EVE Vegas… The Epic Weekend Days 4 and 5

Note: What follows is my account of EVE Vegas. Much has been forgotten because of too much alcohol and too little sleep. And much will be omitted due to the “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” Rule.

Still dazed from the night before I have no memory of when I woke up Sunday. I believe I woke up around 10am when Chubs and Shaz came to my room. They had to check out before 11am and after they did, they stored their bags in my room. Not long after that Weze also dropped his luggage off in the room so he wouldn't have to carry it around all day until his flight.

I had done well so far this weekend and had only had very mild Hangovers. But today was different. Something about mixing Vodka and Redbull leads to a sour stomach the next day. Not to mention I was tired and felt like a Zombie for the first 3-6 hours of the day.

We then reunited our entire group, with a addition of someone we had met the night before named Muffy Rox who apparently is blue with a group we had been fighting recently in Genesis.

Most of the group was now hungry, while I still felt like garbage. Some how there was a unanimous vote for us to go to In and Out Burger.

A few minutes later someone with a phone told us there was one only a mile and a half away. Due to the fact we would have to walk, we began to lose hope and our dreams of In and Out started to fade.

Then out of no where Muffy Rox told us she had a car and could drive us. Shocked by this revelation, we accepted her offer and walked down to the parking garage. It turns out she had a Cadillac Escalade which was an added bonus.

Once we were in route we relied on Amorir to navigate us to our Lunch/Breakfast. Unfortunately, his phone's GPS was not working so he was forced to use street signs and the map to find the way. But with obvious map skills he guided us in with ease.

When we walked into In and Out, it was packed. The line wasn't huge but there were a lot of people waiting for their food.

When I was ordering they were calling numbers in the low 80s and my number was 6, so I knew it would take awhile.

I ordered the Cheeseburger Meal and then we found some tables to sit at where people were just getting up.

About 10 minutes later they called my number but somehow I heard 96 while everyone else kept telling me it was 6. I ignored them until the guy repeated it a few more times and I realized it actually was 6.

My meal cost just under $6 dollars which made it the cheapest meal I had while in Vegas, and still it was pretty good (Much better than the sports deli at Rio).

After a short drive back to the Rio we headed down to the conference area to walk the never ending hallways again.

Several of our group had not yet played Valkyrie so that was our first priority. The first game was decidedly won by Chubs, while the second was a more even match up as people got better at the game.

It was noticeably less busy now than on Saturday, probably due to the fact that many people had early flights. That meant the line for Valkyrie was only about 5 minutes long.

At this point Weze had to leave to catch his flight so we said goodbye and headed off to CCP Rise's talk about PVP and how it relates to Poker. It turns out Rise was a professional poker player before getting hired by CCP.

He talked about variance in Poker and how even good players can have losing streaks. This he said was similar to EVE PVP and I have to agree strongly with him.

Next he discussed Odds and how Starting Hands in Poker had a large impact on the Final Result. This was much like PVP in that the Fitting and Tactics you start with can increase your overall odds of success.

Finally, he said that Aggression in Poker and in EVE can help you win, even when you have a losing hand. This as you of course know, I 100% agree with because it is my strategy in many of my engagements.

Overall it was a good talk and the fact that someone in our group brought a 12 pack of Coors Light to the talk certainly didn't hurt.

When Rise finished another CCP Dev brought in a bunch of tournament prizes that were not given away. Things like a Gaming Mouse, Headset, Mouse pads, etc.

The funny part here was that none of the CCP game designers could figure out a way to give away these items fairly.

After about 10 minutes of bad ideas from people, some genius in the audience had the idea to call out dates and then who ever had the closest birthday would win the prize. This worked well and all of the free stuff was given out.

This completed EVE Vegas in the official sense, so we fell back to the room to drink and watch football.

While in the room there was a non stop stream of Shenanigans, Trolling, Joking, and Fun that can only be had by a bunch of people who are both intoxicated and sleep deprived. Some of this may have included the improper use of an Apocalypse Model.

With a 18 pack of Coors Light (again) in the fridge and a 12 pack on Tecate by the TV we were setup pretty nice.

Then, several hours later disaster struck. We were hungry again and some people were having Vodka Redbull withdraws.

Responding to these important issues, Chubs ordered a Pizza and some Wings, while Muffy Rox set off to find Vodka and Redbull.

The delivery driver would not come to the room so Chubs went to meet him.

While he was gone we attempted to acquire paper plates and napkins but housekeeping and the lobby desk were not cooperative. As a last resort we used the wash clothes and towels from the bathroom as well as torn up beer boxes for plates.

While searching for the elusive Redbull, Muffy reported it could not be found and she was forced to buy Rockstar instead.

Reloaded with alcohol and food we watched the War of 1812 (Colts vs Broncos) and Amorir bet Shaz 4 bucks the Colts would win.

During the game I revealed my desire to drop $100 bucks on the Craps table that night, which in the past has been a fun thing to do for me at Casinos back east.

So we watched what was actually a very good game, and then split up so I could go test my luck.

Astro, Amorir, and me then made our way down to the Casino where I withdrew $200 dollars from an ATM (they charged me like 6.50 in fees) before going to the Craps tables.

In the past I was able to play on $100 dollars for anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours depending on luck, but this time partially due to the fact it was a $10 dollar table as opposed to the $5 dollar tables I'm used to, I lost all $100 dollars in less than 5 minutes!

Saddened at my loss we went to the bar where we ordered three $10 dollar drinks.

This also upset us, so we again brainstormed the best way to get free drinks and again the answer was Blackjack.

It didn't take long for us to find a table with space open for all of us. I dropped $40, while Astro and Amorir dropped $20.

This small amount of money at a $10 dollar table shouldn't have been enough to last long enough for a waitress to notice us, but Lady Luck and Lady Free Beer was on our side.

All of us steadily built our stack of chips and after we all tipped the Waitress the first time, she verbally swore to bring us more every 10 minutes and she kept her promise.

We started playing around 1am and I had to wake up at 7am to get my flight. However, since we were winning and having fun I stuck around.

At one point my $40 became over $100 and everyone else was probably close to that or better. But then at about 4am my luck changed and I cashed out with the same $40 I started with. So I left Astro and Amorir to play and pound as many free Heinekens as they could and went to sleep.

The next morning I would find out that they grew their stacks from $20 to over $200 at one point after I left, but rather that quit while ahead, they pushed on like true suicidal EVE PVPers and they played it into the ground before walking away $20 dollars poorer and no doubt 15 to 20 beers richer.

At 7am my Phones alarm went off and I got out of bed to get ready to leave. I think Astro was just now coming in for the night, so as we passed I said "I hate waking up" and he laughed just before hitting the bed and passing out.

Still a little drunk, I made my way out of the hotel to catch a taxi. The dude there let out a whistle and up came a taxi instantly (so much better than a shuttle and worth the extra money).

On the way to the Airport, my Taxi driver bragged to me about how much faster she was than the other taxi drivers, to which I don't think I replied because I was so tired.

Once inside the Airport I checked my suitcase which now contained my Tempest Model. You see, the box these Models come in is huge and pretty much impossible to pack, so most people removed the Battleships and discarded the box and Styrofoam.

The Tempest model is actually 3 pieces... One stick like appendage, a stand, and a large piece that is the general shape of a handgun. I had the "Hand Gun" in my checked bag wrapped in shirts to protect it.

Well, evidently when they x-rayed my bag, they saw this "gun" and decided to search it.

tsanotice

I can only laugh at the thought of them pulling out half of a Tempest and wondering WTH it was.

After checking in, I sailed through security with ease. Not even a full body cavity search and I was in the clear.

Once I got to my terminal I realized I still had almost 2 hours until my flight. At this point with much self loathing I regretted my choice to wake up so early and wished I had slept longer.

But, with no way to change the past I decided the best thing to do was to eat some food to soak the alcohol in my stomach before flying. So I went on a search and found a Wendy's where I ordered a Spicy Chicken Sandwich (no idea why I made that choice) with fries and a coke.

Strangely I was unable to eat much and had to force about half of it down, including all of the bun for extra alcohol soaking upage.

This however created a new problem, which was characterized by massive stomach cramps and a long walk to the bathroom.

I will omit the bathroom experience for your sake, but I will say that a very busy bathroom + a very loud BM = awkward but hilarious self entertainment.

Next, I purchased a $4 dollar Liter of water, so I could drink it on the plane and flush my system before having to drive.

What followed was a bumpy flight that I was unable to sleep on.

Once safely on the ground back in Jacksonville, I exited the airport into surprisingly comforting 90% humidity which compared with Vegas was a very big contrast.

If you remember my account of Day 1, then you remember than I failed to take note of where I parked. This caused problems when I boarded the Shuttle and the very southern lady asked me what lot I was in. I told her I didn't know and she replied "Oh Child!" and "Good Lord!" and even "Bless your heart" which in the south is usually a cloaked insult.

In fact, if you ever visit the south and someone tells you "Bless your heart" there's a good chance they're insulting you. Usually it follows an insult, like "That's the dumbest man I've ever seen... Bless his heart."

Moments later we were scouring the parking lot looking for my car and just by luck it was one of the first we drove past. I give her the tip and then exited the shuttle.

My EVE Vegas experience concluded with a Delirious Drive home in which I struggled not to swerve or speed, which is very difficult evidently because I did both.

Once home I slept for 14 hours straight and woke ready to do it all again...

But, I guess I'll have to wait until next year for EVE Vegas 2014.

About the author

In 2010 Abbadon21 was the first person to create Narrated Instructional PVP videos for EVE Online. This started a new era of EVE Online and opened up high level "PRO" PVP to everyone. Abbadon21 is also the Founder of EVEProGuides.com, which is EVE Online's oldest and most trusted source for high quality PRO Guides.