I Don't Know How These Casinos Stay in Business

Helen began her sewing project today, so I left early to find a juicy poker game down on the Strip.

I arrived at Bally's around 9 a.m. and went to the poker room where there was only one table going and a waiting list of 4-5 names. No way was I waiting there, so I went across the street through Bill's Gambling Hall and into the Flamingo. The poker room there, once the home of such poker legends as Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss, was dead. Only one game going and it was a 2-4 Limit game, which I really don't like playing.

So it was on to the Imperial Palace where I decided to play a little blackjack and lost my $60 buy-in in less than 10 minutes. My next stop was O'Shea's, a small casino that is owned by Harrahs. Another $60 loss at blackjack. This was not going well, but sometimes you have to go down before you rise to victory.

A quick walk to Harrah's where I checked out the poker room. They had a tourney going and only 1 no limit table going. I just didn't like the vibe, so I looked for a blackjack table. Finally found a $10 minimum table and settled in for a very nice session, running my $100 buy-in up to $360 in about an hour. That covered my early losses and left me up $140. Time to take a break for lunch, which was a slice of pizza and a diet coke back at the Sbarro pizza near the Bally's sports book.

After lunch I enjoyed a cigar break at the Bally's sports book and watched a couple of horse races.

Then I went upstairs and found a $10 table at Bally's. There were two older women there, both were using power wheelchairs to get around the casino. I bought in for $100 and as soon as I sat down, the chips started coming. In no time I was up $200, then $400. The women, both from Kerrville Texas, were also winning. We had a great time cheering and rooting for each other when we won. The dealer seemed to break every other hand and we were all scoring blackjacks regularly. It was GREAT fun!

The Texas Two-some were pretty impressed that I actually knew where their hometown was. Kerrville is a small community along US-10, the road we took to Katy when we visited Anna and her family for Christmas. I mentioned to the women that I had heard Kerrville was a speed trap and they both laughed in recognition. "It sure is," one of them said.

As our good run continued, I pressed my bets up from $10 to $15 to $25 a hand. The chips just seemed to pile up steadily. I kept pretty close track of my chips and when I realized there were almost $1,000 in front of me, I decided to take the profit and run.

When I got to the car, I did a quick cash count and computed my profit for the day -- $949. That's my best session of the trip, so far, and one of my best since last winter. It was a fun drive home from the Strip!

Helen had spent the day beginning her sewing project, pinning the pattern to the fabric and cutting out the material. She was pretty pleased by my success today and I gave her a nice share of the profits. Whenever I win, I always make sure she shares in our victory. I couldn't enjoy the financial success that I do unless I had her unwavering support. We're a team, all the way.

To celebrate, our dinner choice was takeout from Del Taco, a Mexican fastfood place nearby. It was tasty and I overate on a big ol' burrito and a chicken quesadilla. Helen made a better choice with a veggie burrito.

Tonight we're watching Tulsa dismantle Ball State in the pouring rain. Right now it's 45-13 with 8 minutes to go. The Tulsa win gives me two winning fb teaser tickets that will pay $70 for one and $60 for the other. Those are my first winning sports bets in quite a while. Hopefully that will turn around my sports investment fortunes.

Tomorrow the adventure continues...