I'll just throw out the results without too many details, although there were some good matches along the way.
1) 17th in the 9ball Open. Lost to Crispian Ng who won the event.
2) 13th in the 8ball Open....makes me officially an advanced player
3) 65th in 8ball mixed teams....little lower than we were capable of...at least in my mind.
I arrived in Vegas on the 16th, one day before my 9ball tourney was to start. I heard the Poker tournament had just ended so the tables were not set up for the pool tourney yet. They were working on setting up tables in the main room and we couldn't practice until after 6PM. About 6:30 I went into the room and began practicing. The first thing I noticed was the balls were a different color. At least the 6ball and 7ball were way different. Ok, that's no biggie, I will just be sure to look at the numbers until I get used to it. I really didn't have any issues with playing shape for the wrong ball, I heard this trouble from a few players.
My room was extras large with a sofa sleeper and a coffee table in it. The Rio calls it a suite? My version a a suite would have either a separate bedroom or a kitchenette. Oh well, no worries, it was a place to sleep or hang out. I went to unpack my bags and looked for a dresser to put my underwear/socks into. I opened the lower part of the amwoir(sp) and found a wet bar/snack bar. WHOAH!!! Did anybody else see those prices? I eventually found drawers in the vanity by the bathroom area. Another issue was the refrigerator. It was inside the closet? I unplugged it and dragged the cabinet it was in, into the main room. It was way more handy that way. My roommate is a drinker, he brought up two 30 packs into the room when he arrived a couple days later.
let's back up a bit....Checking into the Hotel at registration was about a 1.5 hour wait. I got in line about 2:15PM and finally got to the counter at 3:45PM. I noticed a sign in the line stating check-in is 4PM, early check-in would be $20 extra. I didn't get any extra charge for my 15 mintues early, but was prepared to come unglued if they even mentioned it. Where was the self check-in? The line was moving at a snails pace and I beleive there were only 3 or 4 desk clerks on duty. Is this typical when you sell out all rooms for an event?
Ok, it was time to get something to eat. I went over to the All American Bar/Grill. I ordered a french dip which was tasty but way too much bread for my liking. It was about $14 and my soda was a couple bucks. I felt the prices were a tad high for what I received. Over the course of the next week, I found myself walking over to the Gold Coast for more reasonably priced food. The Gold Coast buffet is $6.48 for breakfast, very niceThey also had prime rib buffet almost every night for $10. I thnk we ate there at least once every day.
The only quick eats at the Rio were a Burger King, which had a limited menu and Wetzels Pretzels, which I never ate at. Guess I'm not much of a hot dog eater. I'll leave that to Joey Chestnut...lol
The Rio did set up a Billiard Cafe which was pretty nice/convenient. Their chicken burrito was huge, if that didn't fill you up there is something wrong. I also had the spaghetti bowl, it was really tasty
Price of beer/soda......$3.50 for a beer is not way out of line compared to other casinos. At first the imports were going for $7...OUCH! They lowered that to $4 after a couple days. I heard they were charging the poker players more for beer? A 20oz. soda was $4, I felt that was pretty steep. I also paid $3.25 for a bottle of water at the gift shop. I think I refilled that bottle a few times, so I got my monies worth...lol
Cyclops balls.....let's see, where do I start. First off, I've been playing pool for almost 45 years. The first thing I notice is different colors on the 6 ball, 7 ball and also the 14 and 15. I'm pretty sure the 4 ball and 12 were a lil different also. Ok, I can fade the color differences, so I start hitting balls to just see what the table speed is. The tables play the same as our home tables so no biggie there. The big difference to me was on quite a few slow to medium shots when just rolling the cue ball. If it was stright in, then now problem. If there was a slight angle or steep angle, the objsct balls seemed to skid more than I'm used to. As a matter of fact, I saw more balls skid during this trip to Vegas than I've seen in the last year at my own pool hall. I heard the balls were the same weight, but I question what material they are made of? This may be causing the skid?
AZBilliard tournament for fun......well I would say it was a bust. 42 players signed up on AZBilliards but there were only 21 in the tourney. Of those 21, only 5 were from AZBilliards. I did meet DR2112 and SBV(sp). OKIE did a great job of running this tourney which John Henderson won by the way. Don't ever fall for the "I'm Old" routine. LOL There was another girl there, I never got her name, but she is a AZBilliard user also. I just remember she had a speed boat in her avatar. I'm glad I got to chat with a few AZ'rs but a lil sad that more didn't turn up.
In a nutshell, I loved the way all the tourney tables had plenty of room around them. The setup for the pool rooms were great. I watched some of the Pros event, it was nice to have it free and right next to us. The prices at the Rio were way high on everything. Not sure if that will hurt any future tournies there? I'm not a big gambler but I do play some slots. It took forever to accumulate just a few points on my players card....guess you get 1 point per $50 you put in the machine? Most places it's 1 point per $20. I did most of my gambling at the Gold Coast where I racked up about 1700 points. I think next year I will be trying to get a room over there.
nice report,
when i was on the shorts in Vegas in 92, I would go to the Gold Coast breakfast Buffet it was $2.45, lunch was 3.45 and dinner was 4.45 or 5.45(not sure) I KNOW B-fast was $2,45. Ate it many times.
All american Bar and grill has always been a clip joint, i havent been there in 10-12 years until last week and again it was too much bread and bread($$$)-bad value.
Sadly I was only there on day 1 and the vendors were just setting up, i needed a tip and went in for that and ate(all american) and left. saw a few friends. looked like a great set up.
tip: when you go to Vegas and dont want to wait in line to check in, go to the front and look for the person who looks like they need the $$$ the most and tell them you have a $20 line pass and poof!!!! no more wait, i have done it at the Riv for years-even when i lived in Vegas i'd get a room there sometimes or share one. Now when i go to vegas since I dont live there anymore i use that trick every time. my 1.5 hours is worth lots more than $20. Line passes, just remember that term it works real good.....:smile:
