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...