Coming back from our trip to Beijing, we got a nice jolt back to Chinese culture and politics. We got a call that evening from the "boss" of our nannies...she said that the nanny will not be there in the morning; she is requiring surgery and will be out for a while.
Oh no, I said! I hope everything is ok!
She said she will be fine, and she will come back in 5 days.
OK.....wow. Surgery. Sounds serious. I hope nothing really awful happened.
The next day, her sister came and filled in for her shift. I asked if she is ok, is she hurt, is everything ok?
"No, everything fine. She be back on Monday."
What happened?
"Just operation to take baby away"
Ah....I see......
Apr 23, 2011
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter to all! It's hard to set up an Easter Egg hunt in an apartment complex, so we went downstairs to one of the common areas to hide eggs. In this pciture, there are 40 eggs.... boy, did I get some strange looks from the Chinese residents when I was hiding the eggs....
Just off the screen to the left, there is a door to the Children's playroom; I put two eggs right at the base of the door for Martin to find. Just as we started the Easter Egg Hunt, a cleaning lady arrive to clean that room.
After 10 seconds of the Easter Egg Hunt, the egg tally was:
Freddie 0
Warren 0
Martin 0
Cleaning Lady 2
The hunt was suspended for 30 seconds as I tried to convince the lady that the eggs were not trash and she needs to put them down.
Today we are having an Easter BBQ over another ex-pat's place; they were planning it last weekend at a dinner, and one of the quotes from the host was:
"What goes better with Easter than shots of Malibu?"
I think I will like this party tonight!
Beijing Zoo
Wehn someone goes to Beijing, there are two types of pcitures that the tourists are expected to share with their friends:
1. A picture of the Great wall; and
2. A picture of a Panda.
The Great Wall pictures turned out well; I don't think this pictures does justice to the elevation changes in the walkway. It truly is an amazing engineering feat.
(and to think that our tour guide said that "it is estimated that 1,000 people died for every mile of construction of the Great Wall". Now, the wall is 4000 miles long.......)
And our picture of the panda? Well, this is what greeted us at the Zoo on a Sunday morning.
Apr 21, 2011
"74" is now a true adult
Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of "74" day....
(here is the blog post defining the significance of that day)
It's hard to believe this was 21 years ago. I celebrated with cream soda and.....we had no rum, so I had to mix it with Southern Comfort. Cream Soda and Southern Comfort tastes surprisingly good together.
I wonder if the Poison Ivy scars have finally disappeared from Steve's hands from that round.......
(here is the blog post defining the significance of that day)
It's hard to believe this was 21 years ago. I celebrated with cream soda and.....we had no rum, so I had to mix it with Southern Comfort. Cream Soda and Southern Comfort tastes surprisingly good together.
I wonder if the Poison Ivy scars have finally disappeared from Steve's hands from that round.......
Apr 19, 2011
Paparazzi
Now here is the China that we have been warned about.
So this is our first day in Beijing - it's been a long day, as we have visited Tianemen Square and the Forbidden Palace. After lunch, we went to the Summer Garden, a huge plot of land about 3 km south of the Square where the emporers prayed and relaxed.
(There was an "abstinence garden", where the Emporer was required to spend 7 days in before going to the temples. No comment necessary.)
So, around 3 pm, we stopped to take a break. Janice gave Martin a sucker and he sat down in one area of the garden.
Immediately, 4 middle aged Chinese women came over and started taking pictures. 4 turned into 5...then 6...then 8 women surrounding Martin.
The picture here best captures it. You can see Martin on the left with his lollipop (right under Freddie's head) - and on the right is all the Paparazzi that surrounded him.
It was interesting ....for the first 2 minutes. It never stopped. We had to shoo them away after about 10 minutes. Forcibly.
Why Layup would not make it in Hong Kong
It is a well known secret that the Zahn brothers love McDonald's breakfast....specifically, the Sausage McMuffin with egg. Oh, those good old days at the Monte Carlo when they were $1 each...we would down 3 each in the morning on the way to the sports book...
Well, here we are in the Hong Kong train station, and there is a McDonald's there. Time for lunch. Here are some of the choices for the Extra Value meal:
8. Double Cheeseburger meal
9. Quarter Pounder meal
10. Sausage McMuffin with Egg meal
That's right - you can get a Sausage McMuffin all day at McDonald's in Hong Kong. If Layup moved there, I would say his weight would be +50 pounds after 6 months. He would not be able to resist....
Snack for the boys
Continuing the food theme, here is the latest snack to arrive at our conveinence store downstairs.....
Apr 11, 2011
Beijing Cuisine
So the first night we were in Beijing, we found ourselves at the silk market at dinner time. We had to find something soon for the kids. We wanted something comfortable but yet a bit exotic....a place where you could be adventorous if you wanted, but if not - there were plenty of familiar choices to choose from.
Something like...a Sizzler.
What's that in the distance?
(No, we did not go there. But all of you probably expected me to eat there, right? )
The next day we were between tourist locales at lunchtime, and our tour guide recommended a buffet. It had some Chinese dishes, but it had Pizza and hot dogs too. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good.
And the translation for the names of the dishes were not very good. I did not try the upper dish in this picture. I don't know who made this translation, but they need some help.
(and the translation on the bottom dish isn't very descriptive, either)
Apr 10, 2011
NCAA Picks - post mortem
Here are my official picks for single games from my notebook for each day. Recorded just for historical reference.
Thursday's games:
"A" games:
Old Dominion -2 Butler (L)
Temple -2.5 Penn St (L)
Pitt -17 NC-Asheville (W)
SD St/N Col over 129.5 (L)
UC Santa Barbara +12.5 (L)
Wofford +8 BYU (W)
Mich St -1.5 UCLA (L)
Cincinnati pick em Mizzou (W)
Utah St +2 Kansas St (L)
"B" games:
Morehead +10 Louisville (W)
Richmond +2.5 Vandy (W)
Richmond/Vandy under 135.5 (W)
Gonzaga +1 St John's (W)
Bucknell/UConn under 132.5 (L)
"C" games:
Clemson +1.5 West Va (L)
Pitt/NC-A under 135.5 (W)
Fri Mar 18:
"A" games:
Michigan +1.5 Tennessee (W)
George Mason +1 Villanova (W)
Arizona -5.5 Memphis (L)
Marquette/Xavier over 140 (L)
UNLV -2 Illinois (LLLLLLLLLLLL)
Georgia +5 Washington (W, thanks, Wiz!)
"B" games:
Oakland +10 Texas (W)
Michigan/Tenn over 127.5 (L; I still don't beleive this did not win)
Kansas -23 Boston (L)
Purdue -14.5 St Peter's (W)
Marquette +1 Xavier (W)
Ill/UNLV under 132.5 (L)
Ind St +12 Syracuse (L)
Fla St/Tx A&M under 122.5 (W)
Georgetown/VCU under 133.5 (W)
Sat Mar 19
"A" games:
Temple +6 San Diego St (L, in 2 OT!!)
Florida -6 UCLA (W)
Richmond -4.5 Morehead St (W)
BYU -1 Gonzaga (W)
Wisconsin -3 Kansas St (W)
"B" games:
Richmond/Morehead St under 126.5 (W)
Florida/UCLA over 133.5 (W)
Pitt/Butler under 126.5 (L)
Sun Mar 20
"A" games:
Duke -12 Michigan (L)
NC -4.5 Washington (L)
Ohio St -11.5 George Mason (W)
Marq/Syracuse over 140.5 (L)
Arizona +6 Texas (W)
Az/Texas over 139 (T)
"B" games:
Syracuse -5 Marquette (L)
Fla St/Notre Dame under 133 (W)
Illinois +8.5 (L)
25-22-1, if I counted correctly.
Thursday's games:
"A" games:
Old Dominion -2 Butler (L)
Temple -2.5 Penn St (L)
Pitt -17 NC-Asheville (W)
SD St/N Col over 129.5 (L)
UC Santa Barbara +12.5 (L)
Wofford +8 BYU (W)
Mich St -1.5 UCLA (L)
Cincinnati pick em Mizzou (W)
Utah St +2 Kansas St (L)
"B" games:
Morehead +10 Louisville (W)
Richmond +2.5 Vandy (W)
Richmond/Vandy under 135.5 (W)
Gonzaga +1 St John's (W)
Bucknell/UConn under 132.5 (L)
"C" games:
Clemson +1.5 West Va (L)
Pitt/NC-A under 135.5 (W)
Fri Mar 18:
"A" games:
Michigan +1.5 Tennessee (W)
George Mason +1 Villanova (W)
Arizona -5.5 Memphis (L)
Marquette/Xavier over 140 (L)
UNLV -2 Illinois (LLLLLLLLLLLL)
Georgia +5 Washington (W, thanks, Wiz!)
"B" games:
Oakland +10 Texas (W)
Michigan/Tenn over 127.5 (L; I still don't beleive this did not win)
Kansas -23 Boston (L)
Purdue -14.5 St Peter's (W)
Marquette +1 Xavier (W)
Ill/UNLV under 132.5 (L)
Ind St +12 Syracuse (L)
Fla St/Tx A&M under 122.5 (W)
Georgetown/VCU under 133.5 (W)
Sat Mar 19
"A" games:
Temple +6 San Diego St (L, in 2 OT!!)
Florida -6 UCLA (W)
Richmond -4.5 Morehead St (W)
BYU -1 Gonzaga (W)
Wisconsin -3 Kansas St (W)
"B" games:
Richmond/Morehead St under 126.5 (W)
Florida/UCLA over 133.5 (W)
Pitt/Butler under 126.5 (L)
Sun Mar 20
"A" games:
Duke -12 Michigan (L)
NC -4.5 Washington (L)
Ohio St -11.5 George Mason (W)
Marq/Syracuse over 140.5 (L)
Arizona +6 Texas (W)
Az/Texas over 139 (T)
"B" games:
Syracuse -5 Marquette (L)
Fla St/Notre Dame under 133 (W)
Illinois +8.5 (L)
25-22-1, if I counted correctly.
Apr 9, 2011
2011 Vegas Diary - Part 3
And finally, the rest of the story....
Sat Mar 19 (continued)
So we took a full timeout after the Salon mishap. Um, you want to call a four-digit loss a "mishap"? -ed. After a break of about an hour, the six of us found ourselves back at the craps table. All of us had one side of the table; on the other side was a man and his date/wife, a 6'1" blonde who was probably a swimmer, and about 3 kids just out of college.
It was one of those times when the atmosphere was just right. No one was obnoxious, everybody was in a good mood and there were plenty of good - not hot, but good - rolls. The hard ways auctions between Layup and Wiz started again. I bet my usual $5 hard 4 - and it hit! - and then had the courage to parlay it.
It hit again. Finally, a parlay'd hard way. That was nice.
In the middle of one of the good rolls, a middle-aged man in a yellow sportcoat came up to our side and tried to squeeze his way in. I have to say, there was a lot of excellent boxing out (and words being exchanged) to prevent him from getting in and ruining the atmosphere. He finally found a spot on the other side of the table and made his way in between the swimmer and the kids. He was an ass the whole night.
He was there for 2-3 rolls before....
"Cocktails? Cocktails?"
Alcohol time! I turn around....and see a 70 year old woman's cleavage right in front of me. For whatever reason, the Mirage has a 70 year old drink waitress working Saturday nights. It's depressing, really. That's not exactly what you want to see at that time of day......Sunday morning at 11 am, well, that's acceptable. Not at Saturday night at 10 pm.
As soon as she arrives at the table, a 7 comes up on the dice. Out!
15 minutes later, she arrives again...."Seven out! Line away!"
The third time she came back, Layup and Wiz yelled for security. She never came back to serve us.
The rest of the night consisted a Pai Gow Poker session with John - who killed me again - and then back to the Ultimate Hold Em table. I think it was just Layup, Wiz and I. It was about 1 am, when all the drunks make their way out of the bar and stumble...where, exactly?
Behind us, about 30 feet, there was a group of about 4 20-something guys, one who was in bad shape with his head down on a slot machine. His face seemed to be in the coin collection area...he couldn't, could he?
No - he moved his head away from the slot machine and vomited all over the floor.
One minute goes by...two of his friends had fled the scene. Another round of vomiting. Part of this one goes on the slot machine itself.
Another minute...another round on the floor.
Wiz is screaming at the pit boss.... "Can't you do something? Call someone over!"
Ten minutes later, the cleaning ladies were there attending to the mess. A good time to call it a night.
Sun Mar 20
Sunday morning was golf at Rio Secco, with Layup and Wiz backing out. And, well, they probably made the right choice. The weather was 60-65 degrees, with constant winds at 25 gusting to 40-50. It was an interesting round. I played the best I have played in a year, going +3 for the first 6 holes in that weather (and it could have been even, if not for a missed 3 footer on 1 and a misclub on 4.)
Then the real adventures began. #7 was a 190 yard par 3 all over water which just happened to play into the wind. I foolishly picked a 5 wood, swung hard, and ducked it in to the lake. Don had the club selection of the day, hitting a 3/4 driver to pin high.
Leland hit a good shot to the right, chipped on to about 20 feet below the hole. It was downhill from the hole to the front of the green, where the front of the green was shaved down to the lake.
After marking, Leland replaced his ball, stepped away to look at the putt....and the wind caused Leland's ball to move. And roll. And roll away from the hole, down the front of the green, and down to within 2 feet of the lake before he stopped it.
We were all laughing - and Leland casually chipped the ball back up to the hole, and it sped past the hole to about 20 feet above the hole.
Then it stopped, and came back.....slowly....slowly....gaining speed.....and dove right into the hole.
After that turn of events, we knew this round was over. There was no way we were playing all 18. On #8, we played "Surivivor" - we all picked up except Leland, the only one to record a score. We called it quite after #9 and had lunch in the clubhouse, where we listened to the speakers for some person's 75th birthday.....
Back to the casino, where it was a good run at craps (I don't remember this; I think it was just the 4 of us as Don and Mike were watching the Purdue-VCU game), another good UTH run, and the 6 of us at the blackjack switch table where it was proven that none of us can play that awful game.
Before the craps run, I placed my bets for the late afternoon games. I was doing well, and - for whatever reason - put in a few wacko bets for the afternoon. I don't like the Big East at all, so for no reason I took Florida State. I wanted to play a parlay as well, so I said "what the hell" and put in a $50 money-line parlay on VCU and Florida St. That means both of those underdogs have to win for me to get a nice 13-to-1 payout.
Anyway, before the Kansas game, the four of us got together to put in a group parlay for the two late games, Kansas-Illinois and Fla St-Notre Dame. We each would pick a side or total for a 4-way parlay.
Wiz took the Fla St under.
Layup took Kansas -8.
It was my turn. I had no feeling whatsoever on the Kansas over/under, so it was up to the Notre Dame/Fla St game, with ND giving 5.
I really didn't want to drag everyone down with me on the Floridat State flyer. And it was a flyer! There was no reasoning at all for me to pick them earlier in the day - it was just because I hated the Big East!
So I chose Notre Dame -5. Leland took the Kansas under. We put $25 down each to win a total of $1100 if all 4 came through.
Well, the Kansas game ended up 73-55 or so, so we were 2-0 for that game. It was down to the final game of the night, Fla St-ND.
Now, VCU was the upset of the day, and they beat Purdue, so now my underdog parlay to win $650 is live. And Florida State got out to a big early lead, shutting down Notre Dame....and the under was looking good....
Layup asked me what I have left for my betting slips. I showed him the Fla St bet and the live parlay.
He was a bit confused. "What did you do?"
Well, I don't really like the Florida State bet, I stammered.
"You hedged against us!"
No! That's not it at all!
I was really waiting for Sean Connery to show up.....in that scene from Entrapment, when he realizes that Catherine Zeta-Jones is a double agent...
"YOU'RE PLAYING BOTH SIDES!!!!!"
No! I protested. I just didn't want to take you down on a losing Florida State bet.......
Florida State, of course, won by 19 in another big upset; the under covered as well. I collected my Fla St straight bet, my VCU-Fla St parlay, and we lost the group parlay because of my pick........
Dinner that night was a bit cold as we watched the end of the game.
After dinner, Wiz and I had another High-limit blackjack run, which ended a little better than the first time (it was actually positive). The trip ended with Leland and I running from one craps table to another trying to find one last hot roll - and we were unsuccessful.
The alarm came too soon at Monday at 5 am to pack up and leave.
Sat Mar 19 (continued)
So we took a full timeout after the Salon mishap. Um, you want to call a four-digit loss a "mishap"? -ed. After a break of about an hour, the six of us found ourselves back at the craps table. All of us had one side of the table; on the other side was a man and his date/wife, a 6'1" blonde who was probably a swimmer, and about 3 kids just out of college.
It was one of those times when the atmosphere was just right. No one was obnoxious, everybody was in a good mood and there were plenty of good - not hot, but good - rolls. The hard ways auctions between Layup and Wiz started again. I bet my usual $5 hard 4 - and it hit! - and then had the courage to parlay it.
It hit again. Finally, a parlay'd hard way. That was nice.
In the middle of one of the good rolls, a middle-aged man in a yellow sportcoat came up to our side and tried to squeeze his way in. I have to say, there was a lot of excellent boxing out (and words being exchanged) to prevent him from getting in and ruining the atmosphere. He finally found a spot on the other side of the table and made his way in between the swimmer and the kids. He was an ass the whole night.
He was there for 2-3 rolls before....
"Cocktails? Cocktails?"
Alcohol time! I turn around....and see a 70 year old woman's cleavage right in front of me. For whatever reason, the Mirage has a 70 year old drink waitress working Saturday nights. It's depressing, really. That's not exactly what you want to see at that time of day......Sunday morning at 11 am, well, that's acceptable. Not at Saturday night at 10 pm.
As soon as she arrives at the table, a 7 comes up on the dice. Out!
15 minutes later, she arrives again...."Seven out! Line away!"
The third time she came back, Layup and Wiz yelled for security. She never came back to serve us.
The rest of the night consisted a Pai Gow Poker session with John - who killed me again - and then back to the Ultimate Hold Em table. I think it was just Layup, Wiz and I. It was about 1 am, when all the drunks make their way out of the bar and stumble...where, exactly?
Behind us, about 30 feet, there was a group of about 4 20-something guys, one who was in bad shape with his head down on a slot machine. His face seemed to be in the coin collection area...he couldn't, could he?
No - he moved his head away from the slot machine and vomited all over the floor.
One minute goes by...two of his friends had fled the scene. Another round of vomiting. Part of this one goes on the slot machine itself.
Another minute...another round on the floor.
Wiz is screaming at the pit boss.... "Can't you do something? Call someone over!"
Ten minutes later, the cleaning ladies were there attending to the mess. A good time to call it a night.
Sun Mar 20
Sunday morning was golf at Rio Secco, with Layup and Wiz backing out. And, well, they probably made the right choice. The weather was 60-65 degrees, with constant winds at 25 gusting to 40-50. It was an interesting round. I played the best I have played in a year, going +3 for the first 6 holes in that weather (and it could have been even, if not for a missed 3 footer on 1 and a misclub on 4.)
Then the real adventures began. #7 was a 190 yard par 3 all over water which just happened to play into the wind. I foolishly picked a 5 wood, swung hard, and ducked it in to the lake. Don had the club selection of the day, hitting a 3/4 driver to pin high.
Leland hit a good shot to the right, chipped on to about 20 feet below the hole. It was downhill from the hole to the front of the green, where the front of the green was shaved down to the lake.
After marking, Leland replaced his ball, stepped away to look at the putt....and the wind caused Leland's ball to move. And roll. And roll away from the hole, down the front of the green, and down to within 2 feet of the lake before he stopped it.
We were all laughing - and Leland casually chipped the ball back up to the hole, and it sped past the hole to about 20 feet above the hole.
Then it stopped, and came back.....slowly....slowly....gaining speed.....and dove right into the hole.
After that turn of events, we knew this round was over. There was no way we were playing all 18. On #8, we played "Surivivor" - we all picked up except Leland, the only one to record a score. We called it quite after #9 and had lunch in the clubhouse, where we listened to the speakers for some person's 75th birthday.....
Back to the casino, where it was a good run at craps (I don't remember this; I think it was just the 4 of us as Don and Mike were watching the Purdue-VCU game), another good UTH run, and the 6 of us at the blackjack switch table where it was proven that none of us can play that awful game.
Before the craps run, I placed my bets for the late afternoon games. I was doing well, and - for whatever reason - put in a few wacko bets for the afternoon. I don't like the Big East at all, so for no reason I took Florida State. I wanted to play a parlay as well, so I said "what the hell" and put in a $50 money-line parlay on VCU and Florida St. That means both of those underdogs have to win for me to get a nice 13-to-1 payout.
Anyway, before the Kansas game, the four of us got together to put in a group parlay for the two late games, Kansas-Illinois and Fla St-Notre Dame. We each would pick a side or total for a 4-way parlay.
Wiz took the Fla St under.
Layup took Kansas -8.
It was my turn. I had no feeling whatsoever on the Kansas over/under, so it was up to the Notre Dame/Fla St game, with ND giving 5.
I really didn't want to drag everyone down with me on the Floridat State flyer. And it was a flyer! There was no reasoning at all for me to pick them earlier in the day - it was just because I hated the Big East!
So I chose Notre Dame -5. Leland took the Kansas under. We put $25 down each to win a total of $1100 if all 4 came through.
Well, the Kansas game ended up 73-55 or so, so we were 2-0 for that game. It was down to the final game of the night, Fla St-ND.
Now, VCU was the upset of the day, and they beat Purdue, so now my underdog parlay to win $650 is live. And Florida State got out to a big early lead, shutting down Notre Dame....and the under was looking good....
Layup asked me what I have left for my betting slips. I showed him the Fla St bet and the live parlay.
He was a bit confused. "What did you do?"
Well, I don't really like the Florida State bet, I stammered.
"You hedged against us!"
No! That's not it at all!
I was really waiting for Sean Connery to show up.....in that scene from Entrapment, when he realizes that Catherine Zeta-Jones is a double agent...
"YOU'RE PLAYING BOTH SIDES!!!!!"
No! I protested. I just didn't want to take you down on a losing Florida State bet.......
Florida State, of course, won by 19 in another big upset; the under covered as well. I collected my Fla St straight bet, my VCU-Fla St parlay, and we lost the group parlay because of my pick........
Dinner that night was a bit cold as we watched the end of the game.
After dinner, Wiz and I had another High-limit blackjack run, which ended a little better than the first time (it was actually positive). The trip ended with Leland and I running from one craps table to another trying to find one last hot roll - and we were unsuccessful.
The alarm came too soon at Monday at 5 am to pack up and leave.
Apr 5, 2011
2011 Vegas Diary, part 2
Back from a mini-vacation to Beijing. The past 2 days were a holiday in China for "tomb-sweeping" days, where the living honors the dead by.....burning (fake?) paper money in public. Will have lots of photos at a later date.
But let's continue (and even finish?) the Vegas diary, since it has only been 3 weeks now since the trip began. By the way, I would never be able to do this without my little record book that I keep. If I didn't have this, I would mix up the days so bad and forget 75% of the ancedotes.
Fri Mar 18 (continued)
After the magical UTH run, where better to parlay the winnings than the craps table? If I recall correctly, Leland and I found a table and started playing; Wiz and Layup came over later but there was no room, so they went to another table. It was a busy Friday night, and 6 tables were open.
Our table did not get hot. I got beat pretty bad.
The table where Wiz and Layup were at did not get hot.
There were loud, Augusta like cheers from at least two other tables. I felt like Feherty, being confined to the 14th green at Augusta when all the excitement is occuring around him at 13 and 15.
We decided then to have our first serious go at Blackjack - the four of us. (Don and Mike were still at the UTH table; Don was sending me text messages about the Danish pirate - "he went 4x on a $300 hand - and won!", 2 separate times. The four of us found an empty table, and off we started. However, we got one hand into the shoe when two other guys came over and asked to join.
The best way to describe the lead guy of the two (the other one seemed to be a deaf mute) would be a 40 year old Jersey guy who worked too many years at an Applebee's. He was trying way too hard to be our friend....and to show he was COOL.
"Let's make some MONEY tonight, boys!"
and, after he sensed that he wasn't entering friendly waters...
"Oh don't worry, O know how to PLAY this game!"
He gave Leland about 15 fist bumps whenever he won. He never crossed the line into being obnoxious, but he was always annoying. There was just something - fake? Over-the-top MTVish? - that was just too much for me, and I packed it up after 30 minutes.
(To show you how naive I am, Leland and Wiz talked about him the next day. "He was so high, you could see the coke on his nose." I'm sure you could see it - I just never made that connection. I just thought he was an arrogant asshole).
Sat Mar 19
A first in Vegas! Layup actually got up before me and asked if I wanted to place a bet! Unfortunately, the Excedrin PM was still kicking in and I probably said something to him like "Rick Pitino and Katie Couric"....it was unintelligible. I actually told Layup to put $1000 on Kentucky....oh well....
(The Excedrin PM helped me to my best day in the book, with winners like Richmond -4, Florida -6, BYU, Wisconsin, Richmond under.....the only one I had wrong was Temple +6, which lost in Double OT).
Today was the day I had planned to go shopping. Janice sent me to the US with a shopping list for items that we needed. We got most of the medicine on Wednesday, but there were odds and ends that one trip to the mall would take care of.
** wife complaining alert***
I don't normally air any complaints about Janice on here, but I have to now. This "list" grew and grew on the days before the trip. It started with a trip to Wal Mart, and then a few clothes for the boys. "You can pick that up at Target", she said. Um, but there is no Target on the strip.
Then, three days before Vegas, she drops this bombshell.
"And we need document boxes, too. Can you pick those up?"
What? Document boxes?
"Yes, Decorative boxes to hold office papers."
Um...um....didn't we just buy those at the Guangzhou IKEA last weekend? (Yes, there is such a thing)
"Yes, but they are the wrong size."
Excuse me?
"The boxes we bought were for A4 paper, and we have the US 8.5x11 paper. So we need boxes sold in the US"
Um....ok....where does one get these boxes?
"You may have to look for them...They should be at Staples or Office Depot"
She doesn't really think that Don, Leland and I take off Sunday morning for an 8 hours shopping trip around Vegas, does she?
(Don't answer that).
Anyway, 3 hours on Saturday afternoon was spent going over to the Fashion Square mall to buy DS games for the boys, Apple power cords - and then a taxi to Target for a shopping trip that resembled "SuperMarket sweep", where I run up and down the aisles and get to the cash register in 15 minutes while the taxi meter kept running outside.
Yes, they did have document boxes - but no, they did not fit in the suitcase. Consuela the maid for the week should have those lovely boxes by now.
Craps with Mike after that; we got to the table, and the first point was 10. If I play the hard ways, it's only the 4 and 10 - I don't know why. Everyone loves the hard 6 and 8; someone has got to show the love for the other two numbers. So I threw a few bucks on the hard 4 and 10....did not hit.
The next point was 4; same thing - a few bucks on the 4 and 10 again, but nope.
The next point was 6. I put my odds down on the point, and a place bet on the 8, and waited for the next roll. However, the dice were still in the middle of the table.
The dealer held out his hand in my direction. I looked at him.
"I'm waiting for your hard 6", he said.
I corrected him. "No, I only play the hard 4 and 10" I said proudly.
It doesn't take an idiot to guess what was rolled on the very next roll. I am still surprised that Mike didn't immediately hop the 3-3 for $10.
Dinner that night was at Table 10 at the Palazzo at 6:30; the ending for the Butler-Pittsburgh game occurred as we were walking over there. We couldn't figure out what happened, because 3 different phones had three different scores. In a 10 second span, three phones showed:
Pitt 71, Butler 70 (F)
Pitt 70, Butler 70 (End Reg)
Butler 70, Pitt 69 (0:01 left)
We had no idea what was going on until 20 minutes later.
Dinner that night was nice, but I don't think it was great. And what's with the Pear Vodka fad? Jesus, I accidentally was served one of those, and I hated it. When did this become cool? I know I sound like a hypocrite here - but there is a line in the sand for alcoholic drinks. When you want to have fun, hey, have your strawberry daiquiris and your Tom Collins. I love those! But when it is serious drinking time, don't fool around. There is nothing more comforting than a good Vodka Tonic with lime.
When you are expecting that drink, and instead sip something like a Vodka Fresca with a flower in it, you should have the right to spit it out on your neighbor.
Saturday continued with the annual $25 craps run at the Palazzo (and yes, every year it is amazing to compare the craps dealers at the Palazzo to the Mirage). We returned to the Mirage later that evening, played some more UTH (which was another nice winning session for me).
At this point, it is Saturday night, and I am almost break even for the trip. Wiz then was looking for takers for the high-limit salon. I decided to try my luck.
So - for those of you that care - this was my first dive into black-chip only play. And I'm not drunk (yet) (probably because of that Pear vodka) - so I am a little nervous. This could get out of hand quickly......
The fourth or fifth hand I was dealt was the hand you don't really want to see when betting a lot. (Well, most of you would not want to see a pair of 8's - and you would be right. This is the second-worst hand to have).
I was dealt 11 vs a 10. Now, I am about 70/30 with that; 70% of the time, I would double, but if things aren't going well, then I would just hit.
I lost the first 3 hands at the table, so I sensed this would be a struggle. I elected to just hit. I got a 4, then busted; Wiz and Layup immediately started to yell at me.
Was that a sign? I lost 12 out of 15 hands, and after 20 minutes, I picked up what was left of my chips and ran out of there. I needed a full time-out after that trashing.
But let's continue (and even finish?) the Vegas diary, since it has only been 3 weeks now since the trip began. By the way, I would never be able to do this without my little record book that I keep. If I didn't have this, I would mix up the days so bad and forget 75% of the ancedotes.
Fri Mar 18 (continued)
After the magical UTH run, where better to parlay the winnings than the craps table? If I recall correctly, Leland and I found a table and started playing; Wiz and Layup came over later but there was no room, so they went to another table. It was a busy Friday night, and 6 tables were open.
Our table did not get hot. I got beat pretty bad.
The table where Wiz and Layup were at did not get hot.
There were loud, Augusta like cheers from at least two other tables. I felt like Feherty, being confined to the 14th green at Augusta when all the excitement is occuring around him at 13 and 15.
We decided then to have our first serious go at Blackjack - the four of us. (Don and Mike were still at the UTH table; Don was sending me text messages about the Danish pirate - "he went 4x on a $300 hand - and won!", 2 separate times. The four of us found an empty table, and off we started. However, we got one hand into the shoe when two other guys came over and asked to join.
The best way to describe the lead guy of the two (the other one seemed to be a deaf mute) would be a 40 year old Jersey guy who worked too many years at an Applebee's. He was trying way too hard to be our friend....and to show he was COOL.
"Let's make some MONEY tonight, boys!"
and, after he sensed that he wasn't entering friendly waters...
"Oh don't worry, O know how to PLAY this game!"
He gave Leland about 15 fist bumps whenever he won. He never crossed the line into being obnoxious, but he was always annoying. There was just something - fake? Over-the-top MTVish? - that was just too much for me, and I packed it up after 30 minutes.
(To show you how naive I am, Leland and Wiz talked about him the next day. "He was so high, you could see the coke on his nose." I'm sure you could see it - I just never made that connection. I just thought he was an arrogant asshole).
Sat Mar 19
A first in Vegas! Layup actually got up before me and asked if I wanted to place a bet! Unfortunately, the Excedrin PM was still kicking in and I probably said something to him like "Rick Pitino and Katie Couric"....it was unintelligible. I actually told Layup to put $1000 on Kentucky....oh well....
(The Excedrin PM helped me to my best day in the book, with winners like Richmond -4, Florida -6, BYU, Wisconsin, Richmond under.....the only one I had wrong was Temple +6, which lost in Double OT).
Today was the day I had planned to go shopping. Janice sent me to the US with a shopping list for items that we needed. We got most of the medicine on Wednesday, but there were odds and ends that one trip to the mall would take care of.
** wife complaining alert***
I don't normally air any complaints about Janice on here, but I have to now. This "list" grew and grew on the days before the trip. It started with a trip to Wal Mart, and then a few clothes for the boys. "You can pick that up at Target", she said. Um, but there is no Target on the strip.
Then, three days before Vegas, she drops this bombshell.
"And we need document boxes, too. Can you pick those up?"
What? Document boxes?
"Yes, Decorative boxes to hold office papers."
Um...um....didn't we just buy those at the Guangzhou IKEA last weekend? (Yes, there is such a thing)
"Yes, but they are the wrong size."
Excuse me?
"The boxes we bought were for A4 paper, and we have the US 8.5x11 paper. So we need boxes sold in the US"
Um....ok....where does one get these boxes?
"You may have to look for them...They should be at Staples or Office Depot"
She doesn't really think that Don, Leland and I take off Sunday morning for an 8 hours shopping trip around Vegas, does she?
(Don't answer that).
Anyway, 3 hours on Saturday afternoon was spent going over to the Fashion Square mall to buy DS games for the boys, Apple power cords - and then a taxi to Target for a shopping trip that resembled "SuperMarket sweep", where I run up and down the aisles and get to the cash register in 15 minutes while the taxi meter kept running outside.
Yes, they did have document boxes - but no, they did not fit in the suitcase. Consuela the maid for the week should have those lovely boxes by now.
Craps with Mike after that; we got to the table, and the first point was 10. If I play the hard ways, it's only the 4 and 10 - I don't know why. Everyone loves the hard 6 and 8; someone has got to show the love for the other two numbers. So I threw a few bucks on the hard 4 and 10....did not hit.
The next point was 4; same thing - a few bucks on the 4 and 10 again, but nope.
The next point was 6. I put my odds down on the point, and a place bet on the 8, and waited for the next roll. However, the dice were still in the middle of the table.
The dealer held out his hand in my direction. I looked at him.
"I'm waiting for your hard 6", he said.
I corrected him. "No, I only play the hard 4 and 10" I said proudly.
It doesn't take an idiot to guess what was rolled on the very next roll. I am still surprised that Mike didn't immediately hop the 3-3 for $10.
Dinner that night was at Table 10 at the Palazzo at 6:30; the ending for the Butler-Pittsburgh game occurred as we were walking over there. We couldn't figure out what happened, because 3 different phones had three different scores. In a 10 second span, three phones showed:
Pitt 71, Butler 70 (F)
Pitt 70, Butler 70 (End Reg)
Butler 70, Pitt 69 (0:01 left)
We had no idea what was going on until 20 minutes later.
Dinner that night was nice, but I don't think it was great. And what's with the Pear Vodka fad? Jesus, I accidentally was served one of those, and I hated it. When did this become cool? I know I sound like a hypocrite here - but there is a line in the sand for alcoholic drinks. When you want to have fun, hey, have your strawberry daiquiris and your Tom Collins. I love those! But when it is serious drinking time, don't fool around. There is nothing more comforting than a good Vodka Tonic with lime.
When you are expecting that drink, and instead sip something like a Vodka Fresca with a flower in it, you should have the right to spit it out on your neighbor.
Saturday continued with the annual $25 craps run at the Palazzo (and yes, every year it is amazing to compare the craps dealers at the Palazzo to the Mirage). We returned to the Mirage later that evening, played some more UTH (which was another nice winning session for me).
At this point, it is Saturday night, and I am almost break even for the trip. Wiz then was looking for takers for the high-limit salon. I decided to try my luck.
So - for those of you that care - this was my first dive into black-chip only play. And I'm not drunk (yet) (probably because of that Pear vodka) - so I am a little nervous. This could get out of hand quickly......
The fourth or fifth hand I was dealt was the hand you don't really want to see when betting a lot. (Well, most of you would not want to see a pair of 8's - and you would be right. This is the second-worst hand to have).
I was dealt 11 vs a 10. Now, I am about 70/30 with that; 70% of the time, I would double, but if things aren't going well, then I would just hit.
I lost the first 3 hands at the table, so I sensed this would be a struggle. I elected to just hit. I got a 4, then busted; Wiz and Layup immediately started to yell at me.
Was that a sign? I lost 12 out of 15 hands, and after 20 minutes, I picked up what was left of my chips and ran out of there. I needed a full time-out after that trashing.
Finally got one
In Part 1 of the diary, I talked about winning money off of Wiz (a first?) on the Washington-Georgia game. I was the only one in the casino, it seemed, who had Georgia plus the points.
If we go three weeks back, we find this post:
3 weeks away!
I should have named that "the 7-10 game that only Wiz and I care about"...
If we go three weeks back, we find this post:
3 weeks away!
I should have named that "the 7-10 game that only Wiz and I care about"...
Apr 1, 2011
Vegas Diary - 2011 - Part 1
Well, I better get going here and put my thoughts, memories, and summaries on to paper before they all get lost in the haze of my mind. Let me get some text down on the blog first - then maybe later I can embellish with pictures and other decorations.
Tue Mar 15
You know it's a weird Vegas trip when it starts on a Tuesday - actually, I left work in Guangzhou around 1 pm - so my trip actually started 10 pm Monday, Vegas time. Caught a train to Hong Kong, where I actually worked for about 4 hours in the hotel room before the early morning flight.
Besides working, the other main activity in the hotel room was to create my own tournament guide. For some reason, the publishers of the Blue Ribbon tournament guide decided not to write one this year. Now what will I do? Well, I signed up for the ESPN Insider account, found a preview page for each of the teams, copied those into a Word document, cut out the 68 pictures of Joe Lunardi contained in each preview, shrunk it down to 6 pt font - and voila! An 80 page tournament guide.
Now, printing it out at the hotel cost HK $10 a page, so I have started my trip about US $100 in the hole before even boarding an airplane.
Wed Mar 16
Flight leaves at 8, it's an international flight - so be there 2 hours early, 40 min taxi to the hotel: Gees, that's a 4:30 wake up call. What jolted me awake? I was in the shower and realized: "the next shower I will take will be in Vegas". That always brings a smile....
First leg: Hong Kong-Tokyo. March 16, 5 days after the earthquake. There was NO ONE on that plane. Each row was 3-4-3, and there was literally 1-2 people per row. A bit scary. However, when I landed in Tokyo, it seemed to be business as usual. Nothing seemed out of place.
Boarded the plane for LA at 4 pm local; I brought my NyQuil so I can sleep! Smart! I got 4 hours of sleep before my 4;30 wakeup call, I'll be dead tired on the plane and I can crash.
Dinner comes, darkness on the plane, and I comfortably fall asleep.....
....and then I wake up. Hmmmm, I wonder what time it is.....it's still dark out....
I was asleep for 90 minutes.
I took another nap on the plane for 30-40 minutes, and that was it.
Land in LA - gees, the lines at US Immigration are at least 3x as long as other airports - and Layup picks me up - and off we go to Vegas!
The ride was not as long as I thought; after the first two hours, I tried to get in a quick nap - and I got three naps in. Each was about 4 minutes long.
But before we get to the Mirage, we needed to do twoside trips: one to a Wal Mart to go medicine shopping, and to a US Bank to get loaded for the trip. The Wal Mart trip was uneventful, except for the occasional stares as two men were circling the pharmacy with a shopping cart half-full of Children's Motrin, NyQuil, and Benadryl.
The bank was an adventure, as the "bank" was not a stand-alone branch but one of those mini branches inside a grocery store. There was just one teller, with another lady who was in and out of the back room hanging up decroations out front. She seemeed to be a janitor of some kind.
It's my turn, I give her the check and withdrawal slip - and the teller makes this smirk. That's not good. Then she calls over the janitor - who apparently is the branch manager, in between her St Patrick Day deocration duties - who looks at my account on the screen, chuckles, and approves it. I am still baffled by that turn of events.
I don't remember much of gambling that night - I think the opening game was Pai Gow Poker with Don and Mike and their golf bage along side. I remember being half asleep as I tried to eat a 3 lb roast beef sandwich at the deli; I lost $500 at UTH waiting for Wiz and Leland to arrive. Not the greatest of starts.
Thu Mar 17
Started the day - after placing sports bets; the first "big bet" of the day was Old Dominion -2 vs Butler. Butler can't handle the physicality! - with Craps. I think I played more craps with Leland on this trip than the rest of the trips combined.
As we played, I got 4 texts and 2 phone calls from Wiz, who was in hiding watching Clemson.
It was 1:10 pm Eastern; I knew exactly what he was calling for.
"Is anyone near the book?"
I'm here now. What do you want?
"What's the Clemson halftime line?"
WV by 1 1/2.
"How much do you have?"
Um....it's all at the table.....
"Do you have $1000????"
No, sorry. I got $250 for you.....
Of course, I didn't place any money for me on West Virginia's 2nd half bet, which was an easy winner.....
First real winning session was that afternoon at UTH...nothing stands out there. However, we all had our first experience with the power of the Gold Card - the players club card. Layup was at the Gold level (the third level out of four), and we all went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. There was a significant line - 10? 15 people?
Layup flashes his card - "um, can I get a table for 6??"
We were seated in 60 seconds. It was amazing.
An afternoon jog (yes, first time that has happened for me in Vegas) amid watching another Big Bet game go down in flames ("Yes! Santa Barbara has the experience to stay close to Florida") and then it was off to dinner.
I don't know if it was the food, or the fact that I haven't had a filet in 9 months - but the filet that night at Mesa was memorable. Just wonderful.
(And the fact that no one in Vegas thought that Cincinnati would beat Missouri except for me .....that helped too.....)
Ended the day with (apparently) a craps loss and the annual tradition of losing at Pai Gow to John the Dealer......
Fri Mar 18
A strong 6 hours of sleep, which could be a record for me in Vegas. Layup recommended Excedrin PM, which was extremely helpful all week.
Golf in the morning at Southern Highlands - and that was wonderful. I keep thinking about that course. It is the perfect definition of a "fair, but difficult" course. There are no tricks. The greens are not unfair; I thought (and still think) that I can 2 putt from anywhere out there (and I did, on some holes!) You get rewarded for good shots and punished for bad shots. The course is right there in front of you - there's not a lot of hidden hazards lurking.
I would gladly go back there again in a future year. I just hope I am not blackballed after yelling at the TV in the men's locker room during the end of the Arizona-Memphis game. The members sitting 3 tables away shot several dirty looks in our (my?) direction......and then quickly left the room 5 minutes later. Well, the ends justify the means, correct?
Friday, after golf, was a wild day gambling. Another losing session at craps (I think this time was with Mike) - I put my chips in my pocket and headed over to the UTH table where everyone was located. We talked about the games, and the fact that I just put in a second half bet on VCU vs Georgetown. Layup wanted some of that action, so he gave me some money to place the bet.
As I walked over there, I cashed in my two black chips from craps and put that money in my pocket and headed over to the book. I took out Layup's money and my wallet - placed his bet - and then took out my green book to look at other games.
It was when I was ready to place another bet for myself when I realized - I didn't have the $200 from my two chips I cashed at the cage.
I checked each pocket 5 times - no luck.
I felt like an extreme idiot as I went back to the same counter in the sportsbook.
"Can I help you, honey?" she said.
Um, yeah....um......did anyone, um, turn in $200?
"What? You mean turn in found money?"
Yeah....I just dropped it here 5 minutes ago.....
She checked around and - no, no one turned it in. Of course not - but I had to ask.
As I left the counter, I saw some middle aged, 5'6" man look at me and smirk to himself. I am 90% positive that he found the money on the floor of the book (while I was fumbling around) and pocketed it. But what in the hell am I supposed to do? It is my fault - that's why I always put the money in my wallet after cashing at the cage.
Anyway, the day got a little better when I won a big bet when - again - I seemed to be the only one at the casino who liked Georgia and the points (+5- which moved to +6 by tip) vs. Washington. A late 3 by the Bulldogs gave me the cover. And I didn't collect from the casino - I collected from Wiz! Even better.
Then I sat down at UTH as we had a long session. It was 5 of us - Leland was off playng his marathon of craps. From left to right, we had
Layup
Wiz
Me
Mike
Don
and....the Danish Pirate
This guy at the end of the table was 50 or so, glasses, beard, and he grunted with every bet. He said he was in Vegas for 2 weeks and was losing money, but he loved the UTH game.
All of a sudden (his hot streak probably started when Wiz and I got into a spitting fight and I was banished to the Phat Cats cafe), this guy was on fire. He started playing a $50 ante. Then $75. Then $100 every once in a while. Then $100 every hand.
And he kept winning.
He started with, oh, $500. By the end of the 3rd hour at the table, he had $3,000 on the table and AT LEAST - AT LEAST - $5,000 in his pocket. He spit out a tooth at one point into the cards - no matter, that didn't break the string. Everything he touched was gold.
(And how did I do? Well, it was the classic case of someone shooting a 59 at a golf tournament. When someone shoots a 59 on the PGA Tour, all the attention focuses to that golfer. Every move they make is magnified and lauded.
They don't see the golfer in the group behind shooting a 62.
I tripled my money at that table, by far my best outing at UTH. And this was a $15 minimum, so we are not talkig tripling $50 into $150.
I got up to the cage, cashed in my chips - and before they took the money out of the drawer, they asked:
"Do you have any markers you want to settle?"
I don't know why, but I was offended. Hell NO! I didn't take any loans out to win this money! This is from my own sweat and blood!
Well, I'm out of steam for tonight, but Friday's diary is not complete.
Here's what you can look forward to in the next installment:
"Let's make some money!"
I only play the hard 4 and 10
Afternoons in Vegas: a Taxi to Target
Brandt Snedeker costing me $25
"Security!" and the 70 year old waitress on Saturday night
My first foray into the Salon
Cleanup on aisle 9
Sean Connery will star in "Entrapment"
Tue Mar 15
You know it's a weird Vegas trip when it starts on a Tuesday - actually, I left work in Guangzhou around 1 pm - so my trip actually started 10 pm Monday, Vegas time. Caught a train to Hong Kong, where I actually worked for about 4 hours in the hotel room before the early morning flight.
Besides working, the other main activity in the hotel room was to create my own tournament guide. For some reason, the publishers of the Blue Ribbon tournament guide decided not to write one this year. Now what will I do? Well, I signed up for the ESPN Insider account, found a preview page for each of the teams, copied those into a Word document, cut out the 68 pictures of Joe Lunardi contained in each preview, shrunk it down to 6 pt font - and voila! An 80 page tournament guide.
Now, printing it out at the hotel cost HK $10 a page, so I have started my trip about US $100 in the hole before even boarding an airplane.
Wed Mar 16
Flight leaves at 8, it's an international flight - so be there 2 hours early, 40 min taxi to the hotel: Gees, that's a 4:30 wake up call. What jolted me awake? I was in the shower and realized: "the next shower I will take will be in Vegas". That always brings a smile....
First leg: Hong Kong-Tokyo. March 16, 5 days after the earthquake. There was NO ONE on that plane. Each row was 3-4-3, and there was literally 1-2 people per row. A bit scary. However, when I landed in Tokyo, it seemed to be business as usual. Nothing seemed out of place.
Boarded the plane for LA at 4 pm local; I brought my NyQuil so I can sleep! Smart! I got 4 hours of sleep before my 4;30 wakeup call, I'll be dead tired on the plane and I can crash.
Dinner comes, darkness on the plane, and I comfortably fall asleep.....
....and then I wake up. Hmmmm, I wonder what time it is.....it's still dark out....
I was asleep for 90 minutes.
I took another nap on the plane for 30-40 minutes, and that was it.
Land in LA - gees, the lines at US Immigration are at least 3x as long as other airports - and Layup picks me up - and off we go to Vegas!
The ride was not as long as I thought; after the first two hours, I tried to get in a quick nap - and I got three naps in. Each was about 4 minutes long.
But before we get to the Mirage, we needed to do twoside trips: one to a Wal Mart to go medicine shopping, and to a US Bank to get loaded for the trip. The Wal Mart trip was uneventful, except for the occasional stares as two men were circling the pharmacy with a shopping cart half-full of Children's Motrin, NyQuil, and Benadryl.
The bank was an adventure, as the "bank" was not a stand-alone branch but one of those mini branches inside a grocery store. There was just one teller, with another lady who was in and out of the back room hanging up decroations out front. She seemeed to be a janitor of some kind.
It's my turn, I give her the check and withdrawal slip - and the teller makes this smirk. That's not good. Then she calls over the janitor - who apparently is the branch manager, in between her St Patrick Day deocration duties - who looks at my account on the screen, chuckles, and approves it. I am still baffled by that turn of events.
I don't remember much of gambling that night - I think the opening game was Pai Gow Poker with Don and Mike and their golf bage along side. I remember being half asleep as I tried to eat a 3 lb roast beef sandwich at the deli; I lost $500 at UTH waiting for Wiz and Leland to arrive. Not the greatest of starts.
Thu Mar 17
Started the day - after placing sports bets; the first "big bet" of the day was Old Dominion -2 vs Butler. Butler can't handle the physicality! - with Craps. I think I played more craps with Leland on this trip than the rest of the trips combined.
As we played, I got 4 texts and 2 phone calls from Wiz, who was in hiding watching Clemson.
It was 1:10 pm Eastern; I knew exactly what he was calling for.
"Is anyone near the book?"
I'm here now. What do you want?
"What's the Clemson halftime line?"
WV by 1 1/2.
"How much do you have?"
Um....it's all at the table.....
"Do you have $1000????"
No, sorry. I got $250 for you.....
Of course, I didn't place any money for me on West Virginia's 2nd half bet, which was an easy winner.....
First real winning session was that afternoon at UTH...nothing stands out there. However, we all had our first experience with the power of the Gold Card - the players club card. Layup was at the Gold level (the third level out of four), and we all went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. There was a significant line - 10? 15 people?
Layup flashes his card - "um, can I get a table for 6??"
We were seated in 60 seconds. It was amazing.
An afternoon jog (yes, first time that has happened for me in Vegas) amid watching another Big Bet game go down in flames ("Yes! Santa Barbara has the experience to stay close to Florida") and then it was off to dinner.
I don't know if it was the food, or the fact that I haven't had a filet in 9 months - but the filet that night at Mesa was memorable. Just wonderful.
(And the fact that no one in Vegas thought that Cincinnati would beat Missouri except for me .....that helped too.....)
Ended the day with (apparently) a craps loss and the annual tradition of losing at Pai Gow to John the Dealer......
Fri Mar 18
A strong 6 hours of sleep, which could be a record for me in Vegas. Layup recommended Excedrin PM, which was extremely helpful all week.
Golf in the morning at Southern Highlands - and that was wonderful. I keep thinking about that course. It is the perfect definition of a "fair, but difficult" course. There are no tricks. The greens are not unfair; I thought (and still think) that I can 2 putt from anywhere out there (and I did, on some holes!) You get rewarded for good shots and punished for bad shots. The course is right there in front of you - there's not a lot of hidden hazards lurking.
I would gladly go back there again in a future year. I just hope I am not blackballed after yelling at the TV in the men's locker room during the end of the Arizona-Memphis game. The members sitting 3 tables away shot several dirty looks in our (my?) direction......and then quickly left the room 5 minutes later. Well, the ends justify the means, correct?
Friday, after golf, was a wild day gambling. Another losing session at craps (I think this time was with Mike) - I put my chips in my pocket and headed over to the UTH table where everyone was located. We talked about the games, and the fact that I just put in a second half bet on VCU vs Georgetown. Layup wanted some of that action, so he gave me some money to place the bet.
As I walked over there, I cashed in my two black chips from craps and put that money in my pocket and headed over to the book. I took out Layup's money and my wallet - placed his bet - and then took out my green book to look at other games.
It was when I was ready to place another bet for myself when I realized - I didn't have the $200 from my two chips I cashed at the cage.
I checked each pocket 5 times - no luck.
I felt like an extreme idiot as I went back to the same counter in the sportsbook.
"Can I help you, honey?" she said.
Um, yeah....um......did anyone, um, turn in $200?
"What? You mean turn in found money?"
Yeah....I just dropped it here 5 minutes ago.....
She checked around and - no, no one turned it in. Of course not - but I had to ask.
As I left the counter, I saw some middle aged, 5'6" man look at me and smirk to himself. I am 90% positive that he found the money on the floor of the book (while I was fumbling around) and pocketed it. But what in the hell am I supposed to do? It is my fault - that's why I always put the money in my wallet after cashing at the cage.
Anyway, the day got a little better when I won a big bet when - again - I seemed to be the only one at the casino who liked Georgia and the points (+5- which moved to +6 by tip) vs. Washington. A late 3 by the Bulldogs gave me the cover. And I didn't collect from the casino - I collected from Wiz! Even better.
Then I sat down at UTH as we had a long session. It was 5 of us - Leland was off playng his marathon of craps. From left to right, we had
Layup
Wiz
Me
Mike
Don
and....the Danish Pirate
This guy at the end of the table was 50 or so, glasses, beard, and he grunted with every bet. He said he was in Vegas for 2 weeks and was losing money, but he loved the UTH game.
All of a sudden (his hot streak probably started when Wiz and I got into a spitting fight and I was banished to the Phat Cats cafe), this guy was on fire. He started playing a $50 ante. Then $75. Then $100 every once in a while. Then $100 every hand.
And he kept winning.
He started with, oh, $500. By the end of the 3rd hour at the table, he had $3,000 on the table and AT LEAST - AT LEAST - $5,000 in his pocket. He spit out a tooth at one point into the cards - no matter, that didn't break the string. Everything he touched was gold.
(And how did I do? Well, it was the classic case of someone shooting a 59 at a golf tournament. When someone shoots a 59 on the PGA Tour, all the attention focuses to that golfer. Every move they make is magnified and lauded.
They don't see the golfer in the group behind shooting a 62.
I tripled my money at that table, by far my best outing at UTH. And this was a $15 minimum, so we are not talkig tripling $50 into $150.
I got up to the cage, cashed in my chips - and before they took the money out of the drawer, they asked:
"Do you have any markers you want to settle?"
I don't know why, but I was offended. Hell NO! I didn't take any loans out to win this money! This is from my own sweat and blood!
Well, I'm out of steam for tonight, but Friday's diary is not complete.
Here's what you can look forward to in the next installment:
"Let's make some money!"
I only play the hard 4 and 10
Afternoons in Vegas: a Taxi to Target
Brandt Snedeker costing me $25
"Security!" and the 70 year old waitress on Saturday night
My first foray into the Salon
Cleanup on aisle 9
Sean Connery will star in "Entrapment"
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