Home Sweet Home

Ms. Duck and I flew Southwest Airlines out of Austin on Memorial Day for an 11 day stay (our longest to date) in beautiful Las Vegas. The trip started well, as I found a $20 bill on the floor at the airport shortly before we caught our flight.

Winning already!

We had two comped nights at the Orleans, plus a $10 food credit, so we decided to stay there for four nights, which came to a little under $100, including internet and resort fees. The rooms are nice and roomy, with the furnishings a little outdated, but who cares! We thought it was quite a bargain and won't hesitate to stay there again.

From there we moved over to the Green Valley Ranch for the weekend. We found a good weekend rate there ($59 a night), and although the room was smaller than the Orleans, it's a very nice property. My only complaint was the temperature in the casino. It was freezing! I had to walk outside into the 100+ degree weather every hour or so to thaw out. Brrrrr! But, it has a nice poker room and sportsbook, so overall I was very happy playing there.

Sunday was moving day again, so we packed and headed over to Vdara. Well, Ms. Duck did. My WSOP Tournament began at noon, so she dropped me at the Rio and checked in on her own. And unpacked! And washed our dirty clothes from the previous week!

View from our room at Vdara.

Living area in our room at Vdara.

Kichen area in our room at Vdara.

That's right, the room had a washer and dryer. In addition, there was a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and huge bathroom. It was larger than our first apartment. The rate was a little high for my taste ($109 night), but Ms. Duck wanted to spend a few nights on the strip, so that's what we did.

Lucki before WSOP.

Lucki after WSOP1

As mentioned previously, I played event 7 of the WSOP at the Rio and after 14 hours of play, I managed to cash for a little over $2,000. Click here for the details of the tournament. As my head hit the pillow that night, I noticed it was 6 am back in Texas. I should be getting up for work right now, not going to bed!

Hacienda Casino in Boulder City

Ms. Duck and I like to casino hop when we're in town, so we usually end up visiting a lot of properties and this trip was no exception. In addition to stopping by the Hacienda in Boulder City for a late lunch on our way back from Hoover Dam, we also visited the Aquarius and Nugget casinos in Laughlin. In and around Vegas we stopped by the Aria, Excalibur, Luxor, MGM, Monte Carlo, NYNY, Paris, Planet Ho, Treasure Island, Tropicana, Ellis Island, Palms, Rio, Sam's Town, Orleans, Red Rock, Suncoast, and South Point.

Ms. Duck at Hoover Dam.

Lucki Duck at Hoover Dam

There were quite a few properties that we usually visit, but didn't this time, including Bally's, Bellagio, Caesars, Casino Royale, Cosmopolitan, Encore, Harrahs, Mirage, Palazzo, Venetian, Slots-a-Fun, and Wynn.

The WSOP was the reason for the trip, and cashing was certainly the highlight of the trip for me. Having a couple meals with lightning36 and one with Rob were a close second. Although I had met lightning on a previous trip, it was fun to sit and visit with him again. He's an interesting guy with a keen sense of humor and is also delusional about his sexual prowess around the women folk. We met for lunch at Ellis Island, where he ordered the "steak special," which isn't so special anymore.

Later in the week we met again at le' Burger at the Paris Resort. Ms. Duck and Rob joined us for the food and fun. We all had a great time, with lightning and I trading barbs about our sports teams while Rob refereed. Lightning was careful to explain Rob's obsession with breasts to Ms. Duck during the meal, a fact she would mention the next day.

The biggest surprise of the meal was when lightning reached for the check. Wow! It's a move I've never seen him make before. I'm not saying he's tight, but once he called in the "jaws of life" to pry his wallet open, he handed the waitress his BankAmericard.

"Sir, this card is expired," the waitress explained.

"It wasn't last time I bought dinner," lightning said.

"This card company hasn't existed since the '70s sir!"

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

He had a wad of cash on him, but explained it was his poker roll and could not be used for other expenses... like food.

So disciplined.

It looked like things were going to get ugly when he tried to pay with three redbird chips he had left from "losing his ass" at Arizona Charlie's playing poker with Tony, and two books of S&H Green Stamps.

Fortunately the manager was a Chicago Bears fan, so lightning was able to settle the tab by giving up the three redbirds plus an autographed, game used, Jay Cutler pink tutu.

Whew, that was close!

I do appreciate the dinner. I know how hard it must have been for him to give up a piece of sports memorabilia. Thank you sir!

All kidding aside, we had a great time and I was pleased to be able to meet and visit with Rob. After dinner, Ms. Duck drove back to the Vdara to pack for our trip home and Rob, lightning and I headed for the Luxor to pitch a few cards. While there we ran into Bally's dealer and fellow blogger Ron, so the blogging community took four seats at the table, leaving the rest of the pigeons there helpless.

I was the first to leave the table, walking away with a nice $200 profit. Lightning, Rob, and Ron were all up handsomely when I left.

Rob, Ron, and I all play similar TAG styles, but lightning likes to mix it up more than the rest of us. He won a nice hand by cracking aces with 6-7 soooted (my favorite non- premium hand) with a rivered flush.

Friday was our last day, but our flight didn't leave until 8:20 pm, so we had some time to play and drove over to the Orleans for some video poker. From there we headed to the Palms and found a close in parking place in the garage. We took the elevator down to the casino level and when the door opened, there was a woman standing there that was dressed very similar to this.

"Rob would like her!" said Ms. Duck.

Truer words have never been spoken.

From the Palms, we gassed the car and returned it to McCarron, grabbed a bite, and headed for Texas. We pulled into the driveway at 3:30am, weary but contented. It was a great trip!

Home sweet home.

Till next time, win the flips.