Gees! I never got a chance to post about the Vegas trip. First of all, thanks to all who joined us for Derek's party. I hope we all made it a special weekend for Derek - and thanks to all the attendees for putting up with us degenerate gambling addicts and our idiosyncrasies over the few days.
And - financially - I ended up about even for the weekend, based on two shocking turn of events at the end of the trip.
Random thoughts from the weekend:
1) Dumbest move: When I arrived, I sat down with Derek and 7 others at lunch int the House of Blues restaurant. The waiter came over and asked if I wanted anything; I hastily replied "Vodka Tonic". Uh sure - you can pay $7 for it now, or pay... let's see... $0 for it in 20 minutes.
2) I'm saddened that I turned 8-10 people away from the Blue Jackets for the rest of their lives.
3) I saw a row of "Blazing 7's" slot machines on Friday; I called Kermit to tell him I was thinking of him - I believe he was on the internet at that moment searching out plane tickets to come out for Saturday. He better make it out in March - right, Mer?
4) On every trip, you can look back and see a "turning point" - the point where (from a gambling wins/losses standpoint) went south. I believe that would be waking up on Saturday. (that's better than some trips, where the turning point was getting in the cab at the airport!)
5) Dammit, if you know for a fact that the Terps are going to lose - then bet it! Bet it big! Don't do this pansy ass $22 bet against the Terps. Betting against a favorite sports team is NOT the same as betting don't pass. Agree?
6) It was great fun sitting at the sports book for 12 - TWELVE - straight hours on Saturday. However, I've got to adopt the Don Hershey eating cycle for those sessions, since it is VERY easy to not eat for 12, 15, 18 hours. Stomachs and intestinal systems don't like that very much.
7) Forgot about the craps session at the Excalibur. That was fun, even though we were all losing money.
8) I don't have the absolute hatred of teh Excalibur that others do, but it is a weird place. Even the pit bosses are creepy - one talked to me for 10 minutes about his son's baseball team in Iowa while I was playing Texas Hold Em (the table game). I was going to scream "I don't care!" but I was winning, so that helped my mood.
9) Went back to the Monte to buy magic tricks for the boys. I walked thru on Sun afternoon - there were $5 craps, blackjack available - and a $5 Pai Gow table! How do they make any money on that at all?????
10) Can't tell you how depressing and deflating the Browns' loss was in the sportsbook. That was harsh.
11) Played $5 craps at the Luxor later that day. I took Keith over with me - I think he had a great time observing the table and all the various bets and action. He doesn't know this, but I caught myself getting pissed at him. We were there for about 45 minutes,I was up $40, 50 or so - and I asked him what the score of the game was. He said he'd check, and left to the book.
next roller - establish a point, seven.
next roller - craps, establish a point, seven.
next roller - craps, craps, establish a point, seven.
Of course, we know whose fault this is. WHERE THE HELL IS KEITH????
(just kidding,Keith...)
12) But then had a fabulous black jack session over there. I'll blog about this later, but at a $10 table where I sat by myself, I turned $125 into $600 in 20 minutes.
I was supposed to meet Jay and Keith back at the Mandalay at 8 pm to leave for the airport; I left the craps table about at 7:30. I was walking thtough the Luxor when my eye caught an completely empty $10 BJ table. The table seemed to be under a little more light than the others. As I was still walking by, I looked at the dealer.
He gave me a small smile, held out his hand, and said, "Sir?"
I didn't intend to play, but it looked so inviting, and I had 20 minutes... .ok.
Let's just say the dealer was perfect - the one I want to have if they have blackjack in heaven. He was foreign - Turkish or Central Asian, I think, and spoke with a thick accent.
He was very formal - but not at all unfriendly. There was no small talk, but there was no doubt that he wanted you to do well. He said "thank you" every time you put a bet out for him - not just when he won. And then of course, when he won with me, he said "thank you" again. I sawre, in a 5 minute period, he said "thank you" 30 times.
His actual dealing was impeccable. It was not slow, but it was not overwhelmingly fast. I was able to think and process the cards without being rushed, nor was I waiting for the dealer to deliver the cards.
And I was the only one at the table - and when you have a limited amount of time, that's the only way to play.
I won a few right off the bat, so I started to increment the base $10 bet by $5 everytime I won.
I got to $25 and then started to put a $1 delare bet on hands over $25.
I eventually got to a $70 bet. That's how good it was.
13) I never play slots at all - but had some time in the airport so I put $20 in a video poker machine. About 10 minutes in, I drew "A-7-A-8-A".
Wow! I wonder what four of a kind pays? I look - it says 400 credits ($100).
Cool - I draw - I get a 2 and another Ace!
The machine starts binging. I look and confirm the pay - only the four of a kind line was not lit.
The next line above was "Four Aces". That payed 800 credits. But that was not lit.
The line about that was "Four Aces with a 2, 3, 4". That payed....2000 credits.
The only thing I know about slots is that if you hit a jackpot, don't touch anything and yell for help. So I let out a weird "aaaaaaaaaaaa!", not much in joy but more of a scream when you find a garter snake in your basement. The attendant came over, smiled, told me how to cash out, and I was on my way with $500 in profit.
14) I recovered much better this time from the red eye. I was able to work on Monday and was fully recovered by Tuesday (compared to a recovery date of Thursday in the spring). 4 cups of Starbucks on the trip home certainly helped.
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