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...