Vegas in July vs. the planet Mercury

My first photo op! We be stylin', yeah!

Fossilman, Ozzie Joe and The Poker Brat. I guess when I get better, I'll get a nickname.

Attending the WSOP Academy was fun, exciting and informative, so what else could you ask for? I learned a lot and I'm positive I've got more game.

I didn't win a satellite tournament this year, so I didn't get to play in the WSOP Main Event, but out of 180 attendees, I finished 20th in the academy tournament and I used a lot of my newly acquired knowledge.

I won all three times I played in the Caesars Palace poker room and then after I got home, I won a online sit-n-go tournament, so it hasn't completely paid for itself yet, I'm positive it will in the future.




Here's an easy riddle: What's the difference between Las Vegas in July and the planet Mercury? A: Las Vegas is hotter.


Since I had workshops & tournaments from morning to evening, I didn't leave Caesars Palace for 4 days and I had my car in valet parking. They had obviously parked it in the direct sun and July 5th set a record for the date at 116 degs, so the inside of the car was probably 150+. I had a plug in car fridge that I got from OSIsoft for my 15th anniversary and that melted and warped. I'm just glad the Red Bulls inside didn't explode. I had to toss it because I was afraid that the motor that cooled it off was damaged.

When I started to drive the car, it felt like that tires had melted into the pavement because it would only go really slow. Also the button that lets me lock & unlock the doors didn't work until I got back and went to the car wash, so I guess something was deformed and the cool water made it work again...

I had the water bottle you see below in the cup holder and the bottom softened and deformed, so now it's convex and won't stand up any more. The gum that I had changed it's chemical composition and turned into something really yucky. So the moral of the story is to self park and not on the roof.








The last two night I spent in Vegas, I stayed at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel. It's an excellent hotel and less expensive than the hotels with a Casino. The beds are very comfy and the showerhead pressure is massive compared to most hotels and they had a nice plasma TV with free HBO.

The best meal I had in Las Vegas was at the hotel restaurant - Envy The Steakhouse. I met a very nice server, Alina Gold, and I had never met anybody named Alina. She told me it's a common name in Russia and also now in Cuba and the latin community because Fidel named one of his daughters Alina. Her mother defected from the USSR and Alina was born in Nepal and I'd never met anybody born in Nepal... We had a very enjoyable evening as it wasn't very busy and I told her about the poker and about reading people. The next night I went back for dessert and she treated me to some excellent raspberry sherbert.

I'm sure to go back next time I'm in Vegas.

This is the end of 2007 WSOP trip reporting - here's a link to all the photos I took.

WSOP 2007