Posted by Grant on 02-18-2005

Day 2

There is nothing better than waking up in Vegas! Thought I was going to sleep in a little later, but was pumped with too much energy. The night before we all decided to play in the noon Luxor poker tournament. On our way to eat we register for the tournament. It is only a $25 buy-in. At about 10:30 am we get to the Luxor Café to eat. Food is always good at the Luxor Café. After the meal we head over to the poker room to get seated. Seating starts at 11:45 am for the noon tournament.

The tournament was full; I believe 84 people were involved. The structure of this tournament was strange, not enough chips, and blinds were raised quickly. I do not recommend playing in this tournament. I won a nice size pot with a jack high flush, where everyone folded on the turn. Then I raise the big blind ($50) to $100 with pocket 6’s, everyone fold except one guy who only has $125 left. He raises it another $25 all-in, I call. And he turns over K 5. Flop comes 8 5 J, still ahead, turn comes 2, and river brings the K. He has two pair, which beat my pocket 6s. Not that bad of hit, because he was really short stacked, but in this tournament you really need the chips. Blinds continue to rise and blinds are really starting to take a toll of peoples stacks. It is funny, because at a certain point in the tourney you see people getting knocked out right and left. I am getting pretty short stacked when I look down and see pocket Kings. I raise as much as I can on the first round, and flop comes 8 3 Q I bet the remainder of my chips and get one caller. We turn over our cards and he has 8 9, turn is a 2, and of course the river is a 9. Once again two pair wins. I probably finished in about 45th or so place. So it was not a good showing.

My buddy and I head over to the Pai Gow table, find a $10 table (the lowest during the day) and begin to play. Battle back and forth while drinking some beers for about 2 hours. Finish up about $50 or so. We noticed that it was a really nice day out and decide to hit the pool. As we are walking back to the room we see that Miller Lite is having some type of Super bowl event, they have a beer booth, and are giving away free beers. We grab a couple beers and head to the room. As we head back to the pool, we decide to get a few more beers for the hot tub. You were supposed to be affiliated with Miller to get the beers, but the guy working the stand was cool. Off to the pool.

This was my first time at the Luxor pool; it wasn’t bad, pretty spacious with a couple hot tubs. I decide to sit in the hot tub for a little while, there were quite a few people swimming so I figure the pool had to be heated. After the pool, we head to the room and change. A guy that is a friend of our group wanted to set up a private poker tournament with us. We all agree it would be fun, and the Luxor poker room said they would get us a private table at 6 pm. There would be 10 of us playing with a $100 buy in, winner takes all. It is about an hour before the tournament and we are hungry, back to the Luxor Café. Food was good once again. We all get to the table around 6:10 pm and the tourney begins. I win a few small pots, but not really getting the cards. The thing that annoyed was that they ran our tournament just like the one the run during the day. Blinds were raised fast and we didn’t have too many chips. We get down to about 5 people and my chips are starting to hurt. I am in the big blind and get J – 7; I think I have like $150 in chips or so. (Started with $300). Flop comes J J 9, I am feeling pretty good at this point. I check to my buddy, hoping to drag him in. He bets $125, I only have $150, so I go all-in. He quickly calls. I turn over proudly my J 7, he then turns over his K J, turn and river doesn’t help me and I am out. My other buddy ended up winning it. I decide to head to the room to make a few phone calls and get ready for the rest of the night.

Back to the casino, and time to play some blackjack. I am already down around $150 for the day that is including both tournaments. Play some blackjack and win a little back. My favorite cocktail waitress was working and was still bringing me some amazing drinks, at some points I was just watching my buddies play and she would still bring me drink after drink. We play a few hands of Pai Gow and some more blackjack before my buddy and I decide to head to the Rum Jungle. I am down about $200 for the trip.

We start walking to the Mandalay Bay around 2 am, and have some trouble finding the Rum Jungle. The Mandalay Bay seems so empty in some area, and then pretty crowded in other areas. I guess it is just a huge casino. After a bathroom break or two, and finally finding the Rum Jungle, it is almost 2:45 am. My one buddy who is with me has been drinking a lot more than me, and looks like he might be done. The Rum Jungle was requiring you to be on a list to get in. A girl in line from California says she is on the list and can get us in, but that we shouldn’t bother. She said it closes at 4 am, and it wouldn’t be worth the cover. (I think it was $25). She wanted to meet me at Ra in the Luxor the next night, and I told her we might be there. My buddy says, he is done, and wants to head back. I agree, it is almost 3 am.

We get back to the Luxor and he heads to the room, I found my other friend who is playing blackjack. He was the one who won the tournament; he had already lost all that back. I play a few hands, break dead even. Two times in this short session the dealer made a better hand by hitting on soft 17! And of course on one of them, I had double downed. We are both hungry but don’t feel like waiting at the Luxor Café, we grab a sandwich from the gift shop, which actually wasn’t bad. In bed before 5 am again! Am I losing my stamina??

Recap – Didn’t do too well playing poker, had some nice Pai Gow wins that were quickly eliminated by blackjack. Only lost about $75 for a full day of gambling.
Total down for the day: around $200

Now down about $400 for the trip, don’t worry things change…