Weekend Update!

I've found that Saturdays are usually good days to play poker in Las Vegas. A lot of weekend visitors are in town to try their hand at the game and it's often a good opportunity to stack up some winnings.

So on Saturday I visited Ballys with two thoughts in mind - play some poker and log a few hours toward the weekly free roll tourney on Thursday night. Got down there about 10a.m  hoping there would be an overnight game with a lot of bleary-eyed players from the night before. But, the poker room was dead. No game, so I looked for a blackjack table to kill some time and make some $$$.

Found an empty $15 table and played heads-up against the dealer for about 45 minutes and won $200. Went back to check on the poker room and there were3 guys waiting to play. I hung around for about 10 minutes and two more players arrived, so we got a game going shortly after 11. I bought in for $100, won a couple of hands early and was just playing solid poker for about 3 hours. No huge pots, but built my stack up to $175 or so.

There was a mouthy guy from New York sitting on my right and he was obnoxious with a Capital O!!
He and another player split a $200 pot when they both had J-10 and hit full houses. Both had each put about half of the cash in the pot and basically got their money back. But the NY guy just wouldn't quit whining about how he felt he should have taken the pot. His bad luck, etc. And then he got into an argument with a guy from Texas over which state had the most money, Texas or New York.
"Effing Wall Street has more money than all of Texas, combined," said the Loudmouth. He went on that rant several times before the dealer finally asked him to tone it down. The Texan was very patient and the issue died down.

Then I got dealt a K-Q of spades and when a guy bet $10, I called, along with one other player. Flop comes K of hearts, J of spades, 10 of diamonds. Gives me top pair of K, plus 3 big spades. Original bettor bets $35 and I think about what he might have. A-Q would give him a straight or he could have A-A. But he only bet 10 before the flop, so I put him on a smaller pair, maybe 9-9. And I do have an open end straight draw and top pair, so I decide to shove in my whole stack....All in.

I get called by both other guys! The pot is more than $500 when the turn card comes...Queen of hearts...giving me two pair- kings and queens.   River card is a harmless 3 of clubs. We show our cards and my two pair is beaten by the original better who had Q-Q and hit trips on the flop. The other guy had A-9 of hearts and missed his flush draw on the river.

So left poker with a 100 loss and went back to bj where I played for about an hour, winning another $260 before calling it a day and driving home. 

Helen spent her day catching up on some of her favorite shows via On Demand. She also talked and texted with family and friends, plus got our laundry done. She had a lot of energy and it was a good day for her MS-wise. Dinner was middle eastern food. After a little TV, it was time to sleep.

Up early Sunday to get a good seat at the Red Rock sports book for NFL action. I got over there about 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. games and the place was already packed. Not a seat to be had! And there had to be about 30 people standing in the betting line. So I picked out a few parlays and teasers before joining the others in line. Here's what I bet:

A $25 "Ties Win" parlay of Lions -6, Vikings Pick 'Em, Dolphins -2 and Raiders -6. If Oakland can win by a TD, this one pays $250. Thought this one was lost when Miami trailed 10-0 late in the 4th quarter, but Miami pulled it out.

A $25 teaser of Titans +8, Bills +8, Cowboys -2, Steelers -3and Seahawks -1. WINNER pays $125.

A $50 mega-teaser of Bills +11, Steelers Pick em, Patriots -5 and Seahawks +2. WINNER pays $100.

And I have a $25 teaser played at Paris that I played last Thursday of CAROLINA/NEW ORLEANS UNDER58, MSU +30, Dolphins+7, Patriots -5, Seahawks +2 and Raiders +2. This one will pay $87.50 if the Raiders come through

This shapes up as one of my best FB weeks in a LONG time, especially if the Raiders can Win big!!

Since I couldn't get a seat at the sports book, I stood and watched the first half of the early games and soaked up the excitement that is so vibrant at a Vegas Sports Book on an NFL Sunday. You have people cheering on every play with every game on the huge screens to make viewing such a treat. Every turnover has someone cheering and someone else groaning! Every TD triggers the same cheers and jeers! Lots of fun.

But at halftime, I wandered over to the BJ tables and found one where I could watch two NFL games on nearby TVs. I watched the Cowboys game and the Miami game while keeping an eye on my BJ cards. Luckily I had a nice hot streak in BJ and posted a $330 profit in just over an hour. The early games were ending and took home some Chinese food for dinner -orange chicken, fried rice and steamed veggies.

At home, Helen was watching a movie, so I logged on to check out my fantasy football teams. Won my game in one league and was leading in the other until last night when my foe got 3 tds from Washington QB. So tonight I trailed by 9 points, but have two Raider receivers and their kicker going for me. I am favored and hope to win. It's been a good fantasy season for me...first place in both leagues.

And so our LV adventure continues...