On Wednesday night, Ballys hosted the final Freeroll poker tournament of 2015 and I had qualified to be in it by logging 12 hours of play during the previous week. Action started at 6 p.m. with only 41 participants. Turns out that 93 people posted enough hours to qualify, but only 41 showed up for the tourney, which pays $300 to each of the final 20 players. Just had to trim half the field to get some $$$$.
We each start with 5,000 in chips and the blinds begin at 50-100. Every 20 minutes the blinds increase to 100-200, then 200-400, 400-800, 500-1000, 1000-2000. About 45 minutes into play, I had a huge make-or-break hand. Blinds were 200-400 and I was in a late position. I looked down at Q-8, both diamonds, and decided to try to steal the blinds by going all in. There were only 2 guys to act behind me and I figured they would probably fold, rather than risk all their chips. I had 5,500 and both of them had about the same.
So when the first guy folded, I felt pretty good. But the second guy hesitated, then shoved in his stack. Hmmmm, not great. But I did have a Q and if that paired I might be OK. Also had two diamonds for a shot at a flush.
Flop comes J-10-9...I FLOPPED A STRAIGHT!!
But my excitement was tempered when the guy showed his cards A-5, both hearts. And two of the flop cards were hearts, giving him two shots at a flush, which would end my tournament in heartbreaking fashion. Turn was 4 of Spades, River was a Q of Spades! I had survived and doubled my stack to 11,000 in chips. At the time, the average stack was only 6,200, so I was in GREAT shape.
At that point, I realized I probably would not have to play another hand in order to outlast half the field. I played it VERY conservatively, even throwing away K-K because I didn't want to risk losing my stack to someone who played A-4 and hit an A on the flop. After 80 minutes they have a 10 minute break. At that point the average stack was 8,500 and I had just over 14,000. I coasted along, folding, folding, folding as the field dwindled to 28, 24, 23, then 22.
At this point, the guy on my immediate right was knocked out, leaving us with 21 players. Then the guy at my immediate left was knocked out and the tourney was over! I had survived! Turns out the guy on my left did get a share, because a player at another table went out at the same time. They were each given $150 while the rest of us got our $300, I called Helen and headed home happy!
Earlier in the day, I went to Red Rock to get some bets in for my friend Terry. He lost his fb parlay, but hit a hockey parlay that pays $333. My fb bets died when Texas A&M lost to Louisville. While at Red Rock, I won 120 in blackjack and another 17 on video blackjack.
After lunch, I drove to Mirage to get tickets for the Beatles show LOVE for Feb. when our friends the Edsons and Tunes join us in Vegas. Sad news, the show is dark for most of FEb as they revise some parts of the show. We'll be looking into a plan B. Then I drove down to Ballys where I played a little blackjack before the poker tourney. Was able to notch another $300 in blackjack, then watch some fb while waiting for the poker to begin.
So for the day, I had a nice $737 win. Today I need to get over to Red Rock to cash T's ticket and get some more fb action. Like Houston, MSU and OK today. Have to check out the nfl action too.
LV is all abuzz about New Year's Eve on the Strip. Helen and I will be having a low-key celebration and it's a longshot bet that we make it to midnight.
Happy New Year to All as our LV adventure continues...
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Trifecta of Profits
On Saturday morning I drove to Bally's with a plan to log a few hours of poker and make a football bet.
I wanted to get something down on Washington State, whose coach, Mike Leach used to coach Texas Tech when my grandson Stephen went there. Leach uses a wide open, run and gun offense to rack up points. He was the college coach for Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, both NFL receivers. He also aggressively goes for fourth downs, more than any other ncaa coach except one. Anyway, they were only -1 vs. University of Miami and its gang of thugs.
Got down to Bally's just before 10 and the game began at 11, so I went right down and got the bet in. Then I made my way to the poker room and got a seat. We started the game with 6 of us, then quickly filled out the table to 9. It was up and down for hours until I got a key hand. I looked down and found J-J in my hand.
I hate playing jacks because inevitably a Q-K or A hits the flop, making your jacks shrink in power. Anyway, this time the flop was J-K-6 of different suits, giving me three of a kind. One guy bet $20 and I was the only caller. The turn was a 3. The guy bet $30 and I just called. The river was a 7 and the guy bet another $30. I raised it to $60 and he hemmed and hawed before calling and showing A-A. I took down that healthy pot with my 3 jacks.
But that was the only big pot I won and went into a long dry spell after that. After about 4.5 hours of poker, I walked with a profit of $30. Meanwhile my football bet won $90 when WSU topped Miami, 20-14. After leaving the poker table, I found a blackjack game and in 30 minutes I won $87.
So I hit the gambling trifecta - sports bet, poker and blackjack - for a profit of $207.
Helen spent the day talking with family and relaxing with some HBO movies. When I got home, I picked up a package at the apartment managers office. Natalie and her family had sent us a Christmas gift of chocolates, pistachios, almonds, coffee, tea and a puzzle book. Very fun! Thanks to all of them.
Today is NFL Sunday and I will send some time at Red Rock watching the games and playing either blackjack or poker, perhaps both. And so our adventure continues...
I wanted to get something down on Washington State, whose coach, Mike Leach used to coach Texas Tech when my grandson Stephen went there. Leach uses a wide open, run and gun offense to rack up points. He was the college coach for Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, both NFL receivers. He also aggressively goes for fourth downs, more than any other ncaa coach except one. Anyway, they were only -1 vs. University of Miami and its gang of thugs.
Got down to Bally's just before 10 and the game began at 11, so I went right down and got the bet in. Then I made my way to the poker room and got a seat. We started the game with 6 of us, then quickly filled out the table to 9. It was up and down for hours until I got a key hand. I looked down and found J-J in my hand.
I hate playing jacks because inevitably a Q-K or A hits the flop, making your jacks shrink in power. Anyway, this time the flop was J-K-6 of different suits, giving me three of a kind. One guy bet $20 and I was the only caller. The turn was a 3. The guy bet $30 and I just called. The river was a 7 and the guy bet another $30. I raised it to $60 and he hemmed and hawed before calling and showing A-A. I took down that healthy pot with my 3 jacks.
But that was the only big pot I won and went into a long dry spell after that. After about 4.5 hours of poker, I walked with a profit of $30. Meanwhile my football bet won $90 when WSU topped Miami, 20-14. After leaving the poker table, I found a blackjack game and in 30 minutes I won $87.
So I hit the gambling trifecta - sports bet, poker and blackjack - for a profit of $207.
Helen spent the day talking with family and relaxing with some HBO movies. When I got home, I picked up a package at the apartment managers office. Natalie and her family had sent us a Christmas gift of chocolates, pistachios, almonds, coffee, tea and a puzzle book. Very fun! Thanks to all of them.
Today is NFL Sunday and I will send some time at Red Rock watching the games and playing either blackjack or poker, perhaps both. And so our adventure continues...
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Fun
On Thursday, Christmas Eve, I decided to get a few hours of poker in so I could qualify for Ballys weekly freeroll tourney next Wednesday.
But my first stop was at the Red Rock to get a bet down on Western Michigan. That game started at 9 a.m. here in LV, so I was up and out the door about 8. After buying the teaser ticket of WMU, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Michigan, I played some blackjack and had a nice run, leaving with $250 after about 45 minutes.
The drive to Ballys was uneventful. Several of the Vegas roads and being worked on and it really snarls traffic at times. But, I guess, because of the holidays the roads were quiet. I got down there about 10 a.m. and the poker room was pretty dead. Only 1 table was going and that was the 9 a.m. tournament that had only 9 players start and there were 5 left by the time I got there.
So I found a blackjack table and played for about 45 minutes. Walked away with $295 and went to check on the poker room. There was finally a cash game starting and I grabbed a seat, along with 5 other players. Soon all 9 seats at the table were full and we had a good game going. I got off to a good start on the third hand dealt when I held a 9-9 and a 9 hit the flop. That hand enabled me to scoop a pot of about $50.
Nothing too spectacular for a while and I was quietly staying $25-50 up and logging time toward the tourney. About 2p.m. I was thinking of quitting, since I had about $60 in profits and had logged about 3 hours. Then I got dealt A-5 of Spades. I paid my $2 to see the flop, which included K-10-7 with two spades. One guy bet $20 and everyone folded, except me. The turn card was the 2 of spades, giving me THE FLUSH! I bet $20 and the guy raised me to $50. I re-raised him to $100 and he called. I showed the flush and he showed a Q-high flush...I raked that nice pot and decided to play a bit longer.
Eventually I cashed out with a poker profit of $175, giving me $717 for the Christmas Eve Strip Trip. Happy Holiday for us! I drove home and picked up a pizza on the way for dinner. Then Helen and I watched some holiday TV shows, including "It's a Wonderful Life." It was my first time watching this popular classic film and I was, well, unimpressed. It seemed predictable, cliched and uninspiring to me.
Christmas Day was full of fun for us. After breakfast we watched some holiday TV shows, talked to Anna and then about 11 a.m. we drove to the Bellagio to check out the Conservatory Christmas Display again. On the drive down, we talked to Scott and other family members to wish them a Merry Christmas. Sounds like everyone is having a fun holiday.
Helen and I wanted to see a Picasso exhibit at the B's Gallery of Fine Art. Tickets were $16 for us senior citizens and we spent about an hour browsing through the exhibit of Picasso works, including prints, paintings and lithographs. They gave us little Ipod type devices that provided interesting narrations about the works. It was pretty nice.
Then we drove over to the Venetian to stroll through the Canal Shops and have our Christmas Day Dinner at Grand Lux Café. This has become a holiday tradition for Helen and I. Each year we try to time our visits for late afternoon, so it's not too busy. Still, it was packed when we arrived about 3 p.m. We were fortunate to snag a parking spot on the seventh floor of the parking structure. Our host at the Grand Lux told us it was their busiest day of the year and it looked like it.
We had about a 15 minute wait to get seated. I was really thirsty and started the meal with a 20-ounce ice cold Sam Adams Boston Lager. Helen had Chicken Fettucine Afredo and I enjoyed one of my favorites, Sunday Night Pasta - a thick meaty sauce with mushrooms and tomatoes over a bed of angel hair pasta. Both were huge orders and we agreed to eat about half and take the rest home to enjoy tomorrow. Then we shared dessert, a whopping slab of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake highlighted with two big globs of whipped cream and two decaf coffees. A wonderful meal for $58, plus tip. We were both stuffed when we left, about 4:30 or so. On the drive home we listed to some great traditional Christmas music on the Sirius XM radio...a great day!
And so our LV adventure continues...
But my first stop was at the Red Rock to get a bet down on Western Michigan. That game started at 9 a.m. here in LV, so I was up and out the door about 8. After buying the teaser ticket of WMU, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Michigan, I played some blackjack and had a nice run, leaving with $250 after about 45 minutes.
The drive to Ballys was uneventful. Several of the Vegas roads and being worked on and it really snarls traffic at times. But, I guess, because of the holidays the roads were quiet. I got down there about 10 a.m. and the poker room was pretty dead. Only 1 table was going and that was the 9 a.m. tournament that had only 9 players start and there were 5 left by the time I got there.
So I found a blackjack table and played for about 45 minutes. Walked away with $295 and went to check on the poker room. There was finally a cash game starting and I grabbed a seat, along with 5 other players. Soon all 9 seats at the table were full and we had a good game going. I got off to a good start on the third hand dealt when I held a 9-9 and a 9 hit the flop. That hand enabled me to scoop a pot of about $50.
Nothing too spectacular for a while and I was quietly staying $25-50 up and logging time toward the tourney. About 2p.m. I was thinking of quitting, since I had about $60 in profits and had logged about 3 hours. Then I got dealt A-5 of Spades. I paid my $2 to see the flop, which included K-10-7 with two spades. One guy bet $20 and everyone folded, except me. The turn card was the 2 of spades, giving me THE FLUSH! I bet $20 and the guy raised me to $50. I re-raised him to $100 and he called. I showed the flush and he showed a Q-high flush...I raked that nice pot and decided to play a bit longer.
Eventually I cashed out with a poker profit of $175, giving me $717 for the Christmas Eve Strip Trip. Happy Holiday for us! I drove home and picked up a pizza on the way for dinner. Then Helen and I watched some holiday TV shows, including "It's a Wonderful Life." It was my first time watching this popular classic film and I was, well, unimpressed. It seemed predictable, cliched and uninspiring to me.
Christmas Day was full of fun for us. After breakfast we watched some holiday TV shows, talked to Anna and then about 11 a.m. we drove to the Bellagio to check out the Conservatory Christmas Display again. On the drive down, we talked to Scott and other family members to wish them a Merry Christmas. Sounds like everyone is having a fun holiday.
Helen and I wanted to see a Picasso exhibit at the B's Gallery of Fine Art. Tickets were $16 for us senior citizens and we spent about an hour browsing through the exhibit of Picasso works, including prints, paintings and lithographs. They gave us little Ipod type devices that provided interesting narrations about the works. It was pretty nice.
Then we drove over to the Venetian to stroll through the Canal Shops and have our Christmas Day Dinner at Grand Lux Café. This has become a holiday tradition for Helen and I. Each year we try to time our visits for late afternoon, so it's not too busy. Still, it was packed when we arrived about 3 p.m. We were fortunate to snag a parking spot on the seventh floor of the parking structure. Our host at the Grand Lux told us it was their busiest day of the year and it looked like it.
We had about a 15 minute wait to get seated. I was really thirsty and started the meal with a 20-ounce ice cold Sam Adams Boston Lager. Helen had Chicken Fettucine Afredo and I enjoyed one of my favorites, Sunday Night Pasta - a thick meaty sauce with mushrooms and tomatoes over a bed of angel hair pasta. Both were huge orders and we agreed to eat about half and take the rest home to enjoy tomorrow. Then we shared dessert, a whopping slab of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake highlighted with two big globs of whipped cream and two decaf coffees. A wonderful meal for $58, plus tip. We were both stuffed when we left, about 4:30 or so. On the drive home we listed to some great traditional Christmas music on the Sirius XM radio...a great day!
And so our LV adventure continues...
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Morning Win, Then a Great Show
Started Wednesday morning with a trip to the Red Rock casino where I played some blackjack and won $225. No major hands, just a nice steady series of wins.
Played at the same table with a woman named Olivia who I've seen there before. She manages a local Mexican restaurant, Café Rio, and after meeting her a couple weeks ago, Helen and I got takeout from there and really liked it. Olivia is expecting her second child in early February.
I headed home about 1 p.m. Helen and I were waiting for an important phone call. On Monday, Helen's computer stopped working and she learned she had picked up a virus. I called a local computer repair guy who said he could work on it if we got it there when he opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. So we found his place and dropped off the laptop to Armando, a very knowledgeable and friendly guy. He said he'd call when he had it by 2-4 p.m. the next day.
The timing was important, because we were going to a 5:30 show at Harrah's - The Million Dollar Quartet. It worked out perfectly, we picked up the computer and got to Harrah's about 5, in time to get settled into the show. It's an aging, but small theater. The audience was small too, but it is a Wednesday night right before Christmas.
The Million Dollar Quartet is a GREAT, but under rated show. It's about the day in 1955 when Sun Records owner Sam Phillips had four legends - Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley - perform at the Sun studio. The show is FULL of great music and the performers are dead-on, especially the guys who play Cash and Lewis. We had a great time and the 90-minute show went fast. I'd see it again in a second.
After the show we stopped by the Harrah's food court for a bite. Helen had an avocado wrap and I enjoyed a turkey wrap. Two sandwiches and a drink came to $23, which I was able to comp on my Total Rewards card. Thanks, TR!
I had a couple of football teaser bets I made, but they were crushed when Bowling Green lost its game. This morning WMU plays, but I may not get over to the casino in time to bet that one.
And so our LV adventure continues...
Played at the same table with a woman named Olivia who I've seen there before. She manages a local Mexican restaurant, Café Rio, and after meeting her a couple weeks ago, Helen and I got takeout from there and really liked it. Olivia is expecting her second child in early February.
I headed home about 1 p.m. Helen and I were waiting for an important phone call. On Monday, Helen's computer stopped working and she learned she had picked up a virus. I called a local computer repair guy who said he could work on it if we got it there when he opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. So we found his place and dropped off the laptop to Armando, a very knowledgeable and friendly guy. He said he'd call when he had it by 2-4 p.m. the next day.
The timing was important, because we were going to a 5:30 show at Harrah's - The Million Dollar Quartet. It worked out perfectly, we picked up the computer and got to Harrah's about 5, in time to get settled into the show. It's an aging, but small theater. The audience was small too, but it is a Wednesday night right before Christmas.
The Million Dollar Quartet is a GREAT, but under rated show. It's about the day in 1955 when Sun Records owner Sam Phillips had four legends - Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley - perform at the Sun studio. The show is FULL of great music and the performers are dead-on, especially the guys who play Cash and Lewis. We had a great time and the 90-minute show went fast. I'd see it again in a second.
After the show we stopped by the Harrah's food court for a bite. Helen had an avocado wrap and I enjoyed a turkey wrap. Two sandwiches and a drink came to $23, which I was able to comp on my Total Rewards card. Thanks, TR!
I had a couple of football teaser bets I made, but they were crushed when Bowling Green lost its game. This morning WMU plays, but I may not get over to the casino in time to bet that one.
And so our LV adventure continues...
Monday, December 21, 2015
Tragedy on The Strip
Sunday night local media was all over the tragedy on the Strip when a woman deliberately drove into a crowd of pedestrians in front of Planet Hollywood and The Paris hotel/casinos.
I spent Sunday at the Red Rock watching football and playing blackjack, but on Saturday I was right at the spot where the tragedy occurred. I walked from Ballys, through Paris down the sidewalk and into PH where I ate lunch. So sad to see innocent folks injured, and even killed, because of this woman's senseless act. That part of the Strip, near Flamingo, was blocked until about 5 a.m. today, but is now open and traffic is flowing as usual.
I plan to go to the Strip today to play, perhaps at some different spots - Wynn or Venetian.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, I suffered my first real loss at blackjack and poker. I decided to play poker, but a seat was not available. So I played bj and lost $20 for a few minutes, before joining the poker game. But I was not getting any type of cards and eventually lost my $100 buy-in. I had a whole string of 9-2, K-4, J-3 type of hands. A couple of times I had pocket pairs, 7-7, J-J, but never turned them into big hands. Eventually went out when my K-Q didn't connect against a guy who had a 4-4.
I did recoup a bit of cash when a 3-team teaser of Carolina, AZ and KC connected. After watching the early games at Red Rock, I went home about 2 p.m. and watched the late games with Helen, who spent much of the day talking with Anna. Those two sure can log some phone time!
Today our adventure continues...
I spent Sunday at the Red Rock watching football and playing blackjack, but on Saturday I was right at the spot where the tragedy occurred. I walked from Ballys, through Paris down the sidewalk and into PH where I ate lunch. So sad to see innocent folks injured, and even killed, because of this woman's senseless act. That part of the Strip, near Flamingo, was blocked until about 5 a.m. today, but is now open and traffic is flowing as usual.
I plan to go to the Strip today to play, perhaps at some different spots - Wynn or Venetian.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, I suffered my first real loss at blackjack and poker. I decided to play poker, but a seat was not available. So I played bj and lost $20 for a few minutes, before joining the poker game. But I was not getting any type of cards and eventually lost my $100 buy-in. I had a whole string of 9-2, K-4, J-3 type of hands. A couple of times I had pocket pairs, 7-7, J-J, but never turned them into big hands. Eventually went out when my K-Q didn't connect against a guy who had a 4-4.
I did recoup a bit of cash when a 3-team teaser of Carolina, AZ and KC connected. After watching the early games at Red Rock, I went home about 2 p.m. and watched the late games with Helen, who spent much of the day talking with Anna. Those two sure can log some phone time!
Today our adventure continues...
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Friday at Red Rock, Saturday on the Strip
Spent much of Friday close to home at the Red Rock Casino where I played some blackjack, winning $220 and video blackjack, winning another $31. No major hands, no interesting characters encountered, just a couple of fun sessions stacking chips. So it was another profitable day of $251.
I'd been wanting to get some UNLV t-shirts or a cap, and finally found a place that sells the stuff in Summerlin, near the Red Rock. Sports Town is devoted to selling all types of uniforms, t-shirts, caps and jackets of both college and pro sports teams. I found a corner devoted to UNLV and selected four t-shirts and a cap. They were having a huge holiday sale, so the great shirts were two for $23 and the fitted cap was marked down from $25 to $15. Total cost for four t-shirts and a cap was only $63, including Nevada's 8% state sales tax.
For dinner, I stopped at Panda Express and got a take out order of orange chicken, fried rice and steamed veggies. Chinese food is not Helen's favorite, but we both enjoyed this.
On Saturday, I decided to make a trip to the Strip. I parked at Bally's about 9:30 and made the trek from the parking deck down to the casino. Found a $10 blackjack table that was empty and began playing heads up against the dealer. After about an hour, I was up about $100 and decided to take a break. I walked over the The Cromwell and sat down at another blackjack table where I played for about 45 minutes and won another $250.
Decided to just walk the Strip and see the sights, so I headed north, past the Flamingo, The Linq and Harrahs. When I got to the Venetian, I decided to turn around and head back toward Planet Hollywood where I planned to grab lunch at The Earl of Sandwich. They make a great roast beef and cheddar sandwich, which I got and took over to the PH sports book where I ate lunch and watched part of the Las Vegas Bowl, Utah vs. BYU. I have Utah in one of my fb teaser bets. The Utes built a 35-0 lead, then held on for a 35-28 win.
After lunch I headed back to Ballys and played some more blackjack, notching another $250 win over two hours. Another session of grinding out small bets and winning. I hit more than my share of double downs, including one big hand where I bet $20 and got a hand of 9-9 against the dealer's 6. Split the nines and got a 2 on the first and had to double down. Got a King for 21 and on the second hand I got an Ace for 20. Dealer flipped a 5, then hit an 8 for 19. I won both hands - a $60 profit. That was the best hand that I recall.
After blackjack, I walked over to the Paris sports book and watched as Ohio State took down Kentucky in hoops and the end of the Las Vegas Bowl. All the strip walking has raised a blister on my right foot, so I decided it was time to head home. En route in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I called my niece Katie, who had sent me a text asking to call. Haven't talked to her since we got to Vegas and it was great to catch up.
While I was on the Strip, Helen spent the day watching some Lifetime movies, relaxing and talking with relatives. Dinner was another meal of orange chicken, fried rice and veggies. Just as good as leftovers!
Today I plan to visit Red Rock for the early football games, which begin at 10 a.m. here. I already have some teasers - Chiefs-3, Cardinals+2 and Panthers Pick in one, Patriots-7, Bowling Green Pick and MSU +18 in another, After they end, about 1 or so, I'll head home to spend the afternoon with Helen.
And so our adventure continues...
I'd been wanting to get some UNLV t-shirts or a cap, and finally found a place that sells the stuff in Summerlin, near the Red Rock. Sports Town is devoted to selling all types of uniforms, t-shirts, caps and jackets of both college and pro sports teams. I found a corner devoted to UNLV and selected four t-shirts and a cap. They were having a huge holiday sale, so the great shirts were two for $23 and the fitted cap was marked down from $25 to $15. Total cost for four t-shirts and a cap was only $63, including Nevada's 8% state sales tax.
For dinner, I stopped at Panda Express and got a take out order of orange chicken, fried rice and steamed veggies. Chinese food is not Helen's favorite, but we both enjoyed this.
On Saturday, I decided to make a trip to the Strip. I parked at Bally's about 9:30 and made the trek from the parking deck down to the casino. Found a $10 blackjack table that was empty and began playing heads up against the dealer. After about an hour, I was up about $100 and decided to take a break. I walked over the The Cromwell and sat down at another blackjack table where I played for about 45 minutes and won another $250.
Decided to just walk the Strip and see the sights, so I headed north, past the Flamingo, The Linq and Harrahs. When I got to the Venetian, I decided to turn around and head back toward Planet Hollywood where I planned to grab lunch at The Earl of Sandwich. They make a great roast beef and cheddar sandwich, which I got and took over to the PH sports book where I ate lunch and watched part of the Las Vegas Bowl, Utah vs. BYU. I have Utah in one of my fb teaser bets. The Utes built a 35-0 lead, then held on for a 35-28 win.
After lunch I headed back to Ballys and played some more blackjack, notching another $250 win over two hours. Another session of grinding out small bets and winning. I hit more than my share of double downs, including one big hand where I bet $20 and got a hand of 9-9 against the dealer's 6. Split the nines and got a 2 on the first and had to double down. Got a King for 21 and on the second hand I got an Ace for 20. Dealer flipped a 5, then hit an 8 for 19. I won both hands - a $60 profit. That was the best hand that I recall.
After blackjack, I walked over to the Paris sports book and watched as Ohio State took down Kentucky in hoops and the end of the Las Vegas Bowl. All the strip walking has raised a blister on my right foot, so I decided it was time to head home. En route in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I called my niece Katie, who had sent me a text asking to call. Haven't talked to her since we got to Vegas and it was great to catch up.
While I was on the Strip, Helen spent the day watching some Lifetime movies, relaxing and talking with relatives. Dinner was another meal of orange chicken, fried rice and veggies. Just as good as leftovers!
Today I plan to visit Red Rock for the early football games, which begin at 10 a.m. here. I already have some teasers - Chiefs-3, Cardinals+2 and Panthers Pick in one, Patriots-7, Bowling Green Pick and MSU +18 in another, After they end, about 1 or so, I'll head home to spend the afternoon with Helen.
And so our adventure continues...
Friday, December 18, 2015
Time to Get Tickets!
Thursday morning found me on the road to the Strip by 8:30.
On my way, I had to re-mail a Christmas card that was sent to Helen's sister Natalie on Monday, but for some unknown reason was returned to us on Wednesday. Postal Service failed us on that one, so we just re-addressed another envelope, slapped on another stamp and tried again.
Got down to Bally's about 9:15 and played a little blackjack. My plan for today was to walk the Strip, hitting several places and hopefully winning at several. Frankly, I lost precise track of the finances, but I played five different sessions and WON AT ALL OF THEM.
Ballys was my first victim for something over $100, then I crossed the street to The Cromwell. Hard to believe this formerly Barbary Coast is now this upscale, boutique hotel. Very nice joint and I took them for $125 before strolling north through The Flamingo. En route, I made a mental note to hit the Margaritaville gift shop on the way back to check out the T-shirts.
Headed into Harrah's where I went to the box office and scored two tickets for "The Million Dollar Quartet," a show about a rockabilly musical session that featured Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis. The girl behind the ticket counter was kind enough to give me a "locals discount" even though I didn't have a local ID or even a utility bill to show our residency. The $95 tickets were only $75 each with the $20 locals discount. The 5:30 p.m. show is next Wednesday, Dec. 23.
I continued walking north to The Venetian where I again visited the box office and got two tickets for John Fogerty on Jan. 13. These were $90 each. So basically my BJ profit for the morning covered most of the cost of the four tickets.
Then I retraced my steps and headed back toward Bally's. Along the way I stopped in at The Linq, which used to be the Imperial Palace. Now it's a shiny new joint and I found a blackjack table. Played for about 30 minutes and won $175. Then it was on to the Margaritaville gift shop were I bought two T-shirts for $49. And I stopped by the Ghiradelli chocolate shop and picked up a bag of chocolates that Helen and I enjoy.
Arriving back at Bally's, I took the shirts and chocolate up to the car, then headed back downstairs to find a bj table. Played alone against the dealer for about 45 minutes and left up somewhere over $80. Asked a pit boss where I could score some UNLV gear, hats or t-shirts. He whipped out his smart phone and sent me less than 2 miles east of Bally's on Maryland Parkway. So I drove over to the place in a shabby old strip mall...and it was closed up. Empty. Vacant. So much for the internet...
So I headed down Tropicana to the MGM for a final quick blackjack session. I only had about an hour before I was going to head home, but I found a table and racked up $125 or so before cashing in. So for the five stops, I won somewhere between $500 and $600. My phenomenal luck is continuing.
As a frustrating aside (and a sign of old age, perhaps) at MGM I bought 3 football teaser tickets, using the Thursday NFL game. I had the Rams on one, the over the total on the other, both winners. I teamed them up with a few nfl games and the Spartans bowl game. Anyway, for the life of me, I cannot find the tickets!!! I had them in my shirt pocket and now they seem to have disappeared. I checked all my pockets, my wallet, even in the car twice! I guess they may have fallen out somewhere, but soooo frustrating!
On the way home, I stopped by Albertson's and bought a few groceries. Whipped up a dinner of wild rice and vegetables, one of our diet favorites. Of course, we had to sample those Ghiradelli chocolates for dessert. And so our adventure continues...
On my way, I had to re-mail a Christmas card that was sent to Helen's sister Natalie on Monday, but for some unknown reason was returned to us on Wednesday. Postal Service failed us on that one, so we just re-addressed another envelope, slapped on another stamp and tried again.
Got down to Bally's about 9:15 and played a little blackjack. My plan for today was to walk the Strip, hitting several places and hopefully winning at several. Frankly, I lost precise track of the finances, but I played five different sessions and WON AT ALL OF THEM.
Ballys was my first victim for something over $100, then I crossed the street to The Cromwell. Hard to believe this formerly Barbary Coast is now this upscale, boutique hotel. Very nice joint and I took them for $125 before strolling north through The Flamingo. En route, I made a mental note to hit the Margaritaville gift shop on the way back to check out the T-shirts.
Headed into Harrah's where I went to the box office and scored two tickets for "The Million Dollar Quartet," a show about a rockabilly musical session that featured Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis. The girl behind the ticket counter was kind enough to give me a "locals discount" even though I didn't have a local ID or even a utility bill to show our residency. The $95 tickets were only $75 each with the $20 locals discount. The 5:30 p.m. show is next Wednesday, Dec. 23.
I continued walking north to The Venetian where I again visited the box office and got two tickets for John Fogerty on Jan. 13. These were $90 each. So basically my BJ profit for the morning covered most of the cost of the four tickets.
Then I retraced my steps and headed back toward Bally's. Along the way I stopped in at The Linq, which used to be the Imperial Palace. Now it's a shiny new joint and I found a blackjack table. Played for about 30 minutes and won $175. Then it was on to the Margaritaville gift shop were I bought two T-shirts for $49. And I stopped by the Ghiradelli chocolate shop and picked up a bag of chocolates that Helen and I enjoy.
Arriving back at Bally's, I took the shirts and chocolate up to the car, then headed back downstairs to find a bj table. Played alone against the dealer for about 45 minutes and left up somewhere over $80. Asked a pit boss where I could score some UNLV gear, hats or t-shirts. He whipped out his smart phone and sent me less than 2 miles east of Bally's on Maryland Parkway. So I drove over to the place in a shabby old strip mall...and it was closed up. Empty. Vacant. So much for the internet...
So I headed down Tropicana to the MGM for a final quick blackjack session. I only had about an hour before I was going to head home, but I found a table and racked up $125 or so before cashing in. So for the five stops, I won somewhere between $500 and $600. My phenomenal luck is continuing.
As a frustrating aside (and a sign of old age, perhaps) at MGM I bought 3 football teaser tickets, using the Thursday NFL game. I had the Rams on one, the over the total on the other, both winners. I teamed them up with a few nfl games and the Spartans bowl game. Anyway, for the life of me, I cannot find the tickets!!! I had them in my shirt pocket and now they seem to have disappeared. I checked all my pockets, my wallet, even in the car twice! I guess they may have fallen out somewhere, but soooo frustrating!
On the way home, I stopped by Albertson's and bought a few groceries. Whipped up a dinner of wild rice and vegetables, one of our diet favorites. Of course, we had to sample those Ghiradelli chocolates for dessert. And so our adventure continues...
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Won,Won,Wonderful Wednesday
Yesterday was one of the most interesting - and profitable - of our LV adventure so far.
It started with a morning visit to the Red Rock Casino where I played blackjack for about two hours and posted a win of $210 before returning to the apartment for lunch with Helen. Broccoli cheddar soup and hefty salad was the fare and it was tasty.
We watched some TV together, then at 2:30 p.m. I drove down to Bally's to play in their Wednesday freeroll tourney. Got there about 3:15 and spent some time just walking around Ballys. Made the long walk down to the sports book, one of the most out-of-date and shabby joints on the strip.
No interesting games going on, so I went back up to the casino floor and sat down at a blackjack table. After about an hour, I walked with a profit of $250. No big hands, just steadily piling up $10-20 bets, aided by some timely dealer busts. Then I took a stroll to the Nosh café, a sandwich place next to the poker room. Enjoyed a pastrami sandwich., then about 5:15 I checked in for the 6 p.m. tourney. I was assigned seat 10 at table 13.
Still had time to kill, so I walked through the slot machines and my eyes caught a 25-cent Haywire machine, one of Helen's favorites. So I sat down and shoved a $20 into the machine. Got a few small payoffs and I was up about $5-10 when I hit TRIPLE BAR, TRIPLE BAR, HAYWIRE LOGO!!
That paid 200 quarters, or $50! I played a few more spins, then cashed out with a $55 profit.
It was almost time for the tournament, so I walked back to the poker room and got settled into my seat. The tourney started promptly at 6 p.m. with 62 players. The top 20 will get $300 each, so I needed to beat out about 2/3 of the field to get the cash. So the dealer dealt out the cards and I was dealt K-Q of spades. Everybody checked around to me and I bet $600, everyone folded and I took down the blinds of $100 and $50. First hand win, a good omen.
A few hands later, I got dealt A-4 of Hearts and won a nice pot when two hearts hit the flop and another landed on the turn giving me a flush. That was a healthy pot that left me as the chip leader at the table. I later won pots with A-A, A-K suited and J-J. After 90 minutes of play we took a 10-minute break and I was able to assess my situation. There were 32 players remaining and they had an average chip stack of $9,500. I was sitting on $12,400, so I was feeling pretty confident.
I called Helen to give her an update and she told me she was doing some drawing and had been on the phone with Norm's wife, Lorraine. They talk a few times a week since we've been here.
As we were preparing to resume play, an elderly Asian guy was screaming at the TV showing the UNLV-Arizona game. "Shoot the ball, draw a foul, shoot the ball, shoot the damn ball!!!" With 18 seconds left in the first half the score was 37-25 with the Rebels in the lead. Turns out the guy had bet $100 on Over the Total of 63.5 in the first half. He was two points short of winning his bet as the clock wound down. Arizona never got off a shot, never drew a foul and the guy came up just short of cashing...
When the tournament resumed, I was determined to play VERY cautiously and just let the blinds whittle down other guys' stacks. That strategy worked well as the blinds rose and the number of players dropped from 32, to 27, to 22, 21, and finally 20. I never played a hand after the break, but CASHED!! We started high fiving each other and sharing stories. It took about 10 minutes to get the $300 and I drove home.
For the day, I won 460 in bj, 300 in the tourney and 55 on Haywire. A great day and tons of fun!!
And so our adventure continues...
It started with a morning visit to the Red Rock Casino where I played blackjack for about two hours and posted a win of $210 before returning to the apartment for lunch with Helen. Broccoli cheddar soup and hefty salad was the fare and it was tasty.
We watched some TV together, then at 2:30 p.m. I drove down to Bally's to play in their Wednesday freeroll tourney. Got there about 3:15 and spent some time just walking around Ballys. Made the long walk down to the sports book, one of the most out-of-date and shabby joints on the strip.
No interesting games going on, so I went back up to the casino floor and sat down at a blackjack table. After about an hour, I walked with a profit of $250. No big hands, just steadily piling up $10-20 bets, aided by some timely dealer busts. Then I took a stroll to the Nosh café, a sandwich place next to the poker room. Enjoyed a pastrami sandwich., then about 5:15 I checked in for the 6 p.m. tourney. I was assigned seat 10 at table 13.
Still had time to kill, so I walked through the slot machines and my eyes caught a 25-cent Haywire machine, one of Helen's favorites. So I sat down and shoved a $20 into the machine. Got a few small payoffs and I was up about $5-10 when I hit TRIPLE BAR, TRIPLE BAR, HAYWIRE LOGO!!
That paid 200 quarters, or $50! I played a few more spins, then cashed out with a $55 profit.
It was almost time for the tournament, so I walked back to the poker room and got settled into my seat. The tourney started promptly at 6 p.m. with 62 players. The top 20 will get $300 each, so I needed to beat out about 2/3 of the field to get the cash. So the dealer dealt out the cards and I was dealt K-Q of spades. Everybody checked around to me and I bet $600, everyone folded and I took down the blinds of $100 and $50. First hand win, a good omen.
A few hands later, I got dealt A-4 of Hearts and won a nice pot when two hearts hit the flop and another landed on the turn giving me a flush. That was a healthy pot that left me as the chip leader at the table. I later won pots with A-A, A-K suited and J-J. After 90 minutes of play we took a 10-minute break and I was able to assess my situation. There were 32 players remaining and they had an average chip stack of $9,500. I was sitting on $12,400, so I was feeling pretty confident.
I called Helen to give her an update and she told me she was doing some drawing and had been on the phone with Norm's wife, Lorraine. They talk a few times a week since we've been here.
As we were preparing to resume play, an elderly Asian guy was screaming at the TV showing the UNLV-Arizona game. "Shoot the ball, draw a foul, shoot the ball, shoot the damn ball!!!" With 18 seconds left in the first half the score was 37-25 with the Rebels in the lead. Turns out the guy had bet $100 on Over the Total of 63.5 in the first half. He was two points short of winning his bet as the clock wound down. Arizona never got off a shot, never drew a foul and the guy came up just short of cashing...
When the tournament resumed, I was determined to play VERY cautiously and just let the blinds whittle down other guys' stacks. That strategy worked well as the blinds rose and the number of players dropped from 32, to 27, to 22, 21, and finally 20. I never played a hand after the break, but CASHED!! We started high fiving each other and sharing stories. It took about 10 minutes to get the $300 and I drove home.
For the day, I won 460 in bj, 300 in the tourney and 55 on Haywire. A great day and tons of fun!!
And so our adventure continues...
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Prepping for a Poker Tourney and Victory at Red Rock
Tonight I'll be playing in the Bally's $6,000 Freeroll Poker Tournament, which starts at 6 p.m.
I qualified for the event by logging 12 hours of play over the past week. They pay the final 20 players $300 each, so you only have to outlast others to make that final 20 in order to cash. I played four times last year and cashed once. Usually there are 40 to 60 players.
In order to play tonight, we have to alter our schedule a bit. I always play during the day, making it home by 5 p.m. to get dinner ready. But today, I plan to head to the Strip about 3 p.m. to play a bit before the tourney. So I'll make us a couple of big salads for lunch today, then prepare a sandwich for Helen to have later while I'm hunched over the poker table.
Yesterday I ran a few errands in the morning - vacating our storage unit, dropping off some mail at the post office and topping off the gas tank. Gas prices here are the highest we've seen in a while $2.49 a gallon. Then I rolled over to Red Rock Casino to play a little blackjack. After an hour of up-and-down play, I had a hot streak and made a profit of $240. I was playing at a $10 table and sometimes played two hands. One time I had $15 bets on each of the two hands and GOT A BLACKJACK on both!! That was $22.50 on each hand! That was pretty much the highlight of the blackjack session. Hope that doesn't get me banned from Red Rock!
Helen was talking with relatives and doing some drawing while I was out. Last night we watched the GOP candidate debate from the Venetian. Kind of cool to see the coverage in a place we know so well. Lots of anchor types broadcasting from the front of The Vee!
And so our LV adventure continues...
I qualified for the event by logging 12 hours of play over the past week. They pay the final 20 players $300 each, so you only have to outlast others to make that final 20 in order to cash. I played four times last year and cashed once. Usually there are 40 to 60 players.
In order to play tonight, we have to alter our schedule a bit. I always play during the day, making it home by 5 p.m. to get dinner ready. But today, I plan to head to the Strip about 3 p.m. to play a bit before the tourney. So I'll make us a couple of big salads for lunch today, then prepare a sandwich for Helen to have later while I'm hunched over the poker table.
Yesterday I ran a few errands in the morning - vacating our storage unit, dropping off some mail at the post office and topping off the gas tank. Gas prices here are the highest we've seen in a while $2.49 a gallon. Then I rolled over to Red Rock Casino to play a little blackjack. After an hour of up-and-down play, I had a hot streak and made a profit of $240. I was playing at a $10 table and sometimes played two hands. One time I had $15 bets on each of the two hands and GOT A BLACKJACK on both!! That was $22.50 on each hand! That was pretty much the highlight of the blackjack session. Hope that doesn't get me banned from Red Rock!
Helen was talking with relatives and doing some drawing while I was out. Last night we watched the GOP candidate debate from the Venetian. Kind of cool to see the coverage in a place we know so well. Lots of anchor types broadcasting from the front of The Vee!
And so our LV adventure continues...
Monday, December 14, 2015
Another Profitable Strip Trip
Headed down to the Strip this morning, but took care of some errands on the way. Before I left, I wrote an article about northern Michigan fans of MSU and UM and the bowl game buzz. I've done the interviews over the past week and sat down about 6 a.m. this morning to do the actual writing, which took about two hours.
Helen has been busy getting Christmas Cards ready to mail and I took a handful of them to the post office. This particular post office has three drive-in boxes to stash mail in. And when I got there just minutes before 9 a.m., all three were JAMMED full of mail. Must have been a busy weekend for getting cards and bills in the mail. I managed to shove ours in there and as I was pulling away a postal worker was rolling a cart toward the boxes to empty them at 9 a.m.
I made it to Bally's about 9:45 and the poker room was dead so I went play some blackjack. After about 30 minutes, I was up $100 so I walked away to check the poker room. Luckily a game was just starting, so I grabbed a seat along with five other players. We played six-handed for 15 or 20 minutes, then the table filled up with three more players.
Bally's hosts a free-roll tournament every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. Anyone who plays 12 hours from Wednesday at 5p.m. to the following Wednesday at 5 p.m. can play for free in the tournament. I played four times last year and cashed once. They pay $300 to the final 20 players, so all you have to do is outlast the others to snag 300. Usually there are roughly 40-60 players, so if you can finish in the top third, you earn the cash.
So I needed just under 3 hours today to post my 12 hours to qualify. In addition to winning some cash, that was one of my goals today. I sat down just after 10 a.m. and played until after 1 p.m. That gave me enough time to play Wednesday night for free.
I ended up winning $225 during the three hours of poker. Much of it came on one big hand when I held a 9-9 and the flop came A-K-9, giving me three of a kind. One guy bet 20, I called along with one other guy. The turn card was a 7, not much help. Same guy bet $30 I called again and the other guy folded, leaving us heads up. River card was another 7, giving me a full house. Guy checked and I bet $50. He hemmed and hawed, thinking about his hand, then eventually called. I showed the full house and he mucked his cards, saying he had A-K. That was a healthy pot that kept me ahead for much of the session.
I won a few other hands, but mostly with two pair or a big pair. That was the best hand and it paid off the best. So for the day, it was a profit of $325.
Got home about 4:30 and made us some chili for dinner. Helen spent the day talking with relatives and finishing up the Christmas cards. Tomorrow I think I'll visit Red Rock where I have a ticket to cash from yesterday's football action. Hit a 3-team teaser of Steelers, Chiefs and Jets that'll pay me $64 profit.
And so our adventure continues...
Helen has been busy getting Christmas Cards ready to mail and I took a handful of them to the post office. This particular post office has three drive-in boxes to stash mail in. And when I got there just minutes before 9 a.m., all three were JAMMED full of mail. Must have been a busy weekend for getting cards and bills in the mail. I managed to shove ours in there and as I was pulling away a postal worker was rolling a cart toward the boxes to empty them at 9 a.m.
I made it to Bally's about 9:45 and the poker room was dead so I went play some blackjack. After about 30 minutes, I was up $100 so I walked away to check the poker room. Luckily a game was just starting, so I grabbed a seat along with five other players. We played six-handed for 15 or 20 minutes, then the table filled up with three more players.
Bally's hosts a free-roll tournament every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. Anyone who plays 12 hours from Wednesday at 5p.m. to the following Wednesday at 5 p.m. can play for free in the tournament. I played four times last year and cashed once. They pay $300 to the final 20 players, so all you have to do is outlast the others to snag 300. Usually there are roughly 40-60 players, so if you can finish in the top third, you earn the cash.
So I needed just under 3 hours today to post my 12 hours to qualify. In addition to winning some cash, that was one of my goals today. I sat down just after 10 a.m. and played until after 1 p.m. That gave me enough time to play Wednesday night for free.
I ended up winning $225 during the three hours of poker. Much of it came on one big hand when I held a 9-9 and the flop came A-K-9, giving me three of a kind. One guy bet 20, I called along with one other guy. The turn card was a 7, not much help. Same guy bet $30 I called again and the other guy folded, leaving us heads up. River card was another 7, giving me a full house. Guy checked and I bet $50. He hemmed and hawed, thinking about his hand, then eventually called. I showed the full house and he mucked his cards, saying he had A-K. That was a healthy pot that kept me ahead for much of the session.
I won a few other hands, but mostly with two pair or a big pair. That was the best hand and it paid off the best. So for the day, it was a profit of $325.
Got home about 4:30 and made us some chili for dinner. Helen spent the day talking with relatives and finishing up the Christmas cards. Tomorrow I think I'll visit Red Rock where I have a ticket to cash from yesterday's football action. Hit a 3-team teaser of Steelers, Chiefs and Jets that'll pay me $64 profit.
And so our adventure continues...
Friday, December 11, 2015
Visit to Bellagio's Conservatory and Dinner at Cheesecake Factory
On Wednesday, Helen and I drove down to the Strip to check out the new Christmas Display at the Bellagio Conservatory.
It was Helen's first Strip Trip since we arrived in LV. We got down there about 1 p.m. and parked on the roof, which gave us a great panoramic view of the Strip, including Paris and Planet Hollywood. I took a couple of photos of Helen with that background.
We rode the elevator down to the main casino floor and it delivered us right near the Conservatory, which features some 34,000 poinsettias, plus thousands of other plants and a dozen moving displays. It's a pretty cool place and we make an annual trip there, especially for the Christmas Display, which stays up until early January when they swap it out for a Chinese New Year's theme.
After spending some time at the Conservatory, we walked through The Bellagio, crossed the bridge to Caesar's Palace and strolled through CP to visit the Forum Shops. We walked through the shops, checking out a few, but buying nothing. It was about 4:30 when we decided to stop for an early dinner at one of Helen's favorite eateries - The Cheesecake Factory.
We had about a 10 minute wait before getting seated. Helen ordered Orange Chicken, an ample helping along with a side of white rice. I had spaghetti and meatballs, one of my favorites. We both enjoyed our entrees, but were too full for dessert. But Helen decided we HAD to have dessert TO GO. After all, I burned a ton of calories as we walked along on our Strip Trip. So she ordered a slab of Turtle Cheesecake and I got carrot cake, both came with a side dollop of whipped cream. We took it home and enjoyed it later that night.
A fun day as our Vegas adventure continues...
It was Helen's first Strip Trip since we arrived in LV. We got down there about 1 p.m. and parked on the roof, which gave us a great panoramic view of the Strip, including Paris and Planet Hollywood. I took a couple of photos of Helen with that background.
We had about a 10 minute wait before getting seated. Helen ordered Orange Chicken, an ample helping along with a side of white rice. I had spaghetti and meatballs, one of my favorites. We both enjoyed our entrees, but were too full for dessert. But Helen decided we HAD to have dessert TO GO. After all, I burned a ton of calories as we walked along on our Strip Trip. So she ordered a slab of Turtle Cheesecake and I got carrot cake, both came with a side dollop of whipped cream. We took it home and enjoyed it later that night.
A fun day as our Vegas adventure continues...
One Week You're a Comped Guest, the Next Week You're Banned!!
So today I got banned from playing blackjack at the Suncoast Casino.
I was playing there this morning, betting my usual $10-15 per hand and was up about $225 or so after a couple of hours of playing alone at the table. The dealer was shuffling up, so I took a bathroom break and returned to the table where I lost a hand or two. Then all of a sudden, a pit boss that I had never seen before rushes to the table, throws his hand across the dealers front and says "No More Play."
Whaaaaat?
"Did I do something wrong," I asked.
"Sir, you're welcome to play any other game, to visit the restaurants or any other amenities, but you can not play blackjack any more at the Suncoast," said this very businesslike suit.
"Is there a problem?"
"It's nothing personal, sir. It's a business decision."
"Really?"
"Yes sir, it's a business decision."
Later I thought, it might be a business decision, but it's a damn bad one. After all, I got their money and they'll NEVER EVER get any of it back now. Hahahahaha, Suncoast. Joke's on you!
Of course, if they thought I was cheating, they would have banned from the whole property and had me hauled off to some dank dungeon in the bowels of the building where they could put my head in a vise til I spilled the details of my gambling success. But no, they JUST DON'T LIKE like guys who win consistently.
The guy's name is Chris Cap. He gave me his business card (like I'd ever add him to the Christmas Card list). It appears the Suncoast is unable to endure the hundreds that I took from them since we arrived in LV two weeks ago. Sheesh, it's not like I'm some kinda gambling whale. After all, I'm a semi-retired senior citizen who cares for his disabled wife and enjoys a few hours of blackjack on occasion.
So, Suncoast. It's your loss. I'm sure I would have given some of that cash back over the next 3 months, but now you'll never get a whiff of it.
Now let me see, if only there were other casinos in Las Vegas that allow a guy to win a bit without banning him. Oh yeah, there are dozens of such joints. Adios Suncoast!!!!
I was playing there this morning, betting my usual $10-15 per hand and was up about $225 or so after a couple of hours of playing alone at the table. The dealer was shuffling up, so I took a bathroom break and returned to the table where I lost a hand or two. Then all of a sudden, a pit boss that I had never seen before rushes to the table, throws his hand across the dealers front and says "No More Play."
Whaaaaat?
"Did I do something wrong," I asked.
"Sir, you're welcome to play any other game, to visit the restaurants or any other amenities, but you can not play blackjack any more at the Suncoast," said this very businesslike suit.
"Is there a problem?"
"It's nothing personal, sir. It's a business decision."
"Really?"
"Yes sir, it's a business decision."
Later I thought, it might be a business decision, but it's a damn bad one. After all, I got their money and they'll NEVER EVER get any of it back now. Hahahahaha, Suncoast. Joke's on you!
Of course, if they thought I was cheating, they would have banned from the whole property and had me hauled off to some dank dungeon in the bowels of the building where they could put my head in a vise til I spilled the details of my gambling success. But no, they JUST DON'T LIKE like guys who win consistently.
The guy's name is Chris Cap. He gave me his business card (like I'd ever add him to the Christmas Card list). It appears the Suncoast is unable to endure the hundreds that I took from them since we arrived in LV two weeks ago. Sheesh, it's not like I'm some kinda gambling whale. After all, I'm a semi-retired senior citizen who cares for his disabled wife and enjoys a few hours of blackjack on occasion.
So, Suncoast. It's your loss. I'm sure I would have given some of that cash back over the next 3 months, but now you'll never get a whiff of it.
Now let me see, if only there were other casinos in Las Vegas that allow a guy to win a bit without banning him. Oh yeah, there are dozens of such joints. Adios Suncoast!!!!
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Monday Strip Trip, Tuesday Staying Close to Home
Monday morning I headed down to the Strip with a plan to do a hit-and-run tour of some of my favorite joints.
It takes about 35 minutes to make the drive from our apartment in Summerlin to the Strip where I parked at Bally's about 9:30 and walked over to Caesar's Palace. Just inside CP, I spotted a cool looking hat in a gift shop. It's tan with a bold "1966 Caesar's" on the front. I checked it out and decided that if I could win some cash there, I would come back and buy the hat.
So I found a blackjack table, ordered a coffee and began to play. There was one other guy playing at third base. He was a mouthy guy in a crumpled suit and a loosened tie. He was sipping some sort of clear liquor and doing a play-by-play of every hand. And he was losing...
Meanwhile, I had a nice run and began pushing my bets up from 10 to 20 per hand. In about 20 minutes, I was up $375 and decided to take leave from the loudmouth and head back to the gift shop where I bought the new cap.
It takes about 35 minutes to make the drive from our apartment in Summerlin to the Strip where I parked at Bally's about 9:30 and walked over to Caesar's Palace. Just inside CP, I spotted a cool looking hat in a gift shop. It's tan with a bold "1966 Caesar's" on the front. I checked it out and decided that if I could win some cash there, I would come back and buy the hat.
So I found a blackjack table, ordered a coffee and began to play. There was one other guy playing at third base. He was a mouthy guy in a crumpled suit and a loosened tie. He was sipping some sort of clear liquor and doing a play-by-play of every hand. And he was losing...
Meanwhile, I had a nice run and began pushing my bets up from 10 to 20 per hand. In about 20 minutes, I was up $375 and decided to take leave from the loudmouth and head back to the gift shop where I bought the new cap.
The 1966 is significant to Caesars, because that's when they opened. It's significant to me because that's the year I graduated from high school!
So I power walked through the Forum Shops and exited CP right near The Mirage. Went inside and checked out their new layout. Since last year they remodeled the poker room, making it about a third of its previous size. In return they built a larger cashier area which is nicely lit and easier to navigate. I sat down at a BJ table, buying in for $100 and played with a nice Chinese gentleman. The dealer broke several times for us and we both made money. I left up $75 after about 30 minutes.
Next stop was to cross the street and visit Harrah's. Blackjack there is not too favorable. They have plenty of $5 tables, but they only pay 6-5 for a blackjack, while is typical for low limit tables on the Strip. Anyway, I saw the poker room and decided to play there.
I spent two hours there, winning early, giving it back when my full house lost to four deuces, then winning again with a flush over a guy's straight. I walked with $100 exactly. It was a fun table with plenty of Michigan connections. One guy used to live in Southfield, but now manages a gentleman's club here in LV. Another guy in a Tiger cap is on vacation from Shelby Township. A third guy lives in Oklahoma, but vacations in Petoskey and is a semi-regular at Odawa...and then there was me. So out of 9 seats, four of us had Michigan ties.
Leaving Harrah's, I walked through The Flamingo, where I had a hot dog and bottled water for lunch. Continuing south, I entered The Cromwell, which used to be Bill's Gambling Hall, which used to be The Barbary Coast. Sometimes it's hard to believe that this now-upscale place was once a joint that catered to us low-roller types. My friend Terry and I stayed here a few times years ago. And we always enjoyed their coffee house breakfasts. To show the contrast, now the most popular eatery is a pricey joint run by Giada DeLaurentis of TV fame.
So I played a little blackjack there and luck smiled on me again. I played with a guy from Chicago and we both were helped by our dealer, Billy, who broke quite often. After about an hour and a half, I walked with a profit of $363.
Then it was time to head home. Tallying up the day, I made $913. Plenty of profit for me to pick up a pair of BBQ Chicken salads from Capriotti's a deli sandwich place on the way home. While I was piling up cash, Helen stayed busy talking and texting with friends, relaxing, and doing some laundry.
On Tuesday, I decided to stay closer to home and made a trip to the Suncoast about 9 a.m. I had to run some errands, visit Walmart, mail some bills before visiting SC. I played blackjack for about 2 hours and was up about $50 before taking a break for a 6-inch turkey sandwich at Subway. Played a bit after lunch before walking with a profit of $220. No huge hands, just steady profits aided by the dealer's breaking to help out.
I was due home at 5 p.m., and had about 2 hours left so I decided to make a quick stop at the Red Rock Casino where I found an empty blackjack table. Played for almost an hour and when I found myself up $115, so I decided to leave. Grabbed a foot-long turkey and coleslaw sandwich for dinner. At home, I made a side salad and Helen and I split the sandwich.
We caught up on emails and watched a little of the U-M basketball game - they lost big. More TV, then off to bed. We're planning to make a trip to Bellagio soon to check out the Conservatory's Christmas Display, which opened on Monday. It's always a lavish production and a very popular LV sight. Best of all, it's free and open 24/7. And so our LV adventure continues...
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Superbowl & World Series Odds
Suncoast is posting these odds as of Nov. 25 for Superbowl 50 on Feb. 7
Patriots 3-2
Panthers 4-1
Cardinals 5-1
Packers 6-1
Bengals 8-1
Vikings 10-1
Broncos and Steelers 12-1
Lions 75-1
2016 World Series Odds
Cubs 5-1
Dodgers 7-1
Blue Jays 8-1
Pirates, Mets, Nationals, Royals & Cardinals 10-1
Rangers & Astros 12-1.
Tigers 20-1.
Cubbies are 5-2 to win the NL Pennant, while the Blue Jays are 7-2 to win the AL. Tigers are 10-1 to take the flag.
Patriots 3-2
Panthers 4-1
Cardinals 5-1
Packers 6-1
Bengals 8-1
Vikings 10-1
Broncos and Steelers 12-1
Lions 75-1
2016 World Series Odds
Cubs 5-1
Dodgers 7-1
Blue Jays 8-1
Pirates, Mets, Nationals, Royals & Cardinals 10-1
Rangers & Astros 12-1.
Tigers 20-1.
Cubbies are 5-2 to win the NL Pennant, while the Blue Jays are 7-2 to win the AL. Tigers are 10-1 to take the flag.
We're Settled In and Doing Just Fine
Finally getting a chance to sit down and get this blog cranked up.
To update, we arrived last Sunday at the Suncoast hotel casino about 3 p.m. It was the WORST driving situation we have encountered in all our years of visiting LV. We encountered a nasty ice/rain storm in Oklahoma City that left the Trusty Terrain coated in a 1/2 inch of ice that I had to chip away just to get into the vehicle. Anyway, we made it here safely and checked into a nice room at the Suncoast. We stayed there two nights, comped, and I had four blackjack sessions that were all winners - ranging from a profit of $120 to $680. For the two days, we were up over $1,000.
We moved to the apartment on Tuesday and that went smoothly. We also bought a new 32-inch Samsung TV on Tuesday. Best Buy had them for only $199, a nice deal. On Wednesday the Cox Cable guy came out and got it hooked up, along with our internet. Later that night, Helen and I went to Red Rock and watched the UM hoops game, followed by the Wings victory over Buffalo. We also stopped by Target and bought a cabinet for our new TV. Mustering up all my patience, I put it together Thursday morning and it looks pretty nice.
Thursday I bought some football parlays and teasers and we watched the Lions/Packers at home. I have a parlay of Packers -2.5, Clemson -5 and MSU -3.5 a teaser of Lions +8, Lions/Packers under 52 and Bowling Green -7 (This one's already a winner) and a teaser of Packers +5, Lions/Packers over 39, Bowling Green -4, MSU +5, Bengals -2 and Panthers +1.
I've done some grocery shopping and made a trip to our favorite middle eastern market to score some fresh breads, lebne, tabbouli, hummus and kalamata olives. We're trying to eat healthy, having a couple of tasty salads from Capriotti's a deli sandwich joint at the Red Rock casino.
I've been playing blackjack at Red Rock and notching wins each day. In fact, since we arrived in LV I have not had a losing session, though I came close yesterday when I made my first Strip Trip to play poker. Made the 35-minute drive from our apartment to Bally's and made a beeline to the poker room where it was DEAD... Four dealers standing around waiting for players. So I walked through Paris and into Planet Hollywood where a game was going on. I bought in for $100 and sat down. My first hand I get dealt J-J and won a pot of about $30. Nice start.
But then there was a long dry spell where I couldn't even play. My hole cards were 9-3, Q-2, 8-2, etc...Poker takes patience and you can't play though junky hands and expect to win. I played about and hour before this dramatic hand happened. Every hour at PH they have a "splash the pot" promotion going on where the house adds somewhere from $25 to $250 to the pot before the cards are dealt.
In this example, they added $100 to the pot and I got dealt one of my favorite hands A-7. With the blinds, there was $103 in the pot and I had $95 in front of me and was second to act. When the first guy checked, I immediately went all in and everyone folded, except one guy who shoved his $95 without too much thought. Since there were only two of us and I was all-in, we showed our cards. He called with a 10-4 off suit!! I was way in front. This is the kind of goofy play that happens all the time in LV. Anyway, the flop comes K-9-3 of different suits. The turn is a Q. The river is a 4. He takes down the pot with a pair of 4s.
I left the table and walked back to Ballys where they finally had a game going. I bought in for another $100 and played steadily for about an hour, winning a couple of $25 pots to keep me about even. Then I got dealt K-K and bet $12, getting two callers. The flop came A-K-4, giving me three kings. A guy bet $20, the other guy folded and I just called. Turn showed another 4, giving me a FULL HOUSE. The guy bet $30 and I hemmed and hawed, before I went all in with my last $60. He called. The river was a 7. I showed my full house and he mucked his cards, but I heard him say he had A-Q.
For the day, I ended up with a profit of $60 and had fun.
Helen has been busy getting the apartment organized, putting up our little Christmas tree and talking on the phone with friends and family. She's feeling pretty good, though her energy sometime fades later in the day. When she feels up to it, we plan to visit the Strip and see the Bellagio Conservatory's Christmas display. And so our LV adventure continues...
To update, we arrived last Sunday at the Suncoast hotel casino about 3 p.m. It was the WORST driving situation we have encountered in all our years of visiting LV. We encountered a nasty ice/rain storm in Oklahoma City that left the Trusty Terrain coated in a 1/2 inch of ice that I had to chip away just to get into the vehicle. Anyway, we made it here safely and checked into a nice room at the Suncoast. We stayed there two nights, comped, and I had four blackjack sessions that were all winners - ranging from a profit of $120 to $680. For the two days, we were up over $1,000.
We moved to the apartment on Tuesday and that went smoothly. We also bought a new 32-inch Samsung TV on Tuesday. Best Buy had them for only $199, a nice deal. On Wednesday the Cox Cable guy came out and got it hooked up, along with our internet. Later that night, Helen and I went to Red Rock and watched the UM hoops game, followed by the Wings victory over Buffalo. We also stopped by Target and bought a cabinet for our new TV. Mustering up all my patience, I put it together Thursday morning and it looks pretty nice.
Thursday I bought some football parlays and teasers and we watched the Lions/Packers at home. I have a parlay of Packers -2.5, Clemson -5 and MSU -3.5 a teaser of Lions +8, Lions/Packers under 52 and Bowling Green -7 (This one's already a winner) and a teaser of Packers +5, Lions/Packers over 39, Bowling Green -4, MSU +5, Bengals -2 and Panthers +1.
I've done some grocery shopping and made a trip to our favorite middle eastern market to score some fresh breads, lebne, tabbouli, hummus and kalamata olives. We're trying to eat healthy, having a couple of tasty salads from Capriotti's a deli sandwich joint at the Red Rock casino.
I've been playing blackjack at Red Rock and notching wins each day. In fact, since we arrived in LV I have not had a losing session, though I came close yesterday when I made my first Strip Trip to play poker. Made the 35-minute drive from our apartment to Bally's and made a beeline to the poker room where it was DEAD... Four dealers standing around waiting for players. So I walked through Paris and into Planet Hollywood where a game was going on. I bought in for $100 and sat down. My first hand I get dealt J-J and won a pot of about $30. Nice start.
But then there was a long dry spell where I couldn't even play. My hole cards were 9-3, Q-2, 8-2, etc...Poker takes patience and you can't play though junky hands and expect to win. I played about and hour before this dramatic hand happened. Every hour at PH they have a "splash the pot" promotion going on where the house adds somewhere from $25 to $250 to the pot before the cards are dealt.
In this example, they added $100 to the pot and I got dealt one of my favorite hands A-7. With the blinds, there was $103 in the pot and I had $95 in front of me and was second to act. When the first guy checked, I immediately went all in and everyone folded, except one guy who shoved his $95 without too much thought. Since there were only two of us and I was all-in, we showed our cards. He called with a 10-4 off suit!! I was way in front. This is the kind of goofy play that happens all the time in LV. Anyway, the flop comes K-9-3 of different suits. The turn is a Q. The river is a 4. He takes down the pot with a pair of 4s.
I left the table and walked back to Ballys where they finally had a game going. I bought in for another $100 and played steadily for about an hour, winning a couple of $25 pots to keep me about even. Then I got dealt K-K and bet $12, getting two callers. The flop came A-K-4, giving me three kings. A guy bet $20, the other guy folded and I just called. Turn showed another 4, giving me a FULL HOUSE. The guy bet $30 and I hemmed and hawed, before I went all in with my last $60. He called. The river was a 7. I showed my full house and he mucked his cards, but I heard him say he had A-Q.
For the day, I ended up with a profit of $60 and had fun.
Helen has been busy getting the apartment organized, putting up our little Christmas tree and talking on the phone with friends and family. She's feeling pretty good, though her energy sometime fades later in the day. When she feels up to it, we plan to visit the Strip and see the Bellagio Conservatory's Christmas display. And so our LV adventure continues...
Monday, November 23, 2015
Prepping for The Land of Neon & Free Drinks
Helen and I are getting ready to roll west and begin our 2015-16 Las Vegas adventure.
I've changed the oil and put new tires on the trusty GMC Terrain. Helen spent much of yesterday doing laundry and we'll be packing our suitcases as we get ready to leave TC on Thursday morning. Thanksgiving Day will find us on the road to Springfield, Illinois where we'll spend the night at the Abraham Lincoln Hilton, which is supposed to have a nice holiday dinner available. Then on Friday we'll hit the road, eventually spending the night somewhere just west of Oklahoma City if all goes well. Saturday's drive will be a 10-12 hour trek to somewhere just east of Flagstaff, AZ. Maybe Grants NM.
Then on Sunday we roll into Las Vegas where I have two comped nights waiting at the Suncoast Casino, one of the closest gambling joints near our apartment at Shadow Hills. Early Tuesday, Dec. 1, we'll get the keys to our apartment. Then I've made plans to meet a moving crew at the storage unit so they can haul our belongings to our temporary home at 3501 Shady Timber Street, Apt. 1106, Las Vegas NV 89129.
We should be all moved in by early afternoon. Helen arranged for Cox Cable to come out on Tuesday and hook up the TV and internet. And that should finish our transplant from Michigan to Nevada.
We have big plans for this winter. Niece Tricia Wright and her husband Kevin are coming out from Ypsilanti for a visit in January. Kevin is a talented home brewer and I look forward to sharing a few Vegas brews with him. Sin City Brewery and Tenaya Creek offer some tasty beverages. And in February Nick Edson and his wife Lois are arriving from TC, along with John and Janet Tune who will be driving up from Green Valley, AZ. Should be a fun few days for the six of us!
This will probably be the only blog entry until we get out there and Cox works its magic on our internet service. I'll try to do a good job of blogging, keeping you informed of our day-to-day activities as our Las Vegas Adventure continues...
I've changed the oil and put new tires on the trusty GMC Terrain. Helen spent much of yesterday doing laundry and we'll be packing our suitcases as we get ready to leave TC on Thursday morning. Thanksgiving Day will find us on the road to Springfield, Illinois where we'll spend the night at the Abraham Lincoln Hilton, which is supposed to have a nice holiday dinner available. Then on Friday we'll hit the road, eventually spending the night somewhere just west of Oklahoma City if all goes well. Saturday's drive will be a 10-12 hour trek to somewhere just east of Flagstaff, AZ. Maybe Grants NM.
Then on Sunday we roll into Las Vegas where I have two comped nights waiting at the Suncoast Casino, one of the closest gambling joints near our apartment at Shadow Hills. Early Tuesday, Dec. 1, we'll get the keys to our apartment. Then I've made plans to meet a moving crew at the storage unit so they can haul our belongings to our temporary home at 3501 Shady Timber Street, Apt. 1106, Las Vegas NV 89129.
We should be all moved in by early afternoon. Helen arranged for Cox Cable to come out on Tuesday and hook up the TV and internet. And that should finish our transplant from Michigan to Nevada.
We have big plans for this winter. Niece Tricia Wright and her husband Kevin are coming out from Ypsilanti for a visit in January. Kevin is a talented home brewer and I look forward to sharing a few Vegas brews with him. Sin City Brewery and Tenaya Creek offer some tasty beverages. And in February Nick Edson and his wife Lois are arriving from TC, along with John and Janet Tune who will be driving up from Green Valley, AZ. Should be a fun few days for the six of us!
This will probably be the only blog entry until we get out there and Cox works its magic on our internet service. I'll try to do a good job of blogging, keeping you informed of our day-to-day activities as our Las Vegas Adventure continues...
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Leaving Las Vegas
Our Las Vegas visit is down to its final day.
On Friday morning the movers come to take our belongings to the storage unit and we will be hitting the road shortly after that. I expect by noon we will be on our journey home.
Looking back on this winter, it's easily been the most stressful visit we've had in five winters we've spent in Las Vegas. Helen's broken ankle on our sixth day here dominated everything we could do for about two months. From Dec. 6 when she fell to Feb. 10 when she finally got her "Frankenstein" boot removed, our activities were very limited.
And for the past month or so, financial strains have ratcheted up the stress. My efforts to access funds from our retirement account has been a travesty in customer service. Our annuity holder operates on 1960s style technology with paper checks mailed out to customers, while the rest of the business world is comfortable with direct deposits and e-cash transfers. Anyway, we're hitting the road tomorrow.
But don't get the idea that we didn't have any fun this trip. Helen and I were able to enjoy two great shows - LOVE, the Beatles-theme show at the Mirage and Human Nature, four Aussies who sing Motown hits at the Venetian. We also saw a great concert, blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the Orleans.
And we had visits from Scott and our friend Gail and her husband David. Always fun to have company! We enjoyed trips to the Red Rock Nature Area with all of our visitors. Fun to show off that aspect of LV.
It will be good to get back to Michigan and see our friends. Time to get back to work writing, too. I did a bit of writing from here, but it's not easy. I'm all ready looking forward to returning next winter, so I need to line up some writing work and building a nest egg.
I've decided to save all my loose change and every day toss it in a bank I have. Then next November I'll count it out and use it for gas money to get us back to LV. I figure about $360 ought to cover the trip, guesstimating 120 gallons at $3 each. Stash $1 a day in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies should be do-able, right?
Thanks for reading this erratic blog. I promise to do a better job of telling our LV tales next year, when our adventure continues!!
On Friday morning the movers come to take our belongings to the storage unit and we will be hitting the road shortly after that. I expect by noon we will be on our journey home.
Looking back on this winter, it's easily been the most stressful visit we've had in five winters we've spent in Las Vegas. Helen's broken ankle on our sixth day here dominated everything we could do for about two months. From Dec. 6 when she fell to Feb. 10 when she finally got her "Frankenstein" boot removed, our activities were very limited.
And for the past month or so, financial strains have ratcheted up the stress. My efforts to access funds from our retirement account has been a travesty in customer service. Our annuity holder operates on 1960s style technology with paper checks mailed out to customers, while the rest of the business world is comfortable with direct deposits and e-cash transfers. Anyway, we're hitting the road tomorrow.
But don't get the idea that we didn't have any fun this trip. Helen and I were able to enjoy two great shows - LOVE, the Beatles-theme show at the Mirage and Human Nature, four Aussies who sing Motown hits at the Venetian. We also saw a great concert, blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the Orleans.
And we had visits from Scott and our friend Gail and her husband David. Always fun to have company! We enjoyed trips to the Red Rock Nature Area with all of our visitors. Fun to show off that aspect of LV.
It will be good to get back to Michigan and see our friends. Time to get back to work writing, too. I did a bit of writing from here, but it's not easy. I'm all ready looking forward to returning next winter, so I need to line up some writing work and building a nest egg.
I've decided to save all my loose change and every day toss it in a bank I have. Then next November I'll count it out and use it for gas money to get us back to LV. I figure about $360 ought to cover the trip, guesstimating 120 gallons at $3 each. Stash $1 a day in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies should be do-able, right?
Thanks for reading this erratic blog. I promise to do a better job of telling our LV tales next year, when our adventure continues!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Catching Up
I've been laying low after several losing trips at blackjack and poker. But Helen and I have enjoyed a few trips to Red Rock Casino to watch some basketball and cash some smallish-hoops wagers.
We were over there on Wed . March 4 to watch MSU when we had a couple of unusual things happen. At halftime of the game, we left the sports book and I threw $10 into a video blackjack machine. I was playing 25 cents a hand and not doing well when two seats to my left, a hefty older guy just toppled off his seat and went to the floor. I quickly got a slot attendant, who called security. There was quite a flurry of activity and the guy on the floor was stone still in the center of four or five people. An Asian woman came by, identified herself as a doctor and began to talk to the stricken guy. He still laid down, but was able to talk and declined the doc's services. Things seemed well in hand and Helen and I moved on to the food court to grab a quick bite before getting back to the sports book.
At the food court we chose some Chinese food and grabbed a seat. Helen noticed a shady looking young Asian guy sporting a hoodie and a vacant stare. He slowly walked toward our table, making Helen a bit nervous. She shifted her purse closer as the guy strolled up to me and said "Could you buy me some food?" I didn't understand him at first and he repeated "Could you buy me some food."
"No thanks," I replied, and he walked over to another table and repeated the request to a guy sitting alone. The guy also rejected him, but a few minutes later he did go over and give the guy some cash.
The panhandler took the money and quickly left the food court, in search of drugs, I assume. Usually the Red Rock cracks down on this kind of activity, but maybe security was still busy with Mr. Fall Off My Chair...
When we finished out meal and went back to the sports book, the fallen guy was gone. I think they called an ambulance and quietly got him out of there.
Today I played some poker at Bally's and didn't have much luck. I was doing fine, making good plays and was actually up a bit when I looked down at 8-9 of clubs. I like playing these suited connectors and tossed my two bucks into the pot. Imagine my delight when the flop came 6-7-10 of mixed suits. I FLOPPED A STRAIGHT! A guy at the other end bet $10 and everyone folded, except me. I just called his bet, thinking that if I raised he might fold. I wanted to keep this fish on the line. The turn card was a Q and no apparent threat. The guy bet 30 and I went All in, shoving in my last 50. He called. The river card was K of clubs. The guy flipped over a J-9 for A BIGGER STRAIGHT. He had to hit on the turn and river both to beat me and he did. But that's poker...
We're starting to look ahead to packing up and heading home. I've spotted a couple of nearby storage units that I'll be checking out. The last unit we rented cost $119 a month and I'm hoping to get one a bit cheaper. Then we'll need $260 to pay the moving guys to haul our stuff to the unit. It all costs $$$.
Right now it looks like Helen's brother Norm and his family from Thousand Oaks California will be coming to see us on March 20 for the weekend. It'll be good to see them. Haven't gotten together with Norm and Lorraine for five years or so. Then after they leave we'll really focusing on getting packed and hitting the road back to Michigan. Hopefully the weather cooperate and the roads will be clear.
But for now, our adventure continues...
We were over there on Wed . March 4 to watch MSU when we had a couple of unusual things happen. At halftime of the game, we left the sports book and I threw $10 into a video blackjack machine. I was playing 25 cents a hand and not doing well when two seats to my left, a hefty older guy just toppled off his seat and went to the floor. I quickly got a slot attendant, who called security. There was quite a flurry of activity and the guy on the floor was stone still in the center of four or five people. An Asian woman came by, identified herself as a doctor and began to talk to the stricken guy. He still laid down, but was able to talk and declined the doc's services. Things seemed well in hand and Helen and I moved on to the food court to grab a quick bite before getting back to the sports book.
At the food court we chose some Chinese food and grabbed a seat. Helen noticed a shady looking young Asian guy sporting a hoodie and a vacant stare. He slowly walked toward our table, making Helen a bit nervous. She shifted her purse closer as the guy strolled up to me and said "Could you buy me some food?" I didn't understand him at first and he repeated "Could you buy me some food."
"No thanks," I replied, and he walked over to another table and repeated the request to a guy sitting alone. The guy also rejected him, but a few minutes later he did go over and give the guy some cash.
The panhandler took the money and quickly left the food court, in search of drugs, I assume. Usually the Red Rock cracks down on this kind of activity, but maybe security was still busy with Mr. Fall Off My Chair...
When we finished out meal and went back to the sports book, the fallen guy was gone. I think they called an ambulance and quietly got him out of there.
Today I played some poker at Bally's and didn't have much luck. I was doing fine, making good plays and was actually up a bit when I looked down at 8-9 of clubs. I like playing these suited connectors and tossed my two bucks into the pot. Imagine my delight when the flop came 6-7-10 of mixed suits. I FLOPPED A STRAIGHT! A guy at the other end bet $10 and everyone folded, except me. I just called his bet, thinking that if I raised he might fold. I wanted to keep this fish on the line. The turn card was a Q and no apparent threat. The guy bet 30 and I went All in, shoving in my last 50. He called. The river card was K of clubs. The guy flipped over a J-9 for A BIGGER STRAIGHT. He had to hit on the turn and river both to beat me and he did. But that's poker...
We're starting to look ahead to packing up and heading home. I've spotted a couple of nearby storage units that I'll be checking out. The last unit we rented cost $119 a month and I'm hoping to get one a bit cheaper. Then we'll need $260 to pay the moving guys to haul our stuff to the unit. It all costs $$$.
Right now it looks like Helen's brother Norm and his family from Thousand Oaks California will be coming to see us on March 20 for the weekend. It'll be good to see them. Haven't gotten together with Norm and Lorraine for five years or so. Then after they leave we'll really focusing on getting packed and hitting the road back to Michigan. Hopefully the weather cooperate and the roads will be clear.
But for now, our adventure continues...
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
2015 Baseball Futures
While at the Red Rock yesterday, I picked up a sheet detailing the 2015 Baseball Futures bets. Here are some odds to win the World Series
Nationals 5-1
Dodgers 7-1
Red Sox & Cubs 9-1
Cardinals, Angels, Padres 12-1
Mariners 14-1
TIGERS, Mets and White Sox 15-1.
Detroit is 7-1 to win the A.L. pennant, while the Nats are the N.L. favorite at 5-2.
Nationals 5-1
Dodgers 7-1
Red Sox & Cubs 9-1
Cardinals, Angels, Padres 12-1
Mariners 14-1
TIGERS, Mets and White Sox 15-1.
Detroit is 7-1 to win the A.L. pennant, while the Nats are the N.L. favorite at 5-2.
Red Rock & More Red Rock
Tuesday we spent much of the day with Bruce and Sandi.
It was their last day in LV before they drive south to Kingman, AZ, then over to the Grand Canyon. They drove their jeep out to our apartment about 11 a.m. and we gave them a quick tour of our two-bedroom place.
Then we all got into our Terrain and drove out to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It was a beautiful sunny day in the 70s. Using Helen's lifetime pass we had free admission to the area, otherwise it's still only $7 per car to tour the area. Our first stop was at the visitor center where we looked at some exhibits and checked out the gift shop.
Then we spent about an hour driving the 13-mile scenic tour, making a few stops along the way. The mountains are always impressive and Bruce and Sandi enjoyed seeing the majestic peaks. At one point there are some centuries-old handprints left by the ancient tribes who lived in this area. Pretty cool to see remnants of an old civilization who dwelt in this harsh region.
After the tour, we went to the nearby Red Rock casino for some lunch. We settled into Yard House, an eatery that claims to have the World's Largest assortment of beers on tap. We'll never know, since we opted for lemonade, ice tea and water. Helen had a southwest chicken salad, Sandi chose a turkey sandwich with a Caesar salad, Bruce went for a personal pizza and clam chowder, while I opted for a BBQ personal pizza and Caesar Salad. Lunch for the 4 of us was only $50.
Then we strolled into the casino for a bit, settling at the sports book where I bought a $25 ticket on the MSU-UM game to go over the total of 116 points. It was an easy winner, paying $22.70. Then we headed back to the apartment and Bruce and Sandi drove back to their motor home parked in an RV park near Sam's Town casino east of the Strip.
I've been battling a cold for the past couple of days, but feel better this morning after downing some Advil Cold and Sinus meds. I did some writing this morning, a biography of a TC artist. Then I made a run to the nearby Walmart, mailed off some bills and put some money in the bank. No more gaming today, but our LV adventure continues...
It was their last day in LV before they drive south to Kingman, AZ, then over to the Grand Canyon. They drove their jeep out to our apartment about 11 a.m. and we gave them a quick tour of our two-bedroom place.
Then we all got into our Terrain and drove out to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It was a beautiful sunny day in the 70s. Using Helen's lifetime pass we had free admission to the area, otherwise it's still only $7 per car to tour the area. Our first stop was at the visitor center where we looked at some exhibits and checked out the gift shop.
Then we spent about an hour driving the 13-mile scenic tour, making a few stops along the way. The mountains are always impressive and Bruce and Sandi enjoyed seeing the majestic peaks. At one point there are some centuries-old handprints left by the ancient tribes who lived in this area. Pretty cool to see remnants of an old civilization who dwelt in this harsh region.
After the tour, we went to the nearby Red Rock casino for some lunch. We settled into Yard House, an eatery that claims to have the World's Largest assortment of beers on tap. We'll never know, since we opted for lemonade, ice tea and water. Helen had a southwest chicken salad, Sandi chose a turkey sandwich with a Caesar salad, Bruce went for a personal pizza and clam chowder, while I opted for a BBQ personal pizza and Caesar Salad. Lunch for the 4 of us was only $50.
Then we strolled into the casino for a bit, settling at the sports book where I bought a $25 ticket on the MSU-UM game to go over the total of 116 points. It was an easy winner, paying $22.70. Then we headed back to the apartment and Bruce and Sandi drove back to their motor home parked in an RV park near Sam's Town casino east of the Strip.
I've been battling a cold for the past couple of days, but feel better this morning after downing some Advil Cold and Sinus meds. I did some writing this morning, a biography of a TC artist. Then I made a run to the nearby Walmart, mailed off some bills and put some money in the bank. No more gaming today, but our LV adventure continues...
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Suncoast Visit on Monday
Made a trip over to the Suncoast on Monday to play a bit of blackjack. Got there about 11 a.m. and played for about two hours, winning $90. No big hands, no drama, just a nice steady game where I won a lot of $10-15 hands.
Then it was home for lunch. Helen had a turkey sandwich and I enjoyed half of a chicken Caesar wrap.
Today we're hoping to get together with Bruce and Sandi. They will be leaving tomorrow and we wanted to see them one more time. We may go out to the Red Rock Nature area and then have lunch somewhere as our LV adventure continues...
Then it was home for lunch. Helen had a turkey sandwich and I enjoyed half of a chicken Caesar wrap.
Today we're hoping to get together with Bruce and Sandi. They will be leaving tomorrow and we wanted to see them one more time. We may go out to the Red Rock Nature area and then have lunch somewhere as our LV adventure continues...
Monday, February 16, 2015
Lunch with Bruce & Sandi
Sunday morning I made a quick trip to the Suncoast to check out the basketball point spreads and play a little blackjack. The BJ started off pretty well and I was up $30-$40 when I ran into one of the worst stretches of cards I've ever experienced.
For background, it was a $5 minimum bet game of two-deck pitch where the dealer tosses the cards to the player who holds them in one hand only. If you want another card, you scrape the table with your two cards. If you stay, you slide your cards under your bet.
With only two decks, it doesn't take too many hands before the dealer has to shuffle. At this time, I was alone at the table. During one two-deck session, the dealer had FIVE blackjacks!! Consider that there are only 8 aces in the two decks - possibly even fewer since there is a cut card that eliminates about 1/4 of the decks. So the dealer got 5 aces and paired EACH of them with a face card! Naturally, I got no blackjacks during this terrible run. And my profit disappeared... I ended up losing $27 for the trip.
I headed home about noon and after a bit, Helen and I drove down to the Strip where we met my brother Bruce and his wife Sandi, who are on a long motor-home tour of the Southwest. They drove up from Phoenix on Friday and are staying in LV until Wednesday. We met them at Planet Hollywood and had lunch at the Cheeseburger restaurant in the PH Miracle Mile shopping mall. Helen and I had chicken Caesar wraps, Sandi had a cheeseburger wrap and Bruce had an order of three fish tacos. It was great to catch up with them. After they leave LV they're driving to the Grand Canyon, then heading back toward Michigan. They need to be back there by March 5, according to Bruce, because they have plans.
Already this morning, I have made a tasty quinoa salad from a recipe given to me by Lois Edson. It's packed with protein and a nice light meal in itself or as a side dish. Helen is doing a load of laundry. It's not easy with her healing ankle, but she refuses to just sit around. I have a few errands to take care of this morning - trip to the bank, stop by the apartment office, etc. But may have time to visit the Suncoast later.
Tomorrow we're supposed to have lunch with Bruce and Sandi. We're thinking of taking them to the Red Rock Nature Area for a nice trip, then having lunch at the nearby Red Rock Casino. I don't think they've been to either of those spots, so it would give them a break from The Strip. And so, our LV adventure continues...
For background, it was a $5 minimum bet game of two-deck pitch where the dealer tosses the cards to the player who holds them in one hand only. If you want another card, you scrape the table with your two cards. If you stay, you slide your cards under your bet.
With only two decks, it doesn't take too many hands before the dealer has to shuffle. At this time, I was alone at the table. During one two-deck session, the dealer had FIVE blackjacks!! Consider that there are only 8 aces in the two decks - possibly even fewer since there is a cut card that eliminates about 1/4 of the decks. So the dealer got 5 aces and paired EACH of them with a face card! Naturally, I got no blackjacks during this terrible run. And my profit disappeared... I ended up losing $27 for the trip.
I headed home about noon and after a bit, Helen and I drove down to the Strip where we met my brother Bruce and his wife Sandi, who are on a long motor-home tour of the Southwest. They drove up from Phoenix on Friday and are staying in LV until Wednesday. We met them at Planet Hollywood and had lunch at the Cheeseburger restaurant in the PH Miracle Mile shopping mall. Helen and I had chicken Caesar wraps, Sandi had a cheeseburger wrap and Bruce had an order of three fish tacos. It was great to catch up with them. After they leave LV they're driving to the Grand Canyon, then heading back toward Michigan. They need to be back there by March 5, according to Bruce, because they have plans.
Already this morning, I have made a tasty quinoa salad from a recipe given to me by Lois Edson. It's packed with protein and a nice light meal in itself or as a side dish. Helen is doing a load of laundry. It's not easy with her healing ankle, but she refuses to just sit around. I have a few errands to take care of this morning - trip to the bank, stop by the apartment office, etc. But may have time to visit the Suncoast later.
Tomorrow we're supposed to have lunch with Bruce and Sandi. We're thinking of taking them to the Red Rock Nature Area for a nice trip, then having lunch at the nearby Red Rock Casino. I don't think they've been to either of those spots, so it would give them a break from The Strip. And so, our LV adventure continues...
Monday, February 9, 2015
Blackjack, Dinner out and a Concert
Sunday was a busy day for Helen and me.
I started the day with a trip to the nearby Suncoast where I made a basketball moneyline parlay bet. Indiana, U of D and Ohio State. It went down when U-D lost. I also played some 2-4 LIMIT poker with a table full of Geezers. I usually don't play limit, but thought I'd give it a try. And I was reminded why I don't like the game. After about an hour of playing, I lost $24 and here's an example.
I hold 3-6 of clubs and decide to see the flop for $2. Flop comes 3-3-6. Flopped a full house. But because of the game, I could only bet $2 and four players call. Turn is a 10 and I bet $4, again the maximum bet. Three guys fold, but an elderly woman calls. River is another 10 and I bet $4, she raised to $8 and I call. She shows a K-10, a bigger full house!
In a NO LIMIT game, I would have bet $20 or 25 when I got the full house and either took down the pot or driven her out of it. Frustrating to lose like that...
So between losing the $30 hoops bet and the $24 at poker, I was down 54 when I headed home about 1 pm to make lunch. After a turkey sandwich for Helen and some bean soup for me, we relaxed a bit before heading down to the Strip. We parked at MGM and walked over to New York, New York. It's not one of my favorite casinos, but I wanted to show Helen the Hershey store where they have literally TONS of candy! She likes Jolly Ranchers and they a wall of dispensers that allow you to pick out your favorite flavors. She chose grape and cherry, so we bought 1.3 pounds of them, plus some Hershey's chocolates.
Then we drove north on the Strip, letting her enjoy the sights. When we got north of Wynn, we headed back south, then turned west on Tropicana to get to The Orleans where we had tickets to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues guitarist from Louisiana. Before the show I played some BJ, winning $30, some video BJ winning $22 and we had dinner, spaghetti & metballs special for me ($6.99) and a chicken quesadilla for Helen. Bill came to $15, but I had enough comps on my players card to get it FREE!
The concert began at 8 p.m. and it was great! Two solid hours of blues classics and some new tunes. Man, that boy can play the guitar!! It's our third time to see him at The Orleans and I hope we'll do it again next winter. Tickets were only $30, a real bargain for a Vegas concert.
Today, I'm heading down to Bally's to play poker and log some time toward their Thursday freeroll tourney that I scored $300 in last week. Hopefully I can cash again this Thursday. And so, our LV adventure continues...
I started the day with a trip to the nearby Suncoast where I made a basketball moneyline parlay bet. Indiana, U of D and Ohio State. It went down when U-D lost. I also played some 2-4 LIMIT poker with a table full of Geezers. I usually don't play limit, but thought I'd give it a try. And I was reminded why I don't like the game. After about an hour of playing, I lost $24 and here's an example.
I hold 3-6 of clubs and decide to see the flop for $2. Flop comes 3-3-6. Flopped a full house. But because of the game, I could only bet $2 and four players call. Turn is a 10 and I bet $4, again the maximum bet. Three guys fold, but an elderly woman calls. River is another 10 and I bet $4, she raised to $8 and I call. She shows a K-10, a bigger full house!
In a NO LIMIT game, I would have bet $20 or 25 when I got the full house and either took down the pot or driven her out of it. Frustrating to lose like that...
So between losing the $30 hoops bet and the $24 at poker, I was down 54 when I headed home about 1 pm to make lunch. After a turkey sandwich for Helen and some bean soup for me, we relaxed a bit before heading down to the Strip. We parked at MGM and walked over to New York, New York. It's not one of my favorite casinos, but I wanted to show Helen the Hershey store where they have literally TONS of candy! She likes Jolly Ranchers and they a wall of dispensers that allow you to pick out your favorite flavors. She chose grape and cherry, so we bought 1.3 pounds of them, plus some Hershey's chocolates.
Then we drove north on the Strip, letting her enjoy the sights. When we got north of Wynn, we headed back south, then turned west on Tropicana to get to The Orleans where we had tickets to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues guitarist from Louisiana. Before the show I played some BJ, winning $30, some video BJ winning $22 and we had dinner, spaghetti & metballs special for me ($6.99) and a chicken quesadilla for Helen. Bill came to $15, but I had enough comps on my players card to get it FREE!
The concert began at 8 p.m. and it was great! Two solid hours of blues classics and some new tunes. Man, that boy can play the guitar!! It's our third time to see him at The Orleans and I hope we'll do it again next winter. Tickets were only $30, a real bargain for a Vegas concert.
Today, I'm heading down to Bally's to play poker and log some time toward their Thursday freeroll tourney that I scored $300 in last week. Hopefully I can cash again this Thursday. And so, our LV adventure continues...
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Hey, We're Still Here!
After three weeks of blog silence, folks might wonder if Al and Helen vanished into the Nevada air. Well, no. I just got super-lazy and distracted from posting our adventure updates.
The last three weeks have been filled with gaming adventures, the Super Bowl and some dining out highlights. Helen's been healing her broken ankle and is looking forward to visiting the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday morning. We're hoping that she's declared officially healed and can resume walking with her walker. She's been restricted to a wheelchair for the past two months.
Super Bowl was super fun for me. I had two winning bets on the Pats -1 and over 49 points. What we typically do is that I find someplace to watch the game for the first half, then at halftime I drive home and watch the 2nd half with Helen. So I headed over to the nearby Suncoast where they were having a FREE SB party. Down on the Strip they were charging from $40 to $200 for parties. The game started here at 3:30 and the Suncoast opened the doors to their showroom, where the party was held, at 2:30.
I got there a few minutes before 3 and took a seat at the rear of the room in a nice padded booth that seated 3 comfortably. While the party entrance was free, they charged for food and drinks. A bucket of 5 Miller,Miller lite, Coors or Coors lite was $12. I couldn't drink 5, but ordered two Coor lite at $3 each to wash down my order of Wings ($4.50) and popcorn ($1). As I sat there sipping my beer and munching popcorn, the room started to fill up as game time approached.
A 30-ish couple came in looking for a place to sit, but wasn't having any luck. They asked if they could join me and I was glad for the company. Turns out Jack and Claudine both work for The Venetian and are not a couple, but just co-workers who ran a 10 mile race, then played 9 holes of golf before coming over to watch the game. Jack is in the Venetian's accounting department, while Claudine is the hotel's public relations manager. Both are from Canada, Jack from Mississauga near Toronto and Claudine from Vancouver. Jack's a BIG hockey fan and former player. We talked about the Wings and he gave me some tips on who will win the Cup. Claudine and I talked about PR issues and her former life as a TV reporter.
After a couple of hours of talking, drinking and rooting for the Pats (they both liked NE to win), I left at halftime, promising to keep in touch with them. So on Monday, I emailed them and told how much I enjoyed talking with them. In return, Claudine offered to hook us up with some show tickets. So on Wednesday night, Feb. 11, Helen and I are going to see Human Nature, an Australian act that does classic Motown sounds. I remember this group when they were at the Imperial Palace for $30 a ticket. Now at the Venetian the tickets are $100 and up. So I thanked Claudine profusely in a follow-up email and promised to give her my opinion of the show later.
Over the past week I've been played poker at Bally's and posted enough hours to play in their weekly free roll tourney on Thursday. If you log 12 hours of play from Thursday thru Thursday, you get to play in the free event. Bally's pays $300 to the final 20 players. Everyone who finishes in the top 20 wins the cash and the tourney end there. So on Thursday there were 58 players who qualified to play.
They seat 10 players at each table, so there were 6 tables in action.
My plan was to win a few hands early, build a stack, then sit back and let the other stacks be melted down by the rising blinds. We started with 5,000 in chips with blinds of 50 and 100. Every 15 minutes the blinds increased to 100 and 200, then 200 and 400, 400 and 800, 500 and 1000, 1000 and 2000. I hit a couple of good hands early, a flush and a full house to build my stack to about 16,000 chips at one point. After about an hour we took a 10 minute break and I had the 2nd biggest stack at our table. At that point the field had been trimmed down to 30 players!
I was feeling pretty good, but as the blinds grew, my stack shrunk. Meanwhile the field dwindled to 25, 23, 22, then 21. At that point my stack was down to 3 $1000 chips and the blinds were 2000/4000. I got dealt 5-5 and decided to go All In with my 3 chips. If I lost, I would be out of tourney as the last non-winner. But I won the hand and doubled my stack to 6 chips. Meanwhile at another table, the last woman in the tourney went all in and lost. Cheering erupted as the rest of us received $300. We were shaking hands and high fiving each other for our victory. The whole tourney took about 2 hours to complete and I look forward to playing in it a few more times before we return home. I had won $88 in a cash game before the tourney started, so for the day I won 388. It went into the bank the next morning to pay down a charge card. Not sexy, but still a nice win!
My luck turned bad yesterday as I visited the Suncoast in the morning and dropped $65 in blackjack. Then I came home and made us lunch - a turkey sandwich for Helen and leftover spaghetti for me. Then I rolled over to Red Rock, determined to get back some of my $$$ that I left at Suncoast. Well, it didn't go well. I dropped another $40 in BJ for a daily loss of $105.
Today I'll be getting a hockey parlay for my friend Terry and probably making a hoops bet. Tomorrow night Helen and I have tickets to a concert at The Orleans. We'll be seeing Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues guitarist. We've seen him there a couple of other times and it's always a great show.
And so our LV Adventure continues...
The last three weeks have been filled with gaming adventures, the Super Bowl and some dining out highlights. Helen's been healing her broken ankle and is looking forward to visiting the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday morning. We're hoping that she's declared officially healed and can resume walking with her walker. She's been restricted to a wheelchair for the past two months.
Super Bowl was super fun for me. I had two winning bets on the Pats -1 and over 49 points. What we typically do is that I find someplace to watch the game for the first half, then at halftime I drive home and watch the 2nd half with Helen. So I headed over to the nearby Suncoast where they were having a FREE SB party. Down on the Strip they were charging from $40 to $200 for parties. The game started here at 3:30 and the Suncoast opened the doors to their showroom, where the party was held, at 2:30.
I got there a few minutes before 3 and took a seat at the rear of the room in a nice padded booth that seated 3 comfortably. While the party entrance was free, they charged for food and drinks. A bucket of 5 Miller,Miller lite, Coors or Coors lite was $12. I couldn't drink 5, but ordered two Coor lite at $3 each to wash down my order of Wings ($4.50) and popcorn ($1). As I sat there sipping my beer and munching popcorn, the room started to fill up as game time approached.
A 30-ish couple came in looking for a place to sit, but wasn't having any luck. They asked if they could join me and I was glad for the company. Turns out Jack and Claudine both work for The Venetian and are not a couple, but just co-workers who ran a 10 mile race, then played 9 holes of golf before coming over to watch the game. Jack is in the Venetian's accounting department, while Claudine is the hotel's public relations manager. Both are from Canada, Jack from Mississauga near Toronto and Claudine from Vancouver. Jack's a BIG hockey fan and former player. We talked about the Wings and he gave me some tips on who will win the Cup. Claudine and I talked about PR issues and her former life as a TV reporter.
After a couple of hours of talking, drinking and rooting for the Pats (they both liked NE to win), I left at halftime, promising to keep in touch with them. So on Monday, I emailed them and told how much I enjoyed talking with them. In return, Claudine offered to hook us up with some show tickets. So on Wednesday night, Feb. 11, Helen and I are going to see Human Nature, an Australian act that does classic Motown sounds. I remember this group when they were at the Imperial Palace for $30 a ticket. Now at the Venetian the tickets are $100 and up. So I thanked Claudine profusely in a follow-up email and promised to give her my opinion of the show later.
Over the past week I've been played poker at Bally's and posted enough hours to play in their weekly free roll tourney on Thursday. If you log 12 hours of play from Thursday thru Thursday, you get to play in the free event. Bally's pays $300 to the final 20 players. Everyone who finishes in the top 20 wins the cash and the tourney end there. So on Thursday there were 58 players who qualified to play.
They seat 10 players at each table, so there were 6 tables in action.
My plan was to win a few hands early, build a stack, then sit back and let the other stacks be melted down by the rising blinds. We started with 5,000 in chips with blinds of 50 and 100. Every 15 minutes the blinds increased to 100 and 200, then 200 and 400, 400 and 800, 500 and 1000, 1000 and 2000. I hit a couple of good hands early, a flush and a full house to build my stack to about 16,000 chips at one point. After about an hour we took a 10 minute break and I had the 2nd biggest stack at our table. At that point the field had been trimmed down to 30 players!
I was feeling pretty good, but as the blinds grew, my stack shrunk. Meanwhile the field dwindled to 25, 23, 22, then 21. At that point my stack was down to 3 $1000 chips and the blinds were 2000/4000. I got dealt 5-5 and decided to go All In with my 3 chips. If I lost, I would be out of tourney as the last non-winner. But I won the hand and doubled my stack to 6 chips. Meanwhile at another table, the last woman in the tourney went all in and lost. Cheering erupted as the rest of us received $300. We were shaking hands and high fiving each other for our victory. The whole tourney took about 2 hours to complete and I look forward to playing in it a few more times before we return home. I had won $88 in a cash game before the tourney started, so for the day I won 388. It went into the bank the next morning to pay down a charge card. Not sexy, but still a nice win!
My luck turned bad yesterday as I visited the Suncoast in the morning and dropped $65 in blackjack. Then I came home and made us lunch - a turkey sandwich for Helen and leftover spaghetti for me. Then I rolled over to Red Rock, determined to get back some of my $$$ that I left at Suncoast. Well, it didn't go well. I dropped another $40 in BJ for a daily loss of $105.
Today I'll be getting a hockey parlay for my friend Terry and probably making a hoops bet. Tomorrow night Helen and I have tickets to a concert at The Orleans. We'll be seeing Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues guitarist. We've seen him there a couple of other times and it's always a great show.
And so our LV Adventure continues...
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Friends Arrive
Yesterday a friend of ours and her husband arrived from Traverse City. Gail and David Molby landed about noon and are staying in a beautiful suite on the 32nd floor of the Venetian for a week.
Helen and I went down to the Venetian to welcome them to town. While we were waiting for them, I played a bit of blackjack while Helen watched. I managed to win $115 and we decided to walk away winners. Gail and David had some trouble checking in and getting the right room, so while they worked that out, Helen and I walked around the casino.
I was getting a bit tired and we sat down at a penny slot machine. Helen encouraged me to try it, so I put in $10 and on the first spin was a winner. I couldn't tell how much I won, so I just watched the credits roll up and up...100, 200,300....of course those were pennies, so it wasn't that much. But when the credits stopped, I had won 900 pennies!!
We then met up with Gail and David and went off to the Grand Lux Café for dinner. We all ended up ordering sandwiches with fries. Helen had a grilled chicken sandwich, while I had a Cuban sandwich of pork and ham on a toasted roll. David and I each had a beer with meals. They were $7 each, a bit pricey.
After the early dinner, we went up to see their suite. It's a beautiful room that overlooks the Strip, all the way to the Bellagio Fountains. The sun was just going down and the neon was starting to fire up the LV night. Helen and I stayed a while, then decided to give them time to rest. They had been awake since 4 a.m. Michigan time and it was already 6 p.m. LV time.
As I drove home, Helen talked with her friend Sandy in Washington. They are childhood friends who have kept in touch for all these years. Helen told her about getting her cast off and wearing this new "Frankenstein" boot that she's sporting. Helen got this fancy new footwear on Tuesday and will wear it for another four weeks until her next doc appointment. Helen's fractured ankle is healing slowly, but steadily. She's gaining more confidence and independence every day.
She needs to wear this most of the day, but can take it off to sleep. It's lighter than the cast, but has about 7 or 8 Velcro strips to keep it in place.
Today Helen and Gail are planning a shopping trip to the Miracle Mile stores at Planet Hollywood. David is a gun guy and wants to check out a couple of gun shops in the area. I'll take the girls to PH and hit the poker room while they shop. Then we're going to meet at the PH buffet for a meal.
And the LV adventure continues.
Helen and I went down to the Venetian to welcome them to town. While we were waiting for them, I played a bit of blackjack while Helen watched. I managed to win $115 and we decided to walk away winners. Gail and David had some trouble checking in and getting the right room, so while they worked that out, Helen and I walked around the casino.
I was getting a bit tired and we sat down at a penny slot machine. Helen encouraged me to try it, so I put in $10 and on the first spin was a winner. I couldn't tell how much I won, so I just watched the credits roll up and up...100, 200,300....of course those were pennies, so it wasn't that much. But when the credits stopped, I had won 900 pennies!!
We then met up with Gail and David and went off to the Grand Lux Café for dinner. We all ended up ordering sandwiches with fries. Helen had a grilled chicken sandwich, while I had a Cuban sandwich of pork and ham on a toasted roll. David and I each had a beer with meals. They were $7 each, a bit pricey.
After the early dinner, we went up to see their suite. It's a beautiful room that overlooks the Strip, all the way to the Bellagio Fountains. The sun was just going down and the neon was starting to fire up the LV night. Helen and I stayed a while, then decided to give them time to rest. They had been awake since 4 a.m. Michigan time and it was already 6 p.m. LV time.
As I drove home, Helen talked with her friend Sandy in Washington. They are childhood friends who have kept in touch for all these years. Helen told her about getting her cast off and wearing this new "Frankenstein" boot that she's sporting. Helen got this fancy new footwear on Tuesday and will wear it for another four weeks until her next doc appointment. Helen's fractured ankle is healing slowly, but steadily. She's gaining more confidence and independence every day.
She needs to wear this most of the day, but can take it off to sleep. It's lighter than the cast, but has about 7 or 8 Velcro strips to keep it in place.
Today Helen and Gail are planning a shopping trip to the Miracle Mile stores at Planet Hollywood. David is a gun guy and wants to check out a couple of gun shops in the area. I'll take the girls to PH and hit the poker room while they shop. Then we're going to meet at the PH buffet for a meal.
And the LV adventure continues.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Updated Super Bowl Odds
During my Tuesday visit to The Suncoast, I picked up a sheet with the current Super Bowl odds. Here's what it looks like now:
Seahawks 2-1
Patriots 5-2
Cowboys 4-1
Broncos 9-2
Packers 5-1
Ravens 6-1
Colts 8-1
Panthers 10-1.
Seahawks 2-1
Patriots 5-2
Cowboys 4-1
Broncos 9-2
Packers 5-1
Ravens 6-1
Colts 8-1
Panthers 10-1.
Red Rock Canyon & a Return to the Tables
On Monday, Helen and I took Scott out to tour Red Rock Canyon, a national nature preserve only 10 minutes from our apartment.
The charge for visiting Red Rock is $7 per car, but Helen has a lifetime National Parks pass which gets us in for free. She received that a few years back when we visited the Grand Canyon. It's available to anyone who is permanently disabled.
Red Rock features a 13-mile paved road that takes you through the impressive beauty of the canyon. There are several spots to stop along the way to take pictures and soak up the scenery.
The weather was beautiful, roughly 60 degrees and bright sun, and we spent almost two hours doing the tour. Scott and I got out at several stops to take pics.
By the time we ended the tour, it was time for some lunch. We went to Red Rock Casino, just a couple of miles from the Canyon, and ate at Yardhouse, which boasts a selection of about 100 different beers on tap. We didn't have any brews, but enjoyed a great lunch. Helen had a Southwest Chicken Salad, Scott enjoyed a big plate of Chicken Nachos and I had a lunch combo of a small Caesar Salad and a BBQ Chicken personal pan pizza. Lots of chickens in that meal...
After lunch we headed back to our apt and just relaxed, watching TV and talking. We were so full from lunch that we didn't even think about dinner. Scott had to head over to Green Valley Ranch to prepare for a Tuesday business meeting, so he left and Helen and I watched TV.
On Tuesday, I did a morning interview with a woman who runs a delivery service in TC. It's for an article I'm writing for the TC Business News. I also left a voice mail for another article involving an Elk Rapids group that is setting up a home for older dogs who are abandoned. It's called Silver Muzzle Cottage and I'll write that one for The Ticker. www.traverseticker.com.
About noon, Helen encouraged me to go play some blackjack, so I headed over to the Suncoast. We also needed some fresh bread from the Middle Eastern Market, so I headed there first. I got all the way to the store before realizing that I had left my money clip at home. So it was back in the car and back home for the $$$$$. Then I headed to the Suncoast and sat at a blackjack table that was empty. The whole casino seemed real quiet for 1 p.m.
Anyway, on my first hand I bet $10 and got a 9-2 against the dealers 6. Naturally, I doubled down, putting out another $10. The dealer flipped a 3, then slapped a King on there for 19. I got another King for 21 and was up $20 to start. That was sort of an omen, as the cards ran pretty well. I stayed between $20 and$50 up for the half hour that I played. I decided to leave before the cards turned bad, so I walked with a profit of $55. Not huge, but a nice little run.
Then it was home and an evening of TV with Helen, who is getting more independent each day. Her ankle seems to be healing nicely and she's reporting less discomfort each day. She's looking forward to her dr. appointment next Tuesday and we're hopeful that her cast will come off then. Her good friend Gail and her husband David are coming to town next Wednesday for a week. They are staying at the Venetian and we're planning on spending some time with them, so Helen is really eager to get this broken ankle episode behind her.
And now our LV adventure continues...
Monday, January 5, 2015
Scott Comes to Town
Scott flew into LV on Sunday for a Tuesday business meeting at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, south of the Las Vegas Strip. If the weather in Grand Rapids cooperates, he'll be flying out early Wednesday. It's great to see him and nice that he can stay in our spare bedroom, which we equipped with an inflatable bed. Scott says the bed is pretty comfy.
He arrived in the morning, rented a car and drove out to our apartment, arriving about 10 or so. We hung out at the apartment for a bit, then decided to head over to the Suncoast Casino to watch the 1:30 Lions game at a new sports bar, The Game, which boasts more than 25 big screen TVs, plus a personal tv on each table.
I wasn't sure how busy it would be, so we got there about 1 and it was perfect. We got a great table, got Helen settled in and were able to see the game, along with the UNLV vs. Kansas hoops game. I won't go into the sordid details of the Lions defeat, but we had fun through most of the contest. We were whooping and clapping on each Lions first down and sitting silently as Dallas stole the contest. Over the course of three hours, we shared a veggie pizza and a dozen Buffalo Wings. Scott and I each had a couple of craft beers (liked the local Tenaya Creek Ale the best), while Helen opted for water.
We left about 5 or so and enjoyed a beautiful sight as the sun set over the western mountains. Back home we were too full to do dinner, so we just watched some TV, enjoying the new Downton Abbey episode, then off to bed.
This morning I made a run to the local Einstein Bagels for a half dozen bagels and two types of cream cheese. Pretty tasty with a hot black cup of coffee. Not sure what else we'll be doing today, but our LV adventure continues...
He arrived in the morning, rented a car and drove out to our apartment, arriving about 10 or so. We hung out at the apartment for a bit, then decided to head over to the Suncoast Casino to watch the 1:30 Lions game at a new sports bar, The Game, which boasts more than 25 big screen TVs, plus a personal tv on each table.
I wasn't sure how busy it would be, so we got there about 1 and it was perfect. We got a great table, got Helen settled in and were able to see the game, along with the UNLV vs. Kansas hoops game. I won't go into the sordid details of the Lions defeat, but we had fun through most of the contest. We were whooping and clapping on each Lions first down and sitting silently as Dallas stole the contest. Over the course of three hours, we shared a veggie pizza and a dozen Buffalo Wings. Scott and I each had a couple of craft beers (liked the local Tenaya Creek Ale the best), while Helen opted for water.
We left about 5 or so and enjoyed a beautiful sight as the sun set over the western mountains. Back home we were too full to do dinner, so we just watched some TV, enjoying the new Downton Abbey episode, then off to bed.
This morning I made a run to the local Einstein Bagels for a half dozen bagels and two types of cream cheese. Pretty tasty with a hot black cup of coffee. Not sure what else we'll be doing today, but our LV adventure continues...
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