Back to Poker at Ballys

Returned to Ballys poker room yesterday to log some time toward the free roll tourney set for March 2.

Got down there about 9:30 and immediately saw something troubling. The Ballys parking deck is undergoing some work, including the installation of new gates. Like many other LV Strip casinos, Ballys will soon begin CHARGING FOR PARKING!

Don't know the details, including costs, etc, but I hope some of us regulars will be able to get our fees waived. A dealer told me that Diamond level players, like me, will get free parking. I hope he's right.

Anyway, I got to the poker room and didn't get a seat until about 10:15. Bought in for $100 and won a couple of pots in the first 30 minutes. My stack was roughly $140 when I looked down and found 9-9, a decent playable pair. There were four of us in the hand to see the flop - A-K-9 of mixed suits.
This is a SWEET flop for me and I hoped at least 1 or 2 of my opponents had an ace or a king.

One guy bet $25 and I was the only caller. I hemmed and hawed, stalling a bit before calling so he'd think I had a marginal hand or was hoping to hit a straight. Things got way better for me when the turn card was.....THE FOURTH NINE! 

I checked my hand and the guy bet $30. Again I just called. The river card was another King and I hoped it helped his hand. He bet another $30 and after stalling again, I raised it to $90. Now it was his turn to stall and think....finally he shoved another $60 into the pot, calling me. I showed the quad nines and the table erupted when he showed his A-K, a powerful full house!

In addition to the healthy pot, I also got a $50 bonus from the house for having four-of-a-kind. That hand was the highlight of my poker session. I played for five hours and walked with a profit of $251.

After leaving the poker room, I stopped by the Paris sports book and put $25 on MSU +4.5 against Michigan. That was an ugly game and I was once again betrayed by that Spartan hoops team. One game they look great, then they look so ugly.

Stopped at a Paris eatery and picked up two chef salads for dinner. The $19 bill was comped. Love us some free food! While I was gone, Helen had a shipment of her MS medicine arrive.  Always a relief to get that shipment on time and without any issues.

Today I plan to play more poker, logging hours toward the free roll and running up my comp balance. And so our adventure continues...