Prelude to Vegas -- T Minus Six Weeks

I've decided that in an attempt to share my psyched-ness about going to Vegas and to the WSOP in early June again this year, I am going to try to take some time each week and post something that gets me all worked up just thinking about the great times I have had in the desert in years past. Some of these may be specific memories, they may be links to old posts I did here, and they may be stories or new information that I've never explicitly discussed here before. The theme again is just things that for whatever reason get me psyched up for Vegas.

For my first "Prelude to Vegas" post this year, I thought I would do a fun game, which I am basing on the gossip game that Howard Stern loves to play with the National Enquirer guy once a week who presents four items of gossip, and the game is to try to pick out the one gossip story that is totally made up. I'm going to try out the same game here, only mine is going to be for the readers to pick which of the four stories below is not true. So, to be clear, three of the following four Vegas Fun Facts are in fact 100% stone cold accurate, and one of them is completely made-up. See if you can spot the fake one:

1. On my way out to play in my first WPBT live tournament during the summer gathering back in 2006, I was walking to the front door of the Excalibur to hop in a cap over to Caesar's, and in front of me were four prominent poker bloggers also waiting in the cab line, guys who know a lot about how Vegas works and who had spent time in the city previously for sure. After the bellman went out of his way to find them a quick cab, hoisted a couple of bags into the trunk (I guess someone was leaving straight from Caesar's?) and opened the door for them, they all left him standing there with his white glove out, empty-handed and tipless. As he had clearly gone a little above and beyond in getting them their cab, and given my understanding of how much tipping makes Las Vegas go, I was sure to give the guy two tips and made sure he knew that the first one was for the guys in front of me, who I told him were a part of my party.

2. A friend of mine once went to Vegas with me and had a near-death experience, culminating in him passing out, claiming to me in a weak, frail voice that his heart was stopping, and begging me to "tell my wife that I love her....and I'm sorry." And then he collapsed to the ground in the MGM casino.

3. I once contributed craps winnings to partially fund two "ladies of the night" to come up to a suite full of several other male friends of mine and show them a good time. One of the ladies we later found out was actually a gentleman.

4. I once partied and slapped five's with Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing on Superbowl Sunday in Vegas in the Mandalay Bay sports book.


Can you spot the fake?