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...