Nick Momrik

5 nights is way too long.
Summer trips way too hot. Dry heat is better than our humid heat here in Michigan, but 100+ degree temperatures are hot no matter what.
The bus going up the strip and to downtown is the worst $2 you can spend in Las Vegas.
I never got to see the Wynn, Hooters, Palms, Treasure Island, and several other of the big name hotels and casinos
I spent way too much time playing video poker and slots. I’ve always hated slots.
I can’t wait to go back to LV for a 2 or 3 night stay.
I really enjoy playing poker into the early hours of the morning.
Holy shit did my cards suck at the poker tables.
Next trip I want to see a Cirque Du Soleil show.
Seeing the WSOP was one of the coolest parts of the trip for me.
Red Bull and Vodka is now my favorite drink.
Coffee with Bailey’s is good too.
Next trip I need to go with people who are willing to actually stay up past midnight.
Didn’t get to any strip clubs. How pathetic!
Shows are cool, but cost a lot of money. Blue Man Group was entertaining, but I’m not sure it’s worth $120 a seat and $20 for 2 drinks.
I’m sure I missed a lot in my daily summaries, but I’m done!

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 6

July 19, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Woke up around 9am. Showered and packed up the hotel room. Borrowed a key from Jere and stored our bags in his room. Walked the strip thinking maybe I could catch the Bellagio water show, but they were doing some kind of maintenance on the fountains. Jumped on the free shuttle to the Rio from Caesar’s. Much better than taking any bus! Putzed around the Rio for a bit and then took off looking for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It’s quite a walk from the casino floor.

I walked into the largest poker room I’ve ever seen and was in awe. Started snapping photos. I had left my camera at the hotel, so was borrowing Lindsay’s and not quite sure how to use it. Got yelled at by security within 2 minutes of being in the room because the flash was on. Whoops!

I was quite surprised how close I was able to get to all of the players and how few tourists/fans were in the room. I saw the Brunsons, Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Dutch Boyd, John Juanda, Clonie Gowen, Johnny “Fucking” Chan, and the list goes on. I can’t wait to get the pictures and see how they turned out, but not quite sure how long that will take since it wasn’t my camera. I imagine the enjoyment of being around all the top poker players in the world would grow old, but I was floating as I walked through the room. It was pretty damn cool.

Met up with the girls and checked out to see if there was a line yet for the seafood buffet. There wasn’t, so I blew some money on video poker. An old lady sat to my left just after I sat down and hit quad twos with an ace right away for a big win. Bitch! The seafood buffet was beyond words. We ate stuffed our faces for an hour and a half before finally calling it quits. There were so many choices, but I have to say the tortellini was the best I’ve ever had. I could have been satisfied simply filling up on those cheese-filled noodles. I’ve always wanted to try out different kinds of sushi to see if I’d like it and that’s exactly what I did. It was edible, but not something I’d ever order up on my own. I’ll stick to lobster, crab legs, shrimp, clam strips, etc for my seafood fix.

After eating we headed up to check out the sites from the Voodoo Lounge. Some storms were rolling in off the mountains so the view was pretty neat. Nothing like being on top of the Stratosphere at night, but still something to see and experience.

We caught a cab back to Excalibur, changed our clothes and headed out back to wait for our shuttle to the airport at 7:30. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20pm and arrive back in Detroit after 5am local time. During checkin I noticed there were exit seats open all over the place, so I grabbed the three right by the door for us and I was in heaven with all the leg room. Got a good hour or two of sleep in on the plane. Got back to Detroit on time, were picked up by Rose, drove back to Lindsay’s place, and I was on the road back to Saginaw. Made it back around 8am. HOME SWEET HOME!

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 5

July 18, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick Momrik2 Comments

Tuesday, July 4, 2006 – Independence Day

Is it time to go home yet? I get up around 9am. Buy drugs and head for the pool. Go for a coffee and Bailey’s but the bar isn’t open yet. I already bought the coffee. Head out on a mission to find Bailey’s. Get it at the same place I’ve been buying DayQuil. Spend about 2 hours at the pool and head up for a shower. Meet a couple of people behind the purchase of pokerchiptricks.com for lunch at the Sherwood Forest Cafe. I had the ham and cheese omelette and hash browns. It hit the spot!

Meet up with Lindsay and Julie and we head out. They bought some package deal tickets for the Stratosphere for $50 each. Buffet, American Superstars show with 2 free drinks, and elevator trip up to the top. Somehow I let them talk me into catching the bus. We wait a half hour for it to arrive and another hour to get there. Bus = Worst $2 you can spend in Las Vegas. As we boarded the bus I bet Lindsay $1 it would take us more than a half hour to get there. After the time passed

The food was good and I definitely ate my share. For the American Superstars show there were people doing Elvis, Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Christina Aguilera, and Michael Jackson. Elvis and Christina were good, but Michael Jackson took the show. He had the voice and his dance moves were great. I’m a sucker for Michael Jackson entertainment. He’s one of the greatest musical artists of all time and did more for music than anyone ever has.

After the show we got in line to head up top for a view of the city. Since it was the 4th of July there were fireworks going off in every direction for as far as you could see. Quite amazing to see. We didn’t get up there until around 9:30pm so we probably missed most of the good fireworks, which I heard usually start around 9.

Caught a cab back to New York, New York where we met up with Jere and some of his friends. Gals went to Coyote Ugly and guys went to 9 Fine Irishmen. Everyone got pretty drunk by the end of the night and we ended up eating some great pizza. I think I got back to the room around 3am.

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 4

July 17, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick Momrik2 Comments

Monday, July 3, 2006

I think I woke up around 9:30 or 10am. Grabbed some overpriced drugs from the hotel and headed to the pool. Start off with a large Bailey’s Irish Cream and coffee. After about 2 hours I head back to the room, shower, and nap for over an hour. I’m definitely coming down with something and coughing up a storm. Off to the poker room. Open seat at $4/8 so I take it. Juicy game but as has been the case the entire trip, I can’t get any cards. Plan was to meet the girls at 5:30 and head over to the Rio, but I can’t leave this game. They go, I stay.

I call pots I know I’ve lost. Donk away chips. Table turns to a full kill. I pick up Big Slick UTG on the first kill pot and raise. One caller in late position. On the Ace-high flop she says she wants to check it down, but I’m not having any part of that. I bet the entire way and she calls me down with Ace-Ten. Wow, I finally won a big pot!

Talk to Jere at some point and plan is to meet him downtown at 8. I catch a cab and he’s waiting for the bus somewhere. Forgot to warn him the bus sucks. I grab the 99 cent shrimp cocktail at Golden Gate again. Sit at a nickle video poker machine and I get dealt a King-high straight flush. Jere arrives and I cash out. A full bucket of nickles spit out. Old school machine. $27 and change for a $7 profit.

We putz around since they’ve never been to Fremont Street and end up eating at a buffet somewhere for about $13. I’m the least hungry, but eat the most. I’m sick and need some energy. Five of us jump in a cab back to Excalibur and they all head off to bed by midnight since they have a wedding the next day. I head back to the poker room and play more $4/8. Lose more and head back to the room around 2:30 sick as a dog.

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3

July 17, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Sunday, July 2, 2006

Crawled out of bed around 11:30 after 4 hours of sleep and made my way to the pool for an hour or two. Showered and grabbed some lunch from the Pizza Hut inside Excalibur. Sat at a video poker machine as I waited for the girls to leave the pool. After not hearing back on the voice mails I left and not having any calls answered I decided to go sit in the poker room. Played $1/3 no-limit until 5:30. Lost $50 or so?

We had tickets for the Tournament of Kings at 6, so I figured I would have heard from the girls by now. I start calling their cell phones again, leaving messages. Walk over to the ToK entrance and walk back to poker room. Leave more VMs, which are getting nastier as time goes by. I call the hotel room and leave messages there. At ten to six I decide to go up and check the hotel room. No luck. Where the fuck are they? I’m pissed now. Go back to ToK and ask the lady at the entrance if she has seen two chicks asking for a guy with tickets. She hasn’t. More nasty VMs and walks back to the poker room. I finally decide I’m not missing the dinner and show, so I go in.

At 6:10 here come two drunks with big grins on their faces. I’m still pissed off. Turns out they spent 8 hours at the pool and conveniently the cell phone died during the day. The food was good and the show wasn’t too bad. You could definitely tell everything was planned out and rehearsed. After the show we head back to the room so they can shower and clean up.

Off to downtown to check out the Fremont Street Experience. Julie was pissed for an hour because the cab ride was $17. Cheap asses! I was immediately impressed and really liked the atmosphere. Had the 99 cent shrimp cocktail at Golden Gate as well as a great sandwich called the Cable Car (I think). Had a Tom Collins at some casino I don’t remember the name of as suggested by a coworker. I’ll never drink one again. It was neat to see Binion’s and it’s no wonder the WSOP is no longer held there. The poker room is pretty small.

After checking out the sites we head back to the strip. Girls decide we are taking the bus, which only runs $2 per person. We wait 30 minutes for the bus to come and then it takes nearly an hour and a half to get back to Excalibur. I’m convinced the bus is the worst $2 you can spend in Las Vegas.

Girls say they are actually going to stay up for a bit this night so we sit at the bar inside Excalibur and watch the band play. They weren’t too bad. We end up splitting around 2am. I head to the poker room and they head to bed. I sit at $3/6 limit. Jere calls me sometime after 2. He’s back in Detroit and on his way to the airport to fly out. I’m actually winning at the tables and send him the picture you see from my phone. I was up about $30 at the time, but ended up losing. I start to get sick, but keep playing. I switch to drinking water or orange juice. Finally leave the table around 6 and head up to the room to crash at 6am.

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 2

July 14, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Saturday, July 1, 2006

Woke up to sound of someone exiting the shower. Practically jumped out of bed because I thought it was at least 10am. “Who wants breakfast?” Looked at clock and saw it was 5am, only an hour after I went to bed. Quickly settled down and went back to sleep. Woke up around 9:30 and headed to the pool. Ordered a large strawberry margarita in a football cup thingy. Didn’t use any sunscreen and burnt my back and shoulders.

After changing, played some video poker waiting for the girls. Took off down the other side of the strip on our way to the Venetian for Blue Man Group. Some neat little shops there. Does M&M really need 4 floors? Stopped at the Alladin buffet to eat. Getting there at 4pm allowed us to catch the lunch and then also get dinner as they made the switch. Ordered 2 Red Bull and vodkas at Blue Man. Cost $20 but they were good. Much better than those weak casino drinks. Blue Man Group was a great show. Some very neat things. They overdid it a bit with the toilet paper shit and the Twinkies routine. Not sure I’d pay $120 to see them again.

Started back to the Excalibur after the show because Julie’s eye was bothering her. Got there close to midnight after checking things out along the way. Girls were making it another early night. I took off around midnight for the MGM again. Played some more $3/6 limit and I think it was the only session of poker I finished ahead. Walked out shortly after 5am. Holy shit the sun is coming up! Sat down at a video poker machine on my way to the elevator at Excal and put in $10. Played 5x 5cent bets for an hour and a half on that $10! Hit quads four times and went through 2 coffees and 2 bottles of water. Made it back to the room at 7am.

First Trip to Las Vegas: Day 1

July 14, 2006March 22, 2025 Nick Momrik3 Comments

Friday, June 30, 2006

I woke up at 4:15am on Lindsay’s couch. Our flight was scheduled to leave Detroit at 7:00am, so we cleaned up and were on our way. The flight to Minneapolis/St Paul went off without a hitch, but the flight to Las Vegas wasn’t quite as smooth. The plane had an oil leak in the right engine, which took the mechanics awhile to pinpoint. After an hour delay and the deactivation of a reverse thruster (apparrently a plane is only required to keep one opperational) we were finally on our way to Las Vegas. It wasn’t the end of or delays though. Once the plane landed in Vegas the pilot announced we weren’t being allowed to exit the plane yet. Apparently there was some sort of security breach in the airport and no planes were allowed to unload. Of course everyone on the plane was antsy to get out to the casinos for some gambling and fun in the desert heat. After 30 minutes we were finally allowed into the airport.

The rest of the trip reports will be in turbo mode. I just don’t feel like typing out every little detail of the trip. I’ve already lived through it once!

$10 round-trip shuttle bus to the Excalibur. Got to our room and it was like, “What now?” Decided to eat quick at the Excalibur’s buffet. Started walking the strip. Damn, the strip is hot when it’s over 100 degrees around 3:00pm! Definitely won’t go out walking in the middle of the day again. Legs finally got sore and we walked across the street to Harrah’s. Found poker room and played $3/6 limit. Girls came to poker room at 11pm just wasted and were on their way back to the Excal. Played another 45 minutes. Caught them on the walk back…somewhere near New York, New York I think. Left them to sleep and went to MGM for more poker. Left around 4am. Lost $ in both poker rooms.