High Stakes Season 2

A quick interruption to the Vegas tales to point out that a thoughtful chap has loaded all the episodes of High Stakes Poker 2 onto You Tube. Regulars will know that the show is a firm favourite of the blog as it features the majority of the top pros in action at a $100,000 minimum buy-in cash game. I have been dipping in and out of the shows, which have been seperated into handy 10 min chunks, and the early highlight has to be trash talking from Mike the Mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=yourmoney2&page=11

I would like to think my blog is growing in popularity, as yesterday's post seems to have been targeted by an internet scam on the comments page! You will be better served learning from the pros in the above clips and making money on the tables methinks.

Oh, and we've lost the Ashes.

Friday I'm In Love (With a Waitress in a Scandinavian-esque Bar)

After collapsing into bed at 7 in the morning, I felt that I would awaken at sometime around 3PM and play a bit of poker before heading out for a Friday night in Vegas. The reality was Karl stumbling out of bed at 9AM and rushing out of the hotel to the poker room at the Riviera casino opposite ours. I pulled the covers back over my head and woke again at 11AM when Karl returned to the room, beaming after another profitable session.

The story regarding the girl from MGM was told to me four hours earlier, but at the time I had little chance of comprehending what had happened. Karl had gone back to the hotel room of an oversize American girl who was staying at the MGM. The girl mistakenly believed that Karl looked like Justin Timberlake, and while they were in bed together she felt the need to shout "F*ck me Justin" at the top of her voice while listening to the latest Timberlake album on her I-Pod. If this was not bad enough, after she had administered oral sex she shouted "Welcome to the USA, baby!" The real shock was yet to come. After a knock on the hotel room door was left unanswered, a security guard burst in with a flashlight, this being thanks to a resident of the hotel reporting that someone in the room was being attacked. Karl seemed to enjoy the fact that this had occured, as it meant that he "had a story for everyone back home".

I showered and dressed after four hours of broken sleep, and we headed down the strip to the Bellagio casino for one of their renowned 'All you can eat' buffets. The buffet costs $20 before 3PM, and where your normal all you can eat buffet serves chinese fried rice and black bean sauce, the Bellagio buffet serves smoked salmon, wild boar and pan fried marin. It is truly gormet quality food for a tenner, but I would advise that you stick to the seafood and italian as the cuts of meat are sometimes not too lean.

When we got back to the hotel, Karl went for a nap and I chose to study the form for the following day's Breeders Cup action while enjoying a Budweiser or two at the hotel bar. The Army v Air Force gridiron match was on the TV, and I asked an oriental tramp if he had placed a wager on the game. He answered 'No' and proceeded to laugh manically. I decided to head back to the room.

For the evening's partying we headed to the Rio and their famous 52nd floor 'Voodoo Lounge'. Rumours are that this is one of Miss Spears haunts while in Vegas, and if so she has a better taste in bars than husbands. This bar makes the most of the hotel's off strip location by providing a club with a view over the Vegas strip. A set of decks, bar, dancefloor and pole dancers in an open air enviroment above Vegas' neon carpet make this one of the hottest attractions in the city. This is why it felt sweet to avoid the massive queue and $20 entry with the tickets we bought off the internet. Get in line Britney, VIP's coming through.

I considered for a moment that we could possibly be in the Gallery nightclub if we were on a Friday night out in York. In the Gallery, you queue on the stairs to reach the action. Here, you queue in front of a 20 man elevator with steel doors. And unlike the G, your ears are more likely to explode due to pressure as oppose terrible music. Note, though, that if you fall off the balcony at the Voodoo lounge, you are f*cked.

Before the Voodoo, we had visited another bar at the Rio called the I-Bar. There was a relaxed, pre-club atmosphere, and with it's white minamalistic finish I mused that it had a very Scandinavian feel. Or at least what I believe to be a Scandinavian feel, as I have never been to bar in Scandinavia. One of the waitresses was a stunning tall brunette, and my conversation with Karl was often derailed by her short skirt and revealing crossover top. A top night, and we headed back to the Circus Circus hopeful of a refreshing sleep ahead of the Breeders Cup bonanza on Saturday. Alarm clock set for a 8AM start.

24 Hour Party People part 2 - Caesars and MGM

The card room at Caesars was probably the best I have seen. Room for 15-20 tables, smoke free and surrounded by plasma screens. In addition, female masseurs roamed the hall and attended to any players feeling the strain of a marathon session. Buying in for $50 on a $3-$6 limit table, we knew that one hand had the potential to wipe us out. Luckily though, we were again up against beginners and I was up $30 almost from the off. When your opponent announces 'can I check at this point?' after your bet, you know that you are sat at the right table.

Soon, however, the table filled. One player was a dealer waiting for the start of his shift, and he obviously knew his poker. He was taking down pots with ease, and told the table that last year he finished mid-way through the field in the dealers event at the WSOP. My bad luck from earlier then re-emerged, as holding K 10 os on the blinds, I managed to flop a straight. The board read J Q 9, and immediately a lady started raising me. Three of us went to the turn, which produced a blank, and then a 10 hit on the river. I decided to call the lady, as I put her on K 10 also, and the other guy in the pot flat called.

I turned to her and announced 'You have the same hand as me', and showed K 10. She said 'no I don't' and mucked. Then the flat caller behind me showed K 6 as his hole cards. I have no idea what the guy was doing playing K 6 to the river, but he displayed a gormless grin as he scooped half of the $60 pot that had my name written all over it. My game then disintigrated as WSOP himself raised me time and time again, and I folded knowing I was behind. "Caught with your hands in the cookie jar again, kid", he announced as I folded yet another raise, and he showed the ace he paired on the turn. My stack, which had peaked at $120, was now $43, and I quit while I was behind.

Karl wandered off to watch Dion strut her stuff, while I managed to win $30 back at blackjack. We met up after the show and headed to "Hooters", the casino owned by the Hooters resteraunt chain. For those unfamiliar with the place, the concept is - southern food served by big breasted women in white tops and orange hot pants. The casino was the same, but had croupiers with big breasts and hotpants as well.

We headed to the bar and redeemed our 2 for 1 cocktail voucher on 'Liquid Cocaine' (Champers, Red Bull and Skyy vodka). These babies were $11 (£6) each, and for good reason. Anyone who spends their whole night drinking these will be up til next Wednesday. Karl hit an energised state, and promptly ordered 2 more Red Bull based drinks called 'Dirty Little Bastard'. These bad boys contained Jagermeister and, the devils own drink, Bacardi 151. If drinks were people, 'Liquid Cocaine' would be Kate Moss, and 'Dirty Little Bastard' would be Pete Doherty. I managed to avoid projectile vomiting as the second slid down my throat and crashed into my stomach, but only just.

We headed to MGM Grand in a booze-addled state. Studio 54 was the destination - this club housed inside the MGM was a detailed remake of the famous NYC nightspot of the 70's. The music, on the other hand, was most definately 21st Century. After we had gained VIP queue jump with the tickets we bought on the internet, we hit the dance floor to the latest R&B and hip hop, including the latest song by P Diddy. The DJ was so fond of this number he proceeded to play it twice. Drinks ranged from $7 for a beer to $9 for a (generous) shot and mixer. Indeed, there were no optics in Vegas, the barmen just poured out what they saw fit.

It was at this point that the infamous Karl story occurred - Karl became aquainted with a large American woman and went back to her hotel room, leaving me to roam the club. At 3.30AM, I decided to leave the club, and walk down the strip back to the hotel. As you do when you are pissed. As I walked past the intersection betwen Ceasars and Bellagio, I decided to take a hard left and walk to the Rio for breakfast. I also wanted to pay homage to the venue of the WSOP, but breakfast was foremost in my booze affected mind.

The short 10 minute walk to Rio turned out to take 25 minutes, and thus on the way I felt the need to relieve myself on a flyover. Luckily no cops were lurking, as for all I know this could be a jailable offence in the old US of A. After my brekkie, I walked back to the main road, whilst singing a few York City songs to myself to speed my journey. It was now 5AM, and although I could feel the liquid cocaine wearing off, I felt that it would be a feat worthy of great praise if I kept my eyes open for 24 hours in this party capital of the world.

I ambled back, taking photos on my phone, watching dawn break and popping into casino's for a few gambles. It was all very quiet and surreal at this time: all over the US people would be rising for work on a Friday, yet some chose to be here gambling and drinking at 6 in the morning. At the Stardust, open for 40 years but closed for good on 1st November, they were already wheeling away the fruit machines. I took a sentimental snap of the Neon sign that greeted gamblers for the 40 years of it's existence (pic at top of page), and made my way back to the Circus Circus, exhausted, yet giddy with a mixture of sleep deprivation and pleasure.

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(Please pardon any spelling and punctuation errors - this has been rushed out to satisfy the needs of all those waiting for the latest installment)

24 Hour Party People part one - 7AM to 7PM

Having crashed into bed at approximately 2AM, I figured that I would wake at around midday before heading off to play some poker. Unfortunately, I opened my eyes to stare at an alarm clock reading 7.00AM and the sound of Karl repeating the word 'poker'.

Before heading downtown for a game, we had to sort out the room. I called reception which, in a hotel containing 2,000+ rooms, turned out to be a call centre. The lady seemed to be suitably shocked by our needle story, and we were moved to a 29th floor room with an excellent view of the strip. We moved our belongings to the new room, stopping by at reception to drop off the 3 needles we had found after an extensive search. This was greeted by a typically American "Oh.. My.. God" from the receptionist, who assured us an extensive investigation would be launched. To this day I have not heard the result of this investigation, but my guess is there is one less hispanic cleaner working in Vegas.

We headed downtown to the newly refurbished Golden Nugget, where we had stayed last year. We started playing $2/$4 limit and, luckily for us, a poker lesson had just broken up with the participants moving to our table. Within ten minutes I was 25 dollars up and dreaming of life as a poker pro. Two hours later I was brought back down to earth with a car crash of a hand. Raising with QJ suited from the blinds, I hit top pair with a Jack on the flop and bet out. I had two callers and bet out again on the turn with both calling again. When a Jack hit on the river I was in dreamland and contemplated a check raise, before simply betting out. A lady called me and I proudly showed my 3 of a kind with Queen kicker. She showed KJ and I showed the expression of someone who has just been told they have a week to live. I finished 35 dollars down for the session. If she had played the hand correctly and raised, I would have been spending the rest of the trip living off 99 cent hot dogs, as there was no way I could have folded.

We went back to the hotel to change for a big night out, and I decided to wear my flowered shirt as I had pulled the last two times it was worn. The only other time I wore the shirt was my birthday, when I was blind drunk by 8PM, so this was not a good example of the shirts attraction. There then followed a moments reflection as Karl reminded me the last time I wore the shirt was when I pulled the girl from Sheffield. "Oh well," said Karl "Unlucky in love, lucky at cards.", clearly forgetting the mornings events. "Lucky at finding hyperdermic needles, maybe?", I retorted, and we headed out the door to Planet Hollywood.

At Planet Hollywood I became re-aquainted with the excellent chicken wings and tenders starter, which is surely up there in the top 5 Vegas culinary delights. Karl had a ticket booked for Celene Dion at Ceasars Palace beginning at 8.30, so we headed to the poker room at Ceasars for a few hands of $3/$6 limit before the show started. 90 dollars down for the trip so far, it was time for a sh*t or bust performance.

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The WSOP main event 2006 is currently broadcasting on Challenge TV (Sky channel 124) at 11PM every evening. Repeated on Challenge +1 (125) at midnight (duh!). Catch some great showdowns involving the pro's, and make your own mind up on the burning issue:- Was Jamie Gold lucky or did he just play great poker? I bet he wouldn't have laid down a set of Jacks...