Downtown Vegas

Downtown Las Vegas is old Vegas. Some folks don’t like the lack of size or flash that you find on the strip. I happen to like downtown. It is more personal than the strip. It is not more friendly. In fact, you can be dealt a load of attitude from the dealers and wait staff that you will likely not find on the strip. This just makes the downtown experience more real to me.

The biggest and best free entertainment in the downtown area is the Freemont Street Experience (FSE) (http://www.vegasexperience.com/). Freemont Street is now a pedestrian mall down the middle of downtown Las Vegas and its casinos and shows. Every hour on the hour, the 5 block long overhead canopy comes alive with a light and sound show unlike anything on Earth. Some of the shows that I have seen are a patriotic show called “American Freedom” with jets, fireworks, and looooong waving flags, and “Lucky Vegas” with dancing girls and great special effects. The first show is at 6 pm and the last one is at midnight. You will find other things to do in Downtown, so schedule them around the FSE shows.

There is some killer entertainment under the canopy. There are two stages for bands that are kickin’ at night. You will also find artists, musician, and other various performers. If the weather is nice (this is all outdoors), you will probably spend an hour just wandering up and down Freemont Street.

Check out the historical marker that explains the story of downtown. I think it is located just west of the strip club and the Las Vegas Club. It has some great pictures of the old hotels. One picture even shows a mushroom clowd from a nuclear test rising in the distance. Spooky.

At the east end of the FSE, you will find the Neonopolis shopping mall. Inside, there is a TV studio that is home of the most innovative poker venue anywhere, the Mansion.Net Pokerdome. On select nights, the Mansion.Net Pokerdome show is taped in front of a live audience in this location. I’ve seen this show taped at another location. They show the audience the cards, bets, and heart rates of the players in real time. This is highly recommended entertainment if they are taping while you are in town.

In the middle of the FSE, you will see Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel. This was the original site of the World Series of Poker. There is still quite a lot of that history if you know where to look. From Freemont, walk through the casino to the back left and follow the signs to the poker room. Judging from some recent photos, Binion’s has redecorated the poker room. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have done. They may have even included some photos taken by your truly. The really adventurous may want to ride the escalators up from the poker room to find Benny’s Bullpin which was the room used for many of the World Series of Poker. There’s not much to see there now, but you might soak up some good karma.

During the warm months, you can take the elevator up to the rooftop pool. This is one of the best views of Vegas. At night, the view can be absolutely spectacular.

If you are hungry, Binion’s is one of two places I like to catch a bite to eat. The coffee shop is open 24 hours. Both the food and the prices are good. The service is only fair, but this is old Vegas, so think of it as a feature. You will find the coffee shop downstairs. Just follow the signs.

While I’m on the subject of eats, the other place I frequent is the Upper Deck Coffee Shop in the Las Vegas Club. The Club is at the end of the FSE near The Plaza. The coffee shop is upstairs. You will find the escalator up to the coffee shop in the back left of the casino. Be sure to check out the awesome collection of sport memorabilia that is mounted on the walls in and around the Las Vegas Club.

Getting there and back is pretty easy. Of course, if you are with a group, the trip downtown is just like any other. You get in a cab and split the fare. It will cost between $20 and $30 for the trip.

If you are traveling solo or in a pair, it can be fun and economical to take the Deuce. This is the double-decker bus that runs from Downtown to the far end of the strip. From anywhere on the strip, catch the deuce going north. The cost of the trip is $2 per person each way. You can also pay $5 to get a pass good for unlimited trips for the next 24 hours. There are a couple of warnings about the Deuce. You may want to plan to take the Deuce to downtown and a cab back to the strip. The stop for downtown can get pretty crowded late at night. You can avoid this by walking a few blocks more to the bus station. Girls won’t want to do this alone. Secondly, watch your head in the upper level if you are taller than 5 feet. But the ride can be entertaining for the sights you see and the characters you are likely to meet.

If you drive, I recommend parking at Binion’s parking deck. You can get your ticket comped at the poker cage by just asking. Each stamp is good for 4 hours and they’ve never asked if I’m actually playing poker there. You can also valet park at Binion’s if you don’t mind fighting the crowd, waiting 15 minutes for your car, and tipping for old Vegas service.

Inside the Bellagio

The Bellagio is at the very top of the list of fine Las Vegas properties. Almost any amount of money can be won or lost or spent here. But the purpose of these posts is to do and see things without spending money, so let's see what the Bellagio has to offer.

In short, it has plenty. We already talked about the fountains out in front of the hotel. They are fantastic and deserving of their own post (see below). Since the previous post left us at the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace, we'll walk south from there, up to the over-street walkway and directly into the Via Bellagio (Shops and Boutiques). Here you will stroll past such retailers as Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, and Gucci (again the Italian thing). The Bellagio always decorates the Via with something for the season. It may be giant Christmas balls or a huge Liberty Bell or the biggest ear of corn in the world.

The Via Bellagio leads directly into the casino. This is the most plush casino in town. You will notice that it is quiet compared to most. The carpeting and drapery over the tables cuts the sound while making the experience of being there much more comfortable. I noticed the same thing in the new Wynn, which was designed by the same guy.

Our first destination is the poker room, of course. This is a better stop to make late at night, because we would be looking for poker pros. Many of the most famous poker pros seen on TV play regularly at the Bellagio. There is a glassed-in room in the back of the room called Bobby's Room. It is named for Bobby Baldwin who is the President of the Bellagio and who also wrote a chapter in Super System: A course in Power Poker. You can go into the poker room and you can look into Bobby's room, but don't linger if there is play going on inside. They will ask you to leave if you do. Of course, you could buy in for $10k minimum. :)

From the poker room, we want to follow the signs to the reception desk. This will be roughly southeast of the poker room if you still have your bearings. Once you are in front of the desk, look up. You will see 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers - the Fiori di Como, created by world-renowned artist, Dale Chihuly. If you have some time, have a seat in a comfy chair and enjoy the art. It is an experience.

Once you are rested and refreshed, take a right out of the lobby and into the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, They are a kaleidoscope for your senses. This magnificent garden abounds in fragrance, texture and color. Row upon row of exotic plants and flowers weave a glorious display that highlights the season or holiday. There's no more inviting location for a photo opportunity or just a pleasant stroll.

While at the Bellagio, you may want to partake of some of the fine restaurants or the Gallery of Fine Art which is now featuring the work of Ansel Adams. Tickets are $15 for adults, so it doesn't fit in the free category. The Gallery and Gallery Store are open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, including weekends and holidays.

Next post, we will venture to Downtown for more fun.

Caesar's Palace and the Forum Shops

The Forum Shops at Caesar’s has three reasons to visit. First, it (they?) lies between the Mirage attractions (see post below) and the Bellagio attractions (see fountains below and a future post). Since you will be going from one to the other, you will not have to go out of your way. Also, during the summer, it is MUCH better to walk in the air conditioned shops than in the heat of the strip.

The second reason is the Forum Shoppes host the only Bank of America ATMs on the strip. For cheap-skates like myself, saving $2-5 on ATM charges is worth the walk.

Finally, these attractions can be a lot of fun. We will start our tour coming from the Mirage, past the miniature Trevi Fountain and into the newest part of the shops. You will immediately see the double-helix escalators taking shoppers up and down through three levels. I’m no engineer, but I’ll bet this baby involved a little high math in its design.

You will recognize many of the names on the shops, and they won’t be Sear’s and Penney’s like the mall back home. The stores in the shops include Bvlgari, Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Valentino. Is there an Italian theme here? Be sure to stop in and check out the prices. Wow!

Once you’re done strolling, move to the casino level (third level, I think) and head down through the mall. There is only one way, so no worries about getting lost here. You soon come to the Festival Fountain that is dominated by Bacchus. Bacchus and his friends come to life (animatroinicaly speaking) at the top of each hour. It is free and fun, though I think that the mechanisms that run the characters are a bit worn and the laser part of the show is a bit dated.

There is a second show in the Shops in an hour, so now would be a good time to eat if you are hungry. The next fountain that you come to is the Fountain of the Gods, but that is not the attraction. This area is interesting in that the lights cycle every hour to simulate a complete day. During the time it takes to eat lunch you will feel the sky darken and see the street lights come on. After a while the process will reverse itself. Most shoppers will hardly notice.

Continue on Fountain of the Gods to the Atlantis Show and Aquarium at the next fountain (2nd picture in this post). This animatronic show is more dramatic than the Bacchus show with fire leaping from the fountain. The 50,000 gallon salt-water aquarium sits behind the fountain. There is a free tour of the aquarium that includes a ray and shark pool. Feeding time is the highlight of the day. Check the schedule for feeding times. I wouldn’t waste 45 minutes waiting on this show, but if you enjoy shopping or aquariums, it’s worth the time.

Once this show is done, head back to the Fountain of the Gods and take a right. Here you will usually find Pete Rose signing autographs. Be sure to stop and say hello. Get a picture if you like. Maybe even by a baseball signed “I’m sorry I bet on baseball, Pete Rose.” He is a nice guy despite betting on baseball. Continue in the same direction into the casino.

The last recommendation I’ll make while at Caesar’s is the poker room. Like my Venetian tour, this Is to see the poker room, not to play poker. The room is located in the casino between the sports book and the night club Pure. You’ll get there by walking through the casino bearing to the left toward the huge TV monitors of the sports book.

BTW, this is a great place to take a break. The chairs in the sports book are very comfy. Each one has its own monitor and the restroom is located right beside the entrance to the neighboring poker room.

But back to the poker room. The hallway leading into the poker room is lined with original LeRoy Neiman oil paintings. Neiman is the most recognized sports artist. Once inside the poker room, there are more great sports painting and photographs unlike anything you will see anywhere else. You will also notice one of the nicest places to play poker in existence.

Once you are done in the poker room, keep heading in the same general direction to a door and back to the strip. While heading south toward the Bellagio (my next post), you will walk past the fountains in front of the main entrance. In 1967, this is where Evil Knievel F’ed himself up attempting to jump them on a motorcycle. You’ve probably seen the footage where he is tossed over the handlebars like a rag doll. F’ed up in this case means a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles, and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days. Mike Metzger jumped the same fountain with a backflip in May of 2006.

Next stop, we’ll tour the inside of the Bellagio. Chao.

The Mirage

Next on the list of fun and free things to do in Vegas is to tour the Mirage.

As mentioned on my last post, the Volcano in the front of the property is a fun watch. It has been, as the Mirage describes it, a signature attraction since the resort opened in 1989. The three acre feature is 54 feet high and circulates almost 120,000 gallons of water per minute.

At the top of each hour from 8pm (7 pm spring, 6 pm winter) to midnight, the earth rumbles and flames shoot from the waterfalls and the top of the mountain. The whole show lasts less than 5 minutes and it doesn’t draw much of a crowd, but that just means that you can show up right on the hour to see a nice slice of Vegas.

From the volcano, move up the sidewalk to the front entrance. There you will leave the desert of Las Vegas and step into a lush tropical rainforest. Under the 100 foot domes live palm trees, orchids, bromeliads, and more than 100 different types of plants. A waterfall and meandering stream fill the air with a feeling of peace and quiet that is rare on the strip.

Once you’ve soaked up the rainforest, continue ahead and to the left past the deli and shops to the white tiger habitat. The magnificent animals are on display behind a glass wall in an environment that is modeled after their natural habitat.

You may also want to swing by the front desk of the Mirage to check out the aquarium. It is a little better than the glass box you had as a kid. This 53 foot long 20,000-gallon saltwater aquarium is home to angelfish, buffer fish, tangs, and more than 1000 coral reef animals from around the world.

The Mirage also features Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat. I have not seen this attraction, but I have heard that it is very nice. It does not fit into the theme of this post as admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children from 4-12. The Mirage website specifies that children under 4 are free when accompanied by an adult. I guess that has a problem with 3 year olds hanging out around the tigers all day. :)

My next post will hit the highlights of the Forum Shoppes at Caesar’s Palace. It's not just about shopping. Stay tuned.

Sirens of TI

This is a free Vegas attraction that I have not actually seen myself, but I enjoyed the old pirate show quite a lot, so I’m sure the Sirens are worth the price at least. Borrowing liberally from the Treasure Island site (http://www.treasureisland.com/): “The Sirens of TI® (show) begins with a 17th century clash between a group of beautiful, tempting sirens and a band of renegade pirates. With their mesmerizing and powerful song the Sirens lure the pirates to their cove, stir up a tempest strong enough to sink a ship, and transform Sirens’ Cove into a 21st century party.” So I read that as pretty dancing girls, sailing ships and loud music. I’m good with that.

The shows are nightly at 5:30, 7, 8:30, and 10 in front of the TI (along the strip). This show is very close to the Mirage volcano (next post above) and right in line with the Forum Shops (future post) and the Bellagio Fountains. Combined, they make a nice evening walking the Strip for free.

The Venetian Shoppes and Poker Room

The next “must see” Vegas attraction is the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian®. This has to be the most over-the-top shopping experience in the world. To get the picture, start with any suburban shopping mall. Now add a domed ceiling painted to look just like the sky. The walkways are cobblestone. Add “street” performers that juggle, dance, sing, or just stand statue still. Next, change all of the stores to carry merchandise that is four of five times more expensive than back home. Finally, flood the center of the walkways and add Venetian gondolas with singing gondoliers. It is a sight not to be missed.

After viewing the shoppes, don’t miss the rest of this property. The Venetian has one of the nicest casinos in Las Vegas. The floor and ceiling in the grand hallway are spectacular to those who enjoy decoration and architecture. The front of the hotel contains all of the famous landmarks found in Venice, Italy including the Bridge of Sighs, Rialto Bridge, St. Marks Basilica and Bell Tower.

Lastly, don’t miss the poker room. This is not necessarily to play, though I highly recommend that, too. There is a room past the cashier’s cage that is for high stakes poker games. There is no sign pointing the way, but there is no door keeping anyone out either. There will not be anyone to keep you from looking in, so don’t be shy if you are searching for the pros that you’ve seen on TV and maybe other celebrities as well. You can often find the top poker pros playing for more money than your car is worth on a single hand.

New Vegas Series & Bellagio Fountains

Today I’m going to start a series of posts on Las Vegas. This will be a collection of things to see and do around Vegas that don’t involve a lot of money (most will be free). The purpose of this series will be to build a guide to Vegas for the non-gambler or poker player. For the reader of this blog, this will give the spouse or companion of the player something to do besides shop or complain.

For me, it will be a chance to score a few minor points with the employer. My department is hosting a meeting of a third of its employees in Vegas in mid-March. I suspect many of the attendees will not playing the casino games for more than a few hours so they will want to see the best of Vegas without wasting a lot of time. I sure don’t want them bugging me while I’m sitting at the poker tables.

I’m starting with a must see for any visitor to the strip: The Fountains at the Bellagio. The Bellagio web site (www.bellagio.com) bills the fountains as the “most ambitious, commanding water feature ever conceived! Bellagio's world-famous fountains will speak to your heart with opera, classical and whimsical music while flirting with your playful nature through their carefully choreographed movements.”

To say that the fountains are just a lake with water jets beneath the surface of the water would be accurate but grossly understated. The water jumps, shoots, sways, and explodes as it jumps from the lake in time with the music. Water can shoot 200’ into the air in some shows. Every show is different. They are a breathtaking union of water, music and light to be sure.

Show times are as follows:

Monday – Friday
3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Show every 1/2 hour
8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Show every 15 minutes

Saturday & Sunday
12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Show every 1/2 hour
8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Show every 15 minutes

Most tourists watch the show from the sidewalk along Las Vegas Blvd (the strip) which is fine. But the best viewing is from the balcony of the Fontana Bar where you can get close to the show and the audio is excellent, not to mention that you can enjoy drinks while the shows are playing. My favorite show is “Time to Say Goodbye” by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. Any of the Vegas Classics (songs by Elvis, Bobby Darin or a member of the Rat Pack) are also great.

One Last Post for 1996

It has been another really good year in some ways and not so good in others.

I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first. Mr. C is not doing very well. His situation is stable and I don't think he is in a lot of pain, but there is pain. Every doctor's visit or test causes everyone in the family to hold their breath knowing that one day the news will be very bad. Yet we are thankful for the days we have and the memorys we share.

His wife has set up a scholorship fund in honor of Mr. C at the local university. That is one of the most fitting tributes to a man that I have heard of and my and the wife were happy to give a nice chuck of change to get the ball rolling. My employer is almost certain to match the amount. It is a good company.

In almost every other way, life is about as good as it gets. I love my wife more than ever. We make enough money to support ourselves without killing ourselves. Most everyone else in the family is healthy. If this is a baloon that is about to bust, I don't see any signs, but I will do my best to best to enjoy, appreciate and share the best of it while it lasts.

Tomorrow I head to G-Vegas (Greenville, SC) for a new years poker tournament bash. Results, stories, and maybe a picture or two will follow.

Happy New Year to all.

The greatest gift is Love.

(Warning: Much seriousness follows)

Christmas has gone and New Years is approaching fast. I used to hear my parents and their friends lament "Where does the time go?" Well, time accelerates with age. The first 4 years of my life seemed to take about about as long at the last 40, and the last 40 will be about the same as the next 400. I'm not over the hill, I started at the top and the trip down is getting steeper.

I have to say though that I'm not in a mood to complain. My job now is much better than it was at the start of the year. I'm home more with my wife and dogs and that is where I want to be. We need to start going back to church and that will be a good way to start the new year.

Some of my poker playing friends will be surprised by the last comment or think that I would go for my wife, but they would be mistaken. You see, I get a lot out of going to chruch. I enjoy the cerimony, though I don't think it is required to get God's ear. I enjoy the friends I make at church. I enjoy the activities. The teachings about applying faith in my daily walk mostly make sense and serve as a good reminder. I'm not really sure about how in control God is, but we'll know in good time. I'm just trying to behave like a fellow human until that time comes.

I'm not some christian zealot, but I do consider myself a Christian in that I believe the teachings of Jesus of the bible. Those same teaching are available in many forms by many names, but all with the same message. Sin is thinking of yourself. Love is thinking of others first. Love is the opposite of sin. Jesus is the love you have for your fellow man. Jesus of the bible is trying to tell us to think more about our fellow man than we think about ourselves. I believe it is really that simple. Many teachers throughout time have taught the same message. The Golden Rule is the same love.

The Christian church teaches that all men are sinners. All men are sinners if thinking about yourself first is sin. Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride (seven deadly sins) all involve thinking of one's self first. Love, pretty much by definition, is about thinking of others. In the bible, all of the lessons of Jesus are about this type of Love in one form or another. The Gospel of John has one commandment, which Jesus calls a new commandment: "Love one another."

I've always had problems with the way the faith is taught in church. They say we need to know Jesus and let him into our hearts. That is true, but they show us some painting of some white guy with long flowing hair who is supposed to be from Nasarath, Isreal. They talk about angels and ghosts, but none of that is real to me. I just keep quiet during those parts of the service. They don't answer the question, "What is Jesus today?" They say he left, but he is with us, but he will return. That confuses me.

(Boy, this is really getting deep for a blog.)

I think Jesus, the way to paradise, true peace, Zen, Nirvana, or whatever you want to call it is nothing more that loving others. That's it and that is something I can apply. It also works better for some other nagging questions.

I've always had a problem with the teaching that you must know Jesus (the son of God as taught in church) in order to get into heaven. What about all those souls that lived before Jesus walked the earth? What about the souls that never ran across a missionary or never saw a bible? Are they damned because of when and where they were born? I don't think God changes the rules that quickly. I don't think God changes the rules at all. Love has been available to all men for all time.

Here are a few versus from the christian bible just to drive home the point that this is what Jesus taught:

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn.13:35)

"Anyone who says "I love God", but hates his brother, is a liar. For whoever who does not love the brother whom he can see, can not love God whom he has not seen" (1Jn.4:20)

"If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing" (1Cor.13:1-3)
"God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them" (1Jn.4:16)

It's still hard as hell to do, thinking of others all the time, that is. I am a sinner more than most. I know some folks who are way better at love than me. Many wouldn't even call themselves Christian, but they get it. Knowing what I'm supposed to do and still not doing it nearly enough makes the sin all the worse. But it does make going to church and talking to the members much easier, even if I don't try to explain what I just wrote. I can tell them I know Jesus with conviction.

So the next time someone asks you if you know Jesus, you might have a different answer. You might smile knowingly and say "yes." You might not. Probably not. Just don't let "religion" get in the way of faith.

Jesus is love. You probably already know him though perhaps by some other name. The more love we have in the world, the better. When we all love all the time the world will be a paradise and isn't that what the bible promises us will return? Please remind me to do my part. Thanks.

And Happy New Year to all.

Christmas is coming like a freight train

This has been a catch up week for me. I took on a trip to a customer site last week. It was a good trip and I got a lot done that needed doing, but it has put me further behind in Christmas shopping than I have ever been before. Some folks on my list are getting last minute, impersonal gifts. I appologize in advance but it's all I can do at this point.

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I hope my reader doesn't mind the recent commercialization of this here blog. In case you haven't figured it out, I'll take a few minutes to write a few words about someone elses site for cash. It's not a ton of cash, but it might get me through a day in Vegas sometime.

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I can't believe all the things I've got to get done before the end of this week, yet I sit here playing poker and blogging. Time to go check something else off the list.

Later.

Hotel Reservations

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I’m just back from a whirlwind of travel. In the past 7 days, I’ve been to LA, Vegas and Dallas. Coming back from Dallas tonight was great. I got bumped to first class from my reserved middle seat on the over-sold flight. Talk about Christmas gift. It was great.

Over the past 3 years, I've been a traveling computer techie. I’ve logged around 200,000 miles and spent somewhere around 5 months in various hotels all over the country, so I’ve gotten to know a thing or two about traveling. Travel can either be fun or a super pain in the butt. Finding good flights, hotels, and car rentals can be as big a challenge as getting to and from your destination.

A friend of mine put me onto a new (to me) site that could be a big help in future travels. It’s called HotelReservations.com (http://hotelreservations.com/). HotelReservations works the way you want to work. If you like working with people over the phone, HotelReservations has toll-free numbers for the USA, Canada, and Europe. This can be a huge plus over the other reservation sites, because if you are in France and you have a problem, you really need to get somebody on the line. I like making my reservations on-line, but I called the US toll free number and had a person on the line in less than 60 seconds. Outstanding.

Of course, you can book your whole trip on line at HotelReservations. The interface makes it easy to enter the dates of your trip and the options that you need and it pulls back the best rates available. The screen is crowded with info. Some will find it busy at first, but I like having lots of info on my screen so that I don’t have to search around. It took me about 5 minutes to see how it was laid out. Once your hotels are on the screen you can sort the results by Value, Price, Quality, or simply A-to-Z. You want to only see hotels with Free Breakfast and Children’s Activities? HotelReservations has got you covered for these and many other preferences.

For beginners, the site has great information to help with booking your trip no matter what company or site you end up booking with. Topics like what is an Internet Special Rate, Credit Card Safety, and effectively changing your reservations and subjects which every traveler should know.

Check out HotelReservations.com. They do groups, too.

CardsChat talks Poker

Sponsored Post:

As you can tell from the posts below, I’m just coming off a terrific trip to Las Vegas. Seeing all the poker bloggers has recharged my interest in all things poker. I want to read about poker, learn poker strategies, go over hand analysis, and find the hot places to play poker. The hot site to find all this information is at CardsChat (http://www.cardschat.com).

This site is the online poker forum for the world wide poker community. The site says so right on the header. And when you look inside, you know that it is true. In addition to the subjects that I’ve already mentioned, they have message boards for the theory of Texas Holdem poker, tournament poker tips, freerolls (I love that section), where to play live poker, and special events for Cardschat.com members. They have the rules posted for the beginners, a glossary of terms for those on the rise, and advanced strategy articles for those polishing their games to a bright shine.

The Cardschat.com forums have over 100,000 posts, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding interesting things about poker that would have made you money had you found this site earlier. Cardschat.com also has great bonus offers and reviews from the biggest online casinos like Party Poker, Titan Poker, Full Tilt, Paradise, Absolute, Stars (you get the picture). It is a one-stop shop for getting your poker on, the right way.

You don’t have time to make all the mistakes yourself, so get to http://www.cardschat.com and learn from the mistakes (and good advice) of others at Cardschat.com.

PokerTek and the PokerPro Poker Tables

This past Saturday night in Vegas found the blogger community at the Imperial Palace for a party and hands-on demonstration of the PokerPro poker tables from PokerTek. These tables are automatic electronic versions of the Hold’em Poker tables found throughout Las Vegas. With these tables, no dealer is needed. Players get their ‘chips’ by putting money into an account and receiving a card that can be swiped at their seat at the table.

Each player at the table has his own touch-screen that allows him to bet, check or raise when it is his turn to act. Hold cards can be checked by cupping your hand over the cards on the screen to reveal upturned corners. Remove your hand and the cards return to only showing their backs. The big screen in the middle of the table shows each player’s chip count and bet amount.

The game that was running on the 10 player table this night was a quick tournament. The blind structure was crazy, but that was to promote rapid play so everyone got a chance. It can be restructured for any style of tournament or cash game.

The general consensus among the bloggers that I spoke with liked the tables. A few objected to the way the table raced off chips between levels. This was a minor thing to me. Most loved the way you could show either or both of your cards from a winning hand, and so this feature was used to taunt opponents liberally. The interface made it too easy to fold your hand when a check was available. More than one player folded their hand when no bet was required. That is probably an easy fix that won’t get made, but we’ll see. I don’t see this table replacing many human dealers, but it will have a place for micro-limit games and sit-n-go tournaments that are now too expensive for human dealt games.

A bigger potential hit was the heads-up version. This was a small table with 2 player consoles and a screen a little bigger than the old Pac-Man bar tables. This table saw a ton of action as the bloggers played king of the hill style. If PokerTek makes a coin op version for “amusement only,” they could put one or more of these babies in every bar and pool hall in America. It was that fun. This table could also open up the ability to play heads-up tournaments since casinos can afford to have dealers running such small games.

Thanks to Becca Bernstein and the gang from PokerTek for lots of fun, food, drinks and a look at a likely part of poker’s future.

Simi and Vegas - Dallas is on deck

This past week will go down as one that was a bit crazy. That makes it par for the course of the past year.

The week started with wrapping up my home fix up projects of the previous week in time to head out to Los Angeles. I spent the work week in Simi Valley with a customer of mine teaching them the ins and outs of SQL Server performance. Simi is a great area with its beautiful scenery and proximity to LA and great SoCal weather, it’s got about everything. The folks I met were very nice and seemed to enjoy the workshop.

The last day in Simi did have some unusual excitement when a brush fire broke out on the mountain above our location. Many of the employees (and at least one visiting trainer) made a special trip to the front steps to check out the action. I’m guessing that the fire was 1 to 2 miles away, but we could still see flames shooting into the air and helicopters dropping water onto the hottest spots. You just don’t see that often in NC.

At the end of class, I had the assignment from my NorCal sister-in-law to deliver a care package to my nephew at UCLA. So I got to have the fun of filling a grocery cart full of crap (fun crap, but still crap) like Gatorade, beef jerky, snickers bars, etc. The young man is into his first final exam period and his mom wanted him to have plenty of fun eats. Well, he’s got them now.

From there, I got to LAX way early for my 10:30 flight to Vegas. As luck would have it, I was right on time for an earlier flight and got on and to Vegas 2 hours early. That gave me time to meet up with the bloggers at the MGM and play a couple hours of break-even poker ($2-4 limit). Saturday was the big winter edition of the World Poker Blogger Tournament at Caesar’s Palace. You can see Special K in action at this site (http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/003956.php#more). I’m the face in the foreground just behind the water bottle. My buddy Falstaff (http://pokerstage.blogspot.com) is facing me with his back to the camera. I did well going much deeper this time than in the summer, but still running out of luck before the final table. Falstaff did better than me, but still no money. Congrats to –EV for his tremendous win.

That night we went to a reception hosted by PokerTek (http://www.pokertec.net) to show us their PokerPro ™ tables. I want to save my impressions of the tables for a separate post. They gave us a good party so that we would give them some vInk, so I’ll do them right.

The rest of the night was full of poker (Harrah’s (lost) and Imperial Palace (won)) and a nap up until time to go to the airport. I got back home without incident in time to start preparing to go to Dallas Monday evening for the coming week. I could have spent the whole weekend in Charlotte and not have been so rushed, but I opted for Vegas and the poker bloggers, so I’m to blame for this mad schedule. I’ll be way behind for Christmas. Oh well.

Big thanks to all the poker bloggers (and others) who will never read this post (and a couple who will) but made my weekend a true blast including Falstaff, PokerProf, Flipchip, Iggy, Lee, Brian, Tina, Tim, Michael, Byron, Ryan, John, Maudie, Gracie (still sorry for knocking you out of the tourney),(http://www.sheverb.com/), EasyCure (not sorry for knocking you out first (gigli) :) ), Pauly, and Catitude. This is is a great group of folks. Thanks again, guys.

Cardroom Supply

Sponsored Post:

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Cardroom Supply also has a great selection of poker chips. They have 13 gram Pro Clay chips that look terrific as well as standard 11.5 gram Suited chips and knockout 11.5 “High Roller” chips. You really need to see those to understand what I mean.

Of course, to give your game a professional feel, you need cases and racks for you chips. Cardroom Supply has those as well at great prices. Take my advice and order the accessories when you order your chips. If you are like me, I intend to order the extras and never seem to get to it and suffer as a result. Don’t do the same to yourself.

Cardroom Supply can also stock your game with Cards, Dealer Buttons, Tourney Timers (one of their buttons is also a timer, very cool), and more. Don’t miss this site when stocking your poker supplies or shopping for the poker playing love of your life. The folks at Cardroom Supply will take good care of you.

You can order on line or call their toll free number (877.867.0823) and they offer free shipping on all orders over $100. You can’t beat free.

Vacation and a Near Death Experience

It's been a while since my last post. Apologies go out to my loyal reader. It's just that I've been really busy over the past 2 weeks taking forced vacation. No, I didn't get fired. My employer gives me a lot of vacation time every year and I'm required to take it by the end of the year or lose it. So I take it.

I had planned to spend this vacation around the house doing a ton of the little projects that I've ignored for the past 2 or 3 years. It was a good plan, too. It just didn't work out as I had planned.

My first project was to deal with some water that was seeping into my basement. My house doesn't have a full basement. It is more like a dug out crawlspace. The water and moisture down there recently took out part of a dugout wall and a foundation pier. One pier is not cause for major concern, but I sure don't want it going any further. So on Sunday and Monday, I installed a sump, sump pump and a dehumidifier. I had also scheduled to have my house treated for termites on Tuesday.

Tuesday brought torrential rains to Charlotte, so the termite guy couldn't prep the outside of the house and decided to do what he could underneath the house. I continued with some indoor projects. When I went to check on him, I found about a foot of water overflowing my sump. I kicked on the pump and looked around for the source of the water. It was coming in from 3 sides of the house and collecting in my sump at the rate of about a gallon every 5 minutes. Suddenly I know what the next project is, stop this damn water.

I take note of where water is standing near the house and dig a few temporary trenches (digging in the rain sucks) to relieve the pressure, then go back to my indoor projects.

The rain and Thanksgiving take up the next two days, but I make my plans and wait. Friday is spent prepping around my house. On Saturday morning I hit the Home Depot for a trencher and 200' of corrugated pipe. I'm going to give this rain somewhere to go.

I take careful note of where the gas line runs from the street to my meter and start digging. The trench on the left side of my house goes great. I get about 80% done on the right side of the house when it happens.

I will never forget the pop and rush of air I heard when I HIT THE GAS LINE. I remember looking down to see a 2 or 3 inch hole where the gas was erupting from the ground, my hands still on a running, combusting trencher. I'm lucky to not be dead already. I know right away I have a new entry in the top 5 dumbest things I've ever done. I pushed the trencher forward and myself backward in a lurch and head inside to get my wife out of the way and on the phone to 911. I head to the neighbor's house to alert them as well. I get some tools in hopes of shutting off the valve to stop the leak and get a neighbor to stop traffic. The trencher eventually stopped from lack of oxygen, I think.

I had no idea what would happen if the gas caught with me at the valve about 20 feet away, but I had to give it a go. I get my wrench on the valve and twist. It doesn't budge. I tell myself to stay calm and deliberate and try again. Again, nothing. Within two minutes, the fire department arrives (the station is only 3 blocks away) and I stay out of the way. They also try the valve without success. One of the guys eventually crimps the line and stops the emergency.

The gas company came and fixed the line. What I hit was a T off my line that feeds my neighbors house. Ooops. The bills are going to run about $150 for service and repairs. I am glad to pay so little for a valuable lesson. I eventually got the pipe laid and I'm waiting for the rain to see if I've done any good.

My wife likes to tease me about stuff like this. I guess I'll never live it down for a long time, I hope.

The vacation is now over. Many ToDos got done. A business trip to LA is next week with a weekend in Vegas tacked onto the end should be fun, if not deserved.

See ya around.

Special K gets published

I have heard that two of my pictures of Juan Puablo Montoya's first NASCAR race got picked up by AutoSport Magazine for the upcoming issue. Never heard of Autosport? Me neither before I went to Memphis. They are based in Europe and concentrate on F1, but do a good job covering many types of racing.

I've only heard that the pictures are running and have not seen the issue. When I do, I will post a copy of the pages here. Check it out if you find yourself in a newsstand next week.

Cease Fire

Pauly's site, if not his honor, has been restored. Absolute Poker finally got off their collective duffs and got moving. You can read the details at http://taopoker.blogspot.com, of course.

Pauly's happy. I'm happy. You be happy too.

Poker Site Defaced - Action Item

The Tao of Poker has been defaced and the traffic to that site was stolen for 2 days. My friend, Dr. Pauly, had his site redirected to Absolute Poker by an affiliate of that site. Anyone going to read Pauly poker blog was redirected to AP. Pauly lost revenue and had to cut his Dutch vacation short to take care of the problem. Now, Absolute is being slow to cooperate with Pauly as he tries to find the thief

Please go to Pauly's site (http://taopoker.blogspot.com/). Read more about the details. If you feel like helping out, send an appropriate email to affiliates@absolutepoker.com and express your displeasure.

Election Made Simple

While surfing through my usual set of blogs and sites, I’ve been seeing quite a few comments on the election tomorrow. Most are somewhere from the middle of the road to so far off the left shoulder that us passing motorists can only see the skid marks where they left the highway. I know and like all of the people involved. They are all very bright folks in the own way. I like them and respect their opinions. I even listen when my attitude is right. Most of all, I'm glad we can all have our own opinions.

Not that anybody asked, but here is my take on this election.

We are at war. There is a large group of well funded terrorists in this world that want to see us out of there part of the world. A smaller group of those people(like Al Qaida) want to see us and our way of life dead. The first group believes that anyone who does not believe in their god as described in their book should not set foot on their land. It doesn’t matter to them that many of their neighbors encourage the presence of outsiders. They believe they are right and they will kill the innocent to make their point. This group is a problem, but at least they keep their problem in their own country which is a long way from anywhere I plan to visit.

The second group want me and you and any other Christian, westerner, non-Muslim dead. There is no room for negotiation for them. This is a much bigger problem as we found on 9/11/01. We should have learned when the USS Cole was hit, but that was a long way away, so it didn’t matter so much. We should have learned when our embassies were bombed in Africa, but again, that was over there. Before 9/11, I thought that Bin Laden was a straw-man set up by the Clinton administration to distract us from his lying and legal problems. I found out how wrong I was. (He was lying and had legal problems, but that's another post.)

So here we are today, fighting that war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can be argued that Saddam had nothing to do with Bin Laden and that the reasons for going to war there had nothing to do with terrorism. Fine. I think you are wrong, but fine. That doesn’t change the fact that they are there now and they are fighting us. On yea, they are also dying, as they should.

Did Bush lie to get us in Iraq. It doesn't really matter because saying he did does not change the present. Let’s not forget that Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction. They have been found buried in the desert and reported in the major newspapers and in Senate investigations (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html for those who doubt), though buried far from the front pages. So he didn't lie about that. Were there other lies? If so, please point me to a democrat that stood up and said so before we went to war. You won't find any.

Let us also not forget that Saddam was paying Palestinian suicide bombers’ families $25000 per attack. You may have noticed that the number of bombers in Israel dropped just after our invasion. “Oh”, you may say, “but I side against Israel because (they asked for it/treat the Palestinian like dogs/fill in your own blank here).” Well I’m sorry you feel that way. Gandhi and King showed the world that you don’t need to resort to killing innocents to affect change. You need courage, and nothing more. So I’m always going to side against those who fight without uniforms and hide behind women and children and who use churches to store their weapons (Palestinian, Arab, Persian, American, whatever). These are acts of cowards. I don’t side with cowards.

Many democrats have advocated pulling out of Iraq. They bluster that President Bush when into Iraq without a plan. OK. So why is it better to pull out without a plan? I’ve yet to hear any plan from anyone wanting to pull out of Iraq. I think their only plan is to get elected. If you think that by pulling out of Iraq that Al Qaeda will make nice with us, then you need to visit lower Manhattan. It just isn’t so. They want us dead.

So if I don’t get to play on-line poker, so be it. Poker really isn't THAT important (there goes my WPBT card). If I don’t get to burn a flag to make sure more terrorists are killed, I’m willing to go for that. I may not like the inconveniences (I don’t). I may not agree with many of the changes that are taken with a goal of making us safer (I do disagree with many of the changes). But when I walk into the voting booth tomorrow and look at my choices, I have to go with the side that is killing the enemies that want to kill us and against the side who will give the other side exactly what they want. I prefer to holding my nose to arming my enemy.