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The cheese on toast that is Las Vegas is finally back on Sky One for a third season. Not content with using and abusing every possible Vegas cliche already, they had to end the second series with a casino being imploded, and now it’s been rebuilt.
The most impressive thing is that during the construction work, the Montecito hotel appears to have moved a couple of miles along the Las Vegas strip! In the previous seasons, there were some fairly clever computer generated shots of a shiny fake hotel sitting across the road from Mandalay Bay. This is the south end of the strip and keep going any further south and you get to see not a lot more than desert, the airport and a freeway intersection.
This is roughly the site of the Klondike casino, as featured in the movie Miss Congeniality 2 – semi-essential Vegas viewing, and although far from a great movie, it’s really not that bad for an unnecessary sequel to a film about a beauty pageant…. The Klondike is 45 years old, and is actually due to be getting knocked down itself any day now (although I don’t think an implosion will be necessary on this tiny place!).
So then there’s a shot of the strip from a distance in the season opening episode of Las Vegas that shows the all new Montecito glimmering in the distance, right between Aladdin and New York New York. Monte Carlo has been obliterated, and Manadalay Bay stands alone at the right of the screen.
You can be absolutely certain that if it moves again I’ll be taking notice! In fact I’m starting to wish I’d burned a copy to DVD so I could post a picture 🙂 There must be someoneelse who cares about this stuff as much as me…?
After nearly five weeks I finally have confirmation of my entry into WSOP event 37!
I’ve said previously about the so-called registration hotline and my failure to reach a human and since then a kind poster on the 2+2 WSOP Forum sent me the number for the WSOP registration desk, but so far I’d still only managed to get a recorded message.
I’m loving reading that forum by the way, it’s really getting quite excited – even if most of the questions asked are along "can I walk from my hotel to the Rio". It’s actually only about half a mile from the intersection of Flamingo and the Strip, but you’d be walking in oppressive heat over a busy freeway intersection – nowhere to stop and lovely fumes to inhale, and then still have to walk for 20 minutes to find the right end of the Rio itself! Just take plenty of water, or you’ll probably die.
Anyway I’d left messages asking them to call me, email me – anything – to say whether my money had arrived and still no joy. Finally today Claire convinced me that I should call the Rio’s main number and see if I could find anyone to speak to in person on a different extension. In fact, I did and they were trying to be very helpful.
Firstly I spoke to Ron (or possibly Ray, I didn’t write it down) in the WSOP cage, who managed to confirm that my pre-registration fax had gone through but that I was unpaid. He was only able to check my pre-registration because I managed to fish out my old Harrah’s Total Rewards card. I hadn’t even written the number on the form because I thought it might have expired, but it would seem that Harrah’s have a very long memory…
So why was I unpaid, I asked. He said I would have to go to the main casino cage and sign over the wire transfer to the WSOP when I arrived. He tried to put me through to the cage so I could check they had my money but I got disconnected.
So I called back and asked for the casino cage. They said I needed to speak to the WSOP cage and put me through before I could argue. The phone line dropped again before anyone answered.
I called back to the WSOP cage and spoke to Ray (or maybe Ron, whichever one the first guy was not) and he said I’d need to talk to "will call", which I didn’t even know existed except if you’re going to see Penn and Teller. They weren’t answering the phone, so good old Ray said he’d run over there himself and make sure they took the call. Can’t fault the enthusiasm, if this is for real. However I was on hold for a good 15 minutes before I finally gave up.
However, something went right along the way as I finally received this email this evening. A huge relief!
Congratulations!! The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious Poker event in the world. This is a receipt for your payment of the Tournament Entry Fee of $1500 which reserves you a seat in WSOP Event #37 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 12 noon.
Upon arrival at the RIO, to finalize your Registration and to receive your table and seat assignment, please visit our Registration Area, located in the WSOP Tournament Area. You must complete your Tournament Registration at least one hour prior to your event. Please be prepared to provide proof of identity via a Drivers License, Passport or Military I.D.
This year’s WSOP will no doubt be the largest and most exciting gaming event in history. Harrahs continues to lead the industry in creating an innovative gaming experience for valued guests. Harrahs and the Tournament Staff sincerely wish you, “GOOD LUCK!!”
Robert Daily
Tournament Director, World Series of Poker
It’s T-23 before we head off to the bone-melting Nevada heat so it’s really time to start getting in the mood. So, prompted by my DigiGuide renewal reminder, I’ve been searching for what Vegas related TV is coming up over the next few weeks and hit upon these gems that I’ve not seen before.
I promise – as ridiculous (or as ridiculously dull) as these sound, they are the genuine synopses from the TV guide. I couldn’t make this stuff up.
FILM: Leprechaun 3
Warwick Davies returns as the nasty wee demon, and this time he’s on the loose in Las Vegas… but he’s not exactly bringing good luck with him.
COOKERY: United States of Reza
After officiating at a biker wedding in Vegas, Reza hits the road back to the airport. As a last gesture, he stops at a classic burger bar and creates a curried hamburger.
FILM: Hell Squad
In order to rescue the son of a diplomat who has been kidnapped by terrorists, a group of Las Vegas showgirls undergo commando training and organize a rescue operation.
SITCOM: Two and a Half Men
On a boring, rainy weekend, Charlie persuades Alan and Jake to go on a trip with him to Las Vegas. When Jake becomes ill Judith forbids the trip.
I honestly do not think that I’ll be setting Sky+ for any of these.
Some good news though, the third season of cheese-fest show Las Vegas finally starts on Sky One next Friday! Here’s some stunning episodes teasers from the official web site.
"Monica is furious that nothing can be done to stop a rich ‘whale’ who always wins at the tables while Mike (James Lesure) searches for a wallet-nabbing thief."
"Mike (James Lesure), Mary (Nikki Cox) and Delinda (Molly Sims) are amazed by the Montecito’s guest magician, Criss Angel, as he performs magic tricks for the Montecito patrons on the casino floor."
"Jilian (Cheryl Ladd) sprains her ankle and convinces Ed (James Caan) to walk the family dog at a local Dog Show."
Can’t wait..
Our house. The one we’re staying in for the Vegas trip (T-33) as seen from space.
Dude, where’s your pool? Either this is an old picture and the pool has been added recently or Google Earth has got it wrong – the house just to the left looks like it has a pool the same shape as the one we’ve seen. Still, it’s somewhere round here…
Could this be the first poker promotion in a Las Vegas casino in recent memory not to feature the phrase "Go All In!"? In fact, it’s a not even a Hold’em promo – but maybe the Sam’s Town clientel don’t have ESPN and Travel Channel in their RVs? 🙂 Just kidding, I love the place…
Go pot, pot, pot, pot, all-in! …?
This is a complete misnoma. I just called the WSOP Registration Hotline to check on my entry – it’s been two weeks since I faxed over my form and wired the money and I’ve not heard a peep. Not asking for much, just an email to say "thanks, we got your money" would do.
I really don’t think there’s any reason to be suspicious of Harrah’s, and I can understand that they’re going to be a little busy processing mountains of registrations so it could take a while. I just want to know that my money got to the right place, and they know what it’s for.
Given that when I was calling Citibank to set up the wire, they read aloud to confirm the spelling of "N-E-V-A-R-D-A", even with the written confirmation they’ve sent to me, there’s still just a niggling fear that it hasn’t gone right.
The most interesting mistake I’ve seen Citibank make is when I applied for casino credit at the Stratosphere – they faxed through an account summary stating my average balance as $487,317. Very specific and very, very wrong I’m sorry to say. Sadly this didn’t impress the casnio enough to make them throw any free stuff at us.
So the WSOP Hotline: 1-877-FOR-WSOP. After over four minutes of recorded blurb telling me just how great this year’s event is going to be I press the button for "if you have any questions". Alas, there’s no human on this number though. I’m given the option to leave a recorded message, and someone will get back to me within 72 hours.
Not very hot at all really.
Money down the drain, but it had to be done…
This was actually the very first bet I have ever made at a Vegas sports book so it felt good to be backing England. In fact, come to think of it, it’s the first sports bet I’ve ever placed with a real live bookmaker anywhere!
I’ll no doubt pick some more elaborate bets before kickoff. I’m no good at betting on football (as you can see from the picture above) but there’s just so many interesting bets on the World Cup – I don’t think I’ll be able to resist…
So let’s recap 🙂 I wanted to play Event 37 $1500 No Limit Hold’em, and also have a crack at a $1060 satellite in Vegas for the main event. I think we’re nearly there.
Party Poker: $411.30
Gutshot: $1400
Blue Sq: $766
Total: $2577.30
That’ll do it!
So I’ve only bloody gone and done it. My entry form for Event 37 has been faxed, I’ve wired the money to Harrah’s and I am going to be playing in a bracelet event on July 25th. Takes 3-5 days for the money to arrive apparently, and then I’ll get a confirmation from the Rio. You can be sure I’ll post it here once I have it!
You can’t register in advance for the super-satellites, you just turn up and play on the day. Usually these take place at 7pm each night but July 26th and 27th are "Satellite Days" (in addition, July 27th is "Media/Celebrity Event Day" – whatever horrible made-for-tv monstrosity that might be). If I’m doing well in the $1500 event, I won’t be able to play one of these, but that would be a very happy problem to have. Only the final table will play on the 27th, so if I’m there looking fat for the ESPN cameras I won’t really care about the main event satellite! 9th place last year got $23,820 and the winner took over $300k.
The question now is whether I’ll actually try and win a seat for the main event online first…
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