Stimulating the Economy on President's Day

This morning we were busy getting the apartment ready for a visit by Helen's friend Gail.

Helen did some cleaning and laundry, while I vacuumed the place. Our humble abode is looking nice and clean for our visitor.

By 10 a.m. or so, Helen sent me to the Suncoast to stimulate the Las Vegas economy. I was happy to oblige. After making the short drive to the 'Coast, I found a nice $5 blackjack table and sat down with four other players. I was making some hands and the dealer was busting, so I quickly got up $60-70 or so. Thanks to the dealer's generosity, all of the players were doing pretty well.

But the highlight of the table came when a guy walked up and laid three crisp $100 bills in the betting circle and said "money plays." Since the rest of us were betting $5-15, this move caught our attention. So the dealer pitched the cards and Mr. Big Bet showed a blackjack - he won $450 on his bet!

So after that he was betting $100-300 per hand, while the rest of us doddled along with our smaller bets. Still, we all kept winning.

Eventually Mr. Big Bet shoved out a bet of $400 and was dealt 8-8 while the dealer showed a 9. All good bj players know to ALWAYS split 8s, and this guy did. On one eight he caught a 10, on the other he caught, yep, another 8 - which he split again! So now he has three bets of $400 each. On the second 8 he got a face card for 18. On the third eight, he caught a 6 for 14 and hit again, snagging a 4 for his third 18 - all against the dealer's 9... Well, the dealer showed a 7 in the hole (16) then slapped a 6 on top - BUSTED! The table erupted as we all high-fived the guy's good fortune on his huge bet. He won $1,200 on one hand!!

Soon after, he cashed out - a $2400 winner. I left the table a little while later, a $130 winner, and had a comped buffet lunch - grilled chicken, green beans, fried rice with orange chicken and chocolate pudding.

While playing bj, I was talking with a pit boss about this new promotion they have where if you log 12 hours of table play you get a free Suncoast jacket. My punchcard had about 6 hours of play on it and I asked her to give me two more hours worth. Instead, she punched out the remaining 6 hours and sent me over to get my new jacket. It was a nice gesture, the kind that the Suncoast staff seems to understand is good for business. They ARE friendly there.

Tonight we're heading out to McCarran Airport to pick up Gail. She was originally supposed to arrive at 9 p.m., but her flight out of Detroit was delayed and now she's arriving at 11 p.m. We plan to hit the Strip for awhile, grabbing some food at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar at Harrah's. Then we'll drive her down the Strip to see the lights and crowds. It'll be fun, especially since this is Gail's first visit to Las Vegas.

Tomorrow, Gail and Helen will be doing a lot of shopping and I plan to play a lot of poker. So it's pretty probable that this adventure will continue...