The WSOP at the Rio

Day 294 on the road.

Starbucks, Boca Park Shopping Center, Charleston at Rampart, west Las Vegas

After running a few errands in Laughlin, I drove in to Vegas yesterday and checked into my room at the Palace Station Casino Resort. I will be here two nights before moving on west.

I spent the afternoon at the Amazon Room at the Rio Casino Resort Hotel watching Event 2 of the World Series of Poker. (Photo on left,I took from the rail.) Event 2 is a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Holdem tournament that registered 3,929 players and offers a prize pool of over $3 million. Today, the final table will conclude with the winner taking home around $831,000. I watched for about an hour as some of the greatest players in the world tried to survive an onslaught of aggressive online players.

When I left Texas last year, my goal was to visit the Rio and watch the pros play at a World Series of Poker event. If nothing else, I have at least accomplished that goal! (Photo right, I took of pro Ted Forrest and others while watching the action.) The tournaments are held in the enormous Amazon Room at the convention center attached to the Rio Casino Resort. Hundreds of poker tables were lined up as far you could see. I played in a cash game located in a section dedicated for games like $10/$20 Holdem and $75-$150 Omaha Hi Lo Split.

(Photo left, is Doyle Brunson, the "god" of poker and a fellow Texan. Texas Dolly is perhaps the best known poker pro in the world.)

The WSOP tournament events will continue throughout the next six weeks or so. The Final Event, the big momma of all the events with a $10,000 buy-in, will be held the first week of July. The Main Event will take a week to narrow the field down to the final table. The players who make it the final table of the Main Event will not play for the championship until November. This is something entirely new, giving the players time off to regroup and give ESPN time to hype the shows that will be aired throughout the fall. ESPN will air the results of the final table in November on the same day it concludes, via tape delay.

If you would like to sponsor me for the Main Event, feel free to contact me. I only need $10,000 plus expenses for the week. If I win, I'll have about $8 million to share with you!

The final table production site for ESPN broadcasts.

MyRoadArt

Day 292 on the road.
Starbucks, Aquarius Casino, Laughlin

After 292 days on the road, it's become apparent that Las Vegas is not the end of my journey. I left Texas almost a year ago with no plans. All I had was a tank of gas and the desire to travel. The idea was to make my way to Las Vegas. I was in no hurry to get there, nor did I have any particular reason to target Sin City as my destination. All I knew is I wanted to head West.

Now that I'm here in Laughlin, 90 miles from Las Vegas, I'm ready to keep moving. I've made weekend trips to Las Vegas and will spend a day or two there next week before I move on. I've been here since March 1. Two months of Laughlin is enough for any sane human.

I've had to rethink my plans for this blog. I'm no longer "1100 Miles from Vegas," which was the original title of this travel journal. Las Vegas is not the final destination of my road trip. At least, not yet. I'm staying on the road and will continue to head West looking for whatever the future holds. And I will continue to write and document my trip here. But a change is in order.

I've changed the title of this blog to "MyRoadArt" to reflect the way I feel about my journey. Traveling on a tight budget with no agenda, and now no destination in mind, is more of an art than a science. I want to paint a picture of what it's like to live on the road.

MyRoadArt.com will be the new home of this blog, though technically it will still be hosted at http://2vegas.blogspot.com/. So, to find me just point your browser to http://www.myroadart.com/.

Tomorrow morning I drive to Las Vegas for a couple of days. I'll then put Vegas and Laughlin in my rearview mirror and head for the Pacific Ocean.

California West Coast Adventure

Day 291 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Co., Laughlin

It's hot outside and so today's main goal is stay inside. The Firehouse Coffee Company is quiet today with just a few folks eating a light lunch. I'm enjoying the time trying to catch up on some planning, writing, reading, and resting.

I've put in more than 160 hours of poker this month in eight different poker rooms, including three trips to Las Vegas. I've had one tooth pulled, met four Canadians, changed the oil in my car, observed drunken college students on a late night river taxi ride, become intimate with the Las Vegas rail system, flopped a straight flush at the Red Rock, heard a country band play before a mob on Fremont street, discovered that blending cranberry juice and pineapple juice is a good idea, and laughed often with guys like Bruce, Lee, and Tim.

It's been an interesting month in the desert. But I'm ready to hit the road again.

I will drive to Las Vegas on Monday and stay there until Wednesday. On Wednesday I head west to Bakersfield, California. On Thursday I'll be in Solvang, a Dutch community founded in 1911. I've had many people talk about Solvang, so I'm going to check it out. Once in Solvang, I'm not sure of my plans. The Chumash Casino Resort is near Solvang, and so I'll be checking out the poker room there. I might decide to just hit the infamous coastal Highway 101 and drive north along the California coast until I run out of money for gas.

By this time next week, I'll be on the Pacific Ocean thinking about what to do next.

Marathon Man

Day 290 on the road.
Starbucks, Aquarius Casino, Laughlin

My Memorial Day weekend was like a scene from the movie, "Marathon Man." I'm just now getting over it.

"Marathon Man", one of my favorite movies, starred Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier and was released in 1976. Directed by John Schlesinger from the screenplay by William Goldman (who also wrote the novel), the story features Olivier as a Nazi war criminal who loves to torture people with the kindness of a grandfather. Hoffman is innocently caught up in a search for diamonds when his brother (played by "Jaws" star Roy Scheider) ends up dead in his apartment. Olivier wants his diamonds and he believes Hoffman knows where to find them.

When Olivier kidnaps Hoffman, one of the most infamous torture scenes in film history unfolds. Olivier finds a cavity in Hoffman's tooth and begins to stick and probe until he finds just the right nerve.

Everyone can relate to tooth pain. That's why this particular torture scene is so riveting.

On the Thursday before Memorial Day I developed a tooth ache. At first it wasn't severe, but by Saturday it was clear I needed immediate help. I did not sleep Friday night at all. The over-the-counter pain killers at Walgreens were worthless, so I sat up Friday night thinking about the movie "Marathon Man."

On Saturday I was scheduled to stay in Boulder City. I drove there thinking I might be able to find a dentist office open. I was delusional, of course, in so much pain my brain was preoccupied with keeping me from jumping off the Hoover Dam into the Colorado River. On Memorial Day weekend no dentist was going to be available.

As I sat there in downtown Boulder City at the Starbucks, drinking nothing, I knew I needed relief. There was no way I could wait until Tuesday (Monday being a holiday) to find a dentist. Therefore I went to the Boulder City Hospital emergency room to buy some drugs.

After a 45 minute visit and paying $385 in cash, I walked out with a prescription for Hydrocodone and an infection medicine. I went to my motel in Boulder City, took the meds, and spent the next 24 hours in bed.

Back in Laughlin on Tuesday I found a nice dentist (thanks, Dr. Larsen) and he finally ended the torture. I had an upper molar pulled and will later have a root canal done on another tooth.

But for now, I'm at least getting back to normal.

Long Journey Update Me

Current Location: Laughlin, Nevada.

Okay, so sue me. I've neglected this blog for weeks now. I've been reguarly hanging words on my site at 1100 Miles to Vegas (also known at "MyRoadArt.com"), but for whatever reason I've not done much writing here. In fact, I've been neglecting my writing schedule altogether.

At least today I've checked in. How's it going with you?

Day 281 on the road.
Starbucks, inside the Aquarius Casino Hotel, Laughlin

Unfortunately, the River Palms doesn't have a decent coffee shop with internet access so I'm forced to go somewhere else for a morning brew. On most mornings I'll travel into Bullhead City and hang out at the Firehouse Coffee Company. This morning I wanted to avoid the drive. So I came here to the Aquarius Casino Hotel, just two blocks north of the River Palms. A Starbucks is located inside the Aquarius and you get free internet access.

I'm checking my email and preparing for another day of fun in the desert. My main goal is to stay out of the heat. A cold front is expected to blow in sometime today or tomorrow and will drop the temps back to the upper 80s. Yesterday it got up to 112 degrees here.

Vincent, the Fiesta, and a Horseshoe Trip

Day 280 on the road.
Firehouse Coffee Company, Laughlin
.
I'm back in Laughlin for the week, after spending the weekend in Boulder City, Henderson, and Las Vegas. Mid-May weather in the area has become very hot. Today's temperature in Laughlin is expected to be 112 degrees. But a cold front is moving in mid-week and will drop the heat back to a more humane 82 degrees.
.
This past Saturday morning I drove to Boulder City hoping that Vincent had an available room. I had reservations at the Fiesta Casino Hotel in Henderson for Sunday night. So when I left Laughlin I was hoping to get lucky and find a room in Boulder City for Saturday night.

Vincent owns a 16-room hotel in downtown Boulder City called the Western Inn. Each room has a small kitchen and the beds are comfortable enough. It's also a really quiet and easy-going place. When I first met Vincent a few weeks ago, he said, "I keep it quiet around here. Since I'm the owner, I can say who stays here and who doesn't." Guests also get free Internet access. For me it's a no-brainer to stay at the Western Inn unless I find a special at a casino and receive a nice room rate.

When I arrived in Boulder City I stopped for gas and then drove to the Western Inn. The office was closed and Vincent was nowhere in sight. So I left my business card on his office door with the note, "Vincent, if you have a room available give me a call. I'll be down the street at Starbucks." I had been at Starbucks for about 20 minutes when Vincent gave me a call. "Hey, Mitch, I've got a room for you. If I have to, I'll kick someone out."

So I checked into the Western Inn about 1 p.m. on Saturday and began thinking about where to play some poker for the evening. I decided to drive to downtown Las Vegas and play in the historic poker room at Binion's Gambling Hall and Casino, formerly Binion's Horseshoe Casino.


The Horseshoe is the place that first hosted the World Series of Poker in 1970 and was the birthplace of modern day poker, at least in Las Vegas. Harrah's Entertainment bought The Horseshoe, including rights to the WSOP. Harrah's subsequently sold the downtown casino hotel to MTR Gaming in 2004 but retained ownership of the "Horseshoe" name and all rights to the World Series of Poker. Thus, the WSOP main event and the series events are now played at Harrah's properties around the world.

(Photo right: I took this picture of the "signature board", containing the signatures of famous poker players and WSOP champions, etc. The "Poker Hall of Fame" is in another exhibit nearby, but I wasn't sure about taking photos in the poker room.)

But the old gambling hall still stands and is now known as Binion's Gambling Hall. It is coming under new ownership once again. This time, the new owners are promising upgrades and an expansion plan.

When I first walked in to the poker room at Binion's I immediately was struck by the history of the place. For one thing, the poker room was the sight of the final table for the World Series in 2003 when Chris Moneymaker won the Championship and became the catalyst for the so-called "poker boom" that has seen the game explode in popularity around the world. It was a very cool place to play poker.
.
(Photo above, from left to right: Johnny Moss, Chill Wills, Amarillo Slim, Jack Binion, Puggy Pearson, at the 1974 World Series of Poker at The Horseshoe.)

I played at Binion's until 9:30 p.m., about 7 hours or so. I then walked out into the "Fremont Street Experience" to check out the country and western bands who were playing concerts. The Academy of Country Music Awards was scheduled for it's live broadcast from Caesar's Palace Las Vegas on Sunday night, but on Saturday night on Fremont Street many of the bands were scheduled to play. The crowd was enormous. The Freemont Street Experience is weird and crowded enough on a regular night with tourists and hookers. But when you add the bands, concerts, and celebrities on this particular night, what you get is a mass of humanity that is unbelievable. (See photos of the mayhem below.) I didn't stay long.
.

On Sunday I moved from the Western Inn in Boulder City over to the Fiesta Casino Hotel in Henderson, about a ten-minute drive west on Hwy. 93 toward Las Vegas. I spent the afternoon playing poker at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson.

My room at the Fiesta was okay, but noisy. The bed was compfy and the plasma flat-screen TV was a nice upgrade. However, my room had a door leading the room next door and it was not sound-proofed at all. I could hear every movement from the family staying in the room beside me. Plus the AC fan was cutting on and off (no way to keep the fan on at all times...a real dumb design flaw) all night. So I doubt I'll be back to the Fiesta. The hotel and casino itself are topnotch. I watched "Iron Man" at the cinema (great movie) and ate at their buffet (not bad). But I didn't get much sleep.

On Monday morning I checked out at the Fiesta and drove to downtown Boulder City. I drank coffee and read the paper at the little country cafe in the downtown historic district and really liked the small-town environment. The small cafe was an old-style diner, complete with locals sitting on stools at the counter eating pancakes.

.

I was back in Lauglin by 1 p.m. and playing poker at the River Palms, earning another free room comp.