Zombies 2017 Las Vegas Ratings - Trip Report (2 Viewers)

[Poker Zombie]

Day 2:

Pickleball at the Plaza

Why would anyone stay at the Plaza? Pickleball. The Plaza replaced 3 of their 4 tennis courts with 12 pickleball courts. I've never played, but I'll give any sport a try. My expectations were low as I watched YouTube videos to learn the rules of the game. Most of the time, the game looks like a bunch of old men awkwardly lunging for a ball and thinking they look spectacular while doing it. Things I quickly learned:

• You can rent equipment from the Plaza for $5. This get you 2 wooden paddles and a wiffle ball.
• You have to supply your own pickles
• temps over 100 degrees will quickly dehydrate you.
• We were the only ones carrying pickles. I guess they're not needed.
• You cannot get paddled anywhere else in Vegas for just $5
• I am an old man and I look spectacular as I awkwardly lunge for the ball.

Because Mrs Zombie and I are competitive, we tracked the score. However, the heat/dehydration was really beating us and we packed it up after an hour. We will definitely return tomorrow.

Pickleball at the Plaza: 5 Brains. In cooler weather, I bet these courts fill up pretty quickly. There were 2 matches going on while we were there, and it was crazy hot.

 

[detroitdad]

I am an old man and I look spectacular as I awkwardly lunge for the ball.

pics please

 

[pltrgyst]

Pickleball at the Plaza

.... Most of the time, the game looks like a bunch of old men awkwardly lunging for a ball and thinking they look spectacular while doing it.

We'll be glad to correct that mis-assessment when you come to Melee 2018. We have tons of pickleball courts around here, as well as the annual national championships in Naples. Glad to hear about pickleball at the Plaza, though -- thanks.

You can rent equipment from the Plaza for $5. This get you 2 wooden paddles and a wiffle ball.

That's criminal. Wooden paddles suck, and no one actually plays with them. I own one, and its sole purpose is to demonstrate to others how worthless they are. Hope they at least gave you actual pickleballs.

You cannot get paddled anywhere else in Vegas for just $5.

Oh, I bet you can, if you're willing to seek immediate medical treatment afterward.

I am an old man and I look spectacular as I awkwardly lunge for the ball.

There! You're a convert!

It's a fun game. Relatively easy on the knees, since you rarely have to take more than three steps. Pickleball is great practice for your tennis net game. And on Sunday evenings, it goes very well with multiple bottles of red wine (and rum).

Just remember: "Third shot kitchen."

 

[PhilLaFond]

So is that travel poker table considered as one of your carry ons?

 

[Poker Zombie]

So is that travel poker table considered as one of your carry ons?

Yes. The 2 middle rail sections pull out, and the case folds together in thirds. The long rails fill in the gap in the middle. We have 3 coin tubes that hold the buy-ins for 2 (or 3 players if we had a poker player sharing the row). The case then folds up and fits within the under-seat storage size). We slip the entire thing into a draw-string bag (which will eventually be redesigned by Mrs Zombie). Picks of the table and credits can be found in the design thread.

 

[Mrs Poker Zombie]

So is that travel poker table considered as one of your carry ons?

Correct. The bag we are using is temporary, but works. After this trip I will see a custom bag, add straps that I can actually use, and, of course, embroider the front.

 

[Poker Zombie]

For those requesting pics, we took some when we went back out this morning. No action shots though. Not a lot of people on the courts this morning (104 degrees). Also, its 9am in Vegas. Who's awake at 9 am in Vegas?

 

[Poker Zombie]

Correct. The bag we are using is temporary, but works. After this trip I will see a custom bag, add straps that I can actually use, and, of course, embroider the front.

...and a holder for the martini shaker!

 

[FDLmold]

Played pickleball in gym class in 1989. Loved it. Haven't played since. Will have to take the fam to the Plaza now to play.

 

[Wils]

What the hell is pickleball when it's at home?

 

[PhilLaFond]

For those requesting pics, we took some when we went back out this morning. No action shots though. Not a lot of people on the courts this morning (104 degrees). Also, its 9am in Vegas. Who's awake at 9 am in Vegas?
View attachment 105103

Me when I'm there cause I haven't been to bed, LOL.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Day 2 continued...

Carson Kitchen

Following pickleball and a shower, we walk to Carson Kitchen. This little gem is about 2 blocks off Freemont Street. I know some say that is taking your life in your own hands, but during the day it is no different than any other city. Well, any other city that was on fire, because the temp at noon was over 110 degrees. Since the walk was all in direct sunlight, next to buildings that were radiating that heat right back atcha, it felt like 110 Celsius.

The walk is short though, and Carson Kitchen is well worth it. 2 words: Bacon Jam. A little sweet, a little spicy, and a little bacony. Microsoft spell checker tells me bacony is not a word. Microsoft spellcheck is dumb. Bacony is delicious, and Bacon Jam (spread on a toasted baguette) was awesome. When we finished the baguette, they came by to clear the plate, and I think Mrs Zombie was about to stab the waiter in the hand. Bacon Jam was good on everything. She continued to spread it on her flatbread (fancy-talk for pizza). Even though the flatbread was great right out of the gate, it was even better with Bacon Jam.

This place is definitely worth the trip, but the dining area was smallish. We arrived right at open so we were seated right away, but by the time we were finished the place was packed.

As an added bonus, if you are an aspiring chef, get a seat at the counter. It's a great view of the kitchen and the chefs at work. I definitely picked up a few tips I cannot wait to try once I get home.

Bacon Jam! Yes, sitting at the counter, you really are this close. Sit here. You don't want someone with a cold this close to your food, so call dibs on this seat!

Beet salad with fresh mozzarella rolled in crushed pistachios.

Wild mushroom flatbread. The oven was very close to us, but the heat was nothing compared to what we were hit with every time someone opened the door. Now that I think of it, maybe they weren't using an oven. Maybe they were just sticking the pizza out the window for a few minutes...

Carson Kitchen: 5 Brains. It's really this good.

 

[WedgeRock]

No brains rating?

 

[Poker Zombie]

No brains rating?

Edited, Thanks Wedge!

 

[Poker Zombie]

Day 2, the poker begins...

Golden Nugget Poker

With the WSOP in town, The Golden Nugget gets swept up in the excitement and hosts their own series, the Grand Poker Series. It's big enough to fill much of their ballroom, and the buy-ins are much more affordable.

We started with a $150 tourney. Can you tell what's wrong with this photo?

Nothing like seeing a guy silently calling a post-flop bet of T1100 with a yellow and black chip, then the frantic attempt to pull it back because the T5000 are black, while the T100 are blue. This was just fucking stupid, and I watched 2 players make similar mistakes. Also, those T5000 disappear in the Avocado T25 stacks.

I was chipping up, and holding at about 24-25 BB, when my KK bumped into AA. That's poker folks!

Mrs Zombie went out a little earlier and moved onto the cash games. After I went busto, we regrouped for dinner (which will be reviewed later). Following a tasty meal we returned for a $110 tournament. The chips couldn't be the same fucked up colors right?

Do not adjust the color on your monitors. There were fewer errors (from the players) with this set, but that's ok, that wasn't the bad part. The dealers in this game blew. One had never figured out a side pot where change could not be made from the side pot alone, so she tried to make it out of both pots instead! And that is just where the cavalcade of dealer errors began. She would routinely mistake the T100s for T500s (hey the T500s are pink on the other side of the room). I won't discuss the rest, but bacon jam couldn't make this dealer tolerable. I was ok going busto and to the rail, then stepping outside for some fresh air.

Ah, the fresh air of Freemont Street. Yes, those lace panties were completely see-thru. (y) :thumbsup:

By this time of the night the Cash Game room is packed. I didn't get a seat (name on all lists) until 9pm, about a 30 minute wait. Met a number of my tablemates from the first tournament (a great group of guys) and the banter and chips began to fly. I only played for an hour (about my limit at a cash game), but had a lot of fun.

At least the chips were identifiable colors.

In for $200, out for $314. Love the razor sharp edges on the $1. Too bad the house mold takes it out of relabel consideration, or I would have been harvesting a load.

Grand Series of Poker: 2 Brains. Shitty non-standard colors, some crap dealers. Saving graces are low buy-ins with good structures, and decent drink service.

Golden Nugget Poker Room: 3.5 Brains. Minty $1s (for now), but the chairs are a little iffy. Got 2 martinis in my hour of play.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Day 2, between poker sessions. If @ChaosRock were a pizza, he'd be...

Pizza Rock

This is our 2nd trip to the Rock-and-Roll inspired sports bar/pizzeria (sports pizzeria?). The menus are printed on old album jackets, and the specials are on the vinyl album inside. Luckily, I don't think there's many in this forum that don't remember vinyl, so I don't need to explain how music used to work before iPhones. Suffice to say, if everything was still on vinyl, you wouldn't have jackasses with earbuds in at the poker table. Nobody had headphones on while looking at the vinyl menu-albums.

This place is a pizza dream. They have multiple ovens with different heat sources and different temps. You simply are not getting this many options at your local pizza joint, unless you live just behind Binions. The appetizers were also top-notch. So good in fact, that we scarfed them down without a photo.

Here is our 12", 900 degree oven margarita pizza.

I'm trying really hard to figure out a reason to not give this 5 brains. Absolutely everything was perfect, from wine presentation (which I would not normally ding a pizza joint for anyway) to plating. Pizza is already awesome. This was just flawless.

Pizza Rock: 5 Brains

 

[Steverino]

I love this trip report. I check in each day just to see the updates.

 

[WedgeRock]

I'm enjoying it too, but I keep thinking to myself, "enjoy your vacation!" Each one of these posts must take a half hour at least to put together...

We (I) appreciate the effort.

EDIT: I meant "I" as in myself... instead, it just looks like a lady part. Is it me?

 

[detroitdad]

I'm enjoying it too, but I keep thinking to myself, "enjoy your vacation!" Each one of these posts must take a half hour at least to put together...

We (I) appreciate the effort.

Shut your mouth.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

I love this trip report. I check in each day just to see the updates.

Indeed. But those stack pics from the Golden Nugget tournaments should be in the wtf thread...

 

[Poker Zombie]

I'm enjoying it too, but I keep thinking to myself, "enjoy your vacation!" Each one of these posts must take a half hour at least to put together...

We (I) appreciate the effort.

EDIT: I meant "I" as in myself... instead, it just looks like a lady part. Is it me?

There is a lot of typing in these trip reports. More-so because my hands are painfully blistered (pre-trip, poison oak). But I wake before 6 am, 7 days a week, so I cannot sleep past that time any more. That's 4 am Vegas time. So I can get up mosey around, and catch up on PCF.

What can I say. I'm a whore for "likes"

 

[k9dr]

Not sure if my like above implies that I like whores

 

[Poker Zombie]

Zombie whores are OK.

 

[k9dr]

There I go again

 

[pltrgyst]

....Here is our 12", 900 degree oven margarita pizza.

Looks like a bowl of pizza soup!

Had you ever tried the pizza place in the Nugget, aka Grotto Ristorante? Very near the poker room. Some of the best pizza we've ever had anywhere, including Italy and New York.

 

[12thMan]

Love threads like these, before trips to Vegas I can read through it and make a checklist of things I would like and get wayyyyy more info than a yelp review or something. I'm nowhere near as organized as the zombies appear to be in my day to day life, let's not even mention a Vegas trip, so I wouldn't have a schedule, but it would be a hell of a reference when I wanted something to do or got hungry.

 

[Poker Zombie]

We don't really have a "schedule", it's more of a rough plan. Sure, some things require reservations, and tournaments start at scheduled times, so there is a little clock watching but for the most part, the spreadsheet reads things like "Friday Morning" "Friday Noon", "Friday Late Day", "Friday Evening", and "Friday Night".

That said, we do have a spreadsheet. The Zombie motto is "We take our fun seriously".

...and "Braaaaiiiiiiins"

 

[Poker Zombie]

Looks like a bowl of pizza soup!

Had you ever tried the pizza place in the Nugget, aka Grotto Ristorante? Very near the poker room. Some of the best pizza we've ever had anywhere, including Italy and New York.

I have not - I will definitely add it to the "to do list! NY pies are tough to beat though.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Day 3. Time to pull the rental car out of the garage...

Crown & Anchor Pub

This classic British pub is as authentic as they get. From the old heavy-timber wood-frame to the steel-tipped darts. This place is a blast when futball is on the telly. Mrs Zombie and I popped in for a couple of pints, and filled our bellies. Mrs Zombie went with the Fish and Chips, While I went for the bangers and mash. Of course we started off with a scotch egg (hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage).

Yep, already finished the egg, and polished off my first Innis and Gunn beer before the pic.

Then we had a couple rounds of darts. To make it interesting, we put $10 a game on the line.

Yes, this is how close our competitions are. What we lack in accuracy, we make up for in beer consumption.

Crown & Anchor Pub: 4.5 Brains. Although authentic, the sausage lacked a good kick of spice. Mrs Zombie loved the Fish and chips, and I helped her out with the chips while she was at the line (darts), and those were quite good as well. This place is a must, if you are headed 2 miles west of the strip.

...and you should...

 

[Poker Zombie]

...Why should you head 2 miles east of the strip?

Pinball Hall of Fame

*Ding-Ding-Ding* By the end of any Vegas trip, the incessant dinging of slot machines begins to haunt me in my sleep. I know the dinging is supposed to indicate the sounds of a winner, but in reality, they're more like an electronic carnival barkers...

"Ding! Granny just won"
"Ding! Come-on, hear how loose we are"
"Ding! Another social security check in, 25 cents out"!

Ding! The idea strikes me: I have to get out of the casino. For a day of R&R, hop into the rental car and head off to the Pinball Hall of Fame.

*Ding-Ding-Ding* You are welcomed at the door by a familiar sound. But these aren't demanding dings. They are warm and friendly. A sound from childhood - or at least of a more innocent time.

Ding! Each ding pops the magical metal sphere around the table. I'm on a machine built in 1958, well before I was born. It's only a quarter, and I'm sucked into a game of skill. Target shooting, bouncing off bumpers. I don't care about work, breaking even, or my bad back. I am a kid again, without a care in the world.

*Ding-Ding-Ding* The game ends and the last few bonus points ring up. Occasionally your skilled play is enough to earn a free game. You feel like a champion - a pinball wizard. You hold your head high and soon you are off to the next game.

Ding! What a find. Most of the machines at the Hall of Fame have little cards on them, giving you a little background on the machine. Some machines are extremely rare, one of only two in existence. Unlike any other museum, not only can you touch, you can play with the displays. You are even encouraged to do so. Try playing with the bronze heads in the football hall of fame. They won't even let you pick Larry Csonka's nose.

*Ding-Ding-Ding* Three hours pass, and I have $1.50 left from the twenty I put into the change machine. I know I'm still in Las Vegas, but for once, I feel good about putting more money into a machine than I am taking out. In fact, I'd feel guilty for getting so much fun for so little money. I'd feel guilty, if I didn't feel like such a kid.

Plunk. As cool as this place is, it is seriously lacking in aesthetics. A hall of fame should be a place that a pinball-machine designer would be proud to have their creation in. A grand building paying homage to those inside. This is just a warehouse with a plastic banner stretched outside.

Pinball Hall of Fame: 5 Brains, even though Mrs Zombie and I bet $20 to see who won. It turns out she's a pinball wizard.