Re: Thomas W.'s 2009 Trip Report: Day 4

So how did you get those shots of the Barbi Suite and how long were you up
there?

Tom
On Jun 24 2009 1:44 PM, Thomas W. wrote:

Saturday

By 6 a.m., I had already made the big downtown tour, using the free
wi-fi at MSS, getting an RJ at Binion's all night convenience store
and having some chili at the snack bar which seemed excellent to me
(I'm no chili expert, for what it's worth). I played a matchplay here
and there and generally had a grand old time.

Still, Saturday wasn't my luckiest gambling day. First, I lost three
straight matchplays. But I won the Grand Prize at the Poker Tournament
(The Grand Prize being the one for the first one being kicked AND had
the rest of the afternoon off - now that was something (plus I'm
reigning continental European Champion)(I was outraged to find out
there was no extra price for that))! I got kicked out so fast not even
the cocktail waitress had arrived back from the bar. Hell, I got
kicked out so soon that even Dr Bob was still in play. It's good I'm
not a sore loser, otherwise I might point out that a) the rules were
changed just 7 days before the tournament, messing up my game plan, b)
Margaret lulled me into false security with her charming Scottish
accent, c) her innocent old lady routine gets old really fast and d)
it was way too cold for June in Vegas. The Grand Prize consisted of a
book about poker which seemed very interesting at first (until Walt
maliciously pointed out that he found it in a 99 ct bin - then I lost
interest).

I decided to take advantage of the sudden and utterly unexpected free
time by using my 50% off coupon at the Palms coffee shop. I needed
some protein to recharge, so I ordered the Sirloin steak ($22 before
coupon) which comes with a choice of potato and vegetable and a
ginormous mango smoothie ($4.99). The steak was excellent, but the
spinach bored me to tears. Hash browns were pretty good, though.

I was seated at the counter and struck up a conversation with the
young woman sitting next to me when she started complaining about the
general hardness of her eggs (the ones on her plate). She was Laura
the Lawyer from Manhattan's Upper West Side and she worked
International Law for the Ministery of Defense (or something like
that) and had a great many things to say on many different subjects
and did so in a speed (and wit) reminding me of the screwball comedies
of the 40ies. It was pretty fascinating what she had to say, as she
not only spoke German better than any American has a right to do (we
still stuck to English), was staying at the Palms Fantasy Barbie Suite
for a bachelorette party (apparently, it featured a stripper pole in
the shower which made Laura the Lawyer think litigious thoughts, a
predominant colour scheme of pink (quelle surprise) and original
artwork featuring "hundreds of barbies arranged as art"). Meanwhile,
Dr. Bob and Elvis had arrived and beckoned me to their table. But I
just had to listen to few more stories, my favorite being the ongoing
contest with her fiancé about who would eat the grossest thing
(currently, he was leading by virtue of having eaten "pig uterus on a
stick").

Barbie Suite:

http://www.gamingangels.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/barbipalms.jpg

http://www.moresay.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/palms-fantasy-tower-barbie-suite-01.jpg
http://www.luxuo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/barbie-interiorl.jpg

I finally said a fond farewell to Laura who advised me to tell the
guys that she had tried to pick me up. Not that they would have cared,
but I liked her thinking.

I found out that the 50% off coupon didn't work on Saturdays, which
improved my mood not one bit. It really helps to read the small print,
I guess. In the evening I found out that BR's son's crew had maxed the
coupon out for $100, only to learn the same sad truth on paying. For
some twisted reason, this made me feel better.

I drove to the Cal for check-in and asked the pretty clerk whether she
could do anything to brighten up my day. She upgraded me to a suite,
room 702, which about 5 times as big as the one at Golden Gate. There
was a kitchen area with a fridge and a huge sofa. It wasn't as
contemporarily furnished as the GG room. Then again, it was really
quiet. I took a blissful nap until it was time to head over to MSS for
the Lost Weekend's main event.

Room at the Cal:

http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757097531873634
http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757109580668530
http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757116704140754
http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757124641248754
It took place at the MSS's Social Club, a good-sized venue that still
wasn't too big for the occasion. There was tremendous turnout, with
well more than 40 or 50 people. The Tom in Cts had thoughtfully
provided nametags, featuring the newsgroup names and, in some cases,
group functions like King or Queen (I couldn't help but notice that
the important post of Keeper of the avlv charter had somehow been
forgotten). The name tags made it easy to meet some people I hadn't
seen before, like Salmoneous, DH or Nonny. It was great to meet them,
as it was wonderful to meet so many old friends again. George and
Andrew and their best halves were sorely missed, just as much as
people were happy Burt had stayed home.

Lost Weekend Main Event Sign:

http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757135577627586
Social Club form Outside:

http://picasaweb.google.de/ThomasWLV/LasVegas200902#5346757425647515650
I hadn't expected too much of the food, but the crab legs were much
better than at Spice Market, and though the selection wasn't all that
big, I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I had fun at the awards portion,
where just maybe a few of the generous people paying more than their
fair share could have been mentioned (I, for one, wasn't one of them;
but I know that plenty of people did). The Pickadilloes were as
awesome as I remembered thee from the last gig I saw at the Freakin'
Frog, and I'm really glad they appeared.

(I won't post separate links to all the people I took photos of that
night - you probably figured out how to see the pictures I'm not
linking to quite a bit ago).

Walt and me went over to Gold Spike, picking up some free play along
the way. We had a beer at the Spike's bar. I have to say I had to
double-check whether we were at the right casino, as it was so nicely
redone - very modern and still comfortable. I'd certainly consider
staying there if the hotel part came close to that. Still, the
atmosphere of the Copper Mine in all of its stinky glory will be
missed. Walt went to play some poker and I went to bed shortly after
midnight . My room was peaceful and quiet. So it took some real
resolve to check up on the treacherous Cyber Hog who had neglected to
call me earlier by driving to OG and to take scores of revealing
photographs to be used just at the right time.

Thomas

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