Helen and I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Paris because I was invited to play in a big blackjack tournament there.
We drove to the Strip on Friday afternoon and checked into our comped room on the 18th floor about 3 p.m. The room faced east, giving us a view of Ballys, the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino and, in the distance, the Thomas & Mack Arena where the Runnin' Rebels play basketball.
After checking in, Helen rested in the room for a while and I played a little blackjack, winning about $60 or so. I also registered for the tourney and was assigned to play in the first session at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
We had dinner Friday at Buca Di Beppo, an Italian eatery at Ballys. They have a great menu and we've eaten here several times over the past couple of years. We opted for a supreme pizza and split an order of canolis for dessert with coffee. A sweet way to end the day.
Saturday morning I went down to get us muffins and coffee for breakfast in our room. This was our usual morning routine, only the type of muffins changed. Blueberry and Banana nut were our favorites. Then I went down about 8:30 to get ready for the tourney, which was held in an area that held 14 tables, six players per table.
So there were 84 players in the first session with 3 other sessions planned for the day. If they were all full, that meant there would be 336 players and they paid the top 48 spots. Winner received$25,000 in playable coupons that could be used to win real chips, which could be cashed in. Even 48th place paid $2,000 in coupons.
Each player started with 1,000 in play chips. The rules called for us to play 20 hands of bj and at the end of 20hands, the top 2 players advanced to the next round on Sunday. I decided to start conservatively, betting 50 on the first hand while others bet 100 to 200. I was in the 4th seat, so I got to see what the 1st-3rd players bet before I placed my wager. The #1 seat was the big bettor, pushing in 200. The first hand the dealer made 21, taking all our bets.
On the 2nd bet, the #1 guy bet the rest of his chips, all 800 and won! I bet 25and also won. So play went on pretty even until the 6-7 hand when the #1 player, who had a healthy lead, bet 1,000 and got a blackjack! That gave him a HUGE lead and pretty much meant the rest of us were playing for 2nd place. At this point, there were 3 of us pretty close with 700-800 and two with only 100-200 in chips.
It stayed even until about the 14th hand when for some unknown reason, the #1 guy shoved all his chips into the betting square. This was a HUGE blunder! All he had to do was bet 25 a hand for the last 7hands and he was a sure winner. Anyway, he lost it all on one hand.
At hand 17 they do a count and I was 3rd, only 100 behind the chip leader. I won the last 3 hands and ended up after 20 hands AS THE CHIP LEADER - by 50 chips. So I advanced to the next round, again at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Since my tourney was over by 9:45, I went back to the room and told Helen all about the tourney. Then we walked over to Planet Hollywood to do some shopping at the Miracle Mile shops. I had earned two free buffets by playing at PH over the past week, so we decided to hit the buffet about 3 p.m. and make that our big meal of the day.It was a quiet time at the buffet and we had no line at all when we arrived. We checked out all the food before making our choices. Helen wanted middle eastern food, so I filled her plate with hummus, pita bread, grilled veggies, stuffed grape leaves and coucous salad. I had jerk chicken, chicken shwarma, grilled veggies, Caesar salad, pita bread and hummus. For dessert I had a piece of cherry pie and a raspberry tart (fruit's healthy right?) while Helen chose the same raspberry tart. Coffee finished the tasty meal.
A little more shopping and walking was required after all that food, so we again strolled the mall before heading back to Paris. We were both a bit tired, so we went to the room and watched some TV before calling it a night.
On Sunday after breakfast, I opened a custom birthday card that Helen made for me. She also gave me a pair of CDs - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Fats Domino. Two of our favorites that we didn't have in our musical library. Then I went to play in the tourney.
This time I was in the #1 seat and it wasn't lucky to start. For the first 5-6 hands I got no winners, having 13-17 and losing them all. My stack was dwindling and others were building their chips stacks. After hand 17, I was down to 150 in chips,while the top leaders were in the 1,200-1,500 range. It was hard to see how I could get to second place, but I got a bit of confidence when I bet all 150 and got a blackjack on hand 18, while everyone else lost their bets. That gave me $375. On hand 19, I again betting all 375 and won again.
Now I had 750 while the second place, a woman sitting next to me in the #2 seat, had only $1050.
With luck, I could pass her and move on. So on hand 20, I bet the whole $750. Two other guys in the 600-700 range also pushed in all their chips. I was thrilled when I got a 20 against the dealers 2 and felt like I might actually move on when she showed a queen in the hole. But she slapped a 9 on her 12 and cleared the table. My comeback was painfully thwarted. aaaaagh.
So I went back to the room to tell Helen about it and we decided to head out to celebrate my birthday. Got calls from Scott and Anna and my buddy Nick and it was great to hear from them. We decided to go over to Blondies, a sports bar at Planet Hollywood to watch Michigan State play Wisconsin. On the way, I stopped at the Paris sports book and bet $25 on the Spartans, plus a $25 parlay of MSU +3 and Monmouth -2.5.
We got there just before the game started at 1 p.m. and ordered a pair of hefty burgers along with a hefty basket of French fries. I opted for a Scottish red ale and we savored our meal as we watched the Spartans post a convincing win. It was a fun afternoon, made even better when Monmouth covered the spread too! I cashed both tickets for $137. Then it was back to Paris for a little sightseeing and back to the room to rest and watch "Victoria" on PBS.
On Monday we again enjoyed our muffin breakfast before checking out and heading back to our apartment. After getting unpacked and having lunch, I went over to Red Rock to check out the hoops action and play a little bj. I won $60 in blackjack and brought home a big turkey sandwich that we split for dinner. Talked with brother Bruce for a while. He's in Florida seeing several spring training Tiger games and visiting with friends.
And so our adventure continues...
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
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