Rebecca's Recommendations - August 11, 2006
VEGAS: PART TWO. World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Wednesday, July 26th.
One of my better friends in the online gaming industry (who actually lives in Las Vegas) decided to organize an entire day and night of activities for his clients and friends. It all began with the stretched Hummer that picked up our group of 20 right in front of the Wynn at 2pm. Myself, the 7 Sultans Casino crew, the Which Poker boys, my friend from Absolute Poker, the affiliate manager from Mummy's Gold Casino, and a whole collection of affiliates made our way to my friend's beautiful house that he shares with his business partner and girlfriend. The threesome hired caterers and a bartender to take care of us all afternoon while we relaxed by the pool, played ping pong, pool and Golden Tee. A few hours later we hopped back into the hummer and went to the Palms to check out the "No Limit" movie premier. This hilarious poker documentary was followed by an after party that featured completely naked women except for some body paint, of course. Later in the night I stopped by the Full Tilt party at "Pure" to meet up with my Gambling 911 friends- these guys got me on the list, but ironically enough, when they tried to get in an hour later, they were denied at the door. Funny how things turn out sometimes. I must say, this party was a blast- all the huge poker stars were there along with some token American Pie and Scream celebs. My favorite party activity was staring at poker legend Chris "Jesus" Ferguson grinding with his hot Latina girlfriend. Not OK. I spent the majority of my night with the PKR.com team and even ran into a friend from college AND a friend from my Florence study abroad program. I mean, come on. I had not seen either of them in over 6 years! Turns out my Florence friend actually owns part of "Pure" and is a high roller poker player at Mandalay Bay (better keep in touch with this guy). When the Full Tilt party came to an end, I still had some life left in me, so I decided to meet up with the stretched hummer crew at their "Studio 54" table. After raiding the cheese platter they had ordered, I decided to call it a night.
Thursday, July 27th.
Thursday was the first day of the Lifestyle Show, an expo full of online poker booths for poker players and industry related individuals to come and check out. This show took place at the Rio, the same location as the WSOP, and was packed full of people. I finally bumped into the Gambling 911 crew along with my Oasis Casino contact and the group of us decided to escape for lunch. Somehow I managed to swindle my way into an invite only list for the "1st Annual Doyle Brunson Roast" later that night, so I skipped out of the Rio shortly after lunch to get ready for the big event. I arrived at the roast with the Gambling 911, Betcorp and Bluff Magazine and watched Pam Anderson arrive with her entourage of young guys full of earrings, tattoos and street clothes. I enjoyed the dinner of lobster tails and prime cuts of meat with Gambling 911 and a Randy Meisner imposter, believe it or not (see picture below). After one exquisite dinner we watched the "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Brad Garrett roast Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, and Pam Anderson to the point where Pam stormed out of the event . I guess that's what you get when you pay for enormous breasts and participate in porn with Tommy Lee. Anyway, as always, the event was followed by an after party which was followed by another after party. (This is typical for online gaming events in case you did not know). The entire group ended up at "Light" for yet another late night of dancing and drinks. Once it registered in our drunken minds that the DJ was playing legitimate wedding songs, myself and my friend from Absolute Poker snuck out for some late night food at the Bellagio. As we all know, copious amounts of food at 4am is the absolute kiss of death, so I am afraid it was lights out for Liquorero.
Friday, July 28th.
Flight at 4pm. Thank Christ. Like I said last week, 6 days in Vegas with the online gaming crowd is not OK. Even though I was close to death, being the dedicated Casino City employee that I am, I brought myself and my bags to the Rio to try and meet up with any online poker folks that I had missed. Before leaving, I found it necessary to fully investigate the Bodog Poker booth at the Lifestyle Show and boy, was it worth it. As we all know Bodog loves the shock factor in general when it comes to booths (and parties, of course). Well, this booth was shocking. They had a DJ on the first floor (yes, first floor), along with a strip poker table, and countless pictures of Calvin. On the second floor they had a bed complete with pillow fighting models. I am not joking- there were pillow fights going on up there! As my time in Vegas came to a close, I said my goodbyes and waited in a 45 minute cab line in the 115 heat to get to the airport. The definition of enjoyable.
So there you have it- my complete Vegas adventures, and now you have my crazy Costa Rica stories to look forward to next week. Here is a preview: I made an appearance at the Del Rey every single night I was there. I am pretty sure I was the only female in the place to walk away at 4:30am without any extra money in my pocket. Oh well, at least I was not carded at the door this time.