WPBT 2010 Winter Classic- A weekend of Buying the Dip Part 4

It has been a couple of days since I did the third part. I was thinking there wouldn't be a need to do the last installment. It has been well over a week and I figured by now that everyone went and BOUGHT THE DIP!!!

If you had, you'd be enjoying a nice profit now. You would have been able to pay back that money your borrowed at ridiculously low rates and been freerolling into the new year.

Please tell me, for all that is holy in this world, that you bought the fuckin dip! If you didn't, then you hate money. Hell, I am not sure you should even think about going to Vegas.

Sunday woke to a nice cool day. The weather forecast was for temps in the low 70s. A beautiful December day in Las Vegas. Good thing I would be spending it inside at LaGasse Stadium. Big thanks to Al and Full Tilt Poker for comping us some food and drink during the early football games.

I was hot on two games that Sunday. Atlanta and Green Bay. Both giving up 7 points. Two of the best teams in the league taking on some low life division rivals. I went with the parlay instead of the individual game. I was that confident.

The Packers would go on to shit the bed and cost me a lot of money. Worse, they put me into a funk and made me not want to pull the trigger on two promising late games, the Saints and Chargers. Sigh.

We left the Palazzo when the games were over and headed back to the Imperial Palace. The beer was cheaper and there were plenty of TVs up by the sportsbook to watch the Cowboys game. Little did I know I would be surrounded by Eagles fans. I figured at least one more Dallas fan would be around but it wasn't to be. Oh well.

The Cowboys played well but their defense could not come up when needed. It was a good game and I enjoyed it. Watching with the enemy can be fun, especially when no one is being a total jackass and just cheering on their respective team.

Once the game was over, I went to see if I could get on another craps roll. It wasn't too be. Left down a bit when the dice just wouldn't warm up. I then made my way over to the Pai Gow table. Maybe the cards would be hot.

And for once they were. I went on a Pai Gow heater to end my trip, doubling up in a short period of time. Plus I was hammered. I had been drinking for over 12 hours, with little food, and needed to be up early for my flight home. It was in the gift shop that I ran into Derek once again. He was looking for smokes while I was looking for munchies. There is a joke in there somewhere. Soon Pauly would walk by as he was talking with Change 100. He handed me the phone and spent some time chatting her up. She was kinda wasted on the pharmies she had for her back. I laughed a bit as she sounded like she was on cloud 9. I wonder if she could tell how drunk I was?

I got in some more conversation with the McGrupps before calling it a night, effectively making it the end of the trip. It was another fun couple of days with friends in the desert. I spent more time talking with them than I did gambling. Lots of good memories to keep me satisfied until the next trip comes along, wherever that may be.

Until then I urge you to get your act together and buy that dip!

WPBT 2010 Winter Classic- A weekend of Buying the Dip Part 3

The 2010 WPBT Winter Classic was being held at the Aria Casino in the City Center complex. I believe the place has been open for just under a year. The casino itself was rather dark. There was a nice oval bar right outside the poker room which help get me started on my Makers and ginger for the day. It was going to be a long slog and drinking beer would mean many a trip to the restroom. I could get a good buzz with my whisky so that was the route to go.

The tournament had more bounties that usual. Some of the original players from the Sam's Town tourney had bounties on them provided by the good people at Full Tilt poker. That was in addition to the many personal bounties players had brought. Plus, the Hammer was in play with the first 10 people to drop it to receive some money from the fine folds at Poker Stars.

I started out slowly but began to chip up nicely. I was quite happy with how I was progressing. Even happier when I was able to drop the Hammer on Chilly. $50 for me! I continued to keep it going until I ran my K Q into A Q. Ouch. That really hurt.

I stayed around picking up some small pots and avoiding any major conflicts. With A K, I finally made my final move. There was a push all in before me. GRob called. I pushed and Bacon Mary pushed behind me! I had a chance to quadruple up. It was AK v AQ v 33 v 10 10. Board came all low cards and all those chips went to GRob and his pair of tens. That blew.

Back at the bar I hung out with Pauly, Derek, Sweet Sweet, and met one of the famed Disco Sisters Pauly has seen some Phish shows with. I found myself a nice Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA to drown my sorrows. 3 hours of poker and nothing to show for it. Soon we were heading back to the IP to take it easy and eventually ended up in the sportsbook. That is where Waffles nearly got 86d for falling asleep in a chair. I felt sorry for the guy. He just wanted to get some sleep but didn't have a key for his room nor could he get ahold of his roommate.

I was enjoying some Captain and Cokes while shooting the shit with Iggy. I was keeping any eye on the UFC fights hoping to get news of Georges St. Pierre kicking the crap out of Josh Koscheck. As I monitored MMA Junkie and Twitter, I could feel my phone heating up as the battery died. I didn't want to be walking around with a dead phone so I shut it off after seeing the GSP victory.

It was around then that we heard that the tournament was over. But not without some controversy. There was something like a 6 way chop with the the trophy being awarded to the chip leader, Miami Don. What? Why wasn't it played out? I can understand everyone agreeing to a chop of the prize money. Great idea after all that time invested. But they should have played it out for the trophy. The 2010 tournament may go down in history as the one with the asterisk. Congrats to Don!

After milling about the IP sport book for some time, someone had the great idea to go shoot some craps. So down the massive escalator we went. Bayne, Sox Lover, and I took a spot at the rail. There were a couple decent shooters before the dice got around to us. I was scared of Sox Lover's cannonball style. Not sure why he was setting the dice to 11 before picking them up and rattling them around in his hand before firing them down the felt with all his might. He made a point or two so it wasn't a losing roll. We all made some bucks.

Then it was my turn to go to work. Unlike Sox, I like to give the dice a gentle toss to the wall. I tossed them down and it was on. Little did I know I was about to go on a nice heater. My Come bets were slowly covering all the numbers. I then hedged a bit by playing the Field to cover any 2, 3, 11, and 12. As long as I didn't 7 out, I was going to be taking in some money.

It was a good think I had my numbers covered. For whatever reason, I kept hitting 4s. I then got some of the hardways going and hitting the hard 4 twice. I would later learn that Bayne was pressing his hard 4 bet and had I hit another hard 4, he would have collected $400. Damn I wish I could have hit it for him.

But I was happy with what I was doing. I wasn't hitting the point- a 6 of all things- but I was making us some money. I knew that because Sox Lover was giggling like a school girl every time I tossed the dice. I was like an ATM to him.

One of the interesting things about that table was the other end. I hit the first point after about 5 shakes. When I did, there was no noise. As I kept hitting the numbers, our side was collecting chips while the other side sounded like they were at a funeral. Apparently they didn't have much money on the table and were not taking advantage of the heater I was on. A couple people noticed what was happening at the table and jumped in. With each number I hit, a yell went up and some giggling was heard. I just kept taking the dice and tossing them down. I'd pick up my wins and do it again. I wish I knew how long I went or how many tosses I had but in the end, we were all quite profitable on our end, easily doubling, close to tripling our money. I swear my arm was a bit sore when I was done.

After that I joined the crowd at the bar. I really needed a beer. I had earned it.

WPBT 2010 Winter Classic- A weekend of Buying the Dip Part 2

I am not sure why I am writing Part 2. I believe everyone took the advice yesterday and bought the dip. There may not be anyone around to read this but I find it therapeutic.

Pauly, Derek, and I had piled into a cab at the IP. As we drove down to the MGM, we heard an interesting call come across the cabbie's radio. A girl (damn I wish I could recall her name) called from the Redneck Riviera and needed a ride to the Hustler. I believe the cabbie claimed to have picked her up before. That was just about eclipsed by the info of the cabbie Christmas part schedule for this Wednesday. There will be food, drink, and prizes!!! Ok, the stripper call was better. Hopefully Pauly or Derek recall the full story.

We quickly ran into some people in the MGM sportsbook. A frazzled Iggy still had his golf shoes on. Well, they weren't on his feet but he hadn't put on regular shoes. Everyone else was just hanging out and talking while the cowboys around them watched the rodeo broadcast on the big tvs. It was interesting to listen to the broadcast. I was laughing quite a bit at what I was hearing. I learned I had to restrain myself when I noticed none of the cowboys were laughing. I guess it wasn't meant to be funny though I did find some of the stuff hilarious.

When I heard the mixed games were starting, I jumped up to grab a seat, settling in the 6 spot. The game was good and loose. I got lucky on the first hand, raising with J J. I think there were 4 callers. Typical. Flop came 7 8 9. Overpair with a gutty. I bet out and soon was raised by Maigrey. Joe Speaker made a comment that she would call with anything and probably make her hand. That slowed me a down a bit because he was spot on. Turn was a rag and I just called her bet. River was a glorious 10. I played nice and did not raise. Yep, Speaker was right. She flopped the lower end of the straight.

From there on I stayed out of trouble. Didn't get anything in the O8 portion. Got knocked around a bit in Razz but broke even. I would then get lucky with the last 2 stud rounds. I took down a nice pot when my two pair, 4s&3s beat Speaker's 4s&2s when I was trying to push him out of the pot. I took down a couple more pots during these rounds. But soon my ADD would kick in and I was out of my seat, allowing whoever was near by to play for me. Soon I would just call it a night and cashed out for a nice profit.

Back at the sportsbook, the talk soon became craps. The search for a $5 craps table was decided and soon we were heading over the bridges and entering the castle. As Maigrey, Gus and Mattazuma took a spot at the craps table, I headed further into the casino to find a restroom. From there I heard that people were drinking at the Sherwood Forest Bar and headed over to find Iggy, Otis, AlCantHang, and Driz with some others. It was like a blast from the past. I recall how the Sherwood Forest Bar was the place to meet and drink before the Geisha Bar. The drunk time there was fun.

But going to the Sherwood Forest Bar instead of back to the craps table was a terrible mistake. Sure I had some good conversation but apparently that craps table was red hot! When I got back to it there was a ton of money on the table and the gang was scooping in the cash. They bought the fucking dip!

A craps game is like buying the dip. You get your chips out on the numbers and take advantage of the wild ride when the shooter gets hot. You end up making a ton of EASY MONEY! That is how you buy the dip people! Because I know everyone bought the dip today, they are not total morons unless they weren't listening. But don't worry, you can still buy the damn dip!

Cuz the dip comes back around. Everyone cashed out when they finished shooting. I had to fix my craps jones so I jumped in. The first shooter had promise. Nice gentle toss. Made a number early but that was it. She soon starting hitting everything but just once. My come bets soon had the table covered but then she sevened out. Didn't make anything on that roll. Severe dent in my chip stack.

Her husband though did much better. I was concerned at first. I started making my come bets again and soon was short on chips. I reached into my pocket to grab another Benji when he hit a number. My come odds would be covered. But this is where the shooter really took off. He started getting points and better yet, made those come bets pay off. I still clutched the $100 in my hand like a good luck charm as the greenbirds filled the spot in front of me. The girl after him did rather well too, hitting a couple points before she was done. I let the dice come around to our side and took advantage of another warm shooter before sensing the table was getting cold. I decided to end with a nice double. Not as good as the others but I'll take the profit. Because that is textbook buying the dip. Get in and get out when you have a profit and situation calls for you to sell. BUY THE DIP PEOPLE!

I called it an early night and was back at the IP by 3. I figured a little sleep before tournament Saturday was a good idea. But not before I devoured the second half of the deli sandwich. It had been the only thing I ate on Friday and I didn't want to wake up with an empty belly and headache.

Coming up... poker, controversy, and more craps.

WPBT 2010 Winter Classic- A weekend of Buying the Dip Part 1

Back from another glorious weekend of reigniting friendships, drinking liver damaging amounts of alcohol, and buying the dip. Good times with good friends up and down the strip. Yelling Pai Gow at the top of you lungs and

WAIT!- you don't know about buying the dip??? What is wrong with you? It is easy money!

Let's get caught up before I go any further:



I arrived at the the luxury that is only the Imperial Palace just after 1. As I get out of the cab, I hear Drizz exclaim to me how they'll let anyone in the place. We walk inside and I am shocked to see Iggy in town already. Kat is there as well. We all seem to have the same idea. Check in and go get something to eat. Have to lay down a base for all the booze that is going to funneled down my piehole. The little guy has an affinity for Outback Steakhouse so we make the walk over for lunch and catching up.

After lunch we go back to the IP. Time is then spent at the Pai Gow table getting our drink on. As more people slowly arrive, action moves over to the Geisha Bar and time is spent catching up and meeting some new people. I myself kept moving from the Geisha Bar out to the table games and back to the bar. An acute case of Vegas ADD. I am not sure what happened except that I was up rather late and pretty drunk. If I recall it right, there was some blackjack, some craps, some more craps over at the Casino Royale, and more drinking. At the end of the night I got my slot fix in with some Press Your Luck video Whammy Slots, of which I understand is on video. I was pretty torched at that point.

Friday ended up being a nice relaxing day with the McGrupps, Pauly and Derek. I was starving and needed to hydrate. We were on a mission to find a place to eat. Sounds easy but it isn't. The Hash House at the IP was backed up so we went to the Mirage. They seemed busy at the old cafe which is now a BB King BBQ joint. So we ended up at the Carnegie Deli where I ended up with this in front of me:


That is one massive mofo sandwich. There we discussed the finer things in life and how much we were making in the market by buying the dip. You have gone and bought the dip already, haven't you? If not, what the hell are you waiting for? Go BUY THE FUCKING DIP already!!!

On the walk back to the IP, I think I saw one of the funniest things I had seen in a long time. The porn slappers were out in full force this weekend. So much that there was a granny working the line alongside the other young men. An old lady porn slapper. I think I may have seen it all. Priceless!

Back at the IP, Pauly and Derek wanted to bet and watch the Knicks game. That gave me the opportunity to digest lunch and ease my back in to drinking again. Plus I had always wanted to watch Pauly sweat a game. I was hoping for a very close game. I wanted the Knick to need the last minute to pull it off. I wanted to see him pace and cuss and go ballistic. I wanted them to win the bet but I have to admit I wanted to see the what I had heard about. The Knicks would deliver missing some easy shots and going to the wire. They covered leaving the McGrupps some happy campers.

Soon we would be going down the Strip to the MGM.

Coming up...
A stripper catching a cab at the Redneck Riviera, mixed games, back to the Sherwood Forest bar and MORE!

And don't remember to go buy the fucking dip!!!

Evolution of the Beer Geek

Great chart! Thank to Beer and Whiskey Brothers for sharing.

I'd like to think I have entered the Geeko Sapien stage. I bet I can make that decision at the pub tonight over an Ayinger Celebrator or this weekend as I search out some good beer on the Strip.

Evolution

It's WBPT week!!!!

A time when silly poker bloggers converge on Vegas for friendship, memories, poker, and total drunkeness. A time to reunite with old friends while making new acquaintances. To further friendships and make the legends that people will tell their kids years in the future.

I am amazed at how much has changed over the years. From the Excal to the MGM to the IP to Caesars to Lagasse Stadium. I tell ya, things are mighty different.

I wasn't there for the first gathering. I actually showed up in Vegas on the Monday that most of the WPBT people were heading home after the first meet up. I only know of how Iggy tried to hire a midget to show up at Sam's Town as himself. I read about the Sherwood Forest Bar drinking like most of everyone else.

That is why I had to show up in the Spring gathering 7 months later. Once I had my first taste, I know I had an addiction. From the mixed games in the box at the MGM to cashing in the tournament at the Aladdin, I knew these were my type of people.

Things would slowly change. The Sherwood Forest Bar would lose its luster to of all things, the Geisha Bar at the Imperial Palace. The Saturday poker tournament would move from Sam's Town to the Aladdin to the IP to Caesars Palace to the Orleans to the Venetian and this year to Aria.

One constant has been the mixed games at the MGM. It is custom for games of HORSE and then some to be played. In a strange twist, that would lead to the now infamous Table 16 and the wildest casino home game ever played.

Other offshoots came of people of similar interests coming together. Golf, pinball, and neon museum tours. But nothing that comes close to something that I will claim that BadBlood and I started. The Steel Panther show! It started with a venture to the Hard Rock casino to see Metal Skool that would lead him and I to bring more people to the best show in Vegas.

And it all ends with the watching of NFL football on Sunday. Like the tournament, the location has changed. From Mandalay Bay to the IP to Lagasse's Stadium. Football viewing in style!

I am really looking forward to the activities this week. Meeting up with great friends is always exciting and satisfying. Meeting new people is as great. It is how lasting relationships start.

Gambling with friends and raging solo when needed, drinking to excess without needing the assist of a wheelchair and coming home with great memories. That is what this trip is about to me. I'll know how satisfying it is when I begin to miss everyone late on Sunday when they are still around me.

And it gets better

Big thanks to Al for working his overlords at Full Tilt Poker for us!

Full Tilt is kicking in another $1,000 to the WPBT tournament prizepool at
Aria on Saturday. It will be distributed with $100 save for the bubble boy/girl,
$300 for first, $200 for second, $175 for third, $125 for fourth, $100 for
fifth.

Full Tilt is also adding five $100 bounties on random players which will
be announced before the tournament. I'm working on a few "blogger friendly" FTP
pros to pop in so you can knock them out. Both the added prizepool and bounties
will be transferred to your Full Tilt account (as per the casino rules, not
mine)

The big ticket item doesn't come until Sunday, football day. I have
reserved the big room at Lagasse's Stadium in The
Palazzo. Full Tilt is putting up $2,000 for the food tab throughout the day,
that is a lot of tasty Emeril food to go around.

The poker monies are nice but the suite is well... sweet! A stadium suite is THE place to watch football in Las Vegas. There is nothing like it. Makes me wonder if there will be another bathroom group photo again.