Las Vegas trip report (part 2)

Tuesday, January 17th addendum

After pissing away $500 in the QQ v KK hand, I walked over to Pai Gow poker, played 4 hands, lost 3 of them and pushed 1 of them, pissing away another $150. It was fairly ridiculous since the house made such monster hands, I never stood a chance.

Thursday, January 19th

It was a rough day at the show, considering I had only 2.5 hours of sleep, but I managed to hold it together. For dinner, we went to Maggiano's, which was phenomenal. The best parts were the fried cheese appetizer (as always), the lobster carbonara, and the filet medallions. Desserts were also excellent. They also gave us all of the extra food to go. Since none of us were going to eat it, I gave it to 3 homeless people on the bridge between Wynn and Palazzo. Figured some karma might do me some good.

After dinner, I went with Mark to roll some dice at Casino Royale ($3 min with 20X odds). I was playing $3 on the passline, only $10 odds, and establishing up to 2 additional $3 come bets with the same odds. The dice were ICE cold. None of the first 5-6 rollers hit a point, nor did any of my come bets win, unless it was the $3 variety. After my roll I decided to say goodnight to craps, down about $175, never standing a chance.

After craps, I played a very non-descript session of 1/2, breaking about even after 3 hours and change.

Friday, January 20th

Last day of the show, and I was able to get out at about 3:00. I headed over to the Rio to meet up with my buddy Joe who lives in Vegas, for dinner at the All American Grille, and then the $125 tourney at the Orleans. While waiting for Joe, I started a new table of 1/3. The two players at the opposite side of the table who seemed to know each other, had pretty deep pockets, and played woefully bad, though the Asian woman at least did it aggressively. The big hand I played at this table was as follows. I'm in EP and I raise to 12 with QsJs. Button bad player calls (about 150), asian lady calls (about 200), and new regular calls (about 300). Flop J32 with 2 clubs. They check to me, I bet 35 and they all call. The turn is an offsuit 4, check to me, and at this point I am comfortable getting it in with the two bad players, but not against the reg. I bet 75, button folds, woman now shoves for about 150. Reg tanks, but decides to fold what he said was Ac9c. I call. River is a blank, and she rolls over AQ and I take the pot. Hmm..... Walk away after about 2 hours ahead $100 at that game, but probably should have skipped dinner to play this table, as the woman started running good and built up a stack.

For dinner, I ordered the filet with mashed potatoes. Wasn't the best meal I've ever had there, but it was quick and pretty good.

Joe knew the tourney director at the Orleans, so they saved us seats, which was good because they were filled at 200 entries with a huge alternate list. They ended up getting 244 runners. I lasted about 2 hours, before losing AJ < A8, in a pretty standard spot. Unfortunately I had to lose as a big favorite. But in general after playing cash exclusively for some time, tournament play really bored me, and I didn't feel like playing anymore anyhow. Joe was knocked out within 30 minutes after an ugly mix of coolers (set into royal flush for starters).

We headed to MGM to play 1/2. I was up 100 after a while, but had lost a bit in standard spots when this hand came up. I'm in the BB with 9d7d and a bunch limp to me. I announce a "tilt raise" to 17, and only Joe calls me on the button. I'm not sure what I was trying to accomplish with this, but I was playing maniacally and just felt like it. Flop came 9h3h3x, and I bet 30 and Joe called, saying "Let's see if you bet the turn." The turn was a 6x, and for some reason I decided to "pot control" and checked, he bet 60, and I called (I debated calling or shoving here). The river was Jh, I checked, and he looked pained on what to do....finally he settled on 40, and I said "You MF'er, you got there with hearts??". I paid him off and he showed Ah6h, for the nut flush.

So now I was definitely steamed. A while later, loose player opens to 10, I flat in the CO with Kc6c after another (I was playing awfully at this point). Flop comes J64. Both players check to me and I bet 25. Only the original raiser calls. I start thinking "King, King, King"....and the turn is a K. Check to me and I bet 60. Now the original raiser goes all-in for 225ish. This kind of surprised me, and I started talking to him out loud. The only hand that scared me was JJ, since I felt 44 or 66 were not likely in his opening range. I did feel he would potentially play AK in this manner, so after debating it for another few seconds, I elected to call. He said "Good call" to me, and the river was inconsequential, then he turned over JJ??? Apparently "good call" meant good call on him having JJ, and not actually a good call on my call on the turn. After that hand I was pretty disgusted with many things, my play, the "good call", the shitty situation, etc.....so I called it a session down about $500.

Back at the Venetian, I stepped back into Pai Gow for another $125, again not winning a hand. I ran over to the Sportsbook at 2am to cash a winning round robin parlay ticket worth about $250, then headed back to Pai Gow with revenge (or degeneracy) on my mind. I ran that money into about $1K, and decided to cash out near $600.

Saturday, January 21st

I had to leave for the airport at 9:30, so I stubbornly sat down again in 2/5, and polished off about $350 with some pretty terrible play, and more bad situations.

Introspection

Looking at my play from the entire week, there was some definite spurts of good play, but there were some spurts of absolutely impatient and horrible play. The impatient play stems from trying to make things happen, instead of just letting the game come to me (to use a sports analogy).

The bad play is more troublesome. I was playing far too many hands. Most of the bad hands that I played stemmed from a bad call or raise pre-flop. Despite making what I knew were questionable calls (most of which were at least in position), I felt I could play well enough post-flop to eliminate any negative EV that I was establishing pre-flop. Instead of focusing on making big hands and trying to play for stacks, I was trying to fight for almost every pot, and playing bigger pots with marginal hands at best.

It's a slippery slope, because at the same time I notice that I am playing my best poker when I am picking good spots to make plays on pots, usually with floats or light 3 betting. A few successful hands, and you begin to feel invincible. That translates into playing more pots in marginal spots, which makes decisions very difficult.

So for my next few sessions, I plan on playing reasonably tight and straightforward, making sure that my fundamentals are where they need to be before I try to get overly creative.

Ruby on Third review

A week and a half ago I had a strong desire to celebrate my big Vegas weekend with a nice steak dinner. So on Friday I decided to call the Brown Derby, in downtown Detroit at MGM Casino. It turns out that a new restaurant called "Ruby on Third" is now in it's place. The person that took my reservation assured me that they were a 5-star steakhouse, and since all I really care about is the food, it could have been called "Dog Shit on a stick" and I might have gone being promised a good steak.

The restaurant is on the 3rd floor of MGM, and as you wind through the maze of obnoxious slot machines, you enter the restaurant, which is like walking into a different dimension compared to the chaos of a casino.

Immediately after sitting down I could tell I was in for a different type of dining experience. First, the server brought warm wet washclothes to wipe our hands off with, while this in itself isn't new to me, it was a nice touch. Then the server offered me my choice of napkin color (black or brown). I'm not sure the significance of this, nor do I care (I selected black). Strangely red was not a choice, despite the overall red decor of the restaurant and the red in the title.

The menu was short, but most of the items sounded excellent. Victoria selected the Filet (cooked medium well), with some kind of potato and leeks (neither of us had any idea what it was, and she was in a gambling mood). Maybe she can chime in as to what exactly the leek was, and what kind of potato she got. I chose the surf and turf, which was a filet (cooked medium) with a lobster tail, along with a baked potato. We also split a caesar salad. We also started with an adult beverage. I got a spicy bloody mary, which was delicious. I wish I knew which mix they used for it. Victoria got a strawberry daiquiri.

The salad was excellent, though hardly worth $8, with just the right amount of dressing. We had two different types of bread, one with poppy seeds, one without. Both were good, but the one without was the best.

We were both very hungry, and everytime the door from the kitchen swung open we were teased by the false hope that our entrees were on the way. Finally, they arrived. Everything looked excellent, and the steak actually tasted far better than it looked. It was prepared perfectly. Quite honestly one of the best steaks I've had in a few years. The lobster was also quite succulent. After all of that I had very little need to eat my baked potato, which was merely good by comparison.

Victoria's steak was slightly undercooked in the middle (more for me!!!), but was also very good. Her's came with a sauce on the top that she really liked, but I was kinda meh about it. The leeks were a disappointment to her, but overall the entree's were excellent.

Neither of us had any room for dessert, so the meal closed with more warm wet washclothes, and some chocolate covered strawberries with our bill. Overall the tab was $125 with tip, which wasn't that bad considering how great the meal was, and that it included one drink.

I definitely would recommend this restaurant to anyone interested in upscale dining.

Quizno's Prime Rib sandwich report

Quizno’s has been heavily advertising their new Prime Rib sandwich, so I decided since I am a regular there, I would give it a shot.

The Sandwich:
It has a generous helping of sliced Prime Rib, peppercorn sauce, mozzarella cheese, and onions (of which I didn’t get). The price is $1.50 more expensive than most subs on the menu. It comes with white bread as the default selection.

Sandwich presentation:
I will hold off and not grade this portion. The bread was kind of soggy, and the cheese was not very evenly distributed. However, it is well known that at the Ann Arbor Quizno’s I frequent that the particular person who made my sandwich is the worst sandwich preparer I have ever dealt with. Meat, cheese and lettuce regularly hang off of the bread, and dressing is unevenly distributed. She basically takes no pride in the artistry of sandwich presentation. She is the younger, large woman for anyone who has visited that location.

Unlike Arby’s though, the commercials are indicative of the amount of meat you will get.

Taste:
Overall pretty good, as stated above, the poor presentation likely did not allow this sandwich justice. The peppercorn sauce is not as zesty as I anticipated, though reasonably tasty. I would recommend getting this sandwich with extra cheese (as you can never have too much). I will be giving this sub another chance, but at this point it is not good enough to take over for the usual Mesquite Chicken, and I would even rank it below the Chicken Carbonara.

Johnny Carino's trip report

Background:
My parents got me a gift card for my birthday to Johnny Carino’s. Victory and I went on Saturday night around 7pm to the one right next to Westland mall. Apparently they are a chain, but I have never been to one.

Seating:
We were immediately seated, which was impressive, given the business of that area. Perhaps that area has finally built enough restaurants to satisfy the overwhelming demand. The restaurant ambience reminded me of a Papa Vinos/Macaroni Grill, with a very open kitchen adjacent to the seating area.

Bread:
Some of the best bread I’ve had at an Italian restaurant in a while. They do the whole oil on plate thing for butter. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it’s a nice change of pace. The two of us finished the roll, and decided it was best to not ask for more.

Salad:
Both of us got a Caesar salad. We swapped because I tend to like more dressing, but this thing was damn near inedible, as it was literally coated in Caesar. I asked the waitress about it and she said she didn’t know why they were putting so much today, so it wasn’t typical. She offered more, but I was quite happy waiting for my entrée.

Entrée’s:
I got Chicken Alfredo, while she got the special, which included Lasagna, Chicken Parm and Spaghetti. The Alfredo was very good, with the chicken cut into very small strips, which is different than what I am used to. The serving size was gigantic to me, and I could barely eat half of it. The lasagna was very cheesy and good. The chicken parm had a zesty breading on it which was pretty tasty as well. The spaghetti was average. Again the serving size was enormous.

Service:
Young girl who was pretty good. Food came out in good time, drinks stayed full, etc…basically what you ask for in service. She also took much of my good natured ribbing very well (salad comment among others). Victory seemed to like her too so I tipped her over $6 on our $29 bill.

Ratings:
Seating: 9
Bread: 8.5
Salad: 3
Entrée: 7.5
Service: 8.5

Overall rating: 7.5 (a solid 7.5 though, the overall rating can never be better than the entrée, and while the salad is a minor hiccup, docking significant points due to a salad is queer)

Del Taco Trip report

Background:
I was hungry and didn’t feel like cooking. I could throw a pigskin to the Taco Bell by my house, but I decided to make the drive to Del Taco (3 miles). Contrary to my Walmart experience, this required bringing the Ford Road traffic into play.

Parking/Entrance:
Bad idea from the start, traffic was miserable, and I thought about turning around several times. But I stuck it out. Finally I made the turnaround past Ford Road, and was in the second to the right lane. But traffic was so heavy and people were driving like such assholes, I was forced to overshoot the entrance by a 100+ yards. I was able to cut through parking lots and make it in relative short order.

Shopping/Drive thru experience:
The drive thru people are always very pleasant and have yet to mess up my order. I ordered a combo meal, which included 3 tacos and a cheddar quesadilla (plain, I know, not living up to my Mexican heritage).

Eating experience:
Cheddar quesadillas are usually an 8, but this time it was about a 4-5. The amount of cheese on it has decreased each time I have been in there, and yesterday it was reminiscent of a Taco Bell quesadilla, which is garbage. The tacos as usual included real shredded cheese, unlike T-Bell, however, the presentation was lacking as the cheese was not very lovingly distributed throughout the taco. Once the cheese melted, this created the undesirable consequence of some of the taco being a cheese bounty and the rest being cheeseless.

The taco sauce comes in Hot and Mild, actually the hot as a different title that eludes me at the moment. Unfortunately, the hot is in a black package, and the mild in a red package, which is the opposite of what my intuition tells me is correct. Therefore, the first two tacos I ate were with mild sauce until I noticed the error in my ways.

Side note:
I have been to Del Taco 3-4 times in the past month, and it has grown on me everytime. This experience was well below par on most levels. I have changed my perspective on the place to recommending going there, at least for comparison sake. Also keep in mind that on the Fast Food rating scale, all things are compared to Jack in the Box, which I know is an unfair comparison. The number in the paranthesis is the rating I would give based on the work of the past month.

Overall ratings:
Parking/Entrance: 3 (5.5)
Shopping/Drive thru experience: 7.5 (8)
Eating Experience: 5 (7)
Intangibles: 6 (6)
Overall Rating: 5.5 (7)