JenLeoLIVE!

Pic of Jen & John in Vegas

Our friends Leigh and Brian got married last week. They had a fun pool party reception over the weekend and snapped this photo of us. Thought you might need a reminder of what we look like in case you haven't seen us in a while. FYI - John pretty much only makes these ridiculously silly faces when the camera is on him.

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: ??

Wrangler Hockey! Clap, clap - clap clap clap!

The Las Vegas Wranglers are in the playoffs and I'm totally into it. We went to two games this weekend - one Friday night and another with LB minus C last night. Friday night was awesome. Not just because we shut out the Alaska Aces 8-0, but because there were so many fights. I love the fights. Brian says I have blood lust, and John just laughs. At the beginning of the Friday night game the giant screened showed off that the Aces goalie hadn't lost a game in ten games. So, #35 must've been having an off night because we got 8 past him. #16 Czuy is my favorite because he hustles and hits, but it was #81 Miller's game on Friday night.  Saturday night we won too, 3-0 but there was a lot less fighting.

Now they head up to Alaska for three games. If they win two of them, the series is over with for now and the Wranglers move on. But if they lose won, we'll get to watch them again here in Vegas to finish off the series.

That's all I have to say right now.

Re House: We find out first week of May
Re poker: I took 2nd in the TI 2pm for $588 yesterday. That was fun :-)

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: Charleston, SC May 8-12 (I think those are the dates)

I'm actually enjoying living in Las Vegas

For all my bitching about how miserable I've been living in Las Vegas and how it is the seventh circle of hell, I actually had a really nice weekend. Living in a house (even if it is a tract home) in a nice neighborhood makes all the difference in the world. It is SO nice to be in Summerlin.

On Saturday we left the house for a run to the apartment (still in our last legs of clearing it out) and there were garage sales on the corner with a little girl selling lemonade. We had to stop. She was really cute and completely stealing the business from her friend across the street. We couldn't even tell that he was selling lemonade until we were leaving because his sign was completely black. I guess this will be his first mistake in marketing.

While we were at the apt, LBC called us and asked us to meet them at TI for the 2pm tourney. John will occasionally do this with me and I hadn't been to TI since well before Xmas. I was nervous as to what my dealer friends would say, but they greeted me with hugs and smiles, and of course, look what the cat dragged in. John went all the way to cash so we were there a while and before we knew it, it was time for Wranglers hockey. We could drive the 30 min back to the house, only to turn around and drive back - so we had a great Italian dinner at Pasta Mia on Flamingo and then went to the game. I don't think we've done that in ages. Left the house at noon and didn't come back till 10pm at night. A real Saturday.

On Sunday we had Chops, Lady Chops and Baby Chops over for breakky. Just bagels and fruit outside by the pool. These are the things you can enjoy when you don't live in an apartment.

So, for however long we live in Vegas (still won't know about the Carlsbad house for another week) - I will not complain. I love living in Summerlin. As long as there will be kids having lemonade stands and neighbors waving at us as we drive in.

CURRENT: Las VEGAS
NEXT: Dunno

Mount Charleston Lodge: Valentine's Day for married people

I did what I never thought I'd do. I gave John a free pass on Valentine's Day. Let me first apologize to all my ex-boyfriends for the hell I put you through on one of  my favorite holidays. The constant demands, high expectations, whining and begging only to be followed by dirty looks — John didn't get a scent of it. Instead, I asked him if we could go to a nice restaurant on a different day in the hopes we'd get better service. He agreed and we set our V-day for Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Unbeknownst to me, he had other plans. John's first V-day present as a husband was a surprise. Last Sunday afternoon he told me to clear my schedule from Tuesday afternoon - Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Despite two days of guessing, I didn't find out until Tuesday that he had reserved a cabin up at the Mount Charleston Lodge, a legendary Vegas attraction I'd been talking about going to for years.

Outsource your cleaning, thanks Craigslist!

I hired a "Girl Friday" to come in and help me in the house. Her name is Shelley and she's terrific. We have a couple problem areas - the office meaning my half of the office, and my closet.  I have this very bad habit of putting things in bags and boxes and then not dealing with them. Books, magazines, travel receipts, old make up, coins, business cards, greeting cards, hand written letters that never got sent - you name it. Sooner or later they end up stashed in the closet. The closet had gotten so bad I couldn't even walk in it. So, I started surfing around on Craigslist (household services) to see if I could get someone in here to take me to task. Two hours later and not only can you walk in it, but Shelley hauled off clothes and bags to Goodwill, the Mission, and a consignment store.

I feel great. It's the best $100 I've spent in ages (4 hours of her time).

She's going to come back after Thanksgiving but first I have to spend some time on my desk, DO the wedding thankyous (yes, I'm going to Hell), and finish up two backpacks that I didn't get to in the closet.

Man, I can't tell you how great it feels. Do it. If you struggle with organization, get someone to help you. If you can't afford to hire someone, ask your most organized friend and make her a nice lunch. Now I need to find a tech assistant to get all my computer, iPod, podcasts, Social Networking and blog headers running efficiently.

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: San Diego (Thanksgiving Nov. 21 - 24)

Ah Vegas. 50 Cent and Britney Spears

No, I didn't go to the MTV Awards, but Richard from the L.A. Times Las Vegas Blog "Moveable Buffet" sort of live blogged the event (we would've liked more posts). Apparently Britney Spears was laughed at for her performance of new song "Gimme More".

While Brtiney's lack luster dancing was getting all the ink, something much more noteworthy had occurred at the Hard Rock the night before. A 50 Cent performance led to some rain making and the stage nearly collapsed. He walked off the stage to literally save the stage (and especially the fans) because the crowd wouldn't leave the water as directed and were about to get electrocuted should the stage fall into the  pool. Here are some links about it, and yes, we found a way to talk about it for the travel blog.

Las Vegas: 50 Cent, near tragedy at Hard Rock

50 Cent's Poolside Pre-VMA Concert Cut Short After Fans Nearly Sink Stage

Video from TMZ of fans scrambling to find hundys

Yes, the 50 Cent save was more interesting than Kid Rock punching Tommy Lee, too.

Do you play Settlers of Catan?

I'm nutso for Settlers of Catan. Harold & Jenny introduced it to us and we went right out and bought one the next day. I want to buy one for all game lovers I know, but the ole ball & chain has a flag on my expenses until I pay off my share of the wedding. (We went over a bit...). Actually not really, but I like saying the ole ball & chain.

You can find out more about Settlers of Catan on the all new Catan Online. I've even already signed up for a Catan Meetup alert in case we can find people to play with. But I'd rather just seduce our friends Leigh & Brian into it.

John is shocked at how competitive I am when playing. He beat me twice in a row the other night. Despite all marriage advice, I sure as hell went to bed mad at him. He had an 8 card with sheep next to a sheep port and dominated to no end. I awoke and insisted on a re-match and got my ass whooped again. I hate him.

"How come you're not this competitive with poker?" he asked.

I had no reply. And I still don't know.

So, we haven't played Settlers in 24 hours. Instead we played some poker. I got a nice warm welcome back reception at the TI poker room. I guess you could say I got to know the dealers by name, or they got to know me by name rather, shortly before the wedding. When I showed up today they were all excited that I wrote about their new ladies tourneys in my Bird on the Rail column in BLUFF. Word on the street is that Caesars heard  TI was starting their Monday night ladies No Limit Holdem tourney and started theirs back up. At the time I wrote the blurb Caesars had shut their Tuesdays ladies tournes down until January. The bonus at TI is that they'll be giving out spa packages to the first place winner. So, not only do you get the biggest piece of the prize pool, but you'll also win a $100+ gift certificate at the TI Spa—Wet.

First ladies event at TI: Monday August 20, 2007. $60.
(I think it'll be at 7pm - but call 702-894-7291 to find out)

But that's skipping ahead. You want to hear about last night's tourney. We went to The Orleans with Leigh & Brian and played in a $105 tourney. I took 5th place! I think John said there were 108 players, but I can't remember. Prize was $680. Considering all three of them are better players than me, it was unexpected for me to last the longest. I almost didn't even rebuy. (You pay $65 first then $40  later). Anyway, it was a late night. I think we left The Orleans at around 1:30am.

Ummm, yes. We went out and did this fun stuff instead of looking at our wedding photos and writing thank you notes. SORRY! Had to get reacquainted with Vegas, baby!

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: San Francisco - Marin (Book Passage: More Sand event Aug 15, then Travel Writers & Photographers Conference 16-19)

 

Breakfast poker with Eric Assadourian

Gambling alert RED (and hunky).

It is absolutely OK for me to gamble if 1) I'm winning, and 2) I'm chatting with a hunky Australian.

With no internet access this morning I left the room headed for the cafe. I had about $40 in red leftover from yesterday's Loss of the Mohicans episode at a $4-$8 table in the Amazon room. There were some people at the table games and I eyed the Texas Holdem table game. I figured I could play a hand and be off to breakky.  But I started winning, and then star Aussie tournament player Eric Assadourian sat down on my left.

We started talking about Oz and he made some great suggestions for our honeymoon including a trip to Hamilton Island and a helicopter tour of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I boldly asked if he would take me to a bbq when I came out for the Aussie Millions and he said yes, but that was early on. He might feel more comfortable with that if I say hi to him a few more times during the WSOP.

We was a humble gentleman, said good luck on about every hand, and gave me advice on the math, too. I turned $140 into $390 and left after he did. You might ask what a pro was doing at a measly lame table game, but he was just  killing some time while he waited to have breakfast with his cousin.

He's definitely someone to keep your eye on this tournament. Watch Eric's tournament history on the Hendon Mob database groooooow. And if you see this, good luck, Eric! That was fun.

First 24 hours at World Series of Poker

The new Amazon room is awesome. Harrah's transformed a warehouse room of tables into a landscape that tips its hat to WSOP champions past and present. The room is decorated with giant screens of past World Series winners as if it were the crown molding of the room. In the cash game area there is a walled off section of tables for high limit play. Yesterday I saw Men the Master playing what looked like a variant of Chinese Poker.The wall is waist high giving the players room and some privacy but still allowing the public to see who's in there.

I ran into Gavin straight off and he looked great. He's lost some weight, has a new girlfriend and is in top spirits. I haven't seen him in a long time but he wished me happy birthday and said barbaques are on the front burner. I can't wait to meet his girl, and am so happy for him.

Yesterday there was a fair commotion about a new deck of cards being used at the series.

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Here's Daniel talking about it on Poker News. The good news is that Harrah's acted quickly and swapped them out before the dinner break. You can see Daniel's video blog on RawVegas.tv.

Get your tournament coverage at WorldSeriesofPoker.com.

More to tell...talk soon.

CURRENT: LAS VEGAS RIO
NEXT: up the street for a body wrap

Birthday Boot Camp! Birthday poker!

Well, word is getting out about birthday poker tomorrow night. I got a request today that one of my #1 fans wants to read about the party, so somebody make sure I follow through. Or blog about it so I don't have to. We're having drinks and apps at Isla, the shmancy Tequila bar at TI then chasing it with a poker tourney, $60 + $5. I was in over the weekend a couple of times (bubbled dammit!) and let them know I was bringing in about 10 players. Michelle, the boss who won't be there tomorrow night was still excited about it. She gave me a hat. Look out. Between that and some WPT cop-style sunglasses, I'll look like a bad-ass.

But the two best presents I could ask for came today. First, Andrew gave me the day off blogging. Woohoo! Then my trainer called and said that I could choose the work out tomorrow and then have everyone else do them but me. What?! No way. I haven't been to Boot Camp since before the Bay to Breakers so I chose for us to do beach volleyball again. But I'm also going to ask for ab crunches, boxing moves, some planks, and the reach for your ankles from a horizontal position one. Good for the inches.

Even though I still have to work on other freelance assignments, it's going to be a great day. I mean, come on, there's no way I could have as bad of a day as Miss USA had yesterday. Ooops!

Anyway, come on out to Vegas. Surprise me tomorrow. Just show up at the TI poker room at 6:50pm. Come on...what else do you have to do? Bring it!

CURRENT: LAS VEGAS
NEXT: Somewhere....seats around California are only $39 each way on SWA in June and July