Vegas Wrap Up

I never did get a chance to post the end of my experiences in Vegas. So, here goes.

Here's a tip: No matter how cheap the price is, never, ever stay at the Golden Gate Hotel on Fremont Street, especially in a non-smoking room. I needed to book an extra day or two so that I could play in the Binion's monthly qualifying tournament (if you won any tourney during the month, you got to play in this freeroll for a jackpot consisting of a dollar or two from everyone's entries for the month). Well, I booked the Golden Gate, and since I had stayed at three different downtown hotels, which aren't notorioiusly the nicest and/or cleanest, but still remained unbothered, that I'd go for the cheapest I could find on short notice.

Well, the Golden Gate only has a few non-smoking rooms (like 4, maybe?). I had called the night before to confirm a non-smoking room, and they said yes, but when I arrived, they said they had none left. I insisted that they give me one, and finally they did, but only after some arm twisting. I got to my room, and it appeared fine. In fact, I thought I had gotten a real bargain! The fixtures were a bit outdated, but come on! I'm in Vegas. Who cares, as I'm only going to be in my room for about 9 hours a day. Right?

Wrong. Once I tried to fall asleep, I heard a repeating, very loud thunk outside, about every 15 minutes. All night. Turns out that there was a garbage dump and chute system right below my window. Wonderful. It made for a fabulously tiring last couple of days in Vegas, and it probably helped me to lose miserably. But no sleep is curable with a shower. Right?

Wrong again. Since the plumbing of the oldest hotel in Vegas is approximately 100 years old, it makes for some wonderfully unpleasant fluctuations in water temperature. Any sink, toilet, or shower that was used in another room instantly changed the water temperature around 100 degrees. It was awesome! I would wait for it to dip to near room temperature and quickly attempt to rinse my face, only to have the water scald my scalp at 200 degrees. Oh, and the pressure would change as well. I hated it.

My Binion's freeroll was a joke, as we only had like 2000 in starting chips with 15 minute blinds and about 70 players. Everyone was pushing chips around like they weren't meaningful, as it was a freeroll. I was out about 1 hour into it, when my 10s didn't hold up against another player's A-Q. He had been raising constantly, and I finally just took a stand. And then I lost. Oh, well.

I then drove home and started my search for a job. Needless to say, it was disappointing to leave, as I really enjoyed it, but Vegas can really wear on you after a short while, and since I was there until May 5, it was a lot longer than a short while...