1) Binion’s rooms are barely serviceable. I tried the Pauly $20 check-in tip trick on the very young kid at the desk, and he literally asked me what it was for. I explained as graciously as I could, and he proceeded to pocket it and give me a standard bare-bones room.

2) Binion’s snack bars appear to be run as if they are in the cornfields of Iowa: they close around midnight. Despite players walking up and begging them for anything to eat, even a patty that might have fallen between the grill and the dressing table, they still closed. It was very weird, seeing them turn cash money down like that. I always thought the downtown joints catered better to their low-rent customers like me, but I guess times are hard.

3) Much biz was talked with the Pokerati principals in a foo-foo coffee bar at the newest over-priced luxe hotel on the strip. It was a nice joint, and I’m sure the rooms are better than Binion’s, but I’m just not as impressed by acres of marble and oak as I once might have been. No, what was impressive at this joint was the cocktail waitresses, and the nighties costumes they wore. If I’m ever not impressed by that, someone pull out a gun and shoot me. Or hand it to me, and I’ll shoot myself.

4) I only played about 30 minutes of poker, so you get one little bad beat story: I flopped a set of kings, made pot-size bets (hell, overbet the pot one both rounds, trying to scare off the draw-artists), and went down in flames when a dude hit his gutshot wheel. I wasn’t felted, and I wasn’t tilted, but I didn’t have the mental fortitude to deal with that.

5) 30 minutes later, I crawled under the covers and slept eleven straight hours. I don’t know if I was sick or just tired, but there you go. I had hoped to get over to the Rio with Dan and say hi to some of my little web-poker buddies, but I failed. It angers me that I’m no go-getter anymore.

6) However, I did have some nice blackjack runs. Lots of single- and double-deck blackjack downtown, and it’s not that hard to find a table by yourself. I feel better in that kind of situation, so I was able to profit. Enough to pay for the plane ticket. Would have come away a net winner if not for that damn gut wheel, but that’s poker, so no complaints. It’ll come around.

I’m just glad to be back, really. Seems like I’ve done a lot of travelling lately, even though it’s normal for me. I simply have to get the house cleared out in Dallas for the painters and spacklers and so on, and I’ll be up there next week, driving a big old final U-Haul back. This was a big mistake, trying to move over an extended period of time. Should have just pulled the plug and been done with it a month ago.