Zombie New Year 2016 (1 Viewer)

[Poker Zombie]

Sometimes the cards fall just right.

Flop:
Every Christmas, I swap work shifts at the fire house. I work Christmas day for one of the guys that still have kids at home, and in turn, he works my New Years Day or Eve (depending on how the shift calendar falls).

Turn:
Those that know me, know my musical preference is with the Crooner/Big Band/Jazz sound. As much as I love Las Vegas, and have even visited a number of the old Rat Pack drinking holes and restaurants, I know there is simply no way (without a TARDIS) to catch one of those great shows.

River:
I caught wind of advance ticket sales for a 1 night Michael Buble' show. He's not Sinatra, but Buble' is still alive so I suspect he does a much better show. The show is for New Years Day.

For those of you that missed my trip report earlier in 2015, you can find it here. At the end of that trip we immediately wanted to go back. With the perfect Flop/Turn/River, I gotta shove....

Vegas Baby!

 

[Poker Zombie]

There is always discussion about where to stay in Vegas with a budget. In full disclosure, and to help others in the future, I will list costs in this report.

Budget: $4055. Why $55? I have a spreadsheet that I budget everything into. Once in Vegas, the plans become a bit nebulous, but I think it's a good idea to have guidelines so you don't stray too far off your intended budget. Vegas can eat your unguarded money in a blink of an eye. But the budget said I have $4055 to spend, so I will use that as my guide.

Expecting a huge crowd at the Nashville airport, we arrive 2 hours before our flight. Crowds actually look pretty thin, though TSA moves at their typical "going through the motions" pace. Then the x-ray machine picks up something in my backpack. EVERYONE jumps to life. Side note, even though it's legal to put 1.5 ounces of vermouth in a small jar with a couple of olives, and then put all of that inside of a cocktail shaker, and put that in your backpack next to your cell phone charging cables... don't do it. I got a really good look at the x-ray machine, and I would have called it a bomb. I would have taken a photo of the screen, but I am fairly sure I would have been shot if I suddenly pulled out my cellphone right at that instant. Roundtrip flight, Southwest, from Nashville for 2: $728. Breakfast in the Airport: $32 Drinks on the plane $4. (usually $10, but we picked up drink coupons on eBay for $4. Because the flight was delayed a bit, or because the attendant was absolutely enamored by the idea that someone was properly mixing drinks on board, she offered the drinks for free. Unfortunately, the coupons expired today, so it was irrelevant. Turbulence kept the attendants seated for most of the flight, so a second round was never an option.

Arriving in Vegas goes very well, though we arrived about 30 minutes later than scheduled because of headwinds and a late start. The limo driver (roundtrip $154) is quick, has champagne chilled for us, and takes us (at request) to a store to pick up a second bottle to ring in the New Year at midnight. Tip for the driver: $20. midnight bottle of bubbly from an off strip location: $35. A really good price for someone that comes from a state that taxes the ever-loving shit out of alcohol.

Finally, we arrive at the MGM. Valet is nuts, glad I'm in a limo. Inside we find the longest lines we have ever seen in 10 years of visiting Vegas. A quick calculation: If you were to leave LA for a Vegas weekend party, what time would you leave. You're 20 something, so you're not in a rush, but you are eager. You get your friends together, and maybe eat an unhealthy breakfast, hitting the road around 10 am, arriving in Vegas around 2:30. Look at my watch - 3pm.

Line flies though, MGM is well prepared for this weekend. Room booked through Hotels.com, with discount coupon, resort fees, and taxes: $1,034. New Years holds the highest prices of the year for this town. Suck it up.

The room is a complete joke. It's a shoebox for 1 shoe. It is very modern and clean, but their remodel has issues. For example, the shower is walled off from the toilet, but the only towels are located inside the little toilet room. It's easy for me to see how this went wrong, but MGM deserves a good facepalm for this...

...and yes, that is how wide the whole room is.

We "recover" a bit in the room. Anyone that says the the room in Vegas is just for sleeping doesn't understand why it would be a bad idea to bring a black-light into the hotel room.

After "recovery", we head across the street to Hooters - because women like the place too, @RainmanTrail . We have coupons from the American Casino Guide left over from our trip earlier in the year, so we hit the popular wing joint and casino and walk away from the roulette table $10 richer.

Breakfast, then 3 hours later vodka martinis, then a bottle of champagne, then a pitcher of beer, with wings and shrimp. F*ck you liver, this is how Vegas is done.

We head back the the room to pick up our other bottle of champagne, and slip it into this clever insulated wine quiver. Vegas bans all glass on the strip, and on New Years backpacks and strollers are strongly discouraged. Legislation is in place to ban backpacks for future New Years Eves, but it is currently in a 30 day holding period. Most people either complied or allowed PD (1,000 officers strong, not counting independent security forces) to search bulky bags. our quiver went unnoticed. Multiple hotels fire fireworks at midnight in a co-ordinated synchronized show. It was awesome, and pics do no justice.

@Mrs Poker Zombie has better pics that she may post, if she ever recovers.

 

[Stylin]

Sounds like a blast. I'd have loved vegas for the weekend, but the 6 year old doesn't appreciate it the way I do.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

Enjoy the show. As a jazz aficionado, that's a show I'd definitely go to.

 

[RowdyRawhide]

Looks fun. Buble puts on a good show. Been to several of them....my wife and one of her friends would've almost qualified as groupies at one point in time

 

[David O]

If you have never experienced New Years in Vegas you need to add it to your bucket list. I did about 5 years ago and it is something you have got to do!!!

 

[RainmanTrail]

We "recover" a bit in the room. Anyone that says the the room in Vegas is just for sleeping doesn't understand why it would be a bad idea to bring a black-light into the hotel room.

 

[Poker Zombie]

New Years Day

Sleep is dumb. How often do you look forward to being knocked unconscious? Despite the partying last night, I am awake bright and early. I catch up on some PCF, and explore the tiny room. I figure out why the room at the MGM is so small - they have clearly underestimated the size of people. I saw this on the in-room safe:

And so you have an idea how much room is in the safe...

You couldn't fit a miniature chihuahua in there, much less a laptop or your children.

When Mrs PZ awakens, we head across the street to New York New York for a breakfast at Nine Fine Irishmen. Normally they don't open until 11 am, but for New Years Day, they opened at 9:45. We were waiting as they opened the doors. (My camera lost the pic, @Mrs Poker Zombie will have to upload hers later).
Eggs, bangers (sausage), rashers (ham), corned beef, potatoes, and a tomato. Preceded of course, with Bailey's and coffee. B'fast for 2 with drinks: $31

From there, we head up strip to Planet Hollywood. We have a chip collection from casinos we've won in. In 2013 I won some cash in a poker game there, but didn't think about the chip at the time. We head back to remedy the situation. I don't know if it was because it was early, if the holiday spirit was still flowing, or because the old Korean lady in the cage was simply awesome, but when I asked for a single chip, she looked in her drawer, then went into the back and returned with a minty PH chip.

We continue to get our exercise by walking to the Excalibur for more Low Stakes poker. These tournaments pay like a home game, which is right up our alley, and within our budget. On the way I see one of my favorite ATMs.

For those that didn't read my mid-summer trip report, my ATM is a gambling device called No Rake Texas Hold'em. You vs a computer in limit hold'em. The gaming commission (theoretically) makes sure the game does not cheat - it simply learns your style and uses odds to beat you. The first hand I was down over $60, but now it thinks I'm a complete fishy donk. In 5 minutes I earn it all back, and pick up a few extra bucks - enough to tip the waitresses when the real tournament starts.

The tournament is a $45 buy-in. I forget the rake, but I think it's something like 300% of the prize pool. No matter, this isn't poker for profit - it's poker for fun. For those that aren't familiar with the Excalibur, the casino was built in 1990 to look like the castle Camelot. I'm pretty sure the entire staff was there when it opened. Not the Excalibur... Camelot. The median age of the employees was around one-thousand-fifty. The tables were in sad shape, but it was as fun as any home game I've played in.

Yes, I look like a noob taking pic of my chips and a card protector. At least I wasn't the player that lifted her cards off the table (and had to be reminded to keep them over the table). I love new players. They're so cute.

A little of @Ben Via Lactea luck took me deep, but came up just short of the money. After that I headed back to the ATM to take another $36 from it. Between the tournament and the Heads Up machine, I got to play 2.25 hours of poker, have a couple of drinks for just $6. Mrs PZ made the mistake of ordering a Martini from a bartender that doesn't know what a "lemon twist" means. Bonus points for trying though...

Despite Mrs Zombies' bad call of beverages, she chopped the tournament - for 1st.

We went back to the room to clean up, then headed down for dinner at Tom Colicchio's CraftSteak.

The food was excellent, steaks (as expected) cooked perfectly. We both started with salads and a bottle of wine. We both thought the salads (hers was spinach, persimmon and Asian pear with port wine, mine was Persian cucumber and watercress) could have used more chopping before hitting the plate. For the main we of course went with steaks, a second bottle of wine, and split 2 sides - brussels sprouts and braised red cabbage. Hooray cruciferous vegetable night! We'll be making plenty of noise at the concert later on tonight.

The sides were perfect, and despite being full, we decided to let the pastry chef make our dessert selection for us. He delivered monkey bread (forget what you know about monkey bread, this was light and airy, not heavy and sugary) and a scoop of basil and a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

In the end, we both thought our steaks were slightly over-seasoned, and the room could do with 20% fewer tables, despite the fact that they were almost all full. I notice little touches like this, so at this price point ($341) I cannot recommend CraftSteak.

I'm sorry Tom, Please pack your knives and go.

After a leisurely 2 hour dinner, we head down to the Michael Buble' concert. I've heard many say he is terrific in concert, and I assure you, he did not disappoint. Smooth, audience interaction, funny, and when paying homage Natalie Cole who passed away on New Years Eve, it would leave you a little misty eyed.

Tickets for the show cut another $436 out of our budget, but that was the point of this whole trip. The seats were good (the camera phone shot does no justice), and I would easily do it again. Despite the bit where, I think it cost $36 for the tickets and $400 in Ticketmaster fees.

We were going to head back to the room before going back downstairs for a nightcap, but we unwound quickly. Inside of 5 minutes, sleep delivered it's KO punch.

 

[BGinGA]

I always dig your trip write-ups. (y) :thumbsup:

 

[pokerplayingpisces]

If you have never experienced New Years in Vegas you need to add it to your bucket list. I did about 5 years ago and it is something you have got to do!!!

+1. The wife and I did it 3 years ago, and it's definitely something you have to do once in your life!

 

[bivey]

Great report. So glad you had a blast!

 

[fncraig]

Great report. We went to Vegas for our honeymoon is 2009 and had Craftsteak as our big meal. Though I am not a dessert fan, they delivered us an order of monkeybread for our celebration and it was absolutely fantastic. Our meal was great, but we have had better steaks since then; however, the Kobe tartare is still a favorite of mine.

@Poker Zombie, thank you for picking up shifts for your brother/sister firefighters. I am also a firefighter and just had to deal with a brand new person calling off sick for a holiday. It restores my faith to see someone like you picking up when you don't have to.

Good luck in Vegas Bro!

 

[manamongkids]

Maybe the suffocation warning is for people who fart into the safe and someone else opens it up later

 

[RainmanTrail]

On the way I see one of my favorite ATMs.

For those that didn't read my mid-summer trip report, my ATM is a gambling device called No Rake Texas Hold'em. You vs a computer in limit hold'em. The gaming commission (theoretically) makes sure the game does not cheat - it simply learns your style and uses odds to beat you. The first hand I was down over $60, but now it thinks I'm a complete fishy donk. In 5 minutes I earn it all back, and pick up a few extra bucks - enough to tip the waitresses when the real tournament starts.

I actually had an opportunity to play against this bot during development when I made videos for Stoxpoker several years back. I used to make some limit holdem videos for them. I believe Bryce Paradis helped with some of the bot's logic if I remember correctly. If so, that's bad news for the players. He's probably the greatest HU LHE player to date. I haven't played it since, but I've been anxious to try it to see if I can still beat it, or if it's gotten better. I believe it started as someone's grad school project in AI somewhere if I remember correctly.

Sounds like fun. Looks like you guys had a great time!

 

[Poker Zombie]

I actually had an opportunity to play against this bot during development when I made videos for Stoxpoker several years back. I used to make some limit holdem videos for them. I believe Bryce Paradis helped with some of the bot's logic if I remember correctly. If so, that's bad news for the players. He's probably the greatest HU LHE player to date. I haven't played it since, but I've been anxious to try it to see if I can still beat it, or if it's gotten better. I believe it started as someone's grad school project in AI somewhere if I remember correctly.

Sounds like fun. Looks like you guys had a great time!

I'm really kind of surprised that the game is even on the floor. No-rake clearly implies that the house has no edge over the player, and they are counting on bad play to make their profit. Not all casinos have it, and hen I do find it, there are only 2 machines, located a bit back from the poker room - usually behind one other bank of slots. I rarely see anyone on them, and when I do, they are losing money.

I think my tactic of guerrilla poker - quick short bouts of 10 minutes or less is what is giving me the edge here, because it has no way of knowing who I am or learning how I play in such a short time-frame. Maybe one day it will take me for the full hundo that I drop into it, but so far (knocking on wood) I have yet to finish down.

I have to admit, I am not familiar with Bryce Paradis, but then you are never going to see HU limit on TV.

 

[Mr Tree]

Looks like you guys had a blast!

I did Craft Steak on a trip back in 2013. They had A5 Wagyu beef on the menu for an absolute mint but I thought what the hell. Vegas is for excess and I've never had it before. It was pretty good but not worth the price.

Came back home and went to a steakhouse in historic Roswell with my wife a few months later. Low and behold they had a special for an A5 Wagyu ribeye for two. I felt like it was noticeably better than the steak I had in Vegas AND the ribeye (for two) cost half what the A5 beef in Vegas had run me.

Long story short I too thought Craft Steak was definitely good, but not worth the really large price tag.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Day after New Years Day

4 am, and I'm awake again. I suspect I will finally get my sleep patterns shifted to Vegas time right around the time when my plane is landing in Nashville. Still, any day waking up on vacation is still better than a day getting up for work.

Yesterday I mentioned breakfast with 2 drinks for $31. I forgot to mention that we had $25 taken off the bill because we played MyVegas on Facebook. It would have been $56 otherwise. This came to my attention, because the morning is going to be loading us up (hopefully) thanks to MyVegas.

To catch up those that have not read the previous trip report, MyVegas is a "game" on Facebook. You play slot machines or blackjack using "red coins". You get free red coins for free every day via various methods. As you bet red coins, you earn "gold coins", aka loyalty points. Sometimes you get free gold coins as well. You then use the gold coins to buy freebies or discounts at MGM properties, and a handful of other casinos nationwide (and 1 casino in London).

Most days I load the program, "get my spin" (collect a random number of coins), and then "Clean my Strip" (click on casinos you "build") for more coins. I timed it this morning, and this activity took 1 minute, 40.66 seconds. This includes the time it took to open Facebook and load the app on mediocre hotel internet speeds. Once every 2-3 weeks I pick a slot machine and "play" it. Since you can tell it to spin 500 times with a single click, I usually "play" while I'm making lunch, mowing the lawn, or something else, because It really doesn't need any more input from me unless a "bonus game" pops up - so I usually stick to games that don't have a bonus game.

Because we used up most of our gold coins for our summer 2015 trip, and I don't pick up my coins every day when I don't have Vegas on the mind, I knew we were going to have very few freebies this trip. $25 off breakfast was one. This morning we used 3 more rewards to get freeplay on any slot or Video Poker machine. We stick to mostly VP, but there was a slot machine next to the VP game we started on that was the same game as one of the MyVegas slot games. Mrs Zombie played all of her freeplay on the VP, I used 2/3 of mine on the VP game, then switched to the slot machine. This is where Mrs PZ and I finished...

I should have timed how long it took to stuff all that money into my wallet. I bet it was more than 1:40.66.

Reveling in a job well done ($67 of that was from the slot machine, so... basically pushing a button), discussed buying an oxygen tank and a scooter so we could start pushing social security checks into the machines. The discussion entertained us while we walked to Project Pie in MGM's "Underground".

Once again, I forgot to take photos, but a pizza and salad with soft drinks for 2 (probablly the only time I'll drink something other than water or alcohol in Vegas) ran $27.79. I don't think this was the best pizza in Vegas, but I would have to try this with Secret Pizza and Pizza Rock side by side to make an adequate assessment. It was darn good pizza though, and if I were at the MGM I would not walk over to the Cosmo just for Secret Pizza when this is right here.

After lunch we Headed south, to Mandalay Bay. We chilled in the sportsbook for a bit and watched some college ball while sipping a couple of Martinis. This cost us another $38. Next time I'll get there sooner so I can wager on the games and I don't have to buy my own drinks.

When another 1-2 table opened up in the adjacent poker room we shot on over. This was the biggest rolling 1-2 game I had ever seen. It played like @bergs in the PCF cardroom. we had 7 - yes, 7 pots over $400 - IN THE FIRST ORBIT! If you had an overpair on the flop, you could just jam and get called, every time. I nitted it up, and doubled up in the first hour, but got got cut in half by a flush I didn't think my opponent had. I finished down $11, Mrs Zombie got slammed for $100.

When the tournament opened up, we got into that, and both ran deep, making the final table. I finished 9th, Mrs Zombie 6th - both missing the money. For $60, I think this is one of the best tournaments in Vegas. Players run the gamut from fish to locals that feed on them. Chips were solids, but awesome colors. It reminded me of @detroitdad 's Sunset set.

We finished the pokerz just in time to make our table at Rick Moonen's RM Seafood. We needed to kill 3 1/2 hours before the next tournament, so we took dinner at a leisurely pace.

Now this may seem odd to our European or Australian (@Toby , @Phantom )friends, but Americans try to eat really fast. The french gave us 7 mother sauces, to add layers of flavor to everything they eat. Americans jammed everything into a bun so they could eat while driving somewhere else. So asking an American waiter to wait on us for the next 3 hours was a little odd. He took it in stride, and parsed out our courses well. We tipped him extremely well in return.

Kampachi:

Lobster Salad with black truffles (I started eating the truffles before I remembered to snap a pic.

Oysters not shown, because I was enjoying the vast selection of them too much to remember. It was educational though, learning the difference between East coast Oysters and West coat oysters - which has nothing to do with rap music as I thought.

My main was Scallops, which again I started digging into before taking the photo. Sorry detroitdad, I know you love food pics.

We finished with the 4x4x2, which once again I forgot to photograph. the 4x4x2 is an ice cream dessert for 2 people that contains 16 different ice creams / sorbets. You are told one (vanilla bean), and then have to guess the rest.

As this is Vegas, Mrs Zombie and I wagered $10 on how many we could get correct. I set the over-under at 12. The waiter laughed - nobody gets 12 correct. Mrs Zombie took the over. Unfortunately for Mrs Zombie, we only got 11.

Now, I know that they change flavors on a regular basis, but If you are heading to RMs and want to experience then full challenge I won't give up all the flavors, but here are some of the ones we missed:

Spoiler: 4x4x2 stumpers

• Benedictine - yeah, if you get this one, I'm calling Bullshit. How often does anyone drink Benedictine & Brandy (B&B)? We had nothing to go on.
• Chocolate 5 spice. I had the chocolate and star anise, so we earned partial credit here
• Coffee - We thought it was Kahula, because that's the only time cream and coffee should mix.
• Guinness - sorry @guinness , as much as I love the beer for it's chocolaty, nutty flavors we thought this was Nutella
• Nutella - can you believe we picked another ice cream as Nutella, when actual Nutella ice cream was right friggin here?

Multi course dinner, plus 2 bottles of wine destroyed our expected budget for this meal, $331. Worth every penny.

Sleep starts grabbing hold, and playing in a tournament until 1 am would just mean poor decisions, so we head back to the MGM and hit the casino bar so we can figure out what the mystery ingredient from the first ice cream tasted like. Very smooth. It will be appearing on our liquor shelf at home in the near future.

 

[detroitdad]

Your reports are some of the best. When we did Vegas 6 years ago most of our dinners was via Groupon, all buy one get one free. I'd love to experience some of those 300+ dinners. Just wouldn't happen. I'll just live through you

BTW, just got an alert. My sunset chips are an hour away. I should have them in hand, tomorrow night.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Big dinners are like chips. First you get 1. The you need another. You obviously cannot do it all the time, but yeah, if you love food, you need to do it someday. 50th anniversary or something. Start saving now.

 

[Mr Tree]

Big dinners are like chips. First you get 1. The you need another. You obviously cannot do it all the time, but yeah, if you love food, you need to do it someday. 50th anniversary or something. Start saving now.

The thing about big dinners is I have spent $400 for them and thought they were worth every penny and I have spent $400 on them and thought what a ripoff.

You definitely have to be able to handle mixed results.

 

[detroitdad]

The thing about big dinners is I have spent $400 for them and thought they were worth every penny and I have spent $400 on them and thought what a ripoff.

You definitely have to be able to handle mixed results.

The most we have spent on dinner was 150. It was fantastic. 400 is almost a week of pay. Not going to happen. Neither of us would be comfortable doing.

If I'm spending that much I'd rather buy something special (Tuna steaks, Bone in Tomahawk Ribeye, ect...) and cook it myself.

 

[Poker Zombie]

In this case, we only intended to have the one $300 dinner. RM was supposed to be just apps and the dessert, but we over-reached trying to kill time. Luckily, we budgeted $4000(ish), and that budget assumes we go busto every time we gambol. Since Liz binked the first tournament, and I didn't lose most of my $200 cash game buy-in, that easily made up the difference. We don't have a poker bankroll, we have a vacation bankroll.

It's how we do Vegas. Assume you will always lose. Play to reward yourself. Take home little money and many memories.

 

[David O]

Nice dinners are great but can get costly. I can remember several years back 5 of us went to the sushi restaurant in the Wynn. It's not there anymore due to a falling out between the owner and the Wynn. Anyway after a bottle of saké or two and Kobe sashimi the bill was right at $1500 not including the tip. You have to love expense accounts!

 

[Poker Zombie]

Jan 3, 2016 - Part 1 of 2

4 am and once again I am awake. I'm starting to wonder why I even own an alarm clock. The best pokerz are at night, because these internet "pros" have been drinking all day - I just hope I can stay awake for one stupid night.

Sunday morning - the last week of the NFL regular season. As we were travelling from casino to casino over the last few days, we have been hitting the sportsbooks to pick up their odds sheets. For those that aren't familiar with sports betting, not all sports books are the same. MGM has one set of odds for all of their properties, Caesars has one set for all of their odds, then there are William Hill Sportsbooks in a number of other locations, and Cantor has set up shop in others. While they are all betting on the same games, they all pay out differently, and bookmakers adjust how much they pay out as more bettors place bets on one side or the other. So while deciding on my games I wanted to bet on, and where, it only made sense to play at the Tropicana (Cantor sportsbook), because I was going to bet $50 on the Redskins to win and the Jets to win. I took/gave no points. So the Redskins were the underdog, and that $50 bet would pay back $122.50 with a win, and the Jets as the favorite would only pay back $82.50 for a win, which they failed to do. Still it was a $22.50 profit for the morning. Had I placed the same exact bet at the MGM, my total profit would have been $11.25. Kind of small potatoes, but $50 is a small potato bet.

While at the Tropicana sportsbook, we watched through the 1st quarter, but never saw a server. Eventually Mrs Poker Zombie hit the bar just outside of the book and bought 2 beers ($14). The bartender said the waitress goes in the sportsbook "sometimes". Great odds, shitty service.

...and if you are going to judge me for drinking at 10 am, remember that both beer and Cheerio's are made from grain.

During a potty break, Mrs PZ had to traverse the entire casino to get to the only restrooms. During her trip, she said the server was probablly the oldest server she has ever seen. Think Mother Theresa, but older - and she was the only server she could see. Later, when I hit the restroom, I couldn't find her anywhere. In fact I didn't see a single server.

Our plan was to hit the sports bar for lunch at halftime, and finish watching the games there, but we were shocked to learn their sports bar did not serve food. At least they had a waitress. Neither one of us saw the a server on our way to getting food. I now assume that the old server dropped over and was laying on the floor between a bank of slot machines. Since nobody looks down when walking in a casino (the carpets are designed to make you look up), I figure she will pass away in that spot, and remain there until some senior citizen complains because they cannot drive their Rascal over her, and she is blocking their lucky machine.

We head back the the MGM, because their TAP sports bar has food. Well, they call it food. I won't claim to be the worlds foremost expert on what is good food and what is not, so I will let you decide on your own from the descriptions. Nachos: Chips, a cheese sauce that was closest to DG Arc Yellow and contained no real cheese, pickled jalapenos, boiled (not broiled) chicken, 1 scoop of guacamole, and a pint of sour cream. The fried green beans were literally dripping in their on grease, even after we took them out so they could drain:

Cost: 54.75 - which remarkably was also the amount my cholesterol jumped after this lunch.

We watch the games and wash down the toxins with plenty of beer. We then stroll back to the Trop to cash our winning ticket, and then take a long (1.2 mile) walk down to the Linq.

Those of you that follow the WTF thread have seen the pay structure and the rake of the Linq. There is one (late) 400% jump in the blinds, and the house takes a 33% rake. I have to assume the players here are the worlds worst at pot-odds, or any type of math really. What we got was a bunch of internet players from all around the world. They had to be told a couple of times "English only". If you have followed my other reports this trip, you may have noticed that Mrs Poker Zombie has crushed me in every "last longer" in our tournament play, so when I sat at the final table immediately to her left, I knew there was only one way I was going to out-last her. I had to eventually take her chips. Every last one of them.

Don't feel bad for her though... she did finish second. #ZombiesSweep

Mrs Poker Zombie attributed her 2nd place finish to "Being like @Ben "

We generously tip the dealer that had us in stitches most of the game (10% of the prize pool) nab a $1 chip for the collection, and start heading back to he MGM before we remember that Mrs Zombie received a coupon from Caesars for a free drink in any of their casinos. Sure, we've been drinking for free at the tables, and the Linq actually makes a decent vodka Martini, but a proper vodka Martini in a cocktail glass is always my preference, so we stop at Planet Hollywood for her free drink, and one that I would have to buy. Of course, we upgraded to a premium vodka, so her free drink was only discounted $7. Total bill with tip $28

We watch some shitty street performers for a while, but their whole show appeared to be build-up. After about 10 minutes of build-up, repeated jokes, and no show, I fucking left. We've seen some great street performers in Vegas. These guys were not one of them. I'd rather line up bums and see how many I could jump over and give my pocket change to the one I landed on. #Things I Did Last Night But Was Ashamed To Report

For dinner we headed over to Ellis Island. They used to have a program where you bet $1 and you got a discount off the $9.99 steak dinner. Well, we went to the little kiosk when we arrived and swiped our players card. I won 1000 "points" (this translates into $1), Mrs Zombie won a free beer. Ellis Island has very good craft beers, so this is greatly appreciated. I use my $1 on video poker, plus $20 more. Mrs Zombie also hands $20 to the machine. It gave us this back:

Look, If you want to read about massive scores, you'll have to read someone else's trip report. We play Video Poker, but not optimally. We also cash out any time we finish up, or when we blow through a whole $20, so when I was up to $24.75 after 1 game, I cashed out. Mrs Zombie ran a roller-coaster, but finally eked out a bit of free gravy money.

We went back to the automated kiosk to get our coupon, but we find the promotion had changed. It now costs you $5 in play to collect the $2 coupon. So I sludge back to the machine, drop in another $20 so I can gamble another $4. My twenty shrinks down to $3.75 before I get on a heater and I cash out with:

How do you know you're not a high roller? Yo take photos of $20 cashout tickets. Also, I did a very long and attention grabbing victory dance, that involved a lot of me going "Weeeeeeeeeeee Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

We then go to the restaurant, where the tell us it will be a 45 minute wait. We go to the sportsbook and watch the Vikings-Packers game. I missed a crap-load in the PCF NFL pickem contest, but at least I got 1 bet (the more important of the 2 at that) correct. It's guys like @detroitdad or @Forest@Farmington that could kill it at a sports book.

When our table opens up (in 25 minutes - always call the Ellis Island bluff) we settle down for our dinner.

All that for 2 (only 1 beer each though), plus tip $25

 

[Poker Zombie]

Jan 3, 2016 Part 2

We take an adventurous walk back to the MGM. We don't take the "safe" route, which goes quickly to the strip, we walk through the desolated area, because it's shorter. Our conclusion: Street thugs have more common courtesy than anyone on the strip. When they were blocking the sidewalk, they saw us coming and politely moved to one side of the sidewalk. I have yet to see that from a tourist.

We get to the MGM just in time for the 10 pm tourney. It's a $50 turbo, 10 minute levels, 200 BB to start, 100% blind increases for the first 4 levels then ~40% increases after that. I get all jammie without clearly thinking, and bust out in the 3rd hand.
View attachment 27268

Drink service was so good at the MGM card room, that I actually received my Red Bull before I could leave the table. I decide to mosey around the casino drinking my Red Bull and I come across a Heads Up Poker ATM. As usual there are 2 of them, but 1 is out of service. Some donk is at the other one putting $5 in and playing it until he busts, then he puts in another $5. Wash-rinse-repeat. Keep in mind, this is a 1-2 limit game, with $1 anties. He's playing all-in poker.

I want to tell him he's doing it wrong, but this would make me look like an arrogant jerk. Besides the game needs to make money. With it's side machine dead, it's just a matter of time before the casino decides to throw it into the shredder and use the 18 square feet for a new nightclub.

New at the MGM Grand - Min Nightclub by Hakkasan with DJ Blakka-Boo
Min is one of the most exciting and successful nightlife/restaurant designs ever conceived, with more excitement per square inch than anywhere else in the world

They could also use the space for a Chris Angel theater. Repeatedly earning the prestigious award as the worst show in Vegas (and remember jumping over bums might be a thing), he probablly couldn't sell out the 18 square feet. Stupid 10 yr contract. Seriously, pay me $86 and watch me do laundry where I make one sock disappear.

On the other hand, forget that. Mrs Poker Zombie would gladly pay me $86 to see me doing the laundry.

When the donk runs out of fivers, I settle down for 10 minutes and take an extra $52 out of it - enough to cover my losses from a few minutes ago - then head back to the room. Mrs Poker Zombie arrived around midnight, ampped up from her 6th place finish.

 

[BiGGyT]

Grats on the tourney split at Linq and the other wins. If you leave ahead, even $1, it is a win. Proclaim victory proudly, and video those bum jumping competitions, sure Tru TV will pay well for it. I agree, I bring money to spend in Vegas, be it casino or entertainment, and if I leave with any, that is a good thing. As far as your 10am drinking concerns, you obviously did not read my bloody mary crawl post.

Have fun!

 

[detroitdad]

and if you are going to judge me for drinking at 10 am,

would never do that.........Might ask why you waited so late in the day for your first beer? Hell, your in Vegas

Don't feel bad for her though... she did finish second. #ZombiesSweep

great news sir!!! Congrats @Mrs Poker Zombie

Look, If you want to read about massive sores, you'll have to read someone else's trip report

Dude, if I could only ever read any one members trip reports. It would be yours hands down. Well done.

We then go to the restaurant, where the tell us it will be a 45 minute wait. We go to the sportsbook and watch the Vikings-Packers game. I missed a crap-load in the PCF NFL pickem contest, but at least I got 1 bet (the more important of the 2 at that) correct. It's guys like @detroitdad or @Forest@Farmington that could kill it at a sports book.

I purposely stay away from sports betting. It could get very dangerous for me. Something I could get cracked out on very quickly.

 

[Mrs Poker Zombie]

As expected, @Poker Zombie writes very good trip reports. I won't try and compete. I'll go ahead and add a few bits, maybe fill in a couple gaps, but mostly add photos. To keep my brain from exploding (a risk for us Zombies), I'll do one post per day. So..... let's see what PZ said.

 

[Mrs Poker Zombie]

New Years Eve.... what a horrible picture of me that PZ took! Maybe this will look better for the limo picture.

FYI, the Hooters' wings were quite good.

Standing on the strip was cool. And, as we found out later, not near as sardine-like as up the strip. Note to those that go in the future - pick an end of the strip, preferably the South end, and you can watch the fireworks without getting stepped on constantly.

I didn't take pictures during the fireworks - I was too busy saying "ooooh" and "aaahhhh". But the after images where it looks like Vegas was on fire were cool. Here is a sample.

 

[Mrs Poker Zombie]

When Mrs PZ awakens, we head across the street to New York New York for a breakfast at Nine Fine Irishmen. Normally they don't open until 11 am, but for New Years Day, they opened at 9:45. We were waiting as they opened the doors. (My camera lost the pic, @Mrs Poker Zombie will have to upload hers later).
Eggs, bangers (sausage), rashers (ham), corned beef, potatoes, and a tomato. Preceded of course, with Bailey's and coffee. B'fast for 2 with drinks: $31

Darned tasty. And filling. I didn't finish....though I gave it a good effort.