Party Poker Blog

"We are all in the gutters, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Oscar Wilde

This here humble poker blog is brought to you by Bonus Code IGGY on Party Poker.

Someday I'll get tired of writing that.
Today is not that day.

As penance, I'm gonna load up on goofy pictures tonight.



Commence drunken pre-Halloween rambling.

It's interesting to look back upon the last two years, ain't it? I've spent a lot of time here typing away in this silly blog thingy. I can't even really remember why I started mine outside of enjoying reading early adopters such as Linda, BG, Mr. Decker, Jeremy &, of course, my heroes at UpForPoker. I just figured it would be an interesting experiment. To document my poker play and thoughts and see if I'd actually stick to it.

And now look at us. I never imagined we'd have a bona fide community. A sewing circle, even. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

But hell, I can easily be accused of doing everything BUT documenting my own play on this here poker blog. And that's fine, I'm not a results-oriented thinker, anyway. The fact that I'm still not back in corporate America should speak for itself.

But I'm tempted sometimes.

Again, I'm not sure if it's residual Catholic guilt or Protestant work ethic that's causing this little issue. Does it even matter? Hell, I've whipped this whiny voice down so much that it's just a litle squeak on most days. But my trip to Europe woke his little ass up. Damn history and perspective and all that.

That's about it. I am not prepared, at this time, to get into the character issue. There are some things you just don't discuss this late in the evening, and this is one of them.

I enjoyed Pauly's post detailing some of the sayings and meme's out here in the poker blogging world. Weird myths and unlikely legends are coins of the realm in our culture, like passwords or keys to survival. Truth is always stranger than fiction.

Anyway, sorry for this lame, scattered post but everything I want to write about isn't about poker. Fuck it, let's move along, shall we? Let's get to why you're really here.

Tasty poker goodness.

Here's a truly interesting tidbit. Can one of you dozen poker bloggers working at Full Tilt get the full skinny on this story about Chris Ferguson for us? Pretty please? But at least we have Perry Friedman confirming the rumours are true.

Subject: Chris Jesus Ferguson Question?

I saw Annie Duke speaking at a book signing recently and she made the statement that she had put one dollar in an online account for Chris Ferguson and that he had turned it into $20,000 within a few months.

Now I'm not saying Annie is stretching the truth or anything but has anyone else ever heard this claim and has it or can it be confirmed?

It seems almost impossible based on my observations of online games, even for a player as good as Ferguson.

That is an annualized rate of return in the 10,000 percent range. If he is good enough to achieve that rate of return at the penny limit tables on UB why doesn't he turn his $10,000 stake in the big tournaments into a hundred million or so within the same few months?

And here's Perry's post:

I can confirm the basic story, although I think it was me who transferred him the money. One of us transferred him $1, and he went broke. Then he was transferred a second $1, and he parlayed that into over $20,000. I think he actually cracked $25,000. Obviously, he started at the 1c/2c, and worked his way up from there until he was playing $25/$50 NL. He also had a decent tourney win in there was well (over $1K).

He did it as a challenge/experiment. I think he is currently working on an article about the experience.

Perry

Yikes, I'm looking forward to reading about that.

If, for some reason, you haven't read the book Bringing Down the House, please go read this excerpt from Wired. Great, great stuff and should provide enough fodder for you to buy the book. Six pages of exciting MIT teamplay blackjack.
Hacking Las Vegas

Interesting article about the TV broadcasting of poker starting to level out.
GSN Ups Ante as Poker Fades
Professional Players, Amateurs to Risk Own Money as Part of New Show

One of the cool perks of this poker blog is that I sometimes get cool stories and books and DVD's. Here's a great story about cheating I'd like to pass along.

--

In the history of poker, there are countless stories of riverboat operators throwing crooked players into the Mississippi, and brave passengers like Alamo hero James Bowie who came to the aid of a young passenger cheated out of $50,000 by pulling his now-famous Bowie knife after spotting crooked play. But for every one of these tales, historians believe, ten captains and passerby were on the take.

Back then, cheating was very unsubtle. Marked decks, one of the favorite tools of cardsharps, were so common and accepted that in the mid 1800's nationally known playing card manufacturers would advertise their marked decks on the same posters and billboards used to promote their fair cards. Their popularity was for the most part due to the fact that marked decks were the form of cheating that required the least skill. almost anybody could use them - the only tough part was getting the deck into the game.

Jimmy Altman, a gambler from Nevada, is said to be the only person to ever get a dirty deck into Bugsy Siegel's famous poker game at the Flamingo. Altman had the assistance of three accomplices to run his scam. It began with an unknown gentleman walking into the Flamingo gift shop and buying every pack of cards in the store. About an hour later, Mr. Altman himself entered the store and asked to buy a deck of cards. He, of course, was told by the cashier that they were sold out.

Altman then went upstairs and sat down at the game. Right around the time the first hand was being dealt, Altman's second accomplice entered the gift shop and also requested a deck. When he was told by the shopkeeper that all the cards were sold out, the accomplice became very angry and berated the man. The store owner, incredibly apologetic, swore he would remedy the situation as soon as possible.

About an hour into the big game, Altman started to examine the cards they were playing with. He didn't make an accusation about their fairness, he just wanted to make sure that the other players could see that he was checking them out. At the same exact time, the third partner walked into the hotle shop, handed the man behind the desk a business card, and introduced himself as a playing card salesman. The proprietor was so relieved that he bought every deck the salesman had to offer. Each one, of course, was marked.

Afte noticing Altman looking at the cards so intensely, other players in Siegel's game began to do the same thing. Finally Altman asked to play with a new deck. When a fresh deck was opened, Altman politely asked if someone could just run down to the hotel giftshop and buy a few decks from there. All the other players agreed, and Altman took the game for almost a million dollars.

---


Good Lord, this too is a crazy story.
Enjoy this amazing tale while I go and refill.

A couple from Montana were out riding on the range, he with his rifle and she (fortunately) with her camera. Their dogs always followed them, but on this occasion a Mountain Lion decided that he wanted to stalk the dogs (you'll see the dogs in the background watching). Very, very bad decision...

The hunter got off the mule with his rifle and decided to shoot in the air to scare away the lion, but before he could get off a shot the lion charged in and decided he wanted a piece of those dogs. With that, the mule took off and decided he wanted a piece of that lion. That's when all hell broke loose... for the lion.

As the lion approached the dogs the mule snatched him up by the tail and started whirling him around. Banging its head on the ground on every pass. Then he dropped it, stomped on it and held it to the ground by the throat. The mule then got down on his knees and bit the thing all over a couple of dozen times to make sure it was dead, than whipped it into the air again, walked back over to the couple (that were stunned in silence) and stood there ready to continue his ride... as if nothing had just happened.

Fortunately even though the hunter didn't get off a shot, his wife got off these 4...




- insert donkeyfucker joke here -

Anyone else getting slightly excited about the bloggers meeting up in Vegas in about five weeks? I've been having some hilarious memories pop back into my brain from our last Gatherings. I enjoyed Maudie's answer to Al's question: ""Are you glad you decided to come to the first blogger gathering last December? 'cause we're glad you showed."

edit: Chad/Rama has a nice post up about being the anti-maudie at our last gathering. i never did blog about that incredible weekend. sad, ain't it?

Tying into my past post about why I'm stuck playing online versus B&M right now:

Subject: TOP TEN REASONS I’VE COME TO PREFER ONLINE POKER

10. Lots of game selection, plus the ability to check instantly the average pot sizes and number of players, which provides at least some indication of the character of the players/games at the different tables.

9. No lines to wait in for games—unless you choose to wait for one.

8. Ability to see exactly how many ‘player points’ you’ve accumulated at any given time, and the ability to use them on freerolls or other freebies at *your* convenience. Online freerolls pop up pretty often, at least on PokerStars and other sites I enjoy, as compared to having to rearrange your schedule to show up at the B&M casino’s monthly freeroll—which, I can’t help but notice, always seems to be scheduled in the middle of a WORKDAY!! Grrrr!

7. No parking spots to search for.

6. No B.O. to smell—from other players, at least. :-)

5. No chip runners to wait for or dealers to tip.

4. No ‘smokers lounge’ to hold your breath through on the way in. (At least that’s the way it is here in Southern California.)

3. No poor losers—or ugly gloating winners—demanding to see your face-down mucked cards. (This has happened to me so many times recently at B&Ms, with so many different reasons given by so many half-assed dealers as to why they can see mine when they ask but I can’t see theirs when I ask, that I barely care if I ever play live again.)

2. Micro limits, providing the ability to play longer with $10 than I usually can with $200 at a B&M.

1. Using the ‘Ignore Chat’ button on boorish, profane morons who can’t lose a 25-cent pot without going off like Phil Hellmuth on PCP.

** STEVE from Long Beach CA **

Segue. Check out this page for a laugh. Safe For work.
Work Well With Others

Here's another positive report on the Caesars Indiana WSOP circuit events going on right now. If you want a schedule, here you go: ESPN World Series of Poker Circuit Event

Subject: Caesars Indiana WSOP Update

I think it's safe to say that today's $300 + $40 NLHE event of the World Series of Poker circuit at Caesars Indiana FAR exceeded the wildest expectations of anybody involved. The event attracted not only a full house of 583 players (53 tables of 11 players each), but another 371 alternates also eventually got in for a total of 954 paid entrants. The prize pool amounts to $277,614 with the winners share amounting to a cool $72,165 and 81 places being paid.

Personally I want to commend the staff for doing a wonderful job of coordinating and handling the huge overflow crowd. Things were obviously somewhat hectic. But overall they made sure everything went off smoothly.

On a personal note - I can't figure out why someone would want to enter as an alternate so late after the start. They seated the alternates at active tables as players were eliminated. With 371 alternates to be seated, some of the last ones were initially being seated with their $1500 starting chips even though we were already on level 5 with blinds of $100/$200 and antes of $25.

However, I was told the staff did offer to allow the alternates to withdraw and get a refund of the entry fee. I would guess there was at least another 100 or so alternates that just decided to withdraw since they were calling alternate numbers around 500. I know at our table some of the intial starting players were holding in the neighborhood of $15,000 in tourney chips as alternates were being seated with their starting $1500 chip

As someone who just recently started reading the Motley Fool books and such, I took notice of this. This is a followup to my prior post about the introduction of this product. Sure didn't take long for the IPO.

Subject: Poker Tek Went Public
PokerTek sets $11 per share price on public offering

They raised over $22 Million with one product. Making B&M tables into online tables and getting rid of dealers. Unbelievable really.

I enjoyed this fresh twist on the "turn the switch from lose to win for me" post about Poker Stars. Sure, he failed but at least he Tried to be original.

Subject: Letter to poker stars

Dear Pokerstars...

I know I won a bunch of money last month and then made a big withdrawal from your site. You see, I needed the money for bills and such.

Since I took the money out, you've been creaming me with horrible cards and beats. I know you're angry with me and you've helped my playing bankroll dwindle down to about $100. All this despite my propensity for playing AA aggressively, making pot bets in Omaha with 30 outs, and getting it all in with KK on a flop of K 7 2.

I know you're angry with me, but I want you to know that I wasn't taking the money to another site. I was using it to buy gas and food.

You can still make it up to me. You can cut the bullshit and start making my favourites hold up again. There is no reason that I have to lose another showdown with JJ vs, 75o. You can make it all right again.

If you won't correct this horrible streak and make amends, then I'm picking up whatever I have left and moving it to another site. And do you know which site I'm going to? Oh yeah... I'm going to GoldenPalace. That's right. She's a total whore and she gives it to me however I like it. So... get things straightened out or you can spend the rest of your nights thinking about me raising it all into that fresh new bitch.

ty

Anyone who spends any time in an active newsgroup will probably enjoy this satire. I thought it apropos, anyway:

Q: How many newsgroup subscribers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Exactly five hundred.

1 to change the light bulb and to post to the newsgroup that the light bulb has been changed.

7 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently or to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

17 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

21 to flame the spell checkers.

49 to write to the list administrator complaining about the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.

20 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.

32 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this email exchange to alt.lite.bulb.

69 to demand that cross posting to alt.grammar, alt.spelling and alt.punctuation about changing light bulbs be stopped.

41 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this mail list.

106 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.

12 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

8 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly, and to post corrected URLs.

2 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.

15 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them including all headers and footers, and then add pointedly, "Me Too."

6 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

9 to quote the "Me Too's" and happily add, "Me Three!"

3 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.

1 to propose new alt.change.lite.bulb newsgroup.

24 to say this is just what alt.physic.cold_fusion was meant for, leave it here.

53 votes for alt.lite.bulb.

I don't understand all the talk about the Party Poker sidebets and blackjack? I mean, why the fuck would any poker player care about this? It's a non-damn-issue.

Here's a taste from RGP:

They now add blackjack and side bets giving them an interest in how the flops come. The already large group of players who think the games are rigged will have even more reason to believe so now.

Good gravy.

On the other hand, I've been thinking these past few minutes about dropping limit poker and becoming a professional Side Bet Player.

Thoughts?



Man oh man, this next snippet is sooooo classic. It's been well documented that Gary Carson does not give two fucks about marketing himself on RGP and such. And to help with that documentation, here's a wonderful exchange between an earnest poster asking Gary a question and Gary delivering a response as only he can.

Attn: Gary Carson

Had a look at the site. What's the deal with your ebook costing only $4.50?
How many pages does it have??

--------


How many do you want? I'll increase the type size, double space, and add a couple of blank pages for you.

What a stupid fucking question.

Gary Carson

Yes, people got offended by Gary the Crank. He responded thusly:

Whenever I have to make a choice between making $4 or pretending something really, really stupid isn't stupid I always decide the $4 just isn't worth the pretence.

And, you're right, I'd make more money if I was a phoney shit, but that's just the way it goes.

You asked a really stupid question and I just wasn't going to even try to figure out the answer. I don't know how many pages the manuscript is, and dont even remember whether the version I distribute is single spaced or not.

Learning how to ask the right question is an important tool in life. I might be wrong, but I think it's more important than learning to deal with idiots.

If you normally get offended when someone points out you asked a really stupid question then you'd just be wasting your time reading my book anyway.

It's a manuscript edition of "The Complete Book of Hold'em Poker". The manuscript edition of "The Complete Book of Casino Poker" is even cheaper.

It sold for $29 before the dead tree edition was published. The dead tree edition sells for $15 cover price.

There are many reviews of the book on Amazon.com and there has been much discussion about it on this newsgroup.

I think that's all on the website.
You can pay more if you want.

But, don't identify yourself if you try to buy it, I don't want to sell it to you. It's really just for my friends and I've decided I don't like you.

Gary Carson

And just to continue the Carson theme, and besides, I find him entertaining, here's some summed up thoughts from a few vitriolic anti-Daniel Negreaneu threads. Danny really has some Haters out there. Tis sad.

And there's no love lost between Daniel and Gary. So here's his two cents, responding to comments in threads.

>I wonder how much Daniel is making from his new video game STACKED coming out in December?


He's a paid endorser, not an owner. But, he probably got paid well, which is one reason I don't think he'll go busted this year.

It's hard to tell though, because all his life he's pretended to have more money than he actually had.

An entourage of agents, and publisists, and gophers, and managers, and others who get a big enough piece of you to be willing to be on call as a drinking buddy tends to get pricey.

I actually read his blog. He's amazing. He buys his mother a house then won't help her move. It's great material.

Gary Carson

--

>> He's always struck me as a little odd. I respect him as a poker player though.


I'm not convinced about that. Have you read some of his old nonsense on rgp? He actually had a learning curve to overcome when moving from 100/200 to 200/400.

He really doesn't understand the game, he does have the abiity to learn quickly how to exploit certain types of players.

But, what I found interesting about his latest blog as his mention about heading to "the poker room" and he meant Bellagio, not Wynn.

Did he get fired?

Gary Carson

----


>> That would be kinda funny if they fired him...I'd be willing to say that once
>> the "newness" of the whole thing wore off both parties would want to end it...


I wonder about it. It just seems odd. It doesn't really matter.

A friend tells me that the Wynn has a regular 10/20 mixed game going for a coupld of months. I can't see where Danny has done anything to promote it, and it would seem to me that if Danny just tried a little he could make that an everyday 20/40 mixed game that drew a lot of out of town players.

The Wynn is still my favorite room, whether Danny works there or not.

I don't know if Wynn is going to let him go or not, but it has nothing to do with tournaments. Danny was hired as a host -- to build games. The published terms of the contract caled for Danny to play at the Wynn

200 days a year. I think he's spent more days getting restuarant comps for his enterouge than actually playing, and the playing he has done hasn't been enough to build any games.

When I was in Las Vegas during the WSOP for about a month I played a the Wynn almost every day -- I saw Danny 3 times, two days playing his private headsup matches and one day standing around the podium mooching comps. He probably showed up a couple of times that I missed for his private headup matches, I heard people mention it a few times. But, I never saw or heard it mentioned that he played in any open games. And, that was a month he was in town every day.

Danny's never had a job before and it's my guess that he has trouble with the concept that you actually have to show up.

Gary Carson

Speaking of Daniel Negreanu, I think I forgot to mention his CardPlayer poker article entitled:
Asian poker players

Also, here's Thomas "Thunder" Keller article for Card Player called
Interview With a Poker Player's Spouse, Part 1, A Wife's Perspective.



For those of you who enjoy deep stacks and longer tournament structures, these new ones announced at Poker Stars oughta be right up your alley.

Subject: Freaking Awesome: $11 Deep Stack tourneys on Poker Stars

I can't afford the $33 ones, but I can splurge on an $11 tournament once or twice a week:

Schedule of new tournaments:

DeepStack
DeepStack tourneys run just like regular tournaments except the players start
with 5,000 chips and the blinds last 30 minutes.

Mon 18:15 No Limit Hold'em $30+$3
Tue 18:15 Pot Limit Omaha $20+$2
Wed 18:15 No Limit Hold'em $20+$2
Thu 18:15 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $20+$2
Fri 18:15 Limit Hold'em $20+$2
Sat 12:00 No Limit Hold'em $10+$1
Sat 19:15 No Limit Hold'em $100+$9
Sun 12:00 No Limit Hold'em $10+$1

6-Handed

Six-Handed tourneys run just like any regular tourney except there are six
players at the table (as opposed to a regular tourney's nine players).

Mon 20:45 Pot Limit Omaha $20+$2
Tue 20:45 No Limit Hold'em $30+$3
Wed 20:45 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $20+$2
Thu 20:45 No Limit Hold'em $10+$1
Fri 20:45 Limit Hold'em $20+$2
Sat 20:45 No Limit Hold'em $20+$2

Hell, if I don't wrap this up now, I'll have to wait till tommorrow.
Damn Guinness. This is uber-fueled enough, methinks.

I'm going to leave you with a Vegas Trip Report from my RGP hero, Howard Beale.
Thanks for reading.

Subject: Me & Mom do Las Vegas: Fri. - Mon. (long)

Preface:

I am petrified of thrill rides. It would take a baby-oiled Jessica Alba lying on a bed of oil-sheik money to get me on one of the rides on the top of the Stratosphere and that would be with 2mg of Xanax in me but driving on AZ Rt. 93 between Wikieup and I-40 (a 30+ mi., narrow, 2 lane, no shoulder, no exit, rough pavement stretch of road with trucks) at night is no problem?

Once you start you've got to finish and God forbid you break down. Move at 75 or get run off the road. Instant death is just one driver's lapse away. Why should I bother to keep an eye on the semi's hurtling at me? If he wanders over the center line, a matter of a few feet, it's either a head-on or flying off into the desert. On the drive home, in the pouring rain, I chickened out and took the long way home.

- - - - - - - -

After a frenzied preparation on Friday afternoon when I had 2 hours to go to the bank, get a hotel room, stop the mail, board the dog and have the oil changed we headed off to the Monte Carlo. Mom swore that she would never drive to LV again (as if she does any of the driving) and I supported her decision because I am charged with finding bathrooms where none exist and must listen to threats of what is going to happen if I don't find one soon.

She didn't have to use the towel filled garbage bag that I brought along, after all, and we finally got to the hotel. I had only been in the Monte Carlo once and mom not at all. She's familiar with the Orleans where I take her because there isn't much walking necessary and she was thrilled with the new digs. When I take her to the big hotels I put her in a wheel chair or else we'd never get anywhere. At the Monte Carlo she can get to the Wheel of Fortune, the coffee shop and the gift shop. That's all she needs. I feel that the Monte Carlo is a perfectly respectable hotel with a decent standard room, a place that you can't knock, but it's also a place that you can't brag about. I wish I'd had time to shop around but we were paying full price and that was a drag. The Monte Carlo does have a tram to Bellagio which is a plus.

We got in at 2am and I went to their little poker room to unwind. The 1-2 NL has a $100 max buy-in (ridiculous IMO) and I sat in the 4-8 which has 1-2 blinds. Played at the Orleans that structure kills all the action but at the Monte Carlo it's a jumping game where I still couldn't make a hand. That's been going on for quite a while now. When I sat down the dealer asked if I'd ever played HE before and I acted like a total doofus but when he saw that I was the only player to ever fold he gave me a strange look. Add him to the long list.

I took the opportunity to have 4 strawberry julius's. One new player without chips was inadvertantly dealt in by a new dealer and when asked how many chips he had coming the player said "none." The dealer explained that he had to have chips and the player answered "I'll get chips eventually but let's play this hand
first." That was the best line of the trip.

Mom lost $200 at the Wheel of Fortune. I've tried to teach her basic blackjack strategy and pass line craps betting all to no use. Her mantra to my repeated explanations of how bad slots are is "But what if I win?" Sigh.

Saturday was Bellagio day. It's the best casino to play my favorite game:
"I bet SHE'S a hooker! If I could get 5-1 it would be +EV for sure.

The Bellagio had a tourney going on that I didn't know about. It was held in some emptied out bar across the way from the poker room which was a mob scene on Sat and on Mon. It was actually quite uncomfortable with long lists, tables much too close to each other and a lot of noise. I played the 8-16 and they use 5's and 1's which is a real action killer and also makes betting awkward. I didn't care for it at all.

The big limit room had a bunch of the usual suspects with the addition of Larry Flynt and Gus Hansen who puts his tomatos on his bagel with his fingers. Barry Greenstein looks a lot better in person which is almost a given since he couldn't look worse. The beard also suits him.

I wandered over to the tourney room to star gaze and walking in just in front of me was a 6ft+ 20 something baby got back OMG they're real why can't I have that just one time hoochie mamasita who sashayed and jiggled her way around the room, turning all heads, until she stopped to talk to some gnome for a moment and then bounced her no bra way right back out. At 5-1 I bet SHE'S a hooker!

It seems that this tourney is associated with Doyle Brunson and there was a "Doyle Brunson player appreciation" party at Light on Mon. night. All you had to do was fill out an invitation with your name and email and like an imbecile I put down the real deal thinking that they'd check somehow and I knew this was the only time I'd ever get into that place both by inclination and lack of the stylish graces. I was somewhat disappointed. I suppose it's a classy nightclub but I was expecting a lot more *flash.* They did treat the guests well, though. Good music and every side table had a huge bottle of Grey Goose and plenty of juices, ice, glasses and lemons, limes to mix your own free drinks. Too bad I don't drink but plenty of others were and the staff kept the stuff coming.

I took mom to the Cafe Bellagio which I had thought was a coffee shop with like prices. Now I know better. Mom may feign all sorts of illnesses but she can really put on the feedbag. $70 for lunch at a coffee shop? At least I can recommend the chilled creme brulee. 3 sections with fruit on top. The part with the bananas (chocolate underneath) is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

I went over to Wynn on Monday and walked in a mild drizzle from Bellagio. I really like that room. They weren't crowded with everybody over at Bellagio for the tourney but the 8-16, with $2 chips, was far better. Most of the players were tourists, the chairs, tables, staff and ambience were great. Some of the locals were talking about the LV poker scene. It seems that Ceasar's is opening a 63 table room with 30 of them dedicated to tourneys. Someone said that the Venetian was going to open a poker
room. I think the Venetian is the best hotel in town and with a good poker room that would confirm it for me. I wonder if LV can support all of these tables. They've gone from very few to a whole darn bunch in just a few years, but time will tell. I have the feeling that they might be stretched too thin. The folks were also saying that the Mirage is real slow and that in order to attract players back they are giving away comps being *friendlier* than they were. This according to some locals.

Special addendum:

I headed over to the San Remo on a tip posted here (sorry, I don't remember by who) that the back bar served a *White Castle like* burger. As you know the hotel is going *Hooters* and they are doing the conversion without closing. From what I saw they intend to simply convert what is there into a gigantic Hooters bar with gambling. What they are going to do about the double ugly dealing and floor staff I don't know.

The back bar serves *Shorty Burgers* and they are good. I really enjoyed them, esp. the buns. Soft and sort of sweet. They are kind of like White Castles and you get them by the half-dozen so the feel was the same. The meat was too good for total accuracy. If we ever find out what crap goes into a White Castle it will probably be the end of their business.

Mom says the Monte Carlos spa is nice. With all the facials, manicures and pedicures I'm betting that she's the best groomed mom around.

One more thing: Want to make a fortune? Smuggle Lotto tickets into LV tonight. We stopped at Grasshopper Junction (I swear they told me that is the name of the place) on I-40 so mom could pee (again) and there were a bunch of Nevadans buying tickets by the hundreds. FOOLS, ALL OF THEM! I've got it locked up!

As soon as I win (it will be official on Thursday) I'm inviting everybody who wants to come to the San Remo for all the Shorty Burgers that you can eat, ON ME! Beer included!

Howard Beale

Whew, I'm glad I pounded this out.
Hope I destroyed some workplace productivity.

Bonus Code IGGY on Party Poker, damnit.
If you aren't playing there, trust me, you are deeply and profoundly retarded.

Link of the Day:
Angry Stripper, Empty Wallet
Titty bar customers want to be stripped of their money, according to former moneymaker-shaker Elizabeth Eaves, author of Bare: Give Me All Your Money and Get the Hell Out.