Oh, how I love to Wynn!

Even though I didn't win at the MGM, I really felt I was playing very solid poker most of the day and because of that I was really looking forward to playing today. We didn't want to play at the MGM, and I suggested that we give the Wynn's poker room a shot.

I've always liked the Wynn's poker room the best, and that doesn't change at all on this trip. I think it has very comfortable chairs, the drinks are plentiful (none of the poker rooms charge for drinks, but it can be a long time between rounds), they'll comp the food if you play there long enough, and the room itself just has some character. There always seems to be some action going on there, too. Did I mention that all the cocktail waitresses at the Wynn have modeling contracts? Not something the ladies might be interested in (unless you'd like to work there), but I think the average joe doesn't mind the occasional distraction while being served his drink.

David and I made the trek from NY NY to the Wynn, which is a lot further than I originally thought. We got there and got our names on the $1/$3 list, and the Wynn told us to hang around because the list was getting to the point where they were going to open a table with the people on the list. Now, on a trip like this I don't necessarily like to sit at a table with someone I am friends with because I really am not trying to win that person's money. Don't get me wrong, if I've got the nuts and my friend sets me all-in I'm going to call, but I am usually hoping that situations like that can be avoided. My cards and play were pretty solid while I was playing at the Wynn this session. David and I only got heads up twice, with me checking down Ace-Ten to a showdown that I won, and the other hand I held AK and moved David off his hand on a raggedy-looking flop that David checked to me, and it turned out I was way ahead (found that out after the session). We did have an interesting time with one of our dealers there, and I can say that this incident was the only time I've ever had any issue with anything at the Wynn. This dealer sits down, and I cannot recall the name, only that I thought it started with an 'O', so let's call him Oscar for this story. I was seated in seat 9, which is to the immediate right of the dealer. David was seated in seat 5, which is directly across from the dealer. Well, Oscar gets seated, and shortly after he gets seated the cage brings over some chips to him for his chip tray, and he's got to take the time to count it all and verify things and get it into his tray. I imagine that this had to be done because the game had just recently opened and the dealer's tray was short on chips for handling the rake. Well, Oscar seemed to be having trouble with the chips. He decided to take it out on us for some reason. I did hear him mutter "My day was going great...until now." He started dealing very slow, and Oscar was being pretty much a grouch. There was one point where Oscar took the cards out of the shuffling machine in the table and then just sat there...waiting...and waiting. He seemed to be staring off in to oblivion, and it was then that I realized David hadn't put out his big blind yet. This guy couldn't be waiting for that, could he?!? So we all sat waiting. This had to go on for about a minute, which is an eternity with nothing going on at a poker table. David put out his big blind, and then Oscar finally cut the cards and dealt the next hand!! What an a-hole! I think EVERY other poker dealer in Vegas would have either said something or started dealing and informed the player as they dealt that the big blind had to be posted, but not Oscar. We apparently had done something to piss him off. Another dealer came up behind Oscar to be what appeared break him and Oscar asked "Are you here to break me?" the other dealer responded with something unintelligible to which Oscar muttered, thinking he was being taken off our table, "Good...I hate this table." I only heard this because he happened to be muttering it as he dealt me my card so he was facing me. I don't think anyone else heard it. I know David did not. The fact that he apparently misheard the dealer since he didn't get to leave our table then did not help matters. I honestly don't know what Oscar's problem was, but everyone at our table was glad to see him go at the end of his half-hour. I tried to replay the events from when he showed up to the "not dealing" hand, but unless someone not tipping him for a hand really pissed him off I cannot think of anything other than the chips being brought from the cage that would have caused his bad mood. I can only imagine that he didn't get tipped a couple hands in a row. I've never seen a dealer act like that before. I'm guessing he woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, but man, he was going to ruin his tips for the day if he kept that crap going on other tables!

The rest of the session went well for me. I got a little lucky as I was getting beat down early in the session when I was dealt 6-6, and on a flop of 5-5-7, my opponent checked blind to me so I bet, and he then raised, but I had enough chips in the pot that I had to play the hand so I moved in only to find my opponent had Q-5. The turn and river came a perfect 3-4 to make my straight. After that little bit of luck to double up I started getting some better hands and saw enough action to finish ahead $226. It was a well-needed win given what had happened in the other sessions to this point.

David and I went back to NY NY, hit the pool and whirlpool for a little bit, and then just relaxed for a little while. Dan was going to be showing up soon, and I figured we'd grab a bite to eat together before heading out to play some more cards. Dan wanted to hit the Wynn, so Dan and I made the trek back to the Wynn. I put myself on the $1/$3 list, and Dan got on the $2/$5 list. I got seated pretty quickly, and then Dan must've gotten tired of the waiting and got himself on a $1/$3 table behind where I was seated. That session went well for me, too. I was checking on Dan's stack periodically to see how he was doing, and he appeared to be up as well. Shortly after Dan sat down I noticed the guy on Dan's left was very familiar. It was none other than the guy who took me for all of my hard work from the MGM!! I tried to get Dan's attention before the guy spotted me, and Dan came over to my table. As it turns out the guy's from Waukesha! Dan had already been chatting with him and had pointed out that I had come here with him. The guy told Dan that "Ah, yes. I was playing with Jason over at the MGM yesterday," but hadn't mentioned to him his good fortune. I was already up a couple hundred at this point, and he wasn't at my table so I could care less...sort of. The guy was all right, though. I got up at one point and jokingly said to Dan, who had about $300 in chips in front of him at the time, "Dan, you'd better get working...you need to collect another $900 off that guy," referring to the guy on Dan's left.

The guy was actually pretty nice. The Wynn offers back and neck massages while you play. The cost is $2/minute with a 10-minute minimum. The dude from Waukesha bought me a 10-minute massage, which, after having one, I highly recommend. As I said, the session was going well, and I finished that session up about $430. I decided to call it quits around 2:30am, and when I looked back at Dan he didn't appear to be up. I suppose I could have stayed, but my chip stack hadn't gone up or down for a while, so I was feeling like the game was getting stagnant. I knew Dan wouldn't want to leave down, so I just told him I was heading back to the hotel to catch some sleep before watching the Badgers and the other college games since they started in a couple hours. All in all, a pretty good recovery day. Oh, how I love to Wynn!