Blackjack Saves The Day

Helen insisted that I head down to the MGM Grand and try to separate some poker-playing tourists from their cash, so by 9 a.m. this morning I was pulling into the casino's huge parking deck.

It's quite a walk from the parking deck to the poker room, but it's good exercise and gives me a chance to concentrate on how I want to play when I hit the table. When I arrived, I was able to get immediate seating at a $1-2 No Limit table. I was in the #10 seat, to the immediate right of the dealer.

I decided that instead of my usual $100 buy-in, I would buy in for $50 and play conservative "short stack" poker. On my very first hand, I looked down and saw Q-Q, a sweet starting hand.
I bet $6 and got two callers. The flop came J-7-3 of different suits. I bet $10 and one of the two callers went All-In, causing me to shove the rest of my $50 buy-in into the pot. Since there was only two of us, we showed our cards - he had Ace-Ace! I got no help on the turn or river, so after one hand I was already rebuying another $50...aaaargh!!! Not the way I hoped this session would start.

I continued playing for over 2 hours with the second $50 and actually built it up to $75 or so at one point. But eventually I got caught with another big hand. I got dealt K-J and the flop came A-K-J. I had about $45 at the time and immediately went All-In because I didn't want someone holding a Q or 10 to catch the straight against me. Well, my bet got little respect, because two other callers, some old guy (even older than me) and a woman from Texas went All In too!

We all showed our cards and Mr. Geezer had A-K (for two bigger pair) and Texas Lil had A-4 both of Clubs. The turn and the river were both Clubs, giving Texas Lil a flush and sending me and Mr. Geezer heading for the door.

I was down $100 and went to the sports book to check the hoops action. Nothing there caught my eye, so I strolled to a $10 blackjack table where two other people were playing. I won the first couple of hands and things were looking up. Then I hit a couple of double downs and before I knew it, I was up $135 - regaining all my poker losses, plus a little profit. Time to quit.

I headed home, bruised but unbeaten today. To celebrate, Helen and I ordered a large deep dish pizza from Papa Johns. TASTY!

While I was at the MGM, Helen was on the phone with Anna and Gail, who kept telling her how much fun she had visiting us two weeks ago. It was fun having Gail with us and I hope she'll plan another mid-winter getaway next year.

Tonight we're watching some TV and relaxing, but tomorrow our adventure will continue...