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...