20 June 2010

Being Sunday, Margaritaville was very busy but we were just early enough to get a table. I don’t know why Sunday is such a busy day, but the only time we’ve not been able to get in was a Sunday. Anyway, breakfast sorted, we went back to the hotel room to get ready for the day. Did I mention the mirror in the bathroom? It has a built in TV so you can watch the World Cup while cleaning your teeth! Here’s Italy v New Zealand:

The baglady went off to find a seat at the hotel pool while I went back to the Aria to catch the 12 noon daily deepstack.

The City Center development is amazing, apparently it is the largest single property development project in the USA ever. At one point it looked like it might bust Harrah’s, but here it is now pretty much finished and open for business. Impressive…

Once I got to the Aria I found that the 12 noon actually starts at 1pm so I had a whole hour to fill. Time to go walkabout. First the City Center Tram to Bellagio…

The tram being high up there are some surprisingly good views of Vegas. I couldn’t resist taking this picture of the Rio:

The extra hour gave me time to have a proper explore of the Bellagio shops and attractions.

Here are some attractive flowers from beside the Conservatory:

The largest chocolate fountain in the world:

The exclusive Bellagio pool:

But then it was time to head back to the Aria for the game.

It was a good enjoyable game. I played well despite being card dead the whole time. After 6 hours I made the final table, shortstacked but still in the game. Not for long unfortunately – I pushed with 66 to isolate a tight limper who called for nearly all his chips with AJo. I lost the race to finish 10th and no money.

Meanwhile back at the pool, the Baglady had lasted less than 90 minutes before giving in to the desert heat and going back to the room to cool down. She had then taken the laptop over to Caesar’s to use the free wi-fi outside the Apple store. Then it was off to the Gold Coast to play Pai Gow, which is where she was when I had finished at the Aria. But before I could join her she packed it in to come back to the Strip.

Both hungry, we decided to take Harrah’s up on their Buffet of Buffets deal: a 24 hour free pass covering all the buffets in all the casinos of the Harrah’s chain. The best deal in town! So our first hit was the Flamingo buffet, which was meh but filled us up. Both knackered it was back to the room for an early night.

Oh, did you spot my little trick with the Bellagio flowers? It’s actually the ceiling. Yes folks, I flipped the picture upside down. Well, it keeps me entertained.