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...