Vegas Diary, Part 4

And we come to the conclusion of the diary from Vegas. I finally have time to finish this up before we move on to other topics.

Sunday started again with an early wakeup - I think the most sleep I got on one night was 5 hours - and to the Pai Gow tables with the Cantonese dealer. After a gigantic Chocolate Chip muffin, a few of us -Jay, Laura, Wiz, Layup? - found ourselves at the Blackjack Switch table.

I have to be honest - I am starting to love this game. There is a lot of strategy involved here. Dealer has a 8 up, you have 9-8 and 10-10. What do you do? Do you take the 20 off the board, and go to a 19 & 18?

What about the dealer having a 4 up, and you have 10-3 and A-8? Split and double? Or stand with your 19? Wiz and I got into many discussions on how to play these. It was clear that he comes from the aggresive Sean Payton coaching tree - take away "sure" winners to double in advantageous spots; I obviously come from the Marty Schottenheimer tree - protecting "sure" winners if you got them.

(By the way, if Wiz ever made his own BJ card, I 'm sure it owuld look something like this to the right.)

This was also the scene of our rules discussion with the dealers/pit boss. As most of you know, in black jack switch, everyone pushes if the dealer has 22. I think the felt says "dealer pushes on 22".

Well, our dealer had an Ace showing, then turned over another ace, then a 10.....A hard 12, and a soft 22. Isn't that a push for everyone? We stopped her before she turned another card.

She was puzzled, then realized what we were saying. The first pit boss came over (Eleanor, I think), and after much discussion, she said the dealer has to hit. This is played as 12, according to the casino.

But why? The felt does not say hard 22 - it says 22. We played it out, and this pit boss understood our point at least, and would check into it.

Another pit boss - a black lady - came over and we presented out case to her. She was incredulous that we would even think this is a valid argument. This is 12! She almost shouted those words multiple times.

Here is a link to a Wizard of Vegas post where I presented the case - and most of the responses are against me.

At the same time, Don and Mike are playing UTH across the pit. The black lady goes over there - and with her back to us - presumably start talking to Don and Mike about the idiots at black jack switch that insist 12 is 22. The nerve! As Don and Mike are listening while grimacing, I spot Don over there and raise my hand - Hi Don! How's it going?

Don wanted to slither under the table at that point rather than acknowledge he was with us.

Off to golf, and a terrible round at Bali Hai. The course is nice - I like the fact that if you miss a fairway you are not "dead" and lost a ball. However, the planes taking off from McCarran detract from the experience - a LOT.

I have to say I love my new driver - when I hit it. When I hit it, I'm at least keeping up with Don and Mike (which is better than in recent years). However, the timing is all off right now, and I'm either duck hooking it or producing an awful block. Wiz gave me some "good" advice: "A duck is always better than a block". Next tee shot: 150 yds dead left. Thanks, ass.

Back to the Mirage and ( I believe) the best meal of the trip - the buffet. That's a tradition we should keep - the Sunday evening buffet. After that, where else but UTH? The group got the table for a few hours - however, the eye candy was lacking this night as well. Apparently, the dealer said Sunday Night at Revolution is "transvestite night" or something to that effect.

Well, I made a nice profit at the table, and was getting a little bored....and I saw Leland standing there waiting for something......... "Craps run? " I said to Leland. Of course. Off we went.

We found an empty $15 table that was joined quickly by an odd assortment of people - three college age kids to my right, a foreign couple on Leland's side, a semi-high roller with a female escort. After a bit, the table warmed up pretty nicely. It was never on fire but it was warm for a good 2 hours. The shooters made about 2-3 points each, lots of numbers, and then sevened out. And this repeated for 8-10 shooters. No one had the dice for over 15 minutes, but everyone had them for at least 10. (And oh my God - the field was on fire. My horn high ace deuce - my personal crack cocaine - was coming through, and this kid next to me was making a mint on the field. He turned $100 into $500 quickly, mostly on the field bets.)

Well, we left making another nice profit - my first yellow chip (and my camera didn't work!). After cashing out, I was considering going upstairs - but then I see Leland hanging out at a BJ table with John the Dealer dealing. Leland wasn't playing, but he seemed to think this was a hotel bar where he could ust lounge around for an hour or so.

The table was empty - so why not? I jumped in. it was not the minimums I was used to, so I was a bit cautious with the outlay. I lost the first hand - but then I got on a roll. Finally! After 4-5 years of getting smoked at Pai Gow by John, I was actually winning. He went on break after 20 minutes, and I more than doubled my outlay. That was a good signal to leave for the night.

Monday - Layup actually got up, showered and left before I got out of bed! A first! After some leisurely candy shopping and packing, I headed to the UTH table - alone - for one last session. The table was empty when I started playing - but then a drunk 20-something guy came around. He was yelling "Butt Scratcher!" just like the Family Guy episode. For whatever reason, he stopped at my table. He offered me one ("no thanks"), and offered the dealer one. She actaulyl took it and scratched her back with it.

He was clearly drunk and a leftover from the night before. He was wearing a shirt that said "Swallow, or it gets in your eye!". However, he seemed mesmerized by UTH. He watched me for about 10 minutes, trying to learn the game; I finally convinced him to sit down and play. We both were winning, as I left for the airport up for the fourth session in a row, and Mr. ButtScratcher had almost doubled his money.