Monday at MGM

It's been a couple of days since I posted an entry, so there are a few things to catch up on.

Saturday night Helen and I went to see "The Nutcracker," a production by the Las Vegas Ballet. It was performed at Paris Hotel and Casino and I enjoyed the show quite a bit. I'd give it a solid B, but I think I liked it more than Helen did. She's a real Nutcracker fan and noted that this performance varied from the more traditional version in a few ways. I didn't really notice the difference, but she did.

One interesting note, the performance was sponsored by poker pro Phil Ivey and his wife. We looked through the audience to see if Phil was there, but didn't spot him anywhere.

Also, on the way out of the theater, as we were getting Helen into her wheelchair, I managed to gouge a chunk of flesh out of my right-hand pinkie finger. I jammed it on some metal on the wheelchair and it was bleeding pretty good, so we stopped at a restroom as we left. I drove home with my right hand swathed in a couple of tissues. At the apt. we wrapped a bandaid on it and it was sore, but usable.

Also Saturday, I talked with Gordon about our Dad's situation. He'll be moving into an adult care center called Forest View, about 10 minutes from Bev's house in Lincoln Park. Seems like a smooth transition from Gordon's place in Fla to the new facility and Dad seems fine with the move. That's a big worry off my mind. Putting Dad in a facility was one of those decisions we just had to deal with.

On Sunday, we went to church early, then I headed over to the Suncoast to watch football and play bj. It was the second losing day of the trip. Between bj and fb bets, I went down $120. Got home about 5 and made us a couple of hefty salads for dinner.

This morning, Helen and I had coffee and watched the morning news before I headed to MGM to play poker. Between 10 and 3 p.m., I ground out a profit of $86, a nice turnaround from Sunday's setback. I got home about 4, picked up our mail and checked my emails. Just finished putting together a big pot of chili on the stove where it'll cook for an hour or so. Tonight we'll be relaxing and watching some TV, but tomorrow our adventure continues...

Profitable Strip Stroll

Friday morning began with coffee, a bagel and an hour-long visit with our Italian friends, Tony Soprano and his family.

About 9 a.m. I hit the road to the Strip. I parked at Bill's Gambling Hall and made a football bet for my friend Terry. He likes the Cardinals -12 vs. Detroit tomorrow. I played a little blackjack at Bills, cashing out with a modest profit of $26.

Then I strolled next door to the Flamingo where I sat down at a $10 bj table and played for about an hour, racking up a profit of $50. So far in two stops, I'm up $76.

Over dozens of Las Vegas visits, I've always tried to do a few of these "hit and run" strolls down the Strip. My theory is that during any single bj session there is a point where a player is usually up, even if it's only $20 or so. If you stay longer, you often give back that minor profit. But if you take that profit, then hit the next joint, you can rack up $100 or more during several stops.

With that in mind, I wandered into Harrah's and played at a bj table for about an hour or so with two farmers from Kansas. They were still there when I cashed out with a profit of $57. That's $133 in three stops and I decided to take my profit and have lunch - an eight-piece order of wings and a diet Pepsi at WingStop inside O'Shea's.

From there it was back to Bill's where I parked the car. Now it was about 2 p.m. and I fully intended to head home with my $133. But I saw a $5 bj table beckoning me and I bought in for $40. A young couple was playing there and it was obvious they didn't know what the heck they were doing. I cringed inside and bet minimum bets of $5-$8, fearing the impact their goofy decisions would have on my cards. After about 15 minutes, I was up $23 and decided to walk.

So during the four sessions, I profited $156 - nice!

When I got home, there was an email from my brother Gordon, explaining that this weekend they will be bringing my Dad back to Michigan from Florida. Dad will be going into an adult care facility in a Detroit suburb, near my sister Bev. Dad's been falling repeatedly and needs more care than Gordon and his wife Chris are able to provide. I'm feeling sad about this, but hopefully Dad will get quality, compassionate care in this new home.

For dinner I slapped together some tasty chicken salad sandwiches, with a crunchy dill pickle and corn chips. Not fancy, but delicious.

Tonight Helen and I will be going to the Las Vegas Ballet performance of The Nutcracker at Paris Hotel and Casino. Really looking forward to this holiday masterpiece as our LV adventure continues...

Wagerless Wednesday & Profitable Thursday

Wednesday was devoted to running some errands and just relaxing.

The morning began with hot coffee and the morning news. At 945 I took Helen to her weekly Bible study group at the Lakes Lutheran church, then returned home to check emails and read some online news web sites. After picking her up at 11:30 and returning to the apt., I made us lunch of turkey and cheese sandwiches.

Then it was off to the grocery store to pick up a few things, which turned into a major shopping trip. Got back to the apt. about 2:30 and just relaxed a while, watching TV, getting the mail and kicking back. Dinner was some hefty salads with organic greens, cucumbers, roma tomatoes, cheddar cheese and kidney beans. In the evening we watched some TV and our niece Katie called.

This morning I headed off to the Strip for some poker. I parked at Bill's Gambling Hall, then walked across to Bally's where I got in a $1-2 no-limit game. I bought in for $100 and played even for about an hour. Then I hit a real dry spell and even though I was patient, my stack dwindled down to about $45. But, as poker sometimes goes, I won a pot with Aces and 10s
and then another with three 7s. Not huge pots, but enough to get me ahead about $25.

Eventually I checked my stack and I was $10 up and decided to walk. I returned to Bill's where the car was parked and since I hadn't had lunch, opted for one of their $2 hotdogs. But first I sat at a blackjack table where I won the first 6 hands before the dealer had to shuffle. A quick count showed I was up $75, so I cashed out and went for that hotdog.

While at Bill's I got a $50 bet on the Colts for Terry and a $20 fb teaser for myself that will pay $140 if it hits - Colts over 38, Pats -1, Saints -1, Packers +8, Chargers -1 and Cardinals -6.

Total profit for the day was a hard-fought $65, pending the outcome of the fb bet.

Got home about 4p.m. and whipped up a tasty dinner of beef nachos with guacamole and sour cream. Now we're just relaxing with the Thursday night comedy shows on NBC - always a chuckle or two there. But tomorrow our adventure continues...

Bellagio Visit

Tuesday morning I started the day by writing my January casino entertainment column for the Booth newspapers. It takes about two hours to compile the concert lineup and write it.

Then I had to make a quick trip to the Suncoast to cash a fb ticket for my friend Terry, who just missed a $1,000 winner when the Az-SF game failed to total more than 44 points. Anyway he backed it up with a $150 under bet, so I needed to go get his cash.

Helen was on the phone with Anna when I left the apt around 9:30. After getting T's money, I found a blackjack table and played for about 45 minutes. It was a really nice run with several nice double downs and splits. Playing $10-20 per hand, I walked away up $240. But I wasn't the biggest winner at the table. A guy sitting at third base was playing $50 to $200 per hand and had a HUGE stack of black ($100) and green ($25) chips when I left. Hope he walked with a nice profit and didn't give it back!

I was home by 11 or so and made Helen and I a lunch of turkey, cheese and lettuce sandwiches in pita bread.

It was such a nice day - 60 and sunny - that we decided to take a ride down to the Strip. It was Helen's first visit to the Strip since we arrived in LV. She's been relaxing at home for most of the time.

We decided to check out Bellagio and its Christmas decorations. We parked in the B's parking deck and took an elevator that delivered us right outside the Conservatory, which was BEAUTIFULLY decorated with all types of floral plants. Huge reindeer were made of brown nuts (someone said pecans), while polar bears were made of white flowers (maybe carnations) and hundreds of poinsettias were stunning. Oversized Xmas packages and candy were on display, along with towering Nutcrackers. Like everything at the B, it's really impressive!!

We stayed at the B for about an hour or so, checking out the casino decorations. After walking a while, we took a break at a 25-cent blackjack machine. I put in $20 and cashed out with $20.50 - a profit of 50 Cents! That's a 2.5 percent return on my money...not outstanding, but about the same as a bank CD, I think!

After returning home, we watched a little TV and thought about dinner. We decided on lasagna (Thank You Stouffers) along with a side salad. The evening was spent with our TV friends from "The Office" - a two-hour chucklefest from 8-10 on TBS. A quiet night, but today I'm sure our adventure will continue...

Sunday at Red Rock, Monday at Suncoast

Sunday morning began with Helen and I attending the 8 a.m. service at The Lakes Lutheran Church. Never hurts to start the day in an inspirational way.

After church, I headed over to the Red Rock to watch the NFL games, which begin at 10 a.m. out here in the Pacific Time Zone. I had 4 parlay, teaser cards and they all went down. Closest I got was a $20 parlay that would have paid $500 if I hit all 5 games. Hit four of five, losing on the Raiders +1 against the Redskins.

Meanwhile, my friend Terry has a VERY LIVE 6-team parlay ticket that will pay $1,000 if Az-SF combine for more than 44 points tonight. And it's a "Ties Win" parlay, meaning that if the total hits right on 44 (24-20, 27-17) T will collect the grand. As a backup, he had me put $150 on the under for him. But interestingly, since he got the first ticket, the total rose to 45...which means he could actually hit BOTH tickets if it falls right on that magic number of 44!!!!

This morning I went to Suncoast to get his under ticket and played some blackjack while there. I had a really nice session - cashing up $195. So I put $50 on the Cardinals -4 tonight. That means for today I'll either profit $145 or $245 -- Go Cards!!

While I was grinding out a profit at the green felt tables, Helen was on the phone with Anna and later her sister Natalie. Still cold and snowy in TC. Not at all like here where it's 58 and bright sunshine. What a great place LV is in winter!!

That's all for today, but tomorrow our adventure will surely continue...

Friday and Saturday - A Push

Didn't mean to fall behind in the blogging, but I need to catch up Friday and Saturday in this one entry.

Friday saw me park at Bally's then head to Planet Hollywood for some poker. I arrived around 11 a.m. and got seated at a shiny new $1-2 no limit game that was just opening. Things did not go well. I got very few good starting hands and when I did, they seemed to fall short on the turn or river. My best hand, a flush, got beaten by a higher flush. My pair of Qs got edged on the river by an Ace. Things like that. But that's poker. Anyway, I left down $140 for the day.

For those watching our diet, dinner was a Middle Eastern feast with hummus, fresh pita bread, kalamati olives, tabouli and lebne. Dessert was a fist full of Ghiradelli chocolate squares - Man, those babies are addictive!

Niece Katie called last night and it was great to catch up with her. She'll be coming out here on Feb. 18 for an open end visit. Can't wait to show her the sites.

This morning I had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a few items and Helen's prescription, before going down to the Monte Carlo poker room. I parked at the MC and walked to Planet Hollywood to cash a hoops ticket. The walk was made MUCH longer by the construction of City Center along the west side of the Strip. They have the sidewalk blocked, so what used to be a straight walk down the Strip is now a meandering hike up steps, across walkways, and back down steps - all outside the City Center. Man what a hassle!!!

After cashing the ticket, I returned to the MC and got a seat at a $1-2 no limit game. It was up and down from the get go. Aggressive play with only average cards enabled me to get up $60-70 early, but then a L-O-O-O-N-G dry spell saw my pile melt back to about even.

Things looked better when I glanced at my hand and found A-A looking back at me. I bet $15 and got one caller. The flop was 3-9-J of mixed suits and I tossed out $25. The guy called. The turn was a Q and I bet another $25, hoping he had something like K-Q. Anyway, he went all in for $25. He showed his Q-Q, giving him a set and my only hope was to snag one of the two remaining Aces. No luck...

I had told Helen I would be home about 5, but when the time to leave came I was down about $60, so I called and pushed back my departure by an hour. I was hoping I could hit a hand or two to at least get back to even. My plan worked perfectly when I looked down and again saw A-A looking back at me.

This time, I was REALLY aggressive. I was in late position and an early raiser bet $15 and got four callers. I had about $75 left and went ALL IN. Two guys called, one had K-K and the other had 10-10. My Aces held up and the pot was over $200. When the dust settled, I had posted a hard-earned profit of $142 - two dollars more than I had lost on Friday, LOL!

I called Helen and we decided to celebrate with a take-out dinner of sandwiches from Jason's Deli, a national chain with a store only a mile or so from our apartment. I went for the "New York Yankees" pastrami on rye, while Helen opted for the "California Club." Both are hefty sandwiches in true deli tradition.

Now we're just relaxing after dinner with a little TV, but tomorrow our adventure continues.
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Free Show Tickets, Sort of...

Thursday's adventure began on the Strip when I parked at Bally's and went to Paris to cash a sports bet (Go, Red Raiders).

While at Paris I planned to buy a couple of tickets to The Nutcracker, one of Helen's favorite Christmas traditions, which is being performed by the Las Vegas Ballet at the Paris theater. I arrived about 9:15 a.m. and the ticket booth was closed til 9:30, so I killed time at a blackjack table waiting for the booth to open.

It worked out well, since I racked up $150 in chips in about 20 minutes. I needed $130 for the tickets, so I took the money, walked and made the purchase. Free tickets, plus $20 - a good start to the day.

While there I made a $50 hoops totals bet (Syracuse & Florida over 145 - easy winner!!!) and a $100 bet for Terry on the Pistons (over 198.5 total - winner!!!)

I haven't been to Bellagio or Caesars Palace yet this trip, so I walked thru both of them to get a little exercise and to see what had changed. The B is in full-blown holiday mode with oversized presents and candies decorating the place. It's beautiful as usual.

CP looked the same, though a bit too quiet. I walked through the Forum Shops and exited near the Mirage, where I went in to check out a new eatery, BB Kings BBQ. It looks bluesy and since it was almost 11 a.m. I had some brunch there - three pancakes and bacon, plus coffee for $18, including tip. A bit pricey for flapjacks.

Then I crossed the street to Harrah's where I sat in at a bj table and quickly lost $100. Tried another table and things went better - I won $205. That was all the cards for the day. Walking back to the car, I stopped at Ghiradelli's to buy Helen some chocolates and at Bill's Gambling Hall where I made a $25 parlay bet on the Steelers-Browns game. They have a promotion going where you get a Free t-shirt if you make a $25 fb bet, so I did get a shirt, though the bet lost when the teams couldn't score over 33 points.

So far the day I won $125 in blackjack, plus $25 on the sports bets. Not bad.

When I got home, Helen was really surprised by the chocolates and show tickets. Dinner was a couple of hefty salads that I crafted out of organic baby greens, roma tomatoes, black beans, salsa and grated cheddar, We're looking forward to seeing the Nutcracker on Saturday, Dec. 19. Hitting the Vegas Strip on a Saturday night will be BIG fun as our adventure continues...