Wednesday Update

It's been a busy few days for us, so I'll wrap up our Christmas activities in just a few paragraphs.

The holiday was a lot of fun for both of us. Helen and I don't exchange gifts any more, so we spent the morning having coffee and relaxing. We've both wanted to see "The King's Speech" so we headed out early to catch a 10:30 a.m. matinee at a theater about 30 minutes away. Surprisingly, despite great reviews and 7 Golden Globe nominations, the movie is not at many theaters yet. So it was not easy to find here in LV - shown at only two or three theaters.

Anyway, we loved the movie which tells the story of Queen Elizabeth's father, George VI, who led Britain during WWII. The film depicts his struggle to overcome a severe stuttering problem.
After the movie, about 1, we drove down the Strip to the Venetian to have our Christmas Dinner at Grand Lux Cafe, one of our favorite restaurants. Strip traffic was SLOW and it took us about an hour to get to Venetian, park and get to the restaurant. I enjoyed "Sunday Night Pasta" - spaghetti smothered in a marinara sauce with beef tips and mushrooms. Helen was frankly disappointed in her Cobb Salad topped with grisly chicken.

After eating we walked through the casino and into the Palazzo to check out the Christmas decorations. I found a rare $10 blackjack table (most were $15 or $25 minimum) and in about 15 minutes won $50. Since dinner cost us $52, the winnings offset most of that and we had Christmas Dinner for $2!!

Then it was off to the Bellagio to check out the Conservatory and its elaborate decorations. Unfortunately the place was so crowded - literally elbow to elbow - that we had trouble negotiating Helen's wheelchair through the masses. So we left there vowing to return when it was less busy and went next door to check out LV's newest casino - The Cosmopolitan. It's sparkly and glittery with HUGE crystal chandeliers. Very modern look. We didn't play anything there, since table limits were pretty high and we were more interested in just checking out the place.

Then it was home and to bed at the end of a long day for both of us.

On Sunday, I headed over to Suncoast early to get in some football bets. Then it was back home to watch the games and munch on some snacks. My bets worked out just fine - winning both of my straight bets (Pats & Ravens) and one of two parlays. Net profit was $154.

Helen's longtime friend Sherry and her husband Al were in town and we got together with them for dinner. They are staying at Vegas' oldest hotel - The Golden Gate - downtown on Fremont Street, so we met them down there at the Four Queens for dinner at 5 p.m. The Four Queens has a Prime Rib Dinner for $7.95 and we all had that. It was pretty tasty and I had to help Helen finish off her slab of beef. Sherry's Al was quick to pick up the tab for all of us and that was nice.

We hung around Fremont street watching a street sculptor make little facial busts of people, listening to a live Christmas show and watching people ride a 750-foot zip line above the Fremont Street crowds. We stopped in the Golden Nugget to check out the world's largest Gold Nugget (16 pounds). I found Helen's favorite 25-cent slot machine "Haywire" and suggested she play. She didn't feel like it, but urged me to try. I shoved a $10 into it and on the very first spin the machine lined up bar-bar-bar and went HAYWIRE!! When the dust settled, I had won $9.50 on my first spin and hit the cash button. I nearly doubled my money in 20 seconds, so that was good enough for me!!

By 8:30 or so we made the 30-minute drive back to our apartment where we watched a little TV and then to bed.

Monday morning I headed to Planet Hollywood to try the poker action there. I was able to snag the last seat on a new table and played with a number of foreign visitors. There were guys from Mexico, Australia, England and Spain all at my table. After a slow start, I hit a couple of really nice hands, including taking down a $200 pot with a straight that beat a smaller straight. Net profit for the four-hour session was $150.

On the way home I stopped at the Middle Eastern Market and picked up hummus, fresh pita bread, tabouli, lebni and kalamata olives for dinner. It was tasty.

Yesterday I tried to do some writing and left emails and phone messages for some stories I'm trying to get done for The Ticker website. It's at www.theticker.tc. So check it out for interesting Traverse City stories.

Then Helen sent me back to the Strip for more poker and I was glad to oblige. I've been trying to do some walking during these Strip visits, so I parked at Bill's and walked across Flamingo to Ballys. After about a 15-minute wait I got a seat at a game that was just beginning.
I was able to win a few hands early and after only 30 minutes or so I was up about $110. It was a little early to quit though, so I kept playing. Unfortunately, I lost about half of that in the next half hour and began questioning my decision to keep playing.

But the cards came my way and I raked in a few $30-40 pots. Then I had the best hand of the day when I looked down at my cards and found both black Aces winking at me. There was $12 (six players) in the pot when I raised it $10, getting two callers. The flop came A-7-2 with two Diamonds. One of the two remaining players bet $30 and the other called. I thought about calling, but was worried that the two diamonds might give one of these guys a flush draw.
So with the Trip Aces, I raised $60 to $90 total. One guy quickly threw his cards in the muck, disgusted. The other thought about it for about a minute before finally folding.

It was a nice $100 pot and I might have gotten more if I had just called, but I was concerned about the flush. I assume the first bettor had the case Ace, because if either of them had flopped three 7s or three 2s they would have called my raise. I left soon after with a profit of $204.

Last night I was keeping a close eye on the Vikings-Eagles game. I was playing for my Fantasy League Championship and had Adrian Peterson going for me, while my opponent had Michael Vick, Leshon McCoy and David Akers going for him. Peterson scored a TD late in the game and I was lucky to sneak out with a 79-76 win, boosted by a STRONG kicking performance by my Raider star Sebastian Janikowski who booted two field goals over 50 yds (59 and 51) and posted 16 points for me. Those 50-plus kick were worth 4 pts each and were vital to my championship!

Today Helen and I are making a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription for her and a few other items. Then I may visit Suncoast or Red Rock, our two local casinos. Either way, our LV adventure will continue...

Thursday Update

After three straight days of losing poker sessions, I've taken a break from the gaming tables and concentrated on catching up on some writing projects.

On Tuesday I interviewed Doug Kosch, who owns the Boathouse restaurant on Old Mission. He's getting ready for his 7th annual Wild Game dinner on Feb. 4. Every year he serves exotic foods at these dinners - last year's theme was African Safari and he served Lion sliders and Black Bear BBQ ribs. This is year's theme is Australian Outback and he'll have a whole kangaroo roasting on a spit, plus a 15-foot mako shark that will be carved for shark steaks. I wrote that story yesterday for The Ticker.

Yesterday was also a day to take care of a few household responsibilities - paid bills, went grocery shopping, put some money in the bank. It's been raining like crazy here in LV and flash flood warnings have been in effect for three days now. Today the rain has ended and the sun is shining brightly with temps near 60. What an improvement.

While I was running those errands, Helen spent a couple of hours on the phone with Pastor Carolyn, the former pastor of the Lakes Lutheran Church. She was let go for financial reasons a month or so ago and we miss her. She and Helen had a great conversation. And in the afternoon Helen got a UPS package from her sister Sharon. It contained fudge and xmas cookies. Tasty!!!

Because it was cold and rainy, I whipped up a batch of corn chowder for dinner. It was perfect. Then we watched some TV and called it a night. But today our adventure will continue...

Super Bowl & World Series Odds

I spent Thursday playing Poker at Ballys where - to my disappointment - some guy hit the $10,800 bonus for hitting a Royal Flush in Clubs.

The big winner hit the hand Wednesday night just before 10 p.m. Everyone playing at his table got $599 also. Now the biggest jackpot is a Royal in hearts - about $7,900, so we'll shoot for that.
While playing Thursday, I won $154 - virtually all on one big hand when my Ace-high flush topped two other guys. One had a K-high flush and the other had two big pair.

So Helen and I celebrated with a takeout dinner from Jason's Deli. She had a grilled panini sandwich and I opted for a hefty Reuben sandwich. Neither of us could finish the meals, so we'll be having those for lunch maybe...

For football fans, here are some of the current Suncoast casino odds for the 2011 Super Bowl:
Patriots 3-1
Steelers 4-1
Packers, Falcons 5-1
Eagles, Saints, Chargers 6-1
Jets 7-1
Ravens 8-1
Giants 9-1
Colts 10-1
Chiefs 15-1
Bears 18-1
Bengals, Panthers, Bills and LIONS are off the board...

For the 2011 World Series, here are the favorites...
Phillies 3-1
Yankees 7-2
Red Sox 6-1
Giants 9-1
Rays, Braves 10-1
Rangers, Twins 12-1
Cardinals 15-1
Reds 18-1
TIGERS, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, White Sox 20-1

Today I need to head out to buy a new coffee pot. Came out early this morning, flipped on the switch and got nothing...looks like Mr. Coffee has passed on...So it's pretty obvious that our adventure continues (with or without caffeine)...

Catching Up

It's been a few days since I last posted on the blog, so it's time to catch up on our weekend activities.

Saturday I played a lot of poker at Ballys and it was a losing session. Few good hands and when I did get a good one it was topped. The highlight - or lowlight - was when my three 10s were beaten by a Straight Flush. Not only did the guy take down a $200 pot, but he also got a $650 bonus for hitting the SF. Loss for the day was $65.

Sunday I bought a couple of football teaser tickets and stayed home with Helen to watch the game. Both of my tickets turned into losers when the Packers lost to the Lions. Ouch! About 8 a.m. Sunday morning I went to the grocery store and stocked up on a bunch of munchies for the game. Cheese, crackers, cookies, chocolate candies, ice cream, pretzels and chips & dip. My favorite, though was some Buffalo Wings. The grocery store, Albertsons, has a Wings Bar with 6 different flavors - very Tasty!!

Helen patiently watched some football with me, then in the evening we switched over to her Lifetime movies which she enjoys.

Monday I went back to Ballys. One of the lures of this poker room is the escalating bonuses for big hands - royal flushes, straight flushes and four-of-a-kind. As of yesterday, one of the Royals - Clubs- will pay a bonus of $10,400 while another (Diamonds I think) is at $7,200. Not only does the player with the big hand get paid, but everyone at his table receives cash. If the bonus is more than $5,000 - then every player receives $599 (to avoid taxes at $600). If the bonus is less than $5,000 everyone receives $200.

So it's a nice attraction to play at Ballys even though the room is nothing special - the chairs are crappy and it's a noisy joint. But the players are usually weak and those bonuses are juicy...

Yesterday was frustrating. I won one hand in the first hours and a half. Very cold cards -- 7-Q, 9-4, K-3. Lots of very bad cards and I when I did play something like Q-10, I hit nothing.
I was losing the whole day until shortly before I left when I was dealt 2-2. I limped into the pot for $2 and the flop cam J-2-J -- a full house! I took down a $100 pot against a guy who had a third Jack. That brought me to about $25 up and I melted that down to a $14 profit before I headed home.

A small profit, but it broke my slump. I've had losing sessions in four of the past six days, but I've been able to minimize my losses. Twice I've lost $65, but nothing worse. In the first 13 days I've had seven winning days and six losing days.

While I was at Ballys, Helen was on the phone with Anna. She also spent some time watching TV and doing laundry. For dinner I whipped up a penne pasta with onion marinara sauce, plus a salad of organic greens, tomatoes and feta cheese.

We've been keeping an eye on the Michigan weather and feel sorry for our TC friends. So great to be out of that ice and cold. Today it'll be about 65 and partly sunny, but then it cools off into the 50s and cloudy for the next few days.

Big LV news this morning is an armed robbery at the Bellagio. Seems like a guy wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet walked into the B about 4 a.m. and held up one of the gaming pits - not the cashier. Don't know how much you get from a pit, since I thought all the cash went into those little metal boxes at the tables. A news update just reported that he also got away with a large amount of chips...I imagine more details will come.

Today I'll probably head back to Ballys to take a shot at those Royal Flush bonuses as our adventure continues.

Movie and Buffet as we Cowboy-Up

On Friday we decided to see a movie and get Helen out for some Vegas fun.

Checking the LV movie listings I saw that "Secretariat" was still showing at the South Point casino, some 15 miles or so from our apt. We had both wanted to see this Disney picture, but didn't get the chance when it came to TC back in October. The only showing of the movie was 11:50 a.m., the first matinee of the day.

So we headed out about 1030, took the scenic route down the Strip and arrived at South Point shortly after 11. The casino/hotel is crawling with cowboys here for the Rodeo. It's one of the hotels that really caters to the cowboys, hosting a western gift show, artwork auction and much more.

Helen noticed that inside the elevators you can really smell the horsey aroma that must drift in on all those thousands of cowboy boots that tread the casino floors.

As soon as we got to the SP, we saw some signs offering 50% off food, movies, gifts, if you use your players card, so we both signed up for cards. Turns out the half-off deals are only if you use your players points to buy the items. Since we just signed up, we didn't have any points.

But we were able to take advantage of a senior (62 and over) discount on the movie tickets, so we paid $3 each to see "Secretariat." An interesting twist - while Helen was using the restroom - I threw $5 into a 25-cent video blackjack machine and in the few minutes she was gone I cashed out at $12. That $7 profit covered the cost of the movie, plus $1 - woohoo!!!

"Secretariat" was a great inspirational movie, even though I knew how all the races would turn out. It was really cool to see how they portrayed the story of my favorite Racehorse, "Big Red."

After the movie (about 2 p.m.), we walked through the Cowboy gift show where a silver & turquoise bracelet caught Helen's eye. It was marked $45, but I was able to negotiate a price of $35 for it. Helen really likes it.

We were both starving so we hit the SP Buffet. For $21 we had a huge selection of seafood, Italian, Mexican, American classics, and Chinese cuisines. An impressive salad bar and dessert selection made it a very nice meal.

Helen opted for Mexican, so I piled her plate with rice, beans, cheese quesadilla, steak taco, chips and guacamole. I really over-ate, starting with peel and eat shrimp, green beans, baby red skin potatoes and salmon. Then I stepped it up with a second carb-heavy plate of spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Dessert for Helen was a chocolate spectacular with three different types of chocolate cake, chocolate cream and chocolate topping. I opted for a chocolate torte and a small cup of chocolate ice cream topped with strawberries and crushed nuts. We were both STUFFED when we left.

On the way home, I took Helen past the hotel that Scott and his family will stay at when they visit in February. We also took a drive past the UNLV campus and the Thomas and Mack Arena where we'll see the Running Rebels play CMU on Dec. 30. Then we headed home about 6 or so to watch some TV before going to bed. It was great to get Helen out and about for some fun and today out LV adventure continues...

Wednesday & Thursday Update

After a good run at the tables, my poker fortunes turned for the worse on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday I played at Harrah's and spent about 5 hours of win-a-few-lose-a-few types of hands. There were no big dramatic pots and the end result was a loss of $46.

So yesterday I returned to my favorite poker room - Ballys - and hoped my poker luck would turn. Unfortunately it did not. But it was a different situation from Wednesday, in that yesterday I was snagging good hands, but they lost to slightly better hands. That gets expensive.

For example, I hit two flushes and lost them both. One a king-high diamond flush lost to an Ace-high diamond flush. Another nice flush lost to a full house. Those were two pots I thought I'd actually won. I did win a couple of nice pots with an A-10 straight and three Kings. But overall it was another losing session. Minus $65. So I've lost 3 of the past 5 days, but have fortunately kept the losses to a minimum. But I'm still ahead for the trip.

One of the most interesting and tense hands took place about an hour before I left Ballys. I wasn't in the hand, but was watching the whole ugly scenario. The two key players in the drama were a Chinese Guy (CG) sitting to my immediate right (I was in the 3 seat) and a Noisy Drunk (ND) in seat 10, to the immediate right of the dealer.

The drunk was pounding down Heinekins at a 5-per-hour rate and it was only 11 a.m.

Before the flop, CG bet $25 and everyone folded except ND who called. The flop came Q-10-4 of mixed suits and CG bet $50. ND raised to $100 and then opened his big mouth. "If you go all-in, I'm calling," he taunted.

CG wasted no time. "All in" he said, shoving huge stacks of red chips ($330) into the pot.

The mouthy ND tried to fold his hand, but the dealer said his boasting was a verbal commitment to call and that he had to match the $330. When the hand was over, CG's K-K won the hand and the nearly $800 pot.

But ND protested, demanding to see the poker room mgr. who backed up the dealer's ruling. That wasn't enough for ND and he made the mgr. call the Casino Gaming Manager, who showed up and again ruled against ND, who eventually left the poker room muttering complaints about Ballys, its management and everyone in the room, it seemed. It was an ugly scene...

I got home about 5 or so and whipped up vegetarian nachos for dinner - refried beans, salsa, cheese and sour cream. It was pretty tasty.

Today Helen and I are planning to hit the Strip together. After two days of losing, I'm taking a break from the poker tables. We'll probably hit the Bellagio conservatory to check out the holiday display and grab dinner somewhere as our LV adventure continues...

Rebels vs Chips - and Poker too!

After coffee and toast, I hit the road to UNLV to buy tickets for the Dec. 30 hoops game between the Runnin' Rebels and CMU. The box office opened at 10 a.m. and I was a few minutes early, so I checked out the handicapped access that Helen and I will need to use to get into the huge arena.

Right now the Thomas and Mack arena is hosting the National Finals Rodeo and the action around there is usually busy, especially at night. But in the morning it was quiet and after a brief wait, I was able to snag a pair of tickets up high at one end of the court. At $13 each, they gotta be one of the best ticket values in town.

Then I drove to Ballys to check out the poker action. One game and a waiting list, so I played video poker (lost $10) for a bit, then headed over to Bellagio to check the line on the MSU-Syracuse game. It was Spartans -3.5 so I decided not to bet on that one. Smart move by me, since MSU looked terrible in losing by 14.

While at the B, I checked out the Conservatory's new Christmas display. It's AMAZING as usual, with penguins, a huge Christmas tree, reindeer, towering nutcrackers and much more.

Then I walked over to Planet Hollywood to check out the poker action and have lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. Grabbed a roast beef and cheese sandwich and took it to the sports book to have lunch and watch ESPN. Really tasty!

Back to Bally's about 12:30 and got a seat in a 1-2 no limit game that was just starting. In fact, I was the first player to get the button and I won the first hand with a full house. It was a sign of things to come.

In the first circuit of the table (10 players so 10 hands) I won three pots - two of them with full houses (one when I held 10-4 suited and the flop came 10-10-4) and I was up $160 in about 15 minutes!!

That set the tone for my whole session. I continued to win pots, no huge ones but several in the $30-40 range. At one point I was up $340 or so and thought about pushing toward $400. But then I lost a couple of hands and found myself up $315. Time to take the money and run...

On the way home I stopped at the middle East market for fresh pita bread and some sandwich rolls. When I got home I whipped up a dinner of cheese-stuffed ravioli with a mushroom and onion sauce, topped with a dusting of grated parmesan.

While I was gone, Helen was on the phone with Anna and Nat. In the mail we received a special gift from Anna and Luis - a 2011 calendar full of family photos. So Helen spent a couple of hours transferring all the important appointments, birthdays, etc. to the new calendar. At night we watched the MSU game and some other TV.

Niece Katie called and it was great to hear from her. She's having some roommate issues and looks like she'll be moving sometime this month. Right now she's finishing up her classes at NMC and studying for finals.

Today I need to do some grocery shopping and we may or may not visit the Strip. Whatever happens, our LV adventure continues...

It Only Takes One

Monday morning began with toast, coffee and the morning TV news.

Then about 9 or so I was over at the Suncoast to cash a ticket on the Packers-49ers over 41. My $25 wager paid $47.70, so that was a nice way to start the gambling day. I hung around the sports book for a while, checking out the day's hoops action, but there was nothing there that caught my eye.

So it was off to Ballys for another day of Poker. I parked at the Ballys-Paris deck and by the time I got to the poker room, it was a little after 10. One game was going and it had one empty seat, so I slid right in.

For the first hour or so I was getting really cold cards, but stayed patient. Then I won a couple of small pots and played even for a while. The table was relatively tight, with little raising and since it was dominated by older players, there was certainly no trash talking.

About 1 p.m. a guy joined the table that I played with on Sunday. He's a Very Aggressive (VA) player who raises almost every time it comes to him. It really gets to be annoying to make a $5 bet and have him raise it to $45 every chance he gets. You know he can't have the best hand every time, but it's frustrating when you don't have a strong enough hand to raise him back.

Anyway, throughout the afternoon I patiently managed to get up about $40 more than my $100 buy-in. I told Helen I'd be home by 5, so about 4 I thought about leaving. Then I looked at my hole cards and found A-A winking back at me. And I was on the button...This might work out really well.

Eight players put in $2 each to see the flop, but when it came to me I raised it to $22. Only three guys called, including VA, an swarthy Italian type who was not only an agressive player, but a mouthy loser too. The flop came 3-8-A of mixed suits, giving me trip Aces.

Both players checked and I bet $30. One guy folded, but our friend VA defiantly shouted "All In" shoving in his stack of about $80. I knew I had the best hand, so I quickly called.

The turn was another 8, giving me a full house. The river was of no importance. He showed his A-K and I flipped over my A-A. He started muttering and reached in his wallet to buy another $300 in chips. I stacked my huge pot and then played a few more hands before heading home with a profit of $160 for the day.

While I was at Ballys, Helen spent the day addressing Christmas cards and talking with her longtime friend Sherry who lives in Arizona. Sherry and her husband Al will be coming to Vegas sometime later this month, so we'll be visiting with them. I was planning to take Helen to the Strip today, but she'd rather relax at the apt. today and do the Strip tomorrow.

I'm trying to get some writing done for The Ticker, but am awaiting call backs from a couple of people I'm trying to interview. Should be easy to write them, once I do the interviews.

Today I'll head back to the Strip. But maybe I'll take a break from Ballys and try another room. I still haven't been to Caesars or Bellagio, so maybe I'll check them out today. Somewhere in my travels I want to get a bet down on the Spartans, who play Syracuse tonight. It will be a tough game for MSU, since The Orange play a tough 2-3 zone defense.

Also the Syracuse front line is HUGE, giving the Spartans a challenge on the boards. So Go Sparty, as our adventure continues...

Pigskin and Poker

Sunday was a busy day in Las Vegas as more than 30,000 runners took part in the LV Marathon up and down the Strip. It's a huge fun race and its importance can be measured by the fact that they close traffic on the Strip between 6 a.m. and roughly noon.

Among the runners were a number of Elvises and brides and grooms. About 60 of the runners stopped between the two and three mile mark to take part in a Marathon Wedding ceremony that was set up at the Venetian. Many of the runner-brides were wearing veils as they entered the marathon of matrimony. Then they ran on...

Since the Strip was blocked off, I made a run back to Wal-Mart where Helen had a few items that she wanted. Since I couldn't easily get to the Strip for the 10a.m football games, I headed to the Suncoast to get down a bet or two. Also heard from my friend Terry who had me make an 8-team parlay bet for him that would have paid more than $3000 if it hit. It didn't.

I played a 6-team moneyline parlay that lost when the Raiders stunned SD. But I did have a winner with a Packers-Niners over 41 bet. So I actually made $25 in fb betting. While at the Suncoast, I also played a little blackjack, winning $35.

But I was looking for poker action, so I headed to Ballys, arriving shortly after noon. Early on I won a couple of pots in the 1-2 no limit game and was looking forward to another winning session. But things changed quickly and my good cards started getting beaten by slightly better hands. Having 2nd best hands is a sure recipe for losing in poker.

One of my worst hands came when I got dealt K-K with the button. With 7 other players already in the pot, I raised it $20, hoping to knock out most of the limpers and protect my Kings against an Ace on the flop. My plan worked and I got only two callers. The flop came 10-3-4. I bet $30 hoping to take the pot down right there. To my surprise, one guy went All-In for about $170.

Here's where I made a mistake. I thought he might have A-10 or A-2. So I called, shoving in my last $80 or so. He showed 3-4 for two pair. I needed a third king or the board to pair the 10, but no help on the turn or river. That ended my session - lost my $100 buy in.

So for the day gambling, I lost $40 and was kicking myself for making the bad play. But you can't dwell on that. Today is another day.

On the way home, I stopped by Capriotti's sandwich shop for a couple of 12-inch sub sandwiches. A Cole Turkey (turkey, cole slaw and cheese) for Helen and a Caprastrami (pastrami, slaw and cheese) for me. We each ate half and will finish those tasty beauties up today.

Helen kept busy skyping with Anna, doing some laundry and straigtening up the apartment. Niece Katie called last night and it was great to hear from her. She's finishing up classes at NMC this week with finals coming next week. Helen and I watched "David Copperfield" (The Dickens story, not the magician) on PBS last night, then fell asleep.

Today I was going to take Helen to the Bellagio to check out the Conservatory's Christmas display, but she's planning a mega-phone call with her friend Gail today so the B will have to wait til tomorrow. We've been here almost a week and Helen hasn't been to the Strip yet, so we gotta get her down there soon. I'll probably be back at the poker table today where, I'm sure, the adventure will continue...

Wal-Mart & Ballys

Saturday morning Helen and I made a trek to Wal-Mart. She needed some meds and a whole list of items for the apartment, so off we went about 10 a.m.

The apt. we're in is designed for handicapped residents, so that means there is minimal shelving and drawers for storage at the bathroom sink. So we picked up a chrome 6-shelf etagere stand to store bathroom items. Also snagged a couple of canvas-material boxes to store items on the shelves, plus several other items.

Helen also wanted to update our towels and shower curtain, so we went from a yellow theme to a bluish-turquoise look. I quickly learned that towels are expensive. But Helen does a great job with this type of decorating and the bathroom looks really nice. Bottom line, our walk through Wal-Mart set us back about $200.

We got home about noon and I made us some turkey & cheese sandwiches for lunch. Then it was my duty to hit Ballys and try to recoup the $200 we just spent energizing the LV economy. I got to Ballys about 1 p.m. and waited about 20 minutes before getting a seat in a 1-2 No Limit Game.

It didn't take long to see that this was a pretty tight game - very little raising, very few calls when someone did raise. So I got agressive after about 5-6 hands and began raising, It didn't hurt that I was catching GREAT starting hands. For example, I got dealt K-K twice (winning with both) K-Q suited three times (winning only once) along with A-Q, A-J and A-10 suited twice. This all happened in about an hour!

One big hand happened the second time I caught K-K. I bet $10 and got three callers. When the flop came 10-7-3 all mixed suits, I bet $30. Two guys folded, but one 20-something with sunglasses and a Backwards Ball Cap (BBC) raised to $60. I waited and studied and studied some more - just acting really, because I knew what I was going to do. He had about $90 left in front of him and I raised him another $100.

I could tell he didn't expect that and began nervously clicking his chips and checking and re-checking his cards. Finally, BBC called, shoving his stack into the pot. He showed A-K and I showed my K-K. The turn and river were no help to BBC. I took down the $320 pot.

After winning a couple of other smaller pots, I was up about $260 at one point. Then I started getting cold cards - J-3, 9-2, 7-4, Q-6. I slowly melted my stack down to $225 and decided to leave. I was only there an hour, so I didnt rack up comps, but wanted to leave a winner.

So I went to the Paris sports book and made a couple of football bets. One an 8-team parlay (which died when Florida State lost big to Va Tech) and a 3-team NFL parlay - Bears -4, Saints -6.5 and Ravens -2.5. That one will pay $150 when it hits.

To get in a little exercise - and get Helen a treat -I walked from Ballys to Harrah's where there is a Ghiradelli's chocolate shop. I picked up a 50-count bag of her favorite mint-chocolate squares.

Helen spent the day putting the etagere together, washing her new towels and getting the bathroom organized. When I got home I put up the new shower curtain, then whipped us up a middle eastern dinner of hummus, tabouli, lebni, kalamata olives and pita bread. Dessert was a few of those tasty mint-chocolate squares.

Today I'll head back to the Strip to watch football, probably at Bellagio if I can find a seat. Maybe some more poker at Ballys. Either way, the adventure continues...

A Royal Flush (Almost) at Ballys

Friday morning began with toast, coffee and catching up on the TV news. We like the Vegas NBC morning show - Wake up with the Wagners - which features a husband and wife anchor team and a nerdy traffic/weather guy.

There's lot of activity in Vegas this week with the National Finals Rodeo in town (cowboys everywhere) and the annual Las Vegas Marathon, which attracts almost 30,000 runners.

Helen wanted to clean up my appearance, so she cut my hair, which was getting a little shaggy. After the pruning, she sent me back to the Strip to try and recover the $47 that I had lost on Thursday. I pulled into Bills Gambling Hall parking deck about 11 a.m. and made my way across Flamingo to the Ballys poker room where there were two games going. Two names were ahead of me on the waiting list, so I checked in and took a little walk to kill time. I was called about 20 minutes later.

I bought in for $100 and didn't do much early as the cards were cold. Eventually I won a couple of pots and after about an hour I had built my stack to about $160 when the key hand of the day took place.

Like many poker rooms, Ballys offers bonuses for big hands - royal flushes, straight flushes and four of a kind (quads). The bonuses for royals start at $1000 by suit and grow as no one hits them. For example, the bonus for a spade royal flush is now about $5,900, while the diamond royal is $4600. The straight flush bonuses start at $250 and grow also. In fact yesterday a guy at the table next to mine hit a diamond straight flush for $950.

So whenever I get two suited pocket cards that could possibly become a straight flush, I tend to play if the buy-in isn't too pricy. Ya just never know...

With that in mind, here's the hand that set the tone on Thursday: I had about $170 in front of me when I looked down to see Q-10 of Spades. About 6 of us threw in $2 each to see the flop of
A-K of Spades and a 7 of Hearts.

I had two shots to hit the Spade Royal Flush. All I needed was the elusive Jack to snag $5,900.

Three of us called a guy's $15 bet. I thought about raising, but didn't want to scare people out. I felt even if I missed the jack, any spade would give me the Nut Flush.

Turn card was 3 Spades, giving me the unbeatable flush as long as the river card didn't pair the board and set up a possible full house. The Original Raiser (OR) bet $30 and two guys folded, leaving me heads up against him. I raised him to $120, putting his final $90 at risk.

At this point I had two hopes - that he would call and that the river card didn't pair the board setting up a possible full house.

My hopes were answered when he muttered "All In" and the flop was a 4 of Diamonds. I knew I had this huge pot. I showed my Q-10 Spade flush and he tossed in his A-K. He had flopped two top pair and lost all his chips in the process.

A woman sitting across from me said she had my Jack of Spades...

Thanks to this hand, I was up about $260 and was tempted to leave. But I waited a while, slowly and patiently growing my profit up to $375 before heading off to lunch at 2:30. Three hours of playing netted me $125 per hour - not bad. There was something particularly tasty about my comped chicken salad on rye!!

While I was toiling away in the poker room, Helen relaxed a while, talking on the phone with Anna, Norm's wife Lorraine, and Scott, who told her he and his family have made reservations to come visit LV in Feb. 22-28. They'll be staying just off the Strip in a Marriott Grand Chateau that I'm not real familiar with. It'll be fun to have them here.

I whipped up a dinner of cheese-stuffed tortolini with a mushroom vodka marinara sauce. It was hearty and darned tasty. Then we settled in to watch a little TV and calling it a night.

Today we may head over to Wal-Mart where Helen has a prescription to pick up and some shopping to do. I'm sure our LV adventures will continue...

!st Trip to the Strip

Thursday morning Helen sent me to the Strip for the first time this winter. She wanted to organize the apartment, so by 9 a.m. I was making the 8-mile drive east to Las Vegas Blvd.

I parked at Bally's and checked out the poker room action. One table going and a waiting list of 3, so I opted to keep walking over through Bill's Gambling Hall, the Flamingo, O'Shea's and into the Imperial Palace.

The IP has relocated and revamped its poker room. All new table felts are nice, but the chairs still need upgrading. They are very basic, just a notch up from folding chairs. But one nice comp the IP offers is freshly baked cookies free of charge to players. Every couple of hours they bring out a huge tray of cookies which get munched by many players.

I was able to get into a 1-2 No Limit game immediately, buying in for $100. I settled in and didn't do much playing early on. Lots of bad starting cards K-4, Q-6, 8-3, etc. Finally I got a few good cards and won a couple of pots. There were really only two hands that deserve mentioning.

The first occured when I was dealt 5-5. With this type of hand I usually try to see a flop cheaply. If I hit the trips, I bet, but if I miss the flop, I'm usually out of the hand. This time the flop comes A-2-4 of mixed suits. So I have an inside straight draw and dominate anyone with the 2 or 4. My only concern is the Ace. So I bet $20 and everyone folds, except the player to my immediate left. He calls and we see a J turn card. I again bet $20 and he calls. The river card is my third 5. I bet $30 and the guy to my left goes all-in for his last $50. I call and he shows his Ace, feeling like a winner.

I show my fives and the guy gets irate. "What an idiot. How can anyone stay with that hand," he stomps around and mutters under his breath. I'm kind of tickled by his tantrum, knowing that I made a strong play. This guy thinks he's a poker whiz, but he's really not as sharp as he thinks he is. I raked a pot of over $100 on that one.

I played for almost 8 hours, including one very long dry spell. At one point I counted 22 hands in a row that I got crappy starting cards and didn't see a flop. It's not always easy to be patient, but you can't start playing weak hands just to be playing. That gets expensive when you lose $10 here, $15 there trying to make something happen with a Q-8 or J-9. Even if you hit top pair on those hands, you could lose a lot to a bigger pair.

The second memorable hand came when I looked down and saw both red Aces in my hand. It was the only time I had A-A all day. Anyway, I bet $15 when it came to me and got a couple of callers. The flop came J-10-2. Thinking I had the best hand, I bet $25 and all folded except a guy at the far end of the table who called. The turn card was another J. I bet $40 and the guy at the other end called. The river was the final jack - giving me a full house with Jacks full of Aces.
With three jacks showing on the board, I assumed the other guy had a 10 or maybe two 10s. Either way, I had him dominated. I checked, hoping to induce a bet from him and it worked.

He shoved all-in for $130 and I called, putting in my last $60 or so. My heart sank when he showed K-J giving him quad Jacks.....

The only consolation was that the IP has a special deal where if you lose with pocket aces, (they call that Aces Cracked) the IP pays you a bonus of $100. That took out some of the sting and left me with more chips to play with. Overall for the day, I lost $47, not bad considering I was really card dead for so much of the time.

About 5:30 I headed home and stopped by the middle eastern market to pick up dinner - fresh pita bread, hummus, tabouli, lebni, and kalamata olives. Helen and I enjoyed that meal, one of our Vegas favorites. While I was out, Helen was really busy at the apartment - getting things organized in the kitchen and bathroom, washing all the dishes that had been in storage. She also spent some time talking with Anna on Skype and Scott by phone.

Today Helen wants to cut my hair and I may make a return to the IP poker room or maybe Bally's poker room. There's money to be made in both of those rooms, which have a reputation for being the easiest games in town with the least sophisticated players. So our LV adventure will continue...

We're Finally Here!

After living out of suitcases for the past 10 days, we're finally settled into our LV apartment.

We weren't driving all that time, but did spend five days on the road. The other five were spent with Anna and her family in Katy, TX celebrating Thanksgiving. Anna did an amazing job with a huge holiday dinner. She also treated Helen and Jacqueline to a night at the Houston Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.

We left Anna's on Sunday, driving for about six hours til we spent the night in Sonora, TX, a few hours west of San Antonio. On Monday we hit the road about 6 a.m. and drove another 12 hours, all across New Mexico and finally spending the night in Holbrook, AZ. Tuesday saw us again up and on the road by 6:30 and we rolled into Vegas about 11 a.m. In the final estimate, it's about 24 hours driving from TC to Katy and another 24 hours from Katy to Vegas.

We checked in with the apt. management, got our keys and spent Tuesday night at the local LaQuinta hotel. Our mover showed up at 8 a.m. this morning and had us all moved in by about 10:30. Everything went very smoothly - gas, electricity and cable all flawless. Some of our mail was forwarded, including a huge annuity check that will basically fund our winter here - unless of course I have some more good fortune at the gaming tables.

After the movers left, Helen and I spent a few hours organizing the apartment. It's a bigger chore than you might imagine, unboxing everything and getting it into it's proper place. It was tiring for both of us and Helen decided she didn't want to do anything special for her Birthday today. She was OK with takeout from her favorite LV eatery - the Cheesecake Factory.

While she rested a while, I made my first trip to the nearby Suncoast casino. In about two hours of play, I made $74 in blackjack. So I invested $20 of those winnings in a two-team moneyline parlay ticket - Toronto Raptors and LA Lakers. If both of them just win (no point spread in the moneyline parlays) I will win $21 for my $20. If I lose the parlay, my profit for the day is $54, if I win the parlay my profit for the day will be $95.

After the Suncoast visit, I went to Cheesecake Factory and picked up dinner - Helen's favorite salad a BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad and I opted for their big ol' Buffalo Wings. Of course, the Birthday Girl ordered up a big slab of cheesecake for dessert - Turtle Pecan to be exact. I may have to help her with that...

Tomorrow we'll still work on unpacking things and getting the place in order. And soon I have to turn my attention to writing some articles for the TC Biz News and The Ticker Web Site.
But til then, the adventure continues...