Vegas Report - Early Friday

…so after only about 3 hours of sleep I was wide awake so I decided to shower and head down to the casino. The closest cup of coffee was Payard’s, so I grabbed a large cup and a croissant. Both were excellent. While drinking my 1st cup I was checking twitter when I read the news that Danny Gans had passed away. Many were saddened by this and it’s always sad to see someone pass away so young. A cynic will wonder how they will replace all of the billboards around the airport and Las Vegas strip.

I played a slew of penny and nickle slots throughout the morning. I lost everything I put into the machines. I did so bad, I didn’t even take note of how bad. This was a rough start to the day. After a couple hours I went back to Payard’s for a crepe and orange juice. I’ve never had a crepe before, but this one was pretty damn good.

I was invited for a tour of Zappos Friday afternoon, but the time coincided with the Manny Pacquiao & Ricky Hatton weigh in and the fight was the excuse for the trip. I love Zappos, so this was a hard decision for me. However, I was traveling with someone who’s never heard of Zappos (gasp!) so that eased the pain.

After a little relaxating back in the room I headed over to MGM for the weigh in. It was packed! There were tons of Brits in for Ricky Hatton. I made my way towards the arena when I found all of the boxing fans. I could not believe how crowded it was. In fact I was told that they were only letting VIP’s after standing in the crowd for about 20 minutes.

weigh-in

After not moving for another 10 minutes I decided to head back to the casino to gamble. Standing around isn’t very fun to me. On the way toward the arena I noticed a giant slot. Of course it was another stupid penny slot. I lost another $20 and really didn’t have any fun playing so I headed over to play 8/5 Jacks or Better video poker where after about an hour or so I left up $5.

Since this was my friends first time at the MGM I decided to show him the Lion Habitat. The Lions are located on the opposite side of MGM – about a 15 minute walk when not crowded. On the way there we were sidetracked by 3 card poker. Table minimums were $10 and would be $25 by the time we left. After too many drinks, a great dealer and nice pit boss I walked away up $400. Not too shabby.

Unfortunately, closed circuit viewing of the fight at MGM had sold out while I was at the table so I was told to head over to NYNY to get tickets there. There was a pit stop to look at the lions on the way to NYNY. No more tickets available by the time I get NYNY but I was able to secure viewing at the Mirage. Not ideal, but it wasn’t a big deal.

It was back to the room to change before dinner at Prime…