Smart Baccarat

Vegas May 3 to May 7, 2007

Thursday May 3rd and Friday May 4th

WOW ! basically that sums up a number of moments during my most recent trip to THE VEGAS. I’m writing this as I sit very comfortably on my nonstop Southwest airlines fight from Las Vegas to Manchester, NH.

The trip started out on Thursday, May 3rd; but the most exciting news came on Tuesday evening, May 1st. I was anxiously awaiting the start of my son Ryan’s first baseball game of the season (as well as his first game ever, since this is the first year he has decided to do Little League). About 25 minutes before the game, I get a call on my mobile that they (my contact) finally came through with getting me a ticket for the fight. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. HOLY SHIT, I was actually going to the Mayweather vs De La Hoya bout. I had given up all hope a few weeks ago, since the increased press and hype had made the tickets a real hot commodity. I originally planned the trip around the fight, but I always knew that my prospects for getting seats were not great; though, my contact thought they would be able to work it out --- just no guarantees. I had such fond memories of my previous big fight, Mayweather vs Judah, which Steve (tex2mex) was so kind in allowing me to accompany him (compliments of HET). Last year’s fight was a pretty big deal, but this was going to be the fight of the year (if not the next 5 years).

We departed on Thursday evening choosing to take the Delta non-stop to Vegas (from Boston). This was a great getaway for my wife (Ellen) and I, since the kids were going to be at home with my parents. It also was a quick pleasure trip for Ellen before she departed for a 12 day business trip to Asia (Japan, Korea, and China). We got to Boston airport pretty early for the evening flight, but it was better than hanging around the house, since I wanted the kids to adjust to us being away --- and that extra time in the house right before departure can be stressful for all parties. We had a decent amount of time to relax in the Delta Crown room, and sample a few of the Mile High Mojitos that Delta has been promoting as part of their upgraded beverage service (both on the planes and in the clubs). It turned out to be a very full flight with no empty seats, and only one of us was fortunate enough to be upgraded.

Being the gentleman, I let Ellen have the first class seat for the flight. Though, 5 foot tall women don’t really have leg room issues in coach; but she said I wouldn’t have wanted to be in first class anyway, since I would have had to eat her pre-ordered vegetarian dinner. Funny, the excuses some will give to get out of giving away their first class seat. Anyway, she boarded the flight very early (with the special first class people) while I was trying to have a gate agent fix the frequent flyer number on my boarding pass (I wanted them to change it to my Northwest not Delta number for the flight). As I’m boarding I say hello to my wife as she is enjoying her pre departure cocktail. The guy sitting next to her (who is on the way to a double bachelor party) says that he’ll give me his first class seat (next to my wife) for $100 --- I look at him in shock, and then he says “I’m serious dude, $100, and you can sit in my seat.” I decided to pass on the offer, since I had a very good coach seat (2nd row of coach, aisle); and figured that the $100 would be put to better use at Video Poker or Dice.

Flight was pretty good, and Delta comp’ed the entire flight Champagne (actually Prosecca) since they had just relisted on the stock exchange and come out of bankruptcy. I had heard that this was going to happen on all flights (on May 3rd); and it was amazing seeing the flight attendant come down the aisle with a cart filled with open Champagne bottles on top. What a great way to start a flight to Vegas !

We arrived at McCarran on time, but had to wait for our bags. I always carry on, but since Ellen was going to Asia, we had a bit more luggage than usual. It took forever for our bags to come off the plane; close to an hour. But, our lovely limo driver was there waiting, and we had a great time chatting with her. Arrived at RIO at 11:50PM and was able to do Diamond check-in (right before they closed at midnight). We got a very standard RIO room with an awesome view of the strip on the 33rd floor of the Masquerade tower. At check in I was told that they had nothing in the Ipenema tower, though, I am certain they were holding back since it was Thursday night. It was going to be a sold out weekend at RIO (due to the fight, cinco de mayo, Kentucky derby, and motor cross). The guy who checked us in was very nice, and I was happy to just have a room with a good view. Didn’t even try my usual $20 ++ trick, since I thought there would be very little chance with the fight this weekend. Considering the number of rooms I have used so far this year (over 25 nights) and my ADT continuing to plummet, due to my new --- “I don’t give a fuck about my ADT philosophy”; I was happy to get the entire four days comp’ed at RIO (Thursday to Monday). Got up to the room, and our bags arrived in under 10 minutes.

We got ourselves set, and then went downstairs to the All American Grill for a quick bite to eat; since some of us (hint : those flying in coach) didn’t have dinner yet. After a bite, Ellen and I headed up to VooDoo lounge; and were amazed that there was quite the line of people to get in. To me, VooDoo is so past its prime, but I guess they still manage to attract people. (and charge a nice cover) Of course, Diamond gets you in at the front of the line and cover comp’ed for 2 people. It was beyond windy and most of the outside of RIO was closed off. The little bit that was open outside was super windy and not comfortable at all. We went back inside, but it seemed overly crowded since everyone was packed into the inside section of the club. We left right away, and were so glad that Diamond provided free cover, since it would have been very disappointing to have spent money on a 10 minute visit to VooDoo. We went upstairs and relaxed and got to bed relatively early (by Vegas standards) --- and yes, I didn’t gamble at all on our first night. Now, that was definitely a first.

We woke up around 9AM on Friday morning and were hoping to spend a bit of quality time by the pool, but unfortunately it would be too windy for any pool time on both Friday and Saturday. My wife was off at the Gift Show at the convention center with her friend Marcie. Our very good friends Marcie and Nathan (from Cincinnati) joined us for this trip. After meeting Nathan at the Luxor we took a leisurely walk over to Paris for the breakfast buffet. The line was hugh, but the Diamond entrance did its magic. I also had a $10 coupon for the buffet, which I was quite proud I actually remembered to bring along. After lunch, we returned to the RIO and I played a bit of Video Poker (mostly 25 cent 9/5 JoB spin poker and a bit of $1 STP Bonus Poker which was not the best paytable). Nathan played next to me, and since he was a total VP newbie, I was able to instruct him a bit on proper procedure. Nothing incredible about the gambling sessions, and was down a bit, after a few not very long sessions.

I had a hair appointment at AMP Salon (at Palms) at 2PM, and had given up my pedicure to Marcie, so she could get her toes done with Ellen. I have to say, AMP is just awesome, and is always a great and consistent experience. The girls opted for French pedicures and they looked awesome. The lovely Stella did their nails, and my hair was coiffed by the incredible Kristie. I only got a trim and no highlights this trip, since I got highlights in March. Had fun chatting with Amy, who is one of my favorite nail ladies @ AMP. Nowhere but in Vegas, can you have a semi-degenerate 6 foot tall incredible looking bade in Rock n Republic $250 jeans do your nails while discussing dice strategies. Amy swears that she really does have the vibe at the dice table and is the queen of rolling hopping hard nines (5 and 4). I really must gamble with that woman sometime; I’m trying to get her into Baccarat; though, she likes to play a bit of Blackjack also. AMP set us back around $300 (Hair, Pedicure, and eyebrow wax for Ellen)

After AMP the four of us went back to RIO to join Judy (judykq) and her husband at the Wine Cellar. It was awesome meeting them, and I really wish I had a bit more time to spend trading gambling war stories. The wine flights were terrific as well as the cheese sampler. We had a little bit of time to get relax and get ready for dinner; which was early by our standards (7:15 PM). I went down a bit early and played some more the the $1 STP BP and managed to win back some of my losses (and drink 3 glasses of Champagne) from earlier. For convenience, we made reservations for dinner at Buzios at RIO. I had arranged to have a bottle of Moet White star at the table when we arrived, and dinner got off to an excellent start. I had a very nice surf and turf with an Australian lobster tail, and started with some oysters. We managed to polish off another bottle of White Star, and the service got a bit slow after the appetizers. The entrees seemed to take forever, and our waiter had disappeared for quite a bit. Due to the slow service, we really had no time for dessert or coffee since we had tickets for the 10PM George Wallace show. Luckily, I had RIO VIP reserve a limo for us at 9.30PM, so we wouldn’t have to stress about getting to the show, and since we were a party of 5, we probably would have needed 2 cabs anyway.

OK, without trashing it too much… as George Wallace likes to say (over and over and over) during his show “I be think’in” --- we’ll during the show and afterwards, I also “be think’in.” --- basically, “I be think’in that this show absolutely SUCKS…” probably the worst show I have seen in Vegas in the last 3 years. Of course, I am certain there must be some hard core George Wallace fans somewhere. At different points during the show, we all fell sound asleep (the best part, IMHO) In addition, it is NO longer one of the two free tickets shows for Diamond, instead it is only 2 for 1. The lady at total rewards told me that there were complaints from the show folks that there were too many comp tickets for the show, so they had to change it to 2 for 1. Well, “no shit” --- the show “sucks” and personally, the only way one should consider seeing it is if it is FREE !

Ellen and I returned to RIO and had a very very short session of Video Poker (more $1 STP). After hitting 4 aces I played a bit more (dropping about another $100), but cashed out right away, since I wanted to retire for the night with a small win erasing my previous video poker session losses. Ellen and I treated ourselves to a late night room service snack that was delivered very quickly by the most lovely RIO room service employee. She set up the table really nice, and was such a pleasure. Once again, I didn’t gamble late into the night, and instead concentrated on relaxing a bit more than usual (which goes very well with my new philosophy regarding ADT).

the world awaits.....

to be continued.....