 Vegas June 2024 (WSOP) |
| Days 3-4 - Concert, Nugget BigO |
| Last Updated: 2024-06-09 11:43:01 |
| This'll be a short one, at least on the poker side. Got way more interesting stuff about the concert we saw than the brutal run I had at the BigO tournament. Just one of those days at the poker table...
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| On Friday Joann and I had tickets to From Ashes To New at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. After sleeping in we had "linner" at Ri Ra Irish Pub on the Mandalay Bay side of the bridge between there and Luxor. Whisky flights, good food, good service. We've eaten there before and surely will eat there again!
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| We got Fast Lane and we upgraded to half a table so that Joann wouldn't have to stand all night. Five bands, each had their own merch booths side-by-side outside the concert hall. We get scanned and are standing waiting to be let in to the merch area and some security guy is letting some kid in and out through the lines who looked to be 10-12 years old. Obviously the kid of someone in the band or something.
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| At the "Elijah" booth and the "Phix" booth there are a couple guys hanging out who sure have the look of band members...
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| When we finally get let in we get in the long line for From Ashes To New merch. We made a point of listening to all the bands over the last couple of weeks and were sure we were in for a good night of entertainment. And we do try to support the bands through their merch!
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| So while I'm waiting Joann and I decide we're going to buy "Point North" shirts as well, and there's no line. Joann walks up, friendly dude helps her out, I finally get to the front of my line, we get shirts and go get our table assignment.
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| Usually Macallan 12 is a pricey scotch at a bar relative to other bottom offerings of other distilleries. You can pay double for a glass vs say something like Glenfiddich's 12.
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| But ... for just $3 more than Jameson doubles we got Macallan doubles at our table. And our server Delane was great!
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| Elijah comes out on stage, and there's that dude from the merch booth ... it was Elijah! They were good!
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| Next band, next Macallan for Pete!
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| Phix comes out ... there's that dude from the merch booth, lead singer for Phix!
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| But wait ... are you kidding me? 11 year old kid IS THE DUMMER FOR PHIX. I daresay he may have been the best drummer in the building that night. Holy shit could that kid play!!! Phix also put a good show for us!
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| While we're waiting for Ekoh, band three, to come out Delane comes and taps me on the shoulder...
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| "Our marketing department would like to offer you all a free round in exchange for recording me serving them to you".
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| Uh ... lemme think about that ... YES!
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| They had to do two takes, so she had to take back the drinks and re-serve them. Also had us hide our merch so they had a clear view of the stage, etc.
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| Up next was Ekoh, much more rap than rock (as he pointed out) but he was also very good! Good enough we decided we were hitting their merch afterwards.
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| Point North is next up, and lookie there ... the dude who sold Joann the shirts was the guitar player!!!
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| Them and From Ashes to New both delivered! Great show all night!
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| Also should have mentioned that some of the bands had collaboration songs out that we hear on Octane and sure enough everyone came out to do them, for example Ekoh joined Phix for their "Doomed" song collab. Great to see all that happen too!
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| We head out back to the merch booth and there's Ekoh standing there signing anything anyone hands to him. We grab a couple of shirts, he chats us up for a few minutes and signs our shirts. We see this a lot nowadays with bands we see in smaller venues and it's really cool.
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| Pizza at NYNY on the way back to our hotel and we called it a night.
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| Probably had my best night of sleep in a few days, finally!
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| Met my cousin Heather for lunch at Whisky Licker Up at Binions, just across from the Nugget where I was going to play in the BigO tournament since we decided the free concert just wasn't going to happen for us.
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| You'd think at a restaurant with Whisky in the name I'd have something to talk about, but just Jameson's for me and mixed drinks for Joann and Heather. Good food and good company!
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| As soon as we were done eating we parted ways, Heather was bringing Joann back to Vdara so I left them to deal with the check and walked over to the Nugget.
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| Place is packed, they were guaranteeing 80-100 players and they're at 223 when I bought in. I'm about 20 deep in the alternate list, but I think I was sitting within 20 minutes. Bustouts obviously happening fast and furious...
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| Won the first hand I was dealt! I sit down in the big blind, call a raise and see a 5-handed flop with 2-3-J-Q-K. Not a great hand but I've got a suit and I'm in the blind.
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| Flop 8-9-10 in order, two hearts. I have a nut straight that can't be counterfeited because even if a jack, queen or king come I still have the best possible straight.
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| I pot it, everyone folds.
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| I would win just one quarter of one pot the rest of the time I sat there...
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| Saw very few aces, shouldn't play any hand in this game that doesn't contain an ace, missed almost every flop and every time I flopped a draw it missed. The one time I had a solid hand like A-2-3-J-K with a couple of suits I got a flop like 6-T-6.
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| My quarter of a pot was when I flopped nut low draw with A-2-4-something-something and a decent flush draw in a 3-way pot, all my chips went in and the low came in for me but the flush, which would have been good, did not. Someone else had the same low, 3rd guy had caught trips for the high.
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| Busted out the next hand when I got in again after flopping a nut flush draw, a pair and the nut low draw but nothing came in for me. Not even an hour of playing time, brutal. I message Joann, they had barely gotten out of the parking lot, quick U-turn and Heather drops Joann back at the Nugget to ride with me back to Vdara.
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| Back to the room, tried to take a nap, watched streaming, got takeout for dinner, went to bed.
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| BigO again on Sunday, this time for a World Series of Poker bracelet. Hopefully will go better, couldn't go worse! |
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