Wizard of Vegas weekly coffees (April 18th or 19th)

I've started a new thread so that a poll could be used to vote on a time for those interested in attending. Contingent on the Wiz accepting of course. The vote options are generalized open slots rather than durations. We're all adults here so, you can come and go as you please.

Well, we're looking at a little less than two weeks before DrJohn, toastcmu, and myself et al will all be in the Las Vegas area. Can we formalize a get together with the Wiz on either the 18th or 19th depending on DrJohn's departure time on the 19th.

I've never played Pai Gow (Tiles), but I am always willing to learn a new game as long as it has a low HA. It looks like this would be a favorable activity after introductions have been made. I love PGP, but I have a feeling that what I have learned playing it will be useless in Tiles. I'll leave it up to those in the know to suggest a location with a decent suitable Cafe & Pai Gow game.

Before noon on either day would work for me - I'm staying at MSS (checking out 18th) and going to NYNY that day. I'd be up for learning some Pai Gow Tiles too (as someone who plays PGP sometimes).

-B

Man, I had planned on a trip on the 18th, but got better rates for May :(

I'll be coming in on Sat the 17th @ 1 PM. Probably head down to MSS first thing. I'll be staying at Mirage who has without a doubt the friendliest and most knowledgeable tiles dealers. Sunday works best for me. Having brunch at Country Club at Wynn but otherwise am free all day. Leaving Monday at 9 AM. Would love to meet for tiles!!

Whenever you guys do it... get some pictures!

I am in Southern California and the earlier in the day the better so I can make that drive back into town.

Hey Wiz,

Can we get some input from you? No offense to the others, but This was supposed to be a chance to meet up with you. Are you still extending this offer? You replied to DrJohn's post a few weeks ago with "...April looks good."

It looks like late morning to early afternoon on Sunday the 18th works best for the majority of those that have responded. Based on that and the only suggestion of the Mirage for a location. I will propose that we meet at THE ROASTED BEAN in the Mirage from 11:30 to 12:30 or somewhere there about, since we will all be on 'Vegas Time'. Pai Gow Tiles to follow.

Wiz it would be great to hear from you one way or the other (JB, you're presence would be greatly honored also, but I understand your desire for anonymity).

Might I suggest we try and meet earlier at the Mirage. Reason being that if we play before 12 noon we might have a chance to play with the gentleman whom I consider to be the best Pai Gow dealer, Curt. He would be quite helpful (as English is his first language) to the novices. Just a suggestion.

Also want to mention that there are two "Roasted Beans" at the Mirage. I assume you mean the one closer to the front entrance.

I've never actually been to the Mirage, so I did not know about the multiple locations. The one closer to the front entrance is fine and probably the one that I and others would have come across first, if it truly is close to the front entrance. As for time, You or toastcmu should suggest an actual alternate time. I just tried to split it around the high noon hour since there were 4 votes for after noon (including my own) and 1 for before. toastcmu does say that he/she will be checking out of MSS and into NYNY that day. I guess I assumed that toastcmu would be available as he/she will be between reservations at that time, and the Mirage is relatively close to NYNY.

I personally am fine with an earlier meeting and I am willing to adjust my schedule to meet any time that day. Even though I would still like to meet other fellow WoV forum members, I suggest we determine the Wiz's acceptable availability and set our meeting to that.

My post earlier was to simply get input from the Wiz on his preference and keep this thread on the front burner.

Anytime around then is good for me. For the purpose of playing pai gow, I think a good venue would be the Palace Station. The Strip casinos won't like it if we play too slowly, especially if there is another player at the table. Yet I rarely see anybody playing the game at the PS, and the dealers are not uptight about about hands per hour. The table minimum at the PS I think is $10 only, as compared to the usual $25 on the Strip. I've also got lots of Station points, and don't mind comping.

Just a suggestion. No problem if I get outvoted, I can make it anywhere.

Quote: Wizard

Anytime around then is good for me. For the purpose of playing pai gow, I think a good venue would be the Palace Station. The Strip casinos won't like it if we play too slowly, especially if there is another player at the table. Yet I rarely see anybody playing the game at the PS, and the dealers are not uptight about about hands per hour. The table minimum at the PS I think is $10 only, as compared to the usual $25 on the Strip. I've also got lots of Station points, and don't mind comping.

Just a suggestion. No problem if I get outvoted, I can make it anywhere.

"Outvoted"??? Yours is the vote that counts the most. Palace Station is fine, however as I recall their Pai Gow table does not open until noon. Shall we say 1 or 2 PM, then?

I will be ok with palace station or anywhere off strip
if it works for the group. Later may work - not sure if the dw would
be wanting to go to Ps.

Bill

Quote: DrJohn

"Outvoted"??? Yours is the vote that counts the most...

I Agree completely.

-------------------------

Palace Station is fine with me also. I've never been there, but their website shows that they have a Starbucks where the coffee meet and greet can take place. I hate being the one to make all of these suggestions (especially since I've never been to most of these places), but I've found that if somebody doesn't step forward and spur on the conversation then nothing will ever come of it. Let us shoot for meeting at 1pm. If you can't get there right at that time and we're no longer in the Starbucks then you could most likely find us at the Tiles Table for a while after that.

I know what you look like from your photos, Wiz, but just to be safe maybe you could bring along a couple of your model friends just to be sure we recognize you (just kidding).

$10 is a steal for Pai Gow!

According to their website, Palace Station also has a game called "U Shake Bo" ("Control your luck, have more fun!")
Also, "'Emperer's' challenge Pai Gow Poker."

I concur with Dr. John - the Wizard is the whole reason for the group meet - I'll look for the group including the Wiz either at the Sbux or at the tile tables. Slowly practicing on the website now, I think I may have some hang of it. Nothing sounds better to my low-roller ears than $10 tables too. :)

Plus, this will give me the excuse to burn my $5 of FP from signing up on the "new" station website in a double diamond machine. (File this one under the guilty pleasure or acceptable house edge thread).

Okay, 1:00, Sunday the 18th at the Palace Station Starbucks. I'll bring my own tiles to give some lessons before we hit the real pai gow table. I may also do a trivia contest for a copy of my book.

I'm running low on good "ask the wizard" questions. Feel free to challenge me to some good ones on Sunday.

Quote: FootofGod

Whenever you guys do it... get some pictures!

Well, pictures or not, is someone going to post a report covering the premier event of "weekly" coffees? I guess the Vegas visitors may still be on travel status, but surely someone, local or hotel guest, could get on the internet and brief those of us stuck at home. Come on!


And to repeat a comment I have made in a couple of threads (with no feedback from others), my wife and I will be in Vegas for a few days next week. If the Wizard, other locals, and/or other concurrent visitors are interested in holding a "second, weekly coffee", I am very interested. My wife and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet RaleighCraps and his wife in Biloxi in March and expect we would enjoy meeting others from this forum, of course the Wizard in particular.

We will be staying at the Rio and will have a rental car, so we could attend an event essentially anywhere in the metro area. My suggested time would be Tuesday or Wednesday morning, the 27th or 28th, or possibly Thursday morning before we head down to Palm Springs.

For one of those days, we are thinking about driving up to check out Mesquite -- never been there and thought we would take a quick look at their casinos and spend some time at Valley of Fire on the way back. We could do that after a coffee or on a different day. We could also be available for an evening get-together (Mon-Wed), if that is better for anyone. We will probably go to a show one evening, but I haven't bought tickets yet. Personally, I am more interested in the social aspect of actually meeting face to face and having a chat. We could play games afterward or not; I'd be open to either.

Quote: Doc

We will be staying at the Rio and will have a rental car, so we could attend an event essentially anywhere in the metro area. My suggested time would be Tuesday or Wednesday morning, the 27th or 28th, or possibly Thursday morning before we head down to Palm Springs.
Personally, I am more interested in the social aspect of actually meeting face to face and having a chat. We could play games afterward or not; I'd be open to either.

Hey Doc, I have another game we can play. I am going to be staying at RIO May 23 for a few days. Since you are there first, you should tape a $100 bill to the back of the TV, and sign it for me. Then you can give me your room number, and I will ask for that room when I check in. How cool would it be to find your $100 taped to the TV !
That would be such a lucky bill that I would be obligated to play it on the hardway that is closest to the room number.
Then I could send you your half of the take. ;-)

I'll be around those dates. I may have to request you come out to the Summerlin area if you wish to have a coffee with me. You can always combine that with a trip to Red Rock Canyon on your own.

The Valley of Fire is a good excusion, but makes for a long day trip from Vegas. If you're not passing that part of the I-15 anyway, I would save some time and go to Red Rock Canyon instead.

There is nothing to see in Mesquite. It is a small and quite little town, that provides a good value at the four casinos there (although I heard one closed). I think it caters to southern Utah folks, and those traveling the I-15, who prefer something quieter than Vegas. However, there's nothing to do except gamble in the 3 or 4 casinos there, and you can gamble in Vegas anyway.

Quote: Doc

Well, pictures or not, is someone going to post a report covering the premier event of "weekly" coffees? I guess the Vegas visitors may still be on travel status, but surely someone, local or hotel guest, could get on the internet and brief those of us stuck at home. Come on!

I'll be the first to say - it was great to meet the Wiz, SplitingAA, and DrJohn. Sorry as I didn't have a camera handy, so no pics. We met at the Palace Station, and the Wiz gave us a "trivia quiz" - 10 questions on topics that ran the gamut - "What is Hannah Montana's real name?", to "What's the state with the smallest population?"

At the end of the quiz, DrJohn won a copy of the Wiz's book "Gambling 102" which he promptly autographed. The four of us headed over to the Pai Gow table, and we were off to the races (so to speak). SplitingAA and I slowly picked up the nuances of the game, while the Wiz banked every other hand, and made a few bucks off of us. :) After about 90 minutes of play, I made about $30 at the $10 Tile table, we all bid adieu and may meet up again the next time.

As for myself, I took my knowledge and went to play at MGM on their $25 table later in my trip. The dealer of course said, "You know this is tiles, right?" :) Surprisingly, both times I played, I was the only player at the table for the entire 2.5 hrs. I banked every other hand for a small amount, but had no luck, so I stopped banking and switched spots to minimize my losses to $95 for the time at the table.

I got my funny quote from the pit asking how things were, since the ACM awards were at MGM the night before - the floor man stated "Lots of cowboys - they drink a lot and get drunk, but no gambling"

-B

toastcmu: Thanks for the report! Sounds like a great premier WoV event and a good trip for you.

Quote: RaleighCraps

Hey Doc, I have another game we can play. I am going to be staying at RIO May 23 for a few days. Since you are there first, you should tape a $100 bill to the back of the TV, and sign it for me. Then you can give me your room number, and I will ask for that room when I check in. How cool would it be to find your $100 taped to the TV !
That would be such a lucky bill that I would be obligated to play it on the hardway that is closest to the room number.
Then I could send you your half of the take. ;-)

Uh,…Thanks for the intriguing and exciting offer. Don’t really know why, but I think I’ll pass this time.

Quote: Wizard

I'll be around those dates. I may have to request you come out to the Summerlin area if you wish to have a coffee with me. You can always combine that with a trip to Red Rock Canyon on your own.

The Valley of Fire is a good excusion, but makes for a long day trip from Vegas. If you're not passing that part of the I-15 anyway, I would save some time and go to Red Rock Canyon instead.

There is nothing to see in Mesquite. It is a small and quite little town, that provides a good value at the four casinos there (although I heard one closed). I think it caters to southern Utah folks, and those traveling the I-15, who prefer something quieter than Vegas. However, there's nothing to do except gamble in the 3 or 4 casinos there, and you can gamble in Vegas anyway.

We have visited Red Rock Canyon a number of times, but not for the hiking; we like it very much but just stick to the main loop road. We have visited Valley of Fire just once, a part-day excursion several years ago, and want to go back. We go to both of those sites for the same reason that we are going down to Palm Springs: as much as I like the strip, it only takes two or three days there for us to feel an overload and the need to get away for a while. A brief visit to someplace completely different sets me up to be ready to get back there.

I know there can’t be too much of interest in Mesquite compared to Vegas, and yes, I understand that one of the casinos there is closed at least temporarily. It just seemed like something reasonably convenient to add onto a trip up to Valley of Fire, plus I could succumb once again to my compulsion to visit different casinos and collect souvenir chips. I know it’s irrational, but that’s just one of my many foibles.

If you are available to meet, I would enjoy that, and we can certainly come out to the Summerlin area, provided my GPS is working. I suggested some of our available days/times in my previous post, and no one else has yet expressed interest. Do you want to specify a day, place, and time? Such a commitment from you might draw others out of the woodwork.

Quote: Doc

Well, pictures or not, is someone going to post a report covering the premier event of "weekly" coffees? I guess the Vegas visitors may still be on travel status, but surely someone, local or hotel guest, could get on the internet and brief those of us stuck at home. Come on!

Well, I am back home in the Buckeye State. Thank You very much to the Wizard, toastcmu and Dr.John for making the first ever WoV "Weekly" Coffee get together a success. Since toastcmu went through everything already I will just add these words of gratitude to all for showing up. My experience at the tiles table was similar. I was the last to jump in as I have never played before other than the Wiz's simulator. I wanted to get a feel for the etiquette of the game i.e. how and when to hold the tiles. How to place them when my hand was set. After a couple hours I found myself down $16 playing the minumum bet of $10 per hand.

I wished we could have had more opportunity for a casual talk at the table, but since we were not alone the pace of the game did not allow it. My favorite point was when Dr.John was talking about The Wizard of Odds web site; to which Bill, The Dealer, remarked how good of a site it was only to find out a little later that the Wiz was sitting at his table. He thought we were pulling his leg until Dr.John pulled out the newly autographed book.

After we dispersed from the Tiles Table, I wandered over to a lovely $5 BJ table that generously offered the surrender rule and made back over triple what I lost at Tiles. :)

Wiz, I need clarification on the banking aspect of Pai Gow, but I will start a new thread for this side topic.