The World Series of Poker will soon be upon us. I hope you can find some time to join us!
The WSOP is a kick and a half and I HIGHLY recommend that you experience it - even if you don't play. If you love the game of poker and you want to be amazed at a spectacle that celebrates everything about the game and can't be found anywhere else in the world, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Here is the current itinerary of the PSP horses and their associates:
Barbara N. kicks it off playing in the $1000 bracelet event on Sunday, June 10.
Dog D. is making his $1000 Seniors bracelet event debut at 10am on Friday, June 15.
Allen R. will sitting down for his $1000 bracelet event entry at noon on Sunday, June 17.
I will be at the Rio trying to satellite into a larger event, as well as various other non-WSOP events in Vegas from June 28 through July 2nd. PLEASE get in touch with me if you'll be around any of those days - we can hang out and stuff.
Allen and Barbara are staked by PSP, and thus will be sharing their winnings with satellite participants should they cash.
Dog and I are greedy bastards and are playing for ourselves, but would love to see any and all of you anyways.
Speaking of Dog - he recently wrote up this FANTASTIC guide to all things fabulous in Las Vegas.
Enjoy!
Dog’s Ultimate Vegas
THE STRIP
Peppermill
24hr. diner bathed in purple light. Good breakfasts. Features a fire-and-water lounge with strong drinks.
Big Elvis
Harrah’s. A 300+-pound Elvis impersonator. Think of him as the Vegas Marty & Elaine. Free Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri.
Skyjump
Stratosphere. Walk off the side of the Tower and drop 855 feet.
Bite!
Stratosphere. Best cheap Vegas show has a little of everything – classic rock, acrobatics, topless lesbian vampires and sword fighting. Did I mention topless lesbian vampires?
Oasis Motel
Stay in the room where poker great Stu Unger died (Room 6). It’s a few doors down from the room where “Suddenly Susan’s” David Strickland hanged himself after partying with Andy Dick (Room 20).
Olympic Gardens
Strip club where women dance for men on the ground floor and men dance for women upstairs.
Dino’s
Wonderful dive bar at the northern tip of the Strip.
Rao’s – Caesars Palace
The original Rao’s, in New York’s Spanish Harlem, is 100-years-old and considered the hardest restaurant in America to get a reservation. However, it’s not very hard to get a seat at their Vegas counterpart. Good old-school Italian, fairly expensive.
Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill
Harrah’s Casino. Decent Southern cooking in an unintentionally funny theme restaurant. Imagine a Hard Rock Café with only one artist featured. Dine on “freedom fries” underneath giant publicity photos of Keith. (If you want intimate photos of his childhood or backstage photos with his celebrity friends, you’ve come to the wrong place.)
DOWNTOWN
The Griffin
Fun pub in the Fremont East section. It has a sister bar in LA’s Atwater Village.
“downtown.”
That’s its name. An affordable ultra-lounge, heavy on the absinthe.
Pool at the Golden Nugget
It has a shark tank in it!
Golden Gate Casino
Oldest hotel in town. The sandwich shop is home of Vegas’ first shrimp cocktail, made with baby shrimp for $1.99. On weekend hot chicks dressed as flappers gyrate in the blackjack pit.
Binions
My favorite Vegas poker outside of the WSOP. Join their slot club and you can pose for a photo behind a million-dollar pyramid! (Editors Note: See pic above!)
Mermaids
For 99-cents they deep-fry Twinkies and Oreos and smother them in powdered sugar and chocolate sprinkles!
Hogs and Heifers
The original opened in New York’s Meatpacking District and within months a bar called Coyote Ugly stole every detail. Coyote Ugly’s are a dozen cities, while H&H are only in New York and Vegas. This rowdy bar feels more down-to-earth than Coyote’s, and probably more dangerous.
El Sombrero
A tiny, family-owned Mexican restaurant. In Texas, New Mexico, or California, this place wouldn’t draw much attention, but in Vegas, it’s a rarity.
Insurgo Theater Movement
Plaza Hotel. Theatre ensemble with a 65-seat theatre hiding near the Bingo room. They debuted in 2011 with “Waiting for Godot” and have performed “Cannibal: The Musical.” That said, don’t see their sketch comedy show, “Mother Fuppets.” It sucks.
Heart Attack Grill
Burgers are good, but the stupid hospital theme is annoying (you have to wear a hospital gown). The place was originally in Chandler, Arizona, but when their 525-pound spokesperson dropped dead at age 29, they were run out of town. Two customers had had actual heart attacks recently, but it’s worth going if you’re morbidly curious or morbidly obese.
The Zipline down Fremont Street
Not as cool as the Stratosphere Skyjump, but cheaper and way less scary.
EAST SIDE
Double Down Saloon
Punk rock dive bar. Home of the bacon martini, and “ass juice” (an Everclear and fruit drink). Their Graveyard Shift special is a can of Schlitz, a cup of ass juice, and a Slim Jim for $5.
Pink Taco
Hard Rock Casino. Fun Mexican restaurant, now with two LA locations.
The Green Door
A swingers club. Creeeepy.
WEST SIDE
Hash House A-Go-Go
Outrageous food in large portions. Chicken and waffles with bacon cooked in the waffles. Now with four locations in Vegas and one in San Diego.
Frankie’s Tiki Room
My favorite Vegas bar. Dark, inexpensive 24-hour Tiki bar, with a great jukebox featuring surf, lounge, and Japanese pop. Terrific collectible ceramic mugs available.
Chinatown
Vegas’ “Chinatown” is a 3-mile stretch of Spring Mountain Road, with Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Filipino food, mixed with foot massage parlors and strip joints. Two favorite restaurants are the 24-hour Pho Kim Long (pronounced “fuck ‘im long”) and Hot N Juicy Crawfish. Hot N Juicy is especially wonderful; crawfish, shrimp and crab legs tossed in a combination of Cajun and Korean spices!
Arts District
Bet you didn’t know they had an arts district. They have a street party the first Friday of every month called “First Friday.” Once I stumbled there and watched an impromptu fire dance demonstration, with a dozen dancers tossing flaming batons and jumping through burning hoops.
FREE STUFF
(Free Stuff is always worth experiencing once)
Fremont Street Experience
Four block long canopy holds a million LED light panels and performs 10-minute light and music shows every night. While I normally don’t recommend taking ecstasy…
Volcano @ the Mirage
Very impressive, though not as charming as the tiny volcano in the parking lot of LA County’s Hawaiian Garden’s Casino.
Fountains @ Bellagio
Fun for five minutes.
Sirens of TI @ Treasure Island
The original special effects/stunt show wowed when in debuted a decade ago. A few years back, however, they revamped the show to make it sexier and funnier. It’s not as good, but the sinking of the ship is still pretty cool.
Show in the Sky
Rio. Take a break from the WSOP and watch sexy dancers perform on stage. Afterwards, Mardi Gras floats actually “float” overhead with people dropping beads onto unsuspecting slot-players.
Big Elvis (see The Strip)
Here he is on youtube!
FOOD CHALLENGES
Firecracker Burger @ The Skybox
Aria Hotel. Burger made with “ghost chile,” the hottest pepper on Earth. Finish it and you get a free beer. I tried and came up two bites short. Very painful.
Godzilla Pho @ Pho 87
Eat a 9-pound bowl of pho and win a progressive jackpot. So far, only one person has done this. She won $1510.
The Ultimate Steak at Brand . Monte Carlo Casino
Haven’t tried this, and probably won’t. They have a bacon- seared Porterhouse that normally serves 6 people. It’s 120 oz., including bone. If you eat all the meat in 90 minutes, the meal is free; otherwise you pay $250.
THINGS I STILL HAVEN’T DONE
Pinball Hall of Fame
Eastside. 200 antique pinball machines that you can play.
Flavor Flav’s House of Flavor – Eastside.
Yeah, boy! The jester of Public Enemy has got a fried chicken joint!
The Mob Museum – downtown.
A new museum dedicated to the true builders of Vegas.
The Boneyard @ the Neon Museum – downtown.
Tour the resting place of Vegas’ historic neon signs.
Oscar’s Beef, Booze, and Broads – downtown.
Oscar Goldman, former mob lawyer and beloved former mayor hosts this new steakhouse at The Plaza. The room has a great view of the Fremont Street Experience and has been featured in many movies.
The Golden Steer – off-Strip.
One of the oldest steakhouses in Vegas, where Elvis, the Rat Pack, and John Wayne dined.
