Christmas Brunch at the HG

Helen and I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day brunch at the Hawthorn Grill at the JW Marriott hotel/Rampart Casino.

 

 

We had a 1 p.m. reservation and arrived a few minutes early, but got seated immediately in the upscale steakhouse. I had cashed in $120 in comps for the buffet meal which featured carving stations of ham and turkey, an elaborate seafood selection with shrimp, crab and scallops, about a dozen side dishes, mashed potatoes, apple spiced dressing and some 20 different desserts.

 

Just a couple tables away was Santa Claus, obviously in need of a good meal after his night of flying around the world delivering toys and other treats to good little girls and boys.

 

 

He and Mrs. Claus pounded down a couple of mimosas before bellying up to the buffet. And, in a touching scene, a little girl, maybe 5 or 6, went over to his table and thanked him for delivering presents at her home. The Jolly Old Elf gave her a little necklace and she was thrilled. Nice job, Santa!

 

And so our adventure continues...

 

More Plates

Spotted several more plates during my recent travels.

                                           From the north country, eh?

                                           Huh?

                                           Kyle's Camaro

                                           Really #14?

                                         Sales rep uses commissions for a Mercedes?

                                            Opera fan?

                                           Fergus the Army Mom

Christmas Tradition at Bellagio

For the past few years, Helen and I have made a Christmas-time visit to The Bellagio Conservatory to enjoy their colorful holiday display.

 

 

This year we went on Saturday, hoping to avoid some of the crowds we usually encounter when we get there right on Christmas Day. I thought maybe folks would be shopping instead of enjoying the Bellagio display, but it was still pretty crowded.

The display is always colorful and impressive. but we both agreed that this year's was not as nice as previous seasons. It features more than 30,000 live plants, including more than 20,000 poinsettias. But it seemed like they recycled some features, such as the polar bears, who were sponsored by Coca-Cola and featured that logo on them. We spent less than 30 minutes there, then headed home.

Driving down the Strip, I was able to see the new security measures being installed. For the length of the Strip, from Mandalay Bay on the south to Sahara on the north, posts are being placed to prevent a vehicle from leaving the road and striking pedestrians. It's a major project and will not be done until late next year, from reports.

Today we'll be enjoying Christmas Brunch at The Hawthorne Grill at the JW Marriott hotel and Rampart Casino.  The menu features carving stations for turkey and ham, plus a special seafood area featuring shrimp and crab. Lots of veggies and side dishes, plus literally dozens of different desserts will round out our meal.

Should be fun as our adventure continues...

Playin' The Comps Game

Due to an ongoing losing streak, I've taken some time away from the gaming tables and focused on some freelance writing projects.

I've been working on a fun story, asking folks across northern Michigan "What was your first job and what lessons did you learn from it?" I've gotten great responses and learned about jobs such as store clerk, lifeguard, grass cutter, cherry picker and assistant at an optometrist office.

Another story I'm working on is a feature about a guy who is training hunting dogs and launching a game preserve near Traverse City.

Anyway, I've taken a break from poker and blackjack for awhile, so no good gambling adventures.

But that doesn't mean there have been no casino visits. In fact, for the past two nights Helen and I have dined at The Rampart buffet, courtesy of my comps.

 Wednesday night is their weekly Southwest Fiesta night and we enjoyed the Mexican food they had there. Helen had two tacos and a beef fajita, followed by chocolate cream pie for dessert. I enjoyed a chicken fajita, Spanish rice and some tangy wings, along with two brownies and two cookies for dessert.

Thursday night is Deli Night at the buffet and I started with a pastrami & swiss on rye sandwich. Then I had spaghetti and meatballs, followed by an ice cream sundae - chocolate, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Helen had chicken cacciatore, with vegetables, and a stuffed cabbage leaf. For dessert she had another piece of chocolate cream pie.

And we made a 1 p.m. reservation on Christmas Day at the Rampart's high-end steak house  to enjoy Christmas Brunch there. So that's where we'll have our special holiday meal. Even with all of these free meals, I still have more than $100 in comps at the Rampart, as our adventure continues...

  

What's That Plate Say??

Here's another chapter of Vegas Vanity Plates...

 

                                 Two drivers from the same family - Terri and Jerry Potts?

                                         Minivan driver used to be crazy?

It's Teresa!

The #1 PNut is on the roll!!

 

Wish For a Red Vette!

 

Huh?

 

 

For poker players...Money Plays!

 

 

 

TV is back and Terry is Coming to Town!

Lots of good news to share today.

Cox Cable guy came and got our TV service restored by swapping out our box. We had been told a tech would be here between 1-3 p.m. and it the guy showed up right at the stroke of 3. Took him about 30 minutes to restore our service. Man, I have no patience when technology doesn't work.

On another positive note, my longtime friend Terry is coming to Vegas next month. He arrives on the 19th and heads back to Detroit on the 22nd. He's staying at Ballys and I may go down and stay on the Strip while he's here. I'm not real keen on leaving Helen alone, though, so we'll see how that works.

Today, since we were waiting for the cable guy, I did a lot of writing work. Finished a story about an art gallery that is building a new brewery next door and also worked on a story about "what was your first job and what lessons did you learn from it?" And arranged to interview a guy tomorrow who owns a yak ranch and is preparing to launch a hunting preserve/dog training business. Got to keep working until the poker gods begin to smile on us again.

And so our adventure continues...

Family Fun at Ballys

On Thursday, Helen's brother Norman and his wife Lorraine flew in from LA to spend a couple of nights in Vegas with us.

They booked a room at Ballys, so I got us a complementary room there and we arrived about 5 p.m. on Thursday. Using the special "Diamond Level" check-in, I got our room - 5806 - in the renovated Jubilee Tower. Here's the view from our room.

We were all hungry, so we had Mexican food at Tequila Taqueria. I opted for chicken quesadilla, while Helen had 3 beef tacos. Norman and Lorraine both went for enchiladas. It was good and we left there filled. After dinner we hung out at the Paris sports book for a while before calling it a night about 11 or so.

The next morning we just relaxed until we got together about 11 or so. We walked over to Caesars Palace where we had lunch at one of Helen's favorites - Cheesecake Factory. Helen had a Chinese Chicken salad, while I had a chicken salad sandwich. Sort of a theme going here. Norm had, you guessed it, grilled chicken while Lorraine had something that I can't recall.

After lunch, Norm and I hit the sports book while Helen and Lorraine went shopping. Norm is a big LA Kings fan and he put $50 on them to beat the Rangers. I played a 3-team hockey parlay. Neither of our bets cashed but it was a lot of fun watching the games for 3 hours or so. We walked back to Ballys and Lorraine suggested we gather in their room, order a pizza and watch a movie.

That sounded great to us and it worked out wonderfully. Lorraine played hostess and went down to pick up a fabulous deep-dish Chicago style pizza from Giordano's at Ballys, along with a crunchy Caesar salad. We really enjoyed both the pizza and the salad which watching "American Made," a thriller starring Tom Cruise. The movie ended about midnight and Helen and I made the short trip back to our room.

On Saturday we again met up about 11 and revisited the Paris sports book where we took over one of their oversized leather couches to watch college bowl games and the Lions-Bears contest. Norm and Lorraine didn't have to go to the airport until 330 or so and that worked out great. Lorraine and Helen took a walk and picked up some outstanding sub sandwiches, chips and drinks and we had a tasty lunch there at the sports book. Norm put$50 on Detroit -3 to win the first half and he cashed that one. My two football bets went down in flames.

Then it was time to say goodbye as they caught an Uber ride to the airport and Helen and I drove back to our apartment. The day ended with frustration as Helen and I were greeted by NO CABLE service when we got home. It's out again today and there's supposed to be a tech coming tomorrow. The Cox service here is terrible...we've made four or five calls and been told 2 or 3 different reasons why our cable is out and no one seems to be able to help. And there are no techs on duty on Sunday, so our earliest repair is 1-3 pm tomorrow. We missed some of our favorite shows - PBS Midsummer Mysteries, CBS Sunday morning and NFL football. AAAAARGH!!

I made a quick trip to Rampart to watch the first half of the early NFL games and bought a 5-team $10 teaser that turned out to be a winner. Had Eagles -2, Vikings -6, Ravens -2, Rams +7 and Steelers +8. That will pay $50 when I cash it tomorrow.

Heading back from Rampart, I stopped at the Middle Eastern market and picked up fresh bread, lebne, hummus, tabouli and Greek feta. That's dinner tonight, as our adventure continues...

Losing Streak

The past few days have included an ongoing losing streak at both poker and blackjack.

It started last Thursday, the7th, when I dropped $90 playing poker at the Mirage. On Friday I changed venues, but lost $100 playing BJ at Red Rock. I finally posted a win on Saturday, squeeking out a $45 victory at Mirage.

I took Sunday off from playing cards and spent the morning at The Rampart, watching football. It was a fun morning, but my $25 in bets went down without a win. I was seated between a Chicago Bears fan and a New York Giants fan during the games. We had some good talks about football and when halftime came, the Giants fan offered to buy hotdogs for all of us. We each had 2 dogs and enjoyed the second half of the games.

Also on Sunday, we learned that Helen's brother Norman and his wife Lorraine will be coming to visit us on Thursday. They're staying at Ballys, so I called there and got us a room too. It should be fun!

On Monday I did an interview for a Northern Express article. Talked with a guy who, six years ago, launched a business selling glassware to wineries and breweries. He started in a small garage and now runs an operation with six production lines and 100,000 glasses in stock. His company sold just over 1,000,000 pieces of glass last year. Wrote the story yesterday, too.

Then I went to Red Rock and played some video poker, dropping $20.

Today, Tuesday, I headed back to Mirage to change my poker luck. But my losing streak continued when I dropped $90.  It was especially frustrating because I was up $20-25 after about two hours of play, but during the third hour things went real bad real fast.

Key hand came when I was dealt 5-5 and the flop came A-A-Q. Three of us checked it around and the turn card was a 5, giving me a full house. It seemed like no one else had much, since we had all checked, so I bet $25. One guy folded, but the other guy called my bet. The river card was a 3 that didn't change things. I went all in for my last $40 and the guy called me, showing Q-Q. He had flopped a huge full house and it cost me my stack.

My only condolence was that on the way home, I stopped by Paris and, using my club points, picked up a deluxe pizza for dinner. And so our adventure continues...

Vanity Plates

Las Vegas is a hotbed of vanity plates and I've decided to try to log a few that I come across in my travels around town.

From time to time, I'll be randomly posting images that I take at red lights. No, I'm not shooting while moving. That would be a big gamble, even in Las Vegas.

Perhaps a fast food worker?

Gift from a grateful child?

 

Is there a whole fleet of Honey-mobiles and this is just number 18?

 

Joe's ride

Wonder who owns this one?

What?

Poker and a New (to us) Buffet

The past few days have been full of poker shenanigans and a Wednesday night visit to a new - to us - buffet.

Looking back a few days, Sunday was the best football betting day that I've had in quite a long time - perhaps ever. I cashed 3 different parlay/teaser tickets for a profit of $417. And the 3 winning bets were only $10, $15 and $20.

On Monday I made my first Strip Trip in over a week. I parked at Ballys and played blackjack there, dropping $70. Then I walked north on the Strip, though the Cromwell, Flamingo and Linq before playing another session of BJ at Harrah's. Another loss, this time $50. Not the way I hoped to start the day.

So I crossed the Strip and went to the Mirage, hoping to try their poker room. I got into a $1-2 Texas Hold Em game and won $70 in about four hours. That offset most of my bj losses and I was happy to drop only $30 on the visit.

I learned that the Mirage will be hosting a Free Roll poker tournament on Jan 4, designed for local players. To get into the tourney you have to log 60 hours of play by Jan 2. They will pay $600 to the top 10 finishers, while 11-20 will receive $500. All players below the 20th finisher will receive $100.
And they also offer $2 in comps for every hour you play.

So doing the math, if you log the 60 hours you will received - at a minimum - $100 in cash, plus earn $120 in comps that can be free meals, etc. So I decided to try to log those hours and play in the tourney. If I can finish in the top 10, $600 in cash and 120 in comps would be sweet!

For dinner on Tuesday, I took home a couple of chef salads from an eatery at Paris. They were huge and tasty...and comped! While I was on the Strip, Helen was getting our Christmas cards ready for mailing. We know the custom of sending cards through snail mail is old-fashioned, but we like doing it and it's an annual ritual for us.

Wednesday morning found me heading back to the Mirage where I arrived just before 10 a.m. and got an immediate seat at the poker table. In less than 30 minutes I was up about $100 and getting great starting hands. At one point I won four straight pots, though they were smallish. I was dominating the table and guys were reluctant to tangle with me when I raised the pot.

But nothing lasts forever and I hit a dry spell where I didn't play a hand for over 30 minutes. But then came the key hand of the day.

I was dealt K-9 of hearts and bet $7, getting two callers. The flop came 4 of diamonds, King of spades, 9 of spades. I flopped two pair and was now planning on how to extract maximum profit from this hand. I bet $15 and one guy folded, while the other called. The pot was now about $50. The turn card was the 9 of diamonds, giving me A FULL HOUSE. I bet $25, hoping my opponent would call or raise. He called.

The river card was the Ace of Spades, often called the most beautiful card in the deck. Again, I bet $25, hoping the guy would call. I was happily surprised when he said "All In" moving the rest of his $100 or so into the pot. I quickly called, showing my full house. He showed the Q-8 of Spades. He had hit his flush - the highest possible flush - on the river and it cost him all of his chips.

Thanks to that big hand, and a couple of other nice pots, I finished with a profit of $360 and logged 5-plus more hours toward the Big 60 goal! Another 10 days like this one and I'll have my tourney seat locked up.

I got home about 4:30 and about an hour later Helen and I headed over to The Rampart casino for dinner. It was Southwestern Fiesta night at the buffet there and it featured several types of Mexican/southwest foods. I check with a pit boss and got us two comped meals. A few days ago I learned that I have some $370 in comps to burn up at the Rampart, dating back to last year. I played there for several months last year and never spent any of the comps, so now we'll be eating there free for awhile. Today is New York Deli night and we'll be checking that out.

The buffet is nice and not too crowded. Helen had a taco and two beef fajitas, while I had a beef fajita, a chicken fajita and two pieces of grilled chicken. What's missing -the veggies...oops. No dessert for Helen, but I couldn't resist a slab of cherry pie topped with chocolate ice cream. After dinner we tried our luck on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine, putting in a $20 bill and cashing out for $30.25. We had one spin of the wheel, but it was a smallish win. In all the wheel spins I've ever had on those WOF machines, I've never had a large payout. But free dinners and a profit of $10.25!

We got home about 7 p.m. and settled in for a little TV watching...then our niece Katie called and we talked to her for over an hour. It's always great to hear from her and to learn what's up with her active little guy, Daniel.

And so our adventure continues...




  

Helen's Birthday!!

Helen spent much of her birthday on Friday taking phone calls from friends and family. If it wasn't a phone call, there were texts and emails all wishing her the best on her special day. She enjoyed all of them and literally spent hours visiting with loved ones.

While she was busy, I headed out to play poker and blackjack locally. My first stop was at Red Rock casino, where I played some morning poker. I had to wait about 20 minutes for a new game to begin, so I enjoyed some complementary coffee as I waited. When the cards got in the air, I did OK early, winning a couple of pots and building my $100 buy-in up to about $140 or so.

The key hand came when I was dealt at A-Q, both diamonds. I bet $16 and got only one caller. The flop came A-Q-J of different suits. I was looking at the top two pair, but there was also the danger of a straight hitting, so when the guy bet $30, I raised him to $90, thinking I could take the pot right there. I was surprised when he went All-In with the rest of his chips, about $60. I hoped he had A-K or Q-J, so I called.

He showed K-10. He had flopped a straight and my only hope was to hit a A or Q on the turn and river. Neither came and I lost my whole stack. I left the poker table and tried blackjack where I had a nice hot streak and got back my $100 in less than an hour.

I took a break around noon and came home to make us lunch - vegetable soup for Helen, bean soup for me.

Then I headed over to our other local casino, Rampart, to try my luck there.

Spent a couple hours there and netted $50 profit in blackjack. It also gave me a chance to check out the new remodeled sports book. It's a beauty - bigger, brighter and more comfortable that the old sports book which was cozy, but gloomy due to its dark wood paneling and dim lighting.

I headed home about 4 o'clock and we went off to dinner at one of Helen's favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory. She enjoyed the BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad, while I opted for Pasta DaVinci, penne pasta with mushrooms and chicken in a cream sauce. Tasty and filling!

We brought home leftovers, along with a slab of Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake for dessert.

The day ended with some quiet TV time and us sharing the cheesecake. And so our adventure continues...

Solid Gold Soul Show With The Birthday Girl

Thursday night Helen and I went to see the Solid Gold Soul show at Ballys and it was a very fun evening.

The Motown-themed performance featured impersonators of Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, The Four Tops, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles and James Brown. The music was classic 1960s stuff and the audience was laughing, clapping and singing along with the great hits. A really fun time. And audience participation was encouraged. One woman got up on stage and did The Twist with Sam Cooke during "Twistin' The Night Away."

But the highlight of the audience participation took place when James Brown invited some middle-aged white guy named Shawn from Nevada on stage to do a "dance off." "That part of the stage is all yours," James told the guy, who removed his nerd glasses and put them in his back pocket before busting his moves.

Shawn started with sort of jumping jack move, waving his arms above his head and jumping up and down. He followed up with a back summersault that probably crunched those aforementioned glasses. Then Shawn did several wild gyrations that even had The Godfather of Soul laughing.

"OK, Shawn, you can have a seat...we don't have insurance for that type of stuff," Brown told Shawn, who proved once again that the "white guy with no rhythm" is a reality.

Before the show, Helen and I put $20 into a 25-cent Haywire Deluxe slot machine and in five minutes cashed out with $25. That's a $1-per-minute rate that's had to beat!!

Earlier in the day I played some blackjack at our two local casinos - Red Rock and Rampart. A loser at Red Rock, but enough of a winner at Rampart to post a $40 profit for the day.

Today is Helen's birthday!!

She's not on facebook, but if you'd like to call or text or email her, I'm sure she would like that. We're planning a dinner at her favorite LV eatery - Cheesecake Factory - as our adventure continues...

A Little Motown and a Poker Update

Helen and I scored tickets to our first show of the winter and will be going to see "Solid Gold Soul" Thursday night at Ballys.

 

It's a Motown show with impersonators paying tribute to The Four Tops, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. We saw the show last year and really enjoyed it, so decided to go again. And the tickets are COMPLEMENTARY, thanks to my Diamond player status with provides us with two free show tickets every month.

Poker has been a roller coaster ride over the past few days. On Sunday, I played at Caesars Palace and did really well, winning $402 in about two hours.  I was making hand after hand and the chips just kept piling up. I was seated between a loudmouth Australian from Perth and a woman from Chicago. She was quiet and friendly, but the Aussie was a pain. His only redeeming  quality was his ability to call every bet I made. I took several pots from him.

To celebrate, I stopped by the Ghiradelli chocolate store and bought a bag of 80 little squares that Helen and I enjoy. They've raised the price from $27 to $30, but it's still a treat when enjoy when poker is going our way.

But things changed and the poker gods frowned on me on both Monday and Tuesday. I played both days at Ballys. While on Sunday I got plenty of good starting cards, it was just the opposite on Monday. In two hours of play, I never had more than two pair- no trips, no straights, no flushes and certainly no full houses. It was pretty impressive that I ended up losing only $30 or so.

On Tuesday I was back at Ballys, hoping to change my poker fortunes. But all I did was drop another $100 over four hours. I had several good hands, but they didn't hold up. My pocket AA lost to a straight, and twice my KK lost. On one of those hands I was up against a player who had only $40 left and went all in. I called and we showed our hands. He had Q-J against my K-K and I was feeling pretty good until the flop came J-J-4. As if that wasn't bad enough, the turns was another J! It was that kind of day.

Tuesday was a bit of reunion as I played against an old nemesis, Leo. He's an irascible regular at Ballys and is usually grumpy, even demeaning, when you take his chips. We didn't clash yesterday, but he had a great story to share. Last weekend he played in a Senior Event of the World Series of Poker. It was a $250 buy-in and darned if he didn't win the tourney which had more than 200 entries. He won $13,000 and a ring. He admitted being very nervous when it got to the final four players. His winning hand of A-9 beat out A-J when a 9 hit the flop and the other guy never improved his hand.

Leo never says hello to me, even when I nod in his direction. I wasn't sure if he remembered me or not, but learned differently when I saw him nod toward me and tell another player,"That guys been beating me for the last two years."

Walking from the poker room to the parking deck, I stopped by a blackjack table and squeezed out an $80 win in about 20 minutes. So for the day I only dropped $20.

Sometimes when the poker gods are not in your corner, the bj deities have your back, I guess. And so our adventure continues...

Caesars Palace Super Bowl Odds

Caesars Palace is offering the following current odds for 2018 Super Bowl. Here are a few of the highlights...and lowlights.

Patriots & Eagles 3-1
Steelers 9-2
Vikings & Saints 9-1
Rams 14-1
Chiefs & Seahawks 18-1
LIONS 25-1
Cardinals & Dolphins 500-1
Bears & Broncos 800-1
Colts 2500-1
Giants 5000-1
Browns, 49ers Off The Board

A No-Fuss, No-Muss Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day was one of the smoothest, nicest, most relaxing in recent years.

Being in Las Vegas for a major holiday is a bit different for us than for other folks. While others may have family and friends gathering for the day, Helen and I spend it together. We don't have family and very few friends here to share the day with. So we always go out for a nice meal, this year at the Red Rock casino where we opted for the buffet. Tons to choose from and - in the tradition of Thanksgiving - all you can eat and more!

We decided on an early meal and got there about 11:30 a.m. The buffet began serving a traditional Turkey-mashed potatoes-stuffing-cranberry sauce and tons more at 8 .m. and continued until 9 p.m. When we arrived there was already a long line, but thanks to my President player card, we got into a line with only 3 people ahead of us.

The buffet was $21.95 per person, but I was able to use $21 in comp points that I had racked up by playing at Red Rock, so with tax included I had to only pay $24 for our two dinners. It's pretty hard to get two Thanksgiving Day meals for that price anywhere.

In a few minutes we were seated at a cozy table for two and I was off to fill our plates. Helen wanted to start with salad, so I got her a green salad and a pasta salad, both were good choices, she said. I opted for a healthy plate of about 20 peel-and-eat chilled shrimp with sauce. After peeling-and-eating the shrimp, I got in line for our entrees.

As a buffet veteran, I know that you need to walk and check out the whole selection before making any food choices. There was a line of about 20 people for the turkey carving station and that was annoying, but I spotted a second carving station that was slicing turkey and prime rib. I was feeling pretty clever as I got us each a healthy slab of turkey breast, then looked for the other Thanksgiving side dishes. But there were none at this station. Aaaargh.

I had to take our plates and hike to the back of the now-even-longer line at the other turkey station, which also offered prime rib, ham, lamb and baked salmon. The woman ahead of me had all those meat choices and nothing else piled on her plate. Apparently not a vegetarian, but rockin' her all-protein diet

Things moved along quickly and I was able to fill Helen's plate with mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce and sautéed brussel sprouts. I had the same. For dessert, we each enjoyed a slab of chocolate cream pie.

After eating, we went to the sports book to check on the Lions game. I had made a parlay bet of Vikings -3, Chargers -1 and Redskins -7. My $15 ticket was a winner and I'll go back today to collect $90. Helen watched me play a little 25-cent video blackjack and I won another $3.50 and racked up a few comp points too.

Then we returned to the apartment and spent the day relaxing. I watched football while Helen was on the phone with relatives and friends. In the evening we watched TV and enjoyed a slab of the free pumpkin pie that I had picked up on Wednesday. A fun, relaxing day as our adventure continues...

Poker & FREE Pie!!

Any day you can score a free pie is a good day.

And that's exactly what I did on Wednesday at the Red Rock casino.

The morning started with me working on an article I'm writing for the Northern Express. Then I took off to run a couple of errands and make my first visit of the winter to the Rampart casino. I played blackjack there for about 90 minutes and dropped $40.

Then I headed home to make our lunch - vegetable rotini soup for Helen and bean soup for me. We've been eating soup for lunch for a few weeks now in an effort to drop a few pounds.

After lunch I rolled over to the Red Rock to play poker and get some football action on tomorrow's games. Since the first game - Lions vs. Vikings - kicks off at 9:30 a.m. I wanted to get the bets in early. Settling into the poker room, I quickly got a seat at a 1-2 no-limit game.

On my first hand I got dealt K-Q and the flop came K-Q-4. I took down that pot and 3 of the first four. I was on a nice roll, raising bets and taking down pots. On the fourth hand I was dealt 5-7 both hearts and the flop came 3-4-6, giving me a straight. I took down a $25 pot with that one. Anyway, I built up a profit of over $100 and just coasted along after that. When things cooled off, after a couple of hours, I left with a profit of $115.

I had seen people walking around the casino toting pumpkin pies, so I stopped by the players club to ask about how one might receive one of these Chef Pierre beauties. I was told I needed to earn 300 points on my players card. The lady ran my card through their computer and said, "Oh, you earned 2,000 points in the poker room! You get a pie!"

As a point of reference, in the poker room you earn $1 (1,000 points) per hour. So I played a bit over 2 hours and logged 2,000+plus points.

I bought a 3-team parlay ticket on tomorrow's games. My $15 wager is for the Vikings -3, Chargers -1 and Redskins -7. When it hits, it will pay $90.

After snagging my FREE pie, I headed home where Helen was on the phone with Anna. They talk daily, just touching base about Anna's life in Texas.  I prepared us scrambled egg wraps for dinner, sort of a breakfast dinner, but tasty and easy to fix. Now we'll watch some TV and relax.

Tomorrow we'll have Thanksgiving Dinner at the Red Rock buffet as our adventure continues...

Al vs The Bulldog

Tuesday was a busy poker day.

I headed to Ballys, arriving about 11:45 and got a seat at the 1-2 no limit hold-em game. Things started off well enough, but after two hours or so my $100 buy-in had slowly melted down to about $50.

But things looked better when I looked down and found A-J of clubs staring back at me. I raised the $2 blind up to $7 and got 3 callers. The pot was about $30 when the flop came 2-5-7 of different suits. I bet $10 and got only 1 caller. The turn card was another 7 and both of us checked. The river card was a 4. Even though I just had Ace I, I decided to make a play for the pot and shoved my remaining $40 in the pot, expecting my opponent to fold.

Nope.

The guy called and showed a K-2, giving him a pair of deuces and taking the pot. How can he call a $40 bet with a pair of 2s? AAAARGH.

So I left Ballys and came back to the apartment by 3 p.m. Helen was designing some Christmas cards, so I decided to head over to Red Rock for a couple of hours to try to recover my loss at Ballys.

Got seated right away in a 1-2 game. I was seated in the 1 seat, right to the left of the dealer and did OK early, winning a couple of pots and getting up about $30. Then a few of the players left and a lanky guy in his 50s took the #4 seat, directly across the table from me. He looked familiar and I identified him quickly when I saw the huge World Series Ring on his right hand.

I was squaring off against Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers ace who was nicknamed "The Bulldog" by Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda. Since retiring in 2000 Hershiser has played a lot of poker and is announcing Dodgers games following the retirement of Vin Scully. Orel and his wife Dana have a home here in Sumerlin and another place is Pasadena where they live during the MLB season. But now they are here and play quite often at the Red Rock.

Orel usually plays $2-5 no limit, but there was no seat at the table, so he was in the $1-2 game. So for about an hour, we talked Dodgers and poker, while not really squaring off against each other. He's an aggressive player and, frankly, I'm glad I didn't get very strong hands that I would have to play against him. He did go all in for $200 on one hand and lost it, but was very polite and simply bought another $200 worth of chips.

He is very popular figure in the poker room and treats people with respect. He tips, actually over tips, the dealer when he wins and is really a pleasure to play poker with. Nice guy, win or lose.

After an hour or so, a seat opened at the 2-5 table and Orel moved over there. His seat was taken by his wife, Dana, a strong player in  her own right. I played against her for about 30 minutes before I left with a profit of only $12.

Went home and made us turkey, cheese and lettuce wraps for dinner. Then it was a little TV and relaxing.

And so our adventure continues...

First Strip Trip

After running a few morning errands, I made my first trip to the Strip for a poker session.

Arriving at Bally's about 11 a.m., I had my first encounter with their new "paid parking" system. I drove into the parking deck and stopped at the new kiosk where a digital message directed me to insert my Total Rewards players card. I'm at Diamond status, qualifying me for FREE parking, but when I shoved the card into the slot the message read "INVALID." AAAAARGH.

So I took a ticket and parked on my usual level five. I call it the "Hank Greenberg Level." To help me remember where I parked the trusty GMC Terrain, I always keep track by using the uniform numbers of famous ballplayers. Three is Babe Ruth, four is Lou Gehrig, Six is Al Kaline, seven is Rocky Colavito, eight is Yogi Berra. So at Bally's it's always Greenberg.

After parking, I went to the Total Rewards counter to straighten out the "free parking" situation. The lady there confirmed my diamond status and told me that when I left, to put the ticket in the kiosk, insert my player card. That's what I did and my parking was both free and trouble-free.

Then I strolled to the Bally's poker room, my favorite card room on the Strip. Walking up, I was greeted by Gene, one of the best dealer's at Bally's. But there's no game going on and I waited about 30 minutes until one got started. As the first player at the table, I took the #4 seat, Soon we had players in the 1,3,5,6 and 9 seats.

Adding a little international flavor to the table were two Lebanese brothers, Frank and Waseem, as in "Waseeem to be the matter?" His joke,not mine. Next to me in the 5 seat was Marcia, a sassy New York woman in her 70s. She was seated in a wheelchair, but earned little sympathy due to her tendency to mouth off about every hand.

I bought in for $100 and had good luck early on, building my stack to about $140, then $180, then $220.  I always keep track of how large my stack is at the table and my plan was to not let it go under $160. A streak of bad cards melted my stack down to about $170 and I was thinking about ending my session after two hours when I was dealt A-K , both clubs.

I raised the $2 blind to $12 and got three callers, which built the pot to about $50. Flop came 3-7-K of mixed suits. I flopped kings with an ace kicker! I bet $15, hoping to narrow the action down to one other player, and was surprised when a woman at the other end of the table shoved "All In" with her last $31. Did she hit trips or two pair?  The other player still in the pot was seated in the 3 seat to my right and I was again surprised when he called her all in bet, tossing $31 into the pot.

At this point, I decided I could beat one, but maybe not two of them, so I decided to see if I could muscle #3 out of the pot. I bet $100 and really didn't expect him to call - but he did!

The turn and river cards didn't help my hand at all and we showed our cards. The woman who went all in had pocket queens. The #3 seat had K-J for kings with the jack kicker. I took down this sweet pot with my kings, Ace kicker! After stacking my chips, I was up almost $300!!

I played a few more minutes and walking after 2 1/2 hours with a profit of $280.

Since we were here in April, Ballys has made several rules changes, including changing their bonus payouts for quads,straight flushes and royal flushes. Those used to build up, but now are paid on a straight basis -$50 for quads, $100 for straight flushes and $500 for the royals.

But the biggest change, I feel, is in their free roll tournament. They used to have a free roll tourney on the first Thursday of the month. To qualify you had to play 30 hours during the previous month. It paid $500 to the final 20 players and last winter I played 5 times and cashed all 5 times - taking down $2,500.

But now it's a weekly tourney, instead of monthly. To qualify for a free entry, you need to log 20 hours of play from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. the following Saturday. But if you don't log the hours, you can buy your way in for $130. The tourney is held each Saturday night at 8 p.m. and typically draws 40+ players, according to a couple of dealers I spoke with. But instead of paying the final 20 players 500 each, they play it like a regular tourney with the top 15 finishers getting paid and a top prize of $2,500. The remaining spots vary in payouts depending on how many pay $130 to enter.

My plan is to try to get the 20 hours in through 4 or 5 sessions this week and play Saturday. We'll see how it goes.

While I was matching poker wits, Helen received a FedEx delivery of her MS medicine. Glad that arrived without a hitch. When I got home, I whipped up one of Helen's favorite dinners - a big baked potato topped with melted cheese, broccoli and greek yogurt. Then it was time to watch TV and root for my fantasy football teams, both locked in tight games. I ended up winning both games, one by a single point, the other by 3 points! Alas, I am still in last place in both leagues!

And so our adventure continues...