Vegas Day 5 - The Golden Handshake

After just a few hours kip,  we were up and still buzzing from last nights win! I thought that being the 'Shooter' aka the one responsible for us winning all this money, that Adam and Goose would do the decent thing and throw me a golden-handshake ($10? $20? or maybe even $50 due to the size of the win, or even club together and cover my breakfast) - but No! Nadda! Zilch! Instead I paid for me own breakfast, from my Own money - appalling friendship and gratitude!

After breakfast, we packed our bags and headed to the Airport...

I made made a few subtle and well placed hints about the Golden-Handshake, or LACK of, and while standing in the queue at security, the moment came! Adam reached out (I could see a note in the palm of his hand - it was happening), placed his hand in mine, and slipped me the note. "You complete Tit!". The tight-fisted mother-trucker had slipped me a Buck! A lonely, single Buck! One Dollar (or about 70p)!! Not cool man, not cool!

The plane journey home was better than expected in terms of flight time. Was only 4 hours instead of 6 to JFK, and 6.5 hours to Heathrow instead of 8.5. Good times!

So a fantastic time in Las Vegas! We all had a great time, and better still - came home with some money!! I took $950 out with me, and returned with $1400! As I had 'written-off' that $950 to spend, I actually felt like I was $2350 up on the trip! Adam also came home up, while Goose was only $200 shy of returning home even. I've had worse holidays! :-D

.....but I am still waiting for the Real Golden-Handshake!

Over and out!

Vegas Day 4 - call me 'Shooter'

Our last full day in Sin City was upon us. Of course the usual routine of VIP Stylee Buffet Breakfast was administered, before hitting the 'mall' to do a spot of shopping. With my cheeky little win last night burning a hole in my wallet, I decided to get the Mrs a nice gift to take back (after all she did allow me to come to Vegas without her, even though I said I would take her months ago!! oops, better be a good present!).

We headed on over to Caesars Palace first of all, Goose wanted to check out 'The Hangover' T-shirts and other merchandise. FYI - the shopping mall at Caesars in Ma-Hoosive! Several hours later, and bearing many gifts, we slowly crawled back to the Bellagio to freshen up for our last night.

We were tipped off by a local cabby that there was an amazing Brazilian Steak house just off the strip, and so that would be our destination for dinner.... or so we thought! When we arrived ($15 cab ride) at the Steak House, we all looked a little hasty. We were expecting a lively, pumping Brazilian Steak House. Instead, we found ourselves standing at the bottom of a rough looking set of steps leading to the back of a closed salon - not quite what we were expecting. We decided to go back to a French restaurant we spotted, that was opposite the Bellagio at Paris (another $15 cab drive back - not even eaten yet and already were $30 down!).

Surprisingly the steaks were half the price of anywhere else we had seen and seemed to be a better restaurant!

After dinner (gone 11pm now!) we headed back to the Bellagio for a last all-nighter before heading home in the morning. We started off in the Poker Room, all 3 of us managed to get on the same $1-$2 No-Limit Hold 'em cash game, bonus! After a roller-coaster of emotions and several vodka's, a few hours had passed, and with our winning form on Craps (for me and Goose that is), we were keen to get back on it.

I had a bit of a shaky start - mainly due to Goose rolling 7's every other throw - Grrr! But I managed to keep my head above water and started to see some positive cash-flow.

Around 3am, it was my turn to 'Shoot' the dice. With this being our last night and all, I decided, along with Adam and Goose, to go-for-it a bit more and raise our bets! My first 3 throws saw a 7, 11 and 7 (if your not familiar with how to play Craps - that's good! at the start and while the game is "off" anyway!). Then I proceeded to have the roll of my life.... roll after roll I was smashing numbers. Everyone at the table was loving it - high fives, knuckles and even a few high-tens were thrown about! It was unreal and without knowing it me and Adam had over a 'Grand' in chips......each!!

We had been tipping the dealers by placing bets for them, so when I was winning - they were winning! So even they were loving my hot streak! But like all things, it came to an end :-( The dealers edged us to take our money and run as they said they don't see rolls like that very often! I counted up £1347, Adam $1300 and mother-Goose $900!! Kaaa-Chiiinnnggggg!!!! Over $3000 profit between us!

I put the 'odd' $47 from my winnings on number 7 on roulette, but no joy - my luck was done!

4.30am, $3000 better off - lets get a few hours shut eye before travelling home.....Done!

When we returned to the room, my dad was there - we played the whole 'we lost all our money' routine, before throwing our 'Hundred-Dollar' bills in the air and re-living the unbelievable roll I had down stairs!

From now on, you can call me 'Shooter'! Pow!

Vegas Day 3 - Now I get it...

Picture above - Me (left), Adam aka Sweat Patch (right)

Day 3 started with a wake up call from Goose - he returned from his Canyon trip around 10am and was desperately in love with the female helicopter pilot! As usual we headed down stairs for our buffet breakfast, of course going straight to the front of the queue in true VIP style, leaving all the other mugs lining up.

After breakfast we headed on over to Desert Pines Golf course on the north side of Vegas, we were due to tee off at 1.50pm - at the peak of the Desert Sun, and with our new found respect for its wrath, we were prompt to cream up! I think it's fair to say that we all had extremely Average, boarding on poor rounds, but we had all the excuses lined up - the heat, hard course, hadn't played there before, we using clubs we hadn't used before, its goes on... Adam was shanking balls all over the shop, and even though he bought a load before we started, he had to stop to buy more after hole 9! We also teamed up with a fourth person in our round, a guy called Jerry who was from the 'East Side' and always had a cigar on the burn the size of my forearm! I think Adam wanted a go on it, but was too shy to ask.

After golf we headed on back to the Bellagio, some random from the course shared our taxi with us but offered to pay the fare - Bonus!

Goose, after not sleeping since early yesterday morning was keen to get a quick power-nap before heading out for the night, so we all got 40 winks.

It was time to put the money we'd all won to good use and hit the town for our BNO (Big Night Out). The other 'Excalibur lot' made their way over to the Bellagio as we were getting a Limo to the Moon night club at the Palms. On their arrival to the Bellagio, it was apparent they had already been drinking, and 'Lightweight Lee' had already puked.

A limo ride later we arrived at the Palms and headed into the Moon - A nightclub on the 60th floor with an outside balcony overlooking the Las Vegas Strip! Awesome! We used the remaining money to buy 'a' round of drinks - 7 x Coronas and 7 x Shots = $160!! Ouch!

After we all made some shapes on the dance floor we headed down to the casino. We found ourselves at the 'Craps' table - a game that til now we were only placing 'Field' bets on. But with some coaching from other players, I started to get the hang of it, and soon found myself a cool $100 richer! Once again I Love Vegas!

Taxi back to the Bellagio, and with my new found knowledge of Craps, me and Goose hit the dice once again. $40 in each to start off with. We were stationed next to two hilarious Mexican guys who were on a hot streak and in no time at all, me and the Goose were in triple figures each and wanting more! Adam was over playing roulette, and was missing out on all the money and high-fives with the Mexicans! After a while Adam made his way over to join in the fun, but it would only be me and Goose that would leave with any money. Adam got pressured into playing 'The Horns Bet' and was bleeding cash, while we were on a steady rise!

A drunk chinese woman came to watch the table called Tiffany - the Mexicans were quick to to rename her Fanny - dunno why but was funny! So with every throw of the dice they would chant 'Fanny, Fanny, Fanny' or shout 'Fanny-Lew' - she was drunk so didn't really care, but everyone at the table was having a whale of a time at Fannys Expense!

Anyway, me and Goose won more money on Craps, whilst Adam continued to lose all his money he'd won from roulette on the 'Horns'!

At 6am we were ready for bed when it dawned on us that we hadn't eaten. We were in two minds, wait til 7am for the buffet to open or raid the shop for crisps and chocolate...... we couldn't wait til 7!

Tonights winnings - $440!
Time to bed - 6.20am.

Vegas Day 2 - Respect the Desert!

Picture above - our view from room at Bellagio

After a mire 3 hours sleep, we were up! Some of the hotels in Vegas are known to pump more oxygen into the rooms and casino (including mine) which meant that you stayed awake longer and didn't need to sleep as much - idea being, the longer your awake, the more time you've got to bet! But we didn't mind, actually liked it - more time to spend in Vegas, and not waste it in fairy land!

Once we were all ready we hit the Gym, been a fair few months since I had ventured into one, but never-the-less we proceeded to do a full session - tearing every muscle to within inches of its life (a price that we would pay a few days later!)

Following on from the gym, we hit the Buffet. (I forgot to mention in Day 1, that not only did we get an awesome upgrade, but we also got free VIP line tickets to the buffet, which for anyone thats been there will know how long it can get!). Everything was on offer, sausages, bacon, eggs, pancakes, fresh fruit, omlettes, pizza - you name it, they had it! As you can imagine, there wasn't much conversation at the table, just the noise of us scoffing down our breakfasts!

Next - the Pool! To my delight the pool was a good temperature, I was half-bracing myself to deep-freeze my nuts, but they and I were pleasantly surprised! (dunno why, we were in the middle of the desert!!! must be because British water very rarely climbs above a respectable and non-ball-retreating temperature!)

Being the pale-skinned chap that I am, I only hung around the pool for 30mins before I felt it time to hit the tables again! The others stayed and caught up with me later - a decision they would dearly regret...!

My first full-day of betting saw me destroy my daily limit of gambling money and question my liking for this place, but the others did alright, so wasn't a complete downer. The only thing to lift my spirits was seeing my two mates in pain after getting a good grilling by the desert sun! Both were red-raw and nursing their skin with aftersun and moisturiser! Lesson to be learnt - Respect the Desert!

4 other friends of mine had landed in Vegas the day before us, and were staying at Excalibur. We went to meet them, and of course of compare rooms! Excalibur or Bellagio - enough said!

We all decided to pool together $10 each and have a go on roulette - $5 on each persons number for 2 spins, and see what happens.... WINNER!! We hit a good few numbers and managed to get the $10 back each plus an additional $450!! The money would be going towards to BNO (Big Night Out!).

We hung with them for a bit longer, made plans for the rest of the trip before returning to the Bellagio for further money-burning! :-/

Another late night for me, but for one of my friends who had decided to book the Grand-Canyon trip, it was gonna have to be an all-nighter as he would have to meet the pick-up in 45 minites!

Day 2 over and out!

Vegas Day 1 - cheap flights and free upgrades

Picture above - Bellagio on the night we arrived

A punishing day of travelling ahead of us! We booked through lastminute.com (great deal btw) and in order to squeeze all the costs down to a minimum, we decided to take a transfer at JFK in New York instead of flying directly to Sin City!

So instead of a straight 11 hour flight, we had to endure a 8.5 hour flight, followed by a 3.5 hour stop over at JFK, ending in a 6 hour internal flight to Vegas. It sounded cheap and easy when we booked it, and although nobody admitted it, we all wished we had chosen to fly direct!
Anyway, 18 hours later and £200 richer each (maybe it was worth it...!) we landed in Viva Las Vegas!

I had done a fair amount of research on getting hotel upgrades in Vegas, and as we had opted for the standard room, we were keen to get bumped up! I had read about the 'sandwich' - for anyone that isn't down with Vegas Hotel upgrade lingo - the 'sandwich' is slipping a $20 bill (or more if you want to impress) in-between your passport and CC upon check in, once the clerk spots the $20 you ask if there are any complimentary upgrades available....? This is usually followed by "let me see what I can do sir"...... next thing I know, we are sitting in a Lake-View room, overlooking the fountains in the centre of the 26th floor at the Bellagio!!! (note: this doesn't always work, but always worth a try!)

No-time for dilly-daddling - we were only here for 3 days/ 4 nights, so it was dump the bags and straight out on the strip! We had been up since 4.30am UK time and travelled for over 18 hours, but in Vegas it was only 7pm and the night was still ripe for a smashing!!

Hitting my 'second-wind' after smashing an Italian BMT at Subway, we decided to play some poker in the Bellagio Poker room - pretty special! After playing for almost 3 hours, I cashed up $85 better off!! I had played tight, solid poker and stayed on the water for tonight (1. to stay focussed and 2. because I was dehydrated like a mother-trucker!)

Off to bed at around 4am (Vegas time) - long first day but now for 3 full days and half a morning to enjoy!

Vegas I've missed you....!

The wonderful world of football...

I love football! I have ever since I can remember. My parents say that as soon as I could walk, I always had a football at my feet; in the house, walking to school, eating dinner, and so on... I think this was primarily because my older brother by four years played football, and being the younger brother - I followed suit.

I simply play football because I enjoy it, not just for the health reasons - thats just a Brucey Bonus. I cannot imagine weekends, or life for that matter, without football. What do people do with their weekends that don't watch or play football?!? I can only imagine that they sit at home, watching tv, or reading a book - Yawn!

To me, there is no greater sport than football. The highs, the lows, the celebrations, the drama - I really cannot understand anyone that does not enjoy football at some level. Wheather it be watching, playing, betting, coaching, managing, reffing - football brings together people from all different cultures, backgrounds and countries - and unites them as one. Until, of course, one team plays another team - and then comes the drama.

What isn't to like about football? If nothing else, its active and healthy. 90 minutes of football has to be more enjoyable than 90 minutes pounding away on a moving belt, that actually, takes you nowhere. And you will spend time with friends and other football enthuiasts - which can improve your mood, self-esteem, lower stress-levels and keep you motivated (see here).

So, I invite you all (if you aren't already) to join me and embrace the wonderful world of football into your lives....