I'm a sucker for freebies

As I noted a couple of months ago, Planet Hollywood is one of my top-earning places. I haven't been there much lately for a few reasons, most prominent among them that construction along Koval and Harmon have made getting to PH a royal pain. That seems to have eased up now, though.

A couple of days ago, AlaskaGal, whom I know from allvegaspoker.com (she and I were two of the final five at the tournament Saturday night), tweeted that she had received a nice poker chip set from PH, and posted pictures of it. It seemed that she got it for the simple act of adding the new PH poker room manager (phPokerMgr) to the list of people she follows on Twitter.

I have a nice poker chip set, but it is among the many things that didn't fit in the vehicle when I moved out here on short notice from Minnesota in 2006, so it is still in the custody of the ex-wife. I expect I'll retrieve it eventually, but I have no idea when. This means that I, an allegedly professional poker player, have had the ignominious situation of having no poker chip set of my own. When I want or need to play with chips, I have to use my collection of real casino souvenir chips, which means taking them out of their protective sleeves, etc. It's too much bother.

So the possibility of picking up not just random free swag, but a really nice set of poker chips and storage case, was almost too good to be true. Still, I ventured, feeling a bit silly and, well, even tawdry. I added Joe Viator (the new room manager) to my Twitter list and posted a note to that effect today, adding that I'd be there by late afternoon to play. A short time later, he responded: "when you get to the poker room, tell Jen u follow me and she will give you a gift."

He was as good as his word. When I arrived, Jen recognized me straight off before I could even say a word, and told me to stop back at the desk when I was ready to leave, and they'd arrange it for me. And they did. I cashed out my chips (for a nice little profit, thank you very much) and Ryan, the shift supervisor, presented me with the lovely boxed set of chips you see above.

It is far and away the nicest thing I've ever received from a poker room. I have a bunch of baseball caps and one windbreaker, scads of decks of cards, and have been given a book or two. But this case is so nice that it makes the rest of my apartment look shabby. (OK, well, maybe it is shabby, but now that is more obvious!) I am delighted to have it, and most grateful for the generosity extended to me.

Of course, I still mourn the loss of the previous location of the PH poker room, which I thought was one of the nicest in town. But despite increased levels of noise and smoke in the current spot, the room continues to be staffed by high-quality, friendly dealers, and frequented by plenty of casual tourist types who are there to have fun and don't play especially well. In short, it's an easy and pretty comfortable place in which to make money. I make sure to get there a few times a month (barring something like the construction obstacles). Now if they could just install a Star Trek transporter to shorten the walk between the parking garage and the poker room.....

So who wants to come over to my place for a little friendly game of HORSE?