The highlight of the past week was the Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons concert that we saw on Saturday at the Palms.
The 82-year-old Valli was terrific! He sang all of the group's big hits and rarely took a break during the 90-minute show. Helen and I had sweet seats in the front row of the balcony. Because of her wheelchair, we have to choose handicapped accessible seats, which are usually in the back row of the main floor. But these front row seats in the Palms Pearl Theater gave us a great view.
Overall, though, the Palms is a dreary casino, a mere shadow of its former self. When it first opened the Palms was an upscale, airy and clean gaming center. Now it seems dingy and jammed with too many slot machines and few table games.
Before the show I played blackjack, winning $85. But during the 30 minutes I played, I was joined by 3 other players and NONE of them had a clue what they were doing. It was a two deck pitch game in which players hold the cards. Two of them didn't know how to hold the cards (one hand only on the cards) and one didn't know how to tuck the cards when he had a hand. One guy was so drunk he could hardly stay awake. He once stayed on A-4 - a total of Five!! Eventually the dealer urged him to take a break, a nice move on her part.
On Sunday, I called Caesar Entertainment to take advantage of an email offer I got last week. We'll be seeing Celine Dion on April 4, along with three nights at Ballys - ALL COMPED!
We check into a handicapped accessible room in Bally's Jubilee Tower on April 3 and will spend 3 nights there. A friend suggested I must be a high roller to get these deals. Not really a BIG bettor, but I do play consistently at Caesars Properties. For example, I play blackjack in the $10-$25 range. And play a TON of $1-2 Texas Hold 'em poker. The comps add up quickly and they add a LOT of fun to our winter visits here. As a result, I am a Diamond Level card holder, which gives me 2 free show tickets every month and other goodies.
Yesterday I played poker at Planet Hollywood (A Caesars Entertainment property) and ended up winning $80. But it was a struggle. I got a seat at the table about 9:30 a.m. and bought in for $100. On my second hand, I looked down to see A-J both of spades. I was determined to see a flop and was pretty pleased to see A-J-2 of mixed suits. FLOPPED TWO PAIR!
A guy bet $25 and everyone folded except me. I just called his bet, hoping he had an Ace with a King or Queen. The turn card was a 8 and my foe bet $30. I decided to go all in with my last $75. He quickly called and showed a pair of deuces for 3 of a kind. The river card was no help to me and in my first 5minutes at the table I was already down $100 and re-buying for another $100.
It was a real international table, with players from England, Germany and Africa. The 41-year-old German guy said he comes to Vegas every year to spend a solid week playing poker. No casinos in Germany? he was asked. Yes, he said, but they are very formal. You have to wear a tie and jacket and he doesn't like those rules.
Things got better and over the course of the next 3 hours I hit a couple of flushes and a straight to replenish my stack of chips. As I said, I ended up $80 ahead before heading home.
Helen was busy getting some birthday cards ready to send. Grandson Alan's birthday is Feb. 23 and brother Bruce's is March 3. She was also on the phone with Anna and sister-in-law Lorraine who is battling rain/flood issues in southern California. Their roof has been leaking and it's been hectic dealing with a roofing contractor who didn't solve their problem. Ah, the joys of home ownership. Makes our decision to rent seem pretty sweet!
On Friday we head to Paris for 3 nights (yep, comped) and I'll be playing in a blackjack tournament. Should be fun! And so our adventure continues...
On the 17th, I qualified for Ballys Free Roll poker tourney on March 2 by logging my 45th hour of play. I haven't had any big wins or losses over the past week.
No comments:
Post a Comment