Winner Winner, Chicken (Salad) Dinner!

My friend Gary asked me to buy him a 4-team hockey parlay ticket if I was going near any casino today, so I went over to the Suncoast about 8:30 to get his wager down.

While there, I bought myself a $25 ticket on "under" 69.5 for tonight's BCS Championship Game between Florida and Oklahoma. Just decided if these two teams could score 10 TDs, they could have my $25.

Soooo, after buying those tickets, I sat at a $5 blackjack table and in less than 45 minutes, rang up a profit of $101. I had set a goal of winning $100 and as soon as I did, I cashed in. You have to have discipline to be a winner!

Helen was still working on her sewing project, so she sent me down to the MGM to play poker. Luckily, I was able to sit right down at a $1-2 No Limit game immediately. In fact there were two seats to choose from - No. 1 and No. 10. For those who aren't familiar with poker seating, No. 1 is right to the left of the dealer and 10 is to the dealer's right. I usually prefer seats 4-7 which are opposite the dealer and easier to see all the action.

I bought in for $100 and didn't play a hand for 15-20 minutes. I won a couple of pots, then lost a couple. I was down to $45 when I looked at my hole cards and saw Q-Q staring back at me. I bet $15 and got a couple of callers. The flop was 10-6-2. I went All-In with $30 and got one caller, a guy in a Miami University sweatshirt, who also had only $30 left. The turn and river didn't hit me, but didn't help Mr. Miami, either, and he looked disgusted as he showed his J-J. SWEET!

A husband and wife couple from Calgary sat in the 3-4 seats. I overheard the husband say "That guy dresses like a tourist, but plays like a local." Clad in my Hilo Hattie Hawaiian shirt and Margaritaville ball cap, I took that as a compliment.

Mr. Miami bought in for another $100 and a few hands later we tangled again. This time, I looked down at A-A and bet $15. Three guys called - including Mr. Miami and a Norwegian guy. When there were no pairs on the flop, Mr. Miami went all-in with about $60. I had about $150 in front of me and I went All-In, hoping to drive out the other two guys so I could only go against Mr. Miami. It worked. The other two folded and it was Mr. M and I in card-to-card combat.

When the dust settled, there was a pair of 6s on board, but I showed my A-A and Mr. Miami flipped over K-K. Then he left the table.

Those were highlight winning hands, but there were several hands that I lost - including flopping a set of 4s and losing to a flush on the river, and losing pocket J-J on the river to a K. But that's poker.

After about 5 hours of playing, I ended up $17 ahead in poker. Not a huge profit, but better than losing. Between the bj and the poker, I won $118 for the day and still have my "under" fb bet going.

When I got home, around 5 p.m., Helen was busy sewing. She had been watching some TV and talking with Anna during the day, in addition to working on her project. It was a fun day for both of us.

I gave Helen the choice of spaghetti and meatballs or Chicken Salad Sandwiches for dinner. She opted for the sandwiches and I was glad. Much easier to fix and pretty tasty!

Tomorrow we're planning on going to see a movie,"The Tale of Despereaux," at the Red Rock Casino. We'll do lunch there before hitting the 3:15 p.m. matinee. The adventure continues...