So I got back from a losing trip to Vegas. Played blackjack almost exclusively, ending the trip down $1600 after a wild rollercoaster ride of big swings. Twoin made the trip too and lost also. We played mostly at The Wynn where I was staying and TI where he was staying. I did quite well at TI, winning a total of about $1,700 there (between TI and one session at Mirage, the total was +$1700, I just don’t recall exactly whether I won or lost at Mirage since it was at the end of a very long day of drunken gaming), but followed up just about every winning session by walking back to The Wynn and losing it there. At The Wynn my total for the weekend was -$3,300. The crazy thing was that even though I was winning at TI and getting clobbered at The Wynn, I MUCH preferred playing at Wynn. It was just such an awesome atmosphere, the lighting, the music, the drinks (the bloody marys especially) and the clean air (despite it being a smoking casino, the air quality in The Wynn is actually quite good). Even nicer than the casino was the room I stayed in. It was a Resort room, which is basically the standard low end room there, but it was exceptionally nice. High ceilings, giant windows, flat screen tv’s (one in the main room, one in the bathroom), a soaking tub next to the shower, dual sinks, plush towels, super comfortable bed and decent linens. I don’t think I would want to stay anywhere else in Vegas anymore. Going back over to TI each day just seemed so dismal and gloomy despite all the winning! At one point in the weekend, Twoin and I were devastated with losses and we were like broken men. He went back to his room to try and take a nap and I went back to my room and decided to chill out a while. I soaked in my tub for a while and came out mentally rejuvinated. I decided to treat Twoin to a light dinner at Okada to cheer him up and try to get him back on track to salvage the weekend. It worked! Okada was once again superb. The oysters were magnificent and Twoin even commented that they were probably the best oysters he’s ever tasted. We also had foie gras, a few tartare’s, some sushi rolls and a carpaccio. Everything was top notch, and we had a bottle of Otokoyama to wash it all down. We were starting to feel alright again. So after dinner we hit the tables and Twoin started to make some nice wins and walking away to keep his profits. I still ended up losing another $500 or so after dinner, but it didn’t bother me now that I felt ok again. I went back to take a nap and then hit the tables again in the morning. That’s where I made my big comeback. We played all day Saturday at The Wynn, then had a fantastic tasting menu at Tableau (with a ’99 Corison cab; my fave!) and I finished off the trip by playing $100 hands during a wild stretch of one and a half shoes where the dealer seemed to bust on nearly every hand. I went from $600 in chips to $2500 in chips in probably half an hour. Even though I was still down $1600 for the trip, I figured I should stop there and finish on that high note. After all, I couldn’t possibly expect to outdo a run like that. I ended up getting my four nights comped, along with $150 off my meals for a total comp value of about $1k. That made the losses completely palatable, and I guess that’s the whole point of comps, to get us to feel ok about losing so that we’ll come back some day. I really enjoyed my exerience staying at The Wynn. I should probably go into further detail about the killer meal at Tableau. It was one tough restaurant to find even with a map of the property. One of the dealers even stopped to try and help us find the way, but even he didn’t know where it was, as he tried pointing us to the exact opposite end of the casino! In any event, it was worth the search. The food was stellar. Of special note was a dish consisting of a demi-tasse of intensely rich crab bisque with chunks of the most succulent crab meat in it, topped with a tiny dollop of creme fraiche. Along side it was a napolean of sorts, with layers defined by thin slices of apple, each layer containing a mix of frisee, that succulent crab meat again, some caviar, and some more creme. It was an amazing combo. The whole meal was dazzling, but that for me was just off the charts.

Anyway, I find myself already thinking about when I can return. Maybe I’ve been subliminally subdued by all those hours in their casino. I found myself awake last night trying to find a song that was on their repeating soundtrack in the casino. Especially in the wee hours of each morning when the casino was nearly empty and I was all drunk and sleepy, that song really sounded sweet in an almost surreal way. I only remembered a couple lines from it, but thru the magic of Google, I found it and bought it via iTunes. The song was Sorrento Moon by Tina Arena. I think I’ll hear that song in my head every time I think about The Wynn from now on. Something tells me I’ll be back there in a month or so…