Vegas in the 70's

So with my Vegas trip postponed (see previous post), I did do a little mini-Vegas on Friday and Saturday: poker with my friends JS and Jimmy Z at both River Rock Casino and the 101 Casino. I played well: three tournaments, two final tables, one victory. Food wise, we went old-school (surprise, surprise) on Friday, eating at the City Limits Restaurant within the 101 Casino. Why is it 'like Vegas in the 70's"? The food is great, focused on beef, and very inexpensive... because they want to take your money gambling!

Anyway, when the City Limits Restaurant first opened, I thought to myself, "No way is this going to work." But it's flourishing. The card players like it and the word has gotten out among the locals how inexpensive it is. I love it. I love the decor and the fact that the staff, led by Food and Bev Director John Timberlake, treat you like they want you to come dine with them. (For my rant on soul-less, plastic hostesses, see my earlier post: Shin-kicking the Hostess.) Check it out. Great food, very well priced... and the card room is only steps away.

Alas, There is No Joy...

...in Every Meal A Feast land, for my Vegas, Baby! trip got cancelled at the last minute, due to my friend J's sudden illness. Oh, well. I'm disappointed, but especially so for J., who is both disappointed AND sick. Oh, well. Perhaps the biggest disappointment may come in a few moments, when I cancel our reservations at the Triple George Grill.

Here, from their web site, is their "Guide to Using Class and Cool as a Catalyst for a Good Time". (The 'Frank' in the last point refers to, of course, well... this is one of those things that, if you don't know, you wouldn't understand even if I told you....)

1. Concentrate on well-roundedness: know your scotch and gin.

2. Be able to tie a good Windsor knot, no matter how many cocktails you’ve had.

3. Don’t complicate tipping with math or percentages. Remember, it’s less a gratuity than it is an investment in above-and-beyond service next time around.

4. Speaking jazz is a password to cool. If you’re not familiar, start with Coltrane.

5. Not sure if you’re the most charming person in the room? Don’t let it stop you from acting like it.

6. Romance tip: Knowing how to flirt is like knowing how to dance—it’s all about getting someone to bend a little without stepping on their toes.

7. If you’re gonna be loud, you’d better be funny.

8. You know that irritating guy you went to college with? Be the opposite of that (see above).

9. Buy a round for everyone. It’ll make your drink taste better, too.

10. Before you call it a night, make sure you’ve covered item #1.

11. Ask yourself: What would Frank do?

Oh, well. I am thus going to splurge this weekend on SOME food and wine experience, drown the sorrows, mask the disappointment, etc. Stay tuned...

LV: Vegas, Baby!

You know you're in Vegas when... you're drinking coffee at 10:30 p.m. and cocktails at 10:30 a.m.

~ BigNightFan, August 2007

Ah, the beginning to this year's Vegas, Baby! trip is now roughly 48-hours away. I am starting to get into serious prep mode: doing laundry; counting bills; (mentally) packing; stocking up on Aleve, grapefruit (for the Vitamin C) and Visine.

For those who would like to take a peak back at my last year's trip, go to my Blog Archive, click on 2007, then click on August. It's all right there: the good, the bad, and the, well, crazy-ness of Vegas. (Here's one of my favorite posts from that time: LV: Craps.)

I go this time a little wiser, a little more... low-key, having played so much poker over the past year. But I know that during that taxi ride from the airport to the hotel (we're going old-school again -- I know, I know: surprise, surprise -- staying at Fremont Street), one of the greatest rushes ever, the adrenaline will start pumping hard, the veins will bulge just a bit, the shirt collar unbuttoned one (or two) more... and it will be Vegas, Baby! all over again. Thinking about it now, I believe one of LV's biggest appeals is not that you can gamble. (Hell, I do that everyday, with my business, my mortgage, etc.). No, I believe that LV's biggest appeal is that the results are so immediate. (Unlike, say, starting a business -- say, a restaurant--which can take months to get up and get going.) No in Vegas, you not only put your money on the table and see what cards are dealt to you, you see them now. Anything can be yours in minutes. Anything. And ThAT is the rush of Vegas -- the infinite succession of now this, now this, now this, now....

LV: WWFD?

Am resettling back into life PV (post-Vegas). So What Would Frank Do? He'd make a list of great Vegas restaurants (great for a variety of reasons, from awesome steaks to 24-hour cheap eats) for himself and FROTB for future Vegas excursions. Please note that some listed here I ate in, while others were recommended to me by LV locals and others in-the-know.

Binion's Ranch Steak House at Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel (vintage Vegas)

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House (they do it right with cigars, etc.)

Ellis Island Restaurant (24-hours; cheap eats)

Garden Court Buffet (at Main Street Station)

Grand Lux Cafe (another 24-hour place, at the Venetian)

Hugo's Cellar (at the Four Queens)

Le Cirque (trendy high-end place at the Bellagio)

Triple George Grill (old-school in the heart of Fremont Street)

And for fellow vintage Vegas fans like myself, there's also the tour of the Neon Museum.

What Would Frank Do? He'd go back as often as possible, and he'd ALWAYS go back in style.

P.S. Many of you have been following my Texas Holdem exploits as well (which I appreciate). With that in mind, here are the final tallies for my tournies:

8 tournaments entered

4 final tables

3 in-the-monies

1 2nd place finish

1 Tie for first

All in all, I think I held my own very well-- four days playing poker in Vegas, and coming out to the good.... I'll drink to that.

LV: Craps

My Vegas Baby trip is coming to an end. Had a WONDERFUL dinner tonight at Hugo's Cellar in the Four Queens casino. Very classy and old school: low ceilings, brick-lined walls, a TON of waiters and busboys (all male, I might add). I had the duck flambeed table side. Each dinner includes a salad with numerous custom-made made-at-table side accompaniments, a lemon sorbet between courses (to cleanse the palate, of course) and a selection of special small deserts: black figs, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and something I can't remember. Had a wonderful Napa Valley Cab from Meyer Vineyards which I know nothing about and must check out. Finished with a glass of port. Yes, life is GOOD.

Ah, Vegas. It's all about excess, as the duck flambeed table side shows. Here, anything is possible...and that means both good and bad, from bluffing and winning a pot with AK when the flop comes 10-rag-rag to getting shanked in the kidney from a local down to his last 50 cents. LV, in other words, is about not just being in some Eckhart Tolle-ish moment, but living in the moment, excess--however temporary---and all. I get ready to leave Vegas not with regret or despair or hope or fame or money but rather with gratitude....that for several days I was truly alive, playing poker, and enjoying wonderful meals, in moments one after another when anything truly was---is---possible.

LV: A Fool and His Money...

...are soon parted. But Nancy and Bill didn't raise no fool! Has been a wild day in Vegas. I played in the 10:00 a.m. Binion's holdem tournament, played till 1:00 p.m....and finished in a Tie for First. Nice! For you non-tourney FROTB, the final three of us all had about the same amount of chips, so we "chopped"--combined the prize monies for first, second, and third and split them evenly. So for Texas Holdem I've:
played 5 tournies
made 3 final tables
cashed 2 times
finished T-1 once
Not bad.

Barely had time after the 10:00 a.m. tournament to dash back to Main Street, grab lunch, then dash back for the 2:00 p.m. tournament. At the Garden Court buffet, had a great lunch. Talk about variety! All these things I NEVER eat at other times.... Salisbury steak, cottage cheese, custard pie, chocolate brownie, deep fried cod, etc. Vegas is all about OPTIONS...which is why the best card players---and those who love great food and wine---end up, in the end, coming out on top.

LV: Breakfast of Champions

No buffet this morning, still not hungry from our mega steak meal last night. Breakfast this a.m. a couple of handfuls of cashews, two Aleve, and two 591 ml bottles of Deja Blue purified drinking water. Off to the 10:00 a.m. Holdem tourney at Binions, so wish me luck.

P.S. Jimmy Z, in a bit of a rush this morning as I had to run down and get some change--for some reason after our after-dinner excursion last night, I didn't have a dollar bill to tip the maid. Go figure, huh?

LV: Dinner on the 24th Floor

Wow, had an AMAZING dinner tonight in Las Vegas with my buddy Jim. Again, we went old school: we've been playing at the Binion's Gambling Hall and Casino poker tournaments, so we went to dinner at their Binion's Ranch Steakhouse. We had a window seat on the 24th floor overlooking, of course, the Vegas strip to the South and most of the Vegas to the east. Was an amazing view and an amazing meal.

Shared an escargot, then French Onion Soup, then I had the Petite Filet with garlic masheds and a side-order of sauteed shrooms. A nice Hess cab sav to accompany, which we quite gleefully finished off. The steak was cooked to perfection (I'm doing Medium of late, rather than Medium Rare, for some reason), the garlic masheds were awesome, and the wine, well, very hold-its-ownish: smooth yet full-bodied without being heavily tannic. All in all, it felt completely old-school Vegas, very Rat Pack-ish with the dim lights and dark interiors and hushed wait staff. I'm not a huge meat person, but man, every once in a while a Petite Filet just hits the SPOT....especially when accompanied by a great wine and a wonderful dinner companion. I learned several new things about my friend Jim, several businesses are being hatched in our minds, and well, we just HUNG OUT. And that hanging out fact alone turns every meal into a feast.

LV: You know you're in Vegas when...

...you're drinking coffee at 10:30 p.m. and cocktails at 10:30 a.m.

No lunch today--still on the reserves from my power Sunday brunch this a.m. Tonight, a great meal--definitely in the steak mode. The only question: Where? So many possibilities!

P.S. Have played in two tournaments, made both final tables (50+ players in this morning's tourney), and cashed once (ended up 6th), so holding my own.... Still, I want to WIN one of these.

LV: Sunday Brunch

Just finished the "Super Sunday Champagne Brunch" at the Garden Court. Ah, champagne and biscuits and gravy--breakfast of champions!

LV: The Basics...

When tired, hungry, and on the edge in terms of too much wine and too little water, I find I resort back to basics: Just finished a delicious Ceasar's Salad with chicken and a Blackchip Porter at the 777 Brewpub in the Main Street Casino. There's comfort food and then there's comfort food, and in Las Vegas, one quickly learns the difference.

Tomorrow, a tourney at 10:00 a.m. and then 2:00 p.m., and then a nice dinner and then, well, TBD.

Now time to bed.

P.S. Jimmy Z: made it to the final table in the 8:00 p.m. Sat Binion's tourney. Had QQ in the big blind and lost to AA in the small blind. I'll say it again--I don't want to be luckier playing poker, I want to STOP being UNlucky.

LV: Can you say: Buffet?

Enough sleep: I'll sleep when I'm dead.

When you think of Vegas and food and wine, one thing that should come to mind is the buffet. Vegas is famous for these huge, and inexpensive, spreads. I just stumbled out one of the most popular--and biggest of Vegas's buffets, the Garden Court Buffet at the Main Street Casino. It's a football field-sized room of nearly every type of food and drink imaginable. For awhile I debated between scrambled eggs and pancakes, pizza and salad, or pot roast with mashed potatoes--then said what the heck, and had em all! They can be dangerous, though; I went back for seconds, loitered for a bit around the desserts section, grabbed an extra banana (for the potassium)...then couldn't find my table. When they seat you, they could give you a GPS system to avoid that!

Anyway, off to Binion's Gambling Hall, where they have Texas Holdem tournaments every day at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. (Is this a great country, or what?) The 8:00 p.m. tourney tonight has a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000. To paraphrase Cowboy Troy, I'm gonna git me some of that!

LV: It's 7:30 a.m. and ...

...time to go to bed.

LV: The Eagle Has Landed!

Touchdown! Initial mission accomplished, and man, it is HOT here--the H-E-double toothpick kind. Of course, it is the DESERT and it is AUGUST, so.... Note to self: Be sure to drink more fluids than normal.

Cab ride to the hotel one of the greatest adrenaline rushes ever.... The sights, the lights, the people, the...action. Can't wait to dive in, head-first. We're going old-school (I know, I know: Surprise, surprise), staying on Fremont Street, part of the Fremont Experience. Are there any two words prettier in the whole human language than Vintage Vegas????

LV: So Be What?

So I’m standing at the urinal at SFO doing, well, what men do standing at urinals at places like airports and ballparks when I start to read, on the shelf in front of me, the back label text of someone’s nearly-finished (and obviously discarded) bottle of SoBe “flavored beverage” (Nirvana Mango Melon, for you SoBe connoisseurs). Of all the writing and nutritional gobbledygook on the back of the bottle, my eyes instinctively (or so it seems) settle on the company’s tagline. (What can I say; I’m a marketing/tagline-kind of guy.) The tagline? Shake the lizard. (This is the honest to God’s truth; I wish I was this creative to make this kind of stuff up.) Anyway, I read on and discover that this particular bottle of SoBe has 50 MG of Hibiscus, 50 MG of Ginseng, and 50 MG of Astragalus. Astragalus? wtf? Does ANYBODY have the slightest clue what that is? What, is this supposed to throw us off the fact that SoBe has 30 GRAMS of SUGAR??? Are we not supposed to “get” that this is sugar-water? SoBe, you be so uncool….

LV: We're Off!

Off to the airport and the trip to the big LV. I'm loaded down with a half-dozen power bars, a bottle of water, a full bottle of Pepto-Bismo, 12 Aleve tablets, and a case of grapefruit (for the Vitamin C). Mr. Plane, please be on time, please be on time, please be on time... cause I hear a craps table calling my name....

LV: Countdown!

Am in SERIOUS countdown mode for my VEGAS BABY trip with JS (roughly 36-hours, but who's counting?!?). Ah, the sights, the lights, the poker rooms, the craps tables...the food and drinks! Disneyland might be the happiest place on earth (though others disagree--read on) but Vegas is the action-ist place on earth.

Friends and FROTB have been giving me numerous tips re: restaurants to visit during my stay, everything from Le Cirque at the Bellagio to the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Resort to THE Steak House at Circus-Circus. At the top of our must-hit list, of course, is the Double Down Saloon, another self-proclaimed "happiest place on earth".

You only go around once in life, but if you do it right, once is enough.