Category: Travels

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Earl of Sandwich – Planet Hollywood Casino, Las Vegas

If you are ever in need of a decent hot sandwich along the Vegas Strip, look no farther than the Earl of Sandwich in Planet Hollywood Casino.  It’s fast food, so it will definitely be a step down from the celebrity chef restaurants on the Strip, but hey sometimes you need a break from all that. And it’s affordable, especially if just you lost all but your last $10 at the craps tables.  And it beats Subway by a mile.  Best of all it’s open 24 hours, so you can go after that all night poker session or if you close the club and are hankering for some grub.

The Original

The Earl’s Club

Tip: Unless you are dining at why the heck am I still up o’clock, best to get your drinks and chips at the ABC convenience store located in the Miracle Mile shops. They have a better selection of drinks and will save you some $$ so you can play those penny slots after your meal.


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Captial Grille – Las Vegas (Fashion Show Mall)

First dinner in Vegas, and rather than venture into a buffet immediately, we decided to walk around and just pick a restaurant. The Capital Grille in the Fashion Show Mall seemed to be a good choice.  Did not realize it was a chain restaurant, but eh.. worth a try.

Service is what you would expect out of a steakhouse type restaurant. No complaints there. My steak au poivre was a NY strip was a bit overcooked to my liking, but not that bad considering the thickness and being a leaner cut than a sirloin or filet.  Theresa had the Filet Oscar, which added crabmeat and bernaise sauce.  Was cooked well. We ordered a side of grilled mushrooms, which were not really all that great. Under seasoned and a bit on the dry side.  Probably would have skipped ordering it if we would have known it was gonna be that way.  All in all, a passable, average steakhouse meal.  Nothing outstanding, but nothing terrible either. With all the nice steak places in Vegas, I would say you could skip this one.

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Gold and Silver Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars

Visited the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop made famous by the History Channel show Pawn Stars.  As a fan of the show, was pretty neat to see a lot of the items that were bought by the show’s stars actually in the store.

Rick, Cory, the Old Man, and Chumlee were not there though. Shop looks bigger on TV and they now have a whole section carved out for souvenirs and chotskies from the show. Thought about buying a $500 bill or a rare coin, but I only had $300 between Theresa Lee and me to spend. Next trip will be if I have a 100 year old GI Joe play rifle to sell.

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Mesa Grill, Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas

Rough Cut Tuna “Nachos”, Tiger Shrimp Roasted Garlic Tamales, Peach Margarita, Mojito,  I forget what, Smoked Shrimp Tacos

Well executed and very flavorful.  Drinks were made cleanly and complemented the meal well, with prices commensurate with the food pricing.  Service was adequate, but we thought the server could have check in on us more often, especially since we started at 1:30 and the restaurant was fairly empty at that time.

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Hash House a GoGo at the Plaza Hotel and Casino – Las Vegas

Rented a car and went to Hash House a GoGo, which is located in the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown/old town Vegas.  The Plaza is the typical downtown Vegas casino. Not as flashy or nice as the ones on the Strip, but it had a nostalgic charm to it.

Touted as “Twisted Farm Food and known for their huge portions (made famous by the Travel Channel show Man vs Food), we wanted to try it for brunch.

We order the signature Chicken & Waffles and the “Crispy Hand Hammered Pork Benedict”

Yes, those are steak knives stuck into the stacks of food to keep them together on the plate. The fried chicken was two huge fried breasts and comes with waffles embedded with whole strips of bacon, all topped with a creamy sauce and comes with maple syrup on the side. The hammered pork tenderloin is 18 ounces, battered and fried, and served over a bed of mashed potatoes and topped with BBQ cream sauce.  Needless to say, neither of us came anywhere close to finishing. In fact we took the food with us on our flight home later that day and had enough for 2 more meals worth of food. The scary part is, the waiter told us the dinner portions were even larger than the brunch portion. Yikes!  Next time we are sharing one dish.  If you go in a large group, plan on about 1 plate per 2 or even 3 people.


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Poker Trip Report – Vegas Oct 2012

 

Played 2 tournaments, Venetian 12pm and Aria 1pm. Also 4 cash game session. Venetian, Aria, and MGM Grand.

Venetian 12pm $150 ($135+$15), 12,000 starting chips

Early rounds – Ran 12K starting stack up to ~40K,. Dealt A/A,  blinds 100/200/0. Raised 3BB, got 3 callers, flop A/K/K, top boat. Slow played bluff happy cowboy in seat 2. Check called flop.  turn was 10.  Raised bet from villian and was called. River K, Villain bet out and I call, just in case he has the case K. He shows A/7 and I take the pot. Also hit a flush over straight to chip up on the next level.

Key hand: Blinds 400/800/200. Stack about 38K. Dealt  Tc8c, in the BB and was limped around to me, and check.  flop was 9cJc8d. Villain to my left was short stack and pushing all in past 3 hands and doubled up on last hand. I semi bluff 1/2 pot with my monster straight, flush draw, with possible 2 pair outs as well.  Villain moves all in again. Calling would put ~60% of stack at risk. I make the call, villain turns over A/J for top top. Did not hit any of my 20 outs and my stack is severely cut.  Card dead and playing short stacked with escalating blinds, raised to 3BB with J/J with only 10 BB left. BB defended. All in on flop and BB hit his Q on the flop and out.

Cash at Venetian

Played on 2 different days.

Day 1- Played 1-2 NL hold’em after dinner against a table of regulars and some tourists.  Ran $200 to over $400 and cashed out after about 4 hours of play. No real memorable hands, just slowly built up stack over time

Day 2  – Played 4/8 Omaha 8/b with 1/2 kill. Game was full and had a must move, short handed feeder game.  Played the feeder game for about an hour, then was moved to the main game which went short handed about 30 minutes after I sat down. Played short handed for another hour or so and the game broke. Overall down $150 or so.

 

Cash at Aria

Played 1-2 NL Hold ’em in the morning and ran 300 up to 700 before cashing out to play Aria 1pm tourney. Great room with competent dealers. This room and the Venetian are the places to play.

Aria 1pm  Tournament $125 ($100+$25) 10,000 Starting Chips

 

Started with 10K start and chipped up against maniac who was pre-flop raising 4-5X BB and playing almost every hand, and firing big on flop and turn.  Got most chips on single hand with blinds at 50/100/0. Villain rasied to 450, defended BB with 4 callers holding 2/2.  Flopped a set and slow played til river when I shoved all in. Ran stack to 25K or so.  Then won an all in race against a short stack holding A/Q against 7/7, stack over 40K.

Key tourney hands.  Limped in with Tc6d in EP with 4 callers.  New villian raised out of BB, and 4 callers.  Flop was T high, villain bets small, folded to me, when I raise. Others fold, villain shoves all. Reading him for a draw and getting decent pot odds (villain was short stack and could be shoving light), I call and villain hits his  straight (he also had bottom pair).  Stack still healthy, got involved with another aggressive player in a large pot. Blinds 800/1600/200, defended 2.5xBB raise in the BB with suited connectors.  Flopped a straight draw on a ragged board and called a large flop bet from villain #2.  Turn was blank and got  pushed off by large bet on the turn. Short stacked, blinkds at at 1000/2000/300 player to my left shoved with a little over 12BB,  I shoved A/K with 10BBs, big stack at table calls. Player to left has A/A and SB has K/Q.  and I’m out.

Cash at MGM poker room

The only reason why I played at MGM was because we were staying there and I did not feel like walking to Aria or Venetian late at night.  Played 1-2 at a table with loose aggressive tourists.  One big hand of the night. EP raises to $8 pre and I call on the button with A/K.  Flop is Q/J/T rainbow, and villain bets out pot on the flop, call, bets pot on the turn card of 3 , I call, he shoves on river of 8, I call and win his stack. Up almost $200 for the session

Conclusion

All in all, a good trip. Basically bank rolled my tourney buy ins via cash games, so left even from a cash flow perspective. Venetian is by far the most player friendly for smaller stakes and the tourist, recreational crowd.  They will spread any game as long s there is interest.  Dealers are super fast and efficient and the tables are spread out so you don’t have that “packed in” feeling.

Aria seems to be the place for mid and higher stakes games,  especially at night.  While the ultra high stakes are still at the Bellagio, seems like more action is shifting to Aria.  Tables are more tightly packed than Venetian, but it’s not so much so that you feel super sardine packed in like the Bellagio can get.

 

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Europe Trip 2012 – United Airlines Economy Class Experience

United Airlines – Well, they get you there.  The international flights are much better than domestic flights, as the cabin crew seem a bit cheerier and you get free entertainment in the form of an individual screen. We booked Economy Plus on our SFO to LHR  flight and the extra 3 inches of leg room makes a difference. Definitely worth the extra $$.  During our CDG to ORD flight we were in regular economy, although we got the 2 seats along the window on the 2-3-2 configuration.  Theresa chatted up some of the flight attendants on the return flight, with one particular one, Phillipe, chatting with us for a good bit, sharing some of his photographic work (his side hobby). Since we both went multiple times to the back of the plane to get Walker shortbread cookies and mini Toblerone bars, they putthe remaining cookies and bars in a bag and gave them as a parting gift before we landed in Chicago.

The food on both legs were nothing remarkable. It kept us from being hungry, but that is about it.  American airlines lag others in this department and it probably has to do with the cost competitive, money losing nature of their domestic operations.  One day I am expecting them to try and stop food service on international flights, but that might be against some laws, regulations, or treaties of some sort. Because we booked a package via Costco travel, they only had UA and BA as options, with BA being significantly more expensive than UA. Oh well, at least I got miles on my Mileage Plus account.

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Europe 2012 – Paris Food Pictures

Wine, complements of the Hotel Baltimore

Pizza from a local pizza shop (it was late Sunday evening and most restaurants are closed on Sunday),

Cafe Kleber on Place de Tracadero – Shrimp salad, French Onion Soup, Duck Breast with gravy, fried potatoes, green beans, Smothered steak with Pomme de Terre Frite, Chocolate crepe, and fruit tarte

Breakfast buffet at Hotel Baltimore – various cured meats and cheese, fruits, toasted brioche, breads, yogurt, hard boiled egg,  hot tea

Il Sorrentino – Bruchetta, stuffed ravioli with house made tomato sauce, mixed seafood grill, warm chocolate cake with caramel and creme angalise

Restaurant Perraudin (bistro) – Vegetable soup, salad of roasted peppers, bread,  Braised beef with carrots (special of the day), Beef Bourguinon, chocolate mousse dessert

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Europe 2012 – Paris Sightseeing

After getting off the Chunnel Train and making our way to the Hotel Baltimore near the Tracadero.  When we checked in the night before,  the hotel receptionist said that in addition to arriving the day after the general elections, the weather forecast called for some of the most inclement, rainy weather Paris had seen all year.

 As part of the Costco package, we got tickets to the Hop On’Hop Off buses that circulate the city. It took you to the major sites and you could get on and off the bus at certain destinations all throughout the city. The buses are double deckers and open air on the top level, allowing you to see the sights. Each rider is issued a set of earphones that plugs into a panel and provides audio guides to the various sites along the route.

We did one complete circuit on the main bus route without getting off to scout out all the sights.   Unfortunately, the forecasted rain started to hit shortly after that and on all subsequent days, so we spent the rest of our bus time below decks hiding from the pelting rain. We managed to stay dry by ducking into and out of various museums and shops, including Au Printemps, the large French department store where I found the largest jar of Nutella I’ve seen in a retail store (I think it was 5 kg)

Retracing Steps

 I wanted to hit the Musee d’Orsay, home to Impressionist and post Impressionist art.  Retracing some of the steps in Paris, I took the picture on the left in 2003 when I visited the Musee d’Orsay and then a similar picture in 2012. We also hit Norte Dame, and the Lourve.

By the end of our Paris stay, I think we were ready to get home, as it was a packed 10 days of travel.