Sunday, February 27, 2011

Las Vegas trip, closer to the end, still no car info.

Once again, no car stuff. But as I said, we have car news coming soon. So stay tuned....

Las Vegas Trip - Part 4

Another interesting issue comes to mind here too. The difference in the “character” of poker rooms. I don't mean anything relating to the players, but rather how things are run.

The room at the Golden Nugget, is loose. Players often act out of turn, talk about their hands, and basically do whatever they want and the dealers and management just smile and stand by doing nothing. Another issue is that when in a tournament if you are in a back table, one away from the convenient front of the poker room, it can be hard to get a drink. While in one tournament, and sitting at that table I waited over twenty minutes without a waitress coming by. And this is after I saw them at the other tables only minutes ago. Fortunately, we had a break, so I went to bar and had to buy a drink because “I wasn't gambling.”, I am playing Poker I said! He said, then I should have ordered from the waitress there.

If I actually had normal blood pressure, I think it might have gotten elevated at that point. But thankfully, my blood pressure is lower, so even when it got raised, it only gets back to normal for other people. I talked about not being able to get a drink, to floor manager as I left. He said they must have been on shift change, and I should have just come to him. Fair enough.

But guess what? It happened again, in another tournament, on a different night, sitting at the same table. The waitresses all seemed like little humming bees flitting around here and there to all of the other tables, but somehow managing to skip mine. Could it be a conspiracy? Are they out to keep me from drinking? Who knows, but this time I am ready. Between Poker hands, I went to the floor man, mentioned my previous experience, and told “it is happening again”. No problem he said. What do you want to drink? I will have it brought to you immediately. So I got my drink, and that wasn't really that big of a deal. But darn it folks! Please just do your jobs.

It might seem form what I have written that I was most upset by the failure to get a timely drink. That really isn't true. That simply was a more interesting episode. It was the out of order play and the lack of table management that disturbs me the most at the Golden Nugget. .

By contrast, at Binion's, the rules are enforced, and mid way through a tournament, I wasn't paying attention, didn't see the cards held by the fellow next to me, bet out order, since he had cards and hadn't completed his action, and I got sat out for hand. But it is so much nicer to play in a well run tournament, where you don't see cards folded into the muck from all positions, bets trying to come from everywhere, making it hard to determine when it really is your turn. And oh, the waitresses come by like clockwork. You never go thirsty at Binion's. I like playing there.

My flight back from Vegas was less eventful, unless you count the TSA agents singling out my laptop bag which contained, in addition to laptop related things, a variety magic items that confused the TSA gal doing the Xrays of carry ons, Anything sharp or dangerous in here, a cute lady agent asked, as she puts my laptop bag on a table for examination?


No, I comment, the only thing sharp and dangerous here is me! I immediately get the "that isn't funny, this is serious business" look, and she starts pulling things out of the bag, and as each item comes into the light of day, we play “what's this?” Once they the entire contents of my laptop bag has been individually examined and dumped into a gray plastic bin. She looked at it all, and said, Hmmm, I wonder what she saw? So the bag goes back through the Xray, and the contents in the gray plastic container goes though and she stops it and runs it back and looks again, and puts it through again with look of, I know there is something bad in there, and it has been a slow day, so I will find it!

OK, finally, it is good. I repack the laptop case, which really just means that I opened it up and dumped the entire contents of the gray container back into it. And I squeeze it, and the zippers finally close. Off to my departing gate.

This is the part of the trip that I wonder what I was thinking! The flight leaves Las Vegas at 11:30 PM, and arrives in Ohio sometime the next day. It has been about 30 years since I last took a red eye flight from Vegas, and apparently it was long enough ago to have somehow obscured the idiocy of it.


Once again, time to make a note to my travel planner (Whom I previously mentioned was Me). Dear travel planner, you are really stupid.

Continued.....

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