Sat, Mar 17
After going to bed around 4, I woke up at.....11 am. That was a bit disorienting. I never do that in Vegas. Layup was still sleeping as well...After the buffet, it was time for the annual visit to the blackjack salon.
The four of us (Wiz and Ira) got there around 1 - and soon after, Leland comes in with his suitcases in tow. He's ready to move into the salon - I'm sure there are rooms in the back somewhere! Unfortunately, he was heading out - signaling the beginning of the end of the trip. Always a sad moment.
The salon experience was a good one this year, with a moderate profit. The highlight was our reenactment of a classic "WKRP in Cincinnati" episode, the one where a tornado strikes the station. In the episode, Andy Travis is injured when a window blows out; he lies motionless on one of the desks. The gang decides to get him away from the window and moves him to a desk across the room. Just as they get there and as they lay Andy down, Jennifer (Loni Anderson) cries out "You idiots, you're not supposed to move an injured person!". So the team then picks up Andy again back to the desk by the window where he originally was.
That was us in the solon. We sat down to a table that was double deck; we decided we wanted a shoe table, so we all picked up at the same time and moved to table across the room with the shoe. Drinks, chips, everything. Just as we sat down, we realized the limits were three times higher than the table we were at. Back we went, with our tails between our legs, to the original table. Some advanced scouting would have been helpful.
The gambling on the trip went downhill from there. I don't think I had a winning session after the salon. I blame Leland for the bad luck. Dinner that night was at CPK, and I finally handed out my gifts from China. I stopped at a gambling market and bought real, made-in-China, playing cards (everyone appreciated) and real,made-in-China poker chips. The chips brought a lot of "WTF" and "gee, thanks" comments from the crew.
After dinner, almost everyone left their chips on the table, so I took them upstairs back to the room. Poker chips weigh a lot, and I put them all in one plastic bag. I got to the lobby near the elevators when - pop! - the bag ripped and all the white chips came flying out of the bag onto the marble floor.
Of course, there was about 20 people around - and all of them started going after the chips. It took about a second for them to realize that these weren't Mirage chips - so they came up and return them to me. It was very embarrassing having stranger after stranger return these poker chips for a good 2 minutes in the lobby.
Oh, and the sound the chips made when they hit the floor! Wow, that was loud.
I lost a side bet to Wiz and Ira on the Murray St / Marquette game; they both took my action to aviod paying the Mirage the juice. In return for the payment, I made them sign my diary to verify the lost money to them for the wager.
After dinner, we tried our luck at craps again, as none of us could roll. Wiz even tried the reverse jinx and was opening rooting for the 7 as we rolled; no matter. None of us could make a point.
We went back to blackjack one last time that night; Ira took one last marker and almost had to demonstrate the new term he taught us; the "walk of shame". If you receive your funds but are yet to sign for them, and then run into some horrible luck and lose all those funds before the pit boss has had a chance to finish all the paperwork and get your signature, you are forced to hang around the table idle until all the papers are done and you sign for your money - the money that's already gone. Ithink he was down to his last chip before embarking on a mini-comeback to stay in the game.
But the session was not good for any of us, especially Layup. After a losing session, Layup got up to walk away with his few remaining chips when the dealer stopped him.
"Don't walk away", I think she said. I can't remember what she said after that, but it angered Layup.
Layup showed her his chips. "I'm leaving. I've had enough" he said.
The dealer was insistent that he stay and color up, or continue playing. Layup argued again that he is going to just leave.
The pit boss came over to see the mini-fuss (she was already close by); she quickly understood what was going on. Layup had his chips out to show the dealer.
The dealer said "I just want to color him up!"
Immediately, without missing a beat, the pit boss said "But he doesn't have enough chips to color!"
Wiz, Ira and I were rolling in laughter as Layup was even more infuriated.
We tried our hand at blackjack swtich one last time - and, of course, had the annual argument with the pit boss about the "soft 22" hand that the dealer has (Ace-Ace, of course). We were also properly instructed on how to signal "switch" and "split". The "switch" requires a turn of the wrist. Wiz was the first to be reprimanded.
It was about midnight at that point, and everyone headed to bed; I got up at 11 and was not at all tired, even though I was on a 5 session losing streak. I sat down and played UTH heads up vs. the dealer for about two hours. During that time, several novices sat down and tried to play. One college guy (and his buddy) sat down next to me - at a $15 UTH table - and said "I love table poker games!" and plopped a $50 down. He was confused when he had to put $30 on the table to start, not $15; he was dealt 7-2 and was gone in 30 seconds.
I still had "money" left in my advance deposit account so I withdrew the remaining amount for the last craps session. I got the funds, was in the middle of the roll when the pit boss - Olga, a 50 year old woman that reminded me of Ms. Fucile from Hereford Social Studies class - came over to my side.
This can't be good.
"Eric, I'm sorry sir, but you don't have that much in your account."
What? I take good notes ! I'm sure I have that much money left!
"No, I'm sorry, you have half of that".
Um...ok.......should I return the other half now?
"Yes, you can hand the half back in."
I tried to give her the chips.
"No, sir, put in on the table"
Um, yes, of course.
How in the hell am I supposed to roll after that ? I quickly picked up, confused, and walked over to the cage. At 2 in the morning, I asked to speak to someone in the credit office.
We went over each time I signed to withdraw and - of course - I missed one Pai Gow tiles session back on Thursday. Olga and the Mirage was right. I apologized profusely and slithered away.
I had to get a confirmation card for our goddaughter - so, at 2:30 in the morning, in 40 degree temperatures, I took the walk to Walgreens. The maintenance staff was waxing the floors and I was not allowed to enter the Hallmark aisle.
What a symbolic way to end the day.
Sun, Mar 18
Not much action on this day; I woke up and went back to the Walgreens where - believe it or not - they had "Congratulations on your Confirmation" cards. In the Las Vegas strip Walgreen's. God does exist in the center of the Sin City. I'm sure our 14 year old goddaughter got a kick out of the "Mirage, Las vegas NV" postmark on the card.
After breakfast, Layup and I had two more gambling sessions that continued the losing streak that started when Leland left. Got to the airport around 2:30; the flights were uneventful. I landed at 6:30 am on Tuesday - and 4 hours later I was sitting at the plant in a 3 day training workshop.
A hard jolt back to reality.
