"They're gonna give daddy the Rain Man suite!"

Ok, not quite... but you get the idea right?

Vegas trip is booked September 8^th through the 12^th at the Paris Hotel & Casino!

Almost forgot to mention:

VEGAS BABY!!...

Weekend after Labor Day, in perfect step for the NFL’s opening weekend, and the AVP Las Vegas Shootout at the Hard Rock! Birthday dinner party reserved at Rosemary’s Restaurant with Limo arrangements already made and paid for in advance. We're happy to see that the place has finally gotten the props it deserves.

I have promised SuperGirl that I will play no more than 4 hours of Poker a day and at a limit no higher than 15/30. Since SuperGirl loves Craps and BlackJack, no table game oaths were needed to be sworn.

In the ideal ‘playbook’, I will get my Poker hours in late, when SuperGirl is sound asleep… start at 1AM or so, then grab 3 hours max sleep between 5 and 8ish. Join SuperGirl for breakfast wherever she wants (hopefully in Bed), then collapse at the pool while getting credit with my beautiful heroine for spending time together. We hit the Craps and BJ tables during the day, then nap and romance until dinner. We place a bet or two on some baseball games, hit a show, let SuperGirl get her Spanish dancing out of the way, then a little more romance, cash in some bets (hopefully) then back to the beginning of this paragraph. Repeat until Sunday at which time, all bets are off, as I will macramé myself and anyone with me to the Bellagio Sports Book facility effective 10AM local.

That’s the way I have drawn in up anyway… I’ll lay 3:2 that I stick to it!

We’re going round trip on the jewel of the skies, Southwest Airlines, and meeting up with …shhhhh it’s a surprise, for SuperGirl’s b-day weekend bash.

My host (out of the California branch of Caesar’s World) gave us a RFB comp minus the “F” up front, but said he’d reevaluate my play after we checked out to see if it qualified for a full RFB – fair enough considering we haven’t been back in over a year.

So, as expected, I am crawling completely out of my skin, looking awkwardly at myself ready to scream, with absolutely no idea how I can expect to pass the time between now and then.

There is the online poker scene – but really, it hardly compares to the electricity with which one is charged when walking up to the Bellagio podium and saying “SS 10/20 Hold’EM please”, then finding a seat to browse through the latest CardPlayer.

The imminence of this trip will produce little to zero productivity here at the office – that’s for sure. Fearful that the resulting atrophy of my mind may cause an involuntary need to gnaw at the “Fn” key on my laptop (by the way, who the fuck really uses that in any meaningful way?), I’ve dusted off my “Ease-into-Vegas” manual and have already begun implementing step #1 (of 20).

For those familiar with the Manual, you’d already know that I’ve lined-up the dozen requisite films for immediate DVD viewing:

1. Rounders
2. Rounders (with Director commentary on)
3. The Cooler
4. The Gambler
   
5. The Hustler
6. The Cincinnati Kid
7. Maverick
8. House of Cards
9. Swingers
10. Swingers (with Director commentary on)
11. Swingers (with French dub on)
    
12. Honeymoon in Vegas

Once I get to step #2 (download “Best of Sinatra” sound track to iPod), I hope to have regained some perspective. I will keep everyone updated as I progressively get to step #20.

SuperGirl is looking forward to the trip too…. Though, she has yet to unearth her ‘Ease-into-Vegas: Pink edition”.

She thinks it’s just going to be the two of us, plus a good gambling friend from Florida (you know him as BigDog) who might as well be crowned King of the VolleyBall world and who is himself responsible for having secured us VIP tickets to the aforementioned AVP event.

What SuperGirl doesn’t know, is that I’ve been in touch with the SuperHero Legion and managed to convince a few of her SuperFriends to surprise her… keep it quiet will you?!

In Poker news, Noble Poker sneezed $20 into my account as a gesture of … not sure what. I used it to try my hand in a few SnG’s and got whacked early in both attempts to dominate. I truly suck. There seems to be a swelling belief online that someone is always bluffing – more so than what I tend to see in the B&R casinos. Not sure why. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe, contrary to step #18 of the “Ease-into-Vegas” manual, no self-affirmation in the world can overlook the fact that I am not the luckiest person in the galaxy and that I really do suck… Step#18 is step#18 for a good fucking reason…!

In non-Poker news, I finally came across that fucked-up Gene Simmons interview he did with Terry Gross from NPR. Since Rabbi Chaim declined permission for NPR to post it on their Web site, matters were taken into the private sector’s hands … worth every bit the 25 minutes you’ll need to listen to it.

Also, courtesy of Wired magazine, they featured a company in their July edition who help offset the effects of the carbon dioxide that our cars emit by investing in clean energy projects. By calculating how much CO2 cars produce over the course of a year, they can guarantee that your membership will serve to counterbalance the pollution your very make, model and year of car generates to the pound.

Mayer of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, is subject of a fascinating article in the Washington Post. Not sure he’s ever met a bottle of Gin he didn’t embrace, but as off-the-wall as he appears for an elected official, it’s refreshing to see a guy willing to operate outside the proverbial box – afforded by celebrity, but without the confining and impractical philosophies of a Jesse Ventura. I think he’s perfect for Las Vegas at this time and space. I mean, who can’t relate to a mayor who keep his own bookie on speed dial, and bets (and looses!) on his own name sake at the Belmont?!

Update – JUST, got into a BIG fight with SuperGirl over an episode of indecision at the Starbux drive-through. Details to follow, once I finish picking-up my collection of playing cards from the garage floor.