The Valley's Newest Casino - M Resort

Despite the on-going recession, which has noticeably hit Las Vegas with decreased visitor numbers and delayed construction projects, a new casino opened on the south end of the valley last week. Ron and I ventured down to the M Resort to check it out.
Our goal was a quick meal at the buffet followed by some poker. We got there at 6pm and the wait in the buffet line was said to be 45 minutes. We immediately tried plan B, which was for me to get in the long rewards card line while Ron scoped out an alternative dining spot. Ron picked Veloce Cibo, a sushi restaurant, while I got through the rewards line in 30 minutes

To our surprise, Veloce Cibo was located on top of the hotel, with the panoramic valley view that M has been praised for. We asked for the sushi bar, which turned out to be short cocktail tables with comfortable bucket seats right against the picture window.
We received both a bar menu and a dining menu, which included sushi, small plates, and large plates. M has been noted as having a more approachable price point in their restaurants, and this was evident in their top floor restaurant only having two entrees over $30 (lobster and veal, as could be expected). Off the small plates, we ordered steamed potstickers and Kobe beef sliders, which were impressively presented with a mound of crispy sweet potato fries.
The best bargain of the restaurant was their bar menu. We actually asked the waiter if the prices and description were correct because the sushi appeared to be an absolute steal. We ordered the sushi for two, which included three different rolls with four pieces each for only $16.
An even more unbelievable value was the sashimi for two, which included three slices each of three different types of tuna sashimi for only $12. That price is unheard of, and the fish was fresh and delicious.
One of the more unique parts of our dining experience was the wine selection. We wanted to order wines by the glass and were informed that the wine was self-serve and we could purchase a $25 debit card for use in the wine machine. They are obviously still working out the kinks in the system because the waiter didn't know if the card could be recharged or if it could be used at a later date, but the wine dispensing system is ingenious. A wall of wine stores a vast selection of bottles preserved using the Enomatic system. You simply put your debit card in, select the wine and amount (1-, 3-, or 5-oz pours), and stick your fresh glass under the spout as your wine is dispensed.

After dinner and soaking up the view, we checked out the pool area and the wine bar downstairs, which uses the same system to boast 120 wines by the glass (without the need to employ cocktail waitresses, cutting down overhead and speeding up the serving process). Eventually, we made it to the poker room for a short session of 4/8L. Although the table had half blinds and a half-kill (I want to play 4/8, not 6/12, thank you very much), this was the perfect game for me - loose-passive. I haven't played poker in over a year, so I was nervous about remembering how to figure odds, but the passive nature of the players allowed me to ease in without having to call many raises, and the looseness of the table let me play the hands I knew were strong. Ron made a killing at the table, but I was happy to take my $18 profit and call it a night. I know there will be many more adventures out to M. Although it was only a 25 minute drive from Summerlin, it almost makes me miss living on the south side of town.

Tournament at TI

I joined a group of people celebrating Jen's birthday last night at Isla Tequila Bar at TI. I wasn't hungry so I just had a glass of berry sangria, which at $7 was well-priced for a bar on the Strip. The food was Mexican, but it was fancied up so much that the quesadillas looked like toaster strudels.

Afterward, a crowd of us went to the poker room to play in the nightly $60 tournament. I have never played no-limit or a tournament in a casino, but I've been curious about tournaments because you can turn a small buy-in into a big cash. So I figured I would give it a shot. There were 43 entrants including re-buys, and about 10 of them were in our group. This is usually a soft tournament, but the people in our group are all affiliated with poker professionally (poker bloggers, poker writers, and poker website creators), so the competition was going to be tougher. Not that it mattered because regardless of the other players, I wasn't going to have a clue as to what I was doing.

In my usual 4/8L game, I am very comfortable. I can chat with other players, and I know what to do in terms of cards to play and number of chips to put in the pot. Last night I was completely out of my element. I was so nervous when the tournament started that I was actually hoping to have bad hole cards so that I didn't have to make any decisions. In limit, all I have to do is count the number of big blinds in the pot to determine my pot odds, but in no-limit, I had to actually count the number of chips people were putting in and how that compared to my stack size. That's a lot to keep track of.

I think I had only one raising hand all night. I had AQo one behind the button early in play. I raised to 3 times the big blind, and the blinds called. The flop was something like 10-10-7, and the blinds checked. They seemed weak, so I knew I had to bet, but I had no idea how much. So I just grabbed some chips and threw them in. I think my bet was larger than the pot, but it got the blinds to lay down their hands after some contemplation. So that was my first success.

Later, I had J-7o in the big blind, and the small blind completed. The flop was 10-7-3, and the small blind raised. I figured he was taking a stab at the pot, so I reraised (again, I didn't know how much to put in, so I doubled his bet). He thought for a long time, and fortunately by this time I had been playing long enough that I wasn't shaking the whole time sitting there waiting on him. Eventually he folded. Again, a small pot, but a small little victory for me.

Eventually, the blinds ate me up. I had 1100 left and the blinds were 600 and 300 (we started with 2000 and I think 50 and 25 blinds). I was under the gun and saw A8d, so I pushed my two chips all in. Everyone folded except the big blind, who called with AKo. The flop was paired with two diamonds, but the turn and river didn't pan out. I went out in 21st, but made it through an hour and a half of play.

I can't say that I had a great time. I would have much rather been playing a cash game at the Wynn where I could socialize, have a drink, and still know what I was doing. I'm intrigued by tournaments, and I definitely have more respect for tournament players now. Perhaps I'll get some practice and try it again one day. But until then, you can find me at the Wynn.

Memorial Day Weekend, Part I

Memorial Day weekend is a huge weekend here for tourism, and I was determined to enjoy my 3-day weekend with the rest of them. I wimped out Friday night to catch up on sleep that I missed all week, but on Saturday I woke up early to meet my friend, Leigh, and her friend, Jen, at TI. We had breakfast at The Coffee Shop; I had a delicious eggs Benedict. The prices were decent for the Strip.

After breakfast, Leigh and Jen went to play in TI's morning poker tournament. My no-limit skills need some serious help, so I knew there was no sense in joining them in the tournament. Instead, I went over to the Mirage to play some 3/6 limit. I only played twice around the table before the girls were done with their tournament, but in that time I saw ace-king twice, ace-queen once, king-queen twice, and ace-jack twice. You would think that with those starting hands, I would have left with more money. But, alas, those hands never improved.

After poker, the three of us went over to Fashion Show mall, which is just north of TI on Las Vegas Boulevard. I've never actually been in the mall, and oh my gosh, it is huge! They have every name brand you can think of, and quite honestly, the clothes would seem out of place in my closet that is filled with Target merchandise. The mall was packed, and you could really get a feel for how many people were in town this weekend.

That evening, I went to dinner with Leigh, her boyfriend, and his friends who were visiting from southern California. We went to a restaurant whose lack of impressive food is made up for with an abundance of personality: Battista's. This place is right off the Strip on Flamingo. They have a fixed price menu with several price levels. You pick which main course you want (I got ravioli), and with that you get soup or salad, delicious garlic bread, and cappuccino for desert. And here's the kicker, all-you-can-drink red or wine house wine is included with your meal. They have a carafe of each of the table that they continue to fill throughout the night. Honestly, I could make better food at home, and the wine was so cheap that I had a headache the next day, but it was more about the experience of old Vegas than anything else. I would recommend this as a great place for tourists to go if they are not in to the upscale dining scene that dominates the Strip.