dice are bouncing around, following the person's fingers. It's kinda cool in a weird way. After the 'throw' the dealer enters the results into the computer. This despite the fact that the screen showing dice are showing an image of the real dice on top of the virtual layout. Apparently, it uses green screen technology, and in that respect, it does a good job. However, in all other areas, the craps table fails. First, it uses individual colors Roulette style, rather than position to keep bets separate. This makes sense since it's a relatively small screen for 6 players to use. However, unlike a Roulette table, the screen is flat, so it's impossible to count chips on any one bet. Further, once a bet has any chips on it, you can no longer read what the position is for. Lastly, it has problems similar to Rapid Craps. I.E. If you press the inside or outside bet buttons, it skips the point, whether you have a line bet or not. When a shooter establishes a new point, it doesn't move place bets the way a real dealer would. There's no intuitive way to reduce or even remove single bets.

All in all, it's a fine effort to come up with a system that competes with Rapid Craps. However, I get the feeling that they didn't do much studying to see the problems with Rapid Craps before proceeding.

The Roulette table on the other hand, does a far better job of being an alternative to Rapid Roulette. Because players all bet on the same display, it helps build a community of everyone betting on similar numbers. However, like the Craps table, once a number has more than a couple chips, it's impossible to tell exactly how many bets are made.

Both systems had a problem where it was had for people in certain positions to reach all areas of the table. All in all, I think it was a nice try, but these systems miss the mark.

The next table I checked out was the Double Action Roulette. This works exactly as expected. In fact, it works so predictably, I'm surprised that TCS doesn't have a short video of it on their website. Basically, you spin the two wheels in opposite directions, then spin the ball in the direction of the inner wheel. As they are all spinning, you can hear a clicking noise, similar to the clapper on a Big 6 wheel. This is slowing the inside wheel, so that it eventually settles into the outer wheel and they spin together. I tried spinning them several times. It was only when I spun the wheels especially hard, and the ball rather weakly, that the ball settled before the wheels synced up.

When I had my meeting to discuss Poker For Roulette, some of the questions I got gave me the impression that the TCS exec was thinking about putting my bet on the Double Action table. I'm glad I recently added odds and pay-tables for four results to my website.

The other game I paid particular attention to is Three Dice Football. This has been talked about on WoV. All I can say is, it was a lot of fun, and look forward to seeing it in a casino.

If you've never been to the GhostBar, it's on the 55th floor, and has a cantilever outdoor patio, with a 2'x4' glass panel in the floor near the far edge. The first time I walked out, I couldn't step onto the glass. Although I have no plans to go out to the Grand Canyon Sky Walk, it's nice to know that it would have been a waste of time and money. No way I'd walk out on that thing! A little whole later, I decide to try again. I nearly killed myself: It had rained (again!) and the glass was slippery! OK. I'm done with that stupid glass floor.

After the TCS event, I go downstairs and play 7-14-21. I had fun, but lost $75. Note to chip collectors: It seems like Palms doesn't have ANY 'standard' $5 chips. I must have looked at about 20 different $5 chips while playing. When I went to the cage, they had a display of all the $5 chips in a frame on the wall. Under each chip was "Available" or "Not Available".

I then head out the door, think about heading to my hotel or strip, and remember the TCS limo offer. So I head back to ask about it. That same gal that offered the limo before is there and asks where I'm heading. I say "Imperial Palace", and was about to also say that I don't really need a whole limo for myself, I'd be happy to wait a bit, but I didn't even get the chance. She's already on the walkie talkie, telling the other person where I'm going and what I'm wearing. Then she tells me that the car will be there by the time I get to the door.

So I walk back to the Palms entrance, and figure that a standard black sedan will be waiting. Actually, there was no car when I got there, but about 3 seconds later, a monstrous vehicle, adorned with the TCS logo, pulls up, to take me to the Imperial Palace!
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When I got back to the IP, I asked the driver about the car. He says it seats 14, but occasionally gets as many as 20 drunk idiots in there.

I change and decide to play a poker tourney at IP. It's a $40 buy-in, with a $10 re-buy and $10 add-on. You could take those options anytime up until the break. When that time came, I was the chip leader at my table (There were two tables). But after everybody took their options, I looked like I was a short stack, so I opted to take them too. So I guess it's really a $60 tourney, paying the top 3.

There were no great hands to talk about. At one point when it was down to 4 people, I had about 3 big blinds, and someone made a comment about it. I replied that I tend to do well at short-handed games. It's true. In my poker league, I have twice as many first place finishes than any other in the top ten. As it turned out, that was true in this tourney as well. I won it! $365. Sweet! That put a nice cushion into my otherwise pitiful bankroll.


Day Five - Thursday, 10/6

I meet Miplet again at McD's, then we head over to the Sands.

We wander around a while. At one point I run into the exec from TCS whom I had the meeting with yesterday. This is good because it gave me the chance to introduce him to Miplet.

After a while more, we head over to the booth I had promised to revisit yesterday, to talk to the boss about Poker For Roulette. As it happens, he was sitting with the guy I had talked to yesterday, so I got a good introduction, and ended up talking to both of them. The conversation lasted a good 20 minutes. Considering my main hopes for G2E were to briefly make contacts, and continue the conversation next week, spending 20 minutes could only mean that he was VERY interested in my idea. Sweet.

After a while more wandering, I run into Max Rubin. I introduce myself as a fan, and he seemed cordial. I followed it up with "I'm the guy who had taken that crappy photo of you and Mike at the BJ tourney, and PhotoShopped it to make it look better." At this point he seemed genuinely receptive to whatever I wanted to discuss. So naturally, I talked briefly about my idea, and gave him my literature. Hopefully, he'll write about it.

We hung out with Dan in the DEQ booth for a little while, then called it a day at about 1:30. Personally, I felt we hit every booth, or at least every booth that had anything to do with Roulette, and I wanted to play a poker tourney at 2:30 at Bills for $30. No re-buy. We get there around 2:20, but it's already sold out. So I played the 3:00 tourney at IP, with the same $40 plus $10 re-buy plus $10 add-on format as I had played last night. Some of the same players were back.

While waiting for the game to start, Mip and I make a call to reserve airport shuttle service. $7 per person. Not bad.

In the tourney, I had one interesting hand sequence. About 1/2 hour in, blinds are 50/100. I got pocket Aces in the Big Blind. A couple people limp in, including the Small Blind. I raise it up to $300. Everyone except Small Blind folds. The flop is Queen, rag, rag, rainbow. He checks, I bet about $700, he calls. Turn is a blank, I go all-in for about $2,000. He has me covered and calls. The river is a Queen. He had A-Q. I busted out with aces. It's still early, so I re-buy for $10 and get three 500 chips. I toss one in for the small blind. I get dealt pocket aces. A couple limpers. The button, who won the last pot, raises it to $250. I glance at my aces, pause a moment, then in a disgusted voice, announce "500!" Everyone who was still in, called. The flop was insignificant. I think a moment, then in a frustrated voice announce, "All in". I get two callers. The guy on my right who had won the prior hand, and another guy. At the showdown, I show my aces, and both players fold.

It was a beautiful thing. Everyone thought I was on tilt, and I'm playing aces - which hold up. Nice. Too bad I couldn't carry it to the money....

OK. We're ready to leave, so we go out to the shuttle stop at 5:55. There's a shuttle there from another company, waiting for their own passengers, trying to get me to take them instead of waiting. His passengers finally show up at 6:08. Our shuttle still isn't there, so we take the shuttle that's there. It's still $7, and although our appointment is for 6:10, shouldn't he be there already? So we took the other shuttle. Is that bad?

While waiting for my flight out, I noticed something of a sign of the times: This six station pay phone cluster, with only one pay phone.
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Bottom line:

I lost a few bucks, had a great time, and made some good contacts for my Poker For Roulette game.

Sigh, my visit was too damn short.

Fantastic. Glad for your success, and also that you got to play at Hacienda and Joker's Wild.

I wasnt playing slots, I played penny video poker. I should not have even played that since my objective to not play until I have a job. I did not play BJ of course because I did not have the bank roll. I think it is funny between all of us at Terribles I was the biggest winner with my $5 buy in.

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

I should not have even played that since my objective to not play until I have a job.

Are you looking for a job or still in dealer school?

The outfits those gals are wearing aren't very flattering.

Quote: Alan

The outfits those gals are wearing aren't very flattering.

Well, when all you're wearing is pasties and a little g-string, the 'outfit' depends upon body shape.

Sure, a couple of them had a few too many pound on them, but so do I. Of course, you wont see me naked at a trade show (or anywhere else...)

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Well, when all you're wearing is pasties and a little g-string, the 'outfit' depends upon body shape.

Las Vegas seems to be a good town for these Event Models. They serve drinks, pass trays of hors d'oeuvres , smile, wear slinky outfits, mix and mingle with ease and answer simple questions about various products. I'm told that many event planners will rent out a venue with a variety of bar service options and waitress options but usually supplement the staff with a number of Event Models because trade shows go so much better when there is some eye candy smiling all night long and acting instantly charmed by all the fat balding geezers.

I loved that limo driver's honesty ... they must see alot of drunks making fools of themselves.

The IP is built over a flood channel... everyone laughed at the original developer but for quite a while he was the one laughing back at them all the way to the bank. It is however notorious for having difficulties during flash floods and I understand will have lines for just about everything even if its not rainy.

Thanks for the report DJ! I enjoyed it.

On the dam tour, did you notice the water leaking down the walls in the tunnel after you come out of the elevator at the base of the dam? The guide said not to worry, but boy, it's one of those, "this is not a good thing" kind of sights.

I echo your comments on looking over the side. It's 700+ feet down. I historically haven't had problems in high places, but standing on the platform at the visitor center looking over the rail was really freaky. Even walking up to the rail was challenging. Weird.

Best of luck on the future of "Poker for Roulette". I'm glad to hear that you made some postive contacts, and look forward to seeing it in play one day soon.

I too, enjoyed your report. I'm glad your rental car didn't break down because you may have had an experience similar to one I had a few years back. I had a PT Cruiser from Fox and the fuel pump went. There was no way to directly contact Fox in Las Vegas. The numbers they provided all went to Los Angeles ,where a nasty receptionist named Mildred informed me that if I did something to the car I would have to pay for it. The entire incident took almost three hours to resolve in the blazing July heat. A very nice state trooper let us sit in her car and provided us with water.

When I returned the car I gave them a piece of my mind and to his credit the manager took one day off the bill.

Ayecarumba, et al -

I'm glad you, and everyone, enjoyed it and appreciate my lengthy typing sessions.

I didn't take the $30 dam tour, although I wanted to. I got there too late and it was sold out. I took the $11 power station tour.

But I have heard about the leaks within the dam. Sure, it's just water, but there are areas where the Colorado River isn't much more than a creek, but that trickle carved the Grand Canyon! Seeing a little leak in the dam can be quite unsettling!

And thanks for the luck on Poker For Roulette. I'll keep everyone posted!

Nice report DJ......I thought you were kidding when you told me about the Limo on the last day of G2E. Nice to get the background on that story.

Did you ever get a "ticket" for the TCS Event? You had a meeting there so maybe you didn't need one. I had responded via TCS website, but never got a response so I figured I wouldn't get in. Sounds like I missed out.

It was good to meet you an Miplet at the Digideal booth (we were both checking out the Derby Horse Racing game at the time).

I wouldn't kid about a monster limo. Truth is, I took the limo just to save the $12 a cab would have cost! LOL

Quote: Paradigm

Did you ever get a "ticket" for the TCS Event? You had a meeting there so maybe you didn't need one. I had responded via TCS website, but never got a response so I figured I wouldn't get in. Sounds like I missed out.

I was undecided if I'd go into the details. But the more I think about it, I think it's OK to tell people exactly how easy it was to get into their event.

For those that didn't sign up: When we met up on Tuesday, some of us discussed how we signed up, got an email stating that we're in, that we'd get the confirmation code in a separate email, but never got that follow-up email.

So I went to the GhostBar, with a copy of the first email, along with a copy of the meeting confirmation, ready to bust heads if I got any static about going in.

I shouldn't have worried. The gal that had asked about the ride, and told me to return for the limo, also constituted the extent of their velvet rope. She asked for a business card, and I think I had to fill out my name, email and phone number. She said she wanted the info so that they'd be able to invite me next year. That's it. I didn't have to mention that I had signed up online or the meeting or anything.

Bottom line: I think anyone with a reasonable industry related business card can get in / crash that party.

"Luggage took an uncharacteristically LONG time to appear."
Gee DJ every time I go to Vegas (via US Air from CLT) It takes forever for the luggage to show up. I just figured it was because of the slots that are there by the luggage carousels