Well I made it back. I’m in one piece and my bankroll did not get decimated.

I’m going to try not to make this too long- but if it rambles let it be known that I had a great time hanging with the blogger crew for the short time I was in the tourney. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet most of you and I’m sorry I could not hang out more. This was a timing trip where you all were in Vegas and I had some other friend obligations at the same time. I’ll make it a point of making the next event more dedicated.

We had a 8am flight on Saturday and the trip was painless. Into Vegas and headed to the new car rental plaza. First victory was ours where we got the pimped out PT Cruiser Convertible. The top was down, but we didn’t even make it to the Crown and Anchor. 50s and sunny is not, surprisingly, convertible weather. Also the Crown was packed because of the Champions league. So we went to our second favorite local haunt for lunch. I recommend making it to the Stake Out as a cool little shitter with good food and decent booze costs. Say hey to Shelley for the Texas boys if you see her.

Off to the Sahara which keeps getting worse every time I stay there. The room is a room, but the damn tub would not drain so taking showers is like taking a dirty bath.

Next stop the Venetian for the tourney. I got to meet Pauly, Al, GCox, Waffles, Johnny Hughes and a host of other people. I did not get to meet nearly enough people though. That is my regret. I also got to catch up with Scott, Aaron, Carmen, and Don (amongst others). I got bumped out pretty early when my AK caught a K on the turn with two jacks on the flop. Yep, I’m a donkey 🙂 A few people got to meet Jason with the Texas hat. He is the buddy I came on the trip with- hopefully he wasn’t too much of an ass.

We ended up making it to the Crown for dinner. I recomend their Lancashire Hot Pot as one of the best meals in Vegas. And to our lovely waitress Amber: You put up with our shit amazingly well, congrats. Then we headed to the House of Blues were we got busted accidently crashing a holiday party. We intended to see Unwritten Law. We did make it there and had a good time. The mosh got a bit intense, but the concert was a lot of fun. After that I made it to the tables rather than go clubbing. I did OK making a small amount of cash and got comped 1/2 a breakfast. Yippee. Some married lady was giving me eyes all night, but her husband was there- so that was awkward. Probably more for him than me. And the Sahara now has dancing girls in one of their table game pits, what is up with that?

Sunday morning we headed up to Mt. Charleston and had some foo foo bailys drinks that were damn tasty. I have pics on my camera somewhere. We had dinner at a casino in Green Valley with some of Jason’s friends and associated family. The 8.99 prime rib and shrimp is worth, well about 9 bucks. The intent was to go clubbing that night, but Mike and Jason crashed out. I went to the tables. I also hit my first live Royal and got paid a bit. There is no high-hand at Sahara so no bonus cash for me. I broke exactly even.

I slept in a bit on Monday because there was no sleep happening later that night. We hit the Stake Out for lunch and met up with Mike’s college friend Lisa who just moved back into town. We made it to dinner at Del Friscos and I had one of the best bone-in rib eyes I have ever had. Great restaurant if you are looking for a fantastic steak house. The Saints were building their lead as well. Off to the Crown to hang with the gang and play some pool. Plans were made for a return trip in March- we’ll see. Saints win (and cover)! More table time where I knew I would be until it was time to head to the airport. We had a 6am flight.

There was snow in Denver yesterday so my flight though there was canceled. We ended up getting re-booked on US Air though Phoenix. Apparently everyone who got re-booked got tagged for “special security”. SSSS is the key. If you have that on your boarding pass be prepared to be probed. They have this air puffing walk in machine that must do a drug or explosive sniff. Then they do a slower x-ray scan then finally a hand search of your carry-ons. It sucked, but we made our flight.

I then fell into a coma at the house and got my first good night’s sleep in a week.

Overall this was a fantastic trip with very cool people. Once again I am sorry I missed hanging with the crew more. I will make it a point next time.

Keep me on any other WPBT lists and I will do my best to get away. And if I make it back to Vegas in March and anyone is around…. I’m just saying…

Oh, and this is *way* too long. Sorry about that.