Got about 4 hours sleep and then welcome to Thursday, crazy town! Grabbed some breakfast (nearly didn’t keep that down) and tried to relax for the day, spent most of it in bed nursing a sore head, could not face the heat today!! Anyway, longer story even shorter than the last, ended up in ‘The Bank’ which is a nightclub in the Bellagio (it’s a vegas club, oh yes), WOW! Amazing place, marbled floors, awesome lighting, everyone in smart casual, some big players in their - I dread to think how many people I bumped into last night, but let’s just say that when I arose from my pit this morning, my phone was chokker with txt’s and I even managed to grab some pics of whatever the hell I was up to last night, or the night before!!

Everything is backwards here, from fear and loathing:

Raoul Duke: [referring to the knife Acosta is holding] Jesus Christ, where’d you get that thing?
Dr. Gonzo: Room Service sent it up, I needed something to cut the limes.
Raoul Duke: Limes? What limes?
Dr. Gonzo: They didnt have any, they don’t grow in the desert.

I’ll be back in the UK on Sunday morning although if i’m honest i’d rather stay Stateside. The dreary trudge of wet old England does not befit me well at all. Viva Las Vegas!

Met up with Andy and the pool and had a ‘Turkey’ club sandwich and yes, as usual they brought me out an entire turkey covered with two tiny bits of bread - man oh man, eating a sarny by the pool in the desert - not the most comfortable experience. Entered the Paris poker tourney yesterday and made it into the last 14, out again just off the money!

I played poker with Andy 3 times since I’ve been here and every time stayed in longer, but these little tourney’s are crap shoots - who gives a shit going all in with nothing - it’s only like $70 or something - I doubt Andy is playing anything but Gold at the WSOP today! - Bastard - Just had a phone call from Andy- ‘What’s the number for Virgin Atlantic, we’re off home’ - WHAT? Oh, your only joking, right, funny - from the sounds of it Andy is in good shape over at the Rio.

No gambling today - absolutely none and I feel great - shopping tomorrow if I get time and fancy getting myself scorched!

Yesterday was another relax day, getting prepared for the big event today!

Long day, cut short, Andy got put out of the tournament after 4 hours, so we met up in a bar in the Paris, had a couple of Buds (or in my case some voddy’s) and then hit ‘The Artisan’ for the Winners party - hahaha - it was dead! Dead as a fucking dodo, great place, nice atmoshpere, crazy paintings stuck to the ceiling and some memorable guests - so we left and dedcided to go to the Palms - ‘The Greatest NightSpot in Vegas’ apparently?? Anyway the clubs all looked closed (it was 3am on a Monday night), so we hit up the bar, more strong drinks and got chatting to some ladies - who were hookers - Ashanti (as in a shanti town, cause that’s exactly where it looked like she had come from) and the other had a name that wouned like shit -  we left - alone!

I headed out onto the Strip at about 4am, ended up in some Irish bar, listening to inane bollocks and getting merry - didn’t last long, bed by 5am.

The kicker?? Found out this morning that the Playboy Club WAS open at palms and the winners party had been moved there - thanks for the warning guys - fucking hell!

Daily Note: Someone somewhere must do Darren sized portions?? Hmmm? Nobody could possibly eat a fucking 120oz steak - that’s just not possible!

Anyway - turns our I hadn’t eaten for about 28 hours, so went to a nice restaurant and had a 16oz steak which not only woke me up, but also made me consider the possibilty that I might need a heart bypass soon!!! Some more gambling ensued and then we book into the Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Love’ by the Beatles over in the Mirage.

Turned up early and played some Blackjack - not going to well there. But the show was amazing, better than amazing, so precise, the colours, the lighting, the choreography, just a masterful spectacle shining with all it’s might - it really will leave a lasting impression, maybe I’ll get to see ‘O’ before I leave - let’s see how things pan out on Wednesday!!

If my memory serves me correctly - tonight we’re off to a ‘Winner’s Party’ for all the WSOP qualifiers that made it through to day 2 - no idea where, what time or even how, but we’ll see later on this evening.

I have no idea how long I have been here or even what day it is - I was asking the staff last night at Caesars what day it was - the kicker - they didn’t seem to phased, they must get asked that alot!

Anyway, yesterday way long, spent alot of my time at the Rio reporting on Ice and his progress through the World Series - did I mention, Andy is through to DAY TWO!!!! Good on you mate! So I was getting various Cabs and shuttles to and from the Rio, saw some awesome play from some of the pro’s and kept a blow by blow account over on the poker blog - really great stuff, made better by the progress into the 2nd day!

So evening time (circa, 12:30am) we met up and started having a little drink or 20! I eventually ended up at Caesars Palace watching the Blackjack tables - and got this awesome Medallion (I have a deal with the boss, to wear it all week long - when in Vegas etc), won some cash on the ‘Wheel of Fortune’, which made me have a few celebratory drinks of course - got into my sack at about 5/6am this morning - we have a three day respite now from the WSO, so we’ll find some stuff to do and then straight back on it! Maybe see the Cirque Du Solie tonigh.

Note: Vegas is very busy! Caesars has more entrances than Tiverton has homes, that photo was taken at 5:30am, so that explains the graveyard like appearance of both myself and the surroundings!

Eventually made it to the Rio (via shuttlebus - very warm), to check out the WSOP 1st day, fucking mental - the place was so busy and it’s only going to get worse the further into the tournament we get - saw Gus Hansen and snapped a pic of him and Andy. Watched some Blackjack with these idiot Americans that really didn’t have a clue what they were doing - they were hemoraging chips within minutes. Met Angela from LA, I tell you - if all the women from LA are as insane as here, I’ll be moving there tomorrow - sounds like a great place to live!

Met up with the Poker Glasses guys, met them a few days back - them seem to be doing alright - check them out at: Royal Eyewear. Grabbed some freebies off the various stands - most of it tat to be fair.

We even managed to make it over to the ‘Planet Hollywood’, although it’s very difficult to anything but stare at the sheer number of dancers - they are everywhere, bad place to gamble - good place to gawk!!

Went to the Fontana room in the Bellagio later on and spent another 3 hours trying to catch the fountains playing Botticelli, and finally at 11:45am - we got it, great stuff. Hit a few bars and then hit my sack about 4am this morning.

Finally, it’s the 4th of July, so I’m surrounded by American flags, fireworks and a whole lot of patriotism, they love it. I don’t know whether to be happy for them or a bit pissed off - they are after all celebrating their Independence from the United Kingdom- they must be glad to rid of us!!

We shot some video of it all going off - but all I can say is do this if your in Vegas, this was the most fun I have had so far, putting 5 cartridges through Bin Laden’s head!! I’ve still got all the target’s and my free t-shirt so I’ll bring it all back to the UK, think I’ll be framing my attempt with the AK mind you - what a crazy gun, all over the place and such a kick, but nothing compared to the shotty! Have totally busted up my shoulder with the shooting!!

Check out the Remington Shotgun Video on you tube. The best one is at the bottom of this page, so check them both out!

Earlier on today I played in the Ballys tournament (I have now moved into the Ballys), short stacked by the 5th interval (1600 in chips, blinds up to 400/800) so I was practically dead anyway, went all in AD 8D, the flop came, A 5 2, I’m in front, the turn card is rag, what on’s the river? it’s a 7, and my heads up is against someone with 77, FUCK! Goddam river rat.

After the shooting we headed down to ‘Old Las Vegas’ in Freemont, saw some of the old style Vegas, like the Golden Nugget, etc - it’s all under cover now, pretty old and shit to be honest with you - full of mancunians going on about how it’s just like fucking Blackpool - yeah right! Northerners, I don’t know. Grabbed a cab with the most miserble cabby in Vegas - ‘Don’t go uptown, fare’s to short’, what an idiot, if he went uptown to the Bellagio he’s be making more that $100 an hour, in fact he was such a miserable cu*t, that we got out and then preceeded to walk back to where we got picked up!!! Andy dragged me around for what seems like days into various Pawn shops looking for Gold (people just don’t want to do business!)- hot, knackered, just wanted a drink - but to be fair, he picked up a ridiculously ‘blingy’ ring and chain for nothing - he totally looks the part now, we’ll call him the ‘Governator’ with his shotgun, lol!

Later on in the evening we finally made it to the Stratosphere, the highest man made structure in Nevada - and it’s high, but has the best view of everything - just wow. I was so tired, my nose hasn’t stop bleeding, my feet were killing me and I had a banging headache - bed for me!

 So I entered a tournament at the Bally’s yesterday - made it to the Final table, knocked out in 7th, 2 places off the money - I lost it far and square, came to the table short stacked and got blinded out of the tourney - 1st Tournament, 1st Final Table - oh yeah!

Entered another tourney at the Paris in the evening (they have a really bad poker room, cold, lifeless and the most miserable bloke running it ever), again - short stacked, blinded out - 2 tourneys, 2 final tables - that’s goo dnews for me.

Andy got me on the ‘devil’ machines - the Wheel of Fortune my ass - more like wheel of misery!! Hello $100, goodbye $100, and that’s my two minutes of fun gone. Found some ‘Diamond Spinners’ (like a digital reel machine) - quaded up my money - so happy with that - lost it all about an hour later, hahaha!!

Shot some craps with Andy, what a game - you can easily make $10,000 in a half hour, but easily lose that in the throw of a die!

Spent some time at the Bellagio as well, drinking ‘Vodka 7′ which is great, more refreshing than a Dakari - but nice none the less! Caught some Blackjack last night, walked away up, so happy with that as well.

One thing I can never get over in the states, is the food - yeah - give me a small meal - not happening. I’ve eaten like a king (only really eat breakfast though), but jesus christ! You ask for a small steak sandwhich and they bring you a 16oz steak wrapped in an entire loaf of bread, enough chips to feed half of China and charge you $10 for it!

Met some of the WSOP qualifiers last night at the ‘LeFleur’ room in the Wynn (another huge casino), was wasted before I even left the reception - never a good idea to be drunk, while trying to gamble - making stupid bets, but hey, you play on the big tables, everything is a comp (complimentary), so I was just chilling with my free Marlboroughs, and V7’s!

In a nutshell it has been Manic - but I’m loving every minute of it - now if I can just get this fucking laptop turned off and stop working I’ll really enjoy the ‘oven’.

Some crazy type of rain due - it’s rains but the desert is so hot, it evaporates before it gets to the ground! I cannot get over the heat - even the wind is hot - I know how a chicken feels come sunday roast time!

Up resonably early this morning, breakfast in the Paris, went to the Venetian, the Palazio, Caesars Place (it’s the size of Tiverton), Wynns, a couple of others I forget the name of - spent money in them all but didn’t lose very much at all! The crazy thing is, if you got into the Venetian you’ll see the following:

Yep, a canal - but that sky ain’t real, the canal is on the 2nd floor - there’s an entire casino underneath!! The mind boggles as to how the hell they do all this - a shit load of cash springs to mind! So, I’m back at the hotel room - a quick coffee and this post and then I think I’ll enter a Poker Tournament and of course catch the fabulous fountain display at the Bellagio - see the video below - just WOW!

Fucking video embedding - I hate this proprietary rubbish go to:

http://www.vimeo.com/1001491 for the Daytime View and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVOMReOMYyQ for the night-time view, they are both worth watching but they do not come anywhere near the magnificence of the real thing!

Final thought - it’s hotter here than Istanbull, Egypt and Delhi! And it’s hotter at 5pm than it is an 1pm with the mid-day sun, what’s up with that??

Up this morning at the cocks crow, and off to the Airport - fuckin checkin staff told me to be early, I was in Departures by bloody 8.20am - no boarding until like 10am or something - I hate waiting, but I hate being late even more!! Tiny seat (don’t belive that crap they tell you on their website), nice staff, niceish food, I’ll be landing in 2 hours and then it’s immigration (am I the only one who finds that insulting), taxi to the Paris then off to the Rio to find Andy who I hear is still in a tournament, making his millions no doubt Hello Nevada Desert! See you all later.