Write Early, Play Later

Though I've had a phenomenal run of luck at the blackjack tables lately, I still have some writing obligations that I take care of every month or so.

So today I sat down early and began work on my monthly casino entertainment column for the Booth Newspapers. It's basically a listing of what entertainers are coming to all of Michigan's casinos for the upcoming month. I always like to add a little information about the performers, such as "Chubby Checker is the only performer to have the same song - The Twist - reach #1 on the charts in two different years, 1960 and 1962" or "Kenny Rogers is the only artist to have records on the charts in six different decades."

To write these listings, I go to each casino's web site and check their monthly schedule. Then I check the performer's web site to get some interesting nuggets of info. All of this research takes an hour or two to pull together. The actual writing is minimal, but fun.

For anyone interested, coming to Michigan casinos next month are Miranda Lambert, Kenny Rogers, Neville Brothers and Dr. John, and the Bob & Tom Comedy All Stars, among others.

Anyway, I wrote the column and sent it to the Booth editor who sees that it gets sent to all the Booth papers in Michigan. It appears on the first Sunday of each month in the Ann Arbor News, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Bay City Times, Kalamazoo Gazette, Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Muskegon Chronicle and Saginaw News.

After getting that work done, I was free to visit one of our nearby casinos. Helen sent me out so she could watch some chick-flick shows on the "Lifetime" channel and finish up a couple of small sewing projects she has. So about 10 a.m. I rolled into the Suncoast, which is only about 2 miles from our apartment.

Things were pretty quiet at the Suncoast and I was lucky to find a seat at one of the three blackjack tables that were going. I bought in for $200 and won the first 3-4 hands right away. It was up and down, but I generally did well. The dealer Kelli (who said she was born in Grand Rapids, but moved to Las Vegas when she was only 2) was breaking pretty regularly and after a couple of shoes, I was up over $100. After the next shoe I was up over $200.

When the green felt dust settled, I walked away from the table about 12:30 p.m. with a profit of $280. I also earned three more entries into the Suncoast "Win a Trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii Contest (Now I have 26 entries in the rotating drum- How can I NOT win, right?). I took a lunch break - chicken salad on sour dough with a diet Coke - wondering if I should play some more. I decided to leave the Suncoast with the profit and drive to the Red Rock Casino, about 3 miles away.

Pulling into the Red Rock at 2 p.m. , I had a plan to only risk $80 so I would absolutely post a profit of $200 for the day. I sat down at one of Red Rock's few $10 tables with one other player and immediately won the first 3 hands at $10 each. From that point on, it seemed like I won 3 of every 4 hands and steadily raised my bets to $15 to $25. Shortly before 3 p.m., I cashed in $320 in chips - a profit of $240 from Red Rock.

After cashing in the chips I threw $10 into a 1-Penny "Deal or No Deal" slot machine. No winner there...so for the day my profit was $510. I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY STAY IN BUSINESS!!!

For dinner, I made some hefty salads with crisp romaine lettuce, mushrooms, sliced avocados, roma tomatoes, kalamata olives, and topped with shredded cheddar. We're doing a pretty good job of eating healthier here in Las Vegas.

Tonight we're just relaxing with the NBC comedy shows - My Name is Earl, The Office and 30 Rock. But tomorrow, the adventure continues...