We finally broke down and decided to pay for the internet for a day. I'm still against it on principle alone.
Jacob and I came in to Vegas Monday morning. We planned to stop at McDonald's for an early lunch, but we crossed into Pacific time. Our 11:00 turned into 10:00, so they were still serving breakfast. This whole time change thing is quite burdensome. At any rate, it was to set a tone for the day. We heard about a promotion to get free buffets if you sign up for a player's card at the Wynn (if you earn 25 points). They give you $10 in free slot play, so Jake and I could have each gotten the points for the buffet with $4 left over from the free play by playing video roulette. I'll save you the math in this particular instance, but suffice it to say that they would have been paying us each $4 to eat their buffet. However, they changed their promotion for Memorial Day. We did get $10 free slot play, which we used to make $25 net profit playing video poker. That came only after Jacob had lost $268 playing $1/$2 at the Venetian. After dinner we returned to MGM, and Jacob played some more $1/$2. While he was making back $236 of what he lost earlier, I was trying to get back in the room. It turns out the battery in the card-swiper on our room door was dead, but I only figured that out after going down to have the keys changed twice. Then I had to wait for security to come up, who the front desk person told me could "override" the dead battery with his master key. It doesn't take a genius to know that's not right, so then I had to wait for the locksmith to come up. Great day...
Tuesday morning I went to the front desk to complain about the door, and they gave us free buffets for MGM's buffet. We got the free meals after all. Jake wanted to play a tournament, so we called around to find a good structure. Treasure Island has a 2pm tournament with 3500 starting chips, blinds at 25-50 (going up every 20 minutes). They also had sweet tea, which Jake only told me once the tournament was over. The buy-in was $65, and we both played. Jake lost, and I made it to the final four. We were all close in chips and the blinds were really high, so we agreed to divide up the prize pool evenly and not play it out. It's called a "chop" in poker lingo. My take was $360, and I left $20 for the dealers. Once you take away the $130 combined buy-in from the $340 net payout, we had a net profit of $210. Jake proceeded to lose another $250 at $1/$2 at MGM later that night.
We decided to play another tournament on Wednesday. Jake wanted to play at Caesar's, so that's what we did. The buy-in was $70, so we were in for $140. I lost, but Jake won the tournament for a payout of $950. He left $30 for the dealers, which gave us a net profit of $780 for the tournament. One old guy asked the dealer to check Jake's ID, but the dealer told him that had already been done. We had our celebratory meal at Denny's, and Jake was ticked that we forgot the coupon for $5 off a purchase of at least $15. After dinner, we went to Planet Hollywood to take advantage of their promotion for player's card signup. We each got $10 free slot play that we had to play through once before we could cash out. I made $10.75 net profit, and Jake made $10 net profit playing video poker. They also gave us a coupon for a casino match of one bet at a table game up to $25. That means we could bet $25 on red at roulette, and a winning bet would pay $50 instead of $25. The odds of hitting a red are 47.37%, and the odds of not are 52.63%. The math is as follows: [(47.37% * $50)-(52.67% * $25)] = $10.5175. What that all means is that with the bonus bet our average net profit will be $10.5175 every time we make that bet. We each put it on red and both won. That gave us a net profit of $100, which exceeded our expected value by about 400%.
Our total poker take from Indiana, Iowa, and Vegas is $999 up to this point. When you factor in the promotions we've taken advantage of, it takes us up to about $1200 net profit. I may post some pictures tonight or tomorrow morning, but I really don't have anything that impressive (at least not in comparison to what's already been posted). My favorite casino is Caesar's, but the statues there have a fair number of naked women. Since I'm not sure who's seeing this, I don't think it's appropriate to post those. I'm out.
Later,
Matt
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Day 12
We were psyched for the Grand Canyon today. Everybody tells you that it's the greatest thing they've ever seen. I'm sticking with Yellowstone as my favorite natural wonder, but the canyon is impressive.
We drove south from St. George, Utah down through Hurricane on our way to the North Rim. I decided to go there instead of the South Rim, because it was closer and is generally less crowded. In fact, we found the crowds extremely manageable for a holiday weekend.
One thing I found noteworthy is how you drive very close to the canyon without realizing how close it is to you. It sneaks up on you more than the other parks. Just a few miles from the North Rim you are driving through meadows, then BAM!
We found another cool ground squirrel today, and I snapped a picture of what I think is a California Condor. They have been seen frequently around the canyon recently. The tour towards the west has been fun, but we are both looking forward to Vegas tomorrow.
Onto my French Open opening day comments: The Djoker fell 2/3 of the way short of making my day. Maybe that match will wear on him a little bit as he enters week 2. In his always classy manner, he mentioned that he didn't play very well. I'm glad Murray snuck through. If he would add a few thousand more people to his entourage, maybe he could win in straights. It was a good win for James, but he won't last very long. Serena handled Ashley Harkleroad handily, but fret not all of you Pebbles fans. I understand that she will be in the August edition of Playboy. It's too bad she had to have a cyst removed several weeks ago. She was on quite a roll, and I hope she can get back in form by the time the U.S. Open rolls around. Guga is finally packing it in. He got a really tough draw with Mathieu. I got to watch a replay of the 2000 French final a few weeks ago. I'll certainly miss his shotmaking ability and the way he could think his way around a clay court. If I want to watch Fed tomorrow, I'll have to get up at 4:00 a.m. I think I'll pass.
We're headed to Vegas. Maybe it will be hot and dry, because I'm tired of seeing snow everywhere I go. Internet will be tricky there. All the casinos think they can charge you a daily rate for using it. I'll have to find a coffee shop to call home.
Later,
Matt
We drove south from St. George, Utah down through Hurricane on our way to the North Rim. I decided to go there instead of the South Rim, because it was closer and is generally less crowded. In fact, we found the crowds extremely manageable for a holiday weekend.
One thing I found noteworthy is how you drive very close to the canyon without realizing how close it is to you. It sneaks up on you more than the other parks. Just a few miles from the North Rim you are driving through meadows, then BAM!
We found another cool ground squirrel today, and I snapped a picture of what I think is a California Condor. They have been seen frequently around the canyon recently. The tour towards the west has been fun, but we are both looking forward to Vegas tomorrow.
Onto my French Open opening day comments: The Djoker fell 2/3 of the way short of making my day. Maybe that match will wear on him a little bit as he enters week 2. In his always classy manner, he mentioned that he didn't play very well. I'm glad Murray snuck through. If he would add a few thousand more people to his entourage, maybe he could win in straights. It was a good win for James, but he won't last very long. Serena handled Ashley Harkleroad handily, but fret not all of you Pebbles fans. I understand that she will be in the August edition of Playboy. It's too bad she had to have a cyst removed several weeks ago. She was on quite a roll, and I hope she can get back in form by the time the U.S. Open rolls around. Guga is finally packing it in. He got a really tough draw with Mathieu. I got to watch a replay of the 2000 French final a few weeks ago. I'll certainly miss his shotmaking ability and the way he could think his way around a clay court. If I want to watch Fed tomorrow, I'll have to get up at 4:00 a.m. I think I'll pass.
We're headed to Vegas. Maybe it will be hot and dry, because I'm tired of seeing snow everywhere I go. Internet will be tricky there. All the casinos think they can charge you a daily rate for using it. I'll have to find a coffee shop to call home.
Later,
Matt
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Day 11
We decided to skip Canyonlands and take on Bryce Canyon and Zion today. All these parks in Utah look similar, and that leaves us plenty of time for the Grand Canyon tomorrow. The day began by taking the trip west from Green River just past Richfield on I-70. Then we went south toward Bryce Canyon.
The canyon itself is pretty average, but some of the rock formations along the outer edges are definitely worth the trip. The natural bridge is far superior to the one I've seen in Virginia, and this one doesn't even have a town named after it. The other noteworthy part of the Bryce trip was a photogenic ground squirrel, who apparently has learned that he gets free food for posing. There was some left over food on the rail, so we stole some pictures without paying.
Zion is west of Bryce Canyon, and the trip takes about an hour and a half. Zion is quite different from the other parks in Utah. Many of the rock features are a lighter color, and the road cutting through the park requires more looking up and less out onto the horizon than the other parks. No one picture captures the experience very well. It is more about taking it all in as you ride through. Park officials also seemed less concerned with patrons venturing off the trails than in Yellowstone or Arches.
The drive from Moab around to St. George was as amazing as I was told it would be. It is hard to enjoy when you're trying to drive 75 mph. Maybe next time I can ride in the passenger seat. Though I think for me driving is the lesser of two evils.
Tonight we tried out a regional wing joint which is very cleverly named "Winger's." The sauce tasted like they took teriyaki sauce and put honey in it. Somebody needs to tell these people about the whole mild, medium, and hot methodology. I'm never going to find any wings that I like better than Sammy's in Raleigh, so I don't know why I even bother.
Tomorrow it's on to the Grand Canyon. I hope the previous destinations haven't desensitized me to the point where I don't fully appreciate it.
Later,
Matt
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge Part II
The canyon itself is pretty average, but some of the rock formations along the outer edges are definitely worth the trip. The natural bridge is far superior to the one I've seen in Virginia, and this one doesn't even have a town named after it. The other noteworthy part of the Bryce trip was a photogenic ground squirrel, who apparently has learned that he gets free food for posing. There was some left over food on the rail, so we stole some pictures without paying.
Zion is west of Bryce Canyon, and the trip takes about an hour and a half. Zion is quite different from the other parks in Utah. Many of the rock features are a lighter color, and the road cutting through the park requires more looking up and less out onto the horizon than the other parks. No one picture captures the experience very well. It is more about taking it all in as you ride through. Park officials also seemed less concerned with patrons venturing off the trails than in Yellowstone or Arches.
The drive from Moab around to St. George was as amazing as I was told it would be. It is hard to enjoy when you're trying to drive 75 mph. Maybe next time I can ride in the passenger seat. Though I think for me driving is the lesser of two evils.
Tonight we tried out a regional wing joint which is very cleverly named "Winger's." The sauce tasted like they took teriyaki sauce and put honey in it. Somebody needs to tell these people about the whole mild, medium, and hot methodology. I'm never going to find any wings that I like better than Sammy's in Raleigh, so I don't know why I even bother.
Tomorrow it's on to the Grand Canyon. I hope the previous destinations haven't desensitized me to the point where I don't fully appreciate it.
Later,
Matt
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge Part II
Friday, May 23, 2008
Day 10
We began the day driving west to Salt Lake City. It was pouring rain, and neither of us cared much about seeing another big body of water. We decided to stay dry and forego a tour of Salt Lake. From there we drove south and east to Arches National Park. It is accessible through Moab, Utah. The drive into southern Utah is full of amazing red rock features, and the journey into the park foreshadows the arches to come. If you look closely during the drive in, you will see a few arches buried in the mass of red stone lining the park.
Arches is different from Badlands, Yellowstone, and Glacier in that you have to venture off the main road to truly experience what the park has to offer. Various hikes of lengths between 0.2 miles and about 2 miles take you to different arches. The ones we saw were Delicate, Skyline, Landscape, Double O, Tunnel, Pine Tree, and Sand Dune Arches. The hike up to see Delicate Arch ended in a walk up a steeply inclining very large rock face. It was an interesting trail, because you pick your own route when you get close to the top.
Utah is a worthwhile trip, and I would say the best of Utah is better than the best of Yellowstone. However, the variety of Yellowstone is unmatched by anything I've seen.
I am apparently slipping into a mild state of delusion. A guy asked me for the time last night, and I gave him the east coast time. I haven't changed my watch and glanced down without thinking. If it was one of those questions you ask people before you rob them, I suppose he figured he was wasting his time.
Tomorrow we're going to head down to the Canyonlands. I'll see you on the other side.
Later,
Matt
Tunnel Arch
Tunnel Arch
Pine Tree Arch
Sand Dune Arch
Balanced Rock
Delicate Arch
Skyline Arch
Landscape Arch
Part of Double O Arch
Arches is different from Badlands, Yellowstone, and Glacier in that you have to venture off the main road to truly experience what the park has to offer. Various hikes of lengths between 0.2 miles and about 2 miles take you to different arches. The ones we saw were Delicate, Skyline, Landscape, Double O, Tunnel, Pine Tree, and Sand Dune Arches. The hike up to see Delicate Arch ended in a walk up a steeply inclining very large rock face. It was an interesting trail, because you pick your own route when you get close to the top.
Utah is a worthwhile trip, and I would say the best of Utah is better than the best of Yellowstone. However, the variety of Yellowstone is unmatched by anything I've seen.
I am apparently slipping into a mild state of delusion. A guy asked me for the time last night, and I gave him the east coast time. I haven't changed my watch and glanced down without thinking. If it was one of those questions you ask people before you rob them, I suppose he figured he was wasting his time.
Tomorrow we're going to head down to the Canyonlands. I'll see you on the other side.
Later,
Matt
Tunnel Arch
Tunnel Arch
Pine Tree Arch
Sand Dune Arch
Balanced Rock
Delicate Arch
Skyline Arch
Landscape Arch
Part of Double O Arch
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